There’s only a few hours until dawn and he’ll need to speak with me before then. What did you have in mind?”
“Can I hang in your apartment?” This request cost me a piece of my soul.
Tane’s brow shot up. “From what?” The utter shock on his face confused me for a moment.
“I don’t mean literally.” I needed to watch my language. Rurik understood my slang, obviously Tane didn’t. “Can I stay with you until Rurik returns?” I hadn’t been alone since my night with Luckard. Like it or not, I was a chicken. A coward.
“Oh.” He shook his head and gave a soft chuckle. “That’s a terrible expression to use after being part of an execution. Come along then, but I don’t have anything to occupy you.”
“Neither do I.” Boredom trumped fear.
Chapter Fourteen
Tane deserted me in the sitting area of the apartment and went to a back room, leaving me to explore. I wandered along the lengths of the walls. Carved wooden masks in different styles decorated the area, some looked ancient and cracked. The silence was of museum quality and I wished for little placards to describe each item.
Something bothered me about them, though. I stopped in my tracks and examined them closer. They all had fangs. With the tip of my finger, I touched one of the points.
“They’re all symbols of the vampire myth.” Tane’s breath brushed my ear as he spoke. A cattle prod set on maximum would have stunned me less. He chuckled as I jumped. “You’re so nervous.” He tried to place a hand on my shoulder.
I shrugged it off. “I’ve had a rough week. I think I’m entitled.” The intensity of his presence sent tingles over my skin. “Where did you get them?”
“All over the world and over the course of my existence, some of the best have disintegrated during that time. Vampires haven’t always hid in the dark. Pre-history humans worshipped us as gods once.” Still as stone, he stood next to me, staring at part of his past on the wall. What had he experienced?
I lamented my lost love, Laurent, my husband stolen away by cancer. How many loved ones had Tane lost? Each loss must have left a mark on him. Yet he could still laugh, if rare, and have mercy, if rarer still.
Someone tried to kill him, though. We all assumed power the reason behind the madness, maybe it was more personal. “Tane?” I tasted his name as if for the first time.
He turned his handsome, strong face in my direction. Firm lips drawn in a straight line and dark eyes a mirror, I always found him difficult to read.
“Why did Eric drug you? Weren’t you in love?” Yes, tact was my middle name.
The corners of his mouth dipped while he stared over my left shoulder at the masks.
“Yes we were. But time changes all things.” His gaze flicked to mine. “One day you’ll understand this. Eric had trouble adapting to the modern world with all its laws and democracies.” The constant veil he wore over his eyes lifted for a second. Grief lived in there, and loneliness.
I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to be left alone.
“He became jealous. Things only got worse after Budapest.”
“Can you blame him?” I cringed as soon as the question popped out like a little devil from my big fat mouth.
His sad eyes transformed into a blaze of dark indignation. “What do you mean?” He stepped closer.
I retreated against a small oak bureau. Something sharp stabbed my back and I squeaked.
The door to the apartment opened and Rurik stepped inside his smile fading as he observed us.
I twisted to escape Tane’s scrutiny and knocked the offending knickknack poking my skin off the surface. My heart stopped while I watched the antique topple.
Tane gasped, but caught the little statue before I blinked.
“I wanted to make sure you weren’t trying to kill each other.” Rurik crossed his arms over his chest. It made the buttons on his shirt strain. “Looks as if I came in time.”
“Clumsy!” Tane glared at me. “It’s the one remaining thing I have from—from a past friend.” He held a slim Egyptian statue in his palm. “You almost smashed it.” With a gentle touch, he traced a fingertip over the delicate face. “What did you mean about Budapest and Eric?” He set the antiquity back on the bureau then guided me away.
“You treated him like shit. Ordering him around like a slave, especially after that blood trial with Colby.”
“It was Eric’s idea. He always wanted to push the limit, to test himself.” He grabbed my arm. “I only did what he asked.”
“After you almost drained him of blood you sent him to drive the damn yacht.” I tried to yank my arm out of his grasp.
“Who else could I send?” Tane glared at Rurik. “You should control her better than this.”
He laughed. “If I wanted to control my companion, I would have chosen a different person.”
Tane’s fingers tightened. “You definitely didn’t choose her for her mouth.”
My temper flared and I saw red. “You’re hurting me.” I took aim, pulled my arm back and poked Tane square in the eye.
“Son of bitch!” He covered his injury with his hand and a storm cloud of hurt brewed in his face.
I glanced at Rurik, who only raised an eyebrow my way as if to say you started this.
Somehow I did, and I’d end it, but Tane had different plans.
With an arm wrapped around my waist, he carried me to the sofa.
I slapped at his bald head. “Put me down.”
He ignored me and plunked onto the cushion then set me across his lap.
The realization of what he planned stunned me and I gasped as his hand landed with a loud slap on my ass. Wriggling didn’t help. It made my strapless dress threaten to fall off. A strong arm over my back held me in place and he repeated the spanks.
“Lift the skirt, you’ll make better contact.” Rurik’s instructions had me twisting to glare at him.
“Help me!” I demanded.
“No.” Rurik shook his head as he leaned against the wall of the entryway. “The both of you need to work things out on your own. I won’t be used as a referee for every single squabble.”
He watched as Tane slid my dress higher, exposing my white lace panties. Fingering the edges, he touched the hot, sore skin. “Nice.”
I howled and kicked. “Let me go. You don’t have the right.”
Tane punctuated each word with a spank. “I. Have. Every. Right.”
“You scum-sucking-zombie-breeder.” My bottom throbbed with my racing heart.
His deep laughter filled the room and the grip on my back lessened.
I slid off Tane’s lap and straightened my dress.
Tane wiped a tear from his eye. “Zombie breeder?”
The heat in my cheeks matched the fiery pain of my tush. I spun and fled the room, too mortified to retort, except to pause and give Rurik a hurt stare before slamming the door in his face.
I passed Tane’s guards doing my best not to run. Could they hear through the thick wooden door? As soon as I turned the corner, I sprinted to my room, not caring about cameras. Hot tears were ready to spill.
Gwen stood by my door, guarding an empty room.
“Some security you are,” I snapped, then stomped into the bedroom, leaving Gwen opened mouthed in the corridor. I kicked off my shoes and shoved a suitcase out of my way. My freaking dress slipped lower again. Growling, I unzipped and let it fall to the floor.
In the dresser mirror I examined my reddened behind. Bastard, spanked me like I was a kid. If I ground my teeth any harder I’d break a molar.
Rurik had stood and watched the whole thing. Yesterday, he’d been willing to scoop out Tane’s heart. What happened in the last twenty-four hours?
The garden moment, that’s what happened. I wished I’d heard what had been said between them.