“You told me once that you weren’t used to relying on anyone, Gideon. I told you I was the same. I’ve never relied on anyone until her. It’s easy enough for me to get what I want from a woman, but the night we met, she met my gaze, saw what I was, didn’t flinch. Wasn’t even really interested in that. She didn’t have to give me anything, and I couldn’t have made her give me anything. She’s that kind of person. So when she did, it was her choice, her will, her desire. It made me trust her, believe in her and need her, in a way I’ve never needed anyone.”
In Gideon’s stillness, Daegan sensed his shock at the bald words, and wondered himself why he’d said them aloud. Spending long periods of time without any confidante, he thought he’d outgrown the need for one. But perhaps nothing had ever bothered him as much as this estrangement with the difficult woman he loved, what had happened to her, what he’d been powerless to stop.
He heard everything. It had amazed him to learn, early in his life, how little humans heard. Vampires heard more, but his hearing exceeded even theirs. If Anwyn let out a whispered sigh, even behind the closed door of her room, he could hear it. He heard the movement in the soundproofed playrooms above them. Knew there were insects and worms scratching and working their way along tunnels they’d made against the sunken foundation of this underground level.
So he heard Gideon move toward him. However, he was in for a surprise himself when the man’s hand closed on his shoulder. He went still under the quick passing of a thumb over his collarbone, a rough grip that denied the hint of a caress. Then Gideon pulled back abruptly, leaving it hard to decipher the brief gesture. However, for some reason, the touch loosened things up in Daegan’s chest. “Go see her. I’ll hang out somewhere. She’s in her room.”
“I’ve told you before not to give me orders, vampire hunter.”
“You don’t care whether I live or die, except that it concerns Anwyn. Well, same goes. She needs you. And since I’m in a nurturing mood, I’ll mention you look like you need blood. If you need to go coax a pint out of someone, we should be fine. She had her injection right before we came to get you, and she’s good for a couple of hours yet. Plus, I have the restraints, and with advance warning, she’ll put them on and I can handle her from there.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mom.”
Gideon made a suitable hand gesture reflected in the mirror. Daegan glanced over his shoulder, flashed his fangs at him. The hunter gave him a sardonic grin in return, then left the room, leaving him to the unpacking and shower he’d planned.
Don’t tempt me . . . The warning he’d issued to Gideon had several levels, but the hunter was as oblivious to them as he was to personal danger. Take Gideon Green to a Vampire Council meeting. By the Holy Relics . . . Of course, there would be some small pleasure in seeing the poker-faced Lord Uthe drop his jaw on the Council table. Shaking his head, Daegan started to move toward the showers, his hand on the hook to his trousers, but then he stopped. He really did need that shower. He’d executed one final vampire an hour before he’d gotten on the plane, and though he’d washed up in the sink, he still wanted the full cleansing effect. The vampire had been older and more aggressive, and had landed a lucky strike with a machete that had deprived Daegan of a quart of blood. He did need to feed, but he needed Anwyn more.
He’d told her he wouldn’t search her mind without valid cause, but that didn’t prevent him from using it as a direct communication link. Anwyn, would you come take a shower with me?
The night he’d forced her to make Gideon her full servant, mere days before he left her, he’d been beyond cruel to her. He’d savagely fucked her to rouse the predator in her, made her discard despair for fury. Afterward, he’d wanted to take her into a bath, sponge the evidence of his barbaric behavior off her thighs himself, hold her close, stroke her hair. Instead, he’d been ruthless. This past month, he’d stayed away from her because it was best. But Gideon