L.L. Foster - The Kindred

There were many things he wanted to do with her, to her, but her injury precluded those activities. Still, he had told her what would happen if she came home to him, and he couldn’t wait to show her exactly what he’d meant.

Propped against the headboard on top of the covers, one leg straight out, the other bent at the knee, Gaby awaited him. She had one of the DVDs he’d rented and was reading the back.

“Look interesting?”

She turned the movie over and looked at the front. “What is it?”

“A movie. We watch it on the television. I had hoped to watch it with you tonight, but . . . ” His turn to shrug. “You had other things to occupy your time.”

She tossed it onto the nightstand. “Don’t expect me to feel guilty. Not for that. We can watch it tomorrow night, if you want.”

Tomorrow night he’d be at a local rave known for catering to deviants of all sorts, but most especially to wannabe vampires.

“Maybe.” If things worked out, he could get home early enough to crash on the couch with her. He seated himself beside her, causing the mattress to dip. “Let me have your arm.”

“This is getting out of hand.” But she offered up her arm and then watched closely as he applied a healing ointment, a clean strip of gauze, and fresh surgical tape. Though the wound was still raw, Gaby never made a sound.

“You’ll get used to me caring for you.” He hoped. “It’s what a man and woman do for each other when they’re . . . ” A proper word to explain their relationship eluded him, so he settled for, “involved.”

Forced to scoot over as he slid into the bed, Gaby again went quiet as she assimilated the new suggestions.

“If you’re saying I should pamper you, too, you’re bound for disappointment.”

That made Luther grin. Gaby didn’t have it in her nature to hover over anyone. But she did, in her own unique way, show extra care when needed.

“It’s different for men.” He tossed the covers to the end of the bed. “Right now, pampering me means letting me pamper you. And no, I won’t explain that tonight because there’s something else I want to do.”

Her eyes went smoky with interest. “What?”

Catching her hips, he pulled her flat to the mattress. “You’ll see.” And with that he started kissing her—her throat, her shoulder.

She tipped her head to give him better access. “I don’t know why that feels so good.”

Luther smiled against her skin. “Women have lots of sensitive places on their bodies.” He licked the inside of her elbow, then moved over to her ribs.

Her hand knotted in his hair and she brought his face up. “Listen up, cop. I don’t want to hear about you with other women.”

“I wasn’t going to go there, I swear.” He had to fight his amusement. A jealous Gaby could be deadly, so he shouldn’t provoke her. “Just saying that’s why you like it.”

She let him go, but continued to scowl. “It sort of makes me shiver.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Holding her waist, he kissed his way down to her navel, then a hip bone.

Gaby let out a soft sound of pleasure. She tipped her head back and closed her eyes.

“You remember my promise, honey?” He urged her thighs farther apart and moved between them. “I told you how I’d kiss you.”

“Where you’d kiss me.” Her hands knotted in the sheet. “I’m ready.”

Like a sacrifice, she braced herself. Damn, but everything about her pleased him, most especially her sexual willingness.

Luther took a minute to toy with her, to tease with his fingers until she squirmed, until she tightened all over.

When he knew she was tense enough to break, he used his thumbs to open her, licked over her distended clitoris, and then drew her into his mouth.

Her long, broken groan rewarded him for his patience.

“Oh God, Luther . . . ”

To keep her still, he flattened one hand on her stomach. With the other, he pressed two fingers deep into her, withdrew, pressed in again.

She cried out, already on the edge of a climax. But he wanted to be with her, so with one last leisurely lick, he rose up over her.

Her parted lips and heavy eyes proved her need. As fast as he could, Luther rolled on a condom, lifted her hips, and drove into her hard and fast.

With that first deep stroke she started coming, her legs tight around his waist, her fingers digging into his shoulders.

She was wild, hot, and so damn perfect for him.

Arms straight, Luther stayed over her, watching her face, loving the way pleasure contorted her features. It pushed him past his own restraint and he felt his own burning release.

Afterward, he collapsed atop her. She hugged him, her legs still around him, her soft mouth touching his neck. When he started to move, she squeezed him, so he settled back to her and just held her.

“I’m not squashing you?”

“Don’t be stupid.”

Damn it, even an insult from Gaby, at such a special time, could make him smile. He rolled to his side but brought her with him.

“I need to get rid of the condom.”

She smoothed a hand over his sweaty chest. “It’s crazy how much I enjoy your body.”

“Ditto.” He kissed her, and then eased from the bed. When he returned only moments later, Gaby was just as he’d left her. She looked to be asleep. All in all, this was turning out to be easier than he’d first expected.

He settled back into bed with her, pulled her in close, and closed his eyes.

Then out of the blue, she turned her face up to his. “I meant to ask—what’s Viagra?”

Humming to himself, content to transport his cargo, Fabian drove along the serene streets until he found a neighborhood offering what he required. Beneath scant moonlight and the occasional streetlamp, garbage cans and lawn bags waited at the end of each driveway.

The houses were spaced far apart, and the denizens had turned in already, leaving the area dark and quiet. Not even a dog barked.

Perfect.

Ensuring that no one loitered near a window, he dimmed his car lights and coasted up to the curb of a tidy upper-middle-class home. Snickering to himself, thinking of how easy it was to dispose of the unused body parts, he released the latch to his trunk and put his car in park, but left it running.

Donning surgical gloves, he dragged a weighty bag from his trunk and dropped it next to those already near the street, waiting for garbage pickup early the next morning. It blended right in.

Snickering to himself, he gave a furtive check up and down the street, got back in his car, and maneuvered without headlights to the next block. As soon as he turned the corner, he turned his lights on, and, whistling, drove toward another house.

In a fit of whimsy, he’d decided to scatter the body parts. Imagining the police trying to piece them together like a grisly jigsaw puzzle filled him with macabre amusement.

Every time he drank, each time he feasted off another, his intellectual superiority expanded and his physical attributes grew more youthful, more dynamic. He possessed a sagacity and elite taste that exceeded those of everyday man.

The police couldn’t stop him; they couldn’t even name him as the culprit.

Through careful design, he’d re-created himself as an omnipotent leader. No one would uncover his select lifestyle unless he deemed it so.

Soon, his agile calculation would manifest the ultimate sacrifice due him, a succulent meal that he’d bestow on the others. As a unit, they would commit the ultimate depravity.

All he needed now was to find the perfect target.

But first, he needed to finish ridding himself of the waste.

Dry-eyed, skin rippling with chills, Gaby stood naked, staring out the window. Fear was so new to her that she couldn’t fathom how to cope.