The Dark Vampire: Last True Vampire 3 (9 page)

Instead, loneliness weighed Bria down.

She’d never felt it as acutely as she did now. Her transition had brought her freedom from the oppression of her coven, but in exchange for that freedom she’d found herself tethered to a male who seemed to want nothing to do with her.

That wasn’t entirely true, though, was it?

She’d sensed Jenner’s desire. Smelled the rich, musky scent of it each and every time he took her vein. Whatever mystical force that bound them pulled taut whenever he walked into the room and the tension remained until they’d both sated their thirsts and he left her to spend the day far away from her once again. Jenner was an enigma.
Bria had never met a male like him. She was bound and determined to push his buttons until she discovered what made him tick.

Bria strapped her pack to her back and took off at a slow jog. It had been tough to get used to her new vampiric speed the first couple of times she’d snuck out of the house, but now she had the necessary control to keep her pace to what would be considered quick for a human. Bria hopped up onto a tall stone pier that marked the entrance to a gated driveway a few miles from Mikhail’s property. The maneuver would have taken considerable effort before, but now she could easily leap thirty feet or more without even exerting herself.

Bria was drunk on her own power and strength. Not even the most adept traceur could compete with her now. She was a parkour
ninja!
Her flow state was supreme. There wasn’t an obstacle she couldn’t hurdle or flip over. She could practically leap tall buildings in a single bound. Hell, Spider-Man had nothing on her now. An elated, “Whoop!” escaped her lips and Bria laughed long and loud. With every passing day she thanked the gods that the slayer’s blade had pierced her throat. She’d never felt so—

Bria spun in a blur to her left. Something tugged from the center of her chest and giddy anticipation surged within her. It was the same sensation that stole over her when Jenner was near. She usually felt that way moments before he knocked on her door and strode into the room. Bria turned again, this time sensing a presence to her right. She let out a shaky breath and rubbed at her chest. The only sounds to fill her ears were those of cars in the distance and insects as they buzzed nearby. Through the darkness, her keen eyesight found nothing out of the ordinary. No movement to betray watching eyes or a body about to pounce.

Perhaps all of that power had gone to her head.

She hopped down from the pier and landed with barely a sound. Rather than allow her hypersensitive senses to distract her, Bria turned her attention to the task at hand. She’d never hidden a treasure in a place like this before. She wouldn’t want to place the canister anywhere it might get someone into trouble. While she searched for an appropriate spot to log her GPS coordinates, Bria ran alongside the paved road. She concentrated on fluid movements as she jumped into the air and twisted before landing on her feet. She dove and tucked into a roll before propelling herself upright without a break in her stride. She cartwheeled, flipped, and ran along the narrow ledge of a concrete wall before throwing herself into a front tuck and touching back down to the ground.

In the distance Bria caught sight of an enormous house tucked away in the trees. She doubted it would bother anyone if she left her canister at the base of the property, close to the road and as far from the actual residence as possible. She slowed to a walk, all the while marveling that her lungs didn’t strain with each breath. Her heart hadn’t even begun to race from her exertion. She might as well have been out for a pleasant walk, not running and throwing tricks up and down Mullholland.

Bria found a suitable spot for her cache and used her hands to dig a shallow hole in the dirt. She gathered several large rocks and set them beside the hole before she retrieved her pack from her back and pulled out the last canister she’d had with her and the few insignificant baubles that remained.

She peered over one shoulder. The sense that someone watched her hadn’t gone away and a string of fear threaded through her rib cage. She’d never doubted her uncle’s warnings that something evil hunted them even though
she hadn’t seen any proof of it. Did any of that matter now? Maybe she didn’t have to be afraid anymore. Of anything or anyone. A witch might have had a mysterious vendetta against their family, but Bria was a vampire now. Powerful in her own right.

She was practically indestructible.

“Flown your cage, little bird?”

Bria dropped the canister on the ground. She turned whip quick toward the sound of the dark, rough voice that reached out to her through the darkness. Silver glinted in Jenner’s eyes as he stepped from the shadows toward her. The invisible cord that tied them together gave a tug. He’d been following her and she’d stupidly ignored her own warning instincts.

Way to go, Bria. Stealthy, much?

“You shouldn’t be out alone at night.”

She cocked her head to one side and studied Jenner. Gods, he was a magnificent male. He was even more menacing, his body more imposing, when shadowed by darkness. She should have been angry that he’d followed her, but she could only muster a deep sense of appreciation. He’d known she lied about what she’d done the previous night.
Clever male.

“I’m a vampire,” she replied without guile. “Night is the only time I can be out.”

Jenner scowled. Her humor was obviously lost on him. “Slayers are still attacking covens. Are you so anxious to meet their blades again?”

Jenner’s anger snapped out at her through their tether. For someone who seemed not to want to have anything to do with her aside from feeding, he was certainly showing his overprotective side. Bria let out a huff of breath as she squatted down to retrieve her canister and the bracelet she’d dropped.

“I can take care of myself.”

His dark laughter rippled over her, coaxing chills to the surface of Bria’s skin. “You think so?”

She raised her chin defiantly. “Of course I do.”

Jenner moved like the shadows that surrounded him. Fluid, fast, and silent. Before Bria registered that he’d shifted, he had her flat on her back and pinned to the ground. He captured both of her wrists in his large hands and secured them beside her. She struggled to free herself, to move even one small inch, but Jenner’s strength held her immobile. He straddled her waist and she tried not to notice the heat that coiled low in her belly. His eyes glowed silver and the twin tips of his fangs glistened as he bared them and bent over her.

“Not so in control as you thought you were. You’re trapped. Completely at my mercy. I could do whatever I wanted to you right now. I could drink you dry if the whim struck.”

The dark timbre of his voice sent a trickle of fear into Bria’s bloodstream. She sensed he wanted to do just that: sink his fangs into her flesh and drink until she had nothing more to give. He wanted to frighten her with his threats, but the gods help her, beneath that fear Bria felt a thick, hot wave of desire. “I’m not afraid of you, Jenner.”

He leaned down so that his lips brushed the outer shell of her ear. “You should be.”

Was it possible to burst into flames from unfulfilled want? Jenner was dangerous. Dark and violent. Since the day they’d met he seemed to balance on the razor’s edge of his control.

And Bria wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything in her entire life.

Jenner blew out a frustrated breath. The scent of Bria’s arousal wafted around him, more fragrant and intoxicat
ing than any perfume. He’d followed her from Mikhail’s house, and for the past hour she’d held his attention unlike anything or anyone else ever had. Without even knowing, she’d put on a show for him with her acrobatic maneuvers and her graceful stride as she ran. She’d given herself over to the moment with an abandon that Jenner knew all too well. But where Jenner’s abandon was typically reckless, Bria’s was somehow practiced. Like a bird in flight.

Gods.
He still couldn’t believe that the female pinned beneath his thighs had tethered him. He’d thought her delicate. Breakable. Tissue paper entrusted to his bullish care. And while Bria was still an innocent, still naïve and too overconfident for her own good, there was strength in her that Jenner couldn’t help but admire. She was extraordinary.

And he wanted her so badly he didn’t think he could take another breath without her.

“What are you doing out here, Bria?” She’d dressed in a black sweatshirt with her black leggings that were more like a second skin than a pair of pants. A low growl rose in his throat as he thought of the soft curves of her ass on display for anyone to see. He wanted to peel the fabric away and explore that soft skin himself. She’d dug a long metal canister out of her backpack and been about to stow something inside of it when he’d confronted her. Was she sending messages to someone that she didn’t want Mikhail—or maybe even him—to know about? Perhaps she sent secret messages to the male who’d fed her upon her transition. Jenner’s grip on her wrists tightened. He’d kill the fucker if he came within a mile of her again.

Mine. Mineminemineminemine.

The way Jenner coveted Bria bordered on fanatic. They’d only been tethered for a few days and already she occupied his every waking thought. There was no need
for Fairchild to pay him to watch over his niece. Jenner was more than willing to be her shadow for free.

Her amethyst eyes sparked with defiant silver and Jenner bent over her until her gentle breaths brushed his face. “Answer me, Bria. What are you doing out here?”

She bucked her chin up and met him look for angry look. “Geocaching.”

Geo-whatting?
Jenner straightened. He released his hold on her wrists but kept her pinned between his thighs. “You’re sending messages? Who to?”

Bria’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sending messages to anyone.”

“Then what’s in the container?”

Bria sighed. Jenner didn’t appreciate the long-suffering sound, as though she couldn’t be bothered to deal with someone with such a low level of intelligence. As a coven master, Thomas Fairchild was an aristocrat of the dhampir social structure. Jenner was afforded a glimpse of that aristocratic air in Bria now and it did nothing to cool his quickly mounting temper.

She opened her right hand and raised her palm for Jenner’s inspection. A delicate silver and turquoise bracelet rested against her creamy skin. “I’m leaving treasures.” Her bashful tone caused Jenner’s gut to churn. “A geocache is a container that you hide somewhere for someone else to find. You log the GPS coordinates and leave them on a message board. Some geocaches just have logbooks that you sign when you find them and you leave the canister there for the next geocacher to find. Some people leave treasures in their canisters. I think it’s more fun that way.”

This was why she’d snuck out night after night. A game had caused all of her uncle’s worry. “Treasure hunting?”

She glanced away. “Yes.”

A smile tugged at Jenner’s lips. “You’re like a pirate, then?”

Bria’s
gaze reluctantly met his. Her own lips curled at the corners and Jenner’s heart stuttered in his chest. Gods, she was beautiful. “I don’t pillage or plunder.”

Jenner bent over her, if only to fill his lungs with her delicious scent. “Doesn’t mean you wouldn’t if you had the chance.”

Her smile grew. Who needed to see the sun when he beheld something a million times more brilliant? “Maybe.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“A while,” Bria said with a shrug. “Ten or twelve years.”

A while indeed.
Much longer than the few months her uncle assumed she’d been going out. “Who else knows that you go out at night, seeking and abandoning treasure?” He wasn’t ready to reveal to her that her uncle had caught on to her little field trips.

Her voice dropped to a whisper. “No one. Only you.”

Only him. He’d been the first to take her vein. The first to be deemed worthy to know one of her secrets. Would he be the first to claim her body as well? A hot wave of lust crested over Jenner and he sucked in a sharp breath. He could have her. Now. He could strip her flimsy excuse for pants from her thighs and fuck her right here on the side of the road like the animal he was. He could slake his desire for Bria here and now. Jenner had never been afraid to take what he wanted. Why should this moment—this female—be different from any other?

Because you know if you allow yourself to have her you’ll lose all control and become the monster everyone feared you’d be.

“I know you want me, Jenner,” Bria said in a breathy tone. “Why don’t you do something about it?”

Gods the way she talked. Brazen, despite her innocence. Jenner ran his nose along the column of her throat. Bria let out a shuddering breath that Jenner swore he felt
vibrate at the base of his sac. “Is that what you want, Bria? For me to ram my cock into your tight, virginal pussy right here and now? You think it’s a good idea to tempt me with your beautiful body and heady scent, but I warn you, if I take you now, I won’t be gentle. I’ll fuck you good and hard. Is that what you want?” A hungry growl built in his chest. “Answer me.”

Her scent soured with a hint of fear.
Good.
She might have claimed not to be afraid of him, but she didn’t have a gods-damned clue what sort of male he was. Jenner fucked for pleasure.
His.
He took Bria’s vein because it pleased him to do so and the taste of her blood had no equal. He was a selfish son of a bitch and that would never change whether his soul was intact or not. If he took her like she dared him to, she’d hate him. Would never be able to bear the sight of him again. If he took her like she dared him to he’d hate himself because he would surely destroy her.

“No,” she said so quietly he had to strain to hear her.

His heart clenched in his chest and he wished he could take back the words. He pushed her away for her own protection, though. When she realized how far beneath her station he was—how utterly out of control—she’d regret being tethered to him. And her regret—her disdain—would break him.

“But I also think you’re nothing more than a lot of talk.”