Blurred Bloodlines [2nd in Blurred Trilogy]

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  Alinar Publishing

  www.alinarpublishing.com

  Copyright ©2010 by Kallysten

  First published in 2010

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  NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.

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  CONTENTS

  Previously, in Blurred Nights:

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Coming Soon in Blurred Memories

  About the Author:

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  Blurred Bloodlines

  Kallysten

  Copyright (C) 2010 Kallysten

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written consent of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  The right of Kallysten to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  First Published May 2010

  First Edition

  All characters in this publication are purely fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Edited by Mary S.

  Cover by Dan Skinner and Kallysten

  ISBN

  1-906023-72-7

  978-1-906023-72-0

  Previously, in Blurred Nights:

  In a future world shattered by the invasion of beast-like demons, humans are fighting back as well as they can, using ancient weapons along with magic to defend their cities.

  When Kate's squad of fighters meets vampires Marc and Blake, she is torn. Her squad could use their help, but the two men are distracting her from her duty. Night after night, they search together for the breach between realities that allows the demons’ invasion. They search, also, for the equilibrium that will allow Blake to forgive his Sire, Marc to accept Blake as he is—and Kate to admit she is attracted to both of them.

  When a vampire from Marc's past betrays them and leads the squad to a trap, everything seems lost: Kate is in danger and Blake and Marc argue one last time. Finally realizing that he's fighting for more than pleasure, Blake risks his life to help the squad close the breach, earning both Kate's and Marc's respect and love.

  And now, in Blurred Bloodlines:

  Months after closing the breach in the City, Kate's squad is in a new town, battling demons yet again. Blake and his Sire Marc have accompanied the soldiers and continue to help them, although Blake, these days, is just as busy fighting demons as he is scheming.

  He sleeps with both Kate and Marc separately, and figures that, since they are attracted to each other, they should sleep together too.

  Before his ultimate goal of sharing his bed with both of them can be achieved, however, the unthinkable happens: while fighting demons, Blake stumbles through a breach and becomes trapped in another dimension.

  Grieving over his loss, his lovers fall apart and go their separate ways. Will finding Blake again—a damaged Blake, half-human and half-vampire, incapable of speech and scared of both of them—help them grow closer once more, or will it end their relationship for good?

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter 1

  Above the wide double doors, letters a foot tall proclaimed that the room was the “Grand Ballroom.” The gold leaf that had once gilded those same letters was flaking off, however, and the room had long since hosted its last reception. Even with the regular meetings now taking place there, a smell of dusty mustiness clung to the air, testament to years of neglect.

  The banquet tables had been arranged in long rows, the chairs behind them all facing toward the three-foot-high dais. What was now the squad's briefing room could host about a hundred people, and they were all there today for the squad's weekly meeting.

  At the front of the room, Daniel and two aides were running through the usual list of assignments for the next week, sharing news from their superiors about the breaches that had been identified or closed lately. Blake didn't listen to a word of it. He didn't want to know what had happened halfway across the country, or who had guard duties for the next night or the one after that; he wasn't technically one of Daniel's soldiers, and he didn't take orders from him, nor did he care what his superiors wanted or thought. As for breaches, the only one he cared about was the one he would soon help close.

  Resting his left arm on the back of Kate's chair next to him, he leaned in toward her. Her eyes did not leave Daniel and his flunkies, but her lips twitched in a repressed smile.

  "Any plans for the rest of the day?” he asked, close enough for the words to caress the shell of her ear.

  His free hand settled on her wrist and started tracing sinuous lines on her skin.

  "Maybe if you let me listen,” she murmured with a quick glance at him, “I'll know if I have any duties today."

  Blake let out a quiet snort. On the dais, Daniel's voice rose a little higher.

  "You already know,” Blake said as quietly as possible. “You probably helped him make that list."

  She turned her hand palm up on her knee, catching his fingers as they drew a slow spiral on her skin. “What if I did?"

  He was surprised she wasn't batting his hand away and chastising him for not paying attention; she was probably just as bored by it all as he was. Daniel could barely sneeze without Kate knowing about it. If not to be with her, Blake wouldn't have attended the meetings at all.

  He was at the end of the first row—Kate had picked her seat first, or he would have sat in the back of the room. He glanced beyond her, easily finding Marc. He was seated front and center, as usual, and even taking notes. Blake rolled his eyes at him, even though Marc wasn't looking in his direction. His Sire was nothing if not predictable.

  Turning his attention back to Kate, Blake brushed his lips against her earlobe. Her ears were pierced, he had noticed long ago, but she didn't wear earrings. She had cited battlefield regulations when he had asked why not, but he hadn't had any luck yet in making her wear some off the battlefield.

  "So? Do you have an assignment or not?"

  The slightest shake of her head was answer enough.

  Blake grinned. “Wanna spar?"

  It was her turn to snort. She disguised the sound by covering her mouth and pretending to cough, but her lips couldn't resist curling into a grin anymore. “Depends. Do you mean actually spar or something else?"

  "Why not spar and something else?"

  She didn't reply in words, but her fingers
tightened over his. Blake looked again to the front of the room. Daniel was glaring at him. Blake couldn't have cared less.

  Waiting for the end of the meeting was sheer torture. As much as he could distract her, Blake knew he could not convince Kate to leave early, so he didn't even try. Instead, he continued to trail long lines and curves on her hand and wrist, wishing he could touch more of her—knowing he would, soon. By the time Daniel finally dismissed them, Blake was hard and aching.

  Grabbing Kate's hand, he immediately pulled her toward the doors on the far left side of the room before Daniel could demand her presence at some meeting or other. Their fingers entwined in what had become a familiar gesture over the past few months. She followed with a quiet laugh, and he had no doubt that she knew why he was in such a hurry.

  The sparring session lasted all of ten minutes—not that Kate had expected anything different. For some things, Blake was all too predictable. For others, he had a knack for surprising her. The combination was only one of the reasons why she had grown so attached to him.

  It seemed much too easy. She hooked the hilt of her sword behind his. Pulling hard with her sword hand and pushing at his chest with the other one, she managed to disarm him so that he tumbled to the floor. He wasn't above letting her win if he thought it would get him what he wanted that much faster. His slight grin, as he crossed one arm behind his head, certainly suggested he hadn't been trying all that hard to beat her.

  She stood over him, a foot on each side of his torso, the weighted plastic sword resting over her shoulder. He ran his right hand over her calf and grinned up at her. “You win,” he said, an edge of laughter brightening his words.

  She didn't call him on the way he had let himself be beaten and instead asked, tongue in cheek, “What's my prize?"

  His fingers sneaked beneath the hem of her pants and slid up her leg until he was touching her skin. She shivered at the small touch.

  "I'll let you have your wicked way with my body?” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

  She laughed. Somehow, his body—or hers—ended up as a prize all too often in their sparring matches. “I'll take your hands. I could use a nice massage to loosen up."

  His mouth curled up in an impish grin. “That works, too."

  Already, he had undone her shoelaces. She stepped off him at once. “Not here!” she said quickly, swallowing another laugh.

  He sat up, leaning back on his arms, head turned up towards her. He looked genuinely surprised. “Why not?” he asked, his head tilting to one side. “I locked the doors. And it's dinnertime anyway; everyone is at the mess."

  When he laid the facts out like that, it was hard to remember that this was a public space, and anyone could walk in on them at any time; the locks weren't all that hard to pick. Still, she tried to cling to propriety. She seemed to be doing that a lot, when she was with Blake, though it never seemed to work so well.

  "My room,” she started, but somehow couldn't figure out how to finish.

  Blake rose to his knees and undid the laces that held the knife sheath to her thigh. He set it aside, and started working at the fastenings of her pants. Kate's hands covered his for an instant, stilling them, but when he looked up at her with a questioning gaze, she let go and allowed him to pull down her pants and panties. He discarded them along with her shoes, then with a wicked grin, he leaned close and pressed his tongue where her legs joined, brushing a fleeting touch to her clit. Her eyes narrowed to slits, Kate glanced back at the door, but the last of her reluctance vanished when Blake gently pulled her down to kneel in front of him. A look at his smile, and she was lost.

  He made short work of the second knife sheath on her arm, her t-shirt and sports bra, and soon she was kneeling naked in front of him. His gaze on her when she was first revealed to him always made her shiver, always caused her nipples to tighten almost too fast and wetness to form between her legs. There always was something in his eyes, a shimmer that went beyond lust and desire, a flame that made her warm—made her want. She swallowed hard, then took his offered hand and laid face down in front of him, her head resting on her folded arms.

  "It'd be more comfortable on a bed,” she complained, but resignation filled her voice. Blake was much too stubborn to give up so easily.

  He chuckled, the sound rich and dark like molten chocolate. “Shh... Just relax."

  Whatever she would have answered was lost when he touched her, a single finger sliding down her spine. She wanted to arch and accentuate the caress, but already his other hand joined the first, and he now pressed and rubbed with his entire hands, from the tips of his fingers to the heel of his palms. The knots of tension seemed to dissolve beneath his touch, and Kate's eyes fluttered closed.

  She had taken a step back from acting as Daniel's second in running the squad, both because she was burning herself out and because she didn't care to witness Daniel's disapproval at all hours of the day. Just the same, though, she still had many responsibilities, and the weight of them never lifted—not unless she made a conscious effort to let go, like now.

  "Mmm... did I ever say you've got wonderful hands?"

  Blake hummed in reply, then shifted from her side, nudging her legs apart so he could kneel between them. In this new position, he could put more of his weight in each pass of his hands, and Kate could have sworn she was melting beneath him. She started drifting on a cloud of contentment, nothing left in her consciousness but Blake's hands, now warm from touching her. They covered every inch of her back in long sweeps, from the nape of her neck to the curve of her ass, then back up along her sides, just shy of tickling, before starting the circuit over again. The movements were almost hypnotic, and Kate could have fallen asleep if not for the way his hands dipped a little lower each time, then started pulling her cheeks apart.

  He wouldn't, she thought, trying to convince herself. Not when they were in such a public room. He proved her wrong with a light touch of his index finger circling her wrinkled hole. She tensed and reached back, batting his hand away. “Stop that."

  "Why?” he asked, and she could hear the grin in his voice, bright as sunshine. He bent lower to breathe in her ear, “You liked it before."

  Heat suffused her face, and she hid it in the crook of her arm. “Not now,” she mumbled. “Not here."

  He chuckled again but resumed his massage, digging deeper into the renewed tension along her spine. It wasn't long before she could feel his denim-covered cock pressing against her ass with every move, and quiet hums rose from her throat with the harder pushes.

  "Are you going to tease me long?” she murmured without opening her eyes.

  When Blake pressed a kiss to the center of her back, she could feel his silent laughter. “Tease?” he repeated. “I wanted more than a massage and you told me to stop."

  She raised her head to glance back at him and give him an annoyed look, but when she met his amused gaze, she realized her need was greater than her annoyance.

  "Shut up,” she muttered. She pushed herself to her hands and knees, arching her back like a stretching cat, then looked back again, this time in invitation.

  Blake's amusement faded, leaving nothing more than desire on his handsome features. The sight of his tongue running over his lips made a flash of heat spread through Kate. She reared back against him, pressing her ass to his still-covered crotch and pulling a light groan from him. His hands flew over the fastenings of his pants. She turned away just as he was shoving them down his thighs and freeing his cock. She pressed her forehead to her hands and, heart beating wildly already, waited.

  She didn't have to wait long.

  The first slide of his cock against her opening was pure teasing, smearing her wetness over her flesh and his. Then he pushed in, just the head first, and a strangled groan passed the lump in Kate's throat. She tried to push back and take more of him in, but he gripped her hips hard and held her in place.

  "Ready?” he murmured.

  Before Kate could say a word, he shoved himself in, s
liding all the way, her need easing his passage. Kate cried out, both in surprise and at the feel of him stretching her so suddenly, so completely. He stayed still for a moment, just long enough for Kate to adjust to the feel of him, then pulled back. His hands clenched on her hips, and he slipped into a familiar rhythm, fast and deep. Just right.

  Sometimes, he forgot himself in the excitement of their lovemaking and held her too tightly. The next morning, bruises would bloom on her skin, like strange flowers that blossomed for a few days. Blake always looked dismayed when it happened, and always apologized with quiet words, soft kisses and gentle caresses. In truth though, Kate didn't mind all that much. She received worse bruises sparring or fighting demons. Not only that, but she rather liked the idea that she could make Blake lose control that much.

  It went fast. They were both worked up from sparring together, they both knew it was only the first round, and so neither of them tried to slow things down and make it last. The pressure built in Kate, then let go in a flash, flooding her body with warmth, blinding her with white light. She moaned Blake's name and twisted her head, wanting, searching.

  He understood and bent to kiss her, hard and fast, the rhythm of his slapping hips never faltering. Then he drew her up, gathering her in his arms and holding her flush to his chest. Leaving one arm around her waist, he caressed her breast with his free hand, causing aftershocks to rock her body even as he thrust into her, quick jabs of his cock that made Kate lose her breath all over again. It was too much, too soon, too hard... It was perfect.

  She wanted to tell him, when she felt him come inside her, when he slipped out and pulled her to lie against him. She wanted to say that she had never known it could be like this. That being with him always made her feel like the world was the way it ought to be, at last.

  But she never could find the words, and so she just kissed him, a simple brush of her lips on his, and hoped he knew.

  She nestled her head against his shoulder and let out a quiet little hum. The floor mat wasn't particularly comfortable, but Blake made for a fine pillow. “I don't want to move."