Ancient Blood: Deep Red Part 23

"I suggest you get in your car and turn back to the mansion," Trixie said in a deadly soft voice.

"Giving orders to your master?"

"Still living in the past, Rafe? You're pathetic."

"What's pathetic is the daughter of a stable boy and a house slave pa.s.sing herself off as a Baroness."

Trixie grasped Rafe so suddenly he had no time to defend himself as she flung him onto his back in the middle of the road. He recovered quickly and kicked her off him, handfuls of his hair still locked in her fists.

"b.i.t.c.h!" he snarled, leaping at her. Crossing his arms at the wrist, he blocked her kick aimed at his groin and lashed out with his own fist, catching her in the lip. Blood ran down her chin, but the injury didn't stop her from continuing the attack. Eventually Rafe's strength won out, and he pinned her to the ground.

"Remember this?" He licked her neck and Trixie felt the urge to vomit.

"I remember." She panted, no longer struggling. Her own tongue snaked out to meet his. When he loosened his grip to feel her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, she grasped a handful of sand from the side of the road and flung it in his eyes.

"G.o.dd.a.m.n! f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h!" He leapt off her, hands clutching his eyes. Trixie kicked him in the a.s.s, and he fell forward. When he rose, he'd apparently recovered his vision enough to lunge at her. She ripped open her trunk-not bothering with the key-and grasped a crowbar. He caught it before it cracked across his face, but Trixie kicked him in the knee and rammed her own knee into his stomach as he staggered. Using his moment of distraction, she tore the crowbar from his grip and smash him in the back of the head. She'd contemplated shoving the crowbar through his heart, but if any more of Sir Edward's people disappeared while she and Vincent were absent, it would confirm his suspicions about them being agents. Besides, if Rafe had access to the Flower, he probably knew even more, and the Network would want to question him. Taking him with her now would be too risky, if Sir Edward had someone else tailing her.

So she'd left Rafe in the road, but not before stripping off his clothes and leaving him exposed to the hot desert sun. She hoped he remained unconscious long enough to sustain one h.e.l.l of a burn.

Trixie shook her head as she pulled her car in front of the hotel and walked up the steps. When she'd returned to the city, she'd immediately gone to Jules who gave her the name of the hotel Vincent had checked in to, but when she got there, he'd left her a note saying he'd gone to meet with Adam. Trixie had phoned Mercedes to see how Hannah was doing, and upon hearing the mortal was about to meet with Seraphim, had volunteered to drive her. On the way, the women had again discussed Hannah becoming a vampire, and Trixie agreed to change her, if they were compatible and Seraphim wouldn't.

Shaking her head, Trixie hopped the elevator to her room. She'd been certain Seraphim would jump at the chance to make his lover immortal. The man had shocked her with his rejection of Hannah. She knew he loved her. Anyone would be a fool not to see it, let alone sense it. What was his problem? Didn't he know true love was rare? s.h.i.+t, if she and Vincent got through this case alive, she was going to see to it that they never left each other again. Already she wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his strong arms and tell him about what happened with that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Rafe. Then she would speak to Seraphim because that man needed someone to knock some good old-fas.h.i.+oned sense into him.

"Trix!" Vincent hauled her into his arms as soon as she stepped out of the elevator. "Hey." She kissed him, her arms tight around him. "Were you followed?" "Were you worried?"

He stepped away and shrugged, feigning his most disinterested look. "I know you can take care of yourself."

"That wasn't my question." She brushed by him.

"I don't get you." He fell into step beside her, pausing only to open the door to their room. "I show you a little bit of feelings and you bite my head off, so then I try to control myself and you still bite my head of."

"Look, Dilorenzo, I've had a really s.h.i.+tty day." She kicked off her shoes and sat on the edge of the bed, dropping her head into her hands.

"What happened?" He sat beside her.

"Rafe followed me."

"You're s.h.i.+tting?"

She shook her head. "Were you followed, too?"

"Yeah, but the Network's got the guy now. Can you believe he sent a hybrid after me?" Vincent looked disgusted. "But I don't care about me. If that b.a.s.t.a.r.d did anything to hurt you, I'll-"

"It's okay, Dilorenzo." She melted into his embrace. "I kicked the s.h.i.+t out of him." "You killed him?" He actually looked happy about it.

"No. We were still too close to the mansion, and besides, the Network might want to question him."

"Good thinking, Trix. I probably would have been so p.i.s.sed I'd have murdered him."

"Yeah, well, like I said, I'm a pro." She tried to sound humorous, but couldn't quite make it. Thinking about Rafe upset her. She knew he was the lowest of the low, but his words still bothered her a bit.

Vincent tilted her face so he could meet her gaze. His dark brown eyes were so beautiful she felt warm just looking in them.

"Talk to me, Trix," he whispered. "I don't want anything between us."

"Because of the case?"

He shook his head. "Because I love you."

Trixie felt stunned for a moment. She'd never expected to hear those words from Vincent Dilorenzo.

"You-"

"I said I love you." His arm tightened around her, drawing her closer. "I can't pretend anymore, Trix. I really want you to..."

"Yes?" She murmured against his lips, her heartbeat quickening. She had a feeling about what was coming and she could scarcely wait.

"I want you to marry me."

She smiled, kissing him.

"So what do you say?" he pressed. "You want to tie yourself to an old Roman guy?"

Her smile faded and she stood.

"What? Don't tell me you've got a problem with Italians?"

"This is no time for jokes, Dilorenzo."

He stepped in front of her, grasping her shoulders. "Come on, Trix, don't do this to me. Give me a yes or no."

"I have things I've got to tell you," she said. "We don't know much about each other."

"I've told you everything, all the worst stuff. I'm not hiding anything, Trixie. I swear-"

"It's not you! I mean, you don't know much about me ."

"Bulls.h.i.+t. I know all that's important." He tugged her into his arms and nipped her ear. "I know what makes you scream. I know what you like to eat. I know you like to sleep with those fuzzy little socks on-"

"I mean my past, Dilorenzo! You don't even know how old I am!"

"You were born around 1850. Georgia. Your mother was a black slave, your father was a white stable boy. Both hybrids kept under control by a man named Rafferty Cobe Garry who disappeared before the end of the Civil War."

Trixie stared at him, feeling her jaw hanging open but too frozen to close it. He smiled and used his fingertip to shut it for her before brus.h.i.+ng her lips with a kiss.

"Did I miss anything, baby?"

"When.. .How long have you known?"

"Since yesterday. Adam's wife, Mara, is here to record Seraphim's Jury meeting. She looked you up on her computer. You know she's got access to all that boring s.h.i.+t: birth and death records, marriage, children by bite..."

"I know what she does."

"I love you, Trix. Now the question is, how do you feel about me?"

"I love you, too, Dilorenzo!" She leapt into his arms, her legs locked around his waist as she kissed him.

"So is that a yes?" he grinned. "Yes! I'll marry you!"

Vincent laughed, spinning until they both collapsed on the bed. He kissed her before leaping across the room and throwing open their sixteenth floor window. "Yo!" he bellowed to the street below. "She said yes!"

"Will you get in here!" Trixie laughed, pulling him back into the bed. "s.h.i.+t, Dilorenzo, for a rich old Roman, you have no cla.s.s!"

"And that's just how we like it, baby!" He flashed his claws, but she grasped his wrists.

"Don't rip the suit! I like this one!"

"Then get out of it fast." He unzipped his jeans and grasped his thick erection. "Vinnie Junior can't wait much longer."

Trixie tugged off her clothes and tossed them aside while Vincent did the same with his own. She pressed him back onto the bed and pushed his legs apart, kneeling between them and clasping his b.a.l.l.s in one hand and his c.o.c.k in the other. Taking the ruddy head in her mouth, she licked, nipped, and sucked him so deeply his c.o.c.k brushed the back of her throat.

"Trix!" he gasped, burying his face in her hair. "Yeah, baby, oh yeah!"

As Trixie worked on him, she felt her belly tightened and her c.u.n.t grow so hot and wet that she couldn't stand another moment without him deep inside her.

Vincent must have sensed her need, because he gently pushed her away and rolled her onto her stomach. Kneeling behind her, he guided his c.o.c.k into her p.u.s.s.y. One of his thickly muscled arms snaked around her waist, pressing her close as he thrust from behind. His breath was a warm caress on her neck as he murmured endearments before biting her.

Trixie clutched the sheets, her claws, tearing into the mattress. "Oh, Vincent! That feels so good, baby! Oh!!"

He growled, gulping her blood while his free hand grasped one of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Though reluctant to end the delicious caressing of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, she needed his blood and guided his hand from her nipple so her teeth could pierce his wrist.

Vincent groaned. He lunged into her so hard they both collapsed on the bed, bodies throbbing in o.r.g.a.s.m.

"Trix," he kissed her shoulder and neck, "I love you so much."

"You, too, Vincent." She turned so they faced each other. Licking his lips, she squeezed him tightly. "I think I loved you from the first."

"Yeah?" he grinned. She nodded.

"I know I loved you since the minute I caught your sweet scent." He nuzzled her neck. "I've waited two thousand years for this, baby."

Trixie snuggled closer, warmed in body and soul.

"So when do you want to get married?" he asked.

"Soon."

"If we leave tonight we can get to Vegas and back long before Friday."

"Vegas?"

"I know it's not the epicenter of romance, but it's fast and I got a hybrid friend there who runs a gothic theme chapel."

"Great."

"If you want, when the case is over, we can have a party to celebrate."

"Cool." She traced her fingertip over his hard pecs. "Before we leave, I have to talk to Seraphim."

"Seraphim? What the h.e.l.l for?"

"Don't be jealous." She kissed him. "It's not what you think. He's making a big mistake with Hannah."

"What do you mean?"

"Long story."

"Tell me while we get ready for Vegas. Should I wear a suit or leather?"

"Leather."

"d.a.m.n. I know I'm marrying the right woman."

Trixie tapped on the door of Seraphim's hotel room. Moments later, she found herself staring into his oddly hypnotic eyes. To think Vincent worried about her sleeping with Seraphim. Not that the man wasn't attractive, but he had a weird-a.s.s look in those eyes, as if he'd seen everything. Absolutely everything. Hannah was a gutsy little mortal to want to spend eternity with a man like that.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I want to talk to you about Hannah."

"Is she all right?"

Trixie smiled. "See. I knew you cared. Can I come in?"

He stepped aside-not that his expression was particularly inviting, but Trixie didn't plan on staying long.

"I'll get right to the point." She folded her arms across her chest and held his eyes, refusing to be intimidated by his strangeness. She knew how Hannah felt about him, and she didn't doubt his affection for her. Their connection was almost mystical in its intensity. Anyone could sense it. "Are you a dope?"

"Excuse me?"

"A dope? Moron. Idiot. Jacka.s.s."

"Get out. I don't have the time or the inclination to listen to insults." He grasped her upper arm and tugged her toward the door.

She jerked away. "You love that woman." "I don't see how this is your business -" "I consider Hannah a friend. You hurt her." "That was the last thing I wanted to do." "Then why did you?" "It's none of your concern."