Chapter 13 #2
“You really went to find glasses?” he asked, veering close to the wall before turning in a tight circle in the other direction.
“And you really aren’t involved in anything demonic?”
He gave me a funny look. “Being questioned by a vampire is so ironic.”
“Not as ironic as being a vampire. Shane acts like you’ve worked with demons before.”
He thinned his nostrils and looked over my shoulder. “How good are you at killing? Do you really think the dogs aren’t a threat?”
“To me personally? No. They know my reputation.”
“Everyone knows Tralcon’s Blood, and Good’s Ruby, but are you as good as your reputation?”
I smiled slightly. “Better. Only a few of my kills are public knowledge, arranged specifically to enhance my reputation.”
“So you’re saying that if you were to be attacked by a half dozen mercenaries, less skilled than the Dogs, you’d be able to handle the situation?”
“I could kill them, yes. Six? I would take some injuries.”
“But nothing life-threatening.”
“No. Particularly as I’m not alive.” I squinted at him. “Your questions are suspiciously specific.”
He gave me a broad smile. “Just making sure you can take care of Gavriel. He’s stupidly attached to you. It wouldn’t do for you to die before you’ve had the chance to live.”
He spun me under his arm and released me, sending me into Gavriel.
He caught me, and then we were dancing, and the rest of the room disappeared. Tiago’s music was lilting, agonizingly sweet, like Gavriel’s blood, and the way his eyes sought mine made me want more connection, more of him.
We danced too close, his hand splayed on my back as we moved slowly, agonizingly aware of each other.
At least that was the story, and it was the one my body and soul were telling me.
He was so convincing, and by the time the song ended, my whole body was aware, awake, thrumming with the need to sink my fangs into him.
I had to get away from him. I needed to…
He bent his head and kissed me to the cheers and insults of the others.
I froze, struggling against the impulse to sink my fangs into him all over.
He ended the kiss and took my hand, pulling me towards the stairs.
I went with him, gums aching, having such a hard time not ripping him apart or kissing him back.
I had too many messy instincts, and all of them were too strong.
When we got to the room, he led me to the bed and then pulled me down on it, wrapping his arms and wings around me, shutting out the rest of the world.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“Talking without anyone hearing us. What is this about taking Chira to a spa tomorrow?”
I blinked in the darkness, brushing his jaw with my lashes. “Yes. She was very excited about it. Mentioned that I could use some grooming. I don’t suppose she’s wrong.”
“Grooming?”
“Hair, nails, exfoliating, peeling…I don’t actually know what any of those things are.”
“And the dancing?”
Was that a question I was supposed to be able to answer? “It wasn’t as unpleasant as I expected. They’re all very capable, other than Rafe, and I wasn’t exactly surprised by that.”
“I don’t like it.”
“That’s because you’re so jealous and possessive of me.”
His arms tightened around me for a moment before relaxing. “Of course. It’s also because it seemed like an elaborate plot for all of them to catch your scent.”
I frowned in the dark. “So they can track me? Why would they want to do that?”
“Perhaps because you’re suddenly taking Chira to a spa.”
“Ah. And Shane still doesn’t understand my motivations for liberating her from the goblin. He’s suspicious and will send someone to follow me.”
“What are you really doing?”
I smiled and blinked against his skin. They were called butterfly kisses, I remembered from another life ago. “We’re going to the spa. On the way, we’ll buy some clothing for her. Did you notice what she’s wearing?”
“Rags. A rags to riches story?”
“Yes. I’m a fairy godmother.” I batted my lashes against his skin again.
“Why are you blinking so much in the dark? Also, I’ve never met a more godmother-like fairy.”
“It’s the fangs. Nothing screams godmother like fangs.”
“Yes, screaming godmother sounds incredibly perfect for every fairy tale.”
I batted my lashes against his skin again, but that time he pulled me close so that I wasn’t able to butterfly kiss him.
“You’re ruining my airflow,” I said, squished together like that. He smelled so good, but he felt even better. Any second now, I’d lose control and taste him. Maybe I’d use my fangs. Maybe not.
“It tickles.”
“Really?”
“Really. Do you want to see?” He released me and shifted so we were sideways, still in his dark, death-wing cave, and then he butterfly kissed my cheek. Then my chin. Then my lips. It was incredibly tantalizing, so soft and delicate, so tempting and agonizing.
My whole body was on fire while I held perfectly still and his lashes kissed the rest of my face. When he pulled away, I was hyperventilating without breath, without life, without movement.
I shuddered and slipped out of his wings, climbing out of the downy soft feathers I wanted to drown in. I had to get away from him, or I would lose control.
He sat up, frowning at me as I went to the kitchen to grab a bag of blood. “I should come with you to the spa tomorrow.”
I clamped my jaws on the blood bag and started sucking deep and hard from the unsatisfying liquid. “No,” I said, taking a break from drinking, giving him a firm look. “It’s girl time. Chira was very specific.”
“I see. And cleaning the entire building?”
“I was smelling for demon and making sure I knew where everyone sleeps.”
He blinked at me. “Then Shane knew what you were doing. Turnabout and all that.”
I smiled at him, my teeth likely stained pink from my blood. “If I didn’t make him nervous, he’d be an idiot. He’s surprisingly bright, and I can’t quite pinpoint what he is. Not fairy, but he has a soft heart.”
He frowned slightly. “Soft heart? So that’s what you’d go for, if you were going to kill him?”
I shrugged. “I could use his family to distract him while I poisoned him. Or slip in a dagger during a scuffle.”
“Straight up death, you and him, how would you take him out?”
I cocked my head as I considered. It was hard to think about death when I had my angel standing there looking so beautiful, not to mention my face was still echoing with those butterfly kisses.
“It would be difficult, but I think I could outlast him if it came to blood loss. I’d cut him down bit by bit until I could take his head. ”
“Brutal.”
I shrugged and sucked on my blood bag. I was a vampire, and not just any vampire. The worst. I’d fed on a demon for a hundred years, becoming stronger, colder, and more cunning than the countless prey I’d killed.
“How would you do it?”
He smiled slightly. “I have this scythe…”
I burst out laughing. “You’d kill him with your scythe? That’s the least practical weapon in the world.”
“It’s a magic scythe. Full of mystical glowing death magic.”
I pushed him towards the bed. “That sounds so magical. Go to sleep, reaper man. I’m going to climb on the roof and watch things.”
He let me push him towards the bed, but caught my hand against his chest at the last moment. “I’ll sleep for a few hours. Just think, next week, you’ll be able to read in bed with me while I dream.”
I stared at him. Would that be okay to do? I pulled my hand away from him and darted for the window before I told him that we should practice now.