The Rise of Vlad (The Seeker Series Book 3) (3 page)

Chapter Six

Nita walked the five miles back to the narrow, two lane road where she’d left her car parked along the side.

The need to shift on her trek through the woods, plagued her but she resisted. She needed time to think about how to handle the fact that vampire blood now flowed through her veins.

Alpha or not, Nita had no doubt she would be challenged. Her pack would see the enemy’s blood inside her as a betrayal. No matter that it had been put there out of necessity, not to mention against her will.

Nita noticed two things at once as she emerged from the trees. Her car remained in the place she’d left it, and four of her pack members hovered around it.

Her gaze zeroed in on Miles Castro, lounging against the hood. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” he remarked, pushing away from the car to saunter toward her.

Nita’s indignation practically choked her. “I don’t recall needing your permission to leave the compound.”

He stopped in front of her, sizing her up with his electric blue eyes. “I never said you needed permission. I only became worried when you didn’t show up for our date.”

To say that Nita didn’t find Miles attractive, would be a lie. Yet something about him didn’t sit well with her. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it was there, lurking just beneath the surface. “Something came up that I had to attend to. I’m sorry about skipping out on you, but it couldn’t be helped.”

His nose flared slightly and his eyes darkened. “Vampire.”

“That couldn’t be helped either.” She moved to step around him.

Miles grabbed onto her arm, and spun her around to face him. “You stink of vampire and that’s all you have to say?”

Nita jerked free of his hold. “Don’t you ever put your hands on me again, Castro. I was injured in the mountains, and a vampire saved my life. Against my will, mind you, but what’s done is done.”

Miles stared down at her as if she’d grown another head. “Did you give yourself to him?”

His words hurt her more than they should. But Nita would be damned if she’d let him know that. “No, I didn’t give myself to him. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“It’s the entire pack’s business when their alpha disappears without a word and comes back reeking of bloodsuckers,” Miles growled. “You leave yourself open for a challenge.”

Nita allowed her eyes to change, showing him her dominance. “I will not be intimidated by you nor anyone else in the pack. If someone dares to challenge me, then I will gladly take them up on it.”

Marching the rest of the distance to her car, Nita inwardly seethed. She had no doubt that Miles was right about the pack’s reaction to the vampire blood in her veins.

She got in the vehicle and slid behind the wheel, slamming the door shut behind her. The other three pack members stared at her wordlessly as she started the car and pulled onto the road.

Her cell phone buzzed from the center console, vibrating against the plastic lining with an insistent hum. She fished it out and brought it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Honey, are you okay?” Her mother’s voice was a balm to her soul.

“I’m fine, Mom. I’ll be home shortly.”

“Miles said he’d been trying to call you for hours before he took some of the pack to go look for you. He found your car on the side of the road near the mountains.”

Nita had to unclench her teeth to answer. Damn Castro for worrying her mother. “I’ll tell you all about tomorrow. But I’m okay. Really.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I am. Get some sleep. I’ll come check on you in the morning.”

“Okay. I love you, honey.”

“I love you too,” Nita murmured before ending the call.

Tossing the phone onto the passenger seat, Nita ran a hand through her unruly hair and cranked up the air conditioning. Her face felt fevered and flushed.

An image of Vlad standing at the top of the mountain, his eyes glowing red from beneath his hood, his cloak billowing out behind him flashed through Nita’s mind.

Her own eyes became heavy, and her body grew restless. She slumped down farther in the seat.

“
Nita
…” Vlad voice called to her. “
Come to me.”

Her nipples hardened at the seductive pull now humming inside her body, beckoning her to his side.

A moan rose in her throat, and her legs parted without conscious thought.

It took her a second to realize her car sat on the side of the road once again, her foot rested on the brake, and one of her hands slowly slid down her stomach to the juncture of her thighs.

“
Touch yourself, Nita. Feel your desire, the power of your need for me…”

With a shuddering breath, Nita dropped her head back against the seat, unzipped her jeans, and slipped her trembling fingers inside.

Hot, pulsing wetness wrung another moan from deep within her throat. Her eyes drifted shut, and her hips rolled on instinct.

“
Come to me…”

Nita’s breathing accelerated with every swipe of her fingers across her oversensitive clit. She wanted to go to him, to come for him.

“Oh God,” she gasped, the beginnings of an orgasm racing up her spine. A vision of Vlad’s mouth descending toward hers, his hands in her hair, his pale blue gaze holding her hostage invaded her mind in a whirlwind of sensations that pushed her over the edge.

Her body convulsed with a climax, ripping a hoarse cry from her lungs and seizing her muscles in its grip. She had no control and no will to stop it if she’d wanted to.

The images slowly began to fade, taking with them the fever and uncontrollable lust Nita had been caught up in for the last few minutes.

Sucking in an uneven breath, Nita lifted her head and opened her eyes. She couldn’t remember pulling over, stopping the car, or anything beyond the conversation she’d had with her mother. All she recalled was the mind-blowing orgasm she’d just experienced while fantasizing about the man she despised most.

Man?
Nita couldn’t believe she’d even thought of the Impaler in that manner. He may resemble a man to a point, but there was nothing human about the monster she’d left back at Castle Dracula. At least that was what she had always referred to the place as.

She zipped up her pants and put the car in gear, her foot unsteady on the gas pedal. Small contractions still pulsed inside her body, reminding her of what she’d done.

The rest of the drive was spent thinking over everything that had taken place since she’d met with Wade Leighton, a member of the Seeker Society.

Nita had been tracked down by Leighton shortly after her return from Florida. Word had reached the Seeker Society of her involvement with the vampires and the death of Ellis Ford.

It unnerved Nita that the Seeker Society had knowledge of her participation in helping Angelo and Ember. Since Ellis had been killed without knowing Nita’s identity, that left only one alternative… The vampires had a mole in their midst.

Nita arrived in front of her cabin a few minutes later. She switched off the engine and climbed out, her gaze tracking the surrounding forest.

Someone watched her from the trees; she could feel it as surely as she could sense a presence inside her home.

Energy hummed to life inside her body as she crept to the door and jerked it open.

Miles Castro’s scent hit her square in the face seconds before he stepped from the shadows.

“What are you doing here?” Nita snapped, cautiously entering her humble abode.

He took a seat in her recliner. “Waiting for you. What took you so long?”

Nita blocked out the image of Vlad and what had happened in her car, afraid her expression would give her away. “I had something to take care of first.”

“Such as?”

She quickly changed the subject. “You don’t have permission to be in my home. Not only is it an invasion of my privacy, but it’s kind of creepy as well.”

His gaze softened. “Forgive me for being presumptuous. I was only worried about you, so I brought the dinner over here that I’d made for you earlier tonight. Figured you’d be hungry.”

Nita’s stomach growled on cue. She inhaled the delicious smells coming from the kitchen, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. “I can’t believe I didn’t smell the food when I pulled up.”

“You seemed preoccupied when you got out of the car,” Miles admitted, gaining his feet and sauntering into the kitchen.

Nita’s eyebrows lifted. “You were spying on me?”

Miles laughed. “Of course. How else is a guy supposed to get close to someone like you without paying attention to detail?”

A chuckle bubbled up against her will. “I believe that’s called stalking.”

“Call it what you will, but it works.”

“Whatever, Miles. I’m going to let it slide since you brought food. I’m so hungry I’m about to go down on one knee.”

“Well, we can’t have that, now can we?” Miles came back into the room, carrying a large tray full of food, beer, and a slice of pecan pie.

He set the tray on the coffee table and took a seat next to her. “Would you like for me to feed it to you?”

Nita’s lips twitched. “Why are you really here, Miles? After discovering the vampire blood in my body, I figured you were off somewhere, planning my demise.”

Miles shrugged before popping the top on her beer and handing it to her. “I don’t like it. But the run home gave me time to think. I would rather you be alive because of a little vampire blood, then dead without it. Besides,” he continued, “I’m sure the Shaman can rid you of it.”

Nita’s stomach lurched. The rituals performed to cleanse oneself of unwanted blood were not only painful and horrific, but most didn’t survive.

“The ritual is strictly to cleanse the blood of a deceased mate from the body of the one left behind. Not to rid oneself of vampire blood. We don’t even know if it can be done.”

Miles popped the top of his own beer. “It’s the same concept, Nita. It’s a cleansing of unwanted blood. It’s true that many don’t survive the ritual, but the strong ones usually do. And I’ve never known anyone as strong as you.”

Nita changed the subject once again, not wanting to think of the implications of Mile’s words. “How is the new house coming along?”

“Marry me, Nita,” he blurted.

Her heart nearly stopped. “Wh-what?”

“Mate with me. Both of our families are powerful in this territory. We would make a good match.”

Anxiety was a bitch, and it swirled through Nita’s chest like a tornado. She couldn’t mate with Miles. Mates experienced each other’s thoughts and feelings. Nita couldn’t imagine the energy it would take to constantly hide her emotions from a man she’d mated but didn’t love.

She jumped to her feet, unsure of what to say or how to react. “I can’t marry you, Miles. Please don’t do this. You’re putting me in an awkward position that I don’t want to be in.”

Miles stood as well. “Am I really such a bad choice?”

“No,” Nita assured him. “You’re not bad at all. It’s just that I’m not ready for a mate. I have too much responsibility as alpha to even consider such a commitment.”

Taking hold of her hand, Miles brought it to his lips. “Will you at least consider it? Take some time to think about it?”

Nita numbly nodded, staring into his eyes, the eyes of a man she’d known all her life. “I’ll think it over.”

“That’s all I ask,” Miles murmured, pulling her back down to a sitting position. “Now relax and eat.”

Chapter Seven

Vlad stood on the side of the mountain, gazing through the window of Nita’s small cabin.

He’d followed her home after their unimaginable sexual encounter in her car.

Vlad still reeled from the connection he’d held with the shifter. In all his years, he had never connected with another being other than a vampire.

It had to be the blood he’d given her that caused the strange phenomenon.

Vampires often bonded with those they shared blood with, enabling them to seek each other out at will. But only a mated pair could actually sense each other’s emotions.

What Vlad had experienced with the shifter went beyond the discerning of feelings and into the realm of the impossible.

Vlad had felt her excitement, her desperation, and ultimately…her orgasm, as if he were in that car with her.

It was as if he’d controlled her pleasure, and she, his.

He glanced down at the evidence of his still-lingering desire for her. He wanted to bury himself deep inside her body, to feel her come apart in his arms.

With a growl of denial, Vlad returned his gaze to the window, watching as Nita finished her food and laid her head against Miles Castro’s shoulder.

For some reason it bothered Vlad to see her show such familiarity with Castro, and that pissed him off even more.

He knew he should turn around and head home, but he couldn’t seem to make his feet obey.

Vlad narrowed his eyes as Miles slowly coasted his fingers up Nita’s arm before resting them against her cheek and tugging her face up for his descending mouth.

Heat formed behind Vlad’s eyes, and he blasted down the side of the mountain without conscious thought. He had one word on the brain as he blurred his way toward Nita’s cabin…
Mine
!

Something slammed into him with the force of a truck, knocking him off his feet and sending him crashing through the trees.

Vlad immediately gained his feet, scanning the forest around him until his gaze stopped on a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

A lone wolf stood several feet up the mountain above Vlad, staring down at him without blinking.

It angered Vlad that he’d been too wrapped up in Nita to sense the wolf’s approach.

Vlad shot back up the mountain with vampiric speed, coming to stop in front of an old man that now stood where the wolf had been.

“The Impaler,” the elderly man rasped without flinching.

Vlad sensed no fear coming from the shifter. Vlad’s fangs retracted as he studied the light gray eyes of the half man, half wolf. “You are their Shaman.” It wasn’t a question.

The old man nodded once.

“How is it that you recognize me?” Vlad asked out of curiosity.

“I dreamt of you, many moons ago. Although I knew this day would eventually come, it does not make it less daunting.”

Vlad tilted his head to the side, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “What nonsense do you spout, old man?”

“You must go from this place and never return. For I have seen a great cloud, and in its depths arose a creature with black eyes. And in its hands were two rings: symbols of war and death. Rivers of blood flowed from the rings, carrying with it the carcasses of our people. Yours as well as mine.”

“And you think that I am this black-eyed demon?” Vlad couldn’t help but ask.

The Shaman shrugged a bony shoulder. “I do not know from whence the demon comes… I only know that he does.”

“Perhaps you are not as insightful as you pretend to be. My advice to you would be to take yourself back to your dwelling before I drain you of what little blood you possess.”

Vlad brought the hood of his cloak over his head and turned to go, but the Shaman’s next words stopped him.

“If you touch the leader of the Kiana Clan, you will surely alter the fate of both vampire and shifter alike.”

“I have already touched her, old man. I saved her life.”

“Yes,” the Shaman murmured. “You have tainted her with your blood. It will take a much higher power than anything I possess to rid of her of it. If she does not survive, I fear the wheels will be set into motion for the demise of both our races.”

Vlad could feel his eyes burn beneath his hood. “What do you mean, if she does not survive?”

The Shaman stared back at him for long moments. “To my knowledge, no shifter in history has ever carried vampire blood. If Nita does not survive the ritual, more blood besides hers will be on your hands, demon. A lot more.” With that, the Shaman disappeared as fast as he appeared.

Vlad slowly turned, his gaze once again seeking out Nita’s cabin, only to find her no longer on the couch, Miles nowhere to be seen either.

Drifting farther down the mountain, Vlad caught sight of Castro descending a hill that led him away from Nita’s home.

So, she hadn’t allowed him into her bed, Vlad thought with satisfaction, continuing to move closer to her dwelling.

He came to a stop at the back door and gripped the knob.

“Did you think I wouldn’t smell your stench from a mile away?”

Vlad stilled, part of him amused that Nita had sensed his approach. “Is that why you sent the pup on his way?”

“You’ve got some balls, showing up in Kiana territory. What are you doing here?”

Vlad swiveled around and had her by the throat before she could suck in a breath. On instinct, his fangs sank into the pulse point of her neck, his body crushing hers against the side of the cabin.

She fought to free herself of his hold, but her strength was no match for his.

Vlad’s eyes slid shut as her intoxicating flavor burst across his tongue, sending him on a high unlike anything he’d ever known.

It took a moment for him to realize she’d stopped fighting and another to notice she’d gone pliant in his arms.

A moan slipped past her lips, and the arms that had been struggling to free herself now wrapped around his waist to pull him tightly against her.

Vlad retracted his fangs and dragged his hungry mouth across her cheek to settle over her lips.

She tasted so damn good he wanted to devour her, to drink her in, and forget, even for a short time, who he was…who she was.

Her arms came up around his neck to pull her body higher up his taller one.

She kissed him back with abandon, licking, nipping, and sucking on his lips while grinding her sex against his rock-hard erection.

Vlad hissed at the unbelievable feeling of her wet heat moving against his aching cock.

“Nita,” he snarled, reaching up to rip the damnable jeans from her body. He needed to be inside her. Now.

A howl split the night, followed by another until a chorus of howls began ricocheting off the mountains to drown out the thundering of Vlad’s heart.

Nita suddenly jerked back, her eyes full of confusion and pain. “Go.”

Vlad stumbled back a step, shocked that he’d nearly fucked his enemy against the side of her house. “Until next time.”

“There won’t be a next time,” she snapped, glancing toward the wolves heading toward them. “Now go, before they rip your stubborn head off.”

He quickly bent and kissed her once more before spinning on his heel and blurring his way back up the mountain.