by Emily Bex
Her plans to distract him while she retrieved the potion were quickly sidetracked, as her words fired his beast. She had momentarily forgotten that quick temper and how easily his beast could surface. Her fangs ripped and she locked eyes with him, growling her response. “You rile my beast, and this will be over before it begins. Is this how you want to greet me? Commanding me, on my knees?” Looking down, her tears began to flow, leaving a trail of red. “I thought it would be… you seem to be able to make me cry easily, please, don’t do this.”
He released the grip he had on her hair and reached out for her hand. “Take my hand, angel. I’m sorry I forced you to your knees, at least, for this purpose anyway. Let's start over. I'm afraid you caught me at a bad moment. Come, let's sit in the living room. I'll fix us both a drink.”
That’s it Max, relax. I need you to be calm, make us those drinks, show me where that potion is. Taking his hand, she quickly swiped away her tears with her other hand. Bringing his hand to her lips, she kissed his rough palm. “I was in the area, and I thought I’d just stop in. I can’t stay long, but I wanted to see you.”
He nodded. “I'm glad you did. You know we need to talk.”
He led her into the living room and she took a seat. He went to the bar and pulled out another bottle of Midnight and two glasses. He opened the drawer and removed two vials of the potion, pouring one in each glass then adding the Midnight, swirling the concoction as he walked back to her. “Drink up, angel, and explain to me that big rock on your hand. Does this mean you have made your decision?”
Rissa watched his every move, discovering where he kept the potion, and how much was needed. This could not be more perfect. Pulling her legs up under her, throwing her arm casually over the back of the couch, she took the glass he offered and downed it quickly, closing her eyes and letting it run through her system. “Thank you. Look, there’s no decision. What did you expect me to do? Expose everything to Alec? He would have killed me, and you know that. This ring means nothing to him, he doesn’t care about marriage, and neither do I. It just means a lot of work for me. This is all about him. It’s a charade, the Senator Canton show. He wants the mortal world to view him as a young and happily married man, with a beautiful successful wife on his arm. It’s a side-show for the Presidency. Do you think I’d be sitting here with you if I cared about this charade, or this meant anything to me? Give me some credit, Max!”
“Smart girl. I've told you all along, he’s just using you. I can bring him down, my angel. I can remove all the obstacles for us, and I will. It’ll be just a matter of time before it’s my bed you occupy.”
She pushed a stray lock of his beautiful long curls behind his ear and let her hand glide over that ruggedly handsome face and looked him in the eyes. “I know what you can do, Max, but I also have to get to the point of leaving him. It won’t be easy, and when it’s time, you’ll know.” Sighing, she leaned in and kissed him. “I want to go away with you for a day, a whole day, and not in this damn city. I want to go someplace far away, the beach, the mountains, anywhere but here. Once this circus show goes public, I won’t be able to breathe. Please, take me away somewhere.” Laying her head on his chest, she clung to him.
He buried his nose in her hair and ran his hand down her back. “It will be a freak show, my angel, and you’ll be in the middle of it. Where would you like to go? You name it, and I’ll take us there.”
Pulling back from him, she kissed him quickly. “The beach. I want to be in the warm sun, in the water, someplace no one knows me. I want to be free to play and make love to you. Imagine, running naked in the sun and water. Promise me!”
Kissing him all over his face, she knew she had him. She could arrange for someone to steal the potion while they were gone for the day, and she promised herself it would be her last time with him. It had to be, but her heart was still unsure. If she went away with him, would she want to come back? “Max, I have to go. I have a meeting and I can’t stay. I just wanted to make sure you understood about the ring. I’ll call you with the date I’ll be free for us to get away. I promise it won’t be long.” She stood to leave.
“I understand, angel. And the next time we're together, I'll make sure you never want to leave me again. We’ll have that day on the beach. I'll take us to my private island, and you’ll be treated like a queen. Now go, before I’m tempted to drag you off to my bed.”
He watched as she left, stepping over the broken glass and the pile of towels, and closing the door behind her. And damn if she didn't get out of cleaning up that mess! Well, my angel, I guess you don't do clean up after all. He could only laugh and shake his head as he vacuumed up the broken glass and blotted up the wine from the carpet. Women... can't live with them, can't live without them.
53
After a weekend of having him all to herself, they were back to their routine. Shade arrived home from D.C. as the sun was about to rise, then they shared their short time together before his death slumber when she slept beside him. It had been easy for her to flip her schedule upside down. She had always been a night person anyway, so staying up all night and sleeping with him during the day felt perfectly natural to her. With the electronic blinds in the house, the room remained pitch black anyway. He said things were slowing down in D.C., and she hoped so. She hoped that meant he would be home more often, that they would have more time together.
After he left, yet again, for the Dead House, she prepared to meet Luca. She never imagined when he came here as her protector that such a friendship would blossom.
Luca felt she was getting close to mastering the crossbow. That had been her original goal, and the timing couldn't have been better. Now with things slowing down in D.C., Shade didn’t take all the warriors in with him every night. The ones who stayed behind spent most of the evening hanging out at the fire pit. He couldn’t risk taking her out for weapons training and having one of the warriors see them. He had a reward for her, for all her hard work and he’d give it to her tonight. He heard her as she approached his door, and he met her and led her outside. She did her warm-up and they started to run.
Kate thought he seemed quiet as they began their run. “Is there something on your mind, Luca? You seem preoccupied.”
“The warriors. Shade has things pretty much under control in D.C., so he’s no longer taking all eight of them in with him. He rotates their schedule and usually leaves three or four here. And thanks to you and that nice fire pit, they spend their nights outside drinking Midnight. I don't want to risk them seeing me train you. The running is fine. That’s easily explained. But the weapons, that's a whole different issue. And I would especially hate for Shade to hear about it from one them.
You’re close to mastering the crossbow. I think we should wrap that up soon, like real soon. Then I think we need to come clean. I think we need to tell him. I don't like keeping secrets from him, Kate.”
She nodded in agreement. “No, neither do I. It's just, at the time... I felt like it was my only way to climb out of the darkness. He was in so much of his own pain, it was almost impossible for us to help each other. And then, the longer it went on, the harder it was to tell him. I hate that he doesn't know, Luca, and I hate that I’ve put you in this position as well. You're right. We do need to tell him. Can we finish, please? Finish up whatever it is you have planned for me to do? And then we just need to find the right time. I know he won't be happy. There’s no way around that, I'm afraid.”
Luca thought to himself, not happy is an understatement. He knew Shade had wanted to train her himself. “Let's just say it’s a conversation I'm looking forward to, but I think we have to face it head-on.”
Kate reached out to him. “You're right. I know you're right. But let me pick the time, okay? When I can maybe feel like he’ll be less volatile?”
“Oh, trust me, I have no problem with that. The less volatile, the better.”
As they completed the loop and got back to the house, Luca could hear some of the warriors down by
the fire pit. He told her they were going to skip the weight bench tonight, and just have her focus on the crossbow. He moved deeper into the woods, away from the house and away from view, and set up targets for her. He handed her the quiver and she easily slid it over her shoulder. He liked the ease with which she moved. She was comfortable with the longbow and the crossbow. He handed her the crossbow and she began her routine of target shooting. She hit one bulls-eye after another. She was a natural at this. He wished Shade could see her. As she was deep in concentration, he could still hear the warriors at the fire pit and it made him nervous. He let her shoot a few more rounds and then he called it a night. “Let's wrap it up. Follow me back to the house, I have something for you. A surprise.”
“For me? You have something for me? What? What is it?”
“Do you not understand the meaning of the word surprise?” He laughed at her. “You’ll see when we get back to the house.”
They entered the house from the rear patio. He asked her to stand in the corridor outside his suite with her back turned to his door while he retrieved the gift. He picked up the package and returned to the corridor. “Okay, you can turn around now.”
When she turned around, he was holding out a large package wrapped in brown paper, and he handed it over to her.
“Can I open it now?”
He nodded his head yes, and she ripped through the paper to find a suit of leathers. She held the garments up to admire them, and she was speechless.
“Every warrior needs leathers, and you have earned yours. I had Cory hand tool these just for you. Go try them on.”
She was jumping up and down with excitement. She gave him a big hug then ran up the stairs to the bedroom to try on the leathers. The leather was a matte black, soft, and supple, and conformed to her body. There was even a hood and face guard. She put them on and came back down the stairs for him to see.
He looked up to see her on the stairs. With her red hair hidden from view, her face partially covered, only her small size gave her away, but she looked like the warrior she’d worked so hard to become. She wasn’t field-tested, and after the deer incident, he wondered if she’d ever kill. She had the skills, but did she have the will? She acted from her heart, not her head, and his instincts told him she’d fight to defend what she loved. “Good job, little warrior. You deserve it.”
As she modeled the leathers, Luca suddenly felt Shade close by. He felt his presence with the other warriors. Fuck! Good thing they wrapped up early. “Shade is here. Get upstairs and get that off... now! Be sure to put it somewhere he won't find it.”
She ran back up the stairs, removing the leathers as she went. When she got to the bedroom, she put her jeans and sweater back on and stuffed the leathers in a dresser drawer. She had no idea when she would ever wear them, but she would figure out a better place to store them later.
54
It was only 3 a.m. and nothing, not a damn fucking thing, was going down. Shade knew he had warriors out there who were bored, and a bored warrior was less attentive. That was never a good thing. He knew they were all a trustworthy group. Well, with the exception of one, perhaps, and who the hell knew what Raven was doing? Shade decided to check in. Shadowing himself, he sniffed him out and found him sitting on a rooftop in his assigned quadrant, wearing a leather jacket, a kilt, combat boots, and lighting up a cigarette.
Cazzo! I swear to fucking hell this kid is going to put me in my grave permanently. He should have sent Raven’s ass back to Florence with the others, but for some odd reason, he couldn’t do it. If things decided to bust loose here again, Shade needed Raven’s speed. Despite his smaller size and disregard for the rules, Shade had to admit, Raven was among his best warriors. And if Shade was totally honest with himself, he knew he cut Raven a lot of slack because he was amused by him.
“If you got paid for all the time you fuck off smoking, I would be broke, sure as hell, Raven.”
Raven didn’t startle at the sudden and unexpected appearance of his master. Rather, he held up his pack of cigarettes to Shade, offering him one. Busted. Like I give a rat’s ass.
“Nice of you to show up, boss man. If there was something to do besides smoke, maybe I’d be doing it. Let’s get real here, shall we? I see the situation like this.” Turning his head from left to right slowly, his waist-long black hair swung from side to side. Raven held his arms out to his sides, spreading them wide. “Do you see any rogues, any threat? Do you see anything that would prompt me to not light one up? If you do, master, please inform me and enlighten my weary, bored, awesome warrior ass.”
Shade tried not to laugh. He wouldn’t accept such insolence from others, but he shook his head and crouched down beside Raven. Reaching over, he took the damn butt out of Raven’s mouth. “What the fuck is going down, Rave? This is ridiculous. I’m the fucking master warrior and all I do is sit behind the desk. I have to admit, my ass is weary and bored as well.”
As he took the cigarette out of his mouth, Shade’s fingers brushed his lips, and Raven’s heart skipped a beat, and it crossed his mind that, if Shade ever needed to feed, his ass would be first in line.
Marcello had suggested he take leave and go back to Florence since things were slow here. Raven thought he must be fucking nuts to think he would leave this place. He liked it here. Besides, he was close to master, got to swing a few heads to the ground from time to time, maybe make a good impression. All of Shade’s warriors knew he rewarded those who delivered, and Raven was looking for a way up. Not to mention, freedom was a glorious thing, and Raven had his sights set on busting loose. The vampire culture in the States didn’t seem quite as formal as Europe, and he’d like the chance to explore.
“At least you’re honest about it, master. But seriously, you could be home doing the little mate, or riding the Harley, getting drunk and playing poker. Think about it, you may decide this gig is done and we should seriously go home for some uninhibited fun.”
Growling, Shade grabbed a fistful of Raven’s hair and pulled his face to his and ground out his words, “You fucking little runt, watch your mouth! I am just in the mood to whale on someone and you fit the bill. She is my lady to you. And you will address her as such. We clear? Don’t you ever forget who is master here and where you came from. Your ass can go back real quick.”
Shade knew he joked, but sometimes, this one pushed the envelope too far. Releasing his hair, Shade pushed him over.
Raven knew deep in his gut Shade would never hurt him, not intentionally, just not how the big man rolled. “Sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood. Guess it didn’t work.”
Sitting back up, Raven smiled at him and Shade punched him in the shoulder.
“Well, at least I know you paid attention to half the shit Marco and I tried to teach you. You can’t always learn the things you need to know in the classroom, or even on the field. The true warrior comes out when the cards are on the table, the way your beast rips it up inside you, the way your blood pumps through your veins, not something I can teach, but something you feel and grasp and own. Now, if I could just control that damn flapping jaw of yours, we might make you a warrior someday. Cazzo, you are something else, you crazy little bastard.”
Raven turned his head toward Shade, letting his hair fall across his face and proceeded to bat his lashes at him furiously while grinning. “Oh master, when I grow up, I want to be a warrior just like you.”
As they both laughed, Raven watched him shake his head as the wind blew those dark curls around his handsome face. He liked hearing him laugh, having him sit so near. “But will you get off the damn fence and let us go home already.”
Standing up, Shade laughed at him again. If nothing else, Raven did make him laugh, almost as much as bel, and that was saying something. “Come on, you half-grown speed demon, let’s go home. I got new warriors coming in at sunrise, and I could use some downtime to relax. Besides, there is a crimson-haired goddess calling my ass home.”
When Shade and Raven teleporte
d in, the warriors were gathered around the fire pit, sucking up the Midnight.
“Listen up! I am missing my woman, so let’s bring my lady down from her turret in the castle.”
As they huddled arm in arm in a circle around the fire, Shade put the song into their heads, and on his count, he instructed them to sing as loudly as they could. “One, two, three…” They broke out in song, singing Van Morrison’s song, Tupelo Honey loudly enough to rattle the stars.
Kate was in their bedroom, stuffing the leathers in the bottom drawer when she heard a chorus of male voices from the fire pit. She laughed out loud as some were dreadfully off-key, but she recognized Shade’s call to her. Pulling on her boots she headed out the door and walked through the gardens to the path that led toward the staff quarters. She paused when she was close enough to see the group of slightly intoxicated warriors arm in arm around the fire pit, singing at the top of their lungs. She waited for them to finish their serenade, and then she called to him, “Looking for me, lover?”
Shade watched the sway of her hips as she approached, with her glorious crimson hair flowing behind her in the night breeze. The smile on her face was so beautiful it almost dropped him to his knees. She slid her arms under his jacket and around his waist. He bent into her neck, kissing her softly. He wrapped his jacket around the both of them, crushing her to his chest. “Si, mi amore, I was. Your warrior is home early. You are pleased, si?”
“Pleased? Come with me, and I’ll show you just how pleased I am.”
He growled softly. “You would have me leave my brave strong warriors to come with you? Mmm, master has to think on this, mi amore.” He kissed her deep and long to the sound of whistles and catcalls from his warriors.
