by C. M. Owens
“She can see us now.”
Zee’s brow furrows in confusion, and I look up into his glowing blue eyes as he gives that questioning look to me. I just shrug.
“I mean, she can see the real us. Without our eyes being in place.”
Chaz’s eyes are gold now instead of red and black. Sooo confusing. But they’re not a flaky gold. Just a solid gold. Then they shift back to red and black.
“What are you?” I whisper hoarsely, leaning more into Zee. “There’s red jinn and something else.”
Zee sucks in a sharp breath, and Chaz cuts his eyes toward him.
“Red jinn?” Zee asks.
Chaz nods once, and Zee sits down on a sofa, pulling me with him so that I’m in his lap.
“The hell, dude? Why haven’t you told us?”
“That’s not the point. The point is that she can see that.” He looks back at me. “What color are Zee’s eyes right now?”
I look over at Zee, and then back at the phony duster. “Vampire blue.”
Zee groans, but Chaz doesn’t seem amused.
“Please stop calling me a vampire,” Zee grumbles.
“Your night stalker blue isn’t showing, but she can see it. She’s not wearing an amulet. Her blood is so strong that she can actually see us now. It’s like she’s getting stronger. Which means others like her might be able to see us as well.”
Zee studies me, and his thumb starts tracing circles on my side. “We need to tell the others.”
“Not about me,” Chaz quickly interjects.
“No one is going to care, man. You know that.”
Chaz takes a shaky breath. “They might if they knew everything. Look, just keep this shit quiet. Please. It’s better that I remain a secret. Gage is the only one who knows, and he only knows about the red jinn part.”
“What’s the other part?” Zee asks immediately.
“The other part is the part I really want to keep fucking quiet. Understand?”
Zee frowns, but he nods as though he gets it. I don’t. At all.
“Red jinn have to feed off magic,” I point out.
A cold smile graces his lips. “I know. And I do. I take what I need from Dice when I can’t get it anywhere else. He doesn’t notice. I’m not like those sadistic freaks who drained you so quickly. They probably drained you through the mouth. Hell, you can’t even see it when I take a little here and there. There’s so much sexual energy in our group that he replenishes quickly and never notices his energy missing for long.”
“Dice hasn’t been around for a while,” Zee says, holding my waist. “He just got back.”
“I have somewhere I go for big feedings. Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt anyone in the house by taking from them what they can’t spare.”
I swallow hard, unsure if I trust him or not, but Zee seems satisfied with that answer. No hesitation.
How can he trust someone who admits to lying?
“What does Karma see?” Zee asks him.
“Red jinn. It’s all she’s seen so far. But if she’s stronger…”
“She’s not as strong as Kya,” I tell them, and they both look at me.
“How can you know that?”
I shrug while picking an imaginary piece of lint off my jeans. “She just got back and I saw her. I don’t know. I just… sense it. It’s hard to explain.”
Zee runs his hand up my back, and Chaz slowly stands. “I’m about to go test that theory. I hope you’re right.”
He vanishes from sight, not bothering to leave a trail of dust this time.
“How can he make himself look like a duster so easily?” I ask, but Zee’s attention is trained on the imaginary circles he’s drawing on me.
“Red jinn have the power of illusion. He’s fucking strong to pull off illusions though. Really fucking strong. No wonder he’s so badass in a fight. I’ve always wondered how a duster could be an enforcer.”
I start to question that, but decide I don’t need the headache of asking for more explanations. Zee shifts, and slowly he lowers me to the sofa, laying me down as his body comes on top of mine. He toys with the ends of my hair, and he leisurely rakes his eyes over my chest.
“You still want to claim me, don’t you?” I ask in a rasp whisper.
“I’m not going to.”
His hand runs down my chest, and he squeezes a breast in his grip. My entire body trembles against the contact.
“Where’s your family?” he asks me, looking up into my eyes. That’s the most personal thing he’s asked yet. And very random, considering the circumstances.
“Dead. At least my mother is. I never knew my father. I’ve only ever seen one picture of him with my mom’s sister. And… Mom died in a mental institution.”
“Mental institution?” he asks.
I nod slowly, and he frowns. “What were their names?”
“Lindsey Cartwright. Like I said, I don’t know anything about my sperm donor, which is essentially all he was. My turn. What’s your last name?”
He smirks as he lets his hand roam over my body some more.
“I don’t have one anymore. Most of us try to keep a surname changed up to keep people from finding us, or to blend with the humans. I’ve always been a little different. I prefer the one-name thing. It’s simpler, and I lay lower than the rest. Kane has so many houses, and I just stick to them instead of collecting my own.”
“What did your name used to be?”
He continues avoiding eye contact.
“You’re the only one I’m going to tell the truth. The rest only know the lie.”
I’m not sure what that means, but I watch as his lips press against the swells of my breasts, sliding from one to the other.
“Clayton.”
That name sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.
“Why do you lie about it to the others?”
He shrugs. “I like to make sure no one can ever go after the surviving members of my family. None of my friends would, of course, but it’s easier to live the lie than to worry about the truth getting out.”
I run my fingers through his faux hawk, finding it surprisingly soft, and I watch in wonder as the blue tips turn orange. It’s fascinating.
“Once upon a time, I was a rich, popular, spoiled kid who didn’t appreciate anything. Then one day I was this.” He motions to himself. “Then Gage’s brother fucked me up even more by somehow infusing magic into my blood to make me stronger. It also… It’s like it made me darker. I once hated the kill. Now I get off on it.”
Yeah… That should definitely not turn me on.
“I once hated the thought of ever siring anyone, now it’s all I think about. I used to barely drink blood because it sickened me to admit what I was. Now I love it, want it, need it… I’m toxic, Leah. And you’re the prime target of my attention right now. I’m running low on willpower. Stop making touching you so easy. I wasn’t kidding the night I told you I’d ruin you. Because I fucking will.”
It’s a warning and a threat in one breath, yet I stay exactly where I am instead of moving.
“What about you?” he asks, looking up. “What were you like when you were younger?”
I snort derisively. “Really weird. I liked horror movies. Lots of horror movies. I also liked weapons, even though I never learned how to use them. I collected them though, even if it was only to look at them and pretend I could defend myself if I had to. I was fascinated by swords, knives and…”
My voice trails off when he cocks an eyebrow, and I slowly let that sink in.
“Shit,” I mumble, and he smirks.
“It’s your nature to be curious about monsters and weaponry. It’s in your blood.”
“It made me the weird chick at school. You have no idea how hard it was to be a girl like I was. Having a mentally unstable mother known as the “town crazy” made it worse. I lived in a small town, and I was the brunt of everyone’s jokes.”
He tenses against me. “Who fucked with you?”
>
That look in his eyes has me worried he might go exact some cold revenge. To Zee, that might mean killing everyone from that small, cruel town. Not even I want that, even though there was a time I would have possibly took him up on it.
“It was a long time ago. I’ve always been a magnet for bad things.”
“Like me,” he sighs, blowing out a long, regretful breath.
“No. Nothing like you. You’re incredible.”
He rolls his eyes, muttering something about me needing better things, but I ignore him. After a long spell of silence, he asks, “What was wrong with your mother?”
“The doctors never pinned down a diagnosis. She suffered from delusions, and paranoia, and she often hurt herself, clawing at her own skin because she needed to feel pain to know she was alive. Mom always claimed she saw monsters. Glowing-eyes and…”
My head lulls back and guilt slams into me. Mom was the same as me.
He leans over and presses another kiss to my collarbone. “She was like you,” he murmurs against my skin. “Not all of your kind can handle the madness that can ensue. You would have been almost two when purgatory was opened. The anointed bloodlines were restored then.”
All that time… My mother could have been raising me, but she was locked away for what she saw. She couldn’t accept it…
“How old were you when she died?” he asks, keeping my mind from going into too many memories.
That used to make tears well up in my eyes, but I couldn’t cry. Even at the funeral, only one solitary tear fell, even though the dam felt like it was bursting inside me.
My mother was never insane. She was the only one who saw the truth. But how did she turn into what I am? When did she turn into it?
“Sixteen, but Mom was locked up most of my life. I lived with my aunt and stayed with her until I was eighteen.”
“And where is she now?” he muses, running his tongue down my cleavage, and making it impossible to think. “Hmm?” he prompts.
“Um… gone… Two years ago…”
“Gone where?”
“Why does it matter?” I ask hoarsely, closing my eyes and savoring the feel of him on top of me.
“Because eventually you’ll hand yourself over to me…. If you stay here… When you do, I won’t be able to refuse you. I want you too fucking bad, Leah. So I need to know who might come looking for you when that happens.”
My eyes snap open, and he spreads my legs, slowly undoing the button on my jeans.
“I don’t want to be a vampire,” I whisper.
My jeans start peeling down my legs, and his breath toys with the skin under my panties as he leans in close.
“I’m not a vampire,” he says, nipping me through the thin, lacy material, and I jump, startled.
“I don’t want to be a night stalker,” I correct, speaking around the lump in my throat.
“You will, Leah. You will. I’m almost tired of fighting it. The guilt isn’t enough to keep holding me back. I’ll change you, keep you, then one day you’ll be strong enough to break the bonds and kill me. It’s the cycle.”
I start to argue, but he strips my jeans off, revealing me to his eyes. The panties I’m wearing become shredded under his grip, and I bite back a moan when he buries his face between my legs.
His tongue… Oh fuck me… his tongue…
“Don’t tell me you’re mine,” he whispers in a rasp, strained tone. “Don’t say those words.”
Warning bells keep going off, but I don’t fight him as he continues to devour me.
My fingers tangle in his hair as he flicks that tongue in all the right ways, and sucks that bundle of nerves into his mouth.
He pushes my hands above my head, and he suddenly becomes naked, while I struggle against his hold.
“Let me touch you,” I beg.
“No.” He kisses me. Hard. Then he adjusts his hips so that he’s ready to push inside.
“Let me touch you,” I beg again.
“The second you touch me—while we’re like this—I’ll take you, Leah. All of you. This is the only way.”
He lifts me off the couch, and he twists my hands behind my back as he carries me with my legs dangling. His mouth stays on mine, devouring me, owning me, driving me crazy…
He pulls my hands in front of me, keeping them pressed together so I can’t touch him. Something soft finds my wrists, and I break the kiss when I realize he’s tying my hands together.
“What are you doing?” I ask, struggling.
“I want my hands all over you, and you’re weak when you’re in my arms. You aren’t at full strength. It’s the sire calling. You become the prey instead of the predator. This will be strong enough to hold you while I do what-the-fuck-ever I want to with your body.”
Leah Cartwright would knee a guy in the balls for that. Or run as fast and far away as possible. But right now, I’m not Leah Cartwright. I’m just his.
“Don’t say it,” he whispers, as though he sees the look in my eyes and can read my mind. “Please, for fuck’s sake, don’t say it, baby. I’ll take you if you do. All of you.”
He kisses me like he’s desperate to keep my lips from moving, and then he shoves me onto the bed before tying my hands to the post above us. He stretches me out, and he slowly slides that tongue down my body again.
“Gag me,” I whisper. “It’s all I want to say.”
He tenses against me, but he quickly grabs a scarf, and gently, he ties it around my mouth so that I’m gagged and trussed up like some freaky little kink girl.
It’s hard work to be a sex toy to a vampire.
His eyes lock on mine, and he trails a finger down my chest, slowly working it down my body. My breaths get faster, harsher, and wheeze around my makeshift gag, but it’s because of him. Not because I’m uncomfortable.
I don’t even know whose silky scarf is in my mouth, and I can’t ask.
My mind loses all thought when his lips start trailing down, slowly working their way back down my body. He parts my legs, spreading me wide for him, and my eyes roll back in my head as a moan escapes me when he latches onto that bundle of nerves again.
I cry out, but it’s muffled and garbled by the scarf in my mouth, and Zee continues to toy with me, bringing me to the brink of ecstasy then leaving me bereft just before I fall of the edge.
By the third time he leaves me dangling, I’m squirming and tugging at the binds on my wrists. He holds me in place, letting those strong hands knead and caress various parts of my body, while firmly keeping me right where he wants me.
This time when he fastens his lips around that spot, he doesn’t stop. It’s almost painful when I explode off that edge, and my entire body tries to jerk away from him.
He shows mercy when he tears his mouth away and slowly kisses his way back up. His tongue plays along my side, then teases the flesh between my breasts before his lips run along my jaw.
I want him to kiss me, but it’s impossible to do with my mouth being gagged.
“I could get used to this,” he says in a reverent whisper as he leans back and appraises me.
I feel exposed and somewhat helpless, and for some sick reason, I love it.
He adjusts himself so that he’s sitting back on his legs with his knees bent, and he lifts my lower body so that he can align himself with me. My eyes absorb the sight of him… naked… sexy… sculpted… Fuck, he’s a dark dream come true.
With an excruciatingly slow pace, he pushes inside me, filling me inch by agonizing inch. His jaw tenses as he reaches the deepest point, and he runs his hands down my legs, curving them right where he wants them.
When his hands get to my hips again, he grips tightly, pulls back, and slams inside me deeply again. I moan and grunt in unison, which is a horribly unsexy sound to make, but Zee doesn’t seem to mind.
He sets a rhythm, and I fist my hands around their bindings, feeling my knuckles turn white with the grip. His glowing blue eyes hold my gaze, until suddenly he strikes without warning.<
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Only a pinch of pain at the base of my neck exists for a fleeting second before desire fills me. His body continues moving in and out of mine as he drinks, groaning as he takes what he wants in almost every way.
In that moment, I’d give him anything he asked for, so I’m grateful I’m gagged. Forever, always, eternally his… I’d give it to him without question right now.
My body heats all over, and one of his hands curls around my throat as he continues to wreck me, own me… ruin me.
His other hand cups my ass, using it as leverage to keep me where he wants me.
I’ll never be the same. Sex will never be the same.
He’s consuming and addicting, and I want more of him. Need it.
My head is a hazy mess of desire and desperation, and I struggle to break free so I can cling to him. But then that painfully perfect sensation starts building in my core, turning into a knot before bursting into a euphoric high that has me tightening my legs on his waist and holding on as his hips continue to piston between mine.
“Fuck,” he growls, slamming into me once again before stilling at the deepest point.
He drops to my body, and I tremble against him, still reeling from the explosively incredible intimacy. His warm breath coats my skin, and I wiggle against him, wanting free so I can touch him again.
“Just give me a second,” he says through a panted breath. “I’m still catching my control. I almost lost it.”
That has me going utterly still. The venom is fortunately short lived and not long-lasting. It seems to fade with each… um… orgasm. Now that I’m not under his thrall, I’m back to wanting to stay as close to human as possible.
His hands gingerly roam over my body as he takes his time to regroup.
“It’d be nice to just keep you like this for a few days,” he says against my chest as he kisses my collarbone, dragging his lips up my neck again.
Just that image has me clutching him tighter with my legs. But then the damn door swings open, and I scream—a muffled, gagged scream.
Chapter 17
ZEE
“Hashtag, kinky,” Dice says with a smirk as he props up.
I keep Leah covered with my body, while glaring over my shoulder at the incubus with a death wish.