than already exist, do we?”
Jake sighed, impressed once again with the ancient’s wisdom.
“I suggest we allow our enforcement committee to do its duty, and perhaps reconvene in two weeks. During that time, we can all keep our ears open for information. Sound reasonable?”
Nearly everyone nodded.
“Fine. Is there other business?”
Any minor squabbles that had existed prior to the meeting had vanished.
André nodded dismissal, then turned to talk to his enforcers.
Jake greeted several vampires he knew as he made his way toward Katie.
She watched him approach, her eyes glowing and a smile threatening at the corners of her luscious lips.
André gripped Jake’s shoulder in a friendly greeting. “Perhaps we can persuade you to assist us, dear friend.”
“Perhaps,” Jake said, focused on the object of his intense and growing desire.
“You have contacts in Santa Fe, do you not?”
Jake nodded.
“Good. Let me know what you learn.”
“Will do.” Jake held out his hand to Katie. “It’s getting late.”
“Very,” she answered, flashing a quick smile at André as she entwined her fingers with Jake’s.
Ignoring the attempt by others to engage them in conversation, the two left the cabin and hurried into the woods where they could find some privacy.
If Skidmore didn’t hurry, Jake would leave for Katie’s place without him. The old vampire would have to fend for himself.
Katie’s body vibrated. The energy of desire flowed from her fingers like waves of electricity as she ran her hands over her own skin.
Jake watched, his eyes glowing, his erection large enough to make her drool. His body was long and lean, but his limbs were powerful, and his stomach and chest rippled with muscles. She’d always loved his physique. And she loved to make him tremble with wanting her.
Flickering candlelight sent shadows dancing around Jake as Katie moved in time with the music playing on her Victrola. Blues. She loved blues. She loved to dance naked to blues.
“Damn, woman,” Jake muttered, “you’re driving me nuts.”
“Good.” She moved closer, her arms folded behind her head. “Anticipation raises the heat.”
“Gets much higher, I’ll burst into flames.” He stroked his cock with one hand as he watched her and gripped the seat of the chair with the other. His fangs dented his bottom lip, and his blue eyes sparkled with golden streaks.
Katie danced around to the back of the chair. She ran her fingertips up the outsides of Jake’s bare arms, across his shoulders, and slowly up the sides of his neck. He made a noise that was something between a groan and a growl, and it vibrated through the entire room.
She shuddered in response. Her own fangs dropped to their full length and began to throb with pleasant longing.
Moving to face him, Katie dropped slowly to her knees. She shoved his hand away and he didn’t protest. His erect cock stood straight now, and his eyes held no hint of blue. Yes, he wanted her as much as he ever had.
And she wanted him, too. There had never been another like Jake Brand, once a hardened lawman, now a tough old vampire. Even though he was nearly a century older than she, Katie knew exactly how to handle him.
Holding his thighs, she teased the head of his cock with her tongue.
His head went back, leaving his mouth open to reveal glistening fangs.
She licked him in long, slow strokes.
He groaned quietly.
Then she took his cock in her mouth and sucked, and his entire body jerked.
“Damn you, Katie,” he breathed.
As she drew away, she ran her teeth up the sides of his prick, careful not to damage the silky skin.
Jake whimpered softly.
Heated passion ran through her veins as she straddled him, leaving his erection unsheathed, to his obvious dismay, but he knew better than to complain. With her hands on his wide shoulders, she kissed him, drawing hard on his tongue, moving up and down against his stiff rod until she couldn’t stand the building need for another moment.
She rose up higher until the head of his cock nudged against her cunt, and she smiled as she eased her way down, watching the effect on his face and in his eyes. Without regard to what he wanted, she rubbed and pushed, using his cock to stroke her swelling clit.
Had she been human, she would have come.
Jake’s lips curled back in a snarl as his gaze moved down from her eyes to her neck.
Katie grabbed his hair, jerked his head back, and bit into the side of his neck.
She exploded with the taste of him, her body slamming against his in horrific need, her head swimming with sweet release. Ecstasy pulsed through her cunt, and she drew harder.
He cried out, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her down onto him, trembling with desire now, ready. She could taste his need and his pleasure, and knew how much he’d missed her and how desperately he wanted her, how he’d spent long days dreaming of fucking her.
Releasing his head, she offered him her shoulder, and he took it with greedy abandon. The sharp piercing of her skin only increased her orgasm, and he drew from her as he released his seed into her with brutal thrusts, holding her down.
Then the purest bliss flooded her as she tasted her own joy in his blood, and knew he did the same, and they met again in another climax that rose above mere physical joining. The circle closed, fusing them into one writhing beast of rapture, and she clung to his body and his thoughts, relishing the strength in both, feeding from him.
With practiced precision, they withdrew their fangs simultaneously, and rode out the last of the orgasms until all was quiet.
Katie rested her head on Jake’s shoulder and he held her, stroking her back and kissing her neck.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered.
Katie smiled and raised her head. “Shall we try the bed now?”
Jake leaned back and frowned at her. “Are you trying to drain me?”
She grinned. “Perhaps.”
Jake suddenly jumped up, scooping her into his arms, and carried her across the room.
There weren’t many men she’d allow to carry her in this manner. In fact, Jake was probably the only one, and he knew it. He knew everything about her. At least, everything she’d allowed him to know. Katie had learned how to lock thoughts away back when she was still mortal, and had carried that ability with her into Darkness.
Jake tossed her onto the bed and flung himself down beside her. “It’s not bad,” he said. “Pretty good bed. Glad we tried it.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Katie crawled over on all fours and straddled him.
Jake smiled up at her, his arms out to his sides, his gray and brown hair spread around his head in nearly a perfect circle. She liked the way his hair rested on his shoulders when he stood, and the gentle wave that made it always look a little wild. He was forever thirty-five, just as she was forever twenty-three, but his thirty-five mortal years had been tough ones. He still sported a variety of scars, including two from bullets, one from a knife fight, and two that he said came from barbed wire, but had never really explained.
“Tell me again why I only see you every decade or so,” he said, his voice deep, softened now with satisfaction.
“Because