King of Darkness (18 page)

Stupid biology. It was screwing with him at every turn.

As his breath moved slowly in and out, the headache diminished and he finally got sleepy. With no warning, his eyes burned and a wet trickle slid down the side of his face to land in his left ear. “Not again,” he mumbled to absolutely no one.

Emotions kept popping up with no experiential reference to tie them to. Just… feelings. This time, sadness, but over what? Maybe memories would start to follow the emotions. Maybe he was just lost forever. Or maybe, just maybe, he would find out that he had been somebody great who could be worthy of a woman like Tyra Morgan.

“What are you doing here?”

Isabel’s body went still, halfway in and halfway out of the massive stainless-steel fridge. Or as still as she could make it, considering that rummaging in the thing had given her another case of the shakes. Foraging without permission was seriously rude, but Thad’s sister had stopped by for a chat, after which Isabel had slept longer, and now she was ready to gnaw her own arm off. She straightened slowly, turned to face Thad, and pressed the refrigerator door closed with her back. “I’m looking for something to eat. What are you doing here?”

His stormy blue eyes seemed to assess her as he leaned against a stretch of granite counter with his arms folded and his ankles crossed. The stance was somehow both casual and defensive. “
I
… live here. I can do anything I want.” He raised his eyebrows. “Or at least I’ll be living here soon.”

Isabel’s chest heaved and she felt a friendly
zing
! shoot through the center of her body at the mere sound of his voice. Her brain might have been trying to forget about their earlier interlude, but her body sure wasn’t. She swallowed hard. “I thought you lived here already.”

“It’s my house now that my parents are gone. Moving is on my to-do list. It’s important that I get down to business, don’t you think?” Was that some kind of innuendo? Thad stepped toward her as he spoke. The fall of his boot seemed to echo loudly on the white tile beneath his feet. Something she couldn’t place flashed in his eyes. He was different, somehow.

Harder.

“Is—are you okay, Thad? You don’t exactly seem like yourself.” She pressed herself a little harder against the refrigerator door as he continued to advance on her. As if that would matter.

“I’m just fine, Isabel.” His smile was sensual and wicked, showing a hint of fang. Mercy, those lips of his were soft and full. “Besides, how can you tell? We barely know each other, right?”

Ouch
. “I guess you just don’t seem like you did before.” He just kept prowling toward her like a lion stalking a gazelle, and damned if her feet weren’t glued to the floor. The full-body tremble gained intensity.

“Do you mean before when we were fucking?” Closer. “Or when you were going down on me?” Closer still. “Or waaay back to last night when you were waltzing around in that schoolgirl outfit?” Thad stopped dead in front of her. “Cuz I’ve gotta tell you, Isabel. You seem different now, too.” Holy Christmas, could blue eyes really smolder like that?

“Umm…” She hugged her arms around herself. She told herself to move away, but the not-so-gentle throbbing between her legs strongly disagreed. Just reaching and touching him would be so easy… She clenched her fists to avoid temptation.

And then Thad leaned, effectively caging her in with an arm on either side of her. So much for avoiding temptation. His chest pressed so hard against hers that she wasn’t sure whose heartbeat she could feel. “You’re cold again.” It wasn’t a question.

There was no denying it. Shivers continued to wrack her body despite her layers of clothing. Ivy had brought a bag of clothing, and Isabel had put on damn near every piece of it. And she was supposed to be able to control this somehow? “Thad, I just don’t think—”

“See, that’s your problem, Isabel. You’re thinking way too much,” he said darkly. He reached around and grabbed the handle for the refrigerator door. “You’re hungry?”

“A little.”

“No, you must be very hungry,” he corrected. Well, hell. “You haven’t had anything but doughnuts recently.” Thad leaned down, his breath deliciously hot on her neck. He tapped playfully at his own pulsing artery. Quirked his eyebrow. “Besides, I can feel it.”

Isabel closed her eyes. She didn’t have a snappy comeback. No doubt he could sense her desire, too. This whole situation was a mess. Being near Thad was like having committed to a diet and then stumbling into one of those all-you-can-eat buffet places. There was just something about him, especially when he was so warm and she was so cold. Her body, her libido, her whole being sought him out. God, she wanted to just curl up in the crook of his arm for about a century, and how was
that
for being an independent female?

“Here,” he said softly. “Let me help you find something.” He pulled the handle of the refrigerator door behind her. Isabel couldn’t help but gasp when the movement brought her forward and Thad’s hips ground into hers. His erection was obvious. Heat seeped into her as she stood there, deliciously sandwiched between Thad and the door.

Reaching into its depths, he pulled out a carton of milk, then leaned to the side and pulled a glass from the nearest cabinet. All the while his body rubbed against hers and his eyes held a certain suggestive smokiness. He wanted her again, and he knew damn well she wanted him, too. Again. Still.

Shit!

For an interminable stretch of time he reached, nudged, and brushed against her until he had conjured up a burrito along with the milk and guided her into the nearby chair of a cute little glass-topped bistro table. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Are you going to eat? Or do you want me to feed you?”

“Thad, don’t you think we should talk—”

“Shh.” Ooh, she couldn’t
stand
being shushed. Her jaw clamped hard, preparing to spit out a nasty comeback, but Thad’s hand smoothed over her arm from behind and pushed her plate and glass toward her. His fingers lingered over hers as he guided her hand to wrap around the glass. “I can feed myself, Thad.”

“By all means, then. I know it’s not a gourmet meal, but the chef is in bed for the day, and it’s good protein. You can’t live on doughnuts and coffee, and it’s not right for my queen to be hungry.”

His
queen
. Good, freaking Lord, what were they going to do about that? Her stomach clenched and growled again, as if to remind her that now was not the time to be petulant and stubborn. She picked up the milk, took a big swallow, and put the glass down again. She didn’t want a repeat of the frozen-water incident from before. Her throat hurt to gulp down the milk, but she refused to let that show. “There. Happy?”

“Happy.” From the corner of her eye, Isabel caught Thad’s frown. “I wouldn’t say happy, exactly. But it’s good to see you eating.”

“Are you going to stand behind me the entire time?” Her nerves couldn’t take much more of his close proximity. She wasn’t certain they could handle him leaving, either.

He rubbed the back of her neck, massaging the base of her skull gently while she chewed. She shivered a little as the pads of his fingers brushed over the scar tissue under her hair.

“Just keeping you company.” Lord, she couldn’t stand it. The husky growl of his voice was enough to undo her completely. “Besides.” His massive chest pressed against her shoulders as he leaned into her a little more. “You’re cold. I’m here to keep you warm.” His arms enveloped the tops of her shoulders.

Thad’s warmth was nice; she couldn’t argue that. Better than nice. Comforting. Luxurious. She wasn’t shaking anymore. And the whole food thing was sweet, if she were being honest with herself.

Isabel chewed uncomfortably through the burrito and washed it down with the milk. The whole mess settled like lead in her stomach. She turned her head to look at him, her pulse racing as her cheek brushed against his. “Good?”

She knew the kiss was coming but was unable, or perhaps just unwilling, to resist. His voice was raspy as his mouth claimed hers. “Good.”

***

Lee stifled a string of his favorite expletives. What the hell was he doing here? Alexia looked small and pale sitting in the middle of the large queen bed, propped against an excessive hotel-style formation of pillows. Shit, he’d never gotten that. Only reason he had two of ’em on his bed was to keep the maid from getting antsy about where to put the other pillowcase.

The human’s legs were drawn up to her chest, hands clasped in a nervous gesture atop the peak of her knees. Her anxiousness vibrated in the air around her. She drew back a little when he approached the bed and sat down beside her on the mattress. Like she was afraid of him. What if she was? It didn’t matter. Just… didn’t.

But then a transformation occurred. Her shoulders rolled back and she smiled slightly with one quizzical eyebrow raised. She was no longer glammed up with several pounds of spackle and fairy dust, but the sassy party-girl who had waltzed up to him and Thad at that club in Orlando was back.

“So. You’re here to give me blood?”

Lee chuckled. And to think, he’d been working up a way to break it to her gently. It was probably better this way, since “gently” wasn’t really his cup of tea. “Yeah.”

“Why?” She frowned and shook her head a little. “I mean, I know it’s supposed to help me heal or whatever, but I… kind of got the impression you didn’t like me very much.”

Yeah. That’s the problem.
Lee gave his best casual shrug. “You’re important to Isabel. Isabel’s important to Thad. My job is to take care of Thad, which by extension means taking care of you.”

“I see.”

Her face fell a little, but Lee proceeded as if he hadn’t noticed. Getting involved with this girl was bad eight ways from Sunday, and he would do well not to lose sight of that. He reached into his jacket to pull out a blade similar to the one he’d used before.

“It’s cleaner.” He met her curious stare. “To cut myself with this. Rather than using my fangs. Not that it can hurt you either way…” Shit, this was awkward. He leaned a little farther onto his hip. Alexia kept staring. The truth of it was that he wouldn’t bite his own vein for her. It was too intimate. “You lived with Isabel. You’ve never done this before?”

“No. Never.” The expression on her face and the vigorous shake of her head drove home the truth of her response. Not only hadn’t she, but he may as well have asked if she’d ever mud-wrestled the Tooth Fairy.

“Thad mentioned that Isabel drank from you—”

“That was strictly a one-way street. And in my defense, the first time she didn’t exactly ask my permission.”

Lee gritted his teeth. “Do you mean to tell me that you take offense somehow to the whole thing?”

“No!” She put her hands over her face. “Listen, I’m… I’m still really out of it. It’s just… I didn’t mind Isabel drinking from me. It was actually kind of… nice.” The mention of it made Alexia’s face take on a far-off, wistful expression. A muscle jumped in Lee’s jaw. “It’s just—” She sighed and relaxed her arms. “I wasn’t sure what it would do to me. That’s all.”

She seemed to search his face, but for what, Lee wasn’t sure. Huh. Her eyes were brown, as it turned out. And comparing her golden blonde hair to the darkness of her eyebrows told him that the drapes definitely did not match the carpet. All the more reason to steer clear. He didn’t go for females with high-maintenance beauty; not anymore.

“You think that’s lame, don’t you?”

He shook his head. “Nah.”

She didn’t believe him. The confident mask she’d thrown up when he entered the room slipped just a little before she slid her gaze away.

He reached gently to grasp her chin, using the barest pressure he could manage to turn her face back toward him. “Look,” he said quietly. “You don’t need to worry about my opinion of you.” He laid the dagger carefully on the bedside table. “You don’t need to drink from me if you don’t want to. Here’s the thing: our blood speeds healing and cellular regeneration even in humans, so it will help you bounce back from your injury.

“It would be complicated to take you to a human doctor because your wound was made by something supernatural. Some kind of mutated, hijacked power. Now, Brayden can probably get you antibiotics or whatever you might need, so if you don’t want the blood, we have other options. This is supposed to help you, not frighten you.”

His little speech had come out with a larger helping of impatient and annoyed than he’d intended, but that couldn’t be helped. Too much else was going on for him to coddle and handhold her through the whole thing.

Her eyes closed for a beat. They were wider than before when she opened them again and studied him. Jesus, he felt like a bug under glass, the way she kept doing that.

“Okay,” she said finally.

He placed his hand on the blade’s handle once again. “You’re sure?” He searched her face, eyebrows raised.

She nodded. “I’m as sure as I’m going to be.”

Before Alexia could change her mind, Lee quickly scored his wrist and held it to her. A line of crimson rushed to the surface and ran down his arm. The sight seemed to stun her.

“Alexia,” he said in a low voice. “Don’t make me bleed out all over the bed. If you’ve changed your mind, tell me now.”