PS03 - Tall, Dark & Heartless (14 page)

plans."

"How so?" he asked, knowing the key to dealing with his Master was to remain in control of his emotions and showing

absolutely no fear. Like most Masters, his did not tolerate weakness or stupidity, but unlike the rest, his Master was led by his

emotions. It was a dangerous way to rule and one that could have cost him his life hundreds of times over the centuries, if

Lucan hadn't stepped in each time.

Sadly though, none of that mattered to his Master. The very second he became an obstacle or let him down in any way his

Master would go for his throat. Centuries ago, the thought might have scared him, but he'd since come into his own, and his

Master would find that out the hard way if he ever crossed the line.

For now he was content to do his Master's bidding as long as it pleased him. The moment this arrangement was over he

would leave and he'd kill anyone who got in his way including the man who gave him life when he had none.

"My plan was working. He defended her and if I had been allowed to keep the pressure up he would have given into my

demands to save her," Greg bit out angrily.

The Master's eyes flashed silver before landing back on him. The minion might think that he won, but all he'd done is

aggravate their Master and that was not something they needed right now. He already knew by the expression on his Master's

face that he was no longer content with watching over this project from afar.

Lucan would have to find a way to convince the Master to stay away and leave it in his hands, but he knew by the look the

Master was sending the human that Caine would be wasting his breath. If the damn minion had kept his mouth shut, Lucan could

have kept the Master informed and disinterested, but now they had no such hope left.

He shot a look at the smug bastard. The second he could convince the Master that the man had outlived his usefulness, he

was going to allow his men to tear him apart. He'd do it himself, but the thought of touching the man actually turned his

stomach.

"Although Gregory's plan did produce results," he said, watching his wording since he knew the Master often took credit

for the work of those below him and could become insulted very easily, "the plan needs to change if there is any hope that he

will provide us with a Pyte."

"My plan was working. You gave her food so now I'll have to start all over again until he has no choice but to fuck her,"

Gregory argued.

Lucan simply shook his head. "It proved that she means something to him, but he would not have touched her. The man

obviously cares for her and would see touching her in her weakened state as vulgar and I don't believe he would take the

chance of hurting her."

"Bullshit!" Gregory snapped, no longer happy standing in the shadows. He stepped up beside Lucan and pointedly held up

his deformed arm. "He tore my arm off for her. He'll do anything for her."

"If you keep her weak and injured he's not going to be attracted to her. He'll pity her, nothing more. We know that he cares

for her now. We can use that against him, but without hurting her. Every time we hurt her he'll be reminded that they're

prisoners and they'll refuse to meet our goals."

"What do you suggest?" the Master asked him and just like that, he knew he had the Master's ear once again. It probably

wouldn't be enough to convince the Master to stay away, but it would be enough to keep him from interfering.

For now at least.

"First we need to make her healthy again."

Gregory snorted at the suggestion. "He doesn't care if she's healthy.

"Oh, no?" he asked, cocking a brow as he leaned forward and typed a command onto a keyboard. Seconds later the

second largest monitor was filled with the image of their cell. He knew the same image now filled half the Master's monitor.

He gestured lazily to the activity on the screen.

"If he doesn't care then why is he fretting over her?" he asked as they all watched the Pyte carefully wrap the fresh blanket

he'd left an hour ago around the woman and urge her to sit on the edge of the mattress. "He wants her well and we'd be wise to

fulfill that need."

"We don't need her healthy. If I go in there right now and tell him to fuck her or I'll kill her, he'll do it," Gregory said

firmly, already reaching for the black remote on the work station.

Lucan grabbed the remote before he could reach it and carefully placed it in his shirt pocket. From what his men claimed

it wasn't sensitive to touch, but he didn't see any reason to take any chances. The last thing he needed was to piss off the Pyte

and earn his outright refusal.

As long as he kept the woman alive and healthy they controlled the Pyte. He knew by the way he was fussing over her that

she was his one true weakness. Now it was just a matter of figuring out how to use that against him.

"No, he will not. You get him pissed off enough and you'll set him into bloodlust and then you'll lose whatever hope we

have that he'll do as we asked."

"He's right," the Master reluctantly said with a loud sigh. "She is not to be harmed in any way unless I give you

permission." Lucan knew by the way the minion's heart rate spiked that the man was not happy about it.

Gregory opened his mouth, probably to argue when the Master waved away his complaints. "I will be there within the

week and reassess the situation. If I feel Lucan's way is not working then you will get another opportunity."

The minion grinned as if it was a good thing while Lucan inwardly winced on the man's behalf. He had no idea what he

was in for. Lucan wondered if the man noticed that there were no females here except for the human woman. There was a

reason for that, the Master hated women. The vampires working for him had to be strong and loyal while his minions had to be

loyal and of course fuckable and from what he knew of the Master he thought Gregory was very fuckable.

It didn't matter that the minion was now missing part of his arm and from what he could tell enjoyed the company of

women, the Master wanted him and he would have him. If Gregory fought him he'd be nothing more than a snack.

He really hoped he fought the Master.

********

the small plastic bin of food towards her.

"Yes," she said with absolutely no hesitation as she grabbed a chocolate chip granola bar and examined the packaging.

When he grabbed it from her hands she sent him a glare that he easily ignored as he smelled the package. With a grunt he

handed it back to her. "It's clean."

With a muttered "thanks" she grabbed a bottle of water and settled on the mattress with her back against the wall. While

she focused her attention on her food he decided to go through the food in the basket, once again and make sure that he hadn't

missed anything, mostly to have something to do. Once that chore was done he shoved to his feet, hoping she didn't notice how

badly he shook.

He'd gone too long without blood and if he didn't get some soon he was going to slide into bloodlust and there would be

nothing to stop him from going after Danni. Hell, her scent alone was driving him mad. All he could smell was her

mouthwatering aroma and he wanted a sip, just a sip, but he knew he wouldn't be able to stop there. He'd drain every last drop

out of her body before he could stop himself.

Fixing the shower had been a mistake, but knowing that hadn't stopped him from doing it. At the time he'd been more

worried about her comfort and warming her up than what the hot moisture in the closed room would do to her scent. Now he

couldn't think of anything else.

It was intoxicating.

Even a half hour or however the hell long it had been since their shower, he could still smell her mouthwatering aroma.

This was hell. Any other woman and he would have drained her to save himself from this misery, but this was little Danni.

When it came right down to it he'd promised to always take care of her. Granted, she'd been five years old at that time and

afraid of what the dentist was going to do to her, but he'd meant forever.

No doubt it was the real reason he hung around for so long. He liked to say that it was out of boredom, but the truth was he

couldn't leave behind the little girl who once offered him fifty cents to beat the shit out of the dentist for telling her that sugar

was bad for her teeth. He smiled at the memory of her crossing her little arms over her chest as she demanded that he take the

job. Sometimes he missed that little girl so much that his chest ached for days. Now she was this woman he hardly knew.

He may watch after her and do his damndest to keep her safe, but there was just so damn much that he didn't know about

her these days. The few things he knew weren't very helpful. He knew that she was a workaholic and mostly kept to herself.

For some reason he didn't think there was much more in her life. She'd have to work on that once he got her out of here. He

didn't like the idea of the little girl he used to adore throwing her life away.

There was no use worrying about that now. They had other things to focus on, like getting out of here. Once they escaped

he'd set her up somewhere, but for now he needed to put his energy into getting her out of here before he did something stupid

like rip her throat out.

His fangs slid down when he knelt in front of the small red cooler. Compared to the aroma she was giving off this bagged

blood tasted like shit, but he'd deal with it. He popped a bag to his mouth, closed his eyes and pretended that the cold blood

didn't turn his stomach. At least in his room back at the compound he had a microwave. It didn't taste as good as it did when it

came straight from the source, but it was better than this cold shit.

"What do you think their new game is?" she asked.

He didn't bother answering her as he finished off another four bags. If it pissed her off he really didn't care. It was either

gulp this cold shit down or go for the source that had been haunting him for years. For his own damn sanity he needed to get the

hell out of here and away from her.

When he was finally done he walked over to the section of the wall that he called his own and sat down. He didn't bother

looking at her as he answered.

"They think they've made progress and as long as we let them think that they'll feed you so that's what we're going to do,"

he explained, feeling suddenly exhausted.

"I'm not going to sleep with you, Caine," she said evenly.

Sighing, he shook his head. "I wasn't offering."

"Just as long as we're clear."

"Crystal clear," he said, glaring at the woman when she simply shrugged and went back to picking through her food. After

another minute he looked away, feeling like an idiot. The damn woman was going to try his patience. They needed to get out of

here before he ended up throttling her pretty little neck.

Chapter 12

"Don't make me kill you," Caine growled.

Danni of course ignored his protests and grabbed his hand and gave it a yank that he easily ignored. He narrowed his red

eyes on her, but she simply chose to ignore his grumpy mood and gave his hand another tug.

"Come on, get up," she said, eager to get rid of some of the excess energy that she seemed to have. After three days of

recuperating and building her strength up she needed to move. She tried pacing the room, but after ten minutes it became

painfully obvious, at least to her, that she needed something else to do. Then her eyes landed on Caine and she decided that she

was going to live out one of her fantasies.

She was going to kick his ass.

Not because she had any built up animosity towards the man, well, maybe just a little, but because she'd always dreamed

of sparring with him for real. When she was a teenager they sparred, but he held back big time and it had been more about her

learning than anything. Now she wanted to see if she could give the man a run for his money.

He would totally kick her ass, she knew that. She wasn't an idiot after all. The man was a Pyte. He was stronger and faster

and would probably wipe the floor with her in a few minutes, but curiosity was a bitch and it had her giving his hand another

yank. When she finally got him to his feet she couldn't help but smile.

"You can't be serious," he said, sounding bored which was a tad insulting, but she didn't care. She was too excited.

Finally, after all these years, she was going to see if she had what it took to hold her own against a Pyte.

"Damn straight," she said, backing up and gesturing for him to come at her. "Let's go."

He arched an eyebrow as he studied her. "I won't hold back this time, Danni."

"I didn't ask you to," she pointed out as she forced her body to relax the way he taught her all those years ago.

"You're no longer a child, Danni, so I won't hold back. Are you sure about this?" he asked, cocking his head to the side to

study her.

"I don't need you to hold back anymore," she gritted out, feeling her body starting to tense. She forced herself to relax once

again as they tried to stare the other down.

It didn't take long for her to figure out that he was stalling and why. He didn't want to do this. Whether it was because he