Luther's Return (Scanguards Vampires Book 10) (27 page)

She collected all her strength and pushed herself up so she could bring one hand to the front clasp of her bra. With difficulty she managed to open it just as Luther plunged deeper into her, making her land back in the cushions. On his next withdrawal she succeeded in freeing her breasts from the cups and shucking the bra.

“Fuck, Katie!” he called out and pulled out of her.

“No!” she protested. “Don’t stop!”

He gripped her legs and turned her onto her back, his eyes wild, his fangs extended. His gaze landed on her naked breasts, and she could see him salivate.

“Fuck me, Luther, please!” she begged.

He rolled over her and plunged his cock back into her. Katie let out a contented sigh, relieved that he filled her again. Without him, she’d felt empty.

Luther was riding her hard and fast. She’d never known that such wildness could give her such pleasure, but with every hard thrust and every withdrawal Luther was driving her closer to the edge. Her entire body began to tingle. All her nerve endings seemed to awaken with awareness. And inside her a fire began to burn, slowly making its way to the surface.

“Yes, Luther,” she chanted, pressing her head into the chaise longue and arching her back, offering him what she knew he desired.

A growl came from him, then his breath caressed her breast and teased her nipple. When she felt the tips of his fangs scrape against her skin, she shivered with pleasure. He drove them into her, causing her a split-second of pain, but it vanished as quickly as it had come, making way for pleasure.

She felt him pull hard, feeding from her. Some of the blood spilled from his mouth, so greedily did he drink from her. She felt it trickle down her breast. But Luther didn’t seem to notice. He continued to drink, while farther below, his hips thrust back and forth.

Katie let herself go. Luther feeding from her lulled her into a trance, while his pistoning cock sent waves of pleasure through her body. Her clit throbbed. Then her body erupted in a symphony of ecstasy. She heard nothing but her own heartbeat and Luther’s moans. Her sex spasmed and she felt Luther respond in kind. His cock jerked inside her. Then she felt it: his hot semen filling her as he continued to move inside her. Slower now, but no less tantalizing.

She felt cool air waft against her breast, then a hot tongue lick over it. Katie lazily opened her eyes and watched Luther lift his head from her breast and retract his fangs. His eyes were still glowing red, but the moment he met her gaze they turned back to their rich brown color.

Katie opened her mouth to speak, but no words came over her lips, because the only words she wanted to say were ones he didn’t want to hear. Instead she lifted her hand and ran it through his hair. It was damp from his sweat.

He held her gaze, but he, too, was silent. After an eternity, he rolled off her and stood.

She looked up at him, drinking in his perfect male form for the last time, before he turned his back to her and began to get dressed.

I love you
, she mouthed silently behind his back and pushed back the tears that threatened to expose her true feelings.

41

Luther looked over his shoulder at Katie, who stood in the hallway, watching him and Roxanne getting ready to leave.

“Give me a moment,” he said to Roxanne and crossed the distance between him and Katie with four long strides.

Wesley retreated into the living room, giving them privacy.

Luther put a finger under Katie’s chin and tilted her face up. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but words failed him, just like they’d failed him when they’d made love. He’d sensed it then, in fact had felt it growing inside him over the last few days and nights. The feeling that he couldn’t live without her. That she was meant for him. That he was meant for her. He didn’t want to acknowledge it, because it was impossible for something like that to happen to him. And to happen so fast.

And why should it? Most vampires only got one chance at finding their mate. Why would he of all people get a second one, when he knew he didn’t deserve it? Or was it all an illusion that would be ripped from his hands the minute he grabbed for it? He’d been down that road once before with Vivian. And he was frightened to take that same path again. What if it led him to the same horrible end? So he could be punished once more.

“Katie,” he murmured, unable to turn his feelings into words.

Tears rimmed her emerald eyes. Her breath blew against his face, so sweet, so tempting that it nearly tore his heart in two.

He pulled her into his arms and brought his mouth to her ear. “I can’t promise you anything, but I want you to know that what’s between us means something to me.” He took her hand and pressed it against the place where his heart beat out of control. “You are in here.”

She sniffled. “Luther,” she choked out.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, then turned quickly, worried that he wouldn’t be able to leave if he saw her cry. With long steps he walked to where Roxanne stood. He waited for a moment until he heard Katie join her brother in the living room. Then he opened the door and took Roxanne’s hand to lead her outside into the dark.

Pretending to be as affectionate with Roxanne as he’d been with Katie was hard and felt unnatural, but in case they were being watched, he did it nevertheless. He was glad when they were finally sitting in Katie’s Audi and driving toward the waterfront to meet up with Blake’s team.

~ ~ ~

Luther pulled up at the abandoned pier and killed the engine. “Showtime.”

Roxanne nodded. “Let’s do this.”

They exited the car. Blake was already waiting for them. Luther looked around. He saw nobody else.

“Where is everybody?” Luther asked as Roxanne stopped next to him.

“The team is in place.” Blake motioned toward the water. “The exchange will take place on Alcatraz. It’s not exactly the kind of place we were counting on. We had to scramble to set everything up.”

“But isn’t Alcatraz open for tours?”

“The last night tour would have finished at nine thirty and normally the daytime staff doesn’t arrive till six am, but we’re in luck: Alcatraz is closed over the Christmas break. We won’t have any issues with civilians.” He paused for a moment. “Forrester wants you to deliver Katie. He asked for you by name.”

Luther’s forehead furrowed. “He doesn’t know me. How can he ask for me by name?”

“I can only assume that he’s been watching us all this time and figured out that you have a connection to Katie. Or maybe he sees you as less of a threat than somebody from Scanguards. I’m not sure. In any case, we’ll have your back.” Blake pointed to a small motorboat that was docked a few yards away from them. “Take the boat to the main dock on Alcatraz. Once you get there, he’ll turn on lights along the ground that will lead you to the location where the exchange will take place.”

“And then?”

“That’s all we have. Don’t worry, we’ll be there to swoop in as soon as he reveals himself. Your job is to secure Isabelle.” Blake addressed Roxanne, “You know what to do. Keep your cover for as long as you can so you can get close to him. You need to distract him from Isabelle. Understood?”

Roxanne nodded.

“I can’t give you any weapons. We must assume that he will be able to detect if you’re armed. We can’t risk it. It has to look like we’re ready to do the exchange.”

“Not a problem.”

“But I have one thing for you.” Blake dug into his pocket and pulled out a tiny item that looked like a button. “A camera.” He reached for Luther’s jacket and affixed the camera to the lapel. “That way we can see what you see. It’ll help us get into the right position. It doubles as a GPS so we’ll have an exact location on you.”

Luther glanced at the small item. It blended in with the color of his jacket, and if he didn’t know it was there, he wouldn’t have been able to detect it. “Guess we’re ready. Keys?”

Blake handed him the keys for the boat. “Good luck!”

Luther hopped into the boat and helped Roxanne into it. It had been a while since he’d been on a motorboat, but he still remembered how to steer one. He put the key in the ignition and started the engine. Blake untied them from the dock and tossed the rope into the boat.

In the distance, Alcatraz Island stood like a beacon in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Its main building, the cell block, which tourists visited during opening hours, was lit from the outside by large spot lights. The rest of the island, however, lay in total darkness. Abandoned buildings stood like eerie reminders of what this island had once housed: dangerous criminals.

A wooden water tower peeked out on one side of the island, a lighthouse overlooking it all. There was some vegetation on Alcatraz, a few trees and bushes near the dock where the tourists started their tour, but not much on the far side of the island.

Luther remembered a paved walkway spanning the whole island, as well as heaps of old concrete blocks that were dumped on the back end.

Luther gunned the engine and pushed the boat to its limit until he saw the dock appear in front of him. He throttled the engine down and pulled up alongside it. Roxanne threw the line out, catching one of the many hooks and tied the boat up. Luther turned the engine off and stepped onto the dock. He turned back to Roxanne and offered her his hand to help her out of the boat.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded, remaining silent so she wouldn’t give herself away by her accent.

When they reached the end of the dock, a string of lights sitting low on the ground turned on. He pointed to it. “This way.”

Luther jumped over a low railing and lifted Roxanne over it after him. She could have easily jumped herself, but they had to maintain Roxanne’s cover and pretend she was human, and he her gallant lover. It was evident that Forrester was watching them. He’d switched the guiding lights on the moment they’d reached the end of the dock.

Luther glanced around as he followed the lights with Roxanne by his side. They were on a path leading not toward the cell block but away from it. They were on the part of the island that was facing away from San Francisco.

As they walked, passing a large building on their left, more lights appeared on the path ahead of them. He glanced behind him and noticed that some of the lights he was following had already extinguished. Motion-activated lamps, he assumed. He had to hand it to Forrester. He was sophisticated and had obviously meticulously planned this exchange, whereas Scanguards had only had an hour or two to come up with any countermeasures. Luther could only hope that his old friends could improvise well and outwit their opponent.

He gave Roxanne a sideways glance. He still couldn’t see her vampire aura, and to him she looked entirely human. Wesley’s spell was working. And he hoped that Wes was right about the length of time the spell would cloud Roxanne’s aura and disguise the fact that she was a vampire. Her life depended on it. His and Isabelle’s, too.

They passed the ruins of the old officer’s club on their right. The water tower came into full view ahead, hovering over them to the left of the path. The old power plant appeared on the right.

Luther kept his eyes and ears open. Apart from the waves breaking on the rocks that surrounded the island and gave it its nickname—the Rock—there were no sounds. A steady cool breeze blew from the northeast, muffling even their footsteps.

The entire setting gave him the creeps. Obviously Forrester was a psycho, choosing a place like Alcatraz. A cold shiver ran down his spine. He didn’t like this place, and didn’t understand why Forrester had chosen it. One could reach the island only by water, which made an escape from it difficult. How was Forrester planning to get off the island with Katie (or rather Roxanne), once he had her? It made no sense. Even if he had a boat waiting for him, he had to assume that Scanguards would be easily able to track his movements on the water and follow him. Forrester was a sitting duck.

Roxanne’s hand on his forearm pulled him from his musings. “There,” she whispered and pointed to a spot in the distance.

He saw her immediately. A young woman dressed in a red period dress stood on a grassy, elevated area about fifty yards past the water tower, diagonally across from the old power plant and dilapidated storehouse. She was gagged and blindfolded. Behind her was a pile of rubble and from what Luther could see, she appeared to be chained to one of the rocks. She stood still, but even from the distance, he could see her chest moving up and down. She was breathing.

He exchanged a quick look with Roxanne, his heart pounding. “That Isabelle?”

Roxanne nodded.

“Good.”

“Welcome!” The male voice was distorted, coming from a loudspeaker somewhere from the right.

Luther’s gaze shot in the direction of the storehouse. He focused on the openings that had once held windows, but the glass had long been removed. Now the wind blew through the empty building, creating eerie sounds and shadows.

“Send Katie closer,” the voice demanded. “To the storehouse.”

Luther nodded to Roxanne, and she slowly walked in the direction of the voice.

“Stop!”

Roxanne stopped in her tracks. Luther held his breath, his eyes darting back and forth from Roxanne to Isabelle. He noticed Isabelle pull up her shoulders in fear. From one of the window openings, Luther perceived a movement, something reflecting for a brief moment. A mirror? Glass? He couldn’t be sure.

The sound of the ocean waves and the wind was louder now. It seemed to hum a rhythmic melody.

“Did you really think I’d fall for your deception?” the voice suddenly said.

Luther instantly shot Roxanne a look, but to his surprise her vampire aura was still cloaked. She still looked human. How did Forrester realize that she wasn’t Katie? From his hiding place in the storeroom he shouldn’t be able to tell. Only when standing within a few feet of Roxanne would he be able to realize that she wasn’t Katie.

“You’re gonna pay for this!” the voice warned.

Shit!

Time for Plan B.

42

The loud sound echoed against the old buildings. Luther shot a look to Forrester’s hiding place, but he couldn’t see anything, only a movement behind one of the windows. A shadow shifting. Nothing more. Had he shot at them? Shit!