A Vampire Bundle: The Real Werewives of Vampire County, When Darkness Comes, Real Vamps Don't Drink O-Neg, & Hunted by the Others

by Alexandra Ivy

  But the very fact that she shouldn’t look naturally ensured that her feet were moving forward and she was pressing her face to the glass.

  For a moment her eyes could make out nothing in the gloom, and a deep sense of relief shuddered through her. Then, even as she prepared to pull away, her gaze shifted toward a nearby wall and she was reeling backward in horror.

  So much blood . . .

  It had been splattered everywhere.

  And . . . stuff she didn’t even want to consider.

  Bending over, she gagged at the rising nausea.

  “You had to look, didn’t you?” a dark voice drawled even as a strong arm encircled her shoulders and pulled her close.

  “You shouldn’t have told me not to.”

  He pressed her head into his shoulder. “Somehow I knew it would end up being my fault.”

  Comforted more than a rational woman should be by a vampire’s touch, Abby slowly forced herself to pull away.

  “Did you find the trail?”

  Even in the darkness, she could see his grimace.

  “It led as far as the nearest outbuilding, which happened to be a garage.”

  Her eyes lifted to the heavens. “Don’t tell me. They took off in the witchmobile?”

  “Something like that.”

  Abby sucked in a deep breath. She knew she should be disappointed.

  Without the witches, her life remained in danger. All sorts of creepy, icky, semi-dead things would continue to hunt her. And the Phoenix that had taken up residence within her body would continue to refurbish her like she was a cheap dorm room.

  But the disappointment that was lodged in her heart felt remarkably like relief.

  “So, what now?” she demanded in an effort to sound resigned rather than certifiable.

  Lifting his head, Dante sniffed the air. “Dawn will be approaching soon. I must find some place to wait out the day.”

  “Oh. We could return to the factories.”

  “I think there might be something closer. Can you walk?”

  Her feet had gone beyond pain to a petulant numbness. “I’ll make it.”

  A slow, enigmatic smile curved his lips. “You never fail to amaze me, lover.”

  Startled by the low words, Abby had no time to demand what he meant before he had a hold of her hand and was tugging her across the clearing to the woods on the other side.

  In silence—well, Dante in silence and her with snapping twigs, squishing mud, muttered oaths, and a whimper of pain when she stubbed her toe on a fallen log—they made their way through the darkness. Abby swiftly lost track of time as she concentrated simply on keeping her feet moving forward, but eventually Dante slowed his swift pace.

  “Here we are,” he murmured, his hand reaching out to brush aside a heavy curtain of ivy that was growing upon the side of a low hill. “Not quite fivestar material, but it’s dark.”

  “And damp,” Abby muttered as she bent low to follow Dante into the narrow tunnel that led to a small circular opening.

  Seating himself on the sandy ground, he gave a tug on her hand, pulling her next to his hard length.

  “Look at it this way, at least it’s not a crypt,” he pointed out in dry tones.

  Although not overly impressed with the low ceiling and moss-covered walls, she did have to concede that it was a relief not to have a corpse lying about.

  “Meaning I should be grateful for small favors?”

  “Well, you also have the pleasure of my company. That should make even a damp cave seem like paradise.”

  “God, you really need to get over yourself, Dante,” she muttered, pulling her knees close to her chest and wrapping her arms about them.

  Clearly feeling the faint shiver that raced through Abby, Dante shifted to study her pale face.

  “Are you cold?”

  “A little.”

  “Here.” Wrapping his arm about her shoulder, he tugged her close to his side, his cheek resting on top of her head. “It should warm up as the sun rises.”

  There was no warmth in his body, but that didn’t stop a sudden heat from flaring through her blood. Damn, it had been so long since she had been held in a man’s arms, alive or dead. So long since she had felt that heady sense of sated passion.

  And she couldn’t deny that she had lusted after Dante for months. The dull hunger that plagued her seemed to have no sense of timing, damn it all.

  “You should try to sleep,” Dante broke the silence, his fingers aimlessly toying with a strand of her hair. “I’ll keep watch.”

  She sternly turned her thoughts to more pressing troubles. Having the hots for this vampire surely came second place to imminent peril.

  “I’m too on edge to sleep.”

  “I can’t imagine why,” he said dryly.

  “Shall I make you a list?”

  “No need.”

  She heaved a faint sigh. “We are truly screwed, aren’t we?”

  There was a momentary pause, as if he were carefully considering his words.

  “I’m not sure I would put it quite in those words, but the attack on the witches has made our task more difficult.”

  “Who would do such a thing?”

  “That is the question.” His tone held a lethal edge, revealing he was not nearly so composed as he would have her believe. “A demon could not have passed through the barrier, and yet a human could never have caused such destruction.”

  She shuddered in horror. “God no, it was gruesome.”

  “Unless . . .”

  “Unless what?”

  “A human who worshipped the Prince might have been capable of summoning a great deal of power.”

  Abby didn’t bother to hide her shock. She had never even considered the idea that it could be anything but a monster that could attack with such savagery.

  “A human?”

  He stiffened at her obvious surprise. “You believe only demons capable of evil?”

  The rasp in his voice brought her gaze to his tight expression.

  “No,” she said softly. “I am well acquainted with the evil people are capable of.”

  He grimaced ruefully. “I’m sorry. I don’t like mysteries.”

  “I’ve discovered I don’t much care for them myself,” she muttered, reluctantly forcing herself to consider the horrors that had been dogging them for the past days. “Do you think the same person who attacked the witches killed Selena?”

  “I just don’t know.”

  Abby gave a humorless chuckle. “Well, we’ve nicely determined that we’re not Nancy Drew and Hercule Poirot.”

  “No.” She felt him stroke his cheek over her hair, his lips briefly pressing against her temple. “I’m not much of a champion, am I, my sweet?”

  She tilted back her head to glare at his ridiculous words. “Don’t say that. If it wasn’t for you, I would be dead by now.”

  His lips twisted at her fierce defense. “Instead you’re hiding in a cave, no closer to being rid of the Phoenix than when you started.”

  He shifted, his movement tugging her even more firmly against his hard body. Her heart skipped, kicked, and lodged somewhere near her throat.

  Don’t think about it, Abby, she sternly told herself. Don’t think about those slender, skillful fingers skimming over your bare skin. Or those lips nuzzling at sensitive places. Or your legs wrapped about his waist as he . . .

  Oh hell.

  She melted against his hardness, her eyes darkening with the awareness that she was tired of battling.

  “I thought you promised that being with you would make this cave a paradise?”

  Quite intelligent, despite being male, Dante instantly sensed the change in the atmosphere. The silver eyes darkened to smoke as he allowed his gaze to slowly wander over her face.

  “Abby?” he whispered.

  Not giving herself time to consider her rash behavior, Abby reached up to thrust her hands into his glorious hair. Her heart was already racing and her breath impossible to cap
ture.

  “I don’t want to think about demons or witches or all the other horrid creatures that are trying to kill me.”

  His arms wrapped about her, tugging her easily to straddle his legs so they were face-to-face.

  “What do you want?” he rasped, his fingers trailing up the length of her spine.

  “You.” She kissed him with all the yearning that was burning within her. “I want you.”

  Chapter 10

  She heard his soft groan as his hands shifted to cup her hips, compulsively pressing her to his thickening cock.

  “Abby?”

  She arched forward, her body already on fire. Hell, at the moment she felt fully at home in this cave. Certainly her urges were as primitive as any Neanderthal.

  She want. She take.

  “What?” she muttered, tilting back her head as his lips nibbled their way down her throat.

  “You know you are not thinking clearly?”

  “I don’t care.”

  His tongue ran a searing path along the line of her collarbone.

  “I just don’t want you to come to your senses and discover some creative spot for that stake that you keep threatening me with,” he husked.

  In response, she leaned back so that she could pull her shirt over her head. She tossed it aside and quickly followed it with her plain cotton bra.

  “I’ve already accepted that I’ve gone completely insane. What is a little more madness?”

  His agonized groan echoed through the shadowed cave, his eyes flashing silver fire as his hands moved to tenderly cup her breasts.

  “Good madness, I hope,” he muttered, clearly distracted as his thumbs brushed over her nipples.

  She shivered with excitement. “Yes.”

  His head lowered, his lips closing over the tip of her breast.

  “And better madness?”

  Her eyes squeezed shut as a sharp, gnawing pleasure raced through her.

  “Oh . . . God, yes.”

  “Bloody hell.” Still tormenting her nipple with his tongue, Dante expertly attacked the fastening to her jeans and, with Abby’s full cooperation, swiftly had her naked and back in his lap. Pulling her close, he kissed her with a desperate hunger. “I’ve dreamed of this so long, lover. I need to know this isn’t just another fantasy.”

  “I’m no fantasy,” she assured him.

  He gave a soft chuckle, his hands trailing down her back and over her hips. “That’s a matter of opinion.”

  “Dante,” she whispered.

  “You are so warm. I could drown in your heat.”

  “I think you would be warmer if you got rid of some of those clothes,” she daringly offered.

  “Much warmer.” His movements were jerky as he helped her to remove the final barriers between them.

  Her breath caught as she glimpsed his full arousal, a sudden ache clawing deep within her. She wanted to make this a slow, delicious seduction, but the thought of having him buried deep within her made her long to abandon her plan and simply join herself to him in a flurry of pagan heat.

  Obviously misunderstanding her hesitation, Dante reached up to gently stroke her cheek. “Are you sure about this, Abby?”

  “Yes,” she managed to croak, wrestling control over her hot surge of desire. “At the moment it’s the only thing I am sure of.”

  Giving her a long searching glance, Dante slowly framed her face in his hands, pulling her forward to kiss her with an aching sweetness. Abby melted toward him. She had not exaggerated. In this moment there seemed nothing more right than being in this vampire’s arms.

  Feeling a strange confidence that was usually lacking within her, Abby ran her hands lightly over his muscled chest. His skin was as smooth as silk, inviting a more intimate touch.

  Without thought, she lowered her head to trail her lips over his shoulders, delighting in the erotic power that flowed through her blood.

  “My champion,” she whispered as she continued her persuasive caresses. “Do you like this?”

  “Yes,” he growled, his hands clutching her hips as he sought to remain in control of his building need.

  “And this?” she whispered, moving steadily lower.

  “God, yes.”

  “And this?”

  “Abby,” he choked as she reached the clenched muscles of his lower stomach.

  “Yes, Dante?”

  “Keep this up and it will be a fantasy for one,” he ground out.

  She gave a throaty chuckle as she deliberately rubbed her body back up the length of his chest.

  Her every nerve felt alive, sensitized to the point of near pain.

  “I’m only trying to convince you that I am no dream.”

  Without warning, he shifted her farther up his thighs. The air was wrenched from her body as the fierce jut of his erection settled in the damp heat between her legs.

  She shifted experimentally, the dull throb in her lower body rejoicing as the tip of him slipped just inside her body. She was prevented from a complete entry, however, as he grasped her hips and regarded her with smoldering eyes.

  “All you’ve done is made more certain this is a fantasy,” he murmured.

  “You need more proof?” she teased.

  “Ah, no, my turn for kisses,” he informed her, drawing her toward his waiting lips. “And I want to kiss you everywhere.”

  With a slow, deliberate motion, Dante branded her lips with a searing kiss. Then moving his mouth over her face, he stroked down the length of her arched neck. Abby’s fingers dug into his shoulders as he pulled her relentlessly upward, catching the hardened nipple between his teeth. She gave a soft cry as he tugged and suckled her, her head thrown backward at the insistent pleasure crashing through her. He turned his attention to the other breast, relentlessly driving her need to a fever pitch.

  She wanted him within her.

  She wanted the powerful thrust of his erection driving her to that wondrous edge and tossing her over.

  But even as she sought to bring them together, he was determinedly lifting her ever upward. She found herself on her unsteady feet as his mouth teased the contracted muscles of her stomach, occasionally nipping at the shivering flesh. She moaned in protest, and then her eyes flew open as he lowered even farther, and his seeking mouth found her moist parting.

  She momentarily struggled to stay upright as his tongue reached out to stroke the highly sensitive flesh.

  There was something utterly decadent about being poised above him as he expertly urged her to the point of no return.

  But then sensation took over, and, closing her eyes, she simply allowed him to pleasure her.

  With tantalizing care he searched to find her center of pleasure, holding her hips in firm hands. Abby gritted her teeth as he gently stroked the building pressure, so enthralled by the searing delight he was creating that she was nearly too late when she abruptly pulled away from his magical touch.

  “No, Dante,” she gasped.

  As if sensing she wished to have him inside her when she came, Dante guided her back to her knees and positioned her so that he could slowly penetrate her softness.

  Abby sighed in relief as she pressed herself ever deeper, knowing that nothing had ever felt so right as having him within her.

  For a moment she merely savored the full sense of completion. But as he remained unnaturally still, she reluctantly lifted her heavy lids to send him a puzzled gaze.

  “Dante?”

  “You started this seduction, Abby,” he rasped. “You can finish it.”

  With a slow smile, she placed her hands upon his chest and slightly lifted her hips before sliding back down.

  Dante moaned, his fingers convulsively clutching her hips. “My God, you are going to kill me. Again.”

  Abby moved, pulling herself higher before plunging downward. His hips arched off the sandcovered ground, a pained frown forming on his forehead.

  Abby smiled with heady satisfaction, thoroughly enjoying the knowledge that Dante was com
pletely at her mercy.

  For this moment he was hers. As intimately tied to her as if they were one.

  One soul, regardless if he possessed one or not.

  One heart, beating or not.

  One body.

  With slow, deliberate motions, she tormented them both to the edge of frenzy, refusing to increase the pace even as he gasped out a plea for mercy.

  Only when she realized that her muscles were inevitably tightening to an explosive release did she give in to his broken commands and allow him to grasp her hips so he could pump himself forcefully within her.

  He gave a shout of joy at the same moment she violently convulsed about him.

  For a moment out of time, she floated in pure bliss, pressed against the impaling flesh until with a low moan she collapsed against him in utter exhaustion.

  She was shaken by the force of her pleasure. But oddly comforted by the arms that encircled her to press her close against the hardness of his body.

  It was as if she had been thrown from the top of a skyscraper, only to discover she was being caught in the safety of Dante’s embrace.

  Perhaps sensing her tumultuous emotions, Dante softly stroked her tousled curls and placed a comforting kiss on her brow.

  “Are you all right, Abby?”

  She snuggled against his strength. “More than all right.”

  “And you aren’t considering any wanton staking?”

  “Not at the moment.”

  “Good.” He gave a soft chuckle as his lips absently smoothed over her temple. “Unlike most vampires, I enjoy my passion without pain, bloodshed, or the threat of imminent staking.”

  Lazily tilting back her head, she met his glittering gaze. “What about Sasha?”

  A decidedly smug smile curved his lips. “I’ve told you there’s no need to be jealous, my sweet. I put Sasha in my past the moment you arrived on Selena’s doorstep.”

  Her heart gave a jump even as she regarded him with a frown. “I don’t believe you.”

  He arched a brow, his unworldly beauty starkly pronounced as the rosy dawn outside the cave began to dispel the gloom.

  “That Sasha is in my past?”

  “That you even noticed me when I arrived on Selena’s doorstep,” she clarified in dry tones.