Mixed Blessing (Mixed Blessing Mystery, Book 1) (26 page)

Before he could take advantage of my distraction I said, "Agreed."

"Agreed," he replied instantly, the chimes of Fairy magic filling the air. I felt a heaviness come down on my shoulders and then sink deep under my skin. A branding, a reminder that I had entered a Fey agreement, something as binding as a vampire accord. We didn't need to exchange blood - thankfully, fairy blood is just plain gross - but the chiming had sealed our fates. Aliath was bound to his end of the bargain as was I.

I should have been happy. I'd got my freedom for three months, and limited the amount of times Aliath could use me in turn. But something niggled at the back of my mind. Something uncomfortable and a little scary. I couldn't fathom what it was, but Aliath's instant capitulation and completion of the bond set my teeth on edge.

Even my friggin' fangs had come back out, the Dark Shadow now pacing angrily inside, no longer dancing in the sensation of the sweet freedom to move.

Somehow I knew I had made a mistake, something she did not like nor approve of. But for the life of me I couldn't work it out. And I didn't have time to think further on it right now.

"I will be in touch when I need an update on your cases and should I require your assistance on a hunt." He reached out slowly and touched my cheek with the soft pad of his thumb. It was intimate, but carefully carried out. A slow movement designed not to startle or
make me react. His green eyes held mine and he smiled, that incredibly handsome smile that made him seem more god-like than Fey. And definitely not human.

"Not bad for your first Fey negotiations," he said softly. "You show promise and I am sure you will learn from your mistake."

My eyes widened at his words, my mouth already hanging open waiting for me to catch up and say something,
anything
, to pin the slippery fairy down, but a crack of sound broke the silence, a blast of light almost blinding me and then I felt my body fall back through space, surrounded by a burning acrid smell of ozone.

Only to end up sprawled backwards across Jett's sturdy and unbreakable office desk. This time my back was not broken, but the vampire above me was just as mad as before. His hand gripped around my throat, his eyes blazing azure, his fangs down and out.

I had a moment to comprehend his expression, expecting to see the anger and determination of moments before, when my death was on his mind. Then it occurred to me he shouldn't be wanting my death any longer, Aliath had seen to that. So what was I seeing in that fierce and compelling gaze?

Not anger. Not determination.

Hunger.

I croaked out a sound of protest as I realised what was about to happen. Jett's emotions had been wild before - and still were - but now they meant an entirely other thing.

Now they meant something equally as dangerous, but for so many different reasons.

Aliath had screwed me. He'd taken away Jett's desire to kill me and replaced it with another desire equally as strong.

I screamed as Jett's fangs entered my neck, I punched his chest wildly as his tongue laved my skin.

And then capitulated completely as my blood went down his throat and the connection of the bite, coupled with his
Sanguis Vitam,
made me feel what he felt.

"Jett," I whispered as my hands gripped his shoulders. He groaned in response and wrapped his own arms around my torso, securing me to his chest, draping me with his body, devouring me with his mouth.

Losing me to the oblivion he was creating.

Could I fight it? Did I want to?

I thought of Samson. I thought of my feelings for the vampire I would never let back in my heart. And then I thought of Aliath's words to me just now. How I avoided intimacy. How I would need to be forced to experience intimacy at all.

Was this a chance to let someone in? Someone other than the vampire I craved, but couldn't have. I didn't feel for Jett the same way I felt for Samson. I knew this, but still it was something. I
felt
something.

And truth be told, I was sick of not feeling anything at all.

I pulled Jett closer, leaning us both back onto his desk and felt his hand grasp behind my knee, bringing my leg higher, wrapping it around his waist as he pressed between my thighs.

And I let go. Of everything except this moment.

A part of me curling up and simply crying at what I had chosen to do.

It was several seconds before I realised Jett's fangs had withdrawn from my neck and his mouth was no longer seeking my blood, but the taste of my skin instead. His kisses were determined and fierce, like everything else he did. Take no prisoners, accept nothing but my complete acquiesce. I was his for the taking and he let me know it.

I had never been kissed in such a fashion. I'd had boyfriends before Samson, but nothing serious. And since him I'd only satisfied the Dark Shadow's needs, not mine. Samson was my only true indication of how desire could manifest into lust. His lust had been equalled by mine, but it had also been sweet. There had been love there, care for the other person, desire to please and be pleased in turn. An equal sharing of heat and passion. But above all else, the knowledge that we meant something more.

I had burned for Samson. I had craved him, but I had never been consumed by him, like I was being consumed by Jett now. And a part of me liked this animalistic approach to lust. A part of me needed to be desired in such an honest and no-holds-barred kind of way.

That had nothing at all to do with my heart.

His mouth found mine and he delved his tongue inside, regardless of whether I invited him or not. I didn't fight it, I didn't stop him, I opened up and let him in, but only after he had made his intention clear. There would be no escape, I was his and he was taking me.

The Dark Shadow purred inside, more alive than I had ever felt her before. Jett was her equal, Jett was worthy of her and as far as she was concerned, no one else even came close. I appreciated her sentiment, but although I was most definitely a willing passenger on this ride, I didn't feel the same way my inner vampire did. I wasn't completely given over to capitulating just yet.

I nipped Jett's tongue, a small fang bite to let him know he wasn't the only one to demand here. Of course, that just made him more eager, more determined. He spun us around and within a split second had me pinned against the wall. Not so hard as to break plasterboard this time, but enough to expel all air from my lungs. He drank my gasp down.

My legs wrapped around his waist, my fingers tangled in his hair as his hands found purchase beneath my singlet, the warmth of his broad palm against the flesh beneath my breast sending waves of delight across my skin. He slid his fingers beneath my sports bra, always so much easier to gain access from beneath than those lacy under-wire ones. He showed his appreciation with a moan and a deeper kiss - if that was even possible. Then found my nipple and squeezed it tightly between his thumb and finger, rolling it and tweaking it and making me writhe with every single flash of pleasure-pain he shot through my body with his touch.

He wasn't rough, but he certainly wasn't gentle either and for the first time in the past few minutes, I thought I might just lose this battle. Give in completely and let him take me right then and there. But although I wanted nothing else but to feel that hard length pressing against my centre right now, deep inside me instead, I also knew what letting Jett have this moment would mean.

He would think I
was
his. And I might have been ready to experience a mind-blowing orgasm, but I wasn't ready to sell my body to the devil to get it, just yet. I needed to be in a better place to negotiate with this vampire, than thrust against a wall and letting him have his dirty, sexy, oh-so-delicious, way.

But before I could translate those thoughts into action, my Dark Shadow decided to act. My lips left his mouth and trailed down his throat, the taste of his male scent and sweat momentarily blinding all cognitive thought, then as he realised where I was heading, and tilted his neck into a better position for my attack, I groaned out in alarm, but it was too late.

On occasion, my Dark Shadow has been in charge. I've never really complained too much, as usually those were at times when I needed her. Even when she tried to take over when I fed though, I still held the reins tight and close, but sometimes when in immediate danger her vampiric responses were more appropriate than mine, so I let her. Take charge, take over, lead the way. Maybe that was a mistake, maybe having allowed her that freedom on occasion has made it easier for her to take what she wants against my will. She never had before, I had always,
always
, been able to pull her back. And even now, I was sure if I applied my will I could fend her desires off.

But perhaps I wasn't as keen to stop her as I had thought, because I waited with bated breath for the first taste of his blood. Vampires don't feed off each other, there is usually no nutritional value to be had in vampire blood. The exception to that rule is your vampire mate. They can offer sustenance at a pinch, when nothing else is available and you're close to the edge. But ordinarily a vampire only bites another vampire in passion or in anger. One to exact pleasure, one to cause pain.

Of course I had fed off Samson before and gained strength, which would lead me to believe his blood could sustain me. I didn't want to think too closely on that. But I was curious to know what Jett's blood would do. He would be only the second vampire I had fed from, for something other than to cause pain. I was intrigued, but also a little numb. So I let my Dark Shadow have her way.

His blood was delicious, like dark chocolate, mixed with cinnamon and sensual spices; exotic, alluring, addictive. But just that. I felt no jolt of energy, no connection to something deep within his soul. It was so very different from what I had experienced with Samson, that for a moment I paused in drinking him down. My fangs still embedded, my tongue, though, stilled against the flesh of his neck.

He growled low, from the back of his throat, making his flesh beneath my lips vibrate. "Drink me, kitten," he demanded. "Take back what is rightfully yours." Then he thrust his hips against me, rubbed across all the spots that sent shivers down my spine and then continued to grind against me in a sensual wave, timed to perfection, designed to distract me from what I was doing and tip me over the edge.

It worked. I swallowed the mouthful of blood I had been holding and moaned as he brought me closer to release with each bump and grind. I wanted to stop. And I didn't. I wanted to get back control of my body, yet I craved the orgasm he was seeking and then the taste of his blood started to turn to the divine.

"Yes," he murmured against me. Never stopping his pursuit of my body's response for a second, his devotion to the task commendable. My Dark Shadow certainly approved.

His hand gripped my breast, his erection rubbed against my sex and his blood filled every other corner of my being, filling me up as I imagined his thick shaft could fill me up too. I was losing ground, I was tipping over and I was damned if I would allow him that sort of control without taking something back.

I grabbed hold of my Light and thrust it toward him, he shouted in surprise, then the shout segued into a moan - half pleasure, half pain - and then he was rubbing against me with increasing speed. My fangs came out of his skin. I couldn't tell if that was by my own hand or his, as he pulled my lips around to his mouth before I'd even sealed the wound and plunged his tongue inside.

I kissed him back with an equal forceful demand, bruising our lips, crushing our bodies together. It was electrifying and... alive. More alive than I had felt in months. His passion, his aggression, his control. Jett was the epitome of vampyre. And right then I didn't stand a chance.

I felt the orgasm wash over me, my body shuddering beneath his touch and hold. He moaned in response, bucked against me once, twice, three times, then as we both shouted out in release he kissed away the sounds. Every last vestige of fight left me, he simply didn't stop until I was wilting in his arms. It wasn't enough to make me come, he had to make me give everything of myself in that moment. Nothing short of my complete capitulation was demanded. And he received nothing short of that in the end.

We may not have had actual intercourse, but I knew in that instant how damn good it would be if we did. Jett would settle for nothing less than absolutely all of me and in return he'd give all of his body back.

To any female vampire that was enough. My Dark Shadow was practically yelling at me to grab a hold of him and never let go. But I am not all vampire. There is more to me than the animal, the predator, inside. Sex would be cataclysmic with Jett; dangerous, dark, forbidden, yet so very delicious.

But it wouldn't be enough.

Jett Vardi was the sort of vampire who would give his body completely, but hold fiercely onto his heart and soul. I'd tasted perfection. It may not have been what I now told myself I could have, but it had held so much more promise than what I had just shared with Jett. And the combination of body,
heart and soul
, could not be compared to this.

He pulled back slightly and looked down at me, his features were surprisingly soft. He ran a hand through my hair, which had come loose from the tie at the back, and then traced a path down to where he had bitten. His fingers finding the fading marks of his bite.

"I wanted to mark you," he said in a low, guttural voice. I blinked back at him. I hadn't felt his
Sanguis Vitam,
so he hadn't tried to place his
Sigillum
on me at all. But his words said otherwise, or at least, that he had considered it.

"I wouldn't have let you," I replied instead.

He laughed, comfortably. Too comfortably, he shouldn't be this damn relaxed.

"I would expect nothing less from my wild cat." I glared at him. I was not his anything, let alone his wild cat. His smile broadened. "You will be mine, Georgia Deverell. Fair warning. I have tasted from the fountain, now I wish to bathe in it."

He abruptly pulled back and stepped away at those words, adjusting himself unselfconsciously, shifting his already returning erection to a more comfortable position beneath his trousers. His eyes trailed down the length of me and his lips twitched.

"You do look delicious when dishevelled by my hand. I would like to strip you here and now and taste some more, but duty calls." He turned towards his desk and picked up a slip of paper. "This is for you." He turned back to me and held out the paper, I reached over and took it without getting too close. He chuckled, but didn't bridge the gap, just leaned back against the desk top and crossed his arms over his chest to watch me.

I looked down at the paper and took in an address of a sports bar in Newmarket. It wasn't familiar to me. I frowned and glanced back up at Jett.

"What's this?" I asked.

"From Lucinda. She has a contact there that may help shed a little light on your case. She said she'd meet you outside at 9pm. I'd take her up on the offer, her contacts are usually sound and going by the location, another feather in your Supernatural Liaison cap." My forehead furrowed further. "You wanted to be the contact for all things Supernatural, now you can be."

A thought occurred to me. "You didn't know that until I told you tonight."

"Know what?" he said casually, slipping behind his desk to sit down. He began shuffling various papers, in an effort to indicate the imminent end to our conversation. I wouldn't be turned away so easily.

I walked towards the desk, placing my hands on my side and leaned over toward him. He
stopped what he was doing and looked up, then sat back in his chair and licked his lips.

"Don't tempt me, kitten. I do actually have work to do and offering yourself across my desk is almost too much to ignore."

I scowled down at him. "I'm not offering myself. Get your mind out of the gutter!" He laughed, but just waited for me to get to the point. "When did you set this up with Lucinda?" I demanded, getting back on track.

"Last night, when I brought you here."

I stared at him. Could it be a coincidence, just something he thought of when Lucinda called for his aid to help me with that Rogue? I wasn't sure, Jett always seemed to be two steps ahead of me and if that wasn't enough to make me feel uneasy, I still hadn't determined his involvement in these crimes. He had something to do with them and I'd just made out with the guy without a second thought. I breathed deeply through the slight nausea that followed that acknowledgement. The guy had a way of making me forget all logic as soon as he was near. I was sure I wouldn't get anything from him on this and sticking around to have my morals tested seemed like a really bad idea.

I looked down at my watch, briefly, to check the time. Twenty minutes to nine, perfect. By the time I looked up again he was busy, writing something in his diary and picking up the phone. I'd been dismissed. I cocked my head to the side and pulled back.

When I reached the door handle I looked over my shoulder, noticing he was watching my every move. I smiled teasingly.

"Thanks for the blood... and things. Shame we won't be doing it again."

His eyes flicked up to mine. "Is that a challenge, kitten?"

I shrugged. Yes it was, I needed Jett just as off kilter as he made me. It was the only way I could ever hope to figure him out - when his guard was down, when he was distracted by something he desperately wanted to possess, but couldn't. Even my Dark Shadow was on board with my plan. It never paid to be too easy, even for a vampire-within who had found her match.

"You'll just have to wait and see, Master of the City."