Part 14 (1/2)
Gideon snorted. ”Really? I was thinking more of a Disney hero. Birds will be chirping on your shoulder in a few minutes. Or doing something else.”
Daegan made a noncommittal noise, turned his attention to Anwyn. ”You should feed before we land, cher cher. Would you like Gideon to mix his blood with your choice of wine? I know you like your white zinfandel.”
”A vampire who doesn't go for red wine.” Gideon cleared his throat, pus.h.i.+ng off the unwelcome mood that Daegan had just set, instead going for the inexplicable antic.i.p.ation and simple arousal that always came to him when she had to feed. There was an intimacy to it that Gideon liked, though he didn't care to admit it. ”Didn't you tell her that was poor etiquette?”
Anwyn rose and moved back to Gideon, sliding easily into his lap. She slipped her hand into the open collar of his dress s.h.i.+rt, opening a b.u.t.ton deftly to stroke the light mat of hair and muscles beneath. ”I prefer to have my wine as dessert.”
Gideon was caught by her blue-green eyes, penetrating and seeing so much. ”We're going to be okay.” She put a slim hand to his jaw. ”Stop baiting him. Relax, and don't worry so much.”
”Stop worrying about me,” he responded, deciding not to comment on her other observation.
”Only if you'll stop worrying about me,” she said.
Gideon glanced up at Daegan, who met his gaze briefly before turning his attention to pouring his own drink from the bar. ”This is dangerous, Anwyn,” Gideon said quietly. ”I'm not scared of much, but I'm scared to death something is going to happen to you.”
”I've nothing to fear. I'm with the two most dangerous males I know. Well, after James, that is. I'm pretty sure he could kick both your a.s.ses.” At his snort, she leaned in, pressed her lips to his neck, letting him feel the teasing p.r.i.c.k of her fangs. ”You know, you never flinch,” she breathed against his flesh. ”Only that first time. You accept this, what I need from you.”
He slid his arm around her back, providing her support as the sc.r.a.pe angled down into his c.o.c.k. ”Yeah.”
”I'll make you a deal. If you decide to bolt, so will I. We can become fugitives together.”
He closed his eyes, pressed his forehead against her shoulder. ”Don't tempt me, Mistress.” And he meant it fervently. ”You need to be accepted into this world. I'm going to stand behind you, make sure that happens. Three paces back, eyes down, my lips kissing your a.s.s, yada yada yada.”
”Well, the last part sounds pleasant.” But she suppressed a sigh. Gideon pushed her hair off her shoulder, gathering it in the small of her back to keep it out of her way as her fangs sank deep, and she began to feed. Trying to keep his mind off the arousal her bloodtaking always seemed perversely to stir, Gideon turned his gaze to Daegan. ”So you've studiously avoided telling us which Council member you think sold you out. You might want to make us aware of that.”
”It is my issue to address. But I wasn't deliberately withholding information. I'm fairly certain it was Lord Stephen or Lady Barbra. Perhaps both.”
”Steve and Barb? Sounds like a couple who should be sipping c.o.c.ktails in the suburbs.”
”They are new Council members. Made vampires.” At Gideon's raised brow, Daegan curled his lip. ”Yes, I know. The older Council members thought it would be useful to have an advocacy position for approved approved made vampires.” made vampires.”
”Strange, since the Council's about as autocratic as you can get. I thought they slapped a moratorium on making vampires after the revolt at the Gathering.”
”They did. But they are trying to smooth things with the existing ones. Too few vampires overall to completely marginalize made vampires. Bedfellows, politics and all that.”
Gideon considered that, tracing Anwyn's spine with his knuckles, but grimaced as she rubbed her soft a.s.s against his thighs and groin, teasing him. When amus.e.m.e.nt crossed Daegan's gaze, he scowled. ”Being the first made vamps to sit on Council, you'd think Steve and Barb would watch their ps and qs to make sure they keep the spot.”
”Hmm. You might avoid calling them that when you meet them.” Taking up his tumbler of whiskey, Daegan brought him a bottle of beer. Pulling up an ottoman, he sat on it, splaying his knees around one of Gideon's planted feet, and ran his hand down Anwyn's back, stroking her thick hair. As he did so, he brushed Gideon's hand. He'd been doing that more often, casual touches, as if the physical intimacy they shared meant something. Meant that he had the right to touch.
It wasn't outrightly s.e.xual like what the vampire was doing to Anwyn now, running a finger along her neck as she swallowed Gideon's blood, or stealing a brief kiss along that slender column, such that his thigh pressed the outside of Gideon's. Still, it was an unsettling reminder of what was possible between them. Except to decide no way in h.e.l.l was it ever happening again, Gideon hadn't even made peace with what had happened in the weapons room.
He didn't care how much his skin tingled after Daegan touched it, a different but no less provocative sensation than Anwyn's fingers, tunneling under the open collar of his new b.u.t.ton-down s.h.i.+rt to tease his nipple. Dropping down, she stroked her nails over his abdomen, a sc.r.a.pe that had him s.h.i.+fting his hard c.o.c.k against her hip and earning a murmur of approval.
Pulling back from her feeding, she pressed her lips to his throat, sealing the wound with a faint blood imprint from her mouth. Daegan slid an energy bar and protein drink toward Gideon's right hand to supplement the beer. ”I'll get you a steak later.”
”Thanks, Dad. I think I can handle finding my own meals.”
”You'll need your energy. Don't let stubbornness keep you at less than your fighting best.” Daegan's steady gaze told Gideon he meant it. ”And remember, you don't address any Council member, let alone Steve and Barb, as anything less than 'my lady' or 'my lord,' and you don't speak to them at all unless he or she addresses you first. If you hold on to nothing else, remember that one. It is the one thing that may save your foolish life, which is important to Anwyn's well-being, if not your own.”
Since being p.i.s.sy would just upset Anwyn, Gideon swallowed his irritation along with the beer and plotted ways to get even with the vamp later for his high-handed tone and far too shrewd look.
Fortunately, Anwyn provided a distraction. When she slid off his lap, she had to straddle both Gideon's and Daegan's thighs to move past them. Daegan caught her hips, keeping her there as he cupped her b.u.t.tocks. As Gideon watched at close range, the way those long fingers kneaded the rounded fullness of her a.s.s, Daegan put his mouth between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He teased her there, a flick of his whiskey-flavored tongue in the low neckline of the silk blouse. ”You wear these clothes just to taunt us.”
”But unlike Gideon, you don't know how to mind your manners and ask for permission first. Hey.” Anwyn turned a reproving glance on Gideon as he pulled his hand away. ”I'm sure that wasn't a pinch, because if it was, I'd have to put my foot up your backside. I'm trying to build you up here. Make you sound reasonably housebroken.”
”All they have to do is look at him to know that's a lie.” Daegan rose and moved back to his own chair, bracing one foot on the footrest. It was his typically casual predator pose, but the s.e.xual energy around him, the fact he knew the vampire had to be hard, made it difficult for Gideon not to look where he wanted to look. Holding Daegan's gaze was far more hazardous, though.
”All dangerous eyes,” the vampire mused. ”Strong jaw. Body never completely relaxed, hard as iron.” His gaze flicked downward, lingered deliberately. ”In more ways than one.”
”f.u.c.k. Off.”
Anwyn s.h.i.+fted her gaze between the two of them. Gideon's mind told her little, because when he became like this, everything was still, focused on whatever might happen in the next few seconds.
Daegan remained in his position, just as still and silent. She knew it was pre-battle nerves that had made Gideon lash out with real venom in his tone. h.e.l.l, since he'd boarded the plane he'd been as unpredictable in his moods as Anwyn on a bad day. He was clearly testing, and she knew Daegan wasn't likely to put up with it much longer. Gideon was purposely being immature and twisted, goading such a confrontation. From his mind, she knew he had no clue whether he was angling for the a.s.s-kicking or something equally physical.
She'd been playing mediator-on-tenterhooks for most of the plane ride and it was dangerously adding to her anxiety. She'd heard Gideon's thought, knew she'd been doing a good job of keeping any trepidations she had under wraps, but these two were going to be her breaking point.
”You said Lord Stephen and Lady Barbra might have betrayed you,” she said quickly. ”Why, Daegan?”
He didn't remove his gaze from Gideon, unfortunately, but he did answer. ”They were not part of the Territory Wars, and haven't faced the dangers that the others have. They don't understand that vampires who choose to ignore the rules risk harmful exposure of our kind to the human world. Being made vampires, they erroneously believe they should be loyal to all made vampires without discretion. So that they protect even those who commit vicious crimes, rather than advocating for the made vampires who do not. If they can undermine the strict position toward made vampires in a mult.i.tude of small ways, such as discrediting what I do, the Council may alter their stand on the matter.”
”But if you step out and the Region Masters and overlords handle internal problems related to their vampires directly, it would cause more unease and power s.h.i.+fts within territories, allowing the problem vampires more lat.i.tude,” Gideon pointed out.
Daegan lifted a shoulder. ”Possibly. It would certainly slow down the swift retribution we implement now. Then again, Lord Stephen and Lady Barbra's motives could be more personal and less political. For all I know, before Stephen and Barbra were appointed, I may have been a.s.signed to kill someone they considered a friend or preferred lover. While these two are not excessively clever, vampires are good at keeping their personal baggage under wraps.” He shrugged. ”Honestly, with vampires, it can always be a variety of motivators. They are not highly predictable in their grudges or politics.”
Anwyn slid her hip next to Daegan's braced foot, putting a hand on his hard thigh. ”I'd agree with the not very clever part. What did they think telling a crazy vampire where to find you, particularly one like Barnabus, would accomplish? Surely they didn't think he'd kill you.”
”It was a limited risk. They didn't expect it to be tracked back to them, and if they killed me, so much the better.”
”Yeah, that much may be true, but I don't think that was their primary motive.” Gideon spoke up now, his hard eyes resting on Daegan. ”What they did was force your hand, made you take Barnabus's life and the lives of his little band unsanctioned. No matter how justified, it means you've given Steve and Barb the opening to discuss whether you have too much autonomy, and cast suspicions on how powerful you are and how dangerous that makes you to them.”
”The rest of the Council has known me a long time.”
”They're vampires. Do you know how long it takes them to turn on one of their own? Lady Lyssa practically gave them her soul since the day the Council was founded. They turned on her in the s.p.a.ce of one Council meeting, one piece of information. All it takes is a seed of doubt to be planted.” Gideon scowled at Daegan's shuttered look. ”h.e.l.l, humans are just as bad. People like to believe the worst about each other. Look at how they always scream government conspiracy, at the same time they talk about how completely incompetent the government is. Conspiracy by its nature suggests cleverness, discretion.”
Anwyn nodded. ”When it comes down to it, we're idiots. We're the Roman mob. We'd rather be thrown sc.r.a.ps of bread and shown a good gladiator fight than think for ourselves.”
Daegan shook his head. ”This isn't a mob. This is the Council. Gideon, I know your own shadow world, the vampire hunters, rejected you because they believed you had become too sympathetic to the other side, and were only killing vampires your brother sent you. Both of which were true. It does not mean that you can extrapolate their disloyalty to the Council.”
Gideon's eyes narrowed. ”Which one is it?”
Daegan lifted a brow. ”Pardon me?”
”Which Council member was f.u.c.king your mother, and therefore still has you fooled into thinking you should trust these vipers?”
Anwyn knew she could move a lot faster now, but she had no chance of moving faster than Daegan. And Daegan in a temper could take Gideon through the side of the plane.