Midnight Craving: Midnight Vice, Book 1 Read online

  “I don’t have a condom.” Their muddied bloodlines protected them from human diseases of all kinds but not pregnancy. That was a headache neither of them needed at the moment, especially not with all the permits and hearings required to mix angelic and demonic seed. And then there were the covenants forbidding the sons of archangels from surrendering to the temptations of Isla’s kind.

  “I don’t care.”

  Any other time, Jace would have put the kibosh on their dangerous flirtation but tonight he couldn’t. It was almost as if he’d been rendered powerless. Only his most primal human instincts held sway over his actions, suppressing his normally cautious archangel side.

  Taking his cock in hand, he lined it up with her dripping entrance. One sharp thrust and he was balls deep in her tight hot cunt. They both moaned at the sudden meeting of their bodies. Jace couldn’t remember anything ever feeling this good. Gripping the sink, he pulled back and slammed into her again.

  Isla groaned and pawed at his chest. Her teeth grazed his neck as she rocked her hips. When she clutched his ass and forced his thrusts deeper, Jace saw spots behind his eyelids. She was simply ravenous, and he was determined to give her exactly what she wanted.

  He grasped the front of her dress and yanked down, releasing those gorgeous tits. Tanned and full, they tantalized him. He lowered his head and sucked a stiff peak between his lips. Isla inhaled sharply and clamped a hand on his shaved head, encouraging his flicks and suckling. Still driving his cock into her again and again, he moved his mouth between her breasts, his hand massaging the breast his lips had just left.

  Isla dragged his mouth away from her breasts and licked his bottom lip. He placed his lips on hers in a sensual kiss. Her tiny little moans drove him wild. He clamped down on the surging need to come, knowing she wasn’t quite there yet. Her hand slid between them, and he shifted the angle of his thrusts until she cried out with pleasure. There, just there, was her sweet spot.

  Jace quickened his pace and kept his angle steep, his depth shallow, just as she liked it. Isla’s fingers flicked her swollen nub in time with his pumping hips. Her wet cream coated him and eased the hot friction of their two bodies. Panting, she reached over her head, fingers clutching at the mirror. He put his hand over hers, interlacing their fingers as he pounded her slick pussy. His sac tightened at those first few spasms of her cunt.

  “Jace!” Her gorgeous violet eyes widened suddenly.

  “Tell me, baby,” he said. “Tell me.”

  “I’m coming!” Isla’s husky voice sent him hurtling over the edge. She tightened her grip on his hand and squeezed his waist with her thighs. Her slippery sheath clamped rhythmically around his cock.

  Jace couldn’t have held back if there’d been a gun to his head. He nearly blacked out as her pussy milked every last drop of come from him. With a guttural groan, he tucked his face against her neck and jerked inside her.

  Her arm curved around his shoulders, holding him close as they slowly came down from the heights of ecstasy. The remnants of pleasure cleared his mind, and Jace was suddenly struck with what they’d just done. They’d gone from zero to sixty in less than a minute. Isla most definitely wasn’t that kind of girl, and he wasn’t that kind of guy. So what the hell had just happened?

  Still buried in her silky depths, Jace pulled back just enough to gaze into her eyes. Forehead wrinkled with confusion, Isla looked simultaneously satiated and bewildered. Embarrassment colored her cheeks. “Oh, God, Jace! What did I just do to you?”

  “I don’t know.” Unease filtered through him. “It felt different than your usual succubus allure.”

  “I know.” Isla sounded thoughtful but scared. She rubbed her face. “Don’t worry about the condom thing. I’ve been on the pill for years.” When she looked up at him, Jace was taken aback by the penitent look. “I’m so sorry, Jace.”

  Desperate to reassure her, Jace touched her cheek. His thumb caressed her skin. “Don’t be. It’s all right. Whatever this was, we’ll figure it out.”

  “Do you think it was Renata?”

  “Probably. But, to be sure, we’ll head over to Laszlo’s office.”

  Isla nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”

  Sensing her lingering shame, Jace sought to relieve her conscience. He cupped her nape and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You didn’t make me do anything I haven’t wanted to do for a long time.”

  Isla relaxed against him. He hugged her tightly and tried not to think of how easily this could all go south.

  Chapter Two

  Feeling extremely self-conscious, Isla wrung her hands while Laszlo completed his examination of her aura. He looked her over from head to toe, and she tried not to look into his ghostly white eyes or pale blue pupils. Instead, she kept her gaze tightly fixed on the picture of black kittens playing with balls of brightly colored yarn tacked to the ceiling.

  She shifted on the uncomfortable exam table. The sound of crinkling paper echoed in Laszlo’s office. From here, he ran the entire anti-curse department with the help of his twin sister, who was presently traipsing through the Carpathian Mountains in the hopes of broadening her base of Romany gypsy magic.

  “Hmmm.” Laszlo hummed as he straightened. His eyes shifted back to their normal coffee color. He ran a hand through his unkempt black hair and made another pensive sound.

  “Well?” Jace’s anxiety was palpable from across the room. Arms crossed, he leaned against the wall and chewed on the tip of his thumb. Isla couldn’t remember his blue eyes ever looking quite so dark with concern. Or his lips ever looking so kissable…

  Isla closed her eyes and tried not to think of how much she wanted him right now. Like earlier in the bathroom, that coil of desire tightened in her lower belly. She’d always secretly had the hots for Jace. Who wouldn’t? Ruggedly handsome, good with his hands, smart, respected—he was everything she’d ever wanted in a man. She’d sensed his hesitation from the beginning of their acquaintance and had left it alone. Where she derived great pleasure from breaking rules, Jace rigidly adhered to them. She could have ratcheted up the temptation and seduced him into her bed months ago but to do so would force him to break the covenants keeping his line pure and ever so righteous. Putting him in such an ugly position, making him vulnerable to the harshest of punishments? Well that was something she’d simply refused to do—until tonight.

  Rather than focusing on Mr. Right, she’d contented herself with Mr. Right Now. It was just easier that way. Men—human and not—found it incredibly difficult to resist her succubus pull. Sooner or later, they wised up to her lack of real affection. Lust could only be confused for love for so long before it became tiresome.

  But—oh God—resisting her attraction to Jace was quickly approaching impossible. Isla squirmed as memories of his cock filling her, stretching her, flooded her mind.

  “What are you feeling right now, Isla?” Laszlo’s eyes narrowed.

  “I’m horny as hell,” she admitted rather frankly.

  “For Jace?”

  Isla’s face flamed. Her reply was soft. “Yes.”

  Laszlo hummed again. He gripped her hands and helped her sit up on the exam table. Isla avoided Jace’s burning gaze. She could actually feet the heat of his stare against her face.

  “Look at me, Isla,” Laszlo instructed. She focused on him and suddenly all the lustful feelings vanished. “You don’t feel anything for me, do you?”

  She pulled an apologetic face and shook her head. “Sorry.”

  Laughing, Laszlo smiled. “I’m not at all offended. I’m more relieved actually.”

  “Relieved?” Jace chimed in from behind them. “Clue me in, Laz.”

  Laszlo moved away from her and hopped onto his desk. “It’s a compulsion curse. Very old and extremely powerful.”

  Isla’s chest tightened with fear. Her education at the hand of her succubus mother had never been completed, but she’d learned enough to know compulsion was very dangerous juju. This was beyond bad.

  “Compuls
ion?” Jace frowned. “So what? You’re saying Isla’s compelled to have sex?”

  “With you.” Laszlo turned to Isla. “Was his face the first you saw after Renata cursed you?”

  Isla nodded. “I imprinted on him, didn’t I?”

  “Seems so.” Laszlo sighed and rubbed his face. “You know how bad this is, right?”

  “Yes.” Isla’s solemn tone caught Jace’s attention.

  He held her gaze. “Isla?”

  “There’s no anti-curse, Jace. Unless we kill Renata, I’ll continue to have these nympho urges more and more frequently. If I’m not sated by you, I’ll literally overheat.”

  Laszlo jumped in at that point. “The brain fever will cause seizures, and she’ll die. It won’t be pretty.”

  “Okay,” Jace said calmly. He seemed to be thinking out the problem. “So you’ll come home with me and I’ll…well…you know…until the team can neutralize Renata.”

  “Doesn’t work like that, Jace,” Laszlo interjected. “Either you or Isla has to kill Renata. It’s the only way to reverse the curse. If she’s killed by someone else, Isla’s—”

  “Fucked,” she interrupted.

  “Pretty much,” Laszlo said. “By the looks of the curse’s progression through your aura, I don’t think you’ve got a lot of time either.”

  That got Jace’s attention. “How little time are we talking?”

  “Isla’s demonic blood has allowed the curse to take a much stronger hold than we’d normally see in this kind of case. It’s sort of like the flu killing healthy people because their immune systems put up too much of a fight.”

  “Laz,” Jace said, “how much time?”

  “If you don’t neutralize Renata… Midnight.”

  The room went deathly silent. Isla tried to process Laszlo’s doom-and-gloom prognosis. Jace, however, leapt into action. He glanced at his watch and then at her. “Twenty-two hours. Plenty of time.”

  Even as he spoke so confidently, Isla noticed the tic in his jaw. He was lying—for her. That he was trying to protect her even in the face of certain death confirmed what she’d always thought about him. He was one hell of a standup guy.

  Jace held out his hand. “Come on. We’ve got work to do.”

  Trusting her life in his hands, Isla wrapped her fingers around Jace’s and followed him out of the office.

  ***

  Legs crossed, Isla rested against the slatted back of the chair and tried to ignore the growing desire welling in the pit of her tummy. Swallowing hard, she hid her trembling fingers beneath her thighs and stared at the various maps and laptop screens spread out across Jace’s dining room table. The scattered remnants of a late-night drive-thru stop were piled on one end. Isla’s empty soda cans stood in a pyramid of sorts just behind a carafe holding a sliver of Jace’s lukewarm coffee.

  For the last few hours, they’d been working hard on their game plan. A psychic dragnet around Houston had been set up within minutes of the club bust so there was no chance of Renata moving out of the area. Midnight Vice’s surveillance teams were already out on the streets, pounding pavement and working their contacts for any hint of her movements. Isla had suggested sifting through their intel files on Renata.

  “I say we hit this safe house in Bellaire first.” Jace tapped a laptop screen. “And then move north on the 610 loop.”

  Desperate for any diversion, Isla followed his proposed path. In the last few weeks, the Extermination Unit of Midnight Vice had cleared all vampire safe houses in the eastern and southern portions of the Greater Houston area. Only a single quadrant west of Highway 59 and north of the 610 loop remained unchecked. Without a doubt, Renata would seek shelter in one of those remaining houses. She’d need her native soil to regenerate after taking that fireball to the face and draining her power with such a hellacious curse. The EU had located four of the five known stockpiles of Hungarian soil. That left them one more box among those eight houses.

  “Works for me.”

  “Great.” Jace picked up his phone and started texting. “I’ll make sure the surveillance team keeps us updated. If she pops up on the radar, we’ll know.”

  “Sounds good,” Isla replied, voice tight. Her clit pulsed suddenly. Her toes curled and thighs clenched. She needed Jace like right now but the thought of begging him to fuck her again felt wrong. Men using women disgusted her, and doing the same to Jace put a bad taste in her mouth. But what could she do?

  “People are going to find out about this, about us.” She ignored the lust bubbling in the pit of her tummy and motioned between them. “Your people are fairly clear about their stance on nephilim and cambion relations. What are we going to do?”

  Jace set aside his phone. He rubbed his temple and shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m sure I can plead my case before my elders. They’ll likely frown on this thing between us but will understand it couldn’t be avoided.”

  Her gut clenched at his tone. “I didn’t realize having sex with me was such a chore.”

  His gaze snapped to her face. “That’s not what I meant, Isla. They won’t fault me for being with you to save your life. It’s not the same as choosing to be with you, of falling prey to your succubus allure.”

  Her jaw hardened. “Wow. You want to keep digging or should I jerk the shovel from your hands now?”

  Jace rolled his eyes and practically growled with frustration. “You’re twisting my words. I’m not trying to insult you. I’m just trying to be pragmatic. If I don’t want to lose my wings, so to speak, I have to be careful in the way I’ll plead my case. I have to make them see that allowing you to die wasn’t acceptable. There aren’t that many of your kind willing to help us keep a lid on the shit storm night siders enjoy creating.”

  She tamped down her annoyance and tried to be reasonable. “Obviously I don’t want you to be hurt by this, Jace. I’d never forgive myself if you lost your powers because of me. You’re the most important tool Midnight Vice has to keep the night side at bay.” She squirmed as her clit throbbed. Wetness trickled from her core. It took every ounce of her control to continue talking and not touch herself. She forced a playful smile. “But could you maybe not make it sound like having sex with me was so horrible. I do have a reputation to maintain.”

  Jace snorted with amusement. “I’ll try.”

  His boyish grin only increased her discomfort. Maybe a little hands-on attention would bring some relief. It was worth a try. She stood up, surprising Jace with her sudden movement. “I need a shower.”

  He made an odd face. “All right. In my bedroom, door to the right.” He motioned toward the open doorway at the end of the hall. “Towels in the linen closet.”

  Wordlessly, Isla scurried from the dining room, pausing just long enough to snatch her hastily packed suitcase from a couch in the living room. She plunked the suitcase on the bathroom counter and shut the door behind her. Yanking back the curtain, she bent down and played with the knobs until she found just the right water temperature. She peeled off her dress and thong and dropped them on the slate floor.

  The kiss of cool water against her skin melted some of the heat and tension constricting her body. Face into the spray, Isla tried to wrap her mind around everything that had occurred in the last few hours. Her life was spiraling out of control. Nothing had gone as she’d expected tonight. Seeing Renata again after all those years hadn’t been quite as terrifying as she’d thought it would be. Isla had fully expected freezing up or worse, but she’d experienced only hatred for the vampiress.

  Facing her own mortality should have scared the shit of her, but she’d already stared death in face and won. Shaking her head, she cleared those disturbing childhood memories from her thoughts. She couldn’t think about that tonight. Right now, she needed to concentrate on surviving. Deep down inside, she believed somehow, some way, Jace would come through for her. As far as she knew, he’d never failed a friend before, and she doubted she’d be the first. She figured luck was on his side—if not divine intervention, cons
idering his lineage. She had to believe they’d make it through, otherwise she didn’t know if she could muster the energy to put up the good fight.

  No, it was the forced sex and the roiling emotions attached to their coupling that were driving her mad. She wanted Jace—just not like this. Earlier in the club bathroom, after their minds had cleared, he’d said she hadn’t forced him to do anything he didn’t want, but she knew Jace too well. He’d have said anything to make her feel less guilty for taking advantage of him. If she made it through the next nineteen hours, she wasn’t certain she could stand facing Jace night after night at work knowing he’d only been with her to satisfy the curse.

  And he would cut her loose. There was no doubt about that. He would skirt the edges of the agreements guiding his personal conduct to save her, but the second she was free of the curse he’d shove her aside to protect himself from his elders. She wouldn’t blame him if he asked to have her transferred out of Houston. Now that he’d had a taste of her, it would be incredibly difficult for him to resist her in the future. She honestly wasn’t sure she could even trust herself to keep her hands off of him either.

  The shower curtain moved. Startled, Isla glanced over her shoulder. Lust blossomed in her belly at the sight of Jace’s chiseled abs and the smattering of dark hair across his chest. She couldn’t help but lower her gaze even farther to his sizeable package. Her fingers itched to stroke and fondle him.

  Jace stepped into the tub. “Shit, this water is cold!”

  “Sorry.” Isla quickly adjusted the temp to a more normal heat even though it made her fever feel even worse.

  He reached for her. She shivered as his arms settled around her waist.

  “You’re burning up again! Why didn’t you tell me you needed me?” Jace sounded hurt as he caressed her back. Isla hid her face, uncertain how to answer. The water rushed down over their bodies. He placed his cheek against hers, his chin on her shoulder. “Please don’t be embarrassed to ask me for relief, Isla.”