Blood Ties

Blood Ties Amelia Elias All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2006 Amelia Elias

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ISBN (10): 1-59596-272-7

ISBN (13): 978-1-59596-272-0

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Editor: Crystal Esau

Cover Artist: Sahara Kelly

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Chapter One I’m going to kill him. Slowly, so I can enjoy every second of it. Blood boiling, every muscle aching with the need for violence, Orion reclined in his high-backed leather chair and waited in silence. It was a skill he’d polished over the years, one that had gained more information for him than interrogation ever had. He didn’t have to wait long this time. Kira bit her lip and looked away, cheeks flushing. “Don’t look at me like that, Orion,” she said, still not meeting his eyes. She hadn’t once looked directly at him since she’d walked into his office this evening and dropped her little bombshell. He still couldn’t believe it, even though he probably should’ve seen it coming a mile away. Kira couldn’t just quit. She was his Associate, his voice and face to the daylight world. She was his lifeline, the keeper of almost every secret he possessed. She knew everything from where he bought his clothes and hid his money to how he stole his sustenance and where he slept hidden from the sun’s rays. As a vampire without the benefit and shelter of a Clan, a loyal Associate was the best and only safety net he possessed. In short, Kira Jacques was the one mortal that Orion couldn’t let go. She fidgeted uneasily under his steady gaze. Unwilling to break the silence or the tension, he studied her, taking in every detail and not liking the changes he found. She’d tamed her wild hair tonight, catching the unruly black curls in a neat twist at the nape of her neck. Her usual hip-hugging jeans and T-shirt were replaced by slacks and a silky knit sweater, and her normally bare feet were hidden in sensible shoes. Nothing could hide that curvy body, but she was sure as hell trying. Even her face was different. Never one to hide her natural beauty, tonight Kira wore makeup -- base, blush, shadow, the works. Orion could smell them from here. He

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wondered if she thought putting on her war-paint would prepare her to face him. Her vivid green eyes flickered his way, meeting his for a bare instant before she blushed and looked past him again. “I know what you’re trying to do,” she said, a hint of steel in her voice now. “I’ve seen you give this same silent treatment to others who displeased you. You can cut it out now. If you’re pissed off, say so, damn it.” Orion smiled. “Oh, yes, I’m pissed off,” he replied softly. “I’m pissed off that you’ll let someone dictate your life. I’m pissed off that you’ll do whatever that bastard asks just because he doesn’t trust you. And I’m pissed as hell that you expect me to just let you walk away when you know you’re doing the wrong thing.” That made her look at him. Her eyes flashed with anger. “I don’t know any such thing,” she snapped, raising her chin defiantly. “You don’t know it either. And of course Barrett trusts me! Would he ask me to marry him if he didn’t?” Hiding his reaction to that was one of the most difficult things Orion had ever done, but he managed it. Just. “A man who trusts his woman does not force her to abandon her responsibilities simply because he put a ring on her finger,” he replied, murmuring when he wanted to shout. His voice could be a weapon, should he decide to use it as such, but everything in him rebelled against manipulating or hurting Kira. “If he trusts you absolutely, why is he insisting that you quit?” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but he could sense the tension in her shoulders. “You’ll be fine,” she said, ignoring his question. “You’ve got plenty of blood stored and I’m certain you’ll find another Associate soon. Contact the Nighthawks and see if they can offer a reference. I’m sure --” That was the last straw. Kira knew damn well that he couldn’t stand his own kind. Their callous disregard for mortals nauseated him, and his willingness to mingle with his prey only earned their scorn. How dare she so blithely suggest that he simply contact the vampires of the Nighthawk Clan, as if they’d ever offer him anything? Orion’s fangs ached in his mouth as his fury demanded release, but Kira’s cell phone rang in that moment. She hit the button and answered it before he could snarl at her to let it ring.

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When he heard the tinny sound of Barrett’s voice, he literally saw red. Orion shoved away from the desk and shot to his feet all in one smooth motion, intending to slap the offensive phone out of her hand and shake her until she saw reason. “Wait, wait,” Kira said, frowning as Barrett’s voice buzzed urgently through the static on her cellular phone. She moved closer to the window to improve the reception. “Yes, I’m still at work. I’m giving my notice right now, but the loose ends I need to tie up won’t keep me here that much longer. I’ll be home in a half hour or so, all right?” Barrett’s voice grew louder, enough that Orion could’ve understood him even without his supernatural hearing. “Kira, do as you’re told for once and stay there,” he snapped, his tone more like a scolding parent than a lover. “I told you, the apartment is being fumigated. You can’t get in for at least another hour. Just stay put until I tell you to leave. Got it?” Even before the man finished speaking, a tickle of dread teased the fine hairs at the back of Orion’s nape. Who fumigated an apartment in the middle of the night, in the dead of winter? Kira opened her mouth to argue with her fiancé as the dread blossomed into a stomach-clenching certainty of impending danger. It was a feeling he’d learned to never ignore. “Kira, get away from the window!” She jumped at Orion’s shout, but he was already in motion. Snagging her around the waist, he tackled her to the floor and shielded her body with his own as gunfire shattered the night. Kira screamed and Orion hissed with fury as the window exploded into a thousand deadly fragments that lacerated his back. He didn’t even feel the pain of it as he caught the scent of her blood in the rush of cold air. Prying Kira’s phone from her death grip, he heard Barrett’s triumphant laughter. “Burn the vampire and his whore!” Barrett shouted to someone in the background, and Orion’s fangs burst forth with the surge of rage that filled him. Every one of his suspicions about the man had been right. Barrett had never intended to marry Kira. He’d only used her to find Orion’s lair. And now the bastard had spilled the blood of the one person on Earth that Orion cared about.

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May God have mercy on the man’s soul, because Orion would show none. “You will die slowly for this,” he snarled before shattering the phone with his bare hand. The gunfire abruptly stopped. The eerie silence was anything but comforting. He knew that the cessation of the bullets only meant something worse was coming. He didn’t plan to wait around for it to arrive. Orion leapt to his feet, Kira cradled securely in his arms, and dashed out of the den with preternatural speed. She clung to him, her breath coming in quick, terrified gasps. “What’s happening?” she asked, clutching him tightly as he kicked down his bedroom door. “Your boyfriend is trying to kill us.” He let her feet touch the floor only long enough to shove his bed aside with one hand and yank open the trapdoor hidden beneath it. The smell of stale air and dank earth made her cringe, but Orion didn’t let her back away from the black pit. Pulling her into his arms again, he brushed a kiss over her pale cheek. “Better men have tried and failed, sweetheart. Now hold on tight.” And he leapt into the darkness before she could reply.

*** Kira bit her lip to keep from screaming as they plummeted into the blackness. Barrett was really trying to kill them -- and she’d led him right to Orion. How could she have been so blind? Was she really so desperate for the security of marriage that she’d been fooled so easily by a handsome face and honeyed words? When she thought of the Christmas wedding they’d planned, she felt sick at her own stupidity. Barrett had seemed so… safe, so sane. So much what she wanted, a man who’d never let her down, a man she wouldn’t have to keep secrets from. A human version of Orion. They landed hard and she couldn’t stop the cry of pain as the impact jolted her throbbing leg, drowning her spinning thoughts. She wasn’t sure if she’d been shot or cut by the broken glass, but her thigh was on fire with pain and her entire leg was wet. Adrenaline and terror shot through her veins. She was soaked in blood and stuck at the bottom of a black pit with an infuriated vampire. This couldn’t be good.

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Orion didn’t even pause when they hit the ground. She closed her eyes as he sprinted through the darkness, leaving the tiny spot of light the trapdoor let in far behind. Dizzy and disoriented, she fisted her hands in the material of his jacket as he ran. “Where are we going?” “Cover your ears.” “Wha --” BOOM! The explosion rocked the earth around them and threw Orion off his feet. He rolled as he fell, taking the impact before rolling her beneath him to shield her. She opened her mouth to scream again, but before she could so much as draw a breath, Orion’s fingers dove into her hair. She caught the glint of fangs in the dark just before his mouth covered hers, hard and possessive, capturing her surprised gasp and turning it into a moan. His passion was as irresistible as it was unexpected, driving even the pain away in a rush of heat. Terror morphed into desire at the speed of light as hot cream flooded her pussy. His tongue stroked her lips, curled around hers and drew it out to play. She couldn’t resist tracing his fangs with the tip of her tongue and delighted in the deep growl she provoked. When he released her mouth to kiss a hot path across her jaw, Kira finally managed to draw a breath. The scent of him surrounded her, more intoxicating than whiskey. Her head reeled with desire so strong it made her feel physically weak. God, next I’ll be fainting like some chick in a romance novel! “Attempted murder really turns you on, doesn’t it?” she gasped, arching beneath him as he cupped her breast. “You turn me on, Kira,” he growled against her skin. Her nipple hardened in his palm and he shoved her shirt aside, ripping her bra to bare her skin to his hungry mouth. Hot, molten lust shot from her breast to her clit as he suckled and nipped her aching flesh. “I’ve wanted you for years. If I die tonight, I want one taste of you to take with me into oblivion.” His cock pressed against her belly, thick and hard, as he kissed her again. He

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ground his hips against hers, but the movement brought his thigh hard against her wound. He froze at her whimper of pain. “Fuck,” he whispered, drawing back. “You’re injured.” 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

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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

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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.

Chapter Two 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.

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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 he 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 --”

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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 heavy 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 --”

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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

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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. At last she sighed and looked around the room. Club Nighthawk -- the very last place she would ever have guessed Orion would bring her. Probably why he chose it, she thought. If Barrett knew as much as she suspected he did, he wouldn’t think to look for them here, at least not at first. There was no way Orion would stay under this roof an instant longer than was absolutely necessary, no matter how much more dangerous it would be for them out in the open. She spotted an open door and went through it, the sheet tangling around her legs, sighing with relief as she found a small but perfectly serviceable bathroom with a tiny shower stall in the corner. The hot water stung her skin as she scrubbed Orion’s scent from her body. By the time she was done, she wasn’t sure if the anger filling her thoughts was hers or his. Damn it all, did he think he was the only one who’d lost something tonight, the only one who’d been betrayed? Barrett’s face rose in her mind. The little cleft in his chin. His crystalline blue eyes smiling at her. His sleek blond hair, never out of place. His full lips descending to kiss her. Murmuring words of love. Those same lips shouting out the order to burn her, calling her a vampire whore.

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She shut off the water and pounded her fist against the wall, shaking with the force of her heartache and the need to strike out at something, anything. The fury rose hot and fierce as the full extent of his duplicity finally registered. The sharp crack of shattering tile barely penetrated her awareness as she remembered how Barrett had held her, kissed her, all the while planning her murder. In her mind’s eye it was Barrett she struck, Barrett she hurt, and she slammed her fists against the wall again and again and wished she could shred his handsome face. “Kira, stop!” Orion’s voice, in her mind as well as her ears, brought her out of her blind rage. She stood in the shower, head down, breathing hard, only now realizing that her feet were buried in a litter of broken tile and plaster. Her fists stung from numerous lacerations. Opening her eyes, she saw the shower was utterly destroyed -- huge holes gouged in the walls, the showerhead bent almost double, the frosted glass door shattered and hanging from one hinge, both faucets snapped cleanly off. Jets of hot and cold water sprayed her, scalding one hip, freezing the other. Sweet Christ, had she really done this? Orion grabbed the swinging door and yanked it free from its remaining hinge. Broken glass fell to the tile as he dropped it. She closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath, trying to tamp down the burning fury that still sizzled through her. The scent of her own blood, coppery and electric, filled her senses. The bloodlust roared to life again, stealing her rage and replacing it with a need that bordered on madness. Orion reached for her and she leapt at him. The impact slammed him against the wall. She snapped at his throat, aching for another taste of his blood, but he moved faster. Spinning her away from him and trapping her arms at her sides, he held her so tightly she could hardly breathe. “Easy, baby,” he whispered as she struggled, her new vampiric strength surging through her muscles. Strong as she was, however, he overpowered her as though she were weak as a newborn kitten. “Easy. Control it, Kira. You must master the urge.”

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Master it? She laughed, a sound that had more than a tinge of hysteria to it. This wasn’t a feeling that would bow to reason. Her veins flowed with lava, her body ached, and her fangs throbbed. Why fight it? Even the friction of her body against his as he held her immobile was fuel to the fire. “Give me more,” she demanded, twisting, trying to find a part of him she could bite. “Orion, I need blood!” He lifted her off her feet and carried her, still struggling, back into the bedroom. “You’ll have everything you need,” he said, his voice low and soothing. “But not until I know you won’t tear my throat out. Control it, Kira. You must not let the bloodlust rule you, baby. Don’t go feral on me now. Control it!” She moaned. “I’m burning,” she cried, writhing in his arms. “Help me!” Orion swore, long and vicious, before saying a few words in a language she didn’t recognize. Instantly her muscles went limp. “Be calm,” he said, lowering her to the bed as panic overwhelmed her when her body didn’t obey her commands. “I’ve enthralled you, for your safety as well as mine. It’s not permanent.” The cool sheets seared the skin of her back. Kira moaned again, a desperate sound deep in her throat, wanting to reach for Orion and unable to move so much as a finger. “Please,” she whispered as he straightened, terrified he’d leave her like this until the bloodlust receded. But he only moved far enough back to strip off his shirt and toss it aside. His jeans went next, revealing his thick cock, throbbing and erect. She licked her lips at the sight of it. His eyes tracked the movement and she saw the pulse throb at his throat. The sight only made the fire in her blood burn hotter. The mattress dipped as he sank down beside her, propping himself on his elbow and looking down at her. “I would never leave you to suffer this alone,” he whispered, and she wondered if he’d seen the thought in her eyes or plucked it straight from her mind. “But you must calm yourself, Kira. You can’t let the bloodlust rule you.” “It hurts,” she breathed, aching for his touch. Her fangs throbbed in time to her racing pulse. Her stomach cramped and twisted. “Shh.” He bent and brushed his lips over her forehead. Just that simple touch

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almost drove her wild with desire, but no matter how hard she tried to arch her neck and capture his mouth with hers, she remained still beside him. “Shh,” he soothed again. “Let me take care of you. Trust me.” Trust him -- when he didn’t trust her at all. That thought was swept away when he lifted one stinging, lacerated hand in his. He shook his head at the damage. “The Change has made you strong, baby, but your body is still fragile,” he murmured. “Bloodlust will force you to forget your body’s limitations. That is why you must control it, not the other way around. Are you hearing me?” Whatever reply she might’ve made was swallowed by a rush of heat as he bent over her hand and swept his tongue along one of the deep cuts. Their groans blended into one deep sound of need. “You taste so damn good,” he growled, sucking one finger into his mouth and laving it with his tongue. Every cut, every scrape, even the tiniest bruise received his full attention. With each sweep of his velvet tongue, the pain yielded to pleasure, and when he finished and stretched her arm high above her head, not one scratch remained. And then he started over on her other hand. “Orion,” she moaned, her breath coming in little pants, her core hot and wet, aching to be filled by that thick cock. “Oh, God, please!” “I’m trying to please you,” he whispered against her skin. “Feel me, Kira. Feel me, not the bloodlust.” His thigh slid across her legs, heavy, muscular. The pressure made her want to writhe and wiggle until she could trap his thigh between hers, ride it, feel his hard muscle against her throbbing clit. Simultaneously he nipped the tender pulse at her wrist, taking no more than a sip of her simmering blood before sealing the wound with a flick of his tongue. It was enough to heighten the link between them. Kira hissed as the cool weight of his mind slid across hers just as his thigh had trapped her legs. “Feel me,” he repeated, stretching her other arm up beside the first, making her back arch and her

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breasts jut forward. “Desire me, not my blood. Burn for me.” He bent over her, licking a hot path over the swell of her breast and down into the valley over her heart. “You can feed from anyone,” he murmured against her skin. She felt his arousal in her mind, the thrill of tasting her and pressing his cheek to her soft breast. “Want what only I can give you, Kira. Need me.” His desire, urgent and spicy, warred with the raging bloodlust. Kissing a path between her breasts and down her belly, ignoring her increasingly frantic pleas for release, for satisfaction, he found the scalded skin of her hip and laved it with his tongue. The sting of the burn faded and was replaced by goose bumps. “Crave me,” he whispered, licking his way over her hip and down to her thigh before raising his head to meet her eyes. “Do you feel me now, baby?” “Yes,” she whispered. Her body shivered as the pain of the bloodlust battled with the hot need Orion’s touch woke in her. She wanted to scream with frustration at the loss of his mouth on her skin. “God, love, don’t you dare stop!” Orion froze for a long moment, just long enough for Kira to realize what she’d said. Suddenly he rolled off the bed and grabbed her knees, pulling her to the edge of the mattress with one hard jerk. She cried out as his cock bumped her thigh and ached to wiggle just the slightest bit to put it where she so desperately wanted it. The paralysis heightened her frustration, while conversely increasing the erotic thrill of every touch. He caught the back of her neck and yanked her upright, supporting her body with that one hand as the other cupped her breast. His entire face had changed. No longer soft and tender, Orion was as fierce as she’d ever seen him. “You are at my mercy, Kira,” he growled, his eyes burning with intensity. “You know that, don’t you? I can do anything I want to you now and you can’t fight me.” His fingers twisted in her hair and pulled her head to the side, exposing her throat. His tongue trailed a hot path over her pulse. “I could bite you, fuck you, turn you over and bury my cock in that sweet ass.” His words vibrated against her skin and sent her pulse racing. “I could leave you here until the bloodlust subsides on its own, or

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keep you beside me for all time. I can make you come or keep you from it, fuck you or leave you, hurt you or pleasure you. You don’t tell me what to do, fledgling.” Now his voice was a snarl, punctuated by a sharp nip at her collarbone. “You take what I give you and you say thank you when I’m done. Do you understand me?”

Chapter Three She should have been alarmed. She knew she should be screaming by now, too terrified to breathe, but Kira had never been so turned on in her life. Some deep instinct had always trusted Orion and she knew to the depths of her soul that he wouldn’t hurt her now. He couldn’t hide that he wanted her as badly as she needed him. And she knew that no matter what he said, he wouldn’t leave her to suffer alone. “Yes,” she whispered. “I’m at your mercy.” “Damn straight,” he growled. “And you’d best remember that I’m not merciful.” He raised his head and met her eyes again. “Bite me and you’ll regret it,” he promised, and then bit his own lip hard enough to draw blood before taking her mouth in a ravenous kiss. The taste of him tore a moan from her throat. She met his dominating thrusts with her own tongue, his coppery flavor teasing her bloodlust to new heights. Her fangs throbbed in time to her pounding heart. Never in her life had she wanted anything as badly as she wanted to bite his tongue, to turn that hint of his blood into a rush that would sate her hunger. Every cell in her body, every instinct demanded it! She was panting with the effort of resisting by the time he pulled away. His pupils were enlarged, his own desire vivid in their depths. “Good girl,” he whispered, then licked the last trace of crimson from his lips and hers. “You’ve pleased me.” “I want to please you,” she said, meaning it with everything in her. “Then you should know that destroying the bathroom greatly displeased me.” It was the only warning she had before he sank his fangs into the curve of her breast. She cried out, unable to hold back, but as his tongue flicked over the bite her cry turned to a moan. Her nipple was a hard little peak, begging for attention, demanding that she tell him to suck it, but she didn’t dare. She couldn’t even arch her back to guide

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him to it. All she could do was submit, take what he gave her. He moved then, biting the underside of her other breast, drawing more inarticulate cries from her throat. The pleasure/pain was like nothing she’d ever experienced in her life. Forcing down the urge to beg, to plead for him to use that incredible mouth on all the places that were dying for his attention, she closed her eyes and held it inside. He sealed the wounds with a swipe of his tongue and laid her back down on the bed. “You’re learning your place very well,” he purred, both hands sliding up to cover her breasts. A quick pinch of both nipples sent a new wave of cream to her pussy and her eyes flew open to find him smiling down at her. “Still hungry for my blood, Kira?” “Yes,” she said, unable to lie to him. He rewarded her honesty by rolling her nipples between his fingers, tugging and caressing the hardened peaks. “And which do you want more, blood or cock?” This time, honesty was more difficult to come by. She couldn’t look away from his eyes, even knowing that he could see the sexual fire warring with the bloodlust there. He gave her nipples a little tug that sent a wave of electricity straight to her clit and tipped the balance. “Cock,” she whispered. This time his smile had a decidedly savage twist. “Any cock, or my cock?” “Yours,” she said. Opening her mind, she let him see her burning need for him and him alone. “No one’s but yours.” “And where do you want it, my lovely young fledgling?” “Anywhere.” The answer came out without a thought. She was so desperate for anything he would give her, she didn’t care where he fucked her as long as he did it. His eyes blazed with triumph. “You’re mine, Kira,” he said savagely. “Mine, you understand me? Say it!” Only when she had repeated it did he release her breasts and ease his body off hers. “You will move only at my command,” he ordered, and suddenly her limbs were her own again. Kira lay there, not daring to move an inch, not even to dig her fingers into the bed as he trailed a hand down her body. “So soft,” he whispered, watching his hand as

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it traced the curve of her breast, slipped over her belly and down her thigh. Then he rolled away from her and lay on his back, shoulders propped against the headboard. “Crawl over here, Kira, and suck me. I want that hot mouth of yours all over my cock.” “Oh, yes,” she breathed, her mouth already watering at the thought. She rolled to her hands and knees, shaking from head to toe with the force of her arousal. As she crawled, she felt the slickness on her thighs, the aching emptiness between them, and prayed he wouldn’t make her wait much longer. Never in her life had she needed to come so desperately. When she was eye-level with his cock, she wrapped her hand around it and kissed the tip. Her hair slid down and cascaded to his belly. Orion fisted both hands in her damp tresses to keep them from hiding the show. Slowly, hotter than ever with the knowledge that he was watching, holding his breath in anticipation, Kira parted her lips and took the round head of his cock into her mouth. His groan echoed her own as she tasted him, salty and thick in her mouth. She licked the sweet slit at his tip before flicking a slow circle around his rim. “Damn, Kira,” he bit out as she gently squeezed his balls with her other hand, letting her weight rest on her knees and propping her elbows on his thighs. His cock jumped in her hand and she sucked gently, slowly working her hand around his shaft as she rubbed his head against her soft palate. Just when she felt his balls draw up and his hips rock in involuntary little thrusts, Kira changed her rhythm. Releasing his shaft from her tight fist, she swallowed him, taking his entire length down her throat until her nose rested against his skin. His hands tightened in her hair and he panted for breath as she hummed around him. Sliding back until his entire length was before her, slick and shining, she tongued his rim before sucking him deep again. “Christ!” he cried, throwing his head back as she fucked him with her mouth, deep and slow, alternating hums with suction, squeezing and fondling his balls in her palm. Just when she sensed he was about to come, she released his cock completely and licked a hot circle around his balls.

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His thighs were trembling now as she concentrated on driving him just as crazy as he’d driven her. One by one she drew his balls into her mouth, rolling them on her tongue. Suddenly releasing them to deep-throat him, she didn’t draw away as his hips thrust wildly against her lips, fucking her mouth as he finally lost control. Playing with his balls, she felt them tighten an instant before he groaned aloud and came down her throat. She moaned with pleasure at the hot taste, the vibration making him curse and shudder as his thick cock jetted again. Never stopping her humming, she moved her head up and down in short pumps, milking him for everything he had. When his thighs and hands finally went limp, she licked every still-hard inch of him clean, not wanting to waste a drop. So hot she thought she could come just from the sight of his face, Kira kissed his hip and rested her forehead against his belly. “Did I please you?” He growled and pounced on her, pinning her to the bed and kissing her fiercely. She wrapped her arms around him and returned his passion with all her heart, arching as he pushed his knee between her thighs, opening wide to let him in. Finally breaking the kiss just as she became dizzy with lack of oxygen, Orion tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her to his throat. “Bite me,” he demanded huskily, and thrust hard as her fangs penetrated his skin, seating himself to the balls in her slick pussy as his blood flooded her mouth. Wanting to scream with the intense pleasure, Kira suckled the wound on his throat and drowned in sensation. Bloodlust and ecstasy were one, pain and pleasure and hot, scalding need, every hard surge of his cock inside her driving her higher until she couldn’t tell where one orgasm ended and the next began, wrapping herself around him and meeting every thrust with another suck at his neck, another electric jolt of pleasure, another squeeze of her legs around his waist as she drew him back for more. When Orion came deep inside her, she threw her head back and screamed his name to the heavens. And after she’d finally caught her breath, still pinned beneath his weight, his cock pulsing deep inside her, Kira managed to find the strength to turn and kiss his ear.

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“Thank you,” she whispered, and gladly slipped into oblivion.

*** Thank you. Orion rolled away as Kira fell asleep, every muscle of his body trembling with the aftermath of his orgasm. Her words echoed in his ears, haunting him. He couldn’t bear to look at her. It did no good. Her image was seared in his mind whether he looked or not. Her black curls were spread in magnificent disarray over his pillow, her incredible mouth puffy from his kisses. The bites at her wrist and on her breasts marked her as his as surely as a brand. Every inch of her body bore his scent. The pink scrapes on her soft skin, abraded from his rough jaw, both thrilled and shamed him. No one could look at her without knowing he’d taken her, but even those slight injuries made him wish he’d been more careful with her. Damn it all, why had he thought his dominant game would help him keep his emotions at a distance? He sighed and propped his elbows on his knees before dropping his head in his hands. The goddamned problem was that he had no emotional distance where she was concerned. He hadn’t since the day she’d walked into his study and knocked him so utterly off-balance that he still hadn’t recovered. The daughter of his former Associate, Kira had taken her father’s place when he’d been forced to retire by wounds sustained during the last attempt on Orion’s life. Orion had known of her from Ulric, a man inordinately proud of his only child, but had never bothered to meet her or so much as look at her picture. One human was much like another. One Associate was hardly distinguishable from the next. Orion hadn’t cared who served him so long as someone did. Then Ulric had brought Kira to him, an ebony-haired goddess in jeans and Tivas. She’d smiled with a complete lack of awe through the introductions and offered him her hand before Ulric could stop her or remind her that vampires only touched humans when absolutely necessary.

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Orion had shaken her hand without hesitation, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and he remembered with crystal clarity the thought that went through his mind in the instant before their fingers touched. I am in very deep trouble. He’d wanted her since that instant. It hadn’t taken much longer than that for him to love her. Everything about her seduced him. Her easy laugh, the way she teased him until he joined her. The utter absence of fear in her eyes when she challenged him. The unconsciously sexy sway of her hips as she walked. The way she nagged him when she thought he wasn’t taking proper care of himself, as if he hadn’t already survived four hundred years without her care. And the explosive, mind-consuming jealousy he’d fought since the first night she’d arrived at his home wearing the intimate scent of another man. Orion closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, savoring the blended aroma of their sex. Now she smelled of him and him only, and if he’d felt territorial before, it was nothing compared to the blinding possessiveness that overrode his logic and reason now. Kira was his. She was his. As a human she’d been safely out of reach, but as a vampire, he could have her as his mate. He could lead her through the binding ritual and brand her with something even more lasting than the bites. He could have her forever and make her love it. It was everything he’d refused to even dream of. And this woman he wanted above all others had led the hunters to his lair and had planned to leave him for a Nighthawk. He wanted to roar with fury at the injustice of it, to demand the silent gods explain themselves. Vampires were cursed and every vampire knew it. He just hadn’t thought the curse would be so cruel. He loved her and he couldn’t have her. Wouldn’t use her need to keep her. She hadn’t wanted him until her life depended on it, and may the gods be damned, that wasn’t enough for him. He groaned and dragged his fingers through his hair. The only way to preserve

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his sanity was to make her self-sufficient as fast as he could, and then run like hell. He’d started over before and he could do it again. Would do it again now. Gentle fingertips traced down his spine, jolting him from his thoughts. “Come to bed,” Kira murmured, caressing his hip. “The dawn’s breaking.” And even though he cursed his weakness, Orion couldn’t make himself pass up the pleasure of falling to the bed beside her and holding her close as she succumbed to the day sleep, her head on his shoulder.

*** Orion was already dressed by the time Kira awakened. She stretched luxuriously, either unconscious or uncaring that the movement sent the bedding sliding down to her waist and exposed her soft, luscious breasts to his view. Determined not to repeat last night’s mistakes, he turned away and threw a shopping bag at her. “Put that on,” he said, his voice considerably gruffer than he’d intended. “Good morning to you too,” she said, a hint of humor in her tone. “Wake up on the wrong side of the coffin?” Damn it, he couldn’t take her teasing, not now, but the stinging retort that would wipe the cheer from her voice didn’t come no matter how he tried to force it out. Giving up, he merely held his tongue and tried not to imagine her standing behind him, wearing only her bare skin. The sooner she hid that gorgeous body under layers of material, the better. He heard cloth sliding over skin, the soft whisper of the zipper. “Where’d you get these jeans? They’re the perfect size,” she said as she padded around to stand in front of him. “How’d you know?” In truth, he’d read it off the tag during one of the many times he’d stared at her ass, but there was no way she needed to know that. The Nighthawks had allowed him to send one of their Associates to shop for Kira that day, outfitting her with everything from shoes to lingerie. “Lucky guess.” He handed her a new pair of shoes and tried not to notice the cleavage her new top revealed. “Ready to go?”

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“Where are we going?” “Anywhere the Nighthawks aren’t.” She shook her head as she slipped her feet into the clogs. “You never would tell me what you have against them,” she said. “Vampire secrets and all that. Can I know now, or do I have to learn the secret handshake first?” That was a memory he wouldn’t revisit, not even for her. He turned toward the door. “No. Now if you’re quite finished, it’s time to move on.” “Wait.” He stopped but didn’t face her. “What?” Kira stepped around him again until she was between him and the exit. Reaching up with both hands, she pulled him down and kissed him softly. Her lips, full and lush and unbearably sweet, were almost the last temptation he could stand. His fists clenched to keep from hauling her against him and thrusting his tongue deep into her mouth. She pulled away after only a moment. “That’s how I want to start my evening,” she whispered, then released him and stepped away. “Now I’m ready to go.” This time it was easy not to reply. He wasn’t sure his voice was even working.

Kira let Orion lead her from the room they’d shared with a pang of loss. No matter what happened, she would never forget the time they’d spent there. Orion’s distance hurt, but she refused to let that dampen her spirits. He was still with her and he’d held her all day long. She had time to tease him out of this rotten mood and reveal the hot lover he hid inside, the side of him she’d never expected to see. “Tonight I’ll teach you to feed on your own,” he said, shattering her thoughts. “With luck you’ll pick it up quickly. Soon you won’t need me at all.” She stumbled. Surely he wasn’t serious. “Orion, I don’t want to feed from anyone else.” He merely shrugged at the distress in her tone. “I’m not a buffet,” he replied coldly. “If you want to feed once I’m gone, you’ll have to learn to take humans.”

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That effectively wiped away the high hopes she’d awoken with. “You planning on going somewhere I can’t follow?” Her effort at lightness was forced at best, pathetic at worst. He was really leaving her? “With any luck,” he growled. He was to the end of the hall and two steps down the stairs before he realized she wasn’t behind him. Even in the dim light, she could see his scowl. “Get a move on,” he snapped. “We don’t have all night.” Her feet felt rooted to the spot by a rush of cold panic. She opened her mouth, fighting the urge to beg him to stay. This wasn’t what she’d thought would happen when he’d offered her life as a vampire! “You promised you’d take care of me,” she whispered, remembering his words in that dark tunnel as they’d fled the destruction of his home. “When you turned me, you said you’d take care of me. You didn’t say you’d abandon me to fend for myself.” His face hardened. “I am taking care of you,” he shot back, every word a bullet of anger. “You’re alive, aren’t you? Have I not fed you when you were hungry? Did I not teach you to control your bloodlust last night? You can use sex on anyone, not just me. Tonight you will. Now get your ass in gear, Kira. Dawn waits for no one.” “No.” The word was out before she so much as thought it but she didn’t take it back. Hurt feelings or not, she wasn’t the begging type. Crossing her arms over her chest, Kira raised her chin. His behavior last night had been a sexy, kinky game, but this was pushing her limits. She didn’t know what the hell was wrong with him but he’d never spoken to her like this and she wasn’t going to start taking it now. “Your attitude sucks, Orion. I didn’t use sex on you and you fucking well know it. Find another tone when you speak to me or you can take off for wherever you’re going without me.” Forget the terror that waited to swamp her at the thought of fending for herself alone. She’d rather do that than allow anyone to demean her. He took a menacing step forward, then stopped. Their gazes clashed for a long moment before he sighed harshly and let his head drop back, eyes closing. “All right,”

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he said, the hard anger vanishing from his voice to be replaced by weariness. “All right. You’re right and I’m sorry. Kira, please come here. I need to get out of here and I’m not leaving without you.” That was better. She uncrossed her arms and took her time walking to his side. “You’re not usually a bastard,” she said when she stopped beside him. “Want to tell me what crawled up your ass and died, or do I get to guess?” Finally he met her eyes again and she was relieved to see the old Orion looking down at her. He shook his head at her language but she was sure she saw the hint of a smile at the edge of his mouth. “I should know better than to bully you,” he admitted. “Let’s just get out of here first. We can talk outside.” “Whatever.” But this time she followed when he started down the stairs. The bass beat still hammered, getting progressively louder the closer they got to the bottom. The already faint light dimmed further, then was replaced by black lights. Orion surprised her by taking her hand when they turned the final corner. They emerged into chaos. Even when she’d dated Barrett, Kira had never been inside Club Nighthawk. Now she knew why both men had warned her away from it. A seething, writhing mass of humanity filled the huge club, surging to the beat of the heavy metal band on the stage. Every dark corner held a couple -- or more -- and the scent of blood and sex was heavy in the humid air. Without understanding how she knew it, she sensed the presence of vampires throughout the crowd -- inciting the humans’ desires, feeding their own bloodlust and taking what they wanted without the slightest regard for mortal life. People would die here tonight. The certainty of death was as clear as the pounding beat of the music. The only uncertainties were how, and whom. Orion squeezed her hand in reassurance as she involuntarily cringed. “Have no fear,” he murmured, his words clear to her despite the raucous music. “No one will bother you, Kira. Come, the exit’s just over here.” She held tight to him as he made his way effortlessly through the crowd. People

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parted before him like magic. She supposed it probably was magic. Fixing her eyes on Orion’s back to avoid the enthralled, already-dead gazes of the dancing humans around her, she’d never been so glad to see anything in her life as she was to see the double doors of the exit before them. Just as they reached them, a pair of vampires stepped from the shadows and blocked their path. One fair and one dark, they practically oozed menace. “Leaving so soon, Orion?” the blond vamp said, giving them a feral little smile. “You haven’t asked your Master’s permission to leave.” “I don’t have a Master.” “Don’t you? I don’t recall freeing you,” the dark-skinned one replied, and although he spoke second, there was no doubt in her mind that here was the real power in the room. The Master of Clan Nighthawk. His gaze raked over Kira with wicked interest and she felt the tension in Orion’s body coiling yet tighter. “We thought you’d make more of your long-overdue homecoming. You have fed, but your pretty little fledgling hasn’t tasted the pleasures of her Clan yet. She hungers -- surely you feel it. Would you deny her the chance to drink her fill before you take her away?” Kira’s mind reeled. Orion was a Nighthawk? His hand was the only thing that kept her from swaying with shock. She heard his snarl an instant before his reply. “She is an outsider’s offspring, of no interest to you or your Clan. Now move aside or I’ll move you myself.” “You presume to decide where my interests fall?” Orion shifted slightly, hiding her still further behind his shoulder. “Why should a Clan Master bother himself with a mere fledgling?” he returned, everything in his manner polite as he radiated distrust and hate. She could practically see the undercurrents flowing between them and hardly dared to breathe. “She must be worth the bother or you wouldn’t have turned her. I can recall another that didn’t merit such attention from you. I’d be a fool not to be interested by a woman who shows such promise.” That was the last straw. Orion snarled, dropping the façade of civility entirely.

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Rage and power rolled from him in waves, a tsunami of aggression. Even knowing Orion as she did, his strength and power astounded her. “This one won’t be corrupted, damn you, Gregori,” he growled, every muscle primed to fight. Gregori smiled and spread his hands in a gesture of peace. She didn’t trust it one bit. “Corrupt? I’d never suggest such a thing,” he demurred smoothly. “All Nighthawks are free to find their own path within the Clan. No vampire is forced to do anything they do not wish.” Then his eyes met hers and she just barely stopped the shudder that wanted to make her look away. Gregori’s eyes were black as ice, but it wasn’t the lack of color that made them terrifying. Those eyes were cold and dead and yet they danced with a hideous light. There was power in this man, awesome power. Even new as she was, her vampire senses vibrated with awareness of his strength and age. This was not a man to take lightly. “Aren’t you hungry, young one?” Gregori asked. The concern in his voice sounded as genuine as his motion of peace. “I offer you a feast. Come, partake.” Orion’s grip on her hand was almost painful. “No!” “You will not let her decide for herself, then? Perhaps you are not as sure of her as you claim.” Gregori raised an eyebrow, still looking at Kira. She refused to be the first one to break eye contact. “And what say you, little girl? Do you wish to live as an outsider, without the protection and benefit of your Clan? Has he even told you what you’ll forfeit should you turn your back on your own blood, as he has? Will you allow him to make this decision for you, or will you speak for yourself?” Orion started to lunge for him but Kira wrapped her free arm around his waist and held him back. I can handle this. Don’t give him the satisfaction of making you lose your temper, Orion. Trust me. When he went still, Kira released him and stepped out from behind him. Two steps brought her almost nose-to-nose with Gregori. “I can speak for myself,” she said, her voice as calm as his had been. His power rolled over her and it was all she could do to pretend she didn’t feel it, that it didn’t intimidate the hell out of her. “I don’t want

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your feast, Gregori. I may be a vampire now, but I will never forget what it is to be human. Killing them like cattle holds no appeal for me.” “Ahh, but you haven’t tasted the pleasures you so easily dismiss,” Gregori replied. “Won’t you give us this one night to show you what you’re missing?” Kira shook her head firmly. “I don’t need to dance with the devil to recognize his evil. Hearing the music is enough for me.” He shook his head, sending his waist-length dreadlocks swaying. “What a pity,” he murmured. He held her eyes for another long minute before stepping aside with a little bow. “Should you wish to embrace your Clan, little girl, we will welcome you with arms open wide. I call you kin, not outsider, not outcast. But, go now. Go with the outsider and taste the life he can give you. When you tire of running and the stale, tasteless bags of blood your sire provides, return to us.” He gave her a wink and grinned, displaying his fangs. “I’ll be happy to train you myself.” She longed to shout that she’d never submit to such a thing, but now that the exit was clear, she didn’t dare rock the boat. “I’ll… keep that in mind,” she said instead, and let Orion pull her out the door.

Chapter Four The cold night air was a welcome relief after the saturated atmosphere of the club and she drank it in gratefully. Orion didn’t slow as he led her down the alley and out onto the busy street. “What the hell were you thinking?” he snarled, dragging her along. “You practically challenged him, Kira! Gregori is not someone you want to fuck with, and you throw down the gauntlet without so much as --” “Well, it might’ve helped had I known you were a Nighthawk before five minutes ago!” she snapped back. “How was I supposed to react? You’ve warned me about them time and time again, and now I find out I’m tied to them through your blood!” That stopped him in his tracks. She ran into his back, so abrupt was his stop. “I am not a Nighthawk,” he growled. “And neither are you. Never say that again. I forbid you to --” “Fuck your ‘forbid,’ and fuck you too,” she cut him off, returning his growl just as fiercely. She shoved his shoulder until he turned to face her. “I didn’t appreciate going into that blind, Orion. I want an explanation from you and I want it now. Start talking or I swear to God I’ll walk back there and get my answers from Gregori.” His jaw clenched and his eyes blazed, but she hadn’t let Gregori stare her down, and damn it, she wasn’t going to let Orion do it, either. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited, matching him scowl for scowl. Finally he drove a hand through his hair and dropped his eyes. “Not here,” he said stiffly. “Let’s go to --” “Here and now, fang-boy. You had your chance to explain in private before we left that room.” His eyes flashed red. “I’m getting tired of you interrupting me, fledgling.”

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“And I’m getting tired of listening to you dance around my questions, Sire,” she shot back. “I died for you and trusted you enough to give up my humanity for you. The least you can do in return is answer one fucking question.” “Fine.” She could hear his teeth grinding as he growled through them. “Gregori is my sire. He made me four hundred years ago. It was nothing like your change, Kira -I knew what he was and I asked for it. I wanted the power of it. Yes, I lived with the Nighthawks, and I participated in their blood feasts. I spent two hundred and fifty years in utter depravity, no different from them. I murdered, I fucked, I took what I wanted and didn’t bother to ask permission or forgiveness. Does it please you to hear me say it? Is that what you wanted to hear?” She held his tortured gaze steadily, this time refusing to react to his anger. “And what changed you?” His fists clenched and she knew it cost him an effort to answer her. “A human,” he ground out. “A human, a mere mortal, showed me what I’d become.” Unexpected jealousy shivered through her thoughts. Kira forced it aside. “Who was she?” There was no doubt in her mind that the human had been a woman, that she’d been his lover instead of his prey. She hadn’t expected the knowledge that he’d loved another woman to hurt like this, though. Get real, Kira, she told herself fiercely. She lived and died long before you were ever born, and you have no claim on him now, either. His eyes were closed now, and if any of her thoughts had shown on her face, he’d missed it. “I saw her first and knew the others would want her. I’d shared often enough, but something about her made me want her to myself. I hid her at my lair, a place the Nighthawks didn’t know I had,” he said, his voice softening with memory. “Rather than fearing me, feeding my bloodlust with her terror, she spoke to me. Told me of her family and her life. I couldn’t kill her, though I fed from her. I… I came to care for her.” Then his eyes opened and she flinched from the fury in their depths. “Gregori took her from me,” he snarled. “Used one of his bloodslaves to take her during the day

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when I couldn’t help her. By the time I found her, she was already turned.” His voice hardened with a hate so strong it made her shudder to hear it. “He’d turned her and already forced her to make her first kill. She was his creature, laughing when I offered to save her from him. One night, Kira. One night with him was all it took to kill her soul and leave her addicted to the pleasures he gave her.” She reached out and took one fisted hand in hers. “How did she die?” He laughed bitterly. “What makes you think she’s dead?” She just stared. There was no answer she could give. Finally, he spoke again. “I couldn’t stay with them after that,” he said, his voice low and harsh. “I renounced my Clan, my sire, every tie I’d ever had to the vampire world. That night I swore I would never again kill my prey. I vowed that I wouldn’t forget what Ellyra taught me, even if she had.” Kira reached out and touched his shoulder. The muscle was rock-hard beneath her hesitant hand. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “So am I.” This time she didn’t protest when he started walking away, only hurried her steps to keep up with him. Her thoughts spun so wildly she didn’t even pay attention to where he led her. Wherever he took her, it was away from the Nighthawks, and that was good enough for her. They hadn’t even gone a full block when a woman fell smoothly into step beside them. Orion’s head snapped to the side. “Well, well, well,” he drawled coldly. “You know what they say about speaking of the devil.” Kira stared at the newcomer in shock. Tall and graceful with fiery curls cascading down her back, she was the kind of woman that made every other female fade into the background. “Ellyra?” She gave him a tight smile, exposing straight white teeth without a hint of fangs. “There is little time,” she murmured, completely ignoring Kira. “You are being followed.”

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“I’d expect nothing less.” “You need help. I’m offering it.” Orion laughed. “I need nothing from you.” She raised an eyebrow at his flat statement. “Don’t be a fool,” she said. “Your pride will not help your young one any more than it helped me. Come with me. I have a safe place for you and your fledgling to stay, and blood to restore her strength.” Kira had taken just about all she could stand of being ignored. “And just why are you helping us, if that’s what you’re doing?” she snapped, unable to keep silent any longer. “You made your choice a long time ago, and you didn’t choose Orion. What’s changed?” Ellyra’s smile faded altogether. “This time Gregori has taken my lover,” she hissed. “Are you certain it wasn’t your lover’s choice?” Kira shot back. “After all, you didn’t hesitate to fuck yours over when Gregori crooked his finger at you.” Her eyes flashed with red flames. “I discovered the body in his chambers,” she snarled. “Not in his bed. Gregori did not attain what he sought, and he kills those who tell him no.” Kira started to speak again, not trusting this pronouncement one bit, but Orion squeezed her hand and overrode her. “Tell us where you would have us go,” he said, “and perhaps we’ll follow you.” We have no safe haven. I can feel Ellyra’s pain and anger. I don’t believe she’s lying, but even if she is, we really have no better choices right now. I don’t like it, she replied, still eyeing Ellyra. Neither do I. But if she does have a safe hideout, I can always kill her and take it for my own. Don’t underestimate me, Kira. Right now I am a cornered animal and I’ll fight for anything we need. Ellyra paused beneath a streetlamp, ignoring their silence. “I’ve taken the penthouse suite at the Ritz-Carlton,” she replied, answering Orion’s question. She turned and signaled toward the street, thankfully missing the dumbfounded

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expression Kira couldn’t suppress no matter how hard she tried. It was only when a black limousine pulled to the curb that she found her voice again. “That’s your hideout? The fucking Ritz-Carlton?” Ellyra gave her a cold smile. “You have an objection, fledgling?” A uniformed chauffeur got out and walked around the car, making her suddenly conscious that people were staring at them. She couldn’t blame them -- a beautiful woman in a dress that probably cost more than what most people made in a month had flagged down her personal limo for a couple in jeans and sweaters? “For Christ’s sake,” she hissed as the chauffeur opened the door for them. “This is your idea of keeping a low profile?” “No, Kira, she’s right,” Orion answered before Ellyra could speak again. “Gregori already knows we can’t go far tonight -- you don’t have the strength for a long run -- and I’d be very surprised if he didn’t know that Ellyra has defected as well. It’s not about keeping a low profile at this point. It’s about finding a place that even Gregori would think twice about attacking.” Much as she hated to admit it, Kira had to concede the point. She climbed into the limo, scowling. Shameless and brazen as they were in their own club, even the Nighthawks were careful to keep their existence a secret from humans. Attacking a fivestar hotel and murdering or kidnapping guests from the penthouse would bring attention the Clan could ill afford. The ride passed in uncomfortable silence. Kira made no attempt to converse with either of them, instead staring out the window and watching the traffic so she wouldn’t have to see Orion look at the woman who had reawakened his heart, only to break it. The chauffeur opened the door when they arrived at the hotel. Kira ignored the hand he offered to help her climb out, taking Orion’s instead. She pretended not to see Ellyra’s amused glance. “Come, Carlo,” she murmured. “I have a use for you.” “Yes, Mistress.” The chauffeur tossed the limo’s keys to a surprised valet and followed them into

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the lobby. Orion didn’t reply to her mental questions and she finally gave up. Carlo stood close to her in the elevator, his spicy aftershave tickling her senses, teasing the never-quiet bloodlust. When Orion draped his arm around her shoulders and glared at the chauffeur, she leaned against him and closed her eyes, comforted by his possessiveness. I’m hungry again, she told him. I never noticed you needing blood this often. What’s wrong with me? But it was Ellyra who answered her, not Orion. “You are merely young,” she said. “Have no fear, fledgling. Carlo will provide for you.” Her eyes flew open and her spine went rigid. How the hell was Ellyra eavesdropping on her mental communication with Orion? But then her words sank in and Kira stared at the chauffeur standing motionless beside her. He looked straight ahead, showing no reaction to the fact that his blood had just been offered to her so blithely. “Excuse me?” Ellyra raised one perfect eyebrow at her reaction. “I told you I had arranged blood for you. What were you expecting?” “I don’t want to bite him,” Kira said, fury in every word. “And am I the only one who thinks Carlo ought to have some say about this?” Carlo blinked and turned his head, meeting her eyes for the first time. He was handsome, tall and muscular and blessed with a face so perfect he could make the gods weep with envy, but there was something very wrong with his eyes. They were empty, absolutely soulless. “I live to do as my Mistress commands,” he said in a deep, emotionless voice. Orion’s disgust filled her mind. “A bloodslave,” he spat. “You have fallen low, Ellyra.” “You already knew that,” she replied, shrugging. “Yet my offer stands. Your fledgling must learn to feed, and Carlo wishes only to serve. He is the perfect way for her to practice the skills she needs.” “I have a name, you know, and it’s not fledgling,” Kira interrupted. “And this

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entire thing is disgusting!” The ding of the elevator indicated they’d arrived at the top floor, cutting through any reply she might have made. As Ellyra and her bloodslave exited, Kira turned to Orion. “I won’t bite him. Tell her, since I’m apparently beneath her notice.” Orion sighed and shook his head. “She’s right,” he murmured. “You’ll have to learn to feed from others. You need to take what has been offered.” She stared at him, astonished that he would take Ellyra’s side over her own wishes. “But I don’t want to feed from others!” He caught her elbow and drew her gently from the elevator. “Kira, sweetheart,” he said, cupping her face in his hands and looking into her eyes. “You’re newly made. You’ll need to feed at least every night for a few months, and twice on nights you’re particularly active, such as last night. I can’t provide all the blood you need. You’ve learned a way to control the bloodlust. You have to use that knowledge to feed from humans, and the bloodslave is here and willing.” “You mean brainwashed.” The very idea of biting Carlo disgusted her. “It’s not right and you know it.” He brushed a kiss over her lips. “It’s not right,” he agreed softly. “But there is nothing we can do for him. For good or for ill, he is Ellyra’s creature, and only she may command or free him.” He kissed her again, tracing her lips with his tongue this time before pulling away. “Please, take what she offers. I need you to be strong, well-fed and healthy.” Ahead of them, Carlo held the door to the suite open, waiting patiently for them to follow Ellyra inside. He showed no sign that he’d even noticed their conversation. Kira avoided his empty eyes and made sure she didn’t brush against him as she entered the suite. The scent of his cologne chased her as Carlo closed the door, letting her know that he remained just a step behind her. So unsettled was Kira that the magnificence of their suite hardly registered. Ellyra was at the bar, pouring a glass of something from a decanter that glittered in the way that only fine crystal can. She held it out to Orion. “You look like you need this,

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darling.” Trailing behind him simply because she didn’t know what else to do, she couldn’t keep herself from scowling as he took the glass without comment. Darling? What the hell was that? He bristled like a porcupine whenever Kira tried to get close to him, yet this woman who’d betrayed him a century ago called him darling and got away with it? Ellyra turned to her before she could think of an adequately scathing way to put the vampiress in her place. “Carlo will provide for you now, young one,” she said. “Use the master bedroom if you wish. It is the finest of the rooms, and the walls are thick enough that we won’t have to hear the sounds of your… feeding.” Orion stiffened and glared at Carlo. The bloodslave took no notice. His eyes were fixed only on Kira, and she fought not to shudder at the thought of letting the bloodlust control her as she fed on him. Worse still was the idea of using sex to keep from losing control of herself, especially if Ellyra had ulterior motives for offering him. Locked away from Orion, anything could happen. She shuddered at the thought. “Tell him to obey me,” she said suddenly, meeting Ellyra’s coolly amused gaze. “I won’t go anywhere with him unless he’s in my control, not yours.” She smiled. “So distrustful, after what I’ve done to aid you,” she murmured. “But I would expect no less from Orion’s progeny.” “Not Kira,” Orion interrupted. “Have him answer to me, Ellyra. Not her.” Ellyra’s laugh sounded utterly out of place in the tense room. “Why not her? Afraid she’ll command him to perform some sexual act you can’t match? Do you wish to order him to remain impotent?” He glowered, but Kira answered before he could draw breath. “Unless you’re coming in that room with us, he’d better obey me,” she snapped. “And if you’re in that room I’m biting you, not him.” Ellyra laughed again. “Go, fledgling,” she said. “Carlo will do your bidding while you remain in the bedroom. Once he returns, he is mine again. Do what you will with him so long as you don’t damage him beyond repair. I have no desire to train a

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new bloodslave.” “Thank you.” It took all her control to force the words past her lips. She couldn’t even look at Orion as Carlo strode to one of the closed doors to open it for her. Dread swamped her as she remembered their conversation above Club Nighthawk and she couldn’t stop the plea from coming out. “Don’t leave while I’m in there, please, Orion?” His growl was the only warning she had before Orion pulled her hard against him and kissed her fiercely. Her squeak of surprise was muffled against his mouth. Tongue thrusting deep, he branded her with his taste and his passion. She could only cling to his shoulders as his heat burned her entire body. Her fangs lengthened and throbbed in time to her racing heartbeat. Kissing him back with every bit of passion and lust inside her, her pussy growing wet and her body hungering for his in every way, she felt the bloodlust roar and writhe inside her. Need, hunger, desire fused and demanded more. “You think of that,” he growled against her lips when he finally broke the kiss. “You just fucking keep that in mind, Kira, you understand me?” Breathless and burning, all she could do was nod as she stepped out of his embrace. Orion glared at the bloodslave as she forced herself to walk to his side. She had just stepped into the opulent master bedroom when she heard him snarl at Carlo. “You harm her and I will tear you limb from limb,” he vowed. And then the door closed behind her, locking her in and bringing Carlo fully under her control. He turned and smiled at her, giving her a little half-bow. “How may I please you, Mistress?” he asked. “Command me, I beg you.”

Chapter Five Orion watched the door close and fought against the red tide of fury threatening to choke him. He tossed back his liquor in one swallow and hurled the glass into the fireplace just for the satisfaction of watching it shatter. “Such a temper. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you lose it before.” “Then you weren’t paying attention.” The master bedroom was just as soundproof as Ellyra had claimed; even his hypersensitive hearing couldn’t detect any voices from within. “Perhaps they aren’t talking,” she suggested. “Get the fuck out of my mind. I don’t care what they’re doing.” She laughed, throwing back her head and howling in amusement. “Orion, you are the worst liar I have ever met. You’re going mad from wondering if he’s going to fuck her. How he’s going to fuck her. If she’ll come for him as passionately as she does for you and if she’ll want more. Why didn’t you just feed her yourself if the thought of her biting another man makes you this furious?” Her stark words forced him to picture it -- Kira’s gloriously naked body writhing beneath Carlo’s, her legs locked around his waist, urging him on as he thrust his cock deep in her cunt, sinking her fangs into his throat and drinking him down as she came and came and came. He clenched his fists and bit his cheek hard, hoping the pain would drive the terrible image from his mind. Only when he was certain he could speak calmly did he reply. “I fed her twice last night. I have nothing else for her now. Besides, she has to feed on her own sometime,” he said. The words felt like broken glass in his mouth. The thought of her going willingly into that abomination’s arms, letting the bloodslave arouse and fuck her to keep her from losing control of the blood hunger, was sheer torture. He couldn’t

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shove the maddening image from his mind no matter how hard he tried. “Damn it, I need another drink.” “That’s not what you need.” He rounded on Ellyra, fangs bared. “Who are you to presume you know what I need? Make no mistake, Ellyra. I am here with you because I have to be, not because I want to be.” She shrugged. “I would expect nothing less. Orion, I’m sorry you were hurt when I went to Gregori, but you wouldn’t give me what I wanted. He would.” She leaned gracefully against the bar. “I regret the pain I caused you, but I have never regretted what I became.” “Depraved,” he growled. “Immortal,” Ellyra corrected. “Powerful. I depend on no one, Orion. Even Gregori never controlled me. Do you know what it was like for a woman in my time? You have always had freedom -- I had none! Should I have meekly given my life to marriage and children I never wanted? When I met you, I knew there was another way to live, one that would allow me to truly live instead of just existing. Can you blame me for taking it?” He grabbed the decanter and raised it to his lips, drinking deep as if the burn of the alcohol would sear away his rioting emotions. In all the time Ellyra had spent with him, she’d never voiced any of this. Had never once asked him to make her a vampire. How could he have been unaware that her life had been so miserable? “And did you get what you wanted?” he said, trying to force himself not to stare at that closed door. “Is Carlo the man you always desired, or was it Gregori you desired as your mate?” “I desire no man as my mate. I never have.” Her soft declaration made him spin around. Ellyra smiled at his disbelief and shrugged. “Your fledgling is a beautiful woman,” she murmured. “She worries that you’ll leave her alone. I would care for her, if you --” Her offer broke him free from his shock and the sudden realization of why she

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had always spurned his advances -- she’d never come to his bed because she desired women, not men! And now she wanted Kira? His Kira? He glared at her, infuriated beyond reason. “She might not be mine, but she’s not a slave to be given away, either.” “I already have a slave,” she countered. “I have no need for another one. I lost my lover to Gregori, Orion, and I’ve not been alone since my mortal death. Let me --” “Damn it, you can’t have her!” She sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. A long moment passed while she regarded him coolly before finally speaking again. “I have always been able to see into the minds of others,” she said softly. “Even when I was mortal you knew this, and still you think to lie to me now. You have never loved anyone the way you love her, yet you deny that she is yours. You claim not to care for her and seem determined to break your own heart by leaving her. Why do this to yourself? You won’t have her for yourself, yet you refuse to allow me to take your place as her guardian -- and I would cherish her, not enslave her. What do you want, Orion? I don’t understand you. Do you truly crave pain and solitude that much?” He found he couldn’t meet her eyes and took another swig from the decanter to avoid her too-knowing gaze. “I want her to be self-sufficient,” he said, staring at the play of light through the crystal and liquor. She waved toward the door. “She’s in there becoming self-sufficient,” she countered. “And you’re miserable. Tell me what you want, not what you think you can have.” He put the decanter down with exaggerated care. What did he want? He wanted Kira, of course -- he always had. He wanted her with a passion that left every obsession he’d ever had in the dust, but she’d never chosen him. She’d chosen that thrice-damned mortal vampire slayer and would have left without a backward glance to be with her lover. Would’ve betrayed him and gone to the Nighthawks, just as Ellyra had. So what did he want? The same thing he’d always wanted. The impossible.

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Most of all, he wanted to tell Ellyra to stop this stupid questioning. But if she could truly see inside him -- and everything she’d said proved she could -- it would do no good. No matter what had changed about her when she’d gone to Gregori, Ellyra had always been and always would be persistent. That meant he had to find some kind of answer that would put her off. She shook her head and spoke again before he could think of anything to say. “Has it never entered your mind,” she said, “that Kira was harmed by that attack even more than you?” His head snapped around and he bared his fangs at her. “Why must you reopen this wound?” he demanded. “To distract you,” she replied, giving him honesty when he least expected it. “Otherwise you’d have broken down the door by now, no matter what you say. You’re thinking of the slayer who destroyed your home, yet nowhere in your mind do I find the smallest shred of sympathy for Kira.” “She betrayed me,” he growled. “She was used!” Ellyra snapped. “Damn it, you’ve never been stupid. Don’t start now. Do you really think it was a coincidence that Gregori’s own Associate sought her out and romanced her? Yes, Barrett really is a Nighthawk Associate, the highestranking of them all,” she added when he stared at her in stark disbelief. “She wasn’t fooled -- he told her the truth at all times, about all things but his love. She was merely a means to an end. His orders weren’t to kill you, Orion. His orders were to end your rebellion and bring you back to the Clan, either on your feet or in a body bag.” For the second time since Kira and the bloodslave had vanished, Orion’s mind reeled. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Gregori had been furious when he’d left the Clan -- it reflected badly on his authority that he was unable to control his own fledgling. The longer Orion stayed away, immune to the Master’s influence as he grew strong in his own right, the more Gregori would burn to bring him to heel. He’d probably been waiting for decades for Orion to make the mistake of caring

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for anyone. As soon as he had, Gregori had attacked -- not to kill, but to make him embrace his Clan again. Powerful as he’d become, Orion was far more useful alive than dead. The night of the attack played again in his mind and he saw the truth of it. From the moment Kira had walked into his office and given her notice, Orion was knocked off his guard. Every ounce of his attention had been focused on her. Barrett could have struck at any time if his intent had been to kill, and as much as it shamed Orion to admit it, he would not have recognized their danger until it was too late. Instead Barrett had given warning, first by calling Kira, then by the gunfire that had ultimately led to her mortal wound -- but bullets weren’t enough to kill a vampire. No wise vampire would be without a means of escape from their home, and they’d been given ample time to reach his escape tunnel before Barrett had blown up the house. All this pointed to the work of a vampire’s servant, not a vampire hunter. He shook his head, stunned he hadn’t seen it before. “How did you know all this?” he whispered. “Because Carlo is more than my bloodslave,” she replied. “He acts as my Associate, and Barrett’s plan was no secret.” A thousand questions flooded Orion’s mind. How long had this been planned? What exactly did Gregori want from him? What would it take to get the Master to back off and leave him and Kira in peace? Fighting the entire Clan wasn’t a possibility. Could he force himself to negotiate with Gregori if it meant keeping Kira safe? Was bargaining for his freedom even possible? But before he could sort through them all and find one question to ask, the bedroom door flew open. Carlo stumbled out, pale as a ghost and clutching his bloodstained wrist. “Carlo!” Ellyra cried, rushing to catch him as he collapsed. “I am unharmed, Mistress,” he reassured her even as he allowed her to support him. Then he looked up and focused on Orion with obvious difficulty. “She needs you,” he groaned, and passed out.

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Orion was across the room and through the door before the bloodslave even finished speaking, his heart in his throat. If that bastard had so much as scratched her -“Kira, are you all right?” he asked, anxiously searching the dark room for her. The door slammed shut behind him an instant before her bare arms slid around his waist. “You are so overdressed,” she purred, running her hands up his chest and nipping the back of his neck. She grasped two fistfuls of his shirt and yanked. The material ripped from his body. Orion spun to find Kira behind him, clad only in a pair of lacy red panties that accented the well-fed flush of her skin. He only had a second to appreciate the glorious sight of her -- black curls rioting over her shoulders, high, firm breasts tipped with tempting pink nipples, glistening white fangs just visible in her sexy smile -- before she launched herself into his arms, her momentum tumbling them back onto the bed. And when he sucked in a sharp breath at the heavenly softness of her breasts colliding with his now-bare chest, he could discern no scent of sex in the air. “You didn’t --” he began, wild joy rising up inside him at the evidence that Carlo hadn’t touched her, hadn’t ridden her, hadn’t felt the tight clasp of her sweet pussy, but she cut him off before he could finish the sentence. “You,” she growled, rising on her knees above him and tearing at his belt. “I need you, I only need you. Get these off right now!” And then the belt was off and she rubbed against him like a cat. He groaned with pleasure at the full-body caress and desperately unbuttoned his fly, his own desire firing at the heady scent of hers. As soon as his jeans were unfastened she shoved them down his thighs, and then caught them with her toes to push them down his legs. They caught on his boots and he didn’t care, because at that moment she nipped his throat and took a single hot sip of his blood. “So good,” she whispered. “You’re so damn good. Taste me now.” His own bloodlust rose sharply, bringing his cock and his fangs to their fullest, throbbing length. Her shoulder was close and he sank his fangs into her, too impatient to find a vein, not caring where he bit her in his desperation to taste her. Her blood was

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hot and spicy and he groaned, loving the bond they reinforced, loving the taste of her. Her hand closed around his cock and he broke away from her shoulder with a cry, and when she kissed him he caught her breasts in his hands and rolled and pinched her nipples. Her cries were muffled by his tongue as they devoured each other. He tasted his blood on her lips, savored the trace of hers on his tongue, but more than that, he gloried in the fact that her skin smelled only of clean, hot lust and the faint remains of his own sex. “Mine,” he gasped, trying to roll her onto her back, wanting to claim every inch of her all over again, to erase the images that had tortured him while she’d been locked in here with another man, but she wouldn’t have it. “No, mine,” she growled. She moaned aloud when he lifted his head and sucked one tight nipple deep in his mouth, flicking it with his tongue. “God, Orion, please, I can’t wait, I need you!” He broke away only long enough to murmur, “What do you need from me?” Then he subjected her other nipple to the same hot treatment, worshiping her flesh with lips and tongue and teeth. “Love me!” she cried, reaching down and tearing the red lace panties away with one hard pull, baring her entire body to him. He caught her face in his hands and forced her to meet his eyes. “I always have,” he said, willing her to understand, to believe. The wild lust in her eyes cleared for just a moment, just long enough for him to see her answer there. Then she sank down on him, taking his entire thick length in one hot thrust, and there were no more coherent words spoken. She rode him hard and fast, her head thrown back and her breasts thrust out, and Orion had never seen anything so beautiful in all his four hundred years. And when she came, he couldn’t look away from the ecstasy on her face, the pleasure and abandon she’d saved only for him. Mine, he thought again, knowing it was true, and that thought was enough to trigger his own orgasm. He came hard as her body convulsed around him, milking his cock for every last drop.

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She collapsed on top of him, both of them breathing as if they’d run a marathon. He cradled her close and stroked her hair until she stopped trembling. The silence was warm, not strained. He held her and closed his eyes, content to stay here forever. “Did you mean it?” Her whisper tickled his chest, soft as a caress. He didn’t need to ask what she referred to, didn’t need to touch her mind to know. “I meant it,” he answered. “All of it. I have loved you since the first day you walked into my office and turned me upside down.” She trembled against him and tightened her grip on him. “You should’ve told me sooner,” she whispered. “Damn it, Orion, do you have any idea how many times I almost reached out and touched you, almost said something suggestive to see how you’d react, almost snuck into your room to lie beside you during the day and find out what you’d do if you woke to find me there?” Just the thought revived hot memories of the first time he’d awakened with her in his bed. “I’d have screwed your brains out,” he assured her. “Repeatedly, if you’d done any of those things.” She laughed softly and shifted so she could look up at him. “I suppose you’d probably like me to tell you if I love you now?” “It’d be nice, yes.” She smiled. “What if I decide to make you wait as long as you made me wait?” Orion lunged, tumbling her onto her back and pinning her before she could so much as gasp. “Then I’m afraid I’d have to screw your brains out,” he growled. “Repeatedly.” “Oh, there’s a wicked threat,” she laughed, wiggling beneath him. “I’d hate that.” He glowered at her. “Kira…” he growled warningly. She reached up and cupped his face in her hands. “I love you,” she said, letting him see it in her eyes. “And I don’t ever want to have to feed from another man, do you hear me? I don’t care what happens. I’m not biting anyone but you and if you don’t like

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it --” He silenced her with a kiss. It started soft and sweet but when she sighed and tightened her thighs around his hips, it became progressively wilder until he finally had to break away for air. “I like that idea just fine,” he panted, already wanting her again. “There’s only one problem.” Her warm smile faded a little. “What’s that?” “You’re still a fledgling, sweetheart. You need more than I can provide on my own.” He kissed her forehead. “We’ll work around it. You can always bite women. If I have to, I’ll feed for both of us.” She relaxed. “I thought you were going to say something about the Nighthawks.” The word was like a splash of cold water, robbing him of his peace. What was he thinking, making plans for a life with her while Gregori and Barrett and the rest of the Clan were still hunting him? He took a deep breath and blew it out as he rolled to the side, no longer pinning her down. “We do need to talk about them, actually,” he said reluctantly. Kira sat up and made a face. “I knew I shouldn’t have said that,” she sighed. “You always go all serious and cranky when they come up.” “It’s because it’s a serious subject, and I’m not cranky.” She stuck her tongue out at him in a gesture that reminded him strongly of how she used to tease him until she got a reaction before Barrett’s attack. He pinched her, smiling when she jumped, before reaching down to pull up his jeans. “Kira, we need to decide what to do. You need to decide what you want to do.” Her light mood, already fading, died altogether. “I already don’t like where this conversation is heading.” He sat beside her and took both her hands. “Gregori won’t stop hunting me while I’m within his territory,” he said. “I can’t best him in battle -- he’s over a thousand years old and his power is legendary -- and I won’t rejoin him, which means the only solution is to leave his territory. I don’t have a choice in that, but you do.”

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“Are you trying to tell me you want me to go play house with the Clan and watch you ride off into the sunset?” she demanded, incredulous. “No, that’s not what I want,” he said, squeezing her hands. “But it’s a choice you have. I don’t offer you an easy life, Kira. Before this, I was merely an outsider, but if I ignore this summons -- and that’s what Barrett’s attack was, a summons -- I’ll be an outcast. The Nighthawks will swear a blood feud on me and try to kill me on sight. No other Clan will want me in their territory. Should you be with me, they would attack you first, knowing that you are my weakness, the best way to destroy me. Even alone I might only escape notice for a year, or I might stay hidden for a century, but eventually I will be forced to relocate or fight, over and over.” He hated saying this, but he had to tell her the truth. “You will be safer here than you’d be with me, sweetheart. You could stay with the Clan for a short time, perhaps a decade, just long enough to build your strength and learn your powers. If you don’t like the life they have to offer, you could leave the right way, with the Master’s blessing. You have to consider it.” She watched him with narrowed eyes. “You said you don’t offer me an easy life,” she said quietly. “Do you offer me any life at all, or is this just a complicated brush-off?” “I’m not brushing you off,” he assured her. “But I need you to understand that staying with the Clan would not make you evil. You’ve just shown that you can feed from a human without harming him. Ellyra has offered to adopt you as her own and keep you safe. All right? This is one option.” Kira nodded stiffly. “Give me the other one.” Even her tone was tight, hurt. Orion released one hand to trace the curve of her cheek. “Be my mate,” he whispered. “Come with me, despite the fact that I can offer you little besides my love. I cannot defeat Gregori, but that doesn’t mean I’m powerless. The Nighthawks don’t want to let me go because I am strong. You would be without a home, but not without protection, and I would die before I let anyone harm you. Let me help you find your strengths, teach you to use your powers. Love me and follow me. Be my weakness.

Amelia Elias

Blood Ties

- 53 -

That’s the other choice.” Her eyes filled with tears, sparkling green pools he could drown in. “You,” she whispered. “I choose you and all the danger and bullshit that comes with you. Did you really think I wouldn’t?” Orion grinned. He couldn’t help it. Joy rose through him, echoed in his mind along the mental pathway he shared with Kira, and spilled over into his smile. “I hoped not,” he said. “But I had to let you know everything before I asked, didn’t I?” “There’s such a thing as too much information,” she shot back. “Now how do we do this mate thing? Do we get to say some mystical rhyme that magically binds our souls or something?” When he laughed out loud, she blushed. “What? I read it in all the books! All vampires do this magic spell thing when they get married.” He bent and rested his forehead against hers, still smiling. “No spell,” he murmured. “Just a ritual promise, rather like human wedding vows. And in our case, a permanent honeymoon vacation.” “Do I have to wear a big white dress and smear cake on your face and all that?” He laughed aloud at that. “Not unless you want the big dress and cake and all the trimmings of a human wedding. We don’t even need witnesses. We speak our promises to each other and that’s it.” She bit her lip. “And there’s really no binding magic that keeps us faithful?” “No magic,” he repeated. “You won’t get soul-cramps if you break the vows or have an affair, but I warn you that vampires don’t separate and divorce like humans do -- there’s usually blood, pain, and messy death involved when the cheater’s mate discovers it. I should warn you that I’m not forgiving and I don’t share. If you want to leave me, you’ll have to kill me, because I don’t plan on ever letting you go. Can you handle that?” Kira smiled. “I can handle that. Let’s do it.” Orion kissed her, then took her right hand and placed it over his heart before placing his own over hers. “Kira Jacques, I swear to share my eternity with you, giving you my heart, body, love and life until I meet my end.”

Amelia Elias

Blood Ties

- 54 -

No matter what Orion said, Kira felt a warmth spread through her body as she savored those simple words spoken in his deep voice. How could something that made her so happy, that gave her the man she’d always wanted and never thought she could have, how could these words not be magic? She echoed them back to him, feeling his heart beating beneath her palm. When she finished and he tilted his head to kiss her, she pulled back just a fraction. “This doesn’t get you out of giving me a ring,” she whispered. “Anything you want,” he said, and sealed the promise with a kiss.

The End

Amelia Elias Amelia Elias is the nom de plume of a Central Texas home health nurse and mother of ten -- six cats, two dogs, and two monkeys who insist they’re really boys. Amie was introduced to romances at the tender age of twelve by her late grandmother, who always packed a paperback for her to read during Bingo. After the last number was called, Amie would stay up late and, armed with a notepad and pencil, try to fill in those frustrating blank spots in the story when the characters closed the bedroom door. And yes, she still has those first clumsy attempts at writing the good stuff. Hopefully she’s learned a thing or two since then. Learn more about Amelia by visiting her website at www.AmeliaElias.com.