BuriedSecrets

Ashley
Shayne

Vampires stalk the earth and you wouldn’t want to run into
one in a dark alley. Unless, of course, that’s your job. Kayla’s very good at
her job and hasn’t let her masters down yet. This time however, her task is to
capture and torture the handsome Crispin. There’s only one problem—the sexy
vampire seems to like it. A lot. To Kayla’s surprise, she finds her passions aroused
and her loyalties tested.

Reader Advisory
: This story has graphic sexual
language and scenes—no closed bedroom doors (or other rooms) here!

A
Romantica®
paranormal erotic romance
from Ellora’s Cave

I crouched on top of the building carefully, making sure I
didn’t lose my balance on the slick roof, and peered into the alley. I could
see my prey below me, as yet unaware he was being stalked. Two streets more and
he would fall into our trap. From this high up, I couldn’t see him clearly, but
I’d studied pictures for months and I knew what this vampire, this Crispin
looked like. He was lean and muscular with blond, shaggy locks and piercing
green eyes. He had a firm, square chin and a sexy smile. Crispin’s looks were
part of the reason he was so dangerous. Not all of it, but part.

The attractiveness of the target, though undeniable, was
irrelevant to the matter at hand. My mission was to capture him—alive, mind you—and
bring him back to our headquarters. I wasn’t exactly sure why my masters wanted
him. My masters had mentioned something about a secret location hiding
something they valued. They thought he knew where it was; therefore, he had to
be caught. As usual, when something dangerous with a low-survival rating came
along, the job fell to me.

I paced carefully along after the creature, keeping to the
rooftops.

“Any minute now,” I murmured to myself as he crossed the
first of my wards.

A second later, it happened. Crispin crossed the inner
circle and a soft light glowed as the wards flared into life. The magic would
keep him in the circle for a short time. I’d been caught in a similar trap once
and knew it felt like a giant hand pressing down on you, draining your energy
and holding you in place. As the vampire reeled, a silver net dropped over him.
Quickly I swung down a line to the ground and pulled the tail end of the silver
net, tightening it around his ankles. He gave a cry of despair as he saw me and
fell to the ground as the noose bound his legs together. I gave a smile of
feral pleasure and paced toward him.

“Hello,” I told him softly.

He recoiled and snarled at me, and I jabbed him in the leg
with a needle I’d taken from my waist holster.

“And goodnight,” I continued.

His eyes closed and he stilled beneath my feet. Moving
quickly, I pulled a cell phone from my pocket.

“I’ve got him,” I murmured when my call was answered, and
then I disconnected the call. I knelt down next to the vampire and looked at
him with interest. He really was attractive. He seemed to draw my eyes to him,
even if I didn’t want to look. I felt a shiver run down my spine and turned
away reluctantly.

I had to wait only seconds before a large black van came
speeding into the alley. The back doors opened and two men jumped out. They
grabbed my catch and hauled him into the back of the van. I took my place up
front, pausing only to wipe a charcoal mark off the wall as I went, and we were
off.

“Any problems?” the driver asked me, shooting a quick glance
in my direction.

“None. Smooth as silk,” I replied.

I looked back at him just in time to catch him sneaking a
look at my body. I was in my hunting outfit—tight black leather that hugged my
muscular frame. I don’t have a womanly figure, by any means. My breasts are
small and my hips are practically nonexistent. What I
did
have was
perfectly toned, and men certainly seemed to appreciate it. My face was long
and thin, and my dark hair was cut short, close to my skull. I always thought I
looked dangerous and mean, not at all like a beauty queen, but despite that—or
perhaps, in part, because of it—I didn’t have trouble getting men’s attention.

The problem was that I rarely ever wanted that attention. I
only met men I was associated with in a business sense and they usually saw me
as a trophy to be won. Either that or they assumed I was so sex-starved that
the attention of any man was sure to be the fulfillment of my wildest dreams. I’d
broken a few noses when disappointed men wouldn’t take no for an answer. I
could take care of myself, but the men I worked with were also universally
dangerous, and I worried one day I’d get into a situation I couldn’t get out
of. I hadn’t met anyone yet that seemed worth the risk.

I kept silent for the rest of the short trip and we pulled
up to our safe house in the city without incident. The big black gates opened
and we drove into the parking lot under the old concrete building. It had been
the headquarters for a small computer company prior to us buying it, and
despite looking boring and square from the street, the inside was surprisingly
nice. More men were waiting for us, and they opened the back doors and dragged
the vamp away. I hopped down from the passenger seat and watched them until
they disappeared through a door to my left. Then I went to make my report.

I knocked sharply at the door of a small office.

“Come in,” a voice called.

I entered warily. To my surprise, all three of my masters were
there. The Lady, the Tramp and the Tycoon. They were known as the Three and
only select individuals were ever allowed in their presence. I was one of those
few. Even for me though, it was unusual to see them all together, and a shiver
of apprehension ran through me. I nodded at them and stood there at ease,
waiting to hear what they wanted from me.

“You got him? He’s here?” the Lady asked me, her voice
curling melodiously around me.

I nodded again.

“Good,” the Tramp continued, his jagged voice scraping up my
spine. “We have further work for you.”

I nodded once more. I had assumed as much.

“We seek the Amulet of Kain. He knows where it is. He must
tell us. You must make him.” The Lady looked at me intently, her eyes seeming
to shift from purple to blue and back again.

“How, Lady?” I asked her, wondering if there was a new spell
to learn or a potion to make. I was better at the physical side of things and
learning other skills took time, but when I mastered them, they usually worked
consistently for me. I was definitely no witch however, and I wondered why they’d
need me. They had way more proficient magic users under their control; whereas,
some spells would always be impossible for me. Defensive spells, wards and
potions worked best when I tried them and I couldn’t really see any of them
helping to get information out of a vamp.

“Why, by torturing him of course,” the Tycoon answered me.

His voice was hard as steel and I shivered as I always did
when I heard it. I looked back at him in dismay. I had never tortured anyone
before, and despite the fact that the vamp was a monster and I a hunter, taking
pliers to him was entirely different from putting an arrow into his heart. I
briefly considered protesting, but my good sense got the better of me in time.
My masters did not appreciate protests. Or failure. I nodded one last time and
when they said no more, I bowed and went to leave the room.

“Oh, and Kayla,” the Lady called after me softly, “we expect
it to take a while. Don’t worry if it takes you a few days. We give you a week
to bring us this information. One week.”

I nodded my understanding and left, closing the door firmly
behind me. I paced down the hallway to my room and ducked inside, closing the
door and leaning against it. I stared blindly across the room and my stomach
clenched. Shit. I so completely did not want to torture someone. Even a monster
like the thing chained in the basement. I hadn’t disobeyed an order from the
Three yet though, and I wasn’t going to start now. Best to get it over with…

I crossed to my bathroom and showered quickly. I had at
least an hour before the beast woke up again. The tranquilizers I’d shot into
him were strong enough to drop a rhino but only strong enough to make
him
sleep for two or three hours. I made the shower as hot as I could and stood
under it for a good while, letting the heat wash over me. Eventually, I got out
and toweled my hair dry. Unhappily, I went to my closet and pulled on a latex
cat suit. I figured the rubber would be easy to clean. I suspected this was
going to be messy. I sighed again, pulled on high leather boots, steeled myself
and headed down the hall to the basement stairs.

There were two men guarding the door to his room, and I
nodded at them as I approached. I noted that he’d been put in the soundproofed
cell and inwardly flinched again. Maybe I could convince him to tell me without
having to hurt him too badly. I hoped so.

The guards unlocked the cell for me and I entered. The
vampire was chained in the middle of the room, his wrists bound with silver
chains attached to the ceiling. He was naked and half hanging from his bonds.
His body was lean and well muscled and his penis, even flaccid, was impressive.
His head was bowed and his face was hidden under his shaggy hair. His breathing
was regular and even, but something told me he was awake.

“Hello again, monster,” I said softly, closing the cell door
behind me.

I heard it lock and we were alone. He didn’t answer me, and
I walked over to him and slapped him across the face, hard. He gasped and
jerked up his head to glare at me, and I realized again how hot he was, even
spitting angry and chained in a dungeon. His eyes were gorgeous, a smoky green
with flecks of amber in them. I reminded myself I was there on business and
gave him a sardonic smile.

“Well, it seems you are awake after all. It’s only polite to
speak when spoken to, you know, even if you are a foul beast from hell.”

I moved to stand before him, trying not to look at his
fabulous, naked body. I couldn’t help but notice how the muscles in his abs
rippled as he strained at the chains, and I forced my mind back to the task at
hand with distaste. He watched me, anger in his eyes.

“I need some information from you,” I told him. “And I’m
going to get it. We can do this the hard way or the easy way. Your choice.”

To my surprise, he gave a low laugh. “The hard way or the
easy way? How corny can you get?”

I raised an eyebrow at him and then slapped him twice as
hard. He gave a gasp as his head rocked to the side and I saw his cock give a
small jerk as well. Odd, I thought to myself. I didn’t know they did that when
you hit them. I had a sudden vision of all the men I’d hit and their cocks
dancing in their pants as I did so and grimaced before dragging my eyes back up
to his face. He spat to my left contemptuously and turned his gaze on me. I
felt his mind pushing against mine and I widened my eyes and stared back at
him. His gaze intensified as he channeled more and more energy into taking over
my mind. I held firm and blessed the countless hours of practice the Three had
imposed on me. You couldn’t learn mind control; you had to have the talent. But
you could learn to block it, and I was a master of the skill. He gave up after
a hard couple of minutes and sagged back into his chains, glaring at me.

“The hard way it is then,” I told him, a hint of triumph in
my voice. I turned and walked over to a narrow table set up against one wall,
using the time to recover myself. He was very strong and I hadn’t been pressed
that hard in a while. I breathed deeply, slowing my heart rate, and considered a
small table sitting next to the door. My masters had prepared well. A
surprising variety of torture implements were set out on it. I glanced over
them with a shudder and opted to pick up a small whip. It seemed somehow less
extreme than taking knives to him. I took a breath and turned around.

Without giving myself time to think about it, I took two
quick strides to stand behind him and laid the whip across his back as hard as
I could. A bright-red welt sprang up instantly and he jerked forward with a
cry. I took a breath and quickly raised the whip, bringing it down twice more
against his back. His breathing was ragged and the marks of my whip stood out
brightly against his skin. I circled around him to check his reaction and then
came to a sudden halt. I expected to find pain. Instead I found his cock was
fully erect and straining against his belly. His breathing remained shallow and
his eyes were dark and steamy as he stared at me.

I stood there in shock for a moment, feeling an unfamiliar
flutter in my belly and had a moment where I didn’t know what to do. Despite my
lack of experience with torture, I was pretty sure a throbbing erection wasn’t
the desired result. He must have seen my confusion because he moaned suddenly
and thrust his hips toward me.

“More,” he gasped in a light voice, husky with desire.

I just stared at him for a moment before throwing down my
whip and stalking to the door of the cell. I banged on it and the guards
quickly unlocked it and released me. I could hear him chuckling behind me as I
went.

“Everything all right?” one of the guards asked me as I
prowled by.

I ignored him and continued down the corridor, out the door
and through to the park that was next door to the safe house.

I paced the woods in some agitation. The sight of his
beautiful, erect penis straining toward me was lodged in my thoughts. I remembered
the flutter in my belly when I’d realized the whip had turned him on. Then I
thought of the Three, sitting in the small office, looking incredibly out of
place in its modern space. I would be in a lot of trouble if I didn’t get them
the information they needed. At least I had a week to think of something. I
walked in the woods for about a half-hour, thoughts of the vampire alternating
with thoughts of my likely punishments for failure, before I returned to the
safe house.

I steeled myself and returned to his cell. Avoiding the
issue wasn’t going to help at all. The guards remained expressionless this time
and silently opened the door for me. The creature’s head lifted as I entered,
and a small smile curved his lips as he watched me approach.

“Oh good,” he said languidly. “I’ve missed you. You rather
left me hanging last time. Are you here to finish me off?”

I raised an eyebrow at him and paced forward. “Will you tell
me what I want to know if I do?”