Kiss of Temptation: The Kavanaugh Foundation, Book 3 (18 page)

“Maybe some bruised ribs,” she admitted. Her mind played back the encounter with the last vampire, and a cold chill washed over her insides. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For saving my life. And for taking care of me afterwards.” God, she hated to admit she needed help. It gnawed at her gut, but if she had to be rescued by anyone, she would’ve picked him. “But you need to be careful. You saw what they’re like, and from what I overheard, they were setting up a trap.”

“For me or for you?”

“Me.”

A reckless grin spread across his face. “Then maybe you’re the one who needs to be more careful. Maybe you should take someone with you when you hunt.”

She glanced up at the driver, wondering how much he’d overheard and understood. “Let’s change the subject.”

“Of course,” he said as he ran one callused hand over her legs and massaged the base of her neck with the other. “What did you have in mind?”

One look told her exactly what he had on his mind. Even if she closed her eyes, the firm ridge in his pants pressing against her thigh made her all too aware of his thoughts. “Are you always this forward with women?”

“Sometimes. Actually, I’d say I’ve been holding back on you.”

“Why is that?”

“Because you’re different than most women.”

That was an understatement. How many women prowled the streets at night with a wooden stake in their purse?

“You seem to be the type who likes to call the shots,” he continued. The sensuous curve of his lips rose into a smile, making his implications clear. He was waiting on her to make the next move.

Her heart raced. One kiss wouldn’t cause too many problems, would it? Plus, it might calm the growing curiosity inside her. Before common sense could talk her out of it, she gently brushed her lips against his. They were warm, soft, yielding to hers.

When she tried to pull away, his fingers threaded through her hair. Her breath caught. The hunger in his hazel eyes told her he wanted more than that, and frankly, so did she. This time, when their lips met, she did the yielding. Her mouth parted and his tongue swept in.

Mmm…this is how a kiss should feel
. Each sweep of his tongue, each nibble of his teeth, fanned the smoldering fire inside the lowest pit of her stomach. The stubble on his chin grated against her skin, adding a new sensation to her already hyper-aware brain. She curled his short hair around her fingers and held on for the ride, not wanting it to end.

A soft moan formed in his throat and he grew bolder in his advances. The hand on her leg worked its way under her dress. He stroked her seam through her already-soaked panties. Now it was her turn to moan. He repeated the action and she pressed against his hand, urging him to keep doing it, to go deeper next time.

A loud cough interrupted them, and Lana pulled away. The taxi was idling in the driveway of her condominium complex. Her cheeks burned. Had she really been so caught up in making out with a relative stranger in the backseat of a cab that she hadn’t realized they’d reached their destination?

Byron’s hand withdrew from under her dress. “Let me walk the lady upstairs, and I’ll be back in a moment.”

“Yeah, right,” the driver replied. “Just so you know, the meter’s running.”

“No problem.” He opened the door and scooped her back into his arms. “Got your keys, Lana?”

She searched her purse while she gave him directions to her unit. Despite the fact that she’d been sucking his face a few seconds ago, she couldn’t meet his eyes now. Once they entered the elevator, she whispered, “Sorry.”

“For what?”

“For acting that way in the cab. I usually have better control over myself.”

His laughter echoed off the stainless-steel walls. “So you’re saying you don’t normally hook up with random strangers?”

“You don’t have to say it that way!” She tried to wiggle out of his arms, but he held on to her tighter. “You really don’t have to carry me all the way up to my condo, you know.”

“What if I want to?”

Although she hated to admit it, she wanted to stay in his arms. For once in her life, she felt less like a tough-as-nails huntress and more like a fairy-tale princess. Of course, what she wanted to do to him didn’t belong anywhere near a Disney movie.

The elevator doors opened, and something sank into her stomach like a lead weight. The end of the line. The end of the night with Byron. Why did that disappoint her so much? She should be focused on work, on composing a report to the Foundation about what had happened tonight and researching whoever this Klaus fellow was, but all she wanted to do was taste his lips again. Years of sex deprivation had finally caught up with her.

He set her down in front of her door. “Will you be okay from here?”

No
, her mind screamed. He’d left her body aching and needy for more than just a kiss. She should be flattered that he’d left the taxi waiting downstairs, a sure sign that he didn’t want just a random hookup with her. Oh, dear God, was he disappointed with her? Had it been so long since she’d kissed someone that she sucked at it? Only one way to find out.

She seized the collar of his blazer and pulled him against her, her mouth devouring his. She tasted traces of the Jack and Coke he’d drunk earlier, along with something more primal, more sexual. Desire.

All semblances of self-control got tossed to the side. He pressed her against the door, pulling her injured leg up until it hooked around his waist and the hem of her dress gathered around her waist. His erection rubbed against her intimate areas, tormenting her with the layers of material that separated them.

He broke his lips away from hers and trailed them down her neck. The combination of his rough stubble mixed with the gentle flicks of his tongue and teasing nips of his teeth nearly sent her over the edge. Who cared if they were humping in the middle of the hallway? She wanted him to fuck her right here and now.

“Lana.” He moaned her name like a starving wolf presented with a haunch of fresh meat. His hands cupped her buttocks, raising her ever so slightly so his cock stimulated the exquisitely sensitive nub between her legs.

A shudder ripped through her body. She reached for the door handle, eager to continue this in her bed. Screw the cab waiting downstairs. She’d pay for the running meter at this point, so long as he left her a satisfied and exhausted puddle of flesh when he finished with her.

The door flew open beside her, and if Byron hadn’t caught her, they would’ve landed on the floor in a tangle of limbs. A petite Hispanic woman stared at them with round brown eyes.

Oh, shit, is this the wrong condo?

Her blood is his lifeline. His love could be her salvation….

In the Blood

© 2011 Abigail Barnette

Call girl Cassandra Connely drifts through life in a haze of guilt and sedatives, burdened by a deadly mistake from her past and plagued by nightmares of horrific, clawed creatures. Her newest client is a mouth-watering distraction, and she finds herself intrigued by Viktor Novotny’s eccentric…tastes. Until he touches her, and her nightmares become real.
 

One look at the woman in the hot red dress, and Viktor rests assured he will hang onto his humanity at least one more night. In the century since an attack turned him into a vampire and killed his wife, regular sexual encounters are his only defense against becoming a mindless Minion. Yet when Cassie agrees to be his companion—and meal—for the evening, she stirs his soul in a way he hasn’t felt since his lost lover.

Viktor’s haunted eyes pull at her heart, but Cassie cannot bear to feel anything, ever again. When she flees his apartment, though, she is in more peril than she knows. Tasting her blood without completing their union has left Viktor hungry for no other but her. And vulnerable to the very Minions that wait to drag him into the void. Worse, Cassie is their next target…

Warning: Contains explicit love scenes that will make your blood boil over, including a brief m/m encounter, ill-advised (but oh-so-sexy) use of sharp objects, and hypnotic kisses that could—just for a moment—make you imagine you are Viktor’s lady of the night.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
In the Blood:

Viktor laid a hand on her knee, and it was cold through her jeans. “Are you all right?”

She nodded stupidly. Of course she wasn’t all right. Nothing was all right. Either the monsters of her dreams were real or Viktor was part of her hallucination. In either case, she was crazy, and she had no clue how long she’d been that way.

For a long time, she said nothing, and he did not try to engage her. She stared out the window, imagining that all of the people on the sidewalks would turn to her with blank faces and yellow teeth. A woman juggled a paper bag of groceries on her arm, and Cassie watched with terrorized fascination, waiting for her to expose her startling lack of features. When she did turn her head, she was only another human being, but Cassie still startled.

Finally, she had the courage to ask Viktor. “What were those things?”

“Vampires.” The word was hard and unapologetic.

She nodded again, content to withdraw and continue staring out the dark-tinted glass as she slowly lost her mind.

Viktor was not as content to let her. “It was my fault. My mark is on you now, from feeding. They can track you, as they can track me.”

“Your mark?” Cassandra shook her head. “Did you know that would happen to me? That monsters would try to attack me? And you drank my blood anyway?”

Jesus, what was she saying? She couldn’t possibly believe a word he had to say.

“Usually, it does not happen this way. If we had—”

“Why would they be tracking you? They’re my nightmares. I’ve been dreaming about them my whole life.” Well, not her whole life. Ever since the accident. But she didn’t feel like rehashing those details with a stranger.

“They’re tracking me because they wish to make me one of them.” He cleared his throat and looked away, out the window, as though he were ashamed to meet her eyes. “I have taken a life before, out of hunger. It fractured my soul, as such an act always does, and they are…attracted to that kind of despair. I carry a scent that is irresistible to Minions. When I fed off you, it mingled our essences. If we had…finished our business together, the humanity restored to me through the act would have lessened my connection to you. But I let you leave my apartment. Then, stupidly, I led them to your home.” He looked out his own window, hopelessness lining his face. “I should have known better.”

An angry laugh burst from her throat. “About what? About vampires?”

“Yes, about vampires.”

The authority with which he spoke was dangerous, pulled Cassie in, made her want to believe every word he said. Yet her brain refused to adapt to this new and absurd reality. “You can’t just say that to me. My life can’t be part of your sick fantasies. There isn’t enough money in the world to—”

“What do you think they were, then?” he asked calmly, cutting her off as though he were a patient father dealing with a toddler’s screaming tantrum.

The monsters from her nightmares were vampires. Or Minions or whatever. They existed, like humans and dogs and cats and trees. And not just tonight. Probably forever. And she’d never had a clue, besides her dreams.

Though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer, she asked him anyway. “What are you? Why could you fight those things the way you did?”

He let go of her hand then, as if suddenly uncomfortable with their closeness. “I am a vampire.”

Confusion spurred her curiosity on. “But those things were vampires. If you’re the same…species—”

“We are not the same!” His voice was too loud, even in the spacious interior of the car. He took a deep breath and continued, more gently, “A new vampire possesses all the instincts of an animal. If he suppresses those instincts—to hunt and kill—then he will retain his humanity. For a little while, anyway. Those that seek only to satisfy their hunger do not. They become Minions. The ones that attacked you are little more than animals, and they would have killed you had I not intervened.”

“How did you know they would come for me?” If it was him, if something in him had tainted her, was she…oh, God, she couldn’t be—

“You are not one of us. I swear to you, I would never…not without some…assurance…” He shook his head, as if to clear it. “They enjoy the despair. The smell, the taste. And you have a limitless well of that inside of you. Only the blind and mortal would not see that. The look in your eyes.” He touched her face, his fingers curving over her jaw. “You do not look like yourself this way.”

“How do you know what I’m supposed to look like?” She pushed his hand away. “You don’t know me.”

He closed his eyes briefly, sorrow crimping the space between his eyebrows. When he returned to the moment, the sadness in his expression was all for her. “They could not resist. I should have known better than to leave you.”

They pulled up outside of Viktor’s building. “Mr. Novotny, you’re all clear,” Anthony said over the intercom.

“We should walk quickly. Do not run. If any are near, running will attract their attention.” Viktor reached for the door.

“Wait, just wait.” She dropped her head to her hands. “I’m sorry, I can’t… Drive me home. I can’t get wrapped up in whatever weird game it is you’re playing.”

“It is not a game.” Something in his voice had changed. It was still deep and gentle, but command warped the edges. “You will not be safe on your own. Come upstairs, where I can protect you.”

She wanted to argue, but she couldn’t find the words. Even if she could have, she couldn’t have said them. Despite her fear—of him, of the creatures he was sure had followed them—she slid from the car, let him put his arm around her shoulders and guide her into the building, into the elevator, straight to his penthouse tomb. She had no choice. It was as if her body had decided, independently of her mind, to obey him.

Once they were out of the elevator and standing in the marble foyer, the mental paralysis lost its hold, and rage seized her.

Before she could utter a word, he held up a hand. “I am sorry. I promise I will not use such a cheap trick again.”