A Bite Before Dying: Book Six Supernatural Enforcers Agency Read online

  She didn’t deny it, though she didn’t look particularly happy.

  “You were told Carrie was going to mate with a vampire, so you wanted to find them.” He looked up at the swanky hotel she had just left, his face tightening with anger. “That pencil pushing vamp up there sent you to find them and deliver them to him.”

  “I also wanted justice for Carrie,” she said hotly. “And if vampires were going around killing shifters I wanted to make sure I put a stop to it.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “Take me home,” she ordered crossly.

  “You got it, sweet cheeks.”

  Damn, she must have been annoyed, she didn’t even roll her eyes at the endearment.

  Honestly, he was angry, but not at Juliet. She was trying to do what was right. He didn’t like other vampires using her for their own ends. Nor did he like them filling her head with such nonsense.

  She was his mate.

  They were going to mate.

  They were going to be happy – whether she liked it or not.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Juliet awoke to find Ryder ensconced in an armchair in her bedroom, reading again. Did he ever get any sleep?

  She was actually relieved to see him. He dropped her off the previous night and just left her, said he had business to attend to. After the reaming she endured from Julian, she wouldn’t have minded a little more TLC. But none was forthcoming, and she certainly would not have asked for it.

  No annoying comments about joining her in bed, no refusal to leave her house, nothing she’d come to expect from him during the weeks she’d known him.

  She should be thrilled. She wasn’t.

  Juliet had a feeling he was annoyed at her over the investigation and knowing he thought less of her bothered her more than she cared to admit.

  “Surprised to see you here,” she said cautiously.

  Ryder gave her an exaggerated expression of surprise. “Really? Still. Clearly, I don’t appear in your bedroom often enough. I really must remedy that.”

  “Did you get your business sorted out?” she asked, hinting that she would very much like to know what it was.

  He grinned. “Why yes, sweet thing, thank you for asking, I did. By the way, your phone rang five times in the last ten minutes.”

  Juliet reached for it. “Oh, I wonder why it didn’t wake me. I’m also wondering why you didn’t answer it.”

  “You didn’t seem best pleased the last time I did it.”

  “My annoyance doesn’t usually stop you.”

  Ryder held up his hands. “Hey, I can be reasonable.”

  “Since when?” she scoffed. “Wait, why is my phone on silent?”

  “Yeah, I did that. Didn’t want it to bother you while you were sleeping.”

  “Ryder!”

  “What? I didn’t want it to disturb you. You looked like a little, dangerous as hell, sleeping angel.”

  All the missed calls were from her assistant, Emily, and she’d also sent a few texts and e-mails, concerned that Juliet was not replying.

  “Is that a new book?” she asked as she fired off an e-mail back to her.

  “Indeed it is,” he murmured as he leafed through the pages. It must be; he could barely take his attention away from it. Oh boy, getting jealous of a book – a new low.

  “Interesting read?”

  “Mmmm.”

  “Quite a page turner.”

  “Mmmm.”

  Hell’s Bells, was he even listening to her?

  Juliet straightened the bed covers. She slanted a look in Ryder’s direction, chewing her cheek thoughtfully. “Come join me in bed?”

  Apparently, he was listening. No sooner had the words left her mouth than Ryder was next to her, under the covers, his body pressed against hers. Her cheek rested on his chest, and he had an arm wrapped around her. Satan’s beard, they were cuddling!

  “Thought you’d never ask,” he teased.

  She was mightily impressed with the speed in which he took up her invitation, though somewhat miffed that he had brought the book with him.

  Juliet wriggled into a more comfortable position – to save herself from drowning in the acreage of taut flesh currently taking up every inch of her bed. She did consider kicking him out, but then, he was awfully comfortable.

  In spite of being in her bed – the place he supposedly desired to be more than anything – he was still reading the darn book.

  “What are you reading?” she asked peevishly.

  “New book on vampires.”

  “More research,” she muttered.

  “Finding a way to prove to you that you’re wrong about vampires and shifters mating.”

  “I’m not.”

  “You must be.”

  Juliet sighed. “We’re going round in circles about this. You’re going to have to get over this.” Hell knows she was trying.

  Ryder’s brow furrowed. His eyes turned golden, and a rasp echoed in the back of his throat. Juliet stilled against him, wondering if he was angry with her. For a second, she flashed back to Master’s treatment of her, until she heard what came next, that is.

  “I don’t like this bed.”

  “What?”

  Ryder nodded down at his feet, and sure enough, they were wiggling out of the covers, peeking over the edge of the bed.

  “It’s too short. Too hard. When we mate, we’re getting a new one. We can still live here, I guess, now that the new alarm system is installed.”

  Juliet groaned and rubbed her forehead. Were vampires supposed to be able to get tension headaches?

  “First of all, we are not mating. Second of all… Wait, what do you mean, new alarm system?”

  He actually looked proud of himself. “Had a buddy of mine install it last night while we were out.” Ryder gave her a patient smile. “You think I would have left you alone if I wasn’t sure this place was secure?”

  Juliet scrambled out of his embrace. “You’re unbelievable!”

  The damn tiger shifter had the nerve to chuckle. “I know.”

  She grabbed the nearest pillow and did her damnedest to beat him to death with it. “Ugh! I take it back; you’re impossible!”

  It just made him laugh louder. Finally giving up, she dropped the pillow and escaped into the bathroom, taking her ringing phone with her.

  “Hello!” she growled.

  “Juliet?”

  Her assistant again. Emily was certainly tenacious.

  “Are you coming back to work?” Emily demanded with ill-concealed ire.

  “Yes, in a day or two.”

  She had to do a little tiger removal first.

  *

  Juliet took the opportunity to shower and cautiously, she came out of her bathroom, half expecting Ryder to be lounging on her bed still. He wasn’t. Oddly, he had actually made the bed before leaving.

  Hmmm. He wasn’t in any of her spare bedrooms, nor in any other room in her house.

  “He must be here somewhere,” Juliet muttered, just as she spied him through her kitchen window, sitting in her garden.

  “Hiding a bone?” she teased as she approached him.

  He was sitting on the ground, not doing anything as far as she could tell.

  “You’re thinking of dogs.”

  “Right, what do cats hide?”

  “Nothing worth mentioning.”

  Daintily, Juliet dropped to the ground next to him. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Admiring your garden.”

  “Really?”

  Ryder grinned. “Don’t look so surprised.”

  “You hardly seem the type to sit back and admire things.”

  “I admire you all the time, sweet cheeks,” he smirked.

  “Yes, I know.”

  His eyes roved over the array of plants and flowers with appreciation. “Must have taken you a long time to get this looking so nice.”

  “How do you know I didn’t pay someone to do all this?”

  Ryder gave her a cr
ooked smile. “You hardly seem the type to sit back and watch others do everything. You’re more hands on.”

  “I do enjoy gardening,” she admitted. “It’s relaxing.” It was also distracting. When she wasn’t working, she was indulging in one of her many hobbies – gardening, knitting, calligraphy, crocheting, candle making, cooking, baking, needlepoint, painting and so on and so forth, and what have you. There were few past times she hadn’t tried over her long life.

  Juliet smoothed her hand over the ground, letting the blades of grass sift through her fingers. “I wouldn’t mind seeing what it looks like during the sunlight. I imagine it’s beautiful.”

  “Sunlight’s overrated. The night and creatures of the night are underrated.”

  “You need to stop this,” she sighed.

  “I won’t.”

  “I could have you arrested for being a stalker.”

  “You could, but if you were going to, you would have the first time I showed up in your house uninvited.”

  “So you admit you’re uninvited?”

  “I’m your mate; I don’t need a…”

  “Don’t say it.” Juliet rubbed her arms and stared purposefully at the ground. Mercifully, for once, he was quiet. “You know I’m attracted to you.”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “But I’ve told you it’s impossible. So taunting me with what I can never have is only making it worse for me. You claim to believe I’m your mate, so if you feel anything for me, please, show some compassion for me and just… stop.”

  Ryder let out a long ragged, breath. “I can’t stop.”

  “Ryder, please.” Her voice trembled something fierce.

  He moved in front of her, and hooked a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. His face was set in hard, determined lines, yet his eyes swirled in soft golden tones.

  “If you really believe all that crap about vampires and shifters not being able to mate…”

  “I do.”

  “Then you must think that my feelings for you aren’t real.”

  “They can’t be.” He seemed to be getting it. But her useless heart shriveled just a little more with every word he spoke.

  “So you think it’s an infatuation? That I’ll get over it?”

  Juliet hesitated. She had an urge to say no – a strong urge she could barely manage. “I’ve no doubt you will,” she lied, blatantly. Given the way his nose twitched, she suspected he scented the lie, too.

  “So, you want to get into my pants. I want to get my hands on your delectable body, and you think I have an infatuation with you I need to work through?”

  “What’s your point?”

  Ryder rolled his massive shoulders. “We should have sex.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Have sex. Screw like bunnies. F…”

  “I know what you said; you just took me by surprise.”

  “I can take you any way you want, but I say we put your theory to the test. We do the horizontal mambo as much as we can, and we see how long it takes me to get bored of you.”

  “How romantic,” she said dryly.

  “I won’t get bored, by the way,” said so confidently, so smugly.

  “We are not sleeping together.”

  “Why not? I’m a good guy…” The wince that came with those words was very pronounced. “Most of the time. Some of the time. On occasion. Plus I bathe regularly – I have ever since I met you, before that it was a bit iffy.”

  Juliet in spite of her wobbly emotions giggled.

  “Plus,” his voice became dangerously, sex quiveringly low, “we both know you’re attracted to me. I mean you just admitted it, and I’ve been able to scent it on you since the first time I saw you.” He brushed a thumb over her cheek. “What’s the worst that could happen? I take you to heaven and back repeatedly and maybe you get rid of an annoyingly handsome stalker.”

  What if I decide I don’t want you to leave? The words felt heavy on her tongue, begging to be spoken. It was what she both feared and wanted – him to stay. But wouldn’t it be easier to force him to leave if he no longer had the notion that she was his mate? Surely, by then, she’d be sick of him, too. She found him attractive now, but she had been alone for a while. Over the years, she’d been lonely numerous times and had sought out males before – she always tired of their selfish ways. Perhaps Ryder would be the same.

  “Fine.”

  Ryder seemed a little taken aback. “What?”

  “Fine. Let’s have sex. Right now, in fact.”

  “Really?”

  Her lips curled at the startled little look on his face. “What’s wrong? Cold feet?”

  “No! I just thought it would take a lot longer to convince you.”

  “You’ve convinced me – take off your pants.”

  His jaw virtually hit the ground. “In the garden?”

  “Well, if you don’t want to…”

  He hushed her with a forceful kiss. He was even better than she remembered. He pulled her onto his lap, his hands cupping her ass as his mouth plundered hers. Her fingers plucked at his shirt buttons, pulling hem open and smoothing her hands over his hard chest.

  “I want to,” he growled, “but you deserve more than some quick fumble in the middle of a garden.”

  Juliet nipped his chin. “What do I deserve?”

  “You deserve to be wooed.” Said so earnestly, though they lost a little something as his large hands kneaded her cheeks.

  “Wooed, huh? You hardly seem like the wooing type.”

  “I’ve never wooed a female before. You’d be the first.”

  “How would you woo me?” She swiped her tongue over his neck, readying the spot where she would press her fangs into him.

  “Take you out, take you to dinner.”

  “My dinner’s right here,” she purred.

  Ryder pulled her shirt out of her pants and ran his fingers over her back. “Willing to eat my inferior shifter blood?”

  “When I’m hungry, I’ll eat anything.”

  “You’re ruining my wooing,” said a little crossly.

  “Well, who on earth said I wouldn’t want a quick fumble in the middle of a garden?” She’d certainly been dreaming of much less romantic encounters over the past few weeks.

  Ryder clasped her head in his hands, searching her expression for something before he finally growled. “Fuck it.”

  He covered her mouth with his as he fumbled with her clothes. She ripped his shirt off, pulling it apart. It felt like they had been waiting, months, years for this moment rather than a matter of weeks. All the tension and desire was exploding, surging out of them, urging them to hurry. For all her restraint since the moment they met, she couldn’t stand a moment longer without feeling him inside her, of tasting his blood.

  Emboldened by her own impatience, with a grunt, Ryder shredded the shirt off her, quickly followed by her bra. He freed her mouth long enough to admire her bare breasts, her pale skin shimmered in the moonlight, and he breathed the word ‘gorgeous’ at her as his eyes sparkled gold.

  Ryder rolled her onto her back, the soft grass tickling her skin. His large hands cupped her orbs, squeezing and massaging her flesh.

  “Hurry,” she urged.

  Ryder howled. She suspected he wanted to enjoy the moment, make it last longer. But she didn’t want that. Maybe later, but not now. The floodgates were open, and there was no stopping her now.

  Juliet snatched at his jeans, tearing them apart, freeing his fat, throbbing length. She clutched at him, her small hands circling him, squeezing him.

  “Ryder, please.”

  She wiggled her hips, demanding he do the same to her. She was still half-clothed for heaven's sake!

  “Temptress,” he chuckled.

  Reluctantly he released her breasts and pulled apart her pants with very little trouble. Her panties gave him a moment’s pause, though.

  “Daisies?” he chuckled. They were pink, a little on the large side and sported a pretty d
aisy pattern. In her defense, she had no idea she would be getting sexed in her garden when she donned them.

  She rubbed her thumb up and down him, eliciting a delicious groan. “What were you expecting?”

  “From a vampire? Black lace.” He leaned down and kissed the inches of skin above the elastic and below her bellybutton.

  “Disappointed?” she quivered.

  “Hell, no. I’m thinking daisies shouldn’t be this sexy. Are they your favorites?”

  “No.”

  “Good.” Rrrrrriiiiippppp!

  He pressed a finger to her slit, a self-satisfied grin on his face when he found her drenched for him.

  “Need you,” she murmured.

  She pulled his body over hers, her hands gliding over his hard muscles and his large member nudging her channel. He paused, gazing at her with golden eyes.

  “You’re beautiful,” he growled.

  Juliet almost choked, wanting to cry in happiness. They were words she’d heard over and over but never had they meant so much to her, never had they hit her so hard.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  His member, so hot and hard pushed inside her, their lips touching briefly as he filled her with his cock. Her hips lifted, desperately trying to take him all. There was no pain, no difficulty. He was large and sure she was small, but they fit together so well they were surely made for one another.

  Her sex gushed and heat spread through her body. Ryder grunted with satisfaction as she took every inch of him, as he plunged inside of her over and over. She let out passionate, needy moans as he took her with rough, almost wild thrusts, his hugeness rubbing across her inner muscles, sending delightful little quakes through her.

  Juliet was vaguely aware of the sounds of the night, of the grass beneath her back. Sex au natural – it was so unlike her. Boring, old Juliet, who had never even indulged in shower sex was rutting in her garden with a beast of a male. It was… exhilarating. It was better than anything she had ever experienced. It had been a while since she had sex, but it had never been this incredible before. Just his touch, his skin – it was electrifying.

  Her fingers dug into his shoulders, pulling him closer. Ryder snarled, working up the intensity of his movements to a magnificent degree.

  She could feel herself tightening, readying to reach her release and she zeroed in on his neck, his vein. There was only one thing that could make this even better, even more ambrosial - to feed on his blood. Her tongue glided over his skin, savoring the saltiness, preparing him for the moment she would take what she needed.