by Celia Kyle
Carac slammed his hand onto the table, the vibrating rumble effectively ceasing their argument. “Enough, children.”
Liam kept his gaze intent on Joce.
“Enough!” Carac’s roar broke their locked stares and Victoria squeaked. Her uneasiness was enough to force him to his seat.
“Victoria, I would like you to put together a list of likely candidates to assist you. Verify their backgrounds and knowledge of us as well as determine their ability to move to the manse.” Liam heard Joce’s grumble, but a look from their Sovereign ended the vampire’s protests. “Once they come through those doors to work with you, they will have only one way to leave our employ.”
He knew the next word that would flow from Carac’s mouth. And while it was a practice accepted by them all, he wasn’t sure how Victoria would deal with the vampire’s pronouncement since she still held human beliefs in her heart.
“Death.” The Master vampire’s word rang out in the silent room.
Until his Fire spoke. “Dude, that sucks ass.”
Chapter Six
It felt good to be clean. After summarily ending the meeting with her comment (because who wants to work for someone who’d totally kill them?) Tory had gone back to her room for a shower. Sex, while totally O-M-G-Awesome, was icky. And sweaty. And…squishy.
Yeah, no condom. She’d really listened to those lectures in sex ed. But vamps didn’t carry diseases, and they were all committed now with the whole “Fire” thing.
Tory sighed.
Plus, there was the blood. She hadn’t come through Liam’s battle with the daeva unscathed. Blood tended to splatter.
Scrubbed and dry, she flicked the lights off then crawled into bed, thoughts whirling. Worry topped her list. She’d dug through a few scrolls after the meeting had dispersed, searching for anything on daevas and their powers. She had found nada. Then she’d shot off a secure email to Brom with a recap of events in the hopes that he could find something on his end.
After that there were the downright adolescent, girly, stupid thoughts.
Like, did Liam like her like her? Or just like her? Because, she liked him liked him. Not just a little, either. A whole heck of a lot. Even if she barely knew him from Adam. ‘Cause…
‘Cause there was something in her that wanted to bathe in the guy’s scent, lap at his skin and nip his flesh. And didn’t those ideas make her vamp sit up and purr?
Her vamp. Gah. She was genuinely getting used to the vampire inside her. The what? Beast? Yeah, the beast was becoming more familiar and less freakish. If that were possible.
She accepted that the scratchy feeling would remain since she didn’t think she could resist the urge to taste Liam. Ever. And if the beastie came with fangs and super powers, all the better.
Tory tugged the blanket up to her neck and snuggled beneath the soft comforter, welcoming the warmth. Which was another thing… She only seemed to be warm when she was around Liam. Yeah, she understood the Fire thing (sorta), but it was unfair that she had to stick to him like glue to feel good.
It was all that hunky, super-hot bastard’s fault.
Like now, she wasn’t sure if she should stay in her room or hunt him down. But he hadn’t hunted her down or invited her to move in… Grr.
She needed to forget about the hotness factor. He was just a guy. With fangs. And lotsa muscles. Then there was that smile…
“Mmm…” She let her eyes drift closed, remembering his smile, how she felt when he was close, and looked at her that way… Her hand found its way to the juncture of her thighs, blanket tenting slightly with her travels.
“Naughty Victoria.” Liam’s deep voice rumbled through the room and she gasped, eyes springing open. The stupid, flowery scent of her shampoo had overwhelmed her nose and she hadn’t smelled his presence.
The vampire separated from the shadows and came toward her. No, he stalked. His steps were slow and measured, yet determined, as he approached.
“Liam.” Her voice was soft in the silent space. “What are you doing here?”
“Coming to bed.” His voice was dry and laced with a hint of humor.
She narrowed her eyes. “This is my bed. Your room is,” she waved toward the door, “somewhere that isn’t here.”
Okay, bitchy much? He could have at least asked.
Another step and his body came into view. Like, all of his body. As in: the vamp was totally, completely naked. She hadn’t seen him bare before, not when they’d gotten hot and heavy in the library, so she took the opportunity to drink her fill.
The muscles she’d envisioned were revealed, and the carved lines of his body teased her, tempted her to reach out and touch…lick him from head to toe and back again.
Liam tugged on the blanket and slid beneath the covers, pulling her into his arms and against his body, before she could object. “Nope. My place is with you and you are here. See how simple that is?”
She growled. “You don’t get to come into my life and take over, Mister. I am woman, hear me type on my keyboard and destroy you financially.”
Just because he was gorgeous and drool-worthy and sweet and considerate and… Well, he didn’t get to come in and conquer.
The man didn’t relent, and those arms remained around her like steel bands, his altered arm hotter than the other. “Well, it’d take you at least five minutes, and I figure I can convince you to let me stay before my time is up.”
He sounded so sure, yet vulnerable at the same time. As if they were fighting the same struggle. “Really? How would you do that?”
Tory felt the sudden tension, the tightening of his muscles and the increased thrum of blood running through his veins. “Um…”
She wiggled closer then, resting her head on his chest and placing her hand over his heart, drawing circles on his skin. “So…”
Liam’s fingers grabbed hers, stilling her movements. “I’m not good at this, damn it.” His voice was pained and rough. “I…”
Tory sighed. “Let’s try with why I should let you stay.”
“Because you’re mine. You’re my Fire. Mine.”
She rolled her eyes. “Okay, how about something other than strictly biological. And you said ‘mine’ twice.”
Liam cleared his throat, and she gave him her complete attention. “You’re, well, you.” He paused for a moment. “You’re smart. And funny as hell even when you aggravate the fuck out of me. You don’t take anything from anyone. Even me. But you’re helping us after we turned your life to shit. You’re going to help me even though I almost got you killed.” He shifted then, pulling away until he was staring down at her, eyes glittering in the darkness. “And, god damn, you’re beautiful. Every inch of you. All those curves. All of ‘em belong to me.” Liam cupped her cheek, stroking her skin with a gentle touch. “You know, when Griffin met Wren, he said he knew he loved her in a second. One blink. And… And I can understand that.”
“Oh, Liam…” She didn’t have anything sarcastic or obnoxious to say then. Not when the emotions that had been swirling inside her were so blatantly being reflected back from him. “I can understand it, too.”
Okay, maybe she’d be a tiny bit obnoxious. She wouldn’t give him those three little words until he said it first. Pft on him.
“Yeah?” He smiled wide, joy etched on his features.
Tory nodded. “Yeah.”
“Okay.” He released a deep breath and jerked his head in a quick nod. “Okay, then.”
She grabbed the hand still stroking her cheek, the hand that was free of those magically weird tattoos, and pressed a kiss to his palm. “So, other than happily forever after, what’s our next step?”
“You move into my suite. It’s more than big enough for the two of us.”
Tory rolled her eyes. “Duh. I meant with everything else, idjit. Like, Arthur and your totally hot, but probably evil, tats.”
He leaned down and nipped her lower lip. “You’re gonna be a pain in my ass, aren’t you?”
; “Again. Duh.” She snorted. “Back to our grand plans.”
“We need to find you an assistant, and then we need to find King Arthur.”
“And defeat the bad guys plus see if you have super powers or are just into tribal with your tattoo. You realize I’m not a ninja, right? Bad guy vanquishing will have to be handled by your department. I’m just IT. Oh! We should think of hiring a doctor, too. You guys hurt, like, a lot.”
Liam laughed aloud then, a great big sound that seemed to pour right from his soul, and it looked like happiness wrapped its arms around him. “Got it. Not a ninja. And we’ll think about a doctor.” He leaned toward her, brushing his lips across hers, and his tongue darted out to tease her lower lip. “And we’ll get right on our to-do list. After.”
“After?”
Another kiss, deeper this time yet so tender that she sighed against his lips. “Yeah. After. Let’s just enjoy tonight. I don’t think the tattoos are evil, we’ll torture Jemshir to make sure, and then we can save the world tomorrow.” His mouth brushed delicately against hers. “See, there’s this chair…”
The End
Author’s Note: At the time of publication, the Titan supercomputer located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the Tennessee Valley was the fastest computer in the world.
About Celia Kyle
Celia Kyle would like to rule the world and become a ninja. As a fall-back, she’s working on her writing career and giving readers stories that touch their hearts and *ahem* other places.
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