The Forever Kiss, page 16
Oh, he didn’t know I was there until Ridgemont Changed him. As a mortal, he didn’t have your power. Another eighteen years would pass before he saw me.
“You followed him for eighteen years without ever talking to him at all?"
Valerie, I’m dead. It’s not as if I had anything better to do.
“Good point. What happened then?" Suddenly she wanted to know more, craved to know more.
As I said, he wandered. Images flashed through her mind: Cade, slumped in the saddle of a tired horse, a five-o’-clock shadow darkening his jaw as he rode beside a herd of weary cattle. Cade, shirtless in the sun, swinging a pick. Cade driving a mule team, his eyes patient and bored.
SHIFT. Looking like the cowboy hero of Valerie’s dreams, he rode hard on a galloping horse, his eyes narrow and hot with determination. A badge glinted on his broad chest. Until he joined the Rangers. It gave him a sense of purpose again, the feeling he was doing something to help those who needed it.
SHIFT. Another man, a badge pinned to his chest, standing at Cade’s side as the two fired their guns at three men running from a bank. Two of the bandits went down, but the third snapped off a shot, hitting the other Ranger. With a shout, Cade blew away the killer, then dropped to his knees beside his fallen comrade.
“Take care of her, McKinnon,” the dying Ranger gasped, “Don’t let my Caroline starve.”
Then came Caro.
SHIFT. Cade stood with both arms wrapped around a woman as she sobbed, an expression of pity on his face—pity, and an uncomfortable awareness mixed with guilt.
SHIFT. Sitting at her kitchen table, he watched her laugh at something he’d said. Masculine hunger glowed in his dark eyes as he looked at her.
SHIFT. Cade kissed Caroline, drinking in her mouth. Val felt a surprising stab of jealousy she knew was all her own.
I knew it wasn’t going to work, the ghost said. She wasn’t like you. There was a weakness in her that was no match for what waited for him. And I was right.
SHIFT. Cade and Caroline stood on the porch, his mouth moving over hers with gentle, wooing skill.
Suddenly a man shouted something, and Cade’s head snapped up.
The other man strode toward him, dirty, beefy face twisted with rage as he went for his gun. Cade’s hand blurred toward the Colt on his hip. He was just a fraction faster. Smoke billowed from his pistol, and the man went down, his own weapon firing wild.
Caroline stared at the fallen gunman, her eyes widening with horror. Cade looked down at her and froze as he read the revulsion in her gaze.
“But the guy was going to kill him!” Val said, outraged. “He was just defending himself!”
Yes, and she’d already lost one husband. She couldn’t stand to lose another, particularly when she’d come so close to getting shot herself in the process. She broke it off with him that night.
SHIFT. Cade wearily climbed a set of narrow stairs. Defeat rounded his broad shoulders, and there was pain in his eyes. He went back to his hotel, thinking it couldn’t get any worse.
As Val watched him climb, she sensed something waiting for him at the head of the stairs. Something dark. Something evil.
“Oh, God,” Val whispered. “Ridgemont.”
Chapter Twelve
The Abigail of the ghost’s memories screamed a warning Cade couldn’t hear as he walked down the hall to his room. Val’s stomach twisted. She didn’t want to see any more, but she held her tongue. If he’d had to endure it, she had to see it.
Cade! Stop! the ghost cried again. Please, stop! Please!
He broke step, frowning. For a moment Val thought he’d actually heard Abigail’s psychic cries, but then a feminine whimper of pain sounded, and she realized it was that sound that brought his head up.
Cade turned as if trying to determine the origin of that tiny, hopeless noise. A deep male voice growled something menacing from behind the door to his left. He turned and looked at it, eyes narrowing, broad shoulders tensing.
Oh, God, Val thought. It’s a woman, and he’s going to try to go to the rescue. And Ridgemont’s on the other side of that door.
Another muffled sound, unmistakably a scream, cut off in the middle by a hard slap.
Cade drew his gun and rammed his booted foot into the door. It flew open with a thunderous bang. He strode into the room, gun at the ready. “Hands up!”
Ridgemont looked up as he leaned over a woman lying on the bed. He was fully dressed, while she was naked and hog-tied. Her bare breasts were smeared with blood from a pair of puncture wounds set just above one nipple. Her desperate gaze met Cade’s over her gag, wide with terror, silently begging for help.
Cade flicked a shocked glance at her brutalized body, then turned to level his gun at Ridgemont with a snarl. “What the hell is going on here?"
The vampire wiped a smear of red from the corner of his mouth. “Get out.”
Cade brought the gun up to point it right between those thick blond brows. “I don’t think the lady’s willing. Step away or take a bullet.”
Ridgemont tried to compel him, Abigail explained. But he was Kith, and that was before their link. So it didn’t work. And that’s when the evil bastard realized what Cade was.
Surprised interest flickered in chilly blue eyes. “Well, well. And who would you be?"
“I’m a Texas Ranger, mister, that’s all the hell you need to know. And I’m not in the habit of giving an order twice. Step away from the lady.”
“As you wish.” Ridgemont moved back, still grinning. Cade started toward him, sliding his free hand into his back pocket as if reaching for something to use in restraining the other man.
Before he even completed the step, the vampire’s massive fist slammed into his jaw with such blinding speed he had no time to react. Val gasped in horror as Cade hit the wall behind him with a crash, then slid down to collapse on the floor in a boneless heap.
Ridgemont rocked back on his heels, studying his victim. A slow smile curved his lips.
The ghost moaned, Oh, no. Oh, Cade….
SHIFT. Cade sat slumped unconscious in a straight-backed chair, his wrists bound behind its back, his ankles tied to its legs. He lifted his head with a groan of pain, lids slitting open before promptly squeezing shut again.
“It’s been three hundred years since I’ve found anyone like you,” Ridgemont said.
Cade’s eyes snapped open.
The vampire sat on the bed with his back propped against the headboard, his long legs crossed at the ankle in black wool breeches, a black vest stretching across his massive chest. “My last spawn died a century ago,” he said. “A leader is nothing without followers, and I have been a leader all my life. I’ve missed it.”
“A century?" Cade’s eyes flickered.
He thinks he’s dealing with a madman, Val realized.
“But just any follower won’t do,” Ridgemont continued, watching his face closely. “I prefer my men have a certain … steel. And judging by the way you broke down that door, I think you’ll do nicely. All in all, I’m pleased.”
“I wouldn’t be, if I were you.” Cade jerked his bound hands with all his strength. The ropes didn’t even creak. “Because when I get loose, I’m going to beat you bloody.”
Ridgemont laughed. “I’m almost tempted to untie you and let you try. Unfortunately, you wouldn’t be much of a challenge in your current state. Cheer up, though. That’s going to change.” He swung his legs off the bed and stood. “And so are you.”
Cade stared at the vampire with rage blazing in his eyes. “You’d better kill me now, you son of a bitch. Because if you don’t, I’m going to gut you like a Comanche.”
The vampire eyed Cade with clinical interest as he prowled around behind his chair. “I wonder how long it will take me to make you scream.” He bent suddenly until his lips were level with his captive’s ear. “My name,” he said, “is Sir Edward Ridgemont.”
“Tell it to the undertaker, you….” Cade’s defiance turned to astonished shock as he saw the fangs gleaming between Ridgemont’s parted lips. “What the hell?"
The vampire grinned. “I’m afraid this is one time you really shouldn’t have ridden to the rescue, my gallant friend.” He wrapped a big fist in his captive’s hair and dragged his head to one side.
The cords in Cade’s neck strained as he fought Ridgemont’s strength. “Fuck you!”
“If you were a woman, I’d do just that.” He licked his lips and lowered his head. “But I can’t have everything.” Taking his time, he buried his teeth in Cade’s muscled neck, biting so deep and brutally his victim hissed in pain.
Softly, Abigail began to sob.
The image shifted again, melting rapidly from scene to scene as Ridgemont bit Cade again and again.
It took the ancient two days to drain and infect him.
SHIFT. Ridgemont dragged a knife across his own thick wrist, then forced the wound against his captive’s lips until Cade had to drink the blood or drown.
SHIFT. Cade sat barely conscious in the chair, his eyes slitted open as the vampire raped a sobbing woman on the bed. Two day of horror and helplessness.
SHIFT. Until finally he slipped into the coma of the Change. Held in his seat only by his bonds, Cade slumped, head lolling, eyes closed. Ridgemont leaned close, his expression fierce, his eyes almost glowing. I think he fought to die then. I prayed he would, because we both know what would happen to him if he lived. But Ridgemont was too strong and dragged him back.
SHIFT. That’s when he finally realized what had been done to him. Cade’s face twisted in revulsion as he spat two teeth on the floor and looked up, revealing the fangs that had replaced them.
SHIFT. A woman struggled in Ridgemont’s arms as he forcibly bent her across Cade’s lap, one fist clenched in her hair to hold her head back. Cade stared at her in shame and desperate need before he squeezed his eyes shut, leaned forward and sank his fangs into her throat.
But simply Changing him wasn’t enough. Ridgemont had to prove that he owned Cade, and he wanted to do it in a way that would drive the lesson home. So he kidnaped Caroline.
SHIFT. The elder vampire strolled into the room leading the widow, one big hand wrapped around her elbow. Her expression was blank, as though she was firmly in Ridgemont’s power. Cade, lying asleep on the bed, jolted awake. Seeing her, his eyes widened with hopeless horror as his face went pale.
Ridgemont gave him a malicious grin. “She won’t say no this time, gunslinger.”
Cade rolled off the bed and backed away. Shirtless, his Levi’s riding low on his hips, he looked big and impressive, four inches taller than the elder vampire. The look in his eyes revealed the helplessness he felt. “Let her go home, Ridgemont. Her kids need her.”
The ancient grinned, clearly enjoying himself. “Oh, she’ll go home. Eventually.” He turned to Caroline. “Show him that pretty body, my dear. He’s wanted to see it for months.”
Her eyes empty as a sleepwalker’s, the widow lifted her hands and began unbuttoning the high neckline of her severe blue gown. Ridgemont barely spared her a glance, far more interested in the panic in Cade’s eyes. “There’s more to feeding than blood, gunslinger. And there’s nothing like sex to get the victim goingespecially if you mix in a little fear.”
As Caroline dragged the gown down her hips, her eyes suddenly flooded with horrified awareness. But it didn’t stop her from mechanically stepping out of the circle of the gown, or reaching for the tapes of her petticoats.
“Taste that, McKinnon,” Ridgemont said softly. “Fear. It’s sweet, isn’t it?”
As she slowly undressed, revealing a petite, delicately rounded body, Cade lowered his head and bared his teeth. The cords of his neck stood out rigidly against the rise of need. “No.”
“Yes.” Ridgemont stepped up behind Caro and reached around her waist to begin unlacing her corset. “Strip, gunslinger. We’ll do her together.”
The horror in Cade’s eyes deepened as his hands went to the buttons of his Levi’s. His face contorted with effort as he fought the compulsion, but his fingers obeyed anyway. “God damn you.”
The ancient laughed and cupped her breasts in both hands. “You may as well stop fighting it, McKinnon. You just don’t have the power to keep my mind from overriding yours.” Lazily he tugged her nipples. “She’s got pretty tits, doesn’t she? So full and white.” Ridgemont lowered his head and said into her ear, “Think of it, Caroline. Two cocks, two sets of fangs. It’s going to hurt—and I’m going to make you like it.”
The widow’s gaze flew to Cade’s and silently begged. His expression hardened with determination even as he slid his jeans down his long, muscled legs. “Did you like it, Ridgemont?"
“Like what?" the ancient asked as he squeezed and fondled Caroline’s breasts.
His voice was low and deadly. “Did you like it when the Saracens took their turn on you, back when you were mortal?"
Ridgemont’s big hands stilled, his mouth going slack with shock. “While you were so busy invading my mind during the Change,
I got a look at yours.” Naked, Cade stepped up to him and looked down into his eyes with a taunting smile. “Your precious Lionheart hesitated too long about ransoming you when you were captured by the Saracens during that Crusade. And they got a little bored. It’s been eight hundred years, but no matter how many women you rape, you can’t forget what it was like being on the other end of the cock.”
The ancient shoved Caroline aside with a roar of raw fury. She fell, then scrambled to her feet and lunged for her clothes, not even glancing around as Ridgemont strode across the room and drove his fist into Cade’s face. He crashed into the wall, but she didn’t look back as she balled up her things and ran naked out the door.
“She left him like that?" Val demanded. “Bitch.”
Ridgemont was so furious he released her mind, just as Cade had intended. She knew she wouldn’t get another chance—and Caroline’s first priority was always Caroline. Besides, to her mind, Cade had become just as big a monster.
As Cade went reeling from another pile driver punch, Ridgemont drew up short, visibly working to bring himself back under control.
Licking the blood from his split lip, Cade stood, though he had to brace his back against the wall to do it. He grinned viciously, a demonic light in his dark eyes. “Oh, come on, Eddie—be honest with yourself. You liked it all those centuries ago. In fact, you don’t really want me to fuck Caroline—you want me to fuck you.”
With a bellow of berserker rage, the elder vampire whirled and grabbed a sheathed long sword lying on a pile of luggage. He drew the weapon with a hiss of steel. And spun, the sword gripped in both hands as he slashed viciously at his tormentor. Cade didn’t even flinch.
The blade stopped a fraction of an inch from his neck. Breathing hard, Ridgemont glared at him. “No. You’re not going to escape me that easily, McKinnon. You’re going to live, you bastard, and curse every day you breathe.”
He threw the weapon aside with a clatter. “But first you’re going to learn your place if I have to beat it into you.” He buried his fist in Cade’s belly so hard he lifted the bigger man’s feet off the ground.
WRENCH.
Val collapsed on the bed, shaking and sick. The image of Cade watching that blade come at his face was seared into her mind.
She shivered and swallowed. “God. Oh, God. I can’t let Ridgemont do that to him again.” She stopped as the realization hit her like a freight train. “Oh, sweet God.”
What? Abigail demanded, worried at her tone of stunned realization.
“I’ve got to get him to Change me.” She’d offered before, but she’d been secretly relieved when he turned her down. Now she knew she had to persuade him no matter what. Even if it meant giving up her humanity.
But how? He’s already refused once.
Only one way came to mind. Val straightened her shoulders. “Abigail, go Beyond.”
What? the ghost demanded, startled. But….
“We don’t need an audience. Go Beyond, and don’t come back until we call you.”
Abigail’s bewilderment gave way to a knowing gleam. Oh. You’re going to seduce him.
“Not with a thirteen-year-old audience. Get lost.”
I’m actually a hundred and fifty, but I won’t quibble. Giving a satisfied nod, the ghost vanished into the ceiling.
“And no peeking!” Val called after her.
Don’t be insulting.
Val grinned at the ghost’s indignant tone, then sobered, her eyes narrowing. There wasn’t much time. Cade would be back soon, and she had to be ready for him.
Moving quickly to one of the suitcases lying on the bed, she flipped it open and began a survey, looking for lingerie. She knew the only chance she had of pulling this off was to get Cade so hot his impressive cock started doing the thinking for him.
But as she dug through the bag, she realized she hadn’t packed a damn thing that was suitably slinky. This was supposed to have been a business trip, after all; seducing vampires had never been part of the itinerary. Damn.
On the other hand, if the idea was to hit his hormones so hard and fast his brain didn’t have time to engage, maybe she’d be better off in nothing but a smile. He might be an immortal creature of the night, but he was still a man—and nothing was guaranteed to switch off the male brain like finding a naked woman in his bed.
A shower. What she needed was a shower. And this time she was leaving out the ice cubes.
Half an hour later, Val climbed into bed clean and naked, her hair artfully tumbled, her face made up just enough not to look made up at all. Her belly turned slow, nervous flips as she settled back against the pillows she’d piled against the headboard. What the hell am I doing? she wondered wildly. If he Changes me, I can never go back. I’ll be giving up children and long morning walks on the beach and my journalism career. What will Beth think? I’ll never eat another piece of chocolate. I’ll have to drink blood. This is nuts!
