Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Sam opened his eyes to find Thorne standing beside him.
“Let it go for tonight,” Thorne said.
“No! You’re right. We need to find him. I need to find him!”
“Tomorrow night will be soon enough,” Thorne said quietly. “Is there anything I can do?”
“No.” Sam ducked his head and surreptitiously wiped the tears from his eyes. When he spoke again, his voice was filled with remorse, his expression haunted. “I can’t even go to the damn funeral in the morning.”
“I feel so bad for him,” Skylynn said when Thorne told her about his discussion with Sam. “He’s lost so much. Our parents. Grams. Granda. And now this. I know he just met Lisa but they really seemed to hit it off... .”
“It would never have worked out.” Thorne undressed and slipped into bed beside Skylynn. Propping a pillow behind his head, he slipped his arm around her shoulders.
“Why not?”
“Werewolves and vampires don’t mix. Sooner or later, one of them would get angry and the fur would fly.”
Sky snuggled closer to Thorne. So much had happened in such a short time, it was hard to think straight. They had been kidnapped by Desmarais. She had begged Kaiden to turn Sam into a vampire. Sam had regained his memory. She and Kaiden had been married. Before they had even made love as husband and wife, Kaiden had left her alone in their marriage bed. I’ve got to go, he had said. Sam’s in trouble. She could hardly have objected.
And now Lisa was dead, and Sam was in mourning for a girl he hardly knew.
“Our marriage didn’t get off to a very good start, did it?” Kaiden stroked his knuckles over her cheek. “But I’ll make it up to you when this is all over. I promise.”
He just hoped it was a promise he could keep.
Chapter 43
Because Thorne didn’t trust Sam to protect Skylynn on his own, he decided they would both stay with her after the sun went down. Knowing that Sam needed to feed at least once a night, Thorne considered teaching the boy how to call prey to him. But after thinking it over, he decided against it, at least for the time being. It wasn’t an easy thing for a young vampire to master. For one thing, it took a great deal of concentration to control another’s mind, something most fledglings had a difficult time doing in the beginning. Not that you could blame them. New vampires had a lot to deal with—incessant hunger, a constant barrage of sounds and smells, learning how to control one’s increased strength and preternatural senses, the loss of old friends, family, and lifestyle. In the beginning, it was easier, and much more satisfying, to hunt for prey than call it to you.
Shortly before midnight, Thorne went out in the front yard. Standing there, cloaked in the drifting shadows of the night, he opened his senses, searching for prey in the neighborhood.
After twenty minutes, he gave it up as a lost cause. There weren’t many young people in the area and it seemed as though all the old folks had gone to bed.
Pulling his cell phone from his pants’ pocket, Thorne punched in the number for the Scarlet Cabaret.
Sam paced the living room floor, his hunger growing with every step. He needed to feed, badly. It was probably a good thing Sky had gone to bed, he thought darkly. He wouldn’t want to be responsible for what might happen if she was in the same room with him now. Dammit, where was Thorne?
Sam clenched his fists. He needed to go out, but he couldn’t leave Sky home alone. His steps grew shorter, quicker. His veins felt like they were constricting. His fangs ached. He had known hunger as a mortal, but this was a hundred times, a thousand times, worse. Where the hell was Thorne?
Sam went to the window and peered outside. It would only take him a few minutes to go into town and locate some unwary mortal.
He couldn’t wait any longer. With his mind made up, he turned away from the window. He had taken only a few steps when Thorne appeared in the living room, accompanied by a tall brunette wearing a long black cloak over a black dress. She appeared to be about fifty years old.
“Sam, I’d like you to meet my friend, Olivia. Olivia, this is my brother-in-law, Sam.”
“Uh, I’m pleased to meet you, ma’am.”
“Thank you.”
Sam looked at Thorne, wondering who the woman was and why he had brought her home.
“She’s agreed to let you feed off her.”
“What? I ...” Sam shoved his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. He was hungry, sure, but this woman was old enough to be his mother.
“You can take care of it in here,” Thorne said, “or take her up to your room if you’d rather feed in private.”
Olivia removed her cloak and laid it over the back of the sofa, then held out her hand. “Sam, is it? Don’t be shy.”
Feeling like a teenager sneaking a girl up to his room for the first time, Sam took the woman’s hand and led her up the stairs.
Thorne grinned as he watched Sam and Olivia leave the room. For a moment, he stood there, thinking Sam was in for a treat. Olivia’s blood was clean and sweet, almost as tasty as Skylynn’s.
Her name had no sooner crossed his mind than she came down the stairs, her slippered feet making a soft shushing sound.
“Who was that woman?” Skylynn asked, her voice low.
“A friend of mine.”
“Oh?” There was a wealth of accusation in that one, simple word.
“She frequents one of the clubs I visit from time to time.”
“I see.” Sky pulled the bathrobe tighter, as if it could protect her from a truth she didn’t want to hear. “And what kind of club would that be?”
“Calm down, Sky Blue. She’s a vampire groupie. Sam needs to feed and I don’t want him going out alone as long as Desmarais is prowling around.”
“Oh. You’re right, of course.” She looked at him a moment. “You’re not going to”—she cleared her throat—“to drink from her after Sam’s done, are you?”
“No.”
“Good. Because if you’re thirsty ...”
“I appreciate the offer, darlin’, but that’s not why I married you.”
“I know, but I’d rather you drank from me than from some other woman.”
“Don’t be jealous, Sky Blue. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“It means you’re with another woman.”
“I’m not ‘with’ them.” He knew where she was coming from; he understood her jealousy. After all, few things were more intimate than a vampire feeding, which was why, in all his long life, he had rarely fed on men unless there was no other choice. Women tasted sweeter. They smelled better. And it was just more appealing, more natural, to take a woman in his arms.
“I’m sorry,” Sky said. “It’s just that this is still so new to me. If you’re thirsty or ... or hungry ...”
“Oh, I’m hungry, all right.” He pulled her up against him, his hand stroking her back. “Hungry for you.”
“I think I can fix that.” She took his hand, a seductive smile on her lips as she headed for the stairs. “Dinner for one in the Sky Blue room. No waiting.”
Chapter 44
“What are you doing?” Cassandra fired the words at him like bullets. “I’ve warned you time and again to leave Kaiden Thorne alone.”
“I haven’t touched him,” Girard retorted hotly.
“You’re splitting hairs. You kidnapped his girlfriend, or wife, or whatever she is now, and her brother. You killed Lisa Rawlins for no reason. Are you trying to make me destroy you?” She tossed her head. “Assuming that neither Kaiden nor Lisa’s father beats me to it.”
“Kaiden Thorne killed my wife! Am I supposed to just forget that?”
“If you want to go on existing, I suggest that you do.”
For a moment, they stood only inches apart, glaring at each other.
“It’s not that easy,” Girard said, his gaze sliding away from hers. “I loved Marie. She was my whole life.”
“You’re not a slayer anymore, Girard,” Cassandra said flatly.
“You’re a vampire now. Whatever happened in your mortal life has no bearing on the present. The sooner you put your old life behind you, the happier you’ll be.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” he said, his anger returning. “You’ve been a vampire for so long you’ve forgotten what it was like to be human!”
She regarded him for a moment, her eyes cold and hard. “Perhaps I made a mistake in bringing you across.”
“No. I like being what I am. And I’m good at it. You said so yourself.”
“This is my last warning, Girard. This isn’t my territory, but I will defend it, and Kaiden, if necessary.” She fixed him with a hard stare, her eyes glowing red, her power burning into him like sparks from a wildfire. “You would do well to remember that.”
Chapter 45
The next few days passed peacefully enough, although the strain of worrying, of being unable to go out during the day, was beginning to wear on Skylynn’s nerves. Kaiden had assured her that there was little to worry about from Desmarais when the sun was up, but if that was true, why had Kaiden insisted she remain inside during the day? The only time she’d been permitted to leave the house had been to go grocery shopping, and that had been at night, with Sam and Kaiden accompanying her.
Kaiden hired a professional bodyguard to stay with her during the day. His name was Jasper Curran, but everyone called him Tank, probably because he was built like one. For all that he was the biggest man she had ever seen, she rarely knew he was in the house. He stayed out of her way, checked the grounds regularly, and drank an enormous amount of black coffee. He showed up at sunrise, and left at sundown. Even though she had objected at first, she found his presence comforting.
Tank wasn’t the only one who came and went on schedule. Olivia stopped by to visit with Sam every night at midnight, like clockwork.
Skylynn wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It seemed so decadent somehow, her vampire brother being nourished by an older woman. But she kept her thoughts to herself. It was her fault that Sam was a vampire, after all, and apparently new vampires needed to feed every night.
Sky didn’t mind letting Kaiden drink from her now and then. It was, in fact, quite pleasurable. But she was in love with Kaiden. She couldn’t help thinking that letting a stranger feed from you would be like making love to someone you didn’t know. Of course, some women got a thrill from that. She couldn’t help wondering about Olivia. Did the woman let strangers feed from her, or only vampires she knew?
To pass the hours of daylight, Skylynn went on a cleaning spree. She washed all the dishes in the kitchen cupboards, wiped down the refrigerator, inside and out, arranged all her CDs and DVDs in alphabetical order, and sorted the books on the shelf by the author’s last name.
She watched TV until the screen went blurry.
She mopped and vacuumed and dusted until there wasn’t a speck of dirt anywhere.
She reread a dozen of her favorite books.
At the end of a week, she took Kaiden aside and told him, as patiently as she could, that if she didn’t get outside soon, she was going to go insane.
“All right, Sky Blue,” he said. “Where do you want to go?”
“I’m sick of cooking. I want to go out to dinner. And then to the mall. And then to the movies.”
So it was, on a Friday night, that the three of them piled into Kaiden’s car and drove downtown.
Sky was in the mood for Italian, so they went to Luigi’s, where she ordered chicken alfredo. Kaiden ordered a bottle of wine for the three of them.
“We can drink wine?” Sam asked when Kaiden filled his glass.
“A little, from time to time.”
With a small grunt of surprise, Sam lifted his glass, took a sip, and smiled.
“Too bad you two can’t have a bite of this,” Sky said. “It’s delicious.”
Sam looked at Kaiden, who shook his head. “I don’t advise it.”
“What happens if we eat mortal food?”
“Try some and see.”
Head cocked to one side, Sam looked at Kaiden for several moments, then shook his head. “I think I’ll stick to the wine.”
“It’s a smart man who can learn from the mistakes of others,” Thorne said, grinning.
Sam and Kaiden finished the last of the Chardonnay while Sky lingered over a large bowl of spumoni.
Kaiden smiled as he watched her savor the rich dessert, which consisted of layers of ice cream, whipped cream, candied fruit, and nuts, deciding there and then that if he ever had the opportunity to indulge in mortal food again, spumoni would be the first thing on the menu.
After leaving the restaurant, they went to the mall.
Inside, Skylynn took a deep breath. “I didn’t realize how much I missed shopping!” she exclaimed.
Sam groaned. “She’s gonna want to visit every store in the place,” he muttered.
And he was right.
She tried on clothes and shoes, sampled perfume and powder, stopped in the candy shop to buy a pound of honeycomb. Moving on, she bought several bars of scented bath soap and a bottle of lavender bubble bath.
“You’d better wind this up if you still want to catch a movie,” Sam said as they came out of yet another store.
“One more stop,” Skylynn said, and made a beeline for the fast food court where she ordered a hot dog and a Coke.
Sam shook his head. “How can you be hungry again so soon?”
“I don’t know, but I am.”
She carried her order to a small table, grinned at Sam and Kaiden as she took a bite of the hot dog. “Bet you wish you could have some,” she teased as she took another bite.
“Think again,” Sam said, grimacing. “The smell is making me sick.”
Muttering, “Sorry,” she took another bite of the hot dog, and then frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Kaiden asked. “Isn’t it any good?”
She shrugged. “Yes, but ...” She pushed the plate away. “It’s making me nauseous.”
“You probably just ate it too fast,” Kaiden said.
“Yeah, I guess so. Are you two ready to leave?”
“Ready?” Sam exclaimed irritably. “Ready? I’ve been ready for over two hours.”
“Just let me stop in here for a minute,” she said as they approached the bookstore.
Sam looked at Kaiden for help. “If we let her go in there, we’ll never get her out.”
“Well, this is her night,” Thorne said with a shrug. “Whatever she wants to do is fine with me.”
With a resigned shake of his head, Sam followed the two of them into the bookstore.
Skylynn smiled at Kaiden as he slid under the covers beside her. “Thank you for tonight. It was great to get out of the house.”
“No problem.”
“Of course, this is nice, too,” she murmured, snuggling up against him.
“Nice, huh? Maybe I can do better than nice.”
She laughed softly as his hand slid over her thigh. “Very nice?”
He rose up on one elbow, his eyes hot.
A thrill of excitement raced through Skylynn. She knew that look. It made her heart beat faster, caused her whole body to tingle with anticipation. She closed her eyes as his hand curled around her nape to draw her head toward his. He claimed her lips in a searing kiss, his hand sliding seductively over her thigh, the curve of her breast. She surrendered readily to his touch, her own hands busily exploring her husband’s hard, muscular body.
She moaned low in her throat when he rose over her, his tongue sliding along the length of her throat. “Now, Kaiden,” she murmured. “Now, now, now!”
The sweet sting of his fangs at her throat made their joining all the more satisfying, magnifying every touch, enhancing every caress. Floating in a sensual sea of pleasure, she writhed beneath him, wanting to be closer, closer, murmuring for him to take more, to take it all.
She was breathless, sated, when he rolled onto his side, carrying her with him, his arms wrapped around her waist,
his face only inches from hers.
Kaiden put his mouth to her ear. “Still nice?”
Sky placed her arms over his and squeezed. “Beyond nice. Beyond seismic.” She sighed when he nuzzled her shoulder. “It was phenomenal, positively cataclysmic.” She grinned. “Have I stroked your ego enough, or should I go on?”
“You can stroke me anytime you want, for as long as you want.” He caught her earlobe in his mouth and bit down lightly, and then rose over her, his dark eyes alight. “As long as I’m afforded the same privilege.”
Chapter 46
Thorne stood with his arms folded across his chest, trying to rein in his impatience as Sam endeavored to locate Desmarais’ whereabouts.
“Concentrate, Sam. Desmarais drank from you. Your blood is in his veins. Put everything from your mind but the link that stretches between you. Picture it as a wire that connects the two of you. Listen to the blood flowing in your veins. Now open your senses and follow that link back to him.”
With a wordless cry of frustration, Sam closed his eyes. Hands clenched tightly at his sides, he stood there for several minutes, then shook his head. “The only connection I feel is the one that leads to you.”
“Damn!” He had been afraid of that. “Don’t worry about it. I was afraid it wouldn’t work, but it was worth a try.”
“Now what do we do?”
“Go back to my original plan.”
“And use Skylynn as bait? No way!”
“It’s the only way.”
“Can’t you just hunt him down?”
“I’d have to leave the two of you alone to do that.”
“But you’re willing to leave Skylynn alone?”
“That’s different. We’ll both be nearby.”
“Won’t Desmarais know that? And won’t he suspect a trap, if we leave Skylynn alone?”