He laughed and caught the playful punch aimed at his midriff easily enough.
“Tut, tut, girl, you’re just adding to the fun-ishment for later.”
They grinned at each other like silly fools, until Eva cleared her throat and sobered.
“We will defeat them, right? These Vamps?” she asked, and Dimitrius, too, grew serious.
“If the fur bags are half as good as you are, then yes you will.” The inherent praise in those words gave her a warm glow inside, but thoughts of the night they met dimmed her happy glow.
“Are you forgetting that you had to rescue me the last time, I encountered fresh vamps?” she asked, and his annoyed growl in answer shook the table.
“They weren’t playing fair, and besides you were ambushed and they had the element of surprise on their side. You are prepared this time, and you have back up.”
He smiled at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and when she reached across to touch him, he grasped her hand and squeezed.
“You place a lot of faith into the Protectors,” Eva said and he lifted her hand up to kiss her knuckles.
“I’m not talking about them. I’ll be there to make sure no one harms you.”
He smiled grimly at her sharp intake of breath.
“I told you, I look after what’s mine, and besides, this is my sister’s mess. I’d make her clean it up if I had my way, but our maker has an unreasonable fondness for her.”
Eva squeezed his hand back, and he smiled at her.
“Was it awful, dealing with her, after...well you know.”
* * * *
Her tentative question tore at Dimitrius’s soul, and her concern for him hit him in the gut.
“I really don’t want to talk about it, myshka. I did what I had to do, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Eva scooted across to climb on his lap, clearly in need of the comfort, and truth be told, so was he. It felt fucking good to have his girl’s slight curves pressed against him, to inhale her sweet scent, and to know that nothing and no one could touch her right now. What he wanted to do was tie her to his bed, and keep her there until this current danger had passed, but he couldn’t, wouldn’t do that. He’d promised her not to interfere with her job, and he knew without a doubt that to try would change things between them. His Eva was a Protector, and he would just have to suck it up, and make sure she was as safe as she could be. He smirked inwardly at his choice of words, and willed his fangs and his cock for that matter, to behave. She would need all her strength tonight, and he couldn’t have sex with her now. As wound up as he was he would not be able to resist the temptation to feed from her, and that would weaken her, too.
He swallowed a groan when she wiggled her ass across his hardening cock and grasped her hips to hold her still.
“Nyet.”
She pouted at him.
“Not even a quickie?” she asked and he had to laugh at the hopeful look on her face.
“No, girl.” He dropped his voice on purpose and she blanched and murmured an apology.
“Sorry, Sir, but I just feel so wretched about all of this. I mean, I can’t stand the bitch, but she is kinda like your mother, I guess, so this must…”
Her words trailed off at his annoyed growl.
“She is, and she always will be, but that doesn’t mean I blindly do her bidding. Besides, when she wants to harm the woman that I love, there is no contest.”
Eva’s eyes widened at his grumbled reply, and then her face lit up in the hugest smile he had seen on her yet.
“You love me?” she asked.
“Da, of course I do. Do you think, I act so out of character for every woman I fuck?” He tempered his harsh words with a smile and Eva slapped his arm.
“There is no need to be so crude, Sir,” she said, and traced her bite mark on his shoulder with her fingers. “I just thought, maybe you didn’t have a choice what with the whole mating bond and such like.”
She jumped when he glared at her and his fangs ran out in answer.
“You know it is customary to say it back, unless of course you attribute us to some mumbo jumbo mating bond, which, I hasten to add, won’t mean diddly squat to me, as I’m a vampire.” He paused to let his words sink in and ran his nose over the frown marring her beautiful face.
She pulled away and worried her bottom lip in such a way that he grew hard as nails. Oh, when this was all over and done with, he would keep her tied to his bed for at least a week.
“Well, mister high and mighty vampire, for your information, us shifters take that bond very seriously indeed, and just to clarify this further. I do love you, lots in fact, though why the fates have decided to...umph.”
The rest of what she was going to say was lost as he shut her up by kissing her. Darkness had fallen in earnest when they stopped making out, and Dimitrius released her with a sigh.
“Ready to kill some vamps, sweet thing?” he asked.
* * * *
Eva flipped through the air, and took down two vamps, before her feet had even reached the grassy field under her feet. Another one who charged at her from behind was dispatched with a swift kick to his chest. The spike on her boot crunched through the man’s sternum, and the once handsome young man exploded into dust. All around them vampires added to the air pollution as the Protectors dispatched them with deadly precision.
Dimitrius took his handkerchief out of his pocket, and flicked the dust off his arm. Eva grinned at him and shifting took off into the air to scout out the fields. His girl made a majestic sight as she swooped low, and claws drawn sliced straight through a female vamp’s neck, stopping the woman from attacking Ronan. The massive bear swung round and with a menacing roar of triumph finished that vamp off, as Eva soared in the air again.
He had to give it to them. The Protectors worked well as a team, and Mrs. H had created fucking miracles. The village was locked down so tight that no vamp could get past her protection spells and the surrounding countryside had also been placed under a series of spells that had herded the incoming vamps to these open fields. The stupid misguided fools were sitting ducks, waiting to be plucked off one by one really. Dimitrius ought to feel some compassion for his kind, he supposed, but these blood lust crazed creatures, he just couldn’t identify with. And besides, they were on his territory, and intent on harming his girl. That alone meant they deserved to die.
He smiled as Eva was back on the ground, completely confusing the vamp who had tried to swipe at the massive eagle circling him. Dimitrius’s gaze focused on the sight of his girl’s naked ass, as the muscles clenched and released, before his vison was obscured by another cloud of dust, as that vamp, too, was no more.
Pride surged through him, and he grinned to himself. The male shifters had sheer brawn on their side, but his girl made killing an art form, and he could watch her for hours. The air thickened behind him, bringing with it the sultry scent of Aegleaca, and his amusement fled.
“Relax, I’ve just come to see them in action.”
Dimitrius glanced at his maker, and when she wrinkled her nose in disgust, handed her his spare handkerchief.
“I know, the air is thick with their left overs.”
Aegleaca nodded and held the starched piece of linen up to her nose. Excitement danced in her almond shaped eyes, and her fangs ran out, as the fighting kicked up another notch. Head cocked to one side she whistled through her teeth, and Dimitrius grinned when he followed her gaze. Eva, of course. Poetry in motion, as she took out another one of his sister’s vamps.
“She’s good,” he said and his maker inclined her head.
“Yes, your toy is full of surprises. They all are. I may have underestimated them. It’s not a mistake I will make again.”
Dimitrius nodded, and regarded his maker thoughtfully. She rolled her eyes, and nodded.
“And yes, you were right about Lydia, too. I’ve given her too much freedom. I can see that by the sheer number of these vamps. She says she only turned three, but, of course without
the right guidance and support they just kept on turning others, and so on.”
A heavy silence fell between them, as they both carried on watching the fighting. It was only when the last vamp fell, and the Protector’s victory growls and shouts filled the air that Aegleaca sighed and moved.
“I do believe that’s my cue to leave. Are you sure I can’t convince you to come with me?” she asked, and Dimitrius shook his head.
“Thought not, but I had to ask. I know you care for this girl, but if she ever turns against you, then—”
“She won’t.”
Aegleaca smiled at his interruption and flashed her fangs at him.
“Ah, my sweet boy. You have lots to learn, still.” She glanced across at the assembled group of shifters, who seemed to have noticed they had company. Eva got in front of them and stopped them from charging across, and Aegleaca grinned.
“Will you turn her?” she asked, and Dimitrius tore his gaze away from his girl, and focused back on his maker.
“I don’t know. I doubt she would want me to,” he said. “She’s a shifter and my mate. That means her life span will match to mine, so I doubt we will have to worry about it any time soon, but thank you for your concern.”
Aegleaca stepped up to him and cupped his face.
“No need to be sarcastic with me, boy. I do have your best interests at heart.” She glanced back at the shifters, several of whom looked ready to bust an artery, while Eva’s glare alone could have killed his maker several time over. It made him grin, this jealous streak his girl had. He took his maker’s hand off his face, and brushed a kiss across her knuckles.
“I know you, do, but you need to leave. I have grudging amnesty from this lot, thanks to Eva, but you don’t. If they attack, it will place Eva in an impossible situation, and I—”
“I know, no need to say it, I’m out of here. You know where I am, if you need me.” She smiled and winked at me. “Come to think of it. I should have known you’d end up with someone like her. You always did like to play with your food.”
Epilogue
Nine months later
The sounds of the party carried across to his part of the garden, and Dimitrius had to laugh at himself. He had skulked behind more shrubbery in the last nine months, than he had ever done in the centuries of his existence. What else was a besotted vampire to do, when he didn’t want to make his little subbie’s life more difficult for her?
This latest get together was in aid of the safe arrival of the newest Guardian witch. Little Joanna was a wee thing with a very good pair of lungs, and his stomach tightened when he caught sight of Eva, bouncing with the newborn slung over her shoulder. She was rubbing the baby’s back and cooing nonsense into the baby’s ears. The little one’s father Leon was hovering near by, and Dimitrius smirked. The lion would have a fit, if he knew how close Dimitrius was to his daughter.
No doubt he still expected Dimitrius to lose all of his composure and drain the baby dry. Dimitrius shook his head in disgust. An uneasy truce had been established between him and the other Protectors, but he knew he wouldn’t be welcome at these meetings, regardless of what Eva said. No, far better to keep in the shadows, and observe from afar.
“There you are. I thought that was you.” Mrs. H leaned heavily on her walking stick, and he straightened and grasped her elbow.
“Thanks, my dear boy. Be a good fellow and help me up this path, will you. These old bones aren’t what they once were, and I don’t want to fall.”
She grinned up at him, an odd twinkle in her eyes that told of some mischief she was concocting, and after a moment’s hesitation, and knowing full well that he was being had Dimitrius inclined his head, and matched his long strides to her much smaller ones.
Mrs. H was frail, to be sure, but there was nothing at all wrong with her mobility, especially considering the way she’d managed to sneak up on him. Then again he had been so taken by the sight of Eva holding the baby a bomb could have dropped next to him.
He frowned at his thought processes and Mrs. H laughed.
“I know what you’re thinking, but she is just as happy giving my granddaughter back again, so wipe that frown of your face. Eva doesn’t want babies of her own. She’s perfectly happy with the status quo, or at least she would be, if you actually came to these things with her.”
“I wouldn’t be welcome, if I did, Mrs. H, you know that.”
As if to prove his point, Leon growled low in his throat when he saw them approach, and he moved in front of Eva and his daughter. His body language screamed his unease, especially when Eva squealed and ducked past him to meet Dimitrius and Mrs. H halfway up the path. She stopped in front of them, and Dimitrius had to grin when he saw little Joanna’s tiny fist curled around Eva’s day collar. It had been a memorable moment when she’d accepted his collar. They could never marry, but this way she was bound to him in all the ways that mattered.
His girl rose on tiptoes to kiss him, and the baby mewled. She opened her eyes and stared right up at him.
Leon’s growls got louder, and Eva rolled her eyes, and grinned at Mrs. H. At her nod she slid the newborn down into the crook of her arm, and handed her to Dimitrius.
“Here, you hold her for a minute. She might be small but she gets heavy after a while, and I promised Rebecca some peace.”
She untangled her collar from the newborn’s grasp, and let go of her, giving Dimitrius no chance but to take the tiny scrap of humanity.
“You hurt my daughter, vamp, and I—”
“Husband, really.” Leon’s wife Rebecca interrupted her husband mid growl, and winked at her mother. “Look at him. He looks terrified of dropping her. We should feel sorry for our resident vamp, really, and mother, that was a cruel trick, even for you. Effective, mind you.”
Rebecca moved Dimitrius’s hand to better support her baby’s tiny head, and pushed her onto his chest. “There you are. It’s her favorite place to be, because she can hear your heartbeat.”
Leon gave a strangled laugh, Mrs. H shook her head, and Rebecca turned crimson, when he raised an eyebrow at her and smiled.
“You want to rephrase that,” he said, and if possible Leon’s wife blushed even more. It really was a rather delightful sight.
“I mean, oh my goodness, forgive me, I mean I know you don’t...that is…” Rebecca bundled herself through an apology, and her eyes widened when he flashed his fangs at her.
“No, he hasn’t pip,” Leon stepped up to Dimitrius and held his hands out for his daughter. “On account of his being dead, already.”
Dimitrius took a step back and made a big show of sniffing little Joanna. The tiny human was still staring at him, and even Mrs. H grew tense next to him, and Dimitrius just had to wind them all up a little.
“Hmm, she smells delightful, and no doubt tastes just as sweet. So sweet of you to offer me some food.”
Leon looked ready to take his head off, and Dimitrius didn’t miss the way they were suddenly surrounded by a ton of shifters. He winked at Eva, who barely contained her giggles, and found the floor most interesting all of a sudden. Rebecca gave a nervous laugh and looked from him to her mother, and back again, and Mrs. H clipped him about the ears.
“Okay, he deserved that, but give my granddaughter back now, before Leon bursts a blood vessel.”
Dimitrius retracted his fangs with an audible click, and gave a little bow, before he passed the baby back to her mother, and Eva burst into laughter.
“I fail to see how this is funny.” Leon’s affronted growl made Eva laugh harder, and she scooted into Dimitrius’s embrace when he held out his arms.
“Congratulations on the safe arrival of your daughter, lion. She will break many hearts, I’m sure.” Dimitrius offered the olive branch and held out his hand, and eventually Leon took it with a tight nod.
It seemed to signal an end to the hostility permeating the air, and Eva looked up at him, and shook her head.
“You, Sir, are impossible, you know that, right?” she a
sked with a grin, and the love that shone out of her eyes made him wish he hadn’t be such an ass.
“Naturally, myshka. I have to find my entertainment from somewhere and your friends are such easy targets. Besides, you wouldn’t want me any other way, would you?”
He tapped her ass when she seemed to consider this question, and Eva smiled and shook her head.
“No, I guess not, Sir.”
“Good, girl, otherwise I might be forced to drag you away, and remind you who’s boss in this relationship.”
Eva stepped away and held out her hand, and he allowed himself to be tugged farther up the path and into the house. Ronan nodded at him when he saw them, and his pretty little wife offered him a shy smile.
Sasha smirked, and offered his hand.
“About time you joined us, I guess.”
Eva gave the panther a warm smile, and one by one the assembled shifters relaxed, and she snuggled back into Dimitrius’s side.
“See, I told you, it would be okay for you to come. You’re one of us now, Sir.”
Dimitrius looked around the crowded room and for the first time in as long as he could remember he felt as though he did belong.
“So it would seem, myshka.”
THE END
WWW.DORISOCONNOR.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Glutton for punishment would be a good description for Doris…at least that’s what she hears on an almost daily basis when people find out that she has a brood of nine children, ranging from adult to toddler, and lives happily in a far-too-small house, cluttered with children, pets, dust bunnies, and one very understanding and supportive husband. Domestic goddess she is not.
There is always something better to do, after all, like working on the latest manuscript and trying not to scare the locals even more than usual by talking out loud to the voices in her head. Her characters tend to be pretty insistent to get their stories told, and you will find Doris burning the midnight oil on a regular basis. Only time to get any peace and quiet, and besides, sleep is for wimps.
The Vampire's Protector [The Protectors 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 14