Predator's Salvation (7 page)

There was just something about his blood, something about
him
, that called to every primordial instinct in her, made her act out of character, especially where her needs and feeding were concerned. Something about him made her want to taste him in the most basic way known to humans and Inanna.

LaMia glanced at him from the corner of her eyes as he lifted a forkful of eggs to his mouth and chewed. “Let us get one thing straight, Mateo, I am not a vampire.”

He paused as she turned to face him full, finished chewing, and swallowed his food before he asked, “Is that a fact?”

“Yes it is.”

“The bite you gave me in the bathroom says otherwise.”

She remembered the leer he had given her when he had joined her in the kitchen, that smoldering look that said he had a secret and that he also knew hers.

LaMia supposed she could not hope to nurture and maintain any intimacy with him without expecting to pay a price. Mateo was as aware of her feelings and thoughts now as she was aware of his.

Nevertheless, she needed to take back control of this untenable situation as soon as 31

Gracie C. McKeever

possible, take control of
him
starting now.

“Drinking blood is just one way we Inanna use to obtain sustenance. Admittedly, it is an archaic method and I must…” She paused to lick her lips, measuring the effect of each of her words to him and hating how defensive he made her feel. “I must apologize to you for resorting to such an uncivilized technique of drawing out your energy.” Biting him and reverting to the old way of siphoning energy had been an unfortunate lapse in judgment that she had yet to properly regret, however, not while the potent sample of his spirit-boost melded with her blood and yet flowed through her veins. She would not go any further and admit that she had not been able to help herself. She would not tell him that she found him irresistible and had just needed a small snack to tide her over until she began his re-education and took a full meal.

She could imagine him stomping all over her authority if he was aware of the extent of his allure, so better not to let him know.

“So you’re Inanna?”

LaMia nodded. “As are your friends Alex and Genesis. Though Alex is only a hybrid, half-human and half-Inanna.”

“I still don’t understand what all this has to do with me.”

“Alex and Genesis wanted you to join their little Harvesting Program. I could not allow them to have you.”

He grimaced. “Harvesting Program?”

She took a deep breath, released it on a long sigh and rolled her eyes. She really did not want to go into this with him but saw no other way. He needed to understand why he was here and what he would soon be facing as her slave.

She could have easily sent him the images and thoughts he needed to grasp the situation, but, in deference to her people’s infernal tracking practice, the less telepathy she engaged in the better. It was such a disadvantage, having to control her telepathy, since mind-reading came so naturally to most Inanna, but control she must or suffer the consequences.

Besides which, she rather enjoyed talking to him the old fashioned way. She enjoyed listening to him and enjoyed watching his many facial expressions—from confusion, to comprehension, to humor, and rage. She especially enjoyed experiencing his sharp thought processes when he discovered something new, and his exasperation and displeasure when he wasn’t happy with something he’d learned.

LaMia received more than her share of Mateo’s bewilderment, exasperation, displeasure and shock once she explained what the Harvesting Program and mission of the Alliance and New Regime was, and that Mateo had been targeted to be a recruit in all three.

He sat silently and gawked at her for several long moments before he started to chew and swallow a mouthful of sausage and pancakes. “Do you have anything in here to drink?”

She frowned but went to the refrigerator and returned to the island with a pitcher of freshly-squeezed orange juice. She set it down and watched Mateo pour himself a large glass before he gulped down half and poured more juice into his glass.

“Actually I was thinking of something a little stronger, but I suppose this’ll have to do.”

32

Predator’s Salvation

She burst out laughing, could not control herself. She was torn between taping his mouth shut and punishing him for his irreverence or hugging him her elation was so great.

LaMia did not think she had laughed or smiled as much in her life as she had in the last twelve hours. “I do have something stronger, but I believe you need a clear head for the ordeal you are about to face.”

He looked at her as if to decide whether or not to address that, must have finally decided to ignore it and asked instead, “So, this Harvesting Program is—?”

“A silly effort by the New Regime to
preserve
humanity.”

“And obviously you believe the effort to preserve humanity is silly.”

“I do not believe that there ever has been a supply crisis to be solved. I believe that the Alliance and New Regime were formed as an ill-conceived attempt by some of my kind and Inanna powers that be to—”

“Assuage their guilt at letting Kalika die,” he murmured.

LaMia gaped but quickly recovered to ask, “What would you know of it?”

“I know that you were jealous of your cousin and that you never forgave your grandmother for choosing her over you and for letting your parents die.”

“You know not of what you speak.”

He gave her a long unconvinced look before asking, “How do Alex and Genesis come into the picture?”

“Alex is Kalika’s son, a half-breed
cambion,
an abomination.”

“No love lost for him, is there?”

LaMia scowled and finished as if he had not spoken. “And Genesis is his traitorous guardian as well as helpmate. They are the reason I was exiled from Emsharra.” She froze and stared at him. She had not meant to reveal that last part, especially with so much bitterness. She could not let him, or anyone, know how much Nahemah’s turning her back on her had hurt. She could not let anyone know she actually cared about Emsharra or the people who dwelled there.

But she could tell from the knowing look he gave her that she had already let the proverbial cat out of the bag. LaMia silently gave him credit, however, for not immediately rubbing the salt in her wound, watched him as he silently watched her and digested all that she had just said.

“Ever think that maybe you’re the reason you were exiled from Emsharra?”

“
Bashta!
I did what I had to do. I did what was necessary to preserve order.”

“Whoa, whoa, okay.” Mateo threw up his hands. “Don’t get your panties in a twist. I was just making an observation.”

“It is the wrong one, and for your information, I was not only exiled. I lost a very good comrade to your mentor and his wife.”

He shrugged. “Casualties of war, right?”

She peered at him, unsure whether or not he was mocking her, immediately realized that 33

Gracie C. McKeever

he was not being impertinent but had in fact only quoted her own ingrained philosophy to her.

“You are quite correct,” she finally said.

“And you took me to get back at Alex and Genesis?”

“That was part of it.”

“What’s the other part? This spirit-boost that my energy supposedly contains?”

“Your
kundalini
does contain spirit-boost. There is no supposedly about it.”

“How do you kn—? Never mind.”

LaMia watched as he shook his head and automatically rubbed a hand over his neck where she had bitten him.

“It should not still hurt.”

“It doesn’t. It just…feels a little weird is all.”

“You will get used to it.”

He shot her a glare. “I don’t think so.”

Her pussy muscles spasmed at the defiance in his voice, juices slowly simmering and percolating.
Lilith
, this male excited her! “You have no choice, Mateo,” she said as much to see his reaction as to tell him the way of his world.

He did not disappoint her, gritted his teeth, stood from his chair, put his fists on his hips as if to keep from wrapping his hands around her neck, and glared down at her.

LaMia could almost see the well-known smoke coming out of his ears, his anger was so strong…so intoxicating.

Desire this potent should be illegal, she thought. He should not be able to make her feel so capable yet awkward, so powerful yet vulnerable.
Lilith
, he made her head spin with unfamiliar thoughts, made her heart squeeze and her body tremble with unaccustomed emotions.

“Why my family? Why me? As powerful as you are, you could have anyone you want, your own kind even, anyone more…suitable than me.”

“There is no one more suitable for me than you at this place and time.” As she said it, she realized how true it was, how true she needed it to be.

“Not even your own kind?”

“My own kind would not serve the purpose, would not serve my needs.”

“And that is to be your slave?”

“There is that, yes, but that is not the only purpose your presence serves.”

“You want to drain me like you did my brother and father.”

“As I said before, what happened to your…kin was an unfortunate consequence of our mating.”

“Unfortunate consequence? That’s bullshit and you know it!”

“We Inanna are an ancient race of predators, Mateo. We hunt and we feed. It is who we 34

Predator’s Salvation

are. It is what we do. Your world is our domain and hunting ground. This will not change.” She gave him a long hard look. “And you will lower your voice when you address me.”

He cursed under his breath and bit his bottom lip as an apparent concession to her command. He did not sit down or move his fists from his hips, however.

She reached out to him with her mind, had to, his mindset was too tempting. He was angry, certainly, but there was desire that he was doing an admirable job of tapping down. She felt his determination not to let her see how much he wanted her.

“You came back to my brother and father again and again. That’s not just nature or hunting or feeding. You could have fed from anyone at that point. You could have left them alone and moved on to someone else, but you didn’t do that, did you? Because you were being just plain cruel.”

LaMia winced as if he had slapped her, surprised at how much his accusations hurt her and her instant need to defend herself. “I did not kill your father. He killed himself.”

“After you helped him along.”

Should she tell him how damaged his father had been? What a tortured warrior’s soul he had possessed to begin with? How could she tell him that his father had not had anywhere near the mental strength and spiritual fortitude of his sons?

“I did not make your father do anything he did not want to do.”

“I suppose it was his idea to kill my mother?”

LaMia had tried to stop him. It had never been her intention for the Diaz woman to die and she would never have used her powers in such a back-door manner. She attacked her enemies from the front, faced them. “I never meant for your mother to die.” Nor had she meant for Julian to die. She had gotten too distracted by her quest for spirit-boost.

“Why don’t you just admit it? You don’t really care about anyone except LaMia Enlil.”

“Have a care, Mateo.”

“Oh, pardon me for speaking the truth and angering Ms. Nubian Queen.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“Far be it from me to mo—”

LaMia caught him off-guard when she suddenly leaped to her feet. He took a couple of steps back, defiantly raised his chin just enough for her to reach out and wrap the fingers of one hand around his neck. She growled deep in her throat and exerted just a pound of pressure on his Adam’s apple.

He caught her wrist with both hands and when he tried to pry loose her grip to free himself, LaMia lifted him a couple of inches in the air, pushed him back against the large stainless steel refrigerator and held him in place.

He did not lower his hands, but finally went still, quietly watching her. Waiting.

“Do you wish me to tape your mouth shut again? Or put you under another slumber spell? Or bind you, because these can all be arranged, especially for a slave as recalcitrant as you.”

35

Gracie C. McKeever

“I’m not a slave,” he rasped.

She exerted a little more pressure and watched him. “You are trying my patience, Mateo.”

“You wouldn’t kill me.”

“Oh, really? And why is that?”

“Because you want me.”

She burst out laughing, released her grip as suddenly as she had attacked him and let him slide back to the floor. “Goddess, you are so full of surprises, are you not.”

He scowled as he rubbed his neck. “I’m so glad I amuse you.”

“You more than amuse me, Mateo. Have you not learned that by now?” She licked her lips, looked him up and down before advancing again.

Mateo suddenly dropped to a crouch and swept her feet from under her with a quick sweeping motion of his leg.

While she was dealing with the shock of his surprising show of aggression, he leaped to his feet and ran for the door fifty yards away.

LaMia bounded to her feet a second later, paused and took great pleasure watching him sprint across the floor. She enjoyed watching the way his long, athletic legs gobbled up the ground. She enjoyed it so much that she delayed her pursuit, especially since the door was bolted shut with two locks to which only she had the keys, and a steel bar was in place across the middle of the door.

She knew he could not get out, but
shasta,
he had covered the distance quickly! She was glad she had thought twice about providing him cross-trainers. She wondered how much faster he would have gotten to the door if he were not barefoot and had on a pair of athletic shoes.

By the time LaMia made it to within several feet of the door, Mateo had managed to slide the bar up and out of its slot but froze when he came up against his next obstacle and realized he needed a key to unlock the door from the inside.

“What kind of sick freak puts locks on the inside of the door? What if there was a fire?