STORY EXCERPT

“So you’re saying there’s a serial killer out there who is more or less killing people with his eyes?” Pageant couldn’t believe her ears. “Do you have any idea how this sounds?”

Randon took a deep breath, one that seemed almost erotic given the way he tilted his head, inhaled deeply, and studied her as he slowly exhaled. God, she was delirious. Perhaps the loss of sleep had made her completely delusional.

Still, she stayed the course. She made a somewhat conscious decision to interrogate the newcomer and she needed to hang on his every word. The sheriff would be tied up with the victims’ families until well past midnight. If this guy slipped away in the middle of the night, he could leave with answers they needed to solve this mysterious crime.

She pulled out her phone and searched for the notepad icon. “Let’s start at the beginning.”

“I’d like to go back that far.” He pressed his lips together and his nostrils flared. “Detective, you can search your database for Fort Lurrow, Alabama. You’ll come up empty handed, yet fourteen months ago, a very similar mass murder happened there as well.”

“And you’re saying the case wasn’t documented?”

“It’s not there.”

“Then how do you know about it?”

He looked agonized. “I lost a friend there.”

“I’m sorry.”

He nodded once.

“Why isn’t the case recorded?”

He took a drink of his beverage. “You’ll have to call the locals if you want those answers.”

“But you know?”

“I suspect, yes.”

“Then tell me about these suspicions.” She typed a reminder in her phone. She’d call Alabama and press the locals for answers. When Randon didn’t say anything, she slowly lifted her gaze. “Give me something to go on.”

“Do you believe in vampires, Detective Keen?”

“You’re kidding. Right?”

“No.”

“Assuming that I might believe in supernatural creatures, let me remind you that vampires are blood suckers. If you’d paid attention today, you’d know that there wasn’t a visible cause of death.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Vampires, my ass.”

He smirked. “I’m not sure what vampires have to do with your ass, but the visual was nice anyway.”

Her skin heated and a tingling sensation slivered up her spine. This guy—with his full head of natural curls, good bone structure, nice thick lips, and dark eyes—could do some damage to a woman’s career. She needed to dig for data that would help the case. Sitting there gawking at a possible suspect while imagining a more fulfilling way to probe for information wouldn’t help those victims’ families.

She cleared her throat and made an effort to straighten her shoulders while praying she hadn’t thrust her chest forward. “Tell me what you know. Give me something.”

His expression turned serious. “We’re starting to believe there’s more than one perpetrator—”

“We?”

“I’m a Bold and Free patch member. The MC has been working on this for a while now.”

“I see.” She wasn’t impressed. She knew plenty about the MC. The communities that the Bold and Free members called home weren’t exactly thrilled to have them in their neighborhoods. “So the MC believes there’s more than one ‘vampire’ behind this.” She hurriedly typed another note in her phone. “Okay, tell me about this ‘vampire’.”

“You don’t believe me and I understand how this sounds, Detective, but mark my words. The sooner you buy into the fact that you’re dealing with a supernatural creature, the sooner you can start trying to solve this case.”

“You don’t think this case can be solved.”

“Your biggest concern should be whether or not he strikes again here. If he moves on to another town, then count your blessings. We have reason to believe he doesn’t go back to towns he’s already visited.”

“Wait a minute. Are you suggesting he’s done this in several towns? You only mentioned Fort Lurrow.”

“Other charters are working on similar cases.”

“Since when does the MC stick their noses in official police business?”

“Like it or not, we may be the only hope you have for putting this guy down.”

“And why is that, Mr. Shane?”

He didn’t flinch. “We have skills others don’t possess and I’ll leave it at that.”

The investigator within would later wonder what he’d meant by that, but she let it slide. “So this guy stumbles upon a town, enjoys a killing session, and moves on?”

“For now, we’ll go with that assumption.”

“I still don’t buy he’s a vampire. There weren’t”—she paused in reflection as she remembered the victims—“bite marks or anything to suggest their bodies had been drained.”

“Not all vampires seek blood. By definition they prey upon the living in an effort to obtain something of value to them.”

“Like what?” As much as she hated to admit it, this theory was better than any of her own.

“Athleticism, intelligence, beauty, charisma, and other traits humans take for granted.”

Pageant crossed her arms. “You had my attention at first, but you realize how farfetched this sounds. Don’t you?” When he didn’t respond, she decided to play along. “Okay, suppose you’re right. Suppose there’s this ‘vampire’ out there, and he sees me for instance. He wants my charming personality. Now what?”

ADULT EXCERPT

She rose to her elbows and spread her legs wider. “Give me more, Randon.”

He glanced up at those heavy breasts, captivated by those firmly rounded nipples. His mouth watered and his eyes did as well as she reached down the length of her body, going for her clit.

“May I, Randon?” She rubbed her mound with the heel of her hand. “Would you like to watch me?”

“Soon.” He kissed the back of her hand and gripped his cock, stroking it long enough to ease the tension. “It gets so damn hot. Doesn’t it, lover?”

“Let me,” she mouthed. “Let me show you how I like to be pleasured.”

“I can ease that burn, Pageant.” God help him. He wanted to bring her so much pleasure. He longed to spend time teaching her about his ways, loving her beyond her fears. Instead, he was fighting to keep the lead and desperate to claim her before their time together drew to a close.

Bringing her fingers to his lips, he twirled his tongue around her middle digit, pulling it in and out of his mouth like he imagined her pussy would soon grip his cock, firmly and with a great sense of convulsing pressure. He massaged the pad of her finger, watching that lust wash across her face.

“Now, baby. Now you can play.” He positioned her cupped hand over her bare mound and guided her finger to her clit.

For a moment, he simply watched, looked on as her finger strummed around the swollen point. She rose into a half-seated position and drew her knees forward. Keeping her feet flat on the bed, she pumped her hips up and down as her fingers moved in and out.

“Faster,” he said, pushing a firm digit inside her, too.

She obeyed his command. Her hand moved with a quicker rhythm.

He added another finger and then another, stretching her, feeling those tender muscles expand and give with the forceful intrusion. “That’s it, lover. Keep doing that.”

“I’ll come!”

“No.” He withdrew her hand, held her wrist, and stared into her eyes. “You always ask for permission. You never tell me you will. You ask if you can.”

He felt the dominant beast raging. The time to mate was near. He couldn’t ignore the full moon outside the window any more than he could overlook the blackest of clouds moving rapidly, as if they represented the shadows in the moonlight, the stranger in the darkness.

“I can ask for permission.”

“Ask.” He pulled her fingers to his lips and sucked them, savoring the sweetest erotic juices, the flavor of his woman.

“Can I come, please?”

“Not yet.” He studied those twin peaks, those hardened buds capping her mounds. “I want more.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “Let me enjoy you, lover. Then, when my cock is inside you? Then, you can come.”

A raspy sigh fell from her lips as she collapsed against the pillows. Gripping the sheets in her balled fists, she parted her legs still wider. Tilting her head to her shoulder, she quietly said, “You want to drive me crazy.”

“Even that is an understatement.” Randon couldn’t help but smile at the picture she painted. She was really something to see.

He couldn’t wait to feel her riding his tongue, begging for mercy, and screaming his name.

She would scream his name until she was hoarse.

If he thought she could hold out for cock with a tongue like that buried inside her, he’d obviously underestimated his talents. He unraveled his tongue inside her pussy and jabbed the length in and out of her core, stroking her with his tongue, fucking her with it.

The motions left her body joggled. One minute, she threw her weight to her heels and pumped her hips off the bed. The next, she pushed her bottom into the mattress and tried to refrain from letting go.

Her wet pussy convulsed around his busy tongue. She grabbed hold of his shoulders and tried to slam against him, desperate now to feel the entire texture of his tongue stroking her in a more committed rhythm. Instead, he crammed his lips inside her small opening and licked closer to his mouth, burying his lips right inside hers.

“Oh, God. I can’t…I can’t take much more!”

As if he agreed, Randon hauled his body over hers and stared down at her as if he had been in position to make love to her a thousand other times. He nudged her with the head of his cock, carefully entering her.

A carnal grunt fell to the room. He stilled a moment or two before he thrust full speed ahead, fucking her like a wild man who was now on a schedule, not at all slow and easy as she’d first expected. Stroke for stroke, she matched him, locking her ankles at his lower back and throwing her body into the motions, loving the way they seemingly fit perfectly together.

“Let me come,” she whispered, unsure she could deny herself if he said no.

He slowed his pace. He worked his lower half left to right, shimming his hips as if he were practicing an erotic dance move. “That’s nice baby.” He stared at her nipples. “So nice.”