All That Bleeds (31 page)

Fuck, that feels amazing.

The surprises with Alissa never ended. He’d expected to find her pretty innocent; he thought he’d have to teach her how to enjoy her own body and his, but she was never what she seemed. She was always better.

His muscles clenched, his balls tightened, and he erupted.

She leaned back to catch her breath with her bright eyes alight like blue flames, and she said, “Now I want you naked.”

“What a coincidence,” he murmured, his heart just beginning to slow to a normal rate.

“Undress for me.”

He released his hands from behind his neck and stretched his arms. He raised his head so he and Alissa could lock eyes.

“It’s interesting how you think you’re in charge,” he said. He shook his head slowly, meaningfully.

He flexed his biceps, and she caught the movement, glancing at them.

Yeah, sweetheart, my arms are at least twice the size of yours, and they want something to do during the next round.

She set her hands on his thighs and pushed off them to stand. She was such a gorgeous vision in her pale lace underwear.

“You can’t deny that you enjoyed me taking charge.”

“Why would I deny it?” he asked, standing. He shrugged off his shirt and tossed it aside, never taking his eyes off her lithe body. He stripped to the skin in quick fluid
movements then picked her up without breaking stride and took her to the bed.

Her fingers caught the hem of her camisole, but he stayed the movement with a shake of his head.

“I thought I’d help. As nice as it would be, we don’t have all night,” she said.

A part of her is still afraid of me. She wants to feel like she’s
directing things.

That didn’t suit Merrick. If she were in control, she might try to hold back some part of herself. He wanted all of her.

I’m going to touch and taste every inch of you, and I’m going to take my time.

“People may interrupt—”

I dare them to try,
he thought as he kissed her. He let darkness leak into his voice when he said, “The rest of the world can go to hell.”

Alissa blinked, her cheeks flushing beautifully. He lowered his body next to hers and noted the scent of vanilla and muse blood and arousal perfuming the air. His gaze fixed on where the white cream of her breasts swelled over the top of the camisole’s lace.

“James?”

“What?” he asked.

“Promise me one thing,” she whispered, her voice soft and sweet and full of persuasive magic that didn’t have a prayer of controlling the lust that raged inside him.

“Don’t bite me hard enough to leave scars.”

The ruthless vampire side of him wanted nothing to do with any promises of restraint. It wanted blood and sex, preferably at the same time. But there was another part of him that could never get enough of this girl and her letters. He wouldn’t hurt her tonight and forfeit all the other nights he might have with her in the future.

His hand cupped her breast and pinched her nipple, slowly applying more pressure until her body arched and her pupils dilated in pained excitement.

“No biting deep enough to leave scars? That’s all you’d bar me from doing?” His wicked smile made her lick her lips nervously. “You’re going to have to learn how to negotiate.”
He pulled the lace down to expose her nipple, now tight and dusky pink. His lips closed around it, and her fingers slid into his hair, beckoning him closer. He sucked the tip of her breast into his mouth.

“What would be the point of learning to better negotiate? Would you have allowed me to lay down a lot of rules?” she asked breathlessly.

He raised his face a few inches, studying the pink tint his mouth had left on her pale skin.
Strawberries and cream.
Her body’s response to him would be a feast for every one of his senses.

“Rules?” he murmured, shaking his head. His gaze slid momentarily to her exquisite face. “If you want something tame, don’t keep a lion for a pet.”

Her fingers tugged his hair absently. “I don’t want something tame. I want you.”

“That’s convenient since you’re going to have me,” Merrick said and bent his head again.

Increasingly warm and hungry for him, Alissa tried to tease Merrick into satisfying her quickly, but his infamous control continued. It was excruciating and delicious.

With one leg slung over his shoulder and her other knee pushed out by his strong hand, he spread her open and plundered her with his mouth. Licking and thrusting his tongue inside like he wanted to swallow every last drop of her, he brought her to orgasm, but never let her rest.

When they were completely nude and lying against each other, still tasting skin and exploring hidden hollows of tingling flesh, she forgot everything except what she needed from him. He made her wait, pinning her restless body, teasing her until she whispered begging words in his ear. Ruthlessly unwilling to finish, he brought her to the brink over and over until it was almost unbearable. She raked her nails down his back.

His hands slid over her ass and squeezed. “Finally a peach.”

“Merrick,” she rasped, half groaning, half growling a warning as he explored her creases.

When she was panting and writhing and would have promised him anything, including the last drop of her blood, he finally covered her with his body and sheathed himself inside her slick heat.

Cool and hard as stone, he thrust slow and deep, then fast and hard, riding her body through several mind-shattering orgasms.

He might be hers, she reflected afterward, but she belonged to him, too. And if anyone ever wondered why a woman might fall for a bad-to-the-bone ventala, they would only need to spend a night with Merrick to understand in vivid detail.

She lay spent for a while, her mind blissfully blank of anything but the aftershocks of so much amazing sex. Her muscles were warm and loose. Her flesh tingled and throbbed. Her entire body felt soft and sore and sated.

Eventually, she propped herself up on an elbow and looked him over. “Well, that wasn’t smart,” she said.

He didn’t bother to open his eyes. “No?”

“I count two bite marks and six scratches on you, and I can’t even see your back. I may have drawn blood.”

“You may have,” he said, his voice sexy and satisfied.

“Maybe next time, you won’t tease me so long.”

“Or maybe next time I’ll tie your wrists to the headboard.”

She laughed softly and pressed her thumb against the corner of his mouth, which was curved into a wicked smirk. “Sure, if I’m too much for you to handle, but there goes your reputation.” She bent forward and kissed his neck, then climbed from the bed.

“Where are you going, baby?” he asked.

“To shower. You rest.”

She was only under the warm water for a couple minutes before he joined her.

“I thought I locked that door,” she murmured.

“You did.” He poured some shower gel into his hands and lathered her shoulders and back. She didn’t pull away from his strong fingers, and her muscles thanked her for it.

When she turned and slid her slick hands over his body, the shower turned much longer than she’d intended.
Afterward, they dried and dressed in a silence as soft as the sheets.

She dropped a couple ice cubes from the ice bucket into a tumbler, added scotch, and squeezed some fresh lime that she’d asked the staff to stock in the small fridge.

She took a sip, then handed him the glass. After a couple swallows, he set the glass on the nightstand. She picked it up and took another sip, glancing at the clock for the second time in ten minutes.

“Tobin?” he asked.

She nodded. “I can go alone.”

He retrieved the glass and swallowed the rest of the scotch and gave her another slow kiss. “We both know I’m coming with you.” He put the medallion on, transforming again. He stretched his muscles before buttoning his shirt. “You want to check on your dad before we meet Tobin?” he asked.

“No, afterward is fine.” She put her arms around his neck and kissed him, licking the scotch and lime juice from his lips. When she leaned back, his mouth chased hers and prolonged the kiss for a couple more minutes. It would be so easy to fall back into bed with him. At the moment, that was the only thing she really wanted to do.

“Later,” she said with a smile as she extracted herself. “I need to hear what Theo Tobin has to say.”

They finished dressing in a companionable silence, but she felt the intensity of his gaze on her.

Once they were outside on their way to the glass house, Alissa shivered. It had already been cold, and the temperature had dropped farther. Alissa burrowed her left hand deeper into her pocket for warmth while holding the rail with her gloved right hand. She glanced at Merrick, but he didn’t seem bothered by the cold. She followed the winding cobbled steps upward. She could see the lit glass house at the top, sparkling like a jewel box.

Her foot caught on a step and she stumbled. Merrick grabbed and steadied her.

“Thanks,” she said, pulling herself toward the rail. Her right foot caught again on something that wasn’t stone. “James,” she murmured, pressing
the toe of her right boot gingerly on the obstacle.

With one arm around her waist, he moved her to a lower step behind him and turned on a small flashlight.

“Oh!” she gasped when she realized that what she’d tripped over was a pale stubby arm. Merrick leaned forward and spread some bushes apart to reveal Theo Tobin’s lifeless face.

Tamberi Jacobi had woken after surgery and insisted on being taken home immediately. Lying in her own California king bed with morphine dripping steadily into her vein, she felt light and cheerfully homicidal.

Cato sat next to her bed with maps opened over his lap.

“Hold them up so I can see them.”

“Why the hell do you need to see them?” he growled.

She smiled. He was still furious that she’d been so badly wounded.

“C’mon,” she said.

“No, you lie there and enjoy your buzz. We’re going to have to find this place without you now, so I’ve gotta friggin concentrate.”

“Told you what the demon tells,” she slurred. “The girl will know the way by instinct. And without her, there’s no point going. So if you can’t find it after you touch down, make her show you. Bring the maps, and let’s walk through the plan again. You’re reviewing anyway. I may as well…may as well help.”

“Yeah, you’ll be a big help,” he scoffed, but he grabbed the papers and sat next to her on the bed.

“Hope your boots are clean.”

“Filthy,” he said with a teasing grin.

“Push that downer—down arrow on the morphine drip. I need to focus.”

He glanced at the pump and shook his head.

“C’mon! I can’t reach it myself, and my head’s spinning like a top.”

“You’ll be in pain.”

“I’ve had my guts ripped open and put back together. I’m supposed to be in goddamned pain.” She giggled. “Fuck. That’s not supposed to be funny. Push that button.”

He pressed the down arrow twice and then leaned back and spread the map open in front of them.

“Here’s where we’ll land,” he said, pointing. “It’s less than ten minutes to the meeting spot where he’ll have the girl waiting.”

“He’d better.”

“If he doesn’t, we’ll go get her.”

“And make sure there are no witnesses.”

“I friggin know. Anyone who sees anything dies.” He pointed. “We’ve got this ridge, so there’s no way for anyone to get behind us, but we’ve got to be careful here because—”

“I think I’ll come.”

“What?”

“I can be on the helicopter. What difference does it make if I sit here or if I sit on the copter?”

“You’re on a friggin morphine pump.”

“We’ll bring it.”

“You’re a goddamn lunatic, you know that?”

“Take that Sharpie marker and draw a bull’s-eye on the wall, then give me your gun. If I can hit the center, I get to come. If I miss, I’ll stay here.”

“Tamberi, for fuck’s sake.”

“C’mon. You know you want me to come with you, and I don’t want to miss a black ops trip into the Etherlin. Or the chance to see the opening! This was my goddamned plan.”

“Then you shouldn’t have let Merrick almost gut you.”

“That bastard. I am going to cut out his heart before I cut off his head.”

“Not if I get to him first.”

Tamberi gave her brother’s arm a squeeze. “Go on,” she husked. “Go draw the bull’s-eye.”

Tobin’s glassy eyes stared at them.

“He’s dead,” Alissa said breathlessly. “He must have fallen,” she said, looking up the cobbled stairs. They’d been salted, so she hadn’t found them slippery. “Or maybe someone pushed him.”

Merrick skimmed the beam of light over the surrounding area, then he bent and patted the body, coming up with a cell phone. He pressed several buttons, eyes scanning, then he pocketed the cell. He clicked off the flashlight, plunging them back into darkness.

“Do you think he fell?” Alissa asked.

“No,” Merrick whispered. “His body would’ve landed on the other side of the path if he’d slipped and fallen. There are scuff marks in the dirt where someone rubbed out his boot prints after dragging the body into the bushes. Follow me down,” he said.

She stiffened, straining to hear any sounds, like the footfalls of a killer, but silence settled around them. She kept a palm on Merrick’s back and moved as he did, carefully, quietly.

They were near the bottom when she heard voices and trampling feet hurrying toward the steps. Four beams of light bobbed around the path’s curve. She paused, but Merrick continued.

“Mills,” he said, announcing himself. “Escorting Miss North back to her suite.” The beams swiveled up to Merrick’s face. “I assume you’re looking for the victim. He’s twenty-four steps up. In the brush to the right of the path.”

“Hang on, Mills,” Grant said. “Alissa, are you all right? What were you doing here?”

She hesitated. “Theo Tobin asked me to meet him. We were on our way to the glass house when I tripped over his—body.”

“Does your father have any reason to be angry at Theo Tobin? Has he done anything, taken any pictures, that would’ve upset your father?” Grant asked.