The vamp snarled at me, giving the two a little shake. Their whimpers brought a twisted smile to his face. Shit. He was some kind of sadistic psycho. That was why he hadn’t killed them while I was busy with the other vamp. He wanted me to watch while he killed them. This was going to get ugly.
I snatched up my sword and staggered to my feet. There was no way I would make it on time. The vamp used the boy’s hair to yank his head back, baring his throat. I was running by the time he reared for the strike. Too late, too late, too late.
And then the vamp was flying through the air. I stumbled to a halt, my mind whirling. What the … ? I blinked and Jack was standing by the couple who now lay shivering and crying on their blanket. My brain finally caught up with what my eyes had seen: Jack appearing out of nowhere, ripping the vampire away from the kids and literally throwing him across the lawn.
The vamp staggered to his feet, shook his head and let out a primal scream. Damn, but he was pissed. He flew at Jack, but Jack didn’t even bat an eyelash. He just stepped in front of the cowering kids and waited.
The vamp leapt into the air, but this time I was there first. The Darkness swirled inside me as I moved in a blur, stepping in front of Jack and plunging my sword right up through the vampire’s heart. He had only a second to realize what had happened before he too burst into ash. Gotta love the twin wonders of gravity and momentum. Physics was a beautiful thing.
I stood there for a moment, just trying to catch my breath. I could feel the blood trickling from the bite mark at my collarbone. At least she’d missed my throat. I turned to face Jack and froze at the look on his face.
Hunger. Pure, unadulterated hunger. Not bloodlust. I’d seen that on way too many faces to mistake what I was seeing for simple bloodlust. Jack wanted me. Wanted me bad: my blood, my body. I still didn’t know if Sunwalkers drank blood, but suddenly I didn’t care. I sucked in a breath as my heart started hammering in my throat. I swore the blood from my wound trickled faster.
Jack turned his head slightly and snarled at the young couple who still sat paralyzed on their picnic blanket. “Leave.” His voice was deep and rough and made things down low tighten with arousal. Well, wasn’t this just a nice turn of events?
The kids snatched up their blanket and ran for the parking lot without as much as a backward glance or a word of thanks. Can’t say as I blamed them; I’d have been freaked out, too. It wasn’t every night you nearly got eaten by vampires. Jack never even looked in their direction.
He stalked toward me, slowly, a predator hypnotizing his prey. Except this prey wasn’t scared and she wasn’t even close to hypnotized. OK, maybe a little hypnotized.
I stood my ground and looked him full in the eye. Probably stupid, but what can I say? My libido was seriously running out of control and I no longer cared what sort of weird magic mojo Sunwalker powers he had.
“Jack.” My voice was embarrassingly breathy. “Why are you here, Jack?”
He flashed his fangs at me. They were shorter than a true vampire’s fangs, more elongated canines than actual fangs. “I heard you.” His voice was rough and oh, so sexy.
I frowned. “Heard me? What do you mean, heard me?”
He snarled, obviously annoyed. “In my head. You were in trouble. You called me. I came.”
He was closer now. Close enough to touch. I frowned. “I didn’t call you.” I’d barely had time to think. There certainly hadn’t been time to pull out my cell phone and have a chat with my friendly neighborhood Sunwalker. “Wait, what did you say? You heard me in your head?”
“Enough talk,” he snapped, his ocean eyes swimming with hunger and deeper, darker things. He grabbed me around the waist and hauled me up against him so tight I could feel the hard length of him pressing against my belly. “Enough talk,” he growled against my mouth, his voice barely audible.
So I stopped talking and did what any sensible woman would do in my situation. I kissed him. It was like falling into a deep, warm well. He tasted like chocolate, and sunshine, and sex, and his lips and tongue were soft as velvet. Somebody made a little moaning sound and I wasn’t sure if it was him or me.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my hands in his silky hair. His hands were on my backside, pulling me in tight against him so I could feel every solid bit of him. He was happy. Oh, man, was he happy. I rubbed myself right up against Mr. Happy and couldn’t help but grin a little at Jack’s growl.
I’d forgotten all about the bite on my neck and the blood all over my shirt until Jack dipped his head and started kissing my collarbone, nibbling the tender skin behind my ear while carefully avoiding my wound. It was unbelievably erotic and I swear I’d have purred if it were humanly possible. I was completely lost in the sensation of his mouth and his tongue and his touch.