Chapter 12
Austin pulled Darcy onto his lap and covered her face with kisses. He aimed his kisses closer and closer to her mouth. She turned her head to meet him, and the heat flared between them. Their tongues entwined. Their arms wrapped around each other in a tight embrace.
And still, they weren't close enough. He lifted her slightly and pushed up her dress so she could straddle his lap. They held each other tight, her breasts pressed against his chest. He could feel her erratic breathing as she trembled in his arms.
"Sweetheart." He nuzzled her neck. He'd wanted so badly for her to trust him, but somehow, along the way, that desire had grown into something more powerful. He needed her to love him. He needed to protect her. He needed to keep her forever.
She skimmed her hands across his shoulders, then down his back. "You're so beautiful."
Smiling, he rubbed his chin against her soft hair. "Shame on you. That was my line."
She leaned back on his lap. "Shame on you for dragging me in here while I'm wearing my best dress."
"We can take care of that." He sought the zipper in the back. As his hand ran down her spine, her back arched.
She gave him a teasing smile. "You realize this dress is not supposed to be in hot water."
"Then we'll move it to the cold water cycle." He tugged the dress over her head and tossed it into the swimming pool.
Darcy laughed. "Great. Chlorine. That's a big help."
He studied the wet bra that clung to her skin. "I'm happy with the results." He brushed a thumb over a nipple, and it puckered. He circled the pebbled skin 'til the tip hardened into a tight nub. With a moan, Darcy closed her eyes.
He nibbled up her neck to her ear, then whispered, "I want to taste you."
She answered by feathering kisses along his cheek and jaw. That had to be a yes. He kissed her deeply. His heart pounded in his ears. His groin swelled, demanding attention. He unhooked her bra, slid it off, and tossed it onto the cement. A sudden breeze swirled the mist from the hot tub around her, making her look almost unreal. A magical vision of beauty, too perfect for any man to hold on to.
Her eyes flickered open. "Is something wrong?"
For a second, he thought there was a red glint to her eyes, but it had to be some kind of weird reflection.
His own photos were always coming out with red eyes.
"You're perfect." He cupped her breasts, then leaned forward to press a kiss onto the upper swell of her left breast. He could feel the pounding of her heart. His own heart was thundering in his ears. It seemed to grow louder and louder.
He grabbed her waist and lifted her 'til her breasts were even with his mouth. He drew a nipple into his mouth and suckled. Groaning, she arched her back. His hands moved lower, pressing her hips against his stomach. He slid his hands into her underwear and cupped her derriere. She reacted by rocking against him, rubbing herself against his stomach.
His erection nearly exploded. With gritted teeth, he rested his cheek against her breasts and fought for control. That was when he realized that the night was much lighter than it had been before. And the roar in his ears wasn't coming from him. He looked up and winced. That whirring sound was unmistakable. Suddenly, a beam of light shot down and illuminated the hot tub.
"What?" Darcy stiffened. She looked up, but Austin blocked her with his hand.
"Don't." He squinted up through the light. "It's a chopper."
"What?" She gave him a frantic look. "A helicopter?"
"Yes." Austin cursed. "I should have heard it coming."
"Oh my gosh!" Darcy covered her mouth with a trembling hand. "I told Bernie to rent a helicopter, but I didn't think he could do it tonight. This is terrible!"
More terrible than she realized. As far as Austin could tell, he and Darcy were being filmed. He lowered them both into the water up to their chins. "I'll take care of this. Whatever you do, don't look up."
She moaned. "I'll be ruined. I'll never work again."
"Trust me. I'll get you out of here."
"How? I'm practically naked."
"I brought a big towel with me from my room. Wait here. Stay low, and don't look up."
"Okay." She hugged herself and kept her chin down.
Austin climbed from the hot tub and strode toward the patio chair where he'd left a towel. He kept his face turned away from the helicopter and hurried back to the hot tub. He stretched out the towel to conceal Darcy. She climbed from the tub, and he wrapped the towel around her. The helicopter was close enough now to cause a strong wind that whipped at the towel and made her shiver. She hunched her shoulders and ducked her head down.
"Hold on." He grabbed her jacket off the patio chair and draped it over her head. He located her bra and shoes and handed them to her. Then, he fished her dress out of the swimming pool.
And still the helicopter hovered overhead. A beam of light followed Austin's every movement. He handed Darcy her soggy dress and saw the panic on her face.
"Don't let it get to you," he yelled over the roar of the whirring blades. "They don't know who you are. Where are the other ladies staying?"
"On the servants' floor, three flights down."
He glanced toward the east stairwell. "Fine. We'll go there. Everyone will think you're one of the judges. You can return to the pool house later."
"Okay."
Austin led her toward the stairs. The spotlight from the helicopter picked them up. Austin glanced down. With the light behind him, his body cast a long shadow on the cement.
He halted with a jerk.
Darcy stopped. "What's wrong?"
He stood there, unable to answer. All the air had been sucked out of his lungs. All the blood leached from his head. The ground swayed, and he stumbled to the side.
"Are you all right?" She reached out to touch his arm.
He lurched back. No, this couldn't be true. He glanced down at the ground once more. His shadow was there, alone, mocking him for being so blind. Such a stupid fool.
"Adam?" She looked so worried. Hell, why was she worried about him? She was the one with the problem. Darcy Newhart had no shadow. She was fucking dead.
"Are you all right?" she yelled over the noise.
He swallowed hard. "Go on without me. I - I'll make sure we didn't leave any clues behind." Or proof that he'd been there, consorting with the enemy.
"Okay." She ran to the stairwell and went inside.
The door banged shut and he stood there, staring at it while the damned helicopter whirred overhead. His stomach churned. Holy necrophilia. He'd made out with a dead woman.
Slowly, he realized the helicopter was moving away. He scanned the pool area and noticed his flip-flops by a patio chair. He grabbed them and paced across the roof. The half-moon shone down on him, taunting him with the evil truth. Darcy was a creature of the night.
"No!" He hurled a flip-flop at the moon. It flew over the wall and disappeared. He ran toward the wall, throwing the other flip-flop. "Dammit, no!"
He ran down the stairs, then realized he couldn't bear to spend the night in the penthouse. Not with all those vampires. Not when his own Darcy -
He took the elevator to the ground floor, then ran outside onto the sidewalk. He ignored the grit of cement against his bare feet. He kept running 'til he reached Central Park. And still he ran. He ran until he was sweating and gasping for air.
He slowed and collapsed onto a bench. Dammit to hell. There was no running from the awful truth.
Darcy was a vampire.
"I think I made a terrible mistake." Darcy stood in Vanda's bedroom, shivering in wet underwear and a towel.
"Here." Vanda tossed her another towel. "Dry off while I find you something to wear." She rummaged through a dresser drawer. "These should suit you." She picked out a pair of white cotton panties. "What kind of mistake?"
"I got overly friendly with Adam in the hot tub."
Vanda's eyes widened. "Oh. In that case - " She dropped the white panties and picked up a red silken thong. "This is more like it."
With a snort, Darcy grabbed the white panties and pulled them on. "I shouldn't have done it. I had to be out of my mind."
"It's called lust, dear." Vanda tossed her a T-shirt and some pajama bottoms. "Nothing wrong with it."
"It's very wrong!" Darcy pulled on the T-shirt.
"He's a mortal. It could never work." She slumped on Vanda's bed.
Vanda sat beside her. "You have feelings for him?"
Darcy's eyes filled with tears. "I tried to fight it. I know any kind of lasting relationship with him is impossible."
"With love, anything's possible."
Darcy shook her head. "Not this."
Vanda stood and paced across the room. "Did I ever tell you what happened to me?"
"No." Darcy wiped her face. Vanda was always supportive, but she rarely confided anything personal.
"I came from a small village just south of Krakow. We were a large family. Very poor. When my mother died in 1935, I became a mother to my younger brothers and sisters."
"That must have been difficult," Darcy murmured.
Vanda shrugged. "The worst was yet to come. When the German tanks moved toward our village, the men prepared a resistance. My father begged me to escape with my two younger sisters. I packed some food, and we fled south to the Carpathian Mountains. I... never saw my father or brothers again."
Darcy blinked to keep from crying. "I'm so sorry."
"The trip was very hard on my thirteen-year-old sister," Vanda continued. "By the time I found a shallow cave, Frieda could barely walk. I gave her the last of our food and water. My fifteen-year-old sister, Marta, left to get water and didn't return. I wanted to search for her, but I was afraid if I left Frieda, she would die. Finally, though, I had to go. I found a stream and filled our water bags. I was headed back to our cave when night fell. When Marta stepped from the shadows, I was so happy to see her. But she just stood there, so pale, with an odd look on her face.
"She swooshed toward me so fast, I didn't realize what was happening. She knocked me down and sank her fangs into my neck. I was barely conscious when she carried me - she was suddenly very strong - to a deep cave and introduced me to the vampire who had transformed her. Sigismund. He transformed me that night."
Darcy shuddered. "I'm so sorry."
Vanda sat on the bed. "The next evening, I rushed back to my little sister to see how she was. She had died. All alone."
"Oh, no. How awful." Darcy touched Vanda's shoulder.
Vanda's eyes glimmered with unshed tears. "I found a good purpose for the hunger that plagued me every night. I fed off Nazis and left many of them to die in southern Poland."
Darcy swallowed. "I'm sorry you've suffered so much."
Vanda snorted. "You think I told you all that for pity? What I want to say is I would go through all the pain and horror a million times over if it could only bring my sister back. If you love this Adam, you should embrace the feeling, no matter what. There is nothing more sacred than love."
At noon the next day, Austin wandered into the penthouse kitchen and found Emma heating up some Chinese food. He passed her the anklet. "We need to get this analyzed."
"No problem." She dropped it into her tote bag and looked him over. "You look like shit."
"I feel like shit." He sat at the table.
She spooned some sweet and sour shrimp and fried rice onto a plate and set it before him. "Feel like talking?"
"No." He motioned to a black and green bruise along her forearm. "What happened to you?"
"A bit of a tussle. Nothing I couldn't handle."
He narrowed his eyes. "You went hunting again, didn't you?"
"Eat your food before it gets cold."
"I told you not to go hunting alone."
She rested a hand on her hip. "And who would go with me when you and Garrett are on assignment here? Alyssa isn't up to it."
"Wait until we're done here. It'll only be a week or two."
Her mouth thinned. "I don't like to wait. Besides, I managed just fine on my own."
"You killed one?"
"Killed what?" George wandered into the kitchen.
Emma smiled. "I killed a roach in the laundry room. But don't worry. When I come back, I'll bring some insecticide."
"Good." George heaped his plate full. "I hate roaches."
"I cannot abide any sort of pest." Emma gave Austin a pointed look.
Pest. She would add Darcy to her list of pests. Holy shit. What was he going to do? How could he add Darcy to his list of vampires? It would make her a target for termination. Wasn't getting murdered once in her life enough? He recalled all the tapes he'd enjoyed watching. She'd been so clever, so happy, so full of life.
"You're not eating," Emma reminded him.
"I lost my appetite." I've lost my heart. Holy shit. Reality had become a nightmare. Did it feel this awful for Darcy, too?
With help from her cameramen, Darcy set up the obstacle course in the greenhouse.
Bernie added some potting soil to the puddle to make it muddier. "Guess what, Miss Newhart? I got that aerial footage you wanted." He exchanged a grin with the other cameraman.
Bart snickered as he moved potted plants away from the puddle.
Darcy watched them both carefully. They didn't glance her way at all. "You managed to get a helicopter that fast?"
Bernie snorted. "The guy told me he was booked solid for three months. But after a little mind control, he was much more helpful."
Bart laughed. "Yeah, he even forgot to charge us."
Darcy winced. She hated the way vampires invaded people's minds. "So, everything went well?"
"Oh, yeah. Just great." Bernie shot Bart a knowing look.
"Okay." Darcy exhaled in relief. They weren't smirking at her. They must not realize she was the woman in the hot tub.
"Hello?" Lady Pamela called from the greenhouse entrance. "I was told to come here."
"Yes." Darcy took Lady Pamela through the greenhouse, explaining how the obstacle course worked. "Don't worry. I'll be close by with the cameramen."
She twisted her silk reticule in her hands. "Where will the other ladies be?"
"They'll be watching the whole thing on the servants' floor. We rigged up a direct feed to the television in the parlor. They'll see and hear everything."
"And when it's over, we decide which men to eliminate?"
"Yes, two men." Darcy led Lady Pamela to the stairwell. The cameramen followed. "You're the judge tonight. The other ladies will most likely follow your suggestions on who should leave."
Lady Pamela nodded thoughtfully. "I shall do my best to discover which ones are mortal, so we can rid ourselves of their horrid presence."
Darcy led her down one flight of stairs. "Your actual goal is to test them on good manners and speech."
"I understand. But obviously, it will be the mortals who possess bad manners and speech."
Darcy sighed. "Right." She exited onto the top floor of the penthouse. "Gregori brought the men upstairs to the billiards room. They're right here." She motioned to the room next door.
Bart and Bernie rushed in with their cameras.
Lady Pamela glided in and curtsied to the ten contestants. "How do you do?"
Darcy hovered by the door, watching. Some of the men bowed in return. She scanned the room 'til she spotted Adam. He stood quietly in a corner, next to Garth, regarding the other men with an intense look in his eyes. Anger? Had something upset him?
"Good evening," Gregori began. "Tonight, each of you will take a stroll through the greenhouse with Lady Pamela. You each drew a number from a hat. That number will determine the order for tonight's proceedings. Who has number one?"
One of the male Vamps stepped forward. "I do."
Gregori checked the Vamp's number. "Lady Pamela, your first escort is Roberto from Buenos Aires."
Lady Pamela curtsied. "Charmed."
Roberto escorted her toward the stairwell and opened the door for her. Bernie ran ahead to record the couple from the front. Darcy followed with the cameraman Bart. As they ascended the stairs, Lady Pamela dropped her handkerchief. Roberto picked it up and presented it to her with a bow. He made it through all the obstacles in the greenhouse without incident.
They returned to the billiards room for contestant number two. Otto of Düsseldorf was huge with the neck and shoulders of a professional linebacker. Darcy secretly thought of him as the Vamp on steroids. Obviously, he planned to spend eternity exercising his muscles. He successfully returned Lady Pamela's hanky when she dropped it. They proceeded into the greenhouse.
"Oh, my!" Lady Pamela stopped in front of the manmade mud puddle. "Whatever will we do?"
"Ya, dat is one big mud puddle." Otto had apparently forgotten to exercise the muscle in his head.
"Oh, dear. I would hate to soil my slippers." Lady Pamela looked helpless, which in her case didn't require any acting.
"Do not fret, fraulein. De Otto is here." He hefted her high into the air so suddenly that she squealed. "Ya, you like my big, bulging muscles, don't you?"
Darcy rolled her eyes.
Lady Pamela giggled.
Otto strode through the mud and continued down the path.
"Begging your pardon." Lady Pamela smiled coyly at him. "You can put me down now."
"Oh, you are light like de feather. De Otto forgot he was carrying you." He set her down. "De Otto is very strong." He flexed his biceps.
"Oh, my." Lady Pamela touched the tip of her finger on his bulging muscle. "That is impressive."
"All de ladies like de bulges." He winked at her. "Just vait till I get you into de Otto Zone."
Darcy covered her mouth to muffle any gagging noises. Otto successfully maneuvered all his bulges through the rest of the obstacle course and returned Lady Pamela to the billiards room.
Contestants four and five were Ahmed from Cairo and Pierre from Brussels. They both made it successfully through the course. Number six was Nicholas from Chicago, one of the mortals. He picked up Lady Pamela's hanky on cue. Then they approached the mud puddle. Nicholas whipped off his jacket and laid it over the puddle.
"Oh, how chivalrous." Lady Pamela watched approvingly.
"May I?" He lifted her in his arms, stepped onto his jacket, and skidded forward in the mud. His arms flailed. Lady Pamela flew into the air, screeching, then landed in the mud puddle with a great splat.
"Aagh!" She scrambled to her feet. "Look at me!" Her face and arms were speckled with mud. Globs of mud drooled down her gown. "You clumsy oaf! This is horrid, simply horrid!"
Inwardly wincing, Darcy let Lady Pamela vent her rage for a good five minutes. After all, a little drama was good for the ratings. "Okay." She finally stepped in. "Pamela, why don't you go downstairs and change gowns so we can continue with the show?"
She sniffed. "That's Lady Pamela to you." She stalked off toward the stairwell.
"Nicholas, you might as well get changed, too." She handed him his muddy jacket.
His shoulders slumped. Mud dripped off his slacks and white dress shirt. "I'm not gonna win the million dollars, am I?"
"That will be decided by the judges." Darcy watched him trudge toward the stairs. As she waited for Lady Pamela to return, Darcy realized this would be the ideal time during the editing stage to insert Pamela's bio.
After thirty minutes, Lady Pamela returned to the billiards room, wearing a new gown. Contestant number seven was asked to step forward.
It was Adam.