John reached up and fingered a lock of her hair. “You don't want me to tire of it and you know it,” he said.
Madison grinned. “Well, my sexy, dark vampire-wanna-be, at least you're not scowling now.”
John's mind snapped back to the question of his too-silent brother.
“John,” Madison said, removing her hair from his fingers and straightening, “what's got you so worried?” She placed a hand to her back. Her swollen belly protruded like a beach ball. John loved the way she looked pregnant. She absolutely glowed. Still, this new assignment troubled him.
John leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Dirk. He hasn't checked in.”
Madison rounded the desk and moved behind him. Her hands began to massage his tense shoulders. John closed his eyes for a moment, allowing himself to relax beneath her loving touch.
“Stop worrying so much about Dirk. He's not a child,” she said, her thumbs working into his muscles.
“I know. I know. But I don't like it when one of us goes out on a job without backup. It's not safe.”
“It's never safe,” Madison quipped. “You hunt vampires for goodness sake.”
“This is Dirk's first assignment on his own, Madison. I have reason to worry.”
“Why don't you let Eric go down to Kentucky, then? He wants to. He could be Dirk's backup.”
John shook his head. “No. He took a beating, mentally, from the last assignment. He needs time to regroup.”
“Lydia will help him with that, I'm sure.” Madison's hands moved up the back of John's neck. “How close are Drake and Holt to being finished with what they're doing? Maybe they could swing down and check on Dirk on their way back to the Unkindness.”
John leaned forward, pulling out of Madison's reach. “I think I'll contact Drake. See how much longer they have before they're finished.” He reached for the phone.
As he dialed, he mentally crossed his fingers. John hoped that either Drake or Holt had tied things up and were close to being on their way back. Or that Dirk would phone in within the next few hours. John couldn't bear it if Dirk fell to the Horde.
The Unkindness had already lost too many in their fight to quell the ever spreading evil of the bloodsucking Horde of Vampires.
* * * *
Connor Fagan sent his fangs completely through his bottom lip. He didn't feel any pain. Angrily, he swiped away the droplets of blood from his chin after he loosed his lip from its impalement. A furious sizzling raced through his body. Standing in the pitch black of his own personal alcove in the deepest part of the mine, he listened to the screams of passion echoing through the spider web of tunnels and chambers, each reverberation cutting him to the bone like a razor-sharp knife.
Connor wanted to bring the ceiling of rock down on the obnoxious Fledgling named Dirk. The vampire began to pace the short distance between the walls of his alcove. His night vision was a burning red haze as he swept his gaze along the stone in the dark. Pitch black it would be to human eyes but to Connor, the dark was the searing crimson of Hell.
That had been his life—Hell—until Casey Delaney had stumbled innocently into his path. Connor wasn't quite sure just what it was about her but there was something that … that almost made him want to be human again.
Another lusty scream shot through the mine. Connor stumbled, losing his footing for an instant. He should not have agreed to allow the young one have her first. Connor shook himself, squaring his shoulders. It had been a mistake. But one that could be rectified. Dirk may have brought Casey to her first orgasm but Connor would drive her to the point of insanity with the sensuous little pleasures he intended to introduce her to.
Connor had his reasons for allowing Dirk to have her first. The main reason was Connor wanted Casey to choose him. He wanted her to come to him, to give herself to him without the persuasiveness of Connor's bite or his control of her mind. Connor wanted Casey to accept him as a lover. As a mate. The competition of another male would only make her decision to choose Connor all the sweeter. With a silent nod of his head, Connor regained his confidence in spite of the sounds of sexual play that permeated the very air around him. Connor knew that he would win Casey. He'd never lost before.
He wasn't going to start now.
Connor drew in a deep breath. He could scent Casey's arousal, strong and sweet, even this far away. He couldn't wait to taste her. But there was another odor that traveled along his senses. The odor of the Fledgling.
It was familiar. Connor closed his eyes again and ran his long fingers through his hair, searching his ancient memory for the occurrence that matched that odor. Something had happened years ago. Something or someone had held a trace of that odor. It gave Connor conflicting feelings of aggravation and completion. And savage anger.
Dark wings flitted across his mind as he scanned the memories that spanned centuries. Connor caught the memory of a battle, one that happened years ago. A battle that he came close to losing.
The war between himself and Roth Raven.
Roth and his brother Paine had hunted Connor for months. Connor had toyed with them, allowing them to close in, then disappearing almost in front of their eyes. During that period, Connor had learned as much as he could about the Raven clan. He had learned that the Ravens had sworn to eradicate the vampire race from the face of the earth. Connor had found the whole idea amusing.
Until Roth had crept up on Connor's Clutch and destroyed his children.
Connor had not taken kindly to the abuse that his children had endured at the hands of the Ravens. He reversed the hunt and began tracking Roth. Connor had been unable to find a trace of Paine Raven but it was Roth he was after anyway.
And he found him, hidden in a cabin in the mountains of Colorado, along with his lovely wife.
Connor licked his lips, savoring the memory of Roth's destruction and his lovely wife Lark's pleading.
Reading the begging female's mind, Connor had gained the knowledge that Roth and Lark had retreated to the cabin so that Roth could regroup from the destruction of Connor's children. And also to have a short tryst to renew the bond between husband and wife.
But Connor had taken their bond and torn it to shreds.
Making Lark watch, not as a punishment to her but to Roth, Connor had taken his time flaying the flesh from Roth's body. When he had enough of the game, Connor had drunk his fill from the mighty vampire hunter and then, instead of turning Roth, Connor had plucked the heart from his chest and proceeded to take his body apart, piece by piece.
All the while, Lark—strapped to a wooden chair that was positioned so that she would have the best possible view of the show—had pleaded with Connor to stop, to have mercy, promising him anything if he would allow her husband to live.
Connor had not blinked an eye at the woman's whining. He had enjoyed himself immensely, wallowing in the blood of Roth Raven.
And as a warning, he had allowed Lark to live, leaving her in the blood-soaked cabin to be found by her family. After that, all thoughts of the Ravens had faded from Connor's mind. Until now.
That was the odor that this Fledgling carried on him. The scent of Raven blood. When Connor had drained Roth of his lifeblood, he had caught the tang of a minute bit of vampire mixed in with the rich human substance. Roth was tainted, his blood not pure.
Connor smiled widely in the darkness. This Fledgling, Dirk, was at least part Raven. Connor strode from his alcove, daring the coming dawn. Moving through the tunnels back toward where the sounds of Casey's passion had come from, Connor remembered two things about the night he had destroyed Roth Raven. Two things about Roth's wife, Lark.
The first was the fact that during her pleas for mercy, Lark had made mention that her sons would be without a father if Connor destroyed Roth.
The second was the color of Lark's eyes. They had been the color of a clear blue topaz, sparkling in their fear.
Dirk, the Fledgling, had the same eyes as Lark Raven.
Dirk was Roth Raven's son.
* * * *
Dirk stood, settling Casey's feet on the floor. He moved quickly, grabbing her jeans and tossing them to her while placing himself between Casey and the three vampires who had just entered the mine. “Don't even think about it,” Dirk said, bracing himself for an attack.
The twins both smiled and took a step forward. “Don't you worry none, sweetheart,” the one on the left said with a coy southern drawl. “I done had my fill tonight. You hungry, Bobby Sue?”
The one on the right shook her head. “Not for food, Bonnie Lou.”
Dirk felt their eyes blazing over his body as they took another step closer in unison.
Bonnie Lou licked her full lips and flicked her long fiery curls over one shoulder. “'Bout time we got a decent hunk'a male added to our little family.”
“Can't cha just taste him?” Bobbie Sue asked, her eyes gleaming with unbridled lust.
“Hey,” the boy who had arrived with them spoke up. “You all act like I'm some kind'a pup. Don't I get cha off good 'nuf?”
“Shut up, Mitchell,” Bonnie Lou spat, her eyes locked onto Dirk's crotch.
Dirk felt Casey's hand on his shoulder, a warm tingling through the cloth of his shirt. “Careful,” she said.
Dirk tilted his head, giving the two females his sexiest grin. “You beauties will have to wait your turn. I'm not finished with this one just yet.” He hoped that he could stave them off, at least until he could figure out how the hell he was going to deal with two buxom red-haired sex-craving vampires. The scent of their lust was overpowering in the chamber, musky but permeated with the hint of something freshly killed.
Bonnie Lou stopped in front of him, her big green eyes glittering. She pressed herself against him, arms snaking around his neck. Dirk didn't back away. He didn't want to anger her with rejection. He looked her directly in the eye and smiled, like a true vampire would react to her obvious offer. Dirk could feel Bonnie Lou's nipples, hard little pebbles against his chest, as she rubbed her ample breasts against him like a cat. In spite of his distaste, Dirk felt himself grow hard as the vampire ground her round hips into his crotch.
“Aw, come on now, honey,” she purred, “wouldn't you like to latch that wicked mouth a yours onto one of these?” She eased up the t-shirt she wore. There was no bra supporting her firmness. Bonnie Lou cupped one breast in her hand, offering it up to him.
Dirk couldn't help but look at the gift she offered, her milky skin pale in the dim light, the rosy nipple taut, bidding him to lower his mouth to taste.
“Dirk,” Casey whispered, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. “No, Dirk. Don't.”
“Get away, woman,” Bonnie Lou snapped. “He's busy.” Bonnie Lou moved one hand up, cradling the back of Dirk's head. “Come on, baby,” she crooned, “Have a suck.” She urged his head forward and down, one finger of the hand that still cupped the proffered breast flicking the puckered rosy nipple. “Don't it look good?”
Dirk felt something steal over him. A dark veil, wicked and hungry, bidding him to close his mouth over the beckoning nipple. To suck it, roll it with his tongue. To bite. His head began to dip. His mouth began to water.
“Yeah, baby. Come to Momma,” Bonnie Lou was saying, the hand at the back of his head applying more pressure.
Dirk felt himself being swayed by the cloying veil that had invaded his mind. The only thing he could focus on was the urge to ravage the bounty that was now barely an inch from his mouth. He gripped Bonnie Lou's waist in his hands, his fingers digging angrily into her solid flesh. His knees weakened, the hand at the back of his head insistent now.
Bonnie Lou arched toward him, pushing the ruched nipple to his lips. Dirk shuddered, a tickle running across his tongue. His eyes were glued to the fullness of her breast, the rosiness of the areola deepening in front of his eyes to a dark, blood-tinged pink. Bonnie Lou trailed her piqued nipple across his bottom lip, taunting.
“Latch on there, boy,” she said, her voice husky. “Let ole Bonnie Lou feed ya supper.”
A voice entered Dirk's mind. He blinked. Stiffened.
Dirk. Stop. Don't. Noooo, the voice pleaded.
He felt a hand at his collar, pulling, trying to rip him backwards. Dirk's stomach clenched, growling hungrily. With a groan, he jerked Bonnie Lou to him, his mouth settling over that tempting nipple, no longer able to control the monstrous hunger that was clawing his insides. He dimly heard Bonnie Lou let out a laugh. He felt her pressing him to her, both hands on his head now, her back arched to expose as much flesh to him as possible. Dirk sucked hard, drawing her pebbled nipple into his mouth, flicking his tongue over it roughly. He felt an urge overpower him. With a moan, he drew her breast in deeper, her whole areola drawn into his salivating mouth.
Then, he bit.
Bonnie Lou yelped, the sound echoing off the walls. “That a way,” she said breathlessly. “Drink, baby.”
Dirk pulled at the wound, suckling lukewarm blood from the vampire's teat. The yearning hunger that clawed his belly only increased. He growled, animal instinct rearing its head. With one hand, he grasped her breast, squeezing roughly, milking her poisonous essence into his mouth. The blood filled his mouth, her nipple elongated from the strength of his suction. The taste was copper and salt. And something else, something sour, like meat that was on the verge of turning rotten. It sickened him but he couldn't stop, couldn't stop. His world began to spiral down into a red haze, drugged by the blood pouring down his throat. Still he drank, starving for more. Intoxicated by the vampire's blood, his tongue buzzed with electricity, his body on fire.
Suddenly, he jerked. A vision formed in his mind. Eyes. Dark chocolate eyes. Then a voice. Stop Dirk. Stop before her filth poisons you. Casey's eyes. Casey's voice. It woke him like a thunderclap.
Dirk threw his head back, Bonnie Lou's nipple, now raw and bloody, popping from his mouth. Shoving her away from him, Dirk reeled, his eyes searching for Casey, his hands swiping at the blood that trickled from the side of his mouth.
Then her arms were around him. Comforting. Safe. “It's alright,” Casey said as he buried his face in her hair.
Dirk knew he now teetered on the edge of oblivion. As his senses returned, he realized what he had done. For the second time, he had taken blood. And this time, it was laced with pure vampire DNA.
“You little bitch,” Bonnie Lou screeched. “Give him back!”
Dirk turned just in time to see Connor Fagan jerk Bonnie Lou by the hair, tossing her across the space with a flick of his wrist. He turned his flaming gaze on Dirk. “I won't have them fighting over you,” he said menacingly. “Take Casey and find a sleeping place. Do it now. Or give up your first rights to her.”
Dirk didn't hesitate. With a slight stumble, he snatched the candle from the niche in the wall and took Casey by the wrist. Turning to the first tunnel he saw, he pulled Casey behind him, desperate to put distance between them and the threat of four vampires who were aching for an altercation.
* * * *
As they worked their way through the tunnel of black rock, Casey's emotions warred within her. Dirk's hand that grasped her wrist was a source of comfort and also a form of shackle.
She was not sure of her true feelings for him. Not anymore. At first, she had felt him a savior, then she had realized his vampire traits. The way he had acted when discussing the 'contest' that he and Connor were set to play—winner take her—made her feel like a piece of furniture. But then, when she was alone with Dirk, her heart overruled her head and she was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. She still felt a strong connection to him, their minds seemingly on the same wavelength. She'd never shared that feeling with anyone before.
It was like a sense of coming home.
But now, after watching him drink from that red-haired witch, Casey couldn't deny the fact that Dirk must be a true vampire. No matter what she felt for him, he had the beast inside. Casey wondered if at some point, he would turn on her.
Dirk pulled her around a bend in the tunnel, then stop
ped short in front of an opening into another space. “Wait here,” he said, releasing his hold on her.
Casey rubbed at the place on her wrist where his hand had branded her. Her skin felt cold with his warmth gone, leaving her feeling a bit deserted and alone. Confusion filled her. Even though she knew, had seen it with her own eyes, that he was a blood drinker, she couldn't abide being out of his presence now. The walls of the tunnel felt like they were closing in around her. She could only see a slight flicker of light coming from the opening Dirk had disappeared into. The mineral odor of coal settled over her. She could taste it in her mouth. A chill crept over her, raising gooseflesh.
Casey wanted out of this dreary, dank hell. She wanted to be back in the light, to feel the warmth of the sun caressing her skin again. Thoughts of escape jittered through her brain like bees. She looked back toward the way they had come.
Connor's voice rose and fell, sounding as if it were coming from the bottom of a deep well. He must be talking to the others, Casey thought, hugging herself. If they were still in the chamber that she had Dirk had just left, there was no way that Casey could get past them. No way to freedom. Not yet.
She turned back toward the opening. What was taking Dirk so long? She feared him but she felt bereft without him. It puzzled her. How could she have become so attached to a man within such a short amount of time? Especially one who really wasn't a man at all but just another monster like Connor Fagan?
Dirk reappeared. “This will do. Come on,” he said, beckoning her inside.
Casey stepped into the opening.
It looked like a small room from what she could see. Her vision in the dark was getting clearer with every bite she endured. She wondered vaguely what other changes were occurring in her body. Would she become like them? Casey shivered at the thought. Dirk placed the candle on a ledge halfway up the wall and took her hand. “You look like you need to sit down,” he said. He led her to a corner where there was a pile of some sort of canvas. “Here. Sit before you fall down.”
Dirk The Savior - Book 3 of the Raven Series Page 5