Forbidden Taste Read online

  The metal pipe was still there, waiting for Mariah’s hands. She lifted it just as the demon got its claws around Cai’s throat. Cai’s body was strong enough to resist, but if the demon got in one lucky squeeze, Cai would shatter like Alejo’s bones.

  Mariah ran at the demon with a crazed roar and slammed the pipe into his side. Kajet snarled and spun around, releasing Cai. He knocked the pipe out of Mariah’s hands, and it sailed over the edge of the roof.

  Cai coughed once, his hand going to the scarlet marks on his throat. “Mariah,” he said in a hoarse voice. “I think I love you.”

  As Mariah threw herself down to avoid the demon’s return attack, Cai moved with vampire speed in front of Kajet, caught the huge demon up in his hands and lifted him as Kajet had lifted Alejo.

  “Tain!” Cai shouted down to the street. “Present for you!”

  He threw the demon off the roof.

  Kajet’s wings came out of his back, opening wide, sending a foul wind over the roof.

  A glaring white tendril of light shot from the ground below, wrapped around the demon’s middle, and pulled him down. Kajet screeched and beat the air, but the white light crackled like searing fire, and he fell.

  At the last minute, the demon’s long arm raked back to the roof, claws closing around Cai’s waist. Mariah was on her feet and running for him by the time the demon yanked with all its strength, and Cai, his bright eyes on Mariah, plummeted over the roof with him. There was a huge crash from beneath, and Cai was lost to sight.

  Chapter Eight

  Cai closed his hands over the bricks on the edge of the roof and hung on. The bricks were crumbling under his powerful fingers, his own strength destroying what could save him.

  Below him, Tain was beating up the demon with Immortal power. Septimus circled, getting in blows whenever he saw an opening. The street was littered with the bodies of vampires, some intact, some the blood and sinews vamps became when they died the final death.

  The demon was weakening and would be dead soon, but Tain and Septimus were too busy to help Cai. If they even cared to. Cai was simply another death-magic creature in their way.

  Above him, Cai saw … Mariah.

  She was leaning over the edge of the roof, her hair haloing her face. She was beauty, a goddess of light.

  Her gloves had been ripped to shreds in the fighting. Mariah stripped them off impatiently and reached both hands down to him.

  Cai no longer had the leather of the jacket between himself and her, his short-sleeved T-shirt thin against the wind. He would destroy this goddess of light with his touch.

  “Grab on to me!” she was shouting at him.

  No. Cai couldn’t answer as more mortar broke under his fingers. All his strength was fixed on keeping himself from falling. But she’d hear his thoughts. Get the Spaniard.

  “Alejo’s hurt,” Mariah called down. “He can’t move. Cai—do it!”

  Cai shook his head. Put your jacket around your hands.

  “You’ll slip!” Mariah argued. “Grab on!”

  Get the pole. Anything. Don’t touch me!

  “It’s gone.” Mariah lunged closer as another brick exploded beneath his hand. “Cai!”

  The last of the roof’s edge crumbled. Cai felt his world become empty air, a rush of terror, vertigo, and cold wind.

  Which abruptly stopped. Strong, slim hands clamped his wrists, Mariah’s warm fingers closing around him.

  She pulled. Cai scrabbled with his booted feet, grabbing the ledge, letting her help him heave himself up and over. The momentum sent them to the rooftop, Cai landing on Mariah. She caught him in her arms.

  The grim resignation in her eyes nearly killed him. Mariah knew exactly what touching Cai meant, exactly what she’d lost. At the same time, she smiled at him, her look tinged with triumph. Mariah had given up her gift by her own choice, and she wasn’t afraid.

  Cai brushed her hair back from her forehead, the silk of it making his heart soar. “Courage, beauty, and compassion,” he said brokenly. “Those are your true gifts, Mariah. You are a gift yourself.”

  He touched her face, reveling in the warmth of it, the softness, and bent to kiss her.

  Mariah’s answering kiss flared his need high. She wrapped her arms around him, smiled against his lips, her mouth fitting to his, her kiss strong. Her body was a wonderful place, soft and welcoming, cradling Cai and easing the last of his desolation.

  “Aw,” Alejo drawled from halfway across the roof. “I’d think that was sweet if I weren’t in so much pain.”

  Immediately Mariah pushed at Cai, rolling to her feet when he let her go. She hurried to her friend, worried, caring.

  Alejo’s legs and a few of his ribs were broken. Mariah touched him, no hesitation, trying to comfort him. “Help him,” she whispered to Cai.

  Cai nodded at her. She could command him to do anything.

  Cai carried Alejo downstairs through the building, moving gently to not aggravate his injuries. They gave him to the paramedics below, the backup having finally arrived.

  The demon Kajet lay in a broken heap, still alive, but held down by a white rope of Tain’s magic. Kajet struggled and fought, the demon’s stubbornness unnerving.

  Cai strolled over to him, pretending his entire body wasn’t weak, his stomach roiling. He needed to feed, a taste of blood and life magic to take away his shaking.

  He looked down at the demon who’d so nearly killed Mariah and himself, and who’d forced Mariah to sacrifice what was most precious to her to save a wreck like Cai.

  Cai brought the last he could conjure of death magic to his hand and drove it through the demon’s brain. Ending him.

  * * *

  Mariah entered her house in Silver Lake at four in the morning, alone. Darkness had settled over her neighborhood. It was Saturday, so the residents would be home sleeping, gearing up for a day of jogging on the lake, being with their kids, shopping, working in their yards, firing up their grills—so normal.

  She dragged herself to the shower. She felt grimy inside and out, the silence in her brain like a dull ache. She’d never realized how much whispering she’d heard on the edge of her senses, thoughts of those around her, just beyond her reach.

  Now the whispers were gone. She realized what her cousin had meant when he’d said the quiet was deafening.

  Cai was gone as well. In the mess of getting Alejo and the captive humans to the hospital, the live vamps arrested, and the remains of the dead vamps collected for burning, Cai had vanished.

  He’d slipped away in the tumult, gone who knew where. Neither Tain nor Septimus had seen him depart, and from their expressions, they didn’t much care, as long as he didn’t return. Both had too much to do keeping order in the city to worry about an extra Old One vamp they didn’t want around anyway. Cai had likely gone where he could lie low and adjust to life in this century, Septimus had suggested. He didn’t actually say good riddance, but Mariah figured that was what he meant.

  She didn’t know his exact thoughts, because she’d never read anyone ever again.

  Mariah turned on the shower, peeled off her bloody and torn clothes, and plunged under the hot stream of water. Her body felt heavy but empty, the sense of loss deep.

  If she had to live tonight over again, would she make the same choice? Grab Cai and save his life, knowing she’d lose the ability she’d lived with since babyhood?

  Yes. Letting Cai go, watching him die, had not been an option. Mariah had found him, released him from captivity, understood his grief and terrible loss. He’d been imprisoned because he’d killed, but he’d done so as revenge on the men who’d tortured and murdered his daughter, humans with as much evil in them as the demon they’d fought tonight.

  Cai was right to leave. Eventually, he’d end up battling Septimus, neither of them willing to submit to the rule of the other. One of them would die or be driven into exile. Cai was wise to avoid the situation altogether. Somewhere out there he’d find a place to live, to survive. />
  Mariah wasn’t certain what she’d do. With her telepathy gone, would the paranormal division even want her? She knew how to arrest vamps and demons, but without her mind-reading abilities, she’d be good only on mopping-up duty. They might even send her back to uniform.

  She rested her head on the cool tiles as water rained around her. She had decisions to make, but not now. Right now, she needed to stand here and let the dirt and blood wash from her exhausted body.

  She expected despair to come, or depression, or grief. Instead, Mariah felt a flicker of hope.

  She raised her head, puzzled. Why should she feel hope?

  On top of the hope came a wave of dark desire. Mariah swung around as Cai pulled open the curtain and stepped inside the shower stall with her.

  He wore nothing. His body was abraded and dirty, like hers, though nowhere near what it had been when he’d been dug free from the club. Saying nothing, Cai lifted the soap and began to wash Mariah’s skin.

  She closed her eyes as he moved his lathered hands over her shoulders and arms, across her breasts, his fingers lifting the weight of them. Down her belly and between her legs, his hands flickering her to life.

  He could touch her, and she rejoiced. Mariah had torn away the barrier that had kept her from him, the taboo that had restricted her all her life. She could hear nothing of his thoughts—her head felt empty—but at the same time, the physical sensations of him began to fill the void, replacing thought with emotion and need.

  Cai knelt to wash her legs, hands sliding down her calves to her ankles and feet, then back up her thighs.

  He rose again as he worked his way up. When Cai reached Mariah’s breasts, he stepped against her and bent his head to kiss her.

  The fire in her blood grew hotter. Mariah leaned back against the tile, the heat of him burning through the cool water. Cai’s kiss was hard, then he gentled his touch, becoming tender.

  Mariah had been with human men, but Cai was different, and not only because he was a vampire, a death-magic creature. He was Cai, more full of life than any human she knew.

  Water slicked his hair, strands sticking to his face. Mariah brushed it back, kissing his upper lip, licking her tongue through his mouth. Cai’s strength kept her in place, the hunger in his eyes unmistakable.

  “Yes,” Mariah whispered, her body tightening. “Do it.”

  Cai held her gaze with his golden eyes. “I won’t hurt you.”

  “I know.” She did know. She had no doubt.

  Cai’s next kiss left her breathless. He opened her mouth, commanding, suckling her tongue and then her lips.

  He brushed her hair from her neck and licked his way from her jaw to her throat. Cai parted his lips over her skin and then bit.

  Mariah arched back, not in pain but in sudden desire. Heat stabbed between her legs. She’d never before understood why some women craved a vampire’s bite, why they hung out in vamp clubs, why they went back for more and more.

  This was erotic, delicious, a hotness that melted every thought, every emotion into one pool of longing. Cai took, but at the same time he gave, flooding her with pleasure.

  It was pain, and it wasn’t, the first bite a sting, and then nothing but this flowing pull, a growing need. Mariah pressed herself into him, finding his cock hard against her abdomen.

  She was going to come. Mariah felt it building, the desperation, the craziness of letting go. She was going to release, and he’d barely touched her.

  Just when Mariah thought she’d fly apart, Cai lifted his head. Blood stained his lips, to be washed away by the streaming water.

  “You taste …” He paused as though groping for English words. “Like beauty.”

  Mariah could only gaze at him, and want.

  Cai lifted her and wrapped her legs around his hips, the water and soap letting them slip together. He pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her cheek and then lowered her down on him, his cock sliding up into her.

  Mariah clutched his shoulders, her fingers clinging to his warm, wet flesh. Cai opened her, thrusting high, eyes focused with concentration. He held her in powerful arms, never letting her fall, while he loved her.

  The firm thickness of him inside her carried Mariah away on waves of elation, until she realized she was crying his name, rocking against him, trying to pull him farther into her. She clung to him and he to her, his hands firm points on her hips and back.

  “Mariah,” Cai said with a groan. He trailed off into a language she didn’t know.

  “Please tell me what you’re saying,” she begged.

  “You are love.” Cai looked straight into her eyes. “Happiness. Home.”

  “You’re breaking my heart,” Mariah whispered.

  “No hurting.” Cai slid one hand between her breasts, pausing with himself high inside her. “Just us.”

  “Yes.” Mariah cupped his face in her hands. “Us.”

  Cai smiled. It was a wild smile, his eyes lighting, water slicking his hair. He shook his head, scattering droplets, and laughed.

  His laughter moved his cock inside her, and Mariah groaned. Cai licked her neck where he’d bitten her, but he didn’t pierce her skin again.

  He loved her instead. Up against the tile wall, driving inside her until they were both crazy with it. Mariah held on to him, and Cai held her, the two of them one.

  They fell to the shower floor, Cai cradling her all the way. Water rained on them as he loved her again.

  Finally, Cai slid out of Mariah, lifted her into his arms, and snapped off the water. He carried her, wet and dripping, across the bathroom to the bed, where they landed together, soaking the covers.

  Cai made love to her once more, as fiercely as before, until they fell asleep, spooned together on the damp and cool sheets.

  * * *

  Cai woke. Mariah lay next to him, a sheet lightly covering her body, her head pillowed on her arm. She was asleep, her chest rising and falling in perfect relaxation. The bite mark he’d left on her neck was already closed and healing.

  She’d tasted of sweetness and joy. Unforgettable. He never wanted to be without her again.

  Mariah’s eyes slid open. Their topaz color was warm in the sunlit room, deepening as she smiled. “You’re here.”

  Cai shrugged one shoulder as he touched her beautiful cheek. “I’m an Old One. I don’t have to rush to the coffin as soon as the sun rises.”

  Her smile widened. “Vamps don’t sleep in coffins. They have beds. Usually king-sized and gaudy.”

  Cai chuckled, loving that he could lie here and laugh with her. “Too true. This one is nice.” He patted the mattress with its smooth sheets. “A big improvement from straw on a rope frame. There’s nary a lump.”

  “Nary?” Mariah’s body moved with her mirth. “I’m going to have to teach you to talk modern.”

  “Please do.” His mind filled with hope. Mariah promising to teach him meant Mariah staying near.

  But Cai didn’t want to keep her beside him by turning her. Many humans didn’t survive the turning—he didn’t want to risk Mariah’s life with it.

  Septimus had told him, though, when Cai had sought him to discover where Mariah lived, that the human women who were mates of the Immortals had been granted special immortality by the goddesses. Cai would talk to Tain about that, find out if the goddesses would grant such a thing to Mariah. Cai might have to pledge unending service to the Immortals for the favor, but looking at Mariah next to him, he knew it would be worth it.

  Mariah’s smile vanished. She touched Cai’s face, the sensation of her fingertips rekindling smoldering fires.

  “I lost my telepathy,” she said, sounding puzzled. “I can’t hear thoughts anymore.”

  “I know.” Cai turned his head and kissed her fingers. “I don’t know if being able to be together now can compensate, but I wasn’t lying when I said telepathy wasn’t your true gift.”

  Mariah’s frown remained. “But I am feeling what you feel. I think.” She studied him in bewilderment b
ut a little bit of wonder. “I did last night too. Your hope, your happiness, your sorrow. Your guilt.” She shook her head against the pillow. “Don’t feel guilty. It was my choice.”

  Cai stopped. He had been feeling very guilty at being the cause of her loss. Had felt that way since the moment it had happened. But he hadn’t said a word.

  “What am I feeling now?” he asked.

  Cai closed his eyes and brought up the vivid image of Mariah in the shower, her body sleek with water, her eyes half closed. Cai was cupping her breasts, loving the warmth of them against his palms. He licked her neck then slowly sank his teeth into her, his cock rigid.

  “Lust,” Mariah said, her amusement returning. “Blatant, undeniable lust.”

  Cai opened his eyes. “That was an easy one. How about now?”

  He pictured the two of them side by side in one of the vehicles these people rode around in, vague scenery flipping by the windows at breakneck speed. Cai felt something he’d not experienced in a very long time—interest, curiosity, anticipation.

  “Excitement,” Mariah said. “Of a different kind. Like you’re raring to go.”

  “I don’t know what raring means,” Cai said. “But yes, I want to go, and you to come with me. I want you to show me everything about this new place, this new time.”

  Mariah gave him an eager look, then her eyes dimmed. “I have a job. At least—maybe I do.”

  “If they cannot see that you are an amazing woman, then to hell with them.” Cai smoothed her hair, which was tumbled from their lovemaking and sleep. “You might not know my thoughts or the words in my head, but you feel my emotions. Not a telepath, but an empath.”

  Mariah jerked, blinking, then she stilled as she thought about it. “Oh.” She put one hand to her head. “Wow.” She drew a sharp breath. “I’m not sure I know what to do with that.”

  “Come with me and see.” Cai slid one hand to her waist. “Be with me, Mariah. I’ve never found a woman I wanted to be with more than I long to be with you. If that means I stay in this small house near the lake that didn’t exist last time I was here and avoiding clashing with Septimus while you return to the paranormal police, then so be it.”