Page 3 of The Vampire’s Hunter (Rogue Brotherhood #2)

3

D ani had been in Chicago all of five minutes and already she found herself in trouble.

“Come on, sweetheart. Smile that pretty grin again.”

She tugged against the vampire who held a near death-grip on her wrist, fighting but failing to slip away. “I really need to—”

“I’ll take it from here, Zane,” a smooth voice from behind cut Dani’s words short, sending an all too familiar shiver down her spine.

A large hand slipped to the front of her throat, another gripping her elbow as its owner pulled her deliciously close, causing Zane’s hand to fall away.

It was a possessive embrace. The kind that signaled to anyone and everyone near, Zane included, that she was more than a pretty face, she was an object to be claimed, and claimed she’d been. Dani didn’t need to see who held her to recognize the vampire those lithe hands belonged to. Her body was already aware of him. It always had been.

“Corbin,” she breathed, melting into his warmth a little too readily.

That was one thing the movies never got right—the idea that a vampire’s touch was cold. Corbin had been the first to show her that with little more than a brush of his hand. She’d been young, foolish then, and she’d wanted him from the moment she’d met him nearly ten years ago.

Old habits died hard, she supposed.

The warmth of his breath brushed against her ear, causing a relieved sigh to tear from her lips. “What an unexpected surprise, my love.”

My love?

Dani’s eyes widened, even as she felt her nipples grow stiff.

In all the years she’d known Corbin, despite all the flirting, toying, and teasing, he’d never once claimed her as his own. Never touched, caressed, or kissed her. Had never done anything more than tantalize and provoke, exactly what he did with everyone . As if she were forbidden. Or at least, as if he had only a cursory interest in her. Nothing more.

And he’d certainly never told her he loved her. Though foolishly she’d nearly come close to confessing as much to him once upon a decade ago, but ages had passed since then. She knew better now. Not to mention, it’d been nearly a year or longer since she’d last seen him, and even before Cillian’s death, whole seasons had often passed between when she and Corbin spoke, but he was speaking now, his accent crisp and close.

“Thank you for keeping an eye on her, Zane. She does love to get herself into trouble, don’t you, darling?” Corbin’s grip on her neck tightened, promising to play somewhere between pleasure and pain as he leaned in. “Play along,” he hissed into her ear.

Dani nodded in agreement.

Anything to get her away from Zane.

Corbin held her flush against him now, her bottom pressing against the fly of his suit enough that she could feel the hardened length of his cock beneath. Dani bit her lower lip. She didn’t need any acting skills to fake the eager groan that escaped her as Corbin’s lips brushed over her throat, one of his fangs tracing the fluttering beat of her pulse.

She whimpered a little, arching against him like she wanted—no, needed —more. Heat slickened between her legs. Good Lord, she wanted him. She always had, she supposed. She’d known that when she’d come here, that she’d never truly managed to get over him.

But what in God’s name was he playing at?

“You mean to tell me she’s yours?” Zane said, fleetingly drawing both her and Corbin’s attention toward him once more.

Like Corbin, Zane was long and lean, the planes of his clothes belied with a subtle, yet impressive form, though Dani knew firsthand a vampire’s true strength didn’t lie in their muscles. She’d learned that the hard way with Cillian, then Lucien. A vampire’s looks could be deceiving, and while Zane was the kind of vampire who perhaps would have impressed her before, she wasn’t that person anymore. Not after all she’d been through, and certainly not now that she’d started to understand why she’d always ended up in the arms of the wrong man.

Because the only vampire she’d ever truly wanted had never wanted her in return.

The same vampire whose lips were currently trailing their way over her throat, like he couldn’t just smell her desire, he could taste it on her skin. This situation between them was supposed to be fake, except…

Was it possible to orgasm from a vampire’s kiss alone?

Because Corbin hadn’t even bitten her, and already she felt close.

“Don’t be a fool, Zane. Of course, she’s mine,” Corbin’s grip on her neck loosened, turning into a caress. “Unequivocally.” He spoke right into her ear, his words both familiar and foreign.

Good Lord, she didn’t care if it made her basic, his accent had always thrilled her.

“Apologies, Corbin,” Zane said, immediately casting his eyes low.

If there’d been any doubt about who was in charge here, Corbin crushed it with a single look. Dani didn’t need to see the expression on his face to know it’d turned instantly cold. She’d seen that same violence in his eyes, aimed at his enemies, more than once before.

“That’ll be all, Zane,” Corbin hissed, though his unspoken message was clear.

Touch what’s mine, and I’ll end you.

A harsh shiver rippled down her spine.

Abruptly, the hand at her throat disappeared, Corbin rotating her to face him and lifting her barely an inch off the floor, just enough to whisk her to the other side of the club with a supernatural speed that stole her breath away. He hadn’t given Zane so much as a chance to protest or retaliate. Not that she’d ever expected the other vampire to do so.

Among the Cosa della notte fucking with Corbin would have been akin to Zane signing his own death warrant. There were worse crimes, of course, but she didn’t want to consider those.

Dani blinked, dazed from how fast they’d moved.

“What are you doing?” she breathed, finally looking up at Corbin, from where he still held her close. Intimately close. As if she did, in fact, belong to him.

“You heard me, Dani. Be a good girl and play along.”

They were tucked into a darkened alcove now, pleasantly alone, though the club’s patrons were still very much in view. Anyone who wanted to see them could, and she had more than a passing feeling that was what Corbin had chosen it for.

Without warning, Corbin gently pushed her against the wall, pressing her flush against him. This time, they were face-to-face, their mouths unsettlingly close, which meant he could not only hear and feel her, but he could see, could taste every reaction, every breath she took. His hand fell to her throat again, one thumb tracing the beat of her pulse almost reverently. His other made quick work of hooking one of her legs over his hip, before suddenly that same hand dipped beneath her skirt.

Like he planned to touch her, finger her, right there beside the dance floor.

For all his club to see.

Dani’s breath caught, her voice going hoarse.

“Corbin, you can’t just—” Her eyes darted around the club, to all the patrons that could be watching them.

“What I do in my club is my business.” That dark endless gaze seared through her. “Now, do you want to sell this as real or not, love?”

Real or…

Dani’s head struggled to catch up with her body, considering she’d all but stopped thinking the moment he’d first pulled her close. Her eyes traced over Corbin’s handsome face. The sharp cheekbones. The sculpted jaw. The chiseled brow and regal nose.

He was harshly beautiful in a way even few vampires were—and that was saying something, considering as an undead species, they were pretty much all freaking beautiful—but Corbin took the word angelic and put it to shame. Especially whenever he flashed that white-toothed roguish grin of his. Ever the charmer. The Devil had been an angel once, she supposed…

And this devil clearly meant for her to play along.

To fake as if she wanted him.

For all watching eyes to see.

How did he not realize she wanted him to hold her close?

She’d never have to fake it. Not with him.

“Now, for the sake of my reputation, do try to moan,” he whispered, causing her to shiver as his hand dipped beneath her dress to the supple skin of her thigh below. “I promise to keep my hands thoroughly to myself after this.”

“Please don’t,” she whispered.

Whether he thought she was pleading for him to stop or that she was begging him for more, she’d never be certain. All Dani knew then was sensation, feeling.

The sudden press of Corbin’s hot mouth at her throat. The brush of hardened fang against the tender skin of her ear. The weight of his muscled body as he settled over her, his shoulders broad and heavy, his hips narrow, and the rough brush of his fingers as he toyed with the laced edge of her panties whilst his lips caressed her. Good Lord, she was in over her head.

Dani bucked her hips forward, nudging against him eagerly in a feeble attempt to guide his hand lower, but still, he didn’t touch her. Not where she truly wanted him to.

Because none of this was real, of course.

It was all for show. Meant to turn heads and inspire whispers.

Like everything Corbin did.

But he could have touched her there, if he wanted to, if he chose. He could have slipped inside her and taken and taken and taken and still she would have been eager to give more. Hell, if she’d even had so much as half a mind to stop him, there would have been little she could do to resist. If he’d wanted to take advantage, he could have glamoured her into submission. She’d experienced it with Cillian more than once before.

But he didn’t.

Instead, Corbin held her close, only touching her above her clothes in ways that benefitted them both, in ways that could easily be forgiven, situation considered. Enough to put on a show to protect her without ever fully crossing the line, out of respect for them both.

And somehow, that only made Dani want him more.

She let out a needy, little keen, something wanton between a whimper and a moan. She hadn’t felt this way in months, longer even. She bucked her hips forward again, unexpectedly eager. His hand and his fingers were so close to where she wanted him. So ridiculously close.

And yet…

The space between them may as well have been a chasm for how he dared not cross it.

Not without her permission.

“Please,” she begged. “Touch me, Corbin.”

At the sound of his name on her lips, Corbin froze. He stayed like that for a long beat, his body utterly still, as if it were a struggle to maintain control, before slowly he pulled back to look at her, staring down from where he’d been lavishing her throat. His dark eyes were ablaze in a way she’d never seen before, a sharp and piercing red, his mouth no more than hairsbreadth away.

So close.

Something violent sparked in his gaze then. Something harsh and crimson and feral.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Dani,” he whispered.

Yes, yes, she was, but she’d known that when she’d decided to come here, hadn’t she? She was intimately familiar with the threat vampires posed, and yet, she’d came anyway.

She’d never claimed to have much in the way of self-preservation.

Corbin’s thumb traced over the lace edge of her undergarments once more, seductive and warm. To the unknowing eye, it appeared as if he were pleasuring her, but it was only an illusion. Not nearly enough to satisfy.

“Please,” she whispered again, unable to say anything more.

She was too caught up in her own need, her own desire for him.

The Adam’s apple at Corbin’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, his gaze surprisingly soft. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me, Dani,” he whispered to her.

“No, I don’t.” Feeling more than a little brazen, Dani gripped the lapels of his suit coat. “But…I… I think you want this too.”

Corbin chuckled, the sound dark and a little morose. “Oh, you are far more dangerous than anyone gives you credit for, aren’t you, darling?” He cupped her chin in his hand then, the edge of his thumb tracing over her lips, smearing her red lipstick.

For a moment, a dark, greedy sort of hunger flashed in his eyes, a look of longing so deep she wasn’t certain it could be satisfied, before it quickly disappeared, replaced instead with a thin veneer of amusement, as if he took immense pleasure in being the one who’d smudged her makeup, who’d sullied her mouth.

Corbin’s gaze dipped low, raking over the flush in her cheeks, her hardened nipples, all the ways she responded to him, and for a moment, she was certain he’d deny her again.

He had every other time before.

Until suddenly, he purred, “One night. No more.”

A thrill shot through her as he cast her that roguish grin.

“Who am I to say no when you beg so sweetly?”

Abruptly, his grip on her changed then, shifting from tender to bold. If she’d thought he’d been in control before, she’d been poorly mistaken.

With newfound permission, Corbin’s hand dipped between her legs, cupping her pussy as if she belonged to him. “Fuck, Dani. You’re wet for me,” he hissed, fangs flashing as he spoke. His fingers probed her entrance with an almost fevered, wild need, but she didn’t need any anticipation, she was already so close.

Dani sunk herself down onto his hand, tearing a pleasured groan from the vampire’s lips.

“Always,” she whispered. “For you, always.”

Corbin’s thumb found the bead of her clit with expert precision, circling it in an almost punishing way made her moan. “You put yourself in Zane’s path on purpose, didn’t you? Knowing I’d find you?”

Dani was panting now, her skin feeling as if she were on fire with need. “I—”

Corbin let out a guttural curse as he pushed deeper, curling his fingers up and in until they hit that delicious spot that cut her words short. Dani let out a pleasured, choked moan.

“Don’t lie to me, Dani,” Corbin hissed. “It doesn’t suit you.”

She whimpered her pleasure more as he pushed deeper into her.

But somehow, she’d known. She’d always known the heat between them would be combustible. Incomparable.

“Answer me, Dani,” Corbin demanded, his free hand gripping her chin roughly.

“Yes,” she panted. “Yes, I knew what I was doing.”

The devious smirk that crossed Corbin’s face then filled her with more pride than she’d ever known. “Clever, wicked girl,” he teased.

Without warning, he pulled out of her, quickly rotating her once more until her face was pressed against the wall, the length of his cock beneath his suit pants rubbing against her bottom. Dani tried to keep her gaze low, not to look out at all the eyes hidden beneath the blurred lights of the club’s glow, eyes that no doubt watched her and the vampire that pleasured her, relishing the show, but Corbin gripped a hold of her chin, forcing her to turn toward them.

“Let them see. Let them know you’re mine. If only for tonight.”

Dani wasn’t certain what it was about those words that destroyed her so thoroughly. Whether it was how she felt as if she’d reclaimed her power, or the fact that this time, it was finally Corbin who was staking his claim of her, she didn’t know. All she knew was she was about to come harder than she ever had before.

“Corbin,” she panted.

“Don’t be shy now, darling. Not while they’re watching.”

At the reminder of their audience, Dani threw back her head with a loud moan, grinding down and onto Corbin’s hand. Loud enough to draw more eyes and attention toward them, but somehow, she didn’t care. She was too busy riding wave after wave of pleasure on his fingers. Her pussy was absolutely soaked, beating in time with her pulse.

And he had to know.

Had to hear and feel it.

One final shudder tore through her, making her moan.

“Good girl,” Corbin whispered, rubbing his hand over her clit in a way that caused her to shiver.

The last tremors of her orgasm shook through her.

He removed his hand from inside her, turning her to face him once more, before he brought his fingers to his mouth, licking each one as if to savor her taste.

“Fuck,” he groaned. “You taste like the sun.”

The red of his eyes was a deep garnet then, pure animal, like a predator yet…far more dangerous than anything nature could have imagined, in all the ways he drew her in, made her want to please him, though she was prey to him and little more, yet when he spoke, it was the voice of a cultured gentleman who whispered to her.

“The next time I claim you, it will be for my eyes alone. Do you understand?”

Dani nodded, still dazed from the high of her orgasm.

“One night. Nothing more,” he repeated. “Are we in agreement?”

She nodded. “Nothing more,” she breathed against his lips. For once, being honest about the path she chose. “But, please Corbin, I need—”

“Shhh.” Corbin hushed her, placing a finger against her lips, before he whispered against her skin. “Don’t tempt me more, darling.” His hand cupped her chin in his palm again, his thumb tracing where he’d smeared her lipstick as he smirked once more. “Now, we’ve business to attend to.”