Darkest Prince (3 page)

The other two arched their eyebrows and one
of them said, “What makes you think we will let you live if you kill Vincent?”

I arched an eyebrow and snapped “And what makes you think I will let you live once I have disposed of
Vinny here?” I never took my eyes of them. Vampires were sneaky bastards. “I will ask you one more time, what do you want?”

A familiar voice, one that made me both cringe and feel excited at the same time said
, “I would like to know the answer to that particular question too.”

Dario and his two guards stepped forwards. Dario looked at the dagger that I had pointed to the
vampire’s heart and grinned. “Nice works Shyla, now, answer
her.
” I swear to god, the three vampires visibly paled and the other two began to kneel before Dario. I couldn’t help the little snicker that escaped my mouth. Dario waved a hand dismissively and said
“Why are you stalking my Consort?”
Consort?

I noticed his guards
were getting ready to strike out. I didn’t want it to end this way without the vampires at least telling me why they were following me. I released the vampire, tucked the dagger into the waistband of my trousers and said, “No harm was done; just tell me why you were following me? I wasn’t disturbing your evening and if it’s because I have killed one of your brethren, let me assure you that my predicament now means I am no longer a hunter.”

Dario cast a dark gaze my way. I think he was annoyed that I had re
ferred to my transformation from hunter to vampire as a predicament.

F
eeling a little more confident now that Dario was here, I looked at the three vampires and said “Look, I’m hungry. I really need to feed and the world is going to get a little crazy if I don’t get some blood soon, so do us all a favour and tell me why you were following me.”

One of the vampires looked between Dario and his guards before finally looking back at me and said,
“You’re a hunter; we had to let the guards know. You’re also different, a vampire? We didn’t know that Prince Dario was your sire.” He instantly lowered his gaze and hung his head low.

I quirked an eyebrow at Dario and saw a fli
cker of amusement on his face. He cleared his throat – getting ready to deal with the three vampires, but I wasn’t ready to let this slide.

“
A Prince? You’re a freaking Prince?” I know that we had gone to a castle, but I’d assumed that it was a distant relative that owned it or an elder that was letting him stay there. I mean, he didn’t portray an image of a prince, or at least an image of royalty, there were no crowns or velvet robes and in all honesty, all I had learnt in my hunter training about royal vampires were – that they were every hunters worst nightmare. Evil to the core and Dario certainly hadn’t been in any of my nightmares. In fact, he had star role as my leading man in many a fantasy. There was nothing evil about Dario, I was sure that I couldn’t care for someone evil even if there was the whole freaky bond between us. No, he had always been compassionate and caring.

I st
epped in front of Dario and began reciting from memory the email that I had received several months ago. It was my killing contract. “Dario DeLuise, male, age unknown. Height, 6ft 5. Execution ordered for crimes that are of a sensitive nature.” Dario’s jaw actually dropped at the description of his criminal activity. I continued, “Resides in Scotland. Has family ties in Somerset and may be residing with Marco DeLuise at Dunster Castle. Nowhere in my contract did it say that you were a freaking Prince!”

Dario turned back to
face the three vampires and said, “Spread the word, if my Consort is harmed in any way by a vampire because she used to be a hunter, then I will become every vampire’s worst nightmare. Now go, before I change my mind and end your pitiful existence for simply following my wife.” Oh god, there he goes again with the name calling!

I was about to pull him up on it when one of the guards gently touched my arm and whispered “No Ma’am, let it go.” I huffed out a breath and was about to stomp my foot when I thought it wouldn’t be appropriate to behave like that in front of a Prince.

Dario turned, offered me his arm and said, “I can feel your hunger beating down on me. I will take you back to the castle and give you what you need.” Just those few words and I was melting on the spot. I wanted more than blood, I wanted him.

He
breathed deeply and grinned a super sexy smile at me and said, “All in good time my Princess.”

Scoffing and then snorting
loudly were not qualities of a princess, but that’s exactly what I did. “Jesus Dario, will you not call me your Consort, or wife and definitely not a Princess. I’m having a hard time thinking of you as a Prince, you’re so… well, you’re not evil, if anything you have been well, almost human.”

“I’
m not human, nothing like it.” He regarded me for a moment before wrapping my fingers over his arm and walking me towards the road. “Shyla, I would like you to come back to the castle, I want us to start again. I’m a Prince and used to getting what I want, when I want it, but you have taught me that I simply cannot take what I want when it isn’t freely offered. It was wrong of me to turn you into my Consort without discussing it with you first.” He looked humbled, his words expressing just how sincere he was being.

I doubted he had ever apologised to anyone for his actions before. He was a Prince for Christ’s sake.
I nodded thoughtfully and said, “Dario our lives are so different, for starters you’re a real vampire and I’m, well, me. You’re a Prince, living in fine castles ruling your world and I hop about from guest house to guest house, not really fitting in anywhere. I’m not sure who I am anymore, hell, I’m not able to care for someone and live with them when I’m still trying to figure out my place in life.”

“So you think you can’t care about som
eone? Is that why you left me?” I shook my head and was about to tell him it was because he had turned me, forged a bond between us and taken away everything that I was, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t tell him because I didn’t want to hurt him…

Dar
io stopped walking and spun around so that we faced each other. “I know that you care about me Shyla, I can feel it in the bond that we share. Even when you refused to speak to me, I knew that you cared. I want you to give me a chance to prove that you belong with me, I want you at my side as my consort, as my wife.” His voice quietened down to a sexy whisper as he said, “I want you to love me.” His eyes took in my startled look and I saw the hope that was in there, fade a little. I wanted to tell him that everything would be okay, that we could work it out, but in all honesty, I wasn’t sure if I was capable of being the other half of somebody.

Did he really want me?
More importantly, could I do it? Could I go against everything that I had known and love a vampire? One that had somehow ended up on a hit list with the hunters? I knew nothing about him, yet I had been attracted to him from the first moment we had met. Was attraction enough to base the rest of your life on?

Parked at the roadside was a ver
y flash Rolls Royce. One of his guards opened the door to the car and waited for me to climb in. “We need to go sir, now.”

I had been
so caught up in my thinking that I had let my own guard down and forgotten my training. He was right; I had a prickling sensation on my skin and knew that a hunter was close. Dario ushered me into the car and climbed in after me. One of the guards dashed off into the night and the other climbed into the driver’s seat.

Everything happened quickly. The passenger window next to me took the hit of a bullet. It was meant for me. There was no doubt about it. If it hadn’t been for the bullet proof glass, I would’ve been history.

Another bullet hit the window, this time the glass fractured making it impossible to see out of it. The guard wheel spun the car and we were heading down the road at extraordinary speed. Dario sat calmly beside me and I don’t know why, but it angered me. A hunter was making a hit, I had to stop him. “Stop the car, let me go after him.” Emotions were crashing around me; anger and annoyance were prominent in my mind. I was usually calm and focused, but all that was running through my body – was a need for revenge and a need for blood to be spilt. The guard ignored me and kept speeding along the road. I had my dagger out of the waistband of my trouser and slid from the back seat. I was just reaching around the front of the seat, to make the guard stop the car so I could go after the hunter, when Dario yanked me back. He threw me down on the seat and straddled me. My hands were pinned above my head and my fangs slashed into thin air trying to find something to tear.

“Enough Shyla, I will not tolerate you trying to kill those assigned to protect me.”
I struggled trying to break free from his hold. He plucked the dagger from my fingers and tossed it to the floor of the car. “Shyla, enough my love, enough. The hunter will be caught; my guards are going after him. There is no need to dirty your hands with this nonsense.” He spoke into my mind soothing me further.
‘We are nearly home my love.’

Dario leaned back and slowly
and released my hands when I stopped struggling against him. What the hell was wrong with me? He slid back onto the leather seat and held out a hand to help me to a sitting position. Once I was upright Dario slid closer and wrapped an arm around me, his expression softened and he asked, “Are you okay now?” I cast a guilty glance at the guard driving the car and nodded my reply.

The car slowed and pulled onto a gravel driveway.
Burly vampires surrounded the car en-masse. Dario appeared completely at ease with the situation, I on the other hand was nearly having a damn heart attack at being this close to so many vampires. My fangs pierced my bottom lip, the scent of blood drifted into my nose and I was losing the battle against a burning rage that was building up inside of me.

Dario slipped off his jacket, undid his gold cuff links and began rolling up the sleeve of his white shirt. Pulling me onto his lap he held up his wrist and said “Drink from me Shyla, take what you need.”

“I can’t, I’ve only ever taken from a humans neck!” I could feel myself getting flustered, I wanted to grab his arm and sink my teeth into his flesh. Before I knew what I was doing, I had straddled his lap and was already undoing his red and black silk tie.

My fingers fumbled with the tiny buttons on his shirt. Dario tugged it open, the buttons scattered and a wicked smile lit my face as I licked my lips anticipating the liquid heaven that flowed through his veins.
The guard spoke from the front of the car. “Sir, I’ll be outside.”

As soon as I heard the door softly click into place, I pulled Dario close
, wrapping my legs around his waist, pressing my breasts against the hard plains of his chest. My body moved against him, enjoying having something tangible to feel, instead of a distant memory that had kept me company. His scent was intoxicating. All male, leather and musk. I breathed deep and filled my lungs again, god I had missed his unique scent. He tilted his head to one side, exposing his neck and his hands gripped my hips, holding me in place against his hardened length. As my fangs pierced his skin and sank into the juicy vein, I heard him growl my name. It was such a sexy sound, but not as sexy as hearing his husky voice say it over and over again in my mind.

His blood was unlike human blood. It was sweeter, almost honeyed. Each
pull and swallow seemed to rejuvenate me. I felt stronger, my rage slowly melted away and was replaced with desire.

I don’t know how I
was resisting the urge to take things further, maybe it was knowing that outside of the car, stood at least twenty vampires, but there was a definite pull between us, the kind that made you ache deep inside with need. The kind that couldn’t be ignored and it was the kind that only he could cure.

Dario spoke
into my mind, gently coaxing me to ease up. I knew I had to stop, I had never felt so good after a feed. For one thing, there was no guilt involved. Dario cupped the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my hair. I pulled away, sealing the bite holes and kissed his neck several times before sitting back and found myself looking into his cool ice-blue eyes. Midnight-blue flecks sparkled in the depths of the black pupils. A cheeky smile formed on his soft lips and he said, “I hope you are feeling a little better now?” Oh he knew exactly how I was feeling and was enjoying every minute of it! I looked away feeling a little embarrassed and feeling as if I’d had way too many alcoholic drinks, Dario gently turned my face back to his and kissed me passionately. I had to get out of the car and put a little bit of distance between us, before I became the biggest exhibitionist in history.

A guard knocked on the car door and h
is expression hardened. Dario exited the car in one swift movement and the atmosphere changed. Gone was the incredibly sexy man and in his place was the most powerful male I had ever come across. Power exuded from him. I felt unease rippling through the guards as they pinned one solitary guard with their eyes.
“Explain why you disturbed me?”
His voice held contempt and certain death. The poor guard tried to look brave and fearless, but was failing miserably. I grabbed my dagger off the floor and carefully tucked it into the waistband of my trousers, a girl couldn’t be too careful around a bunch of vampires, and stumbled from the car feeling intoxicated from Dario’s blood.