Love and Brimstone

Chapter Seventeen

Matthias held the Land Rover’s passenger door for Taz then climbed behind the wheel. Albert and Robertson followed close behind in a second Rover, with three heavily armed guards.

Taz didn’t speak, choosing to watch the passing scenery. Driving into the park, the harsh, arid mountains gave way to timberland, and then they were in Mammoth Hot Springs.

“Do you want to stop?” he asked.

“Why?”

“I thought you might want to use the bathroom because we’re driving straight through to Old Faithful. I want to get there before dark.”

She snorted. “Isn’t that kind of ironic? A vampire who wants to be inside before the sun goes down?”

“A vampire with some insane creatures coming after him and someone he cares deeply about, yes.” He pulled into a parking space in front of a store. “I’m going in for some drinks. Want anything?”

Someone he cares deeply about. The words echoed through her soul. She shook her head, and he left her standing on the sidewalk next to the SUV.

Albert and two of the guards followed Matthias into the store. Robertson and one of the guards stayed with her. Robertson handed her a digital camera. “What did you say to piss him off?”

“Piss him off? He—you should have seen—” She stopped, not knowing how to continue. “Oh, forget it.”

She walked around the Land Rover and looked at the small town. Under different circumstances, she’d enjoy walking around—

hand in hand

—with Matthias.

Oh hell with it, he was far enough away he couldn’t hear her thoughts. Right?

When Matthias returned, Taz walked into the store, used the restroom, and bought herself a bottled water. She didn’t know what made her more upset, that Matthias was so right all the time, or that he could read her thoughts.

Could he tell the sick feeling twisting her gut at the restaurant was jealousy? Insecurity?

How many women had he been with? Fifty? One hundred? The probability of a higher number made her ill. What straight, single woman wouldn’t jump at the chance to hop into bed with Matthias Hawthorne, even without his freaky vampire charm?

She’d slept with four men in her life. Now what made her sicker than her jealousy was the thought that maybe her lovers hadn’t been with her because they wanted to, but because they fell under her weird vampire aura.

Oh, yuck.

She practiced keeping a bubble around her thoughts the rest of the trip south. Matthias didn’t speak, and she worked at ignoring him. He gave her a park guidebook he bought at Mammoth, and she buried her nose in it, reading facts about Yellowstone.

The land was beautiful. There were still plenty of reminders from the 1988 fires, even over twenty years later, but new-growth trees were everywhere. They spotted bison just south of Madison. She didn’t resent it when Matthias wordlessly pulled over at her thought about stopping to take pictures.

The sun dipped behind the trees before they reached the Old Faithful Lodge. Matthias disappeared inside with Albert and returned a few minutes later with keys and paperwork.

They drove around to the old cabins, and she realized each building contained three or four rooms. They had two cabins, and no one consulted her when they pulled up to two adjoining cabins and the men unloaded luggage.

She got out and reached for her bags, but Robertson beat her to them.

“I’ll get them.” He picked them up, and she realized he was heading for the same room as Matthias.

Taz balked. “Oh, no. I’m not sharing a room with him.”

Matthias turned from the stoop, where he was unlocking the door. “Why not?”

Speech briefly escaped her. “Why not? You have the nerve to ask that?” He did, it seemed.

“You need to be protected.”

“I’m not sleeping with you!” She realized she’d nearly screamed that, and a couple of kids playing outside a few cabins over looked up. She took a deep breath, stepped closer to him, and hissed through clenched teeth. “I’m not sleeping with you!”

“I’m not asking you to. There are two beds.” Matthias took his bags inside the cabin. Taz fought the urge to scream in frustration.

She tried to grab her bags from Robertson. “Taz,” he said quietly, “please. Don’t do this. He wants to protect you.”

“I can protect myself.” He gave her the knowing-father look and she deflated. “He can hear my thoughts,” she whispered. “Why can’t I share a room with you?”

God, I sound like a whiny teenager.

“Because, I’m not as fast as he is with a sword.”

“We’ve got half a SEAL team with us. Why can’t I share a room with one of them?”

He looked down his nose at her. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

“What?”

He glanced around before stepping closer. “Haven’t you noticed none of them will look at you or meet your gaze? They’re under strict orders not to. He’ll fire them on the spot. He needs them clear-headed. If one of them shares a room with you, Matthias will have to peel him off you. Think about the guard at the house. Your powers are awakening, and it’s like dogs after a bitch in heat until you learn how to control them.”

“Oh nice, great. Thank you. Now I’m a bitch—hey, wait!” He was already mounting the concrete steps with her bags.

The room was small. Not small as in small, but small as in the master bathroom at her LA condo was larger than the entire room. The bathroom sink was affixed to the wall outside the bathroom. The bathroom was smaller than most closets, with barely room to turn around between the toilet and shower.

There were two beds, one double, one single. Matthias placed his bag on the single bed. He opened his bag and rooted through it, looking for something.

Robertson put her bags on the double bed and looked at her.

Behave, he mouthed, chucking her on the chin like he did when she was a kid.

Terrific.

Taz refused to speak to Matthias and positioned herself between Robertson and Albert when they walked as a group down the boardwalk, past the geysers, toward the Old Faithful Inn for dinner. At the table, she sat at the far end on the other side of the guards, hoping it was far enough away to protect her thoughts. She refused to look at Matthias throughout dinner. She sensed Matthias stole glances at her.

Tough. Let him look.

She still didn’t know what they were doing there. He needed to meet with scientists at the USGS, something about a computer system. Fine, great. Why bring her? Why not leave her at the house with an army of guards?

She tried to ignore his smirk. Oh hell, he can still hear my thoughts.

Taz was betrayed on the walk back to the cabins. Matthias came up from behind, and Robertson deftly stepped out of his way. Matthias cupped her elbow in his hand and gently propelled her a few steps ahead of the others.

“Hey, let go of me.”

“Not until you promise to quit acting like a brat.”

She mentally shot him a few choice curse words. “Did you get that?”

“Yes, I did.” He kept his voice low. The hired guns hovered a discreet distance behind the group. “I’m sorry, Taz. Really, truly sorry for all this. Would you please stop being mad at me long enough to talk?”

“No.” She shook his grip and tried to walk faster. He matched her stride, catching her elbow again.

“Taz, please.”

“Is this some sort of game to you? Do you really think you’re going to woo me into bed, and everything’s going to be hunky-dory between us?”

“No. Frankly, I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted anything to do with me again.”

She stopped in her tracks, and Robertson nearly ran into her. “What?”

“I said—”

“I heard you.”

Everyone stepped back, and Matthias guided her to the edge of the boardwalk, out of the main line of traffic. He kept his voice low. “Taz, I’m sorry. Truly, deeply sorry. Contrary to what you might think I don’t have a lot of experience with this. I’ve never done this before.”

“You’ve had a lot of women,” she shot back. “You said so yourself.”

His eyes narrowed, and his face hardened. “That’s not what I meant. There is a vast gulf between having and loving. And, if you remember, I’m a lot older than you. For your information I haven’t ‘had’ a woman in over ten years.”

Matthias walked away before she could conjure a response. Something in the set of his shoulders told her she’d crossed a line, maybe hurt his feelings. She knew she was being a bitch, and she couldn’t help herself. This wasn’t like her at all.

Albert walked up behind her. “He’s only loved one other, dear. He is as lost as you are.” He followed Matthias.

“Give him a chance, Taz,” Robertson said. “He’s trying.”

She walked back to the cabin, trailed by the three guards and feeling guilty.