The Vampyre Legal Chronicles - Daniel: Book: 3 (8 page)

He moved closer to the bed, fists on his hips as he studied
her flushed and delighted face.

"Are you feeling well? No cramps? No nausea?"

Without bothering to hide her nakedness, she sat up and
pushed back the thick mane of glossy dark hair.

Her amazing eyes held his.

"Nope. I feel
fantastic
," she said in a
voice that was so unlike her own it had another wave of alarm wash over him.

He scrubbed his hands over his face, rubbed his neck.

She did?

Again he studied her, searching for a hint of discomfort and
could find none.

She certainly looked amazing.

Not quite herself, still gorgeous, still sexy, but
more
somehow.

They say confession is good for the soul.

Daniel took a breath, kept his eyes on hers and confessed.

"I am vampyre. And since I took your vein and you drank
from me, so are you."

Her eyes went huge.

Blink. Blink.

Silence.

No shit?

Staring right into his vivid blue eyes, Gia realized that
Daniel was absolutely serious and totally sincere. She heard it in his voice
and read it in his eyes.

Vampyre?

Nothing that happened to her shocked Gia these days.
Nothing. Not after everything she’d been through over the last two years. She'd
been beaten and worse by her husband. She'd seen him murdered. And had the mob
and a mafia don after her.

The idea of being a vampyre weirdly didn’t scare her, even
more weirdly it didn’t surprise her and neither did she doubt Daniel's word for
a single second.

She felt... complete.

She felt... whole for the first time in her life as if
something within her DNA had been switched on.

The silky voice of the entity in her head whispered,
‘Welcome
to a new life, little sister.’

Daniel was looking at her as if she was about to have a
nervous breakdown.

But Gia was feeling incredibly powerful, self-aware.

And strong.

Wow
.

And she knew for an absolute certainty that she’d never ever
suffer from stage fright ever again.

Woo hoo
.

The very idea of feeling insecure, of being afraid, of being
a
victim
, of being brought down by a mere man was so ridiculous to her
now it was laughable.

Memories flashing like a movie going too fast entered her mind,
flickering scenes as she found herself remembering how Daniel had made love to
her and the way he’d bitten her neck and how she'd swallowed his bodily fluid.

"Did you drug me?" she asked.

Watchful blue eyes narrowed on hers and a brand new sense of
awareness of him, of his thoughts, of his feelings, told her he was wondering just
how much of the truth to tell her.

"Tell me everything," she whispered. And watched
his eyes go wide as he realized she could catch snatches of his thoughts. She
wanted to know every single thing about what, how and why this had happened to
her.

He nodded.

"Not quite. When I make love with you, when I take your
vein, I’m able to keep you calm and centred."

"Wow."

Gia lay back against the river of pillows and took stock of
her situation.

Her eyesight seemed sharper.

She cocked her head and was almost certain she could hear
Daniel’s strong heart beating in his chest. And in spite of his big and bad act
she was receiving an unmistakable message that he was worried. Very worried and
concerned, for her.

"You seem to be taking this well. Too well," he
observed now in a silky voice.

She grinned feeling high on a euphoria that held her tight
in its grip.

"You have
no
idea how
freaking
amazing
this is."

His blue eyes narrowed into hers as his smooth brow creased.

"Why don’t you tell me why that is," he said. And
the way his voice went soft, the way he was watching her like a hawk made her
smile.

She had nothing to hide so she told him the honest truth.

"For two years I was dragged around by the hair,
punched, kicked and raped whenever Liam felt like it."

The way his vampyre growled as he emerged made her eyes go
big.

It was as if Daniel had been given an extra large shot of
pure testosterone.

Whoa
.

His torso swelled along with his thighs and another part of
his anatomy that made her breath catch in her throat. But she couldn’t take her
eyes off of his fangs.

They were so white they could have starred in their own
toothpaste ad.

"He
raped
you?" Daniel roared at the top of
his voice.

She shrugged.

Sure, the act had traumatised her at the time. Of course it
had. But somehow it didn’t seem to matter so much now.

The man was dead, which was a pity because if she’d turned vampyre
before he’d died she’d have happily killed him with her bare hands.

She stared at those hands now as her nails slid out of her
fingertips to curve into lethal claws. The way her gums expanded as her fangs
descended had her run her tongue over her too sharp teeth with care.

Wow
.

How
freaking
fangtastic was this?

Gia couldn’t help it.

She started to laugh.

And once she started, she couldn’t stop, more than aware the
laughter was tinged with more than a little hysteria.

Freedom.

She was
free
.

Then she remembered a certain Enricho Donatti.

She stopped laughing and her eyes narrowed into slits.

The lust for vengeance, an-eye-for-an-eye, a-tooth-for-a-tooth,
rose in her heart and expanded her lungs.

She was going to tear the bastard apart limb from limb.

Bring it on!

"Gia, control your vampyre," Daniel’s voice rose
in a way that made her blink.

She took a deep calming breath and her claws made a
shtick
sound as her fingernails returned to normal and her incisors retracted.

"Something's gone wrong. This cannot be right,"
Daniel muttered as if talking to himself.  Blue eyes bored into hers.
"I’ve changed you forever, without your permission. Aren’t you at least a
little bit angry with me? Anxious? What's been done to you cannot be
undone."

Now she scooted to the edge of the bed and stood.

The room didn't spin.

She was stark naked, baby, and
loving
it.

Again the feeling of euphoria, of elation, threatened to
overwhelm her.

She was a vampyre.

Hot damn ditty
.

With a cocky swing of her hips, she sauntered over to him,
got into his face.

"Angry? I’m not angry," she purred, dragging her
nails down the taut six pack of his belly, making the muscles beneath her
fingers tremble. "Wanna see me
angry
?"

He captured her wrist.

"Watch the smart mouth," Daniel warned.

His tone wasn’t good-natured now, but sharp as a blade.

And that tone had her vampyre sit up and eye him very
carefully.

She heard her pulse thunder in her head, hurtling in time to
the sudden sprinting beat of her heart.

Perhaps now was not the time to toy with him?

As if he could read her mind, he smiled.

And she decided it was downright nasty.

"You do not want to mess with me, Gia. Trust me."

The Scottish burr in his voice did something crazy to her
hormones.

She gave him big eyes and decided the time had come to draw
a line in the sand, as it were.

"I’m not messing with you, Mr. Dracula. I’m telling you
to back the hell off. You don’t own me. You don’t control me. I don’t belong to
you
. I don’t belong to
anyone.
"

She strolled around the room comfortable in her nakedness.

Her eyes flicked to his as she ran her fingertips insolently
over the luxurious velvet of the couch, over the soft silk of the many cushions.

Then she turned to him, met his eyes dead on.

"Except for a little dental work and a thing for liquid
protein, I’m still my own person."

Now he moved into her, into her personal space.

"I’m going to take a leap in the dark here and say
you’re scared and that this is all a big act."

Her snort of utter derision made his eyes go slitty.

"Are you for real? I
love
being vampyra. I can
kick-ass, including yours."

He ran his tongue over his bottom lip in a way that made her
itch to lick him, all over.

The way he looked all sexily perplexed was doing wonderful
things to certain parts of her anatomy that seemed to be incredibly sensitive
to his many moods.

"You have a lot to learn, fledgling. Be very careful of
your vampyre when you are angry."

His tone was so reasonable it made her want to
bite
him.

Her fangs dropped from her gums and he growled a warning
rumble deep in his throat before continuing, "Our continued existence is
conditional on the fact that humans remain unaware of us. I sympathise with
your need for revenge on Donatti. But you cannot exact that revenge as a vampyre."

Seriously?

She tossed back her luxurious mane of hair as her eyes flung
him a challenge.

"I can’t believe it. A tolerant vampyre?"

"I am personally accountable for your continual
development and wellbeing. You are my responsibility."

She looked at him and her amazing eyes the color of claret went
as hard as stone.

And Daniel’s belly did a little jump, not from lust, but
from the transformation in her eyes.

Power.

He’d seen great power many times before and Daniel knew he
was staring at it now.

For the first time he wondered if he’d unleashed something
he might not be able to control.

Again she ran her fingernails down his torso, past his belly
button.

He grabbed her wrist.

And she sent him a wicked, wicked little smile.

"Nope, fangface. I’m responsible for me
.
"

He blinked.

Fangface?

As a vampyre prince, and as was his due, Daniel was used to
receiving a certain amount of deferential respect. Yep, he’d definitely opened
up a Pandora's box of something.

Her physical changes now were an abrupt dilation of her
pupils as blood raced to the whites of her eyes and her skin went too pale, too
fast.

She can’t control it, was his first thought.

Then he wondered what
it
was.

He had no doubt at all she was vampyre.

But Gia, it appeared, was no ordinary vampyre.

He sensed and observed a complete confidence, and a highly
developed sense of right and wrong within her. But this new Gia also appeared
happy to be disrespectful and bitchy. And what the hell was wrong with him that
he found her behaviour terribly arousing?

His little mouse of a PA was actually a clever, talented,
and complex woman.

Daniel wondered what it was going to be like to carefully
peel away each layer to understand who and what she was.

She was stubborn and independent.

He could still taste her mouth on his and the way she’d
purred deep in her throat made his shaft ache at the thought of making love to
her again. But it was time his little newborn was taught a sharp lesson in
respect for her elders. And especially to respect him.

Now he offered her his most innocent smile.

His hand rose and he gripped her chin, tipped her face up to
his.

"Fangface?" he asked in a silky voice that held a
warning.

The look in her eyes told him she saw right through him and
wasn't in the least bit alarmed.

"I’m having fun being a vampyre. Who’d have thought
it?"

"Who indeed? No nausea, gut pain, aches?"

Now those amazing eyes blinked into his.

"Nope." She kept her eyes on his. "Is that
what happened to the others?"

He managed to hide his surprise, at least he thought he did.
"Others?"

She smirked, there was no other word for the expression on
her beautiful face.

"Do I look stupid to you?"

Far from it, but he had no intention of telling her what had
happened to Anais and Charlotte either. The last thing he wanted to do was
scare her for no good reason.

Gia had enough to worry about.

"No. But power is a precarious thing. It might, and
can, go to a person’s head."

She jerked her chin out of his hand but didn’t move back.

"The trouble with you is that you think you’re so
clever. Keep all that lawyer focus for your clients."

She sank onto the couch with the grace of a sleek cat,
tucked up those long legs under her bottom.

Her eyes held his. "I feel complete, centred and
formidable. You have given me a gift, Daniel. I won't forget it."

"Good to hear. What if I told you that you are my mate?
That we are now paired for as long as we both shall live?"

Now she shrugged but those lazy eyes went sharp as any trace
of humanity simply leaked away.

And his heart fell at the transformation from wicked
amusement to a cold killer.

"I didn’t ask for this to happen to me. As far as I’m
concerned I might be grateful but I owe you nothing. I am my own person.
Vampyre, human, I don’t care. But I’ll tell you something for nothing, I will
never ever permit a man, or a vampyre, to force me to do something I don't want
to do again. And if you try to force me I will destroy you."

Daniel shook his head.

She was sitting on his sofa, bare naked, and laying down the
law and making threats.

To him?

He'd unleashed something unexpected and something very, very
dangerous.

Perhaps he should try another approach.

"Why do you think you came to work for me?"

"Money," she shot right back.

He smiled and it didn't reach his eyes. "Not for a need
to right a wrong?"

Was he serious?

"Are you kidding me? Gillespie, Pattullo and Hindmarch
are sharks."

Now those blue eyes went like ice and she wondered if this
new Gia’s big vampyre mouth might become something of an issue.

"No. We put our clients, their needs and wishes, first.
We do not break or bend the law and that is why we are the best."

She had to admit he was right.

But as far as she was concerned all the lawyers in the firm
were still ruthless.

Then she decided it wasn’t worth arguing over.

Now he sat next to her, took her hand in his and brought it
to his mouth.

His vivid blue eyes went so intense as they captured hers in
a dead on stare that made her pulse jolt.

"Power," he said now in a deep voice, "is
seductive and in you, your power is huge. In many ways staggering. In many ways
you look magnificent. Somehow more. But you’re still my wee girl. And don’t you
forget it."

The way he said it, the tone of his voice, the sincerity,
made her bite down hard on the smart comeback and speak nothing but the truth.

"I feel invincible."

He pressed tiny kisses across her knuckles and all the while
those watchful blue eyes never left hers.

"You’re not."

Her eyes held his while within her a feeling of power spread
and contracted. It was glorious. Exciting. Something she wasn’t quite seeing
danced tantalisingly at the edge of her consciousness. But she couldn’t quite
get a handle on it.

Then she caught his eye and read a concern laced with a
deep, dark arousal.

Again?

The man was a sex machine.

The heat of his gaze and the force of his desire, for her,
as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world for him only made the power
within her grow exponentially.

She wanted him too.

But words he’d said earlier came back to her.

Now her chin jerked as she stared up into those determined
eyes and read the truth of his words.

"What do you know of Enricho Donatti?" she asked.

His hand reached to cup her face and her skin tingled in a
way that made her turn her mouth to press her lips against his palm.

All the while her eyes never left his.

"I know he killed your husband. Want to tell me why
you’ve sold your apartment and why you paid the proceeds into a business
account owned by Enricho Donatti?"

The tip of her tongue took a careful lick of the palm of his
hand and his pupils dilated.

Her nipples ached.

"It’s my mess. Or I should say, it’s Liam’s mess and I
am going to clean it up."

"Are you indeed?" his voice was low and silky.

And her vampyre told her to be very, very careful.

"How old are you?" she asked now.

Immediately the tension in the atmosphere was released.

His tongue explored his bottom lip as his eyes danced into
hers.

A vampyre with a sense of humour?

Who’d have thought it?

"I’m two hundred and thirty-two years old."

She laughed as she pulled her hand from his.

His touch was doing wonderful things to her clitoris.

And Gia realized she needed to keep a clear head around this
man.

"Wow, I’ve never gone for older men, they tend not to
have enough stamina," she said cheekily. His mouth twitched as he took the
insult right on the chin.

She grinned, gave him a quick bump on his shoulder with her
fist.

"I want sex," she said, and gave him another sharp
bump. "Strip."

His blue eyes went wide even as he tried too hard not to
smile.

"Look, we need to..."

She bumped him again, hard.

"You talk too much, probably because you’re a
lawyer."

"Gia, baby..."

Abruptly her eyes went too dark into the color of a deeper
claret.

And those eyes scared the shit out of Daniel.

Preternatural.

Predatory.

His pulse hammered helplessly in his throat.

And his laugh was a little forced.

"Gia, you know..." He took a breath, sent her what
passed for a smile. "You’re worrying me. I think we need to..."

But her mouth nuzzled his and then she took a little bite
out of his bottom lip.

And his rock hard erection pressed painfully against the
metal teeth of his zipper.

She licked the sting on his lip all better.

"You know how to press a woman’s love button," she
whispered into his mouth.

He what?

She leapt.

Daniel found himself on his back with a hot naked woman
straddling him and her mouth devouring his.

The way he went even harder too fast had the blood boiling
in his system.

He tore his mouth away from hers, caught her face between
his hands and forced her to look at him.

"Listen to me, for just a minute..."

"Kiss me," she demanded. "A real one with
tongue and teeth."

Bloody hell.

He told his vampyre to take it easy because it was roaring
in his head to take his woman and to take her hard.

Now her eyes went soft as they gazed intimately into his and
he had the peculiar feeling she could see right down into his very soul.

"You’re going to give me beautiful babies," she
all but purred into his mouth.

Jesus!

God!

His vampyre tossed his head back to howl like a wolf in heat
and leapt.

Flat on her back, glittering eyes the
color of red wine was all Gia saw as he bent his dark head to hers.

And the moment his mouth took hers a savage arousal was a raging
storm roaring through her system.

Her tongue touched his.

And his response stunned her.

With a growl his hands streaked through her hair, yanked her
head back and his tongue speared into her mouth.

It was a kiss that screamed
mine
.

It was a kiss that dominated, demanded and took. A part of
her wondered what she’d done, what she’d let loose. Another part of her
couldn't give a hot damn.

He was all around her, his scent, his wicked hands
commanding her secret places. The sleek skim of his tongue, the way it thrust
again and again, the way it tangled with hers made her helplessly wet and
needy.

He was devouring her.

God, she loved it.

He raised his head, rubbed the pad of his thumb over her
inflamed lips and wild claret colored eyes stared into hers. With a soft,
triumphant laugh his thumb slid in and out of her mouth before he took it again
in a bold-tongued kiss, making love to her mouth.

Her puckered nipples were bullet hard peaks.

She closed her eyes and simply let herself go.

"Look at me," he commanded in a deep throaty
growl.

Watching him through narrowed lids Gia felt an erotic little
thrill run up her spine.

Dear heaven, she’d unleashed the beast.