A Blood Seduction (Vamp City #1)(35)

His jaw hardened, then slowly eased again. "No. Not impossible."

The tears began to slide down her cheeks. Arturo watched them, frowning, then brushed one away with his thumb. "Why do you cry? I offer you much."

"I don't know." She swiped self-consciously at her other cheek. "Because I'm relieved. And because, either way, he's going to be lost to me."

He leaned forward and kissed her temple. "You owe me a boon in return, tessoro."

"I promised I wouldn't escape you."

"Yes. And now I want you in my bed. I want your body. And your blood."

Her legs turned to rubber at the raw confession, heat liquefying her center. She blinked against the blur of tears and met his gaze.

He stroked her hair. "I'll not hurt you, piccola. I will bring you great pleasure. As you will bring me."

And, really, did she have a choice? This was to be her life, now. This man's slave. The remarkable thing was that he was asking, that he was at least pretending to leave the choice in her hands.

She took a deep, trembling breath. "Okay."

Arturo reached for her, pinching her ni**les lightly. Desire shot straight to her core. How could such a simple touch ignite her so thoroughly?

Cool lips grazed her cheek, trailing kisses down to her jaw. Lost in the sensation, she tilted her head, giving him access when his mouth dipped lower, his tongue sliding along the side of her neck. Shivers engulfed her.

The sharp prick of fangs brought her up short. He'd bitten her! Gripping his shoulders, she tried to push him away, but his arm went around her waist, hauling her closer.

"Vampire . . ."

His lips closed around the wound as he took a long pull of her blood, shocking her with the rush of pleasure. Delighting her. The legends were absolutely true. God.

Quinn felt cool fingers at her waistband, sliding down into her pants, into her panties. Into her. The intimate invasion, the pull of his mouth on her throat, and she was gasping, melting, shattering. She clung to him, shaking, weak. Utterly overwhelmed.

Arturo pulled his hand from her pants, his fingers shifting to unfasten the button of her fly as he lifted his face from her neck. His visage . . . bloody fangs protruding from his mouth, his eyes gleaming with white centers . . . sent her heart thudding. Primal terror rose in a blinding rush even as she battled it back. He wasn't a demon. He wasn't going to hurt her.

Probably.

But logic held no sway over primitive fear.

Arturo moaned, as if in rapture, tipping his head back as his fanged, bloody mouth dropped open.

He was feeding on her fear again. Furious with him, furious with the fine panic that had seized her, she pushed at his chest, trying to force him away, but he was as solid as cold steel. So she balled up her fist and delivered a knockout blow to his jaw.

He gripped her wrists so fast, his terrifying, enraged face suddenly inches from her own, that she gasped, her heart thundering in her chest.

"Get away from me," she hissed through clenched teeth.

Slowly, his fury turned into a monster-sized scowl, and he whirled away, propping one fisted hand on the wall as he stared at the floor as if struggling for composure. He stood like that for so long, Quinn wasn't sure what to say, what to do. Had she blown it? Would he renege on his offer to find Zack and Lily? Slowly, her heart rate settled back to normal, and she sat on the bed to wait for him.

Finally, he turned and strode to the door without once glancing her way.

"Get some sleep. We'll leave in the morning."

"We?"

He paused, one hand on the doorknob, his face dipped as if he studied his fingers curling around the knob. "I do not know what they look like, your brother and Lily."

"Thank you, Arturo."

Still, he didn't turn. With a brief nod, he left, closing the door behind him.

She heard no click of a lock. But then she wasn't going anywhere. Not when he'd promised to find Zack and Lily come morning. Not when there was a chance he might actually do it.

And she'd promised to stay here . . . to be his willing slave. Forever.

"We're walking?" Quinn asked the next morning as she accompanied Arturo out the kitchen door and past the Jeep. Adrenaline had her wired, a mix of nerves and wariness as she walked beside this man who had touched her so intimately last night, this male who she'd nearly given her body to. And her body had not forgotten, nor had it forgiven her. Despite the orgasm he'd given her while drinking her blood, she'd lain awake half the night in a fever of need for his touch, for his possession. Long enough to wonder if he'd somehow pulled her under an unnatural sensual spell.

She was hyperaware of him this morning, the strong lines of his body, as he moved with pure, predatory grace beside her. The raw, masculine scent of him that wafted over her as the wind shifted just so. He was dressed in his requisite black, the long knife sheath once more hanging from the belt at his waist.

They walked around the front of the house and to the sidewalk that fronted F Street. The Treasury Building loomed a block ahead, vast, dark, and windowless. A shell of its true glory.

"We shall start with my kovena's stronghold," he told her.

"What's a kovena? A nest of vampires or something?"

The look he threw her chided. "A family, if you will. Many within the kovena were sired by our master, Cristoff, or by one of the other vampires. Many have joined the kovena out of loyalty or for protection."