DarkInnocence (10 page)

I shook my head back and forth, bucked my hips in an attempt
to dislodge him. His chuckle rolled over me and he tightened his grip where he
manacled my wrists with his hands.

He bared bloody fangs, dropped his head to my neck and tore
into flesh. I cried out at the ripping pain. He moaned, drank deeper. He let go
of my wrist and reached between us to shove my dress up my thighs.

I heard Dante’s deep rumbling voice in my head,
I don’t
share
. If Cash forced his way into my body, if he raped me, I’d feel deep
down inside that I’d somehow be betraying Dante. For myself, for my lover, Mr.
Restricted was
not
going to have me.

Hands free, I dug my fingers into Cash’s short hair and
twisted. He pulled back, mouth a bloody mess. Directly in his face, I screamed
as loud and as long as I could. When he winced and pulled away, I jabbed my
finger into his eye socket. His howl of pain echoed in the car and I launched
myself at him, using the confined space of the backseat to my advantage.
Kicking, punching and gouging—my limbs were a fury of desperate movement.

Groin. Stomach. Ribs. Face. Eyes. Nose. Throat. I hit every
VA I could reach and then dug deeper within myself with one goal—inflict as
much damage as humanly possible.

Cash, caught off guard, went on the offensive but spent most
of his time trying to block or catch my wildly flaying fists. I used my nails
to claw and rip flesh. The car pulled sharply off the road and came to a
screeching halt, nearly throwing me off my target. I fought past the panic and
the fear. Blood coated my skin. Everywhere I looked, I saw red.

I took the sides of his face between my hands, shoved all of
my rage, terror and pain into a piercing scream, and twisted. Bone snapped and
Cash went limp beneath me. I panted above him and tried to reconcile what I’d
just done. I’d broken his neck. Holy shit.

The door farthest from me was ripped open and I looked up in
horror at the three vampires who looked inside the car with shocked expressions
on their faces.

“What the fuck?” one of them said.

My stomach lurched and I pressed a bloody hand over my
mouth. One of the vampires reached in, wrapped his fingers around my arm and
drew me through the blood, out of the car. I landed on my knees in front of the
trio of men. The churning in my belly had my throat convulsing and the second I
opened my mouth, I vomited all over a pair of expensive-looking black loafers.

Those shoes with the single scuffed toe was the last thing I
saw before the world went black and I passed out.

I came to with the lingering taste of puke in my mouth and a
piece of tape over my lips. The adhesive gag pulled my cheeks and sealed my
mouth closed. Around me, chains rattled. Someone growled, and the low vibrating
sound was drowned out by a slurping-sucking noise. Cackling, obnoxious laughter
overlaid it all.

I cracked my lids open and through my blurred vision, tried
to make sense out of my surroundings. Between large concrete poles spaced every
twenty feet or so, a mass of flesh writhed before me but I couldn’t make sense
out of the scene.

Lethargy sucked me under as if I’d taken too many pills. Had
I been drugged? My shoulders ached, yet I couldn’t feel my arms or my hands. I
felt almost…weightless. I shook my head, concentrated. The mass of flesh parted
and left me with a clear view.

Horror filled me.

Dante, who wore only his slacks, pulled against steel
manacles wrapped around his right ankle and wrist. Crisscrossing three-foot
chains bound him to a concrete post and rattled with his every move. Two dozen
vampires, their red eyes gleaming with hunger, crawled over him like a colony
of ants. Fangs sank into flesh, nails clawed at skin. Chest, neck, arms and
legs—the partially dressed scavengers fought each other to find somewhere to
graze.

“Get the fuck off me.” Canine teeth bared in a snarl, Dante
raged, ripping them off one a time with his free arm. For every one he peeled
off, two more vampires moved into place. I tried to call out to him, to make
some sort of noise but whatever tape kept my mouth closed also trapped my words
inside.

“Playtime boys, sleeping beauty is finally awake,” someone
said and stepped in front of me, blocking Dante and his harem of feeders from
my view completely.

Bright-blue eyes and sandy-blond hair, a vampire who stood
at least six-foot three stroked a cold finger down my cheek. I pulled away and
the motion sent me swinging. I glanced up, found my numb arms wrapped together
with a thick piece of rope that hung from a metal beam, one of many, that made
up the warehouse ceiling.

Otherness surrounded me, closed in and made my skin itch as
another bloodsucker came up behind me. A cold hand gripped my hip and stopped
my swaying.

The person behind me I couldn’t see pushed the hair off my
shoulders and trailed a nose down the back of my neck. I whimpered, tried to
move away. All my confidence from defending myself from Cash vanished.

Jesus. Cash. Where was he? I drew my gaze wildly around the
steel and concrete room. Wooden crates lined the walls and piled high, almost
reaching the dark, grimy windows that neared the ceiling. Too many obstacles,
not enough light. I knew I hadn’t killed him. Eventually, depending on his age
and strength, he’d heal from a broken neck.

A third vampire, red hair and a hooked nose, materialized
beside me to cup my other hip. He slid his hand around and cupped my ass in his
palm.

I screamed behind the tape sealing my mouth shut and tried
to wiggle away from the ice-cold roaming hands. My stomach, upset from vomiting
earlier, clenched.

The male behind me whispered into my ear and I tried like
hell to pull away from him. “You’re a sweet piece of ass, I can see why Cash
was so obsessed with you.”

“Lucky for us,” the blond said. “You took out our sire,
damaged the bond enough for us to stake him. Not sure you did yourself a favor
there, sweetheart. He would have kept you all to himself.”

The redhead nodded and kneaded my ass cheek, his fingers
digging into flesh. He flashed his fangs at me and rubbed the hard length of
his erection against my thigh. He looked to the blond who trailed a finger from
my throat to the skin between my breasts.

“Now we get to share. I get her ass—you two can take turns
with her pussy.”

The three of them snickered. “I bet she’s never been fucked
in the ass before. I love virgins, how they squeal and scream for it.”

I shook my head from side to side, tried to kick out but
found my energy wasted when hard, branding hands closed around my legs and
ripped them apart. My heart accelerated. Fingers danced up my thigh, under my
dress and my belly tightened into a hard rock. Tears pooled in my eyes, warm
drops of moisture rolled down my cheeks. The vampires crowding around me
laughed.

“We’ll never be able to get to her sweet spot like this, cut
her down, James. Last person who comes gets to turn her,” one of the vampires
said.

“Touch her and I swear to god, I’ll rip you limb from limb
with my teeth.” Dante snarled. Chains rattled.

“Shut the fuck up, shifter, and enjoy the show!” James said
as he withdrew a blade from his pocket and sawed through the rope above my
head.

I closed my eyes and tried to block everything out. Had they
set this up so he’d be forced to watch while they raped me? Over my dead body.
I was a Grey. A hunter at heart. I’d incapacitated a master vampire.

The second the frayed rope broke, the blond caught me around
the waist and held me against the solid evidence of his arousal.

With a grin, he leaned forward and scraped his tongue over
my cheek. I struggled against him, the wet trail his saliva left on my flesh
evaporating in the wood-scented air. The ground beneath me was dusty and hard.
The vampires scrambling for their belt buckles were eager and sloppy.

James dropped his knife to the ground, the blade hitting the
stone floor with a spark of light. Across the warehouse I met Dante’s burning,
helpless gaze. He pulled against his chains, dark-red blood welling and then
immediately vanishing under the hungry mouths of the vampires who feasted on
him. Dante roared, the echo of his distress a knife in my stomach.

Knife. James. He’d dropped it.

Lips moved over my skin, tongues flicked out and tasted
flesh. One of my attackers forced my kicking legs open and reached for my
panties. Teeth nipped. I turned my head, shutting out the vile sensations and
focused on the shiny black hilt of a weapon they’d left in my reach. I shifted
my bound wrists through the layer of sawdust and grabbed hold of the knife.

Another roar echoed throughout the warehouse and the energy
in the room shifted. The otherness crawling over my skin quadrupled.

The three vampires crawling over me looked up, across the
room.

A gigantic lion gazed at us with intelligent rage filled tawny
eyes. Dante was absolutely breathtaking in feline form. His mane was thick and
full, melting from a dark yellow to an almost blackish-orange on top.
Slack-jawed, my eyes widened as he made quick work of the remaining feral
vampires who’d been feeding off him. When he finished he padded through the
cloud of ash on paws the size of my head.

Jesus, he must have been at least four feet tall at his
shoulders. Feline muscles bunched and coiled with every graceful step he took.
Blood dripped from various spots on his back and hindquarters, as if the wounds
in human form had carried over to the animal living inside him.

Using the distraction to my advantage, I struck. I
readjusted my sweaty hands on the blade’s hilt and slammed the knife through
James’ back through to his heart. Ash erupted and the two remaining vampires,
pants undone and limp cocks exposed, scrambled away from me.

Dante let out another roar, this one long and loud, exposing
his sharp canines. His tail swished back and forth in an agitated rhythm.

“Shoulda killed him when he was chained up.” The sandy-haired
vampire tucked himself into his pants and cracked his knuckles. He turned and
smiled at his friend. “Never met pussy I couldn’t tame. I got this, you get the
knife from the bitch.”

I got myself up off the floor, slipping through the loose
shaved wood and sprinted for a tall stack of crates. From the corner of my eye
I saw Dante lunge and catch the vampire rushing at him by the neck. His jaw
snapped shut. Bone crunched as he shook his head from side to side. Blood
sprayed, churned my already roiling stomach. A second later, Dante’s prey
vanished into a cloud of ash. He curled his upper lip, tongue scraping the
blood dripping around his mouth and padded across the dusty, trash-strewn
floor. The remaining vampire looked at Dante, then at me.

The feline chased forward, swatted the bloodsucker and sent
him sprawling to the ground. Like a true predator, he went for the jugular but
he wasn’t quick enough. The vampire phazed, vanishing from one spot to the
next. Dante looked left, right. He never saw his attacker reappear and creep up
behind him.

I tried to scream, to warn Dante. My words came out in a
muffled jumble thanks to the tape I was now desperately trying to rip off. The
vampire approached silently, lifted an ax high above his head and swung down.

I caught the corner of my gag and tore it from my mouth.

“Behind you!” I screamed.

At the last second, Dante turned to the sound of my voice.
He wasn’t fast enough. Metal cut through bone with a sickening thwack and Dante
made a hideous noise that brought tears to my eyes. He collapsed to the floor
and I rushed in his direction before I could stop myself.

Even though he was injured, Dante stumbled up, balancing on
three of his four legs. Trails of blood smeared across the ground from his
injured hindquarter. The vampire swung again and Dante caught the weapon in his
teeth, ripped it free. The vampire hissed, exposing fangs, and threw himself on
top of the lion as if he was riding a horse.

Dante reared back, twisted, caught hold of the vampire’s leg
with his teeth and shook until the parasite on his back released him. I lunged,
sunk my blade into his chest with a thwack and waited for the ash. The vampire
looked down, at the knife sticking from his chest, then to me. Whoops. I’d
missed his heart by several inches.

“You fucking cunt.” He hissed, exposing bloody fangs and
took a single menacing step in my direction.

The lion leapt, knocking him facefirst to the floor. Dante
ripped through the vampire’s neck until ash plumed.

Fight over, Dante collapsed to the ground.

Tears poured down my cheeks and blurred my vision. I rushed
to his side and pressed trembling hands through his coarse fur. Dante twitched.
A bright-white light filled the warehouse. Beneath my palm, fur receded. I
scrambled back as bones readjusted into legs and arms. When it was over,
Dante—in human form—lay sprawled naked on the ground a few feet in front of me.
Blood dripped from his right leg where a gash flayed open his leg from the knee
down to the ankle.

He was so still. So quiet. My heart hammered and I fell to
my knees. Blood from his leg spread across the floor, a trail of lava I didn’t
move away from when the hot liquid hit my skin. I was too panicked to move. I
wanted to go to him, to cradle him in my lap but I was frozen with fear. Was he
alive? Had he died to protect me?

“Please be okay,” I chanted, my sobs turning into
shoulder-racking pleas.

I hugged my legs to my chest. Thick, warm blood dripped down
my hands from where rope cut into my wrists. Twelve minutes passed before Dante
opened first one eye, then the other and my heart stopped.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

Holy fuck he was alive.

He turned onto his stomach, grimaced when he pushed up.
“Fucking vampires,” he growled. He reached out with his fingers, grabbed on to
the bloody ax and used it to help him stand.

I was desperate to hold him, to feel his warmth, to hear him
tell me everything was going to be okay but I couldn’t seem to do anything
except hold myself and cry.

Dante zeroed his gaze on me. His eyes widened at whatever
sight I presented. Not a pretty one I imagined.

His voice was tight, and dangerously low. “You hurt,
darlin’?”

I shook my head and sobbed. He rose to his full height, an
impressive specimen of man. My man. I didn’t even care he was covered in blood
and ash. His face was white and pinched tight with pain. He limped over to me,
his injured leg dragging behind him. As if he brought life back into my limbs,
I found the strength to move. I leapt up and straight into his arms.

With my added weight, his leg gave out and we both went
down, crashing to the hard, dirty floor. He cried out and I scrambled off him,
afraid I was making his pain worse.

“You’re alive!” I cried and burrowed into him.

“Shush, baby.” He stroked my back, arms, hair. “Everything
is going to be all right. I got you. You’re covered in blood, you sure you
aren’t hurt?”

I shook my head. “Some of it was from the vampires, some is
yours.”

I pressed my face against his neck and inhaled his scent.
The vampire bites I’d seen tearing open his flesh were now all mostly healed.

“Let’s get you untied,” he said gently.

I held out my wrists, gazed dully at the blood oozing from
the broken flesh around the rope. Carefully he used the edge of the ax to cut
through the restraints. He lifted my arm, pressed a kiss to first one wrist
before doing the same to the other. He met my gaze.

“Whatever they injected me with stopped me from shifting, or
I would have kicked their asses a whole lot sooner. I’m sorry you had to endure
them touching you for even one second. They didn’t…”

“No, it didn’t get that far.” I sniffled, fell forward to
rest my forehead against the hard wall of his chest. “This is the worst first
date I’ve ever had.”

He let out a low, rusty bark of laughter. “Yeah, this one
tops my list too.”

I looked up. “You need a doctor, you’re losing so much blood.”

“Flesh wound, darlin’. I’ll slap a bandage on there and be
right as rain in a few days.”

My mouth fell open and I forced myself to glance at his
dangling, barely attached leg. A wave of dizziness assaulted me and pushed the
fog away. “The bone needs to be set. You need stitches.”

“I need you, a hot shower, a bottle of bourbon and some
sleep.”