Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(12)

It was the one time I decided to take the bastard’s advice. I ran for the door. If I could get it open, I could scream. Someone would hear me, even over the loud music. Our security guards were all creatures with impossibly good hearing. I just had to make it to the door and I could jump. I would land on the dance floor and it would hurt, but I would heal. Anything was better than being in this room and submitting to whatever Marini had in mind for me.

I didn’t even get my hand on the door before he caught me. He wound my ponytail around his hand and forced me to my knees. Pain flared along my scalp and tears pierced my eyes. There would be no reason to scream. Dev had soundproofed the room because the club could be so loud. I was alone and at his mercy, and I was pretty damn sure he had none.

He smiled savagely as he sneered down at me. “Are you going to beg?”

“Would it do me any good?” I knew the answer.

“You’re such a smart girl. It’s one of the things I admire about you.” He got to his knees in front of me, his obsidian eyes on my throat. He wasn’t settling for a little taste this time. I felt the force of his will and I fought against it. He tried to pull me in. The last thing I wanted was an ounce of pleasure from him. I used every bit of strength I had to pull back, and he just laughed. He seemed unconcerned with my small struggles. “Have it your way, then. It will taste the same to me.”

He struck, the force of his fangs an agony. I heard myself cry out. He drew heavily and held me so tight against his body, I thought I would stop breathing. How do I describe the pain of a brutal feed? There’s a quality to it I haven’t felt from broken bones or penetrating wounds. No arrow can make you feel like those fangs do. Helpless, hopeless. Like a rabbit in a lion’s mouth. The pain that comes from fangs ripping into your throat doesn’t even compare to the humiliation of having something as private as your blood drained without permission or care.

I tried desperately to take myself somewhere else, to not think about the vampire and what he was doing to me.

My eyes caught on Dev’s desk. So many memories had formed around that desk. It was the first place Dev and I had made love. It was the first place the three of us had sat and talked about our pretend ménage that turned out to be so true. I had so many happy memories of this office, and now I would just remember this one.

I tried to relax and think about the picture Dev kept on his desk. Neil had taken it. We’d gone to a baseball game. It was me and Danny and Dev smiling, our faces pressed together so we could get into the picture. Dev had tried to convince me that hot dogs were good and didn’t have anything to do with cats, but I’d had a bad experience with some troll street vendors and wasn’t willing to risk it. Daniel managed to catch a fly ball using only a little bit of his superpowers. Sarah and Felix had been with us. It had been right before we left for Faery. It seemed like forever ago.

I was shaking by the time Marini released the vein. The flesh of my neck felt raw and open. I didn’t think I was going to need a transfusion, but he’d definitely taken too much. When he released his hold on me, I slumped back, having no strength to remain upright.

“God, I never imagined.” He was on his knees over me, looking down. His face was flushed and he swayed slightly, like he was drunk. “I’ve never had anything like it. Not in all my companions. All these years.” His eyes were filled with a mad desire. “Zoey, do you know what we could do together? Don’t you understand, if you handled me properly, I would be your slave?”

“Just go.” The last thing I wanted to hear were words of devotion. He didn’t care about me. He was under the influence of my blood. I’ve come to accept that Daniel loves me, but even Daniel was so much more affectionate right after a feeding. “You had me, now go.”

His fangs made another appearance. I should have remembered that vampires don’t handle rejection well. “I haven’t even begun yet. You’re forgetting there’s another thing a vampire wants from a companion.”

My stomach churned as he lowered himself on top of me. I didn’t have the strength to even push back. My body felt useless, a futile thing.

He used his weight to force my legs apart, and I could feel his lust pressed against me. He was so heavy I couldn’t breathe. He leaned over and licked my neck as he started to shove his hand under my shirt. I felt his fingers pinch at my breast when he suddenly groaned and rolled off me.

“Merde!” Marini cursed and I scrambled away as he held his head. I saw that a hardback book had somehow hit him.

Marini was on his feet, looking for the threat when the paperweight on Dev’s desk flew across the room and hit the vampire squarely on the forehead. I managed to sit up and started to back away. I wasn’t sure exactly what was there, but it seemed pretty damn friendly to me.

“Que s’est-il passé?” Marini screamed as another assault began.

I strained, but I couldn’t see anyone standing back there. A pen from Dev’s desk became a flying weapon, attempting to lodge itself in Marini’s neck. He batted it away.

I made some shit up, my mind working when my body wouldn’t. “Security measures, Marini. You should go. It’s a poltergeist, and it won’t stop until you’re gone.”

Marini snarled, but another book flew his way. He was looking for something to kill but just couldn’t find anything. There was no one else in the room. He loomed over me as he grabbed his jacket. “Don’t think this is over, Zoey. I would advise you to keep our little affair between the two of us. I would hate for Daniel to become…troublesome. I will contact you soon and Zoey…the next time I’ll have you in my territory and on my terms. You should think about what I said before. We do it the easy way or we can do it as hard as you like.”