Opal (Rare Gems Series Book 4) (11 page)

She saw
Sloan lying on the couch that was in Blair’s office. The thought of turning around and running made her pause in mid-step, but then he looked at her. There was something there, pain for sure, but something that made her stare at him until he put out his hand. Opal heard the door close behind her and knew that Blair had left them. She walked to the couch and sat down on her knees beside him as he held her hand.

“
What happened?” She lifted the blood-soaked towel and looked at the claw marks along his belly. The sight of his wounds nearly made her belly turn up, but she recovered when he put his hand on her cheek. She felt the sticky blood that had been on his fingers and the coldness of his touch. “You’re too weak, aren’t you? Why didn’t you just tell me that you needed me to come to where you were instead of coming here?”

“
The sun was coming up and I couldn’t go to cover by myself. Blair thought he’d keep me safe here until I could get well enough to travel.” Sloan shifted slightly on the couch, and she could see the pain on his face. “We were ambushed. I was thinking of this pretty little woman that I had the most incredible sex with this morning, and Fletcher came around the corner and hit me.” Her temper flared, and he laughed.

“
Well, if you had gotten what you needed from her, why are you still hurt?” She started to stand, but he held her to him. “I don’t want to be near you right now. I have an uncontrolled urge to hit you.”

“
I was talking about you, Opal. This morning in your little office nearly made me want to hunt you down and taste you that way again. It…well, thoughts of you screaming out my name again had me sort of distracted.” He kissed her gently on the mouth. “Christ, do you have any idea how much I enjoyed that? Drinking from you while your pussy gushed out your cream? I wish I could do it again and again.” Her body heated and she shifted on her knees to try and relieve the sudden pressure. When Sloan moaned, she wanted to open her legs and give herself to him, but he was hurt and needed her.

“
You should pay attention to your surroundings and you’d not be cut up like this.” He nodded, and she felt tears start to fall. “I could feel your hurt when I heard from you. I can only assume that you’d blocked me from feeling you before. I…you terrified me when you asked for me to come here. I thought…I don’t know what I thought, but I was afraid.”

“
You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.” He kissed the tear that was falling on her cheek. Then he kissed her mouth. She felt his cold lips move along her throat before he lifted his head and looked at her. “I have to ask you something before I drink from you. And I want you to think about your answer before you say it. All right?”

“
Feed first. Right now you’re too weak to talk about anything. Just do it.” He shook his head. Fear made her sharper than she’d meant to be. “Why the hell not? You called me here, didn’t you?”

“
I did. I wish that I hadn’t, but I did.” She sat back on her heels as her heart shattered in her chest. She could hardly breathe around the pain of it. And as she started to stand up to leave, he continued. “If you were not to feed me I would die. You’d live because of your being a wolf, but then you’d be rid of me. And we both know you want that more than anything. But you’re going to be well cared for, even when I die. I have taken the liberty of putting your name alongside of mine on all my accounts in the event that I do perish. I wouldn’t blame you for leaving me here, but when I was bleeding out, all I could think about was how much I dearly love you.”

“
You don’t mean that. You don’t love me at all. You’re just afraid and I’m here. You don’t have to lie to me. You don’t love me.” He nodded and held her hand. “Sloan, this is just stupid. Feed so we can get you home and into your lair.”

“
No. I don’t think that’s a good idea. Because as much as I’d like to tell you that I’m only saying these things to you to guilt you into saying you love me too, I know that you don’t. And I no longer want to make you stay with me when this is an easy out for you. You and I would be the only ones that would ever know. And Blair already thinks that I’m going to die anyway. I lost a great deal of blood back there.”

“
Why are you doing this? Why are you saying these things right now, Sloan? You think so little of me that you think I could let you die? You think that—” He cut her off with his mouth. It was hungry and full of need, but before she could let him bite her, he was pulling back and staring at her. “I can’t do this. You have to know that this isn’t right.”

He nodded and closed his eyes.
As soon as she stood up, she went to the door and looked back at him. He expected her to leave him. He really expected her to simply leave him to die. And why not? She was just as her grandmother said, a whiney brat who didn’t know a good thing when she had it. She turned the lock, and he opened his eyes to look at her.

“
I’m going to heal you, but I have rules first, all right? You feed from me and I want to ride you. I’ve never done that before, and I’d very much like to try it if you’re up to it.” He watched her walk to him as she kicked off her shoes. “I think that’s only fair, don’t you? I give you my blood and I get to come all over your cock.”

“
Ride me how?” She knew that he’d understood her and hoped that he’d just say it, but he was waiting on her. Opal swallowed hard as she pulled her blouse up and over her head. He didn’t say anything as she took off the rest of her clothing except the panties and bra she’d bought for herself while she’d been in Paris. She knew that he liked them, and decided right then and there to get more of the lacy, pretty things.

“
As in you have your cock deep inside of me and I sit on you while taking my own pleasure. I’ll play with my nipples too, make them ache to be suckled by you. Will you do that for me, Sloan? Suckle at my breast while I ride your cock?” He nodded and didn’t move when she stood in front of him. “You’ll have to help me. I have no idea how to make this work. And you should know something else…I’m afraid. I’m terrified that I’ll disappoint you.”

“
Never. You could never disappoint me in anything you do. Right now I’d like to do just what you want, but I’m afraid I don’t have enough blood in me to get hard right now.” She shivered when she remembered his wound. “I can…will you let me feed from your wrist first? I won’t ask you to seal the wounds with your mouth because I know that’s asking a lot. But you can—”

“
Tell me how to do it.” He stared at her, and she dropped to her knees. “Do I just hold you together and seal it shut like I do at your neck?”

Lifting
the padding, she closed her eyes as he helped her pull the two large wounds together. She ran her tongue over the first one, the smaller of the two, before she looked at him. His face was in pain and she asked him if he was hurting.

“
I am. But not from what you’re doing. I want to feel you lick my cock that way as soon as I’m hard. I want to fuck you down the back of your throat until I fill you.” She sealed the other wound quickly. Then he took her throat. His bite was savage, but she held him to her. She nearly came when he moaned. There was something so primal, so erotic to have him take her so hard. She felt her pussy soak her panties and touched her clit while he fed. He tore his mouth from her and looked at her.

“
Ride me.” She moved over him, and he tore her panties from her body. As soon as he was cradled in her hips, his hands grabbed her hips and he pulled her down over him. Neither of them moved for several seconds. He not only filled her but he consumed her with his look too. Then he sat up and took her nipple into his mouth and bit her again. Opal came, screaming his name as he rolled her to the floor and took her hard.

“
Next time.” She looked up at him as she pulled her hips up and he pounded into her. “Next time I have you naked I’m going to let you ride me until your heart’s content. But right now, I need to fuck you until neither of us can move. Christ, baby, I love you.”

Sloan kissed her again. He wasn
’t holding back now but showing her with his mouth and body just how much he wanted her, how much he loved her. When she came again, her body seemed to fuse with his as he came with her. When he bit her this time, sinking his fangs into her pulse, she felt her love for him pour from her every pore. Opal screamed again when he brought her to a blinding climax by entering her mind and him showing her what she was making him feel. Opal let the darkness slide over her as she held her secret for just a little while longer as she came again. Her body seemed not to be able to take so much emotion and pleasure. Opal was in love with her mate.

~~~

Fletcher had to find a place to lay low. He was hurting, and not just a little either. He looked down at his broken arm and the blood that dripped from his neck. That fucking bastard had clawed him. How the hell was he supposed to know that Crane was able to shift like that? Mother cock sucker, he was hurting.

He
’d gotten out of his house before sun up. Fletcher hadn’t, of course, had a chance to feed when he’d come upon the two men, Crane and Rufus, standing there talking. Crane had seen him at the last second, but Rufus didn’t until the man turned to him. He’d been so panicky to see Henson coming out of the building too that he’d reacted before thinking that three-on-one were odds not in his favor. But before he could lash out and kill any of them, Crane had shifted so quickly that it had startled Fletcher for a few seconds. And that was all it had taken for him to get the living shit beat out of him. Lucky for him, when Crane had gone down after he shifted, Henson had moved to help him rather than chase after him. Rufus had been hurt too, but Fletcher doubted that it was as badly as he’d been hurt.

The
building that he moved into was close to his own home, but he knew that if he went there, he was as good as dead. First of all, there was no food for him; and secondly, that would be the first place they looked. He was sure that Rufus was hot on the trail to get there and look him up. Fletcher was worried that Henson could find him anyway, but so long as he had to attend to Crane, it might buy him some time to heal. Fat chance.

Fletcher was weak from blood loss
, and worse yet, he’d been broken up too. He needed to feed or he’d die. But his clothing was a mess, so going to find food was out, and he’d never had a cell phone so he couldn’t even call anyone to come to his aid. Not that he knew anyone that wouldn’t just as soon stake him than help him. Marvin had been his only friend in that respect, and he was dead now.

The
building was completely devoid of all life, including that of humans. If he wasn’t hurting so badly, he might think that was a good thing, but right now, he needed something or someone to help. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he had to do something. Fletcher laid down in the darkest corner of the basement he could find and looked down at his body. Fuck.

Not only was his arm nearly shattered
, but two of his fingers were missing as well. He could heal himself if he found someone to feed him, but there was no way for him to grow parts back. He mourned the loss of his digits as he continued his inventory. Fletcher knew that his face had suffered as well, and moaned over the loss of what he thought of as his best feature. Closing his eyes one at a time, he could see that while his face was hurting, he could still see. He looked down at his legs.

Rufus
had gotten in on that. Fletcher knew that he’d have to make him pay, but he had to get the wounds taken care of first. The large gash at his groin had barely missed his main artery, but he was still bleeding like he’d cut it open. The tourniquet was soaked through with his blood, but now that he was no longer moving, it wasn’t pouring from him. He’d been terrified when he’d seen that opened bleeding wound, and thought for sure he was dead.

“
Slimy douche canoe.” Fletcher felt somewhat better as he shouted out names to the men who had hurt him. He tried to think around the pain for more names to call the three men, and started making things up. “Captain idiotic rectum cock knob. Dicknosed sphincter waffle goblin.” Laughing despite the pain, he thought one more should do it. “Pompous bitch turd fuck nut lazy crotch muffin.”

Fletcher felt his body begin to shut down and wondered briefly if he
’d wake up at sunset, or even if he wanted to. The pain was incredible and he reached out for any human he could find. As he drifted off, he heard someone come near him, but was too weak to fight them if they came to cause him harm. Just as the old man walked up to him and put his finger at his throat to no doubt check for a pulse, Fletcher used the last of his strength to grab the man and bring him to his mouth. The taint of drugs and sickness nearly had him pull away, but he needed the nourishment more than he liked to think about. Instead of letting the man go when he’d had enough, Fletcher drank until he felt like he couldn’t hold any more, then let himself slip away. The man’s last breath was all Fletcher heard before the sun pulled him under.

Chapter
7

Ruby was exhausted. Not only had she put in a sixteen-hour shift, she’d been on her feet for most of that. And the body count was continuing to grow from the accident that had taken more lives than it hadn’t, but now it was starting to slow and she needed a break. She’d finally had to tell the nurses that she was too hungry, and was going to see about getting something to eat. But as she entered the small doctor’s lounge, she felt the vampire enter behind her. Ruby turned slowly and looked at the handsome yet blood-covered man.