by J. K Harper
He didn’t want to think about that. All of his pain was in the past, and he wanted it to stay that way. Instead, he focused on finding nourishment for the night. That was the other bad part about being in a small town. It was harder to find humans he could drink from without going noticed. He envied vampires that found their mates and only needed them for sustenance. However, mated vampires were rare, so infrequent that they might as well existed in myths and fairy tales, which is why many vampires had multiple lovers. It allowed them to feed without being outed, as long as their lovers were compensated in return, whether financially or with the addictive bite that left a euphoric high in their donors.
Although Jai had a few bedmates, none kept his interest long enough to keep. He found his blood in more random ways.
Despite some vampires that got off on giving humans pain, Jai didn’t like to harm his prey. He only took what he needed and nothing more. However, if he waited too long before finding a food source, he would have problems stopping himself.
When he craved a thrill, he also made a habit of taking blood from lowly humans, criminals and other wretches who didn’t appreciate their lives enough to respect others. For them, he did let his animalistic side show, withholding the secretion that gave off the euphoria to throw in some pain for good measure. He wasn’t a sadist, not fully, but he wasn’t going to let bad humans enjoy his bite either.
No, he wasn’t some vampire vigilante. Far from it. If he was a hero, he would’ve killed the men he took blood from or even sent them to the local law enforcement, but he never did either of those things. Who was he to judge when he fed off the night?
He walked down the sidewalk that was the least dimly lit part. Even in darkness, he wanted to stay in the shadows and keep to himself. The shadows also held the humans he sought out his nightly nourishment from. With barely anyone on the streets except a few stragglers here and there, his pickings were slim.
Just when he was about to give up hope of finding his nightly victim, he saw a teenage boy running up ahead. The boy couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old, and he ran like his life depended on it. He disappeared in an alley, and soon Jai realized who he was running from. Two men, who didn’t seem that much older than the boy, chased after him.
Jai picked up his pace to catch up with the men. His hunt led him to an even darker alley the men had cornered the boy in, and he could see the backs of the two older pursuers. They couldn’t have been any older than their early twenties.
“Nowhere to hide now, mutt,” one of the men said. “We’ve got you now, and we’re going to show you what we do to shifters in our town.”
Although Jai couldn’t see the teenager, he could smell the boy’s fear and hear the rapid beating of his heart. Even the boy’s voice was laced with terror.
“Come on, guys,” the boy said. “I haven’t done anything wrong. Just leave me alone, and I won’t cause any problems for warlocks or witches.”
“You hear that?” the second man asked. “He wants us to leave him alone. Shame we can’t do that. If we let you go, you and your shifter buddies are going to think it’s okay to come around here and act like this town belongs to you. The warlocks and witches were here first. This is our town, and we’re going to show you what we do to outsiders. Our Master of Fire may be gone, but we’re going to continue his work. All of the Warlocks of the Flame will cleanse the city, one way or another.”
“So you’re warlocks?” Jai asked.
Both men turned around to look at him.
“Who the fuck are you?” The first man asked.
“Well, according to you, I’m an outsider. May not be one for long, since I may be calling this town home soon.”
“Welcome to Kala West, asshole. Now, get the fuck out of here before we beat your ass, too!”
Jai shook his head. “Is that the Floridian hospitality you offer all visitors? If so, you really need to work on your manners.”
The first man spoke. “Get rid of this insane fucker. I’ll take care of the dog.”
It took moments for the second man to charge at Jai, but Jai was faster. Good. He was going to get entertainment with his meal. His night was looking up.
He stopped the idiot with one hand at his throat. “You better taste a lot nicer than you act, or I’m going to be pissed the hell off.” He wasted no more time and sunk his teeth into the man’s neck, not taking time to be gentle. This imbecile didn’t deserve gentle, so he made sure his piercing left a mark to remind him that hospitality wasn’t a lost art.
“Shit!” the first man shouted after seeing Jai’s attack.
Jai ignored him and allowed the warm blood to fill his mouth. It wasn’t the best blood he tasted, but he still enjoyed the scream that poured out of his victim. Maybe next time he’d learn to pick on someone his own size.
The fresh blood soothed the dryness in Jai’s throat and the ache in his body. He allowed it to fill him and nourish his insides.
Jai saw the first man charging at him, and he was ready to swat him away like a fly. Before he could do anything, a bright blur of a figure ran past him and knocked the other man on his ass.
The new addition had the thug pinned down on the ground, and a bright red and orange glow shrouded the attacker.
“If you want a shifter to mess with, then I’m right here,” the glowing man said. “No need to hurt a damn kid to get your kicks off.”
Maybe tonight wasn’t going to be a waste of his time after all. It appeared Jai wasn’t the only one hunting, and he had a feeling that the night was just starting.
Jai made sure his nightly meal was still breathing and tossed his unconscious frame into one of the trash bins where he belonged. That would hurt in the morning, and Jai was glad for it.
“Are you all right?” he asked the teenage shifter. The boy backed up against the brick wall that made the alleyway a dead end.
The kid nodded his head but stayed silent.
Jai sighed. “Is your brain working, kid? You need to get rid of that fear soon. Otherwise, it’ll be the death of you.”
The teenager looked at him and down at the man who glowed.
Jai moved to the side and gestured behind him. “You can go now, wolf.”
When Jai didn’t move, the kid stepped forward, eyeing his way to freedom, but he kept a look on Jai and the glowing man, as if they would try to stop him.
Jai heard the kid’s breathing hitch, and the boy ran for his exit. Jai snatched him and pulled him by his collar. “Next time, don’t leave without others in your pack. Too many people in the world hate shifters and everything else that goes bump in the night. Best to stick with those who’ll have your back if you’re in this situation again. Understand?”
The kid nodded, and Jai released him. The boy ran until he was out of sight.
Jai looked back in time to see the second idiot knocked out by the man who still glowed with colors of the sun.
He watched as the guy stood up and took a deep inhalation of air as if calming down something deep inside of him. Suddenly, the glow disappeared as if someone had blown out a candle.
The man turned to Jai. “So you’re a vampire?”
Jai laughed. “Is it that obvious?”
“No need to be sarcastic.”
“And what exactly are you supposed to be?”
“That sounds a little insulting, considering I just helped your vampy ass out.”
“I didn’t ask for any help, but you were amusing to watch. Here I was thinking that this town had nothing fun to offer. Guess I was wrong about that.”
Before the stranger could say anything else, the ground beneath them shook.
“An earthquake?” Jai ask, getting his grip. “Are these common in Florida?”
“Rare if ever,” the man said.
Jai looked up in time to see a bright light shine down from the sky. It was a rainbow of colors, blue, green, and white all mixed together, and it engulfed them both.
“What the hell is that light?”
Jai asked, but there was no time to answer until the brightness consumed them both.
Chapter 3
Sherri felt her vision return as the lights dimmed. She had to close her eyes and open them a few times before the surroundings of her living room came back into view. When the bright and blinding light finally disappeared, she saw two men standing in her apartment.
They were both wide and tall, as if her tiny space couldn’t hold them. One wore all black with a black trench coat covering him. Obviously, he wasn’t from Florida, or he would’ve had on shorts and a tropical shirt or some other cooler attire to wear in the Kala West heat. The second had Floridian written all over him with an orange hoodie vest, showing bronzed arms and the top part of a chest that peeked through the open front. Even the second one’s hair was long and the color of golden brown, with sun-kissed strands of yellow blond. Both men stared at her in wonder, but neither one took their eyes off of her to analyze their new surroundings.
Seven hells, what did she do? She didn’t know what to expect, but she wasn’t expecting them. Whoever they were, they work hard to look at. If anything, they were even better than she had hoped for. But something told her they weren’t warlocks, and that made her want to toss her grimoire outside and over her balcony.
Seven hells, she needed a drink. She was too sober for the crazy shit she had gotten herself mixed up in.
“Hi,” she said. She used the one hand to wave at them and quickly realized how stupid that was. Her awkward movements made her feel like she was simply waving at people passing by.
“And who are you, lovely creature?” The man in black asked. She couldn’t help but wonder how soft his raven-colored hair would feel like between her fingers. His skin was smooth, with the slightest flush in his cheeks as if he’d just gotten in from the sun.
The way he said lovely creature sounded so erotic. His voice was deep, too, as if he’d had years to practice how to use it to make women fall at his feet, the way Sherri felt in his presence that very moment.
“My name is Sherri, and I’m so sorry.”
“What are you apologizing for?” he asked. “From the looks of it, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry about if you’re the one who brought us here.”
She switched her weight from one foot to the other. She wanted more than anything to run and hide, but this was her fault. “I didn’t mean to bring you here. I was trying to bring someone else, but I must have done the spell wrong.”
“Brought us here?” the man the orange vest asked. “Are you some kind of witch or something?”
“Yes,” Sherri said. “I’m a spirit witch, and I’m probably going to regret this in the morning.” Shut up, she told herself. You’re digging your hole a little deep.
“Sherri, the spirit witch,” the one in black said. His voice was deep and had an old-world feel to it. Not too much to sound odd, but not too little to be unintelligent. It was one of those voices that made you want to close your eyes, so you could savor it a bit more. “This night just keeps getting better and better.”
“If you give me a minute, I’ll find a way to send you back to wherever it is you came from.”
“Are we still in Kala West?” Orange-vest Hottie asked. Okay, Orange-vest Hottie was a slightly demeaning name, but they both were too handsome to not think about their looks.
“Why would we want that?” the one in black asked, moving closer to her. He was only an arm’s length away from touching her. Up that close, he was taller than she realized. “I’m curious. Who were you trying to summon?”
Sherri felt her face heat up with embarrassment. “It doesn’t matter.”
He grinned like a predator tormenting his prey. “That makes me even more curious.”
“Warlocks,” she said under her breath.
“What did you say?” Orange-vest Hottie asked.
Sherri realized she was staring at both men a little too much, but it was hard not to look at them when they were the biggest things in the room. “I said I was trying to bring warlocks, which you are obviously not.
“No, I’m definitely not a warlock, that’s for sure. I can’t speak for my companion though. Still, I can’t help but wonder why you would be summoning warlocks at this time of night. Care to share, beautiful?” Before she could answer, he snatched the grimoire out of her hand.
“Hey! Give that back.” She reached for it, but he kept the book out of her grasp.
“Interesting,” he said. “It appears you’re a witch in search of love. Yet, your magic has brought us to you instead. I wonder why that is.” With the back of his free hand, he caressed her cheek lightly.
She couldn’t move. The darkness of his eyes kept her still. His hand was cool but still had warmth that sent a shock through her body. It was as if she had a button on her skin, and his touch.
“My name is Jai,” he said, “and I’m not a warlock, but for now, I can be whatever you want me to be.”
Sherri was certain the other guy scoffed. She would have too, but she was so far gone in the dark eyes of Jai that she didn’t care how cheesy his words were.
She didn’t stop him as he bent down to kiss her either. Instead, she closed her eyes and allowed his lips to cover hers. He tasted of all the things in the world forbidden but necessary for living. As she opened up to him, her body hummed. Her arms wrapped around his neck.
It wasn’t long before she felt someone at her back and didn’t need to open her eyes to see it was the other one. He kissed her bare shoulders, and the dual sensations from both men had her on edge. She filled up with magic that was hers and beyond her as each man held her.
This wasn’t conventional. The reasonable side of her brain understood that. But it was overshadowed by feeling and power. Both won over sanity.
“Maybe the witch should get a name before another strange man dotes on her.”
Name? Right. She didn’t know who the other guy was. Technically, she didn’t know either of them, but her brain was a little foggy as her body woke up. It was as if it had always been asleep before the two men around her touched and caressed it.
“Duke,” the other one said between licks and kisses.
Okay, so he was a one-word kind of guy. At least she could stop thinking of him as Orange-vest Hottie. She could live with that for a night, as long as his hands kept massaging her sides in that addictive way.
Jai and Duke. Duke and Jai. She ran the names through her head a few times, but she finally gave up and allowed both men to consume her. It didn’t matter how crazy it was to be so intimate with strangers. She could always blame it on the alcohol later, even though she was certain her head was no longer fogged and inebriated.
It was Duke who finally lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom, which she didn’t have time to question.
With each touch and kiss, her body flowed with power, one that was so much stronger than her spirit magic alone.
It didn’t matter how, but she needed to get what they wore off of them. The need was so strong that it filled her from head to toe. A rip echoed in the room, and she felt cool air hit her back. Jai ripped her top to shreds with her bra next, and she’d never been so grateful to be free from constriction.
“You look good enough to eat,” Jai said from behind her. She felt sharp canines graze her flesh, and she glanced back to see the dark and handsome one with fangs. Fear should have flooded through her and sent her running. But he didn’t scare her. Neither of them did. Maybe she was insane, possibly still had vodka in her system, but the sight of him only made her long for him more.
She pulled him down for a kiss, and this time he pricked her lower lip. The slight pain edged her on as he sucked on her lip and brought a hand up to cup her bare breast. She tasted a slight twinge of metal from her blood, and it edged her on.
When he released her from his consuming kiss, her hands found the zipper to Duke’s orange vest, and he shrugged out of it after she undid it. The vest was a bigger deception than she realized. He was muscula
r and built like a Mack truck. Sharp lines and angles created a solid and sturdy image for her pleasure.
As a curvy girl with some depth to her frame and height to her body, she’d never felt small before, and being in between these two made her feel just like that.
Her hands roamed Duke’s chest as he gazed down at her. For some reason, he was hot under her touch, as if a flame burned beneath his skin. It was his turn to take her in for a kiss, and the contact scorched through her mouth and shot straight to her pussy, until she thought her pants and panties would melt off of her.
He pushed her back until they both fell on the bed together, an entanglement of heated flesh and limbs. Jai crawled in beside them like a predator analyzing his prey before attacking.
Duke moved back, and she watched mesmerized as he used his fingers to singe off her pants. He threw them to the side and placed his hands under her panties. With the same heat, he snapped them open, leaving a scorch mark on her undies that never even burned her skin.
Jai was a vampire. She was pretty certain of that, but her mind couldn’t comprehend what Duke was. As they both narrowed in on her, her mind shut down to let pleasure overtake her.
It was Jai who moved down to her exposed pussy and opened her legs wider. She couldn’t see everything as Duke sucked on her nipples, heating them to warm peaks that begged for his attention.
A tongue lapped at her mound and sent her arching off the bed. They held her down to keep her still as they doted on her body. The tip of a tongue flicked at her clit and drove her closer to the dangerous edge they had her walking along ever since they first touched her.
Her nipples ached in the best way possible as her pussy contracted. Wetness trickled down her inner thigh and immediately disappeared with the expert mouth that pushed her even higher.