by Amelia Elias
Honestly.
His fingers brushed skin soft as satin as he worked the stockings down her legs. He pulled them off one by one, trying not to notice her rounded calves or delicate feet. She had pretty little feet, elegant and vulnerable, her toenails painted the same peach as her lingerie.
Diego shook his head again but the haze of desire didn’t fade. Dios, had it been so long since he’d last held a woman that even her feet were turning him on now? He ran a hand through his hair and dropped the garter belt to the floor as if burned, wishing he’d never had this crazy idea of making her more comfortable.
The bra he left alone. That was taking temptation too far.
Diego was still feeling a little desperate as he tugged his shirt onto her to cover up all that lovely skin and buttoned it as quickly as he could. It was huge on her, reaching almost to her knees and covering her completely, and he could almost have breathed a sigh of relief if not for one fact.
If there was anything he found sexier than a garter belt on a woman, it was one of his shirts.
He shook his head. What was wrong with him? He was almost too exhausted to move from the extensive healing she’d required and his own body ached viciously from both his battle with the Outcasts and the impact with her car. Blood-lust and sexual desire were almost synonymous to his people, but he was far too tired to feel much of either right now.
Diego rose from the bed, taking the bloody washcloth and dress with him and dumping both in the trash. He’d worry about what she could wear when she woke up. He’d find something somewhere.
But for now all he wanted was sleep. Healing was exhausting and she’d required a lot of it, and on top of his own injuries he felt ready to collapse.
Diego stared at the woman lying on his bed and sighed. He had more guest rooms than he knew what to do with but he just didn’t feel up to carrying her down to one. Even summoning James to take care of his own wounds was too much trouble.
He shook his head. His bed was enormous, far larger than a normal king size, and it wasn’t like this woman was in any shape to care if she was alone on it or not.
Diego pulled off his blood-splattered shirt but left on his jeans before stretching out on the bed as far from her as he could possibly get and closing his weary eyes. He’d rest just a minute before he called James.
It seemed like only a bare moment passed before Diego was awakened by a quiet “ahem.”
He frowned, momentarily confused by the interruption of his rest and more than a little distracted by the soft woman nestled in his arms. The only other person in the house was James and he definitely knew better than to disturb Diego when he was sleeping. Rudely awakened vampires tended to be cranky, and much as James enjoyed needling him, he was smart enough to do it when Diego was awake.
Wait a second.
There was a woman in his arms!
Diego’s breath froze in his lungs as he became fully aware of his position. The woman’s back was snuggled against his chest, her head tucked beneath his chin, her legs entwined with his. Her cheek was cushioned on his right shoulder, the fingers of her left hand laced through his own. His other arm draped comfortably over her shoulders, snuggling her still closer. Her soft derriere pressed against his groin and the feel of her curves nestled intimately against him sent a wave of heat rushing to places he hadn’t used in far too long. He scarcely dared to breathe, stunned at how very good she felt there in his arms. Sweet heaven, it had been far too long since he’d held a woman like this.
The intruder cleared his throat again and Diego pulled back at once. He looked up and found Eli standing at the foot of the bed, arms folded over his chest and dark eyes sparkling with the strange power that always emanated from him. He was the very last person Diego wanted to see.
Oh, this was not good at all.
It was Eli to whom Diego had given his vow all those years ago when he’d joined the Guardian’s League, Eli who had brought him the shattering news of his brother’s death a century ago, Eli who had slain his brother’s killers and deprived Diego of the revenge he had so richly deserved. Seeing him made Diego’s heart ache with the memory. It had also been Eli who had told him of the Governing Council’s decree after Anton’s death and robbed Diego of anything remotely resembling a normal life.
A visit from Eli was rarely good news.
Vampires were intrinsically sensual, their very nature seductive, always conscious of the chase and the thrill of victory whether in battle or in the bedroom. Diego had always reveled in both kinds of victories. As Patriarch of the Panther Clan, providing heirs had been his elder brother Anton’s responsibility, a duty Anton hadn’t delivered before his death.
The Governing Council had stepped in and commanded Diego to take his brother’s place as Patriarch, despite Diego’s protests that as the only surviving member of the Clan, having a Patriarch at all was pointless. It had been the wrong argument to use. Now not only was Diego the Patriarch of a Clan consisting only of himself, they’d decreed the next woman he bedded must become his mate and provide the heirs Anton had not. Diego had avoided the eternal bonding they’d insisted upon in the only way he could. He had been celibate ever since they’d issued the damn command.
A century added up to a lot of long, lonely nights.
Diego scooted away from the unconscious woman as fast as possible, wishing he’d remembered the damn decree before he’d collapsed there and well aware of what their current position implied. “Eli—”
Eli only smiled at him. “At last, Diego,” he said, sounding pleased. “We were starting to think you’d never choose a mate.”
Diego went cold. “No!” he protested. “I didn’t—”
Eli held up a hand. “Congratulations,” he interrupted, still smiling. “I’m here to formally recognize your mate on behalf of the Council.”
Diego’s jaw dropped. Eli looked disgustingly smug standing there as if he expected no resistance at all. Diego protested even though he had the sinking feeling it wouldn’t do any good.
“This has nothing to do with the cursed decree!” he hissed, trying not to wake the subject of their argument. “I did not sleep with this woman!”
He might as well have saved his breath for all the good it did him.
“Diego, take a look around you,” Eli said, utterly calm in contrast to Diego’s fury. He raised one eyebrow as he glanced at the discarded garter belt on the floor beside the bed before giving the woman wearing Diego’s shirt a pointed glance. “I find your story a little hard to believe. The evidence is certainly compelling, and when I got here you were wrapped around her like a second skin. Now you’re honestly going to tell me you two haven’t—”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you!” Diego knew this looked bad but he had to make Eli understand. “Look, I saved her life—”
“Oh, now it makes sense,” Eli said with a nod, but those eyes still danced with what Diego could have sworn was amusement. “Healing is a very intimate process. It would be only natural to—”
“Don’t even say it.” Diego actually cringed. “It did not happen!”
Eli studied him for a long moment. Those eerie black eyes seemed to see all the way to Diego’s soul and it was almost impossible not to squirm under the piercing gaze. Diego hated it when Eli used his penetrating stare on him, and he was pretty sure Eli knew it.
He was also pretty sure that was exactly why Eli did it.
After a moment, which seemed like an eternity, Eli shrugged. “In the end it doesn’t matter, Diego,” he said. “Despite what you seem to think, we didn’t issue this decree on a whim. High-blood vampires are rare. It is far past time for you to take a mate and secure your line, and the omens all indicated the next female you took to bed would become your bondmate. I see you there in the bed with a woman. She is your mate. Why do you fight it?” He spoke with complete calm as though Diego’s refusal to comply was completely unreasonable.
It made Diego’s blood boil even as he still scrambled for a way
out. How dare they interfere in his life based on some ridiculous omen? He didn’t want a bondmate, damn it. He didn’t need another person to protect, didn’t want this woman made a target for the beasts he hunted simply because she wore a vampire’s bondmark on her arm. Maybe someday he’d bond but was it too much to ask to let him choose his own mate, a vampire instead of a fragile mortal?
His thoughts stuttered to a stop. A mortal! Relief burst through him and Diego thanked the heavens. The perfect way out was there all along. “She’s not even one of us, Eli,” he said as the tight band around his chest loosened. Even Eli had to see the irrefutability of this argument. “She’s mortal. She can’t be my mate.”
Eli shrugged. “I don’t think you’ll find her mortality a problem.”
For a moment all Diego could do was gape. “Are you being deliberately obtuse, Eli? Of course it’s a problem! I can’t bond with her without Changing her, and you know as well as I do it’s forbidden for a fledgling to bond with her own sire. Even you and your damn Council can’t force me to take a mortal as my mate!”
Eli raised an eyebrow. This time his amusement was unmistakable. “I can’t?”
Diego’s heart sank and he regretted his outburst at once. He knew better than to issue any kind of challenge to Eli but something about the man made him act like a rash fledgling.
“Don’t, Eli,” Diego said, trying to sound stern instead of intimidated. He couldn’t really force this, could he? Still, if half the things murmured about Eli were true… “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t.”
“It’s out of my hands. It’s already done,” Eli said, and Diego wanted to strangle him. “She’s a pretty girl. I’m sure you’ll make the best of it.”
His smugness was the last straw. “Damn it, it’s not only my life you’re playing with now. What about hers? You don’t even know she’s not already married. What do you think gives you the right to force a mortal into this? Being Head of the Council doesn’t give you the right to play God!”
The amusement left Eli’s eyes but his tone didn’t change. “I know everything about her I need to know. There’s no husband, no family, no roommate waiting for her half of the rent. She needs you, Diego,” Eli said. “As you said, it’s her life now, too. Don’t screw this up or you’ll both regret it.”
He turned and walked out before Diego could get out another word. The slam of the bedroom door behind him sounded like the crack of doom.
“I already regret it!” Diego shouted after him, knowing it was futile.
He sucked in a breath as the skin around his left wrist suddenly started to tingle. Horror filled him as a dark circle of twisted runes appeared there, a tattoo-like bracelet marking him mated. He grabbed the woman’s hand and saw the same incomprehensible runes tracing their path over her pale skin.
“Oh no,” Diego whispered, falling back on the pillows and groaning. There was no way out now. It was done, it was permanent, and it was completely impossible. Those marks shouldn’t have appeared until after he’d thrice shared body, mind, and blood with this woman but Eli had apparently found a way to force them onto the unwilling. Diego felt as if he’d been plunged into a nightmare. Who knew the Council would be this…well, literal? “This can’t be happening!”
It was no use denying it. Diego swore viciously in Spanish as his eyes fell again on the bondmarks now encircling their arms like shackles.
Impossible or not, he was bonded to a mortal woman and he didn’t even know her name.
* * *
Chapter Two
Diego forced himself to take a deep breath and blew it out slowly. What was done was done and all the wishing in the world wouldn’t undo it. Once the runes appeared not even the Council had the power to remove them—not that they would have been inclined to do so in his case. He rose up on his elbow and looked again at the woman who’d recently been nothing more than a stranger to him, wondering when she’d wake and wondering what the hell he was going to say to her when she did.
He didn’t have long to wait. She groaned and rolled onto her back as he watched her, wishing she’d stayed unconscious just a little longer so he could figure out how to tell her they were, for all intents and purposes, married now.
Her lids fluttered open and she met his eyes, and every thought in his head scattered.
Wow.
She had stunning eyes, a clear, deep aquamarine that made him think of pristine waters. Not even the dark rings around them detracted from their beauty. He stared transfixed as those eyes traveled over his face and thought vaguely that these were eyes he wouldn’t mind gazing into for the rest of eternity.
Her lips parted and Diego leaned closer, not wanting to miss a word and wondering if her voice would be as beautiful as those amazing eyes. However much his heart and his mind might protest, his body’s reaction clearly stated it liked the idea of being mated to this woman just fine.
But she didn’t speak. She hissed at him like a cat as her fist whipped out and connected solidly with his still-aching jaw in a punch that would have made Ali proud.
Diego barely had time to shake his head to clear the stars from his vision before she’d leapt from the bed and bolted for the door. He threw the blankets back and ran after her, thinking bitterly that this wasn’t a very auspicious start to their life together. He caught her around the waist before she was able to wrench the door open.
“Hey, wait a second!”
She didn’t. Instead, she elbowed him hard in his broken ribs. The burst of pain almost made him lose his grip on her. She followed up with a hard stomp to his instep, which would likely have broken something had she still had on her shoes. Diego’s fangs tried to emerge with the vicious jolt of pain and adrenaline but he forced them ruthlessly back. Was this truly the same helpless-looking woman who had been limp in his arms only moments ago?
“Let go of me!” she yelled.
Diego didn’t dare. She was inflicting quite enough pain on him restrained and he had no desire to see what she was capable of when free. “Will you take it easy and let me explain?”
His soothing words had the opposite effect than what he’d intended. Her nails sliced down his forearms as she continued to struggle and she reached back with one clawed hand, clearly searching for his face. He grabbed her wrists and spun her around before backing her up against the door, trapping her between the wood and his hard body.
“Calm down!” he demanded again, ignoring the protests from his wounds.
She glared up at him, her aquamarine eyes flashing in her pale face. Despite her blood loss and the aftermath of the head injury, she didn’t stop struggling for her freedom and tried to bring a knee up into an area Diego would really rather not have her kick. He blocked her just in time and pressed hard against her to trap her legs. Mortal or not, this woman was a wildcat!
And she showed no signs of ceasing her struggles. “Waking up in bed with a stranger doesn’t exactly inspire me to calmness,” she pointed out in a voice quaking with fury. She glared pointedly at his hands pinning her wrists to the wall on either side of her head. “Neither does being manhandled.”
“Look, lady, you hit me first!”
“Damn right I hit you—you were in bed with me! You took my clothes off! God knows what else you did to me while I was out—“
“Enough, enough!” Diego roared, cutting her off. Those diamond-hard eyes narrowed dangerously at the command but thankfully she kept her mouth shut. He found it a definite improvement. He couldn’t believe this. Had he actually thought things couldn’t get worse only a few minutes ago? Her body against his was taut, every muscle poised for action if she found the slightest opportunity to attack or escape. Diego didn’t intend to give her one and didn’t relax his hold one iota, but he gentled his tone. “Look, do you remember what happened to you tonight?”
“You think I won’t press charges against you if I don’t remember exactly what you did to me?”
He closed his eyes and prayed for patience. “Before I brought
you here,” he growled, looking back down at her. “You don’t remember having a car accident downtown?” Her eyes wavered for the briefest instant. It was all the answer Diego needed. “You do remember!”
She lifted her chin defiantly. “What the hell does my car accident have to do with waking up in your bed?” she said. “Kidnapping is a serious crime, buster, and you can bet I’ll be talking to the cops about you.”
“Damn it, you stubborn woman, would you listen to me? I didn’t kidnap you, and if I was going to hurt you, you’ve certainly provoked me enough for me to do it by now. I brought you here to save you, you vicious creature, and right now I’m regretting it!”
She blinked up at him. This was clearly not an answer she’d expected. “W—what?” she stammered. “You took me out of the wreck and brought me here?” She looked over his shoulder and around the room. “You mean, just you? Alone?”
“Is it that so hard to believe?” he asked, feeling slightly offended at her obvious doubt. Didn’t he look capable of getting her from downtown to his house without help?
Of course, the journey with her weight pressing against his fractured ribs had been no picnic and by the time he’d gotten halfway home he’d been cursing himself for not calling James to come for them, and it had been James who’d carried her up the stairs, but there was no reason for Diego to admit any of that to her. “You were hurt,” he added when she still looked at him suspiciously.
“Why did you bring me here instead of taking me to a hospital?”
Diego opened his mouth to tell her some soothing lie about being a doctor and wanting to save her a hospital bill and found his voice wouldn’t work. Everything he’d ever believed protested at the thought of lying to his mate. He fought the urge to groan in frustration. She might not believe they were bound and he might wish it wasn’t so, but honor dictated he treat his mate with respect at all times and that meant he would give her the truth.
Always.
No one ever said the truth was easy or comforting, though, and he hoped to whatever gods were watching he wouldn’t scare the life out of her when she heard it. “You were pretty badly hurt,” he said, choosing his words with care. “An ambulance would’ve taken time to get there and you didn’t need to wait around in the ER. I brought you home and healed you here.”