Renee gasped in outrage and punched his shoulder, but her laughter betrayed her. "You know, I'm not your wife until you marry me. Are you proposing?"
He rolled suddenly and she yelped in surprise to find him suddenly looming over her. "I just married you, you silly woman. You are most definitely my wife. What do you think bonding is?"
She bit her lip and pretended to consider his words. Then she grinned up at him mischievously. "Well, as I think about it, I notice some distinct advantages to this form of marriage," she told him. "This way, I never had to promise to 'honor and obey' you.
Yes, this is definitely a good system. Did you come up with it all by yourself?"
He groaned again. "You call that an advantage? There's no way I would have invented such a thing. I think it 's a definite drawback." He nibbled at her lips. "Especially since you won't let me issue decrees," he added.
She laughed and buried her fingers in his hair. "Poor baby," she murmured, not sounding the least bit sympathetic, before leaning up to capture his lips in a passionate kiss.
His response was instantaneous as he quickly took control of the kiss, stealing her breath and replacing it with his own. She rubbed against him like a cat begging for caresses and he was more than happy to oblige. "Your prohibition on decrees didn't extend to the one where I keep you in bed all night making love to you, did it?" he asked, pulling back to grin down at her, his eyes flashing with desire.
She tightened her arms around him and pulled him back to her. "I'll let that one slide. But don't let it go to your head."
Chapter Sixteen
Caen moved through the night, following the blood trail across the city as his mind worked rapidly.
This opportunity was far too good to pass up.
He smiled to himself as he turned a corner and found another scattered spray of droplets. He couldn't have made this turn out better had he tried. This fledgling he'd created out of desperation was proving more useful with every passing night.
He'd been hunting, seeking another human to drain as the afternoon light started to sting, when he'd found the evidence of the battle his fledgling had fought and lost. The blood was at least twelve hours old now but Caen's senses were sharp and he had no trouble deciphering the new gift the fledgling had offered him.
The Slayer's claim shimmered in her blood, a bond begun but not completed. Caen's smile broadened. What a wonderful weakness!
He came to the demolished building at sunset and cautiously approached. He hadn't lived this long by being rash. When he glanced through the sign-covered fence, he frowned in confusion at the sight that met his eyes. Four slain Outcasts lay scattered on the ground-men Caen knew, men who were no strangers to battle. Even as he watched they were decaying to nothing as the sunlight shifted, moving them out of the shadows which had apparently shielded their bodies all day. Two smears of ash darkened the ground nearby. The Slayer stood out in the open, pressed against a wall, unmoving despite the last rays of sunlight falling directly on him.
This made no sense. Outcasts burning in the sun and a Slayer enduring it unharmed?
Then he dismissed the question. It didn't matter to him how the Slayer had accomplished his feat or what had happened to the others. All that mattered now was the opportunity. He fingered the crossbow he'd selected for the night's games and smiled again.
He wouldn't even have to get close to finish this. The Slayer 's pain and desperate hunger filled the air like a sweet perfume and Caen took a moment to savor his enemy's suffering as the sun dipped below the horizon. He might not even have to use the fledgling.
He raised the crossbow and sighted carefully down it.
Suddenly the Slayer moved. Caen froze, standing motionless in the shadows as he heard the fledgling's voice urging the Slayer to feed. Caen frowned. This wasn't what he wanted at all. He wanted the Slayer weak and helpless when he died, not filled with new strength. He'd battled this one enough to know how dangerous he was. He raised the crossbow but again he hesitated.
Wouldn't it be even sweeter to kill the Slayer when he was at full strength? There was no way the Slayer could react quickly enough to reach him before he fired no matter how good he was. Caen smiled and lowered the crossbow slightly. Yes, let the Slayer feed and renew himself. Then he would feel the full measure of his defeat as he died.
Caen watched as the Slayer fed voraciously and his glee grew by the second. Even from this distance, Caen felt the fledgling's weakness, but the fool wasn't stopping. He saw her caress the Slayer's hair as he drained her mercilessly. Caen could hardly keep from laughing out loud when he fell to his knees with her, taking still more and not even seeming to notice when she passed out from blood loss. He was glad he hadn't used the crossbow when he'd had the chance as he watched the Slayer brutally attack his own mate. Oh, yes, this was too good to miss. It wasn't every night he got to watch a Slayer destroy himself!
At the last possible instant, the Slayer broke away. Caen's grin broadened as he watched the Slayer's horror at what he had done to his woman. Not so self-righteous now, are you? he thought. You're merely another killer now, just like the rest of us.
A sudden vicious thunderstorm shattered the night but Caen didn't move, savoring every instant of this triumph over his persistent hunter.
The storm abruptly died. Caen cursed as he felt the faint pulse of life from the fledgling. It would've been marvelous indeed to witness the Slayer's complete and utter downfall, but at least she wouldn't last the night.
The Slayer's desperation reached him in waves of emotion, sweet in its own right. Caen raised the crossbow for the last time as the Slayer slashed his own throat, desperately trying to revive the dying woman in his arms, and he gloried in the other man 's grief.
Before he fired the bolt, though, there was a sudden scream of tires. Instinctively Caen ducked down, plastering himself to the ground and wishing he'd taken the time to find a more concealed spot. A car and a motorcycle roared past him and plowed through the fence not four yards from where he lay.
Caen snarled another curse as two other Slayers ran into the shadows. He'd missed his chance. He couldn't hope to take out all three of them, not even with the crossbow and the element of surprise on his side. If he tried to kill the Slayer now he would guarantee his own death tonight.
There will be other chances, he consoled himself as he melted into the shadows. They will save the fledgling, and I will use her again.
Yes, his time would come. Caen smiled again as he ran down the side street away from the Slayer and his own unexpectedly useful fledgling. This Slayer was powerful, but he had finally revealed a weakness.
And she was a weakness Caen owned. He fully intended to take advantage of it.
The ringing of a cell phone jolted Renee out of a dead sleep.
Renee yawned and blinked, looking around the room in confusion before tracking the ringing to its source. She dug the phone out of the pocket of Eli's discarded jeans and flipped it open. "Hello?"
"Hey, girl, I didn't expect you to answer but it saves me the trouble of asking for you. How are you feeling?"
"Sian?"
She laughed. "Yes, it's Sian. How many women do you think have access to Eli's cell phone number?"
Renee glanced back at the bed where Eli still slept and she smiled a little at the sight of his gorgeous body relaxed in slumber, wearing nothing more than the dark bondmark on his arm. "You'd better be the only one or he's got some major explaining to do,"
she replied softly as she quietly left the bedroom, not wanting to disturb him.
Sian sighed in unmistakable relief. "So everything worked out all right with you two?"
The question surprised her. "Better than all right. Why wouldn't it be?"
There was a brief silence. "Never mind," Sian replied at last. "Look, I was calling to invite you on a shopping trip. Diego hates going with me but I stink at shopping and I have to get an extra opinion before I can buy anything. Do you think Eli will let you out of his sight for an evening?"
Renee thought about it as she walked down the hall to her old bedroom to grab a set of clothes. She bit her lip, her independent nature warring with the fear she'd seen in Eli's eyes at the thought of her being in danger again. She didn't want him to worry.
Still, how much danger could there possibly be in a shopping trip? Surely he wouldn't have a problem with that. "When and where do you want to meet up?"
"Don't you want to make sure Eli's cool with it first?"
Renee made a face at the phone. "Eli isn't my keeper, Sian."
"I didn't mean it that way, although Diego would love it if I would ask permission from him whenever I decide to do something. I just meant-well, these guys can get a little paranoid, and you were pretty bad off last night. We honestly didn't think you were going to make it. I wouldn't be surprised if Eli's super-protective right now."
She laughed, remembering how he'd wanted to confine her to the bed for the rest of eternity. "Yeah, that's the understatement of the century, but I'm sure he won't have a problem with me going shopping. Now, where do you want to meet up?"
"How about you meet me over here in an hour? I promise to keep Diego in line," she added when Renee hesitated.
"Deal," Renee agreed before hanging up.
Half an hour later she was showered, dressed, and ready to go. She slipped back into Eli's room and found him still sleeping.
She sat on the edge of the bed and kissed him softly. "Wake up, sleepy head," she murmured.
He didn't move. Renee smiled and brushed his hair back from his forehead. "Come on, Eli, rise and shine," she tried again, but he slept on, oblivious.
She sighed. She didn't want him to wake up and find her gone without a word but she knew how tired he must be after all they had been through. He deserved a chance to rest, especially following the incredible night they'd just shared. He hadn't been lying when he told her he'd intended to make love to her all night. Renee shivered at the memory as she went to the den and found a pen and paper, quickly scratching out a note before returning to the bedroom.
She rolled the note into a little scroll and slipped it beneath his hand with the cell phone and couldn 't resist tracing the lines of the mark around his wrist. It was incredible that this amazing man was truly hers. "Sleep well," she whispered, brushing one more kiss over his lips before leaving the room.
Sian ran to the door as soon as she heard the doorbell ring and threw it open. "Renee, come in!"
Diego strode angrily into the entry hall right on her heels. "Dios, querida, how many times do I have to tell you to let James get the door?" he demanded, stalking straight past the women and slamming it behind him before turning to glare at Sian. "You don't scan, you don't even use the damn peephole. How do you know what's out there? An Outcast could walk straight up to our door and you would let them in!"
Renee shifted uncomfortably. Diego glanced at her and shut his mouth with an audible snap. Sian linked her arm through his and smiled at Renee. "Yup, that's my caveman."
Diego flushed a little. "You know I didn't mean her," he muttered.
Sian laughed and after a moment Renee did too. "No worries," Renee said, forcing a light tone to hide how much Diego still intimidated her.
He nodded stiffly, then glanced around the hall. "Where's Eli?"
"Probably still sleeping."
Diego gaped at her. "You didn't wake him up and tell him you were leaving?"
Oh, this was too good to pass up. She smiled at him, the picture of innocence as she deliberately wound him up. "Why, do you think I should have?" She well remembered his reaction the first time he'd seen Sian near her and could just imagine how he would react if he woke and she was gone.
The look on his face was priceless. If Renee had told him Eli had been having kittens when she 'd left, Diego couldn't have looked more dismayed. He looked back at the front door as though expecting Eli to come bursting through it.
"Oh, this is really, really not good," Diego groaned.
She grinned. "Don't look so worried. I left him a note. He knows where I'm going."
Diego shook his head and blocked the door. "I don't think so. You're not going anywhere."
Sian laughed at his stern pose. "This is great! Since you seem determined to keep Renee here until Eli comes, that must mean you're going shopping with me. Right?"
He looked like he was being offered a choice between being drawn and quartered or being boiled in oil. "Sian..."
"Excuse me," Renee interrupted. "I don't recall agreeing to be kept anywhere."
Diego looked at her like she was insane. "I don't recall asking you to agree."
Sian glanced at Renee's face and stepped between them before things escalated further. "Diego, it's all right. It's not like we're planning on raiding the back alleys of the worst parts of town, we're going to the mall. She'll be perfectly fine." She took his hand and laced her fingers through his. "You thought it was safe enough when I told you I was going," she added persuasively.
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "That's because you always get me to agree to crazy things against my better judgment," he replied, but his tone said his resolve to keep them there was weakening. Sian didn't say anything else, but after a moment Diego sighed again. "Oh, all right, fine. I just hope you appreciate this when Eli gets here and breaks both my arms for letting his mate leave without a chaperone."
Sian looked outraged. "What am I, chopped liver?"
He hung his head. "I'm not going to win this, am I?"
She laughed and kissed him before turning back to Renee. "Ready?"
Renee nodded fervently. She was more than ready to get away from Diego. With his black goatee and those wicked green eyes, Diego looked like the devil incarnate. She couldn't imagine how Sian lived with a man as dark and forbidding as him.
Then she laughed silently at her thoughts. Eli wasn't exactly a pussycat himself.
She followed Sian through the house to the garage and whistled low in appreciation when she unlocked a cherry red Ferrari.
"Let's get out of here before he changes his mind," Sian said, getting in and snapping her seatbelt.
The trip across town to the mall took about half the time it should have. Renee was afraid her fingers would be permanently embedded in the dash by the time Sian skidded to a stop in the parking lot.
"Good Lord, Sian," Renee breathed, forcing her cramped hands to unlock and unbuckling her belt with shaking fingers, "if I'd known you drove like this, I would've stayed with Diego!"
Sian laughed. "Chicken." She reached into the glove compartment as Renee grabbed her purse and Renee's eyes widened when she pulled out a wicked looking little pistol. "Pays to be prepared," she said lightly before she caught the look on Renee's face. "Oh, don't worry. I have a permit to carry concealed. I was a cop before I was a Slayer, you know."
"No, I didn't know," Renee managed, watching Sian tuck the holster into the back of her jeans. "Either one, actually. You were a cop and now you're a Slayer?" It was hard to imagine Diego allowing such a thing. She'd witnessed his protectiveness of Sian firsthand.
Sian nodded. "Nine years on the force before I witnessed a murder and had to go into Witness Protection," she replied as they got out. "That's how I met Diego, in fact, although Eli had more than a little to do with us getting together."
Renee grinned at Sian's tone. "I sense a very interesting story here."
"You don't want to know what I thought about that man of yours a few months ago. He tends to do what he thinks is right and ignore anyone who thinks otherwise." She caught Renee's look out of the corner of her eye and grinned. "Okay, he was right in this case. But I think hell will freeze over before Diego admits it."
Renee laughed and Sian paused as they approached the mall entrance, turning to her. "Look, tell me if I'm out of line," Sian said in an uncharacteristically hesitant tone. She reached for Renee's left arm. "May I?"
Renee nodded and Sian pushed up the sleeve of her sweater to reveal the new bondmark encircling her arm. She touched it with a fingertip and glanced up at Renee, her blue eyes dark with worry. "Is this what you wanted?"
"More than anything. Why do you ask?"
Sian shrugged. "I know how it is to be a fledgling," she said gently, making sure no one overheard. "It can be overwhelming- and Eli can be overwhelming, to say the least. I want to be sure you knew what you were getting into. " She shrugged again, releasing Renee's arm and shoving her hands in her pockets. "Diego said not to interfere, but I could tell you didn't know what was going on when he took you home last night. And I know from experience that Eli doesn't let anything stop him when he's set on something."
Her concern touched Renee to the heart. "You're right, I didn't know. But even though I didn't know what bonding was, I knew I wanted to be with him. He told me everything before we-before the third exchange." She blushed a little at the erotic memory. "He didn't trick me into it, I promise. It was my choice."
"And you're honestly all right?"