Amaury's Hellion (22 page)

The blue of his eyes couldn’t hide the sadness in them.

“But why, when you couldn’t do anything?”

“We could have turned her into a vampire to save her.”

She hadn’t thought of that possibility. “Oh. He wanted you to do that?”

“Yes. He wanted to be with her for eternity. He loved her.”

Eternal love—what a frightening, yet strangely exciting concept.

“But if you knew that, why didn’t you turn her?”

Amaury’s eyes had a sad look in them. “Because she didn’t want to.”

Realization set in. “She didn’t?”

“No. We offered it to her, but she said if she was a vampire, she couldn’t have children. She’d just lost the baby. She preferred to die.”

Nina pulled back from him slightly. “But then why is he still blaming you when it was her choice? I don’t understand. You and Samson did nothing wrong.”

“He doesn’t know that she refused.”

“You never told him?” Why would they keep such an important detail to themselves?

“No. How could we? He loved her. Do you know what it would do to him to find out that his mate, the woman he loved more than anything else in his life, chose death over him?”

Suddenly she understood, and tears welled up in her eyes. “Oh my God, so you and Samson decided it was better he hated you than her?”

Amaury nodded his head. Nina touched his cheek in a tender caress.

“Does he hate you and Samson enough to want to destroy you and Scanguards?”

“I’m afraid that’s possible.” He paused. “I think we’d better go and talk to Samson. He needs to know that Luther is in town.”

She sat up. “Yes. I think you’re right. Besides, we’d better get out of here before somebody finds us and throws us out.”

Amaury gave her a roguish grin. “I doubt that’ll happen. I own fifty percent of the club.”

Nina’s mouth dropped open, then she boxed him in the chest. “How many more secrets do you have up your sleeve?”

He raised his hands. “No sleeves, see? I’m naked.”

She let her eyes gaze over his body. “I can see that.”

“Uh-oh. You’ve got that look to you. We’d better get dressed before you have your way with me again.”

“Me?
Me
have
my
way with
you
? Now if that’s not the pot calling the kettle black!”

His response was a throaty and way-too-sexy laugh. This vampire was seriously dangerous.

Nineteen

Never in her wildest dreams had Nina imagined entering Samson’s house on Nob Hill. But there she was at the entrance door, Amaury a step ahead of her, waiting for the door to open. She shifted nervously from one foot to the next. Was this a good idea? Amaury she could handle. He lusted after her and was therefore not interested in hurting her, but what about the others? Nina hadn’t forgotten the order Amaury had received to wipe her memory.

A beam of light illuminated Amaury as the door opened halfway.

“Forget your key?” a male voice asked.

“I didn’t want to intrude unannounced. I’m not alone.”

The door opened wider, and light flooded onto her as Amaury pulled her next to him. She met their host’s gaze and recognized him as Samson. Her pulse fluttered.

She noticed him raise an eyebrow at Amaury, as if to chastise him. But a second later he turned into the perfect host.

“Please, do come in. I don’t think we’ve met.”

Samson stretched his hand toward her, and she shook it, wondering if he noticed how damp her palms were.

“Good evening,” Nina said. She hoped that was appropriate; what exactly was the correct greeting when being introduced to a vampire?

“Samson Woodford.” His introduction was formal, as if they were at the Queen’s tea party.

“This is Nina.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Samson led them into the living room. He remained stiff then turned to Amaury. “May I have a word with you in private?”

Yes, Samson was clearly displeased about her presence. She didn’t have to be a mind-reader to figure that out.

“That won’t be necessary.” Amaury’s reply elicited a frown from his friend. “Nina knows who we are.”

There was silence so thick she could have cut through it with a knife as Samson eyed her up and down, pressing his lips together tightly. His displeasure with Amaury was evident. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. What if he expected Amaury to “take care of her” now that he’d given away their secrets?

Nina noticed how Samson sniffed and felt heat rush to her cheeks. If Luther had been able to smell Amaury on her even before they’d had sex, she could only imagine what Samson could scent now. Under his scrutiny, her face burned with embarrassment right down to the follicles of her hair. She searched for the hole that would surely open up right in front of her to swallow her up.

“Care to explain why you brought one of your women to my house?” Samson’s voice was sharp and unyielding.

One of his women?

She absolutely hated the sound of that. Sure, whatever they had wasn’t going to be anything permanent, but to be classified as “one of his women” made her sound like a slut. And she wasn’t a slut. Well, not really anyway. Her morals weren’t any looser that Amaury’s, that was for sure. Not that it seemed to be such a high standard to attain.

“She’s not
one of my women
.”

She could have hugged him for his defense of her morals. Nobody had ever defended her. Maybe he was truly a good guy.

“She’s Edmund Marten’s sister out to slay vampires to avenge her brother.”

Or maybe not. Amaury had decided to throw her to the wolves—after he’d slept with her. Perfect. He’d gotten what he wanted, and now he went back on his promise. Why had she believed him in the first place? Was she completely delusional?

“Well, that explains things. Yvette mentioned you were with a human,” Samson answered, his voice much more relaxed now.

“Figures.” Amaury let out a grunt.

Samson held up his hand. “She’s only doing her job.” He looked at Nina and pointed to the couch. “Shall we sit?”

“Samson, darling, did you see the pregnancy book I brought down earlier? I can’t find it.” A petite woman swept into the living room then stopped in her tracks.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize we had company. Hi, Amaury.”

“Evening, Delilah. Sorry to intrude.”

Delilah’s gaze rested on Nina. Nina returned it. Was she a vampire too? She looked decidedly normal.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” She stretched out her hand. “I’m Delilah.”

Nina shook her hand.

“This is Nina Martens,” Samson said.

“Martens?” Delilah gave her a look of surprise, and Nina nodded.

“Edmund Martens was my brother.”

“Oh, dear. I’m so sorry.” A second later she found herself embraced by the pretty woman. Not knowing how to respond, she looked over Delilah’s shoulder and saw Samson’s and Amaury’s stunned expressions, until Samson’s lips finally curled up into a smile.

“Sweetness, you’re making our guest feel uncomfortable.”

Delilah released her and responded to her husband with a suppressed smile. “I get so emotional these days.” Then she looked back at Nina. “It’s just the hormones. Sit down. I’ll have Carl bring us some refreshments.”

Before she could turn back, a stocky man dressed in a dark suit appeared behind her.

“Miss Delilah, may I bring some cold drinks?”

“That’d be great, Carl.”

Minutes later they were all seated, drinks in front of them. Nina looked at Delilah as she sat close to Samson, her hand leisurely draped over his thigh, his hand stroking hers.

“Delilah, it appears that Nina knows we are vampires,” Samson said.

“Oh!”

“And seems bent on avenging her brother by slaying some of us.” Samson looked directly at Nina, giving her the feeling she was the bad schoolgirl being hauled in front of the strict principal of a reformatory school. Yet there seemed to be no menace in his voice. He rather sounded like he was mocking her. Did he not realize she could fight vampires? She’d killed one of them already.

“I think I’ve been able to convince her that we’re not the bad guys,” Amaury interjected. “But that’s not why I’ve brought her here tonight. We have a bigger problem on our hands than this little wannabe slayer.”

“Hey! I’m not a wannabe slayer!” Was nobody taking her seriously?

Amaury laughed off her protest.

“You promised me you’d let me take charge of this. And I will. So, no more slaying.” He took her hand and squeezed it before he looked back at Samson and Delilah. “Luther is in town.”

“Luther?” Samson shot up from his seat and started pacing.

“Yes. Nina found him. Or rather, he approached her tonight when she was looking into her brother’s death. He was at the Mezzanine.”

“Isn’t that where Zane and Quinn tracked your suspect to?” Samson asked.

“Yes, and it’s also the place Nina’s informant told her to find the man who had his hand in Eddie’s death.”

“You think Luther’s got his hand in this?” He let himself fall back onto the couch.

Amaury nodded. “There’s no reason for him to come back to San Francisco other than to exact his revenge. I’d thought we’d seen the last of him.”

“I guess not. Did Luther see you?”

“We exchanged a few words. But what’s worse is he knows Nina is with me.”

With him?
Didn’t that sound just a tad bit possessive? Just because she’d slept with him didn’t mean she was
with
him. She’d better explain that to him.

Amaury continued, “He’s up to something. I could sense it.”

“Did you read his emotions?” Delilah asked.

What an odd question. How would he read somebody’s emotions? Nina gave Amaury a sideways glance.

“No. For some reason I couldn’t. Maybe he veiled them from me to hide what he’s up to.”

“I thought nobody could veil their emotions from you.” Samson’s stunned look swept over him.

Amaury shrugged his shoulders. “Not sure about that lately.”

What the hell were they talking about? Curiosity got the better of Nina. “What do you mean by reading emotions?”

Samson raised his eyebrows. “I guess Amaury hasn’t told you about his gift yet.”

She caught Amaury giving Samson a look as if to cut him off, but his friend continued, undeterred, “Amaury has a psychic gift and can sense emotions of people around him. It’s come in more than useful many times.”

A psychic gift? Did this mean he knew what she was feeling all the time? Oh no, that sounded terrible. She felt exposed, naked, and vulnerable all of a sudden. Had she known he could read her emotions, she would have never slept with him. He had an unfair advantage. No wonder he was playing her like a string instrument. What else did he know? Could he tell what she truly felt in her heart?

She felt his hand squeeze hers lightly. “Don’t worry. I’ll explain later.”

She yanked her hand out of his grip. What was there to explain? He could see through her like through a glass wall. Now he knew everything about her, her fears, her hopes, and worst of all, how she felt about him—the feeling she hadn’t even admitted to herself. No, this wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all.

“I’ll get in contact with Gabriel and warn him to look out for Luther. Did Zane not see him in the club if he followed Paul Holland?” Samson voice was calmer now than when he’d first heard about Luther.

“Zane’s never met Luther before. I’ll make sure Gabriel distributes his picture. We should also try to find out if Paul is the guy Nina’s informant pinpointed.”

“Agreed,” Samson said.

“I have an idea,” Nina interjected.

“No.” Amaury’s command came with nary a second’s hesitation.

“You don’t even know what my idea is.”

“The answer is still no. You’ve put yourself in enough danger for one night. That’s all I can handle right now.”

That’s all
he
could handle?

Nina caught Samson’s grin. “Maybe we should listen to Nina’s suggestion. After all, it’s because of her we were alerted to Luther.”

Amaury’s annoyed grunt filled her with satisfaction. Finally somebody stood up to him. She liked Samson. He seemed to be a pretty levelheaded guy—for a vampire, of course. And his wife was sweet and so tiny sitting right next to him. Whereas the asshole next to her … well, she’d deal with him later. But he sure wouldn’t get away with leaving such important details as his psychic gift out of the conversation.

“I was thinking if we confirmed that he recognizes me, then we know he’s the right guy.”

“Not a good idea. It would be better to find Benny and have him identify the guy.” Amaury’s voice sounded gruff.

“Benny’s skipped town. There’s no telling which hole he’s hiding out in now.”

“Benny?” Samson raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

“My informant.”

“Let’s put one of our guys on him, see whether we can locate him.” Amaury looked at Samson, obviously trying to get his approval.

“Waste of time.” Nina knew it would be useless. “It could take days to track him down. Do you really want to wait that long?” she addressed Samson, ignoring Amaury completely. Right now she was too annoyed to deal with him—which shouldn’t be a surprise to him since he was reading her emotions. Damn, she hated that!

“She’s right. I’ll talk to Gabriel and have him set something up.” Samson cast Amaury a determined glance.

“Fine, but under one condition. Nina will not leave my side.” As if to assert his statement, he took her hand again.

“Fine,” Samson agreed.

Was that a smirk on Samson’s face? It seemed so. When she looked at Delilah she saw her, too, suppress a grin. It had to be an inside joke, because Nina could not figure out what the two were finding so funny.

Twenty

“Unacceptable. She’ll be too far away for me to rescue her if something goes wrong.” Amaury let his frustration out on Gabriel and looked up and down the downtown street. Despite the late hour, there was still the odd car about.

“I can take care of myself,” Nina protested.

“Yeah, I’ve seen that the last two nights.” He was in no mood to see her putting herself in danger again.