by Opal Carew
“You have me at a disadvantage... ,” she said nearly out of breath. Before she could finish what she had to say, he chuckled, possessively, seductively. If he moved away from her, she’d shamelessly melt right against him. “I meant to say... you know my name... but I don’t know yours.”
“There’s more to what you say than you let on, but very well. I am Adonis.”
She let a smile slip out, then quickly recovered. “Right. The lover of Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of Love.” He was as beautiful as the man Aphrodite, and then Persephone, had fallen in love with from the illustrations Rachael had seen depicting him. Did any woman who beheld this Adonis fall in love with him, too?
“My mother felt the name was appropriate for her son.”
Rachael’s heart hitched. She’d never thought of vampires having mothers, fathers, families... only blood-bonded relations, humans they’d turned, who now led a nighttime existence feeding off the unsuspecting.
“Tell me about Piaras,” she said, wanting to get to the bottom of what Adonis was truly about before she gave in and let him drag her to bed. Or, she dragged him.
“First, you and I have to learn to trust one another.” He released her left wrist and touched her hair with a tender caress, as if he truly could have genuine affections for her, and not just a raging need to fulfill some physical craving. “You’ll never be able to approach him unless you can handle my intimacy with you.”
She attempted to shove him away, but he wouldn’t let her go, reclasping her free wrist with his iron grip. What in the world did he have in mind? Just because she wasn’t tied to a hunter, didn’t mean she was that naïve. He had to be crazy to think she’d permit him to seduce her. A vampire seduce a huntress? The notion was unthinkable, worse than that—sacrilegious.
Not only because she was a huntress, but because of what a vampire had done to her parents. Yet no matter how much she warned herself this was so wrong, a part of her kept insisting she needed him as much as he seemed to need her. That he didn’t frighten her like others of his kind did, well to an extent, but not terrifyingly so, and that led her to believe she needed him, to help her overcome her fear of his kind. Which was beyond idiotic!
He held her wrists tightly and wrinkled his forehead. “I thought you might be the one, but not if you won’t cooperate.”
She should have struggled more to get free, shoved him away, regained some space so she could collect her senses, but instead she looked into his darkened, lust-filled eyes and asked in a voice that bordered on seduction—which she chided herself for as soon as the words escaped her lips—”What is it that you have in mind?”
His elusive smile returned, then just as quickly evaporated. “I’ll take you to him, as a human willing to be turned. You’re attractive enough. He’ll be interested. But since he won’t be able to control your mind and make you do what he wants, you’ll have to act as though he can.”
He nuzzled his cheek against hers again. No man had ever gotten so close to her. Not like this.
An encounter with a sixteen-year-old teen years earlier when she was the same age was as close as it got to the real thing. He was human though, fumbling, frantic, in the back seat of his dad’s King cab pickup, worried a hunter family member of hers would catch them in the act and kill him, she had worried about the same thing. Later, a couple of adult encounters, but once they saw her scar and realized a vampire had marked her, that was the end of finding love with human types.
Hunter types believed in the sanctity of marriage, so while her uncle was in charge, none had approached with more than a platonic greeting or two. Although if they could have gotten away with much more without getting into boiling oil over the matter, she was certain a couple of the more roguish hunters might have attempted seduction.
Now she had the opportunity to be intimate with a man she was totally intrigued with, who wasn’t bothered by her scar or hunter ties, and he had to be a vampire?
But not just any vampire. Because never had she been fascinated by one before, and never had she desired one to get even closer to her.
She barely realized his fingers were tracing her bare arms, no longer holding her wrists hostage, his lips pressed against her hair in a whisper soft caress. Not hurried or panicked or pushy. This is what being with a man should feel like. She closed her eyes and savored the way his satiny skin rubbed against her cheek. Like hunters, vampires grew no chin whiskers, and his smooth face made her own skin tingle for more of his touch.
“The only way it’ll work though, is if you show no fear,” he whispered against her ear, her skin prickling with the sweetest sensation. “If you let him know you’re afraid of him, he’ll realize at once you’re not a human host seeking the sexual pleasure a vampire can offer.” He pressed his mouth against her throat, sending a trickle of warmth down her spine and a bead of perspiration between her breasts. “Also you can’t take a hunter’s weapon in on your person. I’ll have to slip it to you once you’re with him. But for now, I’ll help to desensitize you toward the feel of a vampire.”
Desensitize away, she wanted to say in a husky sexy voice, but her huntress wariness broke through to the front lines to save the day, or at least stop her from doing anything too risky, for at least a minute of reprieve or two. “Why do you want him dead?” At least she was proud of herself for attempting to distract herself from his attentions and act more levelheaded like a huntress on a mission should be.
“That’s my business.”
Her spine stiffened and she narrowed her eyes. She didn’t trust him anyway, but her suspicions were further confirmed by his answer. “Why don’t you just kill him yourself then?”
“I can’t.”
She knew this was some kind of vampire trick. She folded her arms. “Sorry, not interested.”
There was no way she could kill the ancient one, certainly not by herself. Adonis had to have had something else in mind, and she wasn’t falling for it.
Adonis’s eyes widened. “I thought you would want to kill the one who had murdered your parents, to avenge their deaths. Isn’t that what any hunter child would wish?”
Chapter 3
“What?” Rachael’s word squeaked out, not sure she’d heard Adonis correctly as she stumbled back from him, bumping into her dresser. No one knew who killed her parents. At least that was what everyone had always told her. Of course she wanted to kill the bastard! As soon as she learned his name!
Frowning, Adonis tilted his head to the side, his eyes narrowed. “You didn’t know?”
Her mind swirled with the knowledge. Fuzziness filled her brain, numbness spreading through her body until her knees buckled. No, she hadn’t known.
He quickly lifted her off her feet and carried her to the bed. The worst vampire of the region had murdered her parents? Her stomach wrenched with nausea, and she blinked back unwanted tears.
“I thought you knew.”
“I didn’t,” she whispered, looking up at Adonis, his dark eyes studying her with the intensity of a panther on the prowl, ready to take down his prey.
But was it her, or Piaras that he was really after? Was he telling the truth about her parents? Or was that the best reason he could come up with to solicit her help?
Yet if she could confirm Piaras was her parents’ murderer, she’d have to kill him. She’d avenge her parents’ deaths and destroy one of the most sinister bloodsuckers of her time. If she could.
But she didn’t trust Adonis. He could be lying. And even if he wasn’t—the way she longed for his contact—she didn’t feel enough of his touching her would ever desensitize her toward him, nor did she have confidence in herself that she could apply the brakes on her own insane need. What in the world was the matter with her?
Even so, she didn’t think—if Adonis was being honest with her—that his desensitizing her would prepare her for dealing with Piaras either. Yet if this was all for real, and his plan could succeed—
He reached down, pulled the pins from her hair
, and combed his fingers through the freed curls. His warm tongue ran down her neck in a sensuous caress. Was he feeling her pulse beneath the surface, luring him to seek its source, readying himself to take a bite? Despite knowing how wrong the emotions were, she hungered to have his teeth stroking her skin.
Until the front door of her apartment creaked open and Zachary hollered, “Rachael? Why the hell didn’t you let Gregory stay here until I arrived?” The door clunked shut. The bolt slid in place. “Rachael?”
Rachael’s heart flipped and Adonis grabbed her wrists, pulled her from the bed, and held her securely against his hard body.
She barely breathed with fright, not at the vampire’s close proximity, but considering what he might do to her cousin.
A pause followed, then her cousin spoke again. “Gregory said you sent him home, but my father said you can’t be alone. Rachael?”
“Let me go to him,” Rachael whispered to Adonis, “or he’ll search for me and kill you when he finds you here.” How could she be torn between protecting a vampire and her own cousin?
Adonis pressed his lips against hers, forcing her to part them for him. Her heart beat way out of control. To an extent, she enjoyed his attention as his tongue tangled with hers, but part of her remained anxious Zachary would kill him or that the vampire would get the best of her cousin.
Zachary’s sword pulled out of its sheath with a whoosh.
“Let me to go to him,” Rachael pleaded, her voice hushed.
“I’ll get rid of him,” Adonis whispered in her ear, then he vanished.
Rachael screamed, “No!” and dashed for her sword.
Zachary ran into the room, his weapon readied while Rachael bolted for him in the same offensive posture.
“My God, Rachael. What’s happened?” Zachary’s bushy brown brows pinched together.
“I... I was getting ready to go to bed when I heard something.”
“It was me you heard. Father said you can’t stay here alone. I’m to remain here with you the night. But he’d hoped you’d have permitted Gregory to do the honors.” He touched her cheek. “You’re flushed. What’s wrong?”
“I... I hadn’t expected you.” She quickly shifted the conversation, hardening her words. “And how would it look to the other hunters who desire my hand if Gregory had stayed the night?”
“It would make them more desirous of you, believe me. Uncle Tobias has been beating them off with a stick for four years now.” He wiggled his brows.
She scowled at him.
Zachary grinned, being his usual self, always trying to rile her. She knew he really cared about her, but like most other male hunters when it came to huntresses, it was all about control. And he was way too eager to take the place of her uncle when it came to ordering her about.
“They’d know nothing could happen between the two of you or he’d have to face the consequences of the hunter tribunal. Gregory wouldn’t want to lose his chance at having you for his mate if he’d made a wrong move. But just the fact that he could get that close, would impress upon the other eligible hunters that they’d better make more of an effort to get in your good graces.” He motioned to the hallway. “Make up the bed on the couch for me while I grab a snack.”
She crossed the floor and shoved her sword in its sheath. “Make up your own bed.”
He chuckled. “Some wife you’ll make.”
“You are my cousin. Besides, I’m a huntress, first and foremost.” Wasn’t she? Yet her actions with Adonis proved otherwise. Her skin freckled with goose bumps, she rubbed her arms. The concern the vampire might have hurt her cousin still worked her nerves into a screaming frenzy. And, too, she couldn’t shake loose of the disturbing news that Piaras might have killed her parents. But was it true?
Zachary cleared his throat. “You’ll be a wife and mother, above all else, once you choose a mate. You pretend you don’t like the idea, but I’ve seen you playing tag with Trish’s twins, laughing hysterically, having the time of your life. Last week I noticed when you wouldn’t release Mary’s new baby to any of the other huntresses who wished to hold him.”
Folding her arms, she frowned at him. “Everyone else who held him made him cry. He slept soundly in my arms, otherwise I’d have gladly given him up. I’d never realized how heavy a baby could get.”
Zachary walked down the hall to the kitchen while she followed on his heels. “You can deny it all you want, but everyone noticed. You have the same maternal instincts the other huntresses have.”
Sure she did, but she couldn’t let the others know how she felt. That having a hunter mate to protect her wasn’t the same as being able to protect herself if need be. That feeling secure had to come from within, not from someone attempting to provide that security. She wanted to feel self-sufficient, for a while anyway. To feel whole, to feel good about herself. She wanted to hunt and prove she could survive a vampire’s attack, and if she had a hunter mate and was faced with a situation like her parents had been in, that she would be a help and not a hindrance.
But in their local society, the women gave up their hunting to have babies. She wanted to do both. In other places across the country, hunter clans allowed their huntresses to continue to hunt after having offspring if they wished to. What was the wrong in that?
Zachary opened her fridge door and peered in. Then he pulled out a package of ham slices, cheese, a head of lettuce, and jar of mayonnaise.
“Why don’t you make yourself right at home?”
Zachary began to build his sandwich. “I will. Why don’t you get ready for bed? I’ll just watch a little television and go to sleep.”
“Clean up after yourself this time.”
He glanced up from his sandwich and narrowed his eyes. “Your lips were coated with a red gloss before you left the dance. You haven’t showered. Why are they naked now?”
She swallowed hard. She’d never known a man who took notice of things like Zachary did. Her lips were naked because a vampire had kissed her like no other man had ever done. She took a deep breath. “Maybe Gregory gave me a goodnight kiss.” The moment she said it, she knew she’d made a mistake. Why didn’t she just say she’d wiped it off? Because she was feeling guilty about having been kissed—by a vampire, no less—that’s why.
Zachary stopped working on his sandwich and stared at her. “Gregory said he hadn’t kissed you. You were too upset about the vampire’s visit, and he felt it wasn’t a good idea. When I pressed him about it, he said you wouldn’t let him stay with you. That’s not the way to win a hunter’s heart.”
“I was joking about Gregory kissing me. I’m not ready to select a mate. Uncle Tobias can’t just spring this on me and expect me to be ready and willing.”
“Yeah, well, he says you’re a late bloomer, or he would have allowed the hunters to pursue you before this. Frankly, I think it’s because he liked having a woman around the house. But now that you’ve moved out, he says it’s time for you to settle down, even if you show no interest in the bachelor hunters.”
“Uncle Tobias can’t force the issue.”
“He can and he will.” Zachary bit into his sandwich.
She tapped her fingers on the table. Would her cousin know who’d killed her mother and father? But if he did, would he reveal the truth to her? “Zachary, why did Piaras kill my parents? Do you know?”
Zachary’s face turned pasty, and he set his sandwich down. Instead of answering her, he pulled the fridge door open and retrieved a soda. After opening the can, he faced her. “What makes you say a thing like that?”
Just Zachary’s reaction to her question—his hesitation to speak right away while he thought of a way to get around the issue—proved to her Adonis had told her the truth. Was this the secret Ferris had been discussing with his twin brother?
Piaras had to die at her hands. She could almost taste his blood.
As for Zachary, she didn’t bother to answer him, knowing full well he’d deny the truth of the matter, if only to help to en
sure she wouldn’t take on the deadly mission of killing Piaras. She turned to leave the kitchen, her head still pounding about her parents’ murderer.
“You know, I shouldn’t tell you this as it’ll go straight to your head, but the men were quite impressed when you changed into something feminine. I’ve never seen so many hunters drool as when you walked into the ballroom wearing that low cut gown. Last year you hid under Aunt Bertha’s shawl, as I recall.”
She whipped around. “There has to be more that they see in me, than... than... “
“Yeah, well there is, but that they have to wait for.”
“More than that!” She turned to leave, but he dashed for her and seized her wrist.
A subdued hiss met her ear. A vampire’s hiss. She looked over Zachary’s shoulder. Adonis stood watching her from the dining room, his face unsmiling. Her blood chilled.
But her cousin hadn’t heard Adonis, distracted as he was. Nor could he see him, unless he turned around.
Zachary frowned at her and released her wrist. “I thought I smelled a subtle man’s spicy cologne in your bedroom. Gregory didn’t try to get fresh with you in there, did he? Is that why you wouldn’t let him stay with you until I arrived?”
No way could she get Gregory in trouble for something he hadn’t done. Yet if she said it wasn’t his cologne, whose could have it been? And if she said she didn’t know for sure, Zachary would investigate.
“My manager sent the maintenance man to replace the doorknob on the closet door. Or tighten the screws, I should say.”
“See? If you had a mate, you’d have a place of your own, and he would tighten your loose screws. Go to bed. I promise I’ll clean up the mess.”
She hesitated to leave, Adonis standing there as if he were her knight—black knight, while Zachary should have been her white knight.
“Go,” Zachary said, motioning for her to leave, then began making another sandwich.
But she didn’t want to go, not while Adonis stood there like a menacing avenger. Finally, she cast Adonis a quick I’ll-kill-you-if-you-touch-my-cousin glower while Zachary sliced into his sandwich. Adonis gave her a subtle smile, then she whipped around, praying that he would poof disappear as soon as she left her cousin alone.
