"We were. I changed my mind. If you want answers of your own, you'll give me what I seek. Where's Nolan?"
"My apartment," she gritted out. "Where's Aleaha?”
“A motel. Where's your apartment?"
"Not telling. What motel?"
"Not telling."
They stared at each other for a moment.
"Well, that was informative." He sighed, making sure the warmth of his breath trickled down the valley of her breasts. Whether she allowed much more intimacy this night, she would not leave this room unscathed. His scent would be imprinted on her every cell, and she would think of him every time she breathed.
Goose bumps broke out over her skin. "Let's back away from the topic of Nolan and Aleaha for a moment. As planned. Tell me about the vampires you've met."
With her demand, the way to have her, at least somewhat, presented itself. He almost purred with satisfaction. "And what will you give me in return, hmm? You've already proven you won't give me the answers I seek."
She eyed him warily. "What do you want?”
“A kiss."
"Where?"
"So suspicious." He tsked under his tongue. "I meant my cock, of course." A choking sound bubbled from her. "No way. Hell, no. Never. I'll die first.”
“Darling, that's just silly. You can't possibly know that for sure until you try it. But I can honestly tell you no woman has ever died from giving me a blow job. They've come close to dying of pleasure, yes, but in the end they did survive, I assure you." He sighed. "If you'd rather, you can kiss me on the mouth. Though I can't guarantee you won't nearly die of pleasure from that, as well."
"You are the most egotistical man I've ever met." Even as she spoke, her gaze dropped to his lips, lingering ... savoring? "It's beyond frustrating. I don't know how to deal with you."
"Should I pretend I'm ugly?"
"No. You should ... oh, I don't know." Her head fell back, her back arching as she peered up at the ceiling, as if imploring the heavens for support. Her core brushed his penis yet again.
Sweet fire. "I'd think my honesty easier to deal with than another's lies."
She blew out a breath. It trickled over his skin the way his had done to hers, branding him with her scent, orchids and midnight tempests. "Maybe you're compensating for something." Before he could toss her on the floor and yell at her for even considering such a foolish thing, she added, "Fine, I'll give you a kiss on the mouth for every question you answer, but you don't get to touch me while I'm doing it."
Slowly he relaxed. "Very well, I won't touch you unless you beg." Something he was (almost) confident he could make her do.
"Like that'll happen." At least her confidence didn't seem to match the level of his. "Just so you know, you only get to collect when I'm satisfied with your answers. And you can't lie," she added in a rush.
"Deal. Don't worry, I'll be keeping score inside my head, and I'm very good at math. Example: Devyn plus Bride minus clothes plus a hard, flat surface multiplied by roaming hands equals greatest pleasure ever. When shall we begin?"
Her jaw had dropped during his equation, but she quickly collected herself. "Let's start now." Those inky locks cascaded down her arms, brushing his stomach as she faced him dead on. "Where did you meet the vampires?
He plucked a few strands and drew them to his mouth, running the tips along the seam. "A slave auction."
"A slave auction?" Her eyes widened with equal measures of incredulity and disdain, and she jerked the hair from his clasp. "That's barbaric!"
"Yes, at a slave auction. That's two questions I've answered, which means you owe me two kisses."
"I only asked—damn it! I did ask two." She pressed her lips together in a mulish line. "I'll be more careful with my phrasing."
Pity.
"I'm assuming, despot that you are, that you bought them. And that's not a question! If you raped them—" He rolled his eyes. "As if I need to resort to rape."
That deflated her anger. "Then why buy women? Never mind. Don't answer that. I don't want to pay the toll for it."
Toll. As if kissing him was a punishment. Silly girl. She would soon learn. He'd become skilled at many things since he'd given over to the dark side and embraced his decadent nature. "What's your full name?"
She opened her mouth to tell him, then shut it with a snap. "If I answer that, you have to deduct one of the kisses I owe you."
"But darling, how else am I to tell you everything I know about your people if I don't know everything about you?"
She had started to nod her head in agreement when she caught herself. He'd almost had her. "Nice try. I'll answer and you'll deduct, or I just won't tell."
Never had he enjoyed a sparring/bargaining match more. "Fair enough."
"My name is Bride ... McKells." She held up her wrist, and he studied the black tattoo. No fancy font, just her name.
"McKells. Warrior class," he said, thinking back to the guards who'd escorted him through the underground world of the vampires. First, they'd thought to punish the two vampire females for leading him to the doorway to their world, killing them alongside Devyn. Then, they'd decided to place the decision in their king's hands. So they'd surrounded Devyn and forced him deeper and deeper into the city, not knowing he could have destroyed them all in seconds. And he would have. Dark, confined spaces didn't agree with him. Except, he'd never had sex in a cave and had decided to remain for several nights.
In the end, the king had thanked him for escorting the females back into their fold, for they were of royal blood. The king—Manus, yes, that was his name—had been fierce, jaded, yet fair. While the McKell, the leader of the vampire army and the crudest among them, the most bloodthirsty, had petitioned for Devyn's execution, citing that they couldn't have anyone running around on the surface knowing where the vampires were hidden, the king had once again surprised his people and invited Devyn to stay for as long as he desired.
Devyn suspected the vampire king was a mind reader. That, or a psychic like Dallas, and had sensed Devyn would do them no harm and could even be relied on as an ally.
He told Bride none of that, however. She hadn't asked, and the information would cost her. "Any more questions for me, pet?" He hooked a finger under the strap of her bra and glided back and forth.
Though she was trembling, she latched on to his wrist, stopping him. "Where do the vampires live? Will you take me to them? Can they do the things I can do? How do they drink blood and keep it down?"
Okay. She had a lot. He tackled them one by one. "Underground. No. No. I don't know. That's three more kisses, plus the one you already owed me. Notice I didn't charge for the answer I didn't know. Now. You can't keep blood down?"
A muscle ticked in her jaw. "Not a full meal, no. Subtract one of those kisses, please, and then tell me how they live underground."
While he'd visited the vampires, he'd come across only one who'd had trouble digesting the blood she'd consumed. He'd been told the poor female's husband had died, and therefore, she would die. Or maybe she had refused a ... repression of something? He hadn't been paying the best of attention.
"Are you married?" The moment he spoke, he experienced a killing rage. Bride ... married ... out of his reach ...
"No," she said after a disgusted snort. "Have you ever been married?”
“No."
The rage vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving him shocked and confused. How... odd. He'd never reacted that way before. Clearly the disappointment of potentially losing this challenge was once again the culprit for his riotous behavior. "I thought you drank a lot before coming to me."
"I did. But I also threw up most of it. I'm living off a few sips a day. End of subject." Actually, it wasn't. "Do you want my help?"
"I do not. Not with the drinking. So tell me about the underground."
Infuriating woman. "The underground ..." Devyn shook off her hold and ran his hands up her sides, stopping beside the swell of her breasts. She didn't protest, didn't pull away. "It's a city, much like ours. Dark and murky, water dripping down the rocky walls of their caves. They are self-sufficient, with roads and shops and bars. They only enter our world twice a year, where they capture humans and use them as food for the rest of the year before killing them and getting more. Only a select few are sent here during the hunts, so I'm not sure how you ended up here, raised ... alone?"
"Yes. Except for Aleaha." There was so much hurt in the words, he was momentarily speechless. "And FYI, you just lost another kiss."
He wasn't worried. He'd get it back. He just ... He didn't like that hurt. He much preferred her angry, excited, and triumphant. Clearly she felt abandoned by her people. By Aleaha. "I wonder how you reached the surface. And no, that wasn't a question."
"I don't remember," she answered anyway. Her fingertip traced a circle over his breastbone, just beside his heart. He doubted she realized what she was doing. "I don't remember my mother or my father or if I even had a mother or father. I don't remember anything about my life before waking up on the streets of New Chicago."
"So you were young. Again, not a question.”
“Yes. And thirsty. So damn thirsty."
So why couldn't she digest the blood anymore? Better question, would she be able to tolerate his blood?
He leaned forward and brushed a gentle kiss between her breasts. He'd meant to offer comfort, to tempt her, as well as finally planting the tiny tracking bug he had waiting on his tongue. Mostly, he aroused himself. Needing to taste her, desperate for it, he flicked out his now-bare tongue, running it over the edge of her bra and then, when she failed to protest, her skin.
She sucked in a breath, tangled her hands in her hair, and held him in place. "Wh—what are you doing?"
"Enjoying you. And now you owe me three kisses." See. Got it back. "Damn it. Diabolical man."
An endearment, surely. As he arched toward her, he gripped her ass and pumped her forward, grinding their bodies together. She moaned; he hissed and turned his head, lips locking on one of her nipples. The syn-cotton or whatever material it was that shielded her didn't deter him. He sucked and laved it like the treasure it was, the little pearl teasing him.
"Don't you want to ask me about Nolan?" she rasped. To distract him? Because she didn't have the strength to pull away herself?
"Yes. Four kisses now, and you will pay up." He spread his fingers over her ass, two closing in on a place she probably didn't want him, but one day would if he had his way, the others inching toward her clitoris. If she bowed her back, he could thrum her to release. She'd beg and plead, drip in his hand. And oh, wasn't that a delightful image?
"Take your kisses now, then. Do it!" She yanked at his hair, tugging several strands from his scalp.
Slowly he lifted his head, meeting her heated gaze. Passion had wrought a rosy glow to her cheeks. Her eyes glittered brightly, dangerously; they were seductive. Tempting him. Her lips were damp and swollen from where she'd chewed them. Breath sawed in and out of her mouth, choppy and shallow.
"You want your kisses, pet?”
“Want? No. But I never welsh."
So, she still thought to deny him, did she? His eyelids slitted. If he kissed her now, with her core so close to his cock, he would take her all the way—they both knew it—and if he had her delicious little body now, she would tell herself he'd forced her. She would convince herself it had been for answers, not desire. Afterward, she would avoid him, build a resistance to him. Think of him only in her nightmares.
He would tolerate none of that. Whenever Bride thought of him, he wanted it to be because of sex, passion, and pleasure. Not shame and regret. Never shame. Never regret. He wanted her to remember this time, his words, his touch with a smile on her beautiful face. He didn't want her remembering her duty and frowning. More than that, he wanted her to run to him if he so desired in the future, not away from him.
"I'll collect my kisses, don't worry, but I won't do it here and I won't do it now. I'll let you know when and where. Promise."
Those sharp nails of hers dug into the base of his neck. "This is the last time I'll allow myself to be caught alone with you. Take them here or forfeit."
Just as he'd suspected, she thought to avoid him. Well, too bad. She'd see him again, and she'd kiss him again and then do a whole lot more. Devyn reclaimed his hold on her mind and forced her to straighten and stand, to walk backward, away from him. He didn't have the strength to walk away from her himself. Not this time. Already his body mourned the loss of her.
Mourned? Surely not.
"Let me go, damn it!"
"Listen closely, pet. I forfeit nothing. You'll kiss me when I tell you, or you'll be in breach and I'll be entitled to simply take what I want. And now that that's settled... tomorrow night at midnight, you're going to bring Nolan to the pier. I'll bring Aleaha, and we'll trade."
Immediately she shook her head, but there was hope in her eyes. "I don't trust you."
Smart woman. No way in hell would he be at the pier tomorrow. "Do you want to see Aleaha or not?"
She bit her tongue, probably drawing blood. To keep from biting him? "You know I do. And if you've hurt her, I swear to God I'll cut off your balls and feed them to you."
