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THIS SITE IS INTENDED FOR A MATURE
AUDIENCE IF YOU ARE
UNDER 18 PLEASE CLICK HERE
Chapter 6-
by Michelle M Pillow & Mandy M Roth
Die Mutant, Die!
“What happened to the
limo?”
Dmitri turned to face
Armando and shook his head. “I told the driver to go and I canceled all the
plans.” He knew that he sounded childish, but he didn’t care. He also knew
that Armando would never call him on his behavior. He would stand by and
let him make a fool of himself. That’s what friends did and Armando,
without a doubt, was one of his closest friends.
“Are you calling the evening
off?” Armando asked, sounding a bit disappointed.
“Yes.” His nostrils flared
and his fingers dug at the palms of his hands. The worst part of it all was
that he had thought that Michelle had feelings for him, even if they were
just small. Seeing her in her jeans and sweatshirt told him otherwise. He
was a fool.
“No, you are no fool, old
friend,” Armando said with a smile. “I can tell you that there is something
there.”
“What? Between Michelle and
I?” He let out a snort. “Oh, yeah, if you count the fact that she thinks
of me as a dog that walks on two legs, then yeah, there’s something there.”
“Nonsense, she does not view
you as this and you know it. She is human. Allow her to make human
mistakes. Give her time and all will work out.”
Dmitri cast him a
questioning look. “You read her! You read Michelle, didn’t you?”
“Let me just say that one
does not need to posses the power to read minds to see how Michelle feels
for you,” said Armando, with a blatant attempt to change the subject.
“Hey, Great Armdini,
we don’t all have your nifty little abilities, so can you help a guy out
here?”
Armando laughed and nodded
his head. “Fine then, don’t cancel the date. Is that helping enough for
you?”
Dmitri closed his eyes and
felt the tension from the day creeping into his shoulders. “I canceled all
the plans.”
“ALL the plans?” sounding
stunned, Armando asked.
It wasn’t often that Dmitri
could get a rise out of Armando, and he knew that it had something to do
with Mandy coming along. “I guess I could still pull something a little
more ‘jeans appropriate’ out of my ass.”
“I’d rather you not pull
anything out of your ass, thank you though,” Armando said with a touch of
laughter. “I do have one question for you. Do you think that Mandy is
upset that I am her date for the evening?”
Dmitri looked over at his
tall friend and wondered why he hadn’t bothered to read Mandy. He was a
vampire for crying out loud; it’s what they did.
Armando turned his brown
eyes on him and let them shift to black. “No, my friend, not this time…no
tricks. With her, I am going to do it right.”
~*****~
“Trolly Cheese?” Michelle
said in disgust. “This was the fabulous evening he had planned for us
all?” She looked around at the crowded pizzeria and then at Mandy.
Mandy forced a smile to her
face. “It’s not that bad.” She barely got the words out of her mouth
before a five year old with a fake ray gun came running past her screaming,
“Die mutants, die!”
“Right,” Michelle said
wryly. She chanced a glimpse over in Dmitri’s direction and found him
glaring at her. “What?”
He growled and started
towards her. Armando stepped in his path and Michelle had the overwhelming
urge to stick out her tongue. She didn’t, but wanted to. She was hurt that
he’d made such a big deal out of the fact that she’d worn jeans when all he
had in mind was a night with troll waiters and pizza greasy enough to lube a
spark plug.
“I’m sorry that I made
you come along,” Dmitri snarled at Armando.
Mandy made a small noise and
Michelle turned to her. “You okay?”
Mandy nodded, but her eyes
went to the floor. She hadn’t been acting much like herself and Michelle
was concerned that she wasn’t happy with her choice of dates. She’d really
thought that Armando would be a perfect date for Mandy for the evening.
When she’d asked him, he’d seemed all too eager to join them.
They walked quietly to their
booth and Michelle was shocked when Mandy refused to sit next to Armando.
She practically crawled over Michelle to get away from him. Michelle didn’t
mind her friend wanting to sit next to her. However, she’d been secretly
looking forward to sitting near Dmitri, even if they were technically mad at
each other.
There was something about
Dmitri that got under her skin and made her heart race. His cocky demeanor
only added to it. She knew that if she let herself fall for him, he’d only
hurt her in the long run. Besides, she had the career she’d worked so hard
for and her first book had finally come out. She didn’t need to complicate
her life with a man right now, especially one who only thought her worthy of
Trolly Cheese. She wasn’t high maintenance, but come on! The place
had smelly trolls slobbering in the food!
Dmitri left to go order the
food and Armando locked eyes with Michelle. He nodded his head towards
Mandy and she knew that he wanted to know what was wrong with her. Michelle
shrugged and glanced at her friend. She was abnormally quiet and lacked her
normal spunk.
“Mandy?” she asked, softly.
“I’m not feeling so well. I
think I’m going to call it a night. I’ll call you in the morning,” Mandy
said. She stood and headed towards the door before Michelle could even
think to protest.
Michelle started to go after
her, but Armando touched her arm lightly. “Let me go, please?”
The look in his dark eyes
told her more than words ever could. He had a thing for Mandy and he needed
to make this right. She nodded her head and sat back down in her seat.
“Where the hell is everyone running
off to?”
Michelle cringed at the
sound of Dmitri’s husky voice. She’d foolishly allowed Armando to run off
after Mandy and, in the process, left herself alone with the handsome
lycan. “Mandy’s not feeling well and Armando is taking her home.”
Dmitri sat down next to her
on the bench. He gave one good thrust with his hip and she found herself
sandwiched between Dmitri and the wall. “Do you mind?”
“Nope, not a bit,” he said
with a bad boy grin. He’d taken off his jacket and tie, but he still looked
damned good in just a grey silk shirt. “And I don’t think you mind it
either.” He lifted a piece of pizza up and dropped it fast on his plate.
“Ouch!”
“Hmm, I wouldn’t have
thought anything would be too hot for the almighty Dmitri,” Michelle said,
letting her lip curl upwards. It wasn’t quite a smile, but it was enough.
She felt drab compared to him and wished for the thousandth time she’d made
some effort to dress up—if only to make him look at her the way she wanted
to look at him.
Dmitri reached across her to
retrieve a napkin. His muscular arm brushed past Michelle’s cheek, taking
her by surprise as she was engulfed in his intoxicating smell. Her eyelids
fluttered closed and a slight gasp of instant pleasure left her lips.
Dmitri easily heard the
raspy dip of her breath and dropped the napkin on the floor. They both
grabbed for it at the same time and only succeeded in cracking their
foreheads together.
“Ow, sorry!” said Michelle,
gingerly rubbing her forehead.
He laughed, touching his
head lightly. “Hey, I thought I had the pain angle covered for the night,
with the pizza burn and all, you know?”
“No way, buddy! I like pain
as much as the next gal,” Michelle said, laughing hard as she unconsciously
leaned into him. She was more than a bit embarrassed by her clumsiness.
Dmitri’s face softened and
his grey eyes locked on hers. Her breath caught in her throat as he moved
in towards her. His hand began to lift for another napkin. Her laughter
faded, along with her smile. Something inside her wavered, and her hard
fought for self-control snapped. It was now or never and Michelle knew
that. She had to know how she really felt about him. She had to know if
there was anything to her attraction to him, or if it was just animal lust.
A weak moan escaped her lips
as she leaned up and into him. Her hand moved forward, pressing into his
thigh for support. Dmitri’s leg stiffened beneath her hand, and he didn’t
move his mouth, as if he were afraid she’d come to her senses. She pressed
her lips to his so fast that it startled them both. Her eyes opened wide at
the pleasant shock of that first warm contact. She’d thought about kissing
him, more than she cared to admit, and the firm texture of his mouth was so
much better than she’d imagined. Her eyes drifted closed, unable to stay
open. Without stopping to think, Michelle instinctively edged her tongue
into his warm mouth. She moaned again, forgetting that they were in a booth
at a second rate pizzeria, surrounded by screaming, sugar-high children.
Dmitri couldn’t hold back
any longer. His hand lifted, cupping her jaw in his warm palm, drawing her
closer. He took over, controlling the thrust of her tongue along his,
sucking her bottom lip into his mouth and biting it gently just to hear her
moan again—so light and feminine it make his whole body ache.
Michelle’s hand moved
tentatively up his leg, over his hip, to rest along his muscled waist as she
drew into his warmth. A light sound left Dmitri’s throat and he sought to
deepen a kiss that could get no deeper. He consumed her with his mouth.
His hand moved to pull her closer, reaching around to the small of her
back.
“DIE MUTANT, DIE!” came a
loud yell, followed by the blast of a fake ray gun and a high-pitched
scream. Michelle jolted in surprise, pulling back. The little monstrous
child stuck her tongue out at the couple before leaving to terrorize more
innocent diners.
Dmitri felt her stiffen and
let her go. His grey eyes searched hers, eager to see her reaction. Part
of him waited for her to scream, to slap him hard across the face in
affront. He could hear her heart beating wildly in her chest and his lycan
senses could easily smell how much she’d liked it.
Michelle panted heavily,
trying to regain her composure. Her lips were swollen from his touch. She
opened her mouth to speak, but the only sound that would come out was, “oh.”
~*****~
Mandy’s pace quickened as
she approached the corner. She wanted to break into a full-blown run, but
her heels wouldn’t allow that. “Damn, shoes,” she said, reaching down to
grab them. She took one in her hand and went to throw it away from her.
A cool hand grabbed her
wrist. “Throwing two hundred dollar shoes away seems a bit extreme, don’t
you think?” Armando said, moving his body before hers.
She looked up into his dark
eyes and shook her head no. His rose lips curved into a smile and he
glanced downward. “Then, by all means, throw them.” He swept his hand out,
gesturing towards the street.
“What are you doing
here?” she asked, no longer directing her anger at her shoes.
“I rather thought that was
obvious. I came to find you.” His tone was even, void of emotion.
Mandy bit at her inner cheek
to keep from crying. She refused to break down in front of him. She’d
worked hard at creating a rough, take no prisoners exterior, and she wasn’t
about to let a four hundred year old vampire change that. She blinked back
any sign of emotion and stared up into his soft face. “I wanted to know
what you were doing on this ‘date’.”
“Oh,” Armando said, softly.
He shifted a little, uncomfortable. “I am here because….”
Patience wasn’t one of her
strong points. Mandy cut him off quickly. “You’re here because Dmitri made
you come. I heard the comment he made to you. I’m sorry that you were
dragged into this. I told Michelle that I didn’t want to come. I had my
evening planned out and it didn’t involve having a vampire be forced to
escort me.”
Armando’s eyes swirled.
Mandy was used to vampires, she’d grown up in a neighborhood full of them.
She turned her attentions to her shoe and went to slide it back on. Armando
grabbed hold of her chin and held it tight, forcing her attention on him.
“I am sure that you had other things, or should I say people, to do this
evening, but, do not think for a moment that I was forced to come along. I
am sorry that you had to spend the night with me instead of James.”
Mandy’s temper flared. “How
dare you…wait, who?”
Armando rolled his eyes.
“James, the one you thought was named Jones.”
She growled and tried to
pull her face away from his grasp. She failed. “Let go of me!” He did.
Minus a shoe and suddenly free, Mandy staggered. His hand was there in an
instant to steady her. She didn’t want his help. “Don’t touch me. You
have some nerve assuming that my other plans were with a man.”
“Not just any man—James.
You would pick the one vampire that has gotten on my last nerve for over a
hundred years, that arrogant, cocky little Brit. How can you go to him…?”
“What the hell are you
talking about? I hardly know him. I met him at the club a few times, he
got piss ass drunk and I….”
Armando pulled her close to
him and stared down at her. She could have sworn that he was about to read
her, but she had enough vampire friends to know what that felt like, and he
wasn’t doing it. “You told me that you had sex with him.”
“No, you accused me of
waking up in his ‘coffin’. I just didn’t feel the need to correct you.”
Mandy narrowed her eyes and let her face go hard. She wasn’t about to back
down from him, deadly vampire or not. “I’m not an angel, and I’m not
claiming to be one, but you always assume the absolute worst about me.”
Armando let go of her,
confused and wanting desperately to read her. He brought his power up, it
was second nature to him, but he didn’t use it. If Mandy said she hadn’t
slept with James, then he would take her on her word. One thing nagged at
him. “You said that you saw his….” he refrained from saying what he wanted
to say.
Mandy giggled and he found
that a bit uncalled for. “I did see ALL that he had to offer. He was so
drunk that I found him taking a leak outside the club. His leather pants
were around his ankles and he almost passed out in his own piss. I could
have left him there, but I didn’t. I was nice and helped him get home.”
Armando’s head snapped up.
He looked at her with a mix of shock and horror. “Mandy that was incredibly
foolish. James is a vampire and he could have…he could have hurt you.”
She snorted. “Jones, I mean
James? We’re talking about the same guy who sings Journey songs at the end
of the bar when he’s had too much Scotch?”
Armando stopped giving her
the evil eye and started laughing. “Yes, that has always bothered me. I
actually had someone come in and remove any of their songs from the
jukebox. I’ve also forbid any DJ’s from bringing their material.”
“Oh, can you PLEASE have
them take that song by Patrick Swayze out, too? That’s his new favorite
one,” Mandy said, laughing so hard that the tears she’d been holding back,
started to flow.
Armando touched her cheek
and wiped them away. He smiled down at her. “Maybe it would be easier if I
just had him removed.”
“You’re not that kind of
guy.”
“Really? So, enlighten me,
what type of man am I?” he asked, dangerously close to her.
Mandy accepted the challenge
with a smile. “You’re the type of guy who agrees to go on a date at the
last minute, with a girl he thinks the worst of, just to make his best
friend happy.”
“It appears that you have no
idea what kind of guy I am, Mandy.”
She knew that he thought the
worst of her. He’d proven that every time she’d seen him. “Wait, I thought
that you and Dmitri were best friends?”
“As close as two in our
situation can be, yes,” Armando said, taking a step closer, pushing her back
towards the building.” She was confused and he liked that. He also liked
the way her cheeks reddened every time her emotions changed. He lifted his
hand and let his fingers run over her face.
“Don’t do that,” said Mandy,
her voice tiny.
Armando let his eyes flutter
closed and he nodded his head. “I am sorry. I just thought that….”
“You just thought that I’d
be an easy lay for you,” Mandy spat out as she pushed on his chest, trying
to move him. Armando kept his eyes closed and didn’t move. She could push
all night and it wouldn’t faze him. His mouth came down on hers, and her
eyes widened.
What the hell is he
doing?
She pushed on his chest,
hard at first. When his tongue darted expertly forward to trace a light
line around her trembling lips, it was all Mandy could do not to give in.
She fought the desire in her, but her attraction to him was just too
strong. Suddenly, she didn’t care that she could never be good enough for
him, didn’t care that he’d lived so long, seen so much that she would surely
only end up a notch on his immortal bedpost. She wanted him, always wanted
him.
A light, weak moan left
Mandy’s lips. Armando growled in masculine surprise. What had happened to
his in-control, take no prisoners temptress? The woman trembling delicately
before him was a Mandy he had never seen. Her guard was down and she was
vulnerable.
Armando couldn’t hold back.
His lips pressed tighter into hers. His tongue surged forward, staking
claim to her mouth with a desperation that left Mandy breathless and
panting. His velvet tongue explored the depths of her, massaging firmly,
yet gently into her, mimicking the slow thrusts his body wanted to give
her.
So far, only his lips moved
against her. But his kiss alone was enough to weaken her knees. She was
engulfed in a world that consisted of only her and Armando. A fang nicked
her mouth, drawing the barest taste of blood from her lips. Armando moaned
lightly to taste it flavoring their kiss.
His hands roamed over her
arms, light in their discovery. Mandy’s fingers lifted to him, drawn by
passion, by need, by something else she was too afraid to admit. This is
what she’d wanted for so long—he was what she’d wanted. But, she never
thought herself worthy of him. How could she be? He was handsome,
charming, perfect, and undead. What could she have to offer a man who’d
seen everything the world had to offer—places, people, and a history so long
it made her head spin to think on it? A man who’d been with countless women
over the centuries, pretty women, confident women?
Mandy drew her swollen lips
back. His breath did not pant, but hers echoed noisily over them, another
reminder of how different they were. But, he’d broken a control in her body
that she couldn’t fight. She wanted him. Almost shyly, she moved her
kisses over his jaw. Armando’s head fell back, allowing her access to his
neck. His strong hands pulled her closer into his chest.
Mandy chuckled softly,
almost completely content. Her lips parted and she nipped playfully at his
neck.
“Kitten,” Armando drew back
to look into her eyes. Their gazes met and locked. A smile twitched on his
firm lips. “Did you just bite me?”
Mandy bit her lip and nodded
slowly.
Armando growled in pleasure,
drawing her once more hard against him so she could feel the entire length
of his desire. “Do it again.”
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