A Vampire Bewitched (Deathless Night Book 1)

by L. E. Wilson

  “What was that?” Nik asked. Turning the radio down, he listened.

  Aiden stopped singing. “What? I don’t hear anything.”

  But Nik was already out of his seat and walking toward the back. “Just keep driving. I’ll be right back.” As he neared the bedroom where Emma was sleeping, his skin prickled and the hair rose on his arms.

  Wtf?

  When he reached her door, he stopped and stood perfectly still, listening. All was quiet for a moment, but then…

  There it was again.

  Flinging open the door, he charged into the bedroom and quickly searched the room. His eyesight was perfect even in the dim light.

  Emma was writhing on the bed, whimpering. The smell of her fear came off of her in waves, and his fangs punched down hard as he prepared to protect what was his.

  Chapter 16

  Caught up in the nightmare, Emma felt the monsters holding her down, smelled the putrid smell of them, and panicked. She could feel her flesh tearing where they were biting her, and tried to fight her way free.

  The big one finally pushed the others aside and dropped down hard on top of her. Bloody saliva dripping from its mouth, it grabbed her wrists and slammed them into the ground on each side of her head, holding her down as it violently bit her, sinking its fangs into the flesh right below her collar bone. Sucking and slurping at her blood, it humped her obscenely, trying to work its way under her skirt without letting go of her wrists.

  Emma tried to scream, but the weight of the thing on top of her prevented her from getting enough air. She felt its grossly swollen member pushing at her entrance through her underwear, bruising her, and tears rolled down her face.

  The loss of blood was making her weak. They’d bitten her all over, shoved their members at her, humped her and each other as they fed, and threw her around like a rag doll. Refusing to give up, she gulped in a breath. Gathering the last of her strength, she tried to twist away from it.

  She felt her wrist bones crack as it squeezed them in response to her struggles, and she let out a raspy scream as it renewed its effort with even more enthusiasm than before. Her strength was fading rapidly, and she screeched in agony as another snuck in from the side, twisting her leg roughly out to its mouth, popping her knee and ripping into her calf…

  Finally free, Emma shot up in the bed, crying out and shoving the remainder of the blankets aside.

  “Shh..shhh…it’s okay, Em. It’s me. It’s Nikulas. It was just a dream, sweetheart. It’s ok. You’re safe.”

  Sucking in great gulps of air, Emma blinked rapidly and looked around as she tried to get her bearings. Grabbing the front of her shirt, she looked for the blood she could still feel spurting out of her, but there was nothing. Her bones throbbed with the phantom pain of past injuries, and tears ran down her face.

  Raising her head, she sniffed and wiped at her eyes to find Nik on one knee on the bed, his pained eyes frantically searching her face.

  She looked around the room to check they were alone, and then gave him a small, watery smile, whispering hoarsely, “Sorry about that. Bad dream. I have them a lot.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Nik looked terrible, almost like he’d been there with her.

  Emma just shook her head and looked down at her knotted hands.

  He reached out and covered them with his own, stilling her fidgeting.

  “Please talk to me,” he said. “Maybe it will help.”

  She gave a snort of disgust. “I doubt it.” At his hurt expression, she added, “But thank you.”

  “Did they rape you?” he blurted out suddenly. He looked as shocked as she was at the question, even though he’d been the one to ask it.

  But then he clenched his jaw with determination. “Emma? Did they rape you?” When she didn’t answer, he demanded, “Answer me, goddamn it.”

  “No!” she burst out, and then more calmly, “No. Not for lack of trying, but…no.”

  He sagged visibly with relief, and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I just needed to know.”

  Turning her hands, he held them in his. “I’m sorry you were hurt, Em, I’m so sorry.” A steely edge came into his voice. “I don’t know what these ‘monsters’ are you told me about, but if we ever see them, rest assured they won’t live to hurt you again.”

  Emma had no doubt.

  Squeezing her fingers one last time, he stood up to leave, because he wanted to stay. “I’ll let you try to go back to sleep. We should make it to the airport by sunrise, and we’ll hole up there for the day, then fly to Seattle at sunset.”

  Emma came up on her knees, grabbing at his hand again with both of hers. “Please, don’t go! Please. Please, stay with me Nikulas. Just for a while?”

  Nik paused by the side of the bed. There was nothing he wanted more than to stay with her. He would love to crawl right into that bed with her and touch her until she had nothing on her mind but him.

  Glad she didn’t have his night vision, he rubbed the heel of his free hand over the ever-present bulge in his pants, trying to ease the sudden discomfort there. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

  She sat back on her heels and let go of his hand. “Of course not. Forget it. I’ll be fine.”

  Nik watched her nightshirt flirt around the tops of her thighs as she leaned over to take a sip from her water bottle.

  Fuck. Me.

  But the pain of his erection became bearable again when he noticed the marks on her smooth legs.

  He met her eyes, then looked back down at her legs.

  Emma followed his gaze and quickly pulled the blanket over herself, hiding the scars from his view. “Never mind, it’s okay. You can go. I’m going to try to get back to sleep.”

  Nik needed to leave. He needed to say goodnight, turn around, and walk out. Instead, he stood there, the image of her ravaged skin seared into his brain.

  Without a word, he sat on the side of the bed and bent over to unlace his combat boots, setting them neatly by the nightstand. He straightened the blankets around Emma, and she scooted down without a word as he tucked her in. Crawling in next to her on top of the blankets, he curled himself around her, threw an arm around her, and tugged her into the curve of his body.

  He had no words as he lay there holding her, breathing her unique scent and listening to her heartbeat slow as she eventually relaxed and drifted off to sleep. Even when he heard her soft snores, he stayed with her, keeping her close. She shouldn’t wake up alone again if the monsters came back.

  The RV finally came to a stop. They must be at the hanger. He heard the steel shutters clang down and Aiden’s footsteps as he headed back to one of the sofa beds. The thought crossed his mind that he should get up and grab a bag out of the fridge, then crash on the other couch, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave the side of the tiny warrior he was protecting.

  As Nik felt the rising sun pulling him down into slumber, he accepted the inevitable. He may not ever make her his in truth, but from now on, he would always be there to protect her.

  Even if it was only from her own mind.

  Chapter 17

  Two hours later, Nik suddenly sat straight up, leapt off the bed, and flung open the bedroom door. Hastening out into the sitting area, he passed by Aiden, who was just waking up himself. “Where is she?”

  Aiden twisted around, causing a loud chorus of snap, crackle, pop to run up his spine. “Who?”

  “Who? Emma! Who the fuck else would I be talking about?” Long strides ate up the length of the RV as he checked all the seats and then the door to see that it was still locked.

  “How should I know? She’s your witch. You should be watching her.” Rubbing his hands over his face, Aiden shuffled into the bathroom to wash up.

  “I’m not a witch.” Emma’s voice sounded behind him.

  Nik’s head whipped around to find her leaning in the bedroom doorway with a book in her hand. “Where the fuck were you?”

  “I was right next to you,
if you’d bothered to look around before charging out here to bellow at poor Aiden.” She waved the book she’d been reading at him.

  Now that she’d been found, he felt like a complete and utter idiot for going off all half-cocked like he had. And she was right. If he’d paused a second, he would have sensed her there. He’d had her blood. And even from that small amount, he would be able to find her anywhere within a mile radius. What the hell was the matter with him?

  However, as far as he knew, she didn’t know that yet. “No. You weren’t. I think I would have noticed.” Running his eyes over her black yoga pants and green top with approval, he added distractedly, “And I was not bellowing.”

  “Yes, you were!” Aiden called from the bathroom.

  Scowling, Nik shot a dirty look in that direction. He gave her another once over before he abruptly turned away without another word and walked over to the fridge. He needed to feed before he trusted himself to be anywhere in the near vicinity of her without hauling her back into that bed and forcing himself on her. Ripping the fridge door open, he grabbed the first bag he found and threw it in the microwave, then stood there watching the countdown impatiently.

  Emma sat down cross-legged on the empty couch across from Aiden’s with her book. “Looks like somebody woke up on the wrong side of the coffin.”

  He ignored her as he reached into the microwave and got his breakfast, shaking it up to even out the heat. Snagging the tip of the bag with his teeth, he ripped it off and spit it into the trash, then upended the bag into his mouth, chugging it down like water.

  Emma wrinkled her nose as she watched him.

  It tasted disgusting, but he finished the bag, and even grabbed another. When he was finished, he found a water and turned to face her. “Did you eat?”

  “I had an apple. You drink water?”

  Ignoring her question, he frowned at her. “You need to eat more than that.” Opening the cabinet, he rifled through the contents. “Can I make you something? There’s oatmeal, soup—would you like some tea?” When he got no response, he stuck his head out to find her watching him with an unreadable expression on her face. “What?”

  “Why do you care whether I eat or not?” she asked.

  Why did he care? He was acting like a goddamn mother hen for Christ’s sake, but he just couldn’t seem to help himself. “Uh. It’s just that we’re going to be getting on the plane, and the flight’s going to be pretty long.”

  “I can’t eat on the plane? Don’t they usually have a little kitchen?”

  Closing the cabinet, he mumbled, “Yeah, probably.”

  Emma was silent a moment, and he was afraid to look at her for fear of what he’d see. She was probably laughing at him. But then she said, “Actually, if you wouldn’t mind grabbing a pack of oatmeal…that sounds really good.”

  He grinned widely at her before he caught himself. The smile fell from his face as he turned back to the contents in the cabinet. “Sure. No problem. Long as I’m right here, anyway.” Grabbing a bowl, he read the instructions on the box, and then dumped in the oatmeal and the required amount of water. Throwing it in the microwave, he checked the back of the box again, and then set the time.

  Emma was watching him, curiosity plain on her face. He could only imagine what she was thinking. One minute he was kissing her like his life depended on it, and the next he was brushing it off as an overreaction to the bloodlust. Then, he gets her here and sends her right off to bed, only to come running when she wakes from a nightmare. He tells her it’s not a good idea to stay with her afterward, then ends up sleeping next to her all day. He wakes up in a horrible mood, grumbling at everyone, and ten minutes later couldn’t be happier just to fix her some oatmeal.

  He was starting to think they had it all wrong about females being the crazy ones.

  Aiden sauntered out of the bathroom in cargo pants and his ever-present hoodie right as the timer went off announcing her food was ready. Throwing yesterday’s clothes on his bed, he wandered up to watch Nik stirring her oatmeal. “I don’t know how anyone can eat that mush.” Wrinkling his nose, he eyeballed his friend. “You know, you’re going to make someone a fine wife someday, mate.”

  Nik looked at him sideways, but refused to rise to the bait.

  Aiden smirked to himself and walked over to his cell phone. “I’ll give Bill a holler and see if things are ready.”

  “Who’s Bill?” Emma asked as Nik brought her oatmeal to her. She smiled at him in thanks, but he refused to look at her, just set down her bowl and walked away. He heard her sigh, then pick up her spoon and take a bite.

  “Bill is a friend of ours,” Aiden told her as he plopped down in his office chair. “A human friend. He’s going to be our pilot.”

  “And you trust him? I mean, I would imagine it must be frightening to have your lives in the hands of a human.”

  “Yes, yes, terrifying…Bill! Aiden. How are we doing out there? Mm hmm. Good! One hour. We’re in the hanger. See you then.” Turning his chair around to face them, he informed Nik, “We’ll be ready in one hour. He’s just fueling up. I think I’m going to go find a meal for myself. I’m feeling a bit peckish.”

  Grinning nefariously at Emma, who had stopped eating with the spoon midway to her mouth, he pulled on his boots and entered the code to unlock the RV. With a casual wave, he shut the door behind him with a bang.

  Carefully setting her spoon back into the bowl, she asked, “When he says he’s going to find dinner, he means…a human dinner?”

  “He’s a vampire, Em.” Nik re-locked the door and came over to sit across from her. “Don’t look at me like that. He won’t hurt anyone. Aiden’s prey of choice is usually a pretty little female who is more than happy to give him what he wants.”

  She looked slightly relieved, but not entirely convinced. “But don’t you all worry someone will say something and your secret will be out?”

  “Won’t happen. He erases their memory before he leaves them.” He didn’t mention he only erased the feeding part, not the sex that inevitably came with it. Aiden liked to be remembered as the sex god he thought he was, at least until the female got too clingy.

  Feeding and sex went hand in hand for vampires. It was hard to do one and not the other, as Nik’s little performance last night proved.

  Thinking of the intense lust that had overcome him in her kitchen, and the revelation afterward, had Nik rubbing his palms restlessly up and down his thighs.

  “You can do that? Erase memories?” At his nod, she asked him weakly, “Are you going to erase mine when you’re done with me?”

  His eyes traveled over her. She had no makeup on, but her hazel-green eyes shone brightly from beneath dark lashes, and her strawberry hair was curling chaotically around her face. As he watched, a faint blush bloomed on her cheeks at his close perusal of her, and she lowered her gaze, hiding her eyes from him. She was absolutely lovely.

  He didn’t mean to say it, he really didn’t. But it came out anyway. “No. I won’t. I don’t think I’ll ever be done with you Emma.”

  At his softly spoken words, her gaze flew up and crashed with his across the small space of the vehicle. They stayed like that, the look between them saying more than words ever could, until Emma finally broke the connection by clearing her throat and looking away.

  Getting up, she took her bowl to the sink and washed it, putting it back up into the cabinet. “Should I pack up some of this stuff to bring with us?”

  Nik ran his hands through his hair, tugging at it with both hands. What the fuck had made him say that out loud? He really needed to chill the fuck out with this bonded shit. He was never going to do anything about these feelings he had. It wasn’t fair of him to lead her on. Not even a little bit.

  What the hell makes me think she’d even want to be with me anyway?

  Taking a deep breath, he psyched himself up to harden his resolve against her. He shouldn’t even like her. Her sister was keeping his brother hostage. Well, maybe not directly, but the
re was no way in hell Leeha would be able to hold him without her help.

  Maybe Emma was just a really good actress. Maybe she knew about this all along. Maybe it was all a big plot to capture all of them. He was grasping at straws, he knew, but he needed to find something that would help him battle this obsession with her.

  All of this ran through his head within just a few seconds as he stared at the table in front of him.

  “Nik?”

  “What,” he snapped.

  Visibly startled by the tone of his voice, Emma said, “I was just asking if I should pack up some of the food to bring along with us, or is there stuff on the plane?”

  “Oh. Um. Yeah, I don’t know. It would probably be a good idea.” He went over to help her, removing her recycled bag from where he’d stashed it in a drawer. “We probably won’t be able to fit it all. What would you like to bring?”

  She found what she wanted and set it on the counter. “Would you mind grabbing the tea? I can’t reach it.”

  Stepping up behind her he reached over her head to get it and the agave sweetener for her. He heard her breath catch in her throat as he pressed the length of his body against her back.

  Nik immediately backed off and leaned back against the opposite counter.

  She was still for a moment, and then continued loading up her bag. “What exactly did you mean before, when you said you’d never be done with me?”

  He gave her nothing but a whole lot of silence in answer to her question. No way in hell he was answering that. Hanging his head, his hair hid his features as he stared at the floor, trying to think of a way to change the subject.

  She repeated the question. “Nik. What did you mean?”

  “Nothing. I didn’t mean anything.” He raised his head, and felt like a bastard as he saw doubt, confusion, and finally self-loathing pass over her face along with a myriad of other emotions.

  She swallowed hard. “Are you not affected by me at all?” she asked softly.