Reawakening (6 page)

Unlike many vampires, since the loss of his Moira, he didn’t frequently partake in sexual activity when feeding. Of course, he had imbibed over his long life, but it wasn’t an itch he needed scratched often. Even though he’d indicated otherwise, he hadn’t actually taken any of the women at Dragonfly. Damian had good intentions, so a little harmless white lie to throw him off track wouldn’t hurt anybody.

Now, however, his rock hard erection hadn’t abated in days. And it wouldn’t until it was buried deep inside Sarah’s hot, wet and willing sweet little body. The connection between them was already so powerful, he could feel her somewhere in the main house and he had only one singular focus. To make her
his
. He was discreetly adjusting himself when Dev asked him to repeat himself.

“You need to go over this again, Rom, because I’m just not fucking getting it. Are you trying to convince us that Geoffrey has been
helping
us all along? And that he was kidnapped as a baby from
my
village that Xavier burned to the ground and raised to be a sadistic, unfeeling killing machine, but now he’s suddenly grown a conscience and wants to be redeemed by the lords?”

Jesus. Fucking. Christ.
His excruciatingly thin patience was ready to snap like a taut rubber band.

“Make no mistake. He’s done vile and inhumane things, inexcusable things, but what I’m saying is that the underlying
reasons
are not what we’d originally thought.”

He sighed, continuing, “Yes, he’s grown up with Xavier and was unaware of his true origin until a decade ago when he overheard Xavier bragging to some new recruits about how he’d slaughtered his entire village, with the exception of yourself, Dev, and a few babies he’d spared to start his army. It was a story he’d told often, but in this particular case, he’d called Geoffrey out as an example of how much better off he was than if he’d been left to hide in the shadows with humans.

“Geoffrey further claims that prior to this knowledge, he’d already begun trying to find a way out and in the meantime, was saving as many of the kidnapped women as he possibly could from their intended fate.

“He was also in bed with the human doctor, Shelton, and, together, they falsified documentation and released women when possible. They were unable to save many, but where they could, they did. And although Xavier thinks no one knew, Geoffrey knew of Xavier’s inability to produce a male offspring.”

He paused, looking at Dev and Damian carefully.

“He was responsible for the fact that your mates are with you on this day.” And
mine
, he thought silently.

“Bullshit,” Damian shouted. “He was responsible for putting
my
mate’s
life
in danger. How can you believe his fucking lies, Rom? Does he have a super-secret brainwashing skill that we aren’t aware of too?”

Rom almost laughed. Almost. And
that
most definitely wasn’t like him. Ignoring Damian’s outburst, he continued.

“There is a rogue whose skill is sensing a vampire’s Moira, so when your Moiras were born, Geoffrey found out. And together, with the human doctor, they got them out.” He kept the fact secret for now that they’d also been responsible for saving his.

“He also protected your mates when they were captive. As much as he could, without revealing himself to Xavier and putting his own life, and theirs, in jeopardy. His methods don’t always make sense, I’ll give you that, but Dev, he was the one responsible for the lapse in shrouding on the day you saved Kate. While he didn’t orchestrate that kidnapping, he wanted the lords to take the entire compound, Xavier with it. And Damian, he took your mate because his was being threatened. He knew you would come for her and had he not returned with Analise, his own Moira would have perished.”

“I don’t believe a fucking word you’re saying,” Damian mumbled.

He did, he just didn’t like it. Because of Rom’s incredible array of powers, he had the ability to sense when one spoke truth.

“How many others are like Geoffrey within Xavier’s ranks, ready to stage a coup?” Damian asked.

“He doesn’t know, but suspects there may be several others. It wasn’t something they discussed at the water cooler, per se.”

“What’s his endgame here? Why not just tell us all of this when Damian captured him, instead of kidnapping his mate?” Dev asked, genuinely confused.

“He would not put his own Moira in danger. I think I can honestly say any of us would have done the same thing in his position. As far as his endgame, he wants the same thing we want—to wipe Xavier, his rogues and his minions out. But he needs our help.”

“How much intel does he have?” Dev asked.

“A lot, but not everything. As you can imagine, Xavier keeps things buttoned up pretty tight, so it’s taken years to gain the knowledge he has now. He believes he knows where all of the kidnapped women are being held. Xavier doesn’t think anyone knows where the children are kept, but Geoffrey has identified five locations. He thinks there may be a few more. He’s also been trying to download records on a thumb drive when possible, but that’s risky. So, he has some of what we need, but not all.”

“Then he goes back in,” Damian snapped. “And he stays there until he has every fucking shred of information we need to destroy Xavier and every fucking compound and save every single innocent man, woman and child. And if he gets himself murdered in the process, well … karma’s an evil bitch.”

“Agreed,” Rom replied.

After two hours of heated discussion, they had a plan and Rom was chomping at the bit to get to Sarah.

“Take me to Sarah,” Rom demanded as they all stood to depart. He would not wait one more minute to be with his Moira.

After regarding him for several beats, Dev responded, “No.”

“No?” Rom growled in disbelief. If Devon thought he would stop him from being with his soon-to-be mate, he was sorely, and painfully, mistaken.

“That’s right. No. I won’t let you use her, or hurt her.”

“I would
never
hurt her.” Fuck, he would
kill
anyone who tried to hurt her.

“Rom, I love you like a brother. But you can be … harsh and intense. And Sarah is delicate and fragile. I don’t know what went on between you two last week, but you need to just find another female. She’s not the one for you.”

“She. Is. Mine,” Rom thundered. There was not one vampire in this house who would keep him away from Sarah and Dev was treading on very thin ice, which unbeknownst to Dev, was cracking under the heavy weight of his feeble protests. Sarah was anything but delicate and fragile. While he didn’t know much about her,
that
much he did know. In her eyes, he saw strength and bravery and tenacity.

Damian was quiet, but if the broad, knowing smile on the asshole’s face was any indication, he was obviously enjoying the show. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise Rom if Damian ran and got some hot buttery popcorn and a box of Milk Duds and kicked back to see who threw the first punch.

Damian’s comments last month now echoed through his head,
“Go ahead, yuck it up man. I won’t forget this when you find your Moira. Then I’ll be the one in the wings laughing my ass off. You’re bound to get one that will give you a run for your money.”

“She’s yours? As in … your Moira?” Dev asked disbelievingly.

He nodded tightly.

“She’s your Moira? Then how could you fucking leave and not come back for almost a week, Rom?”

He said nothing. Now was not the time to get into the whys of what he’d done over the past several days and he didn’t owe either of them a damn explanation.

“Fuck,” Dev breathed at the same time Damian started laughing.

“Okay then. Let’s go.”

Smart vampire.

“I’m tagging along,” Damian jibed behind him as they started for the door. Rom would give anything to wipe that irritating smile off Damian’s face. He turned back around.

“No. You’re not. You’re going to go back to your own mate and prepare her. I’ll be taking Sarah back to Washington with me. Tonight.”

“Rom, you’re not fucking serious. You can’t just waltz in there, claim her as yours and flash her away to your secluded haunted house in the hills. Jesus, do you have any sense or self-preservation at all? Women do
not
like that shit.”

“It matters not what she wants. That’s what will happen. I will not let her out of my sight for one single second.” He
couldn’t
.

“I have to agree with Damian on this, Rom,” Dev chimed in, coming to face him. “That’s a very bad idea. Just because she’s your Moira, doesn’t mean she’ll want to bond with you and you know that.”      

In one ear and out the other. Rom didn’t give a rat’s ass what these two thought. They didn’t have a goddamned clue what he’d been through. He’d been down this road before and wouldn’t wade down it again. It was too painful and too dangerous.

Dev’s face turned serious. “Rom, I know what you’re going through.”
He didn’t have the slightest clue.
“But if you take her against her will, in her mind you’re no better than Xavier, even though your intentions are entirely honorable.”

Damian interrupted with his two cents of course, “Well, I’m quite sure your intentions are not
that
honorable … but that’s beside the point.”

Dev glared at Damian and he just shrugged his shoulders before Dev continued, “And, Moira or not, Sarah might never recover enough from that betrayal to give you a chance. You know I’m right.”

“He’s right, Rom. I know from experience … I almost lost Analise because I betrayed her trust.”

“Fuck,” he yelled, walking to the far side of Dev’s office. He was utterly torn. Goddamn Devon and his fucking common sense. Rom was not used to this roller coaster of emotions and quite frankly, it was pissing him off. Suddenly his swift and concise decision making skills had turned on him and he couldn’t make a choice to save his soul. He stood there several minutes before making up his mind.

Spinning around, he said, “I’m staying until she agrees to leave with me. But if I have my way, it will be this evening.”

Dev nodded, clearly trying to hide his smirk. “The north wing is empty. I’ll make sure a couple of rooms are set up for you there.”

“I’ll just need one. If we stay, Sarah will stay with me.”

Damian chuckled and rolled his eyes, not even bothering to try hiding it. “You’ve got a lot to learn, my friend. A.
Lot
. To. Learn.”

“Kate’s bringing Sarah back over. She’d gone to bed,” Dev announced. Christ … he was acting like an unmitigated lunatic who needed a straightjacket to keep from harming himself or others. In his case, it was definitely others. Namely the two standing in front of him.

“No. Let her sleep. I’ll see her first thing in the morning, instead.”

“You’re sure?” Dev asked, confusion written all over his face.

They were onto him. His calm, cool façade was quickly cracking. He was acting
way
out of character, though finding one’s Moira tended to make a vampire more alpha and unpredictable than normal. But for him, this erratic behavior was extreme. He’d tell them eventually, but Sarah was his first, and only, priority right now.

“Yes. I’ll take care of Geoffrey tonight and return immediately afterwards.”

He planned to do that as quickly as possible and if he couldn’t be with Sarah physically tonight, he would camp outside of her room and guard her against anything, and anyone, that could cause her harm.

“Until morning, my beauty,” he uttered, before he flashed to Wyoming to free his captive.

Chapter 7

Mike

He’d fallen asleep on the couch, watching Jimmy Kimmel, when a noise on the porch woke him. Grabbing his Glock 22 from the coffee table drawer, he inched toward the bay window. There had been a rash of burglaries in his neighborhood over the past few weeks and he’d wanted nothing more than to take those fucking crack head thugs down. If one happened to get shot in the scuffle … oh well. One less shithead roaming the earth.

Two weeks ago, they’d held his poor elderly neighbor at gunpoint, taking the little cash she’d had on hand. She’d ended up having a heart attack and had now gone to live with her daughter in Texas. He expected to see a
For Sale
sign in her yard any day now. What kind of pussies prey on an old woman? Fuckers. He hoped they were on the porch right now with a gun, so he could claim self-defense because he would be the last man standing.

Opening the blinds slightly with the tip of his weapon he was relieved, but confused at the same time, to see Giselle standing at his front door.

What was she doing here?

Although they’d texted a few times, he hadn’t seen her since the last time he was at Dev’s, when he’d talked to Jamie. Which was also the day Giselle had comforted him. That one simple act seemed to change the course of their relationship. She’d not been as frigid as she usually was; therefore he’d kept his barbs to a minimum. He never did say anything to Dev about not working with her, but they’d had no assignments together either and he had to admit that he’d missed her.

Stowing the gun in the back waistband of his jeans, he opened the door. Regardless of the reason she was here, she was incredibly stunning as always. The deep purple corset that pushed her breasts together and barely covered her nipples made him instantly hard. He swore she did that on purpose.

“Giselle. You do realize humans sleep at this time of night, right?” he jibed as he stood back and waived her in.

“Sleeping is for pussies. And old people.”

“You couldn’t have called first? You have my number,” he countered as he made his way back to the couch, sitting down. He flipped off the TV, not caring for the background noise, wanting to focus only on the vision of loveliness before him.

Ignoring his question, she continued, “And you’re not old. So … does that make you a pussy, detective?”

He smirked, stood and closed the short distance between them. Along with that sinful corset, she wore dark black jeans that looked painted on and short animal print boots, which brought her mouth nearly to his height. Some men may be intimidated by a woman who was the same height, but not him. He fucking loved it. It made capturing her lips that much easier.