“Jonathan,” Eli said firmly. “And tell him to leave Lori alone. She’s a child, and too young for him. You can play with Rafe later, sweet. Find out what you can and keep me updated.”
Then he focused his full attention back on Sarel, licking his lips, touching his tongue to the tips of his fangs as they dropped down, his body going on red alert at the sight, the scent of her.
They hadn’t told her that he was to be her first, and possibly, only trainer. If Eli had his way, she would be his partner. Since his first partner had died, he’d been alone. Caris had been the first and the only partner he’d ever had. When the young werewolf had died, the Council had tried to make him take another, but Malachi had intervened.
Malachi was not one you could easily tell no.
Even the Council.
What had Sarel thought of Malachi?
Wondering if Malachi had fucked her, he discarded the idea. Malachi may have found her physical form attractive, but if he knew Malachi, the older vampire was still too angry. He would have kept it well hidden, although he’d nourish it for ages.
Still, the old one cherished women far too much to ever take one in anger, even one he disliked. He would not trust himself not to harm a woman if he fucked her in anger.
Had Sarel been drawn to him?
Some witches were more immune to the vampire’s call than mortal women. If Malachi had been suppressing it, chances are, she wouldn’t have felt much unless they were in direct physical contact.
Sliding through the shadows as though one of them, his long coat caressing his ankles, his eyes roamed over her body hungrily. Watching her green-gold eyes scan about impatiently, he could smell her frustration and see the way her pulse throbbed under the thin shield of golden skin in her neck.
Keeping to the rear of the thinning crowd, he moved until he was at her back, tsking under his breath. They would have to have to work on that. She shouldn’t leave herself so easily unprotected. Once he stood a few mere feet behind, Eli just waited, breathing in the sweet scent of her—honeysuckle, the perfume of her sex and blood.
Right before she sensed him, he asked in a low voice, “Are you waiting for someone?”
Oh, no.
They wouldn’t have paired her with him.
Was this her punishment?
All the teachers knew, of course.
She’d had to confess how guilty she felt. And even if she hadn’t confessed, many of them were empathic, and they felt it, just as they felt …other things, before she’d finally learned how to shield.
Counseling for the troubled was routine for anyone going through witch’s training at Excelsior. It wasn’t wise to train the gifted if the gifted were likely to go postal. The problems had to be addressed, first.
Of course, she had sensed things from them as well. Not true empathy, that had come later, with training. She’d sensed their distrust of her; she’d won some of them over.
Others, not so much.
Some were still angry with her. And others…hell. They were probably testing her.
They were placing her with the man she had to thank for being what she was today—Eli, the man she had tried to kill.
“Eli,” she said quietly. The low raspy quality of her voice sounded flat and unwelcome even to her ears. Knowing he could tell she wasn’t pleased, she wanted to kick herself. At the least, she needed to try to make the best of this.
Elijah smiled, a slow, lazy cat’s smile that had a bolt of need striking through her belly…lower. Heat flooded her, the hot, strong tug of desire that seemed to arise even at the thought of him.
And he knew, damn it.
Knowledge filled his eyes and her heart sank. Of course, he knew.
The Master vampire, her new trainer knew how much she wanted him.
And didn’t that just beat all?
“You sound so unhappy to see me,” Eli purred, reaching out and drawing her carry-on bag from her shoulder, slowly sliding it down her arm, somehow managing to graze the side of her breast with the back of his hand as he did it. She stared at him in silence as he threw the bag over his shoulder.
“Did you have anything to do with this?” she asked.
“No. I knew beforehand, of course, and I could have refused. But what would be the point of that, I wonder?” He moved a little closer, until the toes of his black boots nudged hers and they stood face to face, nearly eye to eye. “Shall I send you back? I will, if that’s what you wish.”
“Why?” she asked, her voice nearly soundless.
“I do not want an unwilling student.” His breath was a soft warm caress on her face. It smelled oddly sweet, not the way she would have imagined a vampire’s breath would smell. It smelled like clover, and cinnamon. Like tea, she decided. “It would be dangerous for both of us.”
“I won’t be a danger.” She set her jaw and tried to clear her mind, tried to think about anything except for the one thing that was screaming inside her head…want. She wanted him. So damned bad, it was an ache inside her.
“Does that mean you are—willing?” Eli asked, that same slow smile of amusement on his mouth.
“Yes.”
Eli’s head lowered. For one brief moment, Sarel thought he might kiss her.
But then, before she even realized he had moved, he was gone.
Elijah Crawford was happy.
Not having been happy in so long, he had wondered if he would even recognize the feeling if he felt again.
Not only was she drawn to him, she was truly attracted.
He suspected she was also truly sorry for what had happened. Not just because she’d been caught, which was why a lot of people seemed to be sorry. No, she seemed to regret it. That was…well, unexpected.
Of course, he wasn’t above toying with her awhile, or seeing if he could make her as mad with lust as he had been for the past five years. It was humiliating—truly. This woman had come closer to killing him than any other in more than two centuries. If it hadn’t been for his friends, he would surely be dust in the ground right now and sweet Sarel would be as well.
Unless she was still in a jail cell, locked far below the earth. They could have locked the magic inside her, made her a prisoner inside her own body, inside her own mind, until she slowly went insane. Then they would have killed her. The Council didn’t actually believe in torture, but they did believe in making the criminal suffer. A quick death for the killer of one of their Hunters would not have been their choice.
All in all, Sarel had no idea how much she owed the other three. She paced silently at his shoulder, her unusual cat’s eyes straight ahead, looking neither left nor right. A great many changes had occurred in the past five years, Eli noted. Not physically, but, well, he couldn’t put his finger on it. She carried herself differently. Having spent most of her teenage years on the street, she had been rough, hostile and unkempt while in his home.
That was gone.
That raw, rough power was gone—replaced by a magic so pure and gleaming it was like staring at a fine diamond with an inner fire.
Sarel glowed with health, with self confidence and a sensuality he burned to taste. His jaws ached, his cock ached. Eli wanted to brush all that gold-shot red hair aside and break the fragile skin of her neck and feed while he fucked her. He had never forgotten the taste of her blood, or her magic.
Stifling a groan, he stalked through the terminal, lashing his hunger down tight. He didn’t want her knowing just yet how badly he wanted her.
Not yet.
Not until he knew whether or not the sweet scent of lust he had scented on her was the vampire’s call-induced lust, or something more.
Sarel drew one knee to her chest, leaning her head back against the cushy leather of the limo. A limo, of course. What would have surprised would have been if he’d arrived in something boring, like a station wagon. She let a small smile of amusement curve her mouth as the sleek car carried her away from the busy airport. “Where are we going? It’s almost morning,” she
said. “We don’t have time to get to your home or catch another flight before sunrise.”
“I know. We’re going to a friend’s.” His voice floated out of the darkness, dark, elegant, cool. He turned his face toward briefly, away from his study of the night before saying, “We’ll catch a flight to West Virginia tonight.”
“If they had told me where to go, I could have seen myself to your house,” she said. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
Eli’s golden eyes widened as he slid a look her way, those eyes reminding her of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. “Darling, I do not think they trust you that much,” he said baldly. Sliding those amazing eyes over her curled up body, as though inspecting her for weapons, he mused, “I’m not quite sure I do either.” Or maybe he was wondering what she would look like naked.
“Do you really think I’m stupid enough to try and pull anything? I know better now,” she said, stifling the hurt. She couldn’t really blame him, could she?
Eli smiled, a little sadly, she thought. “Oh, I hardly think you’re stupid, sweet. However, it is hard to break old habits. Especially habits nearly more than three centuries old.”
“How can we be partners if you don’t trust me?”
A golden brow lifted. Sarel’s eyes were drawn, unwillingly, to his sexy mouth, the thin upper lip, the fuller bottom one as he said, “Partners? We are not partners. At least not yet. It’s not an unusual thing for a lone Hunter to take on a new student as a partner, at least for a time. But wouldn’t we make an odd pair, Sarel?”
“Eli—”
“Do you think it would work?” he mused.
“Why wouldn’t it?” she asked blandly, fighting to keep any emotion out of her face, her voice.
“Darling, you tried to kill me, did you not? I realize it was under mistaken beliefs, but all the same, you still tried to kill me. But beyond that, are we compatible?” he asked. Sliding out of his seat and moving across the floor of the limo, his eyes locked on her face.
Damn it, he moved like a fucking cat, slinking and liquid and faster than lightning. Before Sarel realized it, he was on her, one hand drawing her bent leg down, and pinning her legs in place with his elbows. “Are we compatible, Sarel Chandler?” he purred, sliding one hand up her thigh, her side, over her ribcage. Her breath caught when he cupped her breast, lightly at first, and then more firmly when she didn’t argue.
“You tried, and nearly succeeded, to kill me. Partners,” he murmured, lowering his head to nuzzle at her neck. “Do you even know what you ask? To partner with a vampire Hunter? You, a woman? To a male Hunter? We’d fuck, you know that, don’t you? It may not be a rule, but it is almost a certainty. And I’d feed. Are you willing to feed me?” Eli purred as he licked a hot, wet path across her neck, teasing her with the sharp edges of his fangs as they slid from their sheaths. “The vampires are almost as insatiable as the wolves, have you heard that? We need to feed more than we need to fuck, but not by much. Now my friend Declan…he’d nearly die without sex, or go insane. That’s just the way the wolves are. I can control it better, but I need it almost as much, pretty little Sarel. Blood and sex—they are the mainstay of a vampire’s existence.”
Sarel whimpered as his thumb scraped over her nipple. She had heard, yes, but she hadn’t expected him to it put quite so bluntly. Or so soon. And she sure as hell hadn’t expected him to demand an answer.
The buttons on her shirt popped open as he grabbed the sides and jerked, shredding the material, staring down at her with glittering eyes. Beneath the red lace of her bra, her nipples throbbed and ached, begging to be touched. Lowering his head, he licked a wet trail along the line of her bra, but went no further as he looked up at her from under his lashes and asked, “Are you willing?”
He was daring her. And testing her, she suspected—testing to see if she was, well, safe. She was. Sarel would sooner drive a stake through her own heart than hurt this incredible man.
Damn it all to hell, she wanted him.
Lifting her lashes, she stared him in the eyes, feeling that hated blush creep up, starting from her breasts and moving upward until her entire upper body was flushed. Slowly, softly, she said, “Yes,” as she reached forward, underneath where he reclined against her and flipped open the front clasp of her bra, spilling her breasts free to his gaze and mouth.
A golden brow lifted and Eli smiled slowly, that lazy cat’s smile that drove her mad, mentally and sexually, with frustration. “Are you certain you know what you’re saying, pretty Sarel?” He lowered his head, catching a nipple in his mouth, mindful of his glistening, sharp fangs. She flinched, unable to help herself. Crooning softly and stroking a hand down her ribcage, he pulled back to murmur, “I’ve never hurt a woman in bed unless it was what she wanted,” before returning to draw her nipple deep into the wet cave of his mouth.
Noticing that he felt cool at first, she realized the longer he pressed against her, the warmer he felt. Leeching her warmth. She had heard vampires would do that with a non-vampire partner and had been revolted—but it wasn’t revolting. It was…amazing. Sharing her warmth was like sharing her soul with him.
Eli’s teeth, the front teeth, closed gently around her nipple, drawing it out from her body tightly, biting down gently before teasing it with a wicked tongue as his hand slid down her quaking belly to pop the button on her jeans. Underneath, he found her naked. Lifting his head, he asked, “No panties, darling?”
Shaking her head mutely, she tugged his head back to her breast, whimpering in her throat. His mouth—sweet heaven—his mouth was unbelievable. Returning to suckle and bite at her breasts until she was writhing against him, his hand slid inside her jeans. Pulling away from her breasts and curling up next to her, he nuzzled her neck. “You never did answer me. Are you certain you’re ready for what I’d need? Not just a bed mate, and a partner—will you be willing to feed me?”
In response, she reached up and tossed her hair over her shoulder, baring her neck.
Eli groaned at the simple offering. He could still remember her taste—hot, sweet blood, the taste of innocence, somewhat tarnished, but still innocence, magic, youth, and power. Drawing it out, he licked a path up her neck and sent a silent command to the driver to circle until he told him otherwise. Stripping Sarel out of her boots and jeans, brushing away the shreds of her shirt and open bra, leaving her gleaming golden body naked, he took her down to the floor of the limo.
Clamoring with sexual and physical hunger, Eli wanted to make this last. Although five years was nothing to him, it seemed as though he had been waiting for Sarel for a very long time. She was it. This was what he had been waiting for.
Settling back on his heels, he stared at her. First, her eyes—just her eyes—those green-gold eyes, slanting up. The tip-tilted straight little nose, her high cheekbones, and her full lipped mouth and sharp chin.
And that hair…Lifting a strand of it, Eli drew the honeysuckle scent deep into his lungs, smiling slowly at her, absently tracing a thumb over her nipple, which heated and hardened against him.
Her dark, dark red hair gleamed under the dim lights, the golden threads in it winking at him. He loved her hair. Lowering his head, he buried his face against the spot just behind her ear, rubbing his face on her silky locks, just breathing her scent in. The scent of honeysuckle and her arousal thickened as her breathing increased, and when Eli laid his palm over her chest her heart beat thudded against his palm.
Sarel’s breasts were big, round and firm—perfect. Not overblown, but lush, topped with large deep-red nipples. Bending his head, he caught one in his mouth, humming in appreciation as she gasped and buried her fingers in his hair, pressing them to his scalp and holding him close.
Cock and jaws both aching with need, his groin and belly throbbed. Fuck. Knowing that seeing her was going to drive him insane, he’d fed before he had left home. He hadn’t lost control like this since his first century. Not even Tori made him hunger like this.
Settli
ng back on his heels, he jerked his shirt off, tossing it to the corner before focusing on his boots, belt and trousers. He wasn’t going to fuck Sarel for the first time with his pants hanging around his knees.
But first…he had to taste her.
Settling between her thighs he spread them wide and licked her once before catching her clit quickly between his teeth as she tried to pull him away. “What are you doing?” she screeched, embarrassed, shoving him away. Or trying to.
“Having a snack,” he muttered, groaning and spreading the lips of her sex with his fingers and driving his tongue between her folds.
“Eli, stop, damn it. You can’t—”
In response, he screwed two fingers deep inside her, settling his mouth back on her clit, taking the entire bud inside and sucking on it until the words died on a strangled gasp. She arched up, her voice rising in a breathless scream. Slick, wet walls closed tightly over his fingers and he shuddered as he imagined how tightly they would close over his cock.
“Poor thing,” he crooned into her mind as her tight mental shields shattered, letting him inside, letting him feel her amazed, shocked pleasure, her embarrassment, her need. “Hasn’t anybody ever gone down on you before?”
“Huh? What?”
Eli laughed against her, delighted. He wanted more. But he needed to be inside her and he needed to sate the hunger that was growing ravenous in his gut. Crawling up her body he mounted her, taking his cock in his hand and easing inside her. Her wet, slick passage was tight around the head of his cock, squeezing him, driving him mad.
Crooning to her as she tensed, he knew her tissues were still sensitive from orgasm.
He thought.
“Um, Eli…I probably oughta tell you something,” she muttered as he was lowering his head to her neck, ready to feed and fuck. Such a sweet little gift, he was thinking. He hadn’t expected this.
Especially not from Sarel. And never so soon.
“Hmm?” he murmured as he licked her neck. He could almost taste her blood in his mouth, feel the sweet break of her skin as his fangs slid home, feel the sweet, wet clasp of her pussy on his cock as he drove inside.
The Hunters Series Page 23