Chapter 10 #4
“I think it’s refreshing seeing little easygoing Danny with his feathers ruffled because his mate isn’t a doormat.”
“I don’t want her to be a doormat.”
“No, but you want her to listen to you,” he said in amusement. “And I think that ship has sailed.”
I turned when the back door opened and waited as Dalton crossed the yard. When he reached us, he stopped, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Looked over the information you’ve collected.”
“You’re welcome,” Chance said, popping a piece of gum in his mouth. “You got the organized version. We had to search through piles of bullshit to find those gems.”
“You’ve convinced me,” Dalton said with a sigh. “Edgar Adamson looks dirty as hell.”
“Told ya,” Chance replied.
“Is he always this fucking annoying?” Dalton asked me.
“Always,” I confirmed.
He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “Adamson is at his house on the coast this week,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “Arthur mentioned it a few days ago.”
Chance perked up like a dog on the scent.
“I’m not sure how long he’ll be there,” Dalton said grimly. “I know the timing is shit, but we could get out there and back within a few hours.”
I looked at my brother.
“I’ll head home to the armory and meet you back here,” he said, putting his hand out.
I dropped my keys in his palm and watched as he jogged away.
“I need to head home and gear up too,” Dalton said as we made our way back to the house. “I’ll grab Ian so we’ve got another set of hands.”
“What about Gary?” I asked.
Dalton shook his head. “There’s no one I’d rather have with me, but he’s not up for this kind of shit anymore. His back’s too fucked.”
“Shame,” I muttered.
“Better to have him home with Flower, anyway,” Dalton said as we reached the house. “She shouldn’t be here alone.”
When we got inside, only Gary was still in the kitchen.
“Rosemary?” I asked.
“She’s in the bedroom, I think,” he said tiredly.
I moved past him.
“I know you’re doin’ your best,” he said to my back. “But this shit isn’t working.”
I didn’t bother to respond as I went searching for my mate.
Rosemary was in the bedroom, sitting on the chair where my clothes usually got tossed. She’d shoved them all onto the floor.
“Nice of you to join me,” she said, her legs thrown over the arm of the chair. “Have a good talk with your brother?”
“I know you’re pissed.”
She huffed.
“You think I like this any more than you do?” I asked, keeping my voice level.
Arguing about it wasn’t going to help. This was the situation we were in. We either found a way to make it work or we were miserable. Those were the two options. Walking away wasn’t possible. Ignoring the militia that would all too happily kidnap and kill her wasn’t possible either.
“I think that you took off this morning and didn’t bother coming back until Dalton called you.”
“I was on my way back when you called.”
“Sure, you were.”
“How do you think I got here so fast?” I asked, crouching down in front of the chair.
“Why the fuck wouldn’t you call to tell me you’d be late?” she asked in exasperation. “Seriously, what the hell?”
“Honestly?”
“No, lie to me,” she replied sarcastically.
“After we saw that video and Chance asked me to go with him to talk to some contacts he had in the city, I didn’t call because I was afraid that I’d have to bail on him if I heard your voice.”
She just stared at me.
“I lied when I said it was a six. It’s much higher than that. I fucking hate it, okay?” I murmured, running my hand down her thigh. “I don’t enjoy being away from you. The physical symptoms are miserable, and I’m constantly fighting the instinct to get back to you in any way possible.”
“Then why are you making me stay here?” she whispered.
“Because the only thing worse than that would be taking you with me and taking the chance that one of those militia members gets a glimpse of you.” Reaching up, I let my fingers tangle in her hair.
“But we’re getting close to the head of the snake, baby.
Depending on what happens tonight, this could all be over soon. ”
“What’s happening tonight?” she asked suspiciously.
“Chance, Dalton, Ian, and I are going to go see Edgar Adamson.”
“One of the names on the list,” she said in understanding.
“Not just one of the names on the list. The Vampire is a lieutenant general in Vampire Command. He holds thousands of Vampire lives in his hands every minute of the day, and his name is all over those files Zeke gathered.”
“Oh shit,” she murmured.
“That about covers it,” I confirmed. “But after we speak to him, we may know more about who’s controlling all this.”
“You have to go.” She let out a disappointed sigh.
“I have to go,” I confirmed. “But I’ll make it as fast as I can, and I won’t be alone.”
“I’ll make sure Pop’s got the edibles ready.” She swallowed hard, looking a little nervous.
I think I’d been hearing it but not really processing what everyone was saying. Rosemary’s mating heat symptoms were bad when I wasn’t in close proximity. They seemed to be relatively mild when we were together, but the moment I left, they intensified. She was in pain when we were apart. I was too.
But it wasn’t until I watched her throat move with that nervous swallow that it fully sank in just how terrible the symptoms must be.
Because if Rosemary was nervous for me to leave, if just the thought of what was coming made her eyes go dark like that, then things were much worse than I’d been imagining.
This was a woman who’d been stabbed. Who’d deliberately gotten herself kidnapped in an attempt to get information from a bunch of murderers.
Who’d been tied to a chair for a week, waiting for them to slip up and reveal something.
A woman who had been willing to take on a room full of Vampires with just a broken beer bottle and who had followed me into a pitch-dark forest searching for intruders after seeing our property littered with bodies.
“Come here,” I ordered quietly, taking her hand.
I fell to my ass and pulled her into my lap on the floor.
“Where does it hurt when I go?” I asked, brushing her hair away from her face.
Her eyes fell closed. “Everywhere.”
“Here?” I asked, kissing her shoulder.
“Yes.”
“Here?” I asked, moving to her neck.
“Yes.”
“Here?” Her jaw.
“Yes.”
As I stripped her shirt and bra off, I kept asking. Her answer was always yes. When I asked about the places that my mouth couldn’t reach, I smoothed over them with my hands instead. Eventually, I stopped asking, but I knew if I’d said the words, what her answer would be.
Taking my time, I touched every part of her, apologizing silently for what she’d been through and what I knew she would go through again.
When I finally shoved my trousers down far enough that she could sink down over me, both of us let out a sigh of something between relief and pleasure.
That was where she belonged. It was where we belonged. Locked together in a quiet room, sharing breath, our scents mixing until they were indistinguishable from each other.
The taste of her blood as I came was like coming home. It was life and death and every sunrise and sunset I’d ever seen.
I’d barely lifted my head when her teeth sank deep into the meat between my shoulder and neck. Jerking in surprise, I held the back of her head as she sobbed silently and came. When she let go, she shuddered and raised her face to mine.
“Let me see,” I whispered, using my thumb to gently raise her top lip.
Her canines had elongated. Not enough for the average person to notice, but long enough that she no longer needed me to nick my skin for the blood exchange.
“I think it happened today,” she said, kissing the tip of my thumb. “Do you think this means I’m immortal now?”
“Yes,” I replied roughly, staring at her mouth.
“I’m still not going with you, am I?”
I stared into her eyes, unable to get the words past my throat. I knew the moment she realized what I wasn’t saying.
Her gaze shifted away in disappointment.