Trapped (4 page)

It pleased him to know she was annoyed at the idea of him being with other women. It showed that despite her words or actions, she cared. Now if only he could capitalize on it.

The door to his bedroom clicked open.

“Your lordship, we have news,” Karella said. “The clan surrounding the inn belongs to Albyus. They say there has been a coup of some sort within his clan, that Albyus has been pushed out of power.”

Rysen closed his eyes as his thoughts moved with lightning speed. The clan’s new leader was undoubtedly trying to go after Kit. She would make a good hostage to exchange for control of Jessye’s clan.

“Who is in power now?”

“No one knows, sire. There has been no announcement.”

“Find Albyus and bring him to me. Send word to the other chieftains that we may have a rogue tribe on our hands. Send reinforcements to the inn, but keep them out of sight. Bring me several blood packs. I need to feed.”

“But, sire, wouldn’t it be more productive to feed from a vein?”

“I don’t have time to find a suitable donor; besides, I haven’t had my release yet.”

An audible gasp told Rysen that he had shocked his servant.

“Don’t worry. I’ve taken the edge off, but I need blood. I don’t want a human donor. I want the blood bags.”

“Yes, sire.” Karella bowed and left the room. Rysen sat up, ignoring the way his vision swam. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He rushed toward the bathroom, vision blurred, shoving the dizziness off him until he stumbled into the shower.

Time was essential. If whoever had overthrown Albyus’s clan was after Jessye’s, Kit was in more danger than he’d thought.

* * * * *

Syrus looked over his new clan, or at least those who were left. So far his plan was going well. He had Kit, second daughter of Jessye, the leader pro tem of Ryu’s clan, holed up at Blyder’s inn and three members of Jessye’s clan trapped at Ryu’s compound in the mountains. Once he had defeated them and absorbed them into his clan, Jessye would come too. Then he would move on to the other smaller clans. Once he had amassed enough numbers, he would take on the chieftains. That would mean facing his brother, but so be it.

He had a score to settle, and no one was going to stop him.

“For Sabella,” Syrus murmured. He turned and vanished, appearing in the hotel suite he was using as his base of operations. Looking over the family trees of the vampyre nation, he tried to decide his next move. Heaviness weighed on his shoulders, and he sighed, turning away from the chart. He walked over to the window and drew back the curtain, looking over the city below.

“I wish I didn’t have to do this. I wish things hadn’t come to this, but this is how it must be. She killed Sabella, and that can’t go unpunished. One of those chieftains is hiding her, but I will find her. I will tear apart every clan until I find her.” His thoughts turned to the past.

“Things weren’t always like this, brother. We used to be happy. We used to laugh and have fun. We used to be close. Now things are scattered, things are broken, and I must do whatever it takes to make things right. Whatever the cost.”

Syrus turned away from the sun-soaked streets and high-rises, back to the family trees.

Rysen brought himself to the bedroom. For a second, the room became a blur, and then it solidified. He was getting better, but it was taking too long. He reached into the bag Karella had left on the dresser and extracted a blood bag. His fangs extended and he bit down. The metallic taste of O positive flooded his mouth, and he sipped noisily until the packet was drained dry. He pulled out another one.

Looking around, he found a trash bin and threw away his first bag while biting into the second. He could see the remains of Kit’s clothing were gone and the bed was made up. The door opened, and Karella walked into the room, Kit following on her heels.

“Sire.” Karella dropped into a curtsy, bowing her head in respect. Kit only crossed her arms, pushing up her breasts. The hint of cleavage the tank top showed made his mouth water.

“El, please leave us.”

“But, sire, you are still not well enough --”

“There are reinforcements outside waiting. I shall remain here with Kit until we understand the circumstances of the situation. Go now.”

Without looking, he threw away the second blood bag and pulled out another. His eyes didn’t stray from Kit’s irritated form. Karella disappeared, leaving them alone.

“You look like hell,” she said.

“You look much better, although I preferred you naked.”

“Letch.” Her chin lifted in defiance.

“I admitted such before. Let me apprise you of the situation we find ourselves in.”

He walked over to the bed and sat down, then patted the empty space next to him.

“I’d rather stand, thank you.” She leaned against the wall, and he noticed she had on her fingerless leather gloves. She’d also armed herself again.

“So you prefer being an assassin to a hotelier?” He wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or annoyed. He could see her aura vibrating around her, a swirling, pulsing cloud of emotions writhing together. Her energy fluctuated as if her body was still adjusting to the more powerful blood coursing through her veins. In other words, she wasn’t stable.

Her long, dark hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, her face free of makeup, showing off her natural beauty. He swallowed as his body responded to her, stomach tightening, balls hardening, cock rising, creating a bulge in his leather pants. He cleared his throat, reminding his body that they had a situation outside that needed immediate attention. Sex could wait for the moment. He focused on her while he drained the last of the blood, and then he threw the packet away and reached into the bag for another. She raised an arched brown eyebrow.

“There’s been a coup,” he said. “Albyus has been overthrown -- by whom, we’re not sure -- but apparently they’re interested in Jessye’s clan next. Hence the goons outside watching for you.”

“And?”

“And I’ve got my men outside watching them. They’ll move in when they feel we’re in danger, but not before. We’ll stay here and wait, study our adversary, and try to figure out who’s behind this.”

“You can leave, Rysen. I’m a mercenary, a killer for hire. I don’t play nice with others.”

“Darling, this is no time to let the past come between us. We have to work together to figure out this problem, or we’ll both be dead.”

She raised a shoulder nonchalantly.

“Fucking hell.” He shot off the bed, threw down the empty bag, and rushed toward her.

He grabbed her shoulders and pinned her to the wall. “I refuse to leave you to face the unknown alone. You are not dying as long as I’m around.”

She shrugged again. “I’ll fight whether you’re here or not, and if I die, so what?”

He shook her, hard, her head flopping like a rag doll’s. “Don’t you dare make me invoke the blood claim. You can’t leave here until the seal’s power has faded. I will handcuff you to the bed if I have to.”

“Go ahead and try it,” she dared, eyes narrowing to glittering brown slits.

He smashed his lips against hers in a violent kiss, his fangs scraping against the plump flesh of her full bottom lip. His stomach tightened, his groin hardened, and fire licked its way through his veins. He leaped back from her and swore as a thick, musky scent permeated the air.

Her eyes widened. Her pupils dilated, and her nipples pressed against the thin cotton of her tank top. She clenched her fists tightly and stared at him in shock. “You’re in needing?”

The sexual need he had been holding at bay raised its dark, twisted head within him, baring fangs, demanding to be fed with blood and sex. He swore. It was too hot; he was wearing too many clothes, and so was she. He wanted to fuck her now, hard and fast. A second musky scent joined his -- pungent, hanging in the air, beckoning him.

His needing had caused her body to respond, sending her straight into her heating time.

“We are so fucked,” she groaned.

Kit was torn between taking off her clothing and humping him, or strangling him.

How could he have done this when he was in needing? She eyed him, trying to calm her hormones, but it wasn’t working. His eyes had bled to the bright yellow that said he was in hunt-and-conquer mode.

Shit. Fucking dammit to hell. They were so in trouble, enemies on the outside and a need to fuck inside. Her legs quaked at the thought of being fucked by him. She had fantasized about it, dreamed of it, until he’d rejected her. After that, her thoughts had turned to ones of Rysen on his knees, begging her to accept him, pleasure him, fuck him.

“I knew you were my true consort,” he said. “Only a true consort would react to my needing time as you did.”

“Well, tough shit. I have no intention of sleeping with you.” Kit straightened and inched toward the door, moving slowly so as not to set off his predator’s instinct to chase and dominate anything that ran. She refused to give him the satisfaction of making her submit.

“Who said anything about sleeping?” His voice was whisky-rough and deep. The sound shook her. Her core clenched, dripping cream, soaking her jeans. Her nipples hardened, wanting to feel the scrape of his teeth against them, the rough tug of his mouth on the tips until she cried out. His eyes burned in their intensity as they roamed over her body. She watched, dry-mouthed, as he shrugged out of his long jacket, then pulled off his shirt and unfastened his belt, popped the button of his leather pants, and pulled down the zipper. He shoved the material down over his thighs, letting the heavy fabric bunch around his knees.

She swallowed.

Lightly tanned skin met her eyes. He was lean, like a cat -- broad shoulders; long, lean arms; a wide, hardened chest dotted with puckered red nipples. Below the ridges of his abdomen, a thin line of black hair trailed down to a thick mesh of black curls. His cock rose proudly from the dark nest, long and thick, the crown of him already slick with precum. Her body flooded with fire, and she shivered. He was beautiful. Scars and old puncture wounds here and there couldn’t detract from his masculine beauty. She wanted to explore him, taste him. She just wanted him. Her knees started to shake, and panic rose inside her as his eyes met hers.

“Run.”

That single command acted as the impetus she needed to act. She turned and rushed out of the room. She ran down the hall, arms and legs pumping hard, and she nearly fell down the stairs as she tried to slow her momentum.

At the bottom, she found herself in the waiting area of the inn. She couldn’t go outside; the seal wouldn’t let her pass. She couldn’t disappear; she wasn’t old enough or powerful enough for that so soon after her injuries. Her only option was to hide, but her damn musk would be a dead giveaway to her location. She couldn’t turn it off. Her body needed to be fucked, hard and fast, by the man upstairs.

Hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her back. She tried to move forward, but his grip was strong, too strong for her to break.

“Rysen, please,” she started.

“Unless you’re going to beg me to fuck you, I suggest you not use the word ‘please.’”

His voice was harsh like gravel now.

“Rysen, you don’t want to do this.”

“I have no choice. I’ve put this off for far too long. I’ve taken the edge off, but I can no longer deny my hunger. Do you want me to leave you? Disappear and fuck some random woman when you so clearly need me, too? You’re dripping wet for me. You need me just as I need you.”

She wanted to dispute his words but knew he would know the truth. She did need him.

She needed his cock, she needed his blood, and she hated that. She hated that she needed him, period.

“If I agree to this, promise me you won’t take this as my acquiescence to be your consort. You will not own me.” She waited for him to agree to her terms.

Time seemed to pass slowly before he grunted.

“Yes or no. I need to hear you say it,” she ordered.

“Yes. I agree to your terms. Now undress.”

He let go of her shoulders. They sagged in relief. She started to undress, placing her clothes in one pile and her weapons in another. Turning slowly, she lifted her head to look at him. She swallowed. His eyes were no longer neon yellow, but bright orange. Fear extended its tendrils throughout her body. Her heart leaped into her throat, and she tried to swallow.

“All fours now,” he said. “I’m going to fuck you from behind.”

She felt almost as if she had been slapped. She missed the man who had used words to inflame her passion, who wanted to explore her body, tug her nipples into his mouth. She turned around again, holding back tears of disappointment, feeling like just a whore to him, another warm body to satisfy his needing. She didn’t want to be disappointed, but she was.

He could taste her disappointment, hear her thoughts, and he knew that she wanted more than just the mindless fuck he was offering her to satisfy both their cravings. He was pleased that she wanted something more, but she just didn’t understand. To give her more would mean he wouldn’t be holding back, would mean he’d be claiming her as his, declaring her his consort. That was something she didn’t want.

He would try and show her tenderness, but his need was riding him hard. His cock wanted to be buried in her pussy, fucking her until they both screamed. He craved the taste 3 of her blood on his tongue. Dropping down to his knees, he reached out with his mind and checked on their adversaries outside. So far, they were bored, restless, and harmless, just the way he liked them. Once he started this joining, he didn’t want any interruptions.

He reached out and caressed her back, tracing his fingers down the ridges of her spine.

He bent over her, his cock sliding over the crease of her ass as he placed kisses along the center of her back. If she wanted more, he would give her more without trying to claim her.

Her arousal surrounded him, overpowering his own scent floating in the air. He kissed his way back up the column and ran his tongue over her spine. He took hold of her hips, his fingers gripping the soft flesh as he held her still. A light sheen of sweat coated her mocha skin as he planted kisses between her shoulder blades.