The Chosen Sin (20 page)

Alejandro fought, but was unable to throw off the two vamps who each had one of his arms firmly in their grasp. They muscled him up against the wall and pinned him there, where he seethed and glowered darkly at Sante.

Sante hadn't moved. His expression hadn't changed. The older vamp's gaze was centered on her. Daria's breath hitched in her throat. She didn't like having those keen eyes focused so intently on her face.

Keeping his gaze centered on her, Sante spoke. “Over these past few years, as I have moved into my fourth century as a Chosen, I have developed a new ability. I can sip from a person's veins, Chosen or not, and tell many things about them. You would be surprised at the secrets an individual's blood will tell. If you would like, I can spare you the embarrassment of taking blood from Valerie and simply do it myself.”

Panic sliced through her. The implications were clear—if Sante tasted her blood, he might be able to tell they weren't truly mated. Her fingers curled into the blankets and fisted.

He might be able to recognize her.

Sante stood in one flowing, controlled movement. His gaze swept over her. “It will be no hardship. She's very attractive. You don't mind, do you, Alejandro?”

Alejandro exploded into action, fighting against the guards and swearing in Spanish at the top of his lungs. “You won't put a tooth on her, Sante.” His voice came out a low, dangerous growl and his fangs had extended. The sharp white tips peeked from between his lips.

Sante took a step toward the end of the bed. “You said you wouldn't draw her blood while I watched, yet I must have this issue settled before I leave the room. What else do you expect me to do? She is very beautiful, your Valerie, I don't mind touching her.”

This could not happen. Daria understood that Sante was deliberately baiting Alejandro, yet she could see the intention in Sante's eyes to truly carry out his threat.

Daria moved warily to the opposite side of the bed, but not far enough out of his reach. Sante touched her cheek, his thumb drawing a slow arc under her eye. She suppressed a shudder of revulsion, but couldn't avoid turning her face away.

“Don't touch her,” Alejandro growled.

“Then agree to my request. It's such a small one.”

“All right! Yes, I agree!” He jerked his arms from the grasp of the guards. “Call off the muscle and I'll do it.”

Sante removed his hand from her cheek, his gaze still holding hers. “I admit I'm a little disappointed you gave in, Alejandro.”

Gave in.
The use of those words was not lost on Daria. Sante was trying to needle Alejandro's pride.

Sante turned and looked at his men. “Desist,” he ordered tersely, and they backed away from Alejandro. Then Sante backed away himself, giving Alejandro room to move.

Alejandro immediately stepped between her and Sante in a protective gesture. He stood for a moment, staring at the older vampire, aggression and threat in his stance and, even though Daria couldn't see, probably on his face.

A slow smile spread across Sante's mouth. “Do you like it here at the Shining Way, Alejandro?”

“Not at the moment,” he ground out in response.

Sante flashed fang and his eyes glittered in the half-light. “Come now. Being bound to Lucinda all those years must have broken the alpha in you at least a little.”

“Apparently not.”

“If you want to stay here, you must play by my rules. If you are deemed trustworthy, I may want you in my inner circle. I have always had high regard for you. I know what kind of a person you are. You hold strong ideals and loyalty. However, we need to get over this suspicion that has been placed on you first. Think of this as a test. If you pass, the rewards will be great. Do you understand?”

The possibility of Alejandro being included in Sante's inner circle practically made Daria salivate. She was certain the words had gone well marked by Alejandro also.

She risked opening a mental pathway.
Just do it.
He made no indication that he'd heard her.

Alejandro didn't answer Sante verbally. Instead he turned and fixed her with his intense gaze. His pupils were blown in his agitation and his fangs were still extended. Pissed-off resignation sat in the hunch of his shoulders and the grim set of his lips.

Daria held his gaze for a moment, communicating without words. They had to do this.
They had to make it look good.
The mission depended on it. Their
lives
depended on it.

He approached and leaned toward her. She had to fight her gut impulse to back away. Alejandro didn't give her a choice, anyway. He flipped the blankets off her, grabbed her calf, and dragged her toward him.

15

THE boxer shorts she wore slid up as he pulled her across the mattress to lay prone beneath his big body. If Sante hadn't been in the room with them the action would've made her wet. As it was, it only made her uneasy.

Alejandro hesitated, noting the sudden stiffness in her body. He squeezed her calf and then ran his palm up her skin slowly, to the back of her knee. Her breath quickened, but it did little to relax her. Flicking her gaze to the left, she saw that Sante had resumed his position against the wall, settling in for the show.

Alejandro yanked her toward him again, this time a little rougher. It was an unspoken directive. He was right; she had to get her head in the game.

Daria sat up, curling one hand around Alejandro's neck and drawing him down over her as she sealed her mouth to his. A hungry sound rumbled out of him. He grasped her boxer shorts and jerked them downward, drawing a quick gasp of surprise from her throat.

Once he had the article of clothing down and off, leaving her in only her cotton underwear and the tank top she wore to bed, he inserted his knee between her thighs and forced them apart. Then he came down on top of her, dragging her leg up over his hip and grinding his cock against her.

Apparently Sante being in the room hadn't affected
his
sex drive.

Her entire body went taut. She drew a breath, trying to relax herself, trying to soften her muscles and command the soft, erotic wash of pleasure over her body that would be present if her mate was about to take her blood. However that kind of mood couldn't be commanded, not now. Not with Sante here. Not even for the kind of stakes they were playing for.

Thinking about her every move, she spread her legs for him. Alejandro's touch had produced somewhat of a reaction in her. Her breasts had grown heavier and her hard nipples pressed against the fabric of her tank top.

Alejandro's fingers fisted in her hair and he used it to yank her head to the side. He nibbled and sucked his way from her mouth, over her chin and then along her throat, raising goose bumps along her body. His fangs nicked her skin and a short burst of pain exploded, followed quickly by a rush of intense pleasure. Alejandro had unfurled a massive amount of veil over her, mischiefing her mind.

Ah, thank god . . .
Even though she'd forbidden him, he was using his “special ingredient.”

Normally it would have alarmed her, pissed her off. Now she relaxed into it gratefully. It filled her like a drug, erasing her inhibitions and making the threat of Sante in the room only a distant concern.

Soon all she could think about were her body's needs.

Her eyes closed and she shuddered in a long erotic sigh. Her whole world became Alejandro—his hands on her body, his cock rubbing rhythmically against her pussy through their clothes, his lips and mouth moving over her skin. Between her thighs, she warmed and plumped, knowing the scent of her arousal now filled the room.

He reached down and pulled her panties down and off, then dragged his fingers over her heated flesh, stopping to rub her clit until she whimpered against his lips.

Her cunt felt heavy and warm. Alejandro didn't ever have to do much to elicit that reaction in her. All he had to do was touch her, kiss her, look at her. Her breasts strained against her tank top. She whimpered, trying not to beg for his hands on her, the slow, long glide of his cock deep inside her.

Alejandro slid his thigh between her legs and pressed up against her sex. She let out a sharp breath at the contact, her fingers twining through his hair. He groaned against her throat and rocked his leg back and forth, stimulating that needy part of her anatomy.

He yanked her head to the side, exposing the vulnerable column of her throat. Keeping up the slow rock between her thighs, he traced his skillful lips over her flesh, raising more goose bumps over her.

All the world faded away, replaced by Alejandro's will and her wanting body. She opened her eyes briefly in a haze of lust as he brushed his fangs over her skin. He bit and a wash of orgasmic bliss flowed over her. She dug her fingers into his upper arms and hung on under the onslaught.

Alejandro made a low, pleasured sound of approval and moved from her throat, where a bead of her blood welled, down her chest. His hands found the small of her back, arching her up and into him as he nipped gently at each of her nipples through the material of her tank top, making them sensitive and erect. Her fingers fisted in his hair, twining through the silky strands as she fought the urge to move her hips to increase the delicious friction of him pressing against her sex.

Someone moved out of the corner of her eye, but she couldn't bring herself to glance over, couldn't bring herself to . . .
care
. Not when Alejandro was moving further down her body still, pushing up the hem of her tank top and dragging his sensual lips over her abdomen, stroking the pad of his index finger over her clit until she spread her legs for him. Under the heavy veil he'd used on her, she regarded nothing important but the pleasure washing over her and the anticipation of Alejandro's next bite.

He nipped at the place where her thigh met her sex, such a sensitive area, and she shuddered. His fingers grasped her legs and pushed them apart as he dragged his tongue down her skin to her inner thigh. There, he brushed his fangs—a slow, hard rub in amongst all the softness. It made her shiver, made her clit throb with the need to be touched. Alejandro did not oblige her. As much as she wanted it, some deep, buried part of her was grateful.

Alejandro's heavy, warm hand rested on her hip. His other hand braced against her opposite knee, forcing her legs apart and holding her down. Her hands fisted in the blankets on either side of her and her body tingled with awareness. He licked the area high on her inner thigh, laving it with his tongue. After he'd laid a lingering kiss, the sharp points of his fangs pricked her skin, a sweet hint of pain playing counterpoint to the pleasure.

Then he bit.

His fangs slid into her flesh and that familiar ecstasy enveloped her body, tingling along her nerve endings. It brought her just shy of a climax and left her teetering there, on the brink. He pulled on her blood, and his suction brought a new wave of pleasure. Her clit pulsed, swollen and throbbing with the need to be touched.

Daria arched her back and fought the rising whimper in her throat. She held on to the blankets with all she had, her body riding that leading edge of climax but, maddeningly, not tipping over.

Alejandro took his time, dragging out his feeding and keeping her there, hovering on the edge. By the time he'd finished, she was a frustrated mess from the sexual teasing.

He released her leg and climbed up her body, threading his hands through her hair and staring down at her in the semidarkness.

For that one moment, their bodies strung tight from sexual need, it truly was as if they were all alone.

Bare desire shone in Alejandro's eyes, touched with caring for her. It was the caring that made her want him. It was the leading edge of love that she could see glimmering in the depths of his dark eyes, like a velvet blanket brushing over her skin, holding her close and warming her on a cold, cold night.

“I've seen enough,” said Sante from across the room. Neither Daria nor Alejandro moved or acknowledged his presence at all. “It is clear you are mated. This matter is put to rest.”

Alejandro didn't break his hold on her gaze as Sante and his men left. Once the door closed, Alejandro lowered his head and kissed her. Passion coursed between the two of them, tangible as heat against their skin. Daria had to have him now, damn all else. Why had she rejected him before now?

He lifted his head. “Daria,” he whispered.

She pulled at his clothing, trying desperately to free him of the fabric that separated her body from his. All she wanted was the sensation of his bare skin sliding along hers, his cock buried deep within her cunt.

“Daria!” He grabbed her wrists and pressed them to the mattress on either side of her head. “Listen to me.”

Panting, she tried to focus on his face through the haze of lust.

“I tore down your walls with veil. I took away all your inhibitions to get you through that. What you're feeling now are your impulses free from your misgivings, your fears, and perhaps your better sense. Do you understand? I did the thing you told me never to do to you. Right now, it's like you're drunk. I can't do this while you're this way. It would be taking advantage.”

She fought against his grasp until he released her, and she grabbed the front of his shirt, dragging him down nose to nose with her. “Alejandro, fuck your respect for me. Screw your honor. I want you. Veil or not. You will take away this need I have of you right here, right now.”

“Daria—”

She pushed up, her fangs lengthening, going straight for his throat. Her fangs bit at the time she unfurled her veil. Alejandro's big body stiffened above hers and he let out a low groan of pleasure as she took what she needed from him.