That was the craziest trick of all.
Her sister was the first person she found the next day. Mallory had spent the night curled up against the vampire’s side, barely sleeping at all.
She’d told him it was because of Joselyn. She’d known the truth. The thought of going home had her just as churned up as staying.
Because everything had changed now. Mickey looked at her like she had two heads.
“You can go if you want, Mal, but I’m not leaving.” Mickey said the words firmly, her resolve clear on her face. “I want to stay with Theo. I love him. And I know he loves me.”
Mallory stared at her sister. This was the last thing she had ever expected. Not from Mickey. Who had always been so…reasonable. Logical. “You’re kidding, right? What about Dad? Rand, Becca? What do you think they will think? He abducted you. Forced you to become a vampire. Why would you want to stay with him?”
Her sister had lost her mind. Or Theo had done something to her, drugged her or hypnotized her, or something.
“I’d like to think our family will be happy that I’ve found someone who loves me. Truly loves me. We don’t have to mention that he’s a six-hundred-year-old vampire. Emily’s happy for me.”
“Em knows?”
“I told her earlier today. She said we’ll find a way to make this work, if I want it to.” Mickey shot her a probing look. One Mallory had seen before—it meant Mickey knew something Mallory didn’t. She braced herself. “I think she wants to stay, too.”
“I see.”
“You want to go home, don’t you?” Mickey’s eyes held pity, and Mallory straightened her spine. She didn’t want pity from anyone, even her sister.
“Yes. I do.” She did. No one would ever get her to deny it.
But the vampire wouldn’t get out of her head.
Mickey was staying with Theo; that changed things. For Mallory, too; the possibility would exist that she would see Aodhan again. And again. She could not resist him forever if that happened.
There really was no way for her to escape this vampire. Not with his best friend a part of her family now. Lead settled in her stomach at what that meant. Chains were tightening around her, and she couldn’t make them stop.
“But what about Aodhan? If he’s the one you’re supposed to be with, don’t you think you should stay a little longer? Just to make certain, to figure out how you feel about him?”
Everything she’d learned about him and his people told her that the concept of destined mates, Rajnis, was very real to the Dardaptoans. Aureliana had told her how she herself longed for her mate and she couldn’t imagine making it to the almost six hundred years Aodhan had waited without finding her own mate. “I don’t know, Mick. I really don’t.”
“How do you feel about him? Do you care for him? Like him? Respect him just a little? Does he make your insides burn when he looks at you?”
The very idea had heat flooding her cheeks. She wouldn’t say her insides burned—more like they melted. In ways she couldn’t control. “I don’t know. I hate this! I wish…I’ve not been with a man in five years, Mick. He was a friend and just as anxious about everything as I was. Now, I’m with a vampire? A dominant warrior who could slaughter legions of humans with one hand. Who has done that—who has actual battle songs written about him. He’s a legend. How am I supposed to deal with that? I deal with numbers, not magic or mythical beasts or legends. Vampires don’t exist. Werewolves don’t exist. Banshees don’t come wailing at my door. It isn’t real.”
“Apparently, Mal, it is. Question is, what do you want to do about it? You can’t avoid it forever. Theo loves me and has waited six hundred years for me. I know that in my heart and in my head. It’s scary, unbelievable, and fantastic. Maybe a bit beyond crazy. But it feels right. Can you honestly say you don’t think Aodhan feels the same for you?”
Mallory deflated. This was why she’d always hated arguing with Mickey. Her sister just always made sense. Irritating. It was Mickey’s most annoying characteristic. “I don’t know.”
“Then don’t run away. Give this new place time. Apparently, we’ve suddenly got plenty of time now.”
She’d stay. Just until she was sure Mickey was safe and happy. And then she was going home. And putting this vampire hotel behind her forever.
21
Everything had changed. Because of Theo’s Rajni’s sudden decision. She wanted to stay with Theo, and she wasn’t hiding that fact from anyone. Stubbornly and vocally sticking to it. They couldn’t pry her off Theo even with a crowbar.
Theo was over the moon now.
It was hard not to envy his friend.
Aodhan sat beside his Rajni while she spoke with her cousins about the plans they had devised. It took little effort for him to see that his female was not happy with the changes her cousin Emily had just proposed.
Aodhan wasn’t exactly thrilled with them, either.
Aodhan was not sure having a TI laboratory in the middle of Dardanos would solve any of their problems. So many of the Dardaptoan people were filled with hatred for the mere name Taniss. A building full of people working under the Taniss umbrella would be a security nightmare. Every TI ID badge would be like painting a target on the humans’ backs.
A nightmare that he would have to deal with.
To some, having Tanisses working in their city would be flat-out treasonous.
But if it meant keeping his Rajni close and safe with him, how could he not champion this cause? Even if they were not together, she would be close. Where he could see her and protect her. She could come to him when she thirsted, whenever she needed him. And he would be there. He could still protect and provide.
It would be almost as good as having her with him. Perhaps with time, she would allow him into her life, her heart.
It might be the only option he had. It would be slower than he wished, but he could build the trust she needed.
His female might not have agreed with what the others were suggesting, but these females were a team. Anyone could see that. His female signed as she spoke to her blonde cousin. “We know. But what other choices do we have? There are several issues we still need to work out. But we want you to head the medical research. Keep a very close eye on all of it. Just in case.”
Cormac’s Rajni nodded, apparently accepting the assignment. She too would be staying close. Not that anyone had expected her to be going anywhere anytime soon. He wasn’t even certain she should be out of Cormac’s bed just yet.
The girl looked horrible. Cormac was still carrying her everywhere. He probably would be for a long while. But they had both lived; for a while there, he had feared they wouldn’t.
So what would his female be doing?
That was something he asked her as he escorted her back to their suite after the family meeting. She walked next to him, but he sensed her thoughts had remained with the others. “What will your role be, kitten?”
“Similar to what it is now, was, I suppose.” Her irritation was hard to miss, his little female.
“And what was that?” Aodhan felt a rush of shame that they had put so little thought into the females and their lives before they abducted them that he still didn’t know what position his female had actually held within her family.
“Well…since Emily took over from Grandfather, she’s been overloaded with everything that Grandfather should have been doing but wasn’t. She has two assistants—stepcousins of ours—that help, but it hasn’t been enough. Grandfather wanted Rand to take over for him several years ago, but my brother has never really wanted the responsibility. But Grandfather pushed for it because of the whole ‘Rand-has-a-penis-and-we-don’t’ thing. Our cousins Mitch and Marsh work for the company, but they handle the overseas branches now. So we worked it out between all of us that Emily would take the main branch. The entire company, really. Whether Grandfather wanted it or not. Our fathers could do it, but they don’t want to at this point. Fifteen years ago, maybe. But now? They’d rather retire. Un
cle Jason is younger than the rest of them, but he has his own interests in real estate that are his first love. Emily was everyone’s first choice; and she’s good at it. Really, really good. Except with the financial end of things. So I handle that and whatever I can for Em when she needs help.”
“And this new lab? What will you do?”
“Em will still be CEO of all the TI holdings, but I will be acting head of this place.” She shot him a look filled with irritation and fury. And nerves. “Looks like I’m not going anywhere. You won. I’m staying.”
Her tone was more resigned than excited. “You do not want that?”
“I don’t know. Regardless of what I want or think, this is what is going to happen. For Em and Mickey, at least. I don’t know what Joselyn will end up doing. Her choice now. Em says it’ll be our choices now that determine our fate. Not some random…vampires.”
Her cousin had been too weak and wan to state her plans clearly. All were giving her time to heal, first. “And you?”
“I’m staying until I’m one hundred percent certain that they will be ok. And then…I don’t know. If this works, I’ll run it along with Joselyn’s dad, if he’s willing, until one of my other cousins is able to. Marsh, maybe, if he ever stops hopping around the world. Maybe. I might end up staying here long-term. It really depends…”
“On?”
“Who knows? We need to contact our family, get the ball rolling. That’s one thing we’re good at. When we decide to do something, we don’t waste any time doing it. If this is what Em wants, and the board—which is basically me, Em, my dad, and brother, Joselyn, and her dad, and our cousin Mitch—can all come to agreement, it’s done.”
“Do you think that agreement will be easy in coming?”
She was silent for a moment. “Yes. If we word it right. We were planning to open a new research facility, anyway. It might as well be here with Mickey and Em. And we can make a convincing argument that they need to be close to their new…vampires. The rest of the board tends to listen to Em…and me, I suppose.”
“You know what I want…but only if you are happy, kitten. That’s what I want above all else. Keep that in mind when you’re making your decision. Either with me or not. But it sounds like you and your cousins have found a way to have exactly what you need. I will be here. Waiting for you. Forever, if that is what it takes.”
Nothing else was said as he keyed in the code to open the door to their suite and motion her in ahead of him. She sank immediately to the turquoise couch and stared pensively out the window. “I will…I was going to head this lab up anyway. If what he did hadn’t damaged the company too badly. We thought him stealing from the company holdings was bad enough. Now… I hate him, Aodhan. I can’t seem to stop. Once we cleaned up the mess Grandfather had made, I had no clue what was going to happen next. So the only thing that would be different would be the staff—we can’t exactly have a whole bunch of humans running around unsuspecting—and the location. I was leaning more toward something close to our home. I hate commuting, and I hate helicopters.”
“If it’s somewhere inside Dardanos city limits, you won’t have to do either.” And he wouldn’t have to worry about his Rajni driving around the Colorado countryside unprotected. He’d ensure a team of his best guards escorted her to and from her destinations each day.
“That is one plus, I suppose.” She stood, paced around the sitting area. She stopped at the veranda that led to the gardens. When she slid the glass door open, he joined her on the balcony. They stood looking over the area where her cousin had fallen for several long moments. The wind picked up red hair and sent her scent in his direction.
Aodhan wrapped a hand around her shoulder, wanting nothing more than to pull her to his chest. “Kitten…”
She shifted, stared up at him with suddenly determined eyes. “I can’t go home. Not permanently. I can’t leave Em and Mickey—and possibly Joselyn—to build a life here and not be a part of it. We stick together. We always have. I’d like to hope we always will. I need to know that. Especially since I am different now, too. How could I? But…”
“But you feel trapped into this. I understand.”
“I don’t think you truly can. I didn’t ask for any of this. I know I just have to deal with it. I hate not being in control. Hate it.”
Aodhan winced, knowing what she referred to. He hadn’t touched her against her will, not sexually, but he had forced these life changes upon her. It did not reflect well on him at all. “Mallory, I—”
“You need to understand something. Just because my family is planning to stay here, that they accept this new way of things…that doesn’t mean that I accept all of it. Especially you. I am so tired of being hurt because of my grandfather. That’s all he has ever done—hurt us. And he keeps doing it now. When are we going to be free to live our lives, instead of cleaning up his?”
Aodhan winced at the harsh words. He understood. He truly did, but he could not stop hoping she would look at him as favorably as her sister did Theo.
“Tell me where he is.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why do you protect him?”
“It’s the rest of my family I protect. Them, they are what matters. I have another sister; she’s twenty-two and more like me than Mickey. I miss her, too. I have cousins, too. Cass and Jade—Em and Joselyn’s sisters. They are all the same age and so different from one another. Cass sees people as colors. She told me I’m blue-green. I’ve never figured out what she’s meant by that. Stepcousins, even. Five of them, and they all lived with my dad’s half-brother Gerald. He adores them. Taniss Industries—it’s the backbone of our lives. My grandfather almost ruined that. But he didn’t even start the company. His father did. And it’s ours. My sister…she was supposed to be coming home for the weekend today. She’s out there somewhere, and I…worry for her, too. Just as much as I do Mickey. My family. I love them. I can’t just stay here and forget that, forget them.”
“I’m sorry. You can call her tonight.” He wrapped his hands around her forearms and brought her closer, until he could feel the exhalations she released against the V of his vestis. “Call her, check on her. Perhaps, in time, you will not feel so reticent with me. Perhaps we can figure this out together. Because I will stick with you forever, just like your cousins. I will stick closer. I’ll never leave you. Because I…love you, my female. Always.”
Before she could answer he dropped a quick kiss on her lips. She didn’t fight him, didn’t pull away. She didn’t respond, either. He was about to pull back when her hands fisted on the material of his shirt and she leaned into him. Her body pressed against his, and she kissed him with more passion than she ever had before.
It was she who pulled away first, and she stared up at him with a puzzled expression. “I…”
Aodhan pulled in a harsh breath as it became clear what his female needed. “Go. Get back inside, now. I can’t not want you, think about you. And when you touch me, I want to…just go inside, Mallory. Now. Because I don’t know that I can control myself, and I will never take a choice from you again. Go.”
22
Mallory did as he told her, practically running into his family suite. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears, and the taste of him was hot on her tongue. She wanted to turn around and throw herself against him.
Because, heaven help her, she wanted to believe him. He’d sounded so sincere when he said he loved her. And she…had almost blurted it right back out.
Crazy. Flat-out crazy.
She didn’t love a man who had abducted her. Who had intended to kill her.
Worse, who had been a part of a plan to kill people she loved. Who, she suspected, had had a large hand in organizing that plan. He was a master strategist and warrior. If he’d been human, he’d no doubt have been in the military. A soldier. A fighter.
Mallory wiped a hand over her mouth as the thought of tasting his blood again filled her mind. The images sickened her. She dropped to the couch and s
tared at the glass door, waiting for him to enter.
And waited.
It took him forever to return to the suite, and when he did, he wouldn’t meet her eyes. Mallory cataloged the tension that still held his body. He wanted her, and she wondered how long his control would hold.
Finally, after several long moments of silence, he looked at her. Mallory bit her bottom lip as she waited.
“I will not lie; I want you here. Close. Where I can see you, smell you. And, yes, taste you. But damn it, female; I am not sure how much longer I can stand not touching you.” He towered over her and glared down at her. She squealed when his large hands wrapped around her upper arms and he jerked her to her feet. “Do you realize how much I want to touch you, how much I need to? I have waited over five hundred years for you. Just you. Do you know what it does to me to see you dressed as my female? To know that the goddess picked you specifically for me?”
His hands tugged on the scarf around her waist, pulling the knot free. The tunic she wore underneath the scarf was the kind that wrapped instead of fastened. The material parted, revealing the bra she’d had a servant get for her days ago. He stopped his hands. Just before he touched her. “Mallory…damn you!”
She covered his hands with her own, intending to push him away. The fine trembling of his fingers where they clenched the silk had her hands stilling for a long moment. His flesh was so warm, his hands so damned strong. Yet they trembled…for her. Mallory just couldn’t process. “I can’t just be what you want.”
“Mallory, kitten…sweetheart…you already are. Exactly. What. I. Want.” His hands dropped to her waist, and he lifted her. This time when he kissed her, it was gentle, almost sweet. It was more than apparent to her that he was holding himself in check.
Mallory slipped her hands behind his neck and clung to him.
She let the kiss continue for several long moments. When she pulled away it was because she needed to breathe, to reevaluate how she felt. “I—”
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