Chapter Three
Rydere’s teeth tore into the softest skin. The taste of her blood exploded on his tongue. He’d found the source of the sweetness, and it shocked him to realize she was the cause of his intoxication. Human blood was always bitter to the Dardaptoan, bitter but necessary. But not hers.
Some legends had told the tales of humans so sweet they were addictive. Such rare humans had supposedly been converted as slaves, a kind of living candy. But not in Rydere’s lifetime. He’d not believed such legends. Until now.
She twisted. His hold on her neck tightened, kept her skin pressed to his mouth. He took several long, hard drags at her neck, pulling the honeyed blood from her. Her nails raked his face, drawing Dardaptoan blood to the surface. Blood for blood.
Gods, she tasted good.
He pulled back, needing to breathe, needing to control himself so that he didn’t devour her before he’d had time to savor this unexpected treat. He looked at her. Her lips trembled as she begged him to stop, to let her go. Her voice a mere ghost he had to strain to hear. He had to taste those lips. He leaned toward her to do just that.
They were like the finest of sugar candies, the kind his people had at Christmas or other special occasions. Rydere had always been a sucker for those candies. In his six hundred forty-six years on the earth, he’d never found anything to compare to those sweets. Until now.
He slipped his mouth back down to her neck, needing to prove to himself that he hadn’t imagined it. He drew in some more of her sweetness, thrilled to realize it was true. She was one of those sweetest humans, and he’d found her. She was his. He stopped, looked at her again.
Her eyes had glazed and she’d stopped fighting him. Her heart wasn’t pounding against him as it had just minutes before. It took a moment for him to find what remained of it.
Loss hit him. Once she was gone, he’d experience this no longer. Triumph tried to push that loss away when the green eyes so like her grandfather’s blinked. He’d gotten what he’d wanted. Taniss’s heir dying beneath him, Taniss’s blood feeding him.
It felt flat as he watched a trickle of blood slip down her neck to stain the smoke scrap of silk she wore beneath her jacket.
Could he go for centuries never tasting this woman again? Would this moment seem a dream one hundred years from now? His head lowered again as he pulled just one more taste of her into him.
“Please...stop...” Her tears landed on his cheek and he tasted one, its salt a contrast to her blood’s sweet. He suckled some more, but the intensity slowed.
Her hands fell, limp, as the last of her fight slipped out of her. He’d never be able to taste her again. That thought stopped him, had him making a quick, determined decision.
He stepped back, studying his victim. She slid down the wall, her feet hitting the floor as the support of his hands disappeared. Rydere grabbed her under her arms before she crumbled completely.
She put up no fight and her skin had the ashen tone of someone who’d been bled dry. Rydere ripped the dark tunic he wore down the middle, exposing his neck and chest. He took the knife from his belt and sliced a gash over his heart.
He’d never converted a human before, and knew of no other Dardaptoan who’d succeeded, either. But theoretically, it could be done; he remembered the legends of how. Blood for blood.
He guided her mouth to his chest. Her lips quivered against his skin, the butterfly touch sending a hot rush to his gut. Still she did not drink.
His fingers caught a small amount of his own blood as it dripped down his chest. He painted her lips with the red. Still nothing happened.
He lifted her until their mouths were even, using one knee to support her weight. He didn’t bother with a knife this time, bringing his left wrist to his mouth and using his teeth to prepare his flesh.
His own blood, bitter beyond bitter, coated his teeth, his lips when he covered her mouth with his. He kissed her before pulling back. “You will live!”
He tilted her head back as far as it would go after pulling the pins from the mass. That freed up another inch and he tilted her back that inch. His bleeding wrist now would lay perfectly over her open mouth. His blood filled her mouth and some part of her knew to swallow, knew what was required for her survival. She swallowed.
He fed her until his head fogged from lack of blood and her heartbeat was steady and strong beneath his fingers. But she had yet to wake. Rydere carried her through the suite until he reached his bedchamber. With jerky gestures he had her ruined clothing removed and replaced with a spare white tunic.
Sleep beckoned and claimed him the instant he fell into the bed, inches from where he’d dropped her.
Chapter Four
It was all a dream. That was all Emily could think as she lay underneath the warm blankets. No monster had broken into her home and dragged her into a strange world where darkly handsome vampires extolled revenge on her in an entirely too erotic way.
To prove it, she would open her eyes and see the grays and mauves that accented her master bedroom. The only creature in her room or bed would be her one-eyed cat. That was all.
Emily opened her eyes.
The room surrounding her was a mix of oranges and whites so bright they burned her eyes. The bed she rested on was monstrous, taking up half the room, and was pushed against one wall for space. She raised one hand to rub her eyes and paused. Her nails were broken and ragged, bloody.
Her hand rose to her neck, to the spot that burned. A small knot was beneath her skin. It hurt to touch, and when she pressed it anyway, a blast of heat and remembrance shot through her.
His face was now visible in her eyes. His scent was strong in her lungs. Her fingers curled to touch him. Emily shot from the bed and darted into the attached bathroom. It took seconds for her to empty the contents of her stomach.
She did not lust for that monster. It was just another of his tricks.
The afternoon sun was visible through the suite’s windows—and it was a hotel. Or it once was. She remembered that from the night before.
Just like she remembered the creature saying that her cousins had been taken, too. Had they been tortured with whatever drug had been used on her? God, it had hurt when she’d wakened in the night to feel as if her entire body was ripping itself into pieces. She still felt bruised on the inside.
She’d grown up in the world of one of the largest American pharmaceutical companies. She now ran it. He had to have drugged her. There was no other explanation. Was he a rival of Taniss Industries who’d gotten a sick thrill from using her as a test subject out of some sort of revenge or even corporate espionage?
It took her less than ten minutes to pick the lock on the suite door. She had to find Mal, Mickey, and Jocelyn. Then get out of this damned place. The only way she’d be returning was with the cops.
****
Rydere knew the moment she awoke. It was as if a switch had been flipped in his mind, turning all of his senses to on. He stood, dropping his paperwork to the desk.
He took the most direct route to his suites then began to track her. He followed her scent down the long corridor, stopping where she'd stopped. Her scent got hotter, stronger, and he knew he was getting close. Adrenaline had his nerves humming as he rounded the last corner.
Several of his people stood when he entered the last room on the first level.
"Where is she?"
"Who, sir?" Jambu asked.
"She's in here." She was near, he could smell her blood, her skin, that sweet essence that was just her. He could also smell her fear, her hunger, her exhaustion. Rydere bared his fangs. "All of you—out!"
Chapter Five
Emily knew the moment he entered the room. Her entire body went on alert; she could hear the sounds he made as he moved around the room, tracking her. Stalking her. She tucked herself tighter into the space behind the cabinet where she'd hidden, but she knew that wouldn't be enough.
"Little dove, you cannot hide forever." His words were the growl of a predator and Emily knew it. Would it be easier to reveal herself now, or wait until he found her? And he would find her. Anywhere she went. She trembled and her breath stuttered when his shadow moved closer to her corner.
"There you are." He smiled at her, the fangs in his mouth evoking chilling memories of the night before. "Strange place to find my new pet. Jambu and Jierra, the others, they would not have harmed you."
He reached for her and Emily had nowhere to go. He pulled her into the light, ran one hand over the tangled hair falling in her eyes, then lifted her into his arms. He nuzzled her neck and she stiffened, even more terror filling her. "What were you thinking?"
She refused to answer. His steps were sure as he carried her from the room. Emily refused to allow fear of what would happen next to seize her. She'd watch and learn, find her cousins, and somehow escape this...
"Being stubborn?" He laughed. "It will be tough for you, being my slave, but you will adjust. First, we must feed you."
"I'm not your slave and I never will be." Her words were whispered, but fierce. "And I will find a way to kill you for what you've done."
"You are free to try, just remember I am your master and the king of all the people around here. Their first loyalties will always be to me."
Emily didn't respond. He'd entered an elaborate lounge that had a wide-screen television, gaming consoles, and deep leather chairs and sofas. The man she'd seen the night before lounged on one; her cousin sat at his feet.
Josey's hands were bound, her face pale and scared. Her eyes were dull, unseeing.
"Josey!" Emily struggled in the creature's arms. With her hands bound, Josey was lost in a world where she couldn't communicate. But thank God she was alive. Emily felt tears slide down her cheeks. For the first time since it all began, she felt some hope.
****
Rydere sat her on her feet, not surprised when she dropped to the floor and threw her arms around her cousin.
He turned to Cormac and spoke in their first language. "Why is she still tied?"
"Because I want her to be." The other man stroked a hand down the woman's long blonde hair.
"No. Think of what we've taken from them. Give her some dignity. Can't you see the terror in her eyes?" Rydere himself reached for the rope binding her wrists. Both women shrank from him, Cormac’s seeming to collapse in on herself. "You used to be less harsh, Cormac. Is she even a quarter century in years? Probably been protected and coddled her entire life by her family just as we have Jierra; this is a hell for her."
Cormac bristled but said nothing. Rydere didn't expect him to. "You might try an exercise in compassion. Unless you want hundreds more years with her terrified? I think that would soon lose its appeal."
"I'll do it." Cormac pulled the woman into his lap. She cringed but didn't pull away. Had probably already learned not to. Emily protested, tried to interfere.
Rydere pulled his little dove closer as Cormac unraveled the knotted rope. "No. Leave your cousin be."
She glared up at him. Never had a woman looked at him with as much hatred as was written in her eyes. "Whatever hell you believe in, you'll be there soon, just for whatever he’s done to her."
"And who is going to put me there?" Rydere asked before leading her to the sofa. "Sit. Cormac and I have business to attend, and then you are in dire need of a bath and a comb, I think."
He left her there, then bent to the other woman, lifting her easily into his arms. She weighed barely more than his new pet and their fragility was reiterated; care must be taken with them. She lay against him quietly. He ignored the soft growl Cormac emitted. It was the same sound he'd released when Cormac's hand had touched Emily's shoulder. A Dardaptoan male protected what was his. Even from his friends.
Rydere deposited the cousin on the couch beside Emily, where they huddled together and conversed in small hand gestures.
Cormac watched his woman, no doubt attempting to learn what she said by reading her mind. Rydere sank onto the chair next to his. "The other Taniss females?"
"Live."
"That's good." Rydere was relieved, he'd not wanted to have to tell her that her family, her friends, were gone at his people's hands. "Where are they?"
"Theo and Aodhan have them in the gardens, I think." Cormac laughed. "Actually, Aodhan's little pet got away from him and found her sister. The women ran to the gardens and now are stuck in there, unable to find the hidden exit. Theo and Aodhan will find them, of course. But I think they are enjoying the hunt."
"Yes, mine got away, too." Rydere felt a sense of pride at that. Clever woman.
"That's why I kept mine tied to my side all night. A man can sleep better that way."
"No wonder her wrists were raw and bloodied." Rydere's words held rebuke. "The women must be cared for. Which means you need to feed her. Can you not feel her hunger, see how listless she is? You've drained her too dry without replenishing enough. It's no wonder she suffers such weakness compared to her cousin."
"Is she not mine to do with as I wish?" Cormac stared at her with an uncaring gaze. But Rydere had seen the quick shift in his expression before he'd blinked. "What are we to do with them?"
"I don't know." Rydere frowned, mind running over the ramifications. "It was one thing to take them and kill them, to make them disappear, but if word got out that they were here among our people against their will...we'd be overrun with mortal authorities."
"I'm not giving her back." Cormac's words were in English and loud enough for Emily to hear. Rydere didn't miss the way she stiffened and leaned in front of her cousin. Cormac finished in the Dardaptoan tongue. "She’s mine and I am keeping her."
"I feel the same. But not only will the Taniss men be looking for them along with the authorities, but the women themselves don't want to be here. Yet I don't want any of us being cruel to them. Converted humans are rare, we must be careful. I'm not sure they have the same lifespan as we."
"And if the Lupoiux learn of their existence? I know yours will be a prime target. Any of the four will." Cormac's fangs were now more prominent. "They will not touch her."
"No. They will not." Rydere considered for a moment. "I'm putting you in charge of their safety and well-being. I want Aodhan to follow the Taniss family, make sure no more threat will come from that quarter."
"Protect our flanks, I get it," Cormac said as the doors opened for Aodhan and Theo, accompanied by the redheaded Taniss women. Rydere watched as the men released them to join their cousins.
"Good. Now in the meantime, I suggest you feed your...what shall we call them? I am not comfortable calling her my slave. And she hates it, as well." Rydere watched her examine each of her cousins, obviously looking for any damages. Something tickled his mind.
"How about Rajni?" Theo asked.
Rydere stilled as Theo’s words sank in. "Is she? Have you seen?"
"Hmmm. Cloudy. She's the general build and impression I got. But things are still uncertain. Hinges entirely on your actions." Theo never got exact visions for those he was closest to, just general impressions. But at six hundred plus years old, he was very skilled at interpreting those impressions. "On decisions you'll make. If you foul it up, you will never have a Rajni."
His Rajni, his mate. The Dahn, queen to his people. A Taniss as queen to the Dardaptoans. He could see the unease written on the other men's faces, and he understood it. But a man only got one Rajni and since he had at least another millennium left in years, that thought was bleak. "And the others?"
"Hmmm. Cormac's is uncertain." Theo hesitated before turning to the darker man. "I sense a great danger to yours, but I am unclear if the danger is you or someone else. But do you want to know if she’s your Rajni or not?"
"I know she is." Cormac's grin was anything but reassuring. His eyes blazed with possession when he looked at the blonde sheltered in her cousins' arms. "Have from the moment I first saw her."