In Blood and Worth Loving 2: Lost Without You (2 page)

She glanced down at his left hand.

Certain she couldn’t see it clearly in the dim club lighting, he lifted his ringless left hand for her inspection.

She met his gaze. “Will you?”

“This isn’t how I usually prefer to spend my Friday nights but I might be persuaded to return—given the right incentive.”

“And what would you consider the right incentive?”

He resisted the urge to put his arm around her shoulders with difficulty. “Your presence.” Noting the triumphant look in her eyes, he regretted the frank admission. Like nearly every other human woman he’d met, given half a chance, she’d probably attempt to reel him in and then dangle him on a string like a trophy.

She’d do that while trying to mold him into whatever she wanted in a man.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she told him.

Human women. They never seem to tire of playing games. “I’m too damn old to play games, Cayenne.”

“Then let’s not play any.” She turned away.

Damn her. He reached out to catch her hand in his. He felt a tingle at the contact but was confident he didn’t portray any outward signs of it. “Wait a minute.”

She half turned to look at him. “I have to go.”

“So you’ve said two other times.”

“That’s only because—”

“You have to go because your tasteless ex is waiting. I know. Go, if you must, but not before you answer my question. Can I expect to see you here again?”

“Do you want to?”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t ask.”

She squeezed his hand and surprised him by leaning up to press a quick kiss against his cheek.

He inhaled but overcame the urge to turn his head to engage her in a heated lip lock.

“Thanks,” she told him.

“For what?”

“For making me feel attractive.” She squeezed his hand again before she released it.

He resisted the temptation to assure her she was far more than just attractive. Besides, he had a feeling wanting to see her could become addictive and he needed to be careful. Feeling that way about a human woman would be more trouble than he wanted to deal with. “Can I expect to see you here again, sweet?”

“I’m not here alone,” she reminded him.

Annoyed at her failure to answer a simple damn question, he responded curtly. “Neither am I.” She compressed her lips. “Then why don’t you go flirt with your date?” He caught her hand in his and lifted it to his lips. “Because I’d much rather flirt with you,” he told her.

“That’s too bad. I already have one cheating bastard on my hands. I’m not in the market for another one!” She jerked her hand from his and stormed away.

He stared after her, a slow smile tugging at his lips. He admired the way the stylish mauve pantsuit complimented her body without being too tight or revealing. Nevertheless, he noted that her ass was round and very nicely padded. What man worth the name would feel the need to hurt her or to stray to another, less deserving woman when he could have her?

Resisting the urge to bare his incisors and charge across the club after her, he resumed his seat.

She walked towards a tall male with dark skin and eyes who stood at the edge of the dance floor smiling as she reached him.

reached him.

Jayvyn frowned. Surely, that wasn’t the object of her pain? He’d noted the man in question kissing and grinding against at least two other women during the course of ten minutes.

When she reached the man, he immediately drew her into his arms with all the familiarly of a favorite lover.

So that insipid male was his competition? Why did she want him back when he clearly didn’t appreciate her enough to ensure she didn’t go around enchanting strange, horny vampire males on the prowl for blood and pussy?

The man slid a hand down her back to cup her ass.

Watching, Jayvyn felt an almost feral fury rise like bile in his throat.

She shook her head and reached behind her to place the man’s hand on her back.

Jayvyn relaxed.

The man slid his palm back below her waist to caress her ass.

Jayvyn tensed. Maybe the bastard wasn’t so lucky after all. And he sure as hell didn’t seem able to take no for an answer. He rose and crossed the club floor to where they slow danced with the man’s palm firmly on Cayenne’s ass. He tapped the male on the shoulder.

Both the man and Cayenne looked up.

The male frowned. “Look, buddy, if you want to cut in the answer’s hell no.” Jayvyn met Cayenne’s gaze.

She looked startled and not particularly pleased to see him.

So much for her needing him to ride to her rescue. He gave the male a cool look. “I mistook you for a friend from high school.”

“So you’re not trying to cut in?” The man demanded.

I’d like to rip your throat open and leave you dying in a pool of your own vile blood.
“No.” Cayenne’s sigh of relief annoyed the hell out of him.

He met her gaze again.

She gave a small shake of her head.

There was no mistaking the go-away look in her eyes. First, she flirted with him then she retreated like a tease when he showed signs of taking her flirting seriously.
Don’t you worry, Cayenne. I’m going.
He turned and stalked away. It would be a cold day in hell before he allowed a fickle human woman to jerk his chain.

When he returned to his table, a pretty, full-figured woman with caramel colored skin and long, thick dark hair sat there.

He sat across from her.

She tilted her head to study him. “That was a bit of an unusual experience for you.” He gave her a cold look. “I suppose you’re amused.”

She shook her head. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, Uncle Jay. I’m more bemused than amused. When was the last time a woman walked away from you so decisively?”

He frowned. “I suppose she’s the reason you insisted I accompany you tonight.”

“It’s been a while since you and I have been out, Uncle Jay and I just thought—”

“I’m not buying your little miss innocent act. We both know you’re intent on playing matchmaker again, Rayna.”

“What if I am? I didn’t do so badly with Uncle Adrian.”

“Rayna!”

She gave him a cajoling smile. “Oh, come on, Uncle Jay. You liked her. Didn’t you?” Hell to the yes, but he wasn’t some spineless human male to be manipulated by such feelings. And he knew how deadly such an admission would be to Rayna. He shook his head and leaned forward to stare at her. “I’m not in the mood to play anymore of your games.”

She reached across the table to squeeze his hand. “I’m not playing.” He sighed. That’s what he feared. “Rayna, I’m perfectly capable of finding my own women without any help from you.”

“I know that.”

“And in fact, in case you’ve forgotten, I already have a woman in my life.” Hell, if he counted Toni, he had two.

He watched a quick frown furrow her brows before she smiled. “Eliza?”

“Eliza,” he repeated, smiling as he thought of his favorite fem lover. With skin the color of cinnamon, long, dark brown hair, and dark eyes, he’d lately begun to think of her as his new brown girl. He always missed her like hell when she left the country. The four months while she vacationed in Africa usually stretched endlessly before him. He glanced over Rayna’s shoulder to the dance floor. He could see Cayenne and her ex-husband with their arms around each other. When the asshole bent his head to kiss her, Jayvyn curled his top lip and looked away. Right at Rayna.

Although she didn’t glance over her shoulder, he suspected Rayna would know the source of his agitation.

Almost from the moment he and his brothers had found her and taken her into their lives, she’d been wrapping them around her finger. And none of them had been equal to the task of putting a stop to it.

Damn. He’d just given her more ammunition to use against him. If he weren’t careful, he’d fall in with her plans for him as quickly and as helplessly as Adrian had. “I’m content with Eliza.”

“She’s not your blood, Uncle Jay,” she said quietly.

He frowned. For some reason, Rayna and Eliza seemed to dislike each other. “Who is or isn’t my special mate is my decision alone, Rayna.”

“I know that, Uncle Jay.”

“But?” There was always a but with Rayna until she got her way.

“But you two have been dating for over twenty years.”

“And? What’s your point?”

“And she still insists on spending several months a year in Africa
connecting with her root
s by having sex with any and every man who catches her gaze. While she’s gone, when you tire of Toni, you go on a rampage with a dizzying succession of women who could never mean anything to you.”

“And?”

“And if the two of you were in blood, that behavior would be unacceptable.” He shrugged. “I’ve never claimed she was my blood.”

“Then why keep her in your life?”

“Because our relationship works for us.”

“Why just have a relationship that merely works when you can have one that tilts your world upside down?” Countless years had passed since he’d been so madly in love with a woman that he happily allowed her to dominate his life, his thoughts, and his heart.

“I’m perfectly happy to live in a world that doesn’t do any unnecessary tilting, Rayna.”

“Are you?”

“I am.”

“Oh, Uncle Jay. I want you and Uncle Conner to be as happy as Uncle Adrian is—now that he’s married to Brandi.”

Jayvyn couldn’t deny that his older brother was very happily married—even though he and his wife Brandi had recently learned she would probably never be able to conceive or carry a child. Of course, the prospects of Adrian being able to impregnate her had never been very high. “Brandi is perfect for him, but you’re forgetting one very important fact.”

“Which is?”

“Adrian was ready to settle down,” he pointed out.

“And you’re not ready to give marriage another try?”

Her question stirred painful and bitter memories he wasn’t in the mood to deal with. “That’s none of your concern.”

“It may not be my business, but your happiness is my concern, Uncle Jay.” Jayvyn suppressed a sigh. How was he supposed to be annoyed with her when she made remarks like that, which he knew were sincere? “Don’t you ever play fair, Rayna?”

“Not when I’m dealing with your happiness.”

Damn her. And damn him for never being equal to the task of putting and keeping her out of his personal life.

“What can you tell me about the dumb bastard she’s with?”

He waited for her to make some triumphant remark. Instead, she told him what she knew of Cayenne’s ex-husband.

He listened in silence, occasionally glancing across the room where the couple still danced. Although they no longer kissed, he now had both hands on her big, round ass.

longer kissed, he now had both hands on her big, round ass.

Jayvyn sucked in an angry breath. How the hell could she want a man who treated her as one of many easy lays?

“Aren’t you going to ask me about Cayenne?”

After having watched Rayna maneuver Adrian into falling for one of her friends, Jayvyn knew she now had her matchmaking sights set on him. Even though he’d repeatedly denied any wish to fall in blood and settle down with one woman, he feared Rayna was determined to make him fall for Cayenne. He saw no reason to cooperate.

On the other hand, he couldn’t deny the idea of getting to know Cayenne in the biblical sense, excited and aroused him. The thought of sliding his suddenly aching cock into her pussy and his incisors into her lovely neck sent a rage of hunger through him. While he didn’t intend to allow Rayna to sucker him into a real relationship with Cayenne, damn if he didn’t plan to fuck her senseless and gorge on her blood before he walked away from her.

Rayna shook her head. “I don’t want her hurt anymore, Uncle Jay.” Jayvyn compressed his lips. She’d always had an uncanny ability to “read” him and his brothers. That probably accounted for her lack of fear of them. No matter how they’d raged or what they’d threatened in a futile attempt to gain even a modicum of control over her, she’d never shown an ounce of fear with any of them. Probably because she’d always known that they cherished her and that each would gladly surrender his life to save hers.

“Uncle Jay? Isn’t there anything you want to ask me about Cayenne?” It was unbecoming of a vampire his age to be so easily handled by a human woman. Yet Rayna had been doing that with him and his two older brothers almost from the moment they’d discovered her abandoned outside the gates of the family mansion some fifty years earlier.

He was not going to give Rayna the satisfaction of thinking she could pick his blood for him. “Would you like to dance?”

She frowned. “Not at the moment.”

“Then there’s a pretty brunette sitting alone I’m going to ask to dance.” He rose and walked away from their table before she could protest.

Cayenne Pepper watched the tall stranger with the dark hair, high cheekbones, and intense gaze walk away with mixed emotions. Flirting with him had probably not been wise—especially with Michael along. His flirting back gave her hope. In case she couldn’t win Michael back, maybe being divorced and on the wrong side of 35 wouldn’t signal the end of worthwhile dating.

“Who the hell was that?”

She blinked at Michael. “Who was who?’’

“Who was the man who just tried to cut in?”

“I don’t know him,” she said truthfully.

“Are you sure?”

He wasn’t the type of man a woman forgot. True Rayna had mentioned him, but Cayenne hadn’t paid much attention. She frowned. His name began with a J. Jason or Jarrod or something like that. “I’m very sure I don’t know him.”

“Well, he clearly wants to know you.”

“How do you know that?”

“He practically started drooling when he looked at you.”

Flattered, it was difficult for Cayenne not to smile. “I don’t know him,” she said again. Recalling the feel of his firm, cool lips brushing against her fingers as he kissed her hand, she inhaled sharply.

Mistaking the sound for lust for him, Michael lifted her chin, and locked his lips over hers in a warm, greedy kiss that made her pussy gush and chased thoughts of the other man from her mind.

“Let’s get out of here and go fuck,” he whispered when he released her lips.