A Forbidden Taking (6 page)

“Have a seat, Beau
Desjardin
. I would like to discuss a few things
with you.”

“I’ve things to see to, mistress. And
I have need to find Kyle. He and I had plans for this night and—”

“Perhaps you didn’t understand. I
didn’t ask you to come and sit with me, I told you to do so. Now sit.”

Beau didn’t have a choice. She was
as much his master when he was in this realm as Aaron himself. He moved over to
one of the couches and sat lazily onto it. Beau looked at the mistress of the realm
much like he’d done his female from the night before.

“If she doesn’t hit you again,
I’ll be surprised. You are an arrogant bastard, aren’t you? She has a name, use
it.”

“I’d prefer that you stay out of
my thoughts. They are mine and mine alone. As for the female.” Beau used the
title harshly. “I do not know her name.”

“Megan Reed. She isn’t going to be
a pushover, you know that, right? No, I can see that you don’t. I plan to have
her here tonight. You, of course, will not be. Here, I mean. I have things I’d
like to find out about her and it will go much better if you and your medieval
thinking weren’t here.”

Beau sat up straight and was
slammed back against the cushion before he could speak. He tried to break free,
but all that did was tighten the bands around his chest and legs.

“What’s the meaning of—”

“Shut up. You seem to think that
this is all a game. Well, I’ve got news for you, bucko, you do
not
want
to fuck with me. I have more power in my one finger than you could ever hope to
wield. When I tell you we’re going to talk, then we are going to talk.”

His fangs dropped and before he
could do much more than take a deep breath to shout at the mistress to let him
go he felt the first trickle of fear. Power surged in the room and made it feel
as if it had expanded with it. He looked at the woman who stood before him and
wondered if he was going to live.

“For now. You’ll listen to me
because if you don’t, then I will go to your own master and demand your head. I’m
in no mood to fuck with you over this. What do you know about Megan?”

“She’s my mate. I don’t need to
know any—”

“Don’t,” Sara snapped at him. “I
had the opportunity to search her mind last night. Something you should have
done before you started spouting off rules and regulations like a drill
sergeant.”

Beau shifted in the seat, as much
as she would allow anyway. He hadn’t done that or anything else. He’d found his
mate and he’d taken. Not that he could think how it was any business of this
woman’s.

“I make it my business.”

Beau looked at her. “Would it be
easier for you if I just let you rape my mind and not bother with conversation?
I cannot see how you are treating me any different than my treatment of the
fe…Megan.”

Sara sat down. “She was turned
against her will. Someone named Alfred took her humanity and made her what she
considers a monster. She lived in her car until a week ago and now she lives in
a cave.” She looked up at Beau with tears in her eyes. “She means to end her
life as soon as she figures out how to do it.”

Beau struggled against the bonds
that held him. He would find her and make… “If what you say is true then how
will I keep her from succeeding? She will end it whether I am her mate or not,
won’t she?”

“Yes. I believe she will. She is
clueless as to what she is. I’m not sure how she has survived all this time. I
don’t know what happened to her maker, but he’s dead. Well, at least she thinks
he is. Will you listen to me if I allow you to move?”

What he wanted to do was storm out
and find his mate, but Sara was right. He did need to know what to do. This was
not turning out the way he’d thought it would. When Sara laughed, he looked up
at her. “I will stay, but I would prefer that we speak our minds, not listen
in. It’s very…uncomfortable when you know all my thoughts.”

“Very well. But don’t give me a
reason to listen again. Every vampire in Aaron’s realm is precious to us. We’ll
not have one harmed through stupid thoughtless deeds.”

Beau didn’t say anything, but took
a deep breath as soon as she let him. He didn’t want to admit it, but she had
been right. He would lose his mate if he didn’t listen to this woman. He’d
already formed a bond with Megan and wanted to go and find her and keep her
safe. “Do you know where she is now? You said she was in a cave, do you know
where that might be?”

“I don’t, but Aaron does. He’s
speaking with the wolf pack now to have them protect her. The alpha, Bradley,
is a very good friend of ours and if anyone can see to her safety, he can.”

Beau stood, but before he started
to pace, as was his habit, he looked to Sara. At her nod he walked over to the
fireplace and then back twice before he felt calm enough to speak. “I would
bring her here for me to protect. She is my responsibility, not that of the
pack. And before you yell at me again, I will tell you that I was incorrect in
my first dealings with her.”

“No matter how you dress it up,
she’s still going to know you’re admitting you were wrong. Hello, Beau. Welcome
to our home.” Aaron MacManus stood in the doorway as he spoke.

He was an impressive vampire. Even
if Beau didn’t know he was a master he would guess it. Looking back at Sara as
she stared at her mate Beau could see the love and respect that they had for
one another. He wanted that he suddenly realized. All the things he’d said
about his mate were things he’d heard from his own father. Beau sat down.

His father had treated his mother
like a thing rather than a person. She’d had no answers for him when he’d lived
with them, as had none of the women of his family. They would send him to his
father or a male elder when he wasn’t around. Even his sisters were subject to
the same treatment and had probably been treated that way by their own
husbands.

“She will never trust me. That is
why you don’t let me go to her.” It was humiliating and humbling to know that
his mate needed to be protected from him.

“Not just you. Her mind is a
jumble of misinformation. She has no idea what she is. To her, she is a
monster. What little knowledge she has about herself is half truths and myths. She
believes that she can starve herself to death and is currently working toward
that end as we speak.”

Beau stood. He couldn’t, wouldn’t,
let her end her life that way. Not while he could do something to prevent it.
He paced and thought aloud. “I must go to her and speak with her. She and I, we
need to bond and mate so that I can know where she is. How do I do that if she
won’t let me near her?” Two more trips across the room and back. “Woo her. I
will
curiam suam
and make her see that I am not a
barbarus
, a barbarian.”

“Courting
her could work. You know how to do that, I assume?” Aaron had a look that Beau didn’t
like, but he didn’t comment. Sara had a look too, but he knew what that could
mean.

“
Oui
,
I am French, we invented the courting process. I will begin tonight. I will…you
will bring her here, yes?”

“Yes.
She will come to me. She won’t like it, but she’ll have to come.” Aaron stood
and put his hands on Beau’s shoulders. “You fuck this up and I will let Sara
have her fun. She’s in the last months of her pregnancy and she would like
nothing better than to beat the living shit out of you right now.”

Beau looked
over at the beautiful woman who looked as though she wouldn’t hurt a fly. He
knew that looks were deceiving and shuddered to think what “beating the living
shit” out of someone meant.

“I
will not fuck this up, sire. This I promise.”

~Chapter 7~

Megan
was on her way back to the cave when she noticed the wolf. He’d probably been
following her for some time, but she’d been so wrapped up in her thoughts that
she’d missed him. When she stopped, so did he.

“Go
away. Shoo. Go back to your home or den or whatever. I don’t want to play
tonight.”

He
sat down on his butt and cocked his head at her. Then something occurred to
her. She could piss him off. “If I attack you will you defend yourself against
me, little wolfie? I think if you bite my neck really hard with your big teeth,
you could take off my head.” She picked up a stick and swung it at him. “Come
on, come at me.”

He
backed up when she swiped at him. “Damn it. You can’t be afraid of a stick, can
you? Come on, attack me.”

“He
won’t. Not if he wants to live through the next hour. Hello, my dear, I’ve come
to take you to my home.”

Megan
whirled around, pulled the stick up, and pointed it at the man behind her. She
didn’t know this man. But he looked familiar. Taking several steps back she
nearly stumbled over the log behind her. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I
don’t know you. Now leave me.” She heard the wolf growl and wondered if they
were together. “You’ve been following me. The man from the other day, you were
there when I fed.”

“Yes.
I’m not going to hurt you, but you are mine. When you killed my child you
became my property and I have come to collect. Come with me and I’ll cause you
no more harm than necessary.”

Megan
wanted to die, but not like this. This man meant to cause her pain and a great
deal of it. She didn’t think he’d stop if she told him to either. “No thanks. I
don’t know who your kid is, but I’m sorry if he’s dead. I didn’t know how to
stop once I started drinking and I killed that man. Sorry, but that’s all I
know.”

He
took a step toward her then another. There was a slight breeze that brushed
over her face, then heat. Suddenly, there was a man standing in front of her,
his back to her. As soon as he spoke she knew real terror. Aaron MacManus.

“You’re in my territory without
permission. Who are you and what do you want of this child of mine?” His voice
was razor sharp, like a blade cutting through silk. He wasn’t talking loud, but
even Megan could feel the bite of his anger.

“I claim her in the name of the
Vampire Law. She killed my child and I want my boon. Even the great Aaron
Xavier MacManus cannot condemn another master for that.”

Megan stepped around Aaron. His
growl had her turn to glance at him. “I told him I was sorry. I didn’t mean to
kill that man. But I didn’t know how to stop and he died. If he makes it quick,
I’ll let him kill me and he’ll be satisfied and there won’t have to be any more
bloodshed over this.”

Aaron shoved her behind him again
and Megan hit the ground. She nearly stood up, but was knocked back again. Her
head exploded in pain. When she started to stand again something snapped at her
arm and held it. The wolf had her forearm in his mouth and while he didn’t
break the skin, he could very easily.

The night was very bright, the
moon shone over the two men fighting in an eerie kind of light. They were fast
and violent in their movements and before long it was over. At least she
thought it was. One man stood still and looked to the sky. When he turned toward
her the wolf let her go and backed away. Megan scrambled back quickly to get
away as well.

“When I put you behind me, stay
there. What the fuck were you going to do, get yourself hurt more? Damn it,
woman. Sara is going to be pissed as it is and if you’re hurt…are you hurt?”

“Don’t you yell at me, you
overgrown asshole. I had it under control. You just had to be this big vamp and
step in where you didn’t have any right to.” Megan stood up and punched Aaron
in the chest with her finger. “What the fuck do you want anyway?”

“This is the gratitude I get for
saving your ass? You have any idea what he had planned for your hide? You
ungrateful twit. I hope that Beau brings you over his knee for your stupidity.”

Megan turned away then back
around. Her fist connected with Aaron’s nose so fast he had no time to dodge
it. When he hit the ground, not from the impact, but from complete surprise,
she stood over him.

“I don’t care what he had planned
for me, don’t you understand? I’m a monster, I killed his child. Don’t you know
what that means? All those years of training and for what? I become a murderer
and a monster all in one night.”

She turned away to leave. Tears of
frustration blinded her for a moment or she would have seen the man before her.
When she ran into his chest the smell of him hit her system quickly and had her
leaning into him again.

He smelled of apples and cinnamon.
She had no idea a man could smell like that, but he did. Warm and soft came to
mind, though again he was far from it. His body was hard and tight. His muscles
moved under her hand and cheek like a well-tuned machine. She pulled back
quickly, but not quick enough to get away from his arms tightening around her.

“No, please do not leave. I enjoy
you there, Megan. Come, let me make you mine. We will settle the other
differences later.”

She shoved him. Megan didn’t mean
to hurt him again; she just had had enough of these idiots telling her what she
was going to do. When he stumbled over the wolf just behind them she nearly
burst out laughing when the wolf yelped and the man cursed. He was very good a
stringing them together very colorfully. The wolf shifted and stood up.

“Christ, you’re naked.” Megan
turned her back to him quickly and now faced Aaron. He didn’t look any happier
than the man behind her.

“Megan Reed, I’ve had more than
enough of your antics tonight. You’ll come back to the mansion with me and we
will finish this once and for all.” Aaron’s voice thundered over her.

“Fuck you, King Dingdong. That
bare-assed man behind me took my car; the one on the ground, the asshole that
thinks he can set down rules and regulations like my fucking daddy, is making
me want to murder him, and you? You walk around like some sort of lord of the
assholes and tell me you are my master? I don’t think so. I’ve had it up to my
eyeballs in arrogant, demanding men. I’m going home.”