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  Karl doubled over, clutching his stomach. His head snapped up, and his unfocused eyes bored into the woman from behind. Gabe sensed his partner’s movement before he saw it, and he called out a warning to the woman as his body erupted into action. Karl was on her before he could reach her, tearing into the exposed flesh of her neck with a hungry ferocity. Blood sprayed from around his mouth as his lips moved over her.

  Fuck!

  Gabe darted forward but was suddenly jerked to a halt as though restrained. Every cell in his body wrenched to a standstill. Poised on the edge of violent discovery, his eyes locked with hers. The scent of blood saturated his senses. The smell of Karl’s blood was familiar and nearly overwhelming, but another scent, barely a curling wisp of incense, rose from the taint of his cousin’s blood and sliced thinly across Gabe with the fury of a whip.

  His every muscle clenched in recognition. The length of his canines exploded in his mouth. His lips parted with the powerful force of his reaction.

  Gabe felt a mindless fury swell up from some unexplored depths inside him. It was dark and deadly as it flowed over him. Something stalked that darkness within him, something that had lain dormant, waiting patiently until this moment. Now it was alive within him, dangerous and determined. Gabe suddenly knew only one thing: the woman was his. Her blood belonged to him. Instinct clawed and snarled, tearing away from his mind, leaving him without his prized control. He couldn’t think; he could only react.

  Gabe lunged and slammed into his partner. They rolled together, bits of garbage and papers scattering with the force of their movements. Karl fought with a single-minded intensity to get back to the woman, throwing Gabe from him and leaping at her. Shimmering, Gabe met him in mid-launch before he could reach the woman. Karl struggled to get back to his feet, but his body jerked convulsively and he went still.

  The adrenaline coursed through Gabe’s body, his chest heaving with his breath as he rolled to his knees over his partner’s still form. Immediately his eyes sought out the woman. His woman. The smell of her blood still encircled him, obliterating everything else. No longer could he smell the oppressive scent of the garbage or the nearby bay. There was only her.

  Swiveling his head, he allowed his gaze to travel over her. Every inch would belong to him. It was a fact his freshly roused instincts would not be steered from. She was speaking into a small black phone, calling for others to come, to “clean up”. His eyes focused on her lips, pink and glistening from the nervous slide of her tongue. They moved, but he couldn’t hear her words over the humming of the instinct murmuring in his head. She held her other hand against the side of her neck. Then those dark eyes turned to fix inscrutably on him.

  Rising to his feet, he reached out and pulled her hand away from her neck where Karl had torn into the pale, delicate flesh. Blood smeared the frantic pulse, and fresh blood welled from the wound even as it started to heal before his eyes. Enthralled by her scent, he leaned in closer, and inhaled. The scent swirled thick and sweet, wrapping him in its promise. The shimmering crimson liquid beaded and began to slide down her neck – the only color in a world suddenly gone gray.

  Lowering his head he caught those drops on his tongue, gently laving the bite. Fire streaked through him and his body jerked beneath the force of his reaction to the taste of her. He needed the exchange. Needed to give her his blood, to mark her with the essence of him, to claim her. At that moment it was a drive he had neither the strength nor desire to resist.

  Deep inside him the darkness rippled, and a beast growled with satisfaction.

  Chapter Two

  Kel Sheridan’s entire body clenched hungrily as the hot stranger ran his tongue over her neck. Her breath speared sharply through her chest at the force of the sensation. Darkness swirled around her, the air hot and spicy in her nose. The flavor of his scent flowed over her tongue, and her heart started to pound viciously in her chest.

  Somewhere in her mind a small voice was trying to warn her, trying to be reasonable, but she couldn’t hear a damn word. Not that she really cared right now. Every cell in her body seemed to strain toward this stranger. The force of it was a deafening rush in her head.

  Kel watched as he lifted his head, her wrist chained loosely in his long fingers, and searched her face. His eyes roved slowly over her with such intensity that she could almost feel them.

  She trembled. Kel never trembled, not anymore. At least not in fear. No, this was a delicate, delicious kind of tremble that felt like her body was being stroked. And the man was definitely the kind to tremble over.

  He had a wide forehead and the most incredible deep-set eyes. They were a dark green with strange gold centers that seemed to have lives of their own, expanding and contracting around the blackness of his pupils. It was almost erotic. His dark blond hair fell down around the slashing bones of his cheeks and fell just past his dimpled chin. There was a dark blond growth of hair around his mouth in a closely trimmed goatee, making his full lips seem so much softer by contrast.

  The broad width of his shoulders cast her in shadow and narrowed into slim hips and long legs. He was wearing a long-sleeved black thermal shirt and a knee-length leather jacket, faded blue jeans, and black boots. He made her mouth water and her heart pound with anticipation.

  But anticipation of what?

  Okay, Kel, get a grip.

  The sweepers would be here in mere minutes to clean up the bloody mess left behind by that slimy dealer. And she had no idea who the yummy stranger was. He could very well be one of the bad guys, despite what her gut and, obviously, libido were telling her. She forced air into her lungs to regain her equilibrium.

  And the world dropped away from beneath her again. Pressing the palm of one hand against the firm muscles of his chest, she tried to steady herself.

  She was held suspended, her mind utterly still, the slow thud of his heart reverberating beneath her palm. She felt herself sinking into the pools of his eyes, absorbing him deeper and deeper with each breath. The heat of his body surrounded her as he lowered his head again. His hand slid slowly up the bare skin of her arm to cup the back of her neck. The pace of his thudding heart increased beneath her palm.

  Kel’s stomach flipped over when, with a flash of white teeth, one of his sharply pointed canines slid across the flesh of his bottom lip. The movement drew her eye, and she stared in fascination as a scarlet drop of blood welled up from the puncture he’d made. His head slowly lowered over her and the scent of his blood filled her. Her stomach muscles clenched in reaction. Then his lips slanted across hers, and his hot tongue plunged into the moist depths of her mouth.

  Kel jerked as the sharp, spicy tang of his blood slid over her tongue. It felt like someone had touched her with a live wire. Her entire body arched and tightened, and sparks exploded behind her eyelids. One of his hands fisted in the short hair at the nape of her neck as his other hand released his grip on her wrist and grasped the wide belt at her lower back, jerking her body into his. Her skin prickled beneath the sensation that zinged mercilessly through her system. It felt like her body had been asleep all this time and was finally waking up.

  And her body wasn’t the only one waking up. She could feel the hard ridge of his cock against the softness of her belly and she pressed herself closer. She needed to be closer. He pulled on her belt, and she fisted both hands in the front of his shirt, needing to hold on to something in the maelstrom of sensations spinning crazily around her. Jerking at his shirt, she raised her knees around his lean hips to lock her ankles at his back. She needed to feel the hard ridge of his cock rubbing against that heated throb between her legs. Bracing her crossed ankles against the hard swell of his ass, she ground herself against him. His responding growl rumbled against her lips and made something inside her respond in kind.

  “Damn, Sheridan, you should be charging admission.”

  The words slowly penetrated as the intense sensations began to ease, leaving her mind and body feeling heavy. She realized she was draped over the
sexy stranger, wantonly rubbing herself against him. It felt so good. She felt good.

  Slowly leaning back until there was just enough space for their breaths to mingle, she met his strange eyes. They held hers, the gold flickering in their centers as the fingers buried in her short dark hair moved in a small caress against her scalp. God, she tingled all over. A little shiver went through her, and her focus dropped to those full lips. She ran her tongue over her own, savoring the taste of him that still lingered there. Damn, he tasted dark and seductive, so rich and addictive.

  “Hello, Sheridan, are you in there?”

  A slow frown furrowed her brow as she glanced over her shoulder with heavy, unfocused eyes.

  A big man with dark hair and pale gold eyes smirked at her. He whistled low, his brows raised high. “Are you done or do you want us to go wait in the van a little longer?”

  Kel blinked, looking past him to the brown, nondescript vehicle backed into the alley and the three other smiling people who were staring at her. They waved, and dread began to sweep through her, evaporating that tingly sensation. The cleanup crew she’d called in. Her partner, a big Drachon male, had a look on his face that said he would enjoy this story for a long time.

  What the hell was she doing?

  “That’s one way to interrogate a suspect. I can’t wait to watch you cuff him.”

  “Shut up, Merrick.” Kel snapped as her partner’s comment resonated in her mind. She could feel the stranger’s hard, warm body between her legs, and it took a supreme act of will to let him go.

  What the hell was wrong with her? She’d practically jumped some stranger’s bones with a dead body sitting less than six feet away.

  With as much dignity as she could muster, she unwrapped her legs from around the man’s waist and lowered her feet to the ground. Clearing her throat, Kel covered her still tingling lips with her hand, not quite aware that her other hand was still fisted in the stranger’s shirt. The heat of his hand at her neck still seared the tingling flesh.

  “Um.” Kel fumbled around for a coherent thought, dragging her hand down to press against her chest, the frantic beat of her heart thudding beneath her palm. She felt drunk. “What about the dealer?”

  “Bastard got away, but you obviously caught your guy.”

  Kel blinked and looked back up at the tall, lean stranger and dropped her eyes to where she still clutched at him with one tight fist. Oh! She released his shirt and smoothed the material out, the movement turning into a caress, her dark eyes intently studying the taut curve of his pectoral beneath her fingers. Raife Merrick cleared his throat and Kel, realizing what she was doing, jerked her hand back as though burned.

  What was wrong with her?

  “Did you manage to ask him what he was doing here before he stuck his tongue down your throat?”

  Kel narrowed her eyes on her partner before turning back to the stranger, who was still so close she could feel the heat radiating off his body. His very fine body.

  No! Kel jerked, slapping both palms against his chest in an attempt to gain some distance. It barely rocked him, and she was strong. Looking up, she noted his attention was no longer on her. His eyes were intently studying the Drachon, and a strange red flame was flickering around the pupil of each eye.

  She’d seen that look before.

  “Oh, hell no,” Kel snapped as she tried to put some distance between her and the effect this stranger had on her. One of his fists was still embedded in the hair at the nape of her neck.

  His other hand had dropped down to his thigh, where she could see the long, gleaming length of a strange blade strapped to the hard surface of his leg. Her eyes darted back up to his face and then to Raife’s.

  “Shimmer to the other side of me, Kel.”

  “What?” Her eyes darted between them again. “You gotta be kidding me, right?”

  The tension between the two men crackled in the air. The warm hand tangled in her hair slid down to gently grip her elbow. The delicious stranger was trying to maneuver her behind him. He and Raife were preparing to attack each other.

  Terrific.

  “Oh. Hell. No,” Kel snapped again, trying to push away from the sexy stranger, but his hand tightened on her arm. His gaze dropped down to seize hers, and her body involuntarily clenched again at the sight of the heated possession there. Something very raw and base writhed in agreement, wanting to lay claim to him in return. Without warning, her dormant canines sprang into her mouth for the first time in her life. She slapped a hand over her mouth.

  “Oh, shit.” Kel cursed with a wince as one razor-sharp fang sliced her tongue. The metallic tang of blood filled her mouth, shocking her. Female Sanguen only took blood for one reason – to mate.

  Holding her palm over her mouth, she shimmered away from both of them. The stranger immediately followed, his eyes still ringed with a seething band of fire and focused intently on her. A dark furrow deepened between his eyes, but he said nothing.

  Did he even speak English? He was obviously a Sanguen, most likely a full-blood. He didn’t belong to any of the communities around here. She would have known him, and she definitely didn’t know him. She would have remembered him.

  Well, okay, she knew the hard heat of his body against hers and the feel of his cock rubbing some delicious friction between her legs, but she didn’t know him know him.

  Good God, she didn’t even know his name and yet his tongue had filled her mouth. A rush of wet heat flooded between her legs at the memory of the hot depths of his mouth. Shit!

  Don’t think about that.

  “Are you okay?”

  Kel’s eyes jerked to Raife again, where he stood not six feet away, silently watching the stranger. The cleanup crew was waiting at the mouth of the alley, smiles gone, obviously sensing the danger. That damn dead user was still sprawled out in the gravel and garbage, eyes staring sightlessly out into the darkness, his blood a dark halo fanning out from his body.

  As though he knew Raife was talking to her, the stranger jerked around, maneuvering so that she was positioned behind him. His lip curled with a low, rumbling sound of warning.

  “Stay out of my mate’s mind, fire breather.”

  Mate? Oh hell no! She belonged to no man, no matter how hunky he was. Especially a man who’d dropped into a freaking drug bust. Kel shook her head vehemently, her tongue tentatively touching the tip of one elongated canine. Her body may have wanted him, but her mind still had the upper hand as long as she kept her distance.

  “Kel?”

  Raife’s eyes didn’t stray from the stranger as he awaited her answer. She knew the big Drachon would attack if she was threatened. He’d been around her since she’d been a teenager, sort of like the overprotective older brother. Kel somehow knew the stranger wouldn’t hurt her, but she couldn’t say anything around the unfamiliar fullness of her canines in her mouth. And they were freaking sharp.

  “Release her, bloodsucker.” Raife’s voice was a low menacing growl.

  “You have no right to interfere.” The stranger hissed, his hand tightening around her arm. “She is mine.”

  “Not unless she wants to be.” Raife’s smile was feral. “And she don’t look like she wants to be.”

  The stranger barely cast her a look as he dropped her arm to reach down with both hands and pull the blades cleanly away from his thighs.

  “You don’t want to go there, bloodsucker.” Raife continued to smile, folding his arms over his massive chest. The stranger’s face was impassive with the exception of the rings of seething red that writhed dangerously in his eyes.

  Kel shimmered between them, her back to Raife. “’Nuff.”

  Her voice was muffled behind her hand, and she winced as one sharp canine sliced her lip. The resulting cursing was just as muffled.

  Shit. Raife would tease her mercilessly thanks to the freaking fangs. It wasn’t enough that she’d climbed the hunk tower in front of her entire crew, but she’d scored a set of mating fangs too. This night could
n’t get any worse.

  The stranger frowned down at her, his burning gaze dropping to brush over her hand clamped over her mouth and then lifting back to see what she hoped was a murderous expression on her face. His frown darkened, but the blood-red halo circling his pupils had faded. With a sigh, he replaced his blades and reached for her, then shimmered them a distance away, his shoulders angled to hide her from the eyes of both the cleanup crew and Raife.

  One broad hand reached up to pull hers away, and Kel instinctively jerked away from him. What the hell did he want? She certainly wasn’t going to start kissing him again. Her new fangs would probably shred him, not that he didn’t deserve it.

  “Let me see.” His voice was harsh and low.

  Wanting to grind her teeth with irritation but thinking better of it, Kel lowered her hand. His large warm hands cupped the sides of her face, and his thumbs lifted her upper lip to reveal the lengthened canines. The tips of his thumbs slid firmly over the base of the long teeth, and Kel felt a shiver tingle over her, tightening her gums.

  “Easy.” His voice was low, a mere vibration in his chest but oddly soothing as the pads of his thumbs massaged the tender tissue in her throbbing mouth. “Just relax. Retract them.”

  Kel wanted to growl in frustration, but she concentrated on pulling the teeth back in like she did the special claws that extended from just above the nail beds in her fingers. The relief was nearly instantaneous. The pressure disappeared with the fangs. If only the sexy stranger would disappear just as easily.

  Shimmering, she put some serious distance between them, although she was careful not to position herself too close to Raife. The last thing she wanted to do was incite another possessive display.

  “All right, boys. Play date’s over,” Kel said, way more flippantly than she felt. Her knees still felt a little weak, and her heart rate hadn’t returned to that stroll-in-the-park level she favored.