by Nina Bangs
Eric nodded. “I’ll pass the description on, although she might not take the same form next time.” He frowned. “I’ve been thinking about this Stephan. If he wants you to fight by his side, why the hell does he keep on punishing you? He has to know that will just piss you off. Even if he forces you to help him, he could never trust you.”
Dacian looked grim. “Stephan believes the only way to be a strong ruler is through fear. He…” He shook his head. “Never mind.”
“Since we’re into descriptions, they need to know what Stephan looks like.” Cinn wanted to know what Dacian had been about to say. Why had he decided not to tell them? She realized she felt a driving need to know everything about him. Danger: emotional minefield ahead.
Dacian shrugged. “About five foot ten. Long blond hair. But that was centuries ago. Maybe it’s short now. Blue eyes. Sort of thin. He always thought brains trumped brawn every time. Probably right. Oh, and he had a mustache. He was proud of that damn mustache, so maybe he still has it.”
“That description could fit almost anyone.” Kyla stated the obvious. She glanced at her watch. “Gotta go. I’m taking in a movie. See you later. Oh, and we’ll have to set up a date to talk over old times, Dacian.”
Some unidentifiable emotion flashed in her eyes for a moment and then was gone. Cinn tried not to build that emotion into something big, like an undying devotion to Dacian. She was only partially successful.
Kyla waved as she headed toward the door.
Eric didn’t even glance her way as she left. He seemed deep in thought. “There’s something fishy about this Stephan deal. Think about it. An informant tells your guy that Stephan knows where Taurin is and plans to kill him. What does your maker gain by that? Nothing. You’ll still never join him and—”
“I’d find someone who could destroy him.” Dacian’s hands were curved into claws at his side.
“Right. So doesn’t it make more sense to capture Taurin and threaten to kill him if you don’t fight by Stephan’s side? That’s what I’d do.” Eric frowned. “And if he’s so hot to kill Taurin, why isn’t he here already? A smart vampire doesn’t take a chance on the enemy beating him to the prize.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then Dacian nodded. “You have a point. I don’t have a clue what Stephan’s thinking.”
Cinn put in her two cents. “Do you think he knew Taurin was away from the castle?”
Dacian shrugged. “Who knows? I’ll just have to make sure I’m ready for Stephan if he shows up.”
Eric nodded. “I’ll fill Ganymede in on what’s happening. He probably doesn’t know where Taurin is right now, but he can be ready to warn Taurin if he contacts anyone at the castle before he gets here.”
Dacian looked uncomfortable. “Thanks for coming, Eric. And double thanks for staying.” He didn’t wait for Eric’s response as he turned and strode toward the kitchen.
Cinn had to run to keep up. She drew even with him as they entered the kitchen. When they reached the greenhouse, he didn’t bother to knock, but simply used his key. As they entered, Cinn could see Bain standing at the open door leading into the courtyard. He was talking to a bunch of people.
“Thanks for dropping by, folks. Spread the word about Cinn Airmid’s amazing plants. We’re open for tours from ten till seven every day.”
Tours? Damn. Cinn had forgotten all about what Sparkle had said.
A woman in the back of the crowd shouted out, “You sure she’s not selling any of these plants? I could use that dieffenbachia in my bedroom. Perk up my old man’s sex drive.”
Sex drive? The first tendrils of suspicion touched Cinn.
Bain shook his head as he laughed. “Sorry. These are all experimental plants. Maybe sometime in the future.”
Bain watched the crowd wander away before closing the door and turning to face Cinn and Dacian. “Wow, that was pretty cool. I thought this plant-guarding would be boring, but the crowds kept me busy.”
“Crowds?” Why would crowds be coming to see her plants?
“Yeah.” He shrugged into his coat. “I told them all about your plants. How they give off pheromones that drive anyone near them into a fit of uncontrolled lust. And how being around them makes you skinny.”
“Skinny?” She was only capable of one-word questions.
“I explained how their magnetic energy absorbs a person’s fat. All you have to do is spend an hour a day with the plants and you’ll be thin in no time. No dieting.”
“You didn’t!”
“I did.” His eyes gleamed with wicked glee. “The best one was when I told them your Venus flytrap was better than any sex toy. All those cups are like mouths and they can—”
“No, no, no! Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.” She clapped her hands over her ears. “Hummmm. Hummmm. Not hearing you.” Not a mature response, but it worked.
When she finally saw his mouth stop moving, she dropped her hands. She took a second to glare at Dacian. He seemed to think the whole thing was a hoot. Then she turned her fury on Bain.
“Who the hell gave you the right to lie about my plants?” Anger was the buzzing of a thousand enraged hornets in her head.
Bain looked puzzled. “I’m a demon, love. It’s what I do. I lie.” Then he smiled, that wonderful smile that should make her forget what he’d done. “But just think about it. I’ve made your little greenhouse one of the biggest attractions in the park.”
“Get out. Just get out.” She looked around for a weapon.
Bain opened the door and stepped out. Then he poked his head back in. “Oh, you might want to guard the bushy plant with the yellow buds. I said that eating just one bud would make anyone look twenty again. Lots of seniors seemed interested in that one.”
She glanced at Dacian. “Hand me a weapon. Something long and pointy.”
Bain closed the door behind him, and she could hear his laughter fading into the distance. Then she slumped onto the cot and dropped her head into her hands. “Oh. My. God. I can’t believe he said all those things. Why didn’t anyone warn me not to leave a demon in charge?” Suddenly, she looked up. “Is it seven yet?”
Dacian had wisely stopped smiling. He shook his head. “Don’t worry, though. I’ll take care of it.” He flipped off the lights inside the greenhouse, made sure both doors were locked, and then he stood concentrating.
She didn’t interrupt him.
Finally, he dropped down beside her on the cot and put his arms around her. “You and your plants will have at least an hour of peace now. I’ve surrounded the greenhouse with the suggestion that no one come here because it’s closed.”
Cinn leaned into him, allowing herself to relax for the first time all day. “I’ve never asked about your powers. Probably shouldn’t. There are some things I don’t need to know.” She was thinking specifically about Bain and the Venus flytrap. “But back in the great hall you started to say something and then stopped.” She left it up to him whether he’d tell her or not.
His expression said he didn’t want to discuss it, so she was surprised when he responded.
“After Stephan killed me, he dumped me in a box and tossed me into a grave. Then he covered me up. I was out of it for three days. When I woke, I was in that box. I knew what it was, and I knew I was buried. I could hear Stephan laughing in my mind as I tore my fingers bloody trying to free myself. About the tenth day, when I was crazy with bloodlust and scared shitless, he told me he was the only one who could save me and to always remember who was in charge.” Dacian’s eyes were filled with self-disgust. “Then he told me to beg.” His laughter had nothing to do with humor. “And I begged. Loud and long.” He shrugged. “Finally, he let me go.”
“And you’ve hated him ever since.” Cinn knew she hated Stephan.
“Yeah.” He invested all the centuries of loathing into that one word.
Cinn needed something to drive the image of what Dacian had endured from her mind, something life-affirming. She had no doubts about what she wanted
that to be. Not on the cot, though. Too narrow. She glanced around.
Without speaking, she stood and walked over to the large table in the middle of the greenhouse. Her worktable. Well, there was work and there was work. She carefully moved several plants to one side.
Then she turned back to Dacian. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to.
He joined her beside the table. “I want to make love with you.” His smile told her he was stating the obvious. “But I don’t want you to feel…” For a moment, he looked as though he were searching for the right words. “Okay, I know I have scars inside and out, but I don’t want them to have anything to do with why you make love with me. I want this to be about desire, not pity.”
She put her finger over his lips. “Have you looked in a mirror lately?” Cinn rethought that question. “Okay, maybe not. So let me explain. Any woman would want you. Of course, they would be lusting after your body.”
“And you don’t lust after my body?” His laughter had an edge of uncertainty to it.
“Definitely not.” She let her gaze slide the length of his body. Her interest snagged on the proof of his growing interest. “It’s all about your mind. You have a great mind. It’s long, and hard, and—”
“My mind is up here.” He tapped his forehead.
“Oh.” She looked up at him and smiled.
He knew it was going to happen. Here. Now. In this greenhouse, in the dark, surrounded by plants that were wiser than plants should ever be. And he didn’t give a damn. He reached for her.
“Wait.”
While he watched, puzzled, she grabbed a bunch of burlap sacks from a pile and then methodically pulled them over the nearby plants. Then she returned to him.
“Why?”
“I don’t think they’ve evolved far enough to see, but I’m just making sure.” She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. He gently tugged on her hair, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“It’s been a long time. I might not be patient, or creative, or even kind.”
“How about quick? I’d like quick. Because I want you so much I just might…” Her imagination evidently failed her because her voice faded away.
He pulled her top over her head with hands that refused to remain steady, while she ripped at his T-shirt with frenzied intensity. Dacian finally paused long enough to yank it over his head. Then he returned to finishing the job of getting her naked.
He kissed a path along the side of her jaw while he reached behind her to unclasp her bra. When her breasts fell free, he transferred his mouth to one of her ripe nipples. She shuddered beneath his lips.
“Take your jeans off and anything else you have cluttering up that gorgeous body.” Her demand was a husky murmur.
Reluctantly, he abandoned her nipple to drag his shoes and jeans off. He’d been in too much of a hurry to bother with shorts. She hummed her appreciation.
Then he molded his palms over her round little butt and lifted her onto the table. Lifted her slowly, sliding her over his body, pressing her against his cock, and biting his lip to keep from moaning as her nipples scraped across his chest. God, he wanted to drive into her right now, with her bent back over the damn table. Slow down, slow down.
Holding his gaze, she lay back on the table. Then she wiggled her way into a more comfortable position. And every damn wiggle was a jolt to his cock.
“Your hunger is showing, vampire.” Her smile was sensual and more tempting than man or vampire could be expected to resist. “I see heat behind the hunger. That’s good.”
“My eyes?”
“Black.” But her gaze didn’t waver. “And you’re flashing fang. Just enough fang to make you look all sexy-dangerous.” She reached over to draw a line down the center of his chest with the tip of her finger. “Sparkle thinks dangerous men are sensual. I know one who definitely is.” She patted the table beside her. “Do you think I’m a dangerous woman?” She grinned. “Humor me and say yes.”
“You have no idea.” He grimaced as he joined her on the table. “Not the best setting, but I want you so much I’d make love to you on an ice floe with a flock of penguins cheering us on. I wish I had Eric’s power.”
“Eric? What does he have to do with anything?” She traced his lips with the tip of her finger.
He drew her finger into his mouth before answering her. He swirled his tongue around it, teasing as he gave her a preview of what he intended to do to other parts of her luscious body. And when he released her finger, he kissed the tip of it while watching her from beneath half-lowered lids. She stared at him from eyes darkened with passion. Now was one time he appreciated his enhanced sight. The darkness hid nothing from him.
“Eric has the power to create fantasies. Not like the role-playing people get in the park. Eric gives you the real deal. No matter how weird the fantasy is, it becomes real. I wish I could do that for you.” He was about to return to her breasts, but she stopped him.
“Silly man, don’t you know that you are the fantasy?” Then she covered his mouth with hers.
And it was all over for him. No more attempts at being a patient lover. Forget the hours of foreplay. Weren’t going to happen. He wanted it all. Now.
He slid his tongue across her full lower lip, and she invited him in. His tongue tangled with hers as he explored every heated inch of her mouth. Lost in sensation, he forgot.
Her slight flinch grounded him immediately. His fangs had come out to play. Damn. He stilled, not drawing away. There’d be no going back. He waited for her to pull away from him, to reject what he was.
Then she carefully touched the tip of each with her tongue. “Mmm, so deliciously dangerous. My inner cavewoman approves. There’s something dark, primal, and irresistible about the ultimate alpha male,” she murmured against his cheek, her breath warm, her words softly suggestive. To emphasize her point, she slipped her hand over his stomach and cupped his balls before dancing her fingertips the length of his cock.
He clasped her wrist, holding her still as he whispered in her ear. “Be careful what you wish for, because you’re about to see dark and primal like you’ve never seen it before.”
“Mmm. Promises, promises.” She ran the tip of her finger around each of his nipples and he couldn’t control his groan. “No hairy caveman, though. I like a smooth-skinned, hard-muscled man.” She pulled his head down to her and gently nipped his earlobe. “Like you.”
She was playful. He wanted to be playful, too, but he didn’t know how. Maybe she could teach him. Maybe you’re delusional. He needed to do what he did best.
He dipped his head lower and drew her nipple into his mouth. She arched her back as he flicked the nipple with his tongue and then sucked.
“Wow. That’s some power you have. I can feel it all the way to my toes. They’re definitely curling.” Her tone was still light, but it now had a breathless quality to it.
As he transferred his attention to her other nipple, she showed her appreciation by sliding her foot up his inner thigh. Then she stopped. He wanted that foot to move higher, to…he couldn’t decide. The possibilities were endless.
He needed to explore lower on her body, but that would mean she couldn’t reach vital spots with her toes. And he had high hopes for those toes. Move your freaking foot. He stopped short of transmitting his mental command. That would be too much like begging.
So instead, he buried his face in the hair at the base of her neck while her essence did amazing things to him. The man in him wanted to bottle the rich scent of warm woman and hot arousal so he could lather up with it when he showered and wear it all day. But the vampire in him had no days, only nights filled with the scent and taste of her blood, a scent he’d recognize even if he lived six more centuries. The taste would have to wait.
Finally. She moved her foot.
She rubbed her toes against his balls, kneading them like a contented cat. Then she worked her way up to his cock. And if she used a little more pressure in her excitement,
it was all good to him. There was a fine line between pain and pleasure, but Cinn came down hard on the side of pleasure. And when she made little sounds of enjoyment, it ramped up his arousal to spontaneous combustion level.
“I’m not—” He kissed his way over her stomach, pausing to swirl his tongue in her navel.
She abandoned her lethal toe attack. Gasping, she arched her back and moaned.
“Going to last—” He slid his hands beneath her tight round bottom and lifted her.
She wrapped her legs around him and started offering suggestions between hard pants. “Therethere-there!”
“Much—” He lowered his head and put his mouth on her.
“Yes. Moremoremore.”
Sliding his tongue across the nub of flesh that brought women such pleasure, he allowed himself to enjoy her cry through the blaze of his own need. The taste of her would be with him always, unique and a memory of the sensual woman she was. Now came the true test. He dipped his tongue into her, in and out, in and out, imitating the sexual dance. And each time he thrust his tongue into all her moist heat, he knew she felt the pressure of his fangs. There was no way she couldn’t.
She didn’t pull away; she didn’t ask him to stop. She just gasped, “Longer. Say it. You’re not going to last much longer.”
“Longer.” Lowering her, he pressed the head of his cock between her spread legs.
“Good. Because I was ready at ‘I’m not.’” She arched forward and grabbed his hair, dragging him over her body.
He moved his body back and forth, his senses reeling each time her nipples scraped across his flesh.
She stared up at him, her gaze fixed on his fangs. He couldn’t make them go away. They were an inescapable expression of his sexual excitement.
Cinn didn’t tell him not to use them.
But he knew he wouldn’t. He drew his finger over her throat, over the spot where her blood pulsed hot and strong. And she’d never know how hard it was not to. “Not this time.”
No relief shone in her gaze, and for that he thanked her.
“If you don’t fill me right now, vampire, my sexual frustration will blow out the walls of this greenhouse. Then you’ll have to pay Sparkle for it.”
