Her Secret (28 page)

“You won’t last a half hour, Sar,” he said,
reaching beneath the covers to touch me. I arched against him,
gasping, as he sank his fangs in.

He was right. I didn’t last five minutes.

* * * *

Devlin heard his men arrive just before the
dogs began barking. He paused mid song, then said, “They just
pulled up outside. I promise, I’ll serenade you later, Love.” He
got out of bed, and put on his jeans and his shirt as I slipped
into my robe.

“Should I dress?” I asked. “Am I supposed to
meet them with you or stay here?”

“I want you to meet them,” he said, caressing
my cheek. “Please do get some clothes on. Your animals will need to
be confined, as they are not going to like either Lash or
Titus.”

Hearing that, I wasn’t sure I should let them
in the house, but kept that to myself. Hurriedly, I brought the
cats into the cellar, and put my dogs in the bedroom with a loud
radio playing to an easy listening channel to calm them. Both had
begun whining. It was apparent why; I could feel the evil out
there. Demon blackness was weaving itself through the air, speeding
my heart with nervousness.

Apprehensive, I quickly washed up in the
bathroom, then put on some jeans and a long loose sweater.
Conceitedly, I chose one with a scoop neck, so Dev’s symbol was
displayed. Then I brushed my hair, and fluffed it up as Tatiana had
showed me so long ago.

There.
I had the rosy glow of
satisfying sex, but I didn’t look disheveled as I had before.
Meeting Devlin’s closest friend for the first time, I wanted to
look good no matter how scared I was.

I hurried out to find Devlin still alone,
watching out the window. As I went to stand near him for a look, he
slipped one arm around me.

There was a black Hummer, an H4, in my
driveway. Two figures were coming towards me, both dressed in
black. One was huge, towering almost, blackness pouring out of him.
That had to be Titus, Terian’s father. I shivered, but willed
myself to ignore the evil crawling sensation on my skin. Hopefully,
he was like his son. Terian hadn’t inherited his goodness from his
witch of a mother.

The other figure was small. That had to be
Lash. After the way Brian had talked about Lash, I’d expected the
Devil himself, complete with horns. This man looked innocuous.

Maybe I’d already bedded the Devil, and he
was the one standing next to me.

As Lash and Titus came up to the door, Devlin
let them in with one hand, his other arm still around me
possessively.

Titus was easily seven feet tall. He was
huge, muscular and his exposed skin shimmered a little. No, it was
the air above his skin that was moving. Heat poured off him the way
it came off hot pavement in the summer. He gave me a smile,
revealing a mouthful of fangs like a shark. I didn’t see any horns,
but maybe they were hidden it his hair. It was about an inch long,
black as pitch, and undulating from his heat.

“Pull in that blackness of yours, Titus,”
Devlin said mildly. “You’ll scare Sar.”

“If she scared easily, she wouldn’t be with
you,” Titus replied, taking my hand. He kissed it, his lips hot.
Abruptly, the blackness lessened considerably.

As well as the blackness, Titus had to be
controlling his body temperature, too, or he would have burned me
with his lips. I hadn’t expected a full demon to be able to do
that.

“It’s interesting to meet you,” he said,
looking at me with crimson eyes. “I am surprised you aren’t afraid
of me.”

“I’m good friends with a half-demon,” I said,
looking him over for resemblance. There was a little, in the curve
of his jaw.

“Terian, yes,” he replied slowly.

I wanted to tell him to contact Terian before
it was too late. Instead, I bit my tongue and told myself it wasn’t
my place. “It’s good to meet you, Titus.”

Lash came before me, his eyes lowered. Oddly,
his appearance was at odds with what I’d been told of him. He was
dressed very warmly, in black polar fleece, a wool coat, and thick
black wool pants. His exposed skin was a light tan color, and his
hair was dark, cut above his shoulders in a shaggy style that was
above his turtleneck. He had a scar down the left side of his face,
a slash across one eye. Most of the blow had fallen on his
cheekbone. It was jagged, making the amused smile he was giving me
a grimace. There was a coiled bullwhip and a well-used survival
knife on his belt.

Then he suddenly looked up, and our eyes met.
With one look into them, I understood why Brian had been so afraid
of him. For not being a large man, Lash was scarier than Titus,
more scary than Devlin or Danial at their worst, or even Theo when
he was enraged. I was relieved that Devlin was by my side, that his
arm was around me, and that this man wasn’t my enemy.

Lash’s eyes were flat, with no emotion in
them at all. Snake eyes.

“Good to meet you,” he said in a hissing
voice that slid over me, as he took my hand. Instead of a kiss,
Lash opened his mouth, and a forked tongue slid out to taste the
air above my skin.

He wanted me to jerk back from him with a
scream. Most women would have. But I’d held a lot of snakes in my
life, and wasn’t frightened. This was how snakes tasted new
things.

I kept my hand steady in his. “Good to meet
you, Lash.”

He kept his tongue there, tasting me through
the air, staring up at me with those flat eyes. I looked back at
him evenly.

He nodded, then his tongue disappeared back
into his mouth, and he let go of my hand. Though he didn’t speak, I
felt I’d passed some sort of test.

“So, which species are you?” I asked.

He gave me a smile, baring thin needle-like
fangs, slightly curved back and a little longer that a vampire’s.
“You know what I am?” he hissed, surprised. “And you aren’t
afraid?”

“You’re a weresnake. I haven’t met one
before.”

“I’m impressed,” he said, sounding anything
but.

Just what I needed, another wise
ass
.

“Answer her,” Devlin said mildly.

“Water moccasin,” Lash said, something close
to pride in his tone.

“Is your bite poisonous?” I asked warily.

“Only in reptile form,” he hissed, tilting
his head and giving me a considering look. Then he looked at Dev.
“I like her. She’s braver than I expected.”

Dev gave him a proud look, then turned
serious. “We need to talk. Come into the living room.”

Lash and Titus followed us in, the latter
producing an extra chair for himself from thin air. It groaned
under his weight as he sat down. Devlin and I sat at one end of the
couch, Lash at the other nearest Titus.

I deduced Lash enjoyed the heat Titus
radiated. It was winter, and he was dressed very warmly.
Maybe
he had cold blood?
Most snakes hibernated in winter...

“Excuse me,” I said, getting up. I went into
the other room and built up the fire so it was roaring. It wouldn’t
make a huge difference in the living room, but it would make
some.

When I went back, the three of them were deep
in discussion.

“It’s doable, Dev,” Lash said. “But I’m going
to have to leave tonight with Titus to make it on time. Even with
the two of us, we might not be able to do what needs doing.”

“I know you, Lash. If anyone could do it, you
can,” Devlin said confidently.

Lash looked at me insolently. “If I’m risking
my life, I want to taste her, Dev.”

Devlin gave him a dark look.

“You’ve gone on and on for months now about
how she tastes of summer. Years, actually. I want to know what
summer tastes like. I want some of her blood, right from her
vein.”

With effort, I forced myself to remain where
I was.

“She may not taste like summer to you,”
Devlin replied.

“I don’t care, I want to know what she tastes
like,” Lash hissed audaciously. “I’ll do what you’re asking and
never ask again for either her blood or to touch her, but that is
non-negotiable.”

“I feel the same,” Titus agreed. “We may not
come back from this. Besides, I am curious myself. I have never
read in any of my tomes about blood tasting of summer.”

Devlin looked at me hopefully. “Sar, will you
agree?” he said, “I need to mark you anyway. This can be part of
the process.”

I nodded. “Danial was going to; we were just
trying to find a way around the pain—”

“I can take away your pain, Sarelle,” Titus
said quickly, giving what I thought was supposed to be a reassuring
look. “The easiest way is for Devlin to bite you as deeply as he
did that first time, and then use a slow acting magical spell.”

It was impossible for me to consider a mouth
with that many teeth reassuring. “You can heal?” I replied,
surprised.

Devlin ignored me, speaking to Titus, “What
can we do to make the new mark I’ll give her appear as old as the
other scar she has from me?”

Titus came to my side, and turned my head to
one side to examine the older scar, then to the other where
Devlin’s fresh fang marks were only partially scabbed over. “The
new bite is far shallower, Dev,” he said. “I can make it appear
older, but they won’t match. When the new one heals, there will
only be a faint scar.”

Devlin let out a breath that sounded like a
growl. “These creatures will be looking for a chink in Sar’s armor,
any excuse that they can get to share her amongst themselves. We
need to make the marks look identical, both in depth and in age.
There needs to be no doubt that Sar is Oathed and has been for some
time.”

“It will be done,” Titus said, then focused
on me. “As to your question, Sarelle, it wasn’t easy for me to
learn healing, being what I am. Alerian taught me what she knew,
all of it. It’s a process. Every year, I learn a tiny bit
more.”

“I’m sorry for my part in what happened,” I
said, touching his hand.

Titus looked uncomfortable, and withdrew his
hand from mine quickly. “She attacked Terian. He defended himself,
and you defended him. I loved her, but I can’t blame anyone but her
for what happened.” He got to his feet. “I’ll get what I need from
the Hummer,” he said. “Prepare her.” He left me alone with Devlin
and Lash.

I looked uncertainly at Devlin. “There was
talk of faking Danial and I being Oathed—”

“Who thought that shit up, Wondercat?” Lash
hissed sarcastically.

“Danial should have known better than to try
and fake it,” Devlin said, irritated. “Any vampire in that room
Saturday guesses that you don’t truly belong to Danial, you’re up
for grabs.”

Irritated at Lash’s comment, I retorted “We
weren’t going to fake the marks. Danial and I decided to do it. As
I said before, I was worried about—”

“Be that as it may, Danial isn’t here and I
am,” Devlin replied. “And you’re going to give me an Oath of sorts,
too.”

I blinked my eyes. Had I imagined that last
sentence?

“Now, will you share your blood with them?”
Devlin asked.

“Will it hurt to?” I said hesitantly. “Do I
have enough, I mean, after what you took?”

“They are not going to drink your blood as I
do; they just want a taste. You should be fine.”

Lash gave me a hungry look. “Don’t worry.
I’ll be gentle.”

My flesh crawled at the sexual implication
he’d wanted me to hear. I looked away from him.

“Lash,” Devlin warned.

Devlin hadn’t risked all he had in the last
few days to let his friend and his demon drain me now. “Yes, it’s
fine, Dev. But no biting, unless it’s you.”

Lash looked amused, and let out a snort.

“It will only be me,” Dev assured. “I’ll be
right here, Love. Now lay back onto me.”

I reclined back against him and he put his
arms around me loosely. Carefully, he sank his fangs into my
scabbed bite. I moved involuntarily, even though I tried to keep
myself still, arching my back in his arms as they tightened around
me. Just feeling him penetrate me gave me something akin to a small
orgasm. My sigh of pleasure was loud in my ears, loud enough for me
to flush slightly.

Blood rose up in the wounds. Devlin withdrew
his fangs and motioned to Lash. “Now.”

Lash went to his knees on the floor beside
the couch and leaned over me, bringing his lips to my throat as his
hand gripped my neck. I shivered, my heart hammering.

Devlin kissed the other side of my neck. “I’m
here, Love. Everything will be fine. Lash won’t hurt you. Just hold
still.”

Lash’s mouth slid over the wounds left by
Devlin’s fangs. I felt slender fangs penetrate me, but just barely.
Making a tight seal over my wound with his mouth, he began sucking
gently at my neck and swallowing. Other than that, he made no other
noise at all. His hand was not slimy, clammy, or scaly, it felt
normal, smooth and warm, just a touch colder than a human’s would
have been.

Dev kissed me again. “Everything is fine,
Sar. I have you.”

Abruptly, it was over. Lash carefully
withdrew his fangs and mouth, then sat back from me on his
haunches. He licked his lips, his forked tongue vibrating slightly.
His eyes were thoughtful. “She doesn’t taste like summer to
me.”

“What do I taste like to you?” I said
grumpily.

“You taste warm and good and alive, but
otherwise normal.”

I snorted. “That’s the first time in a while
I’ve been called normal.”

Lash looked surprised, then smiled a little.
“That’s because of your friends.” He got to his feet, then sat back
on the end of the couch, still licking his lips with his forked
tongue.

Titus came back in and kneeled beside Devlin.
“Remain calm. I’m not going to bite you,” he said seriously. “I
will taste your blood when I heal you, after Devlin bites you.”

That meant I’d likely come in front of them
when Dev bit into me. I shut my eyes, embarrassed just at the
thought. “How long will it take?”