The smells overpowered her senses, the pollen so strong and fragrant, she could barely scent Gabriel next to her. It was as if the flowers blocked out everything else.
The window panes had let in the sun during the day and the large halls had heated up. Even now at night, the structure retained most of its warmth. Maya looked around, noticing the walking paths that had been constructed between the large plant beds. Little boards were erected next to each plant species, explaining their name and origin.
Gabriel’s arms snaked around her from behind, and for a second it startled her. But he pulled her against his chest and simply kissed her neck. “I can hardly wait to make you my wife,” he murmured against her skin. He nibbled on her earlobe and Maya let herself melt into him.
She moaned at the pleasure he gave her with a simple touch. “Don’t make me wait too long. I’ve never liked the idea of a long engagement.”
“Two, three days tops,” he agreed. “Once this is all over and Ricky is dealt with.”
“You shouldn’t make her promises you can’t keep.”
The voice sliced through her like a knife. Gabriel released her and pushed her halfway behind his large frame. She’d never seen him move this fast. Ricky emerged from the shadow of a large fern. She hadn’t heard any sound of him entering the glasshouse. Nor smelled him. Even now that she focused on him, all she could smell were the exotic flowers around her.
Gabriel’s stance instantly changed, and she could see how he readied himself for a fight. His hand suddenly held a stake. She hadn’t even seen when he’d pulled it from his coat where he must have hidden it.
“I always keep my promises,” Gabriel replied, his voice tight. “The one I made last night was to kill you.”
Before she could stop Gabriel, he launched himself at Ricky. His large frame crashed into the slightly shorter vampire, knocking Ricky off balance. But before Gabriel could land his stake, Ricky had rolled to the side and jumped up. She hadn’t figured him to be this agile.
Gabriel swiveled in the blink of an eye and growled low and dark.
His fangs had pushed through, and Maya could clearly see them almost as if glowing in the dark. His scar seemed to throb.
With one step, Gabriel was again lunging for his opponent, his powerful arms landing a blow against his side. But it wasn’t enough.
Ricky’s leg kicked out a second later, powering into Gabriel’s left thigh, unbalancing him. For an instant, Gabriel tumbled sideways, but the branch of a bush next to him provided him with enough support to right himself again.
But the strike had cost him. Ricky’s next kick landed in Gabriel’s stomach, knocking him into the dirt behind him. Gabriel rolled and jumped up the second he hit the earthen flowerbed. For a large man like him he was surprisingly flexible.
“Shit!” Gabriel cursed, and a second later she realized that he’d lost his stake. Maya gasped when she saw Ricky lunge for him.
Ricky’s head snapped in her direction, and within a split-second he changed tracks and jumped onto a railing surrounding the flowerbed.
That’s when she saw the rope. It hung from one of the beams above the plant bed. Ricky had seen it too and now grabbed it. As he held onto the rope, Ricky kicked against the stem of a small palm behind him and catapulted himself into her direction. Maya tried to sidestep him, but she wasn’t fast enough. Ricky’s arm swung out as he closed in on her, and he knocked her off her feet in one clean swoop.
She fell face forward into the soil. Knowing he was right behind her, she rolled to the side, avoiding him by a hair’s breadth. From the corner of her eye, she saw Gabriel run toward them. Maya pulled herself up, trying to steady her feet, but slipped in the muddy soil.
A hand grabbed for her, and the shiver running over her skin alerted her that it was Ricky. He twisted her arm back and pulled her toward him.
An instant later, she saw Gabriel stop short, his face horrified. She didn’t understand why he wasn’t approaching. Only when she took a deep breath and expanded her lungs did she realize why: Ricky pressed a wooden stake against her chest.
“One step further, and she’s dust.”
Maya swallowed. Gabriel’s eyes flooded with agony. She could see his mind clicking, going through every possible scenario of how to get her out of this situation, but she realized that Ricky held all the cards, and Gabriel would never risk her life.
“You’re so predictable, Gabriel. I guess that comes from thinking with your dick,” Ricky spat.
“Let her go.”
“She should have been mine. I saw her first. If you hadn’t interfered, she would have been mine.”
Maya felt bile rise in her gut. “Never.”
Ricky pulled her tighter, twisting her arm higher. She ignored the pain and concentrated on her disgust for him instead. “Don’t kid yourself, my sweet. You will still be mine. Once we’re gone from here and it’s just you and me, you’ll have no choice.”
“I will hunt you down,” Gabriel warned.
Ricky laughed as he walked backwards, talking her with him. Like a shield, she was plastered against him, and there was no way Gabriel would be able to attack him without risking hurting her. She knew instinctively that it would be up to her to free herself. But Ricky was strong. She knew exactly how strong from their encounter at Samson’s house. At least there she had been able to use her skill to defeat him.
She could do so again.
Maya’s eyes darted around the dark hall, trying to find something she could use to free herself. She came up empty. Except for some water buckets, nothing was in her vicinity that would make an adequate weapon.
They reached the back of the hall, and she could feel how Ricky opened the door behind him to advance into the next part
