“Technically, no.” Rainer shook his head, looking furious. “Because he had the knucklebones in his hands replaced by brass. So, they’re not weapons, they’re just his hands.”
Angelina felt a little ill but pushed those feelings aside. Right now, Rainer needed her. “You need blood.”
Rainer glanced at the other vampires and nodded, almost looking reluctant. “I need blood. The rest of you… out.”
The vampires that had helped him out of the arena, the one that had been poking at him and Morticia all filed out. Morticia smirked at them before she closed the door. Rainer lay there, still panting. Blood smeared his skin and, up close, Angelina could see that his skin had split in several places. She felt ill as she squeezed his hand tightly.
“From the wrist,” Rainer growled as she started to unbutton her blouse.
“You need more blood than that.” She took off her shirt and swept her hair to one side. She leaned over him, putting her neck right at his mouth. Rainer growled once, and then his fangs pierced her skin. His hands wrapped around her, pulling her tighter. And only one thought flitted across her mind.
Tommy is his son. I need to tell him. Tommy is his son.
***
Rainer could feel his injuries knitting themselves. Broken ribs coming back together, bruises disappearing. His breathing became easier, the pain throbbing through his body eased. He let his hands wander over her, slowing his frantic gulps. He wanted her right now. He had an hour before he had to decide whether to fight again or forfeit the day—which would give Marcus double the points for winning the first round. If Rainer chose to fight again, then he would not get those points.
At the end of the three battles, if they were both alive, those points would be the deciding factor.
Rainer swallowed another mouthful of blood, his hand moving over Angelina’s breast. Everyone knew that sex helped the healing process as much as blood did. And now—
He froze as something triggered inside of him. He could feel Angelina there, right there, physically beside him. But he could also feel her inside of his mind. The connection had been formed, and as her blood slid down his throat, it deepened until he could sense her thoughts, as though they were his own.
Tommy is my son.
The knowledge hit him hard. With a gasp, Rainer jerked back. His fangs tore through Angelina’s skin, making her cry out. He gripped her tightly, pressing his thumb against the wounds to stop the bleeding. But his gaze was locked on Angelina’s face. And he saw in her eyes that she knew he knew. Her eyes were wide, her breathing shallow.
“Angel,” he choked out. “Angel…”
“I was going to tell you,” she whispered. “I was, I swear I was.”
“When?” Rainer moved back slowly. He had to move slow, otherwise he’d lash out and hurt her. Anger and confusion strummed in is veins as he stared at her face. How could she keep this from him? “When were you going to tell me?”
“After…”
Rainer snarled under his breath. “And if Marcus killed me?”
Angelina shuddered as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I didn’t think… I didn’t… He can’t. You can’t die, Rainer. I would rather you forfeit and have me handed over to him than—”
“And what about Tommy?” Rainer hissed under his breath, making sure to talk quiet enough that the vampires outside the locker room couldn’t hear them. “If I forfeit now and it comes out that Tommy is my son? He’ll have claim over him. Even if he doesn’t get you, he’ll have all paternal rights. It’s not just you, Angelina! How could you not tell me?”
Angelina flinched again.
Looking in her eyes, he saw the truth. She didn’t tell him because she didn’t trust him. Rainer threaded his fingers through his hair, feeling on the verge of a complete meltdown. Anger was so strong, he didn’t know how to pull it back in. At the moment, he didn’t even care about how confused he was about how he could be Tommy’s father when he’d only met Angelina when Tommy was already two years old.
Right now, he knew he couldn’t be with her. He was too angry, and if he wasn’t going to be resting or drinking or having sex in order to heal—well, he might as well use this energy for something! As the one who was defeated in the last round, it was his choice as to when they fought again. It was unorthodox that he'd call for the second battle so soon after losing the first, but he didn’t care.
“Morticia,” he called as he scrambled to his feet and away from Angelina. “Tell the Elders I’m ready for the second round.”
The door opened and the regulators, doctor, and Morticia slipped back in. All of them looked shocked. Rainer ignored them all, ignored the way that Angelina reached out for him. He clenched his hands at his sides and glared at Morticia.
“Well? I’m calling for the second round to start, what are you waiting for?”
Morticia bowed her head. She glanced at Angelina, considered, then walked away leaving Angelina there.
“Rainer, I—”
“I can’t talk about this right now.” Rainer snarled as he headed for the exit to the arena. “Right now, I have to make sure Marcus doesn’t get his gross hands on you again.”
“Rainer, please.”
He ignored her as he stomped out. He knew he was being unfair but refused to feel guilty. If he let himself feel that, then it was a sure bet that he was going to turn around and run back to her. The anger would fade and the pain and weakness from his injuries would come back. He would not turn back. Not for anything.
The crowd went wild as soon as he stepped into the arena. He could see confusion on their faces and grinned ferally. Hasty bets were being swapped, but he ignored them as he stalked to the center of the arena. Moments later, Marcus came stumbling back in. Water dripped from his hair and over his skin, gleaming in the artificial lights. His cut lip still bled, though, and Rainer’s smile widened. Marcus had decided to shower before drinking.
How unfortunate for him.
Rainer didn’t waste any time. He charged Marcus, while Marcus was still confused about being called back so early. Marcus braced himself, but when he tried to sidestep Rainer’s attack, Rainer adjusted his trajectory and crashed right into him. Marcus went flying and Rainer was right there behind him.
The rage continued to flow into his veins. Angelina had lied to him. He seized Marcus by the neck and punched him in the ribs, the stomach, while Marcus tried to defend himself uselessly. Tommy is my son.
His fangs bared as he snarled, kicking Marcus’ feet out from under him. Marcus had recovered himself, though, and in response threaded his legs between Rainer’s. He brought him down beside him, then rolled and smashed an elbow into Rainer’s face. Pain jolted through him like lightning. Rainer grunted as blood spurted into the air. Marcus’ elbow slammed into his sternum, knocking the breath from him.
Lashing out blindly, his fist hit Marcus in the face. He forced his lungs to expand, even though it hurt like hell and stumbled back to his feet. Marcus was slower to get to his feet. Exhaustion was showing in his face, and Rainer nearly grinned. He attacked without giving Marcus more time to get himself reoriented. Marcus blocked two blows, then swung at Rainer’s face; Rainer deflected the punch and grabbed Marcus’ other wrist as he tried to sucker punch him in the stomach.
He twisted sharply, using his whole body. There was a loud popping, cracking noise and Marcus fell to his knees, screaming in pain. When Rainer released his arm, it fell to his side, hanging limply, the shoulder dislocated. Rainer glanced at the entrances waiting to see if this meant the regulators would come their way.
All he got, though, was Marcus kicking him in the knee. It twisted and he fell, crying out as a spasm shook his whole leg. He rolled, kicking with his other foot into Marcus’ face. He fell back with another cry. His whole face was bloodied, his chest slick with it as he lay in the dirt, panting. Rainer rolled over, pressing one hand to Marcus’ neck and lifting his other to pound the vampire’s face in.
“Wait,” Marcus gurg
led through his blood. He held his hands out in supplication. “Wait.”
Rainer did not release his grip, still poised to beat his face in. “Do you yield?”
Marcus coughed on his blood, spraying it into Rainer’s face. He groaned, his head falling back into the ground. Rainer waited another few seconds, hoping Marcus would just yield and that would be the end of it.
He shouldn’t have hesitated.
Marcus suddenly curled inward and planted his feet square against Rainer’s chest. He pushed out with all his strength. Rainer’s hand ripped away from Marcus’ neck. The freshly knitted ribs snapped again. He rolled several times over the hard-packed earth. With a feral screech, Marcus came after him again. His good arm swung toward Rainer’s face. He deflected it, only to get a knee in his stomach. Marcus pinned him down, lips pulled back and fangs elongated. He went to bite Rainer’s neck; Rainer lifted his arms to defend himself and Marcus’ teeth pierced through his wrist.
The regulators would be here soon, pulling them apart; drinking was forbidden.
But it also meant that Marcus would win. Again.
With a snarl, Rainer grabbed Marcus’ hair. He yanked it back while throwing his own head toward the vampire’s already broken nose; his forehead collided with a sickening crunch. Marcus pulled back, howling; Rainer flipped him onto his back and punched the other vampire in the face, again and again.
It was only after hands wrapped around his arms, pulling him back, that he realized that Marcus wasn’t moving. Rainer grew still, panting, watching. If he’d somehow killed Marcus—
But no. Marcus stirred, groaning. His eyes opened, then closed again even as he tried to push himself up.
“Leave the arena,” one of the regulators ordered gruffly.
Rainer’s fangs throbbed for more violence, but he nodded. It was difficult, but he walked back to his locker room. Once there, he promptly collapsed onto the floor. When Angelina rushed to him, he didn’t speak; only took her arm in his hands and drank from her wrist again. When he had drunk all he could, he finished off his cravings with the packs of blood provided for the contenders and dragged himself to the showers.
Angelina tried to talk to him, but all he could do was tiredly tell her that he couldn’t do this right now. He stayed in the hot water, in a half-unconscious stupor, until Morticia returned.
“Marcus has decided not to fight again until tomorrow. Which means, you’ve got double the points.” Morticia folded her graceful arms as she stared down at Rainer, now sitting on a bench with a towel wrapped around his waist. She shook her head and glanced at Angelina hovering nearby. “If I were you, I’d decide if she’s really worth it. Whatever you learned about her when drinking her blood… Seems like it upset you.”
“Mind your own business,” Rainer snapped, then, “Angelina, go get the car. Please.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Her shoulders sagged as she slowly left the locker room, Morticia with her. Rainer slowly dried himself, aware of his aches and pains that the blood hadn’t been enough to take care of. His chest ached terribly. It was going to take rest to heal his ribs this time.
He’d just dressed when the doors opened again, and Marcus limped in. Rainer snarled as he got to his feet, but Marcus rose both his hands, smirking despite the fact that his face was one massive purple bruise.
“That was quite the little trick you pulled. Drinking fresh from the vein and calling a new fight before I had a chance to drink any blood.”
“You had time, you just wasted it,” Rainer snarled back.
Marcus started to laugh but cut it off quickly, hissing as he pressed a hand to his chest. “Be that as it may, you should know, if you kill me tomorrow, I have an assassin already hired to take out your precious little human.”
Ice flooded Rainer’s veins. His mind went blank, wanting to reject what Marcus had just said. His mouth opened but nothing came out.
“I thought… if I were Rainer Weiman, what would I do?” Marcus inched forward, eyes gleaming with delight. “And then it hit me. Insurance plans. Going against what’s expected. So. Now you know. I die, she dies… and I was thinking… if I lose without dying, maybe she’ll die anyway. That would be fitting, wouldn’t it? You take everything from me… I take her from you?”
“You son of a bitch,” Rainer snarled. He started forward, but at that moment the doors flung open and the regulators streamed in.
“You aren’t permitted to be here,” one of them snarled. He seized Marcus and dragged him out.
Rainer stood there, wanting to go after him, wanting to beat the crap out of him. But he couldn’t, not now at least. Tommy is my son. If I win tomorrow, Angelina will die. If I lose, Marcus will get both of them. He sank back to the bench and hid his face in his hands. Oh, God! What am I going to do?
Chapter Twelve
They were silent all the way back to the apartment. Several times, Angelina almost said something. Almost told him that she was just protecting her son. Almost. The words got caught in her throat and she couldn’t speak, though. And so, she remained silent.
After she parked the car and got him up to the apartment—the babysitter had already put Tommy to bed and Angelina was happy for that because she didn’t want him to see how beat up Rainer was—she retrieved some of his bagged blood and waited for him to speak. Rainer took his time drinking, wincing if he moved too fast. Was he delaying so he wouldn't have to talk to her? She watched him, breathless with worry. His gaze was distant and dark. She could almost see his thoughts brooding about his head like storm clouds.
“What I want to know,” he said after he put the blood bag down, “is when. And how? If we'd been together for three days, I'd remember.”
Angelina sighed. “It was a week, and I was wearing a mask.”
“A week?” Rainer's jaw dropped. “But I… oh… oh.”
He leaned back on the couch, a look of horror and understanding dawning on his face. A shudder ran through him. Angelina sat rigidly, waiting. So he remembered. Remembered that she had been at that vampire party… as a prostitute. Sickening guilt and regret roiled in her stomach. She wouldn't give up Tommy, not for anything, but if she could change how she'd gotten him, she would in a heartbeat. And now that Rainer knew how she had defiled herself, what would he think of her? Would he still want her?
Rainer looked away. “No wonder you didn't trust me enough to tell me. Why would you want a man like that for Tommy's father?”
Surprise rippled through her. “What?”
“I barely remember that week, I was so drunk and high. I don't remember… What I do remember is waking up with a hangover, covered in blood and sweat and other bodily fluids. Not remembering anything other than the pain I was trying to forget… and hating myself…” he bowed his head. “Four hundred years and that was the only time I…”
“Paid for a hooker?” Angelina was surprised at how flat her own voice was. None of her emotions showed through. Something she was almost proud of, except for the fact that she felt nothing but a deep-seated shame.
Rainer sighed. “I don’t like that word. I’ve been around enough to know that nobody can be defined by a single word. I just…” He licked his lips nervously and looked up at her. “How did you get out? It must have been hard…”
Angelina pressed her palms to her eyes. “I didn’t end up too far in… that was the first time… and the last time. I hated myself for what I’d done. It was the darkest time in my life, and if I hadn’t found out I was pregnant, I don’t know how far I would have gone. But then I had him. And I knew I would never do that again, for his sake.”
“If Marcus wins and finds out, by vampire law, he’ll have all paternal rights.”
Angelina flinched. “What?”
“That’s how it works. Everything that the loser has goes to the winner. That includes their mate, their children, even their name if they want it.” Rainer’s jaw clenched and he lifted his gaze. “You can’t let anybody know, Angelina. I don’t know i
f I’m going to win tomorrow, and you need to protect Tommy above everything else.”
Cold flooded her veins. She couldn’t imagine what would happen if he lost. He couldn’t lose. He couldn’t. She closed her eyes, her shoulders tightening as visions of what might happen flashed through her mind. It made her sick to her stomach, imagining Rainer lying on the ground, bleeding out.
“I know I should have told you,” she started hesitantly. “And there were a few times I almost did. But I just…”
“Didn’t trust me.”
Angelina turned her face away. What more had she wanted from him? He had been affectionate and caring with Tommy, even from before they were together. Why couldn’t she have trusted him before now? Why had she waited so long?
Rainer touched her cheek. “I don’t blame you. How Tommy was conceived… and then I wasn’t exactly the most upright of men after you came to work with me.”
Hardly daring to hope, she looked back at him. “Do you forgive me?”
“I…” He let out a heavy sigh as he pressed his palm against her cheek. “There isn’t anything to forgive.”
“I lied to you.”
“I understand where you were coming from.”
“Yeah but I still hurt you with my lies. That calls for forgiveness.” Angelina frowned at him. “I know the whole ‘nothing to forgive’ stuff is romantic in the movies and all, but there is stuff that needs to be forgiven and I can’t just ignore that. I don’t want you to ignore it, either. Pretending like it didn’t happen isn’t going to help us move past it.”
Rainer studied her. There was a look of concentration on his face that made her squirm as she waited for his answer. She wanted to ask him what was taking him so long but held her tongue. After a long moment, he swallowed heavily.
“I forgive you, Angelina. I just wish…”
“That I had told you sooner.”
Rainer shook his head. “No. Because if it had been sooner, then I’d have told people. And then it wouldn’t just be you in danger… We can argue that you and I aren’t mates, that we’re not even properly dating and protect you from Marcus claiming you as part of my property.”
In Bed with the Vampire Page 14
