Gabriel's Mate (12 page)

He tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Just a cold or something.”

Gabriel shook his head. Maya was avoiding him, and he didn’t like it. “Vampires don’t come down with anything. We don’t get sick.” Before he could get Maya to tell him what was really wrong, he heard a sound.

His head snapped to the small window over the bathtub. He hadn’t noticed until now that it was open.

“Somebody’s watching,” he whispered to Maya and took her arm. He quickly led her back into the living room where Yvette sulked in an armchair.

“He’s out there,” he told Yvette, who instantly jumped up. “I’m going after him. You take Maya home.”

“We have a better chance if we both go after him,” Yvette protested.

Gabriel cut her off with a movement of his hand. “That’s an order.”

Without waiting for an acknowledgment, he stormed out of the apartment and out the front door.

The rogue had been watching them. That meant he now knew Maya had survived, but also that she was under Gabriel’s protection. He might figure out where she was hiding. It was paramount that Gabriel found him before he could mount another attack.

The fact that he’d been watching her apartment—clearly in the hope that she would come back—made it clear to Gabriel that the rogue was obsessed with her. A stalker, just like he’d suspected.  A jilted lover.

He hadn’t seen the man who’d stood outside in the alley and had watched them, but he’d noticed that the alley was a dead end. This meant the man had to have come back to the main street to escape. Therefore Gabriel didn’t bother running down the alley and instead followed the faint scent of vampire the rogue left on his trail.

He zigzagged through Noe Valley. It was obvious to Gabriel that he was trying to get out of the quiet residential area and into a busier area so it would be harder for Gabriel to stay on his tail. Gabriel sped up, trying to gain ground on the rogue, but his relative unfamiliarity with the San Francisco neighborhood didn’t help him. If this was New York, Gabriel would have cut the rogue off long ago, but chasing a man down in his own territory was much harder.

When he heard the sounds of music and partying, Gabriel knew he’d lost. A couple of blocks further and he was in the center of the Castro. There seemed to be two- or three-dozen bars and clubs just on two blocks. And the sidewalks teamed with clubbers. Gabriel looked through the crowd and suddenly noticed the absence of women.

Mostly men walked along the streets, some hugging, some holding hands, others kissing openly. Gabriel had been here before, many years ago. This was the gay center of the city, where the gay population had their special hangouts, where the police rarely interfered, where public exposure was the norm.

Gabriel stopped on a corner of a bar and pulled out his phone. A handsome young biker smiled at him and lifted his beer bottle toward him from the bar. Gabriel shook his head and turned away. Great, men were coming onto him—they obviously didn’t mind his scar. Why couldn’t a woman give him the come hither look? Not any woman—Maya specifically.

He dialed. His call was answered after the third ring. “What’s up, Gabriel?” Zane breathed hard into the phone.

“Where are you?”

“Why?”

“Because I need you to do some work,” Gabriel barked.

“I’m in the Mission, hot nightspot.” Zane gave the address.

“I’ll meet you there.” Gabriel punched the address into the GPS on his phone. Zane’s current location was only about six blocks away. Well, that was convenient.

What Zane called a hot nightspot was a little more than just a nightclub. The bouncer at the door said nothing and let him pass inside the dingy establishment as soon as he was finished staring at Gabriel’s scar. He figured the darn thing did have its purposes. People seemed to be afraid of him and didn’t give him any resistance.

It was dark, darker than in other clubs he’d been to, and the reason why became evident instantly.  Along the outside walls were small booths, the entrances covered with transparent fabric, enough to distort the faces of the people behind them, but not sufficient to disguise what they were doing.

Gabriel wasn’t surprised. His second-in-command’s choice of entertainment always included sex, and if it was peppered with violence, even better. He followed his nose and found Zane in one of the booths. He stopped outside of it and looked through the gauzy fabric.

It was easy to make out Zane’s distinct form. His bald head glistened. He was stretched out on a bench, his stiff cock sticking out of his leather pants. A woman was giving him a blow job while he had his fingers up the ass of a second one who was straddling his face.

The women were dressed, but on closer inspection Gabriel would see that the woman who was straddling Zane wasn’t wearing any panties under her ultra-short skirt.

Gabriel kept himself rigid as he watched how Zane sucked the woman’s pussy and worked a third finger into her ass, ignoring the woman’s attempt to pull away. With his free hand he slapped her ass cheek, and the woman squealed.

“Do as you’re told,” he heard Zane order her.

Gabriel contemplated interrupting him, but two things stopped him. Interrupting a vampire while he was having sex could turn ugly—Zane would turn his sexual energy into violence, and Gabriel didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it.

The second reason was his own arousal. Gabriel liked watching—it was all he often got. And this time, it was more than just watching some people in a porn movie. This time, he could pretend that he was the man, and the woman above him was Maya.

The situation turned him on within seconds, awakening sexual desires darker than usual. Why he suddenly wanted unspeakable things, indulge in sexual acts that seemed depraved and taboo, he couldn’t explain. Was he getting so desperate that anything would arouse him these days? Gabriel shook his wicked thoughts off.

When Zane sank his teeth into the woman’s thigh to draw blood, Gabriel knew the wait was over. A few moments later, he’d disentangled himself from the two women and sent them on their way. He didn’t seem to be surprised that Gabriel was at the entrance to the alcove.

Zane waved him in. “Been waiting long?”

“Long enough.”

“You should have joined in; I’m not proprietary.”

“No, thanks.” Gabriel cleared his voice and sat down on the bench. He’d never gotten undressed in front of his friends or colleagues, and he wasn’t starting now. Nobody knew what horror he was hiding. “I hope you wiped their memories.”

“Standard procedure,” Zane confirmed and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “You have a job for me?”

“The rogue was watching us at Maya’s apartment tonight. He knows she’s with us, so we’ll have to step up our search. Have you found anything yet?”

Zane shrugged. “I’m working on it, as you can see.”

Gabriel frowned—having sex with two women didn’t look like working on finding a rogue.

“I have my methods.”

“I’m aware of your methods. What could you possibly find out from two women you’re fucking?”

“More than you think. Women talk. They notice things.”

Gabriel gave a brief snort. “I want you to look into the alibis of all vampire males for the night of the attack. The editor of the
SF Vampire Chronicle
should have a complete list of all vampire households. I’ll make sure you get the list. Work your way through it. Only the males, only the straight ones. Exclude all blood-bonded males since they wouldn’t physically have been able to drink her blood. I’m suspecting he’s a jilted lover.”

He hated the thought. Had Maya slept with him? Had she allowed him to touch her the way Gabriel wanted to touch her?

Eleven

Maya tossed in her bed. She’d told Yvette upon their return to the house that she was tired, and given that it was about an hour before sunrise, Yvette had shown no surprise at her request to rest.

Yvette had told her she was staying at the house on Gabriel’s orders. According to Yvette there was a safe room in the basement of the house behind the garage where no light penetrated. That’s where Yvette would be sleeping. Since Gabriel would be using the master bedroom when he got back and Maya occupied the only guest room, there were no other bedrooms available in the house.

At this point, Maya didn’t care much about what anybody thought—the hunger pain was getting so bad, not even Yvette’s open hostility could faze her. She could guess Yvette was annoyed—Gabriel’s reprimand had probably stung.

But all Maya cared about was assuaging her hunger. She’d heard Gabriel come back shortly before sunrise, had heard him talk to Yvette before he’d come upstairs. She could have sworn he’d paused in front of her room, but then had walked to the master bedroom and gone inside.

Now everything was quiet.

Maya wrapped her arms around her stomach and curled into a ball. The cramps were getting worse. Not even her worst menstrual cramps could compare to the pain her empty stomach caused as it contracted in short waves. Having grown up in an affluent society, she’d never before experienced hunger. Was this what millions of people went through daily, or was it this painful because she was a vampire now, and all her sensations seemed to be magnified?

She couldn’t let this hunger defeat her. She was stronger, she had to be. As the next wave of pain rolled over her and stole her breath, she knew she had to act. Maybe her hunger was great enough for her to overcome her aversion to the ghastly bottled blood. She would give it one more try—there was no way she could make it through the day. And there was no chance of Drake showing up until it was dark again even if he had good news.

Maya glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was midmorning. No, she couldn’t last till eight o’clock when sunset would occur.

Ignoring the pain, she swung her legs out of bed. She wore her short red nightgown but shivered in it, so she reached for her terrycloth robe and put it on.

Barefoot, she slipped out of the room and snuck downstairs. She didn’t want to wake anybody, least of all Gabriel. He would make mincemeat out of her efforts to try human blood. Even now she could smell his blood. A shiver went through her, and she sped up and raced down the hall to the kitchen. The further away she got from Gabriel, the better.

The kitchen was empty.

Maya opened the fridge and peered inside. As expected, it was filled with bottled blood. She grabbed one of the bottles and let the fridge door fall closed.

Trying not to give herself an opportunity to back out of it, she unscrewed the top. She held her breath like she’d done before and set the bottle to her lips. A moment later, she tilted her head back and took a gulp. The red liquid spread in her mouth. For all she knew, it could have been battery acid, so vile was the taste. She aimed at the kitchen sink and spat.

The drops that had reached her throat made her gag, and she coughed. There was no way she could drink this, not even if her life depended on it, which unfortunately, it did.

She held her mouth under the faucet and let the cold water wash out the taste in it, before she straightened. An instant later, her body cramped again and she doubled over. Trying to hold onto the counter, she accidentally knocked the bottle over, tossing it into the sink where it made a loud clank.

Unable to stand any longer, Maya tumbled to the floor. Black blotches appeared in front of her eyes. Before she could pull herself up from the cold floor, the kitchen door swung open. She first saw the long robe, then looked up and stared at Gabriel’s face.

“Maya, oh God, what happened?” he asked, his voice frantic.

Without waiting for her answer, he crouched down and pulled her up. His scent instantly wrapped around her, making her hunger pangs even worse.

She pushed him away. “Nothing. Nothing happened.”

He didn’t let go. Instead, he clasped his hands tighter around her arms. “Let me help you. You’re weak.”

“Let me go,” she demanded, knowing she couldn’t resist much longer. She made a jerky movement and was surprised when she broke free of his hold. When he reached for her again, she lashed her hand at him, trying to stop him. Her hand swiped his forearm, but when her nails scraped over his skin, she realized her fingers had turned into sharp claws.

Blood trickled from the two short cuts she’d left on his skin. She stared at them. Blood.
His
blood. Right there. All she had to do was snatch his arm and pull it to her mouth, just lick it off him.

Her stomach lurched. Of its own volition, her hand reached out. She licked her lips in anticipation of the unexpected treat. Her nostrils flared, soaking in more of the delicious scent, and a deep growl dislodged from her chest. She felt like an animal, but she didn’t care anymore. Her drive for survival was stronger.

Gabriel snatched her wrist before she could touch his arm and made her look at him. Realization flashed in his eyes. He dropped his gaze to the injury on his arm, then back to her.

She was prepared to fight for what she wanted.

“Oh God—it’s my blood you want, isn’t it?” he asked full of disbelief.

Maya only answered with a low growl.

“Come.”

With an iron grip, he dragged her out of the kitchen and down the hall. Would he lock her up now to make sure she didn’t attack him? She couldn’t allow that. She had to fight him.

When he pulled her into the study, she wanted to protest, but her mouth was too dry to speak. She needed his blood, and she needed it now.

A second later she found herself on the couch, sitting in his lap.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me you wanted my blood?” His voice was furious.

She jerked at his hold, trying to get out of his arms, but he didn’t allow it. “Damn you,” she cursed.

“You stubborn woman. I could have fed you last night. Do you know how much I worried about you?”

Had he said
fed her
? Did this mean that he was prepared to let her drink from him?

“I need—” She broke off. She couldn’t say it, feeling ashamed to express her need.

“I know what you need.”

He pulled away the collar of his robe and swept back his hair. She hadn’t noticed until now that it wasn’t held back in its usual ponytail. As he exposed his neck to her, she watched him. Did he mean it? Did he want her to feed from him?