Conquer the Highland Beast: The Vampire Dylan Macgregor (Hearts of Darkness) (5 page)

Unlike Caitlin, Dylan could
block others from his thoughts when he wanted—apparently not tonight. Tonight he was all in a huff striding towards the crime scene like a man in a hurry. His thoughts told her he wanted to be in and out as quickly as possible.

After looking forward to seeing him again, his attitude c
aught her off guard. Disappointed and a little insulted, she thought, okay, let’s get this done. She had things to do—a life. She had a workout to finish—Was that Dylan she heard laughing in her head?

S
he blasted her irritation back at him and felt his delight before he was close enough to see his grin.

“Special Agent, how nice to see you again. I’m sorry it’s under such gruesome circumstances.”

He didn’t offer his hand and neither did Caitlin. Yesterday, when they’d first touched, the link to him felt like an iron chain joining her mind to his. Trouble was she wasn’t sure the link went both ways. She couldn’t afford to expose any more of herself. She already felt naked around him. It had become more than a mental connection for her—the physical attraction was something she couldn’t deny or control.

“I’m sorry if we interrupted your plans.”
Shit, did I just say that?
“…certainly you had plans for the evening?”

His eyes widened in amusement. In fact, he seemed to be highly
entertained by her from the minute he’d arrived. The more flustered she became, the more he seemed to grin.

“Have you been peeking?” he whispered.

“Absolutely, not.” She frowned at him. “Just a good guess.” She straightened up barely reaching the man mid-chest and gave him her most indignant glare. “In any case, I presume a psychic of your caliber should have experience blocking others from your thoughts.”

“
True. Okay, not a problem.” He graced her with a condescending grin and a wink.

Macgregor’s deep voice sent chills up her s
pine and flames to her core. His mental images of the other women he’d been considering moments earlier, switched to her and made the breath gush from her lungs. She could hardly breathe.

“Are you okay?”
He was probably gloating at having her insides turned into molten lava, and oh, dear lord, was she wet?

“Fine. Thank you.” She held back the hiss. He
knew damn well she wasn’t okay. She was putty in his mind. He’d done this on purpose. All she could think about was wrapping her naked body around his and grinding away on him.

Dylan mentally groaned and
she glanced up in surprise. Raw desire shot from his mind to hers. She squeezed her eyes shut because she had an almost uncontrollable urge to glance down where she knew the bulge in his jeans would be. Before she dared open her eyes, she fought the compulsion with every ounce of her self-control. The world began to spin when she finally opening them and stared up into his sensual, heavily hooded gaze.

She’d done that to him. Pleasure zinged through her at the
possibility she’d affected him. She wasn’t willing to go with a one-night stand to satisfy her baser instincts. Sure, she could do casual sex—but never with this man. There was nothing
casual
about her feelings for him. More she might consider.

He abruptly slammed
their intimate link and got all business-like.

Duh? Commitment issues?

“Tell me, Agent Donovan, what have you sensed here besides the expected?” he asked all too brusquely before he turned away.

She
slowly turned in a circle and studied the surrounding area. What was it she’d sensed that was different?

“Justice.”

He raised an eyebrow and turned back to her when she answered. After a moment, he grinned at her and asked, “Could I interest you in a drink?”

She saw his lips move,
saw the glimmer in his eyes, and heard him ask one thing as he sent her an entirely different mental image. And, damn him, he’d done it to rattle her. This time it didn’t work and when he realized that, his lips stretched into a broad charming grin.

She smiled
back, shaking her head. God, how she wished she could let herself go and take this one moment to live. Every cell in her body ached for him.

“Thank you, but I’ll have to pass.” She tilted her head in the direction of the team. “We’ll b
e getting together to go over our findings as soon as we’re finished.”

“Then perhaps I should join you?”

“Mr. Macgregor, are you sensing anything you can share with the team?”

“No.” His glance travelled over her body like a warm caress. “Nothing I can share.”

His phone rang breaking the magic moment. Thank the gods. Because the sexual distraction he intended to use against her had twisted around and knocked him on his ass.

“Excuse me, I have to take this.” He turned aside
and walked far enough away from Caitlin to take the call in private.

Max’s voice yelled excitedly. “On the way into town we encountered the demon
ess. I picked up her scent, and we spotted her right after we left there. Garr tracked her to a small cottage on the other side of the bayou, not far from where Amyra held Kyle captive. I’m staying back for now while Garr cases the area for others. But if he gets outted, I’m not exactly ready for prime time with experienced demons. We need back up.”

“No problem. Be right there.” Whispering into his phone, Dylan warned him, “Whatever you do, do not kill her. I’m beginning to think she had a good reason to torture this bastard. Don’t go in until I get there.”

He walked back and held out his hand to Ramon. “Sorry, I’ve got to get going.” Then he turned to Caitlin and repeated the full body-check to keep her out of his head.

“
Sorry, Agent Donovan, the only emotions I’ve picked up are probably the same vibrations you got from the violent murder.” He winked, intending the flirtation to distract her.

To prevent he
r from picking up anything he mentally shared with Ramon, he sent an image into her mind of what he’d like to do to her if it was the right time and place. While she emotionally struggled with the image of his face buried between her thighs, he sent Ramon a message to keep her busy so he could go help out his friends.

As he hoped, her cheeks turned a richer shade of pink than they’d been, and he smelled a hint o
f her arousal in the night air.

Whoa! The power of her reaction nailed him. What blood wasn’t al
ready there, pooled in his cock. This was going to be an awkward walk back the way he came, because he couldn’t trace to his car until he rounded the corner.

Out by the Bayou

Dylan finally reached his car in the alleyway next to the bar. However, when he got there, he decided after he drove around the cemetery, to save time, he’d park in a secluded place and trace to the location where Garr and Max had encountered the female demon.

A few blocks away, he called Max. “Give me a mental image. I
need to trace there.”

Within seconds, he’d traced to the cottage, and what he saw stopped him in his tracks. Max’s voice had sounded strange on the phone. Now Dylan understood why. Apparently, the demon within him was so
attracted to the female it took control. If Dylan didn’t know better, he would have thought Max had lost it completely.

Dylan was shocked to see how Max’s attraction to the female had forced him into his demon form. His berserker body was the size of a Mack truck. Yeah, he still had a bit of the berserker holding on, but his face had started the demon transformation. Fangs, longer than his vampire ones, extended well beyond his broadened jaw. His huge taloned wings were unfurled behind him, shooting from his shoulder blades while he growled like a ravenous dragon.

The demoness turned to confront Garr when he stalked out of the underbrush while Max danced around her. To her credit, she realized Max wasn’t the threat. It was apparent he wasn’t attacking. He was obviously trying to protect her while Garr did his damned best to hold his ground.

Dylan finally made the frightening observation Max was growling at Garr not the demoness. The other thing he noticed was that Max was sporting an erection the size of a club.

Oh, no. Not good. One thing was certain. The sire bond Max formed with Shelby when he turned her had definitely severed the mate bond they once had with each other. He said he’d felt differently about her, but did he have to fall in lust with the first demon female he encountered? And a fugitive, no less?

Garr shifted from his regular wolf into his larger form as a werewolf, jacking up the intimidation level.

The demoness was provocatively beautiful, and Max appeared captivated by her. Dylan could smell her scent in the air, and he could smell Max. The demon male’s aroused scent was nothing if not a pure male threat. The Max he knew had disappeared within this new creature. His vampire nature had been overtaken by the berserker who had allowed his demon to rise to the surface.

Worse yet…the demon wanted to claim his mate.

“Garr, back off,” Dylan shouted and reinforced his order with a mental message. “
Damn it, Garr look at him. He’s going to claim her if we can’t get him to calm down and reason. He may claim her anyway, but then if anything happens to her over all this, we’ll lose him.”
The low rumble continued to roll through Garr’s barrel chest as he moved away from the female, and while Max hissed between his teeth at Garr, the female snarled back at all of them.

Max’s eyes had narrowed to slits. Every muscle in his body tensed and bulged
while his chest rapidly rose and fell. Dylan was certain Max would back down, and then he noticed the signature horns that usually remained under his temples emerge and curl back flat against his head.

Oh hell, he was thoroughly aroused and ready for his female. The demoness held him off with
a hand, apparently wanting nothing to do with him or any of them. She appeared too preoccupied with getting to the cottage.

Dylan studied the female, quickly deciding she was probably not
a full-blooded demon—too pretty to be anything except mixed blood. Over the years, he’d seen a few, but not enough to determine if there was a norm. And he’d never seen a demon this fair. Her skin appeared almost white with only the faintest bronze tint of most demons had about them. On her, it was almost a pale peach color. Her long pale hair resembled the color of the moon on a fall harvest night, and her platinum, taloned wings spread wide behind her back appeared almost metallic in the bright moonlight. He understood Max’s attraction.

The female was curvaceous—fearsomely beautiful in her thigh high leather boots and metal studded bustier. What Dylan noticed first
were the number of weapons she carried—all deadly. She sported daggers and knives on belts strapped around her waist, with another slung low on her hips. That one held throwing stars, as did the ones strapped around her thighs. Two others were wrapped across her chest like bandoliers. These held the crossbow on her back and the sheaths for the double bladed swords she held crossed in front of her. They were a good indication she was well prepared to protect herself. Female demons were deceptively fragile looking compared to their male counterparts, but just as deadly. Dylan would never be fooled by this one’s sweet beauty, but Max’s infatuation ranked off the charts.

Dylan couldn’t risk a fight between his two friends. A calmer head would have to prevail.
The vampire forced calming thoughts into everyone’s minds, hoping the demon’s mind configuration was similar enough to recognize he had no ill intent.

The wer
ewolf shook once and backed up.

When the growling quieted, he took a long slow breath.
“How about we all back down?” They needed to stop fighting at least long enough to talk. “Come on, quiet down for a minute. Let’s determine what happened before we go all Diehard on each other.”

After Garr backed off, Dylan was able to penetrate the female demon’s th
oughts. He started getting quick images that were more emotion than visual. The first ones were filled with violence. Sorrow. Horror. Then pure panic.

The demon and his buddies
slipped through the portal nearby—one Dylan didn’t know about. A young demon child, a girl grabbed from the forest, taken by a demon. Probably the dead one in the cemetery.

Tho
se men took the child with them after they killed this female’s parents, overpowered her, and left her for dead.

Dylan carefully stepped between the demoness and Max with his hands extended, and focused all his attention on the female.

The woman narrowed her eyes but didn’t attack. She circled in the direction of the cottage and sent him the image of a child, the ones the demons took, no more than a toddler. Her sister.

He kept getting another emotional image.
Her ability to share her thoughts had Dylan’s eyes opening wide.

They’d killed her family,
raped her, and taken her baby sister. As far as Dylan was concerned, the one in the cemetery hadn’t suffered enough.

He glanced at the cottage then back at the woman. Ah, things were beginning to make sense. She’d tortured the victim in the cemetery to find out where the others were holding the girl, but the mutilation had been entirely for her. The demoness’ revenge made more sense. It’s too bad she wouldn’t feel the satisfaction. He knew all too well that kind of loss could never be avenged. What he could do for her was make sure she didn’t have to pay the consequences.

“Here?
The young child is here? Your sister?”

The lovely demoness nodded, angrily pointed at the rundown structure, and held up three fingers. Dylan held a hand up while he quietly explained
what was going on to Garr and Max.

“Max, you have to calm down. There are three demons inside holding her little sister hostage. If you want to impress her, be her
hero. Save the child.”

The genetic code Max inherited from Kyle had remained dormant until now—until he sensed his life-mate.
For her, Max struggled with his demon and fought back the berserker from his own ancestry.

“That’s it.
Garr and I are right beside you, buddy. Let’s go get the little one.”

He signaled to the demoness to get ready to snatch the child when they took three points around the cabin. Max was going in through the
front, Garr had the back door with the demoness. And Dylan was going to surprise the kidnappers by showing up through thin air. One special gift Dylan had was the ability
sift.
His fae magic allowed him literally to rematerialize wherever he imagined. Because it took extreme amounts of energy, he usually stuck to the traditional vampire method of
tracing
—almost as effective, not nearly as fast—at least he didn’t have to consume a village afterwards. Good thing he’d had an extra bag of O positive back in the car.

Keeping as quiet as possible he said, “Max, can you understand me?” The darkness seemed to overshadow the man’s saner side and Dylan didn’t want him to lose it. “You keep them busy and subdue them, but let me turn them on each other. I don’t want you killing them.”

Garr nodded from the back and Dylan sent Max in. Dylan sifted into the room hoping to get between the demons and the child. His appearance a little to one side, still allowed him to place himself in front of her. Garr burst through the back with the demoness. A bevy of shooting stars took out the two demons attacking Max before Dylan had time to evaluate the situation. When he turned, Garr held the child, and the demoness controlled the third kidnapper with one of her blades to his throat.

Not exactly what he expected but hell, a victory is a victory.

~~~~

After c
onfining the last rogue demon, Dylan convinced the demoness to allow him to trace her and the child back to his estate. Using his ability to travel at vampire speed could be frightening, so he made sure she explained the process to the child.

Once they arrived, he explained, “
Sang Froid
will be a haven for you until I get more answers. Everything will be provided. All you need to do is ask. Everyone here is at your disposal.”

“Thank you for your kindness, sir.” She clutched her sister in her arms.

“No need to thank me. We all need help at times.”

Dylan started to turn and walk away when he felt a light touch on his arm.

“The other…the one with demon blood?”

If demons could blush, Dylan suspected that’s what caused the high coloring in her cheeks. Apparently, she had been affected by Max after all.

He raised an eyebrow, unable to resist goading her into a reaction. “Max? Big guy? Huge wings?” He held his arms out wide.

She averted her demure gaze away from him but nodded.

“Ah! Dr. Max Hamilton. He’s a friend. You’ll need to excuse his behavior. He’s recently acquired the demon blood and is learning control.”

Instead of the aggression her attire and weapons depicted, what he saw was an insecure young woman
, alone in an unfamiliar world among strangers, trying to protect her sister.

“I am sorry. You have questions, and I do too, but tomorrow will be soon enough for answers.
You should rest. I have urgent business to attend. My friend, Garr, the wolf, and his friend, Símone will look after your needs…” With perfect timing, the door opened and the succubus entered the den. “Ah, here she is.”

“Nice of you to enter through a door instead of a wall.”

“I was being discreet.”

“Símone, please handle the introductions and explanations. I must be off, but they will be staying with us for a while. Thank you for seeing to their needs.”

Dylan walked out the front door, closed it behind him, and then traced back to the cottage in the forest. He still needed to deal with Max and his reaction to the demoness.

~~~~

“Garr, do you mind cleaning up this mess while I talk some sense into Max?” He tossed one bag of clean clothes to him and another to Max.

“No, but you should get him away from here and her scent if you plan to talk sense into him. His brain won’t function while all his blood is still down there.” Garr pointed to Max’s engorged shaft.

“Max, get dressed. You own me a drink.” That seemed to break through the fog. Dylan sympathized with the guy, but the best cure for what ailed both of them would be a stinking good drunk. Unfortunately, getting truly drunk wasn’t possible for a vampire. Alcohol had a little effect. Well, any drunk would be better than no drunk at all, at a time like this.

“Burn them.” He pointed to the two dead demons. “
And question this one.” He lifted the third demon to his feet, cuffed him with the leaden handcuffs, and handed him over to Garr. “I know I can depend on you to get answers about the portal and who led them there.”

Dylan
and Max traced to his car, and went straight to the Highland Bar and Grill. Thank the gods, blood hadn’t replaced his appreciation for a good Angus beef and his favorite Scotch. He was going to have that steak and a bottle or two of his favorite single malt while he tried to figure out what the hell to do about Max and the demoness.

What he couldn’t ignore for long was his own problem with the FBI profiler.
If what he suspected proved to be fact, sooner than later, the mate bond would overcome his blocks.