Alpha Lover

by Brenda Sparks

  The Alpha dematerialized and reformed in the hall. Nicholai glanced to his left and leapt into the small bathroom, where he landed in the tub. Standing with his feet braced wide, he waited for the animal to come. The telltale clicks of nails on the wooden floor got closer and closer. In warning, the dog’s deep bark reverberated off the walls of the cottage.

  Nicholai held perfectly still until the dog’s girth filled the bathroom doorframe. The brown Irish wolfhound stopped, muscles taut, ready to leap at the threatening intruder.

  Nicholai respected the dog. He fiercely protected Julie’s home. And no doubt he would protect Juliette every bit as furiously.

  Nicholai waited silently for Connor to make his move. The wolfhound stalked forward, ridge bristling. Each step a calculated one, sizing up his enemy. When his long body cleared the doorway, Nicholai dematerialized outside the door and pulled it shut behind the animal.

  The door shook when the animal flung himself at the entryway and crashed to the floor. He rammed into it again, but Nicholai’s trap worked. The dog scratched against the door. Nicholai watched claws appear under the door as if the canine tried to get his feet.

  “Smart dog.” Nicholai smiled. “But the door should hold you.”

  While Connor barked repeatedly, Nicholai found Juliette’s bedroom.

  “Now, let’s see if I can find anything that will tell me whether or not she’s in danger.”

  On the wall beside her bed, a bookcase held a collection of pictures and ice-skating trophies on the top shelf. He ran a finger along the spines of the books. She had a wide array of titles, from college textbooks to romance novels. One in particular caught his attention.

  Folklore: From Werewolves to Witches to Vampires, he read to himself. That’s interesting.

  As he hooked the book with his finger and pulled it from the shelf, someone opened the front door and entered the house. His head snapped toward the door to the room. Could it be someone here to threaten Julie?

  “Bloody Hell! What happened in here?” asked a deep male voice. “Connor?”

  The animal scratched and whined in answer to his name.

  Nicholai’s breath hitched in his throat. Who was this male comfortable enough with Juliette to let himself into her home and who knew her dog by name? Jealousy tightened his grip on the book.

  He remained motionless as he waited to see what the man would do. The bathroom door opened. Surprise furrowed his brows because he’d not heard the man walk through the house. Nails hit the hallway floor and scrambled in his direction. The sound kept him from pondering the observation, kept him from sending out his senses to discover more about the male.

  Connor bounded into the bedroom, his eyes locked with Nicholai’s. As the dog leapt into the air, the book fell to the floor with a thud, and Nicholai dematerialized to his home.

  ****

  Jara trekked through the forest in her mountain lion form. She licked the blood from her mouth and reveled in the coppery flavor.

  One more human gone. One less disease-infested parasite in the world.

  Of course, she knew one or two or ten fewer humans wouldn’t make the world safer for demons, but it gave her great satisfaction to lessen the threat to their species. And if enough people died in Mason’s Bluff, perhaps she might be able to risk going out occasionally, since there’d be less chance of contracting an illness.

  Jara quickened her pace, energized by the kill. Being out with nature called to something deep within her soul. The cool mountain air brought out her baser instinct.

  Pine trees swayed around her in the light breeze. A bird sang high above on the bare branch of a maple tree. The aroma of clean air mixed with pine filled her sensitive nostrils, and she took in a deep, cleansing breath.

  She wished she could remain longer, but duty called. Not to mention it would be best to be long gone before someone discovered her kill. Jara took off at a full run. By the time she reached the compound, her muscles ached from sprinting on the steep incline of the mountain and her lungs burned from the cold air, but she didn’t care. It all felt wonderful to her.

  She approached the secret entrance and stopped. Her mind’s eye pictured her human form and let the animal go. Her body shook as muscle and sinew contorted out of the animal figure. Long blonde hair sprouted from her scalp while her pointed ears shifted and morphed back into human shape. The soft fur withdrew into her skin, replaced with fine hair. Her claws retracted down to neatly trimmed fingernails and her rough pads changed to fingers. Bones elongated, paws became feet and hands.

  Jara stretched. Changing between her animal and human forms was second nature. After all, every demon had an animal form and learned to change as children. The shift was so natural, she barely registered any discomfort now.

  Jara grabbed the robe she’d left draped over a tree branch and donned the Grecian-style toga. She looked at the side of the mountain before her, eyes scanning the ivy for the hidden mechanism. Her hand slipped through the thick vine and depressed the rock beneath. A passageway opened in the rock face, and Jara quickly stepped through before it closed behind her. Her bare feet made a distinctive slapping sound on the cool rock floor. Torches held in sconces on both sides of the hall lit her way. The flames flickered and flared from the ventilation. She ran one hand along the rough granite walls, admiring the handiwork. Her people had done an amazing job, tunneling out the mountain, creating room after grand room. For people who didn’t have electricity, they had everything else a town needed.

  Except freedom. Her hand dropped from the hallway and clenched by her side.

  And what was Varrick doing about that? Very little. He spent all his time pining over that little chit, Elizabeth. A human! He really needed to help Jara and Lane find a vampire and hopefully discover immunity from human ailments.

  A few turns and she pushed through the double doors to Lane’s lab, making a dramatic entrance that caused the scientist’s head to snap up.

  “Good morning, Jara,” he greeted.

  “Good day,” Jara returned regally as she perused the male.

  The brainy demon’s body appeared lean from years of flexing his mental muscles rather than his physical ones. His thick reddish-black hair, slicked back, displayed a good-looking if not effeminate face. His cheekbones stood out in stark contrast against his sunken cheeks, and his thin face made his nose and lips appear large, but not unpleasantly so.

  “How are things coming?” Jara glanced around the lab. “Are we ready to capture a vampire?”

  “Let me show you,” he offered, then took off his white lab coat and draped it over the back of his chair. “As you can see most everything is in place. We have an embalming table, complete with titanium restraints.”

  Jara pulled on the heavy chains. “Seems secure.”

  Lane smiled. “Oh, they are. The instruments I ordered are in, for the most part, as well.”

  Scalpels, forceps, a saw, and other metal instruments lay in a perfect line on a tray. Needles and syringes, sorted by size, filled one cabinet.

  Jara ran a hand over one of the syringes. “You’ll be needing a lot of these, I suppose.”

  “Oh, yes. I’ll be drawing lots of blood and samples of tissue, not to mention I’ll need to inject the vampire with all kinds of substances to see how its body reacts.”

  “Sounds painful,” Jara commented nonchalantly, then crossed the room to a long counter. “I see the microscope arrived.”

  Lane’s eyes lit up, and he joined her. “The best money can buy.”

  “Varrick’s money,” Jara reminded him. “Don’t forget who is financing this. Do not seem so eager when you talk to my brother. He does not share our exuberance for your experimentations.”

  Lane appeared shocked. “But he gave his approval.”

  “Reluctantly.”

  Her warning couldn’t have been better timed, for Varrick pushed through the doors. The immense man filled most of the entryway with his thick neck, biceps as large as her head, and thigh
s big as trees. His eyes, so much like her own, blazed red on his rugged face. A terrifying sight to behold, his brutish body carried a regal air about it. One look and people knew he was large and in charge, in literally every way.

  “Welcome, brother. Lane was just showing me around the lab. Care to join the tour?”

  “I’m here to find out if you have come up with a way to capture a vampire yet?”

  “No, Sire, I have not, but I am confident I can contain it once it arrives. The tome Jara provided me is quite helpful. It mentions vampires are weakened by titanium and blood loss. I believe if I keep it drained and restrained, we can contain it.”

  Jara laughed. “Drained and restrained. That can be our motto.”

  Varrick didn’t look amused. “That’s all well and good, but we need one first.”

  “We know where one is,” offered Jara.

  Varrick shook his head. “It is halfway around the world. Surely there is one closer. One we wouldn’t have to figure out how to transport between countries. We need to keep this as simple as possible.”

  “Perhaps we should ask your subjects,” Lane offered.

  Varrick shook his head. “I’m disgusted enough about this little experiment, Lane. The last thing I want is for everyone to find out I authorized it.”

  “But, brother dear, you are the only one disgusted by it. The rest of us believe what you’ve done is noble. You are sacrificing a bloodsucker, so demons might have a chance at a better life. You are giving us a chance for freedom. Nothing can be nobler than a ruler who will stop at nothing to improve the lives of his people.”

  Varrick crossed his arms over his thick chest. “You really see it like that?”

  “Oh, yes, sir,” Lane gushed. “What you have done might save us all. We could live hundreds of years if not for succumbing to human diseases. You will go down in our books as the greatest ruler of all if your decision saves the race.”

  “And if it does not? What will the subjects say if we fail, Lane?”

  Jara stepped between them. “They will say you did everything possible to try to save us. There is no harm in your subjects finding out about our experiment. Let’s tell them about it and see if any of them know of a plausible way to find and capture a vampire.”

  Varrick blew out an exasperated breath. “Fine. Arrange to have the ideas presented to the three of us. We can add a chair to the throne room and the demons can present their suggestions to us behind closed doors.”

  Jara gave her brother a kiss on his cheek. “You won’t regret this.”

  “I already do.”

  Chapter 22

  Juliette’s awe began as they traveled up the snow-covered drive to Nicholai’s home. The front yard boasted a beautiful fountain, dry for the winter, but Julie easily imagined the water flowing from the vase held by the statuesque lady. Her alabaster skin matched the two winged lions, made of marble, sitting guard at the base of the stairs to the home.

  Neatly rowed windows surrounded the arched entryway on the plain but capacious brick mansion. Its brick exterior reminded her of her parents’ home, same color but many more bricks were needed to complete this grand estate. The plain exterior did not give away the surprises that awaited within.

  Though not as opulent as Peterhof’s palace, Nicholai’s home spoke of wealth and aristocracy. Where the palace had had Midas’s touch, this home seemed tastefully decorated with gilded patrician furnishings scattered over priceless Persian carpets. Antiques abounded inside on the gilded mantels and large portraits hung in golden frames. The walls were lined with hand-painted silk upholstery, the ceiling trimmed with thick crown molding inlaid with gold leaf and the chandeliers dripped with crystals.

  He’d brought her to the mansion this evening for their date, saying he had a surprise in store. The house alone had been enough of a surprise for Juliette. She could have spent hours roaming the rooms, learning the home’s secrets.

  But the reading room, with its floor to ceiling bookshelves, became her favorite spot because it contained an attached conservatory. A fountain played soothing trickles of water in the middle. Lush green plants surrounded it on all sides, giving the illusion of summer as she spied a scalped hedge garden through the circular dome of windows. Julie imagined Nicholai in the leather chairs reading a first edition book as the fountain whispered peacefully in the background.

  “Let’s skip the fourth floor,” Nicholai offered. “All the rooms on that floor are bedrooms, and we can save those for another day.” He winked.

  Julie chuckled, and a blush heated her face at the innuendo.

  They made their way to his spacious kitchen. Butterscotch and chestnut marble countertops complemented the maple cabinets that surrounded Julie. A wide island negated the need for the dinette set which sat in the corner.

  “So what do you think of the house?” Nicholai glanced at Julie over his shoulder as he pulled the milk from the refrigerator.

  “What can I say? It’s huge.”

  “But do you like it?” he pushed, looking as if he needed her approval.

  “Oh, yes! What’s not to love? It’s beautiful.”

  Nicholai crossed the room, then took her hand and gave it a soft kiss. “Just like you, lastochka.”

  “What does lastochka mean?”

  “Lastochka means darling. Literally translated, it means little swallow. I find it a particularly apt term to express my feelings for you.”

  “Speaking of translating, I believe you said you would tell me what ya tebya lyublyu means, but you never did.”

  “That translation is for another day, lastochka. But I promise that day will come soon.”

  Nicholai stared into Juliette’s eyes when he spoke, and she fell into his deep gaze. She could get lost in him, lost in his strong arms, his sweet words.

  Nicholai pulled a pot from the cabinet beside the stainless steel stove, then poured in some milk.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making hot chocolate.”

  “From scratch?” She did not keep the astonished expression from her face.

  “Do not look so surprised. Some men can cook you know.”

  “You can cook, too?” She feigned her surprise this time by widening her honey-colored eyes and placing a hand over her heart. “Why, Mr. Peterhof, you are full of surprises aren’t you?”

  When Julie giggled, she barely heard Nicholai murmur, “You have no idea.”

  A sensual smile spread across his lips in response to her teasing. He turned to her with something akin to love sparkling in his eyes. The look of adoration on his handsome face threatened to collapse Julie’s knees from under her.

  “Would you mind handing me the cocoa? It’s in the cabinet behind you.” Nicholai gestured toward the cabinet with his head.

  Julie spun around. The movement splayed her brunette hair about her shoulders. “This one?” she inquired, touching one of the maple cabinets.

  Her date paused his stirring to glance her way. “Un-huh, that is the one.”

  She pulled the dark cabinet open and scanned the containers inside. She read the Russian word for chocolate, one of the few words she read in the language. The irony she read the word for her arch nemesis in the struggle with her weight did not escape her.

  “This it?” Julie produced the metal container with a wry smile on her lips.

  “That is it. Thanks.” He turned his attention back to the pot of warm milk.

  Juliette tried to be helpful by opening the container. Finding the lid on tight, she gave a hard tug. When the lid let go, powdered chocolate arched into the air. It fell to floor coating Julie in the process with the delicious confection. Her eyes went wide with shock when the powdery dust covered her.

  Her gasp drew Nicholai’s attention from his task. His humorous smile reached his eyes, making them gleam like stars reflecting in the sea. A deep chuckle reverberated from his chest, his muscles rippled beneath his black turtleneck. Her pulse raced, stomach knotted.

  Nicholai�
�s eyes intensified as if he realized she appreciated the view. Heat coiled its way through her blood, warmed her. A flame of desire danced throughout her body.

  “Let me get that for you,” Nicholai said in a husky voice, grabbing a dish towel.

  When he brushed the brown powder, the aroma of chocolate surrounded them. He started at the top with her hair, smoothing the towel along her brunette strands softly before moving to caress her face. Each stroke of the towel sent a sensuous sensation rushing over her skin.

  His gentle touch caressed like a lover. The butterflies in her stomach became hawks, beating their wings with such force it made her stomach list. Moist heat flooded her feminine core when his caress feathered down each of her cheeks. The pad of his thumb ran across her lower lip through the towel, pulled it down slightly to expose her perfect white teeth. The intimacy closed her eyes. As she sighed, her hot breath escaped over his thumb.

  The towel continued down her neck, lingering over the pulse beating strongly at the base for a moment before it continued its way.

  When Nicholai brushed the cocoa that had nestled on her bosom, his light touches caused her nipples to tighten into tiny peaks. She hungered for him, the need made her arch into his touch. The slight movement broke the last of his will, and he locked his lips to hers in a crushing kiss.

  Chapter 23

  As the towel drifted to the floor, Nicholai’s hand slid up Julie’s arm and rested on the nape of her neck. He brought her mouth to his. His tongue begged entry into the moist cavern. Her lips parted in submission. Seeking every nook as he held her head with a tight grip, his tongue tasted her thoroughly.

  His free hand traced its way along her spine and cupped her derrière, bringing their bodies together. The length of him pressed hard against her stomach.

  Their tongues danced back and forth between their mouths, taking turns tasting each other’s sweetness, a sweetness enhanced by the aroma of chocolate in the air. His kisses drove her wild as the flames of their passion licked a trail along her skin, igniting her ardor until it drove all rational thought from her mind. She needed him, wanted him. Wanted this.