To Die For

by Trista Ann Michaels

  Finally, his attacker jumped through the window. Amy had closed her eyes as the glass rained down around them. When she’d gotten out from under him and turned back around, his attacker was already out the window.

  Kaelen dropped his hands and sighed with disappointment. She hadn’t seen any more than he had. He still wasn’t sure who it was.

  “I’m sorry, Kaelen,” she whispered, and he raised his gaze to stare at her.

  He shook his head and lifted his hands to cup her cheeks. “It’s okay.”

  He rubbed his thumbs across her cheeks and gave her a small smile he was sure didn’t reach his eyes. He could tell by the look of sympathy in her beautiful blue gaze.

  “Damn,” Kaelen breathed as he briefly placed his forehead against hers. “I need to find my brother.”

  Dropping his hands, he turned and walked toward the door. “Now?” she asked, and he stopped.

  He glanced back over his shoulder and found Amy staring at him as though he’d lost his mind.

  “Kaelen, you’re still healing. You need to let Vincent find him.”

  Kaelen turned around to fully face her. Her forceful demand that he stay and continue to heal surprised him. He knew she desired him, but did she care for him as well? He could’ve seen that in her mind but couldn’t bring himself to look. He wasn’t sure of his own feelings; he didn’t think he could look too closely at hers.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “You need to let them bring him here, so you’re not attacked again. At least here you would have backup.”

  Kaelen’s brows rose in surprise. “Are you worried about me?”

  Amy blew out a quick breath and rolled her eyes toward the right. “Don’t try to get me to admit something to you I’m not ready to admit to myself. Even if you saw it in my head, just don’t…”

  She gave him a pleading look for him to understand.

  “Fair enough,” Kaelen replied, understanding completely what she meant.

  If she were to ask him right now how he felt about her, he wasn’t sure he would be able to tell her either. He wasn’t sure he knew.

  “If they bring him here, it puts everyone in this house in danger. I need to go to him.”

  “What if he’s involved?”

  “Then I need to deal with him.”

  “You would kill your own brother?”

  He stared, silent. Would he? “No,” he finally admitted. “But I couldn’t let him go free. Not if he’s behind this faction that wants control.”

  “What would happen if they gained control?”

  Kaelen shook his head sadly. “You don’t want to know.”

  “Try me.”

  Kaelen moved and leaned his elbows against the back of the chair facing Jason’s desk. It was a move more to help him keep his hands off her than anything else. As long as the chair was between them, maybe he could keep himself more under control. She had a way of making him crazy without really even trying.

  “A few years ago, a witch tried to take control of the council. He had the support of a lot of vampires and even had one of the vampires turn him, which made him even more powerful. He was tired of living under the control of the witches. He was tired of being controlled. He wanted to bring the vampires into the limelight, so to speak. He wanted humans to know we existed, and he wanted them to fear us. Humans would be their buffet and nothing more.”

  Amy shuddered and crossed her arms over her breasts. “What happened to him?”

  “He was killed by another vampire. But he had followers. Vampires who wanted the same things.”

  “And you think Merrick might be one of those followers?”

  “Possibly, but I hope not.”

  “But if there are a lot of followers, who’s to say that if you take out this leader, another won’t just jump in and take his place?”

  “There’s nothing to say that won’t happen. It’s a battle that’s been going on for centuries, and I’m the one that has captured the majority of them. This isn’t going to end overnight.”

  Kaelen watched the tip of her tongue as it darted out to lick at her lower lip. He was mesmerized by the quick movement and realized his fingers were tightening and digging into his palms. He let his fingers slowly relax and tried to think of something else.

  “What will you do for me if I stay here?” he blurted.

  Her eyes widened, then narrowed. “Excuse me?”

  “I’ll stay and give Vincent’s feelers one night to try and find my brother if you agree to spend the evening with me.” She opened her mouth to speak, and he held up his hand. “No sex. Just talk.”

  “Talk about what?” she asked as she visibly relaxed.

  “Well. We’ve talked a lot about me. How about tonight, we talk about you?”

  She remained silent, thinking. “Okay. But I need to eat. You may have a diet that consists only of blood, but I need food.”

  Kaelen smiled just a little. “I can watch you eat.”

  Amy’s lips twisted. “Watch me eat, huh?” she mumbled.

  “Would you prefer I feed you with my bare hands?” he asked, teasing her.

  “Watching me is good.”

  Kaelen chuckled as he turned to unlock the door and lead her to the kitchen.

  “Kaelen,” she said with just a hint of hesitation.

  He stopped and spun around to face her. “Yes?”

  “Thank you for not taking my password.”

  He blinked in surprise. “How did you…”

  She shrugged sheepishly. “I heard your thoughts.”

  Kaelen’s brows rose, but he said nothing as he turned to head toward the kitchen. Son of a bitch. He hadn’t expected that.

  Amy followed Kaelen down the hall to the kitchen and inwardly wondered what the hell she’d just agreed to. Could they really spend hours together and not have sex? Could she really sit close to him and keep her hands to herself?

  There were so many questions she would love to ask him about his life. He’d seen and done so many things. He’d lived for centuries, fought in wars, seen monarchies rise and fall. God only knew what else. It was fascinating to think about. Living forever and seeing all the things the world and the future had to offer.

  Kaelen stepped into the kitchen and clapped his hands once. He rubbed them together as he stared around the room. Finally, he turned to her and shrugged. “I’m out of my element.”

  Amy smiled. “I would imagine so.” She moved past him to the cabinets. “Sit down. I’ll find something.”

  After searching the cabinets, she moved to the fridge and found several leftovers—lasagna, chicken, roast, and a multitude of vegetables. As she searched through the stash, she remembered Jason saying something about the cook always leaving plenty of food in the fridge because he and Vincent often raided it during the night, especially if they were working on something.

  Making her choice, she set everything on the counter and went to grab a plate. Kaelen sat at the island, silently watching her with interest. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “What?”

  “I was just thinking.”

  “About?” she asked as she moved back to the counter.

  The corner of his mouth lifted in a sad smile, and she wondered what he was thinking or perhaps who he might be thinking of.

  “Have you ever been married?” she blurted, and he lifted his gaze to hers in surprise.

  “Married?” He gaped. “God, no.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Don’t want to get married?” His reaction stung just a hair, but she shoved that feeling aside as best as she could so she wouldn’t have to analyze it too closely.

  He stared at her intently, and she held her breath. “I didn’t used to think I did.”

  She quickly dropped her gaze and began to scoop out potatoes onto her plate.

  “Do you want to get married, Amy?” he asked softly.

  The question surprised her, and she met his gaze over the island. “I always thought I would someday, but I haven’t
really been actively looking. I’ve been too busy with my career and getting settled into forensics. I’m just twenty-seven, so it’s not like I’m running out of time or anything.”

  He frowned and tilted his head to the side. “Twenty-seven,” he murmured.

  “Are you going to tell me you thought I was older?” she asked.

  “No. Younger.”

  She pursed her lips. “I’m going to try and not look at that too closely.”

  Kaelen chuckled. “I didn’t think you were twelve or sixteen, just more around twenty-four.”

  Amy shook her head and smiled slightly as she arranged a piece of roast and carrots next to the potatoes.

  “We would have a hell of an age gap,” he said, his voice light and teasing. “Me at four hundred and twenty-two and you at twenty-seven.”

  “You’re a cradle robber,” she replied.

  “Either that or you’re a predator, only after my money.”

  She looked up in surprise. “You have money?”

  “Of course I have money,” he said with a laugh. “How else would I live? On the street?”

  “Well, I just… I mean I…” she stammered, and Kaelen chuckled at her obvious discomfort.

  “Most vampires as old as I am have money, and lots of it. We’ve learned over the centuries how to accumulate it and invest it.”

  “What do you do about the age thing? Surely your accounts are not four hundred years old,” she said as she set the plate in the microwave.

  “Actually, they’re just under four hundred,” he replied. “We don’t use the same banks that you do.”

  “Ah,” she said with a nod. “Vampire Credit Union or First Bank of the Witch’s Council?”

  Kaelen shook his head, his chest shaking with silent laughter. “Something like that,” he murmured.

  The way he smiled at her made her heart skip a beat, so she turned back to her cooking food in the microwave.

  “Tell me about you,” he said softly. “Parents? Siblings?”

  “No to both. I was raised in foster homes.”

  “Are you close to any of them?”

  “No,” she said without turning around.

  She was uncomfortable talking about her childhood. It was cold, sometimes frightening, and she’d hated every second of it. She’d started working at fifteen to save money for college. She’d been determined to go so she would have a life—a much better life.

  “Let’s see…what else is there about me,” she said thoughtfully, trying to steer Kaelen away from her childhood and lack of loving parents. “I love chocolate; I hate shrimp. I enjoy thrillers but don’t really care for horror movies. I like most any kind of music. I’m eclectic that way.” The microwave beeped, and she pulled the plate out, hissing as it burned her hand slightly. She placed it quickly on the island and grabbed a fork from the drawer. “I hate mornings. I’m more of a night person. I love the beach, but I’m fair, so I can’t stay out too long. And the one thing that people do that pisses me off the most is to tell me they’re going to do something, then they don’t do it.”

  “I’ll remember that,” he said with a sideways grin.

  “Are you and Merrick close?” she asked.

  Kaelen blinked, and she realized just how out of the blue that question had been.

  “Not like we used to be.” Kaelen frowned slightly. “Merrick has been very distant lately, now that I think about it. I just thought it was a business issue or something to do with his vineyard.”

  “He has a vineyard?”

  “Yes. A very large one, actually. He owns half, and I own the other half, but Merrick runs it. My time is taken up with council matters more often than not.”

  “Does the council know Merrick sometimes takes your place?”

  Kaelen shook his head. “That would not be allowed. But there have been several times I couldn’t get there, and instead of giving up my vote, I would send Merrick in my place. They were never the wiser.”

  “The two of you play each other that well?”

  “He plays me that well. I haven’t tried to play him since we were children.”

  She chewed for a few seconds and then raised her fork, pointing it at him. “I wonder if you were to play him now if you would get any answers.”

  Kaelen’s lips twisted. “Only if I knew where to start looking. Just playing him for a day would probably not yield anything.” He clasped his hands in front of him on the counter. “How did this get back to me?”

  She shrugged and placed a bite of potato in her mouth.

  * * * *

  Edward slowly moved to the laptop at the far side of the room. It was the only one left at the lab he hadn’t checked yet. There had to be something—otherwise why would Kaelen be screwing around with a human? Kaelen hated humans and used them only when necessary.

  He glanced toward the door to make sure no one was coming and lifted the lid to the small computer. The screen flashed to life, and he stared at it. One file grabbed his attention right away. It was marked “vampire drug.”

  He moved the mouse over the file and clicked it open. His eyes widened as he searched through the various files and documents and notes.

  “Son of a bitch,” he breathed. “She has proof.”

  Now it didn’t matter what Kaelen was doing with her. She had to be killed. She had proof of their existence. Checking the door one last time, he closed the laptop and unplugged it. He definitely couldn’t leave this here.

  He started to leave, then stopped. How many others had seen her work? He’d only seen this research on one computer. Could it be possible she was the only one who had access to this one? He looked down at the computer and noticed the sticker on the side with her name on it. It was her computer. He would just have to take it and hope no one else had seen it. Killing a woman was one thing. Killing the whole forensics department of the police station was another.

  Chapter Nine

  Amy swallowed her bite and reached for another. She suddenly didn’t feel as hungry as she had before, possibly because Kaelen was again looking at her as though she was lunch and he was starving.

  Her mind kept returning to the night before and the way Kaelen had made her come over and over again. His hands and mouth had made her beg and scream, pleading for more, pleading for him not to stop, pleading for him to take her.

  Kaelen stood and walked over to the counter to her right. Amy watched him as he pulled a glass from the cabinet, then reached for a bottle of wine. He poured some into the glass and then set it before her.

  “You seem a little nervous. That should help.”

  She picked up the glass with shaking fingers and brought it to her lips. She swallowed a large bit, enjoying the fruity taste of the red wine and the way her body warmed as it settled on her stomach. She really shouldn’t drink too much of this. She’d do something she’d regret later in a big way.

  “I know I told you no sex,” he murmured in her ear as he moved in behind her. “But I’m having a hard time thinking of anything else.”

  Amy swallowed and opened her lips to drink down another bit of wine in the hopes it would settle her nerves. He dragged the backs of his fingers down her arm, and she shivered.

  “I keep seeing you naked, your pussy covered in your cream as your body gets excited. I like the way you taste and smell.”

  He leaned down to kiss the side of her neck, and she froze, unable to move as his lips gently brushed across her skin. Sweet Lord, he was going to make her beg again; she just knew it.

  Her fingers loosened their grip on her fork, and it fell, clattering against the plate. Kaelen grabbed her wrists and placed her hands on the counter, holding his over them to keep them in place. His lips continued to work their way down to the bend in her neck where it met with her shoulder, making her breath catch in her throat.

  He could sometimes be so gentle and sometimes so wild. She liked it when he got wild. She liked that rough side to him, the side that spanked her ass and yanked on her hair. It s
et her blood racing through her veins with a loud roar in her ears.

  “Keep them there,” he whispered as his hands left hers and moved to her hips.

  He rubbed them slowly down the outsides of her thighs, then back up again. One hand moved around to the front, and the other followed. She held her breath, anxious for his touch. He slid them both between her legs, softly rubbing against her mound. His touch made her want to mewl and sigh, which she often did without even thinking.

  “I bet you’re wet now, aren’t you?” he murmured in her ear.

  Amy swallowed but said nothing. She didn’t have to. If he couldn’t tell by her breathing and her pounding heart just how excited she was, then the man didn’t have a clue.

  His fingers unhooked the button of her jeans, then moved to the zipper and slid it down. She bit down on her lower lip as he slid her jeans down over her hips, exposing her bare ass to his touch.

  “No panties,” he said as he pushed his hand back between her legs. “I like that.”

  Amy sighed as his fingers lightly separated her labia and smoothed the cream over her flesh. He removed his hand, and she jerked her hips, seeking his touch, her body instinctively wanting it back. He used one hand to slide her plate over, then caught her by surprise when he gripped her around the waist and lifted her up, forcing her onto the island on her stomach.

  He quickly removed her shoes, then removed her jeans with one quick jerk. She tried to bring herself to her elbows, but he pushed her back down, forcing her flat. She definitely liked this side of him.

  He grasped her upper thighs, lifting them slightly as he pulled her back toward him, scooting her stomach along the top of the counter. She frowned, wondering what he was doing.

  His head dipped, and he slid his tongue into her passage, then lower to circle her clit. She gasped at the unusual position as well as the way his tongue flicked across her swollen nub.

  “Kaelen, you’re insane.” She panted as his teeth nibbled the edge of her labia.