Tory studied the man and wiggled her nose. “Not likely,” she replied. “He smells. So do you. Besides, you are both the wrong sort for me. I have to be careful who I bite.”
“Now, ain’t that a shame,” the tall man replied. “I’m sure Ray will appreciate it, though.”
“Why?” Tory asked, standing tensely as the man stepped closer.
“‘Cause, you little darling, are about to get fucked,” the man chuckled. “Every which way.”
“Howie, I don’t like this,” Ray muttered as a chill wash over him. “Somethings not right.”
“The only thing that ain’t right is you turning coward,” Howie snapped, not taking his eyes off of Tory. “Let’s see if your tits are as pretty without your dress on.”
Tory shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “I’m giving you one chance, and one chance only, to promise to never harm another living soul.”
The sound of Howie’s laughter echoed in the cool evening. Neither man seemed aware that a light fog was beginning to rise up from the ground. Tory noticed it. It was the spirits living in the cemetery. They protected their own and she was not human.
“Ray, grab her,” Howie ordered.
“Howie,” Ray started to argue.
“Now! She knows our names thanks to you. You think she’ll keep her mouth shut? She’ll have the police on us if we let her live,” Howie snapped.
“Shit!” Ray choked out, reaching for Tory.
Tory didn’t wait. The moment Ray reached for her, she moved. One second she was in between the two men, the next she was behind him. She gripped his neck and tilted it.
She couldn’t kill him, but she couldn’t let him go either. The chemicals released in her bite would paralyze the man without harming him and she would be able to erase his memories of her.
Distaste and distress washed through her as she sank her teeth into his neck. The foul taste of Ray’s blood washed through her mouth, gagging her. Unfortunately, along with the blood came the man’s sad, tortured memories of his life.
Tory tried not to swallow any of the blood, but her starving body demanded it. The raw steak she had purchased was forgotten. A loud snarl filled the air, followed by heavy curses.
Her eyes flickered up in time to see Howie turn to look between two large tombstones. His eyes widened in terror before he turned and bolted, leaving his friend behind. Simon’s dark shape flashed out from where Howie had been looking.
Tory knew that she would have to stop Simon or he would kill the other man. Sending a swift command through the link she now had with Ray, she sent him into a deep slumber. Withdrawing her fangs, she let him drop to the ground.
“Watch him,” Tory choked out. “I have to stop Simon.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the soldier said with a nod.
Tory didn’t wait. She took off running after Simon and Howie. She ignored the fierce burning that was boiling in her stomach and threatened to choke her. She needed fresh blood. Fresh blood that she could drink to dilute the tainted blood she had in her system. She needed Simon’s blood.
She weaved in and out between the headstones. She tried to shift, but her strength and the churning pain building inside her prevented it. She gasped as she heard Howie’s loud scream and the vicious snarl of Simon.
Breaking around the side of a curving oak, she gripped the rough bark to steady her shaking limbs. Drawing in a deep breath, she gazed at where Howie was crouched against the front of a headstone. His left pant leg was torn and the scent of his blood filled the air, adding to Tory’s misery.
“Simon,” she called out weakly. “Simon, please. I need your help. Please, it hurts.”
Chapter Seven
It had taken Simon several minutes to pick up the men’s trail. They had parted ways several times and it had made it more difficult. He had finally decided to focus on the tall, lanky male. Out of the two males, Simon was confident that he was the ringleader of the pair.
A red haze had covered his eyes when he saw Tory trapped between the two men. The beast only recognized that the female he had claimed was in danger. When the man he was focused on turned and ran, the instinct to hunt overwhelmed him.
Simon dodged another headstone as he closed the distance between him and his prey. He stretched out with his paw and dragged his razor sharp claws down the male’s left leg. A strangled scream escaped the man as he twisted away.
Harsh sobs filled the air as the human tried to make himself smaller. Simon’s lip curled, revealing his sharp teeth. A loud, menacing snarl escaped him as he stepped closer. His only thought was to rip the male apart for threatening Tory.
He took another step closer. In the distance, he could hear the sound of running feet. Youssef and the select few that knew about him had arrived. He would save Youssef the trouble of hiding this body.
A low growl escaped him when the man tried to reach into his jacket pocket. Simon could smell the faint scent of gunpowder. He turned when he heard Youssef call out a warning.
“I wouldn’t if you want to live,” Youssef warned, aiming his own pistol at the man. “Hands behind your head, roll onto your stomach! Now!”
“Are you fucking crazy! Shoot it! Shoot it!” Howie screamed.
“If I shoot anything, it will be you,” Youssef replied coldly. “You have to the count of two to roll onto your stomach. Otherwise, I will look the other way while he rips you to pieces.”
Simon howled loudly when Howie rolled over onto his stomach on the ground and covered his head with his hands. Huge white paws raked the ground. Dirt, leaves, grass, and moss flew up behind him as he fought the urge to attack.
“We have the other male as well,” Youssef said after a voice spoke in his earpiece. “The girl is missing, though.”
“Simon,” a soft voice called out weakly from the dark shadows of a tree to their right. “Simon, please. I need your help. Please, it hurts.”
Simon’s massive head turned. His glittering blue eyes locked on the bent figure holding onto the tree. A low whine escaped him when he saw Tory slide down to the ground. Her body heaved as if she was about to vomit.
Twisting away from where Youssef and another of his security detail were handcuffing the human male, he padded swiftly over to where Tory half sat, half lay on the moist ground. He pressed his face up against her outstretched hand. A low rumble of approval escaped him when her fingers tightened on the hair at his nape.
“Please,” she whispered in a voice filled with pain. “I need your help.”
“What is wrong?” Simon demanded after he shifted and desperately wrapped his hands in her thick brown hair. “What did they do to you? I smell his blood on you.”
“Come closer,” she begged. “Please, it hurts so badly.”
Simon leaned closer, pulling her sideways onto his thick thighs. His arm wrapped around her as he felt a spasm of pain rip through her. A low cry escaped her as she bowed backwards in agony.
“Tory, what is it? Tell me what I can do,” Simon demanded in a frantic voice. “Tory, tell me where they hurt you.”
“Close… Closer,” she begged.
“Tory,” Simon said as he pulled her face to his neck and held her tightly as another wave of agonizing pain swept through her. “Tory!”
Simon’s body stiffened in surprise when he felt the sharp flare of pain, followed by ecstasy as her sharp teeth sank into the throbbing vein in his neck.
***
Relief flooded through Tory as Simon’s sweet elixir mixed with Ray’s toxic blood and quickly diluted it. The pain that had been ripping her apart turned to heat as she drank deeply.
She knew she should release him, but he tasted so good, so sweet. She moaned and pressed closer to his warm body. Her hand slid over his bare shoulder to clench him tightly against her as she rubbed her ass back and forth where she was sitting across his upper thighs.
Something hard and thick, pushed ag
ainst the back of her dress. She wiggled her ass again and was rewarded with a deep, rich groan that matched her own. Her lips caressed the flesh and her tongue teased him as she began stroking him.
Never in her life had she ever tasted blood so rich, so sweet, and so addictive that she could feel her body flood with heat. It pooled low between her legs making her ache with an intensity that shook her. She kneaded the flesh under the palms of her hands and rocked back and forth as the pleasure built.
The hands wrapped around her tightened, trying to hold her still, but it was impossible. She was lost in the height of pleasure as his blood heated her until she felt like she was a volcano about to explode. The pressure exploded through her when he suddenly shuddered in her arms and released a low cry.
Her own body clenched in response and the pooling lava burst forth in an unexpected orgasm that shook her. Mind-blowing pleasure ricocheted through her, stunning her with the ferocity of its release.
Tory ripped her teeth from his neck with a loud cry. The pleasure was so unexpected and powerful that she stared up at him in stunned silence before her eyelashes fluttered and she collapsed limply in his arms. If she had remained conscious long enough, she would have discovered she was not the only one stunned by what had happened.
***
Simon was silent as he carried Tory’s limp body through the cemetery. He refused to look anywhere else, but straight ahead. For the first time, he was seeing things that he had never seen before. Ghostly figures moved among the tombstones, following the small group as they made their way to the main gates.
“Simon,” Youssef murmured in an uneasy voice.
“Not here, Youssef,” Simon interrupted. “When we get to the car.”
“Yes,” Youssef replied. He glanced at the two men stumbling behind them. “Take them to the police station and file a report.”
“Yes, sir,” one of the men replied.
Simon stepped through the gate and swiftly climbed into the waiting SUV as the driver hurriedly opened the door. He winced when the rough material of his jeans brushed against his semi-engorged cock. Fortunately, Youssef had followed the GPS in Simon’s cell phone and retrieved his clothing by the gate as he came through it. After Tory fainted, Simon had reluctantly handed her limp body to Youssef while he slipped his jeans and black cotton, pull-over shirt on. At the moment, even that short separation was difficult for him and he had quickly retrieved her back into his arms.
He settled Tory’s limp body more comfortably against him. Her head was cradled against his left shoulder while her body draped over the rest of him. Dirt stained her knees where she had sunk down by the tree and bits of damp grass clung to her low-heeled black boots.
“Simon, what is she?” Youssef asked, staring with dark, worried eyes at Tory’s pale face. “She… she acted like she was a Vam… She acted like she was a Vampire. But, how is that possible? She was out in the sunlight. Could there even be such a creature in addition to Werewolves?”
Simon’s eyes locked on his friend’s pale face. His mind swirled with questions. Was it possible? Maybe. Most likely, after what they had just witnessed. But, how? He hadn’t smelled anything unusual. Surely, the beast inside him would have been able to pick up another immortal creature. He had easily picked up the scent of the Werewolves his master had created.
He had heard legends of Vampires, but he had never met any during his long life. Boatwright had never mentioned any other creatures. If anything, Boatwright had boasted that Werewolves were the only creatures of the night that were real.
“We are the only ones that truly live.” Simon remembered Boatwright bragging to him shortly after the alpha changed him. “And I am the alpha, the leader, the only one who can make more. I alone control who can become immortal and who will die. The Werewolves I create are the only ones in the world.”
Simon had believed his former alpha. The only Werewolves he had ever met were the ones Boatwright created. They were the ones Simon would later kill. He had spent centuries believing he was the only creature of his kind on Earth.
His eyes shifted down to Tory’s relaxed face. He traced her flushed cheek with the trembling fingers of his right hand. She was not pale or cold like the stories said a Vampire would be. She had delivered the furniture to his house this afternoon in broad daylight. He had watched as the sun highlighted the colors in her rich, brown hair.
“No, it has to be something else,” Simon murmured as he tenderly stroked her cheek. “She is warm. She was outside in the sun. No, there is another explanation.”
“Why would she go to a cemetery at night?” Youssef asked. “No normal human would venture there alone after dark. Not only that, I thought I saw… things moving there. Simon, something is not right. Let me take her to her apartment. I can leave her there. I think it would be best if you disappeared for a while until I find out what is going on.”
“No!” Simon replied sharply, glancing up at Youssef with a piercing glacial glare. “She stays with me until I know what she is and what happened.”
“Very well,” Youssef forced out in a heavy voice. “I just ask that you use caution. She has some type of hold over you. I’ve never seen…” Youssef’s voice died at the silent warning in Simon’s eyes at the mention of what happened a short time ago in the cemetery. “At least let me see what information I can find on her and Alexandru Carson. Promise me you will use caution until I can see what I can find.”
“Do your research,” Simon agreed. “I can look after myself.”
Youssef gave a sharp nod, but remained quiet. Simon knew his friend wanted to argue. He also knew that it would be useless. No, he would keep an eye on Miss Tory Carson, a very close eye. She would be under his control, in his bed, and if he had anything to do with it, what happened in the cemetery would only be the beginning.
Two days, Simon thought, leaning his head back against the headrest. Two days until the sexual urges of the beast take control of me. Nothing can save Tory, then.
Chapter Eight
Tory stretched, yawned, and wiggled her toes back and forth. She didn’t remember the bed in the apartment being this comfortable. She yawned again and slowly opened her eyes. Her head tilted sideways as she stared up at the high ceiling. A frown creased her brow as she studied it. This wasn’t her bedroom.
A low scream escaped her when a man’s face suddenly appeared in front of her. Not thinking, she pushed her hands up against his chest with more force than she was intending. Horror darkened her eyes as Simon’s body flew up almost to the ceiling above the bed from her thrust.
Tory shifted into a bat as gravity kicked in and he started to fall. Flapping frantically, she flew up and landed on the top of an armoire set against the far wall of the bedroom. Peeking over the top, she winced when Simon landed in the middle of the bed with a loud thump. Her eyes widened and a delighted grin curved her lips as she admired his bare ass. Her admiration turned into a startled squeak when he suddenly moved.
Her eyes locked with his for a moment when he turned and glared up at her. Scrambling awkwardly backwards until she was up against the wall, she waited with a pounding heart. It didn’t take long before a pair of piercing blue eyes was staring at her from over the lip of the beautiful, dark wood cabinet.
Tory stared back at him for several long seconds, wondering what she should do. Deciding she couldn’t stay on top of the cabinet forever, she scooted toward the edge while keeping her eyes on him. He seemed to understand what she was about to do as his eyes followed her, but he didn’t try to grab her.
With a little sneeze, she pushed off the armoire. She fluttered to the other side of the room before she transformed back. With a quick reach, she grabbed a dressing robe off an elegant eighteenth century style chair and pulled it on before she turned around to face Simon. A rosy blush rose up her cheeks, but she forced her eyes to remain on his face, instead of his magnificent body that was clearly exposed.
“What am I doing h
ere?” Tory asked in a husky voice. “What happened?”
“You are back on my estate,” Simon replied as he stepped around the bed. “You fainted last night after…”
“Oh!” Tory’s eyes widened as the memory of what happened last night washed through her. “Oh my!”
***
Simon picked up his trousers that were lying on a small bench at the end of the bed. He quickly slid them on, never taking his eyes off of Tory’s face. The flaming blush on her cheeks and her beautiful brown eyes that suddenly seemed too large for her face confused him.
The strength behind her thrust was enough to seal the fact that she was anything but human. But, it was her transformation into a small, plump bat and back again that shook him. Everything about her was now screaming immortal creature, yet her scent was still that of a human.
“Yes, oh,” he said, watching her with a wary expression. “What are you, Miss Carson?”
Her eyes skirted from him to the bedroom door behind him and back again. She chewed on her bottom lip in indecision for several long seconds. Panic swept across her face when he took another step closer to her.
Simon saw her eyes flicker to the door again and knew she was going to try to get by him. What he hadn’t expected was that she would be as fast as she was when she made up her mind to try to escape. He almost missed her as she swept past him. The minute his hands wrapped around her, she shifted again. One moment he had a beautiful, curvy woman in his grasp, the next he had a trembling, plump bat looking up at him with soulful, dark brown eyes.
He gently cupped the shivering creature in his hands. Pulling his hands closer to his chest, he stepped over to the large set of windows. Early morning sunlight filtered through the glass. Indecision flickered through him again as he wondered if it would hurt Tory. He held Tory up so he could see her peeking out between his fingers at him.