A sick feeling churned in his gut, and he tightened his grip on the steering wheel, fighting the urge to glance over at Rho. He’d really messed this up. In one swoop, he’d managed to hurt his ex-girlfriend while simultaneously pissing off his current one.
Way to go, genius.
He slowed down, passing an empty parking space slightly before throwing the car into reverse and wedging it into the space. The last thing he’d wanted to do was hurt anyone, yet that was all he seemed capable of. Everything was his fault. All of it. Starting with the death mark.
Rho sat in the passenger’s seat, arms folded across her chest as she gazed out the window. Instinctively he knew right now wasn’t the best time to reach out and touch her. The anger emanating from her wasn’t what really got to him, though. It was the disappointment.
Even though he sat right next to her, the emotions pouring off of her made him feel like he’d left her behind somewhere, forgotten and neglected. He wasn’t an empath, but he didn’t need to be to feel her emotions. They were practically tangible.
The moment he killed the engine, Rho opened the door and stepped out of the car. Following her brisk movements, he jumped out of the driver’s seat and slammed his door shut then jogged to catch up to her.
The Sacré Coeur sat on the top of a large hill, the highest point in the city of Paris. Rho headed for the top like someone had set a match to her ass. He fought to meet the challenge of keeping up with her inhuman pace.
She took off up a massive set of steps, and he followed close behind. “Rho.” He wished she’d slow down so they could talk. He might have fucked up, but he’d at least appreciate the opportunity to explain himself. Not that he knew exactly what he’d say if she gave him the chance.
She ignored him and continued up the flight of stairs. Then another flight. And another. Before she reached the base of the basilica, she stopped, a hand gripping the railing until her knuckles turned white. He froze several feet away, not wanting to get too close just yet.
Her gaze traveled out into the night, taking in the phenomenal view from the highest place in the city. Normally he loved those wide doe eyes of hers. But not tonight. Her usually blade-sharp stare turned soft and vulnerable as she surveyed the horizon, lost in thoughts that no doubt included him.
Her petite features were highlighted against the millions of lights twinkling in the distance, a landscape of concrete beauty. But none of them could capture his attention the way she could.
A muscle in her jaw pulsed, and she turned her attention to the ground. God, if that expression didn’t just make him want to crawl into a hole.
“Rho, I said I’m sorry.” He stepped behind her.
“I’m fine.” She tugged her wool coat tighter as she gazed into the distance. “There’s nothing else to be said.”
The hell there wasn’t. “Trinador is a part of my past. You’re my future.”
She shrugged.
“What do you want me to say here? You want me to grovel?” If that was what she wanted, she’d be gravely disappointed. She could be mad at him about what he did today, but he couldn’t take back any of his past. He wouldn’t apologize for it, either.
“No.”
Her quiet, brooding anger drove him to the edge of insanity, cutting him so much worse than anything she could say.
“Then what?” he asked. “Tell me what to do here, because the silent treatment doesn’t work for me.”
She turned her head to the side but didn’t meet his eyes. “Do you have any idea how hard it is for a vampire to share?”
“You’re not sharing.” Not at all. She could have every inch of him any way she wanted him, all the time. With a woman like her, the idea of being unfaithful was as unappealing as it was nonsensical. He needed no one else.
“I am sharing.” She gazed back to the streetlights in the distance. “She had a part of you that’s mine, and I don’t like it.”
“That’s in the past.”
“Doesn’t matter. Still makes me want to rip her throat out.”
“You’re not being fair. That’s—”
“Really?” Rho spun around, staring him down, even though he towered over her. “Are you telling me it doesn’t burn your ass to think of me with another man? How about Frederick?”
He shrank back as if she’d slapped him across the face. Icy tendrils of dread squeezed his heart. Her creator was one of his biggest fears, and she knew it. Not because he was jealous, but because that man could control her. He absolutely despised the idea of another man being inside her mind and taking advantage of her thoughts.
She arched a brow. “Are you saying if you knew he kissed me, that wouldn’t make you want to pull out your Glock and take care of business? Do you like the idea of his hands all over my—”
With one hand, he grabbed Rho’s hip and yanked her toward his body, crushing her against him. His lips found hers instantly, and he silenced those poisonous words with his mouth. Not. One. More. Word. She tasted like sweet coffee, and he reveled in the familiar flavor of her kiss. The scent of apples was fresh on her skin, driving him further toward the edge of insanity with each passing moment.
His chest burned. A possessiveness he’d never felt before had somehow been unleashed and ran wild in his mind. Being soul struck had its consequences.
She groaned and pulled him closer, conquering him with her grip.
The pain was a sweet victory. With a quick move of his hands, he threw up a circle of protection, making them invisible to any passersby. The night was cold, and the streets were mostly empty, but they didn’t need any witnesses for what he had planned.
“You’re mine,” he bit out as he ran kisses along her neck. “I want no one else.”
She pulled back and met his eyes, the fire behind her stare enough to burn him alive. “Prove it.”
Headstrong, unrepentant, obstinate woman.
The words were a challenge, her come-and-get-me smile setting his lust ablaze. He needed to be inside of her, marking her, claiming her as his. He wanted every vampire in a ten-mile radius to know she was taken and exactly who had taken her. They’d smell him all over her skin, just like her boss had before, and he liked it that way. He wanted it that way.
Was this how Rho felt about him? Suddenly, he completely understood why she’d been incensed. Because the idea of anyone else having access to her mind or body took his brain to the lethal zone. Now that he’d had her, he couldn’t imagine anyone else touching her.
He kissed her hard, savoring the taste of her mouth and the silky touch of her tongue. Lifting her in his hands, he carried her backward. She fit against his body perfectly and weighed next to nothing. Amazing the damage she could do with such a petite form. Sexy, too.
Stepping into shadows beyond the reach of the rose-colored street lamps, he eyed the perimeter. The location wasn’t the most romantic, but his body didn’t care. From the way she clawed at his chest, neither did hers.
He laid her gently onto the cool, soft grass. He reclaimed her mouth as he yanked her leathers down and tossed them aside, hungry for her in every way he intended to have her. She worked the button on his pants and unzipped the fly, springing him free. Pulling away from her lips, he gazed at her delicate face once more.
She was so beautiful.
He kissed her chest between her breasts and let his hands roam until they found hers. Gently, he repositioned her hands above her head and pinned them to the ground with one hand, using the other to lift her shirt and expose her creamy flesh to the chilled night air. This was his playground now.
Rho’s breath hitched and she twisted beneath him. He couldn’t help but smile. Her eagerness mirrored his, but he had something to prove tonight. In fact, she’d challenged him to do just that. And he had every intention to answer that challenge with a very diligent and thorough response.
In a devilish move he knew she loved, he pulled away to plant a kiss on her stomach. The smell of her skin was fresh, cool to his lips. A gentle remi
nder that she wasn’t human, but he couldn’t care less. She was his. He moved slowly down the length of her body, savoring each sweet taste, nipping at her flesh and teasing her with his hot breath.
With his free hand, he stroked the side of her stomach, splaying his hands and traveling upward until he cupped her breast in his hand. She hissed and tried to bend her arms, but he pressed them back firmly into the grass.
She writhed beneath him, scissoring her legs and locking onto him with her wide gray eyes. Need burned in her stare, but he wasn’t done yet. Oh, no. He wasn’t nearly finished with what he’d started.
He let his hand venture downward, and ran his fingers gently along the outside of her thigh. Her skin was like velvet beneath his fingertips and he continued stroking her skin, tracing invisible patterns on her skin and moving closer and closer to where he knew she wanted him to go.
“Please,” Rho rasped.
His smile widened and he glanced up at her. “Please, what?”
She lifted her head off the ground to stare down at him. He shifted until he’d positioned himself perfectly over her panties. She threw her head back against the wall and arched her back. He pressed her hips into the ground to hold her still, commanding her body even though she easily carried the strength to break free. If she wanted to.
He pressed her hips into the ground with his free hand. “Please, what?” He repeated.
“Stop torturing me,” she answered between panting breaths.
“Whatever you want,” he murmured. He pushed her panties aside. Slowly and purposefully, he ran his tongue along her sweetest part and groaned. God, she tasted wonderful.
She went completely still beneath the weight of him and he paused to glance up at her.
“Don’t stop,” she breathed. “Please, don’t stop.”
At the command, he pushed his body upward and yanked her panties off, then threw them beside her leathers. She only needed to ask him once. Anything she wanted, he’d give to her gladly. Most especially this.
He worked her until she cried his name, the word a glorious song in his ears. She belonged to him and him to her, and he’d do this every hour of every day, just to keep her the way he saw her now. All pale skin, kissed by the moonlight, every exquisite contour of her body an invitation for his touch. As she came apart in his hands, he slid inside of her with a commanding thrust.
Rho bucked beneath him, grabbing hold of his shoulders and pulling him toward her. He knew exactly what she wanted.
What he was more than willing to give.
He tilted his head to give her access to his vein, surrendering himself to her entirely. The moment her teeth sank into his flesh, he exploded. Pulsating within her, he fought to keep a hold of the circle he’d thrown up. He’d lost himself completely to her, drowned by the sensations of her ecstasy.
When they both grew still, she ran her tongue along his neck to seal the wounds. He lifted himself off of her then bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. They were swollen and pink, just the way he liked them. He pulled away from her and adjusted his pants, her little fangs peeking out from behind her parted lips.
He smiled.
“What are you smiling at? I’m still mad at you.” The corners of those perfect lips twitched as she fought to keep her angry expression. Stubborn mule of a woman.
He tugged her pants gently up her legs, redressing her before extending a hand to pull her to her feet and into his arms. “Don’t worry. I have every intention of working off whatever punishment you have in mind.” He nuzzled his nose into her hair and breathed her in then planted a tiny kiss on her neck.
“I’m sure you do.” She chuckled and adjusted her shirt before wiping the grass from her leathers.
Rho licked her lips, the tang of Eldon’s blood still lingering in her mouth. Strength rippled through her muscles, the potency of his blood coursing through her body, recharging her internal batteries. She stepped back through the bushes and onto the main path.
They’d needed that. She’d needed that.
Being with Eldon had a way of centering her, somehow sweeping away her whole mess of issues and giving her a sense of structure and normalcy. He was the axis that kept her from spinning out of control. Vampire instincts temporarily satiated, her mind suddenly seemed clear and her reflexes sharp.
She still didn’t want Trinador anywhere near Eldon, and most certainly not alone. Even if she was only a part of his past, Rho could never stop worrying about the woman becoming a part of his future again. Her jealous, territorial nature wouldn’t allow her to let the idea go.
But she felt a little better knowing she’d staked her claim. Again. Yeah, the best part of fighting in a relationship had to be the making up.
As the lights glittering in the distance reappeared, she took a deep breath, grateful to feel a little more awake. She’d been so tired lately. Maybe she needed to feed more often? With all of the traveling and fighting they’d been doing lately, it was no surprise she’d been feeling so exhausted.
With their fight behind them, Rho and Eldon trudged up the hill toward the Sacré Coeur. When they finally reached the steps of the basilica, they stopped.
Rho glanced away from the towering white structure, taking in the stunning view from the summit. “It’s so pretty up here.”
“I thought you’d like it.”
“Paris just keeps getting better and better. I’d love to see this in the daylight.”
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before tugging her toward the door. “Come on. We have work to do.”
Reluctantly, she turned away from the lovely skyline and glanced up at the three massive arches towering over the steps. The night was still, not a single person in sight. City noise rumbled in the background, but the source was far below them. Traffic didn’t travel this far uphill, and definitely not this late at night—er, early in the morning, technically.
“No one’s here.” She stated the obvious as she let her senses extend into the night, trying to pinpoint even a single person. “Where are we supposed to meet them?”
“In the dome.”
Rho gazed up at the massive white structure, trying to figure out… Oh. She pointed to the rounded roof at the top of the basilica. “That dome?”
“That’s the only dome I see,” he answered dryly.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
He shook his head and gave her hand another tug. “Come on.”
“We’re just going to walk in?”
“Did you have a better plan?”
Well, no. “Won’t somebody notice us?”
“Nah.” He hiked up the white travertine steps, and she followed along behind him, glancing around her. Her vision remained clear instead of hazy blue, indicating he hadn’t thrown up a protection circle.
The massive, intricately scrolled bronze doors made her feel tiny as she stood in front of them. “You have some grand strategy about how we’re getting in here? Because I’m guessing you still won’t jump me.”
Eldon surveyed the door and shrugged. “Wasn’t planning on it.”
“Do share your brilliant scheme.”
He lifted a hand and tugged the thick brass ring secured to one of the doors, but the structure didn’t budge.
She snorted. “Seriously? You think they’re going to let you wander into a piece of French history at, oh, four in the morning?”
“You know,” he said as he ran his fingers along the outside edge of the left door, “you really need to learn how to do that misting thing. I’ve heard vamps can do that.”
“Only the old ones.” She followed his movements as he traced the door. Did he think he could find another trap opening? “I’m so young I still smell like baby powder.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Oh? What do I smell like then?”
His eyes were heated as he turned to face her. “Apples.”
“Really?” Note to self—buy more apple shampoo. Given the glimmer of approval in his eyes, he
liked it. A lot.
He continued prodding the door for a few more minutes before finally giving in and taking a step back. “Should be easy enough just to sneak in. The nuns won’t be running around just yet.”
“Nuns?” In all the beauty of this place, she’d completely forgotten the purpose of the actual building. People worked here.
“It is a church.” Eldon gave her a slight smile.
She shot him a dirty look. “You are such a smart—”
A silver blade slammed into the bronze door only an inch from Rho’s head then clattered to the ground. They both hit the ground so fast she nearly beat the blade to the concrete.
Rho snapped her head up just in time to see Preshea running full-out across the cobblestone path. In the form of a white Bengal tiger.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Oh, hell. Not again.
Rho pulled herself into a crouch then launched off the top of the basilica steps and onto the cobblestone walkway below. Landing on one knee, she whipped out a dagger from her left boot. Thank God she’d made a habit of carrying a spare, even when they weren’t fighting. Some things you just couldn’t plan.
She tucked her back against a travertine wall and squeezed the grip of her dagger. If Preshea took on her alternate form, there had to be a threat. Tim wasn’t with her, either, which could only mean he’d found trouble of his own.
To think, a minute ago she’d been busy getting laid, so worried about her own problems she’d completely ignored everything else. They could have literally been caught with their pants down, leaving their teammates high and dry and possibly even hurt.
Really responsible.
With a curse, she glanced at the ceiling and the surrounding walls. The three massive arches above her could stave off stray bullets, but they’d be as helpful as a wet blanket when it came to magick.
They needed more weapons. And they needed to consolidate their forces. Divide and conquer wasn’t a good strategy when only one person on the team could play with ley line fire.
“Eldon!” she shouted over her shoulder before swiveling around to spot him. He hadn’t moved. “Find Tim!”
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