“Like hell he does,” he snapped back. “You need real passion in your life, not some boring ass one.”
“What are you talking about, Mr. Grayson?”
“It’s Hans,” he all but growled. “And I’m talking about this.”
Then he was pulling her towards him and kissing the life out of her.
Fire exploded in his system. It traveled all over his body, spread, burned him inch by inch as he was consumed by her mouth and her softness. Her body pressed against his, and papers and scrolls clattered to the floor as he lifted her up and set her on the table. Then he stepped between her legs and pulled her closer, angling the kiss deeper and drowning in the moan that slid out of her throat.
Jesus. She was absolutely delicious.
His hands itched. His cock hardened. He wanted her dress off, wanted to taste every inch of her body. He wanted himself inside her wet heat and pleasuring her over and over until—
They were interrupted by a loud gasp and a clatter as the librarian appeared and dropped what she was holding.
"Where on earth do you think you are?! And what, in heaven's name, do you think you are doing?"
A split second later, Nell was pushing him away with a gasp and standing up, her breathing heavy. There was an old woman, obviously not a vampire, who looked at them with murder in her eyes.
“Nothing,” Nell said quickly. “I’m sorry, madam. I’ll arrange everything and be gone.”
He helped her arrange things, and he didn’t know why. Her hands trembled, but she steadied it along with her breathing. His arousal was still on the surface, threatening to snap whatever control he had.
The librarian watched them like a hawk, then nodded her head when they were finished and went away.
Hans opened his mouth to apologize for the assault. To tell her he wanted to do it again. To tell her a lot of things. But the blindfold was suddenly being placed over his eyes again, and he felt her hands tugging him in a certain direction. Soon, he smelled the dampness again, and knew exactly where she had taken him.
They were now all alone.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
He was the most arrogant man she’d ever encountered, and Nell tried to gather her thoughts and tell him so.
But what she blurted out was completely different.
“You were trying to undermine my marrying Raz.”
The man had the audacity to shrug. Even in the dark, with only slivers of light illuminating the way, she could see his form towering over her, a big man with a dangerous sort of aura around him. She could even smell him—the same scent he had in the forest and mountains, except it was crisper now and was driving her crazy. She compared being around him to being around Raz, and the difference was astonishing—really, there was no comparison at all. With Raz, she felt calm and unperturbed and unshakeable.
With Hans? She was unsteady, reckless and too tingly for her own good.
That kiss was even hotter than the one before—and it threatened to unravel whatever control she was trying to hold on to. He had no right to kiss her, then act so calm after. He had no right to make her body burn.
She had to act rational about this.
“Also,” she added, changing the topic, “What you did in the library was highly inappropriate.”
Amusement radiated around him, and suddenly it made her more exasperated.
“Oh?”
“Yes,” she scolded. “Books and maps are precious. And we’re civilized. We need to act civilized.”
“I’m a beast, Nell.”
“And I’m a vampire,” she shot back. “And I can still remain civil.” When he didn’t respond, she sighed. “Have you even talked to Lucinda yet?”
Hans shrugged. “I came to see you.”
Oh, God. You didn’t visit the vampire headquarters and not visit Lucinda’s office, especially when it involved her assistant. Nell closed her eyes and tried not to rub her forehead. Then she jerked her head and started walking. “Follow me. We see her, then we talk.”
The first few minutes was filled with silence—except she knew he was there, radiating warmth and a steady presence. Her head remembered his hands on her skin, and she tried to calm herself down. She babbled.
“That’s another thing that’s not appropriate. You can’t come here and not greet the vampire leader. That’s just incredibly rude. Was Mr. Masters not given the protocol?”
“I’m aware.”
“We’ll go visit Lucinda. You will tell her why you’re paying me a visit.”
He made a noise. “Are you always this bossy?”
Nell nodded her head firmly. “Totally. Are you always this arrogant?”
“Of course,” he muttered agreeably.
Okay. They were about to fight again. Or spar. Or whatever it was they were doing. She stopped walking and whirled towards him. “What do you want, Hans?”
Mistake. He bumped into her, when she knew without a doubt he’d sensed her pause and could have evaded. But no—the bump now caused his body to brush hers, and in the dark, it seemed more pronounced. She tried to stifle a gasp.
“You’re in my system.”
The words finally registered. She backed away.
He took a step closer.
“Well, then. Can’t you just get me out of your system?” she asked, a hint of desperation in her voice.
“The beast inside me? It wants you. It wants to kiss you. And touch you. And taste all of you.”
Her blood pounded at his words. The wall met her back, and Nell let out a squeak. Then she cleared her throat.
“And the man?”
“The man wants to do this.”
Then he closed the distance between them, brushing their bodies again. Then he was pressing her against the wall, and in the darkness, he slowly melted her control away by kissing her hard.
He was a big man. He was a big man, and the proof of his arousal pressed against her stomach as he skillfully used his mouth on hers. Then, his tongue. It was a sensual assault, and it rendered her unable to do anything but kiss him back.
The kiss then turned slow—a seduction by itself, and with the man doing it so sure of himself. Those hands slid down and cupped her tingling breasts, and he nipped at her bottom lip until she was moaning out his name, and—
He pushed her and groaned, his mouth sliding lower. Nell had a second to realize he’d parted her blouse and unclasped her bra. Then her mind scattered when his lips closed over an aching nipple, and her hands pulled him closer when he sucked and licked with complete abandon. Oh, my. His thumb rubbed at the other repeatedly.
This was lust of the highest order. This was desire ready to consume her whole being. She shouldn’t give in. She had responsibilities. A different world.
But she didn’t stop his hands when they slid her skirt up. She didn’t stop his mouth when it cruised lower.
He spread her legs apart and kissed her there, making her jump. Then he slid her panties down and placed his tongue in her core, and her body trembled. He held her still, all that raw power, and continued licking her right there, using fingers and mouth to drive her further to the brink. She reveled in it, feeling her arousal build higher and higher until it reached the very end. Then he rubbed her swollen spot, and the tension snapped. She climaxed with such force, Nell could only place her hand over her mouth to minimize her own desperate moans.
Hans’ mouth found hers again, and she tasted herself on him. Enough. That had to be enough.
Instead, Nell found herself running her hands under his shirt. Then, unbuttoning his pants and unzipping it. She took out his shaft and made him harder, his sexy groan only triggering her to go on. He nipped at her throat, then sucked. His hands never stopped moving.
“I want you inside,” she whispered.
He stiffened. Then he groaned. “You haven’t done this before.”
“I want you inside,” she repeated, her voice firm. Desperate. Needy. “Hans—”
His name was barely out of her mout
h before he was thrusting in and slowly filling her to the hilt. She felt pain for a second, but it vanished right after. She had never felt this full, and had never felt this aroused so quickly. Hans wrapped her legs around his waist, touched her with his hands. Then, with his blindfold still on and the darkness still surrounding them, he teased her with his mouth and slid in and out of her slowly until she was writhing in his arms and demanding more.
His hunger urged her on, and soon she was moving with him. She ripped his shirt and dragged her fingers all over his muscles, and the sound that came out of his throat was animalistic. Wanting to drive him further, she placed her mouth on his ear. Sucked.
His control snapped. He was pistoning into her harder, faster, and they were reduced to raw animal fucking that had her unable to stop the moans coming out of her. Pleasure filled her, over and over, increasing in intensity until she was all but consumed in it.
Then her second climax tore through her, and it made her blind and deaf to everything but him. Hans drove inside her a few more times before he went rigid as his own climax took him. A raw sound came from his mouth, and she kissed it and swallowed the sound.
When they came down from their high, she was still clinging to him, and he was still pressed to her. Their scents clung to each other.
“I want you as my mate,” he murmured.
She buried her head on his neck and closed her eyes. “It’s not going to work.”
“We’ll make it work.”
*****
Four Months Later
Lucinda stared at her as if she sprouted horns—the first emotion to ever show on the vampire leader’s face as she watched Nell with a kind of intensity that wanted to dissect all her secrets in the world. Not that Lucinda didn’t already know, considering Nell reported everything to her.
Well, except this one.
“Are you sure about this decision, Nell?”
Was she sure about accepting the marriage proposal of a man—no, shifter clan leader who would definitely be exiled once this was over—who drove her to the ends of her patience? No.
But did she love him?
Yes. Too much.
Hans was infuriatingly arrogant, strong-willed and too stubborn for his own good. He was also persistent when he had a goal—and now his goal involved wooing her and her vampire leader, whatever it took.
He was also absolutely loyal, prideful, brave and more caring than he let on.
He was also intent on driving her insane in bed. And out. But especially in bed, where he showed her wonders and made her blood sing.
And he loved her. He loved her so intensely, she still staggered from the force of it.
As Hans had promised, they would make it work. And they did. He visited the vampire headquarters a lot, swallowing whatever old opinion he had on their kind and eventually becoming friends again with Finn, and reaching a civil point with Lucinda. She visited Dylan Masters at shifter headquarters, who was infinitely more open as he looked at the ceiling at Hans’ proclamation of their upcoming union and transparently stifled a sigh—not that it was a done deal yet. There was a council meeting regarding Hans’ fate in the shifter community, and although the council was hesitant with his decision to mate with a vampire they voted to allow Hans to remain in his position and he was commended for his success in saving his kind.
Her world was changing. Hans’ world was changing too.
They were going to be mates.
And they were going to be just fine.
THE END
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CHAPTER ONE
Valley Joy was the kind of sleepy town that didn’t really bring much excitement about, considering its main hobbies involved the following: too little population where everyone knew everyone, gossiping between neighbors being a common thing, and no fun places to go to at night.
Erik O’Riley wasn’t a fan of the first, because he couldn’t be as invisible as he wanted to be. Cities and crowds were much better for the likes of him, where he could move without too much detection.
He didn’t really like the second, because what if one of the neighbors found out his true nature by accident? It would be all over town in less than a day, and they’d probably hold pitchforks while demanding to burn him at the stake.
He definitely wasn’t a fan of the last because…well, where were you supposed to drink and pick up women willing to heat up the sheets with you?
But Erik had a job to do—and unfortunately, that job included going to Valley Joy.
It was late afternoon by the time he arrived in town, and he headed straight to the police station and looked for the town sheriff right off. Erik waited in the station’s tiny waiting room, trying to ignore the young blonde secretary gawking at him. He’d give it five hours, tops. He was pretty sure his appearance would be described a couple times over as gossip was passed around regarding the new neighbor.
Ten minutes later, he was ushered into the sheriff’s room and finally met the man.
John Malone was as robust as the day Erik had met him ten years ago in the city—but the man looked somewhat happier now, he had lost that sour expression he wore all the time. They exchanged pleasantries for a bit, with Erik politely asking about John’s family and kids. He didn’t miss the way the sheriff’s face lit up when he answered.
Then John got right down to business. Without preamble, he pulled out a folder and slid it on the desk towards Erik, who picked it up without a word and began reading. There were pictures along with the files of victims and the nature in which they died—each eerily similar, each more violent than the last.
John didn’t interrupt, waiting patiently and as still as a cat. It gave away his true nature, though no ordinary man would have figured it out.
When Erik was done, he looked John in the eye.
“So these happened in other towns?”
John nodded. “Neighboring towns. Started further away near the border and steadily drew closer. The last few victims were in the town nearest to ours, a week ago. Then it stopped.”
“Hmm. Did someone warn you? Gave you these reports?”
“The sheriff in the neighboring town did. We all look out for each other.”
Erik looked at the file again, his attention riveted on the bite marks of whatever was left of the victims. They were a combination of violet and black, with yellowish bubbles forming at the sides. Odd.
“Any clues as to what we’re after here?”
John shook his head. “It’s not a shifter. I can’t identify the marks.”
“Doesn’t look vampire, either,” Erik murmured.
“No. Can you stop this from happening in Valley Joy?”
“I’m the man for the job.”
“Great,” John said with a sigh. “I could help, but I want to keep up my human appearances and not disappear when we get victims. I need to reassure the townspeople with my presence.”
Erik nodded, opting not to say that a cat shifter wouldn’t be much help, anyway—not when the victims were torn apart like this. John went on to explain that the attackers didn’t stay in the same town for too long—either they got tired of staying in once place easily, or just didn’t want to draw too much attention.
When they were done discussing, they both stood up and shook hands.
“I’ll take care of this problem for you, Sheriff.”
That was, after all, what he came here for. Shifters like his kind were meant to protect—with the right incentive and motive.
“Great. Let me show you where you’ll live in the meantime. There is plenty of food and honey in stock.”
Wonderful. A sheriff after Erik’s heart.
The sheriff led the way out of his office. With one last glance at the folder, Erik followed.
*****
He hadn’t been lounging in his new house
—a one-story suburban style place with a bedroom and the basic appliances needed—for more than an hour when he saw lights turn on at the house next door, and voices carrying through. He was standing in the kitchen, eating a juicy steak and contemplating dessert when his sensitive ears picked up the male and female tones.
Quietly, Erik moved towards the living room, not turning any of his own lights on. Through the window, he saw the man—an affable looking fellow who seemed to be trying his hardest to make the woman laugh. Erik noted that his tone was verging on desperate, and wondered how long until the woman cracked.
Erik couldn’t see the woman with the way the porch arch was blocking her from sight, but it was obvious from her tone that she was being painfully polite…and putting him in the friend zone. Erik couldn’t help his grin when the persistent date finally got the picture as she didn’t invite him inside for coffee and practically slammed the door in his face.
“Call me when you can!” the man shouted hopefully before dejectedly shuffling away.
Erik chuckled, then shook his head. He went back to the kitchen to take care of the dishes, the neighbor forgotten as he got lost in his own thoughts. It was too early to shift and scout the area, especially with someone his size—he would need to do that later when everyone was asleep. Valley Joy had lots of forest areas, but it would be best to start securing the houses nearby first before venturing there. In this case, he only had two neighbors in this particularly area, so that was going to be a cinch.
He placed the dishes in the dishwasher, then decided that dessert would be a good idea right now. A light turned on in front of the kitchen window beside his sink. Erik looked up.
He froze.
The polite woman from earlier was now in his field of vision—clearly so. She’d turned on the lights in her kitchen, where a wide window gave him a view of her going to the fridge to pour herself a glass of white wine.
But that wasn’t the only thing she was doing.
Erik watched as the woman drank the wine in one huge gulp, then took out the bottle again and started drinking from there. Two gulps, before she placed it back.
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