All in all, however, the struggle had taken only a couple of minutes…although it had felt like forever to her panicked and drugged mind. Everything had moved so slowly. She had moved so slowly. But it was over and it had ended well. There was no reason why it should have, but thankfully it had.
Halo came over to them and took Killean into custody, slapping a pair of silver metal cuffs on him before dragging him up and away.
Renee felt the world spinning away from her and she had the distinct impression she was drooling. The last coherent thought she had was of Rafe bent over her, his voice soothing her.
“It’s all right. I’ve got you,” he said softly.
She was glad somebody did. For the first time in a long time she knew what it meant to not be able to care for herself. And even as her mind went soaring to other places, she knew this was something she never wanted to feel again.
But she could easily see why some people would want this. Would want this escape. As she floated she found herself holding on to the anchor in her life. Rafe. He had become a solid point in her existence. He had become a fixed point that she kept returning to. She realized then how much she had needed someone like that in her life. Oh, she had Jimmy and Emily and her sisters, but it was different with them. Different with Rafe…
She tried to tell him how she felt, but she couldn’t speak. So she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Rafe hated to see her like this. Hated knowing she was weak and defenseless. He could and would take care of her of course, but this helplessness felt wrong on her. And he knew she would hate it. When she came to later on, she would hate having been so vulnerable in front of so many others.
To that end he protected her from the curious gazes of the other vampires. He picked her up and carried her out of the warehouse. He brought her out to one of the staging vehicles and sat on the tailgate with her in his arms and lap. He let the others do the cleanup of Killean and his crew. He had done his part. He had gotten the information they needed. Killean had been acting on his own. That didn’t mean that Draz wasn’t still a threat, but the more immediate threat, Killean, was now neutralized. They could go about the business of signing this treaty and advancing the cause of lawful vampires in the fight against sycophants. Harmony between different factions of the nation would take time and patience and understanding, but the treaty would be a very important step to that end.
And they had one very special human woman to thank for it.
“Is she all right?”
Rafe looked up at Halo and lifted a brow at the gruff, hard man’s display of concern.
“What?” Halo demanded when he saw the look. “I’m just impressed by her. She’s tough. Skilled. I like her. Plus she has a mighty fine ass.”
Rafe glowered at Halo.
“I get it. She’s yours,” Halo said with a chuckle as he held up his hands to show him he wasn’t putting them anywhere near her. “I’ll mind my distance.”
“See that you do,” Rafe said darkly.
“So? Is she going to be all right?”
“I think so. They didn’t give her enough to kill her. They just wanted her dirty. Whether it was to feed on her or to keep me from feeding on her, I’m not sure. She didn’t let it get that far.”
“She fought well in spite of the poison that’s in her. I’m really damn impressed.”
“So am I,” Rafe said softly. He cradled her in one arm and brushed back her hair with his free hand. She was so beautiful, even in this drugged-up state. Her face was so relaxed, she looked like a blond angel. All she was missing was a pair of grand white wings. She had flown into his life like she had been on fast, divine wings. She had changed him…and all for the better.
To be touched by such divinity had to change a man. Even a vampire. He had her now, and he wasn’t going to let her go. Of course, keeping her was going to be tricky business. She was too independent to allow someone else into her life completely. He knew that much about her. For all her bravery, she was scared of the one thing she couldn’t control…her feelings. Oh, she could tell herself quite firmly what to make of a situation emotionally, but the more intense emotions—the ones she couldn’t control—those she wouldn’t want to deal with.
Well, he would be both patient and determined. He would find his way into her heart as slowly or as quickly as was needed, and he would make her realize it whether she wanted to or not. It would simply take some time.
And time was something he had plenty of.
Chapter 22
The treaty was signed four days later. One prince after another stepped up to the table and signed his or her name to the treaty. Renee was gifted with a front row seat as the queen was the last to step up to the document and sign her name with a flourish.
Afterward there was a grand ball and Renee found herself dressed in the most expensive dress she had ever owned and an equally posh pair of heels—both thanks to Rafe. He had also given her a teardrop diamond pendant to wear with the dress’s décolletage. She had protested all of it of course, not wanting to take advantage of his wealth. She didn’t need to be kept. But he had requested she accept the gifts and appealed, of course, to her logic. He had pointed out how much she would hate standing out like a sore thumb if she were dressed differently than those around her. At least this way she could blend in, not be noticed as much.
She had pounced on that reasoning. She didn’t want to be the center of attention anymore. Ever since Killean’s defeat she had been an object of curiosity and adulation. The vampires were fascinated by her, by the fact that a human had the power and wherewithal to bring one of the most powerful sycophants out there to heel.
But to her mind it could just as easily have gone another way. Had she not caught them by surprise—had the drugs affected her more quickly—there was no telling what would have happened. True there had been vampires waiting in the wings but she had still gotten lucky. When she had gone into the situation she had known enough to make her peace with the world; she had known she might not make it out in one piece.
But that had been a familiar sensation for her. She’d felt it dozens of times before as a street cop when facing down a perp with a gun or being a female cop outnumbered by men. She knew every time she put on her gun that something could happen. That each day could be her last. She was willing to put it all on the line for her job in order to do the right thing. And that was what she had done in the sycophants’ nest. She had done what was right, no matter the cost to her.
She had been sick from the heroin for two days. She had called in sick on Monday, something she never did, and stayed curled up in bed with Rafe the entire day. She had protested his presence, knowing there were dozens of diplomats out there that he should be taking care of, but he had hushed her and ignored his responsibilities, telling her he would not be missed. She didn’t believe him, but she hadn’t had the energy or the desire to fight him on it. She liked being snuggled up with him. She liked sitting and talking to him and sharing their dreams of the future. His dreams for the vampire nation and hers for her career. Although there was a shift in her desires for the future. There had to be if she was going to continue to go through the world with the knowledge of his species.
For instance, her two murder cases. They would have to remain unsolved in the human world. Video of the area during the crimes had shown nothing, and all other avenues of the investigation had led nowhere. It would be up to the vampires to police the sycophant doing those terrible things. She still suspected it was Roth…but she had to leave him to Halo. She trusted Rafe to know if that was what was best. Humans would have very little hope of bringing a phant in for justice. She had only done so through pure luck and with a lot of vampire backup. And with a keen insider’s knowledge of what she was dealing with. Human cops like Jimmy would never know that they couldn’t hurt a phant or a vampire unless they severed the brain stem. It was a very specific action—one not likely to be stumbled upon by chance.
Renee still c
ouldn’t shake the feeling she wasn’t clean on the inside. Rafe said it would fade with time and she knew that it would, but for the moment she felt like it was an inescapable sensation. There were those who said all it took was one time using drugs in order to get hooked on them. But she wouldn’t fall into that way of thinking. That trap. She was stronger than that. Besides, she knew Rafe wouldn’t let her.
She caught herself in the thought and it made her laugh softly to herself. Since when had she come to depend on him for something so vital? Well, that was an easily answered question. Since she had bet her life on him coming through for her with Killean. And even though she had taken very good care of herself, she never would have pulled it off if he hadn’t been there to distract all the other sycophants in the room. He had saved her just as much as she had saved him. They had worked in concert. They had been partners.
It was a good feeling. It was like what she felt toward Jimmy. That she could depend on him no matter what. But she also knew it went beyond what her relationship was with her partner. With Jimmy there had never been this hungry attraction like she felt with Rafe. It seemed the more they made love, the stronger it grew. It was actually a little frightening. She didn’t know what to do with the strength of her feelings. She couldn’t help but wonder if he felt the same way.
Oh, he made it easy for her to let her feelings run away. He was as attentive and loving as she could hope for. In all things except for the words—the words. But it was silly of her to expect such depth of emotion and the expressing of it after so short an acquaintance.
Wasn’t it?
It was. It was wholly unrealistic and fanciful. It was very much not like herself. It made her pulse race and her skin grow damp whenever she thought of it. Why? She needed no validation outside of herself, so why was she looking for it in him?
Just then the crowd parted and she saw him coming toward her. Her heart immediately jumped with excitement and nothing she could do or say to herself would calm it down. By the time he reached her she couldn’t catch her breath. She had never seen anything quite as gorgeous as he was. It wasn’t even his classically handsome features that did it for her. It was the entire package. The lover. The thinking man. The empath. All of it rolled into one tuxedoed vision.
He came up close to her, his hand falling into the curve of her waist and pulling her forward into the length of his body. He was warm, oh so warm, and she couldn’t help but snuggle closer to him. Even in front of a roomful of people who, in spite of what she had worn in her efforts to blend in, were watching her with fascination. Rumors about her had circulated the room at the signing of the peace treaty. Now they all wanted to get a look at her. The women wanted to talk to her. The men wanted to dance with her. And the reverse was also true. One of the female princes had asked her to dance and she had politely declined. She worried about it every time she declined an invitation. Would they think she was a snob? The truth was, there was only one person in the room she wanted to dance with and he was, at present, holding her very close in spite of all those watching eyes.
“I feel like a prize cow on display at the county fair,” she murmured to him as he bent his head and nuzzled her ear.
“They are merely fascinated by you.” He kissed the shell of her ear. “I think we have been polite enough for the night. Would you like to go upstairs?”
“No, I’d rather stay here and be gawked at,” she said with a chuckle.
“Come with me,” he invited her, taking her hand and threading his fingers with hers. He guided her out of the ballroom and led her to the elevators and as soon as the doors shut, he was pulling her close, drawing her mouth beneath his, gliding his lips over hers.
“I already miss touching you,” he murmured against her.
“You’ve done nothing but touch me,” she corrected with a soft laugh. “You’re always touching me. Even if it’s holding my hand.”
“I stand corrected. I should perhaps define touch a bit more thoroughly.”
His hand curved along the swell of her backside and he used the grip to pull her hips into his. His mouth joined fully with hers and he kissed her with a depth of passion and heat that took her breath away. Her hands clutched at his biceps, the muscles playing beneath her touch, flexing, and he held her near, relaxing when she came to him readily.
He turned them slightly so her back hit the wall of the elevator. As he grew more heated, more urgent, she broke away from his mouth and gasped for breath.
“Not another elevator,” she said breathlessly.
“But I so enjoyed the first one,” he purred seductively.
“So did I,” she said with a moan as his teeth nipped at her earlobe and then nibbled down the length of her neck. “But I like to think we’ve evolved beyond that.”
“Hmm. If you insist,” he said, lifting his head and stepping back a fraction of a step. She immediately grew cold.
“I didn’t say you should stop kissing me,” she said softly.
“You can’t have it both ways,” he said with a chuckle. “If I keep kissing you I’m going to end up taking you in this elevator, the rest of the world be damned.”
“We are just floors away from your apartment. Can’t you wait that long?”
“I suppose,” he said with a beleaguered sigh. “But you’re asking a lot.”
She would have laughed, but he was covering her mouth hotly that very next instant. They were so clinched together that they were unaware of the elevator stopping until it dinged and announced the floor it was on. Renee broke away from him just in time to catch the door and keep it from closing on them. She crossed the elevator’s threshold and he followed behind her. She walked down the carpeted hallway and reached his door first. She pulled out the keycard he’d had made for her and let them into his apartment. As soon as the door was closed behind them, he swept her up against him and kissed her breathless. All the while he walked toward his bedroom and she danced a quickstep backward in order to keep up with his pace. Then before she knew it he was backing her up against the bed.
He suddenly knelt in front of her, kissing her down the center of her body as he did so. He caught up the hem of her gown and slid his hands beneath it, touching her skin. She wore no hosiery, so it was simply a matter of warm skin against warm skin. His hands skimmed up the backs of her calves then up along the backs of her thighs, all the while raising her dress. He reached her hips, his fingertips stroking her backside while his thumbs toyed with her hip bones in front. Then he moved on to her waist, exposing her thighs and panties to his hungry eyes. He looked at her, subconsciously licking his lips.
She reached to thread her fingers in his hair, her other hand stroking along his jawline. He had shaved his jaw, save for his goatee, so it was smooth and clean at the hinge. She had watched him do it. It had been such an intimate thing, watching him groom. She remembered how right it had felt. She had never felt that way before. There had always been something…something that told her to hold back. It frightened her that she couldn’t find that something now, that she couldn’t protect herself with it.
Rafe hooked his thumbs into the sides of her panties and then reversed his track along her legs. He pulled them down and helped her step out of them. Then he gathered her dress and once more brought it to her waist. This time he leaned forward and kissed her bare mound right at the crest where her legs met. He then took a moment to breathe deeply, taking in her scent, letting it ride through him. Renee picked up her dress from his hands and skimmed it off her body the rest of the way, leaving her naked except for her heels. She stepped out to the side, separating her legs, encouraging him forward.
He burrowed his face into her, his lips and tongue spreading over her until she felt as if he were devouring her. The wetness of his tongue delved into the wetness of her labia. He made a sound of pleasure and she gasped when he found her clit and hardened his tongue against it, flicking and fluttering until her knees went weak. He supported her with his hands, then tipped her backward unti
l she was falling onto the bed. His mouth left her only long enough to see her settled and to draw her knees up to his shoulders. He hooked her legs around his neck and back and returned to tasting her, this time with more enthusiasm and more focus.
Renee’s back arched off the bed, her whole body alive with sensation. She built to a crest fast and hard, crying out as an orgasm ripped through her. He removed his mouth from her almost immediately, allowing her to swim in pleasure without fighting her own hyper-aroused body.
Rafe climbed up her body, watching her flushed face and panting breaths. He had never seen anything more beautiful than Renee succumbing to passion and her own desires. Her ability to throw herself completely and utterly into pleasure was what he clung to. If she could be devoted to him in passion, perhaps she could be equally so in emotion.
He found her mouth and kissed her deeply. Softly. Letting her taste herself on his mouth. He knew she appreciated the eroticism of it by the wicked little moan she released. Her hands were in his hair, mussing through it thoroughly, gripping at the strands with absent enthusiasm as his hands ran up and down the naked skin of her body. She was laid out for him, erotic and perfect, and he took advantage of her display of her charms. He petted her. Stroked her.
Renee began to do the same, only to realize he still had his clothes on. She tugged at the collar at the nape of his neck, stroked the shoulder of his jacket with frustration.
“Get undressed,” she demanded of him.
He had been placing lazy kisses down her breastbone when the demand interrupted him. He shifted upward and brought them face-to-face. He reached up and traced his fingers along her hairline, her curls having been dressed up that night. It left her neck, especially the back of it, tantalizingly bare. He traced over her ear and around to the back of her neck.
“I’m going to feed from you tonight,” he said huskily.
Her eyes widened.
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