by L. L. Raand
The darkness parted and Katya was there, only inches away. Katya reached out slowly, ran her fingertips along the edge of Michel’s jaw. The touch was unlike anything she could remember in her centuries of existence. She’d fed from thousands, been touched by hundreds—but never like this. Never with a caress that carried no secrets, no seduction, no hidden agendas. Katya’s fingers traced her face as if she were finding her way along an unfamiliar path she intended to travel again.
“Didn’t your Alpha teach you to be careful around Vampires?”
“I’m not afraid.”
“You should be.”
“No,” Katya said softly. “I remember you.”
“You’re mistaken.”
Katya cradled Michel’s face in both hands, stroking her as if she were blind and determined to see her. Her fingers brushed Michel’s mouth, glanced over her incisors. Michel hissed quietly, her sex swelling.
“I’ve been searching for you.” Katya smiled, her gaze slightly unfocused, as if she were revisiting some hidden memory. “I didn’t know where at first, but then I felt you.”
“That shouldn’t be possible,” Michel murmured, holding her hunger at bay. She could pull a host into thrall between one heartbeat and the next, feed from them, and be gone before they realized a moment had passed. She could fog their memory, alter their sense of time, even remove the physical presence of her bite. She could take this female now, fill herself, satisfy the gnawing hunger that slashed and tore inside her like a thousand knives, and be done with her. But she waited. If she took her, she would have to lose her again.
“I couldn’t, for a while, right after I got home,” Katya said softly. “I was…sick. The silver…”
Michel snarled. She’d kill Standish for what she had done.
Katya moved closer, not even an inch between them now. Her eyes stayed fixed on Michel’s, the golden glow of her wolf rising behind her dark irises. “But then I felt you, and the more I felt you, the more I remembered. You were in that place.”
“Only once,” Michel said, unable to remember the last time she’d explained herself to anyone. Unable to remember when it mattered what anyone else knew of the truth. She brushed the long chestnut strands of hair away from Katya’s throat, letting her fingers linger over the pulse she could already taste. So strong. She trembled with the need to sate her hunger.
“Why were you there?” Katya’s lids lowered and she tilted her head to the side, a torpid invitation.
“Does it matter?” Michel slid her hand farther around Katya’s neck. She had only to cloud her mind and she could be inside her, filling herself and flooding Katya with pleasure. She had done it so many times the pleasure was more remembered than real. But not tonight. Tonight she was electric with sensation. “Do you care why I was there?”
“You didn’t hurt me.”
“Then you don’t remember clearly,” Michel said harshly. “I bit you, I bled you. That’s what I am.”
Katya narrowed her eyes, studying Michel as if trying to delve beneath the ancient barriers to some truth no one else believed existed. She skimmed her fingers over Michel’s mouth, unafraid, as if erasing the lies. “You could have hurt me, if you’d only taken, if you’d forced me to be a slave to the pleasure. That’s what they did to me.”
Michel snarled. “I should have killed them then. I will kill them.” She kissed the fingers that teased over her lips. “I promise you.”
“I’ll kill them,” Katya said softly.
“Yes,” Michel murmured. “You are strong enough. And now you are free.”
Katya slowly shook her head. “No, I’m not. They still hold me captive—in my dreams, in my nightmares.”
Michel pulled her close and whispered against her ear, “And what about me? Do I visit your nightmares?”
Katya arched into her, rubbing her breasts over Michel’s, tilting her head back until Michel’s mouth was against her throat. “No. You come to me when I need you. You make me burn.”
Michel wrapped an arm around Katya’s waist, drawing her even more tightly into her embrace. She slipped her incisors infinitesimally into the hot skin of Katya’s throat, and the tiny pinpricks of pain made Katya whimper. Michel growled softly. “I hunger for you.”
Katya’s hands came into her hair, gripping hard. “I know. I feel your hunger in my dreams. I want to fill you. I want you to make me come again.”
Michel pulled her head back, her vision clouded with flame. “Do you want me to make you forget again?”
“No.” Katya kissed her. Not the kiss of ownership Francesca used to remind her where she belonged, but a slow, seductive kiss that ignited the fire in her blood.
Michel groaned. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“I do. I remember the second time, in the forest. I remember you inside me—everywhere. I want you. And I want to remember.”
“I’ll hurt you.”
“No,” Katya murmured, moving to Michel’s throat, biting softly, opening Michel’s skin. “I know what I want.”
Michel jerked, her clitoris tightening. She hadn’t been bitten since Francesca turned her, lifetimes ago. The Were was playing with her, and she’d have to teach her that was a dangerous game. She gripped Katya’s shoulders and spun her to the wall. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Katya gripped the back of Michel’s silk shirt, her claws slicing through it. “Then bite. Take me.”
Hunger ruled. Michel struck fast, burying herself in Katya’s hot, pliant flesh. She covered Katya’s body with hers, pressed against her and took her fill. Strength and power poured through her, more than she’d felt for centuries. She came, each pulse of her orgasm beating to the rhythm of Katya’s heart.
“Yes. Yes.” Katya writhed beneath her, her back bowing, her mouth open in a muted roar. Her canines gleamed, her claws raked Michel’s back, flaying her skin.
Michel fed, the wounds in her back healing instantly. Katya ground against her, growling low in her throat. Michel slid a hand between them, opened Katya’s pants, pushed inside. She was hot, swollen, slick. She came and kept coming with every pull at her neck.
“More,” Katya moaned.
Michel slid deeper, stroked her, consumed her.
Katya’s sobs broke through Michel’s bloodlust, and she dragged her mouth away, sealing the wounds she had left. Only a bruise would remain. She gasped, realizing she’d lost awareness of everything around her, lost herself in Katya. She braced her arms on the wall on either side of Katya’s shoulders, the weight of her body holding Katya up. Her eyes were closed, her head lolling. Michel kissed her. “Are you all right?”
Katya’s arms fell limply from around her back, her breathing ragged, her heart thundering against Michel’s. She moaned softly.
“Katya?”
“You’re wrong.” Katya’s eyelids flickered open. They were dazed, liquid with satisfaction. “You don’t hurt me.”
“I will.”
“The Alpha will know,” Katya said. “If you don’t take my memories, I’ll tell her.”
Michel nodded, a sensation filling her chest that she hadn’t experienced in so long, at first she didn’t recognize it. Sadness. She kissed her softly. “I know.”
*
Lara stirred to the rumble of the idling Rover. She was sprawled over Raina, both of them naked, limbs entangled. Her wounds were healing rapidly after the infusion of Raina’s blood. A shadow passed between her and the moon, and she opened her eyes, instinctively sitting up to shield Raina from danger.
Rafaela stood looking down at them. “The Liege bids us to leave.”
“How did you fare?” Lara peered past her. Jody and Zahn carried the bound Were to the Rover. Jace and Dasha were nowhere around. “The wolves? They are safe?”
“We tracked them almost to Pack land,” Rafaela said, “and killed the cats who followed them. But there are others hunting nearby. We need to get the prisoner back to Wolf territory before we run into another group of maraud
ing cats.” Rafaela regarded Raina impassively. “And before this prisoner decides to disappear when your…guard is down.”
Raina growled low and sat up. If she’d wanted to run, she would have when the other cats attacked. Should have. But if she had, Lara would be dead. Raina’s cat was still battle-charged and craving a fight. And freedom. She quivered with challenge.
Lara slid an arm around Raina’s shoulders, pulling her tight against her side to hold her back. “Raina has proved herself. Without her, we wouldn’t have captured the rebel cat.”
“All she proved was she is not stupid enough to try to escape from the Liege—and we knew she was clever,” Rafaela said. “Clever and probably planning her escape right now. She has you on your back, doesn’t she?”
Lara bounded up, her canines exposed, growling a warning. “You forget yourself, Vampire. I am your warlord.”
Rafaela held her gaze for a second, then looked aside. “The Liege is ready. I’m taking this prisoner now. If you wish to lead, then do it.”
Lara slowly closed her fist in the fabric of Rafaela’s shirt and pulled her close until their faces nearly touched. She whispered, “I like you, Rafaela. But I will kill you if you touch her. She’s mine.”
“Are you sure?” Rafaela murmured.
Lara didn’t answer. She’d claimed Raina as hers by right of capture, but she’d fed from her out of need—her need, and even now she wanted her again. Who was the prisoner?
Lara let her wolf rise, let her thrall escape. Power cloaked the glade. “I don’t answer to you, Rafe.”
Rafaela shuddered, her eyes glazing. Beside her, Raina whined softly and golden pelt shimmered beneath her skin. Her eyes slanted to green and her cat teased at Lara’s senses.
Jody’s voice ricocheted through Lara’s consciousness, followed by a swift stab of pain. You answer to me. Release my guard, Warlord. And cage your wolf before the cat shifts. I don’t want to stun her again, but I’ll bind her in silver if I have to.
I can control the cat. Lara released Rafaela, whose eyes cleared instantly. “Get us some clothes.”
“Yes, Warlord.” Rafaela’s gaze held new respect.
Lara crouched by Raina’s side. “Not now, big Cat. We have to go back. You can’t shift now.”
Raina flowed to her feet, her muscles and bones fluid grace. Her face in the moonlight resembled an ancient carving of an animal goddess—elegant and cruel. “And if I refuse?”
Lara smiled. “Then I will have to hunt you down, which will only waste time.”
Raina’s cat was close—and stronger than any of them knew. When Lara had fed from her, Lara’s essence had filled her. Now her Alpha strength was magnified a hundredfold, and she could shift and be gone before anyone—even the Vampire Liege—could stop her. Her cat wanted freedom. Raina ached to break Lara’s hold on her, even as she craved Lara’s bite. She thought of her cubs, helpless among the enemy.
In the heat of battle, she’d thought only to protect Lara, unafraid of death. But she could not willingly desert her cubs. She would return, for them. And somehow she would free them. Lara was still her only hope, but she needed to resist whatever strange hold the Vampire had on her. Need made her weak. Her gaze dropped to the punctures on Lara’s shoulder, the bite she had given her. She’d clawed and slashed the cats who’d mounted her during her heats, but she’d never bitten, never taken. Never wanted a claim. She brushed her fingers over the disappearing punctures, and Lara stiffened.
“Careful,” Lara whispered, the bones in her face sliding toward wolf. “If you tempt me, more than my wolf will bite.”
“And if I want all of it?” Raina murmured, knowing she must fight the need, even as she hungered.
“I am not what you think.”
Raina’s head jerked up, the green in her eyes darkening to secret pools. “I know what you are not, and I know what you are.”
Lara snarled softly. “Do you?”
“I’ve tasted you. I know your wolf. And I know what else lives inside you—the darkness, and the death.”
“Then you should know to stay away.”
Rafe appeared beside them and tossed clothing on the ground. “Are you ready, Warlord?”
“Yes. We are coming.” Lara pulled on pants and a dark shirt, her eyes on Raina while she did the same. Lara slid a hand around Raina’s neck, squeezed slowly. “Don’t run, Raina. I would not have them hurt you.”
“Not tonight, Wolf.” Raina needed Lara’s protection, but some force deep in her bones made it impossible to lie to her. “But I make no promises about tomorrow.”
Lara smiled, no humor in her eyes. “Tomorrow means nothing to me.”
Chapter Twenty-two
“Get away from her, you son of a bitch.” Snarling, Andrew shoved Michel against the wall.
Michel could have overpowered him, physically or mentally. He was a formidable Were, dominant, strong. In a near killing rage. But she was very old, and a first-made of one of the strongest Vampires in existence. She could bend his mind—break it if she chose. And if she did, the female in her arms would despise her for eternity.
“Be careful you don’t annoy me, Wolf.” Michel smiled slowly, running a hand down Katya’s back. “I might enjoy a little more Were blood before dawn.” She caught his mind, sent an image of her mouth at his throat while another Vampire rode his cock. “You might too.”
Caught in the sweeping cloud of Michel’s sexual thrall, Katya whimpered softly and pressed close to Michel’s side. She pushed her hand under Michel’s shirt, claws scoring thin tracks across her abdomen. Michel wrapped an arm around her, her gaze fixed on Andrew. If he believed she’d compelled Katya, she wouldn’t try to change his mind. Katya was safer if the Weres didn’t know they shared a blood connection. “She seems to be ready for more.”
Andrew growled, his eyes blazing gold, fury and lust making him hard as granite. Images of the last night he’d spent in this place flashed through his memory, a collage of blood and sex and unspeakable pleasure. He trembled, sex frenzy clawing at his guts. His jaw elongated, his wolf pushed for freedom. “I should kill you for touching her.”
“I should let you try,” Michel said softly, “but your Alpha might object if I tore you limb from limb. And she’s a guest. Some other time.”
Canines erupting, he lunged for her.
Katya blocked him with her body. “No. You don’t understand—”
“Oh, I understand.” His words grated through thickened vocal cords. “I understand she has you in her thrall.”
“I came to her willingly.”
“How do you know?” He shook his head. “This bloodsucker can make you do anything and leave you believing you wanted it.”
“No.” Katya pressed her back to Michel’s front, her wolf rumbling possessively. “I wanted her. I came to her.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.” He grabbed Katya’s shoulders. “Get ba—”
Michel gripped him by the throat and held him suspended in midair with one arm. “Careful. You don’t want to make me angry tonight.” Andrew’s eyes glazed as she paralyzed his body, sapped his will. “I don’t let anyone take what’s mine.”
Two of Michel’s soldiers materialized beside them. One, a laser-thin male with sleek blond hair and ice-blue eyes, said to Michel, “Do you want us to take him below, Senechal?”
Katya gripped Michel’s arm. “Please don’t hurt him.”
Michel turned her scarlet gaze to Katya and slowly lowered Andrew to the floor. “That won’t be necessary, Adam. Show our guest outside.”
The blond dipped his head. “As you command.”
Andrew growled. “I’ll kill you for this.”
Michel smiled, tracing her finger down the column of Katya’s throat. “You can try.”
*
“Niki, stay with the Prima,” Sylvan said, her wolf suddenly on alert.
Drake gripped Sylvan’s wrist, careful not to raise her voice and draw the attention of the Vampires milling a
bout. “You feel it too? Who—”
“Andrew.”
“What is it?” Drake shook her head, frustrated with the fragments of images and tendrils of wrath dancing just out of reach. “I can’t…I sense fury and…danger. Katya—is she…”
“No,” Sylvan said softly. “She’s not threatened, but she’s in danger.”
“Don’t go alone. I’m all right.” Drake turned to Niki. “Go with her.”
“No,” Sylvan said. “Francesca’s guards are everywhere, and I don’t trust them any more than I trust the rest of the Risen. They’ll all want to feed soon. You need protection.”
“I’m only letting you go alone to prevent alerting the Vampires.” Drake smoothed her palm down the center of Sylvan’s chest. “Be careful, Alpha.”
Sylvan smiled grimly. “I won’t be long.” She shot a look at Niki. “Don’t leave her side.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Niki’s eyes flashed wolf-green.
Sylvan cut swiftly through the crowd, drawn to the scent of Katya’s blood and Andrew’s frenzy. Their scents were distinct from all the other scents of sex and blood in the room, even though most of the other Weres were hers as well. Andrew was centuri, bound to her by blood, and his rage had alerted her wolf to danger. He was close to losing control, and if her centuri challenged a Vampire, she would have to fight in his defense. Francesca’s Vampires far outnumbered her forces. Most of her wolves were enthralled and blind with lust—drawing them from their sex frenzy would divide her concentration. She was at a disadvantage in this room.
Andrew, stand down. Sylvan stepped from the crowd and casually draped an arm around Andrew’s neck, facing Michel. “I see you and Katya are already acquainted.”
She wasn’t surprised to see Michel with Katya at her side. Jody had reported Michel’s presence in the lab the night of the rescue, but Katya had not been able to identify the Vampire who had fed from her. Now she had her proof. Sylvan’s wolf bared her teeth. This Vampire had hurt her young.