Born In Blood (Born Hunter Book 1) (14 page)

              She jerked the sheet over her exposed body.

              The bastard actually laughed at her. “Don’t be modest now Hunter. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen and tasted and touched every inch of that magnificent body.”

              “I hate you,” she shot back at him even as her cheeks heated.

              He quietly chuckled in response. Then he appeared in the doorway still nude. Cara rolled her eyes.
Of course he is the type to prance around in the nude
. His arrogance knew no bounds. B
ut damn was it well placed
she thought as she took in his naked form. She forced herself not to ogle him. She refused to give him that level of satisfaction.

              “Are you hungry?” he asked her. “I had food sent up.”

              Her cheeks got even redder. “Why would you do that?” she hissed at him. “Now the whole estate will know I slept here.”

              Aiden’s grin made him appear every bit one of the rakes you read about in Victorian novels. “You are aware you’re on an estate full of vampires right? With all the noise we kept up, I’m sure me ordering you food wasn’t the first clue.”

              Cara groaned in utter embarrassment.

              Aiden continued grinning that damn infuriating grin. “It’s pointless to worry about it now. Your walk of shame occurred hours ago. Might as well suck it up Hunter and come have a meal and watch the sunset with me?”

              Cara lodged a pillow at his head. Her aim was dead-on. The arrogant jerk didn’t even attempt to dodge it. He just stood in the doorway laughing. He was lucky she didn’t have a blade on her. Cara’s stomach grumbled loudly. “Fine she relented. I guess a girl’s gotta eat.” She was in no way going out on the terrace naked though. She gathered the silk sheet around her and joined Aiden out on the balcony.

Begrudgingly, Cara had to admit the food was delicious. Watching the sun set over the ocean was equally amazing. “It’s beautiful,” she told Aiden. “I forgot how much I love watching the sun set over the water.  I haven’t seen it since I was a child.”

              “What made you stop watching?” he asked her softly.

              Cara did not know what made her say what she said next. She didn’t go into details about her childhood with anybody. Ever. “Whenever my family spent the summer in St. Lucia, my dad and I would lay in the hammock on our porch and watch the sun set together. This is the first time I have been to the beach since he died,” she added quietly.

              Aiden refilled her wine glass. “My mother,” he confided just as quietly, “also died when I was a child.”

              They sat in companionable silence, finishing the bottle of vintage wine as they became lost in their own respective thoughts. The ringing of Aiden’s cell phone jolted the pair out of them. When he hung up he turned his attention back to her. “It looks as if you finally get to start doing what you came here for. That was Dorian. Everything is in order to visit the first murder site. We leave for Brazil by my private jet in an hour.”

              Cara stood up to leave. “I should go to my room to get ready then.”

              Aiden came around the table and caught her arm before she could go. He stared at her for a considerable length of time, obviously having an internal debate about something. “You know,” he finally said “I can have James transfer your things to my quarters.”

              Cara laughed out loud at his obvious joke. “Thanks, Your Darkness, but no thanks. My things and I are just fine where we are.”

              Aiden dropped her arm and for a brief moment she thought she saw something akin to hurt flash in his eyes but it was quickly replaced by a haughty arrogance. He shrugged, “It was just a thought. It would be nice to have that sweet ass of yours at my beck and call.”

              Cara skewed him with a withering glare. “Be lucky I don’t have a blade handy. You might find yourself short one less appendage.” She pointedly looked down at the one he no doubt prized the most.

              It was his turn to laugh. “I dare say Hunter you would be more upset about that than I.
What was it you were shouting in here mere hours ago?
Don’t stop Aiden. I need you Aiden. You’re like a dark God Aiden.”

             
Cara would not give him the satisfaction of being scandalized by his crudeness. She plastered on her most innocent smile and said to him is a sickly sweet tone, “Careful Vampire. I might end up being your damnation rather than your
saving grace.”

              A nerve ticked in Aiden’s jaw. Oh yeah, she hit home with that one. She was not the only one to let their control slip the previous night. In his own passion, he left his thoughts wide open to Cara. She had not purposely imposed on them. From the time he entered her they were broadcast at high frequency inside her head. For the first time since she met him Cara rendered the Prince of Darkness speechless.

Twenty-One

                            Aiden sat in his office along with the rest of his circle. He did not want to have the conversation that they would inevitably have. Three sets of knowing eyes looked to him expectantly. Asad’s glittered with mirth, Dorian’s hinted at disapproval, and Rafe’s narrowed in outrage. Aiden refused to be the first to acknowledge the proverbial elephant in the room. Though he loved the three vampires seated around him like brothers and respected them enough to allow them a voice in all matters, he was still their Liege. He was the heir to the dark throne damn it! He did not have to answer to anyone. Aiden carefully schooled his features into an impassive mask. He poured four glasses of scotch, kept one for himself and handed the rest to his Circle.

              “So… the Hunter,” Rafe began.

              “Is none of your damn business,” Aiden finished for him. Of course he would be the first to speak up.             

              “With all due respect, my Liege,” Dorian implored, “you have already allowed your…infatuation with her to alter our plans once. You cannot allow your involvement with her to deter you from the course of action we have set. The cost of failure is too high.”

              “I am as much aware of the cost of failure as everyone else in this room. As for my infatuation, Dorian, it was a curiosity and nothing more, which has been satisfied as everyone well knows. Therefore there is no involvement to speak of.” Aiden fought to keep calm.

              Three skeptical, disbelieving stares looked back at him.

              “So you wouldn’t mind if I tried out my luck?” Rafe hedged.

              A vein visibly ticked in Aiden’s jaw. “Not at all,” he said stiffly. “Though you already had your ass handed to you once. Are you that desperate to have it handed to you again?”

              “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me? Would it be worth it?” Rafe smirked.

              Aiden was not his father. Unlike Viktor he allowed, even encouraged, those in his inner circle to speak their minds. But at the moment, Aiden was trying really hard not to do a very Viktor like thing and leave one of his Circle impaled on the front lawn. He normally did not mind being questioned by the three vampires in his office. They were loyal to a fault and would lay down their lives for his. Their unwavering loyalty had earned them the right to speak up when they had differing opinions. But broaching the subject of Cara with the three of them left a sour taste in his mouth. The thing that was developing between them was his and his alone to sort out.

              “My patience is wearing thin Rafe,” Aiden gritted out through clenched teeth.

              “Why is that Aiden? You just said she was insignificant. Therefore you should have no problems discussing her like you would any other female unless you are lying to us as much as you are to yourself. In which case everyone in this room as well as the entire vampire species has a serious problem. Our Heir is about to risk our existence for a piece of ass!”

              Somewhere in the recesses of his mind Aiden heard Asad throw a cautionary warning to Rafe. But it was too late. Aiden had already started toward him. Dorian attempted to block his path, but he was quickly thrown against a nearby shelf. Aiden collided with Rafe and slammed him into the wall behind him. He punched through his chest cavity, gripping his beating heart. “If you ever disrespect her again,” Aiden snarled at him, “I will not hesitate to rip your heart out. And when a new one grows back I will rip it out of your chest again.” Aiden squeezed his heart hard enough to leave a bruise that would take a few days to heal then withdrew his hand. “Meet me on the roof in ten,” he told Asad as he left the room. “You will be flying the jet and acting as back-up should we need it. You are the only one I can trust not to make me take your head at the moment.”

---

              Cara embedded one throwing knife after another between the eyes of the wooden dummy across the room. In her mind the eyes were an unnatural shade of emerald green. “Arrogant, jackass, vampire,” she muttered to herself as she prepared to launch another blade. The blaring rink of her cell phone stalled her hand.

              “What!” she yelled down at the phone

              The images of Reiya and Reyes appeared on the screen.

              “Everything okay on your end?” Reiya asked.

              “Other than the fact
His Darkness
is a pompous bastard? Yes, everything is just peachy.” The blade she was holding sailed across the room and embedded in the dummy’s abdomen with a resounding thud. She had run out of available space between the eyes.

              “Jesus Cara. I would sure hate to be your practice dummy right about now. You sure everything is alright?”

              “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just relieving a little tension,” she reassured the twins.

              Reyes eyed her suspiciously, yet remained quiet.

              “Find out anything interesting on your end yet?” Reiya asked her.

              “No it’s been pretty uneventful. But we are headed out to Brazil in a few. I will call you when I get back and give you an update.”

              Reiya’s attention shifted to something beyond the range of her phone’s video camera.  Whatever it was made her expression darken. “Cara, I have to go. Be careful. I will stay as available as I can.”

              “What has got her panties in a bunch?” Cara asked Reyes.

              “Mr. Delicious Executive Director,” Reyes chuckled. “I swear that man hangs around just to purposely get under my sister’s skin. Speaking of delicious men in powerful positions…have you lost your mind Cara?! You slept with him,” he hissed at her.

              “Reyes, what the hell are you talking about? Have you been sipping tequila while on the job again?”

              “Don’t play crazy with me. You know I have a sixth sense about these things and regardless of the serious damage you are no doubt doing to the poor dummy across the room, your ass is glowing.”

              “Must be my new moisturizer.”

              “Moisturizer my ass. I’m not going to tell Reiya because she will positively lose her shit, but seriously Cara I hope you know what you’re doing.”

              “I am not
doing
anything,” Cara said defensively. “It was a mistake. One that you do not have to worry about me making again.”

              Reyes eyed her for a minute before being satisfied with what he saw in her expression. “Fine,” he conceded. A wicked smile appeared on his face. “So since we are on the subject. Spill the beans about Mr. Tall, Dark, and Deadly. It was a stupid thing to do, but I can’t say I blame you. He is a quite fuckable specimen of a man.”

              Cara rolled her eyes into the phone. “We are so not having this conversation Reyes. I refuse to give you more fodder for your dirty fantasies.”

              “You say that now,” Reyes teased her. “But just wait until you get home. After I ply you with half a dozen shots of tequila you’ll be singing like a canary.”

              James politely cleared his throat in the doorway.

              “I have to go Reyes, bye,” Cara laughed into the phone.

              “His Grace would like you to meet him on the airstrip. Everything is set for you to leave.”

             
His Grace my ass,
Cara thought to herself as she followed the butler out of the training room.

Twenty-Two

             
T
he Viceroy killed in Brazil occupied a plantation home nestled in its mountainous region before he died.  Asad used a strip of land located three miles north of his home to land the plane. He stayed behind with it while Cara and Aiden interviewed his mate and investigated the surrounding lands for any hint of the wolves. A tall redhead with freckles spotting her exposed skin showed them to a sitting room. She appeared to be in her early 40s but it was a lie. The extraordinary slowness with which vampires aged meant she was closer to a couple hundred years old. She motioned for the pair to sit on a floral-patterned sofa. The quaintness of the furniture was in direct contrast with the modernity of her look. She sported designer red high heels and a fitted black dress suit whose neckline plunged low across her exposed breasts. The heat radiating from her eyes whenever she looked at Aiden made Cara want to gouge them out. A maid entered the room and sat down a tray of elegantly painted china that chinked together when it connected with the table. Their hostess leaned over to pick one up. She lingered in the position giving Aiden a bird’s eye view of her full breasts.

This bitch is a piece of work,
Cara thought to herself. She had recently lost her mate and was shamelessly dangling herself like a shiny new toy in front of Aiden.

“Would you like tea?” She asked him in a low and throaty voice that made it clear she was offering up much more than what was in the cups.

“I would in fact.” His hands brushed hers as he took the cup.

Cara bit down on her tongue against the green-eyed monster rearing its head within her. What did she care if Aiden accepted tea or anything else from her? They slept together but they were not a
thing.
He could interact with whomever he wanted however he wanted.

“How long will you be in the region? We should…”

“Get to the reason we came,” Cara cut her off.

The female vampire looked at her like one would look at a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of their shoe. “And you are?”

“A person who kills vampires for a living.” Cara put the implicit threat of death in her eyes.

              “How…how can I be of assistance?” their hostess stammered as her skin blanched.

“Can you think of anything unusual happening leading up to your
husbands
death? Maybe someone new came into town or somebody suspicious started hanging around him?” Cara would have felt sympathy toward the grief that flashed through her eyes at the mention of her husband if she had not witnessed her throwing herself at Aiden only moments earlier.

“Not that I recall, but we were estranged for the past decade or so. We lived together, but did not interact very much. You should ask his business partner, Nikolas. You can find him at the fight club in the city. Blood matches were something of an obsession for Richard and him.”

“We will do that,” Cara said even as she inwardly winced. She was not looking forward to having to witness the barbaric custom again.

“Thank you, Rochelle. We need to look around the site where Richard’s body was found and then we will be going,” Aiden said standing to his feet.

She did not bother to hide her disappointment at Aiden leaving so soon. “Of course, Your Grace,” she sighed with a pout. “I would love for you to stay and visit awhile longer. It has been too long since we last visited your father’s court, but I understand you have important matters to attend.” She stood to escort them to the door. “If you find yourself with spare time on your hands before you leave the region please do not hesitate to call. As always I am at your service, Your Grace.”

I bet you are,
Cara bitterly thought to herself.

“Tell me the truth. How do you really track vampires Hunter?” Aiden gently demanded as he showed her the site where the Brazilian Viceroy’s body was found torn to shreds by the wolves.

Cara contemplated lying or feigning ignorance but since he insisted on sticking to her side like glue while she worked he would find out sooner rather than later anyway. “I track them by the signature scent they leave behind. Each vampire’s is subtly different from the next but you all trail a basic scent that is akin to myrrh. It’s an earthy, mildly sweet smell.”

“Is that how all hunters track vampires?” He asked even though he knew the answer. He was curious as to how much Cara had gleamed over the years about her uniqueness.

She shook her head. “No. I don’t know why, but I am different. It is just something I have always been able to do. I first realized I could identify vampires by their scent the day I found my father’s body and realized the sweet, earthy odor I sometimes smelled meant a vampire was around. Like I said, you all have subtle differences in the way you smell. Once I became a hunter I realized I could follow the unique scents back to the vampires who own them.”

They came to a clearing in the wooded lands that surrounded the Viceroy’s estate. “What do you smell now?” He asked her.

Cara stopped moving and allowed her senses to open up to the outside world. She waded through the various scents of the surrounding woods until she caught one that was entirely foreign to her but elicited the same visceral feeling of wrongness she felt when she picked up on the scent of a vampire. “Aside from you and other vampires in the area, I smell musk mixed with sandalwood. It’s raw and woody and almost overwhelming. Is it the wolves?” She asked Aiden.

He had a satisfied look in his eyes. “I believe it is. This is the spot Richard’s remains were found. Can you follow the trail?”

“No,” Cara shook her head in frustration. She had already tried before he asked. “It is too old. I can only track scents that have been recently left.”

“How recent?”

Cara shrugged her shoulder. “I have never tested it to an exact number of days before, but from prior experience I would guess maybe no older than three or four days. So werewolves are really real?” She asked him again.

              “I already told you they are.”

              “I know. I am just having a hard time wrapping my mind around it.”

“Let’s go,” he held out his hand to her. “Humans always need to see something to believe it. Let’s go question Nikolas.”

They used one of the deceased Viceroy’s vehicles to drive into the city. It was only an hour drive and more practical than flying the plane.

“You two seemed familiar.” The accusation came out before Cara could stop it.

Aiden shrugged as he maneuvered the sleek sedan around a narrow curve. “Rochelle and her husband Richard frequently visited my father’s court. Rochelle likes the court life a lot more than she ever admitted to her mate.”

Cara snorted. “I don’t think it was your father’s court she wanted to visit.”

A ghost of a smile played at the corners of Aiden’s mouth. “If I didn’t know any better I would say you were jealous.”

“If I didn’t know any better I would say you were delusional.” Despite her protests that damn knowing smile remained in place.

---

The bouncer in front of the steel door bowed his head reverently in Aiden’s direction and let them pass. 

“Do you get treated like royalty everywhere you go?” Cara shouted at Aiden over the raucous of the crowd. One of the men in the steel cage that decorated the center of the concrete floor had just broken the ribs of his opponent. They were sticking out of his chest at an odd angle that made Cara herself wince in pain.

“I’m not
like
royalty, I
am
royalty,” Aiden shouted back at her. “And yes, if people want to keep their heads.”

Cara rolled her eyes. “You are a pompous jackass you know that?”

“And you are the only one who can get away with saying that. Come on,” he grabbed her hand to lead her through the crowd. “Richard’s partner should be in the boxes.”

Cara looked in the direction he jerked his head. High above the steel cage were rows of glass that housed private suites for the viewing of the rich and important who did not want to mingle with the crowd.

Nikolas proved to be as much help as Rochelle. At least he did not offer his self up on a silver platter for Aiden’s feasting.

“I wish I could be of greater service, Your Grace, but outside of the fight club Richard lived a boring life. He mostly kept to himself. I really cannot think of any reason someone would want him dead,” he regretfully informed them.

---

              “Where to now?” Cara asked Aiden as they stood outside his plane. Asad was inside prepping for takeoff.

“Asad will return you the island. I may stick around Brazil for the night. Take Rochelle up,” a throwing knife whizzed past his temple and grazed his ear cutting off the remainder of his sentence. The cut healed too quickly for any blood to be shed. “I thought you weren’t jealous?” He devilishly grinned at Cara.

“I’m not,” She huffed crossing her arms over her chest. He set a trap and she walked right into it.

Aiden reached out and grabbed her around the waist. He pulled her flush against his body. “You don’t have to throw a tantrum love. You can stay too. It has been a while since I had a threesome.”

She shoved him away from her in disgust. “You are revolting.”

“That is not what you said last night.” He tried to grab her again, but Cara dodged the attempt. He chuckled behind her all the way onto the plane.