Alpha Mine (The Alpha Council Chronicles) (16 page)

“It’s cold,” she squealed, kicking her legs.

Stephan tightened his grip. “It’s not cold. Your skin is just more sensitive than usual.” A mischievous grin lit his face and with a flash of movement he withdrew his support, letting her fall into the tranquil pool.

Kat’s head broke the surface, treading water.

“I can’t believe you did that.” She splashed him sending the cool water down his body. He watched as her appreciative gaze followed the water sluicing down his body. The evidence of his arousal thickened in response to her heated gaze. Kat gasped at his size.

Kat was not innocent. She’d seen many of her fellow dancers naked as well as the few lovers she’d had, but never had she seen such an amazing looking body as the one she watched in the cave. Even Marcus’ toned form could not compare.

Every muscle was defined by hard lines, this man didn’t have a six pack; he had eight perfectly defined abdominals. The water lapped at his groin, drawing her eye to the long, thick erection that promised an erotic night.

“How dare you splash me!” Stephan said, mock outrage raising his voice. “I think you deserve to be punished for that, you naughty girl.”

The heat in his eyes told her it was time to run, though whether to run to him or from him, now that was the question. She swam away from Stephan on her back. His grin exposed his fangs as he dove in after her. A small squeak escaped Kat’s throat before she plunged into the water to swim away. Kat surfaced and turned a circle, scanning for her pursuer.

The hair on her neck stood at attention. She sensed him near, but she couldn’t see him. Katrina started to drop back under the water when she felt a large hand snake its way up her leg. She kicked wildly, but was stilled by his strong arms. He pulled her under the water to meet him.

Stephan glided her lean body down his own until he found her kiss-swollen lips. He kissed her fiercely, causing small bubbles to float to the surface. He wrapped his thick arms around her and kicked them to the surface using his strong legs, never breaking their kiss.

Kat’s eyes widened in amazement. Heat flared through her body, pooled low in her core. Her body went up in flames, fire licked along her skin. Her fingers clutched at his back as she arched her hips toward him in a silent plea for relief. She wrapped her legs around his waist and allowed him to move them to the side of the pool where he set her onto the edge.

He spread her thighs wide and drank in the view. “You are so beautiful,” he rasped just before he sank down to explore her with his mouth. He took one long lick to find her most sensitive spot and began circling the nub with sure strokes. Her overly sensitive skin helped her to reach the precipice of orgasm quickly. It built fast, and with one more flick of his tongue, he took her over the edge.

She moaned in ecstasy when he rose above her, his muscles bunching as he stood up sending water running over his chest down and down his most manly parts. Katrina’s tongue flicked over her lips at the sight as her eyes tracked the droplets on their sinuous ride down his body. Her hand reached out to trace the water path with two fingers.

He leaned his head back and moaned when she wrapped one of her hands around his shaft. Katrina ran her fingers along the length of him, sending tiny tremors through his body. He watched her eyelids droop wantonly with desire. Her hand tightened around him, her enhanced sense of touch enjoying the feel of soft velvet over steel. She stroked from tip to base, her pace quickening as the minutes passed.

By the look on his face, she could tell she drove him mad with her touches. Her soft fingers continued to work their magic. She reveled in the knowledge that she affected him as much as he affected her. She loved the way his body tightened under her touch.

“Katrina, if you don’t stop that, I won’t last much longer.”

She looked up at him from under the light crescent of her lashes, a wily grin spreading across her face. “We wouldn’t want that now, would we?”

She boldly positioned him at her entrance. In one smooth thrust, he slid into her wet heat. She gasped, the sensation so intense she thought she might explode. She trembled as she opened herself to his masterful strokes.

His hands grabbed her calves, wrapped her legs around his waist. The water sloshed around his powerful thighs as he worked his hips. He slid his hands down her legs to grab her hips, bringng them over the edge of the pool. He lifted them slightly allowing him to angle in deeply, hitting the internal sweet spot that sent a lightning bolt of lust through her body. Her climax built in time to his increasing thrusts, and once again the delicious sensation coiled inside her, driving her up and up. The coil shattered inside her, and she called out his name when her body fragmented.

Gasping and moaning, she writhed through the intense pleasure washing over her. He built the delicious pressure while he thrust into her again and again, holding her hips exactly where he wanted. Their flesh pounded together as he brought her pleasure. Soft keening sounds left her throat, becoming louder when the pressure within built once more. The luscious sounds of her excitement quickened his pace until they tumbled together to their release.

Panting from exhaustion, Kat slowly opened her eyes to find Stephan looking down at her with a smile of male satisfaction on his striking face.

“What?” she asked, taking her legs from his waist. It shifted the pressure inside her sensitive core. His shaft jumped in response, but he did not withdraw. Unable to move, her legs hung limply over the side of the pool. The cool water a shock to her heated skin.

“I was just thinking,” he replied coyly and bent at the waist to settle his weight on his forearms.

“About what?”

“How amazing you are.” Stephan tucked her hair behind her ear.

“You were the one who was amazing,” she admitted propping herself up on her elbows. “I have never felt like that before.”

“It was my blood. Did I mention in addition to heightening senses, it happens to be an aphrodisiac?”

Kat’s eyes widened, then she relaxed and laid back on the ground. “I don’t think that was it. I think it was you.”

One side of Stephan’s mouth raised in a smile. “We could test that theory by trying this again tomorrow after the effects from my blood have worn off.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” A grin took Katrina’s face.

Chapter 19

Stephan stood in his penthouse, cradling Kat in his strong arms. She’d fallen asleep on the ride back home. Not wanting to wake her, Stephan had simply picked her up and carried her. He mentally unlocked and opened the door.

Marcus greeted them with a nod when they walked through the door.

“I have a lot to tell you,” Marcus said in a whispered voice.

Quietly Stephan replied, “Let me put her to bed, then I want you to brief me on what you found tonight.” Kat snuggled into Stephan as he spoke.

Stephan could feel Marcus watching him carry Kat up the stairs to the master suite. He was probably giving him a knowing smirk behind his back. They would speak about the sleeping arrangements later, but first he had to see to the needs of the woman in his arms.

Stephan placed Kat gently on his bed and tucked the covers up under her chin. His chest swelled with love for her. She looked so desirable in his bed. He knew she was exactly where she was meant to be. It felt right looking down at her as she slept soundly wrapped in his sheets. For the first time in his long life he felt complete, whole, and it was because she had come into his life.

He brushed a blonde curl from her face, gently tucked the errant strand back behind her ear and smiled, sighing as he wondered how long their relationship could last. There was so much against them. Her mortality. His vampirism.
It will be difficult
, a smile graced his lips,
but then anything worth having is worth fighting for.
And one thing Stephan was very proficient at was fighting.

“Sleep tight, Kitten,” he whispered bending over to place a light kiss on her forehead.

He left the room, but paused in the doorway to turn and take one more look at her over his shoulder. Reluctance kept his feet from moving forward, his body refused to leave her presence. In that moment, he realized she had become everything to him. His entire life had changed.

He’d never been so protective of anyone before. The closest he had ever come was the protective nature he felt toward Marcus, like that of an older brother. But with Kat he definitely didn’t feel brotherly, far from it. He experienced a deep connection to the woman lying in his bed, one he wouldn’t deny any longer.

Duty pushed in on him. Council business called. He needed to know what Marcus had discovered. If there was a hunt club in this city no human was safe, not even Kat. Only his driving need to protect her pushed him from the room.

Stephan joined Marcus in the library and sat behind his desk. “Let’s call Nicholai to come over, so he too can hear what you found.” Stephan punched the numbers into the phone and hit the speaker button.

“Hello.” Nicholai’s booming voice filled the library.

“Hi, Nicholai, it’s Stephan and Marcus. I’ve got you on speaker phone. Marcus was just going to tell me about what he found out tonight, and I thought you would also like to hear it.”

“Yes, I would. Thank you for calling.”

“Would you like to come over to discuss it?”

“I cannot come tonight. There has been a problem with some of our scenery, and I need to stay here to help out the company. The show must go on, you know.

“But I can take a quick break. Can Marcus share his information over the phone?”

“Of course. Okay, Marcus, tell us what you found out tonight.” Stephan sat back and crossed his thick arms across his chest.

Marcus relayed what he witnessed from his cramped crevice in the rock, carefully describing the two bodies he saw removed from the van.

Stephan leaned forward onto his desk, steepling his fingers. “So you aren’t sure if they were alive?”

“That’s correct. They were limp and the way the guards carried them, I could not see if their eyes were opened or shut. And they were too far away to tell if they were breathing or not.”

Nicholai interjected, “Something is definitely not right. Between what I sensed in the house and what Marcus saw tonight, something is very wrong.”

“I agree,” said Stephan. “But we need more information. We don’t have enough to be sure exactly what they are up to. Do you think one of us should go out and watch the compound again tomorrow night?”

Marcus leaned forward. “I think we need more than eyes on the place. We need ears. We need to hear what is going on
in
that house.”

A thoughtful look crossed Stephan’s face. “That’s a great idea, exactly what we need. We need to have ears inside.”

From the speaker phone the two males heard, “I know someone in VES who can probably hook me up with a…what is the word? Insect?”

“You mean a bug?” laughed Marcus.

“Da, that is it, a bug. Andrea wanted me to get the autographs of my prima ballerina and
premier danseur
. I can go to the home under the pretense of dropping off the autographs and plant the bug.”

“That might just work,” said Stephan smiling with satisfaction across his desk at Marcus.

“It has to work,” commented Marcus. “If Gage Lucio is the one doing the hunt club, we have to prove it so we can stop him before the hunt.”

“Da. If Gage is behind the club, he will most likely be doing the hunt during the party he invited me to.”

“That would make sense,” concurred Stephan. Marcus nodded his head in agreement.

“All right then, we are all set,” said Nicholai. “I will go to my contact at the Vampire Enforcement Squad and get the bug, then hide it in the house. I will call you when I am done and let you know how it went.”

“Just do me a favor, Nicholai,” Stephan said. “Don’t tell VES why you need the device. It’s too early to bring them into this. We aren’t even sure there is a hunt club.”

“Personally, I think if we find out there is a hunt club, we Alphas should take care of things, not VES.” Marcus earned a nod of acquiescence from Stephan at the suggestion.

“I will be careful. I will find a way to get the device without involving the VES. Perhaps I will tell them I need the device to listen in on a cheating lover.” Nicholai’s deep chuckle cracked over the speaker.

Marcus laughed. “Not sure that will work. Maybe you should tell them that you need the device for research. You could say you’re thinking about buying some and would like to try them out before you invest in any.”

“Hmm,” said Nicholai thoughtfully. “That might work. I will come up with something.”

“We have a plan, so I think we are done for tonight.” Stephan clapped his hands together once before rubbing them back and forth in satisfaction. “Thank you, Nicholai. Good luck planting the device. Goodbye and safe travels.”

“Safe travels, my friends,” the Russian said, his thick accent purring the Rs.

With a punch of the button, Stephan cut the phone connection and looked up at Marcus. He appreciated the way the Alphas always worked so well together. He supposed centuries of fighting together could do that. There was a special bond they shared that went beyond simple friendship. A small smile lit Stephan’s face as he fondly remembered good times with the warriors he had come to think of as his friends.

Stephan leaned back in his chair. “The Alphas have definitely been through a lot. A lot of fights, conflicts, empires, and…fun.”

“Yes, we’ve had some very good times over the centuries.” Propping his elbow on the arm of his chair, Marcus leaned his head onto his hand. “And some not so good times.”

After several moments of reflective silence, Marcus spoke, bringing both of them out of their thoughts. “Soooooo,” said Marcus in a sing-song voice. “I noticed when you took Kat to bed, you went to your room. Does that mean…”

“It means that from now on you are welcome to go back to sleeping in your room.”

Marcus flashed a knowing grin and rose to leave. He dipped his head once toward Stephan.

“As you wish…sire,” he said formally before giving Stephan a wink and leaving him alone in the room.