Chapter 2

Jacob

Jacob wandered the halls, at a loose end now Cade was in a meeting. Normally, Jacob made it a point to report to Cade immediately upon his return from a mission but his brother was overseeing Jadrian as he met with the royal rulers of the magical world. Jacob shivered and ran a hand through his black hair, remembering his own meeting with the overly tall couple.

Jacob was over six feet tall but the couple both stand over seven feet tall. And their appearance was, well, gross! He shivered again, glad that he wasn’t here in the bayous with them every day. Give him Kansas any day of the week.

Moonlight shot into the windows lining the long passageway as he passed each one, sparkling at him in long winks as he went by. The night was growing old now and soon the sun would burst across the horizon, brightening the day. Another night of little sleep and a lot of work. Wanting nothing more than a hot bath to sink into, Jacob headed for his room, little more than a cell situated somewhere down this hallway, he was sure.

The long halls of the former monastery, built in the 18th century in a rather Gothic style, were unsettling and echoed even the slightest of sounds. The dark building was entirely intimidating and exuded an air of menace. Jacob assumed it was something the magicals thought of to scare off curious humans. Why else would you want such a frightening atmosphere in a place where the magical world came together for peace?

With a confused look he realized he had missed his room somewhere, he was too far down the hall. He was turning back when he realized he wasn’t alone. Standing about ten feet away was her—that woman—the vampire woman. His brow creased even further as he saw her. He wasn’t afraid of her, he knew he could get away, but why was she here?

“Shouldn’t you be crawling into a hole to avoid the sunlight by now?” He hadn’t meant the words to come out so acerbically but they did. He watched her as he waited for her response, ignoring the tall brunette male standing behind her in the shadows. Jacob didn’t recognize the other vampire and assumed he was a flunky of the woman before him.

Somehow she looked softer here, not so dangerous and deadly, and not so capable of fiendish things that made his skin crawl. No, now she was far more alluring, beautiful certainly, but different somehow, some of her sexuality gone with the lack of danger. That didn’t mean she wasn’t intoxicating, far from it. He still felt a pull to her, a need for her that defied logic.

“I thought you flew away, little blackbird.” Her words were just as soft but her voice didn’t hold that lacy veil of venom as it had earlier. She stared at him, as though he were a bug she was about to eat.

Why had she dropped the attempt to hypnotize him, he wondered as he realized that was the difference between now and their earlier meeting. Had she figured out it didn’t work as well on shifters as it did on humans? Jacob didn’t feel afraid, he was a shifter after all. He could get out of most situations, but he was intrigued by her and that could be just as dangerous as her attempts to mesmerize him. Jacob examined her as time stretched out between them, the silence growing long.

“Why are you here?” He wondered aloud, his hands itching to explore the bare expanse of her shoulders. Dressed in a black dress that pushed the top of her breasts up high while flaring out around her thighs, she was seductive, her pale skin almost too white to be real. Jacob couldn’t look away and wondered if he was incredibly wrong about her ability to mesmerize him. She walked towards him, stalking her prey. Was she going to kiss him? Somehow it didn’t surprise him that he still felt the longing to taste her lips.

He only had eyes for those plump ruby lips as she stilled in front of him, her breasts pushing into his chest. She didn’t touch him as she looked up; she just stood there, her eyes drilling into his. Jacob felt a deep ache, low in his abdomen as she stared up at him, her face impassive, far too seductive. He wanted her.

“Kiss me.” She whispered the plea and Jacob couldn’t say no. He forgot that he’d been looking for his room. He forgot he still needed to report to Cade. He let his world become the woman as his lips found hers. He didn’t know why, he hadn’t been hypnotized but wondered if maybe he had because he’d never felt lips so soft, never kissed a woman that tasted so deliciously of peaches. That was almost his undoing, the taste of her, and he felt a strong urge to push her against the wall and drive himself deep into her depths. He held the urge off, fighting with himself until the soft push of her breasts against his chest sent him into the abyss.

He moved with the power of a shifter and instantly they were against the wall, his hand sliding under the thigh that wrapped around his back as he pushed into her, cradling himself in her heat. She made a soft sound of delight and it made his pulse jump. He needed to be inside her, he thought, as his lips sought hers.

All that existed was this woman, this vampire, and his need to taste every inch of her. He wasn’t even upset when a man came up beside them in the very public hallway, cupping her breast in his large palms even as Jacob continued to kiss her. He knew the man was there, adding to her pleasure, heightening his with it, creating possibilities of things to come.

Jacob pulled away and looked at the man. All he could focus on was the man’s brownish gold eyes and the challenge in them. That challenge asked if Jacob was man enough, if he could take her on with another man present. The man was handsome, but also a vampire. Would he survive the encounter?

Vampires and shifters didn’t usually mingle but there were no restrictions on the act of sex. A shifter took their life into their own hands, much as humans did, when they mated with vampires, however. Shifter blood didn’t have the intoxicating qualities that vampire blood had on shifters, but they could drink it much the same as human blood. Was this the plan, then? Get him alone and suck him dry? A shiver passed through him at the thought of the woman sucking another part of him dry.

Jacob blinked, looked past her eyes down to her lips. Pulling her to him once more, Jacob thrust his tongue deep into her mouth, pressing her to him and trapping the man’s hands between them. Challenge accepted.

Jacob was normally a mild-tempered man, always in his brothers’ shadows, but he’d never been one to turn down a challenge. This woman was pure challenge. His body was strong, shifter strong and physically strong; he could defend himself if need be. The air of danger heightened his need rather than dampened it. He could take them both on, if it meant he got to fuck her until she screamed his name.

What he’d seen in the man’s eyes was something he thought he’d never be offered, a chance of a lifetime, and that challenge had been reflected in her eyes. Jacob, his brain now doing little more than answering his body’s demands, followed them as they led him to a chamber far away from his own.

He followed quietly, his mind already providing images of what was to come, what he hoped was about to come. He watched the sway of her bottom and felt his groin tighten, soon that part of her would be bare, he’d feel her silky skin and perhaps see the black garters she wore stretching across it.

He loved a woman in a garter belt and stockings.

They arrived at a larger chamber, much finer than his bare monk’s cell, with a fireplace along an inner wall. The room, lit only by the fire, was draped in velvets and furs, expensive coverings designed to keep the occupant warm. Perhaps vampires felt the cold more than he realized. Louisiana was a hot place to live but something about the monastery kept it at a little above freezing all year round, even in the depths of summer. Could the bone-chilling cold reach a vampire’s core?

Jacob squinted at the woman for a moment as she went to a drinks tray and prepared three drinks. What was her name? She looked as though she would have an exotic name, perhaps something Slavic or Italian. Maybe something even far more ancient, Mesopotamian or even Phoenician. She didn’t appear ancient but something about her gave off the impression that she knew things that man had long ago forgotten.

Jacob shook himself, the moment passing as her fingers brushed his to get him to take his glass.

“Stop daydreaming, blackbird.” Her voice was as intoxicating as the rest of her. Her fingers wandered down his chest, lower to his abdomen, and lower still, beneath the button of his pants.

Jacob held his breath as her fingers played there, teasing him with small circles that kept going lower.

“We have all night, all of eternity, but I want you focused. I want you to know what I am doing to you.” Her words were a spell, drawing his gaze to her lips and he bent forward, wanting to taste the sweet peaches of her lips once more.

She allowed the caress, a soft brush of flesh against flesh, and pushed her hand deeper into his pants. When she flattened her palm over his very hard length, he shuddered. The coolness of her skin was a sharp contrast to the heat of his own. She wasn’t as cold as he thought she might be, she was rather warm, really, but there was a coolness in her hand that appeased the heat in his groin, soothed it. His breath shook in his chest as his eyes burned into hers. This was really going to happen.

“I want to know. But if you don’t want me to bend you over that table and fuck you until you can’t scream my name anymore, I suggest you take your hands out of my pants.” His words came out roughly, the passion she’d stirred adding a tightness to his throat, but she gave him a pleased smile.

She still pulled her hand out of his pants, a move that made Jacob groan in protest but made the other man in the room groan in pleasure.

“Orgasm denial can be very sweet you know.” The man’s words were sibilant, his voice almost feminine.

Was he gay? Jacob wondered as he looked the man over. Tall, with sex oozing from his every pore the man was definitely gothic in dress but his eyes promised an ancient pleasure, a modern take on an old act. Jacob was willing to find out what the man had to offer and didn’t question his decision. Sex was sex, wherever you found it. Normally he took it from pliant women who didn’t want attachments, just sex and a goodbye.

Jacob could see that the man’s chest was as broad as his own but the man was slightly taller. His hair, not dyed the normal gothic black, was still in a long straight sheet down his back, the light brown shining with golden hues that matched his eyes. He also wasn’t a thin string of a man, rather he appeared to be strong, well-shaped, and healthy, even if his skin was the requisite pale shade of alabaster.

Jacob wanted to dismiss the man but he was intrigued. He’d never been with a man but this male creature was tempting. What did he offer, exactly, this pale god of sexuality?

“Whatever you like, my queen’s blackbird. I will give you whatever you want.” The voice held dark promise and sweet anticipation.

Jacob’s eyes narrowed on the man, the deep voice pleasing his ears in a way a male’s voice had never pleased him before. Right in his cock. But how had he known Jacob’s thoughts? Intuition? Observation of the speculation on Jacob’s face?

The woman returned and Jacob, normally careful and cautious, took a swig of her offered drink. He held the empty glass back to the woman. He didn’t want to be drunk but he wanted to numb some of his inhibitions. He wanted to let himself enjoy it. Alcohol would dull any lingering worries.

“One more, but I want your clothes off before you finish it.” Her words made his cock throb in his pants.

“Will you need help or are you the only one that gets to touch this wonderful specimen, my queen?” The vampire looked at Jacob appreciatively as Jacob began to remove his clothes.

Jacob paused, watching the woman as she poured, her face turned away. What would her answer be? Jacob realized he really did find the idea of the man joining them, touching him, quite intriguing but apparently the decision was up to her. No matter how hard his cock might be at the thought of the man’s lips on his bare flesh.

With a wave of her hand the female dismissed the male’s words, not bothering to turn around yet.

“Tonight, he is mine. Perhaps another time, my darling. But you are certainly welcome to watch.” She finally turned, coming back with a glass of bourbon to a very naked Jacob. “Mmm, nice, blackbird.”

She ran her fingers down his chest, making him choke on the drink as his throat responded to her touch. He gained control of himself and finished swallowing, his eyes on a slim finger with a pointed black-lacquered nail. He still didn’t know her name.

Jacob’s nerves strung tight, and on the edge of snapping as her nail scraped down his bare nipple, wound even tighter. He wasn’t ashamed of his nudity, he stood proudly before her penetrating gaze and approving nod. He just had to control his own hands for the moment or they would be fighting, vampire against shifter, for control. He was willing to let her have her way with him. For now.

He could sense she needed this from him, she needed to feel superior, so he would allow it but only for the moment. He may only be a minor player in the Alexander family but that was only a mistake of birth. Jacob knew he was a power unto himself and had learned to keep his own secrets, to rein in his own thoughts and skills, to let the others have their glory. He didn’t mind his place in the shadows but with her, soon enough he would show her exactly who he was. If he ever learned her name, that is.

Something about the game, the anonymity of it, made his blood sing in his veins, and he liked the sensation. There was no rush to find out her name for now. He loved the mystery of it all, and when her lips kissed the flesh above his left nipple, he thought he would burst on the spot. Just her lips grazing his heated skin had nearly set him off, something that had never occurred in his entire life, even as an awkward teenager. Jacob always maintained control.

She’d teased him for far too long and now he just wanted to be buried in her hot cleft, his hips thrusting into her ass as he took her from behind. The thought of those garters, peeking out from under the short hem of her dress, spurred his fantasy on. Her fingers, stilled as she had kissed him, ran up the smooth curve of his shoulders, down his back, and over the solid plane of his sculpted ass. Jacob couldn’t stop the way his hips pushed into her softness, telling her without words what he needed.

“You may touch me now.”

Jacob didn’t realize he had been waiting for permission until she gave it.

His hands went around her waist as her lips encircled his nipple, her sharp teeth, all razor sharp, biting with a gentleness he hadn’t thought she’d be capable of. He gasped once more, a swear word this time, and thrust into her again.

“Eager are we?” She gave a chortle of laughter as her tongue flicked at the tight bud, her hands squeezing his ass appreciatively. He heard a low sound of satisfaction come from her and thrust into her once more, his cock rocking into her soft abdomen.

“Very. You have teased me long enough, or do you think I am made of stone?” He felt his pulse in his ears, felt his heart racing in his chest, and had to fight with himself not to tear off her dress.

“Oh, you will be inside me soon, blackbird. Relax.”

She snapped her fingers as she stared into his eyes and the male came, pulling her clothes away gently, leaving only her garter belt and stockings with the panties beneath. The male cupped her breasts from behind as Jacob stared. She was beautiful; a marble statue with high round breasts, a slim waist, and flared hips. Her legs were sensual creations of muscle, curves and long lines he couldn’t wait to have wrapped around his head. She was also bare, not a single stray hair anywhere on her body.

“Gorgeous.” He breathed the word as she shuddered in the male’s arms, her nipples pinched between his long pale fingers. They looked at Jacob, both imploring him to take the nipple the male offered, to take her.

Jacob took her by her waist, pulling her from the man. His powerful arms lifted her, pulling her up until his lips wrapped around the dark red of her tight nipple, and he felt her shudder once more.

He knew her need was growing, he could smell it in the air as her flesh heated from a deathly chill to a level somewhere around the normal human body temperature. Her skin smelled like the peaches her mouth tasted of, and her pulse raced, some unnamed person’s blood running in her veins. The thought didn’t dissuade Jacob, rather it spurred him on, to seek out the danger she offered him.

The male backed away as Jacob moved with her, carrying her to a chaise lounge, her legs wrapped around his waist. Kneeling between her legs, Jacob prodded her thighs apart, the smooth black velvet of the chaise a softly erotic sensation against his fingers. His eyes explored her secrets, the pinkness of her folds, the tell-tale signs of her arousal as her clit began to swell.

His fingers against her nether lips made her shiver, her breathing coming in halting gasps as he split her open to explore her silky depths, a long finger probing into her. He watched her, stirring her with another finger, until she closed her eyes, her arousal growing. When she sighed blissfully he lowered his mouth and sucked at her with his lips, his tongue laving over her clit, rasping it harshly. He knew she would love it.

And she did, her legs clamped around his legs and her stomach clenched tightly as he repeated the stroke. Her back arched as his fingers plunged into her once again, the seeking rhythm soon settling into a steady pace that made her hips follow, that had her ass coming off the chair.

Jacob watched her greedily, her pleasure his own, and waited for that moment, that sudden lurch, and hummed in satisfaction when her head fell back and her hips lunged into his face. A slow fluttering began in her wet depths and he increased the pressure of his tongue, pressed another finger into her until there were two delving further into her, wanting nothing more than to have her coming all over his face.

In that moment Jacob realized how totally vulnerable he was, engrossed in her arousal, his tattooed back, a back his family never ever saw because of the tattooed dragon sleeping there, bared to the man behind him, and his senses attuned only to her. The male could have taken him then, in any way he liked with a knife or with his dick, and Jacob would not have been aware until the last moment. He shuddered but didn’t hesitate to show his fearlessness as he shifted, his powerful hands grasping at her hips to pull her closer as he lunged into her dripping pussy with a cock pulsing for her alone.

She gasped again, the flagging flutters of her walls turning to a tight clamping sensation as he lunged into her roughly, and he loved it. Her eyes blazed open, drilling into his with intensity as he started a brutal pace, a pace a human would not be capable of keeping up with. But she took it and grinned, meeting each of his thrusts with a sharp jolt of her own.

Jacob grinned down at her and briefly wondered if he had met his match. He thrust into her once more, her slick depths even wetter now, and saw her eyes fluttering. She was close again. His thumb traveled down the flat plane of her hip, down to her mound, to find the center of need. Pressing into the bud, he saw her eyes fly open again and knew he’d given her what she wanted.

“Harder,” she demanded. “I’m so wet I can’t stand it but I need more. Give me more.”

“You will get every fucking thing you ask for, sweetness. All you have to do is ask for it.” Jacob pressed the organ harder, his thumb bearing down in tight circles as she sat up, pushing her breasts to his face.

“Do not stop fucking me.” Demands again but he didn’t mind. He took her nipple into his mouth and sucked as hard as he could, until his teeth grazed the sensitive flesh roughly and she cried out in release.

He felt her orgasm breaking, felt her walls pulsing with satisfaction, and groaned.

But Jacob wasn’t done yet, he needed to hear her cry out his name, even if it was only the blackbird nickname she’d given him.

He pulled her hips tighter to his, fucking into her at a driving pace, his hips churning against her, his length stroking every possible inch of her. He couldn’t get any further inside and he banged into her with a pace she kept up with easily.

Her back was arched as she pressed up onto her elbows, her breasts thrust high into the air and he considered telling the male to get behind her, to cup them, but stopped himself. She had only wanted him. Jacob glanced over, saw the man watching them, his cock hard in his pants but not touching himself. Now that was control!

Jacob wiped sweat from his brow as she climbed higher than before, her pulsing clamping hard around his length and he plunged into her over and over, so hard her breasts were bouncing enticingly on her chest. He loved watching the soft flesh moving, the way her stomach creased as she leaned into him, pressing her tight walls down around him harder.

Jacob wanted to bite her, just enough to make her moan, but he couldn’t reach her. He drove his hands beneath her, cupping her ass, his nails biting into her soft flesh there.

“You are fucking beautiful. So hungry, so very hot little vampire queen.”

Her eyes popped open, and for a moment he knew he wasn’t safe. Her eyes blazed with something he couldn’t define but it made him long to give up his own will. He couldn’t stop now, though, he couldn’t pull out of her, not when he was so very fucking close. He just wanted to get off then he would leave. That was it.

She was there again, her cries growing louder, her walls starting to pulse around him once more, and she sat up, her lips claiming his. Jacob let her take his mouth, her tongue invading his mouth, laying waste to his will to resist her as she groaned a word into his mouth.

“Blackbird, come with me,” she urged, her nails brushing at his nipples, scraping them, creating a pain that burned into pleasure as she did it again. He rocked back on his heels, his body rocked by the sensations she gave him. When she pinched the bud between her nails she caused a chain reaction that ended with his dick pulsing inside of her, emptying into her, as his brain exploded into dark shades of nothing.

Jacob considered taking it further, he considered ensuring she was as wrung out as she looked but he was uncharacteristically exhausted. When he fell over, completely unconscious, he wasn’t aware of it. The female vampire sat up, looked down at him sadly for a moment, and wiped at her face to smooth the look away, along with the sweat dripping into her eyes. A coldness replaced the tender sadness on her face the male vampire never saw, not that he would admit it anyway.

“Pick him up, let’s get him out of here.” She told him, steeling her shoulders as she went for a robe to cover her nudity with. The night wasn’t done yet.

* * *

Jacob’s head pounded and he groaned in misery as he came awake, dawn barely piercing the small window high above his head. Where the fuck was he and what the fuck had happened? He tried to turn over but his arms were sheathed in metal, as were his legs. Fear overshadowed by anger rocketed through him as he tried to see in the darkness that still ruled the room he was in.

“I tried to warn you, blackbird, but you flew away too quickly. Now it is too late.”

He heard her seductive voice in the darkness and memories flooded back into his brain. Her moans of delight as she writhed into his face, the way her nails dug into his ass as she came, flexing into her with a groan as he exploded inside of her. Then darkness. Nothing.

What had she done to him? What was she going to do to him? Jacob stilled on the bed as the sound of metal scraping metal pierced the silence and he strained to pick out lines in the darkness but couldn’t see any. Then her voice was in his ear, whispering quietly so that only he could hear.

“I didn’t want to do this but we have no choice. You are our only hope. Please do not fight me. You will not win.” Something pierced the tender flesh of his right arm and her lips, the lips he had longed to have on his flesh not long ago, began to suck at his arm.

What the fuck was she doing? He wanted to struggle but knew it truly was no use. The clamps around his wrists were made of silver, silver that had been enchanted, even he couldn’t break them. Which meant he couldn’t shift to get away either.

Suddenly she stopped sucking, a sigh escaping her bloodied lips. He could almost make her out now, the sky brightening just enough to let him see that she was nude and that her lips were stained with his blood.

“You are the dragon shifter. You will be our salvation.” Then she began to suck at his arm once more and Jacob gave a silent scream of horror and fear in his head. He knew, wherever he was, that nobody could hear him. Not even Cade with his shifter awareness of all of his brothers could sense him, or save him now. This woman, this vampire, was psychotic, and he was well and truly fucked!