Текст книги "Born in Chains"

Автор книги: Caris Roane

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Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

* * *

“Get off me,” Lily said, her voice hoarse. How many times had she screamed while he’d brought her, but now she wanted him off her and out of her.

Adrien pulled out and flipped over on his back, throwing an arm over his forehead.

She turned on her side, away from him as a few tears leaked from her eyes, tears of dismay and rage that she’d enjoyed giving up her blood to a vampire, that she’d taken pleasure from his body repeatedly.

She hated herself for having been weak with him—but mostly she blamed the chains because from the first her attraction to him had worked on her, building her to the point that the moment he came at her needy and trembling, she’d lost her will to refuse him.

She should have insisted on a donor. He’d even suggested it and yet she’d remained mute, unable to tell him to get someone else. Her lack of willpower disgusted her. She wasn’t a person to give in so easily to lust and yet she had, almost as though the chains had stolen her ability to choose anything but him.

The tears tickled over the bridge of her nose. She swiped at her face, still breathing hard from the sheer gymnastic quality of the joining.

She felt the bed tip and shift and glanced over her shoulder.

Adrien had shifted to sit on the edge of the bed and now had his phone in hand.

She stared at his back, her vision warming up because of the chains, despite the lack of lighting in the room. He had bloody streaks where she’d scored him and the sight made her smile grimly, a small satisfaction that she’d hurt him, if only a little, while he’d plowed into her.

She watched Adrien’s shoulders rise and fall. He’d taken a deep breath. “I need to ask you something. Have you tried to use your tracking ability yet? Now that we’re chain-bound, that ability should start coming to life.”

Oh, that. “I tried it earlier. I have to say nothing much happened.” She explained about the sensation of tendrils leaving her.

“I’ve heard it described that way. Well, just keep trying at different times. I’m sure it’ll improve as we go along.” He was silent for a moment, then said, “I’m going to make a phone call to a man named Rumy, a friend, a good friend, though he’s well connected to our underworld. He owns a place called The Erotic Passage in the Como system, Italy, on the lake by the same name. I think it’s the right place to start. If anyone knows anything, it’ll be Rumy.” He was silent, his head bent as though staring at his phone. “Is that okay with you?”

“You’re asking my permission?”

He turned to look at her. She was surprised by how much better he looked. Her blood really had helped. “Neither of us is happy about our situation. I get that. But I want to get along with you. We’ll need to work together.”

“You’re right and yes, please call this Rumy person.”

He nodded and drew the phone in front of him, then after a moment to his ear.

“I need to talk to Rumy. Tell him it’s Adrien.” She couldn’t hear what the other person said, but she could feel Adrien’s sudden anger through the shared chain. “Get him on the damn phone or I’ll come over there and twist your head off that scrawny neck of yours.” Another pause, then, “That’s better. Thank you.”

Silence as he waited.

Rumy and The Erotic Passage. What a name for a club, but then what else should she have expected from a world of bloodsuckers.

After a moment, she heard Adrien talking quietly to the one he called Rumy. There was some laughter, chatting, queries about health, about the prison, a few jibes, the usual masculine nonsense.

Lily’s thoughts turned to Josh, and she lifted the chain to her lips. Josh, her firstborn, the last of her family. Was he truly alive? How many times had she wondered if Kiernan had somehow fabricated the phone call, using the memory of her son to manipulate her into taking on this mission?

But she couldn’t have mistaken her son’s voice. She would have known it anywhere. He’d called out, “Mom? Is that you? Mom!” He’d wailed after that.

She clapped her hands over her ears, trying not to hear that sound, a pitiful, bellowing wail. She had to get to him. Had to find him.

She heard Adrien sigh. Her desperate thoughts about Josh disappeared, and her present reality returned.

Adrien rose from the bed, flinging his phone onto the comforter. “You need to get cleaned up and dressed.” He walked to the bathroom, but the chain tugged, so she sat up, leaning toward him. Damn this chain for its short leash.

He reached inside the room and the next moment he flung a washcloth at her, which she put between her legs.

So far sex was just as messy with a vampire as with a human male, a thought that did nothing to ease her temper.

“You finished glaring at me?” he snapped.

“Sure, for now.” She lifted her chin. “What’s the plan? Does Rumy know where the weapon is?”

“No, but he suggested we check out a local Paris dive first.” He moved past the foot of the bed, snatched her clothes off the floor, and flung these at her as well.

“What are you so pissed about?” She put on her bra and shirt, then scooted to the end of the bed, her jeans now in her lap.

“Can’t I be angry, like you’re angry right now? Or do you suppose I can’t tell that you’re mad?”

“I think you just had sex and took some of my blood, so I don’t know what you have to complain about.”

“You enjoyed this.” He gestured with a slice of his hand toward the bed. “Your voice is still raspy from all the moaning and screaming.”

As she slid off the opposite side of the bed from where he stood, she turned to face him. “And I suppose you think I should be grateful to you for giving me a halfway decent ride.”

“Halfway decent?”

She lifted one brow then shrugged. She didn’t know why she was poking the bear, but he didn’t have to look so damn smug.

She moved in the direction of the bathroom only to have the chain give a tug because he stood too far away. She didn’t turn toward him as she said, “Will you please cut me some slack? Literally.”

“No.”

She stood bare-assed and humiliated, her jeans in her hands. The proximity that the chains required wouldn’t even allow her a decent exit. Lifting her chin, she pivoted in his direction and waited for him to move so that she could.

His eyes glittered in the dark, although her vision once more warmed up the space, an effect of the chains, and he stood in full, naked relief watching her keenly. “First, I don’t like this any more than you do and I suppose I don’t owe you this, but I was raised to have some manners, so here goes: Thank you for giving up your lifeblood to me. You may have just saved my life, and I have no doubt you kept me from a bout of painful blood-madness. Thank you.” His nostrils still flared and his jaw ground his molars a couple of times.

Lily fought back the words because she really didn’t want to say them, but they slipped past her lips anyway. “You’re welcome.”

“Fine. Now here’s the slack you wanted.” The moment he stepped in her direction, she turned and moved swiftly into the hall, then into the bathroom.

CHAPTER 4

Half an hour later Adrien’s temper had eased a little as he flew Lily slowly in the direction of the Paris club called La Nuit, or The Night. He was still angry that he’d been forced to use his captor for his blood-and-sex needs, and even more so because she was human. But the chains had made the whole aftermath worse because he’d felt her humiliation, which then triggered a sense of guilt about the whole damn thing.

As for La Nuit, the club had a bad reputation.

Hundreds of vampires around the world owned profitable businesses, open at night to serve the clubbing clientele and to give those vampires disposed to either having fun at a night scene, or tasting humans, the opportunity to do so.

Paris had a few clubs, running the gamut from chic to seedy. And there was at least one sex club he and his brothers had raided, freeing a number of human slaves each time.

A variety of enthrallment skills kept the vampire clubs below the radar. Adrien often marveled that more incidences of vampire world exposure didn’t occur given how much interaction there actually was between the species.

Adrien had never cared much for the human-oriented clubs, since he preferred his kind, but there were many vampires who’d acquired a taste for human blood and sought it regularly.

And he had to admit that after Lily’s blood, he understood why. He still didn’t get it totally, though. He’d tasted humans before, once as an experiment but more often than not when he was stuck out in the world, policing some extremist group, and couldn’t get back to his kind for days on end. So yeah, he’d tasted human blood, but between his prejudice against the greedy human race and the usually weak nature of the blood, he’d never once been tempted to go back.

Now all he could think about was sinking his fangs into Lily’s neck again, or into other more exotic regions, and taking her once more. Desire rippled through him, but he clamped it down. The damn chains would expose him if he kept it up.

He’d been furious with Lily after the blooding, but only because the whole experience had left him craving more.

And the bonding chains weren’t helping, because each hour he stayed bound to her, he grew more sensitive to what she was feeling at any given moment. Sure, she felt a mountain of rage against the vampire world, but laced through her fury ran ribbons of pure desire, something that happened just about every time she looked at him.

He wasn’t exactly surprised. He knew what he looked like and he pumped iron to keep himself fit, so he understood her interest in the same way that her toned body, narrow waist, and full breasts kept his cock in a state of inappropriate movement.

As he flew her slowly in the direction of La Nuit, therefore, he focused on what he might find at the club. He packed a Glock beneath his leather coat, along with a couple of fighting chains and a dagger. He was sufficiently armed, but his greater concern was for Lily, keeping her alive if things went south, remaining free enough to move given the short functioning length of the blood-chains.

He set up a disguising cloak as he dropped to earth in a darkened side street and set Lily to walking as soon as he touched down. He said in a low voice, “Movement helps give the impression we’ve been here as the disguise dissipates.”

“I figured.”

Well, she didn’t lack for intelligence. He’d give her that.

“You feel queasy or anything?” he asked, because he didn’t sense anything from her.

“My head hurts a little, but otherwise I’m fine.”

“Good. And remember, if this gets ugly—”

“I’ve got it, Adrien. I’m to find a place to hide, preferably beneath a table or something. But do you really think we’ll face fanatics at this place?”

The club he took Lily to catered to the darker elements of the city. Rumors of drugs and rival gangs made it the last place he’d usually take a woman, even a human.

His size helped. As he led Lily into the club, the crowd parted for him. He went straight to the bar and spoke to the bartender in French, asking to speak with Rumy’s friend Hardesty.

The bartender jerked his head to Adrien’s left. Across the room, Adrien saw a bouncer, similar in size to Adrien. Taking Lily’s hand, he wended his way through the smoky room and among about a dozen tall round tables until he stood chest-to-chest with a vampire he’d never met before.

“I need to see Hardesty. Rumy sent me.”

The bouncer glared, but extended his fist to the door he protected. He rapped three times with his knuckles, never once taking his eye off Adrien.

“Entrez.”

The bouncer opened the door and let them into another smoky room. Lily coughed and waved her hand through the air.

When the door closed, a tall thin man sat down in a chair near the fireplace but said nothing.

“Rumy said I should see you, that you might have information. Are you Hardesty?”

A slight inclination of the head. The vampire took a drag on a cigarette then released a thin stream of smoke. “What is the famous Adrien doing in my club? This is the kind of establishment you’re usually famous for shutting down.” His accent was British.

“I have no complaint with you, or any club that keeps our world safe. You’ve never crossed that line.”

“You and your brothers continue to perform this tireless service, but aren’t you weary of battling forces bigger than yourselves? Daniel owns the Council now, and I’ve always had the feeling he’s been intent on opening up our world to human interaction for a long time.”

“Daniel will only do what he believes will benefit him. Right now, I don’t think he’s prepared to go that far.”

Hardesty glanced past Adrien. “You have a woman with you. A human. That’s singular. Let me see her.”

“She is of no concern to you.”

But Hardesty’s gaze fell to the chain at Adrien’s neck. Though he had it tucked inside his shirt so that only a small portion showed, Hardesty laughed. “What has happened to you that you got bound to a human? Never mind. I see the whole thing unfolding in front of me because last I heard you and your brothers were hanging from Himalayan chains. Lucian and Marius still there?”

Adrien ground his back teeth together. He didn’t like or trust Hardesty, and he sure as hell didn’t want to get into a chat about his recent imprisonment. “I need information.”

Hardesty rose, pulling in a long drag as he did so. He moved to the side of the chair as well, farther into the room, his gaze fixed on Lily.

Adrien felt a growl form at the back of his throat. His breathing grew ragged. For a skinny bastard, Hardesty was being damn aggressive.

Hardesty lifted both hands. “Ease down, vampire. I only want to have a look. I guess the chains really do work, because I know how much you despise humans.”

Adrien stepped back beside Lily and slid his arm around her waist. The emotions that pummeled him right now, both his own and Lily’s, made it tough to concentrate. Maybe because her blood was inside him or maybe because he’d taken her to bed—but whatever the case, he hated the way Hardesty looked her over.

He felt her hand on his arm, gliding up and down. She turned into him; that much he registered. “Adrien, what’s going on with you?” He heard her voice, but he couldn’t make sense of what she’d said. He felt his fangs on his lower lips. What the hell was happening to him?

She got in front of him and placed her hands on his chest. “Hey! Can you hear me?”

He met her gaze, staring into her large hazel eyes. He might have blinked a few times; he wasn’t sure. “Lily?”

“You kinda got lost there for a minute. What’s with the fangs? Pull ’em in, would you? You’re kinda freaking me out here.”

Adrien kept looking at her, partly because she calmed him, partly because he didn’t want to look anywhere else. He focused on breathing. He had to do better than this or these primal, uncontrollable feelings would put them both in danger.

“I can get rid of those chains, if you want.”

Lily turned in Hardesty’s direction, but Adrien slipped his arms around her, drawing her closer still. She seemed to understand because she didn’t protest. “What’s involved?” she asked.

“About half a million dollars. You got that kind of money?”

Lily nodded.

She did? Adrien’s hold on her relaxed.

Hardesty smiled. “Anytime you bring me the money, I can break the bond on the chains.”

Adrien felt relief swell through Lily so profound that it left him dizzy. “I want nothing more than that,” she said. “But for now, Adrien and I have to stick together.”

At that, Hardesty paced in front of his chair, still smoking. He looked like the kind of vampire who never put a cigarette down.

“So you’re after something else, then. Rumy only sends me vampires in trouble, but it will cost you, whatever it is that you need from me.”

“We need information about the extinction weapon.”

At that, Hardesty grew very still, including the ever-moving cigarette. Only his gaze shifted, from one to the next then back to finally land on Adrien. “You want to know the whereabouts of the rumored weapon? You? Doesn’t make sense.” He started pacing, smoking, and continuing to talk, “Unless of course you’re under duress. That can be the only reason. Daniel?”

Adrien said nothing. As did Lily.

“I wouldn’t give up my reasons, either. So what’s in it for me?”

“How much do you want?” Lily asked.

“More than you can give.”

“I’ve got a lot.”

“Have you got half a billion?”

“What?”

Adrien tensed up. Something wasn’t right here. Once more he pulled Lily up against him, but this time kept his right hand free to retrieve his Glock. “What are you talking about, Hardesty? How the hell is anyone giving you half a billion?”

Hardesty laughed. “Wishful thinking. I’d love half a billion. I’d retire to an island somewhere. The weather here has been dreadful this fall. So much rain in Paris.”

“So do you know anything about the extinction weapon or not? Rumy seemed to think you might know something.”

“What I know is pitifully small, about experiments done here, in at least one of the French cavern systems, in the north I think, a few decades ago. An accident left about half a dozen scientists dead so the Council shut down the whole operation, the papers burned, the equipment destroyed.”

“What kind of accident?” Lily asked.

Hardesty shrugged. “I’ve never gotten any details. But there is one thing I’ve wanted to say to you, Adrien, for a long time. My animosity toward you isn’t personal, but I have resented the policing work you and your brothers do.”

Adrien glanced around the room and made several swift calculations: no windows, one door at the back, possible shielding to prevent altered flight through the walls.

“What’s going on?”

“That half a billion I mentioned? Ownership in an Arizona casino, something new we’re doing in the States, but it will involve some specialists, human, if you catch my drift. My partners will be glad for this night’s work, and I’m going to have to send Rumy a thank-you card for accidentally sending you to me.”

He couldn’t quite read Lily’s emotional state, but she turned into him and half sobbed, half cried out as she slid her hand beneath his coat.

The door behind Adrien opened. He turned and saw the original bouncer enter with another big vampire. He watched as they reached for their weapons. Simultaneously, he slid his hand down his thigh and withdrew a dagger. If Lily hadn’t decided to get hysterical, he could have reached for his Glock.

He took her with him as he backed up against the wall. When he saw a knife and two guns, he spun Lily around so that his body would have a chance to protect her once the gunfire started.

Everything happened so fast.

He heard the shots, one after the other, at least thirteen rounds in quick succession. He expected to feel the bullets slam into his back. Instead, he felt Lily pushing at his chest. At least she’d stopped screaming.

Turning around, however, he couldn’t figure out what had happened. He saw that both the bouncers and Hardesty were down. Two of them still moaned. The newest vampire lay still with his eyes wide open, pupils dilated, blood coming out of his mouth.

He glanced down at Lily, who now saw what he realized was her handiwork. “Wait, you did this?”

“Yeah, I just had this feeling and went with it. But I think you’d better get us out of here. Now.”

Shock held him immobile for about two more seconds. He tested his ability to pass through the door, or any other wall, but he couldn’t. He reached down and pulled the dead vampire away from the door.

He shoved Lily through then followed after.

The club was small and he had to get outside and into the air quickly, before reinforcements arrived.

He turned toward the back hall and, pulling Lily against him, flew toward the back door. Once there, he kicked it wide and without looking back flew into the night sky, making a hard right, then spiraling high.

Lily hugged him hard. She shook, and his speed caused her pain, he could feel it.

Once they had passed above the Eiffel Tower and were nearly back to his apartment, he slowed down. He heard Lily moaning. Damn altered flight. Damn weak human.

He passed through his building, back into the hallway outside the bathroom.

As soon as he touched down, she dropped the Glock, ran to the toilet, and threw up.

He took off his coat and saw the bullet holes. She’d made Swiss cheese of some really fine, expensive leather. He had to admit, she’d been smart about the business because she’d caught all three vampires by complete surprise. He’d dropped his dagger the moment he’d turned to protect her with his body.

Without thinking, he started to head to his office to reload the Glock, but the chain snagged him and Lily cried out, “Hey. I can’t move yet.”

“Sorry,” he called back.

He returned to sit down on the carpet outside the hall, setting the gun beside him. He pulled his knees up and rested his elbows on top but ended up with his head in his hands.

His world, his goddamn disorganized world. Lily had saved them both tonight with her smart shooting and quick thinking. With that much firepower aimed at him, he’d probably be dead, she’d be dead, and that would have been the end of the story.

Lily appeared next to him, wiping her face.

He looked up at her. “How’s the head?”

She nodded. “More like a cantaloupe split into two parts instead of merely exploded. I guess that’s better.”

He stared at her wondering who the hell she was. “You saved our asses back there. I owe you one.”

She met his gaze. “I wish we’d gotten more information than what Hardesty delivered.”

“You still intend to go forward with this, even after almost getting killed?”

She met his gaze, her lips clamped together for a long moment, before responding. “Sure, why not?”

“You said something back there that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Hardesty asked how much you had and you said a lot.”

She didn’t look at him as she responded, “Kiernan has a lot, but he wouldn’t pay half a billion.”

Adrien took hold of her wrist. “You have money, don’t you?”

“I have some.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Then, why?”

“None of your goddamn business, vampire.”

Adrien frowned at her. He could tell she was lying about something, but what? Then again when it came to humans and greed, lying was part of the bargain.

“I need my clothes,” she said. “My soap, shampoo. I can tell this little journey of ours is going to get messier by the second. Any chance I can get some of my stuff brought here from India?”

He stood up and pulled his cell out of his pocket. He made a phone call then glanced at Lily. “From the campsite?”

She nodded. “Everything.” Then, “Please.”

After he gave his instructions, he said, “You’ll have your things in about half an hour. In the meantime—”

“Food,” she said. “I can see how this is going to unfold for us and I’m starved. How about you? Oh, wait, you already had your meal.” Her sarcasm dripped.

He returned her glare but he didn’t rise to the bait. He searched her gaze because he couldn’t believe she’d just been in a shoot-out but seemed so calm.

He touched the chain at his neck and frowned at her. What he sensed was something like a profound determination to see her mission through, no matter what. For this split second, despite his general dislike of humans, he almost respected her.

Maybe he didn’t understand her motivations, maybe she had some serious debts to pay, he didn’t know, but she’d shown cool under pressure, she’d gotten them both out of an impossible situation alive, and instead of falling apart, she pressed on, asking only for food.

He led the way to the kitchen. Some of his staff had been by while they’d taken their jaunt to La Nuit. He had cheese, fruit, and bread in the fridge, so he pulled them out and set them on the counter.

Lily took up a bar stool and started to eat.

She didn’t say anything, she didn’t look at him, she just scowled at something unseen and chomped on slices of apple.

* * *

Lily ate in silence. She felt no particular need to make small talk with a vampire. Anyway, she doubted Adrien would want to talk and she sure as hell didn’t feel like it.

She’d almost died tonight but felt strangely disconnected from that fact except for one thing, of course: her son.

The moment those two vampires had come into the room, guns in hand, she knew exactly what she meant to do and had positioned her hand on Adrien’s Glock, all the while feigning a full-blown freak-out.

She’d been right that her squeals and sobs would distract the men, including Adrien, long enough to fire a few shots. Adrien turning her into the wall had been the perfect maneuver since she could fire through his coat without alerting either of the assailants.

She glanced at him now. He cut a slab of cheese, laid it on a slice of French bread, and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. She was still surprised to see a vampire eating regular food. His gaze skated past her, into the living room. He appeared to be thinking hard, maybe about their next move.

“Wait a minute, why did you turn your back to the room?”

He glanced at her, brows lifted. “To shield you. It was an instinctive response, but useless. Given the nature of the blood-chains, if I’d died, you would have as well.”

“So you didn’t turn because I had your gun?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t know you’d taken it.”

“Huh.” She bit off another piece of apple and popped it in her mouth.

Josh liked apples and hated pears, couldn’t stand the grainy feel of them in his mouth. Two years had passed. What had he eaten in that time? What had he been doing? Had he been cared for well enough? Kiernan had said that Josh had a caregiver, a human woman, so apparently he’d wanted Josh in one piece, but why? Of all the children in their neighborhood who had been killed that night, why had her son been spared, and provided with a caregiver?

This was the big question she’d been unable to answer. She was almost positive that taking Josh hadn’t been random. She felt the purposefulness of it in every cell of her body.

Adrien reached forward and grabbed her wrist. “What are you thinking about? Right now? You feel sad to me.”

She released a heavy sigh and pulled her arm away from him. “That my son liked apples.”

“I’m sorry that your family died.”

She glanced up at him, chewing slowly. “It doesn’t change that vampires killed them.”

“No. It doesn’t.”

“Why are you staring at me?”

“I’m trying to understand you, that’s all.”

She shrugged and cut a chunk of cheese, sliding it onto her tongue from the back of her knife. “What’s the plan from here? I’m not sure I’d trust Rumy again, if I were you.”

“He wouldn’t have known what Hardesty was up to, but a casino in Arizona?”

“Your world seems hell-bent on exposing itself to my world. And it sure doesn’t seem to like you very much.”

“No, not much, at least not the parts intent on illegal and reprehensible transactions.”

She snorted.

“Oh, that’s right. We’re vampires, so there can’t be anything decent about my world.”

“Pretty much.”

“What do you base that on?”

“Oh, let’s see. Your pal Daniel, who’s been selling off property that belongs to your kind, Hardesty is a real peach, and you’ve already said that Rumy knows every slimy element to be found between Italy and Shanghai and all the way to New York. I have yet to meet a vampire I could admire. Then there’s you, happily demanding my blood like it belongs to you, but that’s a quality I’ve come to expect from your kind: Take, then maybe ask questions later.”

He cut another slab of cheese, planted it on more sourdough, and shoved it in his mouth. After chewing and swallowing he said, “You screamed a few times, if I remember, and you weren’t exactly in pain.”

She offered a half smile as she said, “Just like a man to make a big deal about his cock when he hasn’t got much else to offer.”

He rounded the bar and before she knew what he meant to do, he’d hauled her off her seat and pulled her against him. She tried to push out of his arms, but he was too damn strong. He started sucking on her neck and grinding his hips into her.

Damn the vampire!

The chain vibrated heavily against her throat. She could feel his desire like flames against her skin, and his lust ignited her own. But she struggled against all the sensations—of her incomprehensible desire for him, her lust, her need, which seemed to be multiplying as each hour met the next.

When he kissed her, she bit his lower lip, drawing blood.

He drew back, but his eyes had darkened and instead of releasing her, he settled in on her neck again, suckling and plucking, licking along her vein.

At some point her hands stopped pushing at him and instead her fingers kneaded the flesh of his arms, tugging at his biceps that flexed at her touch. He plastered himself against her, his hips undulating slowly. Her breathing grew shallow and her eyes closed; maybe they rolled back in her head.

When he kissed her this time, she let him, despite the blood on his lips.

His tongue dove deep as he rocked his pelvis against hers, the hard length of his cock rolling over her flesh, working her into a frenzy. Her moans filled the air.

She hated him, but she wanted him desperately.

She was about to suggest they return to the bedroom when he let her go. She fell back, almost making it onto the stool, but because her limbs had loosened she slid off and fell to the floor, landing on her butt.

She sat there, looking up at him.

He lifted a harsh eyebrow. “And sometimes, human, a cock is the only thing a woman wants.”

He rounded the bar. As she rose to her feet, she watched him slap another slab of cheese on yet another slice of bread and stuff the whole thing in his big fat mouth.

Damn vampire.

* * *

Adrien washed up the plates, packed up the fruit, cheese, and bread, all while Lily sat on her stool and glared at him.

He ignored her. He hoped he’d made his point that for all her complaints about his kind, she wanted him.

The trouble was, he ran hot for her as well, hotter than made any logical sense despite the blood-chains they shared. If she glared, he responded in kind, because the last thing he wanted was to desire his captor.

The chains, essentially, had become a nightmare of sensation. He felt worn out, and the hour was just a few minutes past midnight. And they still had work to do.