Microsoft Word - The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance.doc (34 page)

I tried to think. My body was still all tingly and I had to  struggle not to touch my own skin. It felt swollen and raw, and  even my shirt moving as I breathed made me wet and hungry.  The horror and revulsion at what he’d become couldn’t make it

go away. “Then why didn’t you just–” Bite me. I couldn’t make

myself say the words, but he knew.

His voice came out soft and he touched my face, not pulling his hand  away when I flinched. “Because I
 
remember
 
you.  You’re nobody’s victim, Syl. While I know I’d enjoy it, and you  Probably would too, I don’t ever remember you saying that you were into kinky stuff.”

“I’m not.” There might have been confidence in my voice,

but why was I suddenly staring at those fangs and thinking it  sounded like fun? The mental image of his mouth opening wide  and slamming painfully into my neck was actually getting me  excited. My body was aching for him, my heart pounding in  anticipation.

Jesus. What the hell was in that spit?

“Crosses? Garlic? Stakes?” There had to be some way to

protect myself . . .
from
 
myself.

He smiled, and it was just regular teeth again, the fangs tucked carefully away. “Crosses don’t burn, but I haven’t tried a church yet. Garlic makes blood taste weird, but it’s not too bad.  Stakes? Yeah, stakes are a problem. Take out the head or heart when we’re vulnerable and it’s curtains.”

“And you’re dead during the day?” Jeez, it sounded like I

was trying to find a way to kill him. But I wasn’t.

278

He shook his head, answering patiently. Trusting in his memories of me. “Sleeping, like taking a pill. You can react if you have to, but things are fuzzy. But yeah, we’re vulnerable then. It’s why we hide to sleep.”

He said ‘sleep’  like others say ‘sex’. The word filled me with a warm rush of regret, and fear. Again my hands ached and  I clenched them hard. I needed to get away from him until I could figure this out. But when I jumped down from the counter, he didn’t move and I ran right into him, the thrill of the silk on my suddenly raw skin. It was too much for my poor body and my hands were suddenly all over him, sliding under his shirt, across the bare, taut muscles and hardened nipples. My mouth reached for him too and I was suddenly kissing him hungrily.  He let me, and groaned, but didn’t reach for me in return. I ended the kiss and moved to his neck, nipping and biting. Was I hoping for the same in return? I couldn’t tell. My mind was too filled with fire to think clearly. I didn’t even care any more if his saliva was a drug. I wanted it . . .
 
needed
 
it. I couldn’t breathe past the need to have him inside me, take me over the edge while he filled himself with me, and filled me with him.

“Yes.” The word was the barest whisper through his lips as  I reached for his erection, pressed it tight against his stomach so  I could unzip his pants. “Whatever you want, Syl. But
 
only
 
what  you want.”

It made me pause and take stock. His twitching member was in my hand, where I was stroking it,  feeling the heat and the blood that was someone else’s, keeping it hard and ready for me. What
 
did
 
I want?

My mouth spoke the truth as I dropped to my knees in front of him. “I want
 
you
. I’ve always wanted you, Tim. Dead or alive or somewhere in between.  I don’t care.”

279

It wasn’t his saliva, some strange drug making me do this, it was me. Me who’d kissed him three years before, me who’d struggled not to drool and stare, me who’d found excuses not to be alone with him until he died. Me who’d wept at his funeral . .  . cried for the man I loved and had never told. And, as I took him into my mouth, it all came back to me, filling my eyes with tears. His groan echoed in the room and his legs shook as I pulled on him with my lips. He reached for the counter with  one hand to keep himself upright and used the other to play with my hair. He whispered my name over and over as I satisfied a need  I’d never gotten over. It had held me back, ended every date with a handshake, cooled any possible desire for another man.

He stood me up before we went too far and took me in his arms. I became airborne, arms around his neck, legs bent over his elbow. He kicked off his boots to hit the wall with a bang and then stepped out of his pants to carry me to the bedroom.

There aren’t any words to describe how Tim made me feel once he had my clothes off. Tongue, hands, lips  –  they all assaulted my sensitive skin, making me cry out with each new brush or lick or scrape. Neither of us could stand too much more, though. It was only minutes before he was inside me, taking that final step that I’d shied away from years before. Our cries became one as we moved together, warm flesh slapping, bringing us closer to climax.

He pulled away from a kiss and I noticed his eyes were darkening, becoming electric, even more hypnotic than before.  His lips whitened, pulled back into a snarl that bared those sharp teeth. I should have been scared, but all I could feel was pleasure, a warm tension in my stomach that was quickly swallowing me whole. Grabbing my hips, he ground himself against me, then pumped furiously until I could take no more. I cried out and screamed. “Do it, Tim! Bite me now!”

280

He took me at my word. As my eyes were closing from the intensity of the orgasm, I saw his head dart down, saw  fangs flash. Then there was pain, but the pleasure was too great and the sharp intensity in my neck became just another form of climax. My fingers dug into his shoulders as his body tensed and suddenly I was being drained and filled at once.

Just like I  wanted. God help me, but it
 
was
 
what I wanted.

It was hours later that we were snuggling in bed and he

finally explained why he’d come to find me.

“One of us has been taking cops off the street, turning them  and then setting them loose again. I don’t  know why. But there  are too many vamps now for an area this size. It’s becoming  noticeable that people are disappearing.”

I snuggled in against his warm, warm skin  –  part of me was inside him now, keeping him as toasty as an electric blanket.  “But why bring over cops? Do you think Jolie had a taste for more than you?”

He sighed. “Jolie . . . didn’t survive a territory combat. She just wasn’t strong enough. I’d left by then, and some nights I wonder if she didn’t
 
want
 
to die.”

I didn’t know what to say. How would I have reacted if he’d refused me tonight, told me he had no interest? I didn’t want to think about that. “So what needs to happen? What are you planning to do?”

He took a deep breath, nearly dumping my head from his chest. “We need a police force. We need to bring this, and future lawless vamps down, but with rules that we all accept and will

281

abide by. So far, there’s never been anything like that. It’s been  every vamp for him or herself . . . the strongest survive. But  they’re rising  up faster than the established vamps, the ones who  have created or remember their humanity, can react.” He looked  at me and ruffled my hair. “Except I don’t remember how to do  it. Faces are still fuzzy for me, and I don’t remember names. I  can’t even recall the rules  or procedures, even though I know I  should. But I’m positive I could bring them back to close to  themselves with a little effort. And then all us cops could keep  the peace . . . just like before.”

I was starting to come up with a reply when a crash sounded downstairs. We both sat up and tensed. “Wait here,” he said, and disappeared into that mist again so I dropped to the mattress abruptly.

“Like hell I’m waiting here.” I snorted as I whispered the

words and slid out of bed to put on my clothes.

I heard  a hiss and a growl that sounded like two animals

fighting as I reached the hallway. I peeked into the living room.

Tim’s face had turned into an inhuman mask, skin thinned to nearly glowing over hard bone. His opponent looked the same. I was surprised that I recognized him. Evan Danvers was

a two-bit thug who’d disappeared a year before. We’d found  him in the canal and , yep, his throat had been slashed. Danvers  was a nasty-tempered waste of skin who’d caused us nothing but  problems while alive. I was betting he wasn’t much better dead.  I was a little surprised that he was one of the people to  remember their past. He didn’t seem the type.

From the fangs and fingernails that he’d sharpened into claws, I realized my gun wasn’t going to do much good. I retreated to the bedroom while they hissed, spat and circled on the carpet like angry cats.

282

What to use? What to use? I put my sidearm back in the holster as Danvers’ voice drifted into the room. “You’re not

going to stop me, Meyer. I’ll have her and she won’t  even

remember you. She’ll answer to me, just like the rest.”

Tim hissed again. “Not while I live you won’t.”

I rolled my eyes. Talk about your melodramatic testosterone battle. While I was pretty certain Tim could rake care of himself, he’d always been one to fight fair. I didn’t think he’d lose, but I needed something to defend myself with, just in case.

I looked around the room, searching for something . . .
anything
 
to use as a weapon. And then the answer stared me in the face: the photograph of Tim and me, just out of the  Academy, hanging on the wall next to the bed. Tim had framed it himself using solid burled walnut from a tree he’d cut down in his yard. While I hated to destroy it, I couldn’t help but notice those nice sharp points at the end of the 18-inch lengths of wood.

By the time I’d ripped the frame apart, they were in full battle mode. It was fascinating to watch them slashing and biting, spraying blood across the floor and the walls  –  only for the wounds to heal while I watched. But they were moving so damned quick that I couldn’t figure out how to move in on  Danvers without risking Tim getting wood through his chest.

That’s when Danvers spotted me. He was on me before I could move out of the way. The look in his eyes was truly frightening  and I felt my heart pounding as I pushed against muscles that were like steel. I’d fought Danvers before when hauling him in, and he’d been nothing like this. It made me realize that Tim had been gentle with me. I also realized his problem. No way would any of the guys on the force stand up to  Danvers now. They’d all be toast and, without any memory of their former dedication to enforcement, would wind up a criminal cartel like nothing the city had ever seen. There’s

283

actually very little difference between  a cop and a crook  –  just  intent. We’re all predators  –  intense, driven, with violent  tendencies. But with nothing to channel that aggression  –  wow.

Tim was on him, pushing Danvers harder against me, even as he tried to pull him off. I brought the frame up between us, pushed it against his throat to keep his teeth out of mine. Unlike  Tim, Evan hadn’t bothered with toothpaste or mouthwash and I could smell blood and decay, like rotting hamburger left too long in the back of the fridge . . . both sweet and pungent.

Danvers threw Tim off and grabbed me by the throat. He dragged me backwards until  his back was against the wall, digging nails in until I could feel blood trickle down. “That’s it,” he whispered. “Bleed for me, Beck. You’ll be doing even more than  that by the time I’m done with you.”

It was when he licked a slow line up my cheek that I understood that he planned something similar to what Jolie had.  Kill me, kill Tim and bring me back as . . . well, I didn’t even want to think about that. A full-body shudder pretty much said it all.

Tim picked himself up and launched forwards, but Danvers yanked my head to one side by the hair, exposing my neck.  “One more step and it’s all over for your girlfriend, Meyer.”

He’d do it, Tim knew it. He stopped and glared, his fangs exposed and hands clenched into fists. The wooden stake I’d been fending him off with lay feet away, and I’d just bet that  Danvers felt safe. He wasn’t really watching my hands, paying much closer attention to the other vampire. Even Tim wasn’t watching so it was a complete surprise to them both when I pulled the shorter frame from inside the front of my pants and used every ounce of my shoulder strength to shove it over my shoulder, point first. It hit him in the eye and paused before I slapped my other palm against the base to drive it into his skull.

284

He fell backwards or, more precisely, hit the wall and slid

down, smearing red in a long line over the white paint.

Tim didn’t waste any time. Maybe it hadn’t been enough to kill him, because he bit at Danvers’ neck, again and again, until it fell away from the shoulders, stake still sticking  from the socket.

We were both covered with blood when Tim took me in his arms again. “God, I’d forgotten how good you are.” There was a smile in that  voice and I couldn’t help but smile in return, pressed against his bare body happily. “That’s exactly the kind of help I need.”

“My name . . . or
 
your
 
name is Sylvia Beck.” I stared into

the camera lens, while Tim watched nervously off to one side. I