STORY EXCERPT

“Layla Willow?”

“Who wants to know?”

“Caleb Backus and Zagan Jarvis from New York HQ.”

Holy-moly, no wonder the dark-haired one looked so familiar! Every self-respecting vampire knew who Caleb Backus was. Layla had had his picture on her bedroom wall growing up, and hadn’t been able to sleep until she kissed his image good night. She wondered what he and the blond guy were doing at her door. Had she somehow transgressed vampire laws? She must have done something pretty serious to bring such heavyweights here in person. But what? She was pretty damned sure that she hadn’t crossed any lines.

“We need to talk to you. Can we come in?”

Layla realized that her speculations had resulted in a long silence. “Top floor,” she said, pressing the door release.

She spent the few minutes it would take them to whizz up in the elevator worrying about their appearance. Then she got annoyed with herself for being worried. She had done nothing to get wound up over, and would not be subservient. Carlos Hardwick hadn’t fazed her—not really—and these two wouldn’t, either. She opened the door to her apartment, watching them with appreciation as they walked the length of the corridor with the long, easy stride of men comfortable in their own skin. Hell, but they were both fine-looking vampires! In the flesh, Caleb was even more imposing than that age-old poster of hers had implied. It definitely hadn’t done him justice.

“Hey.” Caleb held out a hand to her. “Layla. Nice to meet you.”

“You, too.” Layla’s hand disappeared into his much larger one, and she felt a fission of awareness rock her entire body as he gently squeezed her fingers. Caleb obviously felt it, too, and looked a little surprised as he released her hand.

“I’m Zagan,” the blond hunk said, taking his turn to shake her had with equally disconcerting results.

“Not sure what I’ve done to deserve a visit from such important people,” Layla said, clearing her throat because her voice seemed reluctant to work. “But come in, and enlighten me.”

Layla’s spacious loft seemed suddenly too small to accommodate the amount of musculature in occupation of it. She felt warm and uncharacteristically flustered. Layla could normally handle whatever life threw at her. She’d been fending for herself since her teens, and had learned not to depend upon anyone other than herself. Adults lied and deceived. That was why she worked best alone, and found it hard to interact with others. A team player she was not. But as she watched her childhood hero and the equally compelling Zagan Jarvis prowling around her personal space—a space into which she seldom invited strangers, or any visitors at all—she felt a compelling need to spill out all her problems. Get a grip, girl!

“Nice place,” Caleb said. “Great view.”

“Thanks. It suits me, being close to town and all.” She indicated the seats arrayed around her wood burning stove. “What can I do for you guys? You’re a long way from home, but I don’t believe you made the journey just to see me.”

“Actually, we did.” Caleb eased himself into a chair with lithe grace, and stretched his long legs out in front of him. Zagan took its twin.

“Me?” Layla allowed her confusion to show. “What did I do?”

“Nothing, as far as we’re aware.” Caleb leaned forward, drew his legs back, and smiled at her. “Fact is, we need your help. Well, more to the point, HQ does.”

“Okay.” Layla shared a bewildered look between them. “I take it you mean my professional services.” She gave a nervous little laugh. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

Caleb chuckled. “Shame.” His laughter faded, and his expression turned more serious. “Mind answering a few questions?”

Layla shrugged. “Depends what they are.”

“You work as a freelance PR guru, right?”

Layla nodded. “That’s common knowledge.”

“You’ve been called in by Vampire HQ UK to do some work for them.”

“Right again.” Layla frowned. “Look, where’s this going? I can’t believe you came all this way, busy and important men like you, just to discuss my workload.”

“Bear with me.” Caleb spread his hands. “Anything odd about the assignments you were asked to carry out by London office?”

“You know I can’t tell you that. I’m bound by confidentiality. They made a point of emphasizing that fact, as it happens, which pissed me off a bit. It made it sound like I didn’t know how to behave professionally, or that they didn’t entirely trust me, which in turn made me wonder why they’d asked for me. Besides, I haven’t done anything for them the slightest bit sensitive.”

“I’m not asking for specifics, or for you to betray confidences, Layla.” The sound of her name slipping so effortlessly from Caleb’s tongue made it hard for her to think coherently. “Just generalizations.”

“I’ve been asked to carry out a few video interviews, that’s all. Nothing particularly taxing and, like I already said, definitely nothing controversial.”

“Do you get called on a lot to help other vampires promote their businesses?”

“Yes, but this is the first time that HQ have asked for me. I tried to find out how they’d heard about me, but no one seemed to know.” She gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I didn’t probe too hard because they pay well. Exceptionally well. Gift horses, and all that… But I think I can say without giving much away that I did wonder why the assignments given to me couldn’t have been carried out by their in-house publicists.”

“Did you reach any conclusions?”

Layla shook her head emphatically. “I’m not crossing that line. For all I know, London sent you to test my discretion.”

“All right,” Caleb said. “Leaving aside the fact that men of my stature do not dance to the tune of our field offices, let me hazard a guess here. If I’m right, presumably you can tell me that much.”

Layla frowned, wondering if this gorgeous man was attempting to trick her. Unlike Hardwick, he wouldn’t have to try too hard. “Possibly,” she conceded cautiously.

Caleb fixed her with a probing look that made it feel as though he could see into her soul. “Carlos Hardwick,” he said softly.

Layla gasped, giving the game away through her reaction. “How the hell did you…”

ADULT EXCERPT

“Want more?” She nodded. “Fuck,” Zagan muttered, admiring her resilience, her willingness to place her trust in him, her desire to experiment. He glanced up and saw Caleb leaning against the now open bedroom door, arms folded as he watched the scene unfold with avid interest. If Vlad had given him urgent orders, it seemed the execution thereof could wait.

“How long have you been there?” Zagan asked.

“Don’t mind me,” Caleb replied, chuckling. “Seems the lady has urgent need of your services. Can’t say as I blame her. I can never get enough of your cock, either.”

“Turn over,” Zagan ordered curtly, helping Layla up, “and lay on the floor. Spread your legs wide.”

The trimmed pubic hair surrounding her pussy was the same deep chestnut as that on her head, Zagan noticed. He liked that she didn’t mess with nature, and settled for the coloring she’d been born with. “Bring your knees up.” He placed the spatula over her cunt. “You know what to do.”

He brought the innocent kitchen implement down over her pussy with several sharp flips of his wrist. She gasped because her cunt was more tender than her backside, and what he’d just done to her would hurt. But it would also be rewarding, and he knew she’d found that out for herself when she sent Zagan a look of mild surprise.

“Yeah,” he said, pleased by her reaction. “It turns you on, right?”

Layla nodded, looking a little bemused. Zagan fell to his knees in front of her, lowered his head, and latched his lips onto her clit. She thrust her pelvis up to meet his mouth when he sucked hard on her most sensitive spot. She was seconds from climaxing, Zagan sensed, and he didn’t have it in him to tease her by making her wait. She’d absorbed her punishment so well that she deserved a reward.

“Yeah, you love Zagan fucking you with his mouth, don’t you, sugar.” Caleb’s voice was a taunting rasp, a low rumble that put Zagan in mind of satin sheets and hot vampire. “You’re gonna come for him without permission, which will mean consequences.”

Layla mumbled incoherently, thrashing her head from side to side as she attempted to withstand the fiery vibes created by Zagan’s stimulation. He could tell that she didn’t want to be predictable, but Zagan also knew that she wouldn’t last for much longer. He reached for one of her tits, sucked harder, and it was all it took. She cried out and exploded in his mouth, bucking her hips and shouting his name. Her fangs dropped down, and she leaned up so that she could bite hard into Zagan’s shoulder.

“Naughty,” Zagan goaded, as her fangs retracted, and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before flopped back down on the rug, her limbs still trembling as a series of aftershocks rocked her body.

“You don’t play fair,” she complained, grinning.

“Now it’s my turn to have some fun,” Zagan said. “We got any lube, Caleb?”

Caleb disappeared into the bedroom, returning with a tube that he tossed to Zagan. He caught it one-handed, having stripped off his jeans.

“On your hands and knees, sugar. You ever been ass-fucked before?”

“Yep. Didn’t like it much.”

“Well then, we’d best change your mind on that one. Remember, the safeword is Judas if it gets too much for you.”

Zagan was acutely aware of Caleb sporting a massive erection behind his zipper as he watched Zagan get behind Layla. Zagan gently rimmed her anus with a lubed finger, but met resistance when he attempted to force that finger past her sphincter.

“Let me in, sugar.” He leaned over her back, his breath hot against her damp skin, his voice soft, smooth, and gently persuasive. “Don’t fight me on this. You’ll have a blast if you give yourself over to me. I promise you.”

He could sense her attempting to relax for him, but it went against her instincts. He nibbled at the erogenous zone beneath her ear, heard her sigh, and his finger found ingress. He moved it around, exploring his territory.

“There’s a good girl.” He smoothed her backside with his free hand, and added a second finger to the first. “You liking that?”

“Hmm.”

Zagan took that as a yes, and added another slick digit. He shot an astounded glance at Caleb when she pushed back against it, inviting him deeper. Zagan duly obliged. He was driving her wild enough on her own. Having Caleb watching added that extra element of arousal. He blew a kiss at Caleb as he removed his fingers and replaced them with the tip of his cock. Layla mumbled something, but not because she was uncomfortable, Zagan sensed. He grasped her hips, and delved a little deeper, jerking when he felt a sharp slap to his buttocks. Layla heard it, too. They both glanced to the left, where a long mirror occupied most of the wall.

Caleb stood behind Zagan, bare-chested, jeans dangling open much as Zagan’s had earlier to allow his erection room to breathe. He now had control of the spatula, and wasn’t holding back in the way that Zagan had when he’d used it on Layla. Holy fuck!

“You see what you do for us, sugar,” Zagan said, driving himself cautiously a little deeper into Layla. She cried out, urging him on. “Yeah, it feels good and tight. I get that. Just stay with me, darlin’. It’ll get a whole lot better.”

The spatula came down hard again, keeping pace with Zagan’s cautious thrusting.

“Don’t wimp out on me, big guy,” Caleb said in a stern tone. “Give the lady what she needs first.”

“Always.”

Zagan’s breathing fractured. Seeing Caleb so tormented, so invested in a fuck that he wasn’t actually part of, seeing the perspiration glistening on his gorgeous torso, pushed Zagan dangerously close to the brink.

“Come on, darlin’.” He upped the pace, and felt Layla teetering on the brink. “Let’s do this together.”

Caleb fell to his knees, slid beneath Layla, latched his mouth onto her clit, and Zagan, watching in the mirror, thought he saw a couple of fingers disappear into her cunt. It was all it took for her and Zagan to climax in sync. Zagan’s fangs dropped, and he bit into Layla’s shoulder as his cock thickened, jerked, and he shot his load deep into her at the exact same moment as her body went into a series of tremors, and she screamed at them both to fuck her harder.