Free Crimson Heat: 4 (Vampira) by Jan Springer Page B

held them in check.
    “Who tipped off the Queen as to my whereabouts?” she asked without looking at him.
    “Our dungeon guard was at that fashion show. He caught your scent while ogling the humans beneath their clothing.”
    Her nose wrinkled in disgust. “I knew I’d smelled something rotten, but I had hoped I was wrong.”
    “No worries, the Queen killed him after he delivered the information of finding you.”
    Relief spun over her face.
    The guard was a sadist. All of them had endured pain under his watch. Luca had been grateful to hear of his demise.
    “Why did you leave us the way you did, Satin?” Tristan’s cool voice slipped out of the darkness from behind them.
    Satin tensed and Luca shook his head in disappointment at Jaymes and Tristan, who stood a few feet away. He hadn’t scented them or heard them approaching. That meant they had just materialized from inside the building.
    He should have known the males would be impatient for an answer as to her being with them again, and they were also responding to the mating lure of the moon. The need to mate flared heavily in their eyes. The blue in Tristan’s gaze had deepened and Jaymes’ was glowing a deep red.
    “Did you not have feelings for us?” Jaymes asked.
    Luca’s gut twisted at the grief in Jaymes’ voice. The sadness seared through his body like an impaling sword. They needed answers before they went any further with the mating. Her shoulders slumped and she shook her head.
    Devastation rocked Luca. Her answer was not what he had expected. She did not want them. He knew now that they would need to make sure she was in a safe place and then they would leave her. He’d never been so shattered in his entire life. He allowed his fangs to unsheathe as anger grabbed hold.
    * * * * *
     
    Lisbeth sensed the vibes of desolation whipping through the air from the three males. They’d assumed with her shaking her head that she’d meant no. But she’d been shaking her head because she was mad at herself for wanting to tell them she loved them, needed them, craved them.
    For a moment, she thought of letting them believe that no was her answer. That she did not love them nor had she ever. But her emotions were all over the place due to the moon and what had just happened with the forced seduction, her body fevered with want, that she couldn’t quite bring herself to lie and tell them she wanted them gone.
    “I don’t believe you,” Jaymes’ smooth voice drifted over her senses like a seductive caress.
    She was having so much trouble keeping herself acting cold and indifferent. Her body was so hot, she wanted to remove her robe and have them touching her again. Wanted them fucking her. Triple-penetrating her. She craved pleasure from them.
    Wanted them to feed off her again. Needed to feed from them. The strength that would power her body with their blood nourishing her would be fantastic. She desired to have that power once again. To be strong and sexual and female. To be whole.
    Despite what she wanted, she kept her fangs from unleashing with anticipation and forced herself to turn toward them. Her breath caught in her lungs at the sight of three wide-shouldered huge vampire males. Their long white incisors gleamed in the moonlight. Their gazes were intense and furious and bursting with lust and love. She trembled beneath the ache for them.
    “We’ve known each other forever,” she whispered. “And I have loved you for as long. But we can never be together. Crimson law forbids it.”
    Tristan stepped forward and grabbed her by her elbow. He held her tightly, as if fearing she would somehow escape the collar with the potion that kept her here.
    “We’ll go on the run together. All of us. We’ll hide in the human world.”
    “You?” She shook her head and laughed. “You can’t stand full-breed humans. You’ll stick out like a sore thumb, snapping at them and being a grumble.” She gazed at the other two males who were staring at her with