Chapter 19
Kane’s story rendered Cara speechless. She had no idea what to even say to someone who had lost a child. Surely, he didn’t want her sympathy. That wasn’t what his confession was about. But her heart went out to him anyway. Parents weren’t supposed to outlive their children. Cara couldn’t begin to imagine the pain and loss he had endured.
Tears slipped down her cheeks as Kane watched her. Cara took a deep breath, feeling the biggest kind of sappy fool as she tried to get her emotions under control. His glassy eyes were the only sign at all that the remembrance affected him. No wonder he hated Rosalee. She might have meant well, wanting what was best for the club, but her arrogance had cost them their son’s life.
Kaleb drummed a nervous tempo with his fingers against the bar top, watching them both, the only sound in the clubhouse as silence continued and tension mounted. If Kaleb hadn’t been there, she might have gone to Kane and attempted to comfort him in some small way. But Kaleb’s dislike of her kept her from doing as she desired.
Finally, for lack of anything better to say, she commented on his relationship with Rosalee instead. “So you were married?”
Kane grimaced as he rubbed his temple. Obviously, his relationship with Rosalee was something he’d rather not talk about. “As far as I’m concerned, she’s free to mate with whom she pleases.”
“But you were together?”
“We were mated. Yes.”
“Is that the vampire form of married?”
Kane winced. It seemed Cara put more weight on the fact he had been mated than he did. Rosalee was obviously no longer a part of his life. Fifty percent of marriages ended in divorce, so it really wasn’t something that should bother Cara.
“There’s no need for a union to be docketed on paper. No vampire would touch another’s mate. It’s a sacred bond.”
“So what happens then? I assume there is no such thing as a divorce since there is no marriage. You just, what? Go your separate ways?”
“No, Cara.” Kane scratched his nape. The sorrow in his gaze vanished as he suddenly looked as if he rather be anywhere but standing here having this conversation.
Kaleb smiled. “This should be good.”
Kane glared his twin into silence before answering her. “When vampires mate, Mia Bella, it’s for life.”
“Oh, well … what about the other night? Is that considered an affair? Am I now a mistress?” Her voice cracked in her distress. She couldn’t help it. Cara would never consider an affair. And the thought of being a mistress to a vampire was unthinkable.
“Rich,” Kaleb said with a chuckle. “Yes, dear brother. Care to respond?”
“Butt out, Kaleb. Don’t you have something better to do?”
“Nope. Don’t believe I do.”
Kane shook his head, tilting his gaze to the floor. Cara’s heart lodged in her throat, making her want to gather her things and leave. Suddenly, she felt like a complete outsider, one who had no business at all standing here having this conversation. When she screwed up, she did so royally. What the hell had she been thinking when she opened herself to Kane and let him in? Jesus, she had had the best orgasm of her life with another vampire’s mate. The last thing she needed or wanted was a psycho vampire after her because she had the audacity to sleep with another vampire’s mate. Her gaze snapped up.
“You think Rosalee is the one after me? Of course,”—she snapped her fingers—“it all makes sense.”
“Cara, you slept with me after that message appeared on your mirror.”
“True, but maybe she didn’t know that. She could be killing off your lovers one by one.”
“You forget I didn’t know the first two victims.”
“At least you don’t think so, dear brother,” Kaleb added, earning him another warning glare from Kane.
“Something you need to tell me, Kane? If you knew these women—”
“I didn’t. At least I don’t think I did. I can’t be expected to remember every woman I have slept with.”
“How many?”
“You really don’t want that answer.”
“No, I don’t suppose I do.”
“This isn’t about my sex life.”
Cara rolled her eyes. “Of course not, Kane. Are you serious? It looks as if it has everything to do with your love life.”
“Sex life,” he corrected.
“Whatever.”
“If she’s here, trust me, she already knows everything about me … us.”
“Great. And if she’s not the one who wrote on my mirror, then I’ll have two psychotic vampires wanting to drain me. Just shoot me now!”
Kane gripped her shoulders and looked down upon her, his dark gazing blackening in his intensity. “Cara, no one is going to hurt you. I won’t allow it.”
“You might want to talk to your wife about that.”
Kaleb started laughing again. At least someone was having a good chuckle at her expense. Cara wanted to knock his sarcastic ass from the stool. Instead, she ignored him and turned to Kane.
“Get this straight, Cara. Rosalee is not my wife or my mate.”
“Well then, color me confused. You just said you mate for life.”
“Normally, yes. But there is nothing normal about this. I would never take Rosalee back into my life. My life is my own and I will see whom I choose. Rosalee no longer has any say in how I live my life. When she went against my wishes and cost me the life of my son, she broke that bond.”
“What do you think Rosalee would say about that?”
Kane jammed his hand through his hair and blew out a stream of air. “I don’t care what she’d say. It doesn’t matter. And trust me, she knows that. Rosalee is anything but stupid.”
“So you’re free to mate with another?”
There was no mistaking the truth in his eyes. Kane had no desire to travel down that path again.
“As I said, my life is my own. I see whom I choose. Rosalee proved to me that finding a mate is not something I ever desire again. Not in my lifetime.”
His confession shouldn’t have hurt. But damned if it didn’t. It cut her straight to the heart. Not that she wanted to be strapped to a blood sucking vampire for life, even if he had been the best sex she’d ever had.
Cara needed to distance herself the only way she knew how. “I need to get to work.”
“So that’s it? We’re finished with this conversation?”
“What more is there to say? I have a job I need to do, and that’s to find this person who’s taking innocent lives. Even if this person is a blood sucker.”
Kaleb laughed again, clearly amused at their expense. She might have shared the humor at the ridiculous situation, had she not been so damned miserable because of it.
“Look, I’m going to go get dressed and head for the office.” The look on Kane’s face had her quickly adding, “I promise I’ll be back by dark.”
“You’re leaving me here alone with them?” Suzi asked as she made an appearance, her eyes wide and weary.
Kaleb’s gaze snapped to the petite brunette before glaring at Kane. “This is the other woman you brought here? Un-fucking-believable!” He stormed from the room.
Cara gaped at Kane then Suzi, who didn’t seemed surprised by Kaleb’s outburst.
“Well, that was certainly rude,” Suzi said as she flopped down on one of the sofas and propped up her feet. “What’s for breakfast?”
* * *
Kaleb sucked in a deep breath, the icy-cool morning air feeling good to his lungs. His heart drummed against his sternum and his pulse beat a tempo in his ears. He hadn’t been this angry since Rosalee had caused his nephew’s death. Out of all the women Kane could have brought to his home, why this one?
His thoughts returned to some ten years back when he had first laid eyes on her: petite, brunette and a svelte body that made his mouth water and his dick hard. He had always preferred his women diminutive, loved wrapping himself around them. But he also preferred them spunky, and Suzi fit both bills to a tee.
She had walked into the Blood ‘n’ Rave, wearing a very short black leather skirt barely covering her small but muscular backside. He remembered his first thought was to mold his palms perfectly to those taut gluts, to pull her flush against the massive erection she had caused. He never could resist a great ass, and damn if hers wasn’t first rate. Upon meeting her, he did exactly that and filled both hands, resulting in a dressing down like none he’d ever received. Suzi had promptly told him that her ass was off limits, and she would damn good and well tell him when or if he could ever touch it. Just the thought of this tiny five-foot-two stitch of a woman scolding a man who easily stood a foot taller, brought a smile to his face.
She had spunk all right.
Probably the reason she was the one woman who had grabbed him by the dick and never let go. And damned if he hadn’t tried to forget their one orgasmic night. Kaleb had fucked immense amount of women since, but none had managed to scrub her from his thoughts. Reason enough to run like hell. Which he had and never looked back.
Kaleb liked variety, a different woman every week if he could help it. The idea of one woman having so much control over him pushed every one of his panic buttons. Mating wasn’t something he could ever commit to. Better to take what he desired and send them on their way.
Mutual gratification. No questions asked.
Suzi Stevens had been the first and only woman to jeopardize that way of thinking. One taste of her and he had turned tail and run like hell as far and fast as he could. For weeks following their one sexual encounter, he had managed to avoid her, find other donors to meet his needs. That was, until Suzi had become Ion Tepes’ main focus. Not that Kaleb could blame him. Suzi was a vampire’s wet dream. Ion had not been one to confide in his father, and certainly not his mother, leaving his Uncle Kaleb his main confidant. He had made it known that he planned to win Suzi over, take her as his mate. And though Kaleb had no idea what her true feelings were where his nephew was concerned, she seemed pretty interested in Ion whenever Kaleb was within the vicinity, causing the green-eyed monster to simmer deep within his gut.
The night Ion had been burned at the stake, Kaleb had gone to the Rave to tell Suzi the news. The cold-hearted bitch hadn’t even shed a tear. She had squared her shoulders and looked him straight in the eye, thanked him for the news, and walked out of the club. Kaleb had only seen her in passing since … until now. And he had his brother to thank for that.
Kaleb wanted to crawl on the back of his Ironhead chopper and head for the hills. If Kane hadn’t needed his help catching this son of a bitch trying to frame him and destroy the Sons, he might just do exactly that. Instead, his duty to his brother kept his feet deeply rooted. That didn’t mean he needed to share a roof with the one woman who made his gut burn with twin fires of hatred and desire.
One look at her moments ago made him want to throw her over his shoulder, take her back to his bed that she had just crawled out of and fuck her from his thoughts.
Damn her for showing back up in his life.
Damn her for making him desire her like no other.
Damn himself for allowing her to be his weakness.
And damn Ion for loving her.
Placing fists on his hips, he tilted his face skyward and roared loud enough to wake the dead. The door to the clubhouse opened and shut as footfalls sounded across the gravel. At first he thought maybe Kane had followed him into the parking lot to see just what the hell Kaleb’s problem was. But the sound of the crunching gravel was far too light for someone of Kane’s size.
Suzi’s appealing scent wafted to his nostrils, just before she stopped short of touching him. He could have easily picked her pheromones from a crowd of donors. No one made him lose control the way she did, one minute wanting to strangle her, the next wanting to bury himself to the balls. Kaleb wasn’t sure which side would win out.
“What the hell do you want, Suzi?”
“I thought I’d see if you were okay.”
He turned on his heel so quickly she jumped back with a yelp. Good, she needed to keep up her guard around him.
“You don’t have a caring bone in your body. You proved that when my nephew died, the one who loved you. Why the hell would you care about someone who loathes you?”
Suzi shrugged, unaffected by his harsh set-down, proving his belief that ice ran through her veins.
“You don’t know anything about my relationship with Ion.”
Kaleb laughed, though he felt no humor. “You’re right. All I know is that your heart is made of stone. I lost my nephew and you lost a lover. I would have thought you would’ve shown an ounce of compassion.”
Her jaw tightened, a muscle ticking in her cheek. “Regardless of what you think, I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me to be. I thought we might be able to co-exist under the same roof and not see one another.”
Jesus! There was no way they could both live under the same roof. “You seriously think that could work?”
“I’ll show up at night when you’re at the Rave. You spend the night in whatever bed you choose and I’ll be gone before daybreak.”
“And sleep in my bed? Why not sleep with Cara?”
Suzi sighed and crossed her arms over her breasts, drawing his gaze downward. “Because Kane forbid it.”
The admission shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did nonetheless. Kane played with fire. If he kept on the same path, he’d expose them all. His brother was a fool. Kaleb knew he had fucked the detective and had drunk from her as well. Kaleb would lay odds Gypsy hadn’t been fooled by Kane’s pretense either.
Cara wasn’t a donor and never would be, due to her profession. She’d be deemed untrustworthy. Even if Kane decided to mate with Cara, should he be given the right to take a second mate, he’d never get a unanimous vote from the MC required to turn her. Kaleb would be the first ‘nay’.
His twin needed his head examined.
Kaleb gritted his teeth and returned his thoughts to the tiny brunette before him. “So naturally you chose my bed over Gypsy’s.”
Her brow furrowed. “Get over yourself, Hawk. I was told to sleep in your bed.”
“Since when do you do what you’re told?”
“You really are impossible. I came out here to see if you were all right. Now? I’m sorry I even bothered. Go fuck yourself, Hawk.”
“I’d rather be fucking you.”
Suzi sucked in air. Good. His admission had shocked her.
“That will never happen again.”
Without thought of repercussions, Kaleb grasped the hair at her nape and growled, “I am always up for the challenge, sweetheart.” And then he kissed her.