Eve Langlais - Toxic

Negotiations with the shifters were progressing well, but given their divisiveness among the varied animal clans, it was slow moving. But if we could get them on our side they’d provide an invaluable source of strength. I’d also heard tantalizing rumors that they were capable of withstanding sex with a vampire. An intriguing idea which, if true, would increase the pool of available lovers.

But back to the primary problem. Daemons and the difficulties we’d encountered killing them.

What I really needed to do was capture one of the pesky creatures and bring it back for testing-the deadly kind. In order to fight the enemy we needed to know more about it. Find its weaknesses. So far we weren’t faring well in our battle with them. For every daemon we took down, we lost at least one or more of our kind. The humans, without our inborn weapons, wouldn’t stand a chance unless they were forewarned and armed themselves. Therein lay the reason for the whole coming out fiasco. Get to know your friendly neighborhood monster so you can team up when the bully comes to town. I still thought we should have just glamored those in charge to do our bidding. But, many of my kind were eager to escape the shadows and join society. Idiots. They could live in the spotlight and make targets of themselves. I intended to return to hiding in the shadows as soon as my roles as spokes-vampire and guinea pig were over with.

Thinking of my current role made me think of Raphael. I scowled. Blasted man. Why couldn’t they have sent me some old, grizzled scientist instead of Mr. Hottie?

A lightbulb-a dim, none-UV kind-went off in my mind. The best way to get his focus off me and, in return, me away from him was to give him something new to play with. Say, like, a daemon. Not only could I vent some frustration hunting down one of the beasts, Rafe could prove useful dissecting it. Besides, at this point, I’d cooperated as much as I intended. He knew enough about my kind to compile a report. So why not send him away?

I shushed that voice in favor of the one that said Rafe could help us in our fight against the Legion coming. Tearing daemons limb from limb was well and good, but against the horde we’d face, not too practical, not given our current kill ratio. As general to the queen-and in a sense, all of humanity-I needed to know their weak spots. Where to ram my fist through their flesh and pull out their beating heart-or if they didn’t have a heart, whatever passed for one.

I also needed to find out more about their powers. Like other than their nasty stench and extremely bad breath, did they have the power of beguilement we enjoyed? Or the ability to cloak themselves in shadows? So much I need to know, and yet, I was stuck in the mansion with Dr. Temptation.

Although technically, I wasn’t restricted to the house. In order to keep my promise to the queen, I just needed to keep myself available to the doctor. The fact I didn’t plan to allow any more testing didn’t enter the equation. Much as he made me want to ride him like a cowgirl while I sucked on his jugular didn’t erase the fact that his knowledge and skills were needed. He’s an invaluable tool, and I would be doing my queen a disservice if I were to send him away just because he makes me hornier than a rabbit in heat.

Illogical or not, I liked my decision. Now, the next question was did I bring him with me as I hunted down the daemon? Or should I leave him at home and bring back the unconscious carcass for him to play with?

Of course, either way, first I’d have to tell him what the real motive in our declaring ourselves was. How did you tell a human that the Mayans were right? The end was coming. We’d just translated the date wrong. And it wasn’t outer space we needed to fear, but another dimension, the Hell realm.

It made me wonder if maybe Heaven also existed. After all, Hell ended up being a real place, just blocked off a long time ago from accessing our world due to planetary rotations and whatnot. Thinking of Heaven, though, led to the question of were angels real? And of even more interest, what would they taste like?

A knock on my study door had me calling out a sharp, “Come in.”

I expected Annabelle, my late night snack, instead I smelt the delicious aftershave of one not-on-the-menu doctor. I hid behind my reports, not wanting to face him yet, not with the memory of his kiss-his achingly hot touch-still fresh in my mind.

“I’m sorry,” he said his low timbered voice shooting shivers down my spine.

“Apology accepted. Good night.” I wasn’t sure what he was sorry for. Sorry for kissing me? Sorry for not being able to fuck me without dying? Did it matter?

He sighed. “You’re really not like human women are you?”

It was a rhetorical question so I didn’t bother answering. Besides, even among my own kind I was considered different.

“I’ll see you tomorrow evening then.” I heard him turn and move towards the door.

“Wait.” I really hated the way my mouth had a tendency of talking before I knew what I was going to say. “How about we go on a fieldtrip tomorrow?”

“Sure. Where to?”

“Somewhere possibly dirty, so wear dark clothes. Oh, and skip the aftershave.”

“Why?” he queried.

I lowered my reports and looked him in the face. His blue eyes met mine and I smiled the toothy grin of a hunter. “Because where I’m taking you, you don’t want to smell too edible.”

He didn’t blanch, just nodded his head and, with a ghost of a smile hovering on his lips, turned on his heel to leave.

As for me, I flattened the last report I’d perused.

I’d found a daemon, or so I thought given the sketchy details. Humans missing. Strange sounds and lights. And the most telling tidbit, blood splatters. All kinds of clues that made me think I’d found a beast, and not too far from the house either. Excellent.

Tomorrow, I’d catch the foul one and bring him back to Rafe. My version of candy and flowers for a human I couldn’t have.

I spent another day barely sleeping, too caught up in my fantasies revolving around the untouchable doctor. I’d thumbed through my black book looking for a fuck buddy to call, but none of them had the tousled blond hair, blue eyes and geeky look I craved.

I made do with my vibrator, but even though I climaxed, I found myself more sexually frustrated than ever. I decided I needed better toys. I left a note for Annabelle to invest in some heavy duty hardware, anything to help scratch the erotic itch I couldn’t shake.

I was disgruntled and on my third pair of panties by the time I met Raphael in the front hall. As requested, he wore black from head to toe, and he even had a black leather bomber jacket that made me arch a brow. He looked like a good boy turned bad, in other words, totally freaking hot!

“Did you go shopping with a biker?” I asked to mask the fact I wanted to peel him and eat him.

Rafe looked down at himself then up at me with a grin. “You said black. And weren’t you the one who told me leather is easier to wipe the filth off.”

Actually I’d said blood, but I wouldn’t split hairs. He looked good, damned good, and when I approached and sniffed him, he smelt even better.

I growled.

“I didn’t put any aftershave on,” he said raising his hands.

“Doesn’t matter, you still smell like food,” I grumbled, heading out the door and into the fresh air, away from his tantalizing scent.

“Where are we going?” he asked as he followed me out.

“Hunting,” I said swinging a leg over my motorcycle parked out front. I patted the seat behind me. “Think of it as an up close look at how a vampire takes down prey.”

“Are you going to kill someone?”