“I’m always careful.” Hell, I’d survived three assassination attempts by the time I was twenty-five.
As soon as I was alone, I sat back down at my computer to poke around in Mila’s background. It was easy enough to find out that her brother had gone missing. In fact, I wondered why Tomas hadn’t already informed me.
The local paper had run a story on the missing twenty-one-year-old. I stared at the photo of Joey that came up on my screen. I’d only met him a few times. He’d been a teenager, an easygoing kid who never seemed to go anywhere without a pack of friends. The photo had been taken by the water. Joey aimed a cocky grin at the camera, his curly hair windblown, his arm around a pretty blond woman about his age.
My heart gave a single hard beat. Of course.
Mila would do anything for her family. Her brother was the key. Find him, and I’d discover who was behind this.
Normally my father would give a job this delicate to Tomas, but for now, I preferred no one else in the Syndicate know about Joey Vittore. If this was an inside job, I didn’t want to inadvertently feed intel to the man—or woman. Instead, I contacted a small private firm that Father kept on retainer for jobs like this.
Fagan Security was owned by a married dhampir couple in Pennsylvania. The two had never joined the Syndicate but were loosely under my father’s protection. Other than my father, they worked only for dhampirs and the occasional human.
Mariah Fagan took the call. I explained what had happened and hired her to start the search for Joey at double their usual fee. “But keep it quiet. No one but me knows we’re looking for him—understand?”
“Got it,” Mariah responded in her no-nonsense voice.
“I also want an around-the-clock team guarding his parents,” I continued. “You already have their address. I want them kept safe, whatever it takes. But no contact with them. The Vittores can’t even know you’re there. Any questions?”
When she said no, I cut the connection, then deleted my search history and signed off my PC. Rising to my feet, I stared absently at a large black-and-white photo of the Manhattan skyline on the wall.
Someone was growling. Me.
My vampire was enraged. That Mila had been forced, maybe even compelled, to return to me. Underlying my fury was disappointment. It was as I’d suspected. Mila hadn’t come back because of me, she’d come back to save her brother.
Tomas was right—I was an ass. I’d known something was off, yet I’d still hoped. You’d have thought I’d learned my lesson three years ago.
My fangs elongated. I slammed a fist into the photo. The glass shattered and the photo crashed to the black marble floor.
A knock sounded on my door. “Sir?” called one of my bodyguards. “Is everything all right?”
I drew a slow breath through my teeth, then opened the door so he and the other guard could see I was okay. “Everything’s fine. But tell Dino to send down someone to clean up the mess—and have this photo reframed.”
“Yes, sir.”
I shut the door and turned back to the wall. For a long moment, I stared down at the broken glass. Rebuilding my composure, one stony block at a time.
A shard of glass had lodged in the back of my hand. I pulled it out and scrubbed the blood off in the bathroom attached to my office.
A janitor had arrived by then. My personal assistant had left for the night, so I waited until he’d swept up the mess before locking the office and heading up to the ground floor along with my bodyguards.
Outside, I climbed into the waiting limo and told the chauffeur to take me to the Syndicate’s Brooklyn speakeasy. Usually, Rafe and I split club duty, but with him in Montreal, it had fallen to me. Karoly Kral believed facetime was the best way of ensuring your people stayed honest, and I agreed.
The club was on the river across from lower Manhattan in the trendy Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg. It was packed with a mix of vampires, thralls and hip young creatives, but not a single thrall ventured within a yard of me. Word about me and Mila had clearly shot like a rocket around our small, incestuous world.
A smoky-voiced singer took the stage. As she made love to the microphone, I told my bodyguards to have a drink and wait at a nearby table. I ordered a blood-wine and leaned against the bar, eyeing the nearest vampires. How many of them were part of this?
My brothers and I had had targets painted on our backs from the day we were born. At coven gatherings, we were ridiculed, pushed around. For some unknown reason, a vampire could have only one child with another vampire. After that, if either wanted more offspring, they had to seek out a human or a dhampir.
Most vampires chose to stop at one child. But if they wanted more, they impregnated a dhampir, so that their spawn were three-quarters vampire, giving them higher status in our world.
Only outcasts mated with a human…until my father had fallen in love with Rosemarie Fortier.
Through sheer, brutal will, Karoly Kral had forced first his coven, and then the entire Syndicate to accept his sons as his heirs. But that didn’t stop the other vampires’ spawn from beating the crap out of us behind Father’s back.
My brothers and I had learned to stand up for ourselves, fast. We fought hard and dirty, using tricks we’d learned from my father and his enforcers. We even made up a few of our own. Looking back, the persecution we endured had a bright side. It made us fierce, no-holds-barred fighters, men even the vampire world treated with respect.
And it forged Zaq, Rafe and me into an unbreakable team.
My fingers tightened on the wine glass. Damn, I missed my brothers. I hated being stuck holding down the fort in New York instead of tearing Paris apart looking for Zaq. Or barring that, watching Rafe’s back in Montreal.
But I was the fucking crown prince. The Kral whose chief job was to act as stand-in for my father.
The singer met my eyes. Her lips curved in an inviting smile, her dark skin glistening under the single light, her copper-colored dress flowing over lush curves. Apparently no one had told her about Mila, but then, she was a human hire, not a thrall.
I raised my glass to her and waited until the song ended, then finished my wine and faded back into the shadows.
It was one in the morning, and I was tired of pretending to enjoy myself when I really wanted to be with Mila. I beckoned to my bodyguards and ordered them to inform my helicopter pilot I was returning to Montauk. Meanwhile, I sent Airi a quick text informing her that I was on my way back to the beach house. We took off forty-five minutes later.
The Montauk lighthouse was visible in the distance when my phone buzzed with a text from Rafe.
Dad’s right. We have a mole. Trust no one.
My stomach knotted. In the darkness of the cockpit, I stared at the glowing screen.
It’s not Mila. There’s no fucking way she’s a slayer.
But I couldn’t help the ugly suspicions darkening my mind. She might not be with Slayers, Inc.—and she definitely didn’t have the access to headquarters that the mole apparently had—but as I’d told Tomas, she could be working with the slayers.
Hell, this whole thing with Joey might even be a ruse.
The people behind Slayers, Inc. were smart—and very patient. They studied vampires obsessively, knew all sorts of tricks for inserting a slayer into the heart of a coven. The target never knew until they turned up staked.
As we swooped toward the lit-up helipad, I scowled at the dark ocean, then heaved a breath.
At least Rafe was okay. I typed a response.
Got it. How are things on your end?
A short pause.
I have the situation in hand. Will be in touch.
I landed at my Montauk compound a little before three in the morning. As we touched down on the helipad fifty yards from the house, the two vampires prowling the grounds appeared, eyes gleaming in the dark. The wolfdogs, Daisy and Diesel, loped up right behind them, panting eagerly.
I ruffled their short gray fur and listened to the vampires’ rep
ort. Everything was quiet, with Mila safe in her suite for the night.
I’d left orders that Lougenia not be bothered, but she opened the front door herself. She’d even dressed in her uniform, although instead of her usual neat white tennis shoes, she wore fuzzy pink house slippers.
“Welcome, M’sieur.” Her dark eyes searched my face. She hadn’t been told Zaq was missing, but she’d seen the increased security, knew something was up. “Everything’s all right?”
I jerked my chin in assent. “Go back to bed,” I said gruffly. “You need your sleep.”
“Yes, M’sieur. I just wanted to tell you that Mam’selle Mila ate good today. We’ll put a few pounds on her before you know it,” she added with a conspiratorial smile.
I glanced at the dhampir guard hovering behind her. “Leave us.”
When we were alone, I squeezed Lougenia’s shoulder. “Thanks. I knew you’d take good care of her.”
“You go easy on her, now.”
I frowned, but the woman had known me when I was in diapers. She simply crossed her arms over her ample chest and glared back.
I shook my head. “I’m away for half a day, and she has you wrapped around her little finger.”
“That little girl has had a rough time. I just want to make sure you don’t push her too hard. She needs to recover.”
I stifled a sigh. My father would never take this kind of insolence from his servants. But then, I wasn’t my father—and Lougenia was more than a servant.
“Lougenia. I take good care of my thralls. You know that.”
“M’sieur Gabriel,” she chided as if I was still ten years old. “She’s not a thrall.”
“No?” I lifted a brow. Lougenia opened her mouth to say more but I took her by the shoulders and turned her in the direction of the kitchen and her private apartment. “Your little chick is safe with me. Now go to bed.”
She headed down the hall, but not before giving me a sharp, over-the-shoulder look. “You’re worried about trusting her, but that’s not the real question here.”
“Fine.” I folded my arms over my chest. “What’s the real question?”
“Can you trust yourself?” And with that cryptic-as-fuck comment, Lougenia sashayed into the kitchen and through the door to her apartment, leaving me scowling after her.
I went straight to Mila’s suite. Per my orders, a vampire stood guard outside the door. “You can go. I’ll take over from here,” I told the vampire, and let myself into the suite.
Mila’s bedroom door was open. I cocked my head, listening, but although she murmured sleepily, she didn’t wake up.
I removed my shoes and socks and left them by the door. The next to come off was my suit coat and shirt. I dropped them on the couch and walked on silent feet into her bedroom.
She was once again curled up in the middle of the bed. I eyed her hungrily, content just to be in the same room with her.
The nightlight cast a warm glow on her face, illuminating one soft cheek and pouty red lips. Her dark curls tumbled down her back and over one shoulder in a glossy waterfall I itched to plunge my fingers into.
I squeezed my nape. Gods, I was a fool for this woman. Even knowing she’d only come back because she’d been forced to, I still craved her.
I moved closer.
Compel her, whispered my dark side. Make her tell you the truth.
Mila whimpered, shifted her head from side to side. Suddenly, she let out a fearful yelp and jerked upright. Her gaze darted to me. She pressed a hand to her throat, the pounding of her heart loud in the quiet room.
I held out a hand. “Hey,” I said, low and easy. “It’s okay. It’s me, Gabriel.”
“You—oh.” Her breath shuddered out. “I—I didn’t think you’d be back tonight.”
“I didn’t have as much to do as I thought.” To be honest, I could’ve done most of the work from here, but I didn’t tell her that. The woman had too much power over me already.
I lowered myself onto the edge of the mattress. She wore one of the new nightshirts, the yellow one sprinkled with silly faces that I’d chosen because I’d wanted to make her smile.
“I’m glad. That you came back.” She crawled onto my lap and pressed her lips to my throat. “I missed you.” She snuggled closer, rubbing up against my bare chest, pressing kisses to my jaw, my face. “I was dreaming about you.”
My arms came around her. I hadn’t planned to stay, just check on her before going to my own suite. But somehow my hands found their way under the nightshirt. She had nothing on beneath but satiny, sleep-warm skin.
I was instantly hard.
So what if I trusted Mila about as far as I could throw her? So what if she hadn’t come back because she missed me like I did her—a constant, empty ache at the center of my soul? Who the hell cared? Better the real thing than the pale substitutes I’d had to make do with.
After all, I was the one with the power now.
I was the one in command.
“Yeah?” I skimmed my palm over the curve of her ass. “Tell me about this dream.”
15
Mila
My heart banged against my rib cage. My breath came in short, panicked bursts.
I had been dreaming of Gabriel, but the dream had turned dark. I was being hunted by vampires through the streets of Manhattan. They herded me into an alley with no exit.
Trapped.
I whipped around. Andre’s eyes shown gold in the shadows, his fangs fully extended.
I gulped. Every hair on my nape stood on end.
“Mila,” he chided. “You weren’t supposed to leave Gabriel. You know what will happen to your brother.” He reached for me—and I jolted awake.
The relief when I’d realized it was Gabriel, not Andre, in the bedroom was overwhelming. I’d crawled into his lap, needing him to touch me, hold me. Make me feel safe.
But I couldn’t tell Gabriel about Andre, so instead I cast my mind back to the first part of the dream. The good part, where Gabriel had been doing hot, erotic things to me.
“My dream?” I traced my lips down the hard line of his jaw. He’d shaved, but already, black stubble had sprouted. “Let me think…”
“You seemed scared.”
I hitched a shoulder. “You startled me. But I’m okay now.”
“Good.” His hand moved over my lower back in slow, easy circles.
My chest heaved. I cuddled closer, adrenaline still buzzing in me. Underlying his deep forest aroma was that sharp scent men have after working all day, even if it’s just at an office—a little sweaty and stronger than normal.
It wrapped around me, warm, seductive.
I nuzzled his neck. “In my dream, we were back on the beach.”
He made a throaty sound that was almost a purr. His cock twitched, pressing against my bottom. “You liked that?”
“Oh, yeah.” I traced the peak of first his left brow, then his right. “It was hot…and you were doing dirty things to me.”
His swallow was audible, but when he spoke, he sounded cool, in command. “Tell me about it.”
He turned me so I straddled him. Between my thighs, his erection tented his zipper, pressing the smooth, expensive cloth against my bare folds. Setting my hands on his chest, I kissed him. His muscles were defined beneath a dusting of dark hair. I ran my thumbs over his nipples, and his nostrils flared.
The adrenaline rush had gone straight to my core. I wanted, no, needed him. Taking me. Filling me.
“Well.” I nibbled my lower lip. “You made me touch you…like this.”
Easing his zipper down, I slipped my hand through the opening in his boxer briefs to finger his hot, hard length. His thigh muscles tautened. His eyes were black in the dim light, his pupils enlarged within the glowing circle of blue.
My lips curved. In this, we were equals. He wanted me as much as I wanted him.
I rubbed my thumb over the smooth cap.
Gabriel leaned back on his forearms and gave me a very male look. He’
d never looked so much like a prince. Dark, a little menacing. The kind of man who expects to have his every whim satisfied.
“Were you naked?” A husky murmur.
I smiled. “In my dream? Yeah.”
“Show me.” A pointed look at my nightshirt.
I pulled it off and dropped it on the floor.
“And then what happened?” His low growl thrummed over my skin like rough silk.
“You were holding me down, like this afternoon.” Pushing him onto the bed, I dragged off his pants and boxers before crawling up his long, powerfully-muscled body. “And your mouth was moving down my stomach…”
I nuzzled his lower abdomen down where his scent was strong and musky, rubbing my lips over the wiry hair at the root of his cock, nipping teasingly at the rigid length.
His stomach muscles jumped, but he folded his arms behind his head and gazed down at me from beneath hooded lids. “Tell me more.”
“Why don’t I show you instead?” I wrapped my fingers around his cock and brought my mouth to the head, licking around the rim, tasting the slit in the center. Pre-cum spurted onto my tongue, warm and salty.
“More,” he said thickly.
“Like this?” I took the head into my mouth and sucked. With my free hand, I cupped his balls, rolling them between my fingers.
“Yes.” His eyes slit with pleasure. “Do it. Just like that.”
He kept talking. Telling me what to do to him in hot, graphic terms. My sex constricted and grew even wetter.
I slid my hand between my legs, fingering myself while I took him deeper into my mouth, sucking and licking. He was rock-solid now, the veins on his cock bulging.
“Are you touching yourself?”
I hummed an assent against his skin.
“Bring yourself back up here. I don’t want you to come until I’m inside you.” When I hesitated, he added, “Now, Mila,” in a firm voice that sent an electric thrill straight to my clit.
I obeyed the first part, removing my hand from between my legs, but I took my time releasing him, giving him a few last sucks while he watched, heavy-lidded.
Pursued: A Vampire Syndicate Paranormal Romance (The Vampire Syndicate Book 1) Page 11
