Kade's Dark Embrace (Immortals of New Orleans) (18 page)

The vampire cackled, “Feisty one, aren’t you? It's going to be a pleasure whipping you into submission.”

He barely got his last word out when Sydney kicked him in the balls. Yep, no matter how supernatural you were, testicles were always vulnerable. Tried and true, Sydney loved how that worked. The vampire let go of Sydney to clutch himself, and Sydney whipped out the silver knife from her boot and held it to his throat. “Sorry, pal. I must admit this has been fun...Whipping your ass into submission and all...it’s been a laugh riot. Now down to the floor, on your stomach, hands up over your head, or you're going to eat silver. And in case you feel like trying again, you best remember that I have a few vampire friends of my own back here, not to mention the silver stakes in my boot that I'm just itching to try out.” The vampire stretched out his hands and Sydney wrapped a thin, silver chain around his wrists, effectively immobilizing him for the night. “Now listen here, be a good little vampire and I'll let Miguel know you are waiting to be freed. I know you vamps have your own laws, so I'll let Kade know what you did to me, and he can decide what to do with your ass.”

As she strode further down the hallway, Sydney stopped in her tracks hearing the cry of a woman’s voice coming from one of the rooms. The voice. It was familiar and in pain. Now anyone might be in pain in a place like this but the hair on her arms stood straight up as she heard the woman scream again.
Dominique.
Sydney started running down the hallway screaming Dominique’s name. She turned left, then right until she found a closed metal door. Shit, it was locked and wouldn’t open. She wished that she had some of those vampire, super-strength skills about now. She shoved against the door, and then tried kicking it, but it wouldn’t budge.
How am I going to get this open?

Sydney pulled out the thin, silver stake and her knife. Slowly manipulating the stake and the knife, she picked the lock and the door clicked open. As Sydney burst through the door, she found Dominique handcuffed, lying on a large, padded table. Sydney rushed over to help her. “Dominique, what happened? I thought vampires could easily break cuffs. Where’s the key?”

“Sydney, please.” Blood-streaked tears flowed down her face through a black blindfold. “Silver. The handcuffs...it’s burning, please help me. The door must be silvered too. I couldn’t communicate with Kade.”

“It’s going to be okay, Dominique. Just take a few deep breaths. I don’t see the key anywhere, but I have a knife. Just hang in there.”

Sydney finally picked the lock and broke the last handcuff off of Dominique, horrified by the oozing and third degree burns they left on her skin. Dominique was too weak to get off the table. Sydney cut off a piece of her skirt to clean Dominique’s bloody tears. She was okay, but shaky.

“Thank you. I thought no one would find me back here. That little bitch Rhea did this to me. I was questioning her about Simone when she said her master wanted to play with me. I let her blindfold me thinking it was a game, and I could earn her trust enough so she’d talk. But when she cuffed me in silver, I fell onto the table.” Dominique slowly sat up looking at her burned wrists and ankles and then fell back onto the table, unable to stand. She was woozy from the silver. “Damn, now that’s gonna leave a mark. Listen, Sydney, I need one of the guys to bring me a donor. I can feel them coming now. But I can’t get up yet. I need blood.”

Sydney was determined to find out what happened. “You’ll be okay Dominique. Just lie back until they get here. Are you sure Rhea was the only one here in the room with you? Did she bring someone else into the room?” Looking around the room, Sydney saw an opened, back door that led out to the alley. As much as she wanted to go investigate, she was not about to leave Dominique alone.

Dominique shook her head in confusion. “I’m not sure if someone else was here. Usually we can sense such things, but the silver, it doesn’t just burn like a motherfucker; it weakens all of our abilities. I was screaming at Rhea, but there could have been someone else. The fact is that Rhea is a human, possibly a witch cloaking her talent, but most definitely human. So, she could have been thralled into doing this to me, but the vampire or mage would have needed to be close. Yet, I felt no one when I entered the room with her.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The conversation with Gia, the bartender, garnered no tangible leads except the last known address of the staff member who reported seeing Simone. Kade was getting frustrated. Simone was somewhere in this city and had been at this very club. They needed to find her before she killed another girl. After getting the address, Miguel stalled Kade at the bar and seemed to talk endlessly about nothing. Kade thanked him for his help and started to make his way through the crowd back to Sydney. By the time he reached the dance floor near the entrance to the back, Kade sensed something was wrong. He sped down the darkened hallway to find a male vampire attempting to escape silver chains. He could feel something was wrong with Dominique, but halted as he smelled Sydney on the dirty predator. “Where is Sydney?” Kade growled.

The vampire strained to get a look at Kade. “Who? You mean that human bitch who chained me? Get me out of these. You really need to teach your slave girl better manners. I will be honored to watch you beat her. She needs to learn a lesson. Look what she did to me!”

Kade was furious beyond words. Reaching down with one hand, he grabbed the vampire by his throat and bashed his head into the wall. “You touched her? You insolent fledgling. She is mine and now you will pay for your misguided actions!”

“What, that human girl? You are kidding right? You can find pussy anywhere you like in this city and you would seek to punish me for being who I am? A vampire?” He sneered at Kade.

With restrained emotion, Kade slammed him again holding him up so far against the wall that his feet no longer touched the floor. “No, I will punish you for being an animal who doesn’t know his place in our society. You will never touch her or any other woman ever again. Your time on earth has officially come to an end.” In a swift move, Kade pulled a small, thin, wooden stake from his back pocket that telescoped like an antennae and snapped it into place. With precision, he jammed the stake into the heart of the vampire. The hallway filled with ash as Kade ran forward in search of Sydney.

Kade rushed into the room followed by Luca and Xavier. Spinning Sydney around, he hugged her tightly. “Sydney love, I leave you for ten minutes and you manage to find trouble? Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Backing out of his embrace, Sydney laughed it off. “Who, stubby vamp boy in the hallway? He may have left a bruise on my oh-so-delicate skin, but as you probably noticed, he won’t be messing with me anymore. Don’t worry about me....Dominique needs assistance. She said she needs a donor, and as much as I would love to help her I'm kind of attached to my blood.”

Sydney and Dominique told the guys what happened with Rhea. While a vampire could have been responsible for Rhea’s actions, Kade strongly considered the possibility that Rhea was a witch who was working with Simone. “Luca, Xavier, go sweep the alley. She’s probably gone, but we should check anyway.”

Sydney was strangely touched as she watched Kade hold Dominique’s hand. He felt something for this female vampire: Love? Responsibility? She questioned herself wondering if she should be jealous, but she wasn’t. No, she watched Kade in admiration. He was taking care of his own, comforting Dominique, as father would a daughter. Soon Etienne entered the room with a donor in tow. He was a ready and willing strapping, young man, nearly twenty years of age. He appeared to be strong enough to feed her. Kade waved him over and held the man’s wrist up to Dominique’s mouth as she bit into him and sucked greedily.

Sydney felt she should give them privacy, such an intimate act as it was, but no one seemed to mind her presence. At that moment, she wondered what it would be like if Kade bit her, drank from her. Would it hurt? Would it bring pleasure? The word on the street was that women found it incredibly pleasurable, often orgasmic, but she wasn’t just any woman. And Kade certainly wasn’t just any vampire. Did Kade yearn to bite her? Would he try to bite her if they made love? Sydney realized she was feeling more than curiosity. No, she wanted Kade to bite her. As she stared at Dominique, latched to the donor’s wrist, she glanced up to see Kade watching her, not smiling, but giving her a sultry, all-knowing look as if he knew what she was thinking. Sydney demurely averted her eyes; it was all too much.

When Dominique healed and was strong enough to leave, their small group walked back through the dim hallway. Sydney stopped dead in the corridor as she kicked a pile of ash up into the air. Where was the chained vampire? “Hey guys? Uh...did anyone see a vampire here? Silvered by the wrists? Smelly guy?” Without speaking another word, it clicked with Sydney that the vampire had not escaped. He was dead. She’d been kicking his ashes around with her boot. Yuck.

She looked down again at the floor and then up to Kade. He was dangerous: primal, unyielding. He snaked a hand around Sydney’s waist, and shot her a look. “No one touches what is mine.” Kade was not about to discuss the topic any further. He would not tolerate anyone hurting those he loved, especially Sydney. He was vampire: decisive, formidable, territorial. And Miss Sydney Willows belonged to and with him, even if she didn’t know it yet.

Sydney didn’t flinch as she processed his words. He killed the other vampire for attacking her. The police weren’t called. No one even batted an eyelash that the guy was gone. Vampire justice. She shuddered at the power Kade held in this town. And yet, she was attracted to him like a moth to a flame. She straightened her back and held her head high. If she was bothered or surprised by what he did to the vampire, she would not let him see it. Sydney gladly allowed Kade to usher her out of the club and into the limo. It was a hell of a night, and she could not get out of there fast enough.

Sydney exited the car still feeling somewhat shocked by the night’s experience. As Kade shut the car door, she questioned why only one limo returned to the compound and why Luca stayed in the car. “Kade, what’s going on? Where is everyone? I thought they lived here with you.”

“No, Sydney love, they do not. While it is true that Luca lives on the compound, he doesn’t live in the main house. His home is located next door, but is within the borders of the compound for safety.” Kade trailed behind Sydney appreciating her fine assets. Tonight she would be his. He smiled at the thought.

“Never a dull moment around here. Just when you think you're shacking up with a bunch of vampires, you find out that there is really only one vampire, lucky me.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. One vampire
. Kade
. The only one who mattered.
Hers.
Seeking a quick recovery, she unzipped her boots, took them off and started up the steps.

In a flash, Kade flew across the room and pinned Sydney against the railing, his hands on her waist. He placed his forehead to hers. Their lips were merely inches apart. But instead of kissing Sydney now, Kade would make her wait until she craved his touch and begged for mercy. “Sydney love, there is only one vampire for you, and there is only one human for me,
you
. You are an incredibly courageous woman fighting that vampire and saving Dominique. You never cease to amaze me, but you do worry me. I have to tell you that I cannot bear the smell of that derelict on your sweet skin. We should both wash away the filthiness of the evening and rest ourselves for tomorrow night. A hot shower should relax your muscles nicely. Go on up. I’m going to get us something to drink, and then I will be up to massage your neck in a few minutes.” Kade released Sydney, turned, and walked away into the kitchen.

For once in her life, Sydney was speechless. Her body was humming with excitement. She wanted, no needed, Kade to kiss her, to take her, but he didn’t. He basically just ordered her to take a shower. She was hoping he’d kiss her...make love to her, but no. A shower? Uh...okay then. Where was her trusty vibrator when she needed it? What a crazy night, and now this. She sighed. Kade was right about one thing, she needed to relax, and besides Kade or her battery-operated friend, a shower was the second best option. She was pretty grossed out by the experience with the vampire, and could still smell the odors of cigarette smoke, sex, blood, and sweat from the club clinging to her clothes and hair.

As Sydney removed her clothes and walked into the guest bathroom, she admired her surroundings. A bathroom like this would take up half her condo. It was a huge, granite space with several nozzles that sprayed overhead as well as sideways. Jumping into the shower, she shut the glass doors and allowed the hot water to rush over her hair and body. Sydney closed her eyes willing her mind and muscles to relax. Her eyes flew open when she heard the bathroom door click open and shut.
Kade.
He was in here with her? Her heartbeat sped up knowing that he was near. She leaned further into the pulsing rain of the shower, not sure she wanted to face him yet. Her body awakened, tingling with the knowledge that he would soon touch her.

Kade couldn’t rest knowing Sydney showered without him. After getting them a cold bottle of Perrier from the refrigerator, he figured he needed a shower too. Passing by her room, he could smell the soapy scent wafting into the hallway. She was in his home, a mere few feet away. Waiting for him...wet, naked and wanting. He would have preferred to wait for her, but his patience had worn thin. He needed her now.

As he stepped in the shower, his cock stood to attention at the sight of her shapely ass. Kade slowly came up behind her reaching for the shampoo. Putting a small dab in his hands, he gently scrubbed her hair letting the bubbles sluice down her body. He wanted to tease her, draw out the tension, make her crave his touch.

Holy fuck, Sydney could barely take it. The man finally had her naked, and he was driving her crazy with need by washing her hair. She laid her hands flat against the granite tiles and rolled her head back to give him better access. Sydney couldn’t stop herself from moaning out loud as she felt his hands rubbing the soapy bubbles across her shoulders and down around her waist. She hungered for his touch, feeling his strong hands slide over her wet, shivering skin. “Kade, please. We've waited so long. I just...I can’t wait anymore.”