A Vampire's Vindication

by Alexis Morgan

  There was a lot of heat in those grass-green eyes when he smiled at her. “Only in the timing. Once we deal with that blasted letter, and you even hint that you still want what we started in the kitchen, I’m all yours.”

  She swallowed hard and tore open the envelope.

  Keelie read the letter once and then a second time. Finally, she looked up from the paper that had just torn her world apart. “She killed my father? You helped my mother get away with murder?”

  Griff was up and moving before she even finished talking. He knelt down in front of her, taking her hands in his. She didn’t know why she let him.

  “Your father was my best friend. He died way too young, and I miss him to this day. Your parents went through a rough patch, and Kenneth made a mistake. When he confessed to having a brief affair, your mother lashed out at him. As a human, he was no match for the strength of a chancellor. By the time I got there, he was dead, and she was hysterical. Lydia was terrified they’d take you away from her. If the court didn’t buy that it was an accident, they could’ve even executed her, leaving you an orphan.”

  He threaded his fingers through hers. “We staged it to look as I was the one who killed your father. With my clan’s influence, the court ruled it accidental death and ordered that I support your mother for the duration of her life. Looking back, maybe we could have handled things differently, better somehow. But once we set things in motion, there was no going back.”

  But that wasn’t all of it. How much worse could it get?

  “Over the years, your mother slowly twisted the truth in her own mind. Maybe it was the disease, but somehow she decided I really had killed your father. She tried to get the courts to review the case, using my own money to pay for an endless line of lawyers and petitions. For the past ten years, my own clan has suffered because of the constant financial drain. That’s what Becan’s using against me to try to take control of the family fortune. If he could prove I murdered your father, Becan would get it all, and then God help us all. No one will be safe, but especially anyone who isn’t pureblooded vampire, starting with my friends you met earlier.”

  The wolves and their owners? Heartsick, she held out the letter. “Here’s your proof for the courts so you can clear your name once and for all. And, Griff, I’ll pay you back every penny, beginning with the trust fund Mom left me.”

  She looked around for a clock. “The lawyer’s office should be open. I’ll call them now and get things started.”

  For the first time, she saw Griff angry.

  He rocked back on his heels, jerking his hands free from hers. “I don’t need your damn money, Keelie. There are only two things I want, starting with keeping the people I care about safe.”

  His hands settled on her thighs, spreading them far enough apart enough for him to settle between them. The blatant move sent a jolt of heat bubbling through her body.

  She suspected she knew what else he wanted, but she needed to hear the words. “And?”

  He leaned in, crowding her. “And I want you. You okay with that?”

  Where had the air in the room gone? She settled for nodding. As soon as she did, he tugged her down off the edge of the bed to straddle his thighs. His hand tangled in her hair, angling her mouth to mate with his.

  And for the first time in days, maybe in forever, Keelie’s life felt right.

  Griff couldn’t stand another second without getting skin-to-skin with Keelie. He’d always been in control. Not this time. He wasn’t going to just pleasure her, he was going to claim her in every way he could think of. Take her every way he could, branding her with his touch, with his body.

  As much as he loved kissing her, he needed more and soon, before he lost his mind completely. When he broke off contact, she pouted, her lips red and swollen. Oh, yeah, he wanted more of that, but not yet.

  “The bed offers more possibilities,” he told her as he tugged her flannel boxers down as far as he could before lifting her back up onto the mattress.

  Then he peeled them the rest of the way off. Her scent taunted his control as her racing pulse had his fangs aching for a taste of her life’s blood. Each thing in turn. He cupped her full breasts through the soft cotton of her shirt. She sighed and leaned back on her hands, a siren’s smile on her face.

  “I want you naked, Griff. Naked and up here with me.”

  Who was he to deny an invitation like that? He stood up and dropped his sweats. When his cock sprang free, she gasped in what he hoped was a combination of appreciation and anticipation.

  “Ooh, let me get a good look,” Keelie said.

  Then she scooted to the far edge of the mattress just out of reach. That so wasn’t happening. He crawled after her, a predator intent on claiming his mate. He caught her ankle and dragged her back to where he could take his time.

  He captured her other ankle and lifted both high over his shoulders. He kissed the inside of her right thigh, grazing her soft skin with the sharp tips of his fangs. His woman clearly liked that. He repeated the maneuver with her left leg, leaving her moaning and him so hard he hurt.

  Positioning himself to join his body with hers, he held back. “I’ve been waiting a long time to find my mate.”

  He rocked against her, testing and teasing them both. “This is a claiming, Keelie. Make no mistake about that.”

  He pressed even deeper. “Do you understand? Because I keep what’s mine, Keelie, and you are mine.”

  Those caramel eyes were running hot as he thrust deep and hard. “I claim you, Griff Tyler. You’re mine, too.”

  Then she held out her arms, pulling him close and arching her neck to the side, offering him everything she had to give. He pressed a kiss to her pulse point as the pounding rhythm of their hearts and bodies reached a crescendo. Then, as a blinding ecstasy burst over them, he sealed their connection by tasting the rich flow of her blood and then offering her his vein in return.

  Griff shifted away from the woman sleeping curled up next to him, trying not to wake her. Neither of them had actually slept much, but he wasn’t complaining. Their life together was definitely starting on a high note.

  But there was still the problem of Becan and whoever had set fire to Keelie’s house with her still in it. This time when his fangs ran out, it had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with vengeance and retribution.

  He’d let Keelie sleep while he went on the hunt. He reached for his jeans and a clean shirt. Before he could get dressed, Keelie was up and heading for the bedroom door.

  “Griff Tyler, don’t think you can leave without me. It will only take me a minute to throw on some clothes.”

  He caught her arm. “I’d rather you stayed here where my friends can keep you safe. I hunt better alone.”

  “If we’re mates, we’re partners. Deal with it.”

  She punctuated her declaration with one of those long, hot kisses he’d already become addicted to.

  “You don’t fight fair.” He kissed her again, almost giving into the temptation to head straight back to the bed.

  But the distant pounding on the door upstairs put that idea on hold. Garrett wouldn’t be disturbing them this long before sunset without good reason.

  “Meet us in the kitchen.”

  Keelie nodded, and then she was off and running.

  Chapter 10

  When she reached the kitchen, Griff was making coffee and talking to Garrett. Tension was definitely running hot in the room. Even the wolf was on full alert, his ruff standing at attention.

  “What’s happened?”

  “They’re pretty sure Becan’s gone to ground some distance from here. We have to hurry if we want to get there before the sun sets, and he can take off again.”

  Were they forgetting what even the dying embers of the sun would do to Griff?

  “But how can you go out in the daylight?”

  “I’ll ride in the trunk until we get there. By then, the sun will be down.”

  “Okay.”

  That m
ight take care of one problem, but she knew facing a cornered vampire wouldn’t be easy, even with backup. It was doubtful he’d come at them with just his fangs. But it was time this ended. For the sake of greed alone Becan had trashed her home, robbing her of the memories it had held.

  A few minutes later, they all piled into the transport, Griff curled up and uncomfortable in the trunk. Keelie sat in the backseat with a pair of wolves while their handlers rode in the front with a pile of weapons. Evidently she wasn’t the only one concerned about cornering a desperate vampire.

  The ride took almost thirty minutes. When they drove the transport off the road and into a clump of trees, the top edge of the sun was just barely visible on the distant horizon. The instant it dropped out of sight, Griff popped the trunk and climbed out.

  He did several stretches. “Remind me not to make a habit of traveling that way.”

  Garrett held out an assortment of firearms and a couple of knives. “Here you go, boss.”

  “Got any extras?” Keelie asked, surprising both men.

  “Sure.” Garrett offered her a pair of automatics. “Take your pick.”

  She chose the bigger of the two, checking it over with the ease of familiarity. All three men, and apparently even the two wolves, watched in amazement.

  Garrett grinned. “I’m guessing that’s not the first one of those you’ve held.”

  She gave them a smug smile. “Nope, and I’ve got the marksmanship medals to prove it.”

  Griff wasn’t happy. “Just remember, targets don’t shoot back. Aiming at another person isn’t the same.”

  “I haven’t shot anybody, but I’ve spent much of my professional life out in the wilderness. I’ve had to defend myself a time or two against varmints.”

  When one of the wolves growled, she added, “Most had two legs. The few that didn’t, I aimed high. None of them were wolves.”

  When the wolf padded over for a head scratch, she laughed. “I swear, these two seem to actually understand every word I say.”

  Garrett grinned at her. “You have no idea.”

  Griff wedged himself between her and the wolf, giving the animal a dark look. “Back off, furball. She’s mine. Now let’s get going before Becan bolts again.”

  They fanned out and started forward, the wolves ranging ahead, their noses to the ground. Just over the next rise, Kipp stopped and tested the night breeze. When he growled low and deep in his chest, the other wolf joined in. Griff’s two friends joined the animals, their eyes gleaming oddly in the moonlight.

  What had they found? She inhaled deeply and knew the answer. The night air carried the scent of death.

  Becan was dead. Griff knew it as well as he knew they were walking into a trap. The pungent smell of old blood and dead vampire made it impossible to pick up any other clues as to who was waiting up ahead. Using hand motions, he signaled for the pack members to circle around behind the cluster of boulders.

  Keelie eased up next to him as they waited for the men to get in position. “Griff?”

  “I’m guessing Becan isn’t the one who burned the house down.”

  He looked down at her. If his suspicions were right, Keelie was in for another shock. “The night of the fire, you never realized anyone had been in the house until you actually saw the damage. Is that right?”

  At first she seemed puzzled by his question, but she slowly nodded. “That’s right. The scents were normal—Mom, me, and Dorothy.”

  Her eyes widened. “Dorothy? You think Dorothy burned the house down? Why would she do that?”

  The woman in question answered herself. “I wanted to destroy everything Lydia held dear.”

  Dorothy strolled into sight behind Griff, a rifle pointed straight at Keelie. Cousin or not, she’d just signed her own death warrant. No one threatened Griff’s mate and lived. No one.

  Keelie’s voice rang with pain. “But why? You and my mother were friends. You were family.”

  “No, actually I was your father’s mistress. He promised to leave that bitch for me. Instead, she murdered him in cold blood and your lover covered it up. She never suspected who I was or what I’d meant to Kenneth.”

  “Why would you work for her all these years?”

  “It’s easier to poison someone when you cook her meals. I wanted her to suffer long and hard for what she took from me.”

  Keelie gasped. “She wasn’t sick? That was your doing?”

  Dorothy looked proud of herself. “It took me a long time to find the perfect poison, one that acted slow and mimicked a disease. No one ever suspected. At least right up until the end. I knew she’d hidden a letter for you. I couldn’t risk anyone finding out, so I burned everything.”

  “The letter had nothing to do with you. And why kill Becan?”

  As she spoke, Keelie shifted slightly farther away from Griff, making it harder for the other chancellor to watch them both at the same time. He mirrored her movements, putting even more distance between them.

  Dorothy’s lip curled back off her fangs, only emphasizing the crazed look in her eyes. “I proved to him once and for all which of us was the superior being. Of course, by the time he believed me, he was only a breath away from dead.”

  Griff’s turn to keep the conversation going. “Okay, I understand why you’d go after him, but why me? Why Keelie?”

  Her eyes flicked back and forth between the two of them. “I can’t afford any loose ends. Griff, you’ve always been decent to me, so I’ll make it fast and easy for you. But either way, you’re going to die along with Keelie. A lover’s quarrel, you know. Kind of funny, history repeating itself that way.”

  She brought the gun to bear directly on him, clearly thinking he was the bigger threat.

  Keelie stepped toward the housekeeper, her own gun aimed at Dorothy and momentarily drawing her full attention. “Pull that trigger, Dorothy, and you’re a dead woman. Walk away while you can.”

  “You don’t have the guts to kill, Keelie. I do.”

  Just as she pulled the trigger, Griff charged forward, ignoring the burn of the bullet grazing his shoulder. Dorothy was so intent on taking another shot at him, that she missed the blacker-than-night body leaping through the air as Kipp latched onto her wrist and bit down.

  Her scream echoed through the night. It only lasted long enough for Griff to finish the job his furry friend had started.

  “Hold still.”

  “But that hurts.”

  “Most gunshots do.”

  Keelie pressed the last piece of tape in place. “I still think you should see a doctor.”

  “I’ll heal.”

  She turned away, trying to hide the tears. She’d cried more in the last week than she had in her entire life. She was tired of it.

  Griff caught her around her waist and pulled her down in his lap. Careful of his sore shoulder, she buried her face against his chest.

  “I was terrified out there, Griff. For all of us.”

  He held her tight. “I know, but it’s over now. We’re safe now.”

  Yeah, she was. “I know.”

  But there was still something that needed saying. “Griffon Tyler, as the sole remaining representative of the Bronson family, it’s my duty to make reparations for the trouble we’ve caused you.”

  Her lover jerked as if she’d hit him. “Damn it, Keelie, I’ve already told you I don’t want your money.”

  She let her hands do a little wandering. “Yes, you made that perfectly clear. I was thinking of paying you back in some other way. I’ll have to make installment payments. Lots of them.”

  His breathing picked up its pace, his pulse racing to keep up as her hand slid down between them.

  “I’m sure we can work something out. Of course, you’ll have to live here with me to keep up the payment schedule.”

  She adored the deep growl in his voice. “Only if you admit you love me as much as I love you.”

  “I’ll even put it in writing. Tomorrow, though. Right now, I think we should
work out the details.”

  The heat in his eyes had her wanting to purr. “I’m up for it if you are.”

  “Oh, rest assured, I am.”

  Then he set about proving it to her.

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  ISBN: 978-1-4268-6528-2

  A Vampire’s Vindication

  Copyright © 2010 by Patricia L. Pritchard

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