Hungers of the Heart Page 18

  Charles hardened his heart, realizing that Brigitte was right. He could be useful to her. And it would make sense for her to keep him happy by giving him Lily. La Vieille might make him Seigneur in Ar­mand’s place, but Charles had never hungered for that kind of power. If he could have Lily, at least he would have saved one innocent life. Even if saving hat life came at a terrible price.

  “Very well,” he said. “Louis will not live to see an­other sunset.”

  “I’m delighted to hear that. We’ll talk again later, I’m sure. Have a lovely day.”

  The line went dead, and Charles gently lowered the phone. Trying his best not to think about what he was doing, or how far he’d fallen, he slipped out of his room and padded down the hail, then up the stairs to the third floor, where Louis slept.

  ***

  It WAS AFTER sunset when Armand woke and real­ized something was wrong. His limbs still felt heavy, his mind sluggish with the remains of the daylight sleep—even though he usually awoke hours before sunset—and it took a while for him to discern the cause of that feeling of wrongness.

  He came fully awake and let out a stream of curse when he realized he no longer sensed Louis in Ii head. There was only one reason why he should unable to sense his fledgling—Louis was dead.

  An additional jolt of adrenaline rushed throw him, and he reached out with his senses, holding his breath until he found Faith’s psychic footprint. Relief washed over him, but it lasted only until he realiz­ed that she was not alone.

  He gritted his teeth when he recognized Drake’ psychic footprint beside her. Jealousy flooded veins, and a white-hot anger filled his senses as he remembered standing outside that door last night, listening to Faith forgive Drake’s every sin, listening her make excuses for behavior she would have condemned in Armand. It had taken every scrap of will not to burst through that door and tear her from the bastard’s arms. The image of the two of them together had haunted him as he’d tried to sleep, even when his mind had slipped into unconsciousness, he’d been plagued by dreams.

  Since he’d begun his dalliance with Marie, he’ gone at least three months without taking Faith bed and had never felt particularly deprived. Bi then, she had still been there, a fixture in his life— with no other man daring to sniff around her skirts.

  Armand let out a sigh of frustration. Louis dead, and here he was mooning over a woman whose heart would never be his. For years, he had mastered her body, but never her heart. He hadn’t realized un­til now that the lack had bothered him.

  About Louis’s death, he felt next to nothing. Once upon a time, Louis had been one of his favorites, which was why Armand had brought him along in his foolish hope to protect him from La Vieille. But he had to admit that something inside him was shifting, changing. His sense of hope was dying, and a part of him had already started to let go.

  Compared to the fate awaiting the rest of the dele­gation, Louis was lucky to be dead.

  Furious, exhausted, filled with despair, Armand headed to the shower and hoped he could gather the shreds of his self-control before he had to face any­one. If he couldn’t, he might not be able to stop him­self from killing Drake tonight out of sheer spite. And though Faith might hate him for it even more than she already hated him now, he wasn’t entirely sure it wouldn’t be worth it.

  The.. steam and hot water that should have been soothing served only to further narrow his focus and hone his fury. Even with Louis dead, Armand could think of nothing else except the image of Faith open­ing her legs, and maybe even her heart, for Drake. His hands curled into fists at his sides and he choked on a cry of rage.

  And then, everything suddenly became clear in his mind. The difference between himself and Drake, at least in Faith’s eyes. She’d seen Drake lose his tem­per last night, seen him driven to violence by his hunger. But she’d seen Armand do far worse. Hell, she’d experienced far worse from Armand. She km Drake was a Killer, knew he wasn’t the paragon benevolence he pretended to be. But knowing something and seeing it were two very different things.

  Armand knew Drake was hungry, though he didn’t understand why the idiot didn’t just go out and feed. If Drake wouldn’t hunt, perhaps Armand could bring the food to him. His lips curled into a feral smile. knew exactly what would happen when a hi vampire came into contact with a helpless, wounded mortal. And if Faith were to witness the reality Drake’s nature, the clouds would be stripped from h eyes, and she would see him for the Killer he was.

  ***

  FAITH WOKE TO the sound of the shower running She stretched and yawned, a silly grin tugging at corners of her mouth.

  The room was almost pitch dark, the heavy black curtains blocking out all but the tiniest sliver of cit lights. She rubbed her gritty eyes, then sniffed the and found the scent of sex. The seductive smell a bolt of arousal straight to her center, and she rolled her eyes at herself. When had she become such a nympho?

  The answer was easy: since she’d started having sex that touched something other than just her body.

  But no. She couldn’t allow herself to think way. Privately, she could admit to herself that she an emotional connection to Drake, something that went beyond the physical. But she couldn’t allow that emotion to rule her. Not when in all likelihood she would be forced to leave Baltimore in the near future.

  More awake now, she remembered that she had come to Drake’s room last night not with the inten­tion of sleeping with him, but with the intention of begging him to help her spirit Lily away. Somehow, she’d never gotten around to asking him. She would have to remedy that soon. For all she knew, tonight could be her last chance. La Vieille was not famous For her patience, and everything had been going so dreadfully wrong since the moment they’d set foot in Baltimore. How long would they have before the witch ordered them to return to face an unimaginable punishment?

  She heard Drake turn off the shower, and the thought of him naked and scrubbed clean, with beads of water trickling down his chest, derailed her train of thought completely. When moments later he emerged from The bathroom with a towel wrapped around his hips, her fangs instantly descended, and desire filled her mind.

  Drake stood in the bathroom doorway, crossing his arms over his chest and grinning as he watched her watch him.

  “You look like you have evil plans for me’ he teased.

  Unquestionably true. But she shook her head to try to dispel the fog of lust. As much as she might want him right now, sex couldn’t be her first priority. Re­membering Armand’s threat about what would happen to Lily, to them all, if their mission failed, she man­aged to tame the raging of her blood.

  Drake sensed her change of mood and came to sit on the edge of the bed. He was careful to keep the towel modestly wrapped around him, but it wasn’t exactly lying flat. Faith’s hormones acted up again, but she beat them back down.

  His fingers twined with hers, and though there was no missing his continued arousal, he spoke mildly.

  “What are you thinking that has you looking so serious?”

  She took a deep breath. “I have an enormous favor to ask of you.”

  He kept his hold on her hand, but she could see walls springing up around his emotions as the ex­pression in his eyes went blank. “I’m not telling you where Gabriel is. I don’t know the answer, and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. I’m sorry.”

  Faith jerked her hand out of his grip, anger flush­ing her cheeks. “You think I’m still trying to seduce information out of you? You think that’s why I slept with you last night?” Hurt and anger warred in her chest, and if she weren’t naked she might have made a sprint for the door.

  Drake sighed and bowed his head. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “That was unfair of me.”

  Faith clamped her jaw shut and put a muzzle on her temper. What right did she have to bite his head off? She might not be planning to ask him for Gabriel’s location, but she was still asking a favor af­ter sleeping with him. It was a similar form of emo­tional blackmail, and once
upon a time she’d never have imagined she’d sink so low.

  “No,” she murmured. “I’m the one being unfair. Asking you for favors on the morning after, so to speak, then snapping at you for questioning my mo­tives.”

  Drake took her hand again, fingers twining with hers in a way that made her throat ache. She couldn’t bear to look at him. When she’d come to his bed last night, she hadn’t given a second thought to how her behavior would look the next day. Now she won­dered how she could have been so naïve.

  Drake’s fingers tightened on hers, a reassuring squeeze that felt like an anchor when she was in dan­ger of being swept away.

  “Tell me what favor you wanted to ask’ he said. “I can’t promise anything, and my first responsibility has to be the Guardians, but if I can help you, I will. hope you know that?’

  She forced a smile as she met his eyes. “I know.” She swallowed hard around the painful lump in her throat. “Armand will never leave me and Lily un­guarded. But he might leave Lily in the house when he goes hunting for Henri again. If there’s any chance you or one of your Guardians could get her out. .

  Drake frowned. “And do what with her? She’s not a vampire, so it’s not like she’s a candidate to go to Philly and join the Guardians there.” Faith opened her mouth to protest, but Drake cut her off. “Besides, the Seigneur would know we helped her, and I have a feeling he’d be able to persuade someone to tell him where we’d taken her. I don’t have firsthand experience with how strong his glamour is, but I have reason to suspect he’d be able to drag an answer of anyone, even me, if he wanted to badly enough.”

  Faith knew that was true, but the image of lying naked and asleep on the hotel bed suddenly flashed in her mind. She remembered thinking helpless he’d been at that moment, how easy it v be to put a gun to his head and pull the trigger.

  At the time, she’d still had the whole entourage to get through, even if she managed to kill Armand. only Charles and Louis remained. The Guardians could take Louis, who was the youngest of Armand’s fledglings now that Marie was dead, and she dl Charles had the kind of ferocity necessary to interrogate anyone effectively. -

  “He couldn’t drag an answer out of anyone if he was dead,” she said, her voice calm even as she contemplated murder.

  Drake regarded her steadily, his face giving nothing away. “What are you saying?” he asked.

  She swallowed hard. “If you get me a gun hide it in his room while he’s out hunting t Then when he comes back, I can…go to him. You can get Lily to safety while he’s distracted. Then afterward, I can shoot him.” While he lay helpless sated and totally unaware of his danger.

  “No!” Drake barked immediately.

  “Why not?”

  Drake calmed himself with a visible effort. “Let me count the ways. One, it’s way too dangerous for you. Two, you’d still be leaving a child with no resources on her own in the streets. And three…” His voice died and he looked away. “Three’ he started again more softly, “I really don’t want you in his bed?’

  There was a warm glow in her chest at that admis­sion “I don’t want to be there, either’ she admitted. “But if that’s the only way I can keep him away from Lily, then I’ll do it. She deserves the chance to lead as normal a life as possible, given the circumstances. And she’s resourceful. Worst case is she goes into foster care somewhere. That has to be better than life with Armand. Eventually, he’s going to turn her and make her into his—” She couldn’t say it, could hardly even bear to think it.

  Drake’s jaw visibly worked. “I understand. And I’ll do whatever I can to help. But not this.”

  She clutched his arm, pleading with him with her eyes. “What if it’s the only way?”

  He cupped her cheek in his palm, and she closed eyes to revel in the caress even as desperation continued to claw at her.

  “Are you sure you could do it?” he asked softly. ‘Shoot him in cold blood?”

  She nodded without opening her eyes. “I won’t like it, but I’ll do it. I want Lily safe, and she won’t be until he’s dead. If I have to be the one to send him to Hell, then so be it.”

  Taking in a deep, slow breath, she opened her eyes. If she thought too much about what she was prosing, she’d probably make herself sick. “Will you get me a gun? she asked. “If it’s the only way?”

  He looked away, his hands clutching the edge the bed so hard his knuckles turned white. It look like a great battle raged behind his eyes, but he finally gave a short, curt nod.

  “If I’m convinced it’s the only way, then I’ll you a gun. But I’m not convinced yet. There’s hope.”

  Faith let out a deep sigh of relief. She, too, hoped there was another way. But she couldn’t help fear that her options were becoming more and more limited each day.

  Tentatively, she reached out and touched Drake’s shoulder, hating the tension that radiated from that showed in the tautness of his muscles and stiffness of his posture. He didn’t react to her tor at first, but when she trailed her fingers softly o his collarbone, a little of the tension eased away. own body reacted instantly to the feel of his bare under her fingers.

  Her eyes roved the length of Drake’s body. Their serious discussion had lowered the tent in the towel, but her scrutiny brought him up to full mast immediately.

  “I don’t want to talk about Armand anymore,” said, her voice suddenly husky.

  “Good,” he said, leaning in to her. “I don’t, either.”

  His kiss started off deliciously soft, his lips roaming over hers as if he were discovering them for first time. The tenderness of that kiss made her chest ache with longing. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling the lingering dampness of his skin, smelling the sandalwood soap that would forever be imprinted in her mind. His tongue dipped into her mouth, and she couldn’t suppress a moan of pleasure. She felt his smile against her lips.

  He pulled back just far enough to meet her gaze. “You haven’t had your Shower yet,” he murmured.

  She laughed without breaking eye contact. “Is that your way of telling me I smell bad?”

  “No, that’s my way of offering my services. I wouldn’t want you to tire yourself out with the back­breaking labor of washing.”

  She laughed again, wondering how he could look so playful and so lustful at the same time. “You’re right. That would be exhausting.”

  Brushing the covers aside, he scooped her up and carried her to the bathroom. Somehow the motion seemed to have dislodged his towel. Why did she think that wasn’t an accident?

  He had to put her down once they reached the bathroom, but at least she got another chance to de­vour him with her eyes as he turned the water on and adjusted the temperature. She couldn’t resist the urge to reach out and pinch one firm cheek when he turned his back.

  Drake jumped a little, then turned to face her with narrowed eyes. She might have thought he was genuinely angry with her, except there was an amused glint in those eyes.

  “I’m going to make you pay for that,” he warned.

  “Oh yeah?” she taunted. “You and what army?”

  Faith felt as if she’d transformed into a different person entirely. Who was this playful creature who pinched her lover’s butt and teased him when they were on their way to making love? She’d never thought of sex as anything even remotely playful fore. But then, with Armand as her only lover for past six years, was that any surprise?

  Without warning, Drake pounced, crossing the short distance between them at lightning speed. F fore she could even react, he’d grabbed her a turned her around, pressing her back firmly against his chest and pinning her arms to her sides with one strong arm. He bent his head so his breath tickled her ear when he spoke.

  “No army. Just me.”

  Still keeping her arms pinned, he walked her forward until they were both inside the shower stall. used his foot to slide the door closed, then positioned them both beneath the warm spray. His erection a firm, hot presence in the small of her back.
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  “How exactly is this making me pay?” she asked trying to wriggle to torment him a bit. Unfortunate] he was holding her too tightly.

  “You’ll see.”

  With his free hand, he grabbed the bar of soap. After wetting it, he touched the soap to her collarbone and began moving it in slow, sensuous circles, leaving a trail of lather across her skin.

  Her eyes slid closed as the circles traveled across her body, slowly, slowly inching lower. When reached the tops of her breasts, her breath hitched and she tried to arch her back to move his touch where she wanted it. Again, she found his grip too firm.

  “Are you beginning to get the picture yet?” he whispered in her ear.

  Oh yeah. She was getting the picture all right. livery nerve in her body seemed to have come to life and clamored for his touch. She knew his plan was to tease her unmercifully. And while she enjoyed being leased, now wasn’t the time for it. Who knew when Armand would decide it was time to go hunting? It was in Faith’s best interests to hurry things along a bit. Which would be a hell of a lot easier if she could move!

  Drake set the soap back on its dish and began working the lather into her skin. The sandalwood scent surrounded her as steam billowed in the air. He rubbed the lather down the valley between her breasts, then along their undersides. Faith had to bite her tongue to keep from begging.

  This was ridiculous. She was hardly powerless, even if he did have her practically immobilized. He was a hungry vampire. Which meant his self-control was questionable at best. His little torments had to be revving him up almost as much as they were her. All she had to do was try to push him past the breaking point. She might not be able to move, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t speak.

  “if you let me move,” she said in a breathless whisper, “I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”