Unforgiven (The Forbidden Bond 2) (35 page)

He was surprised at how insecure and lonely Brandi was at heart. He would do something about that. Brandi had no reason to feel less than complete satisfaction with her image and he would make damn sure she was never lonely again. He couldn’t read her thoughts but he got a clear sense of her emotionally state of mind. When they were both riding out the release at the end of the bonding it was nothing Derek had ever expected. He could nearly feel her ecstasy and it magnified his own.

Exhaustion eventually claimed them both and for the first time in more years than he could remember, Derek had no nightmares. He dreamt only of the future and the life he would share with his sparky little mate.

TWENTY

Gage answered his cell phone, glad for the distraction from the embarrassment on Griffin’s face. His daughter had just publicly put him in his place and rightly so in Gage’s opinion. He looked at the screen and didn’t recognize the number. He’d been hoping it would be his mate, Koren. She was attending a wife’s support group on the Enclave this evening, but she should be home by now. He had been getting odd feelings of stress and something like panic from her for a little while now but she always got emotional when she was dealing with the newly mated females on the Enclave. Koren remembered clearly what it was like to sit by the phone and wait for your deployed mate to call. When the call doesn’t come there’s nothing to do but worry.

“Gage Paris,” he answered with his standard greeting.

“Good evening, Captain.”

He would have known the voice anywhere. The man had worked under him for decades.

“Darren.” That got the attention of everyone standing around Gage. It became eerily silent.

“To what do I owe the dishonor of a call from the dark side?”

“I had information to share but since you’re already being an asshole I shouldn’t tell you. I just figured since I saw that long legged blonde of yours being herded away with the rest of the mates and children you might be interested. You’re such a sucker. We cause trouble down south and you ship out the Wrath. We stir up a little trouble at the Council hall and you just about empty the Enclave. You’re so predictable. It was too damn easy. Have a nice day, Captain. Oh, and tell Danielle I’m coming for her.”

Darren hung up. Gage made brief eye contact with Dani before the rest of what Darren had said sank in. It had to be joke. Everyone watched and waited for him to explain the call. He quickly dialed the gate house at the Enclave and got no answer. He called his secretary and got no answer. He tried the reception desk and got no answer. Then when the fear began to sink in, he dialed Koren’s cell phone. She picked up but said nothing. He could hear mumbled male voices and a woman crying. The soothing sound of Koren trying to comfort someone was shattered by gunfire and the phone disconnected.

“Son of a bitch!” Gage roared. He was seeing red. He had been taken in by a ploy to draw them away from the Enclave and now that crazy Rogue bastard has his sweet Koren. His son had been MIA for weeks and now this? He would not live without his mate. He knew she still lived because he could feel her inside of his soul where she belonged, but the Rogue had her and the rest of the wives and children. Did they realize Koren was his wife? He couldn’t even think it. He had to get his mate and the rest of the families back.

Gage rallied the warriors and called back the ones that were returning to the Enclave. His house would be the command center. Griffin and Mason were informing the rest of the Council and following him to his house. He needed to get some men out there to do some recon while the Wrath was on their way back to town.

****

Brandi buried her head under the pillow and cried. She could feel Derek’s sorrow at having to leave her so soon, but it didn’t make her feel any better. They spent the night making love and bonding on a deeper level but as soon as his phone buzzed, he was up and out of bed.

“Now? I can’t come now,” Derek said to the person on the other end of the phone and listened to a reply.

“You don’t understand…” he looked at her over his shoulder while the person spoke.

“Fine. Fine,” he disconnected the call.

“What’s going on? Who was that?” she asked.

“A friend. Things are coming to a boil and I have to go.”

He was pulling on his pants. It really annoyed her that Derek had a closet full of clothes in the redhead’s guest room.

“You said you were done with the Rogue,” she reminded him.

“I said after I tried to get my mom out, I would be done.”

He came back to the bed but she scooted away from him on the bed and pulled the covers to her chin.

“Sparky, please don’t be this way. As soon as this is finished we’ll leave. Hopefully I’ll come back with my mom, but with or without her we’ll go,” he pleaded.

“You’re lying. I can feel it, remember? This isn’t just about your mother. I want to know what’s going on and when you’ll be back. I’m not staying here without you.” She knew her eyes had bled to black with anger. He was lying to her already.

“I’m not even sure what’s going on. I just know that I have to go. I don’t have anything to tell you other than the time is right and I need to go.”

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. She was pulling away emotionally and he could clearly feel it.

“The time is right for what?”

“I don’t know, Sparky! Damn it! Can’t you just give me the benefit of the doubt? I have to do this but it has nothing to do with us. We will be together no matter what happens. I just need a chance to untangle myself from the mess I’m in.”

He paced across the small room and back.

“This is exactly why I wanted to wait to be bonded. I didn’t want this resentment between us when I had to return to The Nest.”

“Just go.” She rolled away from him. Yes, she was pouting, but it was her bonding day and she felt she had the right to pout.

“I guess I should have asked how long it would take to find your mom and do whatever else you’re up to. I don’t know where I’ll I be the next time you’re available for a visit but I won’t be here.”

Derek crawled onto the bed behind her and pulled her back to his chest. She didn’t resist, but she didn’t participate in the embraceeither. They had been bonded for eight hours and already he was lying so he could run off and serve his Master.

“I love you, Brandi. Your animosity right now is hurting me. Can’t you feel that I’m doing this so we can stay together? Can’t you feel how much I want to please you? This is just a step toward our goals.”

He kissed her nape and left the bed. His feet retreated to the door.

“Derek?”

“Yeah, Sparky?”

“I love you, too. I’d tell you to call me but my phone went up in smoke.”

Derek came back to the bed and lifted her into his arms for a kiss that left her cross-eyed and mindless. Derek poured all of his love for her and his determination that they would get through this into his kiss. He laid her gently back on the bed and he was gone.

****

Darren was tired of waiting for Danielle to realize she needed him as badly as he wanted her. He had given up the career he’d spent nearly a hundred years building to be with her and she just walked away. The day she left he should have stopped her, but he would have had to hurt her to do it. Her power had grown so much. She was devastated by his betrayal of their friendship and needed time to come to terms with it. He felt sure she would come back once she settled down. Then they would complete their bond and life would go on. His sacrifices would have been worth having Danielle as his mate. But she had never come back.

Darren lived day and night with the intimate knowledge of just how much that puppy enjoyed having Danielle in his bed for six months. Chase Deidrick dared to take her blood into his body and create a bond that dulled and quieted his own bond to Danielle. That was the moment he had made his first really big mistake. Out of anger he agreed to train the Rogue’s Shade army to help him take over the Enclave. Darren was well aware that he was beginning to lose his grip, but he was still sharp as a tack compared to the man everyone, but Darren, called Master. Darren had no interest in taking over the vampire nation or controlling the Council. He just wanted his mate back.

Darren thought having Danielle’s thoughts and emotions invade his every breath was maddening, until he couldn’t quite hear it anymore. He would catch whispers of happiness or feel echoes of stress and anxiety. He wanted to know what made her laugh or who was causing her discomfort. The not knowing was making him crazy. It was time to make a move.

Now that he fulfilled his agreement to get the Rogue into the Enclave, it was time to pull out the ace up his sleeve. Today he would get himself the appropriate bait to lure in his prize. The girl was curled into a sad little ball of misery in the middle of a full-size bed. Darren could surely empathize with her pain. His mate had left him too. He would need to be careful with the little pyro or she would fry his ass. Darren stood far enough on the other side of the doorway that he could take cover if necessary.

“You and I need to talk, little fire starter.”

The petite brunette in the bed sat bolt upright and clutched the blankets to her chest. This close to her, Darren could see the family resemblance between his Danielle and her half-sister. It momentarily surprised him. If the girl’s hair was longer and bore Danielle’s distinctive coloring, he would have leapt on her. But the eyes were all wrong. Danielle’s eyes were so clear-blue it was like looking into mirrors. Her sister had the deep sapphire gaze of their father. The girl raised her hand defensively and a wall of heat sprang up between them.

“I see you’ve graduated from throwing fireballs,” he smiled. “Very good. I’m sure the Rogue will appreciate your work on his behalf when he sucks you dry and wields that talent himself.”

“Get out or I will burn this house to the ground with you in it,” she threatened.

“I doubt we have time for that.” He checked his watch. “The Shade will be here very soon. I suggest you get dressed, Ms. Vaughn. It’s time to go. If you want your mate to see another day, you will move now.”

“What? What are you talking about?” She hopped out of the bed and ran to the closet, keeping the searing wall between them.

The view had his heart skipping a beat. She did indeed resemble Danielle very closely. They had the same coke bottle figure with large high breasts and a tucked in waist that flared out to womanly hips and a round backside. Darren forced himself to look away and reminded himself that she was not his mate.

“You see, I’m not as stupid as your mate seems to think I am. I have been following him and watching him make a fool of himself over you since the night you dared to take my mate from me. I know all about your power and all the time Derek spent looking after you instead of doing his job. I wonder what his Master will do to him when he finds out that he has been hiding you from his hunters and protecting you instead of bringing you in.”

She turned to look at him and Darren was sure if she had the ability to shoot fire from her eyes he would be toast.

“You leave my mate alone or I swear…”

“Don’t threaten me, child. I’m holding all of the cards here. This is what’s going to happen. You have a choice. I’ve called the Shade and they are on the way. I’d say we have less than five minute to be clear of this building.

Option one, you choose to come with me peacefully and I keep my mouth shut about Derek’s extracurricular activities for the time being. I trade you back to your family for my mate. You took her from me and you will help me get her back.

Or, option two, I will detain you for the Shade and they’ll take you to the Rogue who is anxiously waiting to drain every drop of blood from that sweet little body. I will inform the Rogue that Derek was harboring you and deceiving him as well. Then I will sit back and wait to see what kills him first, the Rogue or the loss of his new mate. And I do have a backup, so killing me is a bad idea. If I don’t show up with you in tow or the Shade doesn’t find you here, I have a friend ready to deliver a letter complete with photos to explain Derek’s betrayal. Either way he will die. The choice is yours, but you better make it fast or it will be too late for both of us.”

****

He asked her to go peacefully, and Brandi did, but as soon as they reached his car, Darren stuck a syringe in her thigh.

“Sorry about that. I can’t very well give away the location of my evil lair though, can I?” He smiled.

She wasn’t at all amused. The first few minutes after you’re injected are hell. You are completely aware of your surrounding but your body no longer follows commands and your power is just out of reach. Then slowly the world fades to black.

Brandi woke in an unfamiliar bed. She had to wait for the cobwebs to clear before she could sit up and have a look around. She cursed Darren for drugging her. She had no choice but to go with the lesser of two evils. She had to do her best to protect Derek, her mate, and trust that Derek and her family would find a way to get her out without endangering Dani. Chase would never let Dani go, so Brandi felt sure she was only buying time for them to come up with a plan of attack.

Now her head was pounding and she had no flipping idea where she was or how she had gotten there. Gingerly so as not to jostle her throbbing brain, Brandi climbed out of the rather large bed. The room had no windows and the only light came from a small lamp in the far corner of the room. The room was large and very well appointed with puffy couches and a desk. There was a fireplace and a small kitchenette.

“Well if I have to be held prisoner I guess the cell isn’t so bad,” she thought out loud.

“You may think that now. Talk to me in a few months.” Brandi was startled by the distinctly feminine reply.

“Are you his new toy? I wonder if he’ll kill me now. I hope he kills me now.”

Brandi spun around in search of the owner of the sad little voice. In a small alcove off of the main living area there sat a cozy looking reading chair and a bookshelf. Next to the chair, a table held a lamp and a book, but the woman sat in the dark.