He found my mouth with his.
It was different from how he usually kissed me.
Pain slid through his light in narrow, knife-like increments, yanking my light sensually into his, even as he deepened the kiss. I felt him controlling it, controlling my light, and something about the way he did that started my heart beating harder in my chest, until I could barely breathe. His fingers clenched in my hair, wrapping into the thick part at the back of my head, and I let out an involuntary sound, following the tug of his other hand when he guided me up against him.
Pausing to take a breath, he kissed me again.
That time, he opened his light.
Pain hit me so hard, my knees weakened, nearly dumping me in the grass.
If he felt it, he barely paused, letting his pain and light seep into mine, absorbing into my light and skin like water into porous rock. I let out an involuntary gasp, a deeper one that time, and he held me tighter, wrapping his arm around me and crushing me gently against his chest.
He pulled away that time right before he let out a heavy groan.
I was still reacting to what I heard in the sound when he kissed me again, pressing me backwards into the willow tree we were standing under. I let out a louder sound when he pressed me harder into the tree, gasping for breath when he kissed my mouth. He lowered his head, kissing my throat, pressing the length of his body against mine as he did.
I had my hands inside his shirt then, and the pain coming off him worsened.
I felt confusion swim through him briefly, a deeper longing to talk to me, to communicate––something. I felt his confusion worsen as he thought about what he might say, how he might say it, and I pulsed heat at his chest, wanting to smooth away his worry, and he groaned again, louder that time.
Possessiveness rose in him, so intensely all my muscles tensed.
I closed my eyes, leaning back against the tree’s trunk, and he kissed me again, coaxing my mouth open with his tongue and lips, that urgency on him worsening.
He pressed against me, letting out another groan. A more aggressive coil of his light hit at me, hot and invasive, and I felt his possessiveness worsen.
Then his hands were on my belt, pulling at the leather strap, unhooking it deftly from the silver tongue. His movements were so practiced and smooth, a flush of possessiveness left my own light, completely outside my control.
He felt it, and let out a heavier gasp.
He kissed me again, still kissing me in that other way, pulling on me and controlling my light, until I felt my own light twisting out of my control, somehow opening more and more, the more he took it over from me. He was still kissing me like that, his hand fisted in my hair as he forced me to slow down, pulling on me to open to him more as he did it, when his hand slid into my pants. Since I hadn’t had any extras with me, given the way we left Virginia, with all of our luggage unpacked in a luxury D.C. hotel, I wasn’t wearing underwear.
I felt him realize that and let out a heavier sound…
His fingers were inside me before my mind caught up with what he was doing.
He let out another gasp against my mouth, going into me deeper as he used his weight to thrust my back up against the tree.
He fucked me with his fingers, hand and arm, his light and weight behind it so intensely I got lost there, my arms around his neck, my hands gripping his hair as I hung there, arching and pressed against him.
I wrapped my leg around his when he opened his light more.
His mouth found mine and he was pulling on me again. His light pulled on me more, driving me crazy even as he forced me back, pulling sensually, then stopping me.
I couldn’t fucking take it anymore.
I couldn’t take it.
“Black,” I murmured against his mouth. “Black… why? Why?”
He felt the meaning behind my question and his pain worsened, growing so bad it blanked out my vision, forcing another gasp from my lips.
I writhed against him, and his pain turned violent.
I hadn’t felt him like this since––
“You belong to me,” he said, his voice thick, almost incoherent. “You fucking belong to me, Miriam. And I belong to you.”
As soon as he said it, I realized he’d said it compulsively. I felt him second-guess it pretty much the instant it left his lips, even as his pain worsened.
Then I felt him wanting to ask me again.
He forced it from his mind, closing his eyes.
He threw his weight against me, harder, then his free hand caught hold of one of mine, bringing my fingers and palm down to his cock. When I started massaging him there, it really did feel like we were having sex. My light opened more, along with my legs, and he let out a heavy sound, arching against me again.
His pain got so bad I couldn’t breathe.
I was seeing it again then, seeing it in my mind.
I saw his face while Brick––
“No.” He broke off the kiss. Gripping my shoulder in his hand, he shook his head, his fingers gripping the muscle and bone. “No, Miri. No, goddamn it.”
I bit my lip, looking up at him.
I felt his pain worsen.
He lowered his head, about to kiss me again, but I spoke right as his lips were about to touch mine. My voice was so low, I couldn’t even be sure he heard me at first.
“I told him if he did it again, I’d kill him,” I whispered. “I told him that was the last time, Black. The very last time.”
He definitely heard me.
He stopped, long enough to raise his head.
I felt the conflict on him. I felt a part of him that was touched, that was even turned on by what I’d said, what he felt behind it. I felt him not wanting to argue with me, to fuck things up between us, or get into an argument.
Before he could make up his mind whether to speak, I did.
“I know we might need to do something like that again.” Clenching my jaw, I held his gaze in the dark, even with his fingers inside me, my hand on his cock. “Next time, you can read him through me. Or show me what to look for. But next time it’ll be me, Black.”
Black’s whole body tensed.
Every muscle of his that rested against me clenched, as if he’d been instantly thrown into the middle of a fight.
“No. Fucking. Way.” His voice was so angry, I jumped. “No fucking way in hell is that happening, Miriam. You can just get that idea out of your goddamned mind––”
My voice came out uncompromisingly, surprisingly calm.
“It’s done, Black,” I said. “I made it clear to Brick that I didn’t give a fuck what you had to say about it. I told him if he did it, I would kill him. And I will. Whether you tell him to do it or not. Whether you give him permission or not.”
Staring up at Black, I repeated, colder,
“Brick heard me. He agreed.”
Black stared down at me.
I felt that conflict on him worsen.
Then I saw him imagining Brick feeding on me, remembering what it had been like in the sunroom just now, with Brick and him, and something in him seemed to snap.
He took his fingers out of me, his hand out of my pants. I gasped, unable to stop myself from reacting, and he wrapped both of his muscular hands around my biceps.
“No,” he snarled. “No, goddamn it! Miri––”
“Excuse me,” a voice spoke pleasantly out of the darkness.
The New Orleans accent lilted his words, causing both me and Black to flinch, turning.
“I beg your pardon,” Brick said, a smile in his voice. “I must confess, it was hard to interrupt that little… well, whatever it is this is.”
I could see him now, his outline at least.
He stood maybe five yards away, a faint silhouette in the shadow of the same willow tree where Black had been kissing me. Brick’s shadow only grew visible once I knew where to look, and then only because I could pick out pieces of his outline against the orange and yellow lights from the windows of the
house behind him.
He seemed to be letting us find him in that silence.
Once he was sure we had, he spoke again, his voice harder.
“Can we postpone this little marital tiff for the time being?” he said. “I’m afraid my reasons for being out here cannot wait.”
I thought at first what I was hearing was anger.
I even wondered if he was angry at what I’d said to Black, about the conversation Brick and I had in the sunroom when we were alone.
A few seconds later, I realized what I was hearing wasn’t anger at all.
It was lust.
The vampire was turned on, enough to make me wonder how long he’d been standing there, watching the two of us. Then, with a harder flush of anger, I wondered if it had more to do with him still feeling the effects of having fed on Black.
As if hearing my thoughts, Brick let out a low chuckle.
“I confess, I was quite hoping you two might fuck for real.” Despite his amusement, his voice deepened, growing rougher. “I can’t tell you how badly I would have liked to see that. Badly enough that I stood here, waiting for it, until dear Miriam chose to kill the mood entirely with her needless confession as to our private agreements.”
He paused, as if waiting to see if his words would elicit any kind of reaction from either of us. When neither Black nor I spoke, the vampire’s voice turned abruptly businesslike.
“Although perhaps Miriam did us all a favor,” he said. “For now really isn’t the time, my passionate and somewhat volatile friends.”
I saw the silhouette’s head turn, adjusting its angle so that the shadowed face and eyes now aimed towards me.
“We just got word that your dear Uncle Charles is about to pay us a visit, Miriam,” he said. “Apparently he’s bringing a good number of his friends.”
Black released me, all at once.
“When?” he said.
“The estimates were uncertain,” Brick said, his voice now as businesslike as Black’s. “I suggest we not tarry. I was given a guess of three hours, but it is best if we get out of here well before that time. Assuming this is being orchestrated by the human in charge of my captivity, he’ll send drones ahead… and all manner of other modern evil.”
“Does he know we’re here?” Black said, blunt. “Me? Miri?”
The silhouette gave an eloquent shrug.
It was almost a seer’s shrug, but more affected somehow, like the vampire adopted it purposefully, as a part of his costume.
“Unknown. My contact seems to think not, but I’m willing to assume nothing at this point. Particularly given the wild rumors swirling around D.C. at this late hour, and not only in reference to this one event.”
He paused meaningfully.
I felt him look between us as he went on in another slow drawl.
“I’ve got other tidbits to share, once we’re on the road. My contact in Washington was finally able to get away long enough to share some real intel. Including as relates to your darling Lucky Lucifer, a.k.a. Charles Vasiliev, Russian diplomat.”
His voice turned grimmer, just before he faced Black.
“Come now, Quentin,” he said. “Let us pack up this motley crew of ours. We wouldn’t want them witnessing us leave. Or worse, following us. Would we, friend?”
I gritted my teeth.
It wasn’t until after I’d done it that I realized it was because he insisted on calling Black by his first name.
Enough must have left my light that Black felt it. His head and eyes turned towards mine, his light flickering out in a hot ripple.
I didn’t say anything, though.
Neither did he.
Folding my arms, I watched Brick turn and begin making his way back to the mansion-like French Colonial with its lit windows and painted shutters. I couldn’t help noticing the vampire moved deceptively fast, despite his casual strides.
I also felt him prodding us to hurry, to follow him.
Black must have felt it too.
Even so, he didn’t move immediately. For a few seconds longer, he just stood there, continuing to look at me.
I could feel that anger still swirling through his light––along with significantly more complex emotional reactions that were harder to pull apart. I knew at least some of that was from the last thing I’d said to him before Brick interrupted.
For a few seconds, I thought he might say something out loud, even after what Brick just said. Instead, he jerked his eyes off mine, as if with an effort.
Dropping his hands from his waist, he exhaled in a near-growl.
Moving gracefully, almost like a dancer, he turned away from me before I could say anything, or even decide if there was anything I could say. His light closed as he began to walk, until he was nearly as blank as the vampire as he followed Brick across the lawn and towards the back door leading into the house.
For a moment I only watched him walk.
Then, sighing, I straightened from the willow tree’s trunk and began to follow him.
I only made it a third of the way across the lawn when the first missile hit.
20
EXPOSURE
I HEARD THE whine a split second before a blinding flash of light turned night to day.
My mind slowed to a crawl.
I saw the windows blow out in slow-motion as that first missile slammed into the upper story of the vampire’s eight thousand square foot house. Glass flew out along with chunks of wood, plaster, furniture, tile.
Then, as if by some strange delay, the sound hit.
As it did, I was thrown backwards.
I landed on my back on the grass, the wind knocked out of me, even as the crash and thunderous boom of the missile blanked out my mind. Flipping over, I crawled backwards without a second’s thought.
At that point, I hadn’t even thought about what had happened.
I hadn’t considered who might’ve fired the shot.
Yanking a handgun out of the holster at my ankle, I clutched it in one hand, using my other hand to feel over my body for shrapnel wounds as I climbed back to my feet. I continued moving backwards the whole time, putting distance between myself and the house.
“Black!” I shouted.
He’d been at the back door of the mansion when the bomb hit.
In that brief silence, my heart started pounding into my ribcage.
“BLACK!”
I’m here. His mind rose. It grew clearer, sharper as he went on. I’m fine, doc. Working on getting the others out of the house.
Frowning, I clicked the safety back on for the gun, and shoved it into my belt at the small of my back. My eyes darted up to the upper story, which was burning now, the flames licking higher already, pulled up by the wind and the open air. I stared up briefly at the gaping hole the missile blew in the massive window on that floor, watching smoke plume upwards through the jagged pieces of glass and blackened walls around the opening.
Pushing off from the tree, I emerged back into the lit part of the lawn, moving fast.
As I began walking towards the house, Black’s mind rose again.
No! Stay where you are, goddamn it! We’re trying to get people out, not bring more inside. Dex is taking the humans out now. They’ll be heading your way––get them behind cover, if you can, doc. At least keep them out of the light.
I came to a dead stop.
As I did, the back door slammed open, right before shadowy forms began emerging one by one, then running towards me in the dark. I saw all of the Native kids and something in my chest relaxed, allowing me to breathe easier. I saw Manny, Lex and Lawless too, followed by a handful of vampires, then Dex, Nick and Angel.
Any casualties? I sent to Black.
At least a few. Vampires mostly, since the hit was upstairs. They’re working to try and pull out some of the injured, so we can bring them with us.
Get out of there, Black, I sent.
My eyes rose involuntarily to the gaping hole in the upper floor, the flames, whi
ch were already burning higher, the column of black smoke. I watched curtains shred and tear under the orange and yellow flames, rippled by the wind running through the open story.
Hurry, Black, I urged.
Working on it. You got those people under cover yet?
I bit my lip. Then, stepping back into the lit portion of the lawn, I waved at Dex, the Natives, Nick and Angel.
Dex saw me first.
I saw the relief on his face, and his lips move as he spoke to the others, pointing in my direction as he broke into a military-style jog. I began walking backwards into the shadowed part of the gardens, moving deeper under the tree cover once I saw the others headed my way.
Still walking backwards, watching the others, I saw a glimmer of relief on Angel and Nick’s faces once they realized who I was.
Sliding my form against the tree where Black and I had been kissing earlier, I gripped the gun in my hand, aiming it at the ground as I looked around on all sides, half-expecting to see an armed force explode out of the nearby trees.
Tree branches only rippled in the wind.
I stretched out my light, but apart from the minds and lights of the humans in our group, the grounds shockingly quiet. Physically, they were quiet, too, apart from the crackle and occasional groan from the fire at the top of Brick’s mansion.
Even the frogs and insects had gone silent after the missile.
I felt Black talking to someone, his mind felt distracted, far away.
When it rose next, it was stripped of the last vestiges of emotion.
Stay where you are for now, Miri. Keep them all together. And expect more company in the next few seconds. We’re only still inside the house because we’re using the surveillance tech. Brick has one of his people trying to make it portable.
The seers–– I began.
Someone is blocking the sight of the seers. We’re using Brick’s cameras instead. He’s also got a handful of working drones. They’ve hacked his security grid, but parts of it are still operational. We’ll be out soon, but we need eyes on possible evacuation routes, Miri. Brick’s working on that now.
Evacuation, my mind muttered.
Somehow, Black heard that as a question.
In Black We Trust Page 27
