Immortal Protector: Vampire Mates

by Alice K. Wayne

  Twice, she was suspended from school for fighting boys because they tried to get handsy with her between classes or intimidate her into dating them.

  Both times, her mother had sighed angrily and insisted that she could have just politely told the boys no thank you and that, by reacting this way, she had probably scared off all other potential dates.

  Both times, her father had taken her to the movies and dinner to celebrate her fight and once, bought her a pepper spray after that first fight; and the second time, a beautifully carved pocket knife.

  Wrestling her long hair back and using four hair ties, she stuffed it into a bun on top of her head.

  Bam. The look was complete.

  She headed down marbled stairs that she could remember her father showing off to her maternal grandmother as a reason for her to be proud that her daughter had chosen to marry him. She had never been happy with him as a partner for her only daughter, no matter how much he had done for her.

  No matter, though. She had died many years ago, and everyone else appropriately appreciated her father… or they disappeared, conveniently, never to be heard from again.

  “I know this will not be your favorite thing, but you will have to apologize, Katya.” Her father’s voice was light but unwavering when she met him at the bottom of the stairs.

  He had certainly hit the nail on the head with her feelings on apologies. Apologies were generally saved for weak people… but in this case, she didn’t really see much of a way out.

  As they entered the garden, she saw three men dressed in brightly colored shirts, and her expression soured. How was she supposed to take anyone in a pink tank top seriously?

  Kai stood in the middle, wearing some sort of monstrously green shirt, and as she walked over, their eyes met.

  He didn’t seem angry, but he also certainly wasn’t excited to see her coming. She really couldn’t blame him though. She had left him for dead.

  It doesn’t matter if he’s angry, she reminded herself. He’s another gun for hire and nothing more.

  Watching him fight and rescue her had stirred something inside of her that she had swiftly and angrily thrown to the side. He wasn’t the first handsome man, or overly muscled man, she had ever seen in her life, so she really couldn’t figure out what the big fucking deal was.

  When she shot him, she had almost, almost, felt something that could have been described as regret. Or maybe remorse.

  She had never really felt either one of them, so she honestly wasn’t sure which it was. All she did know for certain was that those feelings were pointless and, frankly, annoying.

  Even when it came to sex, she had been mostly uninterested for years. During her college years, she had gone through a bit of a slutty phase just like everyone else, but after a few parties, and one too many nights of going home with sore hips and no orgasm to show for it, she had hung her booby shirts up and had all but given up on men.

  Every now and then, that itch would come back, and she would call up an old flame or try someone new out, but she just couldn’t get into it. She couldn’t make herself be passionate. She couldn’t feel it… or anything at all. Holding hands, first kisses with a new man, being shot at, running from an abductor, they all produced a feeling, but not like she knew a normal person would feel, and it only got worse once her brother had died.

  Everything went from being muted to being completely numb, and utterly pointless. Why kiss them? Why fuck them? Why run from them? Why bother? If it wasn’t for her family, the only blip of happiness and emotion in her otherwise frozen life, she surely would have slipped beneath the frost.

  The thought of it didn’t even phase her. What would have happened to her if the emptiness consumed her? Would she fall into a bottle or forget herself with pills? Honestly, it didn’t matter. In the end, she would be swallowed up in the darkness just like her brother. Then, it wouldn’t be her problem anymore.

  “Hey, everything okay?” Kai squinted down at her. “Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “How it must be to have immortal life and, after all these years, have such an underdeveloped sense of humor?” she replied, wishing she had shot him a few more times in that alley.

  “If you would just warm up to me a teensy bit, I think you’d start to like me.” His smile was dazzling, but her face remained unchanged.

  “Warm isn’t my style.” Her glare was pure frost as she bore into his eyes.

  “Bickering is for fools and people with far easier lives than ours,” her father cut in, his words sharp but necessary.

  Neither of the two seemed to want to give up the fight.

  ~

  They each glared at each other but said nothing. How is it possible to love your mate more than anything but to also want to push her off a cliff? Kai thought to himself.

  This girl was already pushing all of his buttons; the ones that turned him on and the ones that pissed him off.

  The way she was looking at him, he thought he might have had a shot of at least pushing some of her buttons, but there was no way he could get on her level. Not with the way things were going at the moment.

  “Can I talk to you for a sec, alone?” Kai motioned for her to follow him off their deck and onto the stoned walking path below.

  For a moment, Katya considered not going. She really had no interest in whatever lecture or speech he was going to give her. The man looked like a damn caterpillar in his t-shirt, but even she had to acknowledge that there was a line between cold indifference and flat out being a stubborn asshole.

  She didn’t respond to his offer, just began walking down the stairs without looking in his direction, doing her best impersonation of her father. His eyebrows rose up in surprise at her, but he followed behind. Was she rude? Or was all of this posturing and power housing sexy?

  Damn if he could decide.

  “I’m not sure why we have to have a private conversation. I was obviously in the wrong for shooting you-”

  “And leaving me for dead,” he interrupted, not wanting her to forget that very important part.

  “Yes, of course, and leaving you for dead. My father has informed me of your species and of the fact that you will be my new bodyguard, and aside from that, I don’t see what we could possibly have to say to each other,” she finished, again, without looking at him. It was almost as if she were speaking to herself, and he just so happened to be within ear shot of her thoughts.

  “Why do you hate me so much already? You don’t even know me.” He was normally such a jovial and relaxed person, but he had never encountered anything like this before.

  “I don’t hate you personally. I would have to know you and care about you to hate you. I hate what you are.” This time, she did look at him, and it was almost worse than her talking to herself. There was venom in her eyes… and disgust.

  “Until yesterday, you didn’t even know vampires existed, so how the hell can you hate us?” Now he felt his temper starting to rise. The catty rudeness he could overlook, but flat out hating him for something like his species was getting ridiculous.

  “No, because you’re a bodyguard.” Her eyes stayed fixed on his, and the disgust did not waver. “Can you even guess how many of them I have had over the years? Out of those, how many have accepted bribes, even helped in trying to have me kidnapped or killed? I don’t trust them or you. If I walk alone, at least, I know I’m with someone I can trust.”

  “And because a few bad apples have ruined the bunch, you feel like you should go unprotected?” He felt a vein pulsing in his forehead. He could see where she was coming from but also could not ever let her go out alone… she was too precious to him.

  “I can be my own protection.” Her eyes almost glowed with anger. “And before you respond to that, I don’t want to hear any shit about how I’m just one woman and I can’t possibly protect myself. I protected myself just fine last night from a vampire, so I think I can do well against humans.”

  He rubbed his fingers against his fo
rehead. Wording this so he didn’t come across as a sexist asshole was going to be a chore.

  “I’m sure people have said that to you many times in your life, that you couldn’t do something because you’re a woman. I am not saying that. But, it is true that you are only one person, and even with your bodyguards last night, if I hadn’t have shown up, you would be either covered in a blind fold, bloody and bruised, making a ransom for money video; or worse, you’d be sold into sex slavery, raped and tortured, simply for the satisfaction of getting back at your family.” He tried to take her hands into his, but she jerked them away and gave him a scathing stare. “You need a bodyguard at all times, not because you’re a woman, and not because you can’t kick some serious ass. If anyone knows that, it’s me. You need a bodyguard because you’re only one person, and one person can be overtaken if enough is thrown at them. Hell, even the terminator would get his ass handed to him if enough guys came at him.”

  “Fight me,” she replied, taking her blazer off and throwing it on the grass left of her.

  “What?” he was fucking flabbergasted. “What, out of everything I just said to you, makes it sound like I want to fight you?”

  “I didn’t say you wanted to. I don’t care what you want.” She immediately crouched into a fighting stance, her legs loose and her arms together, blocking her stomach like a boxer would.

  “I’m a vampire, not a regular human man,” he said through gritted teeth, never having dealt with anyone this stubborn before. “If I hit you with my full strength, not only would your skull crumple in like a soda can, your limp body would be sent flying. Is that what you want to happen to you?”

  “Don’t hit me with your full strength then.” She started circling him like he was prey.

  Her entire family came out onto the porch to watch what they were doing.

  “This is not my idea,” he called out to them, not exactly a fan of the idea of getting shot again.

  “I’m also not exactly excited to be a part of whatever mission you are on to prove to your family that you’re tough,” he said as he turned his attention to her. But she wasn’t listening. She was focused like a viper before its strike.

  He didn’t see any other choice except to let her bite.

  Three hits came hard and fast from her, barely missing him, and his association with her and a snake was suddenly more accurate than he could have imagined. When he grabbed her fist to stop her from striking out again, she used his own weight as a counter, swinging herself up, wrapping her legs around his neck, and taking him to the ground.

  “I have to give you props, Snakebite, if I was a human man, I would be in some serious trouble,” he grunted, shocked that not only had she pulled out that move but that a human had taken him to the ground. “It’s also been a very long time since someone has landed a hit on me. I’ll give you that too.”

  Like lightning, she flexed her legs in an attempt to choke him out. He reached his hand up before her legs could clamp shut, and no matter how strong she was, she would never be able to break his fingers.

  Her family and his gathered around them with looks of both entertainment and mild horror.

  “She’s never done this to a bodyguard before,” one of the brothers said as he looked over at the Maori men with a shocked explanation.

  “Oh, don’t worry about us.” Ari waved his hand. “This is the best thing we’ve seen in ages.”

  “In fact, I’m honestly hoping she kicks his ass. Hell, he’s probably half hoping for it too,” Tama laughed.

  Kazimir looked staunchly unimpressed with his daughter’s behavior, and her mother looked ready to pass out any second.

  With a growl of frustration at not being able to move his inhumanly strong hands, she gave up and kicked herself back, moving, again, into a fighting stance.

  “This is pointless,” he sighed, getting up after her, then stared down at his now muddy pants. “And these are expensive jeans. Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know.”

  “Who cares about your pants when a person is attacking to kill you,” she snarled at him.

  “Because, again, nothing you or anyone in your family could think of doing to me would actually kill me. We have been over this. If I was a human, this very kick ass display you’re putting on would probably easily be kicking the shit out of your potential bodyguards. But I’m not a human. You cannot over power me, and all you’re doing is making yourself more angry,” he snapped back at her. “Believe it or not, I’m not a fan of women being angry with me or trying to kill me. I’m here to become your bodyguard. If you want me to also start teaching you jujitsu, we can pencil that in at another date.”

  With a scream, she ran full pelt at him and attempted to kick him in the chest. But with a bored and impatient expression, he held up two fingers and changed the direction of her kick so she landed flat on the ground with a small cloud of dust floating up around her.

  “She’s probably going to be at this a while, does anyone want to go inside and have a drink instead?” Ari offered up as a solution to all of those uninvolved.

  As one group, they all wandered off into the expansive mansion for what could only be assumed were stiff drinks and easy conversation.

  Kai wished he could go and have booze and fun. Instead, he was being stared down by a 140 pound rage filled snake ninja, who clearly was going to keep him out here, attempting to murder him, until she tired herself out… which, with the shape she was in, could take all damn night.

  “Don’t you want to go get a drink with everyone?” he asked in a small voice as she screamed through several quick jabs at him.

  “No,” she snarled, attempting a round house kick.

  “You’ve got to be getting pretty tired at this point. Maybe a little snack? I’m sure you’ve got snacks somewhere in that house.” He looked at her, hopeful for just a moment.

  “No.”

  “Not tired? Or don’t want a snack?” he asked.

  “No.” Came her rapid fire response.

  “This is getting stupid, you know?” He felt himself suppressing a sigh.

  “You know what’s really fucking stupid?”

  “I’m pretty sure you’re going to go on a tangent and tell me.” He looked wide eyed at her as he, again, blocked another of her kicks.

  “It’s pretty fucking stupid that my brothers haven’t had to go through half the bullshit I have. Since my oldest brother was killed, the attacks on me have been almost relentless. Meanwhile, my brothers get maybe one a year. They target me because I’m a woman, and they think I’m weak and easy prey.” She tried grabbing him around the neck again but failed immediately.

  “I understand your rage. I’d be pretty pissed off if people spent every waking moment trying to kill me too, but fighting me here, tonight, is not going to help your case. I can’t do anything to change your reputation to Russian drug lords.” He shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t think you should care what a bunch of old Russian dudes think about you, but yeah, I get that the death threats and kidnapping attempts get old, fast.”

  “I wish I could find the man who killed my brother. If I could kill him, they would leave me alone. I would earn their fear.” She smashed her fist into her open palm, and her thoughts seemed far away, no doubt planning the painful way that she could kill this mystery man.

  “Okay, so let’s do that.” He shrugged again.

  “What do you mean, let’s do that?” Her face soured like he had insulted her.

  “I mean, instead of wasting energy trying to beat my ass, let’s go find out who killed your brother and get your revenge. We’ll kill this dick eater in a brutal fashion, whatever will scare these old Russian pricks, and then we’ll get your well-deserved fear plus some revenge for your family. And then, you’ll feel better, and my job will be much easier. Sounds like a win all the way around.” He didn’t really see a downside to his plan. Plus, if she fell in love with him on the way to completing her revenge mission, well, that would officially be considered bonus p
oints.

  At this moment, he had exactly zero idea how to convince a poisonous snake to fall in love with him, but an impressive amount of murder, torture, and revenge, at least, seemed to have her interested in him. So, he thought that he might actually be on the right track.

  Maybe.

  “Can you really do that?” She had stopped dead in her attempts to take him down. “We’ve been looking for years and haven’t come up with anything. Do vampires have a special ability? Can you really find him?”

  “I mean, I’m not a bloodhound. I can’t sniff an old sweater of his and take off after the murderer, but being immortal comes with a lot of perks. I am definitely willing to use those perks to help you out.” He laughed before he could stop himself. “I’m sorry, this is starting to sound like the intro to a porno where I tell you I’ll do something a little strange for a piece of change.”

  “If we were in a porno, it would focus on anal fisting.” She glared at him.

  “Why do I feel like you’re about to tell me it’s my virgin butt hole you’re after?” He clamped his hands over his back side, and for the first time, she let out a laugh.

  “Holy shit, are you laughing?” He could have dropped dead in the moment.

  “Don’t ruin it, or I will have to come for your virgin butt hole.” She pumped her fist at him.

  “Okay, so can we call this a truce, and tomorrow, we start fresh? You stop trying to kill me. We look for your brother’s killer, and you try to kill him instead?” He offered his handshake as an olive branch.

  “We can do that.” She shook his hand, and before their shake ended, he pulled her in a little closer.

  “We could seal this pact with a kiss, you know?” He spoke low, his deep voice reaching out to her.

  A swift knee to the groin met his offer.

  “I told you not to ruin this.” She smiled brightly at finally landing a blow on him and walked briskly into her house.

  He stared after her, pain shooting through his body, and he could honestly say that she was the most beautiful, psychotic, murdering asshole he had ever met.