Sophia (37 page)

“Colin,” she gasped. “I can’t . . . I can’t last much longer.”

“Then, don’t, Sophie. Come for me.”

As if waiting for his invitation, Sophie threw her head back, screaming as the climax roared over her. She collapsed on top of him, moaning as her entire body quivered in the throes of sexual release. Colin gritted his teeth, relishing the feel of her soft body trembling over his, her channel convulsing, shivering with the strength of her orgasm. Groaning, he tightened his hold on her hips and rolled over, drawing her knees up and placing her legs over his shoulders as he shoved himself into her over and over again in a frenzy of need. Sophie’s eyes flashed open. She snarled wordlessly and began to move, meeting his downward plunge with an upward thrust of her hips, flexing her inner muscles to grip his cock even tighter.

Colin felt the orgasm coming. There was no stopping it this time. He shouted uncontrollably as it rolled over him like an earthquake, shaking him down to his bones, every muscle in his body clenching as his cock pulsed over and over again, burying itself deep in Sophie’s body until it was spent.

He eased her legs off his shoulders and rolled over, gathering her against his side.

“Jesus, Soph,” he managed.

She responded with an unintelligible “mmph,” her voice muffled by his chest.

Colin wasn’t sure how long they stayed that way. He wasn’t even sure when they’d started making love or how long they’d been at it. He did know they both fell asleep at some point. He woke when Sophia stirred restlessly and sat up next to him.

“I fell asleep,” she fretted. “It’s nearly dawn. I don’t know if—”

“It’s okay, darlin’,” he soothed, pulling her back down into the warm bed. “These are blackout drapes and I’ll stand guard. It’s okay.”

She smiled sleepily, reaching up to caress his face. “Colin,” she whispered. “I can’t believe I found you.”

“We found each other, Soph. Now, sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

* * * *

The ringing phone dragged Colin from sleep. A quick glance at the clock told him, it was just past two. He checked it again. Two in the afternoon, he clarified. Sophie lay next to him, curled up beneath the covers. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was asleep, but a closer look told him it was more than that. It wasn’t like the vampires in the movies who were pale and gray, their hands bony with long, curving nails. His Sophie wasn’t dead. But this was something more than sleep, too.

He thought about the others, the vampires who’d been murdered, and he understood for the first time how completely vulnerable they’d been when their attackers fell on them. There would have been no resistance. Their deaths had been brutal butchery, nothing less.

The phone rang again, and he jolted, thinking it might be Robbie with news about Leighton. But right on top of that thought was the realization that it was his house phone ringing. Not his cell, but the land line. Cell reception had been spotty up here for years, until the vamps moved in and paid to have a new tower installed. His broadband came in over the land line, so he kept the service, but hardly anyone called him on that number anymore.

He let it ring. It would go to the answering machine before long, and he could listen to see if it was someone he wanted to talk to.

He pulled the covers up over Sophie and climbed out of bed, careful to close the bedroom door behind him. As he’d told her, the curtains in his bedroom were heavy, with blinds underneath. After years of sleeping in all sorts of places and conditions, he liked a dark room and a comfortable bed when he slept.

The incoming call rolled over to the machine as he walked into the living room, his skin prickling with cold. He almost turned around to go back to the bedroom and pull on a pair of sweats when Garry McWaters’s familiar voice rolled out of the machine.

“Yo, Murphy. You around?”

Colin’s stared at the machine in disbelief. Jaw clenched, he strode over the phone and yanked it off the charger.

“You son of a bitch,” he said growled.

“You didn’t tell me the woman had a bodyguard, Murph,” Garry chided. “Not nice of you.”

It had been Garry’s voice he heard at Babe’s after the shootout yesterday. He hadn’t wanted to believe it, but now—

“And you didn’t tell me you’d taken to ambushing friends, you bastard.”

“Hey, we weren’t aiming at you, buddy. You wouldn’t have been hurt at all if that bitch hadn’t seen a couple of the guys moving around outside. I hate working with amateurs, you know what I’m saying? Anyway,
she
was the target. You were just supposed to open the door like you always do for the ladies. You’re such a gentleman, Murph. I always admired that about you.”

“Yeah, fuck you, Garry.”

McWaters just laughed. “Yeah, well
you
fucked up the plan. And the boys aren’t happy. Their trucks got all shot up and you know how they feel about their trucks around here. Besides, you looked fine to me when you drove away. The bodyguard, too, for that matter. What is he, Delta? Rangers? That boy definitely had some training somewhere. Hey,” he said suddenly, as if it had just occurred to him. “How’s the woman doing?”

“Go to hell.”

“Come on, she was hardly helpless out there. Fine lookin’ woman, and she knows her stuff. Too bad she’s on the wrong side.”

 
“The wrong side? Which one’s that?”

All laughter fled and Garry’s voice turned grim. “The fucking human side, Murphy. You’re from the South. I thought you’d recognize a righteous cause when you saw one.”

“Happy to disappoint, asshole.”

“Oh, I’m not disappointed. We were hoping to take her out, but we hurt her bad enough. I hear those vamps are pretty attached to their women, kinda fall apart when something bad happens to them, like with Mariane. But this one, the big man nearly losing his girlfriend like that? That’ll put a crimp in their
hunt,
won’t it?”

Colin frowned. Where was Garry getting his information? How did he know how badly Leighton was hurt, or even that she was still alive? For that matter, how’d he know what Raphael’s reaction would be to Leighton getting shot up like that? Even he wouldn’t have known before he’d seen Jeremy’s reaction to Mariane’s injuries. Sure, everyone in town probably knew about the assault on Mariane by now, but no one outside the vamp compound should have known how badly it had affected Jeremy.

All this time, they’d been looking for a mole among the humans in town, but maybe the mole was inside the compound.

Garry had remained silent, waiting for Colin to react. Was he looking for confirmation of Leighton’s death, or at least an update on her condition? Colin’s lip curled. The son-of-a-bitch would wait a long damn time before he got any information out of Colin. He’d also made a huge miscalculation if he thought Raphael’s reaction was going to be anything like Jeremy’s. Jeremy was a fucking accountant. Raphael was—

Shit. Raphael was going to tear this town apart.

“Do you have
any
idea what you’ve done, Garry?” he asked instead. “Raphael’s going to paint the town with your blood for this.”

“Gosh, I hope so,” Garry said with false enthusiasm. “Well, not
my
blood. But anyone else’s will do.” His voice hardened. “Why the hell do you think we targeted
her
instead of someone else? If those vamps start killing people, maybe the rest of you will open your eyes and realize we’ve got a bunch of monsters living among us and our fucking government isn’t doing shit about it.”

“So, you’re making some sort of political statement with this?” Colin asked in disbelief. “There’s not going to be any last stand here, Mac. No Waco, no Ruby Ridge, no media standing by to cover your glorious sacrifice. You’re dead, pure and simple. You and all your crazy ass buddies. Those vamps are going hunt you down and tear you into pieces so small, there won’t be enough of you left to bury.”

Colin didn’t wait for a response. He hung up, shaking with anger. That stupid SOB. He couldn’t believe Garry would go along with that kind of ignorant bullshit. Hell, he couldn’t believe Garry would turn on
him
like this, after everything they’d been through together, after they’d saved each other’s lives more than once. But Colin couldn’t save him this time. He’d be lucky to save himself. Once the vampire lord found out Leighton had been specifically targeted . . . Colin shook his head. He might not know much about vampires, but he’d been there when Raphael woke up at sunset last night. He’d seen that huge, damn building rattle like it was made of cardboard.

Hell. Forget Garry McWaters and his idiot friends. Colin would have his hands full trying to convince the vamps not to take out every human being between here and Seattle.

He ran a hand through his hair, rubbing it back and forth. He wouldn’t get any more sleep today, not with this buzzing in the back of his brain. But as long as he was awake he might as well do something useful, and he could start with Leon and Ellen Pettijohn, the owners of Babe’s bar. He’d be surprised if either of them was directly involved in this. They weren’t going to win any citizenship awards, but he didn’t peg them as murderers either.

He started back toward the bedroom, intending to take a quick shower, get dressed and head into town. Ellen worked a day shift at the market, but Leon would probably be home, still asleep. Colin figured to head over there first. He could call, but these things worked better in person, and If he had to rouse Leon out of bed all the better—

He hit the bedroom doorway and skidded to a halt.

Well, hell. He couldn’t go over to Leon’s today. He couldn’t go anywhere. Sophia was sound asleep in his bed, completely helpless. Chances were no one knew she was here except him, but was he willing to take that chance? Hell, no.

He spun on his heel, going down the hall to his study and sitting at his computer. There was one more thing he could do, and he didn’t have to leave the house to do it. Garry and his buddies had to be holed up somewhere nearby, and this was a small town. If Garry had been staying with one of the regulars, it would have leaked out by now. But if he was in hiding, maybe with those out-of-towners Hugh Pulaski had complained about . . . well, Garry’s family had been in Cooper’s Rest a long time. They probably had property way out in the back of nowhere that Colin didn’t even know about.

But if he could find it before the sun went down tonight, he could give the vamps someplace to start looking, a focus for their hunt. And maybe, if he was very lucky, he could stop Raphael from turning Cooper’s Rest into a bloodbath.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Sophia stretched languidly, feeling more sated and relaxed than she had in a very long time. Maybe ever. Her eyes were closed, but she knew Colin was nearby. She could feel him watching her and she arched her back, preening for him, sliding her hands over her breasts and down to her thighs before extending them over her head in a final stretch.

Colin swore softly and she opened her eyes with a grin. He was half-naked, his chest bare, a pair of black combat pants snugged low on his narrow hips, and he was eyeing her body like a starving man.

“Why are you way over there?” she purred, patting the bed.

“If I come to bed, we’ll never get out of here and we have to leave. God knows I’m sorry, but we have to get back to the compound.”

Sophia sat up, her mind already churning over the possibilities. “Did something happen?”

“I got a phone call today from an old friend. He wanted to know if Leighton was dead.”

Sophia grew very still. “Why would he care?” she asked carefully.

“Because he’s probably the one who shot her. He and his buddies killed Marco and Preston and attacked Mariane, too.”

Her power rose unbidden, filling her with fire. She saw Colin’s eyes widen and knew her own had begun to glow. “Who is he?” she demanded.