I couldn’t take it.
These people could threaten me. They could lie to me and demean me and make me wear god-awful heels with pointy tips. But they couldn’t starve me. It wasn’t right. My head hurt and my dress was still kind of sideways and I just needed one thing tonight to go the way it was supposed to go.
I needed crackers. I needed anything but a puny chicken wing with a garnish.
The vampires sat drinking their wine. The weres picked at their cucumber as if touching it would make them gain weight. What was wrong with these people?
I needed to eat.
And so I did.
I ate my chicken wing clean. I devoured the cucumber. And the cut-up date. Then I marched out to the living room and loaded up on appetizers—caviar, lamb with goat cheese, fancy fruity tarts. I ate it all. And when I was done with that plate, I went and got another.
Bliss growled. Francine sneered. Tia stared, openmouthed.
Nina couldn’t care less. “More wine?” she asked the table.
She shrugged off her Puritan husband’s glare. “What? I’m just being a good hostess.”
Everyone agreed to refills, except for me. I hadn’t touched my glass. I’d never been one for alcohol. And now that I had my third plate of lamb thingies and a raging psychic hangover, forget it.
The waiter started pouring at the other end of the table and the bottle of white was long gone by the time it reached our end. Nina cracked open another and gave me a healthy pour.
“Thanks,” I said, “but I’ve gotta save room for the ham puffs.”
Bliss stared at me as I slid my glass over to Lucien.
He winked at me and drank.
CHAPTER 8
I cleared away the rest of the lamb, all of the puff pastries, and a good portion of the caviar. I’d never been huge on fish, much less their eggs, but it was there. And the crackers weren’t half-bad, either.
“Bet you never even heard of a saltine,” I said to Nina.
“I’ll drink to that,” she said, either half-soused or highly amused, probably both.
“Here, here,” I said, toasting her with the last of the caviar.
I had plenty to celebrate. Topping the list was the fact that I had not been eaten by a tiger tonight.
The vampires had lost interest by this time and were busy trying to one-up each other on who had endured the most annoying minions. Points were given for base groveling, years served, and most obnoxious way they died. And it seemed they always died.
Big surprise there.
Yet another reason why no self-respecting weregirl should bind herself to a guy like that.
I licked a bit of caviar off my fingers.
Of course I did notice Lucien hadn’t joined in on the minion talk. In fact, he looked a little green. Good for him. Using people was just plain wrong.
I nudged him. “You feeling okay?”
He nodded. “Slightly put off by the conversation.”
Lucien used a napkin to wipe his forehead and a trickle of perspiration glinted near his ear.
I’d never seen him sweat before. I’d never even seen him warm.
His chin dipped and he braced his hands on the edge of the table. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was struggling to remain upright.
I covered his hand with mine. “Cripes.” Something was definitely wrong. “You’re burning up.”
I flagged down the waiter. “Can we get him some water?”
He was abnormally pale.
Everyone at the table was watching now—except Bliss. She’d become quite interested in her gold bracelets.
Then it hit me with a sickening thud. “You drugged him, didn’t you?”
Her eyes locked with mine. “No.”
She’d answered too fast, and without a hint of surprise.
Bliss had been after me. I’d given my wine to Lucien right before he got sick.
I ran a finger along the inside of his glass and found traces of glitter. Slimprol.
Of all the ... Fury welled up inside me as I stalked toward the tiger. “Now would be a really good time to tell me what’s in Slimprol.”
She stood, her chair toppling over. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I resisted the urge to grab her by the braid and shake her. Barely.
“Get him into the car,” I said, refusing to turn my back on the tiger.
Vinny hoisted Lucien out of his chair.
“Is he okay?” Tia stammered, bobbing in her chair, clearly afraid to stand.
“No, Tia,” I bristled. “He’s not okay.”
But he would be. I’d see to it myself.
I snarled at Bliss and a blaze of triumph shot through me when she backed up a step.
She’d messed with the wrong werewife.
“I’m not through with you,” I said, as Francine led her away.
That’s it. Run, tiger.
It took all I had not to chase her.
Soon. Right now, I had to take care of my own.
Lucien was getting sleepier and sleepier. His head dipped and Vinny had to readjust his grip as he took on more of Lucien’s weight. I helped make way for them as they rounded the table.
Lucien’s breathing grew shallower with each breath. “I don’t understand,” he gasped as we led him out the door. “Alcohol doesn’t affect me.”
“You’ve been drugged,” I said, helping him navigate the front step, hoping he was aware enough to understand. “You have to stay awake.”
“Drugs don’t work on me,” he said, voice slurred.
I glanced back at Nina’s house. “This one does.”
We sped off in Vinny’s car, not even caring about breaking cover. Lucien lay across me in the backseat. He wasn’t moving. I smoothed his hair back, just to have something to fuss over.
This was bad. We had no idea how to reverse whatever Bliss had given him.
“Contact the Vampire Council,” I told Vinny. “See if they’ve learned anything about Slimprol.”
Lucien was dead weight as we pulled him out of the car. His skin was clammy, and his face had gone deathly pale.
“Drag harder,” Vinny said. He took Lucien’s head and shoulders while I took his feet. “He’s not helping us at all.”
“Stay with me.” I planted Lucien’s feet on the ground, then slipped underneath and helped lift him out. “You hear me?”
Tia came running up the driveway. She’d lost her shoes and had the wide-eyed look that told me she’d be no help to us.
“Go home, Tia.”
“But, Heather, I—”
“Not now.”
We could be fighting for Lucien’s life here. He was immortal, but he wasn’t un-kill-able and I still didn’t trust Bliss not to make a lethal move. She was desperate, vicious, and out for blood.
Vinny was thinking the same thing. “Lock the door,” he said when we’d made it inside.
I threw the dead bolt and the chain. Then I set the security alarm.
There was no way we could drag Lucien up the stairs. In fact, we made it as far as the couch in the living room.
“Easy does it,” Vinny said, out of breath as we laid Lucien on the white couch facing the fireplace.
“How could Bliss even think she’d get away with this?”
Vinny pulled out his cell phone. “I doubt she was thinking that far.” He hurried toward the kitchen. “Rodger? Get me Milosh.” He took the rest of the conversation in the garage.
Lucien struggled just to keep his eyes open. His pupils were fixed and dilated. His breathing had slowed as if he were asleep.
“Stay with me.” I ran my fingers through his short blond hair and touched my lips to his forehead. “Come on. You can do it.” I kissed his eyelids and his cheeks.
God, he had impossibly long eyelashes.
I was anxious. Terrified, really. It was as if a big hole had opened up in my chest, waiting to be filled, or crushed.
His eyes fluttered.
“That’s i
t,” I said. “You don’t want to miss this.”
I brushed a kiss over his lips, and then another. A tear splashed down on his cheek and I wiped it away, glad that no one saw.
“See?” I asked, wiping my eyes. “You’re fine.”
What was wrong with me? Getting blubbery over a job.
I’d seen death more than I cared to admit. It was part of being a pack enforcer.
But this was Lucien and he was different and he didn’t deserve this.
The garage door burst open. “No information on Slimprol, but they’re sending a medic.”
“How long?”
Vinny shoved his phone in his pocket. “A half hour.”
“Damn it, Vinny.”
“What?”
“I don’t think he has a half hour.” My voice caught in my throat.
His breathing had all but stopped. He wasn’t keeping his eyes open and he’d gone deathly pale.
Vinny stood frozen. “Shit.”
“Get on the phone,” I ordered. “Figure it out.”
“Yeah,” he said, fishing in his pocket.
Vinny retreated back to the kitchen or the garage or wherever the hell he went. Damn the Vampire Council for being so slow. Damn Vinny for not figuring this out. I wanted to scream. I wanted to beat something because Lucien was dying right in front of us and there was nothing I could do.
I couldn’t cure a vampire.
I couldn’t make this better.
I—
“Wake up.” I tapped at his cheek until I was full-fledged slapping him. “Wake up!”
His eyes cracked open.
“You’re going to have to drink from me,” I said, breathless. I couldn’t believe I was saying it, much less thinking it, but there was no other way.
Lucien was a vampire. He needed blood to heal and I would give it to him.
“Lucien!”
He groaned.
“Damn it, Lucien. Wake up. You have to drink from me.”
I rubbed at my wrist, trying to figure out where there’d be an artery. I’d heard there was one in there somewhere.
To hell with it. No time.
I climbed on top of him and lowered my neck to his mouth. “Drink!”
He didn’t move.
“Oh well, this is just great!” I hollered. First he could barely keep his fangs to himself, and now when I had to save his miserable life, he wanted to go to sleep. Well, not on my watch.
“You are not going to die,” I growled. “In fact, I’m going to seduce the hell out of you.”
I got an eyelid flutter for that.
Ha!
“That’s right,” I said, wrestling with the back zipper of my dress. “I know you’ve been dying for this.”
I dropped my bra. Damned vampire.
My mouth skimmed his jaw and nibbled at the soft spot behind his ear. One by one, I freed the buttons on his white dress shirt until I could press my hands against his deathly cold flesh.
Don’t think of that. I focused instead on the hardness of his muscles, the wisp of hair that trailed from his chest and disappeared into the front of his dress slacks. I flicked a nipple and he groaned. I took it between my teeth and he groaned harder.
That a boy.
I pressed my breasts flush against him and let his coolness seep over me. He’d begun to breathe harder. So had I. I paused for a moment to breathe in his spicy, masculine scent.
I almost forgot this was a rescue mission instead of a mutual pleasuring. He felt so good. I brought my body flush with his, toying with his belt buckle, nibbling my way up his chest as I reached lower.
He inhaled sharply. “Heather.”
“Um-hum,” I said, nuzzling his ear. God, he was hard.
“Help me get undressed.”
“You have to drink,” I said, lips crushed against his ear.
“I want to be inside you.”
“Drink.” I tilted my neck toward him. His fangs pricked the tender skin of my neck, sending a jolt of panic through me.
“Heather?” he whispered against my neck.
I wet my lips. “It’s okay.”
His fangs sank into my neck and my fear vanished. I squirmed, rubbing myself against him as I experienced the most explosive connection I’d ever felt.
Lust swamped me. I shivered with the intensity as he pressed me against his hard body and drank. My body stretched like a bow with sheer pleasure, held in place by Lucien’s steady hands.
He was with me, alive. And he felt amazing.
I was wet, shaking, and on the verge of climax when Lucien sank back from me, dazed. “Is this a dream?” he asked, rolling me under him.
“No,” I said, blinking back to reality. He was alive, and strong. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Not a dream.”
There was stark, sexual hunger in his eyes. “Good.”
I was naked before I knew what had happened.
“Lucien—” His fingers found the core of me and I stopped complaining.
He drew me into the most erotic kiss of my life, his fingers exploring me until I thought I was about to scream from the intensity of it. A second later, I came.
“May I?” he asked.
I threw my head back against the couch. “God, you’re polite.”
“Hardly,” he said, pressing the tip of himself against me. His radiant blue eyes fastened on me. “Tell me you want it.”
My breathing hitched. “I do.”
He drove into me, setting off another wave of pleasure. Sweet heaven, how could anything feel so good? I thought I’d had men before but I’d never had anyone like Lucien.
He pushed me. He filled me. He drove me to heights I hadn’t even let myself imagine before.
I nipped at his shoulder, his neck, anything I could reach.
Lucien let his head drop. His face pressed against my shoulder as his fangs slid along my neck.
“Do it,” I gasped as he bit me again.
Yes! I slammed hard against him as he drove into me. We took from each other and gave to each other until it was impossible to separate our two selves.
This time, I screamed as I came.
Lucien gasped and cried out as he stiffened above me. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
Afterward, we lay in a boneless puddle, Lucien on his back with one arm behind his head and me using his chest for a pillow.
It was safe to say I’d cured him.
I couldn’t help grinning. “How do you feel?”
“My head hurts.”
I felt myself giggle. “Join the club.”
He was kissing my hair, my forehead, my nose, pretty much any place he could reach. “I haven’t had a headache since 1908.”
“Then you’re due.”
He found my lips again. The man could not keep his mouth to himself.
“1908, huh?” I said, when I managed to extricate myself from yet another deep, hungry kiss (admittedly, I hadn’t been trying very hard).
He scooted back on the couch and cradled me in next to him. “I could tell you stories,” he said, toying absently with my hair, “if you’d let me.”
“That might be nice.” I’d have to think on it.
He propped himself over me. “Heather, not that I’m complaining”—he caressed the stretch of skin between my ear and my chin—“but what happened tonight?”
I was almost afraid to tell him. “What do you remember?”
He looked somewhat embarrassed. “I was at Nina’s party, and then nothing.”
“You were drugged.”
“Me?” He seemed surprised. “Amazing.”
“Slimprol.”
His expression darkened. “Bliss.”
“Exactly.”
He nodded to himself, calculating. “Where is she now?”
Just like that, I knew our alone time was over.
Lucky for me, I liked a good fight.
CHAPTER 9
I strapped on my fixed-blade daggers, holstered my Glock 22
with silver bullets, added handcuffs, a stun gun, mace, and of course, my lucky boot knife.
It felt good to look like me again, with certain improvements. I wore a pair of black leather pants Tia had picked out, with a matching tank top that let me move.
Lucien watched me with obvious hunger, which I enjoyed thoroughly.
Probably because I knew he was going to do something about it later.
When I’d double-checked my gun and finished with my daggers, he tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “Thanks for saving my life.”
“My pleasure.” Parts of me went gooey just thinking about it.
Vinny clomped through the kitchen, carrying a shotgun in each hand. “Never mind the fact that I was stuck in the garage for the last two hours.”
I checked the clock on the mantel. Two hours? I ran a palm up Lucien’s arm, admiring his tight black T-shirt. “I’m impressed.” The man had stamina.
“And I had to send away the medic,” Vinny grumbled. “Good thing you weren’t exactly subtle. I don’t like surprises.”
“Why does he think this is about him?” I asked Lucien.
He kissed me on the nose. “I have no idea.”
Vinny headed for the front door. “Can you knock it off? We have a tiger to cage.”
It was about the only thing he could have said to move me from that spot.
“Later,” Lucien whispered, his breath hot against my ear.
God, I hoped so.
I admired his ass on the way to the front door. He wore jeans and combat boots, which was a very nice look for him. I was about to tell him so when we opened the door and found a visitor on the front stoop.
“Tia,” I said, surprised. I remembered her following us earlier tonight, but I had no idea she’d still be here.
She stood as soon as she saw us. Tia wore her dress from the dinner party, although it was torn on one shoulder and bore grass stains up the side. She’d also lost her shoes.
Guilt pricked at me. I’d been inside, having my way with Lucien, while she’d been, well, what had she been doing?
“What happened to you?” Vinny asked.
She ignored the question, eyes trained on me. “I told you I needed to talk to you,” she said, voice shaky.
“That you did.” But I really didn’t think she’d camp out.
Vinny took her by the arm. “Did someone attack you?”
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