Anita could only agree.

  Finally, they had a tangible lead: a man who was following a woman matching the victim profile. And the fact that he was looking for a new victim after having disposed of Janet, meant that they were in a unique position to catch him.

  18

  Cooper glanced at Anita as he put the car in drive and headed for home. “You must be tired.”

  She gave him a warm smile. “What time is it?”

  “Past 3 a.m.”

  “At least we have a lead now.” She took a breath. “And that’s giving me an idea of how to catch him.”

  “Let me hear it.”

  “We know now that he’s already looking for his next victim. And the woman that Ginger saw fits the profile: blonde, tall, and most likely with a job that gives her some sort of power.”

  “That’s very likely. A bank teller leaves when the bank closes. A woman working late at a bank is probably in management.”

  “Exactly,” Anita agreed and added, “I’ve seen several cases, where he actually abducted a woman before he killed the previous one, almost as if he needs a victim at all times.”

  Cooper knew that she was right with her assumption. This vampire most likely fed only from his female victims, and few vampires went without blood for more than a couple of days. The fact that some of his victims overlapped indicated that he wasn’t a vampire who showed restraint.

  “Good point. The incident Ginger reported happened before Janet was killed, so he was already looking for a replacement before he killed her, and we have to assume that after the woman from the bank slipped through his fingers, he’s desperate for a replacement.”

  It had been over thirty-six hours since Janet’s death, and the amount of blood the vampire had consumed would ordinarily tide him over for a few days. However, a killer like this one who gorged himself regularly had a lot less control over his hunger. He might already be on the edge of bloodlust, a state where he needed another fix just like a junkie.

  “That’s what I think too.” Anita nodded, becoming more animated again, almost as if she could brush the need for sleep off like a dust particle on her sleeve. “Let’s make it easier for him to find his next victim.”

  An odd sense of foreboding crawled up his spine, and he gave Anita a sideways glance. He didn’t want to ask the next question, but he couldn’t stop himself. “What are you suggesting?”

  “I’m tall, I’m blonde, and blue-eyed, and I’m a woman in a position of power… well, of course I won’t wear a sheriff’s deputy uniform, but I can dress up like a businesswoman… and he won’t know what hit him.”

  Cooper slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a stop on a deserted side street, and spun his head to her. Had he heard correctly? “Are you fucking serious? You wanna play bait?”

  “Hear me out. I’m trained for this.”

  He shook his head, his jaw tight from the strength it cost him not to let his vampire side emerge. “Not for this. You’re not doing this! You’re not putting yourself in the path of a psychotic serial killer.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him, showing her annoyance. “You don’t have a say in this. I’m a sheriff’s deputy. I can do this.”

  “Over my dead body!”

  “You can’t tell me what to do! I’ll talk to the chief of police. He’ll accept my offer—”

  “No, he won’t. He’s gonna do what I tell him to do. And that is to keep you as far away from this killer as I can.”

  “You have no right—”

  He leaned over to the passenger side and snatched her by the shoulders. “You don’t have a chance against this perp.”

  Anita tried to shake off his hands, but he held her like she was in a vise.

  “Let go of me!” she ground out.

  “Try and fight me off! If you manage that, then, and only then, I’ll let you play bait.”

  Cooper knew she would never have a chance against him in a fight. As a vampire hybrid he was so much stronger than her. So much more powerful. And the vampire who was abducting and killing these women would be just as strong if not stronger. He would snap her like a twig. And Cooper couldn’t allow that. He had to protect her.

  Anita lifted her hands up and pushed from her chest outwards in an effort to force his hands to lose their grip. But she hadn’t counted on his vampire strength. Surprised, she glared at him, then tried again.

  “Damn it!” she cursed and punched her fists into the inside of his elbows, but not even that maneuver made him lose his grip on her shoulders.

  He leaned in. “You’re not strong enough. If you can’t beat me, you can’t beat him.”

  “Oh, I can beat you.”

  The challenge in her eyes was clear. He braced himself for the next countermeasure. Instead of pulling away from him, she leaned in closer. A moment later, her hands were on his pants, and she was opening the button and lowering the zipper.

  “Fuck!” This time he was the one who cursed. “That’s playing dirty.”

  When she shoved his pants down and pulled his boxer briefs away from his body, he knew he’d lost. His cock was already readying itself for her touch, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it, except for letting go of her shoulders and pushing her away from him. By now his cock was out of its confines and hard as a crowbar.

  Anita smirked. “Looks like I won.”

  “That’s not a win!” He ran a hand over his head. “Damn it, Anita! Don’t you get it? I don’t want you to be in danger. I want to protect you.”

  “No, you want to control me! You want to tell me what to do! And I’m not gonna let you do that!”

  He let out a sigh, dropping his shoulders. He wished he could tell her the truth of what kind of creature she was up against, that the killer was a vampire, but he couldn’t.

  “Anita, I know you probably won’t believe me, because I barely believe it myself, but I have feelings for you.” He raised his eyes to meet hers. “I’m falling hard and fast. For you. Or why do you think I offered you to stay with me? I’ve never done that before. I’ve never had a woman live with me, or even just stay with me temporarily. But you… damn it, when we met, I realized immediately that I have no defenses against you. You just get under my skin. You might think I’m crazy, because we don’t really know each other, but when I’m with you, I just want to have more of you.” He shook his head, looking away to the deserted street beyond the windshield. “I’m not trying to control you. I’m trying to protect you, because I couldn’t live with myself if I let anybody hurt you.”

  Suddenly there wasn’t a sound inside the car other than the sound of two people breathing.

  When she didn’t move and didn’t say anything for a few very long seconds, he said, “Now you’ll probably want to move into a hotel, because I sound like an obsessed stalker.”

  What had come over him to make this kind of confession? He’d made everything worse now. Independent women like Anita didn’t like possessive men. But vampires and vampire hybrids were inherently possessive when they found their mates. And he knew he’d found his. But he’d screwed it up.

  All of a sudden, he felt a warm hand on his thigh. He turned his head and looked into Anita’s flushed face. Her anger was gone. Her lips were soft and inviting, her jaw relaxed. She leaned closer, their faces only inches from one another.

  “You have feelings for me?”

  He nodded. “I thought it was obvious. It’s not like I can hide that.”

  Her hand on his thigh was moving until it made contact with his cock. The contact made him jolt. Slowly, she wrapped her hand around his erection. He closed his eyes, the sensation so intense that his fangs itched to descend. When he opened his eyes again, Anita dropped her head into his lap.

  “Fuck!” he hissed, just as her breath blew against his sensitive skin and her lips wrapped around the tip of his shaft, imprisoning him in her warm mouth.

  “Baby, you don’t have to—”

  But she’d already taken him as deep as she could. He let out an uncontrolled moan and pressed his head back against the headrest. He hadn’t expected this, not after their fight, and certainly not in the car. After all, they weren’t teenagers who had no other place to go. But fuck, if he didn’t find it electrifying that Anita was blowing him in the car. And this was no mechanical blow job. The way she licked her tongue along his cock, and sucked him with such skill, was more than just a little arousing. He wished he could move a little to shove his pants farther down, but there was no space. He was wedged in and at Anita’s mercy.

  Her soft moans bounced against his hard flesh, sending shudders down his spine. Cooper put his hands around her head, gently pulling her back and making her slow down, knowing he would come in a few seconds if she continued with this pace.

  “Baby, ease off a little, or I’ll spill.”

  She raised her head until only the tip of his erection was still captured between her red lips, and looked up at him from under her lashes. He’d never seen a more tantalizing sight.

  “Fuck, you’re beautiful,” he murmured and caressed her face. “If you were wearing a skirt, I’d lift you onto my lap right now and fuck you until we’re both delirious.”

  She locked eyes with him, and slid back down on his erection as if to thank him for his words. Her sucking motion felt more intense now, and with every descent and every withdrawal he edged closer to his climax. But he still possessed a few thin threads of his self-control. He didn’t want to presume that she would let him come in her mouth, and he didn’t want to be selfish, so he pulled her up.

  “Didn’t you like it?” she whispered, her lips looking swollen and even more kissable than before.

  “I loved it, every single second. I’ve never felt anything better than your lips around my cock.” He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her passionately, dancing with her tongue, exploring the wet cave that had been home to his cock only a few seconds earlier. He brushed one hand over her torso, caressing her breasts through her top, pleased to be greeted by hard nipples. How he loved an aroused woman in his arms. He released her lips and pressed his forehead to hers, breathing hard.

  “While I still have a few working brain cells, I think we should go home, so I can rip your clothes off you and sink my cock into you.”

  Anita sounded just as breathless. “I’m not done sucking you.”

  “We’re only a couple of minutes from the house.”

  She looked outside, then back at him. “There’s not a lot of traffic.” She glanced down at his cock, which still stood upright as firmly as a flagpole.

  “No, there isn’t.” His heartbeat accelerated again, guessing what she was implying. “And I know the route in my sleep.”

  Cooper put the car back in drive and pressed down the gas pedal, merging onto the empty street. Anita lowered her head back to his lap and took him back into her mouth, sucking him, while she gripped him tightly around the root.

  19

  Anita felt like she wasn’t herself. She’d completely overreacted when Cooper had told her he wouldn’t let her be the bait for the serial killer. She’d seen red and assumed the worst: that he was a man trying to control her. She hadn’t expected him to confess that he was falling in love with her. At first, she’d thought he was lying so she would relent and give up her—admittedly—dangerous idea. But then she’d looked at him and had seen that he was crushed by the thought that she wanted nothing further to do with him. All he’d wanted to do was keep her safe, and she’d pushed him away. She knew now why: she too was developing feelings, and it scared her, because it was happening so fast.

  Yet the rush of realizing that Cooper wanted her just like she wanted him, was too much to resist. So, for the first time in her life, she’d thrown caution to the wind.

  More than that: she was doing something completely reckless. She was giving Cooper a blow job while he was driving. And the action sent a thrill through her body that she’d never felt before. She felt desirable and powerful in that moment, because she knew she could drive Cooper crazy with lust.

  Anita felt the car slow down, and heard a garage door open, while she continued to suck Cooper’s cock, unable to get enough of him. He was big and beautiful, so perfect that she couldn’t believe her luck. He tasted even better, and his stamina was undeniable.

  She heard his voice in the distance, almost as if she was in a trance, and had no idea how they made it out of the car and into the house. But somehow, they were finally in Cooper’s room, tearing each other’s clothes off, kissing and touching each other with an urgency she’d never before experienced.

  When they were both naked, Anita fell to her knees before him and looked up at him. Cooper’s eyes were shimmering in a golden hue caused by the bedside lamps, and he put one hand on her face, while he guided his cock to her lips with the other.

  She met his gaze and held it while she swallowed inch after inch of his rock-hard shaft. She took him as deep as she could, before he put both hands on her face and began to withdraw gently, then thrust back into her mouth.

  Cooper exhaled a shaky breath but didn’t break eye contact. “Babe, you’re amazing.”

  With his thumbs he caressed her cheeks, still cupping them lightly, giving her the freedom to pull back if she needed to.

  Anita increased the tempo, moving faster up and down his erection, sliding her tongue along the underside of his hard flesh and swirling it around his crown before descending again.

  Her hands weren’t idle either. With one, she braced herself on his thigh, with the other she cradled his balls, alternately squeezing and releasing him.

  Cooper’s moans filled the room, and he seemed entirely unconcerned that his uncle and aunt might hear him.

  “Oh, Baby, fuck! Fuck!”

  All of a sudden, he withdrew from her mouth and pushed her back. Before she could protest, he’d pulled her up to stand and she found herself pressed with her back against the wall. A second later, she was suspended in the air, held up by Cooper’s strong arms, her legs spread, her back pressed against the wall.

  Cooper plunged into her pussy with one powerful thrust, seating himself deep inside her. All air rushed from her lungs, robbing her of the ability to speak.

  “I’m sorry for being so rough,” he said on a harsh breath, “but you’ve gotten me so hot—”

  “I love it like this,” she confessed. “I love your cock thrusting hard and deep and fast… please… please fuck me hard.” She’d never begged a man before. But the way Cooper made her feel by taking her with such vigor was new to her, new and exciting, and intoxicating. As if she was getting drunk on the passion he shared with her.

  Every nerve ending in her body seemed to vibrate, arousal and pleasure intersected, lust and desire collided until all she could feel were waves shooting through her body igniting little explosions of true bliss. Another wave followed, this one not created by her own body, but originating from Cooper as he climaxed and shot his semen into her.

  At the same time, Cooper took her lips, kissing her hard, robbing her of the remaining air in her lungs, sending more waves of pleasure through her body. He suddenly ripped his mouth from hers, and she felt something sting her lower lip, as if a bee had stung her.

  “Ouch!”

  Cooper’s head reared back, and for a brief second, she saw his lips peel back from his teeth. There was blood on his lips, and he licked it off. She blinked, her heart thundering in her ears. His teeth were hidden behind his lips again, and the blood was gone.

  “I’m so sorry,” he apologized quickly. “I was too rough.”

  She touched her lip with one finger and looked at the drop of blood she’d wiped away. “It’s okay. It didn’t hurt.” It had only stung for a very brief split second.

  “Let me kiss it better.” He leaned in again, and this time his lips were gentle when he licked over her mouth, soothing it.

  His tender touch made her relax. She caressed his shoulders, feeling the strong muscles beneath his skin flex, making her aware of how strong he was to be able to keep her suspended, supporting her entire weight as if she weighed nothing more than a feather.

  Anita felt weightless and sated. Slowly, he took his lips from hers and withdrew from her sheath, before he set her back down on her feet. She instantly swayed, her knees feeling like jelly. Cooper caught her, holding her in his arms, and she pressed her head to his chest, inhaling his male scent.

  “That was…” She didn’t even know how to describe it. “You’re an amazing lover.”

  “It’s easy to make love to you.”

  “Are you calling me easy?” she teased even though she understood what he meant.

  Cooper chuckled. “No, I’m not. What I’m trying to say is that everything clicks when I’m with you.”

  He lifted her off her feet and carried her to the bed, where she slipped underneath the covers, and he joined her, pulling her back into his arms, spooning her. She pulled his arm around her front and held it to her chest.

  “Hmm.” She still felt weightless, her body still on a high. She’d never felt so relaxed and so satisfied after sex.

  Cooper nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck, pressing gentle kisses to her skin. “I love the feel of a satisfied woman in my arms.”

  He pressed his groin to her backside, and she could feel his cock, still hard, still big. She wiggled against him, teasing him. To her surprise, he adjusted himself, and a moment later, he thrust back into her pussy.

  She gasped at the welcome invasion. “Ohh!”

  “Uh-huh,” he murmured. “That’s what you get for trying to seduce me again.”

  “I wasn’t trying to seduce you.”

  “Yes, you were. You started it in the car.” He began to move slowly back and forth, their combined juices making every movement smooth.

  “You gave me no choice.” Because he had been too strong, stronger than any of the cadets she’d practiced hand-to-hand combat with.

  “Yeah, about that,” he started, his voice serious now.

  “I won,” she said quickly to remind him of his promise. “You’ll have to use me as bait to catch the killer.”

 

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