Deathless Love (18 page)

The phone was silent for a long moment. Then he heard Randolph exhale. “Bloody hell,” he hissed. “I remember you taught me this trick of yours before, I just can't recall how to find you.”

It was Dom who had created this method of locating each other in space. He and Stella taught him how to use it to safely materialize where the other vampire was. If someone put up his or her energy marker, it meant they were in a place to which it was safe to materialize.

He channeled Dom's patient teaching now. “Try again,” he said in a soothing voice. “It's there, and you will find it.”

Twenty seconds went by in silence, and then suddenly Randolph appeared in the living room, looking worried. His brow cleared he saw Fox and he rushed at him, picking him up in a bear hug. The strange familiarity of Randolph was overwhelming. The smell, the handsome face, the manly strength that had been long forgotten came back to him as if they'd been together merely a week ago instead of 34 years.

“Come on,” he said, putting his hand on Randolph's shoulder. “I'll pour you a drink and you can catch me up.”

* * *

Dom stopped on the step outside his front door as if listening, putting his arm out to stop her from going further. He had just taken her out for Spanish tapas at a downtown restaurant that featured flamenco dancing as entertainment and was bringing her to his place to spend the night.

His brows snapped together and he frowned. She heard the door unlock without him touching it, and he took her hand as they stepped into the vestibule where Dom unlocked the second door with his mind. Again he stood listening, with a frown.

“What is it?” she whispered.

He shook his head and opened the door slowly, holding her firmly behind his body with a hand on her arm. He stopped there in the doorway, but allowed Kate to come out from behind him.

The house was absolutely packed with people. No, not people, actually-- vampires, unless she was mistaken. They were lounging on every sofa and chair, they were gathered talking in the kitchen and in the hallway. They lined the walls of the living room.

“What. The. Fuck.”

Fox caught sight of them from the kitchen and hurried forward, looking extremely anxious. Dom stepped back out on the porch and Fox followed, shutting the door.

“Dom. I'm sorry. I'll take care of it,” he said and she thought she saw real fear there. Then she looked at Dom and she saw why. His fangs were fully extended and he looked like he was ready to kill someone. He picked up Fox by the collar and threw him up against the door.

“What is going on?” Dom hissed.

“I gave my marker to Randolph. And then he brought in a few friends. And then they gave themselves as a marker and…” Fox looked sick. “They just keep showing up. But don't worry. I'll get rid of them. I'll find a place for them to stay tomorrow. Kate can help me rent a place for them in the morning.”

Dom's arm shot out and he pushed Kate firmly behind him again. “No she can't. You keep her out of it.”

Stella's car pulled into the driveway and she flashed to the scene, standing next to Kate, protectively.

“I can help Fox, Dom,” Kate said.

“Shut up, Kate,” Stella said in a low voice. “Don't call attention to yourself.”

Dom held up his hand in the shape of a “C” and Fox started choking, dropping to his knees, his hands holding his throat.

“I'm sorry—” Fox choked out.

“Dom, stop!” she cried out, alarmed.

“Shh.” Stella covered her mouth and pulled her backward slowly. “Don't make eye contact,” she said softly. “He can't kill Fox that way, he's just punishing him.”

“What—what's he doing?” she said with alarm. “Is that the Darth Vader move?”

Dom released Fox, who stumbled back to his feet and faced Dom with his hands outstretched. “I'm sorry,” he said imploringly. “I know this is bad. I fucked up. But I will fix it. I will have every one of them out of here by tomorrow night.”

Dom ran his hands through his hair and then let out a snarling roar that was like no sound Kate had ever heard before.

“It's too late, dammit!”

“I know,” Fox said wretchedly. “I know. I'm so sorry.”

“Come on, I'll take you home.” Stella said in her ear.

“No, I'm not leaving,” she exclaimed, trying to pull her arm away from Stella's impossibly firm grip.

“You can't help either of them and Dom's dangerous right now.”

Dom had turned when he heard Kate speak and was looking at her with a look that could burn right through her. Like she was prey. There was a tense moment of silence as Stella tried to pull Kate backward and Kate struggled to free herself.

“Let her go,” he growled at Stella. “
Now
.”

Stella stood in front of her to block his view.

“She's mine,” he bit out, shoving Stella aside and looking at her with the same devouring stare. He put two hands around her waist and lifted her in the air as if she weighed nothing, then shifted her to just one arm wrapped around her legs, just below her butt, as he opened the front door. Looking back she saw Stella exchange worried glances with Fox. She balanced herself with her hands on his shoulders as he strode past all the vampires, opened the door to the stairs where she ducked to avoid getting her head whacked, and walked briskly down them with her.

“No blood, Dom!” Stella was following along behind, trying to get his attention. “Don't bite her. Look at me.”

He didn't look back, but he spoke through gritted teeth, “I won't bite.”

Stella stopped on the stairs meeting Kate's eye over the top of Dom's with a worried look. “Scream if he bites,” she said to her, sending a wave of panic through her. Dom whipped around and bared his fangs, hissing, which caused Stella to flinch and take a step backward.

So she officially had a death wish. If Stella and Fox's fear of their closest friend was any indicator, she should be very, very afraid right now. And she was. But he wouldn't really hurt her if he could help it. Would he? They had a trust between them that he knew when to stop. She prayed he would—or rather, could honor that this time.

When he reached his bedroom, he dropped her on the bed and ripped her shirt straight down the middle. Her bra received similar treatment. Her jeans were torn half way down one leg and then tossed. Underpants, snapped. He removed his own clothes as quickly (though not by ripping, she noticed), licked two fingers and tested her readiness. And she was. Something about being manhandled that way had her turned way on, despite the obvious danger she was still in. He growled when he felt her slickness, which she took as his approval.

He entered her then, his cock so hard and long that she cried out from the intensity of it. He couldn't seem to go slow, pounding into her so hard that she gave up trying to meet him in any way, but rather just gave herself over to his direction, his ride. Any mismatch could easily result in pain, so she let him drive. And drive he did—with an animal-like snarl, his face still enraged, his fangs long, he pumped in and out of her, over and over until she thought she would split in two. It was the most terrifying and simultaneously arousing experience she had ever had. When he finally came, he hovered over her neck, those ferocious fangs gleaming as he stared at her jugular.

She wrapped both her hands around her neck. “No biting,” she whispered. He closed his eyes, pulled out and flipped off her so quickly she groaned. She sat up and watched him pace around the room like a caged lion. Clearly he had not burned off any steam at all.

He passed by the mirror over his dresser and held his palm out to it, pumping it once, as if to high five it. The glass burst and shattered into a million pieces. Without looking, he swung his arm backward, waving his palm toward the master bathroom and she heard the same splintering crash from that room. He looked around as if to see what else he might destroy.

And he was still rock hard—his cock popping straight out from him and waving as he walked. She got up and went to him, kneeling before him and taking him fully into her mouth. He held her head with both hands and groaned. She worked him hard and fast at first to get his attention and then slowed it down, hoping he would follow her rhythm. It worked for a few moments but then he pulled out and pulled her up, bending her over the dresser after brushing the glass on the floor aside with his foot. He put his mouth on her core, sucking and licking into her with an intensity that blew her apart. She shook with orgasm after orgasm until her trembling legs were only being held up by the firm grip of his hands on her upper thighs.

She was so far gone that she could not have told him what her name was if he asked it, when he rose up and entered her from behind. She tensed up, afraid he would crush her against the hard dresser, but he held her hips firmly away from it as he pounded into her, the sound of their meeting flesh making a firm slapping sound. He came again, but again he pulled out immediately afterward and paced around. But something in him was softening. She wasn't sure how she could tell, but she could.

She slowly unbent herself from the dresser and he flashed to her. “Be careful of the glass,” he muttered, scooping her into his arms and carrying her to the bed. She nearly wept at that. Surely if he was worried about her feet being cut, he was coming back to himself. And she was perfectly safe. She touched his face and he met her eye for a brief moment before he gently lowered her to the bed. She curled up her well-used body on the bed and watched him. His pacing had slowed and his breath had deepened at bit. He stopped and looked at her for a long time.

“Can you stand it one more time?” He sounded more like himself now. His tone was grim, but he was her Dom again.

No.
She nodded. His eyes still burned through her as he slowly came to the bed and laid down behind her in the spooning position. He pushed into her, going slowly this time. At least at first. They ended up in some sort of twisted position, her legs tangled over his torso as he used her body to finally find his way home. He didn't pull out or roll away this time. He stroked lightly up and down her body, stopping to caress her breasts and bottom.

“Give me your neck now.” It was phrased as a command, but he was examining her face and it seemed to her that if she were still afraid, he wouldn't bite her. She tilted her chin to the side and offered it up. He rolled on top of her and stroked at her vein a few times with his fang, as if savoring it before he struck. He suckled gently and then licked the holes closed.

“Thank you,” he said softly, kissing her along her hairline before meeting her lips.

She was still trembling all over, but mixed with the adrenaline were the pleasure hormones—the dopamine and nitric oxide from the orgasms, giving her a distinct, drugged-like affect.

“Dom?”

“Yeah.”

“You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. But if you can…well, what's going on? Who are all those vampires and what does it mean?”

Dom sighed and let his head fall down onto his arm. “It's bad. It's so bad. Remember I told you about that bitch of a vampire, Roxanna?”

She nodded.

“Well, they're all here hiding from her. Which will lead her here as sure as the sun sets. And she's been looking for me. She wants me dead.”

“Why?” she asked, shocked.

“She wants my blood. As far as we can tell, she's draining old vampires for their blood. I'm not sure how, but she uses it to make younger vampires her minions.”

Kate took a deep breath and threaded her fingers through his. “Well, you could stay at my place. I could board up all the windows so no light gets in.”

“No, Kate.” He sounded very tired. “I'm going to have to face her now, there's no hiding from this. And I don't want you involved at all. I don't want any of those vampires seeing your face, or knowing you exist, although that will be hard since I just showed up with you here. I can't see you at all until this is all through.”

She shook her head. “I know I'm not a vampire, but I want to be with you in this.”

“Are you nuts?” he snapped.

Then, seeing her hurt, he said more gently, “Thank you,
tesoro mio
. You are so sweet. But if Roxanna knows I care about you, she will not hesitate to use you against me—she has no problem with collateral damage. Until this is over, I want you to pretend like I'm nothing more than the owner of the club where you play once a week. No phone calls, no texts, and we can't see each other at all. You can drive Fox's car instead of mine.” Dom stood up and started getting dressed. He tossed her one of his t-shirts and a pair of his boxer briefs. “I'm really sorry about your clothes. I'm sure you could borrow something from Stella if you don't want to wear that out of here.”

Her vision was blurring with tears. She shook her head.

“Don't argue with me, Kate. If I have any hope of besting Roxanna at her game, I need to know you're safe.
Please.”

She nodded blindly and pulled the t-shirt and boxer briefs on. “Yeah, okay.” She felt like her heart was being squeezed tightly.

He wrapped his arms around her. “Thank you,” he whispered and the note of genuine relief she heard in his voice confirmed how serious this situation was to him.

“How long—?” her voice cracked.

“I don't know,” he whispered. “Probably not long at all. I'm going to ask Fox to be your shadow at night, okay? You can't be with me, but I don't want you unguarded.”

“Okay,” she agreed, tears filling her eyes again. Her fear for him was overwhelming. What if he couldn't fight Roxanna? What if she lost him forever? She shook her head. These were thoughts she couldn't stand.

Dom pulled open a drawer in his closet and came out with a huge wad of cash. “Here's some money.”

She started to shake her head but he thrust it at her aggressively. “
Take it
. You might need it. We don't know where the fuck this is going. And you can use that credit card, too. I don't think they're going to be detailed enough to trace my financial records. She'll find me soon, just through word of mouth.”

She took the money reluctantly.

“Okay, I want you to go home now.”