Forever Black (Nightwalkers 2) (11 page)

"It's not
here
that I don't like." She forced a smile then peered out the window and
watched the plane move forward. "It's the—" She turned toward the
front of the plane when it stopped. "What's—?"

"Excuse me," the stewardess spoke. "Is there
an Ashleigh Brown on this flight?"

"Oh fuck." Ashleigh let out an annoyed sigh. She
closed her eyes as she slumped down in her seat.

"Is that you?" The man glanced at her then the
stewardess.

"Ashleigh Brown?" The stewardess looked down the
aisles and waited for someone to stand up. "Please come to the front of
the plane."

Ashleigh peered out the window at a black limo parked on the
runway. "
Errr
…that stupid, fucking—"

"You in trouble with the Count?"

She quickly turned to Jake. "Huh?"

"That beauty out there." He chuckled as he
gestured toward the vehicle. "Belongs to the Count."

"Ashleigh Brown?" the stewardess spoke again.

"
Ooo
…" Jake laughed as
his eyes settled on four large men standing near the limo. "You must be a
tough little girl to get an escort like that."

"Not tough enough." Ashleigh glanced back at him.
"Do you have a suggestion on how to avoid them? I have to get to Stockton."

His gaze settled on a big man that had come onto the plane
and stood next to the stewardess. "How fast can you run?"

"Not fast." She slumped farther into her seat.

"Lady Brown?"

Ashleigh quickly turned to the source of the question. One
of the Count's men motioned for her to come with him. She knew she had to do
it, so she followed him off the plane. He walked her to the car, and she got
inside reluctantly.

"Can we just say you were kidnapped?" the Count
spoke.

"Umm…" She glanced at him then at the other faces
in the limo. "Kidnapped?"

"Because if you ran from me on purpose then—"

Her answer came quickly, but her voice was soft and mousey,
"I was kidnapped."

"Kidnapped and dressed like a maid." Letting out a
small sigh, the Count glanced at her attire. "What creative hunters."
He took off the plaid coat she was wearing and tossed it to the man across from
him. "This is more suitable." He took off his suit jacket and placed
it around her shoulders. "For a queen."

The phone in her coat pocket stared ringing. Ashleigh
grabbed for the coat, but the Count got to it first. He reached in and pulled
it out. "You want this?" He saw her eyes fixate on it, and his grin
widened. "Fine." He slammed it against the interior of the car, the
phone's screen cracking. "Take it." He then tossed it into her lap.

"If that was my laptop, I'd slap you." Pressing
her lips together firmly, she turned from him.

His tone was cocky as he observed her angry expression,
"I would catch your hand before you could even lift it." He pushed
open the jacket she was wearing, his eyes scrutinizing her maid's outfit.
"Such an ill-fitting dress. It makes you look—"

"It wasn't supposed to look good." She pulled the
coat shut and turned her body toward the window so she didn't have to look at
him. The limo started to move, the ride soft and gentle as if they were
floating on air.

"Why can you not get along with me?" The Count sat
back in the seat and placed his hand over his forehead and eyes. "You
frustrate me to no end, my love."

"Good." She pushed her hands into the pockets of
the suit jacket and felt around for anything inside. "Then, maybe you'll
grow so frustrated you won't want to keep me."

"If it grew to that extent, I would simply kill
you."

"Why keep me, then?"

"Why are you being so difficult?" He still covered
his eyes, only the perfect ridge of his nose peeking out from behind his hand.
He wore a wedding ring on his left finger, his nails fresh and pink.

She leaned closer to him, her proximity making him lower his
hand slightly and peek at her. Baring her fangs, she screamed, "Because I
want to go home!"

The Count let out a deep, tired sigh, his breath quickening
as he tried not to let his anger go off.

A man across from them spoke in a friendly tone, "Miss
Brown." He was dressed in black and had a shaved head, a giant cross-like
symbol tattooed on its shiny surface. "I loved that scene in your
book…" His smile grew when she turned to him. "When that girl goes
into the butcher shop looking for her lost sister and that vampire comes out
and spears her with a meat hook. Wow. Awesome."

Ashleigh laughed, her mood immediately lightening. "You
did?" She leaned forward a little so she could turn her entire attention
to him. "I've heard that from a few people. My favorite is the scene where
Lady
Sasson
is in the catacombs trying to kill
Nicolas and that huge army comes out. I loved writing that chase scene."
She giggled as she recalled the memory. "I stayed up till four that
morning because I just
had
to finish
it."

The Count's hand deliberately moved down the bridge of his
nose and stopped above his top lip. He was listening. His brow lowered as he
watched his alpha talk to Ashleigh, something he hadn't been able to do civilly
since they had met.

"I love your books." The man held out his hand.
"My name's Neal. I'm one of his grace's head hunters."

She shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You as well, my lady." Neal briefly glanced at
the Count then back at Ashleigh. "I read your working on the next
book."

"Yes." Putting her hands together, Ashleigh spoke
excitedly, "It's called
Forever
Black
. I'm editing it now, but it'll be out this summer. It's going to the
best one yet. But—" She glanced at the Count briefly then back at Neal.
"Caleb has my laptop, and I can't work on it. I get mean when I can't
write. Right now, I'd love to be holed up in my room, working on it."

Neal wore a big grin as he looked toward the Count.
"Then, we'll have to get it for her, won't we, your grace?"

The Count spoke, "Yes."

"I don't want you to touch it." She glared at the
Count, the anger in her voice returning. "You'll rewrite it, or something
sneaky like that."

The Count laughed. "I would never be able to write such
filth and nonsense. I would not even know where to start."

Her jaw dropped, and she stared at him blankly. His words hurt,
and he knew it.

Chapter Six

Ashleigh had been sulking in her room the past two days. She
refused to come out or meet the others. She was constantly fighting with the
Count, which put them both in a foul mood. Something had to be done, and neither
one of them seemed to be caving.

When she heard a knock, she didn't get up to answer it. She
pretended to be watching television, her angry eyes facing forward as the door
opened. She was wearing a dress. It was something she hated, but the only thing
she was given to wear.

"I have a matter to discuss with you." The Count
cautiously entered the room and sat down on the bed. He held his hands neatly
in his lap. His eyes gazed at the ceiling briefly as he waited for her snippy
response.

She kept her eyes on the screen, her words soft, but angry.
"Like when you're taking me home?"

"Do you like bets?"

She quickly turned to him. "Bets?"

"Like the one Caleb made with Aiden." A wicked
grin graced his perfectly plumped lips, his fangs kissing their surface.
"Who will snag the famous author of the
Nightwalkers
series and make her their wife."

She spoke in a deep, annoyed tone, "Get out." She
turned the volume up, glaring at the screen and trying to ignore him.

"What’s the likelihood that a man such as Caleb Mason—a
musician with millions of adoring fans—would indulge in the sexual temptations
presented to him? And do you honestly believe he's always been faithful to you?
Haven't you ever doubted his fidelity?"

She gritted her teeth. "Get out." Her breath
quickened.

"So, you have." He chuckled. "But if you have
not, then the challenge which I will propose will make your faith in him
stronger."

"What do you mean?"

"You will stay here for two months without protest. If,
at the end of your required time here, you desire to leave, then I will allow
you your freedom. But if you choose to stay, then I will make you into a pure
blood."

"What's a pure blood?"

"A higher class of vampire." He motioned with his
hands. "This will give me time to see you are not who I believe you are,
and for you to test Caleb's fidelity."

"Only two months?" Her voice was soft, but her
anger was still present. "Can I still talk to Caleb?"

He looked over to the side briefly before he answered.
"If you wish, yes."

"Okay." A small smile spread across her lips. Her
body turned toward his a little more. "And—"

"And," he interrupted her, an annoyed tone in his
voice. "Can we be civil with each other now?" He held his palm up,
his other hand waving over it quickly. Her laptop and phone appeared.

Her face filled with a giant grin. She quickly ripped them
from his hands. She clutched her laptop to her chest as if it were her child.
"I can be very civil."

"Good."

"And I will make you see that you're wrong about
me."

"Yes…" He paused as he stood. He turned his head
to the side, so she didn't see his frown. "That is my…hope."

"Wait." She jumped up and quickly began searching
for an outlet.

"What?" He watched her try to reach behind the bed
to plug in her computer.

"Be
civil
and
answer my questions." After she had her laptop plugged in, she quickly sat
on the mattress. Then, she took her phone and typed a brief message to Caleb.

The Count caught me at the airport
L
He's forcing me to stay here a few
months. Will you wait for me?

"Questions?" He regarded her strangely, suspicion
in his expression. "What kind of questions?"

"The friendly kind." She put down her cell then
opened her computer. The shiny pink skull stickers on the surface glimmered in
the light. She patted the spot next to her.

"A beast such as yourself can be friendly?" He
laughed as he sat where she beckoned.

"I'm not a beast—I'm a writer." She brushed off
his comment and opened a blank document on her desktop. "First
question—what is the password to your wireless internet?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I do not care for
those technological wastes of time."

"Second question." She kept her eyes glued on the
screen. Her background picture was of her grandfather holding a copy of the
first book of her
Nightwalkers
series
many years before. "Who knows the password to the wireless internet?"

She turned to her phone when she heard it beep with a new
message.

Caught? WTF Ash? N a few months? Where'd that come from? U
said u were coming home. Fuck it! I'll come get u myself.

Ashleigh typed a reply.

Settle down, and don't you dare do that. If I have my way,
it won't be more than a week.

"Neal should know such things. He is my head of
security, so he is familiar with passwords and such things." He turned to
the television. "Now would be the opportune time to pounce on those
two." He pointed to the couple making love near a fire. The music was as
soft as the lighting in the scene. "Engorged flesh…the blood pumping near
the surface." He licked his lips as he laughed. "It’s almost as if it
is jumping out of its flesh casing and begging me to drink it."

She grinned at his reference, but she covered her mouth so
he wouldn't see it. "Are you serious?" She shut her laptop and turned
her attention to him, studying him for a few seconds. Her smile gradually
faded. "Why did you give me fangs?"

"Why?" He turned to her and grabbed the remote.
"Do you not like them?" He turned off the television and tossed the
remote on the bed. It bounced a little before settling on the soft surface of
the comforter.

"Well…" She gazed at her laptop as she ran her
fingers over the slightly raised surface of the stickers. "Female vampires
aren't supposed to have fangs."

"Drinking my blood changes you. It's different than the
others." He glanced down at her phone when he heard it beep. "Once it
leaves your system, they'll disappear."

She read another message from Caleb. Her eyes opened wider
when she saw the picture that came with it.

A solo for my girl.