Forever Night Sins Page 3
Harper shivered as he turned her head. He licked her neck, the points of his fangs sliding along her flesh. She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath, steeling herself for his bite.
“Throbbing,” he whispered, his lips against her skin. “Excited?”
Harper didn’t want to acknowledge the mixture of fear and excitement he induced. His touch was seductive. Part of her wanted him to attack and get it over with, but mostly she wanted to survive.
He lowered his head and licked her nipples, then selected the right breast and suckled, deep and strong.
Fear mingled with pleasure. How was it possible to enjoy the touch of his dead lips?
He stroked, sucked and kissed. Her body turned traitor, responding to the vampire’s lips, mouth and tongue. Damn.
“Sensitive.”
“Did your compliments work on women a few centuries ago, or did you have to tie them up as well?”
He raised his head and looked her in the eye. “Not into foreplay?”
Harper expected the vampire to go for her throat, but he stripped off his shirt. His skin was pale and smooth. His shoulders were broad and his arms were sculpted with muscle. After slipping out of his shoes, he took off his pants. His hips were lean and his legs long and muscular. He reminded Harper of the white marble statues displayed in the big museum downtown, except what hung between his legs was fully erect, dispelling the thought he’d taken off his clothes to keep them clean and the only thing he wanted was her blood.
He stood so close the head of his cock touched her belly.
Harper stiffened, her muscles clenching.
Instead of grabbing her and slamming her back against the wall, the vampire kissed her. His lips moved over hers, gently, but he was wise not to put his tongue in her mouth. He might have fangs, but she had teeth.
He pressed kisses along the column of her neck. Heart pounding and muscles quivering, Harper waited for his vicious bite. Images of her throat torn and her blood spilling flashed in her brain. Make it quick.
To her surprise he wrapped his arms around her and drew her tight against him. “You’re so warm, soft and warm.”
Harper’s retort about his cold skin died. She gasped at the pinpricks breaking her skin and cried out, more in fear than in pain. His fangs sank into her flesh.
This was it, how her life would end. Her fellow officers would find her half naked and chained.
Her muscles jerked. Heat shot through her. Her heart slammed against her chest wall.
The vampire stroked her back, calming her. He didn’t rip her skin or tear at her throat. He suckled, gently. Taking his time. Drinking her blood.
Euphoria replaced fear. The furious pounding of her heart subsided. He withdrew his fangs and licked her neck. Weightless and woozy, Harper slumped against the vampire’s chest.
Then darkness.
* * *
Harper awoke and opened her eyes. Bathed in blue light, she was lying flat on her back, fully dressed and helmeted, in the doorway of a building. Had she been knocked out?
She shook off the lethargy and spotted her light wand. She picked up her weapon and forced herself to stand. Unsteady, she grasped the doorframe for support and took the few steps to her vehicle. After climbing inside, she locked the doors and leaned her helmet against the wheel.
The memories came slowly at first, then like darts. She’d been captured, touched and bitten. Jerking her head up, Harper pulled off her helmet and unfastened the collar of her uniform. Looking in the rearview mirror, she saw the telltale wounds. Two perfect holes on the left side of her neck.
Why hadn’t the vampire killed her? Why had he treated her so gently?
How much blood had he taken?
She grabbed a sports drink out of the drink holder and swallowed the sugary contents. Just one bite shouldn’t turn her into a vampire, but if the agency found out Harper would be removed from duty and sent to the infection center for curing. Bitten agents never returned to the job. They disappeared, never to be seen again.
“Agent Croix. Report.”
Harper recognized the dispatcher’s mellow voice. She and Danik had dated for a few weeks, but they were better friends than lovers. When she was out in the field and Danik was on duty, he watched over her. She keyed her com-unit. “Croix here.”
“Are you okay? You haven’t answered the radio in over an hour.”
How long had she been with the vampire? How long had she been out? “I was checking a building. Reception sucks in this area.”
“How about a drink after shift?”
“I’m bushed.” Harper didn’t want Danik to see her bite marks. “Can we do it tomorrow?”
“Your status?”
Harper figured Danik’s boss must be within earshot. “Vehicle patrol. Cemetery.”
“Acknowledged.”
Harper started the vehicle and backed out of the alley. She drove around the Cemetery wondering if he had already slipped back inside the windowless complex. Or was the vampire on a rooftop watching her?
She didn’t want to think of him as anything but a bloodsucker, but the visual memory of his pale physique and those silvery eyes wasn’t easily dismissed. And his touch. The memory sent a shiver down her spine. A shiver of arousal she didn’t want to remember.
No man had ever touched her as if he were memorizing every curve of her flesh. No man had ever chained her to a wall, either. She pushed away the memory of those cool, powerful hands on her skin.
If someone had told her that vampires were capable of tenderness and soft kisses Harper would have called them crazy. In her street experience vampires were vicious, fanged creatures that preyed on humans.
This vampire was fully capable of hurting her, but for some reason he’d chosen to feel her up and drink a bit of blood.
The night the teenager had died, the vampire had threatened her. She’d been completely at his mercy tonight, so why hadn’t he taken his revenge?
The vampire was toying with her, proving to her he was faster, stronger and more cunning. He wanted to arouse her, make her shiver. And he’d made her afraid her next breath would be her last. He’d controlled her physically and emotionally and that made Harper’s blood boil.
She circled the Cemetery several times, searching for the bloodsucker. She never saw a flicker of movement.
Dawn broke, casting a gray light over the Cemetery. The vampire was back inside that unholy place, likely hanging by his toes and digesting her blood. Harper wondered what it must be like to live inside the prison. Live? Vampires didn’t live, they existed. Freaks of nature turned inside out.
That she found the vampire handsome freaked her out.
She left the area of the Cemetery, heading back to the station. By the time she rolled out of her vehicle and entered the sane world of the Dead Souls Agency, Harper had vowed never to get caught by the vampire again.
She was DSA. Her job was to incapacitate and incarcerate vampires. The next time she came face to face with the silver-eyed vampire, she’d burn him and toss his pale ass in jail.
Chapter Four
An hour before sundown Harper reported to the station for her shift. She’d slept fitfully but had formulated a plan to catch the vampire.
She entered the air-conditioned building. Relieved to be out of the sweltering heat, she headed for the locker room. After the bus ride to work, she needed a shower but stripping off her clothes wasn’t an option.
“All dressed up. Have a date?”
Harper turned and greeted Danik. Her friend was a good-looking guy with light brown hair and warm brown eyes. He wore the office uniform, white shirt and black pants.
“Behind on my laundry,” Harper said. Instead of wearing her usual tank or t-shirt top, she’d chosen a black blouse with long sleeves to hide the bruises on her wrists and a collar to conceal the wounds on her neck. If Danik saw the marks on her neck, he’d know she’d been bitten.
“You look nice.” Danik touched her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Harper looked him in the eye. “I’m fine. It’s so damn hot in my apartment, it’s hard to sleep.”
“Yeah. It’s blistering in our building. Supposed to be hotter tomorrow.”
The sensation of the vampire’s cool skin came to mind. Harper shook off the thought. “It’s a relief to come to work.”
Danik leaned down and kissed Harper on the cheek. “Be careful out there.”
“You got it.”
Harper waited until Danik left the locker room before changing out of her jeans into her uniform pants. She put on her boots, uniform jacket and picked up her weapons belt and UV wand.
After roll call, Harper and her fellow agents headed for their patrol vehicles. Night had fallen and the vampires were awakening.
She drove straight to the Cemetery and began her rounds, letting any vampires in the area know the DSA was on patrol. After driving around for almost three hours, Harper headed for the alley.
Last night the vampire had toyed with her. Figuring he’d want to play again tonight, Harper checked her jacket pocket where she’d stuffed the red top she’d worn last night. The idea had come to her while she’d tossed and turned. Using Derek Hays from Lawmen as an inspiration, Harper had dragged her ass out of bed and deliberately cut her finger. She’d scented her red top with her blood. The old vampires were reported to have a keen sense of smell. She didn’t want to lure a pack of vampires, but set a trap for the old one with the handsome face and refined nose.
The vampire wouldn’t realize she had secured a small but high-powered UV wand in the pocket of her jacket and hidden a palm-sized gun loaded with small caliber wooden bullets in the right side pocket of her pants until it was too late.
Prepared to take down the bloodsucker, Harper pulled into the alley. The doorway where she’d awakened last night remained open. Even during the daylight hours few humans ventured near the Cemetery. She turned off all the vehicle lights and sucked in a breath. Counting on a one-on-one meeting, she left her helmet, weapons belt and UV wand inside and climbed out of her patrol vehicle.
* * *
Egan had spotted the DSA vehicle and tracked it to the alley. To his surprise the headlamps were extinguished. From the rooftop, he’d watched Agent Croix exit her vehicle and step into the dark alleyway. Easily visible to Egan, she wasn’t wearing a helmet or weapons belt nor was she carrying a burner.
The agent was up to something.
Unarmed and vulnerable, the agent moved slowly, taking tentative steps deeper into the alley. Was she setting a trap?
Keeping his eyes on Croix, Egan listened for the familiar sound of DSA vehicles but heard nothing. Croix was alone.
Egan’s nose twitched. Her scent, better than any perfume, filled him with desire. More desire than he’d experienced in decades.
Then she did the unthinkable. She pulled a piece of red material out of her jacket pocket and raised it like a matador’s cape and turned around. Her red top was drenched in her sweat and scented with her blood.
Egan smiled. Old ones were rarely challenged and never by humans. He was the bull and Croix had returned for the kill.
Familiar and exotic, her blood scented the air. Egan’s fangs extended, stimulated by desire, hunger and need. Now that he’d sipped from her veins, her blood and his senses were forever linked. If she stood in a group of a hundred humans and Egan was blind, he’d pick her out of the crowd with ease.
She stood in the darkness, a siren drawing him to her. Egan had to admire her courage. Only a fool would stand outside in the dark unarmed in this section of the city. Croix wasn’t a fool. Her weapons were hidden.
He’d best resolve the situation before her blood scent drew others.
Egan crossed the roof and entered a door. Moving fast, he took the stairs to the main floor and made his way to the service entrance. He saw her through the open doorway. His nostrils twitched. Her scent perfumed the air and she smelled so good. “Agent Croix, I’m flattered.”
Her hands stuffed in her jacket pockets, she turned toward him. “You’re under arrest for the illegal taking and consumption of human blood.”
“You came to arrest me,” Egan said, watching her hands. Although he was able to see her clearly, she was at a disadvantage in the darkness and had to follow his voice. He moved closer. “And I thought you’d enjoyed our short encounter.”
She stepped toward him. “Lie face down on the ground.”
“So all that heat was just fear?”
Her hand moved. Egan ducked and lunged forward, grabbing her wrists and taking her down.
A beam of blue light shot out from her hand as they fell to the pavement. Egan shoved her arms out to the side, directing away the light beam that had come within an inch of hitting him. She’d almost gotten him. He covered her body with his. “Is that what you really want?”
* * *
His lips came down on hers, cool and firm, commanding yet coaxing.
Harper lay on her back, arms extended, the vampire’s weight pinning her to the pavement. Unable to move, she endured his provocative kiss.
He slid his tongue over her lips. A fang skated over her lower lip. He sucked her lower lip between his, moaned and said, “Drop the burner.”
She should have pulled the weapon the moment he’d said her name. Then she might have had a chance.
He brushed his lips against hers. “I have no desire to harm you.”
He was heavy, his weight like bricks on her chest. “Then get the fuck off me.”
“Drop the burner.”
Her bruised wrists were hurting, and her hands were going numb from the pressure of his grip. The mini-burner fell from her fingers, the metal clinking on the asphalt. This time he would kill her.
He pulled her arms over her head and locked her wrists in one hand. Then he planted one knee between her legs and eased his weight off her chest.
She sucked in an audible breath.
The vampire patted her down, found her pistol in her pants pocket and removed it. “Any more surprises?”
Harper wasn’t about to admit she was out of weapons. She’d played this poorly.
He yanked her up, planting her on her feet. The vampire was nothing more than a shadow in the darkness and a force that tossed her around as if she weighed ounces.
“You’re a risk taker. I like that.”
“Goes with the job.”
He pulled her close and leaned down, touching his lips to her forehead. “Vampire hunter. We’re well matched.”
Harper caught a hint of spicy soap before he pulled away. She hadn’t given a thought to vampire grooming, but he smelled good for one of the undead.
“You have two choices,” he said, pulling the remote key to her vehicle out of her pocket. “I can stake you out and let the others have you. Or we can get out of here.”
“Where would you take me?”
“A private place where we won’t be disturbed.”
“If you’re gonna kill me, do it here and be done with it.”
He slid his fingers into her hair and brushed his lips against hers. “Croix, the last thing I want to do to you is kill you. I’m taking you somewhere safe. Trust me.”
Harper snorted, letting him know the last thing she would do was trust him. He was taking her to a private place to drink her blood without his friends wanting a taste.
He took her by the hand and guided her to her vehicle, keyed the lock and opened the door. Harper’s heart sank as he reached inside and removed her weapons belt and light wand, and tossed them on the pavement. “Get in. I’ll drive.”
She climbed into the vehicle, crawled across the console and dropped into the passenger seat. The vampire slid behind the wheel, fired the engine and backed out of the alley. He drove fast, controlling the vehicle with ease and expertise.
“I’ve never seen a vampire behind the wheel.”
“Before the big crash, my kind was free. I’ve owned more cars than years you’ve been alive.”
Harpe
r scoffed. “I’m twenty-five.”
“I stand corrected. Many more cars.”
She responded to his insult. “Like you aren’t one of the old ones.”
“I’ve been around for a few centuries. Don’t be insulted. You’re young for a female DSA officer, but you’ve got spunk.”
“Spunk?”
“I like spunk.”
Harper thought about all he’d seen and experienced. Her curiosity piqued, Harper asked, “How old were you when it happened?”
“I was turned at the age of thirty-one. She was beautiful and the sex was exciting. One night we took it too far.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her in a very long time.”
“Harper, how’s it going out there?”
Danik’s voice startled Harper. “I have to answer.”
The vampire grabbed her by the throat. Harper got the message.
She opened the com-link. “It’s quiet out here. Nothing happening.”
“We still on for a drink?”
Harper considered calling for help, but if she did the vampire would snap her neck. He’d said he didn’t want to kill her. Her best shot was to play it cool. “See you at the end of the shift.” Harper closed the link.
The vampire released her throat. “Hot date?”
“We’re friends.”
The vampire drove another block and turned into an old parking structure next to a building that once had been a luxury hotel. No longer used by travelers, the Carmichael provided living quarters to those unable to afford the safe neighborhoods. Despite the economic decline, the hotel bar continued to operate, but the clientele had changed. Unless someone called in a vampire sighting, the DSA had no reason to enter the hotel or bar.
A few vehicles were parked on the first level. As the vampire drove up the winding ramps, the upper levels were empty. Only government officials and the rich owned personal vehicles.
The vampire stopped the vehicle. At the top of the ramp was a wall with a large rollup door. He lowered the window and entered a code on a mounted keypad. The door began to rise, allowing the vehicle to proceed up the next ramp. The parking area was empty except for three vehicles, classic gas-guzzlers rarely seen outside of a museum. He parked next to a white one with long tail fins.