Blood Passage (Blood Destiny #2)

by Connie Suttle

  How strange and sensual it is, having someone with centuries of experience love you. Gavin held nothing back. There was no part of me that he failed to explore, kiss or nip. When we joined, his body worshipped mine in sinuous, erotic thrusts, urging my body to twine with his, matching and mirroring his movements. Too bad most human women who've had a lover of the fanged variety don't recall the sex—women everywhere would be hunting vampires just for the multiple orgasms. One of the most intense moments came when Gavin sank his teeth into my femoral artery to drink. The climax was incredible. Like a gentleman, he waited for me to regain consciousness before continuing. Gavin was gentle when we joined the second time, punctuating thrusts with kisses until I was nearly mindless as the climax came.

  Gavin convince me to drink as much of a pint of blood as I could afterward; he finished off what was left of it and then insisted I bite him. I couldn't take much but his body convulsed against mine. I learned that vampires do indeed ejaculate, only it is nearly clear, much like my tears.

  * * *

  "Are we holding back from taking the world apart tonight?" Franklin ventured to ask Gavin when he and I made it downstairs the following evening.

  "For now." Gavin pulled me close and nipped my neck a little.

  "I see." Franklin went back to his cooking.

  Gavin was home for three days before he was sent out again and he wasn't pleased that Wlodek had another assignment for him so quickly. During the three days he was with me, I learned a new term: Vampire lust. Gavin's had been held in check for a while and during his three days off, he had me in bed as often as possible (or as often as he could get me to say yes, that is). Merrill explained, (without my asking because it was embarrassing) that it was tied to the need for blood. "Wlodek has always held the theory that it is payment for the blood we take—giving the donor sex of one kind or another, along with intense orgasms." He'd smiled slightly while he said it. I wondered about the little blonde in the picture by his bed and was curious if she'd ever gotten the benefit of Merrill's lust. No way was I going to ask, though. No way. Merrill never spoke about her so it was a private matter.

  Two days after Gavin was called out, Wlodek asked to see me. Merrill drove me over, as usual. Maybe someday, he'd trust me enough to drive myself. That someday wasn't yet. "First, there's this." Wlodek handed a thick, cream-colored envelope across his desk. I rose from my chair to take it. He gestured for me to read it so I pulled the note from the envelope.

  "Little rose," the letter began, "it was never my intention to frighten you as I did. Aubrey is my child; he was only following my instructions when he said those things to you. I assure you that they were only meant in jest, mostly aimed at my cousin, who sometimes needs a bit of a jolt to keep him from complete stuffiness. When I saw your little body brought back into my home in such dire condition, I nearly melted in the floor. You have my apologies and I will continue to send them to you until you pardon my abysmal behavior. Gavin is my cousin and only true family remaining; therefore, you are family as well. I should have realized this before playing my little joke. Please forgive me.

  Yours ever, René."

  I knew two things when I handed the note to Merrill to read—René most likely was sincere in his apology, but he was also lying. Aubrey wasn't his. I did know who made Aubrey, and it wasn't René. Of course, I couldn't say that and tip my hand. That was a talent I was going to keep to myself if at all possible. Of the three that had been in the room that night, only Devlin was René's and Aubrey was Devlin's. The thing was, Aubrey was nearly as old as Devlin, which might mean that Devlin had turned Aubrey before the five-year training period was up. Vampire intrigue, indeed. If René knew I held that piece of information, he truly would try to kill me, I think.

  "What do you intend to do about this?" Merrill held the note up as he asked the question.

  "Do you know how many panes of glass were in that window and how big they were?" I asked sweetly.

  "Why do you wish to know that, child?" Wlodek was curious too, I could tell.

  "Because I want to send René a gift, along with an acceptance of his apology," I said. "Enough panes of glass to re-do his window, all taped with an X for the next person to break through."

  "I'll handle it," Merrill nodded, pulling out his cell, which was vibrating. "I'll take this outside," he said and walked out the door. Wlodek handed over some very nice stationery he pulled from a desk drawer, I wrote out a quick note to René, telling him there was nothing to forgive and noted that I was sending a gift. Wlodek read the note with interest before sealing the envelope and promising to get both items to René as soon as Merrill purchased the glass. Wlodek placed the note in a drawer, picked up his gold pen and gave me a smile. "Thank you for the painting," he indicated the David portrait of Napoleon that now held a place of honor on one of his walls. It replaced a Meissonier, which I didn't like as much.

  "I thought of you the minute I saw the photograph of the painting," I smiled back at Wlodek. "I never liked Meissonier as much as I did David."

  "You seem to know a little about it."

  "I have some hours in art history."

  "Merrill has told me as much." I wondered what else Merrill had told him but didn't ask. Who knew what information Wlodek kept inside his head? He was still the oldest vampire I'd met and therefore likely held a great deal of information.

  Merrill came back, apologized for the interruption and sat down again. "Now, back to business," Wlodek said. "Weldon Harper has requested that Lissa provide security for him while he performs some of his yearly duties across the United States. He managed to accomplish the European portion while he was here, but now he is scheduled to travel across the U.S. And since his Second's wife is pregnant, the alternate that was here with him will be going. The Grand Master has asked for Lissa as extra security. I have given permission, since she is officially a member of the Pack, as it were."

  "Lissa?" Merrill was looking at me. I hadn't said a word.

  "I'll go," I said. "I just hope there's no more of," I hesitated, searching for the words to describe what Winkler had done to me, "whatever it was that happened last time," I floundered around a little. What was I supposed to call it? Dry humping? In front of Wlodek? It had only been dry on my part. I wondered what happened to the clothes Gavin ripped off me. Not to mention the total embarrassment of being dragged out of there in only my underwear. Gavin had stripped me in front of the entire Council and the Enforcers. If the observers hadn't been vampire, I imagine that my image would be all over YouTube by now.

  "We'll send you tomorrow evening; you'll spend the night in a safe house in New York before making the second leg to Grand Forks," Wlodek said. "Russell and Will are going with you since you don't have the information and codes for the safe house and such."

  "How long is this going to take?" I asked.

  "Three months," Wlodek said. "With a short break for Thanksgiving and Christmas. If Merrill wishes, you may join him for the holidays."

  "I already have other plans," Merrill said. I turned sharply in his direction but didn't say anything. Merrill's face was unreadable, as usual. Franklin had plans to be with Greg, I knew that already. Well, I'd have to make my own plans, looked like.

  "Well, then, if Gavin isn't busy," Wlodek smoothed it over. "He is your intended, after all." I didn't want to be the one to tell Wlodek how firmly Gavin had staked his claim, but then Merrill may have already supplied that information.

  * * *

  "Franklin, I'll email you and do my best to get your Christmas card to you," I said as I folded clothing to tuck into one of four bags I was packing.

  "You have my phone number and Greg's," Frank said as he watched me pack from a chair beside my bed. I'd gotten Greg's number while he visited earlier, just in case I needed to call him about any other emergency that might crop up with Franklin. Franklin declared that there weren't going to be any other emergencies, but I'd taken the number anyway. "You can come and stay with us during Christmas if yo
u want."

  "I hate to interrupt the time with your honey," I said. "But I'll call if everything else falls through. Who knows, I may see how the wolves do the holidays."

  "You know if Gavin's available, he won't leave you alone."

  "I sort of do know that."

  "You still don't trust him."

  Franklin must have known by my expression just what I was going to say before I said it. "I don't trust any vampire," I said. "They're all full of secrets and they squeak when they turn loose of one of them. And when one of those secrets gets me in trouble or nearly killed, they don't really give a shit. Do they?" I tossed underwear into my suitcase a little harder than was warranted.

  "Lissa, they're a secretive race. It's difficult for them to invite trust. They anger quickly too, for the most part."

  "Well, same here," I said. "If it took going to bed with Gavin so he wouldn't kill his cousin, then so be it."

  "Is that why you did it?"

  "Not the whole reason, no," I grumbled. "I'm still a little pissed about all this. Why didn't they tell me up front they wanted to sell me off to somebody instead of parading me in front of a bunch of old vampires, just to see who put up a winning bid?"

  "Do you have any feelings for Gavin?"

  "Yes. Of course I do. It's just, I don't know." I sat down on the bed and put my head in my hands. "How did my life get so fucked up, Franklin? How?"

  "Terrible things happen all the time, little girl," Franklin came over to sit beside me. "Come on, you're better than this. I know you're stronger than this. I don't know too many vampires, werewolves or humans who would willingly rush in, grab somebody strapped with a bomb and haul them out of the building, just to save a bunch of people who almost killed you to start with."

  I lifted my head and looked at Franklin. "It was bad enough, seeing all of them there and about to get blown up, but what scared the bejeezus out of me was that Merrill was there, too. Now, I still haven't forgiven him for getting me sick when he ordered me to drink from a kid who'd taken a whole medicine cabinet one night, but I sort of like him."

  "I know," Franklin patted my back. "And in a perfect world, well," he didn't finish.

  "Frank, I've seen the picture on his nightstand. There's only one reason for a man to have a woman's picture on his nightstand. I can't compete with that. Not now and not ever. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind," I quoted Shakespeare. "It's as simple as that."

  "Is that your favorite quote?"

  "No. But it's the one that fits," I sighed. I sat on the edge of my bed, contemplating the twists and turns my life had taken in a short span of time. "I get the idea that the woman in that photograph is so special, nobody can come close," I added.

  Franklin smiled at me. "Shouldn't you be packing?" he asked, tapping the edge of my suitcase.

  "Yeah. Don't remind me. I have to go guard the king of the werewolves and his court jester, who came all over my clothes the last time I saw him. Can you explain that to me? What kind of custom is that?" Franklin laughed and we were back to normal.

  Merrill drove me to the airport the following evening, after making sure I had plenty of money, my credit card, passport, driver's license and anything else I might need for the next three months. I wasn't sure how I felt about spending three months with the wolves. Gavin already knew when I phoned him; Wlodek asked Charles to give him a call. He wasn't happy, but then I knew he wouldn't be. Being merely unhappy would have been an improvement over what he was. He was angry when he called. And he lectured me quite extensively over the whole thing. Lots of don'ts came out of his mouth. "Don't let that werewolf put his hands on you. Don't trust any of them. Don't let them put your life in danger like the last time." The list went on, but those were the big ones. It’s a good thing vampires don't have heart attacks, strokes or aneurysms. Gavin would be well on his way to vampire limbo if that were true. He also ordered me to check in regularly. In his eyes, he owned me, and I was tired of being owned already.

  Russell waited for me when I got to the Council's private hangar. It was misty outside—London at its November finest. Merrill talked while he'd driven me to the airport. I was the experiment, he'd said. The first officially cooperative effort between vampires and werewolves (like I hadn't been there already). Merrill said he was hopeful that the trend could continue; future alliances could be beneficial to both sides. I realized that as well as he did. Werewolves could move about freely during the day, something the vampires would never be able to do. A single vampire was generally much stronger than a single werewolf. If they combined their efforts, rogues could be captured swiftly. On both sides. I hadn't heard any more about the Briggs family—did Lester have others out there, waiting to cause trouble for the werewolf community? Briefly, I wondered about Tony, whom I'd met in Corpus Christi. He was the Director of the joint NSA and Homeland Security Department and sole purchaser of the software Winkler had developed. He'd been such a nice person to talk to and to know.

  "And there's the little mister now," Russell grinned at me while another vampire loaded my luggage onto the plane. Will arrived shortly after I did, and I surprised him greatly by giving him an unsolicited hug.

  "Thank you," I said.

  "For what?" He was completely confused by my gratitude.

  "For standing up to Gavin as much as you did when he brought me back from Corpus Christi," I said.

  "Now, is this the same Gavin you're engaged to?" Russell looked puzzled.

  "Yeah. The schmuck."

  "It's the same Gavin, all right," Will snickered.

  "Lissa, I am not even going to mention to Gavin that you hugged someone else," Merrill said.

  "Good," I said. "Russell, do you want a hug, too?"

  "I'll take whatever I can get," Russell said, embracing me.

  "Now there's another one you can hide from Gavin," I handed Merrill a level glance.

  "You must be quite angry with him," Merrill observed.

  "I am. Have a nice Christmas." I waved at him and trotted up the steps to board the jet.

  * * *

  "He's a little controlling," Merrill almost coughed into his hand.

  "No. Gavin? No way!" Will's voice dripped with sarcasm. "That girl was crying the whole way from New York to London and he sat there and did nothing. Fucker." Will never minced his words.

  "Come on, Will, let's get going. You can talk to Lissa and trade horror stories about Gavin on the way," Russell slapped Will on the back.

  * * *

  "Merrill," Franklin looked up from the grocery list he was writing out at the kitchen island.

  "Franklin."

  "Father."

  "Child?"

  Franklin sighed and looked at the only father he'd ever known. Merrill would always look as he did. Franklin was growing older with the years. "Lissa feels trapped, father."

  "Tell me something I don't know," Merrill grumbled.

  "If Gavin doesn't loosen his grip, he's going to lose her."

  "I know that too."

  "I don't really know how to say this next part." Franklin felt uncomfortable for the first time in a long time. He'd considered telling Merrill that Lissa cared for her surrogate sire in more than a fatherly way, but eventually decided against it. Merrill's affections lay elsewhere and nothing Franklin might do could change that.

  "Then just say it. That's the best way." Merrill wasn't in the mood for subtlety.

  "Lissa knows things, father. Somehow, I get the feeling that there will come a day when none of you will be able to control her. And she won't forget how she was treated or what was done to her."

  "Griffin says the same thing."

  "Well, Griffin would know if anyone would." Franklin went back to his list.

  * * *

  Russell and Will made me laugh on the trip, which was a welcome change. They called each other names, too. I heard a lot of "prick" and "asshole," among other things, all while teasing each other unmercifully, alo
ng with several dirty jokes, which also made me laugh. The night in New York was uneventful; we got back on the jet the following evening and flew into Grand Forks. Unsurprisingly, Winkler was there waiting for me, along with a werewolf I hadn't met before—someone named Kelvin Morgan.

  "Kelvin's new in the Dallas Pack. Davis is there keeping things in hand while I'm away," Winkler grinned at me while Will and Russell handed my bags off to him and Kelvin, who stowed them in the back of the Escalade Winkler was driving. The man had more money than was decent. Or werewolf, I should say.

  I got a friendly hug from both Will and Russell before they ran back up the steps to the Council's jet. They were heading to Chicago and then on to assignments from there. I didn't ask and they didn't tell me. "Come on, time's a wastin' and we have to get you into bed before sunrise," Winkler teased. Honestly, I just wanted to tell him to shut the hell up. He'd ruined some really good clothes the last time I'd seen him, never mind the fact that Gavin had been so pissed he could have spit and then scrubbed me in a shower afterward, all while cursing in multiple languages.

  "I sure hope you're not offended by vampires," I told Kelvin when he leaned over the passenger seat to look at me while Winkler drove like a maniac over the dirt and gravel roads leading to Weldon's place.

  "Nope. Not a problem," he grinned.

  Weldon was still up when we arrived, although it was nearly five in the morning. "Kathy Jo and Daryl are asleep," Weldon whispered as he led us through the house. Weldon had added onto his log home since I'd seen it last. It was now nearly twice as large. I complimented him on the changes. The inside had been redecorated; more than likely from Kathy Jo's influence and the fact that she was going to give birth to Weldon's first grandchild before long.

  I was given the same bedroom I'd had the last time. The deer head had been removed from the wall and I was grateful for that. Honestly, that glassy-eyed stare right above my head would have given me nightmares if I'd been capable of having them. Maybe I should have asked Weldon to put Lester Briggs' wolf head on the wall instead; I might not mind seeing that, to be honest. Lester and his seditionist werewolves nearly killed me months earlier with their bites and the werewolf saliva that was subsequently trapped in my body.