Who had been the true target?
Female!
He was in her head again. Leave me alone! And I have a name!
She heard his sigh in her head; it was full of male impatience. Jocelyn. It is time for dinner. You want to see your cousins and do more plotting against me, don’t you?
She hesitated before answering, then told herself not to be so foolish. She needed time to plan and needed the information her cousins could give her to make that plan. I’m getting out now!
I would be happy to assist you.
I think I’ll pass—I remember the last time you helped me out of the bathtub. You could have killed me, you bastard!
I am…sorry. Had I known you were my Rajni I would have treated you with the care you deserve.
So now that you think I’m that whatever, I’m deserving of basic respect? Wow. Bet you were fun to date in high school!
I never went to high school, such a thing did not exist when I was a boy. I did not learn to read until I was over two hundred, little rabbit.
Josey’s eyes flashed toward the door. Had he said…? How old are you?
Six hundred and twelve or thirteen. I am not entire sure.
How can you not be sure?
We didn’t exactly keep clear records back in the early 1400s.
You’re crazy. There is no way you're that old. Your body would have broken down long before your ninetieth birthday!
You forget, I am not human. It is not uncommon for us to live to be two or three thousand years old. I am considered a young man by my Kind’s standards. You…you are a mere babe.
I’m not one of you. I never will be. You’re an animal. That thought had her pausing. Guilt flooded her that she had forgotten such an integral part of her life. What did you do with my dog? Where’s Freedom?
She is being cared for. I will have her fetched for you. If you cooperate with me for the rest of the evening.
Josey thought for a moment. Would it be better to make him think she was cooperating? That doesn’t include sex. I will not sleep with you, if that’s what you’re wanting.
I do want that. I will have that. But on your timeframe, not mine. I will not force you. I won’t need to…
Then I will cooperate. For tonight. But don’t think that means I want to be here. The minute I can, I’m getting away from you!
***
Fifteen minutes later Josey was dressed in the tunic and trousers he’d tossed her way. They were too big for her and reminded her of hospital scrubs in design—except they were made out of the softest silk. The top fell to her knees and off one shoulder.
The trousers were elastic-waisted and could be rolled up. But the top… This won’t do. You are too small.
I’m five-six. Not exactly small—by human standards. Josey stared at him, her arms outstretched. He rolled up the material past her wrists.
This will not do. He grabbed the nearest phone and punched in a number. His head was turned away from her so Josey missed whatever it was he said. He hung up the phone and looked at her. We wait.
For what?
A set of clothes from the lobby shop. They will be off the rack, and not of the most luxuriant material. But they will do for tonight.
****
The clothes he had sent up for her fit her much better and Josey allowed him to wrap an emerald green sash around her waist before she followed him to a luxurious private dining room.
Tears filled her eyes when she saw the little black-and-white dog sleeping in the corner. Next to a large black animal Josey recognized as a wolf. She hesitated only a moment before falling to her knees beside her dog. The wolf only watched her, not moving at all.
The dog whined and climbed onto her lap, laying her head on Josey’s shoulder. Josey brushed at her tears before hugging the little animal. She laughed when Free licked her cheeks.
Now that she’d found Freedom, everything felt just a little better, a little less frightening.
****
Cormac listened to the indistinct sounds his female was making to the little dog and grew uncomfortable. She obviously loved the animal. Why hadn’t he had the dog kept in his suite, where his female could have seen her from the very beginning? Had that least little bit of comfort and reassurance? She kept hugging the animal and rocking back and forth. The dog let her, obviously just as happy to be with her mistress as her mistress was to be with her.
He let her and the dog have their time together until Theo and his strawberry blonde Rajni walked into the dining room. This one had the clear look of Jocelyn and was close to her in age.
The girl tapped Jocelyn’s shoulder, drawing her attention. Jocelyn released the dog long enough to hug her cousin. The two females clung to each other until Theo led the other to a chair and guided her to sit.
Aodhan was the next to enter, and he had the redheaded Taniss female thrown over his shoulder. She was fighting and hissing, obviously more defiant than the rest of her cousins. Aodhan handled her cheerfully, smacking her on the ass and giving her the command to quiet. She didn’t listen. Cormac watched as Aodhan dumped her in the chair next to her sister. “Stay, woman.”
“Fuck off, blood-sucker!”
“Mal!” The strawberry blonde wrapped her hand around her sister’s arm and shook her, fear in her green eyes. “Be quiet!”
Jocelyn signed something, something that Cormac did not understand. His attention sharpened on her, and he brushed against her mind.
She stiffened as if she felt his touch. A shutter dropped around her mind, surprising him. His female looked at him, surprise and triumph on her pretty, feminine face. When had she learned that skill?
Guess it works both ways! Her words were filled with pride as they echoed in his head.
Mmm. So you can keep me from reading your thoughts? Such a clever girl you are! He wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her, then plopped her butt into the chair across from her cousins. Sit. We’ll eat as soon as your cousin and Dhar Rydere arrive.
Goody. Let me guess, we’re having blood pudding? Plasma potato cakes? Oh, joy.
Smartass. You will eat what I tell you to eat, or you’ll regret it.
Oh, I’m scared. What will happen? I’ll starve to death?
No. Eat the wrong things and your changed physiology will react badly.
Her face tightened and she studied him. How? How is human physiology different from whatever your Kind is called?
We are Dardaptoan. I am no healer, rabbit. But I do believe books filled with our medical knowledge do exist.
I want to read them! Intrigue and interest were clear on her face.
It gave him pause. Was that the way to get through to her? Give her information about his—their—people? You must do something for me, then.
Imagine that. You’re an extortionist, too.
His mouth quirked. She was certainly spirited. That would make the coming centuries entertaining. You’re funny.
What do you want?
Your word that the knowledge stays with you. My people have survived by keeping our presence cloaked from humans. There are fifteen thousand people in this city—half of them women and children. They must be protected.
Solemn green eyes looked at him. She understood, he could see that. I promise.
Chapter Seven
Josey held the book he gave her and studied the binding closely. It was obviously an old artifact; the cover felt like real leather and the paper had a consistency she could not identify. She cracked open the book—the words were written in ink. Not printed, written. It was in a mix of English and a language she did not recognize. And she was fluent in German and Latin, herself.
This language looked much older than that. Excitement filled her chest—this book might very well answer all of the questions that had been filling her mind since the moment she realized the jerk wasn’t human. What was his race and what separated them from humans?
Could whatever it was they’d done to her and her cousins be reversed? J
ocelyn couldn’t deny that he’d done something to her, had changed her in some integral way.
I borrowed the book from my sister. She is the one who has authored this book, please care for it well.
Josey looked at him. I didn’t know you had a sister.
She is younger by a few hundred years.
Is that all? Wow. Mine is five years younger. She’s probably worried sick about me. But you don’t care about that, do you?
Don’t be difficult. He crossed his arms over his massive chest and glared down at her. Josey smirked up at him.
I’m difficult by nature. Maybe you’d better trade me in on a different model. I’m sure there are women from third world countries who’d find your arrogance and dominance attractive.
You find me attractive. The goddess decreed it. You are mine. Forever.
Please! Josey hissed at him, feeling the sound rather than hearing it. She had the urge to hiss at him again. She ran her tongue over her newly developed teeth. Fangs. She had to admit to herself that they were fangs.
I have work to do. Stay in this room, understand? If you do not, I will be forced to lock you in and post a guard.
Some loving mate you’re turning out to be. You always have to lock your women in?
Only when they are as stubborn as you. And you are the last woman I will ever have. His face was serious as he looked down at her, but she saw no trace of honesty. Bully for me.
****
Cormac had tried everything he could think of, and his female had yet to warm to him in the slightest. He had given her jewels, and gifts, and everything he thought a female would like. Nothing seemed to work.
It had been three days since he had brought her to his home. She showed no signs of weakening and he wondered briefly if the goddess had made a mistake pairing him with the obstinate female. But when she lay sleeping and he stared down at the perfection of her face and form he knew the goddess had chosen exactly right for him. Jocelyn was his mate. That he could not, and would not, ever deny.
But this being close to her and not touching her was wearing on him. What could he possibly do to convince her that he wanted only her happiness?
Besides letting her go back to her family? He could not do that. The thought of letting her go almost dropped him to his knees. He just could not do it. He would find another way to make her happy. No matter what he had to do.
****
Josey stared at the pile of gifts the vampire jerk had given her. Clothes, jewelry, pretty knick-knacks and baubles. Books. Of all the things she had deliberately piled into one corner of the suite, the books were the ones she took out when he was out of the suite. She’d read them all and remembered almost all of the information stored within them. But she’d told him nothing about what she had read or what she had done while he was off doing whatever it was he did when he wasn’t there tormenting her.
It was all the power she had left.
But…she could not stay in this suite for even a single minute more. He let her out when he left in the mornings and she spent much of the day with Mickey in the private sitting room that the jerk said was for her and her cousins’ personal use.
They sat there and plotted, mostly.
But Josey didn’t want to do that today. She wanted to be outside, to get outside with her dog. He had not let her leave the hotel, yet. Probably afraid she would find a way to escape.
At that very moment, escape was the farthest thing from her mind. Just simple breathing topped her list. There was a tightness in her chest, an urge, a hunger for something that she could not describe.
She had to get out of this building. Free stood when she did and Josey was grateful for the little Border collie’s presence. The dog was a tie to her life before this Alice in Wonderland debacle.
The garden next to the jerk’s suite beckoned. The glass doors had a complicated lock system, but she’d figured it out the first day he’d left her alone in the suite. The gardens were beautiful, well-kept and laid out around a small pool and grotto. Free loved running to the grotto and barking at the Koi swimming within. Josey would sit and watch the dog’s antics for several hours each day, and had yet to be joined by anyone.
Today wasn’t to be the same; a woman her age was already seated on the bench Josey had begun to consider hers. The woman looked up when Free bounded by. She smiled at Josey and said something. Josey was too far away to read her lips. She quickly signed, “I am deaf.”
The woman looked at her and nodded. She signed in return. “I can sign, some.”
Josey smiled. This woman was obviously one of them. Her eyes were a strange shade of orange that the Dardaptoans Josey had met all had. The woman had fangs when she smiled.
She was dressed in an identical outfit to Josey’s, complete with emerald green sash wound around her waist. Josey pointed toward it. “You are related to him. To C-o-r-m-a-c?”
“My uncle. You must be his new Rajni. I am J-i-e-r-r-a.”
“I am his nothing. He kidnapped me!”
The woman’s eyes widened. “He did what? Uncle C-o-r-m-a-c would not do that to his Rajni.”
“Well, he did. So where did you learn to sign? Your uncle cannot.” Josey wanted to throw all of her questions at this woman’s feet. She was the first Dardaptoan to talk to her at all, besides Cormac and his three musketeer buddies.
“I am a teacher. Third grade. I have had three deaf students over the last two years. I learned for them. I also speak Spanish, and Dardaptoan, of course. What is your name?”
“J-o-s-e-y. Or Woman! according to your uncle. J-o-c-e-l-y-n T-a-n-i-s-s.”
Jierra’s eyes widened again and her mouth dropped. She pulled away in obvious horror.
Josey frowned at her. “Why does that upset you?”
Jierra stared at her, rudely. “You are a T-a-n-i-s-s!”
“Yes? Oh, I forgot. We’re the boogeyman to your people. Your uncle comes into my house and shoves my head under my bathwater, yet I am the monster? He drained every drop of blood from my body, and I am evil? You all have a seriously messed up idea of evil.”
Josey jumped up and started to walk off, clapping her hands to signal the romping Free to return to her side.
Jierra wrapped her fingers around Josey’s arm, stopping her from walking away. Josey looked down at her; the woman’s face was carefully blank—something no one with a hearing impairment liked. Facial expressions were such a big part of their communication. Josey stared down but did not pull her arm back.
Jierra was the first to sign. “I am sorry. But you must understand; I was born in a laboratory ran by a man named L-e-o T-a-n-i-s-s. He nearly killed me, and he did order the killing of my birth parents.”
Josey did not know what to say for the longest time. “He is my grandfather.”
The other woman flinched and stood. This time it was Josey who stopped her. “Please, do not go. I have many questions. And you are the first person I have spoken with who understands me!”
Chapter Eight
Cormac entered the suite and looked for her, as he did every afternoon. This time she wasn’t there. His heart stopped beating for several long seconds, then his eyes landed on the open veranda door.
He forced himself to take several deep breaths while he attempted to regain control of himself. She was perfectly safe in his home, in the resort that functioned as the Dardaptoan city hall. She was in his family wing, protected by members of his family. And none would dare hurt her, regardless of her ancestry.
Long strides brought him out of his suite and into the gardens. She drew his eyes immediately; the sun caught in her hair, making it brighter. She sat beside someone, gesturing gracefully. As she shifted, the familiar gold-red hair of his only niece shined just as bright.
They were the same age, same build, though Jierra was a few inches taller. Dressed in the same white and green. They were his! And he would protect them with every breath he had.
He’d forgotten his niece knew sign; guilt flooded him. He shoul
d have introduced the two days ago. His female was probably lonely, in the suite for most of the day. He suspected she spent most of the time researching his people and plotting against him when she wasn’t with her cousins. But her time with her family had been limited— their Rajnis occupied them for most of the day.
He would change his schedule, arrange more time to be with her, to show her the world he lived in. It was a beautiful place, his city. He would take her around it so that she could see for herself.
He crossed the garden, determination in every step. He would start showing her his world now. Female.
He watched her shoulders stiffen as she realized he was near. Her whole body tensed and lost the animation that was present. Vampire. What do you want now?
His pace slowed only slightly. Would her tone ever turn loving with him? Or would it always be the acerbic, smart-ass snark she directed at him? Why are you out here?
Because I want to be? Can’t spend all my time inside looking pretty, you know? I’m used to working. Used to doing things with my time. Productive things. She looked at him, her eyes shaded by sadness. I cannot stay here, locked in your suite for you to play with when you want!
Neither noticed when Jierra slipped away to the steps that led to the second story, where her own suite was located.
I do not play with you. I cherish you.
Please. Cherish me by taking me from my home and my family, my life? Does not sound like the definition of cherish to me. She walked away from him, rounding the small fish pond.
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