Wanton With a Vampire (13 page)

Shaking herself out of that fantasy, Phoebe
concentrated on the task at hand. She’d spent too many years living
a sheltered life, and that made it harder to locate those with the
real power in this area. It was a disgusting fact that those people
were still men. She’d never understood how that came to be. Her
deceptive image of innocence had allowed her to go unnoticed for
decades. After her first kill, she’d been considered the tragic
victim. Her brother’s death had come as a complete shock to her
small hometown in Alabama, and they’d all rallied around her
family, especially her, the sweet-tempered pageant winner. Even her
lack of tears had been explained by her weakened state. They’d all
believed her too traumatized by the brutality of it all to
react.

Phoebe laughed at the memory. People were so
caught up in appearances that they often overlooked the most
dangerous among them.

“What’s a pretty lady like you doing
wandering around alone?” asked a deep masculine voice.

Turning to study the man, Phoebe knew she’d
found who she was looking for. He didn’t belong in the neighborhood
any more than she did. No, this man was out of place in this
industrial area filled with warehouses. Dressed in his faded jeans
and worn t-shirt, one might miss that fact, but Phoebe was good at
reading people.

“Looking for you,” she said with a sweet
smile.

The man gave her a predatory once over
because he was still too stupid to notice he was the prey. Oh, how
she wanted to kill him. His dark brown hair and muscular frame were
perfect! If his eyes were blue instead of brown, she might not be
able to resist the urge to end his life. Sadly, she needed this man
alive— at least for a short time.

His chuckle was a dark ugly sound that
aroused her so much her panties were soaking wet. Yes, she was
going to kill him once he’d served his purpose.

“You found me,” he said, advancing on her.
“Now, let’s go somewhere private.” His hand was already moving to
the pocket of his jacket when Phoebe pulled out the knife and slid
just the point between two of his ribs. His stunned expression
nearly made her orgasm.

“If you move so much as a muscle, I will
slide this knife the rest of the way in,” she said with a pleasant
smile. Anyone walking by would see a sweet looking woman leaning
into a man affectionately. They’d never notice the knife, because
women like her didn’t stab people in public.

“What do you want?” he asked with enough
terror to make her shudder again.

“I want to see your boss,” she said.

He let out a bark of laughter. “Lady, you are
not scarier than my boss. I am not going to risk pissing him
off.”

She pressed the blade in a bit more, enjoying
his sharp intake of breath. The reason she loved killing men more
than women was that they tried so hard to be tough, making it much
more entertaining to break them. “I seriously doubt that. If you
don’t do what I ask, I’m going to pull the taser out of my pocket,
and then I’ll slide this blade into your testicles while you lay
there helpless.” Her voice dropped to a sexy purr. “I’m hoping you
give me an excuse to do that.”

The man hesitated.

“What’s your name?” she asked, running her
free hand along his abdomen.

“Fuck you,” he spat out.

“Tell me your name,” Phoebe said with a touch
of compulsion in her voice. Something told her she wouldn’t need
much with this man. Besides, she wanted to watch him fight it.

“Linc,” he ground out as he tried hard to
fight the order to reveal his name. “How did you do that?”

“I’m not human,” she explained in a bored
tone. “I can make you do anything I want.”

Being controlled by a woman didn’t sit well
with Linc, and Phoebe knew he wanted to kill her. “If you have that
much power, why didn’t you just use it to order me to take you to
my boss?”

“I much prefer hurting you,” Phoebe said with
a shrug. “Shall we go?”

Trish wasn’t sure how she felt about Alek’s
outburst. While it was nice that he was concerned for her safety
and well-being, it was annoying that he was being such a pain in
the backside. Drew was right. Alek didn’t just want her; he liked
her. If that weren’t the case, he’d have already had sex with her
and moved on.

While she’d like to think she had been in
control with Alek at all times, she refused to lie to herself. From
the moment she’d met Alek Draksel, she’d wanted him and would have
given in to his advances on more than one occasion. Actually, she
should
have given in to his advances. At the time, she’d
been worried about being just another conquest for Alek, which is
exactly what she would have been. Still, why was she so worried
about that when she wasn’t looking for a relationship herself? Why
had she convinced herself she shouldn’t enjoy sex? Sure, her
experiences hadn’t been great, but she certainly didn’t believe
that sex couldn’t be mind-blowing with the right partner.

The soft knock on the bathroom door pulled
Trish from her thoughts.

“Yes,” she called out.

“I just wanted to apologize for acting like a
complete jackass out there,” Alek said through the door.

“Don’t worry about it,” she answered as she
pulled the stopper to drain the tub.

There was a pause before Alek spoke again. “I
guess I’ll talk to you after you dress.”

“Just stay there,” she told him. “I always
bring clothes into the bathroom with me because of Caitlin’s
unfortunate habit of leaving the bedroom door open.”

There was a pause where she was sure Alek was
trying to figure out what the bedroom door had to do with bringing
clothes into the bathroom. Finally, Trish decided to take pity on
him and explain. “As you can see, my bedroom opens up into the
living room. Caitlin always has a question for me as soon as I step
into the tub, which means she has to traipse through my bedroom and
talk to me through the bathroom door. So, as I’m sure you can
guess, leaving my bedroom door open gives anyone in the living room
a perfect view of me walking out of the bathroom. I got tired of
people seeing me in nothing but a bath towel.”

Alek chuckled. “I would have been a frequent
visitor.”

Trish slipped into the lacey blue bra and
matching panties. Then she put the silky sleep shirt on over the
top. Despite the flirting, Alek was determined to avoid taking
things further, so she knew if she walked out only wearing a bra
and panties, Alek would run.

Trish stepped out of the room and smiled at
him. Without shoes, she was nearly a foot shorter than Alek. His
eyes traveled along her body, lingering on the top two buttons of
the sleep shirt she’d left undone. She’d need to lean forward for
him to see her cleavage, which she had every intention of doing at
some point.

“I’m going to put some lotion on my legs,”
she said, grabbing the tube and sitting on the edge of the bed.
“What else did you want to talk about?”

Alek swallowed, never taking his eyes off of
her hand traveling along her leg. “I wanted to talk about what’s
going on.”

“With?” she asked, looking up from her legs
to meet his eyes. She struggled to hide her smile when she saw how
hard it was for Alek to tear his gaze from her legs.

“Phoebe,” he said after a pause. “She’s very
dangerous, and I want to know exactly what she said to you. Drew
left before giving me too many details.”

Trish paused and thought for a moment. While
seducing Alek was important, finding Phoebe was more important. She
let out a sigh. “Honestly, I don’t remember much. At first, I
thought she was just a stranger making small talk. She thought Drew
was my boyfriend, so I guess that’s why she approached me.”

“Did you tell her he wasn’t?” Alek asked.

Trish shook her head. “I didn’t get the
chance before Drew showed up. Would it have been better if I’d told
her I wasn’t Drew’s girlfriend?”

Alek shrugged. “Probably, but she’s volatile.
Damn, I really wish she hadn’t seen you with Drew. You do not want
to be noticed by that woman.”

“Yeah, I figured that out on my own,” Trish
said dryly as she set the lotion tube on the bed beside her.

Alek sat next to her and took one of her
hands in his. “You were right to be upset with me earlier. I was an
idiot for not making sure you knew what Phoebe looked like.”

“I get it,” she said. “Why would an
insignificant human like me be important enough for Phoebe to even
notice? I don’t fit her profile, and I’m nothing special.”

Alek leaned in, brushing his lips across hers
in a brief kiss that made her heartbeat quicken. “Don’t ever think
you’re nothing special. Even before your psychic abilities
surfaced, you were special.”

“You’ve made me uncomfortable from the moment
I met you,” Trish blurted out before letting out a nervous laugh.
“That didn’t come out the way I wanted it to.”

Alek looked a little embarrassed himself. “To
be honest, I’ve been uncomfortable with you, too. Normally, I know
what to say and do around women. With you, I seem to put my foot in
my mouth constantly. It’s like I’m doing everything to get your
attention and making a fool of myself. I’m not this pushy with
women. Christ, what I did at the restaurant was inexcusable.”

“You’ve already apologized for that,” Trish
said. “Yeah, you were a jerk, but let’s move on.”

“Should we start over?” Alek asked.

“No, it’s too late to start over,” Trish said
and stood. When she reached for the buttons on the sleep shirt,
Alek jumped to his feet, grabbing her hands to stop her.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Seducing you,” she said with a shrug,
enjoying Alek’s groan.

“I can’t do this to you,” he said while
stepping back to put some distance between them. With a shake of
his head, he turned his back to her. “You’re vulnerable, which is
my fault.”

Trish laughed. “Now you want to be a
gentleman?” No longer impeded by Alek’s hands, she finished
unbuttoning the sleep shirt and let it drop to the floor. “Too late
for that,” she announced as she walked up behind him. “Turn around,
Alek.”

He turned, and his eyes devoured her. “This
is wrong,” he said as his fingers trailed along the lace of her
bra.

Having never seduced a man, Trish was a
little nervous, but Alek’s reaction gave her all the encouragement
she needed to continue. There was no denying he wanted her. “That’s
what I thought at first,” she said, sliding her hand under the edge
of his shirt, just enough to enjoy the flat planes of his abdominal
muscles. “I tried so hard to convince myself that sex with you
would be a huge mistake. Wanna know what I decided?”

Alek swallowed hard as he stared at her face.
“What did you decide?” he asked, his voice rough with arousal.

“That I want to enjoy life,” she confessed,
moving her hands further up under his shirt to trace his chest. “I
want you, and there’s no reason for me to deny myself.”

“I never realized you were this bold,” Alek
said.

“Neither did I,” Trish said. “I kind of like
being bold. So, what do you say? You aren’t going to make me beg,
are you?”

Alek’s head dropped back. “You have no idea
what you do to me,” he admitted before meeting her gaze. His stare
was so intense Trish almost took a step back. “In answer to your
question, yes, I will make you beg. Then I’m going to make you
scream.”

Before Trish could respond, Alek crushed his
mouth against hers in a kiss so intense it made her legs weak. How
she kept them moving as Alek backed her up to the mattress, she
didn’t know. Still, Alek didn’t let up on his assault of her mouth.
No man had ever kissed her with such passion. She couldn’t stop the
soft whimpers coming from the back of her throat.

Alek tore his mouth from hers and stared down
at her. There was nothing controlled about the man standing in
front of her. He looked wild, almost crazed. “Are you sure?” he
asked, sounding nearly desperate.

“I’m sure,” Trish said breathlessly.

“Tell me how much you want me to fuck you,”
Alek ordered.

Trish’s cheeks heated. “I want you,” she said
in a breathy voice.

“Say the words,” Alek crooned, giving one of
her nipples a pinch that sent heat straight through her body.

“I want you to fuck me,” she said
quietly.

Alek groaned. “Hearing those words out of
your sweet mouth makes me crazy.” Then he kissed her again. His
tongue stroked hers, mimicking the act of sex in a way that made
her panties wet, a fact Alek couldn’t miss with his thigh pressed
between her legs. Still, she wasn’t embarrassed in the least.
Writhing against Alek’s thigh, she whimpered, feeling aroused
almost to the point of pain.

“You taste so sweet,” Alek said against her
lips and started to trail kisses along her jaw line before moving
down to nip the pulse at her neck. “I can’t wait to bury my face
between your legs”

“Please,” Trish begged.

Alek pushed her back onto the bed and knelt
on the floor. Then he pulled her until her backside nearly hung off
the end, settling her legs over his shoulders. His tongue stroked
the lace of her panties before he reached out and tore them from
her body.

“I just bought those,” she gasped, not sure
she really minded sacrificing the panties.

“I’ll buy you more,” he promised, stroking a
finger along her soaking wet folds. “In fact, I’m going to buy you
a dozen pair so I can rip them off every time I get you like
this.”

Before Trish could even think of a response
to Alek’s naughty promise, he buried his face between her legs. His
long tongue stroked from her opening up to her clit, and then his
mouth covered her clit as he strummed it gently with his tongue.
Her body seemed to have a mind of its own, from her hips rocking
against his mouth to the whimpers and moans coming from her lips.
She soon found her hands gripping his hair to keep his head in
place as his strokes increased. When he sucked hard, she nearly
screamed.