From somewhere beyond the Dumpsters, she heard something. She went still, not even breathing. Crap. What if it was a bear? Or a mountain lion? Did Colorado have mountain lions?
Another sound, only slightly louder than before. A low moan.
She almost turned around and fled into the restaurant, her mind full of images of a bear attack or something equally horrible. But the moan hadn’t sounded exactly…unpleasant.
Again, she almost turned back the way she’d come. Only the image of the smug expression on Brent’s face if she made a scene and it turned out to be nothing kept her from going back in.
Not sure if she was being stupid to check, or a pervert, since that noise had sounded rather heated, she edged her way to the Dumpsters. She just needed a quick peek, to make sure no one was hurt.
What she saw made her stop in her tracks.
Even with his head turned downward and his hair covering part of his face, he was unmistakable. Charles. Standing behind a woman whose back was nestled against his front, they faced the direction Rachel had come from. He seemed to be kissing her neck. She made low, needy noises while he gripped her tightly against him. The blonde Rachel had pointed out to him earlier.
Rachel gasped and something clenched in her stomach at the sight. It was so wrong, yet she couldn’t look away.
Charles’s eyes flew open and his gaze locked on to hers. Then, with a final lick, he pulled his mouth away from the woman’s neck.
Blood and teeth. No. Not teeth.
Fangs.
…
“Wait,” Charles Wright commanded, flooding Rachel with the energy he’d just taken from the blonde she’d so kindly selected for him.
Rachel halted in her tracks, and he felt just the slightest pinch of guilt.
Unfounded guilt. And a bit odd. Using his vampiric powers wasn’t something he hesitated to do. Unlike his brothers, who constantly cautioned him to follow the rules. But although he’d lived only a few years beyond a century, he couldn’t remember a time when vampires had truly been hunted by anything except for the occasional rebel faction from within.
He licked the blood from his lips and stepped back from the blonde. The smell of her perfume was a touch overwhelming, and combined with the scent from the trash bins, it wasn’t exactly whetting his appetite. But he’d needed the power. He just hadn’t realized he’d need it quite so soon.
“Come to me, Rachel.” This had worked out almost too perfectly. Maybe that’s why it felt a bit off. He hadn’t known who she was when he hit on her in the pub—he’d only spoken to her because she piqued his interest. She’d looked oddly out of place among the happy tourists. He certainly hadn’t expected her to walk out just as he finished feeding.
It was a pity, really. She seemed like a nice enough woman. That she obviously disliked Brent Strub was a clear mark in her favor. He’d even considered using her to get closer to Brent, once she’d shown up with them at the dining table, but their obviously strained relationship made her less useful.
Not that he dated much beyond a week or two—as long as a month sometimes—but Rachel was different. He would have enjoyed convincing her to have a little fun with him.
But fun would have to wait. Someone had been making threatening calls to Alice, his brother’s fiancée and a woman whom Charles was quickly starting to think of as a sister. His brother Noah was none too pleased, especially since the caller insinuated that he or she knew what Noah was. Charles hadn’t been given details outside of that yet, but Alice was in trouble, and her ex-fiancé, Brent Strub, was just nasty enough a man to be the cause of it.
Pretending to run a successful company with enough capital to make Brent a ton of money had made luring the scumbag into Charles’s life almost too easy. And the timing was perfect. Sure, it wasn’t convenient to travel to Colorado just to investigate Brent, but it made watching his movements and tracking his phone calls simpler than following him around in California. As Brent’s guest, he easily explained away his presence.
He turned his attention to the blond woman. “Leave us. Go to bed.”
A touch of power was all it took. The woman nodded woodenly and turned around, heading back into the lodge.
One mess cleaned up, he turned his attention back to Rachel. She’d turned at his command, but there was something wrong with her expression. Vacant was how humans usually looked when under the influence of a vampire. But she appeared…perturbed. And she wasn’t even looking at him—instead she watched the blonde walk away, her arms crossed and a distinctively nervous expression on her face.
“Rachel,” he said, pushing power into his voice. The power to command, to bend humans to his will. “Come here.”
She took a step back.
What the hell? He pushed harder. “Rachel,” he said again.
“What?” she answered, voice sharp with irritation. “I’m not walking over there, so stop trying to order me around.”
He blinked, pushing down a slight feeling of panic. He wasn’t going to fail at this mission—not because this small human had taken him by surprise.
Never, not once in a hundred years, had he met a human who simply shrugged off his powers like that. Not even when he was younger. He’d heard of it happening to other vampires, of course, but his powers of persuasion had always been stronger than normal. He smelled her fear, broadcasting so severely that a human might sense it. But her chin was squared and while she didn’t look in his eyes, she didn’t drop her gaze from his shoulder.
A tiny smile touched his lips. “Do you think I’m trying to charm you with my gaze?”
“Isn’t that what you people do?” she asked, voice high and reedy.
“Us people?”
The word came out forced through gritted teeth. “Vampires.” She cursed softly under her breath and some of the strength faded from her posture. “Why am I still here?” she muttered. Another step back.
“What makes you think I’m a vampire?” Influencing her wasn’t an option, but maybe he could help her to be less afraid of him. That would be an easier use of his power, and one that she couldn’t easily resist, especially since he was loaded up with the blonde’s blood. If she ran into that restaurant screaming “vampire”…well, it would make it that much more difficult to get close to Brent.
“I’ve seen the movies. Read the books. Either you’re a vampire or you’re a serious freak wearing some very convincing fake fangs that somehow retract into your teeth.”
Hell. He hadn’t even thought to cover it up, although his fangs had immediately retracted when he’d seen her.
Using a burst of power, he did his best to calm her.
She had an iron will, but her breathing slowed slightly, and she stopped edging away from him. That was a start.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
“That’s exactly what a vampire about to hurt me would say.”
“Touché. But I’m really not.”
“Not a vampire?”
“Not going to hurt you,” he corrected. Going into the whole spiel about how he was a good vampire, a lawful one who believed in the sanctity of life, was hardly going to convince her after she’d caught him drinking someone’s blood. And even though her fear had lessened, she didn’t exactly look ready to sit down with him over a beer for a long talk. “I could go into a speech about how life has value, but you’d dismiss that as a lie.”
Her lips twitched. The calming had definitely taken the edge off her fear. “Give it a shot.”
“Well, it’s true. Vampires aren’t undead creatures who”—he raised his hands like they were clawed—“vant to suck your blood.” He gave her his best Dracula voice.
A laugh broke free, but it sounded half hysterical.
“Seriously. I’m just a man with different dietary needs.” And enhanced speed, strength, and senses. Probably best not to point that out, or the fact that he could normally control a person’s mind and memories to a certain extent. “I don’t kill people. Ever. It’s kind of
a rule.”
“A vampire rule.”
“A law, really. Also a human law, unless I’m mistaken. Unless our lives are in danger, we aren’t permitted to kill humans. And believe me, it’s not a pleasant fate if you’re caught by the vampire council.”
She wasn’t convinced. “Then what exactly were you doing to that poor woman before I came out here?”
“Not killing her. Borrowing a bit of her blood. And giving her a hell of a good implanted memory to go with it.” He winked.
Another nervous laugh escaped her, but the hysterical edge wasn’t quite so sharp. “Is that how you get your reputation? Convincing women they had a life-altering time with you, when all you really did was use them for food?”
“You think I have a reputation? You burn me.” He gripped his heart dramatically.
“I have no doubt your reputation precedes you many places, vampire.” She swallowed hard and repeated herself. “Vampire.”
“I told you the truth. I’m not allowed to kill you—and I wouldn’t be inclined to, even if I were.”
“Why not?”
“Rob the world of such wit and gorgeous eyes? I think not.”
Eyes wide, her mouth moved, but no words emerged.
“But like I said, it’s against the law. And I have no desire for medieval punishment to be thrust upon me. If you don’t care to believe that, let’s start with another reason I wouldn’t want to hurt you. If you mysteriously disappeared, it would make it difficult to conclude my business this weekend with Brent.”
“Business is important to vampires?”
“No,” he said, drily, “we conjure money with our mystical powers.” He waved his hands in his best magician impression.
She clapped a hand over her mouth, but he could hear the snicker she’d tried to cover. With a sigh, she dropped her hand and studied him, finally meeting his gaze. Her hazel eyes were quite lovely, and with the dark wavy hair that had escaped her bun to curl around her face and settle at her shoulders, she was a lot prettier than a man might presume at first.
Rachel’s was a quiet beauty, different from the rambunctious crowd at the bar; Charles hadn’t missed it. But it was the intellect behind her unfriendly gaze that had pulled him in. Her sharp tongue only made him more intrigued.
A grin touching his lips, he spread his arms wide. “I totally could have taken you out by now anyway. Vampire speed and all.”
A few moments of silence passed, and he could practically hear the gears in her mind grinding. “What is Brent to you, exactly?”
“An important business contact.”
“So you’re not his friend?”
“Hardly.” Derision soaked his tone, even though it might be safer to play his dislike closer to his chest. Friends with an ass like that? Never. Hell, he’d never do business with slime like Brent Strub either, but she couldn’t know that.
Her mouth dropped open. “You don’t like him?”
“Liking someone is hardly a requirement of doing business with them.”
“What kind of business?”
“The personal kind. The important kind. The man is so coated in slime that I’d never do business with him otherwise.” That much was true. “But luckily for him, slime is something necessary for this particular job.”
Her expression shifted, as if she’d decided something important. She took a step toward him, even as he could hear her pulse jump another notch. “So, if I ran around screaming ‘vampire,’ it would mess up this seemingly important business deal?”
Closing the gap between them, he crowded her. A quick intake of breath was her only reaction. He liked her determination when she didn’t step back.
“I need your help, and you want me to be quiet,” she said, as if reminding herself it was true.
“Are you attempting to blackmail me, Rachel?”
Her gaze dropped and she chewed on the inside of her lip, as if the reality of what she was attempting to do was finally sinking in.
With a single finger beneath her chin, he tipped her face up. Her hazel eyes, which he’d thought merely pretty when he’d first noticed them, stared back at him, narrowing in anger even as her fear enveloped them both.
“I’m proposing an arrangement. A business arrangement. You seem open to those.”
“Oh, I am. I’m open to all sorts of arrangements.” He couldn’t help the flirtatious grin that touched his lips. Fascinating. She was actually going to try to control him with a little bit of knowledge. “Although I can’t say I’m interested in a business arrangement with you.” He slid his finger down her jaw to graze her throat.
“Stop that.” She slapped at his hand and he dropped it to his side with a chuckle.
“What do you have in mind?” He was more than intrigued.
A deep breath of air filled her lungs, and she released it with a flurry of words. “I’ll keep your secret. And you’ll help me break up my sister and Brent.”
That, he hadn’t expected. Sure, her dislike of the man was palpable, but she had to know she was risking her relationship with her sister over this. Kristen had already chosen the man over her best friend—choosing him over her sister wasn’t a leap. “That’s…an interesting proposition. But why don’t we just agree that you’ll keep your mouth shut and I won’t do anything irreparable to your person in exchange?”
The muscles in her jaw tightened. “No deal.”
Damn. She was brave. And more than a little foolish.
Imagine that. A human who would use a vampire she thought was at her disposal to help someone else. It was…refreshing. “Well, I can see why you’d want to break them up—Brent is a jackass. But not sure how helpful I could be with that.”
Thinking hard, her brows drew together in a most adorable fashion. “Well, you could flirt with her. If you’ve got better pickup lines than the smarmy ones you tried on me.”
“I’ll have you know that I’m very charming.”
“If you say so.” She brightened. “At least you’re pretty.”
“Quit calling me—you know what, never mind. I think that’ll be perfect. I’ll seduce your sister—”
“You will not! I won’t have her hurt like that.”
God, the woman was stubborn. “Okay. No seducing.”
“No seducing,” she repeated.
“But I don’t see that working anyway. In order to…complete my business with Brent, he can’t be out for my blood.”
“Seriously? Out for your blood? That’s dramatic.”
Why was he even discussing this? Helping her wasn’t in the plan. But her mind was strong, and it would be easier to get answers about Brent if he didn’t have to worry about Rachel screaming vampire. “Dramatic, maybe. But no less true.”
She grimaced and thought about that for a moment, and then she smiled. It was as if the sun brightened the dark night. “That’s it. It’s not her we need to mess with—it’s him. God, it’s so simple. How didn’t I see it before?”
Leaning in, he murmured, “What are you muttering about?” Her scent touched his nose and he took a deep breath of her. Cinnamon and chocolate. “You smell delicious.”
She took a haggard breath, and the slight scent of arousal touched the air. His own body tightened in response. Fancy that. The brave little human wasn’t as immune to his charms as she wanted him to think. Her hands slid up to touch his chest, and a deep wanting hit him. Maybe he wasn’t immune either. Hell, he wouldn’t mind a quick tumble with her. Might be worth the slight complication, and maybe, it would make her more likely to do what he wanted.
Then, with far more force than he would have guessed that little human had in her, she shoved him. With a shocked laugh, he fell back a step.
“Keep your distance, vampire. I’m not for eating.”
He couldn’t disagree more. “I’ll endeavor to change your mind.”
“Whatever.” She had her guarded face back up.
“So the plan?”
Confusion flashed across her face, befor
e annoyance replaced it. Hah. He could distract her, at least.
“You are going to help me help Brent.”
“Pardon?”
“He’s a cheat—he’s proven that before. And I know that he’s cheated on Kristen. But she won’t accept any proof unless it’s ironclad. The man is slippery and he’s good at talking himself out of impossible situations.”
“You want me to get him into a situation he can’t explain his way out of.”
“Exactly. We’ll work out the specifics as we go, but I’ll need you to call us in—text me or something—at exactly the right time. Kristen gets her proof, and he has no way to connect you to anything, so your business arrangement won’t be harmed.” Hope lit up her face, but the worry behind her eyes almost quashed it. And when she spoke again, her voice was soft. “I don’t have a lot of time left, Charles. And I can’t let her marry that scum.”
The urge to cross the short distance between them—to hug her, to smooth her worried brow—hit him. Rachel loved her sister, that much was apparent. Too much to let her fall into a life with Brent Strub if she could help it. But her choices to help her sister were limited. And obviously tearing her up.
It was enough to make him wish he could help her for real.
“Congratulations, Rachel. You’ve blackmailed yourself a vampire.”
Chapter Two
She’d blackmailed a vampire.
It didn’t seem real this morning, facing the gloomy sky, the sun barely peeking out to reflect off the snow. The memories of what had happened last night were cloudy and confused in her mind, and the whole thing felt like something she’d watched in a movie, not actually experienced. But it had happened. She knew it in her gut. Besides, if she dreamed of a vampire, it wouldn’t be of blackmailing one. No way. It’d be one of those running dreams. Possibly naked. In the snow. With her whole high school class watching from the bleachers.
Someone grabbed her from behind in a quick hug, squeezing her in her thick coat and layers. She jumped a foot away and let out a little scream as she turned.
“Jumpy much? What happened to you last night?” her sister said. “I can’t believe you sulked off like that.”
Don't Blackmail the Vampire Page 2
