Skye's Trail (24 page)

For a second he fought against the choice she was forcing on him, fought against having to think. All he wanted to do was lose himself in the pleasure of her.

Skye closed her eyes to the need she saw on Rico’s face. Her body craved his, but Gian’s strength gave her the buffer she needed to resist. She didn’t know whether it was the medallion or the blood-magic, but changes she’d only been vaguely aware of since waking came into focus. She understood things that she hadn’t understood before—as though some of Gian’s knowledge and abilities had become hers.

With a thought she touched Gian’s mind and felt his awareness that she was awake and with Rico. He was angry that she’d broken through his compulsion, but there was reluctant admiration too. He couldn’t come for her until the sun set, but he could track her to Rico’s then. And if she was careless enough to give him Rico’s address, then he could send others to retrieve her.

All that she knew with just the brush of her mind to Gian’s. She also knew that he waited to see whether Rico would accept the bond. He would be pleased to have her to himself, without Rico to anchor her to a world other than his own. But he would accept the bond with Rico. It was useful, an added layer of protection. And pleasure—he’d shared women in the past.

A spike of savage possessiveness surged through Skye at Gian’s remembered pleasure. She would cut his heart out if he ever went to another woman.

Amusement rippled down the psychic line between them. This time she heard the words instead of experiencing them as impressions.
There can be no one outside the bond
,
he whispered,
his voice fading in a soft caress as his presence became a distant shadow in her mind.

Skye opened her eyes and focused on Rico. His eyes were still closed, his face tight. His thoughts were easier for her to reach.

He struggled to find a way to have her, to reconcile what he feared she was, with what he was—a cop. He couldn’t give up his job, his identity, for her.

Skye’s mind moved through the past, to the kills she’d made. She didn’t regret them, wouldn’t undo them if she could, but she could compromise and let others mete out justice in the future. She could give Rico that measure of peace.

She pressed her lips over the bite mark on his neck and whispered, “I’d never force you to give up your job, to be other than what you are. We both want the same thing—justice. I don’t need to kill to achieve that goal.”

Shock whipped through Rico at her words. His eyes flew open. Fuck, could she read his mind? Or was she just guessing?

She whispered, “I can touch your thoughts.”

From Gian’s knowledge she added, “When the bond is fully complete, then you’ll be able to touch mine as well.”

Rico’s heart thundered in his chest. He knew he should be scared shitless, but the hot waves of lust that volleyed back and forth between them made fear impossible. He didn’t want to give this up. If he could have her and stay a cop, then he was willing to pay any price.

Rico moved forward, pressing her against the wall. This time she didn’t resist when he lifted her, urging her to wrap her legs around him.

The smell of her arousal flooded his senses. The feel of her slippery folds against his erection had fire racing along his spine. He’d die if he didn’t get inside her.

“Do you agree to the bond?” she asked him.

He thrust into her and groaned against the tight squeeze of her channel.

“Say the words,” she whispered.

This time he knew that he wasn’t imagining the flames flickering deep in her eyes. If they were the fires of hell, then he was a doomed man.

“I accept the bond.”

* * * * *

Trapped in the sluggish daylight sleep of a centuries-old vampire, Gian felt the echoes of Skye’s pleasure down their psychic bond. His own penis stirred in anticipation. It was time to meet her other mate, to finish what she’d begun.

Brann’s voice cut into his thoughts, sharp with censure.
Even when you were human, you never allowed your cock to rule you. No fuck is worth the risks you take, Gian. She has gained from your blood but you still do not control her.

And you control Rafael? Do not play the heavy with me…Sire.
Gian hissed, letting the other vampire feel the bite of his words.

There was a pause, like the buildup of pressure before a storm breaks. But then Brann laughed across the bond and the tension eased.
You were a disrespectful ass before you became vampire. I don’t know why I thought the centuries would improve you. I have called Rafael back from his search for
your
Angelini mate. Maybe when you rise you can put aside the demands of your pike and attend to the business of finding the witch and the fledglings so that
I
will be free to go about
my
business.

Gian laughed.
You date yourself, Brann, no one calls it a pike anymore.

And you remain a disrespectful ass.
There was a slight pause, then a more serious warning.
Attend to what needs to be attended to, Gian, before there’s more trouble here. Already I hear rumors that another Angelini hunts in Las Vegas.

Chapter Fifteen

The fuck against the bathroom wall had only whetted Rico’s appetite for more. He wanted to bury his cock in her pussy and live there forever. When she raised her arms and bound her braid up before stepping into the shower, his thoughts expanded to latching onto her nipples and swallowing them whole.

He followed her into the shower, glad that when he’d gutted this house and rebuilt it, he’d had the foresight to put in a shower that lent itself to fucking. Just the sight of her smoothing soapy hands over her own body was enough to have him ready again.

Without a word, Rico took the soap from her hands and lathered his own. He’d intended to clean every inch of her body, but the way she watched, the way her gaze traveled over him, lingering on his erection with satisfied, half-closed eyes made him want to show off, to tempt her with his prowess.

He applied the soap to his own skin instead of hers, hesitating over the bite mark on his neck until the hot sparks of hunger shooting from the new erogenous zone had his nipples and cock so tight and hard that he couldn’t keep his hand on the mark any longer.

Satisfaction whipped through him when he saw the way Syke’s lips were slightly parted, the way her breath moved in and out in short pants as she watched him.

His balls felt huge and heavy. He widened his stance in response and they brushed against the bite on his thigh. His buttocks clenched as a bolt of fire ripped through his testicles.

¡Carajo!
She made him feel like a well-hung bull.

His nipples were so sensitive that he couldn’t linger over them without fear of coming. When she licked her lips as though she’d like to suckle him, he had to grab his cock to keep from spewing then and there.

Skye moved closer and placed her hand on the mark over his heart. The sound of his heartbeat roared through his head, through his cock, moving at the same rate as hers, thundering in time to the flames dancing in her eyes.

What do you want?

Rico wasn’t sure whether she’d spoken out loud or in his mind. He didn’t care. Along with the question came the knowledge that he could have her any way he wanted. That she wouldn’t turn away from any of his desires.

The breath swooshed out of his body in pants as the fantasies flooded in.

He wanted her tied to his bed. He wanted her sucking his nipples, his cock, taking him all the way down her throat. He wanted her riding his face while he plunged his tongue into her and heard her scream above him. He wanted to mount her. To take her on her hands and knees and have her lock him into her body—a stallion on his mare, a wolf on his mate.

He tightened the grip on his penis when her eyes darkened, when she wetted her lips and leaned closer, licking at his mouth, tempting him, coaxing him to cover her body with his.

All thought left him then. He took her down to the shower floor, reveling in the way she went to her hands and knees, in the way she held her body to expose the slick, wet folds of her vulva.

The steam trapped the scent of her arousal and held it against his body. The hot water pounding against his back sharpened the need.

His. She was his mate.

He mounted her then, thrusting deep, demanding with his body that she acknowledge what he was to her. She yielded, squeezing him, teasing him to plunge deeper, harder. In a frenzy he moved in and out of her, not sparing her from the weight and power of his body.

She writhed underneath him in ecstasy, driving them both to the brink of oblivion until finally that last little bit of her opened to admit him, to lock him to her. Then there was nothing but the white-hot pleasure of orgasm after orgasm as his body jerked and shuddered above hers.

Even when he knew that they were no longer locked together, Rico couldn’t bring himself to pull away. He nuzzled her, licking and kissing along her neck until he got to her ear. She shifted and he almost whimpered when his penis slipped out of her hot channel.

Skye’s laugh was soft, affectionate, covering him like a warm blanket. “You must have a huge hot water heater. We’d be lying in cold water if we were at my apartment.”

Rico grinned and got to his feet then helped her stand. His cock stirred when their wet flesh touched, skin sliding against skin, but for the first time since he’d been with her, the need to have her again didn’t threaten to consume him.

They had a lifetime to fuck, to play, to mate, to make love, to give in to their fantasies. That knowledge settled over him, left him in control of himself again.

He let her leave the shower first. After they’d dried off, he said, “My sister leaves some of her clothes over here. You’re about the same size. They’re in the bedroom at the end of the hall.”

Skye stilled, alarmed but curious at the same time. Except for Rico’s friendship with Captain Rivera, she’d never given any thought to how his life might be connected to other people—how her life might now be tied to others.

“I didn’t know you had a sister.”

Rico snorted. “One sister, five brothers. All of them in law enforcement.” His expression grew somber as he pulled Skye to him. She could read the question without touching his mind. She repeated the words she’d said earlier.

“I’ll never force you to give up being a cop. We both want the same thing—justice. I don’t need to kill to achieve that goal.”

He nodded once then pushed her gently toward the doorway. “Get dressed before I decide that I can’t resist your body any longer.”

Skye laughed and moved toward the open doorway, feeling lighthearted, complete. With a thought she touched Gian’s mind and found him in the heavy daytime sleep of a vampire, though a part of him was aware of her.

His anger at her escape had passed, though his resolve to find her had not.
Do you think I’ll run and hide?
she chided.

You will let me find you when you’re with him?
he countered.

Skye’s body quickened with reawakened need.
Yes.

The link faded but remained like a tiny nightlight in a vast, darkened hallway. Skye got dressed, stopping only long enough to retrieve her wallet and the ID she’d taken, before returning to the living room.

Rico was talking on his phone. “Look, I’ll go with you, Cia… Yeah. I know it’s my day off, but I want to get this thing closed up and you’re on to a good lead… Jackson would stand out like he’s wearing a neon sign. He’s got rookie stamped all over him and besides that, he hasn’t been on this case since it started. He’d spend most of the night staring at the strippers and the freaky-looking kids… Yeah, okay… I’ll meet you at the office to discuss strategy. Bye.”