Captured In Sin

by Devlin Chase

  She kept her back to him as he walked over to her, flinching as he reached down and placed his hands on her shoulders.

  It was only when he turned her to face him that he could see that she was crying again. He tried to pull her to him, desperate to do anything that would ease her pain, but she pulled away.

  “I want to go home,” she said, her voice calm and low. Despite her tears she seemed to be in remarkable control.

  “Cat,” Darien began but she cut him off with a wave of her hand.

  “I want to go home,” she repeated, this time with more conviction. “You can choose to let me go or not. Either way I’m walking out of those doors right now; and I don’t think you’ll be in a position to stop me once I’m outside. Will you?”

  Her words stung, hurting him far more than any physical punishment he’d endured before. His heart slammed in his chest as he reeled back from the coldness in her voice.

  “Are you upset with me?” He could hear the tremor in his own voice and steeled himself.

  When she faced him again he could see that her expression had softened and he felt his heart leap again. But his hope didn’t last long.

  “No,” Cat sighed, “I’m not upset with you. I’m not angry either. But I’ve got to stop deluding myself that this thing,” she waved her hands between them, “this thing we have going here is ever going to work out.”

  Darien stood rooted to the spot, unable to do anything but hear her words.

  “Let’s face it,” she continued as she stared down at the carpet, “it’s all pretty fucked up. I mean, until a few days ago I didn’t even believe that vampires existed. Then one tries to kill me and now I’m stuck in a house full of them, waiting for some change to happen that’s going to turn me into God alone knows what.”

  Her voice had risen as she spoke, becoming defiant and now she stood before him, meeting his gaze while her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

  “I can’t do this Darien. I can’t hang around waiting to see what happens between us when every time we’re together it feels like I’m getting closer to some point of no return, where some really bad shit may happen and hurt everyone involved.”

  She headed across the room and he stood, unable to move, as she opened the door and left, quietly closing it behind her.

  He stood immobile for an indeterminable period of time, her words ringing in his head as his heart thudded painfully in his chest.

  He realized that it was only the night before that he’d told himself that he didn’t know what his feelings for Cat were. But he knew what they were now as his heart threatened to thump right through his ribcage.

  Suddenly everything became clear to him; the mission the Council had given them, the secretive meeting with the real Obscura Council, the determination with which he’d kept his presence unknown to Cat for so long. And the role Jacen had planned for her if he did nothing to stop it.

  All of those things came to him in a flash but they paled in significance when he was forced to admit to himself that they weren’t the reasons that he coveted her so much.

  He loved her. It was as simple as that and, for someone as greedy and desirous as he’d been all of his excessively long life up until now, he’d missed that fact entirely until she was gone.

  His greed for all that the world had to offer had blinded him to truth that she was more than just something to be taken and used until his need had been slaked.

  Darien knew that he would never have enough of Cat; that she was as integral to his existence now as blood was to his survival. He couldn’t live without her. He didn’t want to live without her.

  Only then did his feet become unglued as he moved with lightning speed to the door, the echo of it slamming receding behind him as he raced up the stairs, his movements just a blur and a whisper of air.

  He reached the kitchen just as the first of the vestibule’s doors closed and he heard the seal lock into place before the second, outer door opened.

  She was gone.

  “No!” He roared, not caring that he might wake everyone in the house and knowing that Cat had probably heard him from outside too.

  Then his back was against the door and he was sliding down to the floor, his head in his hands as he counted the seconds until the sun went down.

  Chapter 5

  Jacen was in a filthy mood and it wasn’t helping that the nubile little thing attached to his cock was trying to suck him into next week.

  Leaning back against the leather headboard he reached down and grabbed her by the shoulders, her mouth leaving him with a loud pop that set his teeth on edge.

  Dragging her up his body he brought them to eye level, her glazed expression revealing that the heroin she’d been injecting when he’d found her was still working its way through her system.

  She was still pretty, so she hadn’t been hitting the hard stuff for long; in fact she looked more like a bored little rich bitch, playing dirty with her new friends and daddy’s money.

  “You should have stayed home after school,” he said harshly, smiling as her eyes rolled drunkenly back into her head when he shook her.

  She grinned and reached down between their bodies, her hand pumping him automatically and with all the enthusiasm of a clockwork toy.

  The thought of her going down on him again filled Jacen with disgust and that feeling brought a measure of surprise with it. He usually liked it dirty and rough, but today he couldn’t rouse himself to his usual level of aggression and he knew it had probably saved this girl’s life.

  Instead his head was filled with thoughts of the only human who had ever stood up to him. He pictured Catherine as he’d last seen her, huddled on her bed but aiming her gun at him with unerring determination.

  And then she’d had the temerity to actually shoot him. Twice.

  She was nearing her time of Ascension; he’d smelled it on her and it had nearly driven him into a blood frenzy he’d doubted even he would have had the self control to stop. He’d managed to control himself enough while she’d been terrified; but the moment she became the aggressor something had lit up inside him like a fire. From the moment he’d engineered her conception he’d known he would one day possess her, but that possession had always seemed somehow asexual in his mind. Now everything had changed and his desire to possess her was now fueled by his desire to possess her in an entirely different way, one that was decidedly more fun. Or more fun for him, at least.

  The thought of fucking her made him even harder and the girl groaned with pleasure, her hand too small to fit around him as she pumped away.

  But Jacen knew it wasn’t sex that drew him to the Ligata, although taking her the way he wanted to would make her scream and that would be fun too.

  No, he had others to abuse with his sexual needs; toys that could be discarded afterward. Catherine was something to be treasured and he fully intended to make sure she reached her Ascension with no mishaps whatsoever. His aggressive introduction the other night had been nothing more than a tactic to speed up the time till her transition.

  The girl was making gurgling noises in her throat and Jacen looked down, seeing purple bruises spreading across her upper arms where he was still gripping her tightly. It wouldn’t be long before she either passed out or went into full overdose mode.

  He sighed. Pity; she really was quite pretty for a human. And she could, at least, prove useful before either sleep or death claimed her.

  He flipped her over on the bed, her breath forced out of her on a whoosh and her eyes regaining some of their life as he spread her legs with his thighs.

  “Nice,” she mumbled as his head hovered over her shaved mound.

  But her pleasure was the last thing on Jacen’s mind as his fangs extended fully and he bit deep into the crease of her thigh, finding the femoral artery with piercing accuracy.

  Her blood was faintly sour, corroded by the drugs in her system. But it was strong and energizing and he drank deeply.

  Once he’d slaked his
thirst he sat up, wiping an errant drop from his lower lip as he stared into her eyes, watching the last of her life fade away.

  Oh well, he thought as he climbed off the bed, leaving her body where it lay, it had only ever been a fifty-fifty chance.

  ***

  Cat was relieved that she’d convinced Galena to let her drive her own car to the house earlier in the day although she’d had no idea where to go once she’d left through the double doors.

  She’d climbed quickly behind the wheel and left the property, driving aimlessly around Brooklyn until she reached the mall. Once parked, she walked through the passageways, past storefronts she didn’t even glance at, unsure as to why she was there, until she found herself outside Toyzone. Twenty minutes later she’d left again, a huge teddy with a red ribbon around its neck, in her arms.

  Soon she was walking through the doors of the Oncology department at Eugene Marais Hospital, smiling at the nurse behind the station who blinked at the size of the stuffed bear before smiling back.

  As she reached the counter Cat realized that she didn’t even know if there were visiting hours. But the nurse had been helpful once Catherine explained about the orphan and that she was the intended bone marrow donor.

  Cat made her way down the hall until she reached Sonia’s room, the sign on the door quickly warning her that the girl was not allowed visitors. Instead she stood at the window and looked into the sterile room, seeing the rows of machines attached to the small body, and the bags of fluids that dripped on thin lines into her arms.

  As if she knew she was being watched Sonia turned over, her figure so small and only made smaller by the size of the bed she lay in. Seeing Cat at the window she smiled and waved, her grin widening as Cat smiled back and peeked the huge bear into the window. Her eyes registered the question ‘for me?’ As Cat nodded, watching the smile widen until it threatened to jump right off Sonia’s face, she felt a lump lodge in the back of her throat and tears prick her eyes.

  Shit, she hated being such a cry baby all of a sudden, turning her head so that Sonia wouldn’t see her wiping them away. When she turned back she was smiling again and waving the bear’s fluffy arm.

  There was an intercom next to the door and she held the button down.

  “Hey,” she said, “how are you feeling?”

  She kept her finger on the button, keeping the connection open.

  “Okay, I guess.” The girl’s voice was tinny but Cat could hear the weakness in it.

  She forced another smile. “They won’t let me in until you’re feeling better but I thought Mr Bear could cheer you up until then.”

  She’d already checked with the nurse who’d said that the bear would have to be sprayed with heavy-duty antiseptic spray but that it shouldn’t be a problem to let her have him.

  Sonia smiled, her eyes on the stuffed toy. ‘I like him.”

  Cat smiled gently. “So do I.”

  A few minutes later she had to leave when the doctor came to make his rounds but she managed a few hushed words with him before he put on his sterile gear and went into the room.

  A small, lean man with kind grey eyes, Doctor Kurnow had told her that he expected the infection in Sonia’s lungs to clear up within a few days as she’d responded well to treatment. Then they could begin the next round of treatment, preparing her fragile body with doses of antibiotics and a whole concoction of other drugs designed to help her body fight off infection.

  Hopefully, he’d smiled, they’d be ready to do the procedure this time next week, although Cat would have to be admitted a few days earlier to begin her own regime of drug therapy in preparation.

  She felt better as she left; knowing that what she was doing was the right thing, despite Galena’s earlier warning.

  She’d driven straight home after that, depressed at the thought of unpacking the bag she’d filled just hours before and which she’d picked up on her way out of the house. She didn’t want to think about what had happened in Darien’s room, the thought of them no longer being intimate chilling her and making her want to cry again.

  So, as soon as she was locked in her apartment, she’d called Frankie instead. He was still at work, his hush tones telling her that he was probably in one of the treatment rooms; but he’d promised to come and see her in the morning, laughing as he told her that ditching classes for a few hours would probably be as good for him as his visit would be for her.

  She’d always envied the way he enjoyed his work; it was something she’d never felt for hers. His degree in veterinary sciences would make him capable of fixing broken animals but it was his afternoon job at the veterinary clinic near his apartment that was teaching him how to heal, both himself and the animals he treated.

  Was that why she was so desperate to help Sonia? Was the need to feel that she was doing something good, simply for the reason that it was right, what was fuelling her?

  She knew she would feel guilty about the clients she had robbed; probably for a long time. But the need to help Sonia was an overwhelming one and she hoped that once the procedure was done and the little girl was well again, that the adoption process could finally go through.

  After she’d ended her call with Frankie she made an early supper, sitting at the counter with the microwaved pasta in front of her, staring at the window.

  She was waiting for Darien, she realized as she watched the sun sink lower and the sky darken.

  Despite the way she’d left him earlier she knew he would come to her tonight. She’d heard his cry of frustration from the other side of the door and she’d almost turned back, her own anguish the only thing that kept her legs moving.

  Her fingers shook slightly as she pushed her fork around the plate and kept her eyes on the window.

  He would come to her, she knew. There was a bond between them; something indefinable but as strong as steel. She’d sensed it in the way he made love to her and the way he held her at every opportunity, his touch light but quietly claiming her as his own.

  But he did not come to her.

  As the shadows lengthened throughout the apartment and the sun finally lost its grip on the horizon, she lowered her head and stared at the congealed food on her plate.

  He wasn’t coming. What she’d said to him had ended whatever they had.

  At the sound of the doorbell she nearly fell off the barstool in her haste to get to the door. Out of habit she peeked through the fish eye security lens and froze.

  Marabella stood in the hallway, her platinum and black hair swept up on top of her head and her exquisitely beautiful yet cold face turned toward the door.

  “I know you’re there Catherine,” she announced drolly. “I can smell you on the other side of the door.”

  Sighing Cat opened the door and let her in.

  “Rather I should say that I can smell Darien on you,” Marabella muttered as she swept through the doorway and into the apartment.

  She stood at the door and watched as the tall woman glanced around the apartment and then went to sit on one end of the only couch in the small lounge.

  Cat closed the door and flicked all the barrier locks into place, one by one.

  “Paranoid much?” Marabella asked, a slight edge to her voice although she seemed to approve of Cat’s sense of security.

  Cat shrugged and walked into the small kitchenette. From her vantage-point she could see that Marabella had dressed down tonight, wearing only simple skinny leg jeans and a long thin jersey knit. Her penchant for boots was still in evidence however, although tonight they were low heeled and clearly more for comfort than show.

  “Would you like a coffee?” She asked, trying to be hospitable. But who was she kidding? She was dying to ask if Darien was going to be coming by. “It’s instant, I’m afraid.”

  “God, no,” Marabella answered quickly, although her tone became warmer. “But thank you.”

  Cat tried to tidy up in the kitchen but found she was creating more mess than she was cleaning up. Marabella seemed to sen
se her unease.

  “He’s not coming,” she said, her voice low.

  As she turned to face the vampire, Cat could see a softening in the other woman’s features, as though she understood the panic that was constricting Cat’s chest.

  “The Council has arrived at the house and he’ll probably be with them all night. That’s why he asked me to come.”

  The tightness left Cat’s chest, only to be replaced by a fluttering that was making her almost as breathless. She recalled Galena mentioning the Council’s representative who would be arriving and she sagged with relief.

  He had meant to come to her.

  If it hadn’t been for the Obscura’s representative he would be here with her now.

  The thought made her want to grin from ear to ear but she kept her emotions in check, not wanting to give Marabella the satisfaction of knowing how happy her words made her.

  She attacked the kitchen with more gusto than before and, once it was sparkling, she attended to bill payments and organizing the necessary paperwork for the hospital.

  It was nearing midnight by the time she finished and she was exhausted, not only from her housework but from the effort of having the female vampire in her home.

  Marabella had said nothing all evening and any attempt Cat made at conversation had been met with a cold blank stare until she’d simply given up. The woman had not moved from her seat and had sat so still that Cat had thought she might be sleeping but, each time she’d glanced across at her, she’d found herself staring into mercury colored eyes, which had tracked her every movement; focused and alert.

  Eventually she’d given up trying to be a gracious host and, as she finally closed her laptop she’d yawned.

  Standing up she stretched and yawned again. Then she wished Marabella goodnight and headed off to her room, where she’d undressed quickly and slipped under the covers of a bed that no longer felt like home and drifted off to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, knowing the vampire would be gone when she woke in the morning.