Dark Desire (10 page)

 
Looked like he lied.
She would be dying sooner rather than later.

Chapter Ten

Edwin Pope
watched from behind the two-way glass as they brought in the vampire and
chained him to the observation table. His brown eyes narrowed in a long,
angular face, his head covered with thinning mousy brown hair. A small man with
a slight build, no one would ever call him the picture of masculine sexuality
by any stretch of the imagination. No, physically he didn’t have much to offer,
but intellectually?

Ah, few could
match him there.

He ran the
Preservation Society like a well-oiled machine. Feeding the hatred and distrust
for anything different. And the dark breeds were as different as you could get.
He built his small group of likeminded dissenters into an army, recruiting more
each day. He interspersed within his organization a dozen handpicked
mercenaries, his sergeants who eagerly went to work whipping his people into
shape.

The best money
he ever spent, he thought as two of those hired thugs finished securing the
vampire and moved out of the room. He studied the unconscious dark breed with
excitement. Oh, he had such plans for this one. The door behind Edwin opened. A
whoosh of displaced air at his back sent a chill up his spine. He could never
abide anyone behind him. Turning he studied the
merc
.

“Nate,
good job.”
He praised the huge man lounging against the door, massive arms crossed over
his barreled chest.

Nate wore a grey
hoodie stretching to accommodate his wide shoulders, his black emotionless gaze
reminding Edwin of a shark, his buzzed blond hair enhancing the harsh angles of
his face. Not a handsome man, too rough for that, but one whose very presence
demanded loyalty. Nate was the obvious leader of his band of mercenaries. His
voice rumbled through the small room, rough and deep. “You pay for results, you
get them. The bloodsucker will be out for a while yet. We had to
taser
his ass to get him compliant. Even with the dose of
silver nitrate he was a bitch and a half to handle.”

“Let Dr.
Haub
know his latest lab rat is here, and please have the
vamp ready for the initial tests. Knowing the good doctor he will want to start
right away.” Edwin practically rubbed his hands together in expectation. He
knew the doctor had been chomping at the bit to get his hands on this
particular vampire.
An Enforcer who caused them far too many
casualties lately.

“Right
away, sir.”

Everyone assumed
he ordered these tests to find a quicker way to terminate the breeds, which was
only marginally correct. The true goal never wavered from finding a way to introduce
DNA into a human to make them stronger, faster, and less easy to kill. Improve
on God’s design, so to speak. So far the doctor held a dozen different breeds.

Edwin moved past
Nate, toward the room holding the newest subject. Soon the lab would come alive
with the bloodsucker’s screams. The procedures were positively excruciating. He
allowed the smile to form on his lips, feeling a heady shot of expectation
tingle down his spine at the thought of the vampire’s agony.

He was so
engrossed in his thoughts that Edwin almost ran into the woman standing in the
corridor. Taking a step back he took in the tall, dark haired beauty, her
flawless skin of light bronze speaking of a mixed ancestry. Large brown eyes
filled her small heart-shaped face giving her an exotic flair. A flash of
amusement sparkled in her gaze as she caught him openly admiring her lithe
form, clad in designer jeans, which clung to her curves riding low on her hips,
her cream-colored blouse, cropped just high enough to flash an inch of a toned,
flat stomach.

“You’re in an
authorized zone, lady.” Nate’s oh-so-obvious statement brought home the fact he
hired this
merc
for his brawn and not his
intelligence.

“My name is
Elise,” she offered with a charming smile. “And you must be Mr. Pope?”

“That’s all,
Nate. I have this.” Edwin brushed the big man away, his entire focus on the
woman before him, standing eye level to his five-foot-ten height. He normally
liked his women much smaller, but there was something about the exotic beauty
that drew him in.

He barely
noticed Nate’s retreat, all his attention riveted on the unauthorized guest
before him. Never in his life had he seen a more exquisite woman. His heartbeat
stuttered briefly, and he took a deep breath to calm down. Her scent, a mixture
of honeysuckle and vanilla, teased his senses, all his blood heading south to
swell in his cock.

He struggled a
brief moment to repress his lust, then gave her his best engaging smile.
“Please call me Edwin. I’m afraid Nate is right about one thing. This is a restricted
area. Are you lost?”

Large
doe eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh my, I’m afraid I am. Somehow, I
have got helplessly turned around. ”

Her voice flowed
over him like sin on satin sheets, the musical quality to her tones enchanting,
and a slight accent he couldn’t quite place pulled him in like bees to honey.
“I’m not sure how you got past my security, my dear, but no harm done. Let me
escort you back out. It’s not safe here, which is why we keep it off limits.
May I ask what you were looking for?”

She placed a
small hand on his arm as he moved to bustle her out of the area, her grip
surprisingly strong as she stood her ground not moving an inch. He looked down
into her determined gaze with a brief flash of surprise.

“You.
We need to
talk. Do you have an office where we won’t be interrupted?”

“Y-yes, but what
is it I can do for you?” He stammered, surprised to see a flash of cunning in
her eyes before it vanished, replaced with a pleading look.

“I have a
proposition to place before you. I think you will find it an irresistible
offer, Mr. Pope.”

He smiled down
at her, his heart hammering so loud he feared she could hear it. The idea of
her spread naked across his desk flashed in his mind, and his cock hardened a
bit more, making his pants uncomfortably tight. Who was he to reject such an
open-ended offer from a beautiful woman? Intrigued by the breathtaking beauty,
he ushered her down the hallway toward his office.

“Then by all
means let us discuss this … proposition of yours more fully in my office.”

 
It looked as if fate was indeed on his side
this day.

****

Searing agony
engulfed Cody, debilitating him as all his nerve endings lit up like a sparkler
on Fourth of July. He now knew what being gutted with a rusty knife felt like.
Biting back a scream, he barely registered the cold unyielding surface he lay
on. His stomach chose that moment to cramp, and nausea churned, twisting in his
gut with bruising force. His movements sluggish from the poison in his system,
he fought to curl up on his side only to find his limbs held fast. He blinked,
vision blurring as he focused on the heavy manacles locking his wrists down on
a metal table. He attempted to move his legs with the same result. Cold air
skittered over his exposed flesh, and with rising alarm he realized he lay
naked and bound to what could only be an examination table.

He groaned,
taking a shuddering breath into his burning lungs and nearly retched at the
acidic tang of antiseptics greeting his nose. Where the hell was he? He blinked
in an attempt to clear his vision of the white haze surrounding him. Shadows,
indistinct blobs moved around him, just out of his direct line of sight,
leaving only an impression of people in the room with him.

He could feel
the sharp sting on his skin, like being flayed alive, muscle and sinew
twisting, reshaping, purging the silver nitrate from his body, but without
blood, he knew healing would be a long drawn out and painful process.

“Welcome,
vampire. I would tell you I hope you enjoy your stay, but I’m afraid that would
be a lie.” A thin reedy voice, thick with the flavor of India, filled the air
around a world of light and shadow, as his retinas still struggled to repair
his vision. Only his ears were in perfect working order, discerning the slap of
shoes on concrete as the owner of the voice moved in closer. “I can promise you
a long and painful existence. Shall we start?”

“Oh, happy day
can’t wait to start. Who the hell are you?” he demanded in a soft rasp. His
throat felt seared from the inside. He needed to know where the hell he was and
work on a plan to get the fuck out.

“Oh, how remiss
of me, in my excitement I forgot all about introductions.” The voice sounded
nearly on top of him now. If only he could
get the hell
out of the manacles holding him down.

“I’m Doctor
Haub
, vampire. We will be working very closely together you
and I, but first some blood for you. You must be strong before we start, don’t
you agree?”

Merde
.
The man was
insane!

Before he could
respond the good doctor gripped his jaw in a painful vise grip, forcing his
mouth open and placing a bag of blood in front of him. The enticement worked as
his incisors lengthened, the sharp tips piercing the plastic and drawing the
cold substance into his blood stream. Dimly, he noticed something off about the
blood, but he was too far damaged to stop feeding.

In seconds, the
bag emptied.
Replaced with a second and then a third.
Only then did he feel the last vestiges of the silver nitrate leave his body.
The blood, no matter how off it tasted, set to work repairing his internal
organs, bringing strength back to his muscles and limbs. Yet, he still couldn’t
break free of those damnable manacles pinning him to the table. The good doctor
chuckled at his struggles, and a tight ball of cold fear formed in the pit of
his stomach.

Oh, this was not
good.

His vision chose
that moment to clear, giving him a good look at the small dark man who watched
him with a disturbing curiosity as if studying a bug pinned to a board. No
trace of compassion filtered through his dark gaze. Cody took note of the
rumpled lab coat the doctor wore, as if he slept in it and the thick glasses
perched a large nose. His bald head shone in the harsh lights.

The doctor’s
assessing gaze traveled over his naked body making his flesh crawl. With slow
deliberate steps, he moved closer to the left side of Cody. Stopping near a
stand of surgical implements he placed one hand over his leg, stroking up
toward his thigh with gentle fingers. Desperation made him fight even harder.
Whatever twisted thoughts formed in the doctor’s mind, Cody knew would be the
beginning of a nightmarish reality he wouldn’t easily escape.

Dr.
Haub
gave him a slow smile as that one hand traveled up
toward his groin. “Very impressive, I think we will start here.” He spoke
absently as if Cody were only an object with no real purpose except to satisfy
his own perverse agenda. “I wonder how a vampire’s reproductive system differs
from that of a human. If only I had a female to better study. Oh, well, no
matter, I’m sure we can find part of the question from you, hum?”

The sharp glint
of a scalpel caught the light as Dr.
Haub
grabbed it
with his free hand from the arsenal of surgical implements. His gaze held more
than a glint of madness as studied Cody. Terror tightened his throat as the
lunatic watched him like a bug under a microscope.

As the doctor
cut into the sensitive flesh, Cody screamed out and didn’t stop until a thick
wall of blackness covered him and he knew no more.

Chapter Eleven

Lori groaned.
Her feet may have found terra firma, but the rest of her still struggled to
catch up. She closed her eyes against the rising bile climbing up her throat as
her stomach did a sickening summersault.

The sharp bite
of fingers digging into the soft flesh of her upper right arms let her know she
still lived, but for how long? The man who accosted her was really pissed, but
her brain did a black screen effect as she struggled to remember …
anything
. Being accused of attempted
murder shocked her, and the idea she could be capable of such an act filled her
with horror. Could she really be the type of woman to attack another with
intent to kill?

According to
him
she could and
did
just that.

Lori pulled in a
ragged breath and opened her eyes to find herself in a living room. Large
windows overlooked the Las Vegas skyline glowing like a jeweled oasis against a
black velvet sky. A sturdy walnut coffee table dominated the room, two
recliners sitting on either side of its oblong shape. A massive fireplace
filled one wall, the hearth a deep mahogany. Grey tile adorned the floor with
assorted throw rugs scattered throughout. It was a man’s room done in bold
colors of grey, black, and crimson.

“W-where are
we?” she stuttered out, her attention once again on the angry man who held her
tightly to him.