She'd experienced it only briefly, but that had been enough to assure her she never wanted to feel that way again. Ugh. Just ugh.

She would have to keep an emotional distance between them for when the inevitable break came, and yet somehow still allow herself to touch and taste him and experience the heaven that was his body. Might be difficult. The man definitely knew how to steal female hearts.

He rasped his knuckles against the metal.

"I don't understand why we have to knock," she grumbled. "It's my apartment.”

“Actually, it's ours. I get fifty percent of your assets."

"Touch my books, and I'll cut off your hands.”

“Ha! You need my hands more than I do."

A dark-haired, dark-skinned man opened the door, saving her from replying. She'd seen the gorgeous agent before, knew who he was, but had never spoken to him.

He flashed her a bright, white smile as he leaned against the frame. His ice-blue eyes glowed merrily. "Don't think we've met officially. I'm Dallas, the big guy's best friend."

"Bride ..." What was Devyn's last name? Bride suddenly wondered. Did he even have one? And would he want her to use it? Stop. You aren't really married to him. "McKells. Bride McKells."

"Just Bride," Devyn said with a growl.

Dallas's grin widened. "Come in, come in. Macy's waiting."

Macy was here? Bride pushed past the agent without another word and sailed inside. It was her place, anyway, and she could do what she wanted. Sure enough, Macy was inside the kitchen, fixing dinner. Sandwiches. Someone must have gone shopping.

When her friend spotted her, she stopped what she was doing and rushed forward, features dark with concern. "Thank God. I've been so worried about you."

Bride hugged her tight. "I'm fine, I promise. How are you?”

“Fine." Macy pulled back and studied her. "I hear you're married. Is that true?"

"No," she said with a determined shake of her head. "We're still hammering out the details," Devyn said from behind her. She almost stomped her foot. "There aren't any details to hammer out."

"So anyway, it's our lucky day," she heard Dallas tell Devyn, who subsequently ignored her. "Nolan finally gave up his queen's landing point."

She and Macy shared a look of understanding, then quieted, listening to the men while pretending they were cleaning the kitchen.

"Yeah, but do we trust him?" Devyn asked.

There was a rustle of clothing. Dallas must have shrugged. "Mia's got a crew staking out the place now, ready to stun her. Nolan was stunnable that first time, too, remember? Anyway, you didn't let me finish. I went ahead and interrogated the human slavers."

Bride spun around, no longer content to pretend not to listen. The human slavers. She'd forgotten about them. "What did they say?"

Macy moved to her side and gripped her hand. One of them was trembling, but she couldn't tell which. Perhaps they both were.

Devyn jabbed a finger into Dallas's wide chest, again ignoring her. "I told you I would handle them."

Far from intimidated, Dallas grinned. "And Mia told everyone in the building to keep you out of their cells. She didn't want their heads on the evening news. Anyway, I interrogated them in a manner you would have approved of and got the date and time of their next auction. A week from tomorrow. Bride's potential buyer is going to be there, because two other vampires have been caught."

Other vampires had been caught? They were to be sold? Enslaved? Bile rose in her throat. Macy's arm wound around her, offering comfort.

"You know something else. Tell me," Devyn commanded.

Dallas paused, his expression hardening. "Here's the thing. Remember the vision I had?" A clipped nod from Devyn.

"Moment I heard about the auction, something dark clicked inside me, and I knew, knew. If you go, you'll start a chain of unstoppable events that will not end well for you." Another pause, mouth grim. "Maybe they'll even lead to the pier."

CHAPTER 18

Bride wondered about Dallas's comment while soaking in Devyn's tub later that evening. What chain of events? What was supposed to happen at the pier? She'd asked Devyn, but he'd distracted her with sex, the slut, and she'd gotten no answers.

When Dallas had spoken in that grim tone, his baby blues solemn, she'd experienced an overpowering flood of dread. Both men were certain something bad was going to happen to Devyn at the pier. She was sure of it. But what?

After a while, she gave up trying to figure it out on her own. Her brain seemed to be on hiatus, anyway, steam wafting around her, soft music playing in the background. A girl could get used to this.

Devyn strode into the bathroom, spotted her, and grinned slowly, wickedly. "What do we have here?"

Bubbles fluffed the surface, hiding the sudden hardening of her nipples. "Get that look off your face. We are not going for round four." Or would it be round five? "I'm relaxing." And God, it was divine. The water was warm, soothing, lapping fantastically at her skin.

Rather than leave, he perched at the edge of the porcelain. "I should join you. It's still our honeymoon, you know."

"We're not married, but I am going to enjoy this while I can." She sank deeper into the liquid paradise. Her hair was anchored in a knot on top of her head, so she didn't have to worry about soaking it. "Actually, I just changed my mind. We are married. I'll take this house, and therefore this tub, in the divorce settlement. What are you worth, anyway?"

He dipped in his hand and flicked several drops on her face. "A lot.”

“Excellent," she said with a grin. "Half of a lot will be very nice."

"Diabolical woman," he muttered. "Thinking of leaving me already when I came bearing a gift.”

“A gift?" She straightened, clapped excitedly. "For me? Really?"

"No, for my other pseudo-wife.”

“Let me see, let me see."

Grinning, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small black box. It couldn't be, she thought. Surely wasn't ... he flipped the lid, and her eyes widened in shock. Not a ring—she was not disappointed—but a ... she leaned closer. A necklace charm, she realized. An emerald, like the one she'd given Macy. Only bigger. And shinier.

"I noticed you returned hers," he said, no longer sounding as confident as he had before. "If you don't like it, I can—

"I love it. Give me!" She snatched the box before he could put it away and clutched it to her chest. It was the sweetest, most thoughtful present she'd ever received. Her chest was aching, and it had nothing to do with the thorns or the fire. "Thank you."

His gaze met hers, a gleam she couldn't read in his eyes. He coughed, clearing his throat as if he were uncomfortable. "You're, uh, welcome. I'll get you a chain for it. I just didn't have one handy.”

“Thank you for that in advance." She bit her bottom lip. "I don't have anything for you."

"Don't worry," he said, flicking a little more water on her face. Those amber eyes were practically sparkling with sensual intent now, whatever else had been resting there gone as if it had never been. "I'm sure I'll think of some way for you to repay my amazing generosity."

Her body instantly reacted, her stomach quivering, her blood heating. She was beginning to love his inflated ego and insatiable appetite. "Ah, yes. That wouldn't happen to involve my wifely duty in your bed, would it?"

He didn't whisk her from the tub and carry her to said bed or even slip into the tub with her, as she'd halfway expected. Rather, he tilted his head, his lips dipping into a frown. The desire in those magnificent amber eyes even died.

He pushed to his feet. "I have some things to do." His voice was flat, faraway. "You'll be fine on your own." O-kay. What had she said? "Sure you can't join me?" she found herself asking. She might have told him there'd be no sex while she was relaxing, but she hadn't meant it. Not really.

"I'm sure." He left her without another word.

Wifely duty, she'd said. Wifely duty.

Which meant, Devyn had a husbandly duty. According to his father, that duty involved respecting her body, mind, and soul. You don't follow your father's rules anymore.

For the moment, she was his wife, and he did want to do right by her. That had become clear when she had not used his last name while introducing herself to Dallas, as was custom for humans. Her cheeks had even darkened with color. She hadn't known how to introduce herself, hadn't known her place in his life, and had most likely been embarrassed by that. That embarrassment had shamed him, even though he didn't know her place in his life. He'd thought, She is my responsibility right now, and I have failed her.

He didn't want that proud woman embarrassed in front of anyone. Even himself.

He didn't know what to do with her. Didn't know what he felt about—or for—her. All he knew was that he didn't want her thinking she meant nothing. Every moment he spent in her presence, he liked her more. When they'd returned from her apartment, he'd spent an hour thinking of ways to make her smile and laugh. That's when he recalled the emerald charm he'd purchased after meeting her. He hadn't realized at the time, but he'd bought it because it had reminded him of her eyes.

He'd given it to her and gotten the reaction he'd craved. He'd thought to spend a few hours basking in that reaction. In bed, of course, naked and straining for release. Then ... Wifely duty. Husbandly duty.

Though she no longer showed any signs of it, her previous insecurity still haunted him. He had caused it, He had destroyed her delightful self-confidence. Before, he'd even made her cry—and he'd wanted to die! Had he not been so angry, he might have.

When he'd decided to ignore his guilt and shame all those years ago, he must have muted all his other emotions. No wonder female tears hadn't bothered him. No wonder he could kill so easily.

Now that Bride was in his life, now that he had another wife, the guilt was returning, so his other emotions must be making themselves known, as well.

Damn this. He had to give Bride something to prove he wasn't the barbarian she assumed. It was his husbandly duty. And he knew of only one way to show her that he did respect her, he did value her, and he would care for her properly while they were together.

Devyn stripped and jumped into the pool in his backyard. He swam lap after lap, not stopping until he was panting, sweating even though the water was cold. To respect a female, a male did not press his baser urges on her. He did not press his baser urges on anyone.

"I'm telling you, Macy, after that bubble bath, everything changed between us, and by the end of the week, what I knew would happen, happened," Bride said into the phone. Devyn was gone, again, doing God knew what.

"What's that?" her friend asked.

"Devyn's grown tired of me." She tried to keep the pout from her voice. They hadn't slept in the same bed. Not once. She slept in his room, and he crashed in the bedroom next door. "He feeds me once a day, but that's it. That's the only time he touches me."

She'd tiptoed inside his chosen chamber that first night, meaning to slide in beside him and have a little fun. He'd been hard as a rock, yet he'd picked her up and carried her back. And he hadn't stayed with her! He'd immediately stomped back to the other room.

"Oh, Bride. I'm sorry. Is he seeing someone else?"

"I don't think so. I mean, he's churlish, like he's not getting any at all. Even from himself, if you know what I mean." She flung herself on the mattress, the beads on her harem costume clinking together. She, Devyn, and Dallas were due to attend the slave auction in just a few hours, something she was both nervous and excited about. Finally, she would meet another vampire. "Plus, he's not the kind to cheat. Yeah, he's a slut, but he's also brutally honest."

"What are you going to do?"

"I've offered to leave. Several times. He just hands me wads of cash and tells me to buy something pretty."

"Do you?" her friend asked with a laugh.

"I horde it, of course. But that's not all he's done. He even bought me a bowl of apples and cherries because I mentioned I liked their smell. I don't understand him!"

"Maybe he doesn't understand himself."

Maybe. "Let's just ... I don't know, let's talk about something else. My blood pressure is rising."

Sadly, the thorns and fire were no longer content in the shadows. They'd reappeared a few days ago, probably because she'd never been so frustrated in her life, and hadn't let up since. Even now she had to rub her breastbone to ease the ache.

"Nolan is still doing well," Macy said. "Hasn't relapsed at all."

"Has he been declared healed?"

"Not yet. AIR had to kill the last doctors who tested him, so no one's willing to volunteer to take his blood this time."

"Understandable."

Downstairs, a door closed. Every muscle in her body stiffened. "I've got to go," she said. "Devyn's back."

Macy's sigh crackled over the line. "You know that I love you, right?”

“Of course. How could you not? I'm amazing."

"Now you sound like him," her friend said with a laugh. "You know that you'll always be in my life, right? No matter what happens to the two of you."

Bride fingered the emerald even now dangling at her throat. "Just as you'll be in mine. I love you, Leah Leah."