Page 5 of The Vampire Kingpin (The Vampire Syndicate #7)

Lark

S pider hurried me out of the alley and through the West Village.

Halloween reigned everywhere. Purple and orange lights adorned the windows, witches flew their brooms in tiny yards and pumpkins glowed on stoops.

A human in a devil costume strutted past with a tiny dog sporting matching horns and a cape.

We were five blocks from the parade before I snapped out of my Spider-induced daze.

What was wrong with me?

The man informed me that he owned me and instead of freezing him out, I let him kiss me—and not just a peck on the lips.

No, I’d been completely into it. One touch and my stupid body had lit up like one of those strings of Halloween lights.

My thong was so wet it rubbed against my clit with every step.

We crossed Fourteenth Street into Chelsea. Spider pulled me into another alley and held out his hand. “Your phone.”

“Don’t have it,” I returned smugly. I’d stowed it in a tunnel between his lair and Grimclaw’s in case I got caught.

“Think I’ll check anyway. Arms out, legs spread.”

“Whatever you say, my lord .” I flung my arms wide. “But if you wanna feel me up, why don’t you just ask nicely?”

Amusement softened his hard mouth. Squatting down, he skimmed his fingers up my thighs inside my dress, lingering on the band of my thigh-highs before moving to my butt, left bare by my thong. His big, warm hands closed on my naked cheeks.

He gave a hum of appreciation. “You do have a sweet ass, Lark Nightstar.”

My throat worked. This time I made myself stay still. But my pussy clenched, completely on board with whatever he had in mind, the scent of my arousal drenching the air.

He picked up on it, of course. A vampire’s senses are ten times as keen as a human’s. He went motionless. Then he lifted his head, his dark gaze burning into mine from where he crouched at my feet.

Electricity arced between us. The back of his fingers brushed the crotch of my thong, sending a shock of pleasure radiating up my spine. He found my clit and rotated a knuckle over it.

“Very sweet,” he added in a husky murmur.

I briefly closed my eyes. Then I fisted my hands and deliberately looked past him. “Are you finished?”

“Yeah.” He stood back up, a small, we-both-know-you-liked-it smile playing on his lips.

I waited for him to call me on it, but he just said, “C’mere,” and before I knew what was happening, his long fingers were wrapped around my head, holding my face to his broad chest.

“What now?” I grumbled, voice muffled, and tried not to breathe. This time, I was not going to notice how good he smelled.

“Hush.”

I couldn’t see what he was doing with his other hand, but a few seconds later, a door creaked open behind me. Interesting. An entrance to the Underworld I didn’t know about.

“You first.” He indicated the opening with his chin.

I obeyed, accepting that for now, I was his prisoner. At least he wasn’t Jared Darkman.

Spider sent a last look up and down the alley, then followed me onto the flimsy metal landing. Darkness enveloped us.

He glided past me. “You can see?”

“Yeah,” I said, my eyes adjusting to the low lighting.

“Stick close. The rats know not to mess with me.” He started down a flight of sketchy-looking stairs.

I jogged after him. “I’m not afraid of rats.”

I’d even made friends with a couple of them—the only friends I’d made in Grim’s lair. At least the rats I could trust.

We descended two flights. At the bottom, the murkiness swallowed us whole—too thick even for our night-adapted eyes to penetrate.

Spider flicked on a tiny flashlight, revealing an ancient subway tunnel that looked like it predated New York City itself—cracked white tiles, dank pools of water.

We continued, picking our way over the rotted wooden ties beneath our feet.

A flash of movement made me look down—directly into a pair of beady red eyes.

I automatically reached for the handful of dried corn I usually kept in my jeans, but since I was wearing a dress, I came up empty-handed.

Unfortunately, this skinny, beady-eyed dude didn’t seem to have heard about the rats I’d befriended outside my cousin’s lair.

“Good boy,” I said weakly.

Spider threw a look over his shoulder. “Don’t worry, he won’t bother you.”

“How d’you know? That guy looks hungry.”

“Probably ‘cause he is.”

“Not helping,” I muttered, and I could’ve sworn he stifled a laugh.

Then, to my relief, he bared his fangs and hissed at the rats. The darkness exploded with a half-dozen rodents emitting furious squeaks and scattering.

I may have let loose with a girly squeak myself. “Jesus, I hate how they travel in herds.”

“Herds?” He made a choking sound.

He was definitely trying not to laugh.

“Glad I’m amusing you,” I said dryly. But this time it didn’t bother me—in fact, for some damn reason, I was proud of myself.

“It’s called a mischief.” Spider started walking again, me sticking to him like Velcro.

“A what?”

“A mischief of rats.”

“No kidding? Fits.”

“Anyway, chill. A light will go on right about—” A kerosene torch flared to life, scorching my eyeballs, and another half-dozen rats darted off. “Now,” he finished, turning off the flashlight and tucking it into a pocket.

With the rats gone, I couldn’t help appreciating the view prowling down the track ahead of me. His leather jeans and silk shirt molded to his sinewy frame like they’d been sewn on him. The man had the perfect ass for leather—firm, hard-muscled.

Maybe being his thrall wouldn’t be so bad…

I wrenched my gaze from his ass, irritated at myself.

He stopped and took my hand, his fingers warm and firm. “Bend your knees.”

I complied, crouching and walking sideways like him until he released my hand and straightened up.

He slanted me a look. “You’ll have to tell me how you got around our traps.”

“Sure.” I smirked. “But it’ll cost you. Ten thousand oughtta do it.”

He snorted.

A second kerosene torch flared on, making me blink against the brightness.

Spider indicated a wooden tie. “This one you have to jump,” he said, springing a good yard above the track to clear it.

I rolled my eyes. “Like I can jump that high,” I said—and executed an aerial somersault instead, landing on the tie next to his.

His thick dark brows climbed. “Starting to understand how you evaded our traps.”

I grinned up at him, and his rich brown eyes crinkled in return. Suddenly, he seemed like a different man. Someone I could…like.

My heart thumped. I dragged my gaze away.

Put the brakes on, Lark. The man literally threatened to cut out your tongue for lying to him.

He tucked a stray hair behind my ear. “You’re not what I expected.”

“Yeah?” I lifted a brow. “I’m better? Smarter? Freakin’ fabulous, in fact?”

His low chuckle sent an answering vibration through my lower belly. His mouth opened, and I stilled, convinced he was going to say something crucial.

But he didn’t. Instead, he closed his mouth and continued down the tunnel, once again the stern Underworld kingpin.

And no, that wasn’t disappointment I felt.

The entrance to Spider’s lair was a giant iron door crisscrossed with silver straps to repel vampires.

Spider greeted the guards in an undertone.

They eyed me suspiciously while he spun a trio of cogs set into the iron in a quick pattern, his hands moving too fast for me to catch the sequence.

The door swung open to reveal a large, communal space that was a blend of modern tech and fantastical steampunk-y elements like iron pendants with Edison bulbs that cast a warm glow.

I’d been here earlier, of course, but at that point I’d been focused on the job.

Now I took in the comfy leather couches, the pool table, the wide screen TV and the thick rugs covering the slate floors.

Curtains in warm oranges and reds softened the stone and concrete walls, and a couple of antique trunks serving as coffee tables were piled with magazines and books.

At the opposite end of the room was a kitchen with a long wooden table for the dhampirs and humans in the lair.

Envy chewed at my insides. This lair was a home, something I’d never really known. Even when my parents were still alive, we were always moving, always scheming, seeking the next big score.

And Grimclaw’s lair had never felt like home. It had just been where I laid my head.

Spider glanced at me, and I had a feeling he could read some of what I was feeling on my face.

I pulled back my shoulders. “Nice crib.”

“Thanks. We call it the Cavern.”

“Not the Web?”

“Too obvious,” he said, and even though he didn’t smile, I could’ve sworn I felt his mood lighten a little. “You know where my bedroom is,” he added with a nod at the door beyond the kitchen.

“That’s where we’re negotiating?”

“It’s private,” he said, even though the Cavern was completely empty.

When I hesitated, he put a firm hand on the small of my back, steering me through the room and past the kitchen.

His bedroom was a lush retreat done up in velvet and silk.

He closed the door and went to his wall safe, which in my hurry, I’d left cracked open, and returned his dagger to its inlaid wood box.

He put the box back in the safe along with my switchblade and spun the combination lock, clearly not worried that I’d already demonstrated I could break into it.

“Sit down.” He sprawled on the black velvet armchair next to the bed, long legs stretched out before him, his twists flowing around his face and shoulders like a coffee-colored lion’s mane. “Before we talk terms, let’s get a few things straight.”

I perched on the edge of his massive bed, hands behind me on the black-and-gold silk comforter, and crossed my ankles all demure-like. I could act like a lady when it suited me. “Like what?”

He traced a hot-eyed gaze over my legs. “First, you’re not a guest here. You have the freedom of my bedroom and the Cavern, but go anywhere else and the guards will have orders to toss your ass in a cell.”