Vengeance (Night Roamers) Book Three (8 page)

He grinned, his
watery blue eyes staring at her in glee. “You don’t give a man much choice, do you?”

She slid her arms around his neck and pressed up against him.
“There’s always a choice,” she whispered, moving her lips to his ear. “Feel free to back out now, if you’d like. Otherwise, you’re all mine and… I can’t promise that I’ll go easy on you.”

He sucked in his breath. “
You do whatever you’d like to me. I don’t bite.”

She licked the
droopy skin under his earlobe and shuddered at the promise of taking his life. “I do.”

***

An hour later, Celeste arrived back
at her own hotel, The Drake, which was across the street from the Mandarin, still reveling in the aftermath of her kill. Not only did she feel fresh and alive, but the look of terror on the old geezer’s face when he’d figured out what he’d gotten himself into, was still making her tingly all over. The terror in his eyes and the way he’d tried to escape had been most amusing.

Stupid fool deserved it,
she thought.

They all do.

Still remembering the pain and regret in his face, she smiled. For her, the terror she invoked was better than anything, even the blood itself. Although she had to power to make the experience enjoyable, she never usually did. Not like she had for Duncan and Nathan.

Of course, that had been different. She’d wanted to change them into Roamers, especially after that sniveling Nikki kept bashing her and Caleb
’s kind. To turn the two most important people in Nikki’s life into Roamers would be the ultimate revenge. Well, she’d already succeeded with Duncan and now needed to finish her work on Nathan. Just one more bonding and he’d be all hers. She couldn’t wait to see the look on Nikki’s face – if she lived long enough to find out.

Nikki.

Her nose wrinkled in disgust. She hated the girl and wasn’t about to share her father, let alone Duncan, with the little twit. Duncan was
hers
, now. She’d claimed and bonded with him. And, he was still pining for Nikki. Still at her side.

Well
, she decided, as she turned on the shower,
if he had to die with Ethan and Nikki, then so be it
. Duncan’s feelings for the little bitch hadn’t changed in the least after she’d given him the dark gift. It was one of the reasons she’d run to Faye, to enlist her help. To kill Nikki.

Obviously
, Faye had failed to kill her, since the three had obviously arrived in Vegas. Celeste had stumbled upon Duncan after leaving Motel Paraguay the other night, and then had followed him until
he’d
started shadowing Nikki and Ethan. The jealously oozing from Duncan was so strong, that it had both enraged and strengthened her own resolve to destroy Nikki. The girl was a pariah and had to be eliminated for good.

Where was
Faye, anyway?

She hadn’t checked in, nor were there any signs that she’d arrived in Vegas. Caleb thought Ethan may have had a hand in that. He was obviously more powerful than ever. But, no match for Victor and his clan. There was little doubt that the three of them would soon be
Lycan fodder.

She closed her eyes as the warm water washed away any remaining traces of dried blood from her skin. Now that she’d set up the hit on Nikki, Ethan, and Duncan, it was time to finalize Nathan’s change
, and claim him for hers and hers alone.

***

Nathan

The next time Nathan woke up, he was alone in the hotel room, the bed next to his, empty. Obviously, Nikki was still missing.

Sighing, he got up and grabbed a bottle of water from the small refrigerator. After chugging it down, he wiped his mouth and decided to leave the hotel room. It was time to find his own answers because something about his mother’s was bugging the hell out of him. Nothing she’d said made sense. Nikki would never run off with someone like that. As far as he was concerned, she was always the level-headed one out of the two of them. Something wasn’t right. Perhaps Ethan was forcing her to come out here?

Now
that
seemed more accurate.

Nathan scowled. He was going to throttle this Ethan character if he got his hands on him. Nobody makes his sister do anything against her will. That was bullshit.

He only wished that Duncan was around, to help him sort this shit out. He and Duncan had become really good friends the last few months. Although it was obvious that Nikki had dissed him, Duncan hadn’t let it come between their own friendship. They’d started hanging out, even going to that new club together, with Celeste. Club Nightshade.

Celeste.

That was another thing. What the hell had happened between Celeste and Duncan? It wasn’t cool toying with two friends like that. He definitely didn’t like sharing girls, especially with a friend. As far as he was concerned, Celeste was now off limits and he hoped Duncan felt the same way. A girl like that obviously had issues.

Or maybe she was just some kind of nymphomaniac?

As all of these thoughts rambled through his head, he took another shower and tried to ignore the rumbling demands of his stomach. He was still afraid to eat after throwing up earlier, but also knew if he didn’t get something else in his stomach soon, he’d be worse off.

As he was stepping
out of the shower, he heard someone entering his room, and quickly threw on his boxers, a fresh pair of jeans, and T-shirt. When he stepped out of the bathroom, he froze. “Celeste.”

S
he was lying on her side in bed, holding her head up with the palm of her hand. “Hi, Nathan,” she said, looking as sexy as ever in a tight tank top and short skirt.

He w
alked over to his duffel bag, grabbed a bottle of mousse and a comb. “I was just getting ready to leave. Search for Nikki. They haven’t found her yet, have they?” he asked, trying not to think about how delicious she looked on his bed.

“Not that I’
m aware of.”

He
moved to the dresser and sprayed some mousse into his hand. “You want to help me look for her then?”

She got up from the bed and stood behind him. “Maybe. I thought we could have a little fun first,” she said, sliding her hands around his
waist. She slipped her hands under his T-shirt and rubbed his ribcage. “What do you say?”

He sucked in his breath as her hand dipped lower. “Uh….”

Chuckling, she rubbed her chest against his back. “Come on now. Remember how much fun it was last time? And,” she whispered, “the time before that?”

“I thoug
ht it was just once?” he gasped as her hand slipped inside of his jeans.

“
Oh, honey, it was twice. I can’t believe you’ve forgotten already.”

He thought of Duncan and wondered how many times
he’d
been with her.

“
Celeste,” he groaned, surprised he had the willpower to remove her hand. “Although I’d love to keep doing this, I can’t. Sorry.”

“Why
, baby?” she pouted as he turned around to face her.

She smelled like candy and he fought an overwhelming urge to find out if she tasted like it.
“For one, I need to find my sister. Second, you and Duncan,” he frowned. “I
do
know about that, by the way. Third, I’m starving.”

She
threw her arms around his neck and rubbed against him like a kitten. “I’ll feed you,” she whispered, bringing her lips to his neck. She licked under his ear and moaned. “Please, Nathan. I want you so bad.”

“Tha
t’s not what I meant,” he said as her hand reached to his zipper and tugged it down. “I… oh, God…”

She smiled against his neck and slid her hand back into his jeans, stroking. “Let it happen. Let me pleasure you.”

With his heart racing and her hand doing things to him that he couldn’t even do on his own, he felt the rest of his willpower break away. He let out a ragged sigh and gave in.

With a look of triumph, s
he pulled him towards the bed, and then pushed him down. “You’re mine now, Nathan,” she said, tossing away her blue tank-top. “And I’m going to do things to you that will make you forget all about food.”

He swallowed and stared up at her naked breasts
, barely able to contain his brimming pleasure. “Okay.”

With a seductive tilt of her lips, she pushed
her skirt down. “Good boy,” she said, moving onto the bed until her hips were just above his.

“Come here,” he whispered, trying to pull her to him.

She slapped his hand and then pulled her long red hair way from her breasts, giving him a full view of her body. “I want you to say it. Say that you’re mine.”

“Damn, you’
re a tease,” he said.

“Nathan, say it,” she demanded,
her eyes burning into his as she lowered herself onto him.

H
e gasped in pleasure. “I’m yours,” he whispered hoarsely, marveling at the way her eyes glowed. “All yours.”

***

Celeste

She smiled down in approval at Nathan.

It was time.

Just as she was about to sink her teeth into his neck,
the hotel room door opened up.

“Oh
, my God!” gasped Anne, covering her eyes.

Celeste and Nathan scrambled on the bed, trying to cover up.

“I’m so sorry. I had no idea you two were…”

“Don’t you
know
how to knock?” snapped Celeste, furious that she’d come so close with Nathan.

Anne looked at her in surprise. “Excuse me
?”

Just then, Caleb stepped into the room. His face darkened when he saw them on the bed. “Celeste, get dressed and meet me in my room.
Now
,” he ordered.

Celeste sighed. “Fine.”

He turned to Nathan. “Are you okay?”

Nathan’s face turned red. “Uh, yeah. Sorry, sir. I’m not even sure how this happened.”

Shaking her head in exasperation, Anne turned and walked out of the room.

“This shouldn’t have happened
, and it won’t happen again. Isn’t that right, Celeste?”

She didn’t answer.

“Celeste!”

She turned to him, her eyes flashing angrily. “
Fine.”

Still looking furious, Caleb
turned and stormed out of the room.

Celeste
got out of the bed and reached for her clothes.

“Well that was
awkward
,” said Nathan, pulling on his jeans.

“Tell me about it,” she mumbled.

“It’s probably for the best,” said Nathan. “I mean, we
are
practically family now. It would be kind of… weird, especially around the holidays.”

She turned to h
im and smiled. “On the contrary, I think it would bring us closer together. As far as I’m concerned, you’re still mine, Nathan. You even said so yourself.”

He blushed. “
I was… that was….”

“What?” she asked, stepping closer to him. “You didn’t mean what you said?”

He gave her a lopsided grin. “Well, obviously it was in the heat of the moment.”

She grabbed him by the back of the neck and kissed him deeply. When clear signs of
renewed excitement pressed against her stomach, she smiled and released him. “See, you’re still mine. After I deal with Caleb, I think we should continue where we left off. This time, somewhere more secluded.”

“Look, I’m flattered that you’re into me, really Celeste, but I think it’s time I start looking for Nikki.”

She let out a ragged sigh. “Fine, I’ll help you.”

“I appreciate it.”

She walked towards the door. “I’ll meet you down in the lobby, say fifteen minutes? I have to calm daddy down first.”

“I’ll be there. I need your help finding my way around anyway.”

“I’ll help you,” she grinned. “For a price.”

“If you help me find Nikki, you can have whatever I can give you.”

“I’ll remember that,” she said and left the room.

Nikki

“So where to now?” asked D
uncan, as we left Maximus’s office and began walking back towards the elevator.

“We’re going to hang out
in the casino downstairs,” replied Ethan.

“For what
?” I asked, stopping abruptly.

“
Well, let’s put it this way, we’re basically on a wild goose chase, trying to locate your family. We could spend all night moving from hotel to hotel, without any luck in Vegas.”