Feral Passion

by Stephanie Bedwell-Grime

  “Xandra—” he said in warning.

  “Xandra what?”

  “I had no idea what was going to happen with Mack Saunders. I wanted to find out what you knew, so we went on a date. Don’t insult my intelligence by pretending you weren’t trying to interrogate me too.”

  That caught her off guard. “Okay,” she admitted, “that’s true.”

  “And I was only trying to help you when I took you to my place. I don’t know how your boss found out you were there.” He paused and she could tell he struggled with a decision whether to reveal more to her. “But I knew he was at your house when I dropped you off.”

  “You could have warned me!”

  “You were already in the door before I sensed him. I was afraid if I showed up, I’d just make it worse for you.”

  It sounded plausible. She leaned against the PT Cruiser and glowered up at him. “You want to tell me what you were doing in Jeremy’s office?”

  “Like I told you before, the Saunders family has launched a complaint. My boss sent me downtown to deal with it.”

  She snorted softly. “Thanks a bunch. You dealt with it all right. You lost me my job.”

  “I’m really sorry. I had no idea Jeremy would do that.” He had the decency to look chagrined. “But I think you’re being overly dramatic. You haven’t lost your job. You’ve just been taken off the case.”

  Overly dramatic? His casual phrasing made her furious. “Same difference from where I stand.”

  He picked up the anger in her tone and took a cautious step toward her. “I was just trying to work things out between two departments—one that’s a secret to most of the population and the other that’s less than popular. I have no say over how Jeremy deploys his staff.”

  She gave him a curt harrumph in reply. “He suspects I compromised the investigation by sleeping with you. I couldn’t convince him I didn’t.”

  “I’ve already warned you, your boss doesn’t have your best interests at heart.”

  “He says the same about you. He seemed to know a lot about you, Dante. Is there something I should know?”

  “There isn’t much to know,” Dante insisted. But the space between his blond eyebrows creased with worry. For a moment he seemed to debate asking her more. Then he said, “You didn’t tell him about the blood, did you?”

  “No, of course not.”

  That seemed to relax him a bit. “So—” he motioned to the motorcycle, “—can I give you a lift home?”

  “That would probably be detrimental to my career.” She looked down at the bike, finding only one helmet strapped to the saddlebags. “Or my life.”

  He grinned. The smile transformed his face like the sun coming out after a particularly severe storm. “I think you’ll find I’m a benefit to your life, Ms. Wheeler.” At her look of derision he said, “Besides, I don’t recall Jeremy telling you to avoid me completely.”

  Well, that much was true. But Jeremy had made himself clear. He didn’t approve of Dante Rodriguez. In any capacity. She had to wonder why. He worked for a law enforcement agency that often rivaled hers. He was a vampire. And Jeremy had a long-held hatred for vamps. But she suspected there was something else. “It was implied.”

  Dante cast a glance over his shoulder. For a moment he leaned his head to the side, listening. “I don’t sense any of his operatives lurking nearby.” He patted the seat of the motorcycle. “If it makes you feel better, I could let you off a block before your house.”

  The thought was tempting. But the last thing she wanted to do was make the situation worse. “Thanks, but I should grab a bite to eat before I go home. With all that’s happened, I haven’t had time for a decent meal today.”

  He reached out to smooth a lock of her hair back behind her ear. “You need to take care of yourself, Xandra. You’ve been injured. And just because you’re feeling better doesn’t mean you should be careless.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” The words slipped out before she realized what she’d been saying. Her mother had been much on her mind lately. Doubts that she thought she’d buried long ago rose to the surface. Along with the nagging feeling that Jeremy knew something about it all that she didn’t.

  “Sure I can’t interest you in that ride?”

  Despite her lifelong resentment of vampires, she felt drawn to him. She felt safe with him—which was an entirely new feeling. In her entire life, she’d never felt safe. Although she desperately wanted to go with Dante, she forced herself to step away from him.

  “No, I’m going to grab a bite and then go home to bed. Alone,” she added pointedly.

  “Stay safe.” He donned his motorcycle helmet.

  The sun had set entirely, leaving the garage in darkness. She headed for the mall with its restaurants and markets. She’d pick up some takeout and head home. Maybe after a decent meal and a bit of sleep she’d know what to do about Jeremy and her forced holiday.

  The mall was just closing as she stepped back inside the air-conditioned interior. Stall owners drew metal gates around their stores and turned off the lights. The entire building had once been a grand old department store, but in recent years it had been taken over by the courthouses on the upper floors and an assortment of offices and the pedestrian mall on the bottom. Elevators disgorged white-shirted office workers and a few disreputable unhappy-looking types who must have come from the courthouses above. They emptied into the food court in search of a snack or a cigarette. Xandra ordered Moo Shu pork to take home. She was heading outside in search of a cab when a commotion turned the heads of everyone in the food court.

  She couldn’t see around a display of fruit, but the sound of stampeding feet drew closer.

  A couple of men in expensive suits looked up, their cigarettes forgotten. The sound drew nearer still. Within the stampede she caught the scrape of claws against the tile floor. A creature with matted hair rounded the fruit display, sending oranges cascading across the mall. Xandra glimpsed red-rimmed eyes and dirty hair before he floundered in the spilled fruit and went down. His companions flowed over him like so much water. Melons toppled, followed by a waterfall of lemons. The stall’s owner yelled in protest. But then he caught sight of the horde of feral vamps and ducked beneath the counter.

  Xandra put down her dinner on the counter of a coffee shop. She should run, her instincts told her. Jeremy had taken her off the case and ordered her home. But instead, she searched inside her purse for her water pistol and the mini-stakes.

  The underworld types in their silk suits had seen enough that they were already running toward the exits, their cigarettes forgotten, still smoking on the floor. Word of Mack Saunders’s murder traveled fast.

  But they didn’t move quickly enough because the vampires overtook them in seconds. One of the men went down, buried under a heap of filthy bodies in gray rags. He shrieked as a vampire ripped his suit from the collar to elbow and sank his teeth into his neck. His jugular punctured and blood spurted everywhere.

  Xandra bolted into the fray. “Stop!”

  Her command did nothing to halt the tide of vampires intent on devouring the mobsters.

  She drew out the water pistol full of holy water and fired. A stream of blessed water hit the vampire in the back. Steam hissed as his flesh was devoured. The vampire turned hateful red eyes on her and lunged.

  Xandra attempted to scramble out of his way, but he caught her around the ankles and toppled her easily. She squirmed, trying to get into her purse for one of the stakes. But the vampire was crawling up along her body like scaling a tree. She whacked him in the side of the head with her purse.

  The sudden assault knocked him backward. Her fingers closed around smooth wood. She pulled the stake free. Having no other target, she stabbed it into the side of the vamp’s neck. The flesh around it sizzled and blackened. The vampire howled in outrage as his body began to liquefy and decay.

  The sound drew the attention of his fellows. Leaving the underworld boss bleeding, they turned toward her. The other gang m
embers, seeing an opening, scrambled for the exits, leaving her to fight the feral vampires by herself.

  Thanks a bunch, she had a second to think before another vampire lunged at her. Then, One more stake isn’t going to be enough.

  Last night, the vampires had been intent on doing in Mack Saunders. Like a hive mind, they’d acted as one. But not this bunch. They seemed just as intent on protecting themselves as exacting whatever score they had to settle with the mobster.

  Freeing a leg, Xandra slammed her foot into the throat of the vampire straddling her, sending him reeling backward. She scrambled to get her feet under her long enough to make for the doors and the outside.

  But a trio of vampires rushed her, toppling her helplessly to the floor. She wasn’t even going to be able to get at that last stake, she thought desperately. Bodies pressed her against the cold hard tile.

  Two wrenched her arms above her head, anxious to get at the veins in her wrist. Another straddled her and dove for her jugular vein. Hissing, they reared back when they saw the silver jewelry that protected her neck and wrists. Snarling, they rolled her over to face the floor and dove for the veins behind her legs. She wasn’t even going to be able to take the holiday Jeremy forced on her.

  She felt the pressure of the vampire’s teeth against the back of her knee. The stinging pressure became sharp pain. She screamed.

  It swallowed. Loud and wet. The thought of her lifeblood rushing down its throat sickened her. She struggled to wrench her shoulder free, to make one last attempt to fight. Teeth punctured her leg. She shrieked in pain and cursed Jeremy for taking away her other weapons.

  Suddenly those teeth were ripped away and there was only air where the vampires had been. Xandra turned and looked up. A golden streak came between her and the mall’s fluorescent lights. She heard a meaty crunch as one vampire hit the far wall. The other shrank back, cowering. And before she could sit up, she was snatched away from them.

  The movement made her head spin. She couldn’t tell how much blood she’d lost, but she felt sick and dizzy. She retched. Strong arms held her against a very muscular chest, preventing her from moving.

  They were moving, she realized after a second, moving rapidly through the underground tunnels that connected the mall to the parking garage across the street. “Dante?” she whispered.

  “Shh. Don’t say anything. We don’t want to draw attention.”

  She wanted to point out that they were moving at a speed that far exceeded human capability. And that she was likely leaving a trail of blood on the floor. But if no one had followed them yet, then Dante was right, they didn’t want to draw unwanted attention.

  He raced through a cement hallway and out into fresh air. Darkness had fallen completely, bringing with it much cooler air. She began to shiver uncontrollably. Dante’s arms surrounded her and she felt the warmth of his body. Weren’t vampires supposed to be cold to the touch? She wondered about that for a moment, losing the train of her thoughts. And suddenly she was standing on her feet, swaying precariously while Dante attempted to steady her.

  “This is the only way I have of getting us out of here.” He pointed to the motorcycle that was still parked in the spot he’d left it.

  “I thought you went home.” Her voice sounded appallingly weak.

  “I was going to. I didn’t—I don’t know why—I just had a hunch I should keep an eye on you.”

  “Thanks,” she whispered.

  “Are you strong enough to hold on to me?” he asked, urgency creeping into his tone.

  “Guess I’m going to have to be.”

  He gazed down at her, plainly concerned. “Are you sure?”

  “Just get me out of here.”

  Dante settled her behind him on the seat. Donning his helmet, he started the engine. The bike surged to life and the momentum nearly unseated her, but she managed to hold on as the world roared around her in a tornado of rushing air and darkness.

  “Where are we going?” It took the sum of her strength just to keep her hands around Dante’s waist. The wind whipped by, threatening to dislodge her precarious grip. Every now and then, Dante reached down to cover her hand with his. The vibrations of the motorcycle made her stomach all the queasier. She felt lightheaded, as if she might just suddenly evaporate into thin air.

  “Somewhere we won’t be observed,” he yelled back over the rush of air. “You need medical care and the hospital is too dangerous.”

  “I think—” she started to say. “I need—”

  And then the world slipped away from her.

  Dante cursed in the darkness. Motion stopped. With his arm slung across her shoulder, he walked across uneven gravel. He leaned her against a brick wall and ordered her to remain standing. The brick was still warm from the sun and comforting somehow. She couldn’t stop shaking. It seemed inevitable that she would be sick.

  She protested weakly when Dante moved her away from the warm brick. Keys jingled in his hand. The smell of mildew and disinfectant assaulted her senses.

  She tried to warn Dante about her nausea, but he herded her across the floor and lowered her to a lumpy bed. It creaked ominously as he lay down beside her.

  Xandra turned toward his warmth, the only comfort in the misery she couldn’t escape.

  “It’s going to be okay, Xandra,” he whispered. His breath ruffled her hair. She heard another sound, something wet and tearing. “Here.” Dante’s voice sounded disproportionately loud above the ventilation system.

  His wrist pressed against her lips. She tasted the saltiness of his skin and felt his arms tighten around her, as if he expected it to hurt. Thick, coppery blood seeped into her mouth. Even though her mind rebelled, her body remembered what to do. She swallowed reflexively.

  Dante’s blood flowed into her. Like electricity it rushed outward through her veins, repairing the damage the vampires had done to her. And for a moment she was content just to drink and be healed. Then gently, he pulled his wrist away.

  She clasped his wrist, desperately trying to bring it back to her mouth, but he firmly disengaged her fingers. She moaned at the sudden loss.

  “Easy,” Dante said. “Trust me, you don’t want to have too much.”

  Alarm bells rang in some distant part of her mind. No, she certainly didn’t want to have too much. That led to the inevitable changes that would make her a vampire. A creature like those hopeless fiends who’d attacked her.

  Her eyes flew open. Panicked, she stared at him.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, sensing her alarm. “You only had a little. Only enough to offset the effects of the virus.”

  The nausea had vanished. Pressed against Dante’s warm body, the shivers had ceased. Xandra felt stronger, clearer headed. She looked into his amber eyes, only inches from hers.

  He closed the distance. His mouth covered hers, possessive and demanding. His tongue probed the recesses of her mouth, seeking the remnants of his blood. It should bother her. A week ago, it would have. But the way Dante kissed her made her feel wanted and loved. And his blood coursed through her veins, making her strong.

  That strange feeling of being cared for brought a sudden rush of tears to her eyes. She gasped for breath. He pulled away.

  “Xandra?”

  “Shh.” She placed a finger against his lips to silence further questions.

  He studied her carefully. “If we’re moving too fast for you here—”

  She shook her head. “No.” How to explain this strange flood of feeling that touched places she’d kept hidden since her mother died? She didn’t even think she could summon the words.

  Rising, he held her against him while he pulled down the bedspread. She looked around the room, suddenly taking note of her surroundings.

  “Where are we?”

  “In a motel off the highway.”

  Danger brushed at her senses. She stiffened in his arms. “A motel? Why?”

  “I couldn’t run the risk of taking you back to your place. Or mine.”

&n
bsp; “Or the hospital?”

  “The hospital would only have made things worse. Not to mention they’d probably call your boss.”

  Memories of Jeremy’s dressing down rushed to the forefront of her mind. “It’s probably not a good idea to involve him.” She wondered how Jeremy had gone from a father figure to an enemy in less than a week. “But I don’t understand. Why does your blood make me better?”

  He brushed his lips against hers again, setting off little bursts of pleasure all down her spine. “We’ll talk about that later,” he whispered. He settled her back against the sheets.

  Dante stripped off his jacket and tossed it onto a nearby chair. He pulled his T-shirt over his head and added it to the pile. Then he strode to the bathroom and returned with a wet wad of tissue. “Don’t use the towels,” he said, pulling up the leg of her pants and wiping the blood from the back of her knee. He tossed the tissue into the toilet and flushed it. “Not until you’ve showered.”

  Xandra nodded. The last thing they wanted to do was to leave DNA evidence in the motel. Evidence Jeremy could use against her. She unhooked her torque and put it on the night table with her cuffs.

  “I haven’t done anything wrong,” she protested. “Three times now I’ve been attacked and Jeremy’s making me feel like I’m a criminal.”

  “We need to find out why that is,” Dante said softly. Then he added, “Tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow,” she agreed.

  He reached for her. His callused hands slid down over her arms until his fingers located the hem of her gore-splattered shirt. Gently, he pulled it over her head and added it to the pile of clothes on the chair. Then, he lay down beside her again.

  She felt strangely vulnerable and exposed in just her bra. She nuzzled against him, burying her nose in the soft tangle of hairs in the center of his chest.