Dark Lover (5 page)

Pleasure was an escape. He never had flashbacks during sex.

The first time he had seen Sam Rose, she had been crossing the street in Oban, Scotland, causing male pedestrians to trip and stare. Traffic had come to a screeching stop. His mouth had gone dry and he'd become as hard as a two-by-four. He'd known then and there that he'd have her. No woman had ever denied him. He'd been honest when he said he always got what he wanted.

He'd felt her warrior power instantly and that had added to her allure and appeal. Most of the women he used were rich and bored, the highlight of their day a trip to Cartier. Now he knew even more about her. She was a powerful
Slayer. The highlight of
her
day was a bloody fight with the devil. He would never forget the sight of her battling the possessed teens in her little red dress and spike heels just moments ago—fighting as he'd never seen a woman fight before. She'd taken down the five possessed teens effortlessly. And she had not been afraid. He'd have felt it. Evil did not frighten her.

It frightened everyone else.

It frightened him.

He hid beneath a pile of towels, trying to make himself as small as he could. His grandfather had returned and he had guests—and he was calling for him. Fear made him sick. He lost control of his bladder. He was throwing up. He knew what they'd do to him. They were bored and he'd be the evening's sport—until they went to hunt the Innocent on the streets. There was nowhere to hide and they wouldn't let him die. He'd heard Moray telling his captors that he must be kept alive—at all costs
.

He prayed to his father, begging him to hear him, begging him to come rescue him
.

The door opened and the lights in the bathroom came on
.

He was sweating and sick now. His gut was so tight, he thought it might explode. He reminded himself that he was not a captive child now and that Sam Rose wasn't evil. He wasn't helplessly shackled and chained. Monsters weren't waiting to devour him, his grandfather's guests weren't waiting to rip him apart. This was a game. And she was going to wind up in his bed, beneath his body, and he'd be the one pounding into her. He was not a prisoner now. He was a free man—wealthy, powerful and in control of his life.

She jerked hard on the handcuffs. “If you leap into that vault, you will be taking me with you.”

He had no idea if a pair of handcuffs would keep her with him during a leap. He didn't need to use that power
to get into Hemmer's vault. He could open locks and dismantle alarms with his mind, but Sam already knew that. If he needed to leap to get inside, he didn't think he'd have the courage to do so. Pain still terrified him.

Ian turned to stare out of the taxi's window. He refused to go back into the past now.

“What is it? I happen to know firsthand that one person with the power to leap can bring another along. Handcuffs might do the trick.”

Somehow he smiled at her. “Really? An' who gave ye the ride?”

Her gaze widened, focused on his. It was far too searching, too direct. He wasn't good at reading minds. The power came and went. Sometimes it was sketchy, as if there was static in the telepathy. Sometimes it was perfect. But he didn't need the power to know that she was determined to stop him from stealing the page.

“Nick brought me back with him. We were looking for Brie when your father took her hostage,” she finally said.

He was staring out of the window at Central Park now. So she'd gone back in time—good for her. Then she knew how excruciating leaping through time was.

“You do plan on leaping into the vault, don't you?”

He wanted to tell her to shut up.

He turned to look at her instead. “Why leap when I can walk inside?”

She smiled. “Good point.”

He'd never let her know that he feared pain, much less the evil causing it. From the moment his demon grandfather had abducted him when he was nine years old, taking him from medieval Scotland to the modern world, he had learned what evil really was. Evil enjoyed fear and pain, and inflicted both at will. Evil lusted for sex, power and death. He'd been kept a prisoner for sixty-six years. And evil had been merciless with him.

At first, he'd thought to escape. At first, he'd thought he would be rescued. Within months, maybe a year, he'd lost hope and wanted to die.

“Do you have an ounce of courage, Ian? Oh, I forgot
—
your father is a coward, too.”

He tried to fight to free himself but it was impossible. Tears of rage and helplessness streamed. “He's a hero
—
good, not evil
—
like ye!”

“He is evil now, as evil as I am! Yes, your father has fallen to the darkness, Ian.” He laughed. “You are the means I will use to destroy your father. You do remember that, don't you? It's the only reason I am bothering to keep you alive…”

He was released. “My father will kill you,” he cried
.

“No, I will destroy him. Then you will be freed—and allowed to grow up. And you will live with the guilt, the pain and all these memories—until the gods let you die.”

He flinched as he was caressed
…

To this day, he didn't know how anyone, much less a boy, could have survived what they'd done to him: the rape, the torture, the sick games.

Ian turned to look out of the window, away from Sam, who was clearly trying to guess his thoughts. He had been powerless as a captive, but he had control now. He had wealth. He did as he chose, when he chose—and no one and nothing could or would ever stop him. Anyone who thought to get in his way would pay.

Control meant everything to him. It was a matter of life and death—it was a matter of survival. It was even a matter of sanity.

He had spent most of his life in submission. He would do as he damned pleased now.

He had spent most of his life in pain. He intended to spend the rest of his life in pleasure.

He glanced at the woman seated beside him in the cab. Sam Rose was as fearless as he was not. If she knew his
secrets, she might not be so hot for him. But she'd never know the truth. No one ever would.

“What's got you glowering? Talk about a mood swing.”

“Read my mind.” He managed a smile that felt nasty. But he knew what he needed to get the bitter taste out of his mouth, his gut and his soul.

“You haven't taught me.”

“Then come here.” He patted his lap.

“No deal.” She smiled coolly at him.

He laid his hand on her hard thigh, his fingertips against her sex. Just barely, he waggled them, pressing the steel cuff into her abdomen. “Have ye ever thought to ask me to take ye into the vault again—nicely?”

She struck his hand away, but he'd felt the thick pulse there, beneath the flimsy dress. “I can tell you're amused by the handcuffs, but we'll see who has the last laugh.”

“Ye can have the last laugh,” he murmured, staring at her classic profile. “I'll even give it to ye.”

“This is a business arrangement, but I'll help you into a cold shower,” she said.

He was finally, thoroughly diverted. “The sooner, the better,” he said swiftly. “Will ye wash my back? Or will ye cuff me to my bed an' watch me while I…sleep?”

For one moment, their gazes met, and he was certain she knew exactly what he'd be doing while she watched. “Your mind is one track. What a surprise. I'll be on the other side of the glass when you shower and guess what? I have no interest watching you do anything.”

“Liar,” he taunted.

He thought she flushed.

“We're handcuffed to one another,” he said softly. “What do ye expect me to think of?”

“Pay the driver,” she said tersely, as the taxi came to a stop in front of his new town house. “By the way, why did you decide on New York City?”

He handed the driver a bill and told him to keep the change. She was on the curb side and he leaned over her to open the door, pressing her back into the seat. “I moved here so I could screw ye.”

“Yeah, right. Good luck,” she said, slipping out of the cab and away from his body. “In case you haven't noticed, Maclean, you don't intimidate me one single bit.”

“Then I'll have to change that.”

The taxi drove off and she said slowly, “I can't imagine you with a bimbo for more than two minutes, except, of course, for sex.”

She seemed to understand him and he smiled. “Even bimbos have their uses.”

She shook her head.

“Don't ye use yer boy toys?” he asked softly. It crossed his mind that, when it came to sex, they were alike. It was late enough that no one was on the street as he went to the front door of the turn-of-the-century building and keyed in the door code. Sam stood close behind him, due to the cuffs. He'd left the lights on in the entry foyer, which had double ceilings. As he closed the door he glanced at her bleeding arm, and then at the torn dress. She seemed to be indifferent to the gash on her ribs.

He wondered if she'd even cried out a single time in pain, during the leap she'd endured.

Sam was eyeing the almost microscopic cameras that were angled at the front doors and noting the cameras in the entry hall. She hadn't missed the cameras outside, either. He waited. She glanced at him and said, “High tech, huh?”

His security system was state-of-the-art. It was not aimed at burglars. But he didn't owe her any explanations. She was now taking in his furnishings, which were mostly antiques. She put her messenger bag on an Irish library table from the seventeenth century. Even the chandelier
above them was from fifteenth-century France. Only the rugs were new—or fairly new. Above the front door was a pair of genuine sixteenth-century swords. “Interesting choice of décor for a modern playboy,” Sam said. Her gaze was sharp. “Come to think of it, your mansion on Loch Awe is as old world.”

“I like old things,” he said. That was true. He hated his time—the sixteenth century—and had chosen not to live there, but he was oddly compulsive about collecting antiques and artifacts, which made no sense. His father had once told him that a part of him yearned for the past. That was bullshit. And he didn't want to think about Aidan and his wife, Brie, now. “Yer bleedin' all over my twenty-five-thousand-dollar rug.”

“Sorry. I'll get you a new one—in the twenty-second century, when I'm rich and famous.”

He tugged on the cuff and she came forward, tripping in the broken sandals. He caught her by her hips, which were hard and muscular beneath his hands. He was already in overdrive. Sex would push the last of his memories away. Why wait? “Do ye want to tend the wound?” he asked softly.

“Not if it means letting you out of my sight.” She seized his wrists but didn't step back. “What, no butler to wait on us?”

“Gerard is sleeping at this hour.” He pulled her closer, and her eyes calmly met his as she came into contact with his huge arousal. “Afraid to be alone with that?”

She took a breath. “I'm never afraid. Hey, I have a great idea. Call Gerard and have him arrange some evening entertainment for you…before you explode.”

He grinned. “Will ye watch?”

“I'm not leaving,” she said flippantly.

He thought about performing for her—again. But that wasn't what his body was screaming for. He tightened his grasp on her, wedging her against a hall table.

“Don't think it,” she murmured.

“I can't think of anything else. Especially with yer body shackled to mine an' quiverin' so hotly.”

“You can't think of anything else, whether we're shackled together or not.”

He decided not to answer. Instead, he slid his hand down her hip.

She went still, inhaling. “Make a pass at your own risk.”

He smiled. It was hard to restrain himself. He wanted to put his hand between her thighs; he wanted to turn her around and bend her over the table and just do it, finally. She knew. And she wouldn't object very much. Her words were sharp and caustic, but her tone was thick, those violet-blue eyes smoldering. He could feel her pulse slamming beneath her skin. He could feel her desire building; he could feel the urgency and need.

It almost matched his.

“Why are ye so strong, so brave?” He touched the bloody, crusting tatters of the jersey dress, her left breast brushing his hand, and felt her flinch.

“I'm a Slayer, Maclean.”

“Are ye ever afraid?”

She stared into his eyes. “Not for myself.”

For one moment, he forgot how much he hurt. Admiration swept through him, maybe for the first time. “Then who do ye fear for?”

She wet her lips. “My sister. Brie. Allie…”