Don't Rush Me (Nora Jacobs #1)(14)

As Parker nods and puts the car into gear, I lean forward, trying my best to keep my temper in check. “Uh, you’re going to take me home first, right?”

Henry gives me a long look that says so much. The bastard has no intention of ever letting me go home.

“Oh, this is bullshit. Take me home, now. You got your answers. I didn’t take your missing vampire, and I’m not a threat to you. I’ve never told anyone about the underworld. Plus, you know about my gift. You keep my secret, I keep yours. Those are the rules of the underworld. You have to let me go.”

“You want to go back?” Henry asks. “To that hole of an apartment next door to that loathsome human?” He sounds like he’s insulted that I’d pick my home over his.

I shrug. “It’s my home. I have responsibilities, a job—maybe. I probably got fired for not showing up to work today, thank you very much. But still, it’s my life. You can’t just take it from me.”

Henry gives me a rueful look. “It wasn’t much of a life, Nora. You lived alone with no family, no friends, no lovers…”

My chest clenches like Henry is punching me with each word he says. As an orphan who grew up in foster care, I’ve never wanted anything more than a real family. Being a scrawny little white girl in Detroit was bad enough—I never fit in and was always picked on—but add having to hide my gifts, and I never had a chance at having any kind of real relationships. I’ve grown resigned to my lonely life, but I’ve never wanted to be alone. Henry’s hitting below the belt, and he knows it. He waits for a response from me, but I can’t give one without sounding emotional, so I turn my head and stare stoically out the window.

“You’ll have all of those things from now on,” Henry says. “I’ll keep you safe. Provide for you. You will be well taken care of, I assure you.”

“You can’t do this.” My protest is weak. He can do this, and we both know it. Who would stop him? “The laws of the underworld—”

“Apply to underworlders, Nora. You are human. You know the truth. You know my identity. It is too dangerous to allow you to leave.”

“But I won’t tell anyone!” I blurt as panic takes over my aching, exhausted body. “You’ve seen my life. You know I’ve never said a word about your world to anyone. I won’t tell people about you. You know I won’t.”

“You won’t,” Henry agrees, “because you won’t be leaving me.”

Henry reaches across the seat and pulls one of my hands into his. His voice turns to silk again. “I know you’re scared, Nora. You have reason to fear and despise my kind, but you will get over it.”

“Oh yeah, because kidnapping me is definitely the way to win me over. You are the worst kind of villain, because you actually think you’re doing the right thing here. You’re delusional.”

Henry pulls his hand away from mine and glares at me. “Delusional?”

I shrug. My peace spoken, I go back to glaring out the window. After a few minutes, Henry says, “Regardless of your opinion of me, your life is here now, with me and mine. You had better get used to it. Cooperate, and you will be treated well.”

I can’t help taking the bait. “Cooperate how? Am I just supposed to jump into your bed? Would that get you off, Henry? Knowing you were forcing me to be with you?”

Henry whirls on me in his seat, and his eyes begin to glow a scary red. “I would never disrespect you in that manner! When you come to my bed, it will be because you want it. I guarantee you will be desperate for me before I ever touch you.”

I scoff.

“I want you, Nora,” Henry says, still seething. “But until you are ready to become my lover, your role in my clan will be a different one.”

“What role?”

Henry takes a deep breath and sits back against his seat. Once he’s calm again, he says, “Your gifts. I need them. You will be of great service to my clan.”

Of course it’s about my gifts. I should have known. Vampires are all about power and politics. Henry, no doubt, wants to remain the big man on campus, and to do that he needs all the most powerful tools in his arsenal. I’m a shiny new toy that no one else has. Sadly, this news is better than the idea that he just wants me for my body or my blood. But not much, because I know he still wants both of those things as well.

Henry continues when I don’t respond, his voice becoming practical, businesslike. “You will help me in exchange for room and board and anything else you might need. I promise you will be better cared for by me than you ever have been before. You will be protected and afforded the finest luxuries I have to offer.”

Yeah. As if expensive dresses and jewelry could make up for my freedom. I meet his gaze again. “And if I don’t want it?”

Annoyance sweeps across his face, but he stamps it down and continues to speak calmly. “Then you will help me in exchange for your life.”

He says it so simply. So matter-of-factly. As if my life means nothing to him, and killing me would be inconsequential.

“Humans are not supposed to know about our world,” he continues. “I could kill you to keep my secret safe, and no one would care.”

“I would care.”

He smiles. “Then I suggest you accept your new life, my dear.”