Her heart began to do a strange little dance against her ribs.
She, and her vampyre, had a very bad feeling about this.
Very bad.
When they entered the penthouse apartment, the guards right on their tail, Gia found Saira Pattullo laying in wait for her.
"The wanderer returns," she drawled. Then she smiled. A genuine one that reached her dark eyes. Those eyes now did a slow study of Gia in Daniel's arms right from her head to her toes and back up again. "You've shredded your feet and your fingers. Must hurt. Right, a bath first and then we'll fix the injuries and then you'll give my medics five blood samples. They'll use force if they have to, so you'd be smart to do as you're told."
As Daniel placed her on her feet and told her not get blood on the carpet, Gia eyed the four 'medics' who simply looked right through her.
Daniel, in the meantime, was helping himself to a stiff whisky.
She could do with one herself.
He looked up and caught her eye.
"After you've had a bath and the guys have what they need."
Shoot.
How the hell did he do that?
Her cheeks went hot.
"I'm afraid of needles," she admitted, burning with the shame of it.
Saira smiled and this time it didn't reach her eyes.
"Don't worry. It will just be a little prick."
"I don't like you," Gia said to Saira.
The words were water off a duck's back.
"I don't like you either, but them's the breaks. Bath. Now."
Twenty minutes later, Gia, dressed in soft cotton sleep shorts and a matching sleeveless T-shirt, was sitting on Daniel's bed.
Being attended to by four big handsome men wasn't really a hardship, she supposed.
She had one at each foot and each hand.
They were quick and efficient, as if they'd done this sort of thing thousands of times before. Maybe they had? At the moment they were spraying some kind of antiseptic salve on her ripped nails and the deep cuts to her flesh. The salve stung so bad it brought tears to her eyes, but she refused to flinch or whimper. No way was she going to be a pathetic wimp in front of Saira and her medical team. Who'd have thought the pain in the ass was a vampyre medic? Studying the work they were doing, she had to admit she'd made a real mess of her feet. And her hands weren't much better.
Daniel entered.
He stopped at the foot of the bed, folded his arms, and simply glared at her.
She glared back and didn't notice Saira slide a needle into a vein.
Her eyes flicked down to see her blood filling a vial.
Her stomach rolled, but she forced herself to ignore it as her eyes were again captured by his.
He looked gorgeous in his soft blue jeans that fitted in all the right places.
A favourite pair judging by the way the denim had faded at the seams.
His T-shirt, pale grey, was tight around the biceps.
The color brought out the blue of his eyes.
Lust shimmied through her system, trembled low in her belly, as she focused on his hard mouth.
A nice mouth.
A kissable mouth.
"No kisses for you," he said in a tone that made her cheeks burn. "After the stunt you pulled tonight, you don't deserve any."
Her face went nuclear with mortification.
Not nice, Daniel, she sent the thought, saw him look anything but sorry.
She didn't care how long it took, one of these days she was going to learn to block her thoughts from this man.
"Not gonna happen," he said. "We're bonded."
"How come I can't read your thoughts?"
"You can if you try. You just haven't made an attempt, yet."
Saira finished up, removed the needle, pressed a cotton pad with firm fingers to stop the bleeding. "All done. For being a good girl you get a sticker and a lollipop."
Gia was proud of herself for not rising to the taunt.
"Time for you to feed," added Saira and produced what looked like a bag of blood and a straw.
Seriously?
Gia's face said it all.
No chance.
"It's either this, or you feed from Daniel," Saira went on relentless. "Do you want it warmed in the microwave or as it comes?"
She didn't want it either way, but she held her tongue and accepted the bag with the straw inserted. Taking a tiny suck, she expected to gag in disgust. Instead her brow creased as she tasted the most delicious flavor. Sort of peppery and sweet. It was a strange combination, but she found that she really, really, enjoyed it. In fact, it was delicious. Finishing it, she handed Saira the empty bag.
The vampyre medic watched her carefully as she took her pulse.
"There you go, you've got a bit of color in your skin. It's vital you ingest hemoglobin at regular three hour intervals until your vampyre is fully emerged. Once Constantine has run blood tests, he'll produce a product tailored to your specific needs."
Gia blinked.
Her vampyre wasn't fully emerged?
Keen to learn more, eyes locked on hers, she leaned into Saira.
"How long might it take for my vampyre to emerge?"
A shrug.
"It might take days or weeks. We don't know. So far no newborn has followed the same emergent path."
"There are more people like me?"
Saira's eyes slid to Daniel, then clicked back to hers.
"Yep. You're number three. Anais and Charlotte are one and two and married to Marcus and James respectively."
Gia shook her head.
"I'm never, ever, going to marry again."
Saira's brow creased at the determined tone of the statement, but she held her tongue.
"It's polite to wait until you're asked," said Daniel with a savage little bite to his tone.
A tone that raised Gia's hackles.
"I don't want you to ask. I'm just making you aware that the answer will be no."
"You have feelings for me," he said now.
"Right. We're off to leave you two love birds to it," said Saira as she rose to leave. Then she turned to bean her with a dark look. "By the way, I'm leaving Tomasino and Fredo to keep an eye on you." She put up a hand when Gia went to tell her to go to hell. "No. Don't thank me. It's merely a precaution in case something unexpected occurs."
"What could possibly go wrong?" Gia wanted to know.
"Too many things, too numerous to mention." And with that response Saira strolled out the door with two of the medics.
Tomasino and Fredo checked her eyes, her temperature, took her pulse again and all the while she kept a wary eye on Daniel, who was watching her like a hawk.
"Leave us," he said.
The vampyres left.
As soon as the door was closed, he moved to sit on the edge of the bed and picked up her hand to survey the damage. His mouth went hard as cool eyes rose to catch hers.
"You do have feelings for me," he repeated.
She did and they were all over the place.
"I fancy you like mad. So what? Doesn't mean anything."
Silence.
His eyes bored into hers before he dropped her hand and rose.
"I'll see you in the morning to take you through your induction into our ways. I should have done it before and saved ourselves the needless panic we had this evening." And with those words, he left.
Chapter Nineteen
"Gia dodged a bullet tonight," his father said.
"I know it," Daniel replied.
"We need to get some sort of handle on newborn behaviour. This is the third time we've nearly lost one due to ignorance and sheer carelessness."
"I find it hard to think logically, clearly, around her. My vampyre will not be denied. It's as if all common sense simply disappears."
"Then you'd better find it and fast."
"She's a determined little minx. Her vampyre seems to have brought out the worst in her."
"Nothing wrong with a spunky and sparky woman," his f
ather said.
True.
At least life with Gia promised to be anything but dull.
"After what's happened to her in the past, she won't marry me," Daniel muttered.
His father sipped his special claret, the one with added vitamins, minerals and hemoglobin.
"She's been through a great deal, especially in the past few months. Give her time to come around to the idea of having you as a mate."
"What if she refuses to bond with me?"
"How many times has she fed from you?"
"Three."
"Better make it four, just to be sure."
"You still think I should remove her choice? Bond her to me, irrespective of her feelings, until one of us enters The Fade?"
Duncan shrugged.
"No point in giving her a choice. She is already a newborn vampyre. What's done is done and cannot be undone. Better to complete the bond between you. Finish it."
Daniel wasn't sure he agreed.
However, neither did he want to argue with his father.
The man had enough to contend with.
He decided to change the subject.
"I haven't seen James or Charlotte yet. Did they arrive this afternoon?"
Duncan smiled.
"They did. Charlotte's resting and James is keeping her company."
"Is she well?"
"Aye, just a wee bit tired after the journey." He grinned wickedly. "Your brother's clucking over her like a mother hen."
"She deserves it," said Daniel, remembering how his sister-in-law had so nearly lost her life in San Francisco.
***
"Are you sure you're not too tired for this?" James asked Charlotte in a soft voice.
He curved his naked body around his wife's. His hand gently resting on the flat belly that held their child. After everything she'd gone through, the fact she was carrying his baby was nothing short of a miracle. His love for her rose through his chest to close his throat. He buried his face in her curls and inhaled the sweet smell as her bare bottom pressed against his rock hard erection. They'd had a busy day overseeing the final packing from the apartment in San Francisco. Moving to New York had not been an easy sell to his wife. She was close to her elderly grandparents and her friends. But she understood, that in dealing the forces lined up against them, there was safety in numbers. And her safety was his number one priority. The Order had made it clear they wanted her to 'investigate' her magic, to ensure she was not a danger to the vampyre nation.
James swore he would die before he let those savages ever bring his wife to Dyunik Monastery.
"I can hear you worrying. Stop it, James. We'll be safe here."
Her voice still didn't sound like his Charlotte and at times like these, when they were close and intimate, guilt for everything he'd put her through scorched his very soul. The memory of how she'd screamed until her voice broke, how much she'd suffered, when she'd become vampyre, made him hold her close. Her hand covered his. A move he understood meant she'd forgiven him, everything.
Again he inhaled the fabulous scent of her hair, immersed his senses in the pleasure of her skin against his skin. And he knew he didn't deserve her. If he could have foreseen what she would go through to be with him in his world, he'd never have touched her in the first place. Never.
She sighed. The sound tinged with little patience for his introspection.
His mouth kicked.
"What is it, my love?"
"As long as I am with you I am happy. Look at the beautiful rooms we have here. I love this bedroom. It's huge. And look at that amazing floor mirror resting on the wall. It's enormous. Anais and Marcus have worked hard to make us feel welcome, too. We're lucky to have so many people around us who love us. Try to let go of what happened in the past and be content with the present."
"Are you happy?" he said it very softly. "Are you going to be happy with me for the tens of years to come?"
Outside a storm rose. Rain poured onto the balcony outside their French doors. The sound was a soothing rhythm that beat through her system in time to the thrumming of her heart. She loved him. Had always loved him from the first moment she'd shone a light into those baby blues in her ER. She felt his guilt and knew the innermost workings of his heart instinctively.
"Tha gaol agam ort," she whispered. I love you. He kissed her cheek and whispered the same words in a deep voiced response. She'd been practising the next one. "An toir thu dhomh pog?" Will you give me a kiss?
His delighted laugh made her smile. It didn't take much to delight her big Highland warrior. That's what he was, a Highland warrior, through and through. A man with strict principles and values. A man who'd loved her enough, had married her and then waited six months of terrible soul searching, to bring her into his world. Maybe he should have told her his secret right from the start. However, no one was perfect. It taken time, but now she embraced vampyrism and her magic, too. She couldn't conceive of a life without either in it. And she couldn't conceive of not having the joy of carrying their miraculous child. Of course their lives still held challenges she could never have imagined. Who could have anticipated a vampyre religious sect that was so anti-magic, they'd made it their life goal to destroy all magic in this world?
"That was so well done," said James, interrupting her dark thoughts, "you deserve a kiss. Maybe even more than one."
With a gentleness that made her eyes swim, he turned her on her back and caged her body with his. In the dim light of a single lamp lit in a far corner of the room, violently blue eyes stared deep into hers. She saw the whisper of an anxiety that was his constant companion these days. And was sorry for it. But she also saw the love. A love that was soul deep and she revelled in it.
"I could never survive in this world without you," he said. She recognized the sincerity in his voice as she felt the impact of his words deep inside her.
Her hand rose to glide her fingers through his hair. He'd cut it and she wasn't sure she'd be able to forgive him until it grew again. A jagged bolt of lightning streaked through the sky and for a split second she saw his face in harsh relief. There was a certain firmness about his sensual mouth, the lines and planes and angles of that wonderful face, the vivid blue of his eyes as they held hers. He was so very beautiful. Her very own dark warrior.
Her nails gently scratched his scalp and those eyes closed as he purred deep in his throat like a big contented feline.
"You have to know I adore you. I have an enemy, James. They will come for me. I know it. But I also know that you and your brothers and your father and all of our Centuri will do everything they can to protect me and our child. I cannot let fear rule me. You cannot let it rule you, either."
She felt the damp tip of his erection search for her as he shuddered above her.
God, she loved this man with her whole heart.
"Charlotte," he said it softly, the aching need for her more than evident in his deep voice.
James felt a surge of overwhelming tenderness mixed with love.
His vampyre wanted to be the one to take her. It had been a while since he'd unleashed the beast. But he said, No. Not this night. Tonight she needs care. And the beast growled low in his throat. A sound of reluctant agreement.
Now he drew her against him, buried his face in the delicate and tender flesh of her neck. He smelled her blood racing through her system. It drew him like nectar drew a honey bee. His whole body trembled with his need of her. It was always like this when he loved her. Always. He moved his head to kiss her softly trembling mouth, then lifted his head to meet the love, for him, in her eyes. His hand moved to cup her face, to take the kiss deeper. She tasted of heaven itself.
"Bite me," she demanded in a soft voice.
Again he lifted his head to make sure his wants were her wants.
Her skin on her neck was so soft and silky as he licked the spot, felt her arch beneath him.
His teeth sank deep, and again lightning streaked through the sky. She was honey and spice and as
he drank, he gently sank his body inside hers. He groaned at the sensation, tight, slick and scorchingly hot. He didn't take too much from her. As he drew back, again she arched her back then tilted her pelvis to demand more, now. Her hand cupped his neck, drew him close. It was her turn to taste him and by the way she mewled in her throat, she was hungry for him.
Her teeth sank deep into his carotid as she drank. And all the while her body moved erotically against him, driving him right to the edge. He wanted to take care with her. It was important she didn't take too much of his powerful blood. She read his mind because now she licked to seal the wound. And then he took possession of her mouth, tasted himself slick and hot on her tongue. It was the most amazing experience, the ultimate intimacy between a vampyre and his bonded mate. Now his tongue swept along hers, tangling and dancing as he took her gently and so slowly up, up, up until her body went tight and gripped his so hard he cried out loud.
His seed splashed and filled her again and again until he was an empty husk.
Even then her body refused to release his.
It was always like this.
Every time.
And James knew he'd never, even if he lived another two hundred years, ever get enough of his woman.
Now the storm outside seemed to increase as thunder stalked across the sky, rain now turning to hail as it battered the windows. A bolt of lightning slammed into the ground with such force the whole building shook with the power of it.
Charlotte's soft and frightened cry made him hold her close.
She'd never been good with storms.
"Hush. It is only the weather being bad tempered and disturbing our love making."
"Hold me."
His mouth curved as he did as he was told and closed his eyes as he felt her drift into sleep.
Neither noticed the mirror in the room did not reflect the lightning or the storm raging outside. It didn't reflect the lamp either. It was the ultimate darkness, empty of spirit, empty of soul.
Chapter Twenty
The next morning Gia lay on her back staring, unseeing, at the ceiling.
The Vampyre Legal Chronicles - Daniel: Book: 3 Page 13