Biting Cold (32 page)

There were only a couple of male vampires left, but they shuffled out after whistles and catcalls about what they joked was going to take place with me, Margot, and Lindsey after they left.

Lindsey closed the door behind them, then looked back at me.

“Spill.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, but Margot and Lindsey exchanged a glance that said they knew better.

“You and Ethan should be doing the nasty with aplomb and frequency,” Lindsey said. “And instead, you’re barely talking to each other and you’re having me and Luc relay messages between you. If the sexual tension in this House gets any thicker, we’ll have to paddle through it. What the hell is going on?”

I closed my eyes. Part of that was completely humiliating, and I really didn’t want to get into the rest of it.

On the other hand, I needed help. And unlike a certain pretentious Master vampire, I knew when to ask for it.

I sat down on the floor again. “He’s driving me crazy.”

Lindsey and Margot joined me. “What happened?”

“It started in Nebraska. We realized he and Mallory have some kind of connection because of the spell she tried to work. He’s not her familiar or anything, but if she gets emotionally freaked-out, he does, too.”

“That’s scary,” Margot said.

“It is,” I agreed. “But he can control it—he controlled it in Nebraska. Anyway, during one of these spells he grabbed my arm, and now he’s convinced he’s going to hurt me if we keep seeing each other while Mallory’s in his head. So we’re ‘halting’ our relationship.” Yes, I used air quotes.

Lindsey gave me a flat stare. “He’s an idiot.”

“Oh, I know.”

“After all the shit you two have been through—all those months of fighting and driving the rest of us crazy—this is the thing he gets freaked-out about? Because he grabbed your arm?”

“That’s it.”

Lindsey fell back onto the carpet with much drama. “I knew he was stubborn, but this truly takes the cake.” She leaned up on her elbows. “He knows you’re immortal, right? And that you’ve broken ribs before? And been shot?”

“He might know those things,” Margot said, “but consider it from his perspective—the man is Master of this House, or was anyway. His life is about control and order and combating chaos. And now he’s got someone else shacking up in his head who can affect his behavior—and cause him to hurt one of his vampires? That’s not a comfortable place for him.”

“I get that,” I said. “But that’s exactly my point—Ethan didn’t suddenly turn into a jerk. He has a sorceress living in his head, creating his moods, and causing his emotions to go magically
wonky. I’m not one to excuse people for their bad behavior, but in this case,
it really isn’t his fault
. And, more important, it’s
me
. He knows I can take care of myself. And instead of letting me help him, we have, as you put it, the giant wall of tension that is driving me
crazy
.”

“You know what the problem is?” Lindsey asked. “You two are stuck in a prelationship.”

“What’s a prelationship?” Margot and I simultaneously asked.

“That stage when you clearly have the hots for each other, but you haven’t yet agreed that you’re actually
in
a relationship. It’s the pre-relationship stage. He has convinced himself he’s not really breaking up with you for an idiotic reason, because you’re in a prelationship, so this ‘halting’ business doesn’t seem as bad to him.”

I sighed. “That makes sense. But what do I do about it? I want Mallory to disappear from his head, but that could take time. What if it takes years? Am I supposed to stand around and wait? I mean, he answered his apartment door half-naked.”

“He wants you,” Lindsey said. “Physically and otherwise. Maybe you only need to remind him that you can handle yourself.”

“How?”

“Girl, you’re the Sentinel of this House, and you’ve been trained by Catcher and Luc
and Ethan
. He’s in the training room right now. Get down there and
kick his ass
.”

I smiled slyly. Now, that was a plan that made sense.

I was a woman with a plan, and it wasn’t a plan I was going to half ass. I was bringing every skill I had to bear on the problem—and taking off most of my clothes to do it. The official Cadogan House training ensemble was pretty tame—a top that looked like a black
sports bra and yoga pants. It was an outfit geared for movement and comfort.

By contrast, Catcher Bell’s training uniform was designed to allow me to watch my body move—and because of that, there was a lot less to it. Short black shorts and a bandeau-style bra.

I wiggled into the ensemble, straightened my ponytail, and made my way to the basement training room. Ethan must have needed a break from meetings and politics; he wore a white martial arts ensemble and was coaching a handful of Novitiates through a
kata
, one of the building blocks of vampire combat.

But when he saw me—and my ensemble—he stilled and his eyes went hot. Without a word to the Novitiates, he walked to me.

“Yes?”

“We weren’t finished with our discussion earlier.”

“And you intend to go another round?”

“I intend to bring you to your senses.”

“Watch your tone, Sentinel.”

I took a step forward, bringing me nose to nose with him. He’d taken a stake for me; I wasn’t afraid of him. One way or the other, I’d prove that tonight.

“You’ve seen me in action,” I quietly said, “and you know I can protect myself. You know I wouldn’t let you hurt me. I am not human. I am an immortal, practically indestructible, highly trained Novitiate vampire
and
Sentinel of this House. But if you think you can do it, I
dare
you to try.”

Shock filled his face. “Excuse me?”

“Me and you, right now. You try your best to hurt me.” I gave him the cockiest expression I could muster. “I guarantee you can’t.”

My words were softly but intently spoken, and they seemed to finally get through to him.

He marched to the center of the room, interrupting a cadre of half a dozen vampires who were sparring on the tatami mats that covered the floor.

“Out,” he bellowed, and no one stopped to ask for clarification. Without a word, they gathered up their things and headed for the door.

“Lock it,” Ethan directed, and I closed and locked the door behind us, my heart thudding in anticipation.

When I turned around again, he beckoned me forward. “Ready when you are, Sentinel.”

Oh, I was ready. He’d been obnoxious enough that I had no compunction about trying to hit him now, and I didn’t wait for him to make the first move. I ran toward him and executed a scissor kick, but he was fast enough to deflect it.

I prodded the back of his knee and sent him stumbling forward. But he caught himself and managed to use his momentum to spin the stumble into a backward kick.

I yelped in surprise but jumped over his foot. We were up and facing each other in less than a second.

First round: a tie.

“You aren’t trying very hard,” I said.

“I’m not actually going to hurt you.”

I chuckled. “That presupposes you
could
hurt me. You can’t. Try again.”

Ethan halfheartedly aimed a couple of jabs at me. In response, I offered a jab, an uppercut, and a double jab again. He dodged the shots, managed a side kick that grazed my right kidney. His eyes widened, but I made a sarcastic sound.

“It’s going to take more than that, Sullivan. As Morpheus would say, quit trying to hit me and
hit
me.”

I must have pricked his ego, as he spun backward and went
for a crescent kick, which was one of his better moves. He had the lean strength of a soccer player and the fluidity of a dancer. The edge of his heel just grazed the outside of my thigh, and I quickly executed a side kick that tapped his butt just as he turned around.

But Ethan didn’t give up on the crescent kick. He spun again and caught the back of my knee with his heel. My leg bobbled and I went down, landing on my back. Before I could hop to my feet again, he pounced, flattening me to the mat and pinning down my arms.

My eyes silvered immediately, the speed of the transition almost embarrassing. It was unnerving that he had the power to affect me so immediately—that the sensation of his body atop mine immediately turned me into a needy mess.

“Point to me,” he said.

I considered my options—a scissor kick that switched our positions and put him on the floor, or a surrender that would keep him exactly where he was, his body warm and long above mine.

“Point to you,” I said, “but I’m still perfectly healthy.”

“It might not always be so simple,” he said, his eyes still dark with worry.

I understood his point, understood well the risk he was trying to avoid. But he’d saved my life twice. I trusted him implicitly, and not because I feared him or what he might do. “I’m not afraid of you.”

His eyes silvered. “You should be.”

“Never. You took a stake for me.”

“I was a different man then.”

“Bullshit. You are the same man now that you were before. A little ballsier maybe, and a little more moody because of Mallory’s intervention. But the same man.” I trailed a finger over the spot
that bore the stake’s scar. “You took a stake for me. You bear a scar for me because of what you sacrificed. Would you do it again?”

“In a heartbeat.”

And that, I thought, was answer enough. He might have been afraid he’d hurt me, but he knew what he was willing to do to protect me.

“You told me in Nebraska that you’d choose me over Mallory.” I brushed a lock of hair from his face. “That’s what I’m asking you to do now, Ethan. Choose me over Mallory. Give up some control and let me help you.”

When he rolled over and sat up beside me, my heart sank. Tears suddenly bloomed at my lashes as I thought hope was lost.

“I haven’t told you how Malik and I came to be on campus that night.”

He meant that night he’d saved my life the first time and made me a vampire. My heart stuttered a bit, anticipating information that would either make me swoon—or make me furious. “No, you didn’t,” I carefully said.

“After your father came to me and I refused him, Malik and I were nervous he might, shall we say, shop around.”

He was quiet, watching me as I decided how to take his confession. Honestly, I wasn’t really sure how to take it. “You followed me?”

“We weren’t privy to your discussions with your father, but Malik thought it best to keep an eye on you, and I concurred.” He cleared his throat. “I’d decided you deserved the truth.”

“You were going to tell me what he did?”

“We knew you were enrolled at U of C, and we’d learned you were at school that night. We’d just gotten out of the car to find you when you were attacked.”

Of all the nights for him to attempt to speak to me.

And I’d hated him—loathed him—when I’d first been changed. I’d been so angry to have been denied the choice to become a vampire, and I’d taken that out on him. Of course, he’d been terrifically arrogant about it, and he hadn’t exactly handled my withdrawal from school very well. But still—he’d saved my life. And not just because he’d randomly happened upon me that night on campus, but because he’d made a decision to enter my life that night, and for the right reasons.

My father had offered him thirty pieces of silver, and Ethan had declined, and he’d tried to rectify what my father had sought to do.

My eyes filled with tears, and I said a silent thank-you to the universe for sending him to me. “I told you that you saved my life.”

He gave me no warning before his mouth sought mine, and he kissed me greedily, hungrily, and with obvious intention. His fingers pulled at my hair, drawing me closer, his arousal leaving an indelible mark on my body.

His free hand found my breast, and I moaned against his kiss, passion igniting and leaving my body on fire.

After only a moment, when my chest was heaving and my body pliant and ready, he pulled back.

“If you use the word ‘halt,’ I will hit you.”

“Not halt,” he breathlessly said. “Upstairs. Now.”

I thanked whatever strength he’d found to utter those words. And I was not going to argue with him.

W
e barely made it back upstairs without ripping each other’s clothes off. As it was, we probably left a trail of telltale energy through the House that made our mutual agenda clear to everyone.

When we made it to his apartments, he slammed and locked the door, then found my mouth again. His hands were possessive, insistent, knotting into my hair and drawing me closer, challenging me to believe in who he was and what he’d promised.

“I missed you,” I confessed, as he pressed me down into the bed.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he murmured. For a moment, he hovered over me, his body scant centimeters away from mine…but still far away.

“What is it?”

“It seems forever since we’ve done this.”

“It’s been at least two months,” I said with a small smile, then placed my hand over the scar above his heart.