by Nina Bangs
She kept her gaze averted. “Uh-uh. I know the score about vampires. I look into your eyes, and you glamour me.”
He snorted his contempt. “Where‘d you get all this knowledge?”
“I read a lot.” She sounded a little defensive now.
“I don‘t care what you‘ve read. I can‘t glamour you.” Another lie. The truth? He didn‘t bother to glamour anyone when he could achieve the same result by more physical means. Why drain his power when a punch to the jaw accomplished the same thing?
She was still twisting and turning, trying to escape. A startled hiss escaped him.The pressure of her body moving against his was having an unexpected effect. Unexpected because sex was the last thing on his mind right now. But someone had forgotten to tell his cock.
He released her. “If you‘ll look into my eyes, you‘ll see I‘m back in control.” Dacian prepared to move if she made a grab for the lamp. He could take it out of her hands without touching her, but he‘d rather not scare her with his various talents any more than he already had.
She took a deep calming breath, and he noted the lift and thrust of her breasts beneath the shapeless gown. He stomped on his body‘s attempt to react. Now wasn‘t the time.
“What do you want?”
Her voice sounded calm, but he could hear the fluttering panic of her heartbeat, the breaths coming too quickly. Her reaction didn‘t bother him. After six hundred years, you got used to the terror of others.
She still hadn‘t looked into his eyes, but he decided not to press the issue. He strode over to one of the chairs in her sitting area and sat. Maybe if he were lower than she was, she‘d relax a little. He gestured toward the chair opposite him. “Sit.”
As expected, as soon as he moved from the door, she made a dash for it. He exhaled deeply. Humans were so predictable. With a flick of his mind, he slammed the door shut and locked it. She yanked and pulled, but to no avail.
Cinn turned and pressed her back against the door. “I could scream.”
“I could stop you.” Without his permission, Dacian‘s gaze fixed on her lips. He had many ways to stop her, some more enjoyable than others.
Finally giving up, she firmed those surprisingly full lips and marched over to the chair he‘d indicated. She sat. Then she looked into his eyes. He made sure he didn‘t blink.
Frown lines formed between her eyes. Those lines fascinated him. How many centuries had it been since he‘d had human reflexes? Now his face was a smooth mask, never betraying emotions, unless he was using those emotions to manipulate others. Truth was, he had few emotions left other than rage and lust. Good enough for him.
“Your eyes are dark blue, almost black. They look normal.” She didn‘t try to hide her shock as she took a closer look. “And no fangs?”
Time to ease her worries with a little charm. “No fangs.” He smiled, the smile he‘d used on women for six hundred years to get what he wanted from them. “You saw me when I was a little…upset.” Try really pissed.
Her gaze slid across his face, and then she looked away. He knew what she was seeing.
“I choose to keep the scars.”
She was startled into looking back at him. “Why?”
Dacian shrugged. He should‘ve let it go. No need to get into things she didn‘t have to know. But now that he‘d brought it up, he‘d finish it. “I can heal without scarring, but I chose not to. I kept them to remember.” He stopped.
Remember what? The question was written all over her face. He didn‘t answer it.
Suddenly, she seemed to realize she was talking to him as though he was an ordinary guy. She stiffened. “What does Sparkle want? And what happened to Asima?”
“Sparkle wants me to guard you from Airmid during my waking hours. And if Asima is the Siamese cat, she got tired of lying outside your door. She went off to sleep in her soft bed.”
Cinn‘s lips lifted in a brief smile, and Dacian‘s interest rose.
“You mean her soft, soft bed.”
“What?”
She waved the comment away. “An inside joke. And I don‘t need a vampire protecting me from anything. I don‘t even know if I believe this Airmid exists. Sparkle would tell me anything to keep me here.”
He didn‘t know why. What could a woman who grew plants have to offer Sparkle? But he didn‘t really care. “Doesn‘t matter. She says to protect you, so I protect you.”
She drew those sexy lips into a thin line of disapproval. “I already have Asima keeping an eye on me.”
He got up, opened the door, and made a big production of looking up and down the hall. “Talking cat gone. I‘m here. I‘ll stay here until someone takes over at dawn.”
“A vampire is not staying in my room with me. You want to guard me, you can do it from outside the door.” She studied him closely. “Other than being a little pale, you don‘t look like a vampire. Not like you did down in the dungeon.”
“I‘m glad you find me almost human.” He walked back to the couch and lay down. “That way you‘ll be able to forget I‘m even here. Oh, and I‘ve fed, so you‘re safe.”
He watched the horror bloom in her eyes. “Bottled blood.” Sort of a before-dinner cocktail. He‘d go hunting for his main course tomorrow night. “No bellboys died in the making of my meal. And no, I‘m not going to curl up outside your door. If you want to take a shot at bashing my head in, go for it. But it won‘t do any good.”
Cinn was ready to suggest that she sleep outside her door. Or maybe at the hotel down the street. “I can‘t sleep in the same room with you.” Was that wimpy voice hers?
For a moment she could‘ve sworn bitterness shone behind those blue eyes, but then he smiled. Not the same kind of sexy smile as a few minutes ago.
“You‘ll sleep if you‘re tired enough.” He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a key. He swung it back and forth. “The key to the greenhouse. Sparkle said I could let you work there at night as long as I stayed with you.”
She took a deep breath. Sparkle knew exactly what buttons to push. Cinn would accept the devil himself if he got her into that damn greenhouse. Jumping up, she grabbed the clothes she‘d peeled off a few hours ago and headed for the bathroom. “I‘ll be out in a minute. I need to see my plants.”
Cinn didn‘t glance back for his reaction. Once inside the bathroom, she leaned her forehead against the closed door and shut her eyes. The cool smoothness of the wood grounded her. This was really happening, so she‘d better accept it. All that mattered now was making sure her plants were happy and comfortable. She‘d come to terms with her vampire protector later.
Straightening, she quickly dressed. The longer she put this off the harder it would be. A few minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom and looked around. Maybe he‘d left. Maybe he‘d never existed. Maybe she was just crazy. Right now, crazy would be a good thing.
She found him by the window, looking into the night. He turned when he heard her.
“You seem pretty anxious to go out into the dark with an insane bloodsucking abomination.” He said the words with no inflection.
Cinn raised one brow. “Insane bloodsucking abomination?”
“One of my kinder titles.”
“Do you want me to be afraid of you?”
He seemed to think about her question as he moved back into the room. “It makes things easier. No false expectations.”
She sighed. “I‘m too tired for this garbage. Okay, consider yourself feared. Now, let‘s go see my plants.”
Without comment, he led her from the room. He didn‘t take the elevator. As she followed him down the winding stone staircase, she allowed herself to really see him for the first time without her sight being clouded by terror.
She already knew he was tall and muscular. Even in the midst of her panic down in the dungeon, she‘d noticed that body. Her gaze slid across his firm and nicely rounded butt showcased in worn jeans.
He‘d washed and trimmed his hair, because it fell shiny and clean almo
st to his shoulders. But he must not have bothered with a brush. Looked like a finger comb to her. But the mussed look suited him.
Okay, reality check. Unless she woke up in a mental health facility pretty soon, she was actually following a vampire down the steps. Why was she even noticing his body and hairstyle? Probably the human mind trying to explain the unexplainable by searching for familiar points of reference.
She shifted her gaze to the steps in front of her. Wouldn‘t do to trip and go splat after surviving what she had so far since coming to the Castle of Dark Dreams.
Instead of using the outside entrance to the greenhouse, he led her through the kitchen. “Sparkle showed me both entrances.” He unlocked the greenhouse door and stood back for her to enter first.
Cinn slipped past him. Close enough to realize what a truly big man he was. She glanced around. And how really alone they were out here. “These…episodes you have. Like the one in the dungeon. Um…do you have them often?”
His laughter was low and—maybe it was just her— sounded a little menacing. He‘d moved up close behind her, and she shivered as awareness drew a thin line of goose bumps down her arms. No, not awareness. Probably just static electricity.
“I have them whenever my maker calls me to him, and I don‘t come. Stephan has visions of world domination with his loving children at his side. Me? Not so much. So each time I turn him down, he sends a killing rage my way as punishment.” No lines of worry or nervous eye tics hinted that he was even a little worried about his episodes.
Well, she sure was. Against her better judgment, she gave in to her curiosity. “Why does he think that particular punishment will change your mind? And what would he want you to do if you gave in and joined him?” Did she really need to know this? Knowledge was power, so yes, she probably did.
He remained silent for a few heartbeats too long. Her heartbeats. Maybe his maker wanted him to slaughter every botanist he found alone and unprotected.
“After I came out of the first rage, I realized I‘d killed people. Lots of them.”
He might think his expression gave nothing away, but self-loathing lived in his eyes.
“People I knew.” He shrugged. “So I went away to a place where there weren‘t any people. And Stephan would want me to destroy anyone who opposed him.”
He moved a little closer, and she swallowed hard. Wow, that static electricity was doing a prickly dance up and down her spine. “Yes, well, let‘s hope he doesn‘t make a call while you‘re here.”
“Don‘t worry, I‘ll get warning and make myself scarce.”
Cinn nodded and then tried to look casual as she moved along the rows of her plants. She stopped beside Sandy. A little droopy. She leaned over the succulent and stroked it. “Feeling puny, sweetie? Guess the long trip was pretty stressful.”
She pretended not to hear the snort of derision behind her. With head high, she moved on to the next plant. She‘d covered half of the greenhouse, examining plants and offering some encouraging words, when Dacian interrupted.
“Son of a bitch! This plant bit me. What the hell is it?”
Cinn closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath of patience. She should‘ve warned him before he entered the greenhouse, but she‘d been too anxious to see her plants. She turned to look at him.
“That‘s Carla. She has aggression issues.” Cinn winced. Dark blood dripped from his finger. But even as she watched, the wound closed and the bleeding stopped. “I thought you encouraged scars.”
“I choose the scars I carry.” He spoke through gritted teeth. “Now tell me about Carla before I rip her up by her roots.”
Anger blazed in her. “Is that how you solve everything? Kill?”
“Works for me.”
She tried to calm herself. Cinn didn‘t doubt he could destroy every one of her plants if he went on a rampage. God, she hoped her fear didn‘t show in her eyes. She felt the brush of his mind a moment before he spoke.
“You‘re crazy, do you know that? You‘re more afraid for these plants than you are for yourself.” He shook his head at what he‘d consider stupidity beyond understanding. “Now tell me about Carla.”
“Carla is a Venus flytrap.”
“I‘ve seen pictures of Venus flytraps, and this isn‘t one.”
“Yes, well, she grew a little bigger than normal.”
“You think? She‘s at least six feet tall.” Dacian glared at the plant. “She‘s dangerous.”
“Pot, kettle?”
His smile was merely a baring of his teeth. “But you expect me to bite you, sweetheart.” His smile eased into something more sensual. “I always like to rise to those kinds of expectations.”
She refused to react. Okay, how to explain Carla and the rest of her rejects to someone who probably never had a soft feeling in his entire life? “I made mistakes with a few of my plants. They weren‘t as calm and friendly as I‘d hoped. But I couldn‘t destroy them. They were alive. They didn‘t want to die.” She realized she was twisting the bottom of her T-shirt nervously and stopped. “I keep them in a corner of the greenhouse. They‘re my weed warriors.”
He didn‘t smile. “Better put up a warning sign.” Then he did smile. “On second thought, don‘t. I‘d like to see the face of the first person who leaves with Carla‘s teeth marks in him. I‘d like to follow him outside and listen as he tries to explain to his friends how he got the bite.”
Cinn didn‘t register anything after that smile. Sure, he‘d smiled before, but this was a real smile.
And for the first time she got a glimpse of the beautiful man he must‘ve been before bitterness, cynicism, and probably just being a vampire had leached all the emotion except rage from him.
She took a deep breath. Something monumental had just happened. For just a nanosecond, she‘d forgotten the vampire part and thought only of the human. Not a good thing. Because it was the vampire part that could kill her.
Chapter Four
Dacian watched the play of emotions cross Cinn’s face and enjoyed them vicariously. They were part of her humanity, something he hadn’t been able to claim for six hundred years. Emotions were a blessing and a curse. They’d made him feel alive, but they’d also made him vulnerable. And in the end, they’d killed him. Stephan had seen to that.
Thinking about Stephan soured his mood. He turned his back on Cinn and strode over to the corner, where Carla squatted with her merry band of misfits. If he hadn’t known better, Dacian would swear the plant was smirking.
“Wipe the grin off your…whatever before I do a little pruning in here.” That should put her in her place. He scanned the other five plants behind the Jaws of the greenhouse. “I don’t know what you guys do, but mess with me and you’ll be going to the great compost heap in the sky. I’m here to protect Cinn, so we’re working on the same side.” And talking to a bunch of plants was about as weird as it got.
Just before he turned back to Cinn, he felt a tentative probe of his mind. What the…? The touch wasn’t feminine, and it didn’t have the feel of Stephan. Then who…?
He swung toward the door. Whoever it was wouldn’t be far. “Someone is tapping on my mental door. I need to track them down.” People who tried to breach his thoughts weren’t usually friends. Yeah, so he didn’t have any friends.
Dacian had flung open the greenhouse door leading to the courtyard and stepped out into the night before Cinn caught him.
“Wait. That’s probably Vince.”
He glared into the darkness. “Fine. Who’s Vince? And he better have a good reason for poking around in my head.”
She sighed. “You won’t like this.”
He turned his glare on her. “Lady, I haven’t liked anything that’s happened to me since I got here. So let’s hear it.”
“Vince is my vinca minor, the common periwinkle plant to you. He senses that I’m upset and is trying to figure out why. He’s harmless.” She swallowed hard.
She was really afraid he’d destroy her plants. Isn’t that
what you wanted? Her fear? Somehow the reality didn’t make him feel quite as good as he’d thought it would.
Dacian forced back his first impulse, to threaten. He didn’t know why. She wasn’t anyone special in his life. And as soon as Taurin came back, he’d never see her or her plants again. Still, he supposed there was no need to play rough with her or her freaking plants.
He stepped back into the greenhouse, quietly shut the door, and locked it behind him. “Look, your plants will be safe. I’m just interested, okay? Let’s meet Vince.”
She nodded and then led him over to a long vine with dark green leaves. Then she hovered.
“I drink blood, Cinn. I don’t eat plants. So stop looking as if I’m about to make a tossed salad out of your Vince.”
She nodded, but her expression didn’t change.
He huffed his frustration before turning his attention back to the periwinkle plant. It looked too normal, too much like plants Dacian had seen crawling along the ground in the shadows of ancient keeps, for him to believe it could crawl into his mind as well. But Dacian had experienced too much in his long existence to dismiss the possibility. Besides, one of her plants had bitten him. Proof that she was a lot more than just a nice lady who grew plants.
Nice lady? He slid his gaze the length of her body. Full breasts that would fit perfectly in the palms of his hands. A round little ass that called to him with every step she took. Long sexy legs she could wrap around him as he plunged…He shook the thoughts away. Bottom line? Nice wasn’t the right word. Hot was a much better one.
Dacian forced himself to focus on the plant. “Here’s the deal, Vince. Stay out of my mind. I’m a private person. I don’t make polite with anyone dropping in uninvited. Got it?”
“He doesn’t understand words, just emotions.” She moved closer to Dacian, her warm and sensual scent playing havoc with his concentration.
“Then he’s out of luck, isn’t he? Because I’m not into emotions, except for the occasional insane burst of rage or uncontrollable bout of lust.”
Instead of moving away from him as he’d expected, she just looked puzzled. “Why do you do that?”
