Hunters' Game (3 page)

"We are in a room filled with people,
Cliantha." His mouth quirked upward at one corner, his tone
mocking.

"I don't care, I want you, Demetri," she
paused, "and I will have you. Now."

He shook his head and grabbed her hair,
yanking until she winced. "You will have what I give you.
When
I am ready to allow you!"

Shouted conversations and deafening music
murmured like static in the background. Cliantha's awareness didn't
extend past him and her insatiable desire for his touch. She
gripped the silken locks that framed his face, twisting the strands
around her fingers as she rose and lifted her skirt. She positioned
herself, biting her bottom lip as she lowered herself onto him. He
filled her, made her smile as she continued to stare into his
coldly amused gaze.

"You have what you need, Clia." His hands
locked on her hips, fingers digging into her flesh as he lifted her
and slammed her down hard. "Fuck me well, bitch, or I will make you
crawl before you touch me again."

Demetri wrapped his arms around her waist as
she shuddered in his embrace.

She met his eyes, her mouth curving into a
smile.

"Before this night is over, Demetri, it may
be
you
who crawls."

She braced her feet on the floor and her
body found the rhythms of the club. Music permeated her, seemed to
emanate from within her, and the multitude of mortal heartbeats
became a single primal pulse that she matched with her hips as she
rocked against him.

Demetri loosened his hold on her, moved his
hands to her thrusting hips and imposed a faster rhythm to her
motion. Her scream reverberated inside her mind and his an instant
before he pulled her mouth to his neck. Her fangs descended into
his throat, silencing the cry of her orgasm. The savagery of her
bite caused him a fleeting moment of pain.

He held her in a vise-like grip as she
drank. Had he given her freedom, she'd have tumbled them to the
floor with the force of her hunger. Waves of maddened euphoria
passed over him. He lifted her, then pulled her down so he was
fully sheathed in her clutching wet heat.

The spasms of her orgasm pulled on his cock,
triggered his own climax. His fangs sank into the soft mound of her
left breast, near her heart, and her fingers brushed over his hair
as she whispered words of love.

Endless minutes later, Demetri drew back and
smiled up into her dazed eyes. He loved to see her this way,
radiant with the sheer delirium of his possession. He owned
Cliantha as he had few others, and he never tired of her devotion.
That she exulted in belonging to him only added to his
satisfaction.

"Are we going to leave now?" She
straightened and rose, shivering when their bodies separated. She
remained motionless as Demetri zipped his jeans, then closed her
blouse for her. She stepped back and sat across from him, her
fingers entwined with his on the smooth surface of the table.

"Is there nothing here that appeals to your
appetite? Perhaps your young companion, what was his name?
Felix?"

"I had thought you sent him to me." She
smiled.

"He desires you even now. He's been watching
you."

"And has he seen all he wanted to see?" Her
eyes were alive with dark amusement.

"I think not, but he does know I have just
had what he covets tonight."

"The boy's a fool."

"He wants you."

"So he's a fool with exquisite taste." She
grinned. "That makes him no less a fool."

"And am I a fool as well, dearest?"

"No," she whispered. "Never."

Demetri smiled, expression indulgent, and he
cast a glance in the boy's direction.

"Let's take him with us, he might be rather
entertaining." Demetri idly raised his hand and beckoned.

Felix stepped forward and joined them. The
master vampire indicated the chair next to Cliantha and her eyebrow
rose when Felix dropped into the seat and brushed a hand over hers.
The gesture amused her and her lover. They recognized it as the
boy's attempt at subtle seductiveness.

"Is this whom you were waiting for?" Felix
locked his eyes on Cliantha's features.

"This is Demetri," she said. "He is an old
friend. It was his suggestion that brought me to here tonight,
Felix."

"Then I'm glad he recommended the Garden."
Felix laughed, and continued to ignore Demetri. He was drunk, and
it made him both foolhardy and arrogant.

Demetri smirked at the impudence, then rose.
He bent to kiss her cheek, and sent the thought directly into her
mind,
I'll be close by when you're ready to leave
.

She shivered, shifted in her chair and
nodded. Seconds later, a chilly void marked his absence. He'd left
the club.

"Would you like another drink?" Felix
ordered another beer from the waitress who had stopped at their
table.

"No." She shook her head. "I haven't
finished the first one you bought."

He smiled and slid his chair closer to
hers.

"Do you always fuck your lovers in crowded
nightclubs?" Felix asked with a polite smile.

Cliantha stared at him for a moment,
measured the intent of his bluntness "Only Demetri. He is an
addiction I have suffered a very long time."

Felix raised a hand to smooth it over the
flowing mane of her hair, then his hand slid beneath her long
jacket and sought the soft curve of her breast.

Cliantha caught his wrist before his hand
closed over her flesh. She permitted herself the pleasure of
causing him a small amount of pain for his audacity. "I am not a
whore to be groped and fondled by strangers, Felix!"

"I think you are." The young man smiled and
jerked his wrist free of her grasp. "I think it's exactly what you
came here for."

Anger brought the first swift and searing
pang of thirst. She cooled her ire and leaned forward, then smiled
again when his attention dropped to the revealing scoop of her
neckline.

"And you think you can give me what I want,
young Felix?" Her appreciative gaze moved over him, cataloging the
silken length of rich chestnut hair that fell around his shoulders,
and the dark brows that arched over intense eyes. He was a handsome
boy, almost beautiful. Totally unlike Demetri, who was beauty
incarnate to the woman who adored him.

"Perhaps you're right."

Felix finished the last of his beer and
grinned as he moved to sit in Demetri's vacant seat. He held his
hands out to her, palms upward.

Cliantha shook her head, dark mirth filling
her. She took one of his proffered hands and tugged him to his
feet.

"I think not, young one. You are not
Demetri, nor do I wish you to be."

Felix pulled her close to him, and bent his
head to hers. She returned his eager kiss without real interest,
and prodded him toward the exit.

Chapter 4

The game continues…

Silently, they left The Savage Garden. The
street glistened, running water vivid testimony that Mother Nature
had made good on her promise of rain. Cliantha sensed Demetri
nearby. She caught the shift of his thoughts, and aroused hunger
rekindled within her when she understood the darker nature of this
night's hunt.

Energized, the compelling need to enjoy her
lover's game consumed her concentration. Felix walked lost in
thought beside her, smug and confident that it was his presence
evoking her shallow breathing and eagerness. In part, he was right,
though not in the manner he might assume.

They strolled a few doors down the deserted
sidewalk, Clia feeding on Felix's erotic fantasies. His urge to
touch her grew with every step, until the tingle in his fingertips
caused a twitch. He moved closer, his arm encircling her waist.
When she didn't object, his hand moved lower to stroke the curve of
her ass. She yanked him into a nearby alley.

She blocked the stench of decay and stale
sex, mind peeled for that delicious moment his desire turned to
fear as she dragged him deeper into the soundless shadows.

Felix hadn't uttered a sound, but his eyes
widened, his body rigid with tension as he waited. She shoved him
back against the brick wall. His surprise notched up further, his
breaths quickening, his muscles trembling, betraying his
uncertainty when she leaned into him. She held his eyes and his
mind was open to her, allowing her to read every thought he had
while her hand slithered across his chest, then dipped lower to
massage the growing hardness between his thighs. The pressure of
her hand grew steadily and he thrust his hips into the demanding
caresses. When she began to nuzzle the side of his neck, he laughed
out loud.

"You've had a change of heart," he taunted,
with a weak attempt at cavalier dryness.

"A change of heart?" She repeated the words
with a new inflection, one that implied the concept was absurd. "I
want you, Felix. And I don't wait. I take what I want."

Cliantha reached for the buckle of his belt
and released the clip. She worked her hand into the open front of
his jeans. Her lips covered his and her tongue explored his mouth
with the same fierce urgency as her fingers moving over his rigid
cock.

"I don't think I've ever been fucked in an
alley," Felix mused when she drew the soft velvet of her skirt up
over her hips.

His hand, caught in her steely grip never
made contact with her skin as he peered past her shoulder.

"You shouldn't toy with him, love." Demetri
kissed her neck. "He thinks you want him. Do you?"

Cliantha nodded and smiled. Reflected in
Felix's mind, she saw herself, elongated fangs gleaming and her
eyes glowing golden red fire.

"Show him what you want, pet."

She laughed and spun around to face her
lover and master as she hauled Demetri away from Felix and pushed
him to the ground. Demetri's eyebrows rose and annoyance pulsed off
him in waves. She saw the shift in emotion as she climbed across
his thighs. She didn't care.

She pulled at his jeans until she had
exposed only what she needed to fulfill her immediate desire, then
unbuttoned her blouse and leaned over him. Full breasts grazed the
silk of his shirt and she shivered at the sensation of his heat
radiating through the smooth, cool fabric. Her hips ground against
the smooth length of his cock. She moaned, crushing her moist heat
to him.

Demetri's hands closed over her breasts and
he squeezed with enough pressure to elicit a tiny gasp of pain. She
jerked away from him and tore open his shirt. Before he could
anticipate her or exert control, Cliantha impaled herself on him
and rode him with an abandon that shocked him still.

Tense and focused, she trapped his hands and
their fingers entwined. Her back arched and her hips rocked harder
against him, her pussy clutching him. Swift and deadly, she lunged,
her fangs tearing into his chest near his heart. Real pain rippled
the length of Demetri's body. The wash of his blood and discomfort
flowing down her throat was the sweetest ambrosia. She drew more
into her mouth, gorging on the life she was addicted to and
inexorably entangled in for eternity.

* * * * *

The shock of her assault thrilled and
angered him—two might play this game of dominance, but Demetri
always won the contest of wills. Cliantha had been allowed her
moment. He rolled, trapping her beneath him. He tugged her head
from his chest, growling over her snarls of objection. He yanked
her head to the side, baring the curve of her throat. He bit with
no more gentleness than she had, and her body convulsed and
tightened around him. A growl of fury escaped her and he hammered
his cock into her.

"Demetri..."

He released her hands and they immediately
slid down the length of his back and covered his ass. She pulled
him harder against her writhing body. Long legs encircled his waist
until he drew back, disentangled her hold and slid his arms under
her knees. He leaned forward again and her spine curved to
accommodate his shift. The palms of his hands rested flat against
the chilled asphalt they were oblivious to, and her fingernails dug
into his wrists as he fucked her like the whore she was this
night.

Blood smeared her breasts—his blood—and
Demetri's smile was triumphant when her head fell back and she
choked back a strangled scream. Her body twisted in his grasp and
her shudders pulled him over the edge into his own maddened
release.

He stilled, and allowed the frenzy in his
mind to ease before he slipped his arms from under her legs.
Rocking back on his heels, he pulled her up into his embrace.

Tears streamed from Cliantha's eyes as she
nestled into the curve of his neck. Her abused body was sated for
the moment. He could have punished her for the attack she'd made,
and might yet indulge himself in that task. Some part of her
understood already, and she whispered her devotion while he soothed
the shudders that still wracked her.

They each felt the approach of the young
mortals long before they were in sight. Cliantha eased away from
him, and the sticky stream of their pleasure glistened against the
pale ivory of her thighs. She ran a finger through the moisture,
slipped the wet tip between her lips and smiled at him.

Demetri took her hand and sucked her finger
deep into his mouth—he felt her hunger stir to new life. She was
still aroused and her mood unpredictable. He found this new side of
her nature tremendously enjoyable. She withdrew and looked past his
shoulder.

"Felix, I'd forgotten about you," she
whispered.

"I noticed." The clipped sharpness of his
voice made her grin.

Despite Demetri's mental hold on him, he
spoke with free will, and his mood vacillated between terror and
lust.

Beyond the alley, the deserted sidewalk was
once again coming to life with the presence of people leaving the
local clubs. A small group of men was nearing, and while they
boasted about the night's conquests, they could be heard kicking
walls and parked cars. A nearby pole, topped by a streetlight
shuddered when a couple of the men decided to show off their
martial arts moves, and the latent light sputtered to life.