Marked By The Vampire (Purgatory #2)(19)
Author: Cynthia Eden

And felt the sudden tension that coursed through Olivia’s delicate body, a body that he hadn’t been able to savor, not yet. He wanted to kiss her, to lick every single inch of her.

I shouldn’t have taken her here. Should have been in a big bed with f**king rose petals or some damn thing like that spread around her.

But after one taste…when her pleasure had rocked through him, there had been no going back.

Olivia’s hands pushed against his chest. She rose up above him, and as she lifted her upper body, her sex pressed down harder against him, around him.

His c**k thickened even more within her. One good thing about vamps, stamina was definitely their strong suit.

He caught her hands. Threaded his fingers with hers.

And in the darkness there, he could have sworn that her eyes started to glow.

A djinn.

He couldn’t think about that, about the deadly ramifications if the werewolf’s claim turned out to be true.

She was pushing her h*ps down against him again, her sex was a hot, wet dream around him, and Shane let go of his control. He wanted the wild rush of pleasure again. He wanted…her. Everything that she had to give. Every f**king thing.

And even as he drove into her, thrusting as deep and hard as he could go, Shane realized the danger he was in.

Because if the stories he’d heard over the years were true, the whispers, the legends…

He could be losing his soul right then, becoming addicted to the sensual power of a djinn.

***

“There,” David snarled as he stopped and pointed to the old silver grate in the bowels of the prison. “They went in there.”

Case glared at the silver grate. How the hell did the vampire find this place?

“Looks like someone had an escape plan,” David muttered as his gaze slanted toward Case. “I didn’t realize this little spot was here.”

Case shoved the guy against the silver. David howled when the right side of his face hit that grate and burned. “And you’d better forget it, understand?” Yet even as he said the words, he knew it wouldn’t happen. David would tell the others about this discovery. He’d use it, try to escape himself later.

And that’s why I might have to kill the guy when this little hunt is over.

David was useful, and he was also expandable.

The scent of burnt flesh filled the air. Case let the werewolf go, and David jerked back. The glare the werewolf sent Case was full of fury and the promise of retribution.

Like that was supposed to scare him. “Move the grate,” Case directed his guards.

It took four of them to get that heavy grate down, but, it would have been easy for the vamp to move it. With his enhanced strength, the guy had probably just given a little tug and the grate would have popped free.

“Go in,” Case snapped at the werewolf as soon as the opening was clear. “Find them.” Because they had to still be on the island. The ferry wouldn’t arrive for days, and the seaplane hadn’t flown in yet. Wherever you’re hiding, I will find you.

No one had ever escaped from a tracking alpha before.

David led the way into that tunnel. Case followed, and he made sure to keep a tight grip on the remote that controlled David’s silver collar. The collar gleamed in the darkness.

As they followed that long, twisting tunnel, the guards used flashlights to illuminate their path. The sound of water grew stronger and—

“I can’t track them anymore.” David had stilled near the edge of the dark water. Murky. Deep. A pool that would lead back to the ocean. David stared down at the water. “The scent ends here.”

No, that wasn’t possible. “They can’t swim back to the mainland!”

David’s laughter was bitter. “Maybe the sexy doctor was a mermaid in disguise. Never seen one of those before. Thought they were just myths—”

Case sent a powerful charge of silver coursing through the werewolf’s collar. “They are myths!”

David sank to his knees, but his head tilted back and his eyes blazed up at Case. “That’s what…people used to say…about vamps. About…werewolves…”

Case’s mind raced as he considered possibilities. Mainland, my ass. “They just swam out and around to the side of the island. That’s the only option they had. They’re still here.” He was sure of it. “We need to get outside of Purgatory’s walls and search the island.” He lifted the remote, but didn’t send another surge of silver out, not yet. “You will find them.”

Pain darkened the werewolf’s face. The guards’ lights were trained on the werewolf, so Case could see David easily as the guy rasped, “I’ll find her…”

“If you don’t…” Case leaned toward him. Made sure that his voice was too low for the guards to hear him. “I’ll pump you full of so much silver that you’ll beg for death.”

He waited for the werewolf to show fear.

But, instead, the werewolf smiled. “I don’t beg.”

***

Olivia’s eyelids flew open and awareness came back to her with a shocking rush.

She’d been asleep, curled up on the hard rocks, and she whirled around now to see—

Faint light, drifting in through the cracks and crevices in the cave. Her heart was thundering in her chest—her na**d chest.

Because she was totally nude and her horrified gasp seemed way too loud to her own ears.

Her gaze whipped to the left and to the right. She saw her clothes, spread out, drying? And she also realized that the vampire was gone.

He’d left her. No, no, he couldn’t have. Olivia jumped to her feet. “Shane?” Her voice echoed back to her. “Shane, where are you?” The pool of water was near her feet, glistening. The rocky walls of the cave surrounded her. Was there a tunnel hidden somewhere in those walls? An opening that she couldn’t see in that dim light?

Olivia snatched up her clothes and dressed as quickly as she could. The clothing was still damp and it rubbed roughly over her too-sensitive skin. Skin that was sensitive because of…him.

What did I do? Why?

She’d lost herself with Shane. Her control—the careful control that she’d maintained for years—had vanished the moment he’d taken her blood.

It shouldn’t have happened. It couldn’t happen again.

No worries on that score, especially seeing as how he f**ked me and left me.

Vampires. They weren’t exactly known to be trustworthy.

Her bare feet slid over the rough flooring of the cave. She started inching toward the darkness of the walls. Her hands lifted as she tried to search for an opening, search for some kind of way out other than a dive into that water once more.