by Lee, Rachel
“Yes,” Creed agreed, “it probably would. For you. I thought you wanted vengeance.”
“I do!”
“Then tell us what we need to know.”
For long minutes, the office was absolutely silent. Yvonne watched, torn between fear and fascination. Luc put his face in his hand and sat motionless for what seemed like forever. When he looked up at last, his face had grown smooth. Expressionless.
“She wanted to give me a gift,” he said in a monotone. “For some reason she thought it would please me if she became human again, so I could drink from her and know that particular sweetness again. It would not have pleased me, but I didn’t know her plan until it was too late. I don’t know how she summoned him, or what deal she might have made. I just know that when she came to me again, she was human and possessed both. I refused to drink from her, and demanded we find an exorcist. I thought if we could get rid of the demon, I could turn her once more.”
“No?” Creed asked gently.
Luc shook his head. “I didn’t have time to find out. Her last words to me were, ‘I have been betrayed.’ Then she ran out onto our balcony and jumped to her death.”
Even feeling such distaste for Luc after the way he had treated her, Yvonne felt a huge rush of sympathy. “I am so, so sorry,” she said softly.
Those dark eyes came to her face. “I believe you, madam. But I question which of us she felt had betrayed her, the demon or me.”
“The demon obviously,” Yvonne said firmly. She might not know a lot about vampires, but she knew something about women. “How could you think anything else? She wouldn’t want you to blame yourself for what she did, and what that thing did to her.”
“So certain?” he asked with a mirthless half smile. “I wish I were.”
“I think it’s obvious,” Yvonne told him. “She wanted to give you a gift, a gift that she knew would eventually mean she had to go through the change again. And I hear that’s a terrible process.”
“It is,” Luc agreed. Something in his drawn face softened. “Perhaps.”
“All right,” said Creed, motioning Luc to resume his seat. “We know what happened in the end. The question is how she got there. Demons are good at planting thoughts and desires.”
“Not so much in vampires,” Jude argued.
“Not the way they attack humans. But when it comes to us they have different methods, don’t they. Look at the one that used Terri to get you to give permission for a possession. If you’d been less strong, it might have succeeded. As it is, any number of people could have been used to plant the suggestion in Natasha’s mind that this would be an ideal gift. Once again, these beings used love as a crowbar.”
“Now that,” Jude said, “may be a very important observation.”
“Only insofar as vampires are concerned.”
Jude smiled crookedly. “And perhaps insofar as you’re concerned.”
Yvonne watched Creed go utterly still, that motionlessness she saw only from him, only from vampires. She thought she knew what Jude meant, and it embarrassed her. Creed plainly thought of her only as someone who needed protecting. Well, and as a sex object.
For the first time in her life, she realized she didn’t object to being a sex object, certainly not where Creed was concerned. Feeling her cheeks heat, she gazed down at her plate to conceal her blush.
Luc made an impatient sound, and leaped to his feet. “If you want me to cooperate, give me something to do.”
Jude spoke. “Garner is looking for a musical band called Tommy and the Mechanics. His job is to make them think he’s a talent scout and see if he can get close enough to find out if they have anything to do with Asmodeus. You could join him, since you recognize the stench so well.”
“Why do you think they have anything to do with this?”
“Because Yvonne used to date Tommy and he’s desperate for fame and fortune. He might have offered her up as a prize.”
Luc’s bleak gaze returned to Yvonne. “It would hardly be surprising. If love makes us do strange things, scorned love make us do even stranger ones. Very well. I will look and report back.”
“On your way,” Creed suggested, “could you sniff around my place? Asmodai was there earlier, and I’m not taking Yvonne back until we’re sure he’s gone.”
“I will. I could smell that devil even through a closed door.”
He vanished, his departure signaled only by the slamming of the street door.
“That was fun, wasn’t it?” Chloe remarked. But her usual sarcastic attitude had given way to something that sounded far sadder. “Imagine thinking that doing something like that, that changing yourself, would make your lover happier.”
“It’s amazing,” Creed agreed. “I wouldn’t have thought Natasha insecure enough to fall for that.”
“These demons are insidious,” Jude said. “The thought probably never occurred to Natasha until it was planted. Very carefully planted and tended.”
Perhaps, Yvonne thought, like the notion she kept getting to walk out on Creed so she wouldn’t be a burden. What if that wasn’t her own thought? She shivered, appalled by the mere notion.
Creed noticed. “Are you cold, Yvonne?”
“No. I’m fine. I’m just wondering how many of my own thoughts are actually my own. And,” she added as another thought struck her, “what if I’m no longer the ultimate prize? What if I’ve become the means to another end?”
“Don’t even think that.” Creed astonished her by lifting her from her chair, carrying her to the couch—at a blessedly human pace for once—then sitting with her on his lap. He didn’t seem to care what anyone thought.
He tucked her head against his shoulder, just beneath his chin. “Don’t start having these thoughts. Fears and worries will weaken you. And honestly, I can take care of myself.”
She sighed, forcing herself to let go of the fearful thoughts, at least for now, and allowed herself to enjoy being held. She should have felt embarrassed, with Jude and Chloe there, but she was getting past all of that.
All she wanted was to be close to Creed.
Creed’s phone rang and he shifted her a bit so he could pull it out of his pocket. “Yes? Thanks, Luc. Later.” He disconnected and spoke to Jude. “No sign of Asmodai at my place right now.”
“Good. Then let me go back there with you and ward the place.”
Everything moved swiftly then. Creed got her buttoned into her coat. Chloe offered her a muffler to protect her face, pointing out that Jude could bring it back.
Soon she was racing along streets and over rooftops on Creed’s back again.
Only when they were inside Creed’s condo did things slow down enough for her to see what was going on. Jude was already marking doors, walls and windows with holy oil.
Then he came over to her and used his thumb to dab some on her forehead. Even Creed submitted to the marking.
“Okay,” Jude said. “Now we wait. I’ll call you if I learn anything. You do the same.”
Unencumbered by any mortals, Jude took his leave by way of the balcony, vanishing instantly into the night.
“I hate this,” Yvonne said frankly.
Creed immediately appeared beside her on the couch. “What?”
“This waiting. Not knowing. Everything on hold. What if Tommy has nothing to do with this? What if Garner is just wasting his time?”
“It’s possible. But there are other ways to solve this mess.”
She turned to look at him. “And this thing about being like vampires. How does that help?”
“If you understand motivation, you understand better what to expect. Besides, we can be killed, enslaved and manipulated, too. It’s just harder to do it to us than to a human. But mainly, it changes our thinking.”
“In what way?”
“Maybe we’re not facing some insurmountable force at all.”
“I’d like to believe that.” She sighed, and Creed surprised her by once again slipping his arm around her. Apparen
tly his aversion to being close was turning into something else. Something she liked.
“Creed?”
“Yes?”
“Why can’t we? Why can’t we just…be together. I promise not to chase after you for the rest of my life. I promise not to go vampire hunting in sleazy clubs.” She shuddered a little. “Honestly, I don’t think anything could make me do that.”
“Maybe not. There are always exceptions.” But he sounded dubious.
She looked at him again, tipping her head back. He was looking straight at her, and she glimpsed strain in his face. That’s what she was making him feel. A terrible tension between his needs and his desire to do the right thing.
“I hate myself!” She jumped up and stormed across the room to look out the windows.
“Why? What brought that on?”
“I’m driving you nuts. I’m being selfish. You’re just trying to be decent and take care of me, and all I do is make you suffer.”
“Ah, but such sweet suffering.” He was there without warning, tipping her face up with his finger, looking deep into her eyes. “I was troubled at first, mainly because I feared testing my self-control.”
“Well, you get an A on that test.”
“Do I? Do I even want one at this point?” He gave a short laugh. “I told you this was playing with fire. How close to the flames do you want to dance? Because the way I’m feeling right now, I’d walk right into them.”
She sucked in a deep breath, going utterly still. Her insides ached with the force of longing. Then, quietly, “I’m provoking you again. I’m sorry.”
“You provoke me with every breath you draw. Every step you take. Every smile, every frown, every word. You can try to stop, but it won’t make any difference. I want you with a hunger you can’t begin to imagine. You don’t have to do a damn thing except exist. And don’t even suggest leaving. I won’t let you out of my sight.”
“Creed, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” A smile began to lift the corners of his mouth. “There’s something to be said for defying temptation.”
“Yeah? What?” She suddenly felt grumpy.
“That it’s sweet beyond belief when you finally give in.”
She gasped, whether from shock or delight she didn’t know. His arms enclosed her snugly, and the next thing she knew, she was lying on the bed beside him, locked into his cocoon of forever darkness. She felt him stir, then the dim bedside lamp turned on.
“If you want to object,” he murmured, “now would be a good time. Otherwise I’m going to dance with you to the very edge of the fire.”
Her heart slammed, then began a rapid tattoo. “Creed, are you sure?”
“No.” He laughed quietly. “Neither are you. But we’re going to find out unless you choose otherwise, right this instant.”
Looking into his eyes, recognizing heat and hunger that at least matched her own desire, she could barely get out one word. “Yes.”
The holy oils held it back, keeping it from entering, but it could still hear. And what it had heard made it want to laugh. So they thought they could keep him out. So the undead called Creed thought he could protect her.
Little did they know, but just as they could bar his entry with Chrism, he had found a way to bar theirs. Once his circle was formed, only Yvonne would be able to enter it. The undead would become useless to her.
And he was going to enjoy possessing her so much more because Creed wanted her, too. Ah, this was entertainment beyond his hopes when he had set his plan in motion.
Satisfied, it withdrew to attend other matters. Tomorrow night, it would have what it wanted, and the one called Creed would be so devastated he would probably take his own life.
Now that would be a delicious fillip indeed.
Chapter 10
Creed gave himself one last moment of sane thought, but it wasn’t enough to save him. He had already crossed one line this morning by drinking from this woman, and he had stopped in time. Well, there were other pleasures he could give her, pleasures that would thrill them both without taking her too far.
He knew the point at which to stop. He mustn’t drink from her while they climaxed. At that point a bonding would take place, in her at least, that would be unshakable. He suspected the same would happen to him.
For if ever he had been in danger of a claiming, he knew it was now.
So he had to stop, and he would stop, but neither of them could go on like this much longer. Every time she looked at him he could read the longing and hunger in her gaze. He could smell it all around her when they were alone. She expressed no interest of any kind in another vampire so he was certain what she felt was no mere fascination.
But he didn’t know what he felt except a longing, a hunger, a need beyond any he had felt before, and it was maddening him.
With all that loomed before them, possibly death or worse, he couldn’t justify the fight any longer. Asmodai had come here to find her. They probably had only hours left, and at any moment Asmodai might return.
And despite all his bravado about being able to protect her, he wasn’t at all certain of that. Not against a creature like this one.
So he accepted her yes and his own yearnings and gave in. He kissed her as mortals kiss, reveling in the warmth of her mouth and tongue, in the way she arched into him and wound her arms around him. The scent of her desire perfumed the air, an aphrodisiac unlike any other. And because he had already drunk from her, even that tiny bit, he felt the synchrony begin. Two minds, one body.
This was not his first such experience. In the months after his change, before he had learned self-control, he had experienced this many times. Those memories had shamed him for so long, keeping him isolated. But this time he was sure he could stop himself before carrying her too far.
And this time he could not deny himself, not when she so clearly wanted him, not when one of them might be gone soon.
If, in the end, either of them were left alone, they would at least have the memory.
And memory, he had learned, was the most important part of existence. Without it, nothing had meaning. Nothing at all.
He sipped from her lips, his heart hammering exactly in time with hers. He felt her nerve endings excite with passion, and his own responded in kind. Heady bliss filled him along with driving hunger.
He cast thought aside, descending into the essential nature of his being: wanting, needing, feeling, experiencing. Totally in the now.
He craved every warm silken inch of her. For him, removing her clothes was scant impediment. He had them off her, had her naked beside him, almost before she knew it.
Her eyes had turned hazy with need, but a small smile curved her lips as she realized what he had done. An instant later his own clothes had vanished, and he gathered her close, reveling in her soft curves, her warm skin, the throb of her sweet blood through her entire being. Wherever she touched him, he felt heat, long-missed heat. That alone, for him, approached ecstasy.
But he knew she needed more, so much more, and he was determined to give her as much as he safely could.
With the thunder of blood in his ears, he began to taste her, trailing his lips and tongue over her. That was an intimacy he had never shared with anyone, not even his wife. Never before had he felt a desire to learn a woman with more than his hands.
But this one was different in so many ways. He needed the taste of her as much as the feel of her. When his tongue at last reached her breast, her shudders of pleasure gave way to a cry of delight. Ever so gently he caught her nipple between his teeth, biting, not enough to break her skin, but enough to catch her on that incredible arc between pleasure and pain. When she grabbed his head, holding him there, he knew an instant of triumph. Little nibbles followed by sucking, teasing her and tormenting them both with his every move. When he felt her nails rake his back, as if she could take no more, delight exploded in him.
He settled into a rhythm as he sucked and nipped until at last her hips moved in time t
o his mouth.
She was his, and the knowledge of his power, of the pleasure he gave them both, filled him like a hot tide, racing through him from head to foot.
His own body began to move with hers, just as his heart pounded with hers, as his breaths echoed hers. In these moments, the prison of solitude that had held him for a hundred years vanished. Not alone. No sweeter feeling existed....
Except for the passion that drove him. The passion to pleasure, the passion to possess, the passion to reach the pinnacle of joyous sensation.
His member ached, throbbing in time to their hearts, and he pressed it hard against her smooth belly, seeking a release he wouldn’t grant himself. Not this time.
