Devoured by Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #7)(10)

She’d learned since the death of her foster mother not to become attached. Whether it was to people or places.

Both could be snatched away.

Well… she rarely became attached, she had to qualify as she scooped the sleeping baby from the crib and headed away from the lair.

From the moment she’d caught sight of the golden-haired child that appeared to be no more than a few months of age she’d tumbled head over heels in love. A perfect angel. Not that she knew if he possessed a claim to heaven or not. Actually, she didn’t know anything about the baby.

Nothing beyond the fact she’d taken it from the mists. And that it was held in a stasis spell so he remained locked in a web of protection, impervious to the world around him.

For nearly fifty years, she’d kept him hidden. Not a particularly difficult task since there was no need to offer the usual care that an infant would demand.

The child was … inanimate. Or at least that was the only description that came to her mind. As if he was a beautiful doll awaiting the spark of life to be breathed into him.

And, as far as she knew, she was the only creature in the world who could touch the spell that surrounded him.

Which made it all the more imperative that she keep him safe.

Fleeing from Caine’s lair, Laylah made a brief stop among the local wood sprites. Despite their flighty natures the tribe owed her a favor after she’d saved the life of the queen. The time had come to call in her marker.

Then, with a brief prayer her luck would hold, she headed across the recently planted fields and cow-filled meadows, aimlessly headed in a northwest direction.

She didn’t know where she was going.

Just … away.

Far, far away.

By midday her lurking exhaustion crashed over her with a compulsion that could no longer be denied.

She either found someplace to rest or she collapsed in the middle of a corn field.

Searching out the nearest house, she helped herself to a few of their groceries, then made herself as comfortable as possible in the hayloft of the nearby barn. Hardly the Waldorf Astoria, but it would keep off the drizzling rain that had started to fall. And best of all it was vampire-free.

Biting into an apple, she glared at the barn filled with the usual machinery needed for a small farm as well as a pile of old bikes and forgotten toys that were tossed in a corner. A rusting museum dedicated to the passing years of a typical human family.

She pretended she didn’t notice the treacherous pang of envy in the center of her chest.

She was ecstatic, wasn’t she?

She’d managed to escape certain death.

And if she was alone in a stupid barn with mushy apples instead of decadent chocolate cake and wicked vampire kisses, it was a small price to pay.

Grumbling beneath her breath, Laylah snuggled between the stacks of hay and closed her eyes.

The past few days had been one disaster after another.

Once she was rested she would go out and steal a box of Ding Dongs. A chocolate fix was all she needed to drag herself out of her weird mood.

She barely closed her eyes when she tumbled into a deep sleep that was long overdue. Which no doubt explained why she didn’t pick up the approaching danger until too late.

Far, far too late she realized as she awoke to discover her body already on fire with a sizzling excitement that wrenched a moan from her throat. Her eyes snapped open, not entirely surprised to find Tane stretched out beside her, his slender fingers running a path of destruction along the plunging neckline of her muscle shirt.

He might be a cold-hearted brute, but for reasons that defied explanation, she responded to him like a harpy in heat.

Okay, there were plenty of reasons to become hot and bothered by the vampire.

The soul-stealing beauty of his lean face. The broad chest left bare to reveal the smooth bronzed skin and rippling muscles. The flat stomach and long thrust of his legs half covered by the loose khaki shorts.

And above all the raw, potent sexuality he wielded like a lethal weapon.

For a mindless moment, she became lost in the wicked honey temptation of his eyes, her body instinctively arching toward his teasing touch.

Then, as his lips parted to reveal his fully extended fangs, she was jerked to her senses.

“You son of a bitch.” With a hiss of outrage she slammed her hands against his chest. “Get away from me.”

With infuriating ease, he shrugged off her blow and rolled to pin her to the wooden planks of the hayloft, a mocking smile tugging at his lips.

“You didn’t really think you could outrun me, did you, sweet Laylah?”

She silently cursed the scalding pleasure as he pressed against her, the intimate position revealing he wasn’t indifferent to her proximity.

Gods. Her mouth went dry at the feel of his large and fully aroused c**k pressed against her inner thigh. If he became any less indifferent she might faint.

“Why won’t you leave me alone?” she muttered.

His head lowered to scrape his fangs along the curve of her neck.

“Why do you think?” he demanded, his tongue brushing the frantic pulse that beat at the base of her throat.

Her eyes flashed with fury even as a violent shudder of awareness wracked her body.

“Dammit, I’ve been polluting the world for the past two hundred years without the sky falling or the gates of hell opening.” Her fingernails bit into his chest as his seeking lips skimmed over her collarbone, her toes curling at the tiny jolts of lust. “Is it really that important to turn me over to the Commission?”