I'll Be Slaying You (Night Watch 2)

She’d remember that.

One last lick, and he lifted his head. Her eyes had gone blind with need and black with desire.

He positioned his c**k against her slick heat. Pushed the head inside, just a few inches.

Waited.

Her gaze met his.

Simon caught her hands. He threaded his fingers through hers and pinned her against the mattress.

He took her then. Thrust deep and sure and felt the sensual heat of her sex around him.

His teeth clenched and he reined in the beast—tried to, anyway.

Her legs wrapped around him, and her ankles dug into his ass.

More. There, in her eyes. What she wanted—

He withdrew. Thrust deep. Again and again. The bed rocked. Their bodies trembled, but he took his time and he took his pleasure.

And made damn sure she took hers.

Bite.

He didn’t look at her neck. Didn’t take his gaze from hers. This time would be different. It had to be.

Her sex squeezed him and the telltale ripple had his spine tingling.

He thrust harder. Faster. The control began to disappear, and the need, that blind, consuming need, had his breath heaving and his hips surging.

She came, the contractions of her sex making his own climax erupt as he pumped into her. The long, hot wave blasted through him, into her, and the pleasure stole his breath.

Still he thrust. Even as his c**k jerked and he climaxed inside her, he thrust.

Harder, but slower. Deeper.

His fingers tightened around hers.

She whispered his name.

And came again.

Sweet f**king hell.

Yeah, he’d die for this woman. In a heartbeat.

They began to gather in the darkness. First, just a few. Two. Then three. They came together silently as they felt the psychic snap of the old connection.

The bond was gone. The Born dead.

One there knew his killer. A vampire who’d seen the woman kill Grim.

Vengeance?

A life for a life?

Slowly, the others came. Humans once. Killers, monsters now.

They waited.

More would come.

Chapter 17

“Why didn’t you ask me about the ass**le in the alley?” Dee forced her head to lift at Simon’s question. Really, she just wanted to lay there, her head pillowed on his chest, and listen to the steady beat of his heart. But maybe they needed to go ahead and have this, um, little talk.

She met his stare and her shoulders tensed a bit as she asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I thought you’d run from me or try to stake me if you knew the truth.”

“The truth?” One eyebrow rose. “You mean the fact that you paid a killer to shoot me—”

“I paid him to miss.”

She knew that, but…“Can’t really trust guys like that, you know. Sometimes, they’ll take your money and shoot whoever they want.”

His fingers trailed down her back and rested at the base of her spine. “That’s why I made sure I was between you and the gun, every single moment.” His jaw hardened. “You know what happened to him.”

Actually, no, she didn’t know that part. She wasn’t some kind of all seeing, walking, talking crystal ball. All she’d had were glimpses. Snatches of conversation. His memories. The few that had filtered through the blood link. What became of Mr. Trigger Happy, she had no idea. So she just stared back at Simon and waited.

“There wasn’t a choice, Dee. He forced my hand.”

Ah, one of those stories that wasn’t going to end well.

“Frankie came after me, okay? He shot me in the back and would have killed me—”

“Wait.” Her eyes narrowed. “Frankie?” The guy’s face flashed before her eyes. Broad features. Balding hair. “Frankie Lee?” She should have put those pieces together sooner.

“Yeah.”

She whistled and drummed her fingers on his chest. “Went big-time slumming, huh?” Word on the street was that Frankie would shoot his own mother—and, actually, had—for a quick grand.

“He came after me,” Simon repeated, his face tense. “There wasn’t a choice.”

Silence for a moment, then Dee ventured, “I’m guessing old Frankie won’t be taking any more hits.”

His palm pressed harder against her back. “I swear I didn’t pay him to kill you. I wouldn’t have done that!”

“But you didn’t even know me then. I was just a hunter to you, another—”

“You were everything.” Rasped. His eyes blazed at her. “You still are.”

What did a woman say to that? Dee pulled away from him and reached for the sheet. She just needed to cover up, to take a second to think.

He grabbed her wrist. “You don’t want to hear about how I feel, do you? Too damn bad, babe.” His thumb rubbed over her pulse point. “You know I came after you because I thought you’d take down Grim.”

And she had. A point for the good guys. Well, semi–good guys, anyway. “I know you wanted to be free, you’ve already—”

“I wanted you. Want you.” Simon shook his head. “From the moment I saw you, I wanted you.”

Fair enough. She’d wanted to jump him, too. He’d tackled her; she’d wanted to return the favor.

“I thought it was just lust, Dee. That I could take you, enjoy you, and walk away.”

Kind of hard not to flinch at that one. With her left hand, she jerked the sheet up to her chin. Simon held tight to her right wrist. “So you were using me for sex and death?” Grim’s death. No getting around she’d been a means to an end there. But she’d thought there might be more. He’d made her think that.

I’ll f**king love you forever.

Say it again.

But now the guy wasn’t talking rose petals and sunsets.

“I knew I was lost.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the flesh of her palm. “When you died in my arms.”

Okay, she definitely flinched. Not her best memory.

“I wanted to change you. You were dying in front of me, and I knew you were supposed to be a Born. Catalina had told me about you.”

Had she really thanked the witch properly for that? Nah. She hadn’t let Cat know how much she appreciated the woman’s secrecy. Payback, um, gratitude would come eventually.

“You weren’t going to stay dead.”

Who did these days?

“You weren’t supposed to stay dead,” he amended. “But I was shit-scared and when your eyes closed, I wanted to change you.”

Her heart stilled at that.