The Renfield Syndrome

  Our warm place.

  A solid torso went flush against my back, hard flesh molding to the softer contours of my body. The hard outline of an engorged cock didn’t diminish when I pressed back and wriggled my hips. Smooth fingers moved the hair from my nape as another arm wound around my waist. Soft lips brushed against the sensitive portion of prickly skin between my neck and shoulder, trailing up to my mark, sending pure liquid fire rushing to the erogenous zones of my body.

  “Yes,” I whispered, arching my back against his chest. “God, yes.”

  The hand at my waist drifted up my shirt, tickled my ribcage, and surrounded the softness of my breast. It cupped and massaged the mound through the thin lace of my bra. The rough pad of a thumb brushed against my nipple and rotated in a slow lazy circle until the flesh pebbled and hardened, sending shivers of ecstasy rippling down my spine.

  Sharp teeth scraped idly against my throat, sliding back and forth in a dangerous caress, before a moist wet tongue took their place. I groaned at the sensations of the rasping licks and gentle nips against my skin, lifting my hand to wrap trembling fingers around the hand at my breast.

  Disco went still at the contact, body tense and arms tight. I wasn’t sure why. He always knew what I wanted, what I needed. Especially in my dreams.

  “Don’t,” I moaned, afraid to open my eyes and find him gone. “Don’t stop.”

  His voice against my ear was deeper than I was accustomed to, throatier somehow. “Do you want more?”

  My voice was equally heavy—a seductive promise. “Yes.”

  The fingers caressing my shoulder wound down, coming around my hip to trail a path along the quivering skin of my stomach. They slid easily past the top line of my panties, skimming down to the wet heat of my slick sex. A large finger brushed past the folds and parted me gently before slipping into my quivering core, causing me to arch my back and gasp.

  His thumb massaged my swollen clitoris as he worked another finger into me alongside the first. He plunged in and out of my heat with a familiar and teasing motion—in and out, slow and steady. Each time he withdrew, I was rewarded with his tender return, each pass more delicious and electric than the one before. My ragged pants grew louder, and a slight sheen of sweat cooled my skin as I gyrated against his hand.

  Soothing wisps of air caressed my neck, followed by wet kisses that started at the base of my shoulder and slowly worked their way up. As his mouth neared my ear, and I heard his shallow breaths, I felt my climax approach. The glorious tingles beneath my skin bloomed into what would become a dizzying explosion, and I reached for it, begged for it.

  My plea came out a pitiful whimper. “Please.”

  He groaned against my ear before licking along the lobe and increasing the pace, timing the thrusts to match the steady rhythm of his thumb at my nipple. Those fingers were masterful, knowing exactly what I needed to send me over that ever approaching cliff of pleasure.

  I bit down on my lower lip as a mind-boggling release detonated inside of me, starting at my stomach and spreading outward, and sent my body into uncontrollable tremors. My limbs shook and my muscles spasmed, my heart beating out of synch as I drew in ragged gulps of air. My sex clenched the fingers that continued to work at my center, gripping onto them as if my body feared they might leave and end the erotic bliss they created.

  Strangely, the heat and light from the sun diminished as my orgasm came to a shattering conclusion, becoming almost artificial against my lids as I slowly descended from the clouds I had just floated upon.

  I was no longer standing on a sandy, sun-scorched beach.

  I was nestled on my side, resting atop a very soft and very comfortable mattress.

  And I wasn’t alone.

  Comprehension struck swiftly, and I opened my eyes.

  What have I done?

  I scrambled away as quickly as I could, which wasn’t fast enough considering blankets were wrapped around our entwined limbs. My mind refused to accept what it already knew. I had just engaged in a very sensual and fulfilling game of foreplay—and the man rewarding me for my involvement wasn’t Disco. The knowledge made my sexed and needy body feel incredibly wrong, gross and icky.

  “How could you? You fucking sick bastard!” I collapsed onto the floor in a messy heap of tangled sheets. I couldn’t see Carter as I was currently staring at a mattress, but I knew he was there.

  “I tried to stop.” He didn’t sound remorseful in the least. “You were the one who said you wanted more.”

  “How did I get here?” I snarled as I disentangled my leg from the tan sheet that caused my fall and peered over the edge of the mattress. Carter was covered in nothing more than tight black boxer shorts and a lazy grin. I balled my hands into fists, prepared to beat the shit out of him.

  Goddamned fucking prick!

  He shrugged. “You passed out on the trip back.”

  The anger subsided, pushed aside as I tried to recall exactly how I’d gotten where I was. Passed out? I remembered being carried from the library and into the midday sun. The voices of the men as they approached were too fuzzy to understand, a stirring of multiple echoes inside my brain. I assumed it was due to the ghosts that appeared along the way, watching as we traveled down the stairs of the building. Carter had climbed onto the bus with me, taken a seat, and asked someone to bring a glass and some water…

  “You drugged me?” I asked in disbelief.

  His smile evaporated. “You were inconsolable, Rhiannon.”

  “I was fine!” I kicked free of the blasted linens until they were scattered across the floor. Then I faced him. “I should kick your goddamned ass!”

  He rose from the mattress with the grace of a predatory cat, his chest muscles flexing with the movement. “You were talking to yourself and saying things that didn’t make any sense. I didn’t have another choice.”

  To my utter dismay, the shirt engulfing me was several sizes too large and smelled strongly of the man I’d allowed to pass second base. My sense of guilt, shame and embarrassment magnified.

  “I was not talking to myself.” I rotated in a circle, searching for my own clothing.

  “I know that…now.”

  I put his words together and froze. Something dawned on me, and my hand shot up to the throat he had nipped and played at. I closed my fingers over the mark at my neck. The shirt didn’t cover it. Disco’s claim wasn’t hidden. Anyone with a decent pair of eyes would be able to see it.

  What I was to a vampire wasn’t a secret any longer.

  I should have been dead…but I wasn’t.

  “Where are my clothes?” Meeting Carter’s silver-laced eyes, I asked, “And why are we in your bed?”

  “In the wash. You were soaked through when we arrived, and I couldn’t put you to bed in them. I stripped you down, put you in one of my shirts, and climbed in beside you to keep you warm.”

  Keep me warm, my ass.

  “Aren’t you just a boy scout and a gentleman to boot?” I asked with obvious sarcasm and told myself not to give him a middle finger salute. “Someone should get you a medal.” I snatched the offending sheet at my feet and attempted to pull it from the comforter to cover my lower body.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

  “You were speaking to ghosts in the library, weren’t you?” Carter ignored the insults directed at him. “Vampires only take those with the ability to converse with the dead into their sacred fold. That brand on your throat means you belong to one of them. You’re not a slave at all, are you?”

  I released the sheet and it drifted to the floor. Then I sighed, closing my eyes.

  I’d kick Carter’s ass later. His earlier indiscretion could wait.

  More important issues had just come to light.

  Hiding my secrets never did work out the way I hoped.

  After a moment, I confessed, “Yes, I belong to o
ne of them.”

  An uncomfortable silence followed, and it felt as if neither of us moved, spoke or breathed. The complexities of the entire situation kept me doubly quiet and edgy.

  Would he try to kill me now?

  Had I just signed my own death warrant?

  “Why did you summon the demon?”

  The question gave him my undivided attention. He was pensive and no longer on the bed. During our silence, he had moved without sound to the other side of the mattress. He stood with his arms folded over his chest, waiting for my answer. The reminder that he wasn’t entirely human left a foreseeable question lingering on the tip of my tongue, but I figured it would keep.

  “I didn’t summon the demon.”

  “Don’t take me for a fool.” He growled and his eyes brightened, much like Disco’s when I stoked his temper. “Demons can only cross through to our dimension when summoned.”

  “Or when a debt is owed to them,” I corrected. “They can cross over and maintain contact to claim their due.”

  Carter’s worried gaze traveled to my face, as if seeking the truth. “You are indebted to a demon?”

  “I wasn’t, but…” My eyes burned at the harsh reminder of all the differences brought on by the passage of time. I’d forgotten it was possible to hurt this much, to be suffocated by pure emotion. I brushed the feelings aside, determined to somehow find a way to put things to rights. “If Disco is gone, his obligation falls to me.”

  “Disco?” He said the name distastefully.

  “Yes, Disco,” I repeated, growing testy. “Otherwise known as Gabriel Trevillian.”

  “Your owner.”

  “My lover.” I embraced the fury that lifted me above the burning edge of pain. “Not my owner. It’s rude to speak ill of the deceased, including the twice-dead. Show some fucking respect. You owe it to me after what you did.”

  Several emotions flickered across his face—confusion, concern, a growing understanding and then a blistering anger. His outrage at my admission wasn’t expressed in the same manner I’d grown accustomed to.

  Disco used space to keep me from knowing how his anger affected him.

  Carter didn’t.

  He leapt over the bed in a fluid motion and landed within inches of me. I didn’t back down, even when his canines elongated and he stepped into my personal bubble. I was familiar with pointed teeth and attitude problems. Besides, the time for contemplation and ass kissing was over.

  He snatched my forearms in a grip that was unbreakable yet bizarrely gentle too. “Have you lost your mind?”

  “There is a lot of shit you don’t know about, Carter. And I think it’s time we were honest with each other. Don’t you?”

  His jaw clenched and he didn’t let me go. “Start talking.”

  “I was born on July twenty-second, 1989, in Miami-Dade County on a sunny morning.”

  Going still, he studied me closely. “You said you are twenty-five.” His nostrils flared, and his shadowed face smoothed in disbelief and a slathering of doubt. “And you’re completely human.”

  “You’re right, I did.” I nodded. “I did say that and I am.”

  He shared his confusion through words and the painful bite of his fingers into my arms. “I don’t understand.”

  “Do you remember how you smelled things on me that couldn’t possibly exist? Things that are now long gone?” He nodded, and I continued, “That’s because I came directly from that era to here. Those scents clung to me because that’s where I’m from. The demon that appeared in the library sent me here to repay a debt. He’s fucking with me.”

  “So what are you saying? That you traveled through time?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

  A smoothing of his features made him appear softer, more understanding. Then laughter bubbled from him, the sound encasing the room. He didn’t release me, shaking his head. His jovial mood ebbed and he exhaled softly, chuckling. “Many things are possible, Rhiannon. Hell, I’m walking proof of it. But time travel isn’t one of them.”

  “I’m not going to argue with you.” I tried jerking free but discovered his hands were large enough to encase my upper arms, allowing him to keep me restrained with minimal effort. “You can listen to the truth or remain stupid.”

  “Who’s arguing?” He stopped laughing, serious again. He stared at me in a way that indicated what he was thinking just before he stated it verbally. “I’m not stupid, and I don’t care what stories you concoct. You haven’t had enough time to view the world clearly. I only want to know what it is the demon wants so we can sever the debt.”

  “Listen to me!” I started fighting him in earnest, ready to kick his ass. “I’m not concocting shit. And you are stupid. Take a moment. Think about it. Why in the hell would I lie? What good would it do me?” When he didn’t let go, I stopped struggling, looked him in the eye, and snapped, “I can’t end the debt. The damage is done. Zagan will return in a little over a week and drag my sorry ass to Hell. You have to let me go. I will die if you keep me here.”

  “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Son of a bitch! The last thing I needed was a knight in shining armor.

  For some odd reason, my knee wasn’t as wobbly, the joint holding its own for the first time in weeks. I slid my foot between Carter’s legs and bent my leg at the knee, using his own heavy mass against him. I lunged forward and slammed my hands into his chest. I applied pressure against the back of his calf with my heel and he staggered. Our bodies parted and his hold loosened. I brought my arms to my sides and pushed back, forcing his fingers away from my skin.

  Using my advantage, I attempted to trip him up. I kept my ankle in place, trying to force him over. He didn’t fall; not that I expected him to. His reflexes appeared to be as fast as a vampire’s—even if he was unfailingly gentle where they were deceptively strong.

  He regained his balance, but I managed to launch onto the bed, cross it in two bouncy steps across the slippery sheets, and land with ease on the other side. My knee supported me without complaint. I had to suffocate my curiosity to see why. My attention remained on Carter, and it was obvious he was shocked at my newfound mobility.

  “Don’t look so surprised. I’m a big girl who has taken care of herself for a long time, and I’ve seen and survived shit that you couldn’t possibly imagine. So do us both a favor. Stop underestimating me.” My chest heaved, my heartbeat accelerated. “You don’t want to believe that I’m from the past? Tough shit. I didn’t want to believe my eyes when you sprouted fur and a muzzle full of teeth, Lassie.”

  “You’re telling me you truly believe you’re from the past?”

  “I don’t believe shit,” I corrected him again, trying to keep my cool. “I am from the past. From the year 2014, if you want to be exact.”

  “Say I buy that.” He started to move in my direction, but stopped when I countered his action with a hasty step back. “Why in the hell would a demon send you to me? Why here? Why now?”

  “Zagan didn’t send me to you, you arrogant prick. As for the here and now, it sent me one hundred and one years into the future to deliver a message to Disco. You just happened to cross my path shortly after my arrival.”

  Our gazes clashed, and we stared at each other, neither willing to back down. After a moment, he raked his fingers through his hair and seemed unsettled. “Since we’re being honest, it’s only fair I offer up some information of my own.” His eyes found mine before quickly darting away. “You’re mine, Rhiannon.”

  Faulting my ears and hoping like hell I’d misinterpreted him, I blurted, “What did you say?”

  “You’re mine.” He met my gaze when he clarified, “As right of my position, I get to choose my intended—my mate. As you know, there aren’t many women to pair with. I chose you the night I saw you. I knew you’d be strong enough to lead my people.?
??

  Oh god. Not now!

  I hated what-the-fuckery.

  I groaned and resisted the temptation to walk to the wall and bang my head repeatedly against the surface. His mate? What in holy hell did that mean?

  He was an animal. A big, hairy, razor-toothed thing that went bump in the night. I’d seen him change with my own eyes. Maybe his declaration had something to do with that? Or perhaps he was part caveman? Too damned bad he wasn’t the idiotic GEICO variety.

  I quickly decided against the caveman theory.

  Carter could shift his form into some scary-ass version of Beauty and the Beast, but he’d maintained control of himself. He never would have been able to change back to hold me after I tumbled down the stairs otherwise. He was animalistic—that much was clear—but how far did his feral tendencies go?

  “I’m sorry to break it to you like this, but that’s not going to happen. You’ll have to find another breeder. I belong to someone else.” Quickly, I added some clarity of my own, “I love someone else.”

  He wasn’t as graceful as Disco in his speed, but he was equally powerful.

  Animalistic? Check.

  He jumped over the mattress and stopped in front of me before I had the opportunity to run. I pressed my back into the wall with nowhere to go. Large, tanned hands landed on either side of my head, and I had to stifle an instinctive jerk. Carter moved closer, and I noted the shifting of his irises, the steely gray becoming vibrant silver. His voice was garbled and no longer wholly human.

  “That may be true, but your lover is dead. You said so yourself.”

  “I was with him just the other day,” I whispered hoarsely, and my eyes started to grow hot with tears I refused to shed. I collected myself enough to bite out, “I’m not lying. This isn’t my reality. All of this has taken place in a matter of hours for me.”