Sweet Succubus (4 page)

And what she’d said in a rasping voice there at the end, “
It wasn’t a dream”
, didn’t strike him as particularly fiendish.

“Get a move on, Moses!” came Viper’s muffled shout.

Moses jackknifed up, wincing because his dick was still engorged. She’d done something to him when she’d wrapped her long, thin fingers around his cock. His arousal had never come that fast before.

He palmed himself and hissed. His hard-on hurt, the skin too sensitive to touch. Cursing to himself, he sensed instinctively that it wasn’t going to ease up on its own. Despite Viper’s clipped order, Moses wasn’t wasting any time on a shower now. He needed answers.

Moses stood, grabbing a crocheted throw from the foot of the bed and wrapping it around his hips. When he opened the door, Viper turned and gave him a killing glare. He sat on the sofa beside Melanie, who was huddled at one end, the sheet he’d left behind wrapped around her shivering body.

Despite Viper’s menacing glare, one corner of his mouth curled as his glance dropped to Moses’s covered dick. “About that…”

“Don’t say it, buddy.” Moses smoothed a hand over his head. “So, what’s this about? What is she?”

Viper’s gaze swung to Melanie, whose teary gaze reflected nothing but confusion. “She doesn’t have a clue. Do you, sweetheart?”

“Know what?” she asked, her teeth chattering loudly. “This isn’t happening.”

Moses shook his head. “Viper, lay off.”

Viper arched a cynical brow. “She’s a succubus. I cornered one of Zachary’s progeny at the club. Took a while, but he spilled everything. She’s been haunting the club in ‘blue skin’ every night this week. Feeding on victims.”

“
Victims
?” Moses blurted the term at the same time Melanie did.

Her head swung toward him, but her glance fell away. “I thought I was dreaming.”

“Because you’ve been in denial,” Viper said. “The only time the real you comes out to play is when you sleep.”

Both men watched her as she seemed to struggle with what Viper had revealed. Her head shook, her eyebrows drew together. When she lifted her face again, tears shimmered in her eyes. “But I don’t understand. The dreams only just started over the past couple of weeks. How can
that
be the real me?”

Viper’s cheeks billowed around a sharp exhale. “When you wake up after these dreams, how do you feel?”

She shrugged nonchalantly, but her cheeks bloomed with color. Her gaze slid away to the left. “Like always. Rested.”

Moses frowned, wondering why she’d lie.

“Really?” Viper scoffed quietly. “You didn’t feel something…more? You have to tell me. I have ways, unpleasant ones, to get to the truth.”

Her cheeks paled again. “I thought I was feeling so good because I was…getting off in my sleep.”

Moses cursed, feeling sorry for her because she was having to reveal things that embarrassed her, but also because the more he heard, the more he knew she wasn’t the one for him. And that bothered him. A lot. “A succubus?” he blurted. “Is that another kind of bloodsucker?”

Viper shook his head. “She’s not into blood. She thrives on sexual energy, draws on it. She can leave her victims like hollowed-out husks. You had a near miss there, buddy.”

Moses felt his stomach drop. Didn’t it figure? The best sex of his life had nearly killed him.

Melanie shook her
head. Half of what they’d said flew right over her head. But there was one thing she knew for certain. “I wouldn’t have hurt him,” she said in a small voice, more to herself than the men in the room.

“Not intentionally,” Viper said. “But you weren’t exactly yourself in there, were you?”

“I knew I was different. I knew I had to hold back.” She looked to Moses, wishing she could touch him. “I swear, I wouldn’t have hurt you. The whole time I kept telling myself I couldn’t leave you weak.”

Moses’s gaze dragged from her to Viper. “These husks she leaves, do the guys ever recover?”

“Some.” Viper hesitated. “Depends on how far she takes it. Apparently, she’s been feeding on vamps.” His mouth twisted into a small smile. “Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The few she’s left alive have been talking about her. They need a day’s rest to recoup, but then, they’re not human. With a man, it’s dicier. You’d better leave her with me.”

“No!” Again, Melanie and Moses answered in unison.

Viper grunted. “You know I’m right. I leave you two alone, she could kill you, Moses.”

“How’d you stop her in there?” Moses asked, waving toward the bedroom. “How’d you force her to transform back?”

Viper lifted a hand and touched the red stone hanging from the chain around her neck. “Her necklace. The stone’s carnelian. It keeps her leashed.” Viper speared her with a glance. “Why do you wear it if you don’t know what it’s for?”

Melanie shrugged, and the sheet slipped, baring the top of her breast. Even though her nudity was the least of her problems, she tugged it over her shoulder again. “It’s pretty. I just inherited it. From my aunt.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-five.” Her breath hitched in her throat.

“Have a recent birthday?”

She blinked. “Two weeks ago. It’s when the package from my aunt arrived…” Her eyes widened. “Do you mean she knew?”

“It’s born in you, sweetheart. Something passed down. Your aunt sent you the amulet to protect you from yourself.”

Moses strode closer and eased his butt onto the back of the couch to glance down at them both. “Why are Zachary’s people interested in her?”

Viper sighed. “Think about it. When she’s in her true form, she can wink in and out. She can enter any dude’s bedroom and suck his energy dry. A helluva weapon.”

A weapon?
Melanie’s mind and body grew still. She’d been so shocked over what had happened with Moses, and what she’d just learned about herself, that she hadn’t considered any repercussions. Who the hell was Zachary? More importantly,
what
was he?

But the conversation was moving forward at a fast clip. She pushed aside the questions to make sure she didn’t miss a thing.

Moses’s eyes narrowed. “That’s why you want to keep her? To use her?”

Viper’s features hardened. “Navarro says we need every advantage to fight this war.”

In a flash, Moses was on his feet. “He knows about her?”

“I called him after I interrogated Zachary’s man. Navarro’s been around long enough he’s seen this before. She’s rare.”

“Is she immortal?”

Melanie cleared her throat, tired of being talked about like she wasn’t in the room. “My aunt died. Unexpectedly. Obviously not. What the hell are we saying? This isn’t real. I’m still dreaming.”

“This is real as it gets, sweetheart,” Viper said, regret in his eyes. “I need you to get dressed. I’m taking you with me.”

“Dammit, Viper,” Moses said, his voice thickening. “She’s an innocent.”

“Not after tonight, she’s not. She knows now. What she does from here on out will determine whether she’s part of the solution or another problem we have to resolve.”

Moses blanched as though struck.

Melanie shivered and pulled the sheet tighter around her body. “What do you mean, Viper? Just how do you resolve problems?” When he didn’t answer, Melanie grew colder. Her stomach tightened so much she thought she might throw up. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“You haven’t any choice. Even if you don’t like me, you aren’t safe here anymore.” His hand swung out to encompass the room. “I have no doubt that if I was able to track you, Zachary’s people are too. And if you think I’m scary, you haven’t seen the worst yet.”

“You’re forgettin’ something.”

They both turned to Moses.

His gaze fell to his cock, which pushed hard against the crocheted throw. “This isn’t going away.”

Viper shook his head then smirked. “Guess you better suit up, bro. The only cure is her, and she has to do it in succubus-mode.”

“Fuck me.”

Suddenly, Melanie didn’t feel quite so frightened, despite the fact the thing sitting next to her couldn’t be human either. He was too strong. And she’d recognized him the instant he’d lifted her into his arms as the man who’d murdered the oily charmer in the club earlier that night.

However, she wasn’t afraid anymore. Moses knew him, seemed to have a relationship with him, and she knew in her heart that Moses was good guy. He’d told her so. “I’m the cure?” she asked, her voice sounding suspiciously husky.

Both men’s gazes narrowed on her. A corner of Viper’s lips curled.

She shrugged. “Just saying. He can’t walk around like that forever.”

“You volunteering to relieve this?” Moses asked, cupping his cock.

“I made you that way.”

Moses growled.

And she wouldn’t lie, not even to herself, but she liked having this little bit of power to wield. “I’m willing to help you out.”

Viper snorted. “We’ll take precautions.”

Brawny arms crossed over a dark chest. “Goddamn it, buddy, you are not watching us fuck.”

“Relax. I won’t be in the room with you.”

“And watching us via camera makes it better?”

Melanie’s gaze stopped on Viper. “Does it mean he’ll come with us?”

Viper nodded.

“Then I’m in.”

Both men stared. Viper began to laugh, his face transforming, becoming instantly more handsome. Despite that fact, she was glad Moses was the one in the predicament only she could solve. Viper was too damn scary. He’d never make her feel safe.

Glancing up from beneath her eyelashes, she said, “Moses Brown, it looks like you’re stuck with me for a while.”

‡

“M
iss, is there
anything I might bring you?”

Melanie eyed the manservant, Inigo, still bemused by everything she’d seen over the last hour. She shook her head, marveling at how swiftly her life view was changing.

Vampires crept in the darkness, and she was a succubus. Part of her was horrified, but deep down inside she felt like something had clicked on. Like she’d finally plugged into the world. And she didn’t have time to carefully sift through everything she was learning, or the luxury of poring through a book for answers. She could either wallow in self-pity or hold tight for the wild ride.

As soon as she’d packed a small bag, she’d been hustled by Viper to the garage beneath her building and into a limo with dark, tinted windows. Then they’d sped through the city, ignoring traffic lights—which hadn’t mattered because few cars were on the road that early in the morning. They’d driven to one of the richest and oldest neighborhoods in Seattle, passing through the gates of a large brick estate.

Because Viper couldn’t tolerate sunlight, he’d run from the garage to the side pantry door with a blanket wrapped around him while she and Moses followed at a more sedate pace.

She’d peered curiously at her new surroundings. At the door, she’d met Inigo, a tall, cadaverously thin old man with a rasping voice, who’d been very gracious but also efficient in getting her quickly to the second-floor bedroom. A cell, really. She could tell because of the reinforced door and the bars covering every window.

“This is necessary?” she asked, waving at the barricade.

“According to Master Navarro’s instructions,” Inigo said, inclining his head.

“Is Master Navarro here?”

“He’s in Florida at the moment, but we’ve communicated. I will see to your needs until Viper decides whether you’re safe to release.”

Safe to release. Like she was a feral animal. She shivered, her hands gliding up and down the goose bumps on her arms. Suddenly afraid again, she asked, “Where is Moses?”

“He’s holding his own conversation with the master now.”

She narrowed her glance. “Should you be telling me so much?”

Inigo’s thin smile stretched across his face. “I have no fear that things will end badly for you, my dear. I have a knack for sensing evil inside a person.”

“This other me, you haven’t met her yet.”

“Your souls are not divided, my dear.” He bent his head again, and then backed out the door.

She heard the snick of a lock and glanced around again. She remembered what Viper had said about watching her with Moses, and looked for hints of cameras, but she didn’t find anything obvious.

She wondered if they watched her now. If they could hear her.

Was the feed from this bedroom being broadcast to the master as well? She almost smiled at the thought of being the star of her own reality show, something served up to an undead audience.

But when she was voted off the island, then what?

A shiver of foreboding shook her. Viper had been so cut-and-dry, so cold. She had no doubt that if he thought she was a threat to Moses, he’d kill her.

She reached for the red stone dangling on its thin gold chain. Why hadn’t her aunt prepared her? Why had this curse bypassed her mother entirely? Did her mother even know? She didn’t think the flighty woman could possibly keep a secret this big for so damn long.

Her Aunt Vespa had been first-born. Did this condition only happen once in a generation? Melanie was an only child. Perhaps that was the clue.

She strode to the window and dashed aside the curtain. Sunlight gleamed through the glass, so bright it seared her eyes. Outside, a clear blue sky and the faint sounds of birds chirping seemed incongruous. Shouldn’t the sky be cloudy and dark? Where were the ominous portents? Surely today wasn’t going to be her last.