Microsoft Word - The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance.doc (27 page)

“Joss?”

That he’d ask rather than assume made her smile. “When I

said make me yours, I meant it.”

“I’ll try to be gentle.” His fangs had run out far enough to

make it hard to talk.

“I’m not fragile, Rafferty.” She turned her head to the side,

granting him easier access.

He drew a shuddering breath and then struck. The sharp pain was lost in a flare of  soothing heat. She was no innocent, but she’d never before experienced such intimacy as having  Rafferty plunging into her throat and her body at the same time.  The sensations  burned  through her from head to toe, immediately shoving her screaming over the  precipice.

When the world righted itself, Rafferty lifted his head, gently withdrawing his fangs from his lover’s neck. He carefully licked the wounds closed, not wanting to leave a scar this time.  The last time she’d allowed him to feed, he’d given in  to the primitive urge to leave his mark on her. The small scars he’d left made sure she’d never forget that moment when he’d taught her what it meant to give herself over to a vampire lover.

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She stirred restlessly beneath him. He moved to the side knowing she’d need her rest if they were going to bring Petra to bay. He’d only taken a little of Josalyn’s blood, enough to whet his appetite for more. But he couldn’t risk weakening her, not with his murderous ex out there plotting their downfall.

“Rafferty?  You’re frowning pretty hard for a man who just  indulged in life-altering sex.” Josalyn’s smile was tired, but  extremely satisfied.

He couldn’t help but grin, delighted with his lover’s opinion of him. “Sorry, I was just trying to decide if I could survive  a second helping.”

“Give me a few minutes to catch my breath and we can find

out. If we don’t live through it, at least we’ll die happy.”

When she yawned loudly, he chuckled and tucked her in close as she tumbled over the edge into slumber. While she

rested, he’d savour these moments of holding her in his arms.

Rafferty didn’t want to wake up, not if it was in his prison cell. Rather than open his eyes, he used his other senses to learn if he’d only been dreaming about Joss in his arms. He smiled.  He  could definitely here a heartbeat and the sound of breathing.  His skin soaked in the warmth of a feminine leg sprawled over his and a hand carelessly flung across his chest. Breathing in slowly, he drew Joss’ sweet scent deep into his lungs.

It was no dream.

Joss stirred. “Something wrong?”

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He tightened his arm around her and finally allowed his

eyes to open. “No, we’re fine.”

She lifted her head up to blink at him sleepily. “What time

is it?”

He didn’t need a clock to tell him. “The sun’s going down.”

“So, we need to get moving.”

“Not yet. A few minutes more.” Not enough time to do  more than kiss her and hold her close, but he wasn’t going to  give up even that much. But maybe, if he hurried . . .

He scooted down, intent on revisiting a few of his favourite spots on Joss’ body along the way. She had to be a bit sore from this afternoon, but there were other ways to please his woman.  She grabbed his hair, stopping him just short of reaching his intended target.

“As much as I appreciate the thought, Rafferty, we have

work to do. We don’t have time for this.”

The stubborn set to her chin said she meant it. “Fine, be that

way. Do you want the shower first?”

Her mouth softened into a wicked smile. “Why don’t we

share and save time and water?”

When she  released him, he rolled out of bed and held out a

hand to her. “Let’s.”

The shower lasted longer than it should have, but Rafferty had used his considerable charm to coax her into a few intense

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moments that had nothing to do with getting clean. It was  amazing what he managed to accomplish in a shower stall never  meant to hold two people, much less two people engaged in  mind-numbing sex. If his lovemaking had a desperate edge to it,  she pretended not to notice.

Under the circumstances, she’d be a fool to get used to having Rafferty in her life, much less her bed.  But the past 24 hours had only cemented her determination to clear his name.  Rafferty wasn’t perfect, not by any standard. He was cocky, egotistical and all too full of himself. The one thing he  wasn’t was stupid. And killing a known enemy with his own knife and leaving it stuck in the corpse was stupid beyond belief. She didn’t doubt for a moment that Rafferty was capable of killing, but this crime made no sense  –  unless it was a set-up.

She pulled out his file and began flipping the pages. Up to this point she’d been focusing on the trial and the testimony of the witnesses, but hadn’t there been a mention of a lien against the estate? Running her finger down the pages, it took her a while to find the reference buried in a paragraph of legal jargon.

“Rafferty, who stands to profit if you die? The Coalition  will deduct the cost of your case from your estate if you’re  executed. But who gets what’s left over?”

He finished tugging on his shirt before turning to face her.  “I don’t have any family left. After any outstanding bills are paid, the rest will go to my heir.” His eyes shifted away, focusing on a point on the far side of the room.

“So who’s your heir? Could he be behind this?”

If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he was

blushing. “It’s not a he; it’s a she.”

“Your ex?”

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“There’s no way I’d give that greedy bitch a dime.” He  turned back to face her. “I named you as my heir. So unless
 
you
 
set me up . . .”

She was stunned. “You named me as your heir? Why would

you do that?”

His temper, never far away, blazed hot. “Damn it, Joss, after the day we just spent in that bed, all but killing each other with the heat between us, you have to ask a stupid question like that?  How many ways  do I have to show you that I love you? Until this mess blew up in my face, I was on my way to claim you.”

Shock shorted  out her ability to think. “You love me?”

He stared at her, the same intensity in his eyes, but his voice was gentle. “Yes, Josalyn, I  love you. What’s more, you love me.”

He didn’t sound convinced of that last part, so maybe it was more a question. Well, if he could confess all, so could she. She dropped the pile of papers on the bed to step into his arms.

“Oh, yeah, I love you.” Then  she kissed him for a long time.

Finally, breaking away, he rested his forehead against hers, bringing them both back to the matter at hand. “As much as I’d like to continue this particular discussion, you sounded as if you were on the trail of something  important.

“What? Oh, yes, the papers.” She fumbled through them to  the right page. “Someone has a lien against your estate. We need  to know who and why.”

She booted up her computer and typed in a request for the information. Marking it as high priority,  she sat back and waited

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for someone at the other end to scramble into action. The answer

wasn’t long in coming.

She scanned the page. “I think they’re claiming a breach of

contract.”

Rafferty crouched down to look over her shoulder. He ran his finger down the screen cursing. “The damn bitch didn’t even bother to cover her tracks. She probably figured the Coalition wouldn’t pick up on the company name ‘Part-E Inc’, but that I would. Unscramble the letters and you have her name. Petra still wants her pound  of flesh. It’s not enough to kill me, she wants my money, too.”

Josalyn looked disgusted. “The court wouldn’t look any further than to make sure the claim came from a legitimate company. If her name isn’t on the paperwork, they would have no reason to suspect anything. Well, Petra doesn’t know who she’s messing with.” The female would be luvky if she didn’t end up spending the rest of her centuries locked in the cell  Rafferty had vacated.

Josalyn’s fangs came out, a predator ready for the hunt.

“Now I can call her in for a talk.”

Rafferty leaned in to slide his fingertips over the sharp points of her canines before kissing her. “This should be good.  Can I watch?”

Common sense reared its ugly head. “No, and I’m going to call in a second Chancellor because we need to tread carefully.  It’s not enough to prove that the lien is false. We need to get her on the murder charge or the two of you could end up in adjoining cells.”

His expression sobered. “Until my execution.”

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She nodded. “Like I said, we need her  confession. But if

she’s being this reckless, it shouldn’t be hard.”

It took Josalyn more time than they could really afford to track down Ambrose, her boss, and convince him that she needed his assistance. Chancellors were supposed to be able to handle any situation. Short of telling him that she was sleeping with her prisoner, she had to rely on convincing him that Petra’s family connections merited special care.

Once she had him convinced, she issued the order under his name to have Petra brought in for questioning regarding the prisoner contesting the lien. Then there was nothing left to do but wait.

Petra swept into the meeting room an hour late for her appointment and with a handful of lackeys trailing in behind her. Ambrose gave Josalyn a brief look, arching an eyebrow at the parade. He wouldn’t have questioned Petra’s decision to bring legal representation, but this group looked more like she’d been called away from a social event and had brought the party with her.

If Ambrose had doubts about Josalyn’s assessment of the case, they were gone now. The smug look Petra  gave the two  Chancellors sealed her fate. Even if Ambrose thought Rafferty was guilty, he wouldn’t take the woman’s casual disregard of protocol lightly.

In chilling tones, he expressed his displeasure. “Unless one of these people is your attorney, they can wait outside. They will

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also pay the same fine as you for keeping us waiting. The  amount will increase geometrically for each additional second  they remain in my presence.”

The crowd hissed in shock and scurried for the door, leaving  Petra sputtering in indignation. She shot a venomous look at  Josalyn. “What is she doing here?”

“You know very well why I’m here Petra. I’m in charge of

Rafferty’s case.”

“What? He hasn’t been executed yet?” Her smile turned  nasty. “Do they know you two were lovers when you were on  the Council?”

Ambrose slammed his hand down on the table. “Madam,

you
 
will
 
treat this hearing with the respect it deserves.  Chancellor Sloan’s prior relationship with  her prisoner is none  of your concern. However, this bogus lien against his estate is.”

“The lien is legitimate, There was a breach of contract.”  Petra shot a nasty look in Josalyn’s direction. “The accused  ended our betrothal. His action cost me a great  deal of money  and emotional pain.”

Ambrose clearly wasn’t buying it. “Broken betrothals are hardly a rarity among the vampires. And considering you’ve broken at least one betrothal yourself, I have a difficult time believing that this was little more than  an inconvenience.”

Josalyn decided it was time to toss more fuel on the fire.  “I’m sure it can’t have anything to do with the fact that you believe Rafferty ended your betrothal because of his friendship with me.”

“Friendship! We both know it was more than that.” Petra’s

pretty face wasn’t quite so lovely when contorted with rage.

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“You Chancellors think you’re above the rest of us, but you’re  half-breeds at best. With Rafferty’s lineage, he should be  executed for consorting with the likes of you.”

Rafferty was supposed to wait in the next room until he heard himself summoned, but he wasn’t going to sit around and listen to Josalyn be insulted. He strolled into the conference room. Ignoring his ex-fiancée, he moved to stand between the two women.

Just as  he expected. Petra immediately turned on him.  “What are you doing walking around free? I thought you’d be dead by now.”

“You mean you hoped I’d be dead by now.” He nodded in  Ambrose’s direction. “I apologise for barging in uninvited,  Chancellors. I’d also apologise for Petra’s manners, if she had  any.” He glanced in her direction. It wouldn’t take much more  prodding to make her lose all control of her tongue. “I hope I  didn’t interrupt anything important.”

Josalyn smiled. “Not at all. I believe we were about to deny the lien on your estate as being without merit. Any monies, after
legitimate
 
costs are deducted, will go to your heir.”

“Good. I’m relieved to hear that. I wouldn’t want the  woman who framed me for murder to profit from my death. I  hope you’ll think of me when you spend my money, Josalyn.”  He held his breath, waiting for the explosion.