It galled him to admit that the woman he was obsessed with—the first woman since his turning who'd meant more to him than a quick meal—thought he was capable of the most heinous act a man could commit.

Em's gaze was burning a hole in the side of his face, but he ignored her. “Sarah made a mistake,” Em said patiently. “She admitted it. But she didn't understand how we do stuff, not then anyway. And as for the rest . . . Raj, my friend, you're one of the best men I know. One of the best people I've ever met. So you're a vampire, so what? So am I. And Sarah's old enough to make her own decision. She's a damn university professor, for God's sake. You have no right to take that choice away from her."

"If she's been touched, I'll destroy everyone in that fucking house,” he snarled.

"I know."

Gino was waiting for them outside, standing in the shadows near the door. He came down off the shallow porch in a bound, meeting them halfway to the street, his gaze resting warily on Raj. Gino was a strong vampire, physically powerful and fearless. But he took one look at the fury on his master's face and dropped to his knees, speaking to the ground. “She's still in there, my lord. Yossi is with her."

Raj grabbed Gino by the front of his jacket and dragged him to his feet. “With her how?"

"Guarding her, my lord,” Gino insisted. “Only watching. The others are—” His eyes widened in fear as Raj drew him closer, fangs fully distended, eyes gleaming an icy blue. “Master,” he squeaked.

Em reached across and grabbed Gino's arm, pulling him out of Raj's reach and tossing him behind her. “This is a waste of time, my lord. We need to get inside.” She gave Raj a shove that no one else would have dared and tried to step in front of him, but he snarled at her, pushing ahead onto the porch and into the house, ignoring Em's protest of, “It might be a trap!"

"Jesus, Em.” Gino's complaint followed him through the door. “You think I'd let him walk into a trap?"

"Just cover our backs,” Em snapped.

It was nearly as dark inside as out. The overhead track lighting had been dimmed until the small bulbs were barely glowing, even to a vampire's vision. The music was loud enough to give the humans a false sense of anonymity in the crowd, but not enough to disturb the neighbors. He heard Gino say from behind him, “Straight ahead, my lord, the back room."

Raj stormed forward, aware of both humans and vampires hurrying to get out of his way, letting the wave of his anger knock aside anyone who didn't move fast enough. Some of the vampires knew him personally; others only recognized the weight of his power. But all of them scattered. One or two of the more ignorant humans objected loudly, their words truncated by a vampire hand clamped over a foolish mouth.

Raj was aware of all of this and none of it, his mind completely occupied with the image of Sarah tucked away in some private room, drunk on the chemical overload of vampire pheromones he could scent clogging the air of the blood house.

He strode down the narrow hallway and into the large back room that had once been someone's family room. It was just as crowded back here, but the humans were more bold, more used to the vampire high. One woman, darkly beautiful and voluptuous, thought to offer herself to Raj. He stared at her, barely comprehending what he was seeing, and then she was gone, yanked away by Em or someone else. He didn't care which, because there was a flash of blond hair through the crowd and a familiar lilt of laughter. He saw thick fingers comb through that hair to grip the back of her neck. And everything else was lost in his roar of challenge.

Raj hit the crowded dance floor like a tornado, tossing bodies out of his way until he reached Sarah. Grabbing her around the waist, he swung her behind him, vaguely aware that Em was there to take her. With the same movement, he thrust his hand toward the vampire who had dared touch her and shoved him halfway across the room to slam into the wall with a loud crack. The vampire was as big as Raj, with long, dark hair that hung in curls around his shoulders and dark eyes burning red with anger, as his prey was stolen from him. He howled his fury and launched himself back to his feet, fangs fully distended, leading with a meaty fist at Raj's jaw. Raj didn't bother to duck, just stepped into the swing, letting the fist hit nothing but air and barely feeling the impact of the vampire's thick arm against his shoulder. Plowing his own fist into his opponent's gut, he seized the vamp's throat and let a hammer wave of power drive him to his knees.

The vampire's eyes bulged in pain and shock when Raj's power hit, when his brain finally registered who was attacking him. Some animal instinct of self-preservation kicked in and a confused whine strained to rise out of his throat, a plea for understanding, for mercy.

"Raj,” Em said behind from him, her voice barely heard above the pounding rage in his head. “My lord,” she shouted, louder this time, and he jerked an irritated growl over his shoulder without letting go of his victim.

"He could not have known, Raj,” Em said intently, and then with greater urgency, “My lord, these are your people."

"Not yet they're not,” he ground out.

"Lord Rajmund!” she demanded, her voice stiff with condemnation.

He stared at the terrified vampire on his knees before him, thinking, after days of playing politics with Krystof and with the cops, how very good it would feel to rip this vampire's throat out, to taste his blood and toss aside his lifeless body as it turned to dust before him. He became aware that the room had grown deadly silent, the humans all gone, hustled away by the few vampires left who could still think rationally in the face of Raj's thundering power. He raised his eyes and scanned the faces of the vampires who remained. Most refused to look at him, their eyes falling away from his stare, some going so far as to drop to one knee in submission. Others were eager, anticipating the feeding frenzy that would follow if Raj killed the dark-haired vampire. He held the gaze of those until every one of them had dropped to their knees, bowing before his greater power.

But there were a few, a very few, who knelt submissively, but who also watched. They knew who he was, knew he was likely to be their next lord, and they were judging him, waiting to see what kind of lord he would be. Raj wanted to howl with frustration.

He looked down at the dark-haired vamp, saw the terror and resignation in his eyes. “Fuck you,” he snarled. He pulled back his power and released the vampire, letting him fall to the floor where he coughed and gasped for air.

"Forgive me, my lord,” he rasped.

Raj spun away and grabbed Sarah from Yossi, who'd been holding her carefully away from his body, making it clear he was a caretaker and nothing more. “Fuck you, too, Em,” Raj snapped as he walked by, hauling Sarah out of the room and down the hallway.

He expected Sarah to struggle, to protest his manhandling, but he hadn't counted on the overload of vampire pheromones or her susceptibility to them. Instead of struggling, she wrapped her arms around his neck and began nuzzling him, rubbing her soft, full breasts against his chest. “Stop it, Sarah,” he muttered, embarrassed on her behalf.

"Raj!” she said in delight, as if just realizing who was holding her. “My very favorite vampire!"

"Christ,” he muttered. He tightened his hold on her, groaning when she gave a little hop and wrapped her legs around his waist. He could feel the heat between her legs against his hip, could smell the familiar scent of her hair, her perfume. His own body, already riding the high of adrenaline, reacted to her presence and he cursed under his breath. He needed to get them both the hell out of this place.

Kent stepped in front of him, falling to one knee. “Forgive me, my lord, I had no idea she was—” His voice was silenced by the icy grip of Raj's power, choking away his breath without a touch.

"You know now, you bastard,” Raj growled and released Kent who sagged nearly to the floor, wheezing harshly. “Em!” Raj roared over his shoulder and stormed out of the house, half carrying Sarah who was now kissing him, soft lips nibbling along his neck, her tongue dipping into his ear and out again.

Striding over to the BMW, he tried to extricate himself from the tangle of her arms and legs without hurting her. She started laughing, as if it was a tremendous game, letting him pull an arm away only to replace it when he moved on to the other one, dropping to her feet obediently when he demanded, and then jumping up again when he reached for the car, forcing him to catch her or let her fall on her ass. He was tempted to do just that, but Emelie and the others had come out of the house and were watching the whole humiliating circus. At least no one else had dared venture outside yet, he thought gratefully.

But while Yossi and Gino were mindful of Raj's earlier rage and kept their faces carefully blank, Em didn't bother to conceal her amusement. “You should at least mark her if you're going to go all caveman like this, my lord,” she commented.

"Yeah, Raj,” Sarah chimed in. “You should at least—” Her words cut off with a high-pitched yip as Raj picked her up and threw her into his car.

Em stifled a laugh, but Raj was not amused and let her know it. “I'll see you tomorrow night,” he said coldly. “At the warehouse."

Em sobered immediately, seeming to realize for the first time how angry he still was. “Raj,” she said, touching his arm. “Maybe you should let me . . ."

He looked down at her hand and lifted a cold blue gaze to her face. “Do you think I'll hurt her, Emelie?"

Em jerked her hand back and her mouth tightened briefly. “No,” she said.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow."

He slammed into the car, pulling the door shut behind him. “Put on your seatbelt,” he ordered Sarah.

"Maybe I don't want—"

"Put on the fucking seatbelt or I'll do it for you, and we both know I can."

Sarah stuck her tongue out at him and shoved the buckle closed, sitting silently, arms crossed, as Raj roared away from the blood house, his tires spitting dirt from the roadside.