by Rena Marks
I tried hard not to gag. It was one of my pet peeves, older men lusting after young girls. Why was that acceptable in society anyway?
I headed back toward Connie and her new friend. A group of men suddenly parted and one stepped forth. He was tall and more muscular than anyone I'd ever seen. His shoulders were broad and his hair was a beautiful brown with lots of blond streaks running throughout. It was longer than most men’s and he wore it tied back in a ponytail. His eyes were a beautiful golden brown. His eye color matched his hair color somehow, which was hard to describe when your hair was more than one color.
He never broke eye contact. He strode directly to me and reached for my hand. I tried to take it back but he turned it palm up and traced the lines gently. His fingertip tingled where it touched my skin.
I was surprised, but he didn't seem to be. He held my hand until he finally looked up and gazed directly into my eyes. A jolt of awareness snapped through my body. I narrowed my eyes, wondering what this was about. My heartbeat jumped when he finally spoke.
“You’re a healer. Maybe psychic. Or you would be, if you cared to use your abilities. They're untapped. I’m Leo.” His voice was sexy and deep as it rumbled from his chest.
“Nice to meet you, Leo. My name is Anjelia.” I would pass on divulging my last name to the weirdo, no matter how handsome he was.
“You have a mark, Anjelia. A mark of protection, from a vampire. Yet it is not complete. Why is that?”
“I’m just human. The mark of protection is a courtesy, nothing more.”
“A vampire’s mark is never courtesy. He wants it to be much more than that. He couldn’t have you if you were one of us, a werewolf.”
“No, thanks. I’d like to remain human.”
This time I did pull my hand away. My heart began to thump. There was something strange about him and I seemed to be the only human in a room full of hungry werewolves.
It would be easy enough to turn me against my will.
I turned to walk away and noticed a thin man invading my personal space. At first I thought he wore a mask, and then my shocked brain realized this was his face. His head was shaped human, but he had lots of wolf features. The elongated jaw. A row of sharp, angry teeth. All wolf features except for his eyes. His eyes, strangely enough, were still human.
The wolf-creature growled and I caught my breath.
“Away from her.”
Leo’s voice grated behind me. Apparently it was okay for him to threaten me but no one else.
“She smells like vampire.” The skinny wolf said in his deep, mutated voice.
“A protection mark. That is all. She is not yet a vampire,” Leo answered.
He turned to me. “You see, pretty Anjelia,” he reached out to touch my hair, “you don’t turn your back on me. I am the wolf king and you—you are pretty enough to be my queen.” His voice didn't flatter. It threatened.
This was the wolf king? I was surprised. He was beautiful, even when obviously crazy. This was the man I’d pitied just yesterday, the man who’d done so much for Connie when she’d been impregnated by a wolf.
“Hey, Dr. Jekyll, I just came with a friend. I’m not one of your kind nor do I wish to be supernatural. I also am not in the market for any mates.”
“Yet you smell like vampire.”
“She smells vampire enough for me to come and protect her.”
The voice rang out, strong and masterful. The wolf king and I both turned. Julian stood in the midst of the werewolves.
The room was silent as everyone strained to listen.
“Julian, you send someone reeking of vampires into our midst. We took it as a peace offering. Dinner.”
“So you offered to make her werewolf, Leo?” Julian raised his eyebrows.
Leo shrugged one powerful shoulder. “I did not know she was claimed as yours.”
“She is.”
“You came alone? No backup?” Leo hissed.
“I did. You know what that means.”
They stood nearly eye to eye. The air thickened, growing palpable and hard to breath. I had a bad feeling and contemplated slipping out while they were occupied. If a fistfight broke out, I'd be slaughtered in the rising bloodlust.
“She was marked by us, first. Does that not mean anything?” Leo growled.
The attention swiveled back to me. The skinny werewolf stood behind me. Somehow, I knew what he was about to do. I clasped my arms to the front of my chest just as he ripped the clothing from my back.
Long ago, when I was married, my husband had branded me. A real, painful, smell-the-flesh-burn, brand. It was low on my back, right in the center of my spine.
There was a snarl from the werewolf at my back and instinctively, I whirled to face him. Although I held the remnants of clothing over the front of me, the entire room could now see my exposed back. A moon, with a wolf’s face in it. I didn’t know how Leo knew of my brand.
“So she has your mark and mine. Was it willing, Anjelia?” Julian asked.
“Willing? It’s a brand. Of course it wasn’t willing.”
There was silence for a moment. “Is mine willing then?”
My answer seemed very important. He’d offered me protection, I’d be a fool not to accept it. Especially in a room full of hungry-looking wolves, some of whom had eyes that had started to change.
I nodded.
“So be it.” Julian turned again to Leo.
The wolf king stepped back, although he still watched me hungrily. Maybe it was my exposed back because Julian took his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. He walked me out of the room quickly and he turned to me once we were outside of the mansion.
“Did you drive?”
I shook my head. “Connie drove.”
“We need to get out of here as quickly as possible before he changes his mind.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t going to argue.
He stepped closer to me and enveloped me in his arms. I was aware of floating, dimly aware of soaring through the night air. And then, just like that, we were on my front porch. I was still in his arms and I stepped back.
I turned to my door. “Are you coming in?”
He nodded. “I think there are things we need to discuss.”
Chapter Four
We entered my house and Julian seated himself on the sofa. I removed his jacket and handed it to him. I’d long ago lost the tatters of my top. But hell, he’d already seen what was underneath.
“I’m going to put something on.”
He nodded and I walked toward my bedroom. I was halfway there when I realized he had full view of my branding. No one’s had a full view of my brand in a very long time.
I slipped on another top and met him back in the living room.
“I completely forgot about Connie. I left her there. What if they harm her?”
“They won’t harm her. She’s one of them. Besides, she’s your only connection to the pack now.”
I sat next to him on the sofa. “You already knew who Leo was. How do you know him?”
He sighed. “I wasn’t sure how involved you were in supernatural existence. I was worried when you said your friend’s name. Connie Sameo is a known werewolf in the supernatural world. Remember I said I’d heard of her but never met her?”
I nodded.
“Vampires and werewolves have feuded for centuries. In the beginning, wolves protected us during the day while we slept. In return we paid them handsomely so they could live a normal human existence, which they benefit from now. Leo, the wolf king, is a surgeon. Can you imagine a vampire being a surgeon? In any case, as evolution occurred we no longer needed each other and the feuding began. I have known him for decades. We’re on the edge of a war that will unavoidably wipe out a lot of humans.”
“How long has he been insane?”
Julian looked uncomfortable. “Uh, I’m not exactly sure.”
“But you know him well enough that you do know he’s insane.”
“I’ve hear
d rumors. None have been verified. Shall I go on?”
I nodded and noted that for some unknown reason he didn’t want to discuss the wolf king’s insanity.
“By accepting my protection at the club when I pressed a kiss to your knuckles, it gave you a mark. A marking that humans can’t see but other supernaturals can. It marked you as mine, therefore protecting you. The marking isn’t complete but by verbally accepting it at my club, it’s enough to protect you from vamps in this city. For the werewolves, however, it wasn’t enough until you verbally admitted that you accepted it in front of them. However, that won’t last. I really think you should let me mark you a little more. It’s in your best interests.”
“How exactly will you mark me more?”
“The first part of it was done with a kiss to your knuckles. More can be done with full-blown sex, a product of our combined fulfillment.” I nearly flinched at the reminder that he’d pleasured me only in the coffin. He continued on, “A complete mark, which will also establish you as my human servant, would be achieved through simultaneous sex and blood donation.”
“A human servant? I don’t think so.”
“I didn’t think you’d be willing. Still, what harm will the sex alone do? I know you want me, Anjelia. As much as I want you.” He leaned close, his breath warm on my neck. He lingered a moment and then placed a kiss on my shoulder. “Especially if it will protect you from the werewolves. I’ve already pleasured you, sweet. You’re a challenge to the pack now because you carry a werewolf mark. Your only protection against them is due to your unwillingness to be branded. But soon that will no longer matter.”
“I only need your protection because you wouldn’t leave me alone. If you had, I wouldn’t be attracting all these other supernatural beings.”
“Not true. You were offered by your ex-husband, were you not?” he countered.
I took a deep breath. “My ex-husband is not open for discussion.”
“All right then. You would still be a target because you aligned yourself with me against the humans by defending vampires and keeping the club open. And now you are not well liked with them.”
Great. Here I was in this mess because I refused to act like the snobbish human that I really am.
“Are you sure the only way I can take your mark is sex?”
“It won’t be a full marking. But enough for other cultures to leave you alone? Yes.”
“Just once, right?”
“One time is enough for the mark.”
“Okay. Go ahead, then.”
He smiled wryly. “You are so romantic, my sweet Anjelia. Should our first time not be worth it?”
“Business only, Julian,” I threatened. “Or nothing.”
Before I could even blink he leaned toward me and moved those incredible lips against my cheek. “Have you ever been fully kissed by a vampire about to lose control, my sweet?”
“No.” My voice was a whisper with him this close.
“Careful of my fangs. They’re sharp.”
I had no time to protest before his lips found mine. His mouth forced mine to open for him, and his tongue invaded, deftly stroking against mine.
I moaned. It elicited a deep, tingling in my body. A silky flood of warmth and a sense of well-being cast over my entire soul. I didn’t want the kiss to end but it did. All good things must come to an end.
That was just the beginning of the pleasure, however.
Red-hot lust slammed into my loins, curling my insides and drowning me in instant thick cream. All I needed now was a couple of fingers inserted deeply enough to ease the ache deep inside me.
He obliged better than I could imagine. His fingers slipped into my pants and found me hot and ready. They slid along my seam, and then dipped inside. They curled in me, stroking the inner walls of my sheath. I shivered with pleasure, especially when long, strong fingers began to pump in and out of my sex repeatedly.
He knew exactly what I wanted. My nether lips were swollen and slick as he rubbed my juices over my bare skin, shaved smooth the night before.
He tore his mouth from mine to suck my neck while he removed the top I had just put on. I whimpered when he pulled his fingers from my slit.
“Shhh,” he comforted, sucking on my earlobe as he deftly unsnapped my pants and pushed them down.
They were whipped down my legs and I was left naked.
He licked the cream from his fingers and inserted them into my labia again. At first one, then two.
I kissed his lips and inhaled deeply. The heady smell of sex turned me on even more. My tongue twined with his, over and over, and I ran it over his fangs, tasting every inch of him.
I had an overwhelming urge to feel him. His smooth chest, his biceps, his thighs. The length and strength of his cock, which I had yet to see. With shaking fingers, I unbuttoned his shirt. They moved so slowly, while I wanted so desperately to rip his clothing off as quickly as I could.
When his shirt parted, I found what I was looking for. Naked skin stretched taut over masculine muscles. Sexy ridges of abs that ran down into his pants. The tiny trail of hair that pointed down out of sight.
When I unbuttoned his pants, his erection sprang out, hard and swollen and ready for me. I encased it with my hand, feeling the soft skin, and I pumped it with my palm.
I couldn't believe this was happening. I was about to have sex with Julian, the master vampire of the city.
“Oh, yes, my sweet. Just like that,” he muttered, while he paid careful attention to my clitoris. His finger grasped at the tiny nub and gently pulled, sliding the slickness between his fingers.
“I’m going to make you come with my cock deep inside you,” he promised. I shuddered at the thought of his long, thick erection thrusting deep inside my sensitive folds.
The thought alone almost made me explode. “Please, Julian,” I begged. “I can’t hold out.”
He was still half dressed. His pants were pushed down below his knees and his shirt was on but parted to expose his chest.
He leaned me back on the sofa and touched the head of his cock to the lips of my pussy.
I tried to buck my hips to force him in but he held still. Instead he teased me with just the swollen head of his cock.
“I want it deep inside,” I said. “Please. I'm so ready for you.”
“Like this?” his deep voice rumbled. He slammed in full to the hilt. His balls slapped against me, sending an extra shiver of desire along my sensitive flesh.
And all at once, just like that, we were joined as one.
“Exactly,” I moaned.
He inched out slowly, then plunged in deeply. Again and again, over and over, establishing a rhythm. When he slammed into me, he simultaneously twisted his hips at the end, as though he were sending the head of his cock even further up.
His eyes glowed red.
It didn’t take long to send the fireworks coursing through my body. I exploded at the same time as I heard his groan, and wondered how he managed to time our orgasms perfectly. It curled throughout my body and spread out over every pore of my being. My breath heaved my chest, as if I couldn't get enough air.
We were still connected, when he collapsed on top of me. We both panted.
“That was the mark?” My voice was husky, my brain slow. My eyelids were heavy and I seemed to move in slow motion.
Julian nodded. “You’re slightly mesmerized. I’m sorry. But there are benefits to being my human servant, Anjelia. If you were, you would not get mesmerized by any vampires.”
I shook my head slowly, trying to clear it. Mesmerization felt oddly familiar to me, and I didn’t like it. It was a loss of control, like a teenage drunk. “Too much too soon.”
Julian moved his seductive lips closer to mine. “What are you afraid of, my sweet?”
“Explain the human servant again,” I said, mostly to distract him while I collected my thoughts.
“A human servant is bound to her master and the master vampire is bound to the servant. Th
e tie can only be with a master. You would be immune to most blood diseases and we would share eternal life. You would also be immune to other vampires, your physical strength would increase—it is not such a bad thing, Anjelia.” He explained between soft kisses.
“What do you gain?”
“I would be able to feed through you without physically feeding myself. I would be able to walk in the sunlight with you as my contact. And, I’d be able to exist on much less sleep than I do now.”
It was a tempting offer. Or else I was just in an agreeable mood. “You’ve given me the pros. What are the cons?”
“Personally, I would not consider them cons. For the rest of our lives we would have to have skin contact and blood exchange.”
“How?”
“Skin contact is just that. Bare skin, yours to mine. Yours to warm mine, mine to cool yours. It’s not exactly a necessity but without it we will both be sickly until we do it. We will feel much better with it.”
“Yeah?”
“I can tell what you’re thinking. It is not sexual. It’s—comfort. And blood exchange is ...” There was a big pause here and Julian looked into my eyes as he pondered the question. “I would have to feed from you. Probably once a week or so. To sustain my life. Right now I obtain my nutrition from any other blood source. Once you are my human servant, however, no other blood source will completely fill that need. Only yours. I will depend on you.”
Well, that was a lot of responsibility.
“I see. I’ll keep it in mind. Have you ever had a human servant before?”
A stupid question, since death breaks the tie.
“No, I have not. You are the only person I’ve ever made the offer to.”
I didn’t ask why, so he continued on.
“Since you are in such a generous mood tonight, I have another offer for you.”
I looked my eyes.
“Think of it as a business offer, if you will. If you and I have an alignment, it blends the humans with the vampires.”
“What kind of alignment?”
“If you aren’t ready to have a real personal relationship with me, how about pretending? If we are known as a power couple, we can each have the best of both worlds.”