“Or if you prefer, I can call the helicopter and take you somewhere off premises?”
“What, like Paris?” She chuckled.
“Sure. Would you like me to call for a ride and head to the jet?”
She snorted and nearly choked on her food. “I was kidding! Are you serious? If we wanted, we could just... go to Paris?”
I shrugged and nodded. “Of course. I’ve even got a light-tight penthouse there. We can go anywhere in the world you want, anytime you want to go. It’s a perk of having a helicopter and a private jet and a staff on standby twenty-four hours a day.”
“Holy shit, Aiden. I was totally joking.”
“Just say the word and I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
“That’s amazing. Maybe sometime we could go to Bora Bora! I saw a special on the Travel Channel and they had these huts on the water that have glass floors. You can literally stand on the floor of your hut and stare down into the ocean. I have been dying to go! They are supposed to have the most beautiful beaches...”
Her voice trailed off, and I saw the excitement disappear from her eyes.
“I’m sorry. The sun. I wasn’t thinking.” She dropped her gaze back to her food.
“You don’t need to apologize.”
“It’s going to take me awhile to remember we have to travel and explore only at night.”
“Understandably,” I agreed. “But never apologize. It sounds like an incredible trip. I’m sorry I can’t give it to you. Perhaps I can send you and Mark without me.”
Just the thought of sending her away left an emptiness in the pit of my stomach. I never wanted to deny her anything that brought her pleasure, but I couldn’t survive in a glass hut, and the thought of her experiencing it without me filled me with a deep sadness.
A noise from the front of the house pricked my ears, and I tuned in to hear the front doorknob turn. Mark was in my room, and I wasn’t expecting anyone else. My muscles twitched as I prepared to dart to the door, but a whoosh of air blew into the room and I saw a figure with flaming red hair materialize in the doorway behind Emilia. I blinked and saw her leaning against the doorframe examining her long, sharpened red fingernails.
“Leeya,” I ground out after my lip twitched my disgust. “What are you doing here?”
“You don’t call, you don’t write, you don’t return my texts.” Her full red lips pulled down into a faux pout. “What else was I to do but come and check on you? I missed you, Aiden.”
In a flash she sat on the table beside me. The short nature of her skin-tight mini dress did nothing to hide the long ivory legs she crossed seductively in front of me. She leaned over on an elbow, giving me a front row show to the cleavage pouring out from beneath the plunging black dress.
The horrified look on Emilia’s face drew all of my attention and I locked eyes with her, flashing her an apologetic stare before turning my glare to Leeya.
“You need to go,” I growled and pushed up from my chair. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Ouch,” she responded with a scowl. “Is that any way to treat your lady?”
I saw the whites of Emilia’s eyes flash from across the room.
“You are not my lady. And I’ve told you many times I don’t want to see you again. Now go.”
“I flew all morning to be here and got stuck in my stupid jet for hours waiting for sunset. Now I arrive, and you don’t even greet me with a kiss?”
She reached out for my shirt, but I stepped just out of her reach. She glowered at me and stood up, smoothing the minimal material of her skirt. “I see.” She arched a meticulously groomed eyebrow. “You’re still angry.”
Rolling my eyes, I pointed to the door. “I’m not angry, Leeya. I just never want to see you again. Now get the hell out of my house.”
“Well,” she said, flipping her long wavy hair. “If you’re going to be such an asshole, I’ll just be going.”
“Thank you.” I breathed a sigh of relief and shot a staying look to my shocked Emilia.
“But before I go, you can at least offer to share your dinner. I didn’t get to eat because my fucking flight attendant called in sick and I didn’t have time to compel a new one. I’m starving.”
Before I could respond she was across the room with Emilia’s head pulled back. Her white fangs snapped out and my heart tightened when I saw the fear shoot through Emilia’s eyes.
“NO!” I flashed to her side and caught her by the throat as her teeth descended onto Emilia’s neck. The wall shook and exploded into rubble when I slammed her against it. “Don’t touch her!”
Leeya snarled at me and I tightened my grip on her throat and slid her up the wall, holding her off the ground.
As quickly as they had appeared, she retracted her fangs and replaced her snarl with a sly smile. “Ahhhh,” she cooed. “Looks like someone has a little thing for my dinner.”
“You will not touch her, Leeya, or I will kill you.”
“So you do have a thing for my dinner,” she said, trying to turn her head toward Emilia, but I tightened my grip on her throat. “Isn’t she a little plain for you, Aiden? Perhaps you should let me drink her dry and I’ll show you what a real woman can do.”
My own fangs popped out, and I snarled at her, pressing her harder into the wall again and knocking down Mark’s favorite painting.
Emilia stumbled and pushed up from her chair. Mark burst into the room and skidded to a halt when he saw Leeya in my hands. His face soured, and he put his hands on his hips and glared.
“Ugh, Leech,” he spat at her.
“Lee-ya,” she corrected.
“Leeya-ch,” he said, deepening his glare. “What the fuck is that crazy broad doing here?”
“Leaving,” I growled and glared into her mischievous eyes.
“You’ve still got that mouthy puppy?” Leeya snickered. “I think you should let me go so I can castrate him and make a good little lapdog out of him.”
“Bitch,” Mark retorted and put a protective arm around Emilia’s waist. “Say that to me next year when I’m a vampire! Don’t think just because you’re a girl I won’t kick that perfect little ass of yours.”
She shot him a leveling glare and then turned her attention back to me. “Well, since I’m starving and you now have two humans in your house I’m not allowed to eat, and your welcome was far from desirable, I think I’ll be going.”
“Good,” I answered. “Now get the hell out of my house and never come back. If you do, I will part your head from your neck. Is that understood?”
I released her and she landed on her stiletto heels and rubbed the red mark around her throat. “Whatever, Aiden. I’m supposed to tell you that the families are convening in Scotland next month. They require your presence.”
“I won’t go. Now get out.”
“Your brother said he won’t take no for an answer.”
“Well he had better keep getting used to disappointment. I’m not going... but you are. I said get out. Now.”
“Fine,” she spat. “Have fun with your pathetic little toys. Call me when you’re done with her and ready for a real woman.” She launched forward and pressed a kiss to my lips before flashing out of the room. I heard the front door slam a second later, and I took a deep breath and turned to Mark and Emilia who shared the same shocked stare.
“What the fuck was that crazy bitch doing here? She is straight outta Fatal Attraction. And who knocked down my van Gogh?” Mark released his grip on Emilia’s waist and tossed his arms up as he headed for the painting lying on the floor.
“Emilia,” I whispered and flashed to her side. “Are you hurt?”
Her mouth kept opening, but no sound came out. The color in her face had long since drained and I worried for a moment she would faint. Finally, words formed though she stammered over them.
“Who was that?” she asked.
“Leeya. A vampire.”
“Those two things I put together on my own. Who is she... to you?”
/>
I didn’t want to answer that question, but I couldn’t lie. “She’s part of one of our ally clans.” I swallowed and forced the next words out. “And I slept with her.”
Though I didn’t think it possible, even more color drained from her face. “Oh,” she managed to say.
“It happened a few times. It was a terrible idea and she meant nothing to me. I didn’t find out she was crazy until after. Now she thinks we’re a couple or something and she just keeps showing up. I can’t get rid of her.”
“Bitch be cray-cray.” Mark twirled his finger around his temple, then lifted the painting back onto the dented and cracked wall.
“I need some air,” she said and stepped away from me.
“Emilia.” I reached out to touch her arm, but she ripped it from my reach.
“Leave me alone.”
Tears clouded her eyes, and knowing I’d caused her pain sent agony searing through my gut. She bolted out of the room and I heard the door slam when she ran outside.
“I told you that Leeya was a bad idea. She’s cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. You can tell by her crazy eyes,” Mark said, pointing to his own eyes.
“Not now, Mark.” I sighed and started out of the room after Emilia. This was not at all how I saw tonight going, and now I needed to find her and make sure she was all right. Not just from her emotions, but also from Leeya who may very well still be creeping around. And now that she knew I held real affections for Emilia, she wouldn’t hold back on hurting her if the moment presented itself.
And no one would hurt my Emilia.
No one.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Emilia
I’M SO STUPID.
Running through the yard with my shoes in hand, I followed the trail leading down to the stables. I didn’t even know where I was going, but I knew I needed to get out of there. I needed space, fresh air, and a place to puke in peace.
So, so stupid, Emilia.
Like dropping an anchor into the ocean, the weight of my reality sank in. The man I’d gone and fallen for was a vampire. A real live vampire! I had thrown caution and my good sense to the wind and fallen for a fucking vampire.
That “no more bad boys” rule I made? Not only did I ignore it, I strapped a stick of dynamite to it and lit that sucker up. It exploded, and like most explosions, it hurt like hell when it blew up in my face. I’d made the rule for good reason, and yet I tossed it aside the moment he blinked those arctic eyes at me. How pathetic that I would toss away all sense and reason for a guy. Not even a guy... a freaking vampire. And yet here I was, surprised that he had a psychotic ex-girlfriend vampire who nearly tore my throat out.
Way to go, Emilia.
When I reached the stable, I pressed my head into the cool stones trimming the walls. It felt good to combat the heat scorching through my face. All the blood that had drained at the sight of that cruel creature had rushed back in all at once and it felt like my cheeks were melting off. I stood still for a moment with my eyes closed and let the silence and cool air wash over me while I tried to slow my pounding heart. Crickets chirped in the distance, and the swaying branches in the trees above me rustled and creaked in the breeze. A branch snapped, and I spun around half-expecting to see Aiden behind me, but instead a chestnut gelding stepped toward the fence to examine me.
“Hey buddy. Nothing to be scared of. No crazed vampire bitch named Leeya here.”
Leeya. Ugh. Visions of her lethal glare sent a shiver slivering down my spine. That and the thought of that perfect-looking creature tangled up with Aiden in a heated love affair. That movie-star hair, Angelina Jolie worthy lips, and legs that seemed to never end. Not to mention her boobs.
Those things couldn’t possibly be real, but then again, I doubted a vampire could get a boob job.
And those eyes. I wasn’t sure if it was jealousy, hunger, or both that had produced the blood-chilling gaze she’d used to penetrate me and shake me to the core. If Aiden hadn’t stopped her, I would have been a bloodless corpse right now instead of a stupid girl crying alone by the stables.
Another branch cracked, and I spun around again. My heart pounded in my chest, but I saw it was only the same gelding coming even closer for inspection. It was only then I realized the greatest depth of my stupidity... I had run out alone to a secluded place when there was a jealous, blood-thirsty supermodel vampire with a hard-on for my death on the loose.
And I thought age was supposed to make you smarter. It looked like thirty was starting off with a bang in the brains department.
My anger toward Aiden didn’t matter, or more-so my anger toward my bad decisions. I needed to get back to the safety of the house. I had a bedroom big enough to cry in and a closet full of clothes to wipe away my tears.
I turned to start back to the house but ran into a wall of flesh blocking my way. A scream started crawling up my throat but stopped when I heard his voice.
“Emilia,” Aiden whispered, reaching out and touching my shoulder.
“Sweet Jesus! I thought you were that crazy bitch here to finish ripping out my throat!”
“You shouldn’t be out here alone.”
“Yeah, I figured that out, too. I may not be making the best decisions these days, but at least I come to my senses. Eventually.”
“Emilia, I’m so sorry about tonight. I had no idea she was coming, and I’ll make sure we never see her again. You need to know I would never let her hurt you.”
His pleading eyes plucked those pesky strings of empathy surrounding my wounded heart. With the shake of my head I silenced their song and dug deep to find my resolve. Those impossibly beautiful eyes staring straight into my soul wouldn’t mesmerize me again and send me racing away from my good senses.
Not this time.
“I need to go inside, Aiden,” I said, breaking the eye contact in an attempt to break his spell.
“Emilia, please.” He touched my chin and lifted my face to meet his. The desperation in his stare tied my stomach into a knot so tight I wasn’t sure I could ever figure out how to unravel it. With a deep breath I fought to break free from the invisible tie binding us together. Like a Chinese Finger Trap, the harder I fought the tighter it got.
I made the mistake of glancing at his lips and my own parted a bit in a complete betrayal of the plan I had to end this insanity, to go find a nice boring accountant to marry and end my string of bad boys and broken hearts.
“Please don’t be angry with me, Emilia.” He stroked my cheek, and I pulled away, not because I didn’t enjoy it, but because I did.
“I’m not angry with you, Aiden,” I said in exasperation. “I’m angry at me!”
When I looked up into his face, I saw the confusion furrowing his brow.
“No more bad boys. That’s what I promised myself. And then I had to go fall for a fucking vampire. Literally the baddest boy of them all.”
“But I would never hurt you, Emilia. I wouldn’t—”
“You’re a vampire, Aiden. A vampire. You drink blood and you’ve killed people. And you have one vampire ex that I know of, and she’s a crazy broad who will probably come back and kill me one of these nights. And that’s just one. For all I know you have a harem of angry murderous exes because well... they’re vampires and they kill people. And I’m a people.”
“There aren’t more, it’s just—”
“Let me finish,” I said, closing my eyes while I tried to find the strength to end this right here and now. “I know you won’t hurt me, Aiden. I can feel it in the deepest part of my soul. Something awakened in me and came to life with your touch. I know you feel it, too. Something happened, and we’re connected. It doesn’t make sense, and it’s scary, and I have no idea what’s happening, but the bottom line is this can’t happen. We can’t happen.”
I didn’t look up into his eyes. I couldn’t. One look in them and I would crumble again under the weight of his intentions.
“It’s not that I don’t want you, Aiden. Good God, I do. So much. But this l
ife... the life of danger, and darkness, and secrets... I can’t do it. I won’t. It’s too hard, Aiden.”
Even though I wasn’t looking at him, I could feel the pain radiating off him. It bombarded into me and shook me to my core, my shattered heart crumbling into even tinier pieces with each wave of his pain that washed over me. My own pain threatened to take me to my knees, but I fought through it and steadied my nerve.
“I need you to erase me, Aiden. Erase all the feelings I have for you and make me forget the things that happened between us. Just do it quick and then we can go on like nothing happened.”
“What?” he blurted.
“Compel me to not have feelings for you and forget that we are anything other than feed bag and feeder. There is no other way I can stay here for five years feeling the way I feel and not being with you. It would crush me.”
“And what about me?” he choked. “I can compel you to forget and feel nothing for me, but what about me? I’ll remember everything and sit alone in my pain and agony while you march around my house without a care in the world for me? Sitting outside at sunup would be a much more humane ending for me. I won’t do it, Emilia. I can’t.”
“Then what are we going to do?” I finally looked up and our eyes locked. That magnetic pull between us snapped on like a light.
Shit. I shouldn’t have looked at him.
“Emilia.” He stepped forward and slid his hand around my waist.
I froze beneath his gaze and not because he compelled me not to move. The connection between us held me fast and commanded me to stay. Powerless to resist him, I tumbled into the depths of those eyes that held me locked in an imaginary embrace.
“I know it’s soon. I know this doesn’t make sense. But I also know it’s real. We’re real. What’s happening between us is special and we can’t throw it away. I love you, Emilia,” he whispered, pulling me closer until my body pressed up against him. His soft touch brushed against my cheek and slid through my hair. The weight of his words crushed down on me and ripped open the armor I struggled to secure.
The memory of his lips on mine haunted me. My resistance shattered when he leaned down, the slow descent of his kiss pulling the breath from my lungs until the world shook beneath me when his lips touched mine. I felt him flow through me, a connection between us like two rivers colliding in a violent crash of churning waves before blending into one and flowing together as a single soft, steady stream. He was part of me now, and I was part of him. No amount of resistance could pull us apart again, and I gave in to the power he held over me and embraced it while my arms embraced him. I plunged into his gravity and floated with him in a world all our own.
Into The Light (Immortal Hearts Book 1) Page 18