Mortal Wish (6 page)

“I just want to please you.”

He sank his hungry mouth onto hers, silencing her so she couldn’t utter any more seductive words, while he lifted her up and slid her onto his cock. He took her right there against the wall until another orgasm had calmed him enough so he could proceed with his original plan of watching Claire kneel in front of him, his cock in her beautiful mouth, while he thrust back and forth, claiming one more part of her.

7

Three months later – New York City

Jake cursed and slammed the guy into the wall next to a dumpster, noticing from the corner of his eye how Claire was already taking care of the young woman the man had attacked and clearly planned to rape.

No matter how often he and Claire roamed the streets of Manhatten at night, there seemed to be an endless supply of criminals. But even though at first he’d vowed not to get involved in humans’ problems, one look at Claire’s pleading face, and he knew that he couldn’t deny her anything. God, how he’d grown to love this woman. It was time to tell her just how much.

“You know we have to help them,” she’d said shortly after their arrival in New York, when they’d come upon a man robbing an elderly couple at gunpoint. “If we don’t do it, who will?”

Who indeed?

So he’d given in. And—grudgingly—he had to admit to himself that he liked helping people, saving those who couldn’t save themselves. And the more humans he and Claire saved the more of his humanity he seemed to regain. The goodness in Claire’s heart was contagious, and she’d clearly infected him with it. Though there was no way in hell he’d admit it to anybody. After all, who’d ever heard of a nice vampire?

“She’s hurt,” Claire advised him now, while she tried to calm the scared woman.

“Heal her.”

In the meantime, he’d take care of the jerk, who was now getting back onto his feet and turning around, fists at the ready. Jake grunted with satisfaction. He loved beating up assholes, and when they tried to put up a fight, it was even more fun. And most of the time he didn’t even use his vampire powers to exact punishment. He got more satisfaction out of it when he traded kicks and blows with his opponent and let him believe—if only for a while—that they were matched in strength.

Jake slammed his fist into the guy’s face, hearing the bones in his nose break. A cry of pain echoed through the night, and the scent of blood permeated the air in the dark alley. Involuntarily, his fangs lengthened and he didn’t bother hiding them from the human. The jerk deserved to feel fear.

Jake glared at his opponent, peeling back his lips from his gums to give him a good view of his deadly canines.

“Fuck!” the man croaked and tumbled backward.

Jake tilted his head to the side. “Yeah, you could say that.” Slowly, he crossed the distance, pulled his arm back and landed a blow in the guy’s gut, making him nearly fold in half.

“No! Please,” he whimpered. “Don’t kill me!”

He had no intention of killing him. It wouldn’t be punishment for what he’d done to the young woman. How he’d scared her.

Jake pressed the guy against the wall and brought his face to within a few inches of his, fangs extended. “Not tonight. But you touch another woman, you as much as look at one, I’m going to rip you to shreds.” He snarled, pausing to let the sound echo off the walls. “I’ll be watching you. You’re not safe from me anywhere. Know that. One false move, and I’ll be hunting you like an animal.”

The man trembled with fear. He fairly smelled of it.

“You understand?”

Teeth chattering, he managed to nod.

“Good. As for your goodbye present…”

Jake pounded into the despicable human, breaking his jaw and bloodying his eyes, before he kicked him toward the exit of the alley. “Run if you want to live.”

He watched with satisfaction as the injured assailant staggered toward the next street. When he turned a corner, Jake retracted his fangs. Then he pivoted and marched to where Claire was taking care of the young woman.

He crouched down next to them and quickly assessed the human’s injuries. She had lacerations on her arms and hands, as well as her neck and face. But the wounds weren’t deep. The shock and fear were clearly the bigger problem.

But it appeared that Claire was already taking care of that, because the victim’s eyes appeared to be focusing on nothing, as if she were in a trance.

“You’re using mind control?”

Claire looked at him for a moment. “Just like you taught me. Her injuries aren’t severe, but I don’t want her to have those memories.”

He nodded. “I agree.”

Claire looked back at the woman and concentrated on her. He watched her, noticing how calm and self-assured she was. As she sent her thoughts into the woman’s mind, erasing the memory of the attack, he noticed Claire’s fingernails turn into claws. Beautiful, deadly claws. Claws with which she left deep cuts in his back whenever they made love. Just thinking of it made him hard.

“She’s ready,” Claire announced and punctured the pad of her index finger with her claw, before bringing the bleeding finger to the young woman’s lips, making her drink from it.

While she fed the human the vampire blood, she looked over her shoulder. “I’m still fascinated with the healing power of our blood. Can you imagine the illnesses and injuries we could heal?”

He shook his head lightly. Leave it to Claire to be the Good Samaritan. “If humans knew of our existence and what our blood is capable of, they’d hunt us to the ends of the earth.”

Claire motioned to the exit of the alley. “You didn’t wipe that man’s memory. What makes you think he won’t tell everybody that he was attacked by a vampire?”

“He’s too busy peeing into his pants and looking over his shoulder to breathe a word about what happened here tonight. I know his type. Preying on the weak. He won’t talk.”

“No, he won’t. I made sure of that.”

Jake jumped up, whirling around at the same time, his hand already inside his jacket, pulling out his stake. Adrenaline was pumping through him—because the man who’d spoken was without a doubt a vampire.

Silhouetted against the lights from the main street, the stranger stood at the entrance to the alley. Instinctively, Jake braced himself. He was not only responsible for protecting Claire, but also the young human in their temporary care.

The stranger moved toward him with a steady gait. As he came closer, Jake squared his stance, readying himself for the fight. And there would be a fight, no doubt. Because now that he could see his face, he knew this man was no pushover: while the ponytail of long dark-brown hair might have given the impression that he was a laid-back guy, the long scar that reached from his left ear to his chin gave an altogether different one. This vampire wouldn’t shy away from a fight: his scar suggested that even as a human he’d fought ferociously.

“Get the woman to safety, Claire,” he murmured, turning his head slightly.

But Claire had already jumped up. “I’m not leaving your side.”

“Damn it, do as I say.”

“I’d suggest she stays where she is. The human, too,” the vampire coming toward them said, spreading his arms. “My friends can take care of her.”

From behind him, two more men appeared, both now walking toward them.

“Shit!” Jake cursed. The one with the scar he could have defeated, but two more? Were he alone, he wouldn’t hesitate, but he had to consider Claire’s safety, as well as that of the human woman.

He lifted his chin. “You and your friends killed the human?”

One side of the scarred vampire’s lip curled up in a sneer. “Do I look like I kill for pleasure?”

“You do.” As did the other two, whose faces he could see clearly now.

Both men were tall. While the one on the left was skinny and bald and had an evil sneer on his face, the other was built like a tank and wore his black hair down to his shoulders.

The tank chuckled. “Gabriel, you shouldn’t ask questions like that. You’re just spooking the guy.”

Gabriel, the scarred one, tossed a quick look over his shoulder. “Shut it, Amaury. Let’s get down to business.”

“I’ll take care of the human,” the bald vampire offered.

Amaury, the tank, lifted an eyebrow. “Really, Zane?” He shook his head, grinning. “You’re just gonna scare the shit out of her. You have no sensitivity when it comes to women. I’m better at that.”

“Nobody touches the human,” Jake growled, taking a step toward the three men. “She’s under my protection.”

“And under mine!” Claire piped up, moving shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

“Damn it, Claire!” Couldn’t this woman listen for once and get herself to safety like he’d asked her to?

“Looks like he can’t even control his own woman,” Zane, the bald one, commented. “Gabriel, you sure about this?”

“I’m sure.” Gabriel ran his eyes over Claire then back to him. “We’ve been cleaning up after you for the last few nights.”

“Cleaning up? You mean killing the criminals I was teaching a lesson?”

“I didn’t say that.” Gabriel, who clearly was the leader of the three, exchanged looks with his two cohorts. “Since you didn’t find it necessary to wipe their memories, I did it for you. And it’s getting a little annoying. So we figured we’d bring you in. Make you aware of the rules.”

“Bring me in?” Jake’s jaw set into a grim line. “Over my fucking charred body.”

“Definitely stubborn,” Amaury threw in. “I like him.”

Forehead furrowed, Jake tossed him a look. “Yeah, well, I don’t like you. None of you.”

“What a shame,” Zane grunted, “and there I thought we’d become best buddies.”

“Not likely!” He doubted that Zane was capable of friendship. The guy gave off an air of pure evil.

“Maybe we started off on the wrong foot,” Gabriel said calmly. “I believe introductions are in order. I’m Gabriel Giles.” He motioned to the tank. “Meet my colleagues: Amaury—” Then he pointed to the bald one. “—and Zane. We’re bodyguards.”

“Bodyguards? You’re shitting me.” Who’d ever heard of vampires being bodyguards?

Gabriel nodded. “We work for a company called Scanguards.”

Jane shrugged. “Never heard of it.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be. We don’t exactly advertise our services.”

Getting impatient, Jake asked, “What do you want?”

Gabriel tilted his head toward the human. Instantly Jake lifted his hand, gripping the stake tighter, and growled.

“Quick temper,” Zane tossed in. “I like that.”

Gabriel ignored his colleague’s comment and made a calming hand movement. “You misunderstand me. I don’t want the human. But I like that you’re protecting her. Just like you and your woman have been helping other humans. That’s why I want to talk to you.”

“It’s a trick, isn’t it? You want me to relax so you can kill me and Claire and then kill the human.”

Gabriel shook his head.

“Not the brightest bulb in the shed,” Zane grunted.

Gabriel tossed him an annoyed glance. “You’re not helping.”

“Didn’t think I was supposed to.”

“Excuse my associate. I’m afraid Zane has a hard time accepting new people we want to hire into the company.”

Had he heard correctly? “Hire?”

“Yes. We can’t handle the increasing workload with the number of bodyguards we currently have. Samson, our boss has tasked us with recruiting more likeminded vampires.”

Could this be real? “Likeminded?” he found himself asking.

Amaury patted Gabriel on the shoulder, grinning. “Yeah, you know, cuddly, fuzzy vampires like us—” At those words he pointed to Zane and Gabriel. “—who make sure crime doesn’t get out of hand. We need guys like you to help us protect the innocent.” He paused for a moment. “Pays well, too.”

Jake exchanged a look with Claire, who appeared just as surprised as he. Then he stared back at the three vampires. “You’re here to recruit me?”

Gabriel nodded. “You want the job? You’d get paid for what you’re obviously already doing. Patrolling the streets of Manhattan and protecting the innocent. There’ll be other assignments, too. We work for politicians, celebrities, anybody who can afford us.”

This sounded better and better. He gripped Claire’s hand, looking at her. “I work in a team.”

“You’ll be teamed up with somebody,” Gabriel reassured him.

“Claire is my partner. We’re a package deal. You hire me. You hire her.”

“Just because she’s your lover—”

“She’s the woman I love,” he cut Gabriel off.

Gabriel exchanged a look with his two associates, while Claire tugged at his hand, making him meet her eyes.

“You love me?” she murmured.

He bent closer. “More than my life. And I should have told you so long ago.”

Suddenly her arms were around his neck and her lips brushing over his. “I love you, Jake.”

He took her lips in a passionate kiss.

“Well, that’s just great,” Zane grumbled. “You know, Gabriel, if you insist on hiring both, you’re gonna have to make a rule that there’s no kissing on the job.”

Jake let go of Claire’s lips and turned back to the three men of Scanguards.

Gabriel met his gaze. “Okay, you both have a job with us, but there’ll be rules. Got that?”

“Got it.”

“Good, then let’s send the human on her way, and we’ll take you to Scanguards HQ and introduce you to Samson.” Gabriel crossed the distance between them with several long strides, offering his hand. “Welcome to Scanguards, Jake.”

Jake shook his hand. Everything in his life was perfect now. Claire loved him and he loved her. And now he would be part of a group of vampires who’d taken it upon themselves to do good.

What could be better than that?

~ ~ ~

Curious about the next full-length Scanguards book?

Blake’s Pursuit (Scanguards Vampires #11) will be out in January 2016

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