Five years ago, he’d lost Gabrielle to this violent life just days after their engagement. She’d been bitten by a werewolf, had slaughtered several other Guardians, and Kaden had been forced to kill her.
He couldn’t go through that again, and he’d guarded the words “I love you” with the ferocity of a lion protecting his pride. Andrea knew how he felt about love, and damn her for striking at him with a weapon every bit as dangerous and painful as a stake.
Roaring in agony and fury, he broke away from Andrea, surprising himself at the speed with which he came to his feet. Wide, glazed eyes blinked in confusion even as she slapped a palm over her throat. Blood seeped from between her fingers, and shit, he was a dumb-ass. A newbie vampire dumb-ass, who must look utterly ridiculous, standing half-naked in a cell with a raging hard-on.
Quickly, he seized her upper arms, yanked her to her feet, and swiped his tongue over the punctures he’d made, another instinctive move. Then he stepped away, but the cell was far too small to allow enough distance between them. An entire ocean of distance wouldn’t be enough. Not when he still wanted her so badly it hurt, which was exactly what he’d been trying to avoid.
“Dammit, Andrea.” He rammed his hands through his hair, needing to do something with them before he grabbed her again, and this time, refused to let go. “I told you—”
“Yeah, you told me.” Her hands formed fists at her sides, and her face was flushed from her climax – and from anger. “Told me you never wanted to fall in love again, because it hurts too much when it ends. You told me when we first fell into my bed that our relationship could go nowhere except between the sheets. But it went a lot further than that, and you know it. It’s time to stop skirting the issue and pretending that we only have strong feelings for each other.”
Fuck. He flicked his tongue over one fang. It was a new habit he’d developed because he was now a vampire, a fact she seemed to have forgotten, even though two seconds ago he’d been at her throat and sucking her lifeblood out of her. How the hell could she be acting as though it hadn’t happened? Acting as though she’d forgotten what he had become? For every second of every hour, until Gabrielle turned into a slavering beast, he’d been well aware of the fact that she had been bitten by a werewolf.
And yet, he’d been careless. Sloppy. Although it was Aegis policy to kill any human who had been bitten or scratched by a were-beast, he’d let his love for her cloud his judgment. He’d heard of humans who were immune to the infection, and on the off chance that Gabrielle was one of those rare people, he’d restrained her until night fell, bringing the curse of the full moon with it. Worse, he’d not wanted to hurt her, so he’d kept her restraints loose. When she turned, she got free and killed three of their colleagues before Kaden put a silver killing-bolt through her chest.
The pain, the guilt, had mired him in misery until Andrea showed up in Portland a year ago, a transfer from the Phoenix cell. She’d been like a whirlwind, sucking him into her life with her humour and fun-loving nature – exactly the opposite of the very serious Gabrielle. She was exactly what he needed after four years of loneliness and one-night stands.
“Well?” Andrea prompted, and he realized he’d been lost in his thoughts, which was not the place he wanted to be.
Not that their reality – locked in a dungeon – was much better.
Way to feel sorry for yourself. God, he was a moron. If growing up with two blind parents had taught him anything, it was that self-pity was a pathetic waste of time.
“Well, what?” he snapped, residual lust giving him the sharp edge he needed to do what he must. “You do realize that I’m a vampire, right? And you’re a vampire slayer. Whatever relationship you think we had is over. The man you claim to love is gone, so you have two choices. You can stake me like a good little Guardian, or you can join forces with me to make an escape. But either way, there is no more us.”
Crimson splotches mottled Andrea’s cheeks, but he didn’t need to see her fury to know she was bubbling over with it. His enhanced senses picked up her anger as a scent that was so bitter he could taste it on his tongue.
“You son of a bitch.” Like a well-trained warrior, she didn’t give away her next move, which was to snap up the stake. He could have stopped her; his reflexes were twice as fast as they had been. But in truth, he was curious to see what she’d do.
And when she came at him, he had his answer.
Damn him! Crazed with hurt and anger, Andrea launched herself at Kaden, her stake aimed right at his cold heart. Effortlessly, as though she were nothing but a minor annoyance, he blocked her with one upraised arm. Humiliation aside, she was glad he’d done it. Oh, she wanted to hurt him, but she’d planned to check herself at the last moment, not really wanting to kill him. And clearly, he didn’t want to die. Or probably more accurately, he didn’t want her to be the one to have to kill him. Not after the trauma he’d suffered when he’d had to put down his fiancée.
Yes, his words had put a fissure in her heart, but she wasn’t stupid – he was trying to piss her off, to chase her away in order to save them both a lot of pain. She was sorry she’d told him she loved him, but she wasn’t sorry for how she felt. She’d dated before meeting Kaden, but she’d never fallen in love. She hadn’t known how good it could feel.
Or how bad.
Still smarting from his verbal smackdown, she struck out, slapping him across the face. His head snapped back and his eyes went wide, as though he couldn’t believe she’d just done that. In an instant, he recovered, red sparks turning his eyes to molten metal as he grasped her wrists and yanked her into him.
Just as she’d wanted him to do.
Still, her heart thundered in her chest. Angering a vampire, even one you loved, one that had just given you a world-class orgasm, wasn’t the brightest move in the world. “There’s a camera in the corner,” she said, angling her face away from said camera in case whoever was watching could read lips. “We need to fight, and you need to pretend to kill me. It’s the only way to fool that psycho vamp into thinking you’ve truly gone over to their side.”
She struggled, feigning fury, though she did put some power behind her knee to his thigh. He totally deserved that, and she smiled a little at his grunt.
“Good girl,” he said through gritted teeth. “Didn’t know you saw the camera.” She didn’t have time to bask in his praise, because suddenly, he spun her, put her back against the wall and his forearm across his throat. “So we fight.” His teeth were bared and his eyes glinted, and if she didn’t know any better she’d think he really was planning violence.
Then again, she didn’t know any better. He’d changed. She shivered, but not with fear. No, once more, she was utterly turned on by the life or death game they were playing. And this was definitely life – heart-stopping, adrenaline-pumping life. Kaden had once said that you never felt more alive than when you were facing death, and if the way her skin tingled and heat blossomed between her thighs was any indication, he was so right.
“Fight me, damn you.”
“Gladly,” she snapped. Squaring her shoulders, she stomped on his foot and followed up with a swift kick to his shin and a hook of her boot to the back of his knee. His leg buckled, but before she could wrench free, he recovered.
“We’ve sparred for months,” he said with an arrogant smile. “You think I don’t know all your moves?”
She rocked her head forwards and caught him in the mouth. “You didn’t know that one.”
He grinned, flashing teeth smeared with blood. “Nice.”
God, he was hot when he smiled like that and, again, the pseudo-battle stirred up something wicked in her. The puncture wounds on her throat began to throb in time with the pulsing between her legs, as if her body was preparing to take him inside her in any way he wanted. He was a very male animal, and her feminine instincts were answering without her brain’s consent.
As though he sensed the change in her, his eyes darkened and his gaze dropped to her mo
uth.
“Kaden—”
He took her to the ground, twisting at the last second to absorb the brunt of the impact. In a smooth, easy motion, he rolled on top of her, pinning her with his superior strength and considerable weight.
Beneath him, she writhed, partly in a show of struggle for the camera, and partly because he felt so damned good pressed against her. She schooled her expression into one of rage – using her anger at her situation, at Kaden’s transformation, at a past that robbed her of a normal life – to make the emotion believable, when all she wanted to do was roll around with him on a soft bed instead of hard ground.
Kaden fisted her hair in one hand and wrenched her head to the side, exposing her throat the way he had before. A raw, purring rumble dredged up from deep in his chest. Her breath quickened as he lowered his mouth to her neck and struck like a snake, with no warning. Like before, pain pierced her, a sweet, erotic agony that drained her of any resistance. No wonder humans succumbed to vampires so easily. Pleasure streaked from where his teeth penetrated her to every pulse point in her body.
Moaning, she arched her pelvis into his, and he shuddered even as he shifted his weight to press her flat again. Right. She wasn’t supposed to be getting off on this. This was a show for the camera, and she was ruining it by wanting to ride him like a horse.
Again.
It struck her that she might be a little stupid in trusting him not to kill her, but what choice did she have? Besides, despite what the Aegis had taught her, she knew Kaden. She knew it would take more than an exchange of vampire blood to make him turn evil.
Too soon, he disengaged his teeth, but the motion was subtle, and he repositioned his mouth over the bite and stroked his tongue along the wounds to seal them. But he never lifted his head, and she barely heard him whisper, “This is killing me. Later, we’ll do this right, but for now, I need to pretend to be drinking from you until you’re dead. In sixty seconds, go limp and play possum. With any luck, he’ll have fed recently.”
God, she hoped so. Apparently, a vampire’s ability to hear a heart beating grew more acute the hungrier they were. If their ruse had any shot of working, she had to appear very, very dead.
She waited as he mouthed her throat, his tongue swirling and flicking on her hypersensitive skin. How was she supposed to play dead when every lick brought her body to shivering, vibrant awareness?
And wait. He’d said “later”. Did he mean it? Could there be a “later”?
She’d have to find out – later – because he pushed away from her. With a vicious (but oddly careful) shove, he nudged her aside with his foot like a dead animal he’d found on the road. She lay motionless, trying to not even breathe, as he paced.
She wondered if this was how he’d been while he’d waited for Gabrielle to turn into a werewolf. A restless energy kept him prowling back and forth, grumbling to himself. Had he prayed for her life, as Andrea had prayed for Dee’s?
Poor, brave Dee. She’d been only two years younger than Andrea, and she’d wanted to stay and fight the demons that had attacked their parents. Instead, she’d only fought when Andrea had dragged her screaming from the house. Six months later, it had been Dee who had been approached by the Aegis to join their cause. Apparently, her bitter and rather public insistence that demons were real had grabbed the organization’s attention. They were always looking for new recruits – especially those who wanted vengeance.
Andrea had joined too, desperate to uphold her promise to keep Dee safe. But Dee had never forgiven Andrea for deserting their parents. Within six months of joining the Aegis, Dee’s reckless pursuit of revenge had gotten her killed, when she’d slipped away from Andrea to hunt down a demon in an alley.
She didn’t know how long they went on like that, with her playing dead and Kaden wearing a rut in the ground like a big cat in a cage. Finally, she heard the ominous thump of footsteps.
“Kaden.” The psycho vamp’s voice sent a chill slithering up her spine. “You are now one of us.”
Chapter 4
You are now one of us.
The words rang through Kaden in a deafening clang. Yeah, he was one of them. No, he hadn’t killed anyone. But he’d fed. He’d sunk his fangs into a human – a human Guardian – and had filled up on her lifeblood.
And he’d enjoyed it. God help him, he’d enjoyed it.
He allowed Cedric to see his pleasure and his misery before averting his gaze in a show of shame. Which wasn’t much of an act. But he needed the other vampire to believe he had gone over to the dark side . . . reluctantly. Cedric wasn’t stupid enough to think Kaden would convert without a fight. He’d have to play this smart if he wanted to get Andrea out of this alive.
“You’ve killed a slayer, slayer,” Cedric said. “You are the worst kind of enemy to them. You know you can never go back. We can keep you alive.”
“Go to hell.”
Cedric didn’t miss a beat. “The Aegis will hunt you to the ends of the earth. We can protect you. You know I’m right.”
He was, but once he was free, Kaden would kill Cedric, which would draw the wrath of Cedric’s entire clan. It was a trade-off Kaden was willing to live with. He’d survive as long as he could, inflicting damage and racking up vampire casualties until he could no longer fight. Until either Cedric’s clan or the Aegis took him down.
Kaden swung his gaze around to Cedric, nailing him with every ounce of hatred he could muster. “The Aegis won’t hunt me specifically. They’ll assume I’m dead.”
Cedric laughed. “We allowed one of the captured slayers to witness you killing the girl. Then we released him. I doubt it will be long before the Aegis issues an order of execution with your name on it.”
Fuck. Kaden’s death would be a priority by sunrise. “You son of a bitch.”
Through the narrow window, Kaden saw the light of victory in Cedric’s pale eyes. “So. Are you willing to work with us? I’ve tenderized a few slayers, and now they’re just waiting to be eaten.”
That shouldn’t have made Kaden’s mouth water, and the fact that it did pissed him off even more.
“Yes,” Cedric purred. “I can sense your hunger.” The crisp clang of the sliding lock vibrated the air in a concussion wave.
Kaden tensed up so hard he was nearly shaking with the desire to leap through the doorway and tear the other vampire apart. Stay calm, stay calm . . . He kept himself in check as the door creaked open. Wisely, Cedric stood back, well away from Kaden as he stalked through the doorway without so much as glancing at Andrea.
His shirt and boots lay in a pile, where they’d been left after the vamps had stripped him to prepare for his torture, and he went to them without asking permission.
Cedric watched, a creepy, satisfied smile on his gaunt face, as Kaden tugged on his long-sleeved, black turtleneck and combat boots. Kaden’s weapons had been taken away at some point, but his captors had missed the razor-thin obsidian blade Guardians lovingly called the “demon-biter” which was hidden in his boot. The weapon was treated with holy water, which lost most of its effectiveness once dried, but the black stone reacted with the residue, leaving behind a caustic bite when activated by the blood of an evil entity.
Covertly palming the weapon, he swung around to Cedric. “Where are the humans?”
Cedric gestured to one of the tunnel entrances. “That way.” Again, the guy wasn’t stupid, and he waited until Kaden moved towards the tunnel before falling into step behind him.
They’d only gone twenty feet when Cedric ploughed into Kaden, struck from behind by Andrea. Kaden crunched into the wall, the impact bringing dust and stone down around him. Cedric wheeled around, Andrea’s stake impaled in his shoulder. Roaring in fury, Cedric lunged at Andrea. Kaden’s heart no longer beat, but it lurched with terror as Cedric’s fingers closed around her throat.
No! Two weeks of torture and five years of self-loathing fuelled Kaden’s strength, and he attacked, a whirlwind of unrestrained vengeance. A veil of red sliced down ove
r his vision as he caught the other vampire with an arm looped around his neck.
In a smooth sweep, Kaden slashed Cedric’s throat with the demon-biter, savouring the hiss of the holy water as it reacted with the vampire’s blood. Andrea, in a coordinated move that reminded him what a great team they made, plucked the stake from Cedric’s shoulder and plunged it into his chest.
A God-awful squeal rose from Cedric’s body. The air around them heated and shimmered, and then the vampire flamed to ash. While the dust still swirled, Kaden swept Andrea into his arms.
“Thank God,” she murmured against his chest.
“We’re not done yet.” He smoothed his hand down her spine, loving the way her muscles rippled under his palm. He wished they were anywhere but here so he could spend time touching her the way he wanted to. The way she deserved. “We’ve got to save the Guardians.”
She nodded and pulled back, leaving him with an aching chest full of regret. Silently, they gathered what weapons they could from the dungeon and headed down the tunnel Cedric had indicated. It was dark, the walls seeping moisture from cracks in the rough stone, but his vampire vision allowed him to see as well as if it had been noon on a clear day.
Sounds drifted from the far end of the tunnel. Talking. Laughter. Some whimpers. The sound of flesh striking flesh.
Kaden crept into the shadows at the entrance to a large chamber. Inside, two vampires circled three Guardians who were bound and gagged, and sitting in the middle of the floor. Every once in a while, a vampire would kick or punch one of them and, while Kaden watched, the female vamp leaned over and licked the blood dripping down one of the Guardian’s cheeks.
Kaden signalled to Andrea, and on the finger count of three, they went in. He took down the male vamp before the guy knew what had hit him. Even as his vampire flamed, Andrea’s joined the fireworks show.
“That wasn’t so bad,” she said, as she holstered her stake with a sexy, confident shove home. Oh, yeah, he definitely appreciated a hot chick who knew how to handle wood. Pun intended.
Love Bites UK (Mammoth Book Of Vampire Romance2) Page 55