Wicked Surrender (11 page)

He smirked. “Not so much. Not everyone who lives in Texas wears Stetson’s, owns a ranch, and rides horses. Nah, my dad was a cop and my mom a homemaker.”

“Are you an only child then?” He nodded, his eyes glazing over into a faraway look.

“Are your parents still together?” That faraway look died and became lethal.

“My dad died.”

“Oh my G
od, I’m so sorry. I
had no idea. I didn’t mean to-
”

His hand slid into her hair and cupped her head; he
shook
his head no. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. The day he croaked was a blessing.”

Heavy silence filled the room.

Vera’s fingers curled into his chest. She’d never seen him look so uncaring about something that must be painful.

“Feel free to tell me to shut up and mind my own business, but may I ask what happened?” Vera held her breath. She was so stupid. Falling for a human who made her heart race every
time he was near
was utterly stupid
. It was even stupider though to try to learn more about him. She was digging her own painful grave and she knew it.

His eyes found hers and softened. “No, it’s fine. I know about your parents anyways. It’s only fair. Dad was a cop. His
father before him and his before him was
all cops. He wanted me to be a cop too, but there was no way I was going to be like him.” He
laughed
the sound cold as ice and bitter. She saw raw pain and anger on his face and wanted to soothe it all away.
             

“Monday through Friday was always the sa
me. He’d come home from the job
and start into the beer. By time we ate dinner, he
was
stumbling around the house. When the dishes were put away, he was angry. Same shit
every day
. Some nights were fine, you learned to be around him, to tip toe around conversations and say only the right things. Some nights weren’t so easy.

“One wrong word later and Mom was trying to deflect blows. I’d call the cops when I was young, but they were his friends. Hell some of them probably had the same problem, fuck if I know. When I was
twelve,
I started goading him to get him off my Mom. God, she’s so small you
know.
Kind of like you
,
and my dad was a big man. Anyways, when I turned fifteen we started exchanging blows. Sometimes it turned out good for me, sometimes not. When I was eighteen though, I left.”

Vera’s heart was crying in her chest, and hot tears pooled at her eyes. God she was turning into a weepy bitch. “You joined the military.” He nodded absently.

“I hated myself more for going.”

“Why? I would have gone away too.”

He was shaking his head, his eyes stark. “I left her there. Just left her with him.” There was no hiding the pain on his face. Vera couldn’t stop herself but climbed completely over him and held him tight, pressing kisses to his cheeks, his chin, his lips. She wanted
desperately
to wipe the look from his face. The look of a hurt young man, blaming himself for trying to find a way out. He didn’t touch her, his hands
lying
dead on the bed.

“He died the year I turned twenty-three. I left her with him for
four
years.”

“Oh baby.” Vera held him tighter, could feel his heart pounding over her own.

“I need to get up.” Vera let go and watched him leave the bed, feeling as though a piece of her just left too.

“I’m so sorry I brought it up. I didn’t mean...I didn’t mean for any of this. I just wanted to know about you. I-I’m sorry, Jacks.” He turned to face her, the look on his face passive and cold.

“Now you know why I’ve never gotten close to a woman. Because I’ll be just like him, and no woman deserves that
,
especially you, Vera.”

Vera’s heart
turned cold
. She heard the words leaving her mouth and a part of her couldn’t recall saying them. “But last night you said that...you said
—
”

“I said what, Vera? That I was angry that a vampire tried to use some kind of date rape sounding drug on you?”

This was all turning around way too quickly. She rushed on, feeling
desperate
. “No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that you asked me about myself. I told you something I’ve never told anyone. I thought that...meant something. You said there was something between us,
lumara
.” He started jerking clothes. He didn’t look at her but she caught a glimpse of his face. It was the same hard face she’d seen when she first met him. Hard, unfeeling, alert.

He laughed. “Yeah I said there was something between us, then I fucked you, and when I woke up I fucked you again. Do you need me to say it? There’s sex between us
, Vera. That’s all. Good
hard fucking. And here I thought you weren’t the sentimental type. I suppose I’ll have to be the one to tell you this, baby, but just because a guy asks you one thing about yourself does not mean he’s ready to marry you.” He turned and walked out of the bedroom.

Vera choked back a sob and ran for the bathroom. She tur
ned on the shower and jumped in,
only then did she let the tears spill. Everything happened so fast. If only she hadn’t brought it up. She replayed what happened a hundred times until the water ran colder and colder.

When
the water was cold enough to break goosebumps across her skin, she realized something.
It was so obvious now that she hadn’t seen it before because of the instantaneous pain that had bloomed.

S
he got out of the shower
,
feeling much stronger, her head cleare
r
. She pulled on her clothes and applied a light touch of mascara.

When she was done
,
she smiled at herself because she knew several things. That Jackson Marsh was trying very hard to push her away. She’d made him realize something very ugly after all. She also knew that Jacks
on
Marsh cared about her. She hadn’t imagined the panic she saw in his face, and she was no longer fooled about the way he dismissed their conversation last night or their time together this morning.

If the man thought he could throw some ugly words in her face and she’d run scurrying back under the covers, then he obviously was an idiot. She paused with her hand an inch from the doorknob. It was either that or she was the idiot for pursuing a human man who could easily drop her heart and shatter it into a million pieces. If there was anything she was it wasn’t a coward.

She pulled open the door and found him standing across the hall. He stared above her head at some indiscriminate part of the wall. Vera grinned and launched herself at him, catching him with her arms and legs.

He cut a sharp look to her and she knew she’d moved to fast for him to see. His hands moved to her waist, whether to touch her or push her away she didn’t know. She looped her arms around his neck and pressed kisses over the perpetual stubble that always shaded his cheek. She kissed his chin, across his nose, the corner of his mouth. Slowly, the hands on her waist loosened their tight grip, became gentle, caressing.

“You don’t know what you’re doing.” She kissed a path along his ear before answering. “Yes I do.” He smelled so good, like rugged man, and he tasted even better.

“I’m not going to apologize for what I said, because I was right. I’ve never been in a relationship, Vera. Never. Don’t you get that? I’m glad you asked me about my past, because I can’t escape it. I’m just like him.”

Vera kissed him to shut up him. He let loose a feral growl and kissed her back, hard and wet.

“You’re forgetting to add a few things to your equation,
lumara.
One,
that
it isn’t your past that defines you but the choices you make now.
Two, you are nothing like your father in that regard; and three, you could never beat me in a fight.”

His brief, choked laughter was like music to her ears. He titled his head back
and stared up at the ceiling, and s
he wondered whether he realized that his hands were trailing gently up and down her back.

“Don’t forget that I’m not human.” His laughter died slowly and he looked down at her with warmth and something else. Hope was it? Or maybe her own stupid was heart was making her see what she wanted to see.

“What does ‘lumara’ mean? I’ve never heard the word befo
re.” Heat rushed to Vera’s face, she ducked
before he could see it. She hopped down and started down the hallway.

“Come on, we have to go. The meeting will begin soon.” Masculine laughter teased her ears, and then she was backed up against a hard male body. His dark scent filled her nostrils and she arched back into him. One big hand spread over her stomach, trapping her.

“We’re not going anywhere until you tell me what it means, baby. Tell me or I’ll put you on your knees right here and make you suck my cock.”

Vera choked in surprise...and excitement as images of doing just that flashed through her mind, wetted her pussy.
She licked her lips
, rubbing
back against him
. She
found the rock hard length of his cock and ground her ass against him.
His sharp intake of breath was more music to her ears. His fingers moved down, lifted her shirt an inch, then teased the soft skin inside her jeans. Her stomach hollowed to make room for his hand to dive further, touch her where she was crying honey and swollen.

“That’s hardly a threat,” she gasped, her voice sounding like she’d spent all night at a co
ncert screaming
. His hand, slowly, achingly, moved down until one finger touch the top of her pussy. Vera moaned and
lifted
her arms
up and around
his neck, her breas
ts arching out like an offering as her ass thrust back against him.

“Tell me, baby, and I’ll fill your ass with my cock tonight. I’ll lick your creamy pussy until you gush all over my mouth, then I’ll lick it up and make you come again while I fuck your pussy.” The tip of his finger prodded her clit gently, a bare touch. His other hand found a breast and cupped her, shaping her mound. She struggled betw
een two worlds. One of pleasure, the other
logic. His finger didn’t move any further, was a clear reminder that he wouldn’t let her come right now.

“Okay, I’ll tell you.” It was the hardest thing to say, especially since his hands left her body and turned her to face him. But her body wanted his promises more. Her pussy wept at being unfulfilled, but the images of him licking her there made her heart race.

“Lumara is a lykaen term. It means my beloved.” She didn’t look at him as she said it. She honestly hadn’t
realized
she’d
spoken
it until he asked her about it, but now that he
knew,
she felt a wave of insecurity fill her. She hadn’t even called Dmetri by the name.

Gentle fingers lifted her chin until she looked at him. His eyes held that same strange look in them that she couldn’t recognize before. What was that? She’d guessed hope before, but now it didn’t fit. She wished she could ask him, but she couldn’t be so revealing.
She always too honest anyways.

He bent his head and kissed her. All thoughts fled but
of
his lips on hers.
His kiss was gentle, coaxing
yet demanding all at the same time.
Everything she’d ever wanted.

“You guys might want to get to the meeting now. We have news about that deed.” Vera and Jacks looked down the hall to see Dmetri. He looked unhappy. Vera couldn’t stop the sickening feeling that roiled in her stomach. This was going to be bad.

Chapter Nine

A
frigid, silent air
was
in the meeting room that hadn’t been there before.
Brayden sat with a hard, unreadable look on his face. Ariss wore a small smile on her red lips, her guardian
stood
close behind her. Dmetri and Vera took their seats and for once Vera wished she could touch Jacks while this happened. Since when she needed a man’s strength for simple tasks, she wasn’t sure.

She knew what was going to happen. The deed was real, and they were going to take away the Kategan’s land. If they didn’t move off the land, then the pack would go to war with Ariss’ vampire clan.

Several guards came in the room
—
all vampires. They wore vacant expressions that gave nothing away. There were six of them and they stood back against the walls, looking straight ahead. In all her years coming wit
h Vane to negotiate the treaties
, she’d never seen guards in the room. This couldn’t be good.

She stood a
little straighter in her chair
and held her chin up high. She would deal with this proudly, like a Kategan.