He’d followed the vampires back to her old hotel room before backtracking to find her. As if he’d have any trouble finding her. The one benefit of all the years he’d spent trapped in his own private hell was that he could pick up on subtle cues faster than Colette and her two goons. He’d recognized Daniela’s magical signature from over a kilometer away.
But what shocked him was his physical response to her. The second he touched her, something lurched in his chest. Then her scent hit him and his mouth began watering. His fangs elongated. Her lips had been just an appetizer. Now he craved her blood. Thankfully, he’d managed to enthrall her before she realized what he was.
Mon Dieu, give me strength to avoid temptation.
He clutched the simple wooden cross around his neck and tried to remember the prayers from his youth. It had taken him centuries to accept that God could show grace on an abomination like him, and he didn’t want to squander his redemption by sinking his teeth into the delicate curve of Daniela’s neck.
She paused at the corner and studied the map on her phone. He laughed to himself. If the vampires didn’t take advantage of her distraction, a pickpocket would. Perhaps he should tell Morwen to train her witches as well as her hunters how to be aware of their surroundings.
When he was still human, he would have said the Divine Hand of God interceded and led him to her. Now, he believed it was sheer luck. He’d heard rumors circulating in the vampire community that Marcellus was building an army to take down the Kavanaugh Foundation. The latest plot involved gathering magical artifacts to use against the Foundation’s hunters and witches.
As soon as he’d heard the rumor, he’d raced down to Rome. Although he’d removed the Staff of Octavius from its hiding place in the catacombs decades ago, he’d wanted to see if anyone would dare go after it.
Daniela had entered the mass grave with a fearless determination that would have put Lara Croft to shame. She seemed to have an inner compass guiding her, leading her within minutes to the same markers that had taken him weeks to find. Perhaps her ease in spotting them had to do with her witch’s blood. He wondered what her reaction would have been if she’d come to the end of the trail and realized that someone else had beaten her to the staff.
She turned the corner and he followed. For a brief second, he questioned his actions. Why was he following her? He’d confirmed the rumor that both the vampires and Morwen were looking for the staff. He’d informed Morwen’s witch that it wasn’t there. He’d saved her life. All noble and rational behavior. But then he’d overstepped his bounds and kissed her.
He hadn’t planned on it. At the time, he’d merely wanted to conceal her from the other vampires. The next thing he knew, his lips were on hers. He’d half-expected her to hit him with some sort of spell that would make him wish he had never been born. Instead, she’d kissed him back and awakened a desire that surpassed the purely physical and filled his mind with whispered thoughts he’d be better off not thinking.
Luc had learned to suppress the bloodlust centuries ago, refusing to feed on humans unless absolutely necessary. Thanks to modern blood banks, he no longer needed to hunt rats in the sewers or deer in the woods. He could have expired pints of O-negative delivered right to his door. With the exception of being confined to the non-daylight hours, he almost felt human again. But the second his lips touched hers, he discovered it was all a farce.
The jolt he’d experienced when he first touched her returned with a fury when he slipped his tongue into her luscious mouth. It was only after they parted that he realized it was his heart. It hadn’t beat since the day Marcellus drained the life from his body, but somehow, Daniela had revived the long-silent organ like a defibrillator.
He placed his hand over his chest and felt nothing now. No thumps, no flutters. Just stillness and an ache that made him want to cry out in frustration. He could lie to himself and say he was following Daniela just to make sure she got to the new hotel safely, but the truth was he wanted to figure out what was so special about her. How could one woman affect him this way and make him want to abandon the moral code he’d clung to for centuries?
Maybe Morwen would have the answer.
Daniela glanced down at the GPS map on her cell phone and made a right. The Pensione Preziosa stood just ahead, tucked away on a quiet street a few blocks from St. Peter’s. A shiver coursed down her spine. It seemed to be the perfect place for someone to lure her into so he could kill her. No one would see her. No one would hear her scream.
She retraced her steps back to the main road. Why should she trust this stranger? For all she knew, he was in league with Colette and wanted to capture her so she could be their midnight snack. She stopped when she remembered Morwen’s advice from their conversation an hour ago. If he wanted to harm her, he would have done so already. More importantly, he knew where the Staff of Octavius was. In the current war between the vampires and the Foundation, every weapon could turn the tide, and she didn’t want to be the person who cost them the battle.
Her gut told her something was different about the stranger. He seemed too strong, too quick to be a mere mortal. But then, her gut often made her wary of strangers.
Daniela remembered the first time she’d met Morwen. The Head Witch set off every type of internal warning bell she had, but over the last eighteen years, the woman had grown to be Daniela’s mentor and closest friend. Perhaps the same would hold true for the man whose kiss still made her sex ache just from the memory of it.
She stared at the keychain and traced the words engraved on the plastic. If he was waiting for her, would she throw him out or throw him into her bed? A brief fantasy of his lips trailing down her neck played out in her mind. Her nipples tightened as she imagined how his tongue would swirl around them. Perhaps he’d even catch the stiff peaks between his teeth and nibble on them until she cried out.
A whimper rose in the back of her throat. She needed to soothe the throbbing between her legs before she went insane.
Without a second thought, she rushed to the pensione, hoping she could find some relief once she got to her room. Too bad a locked door prevented her from getting what she wanted immediately. The key didn’t work on the outside door, so she rang the bell and waited.
When she glanced behind her, something darted between the buildings and her breath caught. Could Colette or one of the other vampires have found her already? She peered into the shadows. The second the bloodsucker jumped from its hiding place, she needed to be ready to attack. Magic flowed through her veins, gathering in her hands and coiling around her fingertips like a snake poised to strike.
“Can I help you, signorina?”
A yelp broke free from her mouth and a spark erupted from her fingers as the magic discharged. Daniela hastily stamped out the tiny flame licking at the doormat and prayed the elderly woman standing in the doorway hadn’t seen it. “I have a key to a room here.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed as she inspected the writing on the keychain Daniela dangled in front of her.
Oh shit, I’m in trouble now. I wonder if I can erase her memory before she calls the police and has me charged with arson.
Then the woman’s face unexpectedly brightened. “Ah, you must be the young woman Padre Luc said was coming.” She wrapped her arm around Daniela’s shoulders and invited her into the pensione like a long-lost daughter. “You poor girl. The stories you must be able to tell after everything you’ve been through.”
“Excuse me—Padre Luc?” Her stranger was a priest? What kind of classes were they teaching in the Vatican to turn him into that kind of kisser?
The woman laughed. “Forgive me, signorina. Even though he’s left the priesthood, I still think he’s a man of God, always rescuing you poor lost souls from the streets.”
Daniela stiffened. “I’m not a lost soul.”
“Of course, signorina. Whatever you say.” She led Daniela up a staircase and pointed down the hall. “He brought a bag full of clothes for you earlier this evenin
g. You’ll find it in your room. I’m Sophia. Sleep well, and I’ll come fetch you for mass in the morning.”
Mass? Was this some sort of religious halfway house?
Sophia disappeared down the stairs, leaving Daniela alone. She gritted her teeth. Now more than ever, she wanted to grab her bag and disappear. Padre Luc could go rescue some other lost soul. She wasn’t going to fall for his little game of seduction, nor was she going to participate in whatever plan he had for her here.
Inside room number seven, her backpack sat unopened on the bed. At least the spell she’d cast to keep thieves out of her bag prevented him from rummaging through her stuff. When she grabbed it, a piece of paper floated to the floor. She picked it up and studied the elegant script.
You will not find what you seek in Rome. Stay here until tomorrow night. Then I will tell you more about the staff.
Luc.
Daniela sighed and sank onto the mattress. She wanted answers. She needed to find the Staff of Octavius. And the only person who knew where it was happened to be a defrocked priest who had a habit of rescuing girls off the street and made her want to fuck him senseless when he kissed her. All in all, a bad combination.
She glanced at the open door across the room. With a flick of her wrist, it slammed shut and locked. One night wouldn’t be too long to wait, but she’d take precautions. She closed her eyes and began casting a protective spell on the room that would guarantee no one could barge in on her unexpectedly, including the sexy priest that plagued her thoughts.
Luc waited until the light in room seven turned off before he approached the pensione. Unfortunately, the light downstairs remained on. Sophia was waiting up for him. Even though he was ten times her age, she still fussed over him like a mother and considered him a saint. Too bad she didn’t know his true nature.
The unlocked door swung open as he approached the stoop, and she stood there with her hand on her hip. “This one is different from the others.”
“Different?” he asked, feigning innocence as he slipped past her. “How so, Sophia?”
“Older, less frightened. More worldly.” She closed the door and winked at him. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you sent her here for a different reason. Why else would you give her your usual room?”
“Perhaps because she deserves the nicest room here.” He smiled and winked back. “Do you have another room for me?”
“Of course. You’ve been my favorite guest for years.” She gave him a key and caught his face between her hands. He ran his tongue over his fangs when he noticed the intensity of her perusal. Nope, they’d long since retreated back to their normal size. “There’s something different about you tonight, Padre Luc.”
He covered her hands with his own and gently pried them from his face. “Please, it’s just Luc. I don’t know how you weaseled out that secret from my past.”
“I don’t know why you left the priesthood. If you’d stayed in, I swear you’d be Pope in ten years.”
A bitter taste filled his mouth as he remembered the way Marcellus forced the blood into his mouth, changing him from a humble priest into a monster. “God had other plans for me.”
“One day, you’ll tell me what happened.” She patted him on the cheek and turned toward her room. “How long will the signorina be staying with us?”
“We’ll leave tomorrow night.”
“We?” A mischievous light danced in her eyes. “That’s the first time I’ve known you to take someone with you.”
“That’s because you were right, Sophia. This one’s different.”
Luc climbed the stairs like he had lead in his shoes. Perhaps he would be better off returning to Paris without Daniela. He’d hidden the staff over seventy years ago to keep people from using it to conquer the known world. The emperors of Rome had abused its power, just like the Egyptian pharaohs before them. The magic was both ancient and deadly.
Morwen knew that, which was why he questioned her intent to find it. On the one hand, he could understand her desire to keep Colette and Marcellus from using it. But what would she do with it once she had it? A witch of her power could cause cataclysmic damage if she wanted to.
He tried to erase those images from his mind and opened the door to the room Sophia had set up for him. Blackout drapes covered the windows, preventing the sun from turning him into a pile of ashes when it rose. His clothes hung in the small wardrobe, and she’d placed a sandwich for him on the bedside table.
His lips curled into a smile. Despite his protests that she didn’t need to feed him, some things never changed. He wrapped the sandwich in a piece of paper. He would find someone to enjoy it tomorrow.
The humid night air stirred the drapes, and he poked his head out the open window. A small balcony stood outside Daniela’s room, so close he could easily climb over to it and join her in her bed. He’d enjoyed the company of women over the years since he’d been changed, but none of them had aroused him like she did. His pants grew tight while he remembered the way her body pressed against his earlier tonight. Yes, he wanted fuck her. He wanted to do more than that.
He shook his head to clear it. If he got that close to her again, he’d risk drinking from her. The craving clouded his mind. He felt like a drug addict looking to get his next fix. The problem was, once he got it, would he be able to stop? Better to avoid temptation in the first place, and that meant keeping her at a safe distance.
A soft moan came from her room and another thump rocked his chest. A second moan followed, this one at a slightly higher pitch than before. Sweat prickled along his hairline. Could one of the vampires have snuck in while he was chatting with Sophia downstairs?
Luc jumped the narrow distance to the balcony and landed with catlike silence. He lingered outside her door and listened. A whimper came from inside. When he peered in, he froze.
Even though the room was pitch dark, his heightened senses could easily make out her naked form on top of the bed. One hand cupped her breast while the other disappeared between her thighs. Her body writhed as another whimper rose from her throat.
I shouldn’t be watching her touch herself like that.
But his eyes remained fixed on the sensual roll of her hips and the graceful arch of her neck as she brought herself closer to her climax. His cock strained against his trousers. He longed to be the one making her moan like that. The blissful pleasure they could enjoy together…
He squeezed his eyes shut. He had reassured himself she was safe. There was no reason for him to stay here and tempt fate.
“Mmm, Luc.”
His eyes shot open when he heard Daniela say his name in that sexy, breathless voice. Did she know he was standing there?
She called out his name again, this time slightly louder. A bead of sweat dripped down the back of his neck. How much longer could he stand there and watch her when every inch of his body screamed for him to barge into her room and give her the release she so desperately seemed to crave, to give himself the release his aching cock demanded?
But his muscles refused to budge. He remained motionless, completely enraptured by the erotic scene playing out before him. Better to imagine the softness of her skin, the slick heat of her pussy, the taste of her kisses. His imagination had limits, but it prevented him from doing the unthinkable.
The tips of his fangs pierced his lip. He hadn’t felt bloodlust this strong since he stood on the outskirts of a battlefield. Then, he could explain his feelings. The scent of blood hung so heavy in the air, no vampire would be immune to it. But she didn’t even have a cut to entice him. No injuries. Just an overpowering urge to sip the sweet nectar flowing through her veins, pounding louder and louder with each beat of her heart until her body jerked to a standstill and collapsed in a shudder.
It took him a moment to realize she’d come, leaving him the only one unfulfilled. He took a step closer and was greeted by the sizzle of a magical ward. The impact tossed him all the way to the railing. He grabbed it to keep from falling to the stree
t below and saw the tendrils of smoke rising from his hands.
“Who’s there?” The lamp flickered on and Daniela sat up in bed. She clutched a sheet over her chest, concealing those deliciously full breasts from his view, but not hiding the wooden stake in her hand. “You should know better than to sneak up on me.”
The lust that had held him prisoner ebbed as bitter laughter silently shook his body. Maybe she wasn’t as helpless as he thought. She’d rigged her own vampire alarm, and unfortunately, he’d walked right into it.
“I haven’t killed a bloodsucker lately,” she called out while she wrapped the sheet around her body and stood. She held the stake with the ease of a seasoned hunter.
Luc’s throat tightened. If he wanted to know more about what Morwen was planning on doing with the Staff of Octavius, he needed Daniela to trust him, and that meant she couldn’t find out what he was. He slipped over the edge of the balcony without making a sound and was safely concealed in the shadows by the time she reached the doors.
Her eyes flashed in the light as she scanned the street. “I know you’re still there.”
A cold tingle raced up his arm and coiled around his chest, all bearing her magical signature. It made him feel like a fly caught in a spider’s web. The more he tried to resist it, the more it seemed to suck his strength. He retreated farther down the street before she found him.
“You’d better hide soon. The sun is coming up.” Daniela turned around and closed the balcony doors behind her.
After a few seconds, the last threads of her magic disappeared, leaving him completely drained. The sky began to lighten in the east. He had maybe four or five minutes before the first rays of the sun peeked over the horizon. Yet he crouched in a side alley, wondering what the hell had just happened. He’d just risked getting caught, getting killed, all because he couldn’t keep his mind off this damn witch.
Kiss of Temptation: The Kavanaugh Foundation, Book 3 Page 2
