Dark Embrace (Principatus) by Lexxie Couper Read Free Book Online

nor ménages for that matter—he and Jacob had shared more than one willing female since moving to Australia. Impersonal, dirty fucking relieved their sexual hunger but didn’t touch their tormented hearts. Something about performing the act for money lessened its appeal. This skin show, however, seemed to pique his interest.
    Or is it the idea of hunting a Principatus that has your juices flowing?
    The dark thought made him clench his fists. It was true. As civilized as he was, he was still a predator, still—according to the insulting definition used by all Principatus—a demon. Hunting the very thing created by the Highest of Powers to terminate his kind gave him a rush he didn’t want to think about.
    Perhaps you really are as barbaric and unevolved as Harry. No better than your brother and undeserving of the—
    “Decided we need something stronger than whiskey for the occasion.” Jacob’s voice rose over the din, cutting the unsettling thought before it could finish. With a grunt, Ezryn turned his stare from the copulating fae on the stage to the vampire on his left.
    Jacob handed him a squat glass half-filled with an angry purple liquid and raised his own glass in a casual toast. “To Fat Harry. May he be dusted by a Buffy-wannabe using a termite-infested stake.” With an evil grin and a flash of fangs, he lifted his glass to his lips and drained it in a single mouthful.
    Ezryn cocked an eyebrow. “To my baby brother,” he murmured, raising his drink. He pressed its cool rim to his parted lips and swallowed.
    Liquid fire poured down his throat, turning his gut into an inferno. He gasped, biting back a choking cough. “Dark Ones, Jake, what is this?”
    Jacob’s evil grin turned positively demonic. “Carpathian mountain water. Trust me, you don’t want to know how I get it.”
    Ezryn licked his lips, his gullet burning from the inside out. “I’ll take your word on that.” He scanned the writhing crowd, taking note of who and what enjoyed the attractions of Jacob’s club. Vamps, weres, the odd warlock, a banshee or two, numerous demons and more than one human offering themselves to whichever paranormal creature pressed their buttons, taking their life into their mortal hands with every second spent in the strip joint. He turned back to his friend, the smoldering fire in his gut abating a little. “I’m going to check out the booths.” He handed Jacob his empty glass. “Get me another one, will you?”
    Jacob chuckled. “They’re your organs.”
    Ezryn grinned. “My lifeless organs.”
    Leaving his general, he moved into the crowd, the scent of sweat and sex pervading his senses. Detecting a Principatus was never easy. If it were, the assassins would not be the lethal, effective killers they were. They looked human, sounded human, felt human—that was until they shifted into their other form. There was no mistaking them in that form. When they were in their human form, however, they were undetectable. But to a master vampire such as himself, one centuries old with all the power that comes with age, not to mention the supremacy of his bloodline, the Principatus could be identified by scent. Sweet, delicate, like mist on a rose. Pure in its composition yet steely in its intensity.
    If the Principatus he hunted was in the Pleasure Pussy, her scent would lead him to her.
    And then, to use a tired phrase, the game would begin.
    Weaving his way through the sweaty mass, Ezryn pulled in another breath. Sex. He smelled sex. A lot of sex. Pheromones, ejaculate, saliva. Human, demon, mage.
    His cock stirred and he ground his teeth. With the level of sexual activity in the place, was it any wonder he was on edge?
    He shoved past a particularly thick group of humans, clenching his fist at the overly friendly hands skimming his ass, his hips, his crotch as he did so. Everyone in the Pleasure Pussy, it seemed, was here for one thing and one thing only. To fuck. There was no way he would tolerate that kind of