Ripper (Hunter #1)(80)

“You’re mine,” he growled as he found that magic spot deep inside my body. “You belong to me.”

I came apart in that wild rush of pleasure I would always and forever associate with Grayson Sloane. It was a flash fire inside my body, a bomb that detonated deep within and sparked through, bringing life and heat where I needed it the most. The orgasm made my toes curl, my eyes roll back. “I belong to you.”

I was Gray’s and he was mine. I kind of floated down. It was all I could do to stay upright, but then Gray tensed and I felt him pulse inside me as he came with a low shout. His hands squeezed my hips almost painfully as he ground out his pleasure, filling me up.

When he let go, he fell against my back and both of us lay there on the floor, our bodies satisfied and my heart so full of him.

“I love you so f*cking much.” He growled the words against the nape of my neck.

I found a deep pleasure in lying with him, our bodies in synch, breathing and beating in time as the warmth of the shower rained down on us. There was peace in this place.

“Shit. Oh, baby.” He scrambled off me.

“What?” I was starting to come out of my lovely languor and I didn’t want that. I turned over and sent him a frown.

All of the demon was gone. His eyes were back to deep violet and his hands were simply big and strong. I was a little startled at the fact that the dragon’s eye had closed. It had been open before, looking ferocious and hungry, and now there was a sated sleepiness to the sexy bastard. I’d satisfied that part of Gray.

Gray looked younger than before. It was subtle, but I would have sworn the lines around his eyes were lighter, as though some of his worries had fled. His lips curled up and a soft expression lit his face as he stood up, water dripping off his body. “You are the sexiest, grumpiest kitten ever.”

My hair was plastered to my skin and I was probably a mess, but I felt like I was glowing. “I think that’s a compliment.”

He got to his feet and gently hauled me up with him. “I nicked you, baby. I would say I’m sorry, but that was the best sex I’ve ever had so I’ll get you a bandage and treat you like a queen for the rest of my life. My queen.”

He lowered his head and kissed me, long and slow this time.

I could feel where he’d nicked me. It was a little sting on my right hip. It would bleed briefly and then fade away.

Bleed. It would bleed because I was alive and that was what living things did. We bled. When we’re wounded, when we’re flayed open and laid out, we bleed.

I pushed at Gray and he was the grumpy one then.

“What?”

“I know how Joanne is different. I figured it out.”





“So all the other girls had burn marks on their wrists and some even across their arms,” I explained to Marcus as he drove the Bentley through the streets of Dallas.

Night had fallen and we were on our way to the vampire club. My body still hummed with excitement. It was partially the aftereffects of sex with my superhot demon lover, but there was also the thrill of the hunt. I could feel it. I was getting closer, and those pictures had given me another clue. I knew how Joanne was different and it was far more than her species.

“They struggled,” Marcus pointed out. His melodic accent seemed even more intimate in the close confines of the car. “It’s only to be expected.”

“But Joanne Taylor’s arms aren’t burned at all,” I finished triumphantly.

The vampire slid me a curious stare. He seemed very interested in my thoughts on the case, and I got the feeling he was endlessly fascinated with what I was going to say next. He seemed to genuinely enjoy arguing points of logic with me. “Joanne was a doe. Perhaps she simply didn’t struggle at all.”

“Not buying it, Vorenus.” I enjoyed arguing with him, too. Since that moment I figured out what I’d been missing, I’d been filled with the most delicious energy. It practically burst out of me and Marcus had been so amused by my pacing and talking to myself and the wild hand gestures I make when talking things through that he hadn’t noticed we were running late until Gray had pointed it out with a sour look on his face. Despite Gray’s wariness, Marcus and I had been arguing back and forth in a thoroughly pleasant manner ever since. “First, even a simple little doe will fight for her life. Second, Jo Taylor had a backbone. No question about it, girlfriend had a pair, if you know what I mean.”

Marcus laughed as his hands expertly steered the big beast of a car. “I have no idea what you mean, but I like the way you say it.”

“Hey, that’s enough of that,” Gray growled from the backseat.

I turned around and rolled my eyes at my grumpy boyfriend. He was completely against me having anything whatsoever to do with Marcus. I needed him to understand that besides friendship, I had zero designs on the vampire. Hell, I could barely handle the man I had. I wasn’t looking to take on another.

“So why do you think Joanne is different?” Marcus asked blandly.

“There are many reasons she doesn’t fit the pattern, Councilman. For one thing, she’s the only non-wolf.”

“Wolves are much more common than any other wereanimal,” Marcus pointed out.

“Secondly, she’s the only one of the victims who was buried separately.”

“All the wolves were buried in a single grave,” Gray affirmed.