Лорел Гамильтон - Danse Macabre

He raised his upper body off me, angling himself to enter me. I got only a glimpse of him, before he shoved himself inside me, and my gaze tore from his body, to his face above me. His eyes were wide, lost even to vampire glow; there was something frantic about them. He drove his body as deep inside me as he could, drove until there was no more room, then he froze above me. He froze with his body plunged inside mine, and stared down at me. His face was slack with need, and lust, but underneath it all, was fear. That one look, and I remembered. He was addicted to the ardeur . Shit.

I said, «London, London, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…»

He started to draw himself out of me. I thought he meant to stop. But he drew out only so much, then plunged back in, and he fucked me. He fucked me as hard and fast as he could. I stared down my own body, and watched him plunge in and out of me, and somewhere in the middle of it, I came. I came screaming, my hands clutching at his jacket, trying to find flesh to touch, but there were too many clothes. He brought me, and the ardeur fed on the waves of pleasure, on the sensation of him plunging in and out of me, on the sound of his breathing, as it changed. He picked me up, at the last minute, he picked me up, sat me in his lap, with his body still inside mine. He sat me across his body, and I wrapped arms and legs around him to help hold me in place. He sat back on the bed, still plunging in and out of me, but less sharp from this angle, less deep. I stared into his face from inches away, my hands in the short curls at the back of his neck. I watched his face grow frantic, felt his rhythm change. He buried his hand in the back of my hair, held me in place, so we had to stare into each other's eyes. With one last, hard thrust he came, and brought me with him. I screamed, and it would have bowed my neck back, but he held me in place, forced us to stare into each other's faces. As his body spasmed inside mine, I couldn't look away. I had to watch his pleasure, and his pain.

His hand eased from my hair, and he hugged me, his arms loose instead of frantic. His heart pounded against my body, his breath so fast, so terribly fast. He clung to me now, softly, and I hugged him back. He had given me his everything. He had let me feed. Damian was awake, I could feel it. London had helped me save him, but as I held him, his pulse thundering against my cheek, I had to wonder at what price. What had it cost the man in my arms?

WHEN LONDON'S PULSE had slowed, he sat me down, gently, on the bed, and asked Jean-Claude's permission to use the bathroom for cleaning up. Jean-Claude gave it. London had taken his pants off the rest of the way, so that he was nude from the waist down, though his dress shirt and suit jacket were long enough that they hid him from behind. He held his shirt up in front to keep it out of the mess, and his pants wadded in his other hand. He looked at no one as he went inside, and closed the door behind him.

He left behind him a silence so loud that I could hear the blood in my own head.

I knew that the vampires could be so still it was like they weren't there, but it was the first time I'd realized that the lycanthropes had their own version of stillness. Of course, there were fewer people in the room than we started with. It was almost as if people had fled before things got bad. Some bodyguards.

Though, admittedly, I didn't look around too much, to see who was left in the corners of the room. Maybe they were all there, huddled around each other, trying to keep the big bad succubus from getting them.

Jean-Claude moved first, and it was as if the pause on a television program had been turned off. He moved, and everyone else breathed, moved. Voices broke into a low murmur. Jean-Claude helped Requiem stand, from where he had apparently fallen on the floor. He must have left the bed sometime during London's and my little… feeding. Even in my own head, I heard, So that's what they're calling it these days .

Requiem gripped Jean-Claude's arm tight. He spoke low, urgently, as if he had something important to say.

«Damian's coming.» Nathaniel's voice turned me to look at him. Micah was helping him climb onto the bed. Nathaniel lay down beside me, his lavender eyes blinking at the ceiling as if he was still having trouble focusing. He was right about Damian. I could feel him coming down the corridor from the coffin room where he'd spent his day asleep. It would take him a few minutes to get here, so I turned to Nathaniel. «Don't ever do that again.»

«Try to save Damian?» He tried to make a joke of it, and I wouldn't let him.

I touched his face. «Don't joke, Nathaniel.»

He snuggled his cheek against my hand. «You saved us.»

My throat was tight, and I'd be damned if I'd cry again today. «It was a near thing, and you know it.»

Micah put a hand on both our shoulders. He gripped us tight, as if he were fighting an urge to shake us. His face said how scared he'd been, more clearly than any words.

Requiem gathered his cloak from the floor, wrapped it around himself, and went for the door. He never looked back. Maybe he understood finally that he wasn't food. I hoped so, because I needed less complication in my life, not more.

Remus went to Jean-Claude. He stood very straight and started a salute, then stopped himself in midmotion, like an old habit come back to haunt. The voice he used was one of those hardy, soldier voices. «Request permission to get me and my men out of here.»

Jean-Claude looked at him, his head to one side, like Remus had done something more interesting than I was seeing. «And what if we need protecting, Remus?»

Remus shook his head. «We can't protect you from this, sir.»

Jean-Claude looked behind him, closer to the fireplace. I was still lying down, so I couldn't see what he was looking at. «I think some of your men would disagree, Remus. I think several of them would have been more than happy to help protect ma petite , in these circumstances.» His voice was mild as butter as he said it.

Remus's jaw tightened so hard that it looked painful. His voice came out strained, as if he were gritting his teeth. «I don't believe that that was what our Oba had in mind when he let you hire us, sir.»

«Perhaps you should ask Narcissus what your rules of engagement are, Remus,» Jean-Claude said.

Remus gave one curt nod. «I'll do that, sir, but with permission, can I get my men the hell out of here?»

I watched the thought travel across Jean-Claude's face, that he might say no. But that it was that clear to read meant he was doing it for Remus to see. «Go, and take the men with you who wish to leave.»

Remus shook his head, hands in fists at his side. «No, sir, I am in command here, and I say we all go.»

Jean-Claude looked around the room, as if memorizing faces. He finally nodded. «Go, and take your men, Remus. I will speak with Narcissus.»

Remus looked uncertain then, but shook his head again. «I'm not saying that Narcissus wouldn't enjoy the show, sir, but I think if the detail included this kind of thing, he wouldn't have sent ex-military and ex-cops to you.» He stared as hard as he could at Jean-Claude's shoulder. I realized that Remus was avoiding the vampire's gaze. «If Narcissus wanted our duties» — he seemed to search for words — «expanded, he has other… men to send.»

«But not all the men in the room are hyena, Remus,» Jean-Claude said. «Do you speak for Raphael's rats as well?»

«I am in command until relieved, so yes, yes, sir, I do.»

Another voice came from the far wall, male, and deep, but I couldn't place it, at first. Pepito walked into view. «I'm Raphael's man, and I agree with Remus.» Pepito was a large unshakable man, but he looked shaken now. Positively pale, he was. What had they felt when the ardeur moved through the room testing them for yumminess? Whatever they had felt, it had scared both Pepito and Remus badly. Or maybe offended them? Maybe.