THE HUNTERS.
ELI AND SAREL.
by s.h.i.+loh Walker.
Prologue.
Elijah Crawford wasn"t on his territory the night he caught scent of a child"s terror, the stench of death, a man"s l.u.s.t. Not that it stopped him.
He prowled around the ramshackle house in Mississippi, his eyes narrowed and grim as he curled his hands into fists. Ten seconds sooner...even five...
and he could have saved the woman as well.
The child"s scream tore the air as her father stumbled out of the kitchen, drunk and laughing, staring at her with hot, hungry l.u.s.t in his eyes as Eli leaped from the window to the front door in one single bound, the blood in his cool body starting to pump hotter and faster as a familiar, uncontrollable rage filled him.
Striking out, Eli kicked through the door, his fangs dropping down. Taking a deep breath, Eli shoved the rage back before he looked at the screaming child who was splattered with her mama"s blood. "Sleep," he crooned quietly, smiling gently. Her lashes fluttered and she fell in a boneless heap to the floor.
Eli smiled and said charmingly to the man who spun drunkenly to stare at him, "Invite me in."
The sheer, dumbstruck look on the b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s face had Eli"s lips curling in amus.e.m.e.nt as the thoughts ran through the man"s drunken mind...who is this...why did I invite him in?
"You did it so I could kill you." Eli smiled cruelly, coldly as he said it, his eyes slitting down as the man wheeled around and started looking for an escape route. There is an animal inside us all, one that recognizes the bigger monster, the predator, and he knew he was staring at death in some small part of his mind.
Eli laughed as the man rallied and the fight welled up inside him. No quick death for this one...he was a blood relation to that pretty child, no doubt. A blood relation-it was in the scent of his blood, the slope of his brow, the coppery, golden color of his hair.
No-not a quick death, as the child shuddered and cried out for her sister-even under the vamp induced sleep.
Later, as he washed the blood from his face and hands, Eli stared at his grim reflection. The child still slept in the other room. He would be taking her away. Where the sister was, he didn"t know. Alive and well, safe, he hoped.
But the child was lost to her. Eli would see to it that the little girl never knew pain and loss again, poor little lost one.
Terrified screams came ripping from her throat the moment he touched her. Then she threw herself at him, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck, and he could feel brittle bones, smell her unwashed body, poor underfed little child...hot tears stung his eyes and burned a path down his cheeks as she sobbed brokenly, inconsolably.
"Shhh..." he murmured, rocking her back and forth, stroking her tangled, deep red hair. Working her back, just a little, Eli cupped her face in his hand and forced her to stare into his eyes as he whispered, "Sleep, pretty child. When you wake, things will be better."
Once the mantle of sleep fell over her, Eli forced his way into her young mind and took the memory of the night and broke it, erased it, until it was gone forever. It had simply not happened. The child would never have any knowledge of it. Some things, even time could not heal.
Power rippled through the air.
Eli stood staring up at the moon as Tori and Declan crossed the boundaries of his territory. His heart was too heavy for this-but how could he turn her away, when he hungered for her so desperately?
But sad frightened eyes, the stench of blood and death clung to him.
He was still there nearly an hour later when Tori found him and stood waiting for him to turn to her with that slow, feline curl of his lips. When he didn"t, she started to move toward him, only to have Declan"s hands on her shoulders hold her in place.
"Rough time, Eli?"
The rich music of Ireland still rolled through the cop"s voice, danced on the air. Taking his eyes from the moon, Eli turned his head and stared at them, revealing a somber, grief ravaged face.
Misreading the look, Declan swore softly and said, "Eli, we can"t save them all."
"I did save her, the child, that is. The one that counted most. Her mother, well, her mother kept her there." His voice was rusty and his throat felt tight with emotion, all over a child...one child, out of how many? "I did not get there in time to save her mother. And I don"t know that I b.l.o.o.d.y care. She kept her there, Tori. Allowed her to be beaten, starved, and she would have been raped.
She died a few nights ago-and I don"t care."
Slim, pale arms wrapped around his waist and Tori rested her head on his shoulder from behind.
Eli s tood there in silence as she held him while he grieved.
Elijah came awake quickly, the heavy veil of sleep falling aside as though somebody had just jerked a blanket off his tousled blonde head. He didn"t immediately roll from the bed though-instead he reached down and stroked his hand over the pale, smooth arm thrown across his belly.
Behind him, Tori slept on, exhausted, and behind her Declan s.h.i.+fted and moved restlessly. The s.h.i.+fter never slept as easily as his mate, nor as easily as Eli did. And even though his shapes.h.i.+fting abilities were inherent- and not induced by the waning or waxing of the moon- the full moon did tend to increase his restlessness. That was because he was a breed-part were, part Inherent.
The Inherent abilities were by far the strongest, but the moon"s call wasn"t one he could ever completely ignore.
The full moon was drawing near and Eli knew, for Declan the pull was strong. Eventually the shapes.h.i.+fter would have to give in to the call, and then he"d run the night and hunt.
It may not be this moon, or even the next, but soon. The wildness in Declan"s eyes was proof enough of that for Eli.
The sun had already sunk behind the mountains and night was upon them when Eli finally pulled himself away from their sweet warmth. He brushed his fingers across Tori"s peaceful face before he stood. The faint, already healing marks on Tori"s neck made him smile.
Eli had fed from her.
That was...unfathomable, as far as Eli was concerned.
She was something out of legend, not completely vampire, not completely human, but something in between. She could take food and she could walk in daylight, yet he had seen her caught in the hungers of a vampire, had seen her streak across the ground at a pace too quick for human eyes. Tori"s speed was more like that of the s.h.i.+fters thanks to her mate, Declan, who had been her first meal. She also shared his rather voracious hungers.
Tori"s heart was larger than the ocean and she was as sharp as a f.u.c.king whip.
Eli was half in love with her, half in awe of her. He was generally caught between wanting to wors.h.i.+p at her feet and f.u.c.k the living daylights out of her.
Last night she had fed him, the wine-rich taste of her blood lingering in his mouth along with the memory of the sweet cream he had drank from her before he and Declan had pressed her lovely body between them.
Eli felt his c.o.c.k stiffen in memory and he grabbed a robe, stalking out of the room before the scent of his l.u.s.t could awaken either of them.
Neither Declan nor Tori would be here if they didn"t want to be, but it wasn"t something that sat easily with Eli. h.e.l.l, they were more at peace with it than he was.
Eli was terribly afraid he was falling in love with Tori.
At least with the ideal image he had created of her. He was moving past the half way mark at a speed that terrified him.
The thought of having a warm soft woman next to him in bed when the sun rose high in the sky, a woman who would take both his c.o.c.k and his fangs and glory in the pleasures he could give her. A woman he could love.
There lay his problem.
Eli wanted a woman of his own. But t he only wom an who called to him in such a way belonged to his best friend.
Eli"s c.o.c.k was already hard when two female arms closed around him late that night. Dawn was only a few hours away and he had returned to the house rather pleased with the work of the past week. He had intended to get some tedious business and financial matters out of the way-after all, a vampire had to provide for those he took into his home-but the sweet, seductive scent of aroused woman had flooded his senses as she came down the stairs, laughing and whispering to Declan.
Declan stood in the doorway staring at them with hot, green eyes. Eli saw the look Declan sent his a.s.sistant- and the resentful one Leslie sent back before she left the room-and he suppressed a sigh. Time for the a.s.sistant to go.
"Tori, is there something you wanted?" Eli teased as he turned in the circle of her arms to look down at her.
Wide blue eyes met his as she brushed the back of one hand down the front of his linen trousers-against the hard bulge there-as she slowly lowered her head and kissed his chest through the layers of his clothing.
"Hmm. Wanna get naked and I"ll show you?" she asked, her nimble fingers already flying down the front of his s.h.i.+rt, freeing the b.u.t.tons and spreading it wide over the pale, muscled wall of his chest.
Eli couldn"t help it. Even as she shoved and pulled his clothes until he stood wearing only his trousers, he glanced at Declan. Sooner or later, the wolf was going to grow tired of sharing his woman.
But the Irishman was smiling, aroused and amused. A ripple of power slid through the room and Eli watched as Declan suppressed the animal that lived inside his skin, suppressed the urge to s.h.i.+ft and fall on Tori like a monster in rut. Eli groaned and buried his hands in Tori"s tight brunette curls as she fell to her knees and took his c.o.c.k inside the wet cave of her mouth. Declan knelt behind her, reaching around the rip her s.h.i.+rt open and cup her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s in his hands, rolling and pinching her nipples while he rubbed his pelvis against her tight little b.u.t.t.
When her mate pressed his hand against her wet cleft she shuddered and pulled away, shooting to her feet and reaching for her jeans, only to have her hands batted and brushed aside as two pairs of male hands ripped her remaining clothes away. Eli and Declan fell to their knees before her as a unit, each taking one swollen, stiff nipple-Eli suckling deep while Declan nipped and nibbled.
Eli slid one hand around to grab her a.s.s, sliding his fingers through the crevice between her b.u.t.tocks while Declan drove two fingers deep inside her wet, tight v.a.g.i.n.a, s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g deep and hard until she was moaning and shuddering.
The scent of the hybrid was enough to drive Eli nearly mad. He drew in the sweet perfume of her hungry body as Declan pulled Tori to the floor. Declan"s eyes were wide and glowing and green, full of unfathomable hunger. The bond the three of them shared was strong enough that Declan"s urgency frequently spilled over to Eli, along with some of the wolf"s more basic instincts-f.u.c.k, hunt, eat. f.u.c.k, hunt, eat.
Tori screamed breathlessly as Declan pulled her over him and impaled her on his rigid c.o.c.k. Eli moved behind her, taking her hips in his big hands as Declan lifted her slim body up and down. Eli pushed on her shoulders and she bent forward, presenting her rounded a.s.s and the tight puckered hole of her rosette.
Eli hunched over her, rocking his c.o.c.k against the pink pucker, only to pull away with a rough growl of frustration. No f.u.c.king lubricant- "Table," Declan rasped out before Eli even had time to finish the thought.
Moments later-Eli"s c.o.c.k wet and gleaming-he smeared some of the clear liquid on Tori"s tiny little rosette, working two fingers in and out while Declan shafted her.
Tori"s head fell back as Declan caught one beaded nipple in his mouth, biting down gently. She shuddered as Eli started to prod her a.s.s with his wide, thick c.o.c.k, catching her breath and pus.h.i.+ng down just as Declan pushed up inside her and Eli groaned as he forced his way into her tight narrow pa.s.sage.
Emotions that weren"t hers, sensations that weren"t hers prodded her mind through the bond they shared and she cried out under the combined sensation of them both invading her body and the pleasure she sensed from them as they invaded her-the wet, slick heat of her v.a.g.i.n.a around Declan"s c.o.c.k, the snug, silken clasp of her a.s.s around Eli"s.
Declan"s powerful, lean body arched under hers and he purred against the mound of her breast, "Tight, so f.u.c.king tight and sweet." A phantom touch caressed his b.a.l.l.s, the light brush of Eli"s sac as it just barely touched Declan"s. He bit down on Tori"s breast hard enough that he tasted the sweet, tangy taste of her blood as the scent of it filled the air.
Eli"s nostrils flared as he scented her blood. But the bite on Tori"s neck hadn"t yet healed, and even as quickly as she regenerated he couldn"t feed from her twice in a day, no matter how much he wanted to. Feeding his other hunger, he gripped her hips and started to push deep inside her tight little hole, pulling out and driving back in with bruising force. He felt the sharp bite of her pleasure-pain through their bond and grinned, pulling out and driving back into her again as she mewled weakly.
The scent of a woman"s climax and her lover"s sperm filled the air as Declan growled and drove his c.o.c.k upward inside her wet p.u.s.s.y with short, hard digs as she convulsed around him, milking his climax from him while Eli continued to ream her a.s.s. Blood l.u.s.t and s.e.xual l.u.s.t made a dangerous pair, and when teamed with the bizarre obsession love Eli had for Tori they were even more so.
Pulling away, his c.o.c.k still wet and gleaming, regenerated vampire blood making it ruddy, he lifted Tori from where she had collapsed against Declan and spread her out on the floor. Crouching between her thighs and lifting her helpless a.s.s into the air Eli drove back inside her while keeping his eyes on their merged bodies. The sight of his thick c.o.c.k spearing her tight little hole made his c.o.c.k swell even more and he fell down against her, riding her snug little a.n.u.s harder and harder and lifting his golden eyes to stare at Declan.
The other man grinned weakly at him and rolled onto his side, staring at his wife"s gleaming face as another man f.u.c.ked her a.s.s and pulled a screaming climax from her.
When his old friend didn"t protest Eli gave in and concentrated on Tori-on the hot satin sheath that held his c.o.c.k, on the way she cried and screamed and bucked underneath his body as he f.u.c.ked her, how her sweet little b.u.t.t would lift pleadingly when he pulled out. Leaning close he whispered into her ear, "So sweet...I love f.u.c.king you, listening to you moan and beg for more. I love your taste, your blood and the cream that comes from your sweet little p.u.s.s.y. You stayed away too long this time."
Moaning and squirming against him, Tori searched blindly for the climax, but his weight pinned her down and she couldn"t get the leverage she needed to take him deeper. "Eli, please," she whimpered as his hands slid under and around her, pinning her arms tight to her body. His c.o.c.k inside her a.s.s felt huge and if he would just-"d.a.m.n it, Eli, let me come."
Eli licked at the tiny healing holes on her neck before s.h.i.+fting his weight and turning her head so that she could see her husband, who still lay there, his c.o.c.k semi- erect as he watched them. "He likes to watch, doesn"t he, Tori? Has he ever shared you with anybody else?"
She couldn"t speak, just lay there panting and crying out, moaning when Eli drove back inside her again.
"Has he?"
Declan laughed and answered for her. "h.e.l.l, no, Eli."
He reached down, wrapping his hand around his now erect c.o.c.k and stroking as he stared at them. The blond vampire hunkered low over the body of his wife, his big hands holding her slim hips as he drove his thick p.e.n.i.s inside her a.s.s. Declan couldn"t fathom how easily he shared her with Eli, but it didn"t bother him to do so.
He didn"t question it, he just did it.
Tori screamed with frustration, clenching her muscles and trying to hold Eli"s c.o.c.k inside her. In response he moved, going from lying atop her body to kneeling between her thighs, still deep inside her a.s.s. The flat of his hand smacked against her naked bottom, a sharp stinging pain left in its wake, but before she could snarl at him in indignation he started to ride her hard and fast, driving his c.o.c.k completely inside, pulling out to the flared head and then driving in with a force that stole her breath.
Three deep, hard, bruising strokes and she was screaming in release. A groan rumbled from Eli"s throat as he pumped her sweet a.s.s full of his seed as Declan continued to watch and pump his c.o.c.k until he, too, came, thick jets of creamy s.e.m.e.n spurting onto his lean, tanned belly.
Tori stared into the dark night.
She had watched as Declan disappeared into the woods, his furred, golden hide gleaming under the light of the moon.
Somewhere out there was Eli as well, stalking his prey.
Only Tori wasn"t compelled to hunt that night. With a tiny smile, she took a moment to appreciate the fact that, being the hybrid she was, if she was actually hungering for steak and a baked potato followed by chocolate, she could indulge, and not just dream. So her belly was full of traditional food tonight, not blood, even though that had been the ticket yesterday when she, Eli and Declan had traveled to Virginia and interrupted a would be gang rape.
Yesterday blood has been satisfying.
Today, after the f.u.c.k-fest, steak had been satisfying.
Laying a hand on her belly, she decided, maybe ice cream would be coming later.
The two men she adored were out there, one tracking a deer, the other tracking the human garbage that were his favored prey, the men who beat their children or raped their wives. Eli loved taking that kind of life and ending it, loved the fear he could induce as he used his mind to hold his prey still while he fed.
Declan had the same gift.
Tori was learning it.
Both of her men could induce fear, could induce l.u.s.t- either emotion-simply with a turn of his head, a blink of his eyes. With her it was always the l.u.s.t, and it made their mating so much sweeter, so much more.
With the hunting-when they prowled and preyed on the sc.u.m who preyed on the less fortunate-it was made sweeter as well. The blood that poured from a man who was nearly mad with fear was as sweet as nectar, Tori had learned. And when she was feeding from a man she had just ripped from a woman he had been intent on raping, it was almost o.r.g.a.s.mic.
You stayed away too long this time, Eli had whispered to her.
She wouldn"t admit it to him, or to Declan, but she had no choice. The need she felt for Eli didn"t shame her or bother her really. But if she allowed it, the need would consume them both. While she hungered for Eli and even loved him some, Declan was her heart. The three of them shared a bond, true. But she and Declan were bond-mates, soul-bonded. Each would die without the other.
And if she wasn"t careful she feared what could happen between Eli and herself- feared it could hurt all three of them.
So she made them go months without this, out of necessity. h.e.l.l, she knew Declan craved it almost as much as she did, but she also knew part of Declan would think like the wolf. If it wasn"t hurting him now, how could it hurt him at all?