crawling all over his ass.
Chapter Seven
Anticipation hummed hrough Seth’s veins like a snake that had licked the air and detected its prey mere inches away. On the stairway’s landing, he gripped the polished brass knob of the corner banister and breathed deep. Tonight he hovered one step closer to having it all. Yes. He could almost taste the victory.
It was decadent, sweet, and all his. Well…it would be soon.
He reached low and repositioned his swollen cock before continuing down the steps. The flavor of a conquest always made him want to fuck. That was something else he’d have to take care of before much longer.
On the main level, Seth made his way to the basement door and headed below. His calyx had informed him earlier that the expedition posse sent to verify Eve’s identity and retrieve her had returned. He crossed the expanse of the room, his boot heels releasing a distinct click off the lower level’s concrete floor.
Near his receiving area, Seth spotted only three of the six men who’d comprised the group waiting.
And no female.
What the hell was this all about? He sucked in a breath and his gut rebelled. The stench of failure permeated the air.
Seth eased onto the seat of his royal-blue velvet armchair, his in-house security flanking him, and met the lowered gazes of the trembling trio. His jaw ached from the effort it took not to kill them before hearing their sob story. Because he knew that was exactly what they were about to spill. It required every ounce of his control not to rip their throats open and allow their incompetent blood to fill the sewers.
“Out with it,” Seth snarled. “What have you learned and where are the others?” He steepled his fingers and braced himself for the play-by-play. The apparent spokesman of the group painted a shaky and pathetic tale of how one female and a vampire in wolf form took out six men and escaped. They were the only ones to have regained consciousness after her attack and had disposed of the others before reporting in.
But it was her.
There was no doubt.
She’d fought them in daylight and her power… His pulse leaped, and the muscles in his forearms twitched in restraint. So fucking close. Seth didn’t know whether to roar with rage at their feeble attempt to snare her, or feast on their hearts in celebration.
He had to know what made the female tick. Sample her DNA. How did she balance the power of a vampire along with her sensitivity as a human? So many unanswered questions about her existence. How did the vampire antigen live in balance with her human cells without consuming them? Could her tolerance to sunlight be replicated? Was it possible to vaccinate a vampire with her particular human genetic traits and acquire her abilities? He had to find out. Seth swallowed back the growl of frustration clawing its way up his throat. One thing was for sure—they would die tonight for losing her.
He would have to start again. But at least he knew where to focus his search: the Rose’s Thorn. Eve wouldn’t show herself again, but someone there had to possess knowledge of where she would hide.
“Seth.”
The unexpected mental call yanked his attention from the situation at hand. Shit. She was early.
“Yes, Mistress,” he replied silently.
“I’m waiting for you in your quarters. I do hope you have good news to share with me this evening.”
Seth cringed. Her games were a tedious but necessary evil. He suppressed the chuckle at the pun. Evil. An understatement for what lay beneath the gentle purr of the female upstairs.
Without a glance at either of the males bracketing his chair, Seth spouted his command and rose. “Dispose of them however you see fit.” Abrupt inhales resonated from the trio, mixed with a barrage of desperate cries for mercy. It would do them no good. About as much use to them as his pleas would be when he shared the latest failure to produce Eve. At least their pain came with an end in sight. His, on the other
Chapter Seven
Anticipation hummed hrough Seth’s veins like a snake that had licked the air and detected its prey mere inches away. On the stairway’s landing, he gripped the polished brass knob of the corner banister and breathed deep. Tonight he hovered one step closer to having it all. Yes. He could almost taste the victory.
It was decadent, sweet, and all his. Well…it would be soon.
He reached low and repositioned his swollen cock before continuing down the steps. The flavor of a conquest always made him want to fuck. That was something else he’d have to take care of before much longer.
On the main level, Seth made his way to the basement door and headed below. His calyx had informed him earlier that the expedition posse sent to verify Eve’s identity and retrieve her had returned. He crossed the expanse of the room, his boot heels releasing a distinct click off the lower level’s concrete floor.
Near his receiving area, Seth spotted only three of the six men who’d comprised the group waiting.
And no female.
What the hell was this all about? He sucked in a breath and his gut rebelled. The stench of failure permeated the air.
Seth eased onto the seat of his royal-blue velvet armchair, his in-house security flanking him, and met the lowered gazes of the trembling trio. His jaw ached from the effort it took not to kill them before hearing their sob story. Because he knew that was exactly what they were about to spill. It required every ounce of his control not to rip their throats open and allow their incompetent blood to fill the sewers.
“Out with it,” Seth snarled. “What have you learned and where are the others?” He steepled his fingers and braced himself for the play-by-play. The apparent spokesman of the group painted a shaky and pathetic tale of how one female and a vampire in wolf form took out six men and escaped. They were the only ones to have regained consciousness after her attack and had disposed of the others before reporting in.
But it was her.
There was no doubt.
She’d fought them in daylight and her power… His pulse leaped, and the muscles in his forearms twitched in restraint. So fucking close. Seth didn’t know whether to roar with rage at their feeble attempt to snare her, or feast on their hearts in celebration.
He had to know what made the female tick. Sample her DNA. How did she balance the power of a vampire along with her sensitivity as a human? So many unanswered questions about her existence. How did the vampire antigen live in balance with her human cells without consuming them? Could her tolerance to sunlight be replicated? Was it possible to vaccinate a vampire with her particular human genetic traits and acquire her abilities? He had to find out. Seth swallowed back the growl of frustration clawing its way up his throat. One thing was for sure—they would die tonight for losing her.
He would have to start again. But at least he knew where to focus his search: the Rose’s Thorn. Eve wouldn’t show herself again, but someone there had to possess knowledge of where she would hide.
“Seth.”
The unexpected mental call yanked his attention from the situation at hand. Shit. She was early.
“Yes, Mistress,” he replied silently.
“I’m waiting for you in your quarters. I do hope you have good news to share with me this evening.”
Seth cringed. Her games were a tedious but necessary evil. He suppressed the chuckle at the pun. Evil. An understatement for what lay beneath the gentle purr of the female upstairs.
Without a glance at either of the males bracketing his chair, Seth spouted his command and rose. “Dispose of them however you see fit.” Abrupt inhales resonated from the trio, mixed with a barrage of desperate cries for mercy. It would do them no good. About as much use to them as his pleas would be when he shared the latest failure to produce Eve. At least their pain came with an end in sight. His, on the other
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