Chapter 7: Cade

Cade forced himself not to watch Lya the rest of the night, determined not to be that creep. She was already skittish, for reasons he couldn’t figure out, given how forward she’d been last night. The human women with her maybe, making her worried about hiding herself as an Othersider? Either way, the moment she’d tensed, he’d known he had to back off. Not for Maria’s threat but for Lya’s peace of mind. Scaring her now would go against the whole point.

A trio of Torsten’s vampires came in, and he raised a hand to signal that they were welcome to join him before they had to wonder about his intentions. Of course, they noticed Lya as quickly as he had both nights. They also dismissed her just as quickly.

“Maria’s,” Lucien muttered, the single word heavy with regret.

Oscar gave Lya a last evaluating look. “If that’s the blood Maria’s getting, my bet is she knocks Aron off his pedestal in the next decade. Maybe less.”

“That fast?”

The third moroi, Rani, nodded. “I believe it.”

She glanced at Cade, as though remembering he wasn’t one of the coterie and evaluating whether it was safe to speak in front of him.

Cade spotted an opportunity to gather information and offered a lazy half-smile. “I’m just a visitor. Grateful for Maria’s hospitality though.”

That drew the attention of all three of the others, and Oscar tilted his head. “Don’t you mean Torsten’s hospitality?”

Aware of the fine line he walked, Cade shrugged. “Of course.”

Oscar’s sharp look turned sly. Lucien and Rani relaxed.

“Truthfully, I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen of Maria,” Cade said genuinely. He didn’t appreciate being threatened by her, but he wasn’t too proud to admit she was doing an excellent, if undervalued, job here in Raleigh. “I’ve visited dozens of territories over the years, and the Triangle is one of the most stable, despite the mixed-faction power-sharing agreement. Maria seems forward-thinking in that regard.”

“She is,” Oscar hastened to assure him. “It’s not easy, having a full elven conclave in Chapel Hill and that joined werecat pride up in Durham. Too many predators in the area, and that’s not even mentioning that bitch Callista standing over all of us as Arbiter, whatever faction she belongs to. But Maria’s made some good decisions since becoming Torsten’s third.”

And you three are angling for positions of power and influence when she ascends. Noted. Cade smiled. “These venues primary among those decisions, at least for those of us honored to guest here.”

The other three grinned back, barely hiding their fangs.

“For those of us who live here as well. On that note, I have a mighty thirst.” Rani rose and headed for the dance floor in a whirl of blue skirts that had Cade thinking of Lya, dressed in red and—he glanced at the floor—currently back to dancing.

Don’t stare. Mind your business.

And he did, making small talk with whichever of the three other moroi were relaxing in the booth over the course of the next two hours.

“You’re not hunting tonight?” Oscar asked at one point.

Cade smiled easily. “I fed before coming here.”

Which was true—he found it easier to blend in with humans and use less glamour when his skin was warm and he was moving smoothly—just not the whole truth.

He didn’t peg Lya for the jealous type, but he found himself not wanting to give her the impression she was anything less than special. It irked him all over again. That wasn’t a good long-term survival strategy. But it was how he felt, and he’d learned to listen to those nudges of intuition.

“Fair enough.” Oscar’s eyes tracked a specific spot on the dance floor. “There goes the half-elf. Damn. It was delicious just watching her.”

Cade’s gaze snapped to Lya, just in time to see her look their way. Her gaze darted between him and Oscar.

She didn’t wink as she followed her friends out the door.

Was it because she didn’t want to see him? Or because she recognized Oscar as one of Torsten’s moroi and didn’t want to tip him off?

Oscar clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m off to catch dinner. Stay well, friend.”

“And you.”

Cade forced himself to wait until Oscar, Rani, and Lucien were all occupied with dancing or quick feeds before leaving.

Unlike this morning, Lya’s scent didn’t dissipate at the curb, although most of the group’s did. Hope quickened in him as he followed it south to East Davie Street. Then to the cozy corner bar across from his lodgings, where a glance in the window showed him Lya, nursing a highball of something dark.

From the way she tensed, she knew the minute he entered the place. Of course she did. Was her spatial awareness because she was a half-elf in dangerous territory or something else?

She toasted him when he edged up to the bar and leaned against it. “Figured you’d find me.”

He didn’t answer, too overcome by the scent of her, heightened by dancing and her walk here from the club in the humid night. Then she glanced at him, the nervous pinch of her brow breaking the spell.

“You’re hard to miss.” He resisted the urge to touch her, waiting to see whether it was him making her nervous or something else.

“That why your friends had their eye on me all night?”

Cade grimaced. “They’re Maria’s.”

“You know Maria?” Lya straightened, suddenly much more serious.

“I know her and your arrangement with her.”

Lya looked for all the world like a hawk trying to decide whether she’d tackled prey too big to fly off with. “I see.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve been duly warned.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Yet here you are.”

“The warning wasn’t about last-night topics,” Cade said, voice low. He let his eyes drop to the pulse in her throat.

“Ah. Okay then. Good.” She slugged half her drink and started jittering her leg.

The bartender wandered over then away again to ring the last-call bell when Cade shook his head.

“Hey,” he said, suddenly uncertain of how fast he could move in his pursuit of her blood. “If you don’t want anything more—”

“Shut up. You promised me an afterparty.”

Anticipation and pleasure hit him so hard he shuddered. “I did indeed. Shall we?”

Lya rose without finishing the drink, digging in her purse.

“Let me.” He fished out his wallet and flashed a twenty, his smallest bill. “Will that cover it?”

“More than.”

“Good. I’d like them to remember you fondly. Just in case you come back.”

Her laugh made him feel light and daring, like he had in his past life and less frequently the older he got. Life was a sunk cost at this point. He was invested in hanging on to it because of what he’d had to do to break free of his master and surviving what had come after, doubly so because he’d already seen five centuries.

Lya gave breath to the embers again and maybe, just maybe, made it about more than gaining enough power to stay alive.

She frowned when he walked her across the road and keyed them into the apartment building. “Here? Really?”

“What, were you expecting some kind of—”

“Something more stereotypical, to be sure.”

“Nothing typical about a vagabond’s life.”

“Ah. That explains it.”

Cade glanced at her but couldn’t read her expression. “Explains?”

“Why you don’t seem worried about Maria.”

He snorted and led her to the stairs. Lya wore heels, but one floor should be fine. “Trust me, I have a healthy respect for her. I’m simply not beholden to her.”

“Hm. Interesting.”

That was encouraging.

Tense with unusual nervousness, Cade led her to his front door. He hadn’t had anyone here since he’d moved in a year and a half ago. The risk was too great. But he hoped, in reciprocating the risk she’d taken in being vulnerable with him last night, that she’d take him seriously and not as some sleazy one- or two-night stand.

That idea—that this might be more than just sex or even blood—agitated him enough that his heart beat almost human fast, but he couldn’t shake it.

He had to win her over, even if only to figure out how to end his fascination with her.

“Damn,” Lya said admiringly when she was inside and he’d flicked the lights on. Chrome appliances, marble countertops, and hardwood floors shone, all the more for the closed blackout curtains. “Vagabonds can afford this?”

“I can.” He smiled, pleased by her reaction. “Make yourself comfortable. Do you want a drink?”

“Just some water.” She looked him up and down then set her purse on the counter, checking it for something. “Need to stay hydrated.”

“I’d recommend it, if you’re up for round…what’d we get to last night?”

“I lost track.”

As he passed Lya to get a glass, she grabbed him and pushed him backward aggressively.

Cade’s reflexes kicked in as his back hit the refrigerator. His fingers tangled in her hair and pulled her head back to bare her throat as his other arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her flush against him. An intoxicating blend of fear and arousal spiked from her as her pupils dilated and her pulse jumped in her neck.

“That’s how half-elves get themselves bitten by anyone with less self-control,” he warned her when he’d caught his breath.

“Just needed to be sure you’d still play by the rules, now that we’re on your turf.” Her hard-edged smile said she’d been testing him again—as did the small silver knife she tapped against his flank, one he hadn’t noticed until just then. She could have gutted him even as he bit her.

Arousal hit him fast and hard.

Here was a woman he could respect. She wasn’t just food or a fuck but a challenge. Maybe even an equal, even if she was human-blooded. Pulling that trick on a vampire his age in his own nest just to test him? Unbelievably ballsy.

He did what he’d been dying to do all night: kissed her. Claimed her mouth, roughly and completely as her arms twined up and around his neck. The cold flat of the blade against his spine was ample reminder of what would happen if he didn’t follow the rules, but he wished she’d slip with her tongue.

“Forget the water,” she said when she pulled away. “I want you. Now.”

Cade inhaled deeply. She didn’t smell or sound intoxicated, and her pupils were responding normally. She’d been steady enough not to nick him while they kissed. If now was what she wanted, now was what she’d have.

He spun her to face the kitchen counter and bent her over it with a hand between her shoulder blades.

The knife clattered to the counter.

She made a soft noise of surprise and arousal before he pulled up the hem of her dress and leaned hard against her ass, blanketing her with his body.

“Like this?” he growled.

“Yes. Goddess yes.”

The heels she still wore brought her to the perfect height.

Cade tugged her thong from her hips and skimmed his fingers between her legs to find her already plenty wet. “Condom?”

“Yes. Now.” She pushed back against him, her voice breathy and her skin hot.

“At your service.” He opened his trousers just enough to get his already throbbingly hard cock out, dug one of the condoms he’d bought earlier out of his wallet, and rolled it on. Her pants of anticipation drove him to go faster, but he forced himself to go slow as he pressed into her.

Heat enveloped him as she moaned then pushed back against him, swiveling her hips like she did on the dance floor.

Fucking her had been incredible last night. It was better now, with her scent filling his nest, the animalistic pleasure of bending her over the kitchen counter he’d never used and rocking deeply into her with every thrust.

Don’t bite her don’t bite her don’t bite her.

The thought echoed in his head, the only thing keeping him focused on her body long enough to bring her first. He kept his hand firmly between her shoulder blades, no matter how she writhed, gripping her hip with his other hand to keep her steady. He’d give her pleasure, but he’d take his at the same time, and right now, it pleased him to remind her that he would be in charge any time he wanted to be, little silver knives or not.

When she cried out his name and tightened around him, Cade buried his face in the curve of her shoulder, trying to be satisfied with taking in her smell rather than her blood as he gritted his teeth and followed her.

They stood there, panting, until he had the presence of mind to pull himself together.

After a quick kiss to the nape of her neck, he pulled away and discarded the condom before gathering her to him. “All good?”

“So good.” The way her head lolled back against his shoulder had him checking for signs of intoxication again.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Oh fuck yeah. Unless you can be drunk on sex.” She stiffened. “Oh Goddess, that was awful.”

With a relieved chuckle, Cade scooped her up and headed for the bedroom. “As long as you remember this and feel good about it whenever you decide to leave.”

“That’s almost what I’m afraid of.” Her voice had gone quiet and small.

Laying her on the bed, he crouched and caressed her cheek. “Oh? Why’s that, beautiful?”

“I can’t afford feeling good or happy.”

The way she flinched and curled up then, as though to protect herself, broke something in him unexpectedly. Lya looked to be in her thirties. What had already happened to her to make her feel that way?

“Hey.” He waited until she looked at him. “You okay? Do you want me to call you a cab?”

She studied him for so long he was afraid he’d done something wrong, that the answer might be yes. Then she extended a hand. “I want you to hold me, and then I want to fuck you until I can’t.”

A wave of emotion passed over him. Something that felt like equal parts lust and triumph. To hide it, he knelt and slipped her heels off then eased onto the bed behind her, pulling her against him. “Whatever you need, I can give you.”

Lya shivered in his arms. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I don’t.” He fully intended to give her whatever it took, if it brought her to him.

She twisted to look at him, the depths of her eyes haunted. Started to speak. Swallowed the words and kissed him instead.

“If nothing else, you make me believe it.” She pushed him onto his back and straddled him, resting her forehead against his, then planted little kisses all over his face and neck. He almost missed her whisper. “I need to believe you, Cade.”

He didn’t know what she was running from, and he didn’t care.

What had started as a hunt for powerful blood was passing through the sexual and turning into something emotional at a dizzyingly fast pace. He couldn’t even say why. Only that he felt fiercely protective—and fiercely aroused by the fact that this woman, whoever she was, seemed inclined to trust him when he could have her powerless and drained whenever he wanted.

It wasn’t the needy faith of a junkie either. It was something more courageous and vulnerable, and he wanted more of it.

No. He wanted all of it and all of her.

Cade rolled her onto her back and gripped her chin, enjoying her little gasp and the dilation of her pupils. “Believe me.”

He lowered his mouth to hers to devour her in a way she’d permit, hoping to distract her with the promise of more orgasms until he could figure out what she really needed. Until then, he’d just have to live with the idea that this was all she wanted from him, even if that idea was starting to hurt in a way he told himself it shouldn’t.