Finding Faerie (13 page)

“W
hat’s your special vampire ability?” 

He pushed into me, making me moan. We were in the shower now going for round four…wait, make that five. Six? Oh, I don’t know; I lost count.  “Do you really want to talk about this right now?” He punctuated his question with a delightful hip swivel.

“Oh, right there!” Coming back to my senses, I continued to press. “I’m curious.”

He smiled. “That you are.”

He worked my body over, causing me to lose my train of thought again. What was I saying? Oh yeah, I remember! “Leo, c’mon! Why are you making this so hard?”

He slammed into me again, knocking my head into the tiles. “My dear, I believe
you’re
the one,” thrust, “making
this
,” thrust, “hard.”

I arched my back, lifting my hips to pull him in deeper, feeling that delicious pressure building to a crescendo. He pulled out of me right before I was about to come. “Ah! What are you doing?”

He crouched down and raised me up higher to bury his face between my legs. This man’s strength was astounding. My knees were hooked over his shoulders, while my upper body was pressed into the corner of the shower stall. Water was bouncing off his head, into my eyes, but I couldn’t care less at the moment.

“I can never get enough of this,” he murmured against my heated flesh. “Your taste is like my own personal ambrosia. I don’t think I’d ever need blood again if I could do this all day long.”

Oh Jesus, I was tempted to let him test that theory out. He was
so good
at it. Right as my climax reached its highest point; he straightened and roughly impaled me over his massive length. He silenced my scream with a kiss as I came over and over and over again. My heart was pounding so fast, I could hardly breathe. 

He had completely hijacked every one of my senses. All I could see, smell, hear, feel, and taste was Leo. I felt him shudder with his own release as mine was finally starting to wane. His movements slowed as he rode it out until he stilled completely. His kisses then turned gentle. He stroked my face, my hair, my neck. He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes. The look he gave me melted my heart. He looked so
happy
. I’d never seen this expression on his face before. Normally he was intense, exuded power, manliness, and of course sex, but I could never say that he appeared joyful or content. All of those other attributes were still there, but right then, he seemed at peace. Truly, blissfully at peace.

“What’s going on in that head of yours, my dear?”

I smiled. “I was just thinking how beautiful you look right now.”

He chuckled. “Isn’t that my line?”

I returned his laughter, stroking his face. “I mean it, Leo. You just look so happy. I’ve never seen you look like this. It’s incredible.”

He kissed me lightly on the lips. “I
am
happy…for the first time in many, many years.” Another kiss. “And that’s all because of you, my love.”

Leo was lazily drawing circles on my back sometime later as we lay in bed. I loved this feeling of being with him in such a tranquil setting. It felt like we were the only two people on the planet. I focused on the pattern he was drawing. They weren’t circles as I had previously thought; they were letters. I smiled as I realized he was writing his surname across my back...branding my skin with invisible ink. Typical Alpha male.

I turned my head on the pillow to face him. “Hey, you never answered my question earlier.”

He tucked my hair behind my ear. “What question was that, my love?”

“What’s your special vampire ability?”

He rolled onto his back and sighed. “Do you really have to know?”

I sat up on my elbow. “No, I don’t
have
to know, but I
want
to. I feel like there’s so much that we don’t know about each other. What’s the big deal? Is it some big trade secret that only those of the fanged persuasion can know?”

He laughed. “No, my dear, it’s not a secret. It may cause you to see me differently though.”

“How so?”

“Because it’s a rather…unique ability for a vampire to have. It’s actually a demonic trait.”

“Well, now I’m really curious. Besides, since when are you worried about being extraordinary?”

He smirked. “Touché.”

I playfully slugged his shoulder. “So give up the goods, Leo!”

He raised the sheet and looked pointedly at our naked bodies. “Didn’t I already do that? Multiple times?”

I couldn’t help myself; I slid down the bed and started fondling said goods. “Yes, you have. Quite thoroughly, in fact. But I want
information
.” 

He fisted the sheets. “Keep doing that, and I’ll give you anything you want.”

I hummed as I took him deeply into my mouth until he hit the back of my throat. I pulled back and released him with a
pop
. “So, start talking, and I’ll keep going.”

His cock strained towards my mouth. “It’s happening right now. You and your
incredibly talented
mouth are making it happen.”

“Hmm?” I mumbled as I licked him from root to tip.

He gathered my hair and pulled it back as I bobbed up and down. “I can…feed…from sexual…
Oh, just like that, my love
…energy.”

I pulled back in surprise. “You can
what
?”

“Please don’t stop,” he begged.

I began stroking his length. “Did you say you can
feed
from sexual energy? Like an incubus?” An incubus, like their female counterpart, the succubus, feeds from sexual energy. They have sex for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Literally.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “It’s not as potent as blood; I need a high concentration to gain any real sustenance.”

“What’s considered a ‘high concentration’?”

“I need to be surrounded by many different people engaging in sexual behavior,” he panted. “Or if I’m directly involved, I need to be exceedingly aroused.”

“Is that why you run a sex club? Why your house is located directly beneath one?”

“Yes. All of my businesses in that building have been sexual in nature. They’ve always been lucrative, but I don’t do it for the money or the lifestyle that comes with it. The energy…charges my powers. I’m stronger than other vampires because of it. My physical strength, my speed, my senses,
everything
is better when I’m regularly surrounded by sex.”

I thought about that for a moment. That explained
so
much. “One more question.”

He whimpered. “Can’t it wait until…
after
?”

I looked down at my hand which had stopped moving. Oops, I must’ve been distracted. Man, as far as penises went, this sure was a pretty one. “Last one, I promise. You can answer while my mouth is full.”

He groaned. “Hurry, please.”

I smiled at his impatience. “If sex is a substitute for blood…why didn’t you, you know,
take care of yourself
while you were in New York? Wouldn’t that have helped you manage the bloodlust?” I began deep throating him. I’m a woman of my word and all.

“I tried at first,” he gasped. “That’s when I learned that I needed such a high concentration of it. When self-service wasn’t working, and I had no blood to drink, I eventually lost the energy to try.”

Satisfied with the information he gave me, I picked up the pace and really went to town. I licked and kissed and sucked every beautiful inch of him until he was wrung dry. That wasn’t an easy task considering how many inches there were. Literally seconds after I finished, or after
he
finished, rather, my phone rang. I let the call go to voicemail but then Leo’s started ringing too.

“Ugh!” I groaned as I pulled the pillow over my head.

He reached over and grabbed his phone off the nightstand. “Yes?” I could hear a man’s voice on the other end but I couldn’t tell who it was. “Yes, we moved hotels. We’re a few blocks down on the corner of Aston and Fleet.” He sighed. “It doesn’t sound like you’re giving me much of a choice. Fine. We’ll see you soon.” He ended the call and lifted the pillow off my face. “My dear, you need to get dressed; we have company coming.”

“Takk?” Ugh, I so didn’t want to deal with that guy right now.

He clenched his jaw. “No, not Takk.”

“Who?”

“Vance.”

Huh? There was no way I’d heard him correctly. “
Who?
” I could feel the anger coming off him in waves. I didn’t really need him to repeat himself.

“My sweet, it seems the detective is in Ireland.”

Y
ep, I was freaking out. Why was Vance in Ireland? Okay, I couldn’t say I was
really
surprised, since he’d told me he was planning a trip…but come on! Showing up without even calling first? I thought we had agreed that he’d wait until after Leo and I met with the guardians! Erica’s trip to her sister’s house must have sped up the timeline. Dammit!

While I was getting ready, I had to keep reminding myself that I had done nothing wrong. I had no reason whatsoever to feel guilty. What Leo and I shared was beautiful and exciting and special. I didn’t want to tarnish that with guilt. But wasn’t that exactly what I did when Vance and I were together? Felt guilty anytime Leo was near? Ugh! I felt like I was fighting a losing battle. There was no way to be with one man and not hurt the other, and I couldn’t stand the thought of hurting either.

I was thankful that Leo had the wherewithal to have my things transferred from our old suite. I definitely didn’t want to face Vance in Leo’s borrowed clothes. Been there, done that. Leo was stomping around silently, definitely pissed off. I knew that he could sense my unease, which only seemed to irritate him further. 

The hotel phone rang as I was putting the finishing touches on my makeup. “Yes?” Leo said tersely. “No, don’t send him up. I’ll be right down. Thank you.”

“He’s here?” I started fidgeting.

He walked into the sitting room. “Yes, are you ready?”

I followed him. “Yep, let’s go.” I quickly glanced at the rumpled bed behind me and closed the bedroom door. The smell of sex lingered throughout the room and I was not ready for the inevitable blowout that would ensue if Vance came up here for some reason.

I spotted him as soon as the elevator doors opened. Leo had placed a possessive hand around the back of my neck as we approached. Vance had clearly noticed because he was glaring daggers in the vicinity of my throat.

“Detective,” Leo said and nodded.

“Vampire,” Vance managed through gritted teeth.

Oh, goody!
They were starting their pissing match already.

“Did Erica get to Shanna’s house okay?” I asked.

Vance nodded. “She did.”

“What are you doing here, Detective?” Leo asked.

“I told Karli I was coming,” he replied smugly. “What’s wrong, Vampire? She didn’t pass that information along?”

Okay, total dick move! “Excuse me, but if I remember correctly, you were going to wait for my call before hopping across an ocean!”

Vance shrugged. “I forgot.”

I put my hands on my hips. “Oh, you forgot, my ass!”

Leo looked back and forth between our exchanges and scowled. “That didn’t answer my question.
Why
are you here?”

Vance smirked. “Because you need my help.”

Leo glared. “Help with what, exactly?”

“Karli said these witches are wary of you,” Vance explained. “Rightfully so, considering bloodsuckers practically demolished the Fae population.” Leo looked at me with an expression that could only be described as betrayed. Shit, I would’ve never told Vance that if I knew he’d use it against Leo.

“Your presence is unnecessary,” Leo growled. “We’re doing just fine on our own.”

Vance looked around the lobby and then back to me. “I don’t think this is the best place to discuss this. Karli, why don’t you come back to my hotel and we’ll talk?”

Leo clenched his jaw. “She’s not going anywhere with you.” 

Vance looked towards the sun shining through the wall of windows at the front of the lobby. “Well, you’re welcome to join us, but you might get a little crispy on the way.” 

I winced. Leo looked homicidal, specifically towards Vance. I knew that he had no way of knowing about Leo’s injuries but Vance’s words brought everything back to the forefront of my mind. I will never forget seeing Leo like that. I was suddenly feeling nauseated and more than a little agitated. I punched the elevator call button and tapped my foot impatiently, waiting for it to arrive. Both men followed me inside as the doors opened. The ride up to our floor was only a matter of seconds but it felt like an eternity. There was entirely too much aggression floating throughout such a small space.

Leo headed straight for the mini bar as I caught Vance up on everything since we’d last spoken. I intentionally left out certain details, but gave him enough to know what we were dealing with.

Leo glared at Vance from across the room. If I wasn’t so irritated, I would’ve found their invisible boundary lines humorous. “I still fail to see why you’re needed.”

I walked over to Leo and took his hand. “Leo, I know this is odd coming from me, but I think we need to be rational here. You already know that Vance is part Fae; the guardians should be able to sense that. He also lived in Faerie for ten years and would be able to help navigate that realm.”

Leo looked bothered but he quickly put his mask in place. “Why didn’t you bring this up earlier?”

I shrugged. “Because I was blinded by emotions. I didn’t want to talk about it because I didn’t want to see the truth behind it. C’mon, Leo, at the very least maybe he can help me get my powers under control so we don’t have another…incident.”

Vance waved his hand. “Hello? You know I’m five feet away from you, right? You don’t need to talk about me like I’m in the other room. Can we please focus on what matters? What incident? You didn’t tell me about an
incident
.”

Leo nodded in acquiescence. He poured himself another drink as I joined Vance on the couch.

“The other night,” I began, “I channeled sunlight. I don’t exactly know how I did it, but that’s definitely what it was.”

Vance’s brows lifted towards his hairline. “Have you noticed anything else that seemed out of the ordinary?”

I sighed. “Yeah. I sort of turned our previous hotel suite into a wind tunnel and fire came out of my hands. I don’t know how I did that either.”

He contemplated that for a minute. “I can’t believe I didn’t think about this!”

“Think about what?” Leo asked.

Vance ignored Leo as he walked towards the bar. He filled a glass from the tiny sink and brought it back over to the couch. Handing it to me, he said, “Make the water move.”

Huh? “How am I supposed to do that?”

He pursed his lips in concentration. “What were you feeling when everything happened?”

“I was pissed,” I recalled. “And scared.”

He narrowed his eyes at the scared comment. He must’ve figured out that I didn’t fill in
all
the gaps earlier. “It’s probably strong emotion that’s activating them.”

What in the hell was he talking about? “Activating
what
?” 

He smiled. “Your elemental powers.”

My what?