What sort of nun wore black lace underwear?
He was looking forward to finding out.
As though she could sense his regard, her lashes flickered open, and she caught his gaze. She blinked a couple of times, then closed her eyes again and turned her face away.
He stifled a yawn. It was three in the morning. Dawn came early at this time of year, and while he no longer had to sleep through the daylight hours, he functioned better if he did. And he needed to function to the best of his abilities if he was going to get the better of Andarta for a second time. The first time he had tricked her, taken her by surprise. She’d known he loved her and hadn’t expected treachery from him. Despite what she’d done.
For a brief moment, he considered the possibility of going back to her. Ruling at her side. But there was no way. He was a different person. While he would never under any circumstances consider himself a good man, he’d come to accept that he wasn’t evil either. He’d taken a long time to realize that, but now he had a code of ethics he lived by and lines that he wouldn’t cross.
The truth was, he’d done worse things as a human than he had as a vampire. How many had he sacrificed to appease the gods he now knew to be nothing more than myth and legend?
There were only a couple of hours of nighttime remaining. He’d put the nuns in the cells for the day—they might be more willing to talk freely after a few hours of imprisonment. He also needed to talk to Carl and find out what had gone on with Jack. He’d had a quick call to say that he’d followed him back to the Isle of Dogs, but that the police had staked out the house and Jack had made himself scarce. Piers had told Carl to stay at the house, see if he could get a chance to search the place once the police finished. It was unlikely, but maybe Jack had hidden the Key there. Without the Key, Andarta’s movements would be limited even after she had regained her full power.
They pulled into the parking garage beneath the Order. Christian turned to him, the engine still running. “I’m heading home,” he said. “Will you be okay?”
Piers glanced at him. “What? You think I can’t handle a couple of nuns?”
“I was thinking more of this Jack character.”
“I doubt we’ll see him or hear from him again tonight,” Piers answered. “I’m just going to have a talk with Carl and call it a night.”
“What about those two?” Christian waved a hand to the rear of the car. Piers followed his gaze. Sister Rosa or “Roz” or whatever her name was, was sitting upright now, her eyes wide open, though they narrowed when she caught him watching her. The other sister was slumped with her head on Sister Rosa’s shoulder, her eyes closed.
“We’ll put them somewhere safe tonight and interrogate them tomorrow.” He used the word interrogate on purpose. Hopefully, they would think about it through the long day. It might soften them up for the evening.
The thing was, he couldn’t for the life of him think of what their story could be. How did Sister Rosa fit into all this? Was she a real nun? He was beginning to believe it was doubtful. Though the other was obviously the real thing, and she believed Sister Rosa. He shook his head. No doubt, he would find out tomorrow night.
He climbed out of the vehicle, opened the back door, and reached inside to pull her out. She snatched her arm away. “I can manage.”
Shrugging, he stepped back while she scrambled out, still clutching her robe in front with one hand, her bag with the other. The second sister climbed out behind her.
Christian pulled away and disappeared up the ramp.
“Come on,” Piers said and strode toward the elevators. Once inside, he pressed the button for the second to lowest level, where the cells were situated. His living quarters were on the lowest level, and he briefly contemplated taking her there instead, but he needed time alone to think through what his next move should be. No, she’d be better in the cells for the day.
The level with the cells was not designed to be comforting. Rather, it was supposed to make the occupants contemplate some dire possibilities. The corridor was narrow and bare, except for strip lights along the ceiling.
He cast a glance behind him. She was obviously trying to pretend that she wasn’t intimidated by her surroundings, but her full lower lip was caught between her white teeth, and he could see the flutter of her pulse at her throat where the blood ran close to the surface. The other sister had shrunk in on herself and appeared even smaller, her pale eyes scared. He felt a flicker of something he thought must be guilt. The idea shocked him.
He came to a halt in front of a cell door, pressed his thumb to the lock panel beside it, and the door slid open. “You in here,” he said to Sister Maria.
“Will we be here long?” Roz asked.
He shrugged. “That depends.”
“Keep us together.” When he remained silent, she reached out and rested a hand on his arm. “Please. Can’t you see she’s terrified?”
Yeah, terrified about covered it; her whole body was shaking. He was officially a monster who terrorized nuns. It shouldn’t bother him. But it did. He nodded once, almost ashamed of himself for giving in.
He hustled them both into the cell. It was small, about ten feet by ten feet, a narrow cot the only furniture and toilet facilities through a gap in the wall opposite. They’d have to take turns on the cot. They didn’t do double rooms.
“Bag,” he said.
She clutched it tighter. “Can’t I keep it?”
“Let me see.”
Reluctantly she opened it and showed him the contents. A laptop and a cell phone. She would get no signal down here, so there was no way she could use either to make contact with the outside world, and he shrugged. “Why not.”
He stood looking down at her for a minute. The wound at her neck had closed, but he could still see the mark of his fangs, and his cock twitched at the memory. Soon, he promised himself.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the sex toy and tossed it onto the small cot. “Something to keep you company.”
…
Roz glared at the door as it slid closed behind his retreating back. Dropping her bag onto the small cot, she looked around their accommodation. Hardly five star—the place was grim, but she’d been in worse. Beside her, Maria was staring at the huge pink vibrator on the bed as though she had no clue what it was. Roz reached down and rammed it into her bag. Out of sight, out of mind—she really didn’t want to think about sex right now. Certainly, she didn’t want to think about mind-blowing orgasm number two at the hands, or rather the teeth, of Mr. Sexy Vampire.
She was in trouble. Big trouble.
“Sit down before you fall down,” she said to Maria. The other woman was clearly at the end of her tether, but at least she was still upright and wasn’t screaming.
Maria sank down onto the cot, wringing her hands together. “Thank you.,”
“For what?”
“For asking to stay together. I know I must be a nuisance to you.”
Roz was exploring their new home. It wasn’t much, but at least it had a toilet and a small sink. She ran some water and splashed her face. There was no mirror, but that was hardly surprising. Stroking her fingers down over her throat, she could feel the slightly raised scar where he’d bitten her. Already the wound was closed and healing. Maybe something in the vampire’s saliva? Ugh!
When she returned to the other part of the cell, Maria was in exactly the same position. Roz ignored her for the moment. Perching on the edge of the cot, she pulled her laptop out of her bag. She switched it on and tried her cell phone while it started up. There was no signal, which didn’t surprise her. And no internet reception on the laptop, which was hardly surprising either. He wouldn’t have let her keep them if he’d believed she could reach the outside.