Chapter Seven
Vlad stood on the side of the mountain, gazing through the window of Nita’s small cabin.
He’d followed her home after their unimaginable sexual encounter in her car.
Vlad still reeled from the connection he’d held with the shifter. In all his years, he had never connected with another being other than a vampire.
It had to be the blood he’d given her that caused the strange phenomenon.
Vampires often bonded with those they shared blood with, enabling them to seek each other out at will. But only a mated pair could actually sense each other’s emotions.
What Vlad had experienced with the shifter went beyond the discerning of feelings and into the realm of the impossible.
Vlad had felt her excitement, her desperation, and ultimately…her orgasm, as if he were in that car with her.
It was as if he’d controlled her pleasure, and she, his.
He glanced down at the evidence of his still-lingering desire for her. He wanted to bury himself deep inside her body, to feel her come apart in his arms.
With a growl of denial, Vlad returned his gaze to the window, watching as Nita finished her food and laid her head against Miles Castro’s shoulder.
For some reason it bothered Vlad to see her show such familiarity with Castro, and that pissed him off even more.
He knew he should turn around and head home, but he couldn’t seem to make his feet obey.
Vlad narrowed his eyes as Miles slowly coasted his fingers up Nita’s arm before resting them against her cheek and tugging her face up for his descending mouth.
Heat formed behind Vlad’s eyes, and he blasted down the side of the mountain without conscious thought. He had one word on the brain as he blurred his way toward Nita’s cabin… Mine!
Something slammed into him with the force of a truck, knocking him off his feet and sending him crashing through the trees.
Vlad immediately gained his feet, scanning the forest around him until his gaze stopped on a pair of glowing yellow eyes.
A lone wolf stood several feet up the mountain above Vlad, staring down at him without blinking.
It angered Vlad that he’d been too wrapped up in Nita to sense the wolf’s approach.
Vlad shot back up the mountain with vampiric speed, coming to stop in front of an old man that now stood where the wolf had been.
“The Impaler,” the elderly man rasped without flinching.
Vlad sensed no fear coming from the shifter. Vlad’s fangs retracted as he studied the light gray eyes of the half man, half wolf. “You are their Shaman.” It wasn’t a question.
The old man nodded once.
“How is it that you recognize me?” Vlad asked out of curiosity.
“I dreamt of you, many moons ago. Although I knew this day would eventually come, it does not make it less daunting.”
Vlad tilted his head to the side, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “What nonsense do you spout, old man?”
“You must go from this place and never return. For I have seen a great cloud, and in its depths arose a creature with black eyes. And in its hands were two rings: symbols of war and death. Rivers of blood flowed from the rings, carrying with it the carcasses of our people. Yours as well as mine.”
“And you think that I am this black-eyed demon?” Vlad couldn’t help but ask.
The Shaman shrugged a bony shoulder. “I do not know from whence the demon comes… I only know that he does.”
“Perhaps you are not as insightful as you pretend to be. My advice to you would be to take yourself back to your dwelling before I drain you of what little blood you possess.”
Vlad brought the hood of his cloak over his head and turned to go, but the Shaman’s next words stopped him.
“If you touch the leader of the Kiana Clan, you will surely alter the fate of both vampire and shifter alike.”
“I have already touched her, old man. I saved her life.”
“Yes,” the Shaman murmured. “You have tainted her with your blood. It will take a much higher power than anything I possess to rid of her of it. If she does not survive, I fear the wheels will be set into motion for the demise of both our races.”
Vlad could feel his eyes burn beneath his hood. “What do you mean, if she does not survive?”
The Shaman stared back at him for long moments. “To my knowledge, no shifter in history has ever carried vampire blood. If Nita does not survive the ritual, more blood besides hers will be on your hands, demon. A lot more.” With that, the Shaman disappeared as fast as he appeared.
Vlad slowly turned, his gaze once again seeking out Nita’s cabin, only to find her no longer on the couch, Miles nowhere to be seen either.
Drifting farther down the mountain, Vlad caught sight of Castro descending a hill that led him away from Nita’s home.
So, she hadn’t allowed him into her bed, Vlad thought with satisfaction, continuing to move closer to her dwelling.
He came to a stop at the back door and gripped the knob.
“Did you think I wouldn’t smell your stench from a mile away?”
Vlad stilled, part of him amused that Nita had sensed his approach. “Is that why you sent the pup on his way?”
“You’ve got some balls, showing up in Kiana territory. What are you doing here?”
Vlad swiveled around and had her by the throat before she could suck in a breath. On instinct, his fangs sank into the pulse point of her neck, his body crushing hers against the side of the cabin.
She fought to free herself of his hold, but her strength was no match for his.
Vlad’s eyes slid shut as her intoxicating flavor burst across his tongue, sending him on a high unlike anything he’d ever known.
It took a moment for him to realize she’d stopped fighting and another to notice she’d gone pliant in his arms.
A moan slipped past her lips, and the arms that had been struggling to free herself now wrapped around his waist to pull him tightly against her.
Vlad retracted his fangs and dragged his hungry mouth across her cheek to settle over her lips.
She tasted so damn good he wanted to devour her, to drink her in, and forget, even for a short time, who he was…who she was.
Her arms came up around his neck to pull her body higher up his taller one.
She kissed him back with abandon, licking, nipping, and sucking on his lips while grinding her sex against his rock-hard erection.
Vlad hissed at the unbelievable feeling of her wet heat moving against his aching cock.
“Nita,” he snarled, reaching up to rip the damnable jeans from her body. He needed to be inside her. Now.
A howl split the night, followed by another until a chorus of howls began ricocheting off the mountains to drown out the thundering of Vlad’s heart.
Nita suddenly jerked back, her eyes full of confusion and pain. “Go.”
Vlad stumbled back a step, shocked that he’d nearly fucked his enemy against the side of her house. “Until next time.”
“There won’t be a next time,” she snapped, glancing toward the wolves heading toward them. “Now go, before they rip your stubborn head off.”
He quickly bent and kissed her once more before spinning on his heel and blurring his way back up the mountain.