Tall, Dark & Heartless: A Pyte/Sentinel Series Novel

by R. L. Mathewson

  "Just try a little more. You'll like it," he lied, knowing that there really was no other choice. He couldn't very well have her attacking every human they came in contact with and if she didn't learn to feed from the bag that's exactly what she'd end up doing as they made their way to Washington.

  He could feed her from his own vein, his cock jumped approvingly at that thought, but of course that would mean that he would have to overindulge during their entire trip and that would be a hassle. It would also leave Danni with a serious problem once he left her. If she couldn't feed from bagged blood she'd be pretty screwed. He wouldn't have to worry about her attacking humans and giving herself away since there wouldn't be any within a hundred miles of her, but she'd be left in bloodlust then her body would start attacking itself.

  He'd experienced starvation a few times and he sure as hell wouldn't voluntarily go through it again or let his mate go through it. There was nothing like watching your body wasting away until there was only skin and bone and a constant hunger that stayed with you day and night and by that point not even bloodlust could take over to give you a reprieve from the pain. By then the body was used to feeding on itself it wouldn't go into bloodlust again until well after it became used to blood again. It was hell and he wouldn't be able to leave her if he thought that future was a possibility for her.

  "Stop stalling, Danni, and drink. If you drink it down fast enough you probably won't even taste it," he said, lying once again, but it was for the best.

  She licked her lips nervously as she stared at the bag. "You know what? You're right. I just have to drink it quickly," she rambled on nervously and he really couldn't help but find this new version of Danni cute as hell.

  "Come on, Danni. I thought you were going to take me down a notch. How can you make me lose control if you can't even feed yourself, hmm?" he asked, taunting her just a bit and enjoying it probably more than he should, but then again it wasn't very often that the tough as nails Danni couldn't handle something. It was actually enlightening to see the woman show a vulnerability.

  "I can feed myself," she snapped, looking pissed so of course he gave her a noncommittal shrug and said, "If you say so."

  "I can," she said, shoving the bag of blood back towards him. "I'm not hungry at the moment." Her stomach chose that moment to growl.

  He cocked a brow as he held the bag up to her. "Drink, Danni. You know that you have to learn," he simply said.

  She nodded woodenly before taking a deep breath, closing her eyes and placing the tip of the bag where she'd bitten through in her mouth and took a quick, deep pull on the bag. Not even five seconds later the bag was shoved in his hands and she had a hand slapped over her mouth and was making a run towards the bathroom.

  Should this really amuse him? he wondered as he followed her, admittedly enjoying watching the way her bare ass moved as she rushed over to the sink. When she spit the blood out he let out a tired sigh. Great, he needed to bring her across the country tomorrow and she couldn't even keep down a mouthful of blood.

  What in the hell was he supposed to do now?

  Not only was she going to need extra blood because she was a new turn and her body was still adjusting to the change, but because of the cancer, he thought as he gritted his teeth against the rage that began to simmer. The cancer was destroyed during her turn and had used up most of the blood, leaving her a bit weaker than she should be. She was going to have to play catch up and the best way for her to do that was bagged blood.

  "I don't understand this. Why can't I drink it?" she asked, sounding irritated. "Your blood I can't get enough of, but that stuff turns my stomach. It doesn't make any sense."

  "Cold blood is an acquired taste," he said, holding out the bag of blood to her.

  She stared at it and shook her head as she stepped away from it. "Just the scent of it is making me sick," she said, moving quickly away from it.

  "As I said, it's an acquired taste. When you drink from the source, you're getting hot, fresh blood that hasn't had time to settle. Bagged blood on the other hand is kept cold, the scent and taste of all the minerals in the blood intensifies as it settles until it covers the delicious flavor of the actual blood. It will take some time, but you'll get used to it," he said, once again holding the bag of blood out to her.

  She shook her head as she edged away from him and the blood. She moved into the large bedroom. "How long did it take you to get used to it?" she asked, moving to the sitting area and putting a sofa between the two of them, as if that would save her ass.

  "It took a few weeks to get used to it," he said in an offhand manner as he lied his ass off.

  When the Council had agreed to allow him to stick around it had been damn hard. Going cold turkey and drinking the bagged shit had been hard enough, but going through withdrawal and being in a compound full of Sentinels had been pure hell.

  Sentinel blood was stronger and sweeter than human blood. It acted as a natural booby-trap for vampires and a few demons who craved blood. The blood drew its intended prey and once it was consumed it would kill the vampire or demon that ingested it. It would only give him a slight stomach ache, something he could easily ignore. It sure as hell would have been more satisfying than the bagged shit.

  "I don't have a few weeks," Danni said on a groan.

  "This is my fault," he said as he slowly moved towards her. "If I had aided your turn with bagged blood it would taste like fillet mignon to you," he explained, ever so slowly making his way over to her.

  She worried her bottom lip as she thought over what he said and thankfully didn't make any moves to get away. "Do you enjoy the taste?"

  "Yes," he said with absolutely no hesitation. He did enjoy the taste. He enjoyed it more when it was warmed in the microwave, but she didn't need to hear that. Right now she needed him to bullshit her to get her to drink this blood and get to the point where she could tolerate it. More importantly, she needed to be able to hold it down. If she didn't do that they were going to be screwed.

  They couldn't stay here. If they did they'd draw whoever the Master sent after them and Jax's pack would be stuck in the middle. He couldn't do that to the man. Not after everything they'd been through together. It didn't matter that the shifter sometimes irritated the living hell out of him or that he caught the bastard eyeing Danni's gorgeous legs, he owed it to the man to get Danni the hell out of here and away from his pack.

  "Are you lying to me?" she asked, noting his approach and once again moving away from him.

  This was getting old, he thought with a sigh as he flashed behind her, startling her and making her jump.

  "Stop doing that!" she snapped, sounding pissed, as she shot him a glare over her shoulder, but he didn't miss the glimmer of interest in her eye.

  "You want me to teach you how to do that, don't you?" he asked, grinning when she muttered something about his balls and something that sounded pretty damn painful so he decided to ignore it.

  "I'll teach you everything I know if you give this another shot," he promised, knowing that for a woman like Danni, a woman who craved knowledge and strived to be the best that this was an offer that she simply wouldn't be able to refuse.

  Of course she could teach herself, he'd done that, but it would take a long time to master all of her new abilities. That would never do for Danni. She'd want to start testing everything out the moment they had some breathing room and she wouldn't be happy until she mastered everything.

  "You'll teach me?" she asked slowly, eying him in a way that led him to believe that she simply didn't trust him.

  "Yes," he snapped, not liking that look at all. It was pretty damn insulting.

  She eyed him for a minute longer before she abruptly nodded, reached out and took the bag from him. He watched as she placed the corner of the bag against her mouth, squeezed her eyes shut and began sucking, hard. It really wasn't a pretty sight as her face puckered up as if she were sucking on a lemon and those little gagging noises weren't exactly helping so he foc
used his attention elsewhere.

  He let out an appreciative hiss as he looked over her beautiful full breasts, smooth lightly toned stomach and moved his eyes south until he spotted her cute little toes wiggling as if it would somehow aide in this chore. When he looked back up he was glad to see that half the bag of blood was gone and she wasn't running towards the sink. Her eyes were still shut and she was grimacing, but it did nothing to take away from her beauty.

  As she stood there with her eyes closed he gazed at her. As a child she'd been cute, as a woman she was gorgeous. The few times he'd allowed himself to watch her over the years he'd noticed that she'd grown into a very desirable woman, but he never allowed his mind to drift where it shouldn't and now he couldn't help himself.

  "What's wrong?" Danni suddenly asked, frowning. "Did I spill blood?" she asked, looking down at her perfect bare breasts.

  "No," he said, shaking his head slightly as he reached out and took the bag of blood away from her. He placed it on a coffee table, making sure that it wouldn't leak before he turned his attention back to Danni.

  "Then what are you looking at?"

  "You," he simply said as he reached out and cupped her face in his hands as he brought his mouth down on hers.

  Kissing her eased something deep inside of him. Being with her made him feel whole, like everything in his world was finally right and that should have made him push her away, but he couldn't. Right now she was everything to him, his heart, his soul, his world and he'd be damned if he'd pushed away the first real bit of happiness he'd ever known.

  She would be his savior, he decided in that moment. When nothing in his world felt right or the bitter loneliness that had haunted him all of his life became too much he would call her just to hear her voice and if that wasn't enough to settle his soul then he would go to her. Now that he had her in his arms and he allowed himself to relax and take what she offered he had to admit that he liked the idea of Danni waiting for him.

  Her safety was still his number one concern. He would do whatever it took to keep her protected and keep her from experiencing the hell that awaited her, but he liked the idea of Danni waiting for him. Liked the idea of having her waiting in a secluded hideaway where they could enjoy each other as they pretended that the rest of the world melted away and only they existed. She would be his haven.

  "Is this another lesson?" she asked against his lips as the scent of her arousal filled his senses.

  "Mmmmhmmm, the very best kind," he murmured against her lips as he took his time savoring her taste, her scent and her warmth.

  When he thought he was human all those centuries ago he'd decided never to take a wife. Back then he'd been nothing more than the village freak. He had nothing to offer a woman and honestly, he hadn't wanted one. He hadn't wanted any woman to suffer by being married to a freak. Not that any woman would have had him. Up until the day he slipped into a coma and began his transformation he'd looked like a little boy.

  After he woke up and discovered that he was changed in more ways than one, he decided that he truly was a freak, a monster as Danni had claimed. Caine never wanted any woman permanently in his life, knowing that he could never reveal what he was. For a very long time he led a life of leisure with no ties and no worries until his arrogance brought him into the wrong bed and once again he became the town freak.

  Once he escaped, he took his anger out on the world. He hadn't cared who he hurt or what he did and he sure as hell hadn't cared about himself. He'd hated himself more than anything. It wasn't until a precocious little girl with brilliant violet eyes started to boss him around that he started to realize just how lonely and fucked up his existence was.

  She gave him something to look forward to and quickly became an enjoyable part of his life, something he'd never experienced before. Pushing her away had been one of the most difficult things he'd ever done in his life, but now he realized that he'd been too selfish to do what he should have done to protect her. He wanted to watch over her and make sure that she had the life that she deserved and obviously he'd fucked that up, but the selfish part of him was happy, ecstatic even.

  He would never have to give up the one person that cared about him, loved him and made his existence somewhat tolerable. Better, she'd grown into a beautiful woman, when she was in his arms she made him whole and perhaps even happy. As a child Danni had made him smile and chased away some of the bitter loneliness that ate at his soul, but it was nothing like what the woman in his arms could do. She made him feel like a man, like he belonged and he'd be damned if he ever let her take that away from him.

  "What's the lesson?" she asked as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  "How to please your mate," he growled against her mouth before he deepened the kiss.

  Chapter 32

  Boston Compound

  "You might as well come out of there," Ephraim said, chuckling as he leaned against the wall near the elevator panel and waited for his little stalker to crawl out from the crawlspace beneath the back staircase.

  With a put out sigh, Marc crawled out and stood up, dusting off his flannel pajamas. "That's not fair, Dad. You cheated," Marc said with a slight pout.

  "Uh huh," Ephraim said absently as he gestured for his son to come to him.

  Marc struggled to bite back a smile as he did just that. When he was only a few feet away the smile broke loose and he threw himself into Ephraim's arms. He hugged his son tightly against him, needing this more than anything.

  "Can you watch a movie with me, Dad?" Marc asked, trying not to sound too eager as he pulled back to watch Ephraim's expression, he waited patiently for his answer.

  Ephraim knew that if he told his son no and explained that he was exhausted that Marc would understand and accept his answer without any complaint and that just about broke Ephraim. Marc was a mature, considerate kid and sometimes it killed him knowing that he'd robbed his son of a decent childhood. Marc should be a typical kid, playing with friends, going outside and getting into trouble, but thanks to him he couldn't have that life.

  "Of course," he said, smiling as he put his son down and ignored how exhausted he was. He needed a shower, blood and to hold his wife, but his son needed him and he'd be damned if he failed another child.

  "Great!" Marc said excitedly. "You can even pick the movie, Dad."

  Ephraim chuckled as he shook his head. "You can pick the movie, little man."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Positive. Just let me go check on your brother first," he said, knowing that he wouldn't be able to relax until he made sure that Joshua was okay. It didn't matter that he would have been alerted to any changes in his son's behavior or situation, he needed to see him with his own eyes and make sure that he was okay.

  "Okay, I'll come too," Marc said with a firm nod, putting on a brave front as he keyed in the security code for the elevators.

  "You don't have to, Marc. Go on upstairs and I'll be there in a few minutes," he said, biting back a yawn.

  Marc threw a wistful look over his shoulder at the grand staircase before slowly shaking his head. "No, I'll come, too."

  "Okay," Ephraim said, smiling down at his son as they stepped into the elevator.

  "Hold the elevator!" he heard one of his favorite women yell.

  With a chuckle, he reached out and stopped the elevator door from shutting. He watched his daughter-in-law half jog/half waddle towards the elevator. She laid one hand on her large stomach and balanced a large white frosted cake on an oversized tan plate on the other.

  "Thanks, Daddy," she said with a sweet smile as she hurried past him so that she could lean her back against the elevator wall and catch her breath.

  "You're welcome, Izzy," he said with real warmth.

  He'd known her for less than a year, but she was definitely one of his little girls. Having her in his life helped make up for the loss he experienced years ago when they lost their little girl, but that wasn't the only reason he loved her. It was hard not to lov
e Izzy. She was sweet, funny and very kind, something that would normally be a problem for a Sentinel and if she patrolled every night with her mate he'd be genuinely concerned for her, but thankfully she liked it in the tech room so he didn't have to worry.

  Much.

  Her friendship with the Alpha and the vampire that he was probably going to have to kill was a different story altogether. He knew that she hadn't been raised in this world so he couldn't get pissed off at her for befriending what should be enemies for this family. Well, he could get pissed at her. In the beginning he wanted to kill the vampire and the shifter with his bare hands, but the damn woman and that trembling lip of hers did him in. She was a manipulative little thing, he thought with a smile as he watched her pull out two forks and hand one over to Marc.