Caleb (15 page)

Her
hand opened over the five crescent cuts from her nails, closing the wounds from
the sting of the air. “And I can’t kill you.”

“If
you’re done with the melodrama,” Jared interrupted, “I’ve got a solution.”

No
sooner had he finished the statement than Allie crumpled under a new wave of
pain. Caleb held her through the bone-wrenching spasm, his determination
slipping its grip under the reality of the situation. She could die from this.
He held her head to the side as she gagged, bringing up nothing, just enduring
dry heave after dry heave until he couldn’t take it anymore. He’d give her
whatever it took to make this stop. He braced his palm over hers, supporting
her through the next spasm as he asked his brother, “What’s your plan?”

Jared
stepped away from the door, coming closer, his eyes not straying from Allie.
Though his expression was blank, Caleb knew her suffering tore at him. Jared
had a soft spot for women and children.

“If
her first and last blood is yours, your problems are solved.”

“And
in between?”

“She’ll
suck on me.”

It
was a compromise. He and Jared had always been close, sharing responsibility
and retribution equally. This would be just one more thing in the bond they
couldn’t shake. Inside, his beast roared a protest. No man should know pleasure
from Allie but him. With every bit of his sanity, he fought it back. It was a
hard battle, the overwhelming possessiveness of his vampire side finding an
ally in his human nature. Her next moan tipped the balance.

Promise
me.

He’d
given his word. He couldn’t let her suffer anymore. And he couldn’t give her
any more future trauma. He’d learn to cope. Nothing, not his pride or his
tenuous relationship with his brother, mattered more than Allie.

With
a sharp nod, he gave his permission. Jared took that last step forward. Caleb
ripped a gash in his right pectoral muscle, feeling his brother’s mental
strength join his, encouraging Allie to feed. Blood flowed like a river.

Allie
gasped and lurched forward. The press of her lips to his skin set flame to his
own lust. Her fangs grazed, pressed, and then entered. She fed tentatively at
first, letting his blood merely flow over her tongue rather than actually
drinking.

Caleb
felt the exact moment the beast leapt to life within her. Every muscle in her
body clenched and her mind sprang for his, wrestling his for control, her lust
tapping into his, building it, relying on the primitive thrust of emotion to
create a wedge she could utilize, more instinct than finesse in the maneuver,
but that didn’t diminish the power behind it. Allie wanted control.

He
dropped his head back against the wall, passion consuming his determination.
“She’s strong.”

“Hell,
brother, I knew that going in.”

Caleb
shook his head, desire soaring with every lap of her tongue, every hot burst of
suction. “Not like this.”

Caleb
pulled Allie’s mouth tighter to his flesh, before yanking her thighs apart and
pulling her down on him. He felt the hot bolt of elation shoot through her as
they connected intimately, the denim of their jeans no barrier to the heat that
bound them, centering them both on all that mattered; the passion between them,
the emotion. The elemental exchange was as vital as breathing to their kind.
Her bite grew ravenous, demanding, brooking no resistance as her body rocked
violently on his. He gave her none, letting every pulse of her hips draw him
toward completion. Allie could have whatever she wanted of him—his blood, his
seed, his life.

“Fuck.”

He
ignored Jared’s exhalation and shoved his arm aside when he would have pulled
Allie off him. Arching his hips, he gave in to her demand, growing to her need,
smiling with satisfaction when she whimpered as he countered her motion,
snarling when Jared reached for her again. “Not yet, damn it.”

“Now.”

“No!”
The order came too late, Jared had her out of his arms and up against his body.
Her face glowed white against the black of Jared’s shirt as her head fell back
over his arm. The feral wail of disappointment that rose from her throat echoed
his own loss. Caleb lunged into the space between them. Jared leapt back, his
reflexes undiminished by blood or mate lust. His grip shifted to Allie’s neck.
Not with passion, but intent.

“Try
it and I’ll kill her.”

Caleb
pulled up short. One thing about Jared, he never bluffed. He would kill Allie
if driven to it. Caleb closed his fists around the certainty, using it to hold
at bay the driving instinct to reclaim his mate. Allie struggled in Jared’s
grip. Whether she was fighting to get away or to get to Jared’s neck, he didn’t
know. It didn’t really matter. “Let her go.”

Jared
shook his head. “Either it goes as we agreed, or I’ll end it now.”

Caleb
believed him. His rational side even agreed with the plan, but that didn’t stop
the vampire’s violent reaction to having Allie torn from his arms. Nor did it
stop the near compulsion to see the man holding her gutted and dead. His
brother. He buried his fangs in his lip, cauterizing the inner wound with
physical pain as he said, “Get it over with.”

“Turn
around.”

That
was asking too much. “No.”

“Jesus,
Caleb, don’t do this to yourself.”

Blood
dripped from his chin to his chest, joining the sluggish river already flowing
from his wound. “Do it. Now.”

On a
harsh “Son of a bitch” Jared ripped his right wrist open. Blood spewed in an
arc, splashing the side of Allie’s face as she turned and capped the source.
After an initial grimace of pain, Jared’s expression went blank and his energy
withdrew, hiding behind a wall of determination. Against his body, Allie
writhed, bloodlust so mixed up with physical lust that Caleb knew the two were
indistinguishable.

Mindless.
Insatiable.

There
was no way in hell that Jared was immune. Caleb had felt Allie’s strength.
Knew, even though he couldn’t see or feel it, that Jared’s body responded to
the feminine lure of hers. The knowledge almost dropped him. She was his mate.
No one else’s—
his
. Jared looked up, his hazel eyes swirling with silver
lights, the only indication of his distress. “Take her.”

For
vital seconds, Caleb couldn’t move, bloodlust still rushing through his veins,
every breath an agony, his vampire side screaming for justice, and then the fog
cleared. He stepped forward, the relieved flicker of Jared’s lids a bullet to
his soul. After all they’d been through, Jared hadn’t been sure he’d stop her.

Caleb
wrapped his arm around Allie’s waist. His other hand cupped her chin, applying
pressure to her jaw, holding Jared’s gaze as he did so. “Brothers to the end,
remember?”

Jared
grunted as Allie clung. “She’s going to complicate that.”

“Never
that much.” Caleb squeezed harder. Hell, was she going to make him break her
jaw? “Give over, Allie.” She shook her head and growled.

Jared,
unbelievably, laughed. “Sounds like a kitten biting off more than she can
chew.”

The
last syllable had a vagueness Caleb didn’t like. Allie was taking too much. He
leaned in against her back, cuddled her into the cradle of his thighs, and
moaned as she rubbed that soft ass against him. Letting his blood drip over her
shoulder in a potent lure, he whispered in her ear, “That’s right, Allie girl.
It’s me. Come here, and I’ll give you everything you want.”

The
slightest of relaxation in her jaw muscles was the sign he’d been waiting for.
She looked at him from the corner of her eye.

Brushing
his lips against her ear, he murmured, “Remember me, baby?” He pressed back
against her, countering the movement of her hips with his own, seducing her
with his mind, his body, his voice. “I’m ready to ride whenever you are.”

She
leapt for his chest, her arms going around his neck, her soft whisper of his
name a balm to his soul.

“Hell,
I’d be insulted if I had the strength to spare.” Jared slumped against the
wall, closing the wound on his wrist as he slid down.

Caleb
ignored Jared, more focused on the miracle of Allie exerting her human side in
the midst of bloodlust. Damn, she was strong.

“Come
here, baby.” He pressed her face to his chest, dropped his head until his cheek
met hers, and felt her confusion, mixed with horror and lust. “It’s all right,
Allie girl. Whatever happens between us, I want it, and it’s all right. Let
yourself go.”

“I’m
sorry.”

He
lifted her against the wall. “Don’t be sorry.” He didn’t want her sorry. “Just
wrap your legs around my hips and let me see exactly how wild you can be.”

“I’ll
be on the other side of the door if you need me.”

Caleb
didn’t spare Jared a glance. He wouldn’t need him. Allie was his only concern.
Her fangs sank into his chest, her hips searching as her ankles locked behind
his back. Wild, impetuous, and utterly feminine, she burned him to the core,
made him angry, made him ache, made him long. Her hands slipped in the blood on
his neck. She gasped and grabbed at his shoulders. He gave her a little bounce,
switching his hands to her hips, sinking his fingers into the lush curve of her
buttocks, granting her the support she needed. He slid one hand farther down,
extended his talon, and slit the seam of her jeans before reaching for his
zipper. “Now, sweetheart, let me see that wild side.”

“YOU’RE
not a dud.”

It
wasn’t the most resounding accolade a man ever heard whispered in the
afterglow, but it was pure Allie.

“That’s
good to hear.” Caleb leaned his head back against the wall down which they’d
slid during those last few frantic moments and drew a hard-won breath into his
lungs. Against his side, Allie was breathing just as hard. He cracked his right
eyelid. “Any particular reason you thought I would be?”

“It
was a concern.” Her shrug smoothed her breast up his sweat-slicked chest. His
body tightened anew, too wrapped up in the previous pleasure to understand that
he didn’t have enough “oomph” to saddle up again. Allie was a demanding woman
when she got going. He stroked his hand up her back. He’d have to get her going
more often.

“It’s
just that you racked up a lot of ‘I owe yous’ over that last month and I wasn’t
sure you could make good on them.”

“The
other night didn’t convince you?”

“The
other night I was under the influence.”

He
cracked his other eyelid. “The hell you were.”

Allie
glanced up from where she was watching her finger create designs in his chest
hair. He cupped her shoulder in his palm, smiling as she curled tighter against
him. Her thigh rode up his in sweet invitation. “I wasn’t?”

“No.”

The
tug she gave his hair stung. “Well, then . . . Wow!”

“I’ll
agree with wow.” The smile came to him surprisingly easy. “You, Allie girl, are
one demanding woman.”

“Hey,
I wasn’t the one holding you up against the wall.”

“Now
that would be a sight, you holding me up.”

There
was a pause. “Could I? Now?”

He
opened his eyes all the way. “Now that you’re a vampire?”

“Yes.”

“I
don’t know.” He shrugged. “Men get a lot stronger, but I don’t know about women.”

“Aren’t
there female vampires?”

Oh
yeah, there were. “At least one.”

“Only
one?”

“That’s
all I’ve ever seen.”

Allie
shook her head. He’d only seen one female vampire? As easily as he’d converted
her, others had to have converted many more. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“That
I can’t help.” The pad of his thumb touched the center of her lower lip.
Despite the fact she felt sated to her bones, her pulse still quickened. What
was he? Part magician?

His
smile broadened.

“You
are so not reading my mind.”

“Just
a little.”

“There’s
no such thing as a little when it comes to that.”

The
pressure on her lip increased. “Yeah. There is.”

Which
brought up another point. “How come I can’t read your mind?”

“You
can’t?”

She
closed her eyes and tried. Nothing. “Nope. The only thing rattling around in
there is me, myself, and I.”

“Sounds
like it’s crowded enough.”

She
leaned into his big body. Despite the fact there was no give to the man, he was
quite comfortable. “This is really going to suck, Johnson, if I don’t get some
of the perks that go along with being a vampire.”

His
thumb pulled her lip down. Cool air wafted across the inner lining. “It’s
different for everyone.”

“How
so?”

“We
all got strong, but each of us got different . . . perks, as you call it. Jared
got the ability to control minds. Slade became smarter than a bedridden
librarian. Jace is super strong and can go three times as long as the rest of
us without feeding.”