Mortal Bite (Golden Vampires of Tuscany) (23 page)

He wondered if there ever could be a fating between Golden and dark. Was
that the secret she bore? Why she wouldn’t take the turning, even when her
children begged her? Perhaps as a mortal woman she could bear the children she
would not be able to bear as a vampire lady. Perhaps she was not fated to her
husband. Perhaps she was fated to—

Lionel heard a sound and shook the snoring form of the SEAL.

“We have company, I do believe,” he whispered to Andrew.

“Roger that.” The SEAL woke up ready, just as Lionel had expected. He
radioed his counterpart on the other side of the building.

“They haven’t seen anything,” Andrew reported back.

“There’s something out there. I can smell it,” Lionel breathed He
motioned a zipper to his lip, indicating they’d be doing hand signals from now
on.

Andrew donned his night vision goggles and then switched to infrared. He
tapped a thumbs up and passed an extra pair to Lionel. A torch of deep orange
was gliding, floating across the street and up towards the window of Cara’s
bedroom. It was the heat sig of a tracing vamp, but it was in slow motion, as
if the individual wanted to be detected.

Curious, Lionel motioned for caution and continued to watch the torch
blend through the walls and stand in the bedroom beyond. Lionel decided he
didn’t want to wait any longer to get between this creature and the woman he
was hired to protect.

He motioned to the SEAL, who slipped an arm around Lionel’s shoulder so
he could trace them both to a spot in the hallway beyond. As they landed, a
flash of light temporarily blinded them. The tracing vamp had been wired to
explode, and if they had been in the same room, would have been killed. As it
was, Andrew had suffered a head injury. He lay on his back, blood draining from
both ears. Lionel examined himself and determined somehow he’d been unscathed.
He heard Cara scream, and immediately he dashed for her home office.

Cara was wrestling with a dark vamp who turned and gave Lionel a bloody
smile. He had taken a bite out of Cara’s neck and was trying to wrench her head
from her body.

Dag.

“Too late again for the party, Lionel. You can have seconds, if you like.
I know you love Golden flesh.”

Lionel’s fury overtook him. He grappled with the coven leader, sure that
others were going to follow. Andrew came to his feet, assisted by another SEAL
teammate. Jeb and Hugh took hold of Cara.

“To the villa,” was all Lionel could say before he was thrown against and
through the wall of Cara’s apartment. As he landed on the ground outside, he
briefly saw his two brothers trace Cara away, hopefully to safety.

“Still doing the Monteleone’s dirty work, Lionel? Can’t seem to get a
woman of your own, but you’ll die defending theirs? That what your life’s
about?”

“What would you know about my life, you miserable creature? You’ve lived
a third of my lifetime. I’ve killed more of you than I can remember.”

“Your own kind. You’ve killed your own kin, for what? For them? You think
they understand you? Care about you and your needs?” Dag was smirking, circling
Lionel with lethal intent. Lionel realized he was waiting for something. He
didn’t have to wait long to find out what it was.

A silver net fell over Lionel’s body, encapsulating the guardian and
denying him the ability to do further harm.

Before they injected him with the sleeping serum, Lionel saw the face of
Dag’s new executioner, who was wearing heavy gloves to protect his hands from
the silver netting.
 
He aimed the
pistol containing the tranquilizing agent at Lionel’s heart, and laughed.

Cara looked around her at the band of men who stood as if they were going
to take orders from her. She was unclear what had just happened. But somehow
she had been transported,
flown
here
at a high rate of speed. She must have passed out, yet she had no sense of
losing consciousness. Something about the two-second ride was familiar to her.
It felt like her skin had tiny pinpricks all over it. And she
knew
that it wasn’t the first time that
had happened.

She looked from the face of one man to another, one by one. Until she
found the man who had grabbed her by the waist and had done the flying—if
that is what it could be called.

He was handsome, and huge.
 
Sandy brown hair covered his camouflage-painted forehead. He didn’t
flinch as she stepped toward him. “What exactly just happened, you want to tell
me what you just did to me?”

“Ma’am. You were in danger. We brought you here to safety.” The giant
then pointed to her neck, which suddenly hurt. She placed her fingers on the
sore spot, and they came back bloody. Black spots began to form in front of her
eyes, and even they seemed familiar, but she fought the urge to sink to the
ground. One of the men stepped forward to help her steady herself and she pushed
off the tattoo-covered arm.

“Just how did you do it? You grabbed me and the next thing I knew we were
here. I want answers and I want them right now.”

Several of the men began to smile, but others solemnly nodded their
heads.

“And I want to go back to salvage what’s left of my apartment.”

“They’ve got Lionel, Huge,” one of the men said to the gentleman who had carried
her. The big man looked angry.

“You’ve been placed here in protective custody until the Monteleones can
return home. Until then, you are to stay here with us,” he said.

“Like hell I will. Monteleone? Did you say Monteleone? As in the head of
security for the University?” she asked.

The band of men laughed. White teeth, dimples, bulging chests and war
paint. They didn’t look like killers from the way they laughed, but they were
sure dressed for it.

“What’s so funny? I’d be able to show you his card, except my apartment
seems to have been blown up. This the security office?”

She realized how stupid she sounded. There was no mistaking the fact that
the two-story room with carved ceilings was the great room of a grand estate,
and not a security office.

“You’ll want to freshen up until they return. It’s been a long night, but
you’re safe here, honest.” The big man held our his hand, “My name is Hugh
Jett. This is my brother, Jeb, and these are our team members. We are the private
security force of the Monteleone family, your hosts, and owner of this villa.”

One by one the men peeled off from the circle, leaving Cara alone with
Hugh and Jeb Jett. “This way, ma’am,” Jeb pointed to the iron stairway leading
to the second floor.

“Do I have a choice in the matter?” Cara asked.

“Not if you want to live.” Hugh Jett answered her from behind. She hung
onto the handrail and began the long climb. It began to be too much for her and
she started to faint.

Hugh Jett was right there, as he had been before, with his arm around her
waist. Before she could protest, he had lifted her up and carried her up the
stairs as easily as she might carry a pillow. He brought her to a set of double
doors, which he opened, revealing a dark chamber with a roaring fireplace. A
large bed with satin sheets stood against the wall opposite the fireplace. The
room was warm. The bed looked inviting. Cara suddenly felt very, very tired.

“I will have one of the girls come get you ready for bed. We will provide
some bedclothes for you, and some clothes for the morning. But tonight you must
stay here, for your own protection, understand?” Hugh looked down on her like
he was talking to a child. She felt like a child.

“Of course,” was all she could think of to say. Although she wanted to
take a shower and get clean, she desperately needed to sleep. There would be
time enough tomorrow for fighting.

“Ma’am. I have some things for you, plus a nice bowl of warm soup.” A
young girl in maid uniform brought a tray with a soup bowl and glass of water.
Tucked under her arm was a fluffy flannel nightie. “This is mine. I think it
will fit.” The girl set the tray down and whisked the two giants out of the
room.

“Whose room is this?” Cara asked as she accompanied the girl to the light
brown marble bathroom. A man’s robe hung on a brass hook shaped like a palm.
She noted a slight lemony scent to it.

“This is the guest room, currently occupied by Mr. Paolo Monteleone. His
brother owns this villa, and the winery.

“Ah. He runs the security company that Sonoma State contracts with, is
that right?”

“I’m not sure what the nature of Mr. Monteleone’s business is here. He
lives in Tuscany, ma’am.”

“And where is he this evening?”

The girl blushed as she tested the shower water she’d just started. “He
left for Tuscany this evening. You’ll not be disturbed. Don’t worry.”

Cara looked in the mirror at her ruined clothes, the blood that had
seeped down the side of her blouse. The skin around the wound was getting pink
and swollen. “This is going to need some attention. Perhaps after my shower I
should be taken to the Emergency Room.”

“No, ma’am. You are safer here. We have a healing balm that will take
care of most of the pain and the infection.”

“You have no idea what just happened to me. I was bitten, by this
man—“

“Yes, I understand. I can see as much. But, trust me, we have a very
effective salve we use for all injuries around the estate. There will not be
anyone available to take you to the hospital until tomorrow. But, we will see
to whatever you need Please?” she motioned for Cara to come toward the shower.

Cara allowed the girl to remove her blouse. She was becoming stiff. Her
back ached from the jarring she took as she—

Flew?

Cara thought she was losing her mind. First Mr. Monteleone told her she’d
forgotten about the death of her assistant, and that police had questioned her
and she had no recollection of it. Now she was standing in a stranger’s
bedroom, about to disrobe, and be treated for a bite wound?

And what about the rare book? The book about—

Vampires. Ohmygod,
this is all
about vampires. Did one bite her?

“You have to get me out of here,” she whispered to the young maid.

“No, ma’am. You must stay here. It is for your safety. Trust me when I
tell you there is no safer place than this home. You are in danger. There has
been already loss of life.”

“Yes. My assistant was murdered.”

“And Jeb and Hugh Jett lost their brother tonight as well. They lost him while
rescuing you.”

Cara could see the girl was speaking what she believed to be the truth.
She wondered if the girl would answer her next question truthfully.

“I need to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me. Do
vampires exist?”

The maid turned her gaze to the ground and nodded. “Under the
Monteleone’s care there is no greater protection.”

“Are they—?”

“No more questions. Everything will be explained tomorrow. Tonight you
must shower, I’ll apply the healing salve and someone will discuss all these
things with you in the morning. Fair enough?”

Cara stepped into the shower, which had filled with steam. The lemony
soap was exhilarating on her skin, gave a little lift of hope to her insides, the
feeling that perhaps the nightmare was about to end, that there was a new
chapter beginning in her life.

And everything in her life was about to change forever.

Again.

Lionel was trussed and hung from the rafters in the old warehouse Rubin the
executioner used as his own private torture palace. A perimeter security
current prevented him from tracing out to a safe place. His strength had waned.
When the dark guards and soldiers went off for their daytime sleep, a mortal
brute was brought in to continue waking Lionel up, whipping him, dousing him in
vinegar, and making fun of how fast he healed from his injuries, which prompted
spurts of more cruelty.

The senior Jett brother was growing weary of the game, and knew that
unless a vital organ were hit, he could continue on this way for centuries. In
fact, there were stories about this kind of sacrifice, a dark prisoner
outliving several lifespans of his mortal torturers. Lionel wondered if he,
too, would someday be looked upon as a fixture on the wall, no different than
one of those ugly, buzzing fluorescent lamps no one ever looked at. His groans
and moans would be background noise to an otherwise busy day, or lost in the
dusty corners of the abandoned warehouse.

He actually liked it when someone was present, even if it meant torture.
The boredom of hanging, reacting to every strange sound, the wind jangling the
chains that held the doors shut or the scurrying of a tiny rodent was
mind-numbing. But even if he wanted to, Lionel knew he could and would not end
himself. As long as he was alive, his mission was still to live, protect and
give witness to the mighty Monteleone clan.

The executioner had brought a couple of curious girls to the warehouse,
no doubt to prove his manhood and cruelty, something Lionel thought Rubin felt
a bit self-conscious about for some reason. He talked them into the leather
restraints. He whipped them with a crop, and if they didn’t cry out enough,
he’d whip Lionel, causing a ribbon of flesh to fly off his body. They’d scream
just watching Lionel suffer.

Later on, Rubin brought someone else who definitely was not using drugs
and was a whole octave higher on the intelligence scale. Lionel could sense she
was a dark vamp, and a recent turning. Rubin’s bloodstained fingers massaged
the little tart’s breasts from behind as she stood in front of Lionel, watching
every ripple and movement of muscle his body made. She was naked and had nice
skin. She revealed a sullen smile when his pecker rose for a salute, not that
she deserved that. He just couldn’t help it.

The executioner had seen her arousal at another man’s dick and cried
foul.

“Shut up, sweetheart,” she replied to him. “I’m the one you’re going to
fuck. Let’s do it right here, in front of him. Maybe he’ll come in my face.”

Rubin grunted and got to work, bending his knees to make up for their
difference in height. He wasn’t light on his feet and was having positional
difficulties. The little vixen sighed, grabbed Lionel’s thighs and bent herself
forward, balancing on the bloody prisoner. This gave Rubin full access to
either orifice and he got to work, until he noticed she had licked Lionel’s
cock and began licking the old sticky blood from his body.

“Hey. Not. Sure. I. Like. That,” Rubin gasped between thrusts.

She wiggled her eyebrows up and down and mouthed
whatever,
then got back to work, teasing the prisoner to the point
of making him pop.

Lionel had to admit he wanted to push her head into his groin and smother
her, but his hands remained tied high above his head. He tried to focus on her
face and where her tongue was going, rather than what was happening behind her.
She had a nice touch. He could almost say she was gentle.

“I want your cum, lover boy,” she whispered between licks. She took a
couple of steps closer and enclosed him with her mouth, no longer teasing but
working on him with in a very skilled and professional style.

Rubin didn’t seem to notice. The executioner’s eyes were squeezed shut as
he grunted his release, probably thinking she was referring to him.

Lionel let her have it, all eight fuckin’ ounces of it or however much it
was. He’d never measured. She got most of it down, and her breasts were creamy
and covered in his sticky seed that had leaked from her lips. He could tell she
would be gagging soon, but instead, she rammed him deeper, all the way down her
throat, which sent a new wave of cum from him in response.

Holy shit.

If he ever made it out of here, he’d have a hard time getting his
brothers and the Monteleone boys to believe what had transpired.

Not that he had any choice in the matter than to relax and allow himself
to become a tool.

Rubin was done and he began to wipe himself up with a dirty rag. The
blonde righted herself and smeared the cum over her breasts. She was breathing
hard as she studied Lionel. He saw a question there, but had no idea what she
really had on her mind. Just that she was the most twisted lady he’d ever met.
Her eyes had gone dark. Lionel could tell she was enjoying the pleasures of his
preternatural sperm. She licked her lips and gave him a wicked smile. He knew
he was in for more sex if he didn’t get out of this warehouse. Maybe he could
use her arousal to his advantage.

“I’ll show you a real good time if you untie my hands.”

“I don’t need your hands. I need your cock.”

“Hey, missy, you’ve had cock,” Rubin objected. “Give me a little time and
I’ll be right back on your little ass so fast—“

She turned and cut him off with a slap across the face. Lionel was
instantly alarmed. He didn’t like to see a fight erupt when he was unable to do
anything about it.

“Why you ungrateful little bitch,” Rubin lunged after her, going for his
preferred method of killing women: strangulation.

But she was fast, much faster than he was. Her lilting, teasing laugh
echoed throughout the building, making a couple of trapped pigeons fly up and
hit the metal ceiling. Rubin lost his balance and fell on his stomach.

She pulled a gun from her bag. Lionel judged the thing to be a Raptor II.
He hoped to God she’d put silver bullets in it, or she was in for a nasty surprise
when the executioner got up and continued chasing her.

Lionel watched her breasts bounce as she pranced around the room,
brandishing the gun. The executioner was livid with rage. Lionel just hoped
she’d get on with it, but no, she seemed to want to tease the fat vamp until he
had to stop, bending over to brace himself on his knees, out of breath. He
shook his head.

“Okay, okay, missy. You win this round. Come on, let’s kiss and make up.”
He massaged his limp dick a few times and almost got it to salute for her when
Lionel heard the gun go off. Sure as shit she’d shot the vamp and only a silver
bullet in the middle of his chest could have stopped him clean like that.

She blew the barrel of the gun like a gunslinger from Hollywood. But she
certainly didn’t look like any gunslinger he’d ever seen before.

Forgive my evil thoughts.
He’d
never wanted a woman more in his life. He thought about begging her to get
right to it, not even untying him first, he was so hot for her. But then reason
came flooding into his brain, and he remembered the mission.

“Untie me.”

“And you’ll do what?”

“I said I’d make it up to you. And I will.”

She cocked her head to the side. Her gaze dropped to his groin and, sure
enough, he was ready to perform for hours on end. He was twice the size he had
been when she had him in her mouth.

“How do you guys do that?”

“This?” he said, looking down. “I have no fuckin’ clue. I just know that
I like it.”

“Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“Should I be?”

She nodded very slowly. “I almost killed Dag.”

That did earn a little respect from Lionel. “How the hell did you do
that?”

“Tied him up with silver when he was sleeping. Your employer left him in
a terrible shape. Disgusting burned flesh. I think that’s why he came over and
got you. After I healed him, of course.”

“So why aren’t you with him now? Why choose his man?”

“Because I wanted to see you. And besides, Dag wants to kill me now. So
you see, we are a match made in heaven. He wants us both dead.”

“Wanna celebrate?” Lionel was trying to sound casual, maybe a little
sexy. He was starting to get alarmed that perhaps this little lady only liked
to torture her conquests. That he had grossly misjudged her, as had Dag.

“Thought you’d never ask. Beg me.”

“Please.”

“Not good enough. I can wait all day, but you can’t. You haven’t much
time. They’ll be over here for Round Two.”

“If you and I were alone together, and I had my hands, I’d first explore
every inch of your body. I’d scrub your sex so hard you’d come in my shower.
I’d remove any trace of that filthy disgusting slimeball excuse for a vamp, and
then I’d replace it with some good clean cum and make you glow from the inside
out. You’d want me so bad you’d keep me in a darkened room and fuck me 24/7.
And I’d make you come, baby, every conceivable way possible. There. How’s
that?”

She jumped his bones, wrapping her legs around his waist, which pulled
his restraints and hurt like hell. But he’d made a promise, and if she kept
hers, he’d keep his. She whispered in his ear, “I can’t wait.”

She ran buck naked to search through Rubin’s pants until she found the restraint
keys, then ran back to unhook each wrist.

Lionel was grateful.

“Thanks, sweetheart. I can trace us somewhere for a quickie, but I got
things I need to do, and I sure as hell have to get out of here, and I think
you do, too.”

She nodded her head. She was going to be putty in his hands.

“I keep my word. You let me go, and I promise to come back and send you
to heaven a few dozen times, but not right now, honey. You understand?” He
lifted her chin with his fingers and placed a sweet kiss on her lips.

She began to wrap her arms around his neck and he ducked out. “Nope.
Sorry. Just hold that thought. If we both survive the next few days, I’ll be
back.”

“Take me with you. I’m an ally now. I’ve fought your enemy. I’ve aided
your cause.”

“Doesn’t work that way. I don’t make the rules. You’re going to have to
fend for yourself for a bit until this is all over.”

“Did I tell you I qualified expert?”

Lionel began taking Rubin’s clothes. The pants he had to cinch up with
the belt high above his waist. His shoes were about five sizes too small.

“I can believe that.”

“Let me be a member of your team.”

“I don’t get to choose that.”

“Let me try out.”

He thought about it for a moment and then decided yes; he had room for
one more, especially if she was a crack shot. “Okay, get your clothes. We gotta
disappear right now or it will be too late.”

She was quick. He took her hand and they opened a side door to the night.
“Hang on, sweetheart,” he whispered in her ear. Lionel traced them to the
Monteleone villa, dead center in the living room, like he’d done dozens of time
before. She stepped clear of Lionel and they both studied a cadre of muscled
and well-armed men grinning from ear to ear. Some had been playing video games,
some were lounging in front of a big screen TV. Pizza boxes and fast food
wrappers were everywhere. Lionel knew the Monteleones would be royally pissed
if they saw the scene in front of them.

“Holy cow. Lionel’s brought the cavalry,” someone said.

“That’s right, boys,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “I’m the
inspirational speaker for tonight’s meeting.”