The Vampyre Legal Chronicles - Daniel: Book: 3

by MacKenzie, CC

  Vampyres had a way of extracting information from humans without damaging their fragile memory function.

  Handy.

  While he and his brothers had been dealing with trouble in San Francisco, his Centuri had alerted Daniel to the surprising news his personal assistant was sleeping in his apartment. On explicit instructions from him they’d been told to leave Gia well alone. Now, he wished he’d asked them to tail her, but he’d been distracted by events in San Francisco. For the moment, the immediate danger to his brother and his wife might have passed, but the whole Gillespie clan was on a heightened state of alert, just waiting for their enemy's next move.

  The sound of Gia whimpering with horrible little cries trapped in her throat had him flash to her side in an instant.

  Imprisoned in a nightmare, she was curled up in a tight ball with her head tucked behind her arms. A classic self-defence pose that made him tilt his head in an attempt to read her dream. In sleep her mental defences were weak. Her fists were bunched in front of her face and the way her body jerked as if being struck snapped his brows together and his vampyre rose.

  Taking great care, Daniel's mind reached into hers.

  His brow creased as he found flickering echoes of chaos, confusion and a deep psychological wound.

  Someone had hurt her.

  Had hurt her badly.

  Her husband?

  A low growl rumbled in his chest and he stood absolutely still as Gia stirred.

  He knew the only way for him to get a clear picture of her thoughts was to take her vein, to begin the journey to bring her fully into his world. But then as he well knew, to do such a thing (and against her will) was not straightforward. Like his brothers he’d never fed from a human being. Plus, to complete the bond it was crucial she took his vein, too, even if to do so might put Gia's life at great risk. His brothers had almost lost their wives during their transition from human to vampyre. However, it appeared Daniel's vampyre didn't agree by the way his fangs now eased out through his gums. Causing Gia pain in any way was the one thing that held him back. How could he ever hurt the woman he adored?

  His mind moved deeper into hers.

  Abruptly, without warning, a tsunami of emotion overwhelmed his psyche and almost brought him to his knees. He had no time to defend his mind as a flash of such deep despair from the woman sleeping on his couch twisted his heart, his gut.

  Blood froze in his own veins as he saw... felt... fists raining again and again into the tender flesh of her stomach, her ribs and agonisingly in the small of her back.

  And then another flash of emotion from her nearly toppled him to the floor.

  A heartfelt wish for it all to end in... death?

  Suicide?

  In his mind his vampyre roared in utter fury.

  How the hell had he missed the signs of domestic abuse?

  His heart going crazy in his chest, Daniel didn’t stop to think about her right to free will or anything else. All he could think was to keep his woman safe.

  With Gia still wrapped in the warm comforter he lifted her, and strode through the apartment to his bedroom. He pulled down the Egyptian cotton sheet, placed her in his bed, slid in beside her and held her back tight against his front. How would he ever forgive himself for missing the signs of how much she'd suffered?

  His head now throbbed with what he realized was her headache.

  Her scalp felt too tight.

  Lifting a hand that trembled from experiencing her emotions, he released her hair-tie to gather the scented river of her glossy hair in his fist and inhaled.

  Christ, her hair almost reached to her waist.

  Faerie hair, was all he could think as he buried his face in the glory of it.

  "Hush now, my wee darling," he crooned softly into her small ear. His erection ached as it filled with the blood of need and he carefully eased his pelvis from the curve of her tight backside. He closed his eyes as he inhaled her scent, as he rested his cheek on the top of her head and as he rubbed against the silky softness of slippery hair. And he made an oath that while there was breath in his lungs no one would ever lift a finger to hurt her and that included his vampyre roaring like a lion in his head to take her vein, now.

  Instead, Daniel sent a telepathic sedative into her mind to help her relax, to calm and soothe his woman.

  "Tha achan rud go maith." All is well.

  ***

  "Right then, my wee darlin’. Give it your best shot. Don't hold anything back," said Marcus in a tone he knew would annoy Anais.

  Sure enough, his wife's almond shaped eyes narrowed into slits as they held his.

  They were in the enormous basement of the headquarters of Gillespie, Pattullo and Hindmarch in New York. A space which held the Centuri warrior training centre. And both Marcus and Anais were dressed for combat. He wore black cotton pants, tied low on his hips. She wore black yoga pants and a sleeveless matching vest. Her inky hair tied back from her face.

  He bent his knees to crouch into the fighting position, wiggled his fingers in a 'come on' gesture.

  Anais Gillespie simply folded her arms and took her time to admire a naked torso, a long and lean body blessed by the universe.

  Man, her man was ripped.

  Now he bit down hard on his bottom lip, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement. He rolled his eyes as hers examined a six-pack and rock hard abs.

  "Now then, you stop looking at me like that or we won't get any work done tonight."

  Her dark eyes dropped to between his legs and just like that he went as hard as a rock.

  His loud sigh was heartfelt and made Anais grin.

  She'd need to use all the tools at her disposal to get out of this fight in once piece.

  Since she'd drop-kicked him last week, her husband treated her with a helluva lot more respect on the fighting mat these days. She knew the only way she'd win was to be tricky and toss out the rule book. The point was that it didn't matter how hard a person kicked a vampyre, they never stayed down, not for long.

  "My heart's not in it to spar with you tonight," she said, lying through her teeth.

  He grinned, a flash of super-white fangs, showcasing the dimples that always made her heart melt.

  Now he sent her a lewd wink.

  "More of a lover not a fighter, eh?"

  "Something like that."

  But she dropped into a crouch.

  Eyes locked, they circled each other.

  Every now and then he made a lunge, but she was fast. Very fast. Her vampyre was emerging, becoming stronger each and every day. Since she delighted in keeping her husband on his toes, it was a fact she was happy to keep to herself. And now Marcus was testing, teasing, her defences. No way was she going to tip her hand. So she almost let him catch her, once, twice, and then a third time.

  Now his blue eyes narrowed as he twisted fast.

  But she leapt over the sweeping leg, pure instinct now ruling as she read his body language.

  It occurred to her he was signalling his moves and now she wondered why.

  The thought had no more gone through her mind when she found herself flat on her back under a wickedly grinning vampyre. The breath had caught in her lungs as her eyes stared up into the vivid blue of his.

  Her heart was battering too fast against her ribs as arousal flooded her system.

  God, he was so beautiful.

  She licked her lips.

  And right away his eyes dropped to her mouth.

  He had her arms and legs pinned to the mat.

  No way could she escape.

  But neither could she let him win.

  He was used to winning, was Marcus.

  Too used to it.

  It was time someone spanked his arse.

  It was time for her to bring out the big guns.

  For a moment she closed her eyes and took deep breaths to steady her heart and centre her mind.

  When she opened them again, her bottom lip trembled.

  He frowned before his
eyes flew to hers and went wide.

  Her eyes filled as her bottom lip trembled again.

  Slowly, so slowly, a single tear escaped and ran into her hairline.

  Abruptly, he released her.

  "Did I hurt..."

  That was all he said before Marcus felt a knee in his groin and he was flying through the air to land hard on his back as the air whooshed from his lungs. He'd landed heavily and swore he could hear birds tweeting around his head. The hurt between his legs ached so bad he wanted to whine out loud. The sound of bare feet padding across the mat had him turn his head to find his Centuri commander, Ian Macpherson, standing over him with his hands on his hips.

  "Got you again, did she?"

  Ian reached out a hand to help him up.

  "Fuck." Marcus bent from the waist, hands on his knees, to catch his breath and to will his dick to stop throbbing like a bitch.

  This made it twice in one week the love of his life had caught him in a trap using her female wiles. But why did she need to bust his balls to do it? He turned his head to find his wife doing a joyous little victory dance, and he couldn't help but shake his head.

  "You devil," he said with feeling.

  "Suckah," came the smart-ass response as she did a bum boogie.

  "You cried, real tears." Marcus couldn't believe he'd fallen for it.

  Ian turned to look at Anais over his shoulder.

  "Nice move, princess."

  "He looooooooves me, loves, loves, loves meeeeee," she sang in a high voice that made Ian grin.

  And the hell of it was, his wife was dead right, Marcus thought now.

  He did love her.

  The thought of upsetting her, making her cry, had fucking killed him.

  Unfortunately, the scene was attracting an audience of his Centuri warriors, who were watching it unfold with unconcealed interest.

  "You're gonna pay for that," he warned her in a low growl.

  Then his jaw and Ian's jaw dropped.

  Anais moved so fast it made him blink as she scurried up the side of the wall to the ceiling and held on tight with the vampyre claws on her hands and feet. Clouds of cement and dust floated to the floor.

  Bloody hell.

  The drop was about fifty feet.

  "Get the hell down from there," he yelled, his voice echoing like thunder in the huge space, visions of her landing too hard and doing herself real damage now crowded his mind. It was true that vampyres healed fast, but the pain they felt when injured was all too real.

  "No."

  No?

  She was defying him and disrespecting him?

  In front of his Centuri?

  "Anais," he warned as fear warred with bitter frustration in his chest. "Do not test me, woman."

  "I've never seen anything like it," muttered Ian under his breath.

  "And you won't see anything like it again, once I get her down from there."

  "Look at her, Marcus. She's evolving. Look at the tendons on her arms, her calves, as they run into the bones of her hands and feet. Look at the strength. Amazing."

  Marcus simply growled in response as he watched his wife swinging on electric light fittings as if they were a trapeze. Fucking hell, at this rate she'd end up electrocuting herself.

  While his heart was in his mouth, she was showing off.

  She looked down and beamed into his furious face.

  "Catch," she cried and let go.

  Time for Marcus stood utterly still as he moved like a speeding bullet to catch her.

  The impact when she hit him brought both to the mat.

  Again the breath was knocked from his lungs as he held her tight and buried his face in her neck to simply inhale her, the love of his life. And once he got his breath back, he was going to strangle her for scaring the life out of him. In a minute.

  "Wow," she gasped in his ear. Her newborn fangs nipped his lobe and he went rock hard. "What a rush!" Two heartbeats then, "Ow!"

  He didn't hold back as he spanked her tight little ass once, twice.

  "Don't you ever, ever, do that to me again."

  She pushed up and off him to stand.

  Her hand rubbed her butt.

  "You're a sore loser." She glared at him, her cheeks burning with what he knew was humiliation that he'd punished her in front of Ian and the Centuri. Well, she bloody well deserved it.

  "What the hell did you think you were doing? You could have broken your neck."

  Now her full mouth pouted.

  "I knew you'd catch me when I fell. Stop over-reacting."

  Over-reacting?

  He'd give her over-reacting.

  Ian stepped into the breach.

  "I think we can safely say Anais is the winner this evening. Interesting skills, princess."

  Anais had the bare-faced bloody cheek to grin at his commander and flex her hand claws in and out. Marcus blinked. For a newborn she appeared to have an amazing control of her many skills. Now he looked at her carefully. He realized she'd grown taller, maybe a couple of inches. She was still long and slim, but she was stronger, tighter in muscle and tendon. Ian was right. It appeared Anais's vampyre was indeed evolving.

  The question was, into what?

  A skinny worm of anxiety slid down his spine.

  Maybe he needed to talk to Constantine and alert him to these new developments.

  Of course Constantine would want to run more blood tests and Marcus knew Anais hated needles with a passion. But she was a rare thing, a live and healthy newborn vampyre, and it was important to find out exactly how she was changing.

  Chapter Six

  Gia had never felt so warm, so protected, so deliriously happy.

  She knew she was dreaming.

  It was such a wonderful dream, she didn't want to wake up. Her eyelids felt like lead weights, eyelids it took too much effort to open, so she gave up the attempt. A powerful arm held her close to a man's warm and naked body, while a gentle hand stroked her bare skin from shoulder to hip in a way that comforted and calmed, but also aroused her terribly.

  Her nipples throbbed, as did the purely liquid and feminine part of her ache low, low in her belly.

  The scent of a clean male, soap and a familiar herbal shampoo tickled her memory.

  A deep, masculine voice was speaking in soothing whispered tones.

  As if sliding through warm treacle, she dimly recognized his voice, he spoke a language her exhausted brain couldn’t recognize. Trying to remember took too much effort, so again she gave up the attempt.

  Safe.

  She felt shielded and utterly secure for the first time in a long time.

  A deep sigh eased out of her lungs and Gia turned to bury her face into the heat of a wide manly chest to delight in the slow, steady beat of a strong heart against her cheek.

  She nuzzled the soft hair of that chest.

  Inhaled.

  God he smelled fantastic, and found herself eased very gently onto her back.

  This, yes this was how a real man treated a woman.

  With deep affection, with tenderness and with respect.

  The hand stroked, moved to tease the delicate skin under her breast, down her flat belly.

  Fingertips gently massaging with deep strokes the heavy, relentless and delicious yearning low in her abdomen, in her womb.

  The way her dream lover touched her had Gia moan loud as her back arched - a plea, even a prayer - for more.

  Then her mouth was captured in a kiss that was so potent it made her weak. His tongue stroked hers. Long, slow strokes, an intimate taste that made liquid bloom hot between her legs. And she reciprocated as a richly passionate and intense flavor sped through her system from the roots of her hair to the tingling tips of her toes.

  Her panties went damp and she arched her back again and again, pressing her pelvis into the seeking palm of his hand between her legs.

  Her eyelids seemed to weigh even heavier as she tried to speak but his kiss took her deeper, deeper, in a way that had her h
ands slide up strong arms and her fingertips press urgently into wide shoulders to hold him close.

  Something like a deep animalistic growl sounded in her ear, the force of it vibrating like a current of electricity shooting through her blood.

  Her hands slid over a strong back covered in smooth flesh over solid muscle and his body seemed to become bigger under her hands, his rock hard shaft swelling, pressing against her hip and a feeling of elation soared through her.

  This dream was fantastic.

  Please, she begged every God in the universe, do not let me wake-up.

  Not yet.

  Her fingers streaked up over amazing shoulders, up over his neck through silky hair and gripped. And Gia prayed again she wouldn’t wake up before the good bit.

  Her panties were ripped from her body in a way that thrilled her, and she didn’t care as she laughed out loud, as she spread her legs wide in complete surrender. Whatever he wanted to do to her, she wanted it, too.

  Expert fingers stroked the slick flesh of her sex, slid around the swollen nub of her clitoris. Her whole body quivered as it went tight like a bow.

  Two, three fingers entered her, made love to her as his thumb worked its magic around her little bead of hard nerve endings, and it felt, her breath hitched... amazing.

  Her breath was coming in harsh little pants, but still he didn’t take his mouth from hers.

  She rode his hand as an orgasm hit her so hard her whole body trembled as if she was feverish from the force of it.

  Then her knee was gripped, pushed higher as he entered her with one punishing thrust.

  Omigod.

  She gasped into his mouth.

  The way he over-filled her, over-stretched her too tight, was fantastic.

  Her scream was swallowed by his mouth as his hips moved in a long torturously slow rhythm that made her womb clench again and again.

  He trembled.

  She felt it beneath her hands.

  Then his hot and hungry mouth was sucking on her neck and she arched to give him better access. The sharp sting of pain caught her breath, but the pain was over in a heartbeat to be replaced by a wondrous feeling of an intense pleasure so powerful she cried out. He moaned and trembled as his hot seed spilled into her again and again. And now he muttered desperate words in a language that wasn't familiar. Part of her mind appeared to understand, as he told her he belonged to her... forever.