Almost Human (11 page)

Alaric grabbed my arm. “We need to
talk.”

“Can it wait? I need to talk to Casey.”

He nodded. “Meet me in my room when you’re
done.”

Ooh, something to look forward to. From his
tone I knew talking meant talking, and probably not sex. Which
probably meant an in-depth argument.

I caught up with Casey as she hit the
stairs. I grabbed her wrist to stop her. She glanced at me and
hesitated before she told Misha she’d be up in a minute.

Misha sneered at me. “If she comes up
crying, I’ll beat the shit out of you.”

I flipped him off as I pulled her into a
room near the foot of the stairs. I shut the door behind us and
turned around. I gaped. The walls were covered in paintings. There
were stacks of them leaning against the walls as well, and even a
few unfinished ones on the floor. The desk was covered in boxes
full of art supplies.

Casey tiptoed around the paintings to sit on
the red leather love seat.

I frowned. “Who did all these?”

I was rewarded with a small smile, but it
was nowhere near the sparkling one I knew she could give me. “All
the guys. Mainly Jairdan. He doesn’t sleep all that much. Alaric
and Misha say he never has. He’s always been a busy person.”

Wow, Alaric had said he’d learned a lot of
skills over the years, but I hadn’t truly believed him. Why did him
being artistically inclined make him that much hotter? I shook my
head. Right now I was supposed to be apologizing to my sister, not
fantasizing about surly, pain-in-the-ass vampires.

I followed the path Casey had taken through
the paintings and plopped myself down next to her. Her head was
down, her hair falling around her face, obscuring it from my view.
I tucked the pin straight strands behind one of her ears and
grasped her chin, tilting her head up.

Tears sparkled in her eyes. Shit, her boy
toy was going to beat the crap out of me.

“Do you hate me, Kori?”

I sighed and grasped her hands in mine. “I
could never hate you, little sister. I don’t agree with what you
did, but I can understand why you did it. I understand not wanting
to lose your family. I should have been easier on you. It wasn’t
all that long ago that I thought you were worse than dead and it
was…debilitating. And I loved Tahira, too. Of course I remember her
being kidnapped.”

I still had the scars, both physical and
mental, from trying to save her. Our father had been killed in his
attempts. I’d watched his life drain from the gaping wound in his
throat as my small hands tried to put pressure on the wound while
the vampires shoved Tahira into a black van.

I’d managed to kill the vamp trying to take
Casey and wriggle out of the grasp of the one attempting to kidnap
me.

I shook my head to clear the gory and
horrifying images rolling around in it. “Besides, I’ll take my
frustrations out on Alaric. I blame him more than you. He should
have known enough to let me die. He doesn’t even like me. I don’t
know why he gave in to your demands.”

She frowned at me. “Don’t be mean to him,
Kori. He’s a good guy. He loves me. That’s why he did it. And if
the loud sex is any indication, I don’t think he minds your company
either.”

The blush bloomed up my throat and onto my
cheeks, and I cursed myself. I hated that I blushed so easily.
Casey burst into a fit of giggles, but her cheeks were red, too. I
flung my arms around her in a tight hug before we stood.

We walked to the door, still laughing. “We
need to hang out later. It’s been a while since I’ve spoken to you
when we weren’t in peril. I want all the dirt on Misha. True girl
talk.”

She danced away. “Sure thing.”

I was headed for Alaric’s room when a hand
gripped my arm. I spun around, breaking the person’s grasp. I
prepared to strike, but then I noticed who it was.

Dagger jumped back and threw his arms into
the air in surrender. “Sorry, didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”

I rolled my eyes and braced my hands on my
hips. “Haven’t you left yet?”

“Nope, I gathered supplies for spells in
case the Undead Witch Bitch comes our way.”

In spite of the light tone the comment was
made in, I couldn’t help but worry. “Be careful.”

He grinned. “I didn’t know you cared.”

I shrugged. I wasn’t sure why I cared
either. “What can I say? You’re amusing.”

He laughed and gave my body a hot once over.
“You’ve got to be one of the few people who thinks that.” He bit
his lip. “If you didn’t belong to Alaric, I’d be all over you.”

I frowned at him, taken aback by his
statement. “I don’t belong to anyone. Alaric and I are having fun
for now, I’m sure. It’s not like he’s looking for a
relationship.”

He put his hand on my shoulder and his smile
was sad, and a little pitying. “If you think he’ll let you go,
you’ve got a hard lesson coming. I don’t look forward to witnessing
it.”

He stepped around me, and then hesitated. He
turned to face me again. “Do you know anything about the vampires
who took Tahira?”

I frowned at him. “Eavesdropper. And not
much. It was so long ago. All I remember are the heavy, Spanish
accents of the men, and the name of one was Rudolpho. Why do you
ask?”

His expression was guarded when he answered.
“No reason.”

I narrowed my eyes on him. “Liar. Do you
know something? Do you know where she is?”

“No, I don’t.” But the determination in his
eyes said he aimed to find out. He turned from me and was gone
before I could ask another question.

But I only had one: Why the heck did he
care?

I continued on my way to Alaric’s room and
shrugged it off. I didn’t know Dagger well, but I was pretty
certain he wouldn’t share his reason with me. If he even had a good
one. From what I’d heard, and the way he acted, he wasn’t all
there.

I slipped into Alaric’s room hoping he
wouldn’t be there. I wanted some peace, and time to think. I wasn’t
up to arguing with him. He’d said he’d be waiting, but maybe he’d
talked to his brothers about what was going on instead.

I closed the door silently and leaned my
head against it. In spite of being on good terms with my sister, I
wasn’t happy about what I’d become. Even now I could feel the blood
lust starting to burn in my gut, chipping away at that little piece
of conscience that told me not to hurt the innocent. What would
happen when I was around someone my new instinct considered
prey?

Hands descended on my shoulders and I almost
let out a groan. Alaric was waiting for me, like he said he’d be.
Then his thumbs dug into my tense muscles and I did moan, but for a
whole different reason. His short massage was expertly done. He
seemed to know how to play my body so it would work against my
brain.

Bastard.

I turned to face him slowly. He allowed his
hands to glide lightly over my shoulders and collarbones. His
expression was hard, but his eyes held a mix of sympathy and
guilt.

“I don’t want to fight. Can’t our discussion
wait?”

His eyes became hostile. Shit, I didn’t
think I’d said anything to cause that look. His hands slid down my
arms, capturing my wrists. In a flash they were pinned above my
head. His mouth crashed over mine, in an angry, passion-filled
kiss.

“Oh, but we’re going to fight. So you think
I only want you for some quick fun? That’s what I understand from
your conversation with Dagger?”

I glared up at him. “Does everyone in this
bloody house eavesdrop?”

He smirked. “Kind of hard not to. Vampire
hearing. And don’t change the subject.”

“Well, what more do you want? I don’t want a
relationship with you. We can barely stand each other.”

“Then why can I smell how aroused you are?
Why are your hard little nipples poking my chest? I think your body
knows what it wants.”

“My body might want you, but I have a brain,
too. If I let my libido make my choices for me, I wouldn’t have
left your bed earlier. And I wouldn’t think you’d want a
relationship anyway. A man like you can’t commit to a woman. You
want a different one every night.”

He snorted. “And you know so much about me.
Maybe I’m looking for the right woman, and I happen to like
you.”

He was right. I didn’t know him at all. I
was making an assumption based on no facts. But I wanted it to be
true. I couldn’t have a relationship with a vampire. “I’m a vampire
hunter. How can I possibly be the right woman?”

“Correction. You used to be a vampire
hunter. No more.”

I wiggled, trying to pull my hands free.

He moaned and arched against me. “Oh, baby,
do that again, it definitely adds to the fantasy.”

“What makes you think I won’t go right back
to vampire hunting when all this crap is over?”

“The king will have you killed.”

I frowned. “The king? What king?”

“Macon, the vampire king. You know, it’s
surprising that a vampire hunter doesn’t know our hierarchy.”

I curled my lip at him. “My job is to kill
leeches, not do a political study.”

“Usually Macon wouldn’t mind the vampires in
his kingdom killing each other. It’s good for population control,
and he won’t intercede in personal squabbles for power, but for one
like you he’d make an exception. He doesn’t like vampire hunters,
and you’re lucky that I’m powerful and respected enough to keep him
from killing you, because he’d probably send an assassin.”

He chuckled, low and dark. “Besides, you
might be stuck with me anyway. When Pagan was turned, Macon allowed
Nyx a probationary period. If she strayed from Nyx’s side, she’d be
killed.”

“How long was the probationary period?”

“It was supposed to be a year, but Macon
lifted it at Nyx’s request. And before you think to ask, I won’t
request that it be lifted.”

I forced my arms an inch off the wall and he
shoved them back, grinning. “Ooh, you’re strong.” He pulled my arms
away from the wall and tugged me toward the bed. He collapsed on
it, spilling me across him. “I’m stronger.”

“I bet when I knee you in the balls, you’ll
rethink that statement.”

He released my wrists and ran his hands down
my body before flipping me onto my back and wedging his hips
between my thighs. “Now don’t do that, or we won’t have any
fun.”

His erection bumped my clit. I barely
managed to hold in my gasp. “I’m not in the mood right now.” It was
a total lie. I’d rarely met a man who could hold me down and very
few that would dare to attempt it. It was exciting.

He sucked my earlobe into his mouth and
nibbled it gently. “Bullshit. I bet your panties are soaked.”

He unbuttoned my jeans and ran his hand over
my pussy. He thrust a finger into me while his thumb stroked my
clit. “Mmmm, yep all wet.”

He added a second finger to the one inside
my vagina. I bucked against his hand, trying to find release, but
he placed his forearm over my hips to hold me still.

“Now when the probationary period is up, you
can go, but by then I don’t think you’ll want to.”

God, I was so close, but he kept me balanced
right on the edge, not letting me come.

“Why do you think that?” I managed to
gasp.

“Because I plan to use every weapon at my
disposal to convince you to stay. These weapons include eight
hundred years of acquired skill in bed, and a big dick.”

His fingers thrust into my pussy again. My
thoughts scattered and I came, gasping his name.

He drew his hand out of my pants and licked
my juices off his fingers. “You taste good, Kori.”

I threaded my fingers threw his hair and
pulled him down to kiss me. We could argue about whatever we had
been arguing about later. Right now I wanted him.

I shoved his shirt up and over his head and
then started on the buttons of his jeans. He shoved my pants down
my legs and I kicked them off my feet.

When I pushed his jeans down his hard,
flushed cock sprang free. Wrapping my hand around it, I squeezed
gently and was rewarded with a gasp as his head fell back. I
stroked him from root to tip and the muscles in his neck tightened
as he groaned.

I released his penis and shoved him onto his
back. His eyes widened, as if he hadn’t expected such strength, and
then he grinned.

I grasped the base of his dick and engulfed
the head in my mouth. Velvet over steel, and he tasted so good. I
sucked and swirled my tongue over the head. His thighs twitched and
he tried to thrust his hips, but with my grip on his penis, it
accomplished nothing. I giggled with my mouth on him and he
moaned.

“Stop teasing. I need more, Kori.”

I laughed, shook my head, and gently
caressed his balls with my other hand. He tangled his hand in my
hair and pulled my mouth off his cock. I released him and he
flipped me face down on the bed before I could react.

He pulled my hips off the mattress and
buried himself to the balls in my pussy. I cried out and clenched
the bedspread in my fists.

He withdrew and then rammed home again. “You
shouldn’t cock tease me, Kori.”

He thrust into me again and I rocked back to
meet him. “I’m bad. Punish me.” I cried out as he slammed into me
again. His balls slapped against my clit. There was a loud crack
and pain bloomed across my ass.

He spanked me again, and gave me no reprieve
as he continued to fuck me.

His wrist appeared in my line of sight.
“Bite me.”

I did. Warm, copper-tasting blood rushed
over my tongue. I heard tendons pop, but he cried out in
satisfaction, not pain.

My world broke apart as pleasure blinded me.
I shouted his name hoarsely as I came.

“Fuck, Kori,” he yelled as he spilled his
warm seed into my body. He collapsed next to me on the bed as my
knees slid out from under me. I rolled onto my back and stared at
the ceiling.

Our breathing slowed and he glanced at me.
“Are you okay? I was rough.”