“Not too much; we were just wondering if we would see you here tonight. You look amazing – are you on a date? Dante would be very disappointed if you were here with someone.” She had a smirk and shot a glace to Tavian, who just gave me a smooth knowing smile, ok…well…
“Umm…” I found myself shifting self-consciously and slightly flushing. “While I’m not here on a date, if I was, I wouldn’t worry too much about Dante. I’m sure he has plenty of beautiful women lining up for him.”
“He’s come back here almost every night hoping you’ll be here.” Sarah raised her eyebrows and smiled, much like the Cheshire cat as she shared that little bit of information. Tavian just shook his head at her.
I raised my shoulders and bit my lip for some reason. What was wrong with me? “I’ve been working a lot lately.”
“Where do you work?”
How to answer that…Oh I do research, on you in fact, you’d be amazed at what you don’t know about yourself. I settled on a partly true, simple answer. “I research people’s lineage, to help them learn and find out who they are, and where they come from.”
Tavian gave me a surprised look. “That’s interesting; how’d you get into that?”
Ahh yes, how indeed?
“I learned some very interesting things about my own life when I was around thirteen. I’ve been researching genealogy ever since.” They both looked like they wanted to ask more question but realized it wasn’t appropriate to ask.
“Well, I watched you play some pretty good games against my brother, care to play a game against me?” Tavian asked as he handed me a pool stick.
“Sure thing…but Tavian, I’m not buying you guys drinks if I lose,” I said with a small finger wag and a smile. They both laughed.
Tavian was as good as his brother but I still beat him. We played five games; him beating me two out of the five. I was headed back to the bar when a tall, handsome form caught my eye. Dante had joined Sarah and Tavian at the table. I ordered my drink and a scotch for Dante. Janie caught me staring at him when she brought me my drinks. She didn’t say a word, but she didn’t need to. Her smile said I was busted.
“Do I need to wipe my chin?” I asked sheepishly.
“He is gorgeous, isn’t he? You look great; go get him girl.” She winked as I picked up the drinks.
I walked back to the table, with the two drinks in hand. Dante raised one brow at me after giving me a long, lingering once over.
“You’re not supplying minors with alcohol, are you?”
I smiled and handed him the scotch. “Not unless you’re hiding something.” He smiled with a wicked little wink as his eyes darkened right before me. I pretended not to notice as his liquid sapphire eyes became so dark they looked navy. Vampires’ eyes darken with strong emotions or hunger. Tavian noticed it too. He was watching his brother closely.
“I’m plenty old enough.”
I sat down next to him while crossing my legs and turning into him. With a seductive edge, I responded, “Well that wicked little wink makes me think you might be hiding something, but I like challenges, Dante, and I’ve got all kinds of time to find out what it might be.”
He smiled. “You look beautiful.”
I flushed a little. I’d been complimented twice already tonight and had been stared at most of it, but Dante’s voice was like warm caramel caressing my skin. “Nice subject change, flattery will get you everywhere, Dante.” His name rolled of my tongue with sultry satisfaction.
“There are so many flattering things to say, I wonder where they might get me.”
“Oh, Dante, you are smooth, aren’t you?”
“Only with you, gorgeous. I find you quite alluring. I wonder what kind of spell you’ve put me under?”
“There’s no Voodoo in my bag of tricks.”
“Mmm, I do hope I get the opportunity to learn the tricks you do have.”
Tavian and Sarah had apparently had enough of our outright flirting and left to go play pool…far away from our semi-private, corner table.
Dante and I spent the next few hours talking, flirting, and drinking. It was closing time and I could hardly believe we hadn’t moved from our seats. Janie was all over keeping us with a steady supply of alcohol, and I was once again thankful it took a whole lot of it to get me drunk. If I were human, I would have been falling down drunk. We exited the bar together as Tavian pulled the Escalade around.
Sarah rolled down the passenger window “Sophia, let us give you a ride. You shouldn’t drive.”
I waved her off. “You’re right and I have no intentions of driving. I’ll walk, the hotels not far from here, and the fresh air will do me some good. But thanks for the offer. I’ll see you guys later.”
“Just let us give you a ride. It’s late; you shouldn’t walk alone at night.” Dante insisted.
I placed my hand on his stunning face, the moonlight made his perfect, pale skin even more flawless. “That’s sweet, but I’ll be fine. I’m tougher then I look and I’ve been in much scarier place than Maldera Springs,” I assured him.
He squeezed my hand and I watched as his liquid eyes swirled and darken. Ah crap…he was going to compel me, but as a half vampire it wasn’t going to work…
CHAPTER THREE
“Hey, bitch, you remember me?” I looked away from Dante just before he could try his compulsion on me, to the inebriated man coming towards us.
Yep, I remembered him.
“Sure, you’re the guy I cleaned out the other night. Sorry buddy, the bars closed. If you want a rematch, we’ll have to do it another night.”
“How about I get rid of him,” he nodded towards Dante, “and take it out in trade. You are a good lookin’ little thang.”
“Wow, you sure are a sweet talker but this guy,” I thrust my thumb towards Dante, “has nothing to do with your injured pride. You want to take on this good lookin’ little thang,” I mocked his drunken twang, “then bring it. I’ll kick your ass up one side of this parking lot and back down the other.”
That got me a raised eyebrow from Dante and Tavian telling Sarah to roll up the window, and lock the door, as he got out of the car.
The guy laughed, a deep, mocking snicker. “Oh, you’re going to pay, sweet thang.” He pulled a knife from his pocket and came towards us.
Was this guy serious? Well, the knife certainly lent credence to his intentions.
I laughed as both Tavian and Dante growled. Yes, vampires’ growl, weird I know! I remember the first time I heard a vampire growl; it scared the living shit out of me. In this case, it was actually sweet… They intended to defend me, but here’s the thing, I really am much tougher than I look. I am in no way some poor damsel in distress. I intended to show this guy that he would regret causing problems in this peaceful little town. I walked toward the drunken jerk as Dante attempted to grab my arm. My speed nearly matching his caught him of guard and allowed me to escape his grasping hand and move past him.
“Look, I’m sorry if I damaged your ego the other night, but this is not the way to deal with it. Are you sure you don’t want to just walk away and go sober up?” I asked the still-mocking drunk.
“I don’t think so. Someone needs to teach you to have a little respect.”
I smiled. “I so hoped you’d say that,” I crooned as I kicked the knife from his hand.
The sole of my boot hit his hand so hard I heard bones crack. He reeled back, stumbling from the force and clutching his hand to his chest. I didn’t stop there. I’d warned him and given him the chance to walk way. Now, he was going to have to deal with another blow to his ego. I walked right up to him and grabbed his good arm with a firm twist. I yanked it behind him and he was down on the ground. Tavian and Dante had stopped growling and were standing in stunned silence. I knelt down next to the man, still holding him incapacitated.
“Don’t be a sore loser, and if you try to move I will break your arm, do you understand?” He nodded. “Good. Now that I’ve got your attention, I have some questions for you. D
o you live in this town?”
“No,” he grunted.
“Good, because you’re not welcome here, your visit is over. Go back to wherever you’re staying, sober up, and then get the hell out of town, do you understand me?” He spat out a yes and a few nasty names for me.
I leaned close to him and whispered in his ear, “Be thankful I stopped them from coming after you; they would have killed you. Make no mistake about that.” I let him go with one final stiletto to the back. He scrambled and got in his truck, leaving me with one last threat yelled as he drove off.
“I’ll see you back at the hotel. Where do you think I’m staying, bitch.”
Oh…well I hadn’t really thought about it, but it didn’t really matter anyway.
“Get in the car, the sheriff is on his way,” Tavian growled as Dante grabbed my arm and ushered me into the SUV.
“Hey,” I slapped at Dante’s hand. “Just leave me here. I’ll deal with the sheriff. You guys didn’t do anything.”
“We didn’t get a chance to. What the hell was that about?” Dante asked as Tavian drove off.
“Jesus, Sophia, are you okay?” Sarah gasped as she turned in her seat to look at me.
“I’m fine…really.” I looked to Tavian. “I’m guessing you know where the only hotel in this town is? Because that’s where I’m staying.”
Sarah laughed sarcastically, “Yeah, we know where it is, but we’re not taking you there. You heard what that guy said!”
“Yeah, I heard him, so? What’s he going to do?”
“Oh I don’t know, wait to ambush you when you get there, you totally embarrassed and pissed him off. Their house,” she gestured to Dante and Tavian, “is huge. I’m sure you can use one of the guest rooms, right guys?” They both nodded in agreement.
We were all silent for a minute, but Sarah brought all of our attention to her when she started to laugh. “That was awesome! You’re going to have to teach me how to do that.”
I smiled and giggled a little too. It was pretty awesome, and it felt good. I sat back in my seat next to Dante, resigned to my fate of staying the night at the Baikov mansion.
What torture.
CHAPTER FOUR
I was given one of the upstairs guest rooms. I went straight to the bathroom and cleaned up a little. When I came back down, Tavian and Sarah had already gone to bed, but Dante was in the study getting a drink. I stood in the doorway.
“Sorry for the trouble I caused.”
He chuckled. “You want a drink?”
I walked over to him at the mini bar, smiled, and nodded, looking up at him through long lashes.
“What was that about? I would say it’s dangerous to bait a drunken zhopa like that, but clearly you’re an experienced fighter.”
“Zhopa?” I looked at him questioningly. I actually know a little Russian and that was slang for ass…if my translation was correct anyway.
“He was an ass. Now where did you learn to fight like that?”
I took my drink and sat down on a red velvet loveseat.
“I learned at a young age that it’s important to be able to defend yourself. When I was thirteen, I went to live with my older brothers. Four days a week, I was forced to spar with my middle brother. He said it was important to know how to fight. He would not tolerate me being weak. That the tainted blood of my mother was no excuse, and I was lucky enough to have our father’s blood running through my veins as well; it meant I had the potential to be strong. So he beat the crap out of me. In his words, it was to beat the weak out of me. Every time we sparred, he ended it with me bleeding on the floor. He made sure I always remembered he was stronger.”
Dante stared at me. “I’m so sorry, Sophia. What happened to your parents?”
“My mother passed away, and my father rarely came around. My brother may be a real jerk, but I can take care of myself now. And I will never let anyone else ever treat me like that. When I was eighteen, I moved from their home with help from my oldest brother E and a friend.”
He came over and sat next to me. “Do you have contact with your other brother anymore?”
A sardonic little chuckle escaped me. “He doesn’t know where I am, right now anyways, but I’m sure he’s looking for me. I left in the middle of the night from my friends’ home. No matter where I go, I’ll never be completely free of him. My family is old school, and they believe they should decide how my life is lived. Until my father steps up, my brother will always have control over the things I do. I just thank god for E. He’s a good brother.” Dante raised a brow at that. “I’m sure it sounds weird, but he is a good man. He’s just old fashioned. But that’s enough of that.”
“Alright, I won’t argue with you about your brother. We don’t have to talk about it anymore. I do, however, wonder why you told that guy we would have killed him?”
I smirked. “Wow, Dante, you have really good hearing.” I thought I had whispered low enough, but Vamp ears and all that. “You and Tavian sounded like you were growling, you know? And I was trying to scare the crap out of him; it seemed like a good way to do it.”
He smiled. “I do have exceptional hearing and I would not have let him hurt you, that’s for sure.” He reached over and caressed my cheek with his hand.
“Yeah, I got that feeling.” I smiled at him through hooded eyes and put my hand over his.
He leaned in closer and whispered, “Sophia, I would really like to kiss you now.”
I didn’t say a thing; I just leaned in and kissed him, brushing his lips with my tongue. Moaning ever so softly as they separated and I felt his tongue twist with mine, caressing every inch of my mouth. I could have kissed him, and more, all night, but I don’t do the casual thing and I was making out with Kara’s former lover. That thought dampened the mood, but only slightly. She would be pissed; even though she had left him over a hundred years ago. I placed a hand on his chest and turned my face.
“I should really get some sleep,” I said as I stood up. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
His eyes were swirling and I could smell rich, red wine and warm, dark chocolate; the scents of desire wafting off him.
“As should I. Sleep well, my sweet Sophia.”
“You too.”
I walked away, knowing my own scent was giving away the burning ache and desire I felt for him. Not to mention all the wild things I yearned for. My body ached for a lover; it had been too long, and nobody makes a better lover than a vampire.
I woke as the sun draped my room in a warm, golden glow. I had slept better last night than I had even dared to hope for on the hard hotel mattress. My dreams had been flooded with Dante’s handsome face and beautiful, swirling blue irises. Sarah had left me some clean clothes. She was tiny and petite, maybe five-foot-three. The cute summer dress she left for me was a bit snug and a little short, but the sandals fit perfect. The house was quiet as I made my way to the kitchen. Sarah was sitting at a small, antique breakfast table, reading a book and enjoying a cup of what smelled to be some really good coffee.
“It smells good in here,” I commented as I walked into the kitchen.
“Oh hey.” She looked up from her book. “Good morning. Yeah, the coffee does smell good. It tastes pretty good too, want some?” She must have been on at least her second or third cup, she was awfully chipper.
“I’d love some.”
She got up and poured me a giant cup of the steaming, caffeine-filled goodness.
“How’d you sleep? Were you comfy?”
“Yeah, that bed was amazing, much better than the hotel.” I smiled and took a long gulp of my coffee.
“Good, we should go get your stuff and you should just stay here till you find a place.”
“Uh, no, I don’t think so. I don’t intend to inconvenience the guys that way.”
She smirked. “I don’t think you could ever be an inconvenience to Dante, he really likes you. You know that, right?”
I smiled; I did get that feeling. “I think he’s just h
onorable and didn’t want anything to happen to me.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s more than that. I’ve known Dante long enough to know the difference, but you’re right, he is honorable. So is Tavian and they would have never let that scum touch anybody. But Tavian and I both see the way Dante looks at you and I have a feeling they will both insist you stay here.”
“Maybe,” I conceded. Who was I to argue about Dante with her? “Where are they anyway?”
“Oh…uh…they went to get some food. They eat out a lot so there really is no food here. They should be home shortly.”
They eat out a lot.
“Oh, right on, so what are you reading?” I almost choked as she lifted the book so I could read the title, In Search of Dracula. “That’s interesting. You like vampire stories?”
“They say Vlad Tepes is the original vampire.” She chuckled.
“Some do say that,” I agreed “But Vampirism dates much further back in history.”
“Wait! Are you telling me you believe in vampires?”
I smiled and shrugged. “I believe in many things, but the important thing to remember is that it’s a sad day in our evolution when we refuse to believe in something simply because we’ve never seen it or it’s something that shouldn’t exist.”
“So who is the original vampire according to history?”
“Cain.”
“What? You mean like Cain…Cain as in Cain and Abel? That Cain?”
“Yep, that Cain. He became the first vampire after spilling his brother’s blood. He was cursed to walk the world for eternity, craving blood as punishment for committing man’s first murder.”
Tavian and Dante returned then, groceries in hand… What a sight, vampires with grocery bags, not blood bags, or humans to snack on.
Though Dante and Tavian don’t feed from live donors, they really do drink from blood bags. I hoped to find out someday how they got them. Most vampire households have people who work for them as well as donate their blood to feed their employer. However, some still enjoy the hunt and the draining of their victims. They came through the door just in time to hear me confirm which Cain I was referring to.
Blood Claim Page 2