Sixty-Nine Reasons Read online

  The maid shook her head. “No, they aren’t. If it’s not the tax-men or the masters, then it’s the vampires, and the horrible things you hear about them doing, well, with me out at night, it makes my blood run cold, so it does.”

  Reziel felt an odd tingle running through his veins. An impulse to do something -- and, well, why not? “Hush now, hush,” he said, reaching into his pocket. “How many flowers do you have there? Two or three dozen? Here, I’ll have them all.” He pressed a silver coin onto the corner of her tray. When her face came up in surprise, he smiled at her, mouth closed. “That’s worth more than all your wares combined, isn’t it?”

  She nodded, her face awed. For the first time, she seemed to see the fine clothes he was dressed in, the ones Draylen had tossed at him to replace his own ‘rags’ when they’d first arrived at the vampire’s apartments.

  “You’re a gentleman, aren’t you, sir?” she asked in a horrified whisper. “Oh, dear lord. And here I’ve been talking to you as if you were a street mouse, like I am. I’m sorry, master, I’m so sorry. Forgive me, please, do forgive. I didn’t mean any impertinence. Truly I didn’t.”

  “It’s all right,” Reziel said slowly, giving in to impulse and reaching out to twine one of her curls around his finger. “I’m not a man to anger quickly. I’m gentle, and kind. You believe me, don’t you?”

  The maid had gone still as a rabbit when he first touched her, but when there was no blow or angry words, she relaxed a little, from terrified to merely nervous. “You’re a good man, sir,” she said, clearly choosing her words with care. “Thank you kindly. The flowers are yours, and I’ll make change for you now.”

  “Wait a moment.” Reziel’s other hand caught hers as it reached for the slender pouch dangling at her waist. He gave her curl a playful tug and showed her his most charming smile. The look had never done him much good in life, but then, he hadn’t the confidence then that he did now. Self-esteem parted more things than a clear path to walk, or so Draylen had taught him. “I don’t want change.”

  “Then what do you -- oh.” The maid stilled. Her eyes searched Reziel’s face, clever eyes trying not to miss a thing. Luckily, in this dim street light, he doubted she would have been able to tell what he was even if she got a clear view.

  Best to be careful, of course, but he decided he didn’t need to be over-cautious. He gave her another smile, this one of the type two conspirators might share. “Keep your money,” he whispered. “There’s a way for you to earn a living, you pretty young thing, without slaving over a tray of flowers or walking the streets at night. Lovely as your hair is, and darling as your face…”

  He trailed a thumb over her elegant cheekbones. “No, no, hush now, I don’t want anything from you tonight but words and… well, we’ll come to that. But I won’t rape you, or use your body in any way you don’t want. I’m playing a different sort of game this evening.”

  She shook her head in confusion. “I don’t understand, sir. If you’re not wanting underneath my skirts, then why the silver?” Her native cleverness shone through. “But you do want something from me, don’t you? Will you tell me what it is?”

  “Yes. Oh, yes. But come, put down your tray -- you’re through with that life -- and walk with me a bit.” Reziel held out his arm for her to take. “I’m willing to bet that a woman like you knows these streets like the back of her hand, hmm? Knows which houses are empty and which are full. Am I right?”

  She nodded, slow and uncertain. Reziel patted her hand. A lovely hand, supple and feminine; on any other night, he would have been glad to take her to bed. Tonight, though, he did have another sort of prey in mind, and this one would lead him straight to it. If only she knew!

  “What’s your name, young miss?” he asked, still acting the part of a gentleman.

  She slipped the tray over her neck, laid it aside, and took his arm as if not quite believing Reziel were being straightforward with her. “Tacy, sir,” she said. “I’ve got no other. I’m a bastard child myself.”

  Her chin stuck straight upright when she said that, and Reziel admired her for it. “Tacy, I’m in need of some lodgings. I’ve lost all my belongings, but I do have some money. If you’ll help me find a small house that’s been abandoned, that no one is using right now, then I’ll keep you. Feed and clothe you, and no, not do anything that you don’t want. You’re a lady, you are.

  “Ah, ah, ah.” He laid his finger across her lips, about to shape a question. “You’re sharp, I can see as much. I do have my own strange and peculiar appetites, and you may see things that disturb you in my house. But if you’ll come with me and keep that house running in order, then you’ll never go hungry again, and I am a kind master.” He smiled at her, gently as he could. “Do you believe me, young Tacy?”

  Her smile said she had fallen for his pretty tale, but her eyes were sharp and her mind definitely running through every twist and turn of the story to ferret out the truth. “I believe you,” she said, genteel enough, but then, with a sharp glance, asked, “You’re one of them, aren’t you? A vampire. One of the night-feeders and blood-suckers, them that I’m supposed to dread and ward off with holy things.”

  “Only you’re not, are you?”

  Tacy smirked. “You haven’t taken my blood yet. I think you want me for something besides a quick meal.”

  Reziel tapped Tacy’s nose. “Well spotted. You’re right. But I’m as good as my word, and I swear I’ll never bite you unless you ask, nor cause you any harm. You’ll be provided for as long as you live. Just do as I say, and your life will be a rich one.”

  Tacy eyed him a moment longer, then, with a boldness that surprised Reziel, pulled him into an alley not five feet from where they were standing. “That’s all very well,” she said, her voice gone low and husky, not at all like the timid and proper tones she’d been using before. “But what if I want something to seal our bargain with?”

  She lifted her leg against his, skirts rustling as she rested her knee at his hip. A pink tongue flickered out to lick her lips. “Being your housekeeper is one thing,” she said. “But being your kept woman would be another altogether. You might not visit my bed but once every year or so, but I’d have that hold over you.”

  Reziel had to laugh. Women! From the cunning cunt Anastasia to this far-too-clever street waif, they were all the same. And, he had to admit, Tacy was tempting…

  He ran his hands up her forearms, feeling the warm flesh beneath and the beating of her pulse. “I’d think a woman with a history like yours wouldn’t want anything to do with men,” he answered, equally low and soft.

  Her eyes glittered with wickedness to rival even Draylen’s. “And what makes you think I was telling the truth?”

  The words would have stolen Reziel’s breath, if he had any to steal. “Oh, you are a devilishly canny wench,” he said in admiration.

  “Smart enough to fool you.”

  “Well played.” Reziel had to admire the woman’s nerve. “Are the flowers all an act, then?”

  “Sometimes.” Tacy gave him a coy glance. “Sometimes not. A woman earns her living as best as she can, sir.”

  Reziel pressed against her, letting her feel his waking erection. He couldn’t help himself; Tacy was so young and alive, so full of blood, and she smelled of clean, womanly sex. “One tumble in this alley, and then you’ll take my offered bargain?” he asked, with a hint of a threat in his voice. He’d heard Draylen use this tone of voice to great effect with his women. “A fuck to seal our deal, and you’ll tell me what I want to hear, show me what I need, and keep my house for me?”

  She nodded, her slim white throat working as she swallowed. Reziel admired her anew. To face down a vampire took nerves of steel, but then again, he suspected this one had a backbone of pure iron. “Take me,” she said, almost purring the words. “I’ve never had a vampire before, and as I’ve heard it, you make the best lovers. Touch me. I’m naked beneath this dress of mine. Slide your fingers inside and see how wet I am for you.�
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  “And then what, Tacy? What else should I push into your cunny?” They were teasing each other now, and Reziel enjoyed it. This was life, or un-life, if you pleased!

  “Mmm.” Tacy sighed happily as Reziel lowered his hand to slide beneath her skirts and touch her curly mound, damp as with dew-drops, and to slip a finger between the folds of her pussy. “Your cock, sir.”

  “I see. And is once going to be enough for you, Tacy? Or do you want to be a kept woman in all senses of the word?”

  “You’ve got an honest face.”

  “Honest faces generally come affixed to liars,” he chided her. “Answer the question, or I’ll bite you.”

  “You swore you wouldn’t.”

  “I should keep my word when you don’t?”

  “Tell me, then,” she said, her arms snaking up to hold Reziel around the neck. “What is it you want besides a house and someone to keep it? You’re after something tonight, and if I’m the appetizer, what’s the main course?”

  Reziel chuckled, and leaned over to whisper in the curve of her ear. Tacy burst into laughter as he spoke, then began rocking her hips, fucking his finger. “You are a bold one,” she said, lips quirked in a Cupid’s bow of wicked amusement. “All right. I’ll strike a bargain with you. Now come, take me. If you’re half as good with your cock as you are with your hands, I’ll taste heaven before we go to making Hell happier.”

  “Then our bargain is made,” Reziel said, shoving his pants down around his hips. He pulled out his hard cock but held off, so anticipation would make the entrance all the sweeter. “Welcome to your new life, my little handmaid,” he said, and began to work Tacy over as no street whore had ever been done before --

  -- because they hadn’t been taken by him.

  Reziel pushed Tacy hard against the wall, working her hard and fast, the way he knew she wanted him to. Moving with the unnatural, inhuman speed that came so easily to him now, he undid the lacings on her blouse and let two ripe, rosy breasts spill out into his hands. Oh, tasty little mounds! Reziel bent and sucked the tip of one into his mouth, tasting the flowers that she’d been carrying close to her chest as well as warm flesh, almost as good as blood. Reziel pulled out, just to tease the little minx.

  Tacy moaned beneath him, not bothering to be quiet. Reziel stifled a chuckle. Oh, she was a saucy wench, she was, and not afraid of anything. And who would hear them, or care, if they took their pleasure out in the open streets?

  He tasted her breasts for long moments, savoring the sweet flavor of her before returning his attention to her pussy. While he nipped sharp kisses in a line up her breastbone and across her collarbone, not quite breaking the skin, he cupped her mound in one hand and gave it a light squeeze. “You’re soaking yourself,” he whispered in one ear. “All this just for me?”

  “For you, sir. Taste me, and see that I am good.” Tacy undulated. “Put your finger inside me a second time. Your cock again. Anything, I beg of you.”

  “Hush, then, hush.” Reziel began finger-fucking her again, loving the scent that arose between them -- pure musky female. On an impulse, he ran his free hands through her glorious tangle of red curls, and pulled off her limp cap.

  Two small golden horns shone at him from either side of her head.

  “Oops,” Tacy said with a wicked grin. “Something I forgot to tell you, then, isn’t there?”

  “I should say so.” Reziel gave one horn a twist. It didn’t move beneath his fingers, as if it were affixed to her skull. “Well, whether demon or woman or both, you’re mine tonight -- and every night that I please afterward, if you choose to deal with me.”

  “Oh, yes, that I do.” Tacy rode up and down on Reziel’s fingers. “I want more than these, my lord. Give me your cock. I’m aching for it, dripping juice down my legs for the need of you.”

  “Since you ask so prettily, then… Try this on for size, Tacy, and see how you like it.”

  Tacy melted like dew for him, opening her petals to let his cock in, and thrust up against his hips in her greediness for more. “That’s it,” she said, breathless. “Now go deep, my lord. Deep and hard and fast, oh, yes, ride me fast.”

  “Your wish,” Reziel answered between gritted teeth. He began to pound into Tacy, grinding her against the bricks, his face buried between two sweet breasts and his cock drowning in tight, hot heaven. Tacy made no secret of how much she enjoyed this, panting and moaning and letting out small cries.

  What was it the women had been talking about…? Oh, yes. Reziel dipped his hand down between them and found a small button of flesh at the apex of Tacy’s pussy. He rubbed his thumb against it in rough, hard circles -- and watched her fly to pieces in his arms. Screaming out, she came in what looked like a shattering climax, and hung limp against him while he shuddered and shook, riding out his own spine-bending orgasm, plumes of his seed spurting up inside the young creature.

  Tacy leaned back against the bricks, breathing heavily. “There’s few who aren’t women who know that trick,” she accused. “Someone’s been teaching you a thing or two.”

  Reziel withdrew carefully, his cock shining with juices, and tucked himself away. As he re-laced his trousers, he grinned at her. “You liked it, though, didn’t you?”

  “What, the screaming didn’t give me away? But I’ll be the only woman you treat with from now on,” she warned. “You can have others if you like, but you get my permission first, and I’m allowed to play with them too, if I so desire.”

  Reziel had to take a moment to admire her spunk, so far different from the mouse she’d been pretending to be when they first met. “You are an amazing woman, whatever you may be,” he said at last. “Very well. And if a child comes of this? I used no protection. Did you?”

  Tacy showed her own sharp white teeth. “If there’s fruit of this union, it’ll be well-raised. Vampires and humans can’t breed, but who’s to say what’ll happen with me being what I am? We’ll see, won’t we? And now, once I’ve got my skirts decent again, you said you wanted to conduct some business.”

  Reziel stepped back and let Tacy arrange herself, down to placing the cap on her hair. “I’ll buy you one of velvet,” he said, admiring the horns as they were covered. Such lovely things! “Golden velvet, if that pleases you.”

  Tacy’s eyes sparkled. “You are a good man.” She patted her hips, satisfied with the way she looked. “Now, shall we go about our affairs? Whatever you need, sir, Tacy can provide it for you, that I swear.”

  “Do you know,” Reziel said, offering her his arm, “I believe you can. Yes, I believe you can.”

  Chapter Three

  Tacy was as good as, or better than her word. Once Reziel told her exactly what he had in mind, no dreams barred, she led him to exactly what he craved.

  Together, they walked up to a house, small but with several rooms and a proper parlor for entertaining in. “This was left empty barely a week ago,” Tacy said, reaching for the key hidden above the doorjamb. “I’ve slept in here a night or two, after shoveling out the corpses.” She cast Reziel a sly look. “Vampires came in and took the lot of them, from children to grandparents.”

  Reziel approved. The house would now belong to him, then; possession was nine-tenths and other such nonsense. He would have left Tacy there, but she insisted on guiding him on the rest of his night’s travels, swearing that by the time she left him on his final chosen appointment, she’d have plenty of time to come back and secure his new home against any intruders, plus tack up heavy drapes to protect the place from sunlight.

  “And you can’t get a better bargain than that, can you?” she’d asked impertinently. Reziel had gloried in her sauciness. This woman was worth her weight in gold -- and to think, he’d had her for a single silver coin!

  Tacy led Reziel to the dens he’d only heard vague rumors about when he was alive, and which Draylen had scorned as being for “milksops” when he’d been made a vampire. Humans prowled there, dirty and desperate, but more than willing to sell a sup of blood
to the right buyer so they could buy enough food to get them through another day or so.

  “Safer to feed here,” Tacy had purred, leaning against Reziel. “Too many kills and the vigilantes will come after you, they will, and what’ll become of you then? Your head chopped off, a stake through your heart, torn into four pieces and buried at a crossroads? Oh, no. You’re going to give me the fine life you promised, and feeding at the Grounds of Despair is the way to fill your belly without courting trouble. Not like some,” she’d sneered.

  Reziel had kissed her pouting red lips for the help and called her a smart devil, for he half-suspected Tacy had been born and bred to have the cunning of a demon -- and the same trustworthiness. Not that he cared. She’d be loyal to him, because he knew she knew which side her bread was buttered. With him, she’d have not only butter, but jam, and she was well aware of the fact, too.

  After passing over three coppers and drinking enough to satisfy his hunger pangs -- he’d not known he could drink enough to merely get full, with no need to kill his prey -- Tacy had led him on, pulling him by a hand through the city’s warren of alleys and even through some tunnels.

  With two hours left before dawn, Reziel and Tacy came to a stop by a dirty intersection of four cobblestone streets, surprisingly not at all far from Draylen’s own apartments. So close, and yet Reziel felt as if he had stepped into an entirely new, delightful world.

  Tacy smiled her wicked little smile, and pointed. “There,” she whispered. “That one.” As Reziel studied the choice she’d made for him, she patted his arm. “I’ll go back to the house, now, the quick and easy way. You do what you will, and when you’ve arrived back home, I’ll have the house prepared.”

  Reziel nodded, trusting her instinctively -- perhaps a foolish move, but he knew how loyal demons were to those they chose as masters -- true masters. He doubted any man or woman had ever put Tacy to selling flowers. She’d merely used the posies as her disguise while she sought out someone worthy of serving. Tonight, she had found him, and he had no reason to doubt her.