The Vampire Laird (A Ravynne Sisters Paranormal Mystery/Romance)

by Merabeth James

  She looked around the room as he spoke. There was a distinctive odor...sweet and cloying. She couldn’t place it and then she did. Opium...the fruit of the poppy. The whole place, she realized, was a replica of a very expensive Victorian opium den. “It seems your drug of choice is opium...something I am not interested in….so let me go and you can have a good time without me. Believe me it won’t be nearly as good if you force me to stay.”

  “Ah, opium from the beautiful poppies of Afghanistan...something I’ve enjoyed for a very long time. I import just enough for my personal pleasure and Orianna’s. She mixes it with other things in a herbal tea she gives your brother. You really haven’t had a chance to see the full effects. Rather amazing actually.”

  She narrowed her eyes and said tersely, “I don’t think you brought me here to discuss Allyn. What do you want?”

  “I want you to entertain someone for me. He’s not bad looking...some would say quite the contrary...and if you relax you might enjoy the experience.”

  “Sounds like you aren’t discussing card tricks,” she replied evenly, as she measured her chances of getting out the door.

  He laughed and wet the corner of his mouth with his tongue, then slid his gaze down the length of her body. “Something a bit more intimate than cards. I had hoped to be your first, but money is money and he promises to be a very important client. He has expressed an interest in having someone he can tame and you are the only one who fits the bill,” he told her with an expansive shrug.

  His hand snaked out to stroke her hair and she struck it away, savagely, saying, “I don’t think so. Let me go before your really piss me off.”

  He laughed again. “And you’re not already? That’s good...stay angry...it will make for more sport. I don’t want you to be an easy conquest...for him...or for me when I take you later.”

  At a gesture from him, she was grabbed from both sides and lifted off the floor. Still smiling, Seth crossed the room and opened a hidden door. “Enjoy yourself, my dear,” he said, as the two men pushed her, roughly, through the opening and the door snapped shut behind her.

  She looked around at the oddly shaped room that was decorated in jewel rich colors and dimly lit by ornate brass lanterns, set with panels of ruby red glass that hung from a silk draped ceiling. Two divans piled high with tasseled cushions were set against one wall with a brass hookah between them. More pillows were scattered on the thick rug that covered a black marble floor. In the center of the room was an enormous ebony bed with carved dragons twining their way up its four tall posts that balanced a mirrored canopy. Silk cords dangled from the posts and she noticed there were also rings in the wall and a metal tipped whip lying across a fat ottoman. It was the perfect lair for a sadistic sultan or someone with similar aspirations, she thought. She took a turn around the room, knocking on the silk covered walls, looking for an exit, but they seemed solid. The only way out was the way she came in.

  Suddenly, she heard the door click open behind her and she turned quickly. She was no longer alone. A dark figure stood there watching her intently, his face deeply shadowed and framed by the dark hair that brushed the collar of a long black robe. He began to stalk her, moving with the grace of a sleek black panther. Smiling grimly, she waited till he was close enough, then kicked out at his midriff. But he was expecting just that and caught her ankle, jerking her off balance. She landed hard and lay on her side, looking up at him, assessing her chances. He had been strong and fast...faster than she had been. But the battle wasn’t over yet and if she lost...which she refused to even consider…t wouldn’t be for lack of trying. She balled up her fists and waited for his next move.

  As if he could read her thoughts, he laughed with real amusement and extended a hand, sending her scooting back out of his reach. He moved closer with his lithe animal grace and the light from a hanging lantern caught him fully. Her eyes rounded in surprise just as he whispered, “Sorry...that had to hurt, but he’s watching us and we have to play the game.”

  She was shocked to her toes. “Zack?”

  “Who else? Now try for me again. This time you get tossed on the bed.”

  So she lashed out with her leg and tried to trip him. He moved easily out of her reach, then swooped down and grabbed her hand, jerking her to her feet. “Now try to claw and hit me,” he murmured, as he scooped her up and tossed her on the bed where she bounced twice. Laughing, he crossed the room and turned on some music. It was ‘Scheherazade’ which she couldn’t help but think was a good choice. He returned to her and sat on the edge of the bed, shielding her from their audience with his own body. She found herself smiling like an idiot. She really was very glad to see him for more than one reason. “I thought you would like that plus it hides our conversation if he’s an audio voyeur as well,” he told her with the lift of one black brow and a lopsided smile. “I’m going to pretend to grab your breasts now and you are going to scream loud enough to be heard over the music. You are supposed to be afraid of me...no more smiling.”

  “Afraid of you? That’s more than amusing...”

  He shook his head and put one finger over her lips to silence her, “You’re not but maybe you should be. Remember I told you once that you would never be safe with me?” She nodded mutely. “Let’s just see how true that is, shall we?”

  She pulled his hand away and whispered, “Not till you tell me what’s going on. What are you doing here?”

  He pretended to pull her hair with a little more realism that she would have liked. “Ouch...that hurts,” she whispered, grabbing at his hand.

  He forced her chin up and muttered, “Scream...I’m supposed to be hurting you and you have to fight me.”

  She screamed and then fought him, as he whispered, “There I was on the Riviera typing away on my laptop and an operative friend of mine told me an American was missing in Scotland...never checked into his hotel or turned in his rental. One Allyn Ravynne and just how many of those could there be? I called Hensley Hall and your father told me you and Meg had gone to rescue Allyn. So I...wait a moment...I think I will tie you to the bedposts now.”

  “Is that really necessary,” she hissed.

  He shrugged slightly and smiled. “Probably not, but I think I might enjoy it.”

  “You do know how sick that makes you sound, don’t you?”

  His smile was really wicked this time. “One must keep in character.”

  While he tied her wrists, he continued. “I get to Scotland and I hear two blonde women washed up along the coast with bullet holes in them. I’m going to slap you now...scream and squirm...yeah, that’s good now where was I?”

  “The women with the bullet holes,” she reminded him before she screamed again and tried to bite the hand that stroked her face and traveled down her neck.

  “Their clothes were new...had London labels. One had a small tattoo on her ankle that someone had tried to obliterate, but forensics pulled it up. It was the word ‘Kohanya’...Ukranian for love. They were Ukrainians...a favored commodity in human trafficking in the UK.. We checked the tides and currents and figured they went into the water right about here. So we took a plane and flew along the coast, then spotted this very isolated village, manor and castle, but it was the nice little cove and the airstrip that caught our interest. So I went undercover and turn up here in bed with you, sort of a deja vue thing as I only too well remember. Now I’m going to kiss you and you can resist within reason, but no biting.”

  And he did. She thrashed around and tried to avoid his mouth, but, quite honestly, her heart wasn’t in it. Finally, she lay quietly and he moved his lips slowly over hers until she found her body responding...filling...pulsing with a honeyed warmth. She opened her eyes to make sure he wasn’t just a dream and found him looking at her. He raised his head high enough to whisper, “ Your turn. What’s the situation here?”

  It took a moment for her to slip back into reality. She had been lost in a kiss and cursed herself silently for being such an idiot. “You’re right about
the women and they’re smuggling drugs, too, and other stuff he didn’t name. Allyn is hiding in my room under the bed and Meg is feigning a sprained ankle. We plan on sneaking out of here tonight, though I’m not sure how far we’ll get. Allyn has been drugged for so long he’s a zombie going through withdrawal and not too pleasantly. Kiss me again. Please.”

  He laughed and brushed her lips with the tip of his finger. “Not yet. First I want to get those clothes off you.”

  “You should have thought of that before you tied me to the posts,” she told him with laughter lighting her eyes.

  He sighed and shook his head, but there was laughter in his eyes, too. “Probably. But I can push that...whatever it is... up and pull your jeans off once we remove your shoes, but you’ll have to resist with more enthusiasm than you’ve shown lately.”

  She kicked at him as he pulled off her sneakers and dropped them on the floor, then wrestled her jeans and panties down over her squirming hips. Breathing hard, he straddled her and pulled her tank top up over her breasts, then leaned forward and locked his passion darkened eyes with hers. He was no longer smiling. “You’re still wearing that robe and I’m feeling a bit underdressed,” she murmured, fighting the tingle of desire that tightened her breasts and invaded her lower belly.

  “I can strip, if you don’t mind being in full view,” he murmured back.

  She shuddered with revulsion as she remembered that Seth was watching them and quite possibly Orianna as well. It would fit right in with her other dark proclivities. But rational thought was beginning to desert her, as her pulse pounded harder and her breathing quickened. “Don’t you think you are carrying our little scene a bit too far?”

  “No,” was his terse reply as his hot mouth found the curve of her neck.

  “What is that pressing into my stomach?” she asked in a choked voice.

  His laugh was truly wicked. “Now what do you think it is?”

  She gulped and closed her eyes. “Zack.”

  He moaned and lifted his head till he was looking into her eyes. “What now?”

  What now indeed, she thought with a sigh, finding she no longer cared where they were or who was watching. “I really think I’m ready,” she murmured.

  But he surprised her when he told her through tightly clenched teeth. “So it would seem, but it’s not going to be for his entertainment no matter how much I want to drive myself into you right now. But I’m going to spread your legs while you lash about and. from there we’ll have to see just how much self-control I have.”

  He did as promised, but he was breathing heavily, his mouth contorted in a grimace as he told her hoarsely, “Okay. let’s fake the hell out of this and get it over with before I really do rape you.”

  And somehow they did. Afterwards, as he lay on top of her supposedly sated, he whispered in a voice still thick with passion. “Soon.”

  With that, he drew his robe back up over his shoulders and belted the front to hid the evidence of his unspent desire. Moving quickly, he untied her hands and pulled her to a sitting position. As she adjusted her top, he threw her jeans and shoes on the bed next to her. “Get dressed. I need to get you out of here safely before I leave. I will do all I can to help you, but they took my gun and phone when I arrived. There is a boat of ours waiting some distance offshore, a fishing boat full of our people, but they have orders to do nothing until they hear from me, which is going to be difficult...if not impossible. Promise me you’ll be careful tonight. Get to a place of safety and stay there until I can get us some outside help.”

  She nodded, still feeling the drug of her own passion, as she fumbled with the zipper of her jeans. He led her to the door, which opened before he had even knocked. Seth stood just outside and he didn’t seem pleased. “So, you tamed the shrew. Well done.”

  Zack stared at him coldly. “Consider her my property now, which means no one touches her but me. No one. I’ll walk with her as far as her room just to make sure.”

  Seth narrowed his eyes and flashed a smile that was little more than a show of teeth, but that was his only reply.

  ***

  With Zack alongside, the two men walked Charlie back to Meg’s room, where she had insisted they take her. Meg was waiting for her, when she slipped inside, then leaned against its surface for support. “Are you all right? I was so worried I was about to go looking for you. What happened and why are you smiling like that...or whatever that is you’re doing?”

  Charlie led her away from the door before she replied. “You’ll never guess who’s here.”

  “No...probably not...so tell me before I pinch you silly,” an exasperated Meg replied.

  “Zack’s here...undercover as the new client I told you about.”

  “The one who got first dibs on... you?”

  “Me. Sort of. I was taken to this opium den sadist parlor...whatever it was...and given to Zack while Seth watched through a peephole.”

  “Let me get this straight. You had sex with Zack while Seth watched?” Meg squealed in round eyed horror.

  “We pretended to have sex...though we may have gotten a wee bit carried away. They took his gun and phone so he can’t call for help even though there is a fishing boat in the area full of his ‘people’ whoever they are. He wants us to get to some place safe and stay there until he can get help.”

  “Which we plan on doing as soon as it gets dark enough. I just checked. There are some clouds along the horizon, but the moon is already up and full. There will be plenty of light for us to see where we’re going.”

  “And plenty of light for them to see us. The drop is at midnight and we need to be safely hidden by then or there will be too much going on for someone not to notice three people on horseback on a barren moor.”

  “Are you ready for me to get started with the séance? I can’t promise I’ll reach Meaghan, but I’ll do my best,” Meg said, as she cleared a small side table and pulled up a chair.

  Charlie pulled up a second and sat down. “Too bright in here?”

  “I wish I had some candles...they lend a lot of ambience. I’ll turn on the light in the bathroom and crack the door open just a slit. Be right back.”

  Returning, Meg took the seat across from her sister and smiled. “Do you think we should invite Allyn? He’s awake and pacing around your room.”

  “Let’s try it first without him. We can use him as bait if we have to.”

  “Then take my hands...you know the routine.”

  And she did. How many of Meg’s séances had she sat through in the attic of their childhood home? She answered her own question. Too many and the last one at Hensley Hall had scared the spit out of her.

  Meg moaned largely for effect and said, “Meaghan. If you can hear me please come to us, but if you can’t hear us, then, of course, you won’t be able to come, but maybe...”

  “Get to the point,” Charlie hissed.

  Meg kicked her shin and ‘shushed’ her before she continued. “We do need your help, Meaghan. Please come,” she intoned, rocking from side to side. Nothing happened. “Meaghan...please. I’m begging you here. Allyn needs you, too.”

  The bait...the hook and snap. A radiant blue fog began to spiral down the chimney. On the marble hearth, it began to take shape and, in moments, Meaghan stood before them smiling sweetly. “How do ye need my help?” she asked in her soft burr.

  Charlie spoke for both of them. “We’ve got to get to the stables tonight without being seen and we don’t know how to do that.”

  “And it needs to be the shortest way possible. Allyn’s coming with us and he’s still not very strong,” Meg added.

  Meaghan seemed to be considering all that. “Ye could leave Allyn with me. I will care for him.”

  Charlie was afraid of that. “He needs medical attention right now. Can you help us?”

  Meaghan danced around the room, pausing on the balcony to look out into the night. The moon lit her and she tilted her face to its bright surface then smiled. “I will take ye. Ho
w soon till ye are ready?”

  “Thank you, Meaghan. Soon...we have a few things to do and then we’ll leave,” Meg told her gratefully.

  Moving quickly, they gathered up the flashlight and armed themselves with the kitchen knives. Allyn was asleep again and responded sluggishly to their insistence he get up and get moving. “Get a sweater on him, Meg. It will be quite cool by morning and who knows where we’ll end up spending the rest of the night.” While Meg dressed their brother, Charlie stuffed pillows under their blankets and hoped, if no one snooped too closely, it would look like they were still abed. If all went well, they should have plenty of time to get away, but the past had taught her that the ‘should haves’ didn’t always happen.

  Finally, they all met back in Meg’s room and opened the panel to the secret passage.

  “Charlie, why don’t we just hide somewhere in these walls? There must be a hidden room, where no one would find us and it would be a whole lot easier than trying to drag Allyn all over the place,” Meg said, eying their brother doubtfully.

  Meaghan answered for her. “Ye will not be safe here. Ye have my word on it.”

  “So that settles that,” Meg muttered with a sigh. Nothing was ever simple and, if it ever was something was bound to be wrong.

  Meaghan led the way, then Charlie pulled while Meg pushed Allyn through the opening. Charlie passed the flashlight back to Meg, whispering, “In case you need it. Meaghan is bright enough for me to see where we’re going.”

  They turned and twisted their way along the passage they had used before, but instead of turning right at the end, they turned left and stopped, then Meaghan showed Charlie a pivot point in what seemed a solid stone wall. With a scrape and a squeak, the door swung open and they were at the top of a narrow stone staircase that dropped almost straight down into a well of total darkness. “Well, that doesn’t look like it’s going to be an easy climb down, especially with Allyn in his condition,” Charlie said worriedly.