Damien would never forget the fear and shock that had ripped through him when the first rogue had said his mistress had sent him. He now regretted killing him so quickly because he needed information and needed it fast. They were either dealing with another female master vampire, which was unlikely after all this time, or Isabelle had managed to survive both their attack and the sun’s death rays. From what Marie had managed to convey, the rogues were sent to specifically target mates, which meant the only place any mate would be safe would be with one of the brethren. But he didn’t want to tell Abby that until he was sure, didn’t want to add to the shock, pain and worry she had already been subjected to.
“There’s a good chance you were targeted.” Running his finger over the mark on her breast, he said, “You’ll be safe here.”
His touch on that sensitive spot had her shifting uncomfortably on the bed, her nipples beading into even tighter pinpoints, her pussy swelling in anticipation of his cock filling her. “Here in your house or here in your bed?” she blatantly asked.
Damien moved back and glared down at her. “You saw what I am, saw what I’m capable of, and you still insist on pursuing this?”
“I saw you defending me and avenging Marie. You were brutal, and yes, cruel, but it wasn’t anything those….creatures didn’t deserve. Who, or should I say, what were they and what do they want with me?”
Damien moved away from his large four poster bed, turning his back on her and the enticing picture she made lying on it. Flinging open the French doors that led to the upper story landing, he looked out into the night wondering what else it held in store for him. “They were rogue vampires, humans who don’t bear a mark on their palm who cannot survive their transformation for more than a year without going mad. Isabelle, a master vampire and the widowed mate of a brethren, enjoyed filling her lair with the dregs of humanity, forcing them to do her bidding. I thought I had killed her, but now, well there’s a chance she’s still alive.”
Abby pulled the blue satin comforter over herself, suddenly feeling very cold and alone. Looking at Damien’s rigid stance didn’t exactly comfort her. “I didn’t know there were any women like you and the others.”
“The year I stayed with Isabelle, there were women and men vampires, rogues, but when some of us started finding our mates and realized they didn’t age once they mated, we saw no reason to disrupt their lives further.” The sound of the others returning had him turning and heading for the door. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Jacob, Jon and Luc are here, so there’s no need to be afraid.”
Damien kept a tight hold on his emotions until he closed his door behind him. He would never forget the stark, vivid fear etched on Abby’s face when she came to and saw him battling her attackers. Between that look and the image of Marie lying dead in a bloody pool, his rage knew no bounds and the minor scuffle he had indulged in with the rogues wasn’t near enough to take the edge off.
Having Abby here would ensure her safety from everyone except himself, another reason he had to get away from her for a while. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and join her on his bed, ached to sink his cock into her welcoming liquid heat and watch her expressive blue eyes widen and glaze over with pleasure, obliterating the fear and trepidation. His gut clenched as he recalled how close he had come to losing her and at how much he wanted to fuck her, over and over, until the past receded and nothing mattered but the present.
Unfortunately, his past wasn’t so easily set aside, the mistakes he made not so easily atoned for. For over a year he had let fear rule him, had allowed Isabelle to dictate his life because he was afraid of what he had become. She lured him to her side with the promise to help him adjust, kept him there with the never ending pleasure of her hedonistic lifestyle. Orgies with her rogues where anything and everything was indulged in kept his mind off of the future, the pleasure and decadence so far above anything he had ever indulged in he had turned a blind eye when she annihilated a rogue who displeased her or replaced one who had succumbed to madness with another as if destroying another life meant nothing.
It took him being responsible for destroying a young, innocent life for him to wake up. Now, over two hundred years later, he feared his past was about to rise up again, and this time it could be Abrielle who paid the price for his mistakes. No matter what, he vowed silently, he would keep her safe, from both himself and Isabelle, if it turns out she did survive all those years ago.
“What the hell, Damien?” Jon demanded when Damien came into the front parlor. “Is Abby all right?”
“She is now,” he answered tersely, his eyes meeting each of those of his brethren. “But Marie isn’t.” He quickly laid out the events of the past few hours, his grief for Marie almost overwhelming. “I need to get Abby’s car, see what’s happening at Marie’s townhouse and get some of Abby’s things from her loft. I need you here, contacting the others with what we know and arranging a meet this week.”
“I swear to God, if that bitch is still breathing, this time I’ll see she suffers before I turn her to dust,” Jacob promised, his green eyes glittering like shards of splintered glass.
“You’ll have to get in line for that privilege. I’ll be back before dawn.” Looking out the window, Damien noted he didn’t have much time and dissolved into mist, assured he had left Abby in safe hands.
“I wonder how long he’ll be able to hold out against Abby with her in such close proximity,” Luc said, a small smile of anticipation lifting his mouth.
“I wonder what happened between him and Isabelle that has him turning away from something we all long for.” Jacob found it difficult to be supportive of his friend’s reluctance when he couldn’t fathom anything that would keep him from claiming his mate if he ever found her.
“Hey, speak for yourself. I’m more than content to play footloose and fancy free for a couple more decades.”
Jon smiled at his twin. “Yeah, besides what’re the odds we find a mate who was meant for both of us?”
“Wouldn’t you each rather have your own woman for the long haul?”
They both raised light eyebrows that matched their sandy hair but it was Luc who replied, “This from the guy who’s been fucking two women for how long now?”
“Not that long,” Jacob mumbled but managed to glare at the two of them when they smirked. “I’m going to check on Abby.”
Abrielle didn’t let Damien’s abrupt departure bother her, at least not too much. She could have told him she feared his continued rejection more than she feared another attack from those creatures he called rogues. Getting out of bed, she rummaged in his dresser for a tee shirt and stepped into his bathroom to take a quick shower. As a child, she had had free roam of the lower level of the mansion and as an adult she had been upstairs a few times when she had stayed the night in one of the spare rooms. This was the first time she had been in Damien’s room and she was surprised at the sparseness of personal items. The bed was a beautiful, ornate four poster, the matching, huge armoire made of the same dark ash. He favored blue, dark, navy blue carpet, lighter, robin’s egg blue bed linens and drapes at the balcony’s French doors of a multitude of blue shades. But there were no knick knacks, no little touches or personal items he had collected throughout the years that might hold a special memory for him.
Blue marbled countertop matched that of the huge, walk in shower, but what could have been a room worthy of being a main feature spread in a builder’s magazine seemed cold and uninviting without all the little touches that could have made it worth lingering in. Much like Damien had b
een lately, she thought as she took a quick, extra hot shower before donning the tee shirt and returning to the comfort of his big bed.
Apparently the shock of her close encounter hadn’t completely worn off because, even though she was buried under the warm comforter, she started to shake again. Wishing Damien would return, she was about to seek him out in her mind when a knock followed by Jacob asking to come in stopped her.
“You okay, sweetie? I thought you might be hungry.” Jacob set the tray with a sandwich and chips on the bedside table then sat on the edge and took note of her pallor and bruised complexion with concern.
“Just a little shocky, I think.” Picking up the peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich, she smiled as she took a bite, surprised to find she could eat after the night she had. “I’m not eight anymore, Jacob, but this is really good. Thanks.”
“We’re all well aware you’re no longer a child, Damien especially.” He let his eyes move down, grinned when she blushed as her nipples tightened under his look.