Damek's Redemption

Chapter Thirteen

Damek felt as though he’d been staked out in the midday sun with a wooden post driven through his heart. Betrayal ate at him and it took all his discipline not to destroy everything in the room. Hell, the way he was feeling, he could easily raze the entire building.

She put the phone on the nightstand and pulled the covers around her, her face pale and frightened. “I called my family. I told you they would be worrying about me.”

“You told them where I lived. How to find me.”

“They won’t hurt you. Really. They’re on our side and will help to protect you from the vampire hunters in the area.”

He laughed, but the sound wasn’t pleasant and Sonia flinched. “I don’t need your help, little girl. I could easily kill every vampire hunter who dared to enter my domain.”

She shook her head and climbed out of bed, pausing long enough to wrap the comforter around her. It infuriated him that she felt the need to cover herself from him after he’d kissed and touched every inch of her traitorous body. “If you want to convince me of your sincerity you’d be better off doing it naked.”

She scowled at him. “Don’t be an idiot,” she snapped.

He raised an eyebrow at her temerity. “I promise, I won’t be any longer. Obviously I was one to have trusted you.”

Hurt flashed across her face and she jerked as though he’d hit her. He immediately wanted to soothe her, which in his mind did indeed make him an idiot. When would he learn that people always had their own agenda?

“We can watch out for you when you’re sleeping.”

Damek snorted. “That will never happen. I have guarded my own resting place for a thousand years and don’t need the help of a little girl.”

She turned from him as his phone rang. He stalked across the room, slammed the glass down onto the nightstand and grabbed his phone. This fiasco was his fault. If he’d remembered to take it with him she never would have been able to call anyone.

Now he was making excuses for her.

He recognized the number. “Craig, what do you have for me?” Sonia was rummaging around on the floor searching for her clothing. She winced when she bent over and he frowned. Was her arm hurting her? Had he hurt her when they’d made love?

And why should he care? She’d betrayed him before the sheets were barely cool.

He concentrated on what Craig was saying to him. “The vampire hunters are set up much like the werewolf bounty hunters, but there are a lot less of them. They’re a paranoid bunch and don’t give out any personal information even to one another. From what I can find out, this Luther Kostas guy seems to be running the show here in America. There isn’t much out there about him, but when he does talk it’s about his family heritage. The guy comes from a long line of vampire hunters that goes back to ancient times.”

That made sense to Damek. If a vampire could get inside a hunter’s mind he could find out many things. But if the hunter didn’t know anything there was nothing for a vampire to find. A simple, but effective protection device. “In other words, he’s a fanatic.”

“Oh, yeah,” Craig continued. “The only good vampire is a staked one. Guy thinks he’s Buffy.”

Damek’s lips twitched at the pop culture reference to a television vampire slayer but he kept from smiling. Off to his right, Sonia was busy pulling on her clothing. “Where is he now?”

“That’s where it gets a bit murky. I can’t pin down his location. He could be in Chicago for all I know. There’s no way of knowing. I don’t have a description of him, only a name. He’s not even in any of the DMV databases, and I’ve checked every state, so I’m betting he has a license under an alias. That’s what I would do.”

“Thank you for everything you’ve done.”

“Hey, no problem. Whatever you need. I’ll keep looking.”

Damek almost trusted him. Almost. There was always a seed of doubt and it usually flourished over time, proving he was right in the first place. Everyone looked out for themselves. He supposed, in that way, he was no different than the rest of them. His survival and safety came first, but he’d never betrayed anyone to assure it. Never.

He turned off his phone and tossed it onto the nightstand before turning to Sonia. She had her jeans and bra on and was struggling with her top. “What are you doing?”

She glared at him and tugged the sweater over her head. Her curls flew all over the place and his fingers itched to tame them. “You’re not serious. I’m leaving since you obviously don’t want me here and I can’t be trusted.”

He shook his head and prowled toward her, his feet gliding over the floor. “You’re not leaving.”

She froze in place, one arm halfway through the sleeve. “You can’t stop me.” He heard the quaver of her voice beneath her bravado.

“Yes, I can.” He tugged her sweater off and wrapped his hands around her shoulders.

“Why? Why do you want me to stay?” she demanded.

Damek wasn’t sure. He should be wiping her memories and sending her on her way. But the vampire hunters were still out there and they knew who she was. The thought of her being out there alone and unprotected was more than he could stand. If anything happened to her—

The city would see carnage unlike anything in its history. Damek wasn’t sure what he’d do if anything happened to Sonia. She’d become his lifeline to sanity. He was so close to crossing a line, to no longer caring about humanity and what became of it. But he cared about her in spite of her betrayal of him to her family.

“Why?” He yanked her close and her breasts pressed against his bare chest. Her bra kept him from fully feeling her soft flesh against him, so he pulled back long enough to undo it and strip it away. Which wasn’t an easy task with her hands batting at him. He pulled her back against him, releasing a sigh of relief when her nipples rubbed against his skin. He stared down at her, a fierce longing building from somewhere deep within him. “Because I want you.”

Sonia didn’t know whether she should run, slap his face or laugh. This entire night was turning into a tragic comedy of errors. Nothing in her life made sense anymore, least of all her attraction to the infuriating, overbearing vampire standing before her.

How could he think she would betray him? She’d told him about The Keepers and how they existed to help paranormal creatures like him. She’d told him about her obsession with finding him. Heck, she’d slept with the guy. How much more could he want?

“Everything,” he whispered. “I want everything.” He kissed her then, his lips covering hers and his tongue sliding inward, claiming her mouth. He’d read her mind, her thoughts, and she hadn’t even realized it.

Panic threatened and she threw up some hasty barriers in her mind, hoping to block him from finding out more. She didn’t want anyone digging through her brain for her thoughts and memories. They belonged to her and her alone.

He growled and pulled back, glaring down at her. “I didn’t read your mind. You were broadcasting like a beacon.”

“How did you…” She let her unspoken question hang there, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

“It’s not hard to guess your thoughts, and I felt the barriers you moved into place. Rather impressive actually.” He stiffened and took a step away from her. “You should drink some juice.”

Damn, now she felt guilty, like she’d done something wrong. This entire situation was ludicrous. Sonia reached out and touched his arm. He was wearing only a pair of pants, so his arms and chest were bare. Her fingers touched cool flesh and she glided them up his biceps to his shoulders.

“What are you doing?” His voice was gruff with arousal and maybe a touch of anger. It was hard to be sure.

“I don’t know,” she told him. In all honesty, she had no idea where her life was going or what she was going to do. Everything had changed the moment she’d met Damek.

He was so alone in spite of working in a packed nightclub every evening. He wore his aloofness like a cloak, but she sensed the man beneath, the man who’d taken her to bed and touched her so gently before making love to her as though she was the most necessary thing in his world.

He could easily ignore words, but actions were different. Praying she wasn’t making a huge mistake, Sonia cupped his face between her palms, went up onto her toes and kissed him.

Damek stood as still as a statue while she licked his bottom lip and touched her lips to the corners of his mouth. Self-consciousness crept in. Who did she think she was, some femme fatale? She was an ordinary woman, a scholar, certainly no swimsuit model. Embarrassment swamped her and she started to pull away.

He banded his arm around her waist and tugged her forward and up, capturing her lips with his. His kiss was hot and possessive and Sonia lost herself in it. Her embarrassment disappeared in a blink of an eye, replaced by something more powerful—lust.

He cupped her ass and ground her pelvis against his erection, wringing a whimper from her. She wiggled to get closer and hooked her right leg over his hip. He swept his hands up her spine and tangled them in her hair as he continued to devour her. She couldn’t breathe but didn’t care. It wasn’t important. Nothing was. The only thing that mattered was them touching each other.

Sonia had no idea how long they kissed, but it was Damek who finally pulled away. She sucked much-needed air into her lungs and was satisfied to see he was in no better shape than she was.

“We need to stop.” He slowly unhooked her leg from his hip and lowered it until her foot touched the floor, taking the opportunity to run his hand down her thigh.

“What? Why?” He couldn’t be serious. They were both hot and bothered, they were adults, and they’d already had sex. So what was his problem?

“I don’t want either one of us to regret this. I’m not sure I trust your motives.”

Sonia frowned as heat swept up her cheeks. “You mean you think I want to sleep with you so you’ll forget all about my so-called betrayal.” She shoved him in the chest, but he didn’t budge. It was frustrating. “I’m no whore.”

Damek flinched. “I didn’t say you were.”

“You might as well have,” she muttered, reaching down to pick up her top once again.

He grabbed her clothing out of her hand and tossed it aside.

“Hey, give that back.” Her temper had a long fuse but it was reaching its limit.

“No. Nothing has changed. You’re not leaving.”

“Damn you.” She flew at him, fists pounding his chest. She’d prefer to think her reaction was to him keeping her here rather than the fact he’d hurt her with his words. He wrapped his arms around her, trapping them against her sides so she couldn’t hit him. She brought her knee up and he barely kept from taking one in the family jewels.

He twisted her in his embrace so she was facing away from him, but he kept his arms around her, chaining her to him. His erection pressed against the small of her back. The bastard was aroused.

“I hate you,” she growled.

Damek kissed the top of her head and sighed, ruffling her hair. “No, I don’t think you do.”

Sonia sniffed. “Fat lot you know.”

“Are you crying?” His entire body stiffened behind her.

“No.” She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She blinked hard and sniffed again.

His hold changed, becoming more embrace than imprisonment. He slowly rocked her from side to side. “What am I going to do with you?” His breath tickled her ear, sending a jolt of arousal through her.

“Nothing.” No way was she sleeping with him now.

He moved quickly, picking her up and carrying her toward the bathroom. “I know what you need. You need a nice hot bath to relax you.” He used his shoulder to hit the switch and the lights came on low, revealing the decadent bathroom she’d glimpsed earlier. It really was incredible with the gleaming black enamel tub, gold-toned faucets and thick black towels.

“Why are you doing this? You think I betrayed you. Why aren’t you locking me in your dungeon or at least wiping my memories? You can do that, can’t you?”

He set her on the marble countertop and she wrapped her arms around her bare breasts.

“I can. But for some unknown reason I don’t want to.” He started the bath water running and came back to her. Placing his hands on either side of her, he trapped her on the counter. “I don’t want you to forget me.” He leaned forward and nuzzled her neck. Idiot that she was, she tilted her neck to the side to give him better access.

The man was infuriating, dictatorial, arrogant, untrusting, and she loved him. Sonia froze as he dragged his tongue over the fluttering pulse in her neck. What had she done? She’d fallen in love with a vampire.

He pulled back and studied her, his gaze solemn. “I would never drink from you without your permission.”

She cupped the side of his face. “I know.”

He nodded and straightened. “Let’s get you into the tub. You’re probably stiff and sore after everything you’ve been through.”

Everything included being assaulted by a maniac with a knife and having hot vampire sex all in one evening. Her shoulder muscles were stiff and she felt sticky between her thighs. A bath was just the thing to make her feel better and allow her time to get her thoughts in order. Sonia hopped down off the counter, using it to steady herself. “I can take it from here.”

He inclined his head and left her alone, giving her what she’d asked for, but a part of her wished he would stay. “Girl, you need to get your head on straight,” she muttered. It didn’t take long for her to strip off her jeans, panties and socks and climb into the tub.

She groaned as she sat in the hot water, letting it surround her. “Now this is what I’m talking about.” She leaned against the side of the tub and let it keep filling. Closing her eyes, she tried to relax and let all her worries slide away. Easier said than done, but she gave it a try.

Her tense muscles were just starting to unknot when the water stopped running. Her eyes flew open and there was Damek, totally naked, climbing into the tub with her.

She jolted and water sloshed close to the rim as he maneuvered her forward and slid in behind her. “What are you doing?”

“Taking a bath.” His calm, even tone irritated her.

“You could have waited until I was finished.” She started to stand, but he pulled her back against his chest.

“But I want to bathe with you.” He settled her against him and she did her best to ignore his obvious arousal.

“Relax,” he ordered.

She snorted. “Yeah, right. Like that’s going to happen.”

He set his hands on her shoulders and began to rub, his firm strokes getting longer and deeper over time. She groaned and tilted her head forward. “If you keep that up we’ll never leave this tub.”

He laughed and let his hands slide around her sides to cup her breasts. She jolted upright and clunked his face with the back of her head. She moaned and slid away from him. “None of that. Not if you’re only going to tease me.” She looked over her shoulder and studied the mulish set of his mouth. “That’s what I thought.”

Since the tub was huge enough to accommodate four people, she slid over to the other side, grabbed a washcloth and a bar of soap and started washing. She did her best to ignore Damek, which wasn’t easy. Not with his large, wet body close enough for her to touch.

Finally, he picked up a cloth and set to work. Water sluiced over his defined chest muscles and soap bubbles clung to his thick biceps. Sonia bit her bottom lip as she watched the water slip over his tight abs.

Not willing to linger any longer, Sonia stood, ignoring the sensual glide of the water over her sensitive skin. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body the moment she was out of the tub, not wanting to be naked and vulnerable in front of him. She scooped her clothing off the floor and fled to the bedroom as Damek was rising from the water like some pagan god.

The peek she caught of him had her heart racing. She wanted to lick the droplets of water off his broad chest and lap at the hard ridges of his stomach. Not to mention what she wanted to do with the hard shaft rising up from the nest of curls at his groin.

Oh, she was a mess. She dumped the garments on a chair and gathered the scattered remains of her clothing. Her suitcase, which was perched on the chest at the end of his bed, contained clean clothing. She was in the process of unzipping it when Damek strode into the room. No, not strode, glided. The man moved with the fluidity of a dancer, or a great cat, maybe a panther.

She shook her head, ignoring him as she pulled out clean clothing. He took them from her and tossed them back in her suitcase. “You don’t need that.”

She whirled and caught the ends of her towel, tucking them more securely around her. Damek wasn’t wearing a towel. Of course he wasn’t. The man was all sophistication and designer suits on the outside, but inside he was pure heathen and all male.

“And why not? I’m not putting dirty clothing back on.”

He scooped her up and headed to the bed, dumping her onto the sheets. “We need to sleep.”

“That’s fine,” she protested. “But I still need my nightgown.”

He climbed into bed beside her, wrapped his arm around her and yanked her down so her head was resting in the crook of his arm. He flung the covers over them, cocooning them in his massive bed. “No, you don’t.”

Sonia drummed her fingers on his chest. “Why do you get to choose what I wear?”

His hand caught hers, flattening her fingers against his stomach. “Because it’s my home.”

“I can leave.”

He sighed heavily, ruffling her curls. “No, you can’t. We’ve been through this before.”

“Yes, yes, I betrayed you. Big bad me.” She tried to pinch his stomach but there wasn’t enough excess skin to grab.

He rolled, taking her with him and stopping when she was flat on her back with him looming over her. She did her best to ignore the rather large erection resting against her belly, but it wasn’t easy.

She wasn’t touching him if he wasn’t going to put out. No way. She was sexually frustrated enough as it was, which should be impossible considering how many orgasms she’d already had tonight.

“Not just because of that. There could still be vampire hunters out there, and they know who you are.”

“I can protect myself. My family can protect me.” She knew she was baiting a wild beast but couldn’t help herself. Maybe it was because of the easy way he agreed that she betrayed him when she hadn’t, not at all. If anything, she wanted to protect him. Which was crazy considering what he was. He was deadlier then she and her family combined would ever be.

His hands tightened around her and he shook his head. “I don’t trust anyone but me.”

“That’s obvious.”

He shook his head and rolled away, leaving her cold and bereft. “Try to sleep. You can’t get out of the apartment without setting off an alarm.” His tone was distant and cool.

“What’s to stop me from staking your ass while you’re asleep?” Not that she’d ever do such a thing, but he couldn’t know that.

“Nothing.” She could hear the utter weariness in his voice. “There is nothing to stop you from trying.”

“Idiot male,” she muttered. Sonia punched her pillow a couple of times, pretending it was Damek. She took a deep breath and released it slowly. It had been a long night and had to be close to dawn, if not slightly past. It was difficult to tell with the blackout shades on the windows.

She huffed out a breath, closed her eyes and willed him to sleep. She was getting up the second he went under.

Damek could practically hear the wheels turning in Sonia’s head, but he didn’t try to read her thoughts. He didn’t have to, not with her muttering what she thought of him.

She was angry with him and sexually frustrated. That made two of them. He had no idea why he’d turned her down earlier. Instead of being hard and horny, he could have been sated and relaxed by now.

But some deep part of him he’d thought long gone, the part that believed in honor, didn’t want her to sleep with him because she was afraid of him. The thought of her giving herself to him out of fear haunted him. He couldn’t be sure if she was offering him her body because she truly wanted him or because she thought it might ease his anger with her betrayal of him.

He heard her mutter of “idiot male” again from beneath her breath and smiled in spite of his raging hard-on. Only Sonia spoke to him like he was a normal male. Everyone else feared him even if they had no idea why. Human instincts existed even though they’d been dulled by years of not being used. Everyone he interacted with on a daily basis, even other paranormals, all walked softly around him.

Everyone but Sonia.

He gave a sigh of relief when she finally settled down. He inhaled softly, taking her sweet scent, mingled with his soap, into his lungs. A tinge of arousal, musky and warm, made him groan. She was right. He really was an idiot.

He couldn’t fully trust her but he couldn’t let her go.

Oh, she might threaten to stake him while he was sleeping, but there was no way she could sneak up on him even when he was at rest. His instincts had been too well honed over the long centuries to allow that to happen. Plus, a stake to the heart would only piss him off. It would hurt like hell, but he would recover from such a wound. He’d evolved over the centuries to the point where only beheading would end his life. Direct sunlight might give him a hell of a burn and would weaken him immeasurably, but even that wouldn’t kill him.

Plus, he truly didn’t think she would try to murder him, no matter how angry she was with him. Maybe she hadn’t meant to betray him. Maybe she didn’t see the phone call in the same way he did. She was used to being in constant contact with her family and was only doing what came naturally to her.

Something to think about.

The sun was rising over the horizon. He couldn’t see it but he could feel it in his blood, in his bones. He sighed and gave in to the healing sleep of his kind. If Sonia woke and saw him, he would appear dead to her, but he didn’t think that would frighten her. She was tough, his Sonia.

His lips twitched into a tiny smile as sleep claimed him. When they both awoke, they would have a lot to discuss.

Luther glanced over at the man sitting beside him in the truck. Barnes was sipping coffee, looking a hell of a lot bit better than he had earlier. He sipped his own coffee and watched the building just down the road from them. It was filled with expensive condos, but he was only concerned with the penthouse suite. That was the only one with a private entrance, so it had to belong to the vampire.

His phone rang and Luther answered it quickly, hungry for news. “Talk to me, Aaron.”

“It’s a hell of a system.”

There was admiration in Aaron’s voice and it pissed Luther off. “But you can bypass it.” It wasn’t really a question, as there wasn’t a security system out there that Aaron Page couldn’t hack given enough time. The man was pure magic when it came to electronics.

“It will take me a while, but I should be in by noon.”

“Perfect. Keep me posted.” He ended the call and tucked his phone back into his pocket.

“We good to go?” Barnes asked.

“We’ll be ready when the time comes.”

Barnes grunted and went back to watching. Luther stretched his legs in front of him and contemplated what city he was going to move to when this was all over.

Two large SUV’s pulled up about a half-mile away and four men and two women climbed out. The Agostino family looked up and down the long street.

“Where do we start?” Celia asked her husband, desperate to find her daughter.

Vincenzo caught her face in his large hands. “We will find her. I promise you this.” He glanced at his sons. “We will go this way.” He pointed to his left. “Papa, you and Mama can head in the other direction. If anyone catches a scent they call the others. Agreed?”

His sons nodded and started down the road without waiting. They were desperate to find their sister. While Celia and his mama believed the vampire was no threat to Sonia, the men weren’t so sure.

He glanced at his father and Roberto nodded. Sonia’s safety came first, then the vampire. If he was as good as his daughter believed, then they would help him. No paranormal creature deserved to be hunted if all he was doing was trying to live his life. Everyone had that right.

He took his wife’s hand, dropped a kiss on his mama’s forehead and started after his sons. He couldn’t shake the feeling that time was running out.