Surrendering: A Regent Vampire Lords Novel, Book #1 (5 page)

She tore her gaze from Ren to look at the man pushing his way into the room.

Holy. Mother. Of. Pearls.

She felt the blood drain from her face. She was suddenly light-headed and her knees almost buckled, forcing her to take a step back, steadying herself against the table. She knew her mouth hung open, but couldn’t force it closed.

It was
him
…her dream lover. Or his doppelganger. Desire pooled in her belly, flowing through her veins, engorging her in all the right places. Her panties became most uncomfortable in their dampened state.

“And I’m Devon Fallinsworth. But you can call me Dev.” His nostrils flared slightly as he watched her intensely.

She continued to stare at him…unable to believe her eyes, unable to move, unable to catch her breath. He was absolutely everything she had dreamed, and more. Much, much, much more.

Tall.

Dark.

Handsome.

No…handsome was too bland of an adjective. He was devastatingly sensuous. Mind-blowingly sexy. His black suit, which looked custom made, draped his perfectly formed, muscular body like a glove. A crisp white dress shirt was unbuttoned just enough that she could see a dark thatch of hair adorning his perfectly tanned chest. Yowza. He was edible.

His dark eyes held her gaze and the room narrowed until it was just the two of them.

He moved toward her until he was standing so close she could feel his body heat radiating into her skin. His masculine scent enveloped her and caressed her like a lover. He smelled like spices, mint, and sex god. She never wanted to look away. She could literally drown in his black, liquid eyes and it would be a happy, welcome death.

“Pleased to meet you, Kate.” His voice wrapped around her like a soft, silky blanket. She wanted to cuddle under it next to his warm naked body. She hadn’t realized he held her hand until she felt him rubbing small circles on the webbing of her thumb. He held on longer than she thought appropriate, but shorter than she wanted. His penetrating eyes never broke with hers.

“Uh…yes.” she breathed.

She was in a desire-induced fog.
Had she spoken? She couldn’t remember.

Detective Thatcher interrupted. “Why don’t we all have a seat and you can tell these…special investigators what you know about Sarah Hill. What you told me.”

Pulling her gaze away from the sexy beast in front her, Kate retook her seat. Detective Thatcher and Ren sat across from her at the table, but Dev took the seat beside her. She couldn’t help her surreptitious glance to see if he was wearing a wedding ring and was happier than she should have been to see none. It took everything in her not to reach out and touch him again. Or scoot her chair closer. Was she dreaming?

She pinched the back of her hand. Ouch. Very much awake.

“Kate, please tell us what you can.” Dev’s voice was encouraging, but his eyes were smoldering, like he was hungry. For her.

What the hell?
Get a grip, Kate!
Getting her brain to formulate a coherent thought was challenging.

After several moments, Kate pulled it together and spent the next fifteen minutes relaying everything to Dev and Ren. They listened with rapt attention, asking questions, taking notes. She took care to look at Dev as little as possible, as every time she did, she seemed to stumble over her words and all thought escaped her.

They genuinely seemed to believe her, which was a relief. Maybe she could help Sarah Hill after all.

___________

Dev

As Dev listened to Kate retell her dream, he had a hard time concentrating on her words. He was in awe of her. Her scent was driving him out of his damned mind. The soft thud of her pulse beneath her fair, porcelain skin was mouthwateringly enticing. He had to fight with his entire being to keep his fangs from descending. And the fact that she wasn’t looking at him nearly enough was driving him absolutely fucking crazy. He wanted to stare into her mesmerizing eyes forever.

She was more than he’d imagined his Moira to be. She was stunningly beautiful, deliciously curvy in all the right places and her skin softer than the finest silk. All he could think about was being inside her sweet body. His dick was as hard as steel and he’d had to reposition it many times throughout the conversation. He wanted to possess her. Completely. Thoroughly.
Now
.

He warred with himself on how to handle this situation. It was delicate. Not that she was delicate. He had a feeling she was going to give him a run for his money. He was actually terrified of scaring her off.
Him—terrified
. Never thought he would see the day. The man in him knew he needed to take it slowly with her, court her, gain her trust. The pure animal in him, however, vowed he would never let her out of his sight. Ever. Her wants and feelings be damned.

After she’d described the whole dream in detail, he asked, “Is there anything else you can remember about the setting or her captors, anything unique at all that you haven’t told us?”

Kate’s eyes shifted toward the floor. “No, no…that’s everything I can remember.”

Ohhhh, his Kate was holding something back.
His
Kate. She was nervous. He needed to gain her trust so she would confide in him completely.
Give herself to him completely
.

Two things were crystal clear.

This exquisite woman was his and she was a dreamwalker. She didn’t know how special that made her. Or how much danger that put her in. Dev made a swift decision.

“Kate, based on what you’ve told us, I think you’re in grave danger and will need to be remanded into protective custody until we can locate Sarah.”

Detective Thatcher started to protest and Ren looked at him as though he’d grown two heads. Kate simply gaped at him for a moment before a stubborn look crossed her beautiful features and she did exactly what he thought she would.

“That’s not necessary, Detective.”

Okay, let’s try wooing. “Dev. Please call me Dev.”

“Okay. That’s not necessary,
Dev
. In fact, that’s about the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard. Why on earth would I need to be in protective custody? I can assure you I am in no danger.” She laughed.

Detective Thatcher abruptly stood, a violent look on his face. “She’s right. That isn’t necessary,
Detective
.” Snarly much?

Asshole was living a little too close to the edge. He mentally shrugged. Oh well, his death. Dev didn’t even acknowledge Thatcher, keeping his gaze locked with Kate’s.

Right, animal instinct it was. “Oh, I assure you, love, it’s quite necessary.”

“
What the hell are you doing, Dev? Police custody? Love?”
Ren spoke to him telepathically.

“
Fuck off,”
Dev growled and continued.

“Kate, I’m afraid this is a serial kidnapper and murderer we’re dealing with and we’ve been trying to catch him for years. I don’t want you to be in his crosshairs once he discovers you have come forward with information that may help us track him down. He’s dangerous. He’s left too many bodies in his wake. I don’t want you to be one of them.” He wouldn’t let her be one of them.

She visibly paled. “He’s done this before? I don’t understand how he would even find out I’ve been here?” Now she sounded a bit panicked. Good. He would use that to his advantage.

“Trust me, as much as we try to keep this under wraps, this is a high profile case. Young, beautiful college girls are being snatched. It’s a media frenzy. Someone will find out you were here and leak it to the press. It’s only a matter of time. And when that happens, a bull’s-eye will be painted directly on your back. This guy will consider you a threat he may act to eliminate.”

He’d tried pushing a little compulsion her way. She regarded him for a moment, her eyes narrowing.

“Thank you, Dev, but I promise you I’ll be just fine. I have a good security system at home and I have a concealed carry permit. I practice twice a week at the range. Plus, I’ve been training in Jeet Kune Do for the past eight years. I’m good.” She had the most infuriating smirk on her gorgeous, full lips. Lips he wanted wrapped around his cock. Now.

Well…shit.

He glanced at Detective Thatcher and Ren, and they had the same smirks on their faces, Ren clearly containing his laugh. He pushed a bit of his power toward them. Wiped the smirks right off…at least the human. Ren looked at him with a knowing laughter in his glittery eyes.
Paybacks are a bitch, pretty boy.

Now what? She wasn’t leaving here alone. Over his dead body.

Okay, onto Plan B… Plan B…what
was
Plan B?

“
How about compromise, man?”

“
Compromise?”

“
Yeah, compromise. The act of negotiation, concession, finding a middle ground? I know it’s a foreign concept to you, Dev, but pulling alpha won’t work on this chick.”

Compromise definitely wasn’t his best skill. But to keep Kate safe, he would give anything a try.

Dev pleaded—
groan
—pleaded, “Kate, please let us keep you under protection for just a few days. If nothing slips to the press, then you can go back to your normal life. Business as usual.” Yeah, no fucking way that was happening. Ever. But she didn’t need to know that now. He just needed to get her with him and the rest would fall into place.

She sighed heavily, clearly contemplating his latest offer.

Ren could barely contain his laughter now. His shoulders were shaking. Goddamn pretty boy wasn’t gonna be looking so pretty very soon.

“Can’t you just post a patrol outside my house?” she asked.

“A safe house would better, Kate. It’s just a few days. Come on…just think of it as a much-needed vacation. You do look a little tired.” He quickly added, “Beautiful, but tired.”

She frowned at that statement, brows creasing, wrinkling that smooth, delectable forehead. He definitely liked it better when she smiled.

“Where exactly is this safe house and who will be with me?”

A small smile played on Dev’s lips, knowing he was making progress. He’d better not too get too cocky. “I can’t tell you exactly where the safe house is, for your own protection, but it’s just right on the outskirts of Milwaukee.” Dev glanced at Ren and back to Kate. “And Ren and I will be protecting you. I promise you, Kate, we won’t let anything happen to you.” Nothing, but the most intense pleasure you can handle.

“Look gentlemen, I sincerely appreciate your concern, but I’m not in any danger. If you feel better, send a police car by my house once in the evening for a few days, but going into protective custody seems pretty excessive. Now, I really do need to be going, as I have a class to teach in just a few hours.”

She grabbed her coat and purse and stood to leave.

“Kate, I really wish you’d reconsider,” he pleaded.

There was no goddamned way he was letting her out of his sight for a single, solitary moment. It went against every single protective instinct in his body to let her walk out that door without him. His body vibrated with nearly unrestrained need to pull her into his arms and flash her the hell away from here and he needed to rein himself in quickly before he did something stupid.

“At least tell us where you teach…
please
.” That word tasted bitter too. He had a feeling he’d better get used to saying it. A lot. But only to her.

She turned and gifted him with the most brilliant smile he’d ever seen. It was brighter than a thousand suns and more beautiful than any word he knew in any language. What was this poetic shit filling his brain? He was whipped after less than an hour in her presence.

“I’m an assistant psychology professor at Marquette University.” And with that she walked out the door.

Dev was out of his chair in a flash. “She doesn’t leave our sight. Let’s go.”

It was a myth that vampires couldn’t go out in the daylight. Younger vampires had to temper their exposure to sunlight as it made them weak, but once a vampire came into their full powers at age one hundred, they could withstand the sun just as well as any human could.

“Dev, slow down and think for a minute,” pleaded Ren. “Nothing will happen to her.”

“You’re fucking right nothing will happen to her, because we’re gonna be like white on rice. Now get your ass moving or I’m going without you. We’re wasting time.”

Ren tightly nodded. “Yes, my lord.”

“Don’t call me that, asshole.”

“You touch one hair on her goddamn head and I
will
kill you, leech,” gritted the detective.

Dev laughed. “Good one, human.”

C
hapter 8

Kate

Kate could hardly concentrate on anything as she prepared—or
tried to prepare
—for her class, which started in fifteen minutes. What the hell had happened this morning at the police station? So many thoughts and questions swirled in her head.

Giddiness bubbled up inside…her dream lover was
real
. And he had a name. Devon. Dev. How was this possible? It’s like she just conjured him up and suddenly he stood in front of her in the flesh. She thought back to a movie she’d seen about two teenage boys who cut out parts from a magazine to make their dream woman.
Weird Science
. That’s exactly what this felt like. Weird.