Wolf in Plain Sight (9 page)

Then he caught a glance of a familiar mane of glossy brown hair among the dancers. He shoved between gyrating bodies until he stood behind Pia and her human meal. The young man was groping her backside, grinding his hips into hers while her face snuggled into the crook of his neck.

Max’s shoulders bunched tight as steel, and he saw red. His hand sought the stake deep inside his pocket, but he realized he didn’t want to kill her.

No, he wanted to plant it deep inside the chest of the man who looked ready to shoot his load in his pants.

Max watched the pair, letting his anger grow with each passing second until the man’s face tightened with his release. Pia held him while the young man spasmed, gasping as his orgasm rushed through him. Then she slowly pulled away, licking his neck to close the punctures.

At the sight of Pia raising her face to kiss the guy’s cheek, Max had all he could take. He stepped forward and clamped his hand on her shoulder, squeezing hard.

Pia glanced back, but didn’t look particularly surprised to see him. Blood stained her lips, and her vamp teeth peeked beneath her upper lip. She turned to her host and murmured something that made him smile. He let her go and headed for the bar. Then she shrugged her shoulder.

Max dropped his hand, but reached for her wrist and tugged her hard, pulling her into his arms. “Didn’t you get my message,
sweetheart
?”

She pressed her hands against his chest and glared. “A girl has to eat. I worked up quite an appetite last night.”

Slipping the stake from his pocket, he glided it along the bare skin of her midriff. “Don’t think I won’t carry through. I let you off light the last time.”

She shivered, and her nipples flowered, scraping his chest. “I’m a girl who appreciates a good, hard poke.” Holding his gaze, she licked the last traces of blood from her lips with a sensual sweep of her tongue. Her incisors remained protracted.

Max’s body tightened, hard as the stake inside his fist. “You just happened to be here, right? My last stop of the night.”

Her eyelids shuttered her expressive gaze. “And if I said, I’ve been following you?”

“No way. You got here before I did.”

Pia lifted her lips fractionally, baring the length of her fangs. “I work fast.”

“You wanted me to see you feed on him?”

“I want you to know what I am. I don’t want secrets.”

“Why would it matter to me?”

Rising on her toes, she whispered next to his ear, “Because I don’t want to worry that when I sleep in your arms, you’ll destroy me.”

With the stake still in one hand, Max gripped her upper arms to push her back. Looking down into her face, he said, “That’s assuming we’ll ever share a bed again.”

“Won’t we? Don’t you want me?” Her hand crept down the front of his pants and cupped him. “Tell me this isn’t all for me.”

His erection burned at her touch. Much as he would have preferred to deny her, he did want her. But it was just a physical thing, he told himself—she was one hot little lay.

He grabbed her hand, intending to shove it away. But through his slacks, he could feel the heat from it, and her fingers curved around him, squeezing. Instead of doing what he should have, he held her hand against him, encouraging her to rub up and down his length. “I hate this,” he bit out. “I hate you.”

She tongued his nipple through his T-shirt. “But you love the sex, don’t you? So do I.” Her mouth pouted, and her gaze smoldered. She glided her hand beneath to cup his balls. “I want you to fuck my brains out, Max.”

Max drew a deep breath, fighting his need for this woman, reminding himself—
she’s the enemy, a demon in a pretty package
.

A demon who was driving him out of his mind with her sexy little nibbles. Her fangs scraped his skin through his shirt, while her hands played with his dick and ass.

He shuddered, knowing he was quickly losing this battle of wills. He snagged her wrists and forced her arms behind her, bending her back.

Excitement brought a rose flush to her skin. “Are you going to do it here, Max? Are you going to sink that stake deep inside me?”

Witch! Oh, he wanted to sink something into her—the same something they were really thinking about. He wanted to drill a hole through his uniform to get at her. He slid his fingers around her arm, pulled her to a dark, shadowed corner of the room, and pushed her against the wall.

Her expression wasn’t gloating—it was tight, flushed. She wanted this as badly as he did. He dug beneath the hem of her cropped top until his fingers spread out, cupping the mound of her breast—the one he’d painted with her blood.

Her nipple hardened, and Pia leaned into his hand, encouraging him to strengthen his grip.

He squeezed the little globe and plucked the velvety nipple with his fingers.

Pia opened her legs and slipped her hands inside the back pockets of his pants to pull his hips between hers.

Max couldn’t help but rub his erection against her. With one hand, he sought the juncture of her thighs. This time no scrap of silk covered her sex—she was naked.

“See?” she whispered. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

Her sex was hot—so wet, moisture trickled down his fingers as he delved between her lips. “For all I know, you’ve been fucking your way through dinner tonight.”

She flinched, but quickly relaxed her expression and offered him a sly smile. “Jealous? I promise the only cum you’ll find inside me will be yours.”

He fingered her folds, sliding back and forth in her juices. “You want this? You want to do this here?”

Her hips danced on his fingers. “Yes,” she moaned. “
Now
.”

He groaned and then remembered what was in his other hand. Although, his body was so hard he could break bricks, he went cold at his core. He trailed the tip of stake up the inside of her thigh.

Her eyes widened with alarm.

“Don’t you trust me?”

She swallowed hard, her gaze locked with his. “If you tell me you won’t kill me now, then yes.”

He pressed the blunt end about an inch into her pussy. “Don’t worry about splinters,” he whispered. “I sanded it myself. It’ll slide in smooth as satin.”

Her eyes widened, but her body shivered and gushed its approval. Her mouth trembled, and Max noted a battle seemed to be fought behind her brown eyes—she didn’t want to want this, and she was frightened.

Good.
He lifted one eyebrow—a challenge. “Tell me what you want.”

“Kiss me,” she said, her eyes glistening with tears, “and then fuck me with that stake. Satisfy your need to drive it into me, Max.”

Growling, Max leaned down and kissed her, sliding his mouth over hers, drinking her moans. His tongue licked her lips and slipped between, touching the tips of her fangs then sliding deeper to stroke her tongue.

Opening her legs wider, Pia lifted a leg to hook over his thigh. “Do it,” she whispered.

With both hands between her legs now, he spread her lips wide and pushed the stake gently inside her, his thumb flicking her clitoris. Her moans deepened against his mouth, and he made his kiss rougher, harder, until he drew her tongue into his mouth and sucked.

He’d thought he had control—a dispassionate distance from which he could love her body and steal her pride. But his hands shook with his own raging desire.

Her body writhed against him as he pushed the wooden stake deeper and began stroking her vagina with short, pulsing glides. Pia’s hands shook as she sought the belt at his waist and unbuckled it, found the snap at the top of his pants and lowered his zipper. Then her strong, hot hands were wrapped around his cock.

Max forgot where he was, forgot there were people all around them. The woman groaning against his lips and fisting his cock was his whole world. He growled and stroked his penis between her hands.

“Bastard! Tell me you’re not fucking her with a goddamn stake!”

Max jerked at the deadly sound of Joe’s voice. He lifted his mouth from Pia’s and stared down at her. Slowly, he slid the stake from her. His body shook with unspent desire and rage at his partner’s interruption. But in the back of his mind there was also a healthy dose of shame for himself.

He slipped the stake into his pocket, while Pia lowered her leg and straightened her skirt. He shoved his engorged cock back into his pants, and then he turned to face the vampire behind him.

Joe’s face was a mottled red. “Pia, get behind me.”

“So you know each other,” Max said quietly, feeling his stomach clench that his suspicions about Pia might be true.

“Just met today,
partner
.”

“I’m not in any danger, Joe,” Pia said.

“You don’t know Max, sweetheart. Get behind me.”

Feeling like a bear protecting his mate, Max stepped between Joe and Pia, clenching his fists. “I gave her my word I wouldn’t harm her here.”

“No, you didn’t,” Pia said.

Max leveled a narrow glance at her.

Pia shrugged. “I asked, but you never promised.”

Joe’s shoulders bunched like he was ready to take a swing. “We’re still on the fucking job.”

Max shrugged. “So, we were blending in.”

“You went too far.”

Knowing Joe was right didn’t ease the ache in Max’s groin. He turned to Pia. Unfortunately, looking into her face didn’t help matters any either. Her lips were still dewy and reddened from his kisses, and her nipples poked at the fabric of her miniscule top. He forced his shoulders to relax. “I have to get back to the station,” he muttered.

“Can I ride along?” she asked, leaning into him, her eyes wide and pleading. Her nipples scraped his side, and it was all he could do keep from sliding his palm over them again.

“No!” He almost shouted the word. “It’s probably best this way. This thing between us won’t work.”

“Because I’m a vampire?” she asked, her eyes glistening.

“That’s just the beginning of our problems.”

Her expression fell, but she nodded. “I understand.” Turning to Joe, she said, “I’ll just get a taxi.”

“We can drop you off on our way.” Joe gave Max a searing glance and then spun on his heels.

Pia followed him out of the bar with Max trailing them at a distance. Distance he needed to get himself back under control. Moonlight from a full moon in a cloudless sky drew his gaze, but he shrugged aside its allure. He’d had enough moonlit madness for one night.

At their sedan, Joe tossed Max the keys. “You drive. I want your hands occupied.”

Max twisted his mouth into a hard smile. “What’s your problem? Gone all righteous, have you?”

Joe opened the back door for Pia while Max climbed inside.

“Whoo!” she gasped as she settled on the seat. “The vinyl’s a little cold.”

Remembering she wore no underwear beneath her short skirt, Max closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Then he jammed the key into the ignition and cranked the engine into life. Before Joe could close his door, Max stomped on the gas and the car leaped forward.

“The sooner we get there the better,” Joe mumbled, slamming the door closed.

Pia clutched the back of their bench seat and leaned forward. “Do we have to go straight back?”

“Yes!” Max and Joe shouted.

“Just asking.”

Max’s fingers gripped the steering wheel hard. “Where am I taking you?”

“To The Compound. My rental’s there. I’m already packed.”

Max grew still. “You’re leaving Vero Beach?”

“The climate’s a little too sticky for me,” she said, her breath licking at his neck.

“Good.” Joe’s response was more of a grunt.

Max told himself this way was best. Let her go. Save him the bother of dusting her later. Because he knew if she stayed, he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off her. Eventually, she’d show her true colors, and he’d never allow a vamp to take a drop of his blood.

The radio squawked, and Phil Carstair’s voice broke over the channel reserved for SU business. “I need back up. Wolves have been spotted at the Piki Tiki. Anyone in the vicinity?”

Max’s body grew rigid while adrenaline shot into his veins. Not fucking again!

Joe grabbed the handset. “Max and I are on our way. How many do you ha—”

“We have to drop off Pia first,” Max interrupted.

“Hell no!” she said. “I’m weapons-trained. You might need me.”

“Weapons-trained?” Max asked. The flame fanned beneath the fire of his suspicions regarding her reasons for being here. Sweet Pia was weapons-trained—and she just happened to be in that bar last night…

“Pull the car over,” Joe said. “We’ll let her out at that gas station.” He pointed ahead at a well-lit parking lot, and raised the handset to his mouth again. “Wait for backup. I repeat, wait for backup.”

“Roger that,” Phil said. “What’s your ETA?”

“You’re not leaving me behind,” Pia said. “You need all the help you can get.”

“You’re damn well going to do as you’re told,” Max said, his voice hard and loud. No way was she going to get into the middle of this operation. The only danger she’d face would be him, after the pack was taken care of.

“Max is right,” Joe said. “You’re staying out of danger.”

Max slowed down to pull into the parking lot.

“I’ll just tell the man pumping gas to follow you,” Pia said. “I can be
very
persuasive.”

Max cursed under his breath. He knew damn well just how persuasive she could be. Her sweet body was another weapon in her arsenal. All she had to do was lift her skirt an inch…

He shot a glance at Joe, but his partner’s mouth was tight-lipped.

“You better hurry,” Pia said. “Your friend sounded a little worried.”

Joe and Max shared a glance. They didn’t have time to ditch Pia.

Joe cursed and raised the mike again. “We’ll be there in five.”

“We’ve already cleared out any civilians along the boardwalk,” Phil said. “See ya, buddies.”

Max peeled out of the parking lot and gunned the engine again. “Just how much experience do you have with a gun?”

“Plenty. And I almost always hit my target.”

“
Almost
always?” He glanced in the rearview mirror.

Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “I
usually
hit where I aim.”