Damek's Redemption

Chapter Eight

Damek could feel the tension in Sonia’s shoulders and wanted to reassure her that everything would be fine. At the same time, he was filled with a consuming need to understand exactly how she’d discovered his identity and why. Betrayal still ate at his gut even though he knew the emotion had no bearing on the situation. They weren’t lovers, not really, as an erotic dream didn’t count. They were barely acquaintances, yet the need to keep Sonia with him was overwhelming.

But that couldn’t happen until he found out if she was really a friend or a foe and fixed whatever problems she might have brought with her. No matter, he would protect her from Isaiah’s wrath. She was his problem to deal with.

Craig’s casual assurance that he’d heard of The Keepers startled Damek. “Tell me about them,” he demanded.

“Ah, sure.” Craig sat on the edge of the desk and swung one leg back and forth. “The Keepers have been around for several hundred years. They’re friends to paranormal creatures of all kinds, helping them survive unseen in the modern world.”

Damek frowned. “What exactly do you mean by that and how did you find out about them? And why do you, a human, know about this group when I don’t?” The last annoyed him greatly. He glanced at Isaiah and knew the wolf felt the same way. Information was power and, wherever he lived, Damek had always gathered as much of it as he could.

Craig grinned and shook his head. “I’ve done a lot of research on werewolves in the past year and a half, and the name kept popping up occasionally on the chat sites of the bounty hunters.”

Damek felt Sonia stiffen beneath his hands and gave her a squeeze of reassurance. Tension hummed through her and he wondered what she was thinking. It would be so easy for him to find out. As tempting as it was to burrow into her mind and read it, he resisted. She would fight him and he might accidentally hurt her. He was reluctant to do anything that might harm her unless it was a matter of safety for him and his friends.

“Continue,” he prompted.

“Well,” Craig continued, “you know me, so you know I had to check this group out. They’ve got quite the worldwide setup.”

“How do you know?” Sonia asked, her voice getting sharper with each word. Her skin was pale and cool beneath his touch.

Craig shrugged. “I hacked The Keepers’ various sites.”

“But they’re encoded and password protected,” Sonia insisted.

“Very well too,” Craig continued.

“Obviously not well enough,” she muttered. Damek noted that her growing anger pushed some of her pallor aside.

Isaiah ignored her and turned to Craig. “What do you mean they help paranormal creatures survive?”

Craig removed his glasses and polished a lens before popping them back on. “It’s harder to hide yourself in the modern world. There are taxes and databases, especially when dealing with large sums of money and property.”

Damek knew all about that. “That’s why I have several holding companies and a fleet of lawyers on the payroll. It’s easy enough to circumvent the system once you study it.”

“For you, maybe,” Craig pointed out. “But not everyone adapts as easily or has the money for such things.” He jumped off the desk and walked around to the computer. Isaiah got up so Craig could sit. His fingers flew over the keyboard and within seconds he had a website open on the screen.

Sonia gasped. “This can’t be happening.” Damek noted her face was white and she was chewing on her bottom lip, a sure sign of agitation.

“See.” Craig pointed at the screen. “They offer financial management, lawyers, and even have gardeners, housekeepers and people who will run errands.”

“For a price,” Damek added cynically.

Sonia shot out of her chair, hands on her hips, her entire body quivering with rage. “How dare you judge us, or me? We’ve put ourselves in danger time and again with the vampire, werewolf and witch hunters. What we do isn’t always easy and it costs money. We can’t exactly go public and raise money like a charity. We don’t turn anyone away because they don’t have money.”

“Sit down, Ms. Agostino.” Isaiah stood, arms crossed over his chest, glaring at her, and Sonia took a step back before holding her ground. Pride filled Damek at her show of courage, no matter how misplaced it was.

“I’d rather stand.”

“Agostino?” Craig asked, excitement in his voice. “You’re one of the Agostinos?”

Sonia nodded, lips drawn tight together.

“What’s so important about that?” Damek resented the fact that Craig knew about a part of her life that he didn’t.

Craig pushed back the chair and motioned to Sonia. “Her family founded The Keepers back in the seventeen hundreds and has been helping paranormals of all sorts ever since.”

“Why?” That was the question Damek really needed answered.

She shook her head. “It’s not just my secret to tell.”

“Right now, you don’t have any choice in the matter.” The threat was evident in Isaiah’s voice as he prowled closer. Damek slid in front of Sonia.

“Out of my way, vampire,” Isaiah snapped.

“No. It is enough for us to know she is not working with the hunters.”

“I need answers.” Isaiah’s voice was low and steady, but Damek could easily sense the wolf’s underlying anger and tension.

Sonia stepped up beside Damek and met Isaiah face-on, even though he rose to well above her in height. “I need time. Time to talk to some others before I tell you. We don’t disclose ourselves any easier than you do. It’s only to people we know we can trust. Most of the hunters will kill anyone associated with any paranormal creature.”

Damek could tell that didn’t sit well with Isaiah. It didn’t sit well with him either, but for different reasons. He’d never thought much about the humans who’d worked with him over the centuries, at least not where the hunters were concerned. He could sense her sincerity and knew she was telling the truth. There was more to Sonia than met the eye, and he was determined to discover all her secrets.

“We will leave now.” Damek held out his hand to Sonia and deep satisfaction filled him when she took it.

“Not until I get some answers,” Isaiah insisted.

Damek shook his head. “I helped you when you needed it. Now I’m asking you to let me handle this situation as I see fit.”

Isaiah dragged his hand over the back of his neck. Meredith moved in beside her agitated mate and ran her fingers over his arm to help calm him. Damek hoped she succeeded. He’d hate to start a war with the werewolves if it could be avoided. He’d actually come to like them quite a bit over the past few years, although he would never openly admit it to them.

“Okay,” Isaiah grudgingly agreed. “But I’m holding you personally responsible.” He pointed a long finger at Damek. “Anything happens to my pack because of her and I’ll come looking for you.”

Damek stiffened at the threat. “Fair enough.” But it wasn’t fair, not after everything he’d done for this pack. He inclined his head toward Meredith. “Thank you for your hospitality. If you ever need anything you have only to call.”

“Damek.” Meredith reached out to him as she shot her mate a glare. “You’re always welcome here.”

Damek said nothing, as there was nothing left to say. The wolf had made his position very clear. He inclined his head in thanks toward Craig while Sonia grabbed her purse and then they left the room and went back into the club. The number of patrons had drastically declined and there was only a handful left. Damek gave a regretful sigh. He’d had such good intentions when he’d brought Sonia here. When would he ever learn that he was truly alone in this world?

“Hey, wait.”

Damek stopped as they reached the front door and turned to face Craig. He had a soft spot for the human male and the entire Lawton family.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but if you need anything, anything at all, you call me or Quinn. We owe you more than we can ever repay.”

“You owe me nothing.” Damek didn’t want anyone’s pity or handout.

“It’s what friends do.” Craig held out his hand and waited.

Damek stared at it and took a deep breath. He could sense Sonia’s curiosity, but she stayed quiet, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze of encouragement. He took Craig’s offered hand of friendship, easily reading the younger man’s sincerity. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Come.” He turned to Sonia. “We must go.”

Hank was still on the door, but he opened it and let them leave without a word. The limo was waiting out front and Damek opened the door and let Sonia slide in ahead of him. The door closed with a thunk, once again shutting them alone inside the luxury vehicle but for the driver up front. And with the privacy screen still in place, it was as if they were truly alone.

Sonia wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, she really did, but she wasn’t out of this mess yet. For a while there, it had been up in the air whether she was going to walk out of the club alive. Paranormal creatures were very protective, driven by instinct more than intellect in some cases, which was why The Keepers approached them very carefully. The last thing they wanted was to be seen as a threat, but that’s exactly what she’d done with her bumbling of the situation.

She could spend what was left of her life running and looking over her shoulder. The wolves saw her as a potential enemy and they would be relentless in their pursuit if they deemed her death necessary. That is, of course, if Damek didn’t take care of her for them.

She eyed the door handle and thought about trying to make a run for it. But that was cowardly. It was also a waste of energy. Not only was the door probably locked, but Damek was a vampire and could easily catch her with his preternatural speed. She caught their reflection in the glass and closed her eyes, trying to calm her racing pulse.

Holy crap. Damek really was a vampire. Now that the shock of the entire situation was wearing off, the truth was beginning to sink in. He’d showed her his fangs. He’d told Isaiah that she knew he was a vampire.

Her instincts had been right.

And they could write that on her headstone. Damek hadn’t survived by being lenient with those who threatened his existence. She wasn’t naïve about what he’d do, what the werewolves would do, if they felt she jeopardized their safety.

Sonia fluctuated between being excited she was right and wanting to throw up. God, she was sitting next to a real live vampire. She smothered a slightly hysterical laugh. Poor choice of words. Vampires were the living dead, not the living.

Her poor brain was awash with questions and thoughts. But she’d never get answers. She’d be lucky if she made it out of Chicago alive. She’d made a mess of everything. None of them trusted her, least of all Damek.

Her eyes flew open when something lightly brushed her face. Damek was seated beside her, his fingers touching her cheek. She swallowed hard as his fingers drifted over her jawline and down her neck, dipping beneath the high collar of her turtleneck sweater. She shifted away but he followed her. The leather seats creaked beneath them.

“Your pulse is racing.” He placed one finger over her pulse and she knew he could feel the heavy thud as blood rushed through her body. “So alive. So beautiful.”

She blinked, not quite able to process his words. He was angry with her, wasn’t he? He’d accused her of terrible things. Not that she could blame him. After all, she hadn’t given him all the facts, had barged into his world and potentially put him and his friends at risk.

“Damek,” she began.

“Shh, little one.” He rubbed his thumb over her jaw, back and forth, back and forth. His eyes were tinged red around the edges but the centers appeared even blacker than usual. He looked like sin on a stick and she was ripe for temptation.

Fear and arousal warred within her and she was very afraid that arousal would win and she would cast all common sense aside. Just being in his presence was enough to raise her blood pressure and make her skin tingle in the most exciting way.

The raucous sounds of the city traffic outside the limo faded until all she heard was her heavy breathing and the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears.

She licked her lips and his gaze followed her tongue. Her body grew heavier with each passing second and her clothing felt rough and confining against her skin.

This was crazy. She should be discussing the situation with him, doing everything in her power to talk him out of killing her. Although if the sensual heat simmering in his gaze was any indication, killing her was the last thing on his mind.

“Your eyes are lovely and soft, like the fog on the Scottish Highlands in autumn. Did you know that?” Before she could answer him, he leaned closer and touched his mouth to hers. His lips were cool as they skimmed her bottom one. He nibbled on the corners of her mouth, making her yearn for more, for a deeper touch.

His fingers caught in her hair and he tugged her head to one side, holding her steady as he covered her mouth with his and dipped his tongue inside. She made a low sound of passion as his tongue slid over hers, teasing and tempting her to play.

There were probably a hundred reasons why she shouldn’t do this, why it was wrong for both of them. Her very life and future well-being hung in the balance with Damek as judge, jury and potentially executioner. There was only one reason why she should—she wanted him. Sonia admitted she’d been obsessed with Damek since the first moment she’d seen the very grainy picture of him in the Chicago newspaper. He was her mystery man, her seductive lover. Vampire.

She shivered, but not with fear. Heat and passion flooded her body, dampening her sex with growing need. Sonia grabbed his shoulders, needing something solid to anchor her. The thickly carpeted floors beneath her feet and buttery leather seats on which she sat seemed insubstantial in the face of the sexual storm beginning to swirl around them. Only Damek was strong enough to keep her from flying into a million pieces.

“Yes,” he hissed. “Touch me.”

Her hands seemed to move of their own volition, sliding up the thick column of his neck to cup his face. The planes and angles were sharp, giving him a slightly cruel, yet aristocratic look. His hair was like silk as she let it slip through her fingers. This was better than a dream.

She frowned, knowing there was something about that thought that should bother her, something she needed to question, but it was lost beneath the onslaught of his kiss. He took her mouth, claimed it and demanded more.

Sonia lost all track of time as he kissed her as though they had all the time they needed. The world outside didn’t matter, not now, not with passion clenching both of them in its grasp. Every stroke of his hand was magnified a thousandfold. His masculine scent filled her nostrils, making her want to get closer to him. Every nerve ending in her skin was alive and electric, anticipating his next touch.

He slipped a hand inside her blazer and cupped her breast. The sweater and her bra might be between them, but that didn’t matter. He might as well have been touching bare flesh for the effect it had on her. Pleasure jolted from her breasts to her core and back again in an endless loop. Oh, this was wonderful, better than wonderful. It was perfect.

Damek broke the kiss and let his lips glide over her face toward her ear. “Tell me, Sonia. Who are you really? Why are you here?” He nibbled on her lobe, dragging one of his fangs over the sensitive skin.

It took a moment for his question to process, and when it did it was like getting a bucket of cold water dumped on her. The moment shattered and the warm, sensual haze that had enveloped her disintegrated in a heartbeat. She shoved him away with all her strength, which wasn’t much considering her entire body was trembling with unrequited lust. “You bastard.”

He blinked at her, his breathing steady while hers was anything but. She was totally aroused and he looked as though he were at a board meeting. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” she repeated. She swiped her hand over the back of her mouth and his gaze narrowed and lips tightened. “This seduction was just so you could get answers out of me.”

“It was for mutual pleasure. The questions I would ask no matter what.”

“I’ll bet.” She crossed her arms over her chest, doing her best to ignore the throbbing in her core and the painful way her nipples were pressing against her bra. “I’m not trading answers for sex, so you’re wasting your time.” Where moments before what was between them had felt right and perfect, now it felt tainted and tawdry.

He caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I don’t need to seduce you to get answers. I can take whatever I want to know from your mind, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

She swallowed past the lump in her throat, barely able to breathe as power swelled and pulsed around them. She was in big trouble. There really was no way for her to know the extent of his powers, but she knew in her heart Damek wasn’t lying. He could enter her mind and take her thoughts from her.

And if he did, something inside her would shrivel up and die.

“Please.” A tear trailed down her cheek and she dashed it away. This wasn’t the time for tears, but she couldn’t seem to stop. Her emotions were all over the place, racing from sexual arousal to fear to anger to disappointment.

Damek caught a fresh tear on his thumb and brought the salty drop to his lips. Sonia shuddered as he sucked it into his mouth. “It seems I was wrong.” He sat back, pressed a button and said something to the driver over the intercom. Not that Sonia could hear what it was over the pounding of her heart.

She sucked in a breath and got control of her wayward emotions. The adrenaline flooding her veins was making them bounce all over the place. All she wanted right now was to be alone and sort out everything that had happened. She needed to contact her family and talk to them. Damek and the werewolf pack at Haven deserved to have answers, but she couldn’t tell them anything unless she got the okay from her family. If the secret were hers alone, she’d tell Damek everything.

That thought frightened her as much as the passion he tapped into so easily did. He had an advantage over her. While she was lost in the sensuality of his kiss, his touch, he’d still been thinking and plotting. It hurt her to realize she was alone in this attraction between them.

The car came to a stop and she glanced out the window. He hadn’t brought her back to his club but to her hotel. It was probably better this way. She’d gather her things, check out and go to another hotel and contact her family. She needed to talk to her mother about Damek and everything he made her feel. Her mother would understand and know exactly what to say to her.

She could depend on her family.

She reached for the door handle, but Damek put his hand on her arm, stopping her. “Will you not tell me what I need to know?”

As much as it pained her to do so, she shook her head. “If it were only me…” She let her words trail off.

Damek released her. “Then go. Go back to your world and leave me be.”

The finality of his words almost had her blurting out all her secrets. She bit her bottom lip so hard she drew a tiny bead of blood. His gaze landed on the drop that welled up.

“You tempt me at your peril,” he growled. Before she could escape, he grabbed her, yanked her to him and slammed his mouth down on hers. His tongue stroked over her lips, drawing the bead of blood into his mouth.

Heat. Pleasure. Erotic promise. It all swarmed through her, engulfing her, eating her whole.

Then she was alone and cold as he thrust her away from him. “Go, now, while I can still let you.”

Sonia grabbed her purse and jumped out of the car. Just before the door slammed shut, she caught sight of Damek sitting on the plush leather seat. His eyes were tinged with red but they were also filled with loneliness.

The car sped away, leaving her standing alone on the sidewalk with nothing but regret and a heavy heart. She stood there until the vehicle was out of sight, half hoping he would stop and come back. When it was apparent he was truly gone, she dragged herself through the main door of the hotel. All she wanted to do was run after Damek and spill all her secrets to him.

She stiffened her spine and marched across the lobby, keeping her eyes straight ahead. She needed to focus on what she needed to do and forget about Damek for now. It wouldn’t take her long to pack and get out of here. Once she was settled in a new hotel she would call her family. Damek still had what was left of her cell phone, but she could use the hotel phone to contact them.

The elevator seemed to take forever to arrive and then carry her up to her floor. Her feet felt like lead as she made her way to her door and swiped her keycard in the lock. The room was dark, and when she flipped the switch on the overhead light nearest the door nothing happened.

“Great. The bulb is burned out.” There was enough light from the window for her to see the light on the desk. She headed straight toward it, letting the door close behind her with a thunk. She was halfway there when she sensed a disturbance in the air.

She whirled around, but it was too late. A heavy male arm came around her neck and a knife flashed in front of her eyes. “You’re a hard woman to follow, Dr. Agostino. It’s time for me and you to have a little talk.”