Blood Struck (13 page)

“Do what?”

I gestured to his face, keeping my eyes averted. “Own me with your eyes.”

“Sorry. I didn’t realize I was doing it.”

Oh great. The vampire super gaze was on the loose. Hide the women and children. “Whatever. So tell me what the plan is.”

“I’ve put things in motion and we’ll be on the move by tomorrow.”

“What things are in motion?” I picked some lint off the fleece blanket and let it drift to the floor.

“The kind of things that will make people stop looking for you.”

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” I glared at him.

He shook his head. “This way you can’t tell anyone.”

“I would never tell anyone. I’m not stupid.”

Now it was his turn to give me a look.

I gave a sigh of aggravation. “Okay, I shouldn’t have used my ATM card or gone to the coffee shop. I’ve learned my lesson though, it won’t happen again.”

“Regardless, it’s just safer if you don’t know what’s going to happen next.” He pointed to his face. “I don’t want any other vampire eyes catching you and tripping us up.”

Well, that makes sense,
I thought grudgingly. “I guess I have no choice.”

He slipped an arm behind me and pulled me onto his lap like I was a little throw pillow. My legs spread to straddle his thighs, my knees digging into the sofa cushions. I put my hands on his shoulders to steady myself. My heart began to race with anticipation.

Kristos gripped the fullness of my backside and claimed my lips, his tongue flickering into my mouth. I moaned. My body started the launch sequence; moist heat pooled in my core, my nipples hardened inside my bra and a ceaseless want made my hips circle.

“Is this such a good idea?” I asked when he let me come up for air. Getting naked seemed risky given our circumstances. Every place we’d been, they’d found us. “Shouldn’t we be on watch or something? Like a stake out?”

Kristos laughed. “You want to sleep in a car and pee in a coffee cup?”

I smacked his shoulder, but couldn’t keep from smiling.“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

Kristos reined in his grin and tried to look serious. “I’m on the lookout. The last text I got said they’d laid three different false leads and that was keeping the Council busy. We’re not just hiding now, we’re giving them something to chase, too.”

“Give them more leads.” When he quirked an eyebrow at me, I said, “Bury them with bullshit. Too much data and they won’t know where to start.”

“Not a bad idea, Miss Danson. You’re pretty smart for only being in your twenties.”

“And you’re pretty hot for being dead...” I trailed off, realizing I didn’t know how old he was. “How many years has it been?”

“More than I care to count.” He leaned in to kiss me again, but I evaded him.

“How many?” I did my best to mimic his vampire super powers and pin him down with my gaze.

“Hundreds.” He slipped with his eyes again and it seemed as if the weight of all that time was pressing against me, trying to cave me in.

I shivered and shook it off as I broke eye contact.

“Sorry,” he said, apologizing before I could complain.

“Can you do that to anyone?”

He lifted his head so his eyes were focused on the ceiling. “Most humans are susceptible, but you and I are blood bound, the barriers are lower.”

With a shudder, I recalled the way Arlo had blood bound me. I would not want to find myself lost in
his
eyes. Him being in my head had been bad enough. I still felt sick about it. “I can’t stop you, can I?”

“Just try not to look so much into my eyes. I can’t capture you if I can’t see you.”

While good advice, that was easier said than done. To prove the point we both moved at the same time and our gazes crossed. I sighed and looked away. “What about making me do things? Can you force me to rob a bank?”

He shook his head. “Only if we maintain eye contact which means I would have to rob the bank too. It’s not like the movies where I say something and you do it even when I’m not there. We have to be able to see each other.”

Well, that was a relief and something I’d been secretly worried about. “If I become a vampire, will I be able to do the eye voodoo thing to you?”

“Eye voodoo?” He cocked his head to the side at my choice of words. “No, I’ll be your maker. You’re never stronger than your maker.”

Hmm. A hierarchy of power. “I need to be strong though, don’t I?” I had a feeling that even if I turned, the attacks wouldn’t stop. I was too juicy a pawn to be allowed to sink into oblivion. Too many vampires would want to find out how well I took after my dad. If I turned, at least I would be as strong as them. Staying human meant staying weak. After all, I couldn’t twist off anyone’s head with my bare hands and until I could, I was ripe for the taking.

“Yes. However, if my plan works you won’t have to worry about it. At least for a while.” He paused for a moment and then asked, “Do you want me to turn you Myra?”

I sighed. “I don’t know. I’m scared Kristos. Just last week I was a college student and I thought my biggest problem was my mom might die of cancer. Imagine the shock of learning that is the least of my problems.”

I met his eyes and found him watching me with a steady gaze. The power he held over me pulsed between us like a heartbeat. I should’ve been more careful, but I wasn’t worried about him as much as the magic eyeballs of the other vampires out there. “Why are you doing all this for me? You barely know me.” Right now he was everything to me... protector
and
lover. My life without him would be over, but he didn’t need me.

“Myra.” His hands pressed on my back, pushing me forward for a kiss. This time he would not be denied. Our tongues dueled and his teeth scraped my bottom lip as he sucked it into his mouth. “Because you’re special,” he finally said once he’d had his fill of my mouth.

“You want me like Arlo did.” My tone was accusatory. I leaned back and crossed my arms.

Kristos tugged at my wrists, trying to unwrap me and force me to open for him. “Every vampire wants you, but you’re not a pawn to me. You’re too special for that. I want you for you.”

“Really?” I asked in a soft whisper.

“I promise you, Myra. You are more than your father’s blood to me.”

“Swear it,” I said.

He held up a hand, his expression solemn. “By our blood bond, I swear it.”

We stopped talking for a long moment to kiss again. Kristos cradled the back of my head and pressed me forward as he devoured my lips with his. His tongue slipped into the wet heat of my mouth, stroking the length of mine and sending little shocks through me.

He pulled back for a second. “Tell me Myra, why do you stay with me? Why don’t you run?”

The questions surprised me. “Because you’re my only protection. You’re taking care of my mom.”

A disappointment I didn’t understand shone in his eyes. “That’s all?”

I cupped his face in my hands wanting to make it better. I’d hurt him somehow. “Every cell of my being wants you. All the time. It is unceasing. I’ve never felt that way before and...” I trailed off.

He gave my ass a little squeeze at the silence. “And what?”

“You were my first.” I blushed. “That makes
you
special. I don’t want to be with anyone else.”

As usual the red flush drove him crazy and he seized my mouth with his, kissing me so fiercely I ran out of air. When he let me go, my breathing came in ragged pants and my lungs burned. Desire ran hot underneath my skin. I wanted him,
now.
I moved to lift my shirt over my head, but Kristos stopped me.

“You surprise and delight me constantly and that is a hard thing to do. I know the circumstances are not ideal, but I am glad we are together. You make me feel my heart again.”

The flush burning my cheeks and neck intensified. “You are entirely too nice to be a vampire.”

“No, I’m only nice to you.” With that, he pulled my shirt off and unhooked my bra, moving so fast my eyes could barely keep up with him. More vampire super powers. I liked it this time though and thrust my chest out as he cupped my breasts in his hands.

Dipping his head, he sucked one nipple and lightly pinched the other. The firm pressure carried just enough edge to make my core clench with need. Smiling wickedly around my breast he tugged the other nipple out and forward, stretching and pinching at the same time. I rewarded him with a deep moan.

Supporting my back with his hands he half stood and laid me on the pine coffee table, clearing the surface with a swipe of his hand.  Magazines and the whiskey glass fell to the floor. He unbuttoned my jeans and inched them off my hips, hands grazing my skin and raising goose bumps. I thrust my pelvis up at him, a silent request to go faster, which he did. With one quick pull, my pants were off and tossed onto the couch. My panties he just ripped, the sheer lace giving way like tissue paper.

He pushed one, then two insistent fingers inside me as his thumb found the sensitive nub between my nether lips. I threw my head back and sighed.

“You like that, love?”

“Very much,” I breathed.

And then he crooked his fingers within me, pushing into overly sensitive flesh. I gasped as a small burst of fireworks went off in my core. The pressure of a larger explosion began to build and I gripped the edge of the table.

“Kristos,” I keened.

“Yes, love I’m here.” His hand went faster, harder. My hips bounced, racing toward the cliff. I sailed right off into weightless pleasure. I couldn’t breathe or think. My eyes closed putting me in a dark place where trembling sensation was all that mattered.

Still lost in the orgasm, I felt the faint pin-pricks of fangs on my inner thigh. That sent another tremor through me as my body responded with heightened pleasure. Kristos’ lips sealed over the hyper-sensitive skin of my leg and milked me with measured contractions of his mouth. I couldn’t stay still. It tickled and I writhed and wriggled until he had to hold me down.

The orgasm continued to shiver through me, lessening with time, but never fading. Not until Kristos had finished feeding. I wondered if it was some kind of vampire pheromone thing that caused him to have such an effect on me. Or maybe it was the blood bond. I would have to ask him sometime.

Having had his fill of me, he impaled me on his shaft. Scooting his hands under my shoulder blades, he lifted me into a sitting position and transferred us both to the couch.

“Oh,” I breathed at the change in sensation. He went so much deeper in me now and his pelvis split my nether lips wide to rub against my delicate center. It was very satisfying.

Kristos reached around to squeeze my rear and when I slid down his length, he gave me an extra push ensuring I took all of him in and then some. He captured a nipple in his mouth and sucked it in long pulls. His tongue flickered over the tip until the fluttering sensation spread all through my body. After a moment, he switched breasts and gave the other the same treatment.

All I could do was pump along his shaft and pant as desire consumed me.

When I came again, he pulled me in close. My pebbled breasts hit his chest as he  thrust his tongue into my mouth. I tasted blood again and recoiled in surprise, but he wove his fingers into my hair and forced me to maintain the kiss. The last time he’d kissed me like this, I’d almost thrown up. The sour iron of blood had been unpleasant, but necessary. Now, the flavor was like a full bodied wine, the tang almost fruity as opposed to metallic. I found myself enjoying his blood, even relishing it as it slipped down my throat. I began to see the connection with alcohol that had so puzzled me when I first met Madame Rouge.

My eyes opened and sought his, which were their usual crystalline blue with the force of a tsunami behind them. He drank me in and my mind rolled over under the force of his eyes. He didn’t speak, but it seemed I could hear him in my head anyway.

Suck, love.

Take as much of me as you can
.

I obeyed, earnestly working his tongue. Inside me his cock pulsed and danced. He came a moment later and broke our kiss to sink his fangs into my neck. Once again a little spasm of pleasure shook me as he fed. I continued to pump his shaft, lost in a blissful stupor.

Afterward we retired to the bedroom. Here the shabby chic decor had morphed into country farmhouse with an old-fashioned four post bed and a couple of vintage oak dressers. The patchwork quilt lent the room color and there were touches of lace on the night tables and in the large doilies on top of the dressers. The look was discordant given the apartment’s location in one of the largest metropolis’ in the world, however, I found it comforting. I’d grown up in rooms furnished like this. It was like being home again.

I sank into the bed, snuggling under the covers, sated both in body and mind. Kristos had drained me of blood and energy. A lethargy of deep satisfaction made me limp and ready to sleep.

Kristos spooned me, his unyielding strength at my back reassuring. With one hand he spun little circles on my shoulder. I wiggled my bottom against him and sighed.  Just then all my troubles seemed far, far away. All that mattered was the here and now.

“How did you become a vampire?” I wanted to hear his voice as I drifted off.

His fingers on my shoulder stilled. “It’s a long story. An unpleasant history.”

“Worse than ripping off Arlo’s head?” I asked, my question pointed.

That gave him pause. “Perhaps not.” He was silent for a moment, fingers idling on my skin. “I lived in Rome during the time of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar.”

That sparked my interest. “Did you know them?”

“Only when they passed through the main streets on their way to the palace. I did not run in their circles.”

“So you weren’t a Senator in ancient Rome.” I managed not to sound too disappointed. The idea of being with a guy who’d met Cleopatra held a certain allure.

“No. My family ran a bakery.”

I frowned. A bakery seemed so mundane. “How did you go from bread to blood?”

“I met a man in the baths. In those days men often had boy lovers. A powerful vampire chose me to be his. He was compelling and strangely beautiful in a time when many men of power were disfigured somehow, either from disease or war. He seduced me and then years later changed me to keep me as his pet.”