Sweet Succubus (2 page)

“But you entered the club alone. The Cavern. Why that place?” He leaned back in his chair.

Because she’d had dreams about it and wanted to prove to herself that the murky images weren’t based on reality. Only she’d scared herself the moment she’d entered the dance club. Everything had been exactly as she’d dreamed the night before. Or at least the décor was. No way could the rest of what had happened in her dream be true.

After all, vampires were fiction.

“I heard about it and was curious.”

“Doesn’t seem like your kind of place.”

His gaze swept her, and she felt a tightening in her core. Delicious really, and completely out of context. “Why does the reason I chose that place matter?”

He shrugged. “Just tryin’ to get the details, ma’am.”

“To determine my state of mind?” she asked, lifting her chin.

His lips stretched, the full bottom thrusting forward. Her glance lingered there, wondering what that lush pout would feel like sucking on her nipple. She swallowed hard. Her gaze leapt to his face.

“All right.” His gaze sharpened. “So let’s skip to the drink and the guy.”

“He was just a stranger.” With a scarily intent stare. “He offered me a drink and motioned for me to take a seat at the bar. I was just beginning to slide onto the stool, when he leaned forward.”

“Did he touch you?”

“He pushed the hair off my neck. I jerked back. Then he pulled my hair, forcing me closer.” She shuddered. “The barman was looking away. Everyone around me was laughing. I stomped on his foot.”

“What did he look like? Did anything seem…off about his appearance?”

She blinked, remembering something she’d left out of the report on purpose. “Off?”

“Not natural?”

Melanie’s breaths shortened. “The club was Goth. It was just…makeup and tricks.”

“What was, Miss Bradshaw?”

“His eyes. They were like an animal’s eyes.” She shivered. “You know, when they catch the light in the dark. They reflected. And his teeth. I hadn’t noticed how sharp they were when he first offered me the drink, or I’d have turned him down flat. I’m not into weird.”

“What about his teeth?”

She blushed, knowing how crazy it all sounded and wishing this wasn’t the conversation she was having with this very large, very attractive man. “They were sharp. Jagged. The canines looked like fangs.”

“Did he frighten you?” he asked softly.

“Yes!” she blurted, feeling relief because he’d given her unspoken permission to voice it, to let it go. She shivered at the memory. “He wouldn’t release me. And he was getting closer.”

“What happened then?”

“A man stepped between us. Kinda cute, actually, but he bared his teeth. They were jagged, too. He pushed the man away from me, raised a pointy stick, and slammed it into his chest.”

Detective Brown gave a little nod. “That’s when your date…combusted.”

“He wasn’t my date.” She jerked her head. “But yeah—in a flash. Nothing but dust and charred clothing left when the fire went out.”

Detective Brown held her gaze for a long moment, long enough Melanie stiffened her back in response. This was when he’d give her the look. The one that said he thought she needed meds.

Instead, he looked down at the folder and flipped up a page. “The man with the pointy stick…what did he look like?”

Melanie shrugged. “Cute, but hard, ya know? Hispanic, with long black hair to his shoulders.”

“What happened then?”

She frowned, remembering her confusion and fear. “He kicked me out of the club. Told me to go home and lock my doors. Had me walked out to the cabstand. As soon as I got home, I called the police. They told me to come in to make a statement.” She shrugged again, pretending her stomach wasn’t still trembling in the aftermath of what had been a hellish night. “So, now I’m here. What’re you gonna do?”

He sat so long, his dark gaze boring into hers, that she began to fidget, biting her nails again. Although she’d thought she’d kicked that habit in high school. Embarrassed, she slid her hand into her lap. “I’m not crazy.”

“Didn’t say you were,” he murmured quietly.

His dark gaze continued to bore into her until her anxiety built to a crescendo. “Do you believe me?”

“You need rest.”

“But do you believe me?” Her fingers tightened on the table edge.

“
I
need rest.”

She blew out a breath in exasperation. “Yeah, it’s hours after freaking midnight. We both fucking need rest.
Do you believe me
?”

“I’m comin’ home with you.”

He said it so quietly, so calmly, that she blinked, wondering if she’d only dreamed the words. Like she dreamed so many unlikely things these days. “What’d you just say?”

“You might not be safe. And we both need rest. To wait out the day.” His head shook with a snap. “I’m not leavin’ your side ’til we figure this out.”

Tears clouded her vision, but she wiped them away. He believed her. Or at least believed part of what she’d said.

Relieved, she didn’t think before she blurted, “Do you want the left or the right side of the bed?”

‡

D
o you want
the left or the right side of the bed?

Already stripped to his briefs, Moses glanced behind him at the bedroom door and grunted. The shower had stopped running. Maybe now he’d stop thinking about her being naked and wet and less than twenty feet away.

Despite her invitation, he was taking the couch in her small living room. She’d been scared and wanted someone, anyone trustworthy, close by. But so long as the door remained open between them, she’d feel secure enough to sleep. He didn’t dare read anything more into her word choice.

Glancing down at the wood tenting his underwear, he figured she’d be the only one getting any rest. From the moment he’d breathed in her fragrance, stood close enough to see the fine porcelain quality of her skin, and looked into her soft brown eyes, he’d been as hard as a post.

He’d give anything for a few minutes alone in a soundproofed room to relieve the ache, but her apartment was small and the walls paper-thin. She’d know, and he didn’t want her uncomfortable with him. Didn’t want her to be afraid he’d made the suggestion of accompanying her home just to get into her bed.

As soon as he’d followed her into her tiny apartment, she’d been nervous, her glance cutting to him and darting away. No doubt he looked like a bull in a china shop. Too large and intimidating for her to relax. He’d shooed her to the shower then, with gritted teeth, listened to the whispers of her clothing as she undressed in the other room.

Moses rubbed a hand over the top of his head and sat on the edge of the couch. His phone vibrated on the coffee table. He reached for it and flipped it open. “Dammit, Viper. What the hell’s goin’ on?”

Viper’s chuckle was anything but amused. “I don’t know how she ended up in the club, but the moment she came through the door, every one of Zachary’s fledglings went on the alert. They knew her. You have to figure out how. And you have to lie low. Keep her caged. They’ll be hunting.”

“Did you have to dust the dude right in front of her? She’s freaked.” His chest pinched. “And I don’t know how much to tell her.”

“That’s up to you, man.” A loud yawn sounded through the receiver. “Have to talk later—after I talk to another of Zachary’s boys. It’s dawn. If it’s just vampires, you’ll be safe until dusk. Later.”

Moses grunted again and set aside the phone, then turned and stretched out on the couch.

The door creaked, footsteps padded his way. He flipped the sheet she’d given him, covered his hips, then leaned up on an elbow to peer over the couch.

She hovered near the bedroom doorway, a thin nightgown draping her slender curves. “I just wanted to make sure you’d be all right…on the couch.” Her teeth bit into her bottom lip. Her eyebrows drew together.

She didn’t look worried, but rather, annoyed. Moses gave her a faint grin. “It’s a little short. The couch, I mean.”

“I could sleep here. You can have the bed.”

He shook his head, knowing he’d be in hell sleeping in sheets drenched with her feminine scent. “Get some shuteye, Melanie. You’re safe.”

She remained in the doorway, her expression awash with indecision. “Why are you doing this?”

“I’m one of the good guys,” he murmured, wanting her to relax. Needing her to move inside her bedroom so
he
could relax.

She came closer, hovering beside the couch.

Her expression was fluid, gliding from anxious to something he was afraid to read too much into. Cursing himself for being a horn-dog, he dropped his legs to the floor and sat up, careful to keep the sheet masking his hard-on. “Sit.”

“Okay.” Melanie came around the couch and hesitated over the space he’d made, then, instead of sitting beside him, eased over his lap.

Moses held his breath, his hands clenching the edge of the sofa. “Melanie, what’re you doin’?”

Her hands clutched together in her lap; she didn’t meet his gaze. “I’m sorry. I don’t have anyone else.”

She sat square on his erection, crowding it down against his thigh. Not something she could miss, but she wasn’t shying away.

All she wants is comfort
, he reminded himself. “Well, hell,” he muttered, and raised his arms to enfold her. He sat back, taking her with him, letting her curves settle against his chest.

“You want me,” she said bluntly.

Moses rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and how do you know that?”

She snuggled closer to his chest, wriggling her soft ass against his growing erection. “Do you really need me to answer that?” she asked. Before he could respond, she continued, “And…you’re very nice.”

“I’m not,” he said, starting to sweat as her bottom shifted again. He wished he could clutch her hips and hold her still, but the thin fabric of her nightgown was hardly any barrier at all. “Don’t kid yourself.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” she whispered, her face nuzzling into his neck before she tilted back her head to meet his gaze.

“Mind what?” he asked, lungs tightening.

“Sharing a bed.” She ground down against his cock. “Taking care of this. I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me a damn thing.”
But girl, I’m not shoving you off my lap either, am I?

“I was looking for a hook-up,” she whispered, swallowing before looking away. “It’s why I went to the bar.”

A hook-up. With a stranger. His stomach turned. Why that bothered him so much wasn’t something he wanted to examine too closely.

The fact that she looked away briefly was telling. As much as he wanted to fuck her, he wasn’t about to take advantage of the fact that, obviously, she was scared and embarrassed. His hand caressed her back. “Why don’t you have a boyfriend? You’re pretty. Plenty sexy. You shouldn’t have to resort to havin’ sex with a stranger.”

“I haven’t lived here all that long. I haven’t met anyone. I work in a library with a bunch of women.” She raised her head, cupped the side of his face with her palm, and swiped a thumb over his bottom lip. “I’ve wanted to feel this mouth on my skin since I first saw you.”

Moses growled deep in his throat. But he shook his head, striving for sanity, for safety, one last time. Last thing he needed was to get mixed-up with her. Mixed-up with anyone. He walked in a dangerous world. The darkness clung to him like dirt. Sometimes, it followed him home.

Even though it killed him, he said, “I’m not what you want, sweetheart.”

She gave a soft snort. Her lips tightened. “Look, truth of the matter is, I’m scared as hell. Freaked out, really.” Her fingers tightened into a ball on his chest. “And I know what I want…what I
need
,” she said, swallowing hard, “is dick.”

Moses blinked, not believing what just came out of her sweet mouth.

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. Her expressive eyes held a militant gleam. “Do a girl a favor. I need to be fucked. Long and hard. And I think you have exactly what I need.”

“Damn girl,” he whispered, his cock twitching its own halleluiahs.

“I want sex. Nothing more. No strings. Promise.”

Taking a deep breath to still his excitement, he tried one last time to do the right thing. “If all you want is to be held while you sleep…”

She leaned away and began to smile. A catlike grin that said she knew she had him. She climbed off his lap then crawled over him again, this time spreading her thighs, straddling him. “I’m not sleepy. For days, I’ve had the most lurid, raunchy dreams—every time I close my eyes. It’s why I couldn’t stand it one night longer. I need this. I need you. Right now, Detective Brown.”

With her steamy center bearing down, grinding against his covered shaft, he gave up. He let her move against him, watched her eyelids fall, her sweet mouth open as she moaned and dragged her pussy forward and back along his shaft. He dragged away the sheet from between them. Only her thin panties and his briefs were between them now. Both were wet.

His hands cupped her butt, and he lunged upward, long strides taking him to her door, right toward her bed. Her clothes lay in a puddle beside it, the necklace she’d worn dropped carelessly in the center. He stepped around the mound then leaned over the mattress and crawled to the center on his knees, one hand still clutching her soft bottom, keeping her hot pussy pressed tightly against him.