To Honor: Vampire Assassin League #22 (7 page)

She really liked this shower.

Actually, she could grow fond of the entire bathroom...except the mirror had clouded over or something. She couldn’t seem to get a clear reflection. She’d thought it was the lighting, but no matter where she aimed the fixture she couldn’t quite see herself. It wasn’t a real problem. She didn’t wear cosmetics, and she could do her hair blind-folded. He didn’t have any hairpins, however, so she settled for weaving a long braid down her back, finished off with a dental floss bow.

Stay in reality, Christine. Keep everything on the physical plane
.

Right.

Reality.

Takeshi really liked things dim. The bedroom suite had the same dawn-like glow as the main cabin. He really favored black, too. The carpet was black. Furnishings. The linens. And when she opened the dual closet, it wasn’t difficult to figure out which side was his. There wasn’t any shade in there except black.

The other side contained a stunning array of paradise hues. All kinds of fabrics. All sorts of fashion. Why...if she wasn’t mistaken, he even had what looked like a fringed and beaded flapper gown from the roaring twenties or thereabouts. Lots of floor-length gowns that looked appropriate for black-tie events. Ceremonial kimonos as well as another
yukata.
She selected a light-blue, brocade sheath. Plain yet sophisticated. The dress skimmed her figure as if it had been tailor-made.

That was disconcerting.

The shoes adorning a wall of shelves were even more disquieting. She actually wore a size five, narrow. Very hard to find. She usually had to special order them. And yet, here was an entire selection. In exactly that size. Everything was dreamscape perfect. Orderly. She might have to reconsider her sanity level here. That was scary. She decided to rain-check any sanity check-up until after her talk with Takeshi.

Ah
. Takeshi.

Christine sighed, even as she told herself it was stupid. This wasn’t a dream. Dreams didn’t leave painful places on her neck if she touched them. Little bruises on her hips where he’d held her. A bout of shivering from just the memory of their lovemaking.

Oh...
baby
!

Takeshi was one sexy man. And then some. He was beyond dream-worthy. That body of his...naked...
Holy hell
. Her legs were turning into mush at the mere thought. She needed to pull herself together. Stop thinking of him and that lovemaking session. No matter how wondrous it had been. But it had been so awesome. She’d never been so out-of-this-world pleasured. This entire experience had gone beyond her wildest imagination. As if every fantasy she’d ever had had come to life, received a perfect form and function, and then got doubled.

Oh my
.

Takeshi was the entire package. Too bad he was psychotic. Or something worse.

Well, Christine
. It was time. She’d wasted as much of it as she could. The only thing she could think to delay further was to do her nails. But Takeshi had slipped as a host in that arena. The only manicure item he stocked was a nail file. Christine slid it along her nails as she left the bathroom, advanced across the bedroom floor, stopped for a moment at the door. Took a deep breath. Watched her hand on the door handle. She turned it. And walked out.

Oh, good night
.

She’d forgotten his attire. Or lack, thereof. He was pacing. In those low-slung pants? On that physique?
Hell’s bells
. The man needed a warning label on him. Or a ton of security. And he had the ability to move faster than the eye could track. He’d been at the wall leading presumably to the pilot when he saw her. The next moment he was standing in front of her. She looked up. Her jaw dropped. So did the nail file.

“
Watashi no ai.
You took forever. And you are so beautiful. So. Very. Beautiful.”

She couldn’t think of one reply. Not one.

“I do not deserve such beauty.”

“Uh. Takeshi?”

“
Hai?
”

He stepped closer, violating any idea of personal space. Christine said the first thing that came into her mind.

“You...have a lot of scars.”

He glanced down as if verifying. Looked back. Snagged her gaze with his. She might as well just melt in place. That’s what it felt like. She only hoped it didn’t look it.

“We used real weapons in the
dojo
.”

“Real. Weapons.” They weren’t questions. It was all she could manage.

“I was not always as proficient as I am now. We all had scars from failures. They...bother you?”

She shook her head. “They’re like desecrations to a work of art.”

He smiled. Her heart gave a flutter that almost pained. She told herself he was an assassin. A killing machine. That should be enough to halt any desire for contact with him. But.
Oh!
She could so very easily fall for him.

Hard.

And far.

“Come. Sit. It is time to tell you everything.” He held out his hand.

“Must you?”

She didn’t think she’d verbalized it, but his sharp glance indicated otherwise. Christine took his hand and snapped back with the same motion he used. An electrical charge, or something as powerful, had zapped them both. His shocked look probably mirrored hers.

Oh. This was going downhill. Fast.

She might need a stiff drink. And she never drank.

“Perhaps we should not touch...just yet,” he offered.

Christine nodded. She felt so odd. She was even starting to tremble. It was three steps to the reclining chairs. It looked like four times that. She dropped into the closest one. Leather surrounded her, warming from contact with her body. Takeshi took the one beside her. Swiveled it to face her.

Damn
. He really was gorgeous. A knot formed in her throat. It was going to be hard to swallow around it. But then he opened his mouth and gave her some Neo-Confucianism bullshit that cancelled out some of the sensual allure he wielded.

“There are several stages to existence,” he said.

Christine lifted her brows. Swallowed. She’d been right. The knot hurt with the motion. “I’d like to know about the here and now. Okay?”

“It is a...tangled story. I am trying to find a good starting place.”

She closed her eyes. Took a deep breath. Counted to five. Clichés raced through her mind. It was time for the shit to hit the fan. Pay the piper. The devil was about to get his due. No more beating about the bush. It was all so stupid. She opened her eyes. Looked right into his. And somehow got her mouth to work.

“You had fangs, Takeshi.”

“Did I?”

“I saw them. You bit me. I have puncture marks. In more than one place.” She rubbed at her neck.

“That was...uh. You must forgive me. I lost control.”

He flushed.
Damn everything
. The guy was the epitome of masculine beauty. It was already difficult to talk with him. He had to go and make it harder? Christine pulled her glaze from his to a spot behind his head. That was better.

“I don’t like games,” she told him.

“I have never played them.”

“You’re playing one now.”

“Do you seek to anger me? Is that it? You wish to alter emotion to something else? It is a good ploy. And you are very good. But I do not think it will work. You are too beautiful. Much too precious. You are my mate. And I am yours. Do you understand? My heart beats with yours. Every breath you take is mine. And vice versa.”

“Takeshi. Please? I’m trying to reach the facts here.”

“I love you. I adore you. And I worship you. Those are facts.”

She moved her gaze back to him. She didn’t dare connect with his eyes again, but just looking at his chin might suffice. It didn’t. She couldn’t help seeing his entire torso. He had the black silk at his back. Black leather behind that. The darkness framed him. She swallowed again. The knot in her throat shifted.
Damned thing
.

“We...just met.”

“In this lifetime, perhaps.”

“Come on, Takeshi. Enough with the cryptic stuff. I’m not a follower of Confucius. He was much too misogynistic for me. I’m not a Buddhist. They’re too passive. I don’t believe in reincarnation, either. I’ll just stop. There’s a long list of things I don’t believe. I just want some answers. Okay?”

“You are my mate, Christine. And a vampire only gets one.”

Damn it.
He said the ‘V’ word.
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.
He’d stuck the word out in the open. Now she had to deal with it. This was going to get sticky. She’d dealt with crazy people before. Her adoptive mother had been certifiably insane. She’d learned the other words for mental conditions. Delusion. Psychosis. Schizophrenia. Christine’s heart felt like a caged animal beating at its bars. It hurt. She almost winced.

“Look. Um. Takeshi. I’ve heard of people who play...at being vampires. They dress up. Have their teeth fixed. Go to secret parties. Bite each other. Drink...blood. It isn’t real.”

“Perhaps not. But I am not one of them. I truly am a vampire.”

“Vampires are not real. They don’t exist.”

“We do. We have for millennia.”

“No way. Wait a sec. Did you just say...
we
?”

He nodded. He had spikes just starting to emerge through his lips. Two of them. Where his canines would be. A strange warmth started to permeate the cabin. Creating an almost physical presence. Sensitizing.

She shook her head. It didn’t clear anything. If anything, the air about her appeared to have a haze filtering through it.
Weird.

“I am not the only vampire in the world, my love. I belong to a league of them.”

“League?”
Why wasn’t anything making sense?

“Yes. I am with the Vampire Assassin League.”

“Oh no. No. This is insane. I’m having a dream episode that keeps getting more entangled and engrossed. And it just won’t end. You’re telling me you’re...dead?”

“Undead.
Hai.”

“What about the...um. The...oh, I’ll quit vacillating here, and just say it. What about the...sex? Well? I did not make love with a dead thing. Or maybe I should say undead. Whatever. Oh. Dear. I think I’m going to be ill.” And her voice really should be sounding more assertive. Not breathless. Anticipatory.

“Oh,
watashi no ai.
I say it wrong. I am not undead. Not anymore. Finding you has changed me. I have been reanimated. Everywhere.”

“No. I can’t believe this. I can’t. I just...can’t. Vampires don’t exist. They don’t. They can’t. If they existed, there would be reports. Something tangible I could look at.”

“There are many reports. In any number of tomes. Allowing a reader to infer what they wish.”

“Books? You’re talking about...books?”

He shrugged again. She really wished he’d cease that. It moved all kinds of portions of his chest. And the strange haze in the cabin acted like a glaze of oil. He was already the most physically striking man she’d ever seen. He didn’t need the enhancement. But this was impossible. She was seeing things that couldn’t exist and sensing things that had no basis in reality. Christine straightened in her chair. Folded her arms. Tried to find the expert negotiator side of her personality.

“That’s fiction, Takeshi. It isn’t real.”

“Only to the skeptical mind.”

“Well. You’re dealing with one. Total skeptic here. If I can’t see it, touch it, taste it...well, you get the picture. How long is this flight? I-I...really wanted this to have a different ending, and...”

Her words trailed off. Her mind went on hiatus. She couldn’t finish. He smiled as if she’d said something amusing. The gesture put really long, white, sharp-looking fangs on display. They looked pretty damned real, too.

Oh shit. Oh shit.
Those fangs should be frightening the hell out of her. They didn’t. For some reason, she felt even warmer. More intrigued. Interested. Enthralled.

“The flight duration will not matter,
watashi no ai.
We are mates. There is no end for us. Our union is forever.”

“Forever?”
Why didn’t that sound as bad as it should?

“You do understand? I am not playing a game. I am telling you the truth. I am a vampire. We exist. Humans are not aware of us because we do not wish to be seen. Is it so hard to comprehend?”

She was in the grasp of something sensual. Earthy. It wafted about her like incense smoke, blending with the odd haze. She was surprised she actually nodded.

“Ninjas have the same reputation. Just because you haven’t heard or seen them, does that make them nonexistent, as well?”

“Ninjas existed. They are a historical fact. They are not figments of someone’s imagination.”

“Ninjas still exist, love.”

“Are you going to tell me there’s a league of ninjas hiding in plain sight, too?”