Primal Cravings (17 page)

“That we’re vampires? I figured it out for myself when I discovered this need to drink blood and sleep in the daytime.”

Laurent ignored Jake’s comment. “We can’t have adventures all the time—not even you Dark Angels always live on the blood and adrenaline high.”

“Are you saying you Clan Boys aren’t always out playing knights and heroes?”

“Goddess, I hope not. The point is, everybody needs to have a mundane side to their life. We need lovers and friends, a place to live.” He touched the tip of the girl’s button nose. “Children to raise. The adventures happen, but it’s the life we return to that makes the adventures important.”

“We grow too much like mortals.”

“Maybe. But we had domestic lives before the daylight drugs came along. We took mortal bondmates, too.”

Jake had wondered when Wolf would hit him with this. He didn’t answer.

“Your woman is dancing with a Prime at the moment.”

“I know that.”

How could he not know? Awareness thrummed through him, perfume in his nostrils, fire in his blood. Ached for her. Called to her. He fought to keep her from consuming him with every word he spoke and gesture he made. He’d known she was coming, when she’d arrived, when she’d walked through the house and into the garden. When the Primes had surrounded her—

“She hasn’t tasted you,” Laurent pointed out. “She’s fair game for anyone who can seduce her.”

“I know that!”

“Then why aren’t you doing something about it?”

“Because—” Jake turned his back on Laurent. He wasn’t going to be pulled into the trap Wolf set for him with all this show of the wonders of domesticity.

Why not?

He didn’t know. But —

“Messed up!” the little girl said. “Needs biting.”

“Come along, Princess,” Laurent said.

He was talking to the child, but Jake found himself moving blindly through the crowd. Jake suddenly couldn’t fight himself a moment longer.

He had to be with Delilah McCoy.

Chapter Thirty

Xander taught Dee to tango with a simple telepathic touch. A finger traced across her forehead, and she suddenly knew every step and nuance of the sensual dance. She was used to tutorials like this when information needed to be passed quickly among the Dark Angels. That was all right, but the touch from Xander was disturbing and unwelcome.

“I didn’t ask for you to do that,” she told him. He merely smiled and twirled her in among the dancers. The tango was a lustful dance. It was very much about the man being dominant, controlling every move. They turned, whirled, stepped, skin on skin at every moment. It was a very—primal—dance.

“You aren’t enjoying this,” Xander said after a while.

“Not a bit,” she agreed.

“You break my heart.”

“Not a bit.”

He chuckled. “But you could, if you like.” He leaned close to her. His lips brushed her throat and he took a deep breath. “Soft skin, rich blood. You are a free woman—a virgin is the mortal term, I think.”

Dee thought she was well past being shocked by anything a Prime said, but she was dumbstruck for a moment. She would have frozen in her tracks and stared at Xander, but the Prime kept her moving in the pattern of the dance.

“You are offended,” he said after a few silent moments.

“I am.” More silence. She gave a frustrated sigh. “But not by you.”

Xander’s lips parted in a smile that showed a touch of fang. His lips brushed her bare shoulder before he lifted his head to meet her gaze. “He doesn’t deserve to taste you if he won’t give his blood in return.”

“He has his reasons,” Dee said.

Though she didn’t know why she was defending Piper, something she certainly wouldn’t have done a week ago. Or even a couple days ago.

“Why should you defend him, do you think?” Xander questioned.

She supposed the Prime was more interested in seducing her than psychoanalyzing her, although she couldn’t help but consider his question.

“Because we’re—” she began

A Prime came up behind Xander. “May I?”

The next thing Dee knew she was dancing with another vampire. He wasn’t quite as graceful a partner as Xander, but there was nothing serious about the glint in his blue eyes and the charm in his smile. She couldn’t help but catch his infectious pleasure. There was no need to think for the moment.

“My name is Adam,” he told her. “You are the witch Dee. You are my first witch.”

She laughed. And they danced together until the song ended. Adam kissed the inside of her wrist when they parted, leaving a promise of sharp fang against her skin. The gesture sent heat flushing through her, but it wasn’t a picture of Adam firing her imagination.

She’d been laughing. Now she wanted to cry.

An arm came around her waist. She was turned to face—green-eyed, auburn-haired Ted.

“Dance with me,” he said as the music began again. Another tango. Vampires liked the sexy dance, apparently.

“Any chance of a waltz? How about salsa?”

Ted pulled her close, hip to hip.

Dee pressed a hand against his chest. “I think I’ve had enough dancing for now.”

“Is it me?” He looked devastated.

“It’s the shoes. My feet are killing me.” Which was true. While her high heels were sexy as hell, they also hurt like hell.

“We can’t have you in pain, unless you want to be, of course.”

Ted swept her off her feet, into his arms. Everyone around them kept dancing, gracefully making room as he carried her off the dance floor. Dee was amused and pleased by this romantic gesture. Not embarrassed. It was silly to be embarrassed when Dee understood that vampires were a flamboyant lot. If she was disappointed, well, that wasn’t Ted’s fault.

He kept walking when he stepped off the patio.

“Where are we going?” Dee asked. She could see the tiled fountain at the center of the garden bubbling in the distance.

“Cool water to soak your feet.”

“I’m not going to soak my feet in Lady Juanita’s fountain! That would be rude.”

“Nonsense. You are her guest. You can do no wrong.”

“Oh, yes I—”

“Put her down,” Piper snarled from behind Ted.

Dee glared over Ted’s shoulder. “Just where the hell have you been?”

Ted lowered her to the ground. He would have stayed protectively in front of her, but Dee moved to confront Jake Piper. Piper’s eyes were glowing red coals of fury. His gaze burned past her at the other Prime. She wasn’t having any of that. She moved close to Piper, got in his face, absorbed the heat of his skin. Claws sprouted from his fingers, his fangs were out. Dee was assaulted by hot waves of fear and lust—she wasn’t even sure which was which. Her hurt and fury overrode both.

“You disappeared. You didn’t check in. You leave me to worry not just about you, but about our assignment and whether or not you’ve remembered about being polite to the Wolf Clan. You left me hanging. We’re supposed to be partners. Partners. What the hell were you thinking, you bastard?”

Piper’s attention slowly moved from the other Prime to her. He blinked. “I—”

“You
what
?”

* * *

Delilah’s bare shoulders were beautiful. She looked like Venus rising from the waves in the off-the-shoulder blue dress. The slinky material clung to her curves, the short skirt showed off her legs. His hands itched to rip the dress off and—

“Are you listening to me, Piper?”

“No.”

He bared his fangs at the Prime behind her, showing a full challenging snarl.

Delilah poked a finger against his chest. “You are not pulling this Primes’ challenge crap to try to distract me.”

“Instinct—” the other Prime said.

“If he followed his instincts he wouldn’t be such a pain in the ass,” Delilah cut him off.

Jake put his hands on McCoy’s lovely bare shoulders. His palms absorbed the sensual warmth of her skin. The points of his claws touched her.

“Draw blood and you’re meat,” one of the nearby Primes threatened Jake.

“If he doesn’t taste blood, they’ll both explode,” a female said.

Jake snapped his fangs at the intruders. Delilah paid no attention to this exchange. She kept glaring into his eyes. Her own eyes shown with tears. Her pain shot through him. He had to make her pain stop.

I don’t understand.

“You don’t understand…? What don’t you understand? You’re an asshole. I’d forgotten about that until just now. I came up with this stupid idea that maybe we belonged together. I don’t know where I got this idea, or why. You’re selfish and you’re clueless and you don’t care that I have as much thirst for you as—”

Kissing her shut her up, but it didn’t stop the accusations shouting in his head. He was as angry at himself as Dee was. It was almost as if there were three voices vying for attention in his mind. He didn’t want voices. He just wanted—

To give her everything.

Jake stepped back. Shaking. He would have fallen to his knees in pain, but Delilah grabbed his arms. She held him up.

“You two!” a woman’s stern voice broke into the moment. “Come with me.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Eden gave Laurent a worried look as Lady Juanita turned and led the bonding couple into the house. They were escorted by bodyguards. Several elders and other members of the Matri’s entourage followed.

“What’s up?” she asked Laurent.

“She doesn’t like Dark Angels.”

“It’s not like they’re done anything wrong,” Eden said. “For a vampire party.”

He handed Toni to one of her teenage babysitters. Laurent took Eden’s hand. He looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes. “Let’s find out what’s up.”

Eden smiled at him. “Sure.”

Eden loved that her own personal Prime was not the most conventional of vampires. They linked arms and followed the others inside. They ended up in the Citadel’s largest and most secure room. It was windowless and situated in the center of the main section of the hacienda-style mansion. Lady Juanita, Matri of Clan Wolf, was a night-dwelling vampire who took no daylight drugs. Very old school, was Lady Juanita. There weren’t a lot of lights on in the meeting room.

“Almost enough to make a girl whip on her night vision glasses.” Eden mouthed the words to Laurent, knowing he saw just fine, and could read her lips. He raised an eyebrow in reply, or she assumed he did, knowing him as she did.

They moved closer to Jake and Dee. Tapers burning on a candle stand shed some light on them. The couple stood in front of where Lady Juanita and another vampire female were seated.

The other woman watched Jake solemnly. “You are not yourself, Yakov. Are you?”

“No, Matri,” Jake Piper said.

“You are bonding.”

He didn’t answer. Dee gave him a furious look.

“Why are you here as a Dark Angel then?” Lady Juanita asked. Her dark eyes sparked with anger. “I was told you are in my territory to pursue an assignment. Your current condition does not bode well for this assignment. This does not bode well for the safety and security of my territory.”

Eden nudged Laurent with her elbow. He gave her a slight shake of his head, and his thought,
This is Matri business,
entered her head.

What’s the use of coming along to help if we don’t help?
she thought back.

I bet we won’t have to. Let’s see where they take it.

It gave Eden headaches if she participated in too much mind talk, since she really wasn’t a telepath. So she subsided and watched the Matris confronting Jake and Dee.

“We do not wish to bring harm to your territory,” Jake said.

“We will leave immediately,” Dee added.

“You will do no such thing,” Lady Juanita said.

“Certainly not,” the other Matri said.

Dee and Jake looked at each other.

When Jake started to speak, Lady Juanita held up a hand to stop him.

“I appreciate your willingness to leave my territory, Prime of Family Piper, but I forbid it. I understand that you brought danger here unknowingly. I cannot blame a bonding Prime for any fool thing he does. Silence,” she added when Jake would have protested.

He looked toward the other Matri, who nodded for him to obey Juanita. His return nod was almost a respectful bow.

Eden guessed that she must be the Matri of Family Piper. Eden wondered if this Matri just happened to be visiting, or if Lady Juanita had sent for her the moment she found out about Jake and Dee. While real vampires couldn’t fly in the supernatural manner of legend, most Matri did have private jets.

Lady Juanita rose from her chair and approached Dee and Jake. She touched each on the forehead. The telepaths in the room seemed to be aware of something going on. Eden could only guess it was some sort of blessing, because the couple visibly relaxed, and the Matri was smiling at them.

“You are the guest of my Citadel for tonight, and as many nights as is necessary to bring you peace and completion.”

Her words were spoken kindly, but she had just made Jake and Dee into pampered prisoners for their own good.

Both Jake and Dee started to protest. The other Matri stepped up. She took each of them by the hand. “We welcome Craft blood into Family Piper.” She kissed Dee on the forehead.

Then she had a knife in her hand and she sliced open each of their thumbs with such speed that only the flash of firelight on steel showed what she’d done. Every vampire in the room focused their attention on the blood which seeped from the cuts.

The Piper Matri said, “Drink. Love. Be one.”

She lifted the couple’s hands so that blood ran down into their palms. Neither Jake or Dee could resist the imperative to share. Their mouths came down on each other’s hands. The telepaths gasped in the wash of eroticism. Even Eden felt it, and turned into her bondmate’s eager embrace.

It was a lovely wedding,
Laurent thought as his mouth covered hers.
Now let’s all go fuck.

Eden wished Jake and Dee well, but being with Laurent was everything to her.
Yes,
she answered him.
Let’s.

* * *

“It was a bad dream,” the Cave wizard said.