Vamps in the City (2 page)

Chapter Two

Paige’s head was pounding and her entire body ached, as she awoke on a cold, hard surface. She knew right away something wasn’t right and she wasn’t where she was supposed to be.

She opened her eyes and blinked, trying to clear her vision. It didn’t help. It was completely black wherever she was.

She slowly took inventory of her body. That’s when she realised she was naked. Paige sat up quickly and immediately regretted doing so. Her head spun and she had to put her hands up to the sides since she was scared it might actually fall off.

She heard a soft chuckle from behind her. Turning sharply, she almost fell over. Strong hands grabbed her arms, holding her upright.

“Stop moving so quickly,” she was ordered.

The hands released her and a lamp was flipped on.

Paige blinked at the man in front of her. It was the same vampire from earlier.
 
She glanced around, noting they must be in some kind of underground room.

There were no windows, only a door across the room. The walls were painted dark blue. She had been lying on the floor, next to a giant bed that the stranger was still sitting on.

She was at first irritated that he was sitting on a nice, big, soft bed while she was lying on the cold floor, which looked like some kind of polished rock. But then she thought of him sharing the bed with her, and her body warmed at the same time her stomach jumped sickly.

Even though he hadn’t taken advantage of her while she had been out, and she wasn’t dead, she was still being held against her will.

And why
wasn’t
she dead?
she wondered.

Maybe he just wasn’t hungry after the vampire in the alley. He could be keeping for later.

Like dessert.

And there was nothing she could do about it.

She should be terrified, but she was so tired that she was past caring at this point. If he was going to kill her, she wished he would hurry up.

Lost in her own thoughts, she had almost forgotten the man was right in front of her. A strong whiff of his intoxicating scent washed over her and she almost moaned.

  
Damn, he smelt good. Probably would taste even better. She had gone out to feed but had been interrupted. Her gums ached to let her fangs down. It happened anytime she was aroused, and the man in the room did more than just excite her. She wanted him…badly.

Black eyes watched her as he stood. He was still wearing jeans but nothing else. She watched his bare feet walk past before they came back and stopped right in front of her.

He handed her a glass of water and a couple of pills. They looked like aspirin.

Paige eyed them suspiciously.

“Just take them!” he ordered. “Your head’s making my head hurt.”

Ah, so he was a sensitive also. That was very interesting. Every vampire had special ‘gifts’. Some could read minds, some could levitate things, and some—like this man—could feel what others felt.

Since she figured he would probably stuff them down her throat if she didn’t take them, she threw both pills in her mouth and swallowed. She didn’t drink his water.

He shook his head and mumbled something like, “Bloody stubborn female.” But Paige couldn’t be sure.

He sat back on the bed and gave her a hard look. “Now, who are you?”

Of course she didn’t answer. He didn’t seem surprised.

Paige shifted, trying to better cover herself. He surprised her by walking to the closet, grabbing a robe and throwing it at her. Paige quickly put it on, grateful for the small gesture.

Aspirin, robe, and she was pretty sure he had cleaned and bandaged her injuries.

She was confused by his behaviour. And being confused made her head hurt worse. No vampire she had ever met had done anything more than help themselves to her. They took what they wanted and left her broken and abused.

The robe was big and soft and she just wanted to curl in a ball and go to sleep.

“Listen, you are very young. You were made less than a year ago. I can help you, but you have to tell me who you are.”

“Paige Gilmore,” she gave him her name. She knew he didn’t really want to help her with anything. No one ever had. But his actions confused her and she was willing to play along to find out what his angle was.

“Grant,” he told her in return.

They stared at each other for a minute before he spoke again.

“What were you doing on the street tonight?”

Paige just shrugged. Probably the same thing as him.

“Okay you were hunting,” he conceded. “How long have you been in town?”

Paige shrugged again.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Why don’t you look at it like this? I ask a question. You answer. When I’m satisfied you can leave.”

Paige bit her lip, deciding. She couldn’t overpower him. She could try to run but with being injured, he would catch her easily. And if he didn’t let her out of this room, she wasn’t going anywhere.

“How do I know you’ll let me go?” she asked, trying to buy time, and waited for him to answer.

“I give you my word,” he offered. His voice sounded sincere.

Not that she believed him. She rolled her eyes.

He laughed. “You’re just going to have to trust me. You don’t have much of a choice.”

Of course she didn’t trust him. “I haven’t been here long,” she told him, then—like always—her mouth ran away on its own. “If you’re going to kill me, could you just hurry up? I’m cold and tired,” she taunted.

He tilted his head to one side. “Death wish?”

Paige narrowed her eyes at him. His voice carried a hint of amusement. Like he was laughing at her. She didn’t like that at all.

“Who made you?” he asked next.

They always wanted to know that. Why, she wasn’t sure. No one ever stayed around long enough to answer her questions.

He growled.

“I don’t know. We never exchanged names,” she told him bitterly.
    

“How’d you leave him?” he fired the next question.

“There was a fire and I managed to get away,” Paige could tell him that much. Why she was telling him was a whole lot more troubling. She couldn’t stop herself.

Most of the first few months were blurry in her mind, but she did remember the fire.
If he really wanted to help her…
She quickly shut that thought down. No one ever wanted to help, she reminded herself.

“Where?” His voice and eyes hardened.

Well damn, he would ask.

“Where?” he demanded again, his voice almost a growl.

“Las Vegas,” she answered before she could stop herself.

“Shit, what are the odds?” He sounded excited now. That scared her more. Paige didn’t answer. She was pretty sure he wasn’t talking to her.

A blur of movement, and he was on his knees in front of her grasping her upper arms.
 
“There were five of you. Where are the others?”

She struggled out of his hold, and he immediately let go. “I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “The other girls. Where are they?”

Paige didn’t know how he knew how many of them had run away. But she was getting a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She shook her head in an ‘I don’t know’ answer.

He eyed her but didn’t say anything. Finally he nodded. “You must be tired. You were only out for about two hours.”

“Two hours?”

He nodded before scooping her up. Startled, she gripped his shoulders. “What are you doing?” she demanded.

But he just laid her on the bed. He pulled the covers down and then back up, covering her.

“What…?” she questioned again.

“You need some rest. I think you have a concussion,” he told her gently.

Paige blinked at him but he was already moving around the bed. He flicked the lamp off and she couldn’t see him, but she did feel the bed dip down on the other side. Paige stiffened right before an arm wrapped around her waist.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Just lie down. Get some sleep. You’re safe here,” he assured her.

He snuggled against her and his hand brushed the hair off her forehead. “Sleep,” he whispered.

It felt good. It had been so long since anyone had touched her so gently and with such care. Her eyes closed of their own accord. She was asleep instantly.

Paige woke on her stomach with her face buried into a pillow. Well, at first she thought it was a pillow. She rubbed her face back and forth and inhaled the sweet spice that was his scent. A hand tightened in her hair and brought her head up.

No, it wasn’t a pillow—it was Grant.

“Please stop rubbing against me,” Grant asked of her with a tight voice.

Paige felt her eyes try to pop out of her head. She instantly tried to move back but Grant held her in place with his hand.

“Careful,” Grant advised. “Your body is still healing.”

She stopped fighting and he released his hold. “Sleep well?” he asked, distracting her.

Paige could feel the heat from her blush. She
never
relaxed enough to forget where she was. There was just something about him that caused her to feel safe. She hadn’t felt that since…she was human.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he told her, his voice rich with arousal.

Paige sighed. It was so hard to fight it this time. She wanted Grant like she had never wanted any one ever before.

She wanted to touch him, to feel his hands on her. She wanted to give in to the passion causing her blood to pump furiously. Before she even realised it, her hand was tracing his jaw.

He blew out a shaky breath which broke the spell she felt woven into.

She started to roll over but again he caught her by the waist. He pulled her to where her back pressed against his chest. She could feel his hard body and she responded accordingly. Ever since she had been turned, sexual awareness was always close to the surface. Her new life seemed to consist of always fighting the sensual urges running through her body.

She could feel his morning hardness pressed against her and she trembled with need. His mouth brushed the nape of her neck. She moaned and pressed back into him.

“Smell so good, feels so right,” he murmured.

He untied the belt of the robe she still wore. She knew she should to tell him to stop, but when his hand touched the bare skin of her stomach, she moaned in pleasure instead.

She hadn’t allowed anyone to touch her intimately since her escape. Even before then, it had never felt so wonderful.

Grant moved the now-loosened robe off of her shoulders and nibbled at the exposed skin. Paige shook uncontrollably. She wanted this, she wanted Grant. And being an empath, he knew.
       

Already her breath was coming out in pants.

When his hand cupped her breast, she arched into his touch. She reached behind and found his leg. He was still wearing his pants, which was probably a good thing since he had removed the robe completely.

His hands worked magical circles on her breasts as she finally managed to position her hand to brush his hard length. He moaned and thrust against her.

She rolled onto her back and his mouth covered hers. He settled firmly between her legs as the kiss grew—hot, hard, and demanding.

He continued to kiss her, his tongue claiming her mouth, every stroke pulling her closer to the edge of pleasure.

Paige ran her hands over his back, kneading the hard muscles before dropping down to his waist. He thrust against her, drawing out a savage moan from them both.

Good, so good
. She tingled in her most private places. She was almost there, could feel the climax climbing, knew it wouldn’t take much to push her over the edge.

Grant’s hand moved down her body before finding her wet, hot centre.

They moaned at the same time when he dipped a finger inside. Her legs fell open, giving him tacit permission to continue. She tugged at the back of his waistband trying to get his pants lower. He lifted enough so she could push the material off.

He added a second finger inside her greedy pussy and rubbed her clit with his thumb. She bucked up, demanding more, and grasped his hips and tried to pull him closer.

“Tell me,” he panted. “Tell me you want me.”

“Yesss,” she hissed although it should have been more than obvious.

He plunged inside, ripping a scream from the back of her throat. He withdrew slowly then thrust again.

Paige dug her nails into his lower back and raised her hips to meet each long, hard stroke.

“So tight and hot. Perfect,” he whispered.

Paige felt her body would come apart at the seams. Never had sex felt this good. She wrapped her legs around his waist, urging him along.

“The moment I first touched you I knew,” he continued to babble. “Knew you were the one.” His hips snapped faster.

She bucked under him, needing more, almost at the moment of release. “Harder,” she demanded.

He complied. Like lightening throughout her body, Paige’s muscles tightened and then let go. She screamed as her orgasm rocked through her.

Sweat dripped from Grant’s forehead and landed on her face. He threw his head back and cried out, his seed filling her as he climaxed. He dropped his head to her shoulder and bit.

“Yes!” she yelled as he pulled her blood into his mouth. “Yes,” she said, this time weaker than before.

It didn’t hurt. It felt amazing to have this man drink from her. Each pull shot straight to her pussy like he was drinking from her sex.

She climaxed again unexpectedly, and then he pulled his mouth from her flesh.

He lifted her head with a hand on her skull and pressed her lips to his neck. “Drink,” he ordered.

She wanted to. She was so hungry. She licked the salty skin beneath her mouth.

“Do it! Drink!”

Her fangs sliced into his flesh and blood rushed into her mouth. He shuddered as she took what he had offered.

Chapter Three