Sorry about that.
Nothing to forgive.
Tori still couldn’t get over that she could hear Sam in her head. I’m only human.
Sam’s mouth quirked as Tori withdrew the needle. “Yes, you are.”
The vampire queen walked out of the lab, and warmth welled inside Tori’s heart. I have a lot of sisters who have become my family over time. Perhaps someday, you’ll feel the same.
Perhaps.
Tori set the tubes in a rack, then walked over to Hunter. “How do you feel?”
“Embarrassed and a little annoyed at being asked the question again.” His gaze softened. “How do you feel?”
“Embarrassed and a little annoyed at having my mind read yet again.”
“Unintentional, I swear.” He reached out a hand to clasp hers, then he let go. “Actually, I’m really annoyed with myself.”
“For what?”
“Creating this predicament. I should have let Mercy set up her men. I should have scouted the best way to enter the building. I knew what was waiting for me.”
Was that—had she caught a little contrition for his impatience from before? “You threw caution to the wind. I’m grateful you did.”
He nodded, and his gaze warmed to the emotions running riot inside her. “I feel better,” he announced. “Stronger. No one-hundred-yard dashes or anything, but if I move slowly, the sickness isn’t too bad.” He paused. “I’d really love a shower and some clean clothes. The scent of the dying blood...” Hunter’s voice trailed off.
“I know. Total ewww.” She turned. “Stace?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you and Chaz hold down the fort for a while? Hunter needs to clean up, and he’s too macho for a sponge bath.”
Stacy grinned. She didn’t dare look over at Chaz. “Sure thing.”
Tori helped lift him up and get him onto his feet. “I never said that, you know,” he muttered.
She laughed softly. “I know.” He swayed, and she settled her shoulder under his arm to steady him. “Lean on me.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Lean on me.”
What an incredible thought. “I’m not used to doing that,” Hunter told her.
“Time to learn then, no?”
Was there a tinge of humor in her tone? Whatever it was, whatever was between them simply made his next words truer than true. “Yes. Yes, it is.”
Once they were up in his bedroom and he was sitting on the edge of his bed, Hunter let her unbutton his shirt. “You know your thoughts. They’re very…intriguing.”
She kind of looked at him sideways. “You’re sick.”
He smiled. “Perhaps not that sick.”
“Really?” She hesitated. “I find your response very…intriguing also. But first we have to get a few things straight.”
“All right,” he answered, wondering what her point was.
“I just don’t ‘just do’ sex. I don’t know how. So here’s the turning point. The cliff, if you will. I’m not going to simply jump off for a moment’s pleasure. No matter how incredible the moment is. Do you understand?”
Did he understand? What a question. “Yes.”
“You’ve already professed a dislike of humanity. With just cause, I’ll grant. But you must realize there’s a difference between us. I’m not those people. And there’s another caveat. What happens when the fire cools? It will, eventually. You know it will. So, are you going to end up hating me simply because I am what I am?”
“No.” And as he said the word, he knew it to be true. Veridicus. His hatred, that burning red-hot poker of hate, refused to flame. Fascinating. Dangerous.
“All right. I believe you.” She drew in a deep breath. As the air whooshed out, she asked, “So here’s the next question. Are you going to just let me go, then? I mean, if we get through this are you going to wipe my mind?”
An even tougher question. Tori and Stacy were the “weakest links” in their chain. And yet here they were, working day and night, as Sam had so delicately told him, to save them all from an as yet unknown menace. “The decision is no longer mine to make.”
She pulled a double take and frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Diederich—you remember him, don’t you? The vampire who gave me the blood?”
“I remember him.”
“He informed The Council of his concerns. The Council thought the concerns were valid. But Miklos testified on your behalf. He told them of your kindness. So did Rolf. Rolf made sure they knew about your courage.” His words seemed to please her. “The Council has made a decision. Both you and Stacy have been accepted into our…world.”
She huffed a puff of air, then her face fell. “That’s awesome, but you didn’t answer my question.”
He’d hurt her again. “The decision’s already been made.”
“The decision by everyone else. What I want to know—what I need to know—is what about you?”
A thousand words stood ready to spill off his tongue. He didn’t know how to get them out. But he could give her the truest confession of them all. “I don’t know how to let you go.”
“‘Know how’?” Her brows drew together. She didn’t understand. “Explain,” she demanded.
Hunter sighed. “Every time I decide what I believe is in your best interest, I’m wrong. You would be so much safer forgetting I ever existed.”
“And if I don’t want to be safe?” she asked, her face clearing.
Always so confident, why did she sound so unsure? “We could fight about it…” he replied, his tone low and seductive.
“Or what?” she asked, her voice warming, deepening, turning downright husky as she realized his intent.
“Not fight.”
She leaned down and kissed him. She didn’t rear back in disgust as she lifted, so this meant she couldn’t smell the sickness inside him and Sam’s blood was helping him. “Are you sure?”
“Very,” he answered, knowing this kiss, based on the truth, would be different than all the ones before. He opened his mouth, ready to be seduced, needing to be seduced, desperately hungry for the succor her caring would provide.
She didn’t disappoint.
She lifted onto the bed and engulfed his mouth with hers. Her tongue swirled over his incisors, which had grown as another part of his anatomy had grown. A testament to his desire despite the sickness.
He broke the kiss, needing to know. “Why, Tori?”
She unbuttoned her shirt and ripped it off as she answered. “A gift.”
He lifted and cupped his hand around the back of her neck, drawing her lips down to his mouth. When their breaths became one, he whispered, “Not out of pity.”
Her eyes widened, and he knew the truth even as she told him, “Never!”
This was all he wanted to hear.
He unsnapped her bra, flinging the cloth across the bed. She shucked his pants and underwear in seconds flat. Then she swung her leg over his hips, capturing his erection right where he wanted it. Except she still had a pair of jeans on. She stilled a moment and cupped his cheeks with her palms, and he pressed a kiss into one.
As sick as he was, the need for blood still outweighed everything. Funny, his need made him sad. He wanted…he wanted their lovemaking to be special. Between the man and the woman, not the vampire and the human.
Her gaze dove deep into his. Soft and tender, yet filled with need. As if by sheer will alone, she could know the truth. He wanted what she wanted. The net. The place of safety outside the wall.
She trusted him.
He listened to the rush of her blood through her veins, the rapid beat of her heart, and for the first time in his existence, sickness or no, he didn’t want to drink. He wanted her as he would have wanted her two thousand years ago. The ice warmed. Melted.
He trusted her.
Somehow, he helped her shimmy out of her jeans, and his palms slid down the soft curves of her hips, slipping off her thong. He drew her up his chest, her moist c
ore burning a hole in his chest as he suckled her breasts. She seemed to understand he needed to remain still. But she did not and slid farther still until her core rested right over his mouth. He snaked out his tongue to tease and torture until she moaned and threw back her head, then pulled back so as not to ruin things too soon.
Hunter realized that in deference to his condition, Tori would be the aggressor. He wasn’t one to argue at this point, especially not with her nipping her way across his chest and swirling her tongue over his nipples. Each lap sent an electric current right to his cock, and that part of his anatomy strained and twitched, ready to be captured. His hips pumped, practically begging for entry.
She wouldn’t let him.
Instead, she slid down his body and let the slick folds of her core tease the tip of his cock. He lunged upward again, but she drew away until he finally got the idea this was her show. She would open for him, taking in just the head, and then she would pull free. He groaned with each thrust.
“Tori, please. You’re killing me.”
He watched her eyes soften and her gaze turn liquid as he twirled her nipples into tight buds. She leaned back, and this time she stopped teasing him, sliding down the length of his cock until their bodies were fully joined. So deep he felt almost a part of her.
She leaned down to kiss him, and Hunter felt only warmth. She was giving him everything she had without words, and he was going to take it. Because her caring was going to allow him to forget who he was, forget the need that never left him, and remember only the heart beating above his. Only Tori could make him human again.
He thrust upward into her body. She reared back and sat down so deep inside he touched her womb.
He wanted more. He craved more. He wanted to become one with her, something he’d never done with a woman in his life before. This was the cliff she’d told him about. This was the point of no return.
She leaned forward, half drawing out, and he thrust into her again. Harder and harder. Hunter could feel her contract around him. She was so close. His balls tightened with need—so was he.
Their hips pounded together. She braced her arms on his chest, seeking the fulfillment. But for Hunter, completion was not enough. He cupped his hand around the back of her neck and drew her head down to hers. She let go, and he put his lips right into the crook of her head and shoulder. Her pulse fluttered beneath his lips.
He was so ready.
One thrust. Two.
He let the real Hunter out of his cage. He let his heart expand and contract with hers. She was the light. He was the dark. They climbed to the pinnacle and released in a mighty roar together. And he won the battle.
He stepped off.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Tori woke up next to Hunter, knowing this was where she belonged. Lying in the crook of his arm, her head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. There was nowhere else she’d rather be.
“Don’t move,” Hunter begged. “Not just yet. Please.”
Tori snuggled closer. He’d slipped out of her body, and she’d collapsed onto his chest, gasping for breath. Not once in her life had she ever experienced an orgasm like that before.
She smiled. He practically oozed contentment. She knew she did, so their lovemaking had to be a step in the right direction for both of them.
“What you’ve given me, what you’re trying to do for me can never be repaid,” he told her.
Baby steps. “I’m not looking for payment.”
“I know,” he answered, and she heard frustration in his voice. “Again, I don’t want you to misunderstand me because ‘payment’ is not quite what I meant. You see, when I’m with you, I seem to say the wrong thing and do the wrong thing all the time.”
“Not all.” She grinned.
He kissed the top of her head, then sat back and shuddered, a grim reminder to them both of what he was suffering. “No matter what happens…” he began.
“Shhh,” she told him, clutching at his chest.
His arm tightened. “No matter what happens,” he repeated. “I want to thank you for your kindness. For caring about me. No one ever has before.”
As if she didn’t understand. You see, she could hear his heart beat. Not a vampire heart, a human heart. “Not necessary.”
He paused, and Tori realized the importance of his next words. “I don’t know how to love, Victoria Roberts. I’m not sure I’ll ever know.”
“Really? Are you certain? I’m not,” she admonished.
“My human life all but killed any emotion, and being a vampire simply doesn’t allow,” he continued, drawing her even closer. “But with you, I’ve come the closest I can to this prize. I’ve never known peace before. When I fought with you, I was only fighting with myself.”
Now Tori knew he was on the right track. “I know.”
“There are words between us I wish with all my heart I could take back, actions I would like to undo. A simple apology will never suffice.”
Tori lifted her head with a frown. What was he trying to tell her? “Hunter. What’s wrong?”
“I can feel the change coming. No matter what you do, no matter how much of Sam’s blood I take in, I’m going rogue. You can’t stop it. Once the change begins, it can never be stopped.”
“Oh yes it can,” she vowed, sitting up. Determination filled her gut, steel solidified in her backbone. “I’m going to find a cure. I swear I will.”
“No, Tori. You need to let me go,” he insisted.
“Absolutely, positively no way that’s happening. Not now.”
He stilled, his tone meant to show the absolute utter certainty of his next words. “I don’t want to fight Casperian anymore. You’ve shown me I’m worthy. Being worthy is enough.”
“Not for me, it isn’t,” she cried, her heart clenching. Tori looked down to search the face she’d come to know so well and decided if he didn’t want to fight for himself, she would fight for him. “Don’t you dare give up on me, do you hear? Giving up is not allowed. Not now. Not ever.”
He stared at her. Confusion filled his gaze. “I thought this was what you wanted. I thought you wanted me to accept what’s been missing in my life so I can accept my ending.”
She half laughed, terror and angst leaking into the sound. “You thought wrong. Again.”
“Why?”
Tears filled her eyes, but she held them back. “Let’s just say I’m more stubborn than you and leave it at that.”
Tori jumped out of the bed. The race against time had just gotten a bit dicey. But now she had more at stake than ever before. She showered and dressed, then helped Hunter do the same.
“I must go take care of a few things in my office, then I will join you.”
“You sure you’re up to it?”
He smiled. “Yes.” He kissed her thoroughly and let go. Once he was gone, Tori ran down to the lab.
Stacy was gone. After all, it was early morning. With a cup of coffee in her hand, she read Stacy’s notes. There were only the characteristics of human blood in vampire blood once it was ingested and processed. A western blot test didn’t really work because there were smaller amounts of everything, especially antigens and antibodies. Again, not enough components. Which made sense considering a vampire would need to feed on anything if necessary.
Vampire skin and most of their internal organs healed at an amazing rate due to the specialized protein in their blood. The rosary pea extract containing the poison abrin was a protein synthesis inhibitor which obviously destroyed this specialized protein. The question became, How exactly was the Nirvana working? Was the drug creating internal bleeds? Maybe. But Hunter didn’t say he felt pain internally. Probably wouldn’t, she figured.
But he did feel ants. A symptom like this one generally occurred when nerve endings were overreacting. Could his cells be overreacting as well? Nirvana was a trigger. And this particular trigger caused cells to speed up, go into overdrive, and die. And that’s where the out-of-control mitochon
dria came in.
Out-of-control cell aging. Without enough human blood to compensate and with the protein that healed them becoming completely overwhelmed, vampires simply became walking corpses. As Tori thought back to her time with Hunter, she figured she knew that one all too well. Slow degeneration. The stench. The deterioration.
Through her research she found that CoRRStar Biotech had been working on mitochondrial disease. They’d created a drug that would stabilize the reduction-oxidation process, thereby halting the progression of mitochondrial death. But it wasn’t a cure.
Hunter needed a cure. And then it hit her like a ten-ton bomb. The biotech company had come up with a stop-gap measure. They’d figured out a way to stop the degeneration of the mitochondria.
What if they’d also figured out a way to speed it up? But not for the human market?
Mitochondria had their own gene expression. Was it possible? Could the genes within the mitochondria be manipulated? And if so, had they found a way to do that?
Oh God. Cordell Stuart and Casperian? Was it possible?
Tori ran to her cell phone. Would Vanessa be asleep already? After all, it was daytime. “Hello?”
“Jonas?”
“Good morning.”
Tori could barely contain her curiosity. “Did you find out anything?”
“CoRRStar is owned by Cordell Stuart.”
“Yes, I know that already,” she replied, a tad impatient.
“But did you also know he’s got some pretty hefty investors but he’s still bleeding cash? There was one particular source I couldn’t trace.”
“Casperian?”
“Possibly.”
“Anything else?”
“Yeah. CoRR. Most people think its stands for Cordell. But listen to this. He’s working on a colocation for redox regulation in the cell. Another place for the mitochondria to work from.”
Tori frowned. Then she realized she’d been right. “Gene manipulation. Inside the cell.”
“Looks like it.”
“Then it’s possible that the company found the trigger that Casperian is using to create rogues.”
Honorable Rogue Page 19
