"I'll bring something to eat with me," he said with a wink.
"Can I let him in?" I asked Dracula.
"You will need to show him the way," he said. "I will explain while we drive."
It was less than two hours before sunrise, and I had no desire to see Dracula burn. The urgency in his voice made me nervous. As we started back toward Original Sin he explained.
"Bade has never been to my castle."
"I'm sorry. Should I have asked him to come?"
"It is fine, my angel. I do not believe he will disclose my location. Only he, Mason, and the wolf king know where I sleep." He touched my thigh as he spoke as if to say, "and you."
He drove quickly and wasted no time getting below ground. I could barely keep up and yet I knew he was slowing down for my benefit.
"Forgive me, my angel but I must rest. Here," he said as he handed me a small phial from underneath the vanity in his bathroom. I watched as Dracula ran his index finger over his fangs and let two drops of blood fall into the small cylinder I held.
"Now you can get back in with Bade," he said.
He jumped in the shower and bathed at super human speed.
"I did not wish to ruin the sheets," he explained, smiling as he hastened toward the bed.
No sooner had he gotten underneath the sheets than I looked at the clock. It was time for the sunrise. I watched as Dracula's eyes rolled to the back of his head and his dark lashes fluttered. He was dead to the world and he trusted me enough to not only allow me access to his lair, but reentry with someone else.
But he was right to trust me. I would have defended his helpless form at any cost.
?
Chapter Sixteen
I got a call from Bade about twenty minutes later. He was on his way. By the time I made my way back up to Original Sin, he was waiting at the door.
"How far do we have to go?" he asked, reaching for me.
"Far enough."
"Can you make it?" he asked softly.
I must have looked really bad.
"I don't have much choice. You can't carry me where we're going," I said, offering him the best smile I could in my weakened state.
Bade had brought breakfast with him, and from the smell of things it was pancakes. He followed me with the food as we reentered the office before locking the door from the inside. He seemed impressed with Dracula's hidden door behind the mirror.
"Holy shit," he gasped as we descended the massive staircase.
He looked over the side into what appeared to be complete nothingness.
"Bade," I said pulling him back toward me. "There's no handrail, don't push your luck."
"Would you miss me, love?" he teased as we continued down the stairs.
"Don't spread it around, but I think I might."
He rowed us across the lake because I wasn't capable. I was growing weaker by the minute but I didn't ask Bade to hurry. He was in awe of the lake and the moon flowers, just as I had been, and the castle caused him to pause for a few minutes before he realized we weren't moving.
"Sorry, love," he called over his shoulder. "But I've never seen anything like this before."
I understood. Until recently, neither had I. Once we reached the bank he asked, "So if Dracula's asleep, how the hell do we get in?"
We walked over to the boulder which hid the secret entrance and Bade watched in fascination as I removed the phial from my pocket. My vision was beginning to blur as the two small drops of Dracula's blood fell onto the rock revealing the door.
Bade was staring so hard at the inside of the castle that he nearly ran into a few walls while I led him to the kitchen. Even though he had no personal use for it, Dracula had a magnificent kitchen. It matched the scale and beauty of the rest of the castle and I collapsed at the table once we were there.
"I know you prefer fruit for breakfast, but considering how much power you had to use tonight, I figured you could use something with sugar. So, I got you pancakes and syrup," he said with a smile.
"What are you eating?"
"A cheeseburger and fries," he laughed.
Obviously he'd gone to a place that was open twenty four hours. Nowhere else around here would serve burgers and fries an hour past dawn. I started eating while Bade poured me a glass of milk. I ate slowly so as not to upset my empty stomach. I was to the point that I didn't want to eat even though I was hungry, which meant I was weaker than I'd thought.
He was wearing another pair of faded jeans and a tight red t-shirt which said, "The Red Light Special" across the chest. Bade was huge and his impressive muscles were only accentuated more by the well-fitted jeans and tight shirt. No one could compete with how good Marco looked in jeans, but Bade could have won a separate competition. As a matter of fact, as long as Marco wasn't around to measure up to, Bade had no competition.
His muscles were enormous, but they matched the rest of him. He was six foot four and perfectly proportioned. He didn't look like an overdone bodybuilder, he was just big and well defined. Marco and Bade were both well built; however Bade's curves didn't have as many sharp angles as Marco's did.
He looked at me, and I knew Bade was speaking but I didn't hear a word he said. He had the most unusual eye color. In fact, his eyes sort of reminded me of an Alaskan Husky. I was admiring the icy blue of his eyes when I blacked out.
* * * *
When I came to I could hear water running and I was lying on a towel in the floor. I could barely move. I rolled to my back to see Bade standing over me.
"You passed out," he explained needlessly.
We were in the bathroom with the large tub and I wondered how he had gotten here without directions.
"How did you know where to find the bathroom?"
"I followed the scent of the shampoo Dracula used this morning."
"But he was in the shower in the other bathroom," I objected.
"You don't think I've got enough sense to walk across a room?" he laughed. "Give me some credit, love."
I couldn't help smiling, even though it was a feeble attempt. Bade's deep voice and strong Australian accent had become so familiar to me that I wondered how we could have ever been enemies.
"Why are we in the bathroom?"
"Because you passed out face down in the syrup," he snickered. "I've got to wash it out of your hair."
That made sense. I didn't want to go to sleep with syrup in my hair, and I couldn't stand up to take a shower. Bade removed my jeans and t-shirt gently, and expertly. Even though I was fairly certain he wouldn't molest me without permission, I had a moment of doubt.
"Easy, love," Bade said, smiling at my uncertain expression. "You're safe with me."
I watched as Bade removed his clothes and wondered if he was safe with me. Bade was not aroused as he knelt down beside me, but he was still about six inches long completely limp. I was both impressed and intimidated. He took me in his arms as he stepped into the tub and my heart fluttered. I felt a combination of exhaustion and excitement as he lowered us both into the water.
Bade settled me onto his lap and took a big lick of the syrup on my forehead. I snickered and turned my face away. "Yuck," I laughed as he licked me for the second time.
"I assure you," he said softly, "that I would get no pleasure from taking advantage of you. Especially not with you weakened like this."
He took several handfuls of water and poured them over my hair.
"Why don't you tell me what's got you so weak," he said. "I understand it probably took a lot of energy to put the crowd in a trance like you did. That was impressive, by the way, love," he said, pouring shampoo into the palm of one large hand. "But what else did you do?"
I told him about taking some of Elijah's misery while he held my head with one hand and washed my hair with the other. His big hand could have easily crushed my skull and I felt both small and cherished under his careful ministrations. I knew through his touch that Bade enjoyed taking care of me.
"I didn't know you could to any
thing like that," he said thoughtfully.
He washed the rest of me while I explained the process the way Mathias had explained it to me. I still wasn't clear on everything, but it made more sense when I touched somebody. It became clear what I needed to do when I needed to do it.
"Does that make any sense?"
"Sort of," he said, smiling at my confused expression.
Bade's eyes held a kindness I'd never noticed before as he looked down at me. There was a warmth to his eyes that made them darker than their usual icy blue. Bade is only two years older than me. In fact, we'd been attacked in the same year. Neither one of us had been able to get "properly drunk" for our twenty first birthday because of the fast metabolism we'd both inherited.
"Sometimes I'm amazed that Marco lets me get so close to you," he whispered. "Don't get me wrong, love, he's right to expect me to protect you. After all, it's my job to protect the queen in his absence. But I can't help but care about you."
"Well," I said, my voice becoming fainter, "I wouldn't want a protector who didn't care about me." Then a thought crossed my mind. "I thought Luther was supposed to protect me in his absence."
"He was just filling in. It is the captain of the wolf king's armies who guards the queen, not his beta wolf." He shrugged. "Before I came back he had no choice. And had I never left the pack, I would never have held the position of your protector."
Bade was previously Marco's beta wolf before he split from the pack. But his actions would now forever deny him that position. Luther was currently the second in command, but he didn't want to inherit the pack if anything should happen to Marco. Bade might still lead the pack someday, but I'd rather have him as my protector and Marco as my king. Marco had known when he appointed Bade as captain of the guard that he would be spending more time with me. That spoke volumes about his trust in Bade, and it helped me to relax in his arms.
I rested my face against his chest while Bade washed his own hair. He propped me against the side of the tub while he rinsed and quickly scrubbed any remaining blood from his body, though I hadn't seen any.
"I feel like I can never get clean enough after something like that," he said, shivering slightly as he washed his feet again. "I washed off really fast before leaving Mason's but I just wanted to be sure."
This made me laugh. A werewolf who was phobic about hygiene? It was the funniest thing I'd seen in a while. Bade slid me back onto his lap and we just enjoyed the hot water for a few minutes while I toyed absently with his silver nipple ring.
"Is this big enough for you?" he asked.
Before I could even respond to the question I felt my cheeks burning.
Bade looked down at me and laughed. "Not that. I was talking about the tub. But I'm flattered, love," he said with a wink.
"I hate you," I laughed, burying my face against his shoulder.
"So I've heard. But you haven't promised to kill me in a while."
"Things change," I teased.
This was how my conversations with Bade normally went, even if we weren't naked. After our laughter subsided Bade lifted me in his arms and sat on the edge of the tub with me in his lap. When he reached for the towels he had placed close by I felt him brush against my thigh and my heart jumped. Werewolves are normally very comfortable in their own skin, and I'm fine with that. What bothered me was how comfortable I was becoming with his skin.
Once we were dry, Bade carried me out into the bedroom and I shivered. The bathroom had been full of steam and I'd adjusted to the temperature. But the rest of the castle was drafty as usual and I thought I might freeze.
"Can we build a fire?" I asked through chattering teeth.
"You won't need it," he said softly, smiling down at me. "Or don't you think I'm hot enough?"
Bade pulled back the satin sheets and laid me down like I weighed nothing at all. Dracula had fallen asleep facing the door. The left side of his face was turned up and I paused to brush the hair back from his face. I kissed his neck just below the earlobe and breathed in his scent before settling back against Bade as he slid toward me.
"Do I get a goodnight kiss?" he purred.
His deep voice so close to my ear raised the hair on my arms.
"It's morning," I pointed out.
"Smartass."
I was tired and suddenly I felt very much alone despite my two bedfellows.
"Bade?" I said, rolling to face him.
He just looked at me, but his eyes said he would do whatever I asked. I felt so sorry for Elijah. I felt sorry for his whole family. But mostly I felt sorry for Mary. I was upset by what I'd seen and the things we'd all had to do and I tried not to think of the destruction the warm body beside me had wrought the night before. I needed comfort and as I tried to find the words to express my needs my eyes filled with tears.
Bade slid one arm underneath me and pressed the front of his body against mine.
"It's alright, love," he soothed as he held me close. "It's alright," he repeated.
I pressed my face against the curve of his neck and collarbone and tried to stop crying, but it didn't work.
"You won't tell people that Death cries in her sleep, will you?"
Among the werewolf community I was known as Death and Alfred was known as Vengeance. Because in the past, if you were a werewolf and you'd seen either one of us, that's what you could expect.
"Of course not," he said softly. "Besides, you're not asleep yet, so this doesn't count."
I curled my hands underneath my chin and snuggled tighter against Bade's warmth. He was so warm I couldn't believe I'd actually wanted a fire before. As my tears began to dry I rubbed my face absently across his throat, almost like a cat. I let my nose and lips brush over his hair as it spilled around his face.
"What are you doing?" he whispered.
"Remembering you. I want to remember the way your hair smells after a bath and the way your skin feels against my face."
"If I didn't know better I'd say you liked me," he teased.
"Now what would give you that impression?"
"You're getting awfully sentimental for someone who doesn't like me."
He pressed his lips to my forehead and I could feel him smile.
"There may come a time when I'm away from my protector." I yawned as I put one arm around his waist. "I just want to remember what you feel like."
"Whenever you get ready for a more in depth explanation of that, you let me know," he growled.
When my heart finally slowed down, I fell asleep.
* * * *
I was awakened around noon by the sound of my phone vibrating in the pocket of my jeans. I moaned and threw one arm over my face. I had no intention of answering it and spent a few seconds praying it was just a dream.
"Fuckin' hell," Bade growled as he rolled over and fished in the pile of clothes for my pants.
"How did our clothes even get in here?" I mumbled as I rolled against his back and wrapped one leg around him.
"I kicked them across the floor when I put you in the bed," he answered with a yawn.
"Don't answer it. I'm still tired."
I pressed my face between his shoulder blades and hoped he would take my advice. But no sooner had the phone stopped ringing then it started again.
?
Chapter Seventeen
"Hello," Bade said breathlessly after finally wrestling the phone from the tangle of clothes. "This is Bade Garren, who's this?"
Apparently the caller had something to say.
"It is too my fucking business. How'd you like some bloke waking you up after you'd been up all night? I've had very little sleep and my patience has just about worn out with you."
I snatched the phone before he could say anything else. "Hello?"
"Lilith? Is that Bade Garren in the bed with you? The Bade Garren as in formerly number two on The Hunter's most wanted list?" It was Alfred and he was irate.
"Yes, Alfred, it is," I sighed.
"Ouch!" Dracula winced as I put my elbow in
a most unfortunate place.
"Who the hell was that?" Alfred asked.
"That's Dracula." No point in lying now. If he went ape shit at least we were safely hidden underground.
"You're in the bed with both of them?!"
"Yes," I said, my head bobbing forward as I nearly fell back asleep.
"But, I thought you were dating Marco," he said, sounding bewildered.
"Don't read too much into things, Alfred, and I am seeing Marco. I just happen to have fallen asleep with Bade and Dracula last night."
After a long pause he asked, "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I was going to call you later."
It was true. I'd already decided the night before that I needed to let Alfred know I was safe.
"Thank you," he said softly. Then another thought must have crossed his mind. "And what the hell did he mean he'd been up all night?"
I laughed. "Not that I owe you an explanation any more, Alfred, but he helped to take care of the vampires last night. Bade played a major part in making sure all the pieces of my ass were still attached today." I yawned again, unable to stop myself.
Bade snickered and I elbowed him.
"So you're not …"
"Fucking the living dog shit out of him?" I said crudely. "No, I'm not."
"You sound like you're upset about that," he taunted.
"No, Al I'm just upset at being awake right now."
We talked a few more minutes, then I closed the phone and handed it to Bade who was already dozing beside me.
"The fuck do I want with it?" he mumbled.
"Put it on the table," I said. "My charger is beside the bed."
Bade flopped over, and I rolled into his back again. Not because I had intended to this time, but because I was tangled in the covers and they went with him. It was already noon, because Dracula was awake. However Bade and I had only had a few hours sleep. I felt the vampire slip out of bed and I scooted more toward the middle. Bade followed and within a matter of minutes there's no telling who was snoring the loudest.
I awoke to the sound of the phone vibrating against the marble top of the bedside table. One of Bade's arms was thrown across my chest and I couldn't roll him over.
A Dream Forbidden (Lillith Mercury ) Page 13
