Vampire, Interrupted (5 page)

Just the memory of the way his eyes had slid over her body brought about a response in her and she frowned as her nipples pebbled as if he were there now, looking at her again.

Biting her lip, she dropped the washcloth on the side of the tub and forced herself to relax, hoping to calm the low hum of excitement suddenly running through her again. In her seven hundred years of life, Marguerite had never before had such a reaction to a man just looking at her, and it troubled her to have
it now. The man was a complete stranger. One she wasn’t even sure she liked!

What kind of barbarian broke into your room and started throwing around the mortal in it? He claimed he’d thought Tiny was attacking her, but they’d both been asleep. At least, she’d been sleeping and she assumed Tiny had been as well. And really, Tiny was a mortal and she an immortal. He
couldn’t
make her do anything she didn’t want to do.

Julius, however, might be able to, Marguerite acknowledged. He was an immortal, like herself, and she already knew from their earlier struggle that he was stronger than she.
He
could have forced her from her room and into that bed.

For some reason that thought sent a shiver of the earlier excitement down her back and Marguerite scowled at the response. She had just been freed from seven hundred years of marriage to a horrible, controlling husband and had no desire to get tangled up in
any
kind of relationship with another man at the moment. She wanted to enjoy her freedom, have a career, live life a bit…

Marguerite had been alive for more than seven hundred years, but felt like she’d been in a deep freeze all that time, her emotions bottled up to keep in the rage of being controlled. Her children had been the only part of her life where she’d allowed herself to feel anything, and she’d poured all her caring and passion into them and their happiness.

It had left her wholly unprepared for the excitement that had rolled over her when Julius Notte’s eyes had caressed her body. Marguerite hated being taken by surprise, and had no desire to pursue the attraction
the man had stirred in her. In fact, as far as she was concerned, the best thing in the world that could happen was to get Julius Notte and the disturbing effect he had on her out of her life as quickly as possible.

The easiest way to ensure that was to solve this case quickly and fly home to Canada, she thought, and wondered if she might be able to read the man. If she could read Julius Notte’s mind, she could find out who Christian’s mother was and bring this case to a quick and satisfactory close.

Pursing her lips, she wondered how old the man was. Christian was only five hundred and she already knew he was an only child, so it was wholly possible that Julius Notte was younger than her. If that were the case, she might be able to read him.

Unfortunately, Marguerite had a feeling he was much older than that. She wasn’t sure what made her think so, but she could usually judge these things pretty dependably and her instincts were telling her he was older. And if he
was
older than she, reading him would be much more difficult, if not impossible…unless he was distracted. When distracted, older immortals could sometimes be read by younger ones.

Marguerite supposed she’d have to wait and see…unless she got lucky and Christian was—right that moment—convincing his father to give him his mother’s name. Or—alternately—convincing him to leave. Either option would get the man out of her hair, and she’d much rather spend another three weeks combing through dusty old archives than have to spend another moment around Julius Notte.

However, if he was still around when she finished her bath, Marguerite would try to read him to get
the information. If she couldn’t, she’d just have to learn to deal with the effect he had on her. She was old enough to be able to handle such situations with dignity and grace.

“Yeah, right,” Marguerite murmured with wry amusement. Shaking her head, she settled back in the water and closed her eyes, intending only to relax for a moment.

“Now, would you mind telling me what the hell is
really going on here?” Christian asked as he led the way into his hotel room.

Julius hesitated, his gaze sliding to Marcus for help in handling this issue.

Before the other man could speak, Christian added, “Don’t bother trying to come up with a lie. I know what’s happening. You got wind that I’d hired the Morrisey agency to find my mother and flew over here to make them drop the case, didn’t you?”

Julius’s eyes widened. “I—”

“Don’t bother to deny it,” Christian interrupted. “You must know that, as an Argeneau, Marguerite wouldn’t be easily scared off. You probably intended to send her packing. You would have tried to slip into her thoughts while she was sleeping and vulnerable to find what argument was likely to work best.”

“Er…” Julius glanced at Marcus who grimaced and moved to lean against the dressing counter.

“But that earlier attack on Marguerite ruined things,” Christian went on. “You probably did go to her room first, but when she wasn’t there, you went to the other room and found her and Tiny in bed and…” His voice faded, his expression becoming
considering as he finished, “and for some reason you freaked out. Why is that?”

Julius stiffened, and clamped his mouth shut, refusing to answer.

It didn’t matter. Expression brightening with realization, Christian guessed, “Even though she was sleeping and vulnerable, you couldn’t get into her mind. Could you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Julius muttered. “She’s younger than I, centuries younger…and was sleeping.”

“That’s right, and you should have been able to read her, but couldn’t!” Sure, he was right, Christian was practically crowing. “That’s why you attacked Tiny. You were jealous!” He shook his head with amazement. “As long as I’ve known you, you’ve been a cold, hard, emotionless bastard, but when you found you couldn’t read Marguerite you couldn’t stand the fact that she was in bed with Tiny and just
lost
it.”

“I thought he was attacking her,” Julius insisted staunchly, but his mind was taken up with wondering if he really had been a cold, emotionless bastard all these centuries. He knew he’d been a bit grumpy maybe, but Christian’s description seemed a bit harsh.

“Attacking her?” Christian snorted. “You didn’t think that for a minute. They were both sleeping when you went in. You freaked because Tiny was in bed with the woman who was a true lifemate to you!”

Shoulders slumping, Julius moved past Marcus to take one of the chairs on either side of the small table by the window. Once settled, he slid his gaze back to his son to see him grinning widely. Julius scowled. “Why are you smiling like that?”

“I’m happy for you,” Christian said simply.

“Right…well…” Julius shifted uncomfortably.

“And now you need me,” he added with delight. “I have a bargaining chip.”

Julius stiffened. “What do you mean?”

Christian grinned, seeming to savor the moment, and then his expression became more serious as he said, “While in California I found out that Marguerite suffered horribly in her marriage to Jean Claude Argeneau. She has absolutely no interest in finding herself caught in another relationship that might turn out so badly.” A troubled expression crossed his face as he added, “I’m quite sure that if she even suspects you might be a lifemate, she’ll drop everything and head back to Canada so fast your head would spin.”

Julius released a heavy sigh. Marcus had already told him something similar.

“On the bright side,” Christian went on, sounding more cheerful. “You need me to keep my mouth shut about your not being able to read her.
And
, you need an excuse for staying near her that won’t reveal you think you’re lifemates.”

“Blackmail, son?” he asked dryly.

“Not blackmail. A bargain,” Christian insisted firmly and pointed out, “You don’t have to take it. You could try telling Marguerite that you think she’s your lifemate and have her try to read you and see how she reacts if she can’t.”

“I may not be able to read her, but she
may
be able to read me,” Julius pointed out, trying for nonchalance as he reached out and plucked a grape from the fruit bowl and popped it in his mouth. “She may not be my lifemate at all.”

Christian shook his head, and then pointed out, “You’re both eating.”

Julius stopped chewing the grape in his mouth, eyes widening as he recognized that he was, indeed, eating. But then he realized that his son had said, “You’re
both
eating.” Quickly swallowing the grape, he asked, “Marguerite has eaten too?”

“She pinched a sausage from Tiny’s breakfast when she thought no one was looking,” he announced with a slow smile.

Julius sat back, a smile coming to his own lips. He’d been through this before, but had forgotten that an immortal’s appetite for food returned when they met a lifemate. He had no idea why that happened. Marcus and he had once discussed it and the only conclusion they’d come to was that the awakening of one appetite brought the others back to life. Sex was glorious, life was grand, and food suddenly had more flavor. Where once it had seemed boring and a waste of time to eat, everything tasted delicious.

“I’m more than happy to help you out,” Christian announced, drawing his attention once more. He then added, “But I want to know who my mother is.”

Julius considered him silently, and then said, “Fine. But—” he added firmly before Christian could speak. “The deal is that you keep your mouth shut and help me with a cover story to stay close to Marguerite
until everything is sorted out with her
, and
then
I will tell you about your mother.”

Christian narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. “So…after five hundred years of refusing to even talk about her, you’re willing to tell me who my mother
is to get Marguerite,” he said slowly and then asked, “Does this mean you’re over my mother?”

Julius hesitated and then said in a gruff voice, “I’ll never be
over
your mother, Christian. But I want Marguerite.”

The words didn’t seem to surprise Christian. He accepted them with a solemn nod and said, “All right. It’s a deal.”

When the younger man then crossed the room with hand held out to seal the bargain, Julius didn’t shake it, but used it to pull him into a hug.

“I’m happy for you, Father,” Christian said sincerely as he slapped him firmly on the back. “I like Marguerite.”

“Thank you,” Julius murmured.

“And now that we’ve made the bargain,” he added with a grin as they stepped back from each other. “I can tell you that I would have helped you anyway, even if you hadn’t agreed to tell me who my real mother is.”

When Julius raised one eyebrow, Christain shrugged and added, “You forget I’m not as ruthless as you. I could never stand between you and someone who might help you forget my mother and be happy again.”

Laughing at his expression, Christian stepped away and moved around the table to settle in the second chair. “So, with Marguerite in the bath, we have at least an hour to come up with a good excuse to have you stick close to her. She liked long baths when we were in California and I doubt that’s changed,” he added for Julius’s sake, as he set a pad of hotel stationery in front of him on the table.

Nodding, Julius moved to reclaim his own chair as Marcus snagged the chair at the dressing table and brought it over to join them.

“The easiest way to handle this is probably to stick as close to the truth as possible,” Christian said thoughtfully. “Obviously it will have to include the attack on her.”

Julius watched him warily, but didn’t comment.

“We can tell her that you suspect the attack was perpetrated by my mother’s family, that the Morrissey agency’s taking on the case and leading it into England has made them nervous and they will try to stop it any way they can.”

Julius’s eyes widened incredulously. “How did you—?”

“I’m not an idiot, Father,” Christian interrupted dryly. “The attack has to do with the case and since I know you wouldn’t sink so low, that leaves my mother’s family. Obviously, someone besides you doesn’t want me learning my maternal origins. Besides, the only good reason for you to keep the secret all this time is to protect me.”

“Your mother ordered you killed at birth,” Marcus announced quietly.

Julius turned a glare on the man for revealing that and then glanced back to his son. Anger and pain for the lad mingled in his own heart as he saw the stark expression on his face, and then Christian quickly looked down to the pad he was doodling on, hiding it. After a moment, he cleared his throat.

“Right, so it’s probably her family behind the attack on Marguerite. Unless my mother’s really still alive, then I guess it could be her.”

When he raised a questioning glance, Julius hesitated, but kept silent in the end, unwilling to reveal if that was the case.

“At any rate,” Christian continued on a sigh when his father remained stubbornly silent. “I’ll tell Marguerite that—out of fear for me—you finally revealed that my mother tried to kill me at birth and you suspect her people are behind the attack earlier. That despite this, I want to continue the investigation and that while you refuse to reveal any more, you have decided to remain with us to ensure our safety until we give up, or to be on hand should we solve the case.”

Christian paused and considered the plan and nodded. “That should ensure she stops thinking you’re a stubborn ass for not telling me who my mother is.”

Julius stiffened at these words, but Christian was still talking.

“And paint you in a more favorable light, as well as give you a reason to stay close to her.” He paused and eyed his father. “The rest, unfortunately, is up to you.”

“Unfortunately?” Julius echoed in a warning growl.

“Well,” Christian grimaced. “Father, I don’t know what you were like when you were younger, but you aren’t exactly a Romeo type now, are you? I mean, the maids at the house and the secretaries in the office are terrified of you, and—”

“I do know how to woo a woman,” Julius interrupted dryly. When Christian didn’t hide his doubt, he scowled and insisted, “I do.”