Surrendering: A Regent Vampire Lords Novel, Book #1 (11 page)

Kate opened the door, dressed in a long-sleeved, black clingy cowl-necked shirt and faded, well-worn blue jeans that molded perfectly to her shapely body. He couldn’t wait to get a view from the rear. Her raven hair spilled in soft waves around her shoulders and she’d put on a little makeup. She was simply exquisite.

She smiled up at him. “Hello again.”

Christ, she took his breath away. “Hello to you too. You look absolutely breathtaking, Kate. Are you ready?” At his compliment, he watched a blush quickly creep up her neck, onto her beautiful face.

“Yes, I’m ready. I hope jeans are okay? You look so nice and I’m afraid I didn’t bring any nice clothes.”

He grabbed her hands and took a step closer. “You look spectacular, love. Don’t give it another thought. Come on, let’s go.” He stepped aside to let her go first, admiring her voluptuous ass, beautifully molded by the denim fabric.

She was perfectly proportioned, but like most human women, she probably thought she was too heavy. He liked a woman who looked like a woman should, with curves in all the right places. Kate had them in spades.

“Would you like a tour before or after breakfast?” He led her down the hallway with his hand in the small of her back. He couldn’t be near her and not touch her.

“After, I think. I’m starving!”

“After it is, then.” Dev led her toward the dining room. He usually had breakfast brought to him in his office by his longtime butler, Leo, but he’d asked Leo to prepare a light meal and serve it in the smaller of the two formal dining rooms, so as not to overwhelm Kate.

He was starving this morning, but it wasn’t for human food. He had a bone deep need for Kate’s blood. Older vampires needed to ingest blood less frequently than younger vampires. A vampire Devon’s age could go a week comfortably without feeding. Two was doable, but pushing it. It’d been almost a week since he’d fed and while he could go another week with some discomfort, he wouldn’t even entertain feeding from another woman since he’d met his Moira.

When they reached the dining room, Leo was just placing breakfast on the table.

“Leo, this is Kate. Kate, Leo. Leo’s…many things, but my excellent chef is one of them.”

Kate smiled and extended her hand in greeting. “Nice to meet you, Leo.”

“Very pleased to meet you, ma’am.”

“My mother is called ma’am. Please call me Kate.”

Leo chuckled. “Yes, ma’am. Kate. Won’t you sit and enjoy the breakfast I’ve prepared?”

“Oh, wow. This all looks so delicious. Thank you Leo.” Leo quickly departed, giving them the privacy he craved.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so I asked Leo to bring an assortment of things.”

She laughed. “Thank you. That was very sweet. A bit excessive, but sweet.”

Dev pulled out her chair and gestured for her to sit. She smiled up at him and took a seat.

“Wow, Leo must be quite the cook. This looks absolutely divine.”

“He’s a great chef. If cooking were left to me, I’m afraid we’d be limited to ramen noodles, grilled cheese and cold cut sandwiches. I do make a mean stew, though. Old family recipe.” His mother was a fabulous cook. She’d been gone almost five centuries now. He still missed his family deeply. Xavier had killed them before Dev realized the depth of Xavier’s madness. Dev had failed them and it haunted him every single day.

He couldn’t think about that at the moment. He needed to concentrate on Kate. He refocused in time to hear her say the tail end of something.

“…sometime.”

“Sorry, what was that?” She grinned at him, showing her perfectly straight, white teeth. Jesus, she was magnificent.

“I said, I’d like it if you made it for me sometime.” When he looked a little confused, she added, “The stew?”

His eyes flamed. His cock was bursting in his pants. She wanted him to make her a meal. She had no idea what that meant to him. A vampire cooking for his Moira had significant meaning. He couldn’t wait. “Sorry, love. I guess I have a hard time concentrating on anything when I’m around you.” He got lost in her bewitching eyes.

“And of course, I’d love to cook for you. I’m looking forward to it. Very much.” He meant it. He couldn’t wait to feed her from his fork, lapping up any stray liquid that clung to her lips. His balls were getting bluer by the second.

“Me too,” she replied.

C
hapter 18

Kate

Me too?
What in the Sam Hill was she doing? Like she was going to see him after this all blew over? Who just took over her mouth? Clingy Kate, that’s who. Just being near him had clearly scrambled her brains, like the eggs sitting on her plate. She was aroused and completely on edge. She’d never been like this with a man in her entire twenty-seven years. She should have taken care of this constant ache in the shower earlier. Or taken a bath instead.

Her eyes roamed around the opulent room. The table they were sitting at probably cost more than she made in a year. And he had a chef?

“So what exactly is it you do for the police department, Dev.”

He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs and folded his arms across his lap. He looked so damn regal. Almost like a king.

“I guess you could say I’m a consultant of sorts. I handle…
special
cases.”

“Special cases?” That sounded intriguing.

“Yes,” he replied flatly.

“What type of special cases?”

“Unique ones that no one else can solve.”

“Oh.” She looked around the room in confusion. “So, I don’t mean to be rude, but you must charge a hell of a lot for your services to be able to afford all of this.”

Laughing, he said, “I have several very successful nightclubs and restaurants that are my primary source of income. Consulting with the MPD is simply a…side responsibility.”

“Do you have any more leads on finding Sarah?”

“I’m afraid not, no.”

“Do you know how long I’ll have to stay here until I’m safe to go home?”

A pensive look crossed his face. “No.”

“Oh.” She looked back down at her cold eggs, not sure how to feel about that answer. She was scared for her safety, of course, but the longer she spent in Dev’s presence, the harder it became to separate fantasy from reality. And the reality of the situation is that if they did sleep together,
when
they slept together, this could be nothing more than a fling. Nothing more than casual. And she was surprised at the hurt that caused her heart.

They’d spent the last several days talking a lot about her, but every time she asked a question about him, he hedged, answering on the surface, but never going too deep, especially when she asked about his parents. All he would say was that they’d been gone for a long time and that he missed them greatly. He quickly moved off the subject, so she didn’t push. She could tell it was painful for him.

He had lost a sibling as well, so it was only him now. That made her sad for some reason. He was well educated, understanding her passion for academia. They both loved to read and exercise. They had much in common. Every second spent with him not only did she want him more, but she also liked him more.

After they finished eating, Dev asked, “So, was there anything else that you remembered about your dream that you think might help? Anything at all?”

He’d asked this question several times, and she was starting to feel like she wanted to tell him. She trusted him. She started to fidget, trying not to. “No, not really. I’m sorry, I wish I could tell you more.”

Elbows on the table, he leaned forward clasping his hands. He spoke in a gentle, coaxing voice, not breaking eye contact. “Kate, I really admire that you came into the station at all. It took a lot of guts and not many people would put themselves out there like that. You did, and you should be proud of yourself.”

She relaxed a bit.

“I believe your dreams are real. And I’ll believe anything you tell me, Kate. Anything at all. I’ve seen a lot of crazy shit, so trust me when I tell you nothing, and I mean nothing you can tell me will surprise me. We need to find this bastard.” He paused, adding, “And I need your help to do that, Kate. So please, do you remember anything else that maybe you were afraid to share before?”

Should she tell him? She warred with herself. She didn’t want this beautiful, sexy man to think she was ready for the funny farm.

“You can trust me, Kate.” She sighed heavily, decision made. Guess it was best he thought she was crazy now before she got too emotionally invested.

“It’s hard to believe it’s real, Dev.” Her voice lowered. “I’ve had strange dreams my entire life. Some are so unimaginably terrifying they couldn’t possibly be real. When I was younger, I would wake in a panic and run into my parents’ bedroom in the middle of the night. Eventually they got tired of hearing about them, so I stopped talking about it and convinced myself they were just dreams, nothing more.

“In high school, I had a difficult time. My dreams really intensified and I wasn’t getting much sleep at night. My grades suffered. I had constant headaches. I was more moody than a normal teenage girl.” She gave a small laugh.

“So my parents took me to a doctor. A psychologist. I told her I was stressed with the pressure of school and she gave me a few low dose sleeping pills.” Kate closed her eyes, tilting her head toward the ceiling. “For a short time, it was…heaven. I actually slept through the entire night without dreaming. No faces. No sadness. No blood. No death. It was blessed relief. Then even those stopped working.

“You have
no
idea what it’s like to see the things I’ve seen. I thought they were just dreams. Sick and twisted, yes, but still just dreams. When I was sixteen, I realized differently.”

Dev waited patiently for her to continue, which made it easier. Getting the next part out was harder than she’d thought. He gently coaxed her, “What happened at sixteen, love?”

The corners of her mouth turned slightly up at the endearment. Her stomach tightened in hard knots. She couldn’t do it.

“I can’t talk about that right now. I’m sorry. It’s not relevant anyway.” He looked disappointed. She felt guilty, but she just couldn’t bring herself to talk about how she’d failed Jamie Hallow by denying her dreams were real.

“That’s all right. Was there anything more you remember about Sarah, Kate? Even a feeling you may have had during the dream?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Evil.”

“Evil?”

She nodded. “I know it sounds crazy and you probably think I’m am, but I’m telling you, Dev…I felt evil seeping into my pores. It was terrifying.” She just couldn’t tell him about the fangs and vampires. That was just too unbelievable, even for her.

He grabbed her hands, holding them in his. “I believe you, Kate.”

“You do?” Relief coursed through her.

“Yes, I do. We’re going to find Sarah. With your help, we
are
going to find her.”

“I hope we find her alive.” Tears welled in her eyes.

He stood and pulled her into his arms, tucking her head under his chin. “Me too, love. Me too.”

As Dev held her in his strong, muscular arms, she felt safe. Cared for. It felt like home.
Whoa
…where did that thought come from? His next question broke the spell he had somehow woven around her.

“Hey, how about that tour now?”

“Sure. That sounds like a good distraction.”

He pulled away slightly to look at her, his face purely carnal. “If it’s a distraction you want, love, I’m sure I can find something more pleasurable than a tour.”

Liquid immediately flooded her core. She felt him begin to harden against her. She felt hot all over.

Since they’d arrived at his house, he’d significantly upped his seduction efforts and while she’d been silently begging for it the last several days, it suddenly made her extremely nervous. She quickly stepped back, out of the safety and comfort of his arms.

“Tempting, but maybe we should just stick to the tour for now.” But damn if she didn’t want to find out what sort of pleasures Dev could lavish on her body. No doubt he’d ruin her for any other man.

“Hmm. That’s too bad. It would be an immensely enjoyable way to spend the day,” he winked. Every sensual word he uttered chipped away at the thick defensive layer she’d built over the last year.

He grabbed her hand, tugging her along. “Come.”

Kate was in awe; each room was more splendid than the next. The entire manor was decorated in traditional home decor, but with an old-world feel. It had warm neutral colors and felt cozy and inviting, despite its expansiveness. The color scheme was earth-toned and while it had masculine undertones, she noted plenty of throw pillows, decorative lamps and colorful matching throw rugs to give it a pleasant, homey feel. Oddly enough, it felt like Dev.

They walked through a great room, media room, a formal ballroom and a game room with an enormous bar, where she met two other very attractive men that worked for Dev playing pool. Ren was also there, lounging in an oversized black leather chair, but it fit his large frame perfectly.

“Kate, this is Manny Juarez and Thane Jensen. Manny, Thane, this is Kate Martin. Manny and Thane work for me.”