Deceptions: A Collection (38 page)

I jerked my wrist back. “Meaning…what? I should find a local vamp to bite me?”

“It’s an option.” She smiled. “Kori’s lover is a vampire, and a lovely lady. A kind one. Plus, she’s a friend of the house, meaning she would have our protection should Jude decide to get…pissy. I’d rather enjoy that,” she said. The grin on her face took on a devious slant. “I’d enjoy it quite a lot, actually.”

I just stared at her.

“Not all vampires are of Jude’s ilk, Kit. As I said. It’s an option.”

“Not a good one,” Damon growled.

He had taken up residence over by the fire again.

I shot him a nervous glance.

Es made an odd little humming noise under her breath. “Well, there are other options, other bonds. Stronger ones.”

“Quiet, witch.” He bit each word off like he’d rather be biting
into
something.

Sighing, Es said, “Another option—I can offer you a spell. A charm of sorts, like what I did earlier that knocked him out of your mind. It will only last while you are in my home and I’ll have to do it again every day at sunset. It will work. But it’s only a short-term option. If that’s what you choose to do, the best choice might be for you to buy a plane ticket and then lose yourself somewhere very, very far away from here, Kit. If you stay away from him for a few months, the bond will fade and then he won’t be able to call you like this again. I’d recommend you have the local house spell your home against him and you should keep your distance from him in the future.”

“I’m not running.” Even as I said it, I wanted to kick myself. I’d run before and done very well with it. What was wrong with me? “I’m not running away from that bastard.”

A soft smile curved her lips. “Then you need to think through the other options.” She brushed my hair back. “You could try approaching the Assembly. He did bite you without explaining all that would happen as a result and that is an ethical violation. But I wouldn’t recommend that.”

“Bad idea.” I shook my head. “Makes me look weak in their eyes and I’d rather not look any weaker than I already do.”

“Kitasa…” She chuckled as she turned away. “The Assembly hardly sees you as weak. Not as physically strong as some, but you’re impossibly clever, incredibly quick and you managed on your own in this world. It’s a singular sort of strength, but strength nonetheless. You should rest. You can think this through in the morning.”

I stood in the bathroom, staring at the shower.

I needed to get in there and get clean.

I couldn’t even manage to let go of the blanket wrapped around me, though.

I am aneira. My heart is strong. My aim is true.
And I’m now scared of water.

There was a knock at the door.

The sound of it made me flinch.

When I didn’t answer, Damon just came inside. One look at me made him sigh and he tugged the blanket out of my death grip. He didn’t take it away, just held it steady, ready to lower it. “It won’t get better if you don’t face it,” he said quietly. “Sooner is better.”

“I just drowned, what, a couple hours ago?” I said. I sounded like a bitch. I didn’t care. “I think I can have a day or two to freak about it. It’s totally understandable that I have a few reservations about water right now. I should be
allowed
to freak out a little.”

“You can freak about it for the next hundred years.” He looked down at me and brushed my hair back from my face. I could see the blood on his hand. “I’m going to. I know that.”

“Why are we all bloody?” I spread my hand over his chest. There weren’t any wounds left, but earlier, his chest had looked like somebody had tried to carve him up like a Thanksgiving turkey.

He grimaced. “Well, I got to see firsthand how good you are with your sword. And you’re good. Very good.”

I closed my eyes. “I did this.”

“You were panicking—thinking about that fucking leech.”

Fear tried to crowd in again, but I gamely shoved it back. I couldn’t panic every time I thought of him. Especially not since I was still thinking about
killing
him.

“I’m sorry.”

“No reason.” He laid a hand on my throat and then grinned at me. “Maybe we can call it even now. I think, inch for inch, you did a lot more damage in the long run. You definitely got a pound of flesh and quart of blood.”

I surprised myself by laughing. “Hey, I can’t heal in the blink of an eye.” Staring past him to the shower, I swallowed. “Will…will you get in there with me? Please?”

The glow in his eyes flashed. A growl broke free—for just a second and then it was gone. He gave me a single, short nod then he caught my wrist, guided it up to the blanket. “Hold it a minute, kitten.”

The sound of the water coming on shouldn’t make me quake. It did.

I thought, oddly, of my grandmother.

Closing my eyes, I thought,
She didn’t break me. I won’t let him do it, either
.

Distantly, I heard the quiet whisper of him stripping off his jeans. “These things are wasted,” he muttered. The thud of them hitting the ground. Think about mundane things. Maybe even not mundane—I popped open one eye and stared at him.

Wow.

Very, very, wow.

Not mundane at all.

Blood streaked his chest, his arms. The lines of his tattoo shone through the dry red. I laid a hand on it. “How were you able to get this done?” I asked softly.

“Before I spiked. Healing is still close to human rate then.” He studied me. “You ready?” he asked, his voice quiet, soft. Gentle, I decided.

The world’s biggest asshole was gentling me into the shower.

And I wasn’t going to start crying again.

With a jerky nod, I let go of the blanket. My legs didn’t want to work. Nothing did. But I finally managed to climb in. I tensed at the feel of the water. Panic—

“It’s okay, Kit,” Damon murmured against my neck. “Nothing hurts you when I’m here. You got me?”

I made myself move deeper under the spray, watching as the water struck us both. It ran red as it washed away the blood. Heat curled around us, wrapping around us just as surely as his arms did. He pulled me against him and I went, sinking against his chest. I could lean on him, I realized. I really could. And it wasn’t so bad to do it.

“Why did you tell her to be quiet?”

Damon stroked my back. “You’ve had enough thrown at you tonight, baby girl. Haven’t you?”

Yes. I was pretty sure I’d had enough thrown at me for the next two hundred years. But I wasn’t going to sleep any better until I had a handle on all of this. I
needed
a better handle on all of this. It was driving me crazy.

“What in the hell does in rut mean?”

He growled and then the hand he’d be stroking up and down my back dropped down to my hip and he pulled me flush against him. Thick and hot, he throbbed against me. “Hell, little girl, what do you
think
it means?”

I snorted. “From what I’ve heard, it means more than you need to get laid.”

“Shit.” He boosted me up until we were on eye level. “You really don’t have any clue what it means,” he muttered, staring at me, eye to eye, mouth to mouth. Against my chest, I could feel the racing of his heart and it met my own, beat for beat. “And trust me…right now, you’re wet, you’re naked, and I want you like I want my next breath, like I want my next shift. But you were just jacked over in the worst way and we don’t need to have this talk while you’re vulnerable.”

I wrapped my legs around him. “Then we don’t talk.”

“Kit…”

Twining my arms around his neck, I pulled him close. “Don’t talk. We can talk tomorrow. But right now…I need not to think.”

I could feel him between my legs. So close. So temptingly close.

“Baby girl…” he groaned. His head fell back and I saw the muscles of his body flex. Bulge. A shudder wracked him. “You’re certain, damn it?”

“Yes.” I leaned in, licked the water from his chest, tasted the lingering salt of his blood. I nipped him and he shuddered again, snarling so loud the sound of it bounced off the walls.

“Don’t.” He fisted a hand in my hair, pulled me back. “Don’t kiss me. Don’t bite me. Just…”

He pressed against me. “Don’t bite. Don’t let me bite you.” As he started to push inside, his eyes locked on my face. I stared at him. This was happening. Had it just been a week ago that this guy had strolled into my office and I’d kicked myself for not staying at home to work on my taxes?

And now…

Held up by his forearm under my hips, locked in place by his hand tangled in my hair, I shuddered as he slowly, oh, so damned slowly sank inside me. I arched against him and twisted, trying to work him deeper, but he growled. “Be still. Just be still.”

Be still—how in the hell could I be still? I raked my nails down his shoulders and twisted again, tightening my legs around his hips. He snarled again and the sound of it arrowed straight through me, centering low in my core. “Baby girl…” He did that odd little thing where he snapped at the air with his teeth.

I smiled at him and moved just the same way. Again. Again—

He slammed into me and I screamed.

Hot, blinding pleasure shattered me as I clung to him, scrambling, trying to get closer, but that iron fist in my hair wouldn’t let me. He surged inside me and the pleasure, so harsh and deep, washed over me. It exploded and left me empty and still he moved.

Suddenly he tensed. And then, he let go of my hair. I felt him swell inside me and he started to lower his head. Then he stopped. “No…” he muttered. “No.” He growled and then lifted his hand. The scent of fresh blood tinged the air and he sank his teeth into his own wrist as he climaxed.

“Are you okay?”

He stroked a sponge over my back.

Drowsily, I muttered, “Thoughtlessness achieved. You’re a good thought destroyer.”

He chuckled. “I’ll put that down on my resume when I’m out looking for work.”

“Uh-huh.”

The hot water still beat down on us. “We’re not being very conscientious. We’re using up all her hot water.”

“We’ll be out in a minute,” he murmured. He slicked some shampoo through my hair.

“You can also put down
excels at washing hair
.”

He tugged on my short, soapy hair. “Ha, ha. You should know this is a singular honor. Other than mine, I don’t think I’ve ever washed anybody’s hair.”

“You must just be a natural.” The heat had worked its magic. Although it was possible it was the sex. I couldn’t think worth anything. When Damon turned off the water, I shivered a little, crowding against him. His arms came around me, easing me close for a minute as he brushed his lips across my neck.

“Let’s dry you off,” he whispered.

I nodded and climbed out, but when I went to grab a towel, he beat me to the task, stroking me down with a fat, fluffy one that felt warm and soft against my skin. Dazed, I stood there as he finished the job and wrapped me in yet another towel, a dry one. “Wait.”

Wait, the man says
, I thought. All I wanted to do was sleep. Absently, I scratched at my arm. Needed lotion—

He appeared back in the door and I frowned when I saw my bottle of lotion in his hand. “You’re always slicking this on after a shower,” he said, his eyes lingering on my hand for a minute, watching where I’d been scratching. There were questions in the backs of his eyes. I could all but see them, if I’d just let myself look.

But I’d had enough. Seen enough. Handled enough. I just couldn’t take any more.

How in the world would I explain the neurosis, anyway? After years of being filthy and grubby and dirty, I had an almost obsessive need to be clean? The first few years, once I’d finally stopped running, I’d sometimes showered three or four times a day. When I had money, I’d glutted on things like nice soaps and lotions or shampoos, all because it was exactly what I’d never had.

And still, I couldn’t forget the awful, terrible way I’d always felt when my grandmother stared at me. Dirty. Useless. Skin crawling with vermin because she wouldn’t even let me clean myself decently.

No. I wasn’t going to try to explain any of that.

Much easier just to stand there and let him slick the lotion on me…what woman wouldn’t enjoy that?

“You going to add masseuse to your list of skills?” I teased him, swallowing around the ache in my throat.

“Only if you’re hiring, baby girl.”

I reached for the lotion, but he held it away, eying me with a glittering, watchful look in those dark eyes.

It wasn’t exactly a chore, standing there as he rubbed me down, strong hands gliding across my skin, rubbing lotion in and stroking over my belly, my hips, lingering over my breasts, my legs. But never long enough in any of those places. Even when I might have
tried
.

“You need sleep,” he muttered against my neck. “And I need to get my head on straight.”

Why should
he
have that luxury? I wondered.

But we ended up in the bed, his long body tucked around mine.

Sleep. Yes.

Sleep sounded nice…

My lids drifted down. His hand rested on my chest, between my breasts with his palm just above my heart. I could even feel the slow beat of it against his hand. Sleep, I told myself. I needed it. Had needed it earlier, but then Jude—

I tensed.

Terror trickled inside and like the mythical hydra, the damn thing multiplied every time I tried to cut it down.

Sleep—can’t sleep—what if he comes
—

“Kit.”

Damon’s voice was a harsh, brutal slap against my senses even if his hand was a gentle stroke down my side.

Gasping in a desperate breath of air, I said, “I’m here. I’m fine. I’m here—”

“Go to sleep. Stop thinking. Just sleep.”

“But…” I squeezed my eyes shut.
I can’t I can’t I can’t
! “What if I sleep and he does it again?”

“If he tries to come in on you again, I’ll know.” He flexed his hand on my chest. “Your heart rate changes. Your breathing does. Even the feel of your body changes. I’m right here, and I’ll know. I’ll get every damn witch in here if I have to drag them in kicking and screaming. Sleep, Kit. You need it…and I’ll be right here, I swear it.” He pulled me closer and nuzzled my brow. “Just sleep. I’ll be here with you…”

There were no dreams.

At least not of Jude.

I dreamt of the park.

Of endless trails, of traps unseen. Of children who screamed for rescue and pits that went so deep, nobody could see the bottom. And all the while, people begged for help and Damon stood by watching. Watching
me
. Not them.
Me
.

After I’d stumbled across yet another hole, I turned and stared at him. This last one…it hadn’t been empty. There were bones in it. As they shone up at me, bleached white by the sun, I glared at Damon. “This isn’t
done
,” I told him. “We have to stop this. We have to.”

Wide shoulders moved in a lazy shrug. “Is that what we’re doing?”

“Just don’t get in my way,” I warned him.