Wicked Surrender (2 page)

Chapter Two

T
his was all some joke. It had to be. It was payback organized by Rome
,
and this whole charade would end with a camera crew jumping out at him say “aha!
”
Yeah, that was closer to reality than
vampires were
.

Fuck, his head throbbed like a disco club
,
any harder and Vera would hear it in the seat next to him and start dancing. Nah, she didn’t look like the dancing type. Even in her soft, floral dress that teased her knees, he knew she wouldn’t be some hardcore clubber type. Ballroom, waltzing, spinning around on the tips of her little feet, that’s where she’d be, and she’d looked just as elegant and posed as she did driving.

Jackson rubbed a hand over his face. There had to be something wrong with him. Sin
ce when did he go comparing wome
n’s clothing and dance styles? Yeah, never was the fucking answer. There must have been something in that barbeque. Damn if there wasn’t something about Vera Kategan that just tweaked his ass. The woman had the uncanny ability to make him feel like nothing more than scum on the bottom of her strappy little heels.

He really didn’t like that feeling. It was the same feeling he’d h
ad when he’d first entered the military
when he hit eighteen. The drill sergeant shouted in his face spraying spit with ever “sir”
and “at attention” he said. He’d
stood up to him, stared him back in the eyes, and screamed his part right back. He’d shown his drill sergeant he did indeed have a pair of balls
—
big ones in fact
. Even as he stood up his in sergeant’s face, he’d felt the cruel stabs of insecurity.
Could he get through this? What if he wasn’t strong enough? What if he tripped over his fucking feet while
doing PT
and sent the whole line tumbling down the fucking
hill?

Christ that woman had barely said ten words to him since they arrived in St. Louis and already he was anxious as a busybody old lady. He should be happy, hell, thrilled even. He wasn’t one for idle conversation. But dammit, women talked to him, loved talking to him, even if it was only to pull his cock out eventually. He used to hate it. His face was square and hard, his body strong and
lithe
. He had to keep it that way for his job.

When he was
younger,
he hated that he didn’t have to work to get laid. It was too easy. He almost felt like a cad taking it when it was offered.

Shit, he wasn’t any better now. He’d almost fucked Rome’s ex Sandra when he should have been on guard. God did he fuck up. He strove for perf
ection in his job. The instance with Sandra was the fuck up of his career. H
e still couldn’t believe he did that. Just thinking about it didn’t make
sense;
it must have been someone else who betrayed his friend to try to get some quick tail.

And what defense did he have? A pathetic one, that’s for sure. He hadn’t
known
Sandra was his ex fling, and he sure as shit didn’t know she was working with Conlin, and even if he had, it was no excuse. He never should have left
his post
. He’d fucked up royally, but he was 100% on board with fixing Rome and his’ relationship. The man had helped him when he’d still been in the dark
est
part of his life.

“God dammit, will you say something already?” Wow, smooth move Jacks. She glared at him, but whatever. It was basically her fault anyways. “Well?” he prompted, when she remained quiet.

“I didn’t have anything to talk about before, and I still don’t. Unless that is you want to talk about how much of a jerk you are.”

Jacks didn’t even try to hide it, he grinned big. Why the thought of pissing her off made him happy, he didn’t know, but that must be a very bad sign. “Why am I jerk?”

She looked at him, astonished. “Seriously?
‘
God dammit, blah blah blah blah.’ You don’t remember just saying that to me. It was a borderline growl and shout, by the way.”

He turned to look out the window so she wouldn’t see the laugh he was fighting. If only she wasn’t
her
then maybe he could stand her. But all it took was one look at her fancy dress,
shiny
shoes, and
pearl necklace
to know she was so not for him. He needed a woman who could comfortably eat at a burger shack, not five-star dining.
She'd probably eat five filet mignons
in one night
and clean him out of the bank in a week.
 

“Oh come on, saying that one line automatically makes me a dick?” A heavy, soft sigh followed his question. It made him wonder, no, no, couldn’t think about that.

“I didn’t say you were a dick, just a jerk, and yes,
growling at me
does automatically make you a jerk. Besides, I’ve been around you enough to know that you are in fact nothing but a jerk
—
and that’s putting it lightly. You should be thankful.” She didn’t quite mutter the words, but it was close.

“And what in your prissy little book has qualified me as a jerk exactly? It’s not like we’ve had deep conversations. I’ve seen you all of a handful of times, and lady, you’ve had your panties in a twist each time.” Her fingers dug so hard into the steering wheel he was
surprised
it didn’t bend.

She worked her jaw side to side before answering in a measured, quiet voice. “First off, you have no right to say something like that. I do not have my
panties
in a twist, and if they were then it’s none of your business
—
ever. Secondly, I know enough about you to know you’re a jerk. My God, you left my sister-in-law helpless to a
crazy
psychopath while you went and fucked my brother’s ex-girlfriend! How’s that
not
being a jerk?” Her words rose and rose until she was nearly shouting in the small confines of the car.

Vera shot a look at him to see his face completely shut down. The grin and bright eyes were gone, replaced instead by a cold mask that ate at her.
She’d
done that and she wanted to rip it off and put the stupid smile back on. Damn this man
,
why did he have to make everything difficult?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t
—
”

She was cut off with sharp shake of his head. They drove the rest of the way in silence. Vera hated to admit it, but she missed hearing him talk.

# # #

The vampire’s mansion lived up to its name
The Royal One
. It had
massive towering windows in the front adorned at the top by intricate arches pointing to the sky. Two black gargoyles coiled menacingly over the front door, taunting those who dared
to
enter.

For Vera, the house was a reminder, a reminder of the past she sorely didn’t want to dredge up.

A
s the massive front doors parted and out stepped a beautiful, hauntingly familiar face, Vera wished she’d given this trip a second thought. How had she thought this wouldn’t be hard? Seeing Dmetri Demidov was anything but easy.

A stodgy valet with a thick head of brown hair slicked back
from
his face waited for her to
pull to a
stop.

“Who is he?”

Vera
set the car in park and sighed
,
telling herself that she was the one who’d wanted to come here and do this, to get away from her happy brothers.

“That’s Henry. I don’t know his last name. He’s been the valet
here for years.”

“No. Who’s
that
?”
Uh oh. Jacks had just noticed Dmetri
—
her ex lover.

“That is...Dmetri.”

He shot a cutting look to her that spoke more than words. The look said he wasn’t an idiot. “He an old friend or what?”

“Um
—
” Vera sighed in relief
when
the Valet opened her door with a sweeping bow.
She hurried out of the car.
Jacks cursed and
got
out
after her
.

“You’re not getting out of this,” he said when he reached her; his voice was a lethal growl.

The fact that she shivered at
the sound of
his voice didn’t e
scape his notice. Eyes darkened
to a
seductive
light;
he watched her response like a predator catching whiff of prey. Vera’s breath caught in her throat and she had to
remind
herself that
she
was the predator
.

He’s only human.

“I shall park you
r car, my lady. Master Demi
dov will escort you to your room. I hope you have an enjoyable stay.”

She didn’t recall telling hersel
f to say thank you to the valet
but knew somewhere in the back of her mind that she did. Seeing Dmetri striding towards her sent her mind buzzing in a whirl.

Flashes of memory came back as if she’d been hiding them deep inside
her
the whole time
.
Their sweat-slicked bodies writhing against each other in the throes of passion, lips hanging together in a soft, teasing press. Their time together had been brief and so memorable that when she stared long enough at his mouth, she could practically remember their taste again.

His voice was just as she remembered, dark
and accented
with his Slavic decent
. “Vera, it’s so good to see you.” Even the way he said the words hinted of past times, a time when he’d whispered her name into her ea
r as he shuddered over her. Yet
strangely, seeing him, remembering their past brought not even a lick of warmth to her.
Instead,
it left her feeling cold. He was a reminder.
A reminder of pain and heartache.

“D
me
tri, it’s been a long time.” He kissed her on first one cheek then the other, lingering longer than customary. Jackson tensed and growled under his breath. It was soft but
she was certain both she and Dme
tri’s keen hearing picked up the sound.

“And who’s
this...human,” he asked
brushing a thick lock of his long
blonde
hair
over
his shoulder.

“I’m her guardian, Jackson Marsh.” He thrust out his hand and shook her ex l
over’s hand hard enough that Dme
tri’s hand was red when he pulled away.

Dme
tri’s smirk showed that he hadn’t missed a thing. “Vane called and said he wouldn’t be able to make it this year. How unfortunate. He
did say
he was sending a guardian but I assumed it was Roman or Dari
e
n.” He lifted one thick eyebrow and smirked.

Vera had dated him long enough to know what that smirk meant
—
he thought this was a joke. She suddenly had the urge to slap him and tell him that Jacks was a strong fighter and capable of being her guardian.