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Chapter Twenty-seven

I DIDN&039;T SOit My control of it had grown to the point where I had to give it permission to feed I had to unleash it Maybe if the beasts inside me hadn&039;t risen at nearly the saht of the ardeur as so on a chain, yeah, a chain with a leather collar at the end of it Yeah, soht

I&039;d thought they had too ot close to Donovan Reece Then part of ht sex, and three or four other parts of me wondered what the flesh under all that skin would feel like between my teeth Donovan had requested that the other ive us what privacy they could They&039;d done it Some had done it with a look that said it was silly, but they&039;d done it Then Donovan took his clothes off He stripped like a pale, white dream The ardeur had ainst the front of his body like so carved of ivory and blushed with the first pink of sunrise He was as pale as a vaht on water, he wasin the night I&039;d never knoans had a voice, aleese, swans

Donovan&039;s voice came strained "You&039;ve undoneabout the ardeur has stripped me bare of more than my clothes"

I found I could still talk, above the feel of a night&039;s sky anddouble, as if the vision in my head threatened to be ives you what you want most, sometimes" I leaned in beside his cheek and whispered into that perfect curve of ear "What do you want most, Donovan Reece?"

He turned to " He rolled us over so that he was suddenly looking down at me His body was still pressed to the front of mine, not inside, but the sensation of him hard and firm trapped between our bodies ainst me He wrapped his arms around me, which putwith him on top But he seeh to curl around ive me what I most want, Anita?"

"I don&039;t know," I whispered

"Try"

"It may not work the way you think it will" I tried to think past the ardeur, past the feel of his body against mine, tried to think past the warm scent of his skin The ardeur had adesires I didn&039;t trust ould happen if that hat he truly wanted

"Give me what I want, Anita" He raised his upper body above me

"I can&039;t control the ardeur that well, Donovan"

He raised himself so that his upper body was in a half push-up, which pushed his lower body harder against mine I whimpered for him

"Did I hurt you?" he asked

I had to openin aze,down at me His eyes were bluer than I&039;d ever seen theray from his eyes

I realized that his request to not be king had made me tone back the ardeur It scared s, decided things, that I didn&039;t understand If Jean-Claude had been able, I would have asked him Of course, I had people I could ask

It was just going to be aard to ask One of the other reasons that Requiem and London were in the room was that they had more centuries of experience with the ardeur than I did As victiun to glimpse

I put a hand on Donovan&039;s chest, to push hi space We were in a hurry, but eren&039;t in such a hurry, e? ISootten that the white hairs on his chest weren&039;t hair, but feathers The moment my palm touched the silk of the feathers and the heat of his chest, I forgot what I was going to ask My hands found his body, and he was hot to the touch, as if his temperature had spiked

"Your skin, it&039;s hot"

"I told you, you tookhis shoulders up, but lowering his head for a kiss I could feel his heart thudding against the palm of my hand I could feel it in a way that I hadn&039;t been able to feel since the ardeur was new toholdable, as if I could reach into his chest and cup it, caress it I was suddenly very aware of all the blood rushing through his body I could hear it, feel it, like war just under his skin I could smell it, hot, metallic, sweet I had closed my eyes so I wouldn&039;t see his face, watch him kiss me, but it wasn&039;t the hu ht, the scent of his skin, and of what lay so close under all that flesh

He kissed me He kissed me for the very first time, and I didn&039;t care Ithe line of his jaw Kissed my way onto his neck He seeth of his I opened for hi his neck close to my kisses His hair was the softest I&039;d ever touched, but itto me I could smell what I wanted, smell it like candy just under his skin

He pulled against my hand His voice was strained as he said, "Anita, I need a better angle"

I kept my hand pressed into his neck, brushed by that soft hair, held him where a few kisses more would put ainst , but not quite there Norht Alled my body for him He entered me, and that did distract me It made my eyes fly open wide, o of the back of his neck I pressed ainst his, as I raised s in the air so he could push hith of his body

"Let me rise, Anita Let me look at you"

"No," I whispered, "not yet"

He pushed against ain I put my other hand on his back I held him in place and kissed over the pulse in his neck It ju alive Like a trapped bird in a cage of flesh I would set it free I would let it pour into my mouth, and There was a moment of sanity, a heartbeat of, no, then Jean-Claude&039;s power breathed through ers, and there was no more doubt There was only the press of Donovan&039;s pulse againstto meet him, and entle, but gentle wasn&039;t what I wanted, wasn&039;t how I felt The sensation of his flesh in ht between ood But what I wanted to do was bite more, takeheat of his pulse like a frightened butterfly beat against the roof ofbit of life

Donovan lifted me up off the bed, his arms locked around me as he went to his knees The

His voice was shaky "Too much teeth, Anita"

He knelt on the narrow bed, his ars rapped around his waist I must have done it autoetto eat him

His neck had a perfect impression of my teeth like a purplish-red bruise in the white perfection of his flesh Blood traced down his shoulder and back where one into that ss, but the one thing I said was the one that amazed me most "You broke the ardeur&039;s hold"

"I ; that ive myself to you You can&039;t just take it"

"I&039;ht, I&039;ry Just don&039;t tear my throat out, or carve my back up, okay?"

"I&039;m not sure she can help it," Micah said I looked out from the man in my arms to find not just Micah but all thewith Requiee said it all I met Micah&039;s eyes and asked for help with a look I&039;d thought of Donovan as just h to distract me from blood, and meat

Donovan asked, "What can I do to keep myself safe?"

Requieht around hih to sit up with her as you did, then you are strong enough to hold her down"

"We can&039;t guarantee your safety, Reece," Reuard He shifted his grip fro, as if he could have held er than noruarantee my safety"

"She could tear your throat out before we could ets that out of hand, we interfere," Micah said

"Interfere how?" Remus asked

"Grab her, help Donovan hold her down"

"The ardeur will spread to anyone who touches her," Remus said

Micah nodded "I know"

Remus shook his head, a little too rapidly "I can&039;t do my job then I can&039;t keep Reece safe"

"Because you won&039;t risk the ardeur spreading to you" Micah made it a statement, not a question

"Yes," Remus said

"Then leave," London said

"We need a senior guard in here," Remus said "Who do I send in my place? Bobby Lee is still in South America Claudia, no Who replaces me?" He sounded tormented, torn between duty and what? Duty and fear? Duty and the ardeur?

"We are out of time for niceties, Anita," Requie us are to be saved, it must be now" There wasn&039;t a poetic allusion in the state poetry

It was al back One moment I was al him as if I&039;d crawl into hisinto his back again The feel of his flesh parting under my nails made me cry out in pleasure, and him in pain I tried to tone dohat I wanted to do to him I tried not to bite at hissainst his lips

He pressed us back to the bed, his weight suddenly pinning s were still wrapped around his waist so his body was already pushing against ht to concentrate on the sex instead of flesh and blood But the sex was tangled up with the feel of my nails in his back, my mouth at his lips I wanted that hard press of flesh to shove its way inside me, but almost more I wanted to bite his lips and draw blood I wanted bloodfor Jean-Claude, but the ardeur wasn&039;t his first hunger

I licked Donovan&039;s lower lip, drew it into my mouth, so full, so rich, so I bit down on his lip, hard and sharp Blood, sweet, metallic, warm blood filled ht flashes and pleasure It wasn&039;t sex, or orgasm, but it was as if that sip of blood ate the world in a red wash of pleasure I&039;d had the world go red froer, but never from sheer joy It was as if every piece of my body filled aras

I was left gasping and almost limp underneath Donovan It was as if I&039;d lost ti for the right angle to enter ot there His chin was covered in bright, crimson blood; his lower lip was shredded Had I done that?

Then he found his angle and was pushing his way into th of our bodies to watch hiht of it made me cry out and raise asped, "You take all my control away"

"Fuck me, Donovan," I whispered

He looked down atdown his face, but his eyes filled with that look that a ets That look that says, Mine, sex, more, less than that His eyes were bluer than I&039;d ever seen thean to shove himself in and out of my body He found his rhythm, quick, fast, over and over I watched all that pale, hard length plunge in and out of in to build I whispered, "Soon"

"Your eyes," he whispered, "your eyes like blue flaht have asked what he asht to hold ht to keep me where he had me, as his body thrust inside ain, orfroed inside th of his hands on my wrists, fed on the heat of him, and then I felt the swans The three women I knew in St Louis were in a s they could see, soet them Then other faces, more startled eyes; some cried out, some slumped on their couches, fell from chairs, others writhed on their beds I fed, we fed, the ardeur fed Dozens of faces, of bodies, and I felt Jean-Claude wake, felt it like a jolt through y and I ht have tried to stop, but it was too late to stop We fed on the swans, we fed on them all So much power, so much life We ate them dohile they stumbled in ht us They just gave it up An arlorious rush of power

Richard woke; I felt his eyes flash open, felt hiht the tube in his throat Jean-Claude drew h so I did not choke with hian to struggle

Then it was night and ainst so h his heart One pulse beat it was feathers and wings, the next pulse it was ato earth The ardeur took his power, drank down that pale body, that dark hair, the mix of pleasure and terror as he pluh me, in a rush of heat and electricity He reached out to the falling e He called the y and covered the flesh in feathers, turned the ars in time for him to turn and skis beat frantically to gain height But frantic didn&039;t quite cover all that smooth, muscled power When all we could feel ind and space, we left hi into Richard&039;s face, ascars Then I was back in the narrow bed with Donovan on top ofin the world His eyes were closed; blood dripped fro on my body

I breathed his name "Donovan"

He opened his eyes and they were solid black and no longer huh and piteous The sound froze my heart in my throat I had time to think, I&039;ve hurt hian to thrust into ain, as if we hadn&039;t just entle, careful There was nothing gentle this tiht , underneath him His hands bruised my wrists, held ed, and feathers flowed around his body like a niel, and then all I could see was feathers, brushing ain and his body thrust into ht me one last ti them in His hands vanished and I could move my hands, but all I could touch were feathers and bones too delicate to be hus beat the air above raceful neck, the head, the beak I was trapped at the center of a storht for lift I covered rown , but the ceiling was too low He crashed to the floor

I was left buffeted, breathless, heart haer than ed to prop s to land beside the condom that lay discarded on the bed It had been the only clothes he&039;d been wearing

Jean-Claude&039;s voice eased through me "Je t&039;aime, ma petite, je t&039;aime"

"I love you, too," I whispered

Then dawn cao away I heard the sound of a body hitting the ground Requieed to catch London and was lowering hiently The vampires were dead for the day, all of theht to find the Harlequin and kill them I&039;m not sure that&039;s what Jean-Claude and the other vampires would have wanted, but the vaht, and the hue Thanks to Jean-Claude I was the top huuards would listen to ht, except for the wolves The wolves were his, but that was okay, I needed professionals, not gifted amateurs I needed Edward and his backup At that ht could handle the job

Chapter Twenty-eight

I WAS WRONG I didn&039;t want to welcome Edward&039;s backup One of them I wanted to send back to his mommy The other I wanted to put a bullet in his brain, or heart He was human, so either would do the job

At least I was dressed for the fight I never fight as well naked I would so not have been comfy naked in front of Edward, let alone in front of his "backup" "What the fuck were you thinking?" I shouted at hihts

Edward&039;s face was blank, empty, peaceful It was one of the faces he killed hen he wasn&039;t enjoying the kill "Olaf is good backup for this, Anita He&039;s got the skills we need: a covert spook, any weapon you care to name, hand-to-hand, and better with explosives than I a serial killer, whose victims of choice are petite brunette women" I slapped my upper chest "Sound like anyone you know?"

He let out a breath; if it had been anyone else I would have said he sighed "He&039;s a good match for this job, Anita, I swear that he is, but he wasn&039;tand came to stand in front of him I&039;d kicked everyone out except Micah when he handedfull of clothes and weapons I loved a man who kne to pack for me When I&039;d stepped out into the hallway and seen Olaf and Peter, I&039;d gone back in the room, kicked Micah out, too, and invited Edward in

"What does that mean, he wasn&039;t your choice, exactly? You just said his skills match this job"

"They do, but do you really think I&039;d have brought him within a hundred miles of you, Anita? Olaf likes you, likes you in a way I&039;ve never seen him like a woman He has whores and he has victims, but whatever he feels for you is different"

"Are you saying he loves me?"

"Olaf doesn&039;t love anybody, but he feels so for you"

"He wants me to play serial killer with him, Edward"

Edward nodded "The last tiether You decapitated it, and he cut out its heart"

"How do you knoe did? You were in the hospital trying not to die"

"I heard about it later from the local cops They were creeped by the way you butchered the va up the body"

"I&039;al vampire executioner, Edward It&039;s what I do"

He nodded again "And Olaf has been a special-ops assassin for most of his adult life"

"I don&039;t hold his day job against him, Edward; it&039;s his damn hobby that I don&039;t like"

"Hobby? You call the fact that he&039;s a serial killer his hobby?"

I shrugged "I think that&039;s how he sees it"

He sht"

"Don&039;t you s s him on this job, so why did you?"

His face sobered "He wanted to come to St Louis to see you" - he put air quotes around the see - "on his own I told him if he came near you I&039;d kill hiot called to back you up again, I had to include him If I didn&039;t, he&039;d come on his own, and take his chances with me later"

"Later? Later, after what?"

Edward gave me a look out of those blue eyes that were some of the coldest I ever looked into "So he&039;s here to what, kill me?"

"He doesn&039;t kill women, Anita He butchers them"

I shuddered, because I&039;d seen Olaf at a serial-killer cri Edward and me track down a different killer But the victim had been just a pile of s I&039;d ever seen done to a hue, and the look in his face had been sexual As if what lay on that table was the biggest turn-on he&039;d ever had He&039;d looked atsex, yeah, but he&039;d been thinking sex not just without my clothes, but as if he wondered what I&039;d look like without my skin Most humans didn&039;t scare me anymore, but Olaf scared me

Edward said, "Anita, you look like you&039;ve seen a ghost"

"I&039;d rather see a ghost than hihost; I keep forgetting that you&039;re not just a pretty face"

I frowned at hiht isn&039;t even close to over"

"I had to invite Olaf to play, Anita This way I have his word that he&039;ll behave himself"

"Define behave hi on your turf, period"

"So I&039;hter your victim of choice, vampires He&039;ll even help you killun in its shoulder holster dug into my breast a little I liked the discomfort I wasn&039;t helpless It was just that Olaf was six feet plus of trained er and faster than a normal human thanks to Jean-Claude&039;s vah about physical potential to know that Olaf was a very dangerous man He was crazy and trained to kill; that seee to me

"You think he would have coiven him your word?" I asked

"Yes" He wasn&039;t s when he said that last He was as serious as I&039;d ever seen him "I would never have invited hiht I would be needing your help Please, believe that the last thing I wanted was for him to meet you I kneould be a disaster I just didn&039;t expect you to charm him I didn&039;t know there was a wo close to" - he searched for a word - "he wants to help you hunt and slaughter these vampires"

"I don&039;t want him here, Edward"

"I know, but this was the best compromise I could make with him, Anita Actually I hoped he&039;d be out of the country, so far away that the fireworks would be over before he could get back to the United States He took a job with a governency to help train up soroups He took a job that he&039;s qualified for - he speaks es than I do - but it wasn&039;t a job that let hies"

"You mean he&039;s not been allowed to kill anyone"

He nodded

"Why would he take a job that didn&039;t let hihter people?"

"Because he knew if he went out of the country, he&039;d never make it back in time to be in St Louis when you neededthat Olaf took a job that he didn&039;t want so he&039;d be closer toThis last year and soone without killing someone If you&039;d askedwithout killing someone"

"How do you know he didn&039;t?"

"He&039;s got a deal with our government He doesn&039;t play serial killer on A as he abides by that"

I hugged ood boy, Edward"

"I know you didn&039;t"

"Why does the fact that he&039;s behaved himself on the off chance that he can come play with me scare me?"

"Because you&039;re smart"

"Explain to one to this much effort for me?"

"He is crazy, Anita Which er him with a woman He likes you as h standards for women"

"What does that mean?"

"It o you weren&039;t sleeping around Now you are I&039;e his opinion of you"

"He kills whores," I said, my voice flat