Keeping Cambria (7 page)

The vampire pulled a barstool to him and sat down in front of her, narrowing her escape opportunities. “You really don’t know, do you?”

“No, Mr…” She waited for a name, and when he didn’t offer, she said, “Vampire. I don’t know why they want me.”

“Those marks on your neck. They’re mating bites. You are their mate.”

She knew what a mate was—in freaking romance books. Surely that shit wasn’t real? “Well, just kill me now.”

He leaned back and laughed again. She cut her eyes at him ‘cause she was damn serious. A husband—or two—was not in the plan. “Listen, the last thing I want is a mate, much less
two
vampires, present company
in
cluded.”

He grinned again.

“So, we’re just going to wait?”

“Yes. They’ll be here in a few.”

“And you’re planning to kill them?”

“Yes.”

Something like terror coursed through her. She didn’t necessarily want them dead, but, hell, she didn’t want to see them again, either. “I’m kinda cold. Can I put on my coat?”

“No.”

“No? I’m cold, damn it.”

He lifted an eyebrow and suddenly a blast of hot air blew on her.
Now I’ll die from heat prostration.

“Shouldn’t you get up and get ready to kick their asses? You know. Be prepared?”

“Oh, I’m not worried.”

“Well, you should be. I’ve seen them fight six at a time wielding big-ass heavy swords like they weighed nothing.”

The bastard laughed at her again. “You mean a sword as big as this?”

A sword appeared in his hand, and it
was
just as nasty as the twins’. He whirled it around as if the damned thing weighed less than a feather. Sweat rolled down her back. “Okay. I’m warm now. Cut the damn heat off.”

He grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

Well, at least this vamp had some manners.

“They didn’t tell you what they really were, did they?”

“I don’t know. They didn’t tell me they belong to some Hell’s Hunter club. Is that like the Boy Scouts?”

He flashed is canines again. “Not exactly. They’re not just vampires, but werewolves too.”

What? This guy had to be feral even though his handsome green eyes held no sign of craziness. “That sounds…bleh!”

“They had a werewolf mother and a vampire father.”

“Sounds like an abomination, and there are six of them?”

He nodded as a beer appeared in his hand. “Three sets of twins.”

“Three sets of assholes.”

The ass in front of her took a swig from his bottle and nodded. Cambria swallowed hard, her mouth void of spit. “Can I have a shot of whiskey?”

“You smell like you’ve had too much already.”

“Can you smell that I don’t give a shit what you think?”

“Yep. Got that.”

A bottle of water appeared in her hand. She uncapped it, drank a huge gulp, and kept watching him twirl the sword around as if it was a baton and he a twirler in high school.

It had been at least twenty minutes since the club went into zombie land. “Can these people breathe? Are they okay?”

“Yep. They’ll be fine. Quit worrying. You should be worrying about your mates.”

He regarded her with those green eyes, so she rolled hers. “I told you they wouldn’t come for me.”

“As hot as you are? They’ll come running, probably cussing up a storm.”

This moron obviously wasn’t scared of the twins. The only way to save herself was to either make him realize that he could possibly die and get him to leave, or slip out when the swords started swinging. “I still don’t know why you think you can kill them. The odds, my friend, aren’t in your favor.”

“I can kick both of their asses.”

“And why do you think you can do that?”

He cut her a sly look. “I’m older than they are.”

“By how many years?”

“Three hundred or so,” he glanced at her, “I guess.” He shrugged. “Don’t actually know.”

Suddenly, the door opened, and men filed in. They were all sizes of big. Cambria arched a brow. “Friends of yours?”

“Yep.

“Sounds like you’re chicken to me. You had me going. I thought you would take the twins on by yourself.”

“Oh, they’re not here for me. They’re here for you…when I get through with you.”

Her belly bottomed out and her breath hitched. Even if she had her sword, she couldn’t get away from all these men. More attractive men filed in. “So I’m what, soup du jour?”

“Something like that. Looks like they’re not coming. Time to get this party started, darlin’.”

He stood, and her mind raced, searching for options. If she had her sword, she’d use it on herself. She damn sure didn’t want to be passed around. “I…uh…have a wager.”

He arched a suspicious brow. “What do you have to bargain with?”

“Nothing, but let’s do it just for fun. You do things for fun, don’t you?”

“That’s what I’m planning on doing with you, sugar.” He flashed his fangs in that brilliant smile of his.

She noted he called her sweet names, and maybe that was because of his audience. “A challenge then, before you…snack on me.”

“Okay. What do you want to do?”

“I challenge you to a sword fight.”

His new friends laughed. Some yelled “that was fair,” another said, “give her a chance.” She arched her brow in a dare.

His lips twitched. “Okay. What do you need?”

She’d rather handle her custom sword, but she didn’t want to give that away just in case an opportunity came around to use it. “Clear the floor and...” She rolled her hands in a circle. “Do whatever you do and get me a sword.”

The men clapped and cheered, and the tables and chairs magically disappeared along with the patrons who’d hadn’t gotten lucky tonight. Cambria hopped off her stool when the vampire stepped back. Conscious of her behind, she asked, “Can you maybe…cover up my ass?”

A small sword appeared in his hand, and he held it out to her, grinning like an idiot. “Not in a million years, sweetheart.”

It’s now or never, Cambria. Give it your best shot.

She kicked off her shoes and stepped forward to accept the sword. God, please let this be something light weight. She stopped in front of him, “Can I trust you?”

The fool grinned again. “Probably not.”

“You didn’t make it too heavy, did you?”

He shook his head. “It weighs ten pounds. I figured you can swing that.”

“Will your sword break it?”

“Of course, sweetheart. I’m a hundred times stronger than you.”

“It’s not really fair, is it?”

He shrugged. “You asked for this, not me.”

“Let’s make this interesting.” Cambria forced herself to untie her top and fling it to the floor. Cool air brushed her tits and her nipples quickly pebbled. His eyes grew wide and his nostrils flared.

He licked his lips. “Nice rack.”

Several men shuffled in the background. She didn’t dare steal a look at her opponent’s crotch, but hoped some of the blood in his brain had headed south.

“How about ditching the skirt, Doll?”

“Nope. That’s all you get.”
If I’m lucky
. She held out her hand. “And I need a hair band to keep this mop out of my way.”

“Damn, you’re needy.” A pink band appeared in her hand, and she quickly used it tie her long hair back.

Her nemesis held the hilt out to her. She sucked in a calming breath and let it out slowly. She held his gaze as she snatched the thing out of his hand and started swinging. He jumped back grinning. “You don’t play fair,” he said. “I like that about you.”

She charged him again and he blocked her with his sword and moved to the left. The silent crowd surprised her. Why weren’t they cheering their leader on? “Of course, I won’t play fair. Hell, your damn sword alone outweighs me.”

“Yes, it does. Where did you learn your sword skills?”

“A girl doesn’t”—she swung at his right, which he easily blocked—“tell all her”—she followed with a jab to the middle which he easily dodged—“secrets,”—swing, “Mr.…whatever”—jab—“the fuck”—two hacks—“your name is.”

She stepped back. Her arms were burning, and she couldn’t draw in enough air. She looked at him. There was something in his eyes, but she didn’t have enough oxygen in her brain to recognize it. She put her sword point on the floor and leaned on it. “Fuck. You’re not even sweating.”

“I’m letting you do all the work.”

“Thanks. If you’d stand still, it would even the odds.”

“I’m sure the odds are in your favor.”

She wiped her damp hair off her forehead. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

“Why aren’t you attacking me?”

“I’m waiting.”

“For what?”

“For you to wear yourself out.”

“I think, Mr. Vampire, I’ve already done that.”

This time she saw his eyes gleam with amusement. “You’re laughing at me.”

“I admire you, miss.”

“Cambria,” she offered. What the hell did she care if they knew her name? She was approaching vampire toast time.

“You’ve had enough?”

She smiled and yanked her sword into the ready position. “Fuck, no!” And she charged him. Again, he blocked every blow, but he didn’t advance on her. She needed to get closer, so she kept swinging and advancing, and then she dropped her weapon and threw herself at him, right after she pulled her small knife from the hidden sleeve in her skirt. She saw the surprise in his eyes when she sliced something of his; she really didn’t know what and didn’t care.

Her vamp blinked his eyes, and suddenly, she was suspended in the air, couldn’t move anything but her head. “You bastard. You cheating bastard.”

“Damn woman. You almost sliced my dick off.”

She glanced down where blood trickled on his jeans, perhaps where his leg met his hip. “Damn. I missed.”

He held her gaze, making her wonder if her opportunity had come and gone with one slice of her knife. Then he threw back his head and roared with laughter. The rest of his gang joined in.

I will not cry. I will not cry.
She felt her lower lip quiver.

“Oh, hell. She’s gonna cry,” someone in the back said.

“Tears don’t work on me, sweetheart.”

“I know Mr.—do you even have a fucking name? I should at least know the name of the man, wait, you’re not a man, the name of the vamp…no, no…cowardly, cheating vamp who’s going to fucking kill me.” She was shouting now, stretched beyond her limit. Defeat wasn’t something she could swallow, but she had only one regret. Well, maybe two. She hated that she hadn’t finished her mission, and maybe one more night with Venom and Viper would have been great.

“I’m glad I heal fast.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Well, let me down and let’s see if I can do some more damage.”

“Okay, but not with your knife. Swords only.”

Her knife flew from her hand to his. “Chicken.”

Several men laughed, but he didn’t scold them, or kill them, or whatever the hell vampire bullies did. Isn’t that what a typical gang leader would do?

“Okay,” she answered.

He released her, and she stretched the kinks out before walking to him to retrieve her weapon at his feet. She knew he wouldn’t chop her head off yet. Oh, no. He would play with his food first. She stooped and stood back up, leaving her sword on the floor. Instead, she launched herself at him, catching him around the chest. Unexpectedly, he toppled backward, taking her with him. They landed with a thud. His eyes rounded.

“Do you yield?”

He grinned as he looked down at another petite, but sharp knife buried partway over his heart. “All I have to do is blink, and you’ll be dead.”

“You’re already dead,” someone said from the back of the crowd.

* * * * *

Judge McIntyre replied, “Probably so.”

He grinned up at his brothers’ mate. She was hell on wheels, a damned good fighter—for a human. Clever, brave. He was almost jealous, but fuck, no way did he want a mate. He did let things get out of hand, and it was his fault. Hell, he never imagined she’d strip half-naked in front of a room full to the brim with horny vampires and werewolves. But that—apparently—was Cambria. She tried to tilt the hand any way she could, which was brilliant. No wonder she had survived hunting.

Now she sat on his throbbing cock, only his jeans between him and her shaved pussy. His mouth watered at her tits, hanging close to his mouth like ivory globes, and with a need to flick a thumb over a rosy nipple. He had to hand it to his brothers. They were lucky as hell.

And they needed to blister her hide so she couldn’t sit down for a fucking week.

“Come get your mate off me before she ends my life.”

The vibrations from his brothers’ shitkickers rattled against his back. He looked past her to the two standing beside them.

Viper squatted down. “Damn it. I’ll help her shove it all the way in. Why in the fuck is she naked?”

“That was her idea, and the challenge with swords was hers, too.”

Suddenly, she was fully clothed in a long shirt and jeans, but she didn’t move, barely blinked. And that damned knife was still there, stuck on his ribs. A slight turn, a push, and it would slip off the bone.

Venom squatted down and stared at him with the steely look of murder in his eyes. “Well, Cambria. What do you want to do? You want to finish off my brother, or do you want me and Viper to do it?”

She swallowed hard. “This is your brother?” She never took her eyes off him, a warrior, wary, ready for anything. He purposely changed his eyes from green to the one blue, one brown and her surprise registered in her gaze.

“Afraid so,” said Venom.

“Why in the hell did you take your clothes off?” demanded Viper.

“I needed an advantage, and I thought a distraction would help.”

Judge thought about declaring that it was a hell of a distraction, but didn’t know which one of the three would finish shoving in the knife.

Judge opened his mind to his brothers and allowed the whole ordeal to play like a movie from beginning to end. They laughed at her audacity and wit, and growled when they thought he’d stepped out of line. When the picture show finished, he asked, “Why didn’t you kill me, Cambria?”