"Sure, I have. I have one right now, telling me Vellum is going to turn on us the minute we're no longer useful to him."
It wasn't wholly true. Clay's feeling about Vellum was complicated and shaded by his past experience with a vampire. Clay's job was to protect Mariel from danger, be it from Beaufort's gang or a creature from Shadow Valley, so it was nigh impossible to relax his attitude toward Vellum. But he had to admit that Vellum didn't fit the image he'd carried of a vampire since discovering Janie's body all those years ago. Clay didn't know what to think of him, except to be wary of him.
"I hope you're not right," Mariel said with a sigh, "or else that means I'm a bigger fool than I thought."
Clay didn't like what the comment hinted at, but there was no time to question it. The lid on Vellum's crate lifted and then slid aside. A moment later the vampire sat up in the twilight gloom.
He looked unruffled, as though he'd laid back mere seconds ago, not twelve hours earlier. Clay searched the other male's features, looking for signs of the monster that he was. He didn't find any, and when Vellum's dark gaze locked with his, it was Clay who had to look away, unease crawling over his skin, though he couldn't say why.
"Did you forget that we'd need to eat or take care of personal business?" he demanded gruffly as Vellum smoothly climbed out of the box.
"I did, and I apologize for that. It's not every day that I travel with humans." Vellum came to them and kneeled in front of Mariel. He laid a pale hand over her shoe. Clay wanted to kick it away, but figured it wouldn't bring about anything good. "I won't forget your needs again," Vellum promised her, sounding earnest and regretful.
Clay was disturbed to realize he was jealous. Why? Did he honestly think a vampire was competition for Mariel's affection?
When she smiled slightly and said, "If you forget again, I'm not feeding you," in a tone that was nearly teasing, Clay curled his hands into fists.
Yes, Vellum had become competition. Clearly when the vampire had taken blood from her, he'd stolen something of her heart as well.
That's all he's getting of you, Mariel. I'll show you what a good man can offer you and hopefully it'll be the very thing you desire.
Once she was untied, Vellum helped Mariel to her feet. He smiled at her and turned his back on her, making a point to prove that he trusted her not to run off. She didn't, moving only far enough into the scrub to take care of her business in private.
Clay's smile wasn't friendly as Vellum kneeled down to untie his binds.
"She told me that you fed from her," he said. "That's all she said, but I know you did something more, something to make her look kindly on you. I want you to know: I won't be fooled by anything you do, vampire."
"Marshal, you feel compelled to make my life more difficult when there's no need. We're all working together to reach our ultimate destinations." Vellum set both hands on Clay's knees, startling him into raising his bound hands defensively before he could stop himself. Vellum gave a sliver of a smile as he slid his palms down Clay's shins to the rope binding his ankles. It was an alarmingly sensual touch. "I'm not a threat, assuming your idea of danger is pain and misery. I'm not interested in presenting that kind of threat. Not at all."
Clay ached to kick the other male out of his personal space, but forced himself to sit still while Vellum undid the ropes. "So what kind of threat do you intend to present?"
Vellum finished loosening the knot and began to work on Clay's wrist restraints. "You tell me, Marshal. Surely you have an explanation for the way your body reacts to me."
When Clay frowned up at him, not understanding, Vellum's smile deepened and he dropped his gaze pointedly to Clay's lap. To his horror, Clay realized he had become hard at some point. His dick was swollen and bent painfully within his trousers.
Why? Mariel was off in the scrub. It wasn't her presence that had sent him off. Which meant…
"Danger comes in many forms, but not all of them will hurt you," Vellum murmured. He moved away, the rope around Clay's wrists unraveling just like his equilibrium.
~~~~~
When Mariel returned to camp, she discovered that Vellum had already succeeded in building a small fire. The flames highlighted his angular features as he smiled up at her.
"I'll catch some food for you and the Marshal if you'll take over fire tending duties."
"Of course."
Mariel liked the look of him in the firelight, but was that wrong of her? Clay seemed to think so. Clay had seen the worst that vampires could do. He knew them better than she did, yet why did she feel that she knew Vellum better?