Stephen (22 page)

Lying atop her, he lifted his head. He could feel her hunger now and felt bad for it. Tilting his head, Stephen offered her his throat and cried out when she took it. His cock, semi-hard before, hardened immediately. He moved in and out of her as she drank his life giving blood.

When she finished, he kissed her mouth and tasted his blood. Moaning, he rolled his hips harder. When she came this time, Stephen offered her his throat again, and wasn’t surprised by her teeth grazing him but not biting. When she touched her tongue to his shoulder, he came the moment she sank her teeth into him and felt her join him. They were so exhausted that they fell asleep, still tangled around each other.

~~~

Kasen was in the kitchen when she made her way down the stairs. The man was forever in there now, and she wondered if he thought he should stay there in the event she was hungry. But he wasn’t alone today. Samuel and Kennedy were with him. Clar got herself a glass of water and sat down with them. Stephen, she knew, was coming down as well.

“
You’re here to tell me something. Something I’m not going to like.” Samuel nodded and looked at the doorway when Stephen walked in. She squeaked when he picked her up and sat her onto his lap.

“
Tell us. I can feel you’re upset about something. Just tell us so we can go back to bed.” She flushed at Stephen’s words, but no one seemed to notice. Kasen sat a plate of food in front of her, and that’s when she noticed that it looked as if he’d cooked for the Payne’s as well.

“
The wolf that Clar killed? His pack leader is demanding that she be put to death. He said that he had permission to be there, and that she violated his rules as leader by killing one of his own without a trial.” He handed them a picture of the man as a human. Clar thought Samuel was kidding, but with one look at Kennedy, she knew that he wasn’t. “Unless she can prove she was being harmed in some way by the man, she has to either become his bitch or die by his hand.”

“
He killed a family two days before. And the morning before he took us from our home, he killed a mother and child.” Samuel nodded as if he knew this too. “Can anything be done about that?”

“
No. Not as far as the pack leader is concerned. He said the man was his second in command and that he was needed.” Samuel looked at Kennedy, then at her before he continued. “I’m with you. He should have been killed a long time ago, but he is correct in saying that…wait, what did you say? He was here when you were taken?”

“
Yes. He was the one who knocked me down. And he was the first person in the door, too. Also, when I was being tied up at the house, I came to just enough to see him there. He was the one holding the gun on me while this other man, another wolf, tied me up.” He asked her if she was sure. “Yeah, I’m sure. There was a woman there too, in the house. When I came from the sub levels, I saw her first. But for some reason I couldn’t touch her. She was…I guess undesirable.”

“
She was breeding. And she was there when I was taken too. I could smell her and was surprised that they’d bring a breeding female on a raid.” Stephen looked at her. “You can never feed from a pregnant woman. I know that there are books saying that we do that, but something in their DNA will poison us if we try.”

Clar nodded, understanding now. Kennedy got up and opened the door. Both she and Stephen stood up when a man, a wolf, came to the step but stopped. Clar reached out and held the man there while Stephen spoke to Samuel. This man was the one who had chained her to the chair.

“
He was here as well.” Samuel stood up and put Kennedy behind him as he watched the man. Stephen stepped in front of them and continued. “He can’t move. Clar has him and he’s not strong enough to break it. It’s the same kind of shield she used on the mountain that day.”

The room suddenly filled. Kasen moved toward her, but she held him back with a lifting of her hand. She didn’t want anyone hurt, but there would be a massive body count if anyone touched what was hers. The first man to approach her nearly got to be number one when Stephen stepped in front of her.

“
Don’t touch my mate.” The man nodded and backed up. “She will speak to you, but you have no reason to touch her.”

“
I understand.” The stranger smiled at her as he spoke. “My name is Kent. I am the Lord of Garston. Do you know of me?”

“
Nope.” He nodded, and she watched him fight a smile. “You think I should have? ‘Cause I got to tell you right now, I’m not too thrilled with the last visitor we had today.”

“
I am the man who would be your boss.” She shook her head. “You do not believe me? I assure you that I—”

“
I don’t have a boss. Nor do I want one. If this has to do with me being a vampire, then, okay, I’ll listen to you. But don’t expect me to bow down at your feet. I’ve had enough bowing and scraping, thanks.” He looked at Stephen, then at her again. “You can ask him. I don’t really do what he tells me either.”

“
She is more like you than I would have hoped.” Clar smiled, loving the compliment. “It was not meant to be something you should be proud of. Yet I do believe you are.”

“
I am. Not that I give two nuts about your opinion of me and what I do. What the hell are you doing here now?” He pointed to the wolf. “He’s yours? You should teach your puppies to have better manners.”

“
He belongs to me.” The second man stepped forward, but unlike the first one, didn’t try to touch her. “I’m Marsh. I too am on the council. We have…the puppy, as you called him, came to us complaining about your treatment of his pack. We only came to investigate.”

“
No you didn’t.” Clar looked at Stephen when he snapped. “You came here to bring me to heel. Well, it won’t work. I’m not going to join the council.”

Clar had had enough. She moved forward a step and put a hand on both men. When the wolf staggered back, she gripped his arm and held him until she was finished. As soon as she’d given them all the information she’d taken from the wolves at the house, she stepped back. When Stephen wrapped his arms around her, she leaned into him. She didn’t want these idiots to know how weak it had made her.

“
You’re hungry. I’ll take care of you when they leave.” She moaned at him, and he leaned into her throat and nipped at her. “Behave or this will take longer than is necessary. I will take you up to bed now and they’ll wait on us. Or we can finish this and they’ll all leave.”

“
What you have done…you gave me…it is theirs?” Kent staggered to the chair and sat down. Marsh was already there, staring at the man she still held in the bubble. “You have given us their memories so that…do you know what people would do for that kind of power?”

“
Yeah, I do.” She put out her hand, and he backed away from her. “But if I were you, I’d be more worried about what I got when I touched you. What you should be doing is this…simply forget what you know about me and deal with the wolf.”

“
He has been murdering humans for a long time.” Clar almost felt sorry for Marsh. He looked as if he’d been told there was no more chocolate. And that just wasn’t something she wanted to hear either. He looked at her. “I’ve no doubt that what you’ve given me is true, but I simply don’t…what am I to do with the information? How can I justify his death and the dealing with his pack without the physical truth?”

“
The woman…I think her name was Julie. She will talk to you. The child she carries is her mate’s, who was killed by this bastard. Had she been showing when he took her in, he would have simply killed it within her womb. His plan now is to kill the child the moment it is born. She was with them when things went down. Ask her.” When Marsh stood up, he nodded and then looked at Stephen. With another nod, he came to her and put out his hand.

“
Is there a way to thank you and only get a handshake?” She smiled at his laughter and put out her hand. As soon as she touched him, she gave him a little more information. He looked shocked but said nothing as he turned to Kent. “We should leave these people to their lives. I think Stephen has told us enough times that he is not going to join forces with us.”

“
You can’t be serious. You’re going to simply let them walk away, after everything we’ve found out about her? No, I demand that we bring them in or tell the world what we know.” Kent looked at her as he continued. “With a power like yours, I can rule the world of vampires.”

Marsh shifted in seconds, and leapt at the other vampire just as Clar shoved Stephen back into Samuel, and they both hit the floor. The man in the doorway was knocked out of his hold, but he also hit his head and lay there while the big wolf tore out the throat of Kent. It was over in seconds. He stood there panting as he watched them all.

“
He was going to kill all of you.” Everyone looked at her as she spoke. “I saw it in his mind and told Marsh. He was going to kill him and blame it on this house, then take me away with him to keep under lock and key. I’ve been…he kills people who would be stronger than him. His plan was to get Stephen to join the council then have him murdered. He found that…he thought that Stephen was a threat to him.”

“
You got all that from a touch?” She looked at Samuel when he asked. Shaking her head he looked at Stephen. “You told her.”

“
No. She can read minds. So can I.” Samuel started to speak, then sat down as Stephen continued. “You knew that she could. Why are you surprised?”

“
I guess I figured that when you converted her that she’d lose some of that ability. I have no idea why when every other female in this group has gotten stronger.” Samuel rubbed his hand over his face and stared at her. “You know what I’m thinking right now?”

“
Yeah,” she told him with a grin. “You’re thinking you and the rest of these people are going to get the hell out of here so I can go upstairs and have all kinds of monkey sex with my mate.”

“
Christ.” Samuel got up and looked at her before he smiled. “Welcome to the family. And so you know, you scare the shit out of me.”

“
Good.” Ten minutes later, Jimmy and a few of his pack came to collect the wolf. Marsh walked out the door with him, and Clar knew the moment he asked Jimmy to run the other pack. Jimmy wasn’t going to go easy either. He loved where he was now. Clar turned to Kasen when he cleared his throat.

“
There will only be the two of you for dinner?” She smiled at him, and he laughed. “I see. Would you mind much if I were to take my missus out? It has been a long while since we’ve had a date.”

She was moving up the stairs with Stephen when she realized what he’d said. “Kasen is married?”

Chapter 13

Stephen moved through the house without touching the floor. He knew that someone was there and didn’t want them to know just yet he was aware of them. As soon as he entered the living room, he knew who it was and leaned against the door to watch the man. Hawk didn’t turn as he spoke.

“
I know you are aware of my affinity to inanimate objects.” Stephen told him he was. “Sometimes they call to me. It’s mostly vehicles or something of that nature. But there are times when something like a piece of furniture does. Your desk, do you know where you got it?”

“
It came with the house. Along with the bookshelf to your right and wingback by the fireplace.” Hawk nodded and moved to the chair he told him about. He was running his hand along the back of it when he frowned.

“
Your mate, did you know that she can do this as well? You too, I would imagine.” Stephen didn’t answer because he was pretty sure that Hawk wasn’t really talking to tell him anything, but working up to something. “This chair was original to the house. The desk came from elsewhere before being brought here. It has some stories it would like to be told. A problem to be solved.”

He walked to the shelf and put his hand on the trim that ran along the top. When he pushed one of the ornate flowers in, a large section of the trim popped out. He handed the drawer like piece to him.

“
It’s a will.” Hawk went back to the desk and pressed on the scroll work across the visitor side of the desk and another drawer, this one much larger, slid from under the desk near the leg. This he handed to him as well. In this one was a large leather pouch and a leather-bound notebook.

Stephen opened the will and read it quickly before taking out the pouch. He couldn’t believe how heavy it was and laid it on the desk with a thud. The leather-bound notebook was heavy as well, and he opened it first. He started laughing the moment he realized what he was reading.