Wicked Fantasy (6 page)

Her heart pounded out a rhythm of disbelief. This wasn't happening. She couldn't take two life-altering events within two years. After all, there were people out there who'd never even had one. She'd share with them. “How do I know you're not just a guy with a crazy delusion?”

“Go back and read your family's history. The curse is in there. If that doesn't convince you, look up the family of Mick Kavanagh in San Diego. I'll give you their address. They can identify me.” For just a moment, his gaze seemed to soften. “I'm real, Gerry. Guess we're stuck with each other for the duration.”

Her mind raced back and forth in a random pattern of complete panic. It paused for a moment at a minor detail. “You don't sound Irish. What happened to your accent?”

Gerry thought she saw a flicker of sadness in those eyes. Then it was gone. “I lost it a long time ago.”

She got the feeling he was talking about a lot more than just his accent.

“I haven't seen Ireland in seven centuries. None of the Kavanaghs I served cared about revisiting the past.”

Great. Just freaking great. Stuck for the rest of her existence with a spectacular man who hated her and wanted her dead. “So if I die without having kids, you'll be free of the curse?”

“Yeah, that's how it shakes out.”

Oh, shit. “About the dying part. Uh, that could be a problem.”

“Why?” His expression said she wouldn't dare not die after her allotted years on this earth.

She smiled, exposing her fangs.

“I'm a vampire.”

“Vampire.” A sense of inevitability settled over Conall. Only the self-discipline of 800 years kept him from tearing the room apart in his fury. He'd probably be following her around until the earth exploded. No, it wouldn't end even then. They'd have space travel by that time, and she'd escape to another planet. He was doomed.

“Don't feel any obligation to go into serve and protect mode. I mean, I pretty much take care of myself.” Her glance skittered around the room. “Maybe when I entered Live the Fantasy I crossed over into an alternate universe, because what's happened tonight is bizarre even by my standards.” She met his gaze. “If Morrigan drops in for a report, I'll just tell her I gave you a few centuries off, so everything's cool.”

And that was supposed to make him happy? “It doesn't work that way. I
have
to serve and protect you. I'll move a bed in here so I—”

“Nope. Not going to happen. I don't need you to protect me. I'm a vampire for crying out loud.” She looked desperate. “You can't possibly expect to hang around messing with my life for the rest of my existence.”

“I can, and I will.” He hoped she read stubborn in his expression. “This isn't open to negotiation. If I don't follow through with Morrigan's plan, she'll make me pay. I can't escape the curse, so I'll damn well make it as comfortable as possible.”

Curiosity warred with panic in her eyes. “What will she do if you just say no?”

“When men and women go to war, Morrigan chooses who'll live and who'll die. She has a low tolerance for people who cross her, and I ticked her off big-time when I killed Sean. If I ‘just say no,' she'll kill my descendants who're in the military one at a time. And after eight hundred years I have lots of descendants.”

“In the military?”

“She's a war goddess. She has power over anyone who picks up a weapon to fight for their country.”

“I see.” A line formed between her eyes as she thought.

Cute. No, not cute.
Definitely
not cute. Nothing about a Kavanagh could ever be cute.

She frowned. “Wait. If you have tons of descendants, how could I be the last of the Kavanaghs? Common sense says that Sean's descendants would increase rather than decrease.”

Conall shrugged. “Don't know. Over the years, they just disappeared. I only have to protect the oldest one. The Kavanaghs I served died of old age. Morrigan thought I might be getting rid of the others, but she could never find any proof. Hey, it was all good to me.” He knew his grin was unrepentant.

“They disappeared?” As she thought about that, she gripped her lower lip with her teeth. When she released her lip, the wet sheen of it distracted him. “That sounds suspicious.”

“I guess.” Who cared what happened to them? “Your ancestors did some stupid stuff. Took after Sean.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I've had it with you insulting my ancestors. From the little I remember,
you
were the super-jerk in this whole family saga.”

That did it. To hell with her tempting lips and curvy little ass. “We'll talk about it tomorrow when you're more rational.” He strode to the door and left before she could launch a counterassault. Once in the dark hallway, he paused to think.

Maybe he should be thankful all the previous Kavanaghs he'd had to protect were men. The Kavanagh men instantly saw the benefit to them. A Kavanagh man would've told him to sleep on the couch while he figured out how Conall could make him money or kill his enemies. Not that he'd done any enemy killing lately. The last time he got to use his sword was when he'd cut Mick Kavanagh's wedding cake. Mick Kavanagh had been a boring man. But at least he'd had the decency to die childless.

Conall eyed the room next to Gerry's, the one on the other side from Jinx's. It had a connecting door. It would have to do for now. He didn't intend to sleep on the floor outside her door like a lethal Not Welcome mat. He'd put a stop to that kind of crap centuries ago.

The room was occupied, so he'd have to get rid of the guest first. If he went upstairs to Holgarth, the wizard would give him a hard time. Conall didn't have the patience for that tonight. He knocked on the door.

A male vampire answered. Conall offered him an apologetic smile. “Hate to disturb you, but we just found out that a group of insane vampire-hating scientists sabotaged your room. You're not going to believe this, but the damn crazies sprayed the room with spores.”

The vampire looked outraged. “See, I knew there was a reason why my allergies were acting up.” Then he seemed to think about how that sounded. “Sure, we're not supposed to have allergies, but that's a crock. Good thing I brought my nasal spray.”

Okay, so nutty humans made nutty vamps. “Problem is, when these spores touch a vampire's cock . . .” Conall shrugged and tried to look regretful. “They dig in and start growing.”

“
Dig
in? Start
growing
?” The guy's eyes widened. “I brought antibacterial spray. Will that help?”

Good grief. “Don't think so. They're spray resistant. The crappy part is they live off your cock until one day you look down and its gone. The last vamp that stayed here has two inches left, and it's shrinking fast.”

“Two inches?”
His voice was a horrified squeak.

Conall paused for effect. “And it doesn't grow back.” Then he softened it with an encouraging smile. “It's not all bad, though. The spores have little pink flowers. Pretty. The castle takes complete responsibility, of course.”

The vamp slapped a protective hand over the area in question.

Conall hoped to God the guy didn't have a spray to make cocks grow back. He put on his really concerned expression. “You just checked in tonight, so unless you ran around naked, you're probably okay. I'll move you to another room so we can kill any spores still in there.”

Conall leaned against the doorjamb as the vamp rushed back into his room and started throwing clothes into his suitcase. Within minutes he was out in the hallway again.

Conall didn't have to bother settling the guy into a new room, though, because once in the hallway, the vamp kept on going. He raced up the stairs, and before Conall could even remind him to check out, he was gone. Oh well. Maybe he wouldn't mention this to Holgarth. Conall transferred what he needed from his old space. Then he tried to relax with his football game.

A short time later he gave up on the game. He couldn't keep his thoughts from the damn Kavanagh next door—without her jeans, without her top, with only that luscious bare body pressing against his . . . He let his head fall back against the couch and closed his eyes.
Hell.

 

 

How do I hunger? Let me count the ways.
What do you know, her poetry class in college hadn't been wasted. Gerry spent two hours just sitting on her bed trying to come to terms with Conall O'Rourke. What would she do with him?

Fine, so she knew what she'd
like
to do with him. She wanted that muscular chest bared so she could skim her fingers across his nipples, slide her palm over smooth warm male flesh, and slip her hand beneath the edge of his pants to discover . . . Uh-uh, couldn't and wouldn't go there.

Better to concentrate on the other hunger. She'd perfected the sip-and-run technique. She'd sidle up to her pick on the menu—always a great-looking guy; if you were going to dine, dine well—lean into his neck, and bite.

Gerry didn't recall too much about the vampire who'd made her, but thank heavens she'd evidently inherited his ability to wipe away a human's memory of any neck nips just by the act of biting. It must be a chemical in her saliva or something. A big, fat yuck, but it came in handy. Besides, it was sort of cool to have a forget-me power.

And because she still had the whole human conscience thing going on, she only fed a little from each person. Ergo, she had to hit an appetizer, entrée, and dessert before she was satisfied. At least she didn't have to feed every night anymore. Twice a week kept her happy. Maybe as she grew older, she could stretch it to once a week. A vampire could hope.

Sighing, she gave in to her need and headed for the door. Too bad she had to stay near Jinx. That meant she'd have to feed from several someones in Live the Fantasy. She was lucky the park stayed open all night. There would still be people around.

Once in the hallway, she hurried toward the stairs and light. Sure, with her enhanced senses she could see a lot better than when she'd been human, but dark was still dark. As a child, she'd pulled the covers over her head to escape the ghosts, goblins, and ghouls who came out to play at night. She'd chosen to believe the monsters couldn't yank off the blankets to get to her. Now, even as a bona fide night-scary herself, she feared the darkness. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Gerry was so intent on reaching the stairs she almost didn't hear the footsteps behind her. She whirled just in time to see Conall grab Jinx by his shirt and lift him into the air, where he dangled helplessly. Jinx still gripped the lamp base he'd hoped to use to bash in her head.

Conall ignored Jinx's useless flailing as he stared at Gerry. “This is why you need me. I can't believe you let him sneak up on you. Any experienced vampire would . . .” He narrowed his eyes as a thought struck him. “When were you made?”

She
hated
telling him. “Two years ago.” Now he'd use the information as a weapon.

Conall didn't disappoint. “Two freaking years?” He laughed derisively. “You'll be lucky if you survive another year.”

He paused. Gerry read the open conflict in his eyes. Her survival wasn't a desired goal of the Conall who wanted the curse to end. But he was also committed to protecting her Kavanagh behind. Her sudden deep sadness surprised Gerry. It wasn't fun knowing someone wanted you dead.

The moment ended as he continued to point out her stupidity. “The problem with young vamps is they feel invulnerable. They don't realize that once they turn, every crazy in the universe will be out to get them. And taking a head isn't too tough for a dedicated wacko. Wake up and smell the danger, lady.”

She tried to ignore her voice of reason that thought he had a good point. “Give me a break, O'Rourke. Jinx wasn't going to kill me with a lamp. He just would've made me mad.” She turned her anger on the unfortunate shifter. “That was really stupid, Jinx. What was the purpose?”

Conall finally set the shape-shifter down, but kept hold of his shirt. The glance Jinx threw Conall said he thought this guy was one scary dude.

Then Jinx glared at Gerry. She evidently wasn't about to share scary status with Conall anytime soon. “I wanted to knock you out so I could search you for the remote, or whatever thing controls this damned chip in me.”

Gerry sighed. This was going to be a long few days. “You would've knocked me out for nothing. The key is up here.” She tapped her head. “The ‘remote' is my brain. Each chip is calibrated to be in sync with the brain waves of the officer using it. I'd have to think you free. Not going to happen until we get to Hobby Airport.”

“What's at Hobby Airport?” Conall released Jinx and then stared him back into his room. He waited until Jinx slammed his door shut before turning back to Gerry.

“A plane to take us to the middle of nowhere in west Texas where the prison for paranormal entities is.” Damn Jinx for giving Conall the ammunition he needed to proclaim her the witless wonder of the vampire world. Now he could justify tagging along with her for the rest of the night. “It's below ground, so no one is likely to spot it.”

Conall looked dutifully impressed. “I've never heard of a prison for nonhumans.”

She couldn't help her twinge of pride. “It's the first of its kind. Out-of-control beings give all of us a bad name.”

“Sure.” His gaze sharpened. “Where're you headed?”

“To feed.” Would that gross him out? Would he leave her alone?

He nodded. “I'll go with you. Make sure you pick a woman. A man could hurt you.”