The Vampyre Legal Chronicles - Marcus (18 page)

At her tone
Marcus gave her his favourite dead on stare.

He ran the tip
of his tongue over his top teeth, a sure sign of irritation.

Anais couldn’t
resist but prod the beast with a pointy stick.

"You’re the one
who got us into this big mess. You're a fixer. Fix it."

"We wait until
the results of the blood tests come back. We’ll take it one step at
a time."

We will, will
we?

She rose to
stand in front of him and opened up the same old argument.

"You had no
right. No right to do this to me."

Marcus heaved a
weary sigh.

"Cut it out,
darlin’. The song is getting old. What’s done is done. We need to
move on from this."

His
for-God's-sake-stop-moaning-woman attitude nudged her temper.

Narrowing her
eyes, Anais crossed her arms and cocked her hip.

"You raped me,"
she stated baldly.

Sincerely
shocked Marcus merely gaped at her.

"Anais!" he
said, his voice no more than a whisper.

Ignoring the
lick of guilt in her belly, she jerked her chin.

"You
deliberately brought me into this world, without my permission,
against my will. What would you call it?"

He rose and
walked around the desk to reach for her.

"Anais, my wee
angel."

"I'm not you're
wee angel." She smacked his hands away. "Don’t touch me," she
snarled the words.

Spinning away,
she ran agitated hands through her hair, pacing back and forth with
jerky strides.

"I’m going stir
crazy stuck here, with you. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. My
concentration levels are all shot to hell." She spun on him. "What
are you going to do about it?"

Marcus sent up a prayer
to heaven for guidance.

He couldn’t
blame her for being upset.

Hell, he was
upset himself at the catastrophe that was unfolding in his life,
right in front of his eyes.

Anais made no
secret of the truth she hated him.

Fair
enough.

But how could
she possibly accuse him of rape?

Nausea roiled
in his gut and he pressed his hand to the spot.

His conscience
reminded him he hadn’t given her a choice, had he?

Over the past
few days, Marcus had come to realise he absolutely adored her. He
adored her bravery, her unshakable heart. He adored how she'd
managed to cope with the psychological, as well as the physical
changes to her body. Hell, to her world. Again and again, he tried
to reach out to her, to help her. To show her that he had real
feelings for her.

But Anais
refused to give him a chance to prove it.

She didn’t
believe him, wouldn’t let him near her.

Watching her
now Marcus had to admire her fighting spirit.

That stubborn
little chin was lifted.

Her fists were
clenched, ready for action, and those dark eyes flashed into his
with undiluted enmity in their fabulous depths.

Even dressed in
slow slung jeans, which were a little on the big side he noticed,
and tiny vest with no bra, she looked fucking gorgeous.

She’d lost
weight and refused to accept synthetic blood products.

If she didn’t
feed soon her vampyre would take over and there was the risk of her
escaping and snacking on an innocent passer-by.

They needed to
keep her locked up nice and tight.

He could hardly
pass on the duty of care to another since he was the one
responsible for this mess. A mess which was fast turning into an
unmitigated disaster.

To think he’d
chosen Anais for her sweet nature.

Looking at her
now standing before him like a warrior, he must have been out of
his tiny mind.

"You need to
relax. Chill out. You’d feel better if you ate."

Her temper was
hanging by a thread, he could tell by the clenching of her jaw.

If she kept
this up she’d end up having a complete breakdown, or worse.

It was at times
like this he wished his brother Daniel was around.

Daniel was an
empath.

He’d be able to
talk her down.

"I’d rather
die
than touch blood products."

There was a
very real chance, she might indeed die if she didn't feed. Saira
was worried about the cut on her hand, too. It wasn't healing as it
should. Which was another anomaly, because vampyres healed
fast.

Marcus decided
the only choice open to him was to swallow his monumental
pride.

After all, a
man had to do, what a man had to do.

Anais found herself
lifted, caught close to his chest as he stalked out of the sitting
room with her in his strong arms.

Between one
heartbeat and another she was pressed under him into the comforter
of his big bed.

Heart hammering
in her throat, his mouth almost touched hers as deep blue eyes
captured hers and reeled her right in.

She couldn’t
look away.

"How long?"

Anais struggled
against the heady scent of his skin, the feel of his heavy body on
top of hers. Her vampyre sat up, riveted to the scene. Immediately,
damp desire flooded between her legs.

Oh no.

"How long
what?" she snarled, fighting to the death against his lethal
attraction.

Marcus began to
drop tiny kisses on her cheeks, her nose, her chin.

"How long have
you been madly, completely and utterly in love with me?"

She jerked.

At least she
tried to and was frustrated when he held her firm.

Her eyes burned
into his, as her frantic heart took a leap into her throat.

Even if he tied
her naked body over hot coals, she would never, ever, admit her
feelings for him.

Never.

"A delusional
vampyre," she drawled. "Who’d have thought it?"

He ignored the
snark, water off a duck's back, and kissed her, a gently teasing
whisper of lips to lips.

And he kept
kissing her until, despite herself, she kissed him back.

Then he lifted
his head, and that warm look for her was back in his eyes.

"Okay, I’ll go
first. I fell in love with you that first day you walked into my
office. With that tight little body in buttoned-up black Armani,
with those big dark eyes looking at me as if I was going to bite
you. I’ve never been the same since."

By the look in
his eyes he was perfectly serious, but Anais still couldn’t quite
believe his words.

However, her
traitorous heart hammering in her chest seemed to accept the truth,
and her heart soared.

"You did bite
me," she reminded him stiffly.

"So I did." He
traced a gentle fingertip down her cheek.

"You drive me
crazy."

"Right back at
you, Anais."

She sniffed,
turned her face away from those amazing eyes that seemed to see
right into her soul.

"I don't
understand how your kind have managed to keep your existence a big
secret. How old are you anyway?"

"I have seen
two hundred and thirty winters."

She turned her
head to stare at him with big eyes.

"Oh. My. God.
I'd pegged you at thirty-one. Didn't it occur to you that you're
way too old for me?"

His laugh
vibrated through her body as he nuzzled the hectic pulse under her
ear.

"Nope. We age
slowly."

"Am I annoying
you with all these questions, should I make a list?"

"Ask away," he
dipped his head to rub his nose against hers. "But before you do,
why don't you answer one of mine. Admit it. You love me."

Not a chance in
hell, boyo.

"I’m admitting
nothing that might incriminate me in a court of law."

He gripped her
chin, forced her to look at him.

Then he smiled
at her in a way that made stupid heart clench.

"I’m never
giving you up. Why don’t we get married here, this week?"

Sincerely
shocked, she blinked into his eyes.

Marriage?

Was he
serious
?

By the look in
his eyes, it appeared he was serious.

He had
feelings, apart from lust, for her?

Hope, and a
tiny flicker of what felt like sheer happiness flared to life in
her heart.

But she
couldn't quite believe it, couldn't quite believe his words that he
loved her.

How could he
possibly love her?

Not once had he
ever put her needs before his own.

Not once.

He'd trapped
her.

Maybe telling
her he was in love was his way to make sure she never escaped
him?

After all,
escape was her main goal was it not?

And as soon as
she got her chance, she'd take it.

But Anais knew
she'd have to be careful, very careful. Marcus Gillespie was highly
intelligent, most of the time, and a skilled and clever
operator.

Well, she was
smart, too.

She'd just have
to follow his lead, see where it led.

Now her eyes
stayed on his.

"Not only
delusional, but insane too. How did I get to be so lucky?"

He was watching
her face very carefully.

"It’s not hard,
Anais. You love me. I love you."

She had to hand
it to him, the man had balls and nerves of steel.

"Do you really
love me, Marcus? Seriously? Because I wonder if loving someone
means the same thing to a vampyre prince as it does to us lesser
mortals? Loving a person means putting them before one's self. Give
me one example of when you put my needs before your own?"

No
response.

She hadn't
really expected any, but that didn't stop her continuing, "If you
loved me, I wouldn't be a vampyre."

"You kissed me
back," he reminded her.

Her brows rose
over insolent eyes.

"So? You have a
pretty face. A good body. A big dick."

The vivid blue
eyes that held hers went flat and narrow as he stared at her.

When he rolled
off her, Anais felt the loss of the weight of his body so bad, that
she nearly reached out a hand to haul him back.

Now he rose to
stand next to the bed, to give her a long, hard look.

He was
furious.

"You're not
going to meet me half-way, are you?"

Anais pushed up
to sitting, thrust back her hair.

Her heart was
racing too fast at the way the vampyre in her mind gave her a hiss
of utter disgust.
'Little fool.'

Maybe she was a
fool.

But she didn't
trust him as far as she could throw him.

"Nope. And I'm
delighted to see you've finally received the message."

Now Marcus
nodded his head, narrowed his cold eyes, as he studied her
carefully.

"You know, not
once in the past six months did I see this side of you.
Self-denial. We might have found something very special between us,
Anais. Something rare. Rare, not only for my kind, but for humans,
too. The chance to find happiness. It's a pity you don't have the
guts to take that chance."

He left,
closing the bedroom door quietly behind him.

Heart heavy,
Anais sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the door.

Why on earth
did she feel like crying?

Maybe because
she'd seen a flash of something in those dark eyes?

Hurt?

She'd hurt
him?

Anais shook her
head.

It wasn't
possible.

The man was a
monster.

This was what
she'd wanted, for him to leave her alone.

To let her
be.

One day, she
promised herself, she would be free of him.

Anais Walker
wanted her life back.

And she didn't
care what she had to do to get it.

Another twenty-four
hours limped passed without incident.

It appeared
that Anais and Marcus had reached a détente in their
relationship.

And that was
fine with Anais.

If Saira and
James appeared somewhat at a loss by the viciously polite
exchanges, that was their problem, not hers. Let Marcus explain to
them why she was standing firm against him.

Anais had asked
James if there was any way she could still take up her position as
a Junior Legal Partner, with the company, to live independently in
her own apartment in New York as she had in the past.

James Gillespie
had simply shaken his handsome head.

"You are a
newborn, Anais. You survived the transition. And that makes you a
very rare being. You are most precious to our kind. Honoured.
Revered. It is our sacred duty to protect you. To keep you safe
from harm. Perhaps, one day, Marcus will agree that you can return
to work. The decision is up to him."

No way!

Marcus
Gillespie was not going to make decisions about what she could or
could not do with her life.

No matter how
long she'd ranted, raved, James would not be moved.

In frustration,
Anais had turned to Saira, woman to woman.

"Will I ever be
able to live my own life?" she'd asked Saira during yet another
blood test.

Chocolate brown
eyes had met hers.

"Eventually.
Once the process from newborn to vampyre is complete. There are
still things that can and do go wrong. You need to feed. If you
refuse hemoglobin from Constantine's blood bank, then you will need
to take it from Marcus. The wounds on your hand are not healing as
they should, Anais. I understand how you must be feeling. I do. But
there is no turning back the clock. What has been done to you
cannot be undone. Therefore you must step forward and make the best
of the very long life you have before you. I understand that you're
scared, worried about the future, but believe me when I say that
everything is going to be just fine. Please, feed."

She might feel
defeated, but Anais wasn't deterred.