Between the Marshal & the Vampire(47)

Black eyes met his, narrowed. "And it'll be your fault if she ends up dying out here because you weren't enough for her."

"You son of a —"

"I'll be that and more if it'll keep her alive," Vellum said mildly, cutting him off.

Clay was annoyed, but he couldn't exactly be angry with Vellum for wanting to keep Mariel safe. On that, they were in absolute agreement.

"There's no stopping her," he muttered. "I advise you to just go along with her."

Vellum frowned and resumed looking at the jagged mountain. "I'll expect you to keep her from following me when the time comes. Surely you're intelligent enough to understand why."

"She doesn't need to see bloodshed," Clay agreed, although he wasn't too fond of the idea of being her keeper. "But on that note, I could help you, Vellum. No one said the odds had to be fair when you face off against this vampire."

"This isn't your fight."

"The vampire who turned you is a ruthless killer. I may have surrendered my Marshal's badge but I haven't stopped being a man who stands for justice."

"This is vampire justice. It has nothing to do with you."

"You so sure about that?"

Heat crept into Clay's cheeks when he felt Vellum studying him intently.

"So you're infected by her madness, too," the vampire said quietly. "I thought you were smarter than that."

"It has nothing to do with being smart or not." Clay was proud of himself for not sounding defensive. He certainly felt it. This was shaky ground for him. He wasn't quite sure how to act. "It is what it is."

"Sexual desire for another male?" Vellum taunted. "Is that truly in your nature? Or are you being swept along in doing what pleases Mariel?"

Clay took a deep breath and then turned in his saddle to face the other male. "You pushed me to my limits and then over them because you saw something in me. Don't try to convince me that it was all because of Mariel. You wanted it from me as much as I needed to give it to you."

A cocky smile tilted Vellum's mouth. "So I did. I can't say I regret dominating you. Sliding my cock up a Marshal's ass is a memory I'll cherish for a very long time. I'm looking forward to the other ways I'll make you submit to me."

"Nice try," Clay said with a sharp smile. "But you're not pushing me away. I reckon you're stuck with both of us. It's about time that you were the smart one and stopped resisting it."

"She should be yours alone," Vellum told him, his expression hard.

Clay squeezed the reins. "It's not up to me. She's made her choice."

"I could drive her back into your arms. You'd have what you wanted, and so would I: Mariel safe."

"Didn't know vampires were so self-sacrificing," Clay said sarcastically. Vellum's offer tempted, but only for a moment. "You can't change the way we feel. Or the way you feel, for that matter. So just accept that you're saddled with us."

He listened to Vellum mutter an expletive.

"I meant what I said," Clay went on as he checked to see that Mariel was on her way back to them through the scrub and trees. "I could be your backup in this. Mariel will kill me if something happens to you."

"So you're only looking out for yourself?" Vellum asked with a hint of wryness.

"Damn straight, I am." Clay faced him again. "I'll go with you. We'll settle this quickly and get on with our lives."

Vellum smiled, and Clay was sure what his answer would be. Right up until he said, "No."





11


"Tell me what your life was like in Everton Fort," Vellum asked one night, less than a week later.

Mariel exchanged a quick, fond smile with Clay. "It was wonderful."

With a stick, Vellum drew patterns in the dirt before the fire pit. His eyes glowed like coals. "Why was it wonderful? Indulge me with the details."

"Well," she began, as she thought back to their brief time there, "Clay pampered me in every way he could. He booked us the nicest room in the nicest inn. He took me out to the most delicious dinners every night. We went to shows. He bought me so many dresses—"

"None of which she now wears," Clay said with a chuckle.

"At your request," she reminded him archly. "But besides all of that, it was nice to relax and know that Beaufort had met justice and we were safe."

"I imagine most people would have been satisfied with such a life."

Mariel frowned slightly. "That's true. And I'm not saying I didn't appreciate everything we had there. I did."

"Clay seems to have done his utmost to impress you," Vellum noted.

"Because she deserves it," Clay said easily.

"You both do." Vellum tossed the stick into the fire. "I hope you realize that you will never again enjoy that lifestyle while you are with me. By aligning yourself with me you have thrown away all semblance of a comfortable life. You will never again be accepted by your friends and family. From now on you will be outcasts just as I am."

"We talked about it." Mariel held the vampire's gaze. "We knew what would happen when we came for you."