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Jacob watched Carl Ronin step out of the upscale sushi bar and bid his friends good night Turning up the collar of his jacket, he began to stride down the cobblestone street that marked the down- town art district It reminded Jacob that not six blocks aas the Eldar Salon, where he&039;d convinced his lady to consider taking hiht he faced theas she took the life of acut short Then he would dis- pose of the body for her Through his extensive research, he knew Carl worked for an ad agency He was currently between girlfriends, though he&039;d been close tothe last one If he had, it would have saved his life, for Lyssa didn&039;t take h was his lady in her research, Jacob even knew that Carl had two dogs and he&039;d iven to an old army buddy if he ever became unexpect-edly deceased He had a don apart dis- tance of this bar that he visited twice a week He had no idea his life would end tonight His Mistress materialized so easily out of the shadows Jacob didn&039;t even see fro a black cocktail dress and a shawl, she looked as if she&039;d just come from a party

She asked Ronin for directions to a small bistro not far from his apartether, hihtlyhis attention there She was already releasing her vampire pheromones She&039;d apparently decided to do it early, not taking any chances of things going wrong Carl&039;s dick would be getting hard,some type of instant attraction to her, a connection that would erode barriers typically held in place by co he said, she took a rip on his biceps as she apparently made a misstep in her skinny heel His hand naturally slid around her waist As she looked up at hi he&039;d walked into his best luck of the evening, maybe his entire life When Gideon had taken hiht the anxiety and fear in all the usual ways With denial, avoidance, acceptance, analysis He hadn&039;t realized how valu- able the privacy of his own thoughts was for that process Several times over the past couple of days, when he hadn&039;t been able to , she&039;d reiterated that he didn&039;t need to come with her, that she&039;d do this on her own He&039;d fi- nally asked her--begged her, actually--to just to stay out of his mind until it was over He was her servant He&039;d do what needed to be done She wasn&039;t going alone Gideon&039;s visit had been too recent What if he was still out there with a team to interfere, to catch her unawares? What if Carl wasas she was at full strength and awareness, no one could sneak up on her But therein lay his concern, and one of the reasons he himself had pushed her to do what she&039;d put off fortheir job, or maybe just her proxim- ity alone, which Jacob knew could play havoc with a man&039;s senses When Carl&039;s hand slid lower, to the top of her buttock, she pressed closer to hi but sylad that he could take pleasure in a woman&039;s body in his last moments of life

Instead Jacob ta his Mistress Jesus, jealous of a soon-to-be-deadCo From Thomas he knew that in earlier years she&039;d enjoyed her prey, even spenther own carnal plea- sure while giving him the sensual experience of his life She hadn&039;t used compulsion or pheromones to anesthetize hih about va with prey fulfilled a va a life in her hand before extinguishing it The saht part her red, wet lips to blow out a flame and leave a room in darkness They&039;re predators, not minions of evil He remembered his words to Gideon and used the to kill to survive, took some pleasure in the kill, for lack of a better word A predator&039;s nature was one of dominance, power Each kill confirmed that dominance, the fine line between predator and monster, murderer He believed his lady when she said this one life was all she took for her survival each year, but shesome pleasure fro aher own, not for her own selfish reasons, but be- cause she knew the lives of the vamps in her territory and the whole structure of va she could main- tain the illusion of her power and existence He understood that But could Carl please just re hand from her ass? You will never be comfortable with how I view your speciesHe closed his eyes He wished she&039;d get it over with so he could just act, do so other than sit here and think about as about to happen When she turned the corner, he eased the car off the side street They would cut through the park She would draw Carl into the shadows of the trees At that point, he would want nothing more than to be inside her And she&039;d bite him

She&039;d opened her mind to hiood one, about the type of things a ladylust, his s he wanted to do with her, but through his lady&039;s eyes Jacob noticed Carl simultaneously kept a lookout around them Protective Protective of her, a woo, because he&039;d been raised a gentle about himself She kept the conversation on the present, the bar he was just at, the beauty of the night, how far his apart up, Lyssa caressed Carl Ronin&039;s jaith her fingers "You are perhaps a little too good, " she murood " She sht his head down to her, stood on her toes as he fraether He didn&039;t rush it, de into hi what she wanted When he broke the kiss, lifting his head, she ht- ened around her back,down to s were all she wore "Jesus, " he ift froainst her hair, Lyssa felt the pull of it against her tes, slow and easy, into his skin, increased the hold of her arm around his back and waist as he jumped, startled She shot a full measure of phero-as if it had never been He groaned, jerking against her touch, the flood pushing hi across his trousers Shehian to drink "IJesus, I&039;m sorryOh, God"

"SsshThere will be time for more Let me just touch you" Lyssa slid one hand to the side of his skull and cradled his jaith the other, tilting his chin up She rose on her toes, her fingers sliding into his hair to take a tighter hold

Though he knew it didn&039;the could shut out the iht somehow he&039;d connected to thea snapped neck was not as painless as it had always been supposed But this was not Carl Ronin&039;s pain It was Lyssa&039;s Blinding, rocketing through her head, so fast and brutal she&039;d been unable to close her shields, so she&039;d never let happen before Jacob received it full force through his own tenashed like one of those sharp-toothed parasites in a space hts flashing"Shields, h he could barely see, staggering "My ladyShields So I canHelp you" He gasped it, heard her cry out, a screa the hold of the pain His will kicked in to carry hi hi the pain, not him Only when the end came would the pain be real, since he would die with her And this was not that moment, damn it But his lady never cried out No matter the pain he&039;d seen her suffer thus far, she kept quiet The way a wild ani to draw the attention of another predator One only cried out when one preferred a predator to end the pain instead of prolonging it Soh, she heard hiht, the nausea pushing one last, lingering sick wave through his stoth- ened his strides, co over the hill that overlooked the copse of trees in the park they&039;d specifically chosen for its isolation

Lyssa was collapsed on the ground, trying to struggle to a sitting position Her hair was disheveled, dress rucked up froht shone on her elongated fangs and reflected the red of her eyes that caly when she fed Even from his distance, anyone would know she wasn&039;t huers soaked with blood He stared down at his shirt where drops had splattered The flowing streaht red Slowly he raised his head, his eyes widening as he saw her fangs, the preternatural light in her eyes He backpedaled, stuaze darted between hi Her strength apparently deserted her, for her arms went out from under her and she rolled to her side Convul- sions shuddered through her, but even aed, pain-filled brain, her o It doesn&039;tblood of an annual kill coive her ain Give her ive her e Even a cure Debra had said Brian thought they were close to soive hi in the balance, but didn&039;t knohat decision would damn or absolve it He&039;d made an oath to protect her with his life An oath she&039;d just exonerated him from But she&039;d also told him that no matter what, he had to put her desire to protect her territory, her people, first Let hiround, suffering His lady His feet were in , and then he was running A lean, strong rass of the tended park where children ca on picnic blankets and drinking wine Where people brought a book to read

Where old woeons and business- s that had nothing to do with nohen the park belonged to things of the night, beings with dark intentions He&039;d hoped Carl wouldn&039;t see hi, but the ear As Jacob came out of the trees less than twenty feet from him, Ronin cursed, increased his stride Panic ave hiht him anyway Lyssa rose on one shaky arm in tile- to his knees by the scruff of the neck He knocked Carl face-first into the turf, planted his knee into his back Before Carl could speak rass, Jacob had jerked his head up with both hands In one violent, powerfulthe connection to the brain Just time for that one short, desperate cry Less than a second of tih the park like it was a canyon It was nothing Thomas could have done for her Even if he had Jacob&039;s strength or skills as a fighter, she wasn&039;t sure he would have done it for her Of the handful of servants she&039;d had throughout her life, she couldn&039;t think of one that would have done this

Rex would have, but it would haveup meat at the market Where the life of the creature it had once been was neatly hidden away by precise cuts and cellophane packaging Jacob rose to one knee, breathing hard, though she kneasn&039;t physical exertion Her head was pounding, hts, but she wondered if she would have had the cour- age to do so even if she could He lifted Carl in a fireht hi as he deposited the body next to her, easing hi the back of his head He closed the staring eyes "My lady You said you must drink within a few minutes of his death So you must drink It should help your pain as well "

But ill help yours? She had no words for this h under theCarl&039;s neck at an easier angle for her to reach the is to the original biteher ony rolling through her, she ht Sheelse out to do what she had to do As he had done I know you think our species is inferiorThe words of Thomas&039;s letter mocked her, rass But she didn&039;t At length, she felt Jacob&039;s sweat-dampened palm, the hand that had just taken a rip hard as she continued to draw blood into her body His hand followed the moveainst her cheek, her te sobs It ly lifelike twitches She didn&039;t stop or look up, knowing Jacob wouldn&039;t want her to do so After tonight, he wouldn&039;t want to speak of it again There was nothing to be said It hat she had to do to live, and he had helped her do it because he had sworn to serve her She wouldn&039;t forget it, while Jacob would alish he could As if he were afor her favor, he&039;d proven his strength and power to take down her kill Brought it to her as ainto her ht when she walked in full strength with fear of nothing The crickets and frogs were silent The smell of blood was in the air and a predator was close by Her headache was gone as if it had never been, as if it had never knocked the strength from her so she could not finish the task she&039;d started The nausea was gone as well The vitality that ca within her Would it get her as far as she needed to go? It had to Most ih this ht now Just a hurricane of rage, grief, desperate energy

A need to control so out of control Like the night with Melinda, but even ly Primeval iing through her responded to theerness When death and life joined hands and death prevailed,that defied it Immortals in contrast would skirt as close as possible, absorbing its untouchable power Rising to her feet, she straightened her dress, unpinned her hair and shook it down Threading her hands through it, she let it fall away fro her throat so she knew it caught the ht She knew its paleness and the rise of her breasts over the scooped neckline had drawn his gaze, even as his hands remained clutched on the aze Reached out a hand "Come toeven deeper into the shadows of the trees as he rose As he stared at her, his eyes were a brilliant color, glittering with so ht possess an electric force field capable of delivering voltage His hands opened and closed, his body tense, his rationalhat his body and the darkest part of his soul knew they needed Hungered for Grounding Connection "Because you brought ht I offer you the rights of a ave a harsh chuckle, ran a hand over his face "You&039;re a piece of work, " he said thickly "I can&039;tI need to take care of hi with greedy de- sire over her body, conveying a consuled over her skin like the electric brush of his ether I&039; his sacrifice, Jacob But I need you I want you Now This very second " "Do you, then?" His voice altered, became abruptly soft and deadly, so that she felt the sharpness of his attention like the prick of fangs in her vitals

"You just said you owed me your submission I&039;ll make the demands " She slid the straps of the dress off her shoulders and stood before him as it pooled around her ankles

"Off I want it all off Even the jewels " She co off the earbobs and necklace, dropping them on top of nylon carelessly, as if they didn&039;t cost as much as they did She knew that would inflame him further Her hair fluttered over her shoulders, the tips of her breasts, tangling in her fingers His breathing quickened, a laboring as if he&039;d been running When she treaze darkened "Are you afraid of me, my lady?" He could overpower her with the force of his eth He could take her down and h she knew he had no room for mercy in his current state of mind "Yes, " she whispered "Good, " he said, and closed the distance between them The kiss was hot and brutal His hands closed on her breasts with no intent to be gentle, though his violence was enough to arouse her He squeezed, bringing pain with the spearing pleasure of it Mine, the rough touch said His fingers pinched her nipple, and when he bent her back over his arm and fastened his asp fro to one knee so he had her trapped between the one raised leg and the knee pressed to the grass When she tried to rise and touch hi froers

He pushed her arers of his other hand into her cunt to tease her She was soaked at his fierce possession, and he swore as she widened her tre to hi terrifying was roaring through hi into her, a receptacle for all his sins She would gladly take the a pale, naked aniht

Some of Carl&039;s blood stained his neck at the collarbone Another sotten down the shirt Her pussy clenched, anticipat- ing, but she should have known his anger was not assuaged He straddled her head, thrust himself deep into her mouth He braced himself with one hand on her wrists so she had no way of control- ling his thrusts When he pushed deep against her gag reflex, she had to quickly relax her throat muscles to accommodate him She&039;d chosen to put her mouth on him before, but never had she ser viced him like this, and it was clear why he intended her to do so now What wasn&039;t so clear to her was her gushing response to the brutal taking, but noth- ing had to be rationalized They weresome primal need to validate, bond It was a war of Doiven him the reins, so effectively she didn&039;t know if she&039;d really offered or he&039;d siainst his even as she licked, suckled, swirled her tongue over hiave her clit soht swats that ainst him "Suck me well, my lady I may come in your mouth, make you s every drop offucked " Her cunt convulsed at the thought, and there was a savage part of her that wanted to fight him, wanted to rebel But when she tried to lift her ar, alht her if she crossed hie of her desire thatthis to shred the edges of his soul or use it as fire to cauter- ize the wound the evening&039;s events o of the desire to care because she just needed hiether they were unable to be contained in her body She was far past the bright edge of cliht shatter theers clutching spas-her he was close She tried to push the issue by increasing the force of her suction, bringing her fangs into play to pierce his skin, just enough to make it difficult for hiainst his length with her tongue He thrust his fingers into the corners of heron either side of her throat to hold her as he wrenched open her jaw and withdrew Faint rivulets of his own blood e His thickness was extraor- dinary, even for hih she knew that life-and-death situations often had such an effect on s, he folded his own under hi both of her legs against one of his broad shoulders, he banded his ar her with the power of that single ar her down on it with ruthless deter the area she&039;d never allowed hiht with Gideon Even lubricated by her saliva and the juices of her pussy that had flowed into that area, he was a great deal to take, particularly in this state She gasped at the invasion, the bruising fullness of him, a sound of distress in her throat But desire was there, too, as her pussy spas hih clenched teeth, seating her on him even fur- ther "No,you that you&039;re my Mistress Mine alone " The darkness an to rock her up and down on his length, abrading her sensitive tissues She&039;d be aware of his presence there for days to co She&039;d shudder from de- sire at the e he wanted her to understand He&039;d killed for her Served her He was hers Soht&039;s actions that it had all become a wall of mirrors She was asyou and you love it, that you want me to , a sile and yet involuntary response at once "You&039;ll say the words Call htAt leastI&039;ll know it&039;s true " She tre that even as her pussy convulsed Despite the pain in her ass at the thrusting of his large cock, she was being provoked by his words toward the goal he was fiercely deter you, ive me this truth " He put his hand down and found her clit with his thuers into her She screae kept the cli at this moment "PleasePleaseLet me" "Say it, or you won&039;t I won&039;t let you until you say it " He was human Human Yet he had done what no ht, but in so many other ways "I can&039;t" "You can " He was ruthless, as ruthless as she&039;d ever thought of being He pinched her clit so briefly, but it sent a spasoddamn it, you&039;ll look at me when you do " She opened her eyes,wild about his shoulders, his broad chest and shoulders doainst a cloudy sky now de- void of stars, a sky showing only the sainst his shoulder The guttural sounds co from her lips and his harsh breath were the only sounds in the night as he increased his thrusts in her ass, taking a full measure of satisfaction there while he held hers out of reach with those iers "Master " It was a bare whisper on her lips, torn from a place deep inside her, a place she&039;d locked away froh to hand the over his expression so strong it closed her throat, made her almost unable to speak But she did, even as she clutched hiht his eyes back open "Master, " she repeated "Let me come for you Serve you well, as you&039;ve served me Always " With a look that contained both fierce triuan to thrust with his fingers It hit her like a tidal wave rising undetected by radar directly offshore until too late, striking her hard in herout froh her, intensified when he cahly she was sure he tore her delicate opening, but she didn&039;t care She would heal physically in moments, while the rift in her defenses he&039;d created would remain that way forever From here forward, she&039;d only have hi and the rest of the world The conqueror and invader would serve as her defender and protector As he always had