by Brooklyn Ann
The sound of footsteps outside the garage door made her jump. Silas was back from his first hunt. A panicked voice in the back of her mind urged her to run into the house and take back the note which would lead him in here.
“No,” she whispered, clenching her fists. “I can do this. I want to do this.”
As she waited in tense silence, she closed her eyes and pictured him finding her note on the table. Her pulse quickened.
The door to the garage opened and for a moment she was struck breathless at the vampire’s beauty.
“I received your note, Akasha.” His voice seemed to caress her under the fur. “What is it you wanted to show me?”
His gaze swept down over her ensemble, eyes widening slightly at the high heels. Akasha felt a pulse of wet warmth between her legs as her trembling fingers undid the buttons on the coat. Forcing her eyes to meet Silas’s, she shrugged off the coat and tossed it onto her toolbox. Another tremor pulsed through her core at his harsh indrawn breath.
Naked except for the black stilettos, she slowly walked towards him, reveling in the raw lust in his eyes. Akasha grabbed the lapels of his jacket, pulling him closer.
“I want you to bend me over the car, Silas,” she whispered, voice only shaking slightly as she pulled the jacket from his shoulders, “and then I want to feel you inside of me. I want you to chase away my nightmares.”
The vampire’s mouth opened then snapped closed. His eyes took on an unholy light, his fangs gleaming as he took a sharp breath and released it in a hiss. “I’m not certain that’s a good idea, Akasha,” he said finally. “What if—”
His words cut short as she ran her hand down the length of his body, gripping his shaft through the thin fabric of his pants.
“I know you want to,” she said softly, unbuttoning his pants and pulling down the zipper. He was hot and rock hard in her hand. A sigh of bliss escaped her lips at the feel of him.
“Akasha…” he began warningly then gasped as she stroked his satiny tip.
“Don’t worry, Silas,” she said, reaching up with her other hand to unbutton his shirt. “I trust you.”
As his arms locked around her waist, Akasha gasped at the sheer truth of her words. Never before had she trusted anyone and it felt strangely liberating. The thought broke off as Silas kissed her, a low growl trickling from his throat.
Frustrated with the slow progress, she let out a growl of her own and tore at his shirt. The silk ripped apart with a sharp sound. Silas raised a brow and shrugged off the remnants of the shirt. With a wicked, sensual smile he slowly slipped off his shoes and pants to stand gloriously naked before her.
Seizing her by the waist, he lifted her in the air. Akasha had a moment to marvel at his strength before his tongue flicked over her breasts, making her cry out in pleasure.
His mouth worshipped her body as he carried her to the car, laying her on the hood with reverent gentleness. However, his savage gaze raking down the line of her body was far from gentle.
When his tongue flicked across her clit, Akasha bit back a scream of ecstasy. The combination of the cool metal against her back and Silas’s hot mouth at her core sent her into a delirium of erotic sensation that soon sent her spiraling into an earth-shattering orgasm.
“Are you ready?” Silas’s voice was harsh with desire.
“Yes,” she managed to gasp before he carefully pulled her down and helped her turn over.
The bumper was cold against her legs but the hood was warm from where she’d reclined. Akasha’s hands splayed on the Roadrunner’s hood scoop for balance as she spread her legs for her lover. The high heels put her at the perfect angle for his entry.
With excruciating slowness, Silas slid into her wet warmth.
Akasha felt a momentary surge of panic as the terrible memory threatened to overtake her… then she realized there was no pain, only pleasure, and the car’s hood was cool, not burning hot. It was her Roadrunner, not a Cadillac. Instead of a gun pressed to the back of her head, Silas’s lips were against her neck whispering love words in his sexy Scottish brogue as his cock sensuously moved in and out of her wet heat. Her core throbbed with the pleasure and she bucked her hips against him, urging him to go deeper.
***
It took every ounce of Silas’s control not to explode from the mind-rending pleasure. After all the times he’d been driven to the brink of insanity at the sight of Akasha bending over her cars, his fantasy was finally being fulfilled.
At first he was afraid of frightening her with his passion, but when her tight wetness pulsed and gripped around him, and her velvet voice gasped “harder,” he was lost.
Silas thrust into her like a thing possessed, his hips smacking against her ass in a delicious rhythm. The musky scent of her arousal, coupled with the lingering taste of her womanhood on his tongue awoke his blood thirst, but before he could push it aside, Akasha moaned. “Bite me, now!”
With a low growl, his fangs pierced her delicate throat. As her hot blood flowed across his tongue, his mind melded with hers and he felt her climax tearing through them both. Silas focused the link to greater intensity and when he came, Akasha felt it too. For what seemed an eternity, orgasm after orgasm roiled through them, one feeding the other. Before it ended, Silas sent Akasha a silent command: No more nightmares.
And then they collapsed onto the Roadrunner’s hood in a sated heap, hearts pounding and gasping for breath.
“Did we dent your car?” He slowly regained his feet and helped her to stand.
Akasha surveyed the gleaming steel. “No, but I may have scratched the paint a bit.” She grabbed his arm tightly, wobbling on her heels. “Damn, my legs feel like they’re made of neoprene.”
Silas gathered her up in his arms and bit his lip, drawing blood before he kissed her neck to heal the puncture wounds. “Do you think your plan worked?”
Akasha smiled up at him as he retrieved the fur coat from her toolbox and wrapped it around her naked body. “If it didn’t, we’ll just have to try again.” She licked her lips. “Maybe we could try the ‘Cuda next time?”
His cock stirred at her words, despite the strenuous activity it had been through. Silas nodded and forced his attention to other matters. “Since I took blood from you, it would be good for you to eat something.”
“I could go for some ice cream,” she murmured as he carried her back in the house. “Maybe some pizza too…and a beer or two and a cigarette, and—Eeeep!” Her words cut short with a girlish scream.
Razvan leaned indolently against the laundry room wall.
“I was going to ask if you’d like to accompany me on tonight’s hunt,” he drawled, raking them both with an ironic gaze. “But I see you have fed already.”
Akasha’s face was crimson as Silas adjusted the fur coat to cover them both more fully. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about his exposed backside. He cursed himself for forgetting to put his pants back on.
“You could have informed me of your presence,” Silas told him with a glare.
Razvan blinked in mock innocence. “And interrupt whatever you two were doing in there? I would never be so rude.” His eyes strayed back to Akasha. “Of course I do regret missing the view.”
“You didn’t miss it entirely,” Silas said blandly before he turned and presented Razvan with his bare arse and carried Akasha up the stairs.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Two weeks later
Silas licked the blood from his lips and released his victim from the trance.
“And that’sh how thugh Sheahawks tooks the game,” the man slurred. “Hey man, thanksh for the cabs money. Yer alright.”
“One less danger on the road.” Silas nodded curtly and headed to his car. He loathed drunk drivers. They caused so many senseless deaths, injuries and property damage.
As he drove home, he regretted not being able to be out in daylight for the first time in centuries. The limited time he had with Akasha was not nearly enough. He had to be careful no
t to keep her up too late; it made her schooling suffer. When she went to college, it would be more vital, since her education would henceforth be dedicated to her career.
Akasha’s goals for her auto repair shop had soared. She wanted her business to be open at night so vampires could get their cars fixed.
As Silas reached the top of the hill, he spied Little Beast in his driveway. The second he pulled into the garage and locked onto his Mark with Xochitl, a chord of alarm reverberated through him. Something was wrong.
“Silas!” Akasha ran into the garage, gasping. “Something’s wrong with Xochitl. She was attacked and her back’s all fucked up!”
“What happened?” His heart leapt with worry while his instincts raged to protect one he Marked.
Akasha’s hands shook almost as much as her voice. “She didn’t come back from lunch but after school her car was still in the parking lot. I searched and waited for her, then left a note on her car. She just got here a few minutes ago. She’s all scratched up and bruised. They… they tied her up!” she panted.
A roar of outrage built in his throat as he understood her implication. “Did they…”
“I don’t know!” Akasha wailed. “She was starting to tell me about it, but her eyes turned red and she started screaming about her back hurting. I don’t know what’s happening to her. She won’t let me call an ambulance and I don’t know what to do! I carried her upstairs and put her in bed when I heard your car.”
“Well, let’s go see.” He followed her upstairs, fangs bared in anticipation of slaughtering whoever dared to hurt what was his.
Xochitl lay on her stomach on Akasha’s bed, thrashing and groaning in pain. Her wrists were rubbed raw and bleeding from where she was tied.
“Oh, ‘Kash, it hurts!” The Mark between her and Silas was fiery with agony and rage.
“Xochitl. I think you need to go to the hospital.” He struggled to control the beast within and to stay practical. “If you were raped, it needs to be verified so the bastards who did it can be caught. And your wrists and back need to be attended to.”
“They didn’t…rape me,” she bit out. “I stopped them… Ow…The fuckers!”
A measure of his rage dissipated. Thank God she hadn’t been violated.
“Silas, look!” Akasha pointed.
There were lumps under Xochitl’s shirt... and they were moving.
“Maybe you should let us look at your back,” Silas tried to sound calm though his flesh crawled at the sight before him.
“O-okay,” Xochitl managed to gasp.
Akasha faced him. “Silas, turn around for a minute so I can get her shirt off.”
Silas faced the wall, cringing at the pained noises Xochitl made as Akasha removed her shirt. He heard Akasha hiss and his instincts warred between soothing Akasha and protecting Xochitl. Now he knew why vampires were so careful about their Marks.
“Okay, you can look now.” Akasha’s voice quavered.
He turned around and gasped at the sight of Xochitl’s back. The skin was scraped raw all over. The worst part was the moving lumps under the skin at her shoulder blades. Something was pushing and straining under skin, about to burst out. Xochitl whimpered and shifted on the bed.
“What the fuck?” Akasha breathed. “Xochitl, are you a shapeshifter or something?”
“No. Why? What’s going on?” Despite her obvious pain, Xochitl’s tone was rife with curiosity.
Akasha cursed. “Shit, Silas, we can’t take her to a hospital.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “They’d call those AIU guys or something.”
“Never mind that,” Silas threw up his hands, at a loss for how to handle this strange situation. “When did it start, Xochitl?”
“When those bastards tied me to a tree,” Xochitl growled.
“Who?” Silas demanded, his predatory instincts roiled. “I will make them pay.”
“You will not!” the creature on the bed roared with such ferocity that Silas stepped back. “I’ll take care of it. They’ll be lucky if they ever sleep again. They—” The lumps strained on her back harder. “Ow!”
Silas shuddered at the power of her command. Some potent force beneath her words compelled him to obey. Was it because her father had made his kind? The thought was cut short as Xochitl’s cries of pain wrenched at him.
If he couldn’t punish her enemies, perhaps he could ease her suffering. But how? What was causing this? He had a thought. “Is it worse when you’re angry?”
She took a deep breath and appeared to consider the question. “I don’t know, maybe.”
“You were quite angry when Bill hit you. Did your back hurt then?” He prodded.
She took a deep breath. “I think it did… yeah! I remember now. It hurt like a bitch until…”
“Until the cats came?” he asked, ignoring Akasha’s questioning look.
Xochitl nodded. “Uh-huh.”
Silas was amazed at how reasonable she was being. Akasha was right. Xochitl really had no fear at all.
Akasha ran a tentative hand across her friend’s back. It looked like there were extra bones beneath her skin. Silas watched her struggle not to show her revulsion and knew she was trying to match Xochitl’s bravery. At least the movement was slowing.
“Maybe you should try calming down,” Akasha said brusquely.
“Okay. Can you get me a smoke?” Xochitl sounded as calm as if she were attending an afternoon tea.
Akasha nodded and pulled her cigarettes out of her pocket. “Sure. Damn, that tree scraped you up bad.” Her eyes, pleading amethyst pools, met his. “Silas, can you get a cold cloth and some triple antibiotic ointment?”
Silas went into the bathroom and rummaged through the medicine cabinet as his mind raced. What the hell was under Xochitl’s skin? He ran a washcloth under cold water and made a decision. He was going to be blunt and ask her. He was tired of all the questions, all of the strange new revelations.
As Akasha cleaned the scrapes on Xochitl’s back, she talked to her casually in hopes to calm her down. “Hey Xoch’, I was wondering if I could keep the fur coat if I bought you a new one.”
Silas gasped. “That was your coat?” His cheeks grew hot. “Oh my…”
Akasha and Xochitl looked at him and burst out laughing.
“So you guys desecrated it, did you?” Xochitl asked with a grin, though the skin at the corners of her eyes was tight with pain. “Did the plan work?”
Akasha smiled. “I think so, it’s only been a couple weeks, so we’ll have to wait and see if we’ll have to try again.” She grinned at Silas’s flaming face.
“I’ll buy you a new coat, Miss Leonine.” Silas said, hoping his embarrassment wasn’t obvious, “Mink, sable…”
“I don’t do real fur,” Xochitl interrupted. “I only wear leather ‘cuz I eat cows.”
“Ah, a woman with principles,” he said as he tried to think of how to broach the subject of her origins.
By the time Akasha was finished tending Xochitl’s wounds, the things in her back had stilled. She was now swaddled in Akasha’s purple fuzzy bathrobe, sipping a glass of wine and smoking a cigarette. Silas decided he’d waited long enough.
“Xochitl, what are you?” he asked, praying he wouldn’t frighten her by being so direct.
She looked up at him, brown eyes so sad and pitiful, it almost undid him. “I thought I was just different…like Akasha. My mom said we were special. I was never supposed to tell anyone, ‘cept Sylvis. But, with what just happened and a couple other things…” Her sigh echoed through the room. “I just don’t know anymore.”
“You thought you were human?” Silas couldn’t hide his sympathy.
Xochitl gave him a droll stare. “I look like a homo sapien, I talk like a homo sapien…the evidence seemed apparent.”
“I see. So you have no idea.” He struggled to hide his disappointment.
“No,” she replied. “I was gonna work up the courage to ask Akasha what she is.”
Akasha shook her
head and opened a beer. “Just stronger than the average person,” she muttered through the cigarette clamped between her teeth.
Xochitl grinned. “C’mon, ‘Kash, you’re like bionic or something. Now what’s your deal?”
“It’s a genetic mutation I inherited from my father.” She shrugged.
Xochitl nodded. “Well, you’re no help. Mom never told me about my father, except to say he was bad news.” She finished her wine with an uncharacteristic gulp. “May I please have some more?”
Silas buried his head in his hands. She doesn’t know?
What a fine mess this is! It seemed he knew more about Xochitl than she did. Another twinge of pity pierced him. He wished he could at least tell her about her father, but there was no way to do that without telling her of his kind and thus breaking Delgarias’s decree.
His fists clenched in frustration. If Xochitl didn’t know what she was then how was he supposed to figure it out? How would the Elders react?
Akasha refilled her friend’s glass and gave Silas a look. What are we going to do now?
Silas jolted in surprise at the silent message. It must have taken a great deal of effort for her to slow her rapid thoughts down enough to speak to him telepathically. He sent her a reply. I’m going to get Razvan. He might have a few ideas in his conniving head.
Akasha nodded. Good luck.
***
“Where’d he go?” Xochitl asked worriedly as soon as Silas left the room. Akasha sighed, not knowing what to tell her. “I think he went to get Razvan.”
“Why? I don’t want more people knowing about me. ‘Kash, you gotta stop him!” She tried to get out of bed, wincing in pain.
“Lay down, Xochitl,” Akasha ordered. “I don’t want your back acting up again. I won’t let Razvan touch you. I promise. I’ve kicked his ass before and I can do it again.”
“You kicked his ass?” Xochitl giggled for a moment then sobered. “But what are they? Why are they so interested in my… my idiosyncrasies?”
Akasha smiled wanly at Xochitl’s word for it. Her friend would lapse back into a more scholarly language when her other friends weren’t around. She didn’t know if Xochitl dumbed down her speech out of embarrassment or consideration for those less well read.