by Lexi Blake
I collapsed on top of him, his arms around me. The rest of the world was gone, and it was just us. I knew beyond any doubt that this was where I belonged. There was a certainty to this I never felt before, not even when Daniel was human. I would never leave him. He would never leave me again. Nothing and no one could come between us ever.
I should have been worried. I realized that later. We were on the run. We had to keep the package away from any number of nasty people until Halfer was ready to take it. My life was on the line. My soul was on the line. We should have moved the minute we were physically able, but we didn’t. We made love on the bed and the floor and in the bathroom. I thought of nothing but Daniel and pleasure. The rest of the world, the rest of life, didn’t matter.
Neither one of us noticed the box on the table. It was the whole reason we were here in this room reclaiming our relationship, but it sat there, ignored and forgotten.
We weren’t watching when it began to pulsate and glow.
Chapter Nineteen
The digital clock beside the bed read 5:30 a.m. when I stretched and rolled over, my hands seeking Daniel. I’d only been asleep for an hour or so, but I felt fantastic.
“I’m over here, baby.” He stood at the small window that overlooked the not-so-scenic parking lot. His broad back was facing me, and I was disappointed to see his boxers were back on. It was odd to see Daniel naked as he was now. We’d only had the one night together before, and after that there had been no intimacy between us. Daniel had been no slouch in the looks department before, but becoming a vampire had taken him to a whole different level. Human Daniel had a great build, but he generally preferred playing around on his computer or reading a book to hitting the gym. Not so for the vampire version. He was all muscle, and watching the way he moved or even stood still made my mouth water.
“Whatcha doing?” I could hear the smile in my voice. I sat up and didn’t think twice about the fact that I was naked. It seemed natural. I didn’t need clothes when I was alone with Daniel. They would do nothing but get in the way.
Daniel didn’t turn, simply stared out the window. “I couldn’t sleep. I don’t do that at night anymore, I’m afraid. So I was just thinking. I’m trying to figure out which member of our crew betrayed us.”
“What?” I was surprised at the sudden turn of the conversation. I sat up and tried to focus on something other than his perfect backside.
“My money’s on the faery.”
“Dev wouldn’t betray us.” I needed to shut that line of thinking down fast before things went really bad for Dev. Danny had been possessive before his turn, and vampires weren’t known for their sharing ways. I didn’t want to see Dev get hurt. Dev and I hadn’t gotten past a heavy make-out session, and he shouldn’t have to die because he’d made it to second base. “He doesn’t have any reason to betray us. He doesn’t need the money. As far as I know, I haven’t done anything to him that would require revenge. I only went on one date with him.”
I didn’t mention the make-out session in the kitchen, and I certainly didn’t point out that he had plans for me. Those plans didn’t mean a damn thing now, so there was no reason to say anything.
“I’m actually kind of hoping it’s the faery.” Daniel turned from the window and walked toward me. He smiled despite the seriousness of the conversation. He put one knee on the bed, and I found myself on my back again. “I would really like to eviscerate him.”
“Danny!” I protested as he started to kiss his way toward a nipple. “He hasn’t done anything. You can’t kill Dev.”
He sighed as my nipple puckered under his thumb. “Watch me, Z. I find out he’s working with either one of those demons and I will…is there a word for slicing someone open, draining them of all their blood and then, because I sure as hell wouldn’t touch it, letting it run out into the street for the rats while I piss in it? I can’t think of a word. I’ll have to make one up.”
I groaned, a mixture of pleasure and annoyance. I tried to sit up, but he really was an immovable object. “Dev isn’t working with demons.”
“There are too many coincidences.” Daniel kissed my breast in short, sweet assaults against my skin. “The first guys had a damn keycard, Z. They knew where we would be and when we would be there. They let us do the work, and then they came in to claim the prize. The only reason your soul isn’t speeding away somewhere is Stewart decided to use some dumbasses. Someone is working with the enemy, and if it’s not Dev then it’s Sarah. God, I love your breasts. I missed your breasts. Hello, breasts.”
I smacked him lightly on the head to get his attention. He looked up and pouted.
“Be serious for two seconds, Danny. It can’t be Sarah, and before you bring it up, it’s not Neil, either.”
“I know it’s not Neil and your two seconds are up.” He settled himself between my legs. He’d already recovered from our earlier activities and was definitely ready to play again. “We can deal with this later, baby. Sun’s going to be up in a couple of hours, and I’m feeling a little hungry.”
I put out a hand to stop him. “Tempting. First, how can you know it’s not Neil? I sincerely suggest you think before you lie.”
He did. Daniel took a moment before he answered, and I found myself vaguely offended.
“Fine.” He rolled off me, helping me sit up so I was facing him on the bed. “No more secrets, then. Neil can’t betray me. He made a blood oath to me two years ago.”
“What?” It came out louder than I actually intended.
“See,” Daniel said, pointing my way. “I knew you were going to be pissed.”
“What the hell is a blood oath?”
“It’s an oath and there’s blood and then he can’t betray us,” Daniel said as though he hoped that would satisfy me. I stared. It was my default move when he hesitated. I stared with arms crossed, and he knew I could keep it up for a long time. He caved. “Okay, fine, but you won’t like this either. When I first came back, I knew I didn’t want to bring you into my world. I thought it was too dangerous for you, but I needed to bring someone in. What you have to understand is…well…it’s like this…how can I put this and not have you hit me? A vampire needs minions.”
I frowned. “I am so not your minion.”
“That’s the point, Zoey. I didn’t want to make you a minion but a vampire needs…people, a crew, call it what you want. Most vampires have a couple of people around them or they’re considered weak, and a weak vampire is…"
“…an unsafe vampire,” I finished for him, wondering for the first time how hard it was to be Daniel. There was obviously a whole political level I hadn’t thought about before. “So you needed people. Why did you pick Neil?”
Daniel settled back, obviously satisfied I wasn’t going to walk out. “Your dad found Neil. You know that, but what you don’t know is he found Neil for me, not you. Your dad understood how dangerous it was for me to be completely alone, so he looked around. It was just a happy coincidence that we needed muscle for the crew. Neil was a street kid and a weak-ass werewolf when we met. He had his ass handed to him almost nightly by the local pack. I’ve never gotten the entire story about his parents, but they were wolves, too, and I guess they were all right with what the pack did to him. They kicked him to the street a long time before. He was going to die, Zoey. They were going to chew him up and spit him out and laugh the whole time. He had one choice if he wanted to live. So he took a blood oath, and in case you hadn’t noticed, those wolves don’t bother him anymore. He’s still an outcast. Now they turn their back on him because he ‘betrayed’ his kind. But they don’t bother him.”
“He takes your blood.” I said it out loud so it was real to me. A blood oath required the taking of blood. Neil took Daniel’s blood into his body and had for as long as I’d known him.
“At least once a week,” Daniel confirmed. “It’s mutually beneficial. Wolves normally hate vampires, so it enhances my reputation to have a wolf beside me. It looks like I’m strong enough
to force him to do my bidding, but I don’t even try. I can call Neil, but I certainly don’t have a weird mind-control thing over him. God, I wish. He’s a shitty minion. I think he memorized my credit card number because I apparently spend a lot of money at someplace called Aéropostale. I don’t know what that is.”
I laughed at the thought of Neil being anyone’s minion, but the humor only lasted a minute before I was taken back to serious thought.
“What are you thinking?” Daniel’s voice told me he wasn’t sure he wanted an answer.
I took my time replying. “I’m thinking that the two people in the world I’m closest to have this whole relationship I didn’t know about.”
Daniel sighed. “It’s not a relationship, Zoey. It’s business. It’s a way to keep other people from screwing with us. We’re safer together than we are apart.”
“It’s more than that, Danny. You saved him.”
“He saved me, too.”
I shook my head. “I don’t believe that. You’re stronger than you let anybody know. Dev says you’re the strongest vampire to rise in a long time.”
“Dev has a big mouth.” Daniel took a long breath, as though deciding just how much to tell me. “All right, let me put it like this. Having Neil around helps keep out the vampires who would like to test that theory. He’s kept me from having to do things I’d rather not do in order to survive. I didn’t tell you because I was trying to keep you out of it.”
“I’m not mad about it.” And I wasn’t. “I just think it’s weird that all this time the two of you kept quiet about it. It seems intimate.”
“There’s nothing intimate about it,” Daniel said, his head shaking in masculine denial. “I squeeze some blood into a cup, and he drinks it. It is so not intimate.”
I started to say something and then sat there looking at him with my mouth hanging wide open as the truth poured over me. Strength. He’d given me a bit of his strength. That little potion he’d given me after the feeding hadn’t been full of herbs. It had been full of Daniel.
“Zoey…” Daniel said slowly, as though he could postpone the inevitable.
“That was blood. I drank blood. I drank your blood,” I said in a zombie-like monotone as I tried to process that particular truth.
“You were weak and you needed it,” Daniel reasoned. “Besides, you don’t mind it when I drink yours.”
“That’s different.” But it really wasn’t. I’d fed Daniel because he needed it. He’d given me his blood when I’d been weak. It was an intimacy shared by two people who loved each other. Was there really anything wrong with it? “So if I ever need a short burst of strength, you just open a vein into a mug and instant bloody Starbucks?”
“It wouldn’t be my preferred method, but if that’s the way you want it, then, yes.” He seemed to measure his words. “It’s not a bad idea for you take it before you do a job. I know I would feel better if you had more protection. Consider it the supernatural equivalent of a Kevlar vest. I would prefer you took it straight from the tap, though. You know how good it feels when I feed from you?”
“Oh, yeah.” My breath caught at the thought. It felt exquisite.
“Well, I wouldn’t mind feeling that way, too.”
I laughed, but there was no small amount of desire in it. I liked the thought of Daniel being the one who passed out from pleasure.
Daniel pulled me close again. “Do you have any idea how good you taste? Every day for the last five years I’ve dreamed of this. Being around you and not being able to have you has been hell. I could drain you dry, and I would still want more.”
“Let’s not try it.” I let my head fall to the side. “But a late-night snack won’t kill me.”
He was gentler this time. I felt only the slightest sting as his fangs found the vein in my neck, and then the pleasure started to build with every tug of his mouth. When he’d had his fill, it was my turn.
“Baby, this is important.” He held out his hand. “Don’t be scared.” He grimaced a little as his nails lengthened, growing into perfect claws.
I stared at them, in awe of the way he could change. “I’m not afraid, Danny.”
He drew a single, sharp nail across his chest and blood welled. He put his hands on my face. “This is everything to me. This means we’re together. No going back, Z.”
I didn’t want to go back. I leaned in and tentatively put my mouth on him.
“Oh, god, baby, suck me, please.” Daniel’s hand wound around the back of my neck and held me in place. “Suck hard. It feels so good.”
I did as he asked, sucking his blood into my mouth, surprised at the hot velvety texture. Even as I whirled my tongue against his chest, he drew my hand down to his cock. It was hard, so damn hard. He pumped himself into my hand, and I tightened around him. He groaned as I released my hold on his chest. My mouth had other places to go.
“Oh, yes,” Daniel said approvingly as I moved lower and took him into my mouth.
I was pleased when he passed into sleep completely satisfied.
* * * *
When I woke up, I was cuddled against him. This time there was no pain or weakness. My neck felt fine, and when I ran my hand over it, I was surprised to find it smooth with no hint of the earlier wounds. It was his blood. It healed and made me stronger than I’d ever felt. I stretched, feeling every muscle move languorously. I let myself lie against him just a moment longer before I sat up and looked at the clock. It was almost five in the evening. I slept all day, lying there next to Daniel who had no choice but to sleep.
I would have to get used to a nocturnal lifestyle because I didn’t plan to spend my nights sleeping anymore. I would spend them with Daniel. My boyfriend was a vampire, so daylight wasn’t going to be our special time. I smiled as I thought about it. There were things to be worked out and difficult conversations to be had, but I could get through that. I had everything I wanted. I was hours away from giving the package to Halfer, getting my contract back, and having a shitload of money to show for it. I already had the best thing of all.
I had Daniel back.
I glanced over at the package. It sat on the table where we left it. Everything was exactly as it should have been with one teeny, tiny difference.
The damn thing was glowing like a firefly.
I got out of bed and slipped into Daniel’s T-shirt. I walked tentatively to the box. It glowed and started to pulse as I approached.
“Damn it.”
This is where it all goes to hell. I will not touch that box, I continued my inner dialogue. Pulse away, little box, I’m not playing Pandora. I am going to leave you right where you are, and Halfer is coming to get you and I’m gonna hand you over and fulfill my end of the contract. It’s nothing personal, box, it’s strictly business.
And then I heard it.
The box, or whatever was in the box, cried.
All of my thoughts of self-protection flew away as I touched the box, and it opened without hesitation. The top slid open and there, sitting in the middle of the box that seemed much larger on the inside than it had from the outside, lay the one thing I could never hand over to a demon.
I picked up the soft, pink baby girl so perfect and human, with a ridiculously precious toothless grin, and held her close with a maternal instinct I hadn’t known I had. She wriggled against me.
She made some soft sounds and settled against my shoulder, and I knew in that moment I was going straight to Hell.
Chapter Twenty
“OMG! This is the single porniest room I have ever seen!” Neil exclaimed two hours later as I let him through the door. His eyes went wide as he took in the sights. He stopped when he got to Daniel lying in the bed. It was obvious I’d occupied the other side of the bed. “Then there’s the smell. Jeez, Zoey, change the sheets after you’re done. It’s really overwhelming. Oh, look Sarah, Mommy and Daddy got back together. See, I told you dreams can come true.”
“Porny?” I resettled the baby on my hip. I already felt better.
The last few hours I’d felt vulnerable. It had been just me, a sleeping vampire, and a baby who I had no idea how to care for. Though I figured Neil would be useless when it came to taking care of the baby, he did make me feel safer. Demons would have to think twice before dealing with Neil. It didn’t hurt that I knew his strength was enhanced with Daniel’s blood.
Neil smiled. “It’s something new I just came up with. Look, I made an adjective! I can’t imagine what my inspiration was. So, I’ll ask the question. Why are you holding a baby? You look cute—all Madonna and child. By the way, Dev is bringing in the stuff you asked for, and he’ll be here any minute so you should…well, there’s not a damn thing you can do to hide this, so just be ready. He’s been freaked out all day.”
“We couldn’t find you.” Sarah looked at the wards I’d drawn on the walls. She ran her hands across the symbols as though she could feel the power behind them, and maybe she could. “We were up all night. I tried every locator spell I know but got nothing. This explains it.”
“Thanks. I had a great teacher.” I was just the teeniest bit disappointed she didn’t seem more excited. It was the first time I’d done something with magic that worked. We’d been safe here.
“I thought we should just try your cell phone,” Neil said. “But you know, Sarah, always with the witchy stuff.”
“I tossed the cells.” They were in itty bitty pieces all along 183. I couldn’t take the chance that the demons knew about the whole GPS thing.
“And when would you have had time to answer?” Neil snarked. “What with all the porntastic fun going on? See, I made another one.”
Dev chose that moment to walk in carrying a large bag from Target. I hoped it contained the list I dictated to Neil over the phone. I’d rattled off all the baby stuff I knew and hoped I hadn’t forgotten anything. Up to this point, little baby girl had been a perfect angel. If I’d thought about it at the time, I would have been suspicious, but the truth was, I didn’t know what babies were like. I’d never had a baby sister or brother. I only had one real girlfriend, and Sarah was as far from procreating as she could get.