by Dee Carney
The moment his discovery became evident to Alice couldn’t have been pronounced more clearly. Her eyes went wide as her gaze dropped behind him. Blood drained from her face, leaving her gaping lips a shock of pink against pale skin. One hand covered her mouth before its twin topped it in sympathy. “Where did they go? What happened?”
Bast shook his head. Stunned. Elated. “I dunno. I just felt this pop, and they were gone.”
“Oh my God. What does that mean? Are you getting better?”
“I...I don’t know. Maybe. God, maybe.” Mind still reeling, he stopped pacing the room.
Thoughts crashed in on him from all sides, bombarding him with a variety of ideas, plans, dreams. It was way too soon to know for certain, of course, but what if the heat didn’t come back and he was free of illness once again? Able to resume a normal vampire life. Maybe it really had been his body’s way of letting him know he’d been pushing himself too hard. Going too long without feeding. It made sense now that a supernatural body retaliated in a supernatural way.
If that were true, why then with wings?
Bast shook his head again, clearing the intrusive question. The answer was simple enough in any event. The wings had been some throwback to early evolutionary times of the vampire or something. Had to be.
He refused to listen to the little voice of reason that suspected that his ordeal wasn’t really over. That his explanation didn’t hold water.
“I’m not sure what started it, but I could hug whatever stopped it,” he muttered. The pacing resumed, while his mind came up with scenarios and conclusions, tossing out one after the other. None of them sticking.
She said, “I’m so hap—”
He turned in her direction and watched those pretty blue eyes looking beyond him, her face a study in concentration. Her lips opened and closed as if on the verge of speaking, but no sounds issued. She blinked a few times, lost in her thoughts perhaps.
Bast started to speak, amused by the unusual display of spaciness, but instead chose to study her a little further, lured by the sensual presentation. The ribbons of hair he loved to twine his fingers through spoked in different directions, tattling about a night of passionate lovemaking. As did the miniscule bruises on her neck.
His gaze dipped to view her naked breasts and he realized they hadn’t escaped from his ardor either, little purple circles evidence of his fulfillment. A swift fury churned in his belly at the thought that he’d managed to damage her, even if unintentionally. She deserved more than that. So much more.
He moved toward the bed. “I’m sorry for what I did to you.”
She blinked twice. “What?”
“The marks.” With his chin, he indicated the bruising. “I was too rough.”
The smile she gave him took its time in becoming, but once blossomed, was a sight to behold. “Not even a little bit, Sebastian.”
“But—”
“Take a look at your sides. I don’t think you escaped unscathed. Let’s call it even, huh?”
He looked to where she pointed. Rows of scratches decorated his rib cage in precise places, some of them snaking around his side and going to his back. “Wildcat,” he said with a grin.
She’d marked him with her nails. Damn, that was sexy as all hell. His cock stirred, and it didn’t fail to miss her notice.
Alice laughed, her cheeks flushing a deep crimson. “Again? God, you’re insatiable!”
Bast stalked closer to her and then climbed onto the bed. Power raced through his veins, more potent than anything he’d ever experienced. “If you’ll have me,” he said huskily.
She would. Without a doubt in his mind, he knew she would.
Alice ran a hand through those untamed curls before leaning into the mountain of pillows behind her. The look in her eyes was welcoming, the slight part of her lips beckoning. She crooked a finger at him, and Bast answered the call.
This time, she cried out as soon as he entered her, so Bast kept his pace slow and easy. Gentle. She clung to him, arms wrapped tightly around his body. He breathed in her scent and the scent of their union, for the first time realizing this act was not jumbled with the desires of his illness, but emerged directly from the man. And when he could no longer hold off and succumbed to a natural conclusion, feeling her cunt clench and her entire body tremble beneath him, it was with the man’s heart he celebrated.
Afterward, they lay side by side, hands clasped. “I have to go to work. As much as I want to, I can’t stay here with you another night,” he said. “It’s bad enough I haven’t contacted my men. One more night, and I’ll be crucified.”
“Go ahead if you need to. I’ll probably sleep a little while longer and then get back to the genealogy chart. I’m definitely not used to a third-shift existence yet.” She stretched and turned to face him. “And you’re sure you’re okay, right? One hundred percent?”
Bast took inventory. “I feel fine. No heat in a while. Wings are gone. I guess it was some kind of genetic aberration I’ll need to tuck away for future. Other vampires can’t get sick, but this one can. No more ignoring my hunger because it’s inconvenient. Bottom line is I need to take care of myself.”
“I just want to be sure. I can’t help but be worried about you.”
“I appreciate it, but I can’t stop. Not even for an illness. This pause is more than I should have ever dared. Either I go out tonight and come back fine, or I go out and meet my end. Regardless, I have to go.”
“Okay.”
Her voice was too timid, and Bast heard the subtle undertone of anguish beneath it. “Hey, look at me. I have no intention of dying tonight. None. I’ll be back, and you’ll be here waiting for me.”
She raised her gaze. “I’ll be here.”
It wasn’t enough to hear her say it, but it would have to do. Bast headed for the shower and prepared himself to meet the men.
For a split second it crossed his mind to find a way to stay, but then reality thumped him on the side of the head. No matter how badly he wanted to, he was sworn to the Council. To its ultimate safety, above his own.
But if he was a detriment to them, didn’t that constitute a reason to withdraw himself? He growled in response. There were worse threats to the Council than one sick vampire.
By the time he exited, Alice was buried beneath the comforter, already fast asleep. The faint circles beneath her eyes testified to a long day of restlessness, a lot of which had to do with him. Fucking her again this evening hadn’t been in his plans, but the compulsion rode him and he’d given in. Quite willingly. Still, he needed to remain mindful of her fragility.
From the solitude of the kitchen, he called Gray. “What’s on the agenda?”
“The Council’s on the move tonight,” Gray replied. Straight to the point as always. “They’re attending some political event, a fundraiser for their cause or some shit.”
“All of them?” Bast barked. That went against the first protocol, which required the men and the women of the Council never all to be gathered in the same place, at the same time. On the most recent occasion where that had occurred, there had been threats to individual lives. Bast was determined to never have it happen again, especially on his watch.
“No, Sierra is behaving and staying behind. Our biggest problem is how Gage wants security handled.”
“And how is that?”
Gray blew out a breath. “We’re to be a non-presence, modeled after the humans’ security. In the backg
round and hardly visible. No one is to know we’re there.”
“How the fuck are we gonna do that?” Bast thought hard. Most of the six members of the team were built like linebackers. All muscle and for most of them, a generous height. They’d been chosen partly because of intimidating looks, not for their ability to blend in.
“The plan for now is to pretty ourselves up and hope we’re not asked to leave. If we are, we’ll only retreat as far as the outside of the building, monitoring any and all who go in. Gage handed over a guest list and we ran background checks. Almost everyone seems okay.”
“Almost everyone?” Bast raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah. A celebrity couple who’s attending tend to bring not exactly trouble, but at least some attention wherever they go. Nothing we can’t handle, but it puts me on alert. The old guard might be an issue if they’ve gotten wind of the party.”
“Damn it.” He hated the thought of having to defend themselves against their kind, but the old guard vampires didn’t want anything to do with the newly formed Council and its rules. “Is the couple old enough to be old guard?”
“He is. Not his wife. But there’s some kind of agreement there anyway. They’re not our problem. What gets me hot is the insecurity of the entire situation. One werewolf gets word of the event—that the guard isn’t allowed near the delegation—and it’s over before it began.”
Bast closed his eyes. “Let me think about it. I’ll figure out a way to keep things intact. Give me an hour and I’ll join you.”
“We can’t do our jobs if they won’t let us,” Gray grumbled, then hung up.
Thinking about the limitations being placed on them, Bast returned to his bedroom for a different set of clothing. He hadn’t needed to get dolled up for the muckety-mucks in some time, but he owned a few things that would be suitable.
He stood before the closet, hand on the knob before releasing it as if scalded. Balling the same hand into a fist, he turned and looked toward the hallway. His thoughts focused on Alice.
And then he had an idea.
* * *
Breathing deeply didn’t help with the anxiety ratcheting up Alice’s heart rate as she sat next to Sebastian in the Ferrari. She was going to be the only human in a room full of vampires. The only one.
“No one will touch you. No one will dare come near you.” Sebastian kept providing reassurances, but she didn’t know if they were making her feel better or worse. “You’re with me, and I won’t let anything happen. Not a single hair misplaced on your head. I promise.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you...” Even her voice wavered.
“I will be by your side the entire time, along with my team. Six of the vampires’ finest warriors at your disposal.”
Her fingers flicked the red tassels on her thigh, another reminder of how dramatically short the dress he’d chosen lay on her. For heaven’s sake, the thing was backless and the cleavage went almost to her belly button. Along with a pair of heels she could barely totter in, he’d managed to turn her into a streamline of woman. All legs. A single teardrop diamond hung from a slender silver chain, stopping at the juncture between her breasts, drawing attention there. Similar diamond studs glittered in her ears.
He’d walked into the boutique, had a quiet conversation with a saleswoman who scrutinized Alice from a distance with her head cocked. She’d withdrawn for a few minutes and came back with three selections. Without consulting Alice, Bast had chosen one and then had ushered her into a dressing room to get changed.
So yeah, not only the sole human in the room, she was dressed to kill. Even if she wanted to run off and hide in a corner, fat chance it would actually be allowed to happen. The barely there thing yelled look at me! at the top of its lungs.
“Tell me about the peo—vampires who’ll be there.” A little knowledge would go a long way.
“All politicians, all very old. None of them will be interested in you. No offense,” he added quickly. “They gather like this every once in a while to parade their ages and their wealth to each other. It’s very tedious and underwhelming to someone who doesn’t give a shit. Underneath, alliances are being made and deals are being struck. It’s subtle yet overdone at the same time.”
They turned into a driveway, and Alice pulled her attention away from him to study the place. The gray building surrounding by box hedges probably wouldn’t have stood out to the average passerby. At least, not until one noticed the wrought-iron fencing surrounding the lot or the multitude of security cameras mounted on the building’s corners. All of the windows were tinted, casting a reflection of the outside world but not allowing anyone on the outside to see in. Hell, she couldn’t even tell if it was occupied because of the dearth of lighting that should have at least hinted at occupants inside.
Sebastian waited at the gate before it opened quietly. And ominously. She was about to comment on being let in without having to go through some sort of checkpoint when she noticed another camera mounted on a tree beside the entrance. The sudden creepy feeling of being watched by some all-seeing eye prickled her skin. He drove to an underground garage, the downward slope not helping the butterflies looping in her stomach any.
“So what’s my cover story supposed to be?” she asked to start him talking again and hopefully rid herself of the sensation.
“I’m still thinking about it,” he replied. “Some sort of liaison between humans and vampires, I’m guessing. Someone important enough to be worthy of a vampire guard.”
She fell back against the seat, closing her eyes. “This is crazy.”
“I know,” he said softly. “If you don’t want to do it, I’ll understand.”
Alice thought about it for a second before facing him. “It’s important to you, so I’ll do my best. But you’ve gotta know how scared shitless I am.”
He reached for her hand and pulled it to his mouth. The kiss he placed on it was as tender as a cloud. “You will never be out of my sight. At worst, I’ll never be more than three steps away from you. I promise you that.”
“And these men of yours. Anything like that Cicero guy?”
Sebastian had the decency to wince. “He’s one of them. Let’s go inside and meet the others. They’re not like him.”
“Then what’s his deal?”
“He and I...we have issues. But in a fight, he’s someone I’d want on my side.”
“Tell me the people on the Council aren’t like him either.”
“Well...I wouldn’t say that exactly.”
Great. The first time she’d met another vampire, and his first instinct had been to bite her. And now that same vampire was supposed to be one of the ones who’d be watching over her in a nest full of them?
“And you can trust him?” she asked incredulously, not bothering to wait for him to help her out of the car, despite the stilts he’d placed her on. Sebastian hustled to her side and offered an arm, which she took. No sense in ending up with a broken ankle—or two—just to prove a point. “Do you recall that he wanted to feed from me the first time he saw me? And if your half of the conversation was any indication, perhaps kill me?”
“But he didn’t, because I would never let him. This isn’t much different. He reports to me, and I have complete faith in every single one of my men.” They walked along a narrow corridor from the car to a nondescript gray door. “Look up for a sec.”
She followed his gaze to the camera peering down on them, forcing herself not to visibly react.
Based on everything else she’d seen so far, there was no reason for this to be a surprise. He’d glanced toward the eye and then splayed a hand against a flat gunmetal gray box next to the door. Something clicked, and he pulled on the knob. When the door swung his way, Alice placed a mental bet that it had been locked tight seconds before. Between the visual confirmation, along with a finger or palm print of some kind, he’d been allowed in. The complexity of it all amazed her.
“But it’s not just him this time,” she said, blowing out a breath. “There will be others there. Peop—vampires who might not care what you have to say about the matter. Can you stop them all?”
He stopped so suddenly, she almost wobbled off balance. Sebastian whirled her into his embrace and, straight out of the movies, tilted her entire body back until she could do nothing but fall into his hold and stare into fathomless eyes. The world around them tumbled away as she listened to the smooth rhythm of her heart. Her breathing was easy. Steady.
His gaze did a slow crawl from her face, down the skin of her neck and between her breasts before returning at an equally glacial pace. There wasn’t an ounce of strain on his face or in the way he held her. Seconds passed—maybe even a full minute. Never, not once, did she think he couldn’t hold her there for another hundred years if determined to do so.
“Do you trust me?” he asked, his voice almost a whisper.
“With my life.” The response came without hesitation and she knew it to be true.
His mouth lowered to hers, brushing an achingly sweet kiss across her lips. Every muscle in her body relaxed, becoming almost languid. Somehow she managed to drag heavy hands to his lapels and grasp them. Lifting her head to his took a strength she didn’t know she possessed. But when her lips met his again, she kissed him with a new hunger.
“Our fearless leader returns at long last. With food.”
Unable to stop herself, Alice stiffened at the familiar voice of the vampire who’d wanted to kill her.