“Where is Callencia?” Viktor smiled back, with fang. He would hand Trixie’s training over to Paulo’s second in command. She would guard his innocent fledgling from the likes of Paulo or other males in the nest.
“Alas, she left.”
A muscle in his eye twitched. “Again?” Who else could he leave Trixie with? He rushed through a list of names in his head.
Paulo’s smile turned sharp enough to cut. “Yes, again.”
“What did you do?” Viktor knew Paulo well enough that he was most likely at fault. Especially when it came to Callencia.
“Her pet liked me better.”
“That is bad manners even for you. No wonder she left.” Vampire pets were cherished humans that could be trusted to keep the nest secret. Viktor kept a tight leash on his vampires having pets. Too many humans knowing about them was risky.
“She was growing too attached to him.” Paulo examined his fingernails.
Viktor resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “What of Jaya?” She was not a lieutenant but a respected business woman. She could be a good influence on Trixie.
“Business conference in Japan.”
“I have been away.” Viktor blinked, trying to relieve the discomfort.
“I noticed. How is the dragon?” Paulo’s grin widened. “Would you like an updated roster of the vampires in the city?” He opened a file on his phone.
Viktor ran over the names. So many were too young. Or too male. He watched Trixie as she soaked in all the details around her with wide eyes.
Paulo maneuvered around Viktor, his gaze carried a predatory gleam. “Can I offer you a drink, Patricia?” He waved for her to come closer. “Please, come in. Sit beside me.” He gestured to the loveseat made for two.
“No.” Viktor blocked Trixie’s way. Why had he expected Paulo to resist Trixie when he could not? His lieutenant was a brilliant with finances, but terrible with women. If Callencia or Jaya were here, he would feel safer leaving Trixie in their care. With Paulo, Viktor suspected Trixie would end up in his bed. He could not leave her here. Not with his lieutenant taking Trixie’s lingerie measurements in his head. “Our visit is brief.”
“And?” Paulo prodded.
Viktor pressed his lips together. Well, he was not going to admit his true intentions had been to leave Trixie here. “I am going to Riverbend for a few days. Watch over the city for me in my continued absence.”
Paulo raised an eyebrow. “Don’t I always?”
Inside his head, Viktor silently stabbed him in the heart repeatedly until his imagination was soaked in blood. “Keep up the good work.”
Trixie turned her questioning gaze in Viktor’s direction. The only betrayal of her emotions was how she bounced a couple of times on her toes. “And to borrow a shirt,” she added.
Viktor nodded. Once in Riverbend, he doubted they would have time for him to shop.
Paulo stripped off his and held it out, displaying himself to Trixie. “Will this do?”
He snatched it out of his lieutenant’s hand. “Yes.” Then swept Trixie ahead of him back into the elevator. Instead of leaving her in the safety of the nest, he would keep her with him as she’d requested, because he was a selfish bastard.
He pulled on the shirt, busying himself with the buttons.
Once the elevator doors closed behind them, she slowly turned, crossing her arms, a huge grin on her face. “You like me.” It was more of an accusation than a declaration.
“Of course, I like you.” The doors opened on the main floor and blaring music stopped him from describing how much and what he planned to do about it.
Who was this woman who blurted that out? It couldn’t have been her.
But Trixie had seen the sharp edge of jealousy in Viktor’s eyes when Paulo had kissed her hand. Paulo’s carnal interest was palpable. She wasn’t a stranger to those looks. She was a full-blooded relative of Ruby’s, after all, but whenever she went out with her sister, Ruby outshone her. The looks other men gave Trixie changed once they met Ruby.
Except Viktor. He had barely noticed Ruby half-naked.
If Viktor had left her behind, she wasn’t sure what would have happened, except Paulo would have been the proud owner of a brand new black eye.
Even after Viktor’s mini rant about her learning to control her hunger, he had changed his mind the moment Paulo had come into the picture. The only factor in this situation that made any sense was Paulo’s flirtation. She was right. Viktor like liked her. Her heart fluttered.
The club music thumped against her eardrums with a primal beat that stirred other pounding needs. Viktor’s answer had sounded nonchalant but his predator’s glare had daggered her to the spot. She had met werewolves and dragons and gargoyles. None of them flamed her hidden desires like Viktor. None of them tempted her.
Like a lot of kids in the city, she and Ruby didn’t have it easy. The neighborhood was rough. The people rougher. There were a lot of good times, and some not so good ones. Ruby had learned early to use her beauty as a weapon to get what she wanted, what they needed. Trixie had learned to hide hers, not draw any attention to her body, to disappear behind Ruby’s dazzle. She’d seen what her sister did to survive and the pieces of Ruby’s soul it cost. Trixie wasn’t as strong as Ruby. She’d chosen a different path and learned different skills to help with money. Trixie’s body belonged to her and she would give it to someone who deserved it.
The elevator suddenly seemed very small and the air too thin. Viktor closed in, his arms trapped her, each hand by her head as he leaned his solid body forward until their lips almost touched. “What will you do about my liking you?”
Her brain overloaded. She blinked. “What?”
His lips were so invitingly near. Full and sultry, the kind of mouth a woman wanted to kiss all night long. He raised an eyebrow. “Are you teasing me, Patricia? That is a dangerous game to play.”
Pure male heat. That was what she saw in those vampire eyes, raw and hungry and dominant. She pressed her thighs together. Viktor would take over in bed. She had no doubts. The vampire liked control.
He licked her bottom lip. A delicate touch that sent a shiver straight to her core.
She sucked in a breath, breasts rising. She was buried so over her head that when Viktor was done playing with her, nobody would find her corpse. Her teasing him? More like she hadn’t a clue what she was doing. No, she’d seen her sister flirt enough times. Trixie knew how it was done. She just didn’t know where to start or stop. What she wanted was to run her fingernails over the hard edges of his muscles. She groaned at the image in her head.
Yeah, he liked her. Now what the fuck was she going to do about it?
She pressed her hand to his chest and pushed. It was the single most difficult thing she’d ever decided to do. “I’m not teasing. I wouldn’t do that. But I’m not the kind of girl you want.” No-bed-skills-Trixie. Viktor needed a woman who could fulfill his every desire. Do things that she couldn’t even imagine. Not flounder in the sheets like a fish out of water. Maybe this whole virgin thing wasn’t such a great idea after all. She’d finally met someone who spun her head and she feared her lack of experience would bore him.
She tried to take deep, calming breaths before she hyperventilated.
He leaned his weight on one elbow giving her room to escape. Before she could move, he whispered loud enough for her to hear over the music, “I like women, not girls. You do not think you are woman enough for me?”
She cleared her throat since her mouth had gone so dry her tongue stuck to the roof. “Nope. You’re definitely out of my league.”
A smug smile. “Fair enough.” He pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. “But I do like you.”
Oh no, what had she done? She’d gone from sizzle-her-panties-off to little-sister chaste kiss. She pushed away from the wall and headed for the nearest exit, blind and deaf to her surroundings. She didn’t want to be shoved into the friend zone.
They left the club.
V
iktor opened the passenger side door for her. So lean and tall, he hadn’t enough extra flesh for her to bite. The ends of his fabulous black hair fluttered in the breeze. He looked like a dark angel.
Yeah, she cared. She didn’t want to be just friends. She wanted it all and she’d screwed it up. Backing off now would only confirm to Viktor that she was off limits. She had to act though all her gut instincts told her to run.
She rose on tiptoe and looked him in the eye. “I really like you too.”
Chapter Fifteen
She clung to the chick bar as Viktor broke all the laws of physics as they sped out of town. He drove like an immortal. Technically, she was one too, but her brain registered itself as still human. She might survive a crash, but she’d feel every broken bone and ruptured organ. “Viktor, I understand the urgent need to leave New Port.” The dragon could do more damage than a car crash, she was sure. “I don’t want Eoin catching us either.” He would toss us both in the dungeon this time, complete with matching chain work. She hadn’t come from medieval times and hadn’t developed Viktor’s amazing coping skills to deal with dark, dank dungeons. “But I don’t want to go to human jail either. I doubt they have sunlight proof cells. Slow down.”
He gave her the side-eye. “Like a human jail cell could hold us.” He chuckled.
“I’m glad I amuse you, but I’m serious. Slow the fuck down before you cause a sonic boom.”
This time he tossed his head back with a laugh. It was a musical sound. Deep and hearty and very masculine. “Nothing would please me more than to comply, but we are on a tight schedule.” He tapped the clock on the dashboard.
She stared at it, waiting for her mind to comprehend the cryptic reference. Nope, not happening. “I give up. Why am I staring at the time?”
“Sunrise. Your existence will revolve around when the sun sets and rises. We have just enough time to reach Riverbend and find shelter. If I hurry, we will have a better cushion to find shelter for the day.”
“Oh…” She glanced at the starry sky. They had had a busy night. Flying to the castle from her apartment, escaping said castle, and a pit stop at the club. The last one, she could consider a waste of their time, but Paulo had helped her realize Viktor had a real thing for this pink haired woman. A flame she needed to stoke. Somehow. She wished she could reach out to Ruby, but her sister hadn’t texted her with her new number. Trixie had never needed to text Ruby so bad. Her sister would know how to get Viktor naked in thirty seconds flat. Her, she would probably scar him for life with her ideas of seduction.
“Have you ever seen what happens to a vampire caught in sunlight?” Morbid, she knew this, but if she was going to make it as a vamp she required some basic knowledge. All she had to go on were bad movies.
“No, or I would be dead myself, but it is not pretty.”
“How do you know?”
“I know.”
She ground her teeth. He wanted her to blindly follow his orders, but that’s not how she had been raised. She questioned everything, otherwise she’d be dead by now.
Uh, well, shit, she had died. So maybe she wasn’t so smart after all.
“The screams,” he spoke softly.
She jerked in her seat. “Did you say screams?”
“I heard them. My companions.” The glassy, black stare of a shark turned toward her. “This is one rule you cannot bend or break. No matter how old you are, the sun will destroy you.” He sighed, returning his attention to the late night deserted road. “It turns us to ash. This is a fate I would not wish on my worst enemies.”
“Sorry.” She placed her hand on his thigh, resisting the urge to pry for more details. She wanted to know everything about Viktor, but she had forever to figure him out. “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.” Silence rubbed her raw. He looked lost in thought, not good ones, and she had caused it. “So, we’re racing against the sun?” She did her best to fill the void.
“Always.”
She left her hand where it was, enjoying the tense muscle under her palm. An electric charge ran between them, resulting in an attracting force, and this time she didn’t pull away. “How did you travel between cities before cars?”
“What makes you think I’m that old?” Dark memories swept away, he turned his full focus on her.
She hid her smile. “You’ve hinted at your magnificent old bones being so indestructible.”
He snorted.
“You say things like word of honor and do things like open my door like a gentleman. Makes me think you’re old.” She caught his scowl. “Uh, older. Not that you look old.” Hell, he looked barely legal. It was his confidence and expectation that everyone do his bidding that aged him. He was so beautiful it made her brain cells die. She hoped she’d grow immune soon because she’d be a vegetable within a week.
There was that smug smile again. Almost as if he could read her mind. “No offense taken. I am old. The oldest vampire in New Port, Riverbend, and South Harbor Beach. These are all my territories.”
She regretfully pulled her hand off his leg so she could turn and see him better. The moonlit shadows clung to his hair, veiling his body. “Vampires claim land like shifters?” She felt no urge to lay claim on anything but Viktor, but she was still new to this lifestyle and not being human.
He scrunched his nose. “Not land, but people. Think of it as a hunting ground. The more populated the area, the more vampires it can support.”
“That’s disturbing on so many levels.” Hunting sounded like something other people did. Those who lived in rural areas with pickup trucks. She’d always been more of a salad person. “You need three cities to hunt?” Damn, that was some appetite.
That grin again, the amused one with a sharp edge. “Why not? I like variety.”
She stared at him. Not sure what to say without being insulting.
He winked.
“You’re pulling my leg.”
“I am not touching your leg. You were touching mine.” He nudged his thigh against hers. “You can again if you want.”
“Only when you behave.” She fisted her hand. She wanted to, but she wasn’t sure she’d stop at his leg and they were driving at the speed of light.
“I have three cities because I am strong enough to control them. I police the population. I think that describes my role best. Keep the vampire/human ratios at a manageable level. Make sure there are no unnecessary killings…” The dead look returned to his eyes.
“It can’t be an easy job.”
He leaned forward, his attention taken by something ahead.
She followed the direction of his glare. “Oh-oh, looks like a speed trap. We’ll be pulled over for sure.” She raised her eyebrow and smirked.
Viktor shook his head. “I blurred the officer’s mind. He did not notice us.”
Now, she leaned forward. “We can do the Jedi mind trick? When will you teach me to use mine?”
“In a few decades. Power comes with age.”
She flung herself back. “That’s not fair. You get mind blurring and I get to suffer with broken bones. Only the old get all the cool tricks.” She enjoyed his tight-lipped response. “But you don’t look old.”
“Can you imagine young vampires with such powers? I would have to kill them all to keep our existence secret. Age and experience is needed with such responsibility.”
“You told me you couldn’t read minds.”
“I did not lie. I can influence people. Make a human inattentive or a shifter jumpy. It is more of a suggestion—the strong willed can fight me.” He visibly relaxed in his seat and ran his hand over her knee. “But I am disappointed that I cannot turn into a bat or fly.”
“I guessed that when I fell from the castle wall.” Instead, Viktor had curled his body around hers, preparing to take the brunt of the fall. She was so glad they had set Nick free so he could stop their fall. That impact, according to Viktor, would not have broken him, but she was sure it would have hurt. She leaned across the seats and kissed
his cheek. “Thank you for not leaving me behind.”
A loud pop startled her enough to cry out.
The car swerved out of control. Viktor slammed his arm across her chest, pinning her to the passenger seat. “Hold on.” With one hand, he steered the spinning car, regaining some control. Back and forth, he guided it across the lonely road. Gas, brake, then gas again until they rolled to a bumpy stop on the dirt shoulder.
He continued to pin her to the seat and glared out of the windshield. “That was close.”
She clutched his arm with as much fierceness. “I thought we were going to eat asphalt.” She rubbed his limb. “I’m good. You can let me go.”
His gaze narrowed as he faced her. “I meant, we were close to making it to Riverbend.”
“Good.” She glanced at the time. “Because sunrise is soon.” She didn’t want to experience being a marshmallow over the campfire.
He crossed his arms and shifted in the seat, silent in thought.
“What was that popping noise?” They were stopped in a rural stretch of land between cities, surrounded by forest. No other traffic passed them. Probably due to the hour. The car appeared intact from where she sat.
Viktor charged out of the vehicle and she followed. He stood by the passenger side front tire. “A flat.” Thick shredded rubber surrounded the rim.
“Wow.” He regained control of the car driving on that? If it were her, they’d have been accordioned against one of the many trees lining the road.
Viktor squinted at the sky. “If we work fast, we might reach Riverbend in time.”
She swallowed. Sunbathing no longer sounded appealing. “Point me to the jack. You get the spare out.”
“You know how to change a tire?”
“My skills aren’t limited to hotwiring cars and catching stray dogs.” Steeling rims had paid the rent a few times. “It’s disengaging car alarms that I have trouble with.” And that was how her short profession as a thief had ended and she learned that jail food tasted worse than Ruby’s cooking. Thank goodness for a tolerant judge and a stern probation officer.
Not His Vampire: Vampire Romance (Not This Series Book 3) Page 11
