BodySnatchers (5 page)

“As if a vampire’s promise is worth anything? Ha!”

Her struggle was beginning to wear at him. If she didn’t
settle down, he might be tempted to shut her up in other ways. “When I give my
word, I stand behind it.”

“Just let me go,” she said, her breathing coming in gasps,
each breath making her breasts rise toward him.

Fighting anger and frustration, he wondered how much he
could he stand and not touch her again. If he were to let her loose before
morning, she’d be right back out in the same amount of danger she’d been
before. “I won’t let you go.” Truth was he didn’t want to let her go. He wanted
to fill his hands with her and bury himself deep inside her warm moist center.
This time with her eyes wide open.

“I won’t tell anyone where you are. You can blindfold me and
lead me out if you have to, but I need to find Madison. She’s all I have left.”

“You won’t be able to help her now, and I won’t allow you to
go until daylight.” The sweet swells of her body were making him crazy. If he
didn’t get away from her, he’d do something he’d regret. Yuri grabbed for the
shirt she’d slapped aside and tied a sleeve around her wrists.

“’Let me go, or so help me I’ll kill you,” she said, her
lips thinning into a straight peachy-pink line, her body struggling beneath
him.

“I’ll do what I have to.” He tossed the shirt around one of
the posts on the headboard and pulled the fabric until her hands were snug
against the wood. He tested its strength before he relaxed.

Then he eased his way down her body—slowly—too slowly, his
mouth hovering over one ripe, rounded nipple.

His throat dried, his pulse surged. As he paused, the nipple
puckered into a tight little button.

“Don’t you dare,” she said, her voice nothing more than a
gasping whisper.

“Oh but I dare.”

The woman beneath him lay still, her body rigid, her
breathing erratic. “You’re a vampire. The enemy.”

“I’m only the enemy in your mind.” He took the nipple
between his lips and flicked the taut bud with the tip of his tongue. “So
sweet.”

His cock pressed hard against the fly of his trousers,
begging for another release. No, he couldn’t take advantage of her again. He
might lose control, and without Torsten holding him back, he could go too far
and drain the life right out of the pretty agent.

Yuri reluctantly let the nipple loose and moved downward,
intent on crawling off the end of the bed, but he only got as far as the patch
of red curls cloaking her folds. When she’d been riding him earlier in her
“dream”, he hadn’t been able to touch her. Torsten had restrained him, sitting
on his hands to keep the beast in him from harming the woman.

“There are advantages to making love to a vampire.” His breath
stirred the fine hairs.

She tugged against the sleeve tying her to the bed. “I’m not
interested. Let me go.”

The more she wiggled, the more Yuri’s body heated.

He glanced at her face, noting twin flags flying high on her
cheeks.

She ran her tongue across her lips. “Why are you doing this
to me?”

“I can’t resist you. You’re like a curse I can’t ignore.”

“You’re a vampire.”

“I’m a man.” He bent to press his lips to her flat belly.
“You are a woman. A very desirable woman.”

“Don’t. Please.” Despite her plea, her knees fell wider,
exposing her pussy, the glistening channel drenched in their combined juices.

“Being a vampire has advantages. I have over four hundred
years of experience in what makes a woman forget everything else.” His fingers
traced a line from her bellybutton downward, disappearing into the soft red
curls.

“I don’t want anything to do with you or any other vampire,”
she said, her tone as tight as a strung bow. “Please.”

“Please what?” His tongue flicked out and stroked her clit.
His hand shifted lower, the tips of his fingers poised at her entrance.

“Please…” she moaned, her hips rising to meet the thrust of
his fingers as he entered her slick, moist channel.

Now that she was awake, her eyes open, her body calling out
to his, Yuri made love to her without regret. His tongue flicked, teased and
stroked her clit until her heels dug into the mattress and she lifted her ass
off the bed. She strained against the fabric holding her wrists, but she didn’t
try to kick him away.

He paused, his gaze shifting upward to gauge her reaction.

Her head tossed from side to side, her hair tangled, sweat
beading on her brow. “Please. Don’t. Stop. Now,” she begged.

He climbed up her body and entered her in one swift thrust.
Her channel clenched around him, tight, warm and wet. He pulled out halfway,
the sensations of being inside her more than he could handle. He struggled to
control his body’s reaction, fought to keep his teeth from jutting forward,
died a thousand deaths resisting the urge to sink not only his cock but his
fangs deep into her.

Reggie’s legs wrapped around his waist and pulled him into
her. Their bodies moved in unison.

Like a mercury rising in a boiling-hot thermometer, the
tension built, leapt, soared until they both gasped aloud.

Yuri threw his head back, away from her throat, and cried
out, thrusting one last time, his climax complete, his body exploding into a
million shards of light and sensation.

He collapsed over her body, spent, unable to move.

“This changes nothing,” she whispered into his neck. “You’re
still a vampire.”

Yuri pushed away from her and stood, his body already
missing the warmth of her beneath him, but he had work to do. “I’ll be back
when the sun comes up.” One last look at her naked body and he left the room.

* * * * *

As soon as Yuri left, Reggie twisted and struggled until
she’d flipped over and scooted up to her knees.

With her fingertips, she worked at the fabric, trying to
untangle the knot he’d tied so expertly. Her twisting to her knees had only
complicated the matter and pulled it tighter. The more she tried, the more she
realized the knot wasn’t getting any looser.

She should have put the damn shirt on when he told her to
instead of giving him the perfect method of restraint.

“Want me to untie it for you?”

The sound of a gentle feminine voice behind her made her
yelp.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” A pretty, pale
young woman with hair the color of milk chocolate eased through the doorway and
into the room, shooting a look back over her shoulder. “I shouldn’t be in here,
but I wanted to talk to you.”

“Is that right? Only talk? Or are you one of them?” Reggie
jerked her head toward the door, drawing attention to the other room, away from
her nakedness.

The girl’s mouth curved into a soft smile, her gaze skimming
over Reggie’s body. “No. I’m not a vampire if that’s what you mean.”

Anger fired through Reggie’s veins. Maybe she was one of
missing women. “Are you a prisoner too? What’s your name?” Maybe she matched a
name on her list of missing women. Or worse, there were more unreported women
missing.

Musical laughter floated through the room as she crossed to
Reggie. “My name is Melisande, and no, I’m not a prisoner. I live here.”

“I don’t understand. You’re not a prisoner, you’re not a
vamp, and yet you choose to live here?”

“Yes.” She reached out and tugged at the shirt, pulling the
sleeves through the knots. Her glance strayed to Reggie’s naked breasts several
times during the process, her cheeks growing redder by the minute.

When Reggie’s hands were finally freed, Melisande stepped
back, twisting the shirt in her hands.

Reggie rubbed her wrists, wondering about the woman who
seemed so young and naïve. “Could I have the shirt please?”

Melisande glanced up, her eyes wide, the flush in her cheeks
deepening. When her gaze traveled from Reggie’s full breasts to the apex of her
thighs, she turned away, shoving the shirt at Reggie without looking. “Please.
I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry. Oh hell…” Her voice trailed off and she turned her
back to Reggie. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. You are very beautiful and your
skin is so soft.”

“Are you embarrassed by my nakedness?” Reggie chuckled.
“You’re a strange bird. A woman who lives with vampires is embarrassed by a
little nudity when she has two of the most gorgeous men I’ve ever seen under
the same roof.” She shrugged her arms into the voluminous sleeves and buttoned
the middle three buttons. The shirt hung to her knees. Since it was the only
garment offered, she’d make-do. Her tank top was toast.

“I know you must think I’m silly. I see the guys running
around with next to nothing on, sometimes even naked, but there aren’t many
women around. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you while you were dreaming.”

Reggie gasped. “You were the woman in my dream?”

Melisande nodded, her cheeks bright red. “I’ve always
wondered what it felt like to touch another woman there.” Her gaze dropped to
Reggie’s pussy again and she looked away quickly.

Reggie’s body tingled, remembering the feel of those slender
fingers sliding across her skin and into her…

She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Look,
just don’t let it happen again unless I’m fully aware and consent.”

Melesande nodded. “I won’t. Unless you want to.” She smiled,
her face lighting up.

“So you don’t…you know…do it with the vamps?”

“Oh no. They would never.”

“With those two, that’s hard to believe.” The thought of
Torsten and Yuri traipsing around the apartment with nothing on made her blood
shoot to her head and low in her belly at the same time. Whew! She’d seen a
good portion of Yuri exposed, and he would be hard to forget.

“They never bring other women back to the apartment. They
don’t want anyone to know where they live. It’s been that way since Yuri
brought me to live with them.”

“Yuri bringing you here, was it your choice or his?” Reggie
slipped on her jeans and tied the shirttails around her waist with a firm yank.
Did she need to sneak Melisande out of here as well as getting her own butt
out? If she had to drag Melisande around Houston, it would slow her from finding
Madison, but she didn’t feel right leaving her here.

“Mine of course,” she said with conviction. “I really didn’t
have anywhere else to go, and I’ve never felt safer.”

Reggie stared at her for a long moment. “Aren’t you afraid
they’ll try to make you into one of them?”

“Oh no.” She shook her head, her straight brown hair
swirling around her shoulders. “Yuri was turned against his will around four
hundred years ago by a woman he thought he loved. Such a sad story.” Melisande
sighed.

Yuri was in love with another woman? The thought didn’t set
well with Reggie, and her fingers curled into a tight ball. She hadn’t
considered Yuri might be taken. “Is she still around?”

“She left as soon as she turned him. Broke his heart.” The
girl shrugged. “That’s why Yuri swore he’d never turn a soul who didn’t want
it. Tor feels the same. They won’t turn me unless I want them to.”

So the woman wasn’t around, and Yuri had morals. Reggie
found that hard to believe, especially after he’d tied her to the bed. “You’re
not considering letting them turn you, are you?”

“Maybe someday. I want to have a regular life first.”

“Regular? Honey, you live with vampires. There’s nothin’
regular about that in my books.” She glanced toward the open curtains. The
battleship gray of predawn crept across the Houston skyline.

“I know. But I hope to have a career and maybe a husband and
children someday.” She turned toward Reggie. “I’m going to college, you know.”

Reggie raked a hand through her tangled hair and then
planted both fists on her hips. “Then what the hell are you doing with them?”

“I love them,” she said as if it were the most natural thing
in the world. “They’re my family.”

“Don’t you have a real family?”

Her head dipped low. “No.”

Reggie had to lean close to catch her answer. “What happened
to them?”

“My mother died when I was a baby, and my father…wasn’t much
of a father to me.” She looked up, her gaze finally meeting Reggie’s. “Yuri
saved me and brought me here.”

“My mother also died when I was a baby.” She and Melisande
had something in common, but losing their mothers was as far as it went. Her
father had reared her and Madison in a loving, supportive environment. That’s
why his death had hit her so hard, and why she didn’t trust vampires.
Especially ones with dark sexy eyes and a body that made her forget everything.

“It’s hard growing up without a mother,” Melisande said.

“Not if you have a father who gives a damn and a sister
you’d give your life for.”

“What’s that like?” Melisande asked. “Having a father who
cares? Mine didn’t. He only wanted me for one reason.” Her voice dropped to a
whisper and her gaze shifted to her feet.

She didn’t name that reason, but Reggie had seen enough in
her life as a cop before she joined the PIA that she could guess by what she
didn’t say. Melisande’s father was a sexually abusive son of a bitch. For a
brief moment, Reggie could respect Yuri for taking this woman-child away from
that kind of life.

She reached out and grasped the woman’s hands. “Melisande,
come with me. I can find you a place to stay and get you set up with
scholarships and everything. You don’t have to stay here.”

“Leave?” Melisande stared up at her as if she’d shaken a
screw loose. “Why? I’m happy for the first time in my life. I can come and go
as I please, and Yuri is paying for my education. I have everything I could
want.”

“But you’re living with vampires.” Had they brainwashed her,
was she in some kind of trance? Didn’t she get it?

However, Yuri had been very persuasive, sexy and unlike any
other man she’d ever met. The touch of his skin against hers hadn’t been as
she’d thought it would be. He didn’t feel at all dead. His body had been warm
and pulsing with life, just like one of the living.