Page 4 of The Vampire Kingpin (The Vampire Syndicate #7)

I traced my fingers up her narrow ribcage, drawing a circle around her nipples with the pads of my thumbs.

She dragged in a breath. Her hands came to my chest, her blunt-cut nails digging into my pecs.

Her lids drifted down, and beneath the dress’s big white collar, the honeyed skin of her throat rippled in a hard swallow.

My mouth watered and my fangs tingled, eager to sink into her pulsing vein, my erection straining painfully against my leather jeans. The blood craving rose in me, fighting to be let loose, to plunge both my fangs and my dick into her.

“Lark,” I rasped.

“Mm?” she asked dreamily.

“Look at me.”

Her lids lifted, but slowly, as if they were weighted. She blinked at me, then recoiled and knocked my hands from her tits. “Get off me.”

With a growl, I grabbed her wrists, twisting her arms behind her back. “Let’s get one thing straight. You’re not the one in charge here, understand?”

Her witchy eyes flashed, gold and brown lights sparking like fireworks in the green. “So what about working things out? Or was that just a lie?”

“You said you don’t have that kinda cash.”

“I don’t. But I can get it for you. I just need time.”

“You sound like your cousin now.”

She rolled her lips in. “Please, Spider.”

I tilted my head, considering her. She’d stolen from me. As far as I was concerned, I owned her sexy little cat-burglar body now. She was lucky she was still breathing.

But my mind couldn’t help flashing to Amina, who’d also pulled a switchblade on a bigger, more powerful vampire, a man who’d wanted revenge on me.

He’d snatched her and abused her for three long nights while I tore Manhattan apart looking for her.

Then he’d driven a silver stake through her heart.

I’d arrived in time to see her body crumbling to ashes.

I’d gone berserk, staking him and every last member of his lair, but nothing could bring Amina back.

“Spider?” Lark’s questioning tones pulled me back to the present.

I inhaled and focused on her again.

I liked Lark’s pluck. She was a…challenge. For the first time in a long time, I felt a spark of excitement for a woman.

Why not negotiate with her? It would be a shame to crush her spirit.

I still intended to take my month, but why not pay her, like I would’ve any other thrall? When the month was finished, at least I’d have the satisfaction of knowing she’d have enough cash to tell Grimclaw to fuck off.

“I don’t need your money,” I said, releasing her. “But I’m open to negotiations. Why don’t you start by returning my dagger?”

“Sure,” she said with a shrug. “Like I said, it wasn’t my idea to steal it in the first place.”

“How’d you know where to find it, anyway?”

“Grim told me.”

“How the fuck did he know?”

“Don’t know. But he said it’d be in the wall safe of your bedroom.”

I frowned. Had someone in my lair passed the intel to Grimclaw? But who? And why? On the other hand, the existence of my safe wasn’t a state secret. It was possible he’d heard about it and guessed that’s where the dagger would be.

Then Lark’s fingers went to the hem of her dress and I forgot everything but her, my mouth literally watering as she drew the skirt up, high enough that I could see she wore sheer black thigh-highs. I swallowed a groan.

She untied a slim bag attached to her inner thigh and held it out to me. “Here.”

I stood, unmoving, watching as her skirt fell back to cover her long, strong thighs. Her gaze lifted to my face, and she stilled at what she saw there.

I took the bag, undoing the strings and drawing out my dagger. As my fingers closed around the familiar, carved ebony handle, a wave of relief swept over me. The dagger wasn’t just my favorite weapon, it was my lucky charm.

In the three decades since Amina had given it to me, things had turned around. Lose it, and a superstitious part of me feared I’d lose everything else, too. I only took it out of my safe for special occasions. Otherwise, I kept it locked up.

I slid the dagger into a thigh holster and took Lark’s face in my hands. Her heart rate kicked up. I drank in its uncertain, aroused beat.

“Open your mouth,” I murmured.

Her throat worked. “Why?”

“Because.” I nipped her plump lower lip. “Before we discuss terms, you have to prove you’re worth whatever I decide to pay.”

At her outraged gasp, I fought back a smile. I tipped her head back with my thumbs, licking the seam of her lips, but her mouth remained firmly closed.

I caressed the underside of her jaw. “Open for me,” I told her sternly.

She shook her head, but her hands came to my chest, stroking me like she couldn’t help herself.

“That’s it,” I encouraged. “Touch me like I’m going to touch you.”

I moved my mouth to the shell of her ear, tracing it with my tongue. She shivered, and I moved on to her ear lobe, sucking and nibbling. She made a small, sexy sound and gripped the back of my head, pulling me closer.

I brought my lips back to hers, nibbling at her lips. They parted, and I murmured, “Good girl. Open for me.”

Her chest shuddered, and with a moan, she sucked my tongue into her mouth.

The dark, primal thing in me reared its head. I deepened the kiss, eating at her hungrily, pulling her higher so she had to come onto her toes. Lark melted into me, one hand around my nape, the other under my shirt, her nails digging into my back, feeding the primal thing with her eager compliance.

I slid a hand between her legs, rumbling in approval when I found all she wore was a silky thong. She widened her thighs, and I pushed my fingers beneath the waistband, roughly caressing her. She whimpered and moved against me.

I backed off, stroking her slow and easy, bringing her to the brink. Then I grabbed her thong to rip it off her. She was so wet I’d slide in easily. I could already feel her closing around my dick, hot and tight…

A burst of laughter jolted me back to our surroundings. On the street, a group of teenaged humans trotted past. I’d actually forgotten we were aboveground, a dangerous lapse with so many supernaturals prowling the Village.

“Spider?” Lark’s eyelids lifted.

“Not here,” I muttered and reluctantly withdrew my hand from between her thighs.

The dark thing snarled in displeasure, but if I let it out to play, Lark would be up against the brick wall with me buried balls deep inside her—and this wasn’t my territory.

Yeah, I had an unofficial alliance with the Kral primus based on my friendship with his son Zaq, but I was damned if I’d get caught by a Kral soldier with my pants around my ankles.

Lark dropped back to her heels and stared up at me, her lips reddened, her pupils blown so wide the green was only a thin ring around a bottomless black. She seemed as stunned as I was at what we’d unleashed.

“Let’s go.” I put a hand on her lower back.

She grabbed my arm. “If I agree, you have to promise me something.”

“What?”

“That you’ll let me go after a month—that you won’t just…keep me.”

I took her by the chin. “Now you’re pissing me off. Insult me like that again and I’ll spank your ass red.”

She dropped her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you, but…please?”

She’d lost some of her spunk. This meant something to her. She was truly afraid.

“Fine,” I heard myself saying. “When the month’s up, I promise you’ll be free to go. You have my word on it.”

She gave me a searching look, then nodded. “Okay.”

“But until then,” I added, releasing her chin, “I’ll take you anytime and anywhere I want.”

Her head snapped up. “I haven’t said I’ll be your thrall.”

“Yet,” I shot back.

Because we’d already started negotiations, and we both knew it.