Black Dagger Brotherhood 11 - Lover at Last (161 page)

many times, they basically just reassumed their well-practiced parts in this overdone play.

“Well, I liked him,” her grandmother announced as she got up from the table and banged the

surface with her open palms. As the napkin caddy with its payload of
Vanity Fair
jumped, Sola wanted to curse. “And I think you should bring him here for a proper dinner.”

I would, Grandmother, but I don’t know the guy—and would you feel this way if you knew he

was a criminal? And a playboy?

“Is he Catholic?” her grandmother asked on the way out.

He’s a drug dealer—so if he is religious, he’s got incredible powers of reconciliation.

“He looks like a good boy,” her vovó said over her shoulder. “A Catholic good boy.” And that

was that—for now.

As those slippers scuffed their way across to the stairs, undoubtedly there were all kinds of

making the sign of the cross going on. She could just picture it.

With a curse, Sola dropped her head and closed her eyes. On some level, she couldn’t imagine

that man being all warm and fuzzy just because a little old Brazilian woman opened the damn door.

Catholic, her ass.

“Damn it.”

Then again, who was she to be sanctimonious? She was a criminal, too. Had been for years—and

the fact that she’d had to provide for herself and her grandmother didn’t justify all the breaking and entering.

Who did her mystery man support, she wondered as the next-door neighbor’s dog began to bark.

Those twins? They’d looked
really
self-sufficient. Did he have kids? A wife?

For some reason, that made her shudder.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she stared at the you-could-eat-off-of-it floor that her

grandmother cleaned every day.

He had no right to come here, she thought.

Then again, she had visited his place uninvited, hadn’t she—

Sola frowned and lifted her eyes. The window that was framed by those ruffled pink half drapes

was jet-black because she hadn’t turned any exterior lights on yet. But she knew someone was there.

And she knew who it was.

Breath going short, heart starting to beat fast, she put her hand up to the front of her throat for some reason.

Turn away, she told herself. Run away.

But…she did not.

Assail had not meant to go to his burglar’s home. But the tracking device was still on her Audi, and when it had informed him that she’d returned to the address, he was incapable of not materializing

there.

He did not want to be seen, however, so he chose the backyard, and how fortuitous: When his

burglar walked into the kitchen, he got a full view of her—as well as her housemate.

The older human female was rather enchanting in an elderly kind of way, her hair in curlers, her

robe bright as a spring day, her face beautiful in spite of her age. She was not happy, however, as she sat at the table and glared across at what Assail surmised had to be her grandaughter.

Words were exchanged, and he smiled a little in the darkness. Much love between the pair of

them—much annoyance, too. And wasn’t that the way with older relatives, whether you were human

or vampire.

Oh, how he was eased by knowing she did not live with a male.

Unless, of course, that one she had met at the restaurant also stayed in the little house.

As he growled softly in the dark, the dog in the house next door began to bark, warning his human

owners of that of which they were unaware.

A moment later, his burglar was left alone in the kitchen, her expression one of both resignation

and frustration.

As she stood there, crossing her arms, shaking her head, he told himself he should go. Instead, he

did what he should not: He reached through the glass with his mind and let his need unleash.

Instantly, she responded, that lithe body straightening from its lean against the counter, her eyes flipping to his through the window.

“Come to me,” he said into the cold.

And she did.

The back door creaked as she opened it with her hip, forcing the bottom corner to carve a pie

slice in the snow of the deck.

Her scent was ambrosia to him. And as he closed the distance between them, his body surged

with a predatory lust.

Assail didn’t stop until he was mere inches from her. Up close, chest-to-breast, she was so much

smaller than he; yet the effect she had on him was mountainous: His hands curled up; his thighs

tightened; his heart beat with hot blood.

“I didn’t think I was going to see you again,” she whispered.

His cock hardened even further, just from the sound of her voice. “It appears that we have

unfinished business.”

And it did not involve money, drugs, or information.

“I meant what I said to you.” She brushed her hair back, as if she were having difficulty standing

still. “No more spying on my part. I promise.”

“Indeed, you have given me your word. But it seems that I miss having your eyes upon me.” Her

little hiss carried across the chilly air between their mouths. “Among other things.”

She looked away quickly. Looked back. “This isn’t a good idea.”

“Why? Because of that human you were having dinner with last night?”

His burglar frowned—probably at the use of the word
human
. “No. Not because of him.”

“So he does not live here.”

“No, it’s just my grandmother and me.”

“I approve.”

“Why would you have any opinion at all?”

“I ask myself that daily,” he muttered. “But explain, if it’s not because of that man, why shall we not meet?”

His burglar pushed her hair over her shoulder again and shook her head. “You’re…trouble.”

“Says the woman who is almost always armed.”

She tilted up her chin. “You think I didn’t see that bloody blade in your back hall?”

“Oh, that.” He dismissed the comment with a flick of the hand. “Just taking care of business.”

“I thought you’d killed him.”

“Who?”

“Mark—my friend.”

“Friend,” he heard himself growl. “Is that what he is.”

“So who did you kill?”

Assail took out a cigar to light, but she stopped him. “My grandmother will smell it.”

He glanced up at the closed windows of the second floor. “How?”

“Just please don’t. Not here.”

With an incline of his head, he acquiesced—even though he couldn’t remember ever declining one

for anybody.

“Who did you kill?”

This was asked factually, without the hysteria one might expect from a female. “It is nothing that

concerns you.”

“Better I don’t know, huh.”

Given that he was a different species than her? Yes. Indeed.

“’Twas nobody you would ever know. I will tell you, however, that I had grounds. He betrayed

me.”

“So he deserved it.” Not a question; more a statement of approval.

He couldn’t help but favor her take on things. “Yes, he did.”

There was a period of silence, and then he had to ask, “What is your name?”

She laughed. “You mean you don’t know?”

“How would I have found out?”

“Good point—and I’ll tell you, if you explain what you said to my vovó.” She hugged her torso,

as if cold. “You know, she liked you.”

“Who likes me?”

“My grandmother.”

“How ever does she know me?”

His burglar frowned. “When you came before now. She said she thought you were a good man,

and she wants to invite you back for dinner.” Those astonishing dark eyes returned to his. “Not that I’m advocating—what? Hey, ow.”

Assail forced his hold to loosen, unaware of having gripped her arm. “I did not come by earlier.

At no time have I spoken to your grandmother.”

His burglar opened her mouth. Shut it. Opened it again. “You weren’t here tonight?”

“No.”

“So who the hell is looking for me?”

As a vast protective urge came over him, his fangs elongated and his upper lip began to curl back

—but he caught himself, tamping down the outer show of his inner emotions.

Abruptly, he nodded in the direction of the kitchen. “We go inside. Now. And you will tell me

more.”

“I don’t need your help.”

Assail stared at her from his superior height. “You shall have it anyway.”

SEVENTY-TWO

Trez was not used to being chauffeured around. He liked driving himself. Being in control.

Choosing the left or the right.

That kind of self-determination was not on the menu tonight, however.

At the moment, he was riding phat in the back of a Mercedes that was the size of a house.

Up in front, Fritz, as his name was, was driving like a bat out of hell—not exactly something you

expected from a butler who looked like he was seven thousand years old.

Now, given that Trez was still a little off after the previous night’s headache, he supposed he was okay with being a passenger in this instance. But if he and iAm were going to live here, they were

going to have to know where the damn property was—

What. The. Fuck.

For some reason, his senses were picking up on a change in the atmosphere, something tingling on

the edges of his consciousness—a warning. And what do you know, outside the window, the moonlit

landscape grew wavy, a vital distortion tweaking his vision.

His eyes checked out the inside of the Mercedes. Everything was fine: the grain of the black

leather, the burled walnut trim, the partition that had been raised into place all exactly as they should appear. So it wasn’t his optical nerves going bad.

Shifting his eyes back to the great outdoors, he knew the distortion wasn’t because a fog had

rolled in. Not some weird-ass sleet thing, either. No, this shit was not the weather—it was something else entirely…as if dread had crystallized in the very particles of the air, and was causing the

landscape to morph out of shape.

Niiiiiiiiiice protective cover, he thought.

And here he’d assumed he and his brother were the only ones with tricks up their sleeves.

“We’re close,” he said.

“What is this stuff?” iAm murmured as he too looked out his window.

“I don’t know. But we need to get some of it.”

Abruptly, the car went into an ascent, which, given the speed of Old Man Lead Foot, resembled

the launch of a roller coaster. They didn’t crest and free-fall at the top, though: From out of nowhere, a massive stone mansion materialized, making such a quick appearance, Trez grabbed for the hand

rest and braced himself.

But their chauffeur knew exactly where they were, and how much distance was required to bring

the Benz to a halt. With the expertise of a Hollywood stunt driver, the butler wrenched the wheel and nailed the brakes, bringing them to a park between a GTO Trez had an immediate hard-on for…and a

Hummer that looked like an abstract sculpture rather than anything that was drivable.

“Maybe he made his mistakes on that one,” Trez said dryly.

As the locks were released, he and iAm got out at the same time.

Man. Get a loada the house, Trez thought as he tilted back his head and looked up, up, way up. In

comparison to the giant pile of rock, he felt about the size of a thumb.

Like, a two-year-old’s thumb.

Looming high into the cold night, with gargoyles that watched from eaves, and a pair of sinister-

looking, four-story wings that extended off on either side, the place appeared to be exactly like what you’d expect the king of the vampires to live in: spooky, creepy, threatening.

It was all that Halloween shit, except this was for real. The people in there did bite, and not just when they were asked to.

“Cool,” Trez said, feeling instantly at home.

“Sires, why do you not proceed inside,” the butler said cheerfully. “And I shall endeavor to get

your bags.”

“Nah,” Trez countered as he headed over to the trunk. “We got a lot of shit—er, crap.”

It was kind of hard to curse in front of a guy in tails.

iAm nodded. “We’ll take care of this for you.”

The butler looked back and forth between them, smile still firmly in place. “Please do go in for

the festivities, sires. We shall handle these mundane things.”

“Oh, no, we can—”

“Yeah, I mean, it won’t take—”

Fritz looked confused, and then slightly panicked. “But please, sires, you must join the others. I

shall take care of this. This is my position within the household.”

The distress seemed so out of place, but it wasn’t as if it could be argued with without causing

more upset: Clearly, the guy was going to throw a clot if they took their own luggage through that front door.

When in Rome…Trez thought. “Okay, yeah, thanks.”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

That endearing, wide-open grin immediately returned. “Very well, sires! Very well indeed.”