Part 40 (1/2)
”Me, too.” He wanted to get the lesser blood off him.
As he walked through the mansion's vestibule and into the foyer, Fritz came out of the dining room.
The butler bowed deeply. ”Good evening, sire. Your guest is here.”
”Guest?”
”The Chosen's Directrix. She indicated you had called upon her.”
s.h.i.+t. He'd forgotten he'd put the request in, and it wasn't like he needed their services anymore. If Mary wasn't in his life, he didn't require any special feeding arrangements. He was free to go suck and f.u.c.k whoever he wanted. Oh, joy.
G.o.d, the idea of being with anyone but Mary made him shrivel in his pants.
”Sire? Are you receiving?”He was about to say no, but then figured that was not a smooth move. Considering his past history with the Scribe Virgin, it wasn't wise to offend her special cla.s.s of females.
”Tell her I'll be with her in a few minutes.”
He jogged upstairs to his room, turned the shower on to warm up, and then called V. The brother didn't seem surprised he was bailing on the trip to the bar.
Too bad it wasn't for the reason Vishous obviously a.s.sumed.
Mary came awake because she heard talk drifting up from the foyer. It was Rhage's voice. She'd recognize that deep rumble anywhere.
Slipping from the bed, she went to the gap she'd left in the door.
Rhage was coming up the stairs. His hair was damp, as if he'd just taken a shower, and he was dressed in a loose black s.h.i.+rt and baggy black pants. She was about to step into the hall when she saw he was not alone. The woman with him was tall and had a long blond braid of hair down her back. She was dressed in a filmy white gown, and together they looked like some kind of Goth wedding pair, he in all that black, she draped in that gossamer fabric. When they got to the head of the stairs, the woman paused, as if she didn't know which way to turn. Rhage put his hand under her elbow and looked down at her solicitously, as if she were so fragile, she might crack a bone just getting to the second floor.
Mary watched them go into his room. The door shut behind them.
She went back over to the bed and got in it. Images came cras.h.i.+ng down on her head. Rhage all over her body with his mouth and his hands. Rhage thanking her for feeding him. Rhage looking at her while he told her he loved her.
Yeah, he loved her all right. So much so that he was doing another woman across the hall.
The instant the thought streaked through her mind, she knew she was being unreasonable. She'd pushed him away. He'd taken the hint. She had no right to blame him for having s.e.x with someone else.
She'd gotten exactly what she'd asked for.
He was letting her go.
Chapter Thirty-four.
The following evening, just before nightfall, Rhage went to the gym as a matter of public service. When he finished with the weights, he got on the treadmill and started running. The first five miles flew by. By mile six, he'd polished off his water. When mile nine arrived, the a.s.s-kicking started.
He increased the incline and fell back into his stride. His thighs were screaming, clenching, burning. His lungs were on fire. His feet and knees were aching.
Grabbing the s.h.i.+rt he'd taken off and hung on the console, he used the thing to wipe the sweat out of his eyes. He figured he was dehydrated as s.h.i.+t by now, but he wasn't getting off for water. He had every intention of going until he fell over.
To keep up the bruising pace, he lost himself in the music pounding through the speakers. Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana. The stuff was loud enough to drown out the hum of the treadmill, the songs screeching through the weight room, vile, aggressive, deranged. Same as his frame of mind.
When the sound got cut off, he didn't bother looking around. He figured the stereo had kicked it or someone wanted to talk to him, and he wasn't interested in dealing with either.
Tohr stepped in front of the machine. The brother's expression had Rhage off the belt and punching the STOP release.
”What.” He was breathing hard and did another scrub job on his face with the s.h.i.+rt.
”She's gone. Mary. She's gone.”
Rhage froze with the wet wad under his chin. ”What do you mean, gone?”
”Fritz waited for her in front of the hospital for three hours during her appointment. When he went inside, the clinic she hit was closed. He drove to her house. When she wasn't there, he went back and searched the whole medical center.”
Temples pounding from fear instead of exertion, Rhage bit out, ”Any signs of forced entry or violence at her house?”
”No.”
”Was her car in the garage?”
”Yes.”
”When did he last see her?”
”It was three o'clock when she went to the appointment. FYI, Fritz called you repeatedly, but kept getting voice mail on your cell.”
Rhage looked at his watch. It was just after six. a.s.suming sixty minutes or so for the doctor's appointment, she'd been missing for two hours.
He found it hard to imagine that the lessers could have picked her up off the street. A far more likely scenario was that she went home and the slayers found her there. But, with no sign of a struggle at her house, there was a chance she wasn't hurt.
Or maybe that was just blind hope talking.
Rhage leaped off the machine. ”I need to get armed.”
Tohr shoved a bottle of water into his hand. ”Drink this now. Phury's bringing your gear. Meet him in the locker room.”
Rhage took off at a jog, ”The Brotherhood will help you find her,” Tohr called out.
Bella came upstairs at the break of night, throwing open the door to her kitchen with triumph. Now that the days were getting shorter, she had so much more time to be out and about. It was only six o'clock, but it was pitch-black. Lovely.
She was debating whether to have toast or fire up some pancakes when she saw lights on at the far edge of the meadow.
Someone was in Mary's house. Probably the warriors installing the security system.
Which meant that if she went over she might be able to see that scarred male again.Zs.a.d.i.s.t had been on her mind since she'd met him, to the point where her diary entries were filled with speculations about the male.
He was just so... raw. And after having been cosseted for years by her brother, she was dying to get out and experience something wild.