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JACE BOLTED UP IN BED, his senses alert. He stared around the dark, unfamiliar bedroom. It took him several moments to realize where he was. He turned his head. The rumpled bed beside him was empty. His newly heightened senses told him Ana—Tatiana—was still in the apartment. Someone else was there as well.
He jumped out of bed, found his pants and pulled them over his nude body. He moved quietly through the apartment, pausing at the open door which led into the living room.
Standing in the shadows, he stared across the room to the patio beyond. Tatiana, wearing a sheer negligee that clearly revealed every inch of her voluptuous body, stood facing a tall, blond male. What the fuck was his woman doing standing practically naked in front of another man?
Stalking across the room, he pulled the patio doors open and bolted out onto deck. “Who the hell is this?”
Tatiana turned to face him. “Leave us alone for a moment, Eric.”
He shook his head. “The name is Jace, and I asked you a question.”
The man moved around Tat. His right hand shot out toward Jace’s face. Jace brought up his left forearm to block the blow. Following through quickly, he sent his right fist crashing into the man’s jaw.
The blond collapsed to the deck, unconscious. Jace reached down to grab his limp body. Tatiana’s hand closed over his wrist like steel. Retaining his grip on the man’s sweater, he stared at her. “What?”
“Release him and leave us alone.”
He arched a brow at the unmistakable threat in her tone. Any notion he’d had of her taking one look at him and realizing he was the love of her life vanished. He was going to have to work hard to win her.
Damn. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had to wine and dine a woman. He thought briefly of his courtship of Carollina, remembered the nightmare that had left him sweating with fear the night before, and quickly dismissed thoughts of her.
He’d woo Tatiana, but damn if he’d lose her to some pretty blond with a glass jaw.
She spoke again, her voice low and steady. “Release him, Jason...gently.”
He opened his fist and smiled as the blond’s head hit the deck with a noticeable thud.
She hissed softly and stared at him. “Now leave us alone and pray that he’s not hurt.”
He closed his hand over her arm. “I don’t give a shit if he’s hurt or not. Who is he?”
“Someone special.”
The words sliced through him with the force of a steel-sharpened knife. How could she talk about someone else being special to her after what they’d shared hours earlier? “If he’s so special, what the hell were you doing with me earlier tonight?”
She shook her head, her lips tightening. “What happened between us was a mistake neither of us can afford to repeat. Now go while I’m still prepared to allow you to leave in one piece.”
He laughed and grabbed her shoulders. Staring into her eyes, he spoke slowly. “Do not threaten me.”
“I never make threats I’m not prepared to carry out.”
“The hell you don’t.” He tightened his fingers around her shoulders. “I know who and what you are, but you’d better realize who I am as well. I’ve spent the last fifty-some years hunting rabid vampires and have lived to tell about it. I do not scare easily, Tatiana.”
She jerked away from him. “I’m asking you for the last time to leave us alone.”
“Why?” He stared down at the unconscious man lying at his feet. “Is he your bloodlust?”
She moistened her lips. “You should know enough about vampires to know if he were my bloodlust, I wouldn’t have been with you earlier.” She stroked his cheek. “Now will you leave us alone?”
“I’m not going to leave so you can fuck him!”
She slapped him so hard his head snapped back on his neck. “Don’t make the mistake of forgetting who you’re talking to, Jason. I’ll fuck who the hell I like.”
The urge to slap her back nearly choked him. He stepped back, leveling a finger at her. “And don’t you make the mistake of thinking I’ll allow you to slap me like that again.”
She sighed and shook her head. “Please.”
“I’ll wait inside, but I am not leaving.” He glared at her. “And you had damn well better not fuck him. I’ll be watching and I swear if you do, I’ll kill him and rip him into a hundred little pieces. You are my woman and I’ll be damned if I’ll share you with anyone else.”
He clamped a hand against the back of her neck and glared into her eyes. “I’m warning you, don’t you try me or I’ll spank your ass raw and then fuck it so hard you won’t be able to sit on it for a week.”
Although her blue eyes sparkled with annoyance, to his surprise, she leaned forward and pressed her lips briefly against his. Before he could enjoy the contact, she’d jerked away from him.
He turned and walked back inside. For a moment he stood staring at her as she knelt beside the blond. Then he shrugged and went back into the bedroom. If she really were his woman, he was going to have to be able to trust her not to sleep with other men when they were separated. Breathing deeply, he stretched out on the bed and closed his eyes.
* * * * *
TAT KNEELED BESIDE Tim’s sprawled body and stroked his jaw. “Are you all right?”
He opened his eyes and sat up. He worked his jaw slowly. “Who the fuck was that?”
That was a good question. Who was Eric, or Jace, as he now insisted on being called? “What difference does it make?”
“It makes a lot of difference.” Tim rose, pulling her to her feet. With his hands on her waist, he jerked her against him, grinding his hips against hers.
She felt his cock. He was aroused, but rather surprisingly, she was not.
“You’re my woman and I want to know what he’s doing here half-dressed. Were you fucking him?”
She pulled away from him. “Who I fuck is none of your business. You had your chance with me and you blew it.”
He stared at her. “If I were you, I’d rethink that statement. If you think I can be so easily dismissed, you’re wrong.” He shook his head. “I’m not the man I used to be.”
She nodded. “So I noticed.”
He smiled and slid his zipper down. “I’m more man than I’ve ever been.” He exposed his cock. It was long, thin, fully erect. “I need you, baby.”
Recalling the number of times he’d hit her special spot with his sweet cock, she bit her lip. She had needs too, but he wasn’t the one she wanted to satisfy them. “It’s over, Tim.”
“Oh no it’s not. It can’t be.”
“It’s been over since I realized you couldn’t handle who and what I am.”
He touched her cheek. “I was a fool, but I told you I took steps to make myself worthy of you.”
She recalled his blood tattoo, which had required enormous amounts of vampire blood. “You’ve changed one of the things I loved most about you, Tim—your humanity.”
He flushed. “I’m still human.”
“Technically?” She shrugged. “I suppose you are, but you’re not the man I fell in love with, and I am no longer in love with you. If you’re all right, you should leave.”
He stared at her. “You’re asking me to leave while allowing him to stay? You think he’s human?”
“I know what he is.”
He shook his head. “Oh, I don’t think you do. I’m telling you, Tatiana, if you don’t watch yourself with him, you’ll find yourself biting off more than you bargained for. You’re better off with me.”
She stared at him, frowning. He was so different from the man she had once loved. He looked exactly the same, but all the warmth and goodness she’d so prized had been replaced by a cool arrogance tinged with a hint of threat that she found highly annoying.
The man who had broken her heart no longer stirred her physically or emotionally. “I can take care of myself.” She gestured toward the patio doors. “Goodbye, Tim.”
He narrowed his gaze. “I’m warning you. If you do this, you’ll be sorry. He’s involved in some heavy shit and you can’t trust him.”
“I’ll take my chances. Now please don’t make me ask you to leave again.”
He gripped her hand. “I need you. If you send me away now, it’s going to be bad news for both of us.”
“Goodbye.”
“Fine, but the next time we see each other, it will be under different circumstances. When that happens, remember that it could have been different if you hadn’t been thinking with that hot, insatiable pussy of yours instead of your head.”
She clenched her right hand into a fist and pressed it against her side. If she gave in to the impulse to hit him, a slap wouldn’t be enough. She’d grab him by the balls and toss him off the balcony. “Get out—now!”
“You can’t begin to realize the trouble you’ve gotten yourself into.”
She grabbed him by his collar and shoved him toward the doors. “Get out now, or else.”
He righted himself and turned to glare at her. “You’ll regret this.”
“If you make me tell you to leave again, you’ll be dead.”
He turned and left.
She followed him through the foyer to the front door. “Do yourself a favor, Tim, don’t come back,” she said and slammed the door in his face.
“Bitch!” He hissed the word through the closed door.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, leaning back against the door. What the hell had she ever seen in him? She shook her head. Why waste time thinking about him when a handsome hunter with a thick, pleasing cock awaited her in the bedroom?
Smiling, she pushed herself away from the door and headed for the bedroom and the sexy hunter waiting there.
* * * * *
WITHIN MOMENTS OF LYING on Tatiana’s bed, Jace was asleep and fleeing, naked and afraid, from Carollina.
Jace, my darling, come to me. We can be together just like we used to be. Come to me, my Jace.
The dark road he raced along ended abruptly, leaving him facing a high brick wall. He glanced up, there were no discernable foot or handholds. Although he could jump far higher than a human male and had a strength that rivaled a vampire latent, the wall stretched upward as far as he could see.
On either side of him, the road slanted into a steep drop. No creature short of a full-blood could possibly survive a fall from the road. He turned. Behind him, Carollina flashed forward, incisors bared, eyes glowing.
He braced himself against the wall and crouched, determined that this time she would not take him alive. He edged closer to the cliff. If he couldn’t fight her off, he’d go over the side and maybe even take her with him.
She stopped several feet in front of him, slowly swaying from side to side. Now, Jace, you are mine...all mine. Look into my eyes and surrender the last of your will to me. When you have, we will be together as lovers forever.
He lowered his lashes to avoid looking directly into her hypnotic gaze.
Jace, my love. Look at me. Look at me and surrender to me.
Her low, insistent voice invaded his thoughts and made anything but absolute obedience to her out of the question. He had to obey her. When he did they could be together forever.
Forever. Look at me, my love.
He raised his eyelids and head, his will to resist gone.
Smiling, she raised her arms. Come to me, my Jace, and I will make you mine for all eternity.
He straightened and slowly moved toward her.
She reached out and took him in her arms. A chill shuddered through him as she lowered him onto his back. Rising above him, she straddled his hips, wrapped her small fingers around his cock and quickly impaled herself on him.
He felt his life force seeping out his body with every plunge of her unbearably tight pussy around his cock. He pushed weakly against her waist. “No, Carollina...no. Please...I don’t want this.” He closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see the triumphant and evil glee in her gaze.
It’s too late for regrets, my Jace. Nothing can stop this now. Open your eyes and speed the process along.
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that.”
His eyes snapped opened in time to see a tall fem with dark skin and blazing blue eyes standing over them. A rush of hope danced along his spine.
Carollina glanced over her shoulder, rising to a squat. “You! You’ve interfered with my business for the last time.”
“How right you are, fem.” She grabbed Carollina by her hair and forcefully lifted her off him. Then, easily overcoming her resistance, she tossed Carollina over the cliff.
“No!” With Carollina’s screams ringing in his ears, too weak to rise, he crawled to the edge of the cliff. “Carollina!”
He looked over—right into Carollina’s glowing eyes. She held onto a rock with one hand. Startled, he drew back. Carollina’s free hand streaked out and closed around his arm. She jerked and he flew over the side of the cliff.
“No! You can’t have him. He’s mine now.”
Before he could fall, the other fem’s hand closed over his shoulder and he was jerked from Carollina’s grip. Holding him against her with one arm around his body, the fem lifted her foot and stomped Carollina’s hand until it opened and she fell. Her screams echoed back up the cliff as she fell several hundred feet to the bottom of the canyon.
He jerked free and fell to the ground, staring over the edge of the cliff. “Carollina! Noooo!”
“Shhhh. Your Carollina is dead. That’s not her. Shhhh.” The fem drew him away from the edge of the cliff. She held him, rocking him gently. “It’s all right, Jason. It’s all right. I have you. You’re safe.”
Disoriented and afraid, Jace opened his eyes. Tatiana kneeled on her bed in the darkened bedroom, rocking him in her arms. Her soft lips pressed against his damp forehead. “It’s all right, Jason. There’s no need to be afraid. The nightmare is over and you are safe with me.”
Embarrassed to find himself shaking and drenched with sweat in her arms, Jace pulled away from her and rolled off the bed. He walked across the room to stare out the bedroom window. He had to take several deep breaths before his heartbeat returned to normal.
How could he expect Tatiana to take him seriously as a lover if she had to enter his dreams and rescue him from a dead woman? Closing his eyes, he pressed his forehead against the cool window.
“It’s all right, Jason,” she told him, her voice soft with understanding. “There’s no shame in being haunted by a nocturene.”
He swung around. She remained kneeling on the bed just as he’d left her. Through the moonlight streaming into the room, he could see the outline of her lush curves through the sheer negligee. Despite his embarrassment, his cock hardened. He shook his head. “She’s not a nocturene.”
“She’s haunting your dreams. That’s not something most vampires would do to one they claim to care for.”
Stung by her certainty that Carollina would want to hurt him, he narrowed his gaze. “Really? Since you were in my dream as well, should I assume you’re also a nocturene?”
She bared her incisors and bolted off the bed. Crossing the room, she glared at him. “I have done many things which I now regret, but I have never used my ability to enter anyone’s dreams to terrorize them or weaken their spirit. Her sole purpose in entering your dreams is to lead you into a dark cesspool that no living creature should wish to inhabit. After I revived Tim and he left, I heard your cries of distress. When I was unable to wake you, I knew what must be happening. So I entered your dreams to break her hold on you. She entered your dreams to drag you into her dark pit. I entered to keep her from accomplishing her goal.”
“So you say.”
She sucked in an angry breath. “Are you doubting my word?”
“Sounds like it, doesn’t it?”
She shook her head. “I was crazy to send Tim away and allow you to stay.”
“Really? Did you send him away before or after you allowed him to fuck you?” He sniffed the air. “Is that his cum I smell in your pussy?”
She hissed and swung away from him. She jerked her bedroom door open. “Get out before I hurt you—and don’t give me any shit about who you are. Leave now or I swear I will slap your sorry ass all over this room.”
He was tempted to stay and challenge her. They would never have a chance at a real relationship if he allowed her to think she could scare him. Under those circumstances, leaving was not a viable option. But he needed time to regroup and time to talk to someone who knew the intricacies and pitfalls of wooing a full-blood fem, something he had never expected to find himself doing.
He paused at the door to look at her. “I’m leaving, but—”
“But nothing! Get the fuck out of my sight, you insecure, idiotic human.”
He heard traces of pain under the anger. Way to go, Jace. Should he confess he was no longer human? Maybe later. There were other more pressing concerns he needed to address before baring his soul to her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, brushing his lips against hers.
She shoved him over the threshold and slammed the door in his face. “Get the fuck out of here.”
Her voice broke on the last word. He leaned his forehead against the closed door. “I’ll make it up to you, Ana. I promise.”
“Fuck off!”
Her voice sounded as if it came from near the floor. She must be kneeling. “I love you.” He turned and rushed from the penthouse, appalled at his ill-advised confession.
* * * * *
DACODA SAT IN THE CAB of Andrei’s rented SUV. Andrei, silent and showing none of the passion he’d displayed with her in the woods earlier, sat beside her. She cast a brief glance at his profile. His hands rested easily on the steering wheel as he kept his gaze on the dark highway ahead. After the way he’d treated her at the rest stop before abandoning her to Evan, she’d been a fool to subject herself to his uncertain temperament again.
After fucking her until she could barely walk, he’d convinced her to return to the house, pack her suitcase and leave with him, while he sent a confused Evan on his way. He’d gotten his way and was taking her...
“Where are we going?”
“Does it matter?”
She cast her eyes upward. “So now you’ve had your fill of fucking me you’re going to take me for granted? If that’s what you’re thinking—”
He cast a brief, inscrutable look at her. “It’s not.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m positive. Don’t go all feminine and demanding on me.”
“What?”
He shrugged. “Besides, who says I’ve had my fill of you?”
Her heart raced. “You mean it wasn’t just a novelty? You still want me?”
“Why would being with you be a novelty?”
“Tat says you prefer...skinny white women. Since I’m BBW and black, fucking me—”
She saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel. “Tat talks too damned much about my business.”
“Isn’t it true?”
“My sexual preferences are none of your damned business. Don’t think a few fucks give you the right to pry into my personal life.”
She shook her head. “You are one damned piece of work, Andrei. Why the hell did I ever allow you to send Evan away?”
“Probably because I have a much bigger dick.”
She slumped back in her seat, her cheeks burning. “Is that all you think of me, Andrei?”
He swore softly. Although he kept his gaze on the road ahead, his right hand left the wheel to rest against her knee. “No.”
She pushed his hand away. “The more time I spend with you, the less I like you.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re a pretty package, but you have no substance. Why should I waste my time with you when there are available men like Evan who are just as pretty but aren’t inclined to treat me like shit?”
“Evan.” He growled the name. “You have a thing for white men?”
“I have a thing for men who know how to treat me with respect.”
“I respect you,” he muttered.
“Really? Well, until you learn how to show this so-called respect of yours, stay the hell away from me.”
“If you think I’m going to allow you to take up with that dumb blond, you’d better think again.”
“I’ll take up with whoever the hell I like.”
His head whipped around. She found herself staring into his glowing eyes. He bared his incisors. “The hell you will.”
“Fuck off!”
“Any man dumb enough to touch you will soon learn the folly of fucking with the property of a full-blood vampire.”
“Fuck you, Andrei.”
He laughed. “You already did that...several times.” He drove onto the shoulder of the highway, put on his parking brake and reached across the seat for her. “Would you like to do it again?”
She slapped his hands away. “If you think you’re putting that oversized pole of yours in me again—”
He pressed a finger against her lips to silence her and gazed into her eyes. “I am definitely going to put it in you again and again. You’re fooling yourself if you think you’re going to be able to say no to me when I want you.”
The confidence in his voice annoyed the hell out of her. She pushed his finger away from her lips. “You are an insufferable bastard and I’ll be damned if I let you touch me again.”
He laughed again and leaned over to press a long, demanding kiss against her lips. She curled her hands into fists to keep from parting her lips and linking her arms around his neck.
He slid a hand down her stomach, under her dress, to cup her bare pussy. “We both know that this pussy belongs exclusively to me.” He stroked his thumb against her clit, while sliding two fingers into her suddenly wet slit. Despite her efforts to appear unmoved, she parted her thighs, giving him greater access.
“This is my pussy and I will enjoy it as often as I like.” He nibbled at her lips, sending tingles of lust all through her. “This is my pussy and I don’t share.”
She drew back against her seat, shoving against his shoulder. “That’s not what I hear.”
“Listening to everything Tat tells you is only going to get your ass spanked,” he warned as he pinched her clit and withdrew his fingers from her. Locking his gaze with hers, he sucked his fingers. “We’re going to spend the night at this little cabin Tat and I sometimes use. I plan to spend the entire night fucking you by the light of the moon.”
Her stomach muscles clenched and she closed her eyes on a wave of lust. She felt his lips brushing against her cheek. She opened her eyes and turned to look at him. “I want you to take me home.”
“The only place I’m taking you tonight is to paradise.” He licked the side of her neck before sliding back into his seat. He started the SUV and pulled back onto the road.
They rode in silence for several minutes before he reached for her hand. When he’d captured it, he placed it over his cock. Recalling the combination of pain and pleasure she’d received on the end of his thick shaft, she shuddered. What was the point of pretending she wasn’t going to throw her legs open and eagerly wait to be nearly split in two when he wanted some more pussy?
She unzipped his pants and slipped her hand inside. When they’d dressed, he hadn’t put his briefs back on. Sighing with resignation, she closed her fingers around his warm flesh. Eventually, she was going to have to taste the hot length pulsing against her fingers.
“That’s more like it,” he told her.
“Shut the fuck up, you overconfident bastard.”
He laughed, spreading his legs further.
She slid her fingers down to brush her nails gently against his balls. “Who were you with?”
“What?” He sounded surprised.
“Who were you with?”
“When?”
“When you left me?”
“What makes you think I was with anyone?” he asked.
She gave a gentle squeeze against his cock. “I know you were with another woman. You fucked her...didn’t you?”
“I haven’t said I was with anyone.”
“I know you were.”
“How?” He sounded annoyed. He closed his fingers over her wrist and tugged.
She resisted his efforts to pull her hand out of his pants. “I don’t know how I know, but it was probably the same way I knew you were watching in the woods, even though I didn’t hear you approach. I know you’ve been with another woman. Did you enjoy fucking her?”
“How do you know I fucked her?”
“You were so tense when you dumped me on Evan.”
“Let’s not have any revisionist history. I didn’t dump you. You insisted I leave you with him.”
“Whatever. When you arrived earlier this afternoon, most of your tension had dissipated. Now answer my question.”
“How do you know I didn’t use my hands?”
“I know you didn’t, so answer my question, dammit. Did you enjoy fucking her?”
“Yes. Satisfied?”
“Did you enjoy it more than being with me?”
“If I had, I wouldn’t be here with you, would I? I’d be fucking her in the moonlight.”
“Are you going to go on seeing her?”
“Who I see is none of your business.”
Resisting the urge to give his cock and balls a vicious pinch, she snatched her hand out of his pants. “It is if you expect to spend the night fucking me. If you think I’m going to allow you to fuck every skinny blonde in sight while I’m supposed to sit and wait for you to want me again, you must have gotten a hold of some tainted blood. If you want this pussy exclusively you’d better act like it, or you might not be the only one to prefer blonds.”
He didn’t respond.
She smiled, feeling her confidence reemerging. “What’s the matter, Andrei, cat got your tongue?”
She watched his fingers tightening on the steering while. “So? When are you going to break it off with her?”
“Don’t you push me any further, Dacoda.”
“Or what? What will you do? Tell Tat on me?”
To her surprise, he threw back his head and laughed. “You’re going to drive me nuts in no time, you shameless alley cat.”
“Maybe so, but I’m thinking you’re going to enjoy the trip to Looney Ville—I know I intend to.”
He sighed.
“So? Are you going to stop seeing her?”
“I don’t know.”
“I do. It’s her or me. You’re not having us both.”
“I can have anything I want, Dacoda, and I don’t see what you can do to stop me.”
“Fine. You have her and I’ll have Evan.”
“You keep seeing him and you’ll get that dumb blond killed.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
He turned his head and stared at her. “Oh yes I would.”
A chill danced down her spine. “Have you...ever killed anyone?”
“I’m an over-three-hundred-year-old vampire used to getting what I want. What do you think?”
She licked her lips. “How...many people have you killed, and under what circumstances?”
“Are you sure you want to know?”
“Yes.” Her voice quivered on the word.
“All you need to know for now, Dacoda, is that I will never kill you. If you try me, I might kill your lovers, but I won’t ever harm you physically.”
“But—”
“Let that be enough for now, Dacoda. I’m a vampire and I’ve done many things of which you would not approve. Hell, I’ve done things of which I don’t even approve. However, I have never intentionally hurt any woman who gave me her heart.”
“Heart?” She forced a laugh. “Who said anything about my heart? I’ll give you my pussy and maybe even my ass. But my heart? Don’t count on getting that, Andrei.”
“If all I wanted from you was pussy, I could get that anywhere. I’ve yet to meet a woman I couldn’t have. I wouldn’t need to take your sass if all I wanted was a willing pussy to fuck.”
Her heart raced. She moistened her lips. “So...you want more?”
“Isn’t that what I just said?”
“Yes,” she admitted, feeling bemused. “Just how much more than pussy do you want from me?”
“Don’t push it, Dacoda. I’ve made all the admissions I intend to make for the moment.”
“And what are you willing to do to get what you want?” she went on as if he hadn’t spoken.
“You mean besides compelling you to be my sweet fuck slave?”
His fuck slave? Well, all right. That had a ring to it. Smiling, she snaked her hand out and reclaimed his cock. “I’m going to rest for the coming festivities. Wake me when we arrive, honey boy.”
He leaned over and brushed his lips against the corner of her mouth. He whispered something she didn’t understand. But it didn’t matter. She liked the sound of whatever he said.
She closed her eyes and settled back against his seat, her fingers resting in his pants.