Hearts in Darkness (Nikki & Michael 2)

"Yes. I'll have to dismantle it first. But I also want to go past Cordell's office and act like we're going to break into it.” He ushered her toward the door.

She frowned. “But his office is sure to be monitored."

"Exactly. And it'll provide a nice distraction if he is still up and around.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her close as they strolled down the hall. “See those security cameras?" She glanced up. Little black boxes were evenly spaced along the ceiling. She hadn't even noticed them until now. “What about them?"

"I want you to kinetically take out all the ones near Cordell's office." She frowned. “Won't that bring security running?">He cleared his throat again. “Well, yes. Why don't you go put a robe on so I'm not so distracted?"

"Can't do that, because I'm enjoying distracting you. So say what you have to say.” She already knew what it was, could tell by the cautious feel to the link. He was going to tell her to leave. Only what he said first wasn't exactly what she'd expected.

"Elizabeth was outside our room last night. Watching us. Waiting for me to leave you alone." Fear stirred her stomach. She took another sip of coffee. “Why?"

"To understand that, you must know a little about Elizabeth herself." The last thing she wanted right now was a discussion about his ex. Talk about a mood killer. “I understand that she's a nut who likes little boys. What more do I need to know?” How old was Michael when she'd turned him? He hadn't been as young as Matthew, that much was for certain.

"I was twenty-seven, Nikki. An old man in my time."

She hesitated. “Married? Kids?"

He shook his head. “Neither. I worked my family's farm."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Why?” From the little she knew of the sixteenth century, people married early and died young. It was rare for a man to be single at sixteen, let alone twenty. Twenty-seven was old-age material.

He smiled and trailed his fingers down her cheek, gently outlining her lips. “I never met anyone I truly loved and wanted to raise children with."

"So Elizabeth's hunger for virgins is what drove her to you?” She opened her mouth, gently sucking on his fingers.

Embers flared, breathing heat through the link.

"Yes,” he said softly. “And I, mistaking lust for love, followed her into darkness."

"Can't be sad about that,” she said. “Because that's what brought you here to me."

"True.” He reached across to the tray and grabbed a croissant. Tearing it into pieces, he began feeding her. “And you, my love, are what I hungered to find all those years ago." She sighed softly. He could say words like that forever, because she would certainly never tire of hearing them. Each time he fed her a piece of croissant, she ran her tongue across his fingertips or gently sucked them. The embers became a fire, and the heat burned them both. God, she wanted to touch him so badly she ached. But not yet. And even when she did, she would tease him as he had teased her last night.

"That doesn't explain why she was watching us,” she said, once she'd eaten the final piece of croissant.

“Neither of us are exactly virgins anymore."

"No.” He paused, reaching for an apple and a knife. “What Elizabeth likes more than virgins is domination. She likes total control."

He peeled the apple and fed her a sliver. She sucked it slowly into her mouth, her gaze on his. Saw him swallow. Hard.

"What has domination got to do with you or—” She hesitated, fear washing through her. “She can't still dominate you, can she?"

God, wouldn't that be the mother of all ironies? To finally have Michael admit he needed her in his life, only to have it snatched away by the bitch who'd turned him.

She shoved the thought from her mind. Michael didn't seem too worried about that prospect, so neither should she.

He continued feeding her the apple. “Elizabeth and I have always had a somewhat uneasy relationship. She has never truly controlled me, and I think in many ways, she enjoyed the challenge I presented. I think that's probably why I survived my years under her care. I was a battlefield not yet won."

"Overconfidence goes before a fall, you know."

He smiled. “Yes. But as you are in life, so you are in unlife . I wasn't like most of her other fledglings. I was a quiet farmer, relatively content with my lot. Most of her other fledglings ran with danger in life and, therefore, enjoyed the harvest of death that turning provided. I did not, and that was something she could never change."

But she'd tried, if the edge in his voice was anything to go by. “What have her domination fantasies got to do with you and me?"

"It's nothing personal. Whenever a fledgling she had not yet grown tired of found pleasure in another woman's arms, she caught, tortured and killed that woman—and forced that fledgling to watch."

"A true charmer,” Nikki murmured, chilled. “I gather then that she intends to try doing this with me."