Eternal Flame Bundle with Eternal Hunter & I'll Be Slaying You (70 page)

“I know,” his gruff whisper.

Julie had held her back. Mark, sixty, with stooped shoulders and shaking hands, had burst into the burning house, screaming her mother’s name.

He’d stayed inside, until the firefighters arrived and dragged his body out.

Dead. Like the others.

My fault.
She hadn’t even been able to look at Julie after that.

“The cops and firefighters didn’t believe me when I told them what happened.” Not that she could blame them. Hell, they’d probably thought she was crazy or high. “The story ran in the paper a few days later.” She’d read it with tears streaming down her face. “They ruled it a murder-suicide. After the fire stopped, the only remains they found inside were—well, they said they could identify Mom, Dad, and Sara.”
Not her. Not now.
“No sign of the vamps, of course.”

“Fuck.” Understanding in the guttural word. He knew where this was going.

“They said my mom killed Dad and Sara, then she shoved a knife into her own throat.”

Bullshit. Not her mom. Not the woman who’d sacrificed her own life so Dee could get away. “No one would believe me.” The steady throb in her head was driving her crazy, but she’d deal.

She always did.

“What did you do? Where did you go?”

To the streets. “I took off on my own.” With the stupid idea of finding the vamps who’d attacked her family and killing them. But, at fifteen, she hadn’t known how to live on the streets. She’d been close to starving a week later, dirty, cold. Her jaw locked. “I managed to get by.” A shrug. Like she could shrug away those dark years. “Then I met Jason Pak.” No, he’d
found
her. Stalked her and found her in that roach-infested apartment she’d bleed to pay for.

“Pak.” He echoed the name. Most folks in Baton Rouge knew of Pak, even if they hadn’t personally met the guy. Bad reputations carried too easily.

“The first thing he told me…He said I wasn’t crazy.” But she’d thought he was.

“And the second?”

Her fingers fisted. “He said he’d teach me to kill the bastards.”

Pak had always been a man of his word.

“I haven’t found
those
vamps yet, but I will.” One day. Then maybe she’d stop hearing Sara’s screams late at night. Maybe. Or maybe she’d just hear them until she died.

His gaze roved over her face. Her neck. “They didn’t bite you that night?”

“No.” Adamant. A good thing, too, because most folks didn’t understand just how dangerous even a little nip from a vamp could be.

Once a vampire took a victim’s blood, he had a psychic link with his prey. If he was strong enough, he could steal thoughts, memories, and send seductive whispers in the hours of darkness.

Some of them—those ancient Born Masters—it was possible they could even control their prey. Get humans to follow their every twisted command. Like sick, freaking puppets.

Dee never wanted to be a puppet. Never.

Taking a deep breath, she shoved off the couch. Their thighs brushed and she fought to ignore the wave of heat from that quick touch.

Her knees shook a little when she stood. For just a second, black spots danced before her eyes and the nausea rolled in her stomach.

“Dee?” He was there, rising, too, and putting a bracing hand on her shoulder.

Careful. Don’t get used to him being there.

Alone. That was how she lived her life. How she’d keep on living it.

She stiffened her spine and lifted her chin. “I’m all right.” Not a total lie. Dee was pretty sure there was no immediate threat of death.

Slowly, she turned to face Simon. She looked up at him. “After what happened to my family, do you really think I’d ever take a human’s life? I couldn’t do that. I’d be the same as—”

Them.

The vampires. Stealing life, spilling blood.

“I don’t remember what happened in that room, but I know I wouldn’t have staked her.” The vampires. Had they made her watch and she couldn’t even remember it? Had the woman begged her for help?

Simon weighed her with icy eyes. Silence filled the room, heavy and thick, then he gave a grim nod. “If you’d wanted to kill her, she would have been dead on the ground last night.”

Not a ringing endorsement, but she’d take what she could get. “Thanks for that much, at least.”

Then it was her turn to pause because this part, yeah, it would be awkward. Well, hell, not like he hadn’t already had her naked. “I need a favor.” She’d bared her soul to him, a small favor really wasn’t so much to ask in return. “I played your game, told you the hell from my past, now I want one thing from you.”

“Fair enough.”

She thought so.

“What do you need?” He gave a shrug. “You know you can crash here until we find out what’s—uh, Dee?”

Her shirt hit the coffee table. The pounding in her head kicked up a notch. No help for it. She’d had to yank the shirt off. Blood had stained and hardened the fabric, and she never wanted to see the shirt again.

Dee toed out of her shoes. Jerked open her jeans and—

“Just what kind of favor do you need, babe?” His voice had thickened, darkened, and when she glanced up, Dee saw that those smoky eyes of his didn’t look so cold anymore. No, not cold at all.

She shoved down the jeans. “I don’t remember what happened—that means they could have done anything to me.”
No, no, no.
“I…need you to check me.” She licked her lips. It would have to be a full body check. No way could she take chances.

“Check you?”

Her gaze held his. “For bite marks.”

O
h, but he’d sure like to take a bite. Simon swallowed and let his gaze slide over Dee’s pale flesh. The woman knew how to strip, fast. A simple black bra and matching panties covered her. Well, covered what he most wanted to see, and she stood there, shoulders back, small breasts out, and told him…

“I’m going to need a full body check.”

Yes.
He cleared his throat. “I’ll do my best.”

“This is serious, Simon. It’s not like a damn mosquito. If I’ve even got one bite, I’ll—”

“What?” Real curious now. “If they bit you, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it now.”

“I know.” Soft. Her hands lifted, hovered between them. “I just—” Her eyes widened as she stared at her fingers. “Her blood’s still on me. On my hands.”

Her fingernails were tinted red. Steaks of blood had dried on the back of her hand.

“Sink.” Snapped out.

He pointed to the bathroom and watched her dash away as he enjoyed the tight ripple of her ass. He followed slowly, the better to enjoy the view.
Nice.

Dee wrenched on the water and, with his temperamental faucet, it flew everywhere. But she didn’t so much as flinch beneath the lash of what he knew to be icy cold water. Simon stalked closer and watched as she grabbed his soap and began to all but scrub the flesh off her fingers.

After about five minutes, he told her, “I think you’ve got it.”

She stiffened. Dropped the soap. The rush of the water seemed too loud to him. Always did, though.

“Check me.” She growled the words. “I’ve got to know.”

He eased up behind her, and he saw her elbow move as she turned off the water. But Dee didn’t turn to face him.

The lights blazed in the small bathroom, giving him a perfect view of her body. Small, fragile…sexy. Even though she was small, the woman really had a fine ass. Maybe it was those panties. They hugged her curves so very, very well.

“Simon.”

His fingertips skimmed her shoulders. “Hold still.”

He caught the sharp inhalation of her breath. His gaze lifted from that sweet ass and scanned the rest of her body. Okay, his cock was so hard that it was about to bust through his jeans, but he’d hold onto control and manage to focus for a while. He had to, for her.

This
—his fingers trailed over her small shoulder blades—
was important.
To her and to him.

Because if she’d been bitten, then she’d been compromised. She’d be a risk to herself, to her friends.

To him.

Not that a bite would change his plans. No way would he abandon her now. Not when he’d really just found her.

“The bra’s got to come off.” Guttural. Too bad. Not like he could manage much more than that. Simon figured he was lucky to be able to speak right then. His fingers slipped under the straps, then trailed down to the hook. If the vamps had fed on her, they would have tried to hide the mark.

They wouldn’t want her aware.

The better to keep track, to torment.

He unhooked the snap. Pushed the bra off her shoulders and let it fall.

Simon had one damn good idea why the vamps had let Dee keep breathing and why they’d tried to set her up.

Word on the street was that certain vamps had plans for Sandra Dee. Plans of pain and madness.

Death would have been too easy.

His mouth hovered over her, right above her shoulder. The skin looked so tender. He could—

“What do you see?”

Simon jerked back. “Let me check your front.”

A huff, but she spun around.

His eyes widened when he saw her tight nipples. Still wet from the spray of water. Pointed, arching right up to him.

Fuck.
The woman had a concussion for shit’s sake. He couldn’t devour her now, no matter how hungry he might feel.

He wasn’t that much of a bastard.

Was he?

Her hands clamped on him. “Check.” Breathy there. Hungry—
just like me
.

Because she felt it, too. The lancing heat of lust. Always there. When she was close, he burned.

He slapped his hands against the sink, caging her. He let his eyes touch her flesh, the way his hands and mouth wanted to do so badly. “Lift your arms.”

Of course, the move just made those breasts arch more.

Dammit.
Con-cus-sion.

His gaze raked across her flat stomach. Down to the black bikini panties.

“Trust me, Simon, I’d know if I’d been bitten there.”

His lips curved. Couldn’t help that. “Fair enough.” He sure didn’t need that sensual temptation then, anyway.

He wrapped his hands around her waist and he lifted her. He put her down on the counter—probably with a bit too much force—and reached for her legs.

“Simon.”

He pinned her with his stare. “You wanted this.”

A grim nod. Her pupils were too big. Her eyes so dark. Almost like a vampire’s. Almost.

He caught her right leg. Curved his fingers around the flesh and stroked upward. No breaks in the skin. No tears. No blood.

Her skin was so silken and soft. As he touched her, his heart slammed into his ribs. Simon pressed a kiss against her thigh.
Can’t help it.

A soft rasp came from Dee.

His fingers stilled around her knee. “If I find something, what are you gonna do?”

Her lips parted.

The question had to be asked. Had to be. His fingers rose.

Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll get as far away from those bastards as I can.”

Good. The more distance, the less control they’d have. A lesson he knew well.

“Did you find something?” She whispered and there was a quaver of fear in that husky voice.

“Not yet.” He caught her left leg. Stroked her calf, worked up her leg and curved his fingers over her thigh. “I don’t think they touched you.”

They wouldn’t have dared. Not if they were following orders, and he suspected that there were definite orders out for Dee.

They’d jerked her around. Had their fun.

Break her, but don’t taste. Not yet.

An old order he’d once heard a vampire give. Sick bastard.

He left his hand on her thigh. Such smooth skin. Such strong muscle beneath the silk.

His teeth ground together. Only one more place to check, and she’d already told him that sweet spot was off limits. “You’re clear,” he gritted and shoved back.

Dee blinked at him. Then her gaze dropped, fell to his crotch, to the bulging hard-on he knew there was no hope of hiding.

Not like he wanted to hide the thing anyway. He wanted Dee. He’d have her. But not when she was still spinning from an attack.

He stepped back, giving her some room, and yanked off his shirt. Simon stared at those breasts.
Want them in my mouth.
Her scent surrounded him. That deep, rich scent that was Dee.

His cock throbbed.

Could have found her corpse.
The stake could have been lodged in her heart.

Then what the hell would I have done?

What. The. Hell?

Simon tossed Dee his shirt. “Cover up.” The thing would swallow her.

Her fingers fisted in the material, catching it easily. “Simon, I—”

“Get. Dressed.” He sucked in a harsh gulp of air. “Or get fucked because, babe, it is a very near thing.” A gentleman, no, he’d never been that. The woman might not realize it, but he was
trying
for her.

Trying to protect her. From the freaks out there who were after her, and even from himself.

Slowly, taking her sweet time about it, Dee stuck her arms into the sleeves of the shirt. She hadn’t put her bra back on—what, did she want to torture him? He could see the tips of her nipples and he hadn’t gotten to taste them and—

Simon spun away from her. “Just so you know,” he growled. “I was an idiot the other night.”
Should have taken her. Would have made things easier.

“Huh.” A pause. “So what’s your excuse now?”

His head swung back toward her. “The concussion that has you trembling, your eyes dilated, and your speech still slurred.” Okay, not really slurred. He’d just thrown that one out for fun and to make his point. The woman was barely on her feet, if he took her, no—
no.

“So, when I’m healed, it’s game on?”

What? His eyes slit. “Count on it.” Was this some bluff? Some tease? She’d learn soon enough he wasn’t the teasing kind.

“Good.” Her smile punched him in the gut and had him almost weaving. “Because I’m tired of waiting on your hard-to-get ass.”

The laughter came from him, a little rusty and a little too hard.

That smile of hers widened, showing her pretty white teeth. Then she laughed with him, even as she put up a hand to touch the base of her head.

Oh, shit.
He couldn’t look away from the fullness of her lips.
I’m in trouble.

Headed straight to hell, following a woman who would never be an angel.

Antonio entered the Night Watch building just before dawn. Hunters milled around, voices buzzed. The place was always the busiest at night.

The darkness was the best cover for catching prey.

He hurried past the line of back offices, a file gripped tightly in his left hand.

Rounding a corner, he headed down that last, lonely stretch of space—

“Sir? Sir, may I help—”

New assistant. Antonio halted. Great. Leave it to Pak to be breaking someone new in now.

Turning slowly, he eyed Pak’s new PA. The woman looked to be pushing seventy. Her hair was a white mane, and her dark eyes were narrowed behind her wire-framed glasses. Her shoulders had stooped with time, just a bit. The woman looked like a small wind could slam her against the wall.

She also looked like she was someone’s grandmother.

But, knowing Pak and the folks he liked to employ, odds were good that the woman was a witch. A demon. Or…who the hell knew what else.

Flashing his badge in a quick move, Antonio said, “I need to speak with Pak. It’s urgent.” Or else he wouldn’t have dragged his butt across town. He would have been at home, in bed, dreaming of—

“Why you want to see him?” Her head cocked. Her thin lips pursed.

His brows rose. “Can’t say, ma’am. This is a private matter.” For now. But when the news got hold of this story…

“Hmmmph.”

Pak’s door opened down the hallway. A soft creak that had Antonio’s shoulders stiffening.

“Antonio, come on in.”

He inclined his head, casting one last glance at the woman. “Ma’am.”

She moved her head in the faintest of regal acknowledgments.

He marched into Pak’s office. The door closed behind him with that same creak.

Pak didn’t sit. The guy just stared at Antonio with his dark, can’t-read-me eyes. After about thirty seconds, Pak asked, “Where is my hunter?” And Antonio knew they were on the same page.

He handed Pak the file. “Don’t know, but we damn well need to find out.” He exhaled and fought to keep his voice flat, unemotional. Hard, that. Because he cared about Dee. More than he’d ever cared for another woman. “We’ve got trouble, Pak.”

The guy that
was
Night Watch grunted as his eyes scanned the typed notes. “Her fingerprints were on the murder weapon.”

“Doesn’t mean anything,” Antonio said, even though he knew he shouldn’t. He should at least pretend to be impartial, but—this was Dee. “Someone could have lifted one of her weapons. The lady’s got too damn many stakes. I’ve been telling her that for years.” But Dee always had the weapons. She hid them around her apartment for God’s sake. Not that he really blamed her, with her past.

Pak’s fingers whitened around the file. “Someone saw Dee attack the victim on the previous night?”

Yeah, and that shit was the part that was biting them all in the ass. “I’ve got two witnesses who told uniforms they saw Dee fighting with a woman matching the victim’s description the night before. They were behind Onyx. The bartender there ID’d Dee.”

“She was working a case.” A fierce growl. “You know she doesn’t hurt humans.”

Dee’s number one rule. Yeah, he knew it. That was why he was there. “She left the crime scene. We’ve got hair samples that I’m sure will match her.” Had to match, everything else was so nice and neat. Like it had been gift wrapped for him. “Her leaving…man, that doesn’t look good.”

Pak glanced up at him. Those eyes were as dark as a demon’s. Well, when a demon let the glamour drop anyway. “We’re not sure Dee left willingly.”

What?

With steady fingers, Pak placed the file on top of his perfectly arranged desk. “There’s been no contact from Dee since she was last seen by Zane on the mission. Her car is still at the bar. She hasn’t gone back to her house. She’s made no attempt to contact the agency.”

His stomach knotted. “Is she alive?”

One shoulder lifted. “At this point, I can’t say for certain.” A pause. “I
can
say that Dee would never kill a human.”

Not intentionally, anyway. “What if things got away from her? What if there was an attack and she was fighting the vampires and the woman—the woman attacked her, too?” Made sense. He’d sure been over all the different scenarios a dozen times.
Trying to find a reason, an excuse.
“She would have acted to defend herself. She would have—”

“She wouldn’t have left on her own. If that’s the way it went down, she would have stayed, waited for the cops.”

True. That was the way Dee worked. Or so he’d thought. “You’re looking for her,” Antonio said, statement, not question.

A nod.

“We’ve got to be careful with this,
very
careful.” The wrong word, the wrong ear to hear it, and the town would explode. “The vic, she was the niece of Craig Durant—the senator. He’s already been calling the PD, talking to the DA.” He shook his head. “This case won’t disappear easily.” If at all.

No expression crossed Pak’s face. “Thank you for coming to me with this information. I’ll remember how helpful you were to me.”

“Yeah, right.” He ran a hand over his face. His eyes were so grainy they hurt. “When my ass gets tossed off the force for sharing confidential info, I just hope you have a job for me.” He turned away, marching for the door.