grinned. Why was he so intent on keeping the vampire chained? All he needed was a taste of sweet Athena and he’d feel differently, wouldn’t he? In 120 years, he’d learned self-control. He wouldn’t make the same mistake he’d made with Iris. “Maybe I should.”
Her heated palm sliding up his side burned away any doubts.
Jake released her by all but her hand and led her through the crowd until he reached the back hallway, a tunnel-like passage for which the place was named. He listened as they passed closed doors, searching for a room where they could have privacy. Cries of ecstasy and growls of vampires feeding provided unnecessary fuel for his desires.
“Jesus, it’s dark in here,” Athena said.
He opened the door to an empty room, pulled her in, and closed it. Leaning against the wall, he gave her a chance to look around.
The soft glow of blue lights, hidden at the top of the walls, lit the room. In the center was a large round bed, and near it a Victorian-style chaise longue, both covered in black velvet.
“A little tacky, isn’t it? All it needs is a velvet Elvis painting.” She ran her fingers across the back of the chaise longue.
“It’s not the room I’m interested in, darlin’.”
She glanced at him and he wondered if she could see his transformation in the weak light. If so, she didn’t react.
Jake crossed the room to stand behind her. To her credit, Athena didn’t move, but her entire body shook. He ran his palms over her shoulders, barely touching the skin. “You really think you’re ready for this? For me?”
She nodded, gripping the back of the chaise longue.
Unable to stop even if he’d wanted to, Jake ran his hands down her sides until he reached her bare midriff, then slid them back up the front of her, under the fabric. Her skin was warm and smooth, covered in places with small bumps from his touch. Her quickened breathing and pulse urged him on. He skimmed the mounds of her breasts and felt the taut nipples, then moved down to her flat stomach, tracing the belly ring.
He stepped closer until his erection rested against her ass, the clothes a frustrating barrier that he decided to leave in place for the moment. Nuzzling the back of her head and her neck, he unsnapped her jeans and slid one hand inside her panties as he wrapped the other arm around her waist.
Athena sucked in a surprised breath. “What are you—”
Jake pressed his mouth to the top of her shoulder as he slid his fingers slowly across her cunt, feeling the fleshy indentations and rises.
Her head went back to his shoulder and a shudder ran through her.
Beneath his lips, her pulse raced through her veins, calling to him as clearly as music, and her scent filled his head with sweet fog. He kissed her shoulder and eased two fingers into her warm, wet cunt.
She gasped, her body quivering in response.
Jake held her tighter and slid his fingers across her swelling clit, spreading her juices, inhaling her wondrous scent of desire.
Athena’s hips moved in time with his fingers as her breathing grew ragged. She approached the precipice, ready for him, groaning for him.
He pressed the tips of his fangs to her tender skin, anticipating the incredible joy that would soon flood his senses, and his cock ached to plunge into her slick cunt.
How a picture of Iris could invade at that moment, he had no idea. He heard her cries of joy and pain, and then her weakened moans as he drank from her, and finally her pathetic whimper of despair as the last of her life slipped away.
Jake turned his head to the side as he drew Athena into an orgasm. She cried out and tightened around his fingers, her body undulating against his. She reached back and gripped his ass to hold him close, as the spasms shot through her cunt, grabbing at him, inviting him deeper.
Damn, he’d never had to work so hard to restrain himself as he thought about how amazing it would be to fuck her and taste her climax.
Holding her close, he let her ride his hand to the end, until she collapsed against him.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered.
After a long moment, she reached back and ran her hand down the front of his pants, stroking his cock through the denim.
He grabbed her wrist to stop her and pulled her hand away. “Not now,” he said, his voice barely recognizable even to himself.
“Why not?”
“Because you wouldn’t survive it.” He turned his head and kissed her neck.
“I don’t understand.” She moved her head sideways to give him access.
“Good.” Jake swallowed hard as he lifted his mouth away from temptation. “It’s time to take you home.”
“But don’t you want to…you know, continue?”
Jake ran his hands up her sides again to her breasts, enjoying one last touch. “Later, sweet thing.”
She pushed back into him and he growled accidentally.
4
A shot of “house special” Jake grabbed on the way out combined with cool night air managed to douse the flames running just under his skin. Or, at least, bring them down to a manageable level. He steered the Impala through the narrow, crowded streets until they’d left the Plaza behind and entered what passed in Santa Fe for suburbs.
“Turn right here,” Athena said, pointing at the next corner.
Jake followed her instructions and pulled into an empty driveway in front of a small stucco house that looked very much like every other house on the block. A dog next door barked at the intrusion.
Athena glanced at him, her hand on the car door latch. “Aren’t you coming in?”
He smiled and shook his head, regretting the words even as he spoke them. “I don’t think so.”
She looked at the house, and then back at him, her heart suddenly thundering in the night. “But, what if Chris is waiting in there for me?”
“Chris?”
Athena nodded. “You know, the one you told to get lost. He’s probably really pissed off.”
Jake frowned at the house. “Would he hurt you?”
She shrugged. “He might.”
Rage swelled unexpectedly in his chest as he thought of someone hurting Athena, and he cut off the car’s engine. He followed her to the front door.
“Does he have a key?”
She nodded as she unlocked the dead bolt. “We’ve been dating for a few months.”
When she opened the door, Jake stopped her with a hand on her arm and stepped
