He was a vampire, the kind of creature that killed her parents. But he was also a man.
Her man.
It was time for her to face her fears and beat those bitches down.
Chapter Eleven
After a shower that was much longer than it needed to be because they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, Kimber and Duncan went back to bed and fell asleep in each other’s arms. She knew that he needed rest in order for his back to continue healing. She needed it because he’d bitten her again and while he hadn’t taken much, it had been enough to make her tired.
A while later movement in the bed woke her. She turned to her side to see him sitting up, rubbing one hand across his face. His dark hair was rumpled, giving him a hot bed head look. “Are you all right?” she asked, pulling herself up to rest against the headboard. “How’s your back?”
“I’m good. It’s fine,” he responded, sliding a hand around the back of her neck and tugging her close for a long, slow kiss. When he drew away, her breath rasped between her lips and her libido had flared to life again.
Damn. The man sure did know how to kiss.
“We need to talk to Aodhán,” he said.
She blinked. “Okay, I so wasn’t expecting that.” She leaned back to look at his face. “And I’m really doing my best not to start freaking out, but when we’re in bed together, naked and kissing, and then you go and say we need to talk to Aodhán, all sorts of kinky things start running through my head. He’s like my brother, so none of these thoughts end good for you.”
His lips twitched. One of these days she’d say something smartass and she’d get a full-blown smile from her dour vampire. It was her new goal in life.
“They’re here, too, by the way,” she added, realizing he probably didn’t know her friends had come along. He might have assumed they would have, because they wouldn’t have let Kimber go on her own. “They’re out in the living room.” She raised her eyebrows. “So, what exactly do we need to talk to Aodhán about?”
“It’s something Maddalene said, right before she took the cat to me.” He met her gaze. “She told me to ask Aodhán how she feels about males betraying her.”
She frowned. “What the hell would he know about it?”
“That’s what we need to find out.” He rolled out of bed and stretched. His back was completely healed, and only two long, thin scars criss-crossed his lower back. She hoped in time and with a few more feedings even those would fade away.
Her gaze drifted down. God, he had the best, most squeezable ass. It was a work of art, really. She reached over, intending to curl her fingers in those muscled buttocks, but he moved away before she could get him. She gave a little growl of disappointment.
“Get up and put your clothes on, sweetheart.” He walked over to a tall bureau and yanked open a drawer. Seconds later he’d tugged a soft-looking pair of gray sweat pants over his lean hips. A chest-hugging black T-shirt followed. “We need to get this sorted out and make sure Aodhán really is on our side.”
Kimber frowned. “How can you even ask that?” She got out of bed and pulled on her clothing. The floor was cold against her feet. “Can I have a pair of socks?” she asked, and added, “Aodhán doesn’t have to prove anything.”
“No?” His deep voice held a hardness she’d heard before, and it usually pissed her off because he was being stubborn and autocratic with her. She didn’t want him turning that attitude on Aodhán. He yanked open another drawer and tossed her a pair of white athletic socks.
She sat on the bed and pulled them on, then hurried across the room as Duncan opened the bedroom door and headed down the hallway toward the living room.
“No, he doesn’t.” She trailed him, grabbing onto his T-shirt to try to slow him down. It was like trying to stop an elephant by yanking on its tail. Didn’t work worth spit.
The smell of cinnamon and cloves was still present and she saw flames burning brightly in the fireplace. The room was a little on the cool side, but pleasant enough in the area near the fire.
“Who doesn’t what?” Aodhán asked from his sprawled position on the sofa.
Natalie was at the dining room table, eating Chinese. She looked up. Before Kimber or Duncan could respond to Aodhán’s question, Natalie said, “Did you know they have a chef here? So the human groupies who live here can be well-fed.” She looked at Duncan. “If you’d told me Maddalene had a five-star chef here, I would’ve been here six months ago. God, this is so good.” She forked another bite into her mouth.
Kimber felt Duncan tense up. “Who brought that?” he asked.
She wasn’t too thrilled, either. At least one more person possibly knew that there were humans in Duncan’s rooms.
Natalie gave a nonchalant wave. “That cutie patootie Atticus,” she said around the food in her mouth. “He said not to worry, that he told the chef it was for Maddalene’s attendants. Nobody ever questions a request from the queen, apparently.” Her eyes widened. “Man, that Atticus is something else. Talk about gorgeous.” She fanned herself with her hand. “He’s an eyegasm for sure.”
Aodhán grunted. “He’s also a bloodsucker. He’s probably just trying to fatten you up, did you ever think about that?” When she gave him a one-fingered salute, he turned his attention back to Duncan. “Who doesn’t what?” he asked again.
“You don’t have to explain yourself,” Kimber responded, more for Duncan than for Aodhán. She scurried around her back-to-being-a-pain-in-the-ass vampire and went to stand next to Aodhán.
The fey warrior scowled and rose to his feet. “Explain myself about what?”
Duncan folded his arms across his chest, his entire stance aggressive. “Maddalene told me I should ask you how she feels about men betraying her. What do you have to say about that?”
“Duncan, don’t be such a—” Kimber began.
“Look at his face,” he interrupted.
She glanced at Aodhán. Color rode high on his cheekbones and he wouldn’t meet Duncan’s eyes. “Aodhán?” she asked, turning to fully face him. “Are you…” She swallowed. “God, are you involved with Maddalene?”
His fierce gaze shot to her. “Hell, no.” He drew in a deep breath and blew it out on a sigh. “Not anymore.”
“When exactly were you involved with Maddalene?” Duncan’s terse voice radiated anger. “And why am I just hearing about it?”
“It was a long time ago, before you ever met her. Before Eduardo even.”
“But she and Eduardo were together for almost three hundred years.” Duncan let out a low whistle.
Aodhán dipped his head just a little, as if he was ashamed. “It was five hundred years ago, give or take a few years.”
Duncan raised an arrogant brow. “It must have been something if she’s still mad about it.”
“Are you kidding?” Aodhán’s lips thinned. “She holds onto grudges better than a sponge holds water.”
“Maybe somebody should just squeeze her,” Kimber muttered. “I know I’d like to pop her head like a pimple.” She wondered for a fleeting moment if Duncan had ever been Maddalene’s boy toy then pushed the thought away. It didn’t matter. She knew he wasn’t now. He wouldn’t take her to bed if he was shtupping the queen. He was more honorable than that.
Aodhán gave a snort of laughter. “I appreciate the sentiment but not the visual. Thanks for that.” He finally looked at Duncan. “It was a bright flame that burned out quickly. It didn’t set well with her that I was the one to end it.”
“What happened?” Kimber asked. “You finally realized what a queen-sized bitch she is?”
Aodhán’s eyes went flinty. “She attacked one of my people and nearly killed her.” When everyone looked at him without saying anything, he gave a low growl. “I’d been letting her bite me, but she wanted more. She wanted to gorge herself on fey blood. I refused to let her and ended the relationship.” He shook his head. “She had the balls to question why I called things off with her.”
“This d
oesn’t make sense.” Kimber glanced between the two men. “Why would she see you protecting one of your people as being disloyal? If anything, she was the disloyal one for attacking someone you cared about.”
“Exactly.”
Duncan went still as only a vampire can. She looked at him, unable to read from his expression what was going on behind it. “Duncan?”
His gaze shot to her face. “I’ve been a fucking idiot.”
“Okay.” She took a few steps toward him. “Just so we’re all on the same page, what do you think you’ve been an idiot about?”
His lips did that twitching thing he did when he was trying not to smile. Damn it. She’d almost gotten him.
“You say that like there’s more than one thing.”
“You say that like there’s not.”
And finally, she got what she was after. His lips twitched again and then a wide grin lit his entire face. He was a good-looking man when he wore his usual somber expression, but when he smiled…
He was irresistible.
She went over and wrapped her arms around his waist, giving him a bear hug. His arms went around her back and he chuckled, the sound reverberating against her ear where it was pressed to his chest. She loosened her hold and went up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to one corner of his mouth. “You should do that more often,” she whispered.
“Do what?”
“Laugh. You’re a gorgeous thing when you laugh.”
Now he was the one with pink zinging his cheeks.
She gaped. Duncan MacDonnough, mean, lean, vampire machine, was blushing?
“Brat,” he muttered and swatted her rear with one broad palm. The smack was hard enough to sting, but the slight pain turned into simmering pleasure within seconds.
“Tease,” she murmured with a wink. She turned and went back to the sofa, plopping down and pulling up her feet to sit cross-legged. “So, what exactly do you think is idiotic?”
He made a face. “That my loyalties have been misplaced.” At her questioning look, he said, “I’ve been supporting Maddalene blindly for years out of a sense of duty. In return she has been threatening you off and on for six months and had me beaten.”
“So, what do we do now?” she asked.
Both men sat down, and Natalie wandered in from the kitchen. She sat on the couch next to Kimber and let out a little burp. “Sorry,” she said with a grin. She patted her stomach. “Man, I haven’t eaten like that in months.”
“You’ve probably had too much and will get sick.” Aodhán turned a frowning face her way.
Kimber saw the concern in his gaze, but apparently all Natalie saw was censure because she flipped him the bird. “If I do, I’ll be sure to puke all over you and your mighty sword.”
“Nat,” Kimber murmured.
The other woman huffed a sigh and shoved back into the corner of the sofa. “Don’t mind me,” she said with a wave. “Carry on while I sit here and let all that yummy food digest.”
Duncan leaned forward in his chair. “Kimber, can the Unseen be used to do something other than reanimate the dead?”
“Why do you ask?” She had no idea where this was coming from. “If you’re asking me to reconsider Maddalene’s request—”
“No!” His eyes flared. “I believe you when you say it will take too much from you. I don’t want to endanger you.” He paused and dropped his gaze to his hands. “I just wondered if you could tap into the Unseen for other purposes.”
“I suppose so. I mean, I’d like to figure out what in the Unseen started all of this, but I don’t know what other purposes you’re talking about.”
“Say, hypothetically, someone wanted to…reinvigorate themselves.” He looked up at her. “Could you do that with the Unseen?”
Her brows drew down. “Reinvigorate? What, like use the Unseen as some sort of supernatural Viagra?”
“Oh, hell.” Aodhán slouched down in his chair. “I don’t want to be in this conversation if that’s where things are headed.”
“I do.” Natalie perked up, sitting straighter.
Duncan huffed an aggrieved sigh. For someone who didn’t need to breathe, he spent an awful lot of time sighing. Probably just around her, though, to be fair. All those sighs would be worth it if she could wring another laugh out of him.
“Not supernatural Viagra,” he muttered. He raked his hand through his hair, the dark strands staying tousled, giving him an even hotter bed head look than he’d had before.
“Then what?” When he seemed reluctant to explain, Kimber got up and went over to him. He sat back in surprise and she plopped onto his lap. “Talk to me, Duncan. What exactly are you asking?”
He slid an arm around her waist, supporting her, and the other arm rested across her thighs. Her nearness affected him; she felt the press of his erection against her hip and tried to stay still. As much as she might like to jump that particular bone, they had an audience and she wasn’t an exhibitionist. Plus she had a feeling this was important to him. If it was, she wanted to help if she could.
Wow. How far she’d come in only a few days. It was too bad she couldn’t stay here in this room, just her and Duncan, and forget about zombies and other vampires. But that wasn’t possible. Not now.
“Tell me,” she said softly.
He seemed to take some measure of strength from her nearness. The hand resting on the outer curve of her thigh tightened. “I haven’t felt alive in so long, Kimber,” he murmured. His husky voice wrapped around her, tugging on everything feminine within her. “I wanted… I need to feel emotions again.” He grimaced. “I mean, stronger than I do. Like I used to when I was human. I thought maybe if I could touch the Unseen, if you’d be my conduit, I could grab something. Anything to make me feel again.”
* * *
Duncan felt her refusal before she shook her head. She seemed to withdraw into herself.
“I can’t, Duncan.” She climbed off his lap and walked over to the fireplace to stare into the flames. “The only way I’ve called upon the Unseen is when I’m touching a dead body. It reanimates briefly and then I send the Unseen back to itself. I’ve never tried it with someone who was walking and talking. I’m not even sure how that would work.” She shook her head. “I’ve wondered if my ability is why most vampires seem uncomfortable around me, like they’re afraid I could somehow de-animate them, but I’ve never tried it. I certainly haven’t ever tried to do what you’re asking, so just don’t. Don’t ask me to do this.”
He rose to his feet and went to stand behind her. He didn’t touch her, but he knew she realized he was behind her because her back went stiff. “The hope of touching the Unseen has been the only thing keeping me going these last few years, Kimber. I need to try.” Tamping down the natural arrogance that vampirism wrought, he added a quiet, “Please.”
“I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?” He fought back his rising anger. “The last six months I’ve protected you, provided for you, and you can’t be bothered to do this one thing for me?” He hadn’t asked anything else of her. Well, other than asking her to trust him not to drain her, to give him a chance with her lovely body. But this. This was important to him, too.
She turned to face him. Indecision flickered across her face, darkened her eyes. “You remember Whitcomb?” she finally muttered. “The Unseen has…changed.”
“Tell him, Kimber,” Aodhán said. “Or I will.”
She glared at the fey warrior, her small hands fisting at her sides. “Fine. I will.” Her shoulders slumped. “I was going to anyway, Aodhán. You don’t need to tattle on me.” She glanced at him and then at Natalie. “But I’d like some privacy.”
Without looking away from Kimber, Duncan motioned toward the hallway. “I converted one of the bedrooms to a home theater. When we lost power I turned it into my library. Plenty of books in there, and once you close the door it’s pretty much soundproof.”
“All right. Come on, Nat.” Aodhán started down the hallway.
“But…” Natalie didn’t budge from her vantage point on the sofa.
“Natalie.” Aodhán’s voice was deep and rumbly. He sounded very much in charge and like he wasn’t going to put up with any more of Natalie’s bull. Duncan didn’t doubt for a second that if she didn’t get her ass moving Aodhán would haul her over his shoulder and carry her out.
“Oh, fine.” Natalie huffed and got off the couch, grumbling under her breath the whole way to Aodhán.
Duncan waited until he heard the door to the library close behind them, then he faced Kimber. When she didn’t say anything, he raised one eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest.
“Oh, don’t pull that silence thing on me,” she muttered. She ran her fingers through her hair. “When you were being used as Maddalene’s whipping boy—that bitch!—I talked Aodhán into helping me catch a zombie.”
“What!” Duncan surged forward and grasped her shoulders. “What were you thinking?”
She shrugged away from him. “I was thinking that if I could figure out how to drive the Unseen out of one zombie, I might be able to figure out how to do it on a wider scale.”
Damn it, the woman would try a saint, and he wasn’t even close to being one. “What happened?”
“We chained it up to one of the vending machines in the basement. I stayed out of its reach,” she rushed to add. “I got on the floor and touched its ankle. Which, by the way, gross! Dead people skin is one thing, but rotting dead people skin is…just ew.”
“Kimber,” he grated in warning. “Stay on topic.”
She frowned. “Me touching zombie skin is very much on topic, Duncan.”
“Kimber.” Why he felt the need for a bracing gulp of whiskey was beyond him. But what did it say about her that she could drive a vampire to drink, and not in a good way?
“When I reached for the Unseen in him, this raw energy surged up.” Her eyes were huge as she looked at him. “Just like that night with Richard Whitcomb. It lunged for me, and it was wrong.” She spread her hands. “It used to be light, swirling energy in hues of the rainbow. But now it’s tainted, like it’s covered by a huge, oily mantle of evil.”
Vampire's Hunger Page 13