“I wanted to see if you’d come back to me.”
“Well I didn’t want to then and I don’t now.” With stunning clarity, she realized she meant that. If he’d asked her back, even with the wine and old memories, she’d have told him no. “Why did you even tell me this, Dmetri?”
He looked away. “Because I felt bad. I wasn’t going to give you the bottle after you said you didn’t want to walk with me, but you took it from my damn hand. I didn’t know what to do. I sure as hell didn’t want to tell you what was in there. Your human, I mean Jacks, might have had a fit.”
Vera smiled at the thought of Jacks going after Dmetri for her honor, and he would have. Feeling better for the first time since the meeting, she waved goodbye and went to find Jacks.
Chapter Seven
Jacks had already finished cleaning his Glock and was sharpening his KA-BAR knife when Vera returned. Not following her had been one of the hardest challenges in his life and he didn’t know what to make of it.
She looked better, the tears had dried up from her face, and color had returned to her cheeks. God she was beautiful. It hurt him just to look at her. She wasn’t model beautiful either. Well, maybe she was but he didn’t know jack shit about that. He knew that the more he looked at her, the more beautiful she became.
He liked the way her coffee-colored hair fell just to her chin and how her bangs stopped just above her eyebrows. It made her look sophisticated and out of his league all at the same time. He felt a tic form under his right eye and silently he cursed himself.
What the fuck was happening to him? His gut felt tight and unsure like he’d eaten something bad, and his heartbeat faster every time she was around him. He was probably just getting old, a fucking heart attack waiting to happen.
It didn’t that she was still wearing one of those damn dresses she seemed to like so much. His dick pulsed in his jeans and he kicked a leg out to ease the pressure. There was something about her he hadn’t figured out. There was much about her he had. Like that she’d loved that vampire Dmetri, hell anyone could see that. She’d worn it in her hurt eyes so easily.
But now he could see it was gone. He’d seen the change in her this afternoon as she’d yelled at the blond vampire. He’d been so proud of her, he’d wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her good and long. Course, he got to do more than that later.
More tightening pressure in his groin and he was forced to kick out his other leg or risk cutting off all blood to his cock.
Shit, maybe that’s what he needed. That or a swim in the Arctic Ocean.
He also knew that she was alone. She looked so sad all the time, but the second someone started talking to her she plastered on a sarcastic smile and fake personality. Why’d she do it? Those were questions he burned to get an answer for, but first there was something driving him.
He watched her pour a glass of water and settle into a chair in front of the empty fireplace; Jacks crossed to her and took the seat next to her. She glanced at him for the first time since returning and Jacks didn’t miss the nervous darting of her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Her thing eyebrows lifted past her bangs and her blue eyes peeked quickly at him then fluttered away. “Nothing’s wrong. Except the whole Kategan losing their land thing.” She shrugged as if to say ‘no biggie.’ Jacks relaxed in the chair, kicking his legs out in front of him to relieve that damned bulge in his crotch. Fucking dick never listened. If it had, he wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with and Rome’s mate wouldn’t have been cut up like Zorro went at her.
He didn’t miss the fact that Vera watched his legs then trailed up them to stop at his cock that was trying to push its way out of his zipper. Her cheeks flushed and he would have given a tooth to know what she was thinking at that moment. He knew what he was thinking: her sweet little tongue sucking his cock, right now with her between his legs.
“I know that’s bothering you, but that’s not what I meant. Something else happened while you were gone.”
She glanced away from him and scoffed. “And you guessed that because you spent some time working with Ms. Cleo and some of her psychic abilities rubbed off on you?”
“No, because when you came back the tears were dried up, but your back was so rigid it was a wonder your spine didn’t snap.” She turned and glared at him. This man had a knack for details that drove her past frustration and into gonna-start-slapping mode.
“Well aren’t you a regular Sherlock Holmes.” He didn’t even crack a smile, just stared at her, waiting. Sighing heavily, she shook her head and said, “If you must know then Dmetri and I had a little talk.”
She must be evil because a delicious feminine thrill flared inside her when his eyes darkened with anger, and his hands curled into loose fists. She could easily envision him wielding that big knife she’d seen him sharpening and carrying that shiny black gun on the table with intimate familiarity.
“About what,” he said between clenched teeth. She smiled at him, actually smiled. Not that fake one either, but a beautiful, thrilled smile that made his heart feel weird in his chest.
“About how he drugged that wine he gave me with an aphrodisiac.” He nearly threw himself out of the chair, but then she was on top of him in the blink of an eye.
Her eyes were glowing, not brightly, but a dim glow that reminded him of catching a deer in the headlights. He caught her hips in his hands as she crawled over his body, wrapping her arms around his neck and rubbing her cheek across his stubble like a cat. She’s lykaen not human. It was a little too late to have reservations about that now, dipshit.
“God damn,” he said, his throat so dry it was a croak. She rubbed her hands through his short hair and it took every ounce of his will not to roll his eyes into the back of his head. She was trying to distract him. Fuck that.
“What was in the aphrodisiac?”
“Vampire blood.”
His arms looped around her waist and brought her flush against his big chest. She gave a soft little sigh and snuggled into him. Damn she smelled good, felt good. He wanted to lift up her dress and feel all the glorious skin that he knew was baby soft, but he needed to know something first. Something that had been driving him crazy all day.
“Why didn’t you want me to take you from behind today?” She stiffened so quickly against him; it took a second for his mind to register the change. The soft woman he’d been holding now felt like a block of ice. She started to pull away so he snatched her wrists to keep her there, locking his arm tight around her. And she fought him, he could feel her using her strength to push against him...testing him. When she finally lifted her gaze to his it was hard—all the heat of the moment gone like a blown-out match.
“That’s none of your business.”
“Yes it is. I’m here to protect you, which makes it my business. There’s something between us, which also makes it my business. And I want to be inside you right now, which really makes it my business. I swear I’m not going to leave you alone about this until you tell me.”
She looked away, rolling her eyes. “There’s nothing between us right now but your ego.”
“Bullshit,” he said holding her closer, forcing her down into his arms. “Don’t lie to me, Vera. I don’t know what this is, I’ve never felt this before, and I’ve felt a lot in my life. Fear, horror, pain, shock, but this...I know you feel it too. Tell why you didn’t want me to.”
It was an order if she’d ever heard one. And she didn’t know what it was. It could have been his order, his persistence, her worry over the Kategan land, or some evil fairy sitting on her shoulder goading her, but she looked away and told the truth.