Louisiana Moon (15 page)

She waited, hoping it was not something she would have to defy him over, hoping he could—this once—be reasonable.

“If you won’t stay here under my protection from the Soulscapes, then I will assign some of my soldiers to follow you. They will guard you from a distance I feel is appropriate. You are not to intimidate them, growl at them or send them back without my say so. This is the only way I will agree to let the hum—Darin, go. Do you understand, Kris? I must have your word on it.”

Yes.
She could agree to his terms. He was actually being halfway reasonable. If she could get out of the hellhole and away from her controlling desires for him, she could focus. She would go on about her business.

“Yes. You have my word to let your goons follow me around, as long as I don’t have to have them in my car, my house or my office. Space is required.”

“You may leave anytime you wish. Someone will be in the hall to meet you. I took the liberty of programming my number into your cell. Call if you need me—for anything.”

His hand brushed past her waist as he slid something into the hip pocket of her jeans. His words sounded hopeful on the anything part. Hell would freeze first before she’d call. She could handle herself against the bad guys. It was Ryant she needed help with. Her body and mind betrayed her every time he was in the same room. Maybe she could learn how to fog her mind so he couldn’t read her thoughts.

The devil laughed.

She bit her lip then slid on her shirt and shoes. The torn panties she left behind as a souvenir. Then again, maybe she should take them as a reminder of how close she came to going over the cliff of falling in love again.

As she looked back at his dark silhouette, he stood by the bed with his hands pressed to his temples. His straining cock pointed up—he wanted her as much as she wanted him. He turned his head and met her gaze. An expression of pure male frustration creased his features.

14

As Kris slipped out into the hall, she pressed her back to the door to catch her breath. The air around her was less cloying. It was absent of Ryant’s scent except for what lingered on her skin and clothes.

The effect of the release he’d given her thrummed each time she moved. She held tight by squeezing her legs and closed her eyes against the aftershocks of the orgasm. Hoping to soothe her racing heart, she put a hand on her chest. She’d be home soon, free of this place and his intrusions. She refused to wonder if that’s what she wanted; it was what needed to be.

“I’m the one who’s supposed to take you to the human slave,” announced a female in a bored tone.

Kris opened her eyes. It took her a couple of blinks to focus. The woman before her resembled someone she knew, but from where? She couldn’t figure out the connection as her mind was still full of images of Ryant.

Many different heritages ran through the vamp lounging before her. Her full lips were bowed in a way that spoke of some African-American blood. High, graceful cheekbones sloped liked a Cherokee Indian. Her patrician nose was very Anglo Saxon. Long ringlet curls of the blackest night hung to her tiny waist. Maybe some French Creole blood as well. With sky blue eyes, she looked over Kris as if she’d done something offensive.

“Yes, and you are?” Kris straightened and pulled away from the door.

A fiery red leather suit covered the woman’s curvy frame. Black leather boots were zipped to the knees. The contrast of the suit’s vibrant color made the woman’s ebony hair appear bold and lush. As she moved, the thick mane fell forward over her shoulder.

“I’m V. Follow me.”

Cute, almost like a nursery rhyme character. V turned and strode down the stone hall with her hips swaying like a swing in the summer breeze. The heels of her boots clicked rhythmically. Three steps behind the vampire, Kris kept her gaze alert and scanning. She didn’t know anything of the caliber of the vamp leading her from the relative safety of Ryant’s room. Now she wished she’d asked more about her guards and escorts instead of running like a rabbit when the chance to leave had presented itself.

An alcove under a bright, actual light made her smile. Finally, something that resembled normalcy. Inside her, tension she hadn’t previously been aware of eased. The simplest things could be so reassuring at times. In this case, the glowing light of an electric bulb.

V stopped and turned to cast a loathing glance at her. “You know, I’m actually very upset with you,” she said. “You made Ryant question my loyalty, my intentions. You tempted Shade, and he’s being punished over you and now, you’re taking my plaything away.”

Kris, who had halted, took a step. “What have you done to him?”

“Nothing yet as I’ve been warned not to amuse myself with him. He was going to be a new toy for me. Then you show up and get to take him away. Like everything else.” V curled her top lip on a hiss.

Kris hiked a brow. “If that was some sort of veiled reference, V, it was lost on me. I don’t know what you mean, and I don’t give a shit either. I want to get Darin and get the hell out of here. Now open the door or move. I’m tired of these games.”

V opened the door and stepped inside the holding room. Sulking, she leaned beside a cerulean blue cinderblock wall, her arms crossed under her breasts. First, her gaze swung to Darin then she returned her glare to Kris. The vamp’s expression screamed pure jealousy.

Positioned next to a square table with his hands cuffed behind his back, Darin slumped in a steel chair. Contrary to the outside light, a dim industrial light buzzed overhead. He looked like a terrorist suspect in some third world, shit-pot country after three days of grueling interrogation. Ratty tan slacks covered his lower half while his torso and feet were bare. The blood in his hair had crusted. The frigid condition of the room showed itself in the blue of his lips. With a bleary, but cautious gaze, he eyed them.

Kris rushed to his side and dropped to her knees beside him. “Are you hurt?”

He shook his head. The honey colored locks, dark from the blood and environment, swayed.

“Do you have the key to unlock him?”

V sauntered over, tossing her hips like a boat on raging waves. No way was she as sexy as she thought she was. “Here,” she said, extending the key via her open palm.

Kris snatched it and turned to Darin, unlocking the cuffs.

Free, he grabbed his wrists and wrung them. There were red marks from where the metal cut deep. She shook her head. Happy to know she would haul him out of there alive, she stood, ready to leave.

“Too bad you’re leaving, I’d love another dance.” V bent and slid her manicured fingernails down his forearm.

Darin snatched his arm back. “Don’t touch me.”

V’s lips curled. “What, you didn’t enjoy the love bite?”

“I think you need to back off,” Kris warned then glanced at Darin. “Come on, we’re getting out of here.”

He gazed at her with grateful eyes and nodded. Bless whatever powers that he managed to get to his feet without assistance. It spoke volumes of the man’s reserve of strength and determination.

Together, they followed V at a safe length. After walking a few feet down the hall and making a short turn, Kris was thrilled to see an exit sign glowing bright red in the dark corridor. She grabbed Darin by the arm and led him out as if he were still a hostage. She hoped he didn’t take it the wrong way—she’d made the move to protect him from V who she sensed wanted him.

As Kris exited, she brushed past the vamp, making sure to keep Darin the farthest away. V scowled at them as they went by. Kris kept her face emotionless until they got outside into the darkness. Of course it would be nighttime.

A neon sign with a blood-red number fifteen encircled by a sun-yellow, capital
C
beamed on them like a spotlight. They stood center stage and sure enough, they’d been kept at Club Fifteen. She looked at V. The female vamp stood at the door with her legs in a wide stance, hands on her hips, a pout plumping her lips. Kris could almost hear her teeth grinding with frustration. Certainty that there were, despite Ryant’s assurances and command, a series of non-stop kidnapping attempts for Darin rolled off V like the high seas. Kris would have to do something. Now that she’d freed him, she’d not allow V to clutch her nails in him again. The only option she had wasn’t the best but she had no choice.

It wasn’t over, but for now, sayonara and good riddance.

Kris scoped the parking lot and didn’t see her car.
Damn it.
To the right, an ignition started and halogen lights turned bright. It must be their cue to head to the limo. Darin walked in front of her, toward the black stretch. For the first time he stumbled.

Gods, he had to be on his last reserves. She quickened her steps and placed her hand on his lower back for support. After he slid inside, she followed and they both settled into the plush leather seats. He echoed her sigh.

As the limo traversed the roads, the ride to her house seemed to take forever. At least, the soft gray leather under her cushioned the jarring from each bump in the road. Ryant’s reluctant recruit dozed lightly in the climate-controlled comfort of the backseat.

After about five minutes into the drive, Darin’s head dropped to her shoulder. A few times, she tried to ease from beneath his casual slump. Every time she twitched away, his head popped up like a jack in the box. She felt sorry for his exhausted state and let him rest next to her. It would be another hour before they were at her home.

She tried to prioritize her next moves. First and foremost, she had Darin to deal with. He would need some care, explanations and re-orientation to the world he believed he lived in. Hell, they both would have to readjust to their ways of thinking of how things worked since his introduction to the preternatural world. Who could be trusted and where to go from there were the real questions.

But for Darin, it was worse. There was no way she could let him return to his life—not with V on the prowl. She was sure the vamp would eventually tire of the game and look for someone else but in the meantime, he would have to stay with her. Damn it.

As if he heard her thoughts, he stirred, but his head didn’t move from her shoulder. She startled when his voice broke the silence. “Why were we kept locked up?”

She shot a glance to the rearview mirror. Their driver gave her a return stare. “Shh.” She pressed her index finger to his lips. “I’ll tell you later. Not now. Inquiring minds and all.”

Darin nodded. “At least tell me your name.”

“Kris Knight.”

He was silent for the rest of the ride. Well, silent except for the occasional snore. Not too long after, they arrived at her gate. With a smooth glide, the limo stopped. She and Darin exited with more speed and less grace than they entered. Obviously, he was as eager as she for safe haven.

At the approaching high beams Kris squinted down Highway 23. They’d been followed as Ryant promised. Even as she understood the need, she didn’t like vampires being so close to her and Darin.

After she strode to the vine-covered lock pad outside her gate and punched in the security code, the gate swung open on slow, mechanical pulleys. She gestured with her head for Darin to take the lead.

He hesitated.

She sighed, took his arm once more and shuffled them through together. “Darin, this is my home. It’s safe. No vamps.”

Once they were through, the gate closed behind them with a ringing clang. The second vehicle approached then slid to a smooth stop in front of her closed gate. When the engine cut off, silence spread through their surroundings. Only crickets chirped over the sound of her and Darin’s feet as they crunched through the front walk gravel. She guessed the men would stay parked until sunup. Who Ryant would send for the daylight hours, she had no idea. Maybe he wouldn’t. Soulscapes attack at night.

As they drew closer to the house, through hanging moss, she saw her car and groaned. “Damn it, I forgot about the blasted thing,” she murmured.

She hoped the repairs wouldn’t cost more than what she owed on the vehicle. Her eyes widened as she neared. Holy hell. The busted windshield had been repaired and every dent was gone. Her baby had a new paint job. Just for a moment, she paused then continued to her car, all the while clenching her teeth to keep her jaw from dropping to the ground. Ryant. It had to have been Ryant who had her car repaired. Well, tally and a half for him for making her life somewhat easier. It was the least he could do.

Kris rounded her car one last time before she bent to take out her house key from the potted plant next to the front door. Once inside her cozy home, she felt safe at last.
Home never felt so good.
She inhaled deeply, breathing in the cinnamon apple swirling throughout the air then toed off her tennis shoes in the foyer.