Page 8 of The Vampire Kingpin (The Vampire Syndicate #7)

Spider

I came out of my day sleep to the snick-snick of a switchblade. I tensed, preparing to launch myself out of the bed, until Lark’s scent hit me, a blend of my shampoo and her own unique essence.

I turned my head. My soon-to-be thrall slouched on the chair next to my bed, her legs draped over one of the velvet-covered arms, playing with the blade I’d taken from her.

Behind her, my weapons cabinet was open.

She’d also gotten into my closet because she wore my favorite purple silk shirt over the thigh-highs from last night.

The snick-snick ceased. “You’re awake.”

“Mm-hm,” I said without taking my gaze from where the thigh-highs disappeared beneath the tails of my shirt. Was she wearing the thong under that?

She got up, smooth as a cat. “I’ll stick around,” she informed me, “but on my terms.”

Now we were getting somewhere. I leaned back against the headboard, fingers laced behind my neck. “Spill.”

The sheet bunched at my waist, leaving me bare from the waist up. From the way she moistened her lips, she liked what she saw. The feeling was mutual. I’d come awake with morning wood but at her obvious interest, my dick tried to drill through the damn sheet.

She took that in, then moved her gaze up…slowly. Taking in my chest. My biceps. And finally, my face.

“One month,” she told me. “At the end of that time, my debt is paid—and I want an extra fifty grand on top of that.”

I lifted a brow, enjoying myself more than I would’ve expected. “Now why would I agree to that?”

She strolled the few feet to the bed and leaned over. The purple shirt gaped open, giving me an eyeful of small, perfect tits. Her shiny black hair spilled forward to brush my chest.

Behind my head, my fingers clenched, itching to gather that silky mass and guide her soft mouth down to my cock.

“Because.” She traced the point of her blade down my sternum and past my navel. Her silver blade, which meant it left a trail of fire. “I’ll be the best fuck you ever had.”

The pain only made me want to force her down on the bed and teach her manners. Just picturing it made me harden even more.

She used the point to flick the sheet draping my dick, threatening me in a way that I shouldn’t have allowed.

But I let her get away with it. The woman had cast a fucking spell on me.

I was this close to saying to Hades with negotiations and just giving her whatever she wanted if she’d come back to bed.

I didn’t even think she was exaggerating. I suspected she would be the best I’d ever had.

But it went against the grain to allow her to get the upper hand, and I was pretty sure she’d lose all respect for me if I gave in so easily.

“No to the fifty grand.” I nudged the blade away by its steel, nonpoisonous-to-vampires handle. “You owe me those thirty nights. You broke into my lair and stole from me. Anyone else would be in their final grave.”

“You have your damn dagger back.” Closing the switchblade, she slid it into her boot and crawled on top of me, her long hair tickling my chest and abs. “And we both know you can spare the Benjamins.”

With a feline look at me from beneath her lashes, she licked her way from my belly to my chest in the opposite direction she’d drawn her blade.

“You’re going the wrong way.” I reached between our bodies to shove the covers away. My dick sprang free, brushing her stomach.

Her warm fingers closed on me. I had to grit my teeth to keep from groaning aloud.

“Forty thousand,” she said.

“Ten,” I managed to say, my gaze on her strong, elegant fingers.

She gave me a slow stroke up and down. “Twenty-five.”

I gathered Lark’s silky locks in my fist and pulled her head back. “Done.”

Her beautiful eyes narrowed. “Thirty nights, and you’ll pay me twenty-five thousand dollars?”

“Yes.”

“Swear it.”

My hand tightened in her hair. “That’s the second time you doubted my word. You’ll get your twenty-five, damn you. Now show me how good you can be.”

Her witchy eyes lowered. “Yes, my lord.”

Oh, the woman was going to slay me. Probably literally.

But what a way to go.

“ Now ,” I told her.

She tightened her fingers around my root but took her time lowering her head, drawing out the anticipation, teasing me with small licks and nips until I growled, “Take me inside your mouth.”

Pursing her lips, she blew warm air on my engorged head. And then finally, mercifully, her lips covered the cap, teasing the slit with her tongue, licking the pre-cum weeping from me.

“Like this?” she asked around me before sucking me deep inside.

Every muscle in my body locked. “Fuck, yeah. Just like that.”

She hummed in pleasure. An answering vibration tightened my groin.

Without pausing in her rhythm, she straddled my left thigh. Her wet sex brushed over my bare skin, answering the question of whether she was wearing a thong.

She wasn’t.

Her free hand slipped lower, caressing my stones. Both my hands were in her hair now, guiding her up and down.

She started moaning and riding my leg, grinding her dripping pussy against my thigh, letting me know how much she liked me controlling her...ordering her around.

“That’s it,” I told her. “Get yourself ready for me. Touch yourself.”

Releasing me, she slid her hand between her spread legs. I silently damned myself for not having her remove the shirt first, because the fabric blocked my view of her tits.

I cupped her head and thrust inside her mouth. The base of my spine clenched, my balls drawn up with the need to explode.

“You gonna swallow, pretty thief?”

She hummed an assent, the vibration sending a wave of pleasure crashing over me. I gave several hard thrusts, then abruptly changed my mind.

This first time, I wanted to be inside her, taking her hard while I drank from her vein, my mouth filled with the flavor of Lark. I owned her now, and I wanted her to feel it.

I tugged her hair. “Stop.”

She murmured questioningly against my skin. When she raised her head, her green-and-gold irises were outlined in neon blue, her vampire-half staring up at me.

“Too much?” She smiled, a seductive, I’m-a-predator stretch of her lips—and let her fangs slide out, toying a sharp tip with her tongue, testing to see what I’d allow.

I smiled back, and extended my fangs as well. Unlike Lark, I intended to use them—on her.

Our gazes snagged. I let my own eyes spark blue, a wordless warning that if she pushed me too far, there would be consequences.

Still toying with the tip of her fang, she tipped her head to one side like a sexy, black-haired kitten. Then her fangs slid back into her gums.

I released her hair. “Take off the shirt.”

She came up on her knees, drawing the shirt over her head and tossing it on the chair, leaving her dressed in nothing but the boots and thigh-highs. Her hair fell in a midnight waterfall around her shoulders.

My lungs stopped up.

In my three decades as a vampire, I’d seen some fine-ass women. None of them came close to Lark with her creamy olive skin and strong, graceful body, her full lips wet from sucking me, her tits round and topped with dark-rose nipples.

She started to crawl off me, but I grabbed her by the hips, stopping her so I could give each of those pretty nipples a hard suck.

Her head fell back in pleasure. She wrapped a hand around my nape. “Do it again—harder.”

“Please,” I prompted against her breasts.

She growled under her breath, but obeyed. “ Please .”

When I complied, her free hand moved down her stomach toward her pussy.

“No touching.” I gripped her wrist, halting her.

Her lush mouth formed a pout. “Why not?”

“Because I’m the only one who gets to make you come.” I scraped my fangs down her neck.

She inhaled. “That hurts.”

“But you like it.”

“Yeah,” she admitted.

I licked the small scrapes to soothe them. “Good girl.”

“Why?”

“For telling me the truth.”

“I don’t lie,” she returned. She waited a beat, then added, “Usually.”

Fuck, she was adorable. I grinned against her temple. Still, I couldn’t let that “usually” pass.

“Make that never when you’re with me,” I told her, and lifted her off me, setting her on the mattress.

“I’m not making any promises.”

“I can promise I’ll spank you if you lie.”

“Only if you kiss it better when you’re done,” she shot back.

“Depends on the lie.” Crawling on top of her, I took her mouth with mine, then moved her closer to the bronze headboard. “Grab the rails and don’t let go.”

“Yes, sir.” This time, she wasn’t teasing me. Keeping her eyes on me, she reached up, one hand at a time, and wrapped her fingers around two thick rails.

I removed her boots, dropping them on the floor, then pushed her legs apart so her knees were bent up, and made my way down her body. Biting and sucking and licking until I reached her mound. Her tits lifted and fell, her hips moving restlessly on the sheets.

I rubbed my cheek over her wiry dark curls, then buried my face between her thighs. She smelled incredible. Earthy and feminine.

I cupped her ass, giving her rounded cheeks a good squeeze, and licked up her slit, teasing her swollen clit with my tongue and lips.

“ Spider .” My name came out on a rough exhale. “Yes. That…”

I did it again, and she moaned, her fingers opening on the rails.

I scraped my teeth along her inner thigh, warning, “Let go and I’ll stop.”

“No!”

“Then do as you’re told.”

A jerky nod. Her hands tightened around the rails so hard her knuckles whitened.

“You know what I’m going to do?” Without waiting for a reply, I brushed my thumb back and forth over her clit. “I’m gonna drink from you. I’m hungry.” And I craved her taste like a junkie needs their next fix.

She tensed beneath me. “I never…”

“That’s what I thought.” The primal part of me loved that in this one thing, she was still a virgin. “But you’ll let me, won’t you?”

I slid a finger into her pussy. The muscles contracted.

She hissed, her hips jerking. “Oh, gods…”