Carnal Knowledge

CHAPTER FOUR

The hairs stood up on the back of her neck. She ignored the warning.

“This attack of conscience is nice, and correct me if I’m wrong, but you enjoyed that as much as I did.”

He faced her, his features impassive, but his gaze was blistering ... and agonized. “You cannot stay. Now go.” He pulled the heavy gate down, watching her through the metal slats. “I don’ want you hurt.”

Hell, what had she expected? He wasn’t as interested as she’d thought, or maybe he just thought her a skank and not worthy of poking his cock into. Most guys would have. She didn’t understand him at all. Why the hell did he think he had to save her? Why was he being so noble?

Kaeli glared at him. “Fine, but the next time you think you’re going to save me, don’t.”

“I’m sorry you don’ understand, petite.” He hit the button and the elevator started down. “I’ll call you a cab.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled, and then he disappeared as the elevator lowered beyond the floor level. Kaeli straightened her dress, trying to ignore the sticky residue of their almost fucking between her legs. Of course, she’d never felt so thoroughly fucked in all her life, and it had nothing to do with pleasure and everything to do with betrayal.

It was unreasonable to expect anything from him, after all, she didn’t know him. What was the world coming to when you couldn’t expect a guy to oblige when he so obviously wanted it too? Worst of all, she felt cheap, and she couldn’t quite figure out why. Maybe it had been the begging....

Kaeli cringed, remembering every little detail as she exited through the dim lower level to the outer door. She might as well resign herself to the fact that she couldn’t have what she wanted. The knowledge stung, just as it always did when she reached this conclusion.

There was a taxi waiting for her at the curb, and she startled to see it sitting there, the engine running exhaust out of the tailpipe. She hadn’t expected one to get here so soon, but they may have been in the area when the call was received. There could be no other explanation.

She shivered and hugged herself as she stepped up to the taxi, then opened the door, wanting to get back to the hotel as soon as possible. Light flooded the interior as the door swung open, and she leaned forward to get inside. A blond man grinned from the back seat, and the driver turned to look at her, snatching her arm when she would have pulled away.

It was the man who’d attacked Navarre in the alley. She gasped as he smiled and flashed wickedly long canines at her. Thick red stained the sides of his mouth--blood.

“Fuck!” she screamed and snatched at her arm, pulling back with all her weight. The blond lunged for her, catching her braids in his hands, dragging her into the taxi.

She grasped the edge of the door, trying to get free, screaming as she slashed at the hands holding her, biting at anything that neared her mouth.

The men laughed, their strength unbelievable. She realized they wanted her to struggle and scream--they were enjoying it.

“Navarre!” she screamed, “Get the fuck down here! God dammit!”

Her nails snapped as the blond pulled her fully inside. The driver reached past her flailing limbs to pull the door shut.

The blond pressed her into the seat, his elbow in her throat. She gagged, trying to breathe, clawing at his throat. Her nails punctured and slashed his skin, but he didn’t flinch. Her eyes closed as the air choked from her lungs. He eased the pressure on her throat, giving her a shake, forcing her eyelids to flutter open.

He grinned, flashing his predatory teeth, the wicked ivory nearly glowing in the dark. “I smell his cum on your skin. Did he mark you? I always wanted to know what a human tastes like after a wolf marks her.”

He lowered his face toward her, fangs extended, and Kaeli knew she was a dead woman.

Her scream pierced his ears like needles, sending pain shooting through his head and heart. Without hesitating, he raced down the stairs, through the empty lower level, cursing himself for his stupidity. He should have known one attack would never satisfy the blood thirsty bastards. He’d tried to keep her away. But he hadn’t tried hard enough.

He heard the torrent of her profanity, the laughter of the vampires who’d attacked. Blood scented the air as he neared. He reached the door, threw it open just as the taxi’s wheels spun, rubber burning in the night as he ran outside.

The driver stuck his arm out the window, giving Navarre the finger like in some bizarre satire of a horror movie. But this was his life--and he was one of the monsters.

He saw red--a haze of blood. He raced back inside to his viper, jumping inside and slamming the key into the ignition. His worst fears had just been realized. The vamps ... they’d taken her ... because of him.

They were dead anyway, but if they hurt her ... he’d torture them for each drop of blood she shed ... for each bruise on her flesh....

The viper barely scraped under the opening garage door, and it shot out into the night like a silver bullet.

The streets were deserted on this end, empty as a ghost town. Within seconds, he caught sight of the red glowing tail lights, disappearing around the corner onto a side street.

They were headed out of town. Navarre increased his speed, pressing the narrow pedal to the floor. The sleek viper easily caught up to the old taxi. He pulled alongside it, glancing in the dark windows, trying to see her.

Streetlight glanced off the glass, revealing nothing inside, but the car shook on the road as if she struggled with her captors. His ears perked to the faint sound of her voice, but he couldn’t make out her words, couldn’t reach with his senses. His inner beast raged, pumping the tempo of his blood to a furious pitch.

His hands tightened on the steering wheel, knuckles gone white as he raced ahead of the taxi, pulling in front of them, forcing them to slow down.

The taxi whipped around him in a sudden, maniacal swerve that caught him by surprise, and he heard the howling, mocking laughter of the driver through the window as he dragged ahead.

Navarre tensed, unwilling to ram them here, with the road narrowing to a single lane. The dwindling street lamps disappeared entirely, going dark as they continued on their suicidal course. Trees rose up from the night like dark sentinels, obliterating the sky, closing around them like the ranks of an ancient army. He could not see the moon, but knew its full shape would soon be rising--and that light would only help him.

The taxi fishtailed in front of him, taunting, forcing him back when he tried to pass. He gritted his teeth, having no choice but to follow, watching as the speedometer climbed past 60, higher, inching past 70. Killing speeds.

Gravel spewed beneath the wheels in front of him, striking the windshield with a barrage, cracking the glass.

The headlights bobbed as the taxi jumped a dip in the road. Navarre followed, saw the deer dart out in front of the cab a split second before them. He slammed on the brakes, watching in horror as they struck the startled doe.

Blood flashed in the headlights, spilling over the car like rain, throwing the animal away into the dark. The cab whirled on the gravel, flying at the shallow ditch. Mud sloshed as the wheels slammed through the soggy earth. The car flipped as the ground gave beneath it, rolling with a shatter of screaming metal and glass.

The hood peeled back, crushed into the ground as it continued to roll and crash into an ancient oak before stopping, up-ended on the ground like an overturned beetle.

Navarre hydroplaned, his brakes locking as the car spun in a wide circle as though the road were saturated with water. He gritted his teeth, compensating for the spin. The viper skidded to a halt, the high beams flooding the crash site. Navarre leapt from the car just as the dark haired driver emerged from the broken car--unhurt.

Navarre stopped in the middle of the road, his chest heaving as he stared the vamp down. Movement caught his eye as the blond crawled through the windshield and stood beside his partner, facing him. He licked something off his fingers as he smiled. “Delicious,” he said loud enough his voice carried over the distance.

The headlights lit the night with broken light. He could not see her stir in the car, smelled her blood in the air, and knew the vamp tasted her blood. Something broke inside him.

“Tonight, you die,” Navarre growled, extending his claws as he lunged with death in his eyes.

It was the hoarse cry that woke Kaeli from her stupor. She opened her eyes and groaned in pain at even so little movement. Kaeli moved her hands, felt the smooth lining of the car’s roof.

Her ears rang as she sat up, nausea washing over her until she dropped back down. Her ribs hurt, she could barely breathe, could hardly move, and couldn’t see anything.

Outside, the sounds of a fight finally registered in her tired brain. She could hear his voice, knew Navarre had somehow come for her.

But he was in trouble. They were going to kill him. He couldn’t fight two vampires--for she now knew that’s exactly what they were, that he’d been telling her the truth all along.

She had to help him ... somehow.

The car door was stuck, and trying to open it left her panting for air.

The windshield was gone though, and the only escape route she could see.

Breathing through her teeth, Kaeli dragged herself along the car roof, grimacing as the car shuddered from her movement, afraid at any moment it would just collapse on top of her.

It didn’t, and she managed to pull herself out onto the wet, muddy grass.

Heavy boots stomped in front of her, and Kaeli tried to roll away, but she wasn’t fast enough. The man grabbed her hair, nearly snatching it out of her head as he pulled her to her feet.

He jerked her hair, wrenching her head back. With her last strength, she kicked him, gasping at the movement. He laughed and squeezed an arm around her middle until she screamed and black light danced before her eyes.

Kaeli knew in that moment, she was going to be the death of Navarre.

And there was nothing she could do about it.

The dark haired vamp vanished from his view as he reached the blond-- flashing ... mind tricks. Navarre kept his eyes on the second, weaker vamp, kicked off the ground, lunging at the blond before he could react.

He hit him square in the chest, knocking him to the ground. The vamp hissed, kicking, shredding Navarre’s arms as his extended claws struck the vamp’s belly, digging in.

There were only a few ways to kill a vampire--and Navarre knew the most proficient. The vamp screamed in agony as Navarre’s hand reached like a scalpel through his body, bucked, trying to free himself. Blood flooded the air, pooling around Navarre’s arm.

The muscle pumped against his fingertips as he reached the heart, wrapping his clawed hand around it. Biting back his disgust, he crushed it, and the vampire went still, his screams suddenly silenced. His body crumbled instantly around Navarre’s arm ... crumbling to dust that mingled with the mud.

It was kill or be killed. He should not have been disturbed--but he had been. It had taken mere seconds to kill the vampire. Seconds more to stand and face his remaining foe.

He wondered that the dark haired vamp hadn’t attacked him from behind, but saw he had better quarry.

He held Kaeli.

Navarre hardly recognized her. Her face was a mask of blood. It matted her hair, and the headlights made her eyes shine with wild pain.

Navarre tensed, dropping his arms for a killing stance. He moved forward, halting only when the vamp twisted her head back, threatening to snap her neck. She grimaced, digging her nails into her captor’s arm around her chest--to no avail.

“Don’t come any closer,” he said, smiling with a confidence that boiled Navarre’s blood.

Navarre’s fingers curled with the urge to take his heart.

He licked the blood from her neck with one long swipe, drawing a strangled gasp from her throat. “Mmmm. She tastes almost as sweet as Lycans. Maybe it’s because she fucked one.”

“Why are you ... doing this?” she gasped out, her hands falling limp to her sides.

He gave Navarre a look. “Why not?”

“Did Danior send you?” Navarre said between his clenched teeth.

Was this some twisted method of revenge on the Lycans? He would kill Danior if it were true. If he lived through this night.

He laughed, a mocking, snickering sound that grated Navarre’s strained nerves. “Danior has gone. Disappeared. He told us not to touch the Lycans, but he is nowhere to be found, so we do not obey his commands. Perhaps I will be the new master.”

“Perhaps not, mon ennemi. Perhaps we all die this night.” Navarre tensed imperceptibly, waiting for the moment of inattention that would be her salvation.

“I think you are right. Let’s start with this bitch.” He slammed her head to the side and sank his teeth into her neck, shredding her throat.

Kaeli’s scream cut off almost before it began, her body going limp as the poison paralyzed her body. Blood bubbled from her lips.

It was his only chance. Navarre jumped, shifting in an instant, ignoring the pain of transformation. His pants fell away as his body melded from man to wolf, sailing through the air, propelled by inhuman strength.

He hit them both with his heavy forepaws, knocking her to the side, out of the vamp’s grip.

A fountain of red liquid streamed from her neck as the suction of his mouth broke away. The vamp’s eyes had gone red with his glut, her precious blood flowing down his chin.

Navarre landed on the ground, his veins singing with his beast. He twisted, tearing at the vamp’s belly, forcing him back. The vampire slid on blood slickened grass, his feet flying beneath him as Navarre pressed forward, going down.

Navarre was on him before he could flash and use his own mind against him. He landed on the vamp’s chest, teeth sinking into his throat.

He shook him like a rag doll, the taste of blood fueling his rage, taking over his human half, drowning out his reason.

There was nothing but the taste of the kill, the flutter of his heartbeat, hands ripping at him, feet flailing ... and then nothing. The head rolled away. He’d severed it without realizing it, so fogged with bloodlust had he become.

Seconds only had passed, an eternity for the last moments of life.

Navarre released the vampire, padding to Kaeli as the vamp crumbled to dust.

She lay in a crumpled heap, her eyes closed with the pain. Blood and saliva frothed her lips, thick red pumping from her jugular.

In a moment more she would be dead. He had but one choice to save her. If it failed, she would suffer a more horrible death than he could imagine.