Lure of the Blood (14 page)

“Marnie, you can’t.”

 Louisa’s soft gasp behind her, coupled with
Ion’s mournful howl, just made Marnie more determined and she simply smiled.
“He needs this; just make sure he doesn’t get carried away.”

The sharp sting of his fangs sinking into her
flesh brought tears to her eyes. Lucas wasn’t being gentle, and his grip on her
arm was surprisingly strong as his eyes conveyed a silent thank-you.

Her own eyes connected with Ion’s and she
steeled her heart against the anguish she saw in him. Damn him,
now
he
was all concerned?  And why, if she was nothing more than a roll in the hay to
either man? As soon as Lucas was back on his feet, she would march out of here
and forget she ever met the sorry lot of them.

“Marnie, I…”

“What, Ion, your wolf not like what he sees?
Well, tough, I’m not yours––and even if I was, I wouldn’t just let you kill
someone, vampire or not, because you don’t agree with what he says.”

She flinched again, when Lucas withdrew his
fangs, before licking the tiny wounds and dropping a kiss to her palm. She
snatched her hand away from him with a low growl of her own. ”I’m not yours
either, Lucas, so don’t get any ideas. I simply stopped Ion, because letting
him kill you would make him into one of those monsters people fear he is, and
whatever he thinks, I know he isn’t one. Though why I should care is beyond me,
really. Now let’s get the hell out of this sun, before you start flaking
again.”

“Your wish is my every command, mon chere.”

****

Lucas enjoyed the sight of Marnie’s cute
backside swaying in front of him during the short, tense walk back to the
house. Her blood was zinging through his veins and with every step he felt
stronger. She surprised the hell out of him by offering her wrist, and without
knowing, she ensured his lifelong devotion. He owed her his life; without her
blood, he would have died out there in the sun. Already his body had been
shutting down, and had he not had her generous offer, he would be a goner. None
of the shifters would have offered––and besides, it was human blood he needed.
As it was he would have to find another willing donor to completely get back to
full strength.

Ion’s growled anger and shimmering fury was
another source of delight. It had been obvious from the minute she had chucked
him out the bedroom in disgust four nights ago, that she had chosen Ion. Seeing
them together again, before he’d interrupted them, had just confirmed his
suspicion. Judging by the heated looks passing between the two of them now,
this would be an amusing interlude. If only Ion wasn’t such a noble bastard,
they would be mated already and that would be one problem solved. He could take
care of the other one. He owed her that much, at least, and he would have
fulfilled his promise to Ion’s mother. She’d known her son better than anyone.
It was his destiny to be mated to a human. They’d just picked the wrong one
last time. Marnie was strong and would deal with anything that life as Ion’s
mate could throw at her.

Time to goad his old friend a bit more and get
the wolf to bite, preferably not his neck this time. He ran a tentative hand
over his throat. It still hurt like hell, but at least his skin was healing
now. Fuck it, he had ruined one of his best designer suits. That wolf owed him,
big time!

“Well, this is cozy.” Lucas’ amused drawl
startled both Marnie and Ion out of their
High Noon
-stance of throwing
dagger looks at each other and his smile deepened. Oui, this was turning out to
be the best entertainment he’d had in the last three thousand years. Let the
fun begin!

****

Every fibre in Ion’s body screamed at him to
cross the room and take Marnie in his arms. When he realized it was she on his
back stopping him from tearing Lucas’ throat out, it had been too late to stop
his wolf’s instinctive reaction. His heart almost stopped, seeing her flying
through the air and sliding to the floor, her whole body limp. His pack sprung
into action like the well-oiled machine it was, seeing to her needs. He would
have to thank Jenkins later. His quick thinking stopped him from tearing Lucas
to shreds. That action would have sent Marnie screaming for the hills after she
made him eat his own balls, no doubt. He had never seen her so furious, and if
looks could kill, he’d be dead ten times over by now.

Damn it––Ion needed to touch her, to reassure
his wolf that she was indeed okay. Her furious response to Lucas’s drawl of
amusement had his wolf pounce.

“What is so damn funny, Lucas?”

“Oh, you two are, mon chere.” The vampire’s low
laughter surrounded them, as Marnie spun around in his arms.

“Take your hands off me, wolf.”

“Please, little one, I need to make sure you’re
okay. Just let me hold you.”

Her eyes sparked fire, but she held still, as
his hands explored her head. Her low moan when his fingers found the rapidly
forming lump

 tore at his insides. He pulled her in closer
and she sagged against him for an instant before pushing him away.

“Spare me, Ion, you’ve had your fun. I’m
leaving in the morning.”

To hell she would. His wolf’s furious growl
bounced around the room and the last of his pack scarpered, leaving the three
of them alone in the dining room.

“You are not leaving, Marnie, I won’t let you.”

Marnie’s growl of exasperation matched his own
and his wolf rejoiced at the sound, before the little human rounded on him.
Eyes blazing, her whole body trembled with fury and her voice shook, as she
carefully enunciated each word.

“You.Do.Not.Get.To.Tell.Me.What.To.Do!” Each
syllable was accompanied by a finger-stab to his chest. “You’re not my alpha,
you’re not my mate and I’m leaving. I don’t care two hoots what your wolf has
to say about that. You should be relieved that you don’t have to take care of
this silly little human anymore; after all, we are such a liability.”

Her voice broke on the last few words and the
shimmer of tears he just about glimpsed coating her eyelashes had him grinding
his jaw in frustration.

“I never said you were a liability, little one,
but you can’t leave. There are things you don’t know.”

****

Marnie couldn’t take any more of this. She had
to get away. When Ion had pulled her into his frame, all she’d wanted to do was
lean in and let his warmth seep into her weary bones. It would have been so easy
to do that, to give in to her body’s demands.  Her brain knew that she had to
leave, but her body wasn’t getting the memo. Seeing Lucas pull up a chair with
a broad grin, as though he was at the local cinema watching the latest film,
did little to improve her mood. Infuriating male, he was. What the hell was so
funny about all this…and why would Ion not just leave her alone? His grey eyes
were full of concern, and so much heat and simmering emotion, she had to force
herself to look away.

“What things, Ion? More skeletons, rattling in
your cupboard? What else could you possibly have to throw at me?”

She shut her eyes against the intense
expression on Ion’s face, as he pulled her back into his body and his hands
went into her hair. His scent called her home, like she knew it would. The
murmured words in her ear sent his hot breath skittering across her neck, and
she had to bite back a moan as her body reacted instantly. His hands tightened
in her hair for an instant and she felt him inhale deeply. “No skeletons,
little one, I just can’t let you go.”

“But you don’t want me here, either.” Her
whispered reply did not receive an answer, just a deep growl from Ion’s wolf
that she felt down to her toes.

“I’ll always want you, little one.” He
punctuated each word with a butterfly kiss to her jawline, and when his mouth
claimed hers in a tender kiss, she forgot all about Lucas and her objections
and simply lost herself in the sensation of being held by Ion. When he finally
broke the kiss they were both breathing heavily. Lucas’ accented drawl broke
the spell.

“As touching as this is, it’s not achieving
much. Bite the girl already and get it over with.”

“Shut the fuck up, Lucas.”

Ion’s gaze never left Marnie’s face and he
tightened his hold on her further, his wolf’s growl low and insistent in her
ear. But his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“I will, as soon as you tell the girl what she
needs to know.”

A cold shiver went down her spine at Lucas’s
clipped words and she wrenched herself out of Ion’s arms.

“What do I need to know? “

Neither man spoke, yet the air was filled with
tension and Marnie’s heart slammed against her chest bone painfully.

“Ion, Lucas, will you quit the silent, macho
act and tell me what the fuck is going on?”

Ion’s sigh increased that shiver to a full-blown
avalanche.

“Do you remember giving permission for your DNA
to be used, little one?”

Chapter Fifteen

Marnie’s confusion was evident in the way her
brows furrowed in concentration, her eyes darting from Ion to Lucas and back
again. He wanted to kiss those lines away, wrap her up and take her far away
from everyone. The depths of feeling he had for the confused woman standing
mere inches away, took his breath away and his gut clenched with the
realisation that there never would be another one for him. He was well and
truly fucked. He couldn’t keep her, but he couldn’t let her go either. Right
now though, this wasn’t about him. It was about her. She had to know the danger
she was facing, thanks to Lucas, and that both he and Lucas would do anything to
keep her safe.

A quick glance towards the vampire, showed him
to be as concerned about Marnie as he was himself. The sheer misery in his eyes
soothed Ion’s wolf. This had to be hard on his old friend, if he hadn’t fucked
up in the first place, she wouldn’t be in this mess. Hell, if he had listened
to his own instincts, Marnie wouldn’t be facing this. Neither one of them was
blameless. They had endangered her, and he had brought risk of discovery to his
pack in the process. There were too many innocent lives in need of protection.

“I…I don’t understand, what about my DNA?”

Marnie’s voice was a mere whisper and Ion
crossed the distance to steady her, as Lucas asked the next question.

“Have you ever had a DNA sample taken, could
have been years ago, even, chere. Was probably a routine collection to build
the police data base…?”

“Well, yes, first year of Uni, we all did.
After all, I had nothing to hide…”

Ion felt the tremble go through her, as the
truth dawned on her. The colour drained out of Marnie’s face and he pulled her
closer into him. His wolf got a kick out the way she leaned into him and
inhaled deeply, seeming to gather as much strength from the contact as he did.
Hell, he loved this woman; why the fuck could she not be a wolf?

“So they made a match from…”

“The pig in the alley I failed to dispose of,
in my concern to get you home…Oui, mon chere.” Lucas’s drawl lacked its usual
polish, his accent much stronger than usual, as he ran one agitated hand
through his hair. “
Je suis désolé, je
vous échoué, chere.”

Ion’s wolf grumbled his
agreement, but Marnie’s head shot up, and her shoulders went back, some of her
usual spunk returning.

“You shouldn’t have killed
him in the first place, Lucas, but you didn’t fail me. You protected me and for
that I am grateful, but I still don’t understand. I remember what you did to
him,” another shudder went through her as she closed her eyes briefly, “how…I
mean…how could…”

Ion dropped a kiss on her
forehead to soften the next words. “They found some human DNA under his fingernails,
little one. I assume, you struggled and he scratched you,” she interrupted him
with a hand on his mouth, her eyes going wide when he couldn’t help but lick
her.

“They matched the DNA to
me?”

“Oui, chere, there is a
warrant out for your arrest, which is why you cannot leave, not until I’ve had
a chance to put it right.” Lucas voice broke through the spell binding them
together, her hand still on his lips, her eyes clouding over with awareness, as
he continued to lick those digits and pulled her closer into his lower body.
His wolf positively purred at the instant sweet smell of her arousal.

“Damn it, Ion, let her go.
Now is not the time, nor the place, for you to finally realise how much you
need her. We have to sort this out and we haven’t got much time.”

Ion held Marnie’s gaze for
one more second, savouring the feel of her soft curves, before glancing across
at Lucas. For all the annoyance in his tone and posture there was a satisfied
smile on the vamp’s face, as he stood watching them.

“You do what you have to do
and I will keep her safe here, Lucas. She is not going anywhere and the cops
don’t know about this place.”

“To hell I won’t.” Marnie
straightened in his arms, her gaze focused on Lucas. “What exactly are you
going to do?”

Lucas shot a glance to Ion,
before smiling at Marnie, but she wasn’t fooled when he tried to kiss her.