Chapter 23
Lock
Sending Sam after Seraphim was impulsive and with every passing second, I was regretting it. I wanted to rush after her and make sure he couldn’t hurt her. After the days we’d spent here, though, I was doubting that he actually would. Even though I didn’t trust him in the slightest, I wouldn’t have been able to let Sam go if I was overly concerned.
It was clear he was fighting something on both sides and if I was being honest, it would help immensely if Sam managed to flip him. Would I ever trust him? No, but he could help me ensure my mate’s safety. Then, I would continue my quest to send him to hell. He’d probably like it there, all hot and smoky.
“I failed,” Sam said when she materialized in front of me.
Immediately, I picked her up and carried her into the house. “You didn’t fail. Maybe he’ll come around.”
“He’s afraid. It’s strange to see from him, but I felt it so strongly. That thing in his head needs to go. It makes me irrationally angry that it’s hurting him.”
“Perhaps I’m feeling jealous about the depth of your concern about him, Belladonna.”
“Oh, chill out. You know it isn’t like that.”
“Regardless, I’d prefer to be the only person you care about in any way.”
“I care about Mark. And Alex.”
“I’ve been meaning to cut my progeny count down a vampire and Alex might make a nice meal. In the afterlife, they might stop pining and actually talk to each other.”
“If only.” She sighed and leaned against my chest as I sat down on the couch with her. “I don’t want him involved in this anyway. It’s for the best that they aren’t together.”
“It’s not up to you, Samara, and it’s not your responsibility to decide what’s best for Alex or Mark.”
“That sounds like it’s probably incorrect.”
I chuckled, leaning my cheek on her head. “Worrying about others will be the death of you and I’m not quite ready to leave this world. You have millennia ahead of you and you can’t spend all the years worrying.”
“Watch me.”
“How about a game?”
She groaned. “You can’t bribe me with hundreds anymore.”
“That’s child’s play, Belladonna. I was thinking…” I nodded toward the TV console, grimacing at the idea.
She sat up, her eyes wide. “You want to play a video game with me?”
“It can’t be that hard. I do have vampire reflexes.”
“So do I, plus I knew how to play before.”
“I’m a quick learner. It only took me two tries to effectively disembowel someone.”
“Effectively? It seems like a simple concept.”
“It requires finesse, otherwise you’re just a butcher. Now, put the game on.”
“Oh, you’re going to quickly rethink being my mate, baby.”
I rolled my eyes. Rethink being mated to Sam? That was laughable. There wasn’t a single thing I’d cared all that much for in my mortal and immortal lives except for her. The TV, however, might end up in the lake if things didn’t go my way.
“I’m getting fucking good at this,” I declared, biting my lip in concentration.
Sam laughed as she continued to play with the orange smoke in her hand. After she’d destroyed my confidence yesterday, I spent the entire night playing this wretched game. I was confident I’d be able to bring her down the next time we played.
“Is this going to become an obsession?” she asked.
“Most things are an obsession for me.”
“Right, cuckoo pants. Maybe we should do something else, like go on a walk.”
“A walk?” I repeated, scrunching my nose. “We’re vampires.”
“And we can still do normal things.”
“Walking is slow and boring.”
“Remember when you told me I’ll learn to take my time with things when I’m immortal?”
“That applied more to things like sex and murder. Torture. Things that should be savored.”
“Maybe we can find someone to murder.”
Standing, I tossed the controller onto the couch and stretched. “You had me at murder, Belladonna. I vote we make a grown man piss himself today.”
“I’m always down to smash the patriarchy. In fact, I’m fueled by the tears of men.”
“Somehow, I love you more every day.”
She grinned before taking off in a cloud of smoke. I chased after her, hovering just behind so she didn’t feel too inadequate. I had, in fact, beaten her during our race and Sam was a sore loser. I wouldn’t let her win, but it was more fun if she got her hopes up before I dashed them.
When the main square came into view, I put on a burst of speed. I dropped to the ground beside a sad little grocery store and she arrived a moment later.
“You suck,” she grumbled.
“You can barbecue me on a whim, darling. I think you can handle being slower than me.”
“Touché.”
“Now, who do you want to kill?”
She shushed me as we rounded the corner. I rolled my eyes, glancing at the few people within hearing distance. Humans were notorious for being inattentive and oblivious to most things around them, not that it mattered if they heard us. Sam still had a lot to get used to.
“Just our luck that people start going missing on our honeymoon.”
Two men were leaning against a sedan in the parking lot, one of them looking grumpy with his arms crossed. The other was holding onto his shoulders and trying to soothe him.
“Two for one?” I suggested.
Sam bit her lip. “But they’re on their honeymoon.”
“Exactly. This is the best part of their lives and it only goes downhill from here. We’re saving them from the monotony marriage will offer them, followed by their gradual descent into resentment.”
“That makes me question my decision to marry you.”
“We’re different.”
“Fine, but I don’t want you to toy with them too much.”
“You wanted tears.”
“Tears. No drawn out torture. I don’t want to be out here all night and keeping a prisoner in our basement is just icky.”
“Icky,” I repeated, taking her hand and leading her toward the couple. “Your stance on basement prisoners is noted.”
“We’re also not putting any torture rooms in the house we build.”
“Are you smoking something, Belladonna?”
“I’m smoking hot and you’re going to agree to my demands. You have plenty of fancy rooms at the tower.”
“You want to live outside of the city. If I get the urge to remove someone’s skin, I’ll have to travel miles.”
“It’ll take you minutes.”
I brought her hand to my lips, kissing the back of it. “You’ve ruined me.”
The two men looked up at us as we approached, the grumpy one narrowing his eyes slightly. The other one smiled softly, though he looked somewhat wary.
“Hi,” Sam said cheerily, wearing a huge smile. I matched her expression, relishing the way their hearts sped up. It was funny how the sharp canines drew their attention so quickly.
“Uh, hello,” the friendlier one said.
“I’m Lock.” I thrust a hand out, keeping eye contact while I waited for him to oblige.
“Lewis.” He took my hand firmly, his gloves disguising our difference in temperature. I squeezed him a little too tightly before letting go. “This is Paul.”
“It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Sam.”
“Are you from town?” Lewis asked.
“No, we’re just on vacation. Not a honeymoon like you two, though, unfortunately. We are getting married soon. Well, soon-ish. We haven’t actually picked a date because a whole lot of shit has happened since we got engaged. Now that I think about it, we’ve only been engaged for a couple weeks…”
“Samara,” I interrupted, trying to contain my laugh.
“Oh, sorry. I tend to ramble.”
“Right, no problem,” Lewis mumbled. “How did you know we’re on our honeymoon?”
“We heard you,” I said matter-of-factly. “Sound really travels in this open space. Maybe it bounces off the trees or something.”
“Did you know sound travels slower in the cold?” Sam asked.
“My mate is very intelligent, even though she likes to argue with me about it.”
“Your… mate…” Paul trailed off, looking back and forth between us.
“Not ‘mate,’” Sam used a terrible Australian accent to demonstrate. “It’s some creepy bond thing. Kind of neat during sex, though.”
“Right. Um, we should go.”
“No, stay.” She grabbed Lewis’ wrist, keeping him from getting in the car. His breaths sped up and the scent of his sweat reached me. I could sense the way his fear affected Sam, the thrill of the hunt awakening.
I remembered that she hadn’t really done this yet. She’d been conflicted about it when we took those humans in the alley and started freaking out. God, I was ecstatic to see her give in to the predator inside of her. I wondered if she would enjoy a reenactment of that day she killed Blake.
Sensing the way my body was igniting, she nudged my shoulder. “Really?” she whispered. “Right now?”
“This is an erotic activity for me.”
“Christ.”
“We’re the only supreme beings here, my love.”
“Let me go,” Lewis demanded, attempting to tug his wrist away.
“Are you a bad person?” she asked, cocking her head.
“No, of course not. What kind of a question is that?”
“Let’s move this somewhere more private,” I suggested, watching a family walk out of the store.
She grabbed Lewis while I took Paul. We brought them to the back of the building where the receiving dock was and they both looked ready to throw up.
“What the fuck just happened?” Paul shouted, his breaths hitching.
“You’ll figure it out,” I said with a shrug. Grabbing his wrist, I brought it to my nose and inhaled. “Mm. You actually smell clean. Color me surprised.”
“W-why are you smelling me?”
“Because humans are gross. So many things come out of your bodies, even from those tiny little pores. You’re a health nut, aren’t you?”
“Leave him alone,” Lewis ordered.
“I’d worry about yourself. Samara is looking at you like she wants to eat you.”
As I spoke, her fangs lengthened, brushing her lower lip. Paul screamed, thrashing his entire body. I put a hand over his mouth, but the fucker bit me. With a growl, I pulled out my dagger and pressed the edge to his cheek, making him still.
“I will remove your tongue,” I warned, dragging the blade down to his jaw. It left a shallow cut and I tracked the blood’s path, my mouth watering.
“What do you want?” Lewis asked. “We’re not rich, but we have some money.”
“I’m rich.”
“Well, we can, uh, give you whatever you want. Please.”
Sam had her fangs poised at his throat and I had to commend his bravery. He was holding on to his sanity quite well for someone in his position. From the way he was looking at Paul, I assumed he was the reason.
“Four is a crowd,” I said before shoving my blade into Paul’s cheek. It skewered his tongue on the way in, his scream quickly becoming more of a gargle.
“No!” Lewis shouted, the first tears falling from his eyes.
Sam dragged her tongue up his cheek to collect them. She glanced sidelong at me, her eyes mostly black from her bloodlust. With just a thin ring of amber around them, she looked like she was ready to command the hosts of hell.
“You’re fucking beautiful,” I told her.
She smiled, revealing the full length of her fangs. Since Paul was likely to suffocate on his blood soon, I sunk my teeth into his neck and tightened my grip on him. When I let him go, he slumped to the ground, barely holding onto life.
With a mouthful of blood, I took the back of Sam’s neck and pulled her to me. She drank every drop I gave her, then bit into my lip. I was dying to do the same, but I had every intention of fucking her here and she still didn’t want to complete the tether.
“Now let me see you covered in blood.”
Without hesitation, she dove into Lewis’ neck. It was messy and chaotic and beautiful. I bit into the other side, then reached toward her and pushed my hand into her pants. She stepped closer, making it easier for me to find her clit with my middle finger. Her moan was muffled as she continued to feed and when I sunk two fingers inside of her, it turned into a whimper.
Pulling away from Lewis, I came up behind Sam and yanked her pants down, settling a hand at the back of her neck to push her forward slightly.
“Don’t stop feeding,” I instructed.
Taking my dick in a blood covered hand, I nestled it against her ass, just that simple contact giving me a jolt of pleasure. Her victim’s heart was slowing and I wanted to fuck her while she was still flooded with the pleasure of the kill, so I slipped just the tip inside, moving it in and out a few times to coat it in her arousal.
When I buried myself all the way, she made a shrill sound in her throat. I felt the intensity of her bloodlust combined with the sensations in her body. Moving my hand to her ass, I watched the blood transfer from my skin to hers.
“Look at you,” I said, speeding up. “Nobody has ever looked this fucking breathtaking.”
She released Lewis, letting him fall beside his husband. I turned her around and lifted her, then pressed her against the brick. Her legs wrapped around me tightly just before she kissed me. Even though I didn’t want to stop, I couldn’t stand not looking at her right now, so I pulled back to admire her.
There was blood all the way from her cheekbones down to her chest. It covered her breasts and mixed with the fiery orange of her hair. Right here, in this moment, we both looked like monsters, covered in blood and fucking over our kills.
This was a vampiric existence worth fighting for.