What did you expect? His voice, low and throbbing with something that made her sweat, curled in her mind and the way he looked at her made her breath catch. Did you think I’d only pay attention to you in bed?
“You said you didn’t have to be charming.”
He arched a brow and came to a stop before her. Lifting his hand, he brushed the backs of his fingers across her damp cheek. “I don’t have to be anything, sweetness. But I choose to be everything for you.”
“Why?”
“Because it gives me pleasure to do so.” His firm lips brushed along her eyebrow. The sex appeal so innate to his kind was magnified in Alexei. She could almost breathe it in, almost taste it.
Bree lifted her face for his kiss, but he licked the corner of her mouth and then moved away.
She groaned in frustration. “Why won’t you ever kiss me?”
His hands circled her waist and he stared down at her with a smile. “I thought you wanted to fight?”
“No,” she said slowly. “I want you to kiss me.”
“Can I choose where?”
“On the lips.”
“My thoughts exactly.” The wicked glint in his eyes told her they weren’t thinking about the same lips.
Shoving out of his embrace, she turned away. “Go walk on the ceiling or something, Alex, and leave me in peace.” She was so sick of the tight control he kept himself under. It wasn’t natural, and they both knew it. Every time they made love—and it was definitely making love—he restrained his baser instincts. Every time they ate, he suffered through stored blood when she would have given hers gladly. His reticence was a barrier between them, a huge one, and she couldn’t live with it anymore.
He sighed. “Bree—”
“Don’t ‘Bree’ me! What is it with you and your fucking control? You want a certain level of intimacy and that’s it. You decide the level for you, but you want everything from me.”
“It’s not like that and you know it.”
She rounded on him. “I know you won’t kiss me! Sorry, but to me, kissing is far more intimate than fucking.”
“Mistress,” James interrupted. “I need to speak with you.”
Alex turned. “Get the hell out of here!”
“Don’t talk to him like that,” she snapped, silently ordering James to her room.
“Why?” Alex asked. “I can’t hurt its feelings.”
She shoved past him, intent on following her droid. “Don’t be an ass.”
“Where are you going?” He caught her by the elbow.
“To my room.”
“You mean our room?” he bit out.
“No, I mean my room.” Bree tried to shake him off. “The one I slept in the first night.”
He drew himself up and loomed over her. “Why can’t you discuss whatever needs to be discussed in front of me?”
Titling her head back, she stared up into his gorgeous face with its tightly drawn lips and intense gaze. His grip was unrelenting. He wasn’t hurting her, but neither could she escape.
“Because it’s none of your concern, Alexei. You draw the intimacy line at kissing. I draw it at discussing Council business with a criminal.”
Bree felt the frustration and hurt ripple through him. Every day she spent with him made his emotions clearer to her. She knew he could read her just as well, even better, since he could read minds and she couldn’t.
“What does it matter?” she asked, lifting her chin even higher. “Whatever you want to know, you can find out by eavesdropping on my thoughts.”
His jaw clenched. “I want you to talk to me. I want you to share things with me. I want you to trust me.”
“Like you trust me?” she challenged, arching her brow.
“Damn it, that’s different. I could kill you, Briana, if I’m not careful.”
“Perhaps what I have to say would kill you too.”
“That would be stretch,” he said dryly, “since I’m very nearly immortal.”
“In space maybe, where you’re surrounded by metal and no suns. Tolan is a whole different world. We have two suns there and one of our largest exports is trees.” She watched him run an agitated hand through his hair and released her breath in a rush. Her heart ached. “Any way you look at it, we’re from two different worlds.”
He shot her a narrowed glance. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Bree waved a hand between them. She had to swallow hard before she could speak. “Whatever’s happening between us is hopeless. I want more than you can give. I shouldn’t want more, it’s ridiculous to want more, but I do. We should just end this now.”
Suddenly his grip hurt. “What do you suggest we do?” he growled. “Reach port and say, ‘Goodbye, thanks for the fuck of my life’?”
“I think that’s best, don’t—Mmff…”
Alex’s mouth swooped down to hers—hard, expert, demanding. His hands moved to her wrists and held her absolutely still, his head tilting to deepen the angle of the kiss.
Dark, rich and exotic, his flavor flooded her mouth and made her dizzy. His tongue swept past her lips and into the deepest recesses, licking and tasting as if he were starving for her. He wasn’t the gentle, considerate lover she’d known the last week. This Alex was harsh, almost brutal, his tongue fucking her mouth in a desperate, frantic rhythm.
Bree sensed the control he wielded and felt the battle that raged inside him. Encouraged, she brushed her tongue past the sharp tips of his fangs and leaned into him, pressing her breasts to his chest, telling him silently to give it to her. I dare you, she taunted in her thoughts, her hands cupping his ass and squeezing the firm flesh.
He growled into her mouth, flooding her mind with images of him as a ravening beast and her as a helpless, frightened victim of his lust.
She fought back with her own visions, pictures of her giving as good as she got, taking everything he had and asking for more. Straddling him, taking him, fucking him.
His grip on her wrists tightened until it was bruising. You want a taste of what it would be like?
Before she could think her reply, he was moving. He ripped at her clothing, razor-sharp claws shredding her shorts and scraping briefly across her skin. She shivered and moaned, his need for her sparking her own for him. With impatient hands, she yanked down his trousers, freeing the cock she couldn’t get enough of. Crowding her, he stepped out of his pants, forcing her to take rapid backward steps. Unwilling to give him any advantage, she reached between them and cupped his balls. His snarled response wasn’t even remotely human, but she wasn’t scared. She could never be scared of him.
Alex pulled her to the floor, his mouth locked with hers. The kiss she’d longed for cut her lips with her own teeth. The palm that cupped her breast squeezed with painful pressure and the hair-dusted thigh that thrust between hers was rough in its intrusion. Locked together, they rolled and strained to get closer, every touch and movement filled with an underlying desperation.
And then with startling suddenness he thrust away from her.
“Go.” His breathing was harsh and loud in the padded room. “Run.”
“No, damn you.” Scrambling to her knees, she crawled toward him. “Don’t push me away again.”
“Get out of here!” He curled away from her, the skin of his back rippling as he struggled to contain his hunger.
“You stop now, Alexei Night, and I’m going to kick your ass. And don’t think I can’t do it either. You won’t fight back and I’ll just keep on punching.”
He shot a glare at her over his shoulder, revealing glowing red eyes and bared fangs. Against her will, she shivered.
Last chance… he warned.
Bree steeled her nerves. This was Alex. She knew him. She trusted him. “Bring it on.”
Before she could blink he was on top of her. Open your legs. Now!
She’d barely spread her legs before he plunged desperately into her cunt, digging deep with that endless length of thick cock. Moaning into his mout
h, she couldn’t catch her breath, he gave her no chance to adjust. He fucked her like a madman and she could only hang on, her hands clutching his flexing ass as he reamed her with unbelievable speed, spearing her high and hard. Bree writhed beneath him, begging for air, but he dug his claws in the padded mat to anchor them in place and only shafted her harder.
“Oh God…oh God…oh God…” He was killing her with pleasure, forcing her to take it, punishing her for wanting too much from him.
More, he growled.
“W-what?” She couldn’t take any more.
His forearms pinned her shoulders down, holding her immobile, and then he rammed into her, forcing her thighs brutally wide so he could thrust deeper. More!
She screamed and came hard, her cunt clutching his pumping cock in hard convulsive shudders. Suddenly her mind filled with him, she became him. She felt the drowning pleasure he took in holding her, in fucking her, in tasting her kisses. She saw how deeply he craved her and wanted her on every level possible. She saw the respect he held for her and the need he had to protect her. And when he groaned into her mouth and flooded her with his cum, she saw something else too, something that filled her with equal parts joy and despair.
Alexei loved her.
Oh God…
But there were dark parts to him as well, hidden parts that he refused to show her. Despite the depth of his affection, it wasn’t enough. Tears slipped past her lashes and salted their kiss.
He ground into her, stroking his cock with her spasming depths until he’d emptied himself. Then he pulled his mouth from hers and stared at her with torment in his eyes, his chest heaving with labored breaths.
“I can’t give you any more than I have.” His voice was hoarse and raw as he pulled out of her deliciously bruised pussy. Leaping to his feet, he tugged up his pants and kept his gaze averted. “I’ve already given you everything.” He turned on his heel and left her there on the floor.
Devastated.
Chapter Five
Briana stumbled down the corridor, her hand running along the cool metal wall to support her weak legs. It wasn’t love. It couldn’t be. Not so soon. They hardly knew each other.
But the reckless beat of her heart called her a liar and the dizziness that accompanied her gasping breaths said the same. Alexei couldn’t deceive her about something so important. Could he? Before she’d begun this journey she’d been certain she knew everything about vampires, but she’d been wrong. She didn’t know if they could lie through a mental link. It wasn’t something she’d needed to know. Until now.
The door to her old room slid open silently and she stepped inside.
“I have news to share,” James said quietly.
Wrapping a towel around her waist, Bree walked over to the bed and sank onto the edge of the mattress. Her hand fluttered to her heart as awe sank into her consciousness. Alexei Night loved her. And that scared the shit out of her.
“You have received another demand.” James took a seat next to her.
“What?” She turned to face him, thoughts of Alex driven from her mind. “What did it say? What do they want? Oh God, my family… Are they okay?”
“Mistress, calm down.” He placed his hand over hers. “They have done nothing to your family, but they know your sister and brother-in-law are staying on Rashier 6.”
“No…” She’d arranged a trip off-world for them, taking great care to hide their departure. Using a generic name, she’d purchased a private service to transport them. She’d told them she wanted to hide them from the media attention brought on by her position, but all her efforts had been for nothing. They’d been discovered anyway.
“What do they want?” she asked starkly, her pulse racing in near panic. If anything were ever to happen to Stella she didn’t know how she could bear it.
“They know you are en route to Tolan and they are not pleased that you have disobeyed their request for you to wait for instructions.”
Bree stood and began to pace. “How they hell do they know that?”
James rose to his feet. “There is an information leak somewhere, Mistress. It is the only logical explanation.”
Throwing her hands in the air, she shot him an arch glance. “No one knows, James. You and me, that’s it!”
“Night knows,” he said softly.
She stilled, astonished. “Oh hell, give me a break! Alex wouldn’t sell me out.”
“Why not? Because he says he loves you? A known criminal who has spent years doing unsavory acts for money?”
“You don’t know him,” she argued, even as her stomach turned.
“Neither do you. A week’s acquaintance is all you have to base your conviction upon.”
“In most cases I would agree that isn’t long enough.” Bree resumed her fevered pacing. “But he’s shown me things, shared things…”
“Has he shared with you the reason for the ten-minute gap in my memory banks?” James asked.
Scowling, she stopped pacing again. “What the hell are you talking about now?”
The droid stood stoically, his classically handsome features impassive. “I hesitated to tell you, because I did not want you to doubt my ability to perform. But in light of the recent demand, I have to disclose the anomaly. There is a ten-minute period of time three nights ago that I cannot account for.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I have run multiple queries and while my database appears undisturbed—”
“Then don’t worry about it,” she dismissed. “What was the demand?”
“I am unable to account for ten minutes, forty-three seconds,” he continued obstinately. “Exactly the amount of time it would take to download all of the information I have acquired since you purchased me.”
Her hand moved to her stomach, which suddenly felt queasy. “Is that what happened? Have you been tampered with?”
“There is no record of a download in my database, but I was curious.” James moved to the door and locked it. “So last night while you and Captain Night were sleeping, I searched the bridge. I found a synapse interrupter, Mistress. It was set at just the right frequency to disengage me. None of the other droids or programs on this ship would require that particular frequency.”
“Oh God.” Swallowing hard, Bree shook her head, refusing to believe it. James was designed to see only the facts. He wasn’t capable of factoring in the effect of emotions. Alex would never set her up. He would never hurt her so badly.
“What other explanation is there?” James asked.
“I don’t know. But there has to be one.”
“The message was very clear. Your exact location is known to them. They are aware that we will enter Tolan orbit in a few hours. They insisted you leave Captain Night behind and land on the planet alone. From there you have been instructed to travel to a local public transport hub near your father’s home where you will receive instructions by public comm link. You are to leave this ship without delay and await their approval before taking any further action. You are to dress in the clothing that displays your rank and present yourself as you would on the House floor. You are to go into the hub without my escort and—”
“This is too much,” she snapped, her hands going to her hips. “These nitpicky demands are simply designed to oppress and frustrate me into doing something stupid. They asked me to back off the Eastern Bill and I agreed. I’m not giving them any more than that.”
“You never intended to give them even that much,” James pointed out. “You merely made the appearance of capitulation until you could ensure your family’s safety.”
“Damn straight! I won’t be dictated to. If I give in once, what’s to stop them from demanding more? I’ll be trapped in a vicious cycle, nothing more than a pawn used to achieve their ends.”
Bree clenched her fists. Despite her frustration, she was going to do as they asked. She’d never spoken to them directly before and she couldn’t pass up the opportunity. This situation couldn’t be allowed
to go on indefinitely. Talking to them would bring her closer to discovering who was behind these threats.
Moving to the round window, she stared out at the starry space beyond. Only days ago she’d enjoyed a similar view, drenched in pleasure as Alex made love to her that first time, moving inside her with breathtaking skill. She’d wanted the moment to go on forever, the joining to last beyond the temporary physical rapture. Known for her pragmatism, that was the one time in her life when she’d lived for the moment.
Now that moment was over. It was hard to believe when Alex’s cum was slowly leaking down her thighs, but there was no denying it. He was a vamp with an endless life. She had another fifty years left, give or take a decade if she wasn’t assassinated first. And he couldn’t be himself with her anyway. What kind of life could they have if he was always living with only half of himself?
She took a deep, shuddering breath and rested her palms on the ledge. The metal was cool to the touch and soothing, reminding her that some things were solid and unmovable in a world that was suddenly careening around her.
Snorting, Bree rested her hot forehead against the cool glass. She’d lost her focus for a while and allowed a seductive vamp to distract her from a matter of grave importance. She’d thought this task would be so easy—hide her family, thereby taking away the leverage of the people who threatened her. Then she could approach them on equal footing. Once her family was safe, she’d have nothing to lose.
But they’d outsmarted her somehow. Now it was time for her to outsmart them.
“How far away are we from Tolan orbit?” she asked, coming to a decision.
“A few hours.” He nodded as he read her thoughts. “An excellent plan. I will go and disable the alert systems for the shuttle pod. Captain Night will be unaware when we leave.”
“You’ll have to keep him occupied for a bit. If he comes near me, he’ll know. I don’t want to drag him into this.”