Page 10 of My Boyfriend Bites (A Moonstruck Mating #3)

The last thing Dante wanted to do was leave Selene. His cock ached. His balls were tight. She was soft and pliant in his arms. Her lips swollen from his kisses. Add in her scent, which drove him mad, and he wanted nothing more than to finish what they’d started.

However… He couldn’t ignore the situation.

With a sigh, he set Selene on her feet. “It would appear I have business to attend.”

“Why you?” she queried, a crease between her brows. “Isn’t it up to the captain and the crew to handle these pirates?”

Since he’d never truly explained his reason for being on the cruise, her confusion had merit. “By business, I simply meant finding out what’s being done to safeguard passengers.”

“You think we’re in danger?” She moved from him and hugged herself, chewing her lower lip.

“I don’t know. Let me go see what I can discover. With any luck, these boarding miscreants will steal a few jewels and wallets and sail away.”

“And if they don’t?”

A question he couldn’t easily reply. “What else would they do?”

Her expression hardened. “I’d rather not find out. I hate thieves.”

“Me, too.” He dropped a soft kiss on her lips. “Stay here. I won’t be gone for too long. Don’t answer the door. Actually, barricade it once I’m gone and don’t open it until you hear me or Renard outside.”

“You think I’m in danger?”

“You aren’t in the lower decks anymore. These pirates might assume you’re hiding some treasures in your swanky suite.”

She snorted. “Like what? Most of my stuff got ruined when my previous cabin flooded.”

“Be safe,” his last admonishment before exiting her cabin to find a grim-looking Renard in the hall. Before saying anything, he listened. Clink . She slid the chain lock in place.

Dante angled his head and arched a brow at Renard.

His man nodded and strode up the hall, tablet in hand as he quickly summarized the situation.

“I don’t know if the captain or crew are aware yet of the invasion,” Rennie softly murmured. “I only caught the boarding pirates by accident because I noticed a camera at the stern of the ship had been turned off. I remotely activated it in time to catch them coming over the rail.” Renard pointed to this screen, showing a grappling hook and a flexible fiber ladder hanging over the ship’s rear.

“How many?”

“About twenty men armed with guns and knives.”

“Where are they now?” Dante asked as they bypassed the elevator and headed outside.

“Not sure. They immediately spread out, and cameras have been going offline and not coming back when rebooted.”

“They’re destroying them.” More statement than query.

“Most likely. Without eyes to track their movement, it will be hard for the captain to mount any kind of defense.”

“How long do you figure before they’re noticed?”

Renard shrugged as he flashed his wristband on the door that led to the outside. “Depends on what the pirates do next. I imagine it won’t take long before?—”

A good thing they’d already opened the electronically locked door because the power went out. Lights extinguished, leaving them in the dark. Well, Rennie, at least. Dante could see just fine. The constant hum of machinery died, all the little gadgets that ran a ship this size, suddenly inert, including the engine.

In that stifling silence, the ship’s momentum slowed and shouts of alarm, and a few screams, could be heard.

“It would seem they’ve made their move.” Dante’s grim pronouncement.

“The power going out is new,” Renard observed. “Previously the boarders showed up in the dining halls, guns out, with demands people hand over their valuables.”

“Most likely they wanted to prevent the captain or anyone from communicating the situation.”

“I’m surprised a backup system hasn’t kicked in.” Rennie glanced down at the pitch-black deck below.

“The traitors on board must have disabled it.” Dante frowned. “No power will make moving around difficult, as many doors will be locked. I don’t know how accessible manual overrides are for those that usually require bracelet access.”

“The emergency exits will work,” Rennie reminded.

“From the inside, yes, but not out here I would imagine.”

“What’s the plan?” Rennie asked. “Are we taking out the pirates, one by one?”

“Yes and no. Yes, to removing them, but before they die, I would like to find out who’s in charge of them. Can’t question a dead man.”

“Are we splitting up or clearing the ship in tandem?” Rennie was all business. No need to ask if he’d armed himself. Dante could smell the oil he’d used cleaning his gun. While the ship had a strict no-firearms policy, that didn’t stop his assistant and most likely others from smuggling weapons aboard.

“You handle any pirates outside since the starlight and sliver of moon let you somewhat see.” Thankfully the fog remained thin. “Stow them in a lifeboat once incapacitated. If you must use deadly force, heave them into the sea.” No body, no evidence, no questions later on.

“I take it you’re going to stalk the inner halls?”

“I don’t stalk,” an indignant Dante replied. He prowled.

Rennie snorted. “Whatever you say, boss.”

“I’ll head for the main dining areas, as that’s where the most people will be, assuming the invaders follow the pattern of their previous robberies on ships.”

“Try not to get shot.” Rennie’s advice.

“First, they’d have to see me coming,” Dante’s riposte before they split apart. Rennie moved silently down the steps, gun in hand. He likely wouldn’t encounter more than a handful of pirates left as lookouts. The bulk of the invaders would be inside harassing and intimidating passengers.

Let them. Dante was actually less worried about the pirates than he was about the killer on board. A killer that roamed free but whose next victim would likely be the captain, same as the other ships.

Dante had kept the door wedged open when the power went out, meaning he could slip back inside the ship. He moved silently past Selene’s door, wondering what she did inside, and clenched his fist lest he knock just to hear her voice. Pathetic. Her door remained undamaged. She was fine, and he had a job to do.

The door leading from the private suite section to the elevators and interior stairs didn’t open when he tugged. A light yank, he should add, just to test. With no one around, he gave it some muscle, snapping the locking mechanism and wrenching it open.

The next hall had a bank of elevators—currently inert with people trapped inside screaming for help. He swept past those to the grand staircase, and as he descended, the noise of those in the dark made it hard for him to detect any threat.

“Are we gonna die?”

“Told you we should have gone to the Grand Canyon.”

“Let’s fuck before the lights come back.” The adventurous never wasted an opportunity for sex in a public place.

There were pinpricks of light at the bottom of the steps, people using their phones as flashlights. While they oozed fright, it appeared to be more the fear of the unknown and not that of violence, meaning the pirates hadn’t passed through.

Dante weaved among them, a wraith on a mission. While he’d told Renard he’d check the dining rooms, he changed his path to make his way to the bridge, where he hoped to find the elusive captain. Once he located her, he’d stick close by and wait for the killer to strike.

The stairs located in the forward of the ship had more wailing passengers, whom he ignored as he climbed, making his way to the secured bridge. Once he arrived, he’d have to devise a way to see inside.

That turned out to be unnecessary. As he neared the bridge, he could hear sailors arguing.

“I don’t know what else you want me to do. Nothing is working. No power, no radio. We’re too far from any cell dishes to be able to do a regular call either,” exclaimed a male.

“Where’s the damned captain? She must have some ideas,” huffed another.

“Haven’t seen her since midafternoon,” claimed a third voice. “Not sure what you expect her to do, though. Until we get the main or backup genny online, we’re basically a floating metal island.”

“With people who are gonna lose their shit as if we did on purpose,” sighed the first male. “Jeezus, what a nightmare. And to think I should have been home on a two-week vacation.”

“Anyone ever find out what happened to Peter?” someone queried. “It’s not like him to not show up for a shift.”

“Don’t know. Don’t care. He’s a shitty first mate,” grumbled a woman.

“Should we check for the captain in her quarters?” questioned one of the crew.

“And have her bite a head off for leaving our post?” grumbled the first whiner.

While they argued, Dante ghosted away, mentally reviewing the map he’d memorized of the ship. The captain’s quarters weren’t publicly posted, but he’d accessed the employee version of the ship’s layout and knew where to go.

Everywhere he passed, people talked—and panicked—about the situation. Apparently, a lack of power meant they’d soon sink, at least according to some. Some seemed to think it meant world apocalypse via EMP pulse. Others claimed ghosts were responsible. Strangely, not one mentioned the possibility of pirates.

As he navigated the halls, not seeing much but rather guided by spatial instinct, he smelled death before he encountered it. A body lying prone on the floor. Could have been for any number of reasons, heart attack being the most likely since he scented no blood.

A pause to kneel by the body and fingers placed on the cooling flesh showed it recently dead—and drained.

He rocked on his heels. Another vampire aboard?

It would certainly tie together many pieces of the pirate puzzle such as the witness accounts which claimed the thieves robbed and left without shooting anyone. The problem being if that were true then why did some passengers go missing?

One of the theories being floated suggested panicked people might have jumped into the ocean to escape the pirates. However, the discovery of the drained body made Dante wonder if the unaccounted for cruisers had fallen victim to a blood hungry vampire. It would be simple to hide the evidence as the killer could simply dump the bodies overboard.

Which led to him wondering if the vampire and pirates were working together, or did the vamp use the robbery as cover for their own actions?

Either way, he’d have to be even more careful since his kind, unless related, tended to be rather territorial. For example, Dante, and his mother and her father before him, had staked a claim on Tuscany, Italy. What that meant? Basically, no other vampires could move in and feed in their area. Not as easy to track these days, given population movement and the fact they couldn’t recognize each other short of igniting in the sun or by admission.

Another corpse lay across the threshold of the captain’s cabin, female and in ship uniform, but not the person he sought, given the smooth rounded cheeks. While he’d not met Captain Carlisle, he’d sought out some images after his meeting with Maurice. A stern woman in her fifties with a creased brow, crow’s feet, and marionette lines bracketing her mouth.

Upon entering the room, his nose wrinkled at the smell permeating the space. A scent he couldn’t place. His gaze passed over the messy room, clothes strewn on the floor, bed unmade. An ornate and rather large wooden box sat on a dresser, the only clear space in the room. Did housekeeping not take care of the captain’s quarters?

It didn’t take long to ascertain the absence of the captain—dead or alive. Where had she gone? The few people he’d passed on his route hadn’t been Captain Carlisle. Perhaps she’d taken a different route to the bridge? Or had she headed to the engine room?

As he emerged and retraced his steps to the passenger levels, he wondered where to look next. He had to do something, though, before more bodies began to crop up around the ship. Despite Dante not coming across any corpses in the public areas, panic began to spread as people instinctively understood they were in trouble. They barricaded themselves in their cabins—those who could gain entry. The passengers in the main dining rooms and the exclusive restaurants were trapped by gun-toting pirates. As for the crew? According to a very irate deckhand he encountered and questioned, a good chunk hid in the bridge and barred it from access.

Where to go?

Dante might have spent the night wandering if he’d not heard the most chilling thing.

The howl of a wolf.