Blood Betrayed Read online

"Being a vampire?"

  "Yeah. What's it like? Do you have to stay out of the sun like the stories always say?" As she spoke, her eyes zeroed in on his teeth again. "Does it hurt?"

  "For a moment, and then it fades away."

  "What happens when you have blood? Do you turn into a...a monster?"

  Saint took her by the hand and began to lead her toward a darkened area off the road. "Come with me. I promise you're safe."

  Under a tree, he gently pushed her against the trunk and leaned down next to her ear. "It will hurt at first, but hold onto my neck. I'll only take a little."

  Janelle whispered her agreement. "Okay, but if I ask you to stop, will you?"

  "Yes."

  Years of experience told him she wouldn't want him to stop, but if she did, he'd respect her wishes. He pressed his lips softly to the tender spot below her ear and closed his eyes. Her skin was warm and soft and held the faintest scent of lilacs. Slowly, he dragged the tip of his tongue over the spot where he'd pierce her skin and heard her sigh in anticipation.

  Gently, at first, he pushed his fangs into her tender skin and felt her grasp at his neck. Just a few seconds more and the pain would be replaced by pleasure. Her blood hit his taste buds, and Saint felt something like an electrical current run straight from his mouth to his cock. Something about her willingness to trust him made the experience all the more sensual and his body yearned to enjoy the rest of her.

  Janelle's hands loosened their grip on his neck, and she let out a tiny moan as he began in earnest to take her blood into him, breaking his promise to take only a little. That demon which silently ruled him—greed—took over, and Saint felt his will begin to slip away.

  As he'd expected, she begged him not to stop as her hands sought out his already rock hard cock. With each pull on her vein, she stroked the hardness through his pants, nearly driving him over the edge. Her moans grew louder, and she ground her pussy against his cock.

  This wasn't going to end with a mere taste of her blood.

  Saint tore his mouth from her neck and looked down into her eyes full of desire. "Tell me what you want."

  Her words made his cock jump, eager to fulfill her every wish. "Make me forget my life. Show me you'd never leave me alone in some inn."

  Saint hurriedly peeled her dress off, revealing a pink bra and panties that just as quickly found their way to the ground. Janelle eagerly worked to undress him and when he lifted her to him, she wrapped her legs around his waist and pushed her wet pussy against his cock.

  "I wanted to fuck you the moment I saw you, " he groaned as the first inches of his cock slid into her cunt.

  "Yes...more," she moaned as he eased his full length inside her. "Fuck me, Declan."

  Turning her away from the tree, he began pumping into her looking for that moment of bliss her body would give. She was tight, her channel a perfect fit around his cock. Each thrust in and glide out of her body touched nerve endings that made him almost lose control.

  Janelle's tongue followed the motion of his cock as she played with his tongue and fangs while she bucked her hips to meet his thrusts. Hoping to prolong the pleasure, Saint lowered himself to the ground and laid back in the cool grass beside their strewn clothes. Still inside her, he stilled a moment to look at the woman on top of him.

  Blond hair tumbled over her shoulders and breasts and her pale pink nipples stood proudly waiting for the touch of his hands or lips. He slid his palm over her soft skin at her hip, over her ribs, and cupped a full breast as he gently pinched her excited nipple. Moaning, she squeezed his fingers tighter on the pearled skin and rocked her hips back and forth against him.

  He pulled her down to him and as she rode him with abandon that signaled her release was near, he whispered, "I want the taste of you on my tongue when you come from my cock inside you."

  "Yes, take from me," she whimpered breathlessly into his ear.

  Rolling her over onto her back, Saint pumped into her, his cock like a perfect fitting addition to her needy cunt. She grabbed his ass and pulled him into her as she met each of his thrusts with one of her own.

  He felt her body begin to close in around his cock and knew she was only seconds away from release. Sinking his teeth into her neck, he pulled on her vein and just as her body began to spasm around his, he got lost in the taste of her blood on his tongue.

  Her orgasm seemed to go on forever, and she cried out her ecstasy as he felt the first of his own explode into her. The rest of the world fell away as they enjoyed one another's pleasure, each taking and giving equally. The bliss he sought in sex didn't disappoint, and for one long and beautiful moment, he was happy, his past didn't haunt him, and he believed he deserved both those things in his life.

  Janelle kissed him sweetly as she cradled his face in her hands. "Declan, thank you for the most incredible time I've ever had. And for making me feel sexy again."

  "It was my pleasure."

  As much as he wanted to stay there, lying in the damp grass with this beautiful creature in his arms, he knew this was impossible. He risked being seen by one of the Archons' henchmen, and no matter how much happiness making love to Janelle had brought him, he needed to return to Solenne's.

  When they arrived at Janelle's house after remaining silent on their way there, she took his hand in hers. "Will I ever see you again?"

  "I don't know," was all he could say.

  The answer was no, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Sex with her had been incredible, and Saint was sure few women tasted as delicious, but if he saw her again he'd want to turn her and once that happened, everything good would be lost.

  "Do you have someone?"

  Saint shook his head and kissed her softly. "No. I have no one."

  Janelle touched his cheek and smiled. "Strange. You act like a man who has someone at home. She's one lucky lady, whoever she is."

  As he watched her safely go inside, Saint wished what she'd said was true. The thought of having someone still crept into his mind, no matter how many times he'd chased it away as an impossibility. But like all those other times, he once again told himself that desire was one he'd never enjoy.

  Saint hoped he'd be spared a confrontation with Solenne when he returned to the house, but that wish remained unfulfilled too. He'd barely made it through the door before he saw her. The saying "If looks could kill" ran through his mind at the sight of the anger written all over her face.

  "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

  "Definitely not the way a man wishes to be welcomed home, Solenne."

  Saint walked past her to the kitchen and prayed she wouldn't follow. Like his earlier wishes, this wasn't to be either. Perhaps the time had come to clear the air.

  "You could've been attacked. Did you forget the Archons have targeted you now?" she asked in an exasperated voice from behind the refrigerator door.

  "I didn't forget, Solenne. I just got tired of being locked up. I wanted to go hunting for myself."

  As he stared at the condiment bottles on the top shelf, he waited for Solenne's response, but there was only silence. Had she walked away, leaving their inevitable confrontation until another time? A quick glance at the floor to see her black boots told him no. He wasn't going to get off that easy.

  Unsure of what he'd find, he stood up straight and closed the door. He was ready for her anger, but the hurt look on her face surprised him.

  "You're a real asshole, Declan."

  With that, she turned and walked away, leaving him with the insane need to confront her. So now he was Declan? He hadn't heard that name from her since the last day he'd seen Teagan, and she thought she could remind him of that time without having to deal with the repercussions?

  No fucking way.

  He stormed after her and caught up with her in the hallway to her bedroom. Grabbing her arm, he spun her around to face him. "You don't get to use that name. I didn't ask to be stuck here with you. If you have a problem with what I did tonight, I can be out of here befo
re dawn."

  "Stuck here with me? Like anyone else would have you. There's a reason none of your vampires want to help you. Maybe if you didn't prefer humans to your own kind, someone other than me and the other Sons would care if you lived or died!"

  Her words were like razor blades cutting into his skin. Fuck her and her words! "I prefer humans because..."

  Before he could finish, she cut him off. "You prefer humans because you don't have to do any work for them. And your refusal to take what you need from me is going to hurt you and the rest of the Sons, you selfish prick!"

  Solenne turned to walk away, but something snapped in Saint. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her hard into the wall. "You want to help the cause, sweetheart? Fine. As you wish."

  Saint's fangs snapped into place, and as Solenne struggled against his hold, he dropped his head to her neck and sunk his teeth deep into her skin. Tugging roughly on her vein, he savored the taste of her blood more than he wanted to admit. Every inch of his body was on fire, and memories of the past flooded into his mind, nearly knocking him off his feet.

  This was why he preferred human blood—any blood—to hers.

  Chapter Seven

  The feel of his lips pressed against her skin and the sensual tug on her vein as he drank her blood overwhelmed Solenne, and she pressed her thighs together tightly to stop her impending orgasm. Her body's reaction to him surprised and embarrassed her, and when he stumbled back against the wall, she turned her face to avoid meeting his gaze.

  How was it possible that after all these years and everything that had happened he could still have an effect on her?

  Saint made a noise like an angry growl, and she turned to see him leave without another word. Had the taste of her blood repulsed him so much that he had to flee from her? Or was it possible that he'd felt what she had?

  Exhausted emotionally and physically, all she wanted to do was climb into bed and curl up under the covers away from the world. Away from Saint. But she was already late for the Archon because she'd waited for Saint to come home. God, he was going to drive her mad!

  Even though she knew she had a responsibility to get to Verrater's office tonight, she didn't want to leave without at least trying to make peace with Saint. There would be none, though. His door was closed, and he was holed up in his room. Peace would have to wait.

  It was probably better that she kept her distance anyway. With the effect he had on her, who knew what could happen if she went into his bedroom.

  Solenne entered the Archon's office and immediately sensed something significant was occurring this night. Rochelle was practically shaking from excitement behind her desk. Only the arrival of someone important or a new development in the case against Saint would make her all aquiver.

  "Rochelle, what's going on? You look like you're about to burst!"

  The secretary flailed her hands near her hair that resembled mousy brown cotton candy and breathed so heavily Solenne was afraid the woman might pass out before providing the answer.

  "Oh, my! It's so exciting! The one who's been chosen to do the job on that Declan fellow is due here at any moment."

  Solenne's heart pounded so hard against her chest it hurt. Why on Earth would the assassin be there unless they knew Saint was hiding in the area? Somehow, she had to get back to the house.

  "Wow, that is exciting! But I think I'm feeling a little under the weather tonight. Maybe I should go home."

  From behind her, Solenne heard Marc Verrater's voice. "You must stay tonight, Lena. We have an honored guest with us. I'd like you to meet Emily Tarnen."

  Turning, she saw them and Solenne extended her hand to shake Emily's, noting how small her hands were. "It's a pleasure, Miss Tarnen."

  "She's the one to kill the newest vampire chosen, Lena."

  Emily Tarnen was practically beaming at being introduced as Saint's assassin. Solenne knew no matter how much she wanted to get home she needed to stay right where she was.

  "Oh, thank you, Mr. Verrater. You're too kind."

  "Remember, call me Marc."

  "Yes, of course, Marc," Emily cooed.

  The Archon's gaze never wavered from the girl, and Solenne fought the urge to recoil from Emily's sugary-sweet voice. She sounded like she was perpetually stuck in time as a cheerleader.

  "Rochelle, hold all my calls. Lena, join us. I may need you to take notes."

  Solenne looked at Rochelle's crestfallen expression and weakly smiled her apologies for Verrater's obvious slight as she followed him and Emily into his office. As she entered, she spied his hands linger a moment too long on Emily's shoulders as he helped her remove her coat. More and more, Marc Verrater seemed far less like what an Archon was supposed to be and far more like the vampires he persecuted. Not that his admiration wasn't reciprocated. Emily was clearly infatuated with him, a powerful and attractive man paying attention to her. Solenne felt almost as if she'd intruded on a private moment and moved to back out of the room.

  "Lena, come," Verrater said motioning with his forefinger to indicate where she should sit for their meeting. "Sit down and listen to what Emily has to tell us."

  Emily turned to Solenne, eager to explain why she'd be willing to murder a fellow vampire. As she began to tell her story, her brown eyes appeared to almost dance, as if the reasons behind her hatred of Saint brought her some measure of happiness. While she spoke, Solenne studied her. She looked rather average, overall, with plain brown hair that fell in waves to her shoulders, and there was nothing unique otherwise about her face or body, as far as Solenne could see.

  But somehow Saint had found a way to offend this ordinary female with the too-sweet voice so grievously that she wished him gone from the Earth.

  "Did you have a good sire, Lena?"

  Solenne nodded, remembering how wonderful Teagan had been when he'd first turned her.

  "You're lucky. I wasn't so lucky. My sire was the worst."

  "I'm so sorry."

  "He hates our kind. That's why I want to help the Archons get rid of him."

  Emily's almost chipper announcement that she would be killing a fellow vampire unnerved Solenne. Saint didn't hate their kind. She didn't know why he preferred human women, but she truly believed it wasn't because he was a vampire hater.

  Marc rose from his desk. "I have some business to take care of. You two talk, and Lena, I'd like you to take notes for our files."

  "Yes, sir."

  He moved around to behind Emily and again his hand grazed her shoulder. Looking up at him, she smiled. "I'll do just as you told me to, Marc."

  "Very good. I'll be back in a little while and we'll leave then."

  As Solenne readied herself to take notes, Emily's eyes followed the Archon until he closed the door behind him. Alone with Solenne, she was more forthcoming and eager to give more details about her grudge. "Ask me anything, Lena. I promised Marc that I would tell my story to assist him."

  Solenne sat straight as an arrow, a notepad on her lap and hundreds of questions in her mind. If she worked this right, she might be able to find out even more than this silly girl intended. Luck was surely with her.

  "Maybe starting from the beginning would be best."

  "Sounds good." Before she began, she popped a stick of spearmint gum in her mouth and chewed it until it was soft enough to crack. "Well, my sire's a vampire named Declan, but you already knew that, didn't you? Did you know he has a nickname? Saint. I can't imagine a worse nickname for someone like him."

  As Emily ranted on about Saint's nickname, punctuating her points with the loud cracking of her gum, Solenne wrote down everything she said. Little of it seemed like it would be worthwhile to the Archons, and Solenne began to wonder what they saw in this woman to make them think she could be of any help whatsoever.

  "How old do you think I am, Lena?"

  Solenne smiled fakely. What she wanted to say was that Emily looked about as old as she acted, but saying she was like an overgrown teenager wasn't going to get her a
nywhere, so she took a guess. "Twenty-three?"

  "No, no. I mean as a vampire."

  "Oh. I don't know."

  "1951."

  Touching her sleeve slightly, Solenne said, "You're still a youngster. I'm so jealous!"

  "Oh, you're so sweet! I feel like a hundred years old lately. If I had a sire who wasn't a criminal, I know I'd feel so much better."

  Solenne grasped her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm so sorry, Emily. It's just so awful. Are you sure you want to talk about it? I'm sure Mr. Verrater would understand if we waited for another day."

  "Thank you, but I want to continue. Talking about it helps. Where was I? Oh, yes. 1951. Well, he attacked me and turned me into a vampire without my consent or anything. It was terrible!"

  Solenne patted her hand and smiled sympathetically, but each word she spoke convinced her that Emily was lying. Saint was many things, but a brute who committed what equaled to rape in the vampire world wasn't one of them. True, consent wasn't necessary when one chose to turn a human, but he wasn't the type to attack anyone.

  "Where did this horrible assault occur?"

  "New York. I was a young, innocent girl working as a receptionist at a record company. One night I was on my way home to my house in Queens and he set upon me like the monster he was!"

  Emily began rooting through her purse and Solenne made sure she committed the details of what she just claimed to memory. New York. Queens. Attacked. Her notes were far more extensive, of course, since Emily seemed quite interested in reading them as she dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

  "Are you sure you can go on?"

  Sniffling, Emily nodded and continued dry-eyed. "So there I was, a vampire with this strange man who was supposed to take care of me. But that didn't happen."

  "He didn't refuse to feed you, did he?" Solenne asked in the best horrified voice she could muster.

  "No. He did something far worse. He was a sex fiend! All the time, day and night. When I said no, he forced himself on me. It was dreadful. Rape! That's what it was."

  Solenne prayed her face showed none of the thoughts running through her mind. So this was what the Archons were using to justify Saint's murder? That he was a sex fiend and rapist?