A Midnight Rose Ch. 06

Her breath came out in one husky gasp that was cut short by the burning in her vampire's glittering eyes.

She saw no jovial blue in their depths. It was as if Philippe's pupils had completely dominated the iris, overpowering the boyish azure with dominating, impenetrable black. In these onyx mirrors Mina saw reflected her own need, her own passion, and her own desire.

And in that moment of confusion, her animal took over.

She felt the surge of power course through her veins, not quite enough for her to shift but enough to suppress any misgivings she had for her intolerable mate.

Her thighs slid up to lock around his trim waist, releasing the strain he must have felt holding her full weight up against the wall. His fiery anger faltered slightly, a flash of sky bursting through the darkness. Her tigress growled. She did not want his uncertainty! She wanted his pure, unbridled masculinity, his rampant rage and his dominance. She wanted him to show her that he was a suitable mate for one of the last remaining white tigers to walk this earth.

There was not one logical thought that flew through Philippe's mind. For the first time away from the battlefield or the sparring arena, he had allowed his feral side to take dominance and that egoistical side of him preened knowing that his woman was reacting well to him.

He bit back another snarl as he felt her silken thighs glide up his own tense ones and clasp strongly at his hips. He could feel the heat radiating from her core through the scarcely-there fabric of her underwear as it pressed up against him.

For a moment, they could only stare at each other. But it was only a split second.

With unrivalled vampire speed Philippe captured Mina's softly parted lips with ruthless enthusiasm. Parting them with his tongue, he sought entrance to her hot recesses, teasing along the slit of her lips with surprisingly playful licks.

Mina's breath was coming in short, sharp pants as he continued to ravage her mouth with his, taking absolutely no prisoners. Her hips began to move with a mind of their own, slowly but surely grinding up against his rock-hard bulge that strained against his jeans.

Philippe groaned deep in his throat as he felt her press repeatedly against his cock, only further fuelling his erection which was coming increasingly more painful. His hips too began to rock to meet hers, their movements only restricted by the clothes that both of them wore.

Relinquishing her swollen, pink lips Philippe left a trail of fiery kisses along the side of her lily-white neck, pausing to suck gently and lick between each peck.

She had to bite her lip to keep from crying out in pleasure. Her skin felt like it was burning wherever his lips touched. Her thighs clenched even tighter with each suckle at the delicate skin that concealed the thick veins of her neck, each nip eliciting an even more strained gasp.

Her mind was completely clouded and overpowered by the sheer power of this man. His filled her senses, sending the beast in her into frenzy. Hearing the joints of her knuckles pop as her claws extended, digging into the fabric covering the vampire's back however, jolted something deep in Mina's brain.

Her human side surged forward; all at once aware of what was happening. And boy was she pissed.

Philippe dimly noted that Mina had stiffened. Lifting his head, with some difficultly, from her gorgeous neck, he began to open his mouth when all of a sudden something collided with a sharp crack against his cheek.

Mina had put all of her power into that one slap and noted with fierce pride that a bruise started to spring up almost instantly. Philippe, to his credit, said nothing; he just stared back at her.

They were both breathing hard. Mina still had her legs entwined around him and Philippe's hands were in very compromising positions on the globes of her ass.

She instantly loosened her legs so that they dropped from his waist, hoping to stand on her own two feet. Unfortunately, given the vampire's height, Mina was still unable to touch the floor; Philippe was holding all of her weight on his arms.

"Put me down. Now," she seethed quietly.

Philippe knew when to make a tactful retreat and set her down without much hesitation. He had seen first hand Mina's tiger incisors and didn't particularly want to feel their wrath.

"Leave please," she whispered threateningly. She expected the vampire to make a fuss instantly but was surprised again when he started to retreat silently.

He passed a hand over his face, sighing quietly in a sound so dejected that Mina's resolve almost crumpled. When Philippe met her eyes again it tore her apart to see the sadness there.

She almost opened her mouth to apologise, to kiss away the tears that looked like they would fall. Instead she just watched him leave, her eyes boring holes into his shoulder blades as he vanished from sight.

Only when he had left did Mina sag slowly to the floor feeling so utterly drained that it even hurt just to lift her head. Her beast, for all that it wanted to preen, had retreated far, far into the recesses of her mind.

She felt trapped.

The ornate walls and plush carpets, that once had impressed her with all their finery now just appeared to be a glorified prison; claustrophobia does not discriminate between the rich and the poor.

For the first time since her childhood, Mina Sunshine felt the hot, wet sting of tears on her cheeks and vowed, to the backdrop of mournful roars from a distraught animal, never to let her guard down again.

***

It took Rowan far too long to find her friend's room. Getting lost in a mansion can of course be fun for those with carefree spirits but for Rowan, it had simply fuelled her anger.

She had snarled quite viciously at a group of teenagers who had been 'chilling' in the kitchen in a way that only the youth can, for directions after a good twenty minutes of mindless ambling. It had crossed her mind that it was a miracle she had not run into Luke yet before she remembered that her illustrious lord had more pressing work matters to attend to; like running his domain.

At last, a seething Rowan came across the right chambers and tersely thanking the terrified were-cat that had lead her there, she marched straight into the chambers

Had she been in a calmer mood, she would have noticed that the door was not in fact attached to the hinges as hung rather limply from the frame in two jagged pieces. As it was, Rowan was so consumed in her own thoughts that she had simply walked straight past it.

She was greeted by a similarly disgruntled looking Mina.

"Time to leave?" they said simultaneously.

The hilarity of their unified train of thought broke the ice somewhat and both the woman found themselves able to relax into smiles- if a little begrudgingly.

"Do you think that when some divine power created men," Rowan grumbled, flouncing into the room to flop ungracefully onto the bed, "That they programmed them to be complete assholes?"

Mina rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it," she sighed, curling up on the crumpled sheets next to her fuming friend.

Rowan was not finished with her rant. Irritation rolled off of her in palpable waves as she launched into a tirade that almost set Mina's head spinning.

"What is it about a man that gives them this overbearing, masculine need to constantly 'protect' women like they are fragile china dolls? I mean why in hell can he not just be straight with me?" Mina noticed the shift in pronoun instantly.

"What has Luke done?" she asked gently, trying not to jump to too many conclusions about the man that she had grown to like.

Rowan exploded. "He fucking knows something about what is inside me and yet he won't even fucking tell me! Fuck me, if I want to get a single sliver of information out of that goddamn man I have to eavesdrop on his conversations! Me, I have to eavesdrop on my own fucking mate! That just isn't how a relationship with someone works," she managed to gasp out.

Her hands, which had been flailing around in the air illustrating all her points, snapped out and grabbed a velvet pillow which she proceeded to scream into with surprising ferocity.

Mina wordlessly drew her friend into an embrace and for a while the two women just lay there on the enormous bed in silence. Before long, the blonde could feel minute tremors racing down the spine of the bigger woman and she could hear the quiet sniffles that accompanied tears.

"Shh," she soothed, feeling a little guilty that her friend's relationship she anguish made her feel a little better about hers, "It's okay. I think we just need to get away for a bit. All this close proximity and how fast everything is moving has just put you on edge I think."

Rowan raised her head to give Mina a wan smile through her tears. Given the redness of her skin, the were almost failed to notice her eyes but even then it did not take her long to spot the change.

"What the fuck are they?" she asked breathlessly, sitting up so that she could grasp the sides of Rowan's face to get a better look. The other woman still had to stay lying down given Mina's insubstantial height.

"Oh," Rowan sniffed, "Those are new. They link to as to why I'm so angry. Luke got Philippe to find out some information on what could be happening to me, which is great, I think we all would like to know," she sighed for a moment, pausing to dry her eyes with the pads of her thumbs, "Unfortunately, Luke didn't see fit to impart me with his newly gained knowledge. Perhaps he thought it would unnecessarily worry me."

By now they were both sat crossed legged amongst the sheets like two teenaged girls: Mina listened whilst Rowan told the story.

"What did they find?" the blonde whispered, almost afraid to interrupt Rowan's tale.

The latter snorted angrily. "Philippe believes that I am the reincarnation of some ancient vampire queen; Elaine or something."

"You say that like it's an everyday occurrence!" Mina spluttered indignantly.

"I know it's not, I know," Rowan said hastily, "and in truth, it terrifies me that I might be a vessel to some great, untapped power. But what is even more terrifying that even early on, Luke doesn't care to explain this new found knowledge to me."

Mina pondered for a moment. "Perhaps he didn't want to scare you; you said yourself that this whole experience is terrifying."

Rowan nodded slowly, "I know, I understand why he would want to but at the same time, I feel ashamed that he doesn't think me strong enough to overcome that fear; or at least to face it. I would rather know and overcome a fear than not know and be constantly worrying about what it could be, you know?"

Mina smiled sadly. If only things were simple, she thought.

For a second, silence reigned, where the only sound was the occasional creak of the furniture as one or the other shifted their weight on the dense and comfortable mattress.

"What happened to you Cub?" Rowan asked softly using a term of endearment that stemmed right back to the first time Mina shifted.

The latter had to bite the inside of her cheek as she recalled her previous visitor. She shook her head dejectedly to clear the image that threatened to break down the shaky barriers she had managed to erect.

"Philippe," she said simply, "The man is going to be the death of me."

This time it was Rowan to envelop the blonde in her arms, sensing in a way that only best friends can, the internal struggle that plagued Mina.

"He kissed you didn't he?" she asked the were softly.

Mina frowned delicately. "How did you know?"

Rowan laughed, the sound breaking some of the anger that had permeated the atmosphere in the room.

"Cub, it is written all over your face. I know you far too well. Let me guess: he kissed you, you lost control and kissed him back, now you hate yourself because you have told yourself that Philippe cannot possibly be your mate and that you would never let your guard down and right now, at this very moment, you are probably beating yourself up that you let your beast win."

For a moment Mina hated the fact that Rowan knew pretty much everything there was to know about her. She was impressed but nonetheless disgruntled by how easy it had been for Rowan to read her, but then again, what were best friends for?

The pint sized woman smiled wryly. "Sometimes I wonder whether you can read my mind."

Rowan simply laughed and gathered her friend into a fierce hug. She knew that Mina would not elaborate on what had happened unless she really wanted to and Rowan felt that for now, the were simply wanted to be consoled.

Stroking Mina's soft, blonde waves absent-mindedly, Rowan murmured, "We need to get out of here don't we."

Mina drew back slightly. She looked into her friend's strange, ringed eyes and saw the need to escape engrained into them. Both of the women wanted out of this strange world that they had found themselves inexorably drawn into; a world of overbearing mates and overactive long-dead vampire spirits.

It did not take long for the women to gather up what little personal belongings they had brought with them; after all Luke had pretty much decided to buy them a completely new set of personal belongings anyway. It seemed that the vampire lord was sure that his new mate was now at his mansion to stay and that she would never wish to return to the little apartment she shared with Mina across town.

He had clearly misjudged his fiery woman.

As Mina stuffed a few items of clothing into a bag, she sneaked a peak at her friend through the strands of hair that had fallen over her face. The dark-haired woman's face looked as if it was made of stone; hard and clinical as she moved about the room in a monotonous manner, helping Mina to collect her meagre items.

Rowan herself felt far from calm however. She knew that she had to leave; she missed her tiny little flat more than she let on. It might not be able to hold a candle to the grandeur of Luke's castle (as she liked to think of it) but it was hers and it was home.

The mansion was just saturated with Luke's presence. Even in Mina's suite, she could feel his waves of masculinity and power seeping through the walls; it was enough to make her skin crawl.

But, there was a part of her that almost felt bereft. Rowan had grown used to Luke. She felt that, besides having only known him a short length of time, she had really begun to love him. In a way, that scared her even more.

"I have issues don't I?" she asked out of the blue, seemingly to no one. Mina however, took it in her stride: "Yes my love, but you have the same issues that pretty much every other woman in the world has had at least at one point in their lives."

And with that they were gone, vanishing from the madness that had filled their lives from the moment that they had entered this place, leaving only their cloying scent of perfume and a whole load of male confusion.

***

"Well? Did they agree to our demands?" Michael asked the dim room quietly.

The shuffling in one corner increased in intensity as his contact moved into the light. He was a loathsome creature, permanently seeking praise from his superiors, quite happy and ready to live his life with his head stuck up another's ass. To top it off, he smelt worse than public toilet.

But to Michael, he had so far proved his worth. He had had the younger vampire watch the address of the human girl; he had had him follow all possible leads. Most importantly of all; the insipid man had found him a betrayer, right at the heart of all the action.

It had not taken Michael long to find someone who had the means with which to be blackmailed. After all, everybody has something that they would sacrifice everything for: money, power, family, you name it. It was just a matter of finding the right one. Thankfully for his plans, he had.

Michael found himself in a truly delicious position. He had someone feeding him information, trusted information, right from the heart of Luke Phillips's mansion; no mean feat, even if he did say so himself.

He had learned that the human girl was staying with the vampire lord for the time being and that she had a friend with her. He had learned that the human was experiencing several supernatural side effects of being a vessel for such a powerful spirit; it was just too gorgeous to bear.

The shadow in the corner scuffled about again. "Well?" he asked again chillingly. The shadow moved forward into the watery light. The other vampire had a smile on his face, showing off his impressive collection of toothy gaps.

"Yessir," he rasped," They'll continue t'feed us info, but they beg of ya not t'hurt nobody." Michael chuckled evilly; didn't they all?

"Anything else?" he commanded confidently.

"Yessir, they said tha' them girls ain't been happy recently and that they just ran off 'ome. Them left the fancy 'ouse last night."

Michael had to resist the urge to start laughing. It was just too perfect! He had been beginning to become concerned that his target seemed to have holed herself up in one of the single most impenetrable houses on the East coast but now... he laughed. Mansions were difficult, but tiny two bedroom apartment were a walk in the park.

Without breathing a word, he strode from the meeting room, already shifting through the items he needed in his mind, making a mental list.

"Allaine my darling," he whispered to himself, "It's time I made a little visit..."

***

Rowan breathed an almost tangible sigh of relief as soon as her key slotted into the lock and the creaking door to her apartment swung open. She was home.

Mina and she had fled the sprawling mansion of Luke Phillips as silently as they could in order to escape the sheer tension that had been building up in the house for days. Now that she was home and a bit calmer, Rowan was able to feel ever so slightly guilty at leaving without even a word of goodbye to her mate; her heart gave a tiny tug in protest.

From the look on Mina's face, she too looked as if she was feeling a bit guilty.

"Perhaps we should have left a note or something," Rowan voiced their concerns.

The tiny blonde looked pensive for a moment and then shook her head as if to clear the cobwebs. "Look, don't get soft on me now; they have to know that what they did was wrong."

Her friend was silent for a moment; she appeared to be thinking. And then she nodded decisively; it might go against everything her heart was telling her but she knew deep down that this was necessary for the survival of her relationship. How was it meant to last eternity if they couldn't even make it a week or so without a hitch?

Rowan breathed in deeply, absorbing the homely, rich smell that permeated the apartment. It was so familiar to her, so recognisable; it was that smell of home. Most people thought it was a mixture between the smell of burnt toast (very likely given Mina's propensity to massacre all food products with kitchen utensils) and a hint of some flower. Rowan knew that flowery smell to be that of roses; rarely was the place without a bunch of those beautiful, regal plants on the table.

No matter how bad she felt, returning home was like a cool balm on a fevered brow. It was instant relief, like she could face up to all her demons here in this safe, secure environment. Looking across at Mina, who had colonised the sofa in her usual feline manner, Rowan could see that the petite woman had her eyes closed peacefully and was also breathing deeply. She knew that Mina felt the same; in this place, it was possible to conquer everything.

Suddenly an odd sound, a cross between a snuffle, a purr and a snore, filled the silence that had fallen in the living room. Mina had fallen asleep.