The hallways were packed as spectators took advantage of the break and lined up for food as well as ale. Marlee just wanted to go to the bathroom before she had another pint. Smiling at the people surrounding her, Marlee didn’t see the man from the pub following her. If she had, maybe she would have never met the man that would change her life forever.
Chapter Two
Sin could feel something in the air as he sat in the box with his higher-ranking clan members. He was unsettled and wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t like it. He leaned toward Cillian and whispered, “During halftime I will be heading down to the blood bar, please see to it they are prepared for our arrival.”
Cillian nodded and stood then bowed. “Sire.”
Sin wanted to growl in frustration but they were at a public event. He briefly wondered if maybe he should pack it in and go back to his house. Across the stadium was the Vampire Lord from Germany. Sin could see the men in the box with his ally, and sensed they were not the source of his distraction. He well could have been, most Vampire Lords were leery of other Lords coming into their territory. However, Sin knew Jager’s sire and knew that he could trust Jager would not overstep his bounds.
The play on the field ended and Sin, along with his people, began to make their way to the blood bar. It was set up on a special floor beneath the stadium. Jager and he would have a chance to speak briefly before their formal meeting. Sin wanted the younger vampire to be on the lookout while he was here, something just didn’t feel right.
They neared the end of the stairs when Sin felt something strange. A scent beyond anything he had ever detected was in the air. He paused and looked around. There were too many humans around to be able to separate their unique scents.
*****
Marlee walked out of the bathroom and right into a huge hulking chest. Two huge hands caught her arms and held her tight, so she wouldn’t fall down, she assumed. When she looked up to apologize for being clumsy, she saw the man who had tried to pick her up in the pub.
“Fancy meeting ye here.” The man laughed. Marlee narrowed her eyes; the man's laughter was remotely comforting. It seemed more like a leer than humor.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you. If you will excuse me I need to get back to my seat,” Marlee said, trying to get around the man.
His hands had remained where they were and when she tried to move around him, she felt them tighten until it was almost painful.
“A pretty little lass like ye shouldn’t be wanderin' on her own,” the man said. “I will make sure ye get to where ye should be going.”
Marlee shuddered at the thought, she didn’t think he would do anything of the sort; in fact, she was getting a real bad vibe from the creep.
“Talk your hands off me,” she said between clenched teeth.
The man raised his eyebrows and laughed down at her. “Or what?”
Marlee may be sweet and quiet, but she knew how to take care of herself. It was one thing her overprotective mother had made sure. A woman alone in the city was fair game to thieves and men who preyed on women. She may sit behind a computer eight hours a day, but her toned muscles showed most people that she had other hobbies, and one of them was kickboxing. The other was shooting at a firing range, but bringing a gun on an airplane had been forbidden.
“This,” Marlee growled and lifted her knee up quickly between the idiot’s legs. She wanted to laugh when he released her arms and bent over to grab his nuts.
*****
A movement caught Sin's eye as he watched the most breathtaking creature he had ever seen do something that cause a man much larger than her bend over and fall on the ground. His lips twitched in amusement as curses reached his ears.
“Don’t touch me again you fucking jerk,” the woman yelled down to the man.
“Cillian,” Sin said softly and his lieutenant went to the aid of the woman instantly.
Sin waited at the stairs, Cillian knew to bring the woman to him, Cillian had to have felt the surge of desire Sin had when he first laid eyes on the female. No one had ever had this effect on him.
“Hey, I didn’t get rid of one asshole to find another waiting!” the woman said and pulled against Cillian’s hand that helped her around the big man lying on the floor moaning in pain.
“Miss, my boss would like to apologize,” Cillian said smoothly.
Like that would ever happen, Sin thought.
“Why, is he this asshole's friend?” the woman snorted.
“No!” Cillian said and stopped, offended with the thought. He looked at the female and Sin could feel the compulsion he was trying to use. A normal human would have immediately stopped resisting and followed. It was something they only used when they needed to, because Sin hated to take a human’s free will away, but this female intrigued him and so Sin didn’t interfere. However, Sin watched in shock as she jerked her arm away finally, looked at Cillian, and laughed.
“Excuse me,” the woman said. “I have friends who are waiting. Unless he is going to arrest that man then I will be on my way.”
Cillian turned and looked at Sin and frowned. It was unusual a human would be able to ignore a vampire's compulsion. He nodded to Cillian and stepped forward to look at the woman closely. She was even more beautiful close up, and her blood called to him like no other.
“Please, forgive my friend here. We just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Sin said smoothly and looked into the woman’s eyes. He was a Vampire Lord and his powers were very powerful, but when the woman rolled her eyes and laughed at him, he growled deeply.
“Oh, well you don’t have to get growly. Thank you for your concern. I appreciate it, but as you can see I am fine,” the woman said and turned to walk away. Cillian stood in her path and she looked at him over her shoulder and rose an eyebrow. “Tell your friend to move, or we will have a serious issue. And by we…I mean he, because his nuts will be in his throat.”
Sin threw back his head and laughed loudly as his second in command stood straighter and frowned. He would not appreciate being spoke to like that. Before his second could respond, Sin held up his hand to him. “May I at least ask your name?”
The woman tilted her lips into a half smiled and shrugged. “You can, but that doesn’t mean I am going to tell you.” And with that, she walked away with a slight swing in her hips.
Sin turned to Cillian and nodded. His second would know what to do. He needed to know who she was and where she was staying.
*****
Holy shit, Marlee thought. What the fuck was she thinking? A totally hot man with amazing eyes just hit on her and she got sassy and walked away? Maybe the pint she drank was getting to her. No, she felt fine, just highly aroused, and for the life of her she couldn’t explain her actions other than to say she had an overwhelming feeling to throw off her clothes and yell ‘take me’ to the man. It was a foreign feeling for her, and so the only thing she could do was leave before she blurted out something stupid.
On the way back to her seat, she wondered about the men, they seemed different than most. Even the ‘friend’ of the hot guy had exuded power. It was not normal, at least not for her. The only men she seemed to attract were either unemployed or geeks. The hot guy was neither, and she really wished she had enough guts to stay there and flirt a little more.
“Damn it to hell,” Marlee muttered to herself and headed toward her seat without grabbing another pint. She needed to keep her wits about her.
She paused and turned to look back, hoping the man was long gone, but he wasn’t. He stood and stared at her with an intensity that took her breath away. Turning back around again before she ran back and begged him to take her with him, she went to her seat. The men were laughing and had gotten a pint for her while she was gone.
Through the rest of the game, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had walked away from something big. The man had certainly had a magnetic appeal she couldn’t forget. As she said goodbye to her new friends, Marlee looked around, hoping to see the man aga
in, maybe now that she had her body under control she wouldn’t sound like an idiot when she spoke to him. Apparently she was not going to be that lucky though, no sign of the man.
As she walked back to her hotel, Marlee was sure she was being followed but every time she stopped and looked, no one was there. The feeling was disconcerting, the strangest thing was, whoever was following her didn’t have a menacing vibe. She felt like they were just watching to see where she went, how strange.
Chapter Three
“Who is she?” Sin demanded.
“Sire, her name is Marlee Hicks, she is from America the hotel manager said, she’s on holiday by herself,” his sentry said.
Cillian, who had remained quiet since his man returned, stepped forward and said, “Thank you, Thomas, go and feed.”
The sentry nodded and left the room. Sin stood looking out the window, tense and feeling very unsettled. “What would you like me to do?” his second said quietly.
Sin turned and looked at his friend, “There is something about her.”
“Yes,” Cillian agreed. “She didn’t respond like most humans to our powers.”
Sin looked closely at his second, did the man scent her the same way Sin did? Her blood still called to him. If that were the case, they were going to have a big problem. “What did you scent when you were close?”
Cillian shrugged and said, “Human blood, nothing special.”
Sin frowned and looked at his confidant. “I felt something different.”
“What?” Cillian asked quickly.
“I am not sure, it was like I knew her blood,” Sin said slowly.
“Like you had sired her?” Cillian asked. “But she is human.”
“I know, it is what is so confusing. Invite her to dinner,” Sin said and frowned.
“Do you think that is wise?” Cillian said. “She doesn’t know about us, I am sure of it.”
“Bring her,” Sin ordered and turned back to the window. He didn’t want to discuss it, or else he would have to think about his own feelings, and right now he had no desire to actually question it.
“Yes, Sire,” Cillian said and waited. “Lord Jager will be here shortly. I will show him in when he arrives.”
“Do you have the information I requested?” Sin asked, turning. He pushed the thought of the female human from his mind. He needed to focus on what was going on in his territory.
“Yes, it is on your desk. There have been several vampires requesting permission to come to our territory, so far they are young and still gaining their powers. However, there have been some grumblings about vampires being hidden that are more powerful,” Cillian said.
“Who is reporting this?” Sin asked.
“Men from the north. I think we should send someone up there,” Cillian said.
Sin stood and thought for a moment. “Send Liam and his crew. They should be able to tell us if there are vampires hiding up there.”
Cillian nodded, “I will send in Jager.”
Sin continued to look out the window, his mind wondering what the delectable Marlee was doing. Even her name sounded delicious on his tongue as he rolled it around some more. What was it about her that drew him to her? He had been one to control his hunger around others, but with her, he longed for her, and not just her blood, but her body as well. The sound of the door opening and closing brought him back to the here and now.
“Lord Sin, I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me.” Said Jager as he stood slightly bowed, but his eyes never left him. Sin nodded in returned and soon Jager was next to him shacking his hand.
“So, Jager, tell me what is happening?”
“It seems that we have an issue with territory. A new vampire is claiming to be the new lord, and we will be taken out. Have you heard anything about this?” Jager asked.
Sin wanted to weigh all options before answering him. He thought he could trust Jager, but did he trust him enough. He looked at the vampire, and decided that if this situation was going to be between territories, that it was best to work together and illuminate the issue before it got worse. “I have heard of this. I have been looking into it. Nothing as of yet, but keep an ear out for this threat. I do not think it is anything to worry about, but why chance it,” Sin stated.
“I agree.” Jager then took a seat throwing his feet up on the coffee table. “So what did you think about the game tonight? I think the ref is slightly on the blind side, but in the end my team won.” Jager smiled at him. This time Sin laughed, remembering a call that was bad, that was obviously wrong, however it wasn't what he remembered most about the game.
“It was a game, nothing special.” The two of them talked more about the game, and Sin tried to seem interested, but it wasn’t working. Finally Jager claimed to be in the mood for a tastier companion and left him. Sin couldn’t be more relieved. Sighing to himself, he headed to his chambers waiting for the sun to fall, only to rise again tomorrow with company that would surely be more pleasurable.
*****
Marlee sat in her hotel tossing and turning from the previous night. The sun had only risen a few hours again, yet her traitorous body was sound asleep, while her brain was ready to go. Giving up the fight to sleep, she jumped in the shower and got ready for the day. After yesterday’s disaster of a game that ended with her having some of the hottest dreams ever, she was ready to try to do something. But the truth was she wasn’t in the mood. Pulling on pair of jeans and a t-shirt, she then loaded up her computer to check her email. She was disappointed there really wasn’t anything on there other than her mother asking if she could return home early as there was a church function she simply had to attend. Blah. She hated those things, nothing against church, but this one was a bunch of old ladies sitting around gossiping or trying to set her up with a “nice young man”. Getting frustrated, she decided to look on Google and determine a destination she should go today.
Lost in reading about various castles, a knock on the door startled her. She ran her hands through her hair before moving to answer the door. Standing before her was a man in a dark black suit.
“Ms. Marlee Hicks?”
“Umm yeah, that’s me. Can I help you with something?”
“Yes, ma’am, I have been sent to ask if you will accommodate Mr. Donovan this evening for dinner.”
“Oookay, well that’s nice and all, but I don’t know a Mr. Donovan, so I think you have the wrong room.” She went to shut the door, but the man put his hand out to stop her.
“You met him last night at the rugby game.”
“Wait, you mean the tall dude with green eyes?”
“Yes, ma’am, that would be him.”
“Well that explains who he is, but I didn’t give him my name or where I am staying, so tell him stalking is illegal and I’ll pass.” This time she didn’t give him a chance to reply but shut the door, locking it in place.
Marlee leaned back against the door and she was almost afraid to open it for the man might be there waiting for her. How the hell did he find her, she never gave her name to him, granted she admitted she thought him attractive and he stirred secret desires she had never had before, but seriously, it was to stalkery even for her. Trying to calm her racing her heart, she thought about everything that had happened in her life. She hadn’t done, well anything. She was pretty much a hermit thanks to her mother’s upbringing. Maybe she should have said yes, but then again, she could have gone and been totally taken against her will. She read reports about woman in other countries being sold as sex slaves. She wasn’t going to be a victim, nope she wasn’t.
Happy with her choice, she went back to her computer, she decided she wanted to go out to eat. Going over to her clothes, she found some cute jeans and a top that was nicer than a t-shirt, but still casual enough she could blend into a restaurant. She found some information online about a restaurant that served the best fish and chips. Slipping on her boots, she was out the door a half our later.
Chapter Four
; Sin woke up that evening with a sense of excitement. He was going to see the fascinating creature that inhabited his sleep. Her blue eyes and her smart mouth were things he liked in a bed companion, but what fascinated him more was the smell of her blood. It called to him like a siren. Getting up, he showered and dressed for the night. He needed to find out what happened with the rouge vampires and the delectable Marlee Hicks. He frowned at the thought that one human could take up so much of his time with thoughts of them in bed for hours. He needed to play into the small fascination he had with her, then be done. He couldn’t afford to have too much of a distraction that long. Leaving his chambers, he headed into this study knowing his day man and Cillian could report for him.
“Sire.” Both nodded as he entered.
“News?” There was no beating around the bush, as they say in America, when it came to what he wanted. He’d rather get work done so he could play later. He looked right at his day man, Ronan.
“I am sorry, Sire, but it seemed that Ms. Hicks had other ideas for the evening.” He seemed to be avoiding the situation.
“You mean she had plans?”
“Not exactly, Sire.”
“My patience is wearing thin with this game. What happened? All of it?”
“Sire, she made a point to say she never gave out her name, and even called you a stalker before shutting the door in my face. I am sorry, Sire. I did try to get her to see reason.” Sin couldn’t help but laugh, how could he not. Americans were so worried about things they see on the news and the internet. She was smart, but it shocked him to have no companion. He would have to rectify that, later.
“Thank you, Ronan. You can retire for the evening. I will let you know what I need done tomorrow an hour before sunrise.”
Sinful's Desire Page 2
