Surrendering: A Regent Vampire Lords Novel, Book #1 (13 page)

Exhaustion finally took her. She fell sleep hoping for another dreamless night, but it wasn’t meant to be. Instead, she dreamed of Sarah Hill. Sarah was tied down spread eagle to a steel table in what appeared to be a surgical room of some sort. Her feet and hands were bound. She was naked and appeared to be sleeping, but Kate knew better. She had an IV in her arm, with tubing that led to a bag filled with clear liquid. There were several naked vampires in the room with her.
Oh my God.
She was going to be sick. Who would do such a horrible thing to such a young, beautiful girl?

She bolted up in bed, screaming and crying. Before she knew what was happening, Dev was there, pulling her into his arms. “Kate, love, what’s the matter? Are you hurt?” She couldn’t speak, sobs racking her body.

“Talk to me, love. What happened?” She continued to weep on his shoulder, soaking his shirt. “Kate, please. Talk to me. You’re scaring me.”

“Th-They h-have her tied d-down. L-like, l-like an animal. I think she might have b-been, been—”

“Who? What are you talking about, love? Did you have another dream?” He held her trembling body tightly.

“I think she might have been r-raped.”

“Ah, Jesus. Sarah?”

“Yes. I don’t know if she’s even alive!” She sobbed even harder.

“It’s okay, Kate. It’s going to be okay.”

Dev held her until she started to calm. A short time later, a soft knock came at the door. Dev answered. “Come in.”

“Your tea, sir.”

He nodded toward the nightstand. Leo set down the tea and quietly left the room. Dev continued to stroke her back, whispering reassuring words in her ear. “Here, love, have some tea.”

She sat back and took the cup he handed her. How did Leo know a cup of tea was just the thing she needed? He must have heard her scream.

“Thanks.”

“Tell me what you saw, Kate. Try to remember all of the details, okay?”

She shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t think about it.”

Dev put his finger under her chin and gently lifted it so their eyes met. “Kate, I know this is hard and I’m so sorry. I wish you didn’t have to go through this. I would do
anything
to take it away. Anything. But you have a very special gift. One that I think will help us find Sarah. And the others. And the son-of-a-bitch that took them.” He placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Please, tell me what you saw.”

She took a deep breath. “O-okay.” The horrible words tumbled out and she told him everything she could remember.

“Were there any other people in the room? Could you see a window or anything that would tell us where she’s being held?”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t remember seeing anyone else in the room. I couldn’t take my eyes off her to see anything else. I’m sorry. I’m not much help.”

“It’s okay, love.” He took the tea and set it back down on the nightstand. He lay down on the bed and pulled her to him, settling her into his side. Her head lay in the crook of his shoulder. “Go back to sleep, love. I’ll be right here.” He kissed her temple and gently stroked her back.

As much as she didn’t want to accept his comfort, his kindness, she simply couldn’t turn it away. It felt too good.
He
felt too good.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what?”

“For staying with me.”

“No thanks necessary, love. Honestly, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”

C
hapter 21

Kate

Kate woke up with a hard body spooning behind her and a steel arm around her waist.
What the…?
It took her a minute to clear the morning fog from her brain and remember where she was. And who shared her bed. When she did, a plethora of feelings ran through her. The fear and sadness she felt for Sarah. The comfort and safety she felt in Dev’s arms. Lust and desire for the man who held her tightly against his chest burned through every cell. She could feel the evidence of his desire for her pressing against her backside as well.

Dev nuzzled her neck and lightly bit her earlobe, letting it slip gently through his teeth. “Good morning.”

“Morning.” She looked over her shoulder to see him staring hungrily into her eyes. It was a look he had often, but she could hardly get used to the fact it was for her.

“How did you sleep after your dream?”

“Good, actually. Dreamless.”

“I’m glad.” His eyes flicked back and forth between her eyes and her lips. He closed the short distance between them to kiss her and she quickly threw her hand over her mouth to stop him. He frowned at her.

“Morning breath,” she mumbled.

He reached up and removed her hand. “I don’t give a shit about morning breath, love. I want to kiss you. Now.”

He didn’t wait for a response. He held her head in place and took her lips in a hot, heated kiss, invading her mouth with his tongue, exploring every inch of it. She moaned and turned to face him fully, bodies glued together from chest to thigh. She wound her arms around his neck and tilted her head for a better angle to attack his lips. His hard length was pressing into her stomach and she reveled in her feminine power to bring a man like Dev to such an aroused state.

He growled and ran his hands down her sides to the bottom of her tank top. He slipped a hand inside and slowly ran it up her torso, over her ribs to the curve of her breast. He cupped her breast, kneading it but avoiding her nipple. She broke the kiss. She moaned and her head fell back as he traced her puffy areola lightly with his long finger. “Oh, God.”

He continued to avoid her nipple as he kissed, nipped and sucked his way along her jaw, down her neck. “Don’t tease, Dev.”

She felt like that’s all he’d been doing for almost a week now. Teasing, tempting her with the pleasures he could lavish on her.

“Tell me what you want, love.” He scraped his sharp teeth along her neck. She could hardly breathe.

“You know what I want.”

“No, I don’t. Do you want me to touch your nipple? Do you want me to suck it into my mouth?” He licked a hot, wet path back up to her mouth. “Tell me to suck your nipple, Kate,” he whispered against her mouth.
Oh God.

“Dev—
please
.”

He kissed her with dominating force. “Tell me.”

Kiss.

“Say the words, Kate.”

Kiss.

“I need to hear you say it.”

She’d never had any man say such erotic things to her. She couldn’t deny him. “Yes. Please suck my nipple. Please.”

She hadn’t even gotten the words all the way out before his fingers began plucking her, elongating the hardened nub. He pinched and rolled it between his fingers, while he ravaged her mouth. She’d read of women coming from nipple play, but never really believed it was possible. Until now. She was seconds away from an orgasm and he’d only touched her breasts.

___________

Dev

“Dev, Olivia will be here within the hour.”

Fuuuuuck.
Of all the shitty timing. All he wanted to do was devour the woman held tightly in his arms. He was ready to snap.
“We’ll be down shortly.”

But he couldn’t let her go without honoring her request first. That wouldn’t be very gentlemanly of him, now would it? And he was nothing if not a gentleman with a woman.
His woman
.

He swiftly lifted her tank and took her ripe, dark pink nipple into his mouth. Kate gasped and her hands flew up to cradle his head, holding him to the finest thing he’d ever tasted. She moaned his name. Sweet Jesus, he did not want to stop. He wanted to lick and suck every inch of her delectable body. He wanted to keep her in bed, naked, for a month straight and even that wouldn’t be enough. He knew he would never get enough of this woman.
Mine.

He reluctantly tore himself away from her sweet, tight nubbin and cupped her cheeks in his hands, kissing her hard and quick on the lips. He put his forehead to hers and groaned. “As much as I really do
not
want to stop, we have to.”

She blinked. “What? No, we don’t.” Her eyes were dilated and glazed with lust. She tried pulling him back down to her kiss-swollen lips.

He groaned. “I’m sorry, love. There’s someone coming to the house within the hour that we need to see.”

He gently kissed her. He needed to reassure her of his desire. “Kate, Jesus, I don’t want to stop, but there is too much I want to do with you—
to you
—to rush this.” He rolled his hips, pushing his erection into her mound, eliciting a groan from them both. “I want you more than I want my next breath, but if I don’t stop now, we won’t be leaving this bedroom all day.”

She gazed into his eyes. “You really want me?”

He laughed. Taking her hand, he settled it over his erection. Squeezing, he moved their hands together up and down his impressive length. They both groaned and her eyes closed.

“Look at me, Kate.” She opened her eyes, which were still half-mast. “This is just for you, love. Only you. My dick has been granite hard for days now—
for you
.”

He stopped while he still could and reluctantly got off the bed. It was difficult to walk away when his cock was like a boomerang…drawn back toward her. “I’ll be back in forty-five minutes or so. Is that enough time for you to get ready?”

She looked dazed. “Ah, yes. Yes, that’s fine. Thanks.” She’d pulled herself into a seated position on the bed.

Dev walked back over to her, leaning over. Cupping her cheeks in his hands, he brushed his thumb over her lower lip. “I want to finish this later. Please say yes.”

She didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.”

“Right answer. See you shortly.” He leaned in and kissed her gently at first, deepening the kiss quickly. They both moaned again. Leaning toward her ear, he whispered, “I can’t wait to feel your tight pussy milking my cock when I make you come, Kate.”

___________

Kate

With those parting words, he left her staring after him; leaving so fast she didn’t even realize he was gone.

Oh. My. Sweet. Lord.

She flopped back down and lay there for a few minutes wondering what in the hell was happening. She thought she’d been in love with John and was ready to spend her life with him, but the feelings she had for John versus the feelings she was quickly developing for Dev were like night and day. Every look, every touch heated her body more thoroughly than she’d ever known was possible. Dev was like forbidden fruit, once eaten she wanted it all the more. She understood Adam and Eve so much better now.

She threw her arms over her face. She would have to—
hell she wanted to
—surrender to her physical desires for him. No doubt about it. After this hot little episode, she’d be the queen of fools
not
to sleep with him. The question was, while she may surrender her body, how on earth was she was going to keep from surrendering her heart, getting it broken to smithereens in the process?

Of that, she had no damn clue.

C
hapter 22

Dev

They stepped into his office. On the credenza, Leo had set an assortment of pastries, bagels, and fruit as well as some hot choices, like eggs and pancakes. He also had juices and coffee. He wanted her full and sated—in more ways than nutritional sustenance allowed. Goddamn the luck.

His want for her was burning out of control. He could hardly think of anything else but getting his cock inside of her body. He was getting desperate. His animal instinct to bond with her, marking her as
his,
was fiercely powerful. His sanity was hanging on by the thinnest of threads. If he didn’t have her soon, he was worried his animal nature would take the man in him out of the driver’s seat, and he could not let that happen. This morning was the second time in the last twenty-four hours that he’d held his sausage hostage and while he’d found release, it was empty and lonely.

“Another big spread?” Kate asked, as she eyed the big feast spread on the credenza. The pink sweater she wore draped her curves perfectly and she wore a different, but equally faded, pair of curve-hugging jeans.

“Only the best for you, love.”

She laughed. “Thank you.”

As she filled her plate, Dev came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He kissed her neck. “It’s purely selfish, I can assure you. I wanted to be sure you had plenty of energy for the hours upon hours of pleasure I have in store for you later. Did you know that giving oral sex burns about a hundred calories per half hour?”

Kate began choking on the piece of watermelon she’d put in her mouth. Dev slapped her back repeatedly. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yes.”

Cough.

“I’m good.”

Cough.

After her coughing was under control, she turned, wrapping her arms around his neck, smiling flirtatiously at him. He wiped away a stray tear. Leaning up, she kissed his lips, whispering against them, “Make sure you eat up, then.” She kissed him quick and turned back around to continue filling her plate.

It took a second for his brain to register her double entendre. He laughed as she looked playfully over her shoulder, a mischievous smile lighting her face.