Claiming the Vampire (5 page)

“I’ll thank you not to be so vulgar. Obviously, my first duty is to my own people. Their safety is my priority. But I would think you’d be glad to know that your people are safe, as well.”

He moved half a step closer to her. To her credit, Talia didn’t budge an inch. Cowardice had never been one of her faults.

“I think you know that there’s only one vampire whose safety concerns me. And I don’t give a flying fuck about anything else. To tell you the truth, I’m glad the hit on Celia was called off. I wasn’t looking forward to killing an innocent. But I’ll slaughter a thousand innocents if I have to, to convince you that you’ll never be rid of me until you honor your side of the bargain.”

“Damn it, Hawk—”

He interrupted her, his voice low and intense. “Until you have delivered my sister from captivity, I am your enemy. Is that what you want?”

“You must see how difficult it will be to negotiate for her release. Relations between our two worlds are in a delicate state right now, and—”

“I don’t see that. It should be easier to ask a boon, now that you and the Dark Fae are such pals. You’re selling them your daughter. Why would they begrudge you the release of a single prisoner?” His eyes turned yellow. “Unless, of course, you’ve been lying to me, and my sister was killed ten years ago, as I believed then. But let’s hope for both our sakes that that’s not true. That when you told me she’s been a prisoner in the Dark Fae realm for ten years, you were telling the truth.”

She started to answer, and he held up a hand. “Don’t bother. I don’t really care what the difficulties are. You have forty-eight hours to deliver Mary to me, or I will unleash such hell on you you’ll wish a Dark Fae invasion was all you had to contend with.”

He turned his head to look at her retinue, and stiffened. Jessica and the prince were standing close together. The prince was saying something and Jessica was listening, fixing those glorious eyes on him.

God, he regretted the necessity that had forced him to use her. To make an enemy of her.

“They seem to be getting on nicely over there,” he growled.

“Of course they are,” Talia snapped. “Sorry to undermine your ‘I’m selling my daughter’ theory, but Jessica and Kel are perfect for each other. Just look at them!” she said, her voice fierce and exultant. “Can you imagine the children they’ll have? Their line will last forever.”

It wasn’t an image of golden-haired children that flashed into his mind, but rather the making of them. And the thought of that ice-cold princeling taking Jessica in his arms made his fangs burst from his gums.

He heard Talia hiss. “You’ll have her, Hawk. In forty-eight hours.”

At least she didn’t suspect the real reason for his demon-fueled rage. The last thing he needed was for Talia to guess that he felt anything but hatred for anyone connected to her. She’d find a way to use that knowledge as she used everything—for leverage.

“So long as we understand each other, Talia. And now, if you don’t mind, it’s time to deal with the poison running through your daughter’s veins. Call them to us.”

The queen made an imperious gesture and the guards, along with the prince and Jessica, crossed the distance between them. The prince had once again put a protective arm around Jessica’s shoulders, which made Hawk very glad his fangs were already in evidence.

He saw the moment Jessica noticed he was in vamp face, but she betrayed no fear. A slight flicker in her blue-green eyes was her only visible reaction.

“Come here,” he said to her, and she came—but only after she gave Kel a quick, reassuring smile.

Why the fuck was she reassuring him? They’d known each other all of five minutes.

When she stood in front of him he turned her with a little more force than necessary, pulling her against him with her back against his chest, his arm around her waist and his knife against her throat.

Talia hissed, and he smiled at her. “It’s been a pleasure as always, Your Highness. And now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take this young lady with me to the borders of your property. A little insurance for my safe passage. Once we’re there, I’ll make sure Jessica knows the correct antidote to ensure her wellbeing. You, of course, will all remain here. If anyone attempts to follow us the consequences will be unfortunate.”

And with that he began to walk backwards, slowly and deliberately, taking Jessica with him.

Jessica didn’t say a word. It wasn’t long before they were out of sight and earshot of the Fae, but neither of them spoke. They continued to move backwards, slowly, along the garden paths and through stands of trees, their leafless branches like black lace against the night sky.

He could have allowed her to turn around and walk forward, which would be faster and more comfortable. Under the circumstances, it wasn’t likely that she’d run away or try to attack him.

But then he would no longer have an excuse to touch her, or to breathe in the scent of her hair. It was distracting, intoxicating, and he had to struggle against the urge to take out the jeweled pins and clips holding her hair in place and let it tumble freely over her shoulders.

When they reached the stone fence that marked the edge of Talia’s property, Hawk came to a halt. And then, finally, he broke the silence. “I lied, Jessica. There was no poison in that needle. You were never in any danger.”

Jessica didn’t answer him, and he tightened his hold on her a little. “I wouldn’t have done it if I’d had any other choice.”

Still she said nothing. “I told you there was nothing to fear,” he said. His fangs had retracted, but his body was as tense as a bowstring.

She merely stood there impassively, facing away from him.

His frustration grew. “Say something, damn it!”

“What do you want from me, Hawk? Forgiveness?”

“Maybe,” he said after a moment.

“Well, I want something from you, too. I want to know what you and my mother talked about. I want to know what you came here for tonight.”

Now it was his turn to be silent. He couldn’t tell her the truth about that. If he did, and if Jessica confronted her mother, Talia might retaliate by deciding not to act on Mary’s behalf. Until Mary was safe—or until he learned that she was dead—he couldn’t do anything that might jeopardize her.

After a minute Jessica spoke again. “I’m surprised at you, Hawk. I would have expected you to come up with a plausible lie by now.”

“I don’t want to lie to you.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“No. I’m not.”

They were standing in the shadows under a grove of fir trees, just a few yards from the stone fence. The moonlight sifting through the branches gleamed on Jessica’s hair, and the jewels in her dress, and the blade he held to her throat.

After another minute, Hawk withdrew his knife and took a step back. “I don’t want to lie to you. And I don’t want to hurt you.”

Jessica turned to face him, and her face was colder than he’d yet seen it.

“You’ve done nothing but lie to me from the first moment I saw you tonight.”

“That’s not true.”

“You said you’d injected me with poison. I think that qualifies as a lie.”

“All right, yes, but I told you there was nothing to—”

“You pretended to care about…what you thought I was going to do. When you first saw me.”

“I did care.”

“You pretended to be attracted to me.”

He stared at her. “For God’s sake, Jessica. You can’t think I was pretending about that.”

“Of course I do,” she said bitterly. “It was just part of your plan to get to my mother.”

“That was an improvisation, not a plan. And I’m so fucking attracted to you I can hardly keep my hands off you right now.”

“Liar.”

He couldn’t let that pass. He grabbed her by the hips and jerked her against him, letting her feel the ridge of his erection against her belly. “This can’t be faked, Jessica. Don’t you know anything about men?”

Her face flooded with color, and he froze. “My God. You
don’t
know anything about men, do you?”

When she pushed against his chest he let her go. “What do you mean?” she asked, her voice trembling.

“You’re a virgin, aren’t you? Was that one of the conditions of your sale to the Dark Fae? That you be a virgin bride? Christ. Why don’t they just throw you into a fucking volcano and be done with it?”

He dragged a hand through his hair. “Why are you doing this? Why did you agree to an engagement with a man you’d never met? Did you even think of standing up for yourself? Saying no? This isn’t the Middle Ages, for God’s sake.”

Jessica was trembling, her hands clenched into fists. “Don’t do that again. Don’t pretend you care. Especially when you don’t know a damn thing about me.” She took a quick breath. “Unlike you, I try to think more about other people than I do about myself. I believe in doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. I believe in doing my duty. That’s why I agreed to this engagement. And I have every reason to believe that I’ll be happy in my new life.”

“I see. Is that why you were ready to cut your own throat when I first saw you?”

She flushed again. “That was a moment’s weakness that will never be repeated. I was afraid of the unknown, and I’m ashamed of that. But now…” she paused. “Now, Prince Kel is no longer an unknown. And now that I’ve met him, I’m…reassured.”

“Are you.”

It was none of his business.
She
was none of his business. The fact that they were standing here having this conversation was the purest insanity. His only priority right now was Mary. She was the only thing that mattered.

But the idea of Jessica marrying that cold fish made his demon rage inside him.

“Are you required to be a virgin on your wedding night?”

“Of course not!” she snapped.

“But you are a virgin, aren’t you?”

She didn’t answer him directly. “Why are you so fixated on that?”

“Because you deserve to have a decent first time, Jessica. Every woman does. Let me…” he swallowed. “Let me give you that.”

She stared at him. “You can’t be serious. Are you suggesting that you be my first time?”

“Yes.”

“Right now?”

“Yes.”

“With all those guards…not to mention my mother and my fiancé…waiting back there for my return?”

She was right. It was insane. But— “Yes.”

She gestured around them. “Up against a tree? Or on the ground?”

The thought of laying her down on a bed of pine needles had him harder than granite. “Anywhere.”

She shook her head slowly. “Just so I have this straight. Less than a minute ago you were holding a knife to my throat, and a few minutes before that you jabbed a needle into my arm and said it was poison. And now you think…what? That I’m going to fall into your arms? I’ll say this for you, Hawk—you have a unique seduction routine. Does the whole threatening-a-woman’s-life thing get you a lot of dates, generally speaking?”

In spite of himself, one corner of his mouth twisted up in a smile. “When you put it like that, it does sound a little unconventional. But, Jessica…” He stepped close and put his hands on her shoulders. Her skin was warm, and his palms tingled. “I’ll make it good for you, I swear. And I know you want me.”

He could see the muscles of her throat move as she swallowed.

“How do you know that?”

He stroked his hands down her bare arms and back up to her shoulders. “The way you tremble when I touch you,” he said softly. “The way the blood rushes to your cheeks and your breath catches in your throat. The way your heart beats faster.”

All those things were happening now, and hope rose inside him. “No one will ever know. It will be our secret. And after tonight you’ll never see me again.”

“A one-night stand with the assassin who threatened my life? How romantic.”

He could tell she was trying for sarcasm, but her voice shook a little.

“This isn’t about romance. It’s about desire. And I know you feel it, too.”

She lowered her eyes, and her lashes were like black feathers against her cheeks. He watched her take a deep breath and let it out, slowly.

“There’s something else you should know about me,” she said, lifting her eyes to meet his. There was a glint in their blue-green depths that should have warned him, but he was too far gone to see it.

“What?” he asked, lowering his head to kiss her.

“I’m a warrior, you son of a bitch.”

And then she punched him in the face.

He reeled back with a grunt of pain, and she punched him again, catching him on the jaw.

“That’s for holding a knife to my throat.”

The next blow rocked his head back.

“That’s for pretending to poison me.”

She slammed her fist into his abdomen and he doubled over with another grunt.

“That’s for using me to get to my mother.”

She hooked a foot behind his knee and he went down, and she delivered a kick to his groin that made him see stars.

“And that’s for propositioning me.”

That kick hurt like a motherfucker, and he stared up at her through a haze of pain. But even then, he could have fought back. He could have fought back at any point.

But he hadn’t. He hadn’t raised a hand to her.

She crouched down beside him, and he realized that she was holding the knife he’d dropped, the point perilously close to his heart.

“I could kill you right now,” she said.

Then she straightened her torso and threw the knife far over the stone wall. “But I’m not going to. That’s because, no matter how selfish your reasons, you did save my life tonight.”

She rose to her feet and looked down at him. “We’re square now. And I hope I never see you again. But know this, vampire—if you ever hurt my mother, or anyone I care about, I’ll hunt you down like a dog.”

She turned and walked away without looking back.

Hawk lay where she’d left him and listened to her footsteps. When they faded, he pressed his ear to the ground so he could feel their vibration in the earth.

He lay there long after both the sound and the vibration were gone.

He needed to get up. He needed to get the hell over that wall before the Fae found him here and killed him.