Bad Mouth(32)

“Just no?” He gave her a lopsided grin. “At least I won’t have to feed often. I get most of my sustenance from transformations.” His grin faded.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve never f*cked and fed before.” Whatever he thought of it sobered him.

“Are you…disappointed?” She almost didn’t want his answer.

“Disappointed?” He laughed. “Val, the earth shifted. I didn’t know it could feel so f*cking good. I’ll have a hard time keeping my dick out of you when I’ve got my fangs in. And vice versa, you know.”

“Do the service girls all react like that?”

“Like a Baptist girl at church camp?” he asked. She rolled her eyes at him, but he ignored it. “They always do, and it always made me want to heave the blood back up. Nothing worse than getting dry-humped by a horny bitch in heat when I’m trying to enjoy a meal in peace.”

“There’s no stopping that pit of profanity, is there?”

He didn’t answer, but he rubbed her with his palm and she tightened her thighs around his hand.

“Your * is like velvet. You wax?”

She laughed. “Your mouth is going to get you in trouble.”

“It already has. Anyway, I think you like what I do with my bad mouth.” He slid down in the bed and ducked his head toward the junction between her legs. She pushed at his head.

“Where’d you send your merry men?” she asked with a laugh. His expression sobered as he looked up at her, and she tensed. “Where, Kade?”

He sat up. “I wanted to—”

“To what?”

“To find Parrish for you. They’re hunting for Parrish.”

“Why? What are they going to do with him?”

“Val, he wasn’t created by the Slavers. We don’t know where he came from.” He glanced out the window. “A rogue maybe.”

“What will they do with him?”

“They won’t kill him, Val. Unless they have to.”

“Unless they—” His sudden outcry interrupted her. He bent over, his head pressed to the bed. “What’s happening?”

“It’s all right,” he huffed. “It’ll pass.”

His rolled over, his eyes closed and his head tipped back. It was over in only a few seconds, but still alarming. He started to sit up but slid back to the mattress and rolled toward her instead. He reached out for her, pulling her close.

“Does this always happen after a feeding?”

He stroked her hair. “Unfortunately.”

“You saw, didn’t you?” She felt him nod. “No corpse in the closet?”

He chuckled against her top of her shoulder. “I’ve never viewed anyone so…clean.”

“Do you see everything?”

“Not everything. Only little random samples along the way.” He lifted his head to look her in the eye. “So, uh, sex before me has been a little…bland for you?”

“You did not see that!”

His cell rang from the jeans on the floor. Laughing, he dragged himself out of bed and fumbled in his pockets until he found the phone.

“What?” He was only silent a moment. “On my way.” And then he threw his clothes back on.

“Where are you going?”

He didn’t look at her as he dressed. “They found Will. They’re holding him for now.”

The earth quaked under Val. They had Will, finally. She would see him in his changed form. What would he say to her? Could he even speak? What kind of man had he become? She jumped from the bed, reaching for her clothes.

“I’m coming.”

His eyes shot her a warning. “Val, I want to flash there.”

“No.” When he didn’t even slow, she grabbed his arm. “I have to see him, Kade.”

She didn’t let him turn away while he thought it out. This was too important to let him get overprotective on her. It was her case, anyway. She needed to see Will if she was ever going to heal the wounds he’d left behind.

“Let’s go.” His lips formed a thin line of displeasure, but he took her hand and led her out of the penthouse. It wasn’t too far by car, only a half-hour drive before they arrived at an empty warehouse. The streetlights were all out except one near the corner of the building, stretching the shadows around the crumbling mass even longer. Graffiti plastered the front wall and red spray paint streaked the double door, barely visible in the tiny light above the entry.

He shoved the doors open wide, the shriek of the hinges echoing through the cavernous interior. Dust choked her throat and she had to fight back a coughing fit. She couldn’t hear anything but their footfalls as they made their way toward the rear of the building. Gripping Kade’s hand in a vise, she wrinkled her nose at the musty smell of disuse and rust.

A feral scream of rage tore the silence and seized her insides. That had to be Will. The sound of a scuffle followed and then more silence. Soon she heard the murmur of voices as they approached an office in the rear corner.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” he asked.

She looked up at the concern on his face. “I have to do this.” He flashed an encouraging smile, and her heart squeezed. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Good. Now let’s get this over with.”





Chapter Twenty-three


Kade knew what to expect when they entered the office, but he was pretty damned sure Val had never seen a deranged vampire in person. But she was a determined woman. God, he loved her. No weak, watery like or lust for him. He’d fallen hard. He hadn’t seen much of her life after his feeding, but a good portion of what he’d seen involved either Will or himself, and that surprised him more than anything.

Could it be possible she’d fallen for him too?

A few days ago, he would have ruled that out. He was the epitome of unlovable. Any of his friends could have told him that, and Ezra often did. But she’d allowed him to feed from her. There’s no way she’d have done that if she didn’t care.

“We forgot to get a sample.” She whispered as if they had to sneak up on the group waiting in the office. Her voice wavered. He wanted to clear her worry away like it was a physical being.

“The venom stays in the blood for a while.” He lifted her shaking hand to his lips. “It’ll be all right. I won’t let him get to you.”

The look in her eyes nearly brought him to his knees. She was a wonder, a miracle. How could she make him so weak and so damned strong at the same time? He would keep her forever, no matter how old and frail she became. But then he’d be left with eternal centuries without her. He could decapitate himself or go to Alaska during their long daylight and lay in the sun hoping that would take him out, but then he had no progeny to take over the Dominorum. His duties would force him to suffer her loss.

He reached for the doorknob, but Val stopped him. She took a deep breath. Another shriek pierced through the door. Finally, she nodded. He kissed the top of her head and then opened the door.

Chains around his wrists, ankles, and neck held Will low to floor. That would keep him from finding enough purchase to put any considerable force on the restraints. His red eyes glowed, as they always would, because deranged stayed in a perpetual state of bloodlust. His fangs were full length and bared in fury.

He looked too thin. Wherever he’d been, he’d been kept from feeding. Someone had to have held him prisoner. At this point, that was a good thing. He’d be weakened by it. He stank of old blood, unwashed bodies, and nasty sex. Kade wished the guys had at least hosed him down so Val didn’t have to endure the filth.

Ezra seared an angry glare into Kade. “You brought her here?”

“It’s my investigation, Ezra.” Val stood tall, her shoulders squared, and faced the angry vampire as she would a pouty child. “I wouldn’t let him leave without me.”

Ezra scowled until he noticed the fading marks on Val’s throat. His eyebrow shot up as he looked between Val and Kade.

“Well, well, well.” He nodded with approval.

When Val finally faced Will, her composure slipped. Tears glistened in her eyes. Kade would do anything to protect her from this, but he felt her need for closure.

There was no recognition on Will’s face. His fiery gaze burned into Val with lust and famine as he’d look at any human, like a walking meal. Hungry sounds came from the back of the deranged’s throat, and he strained against his bonds. The vampire was halfway changed, his face, torso, and fingers lengthened slightly, and his eyes at the cusp of that familiar slant. Kade had known he would look this way, had known he’d smell this awful. Had Val known that he’d be so very different?

“He doesn’t even look like Will,” she said. “Is he aware of what he’s become?” She looked at Kade, her eyes shining. He brushed a tear from the corner of her eye.