PS03 - Tall, Dark & Heartless (19 page)

been able to keep up with her need to feed. Feeding from the bags was impossible for her now. There was no way she was

going to be able to stop feeding the second they sensed someone approaching the door. She'd have to take her blood from him

and he'd have to help her learn to control her skills and fast before they figured out that they got exactly what they wanted.

He couldn't stomach the idea of what they would do to her to get what they wanted. Thanks to him, she could never die

and in a situation like this, that was a curse. No matter what they did to her she would live and suffer through every single

minute of agony without any hope of relief. He knew all too well what kind of hell on earth that could be and he wouldn't allow

her to experience it. He'd teach her what she needed to know and then he'd get her safely out of here.

"Listen to me, Danni," he said, gently cupping her face as he forced her to look up at him. "We're going to hide this from

them for as long as we can. I'm going to do my best to show you how to survive, but I need you to listen and not fight me on

this. Do you understand?"

She nodded her head slowly as she asked, "How are we going to do this?"

"The first thing we need to work on is controlling your eyes and fangs," he said, pushing her wet hair out of her face as her

eyes widened in disbelief.

He watched as she ran the tip of her tongue over her teeth and winced when it came into contact with a sharp fang. When

she reached up with a shaky hand to run a finger over her fangs, her heartbeat sped up and he knew she was seconds away from

a breakdown.

She dropped her hands away from her face as her breathing quickened and she tried to move away, probably hoping that

some space would change things. It wouldn't. Thanks to him she was a monster now and for a woman like Danni that was going

to be difficult thing to accept.

"Let me go, Caine," she said, trying to pull away from him and move to the side, but he wouldn't let her go. Not when she

was this close to losing it and bringing a lot of unwanted attention their way. He needed to get her to calm down before anyone

walked into the room and realized what happened.

"
Shhhhh
, Danni, it's okay," he said, reaching up to cup her face only to find his hands shoved away as she frantically

shook her head.

"Get the hell away from me, Caine, and let me deal with this," she said, giving him a shove that would have probably sent

a human male flying across the room, but he'd been ready for it. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt like a bitch, but he ignored

the pain and focused on getting her to calm down.

"Danni," he said, reaching to cup her face and this time he managed to do it. "I know this a shock, but I really need you to

calm down," he said in what he thought was a soothing tone, but the smell of her agitation rising told a different story.

"I am calm, Caine," she said tightly, trying to shove his hands away from her face, but he wouldn't allow it. "If you just get

the hell away from me I'd be a whole lot calmer."

"Sorry," he said, stepping closer. "I can't do that, Danni. I can't risk you giving yourself away."

"I'm not going to give myself away. I just need a goddamn second to think!" she snapped as the scent of her agitation

spiked.

"Take all the time you need, Danni, but I'm not going to leave your side until you calm down."

She gave him another shove as she snapped, "I can't calm the hell down when your scent is making me hungry, you

jackass!"

Why that made him smile, he didn't know, but it did. "Is that all?" he asked, chuckling ruefully as he dropped his hands

from her face and took one of her hands into his and gave it a gentle tug, leading her towards the mattress.

"Is that all?" she repeated in disbelief. "Shouldn't that be enough? It's really disturbing," she said, allowing him to lead her

for a moment. "What are we doing?" she asked as they neared the mattress.

"Feeding you. I'm sorry I should have realized that you were hungry. The sooner we get you fed, the sooner you should be

able to shift your eyes and teeth back to normal," he explained in a soft whisper, knowing she would be able to hear him

perfectly, but the vampires on the other side of the door wouldn't.

Although a vampire's hearing was stronger than a human's it was a great deal weaker than his. If an Alpha shifter were

posted on the other side of the door they'd be screwed. Since Alphas retained their abilities in human form they'd be able to

hear everything going on in this room, but they would have scented the change in Danni the second his blood mixed with hers.

The vampires on the other hand wouldn't smell a goddamn thing. To them he smelled human and wouldn't realize that he was

different until his eyes shifted or his fangs dropped. Then again, if they tried to feed from him they'd get a rather nasty surprise

as his blood slowly and painfully killed them.

"How do I drink from the bag?" she asked as he gestured for her to get on the mattress.

He ran his eyes over her naked wet body and cursed himself for not wrapping her in a towel first, but that would have

ruined the image that he was trying to create. Having her naked was for the best, he decided as he hooked his thumbs in his wet

boxer briefs and shoved them down, glad that he was no longer sporting an erection, well not much of one anyway.

Danni's eyes widened as his free foot stepped out of the underwear. She scooted back on the mattress, her eyes landed on

his crotch and widened impossibly further. Of course, the damn thing decided that it liked the attention and decided to say

hello.

"You can't drink from a bag, Danni, because it will give us away. You're new and there's no way you'd be able to pull the

bag away fast enough to cover the evidence of what you did if someone came walking through that door," he explained as he

moved to kneel on the bed, deciding that it would be best for everyone if he pretended that his cock wasn't hardening and

reaching out for her.

It was a little unnerving that his body was reacting to Danni this way. He'd known her since she was a little girl and until

recently it had been difficult for him to think of her as anything but the little girl that used to hug his leg, giggling as he walked

her to school. Judging by the way his body reacted to her, it damn well knew she wasn't that little girl anymore, but he forced

himself to ignore the hunger she was stirring in him. They had a lot more important things to worry about at the moment other

than how badly he wanted to bury himself in her body. That thought made him inwardly cringe. His body might be on board and

his mind was getting there, but it was still very strange for him to be thinking about her like this.

"What are you suggesting?" she asked, eying him warily as he reached out and grabbed her ankles. With a slight tug and a

rather impressive stream of curses from her, he had her on her back and glaring up at him.

"You're going to have to feed from me and we're going to have to make this look like we're having sex to cover it," he

explained casually as he moved to hover over her only to find himself shoved back by a well placed foot on his chest.

"
We are not having sex
!" she hissed quietly.

He nearly rolled his eyes at that. "I said
look like
, Danni. You really need to pay attention," he explained rather patiently,

he thought as he grabbed her ankle and moved her foot away from his chest. "It's the only thing that I can think of to cover up

what you'll really be doing."

"Look," she said, nervously licking her lips as her eyes shot desperately to the cooler, "we really don't need to do this. As

soon as I hear someone coming I'll pull the bag away and look the other way until I feel my face go back to normal."

She was nervous. His little Danni was finally afraid of something, he realized with a shit eating grin that he didn't even

bother to hide. When she spotted his grin and scowled in his direction he couldn't help but chuckle.

"What's so funny?" she demanded as she tried to move away from him, but he grabbed her foot and gave it a good yank

that had her falling on her back before he pulled her closer and once again moved over her.

"I just never thought that I'd see the day when Danni Jorgenson would be scared," he said, loving the scent she gave off

when she was angry.

"I'm not afraid," she bit out between clenched teeth even as she sent a hopeful look in the direction of the cooler.

"Really? Then what's the problem?" he asked, carefully lowering himself on her and mindful of the damn erection that

wouldn't go away. It was something he could ignore. He'd learned long ago how to ignore his body. It was the only way he

could survive fucked up situations and keep his mind intact. It had certainly come in handy a time or two, now being one of

those times.

His mind barely registered how good her wet warm body felt beneath his as he positioned himself on his elbows above

her and moved his head to the right to block the view of anyone who entered the room. He held himself perfectly still as he

waited for her to feed. After a few minutes it became more than obvious that she wasn't going to feed so of course he goaded

her into doing it.

"It's okay that you're scared, Danni," he said in a patronizing tone.

"I'm not scared," she bit out tightly, but he simply ignored her and continued.

"No, I'm sure that you're not," he said in that same tone he knew would just piss her off. "You're probably afraid of

drinking blood or not doing it right. Not that I blame you. It does take some getting used to and you always were a slow learner.

Maybe I should just prick my finger and let you feed like a-
holy shit
!" he ground out as she struck.

He sure as hell hadn't been ready for that, he thought as he gasped at the initial pain. She had a hell of a bite, he thought as

she mumbled something against his neck.

"What was that?" he asked, shifting his weight on his elbows as she suckled at his neck. She mumbled it again, but didn't

bother pulling away. The little moan she released against his neck had him chuckling. "That good?"

"Mmmhmmm," she mumbled.

"Slow down just a little bit, but keep feeding until you're full," he said, ignoring just how good it felt to have her at his

neck.

The only problem he seemed to be having at the moment was his cock hardening even more. Normally he was able to

control how his body reacted in every situation. It was something he forced himself to learn so that he would never put himself

into another situation where he found himself helpless. It was the same reason he had the tip of his cock pierced.

It was a constant reminder of what could happen if he didn't ignore his body. There had been plenty of women that turned

him on over the years, he was a man after all, but he'd never lost control of his body with any of them. He always remained

calm until he decided that his body needed release and then it was always on his terms.

When it was time to fuck he allowed his body to harden otherwise he ignored it. He wished he could ignore it now. She

shouldn't be affecting him like this. It didn't matter that she was beautiful, sexy, or how much he wanted to lick and suck her

large cotton candy colored nipples into his mouth as he caressed her large teardrop shaped breasts in his hands. It mattered

even less that he wanted the mouth at his neck on his cock, sucking just as hard. His body should not be responding to her like

this.

Her murmured groan of pleasure caught his attention. The smell of lust rolling off her body had him grinding his teeth

together as he fought for control. This was Danni, little Danni and he shouldn't think of her this way, he reminded himself as her

hard nipples brushed up against his chest. His cock twitched as it made contact with something incredibly soft, hot and wet and

had his fangs shooting through his gums.

He was fine. He was in control. Just as long as he remembered that this was little Danni he had nothing to worry about, he

decided as her arms wrapped around his back and she rolled her hips against him, forcing the tip of his dick to trace her wet

slit.

Chapter 16

Danni squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she waited for the first drop of blood to hit her tongue. She didn't care how good

he smelled, she knew the second she tasted his blood that she was going to be sick. Oh God, she couldn't do this. She couldn't

drink blood. There had to be another way. She knew Pytes couldn't eat human food, but maybe the council could come up with

something because she-

A moan ripped through her throat as she got her first taste of his blood. It was so good, she thought as she sucked on his

neck, desperate for more as her stomach growled almost viciously. Never in her life had she tasted anything so delicious.

A moment later she changed her mind as a new flavor mixed with the blood and caused her toes to curl and her legs to

widen. It took her a moment to realize that she was tasting and smelling his arousal and that her body was reacting like it was

an aphrodisiac, and maybe it was. When she felt moisture pool between her legs she knew that she should stop and gain some

distance, but she was helpless to stop drinking.

Her arms wrapped around him as if they had a mind of their own while her hips rolled against him, desperate to get closer