Don't Blackmail the Vampire (11 page)

She gave her sister a tight smile. “It’s fine, really. I just need some privacy to get out some…thoughts.”

Kristen murmured something indecipherable, but some of the tension faded from her shoulders. “Are we still on for dinner and a movie later?”

“Sure thing. I’ll meet you back here in a couple of hours.”

“Call me if you need
anything.
”

“Will do.” Doing her best to ignore her sister’s glowering disapproval, she headed down the hallway with Charles trailing closely behind.

The second the door shut behind them, she whirled on him. “What the hell were you doing in there?”

He cocked his head at her, brows drawing together. But he didn’t look upset at her outburst. If anything, he seemed amused. “Are we already to the cursing-at-each-other stage of this argument?”

She forced a breath into her suddenly too-tight chest. Damn. Yelling at him. Cursing him out. Ready to throw the nearest item she could lift at him.

This wasn’t her.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered. “That wasn’t the right way to start this conversation. I just—” She turned away. What could she say? That her anger at him had built all day long? That he’d hurt her terribly this morning? Might as well add that her frustration with her sister and her beau had been building for weeks, and he’d pressed all her buttons at exactly the wrong time. No. She couldn’t say any of that. It was all so irrational.

And revealing.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Liar.” His arms came slowly around her, as if he were giving her a chance to escape. The solid feel of his chest pressed softly against her back, then he hugged her close to his body.

A sigh escaped her. “Okay. I’ll
be
fine. Sorry for biting your head off.”

He buried his face in her hair and breathed deeply. “I hurt you. The way I left things this morning.”

She shook her head, an automatic denial. “You were just playing along.”

“Yes. But I’m still sorry. I
was
just playing along, but I should have made sure you knew that.”

“I’m being silly.” The words came out in an unsure whisper.

“No, you’re not.”

Tension faded from her body at his words and she allowed herself a few seconds to lean back against his solid body before pulling away and turning around to look at him. “Why were you in their room?”

He slid his knuckles down her jawline, his intense gaze capturing hers. “First things first.” Then he leaned in and kissed her softly.

Face heating, she stepped back before he did. Focusing around him when he was being sweet was difficult. When he was being passionate it was nearly impossible. She couldn’t lose control. Not now. Not when she needed answers.

Definitely not while she was feeling this vulnerable.

“Okay. No more kissy face until you’ve fessed up.”

He grinned. “Kissy face?”

She poked him in the chest lightly. “Now.”

“Fine. But this is just between us. You can’t tell anyone—not even Kristen.”

“Doesn’t that go without saying?” Come to think of it, it probably didn’t. So why did every cell in her body seem to scream that it did? That they could trust each other in a way that she’d never trusted anyone?

God, she was in so much trouble.

She had to stick to the plan. Stick to what they’d agreed to. That meant that last night was a one-time deal between almost-friends slash current allies. And it couldn’t be repeated.

“I trust you.” His smile faded, and his brows knotted together. “I do,” he added, but his gaze had shifted, as if he was talking to himself, not her. A quick shake of his head, and his attention was back on her. “I’m not staying close to Brent for the sake of anything as unimportant as a business deal.”

“Okay. Then why are you staying close to him? His awesome personality?”

Charles barked out a quick laugh before his expression sobered. “Not exactly. I’m here for Alice.”

“Who?” Her mind blanked for a moment, and then an image came into focus. Pretty. Blond. Green eyes. A smile that brightened a whole room, and a personality that made everyone around her feel at ease. “Wait. Kristen’s best friend, Alice?”

“Kristen’s former friend, Alice,” he corrected.

A sudden rush of possible explanations ran through her mind. Was Alice his girlfriend—God, that couldn’t be, could it? No. Charles wasn’t that much of a bastard. Maybe Alice hired him to hurt Brent somehow? That didn’t fit either. Alice wasn’t that kind of person, and Charles didn’t strike her as a hired thug, or a thug of any sort.

“I know Alice,” she finally managed.

“Then you understand what kind of person she is.” A tender expression touched his face, and she jerked back, suddenly unsure of all of her assumptions.

But, no. Alice was with some man named Noah. A man she distinctly remembered Kristen describing as having dark hair.

“She’s sort of like my sister.”

“What?” She had met Alice’s brother once, and he wasn’t Charles. “Wait. You’re Noah’s brother?”

His brows pinched together slightly. “I am. You know Noah?”

“I know of him. Kristen mentioned him. I guess he was on that cruise with Alice. Brent’s brother married Alice’s sister in a weird twist of fate. Kristen said Noah was a hunky guy, but I’m guessing he’s a hunky vampire?”

Charles gave her a mock scowl, and amusement danced in his eyes. “I’m a hunky vampire. Noah is just a vampire.”

“If you say so.”

“Not hunky.”

“Uh-huh.”

He pulled her close and kissed her soundly on the lips.

Giggling, she pushed him back. “Okay, so what do Alice and this…”

“Non-hunky,” he supplied.

“What does this non-hunky vampire have to do with Brent? I mean, I know that Alice and Brent used to be engaged, but I don’t get what that has to do with you needing to stay close to him. They haven’t dated in over a year. Not since—” She scowled. Not since Alice had caught Brent cheating on her with Kristen. It had been singularly the most painful experience in Kristen’s life—probably Alice’s, too. Meanwhile the jerk who lied got through it all mostly unscathed.

A darkness fell over his expression, and he crossed his arms. “A few weeks ago, Alice started getting threats.”

“Threats?”

“Vague warnings that if she stayed with Noah, she would be hurt. Killed.”

“Jesus.” She tried to imagine anyone wanting to hurt Alice Shepard, and she couldn’t picture it. The woman was like sunshine made human, kind and bubbly and practically radiating goodness. “Alice is so…”

“I know. And that’s why we have a pretty limited suspect pool.”

“You’re investigating Brent. Why not just force him to tell you what you want to know?” She made magical finger motions at her head. “You know, mojo it out of him or whatever.”

“The person making the threats knows about vampires—knows what Noah is. I don’t know for sure that my powers would work on him. Chances are, if he knows about us, he’s resistant. Some humans are, though I’ve only met one able to fully resist me. Or very nearly.” His gaze weighed heavily on her.

Something clicked into place in her mind. “You’ve tried to use your powers on me.”

“Tried and failed. The night we met, when you caught me feeding by the Dumpsters. And again when we were on the lift together, although that was a slight push, hardly worth mentioning.”

She thought she’d felt something odd that night, and again on the lift, but she’d attributed it to the weirdness of situation. The cold. Anything else. Anger filled her, overwhelming the numbness. Stepping forward, she crowded him, hands clenched so hard at her sides that her arms shook. “I can’t believe you’d do that to me.”

“I didn’t know you.” His voice was rough, but he didn’t back away. “Try to see it from my perspective.”

“But you did something to me, didn’t you?” It made perfect sense. Of course he’d done something. She’d been confident enough to blackmail him—a vampire—for crying out loud. How hadn’t she seen it before?

Maybe because she hadn’t wanted to.

“I only made you a little less afraid of me.” His eyes begged her to understand. “That’s all. Just a tiny push to keep you from running away and screaming ‘vampire’ at anyone who would listen.”

The anger drained from her, and she slumped on the bed. She could understand why he’d do such a thing, but the idea that he’d manipulated her emotions wasn’t something she was certain how to even begin to deal with.

Gingerly, he sat beside her on the bed, leaving a foot of space between them. Silence filled the room for several minutes while she processed everything.

“Have you done it since?”

“Never,” he said, voice low. “And I never will. I swear it to you. I’m sorry, but it was necessary.”

He’d never broken her trust before. Never reneged on a promise. Sure, he hadn’t been totally honest with her, but could she really blame him for that? In his situation, she would have done the same.

But it still hurt. And the idea that she was so easily manipulated was more than a little terrifying.

“How much could you influence me…I mean—”

“Not much.” He snorted. “I’ll admit, I gave it my best. And right after feeding. I’ve never seen anyone resist like that before.” He leaned to his side and bumped her shoulder with his upper arm playfully. “You have a very hard head.”

“So I’m told.”

A few more moments of silence between them, then he added, “I wish we’d met under different circumstances, but I’m not sorry we met.”

“Me, either.” That much was true. He might have her insides torn up with confusion, but she wasn’t sorry she knew him. Stupid probably, but she wasn’t even sorry they’d slept together. “You really care about her, don’t you?”

“Who?”

“Alice,” she said drily. “Do try to keep up.”

A soft laugh escaped him. “Yes. I care about her. She’s family to me, and I don’t have a lot of family.”

The vampire with a soul, with a heart, go figure. Charles might seem shallow to the casual observer—with his lighthearted attitude and playboy smile—but he wasn’t. He had the ability to care deeply. Earnestly.

For some reason that scared her more than if he’d been a straightforward jerk who didn’t feel bad about trying to hypnotize her, or whatever they called it. She knew how to deal with jerks, but she wasn’t sure how to deal with him.

“How did that even happen? Noah and Alice, I mean.” A vampire and a human, that’s what she wanted to say. But that question was far too revealing, even though she burned to know the answer.

A short laugh escaped him. “It’s a long story. But the short version is Noah needed to get out of town to avoid an arranged bonding—”

“Wait. A what?”

“Think arranged marriage, but tougher to get out of. It’s something we—vampires—do once we hit a certain age. Keeps us from getting too…tired.” Pain touched his expression.

“You know someone who’s needed a…bonding, I take it?”

“Noah didn’t need it but the council was insistent, so he had to get out of town to give Alex and me—that’s our other brother—a chance to change the council members’ minds. Alice was his solution to that. A week of fun in the sun together on a cruise ship, and they’ve been a couple ever since.”

“And he got out of his bonding thing?”

“Yep. They’re giving Noah and Alice enough time to get there on their own.”

She opened her mouth to ask more questions, then closed it. Anything she’d ask would make it more obvious that she wanted to know how things could work for a human and a vampire, long term. And that wasn’t something she needed to know about, no matter how much part of her wanted to. “So, did you find what you needed in Brent’s room?” she asked instead.

“Nope.”

“Guess that means you’ll be sticking around a bit longer.”

Shifting his weight, he turned to look at her. Gently, he tugged a sheaf of her hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. “Are you so eager to see me go?”

She wasn’t, and that was scary. But she was too on edge to talk about her feelings right now—or even figure them out. “Then maybe you’re up for another try with Brent.”

“I’m already on it.”

Surprised, she blinked at him. “You are?”

“Yep.” He grinned. “And this time, I’m taking no chances.” The edge of his smile faded. “That is, if you’re okay with me taking a bit of a shortcut.”

“Your powers?”

“Vampire mojo.”

She took a breath to ask him the details, then released it. Did she really want to know? Probably not. At least, not right now when she was feeling so wobbly about everything. “No one will get hurt, right?”

“No one you didn’t already commit to hurting.”

She winced, but his gaze didn’t falter. It was the reality she’d have to face. Ignoring or tiptoeing around it would just make it that much harder to face when the shit hit the fan. And she had no doubt it would, at some point. “When?”

“Tonight. Right after we get back from the dogsled ride.”

Chapter Eight

M
iraculously, Charles held back the laugh at her immediate double take. It took every bit of his decades of practice at keeping his true emotions close to the chest to make it convincing.

“After we get back from the what?”

He quirked an eyebrow at her, playing innocent. “You didn’t hear me?”

“Do me a favor and repeat it,” she ordered drily.

“We’re going for a sunset dogsled ride. Followed by fondue or something. I’m going out with Brent afterward. That’s when I think I can get him into the position we need.”

She groaned. “Kristen? She did this, didn’t she?”

“Who else?” He coughed back a laugh. “She asked me not to come—actually told Brent to tell me it was canceled. The scamp of course told me, and I insisted on showing up. It’ll get her riled up, and might even get me more into Brent’s good graces.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. If she’s angry with you, it might distract her when we need her to be pissed at him.”

“I don’t know. It might help her to see you making shitty decisions when it comes to men. Maybe a mirror will show her what she’s doing.” He shrugged, knowing that there was no definite, logical reason for him to push to go, but wanting to anyway. “Maybe I’d just really like to go dogsledding with you.”

“You ever been?”

“Nope. You?”

“Yeah,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. “I dogsled all the time.”

“Well, I’m not letting you sled with Cole.”

“You’re not?”

“No. And I already told him so.”

Her beautiful hazel eyes narrowed at him. “I see. You are aware that I don’t like being told what to do, right? And that I find caveman bullshit to be something less than sexy?”

God, he loved riling her up. “It’s for your own safety.”

“Hah. I can’t wait to hear this.”

He leaned in close to her ear and murmured, “I’ll be able to keep you warmer than he ever could.”

Heat flooded her cheeks and he grinned at her. She looked away to hide her embarrassment. “Whatever. Let’s go.”

The snow was no longer falling, but the recent flurry had left a layer of fresh, clean powder which covered everything as far as the eye could see. Combined with the sunset and the stunning terrain, it set a very romantic picture. One Charles could have enjoyed with Rachel by his side, if not for her glaring sister and a smug Brent.

“I still think this is a terrible idea,” Kristen whispered to her sister, out of the range of a normal man’s hearing, but not a vampire’s. “It’s not too late to cancel this. I can’t believe he got Cole to stay in.”

“He’s very convincing. Not that it seems super tough to get Cole to avoid the lot of us this trip,” Rachel said. “And don’t worry. Sitting with Charles on a sled isn’t going to make him irresistible.”

“On him. You basically have to sit
on
him.”

Rachel hesitated, then muttered a curse word that—if he heard her properly—was most unladylike and descriptive. He was pretty damn sure he’d heard her just fine.

“Why don’t
you
ride with Charles?” Kristen called to Brent, apparently desperate for a solution that wouldn’t leave her sister in the arms of a man who’d hurt her feelings. If only she were as protective of herself.

Brent shot her a glare. “I am not cuddling with Charles on a sled.”

“Or anywhere else,” Charles added, and Brent laughed.

They met with the two professional mushers, who explained the gist of riding in the sleds to them. It all came together into a list of what Charles would define as a perfect date if he’d come here alone with Rachel. They were all to keep their body parts inside of the sleds—check; he was fine keeping all his body parts as close to hers as possible. They should stay under the warm blankets. Under warm blankets with Rachel?—check, check, and bonus points for getting to stay warm. And then they would be served some beautiful views, finger food, and wine. Check, check, check.

If only they had come here alone.

That, obviously, wasn’t going to happen, no matter how Brent and Kristen snapped at each other as they tried to position themselves in their sled, so he was just going to have to make the best of the situation he could.

Rachel was still greeting the dogs when he approached her, and then some of the animals’ attention shifted to him. Slobbery, happy attention. He petted the two closest to him, and they bounced around happily at him. Such strong fur balls to drag around sleds full of humans a few times a day. At least they seemed to enjoy their work.

“I’m surprised the dogs aren’t bothered by you,” Rachel said, voice set low to carry to only his ears.

“Because I’m a monster to be feared?” He chuckled at her serious expression to his joke. “My DNA is a little different. My origins are definitely a little unnatural. But when it comes down to it, that makes me only slightly different from you—at least from a dog’s perspective.”

“They don’t see you as a hunter—a threat?”

He shrugged. “All humans are hunters, if more tame ones than my kind. So I suspect they don’t see me much differently than they see you.”

“So we’re like these dogs, and you’re like the wolf out there in the mountains, seeking its food through the hunt.” She smiled down at one of the dogs and scratched its ears.

“I’m housebroken, sweetheart, in case you hadn’t noticed. I prefer to have my food brought to me, same as you.”

“Didn’t seem like it that first night by the Dumpsters, when you were feeding off that girl.” There was a dark note in her tone, even though she was obviously trying to keep her tone light.

A flash of regret. Would their relationship—or whatever they had here—be forever sullied by their meeting? “I’m a house wolf, I guess. I don’t hunt all the time, but I still can, when it’s necessary.”

“Was it?”

“Was what?”

“Was it necessary to bite that girl?”

He thought about starting in on a long, drawn-out explanation. The type of information she probably deserved to know, needed to know. But this wasn’t the time or the place, so he kept his reply simple. “Yes. And she wasn’t hurt by it—not really. She’ll never remember.”

The look she gave him said she wasn’t totally convinced, but she didn’t press the issue. And the mushers were soon getting their group settled into the hickory wood and elk hide sleds. Rachel shook her finger at Charles and admonished him teasingly to keep his hands to himself before settling in front of him on the sled. Her warm body fit perfectly into his, and he threw the heavy wool blankets over them both.

The ride was exhilarating and fun, over well-used trails with just enough powder to send a bit of snow flying up around them when they cut hard. Rachel yelled around the turns and he laughed. The views stunned them all to silence, and even Brent seemed unable to find a negative thing to say when it was over.

Through it all her scent teased him, and her laughter filled him with a strange satisfaction. And when the ride was over he kissed her, and she kissed him back. Neither of them caring who saw.

…

W
hile sitting next to her on that bed as they went through their game plan—she’d drag Kristen to the bar where he was taking Brent the second she got his text—Charles could see some lingering pain in Rachel’s eyes. A hesitancy with him that hadn’t been there until he’d left her this morning, humiliated and alone. The magic of the sled ride seemed to have faded as soon as they’d come in from the cold.

Part of him wanted to tell her to buck up. That she should have known he was just playing along. But trusting people—men especially—was difficult for her.

He’d hurt her badly. And it didn’t matter that he hadn’t intended to cause her pain. It didn’t even matter that what he’d done had been partially to help her. All that mattered now was healing this rift between them. Because he couldn’t seem to breathe right, knowing it was there.

Hell. He was already half in love with her. When the fuck had that happened?

Honesty is the best way to reach her.
“If Alice’s life weren’t in danger, I would have taken you up on your offer this morning. I would have dragged you off to some lovely, warm place, because I know you don’t like the cold.”

She started. “I—”

“I care about you. More than I should, given the fact that I’m hunting an asshole threatening—well, she’s basically my sister now. You know that, right?” he said.

“I know.” Her gaze broke away from his. “I care about you, too,” she whispered.

Did she know that he cared for her, really? Whatever fucked-up situation had made her sister cling to men had made Rachel deeply distrustful. And he’d only confirmed her fears by confiding that he’d purposely used his powers to manipulate her emotions the night they met.

He needed to
show
her how he felt.

With a speed only a vampire could manage, he knelt on the floor in front of her. Luckily, she was rather petite, and he wasn’t, so her mouth was in easy reach of his own.

Hands gripping her knees, he pulled her closer and kissed her softly. Perfect lips met his, but she hesitated, not pulling back, but not offering him much in return, either. Then, as if she’d decided, her hands came up to cradle his face, and she slipped her tongue between his lips.

The kiss was sensuous and deep, slow and purposeful. They tasted each other as if they’d never tasted each other before. He let her guide the kiss, with her hands holding his face tenderly between them, and her mouth positioned slightly above his own.

It was the kind of kiss that a man could get used to. She offered passion that made a man want to experience it again and again. A dangerous thought, but not one he could dismiss. Not now, with her scent filling him since they’d been on that damn sled, with his teeth and cock aching to take her, to make her his.

Her tongue slid against his teeth, teasing his fangs, and he dug his fingers into her thighs to keep himself from pushing her down and finding out exactly what her blood tasted like.

No.
He wouldn’t.

Finally, they broke apart slightly, foreheads pressed together and their breaths short and ragged. Her hand ran through his hair, and she tugged his face away from hers gently.

“You are far too good at this, bloodsucker.” Her words were harsh, but her tone teased him.

He stood, taking her with him, and undressed her quickly. She allowed it, but then she tugged at his clothing, too.

“My turn.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “I want to taste you.”

Her face reddened and he grinned. Would she always turn red when he said anything even slightly dirty to her? Hell, it made him want to say very, very dirty things.

Despite her embarrassment, her voice was firm when she spoke. “Me first.”

“But—”

“Don’t you see?” She looked up at him. In the low lighting her hazel eyes seemed to glow, and the vulnerability there took his breath away. “I need you to want me as badly as I want you.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but the need in her eyes knocked the words right out of his head. Sure, he wanted to make her vibrate beneath him, make her want him more than she’d ever wanted anything. Hell, he wanted to even the playing field—because no matter what she thought, he wanted her so much that it haunted him.

But this wasn’t about his needs. Tonight was about her, and if this was what she wanted, he wouldn’t deny her.

“I don’t think I could want you more—hell, I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in a century of life,” he said, flinching inside at the honesty of his confession. He pulled his shirt over his head, and then cocked an eyebrow at her playfully. “But you’re welcome to try.”

Her lips curved into a sexy grin, and she led him in a circle so his back was to the bed. Eyes never leaving his, she began to work his belt. His cock jumped at the slightest brush of her knuckles over his still-confined erection. And when she slowly slid the belt off him, loop by loop, it took every bit of willpower he had not to bend her over the table behind her and penetrate her body in the two seconds flat it would take him to tear off his pants.

She wouldn’t complain—not much. That was apparent in her hungry expression, and in the scent of her arousal filling the air. She wanted him inside her as desperately as he wanted to be there.

But he’d be damned if he’d deny her anything right now. A hundred years of life had given him—barely—enough willpower to allow her this.

Plucking at the button of his pants, she got it loose and then lowered his zipper carefully. So achingly slow. It was apparent she was trying to torture him, and she pushed his pants down over his hips and ass, pulling his underwear with it. His cock bobbed free, already so close to her mouth that he imagined he could already feel her warm breath against the tip.

He bit back a curse word, suddenly wanting to feel her mouth around him more than the blood he needed to survive. But she didn’t pull his pants down past his knees; instead she stood and pressed down on his shoulders. She gave him a quick kiss, but denied him when he attempted to deepen it.

“Sit,” she murmured.

“You don’t want me to take these off?” He gestured toward his pants, most of his mind wondering what the fuck he was doing. The less discussion, the sooner she’d have those sweet lips around him.

A grin touched her lips, and she licked them before she spoke, wetting them and making his dick feel like it was straining of its own accord to get closer to her. “It’ll be harder for you to take over like this.”

“Well, then…” Why not let her have the illusion that he was just a tiny bit trapped? No need to ruin her fun. Their fun. Fuck.
His
fun. He sat.

She walked to the side of the bed and plucked a pillow from near the headboard, deliberately swaying her hips as she moved. Then she dropped it on the floor in front of his feet. Her gaze locked with his, she lowered herself to her knees in front of him.

The pillow put her at the perfect height, and it was all he could do not to orgasm right then and there, just at the erotic sight she presented.

Yeah, that would impress her.

Her hands went to either side of him, and then her tongue flitted out to taste his excitement. The sensation was almost painfully fleeting, yet so fucking arousing.