At last, she pulled away, looking up at him through tear-drenched lashes. He seemed drawn into those fathomless blue pools, and before he thought about it, he was kissing her. Strongly, eagerly, his arms wrapped around her as if it would allow him to better absorb her absolution. Her scent was exquisite—a mixture of innocence, gratitude and comfort. Her mouth was warm and welcoming, and when the kiss ended, he gazed at her with such longing, she stroked a soothing palm down his cheek.
She shut her eyes and turned her face up to him for another kiss. Matt grinned, cradled it between his hands and lowered his lips to hers again. He licked gently along the inner ridge of her upper lip, and she gasped, mesmerized by the feeling as he slipped his tongue inside and explored her mouth. Hers welcomed the dance. She broke away from the kiss, panting.
They were both overwhelmed by the emotions arching between them. Matt gathered his wits. He needed to explain to her why this was completely impossible.
“We should sit and I should tell you some things about myself…about vampires.” He meant to seat himself safely away from her in the easy chair while he placed her onto the facing sofa, but Cat would have none of that.
“If you’re gonna sit there, you’d better make room for me on your lap.” He grinned at her a little painfully. “Or, we could both sit on the couch.”
He relented and sat beside her while she settled herself close against him. She leaned her head on his shoulder as he spoke in a low rumble.
“In 1922, I was just another Los Angeles cop, the youngest guy to ever to make detective…”
Within an hour’s time, she heard his tale of Ruth, Veronique, Rick, and of becoming a monster.
“This has been awful for you, hasn’t it?” she asked.
He frowned. “Some of it, yeah. Just like anyone in any unusual circumstance, you learn to adapt.”
She nodded, her cheek rubbing the soft terry cloth of his robe. “I understand.” Minutes ticked by in silence, and she simply let him hold her.
Matt was reassured she was out of shock when she sat up with a start. “What time is it?”
“About four thirty. Why?”
“I have to get over to Maria’s. I have to call her son, Jorge. He should be home from work sometime after five. She has a dog. I’ll have to look after him now, or find someone to take him.”
Matt nodded. “I’ll call a friend to pick us up. We can get my car and he can follow us in yours.”
Rick arrived at Matt’s penthouse in the limo. Matt changed into street clothes, but Cat still stood awkwardly in his oversized robe.
“Cat, this is Richard Hiatt.”
Rick unleashed his charm and kissed Cat’s hand rather than shaking it. She giggled slightly at the old-world gesture. “Co-eds are so much more beautiful than I remembered.”
“You’re Matt’s partner at Consort Group International?”
“The same.”
“We can stop at your apartment first so you can change.” Matt scowled at Rick flirting with his girl.
“Sure.” She preceded them out the doorway.
“Now, I see what the fuss is about,” Rick whispered as he passed Matt. “She’s exquisite.”
“Yeah,” Matt returned grimly. “I don’t know what the fuck to do about it. I need her to win that contest. Now!”
Rick nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“What am I going to say to Maria’s son? Do you think the police have already contacted him?” Cat asked nervously as they drove to her building.
There was a long delay in rush hour traffic, and Matt was glad. It would give her time to compose herself.
“You’ll just listen, mostly. You’ll comfort each other as best you can. It’s the only thing you can do, Cat. Where does Jorge live?”
“Santa Barbara. He and his wife have a little girl. They were coming down to visit Maria next week…” She started sadly, and then suddenly looked up at him. “How old are you?”
He gave her a sideways glance. “That’s a hell of a segue.”
She blew a breath out in a laugh. “I guess it is. I was just thinking you look a little younger than Jorge. You look as if you’re twenty-five or so, but that can’t be right. If you were made a vampire in 1922, how old are you really?”
Matt paused. “I’ll be over one hundred and twenty years, soon.” He wished he could have evaded that question.
“But…but you’re so modern!”
He chuckled low. “Well, I try to keep up with the young folk.”
“Is Rick a vampire, too?”
“Immaterial.” He smiled to remove the sting. “Let’s talk about you. Do you have a friend or family you can stay with for a few days while you get over the shock of all this?”
Cat sighed. “I have a friend, my best friend at boarding school, but she moved to Brooklyn a few years ago. I know I’d be welcome to stay with her, but I can’t afford a ticket…”
“That sounds perfect to me. After you talk with Jorge, you call your friend and pack. You can stay at my building tonight. We’ll both need to finish our police statements tomorrow, and then I’m putting you on the corporate jet to New York. It will do you good to get away for a couple weeks.”
“But…the expense, the time away from school…I can’t afford…”
“I’ll take care of all that. Don’t worry. You just concentrate on recovering.”
She stared at him uncertainly for a long beat. “Why are you doing this? Why are you going so far out of your way to help me?”
“Do I need a reason?”
“You’ve always been so kind to me. You don’t even know me. I don’t understand.”
Matt shook his head, baffled by the complexity of his need and emotions. “Maybe, I’m just a nice guy.”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “I think you probably are a nice guy, but this is way beyond nice…this is kind of…extravagant.”
He smiled. “From your perspective, but Rick and I have some far-reaching resources and more money than we’ll ever be able to spend, so just relax and enjoy someone helping you, okay?”
“Okay.” she agreed, the bewildered, careful look still clouding the clear blue of her eyes.
Chapter 7
Matt used the keycard and swung open the door to the opulent suite across the hall from his penthouse. By financial agreement with the management, it was used exclusively for Consort Group International guests. Though the maids cleaned it regularly, it hadn’t been used for almost a month.
“Oh, wow!” Cat said. “This is gorgeous!”
Matt pursed his lips and nodded, glancing around, and then his gaze fell on her, by far the loveliest thing in the room. “Why don’t you take your bag into the bedroom? I’ll fix you something to eat.”
“I’m really not hungry…”
Matt eyed her skeptically. “Have you eaten anything at all today?”
“No,” she admitted reluctantly. “I don’t think I can stomach food, yet.”
Matt negated her fears with a shake of his head. “You have to eat. Put your bags away. I’ll cook.”
“You cook?” Her head swung around in amazement.
He shrugged. “I think I can remember how to scramble eggs. You like eggs? I can call out for something heavier if you want. I just thought with everything that’s happened…”
Cat nodded. “Eggs sound okay.”
* * * *
Cat heard Matt cooking as she pulled her toiletries from her bag and lined them up along the bathroom vanity. She was unexpectedly enticed by the aroma of sizzling bacon. Her stomach rumbled, and she rolled her shoulders, trying to relieve the tension centered there. She sighed, hung her clothes in the closet, and ran a brush through her tangled hair. Maybe she’d sleep tonight, after all.
She wished Matt would lie next to her in the elegantly upholstered bed. She almost laughed aloud at the thought. Sister Mary Immaculate would have her on her knees, rosary in hand for days, if she heard that impure thought. Well, no need to worry. After those two s
weet, hot kisses, he withdrew and did not attempt to kiss her again, or give any indication their relationship would be anything other than platonic. Cat had no idea what to do about it.
* * * *
Matt set the table and turned on the sound system so Debussy played low as he piled eggs and bacon from the frying pan onto a plate. Cat emerged from the bedroom, nervously rubbing her palms down her thighs.
“Smells good.” She’d accepted the wisdom of taking some sustenance.
“Glad you think so.” He flashed her a crooked smile and pulled out a chair for her. “I’ve scheduled a masseuse for you after dinner. A massage should relax you—”
“You could give me a back rub.”
His face went almost grim before he caught himself and gave her a truly ingenuous smile. “Naw…I have poor massage technique.”
“Uh-huh.” She glanced up from her food as he sat across the small table from her. “Aren’t you going to eat…er…I mean…”
He smiled again and toasted her with the thick ceramic beer mug holding his blood.
Cat’s lips formed a silent, “Oh,” and she grinned.
Matt squirmed awkwardly as Cat grasped his hand, crossed herself and bowed her head for a brief grace. She restarted the conversation as if it’d never been interrupted. “So…a massage, huh? That sounds…interesting…I’ve never had a massage before.”
“This would probably be the right day to try it out.”
He watched her test her eggs with the smug secret knowledge that he laced them with just a touch of Melatonin. He intended for her to be relaxed, asleep and beyond his immediate reach for the rest of the night, until she got on that plane tomorrow.
Matt rinsed and piled the dishes in the sink for the maid. The female masseuse, dressed in scrubs, knocked on the door, carrying her massage table strapped over one shoulder and her bag of oils over the other. The woman introduced herself before she set up the table in the living room, placing scented candles around the perimeter.
Before Matt could clearly imagine Cat’s glistening peach skin, soft and rosy from the oils and a therapeutic rub-down, he beat a hasty retreat. With a quick hug, which he kept as impersonal as possible, he was out the door and walking quickly toward his own unit, cursing the blood flooding to his eager dick.
Matt stopped in the middle of the hallway and inhaled. Someone was here. He glanced around warily, registering the scents of several vamps immediately before a hood was thrown over his head and the world went black.
Matt woke to a swaying motion and the smell of the ocean around him. This scent was promptly replaced by a stronger one. Another vamp, not one he recognized. Or… wait…he inhaled again. A scent he recognized from long ago. No, it couldn’t be. Fuck it all, especially not tonight. His usually slow vampire’s heart sped up as the hood was pulled from his head and he felt a shove forward. He braced for a fight. Veronique sat on an elegant S-shaped couch in the lounge of a yacht. She looked up at him with compelling jade eyes and a radiant smile. With a flick of her hand, she motioned away the thugs guarding her.
“Matt!” she purred, as he tried to steady himself and get his bearings. “Look how you’ve grown!”
“Veronique,” he began evenly. “Long time,” his jaw clenched, “no see.”
A surreptitious glance around the room provided no weapon, but no imminent threat, either. A vampire like Veronique was deadly if provoked. Matt had learned to more than hold his own in a fight, but she had two things on her side—she was older and perhaps stronger, and she was his sire. Killing one’s sire was innately abhorrent to any vamp. He didn’t want to fight her. Was she in the mood for a fight?
“You’re looking so well! Vamp life obviously agrees with you.”
She curled long legs under her, and Matt distractedly wondered if she would gouge the hell out of her leather sofa with those five-inch stiletto heels. She wasn’t dressed for a fight, that was sure. Only a black, silk jersey dress draped across her tight body, strapless and so snug, it left absolutely nothing to the imagination, proving she was bare beneath it.
“What about you?” he countered, leaning against the door, refusing to venture nearer. “You don’t call, you don’t write…”
“Yes, well, that little misunderstanding with the responders left me cautious. I really hate being staked. It’s a poor life choice.”
“Yeah, I know all about having unwanted life choices forced upon you.”
“Oh, don’t be petulant. After all this time, you’ve not forgiven me? Haven’t you found life as a vamp to be rewarding?”
“It wouldn’t be my first choice, no.” He advanced farther into the room, but made sure he faced her squarely, weight evenly distributed on the balls of his feet, knees flexed, hands clenching and unfurling at his side, ready for anything.
“Hmm.” She tapped a long, glossy fingernail against her chin as if making a decision. “So you would rather not be a vampire. Suppose…” She smiled beguilingly and patted the seat next to her on the couch. “Just suppose you could be human again. Would that win me your forgiveness?”
Matt felt as if an electric current had just shot through him. Human again? What is she talking about? Nothing can reverse vampirism. Stay calm. This woman is a known psychopath. She’ll say anything.
“You want to make me human again?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve been working on a party drug which negates the physical effects of vampirism. It’s becoming quite popular. Maybe you’ve heard about it in your work?”
Matt thought for a moment. What did Rick say about Catalina’s warm thighs? Certainly he’d remember if he heard about something that mimicked mortality. He shook his head.
“It lasts four to twelve hours. You know, it’s a thrill. It lets you go sail gliding during the day or whatever. Gives you that adrenaline rush, the possibility of death. You know who really loves it? Skiers and race car drivers! I can’t sell enough to them! Anyway, by nighttime you’re a vamp again, fully restored.”
“Uh-huh.” He clenched his jaw to keep from screaming his frustration. “So, you want to give me a party drug that will make me human for a day, and you think it evens the score? I don’t think so.”
“Oh, now, Matthew…” She pouted again. “You didn’t let me finish. Used in larger doses, the drug’s effect lasts longer.”
“How long?” He frowned, afraid to be as interested as he was.
“Well, the longest effect we’ve seen is six months. Most get about three months out of that dose. Just like any drug, it depends on one’s body chemistry. I suppose, if you really wanted to,” she drew a breath, “I can’t imagine why anyone would, you could invest in a way to make the change permanent.” She patted the seat beside her again, and reluctantly, he sat.
“And you’d be willing to give me this…what…this…”
“We call it Humanité. Catchy name, don’t you think?”
He squinted suspiciously. “You’d be willing to give me this Humanité? How much? For how long? What do you want in return?”
Her smile was saccharine. “As much as you want for as long as you like.”
She ran her finely manicured hand up the inside of his thigh, and Matt gritted his teeth. He knew at least one thing she wanted.
“All I want in return is your forgiveness, legally, with the responders. I want that bothersome one-hundred-and-fifty-year sentence removed.”
“I need proof,” Matt said. “You prove you can make me human, and keep me that way, and I’ll do whatever you want with the responders, but you’ll prove it to me first, Veronique. And if you’re lying to me, I’ll fucking stake you myself and drag you off to the deepest hole of hell.”
“Now, now,” she soothed and opened the palm of her unoccupied hand to produce an ordinary-looking pharmacy bottle.
Inside were several small blue capsules. They could have been vitamins for all Matt knew. Hell, they could have been filled with silver. He opened the bottle and poured the pills onto his palm
. No burns. Unless they were shielded by something, they weren’t silver.
“What?” He looked at her and gave an incredulous laugh. “You expect me to trust you and swallow one of these?”
“How else can you know?”
“I’ll tell you what,” he selected a pill from the center of his hand, “you take this one and I’ll watch. If after an hour you’re not dead, I’ll take one myself. How long do these last, anyway?” He studied the small capsule.
“These are the short-acting form. They last about four hours.” She took the pill he offered and swallowed it. “What in the world can we do as humans for four hours?” she baited seductively.
His stare bore into her. “There’s always Scrabble.”
“Matt, Matt, Matt. You’ve been around long enough to know there are many more exciting games.”
“None I’d want to play with you,” but he couldn’t deny he was beginning to pick up the sound of a human heart beat emanating from her.
He raised her arm and scented the blood rushing through her veins, felt the warmth of her skin, scented a human woman’s arousal. Good Christ! What if this is all true? What if she can make me human again?
Steeling himself against his own excitement, he stared fixedly at the pills in the bottle. If one was poisoned, he had a nine to one chance of survival. To be human again, it was a risk he was willing to take. He shook the capsule out and swallowed it with a gulp. His slow vampire’s heart began to race. He waited.
“If this is the short-acting form, where is the long-acting one?”
“In the hold.”
She stretched luxuriously, making sure he saw the thrusting of her proud breasts through the slinky fabric of her dress. He remembered her beautiful tits, and she was as compulsive about sex as she was about blood.
Against his will, and with no effort at all, his dick grew warm, blood suffused it, and he throbbed. These were non-vampiric, human sexual feelings of arousal. Jesus, God, this stuff is working! He swallowed hard, trying to ignore the warmth spreading through his body, the strong steady rhythm of his heart and the intakes of breath now vital to his wellbeing.
Blood Rising Page 7
