He smelled of horse and gunpowder and masculine sweat. She realized that in contrast, Vellum had smelled of cool earth and little else.
She felt Clay kiss her temple. The desire welled in her to surrender to his strength and allow him to take care of her. He wanted to. She sensed it from him like a yearning, as though he felt he was half a man if he couldn't be her strong protector.
She tilted her head back to look up at Clay and admired the firm line of his jaw as he warily watched Vellum. Without thinking about the consequences of it, she reached up and cupped his cheek, drawing his surprised gaze.
"Please stay alive with me," she whispered. She stroked along his stubble-covered jaw. "Please don't leave me alone."
Frustration shaded his eyes for a moment but it dissolved behind a firm determination. "We'll both stay alive." He turned his face slightly, until his lips found the center of her palm.
His lips were warm as Vellum's had been, and slightly chapped, but all the more human for that. He kissed her palm as he held her gaze. There was more than a promise to keep her alive in that gaze.
"When we're together in Everton, I'm pampering you," he told her in a low voice. "A night at a show and the best dinner in the fort. And I'll buy you a dress to wear for the occasion. Something made of velvet, not this gingham."
"Fear turns you into a romantic," she teased, but she was thrilled by the words. She believed that Clay meant them. Lord, I hope I survive this so we can do as he's promised.
As if he'd heard her thoughts, Clay looked to Vellum. The vampire stood eerily motionless beside his horse, moonlight casting part of his face in shadow. But it was clear that he watched them like a hawk might watch a pair of rabbits. Rather than the fear she knew she should feel, Mariel shivered for an altogether different reason. A fleeting fantasy of Vellum storming up to her and tearing the bosom of her dress open made her heartbeat leap. But the fantasy didn't end there: in it, Vellum seized Clay by the back of the neck and forced the handsome Marshal's face against her bared breasts, where Clay's tongue curled delicately around a nipple.
Shocked by her thoughts, she was rougher than she intended in breaking from Clay's embrace and pushing him away from her.
He frowned at her behavior but only for a moment. His attention was all for Vellum. "When do you intend on feeding from us?"
"No need. I've fed well tonight."
"Beaufort's men?" Clay asked sharply.
Mariel held her breath in dread. How would Clay react to the news that Vellum had fed from her? She was afraid the last of his already thin restraint would snap.
"Turns out they were good for something," Vellum agreed amiably.
Mariel released her breath in relief, though she studied Vellum thoughtfully. He seemed willing to keep their previous contact a secret. Why? For her sake or for the sake of peace among the three of them? Or had what they'd done registered hardly at all for the vampire? Perhaps he was like Clay in that way, a regular seducer of women. The Marshal surely wouldn't find it too amusing to share that in common with a vampire.
"Come along," Vellum said before he mounted his horse. "We have miles to go before the sun rises."
Disconcerted by a feeling that the vampire was only playing with her and Clay, Mariel mounted and rode out. The slithering sound of Vellum's coffin-sleeping crate accompanied them.
~~~~~
It was still dark when Vellum announced they would set up camp, but Clay assumed that the vampire, like he himself, had an innate sense of when the sun would rise.
Vellum had stopped them beside a small butte where there were numerous hollowed out crags on its north face to provide a decent degree of shade for all three of them. Clay didn't offer to help as the other male unhitched the crate and positioned it deep into the side of the butte so it would be shaded no matter which way the sun traveled. Clay's help wasn't needed anyway; the vampire had the strength of at least three men, which didn't alleviate Clay's concerns in the slightest.
He glanced askance at Mariel, but she only watched the vampire's preparations with interest. No hint of fear showed on her beautiful face, and Clay had to wonder if she was too ignorant to realize she should be afraid…or if she knew more than he did.
The latter was likely true. The vampire had already known her name when Clay discovered them together in the cargo car. How long they'd interacted he didn't know, but it seemed to have been enough to shave away Mariel's wariness and convince her the vampire would be true to his word.
If only you knew what I know, Mariel.
But he'd prefer to spare her that knowledge, if he could.