Blood and Destiny (5 page)

It came out with a wealth of bitter undertones. I cringed, but held my ground. I thought I had come to terms with the fact my mother had left me on the doorstep of St. George’s Children’s Home as a newborn, but apparently my abandonment issues were creeping up to haunt me at the most inopportune time. It also gave away more than I wanted Marcus to know. Intuitive as always, he picked up on the hidden clue.

“So if it’s not the sharing that offends you, what is it, dear Destiny?”

I took the opportunity to look at him, really look at him. The first moment I’d laid eyes on him, his presence had hit me like a blow to my middle. He still had the ability to do that to me. Now it was tempered by familiarity and genuine affection for the man underneath which made it so much more dangerous. With that in mind, I strove for gentle honesty for both our sakes.

“It’s the being left behind, Marcus. You make time for me on my allotted days and then you disappear until my turn on the rotation rolls ’round again. What bothers me is I’m a type of casual fling for you. It’s not enough for me. Not when you’re more than that for me.”

His temper prickled along my senses, but he quickly bottled it. Without meaning to, I’d offended him.

“I gave you more time than any of my other women. Even you can’t feed me more than twice a week without harm.”

“And did you think that you don’t have to use me as dinner to be with me? How about having your dinner then meeting me for a movie or for a quiet night in? That never occurred to you, did it?”

His head snapped back as if I’d struck him and I knew I was right on the mark. With a deep breath, I set my wineglass on the side table and turned to face him by shifting my back to the arm of the couch.

“Destiny,” he began. I watched him decide on the words to use. Apparently, he was being as careful as I was. “You’re right. It never occurred to me to consider spending time together unencumbered by need.”

I was expecting more outrage and a true argument so his capitulation gave my mounting frustration no outlet. His gaze lingered on mine and he nodded as if making a decision of his own that I wasn’t privy to. He rose with all the grace of his station and held out his hand to me.

“When was the last time you truly rested?” he asked. “When have you truly felt safe in the world

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enough to sleep?”

So he was going to use his knowledge of my secrets against me.

“The absolute last place I want to be right now is in bed with you.”

Liar, liar, pants on fire.I ignored my subconscious taunting.

“Just to rest.” He left his hand out to me in invitation as he tried to reassure me. “I give you my word that I’ll take no liberties that you don’t want me to take.”

“Maybe that’s what I’m afraid of?”

His voice was rich with laughter. Mine was far too breathy for my peace of mind.

“Is it a crime for a man to want to hold his lover while making amends for wronging her?”

I almost reminded him we weren’t lovers anymore, but the temptation of having his arms around me was too much. I wasn’t even capable of a smart quip as I placed my hand in his and let him draw me from the couch. His word was stronger than my resolve. I’d made my position clear and he’d respect it.

With all the enthusiasm of a woman going to the headsman, I let him lead me across the living room. I broke away with a smile and detoured to the bathroom to regroup.

Staring at myself under the harsh light, I wondered what I was doing. I found comfort in the routine of washing my face and brushing my teeth, doing my best not to think of the vampire waiting in the next room. A smarter woman would have sent him packing half an hour ago. Insisted on the cab or that he call another car to pick him up. No, a smarter woman would have taken the pictures to him at the club and never brought him home.

Guess that goes to show how my own hidden agenda had come around to bite me, literally.

Tossing my clothes in the laundry bin even though I knew the wine stain would ruin the pants, I pulled on a simple pair of blue silk pajamas left folded over the towel rack. At least I was going to be comfortable, even if Marcus wasn’t.

Stepping back out into the hallway, I saw flickering candlelight coming from the bedroom and the living room light switched off. Those three feet to my bedroom door were crossed before I could change my mind. I found Marcus dressed only in his boxers and an undershirt turning down the bed with my decorative pillows piled high in my bedside reading chair. Since I didn’t see his clothes, he must have hung them in the closet.

The sight was arresting.

Marcus turned to me and smiled as he held out a hand.

“You’re ravishing by candlelight. It always makes your hair shimmer like the mane of a lion full of golden colors too subtle for the eye.”

I shivered and crossed the room to him. What I wanted to do was rise up on tiptoe and kiss him like I used to, but he wasn’t mine anymore by my own insistence. He would have let me, but the wounds of the revelations in the living room were too fresh. Instead, I slid into the cool cotton sheets and patted the bed beside me.

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“Well, if you’re going to be all romantic and poetic, do it in the right setting.”

His laughter was low and carried with it a wild rush of memories best forgotten. As Marcus climbed into the bed and gathered me close, I had one more mad moment of reconsideration before he squashed it with his next comment.

“I’ve missed having you close. If we’re never to be lovers again, know we’ll always have this between us.”

The peace was too fragile to break, so I settled against him and let the warmth of his body seep into me. I didn’t think I would sleep, but the beat of his heart under my ear and comfort of his presence lulled me away.

I awoke to warm sheets and the reality I wasn’t alone. Rolling over, I found Marcus leaning against the windowpane with those first warm rays of sunlight washing over him. His hair was lighter in the daylight and he looked so much less fierce with his face raised, eyes closed, to greet the dawn.

“Isn’t that tempting fate a little?”

My voice was still husky from sleep and other things. Marcus didn’t bother to open his eyes as he answered.

“When I’m old enough for the sun to be my enemy then I’ve outlived my usefulness. Until then, I’ll enjoy the feeling of it on my face.”

Vampires liked to trade on the mystique of being nocturnal creatures, but it was a lie. Only the oldest were banned from the rays of the sun.

When he finally turned to me, his gaze locked with mine, full of hunger, frustration, and a wealth of other things best not examined if I wasn’t going to let him crawl back into bed with me for something other than sleeping. That sex was the first thought after seeing him didn’t bode well.

“I’m surprised you’re still here, Marcus. Don’t you have plans for your day?” It sounded a waspish. Marcus didn’t take offense. Mornings weren’t my best time of day, a fact he knew firsthand.

“You expected me to leave you sleeping?”

Yeah, I had. It would have saved both of us from the awkward moments without the armor of our clothing. I took a deep breath, trying to think of what to say when the sharp scent of sausage tickled my nose. Awkward moments aside, my stomach growled at the hint of breakfast. Jumping up from my bed, I trotted to the back stairwell. I was heading down the steps at a fast shuffle before Marcus crossed the threshold.

I barreled into the downstairs kitchen and nearly ran over Peter. He had heard me coming and didn’t even flinch at the close call. The stove was full of pots and pans brewing up a meal fit for a queen, or one very hungry shapeshifter. Since vampires don’t really eat solid food, it surprised me.

“I love a man who thinks to feed me. Thank you, Peter.”

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I gave him a quick one-armed hug as I skirted around him to grab a cup of coffee from the timed pot on the counter.

“Well, you could return the favor,” he bantered back as Marcus came through the door. “You look good enough to eat.”

“Oh, I think not.” The icy tone surprised me and I turned to frown at Marcus.

Peter blanched as he ducked his head. Was that fear I saw on his face before it was obscured by long locks of sandy bangs?

Vampires in the morning were totally different than they were at night. Like nightclubs, the real thing was not the fantasy. They still had a mostly liquid diet, but the mysticism of them was wasted in the daylight. Despite that, they could still kill you before you ever saw them coming because they were that deadly.

They might look as ordinary as the stranger passing on the street, but they weren’t.

Peter scooped sausage from the pan and onto a plate followed by fluffy scrambled eggs and hash browns. He had to have brought it with him since my idea of breakfast was a bagel or cold cereal only so the coffee had something to digest with.

He put the plate onto the tiny table in the corner and stepped back with a definitely deferring posture to Marcus. Ignoring the dynamics, I sat in front of the feast and reached for the powdered creamer. As much as I preferred the real thing, I was notorious for letting it go bad. Both the refrigerators in the house were apt to decide not to work on any given day and I was tired of replacing easily perishable things. So, powdered creamer and sugar it was.

While I mixed my coffee and breathed in the rich aromas of my breakfast, Marcus was putting Peter through the third degree.

“Did you find the man?”

“No, but we did find the youngster who brought him into the Vantage.” Peter wouldn’t meet Marcus’s gaze and I wondered what he didn’t want to say in front of me.

I took a bite of the eggs and found them lightly seasoned with paprika and something else that exploded on my tongue. Who knew the Roman vampire could cook? Swallowing, I washed it down with coffee as the silence stretched out.

“You might as well say it, Peter. He’s going to turn around and repeat it, anyway.”

Both of them frowned, but neither countered me. After another moment, Peter gave in with as much grace as he could.

“The boy’s a fledgling. He’s waiting to talk to you, but I don’t think he’ll have anything useful to say. Poor fool’s shaking in his boots at being called forward for an audience.”

Guessing that was my cue to get dressed, I ignored it. It wasn’t every day I had a home-cooked breakfast and I wasn’t wasting it in a rush over a vampire who had already spent who knew how long cooling his heels.

The two vampires talked about the Vantage while they waited. Marcus put on his own water for tea with a disgruntled comment about priorities to Peter. Listening, I learned more about the

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behind-the-scenes workings than I wanted to know. When the last bite was gone, I pushed the plate away with a contented sigh.

Peter was watching. The speed with which he swept it up and put it in the sink told me how eager he was to get on with the unpleasant business at hand. I graciously thanked him for breakfast and headed back upstairs. Marcus strolled casually behind me without an invitation.

He followed me to the bathroom door and lingered as I brushed my teeth. His gaze kept straying to the toothbrush holder conspicuously missing the blue one that used to be his. In fact, there was a shiny red one in its place. He wanted to ask about it, I could tell. But he didn’t. I was glad because he would have heard the lie.

And I would have lied. There was absolutely no reason for the man to know I hadn’t replaced him in my affections.

“Shouldn’t you go ahead and get dressed, Marcus?”

His gaze met mine in the mirror as I rinsed. If I hadn’t been looking for it, I would have missed the flash of power there. It was the only indication to how badly he wanted to reinforce his place here.

I shivered.

He saw it and guessed the cause. His answering smile let me know he knew how close to winning the battle back into my bed he was. With a significant swagger, he turned and strolled away. I watched him in the mirror until even his shadow disappeared.

Calling myself all kinds of names in my mind, I swept a brush through my hair and tied the tawny mass into a ponytail. My hands froze at the two pink pinpricks of new skin made more obvious by the flush of excitement our little battle of wills had caused.

For several heartbeats, I debated using makeup to cover the marks. My hand even reached for the compact on the glass shelf beside the sink, but I didn’t pick it up. He was a vampire who had spent the night with me. If I covered the marks, the poor fledgling downstairs would probably read all sorts of things into it and carry gossip to whoever would listen.

With a final check in the mirror, I strolled into the bedroom hoping beyond hope Marcus had already dressed. He had taken pity on me and was buttoning the silk shirt as I moved to my walk-in closet and closed the door behind me.

His laughter called me a fool, but I stuck to my guns as I settled on a pair of dark slacks and a wine-red-colored shirt. I told myself I didn’t care that it set off my tan and made the flush look natural, but even I knew how big of a lie it was. Polished black loafers finished it off. A glance in the mirror hung against the back wall proved me fit for company.

Marcus stared out the window as I exited the closet. His gaze broke away to take me in from head to toe before settling back on my face.

“You look lovely.” The sincerity in his voice caused the heat from my flush to multiply.

“Thank you. Let’s get on with it. Betsy Vincent is counting on me.”

Marcus was enough of a gentleman not to contradict me as he allowed me to precede him back downstairs to a clean kitchen.

We found Peter leaning against the archway that led to my waiting room with a very nervous

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