Blood Ties (2 page)

Her clit throbbed as every cell of her body
protested his withdrawal. “So are you,” she said, feeling the
wetness of blood on his back.

“My injuries don’t matter.”

His hands ran over her body again, but this
time there was nothing passionate about his touch. Her body fired
with need anyway as he searched for the wound. “My left thigh,” she
said, fighting not to moan as he traced her breasts again.

Both his hands slid up her thigh and stopped
when they reached the ragged tear in her slacks. Kira bit her lip
to keep from screaming as he probed the wound. “Fuck,” he breathed
again, and this time the tension in his tone sent alarm racing down
her spine.

The tunnel was totally black to her, but she
knew he could see as clearly as if it were high noon. “Is it
bad?”

His silence was answer enough. Well, she
supposed she didn’t really need to ask that question. The wetness
soaking her slacks and pooling in her shoe had already answered it
for her. She tried again. “How bad is it?”

“Shh, sweetheart.”

Before she could ask yet again, Orion’s
fingers pressed harder and pulled something from the wound. It was
all she could do not to scream as a new gush of warmth soaked her
leg. “God, what did you just do?” she gasped as raw agony throbbed
through her leg. “I don’t think that helped!”

He pressed his palm hard against the wound,
but even in the darkness, she could sense his worry. She reached
out blindly until she found his shoulder and tried to shake him
with a hand that felt much too weak. “Damn it, if you don’t answer
me right now --”

He leaned forward and brushed his lips
against hers, silencing her before she could threaten him. “Hush
and listen, sweetheart,” he murmured against her mouth. “There’s
not much time. Your femoral artery was badly injured by glass and
the sliver worked deeper as we ran down here. You’re bleeding to
death. Do you understand?”

Her heart froze. Oh, God, surely he was
wrong. “No,” she said, refusing to believe it even as the dizziness
crashed over her again. This time, she knew it had nothing to do
with lust. “No, you’re wrong!”

He rested his forehead against hers. “Kira,
love, when it comes to blood, I’m very rarely wrong. You don’t have
time to argue with me.”

“I’m not dying!” She couldn’t be dying. She
was too young, had too many things to do with her life. Surely one
little piece of glass couldn’t end it all!

“You don’t have to die,” Orion said, his
voice low and urgent. “I can save you, make you like me. You’ll
never have to die. I’ll take care of you, Kira, I swear it, but you
have to choose now. Do you die as a mortal, or live as a
vampire?”

She knew he was holding pressure as hard as
he could, but she still felt the blood seeping from her. She’d read
somewhere that a person could bleed to death from their femoral
artery in two minutes flat. The knowledge was anything but
comforting as the pain faded to almost nothing. White stars burst
before her eyes and Kira struggled to focus. This was really
happening. She could almost feel her life ebbing away. “It’s so
fast,” she whispered.

“Kira!” His voice had a desperate edge.
“Choose, damn it. Hurry!”

Her hand fell away from his shoulder and she
didn’t have the energy to raise it again. It was terrifying, how
quickly her strength faded. She didn’t want to die like this!
“Live,” she breathed, wishing she could see his face in the
darkness. “I want to live.”

Orion let out the breath he hadn’t realized
he was holding as she said what he’d prayed to hear. One slash of
his claws was all it took to rip away her slacks before he fastened
his mouth to her thigh and drank deeply.

The taste of her blood hit him like a
fireball. He growled as lust exploded through his body. Gods, he’d
wanted to taste her for so long, but never once had he imagined it
would happen like this. His cock ached like a long, hot coal
against his belly, but her fear filled his mind as her blood forged
the bond between them.

No, not like this. He would not let her die
in fear while he burned with desire.

Orion slid his hand beneath her panties and
caressed her mons. The scent and slick feel of the wetness that
still lingered from their kiss was enough to drive him out of his
mind with the need to get inside her. He slid trembling fingers
past her curls, finding her clit and circling it as her responses
filled his mind. Her arousal flared to life again even as she faded
away, and he plunged two fingers deep inside her. Finding her
g-spot as his thumb teased her clit, Orion growled with
satisfaction as her pleasure overwhelmed the fear in her mind. He
used his powers to heighten her desire and brought her to the peak
hard and fast.

She gasped out her orgasm and was still.

At once he pulled away from her thigh and
slashed his own wrist with the same piece of glass that had hurt
her. Pressing the bleeding cut to her lips, he held her close and
urged her to swallow. When a shiver went through her and she
suckled his wrist, first gently and then with growing need, he
kissed her forehead and murmured comforting words to her, promises
she wouldn’t remember when she awoke as a vampire.

But he would remember them, and he would
fulfill every single one.

Hunger.

Kira awoke to a hunger so fierce it seared
her veins. She was only vaguely aware of softness beneath her and a
warmth surrounding her as fire burst through her body. Somewhere
music was playing, a hard, driving beat that matched the pounding
of her heart. She hissed in a breath permeated with Orion’s scent
and felt as if she could burst into flames. “Orion?” she said, and
the word came out sultry and seductive.

Arms slid around her as he pulled her close,
her back pressing against his bare chest. “Right here,
sweetheart.”

God, if his scent had set her on fire, it was
nothing compared to what his voice did to her. His skin felt divine
against her back and she rubbed against him like a cat in heat,
running both hands over her breasts. His cock pressed against her
ass, hot and hard, and in that moment all she wanted was to feel
him thrusting deep inside her. “What’s happening to me?” she
whispered. “Orion, God, I want --” Her words ended on a moan as she
pinched her nipples and pleasure flooded her body.

His arms shook around her and she realized
his hands were clenched into fists. “Ask me,” he whispered, his
breath coming just as fast as hers. “Tell me what you want and
you’ll have it. Anything.”

She hooked her leg over his and arched her
back, opening herself completely to him. “Fuck me,” she gasped. “I
need you!”

“I’m yours,” he growled in her ear as he
moved at last, ramming his thick cock deep inside her. There was no
foreplay, but she didn’t want foreplay. She shuddered with pleasure
as he took her hard and fast, fingering her clit with one hand as
the other played with her breasts, giving her exactly what she
needed. She couldn’t stop screaming his name as she came hard, and
almost instantly came again.

Suddenly he stilled, his cock buried deep
inside her. She could feel him throbbing and writhed, wanting him
to move again. “More,” she cried, her body still burning. “Please
--”

Breathing hard, he raised his wrist to her
lips. “Bite me,” he murmured in her ear. “Give in to the bloodlust,
baby. Bite me and I’ll give you more. I’ll give you
everything.”

Only then did she feel the strange shape of
her new fangs pressing against her lips. Instead of alarming her,
his suggestion thrilled her. She was ravenous and dying for a taste
of him. Catching his arm with both hands, she licked his pulse,
savoring the taste of his skin before biting him.

Orion hissed in pleasure as she drank from
his wrist, and he could no longer be still. His hips surged as he
thrust into her hot pussy again and again, and wished he could make
this last forever. It was every fantasy he’d ever had, every secret
moment of watching her and dreaming of seducing her to his bed. She
was everything he’d ever wanted, and he opened his mind to her so
she could feel the incredible pleasure she gave him.

And when he met the pure, sweet lust that
filled her mind, he couldn’t resist the need to have another taste
of her.

The instant her blood touched his tongue, he
was lost. Sensation overwhelmed them both in an orgasm so intense,
stars burst behind his closed eyes.

Long minutes later, Kira turned in his arms
and rested her head against his chest, snuggling against him.
“Wow,” she whispered as he cradled her close. “Will it be like that
with all my lovers, now that I’m a vampire?”

His warm lassitude evaporated before a hot
surge of jealousy. How the hell could she think of other lovers
now? She’d been his since the instant he’d first tasted her and
he’d be damned if he’d let her get away. “I’ll kill any man who so
much as touches you,” he snarled, tightening his arms around her
and bracing for a fight. “Damn it, Kira --”

She
raised her head and silenced him with a kiss. He tried to make it
hot and possessive, but her lips gentled his as she yielded rather
than resisting. It was a kiss a man could get lost in, and he gave
up the fight with a sigh.
Gods, Kira
. He sent his thoughts through the newly formed bond
between them as if it were the most natural thing in the
world.
How
can you say such things and then kiss me like this?

When she pulled away, she smiled up at him
and smoothed the frown from his brow with gentle fingertips. “A
woman’s backhanded way of discovering a man’s intentions,” she
said, snuggling close again. “And I heartily approve of your
reply.”

He groaned. “Next time, just ask, would
you?”

Kira laughed, then looked around for the
first time, touching the crisp white sheets as if just noticing
them. Then again, as hot as she’d been when she’d awakened, Orion
wasn’t much surprised by that. The erotic memory seared him to the
bone.

The pounding metal beat below them hadn’t
slowed. “Where are we?” she asked against his chest.

“Club Nighthawk.”

Her head jerked up. The utter disbelief in
her eyes almost made him smile.

Almost.

“I might be an outsider, but I’m not yet an
outcast, and vampires protect their own,” he told her. “As you
suggested when you gave your notice, I didn’t really have a choice.
The Nighthawks offered us shelter and protection until your
transformation was complete.”

Despite his explanation, she still looked
deeply uneasy. “What happened to my clothes?” she asked after a
moment.

He chose to allow the change of subject. “I
burned them. They were ruined, and besides, I like you better in
jeans than in silk.”

Kira nodded, but he saw that the fear in her
eyes hadn’t lessened before she looked away. “Forgive me for
leading Barrett to you,” she whispered, resting her forehead
against his shoulder again. “You’re right. I should’ve known better
--”

Barrett.

The name sliced through Kira’s mind, echoing
with Orion’s sudden burst of fury, and even before he shoved her
away and swung his legs out of bed, she knew she’d made a mistake.
“Fucking right, you should’ve known better,” he snarled, giving her
his back. Her tender lover was gone and the lethal vampire was
back. If she wasn’t so wary of what she knew he could do, she
would’ve mourned the loss.

“What the hell was wrong with you? The man
tells you nothing but lies and you don’t bother to check him out?
Was he that goddamn good a fuck?”

“Not as good as you.” The words were out
before she could stop them.

The muscles of his back knotted as he went
rigid. “Damn it, Kira, don’t try that shit with me.”

She dropped her eyes. “He already knew so
much,” she said, picking at the sheet as she tried to explain what
she knew he’d never understand or forgive. “He knew all about the
Nighthawks, even told me their names. He knew their procedures and
their passwords. Orion, he told me he was their Associate!
Everything he said made sense. How was I supposed to --”

He got up and her voice died as she beheld a
stunning rear-view that could thaw the most frigid female. His
muscles clenched and slid beneath his gold-velvet skin as he
crossed the room and pulled on his jeans. “Perhaps,” he said,
finally looking at her with ice in his gaze, “you should have
mentioned it to me. Did you think of that?”

Yes, she’d thought of that. She sat up,
wrapping the sheet around herself. “He worked for the Nighthawks,
Orion.” It was explanation enough.

Orion hated the Nighthawks with a passion
she’d never fully understood.

He let his head fall back with a harsh sigh.
“Yeah. He worked for the Nighthawks.”

“I didn’t betray you.”

His laugh was short and bitter. “You betrayed
me the moment you went to him,” he gritted out. “You left me for a
Nighthawk, Kira. Do you think having my home destroyed by human
hunters is somehow worse than having my Associate defect to the
goddamn Clan?” When she didn’t answer, he glared at her. “If he
hadn’t come after me, do you think the Clan would’ve let me
be?”

“I never told him who you were.”

Her words only made him shake his head and
turn his back again. Kira stood, dragging the sheet behind her, and
grabbed his arm. “I said, I never told anyone who you were,” she
repeated fiercely. “I’m not utterly stupid. I know you and the
Nighthawks have some feud I know nothing about. I never said who I
worked for, Orion. I never told Barrett where you --”

He snarled again. “Never say that name in my
presence again,” he snapped, jerking his arm away from her and
snatching up a shirt. “Enough of this. Get dressed. We’re getting
out of here.” The door slammed behind him a second later, leaving
her alone with her remorse and his fury filling her mind.