Page 19 of The Vampire Always Rises
Chapter Six
“Who are you?” I managed to ask after I caught my breath, which wasn’t easy, given that my abductor was apparently jumping over a bunch of ruts. Or at least, that’s what it felt like from where I was slung over his shoulder. “Why are you doing this? And who’s Victor?”
“Do not play games with me. It will get you nowhere.” The man’s voice was deep, with an Irish twang that sent little ripples of pleasure down my spine despite the fact that he’d just kidnapped me. I tried a kick of my legs, since my arms were plastered to my sides inside the bag, but he slapped my behind. “None of that.”
“Hey!” I yelled through the bag, spitting out a bit of material that was in my way when I inhaled. “Stop touching my behind! I will not be mauled by anyone, least of all a brutish kidnapper.”
“I am not brutish,” the man said, bending down in a way that almost had me falling off him. Luckily, his arm tightened around my legs. “I did not savage you as you deserve. In fact, I have treated you quite well.”
“I do not deserve to be savaged! I’m a nice person! And if you call jamming a bag over my head and picking me up like I’m a bag of bark treating me well, then I’d hate to see what you think ... hey! What the bejeepums are you doing? Let go of me!”
My voice rose in outrage when he bent again, this time letting me slide off his body, but not before his hand cupped my derriere again. I gasped when he whipped off the bag, and found myself staring up into familiar indigo eyes.
Behind me was a black car, but it was the man in front of me who held my attention. He stared right back at me, his eyes narrowing as I gaped at him, my Inner Tempest cheering and urging me to grab the man by his head and kiss the dickens out of him.
“It’s you,” I said stupidly, then realized the inanity of my comment. “Merrick, isn’t it?”
His eyes narrowed further until the blue glinted ominously. “How do you know me? Was it Victor? Did he tell you about me? Where is he now?”
With each sentence, he moved forward, forcing me to back up until I bumped into the car.
“Whoa, now,” I said, holding up a hand and pushing on his chest. He didn’t budge, just stood there, toe-to-toe with me, his nostrils flared slightly as if he was trying to catch a scent. Holy moly, was he impressive when he was standing upright. “Less of that bossy tone, if you don’t mind. I don’t know anyone named Victor, not that I’m sure I’d tell you if I did, what with you abducting me without so much as aHi, hello, how are you, mind if I pick you up and fondle your derriere?”
An exasperated look flashed across his face, and he actually backed up a step, letting my hand drop from his chest. “It wouldn’t be much of an abduction if I chatted you up first.”
“Just because you’re a brute doesn’t mean you can’t be polite,” I said with a serenity I was far from feeling. My insides were all fluttery from seeing him again and feeling the warmth of that hard chest beneath my hand. I wanted nothing more than to slide my hands beneath his shirt so I could stroke the muscles... With a start, I realized he was speaking and I hadn’t heard a word. “Er ... sorry, what was that?”
He looked outraged. “Asking me to repeat myself needlessly is not going to make things any easier for you.”
“It’s not needlessly. I was ... er ... woolgathering.”
He looked even more outraged, if that was possible. Then an oddly martyred look filled his gorgeous eyes. “Are you trying to goad me into killing you? Is that it? You think that you can escape me through death? It won’t work. I refuse to kill you.”
“Good,” I said, and actually smiled at him. It struck me that I wasn’t frightened of him, not really scared, not like I would be if someone else had shoved a bag over my head and carried me off somewhere. This wasn’t anyone else, though. This was a vampire, one whose life I flattered myself to think I’d saved. And even if I hadn’t exactly saved him, at least we’d had the single most erotic experience of my life.
I was musing over the oddness of my reaction—lots of women had erotic interludes with men who turned out to be abusive or evil—when I realized that he’d been speaking, and once again I’d missed what he had said. “Sorry, what was that? I was ... er ... thinking of something.”
“You’re doing this on purpose,” he growled—actually growled the words at me. “Well, it won’t work. I refuse to allow you to anger me.”
“Awesome!” I said brightly. “Anger is so overrated, don’t you think? I mean, if anyone has a right to be angry about all the crap—pardon my French—that’s gone down over the years, it’s me, and I learned long ago that it doesn’t do any good. So I’m glad you’re not mad and don’t want to kill me, because I don’t particularly feel like courting death today. Maybe another time, but not now that I’ve seen you.”
“You will explain how you know me,” he started to say, but a shout from behind him, from the region of Carlo’s house, had him casting a glance over his shoulder. We stood outside the gate, which was closed (and had me momentarily wondering how he’d gotten us through it), but before I could ask, he opened the car door, and more or less shoved me inside.
“What the—” My protests were cut off by the slamming door.
He started around to the front of the car. I opened the door and jumped out, racing to the gate. Inner Tempest asked me what the dickens I thought I was doing, but I told her to mind her own business, and also, that I wasn’t going to take being kidnapped without protest, not even when the abductor was the handsome-eyed vampire who’d given me so much pleasure.
He was on me before I even reached the gate.
“No,” was all he said, swinging me up and marching back to the car. This time, he tossed me into the backseat before taking his place behind the wheel.
“Gah! Stupid kid locks,” I snarled, trying to open the back door.
“Who were you trying to warn?” he asked, putting the car into gear and zooming off into the night with such speed that I was thrown back against the seat.
“No one. I’ve always felt that if I was ever abducted, it would be mandatory to try to escape. Why are you kidnapping me?”
“I saw you in Victor’s garden. Clearly you are his woman. Thus, I took you so that you can give me information on him.”
