He drove into her in one long, hard stroke.
She moaned, a high, desperate sound, and her fangs lengthened.
Apollo caught her hands and pushed them back against the mattress. Then he thrust, driving into her again and again. “You…feel…so…tight.”
She shuddered and turned her head away from him.
Won’t do. “Terese, look at me.”
Terese shook her head. Her sex squeezed him.
He pushed into her, burying his cock as far as he could go. He wanted to stare into her eyes when she came.
“No.” A hoarse whisper. Her hips lifted and pushed hungrily against his.
“Look at me.”
She shook her head. “I-I can’t…You’ll see—”
What? He only saw a gorgeous, sexy woman. But then he remembered her words. I didn’t think you’d want me. He freed her right wrist and caught her chin, forcing her to face him. Her blue eyes glowed eerily bright and her fangs pressed against her lips.
“You want to bite me, don’t you?” he asked, his voice soft.
Her head moved in a jerky nod.
“Do it.” He pulled back, thrust deep. His orgasm was close. He wasn’t going to be able to last long.
Her tongue licked across her blood-red lips.
He turned his head to the side and offered his neck. He wanted to feel her teeth on him, in him, as he came inside her. “Terese, bite me.”
Her teeth sank into him. The bite was a burning pleasure that blasted through his entire body.
He came then. His hips bucked against her as he exploded inside her clinging depths and he held onto her as tight as he could.
An instant later, Apollo felt Terese climax as her sex tightened around his cock. Her nails sank into his flesh.
All the while, her mouth moved on him, taking his blood and maddening him with painful pleasure.
When she finally stopped, he groaned a protest. She licked his neck with a soft swipe of her tongue.
More.
Apollo fought to slow his racing heart. Who would have thought a vampire’s bite could feel so fucking good?
***
The sex had been incredible. Fantastic. Freaking mind-blowing. Even now, Terese’s body still hummed with pleasure.
But there was a fear nagging at her, and she couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “You’re not human, are you, Apollo?” Terese gazed down at the blond hunk in the bed, the guy who’d given her the best orgasm of her life.
He couldn’t be human. She’d drank his blood, his sweet, rich blood, but he hadn’t weakened. Not even for a moment.
Back at the bar, she’d thought he’d weakened. But then the guy had chased her through Hades and held her effortlessly even when she fought with her enhanced strength. No, nothing weak there.
He’d gotten them out of that parking lot, gotten them to this safe house, and damn if she could remember how he’d done it.
Some vampires, very old vampires, could teleport. They could disperse their bodies into the atmosphere and reappear in another location. Eric had told her about those guys, “elders” as he’d called them. He’d said she should stay away from them because they were walking nightmares.
Of course, to her, Eric was the nightmare.
But he thought he was her one true love.
The sick sonofabitch.
Instead of answering her, his fingers skimmed down her stomach and he asked, “Why did you turn from me?”
I asked first. But, fine, she’d tell him this. After she dressed. Terese climbed from the bed. Her gaze scanned the sparsely furnished room, searching for her dress.
“Terese…”
Push, push, push. “I didn’t want you to see my face, okay? I know what I look like when I get the blood hunger.” Because the whole spiel about vampires not being able to see their reflections was totally bullshit. Once she’d escaped from Eric, the first mistake she’d made had been ducking into a women’s restroom. She’d gotten a nice, horrifying visual of herself in the fifteen mirrors that stared back at her. “I know my eyes change, that my teeth get huge.” And that she looked seriously scary. “I-I didn’t want you to see me like that.” Talk about a mood killer.
He watched her with unblinking sky blue eyes. “I liked seeing you that way. You looked sexy.”
Her mouth dropped open. Was the guy crazy? “Big teeth and glowing eyes are so not sexy.”
His lips curved into a slow smile. Those come-get-me dimples flashed. “They are on you.”
A little bubble of happiness filled her at his words. “Um, thanks, I-I think.”
One golden brow lifted. “You’re welcome.” He cocked his head to the side, studying her as she nosed around the room, ducking her head under chairs and into his closet. “How long have you been a vampire, Terese?”
“I don’t know—what day is it?” Where the hell was her dress?
“How old are you?” he asked curiously.
She put her hands on her hips. “Thirty-one. How old are you?”
Apollo snorted. “Older. A lot older.”
He couldn’t be that much older. The guy didn’t have so much as a line on his face. His skin was so golden, so bright and healthy. No, he couldn’t me much older, unless—
Terese crept toward the bed, eyeing him cautiously as alarm filled her. He’d never answered her question. She’d asked if he was human, but he hadn’t told her, hadn’t said—
“My, my, what big eyes you have.” He leaned back against the headboard, crossing his arms over his chest. “What new worry are you obsessing over now?”
“Apollo…how did we get here?” She waved her hand to indicate the bedroom.
“I brought us here.”
“How.” Not really a question. Terese was tired of feeling like she was missing something very important in the conversation.
“We jumped.”
“Jumped?” She did a quick bounce. “Like that?”
A deep chuckle rumbled in his throat. “No, we space jumped.”
“Space jumped, right.” Okay, she wasn’t exactly sure what space jumping was, but the idea of it scared the shit out of her.
Before waking in Apollo’s bed, the last thing she remembered was being in the parking lot Hades, feeling the scorching burn of the sun’s rays on her skin, then—
“I space jump when I need to get from one place to another in just a few seconds.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Is that like teleporting?” It sounded exactly like teleporting.
Flash—he was at the bar.
Flash—he was back at his house.
The elders could do that. The dangerous, dark elders.
“Yeah, like teleporting.”
Oh, God. She inched back a step. Had she just leapt from the frying pan into some seriously burning fire? Was Apollo an—
“Now what are you thinking?” His lips twisted. “I swear, you look like you’re about to bolt.”
Well, she was. Clothes or no clothes. If he was an elder—
Apollo rose from the bed, stretching slowly, arching his back and raising his arms over his head. His fingertips pressed against the ceiling. His cock bobbed upward, shooting up from the thatch of blond hair at the top if his thighs.
Oh, my. She swallowed. The man sure was a delicious site to see first thing in the evening.
She could still taste him in her mouth. Taste the warm, strangely sweet flavor of his blood.
Her teeth clenched. “You didn’t answer my question.” Though she’d played the game and answered his. “You aren’t human, are you?” She’d bet her grandmother’s silver tea tray on that one.
He stalked toward her, his cock stretching, hardening even more. “No, I’m not.”
“Are you a vampire?” He hadn’t burned when they were in the sunlight together. So, that should mean that he wasn’t like her. But, maybe, if he was an elder—
Apollo shook his head. “Sorry, love, but I’m no vampire.” A pause. “I’m a god.”
Her mouth
dropped open. “What?”
He was right in front of her now. His hand lifted, and he brushed back her hair, letting his fingers slide against the sensitive flesh of her neck. A shiver shook her body and goosebumps rose on her skin.
His head lowered toward hers. His lips hovered from her mouth. “You heard me.” His breath blew over her. “I’m a god. An immortal, all-powerful god.”
No, no freaking way. “Th-that’s not possible.” His fingers were stroking her throat and his touch felt so warm and good. And strangely right. But… “You can’t be a—”
He laughed again, that same warm, deep chuckle. “Love, you’re a vampire. If you can exist, then I can, too.”
She blinked. Well, yeah, that made sense. But, still—a god? “What kind of god?”
He sighed, a long-suffering sound. “I told you…immortal, all-powerful—”
“I heard that part,” she muttered as his fingers stroked her flesh. “But you’re not like, you know, the God.”
A faint chuckle. “No, I’m not him.”
“So, what, you’re the god of—of—” Heck, what were there gods of? “Um…rain? Or fire? Or war—”
“I’m the god of the sun.”
“Oh.” The sun. Pain knifed through her. He was the god of the sun. The sun she would never see again, not if she wanted to keep living. Her gaze roved over him. It figured he’d be the sun god with that thick blond mane of his and all that perfect, golden skin.
Well, hell. She’d gone out, desperate to find prey, hoping with all her being that she wouldn’t accidentally drink too much and kill the human she selected, and she’d wound up with…a god.
The sun god.
Fate could be such a cruel bitch sometimes. Swiping at her eyes, at the stupid tears she could feel welling, Terese pulled away from him and stumbled back a few steps. “Where’s my dress? I…um…really need to be going.”
“So that’s it?” His hands fell to his sides. “You screw me, you drink from me, then you walk away?”
She felt that hit straight in her heart. A heart she was surprised she still had. Her chin lifted. “That was my general plan, yes.” As tempting as Apollo was, she couldn’t stay with him. It would be too dangerous, for both of them.
A muscle flexed along his iron-hard jaw. “Is that what you do? You go out every night and find some guy to fuck and suck?”
Fuck and suck. She flinched. “N-no. Y-you were the first.” Not the first guy she’d ever made love to, because back when she’d been human, she’d had lovers. But since her change, she hadn’t wanted to be with a man. Hadn’t wanted a lover to see the monster she’d become.
And the idea of drinking from someone, of taking a man’s blood…it had repelled her. Terrified her. What if I lost control? What if I took too much blood and accidentally killed my prey?
She’d gone as long as she could without feeding. But the hunger had burned her constantly and her body had trembled with pain. When the red haze of bloodlust swam before her eyes, she’d broken.
She’d gone to Hades and found Apollo.
Apollo moved in a blur. He grabbed her by the arms and pinned her against the wall. The sheet caught between their bodies. “Don’t lie to me,” he ordered. “You were no virgin. I wasn’t the first you’d taken to your bed—”
“Since my change, you were,” she snapped right back.
His eyes narrowed and his fingers bit into her flesh. “You said you changed a month ago.”
She nodded. “I’ve had lovers but that was before—” Before Eric. Before her life had turned into a waking nightmare of blood and death.
She swallowed to clear the lump in her throat and finished, “Before I turned into a vampire.” She closed her eyes to shut out the sight of his angry eyes and tight features. After-sex scenes sucked whether you were human or vamp. “Now, can I just get my dress so that I can get the hell out of here?”
His hand lifted and his fingers wrapped around her. “No.”
Her eyes flew open. “Give. Me. My. Dress.” The guy had sliced her apart with his questions and his asinine accusations. Suck and fuck. Now she just wanted to get away. She’d run back to her shabby little temporary home and lick her wounds.
Apollo watched her with those enigmatic bright blue eyes. Tension stretched between them. Angry, thick tension.
How had they gone from having great sex to—to this?
Just when Terese thought she would scream, he released her. Apollo stepped back and motioned toward a nearby white door. “Your dress is in the bathroom.”
“Thank you.” The words snapped out.
His lips tightened, but he didn’t stop her when she shoved past him.
And Terese fled into the bathroom, fled as if…well, as if an angry god were on her trail.
* * *
He’d hurt her.
Apollo stared at the closed bathroom door and tried to reign in his rioting emotions.
Dammit. He knew he’d hurt her. He’d seen the shine of tears in her eyes.
He’d just gotten so angry—the thought of Terese with other men, the thought of her drinking from them, having sex with them—
A growl rumbled in his throat.
The image of her with another enraged him.
Terese was his. His. The perfect match for him in bed. The only woman who’d ever equaled his passion. And the thought of her with another was unacceptable. Gods don’t share.
She was dressing now and probably planning her escape. He knew she wanted to leave him. Hadn’t she said as much?
But he didn’t want to let her go.
He’d just found her, and he wanted to keep her.
Apollo paced toward the door. But if he wanted her to stay, if he wanted to have another chance to touch that delectable body of hers, well, then he’d have to swallow his pride…and apologize.
Dammit.
Good thing his brother Ares wasn’t around. The war god would laugh himself silly at the idea of Apollo apologizing to anyone, especially a mortal.
Apollo’s knuckles tapped against the wooden door. “Terese?” Better to just go ahead and get the whole apology thing over with. Before he choked on the words.
No response. She was probably sulking or giving him the silent treatment. Women, both immortal and mortal, seemed to love the good old silent treatment.
He tapped again. “Terese, we need to talk.” I need to apologize for saying you fucked other men. Oh, yes, that would be a hard one to utter.
Still, no response.
He grabbed the doorknob and twisted with his hand, but the knob didn’t turn. She’d locked him out. “Terese!” He yelled her name this time. “Open the door!”
There was no sound from the bathroom. Not a gasp, not a whisper. Nothing.
A cold knot of dread formed in his stomach. “If you’re in there, get away from the door.” He paused a moment, trying to give her time to obey. Still no sound. Lifting his fist, he shattered the wooden door with one hard blow.
Terese wasn’t inside. Her dress was missing, and the small window inside was open. Its curtains billowed in the breeze.
Apollo lunged forward. Wrapping his fingers around the window ledge, he stared out into the night. “Terese!” A strange emptiness filled him.
She was gone.
Because he’d fucked up.
* * *
Using her vampire strength to go as fast and as far as she could, Terese ran for five miles straight.
Apollo’s home was in the middle of the woods, far away from any other houses or businesses. An old, two lane highway cut through the trees, and she stuck to that bumpy road, praying that she’d get lucky and someone would drive by. If she could just see a car—
Yes. Fate wasn’t spitting on her anymore. A pickup truck rattled down the road with country music blaring from its radio. The truck’s high beams shined in the night.
Terese stepped out into the middle of the road and right into those beams of light.
The driver slammed on the br
akes, and the squeal broke the night as the truck screeched to a stop less than two feet away from her.
My ride.
She stalked toward the vehicle.
“Lady, are you out of your damned mind?” A man’s angry voice snarled. “I almost killed you!”
Terese stared up at the driver. The light from the truck’s interior hit him, revealing young features and wide eyes. A baseball cap covered his hair and sloped over his forehead.
She took a deep breath and said, “I need a ride.”
“You need a—” He broke off, shaking his head. Then he shoved his door open. “You’re one crazy bit—Oh…” His eyes widened and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “I-is that leather?” His gaze drifted over her body. Lingered on her breasts, her hips.
She gritted her teeth. Her hand caught his chin and she forced him to look up, to gaze into her eyes and not at her breasts. “Lookie here, dude.”
He blinked, but stared into her eyes.
Okay, I can do this. Terese looked deep into his puppy-like brown eyes and tried to summon her vampire powers. She had to have them. According to Eric, all vamps had them.
Eric had originally lured her with his compulsions. He’d stared at her, his green eyes shining, and he’d pitched his voice seductively low. Before she’d even realized what she was doing, she’d found herself in his arms, head tilted back, neck arched, and all but begging him to bite her.
It was only when his teeth had plunged into her throat that she’d come to her senses. Too damn late.
Her fingers tightened around the guy’s chin. “I want you to take me back to town.”
His eyes narrowed.
Shit. Terese took a deep breath, and with every bit of her will, she said, “Take me back to town.” Her voice emerged as a soft, seductive purr, but the order was unmistakable.
His pupils dilated as he stared at her. “Of-of course.”
“Good.” The sooner she got back to the safety of her place, the better. “Let’s go.”
He scrambled to obey.
She couldn’t stop the wild smile that lifted her lips. Her compulsion had actually worked!
* * *
Two hours later, Terese stepped into her one bedroom studio apartment and slammed the door shut behind her. Finally, finally, she was—