Vampires Need Not...Apply? (13 page)

Kinich withdrew the bag from his mouth and glanced at her. “I told you to stay put.” He swiped another bag from the counter, tore off a corner, and threw his head back once again, chugging deeply.

“No, you said you’d be right back.”

Kinich made one last suck, threw the pouch in the trash, wiped his hand across his mouth, and then stared at Penelope like he wanted to sip her next.

She took a step back and held out her palms. “Whoa. I thought we established you can’t dine on me.”

He lowered his gaze to her breasts and scratched his stubble-covered jaw. “Says who?”

Wow. Had he just filled out another two inches in his biceps? Even when Kinich was the God of the Sun, he had been big and strong and freakishly desirable. But now…? He was frigging colossal and a whole hell of a lot sexier.

Put that man on a package of underwear!

Instead of pouncing as she secretly hoped, he turned his back and plucked a bottle from the cupboard.
Red wine?
He didn’t bother to remove the cork. Instead, he snapped off the neck and guzzled straight from the jagged opening.

Okeydokey. I see we’re going to have to reintroduce proper manners to Kinich.

He finished off the bottle, slammed it down on the counter, turned toward Penelope, and licked his full lips.

Oh, hell.
Did he just get more handsome? It was difficult to pinpoint exactly which part had improved, but his body looked as though it had been refined by da Vinci’s brush and Michelangelo’s chisel to create flawless definition in every bulging muscle.

She looked up at the ceiling. “Really? Really? You’ve got to be joking. That’s not fair.”

“Now,” he growled, “where were we?” He stepped forward, and the hungry expression on his intensely gorgeous face was augmented by the fact that his turquoise eyes shifted to a very deep, dark brown.

Oh, Christ, he was going to attack her. Penelope took a step back. “You can’t—”

Before she blinked, Kinich had her against the wall. His thrusting tongue was hot as it pushed inside her mouth, but thrusting hips were hotter.

“Gods, I missed you, woman,” he said with a breath that filled her lungs with the most potent, delicious smell ever. Dark spices, tropical citrus, male, lust…
Ohmygods.

“Really? Really?” She looked up at the ceiling. “’Cause he didn’t smell yummy enough when he was just a god?”

“Who the hell are you talking to?”

She shrugged. “No one. Are you taking me to bed now?”

He smiled, and for the first time in weeks, Penelope saw the deity she’d fallen in love with. The one who secretly helped forgotten children, the one who’d sacrificed himself to save her, the one she had been born to love and comfort even in his darkest hours. She brought her hand to his cheek, savoring his masculine roughness, and soaked him in. She couldn’t believe they were actually standing together in the kitchen, their bodies pressed together. Happiness and triumph washed over her.

“Just my luck, I’m finally a vampire, and the sifting dimension is closed.” The Maaskab had locked it up—that’s how they’d manage to capture Guy, Niccolo, and the others. “We’ll have to do it here; the bed is too far away.”

His head dove straight for her neck. She flinched and then relaxed as she felt his hot tongue suck on the base of her neck. Her body took exactly two seconds—two—to ignite. Goose bumps covered every inch of her skin, her nipples tightened to sharp, little points, and heat flooded between her legs.

Oh, gods, he feels so incredible.
Better than she remembered. Better than anything on the planet. Being with him felt like being whole again—with a whole hell of a lot of extra man now included.

She watched from the corner of her eye as he tugged down his pants and pulled himself free.

Lord, he was magnificent. Thick and long and solid. Images flashed in her mind of the last time they’d been together. It had been the kind of sex that could turn a woman into an addict. Because from the moment he enters, every nerve ending floods with endorphins and goes into a euphoric shock, pleasure ripping through every inch of her body. No. A woman could never walk away from a man like that. She could never forget that kind of sex. Unless she were drugged by Cimil as part of her evil master plan, as was the case for Penelope’s first time with Kinich, which was the reason she was now knocked up. A long story.

She sighed into Kinich’s needy, hot lips. Then, like magic, she found herself stripped of her dress, underwear, and bra. She glanced down at the shredded pile of clothes on the floor. “Sneaky vampire. How did you do that?”

He didn’t reply, but simply covered her mouth with his and pressed his naked body against hers, allowing her to enjoy the feel of his hardness and warmth against her skin. Gods, he felt so good, so unbearably good. “What are you waiting for?” Hadn’t she suffered enough?

He replied by securing her legs around his waist and positioning his hard, pulsing cock at her slick entrance. Penelope felt her body tense, recalling the last time he’d taken her. The pleasure of his large cock had not come without a small price of pain, but it had been worth it.

Instead of pushing inside, relieving her of the aching tension, he began rubbing himself between her folds, using the wall behind her to hold her in place.

Oh, she remembered this dance. It was her favorite steamy memory of Kinich. She’d relived it hundreds of times. Alone. How sad.

Not anymore.

“Oh, gods, that feels so good,” she panted. He kissed her hard and continued rocking himself against her, massaging her bud with the silky head of his cock. So much heat. There was so much heat. “I think I’m going to—ohmygods, please…”
Yes. Yes.
“No! Wait!”

Kinich quirked an impatient brow.

The power now housed inside her would make any nondeity rather uncomfortable, and that went double for a vampire allergic to sunshine.

“Remember what happened last time?”

He held up a small ring on his index finger. “Black jade. I had it made just in case.”

She blew out a breath. Thank the gods for her smart, strategic-thinking ex-deity. The jade would blunt her powers. She hoped. Because, dammit, they’d waited long enough.

“If it hurts, just stop,” she said.

He smiled a little wicked smile. “Ditto.”

He stared into her eyes and pushed.

She clenched her teeth as he worked his way inside, pushing in and pulling out, slowly filling her inch by inch with his girth. Christ, had he grown down there, too?

“Look at me, Penelope. I want to see you.”

She opened her eyes and stared at Kinich’s exquisitely handsome face. The cheekbones and muscled jaw, the caramel-colored brows, and thick lashes adorning turquoise eyes.

“Gods, woman, you feel so hot. So tight. I’m not going to last.”

Relief flooded Penelope. They were compatible and the black jade was doing its job. They were finally together. “I love you, Kinich.”

Kinich barreled down hard, using the wall behind her to drive deeper. With each sharp, delicious jab of his cock, she felt his fangs scrape her neck, driving her to dig deep into his broad back with her nails. He pounded into her with every ounce of pent-up lust, and she took him, knowing he needed it just as badly as she did.

“Yes. Harder. Harder,” she moaned. Her insides knotted with sweet tension. She would never get enough of this sexy, powerful, deliciously large male.

Kinich made one final thrust and groaned toward the ceiling as her orgasm exploded and her body clenched around his twitching cock. She clawed him closer, wanting the moment of their joining to last longer, to never stop feeling their breaths move in synchronization, to forever feel the pounding beats of their hearts.

Kinich held her tightly as she felt the last of his release with several gentle pushes and groans.

“Oh, gods, Penelope.” He lowered his sweat-covered forehead to hers. “That was worth every fucking minute of hell.” He kissed her in a wet, sloppy, lazy kind of way that told her she’d just worn this behemoth vampire out.

“I love you, Penelope,” he whispered.

She smiled.
Finally. Thank the gods, he finally said it.
“Can we do that again?”

“That was only a snack.”

He called you a demon from hell! From hell!
“And nice job, Ixtab,” she scolded herself. “You lost him! Dr. Van Brainy Vampire is somewhere on the loose in the world. Gone.” Yes, she’d managed to “misplace” the only being on earth who could help unlock the portal.

Reason number eight—or is that number seven? Dammit. I’m losing count. Reason number whatever: they are so damned fast! It’s completely annoying.

After he’d gone running off into the night, she’d circled every back alley and every park she could think of, sniffing for death. Aside from the usual—a few poor lost souls whose time had come naturally—there were no signs of rampant death or a wild, hungry vampire on the loose.

Almost dawn now, Ixtab returned to the penthouse to face the ridicule of Viktor. At least her sister Fate wasn’t there to rub her nose in this fiasco.

She pushed open the front door. Kinich and Penelope sat in a love seat near the window making out like two horny teenagers, and Viktor and Julie stood next to the bar sipping red wine, laughing.

Ixtab sighed.
Here goes.
“I lost the physicist.”

Viktor smiled. “You lost who?”

Ixtab set down her enormous handbag on the floor and sank on the couch. “I know. I’m a complete loser. I can’t do anything right.”

“Honey,” Julie said. “What are you talking about?”

“Antonio. He got away. I looked everywhere for him, but—”

“Ixtab, he’s out on the balcony with Fate,” said Julie.

“He’s here?”

Viktor smiled, then nodded. “Yes. And aside from not being hungry—pretty damned strange for a new vampire—he’s fine. We’ve spent the night getting him up to speed on our world.”

Ixtab pointed toward the open French double doors that led outside. “You mean—he’s there? Now? With my sister Fate?”

Again they nodded and exchanged glances. “She came to check up on you and the tablet.”

“Oh.” Well, that was just peachy.
Yeaaah.
Fate was probably digging her perfect paws into Antonio, no doubt wiggling her sweet, little tanned behind at him and showing him her bows and arrows, too.

Not that I care.

Right on cue, one of Fate’s infamous giggles seeped into the room from the outside terrace.

Ixtab dug her pink nails into her palms. That was Fate’s seduction giggle. No, she’d never taken a lover, but she collected admirers like insomniacs collected tchotchkes from the Home Shopping Network. She had over a million likes on Facebook and double that amount of followers on Twitter.

Bitch.

Julie stepped toward Ixtab only to be jerked back by Viktor.

Julie sighed impatiently. “Honey, she’s not a rabid dog. She’s one of His divine creations.” Julie looked at Ixtab. “One of His beautiful creations.”

Ixtab shrugged. “Only on the outside.”

“Someone’s got the pouties today, huh?” Julie said.

“Maybe.”

“Oh, honey, I’ve seen your face and looked into your eyes. You’re about as beautiful as they come. Don’t ever doubt that.”

Darn angels. Always so nice and uplifting. Phooey.
“I’m going to get some rest.”

“Antonio says you are to meet him at eight a.m. sharp in his lab,” added Julie. “He needs an assistant that can work around the clock and won’t die if he makes a mistake.”

“I’m sure Fate will happily volunteer for the job.”

Julie made a little wiggle with her brows. “No. His explicit instructions were to have
you
help him.”

He wanted her help? Why? He’d called her a demon. He’d blamed her for turning him into a vampire, and then ran away, all of which left her feeling absurdly wounded.

“Should I tell him you’ll be there?” Julie asked.

“Yes. I’ll be there.” Because the truth was, she wouldn’t be able to stay away even if she wanted to.

* * *

January 17. Time: 8:00 a.m.

After a very long, hot shower and three failed meditation attempts, Ixtab had finally given up any notions of this meeting with Antonio going smoothly. Simply thinking of being in the same room turned her into a nervous Nellie. Or was that giddy goddess?

Sigh. Why would a vampire have such an impact on her? She had no clue, but one thing she knew for certain was that she couldn’t wait to see him again.

Ixtab raised her hand and knocked lightly.

“Come in.” Antonio’s voice filtered through the thick wooden door.

Ixtab peered inside his small but bright and clean lab with two small mad-scientist workstations—beakers, rats, terrarium, some computer equipment—in each corner, and a large stainless steel table in the center of the room.

“The front door was open,” she said.

She spotted Antonio sitting on a stool at the corner of the table wearing only a plain white tee and faded jeans. With his short, dark, skillfully mussed hair and five o’clock shadow, he was, he was…
Sigh.

When human, he looked like perfection, but now he looked like a refined, heavenly treat, like he’d been worked over with supernatural man enhancers that took his already too perfect body—broad chest and strong, lean everything—and filled him out in all the right places. His spine now held a perfect posture that would never, ever, ever deteriorate with time and made him appear taller, more imposing. Yes, before he’d been the most exquisite mortal she had ever laid eyes on. But now? Now he was the most exquisite male—mortal or otherwise—to exist.

Reason number whatever… Ugh! Not fair. Stupid, gorgeous, icky vampire!

“Come in and close the door.” His angry eyes flashed her way, then back to his notebook, and for that instant, Ixtab felt like a pathetic, needy creature craving his attention.

She carefully shut the door.

“First,” he said, looking at the scribbles on his pages, “what the
diablo
is the story with the Morticia getup? Get rid of it—it’s a distraction. Second, no more secrets and lies. I know what and who you are; your sister told me everything.”