Between the Marshal & the Vampire(29)

"He didn't do then what he did—" Clay broke off, a flush streaking across his cheeks. "Taking a bite out of my neck is one thing. But what he did when all three of us were together was wrong. He went too far."

"How so?"

"Because he made it intimate. Between me and him." Clay muttered the last and turned his face away, though Mariel could still see his blush deepening. "He makes me feel things I don't want to feel with that bite of his. If you're there and we're focusing on you then it's alright. More than alright. I want it. But me and him together—it can't happen."

She laid a hand on his shoulder. "I understand that this is difficult."

She watched a muscle jump in his jaw as he held back what he wanted to say. Mariel wasn't just shining him on when she'd claimed to understand his confusion and discomfort. Not only was Vellum a man, he was a vampire, a potential killer of men. How Clay was expected to reconcile that, she wasn't sure. What she was sure of was that Vellum wanted to breach the Marshal's defenses. As Vellum had told her, he found pleasure in domination. An alpha Marshal of the Empire would be the ultimate conquest.

In realizing that, she began to reassess their situation here. What if Vellum refused to back down? Clay would resist and they'd likely fight. At the very least, Clay would refuse to continue to feeding him, which would render him useless to Vellum unless the vampire fed from him by force. The situation was too volatile and unpredictable to her liking.

Too dangerous.

"Maybe you shouldn't stay," she heard herself say. When he turned and gave her a look of surprise she forced herself not to back down. "He wants things from you that you're not prepared to give him. He's told me so." She nodded when he paled. "If you're not comfortable with that, then you should go."

"Mariel, there's no chance in Hell that I'm leaving you alone with him. He's a monster."

"If I stay, he might not pursue you. He might decide that I'm enough to sustain him if he also drinks from saberwolves."

"Mariel, no! I'm not leaving you behind as some sort of diversion or sacrifice. What kind of man do you think I am?"

"If you stay," she said distinctly, "you'll have to submit to him."

His eyes widened, but only for a moment. He firmed his jaw and a steely determination filled his gaze. "My job is to protect you, Mariel. I swore an oath to do that and I won't break it no matter what is required of me."

"If that's true, and I believe it is, then you'll have to find a way to accept what he wants from you."

He didn't look away. "I'll do what I must."

"I think you're the strongest man I know," she murmured. "I don't know of any other man who would sacrifice himself this way to keep me safe."

"If Vellum's any good at being what he is, this won't be too much of a sacrifice," Clay quipped.

Mariel smiled, but she could see that the Marshal was frustrated and angry. This was new territory for him. For both of them. But she meant what she'd told him: what he was doing for her was more than she'd expect of any man, and it touched her heart.

"I won't leave you," he went on. He shifted sideways and then rose up to his knees beside her. "We're in this together, Mariel. No matter what."

She closed her eyes as his warm, rough hands cupped her cheeks. "You're a good man, Marshal Clay."

"I'm your man," he murmured.

But she thought, That might not be enough.

~~~~

Vellum arrived with sunset. He stood beside the fire they had built, his dark eyes studying Mariel and Clay as if searching for something.

"We still have wolf from yesterday," Clay said from where he squatted beside the fire, stirring the wood, "so you don't need to hunt again."

Mariel watched from the corner of her eye as Vellum walked to the Marshal's side of the fire and stopped directly beside him. He stood so close that the fabric of his duster rested against Clay's side.

"Sometimes I enjoy the hunt," Vellum murmured.

Clay tensed, but then visibly relaxed. He twisted his neck around so he could look up at the vampire. "A good hunter knows to conserve his strength. For when it's truly required." He went back to tending the fire. "It's not required right now."

Vellum looked down at him, the barest hint of surprise slackening his features. Then he turned on his heel and walked out into the night.

"See?" Clay said to Mariel without raising his eyes from the fire. "I can play along."

"Something tells me you're the type to play him," Mariel said with a grin.

He grinned back, but she wasn't fooled; this wouldn't be easy. Clay was a natural alpha. However, Vellum was the ultimate alpha.

While Vellum was away, she and Clay finished off the saberwolf from yesterday and cleared the camp.

"There's water ahead," Clay noted as he came up beside her at her horse. "I saw a depression, full of green. We might make it by morning, maybe a little earlier, if we keep to a good pace."

"Water," she breathed. All at once she could feel how much trail dust had accumulated on her limbs and in her hair. "You think there'll be enough for washing?"

"I do. And I've got my fingers crossed that you'll be in need of an extra hand or two when washing your hair," he said with a wink.