The Nightlife Moscow (Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Suspense) (The Nightlife Series Book 5) (15 page)

Having slipped past her mental shields with the blood
connection, he caught brief snatches of her fears.
They sliced Nina to
pieces without mercy, and Kristina had disappeared. What were their plans for
her and the other bloodslaves?

He let go after a minute or so, and looked up into her
glazed eyes. He had another glimpse of her mind before she blocked him out with
her reformed mental shields. She still feared the unknown, but she appreciated
the way he had treated her with respect. He’d taught her the only lesson she
would ever need from him –
trust
. He was a vampire she could trust with
her body.

“I never take more than I should, and I never take what you
won’t give willingly.”

She nodded and stared at him with an unreadable look.

He stepped away and she almost fell over. He caught her up
in his arms and appreciated her slim, delicate build. She was almost too dainty
for his liking, too breakable. He wondered why Dmitri had chosen such a frail woman
for a bloodslave.

The brunette nearest him cleared her throat and pulled her
hair aside with a tentative, hopeful grin. Aaron was struck with the
strangeness of the moment. These ladies were applying for membership into his
household, his life. They were stuck with him and Michelle by default, an
inheritance of sorts.

“What is your name?

“Oksana.” She had quit trying to hide her beautiful little
handful breasts and smiled when he checked her out up and down.

“You know I won’t hurt you, Oksana, right?”

She nodded and stepped up to him, her cheek rubbing against
his she was so close. He took her in hand and tasted her neck. She made
delightful little noises as he sensed her open nature and willingness to please
him. He cupped her ass and drank deeply of her savory flavors. That hit the
spot beautifully. He was tempted to strip off her pants and see what she had to
offer, but, that might not be the best thing to do in a room full of people,
and he doubted he could get it up again anytime soon.

He let up from her neck, licked the wound once to seal it,
and stepped away. She giggled and blushed, waving her hand in front of her face
to catch some air as she swayed, dizzy. By the way she twitched and continued
giggling, he figured she was probably still in the middle of her orgasm. What a
wonderful creature. This one Aaron understood immediately, a perfect little bloodslave
if ever there was.

The last girl pushed past Oksana and pulled her hair aside,
looking down and away. He caught the impression there was something not quite
right with her. She avoided his gaze and waited for his bite impatiently.

“What is your name?”

She looked off towards Katya who turned off the water in the
shower and stepped out of the sliding glass doors to glare at all of them,
Aaron included. Katya found a towel and proceeded to ignore everyone as she
dried herself.

The brunette didn’t say a word. Aaron studied her. Something
he couldn’t put his finger on nagged at the back of his mind. Something about
her hair cut. “I said, what is your name?”

She scoffed and finally looked at him squarely. “Natalya.”

In his mind’s eye, an image of a tiger-striped naked woman
superimposed over the top of Natalya’s dark brown eyes, soft round tits, and
that same obnoxiously defiant tilt to her chin.

“Ah, you’re the Tiger Lady, from
411
.” He couldn’t
help but chuckle. “I bet you know exactly where the otrok is, don’t you? You
probably know the count of each vial.”

Her eyes squinted at him with a grudging acknowledgment. She
had probably recognized him all along. He tried to pierce her mind and found
that same wall blocking him out. This girl was a hot mess, a trouble-maker.
Aaron couldn’t for the life of him figure out why Dmitri would have kept her
around. Too obnoxious for Aaron’s tastes.

But what was he supposed to do, send her packing? Force her
into agonizing withdrawals through his refusal to bite her? That wasn’t very
fair. Aaron and gang had killed the girl’s master. He’d inherited this …
harem
.
He had a responsibility to these women. The otrok might come in handy when
dealing with a brat like Natalya.

“Look, Natalya, you don’t want to be here anymore than I
want you to be here. But, if you intend to stick with me, you better drop this shitty
attitude.
Quick
.”

She looked at him, really looked at him. Her eyes traveled
up and down his body as though assessing whether he was worthy of her. Cocky
little bitch. He considered making her wait, making her beg for it.
No, that
wasn’t cool
. Dmitri must have done something to make her like this. Aaron
wasn’t about to become the next Dmitri in her life.
Fuck that
.

He gave the obnoxious brat exactly what she wanted when he
snatched her up in his arms and growled in her face. “Is this how you like it?”
He bit her hard and squished her perfect little breasts against his chest as he
squeezed her ass in a tight grip.

She didn’t fight. In fact she straddled his leg and started
humping. She rode the high, trying to get more out of it. With her blood he
tasted her emotions. She wouldn’t have a problem if he stripped her and fucked
her right now, in front of everyone. The voyeur liked it that way.

Michelle tapped him on the shoulder and whispered in his
ear. “Enough, Aaron.”

Her voice of caution sunk in, and he released the Tiger
Lady’s neck. Oblivious to anyone else, she kept grinding her warm, damp pussy
on his leg, humping and grunting her way through a dry fuck. Aaron looked back
and found the other girls had turned away, perhaps embarrassed at Natalya’s
display. They were accustomed to seeing Natalya behave this way. The girl had no
sense of propriety, a true veteran of the sex trade.

Aaron held onto her, allowing her to get off on his leg,
until she finished with another grunting sigh. She smiled at him with fully
dilated eyes that said she was up for anything, anytime, anywhere, and kissed
him full on the mouth. “Bolshoe spasibo.” When he obviously didn’t understand
what she had said, she grinned and reached down to grab the bulge of his cock
through his towel. “Thank you.”

Okay, maybe he could see a reason Dmitri would keep Natalya
around. She was the go to girl. He could bend her over whenever the mood
overtook him. Aaron wondered what kind of twisted things Dmitri might have
forced these women to do … together. He vowed to be better than that, to treat
them with the respect and care they deserved.

Aaron held Natalya casually in one arm and reached out to
bring Oksana into his embrace. He kissed them both on the foreheads and looked
to the blonde. “I didn’t get your name.”

She became shy all of a sudden and blushed, again. She’d
returned to hiding her breasts from him. After a moment of silence, she finally
met his gaze with a look of hope. “Svetlana.” This girl could be someone worth
knowing, if he handled her delicately. There was far more beneath her surface.

“Come here, Svetlana. Group hug.”

Slowly, she stepped up and released her hold on her breasts
to hug the other two women, face to face with Aaron. He loved watching the rosy
red blush on her face as she let it all hang out on display. It was a petty
pleasure, but standing with a gang of topless bloodslaves made him feel like the
Czar of all Eastern Europe. “Listen up ladies. I’m the new boss, the new
master, and things are going to be different from here on out.”

He glanced to Michelle and jerked his head to bring her
over. She slipped in between Oksana and Svetlana, seamlessly nudging into the
middle of them. Michelle joined the group hug with a huge fang-filled grin and
a luscious lick of her lips.

“This is the beautiful and deadly Michelle de Mornac. Michelle
is mine, and I am hers. Where I go, she goes. If you’ll give us a chance, we
can be yours as well, the both of us. We can make this work, together. Michelle
is also your new master.”

All three women assessed Michelle with wary glances.

“This is a good thing, ladies. A very good thing. Michelle
and I share everything, and I do mean everything.”

To punctuate his words, Michelle kissed Oksana dead on the
lips, tongue and all. The girl’s deep brown eyes flared with shock, but she
didn’t pull away. Michelle leaned away to catch Oksana’s eyes and then squeezed
her ass, laying claim to her half of Oksana’s behind. Oksana rewarded her with
a bright smile and bit her bottom lip, her attraction to Michelle unmistakable.

Aaron squeezed Oksana’s shoulder. “I think we’re all going
to be one big happy family.”

The ladies didn’t look exactly
convinced
, but they
grinned. Except for Natalya, who just rolled her eyes. Aaron knew what it would
take to deal with her. Natalya needed a hardcore vampire grudge fuck to bring
her in line. Aaron looked forward to the challenge.

“Oh great, a game of topless football?” Katya stood wrapped
in her towel with a look of sheer disgust. She pegged each of the women with
her hate-filled eyes. “No matter how much fun you’re planning, he’s only got
one cock.”

Natalya reached down once more to rub the lump of Aaron’s
crotch through his towel, as though taking dibs on the only penis in the room.

Katya’s eyes locked with Aaron’s and a wicked squint formed.
“Better start buying stock in Viagra if you’re planning to bang all of them and
the regulars too.”

She turned and stomped out of the bathroom.

* * * *

“Bribes have been paid to the families of the dead soldiers.
More bribes have been paid to the neighbors who complained to the police that
they heard or saw something. Bribes have been paid to the police. A cover story
will hit the news that there was a gas line explosion.” Urvashi lay back,
relaxed in a massive arm chair in a sitting room on the ground floor of the
mansion.

Aaron shook his head, finding it hard to believe. Only in
Russia could a massacre of this size be swept under the carpet at the cost of a
few million rubles. What an unusual place to live, where justice is bought and
sold by the highest bidders.

Urvashi smiled at his train of thought. “All of the staff
have been fired and threatened with a gruesome death if they ever speak a word
of what happened here. They received a very generous severance pay. We are in
the process of hiring new people. In the interim, we’re on our own in the
kitchen.”

That explained the sandwiches everyone had been eating at
every meal.

Urvashi’s lazy right hand draped around a crystal goblet of
Amaretto on the rocks. Her eyes crinkled with enjoyment as she sipped her liquor.
“The good news is I’m told that Dmitri made no provisions in the event of his
death. The fool thought he’d live indefinitely. We have plenty of time to enjoy
his property while we figure out who gets what.”

Aaron’s jaw about dropped out of his mouth in shock. “Are
you fucking kidding me?”

Urvashi winked at him. “I’m taking control of his empire as
we speak.”

“What’s it all worth?” He knew Michelle was wealthy, to the
tune of double digit millions, and she had no problems spending money on him, but
that wouldn’t stop him from making a grab at a slice of Dmitri’s fat cat pie.
Aaron’s future suddenly seemed a whole lot brighter.

“I don’t have a final number yet, but it looks like it’s over
two billion.”

“Holy shit.” Aaron could hardly imagine what anyone would do
with that kind of money. It could take several lifetimes to spend it all.

“Most of his wealth is tied up in assets, real estate and
business operations. It’s not really liquid, sitting in a bank account. But,
these things can be sold, or produce dividends and profits. The value can be
realized, eventually. Except for Pharzyme. The laboratory suffered an
unfortunate accident. There’s been a fire…”

Aaron shook his head. Urvashi was still dead set on getting
rid of the synthetic venom. He almost spoke his mind on the issue, but thought
better of it. She seemed irrationally fixated on eradicating that drug, and
there was little Aaron could do to change her position on it. She’d lopped off
Dmitri’s head over it –
Aaron wasn’t winning that argument
.

“So … did you ever get into the vault? I haven’t seen it
yet.”

She shook her head, but smiled. “It’s right where Kristina
said it would be. Ivan will be opening it for us shortly.”

As though taking his cue from Urvashi, Ivan sauntered into
the room in a thick black bathrobe and his combat boots. He looked every bit
the Russian mercenary strolling through his newly confiscated mansion. He
rubbed the monogrammed ‘Dmitri’ on his robe and grinned. “I’m thinking of
keeping this as a reminder of what a supreme asshole he was.”

Ivan plopped down in a chair beside Urvashi and leaned back.
“So, I guess I missed the end of our little party with the leech. I don’t
recall how it happened.”

Aaron had a moment of gruesome flashback to Ivan’s busted up
body lying sprawled out, half man, half beast, and half dead. He caught a
shiver from the image that was forever branded into his brain as the creepiest
shit he’d ever seen.

Urvashi laid her hand over Ivan’s with a gentle reassuring
touch. “You gave him hell, Ivan. I helped you finish the job.”

Ivan watched her closely. “Are you certain … he’s dead?”

Aaron and Urvashi nodded together simultaneously. Urvashi
winked at Ivan, and Aaron snickered. “She made sure of it. Took his head clean
off. His corpse was removed in two pieces.”

Ivan sighed in relief and closed his eyes, ruminating on the
news. His hand gripped Urvashi’s and he brought it up to his lips to kiss her
fingers. “I am forever grateful, and in your debt. Anything you need, anytime,
don’t hesitate to ask.”

Out the corner of his eye Aaron caught a low movement,
something bright-colored. He turned to find Lana in a pink sweater and blue
jeans holding Katya’s hand. In her other hand she had a half-eaten sandwich.
Aaron could smell the peanut butter and jelly from where he sat.

Her face was somber, as usual. He smiled at her, hoping for
another glimpse of her radiance.

She scooted a chair over right beside him and sat down at
the table, rubbing elbows with him. The girl fascinated him. She was sitting
casually with the pack of killers who had just wiped out her entire household
and her former vampire master –
surrogate father
, and she acted as if they
were all enjoying a Sunday brunch. She downed the sandwich in no time and Katya
handed her a quart of milk.

He looked to Katya and she had a slight grin, watching Aaron
and Lana. The girl had thawed Katya’s icy demeanor. Aaron made a mental note of
it – good to know a way in when Katya shut him out, which happened all too
often.

The whole gang sat there quietly watching this little quiet
bubble of normality that had walked into their lives. Aaron turned to Urvashi
and speared her with a silent message. {{We are going to have to make
provisions for Lana. Her schooling and some kind of normal life. Maybe a
boarding school.}}

Urvashi looked down at the little girl and smiled sweetly. “Would
you like to travel with us, Lana, see the world and all it has to offer?”

Aaron spiked Urvashi with another silent bump. {{It’s not up
to her. It’s up to me. She needs some structure in her life.}}

Lana perked up right away and shook her head emphatically –
yes
.
“Where are we going?”

Aaron cleared his throat. “We might travel soon. No definite
plans yet. I think we need to figure out your schooling first. You do go to
school, don’t you?”

Somehow, he had begun to sound an awful lot like a parent.

Katya cut in. “I can deal with that. I was thinking she
could come with me, to London. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Katya smiled at
Lana, but the girl had a stern look on her face.

“Will Aaron be with us too?”

Katya glanced up at Aaron and then Ivan and Urvashi. It was
obvious she didn’t quite know how to answer the question. She looked to Aaron
and spoke slowly, unsure. “Well, I’m sure we could convince him to come with us
for a while.”

Lana shook her head, as if she alone would be the one to
decide her fate. “Momma told me to go with Aaron. She said …”

Aaron dived in before things got awkward. “She made me
promise to be personally responsible for Lana. And I did promise, didn’t I?”

Lana looked to him, far too serious for a little girl of her
age. Her eyes were so huge, and he thought for sure she was going to start
crying. “Yes, you promised.”

Katya was watching him, a strange look on her face. “Well,
Aaron will be around, I’m sure, but you’re in the pack now. Your father Abram
was in the pack with me, Ivan, Anatoly and Nikolay. Did your mother ever
explain to you how … different you are? What it means to be in the pack?”

Lana slowly shook her head. “Momma said that my father was
gone. She said Dmitri was … taking care of us.” She looked to Aaron and mimicked
his very words. “Dmitri was a bad, bad man. I stay with Aaron now.”

Aaron watched Katya’s face morph into a scowl and she might
have even growled slightly. She leaned down close to Lana. “Aaron is no saint,
Lana. He’s a vampire, like Dmitri. Vampires are
very
dangerous. You
remember how dangerous Dmitri was? You are not a vampire, Lana, you’re
something else. You’re pack. We will teach you how to live in the pack, how to
live with …
the change
. In a few years you’ll understand.”

Lana shook her head –
no
– her face scrunched up with
frustration. “Aaron is not like Dmitri. Mamma said–”

Urvashi slipped her hand over Lana’s. “Don’t worry, Lana.
Aaron and I will handle everything. Katya is a good friend, she can help us. She
can help you too. All will be explained in time.”

Aaron caught the slight hint of calming influence Urvashi
exerted on the girl, and the rough lines of confusion on Lana’s face smoothed
out as she visibly relaxed. Lana blinked away her unshed tears of frustration
and smiled. It wasn’t quite the radiant grin Aaron hoped for, but it was a
start.

This shit was getting complicated.

Urvashi redirected her attention to Ivan and patted his
hand. “We have a vault to open. Now, if you please.”

* * * *

Katya stood beside Aaron and Urvashi as Ivan molded C-4
charges around the seams of a meter-high steel vault door set into the back
wall of Dmitri’s
entertainment
room. The overwhelming scent of noxious perfume
drew Katya’s attention to the two bloodslaves standing back a few paces, the
dark-haired whore, Natalya, and the meek blonde, Svetlana. The women watched
the vault with looks of anxiety.
How curious
. They were actually worried
… they didn’t want to see the drug destroyed.

Bloody addicts.

Katya had to admit she had considered this drug might be a
way to regain her freedom from the bloody leeches. She wondered if it was
possible to reduce the mind-erasing sexual tension and emotional quagmire Aaron
created in her life, simply by using otrok in place of his bite.

“Stand back!” Ivan swept his arm towards everyone as he gave
himself a good distance from the doors.

He held up a small radio device and reached for the toggle
switch.

“Wait!” Svetlana grabbed Ivan’s shoulder and put her hand
over the switch to block him from detonation. “I know the code to the door. You
don’t need to do this.”

“Bitch!” Natalya spit in Svetlana’s direction. She had a
vicious stare of hatred for her fellow bloodslave. “I knew it! You had the code
all along.” She shook her head. “The idiot trusted her.”

Aaron stepped up to Natalya and growled low. “And why should
he have trusted you?” He nodded towards Svetlana and Ivan. “Let her help, if
she’s willing.”

Svetlana smiled at Aaron.

Katya fumed. The bastard was working his way under their
skin, insinuating himself as the new vamp-cock in charge. Bloody leech pranced
around with a hard-on, twenty four seven.

Svetlana moved past Ivan and punched in a series of letters
and numbers on the keypad to the right of the vault door. As soon as she
finished, a green light flashed and a click sounded. She pulled on the door and
a four inch thick slab of steel swung open to reveal a walk-in room larger than
most bank vaults. There had to be some serious valuables inside to justify
spending this kind of money on security.

Katya followed Svetlana, Ivan and Urvashi inside. “It’s a
bloody bunker. I’ll bet its blast proof…”

The blonde bloodslave led them to the back of the vault to a
refrigeration unit built-into the wall. She opened the heavy duty padlock with
a key from her key ring. The girl was full of surprises. Svetlana stepped back
and swung open the stainless steel door to a series of glass shelves filled
with hundreds of vials of clear liquid.

“Bloody hell.”

Aaron had snagged two or three vials from the whore back at
that strip club –
only the tip of the iceberg
.

This was enough to supply half of Europe, and create
thousands of addicts. Dmitri could have started up a supply chain to rival the
80’s cocaine madness – if that was his intention.

Natalya snapped on Svetlana in Russian. “You had this key
and code all along and you hid it from me!” She smacked the blonde and reared
back with a closed fist, planning to deck her.

Urvashi flashed in and slapped her so hard Natalya hit the
floor. The bloodslave yelped in pain, as the back of her head bounced off a wall
filled with little locked drawers.

“Enough!” Urvashi stood over the dark-haired whore like an
avenging angel ready to smite sinners into a pillar of salt. “You were his
distributor! That’s why we found you at the club with the otrok.”

Urvashi looked mad enough to hack the bitch in half. Lucky
for the bloodslave Urvashi wasn’t carrying her samurai blade. Katya considered
Urvashi might be willing to do the job with her bare hands.

Aaron stepped in between them to face off against his master.
“She’s an addict who has been victimized by Dmitri. Let’s not get this twisted
around.” He reached down and pulled Natalya to her feet.

How noble
. The leech defends his whore against unjust
persecution.

Urvashi eyed him, and looked like she had more to say on the
matter, but Svetlana spoke up. “We all knew she was selling it. She used twice
as much as we did. She was doing it on her own. Dmitri never intended her to sell
it … that’s not why he commissioned Pharzyme to create the drug.”

Urvashi turned on Svetlana with a hiss. “Why would he let
her sell it? Why would he send her to the streets of Moscow to create addicts?
You know exactly what vampire’s venom does to a woman. If the dose is strong
enough, one injection could create
instant
addiction. The entire world
could be victimized by this drug, and the man who controlled its supply!”

Svetlana shied away from Urvashi’s wicked tongue-lashing.
She backed up until the walls of the vault stopped her retreat. “He … even when
he beat her, he couldn’t control her.” Svetlana seemed to have more to say, but
she looked Natalya in the eyes and shut her mouth.

There was definitely more, Katya could almost guess the
unspoken. The bitch Natalya couldn’t be beat down, because she was one of
those
girls. Natalya took pleasure in pain. Dmitri probably had a grand ole time
slapping her all over the bedroom while he made her do things no other woman
would do for him.