by Aliya DalRae
She followed his gaze, her eyes landing on the wide picture window with the flimsy curtains. Her heart did a little leap when she realized what he was seeing.
“Harrier?” she asked, forgetting for a minute that she was trying to be difficult. “Won’t the sun be up soon?”
Harrier glanced from the window and gave her a shrug. “Soon enough.”
“But…but…won’t you go poof?”
Golden sparks flashed in the Vampire’s eyes, gone so fast she could have dreamed them. “Why, Kitty. Are you worried about me?”
Kythryn crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, reminded once again how much he irritated her. “No,” she said. “I’m looking out for my own ass. If you burst into flames, not only will I no longer have a bodyguard, but you’ll probably burn the place down while you’re at it.”
His bark of laughter startled her, and she couldn’t stop her lips from twitching. It was a nice laugh, and unlike Gabe, this Vampire’s smile went all the way to his eyes. When it landed, an attractive starburst of happy lines framed his face and he looked almost human.
“Ah, fair Kitty, I don’t know if you’re meaning to do it, but you amuse me more than anything on TV.”
Kythryn shrugged, her momentary lapse in judgment corrected the minute he opened his mouth. “Yeah, well. It’s a gift.”
“Don’t worry about me, little cat. I can take care of myself, and watch over your exceptionally fine ass while I’m at it.”
“No need to be rude,” she growled, but that only made him smile again.
“If you don’t want me thinking about such things, you need to stop bringing them up.”
The Vampire had a point. Maybe he wasn’t as dumb as he looked.
Fatigue settled on Kythryn and she covered her mouth to stifle a wide yawn that made her jaw crack.
Harrier’s face softened and he said, “Go to bed, Kitty. Nothing will hurt you tonight. My Soldiers and I will keep you safe.”
The lump that formed in the back of her throat came out of nowhere, and the tears were entirely uncalled for. She faked another yawn and rubbed her eyes to hide all that out-of-control. When she thought she could speak without her voice cracking she said, “I think you’re right. Sure you’re gonna be okay?”
“I’ve got it covered.”
The humor had fallen from his eyes, replaced by another emotion she couldn’t read. The way he watched her, though, she knew for a fact she did not want to know what he was thinking.
“Okey dokey,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He didn’t respond, but she could feel his eyes on her as she escaped into the bedroom. She closed the door and leaned back on it as a shuddering sigh escaped her lungs.
It had been such a long night. She gave up the fight and let the tears fall, chalking them up as a natural reaction to getting her ass kicked by orange-eyed monsters and being stashed away from her daddy.
They had absolutely nothing to do with the puzzle of a Vampire on the other side of the door, nor the fact that yes, she really did want to know the thoughts running through his mind as she’d left the room.
Chapter Fifteen
H arrier watched Kitty’s retreating back—and backside, if he were being honest—and the roller coaster of feelings from earlier came crashing back. He might as well have saved the energy he’d expended in the Club, and while his flight was nice, any good it had done went up in smoke. As Kitty said, poof.
Dawn was still a couple of hours away, but he’d come prepared. He walked outside to gather his supplies, and a voice sounded in his ear.
“Is it safe to come out?” Perry spoke via the com device they all wore.
“Report,” Harrier said, choosing to ignore the Soldier’s comment.
“It’s all clear.” Wise response. “Kyte has circled the perimeter twice and I’ve been through the interior as many times. Nica will be here to relieve us about an hour before sunrise, give us time to catch her up and get back home before the death star rises.”
Harrier grabbed a bundle out of the back of his Hummer and tapped his ear piece. “Why do you guys insist on calling it that? It’s the sun, the same amount of deadly now as it was a thousand years ago.”
The sound of Perry’s laughter rang in his ear. “Yeah,” he said. “But death star is way cooler.”
“You guys are watching entirely too much Star Wars.”
Dual gasps hissed in his ear. “Watch your tongue,” Perry said, and Harrier shook his head. Kids, he thought as he carried his pack into the cabin and set it down on the couch.
He made short work of covering the cabin’s few windows with lightproof material. He’d need to do the bedroom, but he hated to wake Kitty. The little cat acted tough as nails, but she’d been through a lot in the previous hours. Hell, she’d been through a lot this year. Being a pawn in the Sorcerers’ game of revenge was never a good thing. Ask Nox. Harrier had issues with the male because of his dealings with Rachel, but you had to feel for the guy. Well, if you were prone to sympathy, anyway.
He cracked the bedroom door and peeked in on Kitty. She lay curled up into a tight ball beneath a thin blanket, but her breathing was slow and even. It appeared sleep had found her well enough, and he was glad of it. He hadn’t been blind to her tears, even though she’d done a bang-up job of covering them under the guise of fatigue.
As quickly and quietly as he could manage, he applied the covers to the two small windows in the room. He then sat on the floor near the door to watch her sleep.
He was vaguely aware when the Soldiers changed shift, had murmured a soft acknowledgement to Nica when she reported in. Kitty slept through it, though, and that was good.
Harrier chose not to think about what he was doing, to ignore the fact that he would have been perfectly capable of guarding her from the other side of that door. Better to have her in his sight. At least that’s what he told himself as he leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Just resting them for a bit, that was all.
~~~~~
H arrier was dancing. In all his fifty years, he would have never imagined himself prancing around a marble floor with a highbreed female in his arms. It was a masquerade ball, and Bella had insisted that he should accompany her.
“It will be fine,” she said, twisting a lock of his hair around her delicate fingers. “Everyone will be masked, and it’s not like anyone knows you, anyway.”
“But I don’t know anything about balls, or noble etiquette. I’ll embarrass you,” he’d insisted.
Truth was, he was certain he would embarrass himself, but Bella had a way of making him do things. She could convince him the sky was down and the grass was up, such was her power over him. He would gladly spend the rest of his days standing on his head, if only to prove her theories true.
Once she’d persuaded him, however, it became a matter of training. They met in the clearing, as they always did, only now instead of talking and—other things—she taught him to dance.
He’d stepped on her toes so many times it was a wonder she could still walk, let alone dance. But she laughed each time, brushing off his apologies and soothing his bruised ego with a kiss or a touch.
She sang while they danced, or hummed the tune, and when he finally got through a whole song without traipsing on her feet, she had curtseyed to him and applauded.
“You’ll be magnificent!” she’d said. “Every female there will want to dance with the dashing yellow-eyed stranger.”
“Aye,” he’d said, “but this stranger will be saving all of his dances for but one lady.”
This, of course, had made her smile, and they spent the rest of the afternoon wrapped around each other.
Now, as they glided across the smooth stone, she was a picture of grace. The excitement of the party had infected him, and he found himself reveling in the music, the people. In Bella.
She glanced up at him, way up, as she was as small as he was tall, and she grinned. Her gown was gold and shimmery, “to match y
our eyes,” she’d said, but it also reflected the highlights in her yellow hair, giving her an ethereal glow. She was an angel, his Bella, and tonight he was the happiest male in the world.
“You’re enjoying yourself,” she said, and he blushed.
“Aye, I am, though it wouldn’t be nearly as pleasant were you not in my arms.”
She leaned in to him and whispered, “Continue to speak to me such, and you’ll have more than my arms wrapped ‘round you.”
Harrier’s heart lurched as his britches tightened and he tripped, landing his foot square atop of hers. He swore under his breath, but she laughed again and pulled him back into the dance.
“While my toes will survive, I’d ask you to mind my slippers,” she said with a wink, and he sighed.
As they floated around the floor, Harrier took a mental image. This moment, here and now, he would forever remember as the happiest day of his life.
Chapter Sixteen
M artin trudged through the Sub T hallway on his way to report to Merlin. The night had been never ending, and the results were nil. While he and his team had managed to track down plenty of ferals, none of them appeared to have any connection to this Maxx guy they were looking for.
Of course, they could have been lying. But without Nox’s unique ability to dig into the mind of a Vampire, they had no way of knowing for sure. Martin had always thought it was cool to be able to manipulate human minds, but there wasn’t a creature alive that could resist Nox’s gift. Except maybe the Sorcerers, but even then, things were questionable.
At one point, Martin thought they’d struck gold. They came across a squirrely little guy at Buzz’s Tavern, the paranormal bar out on Route Four. He’d practically wet himself when Martin and Osprey approached him, and when they mentioned Maxx his heart rate had gone through the roof. In the end, though, he seemed more crazy than anything, and they’d let him go. That’s what drinking dead blood would do to you. It burned your brain, no doubt about it.
Martin found himself outside Merlin’s office sooner than he’d expected, and he hesitated to knock. For whatever reason, the Warrior hated him. He tensed up every time Martin walked into the room, and though he’d seemed to lighten up a bit earlier, it was never comfortable.
Of course, he’d heard all the stories. As far as any of the Soldier’s knew, Merlin had never been on patrol. He spent all his time tucked away in the tech lab—right on the other side of this door. No one knew if the male could even fight, and they whispered like college girls about how he’d made Warrior at all.
Someone had suggested Merlin was blowing the Warlord. Martin hated that kind of talk, but he kept his thoughts to himself, laughing right along with the others. It was hard enough fitting in with the Soldiers, his bloodline being what it was. If they were to know he was unlike them in other ways, it would be pure hell.
“Are you going to stand out there all day, or should I send an engraved invitation?” Merlin’s voice sounded through the door, and Martin felt his cheeks redden. He squared his shoulders and let himself in. Best to get it over with and move on with the rest of his morning.
He stepped inside Merlin’s man cave and assumed the position, spine straight, legs shoulder-width apart, hands behind his back, eyes straight ahead. When he heard Merlin sigh, he glanced at the male. The Warrior had given himself a face-palm, his straight, dark hair hanging in a silky curtain that swayed as he shook his head.
“Si…Merlin?”
“Well, at least you remembered that part.”
Martin couldn’t win. It seemed the more respect he showed the guy, the more irritated he became. Maybe Tas would have some insight. He would be at PT with the Soldiers later, and was usually willing to answer any questions they had. Perhaps he could shed some light onto what Martin was doing wrong.
“Did you need something?”
“Uh, yes si…yes. Nothing major to report tonight, but I did have a request.”
Merlin looked up at him with almond-shaped eyes, the irises a brown so dark they were almost black. And they looked like the weight of the world rested directly behind them, causing a strain that could blind if it were not soon relieved. Merlin pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed the corners of his eyes. “You were saying?”
“Oh. Well, I was wondering if it would be possible to take Nox with us on our next patrol. I know he’s not been through the training yet, but he knows these guys on sight. Not to mention he’d be able to get information from any of them that we can only hope for.”
Merlin lowered his hand and rested it on the arm of his fancy office chair. “If Nox knows them, then they know Nox as well. His presence out there would only advertise what we’re doing. I appreciate your initiative, but I’m afraid that one’s going to be a no. Besides, as you said, he’s not been through the training. Once he’s finished, we can revisit your request, but for now, you’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way.”
So, the rumors were true. Nox really had requested to join the Soldiers. Most had assumed since he was the brother of the Warlord’s second in command, he’d be fast-tracked to Warrior. Nice to know the Legion took its nepotism laws seriously.
“May I get you something to drink?”
Martin blinked. Did Merlin just offer him a beverage? The Warrior reached under his workspace and opened a door, apparently to a refrigerator that blended in as “any other cabinet.”
“I’ve got pop, beer…”
“Beer would be good.” Dude. He was about to have a beer with a Legion Warrior. One that wasn’t Tas, though in the privacy of his own mind he could admit this male was even prettier than the Aussie. Plus, he had a vibe about him, a certain…something…that made Martin want to be around him and run away at the same time. He’d felt it from the moment they’d met, and it was there every time they shared space. It was there now in spades. Maybe the Warrior didn’t hate him after all?
Merlin handed him a Yuengling, then settled back with one of his own. Martin accepted the bottle and watched as the most uptight male he’d ever met leaned back in his chair and took a long drink of beer like a normal person.
“Sit.” Merlin motioned to several empty chairs in the room, and Martin chose one against the wall.
“It works a lot better if you remove the cap.”
Martin glanced at the bottle in his hand, then opened it up. On a whim, he flipped the cap to Merlin, who snatched the metal top from the air and laid it absently on his desk. Merlin then tipped his beer in a mock salute before taking another drink. Martin followed suit.
“Now,” Merlin said. “How about we start over.”
Chapter Seventeen
K ythryn woke with a start. The dream had been so real, so erotic, it pushed her into consciousness on the verge of orgasm. One touch, that much pressure, was enough to bring her over. She held herself as her body trembled, the dream replaying itself as she rode out the climax. Wet dreams, she thought. They ain’t just for teenage boys.
As the tremors subsided, she threw off the blanket and hiked up her sleep shirt, hoping the air would cool some of the steam from her body.
Someone cleared their throat.
Kythryn popped her eyes open and grabbed the blanket in a one-er, pulling the covers up to her chin as the object of her nocturnal desire came into focus. He sat on the floor by the door, long legs drawn up, those bulging arms wrapped around his knees. A curtain of russet hair framed his face, his yellow eyes bright in the darkened room.
“Good morning, Kitty.” He said her name on a low growl, like he was tasting the word with his tongue. A tongue which, B.T.Dubs, could do amazing things, at least it had in her dreams.
To cover the flush creeping its way up her neck, she pulled out the old tried and true. “What the hell, Harrier,” she yelled. “What are you doing in my bedroom?”
He swallowed hard and drug a massive paw through all of that rusty silk on top of his head. “Just lookin’ after you, wee Kitty, that’s all. I’ll not let anything happen to you on my wat
ch.”
“Yeah, well, can’t you do that from the other room?”
He didn’t respond, simply sat there staring at her like he was looking at something from a distant planet. Or something he might like to take a big, juicy bite out of. That thought had desire rushing through her again, and his eyes sparked as if in response to her body’s fevered reaction.
“Get out!”
He jumped up and, without a word, exited the room.
What the hell just happened? Had he sat there all night, watching her sleep? Had he slept at all? And what the hell time was it anyway?
The room was unusually dark, the only light coming from the crack beneath the door Harrier disappeared through. It didn’t take her long to figure out that it was because there were thick covers over the windows. That Vampire was serious about coming prepared for everything.
She sat up, letting the blanket fall to her waist. With a glance at the door, she pulled the nightshirt over her head and sighed as the room’s cooler air touched her skin.
He’d watched her orgasm.
That should have pissed her off, should have had her screaming and throwing things out of embarrassment if nothing else. Instead, she shivered, a tremor that started in her girl parts and rocked her entire body. She thought about taking that dream for another spin, had a thumb to her nipple and everything, but then she stopped.
He was Vampire. Even from out there, he’d know what she was doing, and his arrogant ass would assume he was the cause, never mind that he’d be right. But as much as Dream Kythryn ached for him, Real Life Kythryn would eat kitty kibble before she gave so much as an inch in letting him know how he affected her. One inch, ten, it didn’t matter.
When she drew her hand away from her breast, her clit gave a protesting throb, but she forced herself to ignore it. What she needed was an ice-cold shower, but that would mean traipsing all of this hot and bothered through the cabin right in front of him. That was one parade she would not be staging any time soon.
