Immortally Theirs [Legends & Myths] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (12 page)

Stefan withdrew his cock from her and rolled off her back. Christian also rolled so that Claire was cocooned between them, wrapped in their protective embrace. Claire looked over her shoulder at Stefan, her eyes filled with a light he knew had not been there before tonight. She turned back to Christian and shook her head. “I never knew. I had no idea.”

Christian smiled and brushed the hair out of her eyes. “You never knew you could feel like that?” Claire shook her head and Christian kissed her gently on the forehead. “Baby, we’ll spend eternity making sure you never forget it.”

Christian’s anger rose as he glared out of his office window. Blood pumped in his ears, sounding like heavy drumbeats. He stalked out of the room and stomped down the stairs. His temper flared higher with each footfall. As he rounded the corner, he caught sight of his brother and waved him over to him.

“Keep Claire in the casa.” He turned a hard stare on Stefan. “Do not let her outside or near a window.”

Stefan’s eyes widened in alarm. “What’s happened?”

Christian narrowed his eyes into a murderous glare and then resumed his determined march to the front door. “The bastard is snooping around across the street.”

Christian knew Stefan didn’t need any explanation as to who the bastard was that he referred to. Right now, there was only one person in particular who they would both like to kill. Preferably slowly and very, very painfully. And since they had first made love to Claire two days ago, the desire to slaughter her husband had grown even stronger. But Christian also knew he needed to reign in his desire to rip the asshole across the street to bloody shreds. At least, he did if he had any hope of keeping the secret of Claire’s presence here hidden. He smoothed his face into as amicable of an expression as he could manage and walked across the street.

The man who Christian knew was Mark Morgan walked around Christian’s parking lot, looking inside each car. Christian assumed he was looking for any sign that Claire’s possessions were in any of these vehicles. Christian smiled to himself, glad he’d thought to have the car stolen and ditched in Orlando. But then, why was the bastard here?

“Can I help you?” Christian didn’t really want to help him. He wanted to rip his vile head off his shoulders.

Mark Morgan plastered an obviously fake smile on his face and approached Christian. “Maybe. My car was stolen recently and I’ve managed to trace it to this location.”

Damn
. Christian cringed inside. The car must have been enabled with a global positioning system. He knew some of them recorded the locations where a vehicle had travelled and stopped for any length of time. He felt like kicking himself. He should have thought about that to begin with.

“It’s a silver BMW with Colorado plates.” Morgan scrutinized Christian closely. “Have you seen it by any chance?”

Christian pretended to consider the question and then shook his head. “No, don’t recall seeing it.”

Morgan narrowed his eyes and looked across the street to the casa and then to the sign proclaiming this lot as guest restricted parking. “Do you own the bed-and-breakfast across the street?”

“Yes.” Christian didn’t like where he thought this conversation was going.

“And you don’t know if one of your guests was driving a silver BMW with Colorado plates?”

Christian shrugged. “We get a lot of tourists through here with out-of-state plates. Half the people who park their cars in my lot every day aren’t guests.” He flashed a grin he didn’t really feel. “I’ve got the local towing companies on speed dial.”

Morgan continued to scrutinize Christian, but Christian kept his neutral and earnest expression plastered on his face. Then Morgan pulled something out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Christian. “Do you recognize this woman?”

Christian stared down at the photo. It showed Morgan with an arm around Claire’s shoulders. His pompous smile was as arrogant as it had been in the wedding photo Christian had seen online. But the expression on Claire’s face suggested much had changed since the wedding photo was taken. In this more recent photo, the light was gone from her eyes and all hope had been extinguished. Christian fought to maintain his composure and leveled a disinterested stare at Morgan. “Nope, can’t say I have.”

Morgan continued to watch him carefully for a moment, his gaze flashing to the casa and back to Christian again. Then he took the photo from Christian and returned it to his pocket. “Well, if you do see her or the car, I’d appreciate it if you’d give me a call. I’ll be staying in the area for a few days.” He handed Christian a business card. Christian glanced at it and saw that it listed a phone number for Morgan Investments.

“No problem. I’ll be sure to do that.” Like hell he would. It was taking every ounce of Christian’s long-earned patience and self-restraint not to kill the man where he stood. And he probably would have, if it wasn’t broad daylight with people strolling down the street just a few feet from them. No, Christian decided, he definitely would have.

Morgan nodded and turned away. Christian didn’t move until the bastard had left the parking lot and turned the corner. Christian crumpled the sham of a business card in his fist and let it fall to the ground. He hoped he never saw Morgan again, but considering his actual profession, which Christian knew was most definitely not investments, something told him Mark Morgan was not someone who would disappear that easily.

A familiar chuckling behind him caused Christian to spin, his nerves already close to breaking. Atticus walked up to him with a satisfied grin spreading across his face. “At least now we know how my next victim will die, don’t we Christian?”

Christian gritted his teeth. “You don’t know anything, Atticus.”

Atticus studied him for a moment and then turned his attention to Christian’s casa. “You can’t keep her in there forever, you know.”

A cold knot of dread formed in Christian’s gut. He knew Atticus was right. He couldn’t keep Claire locked away, even if it was for her own protection. She had already been caged for far too long. How much longer would they have to hide her, hoping Morgan would lose interest? And how hard would it really be for Morgan to find out Claire was in town? All he had to do was talk to a few shop owners, the bartender at the pub, or the tour guide to learn about her presence here and whose company she had been in.

Atticus slapped Christian on his shoulder before turning away. “As I told you before, my old friend, you cannot stop the inevitable. It is only a matter of time.”

Atticus was right. It was only a matter of time. Something Christian once thought he had too much of suddenly seemed in short supply. They needed a plan. And they needed it now.

“Bait? You want to use her as bait?” Stefan gaped at Christian. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

Christian raked his hand through his hair, his growing frustration clearly evident. “Just a couple of days ago you were ready to give her the water and damn the consequences.”

Stefan threw his hands in the air and stalked across the room. “Yeah, but I’m the impulsive brother. You’re supposed to be the reasonable one!”

Claire sat on the couch in Christian’s bedroom, calmly watching the two brothers argue about her fate. She’d stayed quiet so far, listening to Christian’s plan and forming her own ideas. Christian and Stefan had alternated between murderous rage and full-blown panic since Mark showed up yesterday.

“Does anyone want my opinion?” Both men blinked and turned to stare at her, as though they had forgotten she was in the room. She had the feeling neither one of them was going to like what she had to say. “I think Christian is right.”

Stefan exploded with apparent exasperation. “No! Absolutely not.”

Claire’s gaze skewered him and he snapped his mouth shut. “Let me finish.”

Stefan grumbled, but leaned against the fireplace mantle and crossed his arms over his chest. Claire waited until the grumbling was out of his system, for the moment at least, before she continued.

“Christian is right that we need to draw Mark into a trap. It’s the only way you’re going to corner him.” She knew Mark well enough to know he wasn’t going to just walk idly to his own death. If he suspected a trap, he would wait until the odds were in his favor. Of course, what Mark didn’t know was that he was up against two people who had learned a few things over the last three centuries. Claire could think of a hundred bloody ways for Mark to die, but she would bet Christian and Stefan could come up with many more. Hopefully it would be really painful, too.

Stefan fumed, but he stayed by the fireplace and remained silent. Christian, on the other hand, smiled confidently at Claire, obviously thinking he’d won the battle. She sighed, knowing she was about to burst his bubble, too. “But I don’t agree that we wait to use the water until I’m old and dying of natural causes.”

Christian’s smile disappeared, replaced by confusion. “What do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Seriously, Christian, you really expect me to get all old and wrinkly, while you two stay young and perfect?”

A sexy grin slid across Stefan’s face and he arched one eyebrow. “You think we’re perfect?”

Christian glared at him. “Shut it, brother.” He turned back to Claire. “We don’t care if you grow old, Claire. You’ll always be beautiful to us.”

Claire scoffed. “Oh, that makes it all better, then.” She could tell from the stubborn look on Christian’s face that she wasn’t going to get anywhere with this argument, so she changed tactics. “Christian, think about it. What if something were to happen to me someday and neither of you were there with the water to save me? I could get into a car accident or drop dead from a heart attack.”

He shrugged. “So, we’ll just always make sure one of us is with you and that we carry some of the water with us. Problem solved.”

Solved, indeed, Claire thought. Arguing with Christian wasn’t going to work. She sighed. “Fine, then. We do it your way.”

Christian smiled and leaned over her, placing a soft kiss on her lips. “Thank you, baby. You’ll see, it will be better this way.”

Claire would let him think he’d won. But she had no intention of waiting around to get old and gray. She would go along with Christian’s plan, up to a point. Then she would just have to make sure a supply of the magic water was close at hand. Because whether the men knew it or not, she was going to need it. Sooner rather than later.

Claire parted the curtain by a mere inch and peeked through the window in Christian’s bedroom. It was still daylight outside and Mark was in his usual spot, sitting on a bench down the street with a newspaper and a cup of coffee, obviously pretending to be a normal tourist enjoying the beautiful weather and historic scenery.

After two more days of hiding out in the casa, Claire had finally convinced Christian and Stefan that the house was the most logical place to carry out their plan. Her argument was that she knew the layout, Mark would be easily contained within its walls, and there was a ready supply of the rejuvenating water handy in case things went wrong. That was her argument, anyway. But from Christian and Stefan’s perspective, Claire knew things were going to go very, very, wrong. They just didn’t know it yet. They also didn’t know that the casa would not be the actual location of her confrontation with Mark. In order for her plan to work, she needed to ensure that she had enough time alone with Mark for him to kill her. If she stayed at the casa, Christian and Stefan would come to her rescue far too soon for Mark to do the job she needed him to do.

Claire had no intention of growing old, ever. Not with Christian and Stefan around looking forever thirtyish and gorgeous. But besides that, and more importantly, Claire’s body already felt old. The brothers had told her how their immortality kept them from getting sick and caused injuries to heal in minutes, with no lasting effects. In contrast, Claire ached all the time from her injuries. And as much as she’d enjoyed the sexual education she was receiving, the arduous activity was taking a toll on her. She would never admit it to the men. She just knew she couldn’t imagine her already damaged body enduring the stress of aging. There was no way Christian and Stefan were going to agree to bring about her death, though. If she told them of her pain, they might be inclined instead to wrap her in bubble wrap and guard her like fine china. And there was no way she would stand for that. She didn’t like the thought of dying, either, but at least she had a better than average chance of being resurrected and spending a pain-free eternity with her two men.

That thought brought a smile to her lips. When she had made plans to leave Mark, she had expected her escape to last a short time before he tracked her down and killed her. And while that unfortunate part had already been set into motion, she never could have anticipated the turn of events that gave her the opportunity to have an entirely different life.

She peered back down at Mark. Every now and then he would glance toward the casa, while doing a very good job of being inconspicuous. Anyone who saw him would have no idea that he was casing the house. Up until now he likely only suspected that Claire was hiding out behind the thick coquina walls, though Christian had confirmed that Mark had indeed talked with some of the shop owners.

Stefan had made the suggestion of just killing him in broad daylight with a long-range rifle and being done with it. But Christian had countered that too much suspicion would be focused on Claire for his murder. And killing him at night hadn’t been an option, either, since Mark had succeeded in disappearing at dusk every evening. Stefan had tried following him one night, hoping to isolate and eliminate him, but Mark had seemed to melt into the darkness. Stefan had been furious, unable to understand how a mere mortal could elude him, considering Stefan’s long experience in tracking down his quarry. But Mark was a predator, too, and he would sense when he was being hunted.