Desires Unleashed (37 page)

Natasha gazed at the other man, this was the Darian from her vision. She was still at a loss for words. She watched as he shrugged his shoulders lazily. “You're the police squad, the government trained protectors of the human race, you take care of it. I do not pay taxes to do your jobs for you,” he said sarcastically. He crossed his muscular arms over his broad chest. Natasha couldn't believe what she was hearing. Why was he being so obstinate?

“If we don't stop it tonight, there will be more deaths. We need to find them. You're the only one who can help us!” Warren said desperately.

Matthew had his hand on the butt of his gun, just in case things went sour. He didn't know quite what to think of Darian. He watched Warren plead with the master vampire for help, unsure if Natasha's vision was accurate.

“Humans die all of the time, either by their own hands, or old age. What do I care about a handful of mortals who must meet their fate? You'll have to fight crime without me, my young wolf. I see nothing in it of interest to me,” Darian said dispassionately.

Natasha saw red flash before her eyes. She could nor believe someone could be that heartless. She looked at Xavier, who stood silent. She stepped up to Darian, his forest green gaze lowered to meet the soft green of her eyes. One eyebrow raised slightly, he was curious about her.

“How can you stand there and say that? You would let people die horrible deaths, and for what? You're being petty and stubborn!” she yelled at him.

He fought the urge to smile, he could always appreciate a feisty woman.

“I can resist easily, because
I
do not care.” He chuckled.

“You know what, maybe you don't care but I do! I've seen what happens to these people. I see their deaths in my dreams! I can't just brush it off like some unimportant thing the way you can. I see their suffering and I don't think you'd be all high and mighty if the shoe was on the other foot!” She could feel her temper rising. She glared at Darian, who didn't seem the least bit ruffled and it annoyed her even more. “People are dying. You can help. Why won't you?” she asked, the tears welling up in her eyes. She imagined the male victim was being gutted while they argued and it angered her even more. The more she looked at Darian, the less beautiful he was.

“You misunderstand. This has nothing to do with me. I will not come to the aid of the human world as if I were some superhero in tights like your friend over there.” He gestured languidly toward Warren. “It is a shame that your condition will not allow you a moments peace, but even that holds very little concern to me,” he said coolly.

Natasha felt an alarm go off in her head, felt her hand rise before she could stop it. Her open palm slapped Darian hard on his left cheek, before she even realized it was her hand that did the smacking. There was a collective gasp in the room. She knew she'd made a mistake, giving a silent prayer. Darian stood up straight, no longer leaning against his desk, arms still crossed over his chest. A look of pure shock was plastered on his face. His eyes wide, lips slightly parted in astonishment. Gaping at Natasha, he watched her slowly back away from him, still he didn't move.

Xavier came to stand beside Natasha. Darian's eyes were still locked on her. A thousand thoughts filled his mind, yet he only settled on one. He had never been slapped by anyone in all of his long life. It was a whole new experience. No one had ever thought to lay their hands on him in anger. Suddenly, Natasha intrigued him. He had never seen a mortal with such fire, such courage to challenge him. He was fascinated, instantly entranced with her. He could not take his eyes off of her. Natasha thought her life was over. She didn't know if Xavier could protect her or not, but she prayed that he could. All she wanted to do now was to crawl inside a box, anything just to get away from Darian's deep gaze.

“Darian?” Xavier queried anxiously. Darian, who had been staring at Natasha, seemed to come out of a spell at the sound of Xavier's voice, his eyes slowly focusing on him. “Are you through speaking with the officers?” Xavier asked, trying to redirect Darian to another point of interest. Darian lowered his arms and walked across the room to where Natasha was standing. Warren stepped in front of her, blocking Darian's way as Xavier came to Darian's side. Hand clasped on the master vampire's arm.

“Please don't hurt her, Darian, she didn't mean it,” Xavier pleaded. Darian looked at him and laughed, a cool, smooth sound vibrating throughout the room.

“Oh, she meant it. I don't think she does anything without meaning to.” He stared at Natasha and walked forward. Warren held his gun out, aiming it at Darian. He stopped, looked at the gun. In a movement too fast for anyone in the room to see, the gun was suddenly in his hands and Warren was left confounded, gasping in shock.

“You forget what team you're really playing for, wolf. Don't you ever point your weapon at me again. I have no intention of hurting this beautiful young lady,” he said as he handed Warren his gun. Warren took the gun, but was still confused. Darian continued to speak. “As a matter of fact, I think I will help you in your investigation. Allow me to get my coat.” He smiled, walked to the closet in his office and pulled out a long black trench coat.

“Wait a minute! Why do you want to help all of a sudden?” Natasha asked nervously.

Darian looked at her, smiling warmly. “To get closer to you, of course. I'll have you know, you're the first person to have ever slapped me.” He cocked his head to the side. “Not that I'm in total agreement but perhaps you're right, I was being petty and stubborn.” He pulled his long, jet black, wavy locks from underneath the collar of his coat, letting the waves fall past his shoulders. He smiled at her again, his dimples brightening the smile even more, making him look innocent. Natasha hadn't even noticed his dimples before, seeing them now made her feel butterflies inside. She adored dimples on a man, although she thought it was rather comical to see this master vampire smiling like a school boy.

“Well whatever gets you to help us is fine with me. We have to go now. I hope we're not too late!” Natasha exclaimed as she counted her lucky stars that she was still alive. She made a special mental note to herself.
Never hit a vampire.
She hoped he didn't have the intention of killing her later, she hoped to God that he didn't. She would make certain to stay close to Warren and Matthew. She looked at Xavier, who seemed to still be perplexed.

“Are you coming?” she asked him.

“No, I have to watch the club. If it's a pestering bloodsucker on the prowl, Darian can handle it, he doesn't need my help.” Xavier smiled. He winked at Natasha, wanting her to feel safe. He didn't think Darian would kill her, he had been intrigued by her, just as he himself was. He watched his Master smile at her, then Darian turned to Xavier, walking over to him. He leaned into Xavier's ear and whispered. Natasha couldn't hear what he said, but she was sure Warren could. She'd have to let curiosity kill the cat and ask Xavier or Warren later what it was that Darian had whispered.

Darian walked away from Xavier, stepping up to Warren. “Okay, I've decided to help, so lead the way.” He made a sweeping motion with his hand toward the door. He bowed slightly as Natasha walked past. She still didn't know if she could stop shaking or not, but she knew she wasn't going to let her guard down. She knew running away wouldn't help her, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try. Darian walked gracefully behind them as they headed toward the main entrance. Natasha looked at the long line of party people still waiting to get in and shook her head. She thought it was too cold outside to be standing in such a long line just to party, but that was their decision. She followed Warren and Matthew to the police squad car. Warren opened her door and she climbed in. Darian walked toward the police car, lowering himself to take a peek at the built-in contraption. He smiled and shook his head, chuckling. He stood erect and looked at the two detectives.

“Sorry, gentlemen, but I don't think I'll be riding in your death trap tonight. You lead the way and I'll follow.” He glanced at the attendant, who seemed to know what his boss wanted, disappearing around the corner of the building. Darian stood waiting, his hands hidden in the pockets of his formfitting black pants. His long, black coat flapped behind him in the wind. He looked in the direction of oncoming traffic on the street, the wind whipping through his long, luxurious, wavy locks. Natasha almost drooled as she looked at his perfect manly body. She imagined what he would look naked, how his muscles would feel under his skin as she trailed her fingertips over his body. She had to pull herself out of her fantasy. After all, she had just slapped him about fifteen minutes before. She felt she wasn't yet out of the danger zone. Being around all of these gorgeous men wasn't doing her any good either...but then again.

The detectives had settled into their seats, waiting for Darian so they could get a move on. Warren squirmed impatiently in his seat, eager to get to the scene before anything happened. All of the stumbling blocks were getting to him. The valet brought Darian's car around, climbed out, walked to his boss and handed him the keys. Darian took the keys and glided to the driver's side of the car. The wind played with his hair and coat making him look like an ad for
Anisi Cologne For Him.
He climbed into his black Pavilion luxury sports car. Natasha loved that car, but she could only afford the half a million dollar set of wheels in her dreams. The car had automatic doors that closed after the driver got in, a state-of-the-art sound system with a three disc CD changer and three disc DVD player. The leather interior was climate controlled and there could be multiple moon roofs, depending on the type of Pavilion one could afford. This was the car on the most wanted list for the insanely wealthy, nothing else could compare. What could she say? The man had style.

Warren pulled the squad car out and headed in the direction of the abandoned warehouses in Natasha's area. There were a number of warehouses in the vicinity, the search wouldn't be short. Darian followed behind them. For hours, they checked out several buildings and were unsuccessful. While heading towards another area, Natasha couldn't help herself and decided to look behind them. She saw Darian steering his car effortlessly. He winked at her. She blushed, turned back around and slouched in her seat. Warren turned to glance at her, frowning.

“What's wrong?” he asked

Natasha looked up and realized he was talking to her. “Oh nothing,” she responded. To divert his interest, she began to describe the warehouse hoping it would narrow the search even more. “The warehouse was dark gray on the outside. It wasn't tall and it didn't resemble a factory, more like a loft. Like that one right there!” she exclaimed, pointing to a gray building with boarded up windows and doors. There was one window that didn't have boards on it, while one side of the steel gate surrounding the building had been pried apart. Warren pulled the car over and the three of them climbed out. Darian parked behind them, joining them as they stood looking at the building. Warren's nostrils flared and an expression came over his face that indicated something Natasha could only guess was recognition of a scent.

“I smell him here. He's marked territory, as well. They're inside there now,” he said as he walked toward the damaged gate, jumping over it easily. The rest of them walked toward the gate, Darian looked at the gate, but didn't walk through the jagged opening. Natasha looked up, noticing he was already on the other side of the gate. She looked at Matthew, who shrugged as if to say
“your guess is as good as mine”.
With that, the two of them climbed through the battered gate to stand beside Warren and Darian.

“I can sense another vampire,” Darian said. He closed his eyes, exhaling a deep breath, his shoulders slouching slightly. “This one has a formidable aura. No, I don't think the three of you would have been able to handle this one alone. Very fortunate for you that I'm willing to help,” he said condescendingly.

Natasha threw him a disdainful look.
Arrogant bastard,
she thought. He looked down at her and smiled sweetly, flashing his dimples again. It made the disdain Natasha felt disappear. She didn't know if she liked not being able to hold a grudge against an
“obvious asshole”,
but for some reason it didn't seem to matter.

“You know what, maybe you should stay here,” Warren suggested to Natasha.

“Where? In the car?” She shook her head, frighteningly. “Oh no! What if that's what they want? I feel safer with you.”

“Are you sure, because it could get dangerous,” Matthew said.

“I'm here now, I don't want to be alone,” Natasha said, looking at the three men.

Warren nodded. “Let's go,” he said, sprinting off ahead of them to the broken window. He climbed in and Matthew followed. Darian looked at Natasha and held out his hand.

“Unlike those other two, I'm a gentleman, ladies first,” he said smoothly, his voice cutting through her animosity like a hot knife through butter.