The Maestro's Butterfly (11 page)

Miranda nodded and opted to look for Adam.

“If you see Autumn, tell her she can come get her part started any time.”

“Which one’s—?”

“The redhead.”

“I thought you were the accountant.”

“I am. But it’s my day to cook. I’m surprised Claudio hasn’t put you to work already.”

“I’m not staying,” Miranda said. It seemed she said that a lot lately.

Gena looked over her shoulder at her and nodded. Miranda could tell she didn’t believe her.

Miranda decided to go to the women’s cottage. She found Chloe lounging on the couch as she had Miranda’s first night at the estate, talking to a plumper, dark-haired girl seated in the easy chair. The redhead named Autumn sat on the floor between the girl’s legs, apparently enjoying the feel of the other girl’s fingers in her hair.

“Finally, the new girl pays a visit,” Chloe said, sitting up and patting the cushion beside her. “Come talk to us.”

“I’m looking for Adam.”

“Can’t wait for Claudio to come home?” Chloe asked.

The dark-haired girl laughed. Autumn smiled. Miranda thought she looked a little apologetic.

“I need to ask him something.”

“Come here,” Chloe insisted. “You can ask me.”

Miranda had the impression Chloe was laying some kind of trap, but couldn’t 76

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find a good reason not to do as she asked. On the couch, she pulled her knees up to her chest, then remembered her shoes and put them down again.

“You can take off your shoes,” Chloe said. “Get comfortable. Talk to us.” Chloe reached over to stroke back Miranda’s hair. “Claudio is not here to interfere.”

Miranda took a deep breath. “I heard Adam and Gena arguing this morning.

They were talking about some deal Claudio had made and how the new girl was going to pay for it. I think they were talking about me.”

“Of course they were. You made that stupid bet with him, didn’t you?” Chloe rolled her eyes at the other girl.

“That’s not what they were talking about. They said
Claudio
should know better than to do business with a du Fresne.”

Chloe’s smile faded. She and the girl shot each other a look.

“What does that mean? Tell me. I have a right to know.”

“You don’t have rights here,” Chloe said. “You should know, if you give yourself to a man like Claudio, bad things will happen.”

“Did bad things happen to you?”

“Claudio is my savior. My love. But I don’t delude myself about him.”

Miranda took in a breath she hoped would be inaudible to the vampire. The words
my love
, had stung. “What’s going to happen?” she asked, a bit more stiffly than she had planned.

Chloe shifted her attention to a fingernail and began to pick at it. “If you have a question, ask the man you trusted to bring you here. If he wants you to know, he will tell you.”

“And if he doesn’t want me to know?”

“Then telling you would be stupid on my part.”

Miranda sat for a moment, letting her situation, and Chloe’s attitude to it, sink in. The dark-haired girl picked up a nearby magazine and the redhead watched her 78

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curiously. No one said anything, so Miranda simply stood and left.

She had barely made it off the front porch when someone called her from the doorway.

“Wait!”

Miranda turned to see the shy redhead, who ran to catch up. “I know where you can probably find Adam. There’s a place in the woods.” She pointed. “Just find the trail there, next to that clump of pine trees, and follow it. There’s a clearing. You’ll know it when you see it. There are chairs and a fire ring.”

Miranda followed where she pointed, and thought she could barely make out a notch in the growth of trees. “Thanks,” she said. “You’re the only one who’s offered any information of any kind so far.”

Autumn shrugged. “Just trying to help. You seem a little scared.”

The appraisal caught her off guard. “Yeah,” she said. “I guess I am.”

“It can be pretty hard here sometimes. Claudio scares me.”

Miranda nodded. “Why are you here?”

Autumn looked at the ground. “He wanted me.” That’s all she said, as if no other explanation was necessary. Miranda found it chilling.

“Well,” she said. “Thanks.” She turned and took a few steps toward the opening that Autumn had pointed out, before remembering she had a message for the other girl, and turned back. “Oh, Gena wants you to come start your part of...lunch, it looks like.”

A look of panic crossed her features. “Already? What time is it?”

“About ten,” Miranda said, eyeing her.

Autumn nodded vigorously and ran her hand through her hair, catching it in tangles. “Oh, crap. Okay. I just need to go change into some real clothes.” She started to shut the door.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Miranda called. “Can I ask you a question?”

The other girl shook her head. “If Chloe can’t tell you, then I can’t. I don’t want to get into trouble. Not that I really know anything much. I’m sorry.”

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“I’m not going to ask you something that’ll get you into trouble. I just want to know who the other du Fresne is. Do you know?”

Autumn nodded, and whispered, “Claudio’s brother.”

The possibility of Claudio having a brother shocked Miranda out of remembering to ask what he looked like. Autumn disappeared into the house before the question could occur to her, before she could think of the lascivious-looking man in the pinstriped suit.

Miranda stood numb in the yard for several moments before turning back toward the break in the trees. Adrenaline flooded her system again, but she ignored it. The thought of going vampire hunting through the dark woods didn’t appeal to her particularly, especially in light of what she was learning, but she didn’t exactly have a choice. She’d go stark-raving bonkers if she had to wait until she happened to see Adam again. And there were bound to be people around, besides. This was the best chance she would likely get to speak to him alone.

She found the beginning of the trail without much trouble. It entered the woods at an angle, so it was hidden unless someone was standing right on it. It was a little ambiguous for the first couple of yards, but after that the woods thickened and the trail became a lot easier to follow. Hanging branches had been cut and fallen branches had been tossed to the sides of the path, which wound its way through the trees.

A twig broke behind her and she whirled around, stopping herself from crying out by clamping a hand over her mouth.
Stupid, stupid, stupid,
she thought. Here she was, kidnapped by a vampire who had some kind of weird plan for her, and in order to solve it, she went into the woods in search of another vampire while some other strange man— who obviously worried Chloe—was probably out there somewhere planning something worse.

She hazarded a look on either side of the path. Very little light from outside made it in, and she could see only patches of sky. Branches grew unchecked, growing into tinier and tinier twigs, which gave the place a slightly tentacled, hairy look. The 80

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top layer of leaves, this year’s leaves, crunched beneath her feet, cushioned by the wet, rotting leaves of previous years. An earthy smell and something else, something sweet she couldn’t quite put her finger on, invaded her nostrils.

The woods closed in around her, heightening her awareness that she was too far in to run back to the open if she met someone up to no good, or if she had completely misjudged Adam. She shivered, told herself to get a grip, and turned another bend in the path. That’s when she saw the clearing, with Adam standing at the edge of the fire ring, staring into the dry pile of ash. He wore a yellow T-shirt, khaki shorts and flip-flops, and had tied back the front half of his long dreads. He lifted something to his lips.

That’s when she recognized the sweet smell.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” she said, half expecting to startle him.

He didn’t turn around. “What?” he asked, toeing one of the stones from the ring.

Miranda ventured closer. “I didn’t know vampires smoked that stuff.”

Adam shrugged and offered it to her. “I needed to relax.”

Miranda looked at it. She was tempted, but she shook her head. She didn’t need any help feeling everyone was out to get her at this point.

He took it back without responding and put it to his lips again. Smoke hung about his head. It matched the trees and looked like magic. “What’s up?” he asked without looking at her.

“I heard you. Just now, with Gena.”

“I was hoping you would.”

It wasn’t the answer Miranda had expected.

He shook his head. “I am such a dumbass.”

“Why?” she asked.

“I let my emotions out. I wanted you to hear. I was hoping you were close enough. But now—” He toked again, held his breath, and let it out. Miranda waited.

“Now it’s too late. I can’t tell you straight-out though. I know what you want to ask me, but I can’t tell you.”

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“Why not?”

“Loyalty? Self preservation? You got me. I will tell you that there are things at work you don’t know about. I’ll also tell you that it’s very difficult for a feeder to break away from a vampire once a bond has been established. It’s like being hooked on a drug.”

He looked at the cigarette in his hand, shook his head, and sighed as Miranda’s knees went weak. She leaned against the nearest tree.

“That’s why he was so sure—son of a—oh, God.”

“Claudio doesn’t do things he ain’t sure about. At least that’s what Gena’s been feeding me for the last few days.”

“God. What’s going to happen to me?”

“I’m leaving,” he said, leaning toward her. “Nobody else knows, you understand? You’re the only one. And I’m only telling you because I think it’s in your best interest to get the hell away from here the first chance you get.”

She looked up at him. “Leave Claudio?” She hadn’t expected the notion to be so painful. She felt as though she’d been punched in the stomach.

“If you want to come with me, I’ll let you know just before I leave.”

She took a deep breath and nodded, feeling as though someone had kicked her in the gut. “Yeah. I hear you.” She swallowed, and made herself continue “But what’s going on, Adam? Please tell me. There was a man the night of Claudio’s performance, a thin man in a pinstriped suit—“

Adam gave her a startled look, then hung his head and took a deep breath. His voice softened. “That’s all I can tell you, baby girl. I wish I could tell you more, but I’ve got to look after my own hide too. I’ll tell you anything you want to know once we’re gone, but until then, you have to trust me. Okay?”

Trust seemed like an awfully tall order right now, especially since he wasn’t telling her much. And since he still hadn’t told her anything about the strange man, she knew she was down to asking Claudio himself. She nodded, and thought for a moment 82

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that she could hold it all in. But her emotions got the better of her, and she put a hand over her eyes and began to cry.

Adam snuffed out the smoke and put it in his pocket, then put his arms around her. “Shh.” he said. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay. I promise. We’ll figure out this mess.”

She lay her cheek against his chest and let him hold her, feeling safe for the first time since she had come here. Her breathing synchronized with his and she slipped her arms around him, squeezing him tight. His breathing deepened. He groaned, and reached around to take her arms from around him.

“I don’t think you want to do that,” he said. “Vampires are—whew—you’re starting something you may not be in the best shape to finish.”

She resisted his attempt to get her off him, but he was too strong, so she simply looked up at him. “Claudio and Seth have both done what they wanted. But you’ve been the most real with me, so why not you? It’s okay. I want to.”

“You’re sure?” he asked.

She nodded. He looked at her from the corner of his eye for a moment as if he didn’t entirely believe her, then took her face in his hands and kissed her, then turned her around so her back would be to him. Then he unbuttoned and unzipped her shorts and slid his hand into them, groaning against her, pressing her against his crotch.

“God—” he said. “Oh, sweet Jesus.”

She leaned into him, letting her fear—the emotional fear of what she was starting to feel for Claudio, as well as the primal fear of the strange man and of being surrounded by vampires—become arousal, and pressed into him. He was the largest man here, the most solid, the tallest and, she intuited, the gentlest. Still, there was something about being taken in the woods by a man who was more than a man.

Behind her, he took in a deep breath, as he worked his fingers around her softer parts. When he slid his finger into her, she arched her back against him. “Adam—” she said.

“You sure you want this, baby girl? Because this is the last time I’m asking.”

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She nodded.

He pulled down her shorts and pressed on her shoulders. “Get on the leaves,” he said. “They’re not as dirty.”

She got on her hands and knees and waited, listening for the sound of his zipper and of fabric against flesh. But that isn’t what happened. Wet warmth tickled her labia, teasing around the outside of her opening. She gasped.

“Adam, that’s not what I wanted.”

“Hold your horses,” he said, breathing hard. “You’re going to need the extra lubrication.”

Miranda nodded, waiting, as he resumed what he was doing, teasing the outside of her opening with the tip of his tongue, then dipping inside, just barely, before returning to the rim. A breeze blew over her bare bottom and made the trees sway. It made her feel as though they were watching her.

Adam took her thighs in his large hands and began licking her with abandon, teasing the opening, groaning and slurping. Miranda threw her head forward. This was going to be too much. Doggie-style wasn’t going to do it. She wanted him pressing against her labia and her clit. In one movement, she flipped over and landed on her back, kicking off her shoes and shorts.

Adam shook his head. “You’re going to get—aw hell,” he said, and opened his shorts, settling between her legs. His erection was too big and heavy to stand up on its own, so he held it in one hand as he approached her on the other, settling between her legs and easing the head into her at the same time.