Gentlemen Prefer Succubi

CHAPTER TWENTY

The boom was deafening, and the explosion of light illuminated a bloody and battle-torn Zane.

Whom I’d just shot.

“Zane,” I cried as he began to curse long and fluently.

The gun was wrestled out of my hand. “Where did you get this?” His angry voice pounded in my ear, and I shrank against the tomb wall.

“Remy gave it to me.”

“You’ve nearly shot my hand off,” he said, barely leashed fury in his voice.

I bit my lip. “I wasn’t sure if it was you or not. How was I supposed to know?”

“You could have fucking asked! How many shots are in this ridiculous little gun?”

“Um, two.”

Zane stormed away, his footsteps echoing in the silence, punctuated by a faint groan from the vampire he’d just defeated. There was another click, and another gunshot rocked the tomb.

The moaning stopped.

“Our friend’s taken care of now,” Zane said, his voice cold.

A shudder racked through me and I slid along the wall, frightened of what Zane might do to me, trying to feel my way to the exit. My fingers discovered air-the doorway. I crouched low and scrambled back through the long tunnel, panting with fear.

The wind cooled my clammy, sticky face as I emerged on trembling legs. The camels whuffed at the sight of me and I ran straight for the first mount in full-blown panic mode. Untying him, I slapped his rump to send him off into the desert, stranding Zane out here. All I wanted was to get away from angry vampires, friend or foe.

I managed to shimmy up into my kneeling camel’s saddle and slapped at the creature’s rump. The beast tried to bite me, but when I slapped its rump again it began to trot away at a rapid pace.

I didn’t start to breathe until my camel crested a dune and the tomb was out of sight. I checked to see if Zane was running after us, but the desert was empty. Part of me felt strangely disappointed that he wasn’t bothering to pursue, but I quelled the feeling, concentrating on staying atop my camel. I’d find my way back to Cairo somehow.

Suddenly rough hands encircled my waist, and before I had the time to think, I was plucked off the camel’s back and hoisted straight into the air. A scream tore from my throat and I struggled, totally disoriented and confused as to what was going on.

“Stop fidgeting,” Zane admonished from above me. “You just about killed my hand with your damned gun, and my grip’s not so good. It’ll be your fault if I drop you on the sand, and that’ll be a long, painful recovery.”

I stilled in his arms, not quite willing to believe my senses. The smell of cigarettes and sand and another smell I couldn’t quite place filled my nostrils. “Z-Zane?”

“Put your arms around me, Princess, and it’ll make the flight a lot easier on both of us.” His voice sounded strained.

I turned over to wrap my arms around his neck, and wonder and disbelief struck me as I watched his long, beautiful ebony wings flap in the night sky-wings that stretched from Zane’s corded, muscular back.

“Your trench coat,” I murmured, realizing that my hands were knotted against his bare skin and not his leather trench coat. “It’s gone.”

“Lost it in the fight,” he agreed, his gaze focused on the ground below us. “Do me a favor and save the small talk for later, all right? I’m not in the mood.”

I huddled against his neck and watched his gorgeous wings flap above me. Wings. All this time, and he never told me. This is what he traded for when he became a vampire.

It was a sobering thought, one that kept me quiet until we reached the hotel several hours later, when dawn was beginning to color the skies with pink.

Zane landed on the roof with a slight thump and released me. “Do you still have your burqa?” he asked, his massive wings folding against his back like a neat, black-feathered cloak. His face was shuttered as he stared at me, his eyes cold slits.

“I lost it in the desert,” I said, feeling slightly ashamed. Why the hell did I feel guilty? I had no reason to, but somehow he managed to make me feel like a misbehaving child.

He strode past me and headed for the door that led down into the hotel, pulled it open, and gestured for me to enter before him.

I stepped past him and descended the utility stairs.

“If we meet anyone on the way to your room, I want you to distract them, understand me?” His dark eyes blazed with anger. Definitely furious at me.

I nodded in silence and headed for our hall.

A busboy pushed a room service cart down the hall as we turned the final corner to our rooms, and I froze at the sight of him.

He stilled at the sight of me as well, noticing my stained, sweaty T-shirt and the blood on my shorts. (Zane’s blood, not mine.)

Zane coughed behind me, reminding me of my task, and I strode forward toward the busboy.

“Hi, there,” I said, sidling up to the cart and leaning over it to smile at him. “You must be room service. What’ve you got for me?”

His jaw dropped slightly as I leaned forward, and his eyes focused on my double-Ds. “M-miss Brighton,” he stammered. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

I frowned. “How do you know my name?”

“We all know your name and your room number, Miss Brighton. Everyone in the hotel does.” He continued to stare at my breasts, a look of wonder on his face.

I was getting a little turned on by the attention, thanks to the Itch. I slipped an arm around his neck and pressed myself against his torso. It felt so good to my starved body that I wanted to cry, but I forced myself to remain on-task. “Were you coming up to visit me?” My voice dropped an octave, husky and seductive.

Good and distracted, the busboy planted his hands on my behind and rubbed it, his eyes wide and unbelieving. “You smell like camels, Miss Brighton,” he whispered, dipping his face down for a kiss.

I averted my mouth at the last moment, noticing his very bad teeth and even worse breath. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“No, miss,” he said reverently, and buried his face in my cleavage.

Zane stalked past me down the hall and turned the knob to my room, shutting the door behind him.

The busboy bit the side of my breast, jerking my attention back to him with a gasp. The feeling was pleasurable, and I could tell from the look on his face that he was willing to go at it right here, right now in the middle of the hallway.

My body wanted it badly, but the rest of me was repelled. I pried him off my breasts and forced him to look into my eyes. “What’s your name, honey?”

“Kasib, miss.”

“Well, Kasib,” I said, sliding one of the hot breakfast plates off his cart. “What time do you get off work?” I touched the tip of my finger in the pat of butter sliding off a pancake and licked it suggestively.

His jaw dropped at what I was implying, and I must admit, it sent a thrill straight through me as well. The fact that I had so much power over a man went straight to my head at times. No wonder Remy was such a slut.

Kasib began to stammer. “I … I … I am free after seven tonight, miss.”

Making a note to be long gone before then, I smiled seductively. “Come to my room then, Kasib, and we’ll finish what we started here.”

“Yes, miss!” He adjusted his crotch and raced back down the hallway with his cart.

I ran to my room, heading straight for Zane, who was seated on the far side of the bed, bent over. His injured hand was splayed out before him, his good one clutching his wrist.

“Oh my God,” I said, dropping beside him as I stared at his injuries. Shriveled and blackened as if scorched in a fire, his fingers were curled into his palm against the pain. The skin of his hand was charred black and looked like it had been melted by intense heat. Blisters covered every inch of skin up to his elbow.

“My gun did that?” I put my fist to my mouth and bit down hard, determined not to cry. “Oh Zane, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“I know you didn’t,” he said, his voice tight with pain as he slowly uncurled his fingers. “Get me something to wrap this up.”

I quickly brought him a cool, wet towel, and he carefully wrapped it around his hand. As he did, I caught a glimpse of a small tattoo-a symbol I had never seen before-on his inner wrist. An angelic symbol, just like Noah had. It was a stark reminder of what he had once been.

“I’m so sorry that I shot you,” I apologized again. “Remy told me to use the gun if I got into trouble and I, uh, jumped the gun. No pun intended.”

He snorted. “Count on Remy to buy an outdated gun with terrible accuracy and only two shots. No doubt it was stylish, or something idiotic like that.”

“Pink,” I agreed, feeling like a moron. “I didn’t know it was that bad of a gun.”

“All guns are shit in the wrong hands.”

I couldn’t disagree. “Will it heal?”

He gave me a wry look, a return to the old, familiar Zane. “In about two to three days; faster if I get a few good feedings in to rejuvenate my system.” He cast a meaningful look at me.

Desire shot through me and I swallowed hard. When he’d asked me a few hours ago, I’d turned him down. But I’d seen some aspects of Zane recently that confused me, and some that charmed me, as well. He was human underneath his tough vampire exterior, underneath the wings. He’d saved me, kept me safe when he could have abandoned me. He’d carried me back to Cairo with an injured hand, when he could have left me to wander in the desert.

Underneath it all was a man who I could have fallen in love with when I was human.

But things changed. I had changed. And he wasn’t a man I could ever, ever fall in love with.

He was the enemy, an agent for the Queen of Vampires.

I sighed and moved away from him to try to ease the fierce longing throbbing through my body. My vision was hazy at the edges, my hands unsteady, and I knew it’d only get progressively worse as I continued to fight the Itch. “I can’t, Zane.”

“Your eyes are so blue,” he said, catching my hand with his good one, pulling me back down close to him. “You must be in terrible distress.”

A good, if old-fashioned, way to put it. My clothes were chafing my ultra-sensitive skin, and I had to resist the urge to fling them off and jump on him. “You’re wounded, I’m dirty, and we’re both worn out,” I reasoned, trying to remain strong in the face of opposition.

His fingers skimmed my cheek, brushing away sand. “Liar. You don’t get tired.”

I looked into his eyes, seeing the rim of red slowly flaring into the black irises. He was interested, all right, wounded or not. I averted my eyes, my gaze landing on the black waterfall of feathers edging gracefully over the bed. “Your wings are so beautiful,” I said, enthralled by the sight of them. “Can I touch them?”

His eyes flared red and he gave a jerky nod.

My hand stretched out, gingerly touching the feathers. The interior feathers were extremely soft and downy, the ones on the edges harder and longer. My fingers trailed over the smooth, shining fall with wonder. “They’re incredible.”

He remained silent, and I looked over at him. His eyes were bloodred, watching my every move with unnerving intensity. His fangs grazed his lower lip, and his hands were curled into fists that shook ever so slightly.

“Don’t,” he said softly.

I pulled my hands away from his wings. “Does it hurt when I touch them?”

Zane’s voice was a low growl. “If you touch them again, I’m going to throw you back on this bed, throw your legs over my shoulders, and fuck you. And not gently, like I want to. Because I won’t be able to control myself.”

The images flashed through my mind with breathtaking intensity. “Oh,” I said, feeling a twinge of disappointment that he was so controlled. I clasped my hands on my lap. “You … you wanted them back?” I wasn’t sure how to phrase my question. “The wings?”

“I fell for the love of a woman, just like every other Serim,” he said, his hot eyes intent on me. “I left Heaven behind for her, and when she was taken from me, I had nothing left but an eternity without her.” He looked away, and the room filled with silence. “When Nitocris offered, I took the chance, hoping for … well, never mind that. I was young and foolish, and I didn’t know everything that her bargain entailed.” He gave me the lopsided, self-incriminating grin that was becoming so familiar, and my heart flipped in my chest. “We all do things we regret at some point.”

I had to have him. Vampire or not, enemy or not, I was drawn to his tortured soul. I wanted to pull him to my breast and make him forget all about her. I wanted to kiss him so hard that he’d never remember her and think of me. I wanted to be the only woman he thought about.

“Zane,” I breathed, putting my hand on his knee and leaning into him. Mindful of his injured hand, I gently tilted him back on the bed, those marvelous wings tucked underneath him and almost out of sight. His few simple, sweet words had wormed into my heart, and I wondered if this was the real Zane, the one who hid behind the brash, laughing exterior.

It nearly drove me mad with desire.

I straddled him, pressing my hips against his erection and sliding my hands under his black shirt, wanting to feel his skin against mine.

“Zane,” I murmured. “I can’t hold out for much longer.” I slid my wrist against his mouth, and felt his teeth scrape against it. “Use my blood to heal your hand.”

“Are you sure?” His question was a warning, even as his lips nuzzled the soft skin of my inner wrist.

Hell no, I wasn’t sure. My feelings for Zane conflicted with my loyalty to Noah, and I didn’t know what I wanted-except that I wanted to climb on top of him and let him take me to the longest, slowest, hardest climax I’d ever had.

“You use me,” I said, sliding my hand down his chest, “and I’ll use you.” His hips fit just right under my own, rubbing against the juncture of my thighs in the most sinful way.

His teeth broke the skin of my wrist, and he was unable to hold back any longer. I felt a soft, gentle pull as he sucked on my skin. Desire flared through me white-hot, and I moaned and rubbed my hips against his harder. His tongue moved against my wrist, and just the barest of sensations drove me wild.

“Zane,” I begged, “I want you.”

No response.

“I need you,” I pleaded.

Still no response.

I pulled my wrist away and leaned in for a fierce kiss …

And a gentle snore came from his lips.

“What the-” I shook Zane slightly, in total disbelief that he’d fall asleep at such a crucial moment. As anger cleared my fog of passion, I realized that sunlight was streaming through the panes.

“Goddamn it! This no-daylight shit is pissing me off.”

I stared at his beautiful face with longing. Something inside him was noble, even if he didn’t like to show it, and that part of him called to me like nothing I’d ever felt before.

I finally hauled myself off him and headed for the bathroom and a cold shower. On the way, I grabbed the breakfast plate.

If I couldn’t have the man, pancakes and bacon was the next best thing-right?