“Your parents permitted you to be near such evil?”
“Actually, my mother used me to sneak aboard the ship and release the shackles that held the humans captive while she cast a spell that made the slavers believe they were being chased by hungry lions.” A small smile of remembered satisfaction curved her lips. “The last we heard, they ran straight into a tribal village that happened to take a very dim view of their townsfolk being sold like cattle.”
A cold fury clenched his stomach at the mere thought of what might have happened to her.
“Your mother sent you alone to release brutalized slaves?”
“She trusted that I was capable of performing an important task as well as teaching me to care for others,” she snapped, the raw wound of her parents’ death suddenly visible in her eyes. “Something I have forgotten far too often since…”
His fingers softened their grip to trail over her cheek, oddly feeling her pain as if it were his own.
“How did you become Hawthorne’s apprentice?”
“After my parents were murdered, I was determined to remain on my own.” A tremor shook her body. “It did not take long before I learned that humans are not the only creatures capable of great evil.”
“You were hurt?”
Her eyes clouded before she hastily lowered her lashes, as if she could hide her emotions from him.
“I was captured by trolls and sold to the highest bidder.”
Victor made no effort to contain the eruption of frigid power that filled the tunnels.
“Their names.”
She regarded him warily. “I beg your pardon?”
“Give me the names of the trolls.”
“They did not bother to share their private information and it no longer matters.” She gave a restless shrug. “I was fortunate that Lord Hawthorne was at the auction and purchased me.”
“Hardly fortunate,” he bit out. “The bastard has taken advantage of you and your talents for decades.”
“We both know how much worse it could have been.”
His jaw clenched. He wanted to deny the truth of her words. He detested the overly conceited bastard, and not just because he was a mage.
The man stood as a protector to this woman.
A position that belonged solely to Victor.
“Very well. I will concede there are worse fates than to be apprenticed to Hawthorne, but why do you continue to remain with him?” he growled. “The debt must be paid by now.”
“I have nowhere else to go.”
A dangerous emotion jolted through his heart at her soft words, his arm tightening in an unconsciously possessive motion.
“You are mistaken, little one. Your place is with me.”
A bleak smile curved her lips. “And once you weary of me in your bed, my lord? Would I become a tasty meal for your clan?”
Unthinkable.
He growled low in his throat, knowing he would readily kill any of his brothers who tried to touch her.
“Perhaps I will never weary of you.”
“I am no gullible mortal. A vampire’s hunger is as varied as it is insatiable until he has mated.”
His lips twisted in a humorless smile. “That is the common assumption.”
“Ah, no doubt you are about to convince me that you are different from every other vampire?”
“But of course I am. I expected that went without mentioning.”
“Arrogant—”
Victor swooped down to claim her lips in a kiss of naked, unrelenting need.
“My hunger remains insatiable, but it is no longer varied,” he confessed. “I desire no woman but you.”
“For the moment.”
He pulled back to capture her wary gaze. “Since I first caught sight of you.”
“Are you implying…?” She sharply shook her head. “No, it is impossible.”
“I can be deceitful when the occasion demands, but I will never lie to you, little one,” he swore. “That you can depend on.”
Chapter Four
Juliet’s heart forgot to beat as she gazed into the silver eyes, mesmerized by the promise that shimmered in the beautiful depths.
Was it possible?
Could he truly have forsaken women since meeting her?
And if he had, why would he?
He had to have a potent reason to deny himself. It was, after all, unheard of for a vampire to go even a few nights without sating his sexual appetite.
So why…
It was the yearning ache deep inside her that abruptly shocked her out of her inane thoughts.
Good lord, she had known for two years that she lusted after Victor. Hardly a shocking realization. What female in London did not desire the handsome beast?
But to long for something he could never, ever offer her was utter madness.
“This is hardly the time or place for such a discussion,” she forced herself to say, spinning out of his hold and heading toward the far tunnel before he could guess her intent.
“Juliet. Damn.” There was a stir of cold air before Victor was grasping her arm to bring her to an abrupt halt. “Where do you think you are going?”
“To see if we can help the humans.” She squared her shoulders. “And then to find Levet.”
“Do not be a fool.”
“Fine. You remain here. I will go.”
“Absolutely not.”
She steadily met his smoldering silver gaze. “We have already been through this, my lord. You are not my keeper. In truth, you have no right to tell me what I can or cannot do.”
His jaw tightened with frustration. “You have always possessed an independent spirit, but you have never willfully courted danger. Why are you being so stubborn?”
Her gaze dropped to where his slender fingers wrapped around her wrist, genuinely considering his question.
“Because I am weary of allowing my fears to isolate me from the world,” she at last confessed.
“You are hardly isolated.”
“Perhaps not physically, but I have avoided becoming emotionally involved.” Her voice was soft, edged with regret. “I told myself that it would be illogical to become attached to others when I would eventually be forced to leave them behind. Spending time with Levet has made me realize I was simply being a coward.”
He gave a short, humorless laugh. “You have readily defied the most dangerous demon in the entire British Empire. You consider that the behavior of a coward?”
“More like the behavior of a lunatic,” she muttered, lifting her head to meet his glare. “But I was referring to my habit of avoiding relationships out of a fainthearted fear of experiencing the same pain I endured when I lost my parents. It has kept me in a prison of my own making.”