John The Deliverer Page 9

  He was so hard he thought his pants were going to give. Madison radiated heat, her eyes speaking of long, slow sex and tortured feelings of desire. "Taste yourself on my lips," he whispered.

  She didn't hesitate. Her tongue peeked from between her lips and traced his, then stole inside his mouth. He sucked her tongue, wanting to devour her.

  Gently, she pulled back. "Is that what I taste like?"

  "Mmm," he said. "Spice and honey."

  "Raven?"

  "Hmm?"

  "I want to taste you." Her arms came up around his neck and her mouth covered his, the kiss hot with her hunger.

  Raven could do nothing except what she asked. Together, his arms wrapped around her, they rose from the couch and hands moving over each other's bodies, made their way into her bedroom.

  Once there, Madison stripped him of the remainder of his clothes and began exploring his body. They moved to the bed, and fell on it, Raven on his back.

  He tensed, not wanting to give in to his passion just yet. But as he felt her warm, moist mouth close over the tip of his hard member, he had to grit his teeth to keep from coming. She teased him with her tongue, using the lightest of touches. Raven wanted to take her head in his hands but thought better of it, fearing he might hurt her.

  She then took him deeper into her mouth, her hand below her lips. Mouth and hand stroked, up and down, deeper and deeper. "Mmmm," she moaned in her throat, sending a vibration of unequaled passion down the length of his shaft.

  "Madison," he warned through clenched teeth. He placed a hand on the crown of her head, wanting her attention.

  She ignored him, sucking hungrily as she took him deeper still.

  Raven felt himself swell inside her mouth. "You'd better slow down," he said, tangling his fingers in her hair, trying to move her from him.

  "Mmmnnn," she moaned in protest.

  The vibration in her throat, combined with the feel of her hands and tongue sent him over the edge.

  Raven felt his world cave in, dropping him into a velvet blackness as Madison brought him to a lustful release, larger than he had ever known existed. Still she didn't stop, but swallowed and sucked, wanting every drop. Only then did Madison raise herself on her hands and crawl up the bed until she was above him, trapping him underneath her nakedness.

  He looked up at her in the moonlight that filtered through the window. She was a vixen, her cinnamon hair glowing fiery in the light, her skin flushed with their lovemaking. She leaned forward, brushing her breasts against his chest as she hovered just over his mouth. She took his breath away.

  "Taste," she whispered, lowering her mouth to his.

  She kissed him tenderly, let him taste his own essence on her lips.

  Raven felt himself growing hard again, despite his recent release. Madison must have felt it too because she moved against him, the curls of her mound damp against his growing member. "You're trying to kill me," he whispered against her lips.

  "Is it so easy to kill a vampire?" she asked, moving down over his chest.

  "Madison," Raven said, his voice husky, "shouldn't we ..before we go to far?"

  Madison winked at him slyly, knowing what he was insinuating. "Don't worry about it. Everything is taken care of." Then she continued her exploration.

  Raven gasped when she ran her tongue over one of his nipples. When Madison heard him, she took his nipple into her mouth and licked, making him shiver with the sensation. Madison gave his nipple one final lick of her tongue and looked at him, smiling. She reached down to where the root of him lay between them, grasping it firmly. "I think I know where this goes."

  Madison raised herself up on her knees and positioned herself over him. Ever so slowly, she slid his hard shaft into her velvet sheath. When she had him completely in her grasp, she sighed and squeezed him from inside.

  Raven's hands went to her hips, holding her to him.

  Then, she started to move. Slowly at first, a gentle rocking.

  At that moment, Raven wished that he were a true vampire, just so he could experience this for all eternity.

  * * * *

  Madison's body was alive with feeling. Every sensation was heightened beyond all belief. If Raven wasn't a vampire, she didn't know what he was but one thing she was sure of ... he wasn't a normal man.

  Impaled on his hard shaft, Maddie rocked her hips as she raised and lowered herself over him. She tried to keep it slow, enjoying the feel of him filling her, but the quivering in her core was sending signals that another orgasm was building. Maddie had come more times in the past hour than she had in the past year. As the heat began to build, she moved faster. The pressure against her swollen clitoris was so delicious she wanted it to never end. "Ahh," she sighed, her hands braced on Raven's hardened chest muscles. His hands grasped her hips, holding her pinned to him as she moved faster. Maddie threw her head back, thrusting her breasts forward as the friction built, on the threshold of her orgasm. Her wild side was now fully unleashed.

  Raven took one hand and as she moved up, placed the tip of his finger inside her, then swabbed her juice up and over her clit. Maddie shuddered, coming down hard on his member.

  "Taste us," he growled, placing the finger to her lips.

  Maddie opened her mouth and took his finger inside. She wrapped her tongue around it, tasting the musk of their love. She sucked and rode him, the wetness of excitement making lusty noises as their dance of love grew in tempo.

  Then his finger left her mouth and his hands found her breasts. Maddie couldn't take it.

  She brought herself down on him hard, spearing herself in one swift movement. The orgasm crashed through her as she buried him inside her, his seed bursting hot into her at the same time. Both of them screamed their passion as their bodies shook, convulsing in wave after wave of pleasure.

  Raven panted, his breath coming in strangled gasps as Madison rode out her orgasm atop him. He felt completely drained, satisfied like never before. When her movements finally slowed, Raven pulled her sweat-slicked body down on top of him and gathered her in his arms. Her breasts heaved with the effort to catch her breath, her body still trembled from her climax. Raven held her, letting his own breathing slow, and vowed to destroy the one that would harm her.

  Devlin Morse.

  "Damn," Madison said, her voice shaky, "Are you sure you're not a vampire? Because I've never blasted off like that before."

  Raven smoothed her hair. "I've told you. I'm a hunter. Not one of them."

  Madison raised herself up, bracing an arm on his chest. "Well, you're sure not human," she said, tracing a finger along his jaw.

  Raven let a smile creep onto his lips. "And you're a vixen."

  Madison dropped a kiss on his mouth, then started to push herself up. "I need a shower after all of that." She rose from the bed, Raven's arms dropping from her.

  He watched as she padded across the bedroom and retrieved her robe from the floor. He knew then and there he had broken his most hard and fast rule: John Raven was in love with Madison Woods.

  He glanced toward Madison. She had slipped her robe on and now stood at the bed, tying it shut. Raven took a deep breath. She's mine, he thought, a possessiveness that he hadn't felt before filling him.

  "Madison," he said, rising up on one elbow.

  "Hmm?" She raised an eyebrow, questioning.

  "I have to go. I have some things to take care of."

  Madison tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "So, you're just going to run off, is that it?"

  Her words stung. Raven shoved himself up and off the bed. He stood in front of her, looking down at eyes that challenged him. "I told you that you were in danger, Madison. It was no joke, no made-up story. Devlin Morse wants you to disappear."

  Madison's eyes searched his face. Raven could see her mind trying to decide if he was telling the truth or not. "Devlin Morse is a real vampire."

  Raven nodded. "Yes."

  "And he wants me dead."

  "Yes."

 
Madison flapped a hand at him. "Well, then I guess you'd just better go find a wooden stake or something and take care of the situation." She pushed past him. "I'm going to take a shower." With that, she disappeared through the bedroom doorway.

  Raven dropped his head. He thought she believed him. Thought she trusted him. It didn't matter. He still had to stop Devlin. For Madison's sake. For Eric's sake.

  For his own sake.

  * * * *

  Maddie was close to tears as she turned on the water in the shower. How could he? Did he think she was that gullible? Vampires. Maddie ripped off her robe and stepped under the spray.

  She had let him ... take her. How had she given in like that? Given in so easily to a man she didn't know and was even slightly afraid of?

  She shook her head, water flinging from her hair. "Because you're in love with him, you twit," she said out loud.

  John Raven was the embodiment of what she wanted in a man. He was more than a man. He was her vampire. A purely sexual being, with the qualities of the man she would want to spend the rest of her life with. He emitted danger and passion, but down deep, she knew she could trust him. His sense of loyalty and family evidently ran deep in his blood. And he wasn't afraid of her wild side either.

  She scrubbed her skin with a vengeance, warring with herself. In her heart, she trusted what Raven had told her. But her head couldn't believe there were truly vampires, especially one that wanted her dead.

  A laugh suddenly burst from her. Just wait till I tell Leah this one, she thought, rinsing off. Leah is going to call for the men in the white coats for sure.

  Maddie shut the water off and stood for a moment, water dripping from her.

  She took a deep breath.

  It really didn't matter what John Raven said about vampires, whether they were real or figments of her imagination.

  Maddie loved John Raven. She'd known it from the first time she had laid eyes on him at the Halloween Parade.

  When she had first seen him, standing in an aura of powerful darkness, exuding the force of his personality, Maddie had known she was meant to surrender to him. All of her life, she had dreamed of a man like him. Putting his image in her book, creating him as a vampire, had just deepened the feelings she carried for him in her heart. And now that he was here, in the flesh, close to being the vampire lover she had dreamed of while she wrote When Glory Came Home but oh-so-much better than being an actual vampire, she was in danger of throwing it away over her quest to be 'normal'.

  Maddie grabbed a towel and hurriedly dried herself, her skin still sensitive from Raven's heated touch. Their whole argument had been over whether or not vampires actually existed and the fact that one of them wanted her dead. It was as far from normal as you could get. And if she was honest with herself, truly honest, the only reason she was after a sense of normalcy in her life was to please her parents. They should take her as she truly was. If they had any sense of what family meant. John Raven sure did.

  "Good grief," she said, flinging her robe over her shoulders, "why do I even bother to please them?" She ripped open the bathroom door. "Raven?" she called, moving down the hall.

  She entered her bedroom only to find Tinker, cautiously sniffing the rumpled bed clothes.

  Maddie sighed.

  Raven was gone.

  She bit her lip. Damn it, she thought, a tear threatening to spill from her eyes, just when I find what it is I've been searching for, it disappears into the night like it never existed.

  A voice inside her mind spoke up. "Maybe he didn't exist. Maybe you just made him up."

  That thought caused Maddie to chew her lip. She placed the palm of her hand against her lower belly, remembering how Raven had coaxed an explosion of pure passionate release from her.. Her breasts tingled at the thought of his mouth settling over them. Thinking about how Raven could play her body like a tightly strung harp made Maddie want to lower her hand and stroke herself. When she thought of him and the way he had 'fed' on her, she was instantly wet with desire.

  No ... Raven was no figment of her imagination.

  Other people had seen him. He was real. And even if she did fantasize about him being a vampire--how could she not with his looks and those fangs--it was her fantasy and he seemed willing to play along, short of drawing blood.

  What more could a girl ask?

  Maddie took a deep breath. And he wanted her exactly as she was. No more playing at 'fitting in'.

  "I'm just going to have to find him," she said.

  Chapter Seven

  Devlin Morse laughed softly in the darkness. He had not followed Madison after leaving the mall. Instead, he had waited and followed Raven. And he had been rewarded for his patience.

  From his vantage point, leaning against a tree on the Woods woman's front lawn, he had witnessed a wonderful show. Thanks to his preternatural sight, Devlin could see as clearly in the dark as he could see in daylight. That is, when he used to tolerate daylight.

  Devlin frowned for a moment as he contemplated the puzzle that was Raven. Devlin had yet to see Raven feed, though Raven hadn't exhibited any form of bloodlust. Nor could Devlin control Raven as easily as the others. Even Raven's 'brother', Eric, was a challenge. It was as if they both blocked their minds when Devlin tried to touch them, to guide them. That bothered Devlin. If he was going to be the leader of the clutch, he had to have full control.

  Adding to Devlin's problems, this Madison Woods was causing unrest in Devlin's little family.

  From his spot by the tree, Devlin had witnessed Raven's taking of the woman, although by the time they'd reached the bedroom, it had seemed as though the woman was in control. Interesting, Devlin thought. Raven submitting to a woman. Devlin crossed his arms over his chest and considered. Was the woman a hunter? Was that possibly why Raven had been submissive to her advances?

  With narrowed eyes, Devlin watched Maddie through the window. Raven had left moments ago and the woman had just returned to the bedroom, damp from what must have been a shower.

  Devlin saw her look around the room. Then she seemed to deflate. She must have thought Raven would still be there. Devlin moved then, pushing off the tree. He felt the urge to get closer to her, to try and touch her mind. If she was a hunter, he would have to use a light touch, or she would suspect something. He moved silently over the grass, stopping just a few feet from the bedroom window.

  He could see her clearly in the dim light now. She was biting her lip, thinking deeply. Watching her, Devlin licked his own lips, wondering if she would taste as good as she looked. Then, Devlin raised an eyebrow and a thin smile tugged at one corner of his mouth as he watched her slide her hand over her belly. With the lightest touch, he reached for her mind.

  Heat. Desire. Need.

  The swirling emotions almost took Devlin's breath away and he quickly pulled out of her mind. It wouldn't do him any good to be drawn in by the woman's sexual desires. Devlin could have any woman, any way he wanted. This woman was of interest to him only as prey is to predator.

  Devlin shrugged off the tingle that lingered from her thoughts and slowly drifted into the darkness.

  Tomorrow, possibly, he thought. Tomorrow maybe he should ... taste.

  * * * *

  Raven drove through the quiet streets, his jaw clenched with determination.

  He had to get rid of Devlin Morse and his clutch. And he had to do it quickly.

  The sun was just starting to break over the horizon when Raven pulled into the hotel parking lot and shut off his car. He needed to get in touch with Dirk immediately to find out what he knew. There had to be a way to bring Claire to River Bend. If Claire came to River Bend and joined Devlin and the others, she would bring Eric with her. Then all of them would be in one place.

  But as he walked into his sterile hotel room, he couldn't get Madison Woods off of his mind.

  She was upset with him now, he knew, but he hoped to resolve that situation after he destroyed Devlin and the clutch and made sure that Eric was safe.
She had surrendered to him tonight. Hopefully, he could persuade her to surrender to him again.

  Raven booted up his laptop and launched an instant message into cyberspace, hoping Dirk was on line. His hope was answered as Dirk replied immediately. But the content of the message made him frown.

  Claire and Eric were on the move, supposedly headed for River Bend. According to Dirk, they had left during the night, meaning they were probably already in town. Raven wondered if Devlin had sent for them for some special reason. Raven continued to read, his jaw tightening. Dirk had more bad news: it seemed Eric had succumbed to Claire.

  Raven's fist came down on the desktop, making the laptop jump.

  He quickly typed a message back, asking just how far gone Eric was.

  Dirk replied, saying his source told him Eric had been bitten but was not fully turned.

  Raven rubbed a hand across the stubble of his jaw. There was still time, then, if he could get to them tonight.

  Dirk shot back another message, asking Raven if he needed backup.

  Raven shook his head and replied in the negative, but with thanks. He didn't need to worry about anyone else. He already had Eric and Madison to protect.

  Raven signed off, closed his laptop and slipped off his coat. He needed a shower to clear his head. It was daylight now, so Madison would be safe, but he wasn't so sure about Eric. Raven stripped off his clothes as he headed for the bathroom, thinking about how he would go about rescuing Eric.. If Raven did get Eric out of the hordes' clutches, his brother's withdrawal would be a nightmare. If he had only been bitten once, only two days would be needed to clear his blood of the poison. But if Claire had fed twice, Eric would need a transfusion. Three times, and Raven wasn't sure if they could save him. There would be too much venom in his blood, meaning Eric would likely turn.

  Then Raven would have to destroy his own brother.

  Raven stepped into the shower and let the steaming water run over him.