Blade on the Hunt (4 page)

She knew Clive was there. He hadn’t moved from his place. Knowing she’d want this moment alone with Recht. Rowan bet he wore her favorite version of what she called his Lord of the Manor face. Arrogant and impassive. But he’d be thinking of fucking her. Which was next on her to do list, not dicking around with Warren and his compliments.

“You’re impressive. Who wouldn’t want to watch?”

Rowan only watched other people spar if she was trying to learn something from them, usually to find their weaknesses and strengths. Though she did watch Clive because he was ripply and sweaty and so vicious when he fought and it was such a contradiction to his normal calm demeanor.

Hot as hell.

Impatience rode her. “Okay then. Thanks.” She tamped down her normal impulse to be blunt enough to chase an annoyance away. Warren had been part of her life for as long as she could remember and he’d been an ally during the Treaty negotiations and had backed Theo solidly.

He bowed and she managed not to blink at him again at how much deference he’d shown her. “Please keep me apprised of the situation with Hunter Corp and this operation.”

Rowan nodded, all business. “I’m preparing a report with recommendations. I’ll get it to you and yours by the time you wake this evening.”

“Will Clive be seeing it first?”

“You presume too much, Scion.” She stood taller, letting some of her power unfurl between them. “You’ll see it when I want you to. If someone sees it before you, I have a reason for it and I may or may not feel compelled to explain myself.”

He smiled and she found him pretty hot for yet another arrogant, bossy old Vampire who led with his years instead of his brain. Dark hair, a lot of it, made an artful tousle around his face, only highlighting blue eyes.

Still, Vampires tended to be attractive so it wasn’t as if a pretty face was rare when surrounded by them.

Plus, she already had an arrogant old Vampire who was magic in bed and she didn’t have to hide who she was with him. She’d put in so much time training him already that she really had zero interest in anyone else.

And the not really small detail of being in love with said arrogant Vampire. Before she’d come back to the Keep her plans had been several hours of hot sex after consuming dumplings and pork products Dina would spoil her with.

And yet, since the moment they’d arrived it had been one thing after the next getting between her and those plans. She hated that most of all.

“Of course. My apologies if I offended. I’ll speak with you again this evening.” He stepped back and turned, leaving the room.

Recht rolled his eyes and after he critiqued her form a while, took pity on her and dismissed her to get cleaned up and rest.

“When I wake later today, we’ll speak.” Recht had her shoulders in his hands. He meant about Theo and she could only be relieved that she could rest a while before that conversation. “Until then, be assured things are as under control as we can possibly make it.”

“Thank you.”

“Go on. He’s been there waiting patiently. Even through all that with Farrelly.”

Vampires.

Chapter Four

She approached Clive, trying to pretend it was no big deal that he seemed to draw her to him. It was the only way to hold it all together because this thing between her and Clive was deep and scary and wonderful and she really liked it even though she knew she shouldn’t.

“Someone must be tired.” One corner of his mouth slid up just a tiny bit.

“Yes, well. Some people play video games where they have sword battles with Vampires. I live it. It’s better for my ass.”

He looked around her body. “I certainly have no complaints about your arse. It’s a part of you I never tire of seeing.”

“Unlike my mouth?”

He stepped just a little bit closer, enough to send her body chemicals into a tizzy she wanted to blame on plane travel and physical exertion.

“Hunter, I quite like your mouth. It’s so delightful it’s not hard to overlook your appalling vulgarity and inability to recognize authority.”

She swallowed hard, that slow pulse of sexual chemistry filling her up. “You don’t overlook my vulgarity. You get off on it.” And he did. The breath she sucked in turned out to be full of him so it made her want him even more.

“I never claimed it didn’t also add to your appeal. My cock loves a mouthy woman entirely capable, and frequently more than willing, of scuffling and brawling and really filthy talk during sex.”

It was the step he took away—for just a moment—from the smooth and elegant Clive to be dirty because he liked it as much as she did, that got to her more than anything else. “I really can’t keep up with nearly five centuries of the game you bring.”

He laughed and sent a little of his power to caress her skin. Even six months back she’d have been nervous about it. But by this point, she’d stopped lying to herself and let herself enjoy it.

Her voice was just the barest breath of sound. “I need to take a shower and I can’t see wasting water or nakedness without you there.”

He smoothed a hand down the front of his shirt. “I’m always available to scrub your back. Remember it gives me a great view of your arse. As we’ve established I quite enjoy that.”

“I’ll be in your bathroom, naked in twenty minutes. I need to deal with one last thing.”

They both looked over to where David stood, waiting.

“He is your valet. And so much more than a boy you need to shield from harm,” Clive murmured in her ear. “Let him be here with you. You have your path, he has his.”

She huffed her annoyance but he kissed her forehead and stepped back. “I’ll expect you in twenty minutes, Rowan. If I have to come find you it won’t be like a fun game.”

“Really? I’m sort of disappointed by that.” A fun game of Clive finding Rowan and having his way with her would be a super way to spend a few hours.

“Cheek.” He shook his head. “
Twenty minutes.
I’ll stop by the kitchen and request a meal sent up for you.”

He really was so much better at this relationship thing.

“Thanks.”

He smiled one last time and headed out of the room.

She turned to face the person she’d told to stay home in Las Vegas. “So here’s a thing. You’re not supposed to be here.”

His normally earnest and mellow expression hardened with the passion in his voice. “I know you’re angry,
Deese
, but I can’t be set aside. You leave me at the apartment in Las Vegas when you go out to work, which is fine. But I’m your valet. It is my sworn duty to be here with you on a hunt.”

He was human; he’d die of old age when she still looked about thirty years old. But she wanted, very much, for him to die a very old man and not at the hands of a murderous Vampire. Especially when David had so much left to do and experience in his life. If something happened to him she didn’t know if she could bounce back from the loss and her own failure to protect him.

“You are my valet, yes. And you do a very good job.”

He interrupted, which was generally not something he did—which was why she tolerated it. “If I did a good job why send me away? Other Hunters don’t. Their valets accompany them on fieldwork. I give you my word I won’t fail you.”

Rowan withheld a sigh. She’d fucked this one up so badly. “Of course you won’t fail me. You haven’t yet and as you’ve noticed my life is sort of full of danger and drama. This isn’t about
you
not being good enough. And I don’t care what other Hunters do! Is this the place where I say,
Young man if other valets jump off a bridge would you do that too?
”

He nearly smiled.

“You’re important to me. I don’t want you in danger. I need you to deal with people so I don’t have to. I need you to always find the onion bagel with the best toasted onion on it. I need you to keep me from making people cry when I don’t actually want to make them cry.”

He harrumphed at her. “You’re going on a hunt with several master Vampires. Do you know how agitated you’re going to be by day three if I’m not there to keep you diverted and from killing creatures you may need later? Not only that, but I’ve been training. I carry weapons. I know how to handle myself.”

Rowan sighed. “It’s not a matter of any of that.” She waved a hand. “Go to bed. But before you do that, can you please set up a video conference with Hunter Corp for about two hours after sunset tonight?”

“Of course.” He bowed and then hurried off to handle things.

She hadn’t agreed to let him go on the hunt. She wasn’t convinced it was wise to have this be his first official hunt. She needed to think on it more and also bone her boyfriend. The sun would make him pretty useless in the boning department for at least five or six hours so she really needed to be about time management right then.

With a growl, she put her practice sword back and headed to Clive.

* * *

Clive sped his pace, wanting to get back to his rooms after getting the food arranged. He’d fed before going to see her, and he
never
fed where she’d be spending time so he wasn’t concerned she’d see something upsetting if she got there first. But he wanted to be sure the flowers he’d asked to be put in his bedchamber had been set up. Red peonies, her favorite. There’d be some bloodwine, which he planned to enjoy, and some cider for her.

And if he was fortunate, the robe he’d ordered for her would have arrived as well.

Most of his people had left the Keep at least a month before and the rest had gone home when he and Rowan had returned to Las Vegas two weeks ago. So it was fairly quiet as he entered the wing that held the personal apartments of the Scion of North America and his associates. An approaching footfall told him Alice, his assistant and closest advisor, was on her way to him.

She reached his room first and opened the double doors ahead of him. Sweeping through with a critical eye. He never had to worry about it once he’d told her to handle something.

She had her ever-present clipboard and notes clutched in her left arm. “I’ve handled all your donors for feeding while we’re here at the Keep. You’ll meet them twenty minutes after sunset in the same little library down at the end of the wing you fed in tonight.”

Clive let the efficient cadence of each thing she felt needed his attention center his thoughts. She would have taken care of every detail, never wasting his time with anything unnecessary.

Alice had been with him since the very start. She’d been assigned to him the first month he’d been inducted into the Scion training program. She’d received her own sort of training on how to serve a Scion at the same time.

It was Alice who’d helped him build who he was as the Scion of North America. She traveled with him everywhere he went and generally made his life easier. Her connections were vast, varied and impeccable. Not only did she have a mighty brain, she was a passionate fighter. Trained to be deadly in his service.

And yet he really didn’t want her coming on this hunt.

Originally he’d planned on having her stay at the Keep and run things from there and coordinate with David back in Las Vegas. But with The First being in the state he’d been in earlier and David now in Germany, it might be safer to bring them both along. He needed to speak to Rowan about it as well.

“All staff is under strict order not to disturb you—either of you—without my or David’s express permission. I put the boxes you had sent from Paris on the couch in your sitting room. I made sure to put some human pain reliever in the cabinet in your bathroom. If she’s feeling any discomfort, the medication the doctor left for her is in there as well. David brought it. You can tell her that if she’s uncomfortable.”

He hid a smile. “Thank you.”

She paused at his door. “Is there anything else I can do to help?”

Alice had a soft spot for Rowan, seeing right through her bullshit and to the ferociously loyal heart beneath.

“She’s a survivor.” In truth how could Rowan be anything but distressed? The First out there on the grass earlier that night was a Vampire teetering on the edge. And she understood more than most anyone just what that could mean.

“Sometimes you should do more than just survive.”

Clive agreed. And the truth was, Rowan
did
far more than just survive. She lived her life to the fullest, always keeping her path central, but she wasn’t
just
anything.

Rowan had risen from her the ashes of her childhood and becoming something else. Something more.

But he also had a job to do so he’d do it and give Rowan all his focus when she showed up.

“Please coordinate with Farrelly’s assistant and set up a meeting with the Scions about an hour after sunset.” He’d already had a detailed conversation with Warren and Paola about the Hunt and who they wanted to send along with Rowan. He knew Rowan would be speaking to Hunter Corp. that evening as well to fill them in on her recommendations so he wanted to keep everyone in the loop enough to get them off his back.

And they’d need to deal with this situation with The First. After everyone woke that night they’d know more and would have to update the other Scions.

Rowan knew who she wanted to go with her on the hunt. She also knew who she
didn’t
want along. Clive wasn’t sure how successful she’d be on the latter, but he understood Rowan enough to be convinced that team would have every single member she recommended.

He trusted her on this, though certainly he and Farrelly as well as a number of others were quite good at hunting and tracking. He looked forward to showing Rowan he was more than a Scion in a suit.

He thanked Alice after she assured him she’d handle all the details for the call the following sunset. As he’d entered his suites, Cataline, the house manager, rolled a cart laden with food his way. A rather beefy Vampire stood with her and followed her instructions as they set up for a meal in his sitting room.

Cataline, once finished, pointed at a pot of tea she’d put a cozy on to keep warm. “Cook says to make sure Rowan drinks it. She’ll complain. Sweet talk her into finishing.”

Clive withheld his opinion of sweet taking Rowan into anything she didn’t want to do to. Guilt might work better and he planned to use that and sex and some presents to get her to comply. Or to attempt it.

“I’ll do my best. Thank you.” He bowed.

“It’s rather chilly in here. She’s still recovering.” Cataline gave Clive a look, as if he’d personally been the one to attack Rowan.

He wasn’t going to explain anything to her, even though she certainly said all that in Rowan’s best interest. But Rowan didn’t like to sleep when it was too warm and she rarely slept in his bed until he woke anyway.

“Thank you for thinking of her comfort.”

They left and he’d only taken two steps back from the door when Rowan rounded the opposite corner.

“Three minutes to spare.”

“Come on in here. I’ll give you something to do with that one hundred and eighty seconds.”