“They are no threat to me,” he said, slipping his arm around her waist.
“But there’s three of them.”
“They will not attack me here, in your father’s house.”
“But when you leave…”
“They will not see me go.” He glanced over her head. “Your father is about to make a speech.” Her brother, sister, and mother were gathered around Barrett. A man in a crisp white hat and apron was standing beside an enormous cake. “You should go inside.”
“Will you be here when I get back?”
He nodded. “Go be with your family.”
She hurried through the crowd and took her place beside Veronica.
Stefan tensed as the three hunters came up behind him. He had told Bryony there was no danger. Had he been wrong? The four of them were alone on the balcony. The guests were all inside, focused on Barrett’s speech.
Gathering his power, Stefan turned to face the men. A quick brush of their minds told him they were all seasoned hunters, with a good number of kills to their credit. “Shall we take this elsewhere?” he asked.
“We’re not here for your head,” Charles replied. “Merely to see that you don’t feed on the guests.”
“Perhaps I will feed on you, instead,” he said, with a wry grin.
One of the hunters produced a long, wooden stake from inside his coat. Another flashed a dagger. Charles had a pistol.
Stefan laughed softly. “Put your weapons away, you fools. Go have some cake.”
Charles glared at Stefan as he tucked the pistol back into his pocket. He motioned to the other men. They made a wide berth around Stefan as they returned to the ballroom.
Foolish mortals. He could have killed them all with a single glance.
But spending the evening at the Barrett estate had been worth it, he mused, as he kissed Bryony at the end of the evening. He could put up with her father and hunters and a crowd of people if it meant being with her, holding her in his arms, seeing the love shining brightly in her eyes. Being near her was worth any price he had to pay.
Bryony slipped under the covers, her fingertips pressed to her lips as she re-lived Stefan’s kisses. She loved being in his arms, seeing the love in his beautiful dark eyes, hearing thehusky timbre of his voice when he told her he adored her. Just looking at him made her toes curl and her heart skip a beat. Sometimes it was so easy to forget he was a vampire.
But not tonight. There had been hunters at her mother’s birthday celebration. Even worse, she had learned that her father had once been a vampire hunter! She still couldn’t believe it. She knew him to be a tough businessman, a strict but loving father, a man of his word. A God-fearing man with high moral standards. How could such a man go around killing people? Of course, vampires weren’t like other people. But still, killing was killing. Did Eli know?
She turned onto her side. Two of the paintings she had done of Stefan hung on the wall next to her bed, the one so handsome, the other rather frightening. And yet, she liked the vampire one the best.
Turning onto her other side, she stared out the open window. Where was Stefan now? Stalking the night? Resting in his lair in the Stone House?
Where were the hunters? Had her father hired them to kill Stefan? Was that why the men had been at the party tonight? Stefan had said they were no threat to him. She knew he was strong and powerful, but she worried just the same.
She was about to turn away from the window when a pale grey mist floated into the room. She blinked once and Stefan stood there. He had shed his coat and vest and looked even more devastating than he had earlier, the crisp white shirt and wine-red cravat the perfect foil for his dark good looks.
“Should I go?” he asked.
For answer, she held out her arms.
He went to her gladly. Gathering her close, he rained kisses over her face, her neck, the hollow of her throat.
Bryony closed her eyes. Her father would be livid if he knew Stefan was in her bedchamber, but she didn’t care.If Stefan kissed her all night, it wouldn’t be enough. He whispered to her in a language she had never heard before, but she had no trouble understanding what he was saying. He wanted her.
Stefan groaned deep in his throat as Bryony clung to him, her breasts crushed against his chest, her hands moving restlessly over his back and shoulders. Did she know what she was doing to him? His body was rock-hard with wanting her. His hunger clawed at his vitals, aroused by the tantalizing scent of her blood.
He pushed her down on the mattress, his body covering hers, as he kissed her again and again. “Bryony.” Her name was a groan on his lips. “Tell me to stop before it is too late.”
Stop? Was he mad? Every fiber of her being was on fire for him.
