Bitter Blood (Blood and Moonlight Book 3) (3 page)

“I don’t want to hurt Aidan.” The words came from her, stark and desperate and so very true.

His head lifted. “I know.” He’d rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt. “That’s why you and I are about to have a little experiment.”

“Experiment?” Jane didn’t like the sound of that. She shook her head. “No, I have to go. I need to get out there and do damage control on those bodies—”

“Aidan will make them vanish. We both know he’s good at cleaning up paranormal messes.” He’d rolled the sleeves of his shirt all the way to his elbows. “Your genetic tests showed that your blood cells looked like Aidan’s. That you were a vamp with wolf power flowing through you. Aidan thought that you could only drink from werewolves because you needed the blood of your own kind to survive.”

“And I have been surviving on his blood.” Just his—only Aidan’s. The idea of biting someone else wasn’t exactly appealing. Actually, that idea made her nauseous. Having a blood diet was bad enough. Letting her teeth sink into someone else?

No, thank you.

Though technically, she
had
bitten one other werewolf, but the guy had met a fast and brutal death shortly after that bite. So…

Paris cleared his throat. “Well, let’s see what happens when you take my blood.” He stepped toward her. “Because I can’t have you endangering my alpha. I can’t let you change him anymore.”

Her gaze darted down to his wrist. When she concentrated hard enough, she could hear the racing thud of his pulse. Paris was nervous. So was she. “I don’t want your blood.” It was true. She didn’t. She
hated
drinking blood, but at least when it came from Aidan, she could tolerate it.

“Jane…” His face was hard. “There is more at play here than you realize. You want to protect Aidan, don’t you?”

Always.

“Then try my blood. Because I would damn well rather you change me than him.” He offered his wrist to her.

Jane’s hand flew up and her fingers curled around his hand. Her fangs weren’t even out. Take his blood? Every part of her rebelled against the idea.
He isn’t Aidan. He isn’t.

And…she only wanted Aidan.

“No.” Jane shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Jane.” The faint lines near his mouth seemed to deepen. “I have to see what you’re doing to him. I need to feel the changes myself so that I can help him, too. He’s my best friend. I can’t have him walking through fire alone.”

Wait…in that little scenario…was she the fire?

Before she could tell him that she was
not
damn fire, the office door opened. Jane and Paris turned together, with her still holding his hand.

Aidan stood there. His bright blue stare swept over them and lingered on their hands. He blinked, once, twice, and the tension in the room seemed to ratchet up.

“Someone want to tell me…” Aidan said, voice low, too low. “What the hell is going on?”

“Nothing.” Jane dropped Paris’s hand. “Nothing is—”

“I want Jane to bite me.” Paris straightened his shoulders. “That’s what’s happening.”

Jeez. Just once…
once…
couldn’t Paris have lied to Aidan? Would that have broken the bro code too much?

Very slowly, Aidan shut the door behind him. “Want to tell me why?” His eyes glowed with the power of his beast. “Why you want
my
Jane to put her teeth in you?”

Paris jerked up his chin. “Because it’s too dangerous for her to keep taking from you! You’re changing, Aidan! You can’t give her any more blood—we both know it. You—”

In a flash, Aidan was across the room. He’d grabbed Paris by the front of his shirt. “Jane drinks from me. Only me.” His voice was so…deadly. She shouldn’t have found that scary growl to be sexy. She was probably messed up on the inside.
Because I do think it’s sexy.

“Aidan, let him go.” Jane sprang forward and shoved between the two men. “I’d already said I wasn’t drinking
before
you got here. He’s just worried about you. That’s all. Because he’s your friend.” As if Aidan needed that reminder.

Aidan stared at Paris. “She drinks from me.” A cold order.

Paris gave a grim nod. “But at what cost? Do you even realize what’s happening to you?”

“I am in full control.” That was the alpha talking. She could hear the authority in Aidan’s voice.

“I sure as hell hope so.” Paris backed away. “For everyone’s sake.” Then he headed for the door.

When it closed behind him with a soft click, Jane’s shoulders slumped. “That was awkward.”

Aidan didn’t speak.

“I-I wasn’t going to drink from him.” Just so they were clear. “He’s worried about you. About what might happen and—”

Aidan grabbed Jane and pulled her close. Her hand flew against his chest as he lifted her up, holding her easily, and his mouth crashed down on hers.

The kiss was hard. Rough. Deep.

Hot.

So very Aidan.

And she loved it. Her mouth met his eagerly, her tongue tasting him, her body already yearning because when they kissed—they ignited. Imploded.

The chemistry between them had always been off the charts. But lately, since her change…

She wanted him even more.

For a vampire, physical lust and blood lust combined. Desire went soul-deep. Her hunger wasn’t sated with quick sex. She needed more. Longer. Hotter.

Aidan.

“You healed?” He bit the words off against her mouth.

“Yes…”

He whirled her around. Sat her on the edge of his desk and shoved her legs apart. Jane’s hands flew back, slamming onto the surface of his desk, narrowly avoiding a collision with his laptop as she fought to find her balance.

“Need to be…in you…” And his voice was that rough growl again. The one that made goosebumps rise on her skin. That made her nipples pebble.

That made her wet.

“I want that, too,” Jane whispered as her hands curled against the desk.
Aidan, in her. Sinking deep.
Her nails scraped over the wooden surface and Aidan’s fingers—he was yanking at the button of her jeans, pulling down the zipper, then pretty much jerking the jeans and her shoes right off her.

Her underwear vanished with the jeans. A very good thing. The cool air hit her skin and Jane let out a quick gasp when Aidan’s hands came back. Big, strong hands. They pushed her thighs farther apart and then his fingers were stroking
into
her. Pushing into her sex even as his thumb worked her clit.

That was her Aidan, all right. Zero to implosion in way less than sixty seconds.

“Aidan—” Jane began, desire sharpening her voice. The room was sound-proofed, so she knew no one outside would hear them. When you had a bar that was normally packed with werewolves and their enhanced hearing, you
had
to take precautions—hence the soundproofing. She knew she could yell, could scream with her climax, and no one but Aidan would hear her.

Only Aidan.

“Can’t wait,” he gritted.

She nodded. Did she
look
like she wanted him to wait?

“Too scared…” His eyes were definitely glowing. “Too…
pissed.
”

Uh, oh. “Aidan?”

He’d jerked open his own jeans. His cock—big, long, fully erect—pushed at the entrance to her sex. Their eyes met, then he drove deep.

So deep that she lost her breath.

So deep that her whole body shuddered.

So deep…Jane thought that for a moment, they were one.

The bond is always there with him.

Her nails scraped over his desk, then she was grabbing his shoulders. Holding on tight. She could handle all of him now that she was a vampire. No worries about him hurting the delicate human. She could have him all, and all—
all
was exactly what she wanted.

He withdrew, then slammed into her. Again and again. Her fangs burned in her mouth, the bloodlust aroused by her physical desire for him. But Jane kept her lips clamped shut. This wasn’t some life-or-death emergency, she wasn’t going to bite him again—especially not with Paris’s warnings fresh in her mind.

His hand was between their bodies. His thumb still stroking her clit and her orgasm built, her whole body quaking. It was so close. She was—

Aidan put his mouth at the curve of her shoulder, right there, at the bottom of her neck. She felt the press of his teeth and then he…he…
bit
her.

Pleasure lashed through her and she squeezed her eyes shut. Her legs were locked tightly around his hips and her body arched against him, rocking hard again and again as the climax erupted. She couldn’t get enough air to scream, couldn’t do anything but take and take that pleasure as he thrust into her once more…

And then he was the one erupting. She felt the hot splash of his release inside of her, and then Aidan was pulling his mouth from her and roaring out her name.

She rather liked that roar.

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. Her body quivered. Her sex pulsed. And slowly, very slowly, her lashes lifted as she stared at him and—

There was blood on his mouth. A little drop of blood that had dripped from the corner of his lips.

Her blood.

Only…

Since when do werewolves drink blood?

Her thundering heartbeat seemed to stutter as she stared into his eyes. Eyes that were still glowing too bright with the power of his beast.

Aidan licked the drop of blood away. “You taste fucking delicious,” he whispered.

A shiver slid over her body. A shiver that had nothing to do with pleasure and everything to do with fear. Paris’s words whispered through her mind once more…

I’m worried that you’re changing him.

She…was.

Jane was afraid of him.

Aidan paced in front of his desk. Jane was in the bathroom. He could hear the blast of the shower. He’d wanted to go in there with her, but…

Jane is afraid.

Did she think he didn’t know? He’d smelled her fear. Fear had a distinct scent—coppery, bitter. Jane had stared at him, even while he was still balls deep in her body, and she’d been afraid. Her hands had flown between their bodies and she’d pushed him away, muttering about needing to freshen up.

What. The. Fuck?

He stopped pacing and glared at the bathroom door. Had he been too rough with her? Yeah, okay, going straight into the office and immediately fucking her didn’t exactly shout romance, but he’d been at the damn edge. Jane had nearly died. Again. That shit had to stop. She was too important to him. She needed to realize it.

He spun from the door and marched to his desk. He stared down and then…

Then his fingers traced the deep gouges that she’d left across the top of his desk. Claw marks. Her hands had scraped over the desk right before she’d grabbed onto him. When her claws had curled into his shoulders, he’d loved the burn of pain.

Even as he knew just what it meant.

I did this—I did this to Jane.

Paris had warned him, over and over, that Jane was different. No average vamp. Because of Aidan, she wasn’t. Because of Aidan, hell, he wasn’t even sure
what
Jane truly was. A hybrid? Half-vampire, half-werewolf? Something else?

Something…worse?

The shower had turned off. His shoulders stiffened as he listened to the soft rustles of movement from inside the bathroom. A few moments later, the door creaked open. He caught Jane’s scent drifting in the air—soft, sweet, feminine.

Not the bitterness of fear, not any longer.

The breath he’d been holding slipped away. “Jane, I—”

“I’ve done something to you.” Her voice was stilted. Sad.

Not Jane.

He spun to face her. She was pale—okay, yeah, most vamps were a little pale, but this was different.

“I’m sorry,” Jane said, and her fingers rose to press against her neck. “I never meant to hurt you.”

Hurt
him?
In a flash, he was right in front of her. “You scared the hell out of me, baby.” He pulled her into his arms and held her close. “When I came into that alley and saw you—shit, don’t do that crap to me again, got it? My heart can only take so much.”

She was tense in his arms.

He didn’t want that. Aidan squeezed her tighter. “Okay, so I flipped out a bit. That happens when the woman I love is attacked. It happens when—”

“You bit me.”

His body tensed.

“When we were having sex, you bit me, Aidan.”

Handle with fucking care.
“You…didn’t like that?”

Her hands curled over his shoulders and she pushed back so that she was staring up at his face. “I thought I was supposed to be the vamp in this relationship. Paris said—”

Shit, shit, shit!
Paris needed to stop saying things.

“Paris said I was changing you. That can’t happen, Aidan. I can’t hurt you. Not you. You can’t become—”

He made himself speak carefully as he explained, “Werewolves mark their mates. They bite them.”

She stepped back. Her hands slid from him.

“They bite them…” Aidan continued, and he was the one to reach out and touch her. His fingers trailed over her collarbone then slid to the soft curve where her shoulder and neck met. “Right here.” The sweet spot. Not
the
sweetest spot, though. That area was lower on her lovely body. “I bit because you’re mine, Jane.”

Her lips parted. “You…you drank my blood.”

Tread carefully.
“Did I?” He shook his head. “Paris doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The guy’s a worrier. Always has been. You aren’t hurting me. You aren’t doing anything to make me weaker.” That was the absolute truth. “Together, we will always be stronger.”

Her gaze searched his. He saw the exact moment when she decided to believe him. A relieved breath slipped from her and her eyes gleamed. “Always.”

He knew the storm had passed, for the moment. “Glad that’s settled,” Aidan muttered. His hand slid up the delicate column of her throat and he leaned toward her, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. Jane leaned into him, kissing him back so sweetly and then when he pulled back, she smiled at him.

His beautiful Jane.

Mine.

Hell, yes, he’d marked her. No other werewolf had better get close to her, and if Paris thought she’d drink from
him…

Think again, buddy. Think the hell again.

“Are you going to tell me what you found in that alley?” Jane murmured. A furrow appeared between her brows. “I guess the clean-up is all handled now and—”

Right. Time to get back to business. Though the pleasure part of their relationship had certainly been fun. “Someone beat me to that particular job.”

The furrow deepened. “Come again?”

Oh, baby, I plan to.
At the first available opportunity. He cleared his throat. “The bodies were gone. The alley reeked of bleach. No work for me there.”

She blinked. “But…who did it? Why?”

Might as well tell her all now. The better for her to be ready for the threat that
would
come again. “I found a video camera out there. Someone was watching you, baby. Those humans in the alley? They might have thought they were there to take you out, but I suspect they were really just bait. Someone wanted to watch you. Maybe see how strong you were.”

“
What?”
Then she gave a bitter laugh. “Well, if that’s the case, then that someone saw me nearly get taken out. If you hadn’t been there, I—”

“Even at death’s door, you killed your attacker,” he said flatly. “That’s what the watcher saw. He knows how you fight now. Knows that you don’t stop, even when you barely have a breath in your body.”

Sadness darkened her expression. “Two men died tonight.”

Yeah, he wouldn’t exactly be grieving over them. “Why’d you go into the alley?” His hand was still curved around her neck. He could feel her pulse jerking beneath his touch.

“Because I smelled the blood.” Her gaze turned distant. “Someone was hurt. The blond man was yelling, saying he needed help.” She shrugged. “I might be a vamp, but I’m still a cop, too. So I went to help him.”

“And got ambushed.”

“Yes.”

His voice roughened as he said, “The next time you hear someone calling out for help, you’re not even going to hesitate, are you?”

“Aidan…”

“You were warned before, Jane. Being a hero will just get you killed.” That particular warning had come from a very powerful voodoo queen, a queen who had foreseen Jane’s fate.

Sometimes, you couldn’t change fate, no matter how hard you tried.

Jane’s lashes lowered. “I already died once.”

His hand slid from her neck.

“And I can’t just watch while an innocent suffers.” Her hand was at her side, pressing against the scar that marked her. No, not a scar. A burn.

A burn left by a sadistic vampire long ago.

“That’s not who I am,” Jane said.

No, it wasn’t.

She gave him a tight smile. “I have to go now. I need to…to check in at the station.” Her chin notched up. “I’m supposed to see my brother today.”

Aidan’s body iced. “That’s a bad idea. Very, very bad.” He’d prefer for her to never get anywhere near Drew Hart again. The guy was a ticking time bomb—one who had already exploded once and Aidan knew for certain, Drew would again.

“After he got out of intensive care at the hospital, Drew was transferred to a maximum security psych ward. I can’t just leave him there.”

Why not? As far as Aidan was concerned, the dick was getting off too lightly. Jane’s brother Drew had shot her—he’d been the one to set in motion the horrible chain of events that resulted in Jane’s transformation into a vampire.

No, I’m the one who did that. I’m the one who brought her brother to this town.
Because Aidan had mistakenly thought he was doing something to make Jane happy. He hadn’t realized her precious Drew was a nutjob.

He tried to kill me, but Jane got caught in the cross-fire. He took her out.

And I will destroy him.

“Drew hasn’t spoken to anyone, not since he woke up in the hospital. I need to see him.”

“The guy opened fire at a college campus. He needs to stay locked away.”

Jane swallowed. “Once upon a time, he saved me.” She turned away from Aidan and took two steps. “He—”

“Bullshit.” Aidan grabbed her wrist. “Once upon a time, a sadistic vampire bastard broke into your house. He killed your mother and step-father. The vamp tied you up and tortured you and your
brother
left you to that hell.”

Tears gleamed in her beautiful eyes. “Drew hid to protect himself. When it was safe, he came back for me. He got me out of there. He—”

Time for hard truths. “He wants supernaturals dead. You’re a supernatural now. What do you think that means?”

She looked down at her hand, then back up at him. “It means I have to see him. Drew is my responsibility.”

Fuck. There she went. Being all noble again. He had to break that habit before it killed her—a second time.

“I’ll do some digging and see what I can possibly uncover about those jerks in the alley.” She pulled her hand free. “I’ll check some mug shots. Guys like that—maybe they’ve got a criminal record. I get a name to match a face, and it will be the perfect lead to take me to whoever was pulling the strings in that alley.”

That wasn’t exactly a face-off that he wanted. “Don’t charge into battle without me.” He had leads that he’d be following up on as well.

She stared at him, and her face softened. “You won’t change, will you?”

He made himself smile. “Baby, I can already shift into the form of a wolf. What more change do you want from me?”

She smiled back at him. Such a beautiful sight. Then Jane was walking away. His gaze dropped to her ass and the sweet sway of her hips.

Another beautiful sight.

Jane unlocked the office door and left him. He turned back to his desk. He touched those claw marks once more.

And he swore that he could still taste Jane’s blood on his tongue. He could taste it—and he wanted more.

His hand fisted over those marks.
What am I becoming?

***

Paris paused outside of the Voodoo Shop. He was going behind his alpha’s back, and that didn’t sit right with him. As a rule, he never kept secrets from Aidan. Aidan was his best freaking friend. Aidan was family but…

Aidan is also in danger. And the guy can’t see the danger because it’s wrapped up in a sexy Mary Jane bow.
His hand lifted and he started to pound on the shop’s door, but the door swung inward before he could make contact and Paris found himself standing face to face with the infamous voodoo queen.

Annette Benoit.

Drop-dead gorgeous and far too deadly Annette Benoit. The woman he’d secretly been fantasizing about for far too long.

“Well, well,” Annette gave him a slow smile, one that didn’t quite reach her dark eyes. “If it isn’t the handsome Paris. Coming to pay me
another
visit?” She moved back, motioning with her hand for him to enter. “If you’re not careful, I’ll start to think you like me.”

He crossed the threshold and his body brushed against hers. “I do.”

Annette’s face—absolute damn poetry to him—softened with surprise.

“But I’m here on business.” Because he wasn’t sure either of them were ready to cross
that
particular line yet. He’d known Annette’s last lover, known the guy well—and had come to hate the bastard. Would Annette really be open to trusting another werewolf? The last thing he wanted was to get shot down by her.

Better to have his fantasies.

She hurried past him, all smooth, chocolate cream skin and sweet-smelling woman. She wore a long, flowing dress, one that did little to hide her perfect curves, and hoop ear-rings adorned her delicate ears. No other jewelry, not for Annette. She didn’t exactly need other adornment.

The woman is perfect as she is.

She led him into the back room and pointed toward her table. Shards of broken, black glass were carefully positioned on that table. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

He kept standing. “How can you even see anything, with your scrying mirror shattered that way?”

She eased into her chair and stared down at the chunks of glass. “All of the power in that mirror…it came from
me.
” She looked up at him, her light brown gaze glinting with determination. “I’m still strong, Paris. So if you are looking for weakness—”

He had to laugh. “Annette, you’re as far from weak as a woman can get.”

She smiled at him. A real, breath-taking smile.

I am in such trouble with her.

Paris cleared his throat. “I came about Aidan.”

Her fingers tapped on the table. “Of course, you did. It’s not as if you came by to ask me out on a date.”

Ah…hell, no, he wasn’t going to touch that one.
Not yet.
But…what kind of date would impress a voodoo queen?

“What’s happening to the fearless alpha?” Annette asked.

His fingers curled over the back of the nearby chair, but he still didn’t sit. “He’s changing.”

Her smile vanished.

“He keeps giving Jane his blood. She was attacked earlier tonight and he let her drink from him again. The bond between them just gets stronger.”

“Jane isn’t evil.” She looked down at her broken chunks of glass. “You and I both know that.”

“It’s not Jane I’m worried about.” And it pained him to say this. “Alpha werewolves aren’t like the rest of the pack. They’re stronger, deadlier, and…more vicious.” Because sometimes, you had to be vicious when you were the boss of all the paranormals in town. “So what will happen to him if he keeps changing? What will happen to his beast? It’s sure as all hell not going to be some
peaceful
change. His blood is mutating, we both know that.” Because they’d taken some of Aidan’s blood and some of Jane’s blood…and they’d given it to the doctor on the pack’s payroll, Dr. Bob Heider, so he could run some tests. “He’s already starting to show vamp traits, and that shouldn’t be possible.”