Bitten by Darkness (17 page)

Jasper
stared at her, trying to figure out what she was playing at. “My father was
dead when you knew my brother.”

She
looked away. “No. He wasn't.”

Jasper
nearly growled. When Sara paled, he knew she sensed how angry he was. “Why are
you lying to me? Both of my fathers were dead, my true blood father and my
adopted father, Count Lawrence.” He fisted his hands at his sides. What she
said made no sense.

“Jasper,
maybe she can explain,” Sienna said quietly. She tugged at his arm and Jasper
let her draw him close. He ran a hand down her back, her warmth oddly soothing.
He didn't know when he'd gone from trying to keep her away to wanting her by
his side always, but he didn't care anymore. She was his. He was hers. He
kissed her head. Sara had the grace to look ashamed.

“Ambrose
asked me not to tell you. He said you didn't know his father was still alive.
And he didn't live long, afterward, anyway.”

“Why
would Ambrose do that?” Jasper didn't understand. Sienna tucked her arm around
his waist and he leaned on her. She was the strongest woman he'd ever met.

“He
wouldn't tell me. When I met your step-father,” she paused, took a breath.
“Ambrose's father, he was angry. He wasn't happy that Ambrose chose me to be
his mate and our first meeting didn't go well. He looked at me like I was
food.” She crossed her arms over her chest, tucking her hands beneath her
elbows. “It frightened me and then Ambrose locked me in the apartment for the
rest of the trip. We were only there for about a week. And then he did
something and I slept all the way home.” Sara looked tired and Jasper had to
fight to quell a sudden surge of sympathy.

“He
locked you in?” Sienna's outrage came through loud and clear. Jasper was more
concerned about what his brother did to make her sleep. He must have given her
his blood and then refused to share his own with her until they reached Earth.
The thought made his gut clench. He didn’t think his brother could ever do such
a thing, enslave his own mate, even for such a short time. He wondered if this
is what it felt like when humans said they were nauseous.

Sara
nodded,
her face sad. “You have to remember, it was a
different time. Women were property.”

Jasper
ordered his gut to calm down. “Not on
Dekcol
. Women
were never property there.”

Sara
looked at him pityingly.
“Really?
Do you remember your
mother at all?”

He
frowned. “What are you saying?” His mother had died centuries ago, when he was
a child.

She
uncrossed her arms and gripped the table. “Women were always property. Yeah,
Ambrose loved me. I loved him, but I was never his equal.”

Jasper’s
muscles locked, but then the memories he'd tried to shove down surfaced:
Ambrose laughing.
Ambrose looming over Sara and her
exasperated face as she backed down.
Ambrose's glee
that she'd borne him a son and his relief that the child wasn't female.
Jasper clenched his teeth. He'd forgotten about all that. Somehow, it didn't
make the pain of knowing his adopted father had lied to him feel any better.

“What was
he doing on
Dekcol
?”

Sara,
sensing that he believed her, relaxed her hands. “I don't know. It had
something to do with some drug, but I never could get him to explain.”

Jasper
felt his heart stop, then anger and disbelief surged up. Ambrose couldn't
possibly have been mixed up in the blood market, could he? He shook his head
when Sienna put a hand on his arm. “Impossible.”

“What
is?” Sienna asked. He sensed more than saw her exchange worried looks with
Sara. He knew she would persist until he explained so he unlocked his jaw and
tried to put it all in words, every sordid, awful piece of it.

“There is
an underground market for sentient blood.
Human blood.
Many of my people are addicted to it, which is why the government declared
Earth off limits two-hundred fifty years ago. They wanted to restrict the
supply.” He could hardly believe he was telling them this.

“To protect the population?”
Sienna asked.

He
snorted. “No. To keep it for themselves and make slaves of everyone they could.
Addiction is a potent tool for a government.” His mouth tasted like he'd tried
to eat ashes.

“Ambrose
was mixed up in it,” Sara said, blinking back tears. Grief made her seem old in
a way all the long years of her life hadn't managed. She looked very tired.

“That's
all you know?” he asked her, gently this time.

She
nodded. “That's all I know. When we came back to Earth, Ambrose set up my
escape route and the rest you know. I keep my head down these days.”

Jasper
came to a decision. “I have a guest room you can use. And don't worry, you'll
be safe here. I altered the cloaking-veil. No one can get in without my
authorization and it's always active. They won't be able to see the mansion at
all.”

Sara
sagged in relief. “Thank you.” She looked at him. “What if I have to leave?
Will the veil let me without raising an alarm?”

Jasper
nodded. “It’s more to keep people out than to lock them in.”

“Oh.”
Sara cocked her head. “Where is the control panel?”

“It’s
near the door,” he said, wondering why she wanted to know, but she smiled and
looked away, seemingly disinterested.

Sienna
looked at him curiously. “I didn't feel the cloaking-veil this time. Or last
time I was here, come to think of it.”

He wasn't
surprised she'd picked up on that. “It's keyed to my blood.”

Sienna
stared at him then flushed as she realized what that meant about her. He had to
smile. After everything that happened, she blushed over the veil letting her
into his home? He ran a hand down her arm, hoping she could feel his affection.
She smiled at him and he turned to Sara.

“I'll
show you which rooms I've made up. You can pick the one where you'd like to
stay.”

Chapter Thirteen

Sienna
followed them upstairs, yawning. It'd been a long, difficult day, topped off by
a car chase. She chuckled under her breath. Her life had turned into a fiction
novel when she wasn't looking. And then to find out that the mansion's barrier
no longer kept her out was just weird. Jasper's blood had changed her, she knew
that, but she hadn't been prepared for a practical demonstration of it.

At the
door of a guest room down the hall from her mom's, Sara paused. “Your mom
should sleep through the night, Sienna. The sedative I gave her is mild, but
she was exhausted and upset already. I'll check on her before I go to sleep.”

Sienna
nodded. “Thanks. I really appreciate it.” She tried not to think about the fact
that this woman was her great-great-something grandmother.

“It's the
least I can do,” Sara said, leaning against the door. “I try to keep track of
my descendants without being too obtrusive. I lost contact with your mom a long
time ago. I feel terrible about what happened with your Dad.”

Sienna
frowned, not wanting to discuss it with someone who was still mostly a stranger
to her. “Don't. I don't want to talk about him or even think about him. Mom and
I are fine.”

Sara
looked like she was going to say something, but then she sighed and nodded. “I
understand. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Sara shut
the door. Sienna turned to Jasper, only to find him rubbing his eyes tiredly.
“Jasper?”

He
stopped and shook his head. “I'm okay.
Just tired.”

“I didn't
think you got that tired.”

He gave
her a crooked smile. “Even I get tired sometimes.” He straightened up. “Come
on. Let's go to bed.”

She
smirked, shoving the unpleasantness of the day away. “You say that as if you're
actually going to sleep.” She ran a hand down his back, enjoying the way his
muscles moved as he walked.
“As if
I'm
going to
sleep.”

He sighed
and her heart gave a thump. It wasn't just that he was still so damn attractive
in that sweater. It was that she knew he was hurting. Finding out about his
brother had to have been difficult for him. She slipped her fingers into his
hand and he squeezed. She put her head on his shoulder as they walked. He felt
warm and solid. She thought about what he looked like under the sweater, and
suddenly didn't feel as tired as she thought.

“What are
you thinking?” Jasper asked, opening the door to his bedroom. The enormous
four-poster bed loomed up in front of them when he flicked on a low light.

She
smiled, thinking of running her fingers down his spine.
“Nothing.”
Maybe she was going insane, too, like her mother. All she could think about was
Jasper: she wanted to lick his neck, run her hands all over his hopefully
soon-to-be naked body. After everything that had happened she thought she’d be
fighting to stay awake, but no. Her brain got stuck on sex.

He smirked
at her, eyes glinting in the low light as though he knew exactly what she was
thinking. Her gaze dropped down to his groin as he toed off his shoes. Was the
bulge in his jeans bigger? She propped herself against the wood pole at the
foot of the bed, trying to wrestle her thoughts into order.

He saw
where she was looking and hooked his hands in his pockets. The denim stretched
over him and yes, that was definitely an erection in his pants. She glanced up
to find him looking at her feet.

“What?”
she asked.

“Take off
your shoes.”

She
blinked and did as he asked. Her pussy was already throbbing.

“Take off
your jacket.” His eyes gleamed.

Sienna
drew in a shaky breath, glancing at the windows and then back again. The stars
were bright against the night sky. Some of the trees had lost all of their
leaves. Jasper stood in the middle of the room, waiting. She slowly unbuttoned
her jacket and let it slip off her shoulders.

“Touch
yourself
,” Jasper ordered, his thumbs idly stroking near his
cock over the denim.

Sienna
swallowed hard, watching his hands. He was teasing himself for her. She lifted
her palms up and cupped her breasts.

“No, your
lips,” Jasper said, taking a step closer.

She
licked her lips,
then
did as he asked. Her mouth
opened and she couldn't help sucking on her index finger. She drew it out and
ran it down her neck. Her nipples pushed against the soft lace of her bra and
she wanted to take it off, right now, but knew she had to wait for him.

“What
now?” she asked, surprised when her voice came out breathy.

He smiled
and leaned against the foot of the bed. One hand lightly covered his cock while
the other stroked up beneath his sweater. She watched him, not sure if she
wanted him to press harder or move his hand altogether so she could see his
dick better.

“Unbutton
your blouse,” he said, low and hot.

She
shivered and unbuttoned the top of her blouse. She let her fingers trail over
her skin, surprised that her own touch aroused her so much. But no, it wasn’t
really her hands that were getting her so
hot,
it was
his eyes, watching her so intently.

“Another.”

She undid
another button, and then another, until the silky material hung loose over her
chest.

“Take it
off.” He was rubbing himself now.

His cock
was so hard she could see the long, thick line of it pressing against the
denim. Sienna let her blouse fall to the floor. Her breasts ached and she
cupped them again, flicking her nipples through the lace.

“Yeah,
that's it,” Jasper said, gravelly and low.

“No
fair,” Sienna whispered, biting her lower lip. “You didn't take off your
sweater.”

He
smiled. “You still have your bra on.”

She
narrowed her eyes at him. “I've taken off a lot more than you have.”

He cocked
his head, pretending to think about it. She tapped a finger against her breast,
and rolled the other hand in a hurry-up gesture at him. He laughed and took his
sweater off so slowly she found herself staring at his armpits, at the heavy
muscles of his arms. She was sweating by the time he threw it on the floor. His
biceps flexed as he put his hands back over his cock, rubbing lightly. She
sighed. His
pecs
were gorgeous. She wanted to lick
him right in the center of his chest, then roll all over him, naked.

“Like
what you see?” His voice carried a thread of amusement.

“
Mmm
-hmmm,” she hummed. She reached around and unhooked her
bra, tossing it away in one quick jerk. Her breasts bounced free, nipples erect
and desperate for attention. She pulled her hair from her ponytail and let some
of it fall over her shoulders to tickle at her skin.