Bound to Fear (2 page)

His arms came up to grip her shoulders, and
he heaved her from him. But she wrapped her legs around his waist
and held on, refusing to relinquish control. They rolled, and she
ended up beneath him.

Exactly where she wanted to be.

Staring up into his dark, hooded eyes, she
slipped her hand between their bodies and lowered his zip. She
wrapped her hand around his shaft, and his head went back.

He balanced, poised above her, his eyes
darkened to obsidian. “What’s your name?”

“Maria.”

“Hello, Maria.” And he shoved into her,
hard.

***

Seth wasn’t sure what this was all about,
and right now, he didn’t care. She felt so utterly good, like warm
wet velvet around his cock.

He moved on her, slowly at first, reveling
in each leisurely thrust. Her hips bucked beneath him, urging him
on, and he increased his speed, until he was slamming into her
hard.

Her muscles contracted around him, and he
knew she was close. Burrowing his head in the sweet curve of her
neck, he sank his fangs into the vein. She came immediately, her
back arching off the floor.

Releasing his control, Seth plunged into
her, and his own orgasm exploded through his cock, his balls,
melting his spine. On and on, he continued to pump into her
welcoming body, until at last he collapsed onto her with a
shuddering groan.

After long minutes, he gathered her up and
carried her boneless and limp to the bed. He came down beside her,
dragged her into his arms.

She blinked up at him sleepily. “I’m not
afraid,” she murmured. Her lashes fluttered closed, and she
slept.

Last night, Seth had let her sleep. Tonight,
he had plans.

Right until the moment he found her empty
room. Disappointment washed over him, growing stronger as he
searched the building and discovered no trace of her. Finally, he
confronted Sebastian.

“She’s gone to run in the forest,” Sebastian
told him.

Seth turned to go, but the werewolf spoke
again. “Did she come to you last night?”

Seth nodded.

“And she was okay?”

“Why shouldn’t she be?”

Sebastian considered him, as if wondering
how much to say. “Werewolves are prone to melancholy as we get
older.”

Seth frowned. “But she’s young.”

“Maria is a hell of a lot older than you,”
Sebastian said. “What she needs is a cause, something to give
meaning to her life.”

Seth had never considered himself “cause”
material before, but he was willing it give it a try.

***

The vampire had been gone when she woke.
Maria told herself it was for the best. Seth had cured her of her
fear, now she needed to find a way to move on with her life.
Tomorrow, she would go to Cornwall. She tried to feel anticipation,
but couldn’t dismiss the nagging sense of loss.

Slipping out of her clothes, she allowed the
change to flow over her, calling her wolf to the surface.
Immediately all her senses were more acute. She could hear the
distant flight of an owl, a field mouse rustling in the dry
grass.

She ran through the dark forest, weaving her
way through the huge gnarled oak trees, her pads making no sound on
the soft ground. Finally, she came to a halt where the trees opened
up into a wide clearing. Overhead a sickle moon bathed the forest
in a silver glow. Seth stood in the shadows of a huge oak, leaning
against the trunk, arms folded across his chest.

Maria shifted back and stalked naked,
towards him. Without a word, she reached up, wrapped her arms
around him, and laid her head against his chest. This was what she
wanted, where she wanted to be.

“I’m bad,” Seth murmured against her hair.
“I know it, and I’m not going to pretend I can change overnight.”
Holding her away from him, he stared down into her eyes. “But maybe
if I had someone beside me. Someone who cared whether I was good or
bad…”

“What am I,” she asked. “A therapist?”

A smile curved his lips. “Could you care,
Maria? Would you even want to try for a vampire?”

Could she?

All at once, the darkness lifted from her
soul, and the world was once again full of possibilities. She
didn’t know whether this thing with Seth would work out, whether it
was even possible for two such different people to find happiness
together. But right now, it was enough that she wanted to find
out.

“Have you ever been to Cornwall?” she
asked.

Sisters of the Moon
Series

(Book One)

Bound to Night

by

Nina Croft

8 years ago

A prickle ran down her spine.

“Dad, are you there?” Tasha called out, but
the words were thrown back at her, echoing off the stone walls.

She was early that was all. He’d be here.
He’d promised.

The sun slipped lower in the sky, finally
vanishing behind the huge warehouses. Shadows hugged the edges of
the buildings, drawing ever closer to where she stood in the
encroaching night.

She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry.
Something was out there, watching her from just beyond the edge of
darkness. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a movement in
the dim light. Tendrils of emotion teased at her mind, like nothing
she’d felt before. Not a person; there were no conscious thoughts,
only raw feelings. Anticipation, hunger, hate.

For a minute, Tasha stood immobile, every
muscle locked solid. Then she turned her head slowly and peered
into the gloom. She blinked, trying to make sense of what she was
seeing. A dog? But it was bigger than any dog she’d ever come
across, bigger even than the wolves she’d seen at the zoo.

It took a step closer, clearing the shadows,
and an icy wave of dread rolled over her, threatening to suck her
under. Her mind screamed to run, but her body wouldn’t obey, every
muscle clenched tight as her gaze locked with cold yellow eyes.

Another step and the spell was broken. She
hurled her backpack at the thing’s head, then spun around and ran.
She’d only taken a few strides when a heavy weight slammed into
her, crashing her to the ground. Stars flashed behind her closed
eyes, and the coppery taste of blood filled her mouth.

Tasha rolled onto her back and the beast was
on her, pressing her down, hot stinking breath smothering her. She
tried to scramble away, but it lunged, taking her shoulder in its
huge jaws. Bone crunched loud in her ears. Searing pain flooded her
body and mind, and she knew she was going to die.

Maybe not yet.

But soon.

She must have blacked out. When she came to,
the beast was gone, and she wasn’t dead after all. Her own
shuddering breaths were the only sound in the darkness. She tried
to roll over, but red hot spikes of pain pinned her to the ground.
Her phone was in her backpack. She could see it lying about ten
feet away. It might as well have been a mile.

Her dad would be here soon, all she had to
do was hold on.

The beam of an approaching vehicle flooded
the area with light. Tears of relief blurred her vision; she’d
known he would save her. Always before, she’d balked at using her
inner sense, scared it would mean she was accepting the impossible,
descending into madness. Now, for the first time she reached out,
needing to feel her father’s comforting presence. But the minds she
encountered were strangers.

She twisted her neck so she could watch.
Some sort of dark van pulled up a few feet away, but she didn’t
recognize the vehicle. Two men stepped out and came toward her.

“She the one?” the closest asked.

“Oh yeah. Let’s get her in the van—that
thing’s still out there.”

“Wait. My father—” Tasha clamped her lips on
a scream as the first man leaned down and dragged her to her feet.
He tossed her over his shoulder, oblivious to the moan of agony
wrenched from her throat. The few paces to the van seemed to last a
lifetime, before she was dropped in the back. She landed with a
jolt and lay staring at the roof, trying to get a grip on a world
reduced to nothing but hurting.

The rear door slammed and she was alone.
Panic tore at her insides as the vehicle started to move, and
quickly picked up speed.

The journey passed in a haze of pain and
confusion intermingled with brief respites of unconsciousness.
Finally, the door opened and a dark figure stared down at her.

“Welcome to The Facility.”

Present day

Jack raced through the dark forest, weaving
between the trees, listening for the sound of his pursuers. When he
realized he was leaving them far behind, he slowed his pace. He
hadn’t spent all this time planning the operation just to elude
them so easily.

He halted behind the broad trunk of an oak
tree, pulled out his cell phone, and punched in speed dial.

“I’m going in,” he said.

“Have fun,” Sebastian replied.

“Yeah, right, like that’s going to happen.”
He ended the call, tossed the phone into the undergrowth and peered
around. The place was in darkness, no sign of any lights.
Presumably they were using night vision, because he could still
hear them heading toward him, smashing through the undergrowth like
a herd of blundering elephants.

Finally, when he was about to give up hope
and go looking, one of them appeared. Tall, he was dressed all in
black, with camouflage makeup darkening his face, and a rifle in
his hand. A second man appeared at his side, and then a third—all
armed. Jack was guessing the weapons would be loaded with
tranquilizers. They wouldn’t go to all this bother to get hold of
him, and then risk killing him off.

He hoped.

Not that bullets could kill him, but they
would hurt like hell.

Time to get this over with.

He stepped out from behind the tree and
turned to face them. Then stopped abruptly and plastered a
surprised expression on his face.

“Don’t move.” The first man raised his
weapon and pointed it straight at Jack.

He hadn’t been planning on moving, though he
did snarl, baring the tip of one fang, just so they could be sure
they had the right person.

The weapon made no sound as it fired. Jack
released his breath and glanced down. A small dart stuck out of his
upper arm. He waited to see whether the drug would have any
effect.

Nothing.

Closing his eyes, he swayed and toppled to
the ground.

He kept his eyes shut and his body limp as
they wrapped him in chains. Silver chains. What did they think he
was? A bloody werewolf?

They carried him through the forest, slung
over someone’s shoulder and finally dropped him in the back of a
vehicle and slammed the doors shut, leaving him alone.

The journey took over an hour. At long last,
they stopped moving and the door opened.

“Welcome to The Facility.”

After two long and tedious weeks, Jack was
far from impressed by the hospitality at The Facility. He hoped
that was about to improve.

He opened his eyes and stretched on the
narrow cot.

Someone was approaching.

With any luck, they were bringing him some
food. He’d told them he needed sustenance, that he was starving,
might even die without it. Though in truth, he was far more likely
to die from boredom in this place, than he was from hunger. At over
five hundred years old, he could go months without feeding, but
they didn’t know that. In fact, here at The Facility, they knew
fuck all. At least about his kind. And if he had any say in the
matter—and he planned to have a great deal—things would stay that
way.

But he also needed information. After all,
that was the point in his being here. He’d thought to coerce it out
of the guards, but his first attempt had ended up with the man
having some sort of aneurism and ending up bleeding from the ears.
Then dead. Very inconvenient.

The guard must have had some sort of implant
in the brain, which had reacted to the compulsion. But Jack had
never come across anything like it, and he didn’t want to risk it
again, at least not yet. Once they might put down to an accidental
occurrence. Twice and nobody would believe it a coincidence.

That was a week ago. Afterward, he’d decided
the best way to get his information was for them to believe he was
cooperating. So he’d made them an offer. His “collaboration ” in
exchange for food, though he was actually telling them a load of
bullshit. He’d even managed to convince them he was allergic to
garlic, and many a bored hour was spent coming up with even more
ludicrous misinformation.

The footsteps came to a halt outside his
cell and he heard the numbers being punched into the keypad locking
mechanism. There was also a retinal scan—the security was top of
the range and far more advanced than anything out in the general
market.

The door slid open. Jack sat up but didn’t
get to his feet. He was expecting one of the guards, but instead a
small, almost hunched figure, hovered in the open doorway. Someone
shoved her hard, and she lurched forward and then turned and
snarled at whoever was behind her.

Johnson, one of the less pleasant guards
followed her into the cell, and then a second man stepped in behind
her. This was someone new, and definitely not a guard. Probably in
his forties, with short sandy hair, he studied Jack as though he
were some sort of lab rat. Which he supposed he was in a way,
though that didn’t mean he had to like it.

“I’m Dr. Latham,” he said. “I’m in charge of
your…case.”

Jack didn’t answer, just curled his lip
revealing the tip of one sharp fang. The guard took a step back.
Latham remained where he was, his expression more curious than
fearful. He was a fool.

A small gasp came from the girl. He’d almost
forgotten she was there; she was so small and quiet. Now he turned
to study her.