Carmine was charging Letrelle with trespassing. Trespassing was considered a serious infraction since territory is what supports a Master and his liege. A Master's flunkies would often be sent to steal resources like customers, business ideas, or human servants. That's why a Master had to request permission to enter another Master's territory, and many times it was granted but with stipulations.To bring the complaint to the territory meant that there was an impending battle. Battles were bad because they definitely brought human attention—which caused the rest of us to scramble to keep it clear of the media. Vampires have created some of the most interesting false stories in history including the Bloods and the Crips. In hindsight, that should have been obvious. The two rival Vampire families enlist their humans to do their dirty work. Other examples would be the Mob, the San Andreas Fault, fourteen hurricanes, the battle at the O.K. Corral, and the Salem Witch trials. All of these w
"Are we through here?" Letrelle said in a tight voice."Kim, let me kick his ass," Paul said in my head. "He's been nothing but disrespectful to you, and I'm not going to allow it in my presence." I had to stare at Paul. "But you haven't turned yet without the full moon.""Trust me, baby." More from a sense of curiosity than a need to put Letrelle in his place, I decided to see what Paul was about."Okay, take care of your business."Paul smiled and cracked his knuckles."One quick thing." Paul addressed Letrelle."What?" Letrelle said. Paul leaped over my desk as if he had springs in his feet. He moved almost as fast as I could. Letrelle came to his feet in time to catch Paul in his arms. They hit the floor with Paul on top. He growled, and it wasn't a human sound. The ladies and I leaped to our feet to watch. Carmine had moved out of his chair and was standing at some distance watching the interaction with the rest of us.Paul had our complete attention. He wasn't a Were
Paul said he thought that Vampire number two could pay rent to Vampire number one and allow a few of his people to make a profit.That made Vampire number one happy, and Vampire number two grudgingly agreed. Two more appointments settled their disputes in the living room and cancelled. The next appointment ended in violence. A Master accused me of unfairly stealing one of his donors. He claimed that I had allowed his donor to leave for a safe house without giving him an opportunity to tell his side.I told him that slavery of donors had ended when I came into power. A donor was free to go of his own will.He fucked up and referred to me as a mutt bitch. Paul leaped out of his chair. Since he looked like nothing more than a human to the Master, it caught him by surprise. Paul backhanded him and broke all the fine little bones in the man's jaw. His mouth hung uselessly.The Vampire couldn't drop teeth, but he bulked up and clawed at Paul. Paul punched him in the chest, and hi
"I could start by shaking you. But you know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. I can try carrying you outside so that the sunshine touches you."I licked my lips. "Okay. But if I start burning …""I'll rush you back in if that happens."I trusted Paul. "Okay." I snuggled back into his arms, and he held me to him tightly. "What do you think about me eating meat?""Kim, I think our bond has transferred some of my ability to you just like it transferred some of your ability to me.""But I'm a Vampire. I can't digest food. Where is it going?""I think we'll find out tomorrow."I grimaced. "I hope it's not too gross." I yawned. "The sun is rising."I felt him look down at me. "Then if it works okay, I'll be seeing you in a few minutes."I smiled and snuggled up against him. Then I slept comfortably. ~*~My limbs felt heavy and I was confused when I awoke. I felt Paul's hands stroking my hair, so I focused on him."What time is it?" I asked."Night, but earlier than you
When I came out of the bedroom, Paul was talking on his cell phone. "I gotta go. Just have all the paperwork ready to go no later than midnight. Here is fine. Talk to you later."I slipped into his arms and kissed him. "What are you doing?""Mara is getting our marriage license. We'll need to sign that so that we're legal." He kissed me. "You look beautiful, baby. Are you ready to go? Do you need to feed first?""No. It's Kat's day and before we head to the Council meeting I'll flash to her place for a feeding." That's usually how we did it when no one was required to be here. "Oh, and don't forget that if you're coming to the Council meeting with me, we'll need an extra hour and a half. It's a fairly long drive.""Or, I'll take one of the cars, probably the Porsche, then while you're with Kat I can be driving to the Council house. Then you can flash yourself to the car.""That sounds like a plan, but I don't have a Porsche.""We have a Porsche. I had my Porsche taken out of stor
"I won't put you at risk by changing completely. But I can change partially for you. You'll get the idea, and I'll still be in my present mind. Oh, and I won't have the tail."I smiled. Damn, that might have been fun.He released me and removed his jacket, handing it to me. Then he unbuttoned his shirt and handed that to me as well."You have a tattoo," I said.I ran my finger along the tattoo, a thick, black tribal band, on his upper bicep. I hadn't noticed it earlier. His chest was thick and muscular, and I wanted to run my hands along the ripples at his belly and up his pecs. Lycan blood had done some miraculous things to his human form.Paul's breathing intensified as he took my hand away from his body, kissed each fingertip, and kissed my wrist. He then released my hand and backed away. Paul rotated his neck—I heard it crack—and his shoulders rapidly broadened, his neck thickened, and his arms almost doubled in size! I gasped. "Damn, Paul."Like a ripple effect, veins popp
Paul's breathing became louder, and his body was hot and slick with sweat. His hoarse breathing told me that he was on the verge of coming. He pressed my back against the stone siding of the house. In this position I couldn't keep up with his movement. "Oh, baby!" he cried hoarsely. "Oh God!" The smooth pumping of his hips became faster as he drove into me roughly. I felt my own orgasm closing in, but the animal sounds issuing from Paul made me even hotter. When I felt his hot fluid shooting into my body I screeched, my nails raking down his back. Paul shuddered and his teeth sank into my shoulder.Being bitten by a Werewolf is not like being bitten by a Vampire. Paul's teeth were thick and used for ripping and shredding. Vampire's teeth were long and thin and only used for puncturing. Our saliva acted as an anesthesia. Paul didn't have any anesthesia in his saliva.The pain was horrible, and I bucked and pushed against him, barely holding back a scream of pain. But my body su
I'd met him before. Karen had told him that we were cousins, and I played along. Karen was one drop-dead sister. Her petite body was naturally voluptuous, and her dark brown skin was flawless.She was alone listening to some Jill Scott and sipping wine. I remembered back when I used to do that. I collapsed on her all-white couch and looked the way I felt."What's wrong?" She picked up her glass and sipped the pale fluid."Paul can't control his wolf, at least not fully.""Oh no. Did he hurt you?""He pushed me the other day, after I tried to take a feeding from him. He said the wolf didn't like to feel dominated." I sighed. "And then tonight he bit my shoulder during lovemaking."Karen waved her hand at me. "Vampires bite each other during lovemaking all the time. I don't know how many times Johan bit me, and I can't heal half as fast as you can.""Vampires control what they do," I said. "Paul couldn't control himself.""He's new, right?"I nodded."Maybe it's like with Vampi