The Nightlife Moscow (Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Suspense) (The Nightlife Series Book 5) (7 page)

She took a minute to compose herself then cleared her
throat. “The guards forced us all into the basement, and shot us over and over.
They shot me
so
many times. I don’t even know how many times, and to
this day, I still don’t know why I didn’t die.”

Ivan reached across the table and stroked Katya’s hand. “We
heard the shooting. By then there was nothing we could do but follow the
murderers as they loaded the bodies into trucks and took the evidence of their
crimes deep into the woods, to bury them. We were the only ones who heard the faint
sounds of Katya’s breathing. I knew we had to save her.”

Katya smiled at Ivan with a love that spanned almost a
century. “I have always thought it was a miracle, or perhaps a mistake. I
should have died that night, buried with the Czar and his wife and children.”
She turned her attention to Aaron. “I lived all these years, evaded Dmitri’s
goons, escaped the bloody Bolsheviks, and for what? To become your chew toy?”

She was smiling at Aaron, teasing, but, her voice held an
undercurrent that wasn’t so happy. Aaron pecked her cheek. “You’re not a chew
toy, Katya. More like a big, juicy steak, with a great ass and …”

She elbowed him in the ribs as he broke into laughter and
Ivan grinned, trying hard not to laugh.

Katya pegged Ivan with one of her fiery looks. “Tell him why
you geniuses saved
me
, the bloody maid.” There was a tone to her voice
Aaron didn’t like. The sound of a woman who thought herself unworthy of
survival. Survivors guilt, perhaps?

Ivan shrugged. “We needed a witness. We assumed they would
lie about what had happened, try to cover up their crimes. A witness could tell
the world the truth. Days passed and there was no news. No lies, no rumors,
nothing. It was as if the Royal family had never existed. We told many people,
key officials, old friends in St. Petersburg. No one would listen. For more
than two decades the revolutionaries kept their crimes a secret. By the time
the truth was known publicly, the world had changed. The Russian empire was no
more. We were proud Soviets of the Union, a communist country living by the
ideals of Vladimir Lenin and suffocating in the grip of Joseph Stalin. No one
cared about the truth anymore.”

Aaron stroked the side of Katya’s face. “It’s not your
fault. There was nothing you could have done.” She nodded, but, her melancholy
remained.

Ivan nodded. “We have told her many times, it was Dmitri.
He’s a curse on this land, our personal curse. We were not strong enough to
stop him.”

Aaron frowned. “How can one vampire control the course of
history, of all Russia?”

“Don’t you understand? If he hadn’t killed Rasputin, if he
hadn’t manipulated the Czar into stepping down off the throne…”

“What do you mean?”

“With Rasputin out of the way, Dmitri and the dukes were
able to pressure Nicholas into abdicating his throne to Alexei, his only son, a
child of ill health. Pure idiocy. Realizing their mistake, the Dukes convinced
Nicholas to abdicate the throne to his brother, Grand Duke Michael instead.”

Aaron scratched his head, not really getting it.

“Don’t you see? Michael was Dmitri’s man! The leech had been
working towards this all along! It was only after the murder of Rasputin that
Dmitri was able to influence the Czar. Our Alpha was strong in his convictions,
and Empress Alexandra held his counsel in the highest regard. Dmitri couldn’t
manipulate the royal family with Rasputin at their side.”

Ivan snapped his fingers. “The country was in chaos, and amidst
the political turmoil, the bastard leech finally got what he wanted. Then it
backfired in his face, in all our faces.”

Katya stroked the hair from Aaron’s forehead. “The people no
longer trusted the dukes or the Czar. They had elected an assembly called The
Duma. The Duma ripped the carpet out from underneath Dmitri and his schemes.
They eradicated the Monarchy and had Nicholas and his family arrested. For a
few glorious months, a brief moment in our history, Mother Russia was almost a
democracy. No more Emperors, no more dictators, no more Czars. Dmitri and the
dukes lost everything.”

Ivan scratched his chin. “The Duma was in the process of
rewriting our laws and constitution when the Bolsheviks struck, taking full
advantage of the instability. The Duma still exists in concept, but it does not
function the way it was intended.”

Aaron found it hard to swallow. “So, you’re telling me it’s all
his fault? Dmitri’s manipulations caused the instability of the royal family
that led to the revolution?”

Ivan nodded, but Katya shrugged. Her fingers absently traced
Aaron’s shoulders, a habit he’d become fond of. “Who can say? Would it have
happened anyway? Maybe. The way it happened, there can be no doubt of Dmitri’s
guilt. His hands are stained with the blood of Russia.”

* * * *

Squirming in Aaron’s lap to get comfortable, Katya couldn’t
help but grin at the hot bulge warming her ass. Aaron always did have a
marvelous erection. The sexual tension between them seemed an unwavering
constant right along with the insatiable need for his teeth. She caught his
hypnotic eyes and let his gaze sink into her soul, letting him see her need.

His hungry eyes held her in place, rapt. Damned leech was
her predator, she his prey, and somehow she was okay with this. Oh how far she
had fallen.

A heavy drugged feeling overcame her, weighing down her
limbs, undoing her resistance to his charms. Breathless, she tried hard to
gather some wits about her. In the background, Ivan’s rumbling voice was still
reminiscing about old Mother Russia, but she couldn’t focus past her body’s
response to Aaron.

This was how it always started, and usually ended in the
bedroom.

After an eternity of drowning in his gaze, he finally
blinked and she woke up to find herself panting like a dog in heat. He grinned.
“I think we’d better get some more rest before all the fun starts tonight.”

Ivan grunted, and though she wasn’t looking at him, she
could almost hear the smug humor coming off him in that one noise.

Somehow she found the will power to get down off Aaron’s lap
and stand on her shaky legs. He stood, wrapped his arm around her, and pulled
her away towards the bedroom. Over her shoulder she caught Ivan saying
something, and she looked back at him as he winked at her. She hadn’t
understood a word he said, and it didn’t matter. She was already on her way to
get exactly what she wanted and needed.

Aaron latched the door behind them and stood watching her as
she tossed her coat aside and crawled onto the mattress on the floor. Not
exactly the most romantic place in Moscow. The room was colder than the rest of
the warehouse, but the anticipation of all the things she knew Aaron would do
to her warmed her from the inside out.

Her mouth turned dry as he climbed atop her slow and
sensual. He didn’t weigh much, but the hard edges of his body hinted at the
phenomenal strength within. He could crush her in his hands if he wanted. She
loved to feel all the hard lines of his muscular back, shoulders, and ass. Her
hands roamed up under his shirt with a mind of their own. Thin, cut, with a
supernatural physical power, she truly enjoyed his domination over her body –
perhaps too much.

She lifted a shaking hand to push against his chest in a
‘stop’ motion. “I don’t want all of Moscow to hear us, especially not my
brothers … please don’t make me scream.”

A broad grin split his lips to reveal full-size fangs. How
could such a deadly predator be so dead sexy? His eyes assessed her like a meal
to be devoured and she enjoyed it.

“I’ll try. No promises.” His hand was already sliding down
past the elastic band of her pajamas, but not as fast as she wanted. He took
his time gliding his fingers along the edge of her pants.

Breathing hard again, she was so damn hot for him her
clothes had become stifling. She’d never been this aroused by another man.
Being in his presence was a constant attraction that pushed her self-control to
the limit. Her fingers raced down his chest undoing the buttons of his shirt,
working toward the prize.

He slipped his fingers between her legs and found her wet
and ready. One finger, then two. She purred with the lovely push of his gentle
quest. Finally, she undid the last button on his pants and freed that Lochness
monster. Her eager hands stroked him, squeezing and tugging. She wanted it all,
now.

He emitted a low growl, and her wolf answered him with a
growl of its own. She pulled on his cock while her right hand pulled him down
onto her. She needed all of him. His lips, his tongue, his teeth, his whole
body. His mouth crushed her with an assault of kisses. She suckled his hot
tongue and ground her hot wet pussy up into his fingers, trying to get more of
everything.

Something about his kiss tasted different … tangy. Then she
realized his fangs had nipped her lip accidentally, and he was lapping at the
cut. Tiny sparkles of wondrous warmth infused her mouth …
his venom
. She
needed the full monty. “Bite me now!”

He pulled away, a mischievous grin on his face. “Wait for
it.” He stood up and stripped off his jacket and shirt then pulled down his
black pants and stepped out of them. Last to go was the burgundy red boxer
shorts, more of the designer clothing that Michelle was always buying him. He
stood before her in all his pale, naked glory. Katya loved looking at him, her
very own Calvin Klein underwear model.

With the last bit of her failing patience she stripped her
panties and pajama bottoms, and ripped off her shirt. Lucky she hadn’t been
wearing a bra. Aaron’s devouring gaze combed the length of her and she thought
his erection somehow got a little bit harder. Moving with silent cat-like grace
he slid back up on top of her. His sculpted thighs settled between her legs and
spread her wide.

Though they were both shivering, she knew the intensity of
sex with Aaron, and before long they’d both be hot and sweaty. He leaned into a
soft kiss with a quiet murmur on his lips. “Thank you.”

She didn’t know why he was thanking her, but it didn’t
matter as he filled her aching need with his thick, hard gratitude. That’s real
gratitude, and he gave it all to her, sliding in until he hit bottom.

“You’re welcome and thank you too … Bloody hell!” She could
hardly breathe or speak, so full of his cock.

His hypnotic vampire eyes pierced her soul as he pulled out
and shoved back in over and over. She wondered if he was seeing the whole truth
of how she felt about him … if she even knew her own feelings anymore. She had
never needed anyone or anything like she needed Aaron, but was it something
more between them? She couldn’t see past the need, the deliciously hard sex, to
get a sense of whether her emotions were genuine, or simply a reaction to
spending far too much time in the company of the seductive incubus planted
firmly inside her.

Her hands gripped his tight, flexing ass as he fucked her
harder, faster, then even harder, and somehow even faster …

Like an electric heated sex machine, his muscular body had
become almost too hot to touch, warming her to the very core. It built inside
her with each of his inhumanly powerful strokes into her sopping wet pussy, an
orgasm to beat all orgasms. He was doing it again, that sex-magic-healing thing
he’d done to her so many times in London when he saved her life.

Grunting and growling and grasping at every part of him, he
plowed her ever upwards to a steep cresting wave of joy. At the top, what had
to be the peak of the world, she looked into his eyes and saw a reflection of what
was in her heart.

Love. Pure, simple, uncomplicated, love.

“Aaron, please … now.”

His teeth dived into her neck and she launched off the face
of the earth into an orbit of sheer heavenly bliss. Gentleman that he was, he
did her the honor of holding his hand over her mouth as she screamed her throat
raw.

* * * *

Aaron slept in fits through the day, cuddling nude with
Katya beneath the covers in their makeshift bedroom. His wolf-girl had a
higher-than-normal body temperature, so he made sure to stay wrapped around
her, his own personal heat blanket. Somewhere in his sexually sated dreams, the
sound of a mournful howl became loud and clear. Crashing and banging soon
followed. Aaron awoke to Katya pushing him aside as she scrambled into her
pajamas.

Aaron’s acute hearing caught more growls, accompanied by a
yip of pain, like a dog being kicked. Going with Katya’s urgency, Aaron slipped
on his pants and coat and raced out into the open warehouse, straight for the
noise.

Michelle slammed backwards through the door of her bedroom,
butt naked, her snarling face turned towards the darkness of her room. Her
razor claws were splayed out wide, ready to slice and dice. She backed away
quickly, in a crouch, poised to murder whatever was inside her room.

A shiny black wolf padded out of the room growling. Its
tongue reached up to clean the blood off a gaping wound on its snout. She must
have whacked it good.

“Loups-garous putain!”
Fucking werewolves
.

Ivan ran up on her and she turned her claws on him, slashing
through the air with lethal force, a hair away from carving his face off.
“Don’t touch me!”

Ivan backpedaled quickly.

Without another thought Aaron moved in and embraced
Michelle. “It’s okay. Please calm down, Michelle. I’m here. It’s okay. It’s
just Nikolay. He needed to change, to heal.”

She was shaking, ready to strike anyone in reach, but he held
her tight. Razor talons flexed for action, she leaned into Aaron, absorbing all
his comfort. “Nikolay? Are you sure?”

She had once faced all four wolves in combat, and barely
survived the ordeal. Aaron read her feral animalistic need to kill in her
unshielded mind. Waking up to a wolf at her bedside had brought out her basest
instincts, along with the memories of that dark time in her life when she was
little more than a beast roaming the countryside of France, killing Germans indiscriminately,
and fighting off a wolf pack all alone.

The wolf that faced her now whined and groaned, then nodded
its head, acknowledging that yes indeed, he was Nikolay. The creature looked
back and forth from Aaron to Michelle, licked more blood off its snout, and
slowly stepped up to Michelle. A higher pitched whine signaled an unmistakable
wolfish apology. Then it trotted around them and its long pink tongue flicked
out and licked the crack of her ass.

“Merde!”

The wolf danced out of reach and narrowly escaped the lethal
swipe of Michelle’s claws. It smiled at her, its huge tongue wagging in a
tease.

Trying hard to suppress his laughter, Aaron held onto
Michelle tightly before she attacked the wolf again. Chuckling, he slipped out
of his coat and wrapped it around his lover’s naked body.

Ivan and Anatoly stood several feet away with shit-eating
grins as they caught an eyeful of Aaron’s naked vampire lover. From their
leering faces, Aaron suspected they’d leap at the opportunity to get in a few
licks of their own.

“You’ve seen quite enough. Give a girl some privacy!” Katya
kicked the wolf in the rump and it turned on her with a yelp and a low growl of
menace. “Get! Now!” The wolf slinked away, never once taking its eyes off
Katya.

Aaron guided Michelle back into the bedroom and shut the
door. He held her shivering body tight in his grip and sat her down on the bed.
“Let’s get you some clothes.” His lover didn’t say another word beyond a nod.
She put on the jeans and sweater he handed her from her luggage.

Through the open ceiling of the cubicle, Aaron heard Ivan
call out to the wolf. “Nikolay, come. I have steaks.” The slurpy growls of
quickly devoured meat filtered through the warehouse.

Michelle’s hands shook as she zipped up a pair of black
leather boots over her jeans. He’d never seen her look so vulnerable. “They
won’t hurt us, Michelle. We can trust them.” Her emerald eyes held his for a
moment and then darted away, embarrassed. He stepped in to take her hands and
kissed her on the cheek. “Are you sure you can do this? Do you need more time
to recover?”

She squeezed his hands in her strong, lethal grip. “I am
hungry, Aaron. Tonight we hunt and feast on our enemies. Tomorrow we leave this
godforsaken city.”

She looked thin, almost gaunt. The damn wolves had been
starving her for too many nights. Aaron felt sorry for the next guy who got in
her way – Michelle would probably drain him.

* * * *