by Dannika Dark
Everything except a memory of the hotel.
Marco had left a message for me to meet him. I went to get Christian and when he didn’t answer, I slid the extra card-key through his door and opened it.
“Christian?”
Dim light filtered in through the heavy drapes, but it was too dark. I stepped cautiously inside of the room and froze, puzzled by what I saw. Christian’s arms were raised and he was leaning against the wall with his bare ass to me. His hips rocked in slow, clockwise movements. It took a second to realize that someone was in front of him. A thin leg curved around his and greedy fingers locked around his neck.
“Something you need, Mage? I’m entertaining company at the moment.” He didn’t so much as pause in his hip swivels, but quickened them, and I heard someone beneath him moan softly.
“I have to talk to you, this is urgent.”
“So is this.” He punctuated his meaning with a thrust and a crooked smile as he continued to watch me over his shoulder.
In the darkness of the room, I felt my cheeks flush. “Marco left a message and wants to meet with me. It doesn’t say what it’s about, but I think I have a good idea. If you want to stay here then go ahead, do your thing,”
“No,” he said with an annoyed sigh. “Justus gave me specific instructions to watch over you.” He paused and gave me a frustrated look. Slender fingers gripped his ass, leaving a shadow where the skin pinched in and he moaned. My heart quickened a beat.
“Finish what you’re doing and uh… I’m going to call a cab,” I said.
“Whatever you say, Mage.”
My foot inched back.
“Just one thing?” He licked his lips. “I like your eyes on me,” he said with smooth seduction. “I’ve never been watched before.” He rocked faster and faster until I could hear the smacking of flesh against flesh and a woman’s urgent cry.
“Watch me, Silver.”
I didn’t just hear the sex, but I felt the energy pour out from the human beneath him. His eyes never looked away. What held me there had nothing to do with Christian and everything to do with the energy that was dripping off them like honey. It was like something I’d never felt before, even amid the intense energy that pulsed in the clubs.
“I’m going alone,” I said, forcing myself to turn away.
“Do not move,” I heard him mutter.
Faster than I could track, Christian crossed the room and seized my wrist. “This isn’t the time for solving mysteries, Nancy Drew. It’s a setup.”
I tugged my arm but he backed me into the wall. The last thing I remembered was Christian’s liquid eyes.
With my memory intact, everyone got the short version because Christian was right—it was embarrassing. The fact that I stood there and watched? What the hell was wrong with me? Aside from that, I learned an important fact about myself: I wasn’t completely immune to the gifts of other immortals. It was a naive assumption on my part.
“I didn’t meet with Marco?”
Christian casually stood up. “Too dangerous to meet a Mage on his terms.”
“What if he wanted to help us? What if—”
“Christian is right,” Justus interrupted, rubbing his chin with two fingers. “It would have been a poor decision without knowing the reason you were summoned. Marco is a cunning and convincing man; I wouldn’t trust him alone with you.”
“Why did you erase my memory?” I snapped.
With a dramatic sigh, Christian fell into a leather chair. “To see if I could? You have a problem not doing what you’re told and I don’t enjoy spending my evenings guarding your door when I could be banging a stewardess. This way it saved you the embarrassment of remembering and I didn’t have to worry about you wandering about.”
“I thought that I was immune to your talents,” I said to myself.
“It took a long time, lass. You’re not immune, but it requires a lot of concentration and work on my part. It’s safe to say that a passing suggestion or attempt to scrub your memory by another Vampire would not work. Unless he pinned you down and—”
Logan bent over the chair and studied him so fiercely that Christian shielded his face. “No such thing happened. I’m not a brute with the ladies.”
I wagged my finger at him. “Don’t you ever use your gifts on me without my consent, do you understand? Embarrassment I can handle.”
“Amen to that,” Simon remarked.
It made me realize just how conniving a Vampire could be and how vulnerable I was. Sunglasses were going on my shopping list.
Justus divided the room and stood between us, giving me his back. “I have respected you as a friend for many years, Christian. You gave me your word that you would look after her. A man doesn’t have to take a woman to bed to violate their trust and you have crossed the line. If I ever find out that you’ve scrubbed my Learner again, I will sever our friendship. Yes, she would have defied you and tried slipping out of the hotel to meet up with Marco alone.” Darkness swelled in his voice and he folded his arms. “But it gave you no right to impose your gifts on her. This is your only warning, and if you ever break my trust again, then I have a few barbed stakes that haven’t been broken in. Never again. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.”
While Justus walked Novis out, I gave Logan instructions on how to get into my bedroom. Simon stayed behind.
I put pressure on my cut until the bleeding stopped and all that remained was a raw wound. It wasn’t necessary to borrow light for something so superficial when I would heal naturally—faster than a human and without scarring.
“Vampires are limey bastards and always have an agenda.” Simon kicked a few shards of glass. “Go easy on Logan; I admire the hell out of him for trying to take the Vamp on with his bare hands.” Simon laughed and lifted a small wastebasket to clean up the mess.
“Look at the table,” I said with disgust.
“It’s not as bad as all that. Pillow stuffing is everywhere and a few chairs are turned over—nothing that can’t be righted. And the table was an atrocious addition to the ensemble anyhow, so I totally approve of its demolition.” He kicked the leg of the fallen table and a few pieces of glass clinked on the floor. I’ll have this place spotless in two shakes. Go pet your cat.”
As I left the room, I gently placed my hand on Simon’s shoulder. “Beneath your sexual arrogance lies a really nice guy. I hope you know that.”
Chapter 24
Logan stretched across my bed with his arms folded behind his neck. I admired them, particularly where the muscle popped at the bicep. His Adam’s apple undulated as if it had something to say, but he was merely swallowing. A grim expression darkened his features and he looked at me sideways.
“Did I ruin my chances with you?”
My fingers made a soft sound as I ran them along the blanket. “I’m beginning to understand your traits as a Chitah, but as a man, you have an explosive temper. Obviously you can’t control it when your switch is flipped, but you need to avoid getting to the point where that happens.” I smoothed my hand over his arm and he turned his head to look at me, lips slightly parted. Logan was extremely responsive whenever I touched him because I didn’t initiate touch as much as his Chitah companions clearly did. “Thanks for stepping back when I needed that moment with Christian.”
“You can fight your own battles,” he said, rubbing his forehead. “I have more respect for your Ghuardian after tonight. That was the right thing for him to do—standing up against a friend in your defense. But if any man ever hurts you I’ll put him six feet under.”
I pinched his nostrils. “You’re slacking, Mr. Cross. Aren’t you able to smell my innocence?”
His brow quirked. “Arousal mingled with confusion and fear?”
I hadn’t thought about it that way, but Logan could pick up a whole flavor of emotions and that one must have set off alarms.
“Learn to control your anger before it controls you,” I said.
“I’ve always been in
control of it, but I’m not sure that it’s possible to stop myself from reacting where you’re concerned.”
“What you sensed back there was a misunderstanding, but it makes me wonder. What would happen if I was with another man? Is that the deal breaker with us?”
His eyes closed.
“You could meet someone Logan; your kindred spirit may be out there.”
“You are my kindred.” He sat up and tilted his head to the side.
“What makes you so sure?”
Logan cupped my face with his rough hand. “Because I know it in my bones. You are the only female I desire, the only water that will quench my thirst, the only sun that will warm my skin, the only lips that were made for mine.”
His thumb brushed over my mouth, parting my lips, and I jerked my head back.
“The feelings can’t be real, Logan. I’m a Mage, and maybe it’s exciting because it’s so taboo. If you thought I was your kindred spirit, then why hide it?”
His finger hooked around my belt loop. “I didn’t understand it; as you said, you’re a Mage. I thought I was…”
“Finish.”
“Being punished. But not like that,” he said quickly. “I’ve spent my life hunting and killing your kind. I thought no goodness could be salvaged in a Mage because you had no family, no ethics, and no sense of decency if the progeny you created were made out of necessity to strengthen your Creator and not out of love. When you discovered the box, everything made sense. Our blood must be in your veins.”
“My mother was human. That’s a fact. Grady was probably my father, or at least put his spark in a human’s sperm.” I groaned, thinking about the possibilities.
He took two sharp breaths. “Tell me what’s really wrong.”
“I want reassurance. Our relationship has to be a choice and I don’t want to feel threatened or pressured into making a decision. Does that make sense?”
He shook his head.
“What kind of man will you become if I deny you? So enraged by jealousy that you would turn to violent measures? Would I have to look over my shoulder in fear that you might attack any man I’m seeing? Would you become like Tarek and—”
“Never!” Rage made every cord of muscle stand out.
“But how do you know?” I wrung my hands together as we looked at each other.
Logan softly stroked my wrist with his index finger. “The only way I could lay an unwanted finger on you is if someone cut it from my hand. I’ve claimed you as my kindred spirit, but I still have to win you, Silver. It’s not a done deal until you accept.”
“Does this mean that any man who wants to date me has to challenge you to the death? I can’t live like that. These aren’t my customs and I need you to trust and respect me enough to keep that temper under control. I don’t want to always be looking over my shoulder to make sure my boyfriend isn’t taking down the waiter for winking at me in hopes of getting a padded tip.”
Logan gave me a wolfish grin.
“What?”
“I’ve never been called that before. It’s not a term we use—boyfriend.
“What would you rather be called?”
He tilted his head to the side and a lock of hair slid in front of his nose. “Lover.”
His word wasn’t a suggestion—it was an invitation.
“The challenge to court must be mutual between both males. Tarek was seeing Katrina in secret when I met her. I made my intent public and sought her father’s permission. When Katrina chose me, Tarek did not throw down a challenge.”
“So she was allowed to date around? I’m just saying that’s a heavy load to place on me so young. It feels like you’re telling me that I’m your destiny and I’ll never date another man again. You have no idea how messed up I am when it comes to relationships. On second thought, you might have an idea, and whenever your temper explodes like that, it reminds me of him.”
Logan winced as if I had slapped him. He brushed a strand of my hair to the side and leaned in. “Tell me, then. What did he do?”
“I thought he told you while you were removing his manhood?”
Logan didn’t laugh. “Females are not abused in our families. When a girl is born, her brothers will devote their lives protecting her and live in the same house until she’s mated. A brother would turn on his own for striking his flesh and blood, and any male that dares hit a female will suffer heavy consequences. It’s something we don’t turn a blind eye to, like some of the races.”
With the tip of his finger, Logan Cross lifted my chin so that our eyes met. “So tell me, female, what did he do?”
“He was jealous of everyone I talked to.”
Logan’s eyes filled with understanding—that my apprehension over his behavior was not unwarranted.
“Most of it was verbal abuse and honestly—I just thought that’s the way things were in a normal relationship. Brandon was insecure, but it wasn’t like that when we first met. Not that he was Mr. Sensitive and bought me candy, but he seemed like a good guy. I trusted him, and things went downhill when we moved in together. People change, or maybe they just don’t show you who they really are until it matters.” I’d spent a long time trying to forget my past. Funny how that works, because your past never forgets you. “I didn’t put up with… He slapped me.”
A muscle in his face twitched. “What did the police do?”
I shook my head. “For a minor infraction?”
“I would hardly call striking a female… minor.” A suppressed growl sounded in his chest.
Logan was right, but law enforcement in that small town often turned a blind eye or expected you to kiss and make up. “Brandon had buttons that I tried not to push. You know how I am with my mouth.”
“And this is the world you miss,” he muttered. “That’s not all. Tell me the rest.”
I swallowed hard, because the last time I told anyone the story, it was over a pint of ice cream in Sunny’s living room.
I averted my eyes and my hands played with the end of my shirt. “One night we had an argument that escalated, and I threatened to leave. I got so mad that my hand started slamming on all his buttons. I might have just shut myself up in the bedroom if he hadn’t thrown Max across the room. That scared me, because he’d never done anything like that to Max and it was like a light went on in his eyes when he realized another way to get at me. He blocked the door and I just wanted him to move. So I made up a lie of infidelity. What man wants a woman who betrayed him? It’s the only thing I could think of that would make him let go of me, but it didn’t have the reaction I had hoped for.”
Logan threw his legs onto the floor and paced around the room like a caged animal. “I don’t know if I can hear this.”
“Can’t control your temper?”
Without slowing his pace, he backed me into the bed and flattened me out on top of the mattress. I was caged beneath his body and his hair showered down like a veil of secrecy. The blood rushed to his face as he looked at me with pensive eyes. “Finish. You have my full attention.”
The lump in my throat expanded. “He punched me in the side and broke my rib.”
After a quiet moment, Logan lifted my shirt and marked my ribs with a soulful kiss.
“I don’t measure up to the Chitah women you’ve bragged about. I don’t know why you treat me so—”
He cut me off with a soft touch of his fingers to my mouth and lifted his head. “What you lack in height, you make up for in character. Your lips are the softest I’ve ever known and the smell of your skin…”
The soft scratch of his jaw against my side created a ripple of light in still waters. Never before had I been seduced by compassion.
“You can’t expect me to behave like a kept woman. Can I live my life and make my own decisions? I’m sure that you want reassurance that whatever choice I make is without pressure or a shred of doubt.”
“Are you asking my permission to see other men?” He sat up, straddling me.
That’s not what
I was asking, but it pretty much boiled down to that. The freedom of choice without retaliation was crucial, and this had nothing to do with my desire to see other men.
“I don’t want to feel like my life is an arranged marriage because of your claim; I want to have a choice.”
He twisted around and faced the door. “Of course you have a choice in this; you’re the only one who has a choice.”
“Don’t give me that,” I said, hopping off the bed. “What were you doing at the Gathering anyhow? Just enjoying a few drinks?” He averted his eyes and I folded my arms. “Leo told me that you would be willing to settle with another mate.”
“Levi asked me to join him and I obliged.”
“Your outburst at the table?”
“You weren’t exactly in control of your temper either, my sweet.”
Point to Logan.
“I can’t trust a man who isn’t in full control of his rage.”
“I am,” he assured me.
I stepped forward purposefully. “And I’ll challenge you to that. If I have to sit in front of you and make out with Simon to test that control, I will.” All jokes aside, my concern was that Logan was the kind of man who would rather shed blood than tears.
Logan hooked his arm around my waist and jerked me toward him. He growled, deep and low in his chest.
“Jealous?” I asked.
His eyes settled on mine and were full of fire. “Immensely.”
“I was never coddled as a child and it’s been a difficult transition to be put in situations where I have to learn to trust others and accept help. Especially when people I loved broke that trust. I’m stubborn and I’ll be the first to admit it, but it’s with good reason. I’m sure it’s a stretch from some of those needy sluts that were pawing all over you at the Gathering and probably have been for your entire life.”
He pressed his lips against the base of my throat. “You’re a spitfire. Those females want me for my family name, or they’re sizing me up because I would produce strong boys.” His lips traveled to that place below my ear that had me trembling when I felt the stroke of his tongue.