Vampire Instinct (10 page)

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Authors: Joey W Hill

Tags: #Vampires, #Horror, #Paranormal, #General, #Romance, #Fantasy, #Erotic Fiction, #Erotica, #Fiction, #Occult & Supernatural

BOOK: Vampire Instinct
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“You are proving it, by following my direction. I expect when you entered Lady Danny’s household, you had to do that for a while before she trusted your judgment, correct?”
Her cheeks burned. Apparently, he did sometimes listen in.
“Somewhat. Part of it is your face. You’re pouting.”
That burning became outright mortification. “I am not.” But then she touched her mouth and found it had in fact shaped itself into such a disagreeable shape. She tucked her lips tightly together, surprised to see a faint trace of amusement cross his face. “I do take your point, sir,” she said. “I will work to prove myself worthy of your trust.”
He blinked at her. “You almost managed to keep the scorn out of your voice that time, Irish flower.”
“Perhaps, with all due respect, Mr. Mal—sir, I have to learn to trust you as well.”
“I don’t have to prove myself to you.” In a blink, his tone became a warning that straightened her spine with a snap again and made her stomach do a full somersault. His brown eyes cooled, and he put his feet flat on the floor, holding her gaze captive with his own. “Perhaps Danny gave you more latitude, but that was your home. This is a new, unfamiliar territory, and as any of my staff will tell you, if you do not take the time to learn it, under my direction, it can lead to tragic consequences.”
Images swamped her as he pricked at that wound. She dug her nails into her palms hard enough to draw blood. It was intended to steady her, hold it together, but panic ran together with the pain as she imagined what losing her calm now could do to his opinion of her. Whether out of negligent cruelty or to study her like a lab rat, just like her children, he’d meant to do it. She was sure of it, and for an alarming second she felt genuine rage against him.
“I am familiar with . . . that,” she managed. “There’s no need to . . .” She rose from her chair abruptly. “Excuse me, I need to go . . . to the lavatory. I’ll be right back.”
Instead, he rose from his chair, and came around the desk in a graceful flow of movement that caught her in place before she could escape. “Please . . . don’t touch me,” she whispered. Her arm jerked under his touch when his fingers closed around it. Shudders ricocheted up from those muscles all the way to her tense neck. “Sir.”
He eased her back into the chair but then took his hand away. “Elisa, breathe.”
“I know . . . I’m fine.”
She heard him sigh as she stared at the dark panel of the desk to the right of his lean hip. He wore a knife there, the size of the scabbard suggesting an impressive hunting blade. “Last night, you thought I was being cruel to Leonidas. I was teaching him. Have you ever seen two dogs squabble in the yard?”
The even timbre was unexpectedly reassuring, like the night before. She nodded. “We have several at the station.”
“Who’s top dog?”
“Rodney,” she responded automatically. “Dev thinks he’s part dingo, and Lady Danny thinks he’s part Tasmanian devil.” Pleating her fingers into her dress, she studied the folds. She gave Rodney extra scraps because he did whatever his mind told him to do, hang the consequences. But he’d sometimes lie on the hem of her dress when she was sitting on the porch, mending. Occasionally he’d look up at her in what she imagined was a fond way.
“When Rodney fights with another dog to teach him to mind, does he hurt the dog?”
She thought about that. The sporadic dog fights in the yard could be loud and startling, but they were usually brief things. Very little blood was ever taken. Most of the time, if it happened, it was only at the beginning, when a new dog arrived. “No. Not often.”
“It’s pretty scary to watch two dogs fight like that, but it’s simply nature’s law of dominance, and their way of working it out. As soon as one dog proves he’s the leader, the others are fine falling in line, including the one he fought with.”
“But the childr . . . fledglings, aren’t dogs.”
“No, more’s the pity. It would be easier. Human and vampire blood makes things far more unpredictable. Plus, the fledglings’ former master was like the humans who train dogs to fight to the death. He’s messed up their proper sense of things, exploiting what nature intended. Did I hurt Leonidas last night?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“But it was somewhat scary to watch, right? Just like the dogs.”
Malachi took a knee then, brushing her thigh with it as his hands covered hers. The position put them at eye level. It was an unexpected thing for a vampire to do, and flustered her somewhat, to be so central to his attention that way. “I’m not telling you your job is over, Elisa. But I’m telling you that I’m going to shoulder a lot more of the load now. It belongs in my hands, because I’m the one who can handle it. I will need your insight, but there are things I already know about them that you don’t. The same way Rodney knows things about the other dogs in the yard. There is a difference between the brutality of Lord Ruskin and merely a firm, dominant hand.”
“Oh, I know.” She didn’t want him to think she was ignorant. “I’ve seen Lady Danny handle things. And with Dev . . .” Lord in Heaven, why did she open that cache of images in her head?
 
A light flush tinged her cheeks. Mal didn’t need to take advantage of the window in her mind to know what she’d seen. He’d been around Danny and Dev himself, and knew Danny’s feelings and desires for her unusual bushman servant.
However, given what had happened to Elisa, she’d still view a female’s dominance like Danny’s as “safer” than a male’s. Testing, he cupped her face, bringing her startled gaze to him. Using his thumb, he traced her lips, exerting enough pressure she had to part them, then teased the sensitive interior flesh, creating a shiver along her nerves that made her eyes widen farther.
She was a natural submissive, so his intent had been instructional, a memorable example she’d remember. It was surprising to react to her response. He imagined her on her knees, that mouth put to a far different use . . .
“You haven’t been around a dominant male vampire much, Irish flower.” He cleared his throat. “It’s different, but it shouldn’t be capricious or cruel, no more than Danny’s authority.”
“Ian lived at the station. And . . . we’ve had a few males . . . visit. I-I’ve seen things.”
But none of them had paid her direct attention, he was sure. Danny had made it crystal clear this one had been limited to household duties, as second marks often were. Even so, a riot of needs and emotions trembled from her, enough to spook every creature in a fifty-mile radius. It reminded him of his conversation with Danny. For good or ill, Elisa was a vital key to who the fledglings were, what they could be. In order to make a complete evaluation, he was going to have to understand her, draw out her emotions and responses. If what he believed was inevitable happened, it would be a critical step.
“All right.” He dropped his hand and rose. “I have some more notes to review with you; then I’ll head out to the fledglings’ quarters before I attend to our usual routine with the cats. And before you ask, no, you won’t go with me tonight. I want to observe them without your distraction.”
She flinched, that innocent expression of desire she’d had under his touch disappearing. He ignored it. “You’ll stay here for the time being. I don’t want you wandering off and getting yourself in trouble.”
“I may not know your world, sir, but I’m not a child. You don’t have to treat me as one. Our station is in the Outback, and I understand about dangers in the environment.”
“Then you understand why you’ll stay put on this compound until someone can show you around.” Reaching the other side of the desk, he gave her a look. “And I can promise you I don’t think of you as a child. It might be good for you to remember that, for a variety of reasons.”
6
 
W
HAT did he mean by
that
? Under Danny and Dev’s station management, Elisa had fallen out of the habit of staying so wary of males, but even after repeat reviews of that meeting in her head, she was still baffled. There’d been no warning signs, no lecherous light in his eye. Everything about his demeanor and tone suggested he
did
think of her as no more than a silly child, here to cause him irritation. He kept her under intent regard, but they all did that. Around vampires, one often felt like a sheep ambling past an interested pack of dingoes.
You’re in no danger here.
But a vampire’s definition of harm and a human’s could be quite different. Lady Danny had said she was to obey him as if he were her, and Danny had regularly touched her in such sensual ways. However, she’d never outright bedded Elisa, though Elisa had no doubt she could have seduced her into it, shocking though the thought was. Did Mr. Malachi have that right?
He’d left after their meeting, and, as if he thought saying it once wasn’t enough, he’d taped a piece of paper to the front-door window glass.
Elisa, stay on the grounds and follow Kohana’s direction. Thomas will join you for midnight tea.
She’d known Thomas wasn’t in the house, because his door had been open when she passed it in the hallway. Apparently,
he’d
been allowed to wander this dangerous jungle. Mal would probably take him to see the fledglings
.
Oh, bollocks. Children, children,
children
. She knew it was petulant, to chant it in her mind so adamantly, but it helped her from screaming like a banshee. She wasn’t worried Mal was listening. He’d probably forgotten her existence as soon as he taped the note to the door and got into the Jeep. In fact, she was surprised he’d even written the note, fully expecting her to stay where he’d dictated. Dutifully accepting of his edicts, not about to go stark, raving mad.
Bloody males.
Drawing a deep breath, she struggled for calm. The fledglings were all right. Thomas was going to come at midnight and tell her all about the proper place constructed for them. Mal had had a couple months’ notice to prepare, after all. Just like at Danny’s station, his staff would rotate responsibility with Elisa to donate fresh blood for their meals. But he didn’t know that Miah and Nerida refused to drink as long as someone was looking at them. Or that Matthew preferred his warmed, such that Elisa put the packet inside her clothes before his feeding. That way it at least acquired her outside body temperature before she gave it to him.
She took another steadying breath. She’d been trusted with so much responsibility so young because she was even-tempered and eager to please, with a deep-seated need to serve her employer to the best of her ability. But since the incident with Victor, she wasn’t entirely sure who was inhabiting her skin or how to predict her own behavior.
To keep herself from wild ideas of ignoring Mal’s orders and setting after them on foot, which she was certain would win her a one-way ticket off the island, she went looking for a housekeeper. She understood Kohana handled the house upkeep and some butler duties like bringing meals to the room, but surely there was a woman in charge of laundry and cleaning.
Kohana was in the kitchen, his backside propped on a stool as he stood at the sink, washing the dishes left from the staff’s latest meal. The stool gave him the support his missing leg could not as he performed the task. He was humming, something that sounded like a chant, reminding her of Miah and Nerida’s quiet songs.
“Good evening,” she said.
Kohana nodded without turning. “And to you, little miss. Did you sleep well?”
“Fine,” she said, though in truth, despite the duration, she’d slept abysmally, with nightmares and starts into wakefulness, wondering where she was, and how the children were. It was why she’d overslept, because normally she was on her feet by early afternoon, preparing to care for Lady Danny’s needs. The time difference might also be playing havoc with her.
He grunted. “There’s hot water in the kettle over there. We have tea if you want it, though we prepare it in more of an instant fashion than you’re probably used to. Sit down at the table and I’ll scramble you an egg.”
“Oh, no, I can do that. I’m not here for you to serve me. In fact, I came looking for the housekeeper so she can put me to work. Mr. Malachi says I have to stay at the house for the next little bit, and I want to make myself useful until he calls me to assist with the chil—fledglings.” She almost snapped out the last word, gritting her teeth at Kohana’s sidelong look. He’d likely read that note and already knew the master of the house thought she was a nuisance. However, his stern mouth lifted in a slight smile.

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