Jeaniene Frost - Once Burned

“No, I promised not to harm you ,” he countered. “I only promised to keep him alive, which I have. But though it never occurred to you that Marty might have been in collusion with the vampires who kidnapped you, the thought did occur to me.”

My mouth dropped. “No. Marty wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“Thanks, kid,” he muttered from across the room.

“I believe that now,” Vlad said, glancing at Marty without the slightest hint of remorse, “but I wasn’t about to take a stranger at his word.”

His expression hardened even more. “I come from a line of princes who all have one thing in common: They were murdered. I’ve been surrounded by death, betrayal, and power coups for hundreds of years, yet I’ve survived and kept my people safe by being smarter and more ruthless than my enemies. What I did may disgust you, but only the naive or the foolish would have trusted Marty on his word alone, and I am neither.”

He came toward me, and once again, I fought the urge to back away. Vlad might have kept his promise in the strictest sense of the word, but torturing Marty on the mere chance that he might have been involved with my kidnapping also proved that Vlad was one of coldest people I’d ever met.

Then again, after the glimpses I’d seen of his past, not to mention what I’d seen of him since we met, I was the naive fool for expecting anything different.

He stopped when he was only inches away, still nailing me with that hard, copper-colored stare. Then he held out his hand.

“My ring.”

I put it in his palm, forgetting to switch it to my left hand before touching him. A current sizzled into him with the contact, which I expected, but I didn’t expect what came next.

The gothic hall vanished, replaced by the hazy cocoon of midnight-green drapes encircling the bed I was on. I wound my hand into the thick fabric while a moan left my lips, sharpening into a cry at the incredible pleasure shooting through me. My grip on the drapes tightened as I writhed under the erotic combination of wet, deep strokes and lightly chafing stubble against my most sensitive flesh.

“Please,” I gasped.

Vlad lifted his head, his hair like dark silk against my thighs and his gaze lit up with emerald.

“No,” he said throatily. “More.” And he lowered his mouth again.

Vlad’s face crystallized in front of me, but instead of green drapes all around us, we were back in the hall and he was staring down at me, frowning.

“I know you caught a glimpse of something when you touched me. Your mind went silent. Tell me what it was.”

My cheeks flamed with heat. At the same time, disbelief washed over me, covering the remains of pleasure more intense than I’d ever experienced while masturbating. That hadn’t been a vision of him with another woman, yet still, denial screeched across my mind.

No. Not me and Vlad like . . . like that !

His frown cleared, replaced by a brow going up. Damn his mind reading. Think of something else! I mentally screamed, avoiding his stare. ANYthing else!

I no longer looked at Vlad, but I could almost feel his gaze roving over me, noting my newly tight nipples, accelerated heartbeat, and probably picking up on that damn lingering throb between my legs, too.

“Not surprising,” he said at last, his voice thicker with things I didn’t want to name. “I predicted the same thing myself.”

My cheeks continued to heat until I expected them to burst into flames like his hands. I brushed past Vlad and headed for the staircase, not daring to look at Marty, either. How could I? I’d just gotten a glimpse into a future where I was in bed with the man who’d tortured him.

“Nothing’s set in stone. I’ve changed my premonitions before,” I muttered, both to Vlad and myself. Still, I took the stairs two at a time.

An hour later, Marty opened my bedroom door without knocking. He’d changed out of the torn, bloody clothes and had taken a shower, from the damp look to his hair. I was sitting cross-legged in bed, trying without success to pretend I’d misunderstood the image I’d glimpsed. Yeah, right. Because Vlad had been between my legs looking for a set of keys he’d lost.

“Frankie?” Marty said gruffly. “I don’t wanna bother you, but I don’t have long to talk.”

“Why? What’s going on?” I asked at once, leaping up.

Marty shut the door behind him, scratching one of his long, bushy black sideburns. “I’m leaving for a scouting mission.”

I didn’t ask, Scouting for what? “Vlad might not even be right,” I muttered. “Maybe no one told Jackal and the others to snatch me up. Maybe they thought of it all by themselves.”

“They didn’t,” Marty replied, grimness clear in each syllable. “That vampire from the hotel, Shrapnel, spent the whole plane ride grilling the redhead who took you—and he was creative. But that was nothing compared to what Vlad did once we got here. Next to that, I got off easy. They didn’t act alone. They were sent after you, but they didn’t know by whom. All they had was a phone number and a big deposit in their bank account with promises of more if you gave them the goods on Vlad.”

I sighed. I hadn’t really thought this would be over so quickly, but I’d hoped. “I’m so sorry, Marty.” I gestured at his chest, wanting to cry at what he’d been through. “He shouldn’t have hurt you.”

Marty snorted. “I’m happy to be alive. You probably guessed that I tailed you from Gibsonton, waiting until there were fewer vampires guarding you. When I realized it was Vlad I attacked, I thought I was done for. The only reason I’m not toes-up is because you made him promise not to kill me. I’d heard that he holds to his word. Never thought to find out personally.”

I managed a limp smile. “Since I’ll be spending time with him looking for this mysterious puppet master, is there anything else I should know about Vlad?”

“Yeah.” Marty’s expression became hard. “What you saw in that last vision . . . don’t let it happen.”

I closed my eyes, feeling my cheeks warm again. So Marty had figured out what I’d glimpsed, too. Not a shock; he was a vampire, and I’d been anything but suave in my reaction.

“Marty,” I began.

“I wouldn’t care if it was someone else,” he cut me off. “This isn’t about your inexperience with men.”

“Announce that to everyone, why don’t you!” I hissed, my eyes flying open. With how well vampires could hear, he may as well have tattooed a big V onto my forehead.

He waved a hand impatiently. “You’re missing the point. Vlad isn’t your typical vampire. We’re all ruthless at one time or another, but he’s in a class by himself. You let yourself get involved with him, he’ll rip your heart out and destroy your life, and if I didn’t love you like the daughter I used to have, I wouldn’t say this when I know damn well that he’s listening.”

The raw pain in his voice took away my embarrassment.

“Don’t worry.” I forced myself to sound nonchalant. “I know how dangerous he is and I don’t want to get involved with him. I must’ve had a case of temporary insanity because he’s immune to the electricity in my touch.” A shrug. “I’ll get over it.”

Marty chucked me on the hip. “That’s my girl. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but you watch your back.”

“I will,” I promised Marty. “When do you leave?”

Marty sighed. “Now. Give me a hug, kid. Love you.”

I knelt down and wrapped my arms around him, careful not to touch him with my right hand.