Deadly Liaisons (13 page)

He smiled at her, then switched to the other breast, giving it its due. “Patience.”

Patience wasn’t one of her virtues either. She pressed against his arousal, attempting to push for a quicker resolution. His lips turned up darkly, and his fingers drew lower as hers moved down his waist, tracing the hardness to his buttocks. God, if she could only have a butt as sinful y firm as his.

He shifted off her, and she worried he was going to stop. She held onto him, her lips parted to object, until he slid his fingers over her mound, down, dipping deep inside her, stroking, retreating.

Barely breathing, she tensed, squeezing his buttocks. His fondling intensified the feeling of near euphoria, higher, higher. She reached for the peak.

Shifting, twisting under his fingers’ skil ful touch, pushing against him, wanting more, she craved having him deep inside her at the same time.

“Make love to me,” she whispered.

“I am,” he said, his voice husky and deep.

He held himself back with the utmost restraint, his neck so tense it looked like it could snap. Why?

The bloodlust.
He was keeping his canines from extending. He wanted to make love to her like she’d asked, wanted to pleasure her first to al ow her time to change her mind.

But she wouldn’t change her mind.

“Make love to me, Daemon, and feed. I offer my blood to you freely.” And my life for one of a vampiress, if she could convince him to do the deed.

“Hmm, Tezra.” He renewed his strokes, the kisses. He teased her nipples with his velvet tongue, then sucked on them with a vengeance.

And she felt in heaven, craving more and more, like an addict needing a fix.

She rocked against his fingers, trying to push the climax. She climbed to the top of the peak, felt the exhilaration, the warmth wash through her like a warm Caribbean wave in summer. She moaned his name with exquisite pleasure, never having experienced anything so satisfying. Delightful aftershocks rippled through her body.

Daemon’s eyes smiled, and his lips curved just a hint. She loved how he seemed to take pleasure in pleasuring her, just as he said he would.

Not wasting another second, Daemon pushed the siren’s legs apart with his knee, then worked his way between them. “We wil
only
make love and I’l feed, but I won’t change you,” he reassured her, having lost the battle to keep his distance the minute she said she wanted him.

He desired to take it slow, but her wil ingness and soft moans had pushed him faster than he’d intended. His damnable canines threatened to extend, and fighting them had given him a painful crick in the jaw.

He couldn’t refuse to make love to her and feed, not the way she’d aroused him, yet he couldn’t calm her like he could any human. If she grew scared when he bit her, he could hurt her, bruise her, tear her skin unnecessarily.

“Tezra.” He stroked her hair and kissed her lips. “I won’t be able to stop once I start. I haven’t fed for too long.”

She caressed his face, her green eyes dark with desire. “I want you to, Daemon. Please.”

He nuzzled her cheek, gently moving her face to the side to expose her throat, testing her resolve. “Sweet, Tezra, relax.” He spoke calmly, with patience, though he couldn’t control his canines much longer.

She took several deep breaths.

Touching her throat with light sweeping strokes of his tongue, he centered himself between her legs and entered slowly. She sucked in her breath. He backed out and tried again, slipping into her velvet glove, the territory a tight fit. Stroking his back, she kissed the top of his head, spreading her legs to open herself up to him further, encouraging him to continue. Her pelvic muscles tightened, narrowing the passage to nearly impassable.

“Relax,” he whispered against her breast, his tongue teasing the raised nipple, so delicious to taste. When he tugged on it with his lips, her pleasurable moan stirred his libido more.

He lifted his face and studied the way she breathed so quickly and her pulse fluttered rapidly under the skin. His teeth extended, his mind no longer in control, he tilted his head back, closed his eyes and thrust his erection deep inside her.

She gasped but held him tight. He pul ed out slowly, then buried into her tight sheath, drawing out the pleasure.

Her vitality cal ed to him, begged him to take his fil . He licked the sweet skin of her throat, preparing himself to take some of her life force, to share another experience with her, to love her completely the vampire way.

He pricked her skin with his canines, and her eyes opened, startled, but she couldn’t object, not as far as he had gone. His erection pulsed as he dove into her heat, farther and deeper, then he sank his canines into her neck. She sighed with gratification, the way a blood bond did when a vampire pleasured her.

“Oh, Daemon.” She thrust her hips against him, making him finish what he’d begun. She touched his waist with tender strokes, titil ating him.

Her blood tasted like the richest burgundy wine, satisfying the craving he had for her…for the moment. Yet, for an instant, he had the insane urge to take her for his own.

He licked the drops of blood, sealing the wounds while he continued to thrust into her. Then with a headiness he’d never experienced, waves of heat flowed through every pore, his skin saturated with sweat.

With one last push, his seed spread through her. He sank against her soft, warm body, covered lightly in perspiration and the fragrance of peaches and Tezra’s sweet sex.

She came again, her muscles clamping over his erection, holding tightly, claiming him for her own. He’d never felt so satisfied, so complete, yet with a sinking feeling, he knew nothing could ever come of his relationship with her. He rol ed onto his back and pul ed her on top of him.

He hadn’t planned for Lichorus’s telepathic communication, and he was glad the vamp sent the message straight to him so that Tezra didn’t hear it.
“I have discovered information about the police killings. If you meet me now, I will give it to you, my
darling prince.”

“You will give it to me now, Lichorus, unless you do not stand by me as you have promised.”

He could almost sense her smiling, but would the vamp give him the news or not? Or was it just a ploy on her behalf to stir up more trouble?

“
Give her up, my prince, and I will tell you anything.”

Daemon sensed Lichorus’s trap, closed his eyes and wrapped a wal around his mind to terminate her communication with him. He would not be misled by her now or ever.

Tezra gave a sad smile and closed her eyes, but not before he saw the moisture gathering in the corners. Her warm tears dropped on his bare chest, nearly unmanning him.

Her silky skin rested against Daemon’s. Her shal ow breath tickled his chest, and her springtime fragrance scented the air. He ran his hand down her back with a gentle caress, his thoughts in turmoil. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.” She sniffled.

“Did I push too fast?”

“I-I shouldn’t have wanted this. Not when everything’s so wrong. I don’t deserve…” Shimmering with tears, her eyes locked on his for an instant, then she looked away.

Before Daemon could respond, she left the bed and quickly dressed.

“Tezra—”

She waved her hand to silence him.
Him!
The leader of the vampire clans in America!

“Where are the stolen tissue samples? I need to look at them.” She kept her eyes averted as if she was ashamed of herself.

“What don’t you deserve, Tezra?”

But she wouldn’t say. He realized then as much as she needed to heal, she needed someone who would be her mate forever.

Not someone like him who had no intention of taking a mate again. So why did he feel like he’d slipped into the bloody pits of hel ?

Downstairs the doorbel rang, and Atreides warned,
“Five armed hunters at the door, Daemon. I don’t think it’s a social visit.”

His thoughts focused on the hunter menace standing at his front door, Daemon dressed in a flash. But Tezra grabbed his arm before he could leave the bedroom, her eyes reflecting deep-seated worry.

“Let me speak with them first,” she implored.

He brushed the hair away from her cheek. “They can’t take you away from me.
From here
, I mean,” he amended, hating that he’d made the mistake. “I can provide better security for you than they can.”

“I agree. I want to stay with you. Until the murderer is eliminated.”

“Al right. We go together, but I won’t back down concerning you staying here with me.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and pul ed her close. As soon as he did, he regretted his action. She melted in his embrace, and he was reminded she needed someone to care for her more than he could commit to.

Transporting her to the front door where Atreides and Voltan stood silently blocking the hunters’ entry, Daemon felt white-hot tension in the air. He quickly released Tezra, severing their connection. He wanted to shove her behind him so he could protect her from the hunters, but fought the urge. They were not here to harm her, he assured himself.

One of the older hunters, gray-haired but tanned and trim, gave Daemon a cursory look, then turned his attention to Tezra as if the ancient vampire was of no consequence. But Daemon knew damn wel the hunter wasn’t that naïve.

“Tezra Campbel , we’re here to escort you safely to SCU headquarters.”

“Thank you, Gavin, but while the kil er vampire is on the loose, I prefer remaining here under Daemon’s protection.”

“I would speak to you alone,” Gavin said.

Before Tezra could reply, Daemon said, “No.”

The look she gave him could have sliced a watermelon in two. “I’ve already told you I intend to stay here,” she said to Gavin.

“You’re not…yourself.” Gavin glanced at the vampires, emphasizing his point.

“I’m not under their control, if that’s what you’re inferring.”

One of the hunters unsheathed his sword with a whoosh. Voltan drew the one he had at his back, and Daemon’s canines instantly extended.

“The senior staff wants to speak with you,” Gavin said, his tone more conciliatory. “If they agree, you can return here.”

Daemon intended to tel the hunters, tactful y, where they could go, but Tezra took the lead. “Have them cal me, and we’l talk.”

“You face expulsion,” Gavin said, his voice hard.

“Hmm, wel , if Krustalus—my parents’ murderer—gets hold of me, expulsion from the SCU wil be the least of my troubles. Tel Senior Staff Member Ingrid that I’m staying here until Daemon takes down the kil er.” She patted Daemon’s arm, surprising the hel out of him. “He’l watch out for me until then.”

Gavin’s gray eyes narrowed while he considered Daemon. “What if he’s in league with the kil er?”

“Like they’re al cut from the same evil cloth, right, Gavin?”

He gave a haughty snort. “Coming from you, that’s laughable.”

Tezra’s cheeks colored. “I’m staying here.” Before anyone could say anything more, she slammed the door in the hunter’s face.

“That went wel ,” Atreides said, then looked out the peephole. “They’re arguing about what they’re going to do now.”

“Watch them. Let me know if they pul anything.” Daemon said to Tezra, “I have the tissue samples in my office, if you’d like to look at them.”

“You know I would.”

His thoughts shifting over different worst-case scenarios, Daemon walked Tezra down the hal . Like most SCU staff, Tezra didn’t care for vampires, and after what had happened to her parents and Krustalus taunting her over the years, Daemon understood her animosity. But sticking up for him in front of Gavin and the other hunters took real courage. She had to know her words would get back to the SCU, which wouldn’t sit wel with many. It more than pleased him to think he’d had a positive effect on the way she felt toward some of his kind.

He guided her into his office and immediately thought of how hers had looked—light and airy with paintings of windswept beaches and seagul s heaven bound. Of light oak wood file cabinets and a desk cluttered with typed papers, record files and handwritten notes. Bright yel ow sticky notes had covered the edge of her computer monitor. The screen had been fil ed with the scene of a tropical island paradise. Cozy and smal , a guest bedroom turned office. Homey and scented with Tezra’s sweet fragrance.

His office? Large, dark heavy wood, antique, neat, not a paper or pen out of its designated place. Outfitted with the latest in computer equipment. Luxuriously furnished, the brown leather desk chair, a high-backed recliner built for comfort. The massive furniture polished to a bril iant shine with lemon-scented cleaner. Paintings of dark-forested scenes hung on the wal s, and the music of the ancient Celts was piped in to give an old-world feel. Even if he had to change with the times, he preferred to surround himself with some of the ages he’d lived through.

“They’l be back and cause more problems, you know,” she said, her voice fil ed with soft regret.

“Yeah. Hunters are as tenacious as a mongoose with a snake. Once they discover their prey, they won’t let go.”

She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with humor. “You’re saying I’m like a snake, and they want me dead?”

He gave her a smal smile and motioned to his chair, a veritable throne in this day and age. “They don’t want to give you up.

What if you worked for my side?”

“But you’re the good guys. I mean, you’re not rogue vampires.”

Not exactly the good guys, he noted with wry amusement. “What if we formed our own task force to take down renegade vampires and cut the SCU out of the business?”

“So why haven’t you done it before?”

“Like humans, not al vampires are suited to policing the world. Each of us has our special interests.”

“And yours are?” She sat at his desk.

“At the moment, protecting you and finding the kil er.”

“And ruling your people.” She opened the first of the reports concerning the tissue samples from the dead police officers and began to read over them.

He couldn’t help thinking how much she changed the feel of his office—the smel of peaches lingering in the air, the sight of her fuzzy pink sweater against the dark brown leather chair and her jeans-clad buttocks pressed against his seat, the sound of her light breath and her enchanting pulse, always beckoning to him. His office would never seem the same.