“I have not hurt her,” Dev said arrogantly, giving Brian a dark look. “She needs to be bitten, to feel fangs in her. There is no sense healing her, if I just have to open her again.”
Brian looked upset, but didn’t speak.
“Does she not look better than she has?” Devlin asked him seriously.
Brian looked me over. “She does,” he said grudgingly. “But she smells different. There is the slightest taint of vampire to her now.”
“She is part vampire now,” Devlin said. “She needs me or Danial to keep her body in the state she is in. She is not turning.”
Brian came close and scented me, breathing deep. After a few minutes, he moved back. “You’re right. She doesn’t smell like the other women you had sometimes at your home that were turning.”
“Report to Danial that she is fine, that you saw her, that she was moving around more, and that she was not as tired as she had been.”
Brian nodded, resigned. “There is going to be hell to pay when Theo returns,” he said, his eyes on Devlin’s. “He’ll know what happened here, and he’ll want your heart.”
Devlin considered him a moment, unafraid. “He most likely will,” he said finally “before all is said and done. He has only himself to blame. I was content to leave things as they were, but he and my brother almost killed her, and I’m not entrusting them with her health again.”
He rounded on Brian, taking a step toward him. Brian took one back.
“Theo would not let her be with Danial. If he had, she would never have needed the drugs; she would not have been killing herself by inches to make sure his ego wasn’t damaged. She would not have needed me! If I hadn’t come to her and done what I did, Sar would have been dead before this week was out!”
“I’m glad she’s better,” Brian placated.
“That is all that should matter, not how it was done,” Devlin said angrily. “I’ll not let her die because Theo is thinking about what is best for him, or Danial is too afraid to do what needs to be done.”
Brian was utterly quiet, looking at the ground.
“Leave!” Devlin said, baring his fangs.
Brian went immediately, without once looking up. His SUV started up, then faded away.
“Come back to bed, my dear,” Devlin said tenderly, putting his arms around me. “You need more rest.”
I gently removed them. “I need to take care of my pets first, it’s feeding time.”
“Do you want me to help you?” Devlin offered.
I shot him a shocked look.
“I have a cat myself, Sar,” Devlin added. “I know how to care for cats.”
My shock reached cataclysmic levels. “You have a pet?”
“Why are you so surprised?” he said curiously. “You must know that Danial had a cat once. Who do you think got him that one?”
“Not the same person who threatened to burn my home with my pets still inside.”
“I was bluffing,” Devlin said, irritated. “It was easy to see how attached you were to them.”
“I don’t believe you,” I said sadly, moving away from him. “You meant it.”
“I’ve burned many buildings in my life,” he said darkly. “None ever had innocents inside, be they animal or human.”
“Who decided if they were innocent?” I asked. “You?”
“Do not judge me by mortal laws,” Devlin said angrily. “You were not there, and have no comprehension of what justice some of those burnings were.”
“Did you ever burn an animal, a live one?”
“No,” he answered. “I’ve received too many burns to mete out that punishment idly. But I’ve ordered the burnings of many vampires over the years.”
I didn’t reply.
“Sar, were any of your cats harmed?”
“No. I thought that they were lucky.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it. My men know how I feel about cats.”
“You do know that one of your men tried to shoot me that night, right?”
Dev was instantly enraged. “Who?” he growled.
“I don’t know. I missed his heart the first time, but not the second.”
“You were in no real danger,” he assured with relief, hugging me tightly. “My men are all excellent shots. That guard would have grazed you, or shot the gun so you would drop it.” He paused. “All of them fear my wrath and that of Lash too much to ignore a direct order.”
I didn’t reply.
“I’m sorry for what I did,” he said, willing me to believe him. “I would take it back if I could. There is much I’d do differently with you if we had it to do over. Let me help you now.”
What more could he do than this? He couldn’t undo the past any more than I could.
“Sar?”
I let out a breath and managed a smile. “My house has too many windows, and not enough blinds, Dev. I can do what needs doing.”
“Very well,” he said, nodding. “I’ll be waiting for you here.”
I went to let out the dogs. When I came back through the house with the cat food, there was a new fire merrily burning in the woodstove. After seeing to the pet’s needs, I sat down in a nearby chair, and watching the flames Devlin had created.
Could I trust him? Some of what he said was a lie. He didn’t want me to think badly of him now, and he wanted to explain away what he could, so I didn’t think of the past and turn from him. Of what he’d said, what was lie and what was truth? What did he really want?
What we had together right now wasn’t real life. This was an affair, a fling with a deadline. When our time together was over, he most likely would go back to his life in Rio. He acted less afraid of Theo than he had last fall, even before he’d known of our marital troubles, but that could be just arrogance. Even though I was definitely under the influence of his blood he’d given to me, I knew enough of men to know it wasn’t usually what they said, but what they didn’t say that mattered. Devlin had made no mention of Oaths at all, or any kind of permanent arrangement, despite all his talk of love. He offered pleasure, unadorned and deliciously simple.
Did any of this ethical bullshit really matter? Whenever he bit me, I came for him immediately, whether or not he drank my blood when he did it. I still craved his touch just as much as I had the first time. He’d been right about me, and he’d risked his life to get to me in time. Even with his past actions, that counted hugely in his favor.
I sat there for ten minutes, fingering the choker at my neck, considering everything. Then, I said to hell with it all.
I’d done the best I could by Elle, Theo, and my other responsibilities. I wanted the man below waiting for me, the man who had saved me, the last one I’d ever expected to care for, the last one I’d ever expected to love me. I knew what he was capable of, what he was. And I was going to spend these days with him, because I’d been wanting him for so long it felt like forever.
This wasn’t like it had been when he had come in yesterday and I couldn’t help myself, or that day in the hotel room when he had forced me to stay with him. I was going to him now willingly, with full knowledge of what I was doing. I was going to take all he had to give me, and then ask him for more, because he was right, I couldn’t get enough of him. And I’d had enough of waiting, just as he had.
Chapter Twelve
I descended the stairs. Dev was lying on his side in bed. As I came near, he opened his eyes, then his arms so I could crawl into them. We lay together holding each other, then drifted off into sleep.
I woke in the late afternoon. Dev was still holding me, deep asleep. Carefully untangling my fingers from his hair, I stretched and sighed.
God, I felt wonderful. My life was in freefall in an abyss, yet I felt alive, renewed, even hopeful. My eyes went to Devlin’s still form, watching him breathe slowly.
I loved him.
The instant I thought it, I wanted to shake him, and tell him. Instead, I kept still, wondering if this love was really my emotion, or my being in thrall
to him.
Dev’s phone rang shrilly, making me start. Groggily, he reached over to answer it.
“Of course it’s me,” he said irritably. “I was sleeping. What is it, Lash?”
“Yes,” he said with satisfaction, glancing over at me. Then his face grew grave. For several minutes he listened, no speaking.
“Yes,” he said finally, cautious yet resigned. “If you say that’s the best option, I believe it. Start things moving. Come tonight to Sar’s and bring Titus with you. We’ll discuss options. And please pick up a double order of roses I just ordered also, on your way here.”
I smiled, pleased. For all of Dev’s ruthlessness, he really was passionately romantic.
“See you in an hour then.” Devlin hung up, and immediately placed another call, instructing whoever was on the other end to have a double order of fire and ice roses ready, that someone would be by to pick it up.
He tossed the phone to the nightstand, and sank back down into bed with a sigh.
“What are you planning?” I asked.
His brow knitted immediately. “Nothing that will endanger you,” he said, propping himself up on one arm to turn his body towards me. “Tell me what you’re worried about. There’s a serious look in your eyes I haven’t seen before.”
I’m worried because I’m in love with you. Shit. How to answer? I thought furiously, and said nothing.
“Why did you delay upstairs, earlier today?” he said insistently, his eyes searching mine. “Did you reconsider coming down to me?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “I thought about all the reasons I shouldn’t.”
“Yet you came. Why?”
“I wanted you too much not to. You were right about me, about what I needed. And I’m scared to death that I’m not coming back from that Vampire New Year’s Eve Party.”
Devlin hugged me, but didn’t try to convince me all would be fine. His honesty scared me, but I appreciated that more than reassuring lies. I hugged him back, not speaking.
“Dusk has fallen,” he said sometime later. “Do you want to go out tonight?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You’re right that you may not return from that party, despite the efforts of many,” Devlin said quietly. “If there was something that was important for you to do—”
He was offering me a last request. “Tomorrow, maybe,” I said, shaken. “Tonight I just want to walk with you and my dogs, get some food, and then go back to bed.” I turned to him. “But what do you want?” I added, caressing his face. “This is your time as much as it is mine.”
“I want you to love me as I love you,” he said, pulling me in for a kiss. “That is what I want most. That is all I want, right now.”
This might be my last week alive. To hell with it. “You already have that.”
Devlin sat bolt upright in bed. “If that’s really true, tell me, Sar,” he said anxiously, his eyes were molten with heat. “Say the words to me, so I can hear if you mean them.”
“I’ve fallen for you, Dev. Despite you and me and everything that’s happened between us, I think I love you.”
He pulled me into his arms, and said:
“Thou art fairer than the evening’s air,
Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars,
Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter,
More lovely than the monarch of the sky
And none but thou shall be my paramour.”
His phone began ringing again. Devlin grumbled, trying to reach for it and not let go of me. “Christopher Marlowe,” he said to me, flipping open his phone. “What is it, Lash? Tell Titus he has to come, I need his help with something. The plans for later in the week can wait a few hours. See you.”
He hung up and turned to me. “Come here, my paramour,” he said intently. “I want to love you again.”
I went into his arms eagerly. Dev began to kiss me slowly, touching me almost languidly. “We only have an hour,” I teased. “You’d better hurry.”
“You won’t last a half hour, Sar,” he said, reaching beneath the covers to touch me. I arched against him, gasping, as he sank his fangs in.
He was right. I didn’t last five minutes.
* * * *
Devlin heard his men arrive just before the dogs began barking. He paused mid song, then said, “They just pulled up outside. I promise, I’ll serenade you later, Love.” He got out of bed, and put on his jeans and his shirt as I slipped into my robe.
“Should I dress?” I asked. “Am I supposed to meet them with you or stay here?”
“I want you to meet them,” he said, caressing my cheek. “Please do get some clothes on. Your animals will need to be confined, as they are not going to like either Lash or Titus.”
Hearing that, I wasn’t sure I should let them in the house, but kept that to myself. Hurriedly, I brought the cats into the cellar, and put my dogs in the bedroom with a loud radio playing to an easy listening channel to calm them. Both had begun whining. It was apparent why; I could feel the evil out there. Demon blackness was weaving itself through the air, speeding my heart with nervousness.
Apprehensive, I quickly washed up in the bathroom, then put on some jeans and a long loose sweater. Conceitedly, I chose one with a scoop neck, so Dev’s symbol was displayed. Then I brushed my hair, and fluffed it up as Tatiana had showed me so long ago.
There. I had the rosy glow of satisfying sex, but I didn’t look disheveled as I had before. Meeting Devlin’s closest friend for the first time, I wanted to look good no matter how scared I was.
I hurried out to find Devlin still alone, watching out the window. As I went to stand near him for a look, he slipped one arm around me.
There was a black Hummer, an H4, in my driveway. Two figures were coming towards me, both dressed in black. One was huge, towering almost, blackness pouring out of him. That had to be Titus, Terian’s father. I shivered, but willed myself to ignore the evil crawling sensation on my skin. Hopefully, he was like his son. Terian hadn’t inherited his goodness from his witch of a mother.
The other figure was small. That had to be Lash. After the way Brian had talked about Lash, I’d expected the Devil himself, complete with horns. This man looked innocuous.
Maybe I’d already bedded the Devil, and he was the one standing next to me.
As Lash and Titus came up to the door, Devlin let them in with one hand, his other arm still around me possessively.
Titus was easily seven feet tall. He was huge, muscular and his exposed skin shimmered a little. No, it was the air above his skin that was moving. Heat poured off him the way it came off hot pavement in the summer. He gave me a smile, revealing a mouthful of fangs like a shark. I didn’t see any horns, but maybe they were hidden it his hair. It was about an inch long, black as pitch, and undulating from his heat.
“Pull in that blackness of yours, Titus,” Devlin said mildly. “You’ll scare Sar.”
“If she scared easily, she wouldn’t be with you,” Titus replied, taking my hand. He kissed it, his lips hot. Abruptly, the blackness lessened considerably.
As well as the blackness, Titus had to be controlling his body temperature, too, or he would have burned me with his lips. I hadn’t expected a full demon to be able to do that.
“It’s interesting to meet you,” he said, looking at me with crimson eyes. “I am surprised you aren’t afraid of me.”
“I’m good friends with a half-demon,” I said, looking him over for resemblance. There was a little, in the curve of his jaw.
“Terian, yes,” he replied slowly.
I wanted to tell him to contact Terian before it was too late. Instead, I bit my tongue and told myself it wasn’t my place. “It’s good to meet you, Titus.”
Lash came before me, his eyes lowered. Oddly, his appearance was at odds with what I’d been told of him. He was dressed very warmly, in black polar fleece, a wool coat, and thick black wool pants. His exposed skin was a light tan color, and his hair was dark, cut above his shoulders
in a shaggy style that was above his turtleneck. He had a scar down the left side of his face, a slash across one eye. Most of the blow had fallen on his cheekbone. It was jagged, making the amused smile he was giving me a grimace. There was a coiled bullwhip and a well-used survival knife on his belt.
Then he suddenly looked up, and our eyes met. With one look into them, I understood why Brian had been so afraid of him. For not being a large man, Lash was scarier than Titus, more scary than Devlin or Danial at their worst, or even Theo when he was enraged. I was relieved that Devlin was by my side, that his arm was around me, and that this man wasn’t my enemy.
Lash’s eyes were flat, with no emotion in them at all. Snake eyes.
“Good to meet you,” he said in a hissing voice that slid over me, as he took my hand. Instead of a kiss, Lash opened his mouth, and a forked tongue slid out to taste the air above my skin.
He wanted me to jerk back from him with a scream. Most women would have. But I’d held a lot of snakes in my life, and wasn’t frightened. This was how snakes tasted new things.
I kept my hand steady in his. “Good to meet you, Lash.”
He kept his tongue there, tasting me through the air, staring up at me with those flat eyes. I looked back at him evenly.
He nodded, then his tongue disappeared back into his mouth, and he let go of my hand. Though he didn’t speak, I felt I’d passed some sort of test.
“So, which species are you?” I asked.
He gave me a smile, baring thin needle-like fangs, slightly curved back and a little longer that a vampire’s. “You know what I am?” he hissed, surprised. “And you aren’t afraid?”
“You’re a weresnake. I haven’t met one before.”
“I’m impressed,” he said, sounding anything but.
Just what I needed, another wise ass.
“Answer her,” Devlin said mildly.
“Water moccasin,” Lash said, something close to pride in his tone.
“Is your bite poisonous?” I asked warily.
“Only in reptile form,” he hissed, tilting his head and giving me a considering look. Then he looked at Dev. “I like her. She’s braver than I expected.”
Her Secret Page 21