Tears flowed as relief and terror fought for dominance. She couldn’t do this again. Couldn’t lose him all over again. She’d never survive. Her teeth dug into her lip as she forced back a sob, and warm blood dribbled over her chin.
Xavier’s thunderous snarl vibrated through her body. He gripped her jaw, stroked his tongue over her chin, and locked his lips against hers, sucking every drop of blood as he crushed her mouth under the strength of his demand. His hand drifted over her belly and between her thighs, thick fingers scraping along the skin of her pussy where it stretched tight around the width of his shaft, teasing her swollen clit, circling round and round, until finally he plunged into her hard and deep from behind, and pressed a firm thumb directly onto the engorged nub.
Her cry was high and desperate as the orgasm swept over and through her body, as she drowned in a fresh wave of sensation when his fangs sank into her vein. The heat of his release expanded his cock until she thought the delicate nerves and tissues of her sheath would tear under the overwhelming pressure as he bucked inside her, climaxing over and over while her inner muscles gripped him tight.
His deep groan of pleasure rumbled along her neck, his chest rising and falling against her back as she struggled to breathe. He collapsed on top of her, folding her nearly sideways under his weight, until he slid from inside her and rolled to his back, yanking her up and onto his chest.
When she’d recovered enough to speak again, she asked, “Did you take my clothes off?” She’d intended to raise her head and deliver a glare with the question, but had decided it was too much work. So her breath drifted over his chest as she spoke, and she felt the deep rumble of his voice when he responded.
“What was left of them. Would you rather have slept with them on?”
She caught the laughter in his voice and looked up in time to catch the edge of a smile on his lips. Unfortunately, she also caught the glowing numbers of the digital clock on his bedside and groaned. “I can’t sleep here today. I’m supposed to be your daylight commander, for fuck’s sake.”
“I want you to do something for me. Or have some of your people do it.”
“Really?” She raised up on one elbow to stare at him. “You’ve never asked me for anything before.”
“Things change. You made note of Sakal’s arrival last night. I want to know if he’s on a schedule, and if he shows up there at the same time tonight.”
She thought about that request for a moment. Why would he want to know that, unless he needed to know where Sakal was at a certain time? Unable to restrain her curiosity, she asked, “Why?”
“Because I want to know when he arrives.”
“Funny,” she said, not at all amused by the evasion. “Seriously, why does it matter tonight? Is there something I need to know? Some new development my people should look for?”
“No. I just want to know he’s there.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re planning something. What is it? If it involves an attack, I need to know about it. My people need to know about it, so they don’t get stuck unprepared in the middle of something.”
He rose up on one elbow to study her. “I’m sending a vampire scout team to reconnoiter his lair in the city. Is that a problem?” he asked with the cool arrogance he wore so well.
“Probably not. I assume they know their jobs, but . . . why send vamps? Why not have my guys check it in daytime? Wouldn’t that be safer all around?”
“Yes, if safety was the only issue. But it’s not. My vampires can go places that your people cannot, can sense things that your people cannot. And in the event of unanticipated attack, they can also handle and survive a significantly greater level of violence.”
She tilted her head to one side and studied him with open curiosity. “You think he has a troop of vampires living somewhere—in either the city or the compound.”
“It’s certainly something we would need to know.”
Well, that answer that told her nothing, and certainly didn’t answer the question either. She considered repeating herself, using more direct language, but decided against it. It would be an exercise in futility. There was obviously something he didn’t want her to know and wasn’t going to tell her, no matter how many different ways she phrased it.
She sat up and swung her legs off the side of the bed, grateful they were long enough to touch the floor. It was a very high bed, and she didn’t relish the idea of having her legs swing in midair like a child’s. “Okay,” she agreed. “I still need to get up, though. I want to walk the wall and check in on your daylight troops. After that I’ll go by the hospital, before we head over to the farm compound.”
“I’ll stop by the hospital before sunrise.” He started to say more, but his phone rang. He picked it up, checked the display. “It’s Chuy,” he said, naming his lieutenant. He answered, but said only, “I’ll call you shortly,” and hung up.
“Right.” She stood. “I’ll leave you to your people, then, and go check in with mine. She was pissed at the way he’d brushed off her questions, but didn’t want to make it more than that, so she leaned across the bed to kiss him. He immediately pulled her down for a deeper kiss, which very quickly turned into something more when his hands began doing delicious things to her body, which made his body respond in ways that made her want to stay right where she was.
She groaned. “No, no. There’s no time. I have to shower and—”
He swung out of the bed with her in his arms, his mouth locked on hers in a deep, seductive kiss that sucked her in until she didn’t care about anything else. When they came up for air, his eyes were wild, drowning in the deep pewter glow of his power. “We’re showering together,” he announced, his voice deeper than usual and his gaze as predatory as a wild animal tracking his prey. She shivered under the weight of that stare and kissed him again, as he carried her to his shower.
Oh well, how long could it take? She needed to shower anyway, so why not add a quick fuck?
Layla thought about those words when she walked back to the barracks, comfortably relaxed and sore at the same time. The last few hours had involved more sex than she’d had in years. She hadn’t been celibate, but she’d been cautious, and she never stayed with the same guy for long, preferring to avoid the inevitable complications of a serious relationship—complications that always seemed to expect a greater career sacrifice on her part. She was, after all, a woman in a field of men. Surely, she’d prefer something more . . . suitable?