S
he’d been okay with
her friendless life
until tonight when she watched the relationship on the balcony blossom with something
special.
So how could
she execute
the job she’d been tasked with
efficiently
if she were playing footsie with a possible mate? She twirled a lock of hair between
her fingers. For her future, how could she not investigate?
She exhaled slowly. More information was needed before she could make a decision.
She didn’t even have an inkling which man could be her
partner
. Maybe he’d been in the crowd and she’d assumed he was the vampyr or shifter. Yes
that had to be the case. She’d put that theory to
the
test right now.
After she determined
her
potential
spouse
, she
would
get back to the job she came here for
and decide later what to do about him
.
Chapter
Five
Maximus
had been surprised when he spied Sameya across the street flirting with the shadows.
He’d initiated the sex with Gabriel for his lover’s needs.
It’d been obvious he required a
respite
.
Once he sp
otted
, Sameya,
he’d killed two birds with one stone. Showing her how good they were, while they both
got their rocks off.
In the black and white photo he retained from their meeting with Gryphon, he’d been
unable to guess her eye color.
A l
avender
-
violet combination
. What an odd colo
r, but exquisite with her Goth
red-streaked black hair.
L
ip
s sultry
and stained crimson
, he envisioned them parting over his and Gabriel’s cock
s
.
Her arousal stunned him. Sirens weren’t known to experience lust unless they were
mated and then only with their spouse.
“You should’ve told me she was there,
Maximus
.” Gabriel slammed his fingers through his spiky dark blond hair
, giving the locks a more natural flow
.
“What would you have done different?” He pulled on black leather pants. “If you’d
gone after her, you’d have scared her off sooner. At least this way”—his head burst
through the cotton black shirt—“she got an eyeful of how good we are together.” He
fingered his black top hat and settled it on his head. “I smelled her arousal.”
“I did,
also
, but I dismissed
the evidence
as someone in the crowd.”
“Right now I bet you she’s thinking about us. Which one of us
is a
potential
mate
?
Convincing her we’re both hers
might be a tad difficult.
”
Sirens mated in pairs
, not threes. Should
be entertaining
convincing her
they
would be a threesome, rather than a duo
. At the moment, all
Maximus
wanted was to hear her climax for the first time. And get a good look at the wonder
in her eyes at what she’d been missing.
“My fangs are itching to taste her, Gabriel. I’ve
got to
feast on something
before I lose control
.”
He’d rip a pedophile or murderer apart if his behavior wouldn’t draw the attention
of the authorities. Killing them would have to suffice.
Gabriel stopped him at the door
with a hand on his forearm
. “You think she’s our mate, too, don’t you?”
“Yes. I have no doubt
. We’ll find a way to bring her home, Gabriel
.”
Snapshots of her sandwiched between them as they drove into her in unison went off
in his head. She was so diminutive
they’d have to be careful not to harm her.
Who was he kidding? She was a mystic. A
goddamn
siren. That put her at the top of the mystic food chain.
That meant she was hardier than she
appeared
,
and s
he could take whatever they dished out. If he had his way, she’d take all they had
to give her.
Maximus
went out the door
in search of prey.
***
Sameya caught
the vampyr
as he
exited the hotel wearing a top hat
and
a skin-tight
,
black shirt that V’d in the front.
What a fine figure he cut in his b
lack
leather pants
that
clung to his
exquisite
ass. His shiny black shoes were the only piece of attire that caught the light
.
Perfect attire to prowl
for a victim.
Behind him, she matched her stride to his long-legged gait. Not easy with the congestion
on Bourbon Street. He hooked
left
onto
St. Louis Street
and glanced over his shoulder. She remained invisible, so he might sense her, but
no way could he see her.
“Spoil sport,” he whispered with a grin and swaggered down the
badly cracked sidewalk
, his confidence
evident
in
his
stride
.
Sameya bit back a grin,
gawking at
his
superb
butt
encased in leathers.
What a waste on a leech.
“I can hear your footsteps, siren.”
To acknowledge his comment confirmed her presence.
British accent. He hadn’t grown up in America.
He stopped walking. She stopped. He chuckled. “We’ll play it your way, naleah.”
She frowned at the endearment but held her tongue.
The farther they moved down the darkened street,
the more sparse
mortal activity
became
. “You’re with me.” The vampyr made a ‘come here’ hand gesture. A
Caucasian
, balding male exited a dark alley with a cigarette hanging from his thin lips. Sameya
watched as t
he human made no p
rotest, not even when the
vampyr clamped his hand on the back of his neck and guided him down a series of
side streets
. No
objection
when they crossed North Rampart and Basin Street and walked to the locked gate at
St. Louis Cemetery.
“Be a doll and break the lo
ck
for me.”
He pinned
her with his focus
.
Sameya leaned against the brick wall and crossed her arms over her chest.
The pathetic mortal, unsuspecting of its imminent demise was the one that spoke. “With
what?”
“Don’t be difficult, Sameya.
I know you’re there.
”
S
he came away from the whitewashed brick.
How’d he know her name? She hadn’t shared her identity with Gabriel. And by the Empress’s
glory could he say her name again?
In that foreign lilt, her name s
ounded amazing on his lips.
The vampyr’s silver-blue eyes altered and glowed that vibrant green, evidence of the
killer inside him. A clucking of his tongue and he sighed as he palmed the lock, pulverizing
the metal. He kicked the gate open.
His body was smooth, graceful even when
busting in
bolted
doorways
. Sameya followed him inside the cemetery, shutting the gate behind them so as not
to draw attention from
a
stray
drive-by police cruiser
.
Two steps in his direction, she halted, realizing the vampyr stood staring in her
direction wearing an ironic grin.
“I knew
my little voyeur was with me
.”
Sameya slammed to a halt. Heat hit her cheeks and she thanked her stars he couldn’t
see her blush.
A big error
closing the gate
, especially when she could serenade anything that came to investigate.
“Watch this.” The vampyr
braced
the
spine of the
man against a mausoleum and sank his fangs into his throat. The mortal struggled but
for a moment before going limp. Fangs retracted and he lifted his head, licked the
wounds,
s
ealing them. He adjusted his victim in his arms so he could face, Sameya. “It would
please me greatly if you would go corporeal while I finish dining.”
Once more, h
e bit his victim
. This time
with gusto and the male cried out. Glowing
emerald
eyes stared in her
vicinity
as he drained his victim. No point in hiding any longer, she released her magic.
His eyes widened as she appeared
, traveled from her head to her feet and swept back up again.
Gods
help her, but
his gawk felt like a physical touch and she rubbed her thighs together
to alleviate the sudden ache there, deep inside her
.
I cannot be the mate to a bloodsucker. But would the shifter have been any better
alternative?
Releasing his victim, he lifted his head
.
“He’s dead?” Sameya nodded at the human.
“No.
” He licked and
h
ealed the wounds.
“You don’t plan to kill him?”
“He’ll die tonight. With my teeth in his throat.”
Sameya c
roo
ked her head, studying him. A fine specimen of the male species
, it was a shame
he was a vampyr. But…she’d enjoyed witnessing him sink his teeth into his victim.
“Finish him so I can observe.”
“Come closer and you can experience his death with me.”
She elevated
an eyebrow, silently questioning his intentions.
“No hidden agenda. Do you wonder why I picked him?”
Sameya shrugged. What’d she care for his reasoning? All mortals were unworthy
of life;
she
only
focused on the worst of the scum. “Not really.”
He frowned, as if surprised by her response. “He’s a rapist of little girls.”
“Then he should die in pain.” She stepped forward. “I can give that to him while you
feed.”
A hint of a smile graced his lips
,
and for a long moment she became spellbound by them. Would they feel as good on her
body as they were pleasing to look at?
A longing sigh escaped her
.
Most likely, she wouldn’t
feel anything.
Just like I’m feeling nothing now.
W
hat a lie that
is
!
He repositioned the mortal, tonguing his victim’s
skin
like a medic would
a wound with
an alcohol swab. “Place your fingers on his neck
right
below where I put my teeth.”
Sameya stared into his eyes a long moment before redirecting her
attention
to the human’s neck. She placed the pad
of her
index and middle finger centimeters below his teeth. His fangs surged out and pierced
the male. His victim jerked, but offered no other resistance.
She slammed him with magic a few seconds later
,
and their quarry screamed in agony. “Quiet,” she cooed to their prey. Tears rolled
down his cheeks
,
and he executed mini-jerks in the arms of the vampyr
, but his screams had turned silent
.
Curious about the mystic’s fangs,
she shifted her middle finger
to rub along the incisor
s
where
they
punctured skin. The vampyr groaned.
She elevated her
focus;
his attention was locked on her. Growing bolder, she slid her digit up his fang to
his
gum line
. His grip tightened on the mortal as a rattling breath left
the human’s
lungs, expiring much too soon in Sameya’s
judgment
.
He released their
quarry
, clasped her wrist with his fingers and
pushed
her back against the same mausoleum he’d held his prey against minutes before.
In her personal space, with
h
is big body pressed against hers
,
Sameya didn’t back down, but glared up at him. Amusement twitched his lips.
“Unhand me.”
“No.”
“I will bury you, vampyr.”
“You’re welcome to try, doll face.” He lifted a hand and ran a finger along her shoulder,
down her arm. “I’ve been around the block a few times.
I won’t be that easy to defeat.
”
Sameya shivered
from his touch. As if she
had
suddenly ignited with fire, he released her and tucked his hair behind both ears.
“What’s with the top hat?”
He sacrificed a boyi
sh grin to her. “It’s a
statement.”