Unwrapped

by Bonnie Vanak

  “Adrian, you’ve got to take the bracelet off. The two Morphs that escaped are after me and if they come here, you’ll be caught in a very personal, ugly war.” Her voice dropped to a pained whisper. “I don’t want to do that to you again.”

  Adrian raised a dark brow. “You’re not leaving. Not until you help me settle old business.”

  He flicked a switch and light flooded the room. Two deep gouges demarcated his cheek.

  Sarah smothered a gasp with the back of her hand. “You can’t get hurt, you’re a vampire.” Contrary to human myth, vampires were living, breathing creatures born to their extraordinary powers. Their beauty, swiftness and grace made them deadly enemies.

  The sneer on Adrian’s mouth became more pronounced. “Do you like the artwork? The sunlight weakened my ability to heal.”

  Her hand automatically went to her bad leg. “Adrian, I didn’t want to leave you, but your family had arrived. I knew they would rescue you.”

  A shadow chased across his face. Was it regret? “Did you assume as much? They would not. My clan’s code forbade rescuing me after I broke the rules unless I humbled myself by begging for help. So I begged, they saved me and then banished me for a decade. I’ve been alone, except for the gremlins, my daylight guardians.”

  “I don’t understand your people. Why should you have to beg for help?”

  “Because I’m the next in line to lead our clan, and when I break a rule, it holds more consequences than if the others do it. My punishment is greater. The rules were meant for a reason, to keep me safe and separate me from all except our people.” Adrian looked as if the confession pained him.

  Shock slapped her like a wet towel. “You’re Marcus’s heir? You never said anything.”

  “Because I didn’t want you to feel intimidated or treat me differently. When you asked for my help, I gave it to you, despite my father’s angry objections.” Ice coated his voice as he stepped closer. “I never imagined you’d run away when I needed you most.”

  His warm breath feathered over her chilled skin. “Do you know what it’s like for a future leader of the most powerful vampire clan to be defeated by the enemies of another species? To admit a weakness to his family? To cast aside all he is and condemn himself to years of solitude? It’s not half as agonizing as feeling your flesh burn until you’ll say anything, do anything, to escape the sun.”

  She could feel the heat of his barely banked rage as if emanating from that very sun, but this heat held an icy blast. Sarah wrapped her arms about herself.

  “I didn’t realize…”

  “I abandoned my family and took the side of a werewolf. I did it all for you, because you asked me.”

  His voice dropped to a bare whisper. “Once I would have done anything for you.”

  Her heart stilled. “I called you a couple of days after the battle to see how you were recovering, but the phone was disconnected. And I couldn’t risk more than that phone call, much as I wanted to go back to you. It was too dangerous for us.”

  “I was already gone, banished to Maine, and shunned by all other vampires.”

  “I’m sorry, Adrian. I never thought it would come to this.”

  “It has.” Icy-blue eyes met hers. “And now you’re mine.”

  A slight shiver skated up her spine at the possessive note in his voice. She had to put distance between them. The Morphs were dangerous, but the feelings she still harbored for this vampire were also lethal.

  “Revenge is an asinine motivation,” she told him.

  “Not revenge, Sarah. Something much more important.” His expression hardened. “You’re very necessary to me right now. If I can’t find and defeat the Morphs who escaped me, I’ll be banished for good and never rule the clan after my father steps down.”

  She closed her eyes against the coolness in his gaze. Once she had basked in the warmth of his presence, cherished their time together as they met in secret. Ignoring stern warnings from their families, they’d formed a close friendship eleven years ago, linked by a common love of old movies, books and engaging discussions about world affairs. Sarah’s pack was wary of vampires, and his clan disdained all Draicon.

  And then she asked Adrian to fight with her against her enemies because she could not face them alone. Never had she imagined he would pay such a terrible price.

  Little could be done about the past. She must focus on the present. Her father was safe for now, entrenched among the human world after she’d phoned him last night. But he’d worry, and track her down if she didn’t get home to Connecticut by Christmas. James was blind. Without her, he couldn’t go anywhere without resorting to magick. And magick would leave a bright spectral trail for the Morphs to follow, as shiny as gold coins winking in the sunshine.

  “If I could have changed things, I’d never ask you to stand with me. But you can’t keep me here now.”

  “You’re my Christmas gift. I never return gifts.” He circled around her with a vampire’s deadly grace and lethal quiet.

  Her chest felt hollow as she realized her friend was gone for good. In his place was a dangerous vampire who wanted to use her as he wished. With the bracelet on her wrist stripping her powers, she was helpless against him.

  I’ll find a way out. She must. Her father depended solely on her.

  In the moonlight Adrian’s blue eyes gleamed like lasers. He caught her in one hand beneath her chin. Breath caught in her throat as he studied her face as an artist would study a sculpture in progress. His gaze dropped to the slender curve of her neck.

  “Like what you see?” she snapped.

  “You’ll do nicely.” He dropped his hand.

  “For what? I warn you, I bite.”

  A deep chuckle rumbled from his chest. “So do I.” He leaned closer. “My bite is better than yours. You wouldn’t feel anything, except a slight sting, and then…ecstasy. I make women cry out, even scream before they faint from the pleasure.”

  Sarah’s insides tightened at the thought of his warm mouth pressed against her chilled skin. Kissing his way up her throat, those white fangs sinking into her neck as she clutched him, moaning as he suckled her.

  Hunger flared on his face. She waited in breathless anticipation to see if he would finally capitulate to the need driving him each time they were near. But he only snagged a thick terry-cloth robe from a clothes-peg and draped it over her shoulders. “You’ll find out soon enough what I want. In the meantime, let’s get you into the house and warm.”

  Chapter 3

  S itting at the kitchen table, Sarah kept her face expressionless. Once his friend, now Adrian’s captive. Though she had to admit, it was a beautiful prison.

  The mansion was tasteful and welcoming. Brown leather sofas and overstuffed fabric chairs sat before a river rock fireplace in the living room. French doors that opened to the pool deck held a stunning view of the jagged cliffs and moonlit ocean beyond. A recessed bar featured gleaming crystal stemware and a wine rack. Inside a locked glass cabinet was Adrian’s rare collection of Revolutionary War muskets and cannonballs. Books were strewn about the coffee table. Seeing the wine and books had given her a pang of nostalgia, remembering the times they’d spent talking about books while sipping the fine vintages Adrian liked to collect.

  He’d shown her to a lavish bedroom. Adrian allowed her to shower. Sarah had sighed with pleasure at the luxury of all the hot water she needed. By the time she’d emerged from a bathroom the size of her apartment, she’d seen that her battered suitcase now sat on the plush blue rug. She’d dressed in a cranberry sweater, her one pair of good black corduroy trousers and boots, and went downstairs. The designer jeans, the ones she’d sweated and saved for, were in shreds. Adrian actually looked slightly abashed when she told him.

  “I apologize. The gremlins’ taste usually runs to Dolce & Gabbana, not Guess.”

  He offered to purchase another pair. Sarah demurred. Adrian could afford to buy a yacht filled with Guess jeans, but she didn’t take handouts.

/>   Sarah now studied her captor. Adrian stood well over six feet, with wide shoulders and a hint of muscle beneath his clothing. In black wool trousers, a black silk shirt and designer loafers, he had an air of elegance and sophistication.

  He was breathtakingly handsome. Heavy, dark brows sat over sharp blue eyes. His chin was strong and square, his lips sensual and full. Dark brown hair fell almost to his collar, clipped shorter than when she’d last seen him. The two deep gouges on his left cheek stood out in stark relief. Even the scars did not mar his beauty, but gave him a dangerous look.

  Arms folded, Adrian leaned against the Sub-Zero stainless refrigerator.

  “Release me, Adrian. I have to get back home, where it’s safe.”

  “Back to your mate? He can’t protect you as much as I can.”

  Arrogant, confident vampire. “I have no pack anymore, and no mate.”

  His expression remained hooded. “He’s out there. You’ll find him eventually, as all Draicon do with their destined mates.”

  “If they’re still alive. Mine isn’t. My destined mate died long ago.”

  Was that surprise flaring in his keen gaze? “You were waiting to find him when we were friends. I honored your commitment to mate with him. I never even…”

  His voice trailed off, but she knew what he meant. Never even kissed you.

  She bit her trembling lip, remembering his soft kiss after he’d rescued her from the pool. “He was killed when I was just a child, years before you and I ever met.”

  Adrian’s mouth thinned. “Your father told me he was alive.”

  “James was afraid of you becoming too friendly with me. Draicon males can scent when another male has been…intimate with a female. And a vampire, well, a vampire is to the Draicon, you know.”

  “No, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me? Lay it out, Sarah. What are we? Enemies?”

  Bitterness lashed his voice. He looked as remote as the Arctic.

  “You know your clan and my father would never approve of us,” she whispered. “Your own clan punished you for taking my side. My father warned that vampires and werewolves can’t be friends. Our passions run too high. Family loyalty must come first or we lose everyone close to us. You and I…”

  Words hung unspoken in the air. We were never meant to be.

  “I already lost my clan for ten years and high passions can also make for very pleasant pastimes, Sarah,” he said in a dangerously soft voice.

  “Why did you bring me here, Adrian?”

  “I’ve never taken a werewolf before. I hear they are quite wild in bed.”

  Tendrils of heat curled through her at the image of his muscular body naked as he turned to take her into his arms. Adrian’s gaze burned into hers.

  “What do you really want?” she asked again, her heart racing.

  “You.”

  He glided toward her with inborn grace and bracketed his arms on the chair, caging her. She breathed in his masculine scent. Even among all the males of her kind, none had ever compared to Adrian.

  Ice filled his gaze once more. “My clan won’t take me back until I restore my lost honor by defeating the Morphs I failed to kill. Any efforts I’ve made to find them have failed. My clan arrives in a few days for the convocation at midnight on Christmas Eve when I must prove I’ve killed the enemy. I need you to lure the Morphs here for me.”

  Real fear replaced rising desire. “I’ve hidden from these Morphs for ten years and now you want me to be bait? You must hate me, Adrian.”

  His gaze softened. “I would never allow them to touch one hair on your pretty head. I’ll protect you, Sarah.”

  “And during the day?” She tried to push away, but he kept a firm grip on her chair.

  “The gremlins will watch over you. Their magick is very powerful.”

  “Oh, sure. They managed to convince me that they could fix my car. That’s magick.”

  His mouth crooked up in a charming grin. “They did fix your car instead of eating the engine. I’d say that was very good magick.”

  The grin stilled her. She saw the old Adrian, full of mischief and fun. For a moment, time slid back. How she wished she could have told him the full truth when she pleaded for his help that night on the shore.

  Regrets were a waste of time. “You don’t seem to understand. These Morphs will stop at nothing until I’m dead.”

  “Why do they want you so much, Sarah? There’s a host of other Draicon out there to feed off. What is it about you they crave?”

  Raising her chin, she met his hard look with a brave one. “James and I are on our own. We’re packless, and more vulnerable because we have no one to stand with us against an attack.”

  “What happened to your mother and sister?”

  Tears burned in her throat. “Dead, that day you and I fought on the beach. My father and I ended up running for our lives.”

  He looked stunned. “I’m sorry, Sarah. How did it happen?”

  “An unexpected enemy killed them.”

  Adrian pulled out a chair, sat beside her. His gaze sharpened even as he held her hand in a comforting gesture. “That day we fought on the beach, you said you needed my help because your pack was protecting your mother. She was pregnant with the heir, and your sister and father stayed behind to guard her, as well. So what happened? Where’s your pack?”

  She said nothing.

  “Tell me.”

  His voice carried a hint of command, layered with a vampire’s natural enthrallment. Sarah fought against it.

  “They scattered. It’s a moot point, okay? What’s important is the Morphs after me will destroy anything and everything that stands in their way.”

  He leaned closer, so close she could count the bristles shadowing his hard jaw. “Bring them on. I’ll defeat them for you, win back my clan’s approval. No Morph can best me.”

  Power shimmered in the air. She didn’t doubt he could take on a legion of them without breaking a sweat. The ones he’d battled would never have scratched him, if not for the rising sun.

  The Morphs could take her life. But Adrian could take her heart, and then shatter it like glass. She’d spent the past decade picking up the shards of her former life. Hadn’t she already endured enough?

  Sarah pushed away from the table. He blocked her way. Adrian’s long fingers gently caught her wrist. “You will stay here.” His thumb stroked over her skin, creating a flare of pulsing desire. “I’ll keep you safe, Sarah.”

  His touch soothed her. For a moment she wanted to stop running, and fall into his arms. Sarah pulled away from the temptation. Never would she allow anyone to draw close. There was no one she could trust, especially not Adrian.

  His eyes grew brilliant as he watched her. White ringed the blue irises, as if they shimmered with light.

  “The Morphs who are after me have learned a few tricks. I can’t stay here.”

  Adrian released her wrist. “I’ve learned a few tricks, as well. And so have you, to evade them, and me, all these years. Why did you run away from me, Sarah? Such a mystery. I will find out why.”

  She hid a wince as cramps tightened her left leg. Sarah drew in a deep breath, working past the pain. Shoulders squared, she studied her captor.

  “If you’re done with the inquisition, I’d like to go to bed.”

  A slow smile touched his mouth. “Do you?”

  Her heart gave a funny little jerk. “Maybe I’ll settle for a walk on the beach,” she muttered.

  Adrian raised a dark brow. “It’s cold on the shore.”

  Not as cold as it is in here. “I’ll survive.” She gestured to carving knives on the counter. “Those steel?”

  Adrian nodded.

  Gritting her teeth against the pain of her bad leg, she tried to walk normally to examine the blades. But it proved impossible. Her left leg pulled like a lead weight.

  A frown touched his face. “Did I hurt you when I threw you into the pool?”

  “You can’t hurt me,” she shot back. “I�
��m tougher than that silly doll.”

  “I don’t doubt it.”

  She selected two knives, slid both through her belt. Adrian watched.

  “Since when do you arm yourself to walk on the beach?”

  Her chest felt compressed. “Since my old life went to hell. But you wouldn’t know anything about what that’s like.”

  “Hell isn’t reserved exclusively for Draicon,” he said quietly.

  Arms folded, he looked down at her, power surrounding him like a dark cloak. Sarah’s heart gave a little lurch. She dared to place her hand on his arm, feeling the tensile muscles tighten.

  His eyes darkened. Then Adrian jerked free of her touch and walked away. Just as she had walked away from him years ago. At the doorway, he paused and spoke over his shoulder.

  “Take my coat from the hall closet.”

  Warmth surrounded her as she shrugged into Adrian’s fur-lined black cashmere coat. She almost moaned in delight from the toasty feeling, the delicious scent that was uniquely his.

  A cold ocean breeze whipped at her hair as she went outside. Pebbles crunched beneath her boots as she followed the pathway down the cliff to the sandy beach. Craggy cliffs, laced with outcroppings of pink granite, stood as a silent sentinel over the horseshoe-shaped bay.

  Sarah watched the white froth of angry ocean waves. Salty spray stung her cheeks, but the briny air rejuvenated her. She and James had lived in urban centers, avoiding the pricier areas they couldn’t afford.

  After years of hiding, she and her father had finally settled, found jobs and had a little money. Their savings wouldn’t even cover one month of Adrian’s electric bill, but it was theirs. Now, thanks to her expedition to find a mate for herself and a pack for her father, they’d been discovered by the enemy. All for nothing. Her distant cousin Cameron hadn’t wanted her any more than the other males she’d sought out.

  Oh, the pack had been friendly and Terrence and Elaine, the alpha couple, couldn’t have been nicer. Cameron even liked her. But then her cousin had “accidentally” caught sight of her as she emerged from the shower. The towel had covered all essential parts, except her legs. The shock on Cameron’s face had quickly turned to revulsion. He’d left the house, leaving his parents puzzled and asking questions she didn’t want to answer. Filled with shame, she’d given polite excuses and left.