"There's a land line in the New York apartment," Franklin made sure I had that number. "And you already have our cell numbers. The address on your New York license is the brownstone that Merrill owns. If you get into trouble, head for that right away." Franklin and Greg kissed me on the cheek before they went to bed. Yeah, I loved both of them.
Tuesday, March thirtieth found me riding with Merrill into London so he could drop me off at the airport. Russell and Radomir were there waiting and my four bags were loaded quickly. Merrill leaned down to kiss my cheek before I climbed the steps to the jet, with Russell and Radomir right behind me. "Don't get into trouble," Merrill called before I went inside.
The door to the jet was shut and locked behind us; Radomir sat next to me with Russell across the aisle. This was how we'd sat the last time the three of us had been on a jet together. I'd flown to Paris to steal something back from Gavin's cousin René. I wondered what René was up to and if he'd stolen anything lately. That caused me to snort a little while the jet was speeding down the runway for takeoff.
"What is it?" Radomir asked.
I decided to be honest. "I was just wondering if René has managed to steal anything recently." Russell laughed aloud. Radomir smiled.
"I heard someone sent him enough glass panes to replace his window, all with tape on them," Russell grinned.
"I don't know a thing about it," I said, claiming innocence.
The flight was uneventful until we almost got to the states and then we ran into turbulence. We were knocked around pretty good and a couple of times I wondered if vampires could survive plane crashes. Thankfully, we didn't have to test any of my theories and Russell and Radomir, along with the pilots, were mighty glad they were spending the day in in D.C. and heading back to Great Britain on Tuesday evening.
My ride was waiting for me when we taxied in. Tony and a vampire I hadn't met were there with the usual, government-issue dark car. The vampire helped get my luggage stowed while Tony stood by looking important. He didn't say much, loaded me into the back seat of the car while the vampire agent slid into the driver's seat and we drove away after I said goodbye to Russell and Radomir.
"Lissa?" Tony turned in his seat to look at me.
"What, Tony?" He motioned for me to lean forward. I shouldn't have because he had my face in his hands immediately, kissing me like there was no tomorrow.
* * *
"What did you have to do?" Merrill asked Griffin. Griffin had arrived unannounced two nights after Lissa's near-suicide in the sun and put his hands on her. Things were much better since then, but Griffin hadn't returned until now. He'd brought a bottle of wine with him and he and Merrill were sharing it.
"Just a minor suggestion that you and Gavin weren't so terrible after all. Of course, if she becomes upset again, well," Griffin shrugged his shoulders a little.
"She refuses to look Wlodek in the eye."
"Would you?"
"If I'd been through what she has, probably not," Merrill muttered.
Chapter 4
"Tony, stop." I had to pry his hands away so I could sit back in my seat. "What was that all about?" I asked, my voice breathless from the extended bout of kissing.
"You think I don't hear anything?" he huffed. Well, that was unexpected.
"What did you hear?" My arms were crossed over my chest and I was still shaking a little from the aftermath of Tony's determined kissing. He shouldn't be doing that. Shouldn't.
"Lissa, don't ever do that again," Tony lectured. He knew. No way to know how he knew, but he did.
"Tony, before you start in like that, make sure you have all the facts," I said, turning my head to look out the window. Four weeks had passed since I'd tried to kill myself. Four weeks since I'd been beaten. I struggled to put it out of my mind as I watched portions of the nation's capital pass by my window. The streets we drove through were foggy and wet from rain that had fallen earlier; the streetlights we passed reflected off damp pavement. Light mist continued to fall as we made our way somewhere; I had no idea where we were going.
As it turned out, we were going to Tony's home somewhere in Arlington, Virginia. "This is Agent Ken White," Tony introduced the vampire driver to me when we arrived. He held out his hand so I shook it before unloading my luggage. Most men might feel intimidated by a woman who can lift your car, but Tony didn't seem to mind. Agent White didn't stick around either; he dropped the last bag in Tony's entryway, said it was nice meeting me and took off. I hoped Tony had a second bedroom—I didn't want to sleep with him and Gavin would likely tear both our heads off if I did.
"You can sleep in here," Tony led me to a small bedroom that held a full-size bed. "The closet is empty so you can hang up your clothes. I don't suppose you'd consider using my room instead?" There was such a look of hope on his face.
"Tony, do you see this?" I fingered my ring. "Both of us would die if I even considered it."
"I was afraid you'd say that," he mumbled. "You have your own bath in here," he pulled me toward a small door in a corner of the room. It led into a small but tidy bathroom with a shower only, no tub. No matter, I didn't usually take baths anyway.
"You have a nice house, Tony," I told him. It was nice and in the neighborhood where he lived, it was probably quite pricy, too.
"I hope you like it. We'll be doing some traveling before long," he said. "I'll fill you in tomorrow night." Dawn wasn't far off and I needed to unpack a little before getting ready for bed. "Goodnight, Lissy." Tony kissed me again before I could stop him and walked out of my temporary bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Tony had placed something on the windows, I learned. They were completely blocked with some sort of film and I couldn't see through them at all. I examined them carefully while I brushed my teeth, pulling the patterned curtains aside to make sure. I had a cooler of blood with me too, plugged into a wall socket so it would stay cold. The key was in my purse, just in case. My bed was comfortable, but it didn't really matter once dawn came.
* * *
"Lissa, what happened to your hair?" Tony walked around me, inspecting my hairless state when I woke and found him in his kitchen the following evening. I hadn't bothered to put on a wig.
"I thought you heard," I said, repeating his words from the night before.
"I guess I didn't expect that." He ran a hand over the top of my head. "It's growing back," he said.
"Slowly. Hair doesn't grow that fast on my kind," I grumped. "I barely have eyelashes and eyebrows, now. Lost the tips of my fingers and the ends of my toes." I wiggled my fingers for him.
"Lissa, why did you do that?" He pulled me into an embrace. He was warm. Humans were so warm. It would be wonderful if I could relax into his embrace and let him have the tension and worry for a while. I just couldn't.
"I'm not allowed to discuss it," I said. He held me away from him.
"Lissa, I'm very good at keeping secrets," he said, gazing earnestly at me. Tony has the nicest gray eyes and his good looks, coupled with black hair means he's not hard to look at.
"I know, but I still can't talk about it. Not now. Maybe someday." I pulled away from him. "Have you had dinner yet?"
"I was going to throw something in the microwave."
"Tony, is that any way to live?" I put hands on my hips. "Tell me you have something to fix in that nice stainless steel refrigerator of yours." I jerked my head toward the appliance in question. We went digging around in it before going to scavenge in the pantry. He ended up with chicken and noodles and the chicken was canned chicken but he liked it. "If I had more time, I'd restock your kitchen," I said while stuffing dishes in the dishwasher. I'd found a boxed brownie mix in a cabinet, so that's what Tony was getting for dessert. The brownies were almost ready to come out of the oven and the scent filled Tony's kitchen. Chocolate still smelled heavenly to me—it just didn't taste the same.
"We can go grocery shopping tonight," Tony suggested, grinning at me. "There's a twenty-four hour market not far away. You can ge
t anything you want. Stock me up, Lissa."
"What do you want for dinner tomorrow night?" I asked.
"Italian?"
"All right. I'll see if they have some Italian sausage and I'll make lasagna or something." Tony ate three brownies before we went out. Two cars were parked in Tony's garage; we chose the Escalade for the room in the back. It was a hybrid, too. I was proud of him and told him so. That seemed to make him happy.
"Salad?" I asked later as we strolled down the produce aisle.
"Yeah."
"How long are we going to be in town?" I asked, before putting fruit in the basket.
"Only two more nights," he said, sounding a bit disappointed as he tossed bananas in the cart.
"Then put half those bananas back," I said. He did. We found ingredients for lasagna and bought chicken breasts for a second meal. Tony picked out wine and we went through the check out.
A wide yawn nearly cracked Tony's jaw when we carried bags into the house, so I sent him to bed and put the groceries away. I read and watched television for a while afterward, almost shouting at the television screen when I heard that two schoolchildren had been abducted near Shrewsbury in England. I went to grab my laptop, discovering via the internet that Shrewsbury wasn't far from Wales. The journalists were drawing the same conclusion I was; that the man responsible for the other kidnappings was likely involved in these as well—he was still on the loose. The authorities were taking a cautious approach to the entire thing, warning everybody not to jump to conclusions while they were still investigating. Dawn was coming so I went to bed, still fuming a little.
* * *
Tony didn't get spaghetti or chicken. Not as scheduled, anyway. I woke inside a body bag and almost had a claustrophobic fit before he could get me unzipped. "Sorry, Lissa, sorry." Tony was apologizing and trying to block my body from the scrutiny of two men who stood behind him. I'm sure it was the claws; they were out and my eyes were most likely red. At least I wasn't hissing. The floor was also rocking slightly beneath us and that shouldn't be.
"You're on a Navy ship," Tony explained as I drew in my claws. He stepped away from me then.
"Tony, I hope you have a really good explanation for this." I felt like shouting it at him, but we had witnesses so I reined in my temper. That still wasn't good enough for one of our witnesses.
"You allow her to speak to you like that?" The one wearing the white uniform with plenty of little doo-dads on his left breast snapped. He was a bit on the chubby side and probably referred to himself as portly. A balding head topped off a round face with thinning lips, as if he disapproved of most everything.
"She's a civilian and didn't exactly agree to this mission," Tony said, turning and staring the man down.
"Is that why you stuffed her in a body bag?" The man dressed in dark blue asked. He had a few doo-dads but not as many as portly guy. He was also taller and thinner, with thick brown hair that curled a little.
"For the most part," Tony answered. My body bag was sitting on top of some sort of bunk; Tony helped me out of it while I glared at him. He knew he was in trouble. He also didn't seem to care. I'd figured part of this out, at least—we were on a ship and the guy in the white outfit was Captain Nemo or something. I was still dressed in my PJs and without a wig so I was even more bald that Captain Nemo. He was still frowning at me, by the way.
"This is the one you brought for the mission?" Nemo was incredulous as I stood before him in my sleeveless stretchy top and striped cotton pajama bottoms. If I glanced downward, I'm sure my nipples would be showing through the stretchy top. I kept my gaze level and hoped my audience would do the same. "Don't criticize," Tony warned the two men. I got the feeling he didn't appreciate the audience any more than I did. "Lissa, I brought some clothes for you and there's a bathroom right through there," he pointed to a door off to the side, only it was made of metal, as was the wall around it. "If you gentlemen will excuse us, I need to have a few words with my agent, here." Tony was giving orders and Captain Nemo wanted to grumble, I could see it in his eyes. He saluted smartly instead, as did the other guy and they left, closing the outside door behind them.
"I'm sorry, Lissa, but this just came up. It couldn't wait and I knew you could do this better and faster than anybody else." Tony was talking quickly, his gray eyes pleading with me to understand.
I was standing there, barefoot on a cold metal floor, listening while Tony defended his decision to haul me into international waters. My arms were crossed over my chest against the cold and to hide my protruding nipples, so I blew out a calming breath. "Tony, where are we?" I asked as sedately as I could. He'd just exposed me to two Navy officers for some reason and I wanted an explanation.
"The Arabian Sea, near the Gulf of Aden," he replied. All right, my geography needed improving. "Off the coast of Somalia," he added.
"Pirates," I said.
"Yeah." Tony looked uncomfortable for a minute. "There's something else, Lissa."
"What's that?" I looked up at him.
"I forgot your blood. I remembered your clothes, even your toothbrush, but I didn't think about the blood."
"Tony, if you're going to deal with what I am, that's the first thing you have to think of," I said. "Fuck. Now what?" My fingers would have run through my hair if I still had any. The stubble seemed to be improving, though.
"You'll have to feed from me tonight. I'll find somebody else for later if we have to." He pulled me into a hug. "Lissy, I messed this up for you but the opportunity was too good to pass up. You can do this for me. The pirates have a hostage and it's somebody important."
"Tony, I don't want to feed from you." I leaned away from him. "Do you know what happens if I do that? With a warm body?"
"No. It won't be that bad though, will it? Can you do it so it won't leave marks?"
"I can do it so it won't leave marks," I huffed. "But there's a side effect besides the symptoms of just having donated blood."
"What's that?" Tony led me to the bunk and pulled me down to sit beside him.
I had to clear my throat before I could tell him. "You'll, uh—do you have a change of underwear, Tony?" He lifted an eyebrow in surprise.
"Why would I need one?" He wasn't getting it, and he was in charge of national security. Me? I was embarrassed—and not in charge of anything.
"You'll need it," I glanced down at his khaki slacks. He might get away with it if he'd worn black or some other dark color. With those pants, he didn't need the humiliation.
"You're kidding?" The light was finally coming on and he blinked at me.
"No."
"Fuck."
"Exactly."
"Here." He unbuckled his belt and slipped his pants and underwear down to his ankles. Okay, that was a sight I wasn't truly prepared for. Tony grabbed my stretchy cotton top and lifted it over my head before I could squeak out a protest. Seems vampires and werewolves weren't the only ones with no modesty.
"Hey!" I said, watching while he wrapped my top around himself. Too bad, too—it was something to see.
"Now, get to it, we have someone to rescue," he said, impatiently pointing to his neck. Well, this was going to be awkward. I ended up almost in his lap; biting while your donor is sitting down isn't the most graceful thing to do, I learned. Gripping the back of his neck, I placed my forehead against his.
"I won't hurt you," I said and kissed him gently. Tony stole a second kiss before I could stop him. I had to place a hand over his mouth before lowering my head. The pulse throbbed strongly in his arteries and I could scent and almost taste him before placing another, softer kiss over his carotid. My fangs sank into his skin and I drank.
Tony came. Oh, boy did he come. And he enjoyed it too, if those little sounds of pleasure were any indication. I licked his neck three times, just to make sure the skin was healed before backing off. A dazed smile lit his face as I slid away from him. "Lissa, I love you," he turned orgasm-clouded gray eyes toward me.
"Yeah, you and a bunch of other
guys," I said. Turning his attention to his lap and my now ruined top, Tony cleaned himself up, tossed my top into a nearby wastebasket and dressed himself again.
"Lissa, if I had time," he walked over to me and brushed a knuckle over one of my bare nipples.
"Yeah, you and a bunch of other guys," I repeated while taking his hand away. "Where are my clothes? Thanks for the blood by the way. You're really quite tasty." I hadn't had warm blood in a while and Tony's had been an exceptional treat. "You should eat something, I think. While I clean up." I walked into the bathroom.
A duffle bag stood in a corner of the tiny bathroom and it held a couple pairs of jeans, three tops, bras and underwear, along with two pairs of athletic shoes and one of my wigs. Soap and other toiletries were out on the minuscule sink. The shower was pretty much a joke but I couldn't be picky, I guess.
I was clean and dressed when Tony came back with a cup of coffee in his hand. "I ate," he held up a hand. "And I want to talk about what happened later. Come on." He motioned for me to follow him, so out the door we went, through several narrow corridors and up two sets of steps until we got to the deck. The Navy certainly bought a lot of gray paint, I noticed as we walked along. Eventually we came to another door. Tony stopped there, opened it imperiously and led me inside a room occupied by the two men I'd seen earlier, a few crew members and banks of electronic equipment. We'd made our way to the control room and Tony acted as if he owned it.
"Lissa, this is Captain Andrew Chapman," he introduced me to the tall, thin man who held out his hand so I shook it. "And this is Rear Admiral Dennis Hafer." Tony indicated the shorter, chubbier one clothed in white. Hafer felt obligated to shake and consequently, so did I.
"Show her where the boat is," Tony said so Captain Chapman led me to a table that held a large, electronic map.
Blood Sense (Blood Destiny #3) Page 7
