“I did more than was necessary.”
“More?”
“I not only used my legendary reputation to keep my enemies at a distance, but everyone.”
He hesitated. He’d been well aware of the distance she kept between herself and others. But he hadn’t been certain if it had been on purpose or simply a defense mechanism.
“Why?”
She held his gaze, for the first time allowing him to truly see the ancient betrayal smoldering in her dark eyes. “Because then I could be absolutely certain no one would ever again use me as a tool for their own gain.”
Before he could halt the need to touch her, Santiago reached to gently cup her face in his hands. “I understand, cara. I truly do.”
She nodded. He was one of the few demons who actually could make the claim.
“I was satisfied with my choices until . . .”
“Until?”
“You.”
He flinched at the blunt answer, not sure whether to sink to his knees in gratitude or shake some sense into her.
In the end he simply regarded her with a desperate hope. “What does that mean?”
“You reminded me that I’m more than a clan chief,” she said in low, husky tones. “I’m a woman.”
A groan escaped his lips as his gaze lowered to the slender curves that emphatically proclaimed her womanhood. “Yes, you are.”
Her hands lifted to rest on his shoulders. “A very lonely woman who was too cowardly to risk sharing herself.”
He muttered a curse. Just for a few minutes, he’d been determined to do the right thing. To stop his compulsive need to blast through her wary shields and instead return to his role of a protector. Nothing, after all, was more important than making sure they halted Gaius and the mysterious spirit before they could create even more havoc.
Now, his resolve faltered.
Because of the edge of vulnerability in her voice?
Or because he was a selfish bastard who urgently wanted to believe she needed him with the same intensity he needed her?
“Why me?” he murmured.
A hint of amusement drove the shadows from her eyes. “Are you seeking compliments?”
His thumb rubbed her lower lip. “I won’t say no to any you want to offer.”
“Hmmm.” She pretended to consider her words. “For one thing, you’re the only vampire I’ve met who is too stubborn to take ‘no’ for an answer.”
“That’s your compliment?” he complained. “I’m stubborn?”
Her smile widened, revealing a sexy hint of fang. “Your ego doesn’t need for me to tell you that you’re impossibly gorgeous and so sexy that females melt whenever you walk past them.”
Desire roared through him, searing away his futile attempt at sanity. “That’s better,” he murmured. “Tell me more about how I make you melt.”
Her smile faded, leaving behind an achingly somber expression. “I have no words that explain why it was you, Santiago. It’s more than your courage and loyalty and the goodness in your heart that you try to hide.” Her hands slid over his chest, the light caress sending lightning bolts of pleasure through his clenched body. “It is—and always will be—you.”
The world came to a complete, perfect halt.
She captured the truth in those seven simple words.
It defined his very existence.
The knowledge exploded through him with a nuclear force. Bright and shiny and soul shattering.
“Sí. I was created to be yours, but . . .”
“Ssh.” She pressed a finger to his lips, the tantalizing scent of her jasmine arousal spicing the air. “I don’t want to talk anymore.”
He shuddered, unable to resist temptation.
Not that he tried very hard.
“You do possess mystical powers,” he rasped, sweeping her off her feet as he went in search of the bedroom. “You just read my mind.”
Styx’s lair in Chicago
Roke didn’t think it was possible that the night, which was already in the crapper, could get any worse.
Tough to top being mated against his will.
But less than an hour after Sally headed to the kitchen to begin brewing her spell and Roke had gone to the gym to work off his seething frustration, he returned to Styx’s study to discover the Anasso throwing his cell phone across the room.
It didn’t take a genius to realize that the latest news wasn’t good, but even forewarned Roke was caught with his mouth hanging open as Styx shared the latest update.
Santiago and Nefri had not only spent the day in the lair of a dragon (a dragon, for Christ’s sake), but Santiago discovered that Gaius might be in the power of the ultimate vampire who was spreading violent emotions like a plague so he could feed.
Perfect.
Just perfect.
Folding his arms over his chest, he waited for Styx to halt his pacing, impervious to the flickering electricity and shattering chandelier.
At least the house was still standing.
“Do you want me to join Santiago?” he at last demanded. “He’s obviously going to need all the help he can get.”
The towering Aztec gave a decisive shake of his head, the turquoise ornaments in his long braid glinting in the splintered light. “Not until we know more about this creature and its powers. I don’t intend to turn my people into fodder for another crazed deity,” he snarled, pausing to study Roke with an unnervingly piercing gaze. “And I doubt you could leave even if you wanted to.”
“Don’t be—” Roke snapped his lips together as his powers instinctively tested his bond with Sally, making sure that she was still near and unharmed. It was an unconscious reflex, but one that he did on a regular basis. Which proved Styx was right. “Shit.”
Styx held his frustrated glare. “For now you need to concentrate on yourself.”
Infuriated by the constant reminder that he was well and truly trapped, Roke slammed a door on his bond with Sally, momentarily succeeding in blunting his awareness of her.
It wouldn’t last more than a few minutes. But it was a tiny win for his ravaged pride.
“I knew that witch was going to be trouble,” he muttered, a bitterness edging his words. “Of course, all women are trouble in one way or another.”
Styx blinked, as if startled by his vehemence. “You don’t like women? Hell, I never considered the possibility.”
Roke snorted. He wasn’t offended. Immortality meant vampires who weren’t mated often experimented with different genders, different species, and a wide variety of sexual appetites.