Owning the Night Page 3

  The love. The trust. The loss that had turned her against males, mortal as well as vampire, for a long, long time. The desire to open up, experience all the sensations she’d suppressed beneath that prickly veneer. If Alex could, he’d go after the vampire named Dante and destroy him again for what he’d done to Mara.

  But he couldn’t. All he could do was show her there didn’t have to be pain or fear—that she need not resist falling under his vampire spell. That he wouldn’t seduce her then walk away. When he felt her first climax surge through her, he stood and laid her on the bed.

  • • •

  With an economy of motion she hadn’t seen since Dante, Alex undressed and stood before her, his pupils distended, his shapely lips tight. He was pale—vampire pale, almost like alabaster, yet so alive. Powerful muscles rippled beneath skin as smooth and unblemished as ivory satin. His sex stood straight up against his flat belly, ready to take her in whatever way he chose. It pulsated, long and thick and darker than the rest of him, a blue-veined column tipped with a fully exposed pink crown. So hard, yet so smooth and soft she longed to take it between her lips. His testicles were drawn up in their wrinkled sac, twin orbs that looked strangely vulnerable, not hiding like mortal men’s in a nest of pubic hair. A small ring swung beneath his scrotum, its brilliant gold tone a startling contrast against his pale vampire flesh. A guiche, she thought the piercing was called.

  Though seeing he was pierced surprised her, his lack of body hair didn’t. Vampires’ only hair grew on their heads and faces, Dante had told her. She’d loved the smoothness, the clean feeling of flesh on flesh when she’d shaved herself for Dante. Loved the incredible sensations when she’d run her hands over every inch of him. But Alex looked even more perfect than the picture of Dante that she carried in her memories, for by all appearances he was more than capable of taking her with his body as well as his mind. Mara held her arms out, the gesture an entreaty she dared not make aloud.

  He answered. Without hesitation, without a hint that he, not she, should be the instigator of all things sexual. When he stretched out on his side, his sex nudged her thigh. He raised his head and propped it up on one hand as he looked down on her, his emerald gaze full of vampire heat. With his free hand he traced the pair of scars on her throat, and his expression turned dark. “If I ever mark you this way, you’ll never leave me. And I will never leave you, either.” The surprised look on his handsome face let her know his statement came out without conscious thought, and that made her shiver at the prospect.

  But she quickly shoved her own reaction away. What he’d implied was only a bunch of words. Nothing meaningful. It was just a vampire wooing a woman, keeping her in his bed with charming, seductive visions of forever.

  His touch as light as a feather, he made his way down her body, circling one nipple then the other before laying his large palm over the curve of her belly and using his fingers to sift through her pubic curls. “Did he make love to you first?”

  “N-no.” Why did that matter? She was no virgin, and Alex had given her no indication he expected her to be. “He was a vampire, like you.”

  “Not like me, sweetheart. I’m a born d’Argent vampire. From what you’ve told me—yes, baby, I can read your mind—your other vampire was made. Impotent, unable to find a measure of sexual pleasure except by giving a vampire kiss.”

  Mara reached up and stroked his chin, liking the scratchy feel of his neatly trimmed short beard, imagining how it would feel when he rubbed it against her throat . . . her nipples. “Made?”

  “A mortal who was turned. With a few exceptions, they can only get off sexually by drinking blood from its source. Fortunately, most don’t take it as far as Reynard and leave their victims dead.”

  A shudder surged through her, and Alex gathered her in his arms. “Take it easy now. I’m not like them. I was born a vampire, nearly three hundred years ago. I don’t need blood to come, although I admit there’s no bigger rush than to feed from a lover instead of a glass. Trust me. I’ll give you pleasure now. We’ll sleep away the day. Then, when the sun begins to set, we’ll go on the hunt for Reynard. And you’ll let me destroy him before he can kill again.”

  She couldn’t do that, because if she did she’d be ignoring every rule of law that had been part of her since she joined the department right out of college. But now wasn’t the time to go into a discussion of mortals’ ethics, not when he was touching her, eliciting her trust, at least so far as it related to him bringing her that pleasure, filling the emptiness inside her. “Yes, I trust you.” The slow beating of his heart beneath her hand . . . the insistent prodding of his arousal seeking a home between her legs . . . the soothing yet arousing sensation of him molding her buttocks with his callused hands, holding her with a pressure that was strong yet light. “Take me, Alex.”

  He rolled her to her back and rose above her, a magnificent male god come to life. His fangs remained retracted as he fit their bodies together and plunged inside, the delicious friction from his penetration eased by her own juices yet still significant. He stretched her, a sensation of mingled pleasure and pain and incredible fullness when he sank deeper, when the tip of his sex pressed against the mouth of her womb.

  Their mating was a dance of seduction, his penetration slow and deep. She absorbed the sounds and smells of sex, her own soft moans, the slow beat of his heart and the slapping of hard male flesh. The cool metal of his guiche ring along her hot, wet flesh reminded her he was of another world. A world that fascinated her and aroused her incredibly as he brought her along. Pressure built in her womb and radiated throughout her body, sensation about to burst in a conflagration of heat.

  She wanted it all, wanted the feel of his hot semen bathing her, the extraordinary release he promised. But not yet. Not until she experienced it all, the press of his fangs at her throat. The taste of her own blood on his lips as she spasmed around his rock-hard flesh. “Bite me. Please.”

  “Not this time, sweetheart. Concentrate on feeling how incredibly right we feel together for now.” Sliding his hands down to cup her buttocks, he fucked her harder, faster, his testicles ramming hard and tight against her labia with every stroke. His cock jerked once, twice inside her, setting off the explosion of sensations she’d tried to hold back. “Oh, yeah, that’s it. Come with me.” His words trailed off, and the only sounds she registered were his fast, shallow breathing, her own little scream of satisfaction that he muffled with a soft, gentle kiss.

  How she’d missed it, the strength of a male vampire, the sense of being taken. She’d believed she could handle the passion, savor having Alex as the living shadow of Dante’s memory, but Alex hadn’t let her do that. He’d made her focus totally on him, pushing Dante into the deep shadows of her past.

  As Mara drifted off to sleep, it was Alex—not Dante—whose remembered image fueled her dreams.

  • • •

  Riinngg.

  What the hell? Alex blinked. Light poured through the window, telling him it was much too early for any self-respecting vampire to be awake. Squinting, he located the source of the noise and picked up Mara’s cell phone.

  “Yeah?” It was Mara’s shadow, the kid detective.

  Ben’s worry flowed through the sound waves even before he managed to ask, “Where’s Lieutenant Leone?”

  Good question. The bed was still warm where she’d been curled up next to him, but the sound of water running in the shower gave Alex a pretty good hint. “In the shower. Shall I have her call you?”

  “Yes. She’s all right, isn’t she?”

  Alex shut his eyes, pictured the way Mara had come apart in his embrace. “She’s fine, kid. Want to tell me what’s on your mind?” When Ben hesitated, Alex concentrated hard, projected vampiric compulsion with his next words. “Tell me, Ben. We’re in this together. You want Reynard put out of business as much as I do.”

  “One of the Key Biscayne private cops spotted a vampire last night over on the grounds outside the castle—that’s wh
at folks call a deserted estate over there. We’re going over there to have a look.”

  Just what Alex needed, a bunch of mortal cops spooking Reynard and witnessing his destruction. “Don’t do it. I know where our killer is. I have one of my clansmen inside the ruin of that old house, watching him. As a matter of fact, it was probably Philippe they spotted, not Reynard. Let it go. I intend to get him. I don’t need any interference.”

  “I can try to keep them away.” The kid’s thoughts were as transparent as anybody’s Alex had run into lately. Ben didn’t have to say it for Alex to know he understood Reynard must meet with vampire justice. And that he approved. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks.” Alex would need all that luck and more. Mara walked out of the bathroom, her only garment an oversized bath sheet, and took the phone as he was about to set it down. The mutual concern the two cops had for each other was evident in the way Mara reassured the young detective.

  When she hung up she turned to Alex. “You say you have a clansman watching Louis Reynard?”

  Alex nodded then grasped her hips and drew her onto the bed beside him. “Philippe had been observing the only way in and out of the castle—he thought. Apparently Reynard found another exit, either that or he’s learned to slither through solid stone and concrete. When Philippe contacted me last night, I told him to get inside the place somehow, and not to take his eyes off the bastard.”

  Mara pursed her lips, as if considering the situation. “This vampire of yours. Philippe. Do you trust him?”

  “Completely.” When Alex sensed Mara’s doubt, he went on. “He and his mate were chosen years ago by d’Argent clan leaders to guard our queen. One of Reynard’s henchmen poisoned them both. Jacques, Philippe’s mate, was destroyed.”

  “My God.”

  “Yes. Philippe had loved Jacques for as long as I can remember. I can think of no one who’s more determined than Philippe to see Louis destroyed.”

  She gathered her clothes, shaking her head at the ripped disaster that used to be her good black skirt. “I can’t walk out of here in this.”

  “Sorry. I’ll have some things sent up.” Though he didn’t say it, he thought anything the concierge could scare up from one of the boutiques in the hotel would be an improvement over the drab outfit she was clutching in her hands. Before she could protest, he called downstairs and arranged for some clothes to be sent up for her. “I’ll want some toys as well,” he said, recalling the adult bookstore he’d seen among the shops across the highway from the hotel. “If you’ll give me the phone number, I’ll call the store across the highway and have them send over the items I want. One more thing. Have room service send up lunch. Some meat. Fruit and vegetables. And something chocolate. Nothing she can’t eat with her fingers. I’ll take a half pint of blood. O negative if it’s available.”

  Mara looked down at him, a confused look on her pretty face when he hung up.

  “Don’t you need more blood than that?”

  “Not for another day or so. I fed last night, before you and Braunstein came on the scene. I just ordered a bit so you won’t have to eat alone.”

  “You know, I might have some preferences of my own,” Mara said, dropping the bath sheet and giving him a great view of curves she managed to hide so well under her working clothes. “And I might not like hanging around this room all day, stark naked.”

  “I like the view just fine . . .” Alex let the words trail off, using his gaze to convey what he had in mind. He knew what she liked . . . what she wanted. And he wanted to be the one to give it to her. This thing he was feeling for her was more than lust, more than the natural protective instinct for someone smaller and less powerful than himself.

  Love? Never having experienced that emotion before, he couldn’t say for certain.

  Chapter Three

  Pamper me. Treat me the way you would a woman you want for your mate. Tell me I’m beautiful and make me believe it. Crack the shell I’ve kept around my heart since Dante left me.

  Mara didn’t have to say the words. Alex heard them in his head, and they touched his heart. This woman seemed so self-sufficient, even dominant to a degree. Inside, though, she yearned to give her heart . . . to submit to a lover’s will. His will.

  He flattened his palm over her auburn bush, felt her heartbeat accelerate, heard her breathing grow ragged. “Go make yourself as smooth as I am,” he told her. “By the time you’re finished, your lunch should be ready.”

  Her quiet assent humbled him. Not that he cared whether he buried himself in satiny skin or soft pubic curls, but for some reason she cared. That was what was important. After calling in his toy order, Alex cracked the curtain and winced a little at the stream of sunlight that bathed the room. That sunlight would reassure her, remind her she was with him and not the vampire named Dante, who’d apparently stolen her self-confidence and so much more.

  A discreet knock on the door drew Alex out of his thoughts. Wrapping Mara’s discarded bath sheet around his hips, he swung the door open. After peering inside the bag of clothes from a designer boutique in the lobby and seeing a smaller toy store bag inside, he signed for its contents. By the time the bellman who’d brought them moved away, a waiter appeared. Alex stepped back so the man could wheel in a small table draped in white linen and topped with dishes under silver domed covers.

  “Want the table by the window, sir?”

  “No. Here, by the bed.” While Alex could tolerate sunlight better than most vampires, he wouldn’t deliberately place his naked body directly in the path of Miami’s fierce summer sunshine. He glanced at the plates of sliced meat and shellfish, chopped raw vegetables, fruit and an interesting collection of chocolate truffles. The candies’ gold foil wrappers caught sunlight, called attention to the way they’d been artfully arranged on their plate in the shape of a small pyramid and topped with a maraschino cherry. Alex smiled at the hotel chef’s attempt to bridge the difference between mortal and vampire—a bottle of sparkling water on ice in a silver bucket beside his snack of blood. “Thank you.” Suddenly eager to be rid of the waiter and check on Mara’s progress in the bath, Alex handed over a generous tip and watched until the door had swung closed.

  When he opened the bag, he fished out the toys, then saw clothes designed more for a vacationing socialite than a homicide detective. He liked them, imagined them showcasing Mara’s petite, well-toned body. It took very little of his perceptive vampire skills to figure she’d pitch a fit, though. The clothes were going to cause an argument. He had no doubt he’d win, but not now. Checking to be sure she hadn’t emerged from the bathroom, he hung up the sundress in the closet and set the bag that now contained only underwear and a pair of high-heeled sandals below it on the floor. He’d deal with that when it was time for them to leave and go find Reynard. Meanwhile, he stashed an anal plug, some condoms and a vibrating dildo in the drawer of the table beside the bed.

  “Lunch has arrived,” he yelled over the sound of the shower spray. “Need some help?”

  The shower stopped abruptly and she stepped out, all rosy and pink and dripping onto the bath mat. “Like me now?”

  Yeah. He liked seeing her intimate flesh as smooth as a vampire’s. He was certain he’d like tasting and touching that impudent little clit that peeked out from the pink folds, even more than it aroused him to look at it. “Yeah, I like.” He reached for a towel and blotted a drop of water from between her legs. “Come on, your sustenance awaits you.”

  As if they were clothed and dining in a fine restaurant, he seated her in the lone side chair and unscrewed the lid on the sparkling water with a flourish. Pouring two glasses—his less than half full—he slid the full one beside her plate before mixing the small portion of blood into his own. Smiling at her, he fished a strawberry from the plate of fruit and brushed it gently over her closed lips. “Try this first.”

  Her tongue darted out between lips still bruised from his kisses, its smooth texture and dark pink color contrasting with the berry’s ti
ny black seeds on bright red flesh. When she sucked it into her mouth and bit down with small, white teeth, Alex imagined her going down on him, using suction to coax his climax. When he pictured her tugging at his guiche ring, playing with it while she sucked his cock, he got so aroused that he hurt.

  Piece by piece he fed her the finger foods, observing every expression that crossed her face, reading thoughts that had him about to burst. Lifting her glass to her lips, he zeroed in, determined to learn the fantasies her previous vampire lover had left unfulfilled—and satisfy them now, before he let her go.

  If he let her go.

  Where the hell had that thought come from? Alex mulled over the unfamiliar emotions Mara had wrung from him since . . . since she’d walked up to him last night in that bar all bristly cop, prepared to cuff him and haul him off to jail. In less than twenty-four hours, she’d managed to engage his feelings, unlike any of his previous lovers. He wanted to protect her from all the dangers she faced, in a way no cop’s weapon could. But more than that he wanted to hold her, use all his vampire powers of seduction to drive out the memory of that long-gone vampire who’d hurt her. All the tender emotions he’d denied with success for his entire long existence had suddenly come to life, the feelings so strong he doubted he could walk away. He wanted to make her smile, drive away the doubts and fears that made her vulnerable, protect her from every man, mortal as well as vampire, who would cause her pain.

  Was he in love? He didn’t know, but he certainly wanted to make her every fantasy come to life. “Here, try one of these,” he said, lifting one of the chocolates and holding it to her lips as he looked into her dark eyes and delved into her mind.

  Mmmm. So good. She wasn’t thinking about the chocolate truffle she’d just bitten into, but of Alex . . . and a shadowy figure, a man. Mortal or vampire? Alex didn’t know. It didn’t matter, though. He concentrated, closing his eyes and joining his lover’s dream.