Authors: Marie Hall
I
t was still dark out when Even opened her eyes and leaned back against the pillows, frowning and thinking. Had she really blacked out the way Cian had said? It was probably true; there was a chunk of time just gone. Which was sort of frightening.
Last things she recalled were sitting at his kitchen table and then waking up on his bed. She worried her bottom lip. Her thoughts a little fuzzy, lethargy began to creep into her limbs. Due to the nightmares, she hadn’t gotten much sleep. What was it about Cian that made her feel so safe? Despite the fear she’d suffered at home, all she wanted to do now was draw the sheets over her head and fall asleep.
She shifted and stared out of the open bay window, inhaling the fresh sea air wafting through.
The other morning she’d suffered a terrible headache, but it was nothing serious. It seemed the same had happened again tonight, only this time coupled with a complete lapse in memory. Truth was she felt a-OK aside from the sleepiness.
She blew out a breath. How weird that she couldn’t remember. Was he exaggerating what happened? She rubbed her temple. There wasn’t even an aftereffect of lingering pain. If it’d been that bad, shouldn’t she have recalled something?
Footsteps alerted her to Cian’s presence seconds before he entered the room. Worries fled at the sight of him carrying a serving tray with a tall glass of orange juice and a plate of toast. All that was missing was a cute little vase with a rose inside it.
She laughed and sat up, giving him room to set the tray across her lap. “You didn’t need to do all this.”
There were tiny saucers filled with a variety of jams and a small tab of butter.
“Well”—his gravelly voice rolled through her veins—“after what happened, I figured putting something in your stomach couldn’t hurt.”
She smiled and buttered her toast. “You sure do own a lot of food for a vampire. I can’t understand how the sight of this stuff doesn’t turn your stomach.”
“Yeah.” He snorted.
The flavor of sourdough burst inside her mouth with the first bite. “Oh,” she moaned, “this is so good.”
He grinned and sat on the edge of the bed. “Glad you like it.”
Eve devoured the toast and drank more than half of the orange juice before she spoke again. She pushed the tray aside and sighed, placing her hand over her stomach. “Jeez, I just realized that’s the first thing I ate all day. Thanks, I really needed that.”
Now that she’d eaten, she was really starting to feel sluggish, and his bed was so comfortable, the comforter thick and plush. All she wanted to do was kick off her shoes, curl into him, and fall asleep.
“So, how’d you find this place?”
“Right”—she rolled the
r
—“I kinda forgot all about that, didn’t I?”
He cocked his head, twisting his lips.
Now came the part that she’d dreaded. Her stomach knotted all over again. “Truth is, after I totally wigged out on you at the beach yesterday…”
“Hmm”—he nodded—“what was that all about? I thought we were having a good time.”
The guy didn’t pull punches. Blunt but honest, at least he didn’t beat around the bush or pretend like he didn’t know what she was talking about. She admired him all the more for it.
“We were. I was.” She sighed and gave an apologetic shrug. “This is so hard to say without sounding totally weird.”
She couldn’t look at the open confusion in his deep blues anymore. It was just making her too nervous. So she allowed her gaze to roam the room, coming to rest on the burnished cherrywood armoire. “Two years ago I lost someone really dear to me. And it’s crazy, but in that moment I got so carried away”—she paused, taking a deep breath—“and, I dunno…I just panicked.”
He grabbed her cold hands, warming them. She looked at him. His touch seemed to fill that empty space inside her, like the seamless joining of two souls.
She drowned in his bottomless eyes. He wasn’t judging her but comforting, and she felt herself falling deeper and harder. Her heart gave a tiny jerk.
“You still didn’t tell me how you found this place.”
His fingers slowly stroked the small of her back. It felt good, and she relaxed into his touch.
“That’s it? You’re not pissed at me for acting like such an idiot?”
He kissed her knuckle and said, “Who am I to judge?”
The movement of his firm lips against her flesh made her tingle, and desire coursed a turbulent path down her body, making her ache low in her gut, her nipples tightening into hard, painful buds.
She shook her head and patted the spot on the bed next to her. She hardly knew him and yet it felt like they’d known each other for years. There was something very calming about that.
“My sisters forced me to do a séance.”
A grin split his face.
She rolled her eyes. “I swear I’m not a stalker, but you never gave me your number or address, and I wanted to find you and tell you that…I was sorry.”
He crawled next to her, draping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. “It’s okay. I am glad you came.”
Stomach fluttering at the tenderness in his voice, she laid her head on his chest. The steady beat of his heart, a song in her ears. The soapy scent of his body filled her senses. She sighed. This was so nice, so perfect.
With a flick of his wrist, Cian turned off the lights, and several candles around the room burst to life. A soft golden glow filled the room.
“This is nice,” she murmured, closing her eyes. Sleep crowded her mind, becoming harder to ignore.
“Eve.”
“Hmm?” She could stay like this forever.
“Do you want to stay the night?” His voice was a soft whisper.
A small thrill raced down her spine, and she nodded, nuzzling his chest with tiny moans until she finally fell asleep.
* * *
He watched her. It seemed that was all he could do anymore. In repose she reminded him of a sylph. Angelic and ethereal. Reaching out, he touched the sable polish of her hair. It was silky soft, and he rubbed a strand between his fingers.
She moaned, and he trailed a finger down her cheek. It was warm to the touch. He wasn’t sure what she liked to sleep in, but he was certain the turtleneck had to be hot. With a swipe of his hand, he replaced her jeans and turtleneck with a soft white tank top and a pair of cotton sleep pants. Her clothing reappeared by the sitting chair in the corner, draped over the top.
“Rest.”
“Didn’t know you vampies could do that.” A soft smile graced her lips before quickly fading into a loud yawn.
Goddess, how he wanted to tell her the truth, that he wasn’t a damn bloodsucker, he was a fae, a death dealer, and absolutely, irrevocably ensnared by her.
But the moment passed and she was too exhausted for this kind of conversation. He would tell her, when the time was right. Cian wasn’t tired, rarely needing sleep the way a human body craved it, but he didn’t want to let her go either. She rolled onto her side, her backside firmly spooned against him. The white tail feather of her tattoo peeked out the bottom of her shirt.
He reached out, dragging his finger along the design. It was healing nicely, barely pink anymore.
“You are so bonny, lass,” he whispered.
It was getting close. Their days were numbered. This was the third day. He had two more left. Two more days to figure out how to stop this. It didn’t seem possible that time was moving so fast. But it was, and Cian was no closer to figuring out how to keep her safe from The Morrigan than he’d been at the beginning.
He closed his eyes, the weight of her body a comforting presence. In such a short period, he’d come to care for this woman more than he’d ever imagined possible.
Smirking, he shook his head. To think she’d gone through a séance to find out where he lived. She fascinated him, everything about her. Eve was fire and passion, a woman with a dark past who’d come so far.
Her soft, even breathing warred with the mechanical rhythm of the grandfather clock in the hallway. The hands of time were ticking away, and all he could do was helplessly stand by and watch it move on.
Sometime later, he wasn’t sure how much, she rolled over. Her moans growing louder and louder. Hearing those mewls, seeing her body undulate and move, he had no doubt what she was dreaming about. His lips quirked. His cock twitched.
To touch her, to taste her—he’d give almost anything to have her now.
As if sensing his gaze, her eyes fluttered open. “Cian.” Her voice was so soft, tremulous.
“Lass?”
“Do you feel it?”
He wasn’t sure what she meant. He looked out the window. “Feel what?”
“The fire. Do you feel it?”
His heart stuttered. He licked his lips. His balls ached so badly he could barely remember a time they hadn’t anymore.
She dragged her foot along the length of his calf, her touch sizzled. It burned, made him crave. Want. His breathing grew sharp and heavy.
“I feel it,” he muttered, secure in the shadows crawling around them to utter the truth. Sensing the dark would take his words, hold them sacred, keep them safe.
Her eyes were liquid pools. Golden drops of brilliance. “I want you so bad. More than I’ve ever wanted anyone else.”
He sucked in a sharp breath. She had no idea, no clue how much those words made him tremble. Like his world had tipped on its side. He’d known how much she’d loved Michael, how much a part of her still did. That she could say that to him…
“Eve.” Her name on his lips was a promise, a whisper of something he could not put into words.
She crawled on top of him, her breasts smashed into his chest. Goddess, he wanted this so badly: to rip the clothes from her body, bury himself in her warm haven, and forget.
“I need you, Cian. I have from the moment we met. I need you to touch me, to ease the fire in my blood.” She kissed his neck, and her scent wrapped him up, made him dizzy. He groaned. His fingers dug into her firm backside, kneading, petting.
He couldn’t believe he was about to say this. She was everything he wanted, she was throwing herself at him, and, goddess, if it wasn’t tempting, but…“Eve, you’re half-asleep—”
Her tongue flicked at his neck. A moan rumbled from his throat, from the deepest pit of his soul. “Eve…”
“I’m not asleep. I’m awake. Alive. For the first time in a long time. Kiss me, Cian.”
“Lass.” That was all he could say; there were so many reasons why they shouldn’t do this. Why they couldn’t. But her pants, her moans, drowned out all reason. He’d show her she wasn’t the only one feeling the fire with his tongue, his body.
Cian growled and rolled them over, pinning her beneath him. She wiggled, squirmed, and he ground his cock in between her thighs. “Is that what you want?”
He wanted her, this woman, with a desperation that bordered on madness, and he hoped to the goddess that she wanted it too, because he wasn’t sure he’d be strong enough to back down now.
She threw her head back, her lips parted in a tiny O. “Yes, goddess, yes.”
He was pure instinct now. She was a feast laid out for him, begging him to taste, to suckle. Cian crawled down her body.
“No, Cian…please.”
No sex. He couldn’t cross that line, but there were other ways to gain pleasure for them both.
His hands were rough as he ripped her tiny shorts down the sides. She gasped and then smiled when he yanked on her thong.
“Ohhhh,” she moaned.
He grunted. Any other moment he would have taken his time. Not tonight. He’d whip her up slowly, hot kisses trailing a path down her neck, her breasts, teasing her navel, and then maybe laving the sensitive skin between her thighs. He was hungry, crazy for the sight of her. The taste of her in his mouth.
He ripped the flimsy thong off and then sat on his knees, stunned to silence for a moment. She was shaved. There wasn’t a hair to hide the peachy perfection of her dewy slit. She spread her legs and stuck her finger in her mouth. She was unashamed of her nudity; her eyes glinted with lust and something nameless, foreign. She stared at him as he stared at her, but he couldn’t rip his gaze from the sight of her naked flesh.
“Eve.” Her name ripped from his throat like a benediction.
“I’m all yours, Cian.” Then, slowly and with practiced ease, she took the finger she’d been sucking on and traced it up her slit. “All yours.”
He was an animal. Cian took her finger, sucked on it hard, tasting her sweet essence. Letting it settle on his tongue like nectar, but one taste wasn’t enough. “I’m sorry, lass,” he crooned, “I canna be gentle. So sorry.”
He shoved her legs down hard on the mattress and settled between her thighs, taking her swollen nub into his mouth, and sucked. Hard.
Her nails were tiny claws scraping at his scalp, and she lifted off the bed, her thighs trapping his head as she rubbed herself on his face. “Don’t want gentle,” she panted. “Want you.”
Then there were no more words as he sucked, tasted and devoured. Running his tongue down the long, wet length of her. She was a wild, crazy thing, her groans growing in pitch and intensity.
Cian couldn’t stop from touching himself. He pulled back just enough to take his cock in hand and rubbed hard, his vision growing blurry.
“I’m coming, Cian.” She keened, her knees trembled, and then she was spasming on him, giving him everything she had and Cian roared as his seed blasted from his body with the force of a tsunami.
They lay there stunned, breathless. Her hands were gentle, rubbing his hair. “Come here.”
Exhausted, he crawled back up her body, wrapped tight around him. His lips found hers and she kissed him back. But it wasn’t possession or lust; this kiss held something both were too afraid to whisper but felt to the depths of their souls.
He rolled over with a sigh, and she snuggled into his chest. Then her breathing grew heavy and he knew she’d fallen back asleep. He smiled and joined her.
S
he was beautiful waking up, a lazy dance of limbs stretching out and back arcing up. Eve reminded him of a petal opening to face the sunlight after a long sleep. And it made him desperate for more. Three days wouldn’t be enough; five wouldn’t be either. He needed more, a lifetime, an eternity of this. Of waking up and finding her beside him. His jaw clenched. Was it selfish that he wanted it all?
Her lashes fluttered a second before finally opening. She blinked a few times and then turned to look at him, sleep still in her eyes.
“Good morning. Or should I say good night?”
He knew the moment she remembered what they’d shared last night, her cheeks filled with pink. Her lips twisted and she glanced to her right. She bit her bottom lip, and though he’d tasted her once, he knew in that moment if she wanted to, he’d be more than happy to oblige. He would never get enough of Eve.
“Last night was, ah…” She licked her lips, still unable to look at him.
“Me too.” He grabbed her hand and placed it against his chest.
She finally looked at him. Within her eyes he read that same foreignness he’d read last night. That gentle flutter of something both infinite and profound. He trembled and she shook her head.
“So, umm…how long were we out?”
He turned to look out the window. Navy-blue and violet streaks raced across the endless expanse of sky. “Pretty long.”
“Huh?” She glanced at the bedroom clock and then gasped, sitting up and clutching the sheet to her chest. “I slept for almost ten hours? I gotta go. I gotta…” She jumped to her feet and ran toward the door. “The meeting! Oh my god.”
She was a vision, bare breasts bouncing with her hurried steps. Full swell of her backside flexing with each stride. His blood hummed.
“Hey. Hey.” He caught up to her and grabbed her elbow. “Calm down. You should probably wait to put on something a little warmer. And what meeting?”
“What?” She glanced down, eyes going wide, finally noticing she was nude. She blushed again and if she didn’t seem to be in such a panic to leave, he’d be pulling her back to the bed for the sequel. “Where are—”
He jerked his thumb behind his shoulder. “Hanging over the chair. You looked a little uncomfortable last night, so I—”
“I thought you tore my clothes.” The blush was still firmly settled in her cheeks. She bit her bottom lip, and he couldn’t stop himself from touching the spot with his finger.
Hunger replaced the panic in her gaze. “More time. Goddess, what I wouldn’t give for more time,” she moaned.
It was obvious that she needed to go. With a sigh he stepped back. “I tore some shorts and a shirt I put you in. The thong’s gone.”
She raised a brow. “Changed me in my sleep, you dirty boy. That’s okay. Commando-R-Us, that’s me.” She winked, and he growled.
“More time,” he said.
“More time,” she agreed with a nod.
Eve walked to the chair, grabbed her clothes, and slipped them back on. The jeans and turtleneck once again hugged her curves. Very luscious curves at that.
His eyes traveled the length of her, a slow, heated perusal, no longer having to imagine what that body looked like beneath. Her desire coiled inside him and he grinned, staring at her face. Blood rushed to his cock, making him instantly hard and ready.
She narrowed her eyes, pulling her lower lip between her teeth. “What I wouldn’t give to know do what’s going through that mind of yours.”
“Might frighten you.”
“Hmm. If that’s a challenge, I think I’m up to the task.”
He inclined his head, an answering grin on her face. “So what’s this meeting?”
“Just a gathering held each month where every species has a delegate speak on their behalf and give the happenings of what’s going on in their territories. A must attend for business owners. It keeps us up-to-date, and it’s a good place to mingle, make trades. That sorta thing. I’ve never missed one.” She smoothed out the flyaway curls gathered around her face and grinned. “Anyway, Cian, thanks for letting me crash…and that other stuff.”
She was so cute when she got shy. How a woman could be so wanton and sexy in bed and then shy about it afterward confused him but also made his blood hot. She’d never be boring.
“It’s not a problem.”
She rocked back on her heels, shoving her hands down her back pockets. “It’s getting pretty late. I really need to go.”
He ground his jaw and took a step forward. Though he really didn’t want to do what he was about to suggest, neither was he willing to let her walk away.
“Take me to the gathering with you.”
She shook her head, her eyes narrowing into slits. “Seriously? You want to go there with me? It’s a boring meeting.”
“I don’t want you to go alone. It’s dangerous at this time of night.”
Eve reached out and patted his cheek with a soft smile. “That’s really nice of you. But I’m a big girl and I can tell you don’t really want to go.” She touched her ruby stone necklace. “I’ve got this. I’ll be fine.”
He turned his head, planting a kiss on her palm.
She sucked in a breath, golden eyes growing soft. Sexual tension arced through the air like electricity. The rich scent of patchouli filtered under his nose, and he inhaled and nodded.
“I just want to be with you.”
Currents of warmth flowed through him.
“You’re sure?” she whispered.
He nodded.
“Okay, then.” She walked toward the bed and picked up her fallen boots, sat on the edge, and pulled them on. “You wouldn’t happen to have a spare toothbrush lying around here, would you?”
He pointed to the bathroom. “Under the sink, there’s a couple.”
She smiled and walked toward the bathroom. Rushing water warred with the sound of a scrubbing brush. The strong scent of mint filled the room.
Why couldn’t he shake the feeling that this was a terrible idea? His gut was a nervous mass of knots. Eve was losing time. Not only that, but he still hadn’t come up with an answer to their dilemma. Now they were headed to a gathering full of the undead and supernatural. This was going to be trouble. Nothing but trouble.
* * *
Eve ran through the streets of San Francisco, Cian right on her heels. And they weren’t the only ones. Others were coming out the woodwork, slinking away from shadow and flying as fast as the wind could carry them toward Presidio.
It might have been faster to take a cab, but there was a strict rule: no normals allowed within ten yards of the monthly meets. Ever. More for their safety than anything else.
Panting and sweating profusely, they finally arrived at the historical military keep—now a transformed park reserve—with little time to spare. She’d always tried to leave for the gatherings with at least an hour to spare, but not today.
Freaking sexy vamps.
She’d cut it way too close and now looked like a drowned rat. She wondered what Cian thought. Just thinking about him made her remember what she’d done last night. What he’d done. What they’d done.
Her stomach flopped and she couldn’t stop the grin from stealing across her lips. Goddess, but the man could…
He chuckled, and she knew she’d been projecting again. She rolled her eyes, casting him a dirty look. “We’re here.” She pointed to the cream-colored four-story abandoned complex covered in chipped paint, cut with nicks and grooves in the stucco wall. It looked in shoddy disrepair, but it was actually very solid, able to withstand years’ worth of earthquakes.
“So I see.”
Cian pulled her to his side as a group of vampires walked inside. “Stay close to me, Eve.”
She laughed at his protective gesture. “I’m fine. These monthly gatherings began long before my birth: there’s never been any bloodshed. It’s perfectly safe.”
His jaw set and he eyed a group of stalking pumas. Sexy Cian was gone, brooding Cian taking his place. “I’d feel better knowing you were close.”
Smirking, she nodded.
Men.
Well, okay, so maybe he was still kind of sexy in a broody Bruce Wayne kind of way.
“Eve, holy hell. Get your butt in here.”
She turned and spied Tamryn gesturing frantically for her to hurry inside. Grabbing Cian’s hand, she walked in. The cavernous room was more than big enough to hold the variety of creatures gathered.
Large tiers of candles lit the otherwise darkened room. There were no decorations, only chairs, a few benches, and the head table up front, in which sat the delegates of each race.
Iah, of the moon clan, spoke for the vampires. Severe and austere, he was nonetheless pleasing to the eye. Hawk-beaked nose, chiseled cheekbones, and dark eyes the color of polished ebony. Rich Egyptian skin glistened purest copper.
Next to him sat the were liaison, Lootah of the Kohana pack. Regal and proud, he gazed at the group. The burned red of his face a fine map of wrinkles and scars. He was an ancient. Old wolf, and well versed in the matters of his kin. It was good to see him up there. He brought to the talks a wisdom of age very few could match.
Last, but certainly not least, Edlyn of the briar thorn coven. Frail of body but strong of spirit. Salt-and-pepper hair caught up in a braid, tendrils curling around her tired face. Deep into her eightieth year, she’d seen more than many mortals in her time and was the perfect delegate to speak for the witches.
“C’mon…hurry, before this starts.” Tamryn pushed past several rows of bodies, leading them toward a bench in the back corner of the room.
Eve squeezed through the narrow openings, following her sister and throwing Cian a grateful glance. Now that he was here, she was thankful.
She’d never been able to share this part of her life with Michael, and being here with Cian felt right. He truly understood what it was to be different. They shared a bond she’d never had with her husband.
Chatter rose to cacophonous levels, drowning out the noise of any one individual conversation. It was all just buzz to her. Mostly the species stuck to their own, forming tight bands of vampires, wolves, hawks, panthers, and so on. But a few, like herself and Cian, intermingled.
Mingan and Celeste were deep in talk when they finally made it to the bench and dropped down beside them.
“So we made it.” Eve glanced at Mingan. “Good to see you.”
He nodded, a distracted frown on his face. “Yes, you too, Eve.” He patted Celeste’s sleeve in a farewell gesture then marched off.
She frowned, casting a quick glance at Cian, his face a mirror reflection of her own. “Oddly dismissive. What was that all about?”
Celeste shook her head, a worried gleam in her moss-green eyes. “Rumors been flying about a murder.”
“Murder? What murder?” First she’d heard of this.
“Vampire. Found this morning staked to a cross. Body burned beyond recognition.”
Shocked, she blinked. “When?”
Lootah stood, spreading his arms wide and quieting the crowd with a glance. “The meeting will come to order.”
It was like a light switch had been turned off. A crowd of hundreds instantly fell silent. The delegates spoke for the groups for one reason. You respected them enough to listen.
Hard thing to command in a room full of predators.
Brown eyes full of knowledge and centuries’ worth of sorrow landed on Eve’s face for the briefest of moments. In the eyes, she read truth. The rumor of murder was rumor no more.
“I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that Indigo, of the clan thrive, was found dead this morning.”
Instantly buzz exploded through the room.
“Indigo,” she hissed and looked at Cian.
He frowned. “The vamp in the alleyway two nights back?”
Her eyes grew wide and she nodded.
“Not that I ever cared for that hothead much, but ohmygoddess.” Celeste shook her head. “The turd’s gonna hit the fan now.”
“Quiet!” Iah shot to his feet, quelling them all to silence. “Thank you, Lootah, but I think I can take it from here.”
Lootah nodded and sat.
“Indigo was killed in the most despicable of ways. Strapped to a cross and roasted to cinders by the sun. How could this have happened and no one noticed?”
He pounded his fist on the table. A wicked gleam filled his black eyes. She could feel his rage simmer just below the surface and everyone leaned forward a tiny bit, breaths indrawn and waiting on tenterhooks.
“Her death was an earmark human killing.”
The room broke into a violence of voices. This was big news, one that held many connotations.
For one, the shaky pact between normal/super relations. Supers were given the right to live out in the open, in freedom, without fear of retribution. The law stated that no human should come to harm at the hands of the supers and vice versa.
In her heart, she knew this would irreparably damage the fragile peace between supernaturals and normals.
Iah pointed to a vampire dressed all in black. “Mia, is this not so?”
Mia stood, her pale, perfect skin gleaming, her rich sable hair caught up in a severe knot. Her face lacked the lines and wrinkles of the elders; she was youth personified. But it was the eyes, the malachite gaze that gleamed with the eternal mark of age, that gave her away. This was an elder. Well past her four hundredth year.
“Yes.” The gravel of her voice reverberated through the room and brought chills to the back of Eve’s neck.
“This is an outrage!” Another vampire toward the rear of the room jumped up and shouted, punching his fist through the air. “One that must be dealt with swiftly and fiercely. Lest all normals forget who’s really the weaker of the two.”
“Aye!”
“Yeah.”
“…lest they forget.”
The room erupted in an ear-piercing chorus of voices, several of them vamps, but a few weres, or even witches. Eve clamped hands over her ears, wincing at the cacophonous pitch buzzing through her eardrums.
Their faces were angry and contorted, the ardent predators inside them demanding reparations. She knew what they thought; she could feel the resentment rolling off them. They’d lived by the rules, and so too should the normals.
Bloodbath
, Tamryn mouthed.
Mia turned, a sinister smile playing on her bloodred lips. “We’ll band together and find the killers. Then we’ll do to them what they did to Indigo.”