Nibbled by the Vamp(2)
Warm wetness slithered down her arms and she glanced at her body…blood, the red, viscous, life giving fluid flowed from dozens of suspiciously rounded wounds. She rubbed her face and winced at the ache that flared to life and the need to faint washed over her at what covered her fingers.
More blood.
A roar snatched her attention from her body, the sound followed by a flaring white light that blinded her for the briefest of moments and then blackness swallowed her whole.
For real this time. Because, well, she passed the fuck out.
*
Griffin Linch, vampire and Knight Protector, grunted when the woman behind him slumped against his back. He ignored the lush curves that conformed to his body. The scent of her poison-tainted blood wafted over him and he fought to keep his fangs from bursting through his gums. He wouldn’t sample her, wouldn’t savor the promising taste of her as she poured across his tongue.
Fuck-fuck-fuck. Just imagining her life-giving fluid filling him had his cock hardening in his leathers. Her scent tantalized him, rose above the stench of garbage, pixie remains, and their poison, to reach deep into him. The hints of wildflowers and sunshine covered him, surrounded him in their comforting embrace.
He was so fucked.
As the last of the pixies turned to ash, their human blood-filled bodies unable to withstand the burst of dragon’s fire from his amulet, the body against him shifted. He felt the woman he craved slide and he spun to catch her, cradling her Rubenesque form against his chest.
The pale light of the street lamp danced across her features to reveal her fiery hair, a pert nose and plump lips that he ached to taste. Her body felt perfect against him, as if she were made for him and him alone. He was desperate to strip her bare, discover her secrets and worship her body. His fangs ached, the desire to nibble her from head to toe nearly overwhelming.
It shouldn’t be this way. Griffin had met his fair share of beautiful women, tasted them even, but those feelings were nothing compared to the lovely in his arms.
She moaned and twitched, jerked against his hold and he could sense the pixie’s poison digging deeper into her. Bites from the bastards peppered her face and neck, covered her exposed chest and lingered on her arms. A growl built from within, and the need to bring the creatures back just to kill them again coursed through his veins.
The woman’s muscles spasmed and tightened beneath his hold.
Damn it.
He wasn’t supposed to be doing this. The laws of the Knight Protectors forbade getting involved in the balance between life and death. They had one job: protect the city from the Broken, those that had strayed from the path, ignoring the laws that governed their particular species. Period. If a human managed to live through an encounter with a Broken, the protectors were authorized to glamour those unfortunates into forgetting everything they’d seen. But truly saving a life, snatching them from death’s clutches, went against every decree he’d sworn to uphold centuries ago.
And for the first time in his life he was ready to push those laws to their breaking point.
Tightening his grip on the injured woman, Griffin pulled his cell phone from his pocket and placed his thumb on the screen, waiting as it verified his identity and granted him access to its contents. Pressing a single number, he waited for the call to be answered.
“Go.” The deep voice of his fellow Protector boomed into the night.
“Need an alley pickup between 6th and Lawrence. There’s blood in the wind, so I’m guessing we also need a cleanup six blocks south or so.”
“Done.” The phone quieted with that single word and he knew that one of the other vamps in the Ring would come for him. Out of the ten other vamps, including their Sovereign, there had to be someone available. Hell, he’d even take a Novice in training.
Griffin kept his hold tight on the female as he reached down and snatched her discarded purse, grasping it firmly in his hand. He scooped her into his arms and stepped to lean against the stone wall of the alley, holding her insignificant weight with ease.
The woman whimpered and twitched, lids fluttering and he got a fleeting glimpse of her sparkling green eyes. The wounds peppering her skin no longer bled the bright red of pure blood. No, the burgundy hue had changed to a near-black, proof of the poison pounding through her system.
That damned ride needed to arrive.
No sooner had the thought entered his mind that one of the Protector’s SUVs pulled up to the curb. With a glance down the street, Griffin strode to the vehicle, wrenched the back door open and piled inside with his slight burden.
“Drive.” His voice held a hint of his inner demon, the woman’s presence having brought him to his basest needs.