B005EMAYWS EBOK (7 page)

“I’ll be back,” he told her, before quickly leaving their table.

* * *

In the men’s room, Anton splashed cold water on his face. It helped, but what he really needed was an ice cold shower. He’d picked up on the scent of her sex. Then she’d looked at him with those smoldering golden eyes - her lips parted and inviting him to taste them.

It had been too much and his strength was waning. This time she’d nearly trigger a changing. The wolf spirit had tried to take control. If that happened, she’d be in trouble. Although she was from
Outerlands
, he seriously doubted that she’d ever dealt with the lusts of a male
Sungmanitu
or
Vilka
. She probably had no idea what she was in for.

Each time he touched her - kissed her, it became that much harder to control. He wanted to taste that sweet flesh more than he’d ever wanted anything. But even if he took what he wanted from her - and gave her what she wanted - what then? She was promised to another. There was the Zen. He had made a vow never to marry, and she deserved to be more than just his bed partner.

But there was always the reason that he’d joined the Zen in the first place. He never wanted to get close to a woman - never wanted to fall in love. He was a cursed man, and his love was like a death sentence.

Anton closed his eyes. The agony of wanting her, but knowing it could never happen, was too much to endure. He would have to tell her why. But would she believe him, or think he was just putting her off?

He could have sex as much as he wanted, but he could never love her. It was his curse to bear, not hers.

* * *

Summer was almost to the point where she was getting ready to go look for Anton, when she saw him coming toward the table.

“Where’s your friends?” he asked.

Summer looked up at him and smiled sweetly. “Penny went home. She has to get up early tomorrow. Jordan was meeting some friends up at Lake Tahoe. He asked if we wanted to come, but I didn’t think you would.”

“Are you ready to go?” Anton was obviously in a hurry to get out of there.

Summer could sense that he’d had a shift in attitude. He seemed way too anxious to end their evening. She wasn’t about to give in yet.

“Why don’t we take a walk and check out Reno? I don’t have any classes tomorrow, so I don’t have to get up early … unless you do?”

There was no way she was going to let any negativity ruin this night. There was time enough for that later. Tonight she had him all to herself, and she intended to take full advantage of that.

They made their way outside onto Virginia Street - Reno’s main strip, and where most of the casinos were located. The night was warm, with a hint of a breeze in the air. Summer still had a hold of his hand, and she threaded her fingers through his. She was surprised that he didn’t pull away.

The silence between them was a comfortable silence. Summer was content to be close to him, and enjoy the feel of his hand in hers. After they walked about two blocks, they came to the portrait studio.

The glass display in front of the studio was filled with photos of people dressed in 19th century clothing.

There was no one in the studio except for a young man with curly red hair and thick glasses. He appeared to be in his early 20s. When they entered, he looked up from a comic book he had been reading.

“I think we want an outlaw photo … with a saloon background,” she told the guy. She assumed the boy would double as the photographer, as there was no one else around.

“Okay … follow me.” He took them behind the large curtain that separated the lobby from the portrait studio. There were several props and backdrops that included everything from worn saddles, to lacy gowns that were popular in the south, during the Civil War era.

Behind the studio there were several large dressing rooms.

“Just pick out something to wear, and you can get dressed back there,” he told them.

Summer picked out a red and black saloon girl outfit. Anton grabbed a long black coat and matching hat. Inside the dressing room, Summer shed her dress and wiggled into the slinky outfit. She was having a problem getting the back of the fishnet stockings to hook to the garter belt.

Summer stuck her head out of the dressing room door. “Anton!” she called to him. “Will you come and help me with this please?”

He stepped into the room. Fortunately, it was plenty big enough to fit both of them. On the back wall was a full-length mirror. She could see Anton’s reflection, and was amused by the look of discomfort on his face.

Summer moved the red silk of the dress aside to reveal the garter clips. “Could you clip these? I can’t quite get them.”

With only a pair of G-string panties on, her backside was almost completely revealed to him. Swallowing hard, Anton knelt down and began fumbling with the garter and stockings.

A moment later, she heard him breathing rapidly and she felt his hand gently stroking her thigh. Summer didn’t dare make a sound, afraid that she would break the spell.

His hand moved up from her thigh, caressing her the whole time. Suddenly his lips were against her flesh - his tongue leaving a hot trail all the way up her thigh. His sharp teeth bit into her flesh and she gasped, loving the sweet - exquisite pain of him tasting her.

Anton threw back his head and a deep growl rumbled from his throat. The black hat he was wearing fell to the floor. She saw that his teeth were bigger - sharper, and his eyes were on fire with lust. Summer could see he was fighting the changing, and for a split second, she felt genuine fear.

Summer was no stranger to the changing. She’d witnessed it before, but never had she been the object of the wolf’s attention when it took control of the body.

He was trembling - fiercely fighting to keep the wolf at bay. Summer thought of the boy out in the lobby. Would Anton kill him if he lost control?

His fingers slipped into her panties to find her throbbing bud. His touch was magic, as he manipulated her moist need until she was trembling with pent-up passions. Summer shuddered violently, as he brought her the release she so desperately needed.

Anton stood up abruptly, his eyes glowing with hunger. With one large hand he pulled her close to him, while the fingers of his other hand unzipped his pants.

A knock at the door shattered the moment. “Hey guys! We don’t do that kind of stuff here. That’s what they have rooms for.”

Summer looked up at Anton with a smile. “What do you think? We’ve already crossed that line.” If there was one thing that she knew, it was that she would never rest until he had possessed her completely.

He pulled her up and kissed her lips softly. “Let’s get a picture taken.”

Summer was disappointed that Anton had so easily brought himself back under control.

* * *

Penny locked the door behind her and tossed her purse on the entertainment center. She headed straight for the shower. It had been a long day, and it was already late, almost midnight.

She doubted that Summer would be coming home tonight. Penny knew she wouldn’t, if she’d been lucky enough to be spending the evening with a guy like Anton. Summer had her share of boyfriends, but Penny could tell this one was special. That girl was head over heels in love. You couldn’t miss it when Summer looked at him.

Finished with her shower, Penny wrapped a towel around her and went into the front room to turn on the stereo. A popular tune was playing, and Penny began dancing around the room. Letting the towel slip from her body, she pretended to do a striptease.

Her eyes caught sight of something that alerted her subconscious to danger. Something wasn’t right. When she looked over to the stereo, she saw him standing there. He was staring at her with hard - sadistic black eyes - soulless eyes. His dark curly hair framed an attractive face, but the mask of hate he wore twisted his handsome features into a reflection of pure evil.

Penny screamed and started backing away.

The stranger pressed a button on the stereo and a song began to play. It was a song that she’d never heard before - a haunting melody.

In one swift movement, she lifted the towel from the floor and started running toward the hall, but she wasn’t fast enough. The pain was instantaneous, and then gone. In her last seconds she saw his bloody mouth pull away from her throat, before he again sank his teeth into her flesh and ended her life.

It was well past midnight, but the park was lit up like it was the middle of the day. Spotlights cut through the darkness to illuminate the ghastly sight. CSI had arrived and was already processing the scene. Ethan was in the middle of all the commotion, snapping pictures of the victim and the surrounding area.

Nicole waited for him on the other side of the yellow tape that designated the area as a crime scene. She’d just left the office for the evening when he’d called her to tell her about the latest victim.

All of the victims had been drained of blood, and the press had already given the killer the nickname of vampire. Little did the public know that the name “vampire” was more accurate than anyone realized. The number of people that had become victims in this killing spree was staggering. And that was just in New Orleans, but there were more - many more.

Of course the victims’ throats were torn out - a trademark of a real vampire killing. It wasn’t just one vampire, but many that were hunting in New Orleans, as well as cities all over the world. Most of the time when a vampire killed their prey, the police never made a connection, but that wasn’t the case now. With so many murders in a short period of time, the police believed they had a serial killer on their hands. The problem was that these murders were happening everywhere.

The bloodlust of Omar’s vamps was insatiable, but that wasn’t even their biggest problem. Essentially, Omar was telling the Light Seekers and the wolves to come out and play. He wanted a war - he wanted to show them that he was unstoppable.

Ethan stepped around the police officers guarding the crime scene. With a nod of his head, he motioned for Nicole to follow him away from the crowd of people that had gathered at the park. She was only too glad to get out of there. Murder scenes had always bothered her. Though the victim had not been identified yet, they knew she was young - maybe nineteen. The body had been discovered by a group of teens that were walking in the park. Nicole was surprised that they’d even called it in. They were all underage and out after curfew.

It was true. Ethan was her boss, but he was also a vampire. He hadn’t needed glasses since the night he’d been turned. She suspected he still wore them because they were a link to his past.

Nicole frowned. Dash had stolen Luciano’s amulet and used it to cross into
Outerlands
. It was forbidden for vampires to enter that realm. There was no way of knowing what had happened to him.

“He’s been gone for over two months. Don’t you think we should have heard something by now … if he were still alive.” Nicole added reluctantly.

Ethan’s eyes reflected the gloom that had descended on them all. He was thinking the same thing she was. The wolves had destroyed their friend. Dash had known the risk, but had hoped he could find the secrets of the vampires. He’d been sure that these secrets lay in that forbidden realm of the wolves.

“Did Sarah call that friend of hers in Nevada?” Ethan asked.

Nicole nodded. “She told Sarah that she would see what she could find out and get back with her. We can’t find Lex anywhere, or maybe he could do something.”

Ethan shook his head. “Lex is a
Vilka
, but he can’t enter
Outerlands
anymore than we can.”

“We have to do something. Soon this place is going to be crawling with vampire slayers, if they are not here already.” Nicole worried not only for Ethan, but also for the man she loved. Alec was a vampire, and would be a target of the slayers as sure as Omar’s vamps.

Then there was her half sister, Sarah. Her husband was a vampire. At the moment, they were both at Sarah’s aunts in Oregon. Sarah’s husband, Darrien had been badly injured by the sun and the two witches were doing what they could to heal him. So far there had been no murders near her sister, but it wouldn’t be long.