Captive By Night: A Dardanos, Co. Taken Collection

by Calle J. Brookes

  She slipped her feet into the slippers Em had brought her that she hadn’t gotten a chance yet to wear and then slipped out the suite door. First stop would be finding Freedom. In more ways than one.

  She missed her dog and he’d kept her away from Freedom long enough. If she had to search the entire hotel until she found the Border collie, she’d do it.

  She knew her way around the hotel well enough now that finding her way to the girl Bronwen’s rooms should be relatively easy. Bronwen was Theo’s younger sister, so she most likely lived in Theo’s wing of the hotel. Mickey would know. She’d find Mickey first.

  The sitting room where she’d spent most of the first week of her captivity was empty, no sign of Mickey, Mal, or Emily. The doors to the garden were locked, and Josey saw at least six strong men, equally as big as Cormac, arranged in positions to guard. The Dardaptoans had tightened security. The men’s presence helped her only a little. She still refused to even look at the glass doors that led outside Cormac’s suite. It would take her a long, long time to even want to go back out into those gardens. If she ever did.

  A hand touched her, and Josey spun around. Her heart settled when green eyes identical to her own widened. Mickey. Josey quickly signed her questions, barely giving her cousin a chance to reply.

  Ten minutes later, her arms were wrapped around her dog and her face was buried in Freedom’s fur. She crooned softly, not knowing how loud or soft the sounds were, just knew that both she and the dog needed the comfort.

  Finally, she released the dog and stood.

  It wasn’t Mickey standing there in the small lobby that housed Theo’s relatives.

  She wasn’t fully healed. I didn’t want you to see her still hurting. Cormac held out a hand to Josey. Come. You should not be up yet. If you pull the stitches…

  I won’t. I checked them, they’re healing. I do not want to lie down. I’m tired of it.

  Dammit, woman! Do you never cease defying me? When he picked her up this time, he was far gentler than the first time. Josey thought about protesting, but she did hurt. And he was warm and strong.

  Get used to it. You’re the one keeping me here, in this weird world with no freaking medical care! Geesh, a damned painkiller would be nice!

  So find one, then. You think our healers haven’t tried throughout the years? He jiggled her closer, and Josey tightened her arms around his neck. His words were mild, but his hold was firm. Maybe you can do better?

  Maybe I can!

  Chapter Fourteen

  Could she? That question plagued her to the point where she could think of almost nothing else. She wasn’t going to be able to escape, in a literal sense. Not with both Mickey and Emily both planning on staying with these people. What would she tell her father when he demanded to know where Mickey and Em were?

  Gee, Dad. I guess they liked being vamp-girls and decided to stay in Blood drinker land? She couldn’t see that going over well—with anyone in her family. And if her father thought—even correctly—that these creatures had hurt her or her cousins, he’d want to rip them to shreds. That would not go over well with Em or Mickey.

  So she was stuck here for the next little while. And would do whatever she had to do to help these people.

  Josey had all the medical books Kindara had given her—even more than the half dozen Vampire man had given her—spread out over the ridiculous spans of the bed. She needed to get as familiar with their physiology as she could, then compare it to a human’s. Only with that understanding could she move forward.

  Forward into what, she didn’t actually have an idea of, yet. The basics would be painkillers and antibiotics. Once she learned about what other types of conditions Dardaptoans suffered, she could devise a plan of research.

  The scope of the project she was getting into weighed on her shoulders. Medical research was something that took years, if not decades, to do properly.

  Hadn’t it taken her grandfather’s company twenty plus years to come up with their signature medication? D-Palitren. Both an antibiotic and a blood-thinner, it was one of the most remarkable drugs on the market. It had helped increase the Taniss family coffers by two-fold, just in Josey’s lifetime alone. Patients suffering from embolic disorders benefit from both properties. It had also been found to be useful as part of various vaccines. It had long been billed as a wonder drug.

  The drug Vampire man had said was made from the blood of his people.

  Was it true? Emily had said it was, had said she’d seen the photographs of the Dardaptoans her grandfather had tortured and murdered in his lab.

  Josey felt sick when she thought about the lives that were lost to create such a drug. Was it worth it?

  Couldn’t her grandfather have found another way?

  She needed to see the research for herself.

  It was the only way she could figure out what to do next.

  ****

  I won’t do it.

  Why not? Josey glared at the damned vampire, ignoring the way the water from the shower he’d just taken beaded on his skin. Why couldn’t the jerk ever use a full sized towel? The scrap of terry he had wrapped around his hips hid nothing from her sight. She strongly suspected he’d done it on purpose.

  Of course…she had barged into the bathroom while he was showering, demanding he fetch her all the research she wanted.

  She forced her eyes away from the strange tattoos that covered his chest. He had a freaking broad, perfectly defined chest. The doctor in her had no difficulty cataloging a healthy male. The female in her also had no difficulty reacting to a healthy male. Damn him. She might hate him for what he’d done to her, but there was no doubt she found him attractive. Physically.

  She still hated him, though. Why won’t you do it? I’ve seen the human body in every kind of condition. Even an autopsy or thirty.

  Because some of the people researched upon where my family. Including Kindara and Jierra. They don’t need to be studied like lab rats again. He ran a comb through the dark curls on his head, plastering the wet strands to his scalp. Anything else?

  So take those files and photos out. I don’t want to see them any more than you want to show them. But I need to see my grandfather’s research. To see the real method he’s used to create DPalitren. Maybe I can reverse it. See if I can form something to actually help Dardaptoan blood clot. Has anyone else thought to use what my grandfather has done to help the Dardaptoans?

  No. Kindara is the Chief Healer, and she refuses to allow the research to be viewed or used by any but her. No one has pushed. His gold eyes met hers in the mirror. And no one will.

  She got his message, loud and clear. You know, I can have Em get it for me. One phone call to our Boulder lab and she can have every piece of research in that place faxed here within two hours. Do you want that to happen? If you give me what you have, I can compare what we have in Boulder.

  His face tightened, the anger plain for her to see. She stepped back, remembering the first time she’d seen his anger. The first bathroom they’d been in together. How frightened she had been when he’d shoved her head beneath the water.

  Her breath backed up in her throat as all the fear and pain she’d felt at his hands came rushing back. As the smell of raspberries and steam and soap rushed her good senses. The feel and terror of the water over her head, his strong, relentless hand holding her down as the bath filled her lungs. Everything that had happened to her from the moment he nearly drowned her flooded her mind, culminating in the werewolves ripping into her flesh. Everything she had felt, feared. How she had known she was going to die. At his hands and then at those animals.

  His hands reached for her. Do not. Do not think of it. Do not.

  Josey pushed his hands away, then signed at him to get away from her. It took her a moment to remember he could not read her hands. Just stay away, please!

  I cannot do that! His left hand slipped around the back of her neck and he pulled her against his chest. The water that still beaded on his skin soak
ed into her shirt. She could smell him and the soap he favored, could feel the pounding of his heart against her chest. Could just feel him. She fought against him. His hands remained firm, tight. Jocelyn! Please! I will not hurt you again! Stop!

  He refused to let her go and she had no choice but to rest against him for a moment. She felt the beat of his heart beneath her ear and she forced her own heartbeat to match his. Her breaths to match his. Her eyes closed and she began to count the strokes of his fingers over her hair.

  What would it be like to hear his heart? Why did she want that so much? After what he had done? What kind of crazy did that make her?

  Chapter Fifteen

  You are not crazy. His words were a whisper in her head. You are just not human anymore. You are my Kind now. You are mine now. We belong together, you and I. We are meant to breathe for each other.

  She opened her eyes and stared at the strange tattoo closest to her face. Orange bands with dark green stripes about as big as her pinkie finger. She counted them again silently. Twelve on his left pectoralis major, thirteen on his right. She traced over the ones on his left with a hand that trembled. What do these mean?

  Demon kills. Each orange band is a type of demon. Each green is a particular kill. It is what I do. Protect my people from demons who wander into our world.

  She let him lift her into his arms, let him guide her legs around his waist. She didn’t know why, except that maybe she needed the contact and the comfort. Needed the distraction from her memories, and he was the only one could provide that for her.

  Or maybe she was suffering some sort of vampire-induced Stockholm Syndrome? Was he brainwashing her, had his friends brainwashed her cousins? Was that why they suddenly wanted to stay in this strange world?

  There was no brainwashing involved. Your cousins simply found their mates. Like you have.

  Yeah, right. A vampire who got his rocks off by shoving me under my own bathwater? Who kept me tied to him while he drained me of my blood and filled me with his? Who converted me into his kind? Who is keeping me away from my father and my sister, and the rest of my family? All in the name of being mates? She raised her head from his shoulder and looked at him dead on. Do you really think I’m not the tiniest bit crazy?

  Of course not. He kept his eyes on hers as he carried through the suite, back toward the bed. He sat her on the edge of the monstrous piece of furniture. Why did he need such a big mattress? It had to be two feet thick and nine feet long, and seven feet wide. Huge. Her medical books only took up a small portion of the space. He pushed one out of his way and sank on the mattress beside her. What are you doing in here?

  Comparing your medical histories to what I know of my people’s. Physiological differences, medical needs. Medical knowledge and discoveries of your people. It would be so much easier if I had my textbooks from my own medical school classes. The bodies are similar in so many ways. It’s only the subtle differences, possibly in DNA that are responsible for the major differences. Has anyone ever done a DNA study of your people?

  His face closed. His body tensed. Your grandfather. His damned company pioneered some of the earliest DNA research. He used my niece and her biological parents.

  Josey backed off quickly. She would not push that line of questions. Not when it upset the vampire so. I see. No one else has studied samples of your blood? Not even your sister?

  Not that she has ever shared. We don’t discuss her work or your grandfather. You need to understand, she was so broken after her mate was killed. After your grandfather tortured her. Had I not found Jierra a few years later and brought her to Kinney I have no doubt my sister would be dead by now. She, Jierra, and Kinney’s brother-in-law were the only survivors of your grandfather’s experiments. Out of at least two thousand who we suspect were taken.

  Josey stared at him. You’re kidding? There is no way my grandfather could have hurt that many people without help. Someone had to be helping him!

  His sons.

  Josey shook her head emphatically. No! Not my dad, or my uncles. You don’t understand.

  They tolerate my grandfather only because he is their father. They wouldn’t do this!

  You speak with a child’s faith. Who else would it be?

  Anyone else! My grandfather despises his children—and his grandchildren. Me, especially. Em, Mickey. Our sisters. He tolerates Mallory because she told him to go screw himself once and he respects that she spoke her mind. That’s all! And my uncles are the most wonderful men. They love their children and families, and would never sit back and watch people be tortured and die! You are wrong!

  Shhh. Maybe I am. We don’t know. We have yet to find the old bastard or his latest laboratory. We suspect he’s keeping more of his research somewhere here in Colorado. You need to understand that we plan to find all who are involved in his genocide and kill them. All. He guided her back on the pillows after shoving more books out of his way.

  Including my father, if you decide he’s guilty. Like you decided I deserved to die simply because of who my grandfather is. Remarkable plan there. How is that going to help your people?

  Do not discount a people’s need for vengeance. And sheath your claws, little kitten. I never would have truly killed you. Not after the first moment I tasted you.

  Why?

  Because I knew from almost the first moment you spoke to me that you were meant for me. He leaned closer, his hands tugging her gently toward him. Jocelyn, you must understand how it is for our people…hundreds of years waiting for that one person. Endlessly waiting and more waiting. Do you know what it is like to be completely alone, and knowing that chances are good you would be alone for a very long time? Do you know how horrible that can be?

  Yes. She could. She was the only member of her family with any sort of impairment. Any kind of handicap and there were times she had felt completely alone. Her own mother couldn’t look at her. Had hated her since the moment she’d become deaf. Probably before. She had spent more than twenty years in silence; the only voice she heard was inside her head. Until now. Until him.

  That had to mean something, too.

  Still…

  No ‘still’ about it; I have waited for you for more than five hundred years. Five hundred years!

  Yes. I may have planned to kill you once, but you need to understand that was before I knew you as my mate. I have you now, and nothing will ever keep me from you again. Even you. Even your family.

  His hands tightened on her arms and he dragged her half beneath him. Josey didn’t fight him. She could have—she should have. But she didn’t. What did that mean for her?

  She couldn’t answer that question. He didn’t give her the chance.

  His lips covered hers as one hand sank into her hair just above the loose braid that contained the strands.

  Chapter Sixteen

  He was kissing her. And she was letting him. Josey could think of nothing else but the feel of him above her. He was so warm and strong, and he blocked anything else from her world. He was her world at that moment.

  His hand sank into her hair, holding her face still as he deepened the kiss. His other curved gently around her hip. He was so careful not to rest his weight on the wounds in her abdomen.

  Josey slipped her arms around his neck and tugged him closer. She could feel him breathing; could smell his skin, his blood. God, he smelled good. And if she was honest with herself, having him hold her felt good.

  She pulled him closer. Hmmm.

  You like kissing me.

  She didn’t know how to answer him. And with his lips pressed against hers, she could barely concentrate on the words he whispered in her head.

  You don’t have to answer me. Your body does all the answering. His hand slipped over her shoulder and trailed along her collarbone. Josey shivered.

  What are you doing?

  I think it is pretty obvious. Your body is calling for mine, just as I long for yours. It is perfectly normal between Rajnis. But I can spell it out for you i
f you need it… I don’t want this. I really don’t.

  Really? Your heart is telling me otherwise. Can you not feel it beating against mine? He placed one hand over her heart and Josey felt her pulse double.

  Her body did react to his.

  She couldn’t deny it anymore. There was a physical connection between them. She didn’t know if it was simply due to pheromones, or proximity, or even Stockholm Syndrome. But it was there.

  It wasn’t just her pulse she was feeling. His was beating against the hand she had wrapped around the back of his neck. When had she done that? Had she pulled him this close? She didn’t remember doing it.

  Why did the feel of his blood beneath her fingers seem so right? Why did she want to place her mouth on that exact spot and taste him?

  She really must be crazy. She tugged his head down, closer, and broke the kiss between them. I can’t do this!

  Do what? Love your Rajni? The male destined for you? He pulled back and shifted his head, his lips to one side. He ran his tongue over her neck. Once. Twice.

  Oh, God! Stop doing that!

  You like it, don’t you? A Dardaptoan woman’s neck is so much more sensitive than a human woman’s. She heard the rich sound of his laugh in her mind. She wondered briefly if that’s what his laugh actually did sound like. Then he nipped her neck again and she lost all thought.

  His neck was right there next to hers, his skin smelling like his soap and male. Josey tilted her chin down and brushed that skin with her own lips. Once. Twice. He groaned, and she felt the sound in his throat. He liked it, then. She did it again, this time nipping him a little harder.

  She laughed when he shivered.

  We best stop this soon, lest I take it further than I think you are wanting it to go. He tried to pull away from her. Josey wouldn’t let him.

  Her teeth sank deeper into his neck. The tang of his blood touched her tongue and she shivered. He froze.