“You understand why you’ve been called here?” Oriel asked, giving no hint of what he felt about the situation.
Kyleigh nodded and ran her tongue across her plump lower lip.
Arawn cringed when that action brought attention to her lip piercing. That was something he planned to get rid of immediately.
“See!” Arawn said with a triumphant smile. “She doesn’t even deny it. I demand you hand her over to me.”
Seeing the fear in Kyleigh’s eyes intensify excited him more. He wanted to see that fear when he took her to his bed the first time. That fantasy had been playing in his mind for too long and would soon be a reality.
“You are aware you can only take your chosen mate from death? Only your chosen mate can enter your private realm,” Oriel said as he met Kyleigh’s gaze.
Her eyes widened as that bastard, Oriel handed Kyleigh her salvation.
“No!” Arawn shouted. “The vampire is not her mate.”
“I have chosen him as my mate,” Kyleigh said softly, obviously realizing the weight of her words. While this saved her from punishment, it meant the vampire was tied to her for eternity.
Arawn stalked toward her. “You’d rather tie yourself to his dark soul than give yourself to me?” he asked seductively, adding a touch of glamour to his voice. “I’ll take good care of you.”
She backed away as if he was a monster, unaffected by his beauty.
Rage like only Kyleigh could bring out in Arawn surfaced. “Everyone leave here now!” he shouted.
That was all it took to empty his chambers. Once alone, he paced his opulent rooms, imagining all the ways he could make Kyleigh suffer for what she’d done. She would be his. Obviously, pushing her to admit the vampire wasn’t her mate wouldn’t work. He needed to be more aggressive. Perhaps the vampire was the weak link, and he should focus on him. As long as one of them admitted they weren’t mates, he could claim her, and Oriel would have no way of stopping him.
Chapter Four
Kyleigh’s heart was weighed down with guilt when she returned to Ian. Surprisingly, he was still awake and pacing her small front room. With his long strides, he could only take a few steps before having to turn or hit a piece of furniture. She’d expected him to be sleeping again, had hoped for that. While she knew vampires healed quickly, the fact that he was up and moving around so well was amazing.
“You’ve been gone a long time,” Ian said, looking like a caged animal, which is probably how he felt. While he’d been calm when she’d left, she was sure being alone had given him time to worry about his situation, and he didn’t even know that she’d somehow managed to make it worse.
“Sorry… time passes differently when I’m summoned. For me, it seemed like I was gone a few minutes, but I’m sure it was longer for you.”
“It was hours,” Ian said before giving her a lopsided grin. “That’s probably an exaggeration. Sometimes, my son tells me it’s been hours since I said we’d do something, when it’s really only been about twenty minutes. I never expected to catch myself doing that.” The smile faded. “I need to get back to my son. By now, he must think I’m dead.”
“I can’t take you back,” she said, doing her best to look anywhere but at Ian. “At least, not yet. Your soul is still only precariously tied to your body. You need to heal before you can leave this place, or you won’t survive.”
Ian examined his chest wound, and Kyleigh knew he doubted her words. What he saw was almost healed flesh. Vampires healed fast, and there likely wouldn’t be any sign of his injury within a couple of days. The damage he couldn’t see was the real problem, but she wasn’t quite sure how to explain that.
“You think I’m barmy, right?”
Ian laughed. “That’s not a term I hear often. Actually, that’s not a term I’ve ever heard.”
“It means touched in the head,” she explained.
“I know what it means, but people don’t say ‘barmy’ where I’m from.”
“No, they don’t. Some days, especially if I haven’t talked to anyone in a while, I slip up with my speech. Be thankful, my accent isn’t quite as thick now. I never used to think of it as an accent until I started trying to help souls who could scarcely understand a word I said. Of course, that was a lifetime ago. My mum wouldn’t even recognize me now.”
“You do ramble on, don’t you?” Ian asked, his lips twitching with obvious amusement.
Watching Kyleigh’s pale skin turn an alluring shade of pink should make Ian feel guilty about teasing her. He should feel even guiltier about finding her attractive. Instead, he was enjoying his time with Kyleigh. When she’d left him on the beach, he’d been disappointed. Maybe dying had given him some sort of new perspective on life. Maybe he was just grateful for being alive. Whatever the reason, he wasn’t as tense as he should be under these circumstances, nor was he inclined to worry too much about the reasons for his relaxed state of mind.
“I don’t talk to many people,” she admitted, and he felt bad for her. While he hadn’t been the social type in a very long time, he’d still had people to talk to. After Kyleigh had been summoned, he’d walked along the beach and seen no sign of life. There were no other houses, no people, and no animals. While beautiful, her world was isolated and barren. Why was she living like this?
“Are you being punished for something?” he asked before realizing how rude that must sound. Then again, he wasn’t known for his sensitivity.
She laughed. “Punished? I assume you’re asking about my isolation, and no, this isn’t a punishment. It’s not that I have to be alone. I mean, I can go out among your kind some, but I can’t tell them what I am, which makes it hard to have a conversation. People don’t trust easily now, and they find strangers frightening, especially secretive ones. Before I was moved to this area, I used to go out more. If I hadn’t been moved here, I imagine I’d still go out and interact with humans. It’s easy to be anonymous in the larger cities where people aren’t wondering if you’re a vampire. Well, that and I was in a country with no vampires. Here, even after I show them my teeth, people worry I might be infected and not showing signs yet. Some worry I’m a vampire sympathizer, looking for victims for the vampires. The vampires worry that I’m a human who hates vampires. So, my choices are to try talking to people who don’t trust me or socialize with the Fae.”
“Like Faeries?” Ian asked. Yeah, he should be getting used to the weird stuff by now, but he seemed to find new things to shock him all the time. “Is that who summoned you?”
“Yes,” she said, “but don’t start thinking they’re cute wee folk who flitter about. The Fae are deadly and not to be trusted. I try to communicate with only the good Fae, but good is a relative term in their world. You’ll be better off if you don’t have to meet them, which is why I refused to take you with me when I was summoned. Unfortunately, I’m sure they’ll insist on meeting you at some point.”
“Why would they want to meet me?” he asked.
Kyleigh hesitated long enough to raise his suspicions. “You’re not supposed to be here with me,” she finally said. “Bringing you here was against the rules and the reason I got called away. Well, that and when I saved your life and stole your soul from the shadows, I made one of the very bad Fae angry.”
“You’ll understand if I don’t offer to die to get you out of trouble, right?” he asked, only half-joking. How was he to know if she’d let him die to save herself?
“I’ve no intention of letting you die after all I went through to keep you alive,” she said with a shaky laugh.
“At least we can remedy the problem of me being here,” Ian said thoughtfully. “When I’m healed enough, you’ll take me back to my old life. That should appease them some.”
Sighing, Kyleigh walked away from him to stare out the window at the crashing waves.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Ian said, holding out his hand. There was something more to this. “You can tell me what’s really going on then.”
Kyl
eigh hesitated a moment before placing her delicate hand in his. That simple contact sent a jolt of desire through his body that nearly made Ian yank his hand away. The only reason he didn’t was because she looked like she really needed the contact. Ian didn’t normally concern himself too much with how others felt, especially not complete strangers, so he wasn’t sure why he was worrying about Kyleigh’s feelings now.
Kyleigh’s head dropped as they walked out the door hand in hand. Studying her, Ian was surprised he’d mistaken her for Kate in the beginning. While they were both redheads, the similarities ended there. Kyleigh was probably four inches taller than Kate had been. She also had an abundance of womanly curves. Ian had always preferred a more lithe build, even before Kate. Still, Kyleigh was pretty damn hot with her soft brown eyes and the light sprinkling of freckles across her nose. Her breasts were swaying under her dress, and he knew they weren’t restrained by a bra.
Walking along the beach, the sound of the crashing waves brought back memories. He hadn’t been near the water as much since he’d moved to Connor’s territory because it was usually cold by the water. Here, the sand was warm under his feet and he was comfortable in his boxers.
“This place reminds me a little of where I grew up,” he said, keeping his eyes on the surf in an attempt to avoid ogling Kyleigh any more than he already had.
“I grew up near the water too, but it was always cold there,” Kyleigh said. “Even in the middle of summer, it was chilly. You’d think I would have grown used to it, but I never did like the cold.”
“So, you didn’t go in the water?” he asked, giving in to the temptation to look at her.
She laughed. “Oh, I went in alright. Nearly froze to death on a number of occasions. I was more than a little foolish. My mum always said it would be the death of me.” Her eyes clouded with sadness. “My mum had an annoying tendency to be right about everything.” In the blink of an eye, Kyleigh shut down, obviously not wanting to discuss her life more.
Ian decided not to push for more details. They barely knew each other, and he’d already intruded on her privacy enough for one day. “Is it safe to go in the water?”
“Yes, it’s safe. Just stay close to the shore,” she warned. “There shouldn’t be anything out there, but sometimes the Fae like to play a trick on me by dropping something nasty in the water. Don’t worry, though. It can only stay in there a few hours.”
“No need to worry about me going too far out. I never learned how to swim,” he admitted.
“You grew up by the water and never learned to swim?” she asked.
“My childhood wasn’t filled with a lot of leisure time. We worked all day, every day. When the rebellions happened, we were just trying to survive. I’m not sure I had any real down time in the first forty years of my life.”
Kyleigh nodded solemnly. “I remember that time. That’s when I was moved to this area. There was too much death for one person to handle. Initially, they thought transferring just me would be enough. My first petitions for more help were ignored.” She let out a sigh of frustration. “Trying to convince the Fae to help can be exhausting. They always want to haggle before they give in on anything. Even getting new clothing can be a challenge. That’s why I steal clothing. I know stealing is wrong, but I can’t exactly walk around naked until the Fae decide I deserve clothing.”
“You have to ask them for everything?” Ian was strangely annoyed by that. He walked into the water with Kyleigh by his side. Waves rushed under his feet, pulling the sand away, bringing pleasant memories of stolen moments in his youth.
“They’re in charge of everything I do, and of me,” she said, and it was obvious by her resigned tone that she’d lived this way for a long time. “I’m sure they could make it possible for me to create my own clothing, just like I created this realm. The Fae just prefer having more power over me.”
Ian didn’t like the sound of that at all. He knew all too well what it was like to have no freedom. “You’re a slave to them.”
“No!” she answered a little too quickly.
“It sounds like slavery. Can you quit doing what you’re doing?” he asked with a single raised eyebrow.
Kyleigh’s hesitation said a lot about her situation. “Not exactly, but it’s a little more complicated than you think. Listen, what I do is important, and someone has to do it.”
“Why you?” he asked.
“I refused to move on,” she said softly, staring out over the water. “It’s against the rules to tell someone the truth about what will happen to them. Not everyone becomes like me, but none of them get to wander freely. Most of us who want to stay behind have this misguided idea that we’ll get to linger and watch our loved ones.” Then she laughed, but that laugh held little humor. “I suppose it’s a good thing we can’t stay and watch our loved ones. Can you imagine having someone spying on you all the time?”
Ian squeezed her hand and gave her a small smile. “I’m glad no ghosts are watching me shower.”
“I’ll bet you’d attract quite a crowd,” she said, looking mortified as soon as the words left her mouth. “Please tell me I didn’t say that out loud.”
Ian chuckled, liking the fact that she found him attractive. “You did, but I promise not to tease you about it.” Then he sobered and studied her. “You truly believe what you do is important, right?”
She nodded.
“If you’d known this was your fate when you died, would you have refused to move on?” he asked.
“No, I’m pretty sure that had I known the truth, I would have passed on to whatever comes next. It’s not like I jumped into this happily. At first, I was angry about my position, but I was very selfish back then. Now, I see the importance of what I do. I save people from horrible pain.”
Ian knew she believed that, but he got the impression she wasn’t telling him the entire truth. If there was one thing he understood, it was hiding feelings; that was a skill he’d excelled at for a long time. Without a thought, he turned to brush her hair back from her face. It wasn’t supposed to go any further than that simple touch. This wasn’t him trying to seduce her, yet there she stood watching him, breathless, her lips parted in anticipation. Leaning forward, he pressed his mouth to hers. He hadn’t kissed another woman in the years since he’d lost Kate. Kyleigh’s lips were so soft and inviting that he soon found himself drowning in her.
Kyleigh didn’t react like an experienced woman. She acted innocent and unsure, letting him take the lead in their kiss, and that was just the way he wanted it. Placing one hand on her hip, he pulled her closer. Kyleigh was tall, and it was easy to pull her up against his erection. Even his fangs ached, and he knew it wasn’t hunger for blood causing that sensation.
Guilt cut through his haze of lust, and he stepped back. A wave slammed into them, almost knocking them over. Instinctively, Ian pulled Kyleigh closer until the surf went back out. They were both soaked up to their shoulders now. This time, when he released her, Kyleigh was the one to put distance between them, giving him a perfect view of the sexy body beneath her wet clothing.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said a little uncomfortably. All she’d have to do was look down to see his erection. It would be hard to miss with him dressed in nothing but his boxers. His aching cock was urging him to pull her back and finish what they’d started, but he had no intention of giving in to that temptation.
“It’s okay,” she said without meeting his eyes. “The kiss was as much my fault as yours. I could have stopped you, should have actually. It’s just been a very long time since anyone has touched me, other than brief touches by people who are about to die.”
Ian felt like even more of an asshole for kissing her now that she’d said that. The kiss was a huge mistake. He wasn’t anywhere near ready to have a relationship, and she clearly wasn’t the type for casual sex. Hell, he’d never been a fan of it either. No, things could not go further between them.
Even knowing that, he was drawn to Kyleigh, and he
hadn’t been drawn to a woman in a very long time. The cynic in him wanted to argue that her similarities to Kate were what had awakened his lust. Of course, he knew that was a lie. Kyleigh didn’t really remind him of his wife. What drew him to Kyleigh went beyond her appearance, and that scared him a little. He sensed she was haunted in many ways, like him. There was also a strange connection between them that he couldn’t explain.
“I had to tell them I’d chosen you as my mate,” she blurted out before hurrying out of the surf and up the beach.
“Wait!” he called out and was surprised when she turned toward him. Her cheeks were bright red with embarrassment, making him want to kiss her again, but he really needed to resist that urge. “Why did you tell them that?”
“It was the only way to keep you here without something bad happening. I don’t know what they would have done to you, but I’m sure it would have been pretty awful. I was also afraid of what was going to happen to me for breaking the rules. Actually, that was at the forefront of my mind when I said you were my mate. Not like mate as in you getting me pregnant,” she babbled. “That’s actually not possible for my kind.”
Ian waited to feel pissed off, but the anger didn’t come. How could he be mad at her for doing what had to be done? While he had no idea what she was so terrified of, those consequences must have been pretty bad. He of all people could appreciate her practical decision.
“Did you think I’d be upset about this?” he asked, realizing that he probably would have been upset under normal circumstances. Maybe her realm really did have a calming effect on him.
She nodded. “I know you aren’t ready to have anyone be part of your life.”
“Saying I’m your mate doesn’t make it a fact,” he reminded her.
“Ian,” she said softly, “saying it binds us together.”
Seducing Death Page 3