Page 43 of The Vampire Kingpin
She pulled away. “I don’t think so, ya know? But thanks for the offer.”
The side of my body where she’d been curled up felt cold. I turned to face her. “You’re not going back to Grimclaw’s lair.”
“You telling me or asking me?”
Sweet Lord, I was tired of her evasions. The woman was more slippery than a fish. “Yes or no,” I snapped.
“Fine. Then no, I’m not going back.”
“Then why not stay with us? I’d take care of you. You have my oath on it.”
“Yeah?” The naked yearning on her face made my chest compress.
This woman would want all of me. But I didn’t have all of me to give, did I?
I flashed on the pile of ash and charred bones that had been all that was left of Amina when I’d finally tracked her down. And like a yellow-belly, I backpedaled, pretending I hadn’t meant anything other than an offer to join my lair.
“Sure. We’re family here. I take care of everyone in the Cavern.”
“I’ve seen that. They’re lucky.”
“Your alpha out West wasn’t like that?”
“I never had a real alpha. Grimclaw was the first.”
“Him?” I curled my lip. “He’s a goddamn cartoon alpha. I’m surprised he’s lasted as long as he has. But how did you survive without an alpha?”
A shrug. “My parents were good at surviving.”
“We’re talking about California?”
She hesitated, and I wondered why I kept pressing her, why I couldn’t let her keep her secrets like everyone else in the Cavern.
“Not just California,” she said. “Arizona. Nevada. Washington State for a while. We kept moving.”
I knew that from the check we’d run on her, but now I wanted to know why her parents had been taken out—and who the fuck was responsible. “What happened six months ago?”
She didn’t move or even tense up, but I felt her withdraw like she’d slammed a metal barricade between us. “You know about that, huh?”
“Not really. All we could dig up was that three of you dropped off the grid around then.”
“Yeah. Well, what happened was they did something stupid.” Grief washed over her features. “So, so stupid.”
My stomach churned. I was starting to understand why a woman like Lark was hiding in the Underworld. I planked myself over her, my forearms on either side of her head. “So Grimclaw’s all you have?”
She snorted. “No. I’m all I have.”
I frowned. She was a dhampir in the Wild West of the Underworld. I didn’t like the idea of her being out there without protection.
“Stay with me, Lark. You go out there without an alpha at your back, and another vampire will snatch you up, make you a blood slave. You don’t have the same rights as a human. Everyone would look the other way.”
She swallowed and briefly closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she said, “Just let them try. I’ll drive a stake into my own heart before I let someone make me a slave.”
I ground my back teeth together. Why was she being so damn stubborn? “I could make you stay.”
She speared me with a look and I knew we were both recalling my promise to let her go after thirty days. But instead of throwing it in my face, she arched up, rubbing her wet pussy against my erection. “Yeah? How?”
“Cut the shit. Distracting me won’t work.” But my hips rocked against hers, my dick not caring that she was playing me. It just wanted back inside her hot, tight channel.
