The Quest (8 page)

My robe fell open, exposing my naked body. “Boss–”

“It’s just sex.” Both hands grazed my inner thighs. “To help us unwind.”

He seduced me with his enticing touch, luring voice and tender kisses. His idea of relaxing definitely intrigued me considering my first night at my new job had been bumpy. And since it was just sex… He kissed the inside of my thigh, dangerously close to where I really wanted his mouth to be.

“You make it difficult to say no,” I said, inching my legs apart.

His eyes met mine. “Then don’t say it.”

I smiled in a way that showed my approval. A little sex would definitely help us relax. Why not indulge?

Saying nothing more, he lowered his head between my legs and slid his tongue between my wet folds. Instantly, my body blossomed like a flower, feeling alive, radiant, insanely aroused. As his tongue fondled my core, my nipples hardened and shards of ecstasy ignited within my body.

I grazed my fingers over his scalp. “Oh God, Boss.” Each stroke of his tongue tortured and pleased me. God help me, I was willing to do anything for more.

I leaned back on the bed, relaxing and enjoying his electrifying caress. Flicks of his tongue sent heated zings through me. Desire controlled my thoughts. More. More. Yes. Yes. When he suckled on my nub, I moaned. The anticipation was almost too much. Almost.

He lifted his head and slid two fingers inside me. “Feeling more relaxed yet?” He thumbed my clit, teasing me.

“Getting there,” I replied while he slid his fingers in and out. Oh, I was ready to burst.

“Good.” A naughty smile spread across his face as he withdrew his fingers and dragged them over my sensitive jewel.

I bit down on my lip. The vampire was evil, the way he teased me, played with me and drove me wild with lust. If my orgasm didn’t pop soon, I was going to climb on top of him and take a sweet ride.

He lowered his head and delved that wicked tongue of his back inside my wet folds. A gasp leaped from me. He rubbed my core deeply, passionately and to the point my nipples ached, and I wanted to scream. When my release finally came, I did.

Boss rose from his knees and unzipped his slacks while my orgasm throbbed pleasantly. His slacks dropped, revealing his ragging hard-on. I scooted up the bed, keeping my eye on the prize. The robe slipped off my shoulders, and I wiggled my arms free.

Boss crawled over me before I reached the pillows. He glided his fingers over my core before sliding several of them inside me. “Better?” He pushed his fingers deep and then withdrew them to rub my clit.

Biting my lip, I nodded. Could I handle more? You bet I could. After all, I had a really rough day–er, night.

While he continued to drive me crazy with his tormenting touch, he took one of my breasts into his free hand and my nipple into his mouth. I thought he was evil before, now I believed he was cruel. He sucked and nipped on my tender breast, raising my temperature, accelerating my breathing and bringing me closer to another orgasm. My body felt erotically charged and aroused. After he finished with my one nipple, he quickly claimed the other, giving it equal treatment.

I reached between our bodies and wrapped my hand around his rigid cock. By God, if he wanted to torture me, I would reciprocate. I stroked his length and grazed my thumb over the tip of his penis.

He stopped sucking on my breast and lifted his body. “You are a very dangerous woman.” The tips of his fangs showed under his lip.

“No biting, you promised.”

He withdrew his fingers from me, took his cock and rubbed it over my core. “I won’t.”

Before I opened my mouth to speak, he pumped his solid cock into me. He molded his cool body to my heated one and drove deep and fast. I gripped his buttocks and moved in rhythm with him, taking every bit of his pleasure. His passion intensified, evident from his grinding thrusts. I reveled in every bit of his movement inside me and dug my nails into his flesh. He entwined his fingers in my hair, stared deep into my eyes and hovered his lips above mine.

I struggled to catch my breath as another anticipated climax approached. My body felt electrified and tingly, like a spark ready to burst into flames. He pumped faster, filling me with every bit of his thick cock. God, he felt so fucking good inside me. I wanted to milk him for every drop, every spasm, every bit of energy he had. “Let me on top.”

Boss nodded, then rolled over, clutching me in his arms. With a little maneuvering, I sat up, keeping him fully sheathed inside me.

“Oh yes…” I sat up straighter and began riding him. He was mine to claim for the next few minutes, and I damn well intended to.

I braced my hands on his chest while I rocked my hips. His hands gripped my sides, fingers pressed into my flesh, and at the right moment, he thrust up. I gasped, pleasure and pain filling me, driving me wild. My efforts quickened with desperate zeal. I needed release, needed it more than air, food or blood. I would take nothing less.

Passion consumed me, and I closed my eyes. “Yes, yes.” He lifted his body, meeting my demand and urgently seeking his own release. “Yes, Anubis, yes.”

I gasped loudly when my orgasm ruptured. Violent spasms rippled within me. Seconds later, Boss groaned, and his hard cock hammered against my inner walls.

The rush of relief overwhelmed me. My body felt pleasingly numb, a touch weary, erotically satisfied. Boss wanted me to relax, and now that I felt sated, I could definitely take it easy. Lowering my body over his, I opened my eyes and smiled.

“That was most satisfying. I’m feeling much,
much
better now,” I said, gazing at him.

He brushed the hair from my face and held my face in his hands while he stared deeply into my eyes. “Who is Anubis?”

Chapter 6

Anubis? My heart thumped fast while I racked my mind, trying to figure out where I’d heard the name before. I’d said it in the heat of passion with Boss. Why did I say the name at that particular moment? I stared into his eyes while images flashed in my head. Me in the desert. Walking. The bright sun. A large stone structure. Me having sex. A vampire’s sharp fangs deep in my neck. Oh shit.

I swallowed hard. The flashback I’d had six weeks ago had replayed in my head, and Boss had seen it. I couldn’t deny the spotty memory.

“Who is he?” Boss asked.

“A vampire.”

“Obviously,” he said flatly.

I let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know who he is, but I think he was my lover, maybe the one who made me part vampire.”

“When did you learn of him?”

I lowered my gaze. “The flashback came to me shortly after we met.” Sure, I felt a wee bit guilty for not telling him, but Boss and I were just friends. Okay, occasional bed partners too. The memory was private and personal. Since we weren’t in love with each other, I didn’t believe I needed to share my little secret.

“And you kept the knowledge to yourself.” Irritation seasoned his tone. “What if this vampire was dangerous? What if he is searching for you?”

The exasperation in his voice bothered me. I slid off his body, then rolled onto my back. I failed to believe for a second that I was in danger from my mysterious vamp, especially after he said he loved me and could give me eternity. Secondly, I hoped he was looking for me. I wanted to know about my past. I wanted to know about him.

For another matter, why did Boss care? We agreed our intimate moments were to satisfy a need, nothing more. We weren’t in love.

“Look, I’m not in the habit of discussing my sex life with everyone.”

Boss sat up. “No, I don’t suppose you would since you don’t have many memories.”

Ouch. The sudden urge to punch him in the arm danced in my head.

“Regardless of what you think about him, I know he loved me. He wanted me to join him.”

“If he loved you so much, where is he?”

Heat rushed to my head and instantly warmed me. Temper rising, I rolled over to my other side, avoiding Boss. I didn’t want to think about his irritating question, but it lingered in my head. Maybe my vampire lover couldn’t find me because he was too far away. Maybe something had happened to him and he no longer roamed the Earth. Maybe I’d run away from him, though I didn’t have a clue as to why I would have. Maybe the memory was a good one I wanted to remember, but the love no longer existed. All the possible answers made my heart feel heavy. If my lover was some ancient vampire who truly cared for me, he could’ve found me.

The bed shook slightly. I glanced over my shoulder and found Boss scooting away.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“You called him Anubis.”

“Yeah. So?”

Boss tugged his slacks over his legs. “Your images showed a desert setting.”

“And your point is what?”

He zipped his pants. “I’ve heard that name before. I think it’s Egyptian.” He strolled out of the room.

Egyptian? Had I been in Egypt? I gathered the robe and crawled over the bed. Had I known an old Egyptian vampire? As soon as my feet hit the floor, I dashed out of the room. I slid my arms through the sleeves of the robe as I strode down the hall.

Reaching the main room in the basement, I found Boss sitting at the desk backed up to the sidewall. Light from the monitor facing him lit up the area around him. I stopped at his side and spotted my journal not far from the keyboard.

“Having any luck with my notebook?” I asked as I picked it up and flipped through the book. Rows and rows of symbols covered the pages. The language looked unfamiliar to me, yet somehow I’d written in it.

“I sent a couple of scanned images to the vampire councilman. He said he knew someone that might be able to recognize the dialect. I’m waiting for him to respond.”

“Are you sure he can be trusted?”

Boss’s eyes left the screen and looked up at me. “I have known him for many centuries. He can be trusted.”

I slid my book across the desk. “Well, I trust you.” Sure, Boss was a royal pain in the ass at times, but he had a good heart. He cared for justice, life and equality for all living creatures. More importantly, he deeply cared for his closest friends, Jonas and Tabby, and he helped me in my time of need when I had no money or memories. We had our tense moments, but in the end, he came through for me. He even shared his real name with me.

Boss pointed to the monitor.

“What is it? Find something?” I moved closer and peered over his shoulder. A portrait of a man with a jackal-shaped head appeared on the screen.

“I knew I had heard that name before,” Boss said.

The caption under the picture read
Anubis also known as God of the Underworld.
Instantly, my heart rate kicked into overdrive.

“You must have the wrong spelling of the name,” I said.

Boss moved his finger across the monitor as he read. “He is the protector of the dead.”

“This can’t be the same person from my flashback.” I took a step back. “I made a mistake. My memory isn’t that good, so it’s possible. Maybe I said the name wrong.”

He lifted his gaze over his shoulder. “You were walking in the desert toward a stone facade.”

“Coincidence.” I shrugged. “There are plenty of deserts and stone buildings on Earth.”

“You heal quicker than I do. An ancient one had to share his blood with you in order for that to happen. This makes perfect sense to me.”

Disbelief plagued my mind. I’d had sex with the God of the Underworld?

I paced as I combed my fingers through my hair. Hypothetically thinking, if I had fallen in love with the God of the Underworld, where was he now? He claimed he loved me. So, why hadn’t he found me?

“No, this doesn’t make sense.” I stopped and stared into Boss’s eyes. “You asked me earlier where he was if he loved me. The question is a good one. What would keep him from finding me? Why am I not with him?”

He leaned back in his chair and threaded his fingers together, over his lap. “I can think of a few spells that might prevent him from finding you. Did you ever think maybe you walked out on him?”

I shook my head and paced near the sofa and chairs while I considered Boss’s question. Why would I have left Anubis if I loved him? Would he have let me go? I couldn’t come up with a reasonable answer, but an additional question surfaced. Could someone have kidnapped me?

The last question didn’t seem possible. Sal had told me his leader had picked me up from the airport with a vampire. He had driven us to a pawnshop where I’d sold my father’s watch, showed us around town, then dropped us off at a hotel. The next night, his leader escorted us to the meeting at the dump. Everyone died, except me. Had the vampire that accompanied me survived? The question remained unanswered.

I sat down on the edge of the sofa, leaned my elbows on my knees and clasped my hands together in front of me. Having no memories and having to rely on other people’s accounts of history frustrated me to the point I wanted to hide in a cave and forget about the world.

“We know from Sal that I came to Indianapolis with a vampire,” I said.

“My gut instinct tells me Anubis was not the one with you. I think someone planned everything–you coming to Indianapolis, selling your father’s watch and setting you up for slaughter at the dump. From what I saw in your head, Anubis wanted you alive, not dead.”

A chill zinged down my spine hearing the word
slaughter
, but the term described it best. Someone had murdered thirty people from various breeds and left me alive. Someone Galluzzi hired. No, that someone couldn’t have been Anubis.

I probed deeper into the information we currently had. Galluzzi orchestrated the meeting at the dump. She wanted me dead to keep me hidden from the world. But I wasn’t in her local realm. I was somewhere else, living a good life. Why the urgency to bring me to America and kill me when I lived so far away from her?

“Could Galluzzi have planned everything? We know from Sal she has powerful connections. What I don’t understand is why she waited. Why didn’t she try to eliminate me in my youth? She could have killed me when I was an infant.”

“That is a question only she can answer.” Boss straightened and leaned forward. “But if we look at your first question, I think it is quite possible she planned everything. Yes, she has connections. Since she knew your mother, and we believe she knew your father, it’s plausible to believe she knew about Anubis. She could have hired a vampire to bring you to Indianapolis and used a spell to keep you hidden from Anubis. The vampire could have used another spell to wipe out your memories.”