His Dark Embrace

“You can stroke me anytime you want, for as long as you want.” He caught her earlobe in his mouth and bit down lightly, and then rose over her, his dark eyes alight. “As long as I’m afforded the same privilege.”

Chapter 46

Thorne stood with his arms folded across his chest, trying to rein in his impatience as Sam endeavored to locate Desmarais’ whereabouts.

“Concentrate, Sam. Desmarais drank from you. Your blood is in his veins. Put everything from your mind but the link that stretches between you. Picture it as a wire that connects the two of you. Listen to the blood flowing in your veins. Now open your senses and follow that link back to him.”

With a wordless cry of frustration, Sam closed his eyes. Hands clenched tightly at his sides, he stood there for several minutes, then shook his head. “The only connection I feel is the one that leads to you.”

“Damn!” He had been afraid of that. “Don’t worry about it. I was afraid it wouldn’t work, but it was worth a try.”

“Now what do we do?”

“Go back to my original plan.”

“And use Skylynn as bait? No way!”

“It’s the only way.”

“Can’t you just hunt him down?”

“I’d have to leave the two of you alone to do that.”

“But you’re willing to leave Skylynn alone?”

“That’s different. We’ll both be nearby.”

“Won’t Desmarais know that? And won’t he suspect a trap, if we leave Skylynn alone?”

Thorne shrugged. “There’s always that chance.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Right now, it’s all we’ve got. I have a blood link with Sky and one with you. That gives us an advantage. So, this is what we’re going to do ...”

Sam listened as Thorne outlined his plan, and prayed that it would work.

Skylynn sat in her car on the side of the road. The hood was up; the emergency lights were flashing. She had a sharp stake tucked under her left thigh, a bottle of holy water in the pocket of her sweatshirt. The gun Kaiden had given her was hidden under a blanket on the floor. A bag of groceries on the back seat was her supposed reason for being out alone after dark.

Sam and Kaiden were hiding somewhere outside. She didn’t know exactly where they were, but every few minutes, Kaiden spoke to her mind, assuring her that he was nearby, telling her not to be afraid.

It was amazing, the way he could plant words and images in her mind, the way he could read her thoughts. She felt herself blushing when she suddenly had an image of the two of them locked in each other’s arms the way they had been last night. She knew he was doing it to distract her, to take her mind off the fact that she was bait.

She glanced out the window. There was a wooded vacant lot on one side of the road, an abandoned gas station on the other. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. What was she doing here? Desmarais would never believe she was stupid enough to go out at night by herself. What if Desmarais showed up and Sam and Kaiden didn’t? There was no way she could hope to fight off the vampire alone, no matter how many weapons she had. He was twenty times stronger than she was. Faster. Able to materialize or vanish at will. A wooden stake, holy water, and a gun were puny weapons against such an adversary.

Stop worrying. Kaiden’s voice sounded in her mind, instantly putting her at ease. I won’t let anything happen to you.

You’d better not. If he ... if he kills me, I’ll haunt you for as long as you live.

Kaiden’s laughter rang in her mind, sounding so real, so close, she almost expected him to be in the car beside her.

Sky’s hands gripped the steering wheel. What was that? Leaning forward, she peered out the windshield. Had she seen something? Or was it just her imagination? No. There it was again! A shadow without shape or substance gliding along the edge of the road.

She reached under her thigh to make sure the stake was still there, then wrapped her other hand around the bottle of holy water.

Fear clogged her throat, making it impossible to scream when Desmarais suddenly appeared in the passenger seat, the hood of his long gray cloak partially covering his face.

“Having car trouble?” he asked, his voice low and deceptively mild.

Skylynn nodded, her heart pounding wildly.

“It was nice of Thorne to use you for bait,” Desmarais said. One bony hand circled her throat.

She had known vampires were strong, but it took only one squeeze of his hand and the world started to go dark. She clutched his arm with both hands, trying to break his hold, but he had a grip like iron.

“Perhaps he didn’t realize it would work to my advantage. I’ve been forbidden to kill him outright, but now, when he comes to save you and I kill him, it will be self-defense.”

She knew a momentary sense of relief when he relaxed his grip on her throat, followed by a renewed sense of panic when he leaned toward her, his fangs lightly brushing the skin of her throat.

Knowing she had only one chance, Skylynn let her arms fall limply to her sides and then, ever so slowly, she reached for the stake under her thigh.

Murmuring, “Please,” she began to struggle again, hoping it would prevent him from realizing what she was doing.

“Go ahead, beg,” Girard said. His fangs gleamed whitely in the darkness.

“Please,” Sky repeated, hoping to buy some time. “I’ve never done anything to you.”

“You’re whoring for Kaiden Thorne,” Girard said, his hand tightening around her throat again. “That’s crime enough. I’ll have you and him and that brother of yours.”

Adrenaline exploded through Skylynn’s veins as she yanked the stake out from under her thigh and drove it into Girard’s side. She was surprised by how easily the wood pierced his flesh.

With a savage cry, Desmarais reared backward.

Before she could withdraw the stake and strike again, he disappeared.

It took Skylynn a moment to realize that someone had opened the door and yanked the vampire out of the car. Gasping for breath, one hand at her throat, she stared out the passenger side door.

Two dark shapes struggled in the moonlight.

To her horror, she realized the man fighting Desmarais was Sam. Something was wrong. Kaiden was older, stronger. He was supposed to confront Desmarais. Sam was only supposed to be Kaiden’s backup.

Feeling as if her blood had turned to ice, Skylynn glanced frantically from one side of the road to the other. Where was Kaiden?

A sharp cry drew her attention back to the fight. She screamed, “No!” when Desmarais hurled Sam into a tree, gasped when her brother slammed into the trunk then sprawled facedown on the ground and lay still.