Don't Blackmail the Vampire (4 page)

Those, she’d avoid at all costs.

Throwing a last, longing glance at the lift, she pushed off and glided down the hill.

She settled into the run after a short stint on a blue led her to a green, and she could coast at a nice safe speed.

Unfortunately, it freed her thoughts to wander. And they immediately wandered to her new vampire companion.

Vampire.
Holy crap. Her pulse surged. She’d felt almost okay with the idea this morning after he’d appeared so handsome and fresh from the lodge. So human.

And that was precisely what made her so uneasy.

She wasn’t an easygoing person. People were constantly telling her to relax. To quit overanalyzing things. To get out of her shell and be more sociable instead of immediately distrusting the lot of them. It wasn’t something she’d ever been able to do, unlike Kristen.

Sisters and best friends growing up, they had reacted in opposite ways after their dad up and left them one night and never came back—electing instead to start a new life somewhere without them. Dropping them like trash.

Rachel had reacted like anyone with good sense would have— by distancing herself to avoid further hurt. Okay, it meant she didn’t get out as much as most people her age. It meant that she rarely got involved with anyone—especially men. But that was okay. She didn’t need anyone, least of all some guy. Kristen had gone the opposite route.

She clung.

Rachel shook off the thought and rounded a bend, straight down a steep slope.

“Shit.” Her mind screamed with panic as she tried to slow her descent. Back and forth in nice arcs. She could do this.

Her whole body taut, she fought the urge to panic and fall down. Then she’d never get back up again to face the rest of the slope. They’d have to send a ski rescuer on a snowmobile to get her. How flipping embarrassing.

No way.

Back and forth. She kept her lower leg firmly planted as she moved across the sharp slope horizontally to slow her descent and tried to breathe through it. Tensing too much would only make her more likely to fall on her face. And for a brief, triumphant moment, she thought she was going to make it.

Her ski slipped.

She tumbled the rest of the way down the hill in a ball of pain, fear, and curses. Her skis flew off and the poles fell from her hands. A sharp pain shot through her ankle.

Just as abruptly as her descent started, it stopped.

“Freaking-A,” she muttered from the large snowbank where she’d landed. Thank God it hadn’t been a tree. For a moment, she didn’t move, far too grateful that she was no longer tumbling down the mountain to even want to try it.

Cold seeped in from the snow she was half buried in. Her feet were freezing and the snow melted against her skin. It had gotten into her coat and stuck to her neck, and down her back. Just freaking great.

This trip was turning into a disaster.

She dug her mittened hand into the snow and tried to pull herself from the bank to no avail. Panic rushed through her, and she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. No way was she going to let herself lose it. Screaming for help would be embarrassing and wasn’t necessary. She could get herself out of this mess.

Determined, she rocked back and forth, trying to work her way out of the bank, but the angle was all wrong. Her ankle throbbed with pain, and cold had soaked into her limbs, making movement more difficult. And she was getting tired. Maybe it was time to shout for help.

But what if no one heard?

Granted, she wasn’t that far off the trail, but the thought made her heart race. She whimpered, unable to stop the weak sound even as she loathed herself for it. Swallowing her pride, she opened her mouth to yell.

“Rachel!” a voice called from only a couple of feet away. She craned her neck to see incoming black ski pants.

“Are you all right? Talk to me.”

“You’re so bossy,” she muttered, even as relief rushed through her. Charles was here. The vampire.

The vampire she’d blackmailed only the night before. Crap.

But before she could open her mouth to say something she’d really regret, like begging for her life, the snow around her parted, then very gently, he pulled her from the bank.

“I am bossy. I’m glad you remember.” Something akin to relief touched his tone. No. She was hallucinating that, or the worried furrow in his brow as he looked down at her. Was her head in his lap?

“I’m going to get someone up here with a stretcher—”

“No! I’m fine. I just got stuck,” she said. He appeared doubtful, so she added, “My ankle hurts. Think I twisted it. Otherwise I’m fine.” Just freaking cold.

“I still think—”

“Please.”

He hesitated. “All right. But you will allow me to help you down the mountain.”

She knew a non-question when she heard one, so she didn’t argue.

…

It wasn’t right. A rescuer shouldn’t
have a hard-on while performing a heroic act. Charles was pretty sure there was a rule about that somewhere, but he’d be damned if it was one he could follow right now.

Rachel snuggled perfectly in his arms. All soft and warm and smelling like a fucking garden mixed with something delicious. Cinnamon and fucking spice.

It didn’t help that he’d had to pull on his energy to influence her again during the lift ride. Her fear of him was fading slowly as time in his presence showed her that he wasn’t going to eat her like the Big Bad Wolf. But he was a vampire, a fact that she was still likely trying to wrap her mind around. Her fear still spiked. And he couldn’t afford for her to freak out and tell anyone what he was—he didn’t have the energy to spare. Worse, the idea of her hurting herself in an attempt to get away from him—like falling off the lift—made his chest tighten.

Since he didn’t feed on humans often, his power was a bit more limited than what vampires used to enjoy when controlling humans was status quo. Now that live feeding was frowned upon, and vampire scientists had created ways to store donated human blood without refrigeration, powers for the average vampire were muted. Occasional feedings he’d been forced to take from humans always gave him a magnified rush of energy. But status quo or not, it made him have to draw a lot of energy to even influence Rachel.

And that made him hungry.

“This is so weird,” she murmured against his neck, sending a fresh spike of lust straight to his cock. He’d never found his neck to be an erogenous zone before, but with her mouth so close to his skin, it sure seemed like one. “Are people staring? I feel like they’re staring.”

“No one’s staring,” he lied. He skied sans poles, having left her equipment and some of his own in a pile by the snowbank where he’d found her. Unfortunately, his offer to call the paramedics had been met with a resounding “no.” One that he’d almost argued. Seeing her there, stuck in the snow, her face not even visible from the run, had sent him into a near-panicked state.

It was ridiculous. He barely knew her. But somehow, when she’d failed to join them at the bottom of the run, worry had been the first thing that hit him. Not annoyance that he’d have to leave Brent to search for her. Not anger at the inconvenience. Worry. When was the last time he’d worried over anyone? He didn’t even worry about his close family—save a bit of the emotion reserved for Alice, his brother’s woman. Granted, his family wasn’t exactly as vulnerable as Rachel, but worrying over anyone wasn’t like him.

She finally peeked out from the crook of his neck to look around. Her voice lowered to an angry hiss. “People are too staring.”

“They’re staring at my awesomeness. I’m skiing with you in my arms down a damn mountain. And I’m making it look good.”

A long pause. He could practically hear the gears in her mind shift to anxious mode. At least he was no longer the only one.

“Isn’t this kind of nonhuman of you? Like in a slightly obvious sort of way?”

“For your sake, I will pretend you said superhuman. That way I don’t have to drop you into a nice fresh snowbank and leave you for someone else to fish out.”

“I’m serious!” She gripped his collar with one hand and shook it.

“Are you seriously trying to make me crash?

The hand at his collar stilled, and she was silent for a good ten seconds. He sighed as soon as he felt her take a deep breath.

“Are we almost there?” she asked, craning to find a familiar marker.

“How old are you? Do you have to go to the bathroom, too? I will turn this vampire sleigh around.”

She gasped and he grinned.

“Jerk.”

“Harridan.” His worry—his fear, if he were being honest with himself, which he wasn’t—made it difficult to stop teasing her. Her attitude, and her immediate irritation with him, made him feel better. If she was using that sharp tongue, she couldn’t be too hurt. “We’re almost there.”

“Good.” She relaxed against him, and his cock jumped back to attention. His teeth strained against his efforts to keep them sheathed, suddenly sensitive as hell.

Shit. It was like he was a teenager, holding a girl close for the first time. Thankfully, his strength and her small size made it possible for him to hold her slightly too high for her to notice. And with any luck, he’d be able to get farther away from her before his fangs shot out like a freshly made vampire’s, despite his concentrated efforts.

He’d probably never assuage her fear after that.

“Charles?” she asked as they approached the ski racks. From there it was a quick walk back to the lodge. Thank God. Hopefully he’d lose his erection by then. His thick ski pants would make it less obvious, but still. Holy hell awkward.

“Yeees?”

“Thank you.”

He suppressed a sigh and held her a little closer. No way was he losing his hard-on now.

Chapter Three

“That was so flipping h
umiliating.” Sh
e crawled under the covers and Charles handed her a steaming cup of cocoa. “It’d probably be safer for everyone if I stayed in bed the rest of the trip.”

“I offered to call the paramedics for you.” And it probably would have been safer for him if he had. A vampire his age shouldn’t lose control of his body like that. Talk about embarrassing. At least his fangs hadn’t popped out.

“Yeah, that wouldn’t have been even worse or anything.”

He shrugged. “I warned you that you’d have to let me help you down.”

“I guess I didn’t figure that meant carrying me down the mountain. God, I left my rentals up there.”

“I sent the ski shop after our equipment while you guzzled that first cup of cocoa in the lounge before we came up. They’ll have it delivered to our rooms.”

She gave him a suspicious glance, made slightly less threatening since she was lying in bed, covers tucked up to her armpits and a cup of hot cocoa in her hands. “How did you manage to convince them to do that? Vampire mojo?”

Her eyes glazed for a second, and he interrupted her thoughts before she could think on that too hard. “I just asked. It’s called customer service.”

She raised her eyebrows and took a sip of cocoa. The slightest bit of chocolate stayed on her top lip, and she licked it off.

He counted to five in his head. Sure, he’d just saved her and that had seemed to inspire a bit of trust. But he’d ruin it if he sprang at her and…hell. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to taste the chocolate on her tongue or the blood pulsing through her throat. Maybe one, then the other. Fuck. He needed to feed. Time to end this conversation.

“I’m charming. She was happy to send someone out for me.”

“She?” Then under her breath, she added, “Oh, I’ll bet she was.”

Charles grinned at her, unable to resist even with hunger riding him. “Well if you’re all settled for a couple of hours, I’m off.”

“Where are you going?”

Even with their deal, and his nudge that helped make her a little less afraid of him, she still didn’t trust him much. “You’re awfully young to be so mistrustful all the time. I sense issues.”

“Nice evasion. And I don’t have any issues, not that it’s any of your business. I’m a perfectly normal amount of mistrustful.” Her brows scrunched in a most adorable way, but her words weren’t as cute. “Actually, I probably trust you too much considering you’re a vampire whom I know almost nothing about. And a man besides.”

He chose to ignore that—revealing though it was. He had a job to do, and it didn’t involve delving into the psyche of a pretty brunette. “You’re not nearly trusting enough,” he said, keeping his tone light. When she opened her mouth to argue he quickly added, “Luckily for you, peeling away your layers to see what freakiness lies beneath isn’t on my to-do list.”

She gaped, and he moved to take advantage of her momentary silence.

“Toodles, love.” He turned toward the door.

“Wait! You never answered my question. Where are you going?”

“I’m not your tame vampire, just because you observed me in a precarious position,” he said without turning around. She went silent.

Hell. He hadn’t meant to sound so ominous. Maybe he had a few issues himself. But that she would trigger them was silly. She didn’t have any real control over him. He’d agreed to her cockamamy scheme only because it was convenient and worked alongside his own plan. But proving Brent was the one threatening Alice wasn’t going as quickly as he’d hoped, and she was a variable. Variables had a way of screwing up the simplest of plans.

And he couldn’t fuck this up.

“I’m off to look for Brent,” he said, tossing a smile over his shoulder. “How else am I supposed to get close enough to drag him out woman-hunting?”

He didn’t wait for her reply. Instead he quickly stepped out into the hall.

Getting close to Brent Strub was the last thing on his mind—even though it might be necessary. Within limits. He and Kristen were still skiing away, leaving their room unsupervised. It was time for Charles to get in and find the evidence he needed, so he could get away from Rachel before he got attached.

Not that he was getting attached, of course.

Hell, she was fun. Interesting. Smart. Different. Lovely. And he’d be damned if her ability to resist his influence wasn’t hella intriguing.

But he didn’t have the time or the inclination to have a dalliance with a human woman who might matter. And if his reactions when he hadn’t been able to find her on the mountain, and then when he’d seen her half buried in the snow, were any indication, she was already starting to matter.

It couldn’t happen.

Noah and Alice aside, vampire and human relationships seldom worked. Vampires lived long lives, and thus wanted to change the human they fell for into a vampire. Humans tended to be too attached to their human families, and changing them caused issues. They wanted their whole families changed. Or they refused to move away after they were changed and their lack of aging became apparent. It all became too fucking complicated, and the last thing he needed was complication right now.

His brothers barely took him seriously—barely trusted him with anything important. It wasn’t their fault. He hadn’t yet been made when their bond was formed during the war among vampire factions. And he’d spent too many decades taking nothing seriously, gallivanting around the world in search of one party and adventure after another. Many times relying on Noah or Alex to dig him out of his latest mess. The last few years trying to prove he was taking the life he’d been given seriously was hardly sufficient to reverse how they perceived him.

So no matter how intriguing and lovely she was, he would avoid getting involved with Rachel.

He needed a distraction—no, he needed to remember his purpose here. Searching for evidence. After a quick detour to his room for a few mouthfuls of nearly powerless bottled blood, he headed for Brent and Kristen’s room.

His cell phone buzzed in his pocket, but he ignored the vibration. It was Noah. Again. The man seemed unable to relax and wait patiently. Not that Charles was feeling relaxed himself lately. As a general rule, he kept people at a safe distance emotionally. But his brother’s girlfriend Alice was unique, and she’d crawled right under his skin to the place that only his vampire family had occupied before. He gave a fuck about Alice.

Which meant he needed to help Noah figure this out yesterday. Not only to help change his brother’s opinion of him, but even more to keep those he cared for safe.

His phone buzzed again and he let out a growl and pulled it out.

“What?”

“You were supposed to report in an hour ago,” Noah said, voice heavy with irritation and a touch of an emotion Charles wasn’t used to hearing from either of his brothers.

Fear.

“I got a little sidetracked, but I’m headed to his room now.”

“Sidetracked? What the fuck, Charles? This is serious.”

“I know that—”

“Do you? Then why does it feel like you aren’t taking this seriously? He called again last night.”

“Still untraceable?”

“So far.” Noah let out a frustrated sigh. “This call was worse.”

“How so?”

“He still used the fucking voice disguiser, but the wording was more specific this time. It’s obvious he knows her. Brent is seeming more likely for this by the minute.”

Great. While he was failing to sway Rachel with his powers and allowing her to think she’d blackmailed him, fucking Brent was calling in threats. “No new leads on your end?”

“Not a damn thing. I’m down to running background checks on her fucking elementary school classmates.”

“You’re doing the most important job there is right now—keeping Alice safe.”

“I know that, but it’s damn frustrating. And Alex is having zero luck with his connections in the vampire community. It seems pretty damn unlikely that it’s one of us.”

Charles wasn’t surprised. The vampires were all connected through a magical bond. What it did exactly was a mystery, but it did seem to encourage their community to stay strong. Parts of the web connecting them had been active since before Charles was made, but it had been enhanced after fighting among the factions stopped. Between that and the honor that made vampires almost zealots in protecting their own and following their code of honor, it seemed unlikely that one would threaten Alice. “What kind of threat did the asshole make?”

“Does it matter?”

“It might. Don’t tie my hands here, man.” Charles growled out the words, frustrated more with himself than Noah.

“He said that she was in danger—that she didn’t have long to live. That she would come to regret living with a beast.”

“Fuck.” Charles hadn’t experienced a lot of the hell vampires had suffered in earlier centuries. But he’d seen a couple of nuts abduct vampires. Once, they’d saved a young vampire taken by a group of zealots seeking to purify him in the most painful way possible. The other time he’d been called in, they hadn’t been so lucky. A human who fancied himself a vampire hunter had done horrible things to the “monster” he’d captured: a young female whose only crime had been revealing her nature to the wrong man.

Alice was still a human. A beautiful, kind, easy-to-hurt-and-kill human. She hadn’t been harmed yet, and Charles would be damned if he didn’t do everything in his power to keep it that way.

“Get me something, Charles. I need to know if it’s him, or if I need to be concentrating on some other asshole.” Noah took a deep breath. “You are taking this seriously, right?”

“Of course I am.” The desire to demand that Noah trust him was tempting. But what would that accomplish? Sure, Charles hadn’t always taken things as seriously as his brothers, but this was different.

He couldn’t demand that Noah trust him. But he’d damn well prove to him that he could be trusted.

“Good,” Noah said gruffly. “Call me when you have news.”

“Yeah,” Charles murmured, but Noah was already gone.

Breaking into Brent and Kristen’s suite proved almost too easy with the help of a flirtatious front desk worker who probably would have given Charles the key, even without the influence of his vampire powers.

Of course, he’d have used his powers anyway. Better to be safe than sorry. He wasn’t going to leave a mess behind this time. He would prove to his brothers that he was reliable when shit got real.

Brent and Kristen were staying in one of the nicer suites. The room smelled of Brent’s cologne with an underlying perfume that he recognized as Kristen’s. Together, the scents were a little much, and he blew out a puff of air through his nose, as if that would clear it.

All right. If Brent was the one calling Alice from the burner phones, then it was likely that he’d have at least one extra cell phone somewhere in the room. He just had to find the damn thing.

Neither Brent nor Kristen had unpacked anything but toiletries, save for a couple of dress bags hanging in the wardrobe.

Quickly, he rummaged through Brent’s bag, careful not to muss things up too badly. If Brent was the culprit, then there was no sense in giving him any hint that someone was onto him. And if he wasn’t…well, as unlikely as that was, it was still better he not know that anyone was going through his stuff. Never let your prey see you coming.

The Tumi bag was plain and more utilitarian than Charles expected from Brent. And no extra cell phones were hidden within its pockets.

Charles grimaced and reached into Kristen’s bag. It didn’t make sense that it felt like an invasion of privacy. He didn’t know Kristen, not really. And he’d barely gotten to know her sister. She was a stranger to him, and he wasn’t going to allow his sliver of interest in her sister make him feel weird about searching her bag.

Her clothes proved to hold nothing of interest, but there was an odd square form in one of the inner pockets.

His pulse ratcheted up. Noah hadn’t even mentioned Kristen as a suspect, but that could be Alice’s influence. Alice was naive. Trusting. All too human.

The woman had an odd amount of faith in her friend—a friend who had not only slept with Brent when Alice was still engaged to him, but who had gone back to him even after he’d hit on Alice at her sister’s wedding.

Kristen made almost as good a suspect as Brent. Sure, Charles hadn’t noticed a malicious vibe from her when they’d met briefly, but that didn’t mean much. She’d seemed a little frail, not tough like her sister. But jealousy made weaker people act out.

He slipped his hand in the pocket and tugged out the square object.

Cigarettes.

Well, she had the gumption to keep something hidden after all. Good for her. But the fact that it wasn’t a cell phone was more than a little annoying.

Voices tickled his ears, coming quickly down the hall. Familiar voices. Hell. He didn’t have enough time to get out of the room, let alone finish his search. Using reflexes that would have been difficult for a human’s eyes to follow, he dropped her cigarettes, shut her bag, and slid under the bed.

It was a tight fit.

Charles fought the immediate panic that the enclosed space forced on him, and pushed away the urge to jump out and simply force them to forget him. There was no guarantee that Kristen wouldn’t have some resistance like her sister—some weird genetic anomaly. If Brent was the one making threats against Alice, then he knew about vampires. And if he knew, it was possible that he was impervious in some ways. That might make it harder to persuade him.

Strange how Rachel’s resistance to his suggestive powers after decades as a vampire could make him doubt himself, but it had. His brother and Alice were too important for him to risk it. Slowly, he breathed in and out, making himself take in the air.

He had to stay calm.

You could stand up right now. Nothing is trapping you in here. It’s only humans coming down that hallway.

He made the words a mantra in his head, so much so that he missed the first part of their conversation. After a few moments, the words broke through his near-panic, and he almost let out a sigh of relief at the distraction.