3. James

JAMES

The moment I laid eyes on Rose, standing on her doorstep in a blood red dress that floated around her like a fucking dream, the universe tilted in a whole new direction. One that I was ill prepared for.

Which really pissed me off. This was no ordinary escort mission. A whole other set of rules would need to be applied to deal with this dressmaker and her humanity that I should have better prepared for. That was a mistake I wouldn’t be making again.

I’d done what research I could on her and her known associates to make sure she had no connections to the threats to Mary O., the Royal Immortals in general, or the vampire hunters plaguing my kind for thousands of years. As far as I could tell in the short amount of time I had to dig into her and her past, she had no knowledge of the supernatural world. She hadn’t even crossed paths with the dragons, wolves, or witches we kept tabs on in her area.

As soon as our eyes met, her very presence overwhelmed my senses. The scent of deep, rich, chocolate filled my nostrils, causing an almost unbearable surge of conflicting emotions. Need, hunger, and yet also intense protectiveness. It was impossible that she was a mere human with no Immortal or other supernatural ancestry, yet her captivating aura was undeniable. She was magical, without having access to a single bit of magic, elemental or otherwise.

She was utterly and simply human.

And I was a vampire.

She was prey.

I ignored every cell in my body and smiled politely.

Her intense gaze held mine as if she could see straight through me. I straightened my posture and extended my hand to her, getting on with the mission in the way I’d been instructed. Professional and nothing more. “Rose, I presume? I’m James. Mary O. sent me to fetch you. Pleasure to meet you.”

She took my hand, and an electric sensation ran up my arm, leaving me stunned for a moment. Surely, she must have felt that too, but her expression remained courteous and businesslike, if a little curious. “Likewise. I’m excited about our journey to a real live castle so I can design a dress for the mysterious Mary O.”

“Indeed,” I replied, my eyes never leaving hers. “Ready to go? Can I take your bags?”

“I’m ready. Please, come in and I’ll grab my stuff.” Rose gestured for me to enter her home, completely unaware that the monster within me needed her invitation into her domain. It had been a long time since I’d interacted with a human anywhere that wasn’t public, on Immortal Royal property, or my own turf.

I opened up all my senses, putting myself on high alert, and stepped across her threshold. The world around me filled with more color, more scents, more everything than I’d experienced in the last five-hundred years combined. The air was thick with the sweetness of dark, decadent dessert—a combination of sugar and spice that tickled my nose and made my lips turn up into a predatory smile. I licked my lips instinctually. My fangs dropped, prepared to take my prey down and drink the most decadent flavor of her blood.

My nostrils flared seeking out this tasty treat awaiting me, until I realized it was her.

Rose’s scent, her mere presence, was intoxicating. I found myself wanting to drink her in like sweet nectar. I hadn’t been hungry five minutes ago, and now I was dying for a drink of blood.

No, not just blood. Her blood. Only her blood.

I averted my eyes so she wouldn’t see them darken and go red with need. For her.

It took me a full breath to retract my fangs so she wouldn’t see what a danger to her I could be. What was I, fucking eighteen years old, needing restraint so that an innocent mortal didn’t find out who and what I was? First Vampire save me.

“Thank you,” I said, moving past her and trying to focus on the task at hand. I was no young and inexperienced vampire who couldn’t control his cravings. I hadn’t been hit with need this deep since I was less than a century old and still fighting for control of the beast I was born to be.

This journey was no longer solely about protecting her. Starting right now, it was about resisting the temptation that would slowly consume me.

“Is everything alright?” she asked. Her body radiated warmth like a roaring fire on a frigid night.

The perfect antidote for my cold, immortal lack of a soul.

“Fine.” If I didn’t quickly regain my composure, she’d either think I was a dumbass, or suspect me for what I truly was.

“Ooh, somebody is fine indeed. Dude is straight out of one of your sketches, and that accent. Yum.” A young man, who smelled of absolute shite, joined us and looked me up and down.

From my research I knew him to be a longtime associate of hers, and her current business manager. He handed her a leather bag with a stylized R embroidered on the side, and matching rolling suitcase. “Good thing, I threw your, uh, thing we talked about, into your bag for you. You’re gonna either need it, or well, either way, I hope it gets some good use.”

“Shut. Up. Jorge,” Rose said out of the side of her mouth and smiled at me. But I did not miss the way a blush rose up her throat and cheeks, turning her skin a delightful shade of pink.

Jorge looked between the two of us and grinned like an oracle with more secrets. If he didn’t stink so bad, I’d eat him right here on the spot.

I scrambled for some kind of distraction. Something. Anything. “You have a lovely home, Rose.”

At my innocuous compliment, Rose’s heartbeat sped up. I could hear every damn beat calling to me. My fangs ached.

She looked around the room, her eyes lingering on a bookshelf filled with not just leather-bound volumes, but interesting items in between. “I got to spend a little bit of time and money lately finding just the right pieces from around the world to inspire me and my work.”

She had art and books that could have adorned the walls of royalty. Ironic that.

“Your passion for history is evident,” I said, noticing the titles of the countless biographies lining her shelves of people she knew as dead royalty, but who were in fact, my charges to guard and protect for all eternity.

We should absolutely be leaving her home and getting her on the way to Scotland and out of my charge as soon as possible. Yet here I was, chatting her up.

“I’m a bit of a history buff myself.” If you counted actually living through the history she liked to read about. I was going to have to warn Princess Diana to update her look and even keep out of sight if she could. She hated these parties anyway, so maybe the VIA could convince her not to come at all. But probably not. The Council of Princesses did tend to stick together.

Even if Rose was an anglophile and history buff, it wasn’t like she would recognize anyone.

Even the recently deceased Queen Elizabeth who’d decided she liked herself around the age of twenty-years old. A bit young if you asked me, but she had been quite wrinkly when she’d faked her death and finally retired to take her place among the Immortal Royals.

I thought she’d never give up the ghost. Charles hadn’t either.

Most of the Royal Immortals chose to look around the modern equivalent of their mid-twenties to thirties. It wasn’t like any ordinary human would recognize them in jeans and jumpers rather than gowns and codpieces.

“Really?” Her eyes lit up and I was so dead.

That smile would haunt me the rest of my life for its beauty.

“I suppose we’ll have time to chat about that on the trip?” Her eyes lingered on me, yet she maintained a respectful distance. That was good. Incredibly good. The farther away I stayed from her scent, her heat, her beauty, the better.

But what the fuck was I going to do when she was mere inches from me in the car?

Be a professional. That’s what. She was a human and couldn’t know about vampires or the Immortal Royals, and so she was completely off limits.

Except to bed.

There were no rules about getting her naked, under me, and screaming my name as I made her come on my cock. Not as long as I made sure she didn’t remember me afterwards.

No. No. I wasn’t here to fuck her, and I certainly wasn’t here to drink her blood and make her mine. I was here to escort her into a world of supernatural danger, protect her for her brief stay, and then return her home, untouched.

It would be easy to manipulate her memories though. We could have our way with each other, and she’d be none the wiser.

Bollocks. What the hell was wrong with me? Sure, I’d bedded many a beautiful human, even taken blood from some of my lovers because we both enjoyed it when I did, and then gave them memories of sweet dreams and nothing more.

I wasn’t a fucking saint. My absent soul was evidence of that. But I was only a monster when I had to be. Dammit, why had Mary and Gabriel picked me for this mission? I would have happily remained unaware of this adorable American’s entire existence if somebody didn’t need a new fucking frock.

I cleared my throat and gestured back toward the door. “Shall we go?”

“Yep. I’m really excited to meet this Mary who sends hot bodyguards to—” she looked between me and Jorge with her mouth hanging open. “I’m blaming you for putting inappropriate thoughts into my head, Jorge. Just for that, you’re on plant watering duty while I’m gone.”

Jorge saluted us both with that damn grin. “You don’t have any live plants. Now you two crazy kids get out of here, and Rose, have fun storming the castle.”

“Ooh. You.” She did not finish that sentence, but grabbed her bags and stomped to the door and held it open for me to follow.

I took the luggage from her and shut the door on her giggling, stinky friend.

When we entered the lift, I could finally breathe again. Even if every inhalation was heavy with her sweet scent. I counted the floors as we descended, telling myself I absolutely would not push that hold button to stop us long enough for me to press her up against the back wall, wrap her legs around my waist, and fuck us both blind.

“Have you known Mary O. for long?”

That put a damper on my libido. Thank fuck.

“Quite some time.” My lips curled down into a small frown of their own accord, thinking about how Rose had no idea I meant literally hundreds of years. I had to forcibly reshape them into an undistinctive form. “She is... unique, to say the least.”

“Unique. Right. Can’t wait to meet her.” She said that with genuine excitement that took me a little aback. It had been a long time since anyone I knew was happy to be in the presence of someone so demanding and downright bratty.

“Believe me, Rose, she has been eager for someone with your talent to design for her again.”

The last was a French modiste who’d ended up in Henry VIII’s bed, as so many, many women were wont to do.

Even the idea of Henry glancing at Rose had me clenching my teeth to hold back the red creeping into my vision. I’d kill him if he so much as touched her. The Immortal Royal’s weaknesses would make it so easy to end his existence in the blink of an eye.

He might not age, or get sick, but I could slice off his head before he could say Church of England.

Except it was my sworn duty to keep the Royal Immortals alive and safe from harm. Even an ass like Henry. I just have to keep Rose well away from him because there was no way I was joining the ranks of the dark vampires who’d lost their way and weren’t welcomed into supernatural society.

Bloody hell. Even the mere intrusion of thoughts like these were an unbelievably bad sign. The second we got to English soil, I was recusing myself from this mission. Gabriel could put the newb on this duty. What was his name? The one who’d ended up in the mud with the Baskerville’s hound. Barely a hundred years old, and eager to make his mark in VIA.

This wasn’t a matter of Immortal security. He could handle babysitting a human woman for a week while she made a dress.

Rage boiled in my throat. Again. The idea of the newb anywhere near Rose, and I was right back to seeing literal red. Fuck. Fuck a little rubber duck.

“You sure you’re okay there, James? Sorry about what Jorge said back there. He’s just being a butthead. I promise I am a solid professional and won’t compromise—”

“Please accept my sincerest apology for making you think you’ve been anything less than perf... professional. I am merely concentrating on your safety.”

“Oh. Umm. I’m not in any danger, am I?”

She had no idea.