Magick Rising (27 page)

waves of pleasure so extreme she couldn’t think . . . didn’t want to think.

Her body arched with her release, a cry ripped from her throat as

satisfaction rippled through her, but Rurik gave her no peace. He continued

his skillful seduction, his mouth and hands in constant motion over her

body until she writhed beneath him.

“Please,” she gasped, tugging his clothes off, the need for him beyond

comprehension. She grasped his erection, caressing the silky skin, anxious to

feel him inside her.

“Soon.” The deep huskiness of his voice added to her desire. He drew

away from her grasp then caressed her breasts again while his lips wooed

hers, demanding . . . and receiving . . . a total response.

She dug her fingers into his back as she mated with his tongue. No one

had ever set her aflame like this, made her so aware of every molecule within

her. Leaving his mouth, she trailed kisses across his chest, pausing to nip at

his taut nipple.

He groaned and drew back to meet her gaze, his eyes black. “You will

be mine,” he declared then slid into her, filling her completely.

She erupted at once, pulsing around him, then found herself climbing

again as he loved her thoroughly with deep strokes, caressing hands and

tender lips. She met him equally, stroke for stroke, while she devoured his

mouth and clung to his shoulders.

Kissing her throat, he plunged deeper, creating new waves of pleasure

that triggered her gasp as she threw back her head, her body arching beneath

him.

For a fleeting moment, she felt his teeth scrape her neck. What . . . ?

Abruptly, Rurik groaned with his release, arching against her, the cords of

his neck prominent.

His tension eased, and he stole a soft kiss before rolling onto his side,

taking her with him.

“That was . . .” Hayley had to gasp for air. “That was incredible.” She’d

never believed lovemaking could be so fulfilling, so intense. Of course, her

experience was limited, but she knew what she’d shared with Rurik was not

a common thing. It couldn’t be.

Rurik smiled and brushed stray curls back from her face. “I knew it

would be like that with you.”

“Did you?” She couldn’t have imagined this even in her wildest dreams.

Her body still throbbed with complete satisfaction.

“I’ve waited a long time for someone like you. Your passion, your

fearlessness, your intelligence. They drew me in when I’d thought I’d least

expected it.” His eyes remained dark, serious, intense.

“I understand.” He’d intrigued her from the beginning, invaded her

lonely life despite her efforts to keep him away.

He continued to trace his finger over her face, lingering over her lips.

“Your wildness matches mine.”

She’d never seen herself in that light, but she liked his description.

“Wildness, eh?”

She nipped at his finger then slid her hands over his sculpted chest. As

good as Rurik looked in clothing, he appeared even better out of it, and she

wanted her chance to explore. As she brushed his nipple, he inhaled sharply,

and she smiled. Why not let that wildness roam?

Pushing him onto his back, she kissed him with a ferocity that surprised

her, yet his answering passion thrilled her. “My turn,” she murmured. He’d

seduced her. Could she do the same to him? Could she make him tremble

with the same yearning that had racked her body?

She could.

And did.

HAYLEY AWOKE IN that quiet period between night and dawn when the

gray mist of approaching morning blanketed the land. The night had been

exhausting, yet far more wonderful than any she could remember.

She stretched, aware of a slight ache in her body. A very nice ache.

Laying her head on Rurik’s bare chest, she sighed and snuggled closer

when he tightened his arms around her. She’d never expected to find

someone like him when she’d first embarked on her mission. But now she

couldn’t imagine not having him in her life.

Still, the Destroyer remained free. Here. In the city. Somewhere.

He had to be stopped before Hayley could allow herself to envision any

type of future with Rurik. For the first time, she felt confident she could

stop her sister’s killer. With Rurik by her side, she could do anything.

Sleep tugged at her, and she sighed, ready to let it take her as Rurik

lightly ran his hand down her back.

Yet something was wrong. Something that kept her from drifting away

into erotic dreams. But what?

The distant chimes of a church clock brought with it a dawning

awareness as her heartbeat pulsed in time to the bongs. Hayley frowned and

pressed her ear closer to Rurik’s chest.

He had no heartbeat.

She drew back with rising dread, realizing that the scrapes she’d left on

his chest during their lovemaking had vanished during the night. Nobody

could heal that fast. She watched him sleeping. His chest didn’t move, gave

no sign of rhythmic breathing.

No heartbeat.

No breath.

Dear Lord, Rurik was a vampire.

HAYLEY THREW herself out of bed toward her backpack of stakes but

ended up tangled in the sheet while she groped for a weapon. Finally snaring

a stake, she turned back toward the bed to find Rurik watching her, a sad

smile on the same lips that had kissed her.

“Don’t you think if I intended to bite you, I would have done so before

now?” he asked.

Was he admitting it? Hayley scrambled to her feet, conscious of her

nudity but afraid to let down her guard long enough to pull on some clothes.

“You’re a vampire.”

“I am
strigoii
. A living vampire.” He slid from the bed and stood before

her, proud in his nakedness. “I tried to explain it to you before.”

She frowned. “A living vampire? That’s impossible.” Vampires came

from people who’d been killed. How could one be living? “You’re dead. An

evil creature.” Yet he’d given her the most intense pleasure of her life.

The sadness that filled his gaze gave her a moment’s pause. “I would

have died. True. But instead, I awakened to a new life.”

She resisted the urge to lower her guard, to comfort him. She had to

remember what he was. “As a bloodsucker.”

“Not in the manner you mean.”

Rurik stepped toward her, and Hayley raised the stake, uncertain for the

first time if she could actually use it. “Don’t come any closer.”

He hesitated. “What we shared meant nothing to you then?”

“Don’t change the subject.” She didn’t want to think about it. Dear

God, she’d made love to a vampire.

More than once.

And enjoyed it.

A lot.

“The feelings are real, Hayley. Don’t dismiss them because of what little

you know about vampires.” His gaze held hers. “I care about you. You’re in

no danger from me.”

Her hand trembled as did the breath she drew in. “You’re a vampire.”

“Thus I should be eliminated?” Rurik spread his arms wide, displaying

his magnificent chest. “Very well then. Do it.”

She should. He was a vampire.

She raised the stake then lowered it. She couldn’t. Not like this.

Hayley took a step back. “Get out of here. Now.” If he stayed, he might

actually convince her he wasn’t evil, that everything she believed was a lie.

And she knew better. She’d seen the Destroyer’s victims, seen what they did

when they arose.

Dear Lord, the Destroyer!

Her blood froze. “Are you the Destroyer?” she demanded. Her

knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip on the stake. No matter what

she felt, she’d have to eliminate him.

He met her gaze. “I did not kill your sister.”

His words rang with sincerity. Would the Destroyer lie? Of course. But

now? When he had her at her most vulnerable? What purpose would it

serve? Hayley edged back toward the bathroom, hating the conflict within

her. “Get out.”

“May I dress first?” His calmness went against the behavior of every

vampire she’d ever met.

“Go ahead, but don’t try anything, or I swear I’ll stake you.” She hoped

he believed her. She didn’t. Her heart hammered against her ribs as he pulled

on his clothing, his movements unhurried and sure, his eyes sad.

En route to the door, he paused and extended his hand. Hayley jerked

back at once, and he dropped it. “We’ll talk later,” he said.

“I—”

Once you’ve gotten over your shock, you’ll have questions.” He gave

her a wan smile, nodded, then left the room.

Hayley stared at the closed door, half-expecting him to return, to attack,

to destroy as every other vampire she’d ever met. What was going on? Why

was he so different?

This was unreal.

With a dry laugh, she pulled on her clothes. Vampires were unreal. The

fact that she’d made love to a vampire was very unreal. The fact that she’d

experienced the most fantastic love-making in existence went beyond

unreal.

Could there be living vampires? Rational creatures? And what the hell

were
strigoii
?

She spent the day in a daze, wandering the streets of Manitou unseeing

of the crowds, her thoughts whirling, one question leading to another. True,

Rurik’s skin was cool but not cold. His lips . . . no, she didn’t want to go

there.

Yet he was intelligent, well-mannered, well-dressed. So damned sexy.

So . . . so human.

She’d seen him out during the day. How was that possible? She’d felt

his hot breath, heard his uneven gasps for air as they made love. Yet this

morning he’d appeared nearly dead. Did he only cease to breathe when he

slept?

By late afternoon, she sat on the bank of the river and watched the cold

mountain water dance over the stones, every bit as much in disarray as her

thoughts. Had Rurik attacked the girl in the park? He’d arrived so

quickly—just after Hayley had chased off the attacker. Could it have been

Rurik instead of Paul?

Or worse, was he the Destroyer? Had he lied to her? Had she slept with

the creature that murdered her sister? Hayley’s stomach clenched, and she

bent over her folded arms, wanting to retch.

“Hayley?”

Hearing Rurik’s quiet voice, she turned to see him standing above her

on the top of the bank. How could she have been so careless as to lose track

of time, to not notice the darkness settling? Every muscle tense, she climbed

the slope to face him.

“Tell me the truth this time. Are you the Destroyer?” Better to know, to

face certain death than to wonder.

“I told you already. I didn’t kill your sister or Paul or any of the people

you’ve had to destroy.” His words rang with sincerity. “Believe me, Hayley.

I do not kill innocents.”

She wanted to believe him. Was it her attraction to him or the days

she’d spent with him that made her so willing to listen? “What is
strigoii
?”

He extended his hand. “Walk with me, and I’ll answer all your

questions.”

Did he intend to lead her somewhere and kill her? Hayley hesitated. She

still had stakes in her belt. Slowly, she took his hand. As always, a tingle of

awareness shivered over her skin at his touch. How could it now, when she

knew what he was? Yet how could she not be aware of him? Rurik might be

a vampire, but he was also the sexiest man—dead or alive—she had ever

met.

“There are two types of vampire,” Rurik said as they walked along the

river. “The
strigoii
and the
moroii
.
Strigoii
are those deliberately made into

vampires by being given some of the vampire’s blood as they are dying.

They reach the brink of death then come back as rational vampires. They’re

transformed into a new life form while retaining all that made them

human—their emotions, their intelligence, their personality, their

memories.”

“Do they drink blood?” She had to know.

“Yes.” He met her gaze. “But it doesn’t have to be human blood.

Animal blood obtained from a butcher works just as well. We don’t kill for

our sustenance.”

Hayley tugged her hand free. “When was the last time you had human

blood?” Just because animal blood would work didn’t mean he drank it.

“About three hundred years ago. When I first became
strigoii
, I was

taught to drink human blood, but I could not accept it. I ran away from my

strigoii
family, from what I was, and taught myself to drink animal blood.”

“Three hundred . . .” Hayley blinked. She’d always known vampires

were immortal but to actually meet someone that old . . . “What did you do

then?”

“I fought in wars. Any war. Any fight that would have me. For decades.

I felt I didn’t deserve to live, yet I couldn’t die.” He gave her a dry smile. “I

won honors for my bravery, for the fact that I could eliminate many of the

enemy and returned unharmed.”

“So you do kill.” But she could feel his anguish over doing so.

“In battle, yes. Only then.” He stared unseeingly in the distance. “I

finally realized that I had to make peace with myself, with what I was. That