Moonlight and Diamonds & The Vampire's Fall (32 page)

Faeries were few and far between on the mortal realm, most choosing to live in Faery. They were a hard bunch to figure, and she hadn't any more knowledge on them.

Witches were of all sorts and some were the Light and others the Dark. Warlocks were witches who had committed a grave transgression against their own.

“Wow,” she muttered. “I really do have a lot of information in this noggin. I just need to think about something and it comes to me. Maybe a little mindless entertainment tonight will put my brain in a new place. I wonder if Blade would like to go along with me?”

At the very least, she could ask him about the club. Get his two cents on it. He didn't seem the club type. Definitely not the free-for-all dance type. He was more the blade-swinging warrior.

Which, she didn't mind at all.

Realizing she didn't have his phone number—and why should she, she didn't own a phone—Zen decided to drive over to Blade's place.

Chapter 11

“I
don't do clubs.”

Blade couldn't guess why Zen chuckled at his statement, but she did as she wandered over to the window and pressed a palm to it. The sun beaming across her hair lighted her as if...she was an angel.

He shook off the image of her floating in the air with a glowing halo suspended above her head. If she was angel then why had her blood turned from blue to black?

“But you've been there before?” she asked over a shoulder.

“I haven't heard of that club. Must be new. You think it's wise to go to a nightclub by yourself? Even if you didn't have demons and angels on your ass, a single woman alone in a bar...”

“You think I can't handle myself?”

“I'll go with you.”

Her nod said so much more than just an acceptance of his offer. Women and their secretive ways. He'd never been curious about them, until it was too late.

“What's the nod for?” he asked, strolling over to stand beside her. Outside, the rain was trying hard to become a downpour but the sun kept interrupting.

“I knew you'd go along with me.”

Did she, now? “You know nothing about me, Zen.”

“And as much as I'd like to change that, you do have your rules.” She turned and tapped his chest. “No friends. Don't get too close. Don't touch. That kiss must have had you reeling.”

“I kiss women all the time.”

Her arched brow made another statement that he didn't want to be curious about—but was.

“Now what?” he asked.

“So you're a love-'em-and-leave-'em kind of guy? How's that working out for you, Stoic Warrior Dude?”

“Actually, quite well. And it's none of your business, is it?”

“Of course not.” She flounced toward the couch. A bohemian goddess with added glints of sparkle today. “I think the club is going to be just what I need tonight.”

“And what exactly do you need?”

Did he want to know? If she was looking to hook up that was her own business. Then again, he did want to know. Everything.

Zen plopped onto the big plaid couch, picked up the backpack and pulled her legs up to tuck her feet under her thighs. Tendrils of her hair spilled forward over the soft cleavage her low-cut T-shirt revealed. “Maybe I need connection.”

So she did want to hook up.

Blade gripped his hands into fists. She looked so comfortable sorting through the backpack. As if she belonged there, on his couch. In his life. But that was wrong—hell. It was getting tiresome making up excuses to protect himself. He wasn't the guy who tossed out excuses as if they were ammo to blockade emotional shrapnel. If something bothered him he took a stand and showed it his teeth.

And right now Zen's earlier teasing bothered him. He should ask her to leave. Make it easy on them both. Because his life wasn't an easy fit for any woman.

“Let me show you something.” She patted the couch beside her. Waited for him with those dazzling pale green eyes.

Why did her eyes have to constantly change color? It was a warning. He sensed it. And yet, the multicolored irises fascinated him. Did they change with her moods? Like those rings the giggling girls used to wear in high school? He'd have to take a survey of her eye color as compared to her mood.

Right now her green eyes indicated a—hmm—flirtatious mood. If he read her correctly.

He sat three feet away from Zen on the couch. “You know, the longer you stay the longer Oogie has to hide out in my bedroom.”

“It's not my problem the cat doesn't like me. And he's a cat. Aren't they the supreme I-don't-give-a-shit of all creatures? He can deal.”

Oogie probably could deal. From under the bed. Poor guy. Did the cat sense Zen's otherness? He had to. So why couldn't Blade get a fix on her nature?

Zen scooted closer and handed him a postcard.

“What's this?”

“I got it a couple days after the accident.”

“Got it?” He studied the image of a painting in vibrant greens and blues.

“Stole it,” she corrected. “I didn't have any money then and that picture spoke to me.”

The computer-generated image depicted an angel with wings of binary code, white hair and kaleidoscope eyes. The attribution was to a New York artist who was now living in Italy.

“An angel,” he said, and gave her back the card.

“Weird, huh?”

“Maybe. Maybe it means you used to be a klepto.”

“Do kleptos take trucks?”

“Probably not. They're usually into the small stuff.”

“Thought so.” She slid her hand into his. “I want to try something with you.”

He knew what was coming. But he didn't dash. A gorgeous woman sitting next to him, casting him the big green eyes and a curious smile? He could handle anything she wanted to
try
.

Leaning in, Zen's eyes took in his face, roving from his hair, to nose, down to his mouth. Her tongue dashed her upper lip. She smelled fresh, summery, like the grass on a rainy summer evening. But he couldn't get a read on her. “Does me being this close bother you?” she asked. Emerald eyes danced over his face, teasing him—no, defying him to meet her boldly sensual challenge.

He shook his head.

“But you'd rather I was sitting over there, two cushions away from you.”

Enough. She thought to tease him? He'd show her the man he really was.

Blade threaded his fingers up through her silky copper hair and pulled her in for a kiss. Her body melded against his, and before he knew it, she had straddled him and was taking as much as giving. Now her scent drifted into his senses, summery sweet and addictive. His vampiric instincts matched pulse beats with the blood coursing beneath her skin. His fangs tingled, but he had this.

Too dangerous to bite
.

Clasping her hip, he eased her down onto his lap so her breasts hugged his chest. He dipped his mouth to kiss her where the low-cut T-shirt revealed the beckoning crease between her generous breasts. Holding her, a woman intent on seducing him, stirred up desires that he wanted to satisfy. Often.

“Oh, I like it when you kiss me there,” she said on a sultry sigh.

Her hair spilled over his face, a faery flutter. He kissed her breast through the T-shirt, and thumbed the nipple that had perked up beneath. “I like it, too. But this—”

“Don't say you don't want to do this. Just let me have this moment, Blade. You think I've done this before? I don't know if I have.”

“You've kissed a man before. You're good at it.”

“Yeah? Well, I don't remember, so help me to at least get back that memory. Or better yet. Make new ones.”

She pushed him and he fell backward onto the plaid cushions, pulling her down along with him.

Kissing him deeply, Zen took control. She had kissed men. No virgin kissed like this, so aggressively. So curiously. And Blade was inclined to let her continue. To see how far she would take it. Because if she was unsure or inexperienced, sooner rather than later she'd come up short and have to stop. And then he'd have a new wonder about her beyond that of what species she could possibly be.

“Will you take off your shirt?” she asked, kissing down his chin and to his neck.

The vampire within him stirred as her firm kisses neared his carotid artery. The sensual touch was like an electric shock to his system, but in a good, erotic way.

He pulled off his T-shirt and tossed it behind the couch. Zen's hands played over his pecs and abs. The warmth of her was ridiculous, the firm, exploratory touches stirring up sensation, and he hissed with pleasure.

Her eyes sparkled like the rhinestones at her neck as she admired his torso. “You are ripped. But you don't lift weights, do you?”

“Not unless it's to toss them out of my way.”

“It's a vampire thing, then? Or maybe faery? Do you ever have sex with women when you have shifted to faery like when you brought your wings out last night?”

He wasn't going to answer that. She was too curious, and moving too fast regarding those kinds of questions.

“Let's just kiss,” he suggested and teased the ends of her hair between his fingers. “All of me, vampire and faery, likes it when you press your breasts against my chest and push your tongue into my mouth.”

“Mmm...I can do that.” She lay down on top of him, twining a leg between his, and then kissed him deeply, toying with his tongue, and licking his lips and teeth. “What does your vampire like?”

She wasn't going to give it up.

“Not important right now.”

“Your faery?”

“Zen. Do you want to talk or make out?”

She paused, her hands holding her away from his chest, as she seemed to be considering the two options he'd given her. He threaded his fingers up into her hair and tugged gently. “Come here. Let's make Oogie jealous.”

The cat had crept out from the bedroom and now, perched like a gargoyle on the kitchen counter, was watching. He hadn't hissed yet, so Blade was counting that as a favorable sign.

Zen's hands slid down his sides and her fingers tucked into his jeans. He followed her straying mouth, seeking the lush kiss, the wetness of her lips, the heat of her, but when she landed his neck with a teasing nip, he grabbed her by the neck. A little less than gently.

“Too much for you?” she challenged boldly.

The tease of her catching her lower lip with her teeth made his erection throb. The woman had no idea what she played with. And he wasn't about to let this liaison go bad. As in, turn bloody.

Reaching for the hem of her shirt, he tugged it up over her breasts and was nicely surprised she wore no bra underneath. He cupped her breasts and sat up, guiding her onto her back against the couch arm so he could kiss and suckle at her nipples.

She wrapped her legs about his torso. Squeezing a nipple with his fingers elicited a delicious moan from her. “You like that, too?”

“Oh, yes, please. This is better than sleeping in a truck. Better than wearing used clothes. Better than killing an angel.”

The remark struck Blade, and he paused, lips about her nipple. Prepared to walk away, to put his brain back in the right place, and not indulge in his desires...

The tickle of her fingernail along his waistband, above where his cock strained against the tough denim, obliterated the need to retreat. He'd give her one more chance.

Feasting upon her skin, he savored and licked and suckled her nipples, her generously curved breasts and down her rib cage. And then back up to linger between the cozy snug of her breasts. Between them he pressed his cheek and closed his eyes. Nice here. Her body heat brewed her summery scent to a heady perfume that he wanted to soak in, get lost in.

When was the last time he'd simply held a woman and admired her softness and scent?
You remember
. But he was this close to forgetting. He needed the distraction of Zen. He needed this sensual venture.

Lost in her, he didn't realize when Zen had unbuttoned his jeans. Her finger brushed the head of his cock, eliciting a shock of desire that radiated through his system. His fangs reacted of their own volition, descending.

Blade pressed his mouth against her neck.

Chapter 12

Z
en felt the sharp prick of Blade's fangs against her neck. She didn't flinch. So he'd changed his mind?
Yes
. The fangs nudging against her skin heightened the erotic appeal of his hands gliding over her breasts. She wanted to feel him sink deep into her. To know the rapture of a vampire's bite.

But when she slid her hand behind his head and pulled him closer, he suddenly jerked away. Standing above her, arms splaying and a wild look in his eyes, she watched as his fangs retracted, moving up to sit in line with his other teeth. His pecs flexed. And his opened jeans revealed a thatch of dark hair below the rows of tight abdomen muscles.

“A bite would feel so good,” she pleaded. “I want to give it a try. Please?”

“Are you crazy?” He pulled his hair behind his head and then dropped it, fisting the air forcefully. “I can't believe I let this go so far.”

“Blade, it's okay. I'm not afraid of your bite.”

“Really? Well, that's great for you. Not so great for me. Do you remember what I told you happens when a vampire bites an angel? Shit.” He picked up his shirt and then tossed hers onto her chest. “Put that on. Please.”

“What happens— Ooh.” She winced. “I'm sorry. I forgot. Angel blood makes vampires explode. That's what you said, right? But we don't actually know what I am.”

“Exactly. And you were cool with me taking that chance? Nice.”

He strode into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Tilting back a bottle of water, his anger vibes were tangible from the couch where Zen pulled on her shirt.

“Way to end a perfectly good make-out session, Zen,” she muttered. But stupid of her to have expected the bite when it could have harmed him. Wrong decision. Made in the heat of the moment. Because she was all about new experiences. Especially the ones that made her feel good. She'd have to watch herself. “I should probably leave.”

“Don't let the door hit you on the way out.”

Zen cast Blade a pleading gaze as she passed him, but he didn't meet her eyes. What a cruel thing to say. Was he so mad that he couldn't understand she was new at this? That she had been following her instincts and emotions instead of logic?

Apparently. He didn't look at her, even though she waited before the stairs, just out of his eyesight.

“The invite to accompany me to the club is rescinded,” she said. “If you don't like me, just say so. I can do the memory search myself. Thanks for all your help. I'll find some way to repay you and get the car back to you as soon as possible.”

Grabbing her backpack, she marched down the stairs and realized, as she charged outside toward the Mini Cooper, that she had let anger get the better of her. She had no reason to not appreciate the man for all the wonderful things he had done for her. He'd given her a freakin' car.

And he had been right. She shouldn't have expected him to bite her. Not when neither of them knew what she was. He could have risked death if she really was an angel.

“I'm certainly no angel,” she muttered as she slid into the car and fired up the ignition. “Angels aren't so cruel to kind souls.”

* * *

Three hours later, after the sun had set and Zen had found the road leading to the club, she couldn't lament the car's sudden decision to sputter to a halt halfway there, stranding her in the middle of nowhere. The road was paralleled by tall birch trees and the night was dark thanks to the shimmer of moon she couldn't see beyond the tree line.

“Out of gas. Figures. Thanks, karma. I'll try harder next time. I won't be so selfish when it comes to making out with a man.”

And she'd never again ask a vampire for a bite. At least, not until she knew what she was. Did she have deadly blue angel blood coursing through her veins? If so, seemed as if she should also have some kind of superpowers. What could angels do? She felt like a normal woman.

A normal woman who didn't know who she was.

A normal woman who just wanted some touch time with one very sexy man. A man who needed time to take things slowly. To gradually work up to closer. He was sexually skittish, which was an odd thing considering his incredible physicality and heart-racing allure.

“Guess I haven't a clue about men,” she muttered.

Getting out of the tiny car and gazing up and down the dark road, she wondered which was a shorter walk: toward the club or back to town. Sitting on the hood of the car, she leaned back against the windshield and stared up at the row of stars framed by the treetops.

“Is there a reason I'm not supposed to know?” she asked the heavens. “Am I supposed to go on with life and take what comes to me? If so, I don't get the attacks. Do they want me dead or do they just want to mess with me? And what about the halo?”

She turned and spied the halo hanging on the rearview mirror. “Am I some kind of warrior? But for what reason? Shouldn't a warrior know what she's to fight? Or defend?”

The sudden spatter of raindrops on the hood and her head was not the answer she'd hoped for.

“Terrific. Guess karma wasn't quite finished with me, eh?”

Headlights appeared down the road and Zen hopped off the hood. Maybe she could hitch a ride to the club. Because tonight was for setting her worries aside. She didn't want to think about what she didn't know. And she figured a distraction from the things she did know about, like Blade and his amazing kisses, was necessary.

So when she recognized the big black truck as Blade's, Zen could but shake her head. “Oh, karma, you sneak.”

The passenger window rolled down and a man she did not know popped his head out. He had thick short black hair, and a rugged facial structure. He winked at her. “Hey, sweetie, it's raining.”

No kidding.

Zen gave him a curious lift of her brow. Hands on her hips, she peered past him to Blade who sat behind the steering wheel. “You don't have anything better to do than follow me around?”

The vampire shrugged. “What makes you think I was following you? My brother and I are headed to the club. You having problems with the Mini? Beck promised me the car was in fine condition.”

“Oh, it is. Apparently the ability to remember to put gas in the tank was also wiped from my memory. Maybe I could hitch a ride with you to the club?”

“This the one you told me about?” the man in the passenger seat asked Blade.

Blade nodded.

The passenger door opened and the man hopped out. Clad in black leather pants and a leather vest, but no shirt underneath, he had a remarkable physique. “I'm Trouble,” he offered and took her hand to help her up into the truck.

“I bet you are,” Zen said as his dark eyes took her in. He hopped in beside her and closed the door. “Brothers?”

“I'm the eldest,” Trouble offered as Blade silently drove onward. “Did you lock up your car?”

“Yes, and I have all my valuables here in my backpack. It's not really my car. Blade bought it.”

“Yeah, I know he did. Beck told me,” Trouble said to Blade, who apparently had not filled his brother in on his recent charity work. “I hear you're a fine bit of interesting,” he said to her. “Lost your mind?”

“I have possession of my mind. It's just my memories that are playing hard to get at the moment.”

“Sounds as though you like to play easy, actually.”

“Trouble,” Blade cautioned.

“Sorry, Zen. Just stupid guy talk. You know. Or do you know? Probably you don't. So you were planning to go clubbing all by your lonesome? Looking to hook up?”

“Why is everyone so concerned about me hooking up? I just wanted to dance and forget about things.”

“Forget even more?”

“No, I—”

“Trouble, give it a rest,” Blade insisted. “She's looking for a night out by herself. Leave it at that.”

A bump in the road settled Zen's thigh against Blade's. He didn't move away and the connection felt like the most amazing kind of fire.
Burn me
, she wanted to plead of him. She sensed he had driven this way in search of her. And the fact he'd brought along his brother indicated that, if found, he didn't want to be alone with her.

“So are you a mix of breeds, as well?” she asked Trouble. “Like your brother?”

“Hell no. I am one hundred percent werewolf.”

“And damned cocky about it, too,” Blade muttered.

“So Blade says you could be an angel or maybe a demon,” Trouble stated.

“Or who knows,” Zen added. “Maybe even faery.” Though, at the moment, she was doubtful for all of the above. She felt so normal. On the other hand, what was normal?

“Really? Our brother Kelyn is faery,” Trouble offered. “Stryke is full wolf like me. And our sister, Daisy Blu—ah, you don't need the family history. Blade tells me a bus hit you. And you walked away from it?”

“I guess so.”

“That makes you one hell of a woman. Good catch, Blade. Whoa.”

The truck's headlights beamed onto a grassy parking lot that was lined with a few dozen cars that were getting pummeled by the summer rain. But they wouldn't have noticed without the headlights. There was no outside lighting in the lot. And a huge mansion that looked like something out of a gothic horror show lurked on the horizon. In the darkness, Zen could only make out a scatter of people-shaped shadows walking toward it.

“This is a nightclub?” she asked. “I thought clubs were all flashy and uh...not haunted. Does it look haunted to you? It does to me.”

“Ah, ghosts won't hurt you,” Trouble joked and nudged her elbow with his. “I don't recall hearing about an old mansion out this way. You, Blade?”

“Nope.” He rolled down the window but didn't open the door. “You smell anything off?”

The eldest brother opened his door and leaned out. Crickets chirped and the wind bristled through the leaves. Zen picked up the scent of dirt and the usual fresh ozone tang from the rain.

“Nothing,” Trouble offered. “Kind of odd, but maybe it's supposed to have the creepy vibe. Like one of those goth clubs. You sure you want to go dancing that badly, Miss Zen of the Missing Memories?”

“Oh, come on, you guys, it's just atmosphere. I'm going up. You don't have to stay.” She slid out on Trouble's side behind him and walked around on the squishy grass to the front of the truck. “Thanks for the ride, Blade. Sorry to bother you again.”

He remained behind the driver's wheel, but nodded once.

Sensing he wasn't going to link arms with her and escort her inside, she turned and wandered through the parked cars until she landed on a cobbled sidewalk. Sort of Dorothy's brick road, but all in black. She didn't want to turn around to check if the brothers were watching her. She hoped they were. Because she suddenly felt very alone. And wet.

And maybe a little unsafe. But no fear.

“Not yet,” she muttered as she gained a group of people who nodded and chattered.

The air was noticeably cooler, and she rubbed her hands up and down her arms as, at the back of the group, she followed them up a fieldstone stairway littered with red rose petals.

They were really working the goth atmosphere. But she did like the rose petals. As they neared the front of the mansion the doors swung inward. Myriad candelabras lit the interior and loud thumping music tunneled out. One of the women in the group giggled and grabbed another woman's hand. They skipped through the doors and starting dancing before they even hit the dance floor.

Zen wandered in slowly, shook off the wet from her arms and noticed the tall dark man who stood to her left, his arms crossed high over his chest. He nodded and bowed toward her, but didn't speak.

“Hey.” She gave him a little wave. “Just here to dance. No hookups for this girl.”

No response.

“Good to meet you, too.”

The music had a lively beat. It coaxed her inward, and she didn't resist.

Time to get her wild on.

* * *

“She's got an exotic look to her,” Trouble said as the brothers strode up the black-bricked walk. The rain had settled to a light sprinkle. “I can see why you like her.”

“I don't like her. I'm just keeping an eye on her.”

“Right. Because getting all up in that sexy hair and body would just be wrong. I know how you are about falling in love, bro. That's cool. But I also know you can get a woman in your bed if you want one.”

“Maybe I don't want this one.”

“Why? Because you don't know what she is? What if she's an angel? That'd be cool.”

“Trouble, shut up. We're going to keep an eye on her, and then give her a ride home. That's it.”

“Fine. But my eyes will be straying to all the ladies in the house.”

“Go ahead and hook up. Zen doesn't need two babysitters.”

“Then why'd you ask me along?”

“I have a funny feeling about this club.”

Blade stopped before the stone stairway. The night hung heavy and wet, not a breeze in the air. The black mansion loomed amidst the gray shadowed surroundings. It was as if he'd walked onto a Tim Burton set. Head tilted, he sniffed the air. Trouble sniffed, as well. When the brothers met gazes, they shook their heads.

“Demons,” Blade said.

“Shit.”