Title: Midnight Love
Author: Icebyrd67
Type: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes Fiction
Book: Midnight Predator
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimer: All rights belong to Amelia-Atwater-Rhodes. I'm just borrowing her world and characters. Unknown characters are mine.
Chapter Three
Jaguar reached over and effortlessly pulled the shackles from each of the girls' arms. Their legs had been freed earlier. The girls whimpered in fright, cowering behind Dani, who stood tall.
Jaguar walked around the group in another silent inspection. Dani kept her 'master' in sight for as long as possible without turning her head. Finally, he paused in front of them.
"Names?" he seemed satisfied with them.
"Amy."
"Lena."
"Jazmyna"
"Danica Kennan." Dani stared straight into his eyes, egging him to do something about it. Jaguar chuckled.
"I only have a few rules here. As long as you finish your work, you can go anywhere in the building. But I strongly suggest you stay away from the west wing unless you plan on blood letting. Outside of that, a locked door means you aren't welcomed. I enjoy intelligent conversation. If you annoy me, I'll just tell you to shut up. Around others of my kind, hold your tongue, kneel, and address them as 'milady' or 'milord'. I don't like all of that, so Jaguar is just fine. Just follow orders and stay out of trouble. Understand?"
"Yes, sir." The girls chorused. Dani only continued to stare.
"Eric will find you all something to do." Jaguar gestured to the boy in the corner. He couldn't have been much younger than the girls. Probably sixteen from what Dani could tell. "Dismissed. All of you. Except for Danica." Eric bowed and led the three human girls from the room.
"Be careful." Danica called after the girls. Amy and Lena both looked back at her with a scared smile.
"You too." Jazmyna answered, giving her a shaky thumbs up.
"Don't touch me." Danica hissed when Jaguar came up behind her. He only chuckled and backed away.
"Have a seat." He gestured to the open chairs in front of his desk. She glared at him before sinking into one of the leather armchairs. "You don't like me." He stated without a questioning tone. He was quite amused by her.
"You've noticed?" Her voice dripped with hatred. He laughed again.
"You remind me of Audra." She glanced at him but said nothing more. "What did you do to get yourself in this situation?"
"You tell me, you jackass. You're the ass-fuck who bought me." She snarled. He just grinned.
"Exactly like Audra in her moods." Jaguar stood and walked to the door, opposite of the one she had entered earlier. "Come on. I want to show you something. I think you'd like it." She glared at his back as he left the room. Are you coming, Danica?
Dani snarled, baring her teeth, but she stood and followed out the door, struggling to remove his voice from her head.
Jaguar led her through a small maze of halls before stopping at one with powerful magical elements. Dani sucked her breath, feeling the magic radiate from the room behind the door. Jaguar glanced at her before sliding a key from his pocket into the lock.
Dani gasped as the true, unhidden magical elements slid in and out of her effortlessly. The room was filled with books beyond books of the most magical background. Crystals, herbs, the essentials of all the spells and potions were scattered around the room.
"You like it, then?" Jaguar asked, grinning at the expression on her face. Dani turned to face him, completely forgetting who he was and what had just happened. It was like an early Christmas for her.
"It's wonderful!" she ran to give him a hug. Jaguar took her into a warm embrace and placed his lips carefully on her lips. His kiss grew passionate, demanding, and yet gentle before Dani could react. She opened herself to his kiss and then suddenly remembered who he was. She shoved him away. "Don't touch me." She hissed.
"Dani..." He grabbed her wrist. She twisted her arm and slid from his grasp.
"I said not to touch me." Her voice was precariously close to breaking. Jaguar looked at her for a moment before inclining his head.
"Alright." He stepped away from her. She turned her back to him, even though all the training she had warned her from this. She heard him moving towards the table by the wall and heard the clink of something. "I'll just leave you here. You're welcome here at anytime. But I have to warn you the only way here is through my office. If you can't find it, just ask Eric or the guards."
Dani took a deep breath and listened to the sounds of his retreating steps. She couldn't quite figure out what had happened. She never let her guard down around a bloodsucker but today she did. Dani curse and punched the wall, hearing the crack of her hand, breaking. She swore again.
"I'll take you to the infirmary." Eric walked into the room. "Jaguar told me to look after you."
"I don't need to be looked after." Dani snapped, rummaging through a basket of crystals and rocks with her unhurt hand. She pulled out a large piece of rose quartz and held it in her broken hand. Concentrating, she pulled the magical healing powers for the fully charged stone into her hand. She could hear the bones snapping back into place. She sighed at the final pop of relief.
"That sounded horrible." Eric commented. "And you shouldn't hate Jaguar so much. You could have been sold to much worse. Jashickah, for instance. If she were still alive, that is. Or Gabriel could have taken you. He has this thing for women willing to kill him. He actually owns the leader of the Crimson Bruja."
"I don't care."
"Or Kestral could have kept you for himself. I'm just saying, there's worse than Jaguar. As long as you're his, he'll take care of you. Keep you clean and warm and fed. And he won't bleed you against your will."
"It doesn't mean he isn't a leech. What makes you think he won't just kill you one day when he gets pissed?"
"He hasn't yet. I've been with him since I was eleven. I'm eighteen now. I have never seen him kill. Not even when Audra left him. That did not please him at all. Especially when he found out she left him for her old life, before she was taken into the slave world. He moped and brooded and was furious and even killed a few vampires dumb enough to bother him, but has never killed a human since I've been with him."
"Good for him, but it doesn't mean he hasn't killed before."
"You made him happy today. I know you let him into your mind. I saw that look on his face. He was happy. Truly happy."
"He hasn't been in my mind." Dani snapped, glaring at Eric. The boy just smiled and opened the door for her.
"I know you're hungry. Come on. I'll show you around."
Eric showed her the floors and about the rest of the rooms, telling her where and where not to go. Who and who not to bother. He made sure she knew the ropes.
"Jaguar asked me to put you in the Amethyst Room. He said it would bring out your violet eyes. And it's close to the magic room. That room's not named, if you want to name it."
"I'll think about it."
"Good. Because that's where you'll be spending most of your time, from what I can tell. Jaguar gives you no chores or work. He only wants you to enjoy yourself and study the magic books. And he wants you to join him for the sunrise meal."
"Tell him to eat himself. I'm not letting him bleed me."
"He wasn't. He actually wanted to make you dinner. He sent me to town for marinara sauce and cheese, so I'm assuming its gonna be Italian."
"Fine. Whatever. If he touches me, I'll knife him." Eric only smiled.
"This is the Amethyst Room. It's not that brilliantly decorated like the other rooms for guests, but I think you'll like it." She walked into the room with no real expectations, and was met with complete and total beauty.
The room lived up to its name, using the color purple as its main theme. All the furniture was of a deep mahogany red; so deep it was close to purple. On the wall facing the door, Bookcases were built in, covering the entire span, all of which were filled to capacity of books of all nature. The bookcases stood about six feet high, over which there was a half-floor. Stairs leading to the area over the bookcases were located to the right of all the books. The area above the cases, however, was large than the depth of the cases. On that floor were large glass doors, which lead into a beautiful balcony overlooking the courtyard that no one was allowed in. On the floor was also a nice area for her to take her tea, should she be interested. On the main floor, in the center of the room, stood a large canopy bed, with gauzy purples and lavenders as the curtains. Across from the foot of the bed, was a large fireplace with a desk to the left and a couch and armchair to the right. A door to the left of the head of the bed led into a large closet, filled with clothing that Danica found were all to her size. The closet was behind the bookcases and accounted for the expansive half-floor. To the left of the bed, the door led into a big bathroom, complete with a sunken bathtub, so deep that there was a step on the inside.
"I take it you like the room?" Eric asked, watching her wide-eyes.
"Yes. And you say it isn't that lavish? What do the other rooms look like?"
"Bigger, with things that vampires like." Eric didn't offer to expand his explanation. Danica nodded.
"Where are the other girls? The ones I came with?"
"In the room next to Katie. She'll take care of them. If you want, you can always visit them."