Desire the Night (11 page)

Grabbing his pants, he pulled them on, then padded barefooted into the living room. He found Kay curled up on the sofa, clutching a pillow to her chest. She looked cute as hell in one of his T-shirts and a pair of faded black sweatpants. He realized two things immediately—she had been crying, and she was hungry.

She looked up as he moved toward the sofa.

“What is it?” he asked, kneeling in front of her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said, sniffling.

He lifted a skeptical brow. “Nothing?”

“All right,” she conceded. “Everything.”

“Want to talk about it?”

She drew a deep, shuddering breath, then shook her head.

“Is this about last night?” It wouldn’t be the first time a virgin woke up with regrets, he thought ruefully. But it would be the first time he had been involved.

“No.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “It’s about the rest of my life.”

“Come on, sweetheart, you’re young and beautiful. It can’t be all that bad.”

“Can’t it?” Her brows rushed together in an angry frown. “I have to go back home soon. I have to marry a man I can’t stand and spend the rest of my life with him. Assuming that a vindictive witch doesn’t hunt me down and kill me first.”

Gideon clenched his hands at his sides, his jealousy springing to life as the word
marry
echoed in his mind. He had known going in that Kay was—how had she put it—“engaged to be engaged”? So why was he letting it bother him now? He knew why, and it had everything to do with what had happened between them last night.

“You’re hungry,” he said curtly. “I’ll go get you something to eat.”

Before she could respond, he was gone.

Gideon stalked the hills and valleys of the Blue Ridge Mountains until his anger subsided. When he was again in control of his temper, he returned to his lair in New York to pick up a few of his things.

His nose wrinkled with distaste when he caught Verah’s scent. Damn the meddlesome witch. What spell had she used to track them, and how could he prevent her from using it again?

In the bedroom, he changed into a long-sleeved black T-shirt, jeans, and boots, pulled on a black leather jacket, slipped his wallet into his back pocket. It took only minutes to gather up his own things, several more to gather up the wardrobe he had bought Kay.

He grinned as he shoved everything into a large cardboard box. No matter how many times he bought her new clothes, she always seemed to end up in his sweats.

After closing the lid, he willed himself to his lair in Gatlinburg. He dropped the box off in the bedroom and left the house again without Kay being any the wiser.

And then he went hunting. The pickings weren’t as easy here as in New York. Wandering down Parkway, he passed the Hollywood Star Cars Museum, home of more than forty cars that had been featured in movies and TV, including the Batmobile, the car driven by Tom Cruise in
Days of Thunder
, and the 1981 DeLorean driven by Michael J. Fox in
Back to the Future
.

He found his prey farther down the street in front of Ripley’s Museum: a middle-aged man and a woman, both a little tipsy.

He mesmerized them both, took what he needed from the woman, and sent the two of them on their way.

After leaving the museum, he went to a fast-food joint and ordered two double cheeseburgers, a large order of fries, and a double thick chocolate malt. He made another stop at a drugstore where he bought a handful of candy bars before returning to his underground lair.

Kay was sitting on the sofa where he had left her, her expression morose. She perked up as soon as she caught the scent of food.

“Dinner and dessert,” he said as he dropped the sack containing the burgers and fries in her lap, then set the malt and the bag with the candy bars on the end table.

Murmuring “Thank you,” she tore into the sack.

Gideon watched in amazement as the first double cheeseburger disappeared in four bites. “You know,” he remarked with a grin, “I’ve seen piranhas eat slower and leave more behind. I’m surprised you didn’t gobble up the wrappings, too.”

Kay stuck her tongue out at him as she inhaled a handful of fries, then unwrapped the second cheeseburger. She ate this one slower, savored the fries, sipped the malt, then sat back looking sated and content as she unwrapped a Midnight Milky Way. “My favorite,” she murmured.

Gideon shook his head. From the look on her face, you’d think she was having great sex instead of eating a candy bar.

Kay blew out a sigh as she dropped the wrapper into the sack with her other trash.

“There’s five more in the bag,” Gideon remarked wryly.

“Maybe later. What’s that look for?”

“I was wondering if I could put that same blissful expression on your face.”

“Hmm. Maybe if you were covered in chocolate,” she said, stifling a grin.

“Light or dark?”

“Oh, definitely dark.” She rummaged in the bag, pulled out another Milky Way, and held it up. “We could melt a few of these and find out.”

“I can’t wait that long,” he said with a growl. “I’m about three seconds from taking you to bed, unless you tell me no.”

Refusing never crossed her mind.

Reading the answer in her eyes, Gideon swept her into his arms and carried her to bed. Stretching out beside her, he wondered what enchantment she had worked on him. In all his years as a vampire, he had never taken anyone—mortal or vampire—to any of his lairs, never confided what he was to any of the women he had seduced. He didn’t stop to think what that might mean. Right now, all he wanted was Kay writhing beneath him.

He undressed her slowly, savoring each inch of honey-gold skin exposed to his gaze. She had the body of a goddess, firm, smooth, warm. He nuzzled her breasts, stroked her thighs, ran his tongue along the curve of her throat. Sweet, so sweet. His yearning kicked up a notch when she began to undress him.

She explored his body boldly, her beautiful golden brown eyes glowing with passion, her hands like living flames as they moved seductively over him, igniting his desire still more. She clung to him, restless hands measuring the width of his shoulders, admiring the way his muscles flexed at her touch. Her fingers tangled in his hair, slid over his chest and down his belly.

He pulled her body against his, his mouth claiming hers, his tongue dipping inside to mate with hers.

Tucking her beneath him, he kissed and caressed her, arousing her until she trembled with need, her voice sobbing his name, begging him to take her.

With a low growl, he buried himself deep within her, felt her body convulse as he carried her over the edge into paradise.

Kay stretched her arms over her head, then smiled languidly at Gideon. “That,” she drawled with a smile, “was absolutely amazing. Can we do it again?”

“Maybe later,” he said, one hand lightly stroking her bare belly. “Right now, we need to talk.”

The smile faded from her face. “That doesn’t sound good,” she said, rolling onto her side. “If we were going steady, I’d think you were about to break up with me.”

“Not quite. I made a stop at my place in New York while I was out.”

“Do you think that was safe?”

“I didn’t give it much thought. You needed something to wear. I can’t be buying you a new wardrobe every day, you know.”

She grimaced, annoyed by his attempt at humor. “Magic or no magic, I can’t believe she found us so quickly.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. The way I see it, she didn’t find
us
. She found
you
.”

“What makes you say that?”

“All she needed for a tracking spell was something that belonged to you,” he explained, thinking out loud. “Clothing, hair. Blood.”

“How do you know it was me she was following and not you?”

“I don’t know a lot about witches, but I know they can’t compel vampires, and they can’t work their magic on the dead or the Undead. Only on the living.”

“Then we’re probably not safe here, are we?” Kay bolted upright, one hand clutching the sheet to her breasts, her eyes widening in alarm as she glanced around the room, her gaze searching every corner, as if she expected to find Verah lurking in one of them. “Are we?” she repeated when he didn’t answer.

Gideon shook his head.

Kay stared at him a moment, and then her eyes widened. “You’re not safe, either, are you, as long as you’re with me?”

“I’m not worried about me.” His existence wasn’t in danger, only his freedom. He was the one Verah wanted. Kay was only the means to an end. If they split up, Verah would hunt for Kay until she found her. When that happened, the witch would try to use Kay as bait to trap him. If that didn’t work, Verah would have no reason to keep Kay alive.

He knew by Kay’s expression that the same realization had occurred to her. “How long do you think it will take her to concoct another spell?”

“I don’t know. A few hours. Maybe a few days.” Whatever the future held, he wasn’t about to let Kay face Verah alone.

“We should leave, right now.”

“Right now?” His gaze moved over her, lingering on the swell of her breasts.

Blushing, she pulled the sheet higher. “After we get dressed, of course.”

It was a shame to cover that luscious body, he thought regretfully, but with Verah breathing down their necks, Kay was right. It was time to get the hell out of Dodge. They couldn’t afford to stay in any one place too long.

Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to the hollow of Kay’s delectable throat. “I think you’re right, dammit,” he muttered. “We need to get out of here.”

Chapter 15

Verah paced the floor in the windowless room where she performed her magic, her anger and frustration growing with every step. From time to time, she plucked a jar or a bottle from one of the floor-to-ceiling shelves that lined the east wall and hurled it into the small brick fireplace.

She had found the perfect location spell. Quick and easy to execute, it had worked flawlessly, yet when she had arrived in New York City at the place where the vampire and the werewolf were supposed to be, they were gone. She had found evidence that they had been there in the scattered clothing they had left behind, and the arrival of the pizza deliveryman who had shown up only moments after she did. Since the pizza had already been paid for, she had taken it home with her.

A swipe of her hand cleared the rough, wooden table in the center of the room. If the location spell had worked once, it would work again. But it would have to wait. She could feel her body aging, her steps becoming slow and uncertain, her joints aching. When she’d looked in the mirror last night, she had noticed several strands of gray in her hair, fine lines around her eyes, faint age spots on her hands.

It was galling to know that the vampire would never have taken her to bed if he had seen her as she really was. The spell she had used to transform herself into a young, beautiful woman had been fleeting, lasting just long enough to get him into bed and bind him with silver.

She plucked a vial filled with dark red blood from a glass-fronted cabinet and poured it into a delicate crystal goblet.

She stared at the liquid with mixed anticipation and revulsion. After taking a deep breath, she lifted the goblet to her lips. Warm or cold, the taste was incredibly vile, but the results made the horrible taste worthwhile.

Shuddering, she drained the glass in a single swallow, then threw it into the fireplace.

Only one vial of the vampire’s blood remained. She would have to use it soon, or it would lose its effectiveness.

Time was of the essence.

Chapter 16

Leaving Kay to get dressed and pack, Gideon made a quick trip to a car rental agency where he rented a late-model black Lexus. His next stop was a shopping mall where he bought two large suitcases for Kay and a smaller one for himself. He also picked up a case of bottled water, a family-sized bag of chips, and three dozen assorted granola bars.

Kay was still folding their clothes when he returned.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she began placing her clothes in one of the suitcases. It wasn’t easy, cramming everything Gideon had bought her into two suitcases, but she couldn’t bear to leave anything behind, and who knew when they might be here again?

“Beats the hell out of me.” He threw several changes of clothes and underwear into the remaining suitcase and closed the lid. “You about done there?”

“Yes.” She tossed in the last pair of jeans. “Are you sure we should stay together?”

Gideon picked up the three suitcases and headed for the door. “Would you rather be alone?” he called over his shoulder.

“No,” she said, hurrying after him, “but …”

“Hush, then. She has no power over me, and you can be damn sure I won’t fall for her tricks a second time.”

Outside, he stowed their luggage in the trunk, then held the passenger door open for Kay. “Anyplace in particular you’d like to go?”

Kay shook her head. “Do you think it matters?”

“Probably not.” Gideon slid into the driver’s seat, his fingers tapping the steering wheel. As long as Verah was able to locate Kay, it didn’t really matter where they went.

Pulling out of the driveway, he headed for the open road.

Kay stared out the window. She didn’t know where Gideon was headed, but what was the point in running? Weren’t they just prolonging the inevitable? She frowned. That kind of negative thinking wasn’t going to get them anywhere. She was a werewolf, not a wimp. No way was she going to give up without a fight, or let Gideon fight her battles for her.

Gideon. She glanced at him, admiring his profile. Why was he putting his life in danger by staying with her?

He turned his head, his gaze meeting hers. “I think I’m falling in love with you, Kiya. That’s why.”

Kay looked at him in astonishment. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“But … we’ve only known each other a few weeks.”

He shrugged. “I’m just as surprised as you are. Maybe more so.”

Unable to think of anything to say, she continued to stare at him. He was falling in love with her? She shook her head. Considering all they’d been through, when had he found the time?