Omega (19 page)

“Please…” Good grief, had she just begged him to—

The sharp pain of the bite disappeared in waves of pleasure as he drew from her vein, each soft pull killing any rational thought. It was all sensation now, sweeping from her neck to pool between her thighs.

As if following her thoughts, Will slid a hand between them and found her hot and wet and ready for his fingers to dip inside her, using her own body’s arousal to spread in and out and around her until she cried out for him.

He withdrew his fangs and she turned to kiss him, but he jerked her head back into place, leaning in to bite a second time, then a third, a fourth. Each bite sent an almost physical thrust of pleasure through her core. Each time he pulled away, it was a withdrawal. The rhythm sent her spinning.

He stopped feeding, replacing his teeth with tongue and lips. His breath puffed against her ear, his voice rough. “Come for me, Ran. Now.”

With wicked, agile fingers, he took her over the edge. She cried out against his neck as he bit a final time.

Shuddering, she lay in his arms, kissed him, took the skin of his throat between her teeth.

“Don’t feed from me. Not now.” He worked his hands up to the tail of her T-shirt and began sliding it up. She pulled away and sat up.

Will’s eyes were glassy, his lips red from her blood, his breathing as heavy as hers. He’d never looked more beautiful.

“Why don’t you want me to feed from you?” He’d enjoyed it before; she’d felt him grow hard beneath her, even in the less-than-romantic confines of the caved-in exit room.

Slowly, he ran the tip of his tongue over his lips, capturing the last drops of her lifeblood. Then those lips lifted in a smile. “Oh, I do, believe me. But do you know how much morphine Krys pumped into me tonight? I don’t know what it would do to you.”

Randa arched a brow at him, slipped her fingers beneath the sheet, and cupped him in her hand with a slight squeeze. “Anything else off-limits?”

His body arched beneath her. “Ah…no. Although, Krys said I couldn’t get it up until the morphine wore…ahh.”

She pumped him once, twice, three times. “I think Krys was wrong. How about you?”

He held her hand in place over his shaft, making her fingers curve around it as he slowly thrust against her hand. “Uh-huh.”

Randa leaned over him and nipped his lower lip as she worked him with her hand. She wanted him inside her, and badly, but not enough to risk reinjuring that leg. Tonight was foreplay.

C
age’s leg hurt, and he was bored. A normal bullet wound should already have healed, but when Krys had dug the plug out of his thigh, they’d discovered it was silver. Whatever else Matthias Ludlam was, he was cunning. Had to give him credit for that. And sadistic.

So instead of being back to normal in a couple of hours, he’d be useless until after his daysleep—maybe two daysleeps. He wouldn’t heal human slow, but it wouldn’t be vampire fast, either.

They’d first taken him into the medical ward with Melissa, but as soon as Krys dug out the bullet and offered something for the pain, Aidan had ushered him back into his room. Aidan and Krys wanted to spend time alone with Melissa, a good idea. New vampires needed mentoring to understand the changes in their bodies and how to control their impulses. Without that mentoring, some vampires turned out OK, but most turned into predators. It was their nature, after all, and Melissa was getting a late start.

Cage also didn’t want to be there when Melissa saw Mark again. He hoped for both their sakes that their love and their bond could withstand her being turned. For his own sake, he wished he hadn’t started to care so much. Her selflessness, even when she was in pain from her transition and facing a possible eternity with Matthias, had touched him like nothing he could remember.

Aidan had sensed his attraction to her that first night, and he’d be on the alert for any inappropriate attention from his British lieutenant.

No worries. Cage was the consummate professional. Which sometimes royally sucked.

The door to the hallway opened after a soft knock, and Aidan stuck his head in. “Can I talk to you a minute?”

“Sure.” Cage maneuvered to a seated position on the bed and propped his back against the wall. He had nothing but time and a boring novel that probably should never have been published.

“How’s the leg?”

“We need to get some of those bullets—they’re damned effective. Hurts like hell.”

Aidan smiled. “Already put them on Will’s shopping list for tomorrow night—he should be able to travel by then. That was my first question—is it safe to send anyone out of Omega?”

Cage thought about the areas he knew Matthias’s men were searching. “So far, as long as he’s careful. They haven’t fanned out as far as the Omega entrance. But are you sure you want to send Will on these runs? If Matthias captures you or me, he’ll eventually kill us. Will’s future would be worse than death.”

Aidan took a seat on the other bed. “I picked him because he’s fast and can think on his feet. I know he hates Matthias.
Is there something I need to know from Matthias’s side of the story?”

Cage pondered his suspicions about Shelton, weighing Aidan’s need to know against Will’s right to privacy.

Aidan leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. “If it’s something that might impact his ability to do his job, you need to tell me. It won’t leave this room. If it’s not, just say so and I won’t ask again.”

It could impact his ability to do the job. If he were confronted with Shelton again, how would Will react? He knew Will had seen Shelton briefly when he went on the successful raid to free Mirren and Glory in Virginia the month before last. He had even spared Shelton’s life, mostly because he was focused on Mirren.

Cage didn’t think that would happen again. If he got caught and Shelton pushed him enough, Will might snap. That could backfire on Matthias—or it could backfire on his friends in Omega.

“I’ll tell you this,” Cage said. “There were things done to Will when he was young, just after he was turned, that might impact how he’d react if his father caught him.”

Aidan nodded slowly. “I know Matthias killed Will’s mother and sister, trying to turn them, that he strong-armed Will into going along with it. I know he’s been verbally abusive Will’s whole life.”

“Not just verbally, Aidan. Sexually. Not Matthias himself, but his man Shelton, with Matthias’s knowledge and permission. I’m pretty sure it’s how they got Will under control—well, until he ran away. Will hinted as much, and I saw Shelton in action with a kid he’s got up there who can’t be more than fourteen or fifteen. Will was older, but he looks young and he’d only
been turned a few months, so he wouldn’t have known how to defend himself.”

“Shit.” Aidan ran his hands through his hair. “It’s a goddamn miracle he even survived. I need to give it some thought. If I pull him off patrols, he’ll want to know why. He’ll see it as punishment, not us trying to protect him.”

“Understandable.” Cage sighed. There were no easy paths in this new world of theirs. “Just know that if Will gets caught, there are worse things Matthias can do than kill him. He still wants him as an acolyte, however he achieves it.”

Aidan nodded. “I’ll give it some more thought. In the meantime, there’s something else I need to ask you. About Melissa.”

Cage tensed. “What about her?”

“She’s asking for you. I think it’s because you fed her, yes? She’s formed an emotional bond to you.”

“I did feed her, a couple of times.” Cage’s tone came out defensive, but he wouldn’t apologize for his actions. It had kept her from falling even more under Matthias’s influence.

“Don’t get me wrong—I’m glad you kept her as strong as you could. But I want to bring Mark to her to feed. She’s nervous about it, afraid she’ll hurt him. We can keep that from happening, but it might help if you were there.”

Cage closed his eyes. God help him, he wished Mark wasn’t in the picture or wasn’t such a good guy. But Mark and Melissa had a solid marriage before she’d been turned. Since she died—or he thought she died—he’d been shuffling around Omega like a wraith. There wasn’t a person here, vampire or human, who hadn’t agonized over his pain and wanted to help him.

“The faster Mark and Melissa get together, the better their chances of reforming their bonds to each other.” Ten points for Cage. Shouldn’t doing the right thing feel better? “I think you
really need to prepare him, though. He can’t go in without knowing what to expect. And it might not just be Mel who has some adjustments to make.”

“I’m going to talk to him now.” Aidan stood and looked down at Cage. “I know you care about her, and whatever happens, happens. Just give them a chance first.”

Cage met Aidan’s gaze and held it. “Agreed. Do you still want me in there, to help ease her way to Mark? If she has formed some attachment to me, it might make things worse.”

“I trust you to help her.”

While Aidan headed down the hall to tell Mark that Melissa was alive—and thank God it wasn’t his job—Cage hobbled back to the medical ward. He knocked and waited for Krys to open the door.

“I’m glad you’re here.” She moved aside and let him in the room.

Melissa looked paler than before, if possible, but she wore a clean sweater and jeans, and her hair was damp and pulled back in a ponytail. Cage had barely cleared the door before she ran to him and threw her arms around his waist. “I wanted to make sure you were OK.”

He met Krys’s worried look over Melissa’s head, but wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “It’s OK, love. You’re safe now. We’re both safe now.”

Cage wasn’t sure they’d ever truly be safe again, but safety was relative.

He gently extricated her arms from around him and stepped back to look at her. So fragile and yet strong. He smiled at her and received a tentative one in return. “You’re looking like yourself again. How do you feel?”

The good doctor Cage, that was him.

“Better. Aidan’s bringing Mark.” She lowered her voice. “I’m afraid to see him.”

Cage took her hand and enveloped it in both of his. “You won’t hurt him.”

She shook her head and fought back tears, still looking very human and vulnerable. Her voice came out in a whisper even Cage, standing next to her, struggled to hear. “I can’t remember loving him. I remember it in my head, but not in my heart.”

Something alien and predatory unfurled in Cage’s chest, something that met her pronouncement with rejoicing. He beat it down with self-control forged of iron. “When you see him, you’ll remember. Your heart will remember.”

“That’s what I told her,” Krys said. She’d been standing near the door, giving them privacy, but now joined them in the middle of the room. “Aidan and I went through this, remember, Mel? It took us a couple of weeks, but we found our way back to each other.”

Melissa nodded. “How long do you think it’ll be before they come?”

“Soon.” Cage led her to the bed and sat beside her. Krys took one of the chairs. “It’s only an hour until dawn, so it can’t be long.”

He’d thought it might take at least a half hour for Aidan to explain things to Mark, but fewer than ten minutes elapsed before Mark came bursting into the room, with Aidan following close behind, his brows lowered in a frown. “Where’s Mel?”

As soon as Mark spotted her, he froze. He’d probably lost half a stone’s worth of weight since they’d been in Omega, and the bruises from his injuries hadn’t finished healing. Mark, in his own way, had had just as rough a time as Melissa. Shame
filled Cage’s heart that part of him wanted this man’s wife, wanted her to reject the man she’d loved so deeply.

Melissa’s hand still rested in his, but she pulled it away and walked to meet Mark. Anticipation, dread, excitement, fear—they all swirled in this room with an almost physical presence.

Mark tried to smile at her, but the tears overwhelmed him as soon they made eye contact. Cage wished it was possible to give them privacy. They couldn’t, though. Not yet. But he walked to the desk at the far end of the room and pretended to study a roll of athletic tape. Krys and Aidan stayed near the door to the hallway. It was the most privacy they could give them while still keeping Mark safe.

Whispers, crying, soft words. Cage tried to shut them all out until Mark yelped in pain, and he whirled to see Melissa with her mouth at her husband’s neck. They’d expected this. He and Aidan reached them at the same time. Cage put an arm around Melissa’s waist from behind and lowered his mouth to her ear.

“Go easy, love. You know what to do. Remember when you fed from me? Remember Aidan feeding from you? You know how to keep it from hurting.”

Melissa shoved Mark away and crumpled to the floor with her head in her hands, Mark’s blood streaming down her chin. Krys put her mouth to Mark’s wound and stopped the bleeding. It took him a few seconds to stop shaking.

“Mel, it’s OK.” Mark knelt in front of Melissa, but she wouldn’t look at him. He looked up at Aidan, desperation widening his eyes.

“It’s almost dawn,” Cage said. “Maybe Melissa needs to get through a daysleep. It’s been a long night for everyone.” He wanted to sit on the floor next to her, take her in his arms, tell
her everything would be good after a day of rest. But for one thing, with his bum leg, if he ever got on the floor, he’d need help getting up.