The Nightlife Moscow (Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Suspense) (The Nightlife Series Book 5) (2 page)

Ivan pounded on the door to Aaron’s room. “Finish the orgy,
now! We’re moving again tonight.”

“Shit.” Happily sated, yet energized from his threesome,
Aaron groaned at Ivan’s interruption. He slid out from under the tangle of
Michelle and Urvashi’s limbs, and wished he could find a way to escape this
damn vendetta the wolves had against Dmitri. He wanted nothing to do with all
this mercenary crap, but he owed Katya and Ivan some serious favors, and
Urvashi insisted. Even Michelle had been convinced that an assault on Dmitri
was necessary.

Aaron slid on his jeans and stepped out into the hallway to
catch the werewolf before he walked off. “Ivan, wait.”

“I told you, Dmitri has spies all over Moscow.” His eyes
peered down the hallway and up at the ceiling, as though Big Brother listened
in on their conversation. “We can’t stay here another night.”

Ivan and his pack fancied themselves hunters of rogue
vampires. Yet, here they were laying low until an attack plan could be
finalized. Ironically, Dmitri hunted them. The wolves’ recent attempt to
assassinate the Russian vampire resulted in the deaths of two pack members. If
Dmitri had his way, his private army of Russian mafia goons would wipe out the
rest of them.

“Look, I know how much this means to you, and I know you had
my back in London when we took down Jamison, but don’t you think Dmitri is
expecting us to hit him right now? Wouldn’t it be smarter to wait a few weeks
or months? Let him relax his guard, then go after him?”

“The pack doesn’t have that much time.” Aaron recognized
that look. Ivan did not mince words. He meant precisely what he said.

Aaron stepped in close to watch Dmitri’s eyes, to better
gauge the true severity of the situation. “It’s like that? Either him or us?”

Ivan nodded. “You don’t understand who he is. Like you say
in America, Dmitri is ‘old school.’ His ties run deep into Russian government.
He’s connected with FSB and former KGB. He’s dripping in millions of dollars,
mostly dirty oil money. He was there for Chernobyl, still making money as
Russians evacuated their homes. His dirty fingerprints are
everywhere
. He
pays top dollar for mercenaries, ex-military, and they will track us to any
part of the world. We have never openly opposed him … until now.”

For the first time, Aaron caught a glimpse of Ivan’s fear.
This man had walked into the midst of Albanian mafia and Colombian cartel in
the ghettos of London without flinching, but the idea of losing his packmates
terrified him.

Ivan’s piercing, unwavering gaze held Aaron. “We thought
with Urvashi’s support we could take him down. It would have worked, if not for
Kristina.” A moment of pain and grief flickered across Ivan’s eyes.

Aaron nodded. Though he’d never met her, Aaron knew the pain
of Kristina’s betrayal. He’d watched Katya sob like a child when she learned
her brother wolves had died because her own niece lied to the pack. Kristina
had been their inside source into Dmitri’s empire, and as it turned out, their
greatest weakness. She set them up. The pack walked into a trap nose first, and
it had cost them dearly.

Aaron clapped Ivan on the shoulder. “Alright. We’ll be ready
to go in a few. Give the ladies some time to pack. Are we still planning to hit
that bar where they’re pushing otrok?” The synthetic vampire’s venom – nicknamed
‘otrok’
slave –
was Urvashi’s number one focus. She had a fanatical
drive to eradicate the drug from circulation.

Ivan looked thoughtful, and then smiled. “It’s not far from
here. Grab Urvashi and we’ll go now, before we move for the night.”

“Give us a few minutes, and we’ll meet you in the lobby.”

Ivan grunted and took off down the hallway, nervous tension
still evident in the set of his broad shoulders.

Dressed in her jeans and sweater, Katya barged out of her
room and into the hallway. She stared at Aaron standing shirtless in his
unbuttoned jeans. Her eyes narrowed to an angry squint, but she couldn’t hide
the ever-present desire. When he’d saved her life, he had inadvertently claimed
her as his bloodslave. This woman needed him, always. Every minute of every day
she thought of him, of the next bite. And she fervently resented him for it.

He had wanted a lover, someone to replace his lost wife. He
should have been happy with Michelle and Urvashi. Any other man would find it
difficult to please a vampire and a fallen angel. Not Aaron.
Stupid, stupid,
stupid
. He hated himself for what he’d done to Katya, even though he had
saved her life at the time.

Her stare became uncertain as he read the question in her
poorly masked mind. She wanted to ask, but hated the fact that she needed him.
“Katya, you never need to ask. Come here.” With open arms he waited for her.

“Bloody hell! Get out of my head you bastard!”

She tried to turn away, but Aaron wouldn’t allow her to put
a wedge between them. In a split second he flashed across the hallway and
enveloped her in a warm embrace. He whispered against her neck and ear. “If I
could undo this, I would. If I could go back in time, and avoid the bonding, I
would do it right now. None of that changes anything. Katya, please don’t hate
me. I’m not your enemy.”

She nodded, her lips parted as if she would speak of what
she felt towards him, an indication that he meant something to her. No words
emerged. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears as she leaned her neck aside and
pulled back her shoulder length hair. Silently, she gave him access to what she
needed so badly, yet was too proud to ask for. He bit down softly and sank his
teeth in, without feeding. With his tender bite he gifted her the magic of his
venom and took nothing in return. He practiced extreme caution with Katya.
Vampires can kill a human in seconds, by accident. He tried his best to feed
from her only once nightly, though he bit her several times.

She sighed into his embrace, and her hands found their way
around him for a tight hug. The knowledge that he could have had a real friendship
with the remarkable woman in his arms ate at him. The potential had been there all
along.

Regrets.
Aaron had his share and then some. This
mistake could not be undone. Aaron had bonded Katya to him …
for life
.
To the best of his knowledge, wolves lived every bit as long as a vampire. They
had many years of strife to look forward to – together.

Aaron heard the door click open, and a second later Urvashi
slid up behind him. Her tingling power coursed over his back as she caressed
his skin in passing. His master’s touch was like plugging into a battery – an
instant energy jolt straight to his groin.

She smiled sweetly, and for the millionth time, Aaron wished
he could get inside her head and expose her inner secrets.

Urvashi cleared her throat. “There is little time, Aaron. We
must be moving.” As soon as the words left her lips she flitted off, disappearing
into her room down the hallway.

He caught a hint of her thoughts, only what she let him see.
Urvashi already knew of their plans to hit the bar down the street. The woman
rode the edge of his consciousness, forever there, tied to his mind. He had no
privacy when it came to Urvashi.

Despite her casual tone, she was not making a suggestion.
She expected Aaron’s unquestioning obedience. When she wasn’t trying to fuck
his brains out the fallen angel acted like his damn mother. Technically she was
his master, but, she rarely pulled on her reins of authority. Urvashi preferred
to seduce cooperation.

Aaron let up his bite from Katya, licked the wound once to seal
it, and kissed her on the lips. “Keep sharp. We’re going hunting before we
change hotels.”

Katya smiled. She wanted in on the hunt.

Aaron held her gaze and tried to impart his concern. “Ivan’s
spooked about Dmitri. I’ve never seen him this worried.”

High on his venom she grinned and winked at Aaron then
slipped out of his arms without a word. How wonderful it would be to have her
like this all the time, happy, willing, a pleasure to be with. He wondered if
Katya would ever accept his domination of her life and stop fighting the
inevitable.
Probably not
.

* * * *

Katya zipped up her black leather coat hiding her shoulder-holstered
Makarov pistol and secured her hair in a ponytail. Can’t have anything getting
in the way on a hunting expedition. Wearing jeans, knee-high leather boots, a
sweater and heavy coat, she was ready to take on the world. Now, if only she
could get rid of this insane craving for Aaron. The cheeky bastard rode
forefront in her mind, constantly.

She stared at herself in the mirror and dabbed some cover up
on the dark patches under her sunken eyes. She’d been giving too much blood to
these damned leeches.

“You’re a wolf, a killer who preys on the flesh and bones of
your enemies.” She preached to her reflection. “You have survived decades
without a prick like Aaron fucking up your life. You don’t need him. Young,
impetuous, inexperienced, foolish. A bloody cockup who never stops trying to
get his leg over. He says he loves you. Ha! Not real. He doesn’t know what love
is. You do not love him. He’s nothing more than a chemical addiction and a
swinging dick.”

Her false bravado fell on her ears alone, leaving a fading
confidence in the silence of her hotel room. She knew the moment she stepped
into the hallway she would go to him, look for his smile, his approval, those
loving eyes. She did need him. She wanted him, now, in her arms, in her bed, in
her life, in her neck. As much as she hated to admit, chemical addiction or not,
she cared for this bloody leech.

“You’re a liar, Katya, that’s what you are. Lying to
yourself. He certainly isn’t fooled.” She slammed her fist down on the bathroom
marble countertop hard enough to tear the skin off her knuckles. “Why did you have
to fall in love with him? Why couldn’t it just be about sex and biting?”

The mirror offered no answers, only the same tired face that
had been staring back at her since she was brought into the wolf pack all those
decades ago.

She needed some action to burn off all this anxiety. “I hope
some fucking Popov gets in my face, I’ll smash his bloody bollocks to a pulp.”
She charged down the hallway, and banged her fist four times on the door of the
leeches-in-residence.

As she reached back, ready for another slam on the door, it
popped open. Suddenly he was there, an inch from her nose. “Katya. I’m here for
you. Please try to get a grip on the situation. We can’t live like this.”

Fucker was in her head. Again!

His strong hands wrapped her cheeks and hypnotic dark brown
eyes set into a beautifully sculpted sharp-angled face drew her into a light,
gentle kiss. How could she fight a man who seduced her in three seconds flat?
She was already wet, aching for his cock and his teeth. If he stripped her
clothes off in the hallway and humped her against the wall, she wouldn’t consider
stopping him. Betrayed by her body, she responded to his kiss. When he finally
pulled away, it was all she could do not to yank him back by his coat.

He looked over his shoulder and yelled to Michelle. “We’re
going after a lead down the block, be back in an hour or two.” He pulled the
door closed behind him and guided Katya to the elevator.

* * * *

Michelle watched Aaron as he exited the room and then hurriedly
combed her hair and applied a quick layer of blood-red lipstick. The damn wolves
were forever rushing around, hiding her away, out of sight of the public. She
tossed her robe aside and shimmied into a short, tight skirt. A second later
she slipped a heavy, low cut sweater over her head and then pulled on her
jacket. She grabbed the nearest shoes – her Gucci boots – snagged the hotel
room keycard, and headed for the hallway. The clock was ticking. Aaron and the
wolves would return quickly. Barely enough time to find a solid meal. The
little nip from Katya wasn’t going to cut it. Michelle needed several donors a
night to be truly satisfied.

She was hungry,
now
.

Silent as a predator on the hunt, she made a fast clip to
the elevator. Waiting impatiently all the way down, finally, the elevator
opened in front of the P-Square Bar on the second floor of the Intercontinental
Tverskaya Hotel. Like a dinner bell, the sounds of strange Russian hip-hop
music called her to the feeding grounds. Moscow had a rich nightlife, if anyone
would let her enjoy it. Apart from her sip of Katya, an occasional sip off
Aaron, and the room service bellhop she’d assaulted three nights ago, Michelle
hadn’t taken a decent feeding in more than a week.

The savory scents of sweaty men drunk on vodka wafted over
her senses.
Ah the glorious smell of food.
The menu was limited to
Russian, but she wasn’t picky. She sized up the mostly overweight business men
lounging around the room, and knew she was going to have no trouble at all with
these healthy donors.

The only thing that bothered her was the amount of garlic
Russian men ate. She had no allergy or sensitivity to speak of, but garlic gave
the blood a funky tang. The smell was simply
odieux
. She made her
rounds, moving through the bar slowly, tasting each morsel, trying her best to
ignore the garlic. She found a nice group of Middle Eastern men who plied her
with alcohol and offers to pay by the hour. This was her kind of meal: healthy,
wealthy, and not afraid to spend. Not so long ago, in New York, her job as an
escort, brought her paying clients she could feed from nightly. A wonderful
arrangement. Adopting Aaron into her life had quickly put a stop to that.

Michelle danced with several men, swaying to the strange
Russian techno-grunge music, catching several good nips, trying to fill her
achingly empty stomach. She had just finished with one of the olive-skinned men
when suddenly a strong grip enveloped her left arm. She smelled the wolf before
she glared at him.
Anatoly.