Consumed

  I believed him, which was why her goading had only partly worked. “Good.” I pressed a light kiss to his mouth, and it was like lighting a match – he immediately took control; cupped the back of my head and ravaged my mouth with his lips, tongue, and teeth. Nobody had ever kissed me the way Salem did, greedily feasting and claiming. He didn’t coax or tempt, he demanded and took.

  He was also pouring every ounce of his anger and guilt into the kiss, like I could make it better. I wanted to. As I shifted out of his hold and rose from the sofa, his hand snapped out to snag my arm.

  “Where are you going?”

  In answer, I grabbed one of the cushions he hated – and repeatedly tried to bully me into binning – and placed it at my feet. “I’m hungry.” Then I kneeled between his legs.

  As understanding hit Salem, heat and need began to emanate from him; buzzing against my skin and feeding my own hunger. Jaw clenched, he watched through hooded eyes as I leaned forward and exhaled heavily against the fast-growing bulge in his jeans. Keeping my movements agonisingly slow, I tackled his fly under his heated gaze. His cock, semi-hard and all mine, bobbed free. I licked from base to tip, and swirled my tongue around the head before dipping it into the slit. His rough groan made me smile.

  “See, these cushions have their uses.” Over and over, I licked and nibbled and teased, until he was so hard it had to be painful. When his warning growl told me he’d had enough of the teasing, I took him into my mouth and sucked hard enough to make my cheeks hollow.

  “Fuck, that’s good.” Fisting a hand in my hair, he began guiding my movements – which was surprisingly kind of hot. “Keep that mouth wrapped nice and tight around me. Yeah, just like that.”

  Determined to bring him to the edge of his control, I sporadically danced my tongue around him, or grazed him with my teeth, or glided the flat of my tongue along his underside, or swallowed around him. I wanted him to lose himself, to forget all about what was haunting him. Soon, he was lifting his hips, surging into my mouth.

  “I want inside you.”

  I was expecting him to pull me up, rid me of my jeans, and then impale me on his cock. Instead, I found myself kneeling on the sofa, my back to Salem, as he whipped off my tank top and ripped off my jeans. A hand on my lower back pushed me forward, and I grabbed the back of the sofa to steady me. I gasped as a finger shoved inside me.

  “Wet and ready, just the way I like you.” His bare chest plastered to my back, he looped an arm around me and lifted me slightly as he put his mouth to my ear. “Hold on.” Then he plunged inside me, stretching me, causing the most exquisite burn. “All of it, Ava.” His second thrust drove him balls-deep, giving me exactly what I wanted.

  He rode me hard, forced me to feel every inch of him. His pace was frenzied, and each plunge of his cock was ruthless…building the friction until I was practically sobbing with the need to come.

  Feeling his teeth nip my shoulder teasingly, I moaned. “Bite me.”

  Growling, he sunk his teeth deep into my shoulder just as his finger circled my clit. That was all it took for my climax to barrel into me, tearing a scream from my throat. He pounded into me once, twice, and then slammed himself deep as his cock pulsed inside me.

  With a satiated sigh, I slumped; thankfully, his shuddering body held me easily. “Bastard, I’ll be damned if I don’t get to keep my cushions.” His mouth curved against my neck.

  At dusk, we were called for a meeting with Sam and Jared. They, along with the rest of Salem’s squad, were already waiting inside the conference room when we entered. We had no sooner taken our seats than Sam was speaking.

  “Evening, all. You will be pleased to know that our researchers came up with three possible suspects for the brothel owner. All are Pagoris, all are rumoured to have identity-protecting gifts, all have reasonably small nests of their own, and all have Sires that live in Manhattan – perfectly matching the profile.”

  Jared spoke then. “We could sit here and waste time by reviewing all three of them, or Sam and I could skip to the third suspect, who we are pretty sure is the woman we’re looking for. Which option do you prefer?”

  Chico frowned. “That all depends on how sure you are about this third suspect.”

  Sam’s answer was immediate. “Ninety-nine percent sure.”

  The utter confidence in her voice was enough for me. I smiled. “Then introduce us to who’s behind door number three.”

  “Diane Glass.” Jared handed me a photograph.

  I took a quick look at the brunette, noticing her prominent cheekbones and bow mouth, before passing it on. “Her gift didn’t protect her from being photographed?”

  “She was human when that was taken,” said Sam. “According to our researchers, she’s quite the business woman – has her hands in many pies, none of which could be considered legal or moral. But that’s not why we’re certain she’s the Pagori we’re looking for. During her human life, Diane worked in a brothel.”

  “As a keeper?” asked Stuart.

  “No, as a prostitute.” Sam gave a faint smile at the shocked faces staring at her.

  Jared draped a possessive arm over the back of her chair. “Originally, Diane came from a prestigious family in Long Island. She ran away from home when she was a teenager. Considering her father was charged fifteen years later for sexually abusing his niece, it’s not such a stretch to conclude that Diane left home because her father had been doing the same to her.”

  “She was an easy target for pimps,” I pointed out sadly.

  Jared nodded. “This particular pimp was known for using emotional manipulation rather than violence as a way to recruit and control his employees.”

  “You can picture it now, can’t you?” said Sam. “Here we have this lost girl who’s been exploited, is all alone, and feels unloved. Some bloke comes along, tells her she’s beautiful and pretends to care for her, making her the focus of his superficial charm. The pimp then makes himself the centre of her world, isolating her from others by convincing her that he’s the only person who cares for her. He shelters her, feeds her, seduces her, and makes her totally dependent on him. Which only makes it easier for him to take control when he says, ‘Hey, it wasn’t all for free; now you owe me money and you’ll have to work for me to pay me back’. Diane was a prostitute in his brothel –”

  “Wait a minute, she was a victim of this shit, and yet she opened a brothel of her own?” Damien’s voice rang with both disgust and bafflement.

  “It’s sadly not uncommon for prostitutes to attempt to recruit other prostitutes,” Chico told him. His human years on the police force had probably taught him that.

  “As for opening her own brothel…” Sam shrugged. “It could have been her way to reclaim the control she lost when she was exploited this way. The reversal of roles means she seized the power, isn’t a victim anymore.”

  “And it’s probably a little bit of that ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’,” said Denny.

  “She’s angry at men.” When everyone looked at me questioningly, I went on, “She lures her clients, who are mostly men, with this unique brothel, records their deeds, and holds it over their heads by blackmailing them – punishing them with what they’ve done. The people she forced to work there…they were just pawns to her.”

  Sam cocked her head as several emotions flitted across her face. “You’re right. This wasn’t about making money or trafficking. The brothel was just something that enabled her to punish the type of men she believes wronged her all her life.”

  “It would even explain why she owned the fight club.” Jared rubbed his nape. “A primary result for the men – even the winners – was pain. By owning that club, she was the bringer of it, in a sense.”

  “It’s looking like this Diane Glass is in fact the owner,” said David.

  “Please tell me the researchers have an address.” Butch sounded eager to exact some retribution.

  “Actually, they have two addresses.” Sam’s words made the enti
re squad smile. I felt the air change and lighten with anticipation and eagerness. Both emotions fairly radiated off Salem – typical.

  “She has an apartment in Manhattan and a house in the South of France. We’ll hit France, and one of the other squads will visit –” Sam paused as the door swung open and Evan entered, closing it behind him.

  He held up a hand. “Sorry, but I knew you were having a meeting about the brothel, and I figured you’d all be interested in this.” He took a seat before continuing. “My squad and I managed to track down one of the suppliers. The son of a bitch was already dead – nothing but a pile of ashes.”

  “Do you think Diane got to him first?” asked Reuben. “Cleaning house, so to speak?”

  Evan sighed. “I don’t know. But some of the clients were found dead too. Get this: all of them, just like the supplier, had some kind of red powder mixed in with their ashes.”

  I gasped. “Demons.”

  All heads whipped round to face me, but it was Salem who spoke. “What?”

  “All demons are impervious to fire, but some can actually create and manipulate it. From what my friend told me, some exceedingly powerful demons can call on the flames of hell, though it’s extremely rare. Ashes left behind from hell’s flames are said to contain a red residue.”

  “And Knox Thorne is rumoured to be extremely powerful,” mused Jared.

  “He is,” said Salem. “I could feel it at the hotel.”

  Sam nodded. “Me too. I also got the feeling he was trying to conceal just how much power lives inside him. But why would he do that?”

  I shrugged. “Only he can answer that.”

  “And you’ve got no idea at all what kind of demon he could be?”

  I shook my head. “It’s possible that he’s an incubus, since his sexual allure is off the charts.” I smiled at Salem’s growl.

  “Whatever the case,” rumbled Salem, “it seems like the demons are on the right track.”

  “That’s definitely not good.” Chico cursed. “God knows what the supplier told him before they killed him.”

  Max skimmed a hand over his military haircut. “Like finding everyone responsible for this shit won’t be hard enough without racing against the demons.”

  “Yep.” Sam shrugged. “But if the situation was reversed and one of mine had been kidnapped and forced to work in a brothel, I would do everything in my power to avenge them.”

  Harvey smiled. “That’s why we love you, Coach.” He blew her a kiss…and then jerked as an electrical charge from Jared zapped his chest.

  “Back to the matter of our upcoming trip to France…Ava, I’m sure you’ve figured out that you’re here because I want you to come along.” Sam gave Salem a ‘don’t interfere’ look.

  After a stare-out with Sam that almost had me laughing, he grunted, resigned. “She stays with me every second,” he stated, his tone non-negotiable.

  Jared struggled to hide his smile. “Fine.”

  “When are we leaving?” I asked.

  “As soon as Sam and I have talked to the squad who will be checking out Diane’s Manhattan apartment.” Jared got to his feet. “All of you expect a call within the next hour. And be ready.”

  (Salem)

  “I have to say, I wasn’t expecting this.” Stuart’s words penetrated the silence that had fallen the moment Jared had teleported us to France, only to find the sight in front of us.

  “Maybe we should have, considering what Evan told us earlier,” said David, which was a valid point.

  I grunted. “The demons seem to be ahead of the race.” Why else would the house be nothing more than a heap of ashes – ashes that contained red residue?

  Jared tapped his temple. “I just heard from Evan. The interior of Diane’s apartment has been destroyed by what could be mistaken for an average fire, if it wasn’t for the red residue in the ashes.”

  “Hey, do you think someone’s leaking information out of The Hollow?” Max asked Sam as we circled the scorched ground where the house had once stood.

  Her brows drew together. “Leaking info?”

  “Think about it,” pressed Max. “The demons didn’t seem to be on track. Then suddenly, they’re going after the same people as us, and they’ve even beaten us here.”

  “As Thorne said, demons have their ways of finding things out,” said Ava, who was walking in front of me; edging away from a large mound of debris.

  Max looked at her. “Yeah, and one of those ways could be by corrupting one of our own.”

  Sam puffed out a long breath. “I hate to say this, but you could be right, Max.”

  Satisfied by that, Max continued. “It could even be that they’ve possessed the mind of one of the legion.”

  Jared turned to Ava. “Are demons capable of possession? Or is that a myth?”

  “From what I’ve heard, it’s rare,” she replied. “Only enormously powerful demons can do it.”

  “Demons like Knox Thorne,” reflected Jared, shooting her a meaningful glance. Ava shrugged.

  “You could have Ryder search the mind of every legion member,” suggested Damien. “He’d find the taint, right?”

  “Yeah,” allowed Sam, “but we’re talking a lot of people. It could take days for him to find out whether our suspicions are right.”

  Jared squatted and scooped up a little of the red powder with his finger. “A better question would be: was Diane inside the house when the demons destroyed it?”

  Sam halted next to him. “And we need an answer fast.”

  Butch stared at the remains of the house with an agitated glint in his eyes. “So how do we find out if she’s alive or if she’s part of the ashes we see here?”

  Jared stood upright. “We visit her Sire. He’ll know if she’s dead, because their blood-link will have severed if that’s the case. And if she is alive, he could lead us to her.”

  Denny grimaced. “I doubt he’ll give her up easily.”

  “Of course he won’t,” said Sam. “She’s part of his nest, and a blood-link has a strong effect on the mind. His loyalty will be to his nest, first and foremost, whether we like it or not.”

  “What we need to know is how far he’ll be willing to go to protect her.” Jared glanced at the cloudy sky. “It’s one thing to be reluctant to hand Diane over; it’s another thing altogether if he’s prepared to hide her. He might even be prepared to fight us.”

  “You really think he might fight you?” Harvey sounded surprised.

  “As the Grand High Pair, we’re due respect and obedience. But it doesn’t always work that way.” Sam toed a small scorched rock. “There’ll always be people eager to overthrow us, for one thing. And no leader of a nest is going to appreciate being ordered to do anything by anyone – especially to give up one of his own, thereby sentencing her to death. As such, there’s a huge chance Diane’s Sire won’t help. That’s assuming, of course, that she isn’t already dead.”

  “You could speak to the vampires she created, too,” Ava suggested. “They each have blood-links with her, they’ll know if she’s alive.”

  “I’ll assign one of the squads to the task.”

  “In the meantime, we’ll have our researchers dig up everything about Diane’s Sire,” declared Jared. “Then tomorrow night, we pay him a visit.”

  Butch arched a brow. “And if he doesn’t do what you ask?”

  It was Sam who responded, her expression blank. “He dies.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  (Salem)

  Conscious that we would be going on an assignment in a few hours’ time, I went to pick up some NSTs at dusk, since our stock had ran low. I wanted Ava at top strength when we paid Diane’s Sire a visit, particularly since there was a chance that a fight might break out.

  It was as I was retrieving a crate of bottles from the walk-in refrigerator at the store that I heard people coming up behind me. The familiar scents told me exactly who it was. Ignoring their presence, I rounded Will and Gina and went to the counter. Annoyingly, th
ey trailed after me.

  Gina did her best to make eye contact, but I refused to look at her. “You’re not angry that I hurt your little Sventé’s feelings, are you, Salem?” Like that would make me not only childish but touchy.

  “I think he must be,” said Will.

  “Didn’t I say we were done?” I muttered, dismissive.

  “I’m your Sire, Salem. We’ll never be ‘done’.” Will’s smug tone made me want to smash my elbow into his throat.

  Instead, I paid for the crate and then left the store. The fuckers continued to follow me.

  “So it would seem that you’re stuck with me.”

  I wanted to wipe away that self-satisfaction, and I knew one way to do it. “There are ways of breaking the blood-link, Will.” I kept my answer vague, not wanting to reveal Imani’s gift. I was betting that Imani would be willing to break it if Ava asked.

  “You would Bind with Ava?” Pure astonishment dripped from Gina’s words.

  Of course she would ask that since, as far as those who didn’t know of Imani’s gift were aware, the only way to break a blood-link was to replace it with another. Binding with Ava would destroy my link to Will. But that would mean forming a psychic, unbreakable bond to her – one that wouldn’t permit any physical or emotional distance between us.

  I waited for panic to set in at the very idea of it, but it didn’t come. There was actually an appeal to having the tie with Ava that Jared had with Sam, to be that deeply connected to her. And it would mean Ava couldn’t be free of me. Not that I’d ever let her go, but I was selfish and possessive enough to find the added assurance sort of...comforting. And if there was anyone who I was willing to allow so deep into my soul, it was Ava.

  Will must have taken my silence as a reluctance to admit that I would never Bind with her, because I could hear the smirk in his voice as he then taunted, “You can’t escape me, Salem. No matter what you do, you will never change the fact that I’m your Sire.” Like I was stuck under his rule.

  “You lost your authority over me the moment I joined the legion.” Even he couldn’t deny the truth of that statement.