Crave the Night (28 page)

“
Does cleanup take care of mortal
bystanders?”

“
Yes.”

“
Oh.” She glanced around the perimeter
of the park, hoping no unsuspecting mortals had witnessed the
attack.

“
Persuasion, Bree. We don’t kill
mortals.”

Relieved, she blew out a breath. “You saved
my life, Rev. Again. You're some kind of hero.”

“
Far from it.”

She knew better. The man had the ability to
think beyond his own cruel cravings and care about others, even
mortals. He was good.

He clutched her hand and tugged her into the
darkness lacing the park. They walked under a thick canopy of
maples on the sidewalk. “You in the market for a hero?”

“
I could be.”

“
What about one whose armor is dented
and he sold his horse to get a fix?”

“
A few dents and bruises make the man,
don’t you know?”

“
What about a vampire who wants to
bite you?”

He would take her home, and then she'd
enchant him again and the whole vicious cycle would start over. She
had to be smart. If she really wanted this man, from here on she
had to do things right.

Bree stopped at the park edge. Rev tugged
her hand, but she held her ground. She bowed her head and sighed.
“I care about you, Rev. I think I could love you.”

He smirked and chuckled but cut his forced
mirth off short. “Never had anyone tell me that before.”

“
Seriously? You’ve never been in
love?”

“
A few high school infatuations when I
was mortal, but nothing serious. I could love you too, Bree. My
heart tells me that. It aches for you. I don’t know how to make it
work though, because there's this thing between us determined to
make it impossible.”

She stroked a finger along his jacket
collar, careful not to touch his skin, but close enough to feel the
heat of him. He became so aroused under her touch. She must stand
by the conviction that she could make things right.

“
There are ways to move beyond the
craving,” she said. “Finding more addictive things than dust, for
example.”

“
Trade one addiction for another?
Doesn't sound good. Besides, nothing’s better than an ichor high,
Bree. Trust me.”

Alone in the darkness, the twosome dallied
with an embrace but didn’t move closer. Bree lifted her head and
Rev tilted his to meet her expectant mouth. They did not kiss.

“
You could make love to me,” she
whispered across his lips.

“
I stand corrected. That would be
better than dust. You’d let me? I mean, you trust me?"

"It’s more risky for you than me."

"Right. But I can’t seem to get beyond
biting you. Hell, I'd give the world to go beyond, to take you in
my arms and make love to you. To put myself inside you and fall
into that oblivion.”

“
I want to try. I want us to bond. It
would take a lot of control.”

“
I have control. But what's this about
bonding?”

"Have you heard about certain sidhe races
who have one particular mate for them in a lifetime? They're called
their Intended. We believe the universe gives us the exact person
we need to have a whole and fulfilling life."

"Yeah? So who is your intended? Wait." He
tilted his head, eyeing her narrowly in the darkness. "Are you and
I…?"

She nodded. "I knew it the moment I looked
into your eyes when you were chained to the wall. It's why my wings
came out without volition."

"That makes little sense. We're the worst
thing for one another."

She hung her head, not sure what to say now.
If he truly felt that way, she had no right to try change his
mind.

"I mean… Hell, Bree, I'm attracted to you.
Never been more attracted to a woman, but I don't know if that's
because of the dust. You mean it? We two? Meant for one
another?"

"I know, it feels like a karmic punishment,
but maybe we could be good for one another. If we made love, we
would bond, and maybe you could get beyond your addiction to dust,
and instead simply crave me for…me."

"With all my heart and soul I wish I could
make love to you. But when I get your dust on my skin…" He moaned
and nudged his nose along her neck. “You smell so good. Step away
from me, Bree, please.”

The desperation in his plea startled her.
She stepped away, but her heart remained at his side, clinging to
the connection they had dared to forge. And wanting. “Come home
with me,” she whispered.

“
You’re torturing me.”

“
I know. I can’t believe I’m doing
this, but Rev, you’re like no man I’ve ever known. I want to feel
you on me. Inside me.”

“
Bree.”

Now she stood in his arms, falling into his
cruel enchantment. His gentle embrace was edged with a tension she
wanted to crush into and lose herself against. He was brave, kind,
compassionate, and made her feel protected. Loved. Even though
neither of them could truly know the meaning of that word. Faeries
didn't fall in love. They laughed at love. And vampires, well…she
couldn't imagine a vampire lost in a dust haze could fathom the
meaning of love.

“
Make love to me, Rev. Let's see if we
can go beyond your addiction and find love.”

"I want that. So I'm your guy?"

She tilted up and kissed his mouth, their
lips barely touching, and his sigh imprinted her with his desire.
"Yes, you're my guy."

A day later…

Moonlight spilled through the glass block
wall behind the head of the bed. The advantage to having but a bed
for furniture was the expanse of floor stretching from said bed to
the kitchen. It made for a perfect dance floor.

Held against Rev’s body, her hand in his
near his shoulder, her other hand straying around to stroke the
small of his back through his shirt, Bree felt sure this was the
heaven of which all sidhe were denied entrance.

The rhythm of Rev pulsing against her body,
his heartbeats, his slow breaths, even the step of his bare feet,
surrounded her as if a comforting symphony.

She wore his windbreaker jacket. He’d
suggested she cover her bare arms and back if they were going to be
close. Less skin contact meant less danger for him. Worked for her.
Mostly. What she wanted was to pull off her dress and open his
shirt and press her breasts against his strength, his very
being.

Rev’s inhale lifted his chest against hers.
There was no music, only their heartbeats.

“
Your wings were out in the park the
other night,” he said softly. “It was dark, but I noticed their
sheen. And when I was chained up, they glowed red around the edges.
They seemed brighter than the faery wings I've seen.”

Because he had likely spent time in ichor
dens populated by faeries who were literally dying to feed their
vampire patrons.

“
I’m accustomed to glamourizing around
mortals. And yes, they are bright because I don't eat processed
mortal foods and try to live clean and healthy. A red glow
means…desire." She looked into his intense eyes. “You’re
shivering.”

He was fighting the need for her right
now.

And when he dipped his mouth to her neck,
Bree allowed the vampire to bite her for what must have been the
third or fourth time in the past day. Because she didn’t want him
to leave. Because she wanted to feel him on her always. Because she
wasn’t thinking rationally.

And because she thought she knew better.

Never had she felt so inadequate. So
ineffectual. And yet, it was as though she had
become
Rev Parker’s world.

He’d not left her home for three days. And
she didn’t know what to do about it. Bree fought the weakness loss
of ichor threatened by eating five small meals a day and drinking
lots of water and mead.

Rev, on the other hand, had not gone out in
search of blood, or another faery to provide ichor. He didn’t need
it. He had her. He functioned well enough, padding about her home
and dancing with her in the moonlight. Wearing clothing as
protection against her dust? They were both fooling themselves.
When in the dregs of an ichor high, Rev became aggressive and she
let him stomp about, punching walls until he'd worked the edge off.
Mornings he slept, the sheets pulled over his body and head to keep
out the sunlight.

She wondered, as he slept through the rising
sun, if she should peel away the spread and expose him to the
light. But then she remembered his captivity. The harsh lights had
induced UV sickness and a permanent sun aversion. The sun would
burn him, as it did with some vampires who were in tribes who
didn't have a high immunity to the sun, but much faster.

If she did let in the light he’d be angry
with her. Would it make him angry enough to leave?

She didn’t want him to leave. She had
allowed this to happen. She'd stood back and watched a heroic man
succumb to something she had given him, to fall into her cruel
enchantment.

They’d yet to make love.

She knew he resisted, for a while at least.
He said he wanted to prolong the foreplay, to know her completely.
Truth was, the nasty addiction would not allow it, not let him see
beyond the immediate and forceful desire for satiation.

It had taken him months to get clean after
biting her once. He'd been biting her many times a day.

She'd done this for love, to claim her
Intended. Love wasn't supposed to hurt or be wicked. Love should
feel good. And she'd never felt more terrible. Zen sidhe, she was
not. It was as if her Intended was a pre-payment for the bad karma
she indulged now.

Her phone jingled and Rev nudged her away so
she could answer. He wandered over to the bed and lay back,
stretching out his arms. Lost in a haze.

Bree vacillated on answering—all she wanted
to do was make Rev's world right—and then when she saw Blu's name
on the screen, she answered, “Hey.”

“
What’s up? Party in a few days. You
ready?”

“
Uh…”

“
Bree? What’s the deal? I’m sensing
your Zen sidhe vibes have fallen off the scale. You still seeing
that vampire?”

She would never lie to her best friend.
“He’s here right now. Blu, I…have a problem.”

“
He’s bitten you.”

She wouldn’t bother asking how Blu knew
that. “I let it happen.”

“
And he hasn’t left since?”

“
He saved me from the wolves again. He
was brave and injured so he needed a fix. How do I save him? I care
about him, Blu. I…I think I could love him.”

“
You can’t love someone who uses you
to feed his addiction.”

“
It’s not his fault. It’s the dust in
his system. It won’t relent. It makes him feed upon me
like—"

“
Like some kind of longtooth tic. Oh,
Bree, this is not good for you.”

“
Or him! Listen, Blu, he’s a good man.
I want him to have the information I have on the blood sport and
Fernando Degas. I want to make it right with him and help him with
his tribe.”

“
Give me the info and we’ll act on
it.”

“
No, it’s got to come from Rev. He
needs the credit for this.”

“
Sounds like he’s too fucked up to do
his job.”

“
Don’t tell anyone, most especially,
not your husband because he’s Rev’s boss. If he knew Rev was in a
bad way he might kick him out of the tribe, or at the least, lose
all respect for him."

"Creed's an understanding man," Blu
said.

"I know. He's the best. You two were meant
for one another. But I don't want to get Rev in trouble. Please,
Blu, you gotta help me.”

“
I don’t know what you can do beyond
getting him out of your home, and now. He needs to dry
out.”

“
Maybe you know some vampires who can
come get him? Someone who wouldn’t tell?”

“
It can’t be anyone from his tribe.
They’ll narc on Rev to gain position in the tribe. What about some
faery thugs? Didn’t you used to have an elf walk you home nights
when you were being stalked by a hunter?”

“
Yeah, Erte. That’s a good idea, Blu.
If he can get Rev out of my home—"

“
And freaking chain him up until he
can come down. He needs mortal blood, and lots of it. He also needs
a keeper to watch he doesn't sneak out to an ichor den. You know
it’s gotta happen, Bree.”

“
I hate myself for this. I just…oh
Blu, I love him. He really is the man I want to spend my life
with.”

“
A tragic coupling destined for
further tragedy.” Blu said it dramatically, but without any
judgment. "You really buying into this Intended thing?"

“
You are always the one to wax about
the joys of vampire love.”

“
I am, aren't I? And I used to hate
bloodsuckers with a passion. Still don't care for a couple in the
hubby's tribe. Okay, so my girl’s in love with the very last man on
earth she should love. Tell me that you’re sure?”

“
I am.”

“
Then we gotta figure things out. You
call your elf. I’ll see what I can find out about vampire
detoxification methods. And pray my hubby doesn’t ask what I’m up
to. Bree, you’re testing me on this one.”

“
Sorry. You still love me?”

“
Always. Talk soon.”

Bree hung up and wandered over to the bed to
slip into the vampire’s embrace. His hair was tousled and the
stubble on his cheeks and jaw had grown thick. He looked like he’d
been on a bender, which was dreadfully true.