by Dane, Lauren
Rowan considered his offer, knowing there’d be a price for his cooperation. Payment would be rendered while she was naked, that much was certain. He smiled at her, letting that show in his gaze, and she rolled her eyes, but he caught her blush anyway.
“I’m rather more handsome and charming than any of your underlings.” He led her from the library and out to the main hallway.
“I need a drink,” she muttered.
“Already? I haven’t even tried to get on your nerves yet.”
“Don’t let it go to your head. You’re merely one of a host.”
“Let’s go to your rooms to get your coat and I’ll take you on a stroll through the gardens.”
“Where we can’t be overheard?”
Of course she’d know that was his aim. It was refreshing to be with someone who was as politic as he was. “My. Aren’t you clever?”
“It’s one of my many, many talents. Also, it’s pretty obvious.”
They headed down and across the huge entry to the stairs leading to the First’s private wing. Clive wanted to ask her how she felt about being in this part of the Keep, but there were too many ears about.
“Rowan, there you are.”
Her body tightened and she let out a barely uttered growl, which naturally put him on alert as they turned. He’d have let go of her arm if she’d made a move away, but she didn’t.
Even when the sharp-eyed human who approached them made it a point to stare at her arm in his and then up at them both. Valerie Portman. Though he hadn’t been to any Joint Tribunal meetings with her in the past, he’d seen her file. The Nation didn’t think too very highly of her, though there was no arguing that she was a voice for a certain element within the Hunter Corp. The one that appeared to be in favor of breaking the Treaty and eradicating what they considered the “Vampire Threat.”
It was also fairly clear as they stood there that Rowan disliked the woman intensely. Having been on the receiving end of Rowan’s dislike, Clive could sympathize. Though it was more than dislike. Rowan didn’t have even the most basic respect for Valerie, which spoke volumes. Clive filed that away—both as Scion and as Rowan’s...whatever he was to her.
“Yes?” Rowan’s smile was window dressing and didn’t reach her eyes.
“We arrived.”
Rowan remained silent for long moments until she finally nodded. “Okay then. See you later.” Rowan tried to turn and keep on her way to the stairs but the woman hailed them again.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to my room to get my coat. I’ll see you and Celesse in a few hours for dinner.”
Valerie’s gaze moved to Clive, taking an assessing tour over his features in a frankly sexual way. It was deliberately provocative and though Rowan’s expression didn’t change, her nails dug into Clive’s arm for a moment.
“I’m Valerie Portman. You’re Clive Stewart.”
Rowan took a deep breath and sniffed. “Clive Stewart, Scion of North America, this is Valerie Portman. She works for Hunter Corp. in London.”
This earned a smirk. “Don’t be coy, Rowan, it’s not a secret that Clive is your paramour.”
Rowan’s voice was dangerously even. “I could never be coy. I’m also not fourteen or a person who uses the term paramour. Now, if there’s nothing else, you met him, he met you, I need to get my coat.”
“There’ll be a meeting before dinner. I’ve been asked to represent Hunter Corp. The Nation requested me personally. I just figured you’d want to know. I’ll apprise you of any new information afterward.”
“Okay then.” Rowan shifted her body, shutting the other woman out of her attentions and they went up the stairs.
* * *
Rowan wanted to punch Valerie’s face when she gave Clive the look. It wasn’t as if she had a chance with him. Clive might be dodgy and a Vampire, but he was Rowan’s. Whatever else they bickered over, struggled through, she never doubted that connection they had.
Also, she was better than Valerie with her fox-like face and fake kindness. A man like Clive would burn through a thousand Valeries because they weren’t what he would stay for.
“Whatever can you be thinking, Hunter?” Clive’s murmured words brought her out of her violent imaginings.
“Work.” And how confusing it was that she...well, she liked him. It flustered her, which amused him, she knew. And it wasn’t that she was worried, or jealous. But he was—damn it—he was hers.
She hated sinking to the level of dingbats like Valerie.
“I’m work, am I?”
Of course he’d know why she was agitated. Men were bad enough. Give one immortality, a few centuries with a face like a fashion model and a keen fashion sense and they were unstoppable.
They were also really good in bed.
“You’re total work,” she muttered as they approached the wing where her apartments were.
“I do try to be worth it.”
The guards saw Rowan and lowered their chins appropriately. Their submission to Clive was slightly different and it amused her to see she got a deeper nod than he did.
“Quite a bit of security up here.” Clive gave her a raised brow after they passed through one more security checkpoint before she entered the sitting room.
“I’m a weapon of mass destruction, don’t you know? I need to check on David. I’ll be right back.”
She disappeared through the side door to find David tucked into a large chair, his laptop open, his fingers flying over the keys, taking care of all the details that made her life easier. He’d come to her in the library to let her know Celesse and the rest of the Hunter Corp. people had shown up. She’d urged him to take some time off and catch a nap, but she’d known better.
She paused, tenderness coming sharp and unbidden as she watched him.
He looked up. “Déesse, is all well? Can I assist?”
“I just wanted to stop in to check on you.”
“Have you eaten?”
She smiled. “There’ll be a big dinner in a few hours. I ate cookies when I had tea with Theo. I’m going to take a walk in the gardens with Clive so I may leave via the kitchens and grab something.” And see some of the people she’d missed most since she’d left.
“Shall I lay out a few outfits for the dinner?” He looked her over carefully, she knew, taking her measure. Was she pale? Tired? Always anticipating what she needed and how to make sure she got it.
“I would appreciate that very much. Cataline might show up to do it, but I’ll make it clear you’re in charge. She means well, she’s just bossy.”
He couldn’t hide his smile. “I’m sure I’ll figure out how to deal with a bossy woman.”
“Ha. I’m afraid I’ll need you to attend me at dinner. It shouldn’t be too bad, but I expect there’ll be times when I’ll need you to run to get something or to get things up and down the table.” Always politics and she had a sinking feeling she’d be seated near Theo while the rest of the Hunters would be at the other end. She’d be above other Vampires and that would be trouble too. All she wanted was to get this amendment passed, but the rest of the bullshit would get in the way and there was no way around it.
“Something I can move easy in. Low heels.” If she had to throw down, she didn’t want to do it in a long dress with floppy sleeves.
“Of course. You’re okay? After your tea?”
He hadn’t asked when she’d returned to change before heading to the library because he’d been on a call for her. And later when he’d delivered information to her, there had been others around and he’d never expose any weakness if he didn’t have to.
“It was fine. We were interrupted. The games have started. Keep your guard up, all right?”
He nodded and she left to find Clive in her room, looking a
t the things belonging to a different Rowan. She froze, uncomfortable. This Rowan had been vulnerable in ways she had buried for over a decade.
“Ready to go.” She breezed in, trying to shove it from her mind.
Clive turned, watching her carefully, and she knew he was going to push. He was pushy. Wanted in more and more and she was stupid and helpless against it in ways she never would have imagined.
“He kept it exactly how it was when you lived here.” Not a question. Clive knew Theo well. Not as well as Rowan did; though he had less scars as a result.
“Apparently so.” She tried to keep her face blank as she grabbed her coat from the closet.
Clive moved to her, taking the coat from her hands, helping her into it.
It wasn’t as if people hadn’t ever helped her into a coat, or opened her door. But it was different when Clive did it. He ministered to her in a sense. Took care of her and not as an employee or out of deference or fear.
He wanted to be someone to her. Not a guy she banged. Not some nameless date or whatever.
Despite their political differences, despite the things that made them bicker and argue, just then it was Rowan and Clive and as much as it terrified her, she wanted it so much she let herself be a little softer.
“I missed you,” he said, lips to her temple as he pulled her hair free from the collar.
She didn’t know how to give him back the words he so freely gave her. But he didn’t seem bothered by it.
She leaned into his kiss, turning as she slid her arms around his waist and snuggled into him. He was warm so he’d fed recently. He smelled of his cologne, something Armani he’d switched to not too long ago. Dark and sexy. His muscles shifted against her palms as he pulled her closer.
His kiss wasn’t the tease he’d given her in the library. This time he sank into her mouth like he meant to be there awhile. She opened to it, her system seeming to reset after so long without his taste. Let herself hunger for him.
Though he cradled her jaw as he touched her, it wasn’t gentle. He ate at her, licked, took, gave her a hint of what he did to other parts of her body. His incisors elongated as the air between them grew hot and heavy, but though he devastated her mouth, he kept control of his other urges, not even nicking her.
Oh, she knew he wanted it. Knew, too, that it would feel really good if he did. But she wasn’t ready for that. Didn’t know if she ever would be, and to his credit, he never made it an issue, though his blood also ran through her veins from when he’d given it to her after the attack in the desert.
She moaned softly and he sucked the sound from her, drawing it inside his body with a satisfied yank, pulling her closer.
Three steps and her back met the arch between the sitting area and her bedroom. Rough enough to excite but not harm. Enough to send shivers of delight through her. His hands slid down from where he’d been holding her face to her shoulders and then her waist. Clever fingers slid between the cashmere of her sweater and her skin, skimming that space at the top of her pants bringing a gasp.
It was stupid to be doing this. She knew it. David was just next door. There was information about this dumb bimbo Victoriana she needed to find. Theo was prowling around whipping people and being scary and she was letting Clive feel her up in her childhood bedroom.
It was ridiculous and taboo and really hot all at once.
He made her think with her pink parts and she couldn’t find it within herself to protest.
He pressed himself against her, grinding his cock over her pussy until she gasped and relaxed, giving over to him.
“There she is,” he muttered into her mouth as his hands skimmed up her belly to cup her breasts.
“Who?” She joked rather than focus on the tenderness of his tone. “I thought we were alone.”
He laughed, pushing her harder to the arch as he kissed down her throat, laving over her thundering pulse.
“I want the Rowan who only I see.” He spoke against her collarbone before raining kisses over it to the hollow of her throat.
“If I give her to you, will you put your dick in her? Soonish?”
He laughed again. “Incorrigible.”
“Duh.”
“You can have my dick in you any time you please, Rowan. It’s one of the services I provide. Also, the word dick seems a little—”
She slid her hand down the front of his trousers and grasped his cock, squeezing. “A little vulgar?” Rowan nipped his lip, tugging until he groaned. “Dirty?”
There was something about him that drove her to delight. To be filthy because she knew he loved it.
“Childish.”
“Mmm. But you like it.”
He thrust into the fist she’d made around him. “Apparently. My cock has terrible judgment. We’ve established that.”
He took that moment to pinch her left nipple through the material of her bra.
Oh, how she wanted him and right that very moment. They could talk about Victoriana after she’d come a few times. “Now might be the time to give me that cock, Scion.”
“With pleasure, Hunter. I’ve missed being inside you.” He spun her, backing her toward the bed, and that’s when a knock sounded on the door.
She froze, willing the person to go away. But then she heard David get up to deal with it and—regretfully—she pushed Clive back with a curse.
“Cockblocking motherfuckers,” she muttered, straightening her clothing and getting to the doors just as David poked a head in. Thank goodness it hadn’t happened two minutes later or she’d be a lot more naked and a lot more annoyed.
“I’ve got some flowers for you.” Cataline bustled into the room, giving a snort when she caught sight of Clive sitting ever so calmly in a chair by a window. “Evening, Scion.”
“Clive, do you know Cataline? She’s been with Theo for a very long time. She also used to french braid my hair every day.” Washed the blood from Rowan’s clothes too.
“We have met a time or two, yes.” Clive unfolded himself and took Cataline’s hands in his, bending low to kiss her knuckles. Cataline blushed prettily and Rowan wanted to kiss Clive smack on the lips for being so sweet.
And then Cataline was back to business. “Wear the lily in your hair. He sent them to you specifically. I’ll be back in an hour to help you get ready for the dinner. Your young David has agreed to let me help you out with your preparations for old time’s sake.” Cataline pointed to the tray she brought with her. “Tea and some sandwiches. Keep your blood sugar right.”
She hustled out and Rowan turned back to him. “Since we’ve had cold water tossed on our potential fucking plans, guess we’ll go on that walk now.”
“Have some tea first. She’s right, and if I know how this night will be, you’ll need the fuel to keep from lopping heads off.”
“It’s a delight that you know me so well.”
“Will you wear the lily?” he asked, watching her pour out.
She frowned and he hid a smile.
“I don’t wear flowers in my hair. I’ll look like a dumbass if I do. It’s not the prom, it’s a professional dinner.”
He slid his hand around to cup her neck. “You’d look beautiful with flowers in your hair.”
She sniffed and leaned into his touch for a brief moment before she pulled away. “Drink your tea and don’t hog all the cookies.”
Chapter Six
They walked through the gardens, the sound of snow and gravel crunching beneath their feet. She knew Clive was more than capable of walking without a sound, and if she worked at it she could too. But it was a waste of power, and she relished the humanity of that crunch with each step.
“No one else is out here. Well, apart from the guard over there keeping an eye on us. But he can’t hear. Or he won’t.” She shrugged.
“You’re so sure about that?”
“He’s one of Theo’s. Even if he heard everything, the only one he’d reveal it to would be The First. And let’s be honest, if I wasn’t supposed to know about it, he’d have come to you and told you to keep it quiet. Also? We both know you won’t tell me anything that would harm the Nation. So who are they?”
He sighed. “She’s three hundred.” He shrugged. “Not exceptionally old.”
The heavy silence of the things he didn’t say made it clear to Rowan that Victoriana’s maker most certainly was old. “Who was her maker?”
He paused again and she began to get annoyed. She knew he weighed all he knew and would tell her what he could, but she didn’t want to work so hard for it. He should tell her or not.
“Look, like I said, I can get this info on my own. Tell me or don’t, but I didn’t come out here to get naked with you in the snow or anything. If that was your cunning plan, you need to remember I don’t do the sex outside. It’s cold and there are bugs. And bark and grass and stuff.”
A strangled sound came from him and she smiled, satisfied that she’d ruffled his feathers.
“I could have had you just minutes ago in your room if that had been my design.” He straightened his lapels and she shrugged.
“But you didn’t. So?”
“Her maker was Italian. Roman to be more specific.”
“Hedging is so boring. It’s like something a decades-old Vamp does. I thought you were smoother than this, Scion. So let’s add it all up and move on. She’s not that old, but she’s coming at Theo openly so she’s powerful. She’s young so that means her maker had to be really old. And you say her maker was Roman. Meaning dead now but old then. Meaning she’s most likely old school given her origin. One of the humans are nothing but meat servants crowd, I’d wager.”
Most likely an enemy of Theo’s. As her maker was dead and Roman, it would imply a certain worldview. Also, killing a Vampire that old was a rare thing. She’d have remembered if she’d done it herself. She thought hard and seemed to recall some stories about...