Flowers and Fangs (Stake and Dust series, Book II) (16 page)

Derek had been warned what would happen to
Sloane. Hell, he wasn't a stranger to vampires becoming lost to
their blood lust, but to witness the change, to see it happen to
someone he cared about… Nothing could have prepared him for the
pain weighing him down like an anchor, threatening to drown him in
his fury. This shouldn't have happened to Sloane. The anger boiled
and bubbled until he couldn't contain it. His bellow of frustration
coincided with his fist slamming into the wall. He regretted the
action immediately. Pain radiated from his fingers and up his arm
to his shoulder. "Holy mother of …" He shook his hand and
grimaced.

Cassandra just shook her head and rolled her
eyes. "Men. Don't you know the wall always wins? You'd think you'd
get the hint after the first time you tried to take it down."

"Give it a rest," he growled and cradled his
hand against his chest.

She pushed away from the wall. "Let me take a
look at your hand, you big baby. We better make sure you didn't
break anything."

Chapter Twenty

Derek usually didn't lose control in that way
and he paid for his slipup with a sore hand and bruised ego. He had
to get over his problem with Sloane being turned. This was not
about him. Sloane had a long road ahead of her and she needed
support, not a man who punched holes in walls because he couldn't
deal.

Tremayne and the others were in the kitchen
hashing over their options to continue their hunt for Tim. They had
to consider the possibility that Tim may call before Sloane was
ready to face him. They needed a backup plan if that were to
happen.

Wade wanted to face Tim with guns blaring. He
didn't wear the cowboy hat and boots for nothing; he'd adopted a
wild-west attitude to go with it.

Derek slipped away while Wade argued his
point. He only wanted to check on Sloane, make sure she rested
comfortably. She needed to feed one more time before they could
even think of releasing her binds. Three humans in a house would
prove too tempting to a newly turned vampire.

He grimaced at the sight of the hole in the
wall as he passed by it. He'd have to patch that up sooner or
later, but for now it would prove as a reminder why he shouldn't
take out his frustrations on something that couldn't hit back.

He stood in the archway of the door.
"Sloane?"

She turned toward him. Her eyes flared red
and he feared she didn't recognize him.

"Sloane, it's Derek."

She tilted her head, her actions more
birdlike than human. The fiery red cleared and the lovely blue
shade he remembered took over. "Derek?" Her voice was a hoarse
whisper.

He nodded and glanced down the hall to see if
anyone noticed he was no longer sitting at the kitchen table. The
hall remained empty. He quickly stepped inside the room and gently
closed the door behind him. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel…" she closed her eyes as if she was
still trying to assess her condition. "I feel stronger." Her gaze
leveled on him again, wandering down his body, past the curve of
his waist.

The way she peered at him made his breath
catch on a surge of yearning so thick, it made drawing a breath
painful.

Her eyes riveted to his. "You're so
beautiful."

He couldn't help but chuckle at her choice of
words when they mirrored his thoughts of her. "Thank you, I guess,
but you are the one who is beautiful. Me? Not so much. Really, we
need to come up with a better adjective for you to describe me.
It's about as bad as calling me pretty." He grimaced.

"A pretty boy, you are not." She smiled. "How
about ruggedly handsome."

"Hmm… I could get used to that." He noticed
the bottles of blood still on ice. The concoction was synthetic
blood that had been blended with wine, which gave it the illusion
of dark burgundy.

Even chained, Sloane could reach the bottles
of blood so she could feed herself, but he did the offering. He
opened a bottle for her, hoping if she drank while he sat with her,
she would remain in control. She took what he offered, but kept her
eyes on him, the stare so intense it held him prisoner to her gaze.
His body temperature rose a few degrees and his blood surged to the
place below his belt. All he could think about was bedding her and
if he was reading her body language, she wanted him, too. Not that
he was opposed to a little kinky sex, but he much rather she wasn't
shackled to the bed right now. He needed to feel her and he wanted
her hands on him as well.

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead,
the palm of his hand resting on her cheek.

"Hmm…that's nice," she said, placing the
unfinished bottle on the nightstand. "I don't want nice." She was
fast. Her legs whipped around his waist, pulling him closer, her
mouth a breath away.

He wasn't afraid of her even though he should
be. He wanted her too much. He climbed onto the bed and straddled
her. "Finish the blood and we'll see if I can conjure up a better
bad boy image for you." He reached for the bottle and waved it in
front of her face.

She grabbed it from him and proceeded to gulp
down the dark red liquid. "Ah… all finished. See?" She taunted the
empty bottle in his face. He took it from her and wiped her mouth
with the pad of his thumb. She placed her lips over the member and
suckled the leftover blood with a flick of her tongue before
rewarding him with a wicked curve of her lips. He leaned down and
kissed her. She tasted of blood and wine, but he was lost to her
and barely noticed. He pulled opened the drawer on the nightstand,
his fingers closing over the key before he shut it again. He
fiddled with the lock until the resound click told him her hand was
free. He quickly worked to release her other hand. Now that the
binds didn't hinder her movements, she fisted his shirt and tore
the material away, leaving his chest bare. She gasped in surprise
at her strength. "Oh my…I'm sorry." The palm of her hand slid over
his flesh. "Sort of."

"I never really liked that shirt," he told
her and took her lips again. Fangs were not all she inherited from
turning. Her body had changed, too. She was in shape before, but
now her muscles were solid beneath his palm, yet it did not
distract from all the feminine attributes she possessed.

He removed what was left of his torn shirt
and tossed it on the floor. She was on him then. Her lips grazed
his shoulder before he felt the bite. He pulled back in surprise,
but she didn't let go. With her newfound strength, she was able to
flip him beneath her as she drank from his vein. If he called for
help, his brother would kill her on the spot, but if he didn't stop
her, she might drain him before she gained control.

The more he struggled, the tighter her grip
became. He'd seen a vampire feed and knew the fight egged them on.
He would have to try another approach.

"Sloane?" He squeezed her arms tight. "You
have to stop. You'll kill me." He hoped his plea would reach the
human side of her, the Sloane she'd been before Tremayne completed
the process. "Stop before it is too late."

She released him with a gasp and her hand
flew to her mouth. In the next moment, Tremayne flew into the room
with his siblings charging in a few seconds later. He leaned up on
his elbows. "A little privacy would be nice," Derek said with
irritation.

"Bullocks," Wade cursed. "She bit you. You're
infected, too." He gestured to his neck.

Derek's hand flew to the gaping wound. He
could feel the sticky wetness between his fingers. "I said get
out," he demanded, more out of fear for Sloane's safety than his
own.

"Sloane is a Oiche Sith now," Tremayne
growled. "She drank from my vein. Her bite will not infect him as
the Nosferatu's bite does."

Derek knew this bit of trivia since Tremayne
had informed him, but it was still good to have him voice it
again.

Cassandra ushered Wade out with his protest
still ringing loud and clear. Cassandra closed the door behind
them.

"I hurt him," Sloane said, jumping off the
bed and backing away in horror.

"You will stay right where you are," Tremayne
demanded, his voice a steely reminder that he was an original and
would not be disobeyed. Sloane halted her steps and met the
vampire's gaze. "Now," he said in a calmer voice, "you will close
his wound before he bleeds out."

"That can't be good," Derek murmured.

"You will be fine," Tremayne told him with
irritation marring his words. "Lie back down and do not move."

Derek did as he was told, trusting Tremayne,
but wondering why the vampire seemed so perturbed. Sloane had
backed off when he asked her to. Didn't that prove she was in
control of her actions?

Then he frowned realizing his thoughts. He
trusted a vampire. Hell, he trusted two. How his life had changed.
He dusted vamps for a living and here he lay on his bed like a
sacrificial lamb, taking orders from an Oiche Sith of all things
holy and not.

"I…I can't fix what I've done…" Sloane
stammered.

"You can. Now do as I say," Tremayne gestured
toward Derek. "Your saliva will close the wound. You bit him. Now
you must do what is right and close the wound so he will heal."

She strode over to him with tears in her
eyes. "I'm sorry, Derek. I'm so sorry." Her hands shook as she
covered her mouth in dismay.

He reached for her hand. "Listen to Tremayne.
I'm fine. Really, I am." But he felt lightheaded and he closed his
eyes just so the room would stop spinning.

He felt the heat of her as she leaned near,
her hair whispering across his chest. Her fingers gripped his arms
when she slid her tongue over the wound, lapping up the blood,
soothing the raw flesh until all he felt was a prickly
tingle—equivalent to a foot falling asleep.

Sloane released him and backed away. Her face
was streaked with tears and her lips were stained with his blood.
He tried to sit up, but he fell back down, the world spinning on
its axis.

"You'll need to rest," Tremayne placed a hand
on his shoulder. He hadn't realized the vampire had moved so
close.

Just how much of his blood had Sloane
siphoned.

"She did not take enough to endanger you,"
Tremayne said as if he read his mind. "Sleep a few hours and you'll
feel better. When you do, we shall have a long talk, you and I." He
turned his attention on Sloane. "You will come with me."

"Wade—" Derek warned. His brother would not
be so forgiving.

"I will keep her safe," Tremayne
promised.

Chapter Twenty-One

Sloane wringed her hands as she followed
Tremayne down the hall to the room he shared with Cassandra. She
could still hear Wade's curses and demands for her head, but
Cassandra was just as insistent he should back off and let Tremayne
handle the situation.

Handle it?
She was a friggin' vampire.
She didn't even know they existed until Derek showed up in her
kitchen with a bow and arrow.

"You will learn to handle being a vampire,"
Tremayne said. His voice was not unlike a reprimanding father.

"You can read my mind so easily. I heard
you…earlier, didn't I? In my head…" She rubbed her face and inhaled
deeply. "I can still breathe," she said, astounded at the
discovery.

Tremayne's brows lifted. "Aye, of course you
can breathe." He shook his head. "This is not how it should have
been done," he murmured more to himself than to her. "When my clan
considers turning someone," he said as he glanced her way, "there
is months of training before the final change."

She folded her arms across her chest. "Well,
I didn't sign up for this."

"I know." His expression remained neutral as
his gaze swept over her from head to toe. She wasn't sure if he was
admiring his handiwork as her maker or if he wondered what the hell
he had gotten himself into. "You won't need as many breaths as you
did when you were human," he told her and his voice had lost its
edge. "Nor will your heart beat as fast, but you are alive, Sloane.
You are only different."

Different was right. "I almost killed,
Derek."

"
Almost
being the appropriate word,
meaning you didn't. He is alive and will recover, but you will have
to keep your distance from him. No kissing…no fondling, and
definitely no sex."

The heat rose in her face and she wondered if
she blushed or if the sensation was a left over
human
response
. "He…" She shook her head.

"This is the time for questions, Sloane. Do
not hold back. I've lived a long time and there is rarely anything
that shocks me. I can only help you through the transition if you
open up and tell me your concerns."

"Can't you just read my mind?"

He gave her a patient smile. "Bits and pieces
filter in, but I am not privy to all your thoughts."

"Oh."
Good to know.

"So tell me, what happened with you and
Derek? He undid your restraints. Did you glamour him?"

"Glamour… Even if I knew what that was, I
wouldn't know how." She noticed the panels secured to the windows.
Derek had said they were made out of steel and would block out the
sun when it rose. Derek was sure full of surprises. A hunter at
heart, but still he cared for his sister. He had added the feature
once he knew Cassandra had a fondness for a vampire.

"Sloane?" Tremayne's voice drew her
attention.

"Sorry. What did you ask me?"

"Did you persuade him with words to unlock
the restraints?"

She shook her head. "No, of course not. We
kissed and…well we… I tore his shirt. He's such a good kisser. I
couldn't get enough." She was aware she was rambling on and
probably making no sense at all.

"Ah…the attraction…" Tremayne pursed his lips
and tapped his forefinger on his chin. "I underestimated the depths
of your affection—Derek's too apparently."