Ripper

by Lexi Blake

  After a while I heard Marcus leave, promising to return for me in two hours. I sighed because I didn’t want to leave my happy little nest of quiet and food and minty juice. I got up though. I forced my limbs to move because I had a job to do.

  Syl had left me two very nice outfits laid out on the bed. The shopping bags said Niemen Marcus, so I probably didn’t want to look at the tags to figure out how much I owed Gray. I could totally leave the tags on the elegant business suit. I didn’t need it at this point. I was going to have to wear the wine-colored sheath dress with an almost Asian looking neckline. I was surprised at the conservative nature of the dress. The neckline was quite high and the skirt would hit me a little past the knee. All in all, I’d expected a bit more trashy chic from a demon, but then I supposed Syl wouldn’t want me to look like a hooker. I was his master’s intended after all. He seemed to take that seriously.

  I turned on the shower and pulled off my clothes. Gray’s shower was one of those walk-in masterpieces of plumbing technology. It didn’t have anything so pedestrian as a shower curtain, like my tiny shower-tub combo. Nope this was a little room in itself. I stepped inside and sighed as the hot water hit my skin. I needed to feel clean again.

  Heat suffused my skin, finally seeming to penetrate, but I couldn’t relax. I worried that I might not until I solved this case.

  “Hey.”

  Gray was standing in the doorway to the shower. He’d gotten rid of his shirt and his jeans hung low on his hips. My eyes caught on the tattoo on his chest. Torso really. It covered his left pec and wound around his body. My demon with the dragon tattoo.

  “What made you pick the dragon?” Somehow it fit him. I couldn’t imagine him getting drunk one night and stumbling into a tattoo parlor and picking something random. It wasn’t random at all. That dragon seemed to be a piece of him.

  His eyes were on my breasts, heat pouring off him, but he was still as he replied. “I didn’t. I had no choice in the matter. I turned thirteen and when I went to sleep that night, I was taken by my father to the Hell plane. It was the first time I met him, the first time I had to go there. When I went home, I had this tat. Well, I had the beginnings of it.”

  He really went to the Hell plane. His father was really a Hell Lord. I knew it on an intellectual level, but seeing that tat reminded me that even Hell had its beauty.

  His jaw had tightened, his body stiffening the minute he told me the truth. I’d shed my shame the night before in telling him my story, but Gray still had his. If it was anything like mine, he hadn’t really earned it.

  I walked up to him, feeling awfully proprietary. We’d had a crappy morning and my first instinct was to pull away. Or it should have been. I always pulled away, but I didn’t want to be anything but close to Gray. I ran my fingers along the dragon. There was something visceral about the tat and I gasped a little when I could have sworn the thing moved.

  Gray caught my hand and held it there. “Don’t. He likes it. He likes it as much as I do.”

  “He?” Now that my hand was still, I could feel something. The dragon was warmer than Gray’s skin and there was a restlessness to it, as though the skin was vibrating under my touch. Was it alive?

  Gray’s eyes had that slight tinge of red to them that let me know his demonic half was being stimulated. “It feels good, baby, but I know it shouldn’t. You have to move your hand. I like it too much.”

  “Why is it wrong?” It might feel good to him, but I kind of liked the sensation, too. Odd at first, but then it almost seemed to hum against my palm in a pleasant way.

  “It’s part of my demonic life. Kelsey, when I was thirteen it was small. It grew with me and it wasn’t like I sat in some chair and had it added to. It’s my family mark. My father touched me and then I had this thing on me. I never changed before that day, never had the strength or power.”

  Likely hadn’t been immortal. His father had somehow turned on his demonic genes. It might account for his human nature. If his father hadn’t shown an interest, he might never have been more than a slightly stronger than normal human.

  His father cared for him. Normally, that would be a good thing, but a Hell Lord’s love was probably fairly obsessive.

  “So it’s alive?” I didn’t move my hand.

  “I don’t know. I try not to think about it, but since I met you, I feel it more and more.” His eyes closed. “It feels so fucking good to have you touch me.”

  Not just him. He meant he liked it when I touched it. “Let go of my hand.”

  His eyes came open and I saw the pain there. He lifted his hand. “Of course.”

  He didn’t understand anything at all. I ran my fingers along the tat, tracing the lines of the dragon as it hummed against my skin. There was something ferocious about it, but I wasn’t scared. It was a part of Gray and that meant it somehow belonged to me. I petted it.

  The damn thing practically purred for me.

  When I looked up, Gray’s eyes were flashing red and I saw the beginnings of his fangs.

  “I don’t want you to go tonight. Do you know what I do want?”

  Oh, I know what he wanted. He wanted me safe, but there was more to it. Deep down, he wanted me to stay home and wait for him, to be the sweet woman who gave up all the danger because she trusted her man to save the world. The caveman inside wanted me tending his elegant cave, serving him dinner, waiting for him in bed.

  I wasn’t that girl. I would never be that girl, but if I could fight my instincts, maybe he could do the same.

  And maybe there were two sides to the man. Maybe I was talking to the wrong side. I’d seen the human side of Gray. He kept the other side hidden so well it was easy to forget it existed, but could he ever be happy never feeding that part of his soul? Could he be at peace with a woman who didn’t accept all of him?

  I dropped to my knees in front of him.

  “What are you doing?” Gray’s voice had gone guttural.

  When I glanced up, his eyes flashed red and his hands were trembling. “I’m taking care of you. All of you.”

  I kissed his tat, feeling it spark off my lips in a way I can only describe as electric. Gray groaned and he seemed to struggle to stay on his feet. His skin heated under my fingers as I licked the outline of that magnificent dragon. My dragon.

  Gray’s hand sank into my hair and he pulled me off with a jerk. That brief pain seemed to sensitize my skin, making my nipples hard, my pink parts soft.

  “It’s never fucking done that.” He was panting, his hands on the fly of his jeans. That was when I noticed the way his nails, usually perfectly manicured, had become neat talons. “It grows with me, but I never fucking felt it move on my body. I never felt it…want. It wants you.”

  “You want me. It’s a part of you so it gets to have me, too.” The temperature seemed to have spiked in the room. Hot water splashed across my skin, but it was the sight of Gray peeling his jeans off and tossing them aside, his cock already hard and wanting.

  His cock. That dragon that seemed restless on his skin. They both wanted me. And they belonged to me.

  My own personal demon lover was savage, riding the edge of our morning fight and what was still coming this evening.

  “I want to kill Vorenus. I want to rip his throat out. I want to kill every vampire who thinks he’s fucking what belongs to me. Mine, Kelsey. You’re mine. Come here.”

  I let go of all those old instincts. New ones flared inside me. They were both alien and comforting at the same time. My old instincts were born of pain and suffering. These came from a place deep inside me, my primal self. They were untouched by years of neglect. They were simply me and touching that dragon, feeling it bend to me had sparked them back to life.

  My lover needed. He needed this, needed me submissive to his sexual whims so he could handle what I had to do. He would shove down his hate, his jealousy, his possessiveness if I would give him these hours of respite.

  I could do that. I wanted to more than anything.

>   I was his supplicant for the moment. I suppose there are some women who would never bow in front of a man, but I’ve discovered that often a true partnership is never equal all the time. It’s a trade, a fluid bending from partner to partner when the need arises. One on their knees, worshipping the other and then the positions flip as easily as day turning to night. I never want to be so strong that I can’t love enough to bend.

  Not even after what happened.

  But this night, oh this night, I was happy on my knees in front of my lover.

  “Link your hands behind your back,” Gray ordered as he moved toward me. “Hold them there until I give you permission to move. If you need it, I’ll tie them together.”

  “I can handle it,” I said breathlessly. This was a good place to be. I wasn’t thinking about inconsequential things like how pretty I was compared to him or how it all could fall apart. I was only thinking about the warm water on my back and how gorgeous he was standing there looking down at me with his deeply blue eyes, big hands stroking his dick. He had to be careful because those claws were out. I should have been worried about those claws, about the red sheen to his eyes, but somehow I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. The claws, the fangs, the fury I knew sat beneath Gray’s calm exterior—they were there to protect me, never to hurt me.

  “Suck me, Kelsey.” His big body crowded mine. Strong legs spread as he brought that clawed hand to my hair. The edges sizzled along my scalp as he got a good hold. One hand stayed on his cock, guiding it into my mouth.

  He pressed his dick to my lips and I got my first real taste of him. I licked at the head of his cock, getting a feel for every groove and curve of him. It was a mix of soft skin and hard muscle.

  “Take it.” That dark voice of his seemed to have a straight line to my pussy.

  I kept my hands behind my back and it forced me to focus on my mouth. I couldn’t touch him any other way, so I put all of my love and affection into kissing and licking and sucking him. I dragged my tongue around his cockhead before sucking him inside. He was so big, but I was determined to take him. He was mine and I would take him all.

  I looked up and he was staring down at me, opening himself more than he ever had. He let me see the red of his eyes, licked his tongue over his fangs. Alien and so beautiful to me. He stared down at the place where his cock invaded, took territory, claimed me.

  I sucked him deeper, needing all of him. Our connection was electric, a visceral thing I could feel that went beyond the physical. I could drown in him and I would be happy to go.

  His hips flexed and he hit the back of my throat and it was all I could do not to gag. I concentrated on breathing through my nose and after a moment I could focus on the cock in my mouth. I let my tongue whirl around it as I sucked hard when he tried to retreat.

  He hissed and moaned as he shoved back in. He advanced and retreated, every inch a delicious struggle. I ran my tongue around the head, loving the way the ridge felt in my mouth. When he hit the back of my throat, I swallowed and Gray nearly cried with the pleasure.

  “Enough.” He tugged on my hair, pulling his cock from between my lips. His face was savage as he dropped down.

  His mouth covered mine, threatening to devour me. My tongue played along those fangs of his. So much destructive power and yet they only brought pleasure to me. His claws tickled across my skin before he palmed my breasts. Every inch of my flesh felt alive and simmering. I was a good girl and kept my hands locked behind my back, offering my body and soul to him. He roamed the plains and valleys of my flesh with his fingers and his tongue. He sucked a nipple into his mouth and I nearly came then and there.

  “Spread your knees further,” he ordered urgently. He groaned as he forced his claws to recede. He touched me, his fingers soft on my skin. “I’ll keep them sheathed from here on, baby. I want to touch you.”

  I did as he asked and he shoved two fingers high into me. It was easy since I was dripping wet. He used his thumb to rub my clit and I moaned my approval.

  “Good, you’re ready,” he said and I protested when he pulled his hand out. “Now, hands and knees.”

  I let my hands go and knelt on the wet tile. My knees were spread and I was about as submissive as a female can be. I was presenting to him, offering for him to take whatever he wanted from me.

  Gray immediately moved in behind me, roughly making a place for himself at my back. Before I knew what was happening, he had thrust his cock in to the hilt. He wrapped his hands around my hips for leverage and started to pound into me.

  “You don’t forget this when you’re with that vampire tonight,” he groaned as he pushed in with his dick and pulled me back with his hands.

  I was caught, penetrated and helpless and god help me, I loved every second of it. I felt alive as I gave over to Gray, his cock claiming me in the most primal fashion. Over and over he slammed into me.

  “You don’t forget who you belong to. You say my name.”

  “Gray,” I managed to cry out as I shoved back against him. He felt so good. I don’t know how I survived without this feeling. I was completely addicted to him. He was better than any drunk or high I’d ever experienced. None of that made me feel like I was precious, beloved. When Gray was inside me, I was all the things I feared I wasn’t—lovely and graceful and worthy. I didn’t question the feeling. I welcomed it as I welcomed him. I wanted my body to be his home, his safe place as he was becoming mine.

  “You’re mine,” he growled as he found that magic spot deep inside my body. “You belong to me.”

  I came apart in that wild rush of pleasure I would always and forever associate with Grayson Sloane. It was a flash fire inside my body, a bomb that detonated deep within and sparked through, bringing life and heat where I needed it the most. The orgasm made my toes curl, my eyes roll back. “I belong to you.”

  I was Gray’s and he was mine. I kind of floated down. It was all I could do to stay upright, but then Gray tensed and I felt him pulse inside me as he came with a low shout. His hands squeezed my hips almost painfully as he ground out his pleasure, filling me up.

  When he let go, he fell against my back and both of us lay there on the floor, our bodies satisfied and my heart so full of him.

  “I love you so fucking much.” He growled the words against the nape of my neck.

  I found a deep pleasure in lying with him, our bodies in synch, breathing and beating in time as the warmth of the shower rained down on us. There was peace in this place.

  “Shit. Oh, baby.” He scrambled off me.

  “What?” I was starting to come out of my lovely languor and I didn’t want that. I turned over and sent him a frown.

  All of the demon was gone. His eyes were back to deep violet and his hands were simply big and strong. I was a little startled at the fact that the dragon’s eye had closed. It had been open before, looking ferocious and hungry, and now there was a sated sleepiness to the sexy bastard. I’d satisfied that part of Gray.

  Gray looked younger than before. It was subtle, but I would have sworn the lines around his eyes were lighter, as though some of his worries had fled. His lips curled up and a soft expression lit his face as he stood up, water dripping off his body. “You are the sexiest, grumpiest kitten ever.”

  My hair was plastered to my skin and I was probably a mess, but I felt like I was glowing. “I think that’s a compliment.”

  He got to his feet and gently hauled me up with him. “I nicked you, baby. I would say I’m sorry, but that was the best sex I’ve ever had so I’ll get you a bandage and treat you like a queen for the rest of my life. My queen.”

  He lowered his head and kissed me, long and slow this time.

  I could feel where he’d nicked me. It was a little sting on my right hip. It would bleed briefly and then fade away.

  Bleed. It would bleed because I was alive and that was what living things did. We bled. When we’re wounded, when we’re flayed open and laid out, we bleed.

  I pushed at Gray and he was the
grumpy one then.

  “What?”

  “I know how Joanne is different. I figured it out.”

  * * * *

  “So all the other girls had burn marks on their wrists and some even across their arms,” I explained to Marcus as he drove the Bentley through the streets of Dallas.

  Night had fallen and we were on our way to the vampire club. My body still hummed with excitement. It was partially the aftereffects of sex with my superhot demon lover, but there was also the thrill of the hunt. I could feel it. I was getting closer, and those pictures had given me another clue. I knew how Joanne was different and it was far more than her species.

  “They struggled,” Marcus pointed out. His melodic accent seemed even more intimate in the close confines of the car. “It’s only to be expected.”

  “But Joanne Taylor’s arms aren’t burned at all,” I finished triumphantly.

  The vampire slid me a curious stare. He seemed very interested in my thoughts on the case, and I got the feeling he was endlessly fascinated with what I was going to say next. He seemed to genuinely enjoy arguing points of logic with me. “Joanne was a doe. Perhaps she simply didn’t struggle at all.”

  “Not buying it, Vorenus.” I enjoyed arguing with him, too. Since that moment I figured out what I’d been missing, I’d been filled with the most delicious energy. It practically burst out of me and Marcus had been so amused by my pacing and talking to myself and the wild hand gestures I make when talking things through that he hadn’t noticed we were running late until Gray had pointed it out with a sour look on his face. Despite Gray’s wariness, Marcus and I had been arguing back and forth in a thoroughly pleasant manner ever since. “First, even a simple little doe will fight for her life. Second, Jo Taylor had a backbone. No question about it, girlfriend had a pair, if you know what I mean.”

  Marcus laughed as his hands expertly steered the big beast of a car. “I have no idea what you mean, but I like the way you say it.”

  “Hey, that’s enough of that,” Gray growled from the backseat.