Endless Chase (25 page)

“Yes.”

The priest nodded. “Good. Good. She will need someone strong beside her.”

“Father.” She couldn’t believe the elderly man was trying to play matchmaker at a time like this.

He laughed. “What? I am old, but I am not dead.” Reaching out, he touched her hand. “You want me to revile you. You despise yourself for what you have done.”

She didn’t want to talk about this now, not with Chase here. “Father…” She didn’t know what to say to him. Everything he said was true.

“God works in mysterious ways, child. How do you know that you are not an instrument of justice, able to find the monsters that human law cannot?”

Chase’s arms tightened around her and she snuggled closer, drawing strength from his presence. She hadn’t even questioned how he’d found her because deep inside she knew they were connected on a deep soul level, the kind of connection that could only be broken by death, and maybe not even then.

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“He’s right.” Chase shifted her until she was looking at him for the first time since he’d arrived. The color of his eyes seemed paler, like a blue flame, burning hot and steady. His hair was lustrous, his jaw smooth.

“You shaved.” It was a totally inane comment and she felt her cheeks heating. She could only blame the lack of food and sleep and the stress of everything that had happened.

Chase grinned. “I showered too.”

She knew that. Could smell his soap mixed with his unique scent. Her nipples tightened and she had to resist the urge to squirm in his lap.

“I’m sorry.” She rubbed her hands over her face and tried to slip off his lap, but Chase tightened his grip. She knew he wouldn’t let her up, not without a struggle.

“No need, child. You’ve been through a lot, seen more of the worst of mankind than any person should have to.” The priest sighed and stood. “I have to go and get ready to say Mass.” He leaned over and kissed Katya on the forehead. “Forgive yourself for what you’ve done. Forgive your papa for not protecting himself and your mama.

Forgive yourself for what you are. You are a good person in your heart, Katya Markova.

God knows that.”

He straightened, pinning Chase with his sharp gaze. “You will take care of her?”

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

Both men ignored her as Chase nodded. “Yes. You have my word.”

“Good.” Father Patrescu shuffled to the door. “I hope to see you again, Katya Markova. You have brought excitement into this old man’s life.” With a smile and a wave, he left them alone.

The silence around them thickened and Katya began to feel uncomfortable. She shifted off Chase’s lap and this time he let her go. Picking up her dishes, she carried them to the counter, piling them in the sink.

Looking out the small window, she watched a crow perch on one of the headstones in the cemetery, heard its caw of warning. “Why did you come?”

She heard Chase’s chair scraping against the floor as he pushed away from the table. Felt the heat from his body as he moved in behind her. She flinched when his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.

He was aroused, his erection heavy and throbbing as it pressed against the small of her back. Her core began to pulse in response and her breasts grew heavy. His hands slid over her stomach until they were barely grazing the bottoms of her breasts.

Katya sucked in a breath and moaned as her panties grew damp. He moved his hands back and forth, barely touching the sensitive mounds. Her hips moved, circling instinctively.

A low groan came from behind her and she felt Chase’s cock swelling even more.

One of his hands slipped down her belly, hovering just over her mound. She was so close to coming. One touch was all it would take for him to send her plummeting over 131

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the edge. She’d never been aroused this much this fast. It was as if what had been between them before had been magnified ten times—no, a hundred times.

Heat buffeted her, blurring her senses, making it hard for her to think straight. She shouldn’t be doing this. She knew there was a good reason why, but she just couldn’t remember what it was, not with Chase touching her like this.

“Why?” His breath feathered over her neck, teasing her earlobe. “Why did I come?”

He kissed the sensitive skin behind her ear and she felt a fresh gush of cream between her thighs.

“Because, sweet Katya, I’m not done with you yet.”

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Chase was holding on to his control by a thread. If Katya rubbed her sweet ass against his cock one more time he was going to come in his pants. The heat had always been there between them, but this was something even more intense, hotter.

She stiffened in his arms, and he felt her shifting away from him, physically and mentally.

Anger flowed through him. She wasn’t getting rid of him that easily. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back. She struggled, but he held her tight, careful not to hurt her. “Stop it, Katya. You can’t get away from me that easily. I’m as strong as you are now. Stronger. And healthy.”

She froze. “The tumor?”

“Gone.” It was amazing how in tune he was with his body. He’d known immediately, but Lucian had confirmed it for him.

He felt the shudder go through her body at his words. “I’m so glad.” She stilled, but she didn’t rest against him, gathering her composure around her like a cloak. “What do you want from me?”

“Everything.” Whirling her around, he captured her mouth. She stiffened as he thrust his tongue inside, but then moaned, digging her fingers through his hair and holding him tight.

Chase felt everything inside him relax and the tone of the kiss changed, gentling slightly. Now that she’d accepted him, the need to claim her wasn’t riding him quite so hard. It was still there, but it was manageable.

Talk
, he reminded himself. They had to talk first. As much as he wanted to lose himself in the heat building between them, he couldn’t deny the fact that she’d left him.

Disappointment, anger and hurt all swirled just beneath the surface. No matter that she was in his arms now. She’d left him.

He slowly pulled his lips from hers. Katya’s eyes were closed, her lips moist. As he watched, her tongue came out to slowly lick across her bottom lip. Her eyes fluttered open, the blue so dark they appeared almost black.

“Why?” He kept his arms locked around her waist. “Why did you leave?”

She swallowed hard. His eyes followed the light ripple just beneath her skin. He admired the curve of her neck, his gaze drawn to the fluttering pulse. His body hardened and his teeth began to ache.

“You know why?”

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He shook his head. “No, I don’t. I went to sleep with you in my arms and woke alone.” Taking a breath, he forged onward. “Is it because I’m like you now? I admit it wasn’t very pretty what you had to watch me go through.”

“Stop it!” She grabbed his shoulders and shook them. “It was my fault you had to go through that, my fault you were shot, my fault that your life has been changed forever. You had no choice. None.” She was breathing hard now, her chest heaving. Her eyes flashed, the black tinged with red.

“I thought we already went through this.” Exasperation tinged his voice. “It’s not your fault.”

“Then whose fault is it?”

“It’s Vasili’s fault for murdering your parents. It’s the fault of every man who was part of that blood cult. They all chose their own paths, Katya. All you did was try to find justice for your parents.”

“By putting innocent people in jeopardy.” She tried to pull away, but he gripped the counter on either side of her, keeping her effectively caged in his embrace. “I’m no better than they are.”

Chase hung on to his temper by reminding himself of how much Katya was hurting. It couldn’t have been easy for her this past year. “Yes, you are.” He nodded when she shook her head. “You’re not God, Katya. You’re not responsible for everyone else’s fate.” He asked the question he’d wanted to ask from the first. “Are you sorry you converted me?”

She frowned, her brow wrinkling. “I changed your life without your permission.”

His gut clenched. “That’s not what I asked you.” He feared that she regretted tying herself to him, because that connection now existed whether they wanted it or not.

Her scowl deepened. “I am not sorry for saving your life.” She threw back her shoulders and tilted back her head, meeting his gaze straight on. “But it should not have been necessary.”

He reached up and tucked a short lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m human, Katya, or I was. I would have died in another thirty or forty years, fifty if I was really lucky.

And that’s if I managed to survive the brain tumor.” She jerked in his arms, shaking her head in denial. “I always knew my family would outlive me, never growing old. That was hard to deal with, to watch year after year, but you changed that.”

“I have no idea how long we’ll live.”

Chase stared down at Katya. “How old are you anyway?” It had suddenly dawned on him that he had no idea.

“Twenty-five.”

“You’re just a baby,” he teased. It was a bit of a shock to realize that she was younger. Every vampire he knew was older than he was.

Her expression turned fierce and then sad. “Not anymore.”

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He knew she was referring to everything that had happened. Her innocence was long gone, lost in a sea of lies, desperation and blood. “I know.” He took her into his arms, pressing her cheek against his chest. “I heard everything you said to Father Patrescu.”

He felt her shrug. “It was easier to tell him everything than to tell you.”

“You knew I was there?”

She nodded, her hair tickling his chin. “At first I didn’t notice. You’re such a part of me that it felt normal. But later, yes. I knew you were there.”

Chase nodded. “No more secrets.”

“I have a brother,” she blurted.

Chase felt her tense, but continued to rub his hand over her shoulders and up and down her back. “Does that mean I’ll have an older brother coming after me for compromising his baby sister?”

Katya snorted. “His name is Sasha and he is nine years old.”

The enormity of the situation hit him. Here she was at twenty-five responsible for a child of nine. It wasn’t much different than the situation that he and Delight had found themselves in years before. “Where is he?”

“He is with his nanny and a contingent of loyal servants at the family home in Russia. Sasha is full vampire so they serve him. Me, they do not trust so much. Not all of them.”

Chase heard and felt the underlying hurt in her voice. He was so attuned to her now, her voice vibrated through him, giving him more information than just mere words. He could sense her emotions, as well as her physical state. It was as if she were a part of him. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t know what else to say.

“It is what it is.” Her acceptance of the situation hurt him even more. “It was different when Papa was alive. They did not treat me with so much mistrust then.”

Anger whipped through him. How dare they treat her in such a manner?

She patted his chest. “It is okay, Chase. I am neither vampire nor human. Nor am I a Markova by blood. Yes, Papa’s blood mingled with Mama’s, affecting me in the womb, but it’s not the same as it is with Sasha. My mama was a vampire when she had him, so he is a full vampire like his papa.”

“So, Afanas Markova wasn’t your father.”

She frowned. “He is…was my papa.”

“No, he wasn’t. He wasn’t anything to you at all.” Chase’s voice was hard. “He was nothing to you.”

“He was my papa,” she cried, beating her fists against his chest.

“Shh,” he crooned, hugging her tight. “Of course he was your papa, and you were his daughter. It didn’t matter to him that you weren’t a full vampire. To him you were a Markova.”

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Katya pulled back and glared at him. “You did that on purpose.”

He couldn’t keep the smile from his face. “Yes.”

She smacked his chest. “That was mean.”

“I’m sorry.” He captured her hand, holding it against his chest. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, but it was necessary. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Your parents loved you and I’m sure your brother does too.”

“I haven’t talked to him in two weeks. This is the first time we’ve gone that long without speaking. I’ve always managed to contact him every week since I left.”

“You miss him.” Chase couldn’t imagine not being in constant contact with his sister and extended family. How much worse was it for a nine-year-old boy?

“I do.” Her fingers curled into his shirt and she shifted restlessly. “It is time for me to go home.”

“Your home is with me.” The words came out of nowhere, but as soon as he’d said them, he knew they were true. “We belong together.”

She shook her head. “You might feel that way now, but what about twenty years from now or two hundred years from now? We have no idea how long we’ll live.”

Damn, she was stubborn. He wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled and love her until she’d agree to anything he said. The second idea had merit. “Let’s find out together.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Katya, I wanted you when I thought you’d betrayed me and put my family in danger. Even then, I would have killed Stefan with my bare hands if he’d harmed one hair on your head.”

She shook her head in denial.

“Yes.” He knew they belonged together, felt it down to the marrow of his bones.

“You’re everything to me. You make my heart sing and my world brighter.”

“You deserve better,” she muttered.

That, he knew, lay at the heart of her objections. This past year had changed her, left her feeling tainted. He didn’t quite know how to counter her fears except to love her.

But she had to stick around for that to happen. He decided to try a different tact. “You owe me.”

Her head jerked up. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You owe me. You waltzed into my life, tore it to shreds and changed things forever. You have to stay.” His heart pounded against his chest. If this didn’t work, he was going to drag her to the castle and lock her in one of the rooms until she came to her senses.