Arundia Returns Read online

  I wanted to grab her and sink my fangs into the pulse beating in her throat.

  Coyly, she looked up from beneath her brows. “I would be honored to answer all of your needs, First Councilwoman.”

  I shot a frown at her. “Enough! I only require blood.”

  She dropped her hand to her side. “My apologies, First Councilwoman. I merely wished to let you know....” she briefly lifted her eyes to my face. “To let you know that I stand willing to do whatever you wish.”

  “What I wish,” I emphasized the word as I held her gaze, “is that you prepare yourself for the taking of blood.”

  She hastened to button her blouse. “Where do you prefer to feed, First Councilwoman?”

  I gave an abrupt wave toward her bed. “That will suffice.”

  “As you wish.” She tossed her head. Her long hair swirled around her face as she swayed across the room. Spread out on the bed, she ran her tongue over her plump lower lip as she shot a heated look at me. “Does this position please you, First Councilwoman?” She pressed her shoulders against the mattress, pushing her full breasts upward. Braless nipples peaked through the lightweight material.

  I sat on the edge of the mattress. She scooted over to give me more room. Taking her chin between thumb and forefinger, I turned her face to one side, exposing the long white column of throat. Her pulse pounded a fast rhythm beneath her pale skin.

  Bracing a hand on the far side of her, I leaned across her and lapped at her pulse. My fangs elongated as I tongued the delicious thrumming vibration. The woman moaned and her arms lifted around my shoulders.

  I scraped fangs lightly down her neck. She twisted this way and that, rubbing her breasts against my chest. I shifted onto the bed, shoved her skirt up to her waist, nudged her legs apart with my knee and settled my sex against her thigh. Braced on the arm behind her head, I stroked my hand down her chest as I sucked the thin skin hiding her vein into my mouth and bit down just enough to pinch without breaking the skin.

  Her hips undulated as my hand stroked over the thin material of her panties. Heat flared in my groin. I pressed hard against her thigh. She reached a groping hand and cupped the back of my head, pulling my mouth more firmly against her throat.

  I nipped at her neck again. Her fingers scraped down my back, fingernails catching in the silky fabric of my shirt. The hard pebbles of her nipples rubbed against my breasts and my nipples peaked in response.

  Hunger clenched my belly. I slipped my hand beneath the elastic of her panties and over her womanly mound; slid one then two then three fingers into her hot wetness. She bucked against my hand.

  My hips rocked against her leg.

  I lifted my face. Breathed deeply. The musky odor of sex filled the air of the tiny room. Saliva pooled in my mouth. I swallowed it down then struck.

  She cried out, “Yeesss.” Her fingers fisted in the back of my shirt as she pressed upward, trying to get even closer. “Please, please.”

  Lust rode me hard. My body throbbed. The scent of her arousal thickened, filled my head like a sweet wine. I slid my hand from between her legs as her sweet blood ran down my throat. Crazed with lust, I withdrew my fangs. Vampire-quick, I ripped her clothes from her and tossed the remnants to the floor.

  I whirled at the squeak of the door. A slender brunette, mouth gaped with desire, one arm braced on the doorjamb as she stared at the scene. Waves of lust rolled off her. Eyes glazed, she wet her lips. “I...I heard...” Her fingers toyed with the buttons of her shirt.

  I stalked toward her. Pinning her with my gaze, I demanded, “What is your name?”

  “Babette,” she breathed out.

  With one quick move, I torn the shirt from her and dropped it. Small, proud breasts with dark areola and hard nipples beckoned to me. I scraped my fangs over first one nipple then the other, leaving shallow lines that seeped blood. Eyes locked on hers, I leaned down and lapped the blood from her breasts. Her eyes slid closed as she hummed her desire. “Mmmmm.”

  Finger hooked in the waistband of her slacks, I tugged her into the room. This time I locked the door. Roughly, I shoved her onto the mattress. Iona, her fingers rolling and pinching her own nipples, wiggled over to accommodate the new addition.

  I jerked her pants from her body. She wore no undergarments. My clothes rapidly joined the piles on the floor.

  “Pleasure Iona with your mouth,” I hoarsely commanded Babette.

  Iona’s tongue flicked out and wet her lips as she watched Babette crawl up between her spread legs.

  With a moan, Babette nosed the blonde curls then curled her arms around Iona’s thighs. Her tongue flicked Iona’s swollen clit. Iona thrust her head back as she gave a gasp of pleasure.

  Babette thrust her fingers into Iona’s wet sex as her tongue licked and flicked and lashed.

  Iona thrashed beneath the onslaught. Her hands gripped the duvet as she bucked beneath the ministrations of Babette’s tongue. Her climax tore through her and ripped a scream from her mouth. She shuddered a few more times and then lay still.

  Babette’s arousal, a heady womanly smell, wafted from her body like the finest of perfumes. Her heart thundered with lust and desire darkened her gaze. My sex throbbing painfully, I dragged her onto the floor and mounted her.

  My clit rubbed on Babette’s swollen clit as I rode her hard. Iona’s groans drifted down from the bed and blended with Babette’s as she fingered her own sex. Babette’s muscles tighten as she rode the building wave of her climax. I gripped her hips, my nails digging in until a warm stream of blood trickled over my fingers.

  Babette’s hands clawed gouges in my back. Delicious pain heightened my lust. My body clenched as my climax crashed over me. I pounded hard against the bucking woman beneath me as I rode the wave up and up again. From far away, I heard Iona’s voice blend with ours as we came.

  Spent, I rolled off her sweat-slicked body. Both women stared at me through half-closed lids. As their hearts slowed to a normal beat, they drifted off to sleep.

  I showered in the tiny closet that served as an attached bath for Iona’s room. Using Iona’s brush, I rubbed the round mirror clean and detangled my mass of mahogany hair. I stared into eyes just bleeding from the emerald green of arousal to their natural spring green.

  When I re-entered the apartment, I found Alexis slouched in a chair by the window. Something dark and hot burned in her eyes as she pushed to her feet. “What have you done, Serena?” She didn’t wait for an answer before she turned and left. The front door closed softly behind her.

  I walked to the window--the only one with the steel camouflage shutters open in the day—and watched as she walked across the clearing and into the woods.

  ****

  Grandmother Moon had risen above the treetops while I sat staring out the window. The click of the front door opening dragged my attention away from the view. Alexis returning or one of the Warriors coming in the front door instead of their usual entrance through the side door? How many hours had passed since Alexis walked out? I shrugged and returned my gaze to the silver-drenched land outside.

  “Serena?” Gregory’s deep voice held a note of hesitation.

  Does he realize that I heard them conspiring last night? Is that why he hesitates to enter the room fully? Without facing him, I asked in a flat voice, “What is it, Gregory?”

  “I came to see if I might be of service. Alexis said you and she...had words.”

  “There is nothing for you to do.” Except return to the man I once knew and trusted, my heart screamed silently.

  He eased over to the fireplace and, arms crossed over his broad chest, he leaned a shoulder against the stones. “I understand that you intend to issue Challenge to Helena.”

  “I already sent it.”

  A sharp intake of air signaled his disapproval. “Why did you not discuss this with me?”

  I gave a languid wave as if shooing away a lazy fly. “There was nothing to discuss. It is my decision to make.”

  He shoved off t
he fireplace and dropped his arms. From the corner of my eye, I saw his big hands fist at his sides. “I see.”

  “I’m sure you do.” I didn’t turn even when I heard his soft footfalls drawing farther away.

  Forehead propped against the cool glass, I closed my eyes. “Oh, Belora, I am beset by enemies who live within my heart and I have such need of your counsel.”

  Of course, Belora did not answer from wherever the True Dead go. She would never again answer my call.

  Grandmother Moon glided across the black sky. Sounds of the Warriors preparing to rest came from the lower levels of the house. Though I sat by the window until dawn tinged the sky a rosy pink, Alexis never returned.

  Chapter 3

  Alexis Night Runner

  Lieutenant Nikki Howitter tracked me through the caves and to the hidden cove we normally used to land on the island. It was one of only two places that a boat could dock.

  “Hey, Captain,” she hailed as she lowered herself to sit next to me on the rocky floor, feet dangling above the cove’s dark waters. “What’s up? And don’t try to claim you’re only seeking a bit of solitude. Gossip races through this place faster than a grass fire on a dry, windy day.”

  I heaved a sigh and slanted a glance at her. “To be real honest, I don’t know what’s up. I thought...” The words dried up. How could I explain that I thought Serena and I would be together forever? Or, at least, as long of forever as a human like I had. And now? I felt cut adrift in a raging sea.

  “It might help to talk about it.”

  With a despairing shake of my head, I said, “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Just start talking. It’ll all shake out, sooner or later.” She found a stone and tossed it from hand to hand as she waited for me to speak.

  One leg bent, I wrapped my arms around it and rested my chin on my knee. Growing up with an alcoholic mother and then, when she was murdered, hitting the streets young I’d never had time to develop friendships with women. Or men. Nikki had become a close friend, one I could trust enough to say anything to. “Serena was acting funny this morning and then she announced that she was going to issue Challenge to Helena. We had a bit of a disagreement about that and she took off outta the house.” Hurt welled up in me and clogged my throat.

  “ And sooo?” Nikki cocked her head.

  I swallowed hard. “She went over to the House of Females. I saw her come out. She smelled of blood and sex, Nikki.”

  “Huh,” she grunted. Sadness filled Nikki’s face. “That sucks.”

  I turned away and ducked my eyes. I couldn’t stand to see pity in her gaze. Anguish lanced through my chest so sharp that it felt as if something broke inside.

  She looked away from me and tossed a stone into the still waters of the cove. Ripples ran out from where the stone had disappeared beneath the water. I couldn’t help but feel—like the stone Nikki threw—that this day would send unforeseen ripples rolling out into our future.

  I huffed out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, guess you could say that.”

  We sat in companionable silence as time ticked past. Through the small slit that provided the only entrance to this cove, I watched as a brush of fire red swiped across the horizon, leaving a fiery trail behind. Finally, I spoke in a rusty voice. “I love Serena. I thought she loved me, too.”

  Nikki’s shoulder bumped mine. “I think the First Councilwoman does love you, Alexis, but you have to remember—vampires aren’t human. They don’t think or feel like a human.”

  In the dying rays of light, I shifted and looked at her. “Do you really believe that? I mean, do you think vampires can’t love like a human does?”

  She gave a philosophical shrug. “I think they define love differently. Or maybe, their long lives make it harder for them to become absolutely committed to one person.”

  She laid a hand on my arm. “Humans have short lives. We only live for maybe a hundred years. We’ll be with someone special, if we are super lucky, maybe for fifty or sixty years then one of us will die. Think about the depth of grief humans feel, how some of them never recover, and some will actually die. Vampires live nearly forever--forever with that kind of grief.” She slowly shook her head side to side. “Would you wish that for Serena?”

  “What do I do? Cut her loose? Tell her it’s okay to keep our relationship shallow? To fall into bed with others?”

  Nikki leaned back in her chair and held my gaze. “I can’t tell you what to do, Captain. What I can tell you is this--stop trying to remake Serena in your image.” When I opened my mouth to protest, Nikki held up a hand. “Yes, you are trying to remake her. You want her to feel the way you feel, to view your relationship the way you view it, to approach that relationship in the same manner. Have you considered what she needs?”

  In a hollow voice, I answered, “I thought she needed me.”

  Chapter 4

  Serena Longer

  It had been several days since Alexis had moved out of our rooms that occupied the upstairs of her island house. She had packed her clothes and moved them to the lower level where the Warriors lived. I had successfully kept my interactions with Gregory to a minimum. Now, instead of simply walking into the room that Alexis had allocated as my office, he knocked.

  So when a light tap sounded on the door, I lifted my head from the paperwork in front of me and inhaled deeply. The strong woodsy smell of werepanther tickled my nose. “Enter, Ri.” Having discovered treason in my own house, my heart clenched with doubts as the black werepanther walked in. Friend or enemy? I no longer trusted my own instincts.

  She plodded into the room and dropped into the chair on the far side of the desk. A strong, bitter odor of distress surrounded the young woman.

  I closed my laptop then walked around the desk. Hips leaning against the desk edge, hands braced on either side, I studied the troubled face of my friend.

  After long minutes, Ri lifted her drooping head and pushed upright in the chair. The sclera of her eyes was red. Had she been crying? I’d never seen her cry even when Baskell tortured her. I pushed down the anxiety that wrapped cold fingers around my throat.

  “They’re killing my People, Serena. The bastards are murdering Weres.”

  “Who is murdering Weres?”

  “Vampires.”

  “Are you certain it’s vampires?”

  Nostrils flaring, her lips drew back from her teeth. If she had been in panther form, she would have been displaying her killing teeth; in human form the only things showing were blunt, human teeth. A few months ago if Ri hadn’t shown up when she did, Baskell would have killed me. In light of her heroics, the young werepanther’s slight etiquette breach was easy to overlook. This time.

  “It’s vampires unless you know of some other creature who rips the throat out of their prey and doesn’t leave a drop of blood in their bodies.”

  I lifted a brow as I walked around the desk and sat. Hands folded, I said, “Perhaps, it would be best if you told me everything from the beginning.”

  She brushed a wayward strand of dark hair out of her face. “I was visiting my cousin, Elana, in the Tri-City area this past weekend.” She worried at her lower lip then looked up. “We decided to run on the full moon up in the Okanogan Wilderness area. We’d been chasing a deer, and I had broken off to cut around it; you know, to get ahead of it.” Her eyes went distant and she swallowed hard. “I sailed over a big, Douglas fir log and nearly landed on top of her.”

  “You nearly landed on top of the deer?” I raised my brows slightly in mild question.

  Ri gave a vigorous head shake. “No, the panther. I nearly landed on top of the panther.”

  “I am assuming this is not Elana. Go on.”

  Her eyes dropped to her hands twisted together in her lap. “I didn’t know who the panther was. They’d killed her in cat form, and I didn’t recognize the pelt, but I smelled Were scent on the body. That’s how I knew.” Tears gathered in her eyes.

  Elana identified a white star between th
e panther’s front legs. It was her...best friend, Liz, from high school. I’d met her at dinner a couple of times. She always seemed to have a joke or a kind word. I don’t think she knew how to be mean.” What little blood that had infused her cheeks, drained, leaving the normally ruddy young woman a pasty pale color.

  When it seemed as if she might falter, I gave a slow dip of my head as I encouraged her. “Go on.”

  A tear trickled down her cheek. “They...they cut off her head.” Like a dam had broken, the words rushed out of her, tumbling over each other. “They did it the way hunters do when they want to mount the head but not deal with the rest of the body.”

  How dare those monsters! Rage slammed into me, but demonstrations of anger would not help Ri. Silently, I called to Gregory. ”I need you in my office, now. Bring Alexis.”

  A few minutes later Gregory entered the office with Alexis close behind. I waved toward a grouping of couches and overstuffed chairs. “Let’s find a comfortable seat. We have much to discuss.”

  ****

  Alexis paced in front of the fireplace, obviously trying to outrun her anger. For a moment, I could almost believe that I imagined the words that I had heard that night. “Damn, Ri! I am so sorry this happened.” Alexis swung her attention toward me. “Are these hunters part of the war or just bloodthirsty humans who shot what they thought was a regular panther?”

  Ri cleared her throat, calling attention to herself. “Elana’s friend is not the first Were to be found in such a state.” When all eyes settled on her, she continued, “After we took Elana’s friend’s body back to the village, we had to meet with the Elders and tell them everything we knew. Afterwards, when they dismissed us, I hung around and sorta eavesdropped. I heard them talking about an increased number of attacks on Weres; and, not only the werepanthers. Wolf and fox bodies have been found beheaded, as well.”

  “All the Weres had been drunk down?” Gregory asked.

  “Yeah.” Uneasiness furrowed her brows. “From what I heard it sounded like the vampires wanted everyone to know who had killed the Weres. If the neck was too mangled to show fang marks, they made sure there were some visible on the femoral artery. What I can’t understand—and what it sounded like the Elders didn’t understand either--is why take the heads?”