Quench

J.
Hali Steele

Sequel to Hard Case.

Alek is cursed. A tiger and lion mix, he also feels vampyre
bloodlust. Finding a mate will require finding someone to sate that bloodlust
and it has become increasingly clear that the two cats who live beneath his
skin are outrageously, unbelievably picky. Then he meets Viviana, the one woman
who ignites a fierce fire in his soul.

Viviana, a vampyre warrior, is shocked to come face-to-face
with the one creature who can turn her cool blood into a molten river. Her
powers stolen, she has to count on the cat for everything—blood, even her life
and when they’re together she becomes a wildcat in his arms. Viv wants Alek as her
own, and no one, not even Alek himself, will stand in her way.

Inside Scoop:
Alek and Viviana share many erotic
likings, including enjoying the occasional voyeuristic adventure as well as
exhibitionist sex, when the desire strikes them.

A Romantica®
paranormal erotic romance
from Ellora’s Cave

Dedication

To Nikita Isaac—without you most of my stories would still
be in my head! Thank you for always being there.

Warriors, leather-clad fighting machines with arsenals of
weapons deftly hidden beneath their coats. They were gladiators who fought to
the death and belonged in an arena.

Not striding through a hotel lobby in Amish Country.

That’s where Alek Foress had found himself twenty-odd years
ago protecting Nikolaus, the Kind prince. In fucking Lancaster County.

All these years later, back in the California high desert,
he was still addicted to the bastard’s blood and there were times he swore he
smelled like a stinking lion.

“Damn you’re in a nasty mood.” His friend’s laughter rang
out in the little corner of the club Alek had chosen to hide in. The sound
scraped his already raw nerves. “You striped beasts always smelled worse than
us.”

“Case, I don’t need any shit from you.” From the corner of
his eye Alek saw Tres heading their way. He took in her green hair and curvy
body before facing Case. The man grinned widely as his mate approached, a grin
that reminded Alek he’d done the right thing by hiring Tres to handle Case’s
club. Initially his friend had objected to his swanky voyeur club being run by
a snow leopard shifter with green hair. But the spunky little cat had won the
white lion’s heart and soul.

“You both stink and have fleas.” Tres had read her mate’s
mind. “Damn warm cats.”

“Hey, baby.” Case’s large hands encircled Tres’ waist.

Alek slouched deeper into the chair as he watched Case pull
his mate into his lap. These two were one of the happiest couples he knew. They
were also part of the reason for his frame of mind.

Alek would never have a mate or know the kind of happiness
they shared.

Case nibbled on Tres’ neck and lifted her up. “Can you see
to things for a bit? I need to talk to Alek.”

She leaned in and kissed Case on the lips. “I’m famished and
unless you want me biting a customer, don’t be too long.”

“Greedy wench. I’ll take care of you later.”

Alek watched her disappear down the hallway of the Looking
Glass. He spun on Case and cut him down before he started.

“Here’s where you tell me so what if I have lion’s blood
running through my veins and you’re going to give me the bullshit about being
lucky I have a tie to the royal family.” He lifted his glass, downed the Wild
Turkey and fixed Case with a deadly stare. “How would you feel walking around
for twenty damn years with a hard-on for a fucking male cat?” Lips drawn into a
grimace, he ground the words between clenched teeth, “We don’t screw males.”
Standing, he leaned and banged both hands flat down on the table. Alek lowered
himself until he was eye to eye with his friend. “And now would not be the time
to tell me to ‘relax, it’s the vampyre blood’ or ‘it’s no big deal’.” He
straightened up, planning to leave.

His head flew back with a snap and his body was flung down
into the chair. It tipped back precariously on two legs.

“I haven’t said anything yet.” Case glared at him with
gleaming red eyes. “But someone needs to so you can get on with your life and
stop this bullshit.”

“What the hell was that?” Alek rubbed his jaw.

“That was a white lion full of vampyre piss and vinegar
trying to save his best friend from a life of loneliness.”

He sat back and studied Case Tangara. He’d known he had
strength but hadn’t suspected anything like this. For now, his only option was
to listen.

Alek and Case were both part of the Kind species of big cats
infected with blood of the undead. Both served as Sovereign warriors, known as
the Reign, to protect the weaker of their brethren—the Sovereign Kind cats who
refused to accept the vampyre way of life by ingesting human blood. They were
animals and it was what they wanted to remain.

Case continued, “We are what we are. Embrace your vamp
powers and deal with it.”

Alek’s mind wandered as Case babbled on about it being okay
if a man wanted to make love to another man.

A thousand years ago the undead had invaded the lions’
ancestral caves in the Balkan Mountains and the sons of bitches had contaminated
the cats with their vile blood curse. Unfortunately the lions carried the
thirst across continents to a multitude of animals. He used to lead the Reign.
Stripped of his status, he didn’t give a shit anymore. His downfall came from spending
too much time
in
women. Literally. He pined away even now, his cock
throbbing in anticipation of the wet pleasure found between a willing set of
shapely legs. Furry or not, he’d change to suit the situation.

Leading the warriors hadn’t been his idea anyway. He’d
assumed the position to stay near the prince.

“So you wanted to stay near your blood source. Big fucking
deal. You’ve had the benefit of the strongest blood of our kind and you’ve
piddled it away fucking around. I love you, man but it’s time to grow up.” Case
leveled somber green eyes in his direction. “Are you that worried about
traveling to meet the prince?”

Zeroing in on Case, Alek hissed. “Stay the hell out of my
head. You want to know something, ask.” He could have motioned to the waitress
for a drink but what the hell, there were some vamp powers worth embracing. He
pulled a glass of alcohol out of thin air and took a big gulp. “Don’t ever
restrain me again.”

“Don’t act like an asshole and it won’t be necessary.”

Setting his drink down, Alek sighed heavily and settled back
into the chair. “No, I’m not worried about the royal family. Hell, his wife is
half-human and will always do crazy shit.” Air whistled through his lips. “You
don’t know what it’s like.”

“I know what a vamp’s lust feels like. I enjoy it and so
should you. It’s part of what we are.”

“Male cats don’t go panting after each other. It’s-it’s not
normal.”

Case laughed so loudly a few of the club’s patrons turned to
stare. “We aren’t normal in any sense of the word.”

The addiction to the prince’s blood pulled at Alek,
shattered his control again and again. It pushed him into the arms of any
available woman just so he could prove his manhood. The weakness would never
allow him to take a mate. He was unwilling to divulge his dark secret—his
desire to take a man, namely the prince. Have him in every way.

Alek had seen mated male cats take sustenance often. They
always went for men and then they’d go home to feed their mates. How did they
deal with it, fight the carnal urges that damn near drew him over the edge?
What made him different? This wasn’t part of the beast’s nature. His craving
came from his blood-lusting relatives.
Goddamn vampyres
.

“On that thought, I need to feed my mate. Let me say this.
Tres understands my sexual urges and accepts them. You’ll find the right mate
one day and she’ll accept all that you are, Alek.”

“I’d never let her know.”

“Then you’ll never have happiness. If that’s how you choose
to live, so be it. I’ve done all I can.” His friend sniffed loudly, wrinkling
his nose. “And you do smell like a lion today. You need a bath, my friend.”

“Fuck you.”

Case left him sitting where he’d found him—alone in a
corner.

He decided to leave tomorrow to itself. Tonight, he wanted
to relax. The prince was off somewhere chasing his mate but he’d fed Alek well
before he left.

His cock was full and he’d bed the first female who showed
up ready, willing and able.

Alek sniffed the air while his eyes roamed the room in
search of a candidate to take to one of the back rooms of the voyeur club. A
few couples languished in softly lit booths while jazz quietly wafted from
hidden speakers. He wondered which of them would end up in one of the many
two-way mirrored rooms tonight watching others being pleasured and giving
pleasure.

A familiar scent filled his nostrils.

Law and Dace were here. He’d been told to expect them.
They’d all been summoned to join the prince in his search.

The prince’s brothers spent most of their lives in Europe
and were considered master vamps. They lived totally on blood, ignoring their
beasts completely. They were adept at hiding in plain sight. This close to home
they must not be concerned or he would have never smelled them.

He decided to follow the trail, which led to one of the back
rooms. Hell, he’d surprise them and maybe they could grab something to eat
together. He hadn’t hunted in the vampyre way in a long time. Too long.

The hallway he traveled was empty. Alek stopped in front of
the room housing Law, Dace, a few humans and a full vampyre whose scent he
didn’t know. Strange. Masking his odor, he vanished to materialize on the other
side of the door.

Before he could move the stranger had him at knifepoint from
behind. The lights were dim but he could see two human couples lounging sleepily
on the sofa. Dace glared from a small bar in the back.

Law was the first to speak. “You’re living dangerously
tonight.”

“We flashed by you and thought we’d stop later and catch
up.” Dace’s low laugh was sinister as he eyed the humans. “We were grabbing a
feed first.”

Alek remained motionless with the knife pressed into the
skin of his throat. A cold trickle of blood slid down his neck as the stranger
used one hand to pat him down as if it were a cheap stickup. When the hand came
around and grabbed his cock, he made his move.

Lightning fast, he reached over his shoulder and grasped the
stranger by his head and flipped him onto the floor. The tip of Alek’s knife
now pierced the other’s neck and drew blood.

“Unless you want what you just had to be your last meal, I
suggest you don’t put your hand on my balls again.”

“Get your ass off me and I’ll be glad to oblige. Fuck, never
mind, your cock feels pretty damn good right where it is.” A slender body
pushed up against him.

The voice stilled him and he inhaled deeply. Alek’s breath
caught in his throat. Truth assaulted his nostrils and he wondered how the hell
he’d missed it. Delicious female scent wafted over him.
Shit!
A freaking
woman had held him at knifepoint and she smelled full-out vamp. Pulling his
blade back, he released her and stood while she came to her feet with a lithe
move that impressed him. Close to his height, taut muscles twitched with
readiness as her weapon flipped back and forth through nimble fingers.

“What the fuck did you think you were doing?” Alek asked.

“What in hell were
you
doing trying to sneak up on
us? You ever hear of knocking? I thought you Kind had a thing about privacy.”
She peered at Law. “Who the hell is this guy?”

“Trust me, Viv, he’s not a cat you want to mess with,
understand? Put the knife away.”

Dace’s snicker filtered through the room.

“Don’t call me Viv, no one here knows me that well. I’m
Viviana. If anyone gives a shit about a last name, too bad.”

The vamp amazed and flustered Alek at the same time.

Her feminine chin jutted toward him. “Who’s Mr.
Got-a-helluva-package?”

Law choked. “That’s Alek.”

“Ahh, your lofty Reign leader. How you doing? Nice cock you
got there.” She motioned to the couples on the sofa. “Help yourself to a bite.”
Viviana laughed in his face when his jaw dropped. “You cats need to stop being
so damn finicky.”

Surprised by her boldness, he snapped his mouth closed. He’d
never met a woman like her in his life. She had the foulest mouth he’d ever
heard, no modesty at all and she felt like a wet dream about to pop.

Alek’s dick was hard as a stick of dynamite and it felt
ready to blow any damn minute.
Christ!
What was up with this female? And
what the fuck was up with him?

Her moonlit blue eyes pierced him before she vanished.

He wasn’t hungry anymore. Not for food anyway.

Before he sheathed his knife he ran the tip of it over his
tongue. The vamp’s blood tingled there, sending another hot stab of desire
right to his crotch. The taste of her called so loudly to him he followed
Viviana right through the door. The last thing he heard was the brothers laughing.

Alek blatantly checked out her backside, pleased by the
sight of her tight ass swinging in front of him. Platinum-blonde hair hung down
her back in a severe plait. Black leather hugged her lithe body like a second
skin and her long legs ate the hallway up. She was tall, damn near reaching his
six foot four inches in her stiletto boots. Oh he could work her for a long
time. The package she’d fondled earlier was still hard.

His hands itched to touch the walnut-brown skin he knew
would feel like satin. And her smell drove him nuts.
Damn!
Could one
drop of blood have… Hell, maybe
he
was in heat.

Strictly a cat man, he couldn’t believe how much the
bloodsucker turned him on.

“You’re a bloodsucker too and no matter what you cats
believe, you’re no better than we are.” She pushed at his mind, had entered his
thoughts.

Alek jumped at the echoing sound of her voice.

Concentrate
. Keeping her out wouldn’t be impossible
but it required him being more aware if she intended to hang around. Locking
his shields tight, Alek slid his tongue over lips that still held her exotic
taste.

He did something he wouldn’t normally do out of respect for another’s
privacy. Alek eased past her mental barrier and invaded her mind. It was too
easy. Viviana wanted him there. What he saw had his cock leaking like a faucet.
She wanted to handle him, stroke and hold his cock, guide it inside her.

Oh yeah, he was willing to be handled by her for a couple
hours before sunrise.

Suited him fine.

She continued into the main area of the club with him on her
heels. He continued to pick around in her head and found she couldn’t read Law or
Dace either. Unaware of the lion’s pure royal blood pumping through his veins,
Viviana made the mistake of thinking he was just a Kind tiger.