Danger Calls (11 page)

T
he door shut with a resounding slam that reverberated through the large open space of the living room.

Ryder stood with his back to them, arms braced on his hips as he stared at the door where Diana had just stormed out.

Melissa tossed a quick glance at Sebastian before saying, “Where do we go from here?”

Ryder whirled to face them. “We do what we had planned—”

“Up until the hacking part,” Melissa finished for him.

“Diana will have a hemorrhage if we do the hacking part,” Sebastian added.

Ryder glanced over his shoulder at the door. “I think she already did.”

“Naw, that was just Diana working up a righteous anger,” Sebastian clarified and gave a small wave with his hand. “I'm surprised you haven't seen it before.”

Ryder surprised her by grinning and rubbing his ribs as if they were sore. “Let's just say we work out her anger in a different way. Slightly painful, but more effective.”

Melissa shot a glance at Sebastian, wondering what it would take to push him that far and how he would react when pushed. Would he react physically like his sister? That thought led her to images of getting physical while making up. Heat raced through her, but she fought it back. She should be thinking about the investigation.

“So if we stick to the plan—except for the hacking part that is—Sebastian will come with me to the hospital to see if I'm being bugged and try to track down the signal,” Melissa said.

“And Melissa will read the entries in the last journal,” Sebastian added. “Maybe there will finally be something worthwhile in that one.”

Melissa nodded and finished with, “Then we can decide what to do about getting more information about Sloan.”

Ryder let out a frustrated sigh and dragged a hand through his hair. “And your grand plan is for me to sit and do nothing. Day after day, I'm goddamned trapped in here. And Diana…”

“Is out there. In the dark,” Sebastian said. “
Dark
being the operative word if you're a vampire, right?”

“Subtle, Sebastian. Very subtle.” Ryder glanced at the door with longing. “Seems to me it
is
dark outside. Just the right time of day for a little ol' bloodsucker like me.”

“I think you know where she lives.”

“And works,” Melissa added.

Ryder smiled. “Seems you two have everything worked out. Don't wait up.”

In a blur of motion, he was out the door.

Sebastian was a little unnerved and he realized Melissa was, as well. “Not used to seeing that?”

“Not sure he's even used to it. Ever since he was hurt, it's almost like he's regressing. Like he's becoming more of a vampire.”

“Why's that do you think?”

Melissa shrugged. “His life has become more isolated, for one. He's still too weak to go out except when the sun is almost totally gone. He's needed more feeding—”

“And you accomplish that how?” Sebastian was alternately intrigued and repulsed by the concept of vampire dinners, possibly even angry at the knowledge that his sister had been a snack on at least one occasion.

Melissa held her hands up to stop him from going further. “Not personally. I get expired blood bags or pick up blood from a butcher downtown.”

Sebastian rubbed at one eyebrow with his index finger. “Speaking of expired blood bags. Have we eliminated Nurse Sara from the list of suspects?”

“What do you think?” Melissa leaned toward him on the sofa. She had made herself “comfortable” again, this time in charcoal-gray yoga pants and an oversize maroon T-shirt.

Shifting closer to her on the sofa, he cradled her cheek. “I think suspect
numero uno
, and possibly only, is your Doctor Sloan.”

Melissa's brow furrowed as she considered his comment. He soothed the lines there with a finger. “No more thinking, Melissa. It's time for a little R & R.”

“Rest and relaxation?” she asked with a smile.

“Actually, I was thinking Ryderless.” He slipped his arm behind her neck and applied gentle pressure until she shifted on the couch and sat on his lap.

Once she was settled there comfortably, Melissa smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. “So that's one
R
. What's the other one?”

He closed his eyes. “Hmm, I like that.”

She increased the pressure of her fingers on his scalp and turned in his lap to straddle him. “How about the other
R
is for rubbing?”

Shooting her a half glance, he cupped her breasts and, with the barest of pressure, moved his fingers along the tips. “Rubbing, like this?”

Her breathy “Yes,” confirmed that they were on the same track.

As seductions went, it was a slow one. Which was good. Exceptionally good. With the softest of caresses, her nipples hardened into tight peaks. As she skimmed her hands to his shoulders and kneaded the muscles there, he grasped the tips of her breasts and rotated them tightly between his thumb and forefinger.

She let out a soft, almost pained gasp and he paused. “Too rough?”

“Could we add another
R
?”

His erection nearly burst through the denim of his jeans, especially when, without waiting for his reply, she rubbed her center along the length of it. He knew then, like the other night, there would be no stopping.

Somehow he worked his wallet out of his pants, as well as the condom he kept there. In a blur as fast as that of Ryder's disappearing act, Melissa's pants were somewhere on the floor, along with his jeans, and he was sheathed in the condom.

He met her gaze as she poised herself directly above him, and there was no doubt about what would happen next. They'd waited too long already.

Grasping the naked flare of her hips, he gently glided her down onto him, as deep as he could go. When she would have moved, he applied slightly more pressure to keep her still and said, “Not rough. Not yet.”

Melissa's breath was trapped somewhere in the middle of her chest. Her heart seemed to stop beating until he ripped her T-shirt off her body, baring her to the heat of his gaze.

She looked down at him. At the angles of his face made sharper by the light from the lamps at each end of the couch. At his eyes so dark with passion, the brown of them had seemingly melded with the black of his pupils.

She groaned and clasped his head to her. His lips encircled the sensitive peak of her right breast and suckled it, drawing it deeply into his mouth. She moaned again and tried to move on him to ease the growing tension between her legs, but he swept one arm down, held her in place.

“Not yet,
amor
. You're so hard against my lips.” He shifted his mouth to the pale skin of her breast. “So sensitive.”

His words undid her. “Sebastian,” she said and a little mew of pleasure escaped her as he took her other breast into his mouth.

“Sweet,” he whispered in soft tones before he teethed her hardened nipple. She ground herself down on him, needing more.

“Tell me what you feel,” he urged as he sat up to suck at the sensitive spot between her neck and shoulder.

She bent and kissed the side of his face. “Shaky,” she replied, her breath uneven then gone as he sucked harder, to the point of pain.

Sebastian ripped himself from her and gulped in a breath. He'd left a mark. “Sorry.”

She gave him an unsteady smile. “I liked it.”

He had to close his eyes and muster what little restraint he had to keep from coming right that moment. She wasn't the only one who was shaky, he thought, his body trembling from his battle for control. She soothed him by running her hands along his shoulders, but it wasn't enough. His shirt still separated his skin from hers.

Sebastian didn't know if he said it, or if she just sensed it.

Melissa reached down, grabbed the hem of his T-shirt and pulled it off. When her eyes deepened to a midnight blue, he knew that she was pleased with what she saw. When she eased close, brushed her breasts against him, it was the end of his restraint.

He rose, still buried deep inside of her, and she wrapped her legs around his back.

The action forced her onto him even farther, surrounding him with a heat he could feel even through the skin of the condom. She shifted on him, nearly pulling out, then slipped down deep. It made him want…“I wish I could feel the wet of you, Melissa.”

He took a step and then another until he was at the door of her room.

“Tell me what else you want.” She moved on him again.

His climax was building, low in his belly, and gathering force. His breath exploded from his chest; his arms and legs trembled so badly, Sebastian knew they weren't going to make it to the bed. At least not yet.

He turned until her back was braced against the wall. Gripping her sides with his hands, he drove into her, relented to her request. “I want to be buried so deep I don't know where I end and you begin.”

His voice was uneven as he said it. Rough with his longing. Rough like his movements as he increased the force of his penetration, driving her against the wall. She welcomed it, wrapping her arms around his head as he suckled her breasts. Tightening the embrace of her legs and meeting his movements with the shift of her hips.

Melissa gulped an uneven breath and kissed the top of his head. After, he raised his face and took her lips in a kiss that seared her with its demand. She opened her mouth to him and lost all sense of herself. All sense of everything except the way their bodies were joined. Everything except the heat and the musky smell of sex and Sebastian.

One rough thrust ripped a moan from her but she welcomed it, whispering her need against his mouth. Pleading with him to finish. To take them over the edge by releasing the climax that had built inside her, twisting her insides into a tight knot of need.

With another harsh drive, it happened. His breath caught and his muscles rippled beneath her hands. There was the sudden swell of him inside, releasing an answering surge from deep within her.

Melissa cried out his name, closed her eyes and threw her head back as pleasure rushed through every part of her body. But she didn't release her grip on him, nor did he withdraw from her.

As the tide of their climax ebbed, Sebastian tenderly eased her from the wall and cradled her in his arms.

Melissa held on to him as if he were a lifeline, her arms and legs wrapped around him as he took the dozen or so steps necessary to get to her bed.

When he slipped with her onto the sheets, he was still joined with her and to her surprise, growing hard once more.

At her questioning look, he shrugged and gave her an almost apologetic smile.

She was lying there, exposed to him, her legs dangling over the edge of the bed, Sebastian tucked inside her. She should have felt sated, but somehow, even with the remnants of her climax lingering, she didn't.

Melissa couldn't get enough of him, and as Sebastian slowly began to move, his actions tender and gentle compared to moments before, she realized he couldn't get enough, either.

R
yder lingered in the night air, savoring the crisp chill of the coming winter. Enjoying the freedom the darkness gave him from the four walls of his apartment. Dreading the visit to Diana.

He'd walked for blocks and blocks until he'd reached the buildings along the avenue in the midthirties. As he stopped at one corner, listening to the sounds of jazz filter from the open door of a restaurant on one of the side streets, the urge Ryder had been battling rose up, stronger than before.

He slipped from the avenue into a small alley. With a single leap, he landed noiselessly on the first level of the fire escape. A second jump, followed by a third and he was up on the roof, staring upward at a full vanilla-colored moon.

He outstretched his arms, let the beast loose, knowing he had to tire it out before he got to Diana.

Diana. He growled at the thought of her. At her anger and her passion. Heat built within him and his fangs slowly slipped down.

Taking a deep breath, he jumped from one rooftop to the next until he neared the ledge closest to the street. Gathering speed, he raced toward the gap and launched himself across the breach.

His landing was not as smooth this time. Ryder had never become sure of his vampire footing. He'd battled hard to hang on to his humanity. In the last few months, however, his enforced confinement during the day and his increased need for the blood that healed him had upset the balance he'd developed.

The surprising thing was, Ryder had found that giving in to the animal within him every now and then had brought with it an invigorating sense of power. An alluring and altogether dangerous sense of power.

Energized by the animal, he continued his flight along the rooftops, drawing closer and closer to Diana. His need grew until he arrived at her building.

Bracing himself on the granite ledge of her roof, he took a step and let himself plummet downward.

 

Jab. Jab. Punch. Jab. Jab. Roundhouse.

Diana repeated the routine over and over, striking the heavy bag with speed and precision. Alternating occasionally with a dropkick. Uppercut substituted for the jab-punch combo.

Her arms were growing weary, but she kept at it. The workout helped to release the anger and frustration from earlier that night. Finally, she couldn't go on anymore. With one last series of blows, she lost her footing and had to grab the bag to keep from falling. As she held on to the leather and took a deep bracing breath, the hackles on the back of her neck rose.

Easing away from the bag, she turned to look out her bedroom window. That was when she saw a silhouette on her fire escape.
His
silhouette. There was a slight movement as he realized he'd been seen, yet he remained outside where he was.

Fine, she thought. She undid the Velcro on her boxing gloves and pulled them off. Tossing them to lie at the foot of the heavy bag, Diana unwound the wraps around her wrists and hands, and flung them onto the floor, as well.

He still didn't make a move and the anger from earlier that night flared to life once again. Wanting to exact some kind of punishment, she stared straight ahead and reached for the drawstring of her sweatpants. With a quick tug, she loosened the ties and eased the pants down her legs, kicked them aside. She grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and dispensed with it, as well.

Diana stood there in nothing but her string bikini panties and sports bra. Slipping one finger beneath the miniscule band of her panties, she began to draw them down.

It was then she finally got a reaction.

He was through the window and standing before her so quickly, all she had seen was a blur. He placed his hand on her hip to stop her.

When she met his gaze, she experienced a little fear, followed by fascination and longing. With one finger, she traced the edge of his brows above his electric gaze. Then she allowed herself to cup his cheek and run her thumb across the hard edge of his lips and the slight hint of fang protruding beyond their fullness.

“Into the whole creature-of-the-night routine lately, aren't you?” she said in challenge, but didn't stop moving her thumb across his lips. The fangs grew slightly longer and more pronounced.

“Does it bother you?” His voice was a low, almost rumbling growl.

As she shifted her thumb across his lips again, he grabbed it with his teeth, bit down on it just a little. Not enough to draw blood. Yet.

Heat twisted her insides into a knot of need. Bending her head to one side, she bared her neck to him. Daring him.

She was trembling with a combination of fear and anticipation as he wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her close. He grazed the side of her neck with his fangs. The pressure of his teeth increased and for a moment, Diana thought she'd pushed him too far.

Ryder pressed his fangs against the pulse beating thickly beneath them. He remembered the sweetness of her. How her blood had tasted on his lips, rich with their passion. The animal in him wanted to sample her again. Wanted to be buried deep within her as he savored her lifeblood, spiced with the flavor of their lovemaking.

Somehow he reined in the animal and let the human resume control again. The heat that signalled his transformation ebbed from his body as his fangs receded. Instead of the vampire's bite, he placed a gentle kiss on the spot she had offered up so readily, then released her.

“I came to talk. To try and convince you—”

“To break the law?” She stepped away from him. With a quick stride, she was at her dresser, slipping off her damp bra and panties before putting on a fresh pair of pajamas.

He approached her as he pleaded his case. “What if we can't get any more information on Sloan? Are you willing to risk someone getting injured—”

“Instead of hacking into the NSA computers? I'm supposed to uphold the law, Ryder.”

He grabbed her arm as she walked past him toward her bed. “Things are never that simple, Diana.”

She glanced down at his hand, her face hard and unyielding. “Sometimes they are, Ryder. I've built my entire life around doing the right thing.”

He released her and dragged a hand through his hair. “And what of my life? Or should I say, my lack of life? Tell me what's right about it, Diana? Tell me what I did wrong to merit the life I have?”

Diana's heart ached with his pain. She embraced him and held him close for long seconds. Cradling his head to her, she said, “Did you ever think the reason you're here now—that you're the way you are—is because you were good?”

A harsh laugh escaped his lips. “And this,” he said, transforming into vampire mode, “is my reward?”

Standing on tiptoe, she brought her lips to his and cupped the back of his head to keep him there when he would have pulled away. “If not for this, we'd never have met.”

He answered her with a kiss so demanding, she wasn't sure whether it was the vampire or human in control. Frankly, at that moment, she didn't care.