INTO THE FIRE (Forbidden Love) (7 page)

“A safe one. For me and the companion. I cannot risk Merrick hurting anyone because of me. And he would. He would kill anyone who tried to be close to me.”

“He will not kill me,” Rebel offered. He was looking at Leigh with determination. It was unnerving. He looked at her with adoration and possessiveness. “You are not his. Not now, not ever.” Rebel silently added
Because you’re mine
, at the end of that thought.

“Yeah,” Leigh agreed. “I belong to no one.”

Rebel muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

“So, if Merrick can follow you anywhere, why do you not just kill him and get it over with?” the vamp with the light blue eyes asked.

“Because, Blue Eyes,” Leigh remarked, “He isn’t exactly easy to kill. And even if he was, I wouldn’t want to because of the whole dying out species issues.”

“Sebastian,” he said.

“Huh?”

“My name is Sebastian. And, is there any other way for a dragon to reproduce? What I mean is, can you produce offspring with another species?”

“Oh, well, sometimes. The only kind of preternatural creatures that I have ever known to successfully mate with a
Magi
are fairies and humans. But that’s rare.” Leigh shifted her weight on the couch and tried to move away from Rebel. He shifted with her. The man had serious personal space issues.

“What about with a vampire?” Rebel asked in her ear. The rasp of his breath against her sensitive skin cause goose-bumps to break out all over her body.

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you that it’s rude to invade someone’s personal space?” Leigh snapped at him.

Antonio chuckled. “She’s got you there man,” he told Rebel. “Any closer and we’re going to have to give you guys some privacy.”

“So go then,” Rebel retorted.

“I don’t think so Stalker-boy. I already told you, I’m not interested.” Leigh emphasized that with a shove to Rebel’s shoulders. He didn’t budge.

“So can you?” Antonio asked.

“What?”

“With a vampire?”

“Oh, well, I don’t know.”

“Well, it might be fun finding out,” Gage offered. “I would, of course, be willing to offer my services in the name of science to figure it out.”

Leigh knew he was kidding, but apparently Rebel did not. Or didn’t care. Cowboy leapt off the couch and onto Gage, his hands around the other man’s throat.

“Never again,” Rebel snarled into his brother’s face.

“Guys, that’s enough,” Angel snapped. “Rebel, control yourself. Gage, stop goading him. We have business to attend to and personally, I want to go home this evening.”

“I agree,” Sebastian said.

“Eat,” Angel told Leigh, “Then get some sleep. We can talk about this more at home.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Leigh said. Angel must have known that room service was right outside the door because no sooner than the words left her lips, someone was knocking.

Leigh was impressed with the spread the vamps supplied for her. Steak. Potatoes. Vegetables. Salad. There was even a bottle of wine. She ate her food, pretending not to be concerned with the others watching her intently. When her belly was full, Leigh thanked Angel for the food, picked up her bag and sauntered to one of the three bathrooms for a nice, hot shower.

“Can I be of any assistance?” Rebel asked from the doorway.

“Get the fuck out of here,” Leigh said without looking at him. “I can shower all by my little self.” She turned the spray on and waited for it to warm up.

“Oh, I have no doubt of that,” Rebel answered, still in the door. “I just thought you might need something. Or anything.” The look on his face told Leigh that his offer included a lot more than shampoo.

“No, I’m fine, thank you,” she ground out between clenched teeth.

“Ok then,” he said. Rebel left and closed the door behind him. Leigh snapped the lock in place as loudly as she could. She knew that if he really wanted in the lock wouldn’t stop him, but she did it anyway for the message it conveyed.

She quickly stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower. Oy. It felt sooo good. The water pressure was just right and relaxed her tired and aching muscles.

Her thoughts eventually returned to her stalker. What did he want with her, anyway? To sleep with her for sure, but damn. Was he desperate? There had to be any number of women who would willingly fall into his bed. Why her?

And didn’t he understand the danger he was putting himself in? Apparently not. Or was it just plain stupidity? Maybe he was just so used to getting whatever he wanted that he didn’t know how to take no for an answer. And why in the hell was the Clan Leader supporting his behavior?

Vampires were a strange lot.

NINE

Rebel waited outside the door for Leigh to shower. Besides the sound of the shower spray, he heard her grumble and curse under her breath. He chuckled to himself. Of course fate would see that his mate had spark. A whole lot of spark. And smoke. And fire. Literally.

The story she told about Merrick was deeply troubling. And Leigh said Rebel was screwed up. At least he hadn’t kidnapped her and forced her to stay with him. Strongly encouraged, yes. Forced, no. Absolutely not. In fact, Rebel could hardly imagine anyone forcing Leigh to do anything. Merrick must be very strong to have held her against her will.

She had been very vague about the things she had to do in order to escape Merrick. It must have been really bad in order for her to hide for years. Well, her time for hiding was over. Merrick would only find her again and again. No, it was time for action. Rebel frowned upon the idea of killing him, if for no other reason than his kind were seriously pushing extinction. But still, there had to be a way for Leigh to be free of him, once and for all.

Leigh opened the bathroom door and looked at Rebel with distain. Her hair was twisted up into a towel on top of her head. She was dressed in black sleep pants and an oversized t-shirt. The shirt was just loose enough to hide her outstanding figure. The chill in the air had made her nipples into hard points that stuck out like beacons from her chest.

Leigh made a noise that sounded very much like a muted snarl. Her eyes traveled over his face and body once before she shook her head at him in mock irritation. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. “Don’t you have something better to do?” she snapped at him.

“Nope.” He shrugged away from the wall and followed her to one of the open bedroom doors. “I was thinking about something and I wanted to get your opinion on it.”

“Not right now, Stalker-boy,” she hissed over her shoulder. “I need to sleep.”

“Just listen to me for a few minutes. If you don’t like what I have to say, I promise I’ll drop it.”

Leigh heaved a big sigh. “You aren’t going to go away until I do, are you?”

“Not likely,” he replied.

“Fine.” She stomped into the empty bedroom and pulled the towel from her hair. Her long black locks dropped down her back and she reached into her bag for a brush. She began to yank the brush through the snarls of her hair.

Rebel winced. “It’s a wonder you’re not bald,” he said. “Here, let me.” He reached for the brush and Leigh spun around to face him.

“Back off,” she barked. “I said you could talk. Now talk before I lose what little patience I have with you.” She was waving the brush in the air and Rebel thought she might have been contemplating hitting him with it.

Not that it would do her any good.

“Ok, here it is. Merrick is never going to let you go. He hasn’t given up in all this time, why would he start now?” Rebel paced behind her as she abused those lovely locks.

“I know,” she said. “He will always try to find me.”

“Well, what if you were involved?”

That got her attention. She turned to look at him and narrowed her eyes. “What are you getting at?”

“I mean, what if you were seeing someone? What if you were mated, or married or whatever it is that dragons do?”

Leigh snorted. “I doubt that would make any difference to him. He wants to procreate, not have a meaningful relationship. He doesn’t care how anyone else feels about it. He would likely kill anyone who got in his way.” She turned around and went back to ripping her hair out with the brush.

“What if it was someone who could fight back?” Rebel asked. “Someone who was quite difficult to kill?”

“And just who did you have in mind for this suicide mission?” she asked.

“Give me that,” Rebel snapped, yanking the brush out of her hand. “I can’t stand to watch you abuse your beautiful hair that way.” He placed both of his hands on her shoulders and turned her so that her back was to him. Starting at the bottom, he began pulling the brush through her hair. “You didn’t use conditioner, did you?” he accused.

“What business is it of yours?” she asked, rolling her lovely eyes. What was he, a freaking beautician? He had, however, said her hair was beautiful. Even though Leigh had not acknowledged the compliment, she savored it and tucked it away inside. She didn’t receive compliments often, especially not ones that were honest. But she could tell by the tone in his voice and the look in his eyes that he genuinely meant it. Because of that, she let him keep the brush.

“I just don’t want to see you go bald,” he answered.

He thought that surely she would pull away from him. But, to his surprise, Leigh let him brush her hair. They stood in silence for a few minutes while Rebel gently worked out all of the tangles from her long black hair. When it was tangle-free, he continued to brush it until it was nearly dry and it shined.

“You never did answer me,” Leigh said in a calm voice. She sounded almost content. “Whoever you had in mind would have to have a death wish. I personally don’t know too many of those.”

“Not a death wish,” he said in his best seductive tone, “Just ample confidence and the power to back it up.”

“And who would that be?”

“Me, of course.”

“Wow.” Leigh shook her head. “And here I thought you were just mostly crazy. Now, I know you are completely and totally fucked up. Merrick would kill you. Singe you to ashes. Bite off your head. Hell, I can think of any number of ways that he could make your life hell before finally killing you. And that’s assuming that I would even want a relationship with you, which I don’t, or that I didn’t kill you myself.”

Rebel knew he had to choose his next words very carefully. He hadn’t started out on good ground with Leigh, and he knew that if he pushed her too hard, she would only pull further away from him.

But how in the hell could he explain to her that she was his mate? The woman he was meant to spend eternity with hated his guts. She blamed her current situation on him. Maybe it was his fault. Maybe it wasn’t. Merrick would have found her eventually.

He finally decided on an apology. He took her hand in his and led her to the bed. He sat down and pulled her to sit beside him. Leigh looked skeptical, but she sat. “Look, I know that I went about this all wrong.”

“I’ll say. Man, you get smarter all the time.”

“Just please, hear me out,” he pleaded. He winced at the pitiful tone he had been reduced to. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have followed-”

“Stalked.”

“Ok, stalked you. I saw you and I thought you were very interesting. I wanted to know more about you. The more I watched you, the more fascinated I became. I was captivated by your beauty and your strength. But the longer I watched, the more nervous I got and the harder it got to approach you.

“I was going to introduce myself the night you came to see Angel. Really, I was. But hell, it all got out of hand and things went to shit. Fast.”

“Yeah, and now I have to move and start over again,” she pointed out.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “But you don’t have to run. We can protect you, Leigh. We can help.”

Leigh loved the way he said her name. Loved the way his lips formed the words. She really liked how sincere he seemed to be. “Why would you even want to do this for me?”

“Because the first time I saw you, I knew that you were my mate,” he answered her honestly. He watched her absorb the information. She was surprised at first, then it sank in. Her lovely features changed into her usual scowl.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” she snapped. “I don’t know you from Adam and I certainly am not about to be some damned blood sucker’s mate. I don’t want to be anyone’s mate. Forget it. Fuck off, get out and leave me alone.”

“Can’t,” he said.

“Can.”

“We’re sharing this room,” he told her. “There’s only so many places to sleep. And I won’t allow anyone else to share a room with you.”

“I don’t care. Sleep in the hallway.”

“Sunlight.”

“Not my problem.”

“Surely you wouldn’t condemn me to the sun after all I’ve done to help you.”

“I take back what I said about you getting smarter,” Leigh growled. “You are the epitome of stupid. I am not sharing a room with you.”

Rebel knew he was losing ground fast. “I won’t touch you, I promise. Just sleep. Think about what I said.”

“Fine,” Leigh muttered. Truth be told, she was tired and too damned exhausted to argue with Stalker-boy anymore. “I get the bed.”

Leigh dropped on the bed and scooted under the covers. She closed her eyes tight and forced herself to think about anything but what Rebel said. When she felt the mattress dip to her side, she flung herself over so that her back was to him. He wanted to get close, fine. She briefly considered going out into the hall herself, or even on the floor. But there was no way she was giving up the bed. She squished herself as far away as she could without tumbling out of the large bed. She had to get some sleep.

“Good night, Leigh,” Rebel said.

“Go to hell, Cowboy.”

****

Merrick paced the small hotel room with his hands on his hips. Where had she run off to now? He had been hunting Leigh for so long that it was second nature to him. What he hadn’t counted on was those damned vampires interfering. What could they possibly want with Leigh anyway?

If he knew Leigh, and he liked to think that he did, she wouldn’t have told them what she was. It was no matter, they had seen it for themselves. The dragon was out of the cave now. And Merrick would use it to his advantage.