Baited Blood (12 page)

“Until now, Dodie was the only one I knew.”

“Knew of, you mean.” Colin shook his head with slow amusement. “Isabella Claussen is another. And Stacie Neroni. And Ricky turned Byron at his request.”

Madison’s mouth sagged open more with each name. She snapped it shut. “But the branding—is that normal?”

Raising a finger on the hand not holding the orange, Colin pointed at Madison. “That part Ann didn’t share. I knew nothing about the branding until I found myself drugged and tied facedown on a bed, with a hot iron being applied to my back.” His voice turned bitter. “I’d seen more than my share of men being branded for punishment or as slaves, and I wasn’t about to be branded myself. Not by choice.”

It wasn’t making sense to Madison. “I don’t understand why she did it, especially if you were willing to become a vampire.”

“With Ann, everything returns to her ego. No matter where I went in the world, for eternity I would always be her property, at least in her mind.” Colin squeezed the orange again. This time, Madison picked up the sweet, oily scent as it escaped cracks in the rind. “After the brand healed, she turned me into a vampire.”

He walked into the kitchen, deposited the broken orange in the sink, and washed his sticky hands.

Madison got up from the sofa and stood at the counter watching Colin dry his hands on a towel. “How long did you stay with her after that?”

He shrugged. “A few decades, maybe more. We traveled the world and took many lovers between us, all human. Even took lives, though Ann wasn’t one for wanton bloodlust, and I had seen too much of it in my own travels for it to be an attraction.”

Colin had admitted to murder as easily as if he’d told Madison he’d just taken out the trash. Her shock must have showed because Colin came out of the kitchen and stood before her, his hands gripping her shoulders in a vice. He shook her gently. “All vampires kill, Madison. At some point, all of us have killed and will kill again. It’s in our nature. Even your precious Doug and Dodie have human blood on their hands.”

Madison’s thoughts went to Bobby Piper. She’d seen the Dedhams kill Bobby. They’d done it to save her life; that’s how she’d met them. Mike Notchey, too, had warned her about forgetting that the vampires, for all their wealth and external sophistication, were really just unnatural monsters with wild animal instincts.

She pulled away from his grasp. “I do understand that, Colin. I’ve seen the Dedhams kill and feed. Remember?”

She walked back to the windows and stared at the blackness beyond, wishing she could step out and fly into the night—to feel weightless, inside and out. “I’m not naïve. I know I’m only alive by the council’s good graces and that my situation could change at any time. It’s like walking a tightrope above the Grand Canyon.” She turned to him, her arms crossed, her face tight with emotional stress. “Every day it’s like that.” After staring at Colin a long moment, she turned back to the view.

Colin approached. Standing behind Madison, he placed his hands once again on her shoulders, this time gently. He kissed the top of her head.

“There are days,” he told her, his voice barely above a whisper, “when I wish you’d never come to us. Not that I wanted Piper and his pals to kill you, but sometimes, Madison, I wish you’d been able to live your life in ignorance of all this.”

She leaned back against him, taking comfort, if not warmth, from the solidness of his physical presence.

“Me, too,” she said softly, keeping her eyes straight ahead.

Moving his hands from her shoulders down her arms, Colin slowly wrapped them around Madison’s front, enfolding her in a cocoon. He nestled his face in the crook of her warm, long neck and ran his beard along her smooth skin. Madison closed her eyes. When Colin kissed her neck, she sighed.

Then he bit her.

She froze, her next breath caught in her throat. He hadn’t bitten her with his fangs but with his lips, but it was enough to remind Madison who—or what—had her in a tight embrace.

Colin kissed and nibbled Madison’s neck a few more times. When he stopped, both of them looked straight ahead, not at the view but at their reflections in the window.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked in a whisper that caressed her ear.

Loosening Colin’s arms, she turned within them until she could stare up into his dark eyes. In response, she tilted her mouth up toward his in invitation. He returned his RSVP by bringing his own mouth down on hers, first with softness, testing her decision. For the second kiss, his mouth came down on hers with no holding back.

THIRTEEN

F
or all his usual sullenness, Colin was a playful lover. As their mouths locked and tongues danced, they both laughed without breaking the connection. He reached under her top and tweaked and tickled her body. Madison squirmed with unselfconscious delight.

When Colin started pulling the tunic over her head, Madison stopped him with a coy look. “I thought you liked this on me.”

He grinned. “Perhaps, but I think I’d enjoy it more off.”

Once her top hit the floor, Colin deftly dispatched her bra and pushed her up against a nearby wall as his mouth found her naked breasts. Madison shuddered and moaned and wrapped one of her long legs around one of his. Grasping his thick hair, she pulled him closer to her as he nipped, kissed, and licked her chest as he had her neck.

There was no doubt in Madison’s mind that Colin knew how to please a woman. No wonder Miriam followed him around like a lovesick puppy. Thoughts of Miriam quickly vanished as Colin yanked on Madison’s leggings and swore under his breath.

“Bloody things are stuck to you like paint.”

She kicked off her shoes and wiggled out of the pants with a smile on her face. “Well, you picked them out.”

“Next time, remind me to get something with easier access, will you? Maybe one of those Hawaiian muumuus or some other equally ridiculous item.”

They studied each other a moment before their mouths met again, this time with a fiery hunger. Colin grabbed both of Madison’s wrists and pulled her arms high above her head while his mouth devoured and his tongue tasted. When Madison’s breathing changed to short, fast breaths, he unleashed his fangs and traced her elegant neck with them from her ear down to her right nipple. She could feel their sharpness playing with her trembling flesh, taunting her with their danger.

Colin worked his way back up to her neck, then pulled back to look at her flushed face. “You frightened?”

It took her a minute, but slowly she shook her head. “No.”

He grinned, his fangs made even more terrible by the gesture, and grazed her lips with his own before moving them across her cheek to her ear. “Liar.”

She cried out when he nipped her right earlobe. It stung like a quick cut from a sharp paring knife. As her warm blood trickled down her neck, she held her breath. Colin moaned and flicked his tongue at the small drip, licking it clean from where it strayed up to its source. Clamping his mouth against her lobe, he nursed on the small gash and tongued her ear until Madison felt her eyes roll back into her head with pleasure.

“Delicious,” he whispered.

When he stopped sucking, Colin sheathed his fangs and broke away, moving back several feet.

Baffled and confused, Madison covered her exposed breasts and looked at him, unsure of what to do, worried that it was Mike Notchey all over again. Was Colin disgusted by her, too? He didn’t seem to be until now, but why the sudden change? As humiliation overtook her passion, her eyes drifted to the floor and her discarded clothing. She reached for them.

“Don’t,” he told her. “I simply want to look at you.” His eyes scanned her up and down, taking their time, drinking in every physical feature. “You are so beautiful.”

Madison nearly collapsed with relief. This man—this supposed monster—wasn’t going to reject her at all. He wanted her. And she wanted him. She lowered her arms and stood looking back at him.

“So, luv.” He approached her. Reaching out an index finger, he scooped up a droplet of blood that had fallen from her ear to her neck and licked it off his finger tip. “How do you like vampire foreplay so far?”

When Madison laughed, Colin took it as a good sign. He playfully lunged for her and started to pick her up. She held up a hand to stop him.

“Don’t tell me,” she giggled, “that you’re going to sweep me off my feet and carry me into the bedroom like in some romance novel.”

He narrowed his dark eyes at her and flicked a piece of her hair from her face. “Yes, I can see you are far too much of a realist for that cheesy move.”

Without another word, Colin grabbed her by the wrist and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “This better?” He slapped her bottom with affection.

“Much.”

After roughly depositing her on his king-sized bed, Colin stepped back. The only light in the room came from an amber torchiere in the corner and what little filtered in from the living area. Without taking his eyes off of her, he pulled off his shirt and undid his jeans, dropping them to the floor.

She studied his body with appreciation, as he had done hers. “Do all vampires go commando?”

He flashed her an arrogant look. “Only the really cool ones.”

Naked, he pivoted like a fashion model. “See. All the same equipment, in all the same places as those beater blokes.” He approached the bed.

“Turn around,” Madison told him when he reached her. “I want to see the brand.”

He hesitated but did as she asked. At the small of his back, just above his firm bottom, was the same brand she’d seen on Keleta and Parker. The skin was a different color at the site and slightly raised. She traced it with a fingertip. Putting a hand on Colin’s hip, Madison raised herself up and kissed the brand. Under her touch, she felt Colin’s muscles clench, then relax.

Colin moved to the end of the bed. Bending over, he grasped each one of Madison’s ankles and yanked her to him at the edge. She gave a yelp of surprise, then broke into giggles.

With a hand on each of her legs, starting with the ankles, he moved his hands up her legs in a firm, slow caress, keeping his eyes on her. His touch was cool and dry yet still created a heat she couldn’t ignore. When his hands reached her hips, he latched his fingers around the thin band of her bikini panties and slowly started pulling them down, retracing his earlier path down to her ankles. Once he’d removed them, he tossed them on the floor by his own clothing.

Madison never took her eyes from Colin’s face. She had always known he found her sexually attractive, but tonight he was studying her, touching her, with more intensity and in a different way than he ever had before. She’d expected a vampire to make love in a rough and forceful manner, but Colin was adept and caring in each touch of her flesh. She’d seen him with Miriam once, and he hadn’t been this gentle with her. He’d ravished her, and Miriam had loved it, turning into an animal right along with Colin. With Madison, Colin was taking his time, enjoying each delicious moment as much as she was.

Still, she was nervous. Colin was going to bite her; she knew it and was torn inside about it. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about it. Notchey had said the vampires only cared about sex and blood and power. Colin had said as much himself. Maybe Notchey was right, but they had the power and he didn’t. Notchey had already condemned her, so why not enjoy the sex he was so sure she was getting?

Colin kissed the inside of her thigh, the soft, fleshy area just below her crotch, and Madison tried to forget about Mike Notchey and what he’d said. She sighed and opened her eyes.

From between her legs Colin looked up at her. He kissed her flesh again and tongued the area. “Right here,” he told her, licking the area again as if swabbing it. “Right here is the best place to bite.”

“Not on the neck?”

He sat up on his knees and gave her a small smile. “No, the best is right here.” He touched her inside thigh, sending a charge through her body. “It’s sweet and won’t show.” He moved between her legs, lowering his body over hers, and bent to kiss her breasts. “But not for a first time.”

Colin kissed his way up to Madison’s mouth, coming down on it harsher than before, consuming her with his growing passion. She responded under his touch, but it wasn’t with the fever of before. Her body wanted him more than she’d ever wanted a man, but her mind was splintered with worry planted by Notchey and fertilized by her own self-doubt.

Colin stopped kissing her. He didn’t move away but hovered over her, his mouth still above hers, their lips barely touching. His body covered hers like a blanket. Their intimacy so close to completion, she could barely breathe. Her eyes were closed tight.

“I thought you wanted this,” he said, his lips touching hers as they moved.

“I do.” Madison didn’t open her eyes. She squeezed them tight to shut out thoughts of Notchey and the fight they’d had. What he’d said about the vampires haunted her like a dead relative.

Colin hesitated, studying her tight face and shut eyes, then kissed her again. After a moment, he stopped and shook his head in frustration. He rolled off her to his side. “You’re going to have to work with me, Madison. I may be dead, but I’m really not into necrophilia.”

Her eyes snapped open, and she turned her head in his direction. They were nearly nose to nose. “What?”

Rolling onto his back, Colin covered his eyes with an arm. “Christ, I made a hash of that.”

Madison jumped out of bed. “If that means you screwed up, yeah, you did.” She looked around for her clothes. “Unless in the vampire world calling your lover a corpse is a term of endearment.” She stopped scavenging to fix Colin with an angry eye. “I’m sure the maid Miriam is a lot livelier than I am in the sack.”

“Don’t be like that, Madison.” Colin had turned on his side to watch her huff and puff around the room. He patted the bed. “Come on back to bed.”

Remembering that her clothes were in the other room, Madison picked up Colin’s shirt and slipped into it. She eyed the bed and Colin with a lustful but wary eye. Instead of returning to the bed, she sat down in a nearby reading chair and curled her long legs up under her.

Colin got off the bed and came to her. Kneeling, he took her hands in his. She looked away. “I’m sorry I said such an awful thing. Truly, I am. It’s just that I was so frustrated with your change of heart. And at such an … inopportune time.”

“I didn’t change my mind, Colin.” She still didn’t look at him.

“Yes, you did.” He tapped the bracelet on her wrist.

Madison glanced down at the council’s bracelet. It was nestled against two colorful beaded bracelets she’d picked up while combing the shops on Venice Beach.

Confused, she looked at Colin. “I don’t understand. This is supposed to protect me.”

“And it’s working,” he said in a wry tone. “Certainly against me.”

“But I want this, Colin.”

“And so do I, very much. But while your mouth is saying yes, your heart and mind are saying no.” He tapped the bracelet again. “And that is what this reads.”

“What is it, some sort of voodoo?”

Colin shrugged. “Not sure. It’s one—”

Raising a hand, she cut him off. “Don’t tell me: it’s one of those mysterious things vampires just learn to accept. Dodie tells me that all the time.”

“Dodie’s right. I’m four hundred years old, and I’m still learning.”

He took her hands in his again. “Tell me, Madison, what changed your mind from the living room to the bedroom? Is it because of what happened to you as a young girl?”

She shook her head and pulled her hands out of his. It was bad enough Samuel could read her mind, and sometimes Dodie could sense what she was feeling, but now this bracelet … It had protected her against Keleta’s advances and now against Colin, even though physically she wanted Colin. Her head had been filled with doubt planted by Mike Notchey—crammed with worry about being used by the vampires. Had the bracelet weighed and considered that?

When she didn’t answer, Colin stood. “It wasn’t just the bracelet that made me stop.” He picked up his jeans from the floor and began pulling them on, covering his nakedness. “Whether you realize it or not, you were just lying there, frozen and immobile, like you were resigned to a fate worse than death. Hardly the vibes a bloke likes when making love to a woman.”

“Necrophilia,” she spat out. “I got your drift.”

He zipped his pants. “It was an unfortunate choice of words on my part.” He sat down on the bed facing her. “So what did change your mind? Was it the idea of being bitten?”

Madison reached up and touched her ear. It still stung but was no longer bleeding. She shook her head and curled up into a tighter ball. “No, I … I ….” She looked at him. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not
nothing
, Madison.” Colin’s voice took on an edge of impatience. “Something changed your mind, and quickly.”

“Something was on my mind. It diverted my attention. That’s all.”

Colin wasn’t buying it. “I may not be able to read minds like Samuel, but I know when someone’s not telling me the whole truth.”

Madison got up and walked over to the bed. Trying to push Notchey from her mind, she ran her fingers through Colin’s thick hair and bent down to kiss his lips. His hands instinctively grasped her hips and held her. When the kiss was over, he buried his face in her middle and stayed that way a moment before pulling away.

“Nice try, Madison, but your kiss wasn’t the same as it was before.” He pushed her a few inches away but still hung on to her hips. “It felt more like a duty just now than passion. Tell me what’s going on.”

She extricated herself from his grasp and went back to the chair. If she had to tell him, she wanted distance between them. “Why do you want me, Colin? Am I just another conquest, like Miriam?”