Captiva Master - Vampire Warewolf Menage Six Feet Under Series Book 4) (6 page)

“Not dreams, they were reality.” He brought his legs in tighter, squeezing her thighs together, his erection pressed against her stomach. “Reality - where you tasted me, don’t you remember tasting me?”

Dakota licked her lips, now remembering what must have been his blood. “No.”


He laughed. “Usually, when I hold a female thusly and her body emits such a beguiling, inviting fragrance, I drink her. Everywhere.”

That statement should scare her, shouldn’t it? “Everywhere,” she repeated, thinking of the possibilities. Through the v of his shirt, she could see the divot separating his thick chest muscles, and she wanted to lick his golden skin.

“I cannot wait to taste you,” he purred. “Tell me you remember the taste of me. Admit it.”

Her forehead slumped to his chest and stayed there. His words were an oral caress, tangling inside her head. She inhaled deeply, literally salivating; wanting to know what it would feel like to have all his weight on top of her. “Okay, vaguely, I remember the taste of you.”

“I anticipate you tasting me again and often.” Dropping his hand from the wall, he cupped her nape, sliding his gloved fingers through her hair and tugging her head back in a carful grip. Meeting her eyes once more, he said, “Have you eaten today?”

Hospital food hadn’t appealed to her. “A little.”

“Then let’s finish this discussion at home.” His lips touched her temple in the same way as her dreams. “I’ll have Luisa prepare your dinner while you take a relaxing bath. Then you’ll slip on something beautiful, and we’ll eat in the grand dining room. It’s never put to use.”

“Never put to use, huh.” Further reminding Dakota she was in the arms of a powerful predator who lived on blood.

“I would love to watch you eat.” He traced a damp trail over her jugular with the tip of his tongue. “Bite after bite.”

Bite after bite? No, thanks. “My home is here, right upstairs.” Her nipples hardened, begging for his mouth. “And what were you thinking, buying all those clothes?”

“I was thinking that you would look lovely in them,” he responded, releasing his grip on her nape.

“S-step back,” she demanded far too huskily for her liking.

“Ah, Dakota, I don’t hear any conviction backing your request.” He trailed his mouth across her jawline, leaving shivers in his wake, before he eased back.

Instantly, she missed his heat. What was this between them? “Rock refused to tell me why I was in your house. Who are you to me?”

Maestru countered, “What do I
feel
like to you?”

“Confusion. Hot. Cold. Sex. Fear,” she confessed. “My mind is a mess around you. One half wants to run. The other half demands I stay.” She caught herself before admitting more. “I have so many things to ask you, and when you’re near me, I forget my questions.”

“That’s called chemistry.”

“It’s called fear,” she half-lied.

His fingers twisted in her hair, tugging the strands. “Isn’t it humans who say fear destroys the mind?”

Ignoring that, she took a cleansing breath and focused on what she needed to know. “Why was I at your house?”

“Because I fed you my blood to keep you alive. In fact, you have lived under my roof nearly the entire time of your recovery.” His phone pinged from inside his long coat, but he ignored it, not even looking in its direction. “Rock may have initially saved you from the Habalines, but your injuries were far too severe for any doctor, immortal or not, to heal. You were surely dying. Therefore, your only two choices for living were becoming Undead or drinking from a Master Vampire. Considering the shape you were in, the latter was a long shot. Still, I didn’t want you Undead, so I took a chance and fed you my blood. At this moment, my life’s essence is the only thing keeping you
alive
. My bewitching Dakota, by my essence, you are reborn.”

Dakota felt much stronger now, but she didn’t consider herself
reborn
in any way. “So who asked you to save me?”

“No one can ask that of a Master Vampire.” He sighed. “
I
saw you.
I
wanted you.
I
kept you.”

Oh, how his words had called to her in those midnight dreams, a place of darkness with only the sound of his voice calming her. Now, he stood before her, confirming what her subconscious already knew. All she could manage to say was a simple thank you. “Thank you for the b-blood and healing.”

“Your gratitude isn’t required.” Maestru explained, “Any Blood Debt between a Master Vampire and an unclaimed, unprotected human must be collected. In the vampire world, I uphold the law, which means I must also follow it.”

“Blood Debt?” Quickly, she snapped out of her romanticism.
I’m so outta here
. Digging inside her pocket, she gathered Sixten’s keys and skirted Maestru. “I’m leaving.” Once again, she pressed her bloodied hand against her shirt. “The walk-in clinic will be closing soon, so I should get this taken care of.”

Watching her carefully, he said, “No, I will heal you.”

“You will heal me,” she repeated, moving toward the back door. “More of the Blood Debt? No, thanks, I’ll pass.”

His lip curled. “Well, I can also lick you.”

“I know.” Reaching the backdoor, she flipped the lock. “Rock explained the enzymes in your saliva, too.” She couldn’t seem to open the door, even with her improved strength. “Let me guess.” Putting her hip into it, she gave it another shove. “If I accept that particular service, what will I owe you afterwards, a Spit Debt?”

“Amusing,” he replied, though he wasn’t laughing.

“Nothing’s amusing about this.” After another round of fooling with the lock and slamming her body against the door, Dakota came to an alarming conclusion. He was keeping her inside the store. Pulling her new phone out of her pocket, she searched the contact list Rock had entered. Where was his number? Instantly, she found Sixten’s, punched it, and immediately lost reception. Oh, this was all past coincidence. Her eyes snapped up to his as she held up her useless phone. “Did you do that?”

With one long finger, he pointed at it. “Put that away.”

“Tell me,” she insisted, keeping it in a death grip. “You can, can’t you? You can do things with your mind. The locks. The phone. Are you doing something to
my
mind, like mind tricks?”

“Mind tricks, hmmm.” He tapped his chin. “Think of a number between one and ten -”

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about,” Dakota snapped, sensing him moving closer though she couldn’t follow his actual movements. “Can you make me feel what I’m feeling with you?”

“I don’t know exactly what you’re feeling
with
me.” Even closer now, he demanded, “Enlighten me.”

“Enlighten you?” She laughed mirthlessly. “Be honest with me instead.”

Closing his eyes, he offered, “Most vampires learn to coerce humans before they’re old enough to leave home. The more power a vampire has, the better his skills. Sweet Dakota, as far as my powers go, I can make you feel anything I want.” When he opened his eyes, they appeared raw and angry. “But I haven’t. Nor will I.”

It took her a long minute to swallow that ball of information. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“Bring me your keys and phone,” he said nonchalantly, holding out his hand. In a blink of the eye, she placed both items in his palm, and then he pocketed them.

A few seconds passed and then her daze lifted. Dakota gasped, rubbing her temple. “I knew what I was doing, but I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Do you understand the difference?” Maestru asked patiently.

“Of course.” Boy, did she. Shocked to realize her myriad of feelings for him were wholly genuine, she backed away again. “When I was in first grade, Michael Wilson found a Pygmy Rattler coiled underneath the slide during recess.” She swallowed hard. “Instead of leaving it alone, he picked up a stick and poked it.”

“And he was bitten, no doubt.”

“Yeah,” she confirmed, “Michael nearly died. His parents were frantic with worry. In addition, I’m thinking that hanging around you is far worse than poking a stick at a pissed-off rattler. It shouldn’t be done.” She inhaled deeply. “No matter what happened to me that night behind Six Feet Under, I try my best to avoid trouble. So tell me what this Blood Debt entails.” After all, any paid debt she free the obligation. Paying him would theoretically free her of
him
. “Then I can leave the vampire world right where it is, going on without me in it.”

“This is a discussion we should and
will
have at home.”

“I’m not going to your house with you,” she reiterated. “You may be a vampire, but apparently, I have vampire and werewolf friends. If necessary, I’ll stay with them.”

“Obviously you don’t know what I am truly capable of.” Instantly, his smile transformed, replaced by something cold and feral. If he didn’t appear human before, he sure didn’t now. “Only eight other vampires in the world have my particular power. None reside on this continent. Do you really want your friends dealing with someone like me?”

Not at all. “I guess if you’re going to get testy about it, I’ll leave my friends out of this.” She held out her hand. “I need my phone and my keys,” she said with bravery she didn’t feel. But common sense said that if he were going to kill her, he wouldn’t have saved her in the first place. “We can discuss this Blood Debt thingy on another day. One way or another, right now, I’m leaving.”

“Not while bleeding, you’re not.” Advancing a few steps, he clarified, “The Coven doctor and I have deduced that you are what the Dynasty Empire, the monarchy of the vampire race, refers to as a Donor.”

“Does that have anything to do with my Blood Debt?”

“No, and I wish I didn’t have to spell this on you right now,” Maestru said with a shake of his head. “Simply put, you are food for our emperors. Those emperors have winged hunters, Lovci, who comb the streets all over the world, trying to replace lost Donors, trying to fill the bellies of their rulers, trying to obtain enough blood to fill their rulers’ offspring who are growing into Youngling status. Think about it – no Donors mean the extinction of our Dynasty Vampyrs. No Dynasty Vampyrs mean the extinction of the vampire race as a whole. Considering their insufferable odds, hunters are relentless, ruthless to a point that makes
me
uncomfortable. If those hunters catch
you
, no matter my claims on you and my position in the vampiric society, my hands are forever tied.” He un-fisted his hand and gestured at her injured one. “To those of us who are not Dynasty Vampyrs, your blood is maddeningly addictive. Savory.”

Dakota felt her blood pounding in her ears. “An addiction, my blood is like a street drug to your kind?”

“Far worse,” he said quietly. “But I will help you.”

She shook her head numbly, trying to slow her breathing. “I really don’t want to be in your world, Maestru. It’s very shocking.”

“I know.”

“And incredibly ugly.”

“Perhaps, by your staggering beauty, you can transform its ugliness.”

“Don’t say things like that to me, Coven Master.”

“Why? Do I sound more human when I do?” When she stayed quiet, he pressed, “Dakota, I will make a prediction. One day soon, you won’t personify me as a human in order to enjoy my touch, but accept me for the vampire I am.”

“That will never happen.”

“Liars say never.” He flashed the tips of his fangs. “It’s a loaded word filled to the brim with what-ifs.”

Before she knew what was happening, he’d walked her back into the bathroom. Their eyes locked as he slid his gloved hand to the neck of her shirt. “This is soaked in your blood.” He warned her, “I’m going to take it off.” He rent her shirt down the center, pulling her arms away from the sleeves. She wore no bra and his eyes slid down to her plump, not-so-perky mounds. “Your shorts, as well.”

Dakota faced the wall, shying away from his blatant inspection, and kicked off the shorts he’d bought her. All her life she’d fought back any insecurity regarding her body. For the most part, she’d learned to accept her figure when she started waitressing at Six Feet Under. Ryan hired all sizes, never discriminated against those who were larger. And the first day she had started there, he’d tossed her those black shorts and tight-fighting shirt with a satisfied grin. Not every man checked out what she had going on, but she’d also had her share of admirers. Even so, in front of Maestru, she was just as afraid of disappointing him as she was of staying with him.

“You are built like a woman, incredible, certainly refreshing in this idiotic decade.” From behind, he pulled his shirt down over her head, raising her arms as if she were a little girl in need of dressing. “I have so many endearments in which to label these breasts,” he praised her, his thumbs skimming her ribcage as he tugged down the hem, “intoxicating perfection coming to the forefront of my mind.”

His body heat left hers, and she spun around, leaning against the wall for support. Dakota studied a brand of ebony wings separated by his breastbone. She was utterly fascinated at how his long muscled played beneath his skin. “What are you doing?”

A faint line of concentration marred his forehead as he tossed his hair over a shoulder. Then he bit his index finger, before pointing it at her lips. “Suck it.”

She waited a beat, though her mouth was watering for his offering.

“Suck it now.” His words penetrated her mind, and then she felt her tongue working the underside of his finger, swallowing the spicy erotic taste of this vampire. “Stop.”

She pulled away and licked him off her lips. “You tricked my mind.” Stunned, she watched her hand reknit in fast-motion, like something she would see in a movie.

“For your own good, I did,” he replied. “We have no time for you to contemplate an urgent situation. Now, I’m going to destroy your clothes alongside all those blood-soaked paper towels. That way, we leave no odorous traces of you.”

“If I’m so addictive -”

“I’ve never tasted your blood,” he cut her off, “and I have a bit more control than others. You’d be surprised, Dakota. Some vampires want far more than blood.”