Sanibel Surrender Vampire Werewolf Menage (Fanged Romance Series Book Five) (24 page)

"Very well," Maestru agreed much too easily, "allow one of us to sample her blood before we’re called to the next killing scene."

Heath closed his eyes, wondering if he counted to a thousand, if it would calm him down. "Molly, this will be far different than when Dru misted you here. This will be more like a feeding, though he won't take that much blood."

Her hands trembled when she pushed her hair away from her face. "And you're sure you can deal with this? I mean - I'm going to do this for Ail no matter what, but I don't want you in here if you're going to go nuts."

How could he turn bestial when she was so brave - a little mixed blood valiantly facing potent immortals? And her initiation into her true world had been thus far ghastly. "I must admit that this is goin’ to be hard for me, but as long as you can do it so can I."

"I think it would be better if I were to do the sampling," Oycher addressed Maestru. "I've only been able to pick up on her immediate thoughts, no long-term memories. If I were to feed from her, I may unlock whatever mental block the vampire has on her."

“He has a mental block on her?” Heath asked.

“Oh, I can sense another vampire’s hold and she surely has one,” Oycher confirmed.

Molly snarled, "Like Dru, you can read my mind?"

"Not in my usual way." Oycher slid his long, leather coat from his body and draped it over the bed. His arsenal of weapons clanked and settled. “And the brief glimpses I’m getting aren’t exactly memories."

She hugged herself. "Then how do we do this?"

Heath knew the minute that Oycher received silent confirmation from Maestru. That he had permission to sample Molly. It wasn't a small thing to allow a vampire at the vein, and his werewolf was having a time of it.

Oycher replied to Molly, "It would be best for you if I used my endorphins, to aid you in complete relaxation. Not only to keep you still so you will not wrench your delicate throat away from my fangs, but also to help me delve deep into the backburners of your mind and attempt to pry whatever this Vampyr has kept hidden."

Closing his eyes briefly, Heath realized he was about to watch Molly have one hell of an orgasm while sitting on the vampire’s lap. "Do it before..."

In vampiric speed, Oycher brought Molly to his lap, not giving her time to have second thoughts or to flee from him. If she were to run when he was set on biting her, it would entice his Species to emerge, transforming him into an entirely different vampire. And no one present wanted Molly to see that after she witnessed Heath going fully werewolf. Oycher struck quickly, piercing her throat with the cunning speed of a true predator. He held her by the nape. Her strawberry curls fisted in his hand. With his other, he held her waist tightly, pressing the flat of his hand between her shoulder blades. Her eyes fluttered before they closed. From her parted lips, short gasping breaths left her. As Oycher swallowed, one of Molly’s legs slid off his muscled thigh, parting her. And Heath could not only smell her arousal, he could see it plainly dampening her shorts. Maestru stood there, observing rather clinically, though he didn't say anything. When Molly cocked her head back, Oycher tightened his hand at her nape, his own vampiric claws emerging. But for the sake of Molly, Oycher maintained his humanlike form. And when she reached the peak of her orgasm, convulsing on his very lap, he hissed in the way of vampires, quickly withdrawing his fangs then licking her closed.

Heath wasted no time removing her from the vampire’s grasp, hoisting her and placing her tightly against his chest. Oycher had his eyes closed, his breath whooshing in and out of his body, his fists knotted on his knees with his claws cutting into his own flesh. But he maintained his composure, not coming after Molly for a full feed. When he finally opened his eyes, he looked directly at Maestru and said, "She is
full
of a Dynasty Vampyr’s blood, though, oddly, I do not feel poisoned."

Maestru's brow furled with consternation. "Did you unlock anything?”

“Yes, my Master. Like we thought, he never took her sexually but he forced her to feed from him.” His ocher-colored eyes blazed with vampiric fury. “It seems we’re dealing with none other than Extol.”

"Stop thinking about Wilson," Heath said quietly and then added, "and you’re very welcome for the clothes, lass. Though we asked Tatum to order you a few business suits for your interviews, it doesn't mean that we really want you to work. But after all is said and done, and we know that you're safe, we won't stand in your way."

He was right about one thing; she really did have to push Wilson out of her mind, or she would make herself physically ill and unable to concentrate on what she needed to do to end Extol. She cleared her throat, "You won't stand in my way for working, huh? That's a modern notion coming from someone of the fourteenth century, but I thank you for
allowing
me this concession." She held the sarcasm from her voice the best she knew how. Molly didn’t want to start anything this morning, while she enjoyed the valley of peace before she hiked this next mountain. "When the moment presents itself, I really would like to find another curator position somewhere close." Another fork full of orange French toast came towards her. She backed her head away and said, "Really, I'm finished."

"Are you sure, lass? You hardly touched anything, and you didn't eat your dinner last night."

"I'm sure it's hard for a man of your size to understand this, but after hearing that my ex-husband was murdered before I exposed my privates to vampires – where thereafter one fed from me, I really don’t have an appetite.” They had a stare-off for a few long seconds before he sighed dramatically and concentrated on his own breakfast. She scrunched her nose. "I can't believe you eat alligator sausage."

He chewed slowly, eyeing her with his molten silver gaze. "It's a dish I've only had in Florida so I mean to enjoy it while we’re here."

“While
we’re
still here?” she repeated but he said nothing. Molly balled up her napkin, deciding now was not the time for certain conversation. "How long will he be running through the marsh?" Ail had literally wolfed down his breakfast before turning into what she now knew was called mid-transformation, and then set off in a blurring pace across the wetlands. She followed the trail of his immortal aura for a while before it abruptly dropped. Now, she wondered what he was doing, where he even was.

"Give him a while longer," Heath said, pushing away his plate and grabbing his orange juice. "We have to run, usually daily. But at his age, he has a lot of pent-up steam to release."

"Well, he sure didn't
release
it in me." After they had arrived home from her old condo, she had literally slept in Heath's arms while he showered her and then placed her in the bed of the master suite. She remembered curling into Ail, with Heath on the other side, and sleeping against his back throughout the night. The only exception being when Heath had reached for her, around four in the morning, and gently eased them both into a relaxing orgasm. Even though they had awakened Ail, where he then crooned into her ear, whispering endearment after endearment and some of the nastiest dirty talk imaginable, he only watched Heath finish and fell asleep thereafter.

“No one should ever come between a werewolf and his mate. That convention is ingrained on us from the moment we are born. And yesterday, that nightmare happened to Ail. Give him time, lass.”

“What time do I have to give?” She gasped. “We’ve got to muddle through the next hours to reach our future.” Storm clouds were rolling over, surpassing the sun’s rays. “There’s a definite way we’re alike, Heath, in that we’re proactive.” She propped her foot on the next chair. “Since dawn, I think I’ve told you this a thousand times over: I’m not going to live my life looking over my shoulder, fearing that you or Ail will die the way Wilson did. There’s only one way for me to live, and that’s by facing my fears, not running from them.”

“There are times I admire your fierce bravery. Other times, I think you will break me with it.” Slowly, he placed his empty juice glass on the table. Then his hand darted out, cupping her nape. “In one way we agree: I don’t want to live my life looking over my shoulder, wondering what’s going to happen to you or to Ail. Aye, we will fight. I’ll agree to the plan.”

“We’re not waiting,” she said.

“No, we’re not waiting. When Oycher sifted through your thoughts, he managed to unlock a few key items about Extol.”

“Extol,” she repeated. “Yeah, I remember his name, though I figured he was lying. I mean, really, who gives his real name out when stalking someone. I wouldn’t.”

Heath laughed, dropping his hand to her shoulder and playing with an errant curl. “That’s because you don’t have the arrogance of a Dynasty Vampyr.”
“Okay,” she laughed mirthlessly, “so his name is really Extol and what else is there to him besides the fact that he’s a lunatic and a serial murderer.”

“He has a history of doing this many centuries ago.”

She fidgeted, thinking a little too hard on that one. “If the vampires knew of his history then…”
“Yes, lass, go on a say it. They let it slide, tis the way of long ago. Centuries ago, in fact, vampires had no regard for human life. The only thing that kept them from mass killin’ would be that -”

“They would starve to death.” She pulled her foot from the chair, giving it a hard kick.

“True. When meetin’ with Jayce I found out that Prince Volos is the one who asked those Gryphs to
protect
you when traveling across the Sanibel Causeway. He also vetoed a request that an unnamed Dynasty Vampyr made to obtain you as property.”

She scoffed. “As property?” What kind of world was this?

“We can only assume this request was from Extol, and, for whatever reason, Prince Volos is coverin’ it up.”

“If the Prince of Vampires is covering answers…”

“Oh, we’ll get the answers we’re seekin’. And just as you suggested, we’ll fight this,” he placed his hand over hers, his platinum cuff glinting in the dismal sun.

She shook her head. “We’ll fight for Ail.”

“I don’t want her fighting for me!” Ail misted in. “Don’t put her out there, Heath. It’s bad enough that a leech sucked her neck.”

“Is that why you wouldn’t touch me last night?” she asked, standing up and facing him. He stood shirtless, his board shorts riding low on his hips. And even in her state of concern and bewilderment, she wanted him.

He slung the ebony bangs from his eyes, exposing those hungry navy blues. “Don’t push it, Molly. Don’t look at me that way right now.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because I would take you too hard, that’s why,” he growled menacingly and she almost took a step back, but she forced herself to stay put and face him. “More so than I did in the cabana, you remember that, right?” His perfect lips curved, but it wasn’t a smile.

He reached across the table, brushing her arm with his, when lifting a glass of juice. He was sweaty and delicious. “Back to the day at hand,” she whispered, gesturing across the sky. On cue, a lightning bolt struck down somewhere in Fort Myers. “I have a supposed job interview at the historical museum in two hours.” And since Extol had said he would see her after the next rain, and Wilson had made a point in showing up at The Blue Pelican to tell her about the fraudulent interview, this screamed setup.

“And I told you no,” Ail replied, refusing to look at her now.

She bit her tongue, instead saying. “I’m falling hard for you.”

He whirled on his feet so fast that she lost her balance. Heath cupped her elbows before she fell backwards. “Both of you,” she admitted. “Don’t ask me how it happened this quickly because I haven’t a clue. But what I do know is that this fucker is after me, taunting me, and he will do nothing short of destroying everything I care for. And, yes, I still cared for Wilson.” She took a breath when Heath pulled her against his chest, her back to his front. “And he’s killing innocent women, who are frequenting underground sex clubs. Should I mention that you may be executed because you killed a Gryph, who, more than likely, was under this deranged vampire’s direct order to capture or kill me?”

“Molly,” Ail pleaded.

She held out her hand. “Let me finish. I will not lose you now. I refuse, so I’m going to this supposed job interview. I know that I will be surrounded by the best of the best.” At least, that’s what she’d been promised. “And with our plan in action, we’ll get him, Ail. We’re going to bring him down.”

“Molly!” Ail snapped.

“What!” She snapped right back.

“Say it again.”

“We’re going to bring him down.”

“No, the part where you said you’re falling for us.”

She had an excellent idea. “I will after you take me into Bane’s old playroom.”

In a flash, Heath slung her over his shoulder, slapping her ass and then rubbing away the sting. They must have been moving in werewolf speed, because she was in the playroom and placed on her feet in seconds. “I guess I don’t have to ask twice,” she quipped.