BloodlustandMetal (8 page)

And this included wanting to taste his blood again.

The little taste I had earlier let me know how delicious he
was. The scent of man and animal mixed was one I found intoxicating rather than
revolting. But that was natural, right? After all, I’d feasted on both humans
and animals since I’d turned. Humans were always tastier, but that didn’t mean
I didn’t enjoy variety in my menu.

When it was all served in one course, even better.

Devon was more than just a meal. I diverted my thirst for
his blood into my desire for his body, the increasing friction of him inside
me, driving me to heights I’d never experienced before. And I wanted to inflame
his body with the same desire coursing through every nerve of my body.

I almost forgot my primary reason for seducing him—to
convince him to let me go. Our faces were inches apart, which made it easy to
lock on to his eyes. His blue-green eyes that now smoldered with his passion,
distracting me from what I was about to do. I focused on my resolve and
implored my will into his mind.

You’ll untie me and let me get away. You’ll forget all
about finding me in the club. You’ll have no memory of ever meeting me.

I realized with chagrin that meant he’d have no memory of
our kiss, our touches, and all the wonderful sensations going on between us at
the moment with our bodies joined in this sensual dance.

He watched me with eyes so intense I didn’t know if my
message was getting through. And with the buildup of the pressure of him inside
me, rising ever higher, it was getting harder to focus on anything going on in
my brain. All thought was focused on the way he felt so good inside me.

Still I wasn’t done.

You’ll report to Stefano that you couldn’t find me. That
a trail led to South America, but then died out there. You’ll tell him you
think it will be impossible to find me.

My message complete, I blinked and gave in to the sensory
experience consuming my body. The intensity of the friction combined with the
conflicting desires in my head escalated me to ecstasy quicker than a rocket
launch. This would be our one and only time together.

“Oh my God, Devon, I’m right there!”

My legs went rigid as they clamped together, squeezing
around his hips. If he was a normal human male, the sensation might be
crushing, but since he was a shifter, my strength appeared to turn him on more.

“Oh yeah, baby. Come for me. Come all over me.”

The tension rose with such an intensity I’d never be able to
stop now. When it reached a feverish peak, I screamed as my world exploded
around me. I’d come more powerfully than I ever had before.

Devon slowed down the pace to allow me to recover, but the
sensations inside me were still so strong that I begged him to keep going.

“No. Don’t stop. Again,” I pleaded. I raised my hips to
control and quicken
his
pace. Devon
immediately responded to my needs and thrust deep inside me more intensely than
before, as if he had been holding back last time and now really let go.

The buildup again was overpowering. The bloodlust returned
and I had to refocus it to the sensations taking over other parts of my body.
When I peaked again, the intensity was beyond what I’d ever experienced and I
thought I’d never recover.

“Holy shit, Devon,” I whispered and sank back onto his bed,
thoroughly satiated. “That was—unreal.”

He lay on top of me for a moment, letting me recover, and
then sat back. “I’m not done with you yet.”

He pulled out of me and I watched as he stood next to the
bed, looking down at me. The sight of him fully erect and naked, with hunger in
his eyes, made my senses tingle. Every inch of him was beautiful and so
masculine. The shaved head that gave him such a bad-boy appeal, which was complemented
by the tattoos highlighting tightly roped muscles. Scars on his arms and chest
made me wonder where they came from. He’d obviously been in a tussle or two in
his time and I had to wonder if it was as animal or man. Or both.

And his eyes. Not only did they hold a swirl of all the
colors of the ocean, where I could get lost, but the intensity in his gaze shot
thrills through me. A deep, smoldering look that signaled his hunger, his lust,
and the more I looked at him, the more it fed into my own longing.

“I’m going to lift you up now,” he commanded.

I wasn’t sure what he meant or what he was about to do, but
was a willing volunteer for whatever he had in store.

He lifted me off the edge of the bed so my pussy grazed his
cock. With just the touch of him there, my body was ready for more. The
handcuff on my right wrist rode up to the top of the rail.

“Is this hurting you?” he asked with concern.

“Just unlock it,” I said.

“No.”

“Fuck,” I swore. “Your stubbornness infuriates me, Devon.
But don’t you dare stop fucking me.”

“Never,” he said.

He glided me onto him, impaling me on his cock. Once I was
stable in his arm, my one free arm clinging on to his shoulder, he pumped into
me like a man possessed, as if driven by some unseen force. I screamed out with
each thrust, unable to keep quiet, the intensity was far too great.

“Yes, Devon. Yes!”

I clawed at his shoulder blade as I ground against him, with
him, in some primal dance where no words existed. As our pace increased to an
almost manic level, I felt myself rise to a peak again.

How was this man so capable of getting such a response from
me?

“Right there. Oh yes, there!”

As my passion peaked, my self-control evaporated. The scent
of his blood was too seductive to ignore. My face flushed as my lips parted to
accommodate my extended fangs. I had pushed away the want for blood while I
focused on all the other wonderful sensations going through my body, but now in
this primal dance, the urge fought its way to the surface. If only I could
taste his blood while I fucked him, the experience would be oh so delicious.

“Let me bite you.”

“No, Layla. Control it.”

“I don’t think I can.”

He stopped thrusting into me and held me aloft. “You have
to.”

My vision was hazy due to my thirst, but as he came back
into focus, I locked on to his blue-green eyes.

Devon

She stared at me for countless moments appearing lost, very
different from the way she’d focused on me minutes before. Her stare had been
so intense I thought she might be trying to exert her will on me again. But
then I figured it must be due to the intensity of her feelings as she came soon
after.

Layla now closed her eyes as if trying to regain control.
Her fangs retracted.

“Okay, I’m fine now, Devon. Please don’t stop.”

I knew it took all her self-control to stop that urge and I
appreciated the effort she took to go against her nature and instead focus on
my wishes. I kissed her and said, “Good. Thank you for doing that.”

As I resumed pumping into her, she refocused her frustration
and filled her needs in another way. She grinded against me in such a frenetic
frenzy that it didn’t take long for me to feel her limbs stiffen again. Her
head dropped back as her muscles tightened around me. Her warm fluids bathed my
cock, sending me right up to an apex with her.

The days of hunting her, watching her, trying to capture
her, and now fucking her senseless all culminated in a sensation that
threatened to overpower me. This woman had consumed my every waking hour for
days and probably crept into my dreams as well. The world exploded around me in
an earth-shattering climax as I pumped deep within her.

“Layla,” I whispered. “My sweet Layla.”

I placed her back on the bed and lay down on top of her,
burying my face in the sweet floral scent of her hair.

She rubbed my back absently in such a gentle motion that I
wanted to stay here with her in my bed and never leave. But this was it—the one
and only time we would be together. Regret filled me to a point where I knew it
would never leave.

Why did the woman I wanted also have to be the woman I had
to betray?

Because I never would have met her otherwise.

“Devon, can you please uncuff me now?”

“Shh,” I whispered. “Let’s just stay like this for another
minute.”

Actually I lingered there for several more minutes before I
had to do the inevitable. Reluctantly I looked at the clock.

“I’m so sorry, Layla, but we’ve waited long enough. It’s
time.”

“Time for what?” she said in a sleepy voice. I wondered if
she was on the verge of falling asleep.

“We have to go.”

“Go? Where?” she asked.

“You know where.” I sat up and pulled the condom off to dump
it in the trash. Then I stood up and got dressed before she reacted. Once she
caught on to what I was talking about, she might not be as sweet as she’d been
in my arms. And I didn’t want her to bite me again.

“You’re taking me to Stefano’s? Are you kidding me?”

“No, Layla, it’s not a joke. I’m sorry but I have to. It’s
just the way it is.”

She readjusted the dress so it covered the sweetest, most
private parts of her body. I watched as her hands did so, as I tried to imprint
her body on my memory.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I have a job to do. You know this.”

“You’re still going to turn me in? Even after we just made
love?”

The suspicious side of me caught on that she was probably
just playing me the whole time. That she only had sex with me to try to coax
her way out of this difficult situation.

Watch out for her, Devon. She’s dangerous. You know this.
You fell right into her little plan like any old mortal she would seduce to
make them volunteer to be her dinner. You need to step away from your feelings.
She’s clearly using them against you. Don’t let your attraction to her cloud
your vision. She does not feel the same way about you.

Steeling myself for the night ahead, I knew I had to be an
asshole to protect myself from her. She was far too crafty for me to let down
my guard around her. All the sweet things I’d said to her she’d use against me.

“You might call that making love, sweetheart. I call it hot,
rough, mind-blowing sex.”

The way she stared at me with hate-filled eyes did two
things, which I didn’t think could occur at the same time until then. I was
filled with regret at how callous I sounded, yet aroused once again.

The pain I saw in her eyes made me want to take it all back,
apologize and bring her back into my arms, even if I had done so defensively.
Maybe I should skip out on this job. What allegiance did I feel to a vampire
anyway? I felt more for Layla than I did for that old fool.

But she doesn’t feel that way about you. She already
showed how she was just using you, manipulating you, to get what she wanted.

Her blazing eyes caused the other effect on me, making me
rock-hard again. Damn, I wanted her one more time.

Devon, you are one sick bastard.

I would rather she said anything than look at me with such
loathing.

When she finally said, “You evil, twisted, fucking asshole!”
I changed my mind and preferred the silence. “I already regret sleeping with
you,” she spat. “A big fat stupid mistake.”

“That’s funny, you didn’t seem to mind when you came—how
many times was that again? I lost count.”

“Shut up! A total fucking mistake. I can’t believe I slept
with a slick sonovabitch like you.”

“Easy, princess. It wasn’t that bad. You were actually
pretty hot for a dead girl.”

Why couldn’t I just shut up? The more I hurt her, the more
she hurt me. And I didn’t see any way out of this vicious cycle.

“Piss off, you
animal
! You’re not even a man. More
animal than human, especially as evidenced by your callousness.”

“What callousness? You knew what this was. I’m here to bring
you to Stefano. And I know what you were trying to do. I’m not dumb enough to
let you use your womanly wiles to seduce me so you can get away.”

“Then why the hell did you sleep with me if I’m nothing but
a job to you? A dead piece of meat.”

“I—I—” She had me there. How would I explain the attraction
I’ve felt for her since the first time I saw her? When she writhed around
singing onstage, threatening to give me a hard-on in front of everyone in the
club. How could I explain that when she looked at me with her dark eyes, she
disarmed me? And either she was one hell of a vampire with powers I’d never
encountered before or she had some other kind of hold on me.

So what did I say? Something stupid that I regretted before
it even finished coming out of my mouth.

“Because you’re hot. And I’m male.”

“You’re a fucking asshole!” she screamed. “Don’t fucking
talk to me anymore.”

She turned away from me and buried her head in her hands.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that
it’s hard for a guy to resist someone as hot as you when she’s coming on to
him. I meant I’m a flesh-and-blood male. It was supposed to be a compliment.”

She moved her hands to cover her ears. “Don’t talk to me.
Everything you say just makes it worse. Poison to my ears.”

“I’m trying to apologize, Layla! Take your bloody hands off
your ears and listen to me.”

“No. So you can insult me some more before you get rid of
me? Just another problem, just another job. I’m glad I’m nothing more than a
pile of money to you. I hope you’ll be rewarded handsomely for your
courage
.”

“Layla—”

“Sod off, you bastard!”

“You are not in a position to give orders right now.” I
grabbed her by the arms.

“Let go of me.” She tried to wiggle out of my grasp. “What
the fuck are you doing?”

“What I’m supposed to do. Not only will I be well-paid, but
I’ll be happy not to have to listen to you spew hate anymore!”