Midnight Echoes_Crimson Ops Read online

  Her father roared, “He wanted to what?”

  Whitney beamed wider from his seated position. “Seriously, this gets better and better.”

  Meena pushed out of Bhaltair’s hold, hurt flashing in her green eyes. “At least he wanted me.”

  Bhaltair wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything. How could she not know as much? “Do you nae think if I could, I’d be the man to take you? To show you endless pleasures? To lose myself in you? To make you mine for all eternity?”

  Her mouth fell open, and she stared at him. He was a bit shocked by his words as well, so he couldn’t blame her, but they were the truth, and he wouldn’t take them back. Grinning slightly, he touched her chin with his index finger and closed her gaping mouth. He ran his finger over her lips. “Lass, you cannae possibly think I do nae share the pull to you? That I do nae want you?”

  Her look said that was exactly what she thought.

  Foolish woman.

  He continued to trace his finger over her mouth. “I serve yer grandfather, and yer father would nae be pleased with me either if I acted on my feelings for you.”

  “No. I would not,” Stamatis said from the side of the room, surprisingly standing on his own, not being held back. “But I’m smart enough to know when it’s out of my control, and if Aine is saying what I think she’s saying, it’s really fucking out of my control.”

  “Daddy, I’m not his mate. I’m human,” protested Meena.

  Dr. Sambora cleared his throat. “About that. As I was saying before, Meena, the anomalies in your blood are anything but human. I wouldn’t classify you as human any longer.”

  Aine clapped once more. “Oh goodie! It worked. When Bhaltair claimed you, it triggered your latent gifts.”

  Bhaltair’s gaze whipped to the fairy. “She’s pure, untouched by man. She’s nae come into her powers.”

  “Bhaltair, you are stubborn and blind when it comes to my granddaughter. You always have been. And you really don’t listen very well. I clearly stated sex wasn’t a requirement for everyone.” Aine approached, tugged on him, making him bend, and then she kissed his cheek. “I love you and, in time, her father will come to terms with what was decided long ago.”

  “Do nae speak in riddles, woman. She is nae mine,” he said, his anger growing, his demon threatening to come forward. “I love her with all of me, and to tempt me with the possibility of a future with her is beyond cruel.”

  “You love me?” asked Meena, digging her fingers in to his side.

  “Bhaltair, on my honor, she is yours. I’ve known since Megan was expecting her, but I knew better than to speak the words out loud for fear I would change destiny,” replied Aine. “You and Meena have always been mates. She just needed to come of age for you to be able to claim her as your own, and you’ve done as much now.”

  “I dinnae bed her,” he said, holding his woman in his arms. “I wanted to, Aine, I still do, but I would never disrespect Labrainn so.”

  “I know. You’ve said as much. It’s easy to see that you’re struggling so much with all of this that you’re missing so much of what is going on. I stand by my alpha males are morons when they meet their mates statement.” Aine smiled. “You’re so loyal to my husband that it’s clouding your judgment and your thoughts. And I believe that is what has really kept you from claiming Meena before now—when she turned eighteen. Your blood exchange, coupled with your verbal claim and the kiss was what the two of you required. You can bed her later. That is a bonus. And my husband has no say in the matter now. The claim is done. I can sense Meena’s powers growing as we speak.”

  Confused, he shook his head. “I was under the impression Meena would only come into her powers if she were to be sexually active. And there was only a slim chance even then that she’d have any latent gifts.”

  Aine winked. “There is always a workaround, old friend, and you found it.”

  He stared blankly at Aine, positive the fairy had lost her mind. Aine had sat everyone down when Megan, Meena’s mother, had come into her gifts, explaining how that came to be—because Megan wasn’t fully Fae, her powers remained latent until she became of age and sexually active. No one ever mentioned workarounds.

  Aine laughed, her focus on him. “You look so lost, Bhaltair.”

  He moved his hands over Meena’s arm, searching for signs of injury. There were none. Aine had been correct. Meena was healed, and that meant she was coming in to her powers. “I do nae understand.”

  “Take her with you. Keep her close. I suspect many changes are going to be coming at her from all directions. She’d want you to be the one with her. No one else.” She faced Stamatis. “Do not fight him on this, or you will lose your daughter forever. She will be forced to choose between her father and her mate. In the end, a father cannot win that choice.”

  Stamatis moved closer, took a deep breath, and extended his hand to Bhaltair. “I guess this means we’re family now. I still think you’re an asshole.”

  “Och, I do nae like you much either.” He took Stamatis’s hand and shook it.

  The two men nodded and then Meena rushed at her father and hugged him. “Daddy, thank you for being nice to him. But between you and me, I think Grandma has gone around the bend. I’m not Bhal’s mate. But I do like seeing the two of you get along.”

  Stamatis kissed the top of her head. “Stay with Bhaltair for now, Meena. Do not return to your dorm, our home or your grandparents’. I’m not going to risk you being attacked again. I’ve got Regulators on campus now working with PSI to track down leads. We will check on this Rudy guy. Not you. Not Bhaltair. I want him close to you at all times.”

  Whitney stood and grinned. “You do realize he’s going to shag your daughter, right?”

  Stamatis twisted and punched his friend in the jaw.

  Whitney grinned and rubbed the spot. “Worth it.”

  Aine groaned and then looked at Dr. Sambora. “You seem quiet.”

  “Happy to see one of us find their mate,” he said, his voice somber. There was a story there for sure. “I’ll leave you all to this. I’m going to go run more tests on Meena’s blood.”

  Aine headed to the door. “Bhaltair, take her to your farm. She’ll be safe with you there. And stop being so afraid of your demon side around her. It loves her too. Oh, and congratulations on the union. Megan and I will plan a party to celebrate it.”

  Meena gulped. “She is so weird. Can I shower, and does someone have clothes I can change into?”

  Whitney turned and grabbed a set of surgical scrubs Sambora had brought in earlier. “Here. Doc gave you these. There is a shower at the end of the hall.”

  “Thank you.”

  Chapter Nine

  Bhaltair drew his car to a stop outside the two-hundred-year-old farmhouse and cut the engine. Meena hadn’t stirred on their journey to the safe location. She’d fallen asleep in the car after saying very little to him. He’d listened carefully for sounds of her breathing and heart rate the entire drive. He still wasn’t sure what Aine was up to, but his demon trusted her logic.

  That should have been enough to send him screaming in the other direction. For centuries after he’d first been turned into a vampire, his control over his demon had come via Labrainn’s assistance. Labrainn had been powerful enough to help control Bhaltair’s newly sired self.

  He doubted highly that Labrainn could control him now. No. Bhaltair could have been a master vampire himself long ago, but he’d stayed by Labrainn’s side out of loyalty. The man’s do-gooder ways had annoyed Bhaltair at first. And truth be told, Bhaltair had not cared much for Aine in the beginning, believing her to have cast a spell over his master. But he’d eventually learned the truth. The only spell cast was that of love and mates.

  Nothing nefarious.

  And with one kiss to Labrainn, Aine had managed to reform not only him, but Bhaltair and the other vampires loyal to the man. The big bad vampire and his men ended their wicked ways, pulled out of the view of others, and began l
iving and acting as though they were mere humans. They had lived lives away from any who had known them when they’d ruled by fear for so long that Bhaltair had become used to deceit for the greater good. That was why he’d purchased the farm, set out on the edges of Labrainn’s territory. The farm had been barely standing when Bhaltair had driven past it and felt a sense of calling and duty to return it to its once glory days.

  And he’d spent over twenty years doing just that. As he thought about when he’d made the offer and bought the farm and all the land on it, he stiffened.

  He’d done so when Megan was expecting Meena.

  His gaze snapped to Meena. Often when he’d sneak away to work on the farm, he would think of one day residing there with a family of his own. Of what it would be like to see children filling the halls, laughing, playing and filling the home with joy, as a home was meant to be. In recent years, since she’d come of age, Bhaltair would envision Meena there as well, her belly swollen with his child as he chased around their other ones.

  He shouldn’t have been surprised Aine knew of his farm renovations and that it was now inhabitable. He’d not told anyone that he’d been working on it. She was that powerful. Hell, the bloody woman probably knew of his desires to have Meena live with him and grow large with his babes.

  It was a fantasy he clung to, desperate for it to be true, though he’d known it never could be. Yet here she was, with him at the farm, showing signs of being more than human. He didn’t dare hope Aine was right—that they were mated now and she was his for eternity. He couldn’t. There was no way he’d be able to stand thinking he could live his dreams only to find that not to be the case. It would crush him, and in the end he knew his demon would win the internal struggle, and he didn’t want that.

  He didn’t want to be evil again.

  “You want her,” he said softly, still gazing upon Meena’s beautiful face as she slept in the seat next to him.

  He took a deep breath and then exited the vehicle, heading around and getting Meena as well. She never stirred as he carried her sleeping form over the threshold of what he had always viewed as their future home. Though none who knew him would believe it. They saw him as a man with too much money, a mansion, and countless cars and expensive toys. They did not see him as a man who lived on a historic farm, painstakingly returning it to its original state, but with modern amenities.

  Something about it had called to him. Much like Meena and the way she had always called to him. Without thought, he lifted her higher in his arms as he headed up the stairs. He kissed her forehead, his body tightening with need for her.

  She whimpered and twisted against him. “Bhal?”

  “Sleep, my love,” he said, and tensed.

  My love?

  He nearly missed a step. A small chuckle broke free from him. He would need to be renamed Two Left Feet at the rate he was going around Meena.

  As he reached the top of the staircase, he headed for the master bedroom. He’d redone the entire home with UV-protected windows and plantation shutters. In addition, he’d hung thermal curtains to add yet another layer of protection from the sun’s harmful rays. He also made sure to keep a fresh stock of blood on hand, for long nights when he worked on the grounds. He’d been restoring one of the three barns on the property over the course of the last few months—stealing away whenever he had free time.

  Bhaltair carried Meena to the king-size bed and laid her gently on it. He was about to walk away and leave her to rest while he made her a cup of tea when he noticed her shoes were still on. He removed them slowly, careful to not wake her, still unsure how she’d managed to heal herself by merely having a blood exchange with him.

  Was Aine right?

  Meena turned, her dark hair fanning out around her on the white pillow. Her ruby-red lips parted slightly, and it took all his control to avoid bending and sampling them. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his immortally long life. Hunger for her lanced through him, bringing his demon forward and nearly to the surface.

  Staggering away from the edge of the bed, Bhaltair gasped and held up his hands as if to defend himself from what lay within him. “No. I’ll nae allow harm to come to her.”

  He nearly drew upon his vampire speed to run out into the night and put as much distance between himself and Meena as he could, but that wasn’t what happened.

  His demon didn’t want blood.

  No.

  It wanted sex.

  With Meena.

  Bhaltair shook his head, desperate to cling to control. He forced himself away from her more and found himself at the doorway to the master bathroom. He hurried into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, his hands going to the edges of the sink as he bent his head. He had not struggled with control like this for centuries.

  Why now?

  Why with Meena?

  She is your mate. Aine is right.

  With a gasp, he froze. No. He would have known sooner, right? He had heard Labrainn speak of Aine and how he’d known upon first glance that he wanted to make the woman his. Stamatis and Megan had wasted very little time joining after meeting. The few other vampires he knew with mates all claimed their women quickly after crossing paths with them.

  A sobering thought came over him. Each of them had met their significant others when the women were already of an age to be claimed. Bhaltair had known Meena since she was but a babe in her mother’s womb. Had something inborn kept him from seeing her as a mate while she grew to be an adult woman?

  Was that why he’d struggled so with his desires for her once she’d become of claiming age? Was Aine right?

  “No,” he said, his voice hoarse. She wasn’t his, and to allow such foolish notions to enter his mind, even to merely entertain them, would cause him to unravel. Whatever was happening between them was a fluke. It would sort itself out, so long as he kept himself from doing anything stupid, such as walking into the other room and kissing her, like he wanted desperately to do.

  “Bhaltair?” she asked, her voice cutting through his thoughts.

  He wasted no time moving quickly to the side of the bed. She looked up at him with wide eyes. “Where are we?”

  “Yer safe. I’ve nae heard anything of yer would-be-lover. I can go and check in. I know you wish to be with him and nae here with me.”

  She moved with a speed that stunned him. Speed she should not have as she launched herself off the bed and at him.

  He caught her around the waist. She wrapped her arms around him and held him, shaking in his arms.

  He was powerless to do anything other than return her embrace. “I’m so verra sorry, lass. I should have never allowed harm to befall you, and I should have gone in search of yer Rudy the moment you requested it of me. Once we know the threat to you is no more, I’ll take my leave of you, and I will be the one to suggest to Labrainn that I be sent to Scotland to oversee affairs there.”

  She leaned back, and the next he knew, she hauled off and slapped him across the face with enough force to actually make it sting.

  He gasped, and she glared at him. “Don’t you dare talk about leaving me again. You think my sister is a hellion, you just watch, mister. I’ll show you what a woman on a rampage looks like if you dare try to leave me. I will not have my mate on the other side of the world. Understand me?”

  Bhaltair heard her words, but the pull of her lips moving was too much for him to resist. In one quick motion, he captured her mouth with his, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, silencing her instantly.

  She went limp in his arms, her tongue greeting his in return.

  He knew he should release her and put distance between them, but he couldn’t. He found himself carrying her toward the wall, ravishing her mouth the entire way. Bhaltair pressed her body against the wall. He ground against her, wanting to be one with her.

  She ripped at his shirt, exposing his chest. Bhaltair could barely think, let alone stop himself as he took her wrists, pulling her hands from him,
the press of his body keeping hers pinned to the wall.

  “Bhal,” she whispered, biting at his lower lip.

  He shook as he fought for control of his raging need for her. “Meena, lass, I want you, but I do nae want to hurt you.”

  She writhed against him, tipping her head back, exposing her neck to him. The temptation to sink his fangs into her creamy flesh was so great he wasn’t sure how he managed to avoid doing just that.

  He was about to release her when white light burst free from her, bathing him and the room.

  Instincts nearly had him diving out of the way, fearful the light would be as the sun’s rays were to him—deadly. But he couldn’t leave her. He held her as she cried out, the light dimming quickly, her gaze filled with confusion.

  Inhaling, Bhaltair smelled it then—power. It was raw and thick all around them. It reminded him slightly of Aine’s, but it also had trace elements of vampire as well.

  Meena struggled against his hold on her wrist. To his shock, she broke free. She grabbed his face, power still riding the air between them.

  “Now,” she said, something off in her voice. “Take me now.”

  “M-Meena, no,” he returned, desperately wanting to give her what she wanted.

  In the blink of an eye, she was standing on her own, thrusting him backward, in the direction of the bed. Bhaltair hit it with such force he was surprised the frame didn’t buckle and break.

  Meena moved at him with a speed that rivaled a vampire’s. She shook her head, worry crossing her face. He knew then she wasn’t in control of what was happening to her, and it scared her as much as the events surprised him. He caught her gently, dragging her down on top of him.

  “I’ve got you, love.”

  “Bhal,” she said against his ear, her nipples hard and easy to feel even through the material of her shirt. “What is happening?”

  Every bit of doubt he had on if she was his mate or not, and if he’d claimed her vanished. He knew then Aine’s words were true. Meena was his.