Tall, Dark & Heartless: A Pyte/Sentinel Series Novel

by R. L. Mathewson

  "I would have pissed him off enough to end it quickly," she admitted, but instead of appeasing him that only pissed him off more.

  "We'll never know now, will we?" he demanded, confusing the heck out of her.

  "What the hell are you talking about?"

  "You got your cure, Danni. You're not going to die," he bit out coldly.

  "I-I don't understand," she said as her eyes tingled uncomfortably and the lighting in the room suddenly turned, tinting everything in shades of red.

  "Don't you?" he asked with a cold chuckle that sent shivers up her spine.

  She could only stare at him and shake her head.

  "Congratulations, Danni, you have true immortality now," he said dryly.

  Chapter 15

  "What the hell did you just say?" Danni demanded as he walked away from her, but he didn't bother to answer her. There was nothing to say.

  He'd fucked up.

  In a moment of weakness he'd panicked and did the one thing he swore that he'd never do, he changed her. When her heart stopped beating all he could think about was the misery and pain he would feel from not being able to see her everyday and know that she was okay. Saving her life had nothing to do with her and everything to do with him.

  He hadn't been ready to let her go. In forty or fifty years he might be ready, but not now. When her heart stopped beating he'd done his best to get it started up again by performing CPR, something the Sentinel Council demanded all their employees learn. When that hadn't worked he did the only thing that he could think of without really thinking about it.

  Before his panicked mind could comprehend exactly what he was doing he bit into his wrist and pressed it against her lips as he sank his fangs into her neck. When he tasted the cancer in her blood he nearly choked, but somehow managed to ignore the acid taste of the poison that was quickly killing her, and drank her blood. When a minute passed and he still didn't taste his own he pressed the heal of his free hand back on her chest and continued to do compressions, forcing her blood to pump through her body and mix with his.

  Just as he was about to give up, he tasted his blood and knew that there was nothing else he could do. When her heart began beating on its own again a minute later, a selfish part of him was glad. He would never have to witness her death or live in a world where she didn't exist, but then the part that still cared for the little girl that she once was realized the hell he'd just put her in.

  He'd given her the life that he hated and now she had a future filled with pain and misery awaiting her. Instead of letting nature take its course he'd intervened and given the only person who'd ever meant anything to him a life of hell.

  "You know what I said," he said softly, mindful of the vampires stationed on the other side of the door.

  "No, I don't. So why don't you explain it to me," she demanded and he knew without looking back that she was moving to cross the room to get in his face and lay into him for what he'd done, but he couldn't allow that to happen. Before she could move so much as a foot he was back in the shower, pressing her against the wall and placing his lips near her ear.

  "I think it would be for the best if they didn't know that you've been changed, don't you?" he asked in a cold whisper as his grip tightened around her slender biceps, noting the lean muscle. "Unless you want them to come in here right now and shoot you in the head and tie you down so that they could try getting the baby that I refuse to give them."

  "Oh my god," she murmured and he knew she understood exactly what awaited her if they discovered that he'd turned her.

  If she was lucky all they'd do was incapacitate her by shooting her in the head or the heart and raping her until she gave them what they needed. But he knew they'd be too greedy to wait the sixteen years needed for her child to make its transformation into immortality so that it could give them what they wanted. They'd torture and starve her until she created an army of stronger vampires. They'd probably keep her chained up and only bring her out when they needed more vampires created. They wouldn't be able to go out in the sunlight, but the vampires Pytes could create would be a lot stronger than normal vampires and would be able to take down their enemies faster.

  He watched as her beautiful violet eyes turned back to a fiery red and knew that it wouldn't be long before they figured out that Danni hadn't just been ill this past week. She'd been going through her transformation. It took longer than he thought, but then again her body had a lot of damage to repair. He'd been forced to feed her from his wrist, nearly making her choke on it as he rushed to get the blood down her throat before any of the guards thought to open the door and check on them. To make them think that she was still eating human food he dumped a portion of the food they gave her into the toilet three times a day. In fact, he'd just finished dumping her lunch portion down the toilet when she woke up. They had to hide her change if they had any chance of keeping her safe and judging by the horrified expression on her face she understood that.

  "They'll do something horrible to you," she said, sounding close to tears as a tremor shot through her body. "They can't find out what you did, Caine."

  Of course she didn't really get it, he thought dryly. He was worried about her and she was afraid for him when right now all she should care about was getting the hell out of here before they figured it out, but she couldn't. She was newly turned and didn't have control of all her abilities yet. She was also weak since the transformation took everything she had and he'd barely been able to keep up with her need to feed. Feeding from the bags was impossible for her now. There was no way she was going to be able to stop feeding the second they sensed someone approaching the door. She'd have to take her blood from him and he'd have to help her learn to control her skills and fast before they figured out that they got exactly what they wanted.

  He couldn't stomach the idea of what they would do to her to get what they wanted. Thanks to him, she could never die and in a situation like this, that was a curse. No matter what they did to her she would live and suffer through every single minute of agony without any hope of relief. He knew all too well what kind of hell on earth that could be and he wouldn't allow her to experience it. He'd teach her what she needed to know and then he'd get her safely out of here.

  "Listen to me, Danni," he said, gently cupping her face as he forced her to look up at him. "We're going to hide this from them for as long as we can. I'm going to do my best to show you how to survive, but I need you to listen and not fight me on this. Do you understand?"

  She nodded her head slowly as she asked, "How are we going to do this?"

  "The first thing we need to work on is controlling your eyes and fangs," he said, pushing her wet hair out of her face as her eyes widened in disbelief.

  He watched as she ran the tip of her tongue over her teeth and winced when it came into contact with a sharp fang. When she reached up with a shaky hand to run a finger over her fangs, her heartbeat sped up and he knew she was seconds away from a breakdown.

  She dropped her hands away from her face as her breathing quickened and she tried to move away, probably hoping that some space would change things. It wouldn't. Thanks to him she was a monster now and for a woman like Danni that was going to be difficult thing to accept.

  "Let me go, Caine," she said, trying to pull away from him and move to the side, but he wouldn't let her go. Not when she was this close to losing it and bringing a lot of unwanted attention their way. He needed to get her to calm down before anyone walked into the room and realized what happened.

  "Shhhhh, Danni, it's okay," he said, reaching up to cup her face only to find his hands shoved away as she frantically shook her head.

  "Get the hell away from me, Caine, and let me deal with this," she said, giving him a shove that would have probably sent a human male flying across the room, but he'd been ready for it. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt like a bitch, but he ignored the pain and focused on getting her to calm down.

  "Danni," he said, reaching to cup her face an
d this time he managed to do it. "I know this a shock, but I really need you to calm down," he said in what he thought was a soothing tone, but the smell of her agitation rising told a different story.

  "I am calm, Caine," she said tightly, trying to shove his hands away from her face, but he wouldn't allow it. "If you just get the hell away from me I'd be a whole lot calmer."

  "Sorry," he said, stepping closer. "I can't do that, Danni. I can't risk you giving yourself away."

  "I'm not going to give myself away. I just need a goddamn second to think!" she snapped as the scent of her agitation spiked.

  "Take all the time you need, Danni, but I'm not going to leave your side until you calm down."

  She gave him another shove as she snapped, "I can't calm the hell down when your scent is making me hungry, you jackass!"

  Why that made him smile, he didn't know, but it did. "Is that all?" he asked, chuckling ruefully as he dropped his hands from her face and took one of her hands into his and gave it a gentle tug, leading her towards the mattress.

  "Is that all?" she repeated in disbelief. "Shouldn't that be enough? It's really disturbing," she said, allowing him to lead her for a moment. "What are we doing?" she asked as they neared the mattress.

  "Feeding you. I'm sorry I should have realized that you were hungry. The sooner we get you fed, the sooner you should be able to shift your eyes and teeth back to normal," he explained in a soft whisper, knowing she would be able to hear him perfectly, but the vampires on the other side of the door wouldn't.

  Although a vampire's hearing was stronger than a human's it was a great deal weaker than his. If an Alpha shifter were posted on the other side of the door they'd be screwed. Since Alphas retained their abilities in human form they'd be able to hear everything going on in this room, but they would have scented the change in Danni the second his blood mixed with hers. The vampires on the other hand wouldn't smell a goddamn thing. To them he smelled human and wouldn't realize that he was different until his eyes shifted or his fangs dropped. Then again, if they tried to feed from him they'd get a rather nasty surprise as his blood slowly and painfully killed them.

  "How do I drink from the bag?" she asked as he gestured for her to get on the mattress.

  He ran his eyes over her naked wet body and cursed himself for not wrapping her in a towel first, but that would have ruined the image that he was trying to create. Having her naked was for the best, he decided as he hooked his thumbs in his wet boxer briefs and shoved them down, glad that he was no longer sporting an erection, well not much of one anyway.

  Danni's eyes widened as his free foot stepped out of the underwear. She scooted back on the mattress, her eyes landed on his crotch and widened impossibly further. Of course, the damn thing decided that it liked the attention and decided to say hello.

  "You can't drink from a bag, Danni, because it will give us away. You're new and there's no way you'd be able to pull the bag away fast enough to cover the evidence of what you did if someone came walking through that door," he explained as he moved to kneel on the bed, deciding that it would be best for everyone if he pretended that his cock wasn't hardening and reaching out for her.

  It was a little unnerving that his body was reacting to Danni this way. He'd known her since she was a little girl and until recently it had been difficult for him to think of her as anything but the little girl that used to hug his leg, giggling as he walked her to school. Judging by the way his body reacted to her, it damn well knew she wasn't that little girl anymore, but he forced himself to ignore the hunger she was stirring in him. They had a lot more important things to worry about at the moment other than how badly he wanted to bury himself in her body. That thought made him inwardly cringe. His body might be on board and his mind was getting there, but it was still very strange for him to be thinking about her like this.

  "What are you suggesting?" she asked, eying him warily as he reached out and grabbed her ankles. With a slight tug and a rather impressive stream of curses from her, he had her on her back and glaring up at him.

  "You're going to have to feed from me and we're going to have to make this look like we're having sex to cover it," he explained casually as he moved to hover over her only to find himself shoved back by a well placed foot on his chest.

  "We are not having sex!" she hissed quietly.

  He nearly rolled his eyes at that. "I said look like, Danni. You really need to pay attention," he explained rather patiently, he thought as he grabbed her ankle and moved her foot away from his chest. "It's the only thing that I can think of to cover up what you'll really be doing."

  "Look," she said, nervously licking her lips as her eyes shot desperately to the cooler, "we really don't need to do this. As soon as I hear someone coming I'll pull the bag away and look the other way until I feel my face go back to normal."

  She was nervous. His little Danni was finally afraid of something, he realized with a shit eating grin that he didn't even bother to hide. When she spotted his grin and scowled in his direction he couldn't help but chuckle.

  "What's so funny?" she demanded as she tried to move away from him, but he grabbed her foot and gave it a good yank that had her falling on her back before he pulled her closer and once again moved over her.

  "I just never thought that I'd see the day when Danni Jorgenson would be scared," he said, loving the scent she gave off when she was angry.

  "I'm not afraid," she bit out between clenched teeth even as she sent a hopeful look in the direction of the cooler.

  "Really? Then what's the problem?" he asked, carefully lowering himself on her and mindful of the damn erection that wouldn't go away. It was something he could ignore. He'd learned long ago how to ignore his body. It was the only way he could survive fucked up situations and keep his mind intact. It had certainly come in handy a time or two, now being one of those times.

  His mind barely registered how good her wet warm body felt beneath his as he positioned himself on his elbows above her and moved his head to the right to block the view of anyone who entered the room. He held himself perfectly still as he waited for her to feed. After a few minutes it became more than obvious that she wasn't going to feed so of course he goaded her into doing it.

  "It's okay that you're scared, Danni," he said in a patronizing tone.

  "I'm not scared," she bit out tightly, but he simply ignored her and continued.

  "No, I'm sure that you're not," he said in that same tone he knew would just piss her off. "You're probably afraid of drinking blood or not doing it right. Not that I blame you. It does take some getting used to and you always were a slow learner. Maybe I should just prick my finger and let you feed like a-holy shit!" he ground out as she struck.

  He sure as hell hadn't been ready for that, he thought as he gasped at the initial pain. She had a hell of a bite, he thought as she mumbled something against his neck.

  "What was that?" he asked, shifting his weight on his elbows as she suckled at his neck. She mumbled it again, but didn't bother pulling away. The little moan she released against his neck had him chuckling. "That good?"

  "Mmmhmmm," she mumbled.

  "Slow down just a little bit, but keep feeding until you're full," he said, ignoring just how good it felt to have her at his neck.

  The only problem he seemed to be having at the moment was his cock hardening even more. Normally he was able to control how his body reacted in every situation. It was something he forced himself to learn so that he would never put himself into another situation where he found himself helpless. It was the same reason he had the tip of his cock pierced.

  It was a constant reminder of what could happen if he didn't ignore his body. There had been plenty of women that turned him on over the years, he was a man after all, but he'd never lost control of his body with any of them. He always remained calm until he decided that his body needed release and then it was always on his terms.

  When it was time to fuck he allowed his body to harden otherwise he
ignored it. He wished he could ignore it now. She shouldn't be affecting him like this. It didn't matter that she was beautiful, sexy, or how much he wanted to lick and suck her large cotton candy colored nipples into his mouth as he caressed her large teardrop shaped breasts in his hands. It mattered even less that he wanted the mouth at his neck on his cock, sucking just as hard. His body should not be responding to her like this.

  Her murmured groan of pleasure caught his attention. The smell of lust rolling off her body had him grinding his teeth together as he fought for control. This was Danni, little Danni and he shouldn't think of her this way, he reminded himself as her hard nipples brushed up against his chest. His cock twitched as it made contact with something incredibly soft, hot and wet and had his fangs shooting through his gums.

  He was fine. He was in control. Just as long as he remembered that this was little Danni he had nothing to worry about, he decided as her arms wrapped around his back and she rolled her hips against him, forcing the tip of his dick to trace her wet slit.