The Vampire With the Dragon Tattoo(44)

He inhaled sharply, his eyes glowing a deeper red. "Ye're so beautiful." He made a grab for her. "Come here."

With a smile, she stepped out of his reach. "I'm not done. There's something else I've been wanting to do."

"What?"

She knelt at his feet. "This." She grasped the hem of his kilt and tossed it up to his chest.

His mouth twitched. "Ye wanted under my kilt?"

"Yes." Just the sight of him made moisture pool between her legs. He was gloriously hard and full, but she dragged her gaze away from his erection and skimmed her fingers up his muscular calves to his thighs.

"Lass, if ye want to molest me, ye're a bit south of the target area."

She smiled. "Are you complaining?"

He smiled back. "Aye, ye're too slow."

"Where have I heard that before?" She cupped his balls, and he hissed in a breath. "I demand compensation."

"Take whatever ye like," he growled. "But get on with it."

She circled a hand around his erection and squeezed. "I'll take this."

A drop of moisture seeped from the crown, and she leaned over to lick it, then take him into her mouth. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the feel and taste of him while the drums from the courtyard continued to pound faster and faster. She'd never felt so primal, so free.

"Enough!" He tossed her onto her back and dove between her legs.

The feel of his tongue and lips drove her wild. She thrashed, and he clasped her hips, lifting her to deepen the torture. A fierce orgasm struck, making her jolt from the power of it. As shudders racked her body, he plunged into her, and she came again. She was in a whirlwind of pounding drums and throbbing muscles as he pumped into her faster and faster. With a shout, he climaxed, then fell beside her, holding her tight.

She clung to him, rubbing a hand over the dragon tattoo. His heart was pounding as fiercely as the drums in the courtyard.

"Leah." He stroked her hair. "Ye're mine. Forever."

She smiled. Her life was so beautifully perfect. With a contented sigh, she closed her eyes.

But how long can it last? a small voice in her head warned her, and her eyes opened. They'd burned down Darafer's precious field of demon herb. It was the same as declaring war on the demon. And no doubt, he would retaliate.


The next afternoon, Leah was back at work in the lab. The Vamps had teleported her and the shifters back to the school shortly before dawn, then they'd headed down to the basement for their death-sleep.

Leah was exhausted, too, from a night of lovemaking, so she'd grabbed some sleep before waking around one thirty. After taking some blood samples from the newly captured soldiers, she went to the lab to process them. Abby had the results from the first two prisoners, and it looked like they were making progress.

"What can you tell me about Laser?" Gu Mina asked, sitting on Laszlo's empty stool.

"He's a sweet man," Leah replied as she prepared a slide.

Mina waved a hand. "I already know that. But what else do you know?"

"He's Hungarian, I believe," Abby said, peering through a microscope.

"I know that, too." Mina swiveled impatiently on the stool. "But why is he so nervous around me? I keep telling him how cute he is, and that I would never hurt him, but he keeps fiddling with his buttons."

Leah smiled. "He always does that."

"Why?"

Leah shrugged. "I guess he's nervous."

"Why?"

Leah sighed. It was hard to get any work done with a curious fox in the room. "I don't know. I guess you'll have to ask him."

"I did, and one of his buttons popped off."

Smiling, Leah looked into a microscope.

The sudden screech of a sword being yanked from a sheath made her look up. Mina had her sword pointed at a strange man. He was dressed all in black, with shoulder-length black hair and sparkling green eyes. The same characteristics as Dougal, Leah thought, but he'd always looked wonderfully handsome. The way this man glared at her was cold and mean.

Abby gasped and scrambled to her feet. "Darafer."

He gave her an annoyed look. "I haven't come for you." His gaze refocused on Leah, and he stepped toward her. "You're the fool who's pestering me, aren't you?"

"Stop!" Mina charged toward him, but with a flick of his hand, Darafer sent her flying backward with so much force that the plaster cracked when she hit the wall.

She crumbled onto the floor, unconscious.

"Mina!" Leah started toward her, then hesitated. Her gaze fell to the dagger on her table. She would have to defend herself.

Abby pulled a gun out of a drawer just as Howard and Phil ran into the room, leveling their pistols at the demon. Rajiv followed them, wielding a sword. With a bored look, Darafer waved his hand, and they all froze.

It took a second for Leah to realize what he'd done. Marielle had warned her that he could stop time. He'd frozen everyone in the room but her.

She grabbed the knife and threw it hard. It froze in midair.

"Dr. Galileah Chin. The brilliant disappointment of her family." Darafer strolled toward her and plucked the dagger from its frozen state. "They never appreciated you like I will." He tested the sharpness of the blade. "I wonder if your parents will grieve for you like they would your brothers?"

She swallowed hard. Marielle had warned her that the second Darafer saw her, he would know which wounds to pick at and which fears to manipulate. She looked frantically about for another weapon. A scalpel? She eased toward it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." In less than a second, Darafer had zoomed over to Abby. He pointed the dagger at her belly. "It would be a shame to slice her up when she's pregnant, don't you think?"

Leah clenched her fists. "What do you want?"

"Revenge, of course." He tossed the dagger on the ground. "And you're going to give it to me."

He zoomed toward her, morphing into a black cloud. She ran, but within seconds she was engulfed in darkness, choking for air. Panic seized her, freezing her with fear just before everything went black.                       
       
           



       Chapter Twenty-eight





The second Dougal woke from his death-sleep, he knew something was wrong. Howard and Phil were in the basement, watching him, their faces grim.

Rajiv hurried down the stairs, carrying a sack. "I warmed up some bottles for them."

"What's wrong?" Angus demanded.

"Leah," Dougal whispered. When the shifters grimaced, his heart stuttered.

He dashed up the stairs to Leah's dorm room. Her bed was empty. Abby was sitting on her bed, sniffling, while Gu Mina tried to comfort her.

Abby glanced up at Dougal and burst into tears. "I'm so sorry. We tried to protect-"

"Abby!" Gregori zoomed to a halt in front of her. "Are you all right?"

"Darafer came." She threw herself into Gregori's arms. "He took Leah."

Dougal stumbled back a step. Leah . . . gone? He ran down to the lab. It was empty. Mina's sword lay on the floor next to a cracked wall. The sgian dubh he'd given Leah was on the floor behind Abby's worktable.

"We tried to protect her," Howard said quietly behind him. "We came in, prepared to fire our weapons, but the next thing we knew, he was gone and Leah was missing."

"He froze us," Phil added. "We've been watching the tape to see what happened."

"I want to see it," Angus said as he entered the room.

Dougal wandered to Leah's table and empty stool. There was a microscope loaded with a slide. She'd been working.

And now she was gone.

A searing pain slammed into him, jolting him out of his shock. Leah was gone. Taken by Darafer. And he'd failed to protect her.

His prosthetic hand clenched. There was hope left. "Her tracking device." He turned to Howard. "Did ye track her?"

Howard winced. "It's not working. We've been trying for three hours."

A cold chill swept down Dougal's spine. How would he ever find her? He'd failed her.

"I contacted everyone as soon as night fell wherever they live," Howard continued. "Mikhail in Moscow. Zoltan in Budapest. Jack in Venice, and Connor in Scotland. They all started teleporting west. Emma picked up a few of the older werewolf boys. Ian, Carlos, Robby, Jean-Luc, Phineas, Nate, and Finn all volunteered, so we now have a total of fifteen in Hawaii, waiting for our call."

"Call them," Angus ordered. "And call the three guys in Australia. We need all the manpower we can get."

"Here." Rajiv pulled a bottle of blood from his sack and passed it to Angus. "You guys need to stay strong."

Dougal strode from the room, ignoring the bottle that Rajiv tried to give him. How could he have failed her? From the moment he'd met Leah, he'd sworn he would protect her.

The hallway was lined with Vamps, drinking their breakfast bottles and giving him sympathetic looks.

Dammit. Save yer sympathy for someone who deserves it. He rushed out the front door and down the steps. He was halfway to the beach when he realized his socks were wet from walking on snowy ground. He stumbled to a stop, gazing out at the black water while freezing pain seared his feet.

He deserved it. The cold wind whipped at his shirt and kilt, freezing his bones. He deserved that, too. All the pain in the world could not compare to the ache in his heart. He'd failed her.