Embrace the Heat (3 page)

Yeah, that was not going to happen again.
He’d first met Narissa six months earlier when he’d been more than
a little infatuated with Raven and hoped to find a wood nymph just
like her. Narissa wasn’t anything like Raven, and she refused to
accept that things were over between them.

He let himself in through Connor’s back door.
This was just a small meeting of their inner council and some of
Raven’s humans. Raven had brought eight humans into their
community. They were unlike any humans Simon had lived with before.
These humans went out and fought alongside the vampires. Two or
three of them always attended main council meetings. Simon still
wasn’t sure he liked the changes, but the humans were growing on
him.

“I don’t even want to hear your excuse, Si,”
Connor said when Simon walked into the living room. Yep, he was
seriously pissed. His light brown hair was messy, like he’d been
running his fingers through it. His brown eyes were narrowed, and
he was still in full fighting gear from his patrol that day. Even
the Kevlar vest was still in place, making Connor seem unnaturally
bulky.

Simon sat on the loveseat by himself and
waited for the meeting to start. When nothing happened, he looked
around at the rest of the room. “Who are we still missing?” he
finally asked.

“Layla,” Connor grumbled.

“Great,” Simon said with a grin. “That means
the little smart ass gets her backside chewed out instead of
me.”

The look Connor gave Simon suggested that he
thought Simon was an idiot. “Yeah, because I want Raven mad at me
before we’re stuck in a jeep together for twelve hours.”

Raven smacked Connor on the arm. “I am not
that bad.” Then she smiled at Simon. “I asked Layla to help Muriel
out with the baby today because Muriel was feeling a little under
the weather. That’s why Layla is late.”

Simon’s lips curled into a smile. Muriel was
a human and married to his friend, Jack. They’d tried to infect
Muriel with the Moon Virus during her first pregnancy, but it
hadn’t taken. Luckily it had passed on to their baby, Cole. Muriel
had been one of Raven’s humans, but she’d actually come to the
settlement before Raven. Muriel had fallen in love with Jack before
discovering he was a vampire. Simon actually felt bad for Layla.
Watching a vampire baby was a lot of work and made him wonder why
any of them had children.

“Then I’m still on time,” Simon said.

“Don’t push it, Simon,” Connor warned, but
his lips were twitching.

Layla rushed into the room, looking far less
composed than usual. Simon had never had any human friends before
Raven’s humans, but Layla had quickly become one of his closest
friends. He’d jumped in front of a bullet to save her life six
months earlier, and it was something he’d never regretted. She was
smart, feisty, and a total smart ass. She was also a lot of fun to
tease. The woman was nearly a foot shorter than him but tough. Her
long blonde hair and soft brown eyes gave her an almost innocent
appearance, but he knew she could be downright brutal in a
fight.

Layla groaned inwardly when she noticed that
the only seat left was right next to Simon As soon as she sat down
he gave her a panty melting smile. She knew he didn’t intend
it to be panty-melting. Still, every smile he gave her did just
that, much to her own embarrassment.

It was hard to control her involuntary shiver
when he leaned in to tease her. His warm breath caressed her ear.
“Tsk tsk. Late to an important meeting? Shame on you.”

“Bite me,” she snapped back.

“Is that an offer?” he asked with a wink.

“Knock it off, Simon,” Connor ordered. “At
least Layla has a good excuse for being late.”

“I have an excuse,” Simon argued.

Connor snorted. “Yeah, Ian told us all about
your reason for being late. He saw you hurrying Narissa out of your
home today.”

Layla tensed, even though she tried hard not
to. It might be easier to see Simon with another woman if it wasn’t
Narissa. That wood nymph was just plain nasty to everyone, and
Layla didn’t trust her. Okay, jealousy might play at least some
small part in her dislike of Narissa. Still, she wasn’t the only
one who couldn’t stand her.

“I didn’t invite her over,” Simon insisted.
“You’re free to ban her from the settlement. It would certainly
make my life easier.”

Connor shook his head. “Not handling this
problem for you. Let’s get down to business.”

The others in the room seemed relieved.
Shelby and Carla had been out on patrol that day and both looked
exhausted. Carla was leaning into Shelby’s side, looking like she
was ready to doze off. Both were born vampires who had been around
during the original vampire rebellions. They’d actually grown up
together and fallen in love at some point. Both were on Connor’s
leadership council, and Shelby was usually left in charge when
Connor had to be away from the settlement.

Rand and Norah looked like they were fighting
or ready to tear each other’s clothes off. It was really hard to
tell with them. Layla had first met Rand when he was being held
captive by humans on the island settlement she’d grown up on.
Despite the fact that he was probably three times her size, she’d
been the one to free Rand from the cage the humans were keeping him
in. During his captivity, Norah had believed Rand was dead,
everyone had. His return had been a happy thing, but Layla had
noticed that they were fighting a lot recently.

Ian always looked irritated, so he probably
didn’t count. While he’d warmed up to Layla and her friends in the
six months she’d lived at the settlement, Ian’s wife and daughter
had been murdered by humans. Layla wasn’t sure if he was moody
before their deaths or if losing them had killed something inside
of him. She did know that he’d been banned from feeding from human
donors because he was needlessly cruel.

Danny and Mark were the only other humans in
the room, and the only ones who didn’t seem anxious to get the
meeting over with. Layla had known Danny for as long as she could
remember and Mark for more than ten years. They were two of her
closest friends.

Connor had been leaning against the staircase
with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He pushed away from
the wall to start the meeting. “We’re hoping to be away for no more
than a week, but it’s looking more like it’ll be at least two
weeks,” Connor said. “The leadership from a couple of territories
that are currently not reporting to the vampire council will be at
this gathering. I don’t know if any of them neighbor us, but we’ll
be delayed longer if they do, especially if they’re attending to
gain alliances. While I’m gone, Simon is in charge.”

Simon looked shocked, but he quickly covered
up his reaction. Layla almost laughed at his baffled
expression.

“Me?” Simon asked. “You usually leave Shelby
in charge. Remember that whole rebellion thing I had going on less
than a year ago?”

It had been before Layla’s arrival at the
vampire settlement, back in the days when she lived with humans and
thought all vampires were evil killers. At that time, Simon had
wanted to take Connor’s position as leader of the settlement
because Simon didn’t trust humans. While Simon still had his issues
with humans, he’d grown to trust and respect several and no longer
sought to take control of the settlement.

Connor smiled at him. “You haven’t tried to
start any rebellions in months. Seriously, Si, the issues you had
with me no longer exist. I think I can trust you to handle things
for a few weeks.”

“I have a question for Raven,” Layla said.
“Has Connor suffered some sort of head injury recently?”

Simon poked her in the ribs. “Smart ass.”

“It’s cute the way they flirt, isn’t it?”
Shelby teased, her green eyes full of laughter.

Connor obviously wasn’t amused. “No, it’s
annoying. Si, I need you to stay on top of the training while I’m
gone. We have a batch of younger vampires who are going out on
patrol soon, and I need them ready. Jack is back on patrol soon
too. It’s all in the rotation schedule. You shouldn’t need to make
a new one unless I’m gone longer than two weeks or a change needs
to be made.”

Simon nodded, and then Connor turned his
attention to Layla. “You make sure your phone is on and charged at
all times.”

Layla nodded and knew she looked guilty. Her
phone was in her pocket, but it was turned off.

“It’s not even on right now, is it?” Simon
asked as he rolled his eyes.

Layla shrugged. “I didn’t think I needed it
for a meeting at your house,” she said to Connor.

“I know the technology is new to you,” Connor
said patiently, “but it’s really important that you have your phone
on for many reasons. It also stresses Simon out when you don’t turn
it on, and I don’t want you adding to his stress level while I’m
gone.”

“It doesn’t stress me out,” Simon insisted.
“When I can’t reach people to call in back up or notify them of
emergencies, it irritates the hell out of me. There are many
reasons to keep your phone on, Layla.”

“Phone sex,” Danny added.

“You have sex with your phone?” Layla
asked.

Neither Danny nor Mark made any effort to
control their laughter. Simon’s lips twitched, but he was obviously
trying hard not to laugh at her.

“I’ll explain it later,” Simon assured
her.

Raven looked directly at Layla. “Please try
to help Muriel while I’m gone. She’s been feeling really off, and
I’m worried about her.”

Layla groaned. She and Muriel had been
friends for years, but Muriel’s vampire baby, Cole was more than a
handful.

Norah saw Layla’s expression and laughed.
“I’ll check on Muriel every day,” she offered.

Rand slipped an arm around Norah’s shoulders.
“Maybe it’s time we start trying for our own baby again.”

Norah stiffened, and Layla felt the tension
in the room. She knew Norah had been trying to get pregnant before
Rand was taken captive, but she also knew Norah was no longer in
any hurry to have a baby.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Norah said
softly, refusing to meet Rand’s gaze.

Layla saw the hurt flash across Rand’s face
and felt bad. Rand was a giant of a man and a little scary. He was
a few inches over six feet tall, with a muscular build, bronzed
skin, black hair, and harsh facial features. Still, Layla knew he
was a very sensitive man, and all one had to do was look into his
chocolate brown eyes to see that. He loved Norah, but he seemed
unsure of how to handle the changes Norah had gone through in his
absence.

Connor must have assumed there were going to
be problems because he quickly moved on to the next subject. “Does
anyone else have any issues or concerns they need to bring to my
attention before I leave?”

Ian shifted uncomfortably, his catlike green
eyes focused on his own hands. His longish black hair was loose
today and hid his face some. Layla was surprised to see him looking
so nervous. Normally Ian had a cocky expression which was often
accompanied with a condescending glare. “I have something I need to
discuss with you,” Ian said.

Connor waited, and Ian looked even more
uncomfortable.

“I’d like to enroll Mitchell in school,” he
finally said. “I’ve worked with him on his reading and math. He
spends a lot of time in front of the computer learning about
everything.” He forgot to be nervous as he talked about the
adolescent vampire he’d adopted. “I don’t really think he needs to
go to school to learn, but he’s bored and lonely. I have to work a
lot, and he’s cooped up at my house or wandering around the
training center.”

Mitchell wasn’t a born vampire, but he wasn’t
your typical turned vampire either. He was a hybrid created for the
purpose of destroying born vampires. He hadn’t become the killer he
was created to be, but he still made some of the people at the
settlement nervous. Layla really liked Mitchell. He was a sweet kid
who had been screwed royally by very bad people.

Connor smiled. “You don’t have to sell me on
Mitchell. The only reason I didn’t suggest this before is that I
didn’t want to step on your toes. Talk to my mom. She only runs the
school for the younger kids, but she can get you in touch with the
right people to get Mitchell registered in the appropriate grade
level.”

Ian looked relieved and merely nodded.

“Anything else?” Connor asked. When no one
answered, he continued. “Okay, I’ll try to be back as soon as I
can. Remember to run everything through Simon and only call me if
he tells you to. I’m going to have my hands full, so I don’t want
to be bothered with any petty crap.”

Danny walked over to Layla before she could
leave. “I watched a movie with Raven the other day.”

“And I care about this, why?” Layla asked.
Danny loved being the annoying brother she’d never wanted. Sure,
she loved him, but there were times when she wanted to smack him.
Today she was tired and cranky already.

“There was a character in there who reminded
me of you,” he said.

Raven groaned. “Danny, do not bring up
Peter Pan
. I am never going to let you watch old movies with
me again. Let Layla go home and get some sleep.”

“Just let him tell me about the movie so I
can get away from him,” Layla said with no heat at all. He’d just
follow her home to tell her about it anyway.

“It had this little fairy named Tinker Bell,”
he said.

“She looked nothing like a fairy,” Raven
grumbled and then quickly added, “I mean if there were fairies. I’m
certainly not saying there are fairies, just that if there were
fairies, that woman would look more like a pixie. Not that I’m
saying there are pixies of course.”

Layla stifled a laugh because Raven rambled
on like that a lot when she felt she’d said too much. As a wood
nymph, Raven knew a lot of things the rest of them shouldn’t know
anything about. It was a sign of how stressed out Raven was about
this trip that she was slipping up and mentioning things now.