Honorable Rogue

by Linda J. Parisi

  Tori, bless her heart, slammed her heel down on Casperian’s foot. He howled, gaze flashing with anger and pain. She struggled, squirming and fighting. Casperian tightened his grip until she couldn’t breathe.

  “Stop,” Hunter cried. “Let her go.”

  “Kneel to me, Venatorius. Kneel to me, and I might, just might, consider your request.”

  Her head lolled, and Casperian loosened his grip. He didn’t want her dead just yet. She was still a toy to be played with.

  Tori choked and coughed and gasped until she could draw in a ragged breath. She coughed some more, then gulped in air. Then she shook her head. “Don’t, Hunter. I’m not worth it.”

  “But you are,” he vowed.

  Casperian watched the exchange, then threw back his head, laughing. He took his time sobering. “Oh my, oh my. At last. Finally. Someone has moved you, Venatorius. What an unexpected delight.”

  Hunter put Casperian’s shrill, irritating being out of his mind. Only one person in this room merited that space. The only person who would ever hold his heart in the palm of her hand.

  “I never thought I was capable. Until now.” He swallowed and straightened. The tip of his blade hovered right over her heart. Her gaze locked with his as she waited for his next words.

  “I love you, Victoria Roberts. Soul of my soul.”

  He stepped closer so his blade touched her shirt.

  “I don’t deserve your love. I never will. But I don’t hate anymore. And for this, I thank you.”

  Tori made to stomp down on Casperian’s foot again, but the vampire tightened his grip. Hunter frowned because his mind moved so slowly. He watched the whole movement unfold in bits and pieces of minutes instead of seconds.

  Tori stepped forward instead of down. Casperian, off balance, had no choice but to fall with her. Hunter’s hand tightened instinctively, remembering the tug and tear of flesh and steel, the blade going through human skin and muscle.

  Again, because of his sickness, it took a moment to realize. They were both impaled. Casperian right through his heart. Surprise filled the vampire’s features. As if he couldn’t believe what just happened.

  Hunter couldn’t either. Or that Tori threw a vial at him, which he caught with his free hand. “Extra strength. You know what needs to be done,” she gasped in pain.

  He popped the cap. For a split second he thought about downing the contents. As he should. But she cried out, “Don’t you dare, you stupid fool. I love you.”

  As soon as the last word left her lips, Tori lifted her hands and grasped his wrist. With one fierce tug, she pulled with all her might, and the sword went all the way through her body and all the way through Casperian’s heart.

  Hunter let go of the sword. She moaned but shook her head. She swallowed hard and motioned for him to finish the job. So he closed Casperian’s nostrils with his fingers, opened the vampire’s mouth, and poured in the extract. Then he shut Casperian’s mouth and held it closed. Casperian tried to get away. He struggled. And Hunter had no idea where his strength came from.

  Check that. Yes, he did.

  Casperian finally swallowed, and Hunter let go. “You’ve killed me,” the vampire whispered in disbelief.

  Hunter pushed Casperian’s shoulders away from Tori, and he fell to the floor. He writhed and pleaded in pain. Hunter couldn’t have cared less.

  He lifted Tori into his arms, knelt, and let her body slide gently to the floor. Then he made to remove the sword.

  “Don’t. Leave it in,” she gasped. “I don’t want to bleed to death.”

  Hunter didn’t quite understand. “Don’t talk. Save your strength.”

  “No. You need to listen. I found the cure.”

  “I know.” He smiled though his fear. “You’ve been shouting the words at me for some time.”

  “It’s in the cooler in the front yard. Get Stacy to start an IV,” she commanded.

  “No. Not until I know you’re out of danger.”

  She sighed and winced. His breath caught in his throat. “Stubborn vampire. Okay, so we both die while we argue about who gets saved first?”

  Stacy, Vanessa, and Jonas all came rushing in. “Get the cooler. Please. He’s dying. Save him first,” Tori begged. “Hurry.” Vanessa simply vanished.

  Then Tori turned her head to him, her face suffused with love. The same love pouring from his gaze. “Did you mean what you said?” he asked.

  “Did you?”

  He lifted her hand and kissed the back, cradling her skin to his cheek. “Every word. I love you.”

  “Ditto.” He lifted a brow. “Oh, all right,” she teased. “I love you too. More than you’ll ever know.”

  Charles came running in, his face flooding with relief when he saw Stacy was unharmed. Hunter watched in camaraderie as his friend kissed his mate, hugged her, and then let go.

  Chaz turned, his face growing grim as he watched Casperian gasp his final breaths. “No,” Hunter cried. “He’s mine.”

  Tori blanched, and Hunter didn’t understand. “No, my darling. You can’t. Not now. You let your wall crumble. Use our love to stop the hatred. Please.” She squeezed his hand. “You can do this. Let Chaz or Vanessa be the cops. This isn’t your fight any longer.”

  Mercy came running in and slid to a stop as she surveyed the scene. “I would consider it an honor.”

  Hunter looked down. “Do no harm,” she begged. “Well, at least as much as you can in a situation like this.”

  He drowned in the love in her gaze, and the revenge poured out of his heart like water from a broken cup. “I love you, Hunter. The man you are in here.” She tried to point to his heart but moaned as her hand fell.

  He nodded to Mercy and turned right back to Tori. She was his world now.

  Jonas knelt beside her. He rolled Tori onto her side to inspect both sides of the wound and breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Looks like the sword went clean through your shoulder and not so near your heart.”

  “I figured.” She grinned, then swallowed hard. Hunter frowned. “Casperian’s taller.”

  “We’re not near any kind of hospital,” Jonas continued. “I can pack the entry and exit wounds. Stitch them. But you might bleed out if anything’s nicked.”

  “A chance I was willing to take,” she replied, her hand squeezing harder as she winced in pain.

  Not Hunter. Not by any means. Not by the sheer, stark terror flooding his being. “Can you help her?” he asked barely above a whisper.

  Jonas nodded. “Stitching her up is no problem.”

  Stacy walked over and stood by Tori’s other side. “Hey, girlfriend.”

  “Hey,” Tori breathed.

  Chaz, Vanessa, and Mercy lifted Tori up off the floor while Jonas held the sword immobile. They moved her to the table in the dining room.

  Stacy clasped her good hand and squeezed tight. “I have an idea.”

  Tori stared at Stacy, waiting for her to continue as did he. “The transfusion. New transcription factors. Could make your skin seal fast. Real fast.”

  “She’ll become a vampire!” Hunter cried, aghast. No, no, no, no, no.

  “Will she?” Stacy fired back, her tone stern so he would listen. But how could he when his heart lodged deep inside his throat and his gut roiled in complete dismay. “One or two drops? I don’t know that. None of us do. But she has a choice. Let her make it.”

  Hunter clutched her hand to his chest. “Would you be willing to spend an eternity with me?” Even as he asked that question, his heart took flight. The idea lodged inside his brain and wouldn’t let go.

  Tori smiled, his heart flying with hers as her face lit up. “What do you think?”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Tori opened her eyes to snowflakes floating every which way through the air. Snowflakes? Bemused, she found part of herself intrigued by the possibility. Then she realized it was the beginning of fall so it couldn’t be snow. She blinked.

  Ahh. Dust motes. Visible through the filtered ligh
t of the window.

  Her gaze traveled farther to find beige walls. But not simply walls, for she could see every line of the grain in the Sheetrock beneath the paint. Such an intricate pattern. How fascinating. And the white crown molding. Wait a minute. White molding and beige walls? Why, she was in Hunter’s room.

  Still, her brain drifted as if she were lying on a float in the middle of a pool. Gentle ebbs and flows, and truth be told, a part of her didn’t want to stop gliding.

  Her gaze lowered. Dark hair. Cropped short. His head bowed so she could only see the top. His shoulders slumped. Her hand reached out to touch but stopped just short so she could admire her fingers, her skin, so pale, no, nearly translucent. But so beautiful. So elegant.

  Wonder filled her being.

  He lifted his head. His gaze caught hers, gray again, not dull and filled with sickness but soft and beautiful and proud. And filled with love. For her? Wait a minute. What have you done with my Hunter?

  One side of his mouth lifted, yet mirth seemed beyond his comprehension. There was so much suffering and agony in his face, her heart clutched and then double clutched. And she remembered.

  “The IV? It worked?”

  Stupid question. Of course it had, or he wouldn’t have been sitting there leaning up against the bed, now would he?

  He reached out, surrounded her outstretched fingers with his, closing tight. Never to let go.

  Fine with her.

  He nodded, swallowing several times before he could speak. “I feared you were dead.”

  His voiced broke on the last word.

  Dead? Right. Wounded. The sword in her shoulder. “How long have I been out?”

  Tori struggled to sit up and back against the pillows and found the movement to be no struggle at all. Why? Confusion filled her brain.

  “Three days.”

  His voice broke on the words again. She frowned, not understanding why. “Three days?” she murmured. Damn this fog. She couldn’t think straight, couldn’t get her brain cells to move.

  Then she remembered the rest. “Casperian,” she whispered. The forest, the house, the fight all came back to her. Stacy standing beside her, holding her hand. “Transfusion. The transcription factors.”

  Hunter looked stricken, guilty, and mortified all at the same time. And Tori wanted to tell him not to feel this way. Her choice.

  “You were magnificent, standing up to that bastard.” His face tightened. “Stacy used two drops, one on each side of the wound, as soon as Jonas pulled the sword out. Your skin healed almost instantly.”

  Strange, she felt like herself but still felt like she was in the middle of the pool. Not a bad feeling. Not nauseating. Just mellow. And very not…her. Then she began to understand what was going on. She could feel the scratch of the fabric of the sheet against her skin. She could hear the birds chirping in the distance even with the window shut. She could see the way his lips compressed into a grim pattern, but his gaze was full of pride and strength.

  Heightened senses and awareness.

  He reached out to cup her hands and pressed his cheek to the back one. “I’m sorry, Hunter. I never meant to hurt you or tackle you or create more problems.” His mouth quirked again. “I just couldn’t think of any other way to stop Casperian.”

  “I nearly died when you pulled my sword through your shoulder,” he whispered.

  Wow. Such pain in those words, as if the heart he’d just found broke into pieces as he said them.

  Tori felt terrible. Then again, not quite. “You were dying. You were reaching the point of no return. Casperian knew that. Laughed about it, for heaven’s sake. He was stalling and would have continued all day if I’d let him.”

  Hunter looked ready to boil over as he nearly shouted, “And Charles or Vanessa or Mercy would have killed him!”

  Whoa. Tori retreated into her pillows, and Hunter had the grace to look a little repentant. “I couldn’t take the chance,” she explained.

  “Not your choice,” he bit out. “I was supposed to protect you.”

  “Yes, it was my choice. And the street goes both ways. I love you, Hunter.”

  Ahh. The key. He lifted his gaze. Doubt. Confusion. Anger. Fear. What a mess. “What have we done to you?” he whispered, his tone filled with dread.

  Oh. So that was what was bothering him.

  Suddenly, Tori realized. Was she a vampire? The floating sensation? The ability to see such detail, hear every sound? Joy surged through her veins.

  “Hunter,” she breathed. “Strong. Stoic. Indomitable. We’ve both suffered so much. We’ve both known such loss. Why would you ever believe I’d give up the chance to be happier than I’ll ever have the right to be?”

  “Because I’m not worthy.”

  Tori shook her head. “You’re not?”

  He swallowed several times. Then the words came pouring out. “You are…a miracle. You’re an oasis in the desert, a life preserver in the storming sea of my heart; you’re the shining star and the perfectly cut diamond.” He paused, and the joy inside her warmed to a glow. “You deserve twenty carats.” He opened his hand. “Instead, I can only give you this.”

  In his palm rested the ruby. No single stone any longer but part of a horse’s head of gold, intricately woven, delicate, and oh so beautiful. The pendant was attached to a fine, gold chain, which he lifted in his hand. “May I?”

  She sat up and leaned forward. He placed the chain around her neck and closed the clasp. Tori lifted the pendant, and her eyes filled with tears. Hunter stilled. He didn’t move. Joy lit up his face. The sheer breadth of his happiness filled her.

  “What?” she choked as a lump formed in her throat.

  “Tears,” he breathed. “You’re crying.”

  Tori frowned. “And your point is?”

  “I cannot.” He repeated the words as he rose and shouted, “I cannot!”

  Okay, Hunter doing the happy dance was beginning to scare her. “I don’t understand.”

  “Thank God. You’re not a vampire. Vampires cannot cry.”

  Both her brows lifted. “Well then, you’d better go look in a mirror.”

  He stopped cold. “What are you talking about?”

  She reached out and crooked her forefinger at him. He approached the bed with suspicion. She beckoned so he’d lean over. Then she flicked her finger under the corner of his eye. “This.”

  On her fingertip rested a single tear.

  “Impossible,” he breathed, doubt and confusion shimmering in his gaze.

  Laughter bubbled up inside her. “Guess not.”

  He walked over to the bed, and she scooted to the side so he could sit. He leaned down, his arms creating a prison—her kind of prison, with the kind of bars she wanted around her for the rest of her life.

  “I will never deserve you. But I’m willing to spend the rest of my life earning that right.”

  “Oh, Hunter,” Tori sighed. “You’re so wrong. And to prove it, I’ll ask you a question. Do I deserve you?”

  “A hundred, thousand, million times over.” She touched her finger to his lips to stop him from going on.

  “No. You’re wrong. We’re beyond worthy and deserve, we’re beyond all the debts needing to be paid. We’ve both been given a second chance at life and at love. I’m not going to waste mine wallowing in the past. Don’t waste yours.”

  Tori saw she’d have a way to go on this one, but to his credit, he seemed willing to try. “Very well. From this moment on. Together.”

  “Always.”

  Hunter bent down until their breath mingled. “I’m not sure what’s happened to us, Hunter. I feel strange, more alive than I’ve ever felt before. Every touch seems almost too much.”

  Hunter pinned her to the bed, grinding his hips against hers, slow and languid but with a touch of the devil dancing in his gaze. “Think there’s a cure for this particular ailment, Doctor?”

  “Oh yes,” she replied, amazed at their byplay. “Very much so.”

  To
ri pulled his head down to hers. Kisses had so many meanings. Hello. Goodbye. Be careful. I can fix that, make everything better. Or there will never be anyone else in the world for me but you.

  This kiss was all those things and more.

  And then Tori realized there was another unexpected development with the changes in her body. Flame on. One kiss. That was all it took. She wanted to explode right now. “Is it always like this?” she asked breathlessly as Hunter broke their kiss.

  “With you? Yes.”

  Tori tried hard not to grin. Fat chance. “I could get very used to this kind of perk.”

  “So can I,” he told her, bending down to nuzzle the soft skin in the crook of her neck. Then he rimmed the shell of her ear. Tori shivered and jumped. Too much feeling. She couldn’t process it all.

  She captured his lips and explored his mouth, grazing an incisor just so he’d know he was driving her beyond crazy.

  Suddenly Hunter jumped off the bed. Jacket. Shirt. Pants. The rest of his clothes. Shucked in seconds. Tori’s hands itched to run over the contours of his chest and down the ridges of his abdomen.

  As she sat up to accomplish her goal, he divested her of her clothes. Now, there were slower and much sexier ways of getting rid of them, but his eagerness suited her just fine.

  “There,” he announced. “Much better.”

  His gaze filled with liquid heat. His eyes turned crystal, sharp and clear with a touch of blue tint, like the water off a Caribbean island.

  “Yes,” he answered. “We can honeymoon there, if you wish.”

  Tori had no wish except the one he currently fulfilled. He settled his entire length on her, and she welcomed his weight. Her legs parted, and she tried to get him to plunge inside. Hard and fast would be about right.

  But Hunter paused. Waiting. And then it occurred to her. “Oh. Don’t you have to ask me something first?”

  God, this new Hunter was amazing. He smiled, barely able to contain his deviltry. “Did I forget to do that?”

  Barely able to contain her joy, Tori simply beamed. “You did.”