Tricked: A Dark Protectors Novella (2 page)

taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can

protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to

protect herself and stay alive.

Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.

And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a

point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.

And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that

he might hear the rest of my dark tale.

As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new

one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before

you now.

Chapter 1

Ronni Alexander settled back into the cushiony sofa in her small loft outside of New York City and forced her expression into calm lines. “Thank you for the ride home.” Yeah, she’d meant the words as a dismissal.

Apparently Jared Reese didn’t know how to take a hint. “You’re more than welcome.” His voice was husky to the point of being gritty and settled along her skin like it wanted to stay. He stood in the center of her living room, making the area seem so much smaller than it normally appeared. He was the tallest, broadest, and most dangerous person she’d ever invited into her home, and the jewel colors around him only emphasized his darkness.

Black hair, black eyes, black leather jacket. But it wasn’t just the absence of color. It was the look in those eyes and the tension in that tight body.

She cleared her throat and moved to stand.

He waved her back down. “I’m not leaving until we discuss my offer.” He shrugged out of his jacket.

The play of muscle, raw and powerful, through his faded T-shirt caught her attention. She shook her head. “Not now. I’ll call you.”

His full lips twitched, and a sparkle lightened those eyes just enough to make them gleam like a predator hunting at night. “The offer is only good for the next hour or so.” He sat and the very faded denim across his thighs stretched. The man overwhelmed the oversized reading chair. “Not that you have much time left.”

She swallowed. “Can you tell how long?”

“No, but I can hear your heart beating with a stutter way too slowly.” He lowered his chin and studied her, his rugged face set in strong lines. “Even your lips are blue from lack of oxygen, Veronica.”

Only her grandmother back in Colombia used her full name—and usually when Ronni was in trouble. But at the moment, she had more important things to concentrate on while her brain still worked. If she died, she’d fail once again. Just like her father had said she would. She shook her head, banishing thoughts of her crappy childhood and the fact that he’d never see what she’d become, considering he’d died years ago. “Show me again,” she said softly, turning her attention back to the man inside her apartment.

Jared tilted his head to the side. “You have the oddest fascination, lady.”

She nodded. “Probably.”

He sighed and opened his mouth, allowing razor-sharp fangs to slide down.

She shivered, her gaze caught. “Amazing.”

He rolled his eyes, and the fangs disappeared. “Not really.”

Yes, really. Vampires existed. As in really, really, really existed. She rubbed her legs, trying to warm her freezing hands. “How don’t we humans know about you?”

“Don’t want you to,” he said, surveying the small apartment decorated with pumpkins, ghouls, and ghosts. “You’re a couple of seasons behind with the decor.”

Yeah, she should probably have her tree up. Christmas would arrive in about two weeks. “I know. I became ill around Halloween and haven’t taken the time to redecorate. No energy, to be honest. However, I love Halloween, so these decorations make me feel happy.” Her hands trembled. Heaviness settled on her shoulders, weakening her arms. She blinked and tried to keep her eyes open. “Our legends aren’t true, then. I mean, you can go into sunlight, right?”

“Yep.”

She tried to sit up straighter. “What if I staked you in the heart?”

“You’d just piss me off,” he said evenly.

Even though it wasn’t a threat, she caught an undercurrent of truth in the statement. Pissing him off would probably be a bad idea. “What can kill you?”

“Beheading.” He glanced at the snow falling outside the window, energy flowing from him. “I think full burning might work, but it’d have to be to the point of ashes, you know?”

“Of course,” she said with just a hint of bewilderment.

“Make a decision, Veronica.” His focus returned absolutely to her, power in his eyes and strength in every movement. How was he even real?

She tried to face him when all her defenses were just gone. “I have more questions.”

“Of course you do,” he muttered, wiping a hand across his eyes. “Fine. That’s fair. Ask away.”

What did one ask a vampire? What if she did accept his offer? “Do you have bags of blood in your refrigerator?”

He blinked. “God, no. Why?”

Oh, crap. So he fed on humans. Would he want to feed on her? “You want to ah, mate me, so you have blood?”

His brows drew down. “Huh?”

A shiver racked her.

“Sweetheart.” He stood and grabbed a blanket off the sofa to wrap around her. “You’re weakening.”

She’d been weakening for about two months. Her heart hitched at his kindness. His protection. What would it be like to truly be with a man like him? “That’s what happens when your heart slowly dies. Well, when a human heart dies. Do you have a heart?”

“Yes.” He sat back down, his elbows on his knees, his body leaning toward her. “Our anatomy is just like yours, except we have more chromosomal pairs that make us essentially immortal. Human to vampire is a lot like comparing plants to humans—on a chromosomal level.”

Fascinating and oh so very tempting. “Do you hunt humans for blood?”

His expression cleared. “Oh. I get it. No. We make our own blood and don’t need yours. Well, we do bite during battle or sex, but that’s more of survival and choice.”

Sex. Heat bloomed into her face. “Legends are really wrong.”

“Yep.” He rubbed his whiskered chin.

How had she missed such information? Leave it to Olly to discover the truth. “Will Olivia become a vampire?”

“No. Your friend and my brother plan to mate. Her chromosomal pairs will duplicate until she’s almost immortal, but that’s the only change.” He leaned forward even more, and his masculine scent settled all around her. “I’m offering you the same thing, Veronica. If we mate, you’ll become immortal and you won’t die from this disease.”

It wasn’t a disease. Yet it was going to kill her, without question. Probably within a week or so. What would immortality be like? Probably pretty freaking awesome. If nothing else, it’d give her time to hunt down the bastard who thought he’d killed her, finally proving her father wrong. She was strong, and she could survive in this world. Yet, she didn’t know this man. “Why are you offering?” She truly didn’t understand.

He shrugged. “Family is everything to us. My brother loves your best friend, and she’s heartbroken that you’re about to die. If you live, then maybe I’d see more of Chalton.”

Was that a glimmer of sweetness revealed in the badass? He obviously loved his brother. Tough guys understood loyalty, now didn’t they? As a psychologist, Ronni loved delving into motivations. “Olivia said that you and your brother haven’t talked in a long time.”

“We haven’t, and I want to change that.” He flattened a hand on his jeans. A big and broad hand. “It’s only been a century, but even so. I’ve missed him.”

A century? “How old are you?”

“Ah, I think about four hundred and twenty-seven?” He quirked his lip. “Maybe twenty-eight. Time runs together.”

He looked thirty, tops. She tried to grasp the new reality and studied his face. Way too rough to be called handsome, the hard ridges and planes created a wild beauty that matched the glint in his eyes. Straight nose, high cheekbones, masculine mouth.

A predator harder to catch than the wind.

She shook her head. Now she was becoming poetic. Yep. She was near death. “You said earlier that mating is forever.” She barely kept from stuttering on the word “mating.”

“It is.” He reached for her, enclosing her chilled hand in warmth.

Energy thrummed between them, heating her throughout. When was the last time she’d been warm? “But Olivia said it might not be?” What if the mating was just temporary? Ronni would take the immortality if it was that easy, wouldn’t she?

Jared shook his head. “It’s forever, Veronica. While there is a virus that has negated a mating bond well after one party has died, it hasn’t been tried in two living mates, and it won’t be in our case. Too dangerous, and I won’t allow it.”

Warning crept up her spine.

Every once in a while, his mask slipped. Oh, on the surface, he was calm and gentle…even reasonable.

Yet…a restless energy crackled from him. A force with strength she barely imagined but could sense. On a primitive level, she knew without question there was more to Jared Reese than he was letting her see. What exactly was a vampire?

He’d have her believe he was just another species.

So was the jaguar.

Even in her weakened state, her body hummed near him as if his primitive energy captured hers. “Since you’re so old, I’ll let the word ‘allowed’ pass. This time.” It took all her strength, mental and physical, to meet his gaze without blinking.

“Ah.” He didn’t move an inch but somehow seemed bigger. Stronger. More focused. “It’s good we’re having this chat.”

The entire world felt unsteady around her. “What do you want from me, Jared?”

It was the first time she’d used his name, and by the straightening of his body, he knew it. “Excuse me?”

“You’re offering me life and immortality. What do you want from me?” Favors were never free, and she had to know the full facts before agreeing. The way he looked at her kept her pinned in place. She was so out of her depth with him. “There has to be something.”

His expression revealed absolutely nothing. “All right. Here it is. Mating you gets me three things I want. One, I get to see more of my brother. Two, I get my mother and all other relatives off my back about finding a mate. Three, someday I get children.”

She leaned back into the sofa, her breath heating. “From me.”

His cheek creased. “Yeah. From you.”

So this was more than a one-night deal. “Wait a minute.”

He held up a hand. “I don’t mean tomorrow or even during this century. Five hundred years from now would be fine. But someday, I do want a family. As my mate, you’re pretty much the only one who can give me sons.”

“Or daughters,” she said almost automatically, her mind spinning.

“No.” He smiled now, transforming his face into raw beauty. “Vampires are male only. We’d have sons.”

Sons. Big, strong, dark little boys. Her damaged heart thumped. Strong and nearly immortal boys who she could adore forever. “What about love?” she asked, surprising herself.

“Even for humans, arranged marriages work out more than those founded by love,” he said evenly. “I want an agreement and you get to live. Take the deal.”

She came from a long line of passionate women, some still in Colombia, and others scattered across the world. Love meant something to them and to her. “You’ve never been in love,” she mused.

“Wrong.” He tightened his hold on her hand. “I did love a woman, a witch, and she mated somebody else two centuries ago.”

A witch? Seriously? Ronnie jerked her head. “Witches exist?”

“Yep. Another species. They use quantum physics to alter matter.”

Wow. Life was so different than she’d imagined. She’d find out more about witches later. How could any woman reject love from a man like this? The witch must be crazy. Even without love, an offer from a guy like Jared was tempting. He was sex and danger personified. “You think you won’t find it again. You might.”

He flipped his hand over and captured both of hers in a reassuring hold. “Nope. I’m not looking for love again, and that’s just fine with me. I like the thought of our arrangement.”

An arranged mating. She’d be giving up love but gaining life. A forever with Jared. Intrigue had her trying to concentrate. “I’m not ready to die,” she whispered, her chest compressing.

“Then don’t die.”

It was so simple for him, but she could barely think straight. Not enough oxygen was reaching her brain, and she knew it. “I need to rest before I make a decision.”

“Your head won’t be any clearer than it is right now,” Jared said, his face implacable.

“Okay.” She tugged her hands free to dig them into her hair. “Say we mate. Olivia says it’s sex with a bite and forever.” Sex. With Jared. With that body.

“Yes.”

“Then what? You take off, and we meet up again in about five hundred years?” She tried to ignore her clamoring body and concentrate on the facts. To have kids. Yeah. That kind of thing could be scheduled, probably. Just think what she could accomplish in five centuries.

“Well, not exactly. I’d set you up with a nice place and a monthly allowance, and you can do what you want.” He breathed out. “I’d visit periodically to see you and my family.”

Humor burst through her. Had he really just used the word
allowance
? “You’re kidding.” She grinned.

“No.”

She laughed, unable to help herself. “You want a mistress. Not a mate.”

“No, I don’t.” He frowned, his entire face angled in one way or another.

Intriguing. She could spend an entire century just deciphering his expressions. “Sure. You keep me in style and show up for a good lay once in a while. How convenient.”

His nostrils flared. “If we mate, we’re the only people we can have sex with. If either of us tries to get intimate with somebody else, the mating allergy kicks in, and it totally sucks. Think the worse attack of poison ivy imaginable.”

“Then there
are
requirements you want.” The idea of sex with him shot a welcomed energy through her body to pulse in her erogenous zones. Yet she was no man’s plaything, whether he saved her life or not. “I think you need to be a little clearer with your demands here.”