She rolled the note into a little scroll and slipped it beneath his hand with the cell phone and couldn’t resist tracing the lines of the mark around his wrist. It was incredible that this amazing man was truly hers. “Sleep well,” she whispered, brushing one more kiss over his lips before leaving the room.
Sian ran to the door as soon as she heard the doorbell ring and threw it open. “Renee, come in!”
Diego strode angrily into the entry hall right on her heels. “Dios, querida, how many times do I have to tell you to let James get the door?” he demanded, stalking straight past the women and slamming it behind him before turning to glare at Sian. “You don’t scan, you don’t even use the damn peephole. How do you know what’s out there? An Outcast could walk straight up to our door and you would let them in!”
Renee shifted uncomfortably. Diego glanced at her and shut his mouth with an audible snap. Sian linked her arm through his and smiled at Renee. “Yup, that’s my caveman.”
Diego flushed a little. “You know I didn’t mean her,” he muttered.
Sian laughed and after a moment Renee did too. “No worries,” Renee said, forcing a light tone to hide how much Diego still intimidated her.
He nodded stiffly, then glanced around the hall. “Where’s Eli?”
“Probably still sleeping.”
Diego gaped at her. “You didn’t wake him up and tell him you were leaving?”
Oh, this was too good to pass up. She smiled at him, the picture of innocence as she deliberately wound him up. “Why, do you think I should have?” She well remembered his reaction the first time he’d seen Sian near her and could just imagine how he would react if he woke and she was gone.
The look on his face was priceless. If Renee had told him Eli had been having kittens when she’d left, Diego couldn’t have looked more dismayed. He looked back at the front door as though expecting Eli to come bursting through it.
“Oh, this is really, really not good,” Diego groaned.
She grinned. “Don’t look so worried. I left him a note. He knows where I’m going.”
Diego shook his head and blocked the door. “I don’t think so. You’re not going anywhere.”
Sian laughed at his stern pose. “This is great! Since you seem determined to keep Renee here until Eli comes, that must mean you’re going shopping with me. Right?”
He looked like he was being offered a choice between being drawn and quartered or being boiled in oil. “Sian…”
“Excuse me,” Renee interrupted. “I don’t recall agreeing to be kept anywhere.”
Diego looked at her like she was insane. “I don’t recall asking you to agree.”
Sian glanced at Renee’s face and stepped between them before things escalated further. “Diego, it’s all right. It’s not like we’re planning on raiding the back alleys of the worst parts of town, we’re going to the mall. She’ll be perfectly fine.” She took his hand and laced her fingers through his. “You thought it was safe enough when I told you I was going,” she added persuasively.
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s because you always get me to agree to crazy things against my better judgment,” he replied, but his tone said his resolve to keep them there was weakening. Sian didn’t say anything else, but after a moment Diego sighed again. “Oh, all right, fine. I just hope you appreciate this when Eli gets here and breaks both my arms for letting his mate leave without a chaperone.”
Sian looked outraged. “What am I, chopped liver?”
He hung his head. “I’m not going to win this, am I?”
She laughed and kissed him before turning back to Renee. “Ready?”
Renee nodded fervently. She was more than ready to get away from Diego. With his black goatee and those wicked green eyes, Diego looked like the devil incarnate. She couldn’t imagine how Sian lived with a man as dark and forbidding as him.
Then she laughed silently at her thoughts. Eli wasn’t exactly a pussycat himself.
She followed Sian through the house to the garage and whistled low in appreciation when she unlocked a cherry red Ferrari.
“Let’s get out of here before he changes his mind,” Sian said, getting in and snapping her seatbelt.
The trip across town to the mall took about half the time it should have. Renee was afraid her fingers would be permanently embedded in the dash by the time Sian skidded to a stop in the parking lot.
“Good Lord, Sian,” Renee breathed, forcing her cramped hands to unlock and unbuckling her belt with shaking fingers, “if I’d known you drove like this, I would’ve stayed with Diego!”
Sian laughed. “Chicken.” She reached into the glove compartment as Renee grabbed her purse and Renee’s eyes widened when she pulled out a wicked looking little pistol. “Pays to be prepared,” she said lightly before she caught the look on Renee’s face. “Oh, don’t worry. I have a permit to carry concealed. I was a cop before I was a Slayer, you know.”
“No, I didn’t know,” Renee managed, watching Sian tuck the holster into the back of her jeans. “Either one, actually. You were a cop and now you’re a Slayer?” It was hard to imagine Diego allowing such a thing. She’d witnessed his protectiveness of Sian firsthand.
Sian nodded. “Nine years on the force before I witnessed a murder and had to go into Witness Protection,” she replied as they got out. “That’s how I met Diego, in fact, although Eli had more than a little to do with us getting together.”
Renee grinned at Sian’s tone. “I sense a very interesting story here.”
“You don’t want to know what I thought about that man of yours a few months ago. He tends to do what he thinks is right and ignore anyone who thinks otherwise.” She caught Renee’s look out of the corner of her eye and grinned. “Okay, he was right in this case. But I think hell will freeze over before Diego admits it.”
Renee laughed and Sian paused as they approached the mall entrance, turning to her. “Look, tell me if I’m out of line,” Sian said in an uncharacteristically hesitant tone. She reached for Renee’s left arm. “May I?”
Renee nodded and Sian pushed up the sleeve of her sweater to reveal the new bondmark encircling her arm. She touched it with a fingertip and glanced up at Renee, her blue eyes dark with worry. “Is this what you wanted?”
“More than anything. Why do you ask?”
Sian shrugged. “I know how it is to be a fledgling,” she said gently, making sure no one overheard. “It can be overwhelming—and Eli can be overwhelming, to say the least. I want to be sure you knew what you were getting into.” She shrugged again, releasing Renee’s arm and shoving her hands in her pockets. “Diego said not to interfere, but I could tell you didn’t know what was going on when he took you home last night. And I know from experience that Eli doesn’t let anything stop him when he’s set on something.”
Her concern touched Renee to the heart. “You’re right, I didn’t know. But even though I didn’t know what bonding was, I knew I wanted to be with him. He told me everything before we—before the third exchange.” She blushed a little at the erotic memory. “He didn’t trick me into it, I promise. It was my choice.”
“And you’re honestly all right?”
Sian’s concern warmed her and Renee smiled. “I’m wonderful. I couldn’t be happier.” She reached out and squeezed Sian’s arm. “Thanks for caring, in spite of what I am,” she added quietly, aware of the people around them.
Sian blushed a little and shrugged. “What you are is a person who got caught up in something she didn’t expect. Nothing more, nothing less. Believe me, it’s a feeling I’m more than familiar with.”
Renee hugged her and pulled her toward the door. “This life isn’t anything I ever imagined, but now I can’t imagine going back to the way I was,” she said. Then she smiled and nodded at the mall. “Now enough mushy stuff. Shopping beckons. What are you looking for?”
Sian’s blush deepened. “Maternity clothes.”
Renee gaped at her. “You’re can
’t mean—you’re—”
Sian laughed. “Yep,” she said, suddenly grinning from ear to ear. “And happy as hell about it. Now wipe the shock off your face and let’s get cracking. I think we only have a couple of hours before the shops close at ten, and I need everything.”
“I didn’t know va—” Renee cut the word off, glancing around. “I mean, I didn’t know anyone was born that way.”
“Not many are,” Sian agreed. “It’s very rare. Only dhampyrs—half and half, like me—or a few ‘high-blood’ lines can have children.” She glanced at Renee as she steered her toward a large department store. “Diego was born, not made. That’s why Eli was dead set on getting him a mate when his older brother died without children.”
Renee blinked, following blindly. “Eli made you and Diego get together?”
Sian laughed. “Sure did, despite the fact that I wasn’t like them and neither of us wanted it. He snapped his fingers and poof! The bands appeared and we were mated, even though it should have been impossible.”
“Wow.” Renee knew exactly why Eli could do such a thing, but she was still shocked he actually had. “I think I can understand why you’d be a little ticked at him.”
“Ticked ain’t the word, hon. I shot him.” Sian stopped before a rack of clothes and pulled out a blouse. She made a face. “Ick. Looks like a tent.”
“Wait, hold on a second here.” Renee gaped at Sian. “You shot Eli?”
“Sure did. Diego was pretty mad when he found out about it, but Eli thought it was funny.” She gave Renee a look. “May God give you patience, Renee, ‘cuz that man has a damn strange sense of humor.”
Renee laughed. “Yes, he certainly does,” she agreed. “And I love him.” She nodded at the blouse. “It doesn’t look like a tent. It’s cute.”
Sian put it back at once. “If there’s one thing I’m not and never want to be, it’s cute.”
Despite Sian’s reluctance, they managed to put a rather impressive dent in Diego’s credit card as the evening wore on. Fifteen minutes before the mall closed, Renee dragged a protesting Sian into a lingerie shop. “I’m gonna look like a whale and you’re making me look at this stuff?” Sian cried, waving a hand at the racks of tiny teddies and thongs and sending her shopping bags in a precarious arc. “No way, girl. He’d take one look and laugh!”
Renee shook her head. “He’ll take one look and drool,” she shot back. “You’re pregnant. It doesn’t make you a nun. Yes, your belly is going to grow, but the way I see it you can either go out and get some granny panties that come up to your chin, or you can get some of these—” she held up a pair of red silk bikinis, “—and remind him how you got this way.”
The saleslady laughed as Sian’s face reddened until it almost matched the panties Renee held. “She’s got a point,” she agreed. “And I’ve got a great matching bra for those, too. Your man will love it, that’s a guarantee.”
Sian glanced down at her chest and made a face. “I’m not even sure what size to get anymore,” she complained. “They just keep growing.”
Renee laughed again. “Then get a couple in increasing sizes,” she advised. She caught Sian’s doubtful look and grinned. “Listen to me, girl. Do you honestly think Diego is going to complain that your breasts are getting bigger?”
Sian covered her face with her hands. “All right, all right!” she cried. “Anything to stop you two from talking about it. What is it with strangers and my underwear, anyway? Pick something out and I’ll buy it if it will end this conversation!”
“That’s the spirit!” Renee rubbed her hands together with an evil grin as she looked over the assortment of naughty undergarments.
“You know,” the saleslady piped up as Renee started piling bras and panties on the counter, “we have some very sensual nighties in plus sizes. I know a lot of women who wear them when they’re pregnant and I haven’t heard a complaint yet.”
“Great idea.” Renee added a couple to the growing pile.
Sian finally stepped to the counter and brandished the credit card. “Enough, enough! This is more than I’ll ever wear.” She glanced back at Renee as the saleslady rang up her purchases. “Aren’t you getting something?”
Renee felt her cheeks heat. “I hadn’t thought about it.”
Sian laughed. “Oh, and now she blushes!” she teased. “Come on, you have to get something, too. You’re a newlywed. Get something that’ll make Eli lose his mind.” She glanced around before spying a burgundy velvet and leather merry widow with a matching g-string. “That.”
Renee laughed out loud as she looked at it. She had never in her life worn anything like that. “Oh, I don’t think so. Besides, we’re shopping for you, remember?”
“We’re done shopping for me and there’s still—” she checked her watch, “—five minutes until close. We’re shopping for you now and I’m telling you, get that thing or I’ll make you sorry.”
Renee lifted it off the rack and glanced at the tag. It was even her size. Her temperature climbed about a hundred degrees at the thought of wearing it for Eli but she still hesitated. “G-strings are uncomfortable,” she protested again, touching the velvet trim with a fingertip.
“Honey, you won’t be wearing it long enough to get uncomfortable,” the saleslady chimed in.
Sian grinned. “Ring it up. I’m getting it for her.” Renee made another half-hearted protest as the saleslady took it from her hands and Sian laughed. “I need you to keep Eli busy enough that he doesn’t even think about meddling in my life anymore,” she added. “That should be a good start!”
They walked out to Sian’s car a few minutes later, laden with bags. Renee couldn’t remember when she’d had a better time shopping. She normally hated it with a passion. “This was so much fun. Thanks for the invite. I’ll shop with you anytime.”
Sian hit the trunk release button on her keyring and dumped her bags inside. “It’s a deal. Diego sure won’t come with me, and it’s no fun at all with James.”
“Maybe if you took Diego to the lingerie shop, he’d see things diff—”
Renee’s voice died in mid-sentence as a shattering pain split her head. She dropped the bags she carried, pressing her hands to her temples as though it’d help her squeeze out the invading presence.
There you are, little girl. I’ve been looking for you. And who is this lovely young thing with you?
Panic shot through her. “Get in the car!” Renee managed through gritted teeth, each word a burst of agony as she fought to throw off the horribly familiar hold seeping through her mind. She couldn’t let anything happen to Sian and her baby! Her knees went weak and she crumpled to the pavement, struggling with everything in her.
Sian ran to her with her gun already in hand, ignoring her warning as she intently searched the shadows. “What do you sense?” she demanded, all traces of teasing gone. Renee clearly saw both the Slayer and the cop in her at that moment. “Where is it?”
“Outcast,” Renee gasped. The memory of the Outcast forcing her to do his bidding in the alley seared her and she recoiled from Sian when the other woman bent closer. “Get away from me!”
Very noble, the Outcast laughed in her mind. But you can’t save her. Why don’t you take her gun away and shoot her for me?
Renee’s hand shot toward the gun at his command and she fought against it with all her might. Her fingers trembled in midair a few inches from Sian’s wrist.
“Go!” she cried, forcing a compulsion into her words despite the pain. Why had she left without Eli when she’d known her true sire was still out there, waiting for her?
Suddenly a warm hand closed around hers, pulling it away from Sian’s gun as a strong arm wrapped around her to draw her against her mate’s hard chest. Peace swept through her and the pain receded before it. Renee almost collapsed with relief at the blessedly familiar touch.
“Easy, little one,” Eli murmured in her ear. “Diego called me the minute you left his house. You were never alone.”
&nb
sp; Then he looked up at Sian, who was still holding her gun in a two-handed grip and searching the night for a target. “Get in the car and go home to Diego,” Eli ordered, shrugging off his long duster and wrapping it around Renee. His swords glinted in the dim parking lot lights, but he didn’t care who saw them. “You’re in no condition to—”
“I don’t take orders from you,” Sian snapped, still scanning the lot. “I’m a Slayer too, in case you’ve forgotten. You go do your thing. I’ll stay with Renee.”
Eli didn’t take the time to argue. He brushed a kiss over Renee’s forehead and helped her to lean against the car before standing and drawing his swords in one graceful movement, a predator preparing to defend his mate.
“Come out, coward,” he called, letting his derision echo in the challenge. “Or are you afraid to face me without a woman between us?”
Caen ground his teeth in fury. Why hadn’t he sensed the Slayer following the women through the crowded mall? This one was powerful, but Caen was no fledgling himself. He’d been hunting for more than two thousand years and was strong in his own right. He should have felt the Slayer’s presence!
The Slayer stood beside the women, a sword in each hand, and he took a deep breath of the chill air. “I smell your fear, Outcast,” he taunted.
Caen focused his will and sent it shooting through the fledgling. Throw yourself on his swords!
He heard her moan but suddenly the Slayer was in her mind. Stay still, little one, he murmured to her, and Caen was horrified when she closed her eyes and didn’t move.
You will obey me! he snapped furiously at her. I am your sire and my hold on you is the stronger!
The Slayer laughed again. “I am her bondmate,” he said to the night, as though certain Caen would hear him. “Do you honestly think your feeble blood tie has any chance against mine?”
Caen roared in rage. The damn Slayer had completed the bond and taken the fledgling from his control! He leapt down from the roof of the mall, aiming the crossbow at the traitorous fledgling’s heart even as he plummeted to the ground. If I can’t use you, I can still kill you! he screamed at her as he pulled the trigger and sent the bolt on its deadly course.
Amelia Elias - [Guardian's League 02] - Outcast Page 29
