Know Thine Enemy (25 page)

She liked the way he touched her. She liked the taste of his kiss, brief as it had been.

Izzie worried a lip between her teeth, her growling stomach reminding her it had been days since she'd had a reliable meal. By virtue of a can opener, she helped herself to some of the canned pasta.

As it turned out, a full stomach did little to ease her conscience. Two cans of SpaghettiOs
and half a gallon of water later, she was again left alone with her thoughts, only this time without the cushion of hunger to dull the buzz. Her life suddenly felt vacant and empty. She'd never imagined she'd be left with nothing to do but watch television.

The news provided nothing new. A few stories about whatever election was on the horizon, or had just occurred, or something, and a fluff piece about a local dog that rescued its owner from a fire. The other stations yielded nothing better. Lifetime movie, Springer episode, and the hidden channel that was nothing but porn.

Izzie paused, a sense of shame coursing through her body only to be shoved aside by a potent wave of arousal. She had only viewed pornographic material once before—as a shared experience with Wright to put her in the mood before he popped her cherry. She hadn't enjoyed it much then, as she hadn't been entirely enthusiastic about what was about to commence. Sure, her body had responded naturally at the sight of intimate acts being broadcast, and since she had read somewhere the mind behaved like one large sex organ, she'd found herself ready and willing to go, even if her heart hadn't been in it.

There were some people who simply weren
't meant to be lovers.

In a thousand years, Izzie would never have expected to respond
to anything remotely sexual in the aftermath of what she'd been through. Yet within a few minutes of watching a nameless stranger go to town on some girl's pussy, she couldn't deny the way her body warmed, or how slick and hot the space between her legs felt.

And just as quickly she was back in her cell, her body stripped naked and Ryker
's face pressed against her mound, his tongue tickling her clit as his fingers slipped inside her hot channel. Those stolen moments, confusing as they had been, had likewise given her freedom beyond anything she'd ever experienced. She'd felt feminine and desirable—she'd felt liberated. No more denying herself the simpler pleasures of life because of what she was and with whom she traveled. She was just Izzie, and the sensation had been wondrous.

Perhaps
they should have discussed more of what had transpired between them. As it was, Izzie had no idea where to begin. Something had crawled inside her, hatching into a version of herself she had no desire to leash.

Izzie shifted and slipped a hand beneath the waistband of her sweats, her fingers dancing through her pubic curls. Unlike the girl on screen, she wasn
't waxed or shaven, and though she knew it was useless mulling over what Ryker might prefer on his women, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd frowned when he'd first glanced at her pussy. If he'd looked at her and found something wanting—if he'd disliked her appearance or taste. Perhaps he'd found her too bony. She was unhealthily thin—she ate too little for what she demanded of her body. A vampire likely wouldn't look at her with any degree of yearning.

But then again, why the fuck should she care?

Her index finger landed on her clit. Izzie hissed and arched her hips, her head rolling back, even as her eyes remained glued to the television. On screen, a bottle blonde with huge tits smiled at the camera, a cock sliding in and out of her pussy as the head of another caressed her mouth. The man between her legs enjoyed only a few quick thrusts before he moved aside and was replaced with another, and so it went. The flippancy with which partners were exchanged stirred some sense of obligatory objection, but it quickly washed away for the want of Ryker.

"
Ryker . . . ."

This was wrong. God, everything about this was wrong. What she
'd experienced should have been enough to convince her to swear off sex forever—should have made Ryker the last man she'd choose, and yet for as much as she fought her desire, the more she wanted him. The more she craved feeling his body over hers, his mouth on her flesh, his hands on her breasts and his cock between her legs. She wanted him to take what he'd kept himself from claiming, wanted to feel him inside her as she'd never wanted a man.

Something was seriously wrong with her. Beyond what she craved and how badly, how she could go from the cell to this
?

Izzie gasped, her body spiraling into a hard but thoroughly unsatisfying orgasm.

A new day and she still didn't know who she was or what had become of the girl she was used to seeing in the mirror.

The world felt hollow and empty, and she had no idea how to make things right again.

Or at least get back to a place where her head didn't hurt to consider the implications of what she had become.

* * * * *

He found Izzie sitting on the sofa watching an old episode of
The Twilight Zone.
If possible, she looked more exhausted than she had last night.

"
Hello," Ryker said softly, offering a strained smile for lack of anything else.

Izzie nodded.
"Hi."

"
How long have you been up?"

"
Few hours." She pressed her lips together. "There's food in the kitchen. Not much, but enough for a few days. For me, at least."

He inclined his head.
"That's good."

Izzie nodded again, her gaze fixating on the wall. Seemed whatever distance she
'd imposed the night before had done little more than confuse matters, though he wasn't surprised. Despite his feelings and the strange attachment he'd developed where she was concerned, Ryker had no business assuming what she thought or felt, especially in the aftermath of what they'd experienced.

He just wanted to know where he stood and if there was a way, no matter how remote, that he could make whatever was eating at her an easier burden to bear.

"What will you do?" Izzie asked softly.

"
What?"

"
For food."

Ryker
's eyes couldn't help but seek the mark on her throat, his stomach responding with a timely rumble. "Figure there are plenty woodland creatures around these parts," he reasoned, forcing his attention away from her neck. "Haven't been on an old fashioned hunt in some time. Figure I oughta remind myself how good I have it back home."

"
You don't want to . . . ." Izzie frowned and indicated herself awkwardly.

"
You?"

"
Yeah." She paused, then shook her head. "Sheesh, if Zack could hear me now…"

The name
poked the jealousy that had taken residence in his chest the night before, and he didn't care to linger. Instead, Ryker barked a short, forced laugh, and took a detour to a different subject. "Think you're forgetting something. Already sampled you once. Twice is pushing it."

"
Oh." She bit her lip and looked down, her cheeks reddening. "Shit, I forgot about that."

"
Was it so forgettable?"

Her eyes went wide.
"No!"

"
Relax, cutie. I'm teasing."

"
Everything's just so muddled now."

"
I know. But you shouldn't go around offering your throat to strange vampires."

Her expression softened.
"You're not strange."

"
First time I've heard that." Ryker offered a gentle smile. "Three bites. That's all it takes, and it's the sort of thing you wanna make a point to remember. I can't promise to be a gentleman if you put yourself on a platter."

"
I'm sorry." Izzie shook her head and pressed a hand to her brow. "My mind's all over the place. I'm still, I dunno, expecting to wake up and be back there."

Ryker fell silent at that, at a loss for words and not knowing where to look for them.

"I'm just not used to this," she continued.

"
Wouldn't think so."

"
Well, any of it." Izzie exhaled deeply. "I've never not done anything, you know? And this place is so quiet. Nothing is ever quiet where I come from. It's all noise all the time—loud and chaotic and there's always
something.
I don't even hear the cars on the freeway here. And now I'm sitting here looking toward—what, exactly? I left everything back home."

Ryker
's resolve to avoid the uncomfortable
Wright
subject at once abandoned him. "You mean your friend." Jealousy reared again just at the thought of him—
Wright
. The asshole demon hunter who had shoved his personal tragedy onto Izzie's willing shoulders, training and molding her into something she wasn't, and taking her virginity while he was at it.

Ryker sucked in his cheeks and looked away.

Izzie appeared to consider his words for a long moment before ultimately shrugging and falling back against the cushion. "Yes and no, I guess. I mean, I wouldn't go back to life with him the way it was for anything. Whatever's happened here, with us—everything's changed now, you know? I just don't have anything back home." She broke off with a humorless laugh. "Fuck, I don't even have a
home
. St. Louis wasn't home—it was a pit stop. It wasn't supposed to be more or less or any different from any place we'd been, and here I am."

Ryker took a step forward.
"It would've happened sooner or later."

"
The kidnapping?"

"
You and Zack aren't the same type of animal, Izzie. I've seen his kind before, and fuck all if there aren't a thousand like him. All with their stories—how we fucked them over."

Her shoulders tensed.
"Zack deserves his pound of flesh."

"
From who, though? You? Way I see it you've already given him that." Ryker sighed and brought his hands up. "I don't wanna get into a tiff about you and Butch, but—"

"
Don't worry."

The lack of fight in her voice lent him pause.
"What?"

"
I'm coming to terms with many things I've learned in the past few days," Izzie explained. "And I already had this fight with Zack, so there's little sense in bringing it up again. I'm just feeling . . . lost and confused and pissed as a motherfucker and sad and—"

"
Human?"

Her nose wrinkled.
"Is that what this is?"

"
Seem to remember going through a spell of that, myself."

Izzie offered a soft smile, genuine this time, and the effect left him humming with warmth.
"I know things will even themselves out," she said. "One way or another. Nothing's been able to kill me yet, and not for lack of trying."

"
Whoever tries to fuck with you has my pity."

"
I just wish I had an idea of what was waiting on the other side of this." Izzie sighed and stretched. "How long do you want to stay here?"

"
You wanting to head out already?"

"
No. I just know we can't stay here forever."

Ryker nodded, though the thought of being holed indefinitely with a gorgeous spitfire wasn
't at all unpleasant. "I figure another day at least. If we stay too long, we'll attract someone's attention. Even out here."

"
And the owners might come back."

"
A sensible assumption." Ryker started toward the door. "Gonna go hunt me a deer or whatever other critter comes my way. You plan on holding down the fort?"

"
Guess there's nothing else." She met his gaze. "Be careful."

He shrugged.
"Who you talking to?"

Her eyes narrowed, and another burst of warmth spread through his chest. The familiarity with which she regarded him would make a cynic believe anything was possible.

As it was, the road behind them had left them both damaged. He had no idea if they would ever converge again.

All he had was time, and the hope it truly could heal all wounds.

Didn't seem too much to ask.

Chapter Fifteen

Pig's blood provided what he needed with all the appeal of off-brand cola, but Ryker couldn't find the heart to complain. The blood went a long way to stifle his hunger for Izzie, and any advantage was a good advantage. Every time his gaze landed on her throat, it was all he could do to keep himself from possessing her fully and stealing her options regarding the future.

Two more bites. All it would take to turn her. Two more bites and he
'd have the luxury of knowing she'd be in the world as long as he.

It wasn
't his decision. Fuck, he didn't pretend to think rationally where she was concerned.