by Lynsay Sands
"We all do," Maria Reyes said sadly, breaking off her conversation with her granddaughter. "Our whole life is this cottage, the garden, and the beach below the cliff."
Domitian nodded with understanding, but wished it was otherwise. Some information about what the Rogue Hunters would be facing would be helpful, and so far he had very little.
"He has a fair number of people here," Sarita said quietly, drawing his attention as she began to tick them off on her fingers. "In the house there was the cook, Aleta. She rarely leaves the kitchen so shouldn't be a problem. But there are at least four other people inside the house who help with cleaning and whatnot. There were also three or four men and women working outside in the gardens." She paused briefly and then said, "That's it for domestics. At least at the house."
"And security?" Domitian asked.
"There was a ton of security," she admitted. "He had four men at the front door, two inside and two out, and two more at the back door out to the garden, one in and one out. But I saw a good twenty of them coming from every direction at meal times, so I think there must be a lot of them who walk the beach, the yard, and the jungle. And that's not including the guys in the towers and gatehouse down by the labs."
"Towers and gatehouse?" he asked with interest.
Sarita nodded. "Aside from the guy in the gatehouse, there were four towers. One on each corner of the fencing around the labs," she said succinctly. "There were two men in each tower. But they were more interested in staring at the buildings inside the fence than anyone coming from outside." She paused, and then said, "Now that I know about the people they've kidnapped, I suppose their job is really to watch for possible escape attempts rather than intruders getting in." Her mouth twisted slightly. "I did think when I saw it that the setup looked more like a prison than labs."
Shaking her head, she said, "But while there are lots of men around, like I said, his security is a joke. At least by the labs. The guy in the gatehouse was watching porn. I just walked right past him. And the guys in the towers didn't notice me walking to the buildings until I was halfway to the first one. I was inside before they could climb down the ladder to the ground." She paused and said, "He may have more people inside the buildings, though. In fact, I know he has at least one other person working with him. His assistant, Asherah," Sarita said and then added, "She was a tall blond Amazon, cold as a fish and snarky. Didn't seem to like me much."
"Impossible," Domitian said softly and Sarita grinned at him in response. He smiled back and then said, "Tell me about Dressler's labs."
Sarita nodded. "I only saw the first room of the building closest to the gate. But there are several buildings. From the helicopter I counted six in the fenced-in area and one outside of it. They look like army barracks, long low, narrow metal structures with only one door each on the end facing the gatehouse. No windows that I saw," Sarita added grimly and then said, "I think the one outside the fence is probably the barracks and mess hall for the security guys. A bunch of them would come up at meal times to collect the food, but they took it back to that building to eat and then returned the pans and stuff after."
She paused, thought for a minute, and then shrugged. "That's all I know."
Domitian nodded on a sigh. It would have to be enough.
"But we can't forget to mention the gilled man to your uncle," Sarita added suddenly. "There might be more like him out there. In fact, now that I think about it, there most likely are. That is probably how your uncle and that Santo fellow as well as the others were dragged off the boats and disappeared without your sister and the other pilots seeing."
"Si." Domitian nodded slowly. That made perfect sense. They could easily have been shot with a dart and dragged over the side, pulled down into the depths and dragged away by one of the creatures he'd killed on their way here. They could have dragged the immortals all the way to the island without surfacing and not killed them. The nanos would simply have gone into a sort of stasis and then activated again to repair things once oxygenated blood was available again. He doubted that had happened, however. Some of them had been taken so far from the island that traveling back and forth would take too long. There must have been boats around, out of sight, waiting for them to bring their quarry.
"Warn them about winged hybrids watching from the air too," Thorne said.
Domitian glanced to him sharply, but he wasn't being sarcastic.
Raising an eyebrow, the man asked, "Did you think I was the only one?"
"Actually, I did," Domitian admitted with a wry twist to his lips. "There are others, though?"
Thorne nodded. "They only fly at night. Probably because El Doctor doesn't wish them to be seen, but sometimes they fly out quite a distance over the ocean."
"Are there other hybrids I need to warn them about?" he asked.
"I'm sure there are many variations," he said grimly. "However, since I do not go to the other side of the island . . ." He shrugged. "I'm afraid I can't help you."
"Of course," Domitian said and nodded thoughtfully. He'd just have to warn them to keep their eyes open.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you but I'm ready for bed," Mrs. Dressler announced brightly.
"Me too." Sarita's grandmother stood, hesitated and then bent to kiss Sarita's cheek shyly before saying, "You should sleep too, Chiquita. You have been up all night."
"Yes, abuela," Sarita said softly, her hand rising to touch her cheek where her grandmother had kissed her.
"I'll walk up with you after I see Elizabeth to bed," Maria Reyes added with a smile.
Domitian saw the way Sarita's eyes softened and realized quite suddenly that she hadn't had the softer influence and affection of a female in her life for a very long time, not since she was thirteen. This must all be a bit overwhelming for her in some respects.
"Goodnight, Sarita," Mrs. Dressler said, reaching out to squeeze her hand affectionately. "Sleep well."
"You too," Sarita said and then stood to kiss her cheek, before straightening to hug her grandmother and kiss her cheek too.
Both women beamed at her for the affectionate display, and then Mrs. Dressler smiled at Domitian and said, "Thorne's room is the first door on the left at the top of the stairs. You should run along to bed. You look ready to drop."
Domitian nodded politely and stood as Sarita's grandmother began to wheel the woman away. When the ladies disappeared into the room and Sarita turned back, he kissed her cheek gently. "I'll leave you to your grandmother and go get some rest. Sleep well."
"Goodnight," Sarita whispered, and he saw her earlier concern flicker across her face. "Are you okay?"
"I am fine," he assured her and then turned and slipped away before she could ask anything else that might force him to lie.
"Well, this is Elizabeth's old room," Sarita's grandmother said, a little breathless from mounting the stairs. She gestured to the door on their right as they stepped into the upper hall.
"Oh." Sarita glanced at it and then said, "I'll just walk you to your door."
"Don't be silly. It's only a couple feet. Go on in and go to bed. I know you must be tired." She patted her shoulder, then turned her cheek up and Sarita bent to kiss her again, which made the woman beam once more. Turning away, she headed for the door at the end of the hall and said, "Goodnight, dear."
"Goodnight," Sarita murmured and watched her, but then she opened her door and slipped inside when her grandmother reached her own door and glanced back.
Sarita eased the door closed and then simply stood there listening until she heard her grandmother's door open and close. Letting her breath out on a little sigh, she then eased her door open again and glanced out into the hall. Finding it empty, Sarita hesitated, her gaze sliding to the door across the hall where Domitian was. But finally, she slipped out and tiptoed across to his door.
She started to raise her hand to knock, but caught herself at the last moment and rolled her eyes. Someone would hear. She was definitely tired. Giving her head a shake,
Sarita turned the doorknob slowly and carefully and then slipped inside.
Domitian was lying on top of the bed, fully clothed and wide awake. He sat up at once as she entered, but remained silent as she eased his door carefully closed. He didn't say anything after that even, but simply watched silently as she approached the bed, Sarita noted as her gaze slid over him.
He was wearing jeans and a backless shirt. She'd noticed that when he'd walked away to go upstairs. But then she supposed she shouldn't have expected anything else. Thorne wouldn't have shirts with backs in them. Still it had startled her and she'd had to bite back a laugh.
She wasn't laughing now. You couldn't see that the shirt was different from the front and this was the first time she'd seen him in anything but boxers. He was sexy in boxers, but she found him just as irresistible in clothes. Domitian wasn't as pretty as Thorne, she supposed, if you took him feature by feature, but there was just something about him that appealed to her.
"Sarita," he growled in warning and rolled off the other side of the large bed as she started to sit on the edge of it beside him.
Straightening, she frowned and walked around to the bottom of the bed as he did.
"You should not be here," Domitian whispered, catching her arms as if to hold her back. "We need to sleep."
"Yes we do," Sarita agreed. "But you need blood too."
"Si," he admitted grimly. "Unfortunately, there is none to be had just at the moment."
"There is," she said solemnly and shifted her long hair away from her neck. Pushing it over her shoulder to trail down her back, she bared her throat to him. Sarita didn't say anything, simply tilted her head to the side, offering him her neck.
"So," the word came out on a hissed breath, and then Domitian pressed a kiss to her throat and murmured, "the impossible has happened."
"What?" she asked with confusion, shivering as his lips ran along her throat.
"Hell has frozen over," he whispered, reminding her of her words on first meeting him. Hell would freeze over before she let him bite her, she'd claimed.
Before Sarita could respond, his teeth sank into her throat. She stiffened at the sharp pain it caused and then relaxed as that was suddenly gone and pleasure slid through her, a warm wet sensation that settled low in her belly.
Moaning, she pressed closer, her arms sliding around his shoulders, her hands cradling his head as he drank from her. Somehow one of his legs was between both of hers and she gasped as it rubbed against her, and then she shifted, rubbing back and adding to her pleasure as he--was suddenly gone.
Blinking her eyes open, Sarita glanced around with dismay as a loud crash sounded and she saw Domitian slamming to the floor with Thorne on top of him. She gaped briefly as the two men began to roll on the floor, grappling to get their hands around each other's throat, and then some of her good sense returned and she hurried around the pair to reach their heads. Bending, she grabbed each man by an ear and twisted.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sarita hissed when they both froze, their eyes shifting sideways to take her in.
"I did not start this," Domitian pointed out stiffly. "I was just . . . er . . . and then he suddenly knocked me away from you."
"Er?" she asked dryly.
"Is that what you call biting her?" Thorne growled and started to struggle with him again, but froze at once when Sarita gave his ear another twist.
"Dammit, woman, stop that," he growled. "I am trying to protect you from this vampire."
"He is not--"
"Hello?" Her grandmother called through the door, knocking. "I heard a ruckus coming from in here. Is everything okay?"
Sarita bit her lip, and then looked to Domitian and said, "Control his mind and make him tell her everything is fine."
Domitian turned to Thorne and concentrated on his forehead.
"Hello?" her grandmother called again, more loudly.
"What's going on, Maria?" Mrs. Dressler's voice sounded from downstairs. "Is everything okay?"
"I don't know, Elizabeth. No one is answering me."
"I cannot read or control him," Domitian whispered finally, sounding both surprised and worried.
Sarita's eyebrows rose. "Another life mate?"
Domitian gave a start at the suggestion, but then shook his head. "He's not wholly human. Perhaps that is why I cannot read him."
"Hello?" Her grandmother started pounding on the door.
"It is all right, Maria," Thorne said suddenly. "I was just moving my chest for Domitian and dropped it."
"Oh, all right, Thorne dear," her grandmother said, sounding relieved. "Well, don't stay in there too long. Domitian needs his rest after swimming all night."
"Of course," he said grimly and then arched his eyebrows at Sarita.
"It's okay, Elizabeth," they heard her call now. "Thorne just dropped his chest."
"Oh, good. Okay, well sleep well, old friend," Mrs. Dressler called.
When Sarita heard her grandmother's answer sounding farther from the door as she apparently left, she released both men. Backing up she watched warily as Thorne got off Domitian and stood up. He didn't offer Domitian a hand to rise, she noticed, but crossed his arms and watched them both warily in return as Domitian got up as well.
"Let me see your neck," Domitian murmured with concern, immediately moving toward her.
Thorne stiffened and took a step forward, but Domitian cast him a glare and growled, "I am concerned some damage might have been done when you tackled me. If there is tearing she could bleed to death."
Thorne looked concerned at the comment, but didn't try to interfere as Domitian examined her throat. He looked relieved when Domitian said, "It seems all right. I retracted my fangs quickly enough it would seem."
Relieved herself, Sarita nodded, and lowered her head when he released her. She glanced to Thorne then and sighed when she saw his expression. He was going to need explanations.
"I will handle this," Domitian said quietly, taking her arm and attempting to usher her to the door.
Sarita stuck her ground and shook her head. "I don't trust you won't fight."
"We will not fight," he assured her and then glanced to Thorne and said heavily, "Will we."
"Not if she tells me she's okay with you biting her," Thorne growled.
"I wouldn't say I'm okay with it," Sarita admitted wryly, keeping her voice low. "But I came in here of my own free will and without being invited and told him to do it. The swim here obviously left him in need, and there is no bagged blood here like on the island where we were staying."
Thorne shifted his gaze to Domitian. "So that's why El Doctor wanted you? You're a vampire. I didn't think they truly existed."
Frowning, she said, "He's not--"
"Mi Corazon," Domitian interrupted. "Please. Go to bed. Thorne and I will talk."
Sarita hesitated, but then sighed and nodded. She was tired, and didn't really want to go through the explanations of what Domitian was and so on. This time when Domitian tried to urge her to the door, she went without protest.
"I will see you when you wake up," he murmured, and pressed a kiss to her forehead before opening the door.
Smiling crookedly, Sarita nodded and slipped out to tiptoe back to her own room, leaving Domitian to explain things to Thorne. She didn't know if it was his taking some of her blood or not, but she was so exhausted that Sarita didn't bother to strip off her borrowed clothes or even crawl under the sheet and duvet. She simply dropped onto the bed, asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.
The moment Domitian woke up, he knew he'd messed up. He'd only lain down for a minute, intending to wait half an hour or so to be sure Sarita was sleeping before slipping out to make his way through the jungle to the big house. His thinking had been that he'd rather take the risk of making the attempt in daylight than take Sarita with him and put her at risk. Fortunately, after he'd explained everything to Thorne, the man had agreed to help by making sure the cameras were out along the back of the house so he c
ould slip into the woods that way. Trying to go the way he and Sarita had approached the house before dawn this morning would have left him visible to Dressler's goon on the beach now that the sun had risen.
Unfortunately, the swim last night had left him exhausted and the little bit of blood he'd taken from Sarita before Thorne had knocked him away from her hadn't been enough to make much of a dent in his appetite. He'd dozed off and the moment that had happened he'd been lost.
Sitting up, Domitian ran a hand through his hair and then rubbed the base of his neck. Shared dreams were common among life mates. While this was his first experience with the phenomenon, he'd heard about them. They never happened when the mates were together and had made love, but when they were near and hadn't sated their needs, the dreams often kicked in.
He'd been told that both parties contributed to the dream whether consciously or unconsciously, and either party could change the dream's setting and what was happening at the drop of a hat. He'd heard that the dreams were hot and all consuming, but differed in that there was no loss of consciousness after sex in the dreams, probably because they weren't conscious to begin with. He'd also been told that, in a way, they could be better than actual life mate sex because the overwhelming need that made life mate sex so fast and frantic was lessened, and life mates could often do those things they never got the chance to do while conscious.
Domitian had found all that he'd heard to be true. He'd apparently joined Sarita in a dream she was already having when he'd fallen asleep. He'd found himself standing on the edge of an outdoor skating rink, watching her whirl and whiz around the ice, leaping and spinning. From the reports he'd received, he knew she'd taken skating for several years after moving to Canada and had watched with fascination, wondering if she could actually perform the moves in real life. It was something he'd have to ask her, he'd thought and then she'd spotted him and stopped to stare with surprise.
As he'd walked toward her, Domitian had consciously changed the setting. By the time he'd taken her into his arms, they were in a wooden lodge with a fire burning to keep them warm and a soft fur rug where he could lay her back and do all the things he never got the chance to do when in the grip of life mate urgency. Of course, Sarita had soon turned the tables on him and he'd found himself tied to a bed while she'd driven him wild with her beautiful mouth and hands, and then his chains were gone and he'd rolled her beneath him and made slow, passionate love to her. And so the day had passed, with him lost in dreams of being in Sarita's arms.
