Forbidden Nights With A Vampire (4 page)

“What did he help you with?” Phineas asked.

“He helped me undertake a…spiritual journey about six months ago. Hard to explain.”

Phineas’s brown eyes widened. “You got high, didn’t you? What were you smokin’, man?”

Phil crossed his arms. “I’d rather not discuss it.”

Phineas snorted. “Ate some of those mushrooms, huh? Did you dream you were a giant iguana?”

Howard grinned, then cast a curious look at Phil. “I think that’s when he became an Alpha.”

“Cool,” Phineas whispered. “Are you still keeping that Alpha stuff a secret?”

“Yes.” Phil took a deep breath. “So, where did Connor go?”

“Oh, that was smooth, bro. We would have never noticed you changing the subject.” Phineas motioned toward the monitors. “Connor’s making the rounds.”

Phil scanned the monitors and noted a blur of movement through the trees west of the parking lot. Connor was moving at vampire speed. “He’s fast.”

“Like the Flash, man.” Phineas cocked his head. “I think he’s slowing down. He must have seen something.”

“There.” Howard pointed at another monitor. “Someone’s just teleported onto the grounds.”

All three guards tensed, ready to spring into action.

Phil relaxed. “It’s Jack.”

Phineas lounged back in his chair. “I guess he’s just getting back from Venice.”

Howard helped himself to another doughnut. “You two going to his engagement party on Friday?”

“I am.” Phil watched the monitors. Connor had met up with Jack in the woods.

“Me, too,” Phineas added. “Man, have you noticed how many of the guys are getting lucky? Roman, Angus, Jean-Luc, Ian, and now Jack—they’re all hooking up with hot-looking babes.”

Phil edged behind the desk to fill a cup of coffee from the pot Howard kept on a credenza. “I’m happy for them.”

“So am I, but where the hell is my hot babe?” Phineas stood and planted his fists on his hips. “I’m the Love Doctor. The chicks should be climbing all over me.”

Howard shoved a small canister toward Phil. “Sugar?”

Phil shook his head.

“Not for a long time, man.” Phineas paced across the room. “It’s been months since I had any sugar.”

Howard offered Phil a canister of Coffee-mate.

Phil shook his head. “I like it black.”

“I like ’em black, too.” Phineas suddenly halted. “But I’m not prejudiced, you know. I have never failed to jump a woman’s bones based on her color or religion. The Love Doctor never turns a lady away.”

“That’s real sporting of you, Phineas.” Phil took a sip of coffee. He noticed on the monitor that Jack and Connor had reached the side entrance. Connor swiped his card, then activated the hand sensor.

Phineas’s shoulders slumped. “I just don’t get it.”

“Get what?” Howard poured himself a cup of coffee, then dumped in a huge amount of sugar.

“All the married Vamps seem really happy.” Phineas resumed his pacing. “With just one woman. When there are so many hot chicks in the world, how can you settle for just one?”

“She has to be really special.” And of all the women Phil had met in his twenty-seven years, it was Vanda who came to his mind. She didn’t wear the facade of indifferent superiority like most Vamp women. She was raw, passionate, and painfully honest. She was in your face. She’d intrigued him from the start.

“I think it’s called love,” Howard said.

Phil flinched. “I wouldn’t call it that. Infatuation, maybe.”

Howard gave him an incredulous look. “You don’t think Jack loves Lara? Or Roman loves Shanna? Or—”

“Oh, yeah.” Phil realized he’d lost the trail of the conversation. “That’s definitely love. I—I was thinking about…someone else.”

Howard eyed him curiously. “Like who?”

Phil was saved when the buzzer sounded at the door. Connor had activated the security measures outside, causing the door to unlock. Connor and Jack walked in.

Jack smiled and shook hands as he greeted everyone. “You’re all coming to the engagement party, yes? I want Lara to feel welcomed in the Vamp world.”

“We’re coming,” Howard said.

“Where is Lara?” Phil asked.

“At her apartment,” Jack answered. “I teleported her there first, so she could get some sleep. She’s worn-out from sightseeing all day in Venezia.”

“I’m glad ye’re back.” Connor stood next to the desk and folded his arms across his chest. “Phil just arrived tonight, too, so I’d like to catch everyone up to date.”

“Good.” Jack perched on the far corner of the desk.

Howard sat behind the desk, while Phineas and Phil took the chairs in front. When everyone was focused on Connor, he began.

“The latest information we have indicates that Casimir has moved to North America. We have no idea where he’s setting up his base of operations, but we do know that he liked to visit his friend Apollo, in Maine. We’re assuming he doesna know that Apollo and Athena have been killed.”

Phil drank some coffee. Earlier in July he had helped Jack rescue his fiancée, Lara, who was being held captive at Apollo’s Malcontent compound in Maine. Jack had killed Apollo, while Phil had teamed up with Lara to kill Athena. “We left the compound empty. Most of the mortals had their memories erased and were sent back home.”

“What happened to the girl who wanted to keep her memory?” Jack asked.

“She’s at Shanna’s school,” Connor replied. “She’s going to be a teacher there. Carlos is doing security. Now my point is, there’s no one at the compound to tell Casimir no’ to come anymore. So Angus figured there’s a good chance that Casimir might return.”

“Are we setting a trap?” Jack asked.

“Aye.” Connor smiled. “Angus arrived there two weeks ago to do just that. He has a team of seven with him. That should be enough to capture Casimir.”

Phil felt a twinge of envy. He would love a piece of that action. “What are our orders?”

“We’re to stay here,” Connor said. “Romatech is still a prime target. If Casimir decides to avenge the massacre at DVN, he knows he can always find a few enemies right here.”

“We’ll need to be extra careful the night of the engagement party,” Jack said.

“Aye. We’ll all be on duty that night. Any questions?” When no one spoke, Connor continued. “Good. With any luck, Casimir will be destroyed soon, and another vampire war will be avoided.”

Jack glanced at the monitor that showed the coven meeting coming to an end. “I need to talk to Shanna about the party. See you all later.” He rushed out the door.

“Phineas, will you make sure everyone attending the coven meeting leaves?” Connor asked. “We doona want anyone roaming about the facility.”

“Gotcha.” Phineas hurried out the door.

“Howard, see if Shanna and the children need a ride home,” Connor said.

“Yes, sir.” Howard lumbered out the door.

“Phil, ye’re off for the rest of the night.” Connor sat behind the desk and shuffled through some papers. “I’m glad ye’re back, lad.”

“Me, too.” Phil finished his coffee, then returned the empty cup to the credenza. As a day guard, he was expected to sleep at night so he could be on duty during the daylight hours. He usually slept at Roman’s townhouse in the Upper East Side. Phineas and Jack would show up there shortly before dawn to fall into their death-sleep.

“Good night, sir.” Phil headed for the door.

“Good night. Oh, I was wondering…” Connor gave him a curious look. “I saw on a monitor earlier that you were talking to Vanda and then she teleported away.”

Phil paused with his hand on the doorknob. “She was a little upset.”

“Of course she was upset. Three of her former dancers were suing her for damages. Do ye know what Roman decided?”

“He insisted she take another session of anger management.”

Connor snorted. “Like that will help. Vanda’s been angry for as long as I’ve known her.”

“How long is that?” Phil asked.

“Since Roman became Coven Master and inherited the harem in 1950.”

“So she was already in the harem? She must have joined when the previous Coven Master was in power.”

“Aye.” Connor nodded. “Why are ye so interested?”

“I agreed to be her sponsor.”

Connor’s eyebrows rose. “Why would ye do that?”

Phil shrugged. “Someone had to do it.”

Connor studied him a moment, then shifted his gaze to the monitors. “She left her car behind.”

Phil glanced at the monitor that showed the front parking lot. “Which car is hers?”

“The black Corvette. I have the keys.”

Phil’s heart leaped in his chest. He could see her again tonight. “I’ll be happy to return it to her.”

“If she wants it, she can teleport back for it. Ye’re officially off duty now.”

“But I can drop it off on the way to Roman’s townhouse,” Phil insisted. “I really don’t mind.”

Connor removed the keys from his sporran. “She’s probably at her club.”

“I know where it is.”

Connor handed him the keys. “Be careful, lad.”

Phil snorted. “I know how to drive.”

“I wasna referring to the car.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

Connor frowned at him. “That’s what they all say.”

A
lthough Phil knew about Vanda’s nightclub, he’d never been inside before. The entrance to the Horny Devils was hidden at the dead end of a dark alley to keep unsuspecting mortals from stumbling across the place.

A huge bouncer stood guard at the dark red door. His nostrils flared as he took a sniff. Phil knew he didn’t carry the usual mortal scent. Since most Vamps didn’t know about shape shifters, they didn’t realize the significance of his different scent. They simply thought he was a strange-smelling mortal.

“Place is closed,” the bouncer grumbled. “Get lost.”

“I’m here to see Vanda Barkowski.”

“You know Vanda?” The bouncer took another sniff, and his beady eyes narrowed. “You’re an odd duck.”

“Not even close.” Phil showed his MacKay Security & Investigation ID card, knowing the Vamp bouncer could see it in the dark. “I’m returning Vanda’s car. She left it at Romatech.”

The bouncer still eyed him suspiciously. “I’ll have to frisk you.”

“Fine.” Phil raised his arms to shoulder height so the bouncer could pat his navy polo shirt and khaki pants—the MacKay uniform for guards who didn’t wear kilts.

“What’s this?” The man patted his pants’ pocket.

“It’s a chain. Silver.”

The bouncer jerked his hand away. He hesitated, then asked, “You’re not planning on using it on anyone?”

“No.” Phil smiled, understanding the bouncer’s predicament. The Vamp couldn’t confiscate the silver chain without giving himself severe burns. Luckily for Phil, silver was only painful when introduced internally, as in silver bullets. “You can call Connor Buchanan at Romatech if you want to check on me.”

The bouncer shrugged his massive shoulders. “I’ll just keep an eye on you.” He opened the door. “Go on in.”

Phil was instantly bombarded with loud, pounding music and red and blue laser lights slashing across the large renovated warehouse. As his eyes adjusted, he noted the stage was empty. The male dancers must be on break.

A group of Vamp women were writhing on the dance floor. A few Vamp men sat at tables, drinking glasses of Bleer topped with pink-tinted foam while they watched the women dance. Their eyes narrowed when they spotted him. Competition.

He scanned the huge room but couldn’t see Vanda. The bouncer was standing just inside the door, watching him. He recognized the woman behind the bar. Cora Lee Primrose, former member of Roman Draganesti’s harem. She’d shed her Southern belle hoop skirts in favor of more modern garb—hip hugger pants and a sparkly halter top.

She did a double take when he eased onto a barstool. “Phil? Is that you?” she yelled over the loud music. “Land sakes, I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“Hi, Cora Lee. You’re looking great.”

“Why, thank you kindly.” With a giggle, she flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder. “Would you like something to drink? We have a few mortal drinks like beer.”

“I’ll have one of those.” He stood so he could pull the wallet from his back pocket.

“No, you don’t. It’s on the house.” She cast a flirtatious look at him as she filled a glass. “Land sakes, you’ve filled out nicely over the years.”

“Thank you.” He settled back onto the barstool. “So, is Vanda here?”

With a sigh, Cora Lee set the beer in front of him. “I should have known you’d come to see her. The way she used to talk about you—goodness gracious, we were scandalized.”

His first sip of beer went down with a gulp. “Why? What did she say?”

“What didn’t she say? I do declare she would describe every part of your manly physique from the top of your head down to your toes.” Cora Lee gave him a sly smile. “She was quite poetic about your buttocks.”

He gulped down more beer.

Cora Lee wiped the counter, still smiling. “She always claimed you had a crush on her.”

His hand tightened around the glass. “Did she, now?”

“According to Vanda, she can make you do anything she wants like a trained puppy.”

He downed the last of his beer and slammed the glass onto the bar. “Where is she?”

Cora Lee pointed to a series of doors along the back wall. “The first one is her office.”

“Thanks.” Phil slid off the stool.

“Don’t forget to knock,” Cora Lee warned him. “Vanda’s got the dancers in there. It could be kinda awkward if you just barge in.”

He stiffened. “Why? What’s she doing with them?”

Cora Lee shrugged. “The usual. She has to personally check out the costumes and dances before the guys go on stage. Quality control, you know.”

Phil’s jaw clenched. “You don’t say.”

“Oh, I do. One time I went in there, and Terrance was prancing around naked.” Cora Lee giggled. “Vanda told him to put a sock on it.”

“I understand,” Phil growled. As he stalked toward her office, the music ended. With his superior hearing, he heard Vanda’s voice through the door.

“Oh my God, Peter, it’s huge!”

“They don’t call me the Printh of Peckerth for nothing,” a man boasted.

“You can’t let him on stage with that,” another man protested. “He’ll make us look small.”

“You are smaller than me,” Peter insisted.

“We are not!” a third male shouted.

“Calm down!” Vanda’s voice sounded agitated. “Peter, I’m glad you’ve come back to dance for us, but this—this is too much. You’ll have to lose a few inches.”

“No!” Peter screamed. “I won’t let you touch it!”

“Don’t tell me what I can’t do!” Vanda yelled. “Where are my scissors?”

Peter squealed. Like a girl. Which he might be soon.

Phil threw the door open and charged inside. “Vanda, stop! You can’t cut off a man’s——” He halted, stunned to see Vanda standing behind her desk with her scissors poised on a sparkling red sheath.

It wasn’t a dong. It was a thong. With a long sheath stuffed like a sausage.

Vanda’s mouth fell open. “Phil, what are you doing here?”

He glanced around the office, noting that the three slender young men were fully clothed and regarding him curiously. “What are you doing, Vanda?”

Her cheeks grew pink as she lowered the thong to the desk. “I was conducting a business meeting.”

“Vanda,” one of the male dancers whispered. “Won’t you introduce us to your handsome young friend?”

“Sure, Terrance.” Vanda spoke through gritted teeth. “This is Phil Jones.” She gestured to the other male dancers. “Terrance the Turgid, Freddie the Fireman, and Peter the Great.”

“I remember you from the coven meeting,” Peter said. “You thaid you would help Vanda with her anger problem.”

“I don’t have an anger problem!” Vanda pointed the scissors at Peter, then at Phil. “And I don’t need your help.”

Phil arched a brow at her. “As your sponsor, I suggest you put the scissors down.”

She slammed them onto the desk. “You are not my sponsor.”

Terrance smiled at him. “You can be my sponsor.”

Vanda groaned. “Phil, we’re trying to have a costume meeting here.” She handed Freddie a thong that looked like a fire hose, and Terrance a thong covered with ivy.

Terrance dangled his costume in front of Phil’s face. “Isn’t it fabulous? I’m doing an ode to Tarzan.”

“That’s nice,” Phil mumbled.

Peter made a grab for the red sparkly thong.

“No!” Vanda snatched it from his hand. “You’re not dancing in this monstrosity. I design the costumes, and I’ll tell you what to wear.”

“That’th not fair,” Peter whined. “I had that cuth-tom made to fit me perfectly.”

“No way,” Freddie grumbled. “You would have to use padding.”

Peter huffed. “I never uthe padding.”

“You would have to.” Vanda set the costume on the desk. “There isn’t a man on earth who could fill that thing.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Terrance glanced at Phil and winked.

Phil had had all he could take. “This meeting is over.” He gave the men a warning look and motioned to the door. “You will leave.”

“What?” Vanda’s eyes flashed with anger. “You can’t do that! This is my—” She paused when Peter and Freddie scurried from the room. “—office.”

Terrance stopped halfway out the door and grinned at her. “Be nice, girlfriend. This one’s a keeper.”

“Out,” Phil growled.

“Oooh.” Terrance shivered. “Me Tarzan, you Phil.” He ran out.

Phil shut the door. “Now we can talk.”

Vanda glared at him. “I’m not talking to you. You’re acting like a caveman.”

“I suppose you prefer those pretty little boys who are easy to control. Easier to control than your own anger—”

“My anger’s just fine!” She grabbed Peter’s costume off the desk and threw it at him. “Get out!”

He caught the thong with one hand and turned it over as he examined it. “Thank you, Vanda. It’s just my size.”

She snorted. “A man would have to be aroused to fill that up.”

He lifted his gaze to meet hers. “Not a problem.”

Her gaze flitted down to his pants, then jerked away. “What—Why did you come here?”

He walked toward her. “You left Romatech in a hurry. We were in the middle of a conversation.”

Her eyes darkened to a stormy gray. “The conversation was over.”

“You left your car behind.”

“Like I had any choice! That damned Connor confiscated my keys.” She blinked when Phil jingled the keys in the air. “You—You brought my car?”

“Yes. It’s parked across the street.”

“Oh. Thank you.” She skirted the desk and approached him. “That was very kind of you,” she grumbled.

“You’re welcome.” He dropped the keys into her outstretched hand. “Now, about my sponsorship…”

Her hand fisted around the keys. “There is no sponsorship. You can’t force me to take anger management.”

“I believe we can. It was the court’s decision. If you want the lawsuits against you dropped, then you have to comply.”

She tossed the keys on the desk. “Do I look like the kind of person who complies? Only cowards and trained monkeys comply. I’m a free spirit. Nobody’s going to tell me what to do.”

Phil couldn’t help but smile. Vanda’s words were almost identical to the speech he’d given his father nine years ago before he’d stormed out of Montana. “Then what do you plan to do about your anger problem?”

“I don’t have an anger problem!” she yelled. With a groan, she pressed a hand to her forehead. “Why won’t people stop trying to force me to do things against my will?”

“Believe me, I understand.” Phil’s father had tried to force him into a preplanned life. At the age of eighteen, he hadn’t possessed the maturity or strength to fight his father. He’d simply left. Then his father had banished him from the pack. “Things don’t always go the way we want them to. And it’s very frustrating when there’s nothing you can do to change it.”

Vanda frowned at him. “Are you sympathizing with me just to get me to agree to the program?”

“I’m saying if you want to talk, I’ll listen.”

Her face grew pale and she tightened the whip around her waist with a jerky motion. “Why should I believe you care? You haven’t bothered to see me in three years.”

She’d counted the years? Phil swallowed hard. What if he’d misinterpreted things? He’d felt sure that Vanda had considered him nothing more than a toy to relieve her boredom. Good God, what if she had genuinely cared about him? No, this had to be more of her fun and games. “I didn’t realize you wanted to see me.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What do you need, an engraved invitation?”

“You opened a male strip club, Vanda. You’re surrounded every night with available men. Nearly naked, vampire men.” He tossed the costume onto her desk. “I really didn’t think you were lacking for companionship.”

She lifted her chin. “I get all the companionship I need.”

He gritted his teeth. “Good.”

“Excuse me for thinking you might want to keep in touch. I had thought we were friends.”

“We were never friends.”

She gasped. “How can you say that? We…we talked.”

“You taunted me.”

She stiffened. “I was nice to you.”

He stepped toward her. “You were bored, and you tormented me for the fun of it.”

“Don’t be silly. It was just a little harmless flirtation.”

“It was sheer torture.” He advanced another step. “I hated it. Every time you touched me, I wanted to rip your little catsuit off and make you purr.”

Her mouth dropped open, then shut suddenly with a snap. Her cheeks flushed. “Then why didn’t you? Why did you let a stupid rule stop you? Ian didn’t let anything stop him from going after Toni.”

He grabbed Vanda by the shoulders so quickly, she gasped. “I would have taken you in a second if I had thought you actually wanted it.”

Her cheeks grew a deeper red. “How would you know what I really want?”

He leaned close. “I was on to you from the start. You’re a tease. You like to get a man hard, then leave him panting. You enjoyed watching me suffer.”

“That’s not true. I—I really liked you.” She winced as if she’d admitted more than she had wanted to.

He brushed his nose across her cheek and whispered in her ear, “Prove it.”

She trembled in his arms. He could feel her breath coming in quick puffs against his skin.

He moved his mouth closer to hers. “Show me.”

With a small cry, she turned her head away from him.

Shit. He had been right all along. He’d been nothing but a game to her. He dropped his hands from her shoulders. “Admit it. You flirted with me because you were bored and I was safe. I desperately needed the job, so I was going to follow the rules no matter how much you tortured me.”

She pressed a hand to her forehead. “I—I didn’t mean…”

“To make me ache for you? Tell me, Vanda, did you ever feel anything? Did you really care about me, or were you just being a cold-blooded bitch?”

With a gasp, she pulled her hand back and slapped him. “Get out!”

He rubbed his jaw and smiled. “I guess you’re not too cold-blooded.”

She pointed at the door. “Leave!”

He considered taunting her some more. God knew she deserved it after torturing him for five long years. But he noticed her hand was trembling and her eyes glimmered with unshed tears.

Now he felt like a dog. He’d only wanted to turn the tables on her and give her a taste of her own “harmless flirtation.” He hadn’t meant to hurt her.