by Lee, Rachel
“Creed…” Her voice ached as she called his name. At last he moved on with his explorations, but this time with his hand. Sliding his fingers between her legs, he parted her dewy petals and touched that bundled knot of nerves.
Another cry escaped her, and she arched, clamping her legs around his hand.
Oh, yes.
He kept stroking her there, stilling whenever she seemed about to crest, dragging out the agony, preventing the fulfillment as long as he could. He drew his tongue over her midriff and belly, making her shiver even more wildly, and feeling himself shudder in response.
He knew where she was, because he was there with her, teetering on that peak of utter, perfect pleasure.
He needed to bite her, to fill his mouth with the hot sweet taste of her life, and just at the moment he thought he would no longer be able to resist his own Hunger, he took her over the peak, riding the crest with her.
Just in time to save them both.
Yvonne felt shattered. Delightfully shattered. Curled in Creed’s arms, she floated back to earth, feeling dazzled, feeling as if every nerve in her body had turned into a sparkler, sizzling with immense pleasure. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could compare with what had just happened. She’d had no idea she was capable of such overpowering physical sensation and delight.
Slowly, however, as thought began to emerge from the fog of feeling, she realized something.
“What about you?” she asked.
“What about me?”
“You gave me everything and I gave you nothing.”
He smiled, looking unusually drowsy, and brushed a strand of hair back from her cheek. “You gave me everything. You gave me your experience.”
“I don’t…”
He laid a finger over her lips. “I drank from you earlier. We’re linked now, and your every feeling is mine when we make love. I was there with you, all the way.”
“Wow,” she whispered.
“Awesome,” he replied, his eyes dancing. “Trust me, this is one part of being a vampire that I wouldn’t exchange for anything.”
“Is it like this between two vampires, too?”
His brow knit. “Why do you ask?”
“Because of what Luc said about Natasha wanting to be human again for him. She must have felt he was lacking something.”
“That’s a good question. From my own experience, admittedly limited, and what others have told me, the experience is every bit as intense between two vampires. Maybe she was the one who felt a lack. It’s every bit as good, it’s just a little different.”
“Different how?”
“I wouldn’t have felt your warmth. That’s the only thing that wouldn’t have been there.”
“But you say you miss that.”
“Sometimes. But I’ve lived a long time without it. I certainly don’t miss it enough to have wanted my mate to do what Natasha tried to do. There are things I can’t share with a mortal, things that in their own way make up for that one little lack. No, Natasha’s decision really doesn’t make sense to me.”
“So somehow she was influenced?”
“That would be my guess.”
Yvonne sighed, tucking her head into his shoulder, reveling in the new freedom that allowed her to do so. Never before had she been so aware of the walls that existed until the point of intimacy was reached. All need for pretense was gone. But maybe it had been gone for a while, since he could read her so well.
“I loved dancing near the fire,” she told him.
“I did, too.”
She refused to share the nascent hope in her heart though, that maybe someday they could dance right into the flames. For now she had to be content with the lines he drew, had to accept that he knew what was best for them both.
But as fabulous as their lovemaking had been, she was quite sure that something important had been left out.
Later, dressed in a loose jogging suit, she made coffee in the kitchen while Creed sat at his desk doing more research. “The key is here somewhere,” he told her before he disappeared into dusty volumes.
Without warning, Garner arrived and Creed let him in. The young man appeared moderately agitated and insisted on pacing.
“I found this Tommy Sincks and his band. The stench was all over him and what’s more, it’s on a couple of members of his band. I didn’t realize I’d already sniffed one of them out. Tommy’s the nexus, all right.” He glanced at Yvonne. “And you were right, too. Tone-deaf would be a generous description of him. I can’t imagine how you put up with him.”
“Sometimes,” Creed said, “we all make less than brilliant choices for love. Get on with your story.”
“What story? I told him I was a scout, gave him my card, and he told me he wasn’t interested, that he had a deal in the pipeline.”
“And?”
Garner shrugged. “I suggested he call me if the deal didn’t pan out for him. He said he’d know in two days.”
Creed looked at Yvonne. “That doesn’t give us much time.”
“No, but it gives us a time frame,” Garner said. “I called Jude a little while ago, but he didn’t answer his phone. I swear, there’s nothing as useless as a couple of new lovebirds. Anyway, sum and substance, Tommy thinks he’s going to have the deal of his dreams in about forty-eight hours, he reeks of Asmodai, and his music stinks so bad only zombies could listen to it. There’s no way he has a legit deal coming down.”
“Anything else?” Creed asked.
Garner paused in his pacing. “Actually, yeah. I asked him who he was talking to. You know, as if I know everyone in the business.”
“And?”
“He wouldn’t say. But he did say he’d found a way to sweeten the deal, probably something I wouldn’t be interested in.”
Creed sat up straighter. “He’d sweeten the deal?”
“His words.” And Garner looked straight at Yvonne. “I suspect you’re the sweetener. And while I may not know a thing about the record business, I’m fairly certain you can’t get anywhere by bribing a talent scout or a producer. It’s expensive to record and put an album out, and there’s no way Tommy could have anything big enough to sweeten that kind of deal with a legitimate company.”
“He barely has enough to scrape by himself,” Yvonne agreed. Her head whirled though, as she realized she hadn’t wanted to believe this about Tommy. Even when it had been discussed, a big part of her had listened in disbelief. This was a man she had been in love with, a man she had shared her life, her bed, her home with. To think that he would use her as a pawn…
A shudder ripped through her. No, he would. All of sudden she was certain of it. As new pieces of her image of Tommy slammed into place, she became convinced that he was more than a cheater. He was a guy who would do anything to get what he wanted.
“So,” Creed said to Garner, “how many have we got for the circle now?”
“Depends on how it has to be drawn. If it includes Tommy, then we’ve got five. If he’s not part of the circle, we still need one more.”
Creed looked down at the books he’d been reading, touching one of them with his hand. “We probably need to find one more. From what I’ve been reading—and I’m assuming it’s correct—someone apart from the circle has to perform the invocation and the sacrifice.”
“So one more.” Garner rubbed his face. “He could be intending to get another of his band members involved at the last minute. Regardless, I need to get out there again. Let Jude know what I found out if he ever surfaces.”
Creed let him out, locking the door behind him. Then he faced Yvonne, and she saw the creases of worry on his face.
Her hands knotted and she tried to think of something reassuring to say, not that she felt very reassured herself. “Nothing’s changed,” she said finally. “Except now we know who’s at the center of all this. He still needs to get one more person.”
“And we have a time frame. Not much time at all.”
She sat there, thinking about what she
had just learned, about what it might mean. The more she thought, the more panicky she felt, because there was no way she could see that she wasn’t boxed in.
“Yvonne?” Creed squatted in front of her, taking her hands. “Yvonne, what’s wrong? I can smell your terror.”
She looked at him, sorrow lodging in her throat alongside her fear. There could be no happy ending here, no matter how she looked at it. Even if she survived this, it was clear Creed wouldn’t want her around for long, because he feared going too far with her, feared coming to loathe himself for following his natural urges.
A short time ago she couldn’t have even begun to imagine such a conflict, at least not to the degree that Creed was experiencing. To him what she offered was like food and drink, and she couldn’t imagine having to deny yourself that when you were starving. Or to have a moral conflict over so much as sampling a feast laid out for you.
“Creed,” she said finally around the lump in her throat, “I’m going crazy.”
“What?” His hands tightened on hers. “What makes you say that?”
“This is intolerable. You need to get rid of me as soon as possible. I’m just a constant torment. And then there’s this thing Tommy unleashed. What if it hurts you, or Jude, or Chloe and Garner? I couldn’t stand it.”
“We’ll take care of it. And I’m not in any rush to get rid of you.”
Sighing, she tugged a hand free and cupped his cheek. “I make you want things you don’t dare take, things that you’ll feel bad about taking if you do.”
“Yvonne…”
“Let me finish, please. So far I’ve been little but baggage around here. Someone to be constantly cared for but who offers nothing at all. I even, stupidly, got you into a fight with Luc when I tried to run. I could have gotten you killed!”
He started to speak, but she moved her thumb just enough to cover his lips. She could feel the tension in him, but he held the words back.
“However this goes down,” she continued, “whatever happens, there’s only one path to the end of this road and I know it.”
“Meaning?” His breath felt cool against her thumb.
“I’m the bait. You can’t protect me every second. Before Tommy goes ahead with whatever he’s planning, if I’m the so-called sweetener, he’s going to need to get to me. He can’t do that if I’m hiding behind a protective wall of vampires.”
She saw it in his expression, the knowledge that she was right. But then his face twisted, he jumped up, and let out a deafening roar. She almost clapped her hands over her ears, but the sound died so quickly she didn’t have time.
“Creed?”
He vanished and reappeared on the far side of the room. An instant later he was in the kitchen. Then he was once again in front of her, pulling her up into his arms, holding her so tight she could barely breathe.
“Creed?” she gasped.
He loosened his hold just enough to let her breathe. “Do you think,” he asked tightly, “can you possibly think, I want to risk you that way? I’d rather walk into the fires of hell.”
She tipped her head enough to see his face. “I believe you,” she said quietly. “I believe you. But there’s no other way and you know it. Tommy has to be able to take me where he wants me. And I need to start setting it up.”
“I want to talk to Jude first.”
“What good will that do? Everyone knows, or at least seems to, that it won’t be enough just to break the circle. Asmodai can just get Tommy to make another one. So we need a solution, and from what I’ve been hearing, that demon at least needs to start emerging into this world. Then…then, I don’t know what you need to do. But you’ll never get an opportunity and none of us will be safe if we don’t deal with this once and for all.”
“I should just go kill Tommy right now.”
She could tell he meant it, and for an instant an icy feeling trickled along her spine. But she knew what he was, and the momentary shock didn’t last long. Especially given the situation they were in. That was no cold-blooded threat. “How long will that hold off Asmodai? And how will you feel if he finds another means to come through and you don’t know about it because he’s doing it to someone else? How will you feel when you learn there have been other victims?”
His face seemed to darken, his eyes grew blacker than coal. In those moments she saw why his kind were sometimes referred to as Lords of the Night. He seemed, somehow, to become part of the darkness right before her eyes.
Then he said something that caused her heart to stutter. “We don’t weep, my kind.”
“What?”
“You don’t know what a mercy tears can be until you can’t shed them. And because we can’t weep, we get angry. You see Luc. His rage comes from a pain he can show no other way.”
Her throat tightened again. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s the way we are. Yvonne, you need to understand just how different we are from you.”
“I’m beginning to.” Confusion caused her to furrow her brow. “What are you trying to say?”
“Don’t protect me. I’m not worth it. On the other hand, I don’t want anything to happen to you. If anything does, I’ll shred this world in my fury.”
“Because you can’t weep?”
“In part.”
“But I think you’re worth protecting.”
“And that shows how little you really know about me and my kind. What you’ve seen has been a veneer. You never saw me stalk innocents down dark alleys when I was young and out of control. You never saw me take a life to slake my own cravings. You don’t know what I can be.”
“I know what you are now.”
He shook his head, then released her suddenly, reappearing across the room. “You see what I try to be, not what I am.”
“What you try to be is all that counts. Because all any of us can do is try to be better than what we are. Even we humans need to fight that battle.”
His smile was crooked and humorless. “You make it sound so simple.”
“It really is that simple,” she argued. “Creed, you have to stop beating yourself up. I may not be a hundred years old, but I know some things, and one of them is that as long as you’re trying your best, you’re being the best you can be. You think I haven’t noticed how you live in a constant state of deprivation because you feel you can’t and shouldn’t take the things you most need and want? Cripes, monks don’t have it as hard. At least for them temptation isn’t all around them.”
All of sudden he relaxed and a laugh escaped him. “You might have a point. Regardless, I’m not going to put you in needless danger.”
“Needless is the key word,” she told him firmly. “And I honestly don’t see how we can avoid it. I’ll call Tommy tomorrow and tell him some lie about how I’m missing him.”
Creed hesitated, then nodded. “That might get us a whole lot of information. Useful information.”
“Well, if I don’t call him, he’s going to have to call me. He’s got to get to me somehow.”
“Let me think about this. And you need to tell me more about your breakup.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to know whether it would be believable for you to call him.”
At that she almost laughed. “You don’t know Tommy’s ego. He’s probably absolutely convinced I’m in the process of trying to find a way to come back to him.”
“I’m beginning to detest him, and I’ve never met him.”
“Trust me, it’s very lowering to think I ever thought I was in love with him.”
“Some people present one face until they think they’ve got you. Then they show you an entirely different side,” he remarked.
“He certainly changed. I don’t know whether he was putting on a front at first, or if his friends really caused it. I often had the feeling that they brought out something in him I’d never suspected was there.”
“They may have. Don’t beat yourself up about it either way. You saw what he let you s
ee.”
“And you,” she asked, feeling a twinge of nervousness, “am I seeing the real you?”
“You know I’ve been pretty blunt. There are parts of me I hope you never see, because they’re parts of me I don’t ever want to let out again.”
She nodded. “I can deal with that. It’s what we try to be that matters. I already told you that. What Tommy seemed to be trying to become in those last months, especially, was not something I admired.”