Blood Judgment (Judgment Series) (16 page)

He emailed the document, enabling the centers to euthanize every young male brought in instead of processing them. Too bad he was restricted to a lousy sixty days instead of three to six months at a time.

Culls were always popular with the centers. Each corpse would be sold by weight to Halzworth and the money put into the centers’ tills, a nice benefit and incentive to take full advantage of the cull.

On the other hand, if things went as they should, the scientists he’d personally selected were going to perfect their work and the cull would look like a picnic in the park. It was time for some real vampire reduction numbers.

HE NEEDED to stop thinking about sex. And blood.

Julian tried to refocus on the twenty-four hour news station and his resolve to avoid anything leading to emotional pain and suffering.

To his relief, there had been no mention of the dead prostitute. Had anything come of their being at the scene, it surely would have made the news.

Saranna had the night off and Julian had her all to himself. Sharing the sofa, they sat close. She leaned tighter into him. “Would you do something for me?”

“Anything.” So much for resolve.

“Would you come to the club and walk me home for a couple of nights? Some regulars have been hassling me when I leave.”

“What?” Hot, predatory rage swept through him.

“Just some fools who’ve had too much to drink.”

“I’ll be there. And I’ll kill any son of a bitch who bothers you.” He wasn’t taking shit, he would do it.

“Thanks. Sometimes they scare me, but I don’t think it will come to you having to kill one of them.” She laid her head on his shoulder.

God, she smelled good. Her lilac-spring rain fragrance burrowed into his senses.

It roasted his nuts that she worked in such a shitty place. “You shouldn’t have to work.” He understood her desire to be independent, but when she had family willing to help… It didn’t make sense to keep working at such a shithole.

“I have to. But if you’ll come and walk me home, that’s all I need.”

“I was saving this for a surprise, but I have something for you.” He pulled out his wallet and handed her a wad of cash.

“Julian, what is this?”

“I’ve been playing on the streets. I’m good. I make money.” And he was doing the thing he loved. Being on stage. Sort of.

“You did that for me?”

“You have a big heart, Saranna. I’ve never known anyone like you before and I want to help you. And I’m going to.”

Surprise and admiration glinted in her eyes. “I’ve never known anyone like you either. You’re the strongest individual I’ve ever met.”

“Me?”

She stroked his hair from his face. He had to restrain himself from grabbing her hand and kissing her palm.

“You’ve adjusted to a situation that would have crippled a lesser person. You have no idea how much I admire you. I’m so glad you’re a part of my life.”

“You mean that?” A nervous, half-broke-colt feeling stole over him.

“Yes.” She cocked her head. “You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

“I’m okay. You haven’t had time to recover from feeding that street kid.”

She pulled her hair away from her throat, offering herself to him. “I can give you a little to dull the need. And don’t lie. You’re so hungry I smell it.” She leaned into him. Her scent and his hunger and desire wrecked any chance of turning down her offer.

He pounced, aggressively biting into her warm flesh. He moaned and sucked at her vein even as he struggled to control the urge to dominate her.

She maneuvered onto his lap without disturbing his feeding and sank her fingers into his hair, drawing him closer, pressing her body into his.

His cock hardened and, this time, he didn’t try to hide it. Instead, he thrust his hips up and let her feel his desire. No matter how badly he didn’t want to be hurt, he still wanted her, wanted to take her right there on the sofa.

Her hand slid down and touched him through his jeans. His cock strained, wanting free. He groaned against her skin. Her hands eased under his shirt and ran across his chest. His skin burned under her silky touch.

He licked over the bite and pulled away from her throat. She kneaded his skin and shivers of delight rippled through him. “You’re killing me.”

She pushed tighter against him and slipped her arms around his neck. She rubbed against his cock, grinding into him.

His breath stopped in his throat.

“I want you.” She leaned into him, her lips finding his in a searing, hungry kiss.

On fire for her, he ran his tongue over her lower lip. Moaning, she opened and he deepened the kiss, slipping into her mouth.

Savoring her honey-flavored sweetness, his tongue twisted with hers. He slid his arms around her and shifted until he maneuvered her down on the sofa, settling on top of her. Oh, God, he was going to have her. Going to bury his cock deep in her and show her how good he could make it for her.

She pulled him tighter and spread her legs, making room for him. Needing no encouragement, he hunched up over her, fitting them together. The scent of her desire scorched through him. Claiming her lips, he groaned into her mouth, then licked at her tongue. This was so right. Everything about her was right.

She broke the kiss. “You wouldn’t hurt me physically, would you?”

“I’d never harm you.” Why did she even need to ask? He caught her lips again, tonguing her. His hips surged, humping against her.

The door opened and a growl cut through the haze of lust.

He froze, his crotch in mid-grind against hers.

Vali and Slade stared at them from the doorway.

Julian sprang off Saranna and she jerked upright, arms covering her breasts even though she was dressed.

Slade growled deep in his throat.

Vali grabbed Slade’s arm. “Sorry, guys. We’ll be leaving now.”

Slade yanked free and stomped inside. “Saranna, what the fuck are you doing? You don’t need him siring a bastard with you. If he doesn’t kill you when he’s done fucking you.”

Julian looked between them. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Slade’s eyes darkened with menace. “You don’t know, do you?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You two haven’t bonded. You might kill her after mating because only a strong bond assures safe coupling.” Slade sneered. “It’s a bad trait of male vampires. Kind of like how the black widow spider eats her mate, only it’s the male of our species who’s the predator.”

“For God’s sake, I wouldn’t hurt her.” Now he understood what she’d meant. Her doubt of him and his ability to control himself stung hard.

Slade stalked across the floor and stood nose to nose with him. “You can’t say that for sure. You haven’t mated since you’ve been turned, have you?” Anger rolled off him in a choking wave.

“No, but I’m not like some wild animal.”

“Only a bonded male can say that with certainty, because you
are
like a wild animal. You think I’m some big prick trying to shit on your parade, tough. I’m not going to let you kill my sister.”

“I will
not
harm her.” Julian punctuated the sentence by poking Slade in the chest with one finger.

Slade shoved Julian away. “You damn well better not. Because if you do, I’ll kill you with my bare hands and I won’t be quick about it. And that’s not a threat, Julian. That’s a promise.”

“I’m not going to hurt her.” Julian’s blood burned in his veins and the desire to kick Slade’s ass gnawed him with little rat teeth. “I care for her.”

“
Caring
isn’t enough, you stupid fuck. Once a male hits about eighteen, he gets a little too aggressive with his partners. He’s old enough to fuck, old enough to breed, old enough to kill a female, but not old enough to form a binding, bonded relationship. You may or may not be old enough.”

Slade focused his blatant disgust on Saranna. “You’re looking for trouble with him. He’s either going to hurt you, if not worse, or knock you up.”

“He can’t get her pregnant.” Vali moved to stand beside Julian. “Besides, she’s not in heat.”

Saranna’s cheeks flamed.

“Those injections aren’t always effective,” Slade said. “And he’ll bring her heat on if he’s riding her all the time.”

“The shots fail?” Julian asked.

“Sometimes,” Slade said. “But it sure as hell isn’t going to matter if she’s butchered. Now is it?”

Julian worked hard to speak in a calm tone. “I’m no danger to her.

“No one plans to kill the female they’re screwing. Aside from the fact that you aren’t good enough for Saranna.”

He wanted to tell Slade to go fuck himself, but arguing with the truth wasn’t logical.

“I’d rather she slept with a human than you. A human wouldn’t turn on her. You might.”

The insult drove home and Julian growled.

“You can’t even control yourself when you’re angry with me and I’m supposed to be thrilled to walk in here and catch you humping on my sister?”

“Stop it, Slade,” Saranna said.

His face twisted into a snarl. “Don’t tell me what to do. And don’t try to make me look like a bastard because I love you and care about what happens to you.”

Julian’s hands clenched into fists. “I’ll not harm Saranna and I’ll not have you hurting her either.” He moved between them.

Slade’s cold stare raked him. “You’re too used to being the
star
and getting your way. It doesn’t work like that anymore.”

“What the fuck has that got to do with anything?”

“You don’t know how to be what you are and you don’t understand fitting in and keeping a low profile. You’re dangerous to yourself and others.”

“Bullshit.” His guts twisted. Slade was right. How did he expect to get into the Resistance if they saw him as an unpredictable nonconformist?

“You stay the fuck off her,” Slade snarled. “I catch you on top of her again, I’ll castrate you with a dull knife.” He spun on his heel and stormed from the apartment.

“Julian, I’m so sorry,” Saranna grasped at him and he enveloped her in his arms.

The door shut quietly as Vali left, probably to give them time to deal with what had just happened.

Hot tears soaked through his shirt and his arms tightened around her. “It’s okay,” he whispered into her hair. “I’m not afraid of him. I know how to defend myself.”

He tilted her tear-stained face up and pressed a gentle kiss to her pliant lips. Her arms went around his neck and she laid her head on his shoulder.

“Be careful of him. He doesn’t like you. And … and I think he might try to hurt you.”

He stroked her back gently. “It’ll be okay. Have faith in me.” He didn’t trust Slade either and he sure as hell wasn’t going to turn his back on the big, aggressive bastard.

Chapter Fourteen

STILL ANTAGONIZED over Slade’s outburst the previous evening, Julian half hoped someone would give him an excuse to resort to violence. And considering the non-stop parade of freaks going in and out of Dangles, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

He leaned against the graffiti-painted wall, watched the sideshow, waiting for Saranna to exit the club.

Inside, a band cranked out old school metal. His head already pounded in rhythm with the wretched noise and he’d only been there twenty minutes. He couldn’t imagine how she stood listening to the out of key crap for hours on end.

Outside, patrons milled around the parking lot. Women strutted in scraps of leather and black lace. The scent of strong perfumes, sweaty bodies, and raw female lust clogged his nostrils and made his stomach clench.

The majority of men wore leather and denim that probably concealed multiple weapons. Most of them were shit-faced and several couples were practically having sex up against parked cars. Real classy crowd.

It smoked his nuts that Saranna worked there. He wished he knew someone at the concert hall who would give her a job. But no one there would have her.

Minutes crawled by. What the hell was taking so long? She should have come out ten or fifteen minutes ago.

Tired of the endless parade of parking lot skanks, he strode to the door and pushed his way inside. Hard core metal assaulted his hearing and he flinched in pain. Customers in various states of undress and drunkenness, who hadn’t gotten the message that closing time had come and gone, roamed about in a sweating, stinking crush of bodies. He muscled through the rowdy throng and tried not to breathe in the sickening odors they put off.

He spotted a splash of crimson on the other side of the club and stared in frozen surprise.

Saranna stroked a young vampire’s cheek. A radiant smile touched her face. It was obvious they had shared intimacy. Without a doubt, he was someone she’d slept with.

A wildfire blaze lashed through Julian, his vision clouded, distorted with a black desire to kill. His jaw dropped as she stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed the bastard. Right on the mouth.

She didn’t linger, but it didn’t matter. His hands curled into fists that itched to pound the vampire into the floorboards. His heartbeat thumped in his ears and his chest tightened painfully. Being stabbed in the heart couldn’t possibly feel much different.

Betrayal. The word burned through him and curled around his heart with razor-edged claws. That fucker had been inside her, known her in the way Julian burned to.

She turned her head and her gaze met his. Surprise and something like guilt flashed over her face. She touched the male on the arm before pushing her way toward Julian.

He wheeled around and plowed toward the door. He wasn’t dealing with the situation in a venue mobbed with humans. No way. Because if the male followed her, there would be bloodshed. One of them wouldn’t walk away from the club.

He shoved the door open and plunged into the damp night air. Panting with rage and aggression and hurt, he stalked to the far corner of the building.

Saranna walked through the door. Alone.

She stood out like a dazzling ray of sunshine—the light he would never have again, the blazing heat capable of incinerating him with a touch.

His cock hardened instantly. He needed to take her, by force if necessary, and lay claim to her. Needed to make her submit. He cursed himself for his stupidity and uncharacteristic desire to dominate.