Eagle of Ice, Scorpion of Fire

by Tortuga, B. A.

  She threw her head back and moaned, room spinning as she came, pleasure moving through her in undeniable waves. All the while he watched her, eyes laser bright, almost feverish.

  When she went lax against him, Jared kissed her throat, breath hot on her skin. “Please, Katharine. Touch me?”

  “Shh...I won’t leave you aching, Jared.” She slipped off her shoes, pushing him down on the couch beneath her, fingers working his shirt open. At least not this time. They’d said no games.

  He was strong, the muscles lean and firm underneath her touch. Her nails scraped his nipples, down his flat belly and heading for his waistband. The line of dark hair under his navel was still a wicked seduction, a trail leading to the thick, heavy cock. Jared sucked his breath in, helping her undo his pants before arching into her hand, need etched on every line of his body.

  “So beautiful.” She licked her lips, hands working to bare him. “I remember how you looked, spread for me, needing. No one ever offered himself so well.”

  God, she wanted him. Her lips slid down his stomach, fingers slipping around his balls.

  His gaze was like a physical touch, dark, on fire. His thighs fell open wide as he pushed up. “You taught me so much, Katherine. Give and take.”

  She nodded. Yes. Balance in all things. She rubbed her cheek against his shaft, moaning at the heat.

  Then the lightning flashed, the lights going off with a click and she squeaked in surprise.

  Jared laughed, the sound husky. “Well, I suppose we could light some candles, but--oh--I…Katharine.”

  “The dark doesn’t frighten me, Jared. After all, I am the monster in the closet, aren’t I?” She smiled, tongue flicking out, tasting the salt on his skin.

  “At least with your hands on my balls, darling.” The light tone was completely belied by his tension, by the obvious heat of his need. The thick darkness broken only occasionally by lightning added to the mood, to the intimacy, making them feel like the only two people in the world.

  Her lips explored soft curls, silk-over-steel skin on his shaft, sensitive inner thighs. She moaned as she moved, hands working Jared’s cock, pumping it with slow, sure motions guaranteed to make a man beg. He didn’t beg with words, but oh, his body was eloquent, his muscles ripping under her chin, his hands in her hair barely pulling. Her lips caught the skin of his sacs, tugging as she pumped him. As she released, she nudged those tender orbs with her chin before grabbing more skin and nipping again.

  A choked noise and the tightening of his balls were all the warning she got before Jared came, warm liquid jetting from his body as he danced at the command of her mouth.

  God, she had missed that feeling.

  ****

  The evening had started well, he thought. They had agreed to set the games aside, had shared food and pleasure. Keiko had taught him that such things could lead to more intimacy, and he had high hopes for it.

  Katharine had almost immediately righted her clothing, leaving him to straighten his as she poured more sake, but then they had curled up on his sofa in the dark, her curves fitting into the crook of his arm as if meant to be there. Now, she dozed, her head back over his shoulder, her long white throat exposed to him as the storm raged outside.

  What a temptation. He had thought the urges of a youngster had been beaten out of him, had thought that he would no longer spring a fang at just the thought of a bite, but this was Katharine. This was his unattainable goddess. He breathed in, taking in her scent, and fighting himself mightily.

  She had taught him so much, forced him to stretch and reach unlike anyone ever had. Now he wanted to expand her horizons. Learn her all over again. Taste her life upon his tongue.

  Carefully, easing down, Jared touched his mouth to her neck, just under her ear, feeling out her pulse. She tensed, but didn’t wake, not feeling him even that much of a threat. In this case, he wouldn’t take that at an insult. It worked to his advantage. Letting out a soft moan, Jared shifted, setting his open mouth right where he would taste her most easily, opening his mouth and letting his needle sharp teeth test her flesh.

  “Master?” She stretched, lips parting, long legs shifting as if she was swimming.

  Oh, Katharine. Has it been that long since someone tasted you?

  The thought steeled his resolve even more, and Jared bit down, feeling her flesh part like a silken veil. Her blood slipped into his lips, rich and sweet like the finest wine, the flavor of her life a particular addiction. His head swam, his vision graying out as he drew deep. Even when he had been a human he had dreamed of this, had needed it like a needle needed a vein.

  Katharine went stiff against him, fingers digging into his skin and then, in a heartbeat, he went flying as if caught in a tornado, back slamming up against the wall. “What is this?”

  Jared stared, pressing his hands back against the wall and staring at her defiantly. He would not apologize. She was not his master. “What do you think, Katharine?”

  She couldn’t know how she looked to him, hair mussed and wild, blood staining her throat. Katharine’s eyes were huge, flashing, the look furious and betrayed and incredibly vulnerable, all at once. “Who did it?”

  “Upset that it wasn’t you? You never would.” There should have been a wealth of satisfaction in him at her expression. In reality he simply felt a knot in his belly, a worry that he had ruined everything. “You wouldn’t like her.”

  “I don’t like most women and I don’t turn humans.” She went for her shoes, her jacket, wrapping her control around her like armor.

  “Leaving so soon?” Across the room before she reached the door, Jared laid a hand against the smooth panels, blocking her way. “You know you want to ask.”

  “You don’t know anything about me.” Her fangs were showing, eyes heated with her emotions, nearly glowing. A trail of blood slipped down her throat, pooling in curves of her bones, the scent about to drive him mad.

  Jared licked his lips. “I know enough that I set out to make myself your equal, love. Tell me you are not glad to see me, tell me why you came here if you don’t care.”

  “I was curious. It’s a failing of mine.”

  “Well, now you have even more to be curious about.” His fingers twitched to touch her, but Jared controlled himself, breathing in and out, counting slowly to ten.

  “Indeed.” She stood there, staring at him, staring into him, holding herself perfectly still.

  How he wanted to poke her into something. Some kind of motion. He wanted to shock her. But he wanted her to stay. “What’s the matter, love?” he finally asked. “Cat got your tongue?”

  Katharine moved so quickly a human would never have seen, nails digging into his throat and squeezing, eyes glowing in the dark. “No. But I could take yours.”

  “Try.” It wouldn’t do to let her see all of what he could do, not at all. So he stayed passive under her hand, only daring her with his eyes. “Don’t you want to taste me now, Katharine?”

  “Don’t tempt me.” She vibrated against him and he felt a flash of pure victory. He’d done that. He’d knocked her off center.

  “That’s what I’m here for. To tempt you. To be with you.” His teeth sliced into his lower lip as he cut himself off. He sounded a complete fool. Her nostrils flared and he could smell her—hot and female and hungry and furious. Luscious.

  “Katharine...” Jared gently broke her hold, moving to kiss her, completely unable to help himself. Heat flared between them as Katharine’s tongue slid along his lip, none of the slow explorations of before in this feasting.

  Oh, gods above. One of his hands slid behind her head, his fingers pushing into her hair so he could tilt her head and deepen the kiss.

  Never. She’d never been anything but perfectly controlled with him. She’d never fought and bit and tasted, nails tearing up along his spine. It enflamed him, and he turned, lifting her and pushing her back against the door. Crowding up, he kissed her harder, needing her so badly he ached.

  “Bastar
d.” Her fingers tangled in his hair, tugging hard enough to make his eyes water.

  “Definitely.” Would he deny it? No. “I want you, Katharine. I won’t lie.” His thigh slid between her legs, pressing up and up.

  “So?” She was so wet, soaking through her panties, proving her need and he pushed harder, making her moan.

  “So, stay with me. Learn me all over.” His cock pushed at his trousers again, pressing against the lush curve of her hip, making him pant with need.

  She leaned in, teeth on his earlobe just teasing for a moment before they shifted beneath, bit deep Jared grunted, his whole body like a live wire, eaten up with tiny shocks as his blood spilled into her mouth. His eyes fell closed and he ground against her, shaking, needing to come so bad he nearly blacked out.

  She lifted her head, lips swollen and dark with his blood, parted as she groaned. “Jared. Pet.”

  “Yes. Oh, love.” Arching, he pushed against her again and again, the sight of her painted red with him was enough to push him right over the edge. He came like a teenager, right there, in his pants. He came like he hadn’t since he left her.

  Katharine held him through his aftershocks, tongue cleaning her lips, his jaw.

  Damn her. Jared chuckled, the sound a little raw. “Just when I think I have very little left to learn...”

  “Then you meet someone three hundred times your age.” She smiled a bit, mouth just moving against his skin.

  “Yes.” Knee bending, he tested her need. Just because he’d found release didn’t mean he couldn’t be a gentleman.

  She could swallow her moan, but she couldn’t hide the shiver. “I should go.”

  “No. You should stay.” How many times did he have to ask? His temper flared. “Damn it, Katharine, stay tonight. We promised no games.”

  “And you weren’t playing with me?” Her own temper matched his, making her beautiful and feral.

  “I was holding some things back, perhaps. But I needed the advantage. You always have gotten the best of me.”

  She shrugged, the action practiced and polished. “You always enjoyed it.”

  They were going in circles, and he was far too drained to play a solid game of chess. Jared eased Katharine to the floor, shrugging. “Your choice then. Stay or go, I will not stop you.”

  “That, pet, was never a concern of mine.” She stepped away from him, grabbed her purse. “Thank you for feeding me, Jared. The experience was...unexpected.”

  With that she was gone, escaping without a backwards glance.

  He watched her go, his hands clenching and unclenching. When the door closed, the lights came back on, bright and sunny. Jared gave a short bark of laughter and ran his fingers through his hair.

  So much for his new and vaunted control. Katharine would be a challenge. He knew that, had always known it.

  He would just have to think of new and different ways to get to her.

  After all, if challenging men was her talent, pushing her buttons was his.

  Chapter Three

  There was a lovely young man curled up beside him, warm and languid in a soporific pose. Lovely.

  Tasty, too.

  Honestly, his Katia had the most luscious tastes in blonds.

  The door to his parlor swung open, Devon’s rather large head appearing. “Master? You have a guest. Makia Keiko.”

  “Oh? She did arrive? Excellent, send her in. Oh, call a taxi for my young friend and see he gets into it.” For Keiko, he could, conceivably, put pants on. He stood and nudged his midnight snack. “Come, child. I have guests. Time for you to go.”

  Devon helped him find the slacks he’d tossed aside, then lifted the human up. “I’ll have a bottle and glasses brought, Master.”

  “Thank you, darling.” He nodded and straightened his hair just in time for an old friend to float across the room and push into his arms, mussing him all over again. “Keiko.”

  “Silvestri.” Tiny and perfect as a dragonfly, Keiko settled beside him, lacquered nails just scratching his hands. “How are things going between them?”

  “Your scorpion and my eagle?” He shrugged. Katia hadn’t demanded he kill the man yet. “She’s been very quiet.”

  “He occupies her.”

  “Or she’s plotting putting his head on a pike.”

  They laughed together, the sound ringing out and scraping against the cloth-covered walls, making the red silk shimmer. “My scorpion is more clever than that, I think.” Her look went serious for a moment, the near-black eyes holding wisdoms almost as old as his own. “He loves her, Silvestri. Does she care for him?”

  He remembered the tears when the human had gone, the temper tantrums, the long holidays, the refusal to eat. Of course, at the time he’d assumed it was indigestion, honestly. “If she does not, we will know.”

  “I don’t want him hurt.”

  “Of course you don’t. They’ll fight. They’ll feed. If the bond is there, the addiction will take them. If not…” Well, then, Katia would kill the little one and they’d start again. He could probably find another human that looked the same for Keiko to play with.

  In his experience, if Keiko was busy playing with a new human, she was too busy to create trouble for him. “The bond will be there. Have you found another?”

  “Of course not. How could there be another Dmitri?”

  “There can’t be. However, a little play toy to warm your bed would be a distraction. You haven’t been out to play in ages.” Keiko’s pout would be deadly, if Silvestri didn’t know what lay behind that porcelain portrait.

  “You’re just spoiled, lady-mine. Besides, meeting humans exhausts me. How would I choose?”

  Her laughter rang out, bell-like, even as Devon brought a tray of wine. “That’s what the television is for, Silvestri.”

  He snorted, tossed his head. “I’m fifty centuries old, Keiko. How would I use a television? Whatever would I find there?”

  Keiko’s hands tangled in his long hair, silver against olive skin as she tugged him down to steal a kiss. “Oh, my dear, old-fashioned Silvestri. Two words. Project Runway.”

  ****

  The bite marks at her throat lasted ten days.

  Ten.

  She was going to kill Jared. Slowly. Painfully. Over and over until he was quite mad.

  Oh, that was a pleasant thought. Jared, bound to a wall, begging. Bleeding. She could handle that.

  After making sure that the privacy window was up between her and Devon, Katharine tugged on a white turtleneck, smoothing it over her breasts, the waistband of her slinky black trousers. Add a little eyeliner and a few strands of black pearls and she was presentable. It was expected that she’d attend the Hallow’s Eve cocktail party at Yvette’s, but she had no intention of staying any length of time.

  Devon pulled up to the curb, the door opened almost immediately. “Don’t leave, darling. I’m not staying.”

  “Yes, mistress. I will await you.” Her master’s Devon was a darling, always so polite. So thoughtful. He pulled away smoothly, the silver Bentley parking just down the row of cars.

  She turned to ascend the stairs and someone slid right up beside her, hand cupping her elbow. “How wonderful of you to come, Katharine.”

  Jared.

  “I wouldn’t miss it.” She let her eyes drag over him, unintentionally admiring his lines. “You aren’t in costume, pet? I’m shocked. I’m sure Yvette has a pair of bunny ears for you.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “And what are you supposed to be, darling?”

  “A harmless business executive who enjoys mingling with her co-workers, of course.”

  “Ah. How creative of you.” Jared nodded to their host and kissed their hostess’—who was dressed as a pirate wench from some Disney film, honestly, did the woman have no decorum?—hand, smiling sweetly all the while.

  “I have had years to perfect my skills.” It was maddening, honestly. She’d bent three men to her will in the last week, and no one of them had been Jared.

/>   “You have, indeed. It doesn’t show at all on your skin.” That son of a... Breathe. Just breathe deeply. Oh, the scent he had on was amazing.

  At least she had her throat covered. “I can’t express how far facials have come since I was a girl.”

  “I imagine they’d come a long way. Cocktail?” He was smooth, slipping through the crowd like a shark in a school of heavy, dark fish. And taking her with him effortlessly.

  “One. I’m not staying.” He had become quite good at this.

  “Neither am I, but we really ought to mingle a few minutes, and a cocktail will help.” People slid past them, pirates and princesses, pharaohs and priests. Really, these people.

  “Merlot, please.” She loved the way the wine clung to her tongue.

  “Gin and tonic,” Jared said right after. He had ever liked things to sting.

  She found herself in the unusual position of not being sure what to say, what zinger to needle Jared with.

  “So, what do you think of Yvette’s decorations? A bit provincial, but not bad. I would rather have the Asian influence.” There was a glimmer of evil humor there, something she knew she was meant to catch.

  “You always liked that look. I was always surprised that you were attracted to me.” She would not rise to the bait.

  “You’re special, love. Like no one else I’ve ever met.” Like she’d thrown a switch, Jared went serious, staring into her eyes. She actually felt the blood rise in her cheeks and her fingers tightened around the stem of her glass.

  “So. What are we doing after you dance with me?” he asked, sipping his drink. He grimaced then. “This is awful gin.”

  “I don’t remember agreeing to dance with you.” The wine was adequate, barely.

  “You didn’t, that’s true. But you wouldn’t want me to cause a scene, would you?” His body shifted, swaying against hers, the silk of his suit sliding over his muscled frame.

  “What if I don’t know how?” Which was, of course, blatantly ridiculous. She was more than capable. Still, Jared made assumptions.