Embrace the Heat (21 page)

Simon breathed a huge sigh of relief. She’d
still be young a few hundred years from now. No reason to attempt
the change at all. He would just have to keep Layla from getting
herself killed in a fight.

Roger’s new home wasn’t as opulent as the
compound he’d lived in before, but here he was a god. Dealing with
Graham’s tantrums had grown old over the years. At first, he’d been
fine with following Graham. Honestly, he didn’t think he cared
enough to be in charge. Why deal with the stress involved with
being the leader? He’d been high enough on the food chain, with
plenty of people to control. What more could he ask for?

Then he’d had to watch Graham fumble through
leadership. At first, things hadn’t been too bad. That was until
Graham started to get too full of himself and believe he was better
than Roger. The wood nymph situation had been Graham’s first big
mistake. Raven should have been locked up for years. Graham’s
reasoning for letting her keep her freedom had been sentimentality
at first. Raven’s father had been his friend. As the years passed,
Graham felt less loyalty to his long dead friend, but he was too
stubborn to admit his mistake. That was one of many mistakes which
lead to Graham’s downfall.

Roger shrugged off thoughts of Graham. This
was a new era. Graham was dead, and Roger was enjoying his new life
as a vampire. The power was like a drug!

“There’s a wood nymph here to see you,” said
one of the nameless humans who guarded the gates. Fine they had
names, but Roger didn’t really care what those names were. If they
were guarding the gate, they were expendable.

“A wood nymph?” he asked in surprise. “Are
you sure?”

The human shrugged. “That’s what she said,
and she’s naked.”

“By all means, bring her in.”

Miles had just walked into the room, eyes
alternating between dead and crazed. It was strange that one could
do that so quickly. “Do you think she’s really a wood nymph? If she
is, maybe we didn’t need to become vampires.” Then his voice took
on a far off dreamy quality. “I wonder what nymph blood tastes
like. It must be really good if it’s addictive. I really hope we
don’t become undead.” The change had made Miles more talkative, but
he tended to jump from topic to topic with no real logic.

“This really was the best solution. No more
worrying about nymph blood for our survival and controlling the
other vampires. Besides, we won’t die. We just need to consume a
lot of blood so our hearts will keep beating. There are plenty of
humans here to serve us. If we run into problems, we’ll gather some
humans from smaller settlements to keep for feedings. Blood is
actually easier to come by than solid food.”

Miles sighed and looked annoyed. “I like
solid food,” he mumbled angrily. This defiance was a new thing.
Miles was usually happy to follow along, until recently. Miles
didn’t like their new home, hadn’t liked living here before being
turned into a vampire.

That wasn’t the only problem with Miles. The
change had done something to his mind. Each day Roger saw his
cousin change. Miles had always followed along with what Roger
said, even when it obviously bothered him. That was one of the
reasons Roger liked his cousin. It was fun getting people to do
things that made them suffer emotionally. Now, his cousin refused
many requests but accepted some that would have tortured him a
month ago. Now, he seemed to enjoy cruelty. Of course, afterwards
Miles felt guilty and refused to leave his room. Sadly, Roger was
afraid he might be forced to put his cousin down.

A lithe blonde walked into the room,
completely naked and surrounded by three guards. “You can leave
us,” Roger told the guards. “I’m sure she’s not armed.

The guards left, and Roger motioned to one of
the chairs. “Please take a seat. Can I get you anything?”

She flashed him a seductive smile which
probably had most men begging to do her bidding. While Roger could
appreciate her allure, he wasn’t the type to fall at a woman’s
feet. He was the type to break someone until they begged to fall at
his
feet. Still, he could respect and appreciate her desire
to be in control.

“I’m afraid that smile is wasted on me,” he
said and took a seat. “Why don’t you tell me what you want and skip
the games?”

“I want you to help me make a certain vampire
suffer,” she said and leaned forward to give him a better view of
her shapely breasts. Based on Miles’ increased breathing, he
appreciated the view.

Roger laughed. “Still determined to play
games? No matter how tempting you are to most men, I don’t feel the
need to fall all over myself for a pretty woman. Trust me when I
say you don’t want to offer yourself up to someone with my tastes.
Now, as to your request, I don’t do favors for anyone. Let me be
frank, you don’t have anything I want, meaning you have nothing to
bargain with.”

“But you do need nymph blood to control your
turned vampires, right?” she asked sweetly and gave him a
triumphant smile.

He shrugged, unwilling to confirm her
assumption. “We used it for some experiments. I still don’t see how
that gives you any bargaining power. You walked in here unarmed and
alone. I could throw you in a cell and pull you out for blood or
whatever else I want from your body. That would work out very well
for me. You should probably know that I prefer my partners less
willing.” Roger allowed the threat to hang in the air.

Rather than cowering, the nymph laughed at
him. “Yes, you could lock me up, but wouldn’t it be better if I got
you three other nymphs? All I’m asking is for you to get me one
little vampire.”

“Three?” Roger asked with raised eyebrows.
Now that really would be useful. Then he sighed. “As much as I’d
like to help you, I’m not sure I can. We’re trying to get resettled
here, and we don’t have the resources to detain a vampire right
now.” They had cells but nothing designed to hold a vampire.

The nymph didn’t give up easily. “I stole
four collars from the vampire settlement. The wearer can’t take
them off and can’t move outside of the perimeter set by the person
wearing the matching armband. These would help you hold the nymphs
and my vampire.”

Roger’s suspicions were raised. “If you were
able to enter and leave the vampire settlement to steal the
collars, why should I trust you? Why didn’t you take your vampire
while you were in the settlement?”

She snorted. “It’s a lot easier to steal a
few collars than to kidnap a full grown male vampire.”

“Why not kill him?” he asked.

“Why would I want him dead?” she asked with a
determined smile. “I want to own him. I want him to pay for
refusing me.”

Miles laughed. “This nymph is a lot like you,
Roger. She’s totally ruthless.”

Roger smiled. “I agree, and I’m feeling more
inclined to accept your partnership by the minute. Do you have a
plan to capture the vampire?”

“Yes, but it may take some time to get him. I
was thinking that you could start by creating some problems for the
Treasure Island humans when they come across the bridge. Nothing
big, some minor attacks by turned vampires. They should look
unplanned and disorganized. The vampire settlement will send out
teams to take care of the turned vampires. They have some sort of
agreement with Treasure Island which involves the vampires
providing protection. I’m sure Simon will be on one of those teams.
He’s usually sent out for this sort of thing.”

Roger’s head snapped up. “Simon?” he
asked.

“Yes,” she said. “That’s the name of the
vampire I want.”

“Blond? Angelic beauty?” Roger asked, trying
to keep all emotion from his voice.

“That’s him,” she said.

Roger chuckled. “This really is too funny.
I’d love nothing more than to enjoy your vampire again.” He saw her
face tighten. “Don’t worry; I don’t want anything physical from
him. It’s the power and torment I enjoy. I’d love to watch you work
with him, but here’s the deal. I get to play with him for at least
a month before I turn him over to you completely. Trust me; it will
be to your advantage. He’ll be more broken after his time with me,
so it’ll be easier to get him to do what you want.”

Miles nodded. “Roger really knows how to
break them down. I don’t remember that one, but I’ve seen Roger
work on others. Sooner or later he destroys us all.”

Narissa looked startled by Miles’ eerie
statement, and Roger sighed.

“Forgive Miles,” Roger said. “He hasn’t been
the same since the change.”

“Is he dangerous?” Narissa asked as she eyed
Miles like a snake about to strike.

Roger considered her question for a long
time. “Yes,” he finally said, “but he follows orders well. Now,
back to business.”

Narissa considered his terms and nodded. “So,
we have a deal?”

“Get me the nymphs and collars, and we have a
deal.”

“I’ll need some help with the nymphs. You
don’t happen to have tranquilizers do you?”

“My guards will get you whatever you need,”
he assured her.

“I’m not sure about leaving Simon with you
for an entire month. How about if you keep him until I bring you
the nymphs?” Narissa asked.

Roger considered that for a moment. “Fine,
but he’s mine to do whatever I want with until you get the nymphs
here. You will not put limits on what I can do.”

Narissa gave him a smile that was less
seductive and more conniving this time. Roger liked that smile
more.

“I’d like blonde nymphs. Petite ones are
best,” Miles said wistfully.

“They aren’t going to be toys for you,” Roger
snapped.

Miles pouted. “You get your vampire to play
with. I want something out of this too.”

Roger considered telling Miles to go fuck
himself, but then he realized it would be easier to control Miles
if he was happy. Roger was also a little proud of his cousin for
growing a pair of balls after all of these years. So what if Miles
wanted a female to play with? Roger could give him that. Maybe the
nymph would keep Miles from doing anything too crazy.

Eventually Miles would become too dangerous.
Still, it was best to hold off on killing Miles as long as
possible. They were still acclimating people to the new settlement,
and a big change in leadership might lead to problems. Best to keep
Miles happy and breathing as long as possible. Maybe the nymph
blood would even help Miles keep what was left of his sanity a
little longer.

Roger finally nodded. “Make sure one is an
attractive blonde. He likes them innocent looking.”

Narissa laughed. “That shouldn’t be a
problem. The younger ones are easier to take anyway. How about a
nice virgin?”

Miles looked confused. “Why should I care? I
just want a small blonde one.”

Roger shook his head in disgust.

“I’ll be back with the collars in a day or
two, and I’ll pick up the tranquilizers then,” Narissa said before
heading out the door.

The only reason Simon had kept himself under
control until they returned to the settlement was that Connor and
Raven hadn’t left them alone until they’d all been in the jeeps
heading back.

Layla was quiet during the drive back.
Whenever he caught her gaze, she smiled shyly and blushed. This
innocent side of her was endearing.

“How are you feeling?” he asked when they
pulled up to his home.

“Good,” she said. “That was incredible.
Changing into a lynx doesn’t hurt at all. The first time it
happened, I wasn’t sure what was going on. Even though it should
have been scary, it wasn’t. It just felt right. When I shifted
back, I just knew how to do it.”

Simon leaned forward and kissed her on the
cheek. “Are you sore from last night?”

“A little,” she admitted, “but in a good way.
I wish I’d taken a shower or at least brushed my hair before we
went out. I can’t believe Raven saw me like this.”

“You look incredible,” Simon assured her.
“Let’s go upstairs, and I’ll clean you. Then I want to get you
dirty again.”

“First, I really need to eat something,” she
said. “I don’t suppose there’s any solid food in your house?”

“Actually, I do have food,” he admitted
shyly. “Eloise made a few things I could heat up on my own.”

Simon led her into the kitchen and pulled out
the pasta dish Eloise had dropped off.

“Let me do it,” Layla offered. “I’m sure I
have more experience.”

Simon nodded. “Okay. I’m going to drink a bag
of blood first. I didn’t have any this morning.”

“You can have mine,” Layla offered.

Simon was instantly so hard he wasn’t sure he
could walk across the room. He cleared his throat. “Thanks, but if
I take your blood, I’ll be bending you over the counter instead of
letting you eat.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun,” Layla said,
her lips curled up into a seductive smile.

“Behave yourself,” Simon warned. “First you
need to eat.”

Layla laughed. “I’d really like to argue, but
I’m starving. After we eat, I’m going to shower. Seriously, I smell
like sex.”

Simon grabbed her arm and pulled her close.
He nuzzled the side of her neck. “I like the way you smell, but I
don’t mind helping you shower. I have big plans for you in that
shower.”

Layla moaned and rubbed up against him.

Reluctantly Simon stepped away from her
before he lost control. “Blood,” he reminded himself and grabbed a
bag from the refrigerator.

Layla heated up two dishes of pasta while
Simon finished off his blood. Since Simon didn’t have a table in
the kitchen they ate over the coffee table in the living room.

“I really need to get a table for the
kitchen,” he said.

“Planning on doing a lot of eating?” she
asked.

“With you,” he said, making an effort to keep
his eyes on his food.