Chapter 12
Benjamin awoke with a hunger for blood he knew he wouldn’t be able to hide for long.
He should have stopped at his flat or at the office after leaving the Preston party and gotten some bottled blood.
But he hadn’t thought that far ahead, not really expecting that he would spend the night with Catalina.
They’d made love twice, and for the rest of the night, he’d held her in his arms, waking several times, instinctively making sure that she was still there.
She was still in his arms now, unaware of what he’d almost done last night.
When they’d made love and she’d rubbed the spot where he’d previously bitten her, he’d realized that her body remembered his bite, even though she didn’t.
He’d tried to resist by simply licking her skin, but his fangs had descended and scraped over her flesh.
He’d smelled her blood under the surface, but just then, she’d climaxed, igniting his own orgasm.
He was grateful for it, because he wouldn’t have been able to resist the lure of her blood a second longer and would have driven his fangs into her.
The thought made his already stiff cock even harder.
But if he made love to her now, he would most certainly bite her, and this time, she might become aware of it.
To escape the temptation, he got out of bed and headed for the bathroom to take a shower.
By the time he was done, he heard sounds from the other room. Catalina was awake.
He left the bathroom and entered the living room. Catalina had pulled her sweatshirt over her torso, depriving him of her naked beauty. Maybe it was better that way.
“Good morning,” he murmured and pulled her into his arms, fully aware that his cock was hardening again.
“Good morning,” she replied, sliding her hands onto his ass.
Her warm hands felt like silk on his skin.
“Not fair,” he murmured into her ear. “We’ve got things to do this morning. You’d better shower and get dressed.”
She peeled herself out of his arms. “What are we doing?”
“Visiting your brother in prison.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “But you need to make an appointment first. You can’t just show up.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ve got connections.”
He gave her a gentle slap on her backside and shoved her in the direction of the bathroom.
When she left the room, he picked up his clothes and got dressed.
But he couldn’t very well show up at the correctional facility in San Bruno in a tuxedo.
He had to get changed, and he needed to drink blood.
There was only one problem: if he took Catalina with him to his place to get changed, there was no way he could sneak a bottle of blood from his fridge and drink it.
It was too risky. She could see him and ask questions.
Which left him with one other option: Scanguards.
He kept a spare set of clothes in his office, just like everybody else, and he could go to the V-Lounge to drink blood.
And he had the perfect idea for how to make sure she didn’t see what he was doing.
He was surprised how quickly Catalina finished showering and getting dressed.
She now wore a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a T-shirt with a cardigan over it.
Together, they walked to his car, and just like he’d expected, there was no ticket on the windshield.
They got into the car, and he started the engine and drove off.
“We’ve gotta make a quick stop at my office. I need to get changed,” he informed her. “And you can have breakfast there. We have a cafeteria.”
It was less a cafeteria and more a five-star lounge with unlimited food and drinks for all human employees and guests.
“I could have eaten something at home,” she said.
He recalled the items she’d put into her virtually empty refrigerator the night before and realized that she was probably worried about how much she had to spend on breakfast.
“Everything in the cafeteria is free of charge. It’s one of the many benefits of working for Scanguards,” he said casually. “You should really take advantage of it. The food’s pretty good.”
“That’s very generous of the company,” she said. “But I’m not an employee there.”
“It’s free for employees’ guests too.”
They drove the rest of the way in silence.
At Scanguards’ underground garage, Benjamin used his access card and thumbprint to enter and parked in his assigned spot.
He knew that with a guest, he should stop off at the reception to get her a visitor pass, but they wouldn’t be here long enough, so he didn’t bother.
Instead, he took Catalina’s hand, and they exited the elevator and headed straight to the H-Lounge—H for human.
He used his access card to enter the large room that could rival any VIP lounge in a five-diamond hotel, where soft music coming from hidden speakers created a calming atmosphere.
“This is a cafeteria?” Catalina asked, wonder coloring her voice.
He smiled. “Yep, not too shabby, right?”
He led her to the buffet, where warm and cold foods were presented alongside a selection of warm and cold drinks.
“Help yourself, and take your time. I’ve gotta get changed and make a phone call to make sure we can see your brother.”
“Aren’t you gonna have breakfast?”
“I’m not really a breakfast kind of guy. I’ll see you in a little while. I’ll pick you up when I’m ready.”
“And what if somebody asks me what I’m doing here?”
“Just tell them that you’re Benjamin LeSang’s girlfriend.”
A blush stole onto her cheeks, and he loved her reaction.
He pressed a kiss to her cheek and left the lounge.
The V-Lounge was only a couple of doors farther down the same corridor.
He tapped his access card at the door and entered.
There were very few people inside, which was no surprise, since it was daytime.
Most vampires were asleep, and normally he would be too, since he, too, preferred working nights, but sometimes he didn’t have a choice.
Benjamin headed straight for the bar. There was no bartender on duty, which happened on occasion.
But everybody knew how to pour blood from the various taps.
He took a clean glass and poured himself a pint of O-Neg before gulping down the viscous liquid in mere seconds.
He’d rarely ever been this famished, but the night with Catalina had drained his reserves.
Knowing he wasn’t quite satisfied yet, he poured himself a second glass.
This one, he drank more slowly, savoring the taste, yet despite this being his favorite blood type, it didn’t taste as good as the few drops he’d sampled from Catalina two nights earlier.
He heard footsteps behind him and looked over his shoulder. It was Adam, the youngest of Zane’s hybrid sons.
“Hey, bro,” Benjamin said between sips from his drink.
Adam gestured to his outfit. “You going to a wedding or something?”
“No. I didn’t make it home last night.”
“Ah!” Adam grinned. “Who’s the lucky lady this time?”
“Nobody you know.”
“So you’re not sharing. That’s a first.”
Adam wasn’t wrong. He’d never been opposed to sharing his female conquests, but Catalina was different. He didn’t want anybody to touch her. He knew what that meant. He could feel it. It had come on fast, but it was undeniable. Still, it was too early to talk about.
Benjamin simply shrugged. “She wouldn’t be your type. I’m just saving you from wasting your time.”
Adam chuckled. “Has anybody ever told you what a bad liar you are?”
“Now, why would I be lying?”
“I think we both know.” Adam walked around the bar and placed a clean glass under one of the taps, then pointed to Benjamin’s nearly empty glass. “Guess she’s not letting you drink her blood yet, huh?”
Benjamin gulped down the rest of the blood. “I’m starting to like your father more and more. He’s less talkative than you.”
“Ouch!” Adam said overdramatically. “That hurts.”
“See ya,” he said with a wink at his friend, making sure he knew that none of his words were meant in a malicious way. It was just the way they all treated each other: nobody took themselves too seriously.
In his office on the second floor, Benjamin got changed into jeans and a casual shirt. He grabbed a windbreaker, then tapped on a saved number on his cell phone. It was Police Chief Donnelly’s personal cell phone number.
“Hey, Benjamin,” Donnelly said, “you’re up early. Unless you’re still up. I swear I can never tell what hours you guys keep.”
Michael Donnelly had been a police detective when he’d learned of the existence of vampires.
Ever since then, he’d been quietly funneling cases where supernatural influence was suspected toward Scanguards and keeping their secrets for just as long.
Now, as the chief of police of San Francisco, he still kept their secrets, and now even employed Anita, Cooper’s blood-bonded mate, as a police liaison officer between the SFPD and Scanguards.
“Up early,” Benjamin confirmed. “Morning, Mike. Could you do me a favor, please? I’d like to visit an inmate at the correctional facility in San Bruno. Could you give ‘em a call and tell them I’m coming?”
“Who do you wanna see?”
“Santiago Vargas, he was convicted a few months ago—”
“I know who he is,” Donnelly interrupted. “It was a big case. What do you want with him?”
“He might have some info on another case I’m working on,” Benjamin lied. “Just wanna ask him a few questions.”
“Alright, I’ll make the call.”
“Thanks, Mike, appreciate it. Take care.”
He disconnected the call. He hated lying, but it was best if nobody knew that he was looking into Santiago’s case.
It would ruffle too many feathers. And for all he knew, this was a fool’s errand.
The only reason he was doing it was that he cared about Catalina and wanted to put her doubts to rest so she could accept her brother’s fate.