Blood Knot

by Cooper-Posey, Tracy

  Sebastian was unbuttoning his jeans. His shirt was already gone and his chest, with its soft tan, gleamed in the morning light falling through the windows. He dropped to his knees in front of her and stroked her cheek. “You look drunk.” His voice was thick, heavy with lust.

  “Let me taste you,” she breathed.

  He groaned and pushed his jeans down his thighs, freeing his hard cock so that it jutted proudly from his body. Winter curled a hand around it and bent her head to take him into her mouth. Sebastian took a shuddering breath and she felt his fingers slide into her hair.

  Nial withdrew from her pussy and pushed back in. Hard. It made her gasp around Sebastian’s cock and her climax leap closer. She was going to come quickly and powerfully.

  So she concentrated on drawing from Sebastian the most pleasure she could, using her tongue, teeth and lips, hand and pressure to drive him over the edge as quickly as possible.

  His fingers clenching in her hair, his labored, uneven breathing, and the pulsing of his cock told her she was effective. And the task delayed her own pleasure just a few seconds longer.

  As Sebastian jerked and came in her mouth with a low, strained groan, Winter relaxed and let her climax overpower her. The lush delight of Nial’s cock stroking deep inside her, his pelvis kissing up against her with each in-thrust, and the feel of his shaft sliding in and out of her pussy entrance, the bulging veins caressing the walls, was overwhelming.

  She came with a cry, just as Sebastian withdrew from her mouth.

  Nial’s hand curled over her shoulder—this time, the shoulder he had bitten. His fingers dug in as he slammed into her harder and faster until he came with three deep strokes that pushed up against her cervix.

  His hand kept pulling her backwards and up. He was lifting her off her hands. His other hand wrapped around her waist and he settled her on his lap—with him still buried inside her. She could feel his chest rising and falling against her back.

  Nial pulled her hair to one side and kissed the place where he had bitten her. She looked down at it. The skin was unmarked. She looked at him. His eyes were normal once more, and he gave her a small smile. “Dilecta,” he murmured.

  Sebastian turned her face toward him. “An Coimeádaí mo chroí,” he said and kissed her.

  “Amen,” Nial added.

  Sebastian straightened and glared at Nial. “And you scared the fucking crap out of us. An explanation is overdue, asshole.”

  Nial laughed.

  * * * * *

  “There’s a new faction involved in this,” Nial said.

  He was sitting on one of the dining chairs he’d pulled up in front of the sofa, his back to the windows. Now he leaned forward, his forearms on his knees, looking intense and earnest.

  Sebastian and Winter sat on the sofa in front of him, fresh coffee in their hands. Winter was dressed in her working clothes, which had raised Nial’s brows and made Sebastian chuckle.

  “Get used to it,” Sebastian told him. “If the AC goes out, she starts rolling down the top of her pants even lower.”

  “It’s a wonder you got any constructive work done at all,” Nial observed.

  “I ended up a computer geek for a reason,” Sebastian said dryly.

  Winter caught her breath. It was true. Sebastian had often disappeared behind a computer monitor when they were planning or doing dry runs for a job.

  Now Sebastian narrowed his eyes as he stared at Nial, his coffee cup cradled in his big hands. “Another faction?” he said flatly. “I thought you were working on behalf of everyone?”

  “Hardly,” Nial replied. “None of us knows exactly how many of us there is.”

  “Wait,” Winter interrupted. “You’re talking about vampires, right? I just want to be clear here. I know you two are used to the euphemisms and secrecy but we’re all in on the deal, and I’m not up on the lingo.”

  Sebastian sat back, with a small smile.

  Nial pursed his lips for moment. Then he nodded. “Yes, vampires,” he said flatly. “The people I am…working with.”

  “Careful word choice there,” Sebastian said. “Does that mean you’re uncertain about your own status with your own people?”

  Nial considered the question. “Perhaps. But that’s not the issue for right now. The other faction is.”

  “The other faction being?” Winter prompted.

  Sebastian shook his head. “No, he’s dodging, Winter.” His eyes narrowed again. “Why isn’t it the issue right now? Who are you working with? Tell us.”

  Nial hesitated. “I can’t,” he said at last.

  “Can’t, or won’t?” Winter demanded.

  “Cannot,” Nial replied. “These people are paying you a vast fee to pull off a job that will ensure their secrecy. That includes secrecy from you. There’s a reason I’m the middleman.”

  “You’re acting as a agent?” Sebastian said, disbelief tingeing his voice. “That’s a step down for you, Nial.”

  Nial considered them for a moment. “It is,” he agreed flatly.

  “Okay, so you won’t tell us about Party A,” Winter said. “What about Party B?”

  Sebastian shook his head again, staring at Nial. “No, wait,” he said softly. “He’s trying to tell us something, Winter.”

  She studied Nial. He was watching them with a peculiar intensity.

  “Can’t you just say it?” she asked. “Why all the word play?”

  “There’s a truth-teller among them,” Sebastian breathed.

  Nial let out a harsh breath. Relief. He nodded.

  “A what?”

  “A vampire that can tell truth from lies. A natural lie-detector,” Sebastian said. “Someone like you.”

  Winter stared at Nial, remembering something that he said previously. You’re both so close! Stop fighting me on this. They had been asking the right questions then, but had never followed through. “You can’t tell us, but we can guess by asking you the right questions. Is that it?” she asked.

  “Some questions I just can’t answer. They’re too dangerous,” he said. “But yes, you’re right on most of it. If you guess, then I can truthfully say I didn’t tell you.” He took a deep breath and sat back in the chair.

  “You won’t give us the names of who you’re working for?” Sebastian asked.

  Nial shook his head.

  “We can figure that out for ourselves,” Winter replied. “Who stands to lose the most if the data we’re stealing gets out?”

  “The house member on the video, for one,” Sebastian replied. “Anyone who sits on his coattails, second.”

  “Follow the money,” Winter reminded him.

  “I can build a money trail in two hours,” Sebastian said. “A list of who gets rich off the house rep’s activities.” He looked at Nial. “Will that have the names of your employers on it?”

  Nial nodded.

  “All of them?”

  He shook his head.

  “There’s others,” Winter concluded. She shook her head. “We’re maybe getting distracted, though. Just identifying who has a grip on Nial doesn’t give us the total picture.”

  Sebastian took a deep breath and let it out.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  He glanced at Nial. “The idea that someone—anyone—has the power to put a hold on Nial…” He shook his head. “I think hell just froze solid.”

  “Don’t get distracted,” Nial said. “I tried to warn you, didn’t I? You don’t really understand how power over others works. You never have. Now you’re getting a taste of the other side of that coin.”

  “Abuse of power,” Winter breathed.

  Sebastian frowned.

  “They’re forcing Nial,” she concluded.

  Nial closed his eyes and let out his breath.

  “Sweet Jesus,” Sebastian whispered.

  “How?” she demanded of Nial. Then she held up her hand. “Scratch that. You can’t answer. And it doesn’t really matter. We know they have leverage over you. That’s a
ll.”

  Sebastian put his cup on the side table and stood up. “They’re really so keen on keeping themselves hidden they’d stoop to coercion? Coercing you of all people?” He was angry and offended. “Perhaps coming out is the best thing after all, if it puts a stop to this bullshit.”

  “They will come out. They intend to,” Nial said. “But on their own terms. Just not in the three-ring circus the Reverend Deacon has planned.”

  Winter pulled on Sebastian’s hand. “Don’t cloud your thinking,” she warned. “Sit down, Bastian.”

  He was staring at Nial. “What are they holding over you, Nathanial?”

  Nial shook his head, but didn’t answer.

  “He can’t tell you that,” Winter said, shaking Sebastian’s hand. “Sit down,” she added.

  Sebastian sat again, reluctance showing in every stiff angle of his body.

  Winter considered the matter. “The other faction,” she said slowly, thinking out loud. “They carved you up?”

  Nial nodded. “And left me for dead in a Dumpster.” He sat forward again. “Them, I can tell you about.” He grimaced. “Not that I’ll get any pleasure out of it. It’s been a long while since anyone got the jump on me. And they were human. Perhaps that was why I was relaxed. I wasn’t expecting trouble from that quarter.”

  “Human?” Winter was startled. She considered the matter. “Did they think you were, too?” she asked. “They would never have simply left you for dead that way if they had known what you really are.”

  Nial shook his head. “I’ve been thinking about that. I was quartering the Flatiron last night. Very late, just before dawn. I wanted to check on sight lines and a couple of other things. Four of them took me right off the sidewalk. At first I thought it was a simple mugging and I was going to let them drag me into a quiet alley and then deal with them. And for a moment or two it did go down like a mugging. While the four of them held me, a fifth stripped me of my wallet and watch and anything of even marginal value.” He glanced at Winter. “I’m glad you have the ring,” he said briefly. “It seems they were just working me over for side benefits. The wallet told them they had the right man. Then they held me still while a sixth and seventh man stepped up. They knew we were going to hit the Flatiron in the next few days. They knew what we were going for. They even knew why. But they were human.” He took a breath. “And so I used only human strength and reactions while one beat me up with bronzed knuckle-dusters. Then I stood pinned between them while the other pulled out a butterfly knife and carved up my innards. Then they tossed me into the nearest Dumpster.” His mouth curled down in distaste. “It was not the most comfortable few hours I’ve ever spent. I had to steal the jacket from someone’s second balcony washing line and I jog-trotted until I could talk a cabbie into driving me here. I owe Frederick two hundred dollars, too. He paid the cab driver.” He put his hands over his face and then slid them up into his hair and scrubbed at it as if he were trying to erase the memory of the morning. “I think they knew exactly what I am,” he said finally. Flatly.

  Sebastian held up his fingers as he ticked off items. “Their sheer numbers, which means they knew your strength. They checked your ID to make sure they had the right man. They know about vampires, about what is coming down the pipe.”

  Winter held up another finger. “They didn’t leave any messages for anyone else, warning them to drop the Flatiron job,” Winter said. “They knew you would recover from wounds that would kill a human. The whole mugging thing was aimed at you personally, to make you back down.”

  Nial’s expression was bleak. “If I’d known in advance they weren’t going to leave a warning, or contact you, I would have known I could reveal myself. I could have used my full strength against them and saved myself a bloody few hours and you two a heart attack each. And we might have learned more about them.”

  Winter shivered because she knew what “learning more” would have involved—torture and pain to extract information.

  “They were human,” Sebastian said, “But their masters may not be. It’s still a common practice.”

  “What is?”

  “Vampires sometimes have a human…well, assistant is the nicest noun,” Sebastian told her. “Further back in time, the humans were treated little better than servants or slaves. Sex toys and cannon fodder, or sometimes as pet guards if they had an aptitude for it. These days, some vampires pay salaries and recruit humans for specific skills, but it comes down to the same thing: they’re using them for personal services and consider the humans that serve them as subsidiary creatures.”

  Winter already knew that Nial and Sebastian had never used human servants. It would be abhorrent to both of them.

  “Human factions would have every reason to stop us,” Winter pointed out. “That is, if they knew of what we planned. Other vampire factions would stay out of our way and possibly applaud us, wouldn’t they? We’re saving their asses, too.”

  Nial sat forward. “What if they wanted the democrat to fall?”

  “Politics?” Sebastian almost spat the word. “We’re juggling with the revelation of a species and they’re out there having a bun fight over petty national politics instead?”

  “Hardly petty. Do you realize how many billions of dollars change hands when a president falls?” Nial replied, his tone mild.

  “This reaches that high?” Winter asked, appalled. “The White House?”

  Nial hesitated. “It could,” he said diffidently.

  “Just how close is this Democrat to the President?” Sebastian asked.

  Nial shook his head.

  “Best friend?” Winter guessed.

  “Golfing buddy,” Sebastian added.

  “Hell it could even be the Speaker,” Winter said. “He’s a pal of the President’s.”

  “Yes,” Nial said and rubbed his temples.

  Winter and Sebastian stared at him.

  “Richard Lowenstein…is a vampire,” Sebastian breathed. He pushed to his feet in a jerky movement. “Christ, Nial, what have you got us into?”

  “He didn’t have a choice, remember?” Winter said softly, watching Nial.

  For far from relaxing now they had guessed the biggest part of it, he seemed even more on edge.

  Slowly, trying not to draw Nial’s attention, Winter got to her feet as well. Sebastian was jittery enough to keep Nial occupied for the few seconds she needed to float over to Nial’s chair. She laid her hand on the back of Nial’s neck.

  She only got a split second before Nial launched himself out of the chair and away from her reach. He spun to look at her. “Don’t,” he said simply.

  “What did you feel?” Sebastian demanded.

  “Fear,” she told him. “Strong fear. But he’s not letting it show.”

  Sebastian stepped up behind Nial. “Why fear?” he asked.

  Nial turned his head just enough to sight Sebastian over his shoulder. “Winter is wrong.”

  “I think that’s the first time you’ve flat out lied since Ireland, Nial,” Sebastian said softly.

  “Why wouldn’t you show us your fear?” Winter asked.

  Nial turned so he was facing them both. He shook his head a little.

  “What, more you can’t share? Or that you don’t care to?” Winter asked.

  “Both,” he said flatly.

  She felt her eyes widen in genuine surprise.

  Nial shrugged. “I said there were questions that were too dangerous to answer.” He lifted his hands in a strangely helpless gesture. “There’s not much more I can tell you. Except that I think we should hit the Flatiron building tonight.” He glanced at his watch. “Now.”

  “At four in the afternoon? Are you bonkers?” Sebastian demanded.

  “If we start now, it’ll be just after close of business by the time we’re in place. About ten p.m. we can move in.” Nial took a breath. “We can’t wait any longer.”

  “You mean you can’t,” Winter responded.

  “Conditions have changed,” Se
bastian said slowly, puzzling it out. “But if your employers gave you a generous deadline and haven’t suddenly squeezed you to hurry up then the only thing that has changed was the attack this morning, when they told you to lay off.”

  Winter sucked in her breath. “No…” she breathed. “It wasn’t just ‘lay off’ at all, was it?” She moved the chair aside. “It was ‘lay off or else.’ Wasn’t it?” She stood in front of Nial, her shoulder almost touching Sebastian’s arm. “They threatened you, too. Not just the bodily harm…because they’ve already done that. Something else. Something that has you scared enough to want to pull the job as soon as possible before they recover, and catch them off guard.”

  Nial drew in a breath. “Yes,” he breathed out.

  “Fuck.” Sebastian sighed.

  Winter looked at him. “You still want me to trust him, Bastian?”

  Nial made a sound of surprise and she looked at him. He was staring at Sebastian.

  Sebastian pushed his hand through his hair, looking both guilty and embarrassed. He shrugged. “I know how this looks, Tera. But I know Nial. And if he’s scared, then this is huge. I trust him. I trust his judgment. If he says jump now and no, he can’t tell us why, then I say we jump. Fast.”

  Winter nodded. “Alright then,” she said softly. “Let’s jump.”

  And Nial let out a shaky breath of relief, which scared her more than anything he had said or not said since she had sat on the sofa.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “YOU LOOK GOOD as a blonde, too, by the way,” Sebastian said, pushing her third coffee cup toward her. “And I love the suit.” He sat down at the small, square plastic table, just one of dozens of tables in the food court. “Nial pick it out?”

  She nodded. “The skirt is too tight to move freely in, though,” she said.

  “So hike it up around your hips when you need to move. The bad guys will be so dazzled at the sight of lace stocking tops and a garter belt you’ll probably get a three second advantage.”

  Sebastian looked pretty good, too, even though he looked nothing like himself. He wore a high quality wig, like her, only his made him dark-haired, well-groomed and lawyer-like. His brows had been darkened to match. The suit he wore was pure Brooks Brothers conservative.