“She will be fine here.” Joseph said.
Mia nodded. “You know that she is safe with us. She is unable to comprehend what has happened
and what is happening. It is too much for her to absorb all at once. She needs to process it at her own
speed.”
After a few seconds, Caleb nodded. “You’re right. Thank you.” He looked at Joseph. “Let me know
what happens with Zack as soon as possible.”
“Sure thing.”
“Also, I need you to bring Jake Mann back. I’m trying to arrange a gathering of pure bloods from
around the world to discuss our future plans to deal with the new corrupted vampires. He worked closely
with one of their leader’s, Jeremy Lang. From what I understand, Jeremy is Mary Tate’s right hand man.
Jake will be able to help us identify and locate more of the corrupted vampires spiking their blood. We’ve
already identified an alarming number of them. Most were pure blooded ancients. It’s twisted but trying
to gain power with demon blood makes sense. Why would they infect their bodies with defiled blood? I
don’t understand their motive.”
“I’ll speak with Jake. I took them there to protect his mate from those of my kind who would’ve
viewed her as a threat, for she too has Zack’s blood in her. With all that’s happening I’m sure she won’t
be noticed. She will push him to return. She isn’t too happy living in the past. She loves modern
technology.”
“I can’t say I blame her.” After giving the back area where Caylee was comforting Julie a long look
Caleb left.
“I’m ready for you to kick my ass.” Joseph held his arms open wide.
“I would rather not.” Tears burned behind her eyes. Mia turned her back to him and started to flip
through a rack of dresses.
He came up from behind. “You’re mad at me.”
Sniffing, she reached up to her cheek to wipe the tears that had fallen so suddenly. “No. Go away.
I’ve work to do.”
“No way!” He spun her around so fast she would’ve fallen flat onto her ass if he hadn’t been holding
onto her.
“It’s my fault, Joseph. I should’ve done more to get Emily away from Mary.” She tried to turn away
again to hide her tears.
Firmly grabbing her shoulders, he gave her a gentle shake. “It is not your fault, angel. Every one of
us has freewill. She chose to be there, to live the life she was living.”
“She was addicted to drugs. She wasn’t in her right mind. I could’ve done more for her. Don’t you
dare say it isn’t true.”
“It isn’t true. You cannot force someone to stop taking drugs. The person has to want to be clean.
Backing off a bit and allowing her to choose was the right thing for you to do.” Forcing her to meet his
gaze, she took her face in his hands. “Emily knew you were here waiting for her to come back. She knew
you loved her unconditionally and would’ve moved mountains to help her.”
“Tell me the truth, Joseph. What do think about Zack? Will he be able to help her? Will he want to?”
“I’m sure of it. Zack would never even entertain the notion of abandoning her or failing her.”
He spent the next few minutes holding her, rocking her in his strong arms, comforting her as only he
could. By the time Caylee and Julie returned from the back he reminded her that she still needed to kick
his ass. Actually he managed to have her laughing instead. He was so much more than her lover. He was
her best friend. He knew her inside and out. He knew and kept every one of her secrets. He took his leave
right away to go and talk with Jake Mann, explaining that he needed to hurry to get back in time for the
auction.
~ Thirteen~
BRIANNA TOOK HER sweater off and draped it over the Harley’s seat. She’d forgotten all about the
black silk underwear until they fell out at Nikolas feet. “Oops.” Hand over her mouth, she laughed softly.
Nikolas knelt down to pick them up. Standing up he made a show of studying them. “There isn’t
much to them. Tell me Haden was being over dramatic. Tell me these aren’t what I’m supposed to be
auctioned off in tonight.”
She shrugged. “Sorry. I would, but I can’t. I’m not a very good liar.”
Placing his hand over his heart, he gave her the most comical mock look of alarm she’d ever seen.
“I’m shocked that you would allow it!”
“Don’t worry. You’re going to look great in them. I’m serious. You have an absolutely perfect body
for it.”
He smiled wide. “Do I?”
Giving him a thorough visual head-to-toe once over, she nodded her head slowly. “Oh yeah. You
have the best ever, fantastically masculine body.”
“Fine.” Looking as wickedly sexy as any demon could ever be, he placed the underwear on her
sweater. “I’ll agree to wear them, but only if you wear these.” He lifted his hand with a barely there pair
of black lace thong panties dangling from his fingers.
Eyes going wide, she shook her head as she took a step back. “Oh no! Forget it! It’s not happening.
I’m not parading around in those in public. Nope. Never. It’s not happening.”
“You’re wearing them.” He got a look in his eyes, a wild look that reminded her of a predator
stalking its prey, as he took a step toward her. “One way or another I intend to get these on your sexy little
body.”
“No you aren’t.” Holding up her hands to stop him, she backed up a bit to put some distance between
them to give her a head start.
“Do you really think you can outrun me?”
“Oh wow!” She pointed up in the sky behind him. “What’s that?”
The second he turned to look she ran toward the other side of the field. Oh sure. Even with a head
start she didn’t have any hope of outrunning him, but with a predator that looked like him it was great fun
to play the role of the prey.
Within twenty feet he caught her. He brought her down, maneuvering his body in a way that caused
her to land on him rather than the ground. With her legs straddling his waist, she sat up. He was such a
large, muscular man that her knees didn’t quite touch the ground.
She made a halfhearted attempt to get up, but his hands caught her waist and held her firmly in place.
He lifted his head to look up at her. “You’re not going anywhere until you kiss me.”
“That’s it.” Raising her arms above her head, she seductively arched her back as if enjoying a
leisurely stretch. Then, causing him to make a deep growling sound, she lowered her arms and slowly
stretched her body out over his. As his hands moved up and back down her back. She felt his eyes on her,
watching her, savoring the sight of her on top of him, seducing him. As he clutched and massaged her ass,
she kissed his neck, the base of his chin and then worked her way over his jaw line. “All I have to do is
give you a little kiss you and you’ll let me get up?”
“I might very well just have to withdraw the offer.” He reached beneath the backside of her shirt.
He’d been a warrior for nearly ten thousand years. It should’ve hardened his heart, but it didn’t. His
ability to make her feel his love got through to her like nothing else could. She couldn’t even begin to
imagine the number of opponents his strong hands had defeated in battle. It amazed her that man with so
much power could handle her so tenderly, and gently.
lifted it up to expose his belly so that she could run her hands over his rigid muscular contours. The new
position placed her core over the temptation of his bulging erection sending currents of electric tingling
sensations to race through her veins. “I’ll never get enough of you. I adore you, Nikolas. I wish we could
make love for forever and ever. I love to touch your body, to feel your skin against mine, to feel your
hands touching me.”
***
“There should be rules about what a couple of sex crazed lovers are allowed to do and not do when they
are waiting for someone they’ve summonsed to show up,” Zack said.
“I think there is already rule about announcing your presence to avoid walking up on a couple.”
Nikolas lifted her and brought her to her feet as he stood up.
Nikolas knew Zack wasn’t comfortable being near any human female for fear of being overpowered
by his new pressing thirst for blood. He was doing his best to be polite. He even nodded at Brianna. “It’s
good to see you.” And then he looked to Nikolas. “Is there a problem?”
“I have urgent news concerning Emily, but before I tell you, I want you to know that she is alive.
Some time ago she left your place in Washington and returned here. She was attacked by a corrupt
vampire and forced to take his blood. He happened to have a large quantity of your blood in his system.”
“What does that matter? She’s human. She would’ve killed by now.”
“No. She hasn’t. If you get to her and give her your blood it will eventually wipe out the tainted
blood.”
“Where is she?”
“Her sister knows and has agreed to meet with you and tell you. My guess is that she is at or near
Wicked Sensations.”
“That’s good. Demetri will look after her,” Brianna said.
“Demetri Demidov is not your friend. He is not anyone’s friend. He turned against all that is good to
follow a path of darkness.”
“You don’t know that. I am certain he would help her if she showed up in trouble. He didn’t hurt
me,” Brianna said.
Nikolas heard Brianna but he chose to ignore her.
“If you’re wrong, if she has killed there is no hope for her.”
“My sister is alive, Nikolas.” Brianna said. “You know Sara is alive.”
Again, Nikolas chose to ignore her. Her insistent need to defend Demetri pissed him off, but
considering her young age and inexperience he excused her behavior.
“Young age and inexperience has nothing to do with it. When I merged with him I felt her. I heard
her. I also felt what was in him. He is not evil. He loves her.”
Nikolas turned to her.
“Oh hell,” Zack said. “I think I liked it better when you two were rolling around in the grass.”
“Don’t look at me like that. I know he was trying to find her.”
“I’ll leave you two to talk.”
“Wait.” Nikolas said. “I know you want your sister to be alive, but she isn’t. You need to trust me.
Demetri is dangerous.”
“You don’t know that he killed her. Didn’t you say that he was using me to find her so that he could
kill her?”
“I was wrong.”
“And you’re admitting it?” She laughed. “I don’t think so.”
“Stop.”
“Or what?”
“Just stop.”
“I don’t know why I left with you today.”
“If you don’t want to be here with me, all you have to do is say so.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she lifted her chin and narrowed her gaze. “I don’t want to be here
with you.” With a promise of retaliation smoldering in her eyes she was daring him to do it.
“You know full well that pride always comes before the fall. Don’t do it, Nikolas,” Zack warned.
Having a somewhat larger than average ego, it made him a bit more competitive than most. He had
never been good at refusing a challenge when such a clear threat to his wellbeing was placed before him.
Knowing full well he would pay a hefty price for it, he looked away from her as he sent her away with a
simple wave of his hand.
“I have absolutely zero experience in the area of dealing with females, but even I know that was the
most ignorant thing you could have done,” Zack said. “Why was it so important for you to convince her
that she was wrong about Demetri? It is not as if you can’t keep her away from him.”
“He already got to her once. It could happen again. As long as she believes he is her buddy and can
help her save her sister, it’s only a matter of time before he gets to her.”
“Not if you manned up and preformed the ritual.”
“It isn’t something to be rushed. The time has to be…”
“That’s bullshit. The time to get it done was the night you met her. You have been making excuses
and dragging your feet for over three years. Leaving her in a fragile mortal state with so much potential
danger coming at her is just plain stupid. I remember you telling Haden to stop putting it off when he was
stalling to perform it with Caylee.” Shaking his head, Zack smiled. “I can’t wait to see what she does to
you for casting her off like that.”
“I didn’t cast her off. I politely sent her away. And we are still merged.” Nikolas shrugged. He acted
as if he was not even slightly worried about the consequences he would face for his inability to back
down. She had drawn a line. He would not be much of a demon if he could resist the urge to cross over it.
“She wanted to leave.”
“Yeah, whatever you say, Nikolas. Your wisdom surpasses mine a thousand of times over. I am sure
she would never even consider retaliating against you for such a teeny tiny insignificant offense.”
“That’s right. By the time I see her again it will be forgotten.” She was going to kill him, but not
until she tortured him.
“We both know she is busy right now plotting and making preparations to give you hell until you
beg for her forgiveness and swear to never behave like such a moron again. In all honesty, I actually
admire your ability to stand here straight faced while trying to convince yourself that your future is all
warm sunshine and pretty rainbows. Despite that, I will never turn to you for advice on the best ways to
deal with a woman.”
He too would most likely avoid turning to himself for advice in the future, but he was not prepared to
admit that he was being hammered by an extreme amount of regret. The next time he saw her, their visit
would consist of several heartfelt apologies and hours of begging for forgiveness.
“Just out of curiosity where did you send her?” Zack asked.
Talking was doing nothing to decrease his stress. It was making it worse. He did not even want to
think it anymore. “I sent her to Mia’s boutique. It’s not a big deal. She originally wanted to spend the day
with her friends anyway. She was on the schedule. I am not even sure why she insisted on coming with
me.” He took a deep breath and released it slowly in an effort to calm his nerves. “She actually told me
that she didn’t want to come with me when I first asked her to spend the day with me.”
“Well, I guess that since you gave her what she originally wanted everything is going to be hunky-
dory.” He shook his head. “Not! And you know i
t. There is no way in hell you missed the look of anger in
her eyes.” He laughed out loud. “I can’t believe you sent her off to gather with and discuss your
unscrupulous behavior with her female friends.”
“Oh damn!”
“Oh yeah. Oh damn is right. By the time you see her next; those women will have come up with
several ingenious ways to shove your pride so far up your ass that you will be choking on it for the next
hundred years.”
“Give or take a few.”
“Ways or years?”
“Both.”
***
“It’s only been an hour. What are you doing back here? I thought you left with Nikolas,” Mia said.
“I did.”
“Did something happen?”
“He rejected my opinion because it failed to go along with what he considers to be a fact. He threw a
tantrum because I wanted him to consider the validity of his belief in light of new information. My
persistence irritated him so he…let’s just say that I will do more than simply ask him to consider whether
his belief that he can do whatever he wants without facing any consequences is right or wrong.”
“You cannot leave me hanging. What did he do?”
“I disagreed with him so he threw a tantrum and poofed me away from him again.”
“In the middle of an argument?”
“That’s right.”
“I will never understand how living for so long can leave a male demon so clueless.”
“It is pretty interesting.”
“What were you trying to tell him?”
Knowing that Mia would agree with Nikolas almost stopped her from saying anything, but she
decided to do anyways. “Demetri did not kill my sister.”
“Well that is great news. Why would that upset Nikolas?”
“That was not what upset him. He did not like that fact that I believe Demetri does not want to hurt
her. He does not want to consider the possibility that Demetri is trying to find her, to help her.”
“Why would you think that?”
“It’s a long story. The bottom line is that he came to my place the other night. We went out and tried
to find my sister. He shared details with me that I never knew.”
“What do you mean? Where did he take you?”
“I don’t know. It was through a mind merge. He used my blood bond with her to find her.”
Volatile Breath of Darkness Page 18
