Vampires 101 (Twilight Hunters Book 1) A Vampire Romance (17 page)

He broke away from me just long enough to remove his clothing. I watched in awe as his exquisite body was revealed to me a layer at a time; first his broad shoulders - the taut sinewy muscles of his chest and then his firm thighs. There was barely a trace of the injury he had sustained only a short time ago. Just some faint scarring that would fade with time.

I was no prude, so there was no way I was going to look away when I glimpsed his huge erection. From between my legs, I felt the hunger burst forth, spreading to every part of my body.

He was sliding my panties down from my hips, but his progress was so painfully slow that by the time I was free of them, I was panting - my need for him overwhelming. He spread my legs and was poised to fulfill my wildest desires, but he hesitated.

Driven by pure animal lust, I was beyond any kind of reasonable thought. Arching my hips, I tried to capture him, and draw him into me.

A growl radiated from his throat just before impaling me with his stiff - swollen flesh. When we finally came together, my universe exploded into a trillion points of white - hot energy, each like a blazing star burning into my body and soul. Just the act of penetration had sent me into a mind numbing orgasm, but he was far from done. As he rocked against me, I felt the hunger burst forth again, and I bucked my hips wildly.

As his own need became unbearable, I felt him swell within me. Grabbing my face between his hands, he kissed me deeply. At the same time, his body stiffened, and I felt him release deep inside me.

For the second time I was blown away by my body’s response to him. Wrapping my legs around his hips, I pulled him into me as my flesh tightened around him. My entire body was tingling to the point that I couldn’t move. In those sweet seconds of pure ecstasy, I knew that even if I lived to be a thousand years old, I would never again experience sex in quite the same way.

Finally I let my legs fall to the bed. I opened my eyes when I felt him roll away. He was staring down at me, a smile tugging at his lips. “Was it what you were expecting?” he asked.

There was no need to answer. He knew perfectly well that he had far exceeded my expectations. I raised my head just enough to brush his lips with a kiss. “I think I’m in love,” I whispered.

Darkness entered his eyes, and I immediately recognized my mistake. I wished like hell that I could take back my words. Sometimes, even the nicest guys would turn tail and run as soon as you mentioned the L word.

He brought up his hand and gently caressed my cheek. “But you don’t really know me.”

It was true. I didn’t really know him, and there was no denying that he wasn’t just your average - everyday guy. There was something dark and sinister about him, but at the same time, I’d never felt this kind of connection with anyone else.

Before I could say anything, he pulled me into his arms and hugged me against his chest. “Come away with me Cassie. We’ll go someplace where none of this will matter.”

Damian had a talent for sending my thoughts into a swirling mass of confusion. “Where what doesn’t matter?” I asked.

“Any of this.” I knew he was purposely being evasive, but I chose to ignore it for the moment.

As much as I loved the thought of spending my nights in his arms, I couldn’t forget that there were people depending on me. “But my dad’s in the hospital … and Shadow is still missing,” I reminded him.

Damian turned away. “I have to go now.”

“Why?” I hated it when he left so abruptly.

He shook his head. “There is so much that you don’t understand.”

“So help me to understand,” I interrupted.

“If they find out about us … both of our lives could be in danger.” He was already out of bed and getting into his clothes.

“If who finds out?” This time I wasn’t going to let him avoid an answer.

He was just ready to slide his shirt on, but paused and leaned over the bed and gave me a light kiss on the lips. “My people. Mating with your kind is forbidden. To break this law is an automatic death sentence.”

Now I was really confused. I could understand that vampires getting together with humans might not be desirable, but seriously, what did it matter to other vampires?

Damian must have realized that his explanation had done nothing but confuse me even more. He sat next to me on the bed and took my hands in his. “None of this was meant to happen. It was wrong of me to place you in danger.”

His words were like a slap in the face. “So you regret making love to me?”

“No,” he said shaking his head slowly. “I only regret that it must be in secrecy … and that it puts you in danger.”

I opened my mouth to demand a more detailed explanation, but he placed a finger against my lips to silence me. “I came here to warn you about the underground.”

Before he could finish what he’d started to say, there was a thunderous pounding at my front door. Startled, I jumped out of bed, but before I could make it into the living room, I heard the door explode inward as someone kicked it open.

Before rushing into the living room, I had enough forethought to grab my pistol from the nightstand where I’d placed it before going to bed. Raising the gun, I leveled it on the intruder. Thankfully, the nightlight I left burning in my living room provided enough light that I wasn’t aiming blindly. I would be doubly thankful for this later. I was so terrified, that if it hadn’t been for that light, I might have pulled the trigger.

Framed against the splintered remains of my door was Riley. We stood there pointing our guns at each other.

Suddenly his stance shifted, and I noticed that he was now aiming his gun at something behind me. It wasn’t until Damian stepped forward that it dawned on me who it was that Riley was aiming at.

“Back away,” Riley barked.

Damian’s black shirt hung open. There had been no time to finish dressing before we’d both made a dash for the front room. “You know you’re not going to hurt me with that,” he laughed.

“I wouldn’t be too sure. You know me, and you know that I’m not playing with you.” Riley had taken a couple of steps in my direction. I didn’t miss the way his finger pressed nervously against the trigger.

“Riley are you crazy? Put the gun down!” I yelled, slowly lowering my own gun. I attributed the sudden irritation I was feeling to the abrupt onset of a skull-splitting headache.

Ignoring me, Riley kept his gun leveled on Damian.

“What in God’s name is going on?” I was not entirely sure where I should direct my question.

“Why don’t you tell her Damian?” Riley glared at him. “But this time tell her the truth.”

Ok, I didn’t like the sound of that at all. I swung around to look at Damian. “What’s he talking about? How do you two know each other?”

“I have not been untruthful,” Damian spoke through clenched teeth. It was apparent that his anger was to the boiling point. I knew I’d better diffuse the situation and fast. Someone was likely to get hurt, and I wasn’t too sure that someone would be Damian, regardless of the fact that he was the one with the gun pointed at him.

“Maybe you haven’t lied,” Riley smirked, “But I’ll bet you’ve left out a lot of the details.”

Damian’s silence confirmed Riley’s words.

My eyes locked with Damian’s. “What’s he talking about?”

Before he could offer any kind of explanation, Riley stepped forward. “Tell her that she is nothing but a lab rat. Tell her that she was bred to be a biological weapon, and that all you have been doing is protecting your investment.”

“That’s not true.” Damian’s words dripped poison.

“Tell her that you took her mother.” Riley’s voice shook with fury.

I felt the blood drain from my face. I waited for Damian to deny Riley’s words, but his silence was deafening. I couldn’t stop the tears that fell from my eyes.

The ground swayed beneath my feet.

I’d come to believe that Damian was my protector - my guardian angel, and all along he had been my enemy. He was not someone I should cling to for protection, but someone I had every reason to fear. My mother was gone, and he was the one responsible.

It was too much to process. The world went dark and my mind shut down.

* * *

When consciousness returned, the first thing I became aware of was the bursts of pain in the back of my head. The next thing that made its way into my brain was that I was on the floor and Riley was kneeling beside me, anxiety clouding his brown eyes.

“Are you ok? Can you sit up?” he asked.

Everything that had happened came rushing back at me. I was tempted to close my eyes and stay exactly where I was. If I weren’t awake, I wouldn’t have to face the ugly truth. That truth being that not only had I just had mind-blowing sex with my enemy, but I wasn’t even sure I had any regrets.

Pushing myself into a sitting position, I stared at him. “Where’s Damian?”

Riley’s eyes turned cold. “He’s gone.”

“What have you done to him?” Even though Damian had betrayed me, I couldn’t stifle that twinge of fear that leaped into my heart.

Riley shook his head. “I didn’t do anything to him. He just left.”

After what I’d heard before blacking out, I wasn’t too surprised that he was gone. “Do you mind telling me what’s going on?”

Without answering, he stood up and went to the sink. Pulling a glass from the cupboard, he filled it with cold water. Returning to my side, he held the glass out to me. “You should drink this.”

I took it without argument, welcoming the relief of cool water to soothe my parched throat. Handing the glass back to Riley, I fixed my eyes on him. I was still waiting for an explanation.

Riley offered his hand to help me to my feet. I still wasn’t feeling too steady, so I didn’t protest when he led me to a chair and helped me sit.

“Where’s your coffee?” he asked. “You’re going to need some caffeine to digest what I have to tell you.”

Now if I could just get rid of the pounding in my head, I might be able to manage more enthusiasm for the great revelation Riley was hinting at. The problem was, my head felt as if it were splitting in two, so I could barely muster enough energy to point at the cupboard above the stove. No doubt I needed some caffeine, along with some aspirin.

A few minutes later he handed me a large mug of coffee, with just a touch of mocha added to it.

“Thanks,” I muttered. My eyes went to the door, expecting to see a gaping hole, but the door was shut. It was splintered where the latch should be, but it was intact and closed. I concluded that Riley must have shut it while I was unconscious.

Guessing my train of thought, he said, “It will work for now, but I’ll need to get someone out here to fix it.”

With everything else I had hammering through my head, the broken door seemed too insignificant to comment on.

Riley sat in a chair close to mine, and quietly waited while I took a couple of drinks of the hot liquid.

“Feeling better?” he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. Saying that I felt better might be stretching it a bit, but at least I was feeling more alert.

“Ok … give it to me.” I tried to force a smile to lighten the mood a little, but found it to be too much effort.

Riley’s face twisted as if he were anticipating a very painful procedure. It almost made me feel sorry for him - almost but not quite. After all, it was now apparent that he had been withholding a ton of information.

Leaning forward, Riley rested his elbows on the table. Normally I might have reprimanded him for having such bad manners, but right now I didn’t care.

Sighing, he leaned back in his chair. “I’m sure by now you realize that you’re different than other people.”

I wasn’t sure if I should agree with him or not. Instead I asked, “What did you mean about Damian. Who is he exactly?”

“He’s a vampire. I think you’ve probably already guessed that much … but he’s not just an ordinary vampire. If there is such a thing.” Riley’s voice was filled with such contempt that I had to wonder if he didn’t have something more against Damian than just the fact that he was a vampire.

I was startled when Riley reached out to cover my hand with his. In all the years that I’d known him, he’d never once shown me the slightest bit of affection. Though it felt a little weird, I made no move to pull my hand away.

“Why are you here … and how did you even know I was with Damian?” Now that I was a little more coherent, I thought to question why Riley had come to my apartment at such an ungodly hour.

“You’ve been under surveillance since yesterday,” he told me.

My mouth dropped open, but before I could express my anger with all the profane words that jumped into my head, Riley proceeded to explain.

“As soon as you told me your theory about the tunnels, I knew you’d discovered there was more going on around here than just a serial killer. I came in here tonight because the alarms went off on the equipment that had been planted in your apartment. It measures electromagnetic energy, which is present when there are supernatural entities, or other types of major electrical interference. The sensors were going crazy, so I knew someone was up here. I didn’t know it was Damian. I had no idea that he’d revealed himself to you.”