Black Desire (10 page)

"Sex with a Vampire
or half-breed is nothing like sex with a Thrope," the deep voice snarled
seductively. He walked up to her and his hand cupped her pussy through her
dress.

"When you get a
Thrope cock in there, it locks in for hours. You cannot break the connection or
it will rip you apart. A Thrope is insatiable and can fuck for hours without
rest." He began to rub in a circular motion. Oh, why didn't she wear some
panties?

"You think
Vampires or those with Vampire blood have stamina? I once made a woman come
twenty-one times. She couldn't walk for three days." He grinned. It was a
smug smile of male-beast vanity. His fingers moved up under her dress. She
reached down and grabbed his wrist.

"Don't,
please."

"You're wet,
Katrina. I can smell you. You want what I can offer."

"Please, let me
go," she said in a stronger voice. "I don't want you. All I want is
for you to let me go. I want no part of what is between you and Tristan
Black."

"Sorry. You are
staying. And do not worry. I never force any woman to have sex. You will of
your own volition and soon." He reached down for his clothes. "Relax.
I am going to call Tristan Black right now. I will bring you back something to
eat. I will be locking you in."

With his clothes in a
tight bundle, he turned and strode out of the room. She heard the door close
and a key being turned. Finally, her legs gave out and she sank to the floor. A
cold, creeping fear covered her whole body.
 

Some working
vacation.

****

When the phone rang
at one-thirty Tristan thought nothing of it, as this was the time of night the
Clan was most active. From dawn until early afternoon was when Vampires had
their undead slumber. Most could move about late in the day but they had to
stay out of direct sun. Most chose not to and followed the old ways,
from dusk to dawn.
Seeing he was
half-human, Tristan did not need to stay out of the sun entirely. Prolonged
exposure under direct sunlight could cause burning and nausea so he avoided it
when he could. He picked up the cordless phone.

"Hello?"

"Tristan Black,
Devlin Steele here. I will make this short and sweet. I have your woman."

Tristan snarled. His
instinct to protect his mate roared to the surface. "Put her on the phone
if you have her."

"Not this call.
She is wearing a white dress with green leaves on it, white high heels and a
tan leather purse. And no panties. She really is quite a delicious woman,"
Steele taunted.

"You touch a
hair on her head and I will fucking rip you apart. Use your damned fur as a rug
for my fireplace!" Tristan roared.

Steele laughed.
"Such passion. I will hold her until you agree to the deal we discussed.
As soon as your father turns my Thrope, she is yours. If in the meantime,
however, she wishes to taste a little wolf, I won't discourage her."

"You fucking
mutt." Tristan took a deep breath. "Fine. I will go to my father now.
But next time you call, I better have proof of life or my Clan will hunt you
and your Pack down and obliterate you from the face of the earth."

"My, she does
mean a lot to you. How interesting. I will call back in six hours."

The phone line went
dead.

Tristan threw the
headset against the wall, and it broke into pieces.

"Fuck!"

****

Not ten minutes later
and Devlin Steele entered the bedroom carrying a tray.
Like I could eat.
He placed the tray on the bed next to her. A
couple of sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Who was he, Martha Stewart? Also
on the tray was a can of Coke Zero and a few grapes.

"This should
tide you over until breakfast." He smiled without warmth.

"Where did you
take me?"

Despite her
misgivings about the food, she reached for a perfectly cut egg salad triangle.

"You are not far
outside of Chester on my private compound. We are quite isolated, so you cannot
escape."

She chewed
thoughtfully. "And what did Tristan say?"

Devlin grabbed a
chair and pulled it next to the bed.

"He was incensed,
but he will do as I ask. He wants you back. And what are your feelings for the
half-breed?"

"Stop calling
him that. It's none of your business what my feelings are," she snapped.

"Your swift
defense speaks volumes, my dear. However, that doesn't preclude we can't enjoy
ourselves while we wait."

His grin was wolfish,
smug and debauched. While she did have a physical reaction to him standing nude
in front of her, she would never act on it. Taking another bite out of her
piece of sandwich, she glanced at Devlin Steele. He hadn't treated her poorly
or in a rough manner. But the fact remained that he’d kidnapped her. Katrina
gazed into his eyes, which were glowing yellow. She dropped the sandwich.

"Thropes have
many powers, Katrina," he crooned. "We breed with human females as
well as our own kind. The children born of human females are one hundred
percent Thropes, none of this 'half ' business like the Vampires. Think of the
children we could produce." He reached out and touched her cheek.
"Look into my eyes, Katrina. You want me. Say it."

She was floating in
some swirl of yellow light, the same shade of yellow that emitted from his
eyes. Long tentacles pulled her most private thoughts from a deep, dark private
part of her mind.

"Say it,
Katrina."

The force of that
golden luminosity extracted the words out of her.

"Yes," she
heard herself say. "I want you."

****

His father greeted
him at his door. They had made a well-worn path through the small patch of
woods between their homes over the decades. They were as close as father and
son could be but they also lived separate lives. His father was so damned
secretive about his own past and what he was doing in the present. Tristan
learned long ago that to pester his father with questions was a fruitless
endeavor. He was not looking forward to this conversation.

"No female
company tonight?" Tristan arched an eyebrow.

"As soon as you
called, I sent her on her merry way," Deegan said. "What is it, my son?
This is more than the woman you spoke of."

Deegan took a seat in
the large wing chair in his study, motioning for Tristan to take the one
opposite.

"It concerns her
as well. She has been taken by a Thrope by the name of Devlin Steele, do you
know him?"

Deegan tapped his
long fingers on the leather armrest. "I do. I have not had contact with
him for many years. He is the Alpha leader of his Pack and has a compound
outside of Chester, last I heard. They are not overly aggressive. In fact,
their whole existence is taken up with breeding the perfect Thrope. Why does
that concern—Katrina, is that her name?"

Tristan exhaled.
"I owe Steele a favor. I took a Blood Oath."

"Blood Oath? Why
would you agree to that? Concerning what?" Deegan's eyes narrowed.
"This is what has been occupying your mind the last few days and it is not
just meeting Katrina, is it?"

With great
reluctance, Tristan explained why he was called, how he found Raynor Nightwood,
and the Blood Oath he’d taken to clean up the gore.

Deegan stood suddenly,
incredulous rage on his face. "And you thought not to tell me of this—this
incident?"

"Raynor swore me
to secrecy. I gave him my word, which means nothing now seeing I broke
it."

Deegan paced the
floor, his hand running through his wavy, raven locks in aggravation.

"This is not the
first time Raynor has been involved in such an…incident."

Tristan could not
stop his jaw from dropping open in shock. "What in hell do you mean? He
has done this before? Why haven't I been told of this? Jesus, Dad, you and your
fucking secrets! I didn't even know Thropes existed!"

Deegan took his seat
again and leaned forward on his thighs. "It happened before you were even
born. Raynor suffers from The Concealment. It is a form of madness that can
overtake a Vampire, usually when feeding. It affects each Vampire differently.
For Raynor, the malady appears every century or so."

"Malady? The
gore I was witness to is hardly some disease! Who else in the Clan has
this?"

"We do not know
if it is passed genetically since Vampires have not reproduced for hundreds of
years. I told Raynor he should not father any children." Deegan sighed.

"So Julian and
Raylene could develop this wretched sickness? Can it get any worse?"

Deegan shook his
head. "Not that I observed. I have kept Raynor's condition secret from the
Bureau all these years. Otherwise, they would vote to have him destroyed."

"Jesus. So what
if he kills every hundred years or so? What is a human life more or less?"
Tristan snapped sarcastically.

"You don't
understand. I turned Raynor without his consent. I owe him. I will keep his
secret and so shall you. No one else can know about this, neither his children
nor anyone else in the Clan.
 
What does
Steele want to hush this up?"

Tristan was still
reeling from learning of The Concealment. What other secrets was he not privy
to? What other creatures existed that he had no knowledge of? His father turned
Raynor without his consent, so what was the story there? Secrets. Always with
the secrets.

"He wants you to
change a Thrope of his choice into a Vampire, something to do with the damned
breeding you mentioned."

Deegan laughed
cruelly. "That is utterly priceless. He really has no idea what he has
requested. When he calls back, tell him I agree. Katrina is to be there at the
turning. Let her see what she is getting involved with. Do you want her in your
life, Tristan?"

Tristan rubbed his
palm. "Yes. Whether she wants to be involved in mine is the question. Will
Steele hurt her?"

"No. Not unless
he wants us wiping his pathetic dog kennel off the universe, he wouldn't dare.
Vampires outnumber Thropes. We outnumber everyone."

Tristan looked at his
father. "And just who in hell is 'everyone'?"

"Ah, there is
much I haven't told you, Tristan. It was more to protect you. After this
episode is resolved, I promise I will tell you everything, including all the
questions of my past you have asked over the years. You are in love with this
woman. I can see it in your eyes."

"Yes. It
happened so fast. I cannot explain—yes, I love her. Deeply. After this, being
kidnapped, I have a sick feeling she will walk away from me and never look
back."

Chapter Eight

Katrina didn't know
how it happened. She grinded away in Devlin Steele's lap while kissing him with
wild abandon. It was different from kissing Tristan, not as intense but not
altogether unpleasant either. Shades of yellow swirled in her eyes. She didn't
know why and she didn't really care. Devlin stood, brought her to her feet and
led her to the bed.
 
He removed her dress
so that all she was wearing was her bra. He deftly snapped the front clasp and
the bra fell away from her shoulders.

He was talking,
telling her she was beautiful. Not that she believed it but if a handsome man
told her she was, then damn it, she was beautiful. She got on her hands and
knees on the bed, held on to the brass footboard and watched as Devlin Steele
took off his clothes again. Lord, he was huge. His cock stood straight up and
snaked along his taut belly. He fisted it and walked toward her.

She felt dizzy and
not quite herself. But she was in control of her faculties, could form
thoughts. She looked up and saw someone standing in the doorway. My lord,
Tristan? Here? She shook her head but the foggy mist wouldn't clear. Tristan
was naked. As she suspected, he had a long, sinewy packed-with-muscle torso
that made her mouth water. His abs were as firm as Devlin's. She looked back
and forth at the two men. Both gorgeous in their own way. Both wanted her, so
why not have both men?

Did she just think
that? Obviously, because Tristan moved behind her on the bed and Devlin moved
in front of her. Devlin had a firm grip on his huge cock and guided it toward
her mouth. He didn't force her in any way; in fact, he reached out and caressed
her cheek with a surprising tenderness. His finger traced her lower lip, which
sent shivers through her body. Tristan knelt behind her and laid hot, sizzling
kisses down the valley of her spine. The sensation of having two gorgeous men
touching her at once was glorious. She closed her eyes. Tristan's talented
fingers rubbed her pussy, which made her wetter than she thought possible. She
moaned. At the same time, cocks plunged into both her mouth and her mound. She
almost came right then. She often fantasized about this, alone late at night in
bed in the twilight of dreams. Two men seeing to her every need, her body being
filled with thick, hot, hard cock in all ways. This was better than any dream. Katrina
wrapped her fingers around Devlin's prick at the base and twisted it as she
sucked. She eagerly licked the pearl of semen on the broad head and slipped her
tongue into the slit. Devlin groaned. A deep, feral growl emitted from his
throat. His hand rested on the back of her head, encouraging her to take more.
He thrust his hips faster.