BloodlustandMetal (17 page)

Devon threw his head back and laughed. “A little? You should
take a look at yourself. You look like a goddamn predator.”

“Takes one to know one.”

We were interrupted by a male voice. The wolf had shifted
back to the blond man we’d seen earlier. “Devon, could I get some help?”

He had blood spurting from the wounds in his neck where Jon
had bitten him. Devon covered the wounds with his hand.

“Let me close them,” I said.

“How?”

“Move out of the way,” I said and bent down to his neck.
This man appeared terrified and backed up as he saw me approach. “Don’t bite
me, vampire!”

“I’m not. I’m going to close the wounds.”

“How?”

These nosy guys and their questions!

“We don’t have time to discuss this. You’re losing too much
blood. Let me in.”

“Let her, Martin,” Devon said. “I trust her.”

“I don’t,” Martin said. “I don’t know anything about her
except she’s a bloodsucking vampire. Look at her face—there’s blood all over
her mouth!”

“Martin, you’re going to die if you don’t let her!”

“What if she turns me? I’d rather die than be turned into a
vampire.”

I didn’t even know if that was possible—to turn a shifter
into a vampire—but I kept my mouth shut.

“Martin, enough. Trust me. Let her help you.”

They locked eyes for a few moments and then Martin nodded.
“Okay.”

I bent down and he hesitated before he moved his hand away.
Being so close to blood oozing from a vein was overpowering. The monster in me
was still raging from the fight and wanted to clamp down and take every last
ounce of blood from this stranger. But he had helped us. And he was Devon’s
friend.

You were human once
, I reminded myself.
You don’t
have to be a monster.

I bent down and licked one wound to close it, tasting the
salty blood on my tongue. Shifter blood. There was nothing like it. I was
reminded of how delicious Devon had tasted when I bit him, like trying a new,
delicious dessert as a human and wanting more. The urge to drink came back with
a fury.

“Control it, Layla,” Devon said.

Don’t have to let the thirst control you. Do the right
thing.

“She’s going to kill me!” Martin said, pulling away.

“No, Martin. She’s helping you. Let her finish.”

I pushed the urge for blood away and licked his other wound
to close it.

“It’s done,” I said, backing off. “You’ve lost some blood,
but you’ll be fine. Go home and have some fluids, have something to eat and get
some sleep.”

“Thank you, Layla,” Devon said.

Martin looked at me with an expression of terror and
confusion on his face.

Just then a group of five men and women arrived and Devon
laughed. “Good timing.”

“Why do you say that, Devon? Where are they?” an older male
with gray streaking his black hair asked.

“Dead.” He pointed to Gayle’s body, which was now completely
ashes, and the remainder of Jon’s, which was still disintegrating.

“We got here as fast as we could,” the man said. “We came as
soon as Martin told us.”

Once again, I tried to gauge how much time had passed. The whole
fight must have been over in just a few minutes.

One of the women took a defensive stance and held up a
sword. “She’s one. A vampire. Why haven’t you taken care of her?”

“She’s with me,” Devon said. “I told you to forget your
prejudices against the vampires as I had one with me.”

“Devon, how could you?” she said. “Our species don’t mix.”

“Why not?” Devon said. “Have you ever met one before? I know
what I’ve been told all my life, but vampires are as different as people are,
or shifters. We can’t be blinded by prejudices.”

“We know what you said,” the older man said. “But seeing her
here with blood all over her makes it hard to see her for what she is.”

“She spilled blood the same way I did. Look at me covered in
blood as well. Killing the evil that had come into this forest. She’s on our
side.”

Martin stood up, a little wobbly. “I agree with Devon. She
just saved my life. I don’t understand her or what she’s done, but my ignorance
about her kind doesn’t mean I should shun her, and neither should you. Now let
us leave them. Our job here is done.” He faced me and said, “Thank you, Layla.”
Then he led the others back into the forest.

Devon

After the others left, we walked back to my cottage. Layla’s
hair was tousled and strewn with leaves. Bloodstains marred her flawless skin,
smearing her face, neck, arms—pretty much her entire upper body. Her clothing
was stained with blood and torn, teasing me by exposing parts of her pale skin.
She appeared to me as a vision of a huntress, which I found intoxicating and irresistible.
Combined with all my testosterone built up from the fight, her sensual image
was impossible to ignore. I tried to force my growing erection down, which was
quite visible since I was still naked.

“That was pretty intense,” I said. “Hunting with you,
fighting with you…” I left my last thought for her to finish.

She focused on what I said, though, rather than what I
implied. “Who would have thought a shifter and vampire could coexist?”

True, but I had more pressing concerns on my mind—and other
body parts as well. I spoke more directly. “I’ve got to admit, I’m so turned-on
right now. Makes me think of something else we can do together.”

She threw her head back when she laughed. “I bet you could.”
Then her eyes raked over my body, which did nothing to help calm my erection.
“Do you always get turned-on like this when you hunt? Fight?”

“Never like this,” I said through a strained voice. “You’re
lucky I don’t pounce on you right now and take you here in the woods.”

“You want me in this state?” she said, pointing to her
ravaged appearance. “Don’t you want me to clean the blood off first at least?”

“Hell no.” I shook my head. “It only turns me on more,
seeing you so wild like this. You’re not like any woman I’ve ever met before.
Even other shifters. A true predator. A fighter. In the forest as well as the
bedroom.”

“Me?” she replied, raising her eyebrows. “I haven’t been
doing this for long. Only a few years and I have to admit I was very clumsy at
first. My initial hunting attempts went awry and I went hungry.”

“You don’t see yourself as I see you. A beautiful, capable,
intelligent woman. And a fierce predator. You told me how powerful Gayle was
and you took her on yourself. And you’re the one who walked away alive. You
should never doubt what you’re capable of. I never would.”

She looked down and I swear she must have turned red
underneath the bloodstains. “Thank you, Devon. That means a lot to me.”

I turned to her and took her wrists in my hands, lifting
them over her head as I backed her up against a tree. “Not to mention you’re
utterly irresistible.”

Her full, blood-red lips parted and her eyelids fluttered.
“I’m starting to find you hard to resist as well.”

I pressed my body against her as I kissed over her
bloodstained face, her neck, her lips. How I appeared to her I wasn’t sure,
although I knew I had bloodstains on me as well.

Her intoxicating scent mixed amid the smell of blood around
us shot my desire to a dangerous level where I would do anything to have her
right now. I reached under her sweater and pulled her red lace bra away to feel
one of her velvety-soft breasts. Her nipple hardened under my touch and I
rolled my thumb and forefinger over it. The urge to take it in my mouth took
over and I pulled her sweater up more to taste the taut pink bud. She moaned
softly and then I tasted the other perfect peak.

I pulled her brown leggings down and admired her matching
red lace panties for a brief moment before pulling them down as well, kissing
her in her most sensitive parts. She murmured something as she leaned back
against the tree and let me taste her delicious flesh.

“Take a boot off,” she said, reaching down to remove one of
the furry brown boots and a pant leg.

“Want me to take off the other one?” I asked.

“No, I can’t wait. I want you in me now.”

I stood up again and had to lift her against the tree to
accommodate our height difference. She was so tiny next to me. I pressed my
aching head against her soft, wet opening.

“Is this hurting you?” I asked. “Up against the tree?”

“I’m not as delicate as I look. Remember?” she said.

True. She just took on a powerful vampire and earlier hunted
a deer with her bare hands. I entered her slowly, savoring the tightening
sensation of being enveloped by her warm flesh.

“Yes, Devon.” She moaned, throwing her head back. “More.
Now.”

I slid the rest of my length into her and from that point
took nothing slowly. I took her like a wild man up against the tree. Her soft
moans escalated into more throaty groans as I thrashed into her, driving me to
continue fucking her hard like this. Her limbs tightened around me and she
screamed out into the night. She was so loud, I’m sure many others animals or
shifters heard us, but it wasn’t like we were the only ones mating in the
forests.

Then I said something that surprised me, I hadn’t even been
thinking it until that moment. I bent my head to the side to expose my neck and
said, “You can bite me.”

“What?” she answered in surprise, pulling back to look at
me.

I slowed down my pace so I could speak. “You showed great
restraint with Martin back there. And you saved him. I know how difficult it
was for you to control. You can bite me now.”

“It’s fine, Devon. I’m fine. I know the idea revolts you.”

“I want you to. I want to know what it feels like.”

She looked into my eyes as if searching to find the truth.
Whatever she saw must have convinced her, as she then opened her mouth and
extended her fangs. “It’ll only hurt for a second. And then it will feel good.
I promise.”

I braced myself for the piercing of sharp points sinking
into my flesh. She was right, it did hurt, but it passed quickly and was
followed by another feeling. As the blood flowed from my veins and into her
mouth, I was overpowered by a sensual warmth, driving my lust to a new
intensity.

I thrust into her again as she clamped down and drank from
me, her body meeting mine with greater force. Her nails sank into my back as
her muscles tightened and flexed around me as she reached her peak. The erotic
sensations of being so connected with her in so many ways right now flooded
through every part of my body. I pumped into her as hard as possible until the
world burst into a zillion stars before me and I emptied all my passion into
her.

After a few moments, she pulled away from my neck, my blood
still dripping from her fangs.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m more than okay,” I replied. “Never been fuckin’ better
in my life.”

“Thanks for letting me do that. You’re unbelievably
delicious by the way.”

“As are you,” I replied. I let her down to her feet. “Come
on, let’s go back home and clean up.”

Funny how I referred to my cottage as home, as if it was for
the two of us.

“Devon, where did you disappear to when we were fighting?
Before you came back as a lion?”

“I heard the others calling, looking for us. So I ran to let
them know where we were and changed into a lion to charge Jon. It was only a
few moments.”

“It seemed much longer,” she said, the worry clear in her
voice. “I was afraid I’d lost you.”

I ruffled her hair. “Nah, you’re stuck with me a little
longer, sweetheart.”

She blinked as if holding back tears and jutted her chin. “I
guess we don’t need to hide out anymore. Mind if I stay with you another day so
I can clean up and rest before the trip? I’ll leave for America come
nightfall.”

I wanted to tell her she was welcome to stay as long as she
wanted, that I wanted her to stay. But instead I just replied, “Of course. I
want you in my bed one more time to wish you a proper goodbye.”

Layla

Devon was without a doubt the best lover I’d ever had.
Although I only had limited experience in the bedroom, the way he knew what my
body craved was almost intuitive. I loved how he didn’t hold back and gave it
to me as rough as I wanted, something no man I’d ever been with before had
done.

However, this time Devon was so gentle and my body once
again responded to his slightest touch. His expert tongue savored one nipple
and then the other. When he gently bit one, I moaned at the pleasure and pain.

He took his time exploring my body with his hands, his lips,
his tongue, so deftly I wanted to melt beneath him. How could I leave this?
Passion like this was something I’d never experienced; I’d never wanted someone
so much before, never craved them this way.

He had plugged in his phone and put on Amy Winehouse when we
first returned to his bedroom, as she was one artist we both agreed on. But the
pain in her voice as she sang
Love is a Losing Game
cemented the
finality of our affair. Soon Devon would be just someone from my past.

Without any more threats, there was no reason for me to
stay. No reason why I should share his bed in this magnificent English forest.
Knowing this was the last time my body would feel such divine pleasure, I lay
back into his bed, savoring every kiss, imprinting his every touch on my
memory.

When his lips finally met the apex of my inner thighs, I
pushed my sorrow aside to focus on the last night of pleasure.

“Please. Now,” I begged as he tortured me with light strokes
of his tongue on my upper thighs. So close but not quite there.

He then tasted me with a long stroke of his tongue and I
arched my back.

“Yes, Devon. Yes!”

He took his time exploring every inch, every crevice,
driving me insane with a fierce hold on my sensitive nerves, and then pulling
back with long, deep strokes up and down.

“Please. Don’t tease me anymore,” I begged. “I’m going to
explode.”

Devon sucked my nub with such expert pressure that he
brought me right to the precipice. I screamed his name as my desire exploded
into a million colors around me.

He pulled away and then entered me slowly. I clung to him as
he moved inside me, all the way in and almost out, so much so that I grabbed at
him, afraid he would stop. The sweet torture continued as the longing rose in
me so that I pressed closer and harder to him with each thrust, my rear no longer
on the bed. The beginning of another orgasm took me by surprise. I clawed his
back as it took control and I came again, calling his name.

He flipped me over so now I straddled him.

“I want to see you again like this, remember you.”

I started slowly as I moved against him, as he filled me
with every centimeter of his thick cock.

“So glorious,” he whispered as he touched my cheek.

It didn’t take long to rise to another splendid peak on top
of him, with him bucking beneath me, hitting all the sensitive spots. When I
exploded again, he gripped my shoulders as he shot deep into me, so fiercely
that I cried out.

When I fell upon him, satiated, he whispered, “I’m going to
miss you.”

Devon

Layla booked a night flight from Bristol to Boston. I drove
her to the airport and had so many things I wanted to say to her jumbling in my
head, but I didn’t know how to say them. Or if she wanted to hear them.

“Thank you for everything,” Layla said. She wrapped her arms
around me. I pulled her closer, bending down so I could inhale the scent of
lilacs one last time. I would forever associate that scent with her.

“Take care of yourself, sweetheart. You are so prone to
finding trouble, I’m reluctant to let you go.” I kissed her so lightly on the
top of her head, I wondered if she’d even notice.

“Sometimes it finds me.” She pulled back to look up at me
with a grin. “It was quite a wild ride, wasn’t it?”

“It sure was.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be all right.”

Our eyes locked for I don’t know how long, communicating
what I knew my words could never express. I cared about her deeply, I’d miss
her terribly and I was fairly certain by the warmth and sadness in her warm
brown eyes that she felt the same for me.

However, our time was over. We had no reason to be with each
other anymore. It was time for each of us to go back to our lives before this
incident had thrown us together.

I parked the car and retrieved her bag from the boot,
putting it down next to her.

“I’m not letting you leave without a goodbye kiss,” I said.

She leaned forward, her eyelids fluttering closed, the way
they always did when I kissed her, another thing I’d miss and never forget. I
bent down to reach her slightly parted lips and her head tilted back. My tongue
savored her sweet mouth filled with the coppery taste of blood still lingering
from the pouch she had earlier. I devoured her, imprinting the feel of her lips
onto my memory.

Layla pulled away first. “I better catch my plane.”

She smiled as she picked up her bag. Then she leaned in to
give me a kiss on the cheek and said, “Goodbye, Devon. Be happy.”

I watched as she walked away from me and out of my life.
After she disappeared from sight, I realized my hand was on my cheek where she
had last kissed me.

Get over it, Devon. She’s not the first woman to come in
and out of your life. Go on with your life. You’ll forget her soon enough, just
like the others.

Something told me this time was different.

Layla

Leaving England was the sensible choice, but that didn’t
mean I didn’t depart with mixed feelings when my plane pulled away from the
tarmac. I was able to book a commercial flight overnight back to the US so I
couldn’t see much of London in the dark. It was just as well since I didn’t
really want to say goodbye to England for good. It had been my home for most of
my time as a vampire. I’d never visited there before and seeing a city as
magnificent as London the first time through vampire eyes was the most
exhilarating experience of my life.

And of course—it was where Devon lived. Remembering the time
in his flat unleashed another wave of mixed feelings. He’d tied me to the bed,
leaving me furious and wanting to kill him. But at the same time, I’d been so
attracted to him and he must have felt the same because we had our first kiss
while I was tied there. His lips… I ran my fingers over my lips, remembering
how firm and soft his touch could be. How he tasted.

We also first made love in his flat. Oh, how his touch could
send me to such heights. I had intended to seduce him to try to exercise some
control over his mind, but the passion was almost too much. My mind trick
didn’t succeed, which was just as well. I might have still been on the run from
both Stefano and Devon, looking over my shoulder until the inevitable moment
that one of them found me.

Now at least, Stefano would no longer be looking for me.
He’d no longer be looking for anyone. A part of me felt guilty about this, his
blood was on my hands. I mean he did take me in when I was a new vampire. But
he did try to kill me. So if there was a choice between his immortal life and
mine, well, I was happy to still be here.

“Would you like a beverage?” a male flight attendant asked,
interrupting my thoughts.

“No thank you.” I made sure I drank a pouch of blood at
Devon’s place to tide me over. I watched as the person next to me ordered a
soda and the flight attendant opened a can and poured it into a plastic cup
filled with ice. Once he’d moved on, my thoughts returned to Devon and how a
part of me thought about staying in London.

Then again, he didn’t ask you to stay. You might as well
return to your new life in Boston. Back with the band. You had fun.

Back with Joey.

How would I explain all that had happened to Joey? No way
was he going to listen to my requests to back off after I took off without any
explanation.

Joey.

Talking to Joey would be thorny after our phone call when he
revealed his feelings for me. How did I feel about him? It was difficult to
pinpoint. Deep down, I knew he was right; there was some sort of attraction
between us. However, I wasn’t sure if it was as deep as he thought. Simply
physical?

No, I cared for him. We were friends, after all. We spent so
much time together in the band. And no matter how many times I told him to back
off, it was kind of nice to have someone in the world who cared about me.

Whatever feelings I had for Joey, they were dwarfed by
immense loss inside me right now after leaving Devon in London.

A human. I don’t know which was more problematical. A
vampire in a relationship with a shapeshifter or a vampire in a relationship
with a human. Both rife with complications. Perhaps I should look for someone
immortal to spend the rest of my time with. At least we’d avoid many of those
other complications.

But for now, I couldn’t think of being with anyone else. I
closed my eyes and thought about Devon’s lips on mine. And then I dozed off.

Devon

My flat in London had too many reminders of Layla so I was
glad not to return just yet. My family and I were meeting in the Forest of
Dean, where we grew up and where much of our family still lived.

Since my work often had me traveling, I didn’t see my family
as much as they’d like. But when we got together for family time in the
forests, it was as if no time had ever passed at all. Most of my aunts and
uncles and cousins lived nearby. They stuck near the forests where we’d grown
up. My cottage wasn’t far from them. My parents lived in a little house in the
town of Gloucester nearby, but still close enough to get into the forest. My
two sisters, Jayne and Margaret, moved into Bristol for more of a city atmosphere
but still within a short drive of the forest and home.

I was the only one who ventured out to spend much of my time
in London, around two-and-a-half hours away when the traffic was light, and did
so for more business opportunities. My services would have a limited need in
the forests, but in the underbelly of a city like London, business was good. I
often traveled to other European capitals for clients, but England kept me
well-fed and close to my family.

Driving out to meet them, I plugged in my phone to play
music. When Amy Winehouse’s
Our Day Will Come
came on, I listened for a
minute before I had to turn it off. The last time I listened to her music was
with Layla. And I didn’t need any suggestions of false hope.

The five of us met in my cottage on Saturday morning for a
weekend retreat. Growing up, this used to be what we did on the weekends. My
parents worked in Gloucester during the week so on the weekends we had quality
time together in nature, running through the woods, changing into various animals,
hunting, playing, wrestling together. Extended family all gathered here and we
rarely brought human food. We ate enough of that during the week, so during the
weekends we hunted as animals and got our nourishment that way. Now with all of
us kids grown up with jobs and lives of our own, we generally met only about
once a month. Last month, I’d been in Germany hunting down an art thief so I
didn’t make it. My mother would be the first to remind me of it.

“Devon, luv.” My mum grabbed both of my cheeks and kissed
me. “You’ve been away far too long. You work too much, dear. You need to slow
down. We missed you last month.”

She hugged me as if she hadn’t seen me in two years, not two
months.

“I missed you too, Mum. But I couldn’t make it.”

My father came to my rescue. “Leave him be, Emma.”

After my mum released me, he hugged me in a more masculine
way—big embrace, a couple of pats on the back and then backing off.

“Devon, how are you?”

“Fine, Dad. You?”

“We’re all doing well.”

“Where are Jayne and Margaret?”

“They’re already off in the forest.” He laughed at his
description. “They said they needed to unwind after a long work week and they
scampered off as foxes.”

“And they didn’t even wait for me?” I asked in mock
indignation.

“They ran off in that direction,” my mum said.

“So let’s catch up.”

We took off our clothes without any sort of embarrassment
and left them in my cottage. With the way shifters changed back and forth with
clothing being a nuisance, we grew up comfortable with nudity. It wasn’t a big
deal the way most humans saw it. It was just a body.

I was the first to shift into a fox and tried not to get
impatient as I waited for them to change.

Go on, we’ll catch up
, my father indicated. We could
communicate telepathically as animals, but it didn’t carry over to us in human
form.

I nodded and took off in the direction my sisters went. In a
few minutes, I caught their scent and followed in that direction until I found
two foxes I recognized both by scent and markings. They were rolling around on
the ground, wrestling each other playfully. They were so absorbed in their
play, they didn’t hear me coming.

So naturally I pounced on them.

Devon!
Jayne said.
You scared the bejeezus out of
me.

Will you ever grow up and not sneak up on us?
Jayne
asked.

Never. It’s too much fun
, I answered.

It’s good to see you
, Jayne said.
Where’s Mum and
Dad?

They’re coming. You know how they like to take their
time.

What do you want to do first?
Margaret asked.

Let’s hunt
, both Jayne and I replied.

My parents came and we told them how we were going to hunt.
It had been too long since I’d been in the woods and once I changed into a fox,
I craved rabbit. The predator instinct took over almost immediately when I
changed into a predatory animal, even if I had just had a full meal as a human.
Must burn a lot of calories transforming our bodies, we figured.