Raging Passions (10 page)

“Tell you what, love?” His hands ran down over her bottom, cupped her firm cheeks and ground her to him so his cock, trapped inside his trousers, dug into her stomach.

“Why you stopped Caden from marrying me. Why you came to me that night, of all nights. Why you selected me to be your Offspring and lover.” Rage hooked one elbow behind his neck so she could maneuver. The soft pad of her thumb glided over his cheek, trying to ease away the sudden tension that had firmed his features. “You can’t have thought that I’d never see that truth in you, Ripper.”

His fingers curled around her hips tightly. With a frown, Ripper lowered his gaze and pushed Rage back until she was his arm’s length away from him. His jaw worked with emotions that she could see tormented him. He sighed deeply with such resignation he seemed to be admitting some defeat.

“Don’t push me away,” she whispered. Cupping the back of his head, she drew him down so their foreheads touched. “After all these years, as your lover and your Offspring, I deserve some answers. I need to hear them from you.”

“Why?” he asked, his voice almost too painfully soft to hear. “Why can’t you just let this be?”

“Because,” she raised his face so he had to meet her eyes, “we are both trapped by this history, doomed to keep torturing each other, until we are honest.”

For several seconds he thought about it. Ripper drew her body to press against him once more. His big hands moved warmly up her back, crushing her breasts tightly into his muscled chest. He bent lower to better his grip, and then lifted her in their embrace. With her legs curled around his waist, he laid Rage on the bed.

Still holding her tightly to him, Ripper crawled onto the mattress and eased her down as he lay on top of her. His steaming breath spilled over her neck in a hot flow as he kissed the pulse in her throat. His lips, soft and delightfully pliable, rubbed her flesh. Tasting her, his tongue laved at her in demanding strokes. Teasing her, Ripper nibbled her with his sharp teeth.

Rage arched into his familiar attention. Angling her head to the side, she gave him better access. His feelings for her were as real as the vampire magic that bound them. There would never come a time when he would not desire her.
A time when his ardor would wane.
She knew this as she knew nothing else.

She’d seen the truth in him.

Ripper’s body moved between her legs. His skin, as she rubbed the tension from his neck, was as softly smooth as only a vampire’s flesh could be. His hands moved from her bottom, up the curve of her hips and along the dip of her stomach before sliding up to cover her full breasts with his large hands. Her stiff nipples pressed traitorously through her clothing and into his palms as he squeezed.

Adjusting her position, Rage drew her legs up more and wrapped them around Ripper’s narrow hips. She massaged his shoulders in the rhythm of his mouth on her neck. At last Ripper leaned back so his cool blue eyes, hazed with passion, settled on her face. His soft gaze fixed on her mouth for a moment before roaming up to meet her eyes. Sighing, he admitted, “You are of the same bloodline as the one who made me.” He gripped and massaged her breasts as he continued. “For nearly a century I have been tracking and observing your kin, watching for you.”

“For me?”

“For you,” Ripper whispered in his deep voice.
“For the one with the qualities of the woman who rebirthed me.
The one with the attributes that my soul would recognize.”

As Rage assimilated what he told her, Ripper lowered his hungry mouth to hers. The kiss was slow and deep.
Hypnotic.
Rage closed her eyes and relaxed into the sensation on their lips rubbing.
To the caress of his tongue on hers.
To the taste of his sweet breath.

He broke from her mouth and murmured, “I watched you for years.
Wanting you.
Falling in love with you.
Waiting for the right time.”

“For a time when you thought I would be primed for a deep, passionate love,” she added. Rage rolled her head back as Ripper lowered to kiss and nibble her collarbone.

“Exactly,” he murmured.

“So I could replace the one who made you.” Rage said this with no hurt or animosity. That is what she’d seen. As Ripper had tried to make her his Offspring with a deep love for him firmly in her heart, so had he been made by his master. He’d been bound with that love firmly in his heart and soul and blood. And when his master had died, he was left with such emptiness.
So bereft that he’d wanted to die.
So desperate that he’d searched for someone who could fill that longing for love and companionship that he suffered like no other could have. And he’d tried to make Rage the same as he, bound to him as he felt bound to her. Only it had backfired and that only served to heighten his pain. Not only had she not returned his love, she’d despised and scorned him for no other reason than the emotional circumstances that had led to her rebirthing. What Ripper had thought was love was nothing more than magic scars imprinted upon his soul. She’d become his obsession. If she fled he would stalk her to the ends of the earth.

As Ripper moved, the vial in her pocket jabbed into her thigh. With her wrists bound and slung around Ripper’s neck there was no way for her to reach it. “Release my hands, Ripper. Let me touch you all over,” she murmured into his ear. Rage nuzzled the curve of his throat before dragging the sharp points of her fangs along his flesh.
Foreplay for a vampire.

Ripper tucked his head. Firmly he guided her hands over his head. As he leaned back, he folded her hands together and rested them on her chest. Before she could object, Ripper slipped away, leaving her alone on the bed. “Not yet. You will stay here. Stay safe until I rip Caden’s heart out and drink the last drop of blood from it.”

Rage sat up. “Wait!”

Too late.
Ripper was already gone.

Chapter Eight

Rage struggled to free herself from her bonds as the sunlight hours passed. The bones of her wrists just wouldn’t shift enough to allow her hands to slip free. Nothing within reach offered much help. The clan house grew noisier as the other vampires moved about, and shortly after sunset it quieted down. Not long after Shade appeared outside the window. It slipped open with a minimum of finessing and he climbed inside, crowbar in hand. Neither of them spoke as he bent the links that joined her shackles to the chain. When she was free, the shackles remained about her wrists like bracelets.

Shade glanced down at Rage with fear and concern reflecting in his dark chocolate eyes. When he claimed her hand, she gladly squeezed his fingers tightly. At least she wasn’t alone in this. His presence by her side gave her the slimmest glimmer of hope that things might actually work out despite all assurance that they were screwed.

They climbed out onto the ledge outside the window. Together they jumped down and raced away from the clan house. The sleek motorcycle that Dean had left beside the shed gleamed in the moonlight like polished obsidian. The aerodynamic and sexy design made it appear as if it were already traveling fast even when it was standing still. Shade tossed his long, leather-clad leg over the bike and started it up as Rage climbed on behind him. As she wrapped her arms around his trim and toned waist, she glanced back at the clan house. The door was open and she could hear raised voices coming from inside.

Shade revved the engine and Rage hugged him tightly. Her cheek rested against the back of his black biker jacket. Drawing comfort from his warm, solid body, Rage knew it was a false confidence that she gained from her vampire brother. When Shade gunned the engine and they charged away from the clan house as fast as the top-of-the-line motorcycle could fly, four Kinsmen shot out of the clan house in pursuit. They were a blur, traveling close to the speed of the bike even on foot, allowing her to make them out when normally they would barely be visible at this speed. The one circling wide to their right as if trying to herd the motorcycle was Ripper.

Shade accelerated and zigzagged to the left as Ripper tried to cross their path. He cut the Kinsman off, and as Ripper sailed across just behind the bike, he reached out and stroked the braid that bounced in the wind behind Rage. If he had wanted to, he could have grabbed her hair and tore her from the back of the motorcycle, but he didn’t.

With her pulse quickening, Rage hunched tighter to Shade. Her heart ached. Before the night was over, someone she cared about was going to be dead.
Possibly more than one.
And she was powerless to stop it.

Repeatedly the Kinsmen made near-miss passes at the motorcycle, and every time Shade just barely maneuvered around them. They were playing with them and Rage knew it. Not just playing with them but using them.

Shade weaved in and out of traffic and soon another motorcycle angled in front of them from a side street. Gripping tighter to Shade, Rage willed him not to follow. To turn away before it was too late. But Shade zoomed along behind the other bike, letting it guide their path. The industrial zone they entered was close to deserted at this time of night. The rider on the motorcycle ahead of them bolted through an open gate to a factory that extended to cover the entire block. The parking lot was deserted. Just feet short of slamming into the building, the other motorcycle angled off and skidded to a stop.

The rider lowered his long legs to the ground on either side of the bike and removed his helmet. Dean shook out his hair and his bangs draped down into his eyes as always. He watched as Shade braked several feet away from him and angled so they could both see the Offspring. The door near Dean opened and Caden stood just inside the threshold.

Rage shouted, “It’s a trap!”

Before the words fully left her lips, the four Kinsmen who had been trailing them appeared as if from nowhere. In a semicircle around them, the Blood Runner Clan Kinsmen had them pinned down.

Dean just smirked. “You know what, Rage? You are right. This is a trap.”

More than a dozen Executioner Clan Kinsmen stepped to the edge of the roof overhead, each holding weapons, some ancient and some modern in design. The fear tore through her as the Executioners vanished, or rather attacked so quickly she could not even see them. Ripper and the other Blood Runner Kinsmen blurred as they dodged the incoming attacks.

Shade gunned his motorcycle and headed for the doorway where Caden held open the door. Dean spun his tires and followed. Once they were inside, Caden slammed the door closed and bolted it with a serious four-by-four made of steel.

“Caden!”
Rage climbed off the back of the motorcycle before Shade even had the kickstand down. She ran to Caden and threw her arms around his neck. “Ripper is outside.”

Caden caught her around the waist and drew her tightly against his chest, but it was body armor and not muscle she felt. “He can’t use the Summoning against you while he’s distracted.” Caden glared over top of her. “Who is this?”

“Shade.
He’s cool.” Rage caught Caden’s face between her palms and forced him to look down at her. “Listen to me. I found a way to escape Ripper using magic. I just need some of his blood.”

“I’m not sure what we can do against those Kinsmen outside.” Shade frowned. He and Dean circled close around them. “Ripper’s a smart fighter. He won’t die out there. He’d slip away to find you another day.”

Dean drew back and gave Caden a meaningful glance that Rage could not read then he moved to a crate by the door. Dean pried the lid off with his fingers and withdrew an automatic machine gun. “Let’s level the playing field.”

A booming voice from above interrupted. “Do you really think that will save you?”

Ripper stood on a crossbeam near the ceiling. The windows near the roof were propped open. Dressed in all black and carrying a machete, the Kinsman looked like death come to destroy them all.

Dean twisted and strafed the ceiling. His muscled back and arms, which showed through his tee shirt, flexed as he fired off the rapid burst of artillery. Ripper spun away from the bullets in a blur, dropping to the floor.

“So much for plan A.”
Dean tossed down the empty machine gun and drew out two automatic handguns, one for each hand. “Anyone got plan B?”

From beneath his leather jacket, Shade withdrew a long knife. Caden opted for a shotgun. Not having come armed herself, Rage grabbed a six-foot-long metal bar from beside the door of a diameter that was comfortable for her hand. She’d never used a gun before, and she didn’t want to try to figure out how to use one while a Kinsman was chewing a hole in her neck. Raising her bar in both hands, she said, “Let’s go.”

“We won’t be able to take him down in a rush,” Caden shouted to them. “Tag team attacks will wear him down. Just like a pack of wolves taking down a bison.”

Dean fired three shots. If he managed to catch Ripper he showed no sign.
Shade, with his dancing and fighting prowess, spun into Ripper as he swooped toward Caden.
As he whirled, he sliced with his knife, his arm fully extended. Rage heard the blade penetrate with a slick, wet sound. Dropping to his knees, Shade twisted beneath Ripper’s clawing fingers and spun away unharmed.

Dean raised his eyebrows at Rage and muttered, “Are you sure Shade’s not a Kinsman yet?”

The strikes Shade landed slowed Ripper but didn’t stop him. He burst forth, arms wide, as he charged Caden. Rage screamed but Caden didn’t flinch as the Kinsman raced toward him. Instead he just held his ground and fired off a spray from the shotgun. The smoke and dozens of shotgun pellets flew at Ripper, catching the Kinsman at close range. His momentum carried him forward and he tackled Caden.

Ripper was bleeding but still fighting. He snapped at Caden’s neck but Rage struck the Kinsman in the side with her steel bar. Just as Dean and Shade caught Ripper by either arm, Caden managed to wedge his feet between them and kicked Ripper back. They dragged him back a few feet before Ripper caught them each by the throat.

Dean raised his pistol to Ripper’s temple. “Let us go or I blast your fucking head open.”