I pushed on regardless, a party felt bloody good to me, there'd been too much death and heartache and God awful crap lately, I wanted light hearted and loving and full of fun.
“The crew need a bit of bolstering. No better time than right before a battle to lift the spirits and get them eager.”
Michel brought himself back under control. “Granted, but I would prefer to just have family for that, Gregor is not family.”
“Neither is Enrique and I'm guessing you've got him hanging around for the same reason. The impending battle.”
“Well yes, but...”
“You could show me off.” That made him stop mid sentence. “You know, let everyone know I'm...” I paused and took a deep breath in. “That I'm yours.”
“Are you mine?” His voice was very quiet, hopeful.
I swallowed picking up on the colour change in his eyes. “Yes.” My voice was more quiet than I had intended.
He looked at me intently then, just stared for a moment, as though he was looking for an answer. I don't know if he found it, he didn't smile or whoop for joy or kiss me passionately, he just stared at me for a bit and then nodded. One short nod, almost to himself.
He cleared his throat before he spoke again. “And you would let me show you off?”
“Yes.” I answered too quickly on that one.
“Be careful how you answer that, little Hunter.” Michel never called me little Hunter. It was usually ma douce or ma belle or Lucinda or even my dear, but not little Hunter. That made me pause for breath.
“What is your interpretation of showing me off?” Best to get this straight first methinks.
He did smile at that, then reached up and took hold of a few strands of my hair, wrapping them around his fingers. “It would involve me picking your outfit out for you.” His eyes flashed amethyst. “I would insist on certain privileges.” His eyes moved to violet. “It would definitely involve some public display of affection.” And there was the magenta.
“I'm...” I licked my lips and swallowed. “I'm not having sex with you in front of the team, Michel.”
“Of course not, I wouldn't dream of taking it that far.”
I scoffed. He lowered his face to kiss behind my ear, his hands running the length of my body - just to push my buttons even more, I was thinking.
“Are your guards here? Watching this now?”
“Of course." I could hear the smile in his voice. He was just loving this. "I am not at full strength yet.”
I pushed against him and looked in his eyes. “How much PDA?”
His smile was wicked. “Some things are better left as a surprise, ma belle. If you wish for your Gregor and a party, then concede to my demands.”
Well, there you go. Vampire wheeling and dealing at its best. Michel was a consummate politician, able to exact precisely what he wanted out of a situation and make you think you still held all the cards. I did want a party, I wanted to feel happy and have all my friends around me and also, I admit, flick a middle finger at the Queen of Darkness and Jonathan the Prick. A party, in the face of everything that had happened, was one big fuck you.
“All right,” I said carefully. “You can show me off.”
Michel's arms came around me in an instant, picking me up and holding me tight, then he spun me around and around in the Church's front yard, finally allowing the world to slow down after a dozen or so revolutions and his mouth to claim mine.
When he was done eating my tongue he pulled back and whispered, “Mine.” A hint of surprise in amongst the letters that formed that word. “You are mine, aren't you?”
He sounded like a little boy, seeking reassurance from an adult that he'd performed a certain task well. It wasn't a tone I heard from Michel often and it reminded me how affected he had been by my absence.
I placed my hand against his cheek and looked him in the eye and said, “Michel Durand, I am yours and you know it.”
He smiled then, but it was still a little sad, just around the edges. He noticed me frowning at him and he pulled me close, his mouth again beside my ear when he spoke.
“It is all right, ma douce. Hearing you say it, is enough for now.”
I wasn't sure what he meant by that. I really wasn't sure at all, but I decided I'd trust him. Besides, he was going to throw me a party. I had more pressing things to think of.
Like, what would he make me wear?
Chapter 16
Making Happy
It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I mean, I should have known he wouldn't go for a butt-cheek-high slinky number, it's just not Michel's style. Whenever he has visited me in my dreams he has dressed me in long flowing dresses, intricately decorated and beautifully designed, but he always said it was the hint of what lay beneath that was the enticement, he liked to let his imagination run wild. My short-short fighting skirts had always been a reluctantly accepted part of my wardrobe. He never complained when they provided such easy access, but he did bemoan the longer dresses of yesteryears.
So, the length of the exquisite piece of shiny and thin slinky fabric before me wasn't a surprise, the fact that it could be so long and consist of so little material, did.
It was in a deep emerald green, a colour I had not ever considered wearing before. I have brown hair and usually well tanned skin - but at the moment my tan had taken a hiding and I was more a cream colour - and brown eyes. None of that screams green, but at least it didn't clash. It also had extremely thin spaghetti straps, a plunging neckline and slits either side of the skirt that went from my ankles right up to the top of my thighs. Considering how short I am, that's not a long stretch, but the effect of all that long line of flesh did make me seem taller than I actually was. And I reluctantly admitted, along with my now paler complexion, the green looked stunning.
I was standing in front of the floor length mirror in our dressing room admiring the colour on me and trying to figure out how to move without flashing way more skin than I was comfortable with, when Michel walked back in the room. He was dressed in one of his many uber-expensive Armani suit trousers, dancing dragon gold cuff links at the ends of his crisp white Pierre Cardin shirt sleeves and a gorgeous deep, deep blue, shot with emerald green tie, loose around his neck. He stopped at the door as soon as he saw me and let his eyes lazily roam from head to foot, a small smile playing on his lips.
“You are stunning, ma douce.”
I raised my eyebrows at him and flicked a leg out slightly, displaying how much flesh, didn't so much as peek through the split in the divine fabric, but more like shouted to the world look at me. The contrast between my cream skin and the deep colour was striking though.
His smile broadened. “The effect I was going for.”
“When you choose to show something off, you really like to show as much of it as possible, don't you?”
He stepped up behind me, the mirror still at my front and ran his hands down the sides of the dress, resting them on the slight curve of my hips, his fingers digging into my naked skin at the top of my thighs possessively, his lips kissing softly along my bare shoulder up to my neck.
“Can you blame me?” he whispered against my skin, his eyes holding my own in the mirror.
I shook my head and leaned back into him, wrapping my arms up around his head behind me, his hands shifted slightly on my legs, his fingers almost whispering against my skin on one side, sliding tantalisingly under the fabric at the split.
“We'll be late,” I breathed as he teased me.
“Mm and you'll be flushed.” He turned me around in his arms and proceeded to lay kisses up my neck, over my jaw, until he finally claimed my mouth with his.
“Is this one of the privileges you spoke of?” I managed, when we broke to allow me some air.
“Absolutely.”
I shifted against him, deciding a little kissing could be tolerated after all.
Within seconds he had me weak at the knees, my insides warm and abuzz with butterflies. My face flushed and my
body tingling. All from a simple kiss. Finally, when he was convinced I'd had enough, he pulled away. An extremely satisfied look on his face as he leaned back against the door jam and watched me steady myself against the mirror.
“That was uncalled for,” I breathed and glared at him, knowing damn well I was very flushed now. “And now we're late.”
He laughed, a low sexy chuckle. “Yes and now you are flushed.”
“You bastard!” I shot at him, but I was smiling. I had Michel back. I had me back. Every time he teased, every time he pushed me further out of myself, I felt like I had made it home. I knew half the reason for his constant teasing was to bring me back to me. And I was grateful. He never seemed to go too far, just the right mix of pressure and pleasure. Somehow still keeping his claiming vampire in its little box inside of him. But, I was beginning to wonder if it was time for the vampire-within to come out.
He laughed at my thought, his eyes flashing magenta. I always thought that when magenta entered his beautiful blue eyes, it was his vampire peeking out from within. Maybe his vampire had heard my thoughts. Maybe it liked them too.
He glided over to me and let his hands drift up my arms to my shoulders, one settling behind my neck, up into my hair. He tipped my head back and slowly lowered his face to mine. I stopped being angry with him making me flush as quickly as the emotion had hit me, but I wanted to tease back. I shifted my face to the side, denying him my lips, but that only made him growl playfully and firmly turn my face back towards him, his other hand on my chin.
“Every single little thing you do turns me on, ma douce. Fight with me, don't fight me, whatever you chose, I will only want you more and more. You are my drug and I take great delight in tasting you in every guise you present.” He'd taken my tease and was running with it.
His mouth crushed into mine and he pulled me hard against his body, taking his time kissing me, making me sink into the moment unable to think a clear thought at all. Letting me know his vampire was coming back. Sometimes, Michel could kiss like he wanted to exist inside my body, all lips and teeth and tongue and the entire length of him along for the ride. By the time he pulled back to let me breathe, I was lost.
“Good,” he purred, looking at the effect he'd had over me. “But, there is still something missing.” He looked me up and down, holding me out at arms length, I'm glad he hadn't released me yet, my legs were all but jelly right now. He reached over with one hand and opened the top drawer of his tallboy dresser, pulling out a shiny pendant on a long platinum chain. My dancing dragon.
I'd been wearing it when I was kidnapped and forgotten all about the beautiful piece of jewellery Michel had gifted me not long before I had been taken. The sight of it made me expand with happiness, I had thought it had been lost. Suddenly I could stand on my own two feet again and almost jumped up and down with unbridled joy.
Michel laughed at my reaction and unclasped the chain, reaching forward to place it around my neck. I held my hair up, out of his way, so he wouldn't get it caught. The pendant settled down between the crease in my breasts, just above where the material of the dress began, precisely positioned for maximum effect, drawing the eye to the dip between my creamy mounds.
“Perfect,” he whispered, eyes flashing amethyst and magenta again.
“How did you find it?”
Michel swallowed, his eyes still on either the pendant or my breasts either side of it, he reluctantly pulled his gaze away and looked at me.
“It was discarded on the pavement outside your bank, along with your stakes and Svante, when you were taken.” There was a brief haunted look in his eyes, which he banished with a quick look down at my breasts again. He licked his lips and took a step back.
His eyes roamed over me one last longing time and then he reached for his jacket and slipped it on. Turning to the mirror to quickly do up his tie and then button the jacket closed. I watched for a while, mesmerised by his swift and sure movements and then walked up behind him and slipped my arms around his waist, resting my face against his back. I felt his hands come up and cover mine in front of him.
“Who found them?” I asked, but I think I already knew the answer.
“I did.”
“You came after me.” It wasn't a question.
“Of course,” he replied quietly. “Your glaze was effective on Douglas, none of my line prevented you from leaving, but I sensed you go and by the time I came out of the office, you had left. It took a few minutes to ascertain that you weren't on a hunt and Amisi was being held. Erika dealt with Amisi's captor and I gave chase, Douglas still holding my line from pursuing. By the time I found your discarded items, you had been placed in a vehicle and fled the scene at great speed. I followed our Bond connection as far as Mt Albert and then you were lost to me. The drugs already taking hold.”
I squeezed him more tightly aware of what he must have gone through and how much worse it must have got for him as the days passed. There were no words to offer to dull that pain, nothing could take those memories from him and make them better. He had his own reasons to want to land the killing blow to Jonathan. Maybe we could tag team it together.
He laughed quietly in my arms. “Deal,” he said and turned to face me. “Enough of that, we have tonight to forget. Sensations has been well warded and Enrique's men are providing cover around the building. Not that I believe anything will happen tonight, it is too soon, but if it does we are prepared. And in the meantime, ma douce, we will party, d'accord?”
I nodded in agreement, Jonathan was not getting this night. Tonight was all about making happy, for us, for our line. It may be our last chance to do this for a while, I intended to make good use of what time we had left.
Two of Michel's personal guards rode with us in the Land Rover, both in the front seats, another two cars full of guards followed behind. It almost felt like overkill, but although Michel looked to be back at full strength, I knew he wasn't entirely and somehow I was sure he was doing it for me too. I hated that he thought I couldn't take care of myself, but I hated more, that he questioned he could protect me too. That was not Michel's style, he was almost omnipotent in my eyes, the battering to his ego and confidence from losing me must have been significant.
He slipped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his chest, his lips running a line down from my temple over my jaw and down my neck. I wasn't sure if he was doing it to distract me from my thoughts or not, but it worked. I stopped thinking about my time away and the effect it had on everyone I cared about and I started thinking sinful thoughts of Michel naked in his chamber at Sensations, completely lost under my careful ministrations.
“I do hope that is a promise, ma douce,” he whispered in my ear. “And not just a tease.” He'd seen my thoughts, the pictures playing through my mind. My hand resting on his thigh slowly tracked higher, making his already half hard erection jump in response.
He laughed, quite sure I wouldn't try anything in the back seat of the Land Rover with two of his vamps sitting quietly, but knowledgeably in the front. He was right, of course. I wasn't quite at his level of exhibitionist behaviour, but I did manage a slow stroke, followed by a firm grip through his trousers, making sure he closed his eyes before shifting away.
His eyes languidly slid open again and he smiled, a cheeky smile and said loud enough for the two goons in the front to hear. “A tease then.” I blushed, which I could only hope was hidden in the dark of the vehicle. He just laughed some more.
Sensations was in full swing when we arrived. It was still early in the evening, only just past 9pm, but Michel's line had started well before we arrived. No doubt quite used to our later arrivals and the fact that we got easily sidetracked on a regular basis. The club was, of course, closed to the public, just Michel's vampires, Amisi, Enrique and one or two of his line, the rest outside on watch.
My eyes found Enrique's as soon as we entered the room. Michel had his arm around my shoulders and was busy greeting some of his line, his grip casual but
firm. I watched as Enrique smiled slowly, his eyes running the length of my dress, resting momentarily on my dancing dragon and then finally making their way back to my face. Men, honestly, they can never control themselves.
Michel squeezed me tightly for a second and then whispered in my ear, “Go to him, ma douce. I know you want to.”
I was surprised Michel would let me, I had the feeling he wouldn't have wanted me out of his sight tonight. I turned to look him in the face and he just smiled, one of his lazy knowing smiles. “It will be that much more enjoyable when I whisk you effortlessly away from his side.”
I couldn't help it, I smiled back at him. I knew him letting me go was showing his line he was back in control, holding me too close would have been a crutch, he now had to walk the fine line of balance between showing little concern when I wandered away, but bringing me back before the claiming reared its ugly head. I thought I'd make it a little easier on him, it was the least I could do.
“Is that a promise or a tease?” I asked innocently and enjoyed the wonderful smile that graced his face in return.
He growled low, only those vampires nearby would have appreciated his response. His lips brushed mine and he whispered, “You have my word I shall come for you, ma douce.” He kissed me lingeringly, then said, “Always.”
I watched the amethyst and violet swirl in his eyes for a moment and then took my leave, walking across the club room floor towards my saviour. I tried not to think too much about how grateful I was to Enrique, about how I did feel like he was my saviour, the one to rescue me in the end, because I knew Michel would still be in my head, but it was hard. Enrique was all of those things to me and Michel was just going to have to accept them.
My heart, my body and my soul belonged to Michel and although I was now aware that he physically couldn't have come after me himself, Enrique was the one who now held my gratitude. I also knew, however, that Michel had done everything in his power to get someone he trusted to me when I needed it. It just so happened that it was Enrique and not one of Michel's line.
Giver of Light Page 16