Tracking the Tempest (4 page)

Ironically, the last thing I remembered thinking was that I really wished I was someone who could sleep in the day time…

I tried to swat away the mouse climbing my stomach, but it persevered. And then the mouse began to take my shirt with it, and I suddenly realized that I was no longer in Rockabill, in my childhood bed of white wood and pristine cotton sheets, but in a black silk boudoir of vampiric possibilities.

And said vampire was looming over me, running his finger up the soft curve of my sleeping belly, pulling my T-shirt up over my breasts. His warm tongue found my navel, and then traced its way north, dragging me with it into full awareness. My nipples waved hello at him as he pulled down the cups of my bra. Graciously, Ryu returned their salutation by suckling each in its turn, leaving me gasping.

“… so much better than an alarm clock,” I mumbled, as my brain struggled to keep pace with my body.

Ryu's mouth released my suddenly heaving bosoms and he snuggled close, his lips against my ear.

“Did you have a nice nap?” he purred.

“Mmm,” was all I could think to say in response, burrowing sideways into his hard chest. “How long was I asleep?”

“Two hours,” he said. “You were too sweet to wake.”

“Wow, sorry. I never nap like that. You should have gotten me up.”

He did his best to chuckle, but because it was Ryu, he sounded a bit like a braying donkey. I instantly melted—my lover's laugh was the only nonsuave thing about him and I adored it. Then I thought of the little black book, waiting like a time bomb beneath the phone next to me, and my stomach sank.

“I want you well rested for this evening, Miss True,” Ryu said archly. I focused my gaze on his lovely mouth, reminding myself that I knew what he was, I was pretty sure I knew what we were, and I knew that it wasn't fair of me to freak out for him feeding. It would be like freaking out on a diabetic for injecting himself with insulin.

Except insulin doesn't talk back,
my inner cynic reminded me in her driest voice.

I shushed my passive-aggressive streak, reminding myself that I had two choices: I could either confront Ryu and have a talk I wasn't sure I wanted to have, or I could save that conversation for another time. Preferably a time that wasn't Valentine's Day.

Suck it up, buttercup!
my libido commanded. It clearly didn't want anything interfering with its romantic weekend.

“And besides, watching you sleep always gets
me
up…” Ryu said, as if he'd heard my libido's demands. So I tried to pacify both parties by wiggling my hip closer to his groin, just to test, and was not disappointed.

“… although we do have dinner reservations and we both have to get ready. So quit yer wriggling, aargh,” he said, using his pirate voice for the last bit. Ryu gave great pirate and it always made me giggle.

“We can't push the reservations back?” I asked, refusing to cease wiggling. Having Ryu teasing me, being sexy and silly, made me forget everything else, even that damned book.

“No, sorry…” Ryu looked pained. “I managed to get us a table at the one restaurant in Boston that even I am intimidated by. It's not only
the
place to be seen at the moment but it's also run by a gorgon, who, quite frankly, scares the shit out of me. So cease and desist, woman.” I neither ceased nor desisted. When Ryu finally realized I was not going to give him a break, he pinned my hip down with his hand using but a fraction of his preternatural strength. I shivered; I loved it when he went all alpha on me.

The minute he felt me shiver, his eyes went dark, staring into mine with a new intensity. His fangs were out and I knew what he needed.

“Maybe a little aperitif?” I whispered, my voice soft even to my own ears.

Ryu smiled, but it never reached his eyes. He pulled me to him, his mouth meeting mine as his hand again found my breast. His fingers stroked my nipple, then pinched, and my whole body tightened in response.

“Minx…” Ryu purred, as his lips nuzzled into my neck and his hand roved down my belly until he was at the waistband of my jeans. He unbuttoned them slowly, laving my pulse point with his hot tongue. I knew he was “laving” because I'd been reading all about various forms of vampiric “laving”—definitely the word of the day—in my paranormal romance books.

My breath hissed out of my lungs as his hand slipped into my panties to find me already slick with need. He sighed his approval as he made a fist in my underwear, loosening the restraining fabric of my clothing to give him enough room to work.

The man is an artist,
I thought, just as he slipped two fingers inside of me and all coherent brain waves ceased.

I was so hot and so ready and Ryu was playing for keeps. Within minutes, I was panting his name, and when he brought his thumb into play, directly on my sweet spot, my back was arching and I was practically screaming and he was biting and then the pleasure was just too much. It was all I could do to ride the waves of sensation that threatened to carry me up out of my body and off to Orgasm Central.

When I came back to Earth, Ryu's fingers were still inside of me, enjoying the feel of the aftershocks racking my muscles as his tongue healed the wounds at my neck.

“You?” I mumbled, barely coherent. But Ryu understood.

“Later,” he answered. “This was more than enough for now.”

He kissed me gently, and I tasted the coppery sheen of my blood on his lips.

“Go shower; I'll get your suitcase,” he said, finally withdrawing his hand.

“You don't want to come, too?” I asked, enjoying my pun.

He frowned. “Quit it, Jane. Seriously. She's a
gorgon
. She refused a state senator
and
pushed back the reservation of a pregnant teenaged starlet to give me this table. If we're not exactly on time, she will destroy me.”

I sighed.

“Please, if you sigh like that, I'll fuck you. And if I fuck you, I won't stop, and then we will be late, and then the gorgon will
destroy
me. Did I mention the part where she destroys me? And then we won't ever fuck again, and
then
you'll have something to sigh about.”

Ryu knew damned well that humor could overcome any emotion in my world, even lust. I couldn't help but laugh as he helped me to my feet and pushed me toward the wet room.

Meanwhile, I began strategizing all the various ways in which
I
would destroy him, later.
And he's afraid of a little gorgon,
I thought as I wondered what, exactly, Iris had packed from my dirty drawer.
Game on, Vlad,
I thought, waggling my own eyebrows at my vampire's back as he went to get my suitcase.

I'll show you an “Impaler”…

CHAPTER FOUR

I
breathed out a sigh of pure pleasure as we gazed off over Boston's city lights. Ryu's arms were tight around me, and he whispered in my ear as he pointed out various points of interest. After my eyes had had their fill, we returned to our little table by the window to enjoy our cocktails.

We were at the Top of the Hub, a restaurant and bar perched high atop Boston's Prudential Tower. We'd had dinner earlier, at a different restaurant, and I got the feeling that Ryu considered the Top of the Hub a little too touristy to be cool. He'd brought me anyway, however, because he knew I'd love the views.

We'd had dinner at a place so chic its name was simply its address. It was an extremely small and intimate restaurant, where we were treated like royalty. And apparently the table next to us, all men dressed like sheiks, really
were
Saudi royalty, so I had a direct comparison. We'd ordered the chef's seven-course tasting menu, paired with seven different wines, and Ryu had worked some metabolic mojo on me to keep me from being completely schlitzed. I found myself, once again, in that physical state I'd come to associate with my time with Ryu: stuffed to the gills, slightly drunk on both wine and barely sated lust, and feeling utterly, totally pampered. A girl could do worse.

“Nell said you're having no trouble erecting your shields, although you're still not erecting them quite as reflexively as you should be.”

“Exactly,” I said, honing back in on Ryu and resisting the temptation to point out that he'd said “erect.” Twice.

“Well, your reflexes will develop with time and experience. You need to be around your own kind more, besides Nell and that lot. You're living in a bubble out in Rockabill.” I frowned, and he rolled his eyes. “I'm just saying, Rockabill isn't the real world. But, in the meantime, I can show you a few things while you're here. Nell said you were ready for glamours, so we can go ahead and start working on them if you'd like.”

I grinned. “Excellent.”

“I think you'll be good at it. You're creative, and when you focus, you have a tremendous amount of concentration behind your power. It's just getting you to focus.”

“Hmm?” I asked, too busy attempting to engage him in a round of footsie to hear what he was saying.

“Exactly,” Ryu laughed smugly. “Although I do appreciate your choice of distractions.”

Ryu stood up and moved his chair next to mine, pulling me to him. He kissed the tip of my nose and then found my mouth, sucking gently on my bottom lip.

“You have no idea how good it is to have you here, baby,” he murmured between kisses.

“I like being here, too. I like seeing how you live.”

“In most ways, I live really well,” he acceded, smiling. Humility wasn't Ryu's strong point. “But having you here makes it even sweeter.”

His tongue swept over the pulse throbbing in my throat and I shivered. I wanted to say something sexually empowered that would curl his toes with lust. Instead, to my horror, I blurted out, “I saw the book under your phone.”

Ryu withdrew, his eyes narrowed.

“Sorry?”

“I was trying to see what time it was and I bumped your phone. And I saw your address book.”

“And you looked inside.”

I nodded, glumly, although I didn't really feel all that apologetic. After all, Ryu's life here was something we needed to discuss, eventually. But I was also well aware I wasn't going to win any houseguest awards.

“Well, Suzy Snoopsalot, we obviously have to talk.” Ryu scrubbed a strong hand over his face, his typical gesture of worry. “I'm sorry you saw that, but it's the truth. And I know you know that. Are you okay, first of all?”

“Of course,” I said, my voice surprisingly firm. “I think I understand, as much as I can. And I think I'm okay with everything. Sort of. But it is strange. And I think I feel like I shouldn't be okay with everything, even though I do feel okay…” I trailed off, losing momentum. “It's complicated” was my lame conclusion.

Ryu looked grim. “It is complicated. And, to be honest, I hate it; hate the whole thing. I'm so tired of… Shit, Jane,I'm just tired. Can we get out of here? And really talk?”

That drained voice, coming from the man I associated only with vitality, cut to my core, and I folded like a glove. I reached over and took his hand, raising
his
palm to
my
lips. I kissed him gently and closed my eyes as he moved his fingers to cup my jaw.

I let the heat of his hand sink into my skin, finally meeting his eyes with my own.

“Please?” he asked.

“Anything you want, Ryu.” And I meant it.

“C'mon, baby. I have one last surprise for you.”

Ryu paid for our drinks and we left. He wouldn't give me any indication of his plans, so we strolled, arm in arm, down Boylston Street until we got to the Boston Public Gardens, all shut up and dark for the evening. Stopping at the locked gate, Ryu stooped down, making a stirrup with his two hands.

“Alley-oop, my darling,” Ryu said, grinning.

“Um, really?” I asked. “You're the master of ‘opening things,’ ” I reminded him. “Can't you just unlock the gate?”

“I could. But this is much more fun.”

Sighing, I placed my foot in his cupped hands and he lofted me like a cheerleader. I squeaked a protest, fumbling for the heavy iron gates to steady myself. I carefully maneuvered my feet into the most secure-looking crevices I could spot, which were part of the fancifully curlicued top of the gate, and then shifted my weight from Ryu's hands onto my chosen footholds. Ryu waited until I was clinging to the fence before he grabbed a hold of the iron bars and launched himself smoothly up and over in a single burst of strength. I grumbled something unforgivably rude about his family heritage and began arduously stepping over the very top of the ornamental gate, setting my feet back into their little crevices on the opposite side so I was facing back out toward Boylston.

“Go ahead and drop, Jane. I'll catch you.”

I looked at the vampire beneath me. If I hadn't damn well known I'd be stuck clinging to the fence, I would have attempted to beam death rays at him through my eyes.

“C'mon, baby. You can trust me.”

I didn't remind him that the last time he'd said those words to me, I walked funny for two days. I just gathered courage, took a deep breath, and pushed myself away from the fence.

Ryu caught me effortlessly, laughing.

“I said
drop
down, Jane, not launch yourself like a rocket.”

“I'll give you a rocket,” I mumbled.

“Sorry?”

“Nothing. Just put me down.”

“No,” he murmured, cuddling me closer to his chest.

I considered protesting but being in his arms felt good. So I let him carry me. When we got to the bridge that crossed the little lake where the swan boats were, he set me down on my feet.

He waved a hand and the lights came on, illuminating the river and the boats and the bridge. Well, he didn't actually light
the
lights, he just made his own.

I looked out over the dark water, feeling it murmur to me. Where my ocean roared, this man-made reservoir whispered. The lights of the city glittered off its surface, helping Ryu's own lights illuminate the graceful lines of the swan boats floating at their moorings, each tucked into its place like horses in a stable.

“It's lovely, Ryu.”

“I thought you'd like it,” he replied, resting back against the bridge's balustrade. “You said you remember it from your childhood?”

I smiled. Only the second time he'd come to Rockabill, right after all the drama at the Alfar Compound so many months ago, I'd told Ryu about a family trip we'd taken years and years ago when my mother was still with us. A conversation Ryu had not only remembered but also included in his plans for my visit. It was unbelievably sweet, but part of me wanted to curse at such sensitivity. This was the kind of shit that made me want to fall in love with the vampire, and
that
was too complicated for words.

“Yeah, I was only, like, five, so the memories aren't very clear. And maybe they're not even my memories, but just me remembering looking at the pictures. We came to Boston the year before my mom went away. I like to think I remember it.”

I walked over to where he stood, leaning over the bridge to look out at the water and the pavilion where the boats sat moored.

He watched me in silence as I tried to place myself, even shorter than I was now, on this same bridge, holding the hands of both a man and a woman. The woman would soon leave, and my life would never be the same, but for that moment I must have been happy.

Ryu brushed my hair behind my ear, turning his body so that we were hip to hip, facing the same direction, looking out over the water.

“Jane,” he said. “I want to ask you something. You don't have to answer now, and we don't have to do anything about it yet. It's just something I want you to think about.”

I turned toward him, looking up into his face. I'd never seen him so serious.

“It's just that I like us together. I like
us,
period. I like being with you, having you near me…” Ryu's voice trailed off nervously, and he reached up to fidget with the strap of my top. He ran his fingers down to trace my bicep. “You feel right. We feel right. I know you don't like to talk about this stuff…” His finger continued its featherlight trail down my forearm, but when he went to take my hand, Ryu accidentally hooked my bracelet in his finger. When he pulled down, it came off.

“Shit, sorry,” he said, as we both bent down at the same time to pick it up and knocked noggins. We laughed ruefully, rubbing our foreheads.

“I'll get it, hold on,” I said. The bracelet had been my mother's; I didn't want to lose it.

Which is what saved my life. Just as I knelt to scrabble around at my feet for the bracelet, a wall of flame came blasting out of the darkness from our left, straight toward our heads.

Ryu hadn't been kidding about magical reflexes. His shields were up the moment the first tingle of magic hit us, a split second before the fire came. Unfortunately, his reflexes had yet to include me, and I had missed that lecture altogether. So when the blast hit, I was barely covered by the edges of his shield. Which stopped the majority of the fire; otherwise I would have been well cooked. But his shields didn't stop the sheer force of the power behind the flames.

I'd just managed to grab hold of the bracelet when I was launched into the air. I don't remember hitting the cement light pole that stopped me from hurtling into the pond, nor do I remember falling to the concrete ground of the bridge. But I do remember pain and I do remember smoke.

I also remember thinking I'd better learn me some reflexes, pronto.