Colby pressed her hand to her neck, holding the bite to her and hating the gesture. “I don’t honestly know if I could leave him. I’m so worried about Paul and Ginny. Paul was bitten by the vampire and the vampire tries to use him to hurt me.” She couldn’t touch Rafael with her mind. She tried over and over, but he was closed off to her. She didn’t know if he was injured, or dead, or simply protecting her. Her skin crawled. “It’s like some terrible addiction. I think about him all the time. I’m a strong person, but I can’t get over him.” She looked up at Natalya pleadingly. “I’ve got to either trust him or find a way so I know the children are safe. I think it’s too late for me.”
“Where is he?” Natalya looked around again. “I can’t imagine him giving you too much room when you aren’t giving him what he wants.”
“Right now he’s gone off to battle the vampire. He says if he doesn’t destroy it, the creature will always have a hold over Paul.”
Natalya nodded. “I’m afraid he’s right.”
The music in the bar blared, reverberating through her head. Colby pressed her glass of ice water to her forehead. “I hate being so indecisive. I’ve lived my entire life knowing what I was supposed to do and doing it. All of a sudden I don’t have any idea which direction to turn. Suddenly the ranch doesn’t seem very important next to Paul’s life. I just want Paul and Ginny to be happy and to live normal lives.”
Natalya studied Colby’s face. “What is it? Why did you come here?”
Colby sighed. “I wanted to run away with you. Take the kids and go. And I want answers. I need them and I think you can give them to me.” She tapped the tabletop with her fingernail, beating out a rhythm of nervous energy. “You know that mark on you? The dragon? You said it was a birthmark? I have a mark like that. It’s very faint and unless you’re looking for it, you’d never know it was there. It doesn’t get hot like you said yours does, but I have one.”
There was a long pregnant silence. Natalya shifted closer, staring at her incredulously. “Are you certain? You should have told me when we last spoke.”
“It means something, doesn’t it?” Colby asked.
“Has the hunter seen it?” Natalya’s voice was nearly inaudible, in spite of Colby’s enhanced hearing.
“His name is Rafael.”
“I don’t want to say his name. I don’t want him to turn his attention to me. Has he seen the mark on you?”
“It’s very faint and it fades at times, so even I have a difficult time finding it. Why would saying his name turn his attention to you?” Colby asked.
“Where is the mark located?” Natalya asked, ignoring Colby’s question.
“The same place you said yours was, over my left ovary. Is that how the vampires identify us? Does that mark call them to us? I know you know things. I need to know them. I’m not asking for myself, Natalya, but for my brother.”
“Have you allowed the hunter to make love to you?”
“You know I have.”
“Then you have a fading mark of protection or he would have spotted it. It hides itself from him.”
Colby had the desire to stand up in the middle of the bar and scream. “You aren’t making this any easier for me. Just tell me what’s going on.”
“If you have the birthmark on you, you’re related to me in some way. We have an old, ancient lineage. There are very few of us.” Natalya obviously was choosing her words carefully. “The hunter cannot see that mark, so it must be hiding from him.”
“
Why
can’t he see it?” Colby nearly hissed the words from between clenched teeth. “Why won’t you tell me? Can’t you see I’m desperate? I
can’t
be away from him. I don’t know how to reverse whatever he did to me, and to be honest, I’ve gone past the point of wanting him out of my life. I have a terrible feeling I’m halfway in love with him. He does things so wonderful, so heroic, it’s heartbreaking. Please tell me what you know.”
“Unfortunately I know only what my father told me and it isn’t much. I’ve lived a long time, Colby, and I don’t age much. You think I’m about your age, but I’m much older. I have rare talents. I can touch something after you, or anyone else, and I can ‘see’ where you’ve been. I can read the history of objects and I’m telepathic.”
“Can you shape-shift?” Colby asked bluntly. “You’re describing this same species. Why would you have to hide from them?”
“The birthmark. Anyone born with the birthmark must stay far from the hunters and vampires or they will kill us. It is some ancient rule.”
Colby dropped her head into her hands, remembering the feel of Rafael’s tongue tracing her birthmark, a seductive, erotic exploration that made her shiver with need. “I don’t think so, Natalya. I think you’re wrong.” Rafael had to have felt the faint outlines of the mark. It was raised slightly. Even if the birthmark could try to hide itself, he had lapped at it several times, his lips moving over it until she wanted to scream for him to give her release. But later, he had tried to kill her. She rubbed her throbbing temples. “I don’t know anything anymore. Has a hunter ever attacked you?”
“No, I avoid them, just as I avoid the vampires. There was some kind of feud between my family and the hunters in ancient
times and it has carried over into this time.” Natalya leaned back in her seat. “My understanding is, one of the hunters’ women, Rhiannon, left her husband to be with a very powerful man. There was a rift between the two factions and war broke out. Rhiannon had triplets, two girls and a boy. She died when the children were young, but their father taught them to avoid the hunters and vampires. Her son is my grandfather.”
“And the two girls?”
“They disappeared. No one knows where they are. My father thought it possible the hunters found them and killed them.”
“Where do I fit in to all of this?” Colby asked.
“My guess is, you’re my niece. My brother took up with a woman briefly but then left her. You have his look and maybe that’s why I was drawn to this part of the country. The woman owned a ranch around here.”
“Your
brother
is my father?” Colby felt more agitated than ever. She couldn’t imagine Rafael killing her because a woman left her husband however many years earlier. “Where is he now?”
“He’s dead.” Natalya’s tone made it clear she wouldn’t give out any more information.
Colby couldn’t feel anything for a man she’d never met. Armando was her father and she would always love him. “Just how old are you, Natalya?”
“Does it matter? You aren’t going to leave him. You already know that. You just aren’t willing to trust him with your brother and sister. I can’t take them with me, not without you. They wouldn’t be happy and we’d all be in danger. I can shield myself and get in and out of places without the hunters or vampires detecting me, but unless the vampire that bit Paul is killed, they will always be tied together.” Natalya’s head suddenly went up alertly. “He’s close. Either him or the other one. I have to go, Colby. I’m leaving town immediately. Good luck to you.”
“Thanks for giving me someone to talk to.” Colby knew Rafael was near. Every cell in her body had gone on alert. The nape of her neck prickled as if, already, she felt the warmth of his breath. “Be safe.”
“Good luck, Colby. I’ll be thinking of you.” Natalya reached out and touched her, just the lightest brush of her fingers, but warmth sprang from Natalya to Colby. There was recognition in the touch. Natalya drew back and nodded. “We’re definitely related. Please be very, very careful.”
Colby nodded. “You too.” She watched Natalya make her way quickly through the tables toward an exit, her heart beating with anticipation. She knew the exact moment Rafael entered the bar. He was alive and that was all, in that moment, that mattered to her. He didn’t look around—his gaze found her immediately. He stood across the room from her, exuding sheer sexy male confidence.
Her stomach muscles tightened. Her breath stopped. Tiny flames of arousal licked through her as she felt the weight of his eyes from across the bar. He was alive. He seemed unhurt. And when he looked at her, there was stark hunger, a potent desire that rocked her to her core. He began to walk toward her, never taking his gaze from her. He moved with a sensuous grace that started her heart pounding in time to the music. He walked right through the crowd as if no one existed but her, watching her the entire time. No one bumped him and no one got in his way. He simply held out his hand for hers. “Dance with me.”
She watched fleeting emotions flicker across his face and dark shadows shift in his eyes. Before she could stop herself she reached slowly out to him, mesmerized as always by him. He pulled her up and drew her against his body hard, fitting her close so that she could feel the hard bulge of his arousal pressed tightly against her. His body was hard, his arms strong, and his heart beat out a rhythm beneath her ear. She felt safe and protected. She felt threatened and frightened. It was insanity at its worst to dance with him. She was giving herself to him.
Heat spread from his heavy erection outward, catching them both on fire. She felt weak with wanting him. His hands, at her waist, slipped lower to her hips, to press her body more tightly, increasing the friction between them as they swayed slowly around the dance floor.
I don’t see any blood on you. Did you find the vampire?
She wanted to just drift away with him on a rising tide of lust and need.
We met. He managed to get away, but I marked him. Why did you come here to meet this woman?
She started to lift her head from his chest, but his hand caught the back of her head and held her to him. It wasn’t his words or even his tone that alarmed her; it was a glimpse of his thoughts, quickly hidden from her. For just a fraction of a second, she caught temper swirling in him and something dangerous.
Let me hold you, Colby. It has been a long evening and I just want to feel you in my arms.
He bent his head to her, his mouth nudging aside her shirt to burrow against the warmth of her neck. She shivered in his arms in reaction. His tongue swirled over her pulse and his teeth scraped roughly, seductively back and forth.
Colby was afraid she was melting in his arms. She had pressed a kiss against his chest, turned her face up to his throat so she could feel his skin beneath her lips. She was shaking with need for him. Her womb clenched and she was slick and damp with invitation. She wanted his clothes gone so she could examine every inch of him, see for herself that he wasn’t hurt.
Come away with me. I want to take you to the hot springs up in the mountains. Just the two of us. I need you tonight, meu amor. This once, do not argue or protest. Do not say no, just come with me and let me have you.
The music faded away. Some of the bar patrons left the dance floor while others stayed as the next song picked up the tempo. Rafael’s body urged her from the floor toward the exit. She could feel the heat of his palm burning like a brand through her thin blouse. “Paul and Ginny . . .”
“Are safe,” he finished, his voice rough with raw passion. “Come with me, Colby. Of your own free will. Give yourself to me.” He bent his head and deliberately teased the nape of her neck with his teeth, scraping gently, a small nip and swirl of his tongue heating her blood.
Beneath the thin layer of her shirt, her breasts ached, felt uncomfortable in her bra, the nipples tight hard peaks painfully rubbing against the lace. She felt her body go weak
and damp with invitation. She wanted him right there. That moment. Hunger raw and sharp and terrible. “Yes.” She said it softly, but he heard. She knew he heard because his hand bit possessively into her hip. He urged her toward the door. Her heart pounded in anticipation.
17
O
utside, in the
cool night air, Rafael abruptly turned to Colby, his hand fisting in her hair, holding her head still as he bent to her, his larger body aggressively caging hers against the side of the building. He was hot and hard and hungrier for her than he’d ever been. “I do not know if I can wait. We have to get out of here before I take you here and now.” His voice was a rough whisper, as he slanted his mouth over hers, his tongue sliding over the seam of her lips, tasting her, demanding entrance. He caught her soft moan in his mouth and his temperature soared several degrees.
In the parking lot?
Colby didn’t care if they were in the parking lot. There were too many clothes between them. She heard her own whimper as he licked at her, his teeth teasing her full lower lip, and then his tongue sank back into her mouth again. His erection was pressed tight against her stomach, her breasts mashed against the muscles of his chest. She was beginning to lose touch with reality the way she always did with Rafael. The hand gripping her hair in a tight fist, holding her still while his mouth dominated hers, was just on the edge of rough. He kissed her like a starving man, drowning in need for her. As if he couldn’t wait. Could never get enough. Her body reacted, hot and slick, drenched in need.
The parking lot, the field, who the hell cares? I want to tear your clothes off. Why are you wearing a bra?
His hand skimmed lightly up her stomach to cup her breast, his thumb caressing her nipple, teasing and tugging beneath her blouse.
Do not ever wear a bra again.
Her breath caught in her throat. She pushed into his hand, fighting back a moan of need. “We can’t. Someone will come out here and see us.”
He could shield them, but he couldn’t do the things to her he wanted to do if they remained at the bar out in the open. With more impatience than finesse, he wrapped his arms around her and took to the air, his mouth still commanding hers. She whimpered, tried to struggle, but he held her still, kissing her until it didn’t matter that they were no longer on the ground.
Colby circled his neck with both arms, clung tightly to his body, closing her eyes and giving herself up to the shocking sensation of his mouth. Her body melted against his. The heat, created by the thick bulge pressed tightly against her stomach, was generating a wild response in her. The lower half of her body was hot and heavy, pressure building fast. She rocked against him, rubbed along his body, all the while her mouth welded to his. His tongue mated with hers, exploring the velvet interior of her mouth, stroking and caressing until she felt him in every cell of her body.