by Lauren Dane
He laughed and sent a little of his power to caress her skin. Even six months back she’d have been nervous about it. But by this point, she’d stopped lying to herself and let herself enjoy it.
Her voice was just the barest breath of sound. “I need to take a shower and I can’t see wasting water or nakedness without you there.”
He smoothed a hand down the front of his shirt. “I’m always available to scrub your back. Remember it gives me a great view of your arse. As we’ve established I quite enjoy that.”
“I’ll be in your bathroom, naked in twenty minutes. I need to deal with one last thing.”
They both looked over to where David stood, waiting.
“He is your valet. And so much more than a boy you need to shield from harm,” Clive murmured in her ear. “Let him be here with you. You have your path, he has his.”
She huffed her annoyance but he kissed her forehead and stepped back. “I’ll expect you in twenty minutes, Rowan. If I have to come find you it won’t be like a fun game.”
“Really? I’m sort of disappointed by that.” A fun game of Clive finding Rowan and having his way with her would be a super way to spend a few hours.
“Cheek.” He shook his head. “Twenty minutes. I’ll stop by the kitchen and request a meal sent up for you.”
He really was so much better at this relationship thing.
“Thanks.”
He smiled one last time and headed out of the room.
She turned to face the person she’d told to stay home in Las Vegas. “So here’s a thing. You’re not supposed to be here.”
His normally earnest and mellow expression hardened with the passion in his voice. “I know you’re angry, Deese, but I can’t be set aside. You leave me at the apartment in Las Vegas when you go out to work, which is fine. But I’m your valet. It is my sworn duty to be here with you on a hunt.”
He was human; he’d die of old age when she still looked about thirty years old. But she wanted, very much, for him to die a very old man and not at the hands of a murderous Vampire. Especially when David had so much left to do and experience in his life. If something happened to him she didn’t know if she could bounce back from the loss and her own failure to protect him.
“You are my valet, yes. And you do a very good job.”
He interrupted, which was generally not something he did—which was why she tolerated it. “If I did a good job why send me away? Other Hunters don’t. Their valets accompany them on fieldwork. I give you my word I won’t fail you.”
Rowan withheld a sigh. She’d fucked this one up so badly. “Of course you won’t fail me. You haven’t yet and as you’ve noticed my life is sort of full of danger and drama. This isn’t about you not being good enough. And I don’t care what other Hunters do! Is this the place where I say, Young man if other valets jump off a bridge would you do that too?”
He nearly smiled.
“You’re important to me. I don’t want you in danger. I need you to deal with people so I don’t have to. I need you to always find the onion bagel with the best toasted onion on it. I need you to keep me from making people cry when I don’t actually want to make them cry.”
He harrumphed at her. “You’re going on a hunt with several master Vampires. Do you know how agitated you’re going to be by day three if I’m not there to keep you diverted and from killing creatures you may need later? Not only that, but I’ve been training. I carry weapons. I know how to handle myself.”
Rowan sighed. “It’s not a matter of any of that.” She waved a hand. “Go to bed. But before you do that, can you please set up a video conference with Hunter Corp for about two hours after sunset tonight?”
“Of course.” He bowed and then hurried off to handle things.
She hadn’t agreed to let him go on the hunt. She wasn’t convinced it was wise to have this be his first official hunt. She needed to think on it more and also bone her boyfriend. The sun would make him pretty useless in the boning department for at least five or six hours so she really needed to be about time management right then.
With a growl, she put her practice sword back and headed to Clive.
* * *
Clive sped his pace, wanting to get back to his rooms after getting the food arranged. He’d fed before going to see her, and he never fed where she’d be spending time so he wasn’t concerned she’d see something upsetting if she got there first. But he wanted to be sure the flowers he’d asked to be put in his bedchamber had been set up. Red peonies, her favorite. There’d be some bloodwine, which he planned to enjoy, and some cider for her.
And if he was fortunate, the robe he’d ordered for her would have arrived as well.
Most of his people had left the Keep at least a month before and the rest had gone home when he and Rowan had returned to Las Vegas two weeks ago. So it was fairly quiet as he entered the wing that held the personal apartments of the Scion of North America and his associates. An approaching footfall told him Alice, his assistant and closest advisor, was on her way to him.
She reached his room first and opened the double doors ahead of him. Sweeping through with a critical eye. He never had to worry about it once he’d told her to handle something.
She had her ever-present clipboard and notes clutched in her left arm. “I’ve handled all your donors for feeding while we’re here at the Keep. You’ll meet them twenty minutes after sunset in the same little library down at the end of the wing you fed in tonight.”
Clive let the efficient cadence of each thing she felt needed his attention center his thoughts. She would have taken care of every detail, never wasting his time with anything unnecessary.
Alice had been with him since the very start. She’d been assigned to him the first month he’d been inducted into the Scion training program. She’d received her own sort of training on how to serve a Scion at the same time.
It was Alice who’d helped him build who he was as the Scion of North America. She traveled with him everywhere he went and generally made his life easier. Her connections were vast, varied and impeccable. Not only did she have a mighty brain, she was a passionate fighter. Trained to be deadly in his service.
And yet he really didn’t want her coming on this hunt.
Originally he’d planned on having her stay at the Keep and run things from there and coordinate with David back in Las Vegas. But with The First being in the state he’d been in earlier and David now in Germany, it might be safer to bring them both along. He needed to speak to Rowan about it as well.
“All staff is under strict order not to disturb you—either of you—without my or David’s express permission. I put the boxes you had sent from Paris on the couch in your sitting room. I made sure to put some human pain reliever in the cabinet in your bathroom. If she’s feeling any discomfort, the medication the doctor left for her is in there as well. David brought it. You can tell her that if she’s uncomfortable.”
He hid a smile. “Thank you.”
She paused at his door. “Is there anything else I can do to help?”
Alice had a soft spot for Rowan, seeing right through her bullshit and to the ferociously loyal heart beneath.
“She’s a survivor.” In truth how could Rowan be anything but distressed? The First out there on the grass earlier that night was a Vampire teetering on the edge. And she understood more than most anyone just what that could mean.
“Sometimes you should do more than just survive.”
Clive agreed. And the truth was, Rowan did far more than just survive. She lived her life to the fullest, always keeping her path central, but she wasn’t just anything.
Rowan had risen from her the ashes of her childhood and becoming something else. Something more.
But he also had a job to do so he’d do it and give Rowan all his focus when she showed u
p.
“Please coordinate with Farrelly’s assistant and set up a meeting with the Scions about an hour after sunset.” He’d already had a detailed conversation with Warren and Paola about the Hunt and who they wanted to send along with Rowan. He knew Rowan would be speaking to Hunter Corp. that evening as well to fill them in on her recommendations so he wanted to keep everyone in the loop enough to get them off his back.
And they’d need to deal with this situation with The First. After everyone woke that night they’d know more and would have to update the other Scions.
Rowan knew who she wanted to go with her on the hunt. She also knew who she didn’t want along. Clive wasn’t sure how successful she’d be on the latter, but he understood Rowan enough to be convinced that team would have every single member she recommended.
He trusted her on this, though certainly he and Farrelly as well as a number of others were quite good at hunting and tracking. He looked forward to showing Rowan he was more than a Scion in a suit.
He thanked Alice after she assured him she’d handle all the details for the call the following sunset. As he’d entered his suites, Cataline, the house manager, rolled a cart laden with food his way. A rather beefy Vampire stood with her and followed her instructions as they set up for a meal in his sitting room.
Cataline, once finished, pointed at a pot of tea she’d put a cozy on to keep warm. “Cook says to make sure Rowan drinks it. She’ll complain. Sweet talk her into finishing.”
Clive withheld his opinion of sweet taking Rowan into anything she didn’t want to do to. Guilt might work better and he planned to use that and sex and some presents to get her to comply. Or to attempt it.
“I’ll do my best. Thank you.” He bowed.
“It’s rather chilly in here. She’s still recovering.” Cataline gave Clive a look, as if he’d personally been the one to attack Rowan.
He wasn’t going to explain anything to her, even though she certainly said all that in Rowan’s best interest. But Rowan didn’t like to sleep when it was too warm and she rarely slept in his bed until he woke anyway.
“Thank you for thinking of her comfort.”
They left and he’d only taken two steps back from the door when Rowan rounded the opposite corner.
“Three minutes to spare.”
“Come on in here. I’ll give you something to do with that one hundred and eighty seconds.”
Chapter Five
“I’ve been ordered to make you drink tea and to warm my rooms up for you because you’re still recovering. So do eat and drink all that tea and then we’ll shower.”
She walked past him into his rooms, comfortable in his space in a way he hadn’t thought possible six months before.
“You’re adorable when you try to give me orders.” Her tone was loose. Easy and warm. Teasing. A test to his resolve.
“You’re not adorable when you don’t just do what I ask because it’s the best thing for you and you know it.”
One of her shoulders rose and fell. “I’m contrary and fickle. You say so yourself.”
He gave in and smiled. “You are. And I do say so. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll make you come for every cup of tea you drink.”
“You’re going to do that anyway so I don’t need to make a deal with you. And you like it when I make you work for it.” To underline that, Rowan pulled her tank up over her head and tossed it to the side.
Contrary. Though absolutely correct. He did love this little push and pull game of theirs. “Tea!” He pointed and raised his brow. “Dina and Cataline both made me promise. Otherwise I’d let you get sick just to teach you a lesson.”
“You’re such a liar.” Still shirtless and now, as she tossed her bra to the side, bare from the waist up, she poured the tea into a cup and sipped it, challenge in her gaze.
“A liar? Darling Hunter, why would I do such a thing?” He made himself stay where he was, across the small space. Close enough to smell her, sweat and skin, power and magic. But not close enough to touch. Which was good because he wanted to touch her but they were playing a game he planned to win.
He kept his patience, knowing they’d both be naked and touching shortly.
“You’d let me get sick to teach me a lesson?” She sipped her tea, topless, like the spawn of hell she was to tempt him so. “You would not. You like me, Scion.”
During the first days after her attack, when her life had been so very thin and tattered, he hadn’t wanted to leave her side. The First had to order Clive to leave and rest as the sun came up each day she’d been unconscious. Even once she’d gotten past the danger point and had begun to recover in earnest, he’d hated to leave her each morning. Worried something would happen while he wasn’t awake.
No, he wouldn’t let her get sick to teach her a lesson. Not for a few years. He needed the time between himself and nearly losing her to ever consider being cavalier that way.
“Granted, I do feel rather fond of you so to let you get sick would be counter to my goals of sex as often as I can get it.”
“You’re the one who’s making me drink tea instead of putting your cock inside me.” She shrugged.
“For now.”
She finished her tea and raised a brow his way. “I’ve got an empty teacup here.”
“You’re spoiled.”
Her smile promised all sorts of things he’d like.
“You’re the one who spoils me. I was just a gal with a valet who made her bagels and brought her coffee. You’re the one who buys me gemstones and makes me drink whateverthefuck is in this tea. Going to guess healing mojo. Probably make me sleepy really soon. I may not even be able to have sex at this rate.”
He laughed, despite his best intentions. “What a terrible outcome to have to wait eight hours until the sun went down to have you. Again.”
Rowan sighed. “I may be too busy for that. Once the sun sets I have to yell at people and coordinate a schedule to keep everyone in this hemisphere safe. Probably too busy to fuck.”
“Now who’s lying?”
Her laugh, low and sexy, stroked over his skin as she used her power to get his attention.
Which she already had.
Rowan shuddered as she downed the last of the stinky liquid. “Two cups of tea down.”
“If you promise to eat after the shower, I’ll make you come three times anyway.”
She stood in the same graceful, boneless way Vampires did and his incisors pressed against his gums. She made him want like nothing before.
A smile of carnal promise curved her mouth. She made an X motion over her heart. “Done. After those orgasms I’ll need the calories to keep my strength up.”
“I do so admire your thinking,” Clive said, following her through to the bedroom where he’d laid the robe out on his bed.
She gave him a look over her shoulder.
“I saw the color and thought of your skin.”
* * *
Only this man could move her this way. Rowan brought the deep blue silk to her cheek. She was too tired to pretend she wasn’t pleased by the way he sought to take care of her.
“Not that seeing you in my shirts isn’t ridiculously attractive, but I thought you might like something to keep here, in my rooms.”
He reached out, cupping her face, and she told herself the way she leaned into his touch was for him when she knew she’d allowed herself to need it.
“I know you aren’t always comfortable sleeping with me during daylight hours. I know you need your own space. I don’t want to own you. I want you to come to me when you need me. I want you to know you’re welcome at my side, in my bedchamber and in my life.”
The words seemed to soak into her. Damn him and his ability to know exactly what she needed to hear right when she needed it.
He wasn’t a responsibility. Didn’t need protecting or saving. Being with him was easy in so many ways, even though he was a Vampire and bossy and one of her dad’s employees so to speak.
“Thank you. It’s beautiful. I’m going to spill something on it in five minutes. You know that right?”
He pushed her to the en suite bathroom and turned the water on to get it hot.
“It can be cleaned.”
“You’re so patient with all this. Where’s my uptight British asshole?”
His features softened. “I love you, Rowan. You’ve had quite a day. I’m always pleased to poke you into a state of agitation and you’re so surly it’s not very difficult. But there are times when I’m content to let you be because you need someone in your goddamned life who’s your safe place. Selfishly, I like you better when you’re bitchy over something not me and easily punched into obedience.”
She finished getting out of her sparring clothes, tossing them to the side. Not wanting to do something horrifying like cry at his kindness, Rowan busied herself undoing her hair.
She did, in fact, really dislike being around Vampires when they day slept. It wasn’t so much like he was dead or anything, but they rested very deeply and their bodily functions slowed down drastically so they got very cold and very still. He wasn’t going to cuddle with her while he was out—not that she was much for cuddling anyway. He wouldn’t even know she was there.
And she needed a moat around herself sometimes. Needed to be alone in a place no one would bother her. And the miracle of it was that Clive accepted her nature.
She got into the shower and he followed, not crowding her physically, but taking up all her attention anyway.
The water was blessedly hot and did great things to her muscles as she grabbed his soap and ran it all over his skin.
“You should let me take care of you.”
“Be quiet.” She continued, letting herself find comfort as well as titillation at the feel of him, steady and toned against her palms.
His mouth quirked but he didn’t argue. His cock liked what she was doing in any case, so it wasn’t like there was a problem.
