It didn’t change the fact she wanted him with her now to face Islay.
You’re acting like a nutter. Stop. It’s just Islay, and Daddy is here. Calm down.
Her father continued his heated discussion with Islay. Both men sounded like they were fresh off the boat from historical Scotland on good days. On other days, they were nearly impossible to understand; their accents were so thick and they’d often weave in and out of Gaelic. Jessie had been born and raised in the United States of America and had only the smallest hints of a Scottish brogue when she was very little. That had corrected itself when she’d become school-aged and no one around her at school sounded like they were going to wear a kilt anytime soon. Her Gaelic was still good mostly because her father insisted she be tutored in it. Not that she had a whole lot of use for it outside of the main house.
“Master, you can nae be out there handling every tiny detail. It’s what you have me for. And since yer the one who made us go legit recently, there is paperwork now. The bloody government wants records for everything. I miss the days of simply killing someone who crossed us. Filing a lawsuit against them is so…human. Next you’ll be telling me you want to do as Labrainn did—you’ll want to join up with PSI officially. It’s bad enough we’re part of the Paranormal Regulators. Do nae go cutting off our balls even faster. You’ve taken the fun out of everything. We were nae created to be do-guiders. We are hell spawn. Never forget that.”
Sheer disgust radiated from Islay at the notion of having been forced to go legit, and at the idea her father’s organization might actually join up with supernatural law enforcement to an even bigger extent than the Para-Regs.
She’d always known Islay and some of the men weren’t happy with the choice to go mainstream, but she’d never heard so much anger in his voice before about it all. They’d been part of the Paranormal Regulators for the majority of her life, though fifteen years was but a blink of the eye to Islay.
Labrainn, Meena’s grandfather, was another master vampire, also from Scotland, who used to do a lot of questionable things. Not anymore. Now he was a pillar in the community for good.
“Bite yer tongue,” said her father. “Islay, I see you like a son, but I will kill you if you suggest I’ve gone as soft as Labrainn and his men. And we are nae hell spawn. What we carry is born of darkness, we are nae.”
Islay did a half laugh, though it lacked sincerity, leaving the hairs on Jessie’s arms standing on end. “Forgive me, master, but we’re already fully entrenched in the Para-Regs and how many of our den are part of PSI? And you’d be splitting hairs if you think to draw a line between us and our demons. At this point, we are one with them.”
“Some more than others, evidently,” remarked her father, surprising her by sounding disgusted by Islay’s tone. “And we do nae have that many men who have joined PSI.”
“Need I remind you that you lost your last second to them?”
“Do nae be counting Searc in there,” her father protested. “You know as well as I that he pulled away, doing that on his own centuries ago. I dinnae give him leave. He saw the proverbial light and wished to do guid. And now we are on the same path. ’Tis a guid path and I’ll hear no more of it.”
“You continue to permit him to come around when he defied you openly,” snapped Islay. “He’s a disgrace.”
“And am I for allowing him near?” questioned her father, the tone in his voice one that said Islay was pushing too far.
Islay was quiet a moment. “If any of the rest of us tried what he did or spoke to you the way he still does, you’d have killed us long ago.”
Her father snorted. “If I dinnae think of Searc as a son, I’d have killed him for daring to stand against me. But it was for the best and you’d nae be my second if he was still here. Need I remind you of that fact? You seem verra pleased with your station, or am I mistaken? Searc reached out to me, wanting to come here months ago. Mayhap I should offer him the position again.”
“Aye, I recall him reaching out. And no, do nae offer him my spot.”
“Did he disobey me and come anyways?” her father asked.
“No.” Islay grunted. “But he’s still an asshole. I do nae like him coming around at all, ever.”
“You’ve never liked him. Even before he joined PSI,” reminded her father. “And he’s nae been around in nearly six months, correct?”
“Aye, but I do nae like the way he watches Jessie,” said Islay, surprising her. “And I do nae like the way you permit him to defy you at every turn.”
She leaned against the doorway more, listening as the men continued to talk. What had Islay meant by the way Searc watched her? He didn’t watch her at all that she could tell. She would know, she spent enough time stealing peeks at him, wishing he’d see her as something more than her father’s daughter. To date, he barely seemed to notice her at all.
Her father grumbled. “He has always been protective of her since she came to be with me. It was he who sensed who she was to me before my demon did. He will always protect her. It was Searc who reached out to me while I was traveling to check upon her. He had it in his head she was in danger and needed him. I explained you had it all well in hand and that my daughter was never in harm’s way.”
“I know all of this.” Islay sounded hard and angry still.
She tensed. Searc had worried about her while her father was away? Why hadn’t Islay told her?
Jessie knew the story of how she’d come to be in her father’s life. How a stranger had shown up with her, telling him that she was his child, born out of secret testing done overseas. That the evil masterminds behind the testing had been in possession of samples from her father of various kinds, and that they’d used his sperm to create her. She’d never heard the bit about Searc being the one who’d sensed the truth of the matter first.
That was news to her.
“Had it nae been for Searc, I might have sent the wee babe away or done worse, as I was nae a guid man then, Islay. None of us were.” He paused a moment. “Save Searc. He’d found a path out of the darkness. Without him, I might have done something I could never take back and I’d nae have my daughter. I love her more than life itself. I owe him much. And correct me if I’m wrong, but do you nae have a soft spot for my daughter, too?”
Islay scowled. “Aye, but I still do nae like him. I think he’s an asshole.”
There was something to Islay’s tone that left the hair on the back of Jessie’s neck standing on end.
Jessie spotted the two men coming around the corner. Her father was close to six and a half feet tall, with broad shoulders and a head of long auburn hair—much like her own. His skin was pale, like hers, and they had the same dark brown eyes. He had on a kilt today, a pair of biker boots, and a white dress shirt. Her friends all talked about how handsome he was, but she didn’t see it. He was just Daddy, not a sex symbol.
She shuddered at the idea of her father ever having intercourse.
She knew he did, but she didn’t want to know anything about it, much like he didn’t want to hear about her dating. Though she wouldn’t track down a woman he was with and try to kill them; her father would so do that to any man who dared to touch his baby.
The man next to him had a head of unruly dark blond hair that hung just past his shoulders, with hints of highlights in it that never changed, making her think they were natural. His gaze found Jessie and he drew up short, watching her closely—something he’d been doing more and more of as of late.
She’d known him since birth and loved him like family, though he was no relation to her. At least not in the normal way relations went. He was one of the men her father had sired, turning him into a vampire, and locking the man in around the age of twenty-three for all eternity.
“Lass,” said her father, smiling wide, showing fang. “Yer early and I’ve missed you.”
She winked. “I wanted to surprise you. I’d have already been here had I known ahead of time that you were getting home today.”
“Last-minute change of plans. Islay dinnae even know,” he said, approaching her quickly and drawing her into a massive hug. “I’ve missed you too, lass. I do nae want to go so long between seeing you again. That was the longest ever. My heart cannae take that again.”
“Your heart is fine and you’re immortal. Stop with the theatrics,” she mused.
Islay grinned. “She’s got you there.”
Jessie stiffened as Islay attempted to reach for her to hug her as well. Artfully, she dodged his effort to embrace and hugged her father tighter, wanting the safety her father provided. She had no reason to be scared of Islay. He’d been in her life since she’d arrived on her father’s doorstep and he’d always been good to her. That didn’t change the fact that she continued to lump him into her bizarre dreams and that he was the last person she’d been with before she’d lost an entire weekend.
Her father drew back slightly and glanced down at her. “Lass, you’ve been eating well since I was gone.”
She hesitated, taking a moment to get what he was saying. Her jaw dropped. “Daddy, are you saying I’m getting fat?”
He laughed. “Och, no. I’m saying you’ve finally put on some much-needed weight. There was nothing to you before. You look healthy now. Verra healthy. Suits you.”
She groaned. “For the record, Daddy, telling a woman she’s gained weight isn’t a good thing.”
He shrugged. “You were too thin before. The cook agreed. Has she cornered you yet to eat?”
Jessie paled, glancing around for signs of Hilga, her father’s cook. The woman was fierce and would force feed her if she felt the need for it. She also had a mustache that rivaled any man’s. But she also had a heart of gold, and a true gift in the kitchen. “No. Hide me if you see her. But not before you have her make me a peanut butter and pickle sandwich. Doesn’t that sound delicious?”
Her father’s nose scrunched. “Lass, it’s been some time since I ate food and truly found joy in it, but I do nae think that combination would be very appetizing.”
“You know what else sounds good?” She grinned. “Apples on a pizza with chocolate drizzled over it.”
He paled. “Lass, yer starting to sound like a woman who is expecting and experiencing cravings.”
She kept thinking of various food items she was hungry for, ignoring her father’s words.
He stilled, his gaze whipping over her. Her father drew in a deep breath and his brown eyes filled with flecks of black. “You smell of Searc.”
“Searc?” asked Islay, stealing the word from her mouth.
Jessie simply stared up at her father, wondering what his problem was. The black in his eyes meant his vampire side was close to the surface. She wasn’t scared of his vampire in the least even though she knew it had a longstanding reputation as a demon people didn’t want to tangle with.
He touched her shoulder. “He came to you? I told him that Islay had everything well in hand and you were fine. He came to you anyway and he dared to touch you! I will kill him!”
He jerked back from her and stared off into space. She’d seen him doing something similar on many occasions when he was summoning his vampires to him mentally. When she realized he was more than likely contacting Searc on the mental pathway they shared, she gasped and grabbed her father’s hand.
“Daddy, stop. You’re being ridiculous.”
“Am I?” he demanded, his nostrils flaring. “I come home to find you glowing, craving strange food combinations, and Searc’s scent all over you.”
Islay gasped, his gaze moving to her stomach. “No!”
Jessie laid a hand over it protectively until she realized she was playing into their delusion. “Would you two stop! It’s like you both sniffed the same bad crypt dust. Enough. I’m not pregnant. I can’t be. I’ve never had…” She stopped shy of saying the word sex in front of her father because she wasn’t sure he could handle it with as close to the surface as his demon was.
He stilled and then closed his eyes, opening them again to reveal the black was gone. Only brown remained. Her father was back fully. “Lass, I’m sorry.”
She touched his arm. “Daddy, that was really weird. Try not to let it happen again.”
He bowed his head in shame, looking more like a whipped puppy than a fearless master vampire. “I do nae know what came over me. I think I put too long between seeing you. It left me on edge. Of course yer nae expecting. Yer a guid girl. Forgive me, lass.”
Islay tensed, his gaze never wavering from her midriff, making her want to wrap her arms around her waist in a protective manner. She’d have openly laughed at his behavior if she still weren’t uneasy around him after their last dinner together, four months ago—when she’d come to days later.
The more he watched her, the more she wanted to move behind her father and shield her stomach from his prying eyes, as if she did have someone other than herself to protect. That was insane. She’d been telling the truth. She hadn’t ever had sex yet, and for good reason. No one knew what, if any, supernatural traits she may develop as she aged. It would be grossly unfair to bring a child into the world and not know what she might pass on to it.
And she was terrified that her father would hunt down any man she dared to be with and kill him. He could and he would. Sex would have to wait for marriage, and with the way her father was going, she’d be married sometime around her one-hundredth birthday.
Maybe.
If she was lucky.
Plus, she didn’t really like the idea of giving herself to just any man. Only one made her insides burn with desire, and he wasn’t exactly falling over himself to be around her. No. Searc showed no real interest in her beyond wanting her to be safe because she was her father’s daughter.
Her father kissed her temple. “Forgive my outburst, lass. I do nae know what came over me. And yer beautiful. You do nae weigh too much, though thick women are a thing of beauty. No man wants a woman who is naught more than skin and bones. Right, Islay?”
Islay continued to stare at her stomach. He jerked and then looked to her father. “What?”
“Are you well?” asked Cormag. “Did you feed today?”
“No. I should do that,” said Islay, sounding out of it, his gaze going to her stomach once more.
Her father laughed. “Was he this strange the entire time I was gone? I can only imagine how yer weekly dinners must have been without me.”
She tensed. Didn’t Islay tell her father that she’d stayed away? That they’d discontinued their weekly dinner ritual? Hadn’t he mentioned her overtaxing herself to the point she’d lost days and blacked out? From her father’s expression, the answer was no.
That was odd. As second-in-command, Islay was blood bound to tell her father everything. There were never secrets between her father and Islay. She’d grown used to that over her life.
Something was off.
Very off.
“Hug yer father again, lass,” said Cormag, drawing her against him. “Yer my baby. My only child and we willnae go four months between seeing one another ever again. Am I clear?” He kissed her forehead. “Lass, what exactly are you wearing?”
She sighed. She was in a long t-shirt that was dress length and a pair of leggings. He was right; she had been putting on some weight as of late, faster than she’d have liked, and most of her clothing had stopped fitting properly. She’d always been too thin according to everyone around her, but suddenly she wondered if that was the case anymore. “I’m fully covered.”
“I’d prefer if you wore a burlap sack. I do nae like knowing men can see you,” he returned, holding her close. “If one looks upon you, tell me, I’ll have his eyes ripped from his head.”
She patted his chest. “I know, Daddy. I know.”
Islay laughed, but it sounded forced and unlike him. “He means well.”
“He means what he says,” stated her father evenly. “No man is to touch her. Ever.”
“Daddy, if I join a nunnery, you can’t visit
me. You’ll never be able to cross the church threshold.” She batted her lashes up at him. “We’ve been over this before.”
He huffed. “Yer a handful.”
“Thanks!”
“Move back into the main house,” he pleaded.
She admired his restraint. He normally asked within seconds of her clearing the entrance to the house. “We’ve had this talk already. It takes too long to get to campus from here to go back and forth all day. It’s easier and faster for me to live near there.”
“I’ve more money than anyone can count. You do nae need higher education,” he said, still holding tight to her.
“Where is this coming from? You were all for me being educated to the max before.”
Islay snorted. “Someone showed him an exposé on college kids on spring break. He now believes you’re living in an endless den of debauchery.”
She took a small step back from her father. “I’m not and you very well know it.”
“Come, let us spend time together before dinner. And then what say you to going to the club for a bit with us? I’ve business to see to there, but I do nae think I can let you out of my line of sight again.”
“Daddy, I love you, but you do realize I’ll move out on my own for good at some point. More than just across town, right?”
His eyes widened and he touched his chest. “Do nae speak of such things!”
She snorted. “Fine. We’ll baby step into that.”
He calmed somewhat. “We can revisit the topic in a hundred or so years.”
She held her tongue on the matter. There was simply no reasoning with him. He would forever see her as his baby girl. He towered over her and she was by no means short. At five eight, she was tall for a woman, but nowhere near as tall as her father.
She hugged him tightly and stepped back. “Daddy, you know you look like you run a motorcycle club for wayward Scottish clansmen, right?”
Islay snickered and tried to hide it under a cough.
She eyed him, refraining from commenting on the fact he too was in a matching kilt, with biker books, but with a black rock band t-shirt on. He also had on a set of black leather bracelets. She lifted a brow.
Expecting Darkness Page 5
