Bulletproof Damsel

by Amelia Hutchins

  Silently, I watched Rhys stand, pushing down his sweatpants, while he stripped naked. Nyx made a strangled noise of need in her throat, purring as he glared at her. “Get the fuck out, all of you. Now,” Rhys snapped. He slid the robe off of my body, pulling me close against his heat. My hand lifted, curling around his hand to bring his palm against mine. “You’re okay, Remi.”

  “Worst day ever,” I muttered, burying my face against his chest, inhaling his enticing scent. Heat enveloped me, and the feel of his body against mine comforted my mind while I allowed sleep to consume me, to heal.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I awoke alone, stretching out on the bed, before lifting my head to find Rhys studying me. I could see the questions dancing in his gaze, but I didn’t know their answers. My mother hadn’t been forthcoming with anything. I’d barely remembered the ordeal before I’d left as a teenager, which I now knew had been altered by Winchester.

  “Winchester protected you from a woman who told you that you were nothing,” he snapped, surprising me with the anger in his tone.

  “Maybe you and my mother would get along, after all,” I offered. Shrugging when he didn’t reply, I pulled the sheet around my naked body.

  “Your mother allowed the male, who I assumed was your brother, to hurt you. You’re still mortal, which means she was willing to let you die. Yet you race back here to save her? You’re either blindly devoted or incredibly stupid, Remington.” Rhys leaned forward, steepling his fingers in front of his mouth.

  “As you saw, Winchester took the memories, and I think she’s done it more than once. That’s her gift. She has the ability to mess with people’s memories, replacing them with blank spots inside your mind. I am not blindly devoted to my mother, but I do love her, Rhys. She gave me life, and that is something I appreciate. You loved your mother, and just because you assume mine is a villain, well, it doesn’t mean I don’t love her.”

  “You kicked five incubus demons out of your dream like we were weak. I assure you, that is not the case here. I am the strongest incubus demon within the world, so you need to explain to me how you, a fucking mortal female, kicked me out of your head.”

  “Your brother was being obscene with his language, and what he wanted to do to my backside.” He smiled wickedly while heat smoldered in his gaze. “I was worried you would let him, or dream you would allow him to hurt me. My fantasy wasn’t him, or them, Rhys Van Helsing. It was you and only you that I wanted. Once it changed, I felt the pull to expel you all to prevent harm to my body. I also found it very unromantic that you would steal my fantasy, which is something, very private and personal to me.”

  “I liked knowing it was me in your darkest desire, and that you want me. I don’t like that you had the power to kick me out of your mind, though. No one has ever kicked me out before you, and I need to know how you managed to achieve it.”

  “I don’t know, Rhys. I knew I didn’t want your brothers touching me. Acyn had no right to touch me where he did, and Cole was removing his clothes. Illeron planned to force himself into my body, where no one has ever been. That was wrong, considering if I had to choose someone to do that, it would be you. I didn’t want to be shared by them. I had thought I made that fact very clear during breakfast. I am not the kind of girl who gets passed around simply because it amuses you. It did not amuse me that my fantasy was turned into a family spectating event. So, we both had something happen that we didn’t want, and you’re about to tell me to deal with it. So, Rhys, deal with it.”

  “I didn’t know they would enter your mind when I searched for your deepest, darkest desires. I also didn’t expect for me to be a part of it, Remi. I don’t like that your mother knew you and her other children could end up in her enemies’ hands and spelled your mind to shield her identity. Why would she let you go? Why not find you and bring you home?”

  “Because by the time I called home, I was deeply vetted and protected within E.V.I.E., which Winchester ensured by hiding my memories and giving me new ones. I thought I left a loving mother behind, and since waking up, I can see several times that she was less than loving to me. Honestly, I don’t know what to think about the memories we saw or the new ones that I now recall. You took away my phone, so I can’t call my sister to ask her either.”

  “You’d tell them where you are, and that would be a mistake.”

  Rhys stood, slowly moving to sit on the bed, brushing his fingers over my shoulder. I watched his eyes follow his hand, sending a shiver of need rushing through me. After a moment, I scooted away from his touch, staring toward the doorway pointedly dismissing him. He exhaled, dropping his hand before he pushed me down, slowly pinning me to the bed.

  “You’re gorgeous. Perfectly imperfect and naïve in a world where people aren’t what you need them to be. To you, sex is personal. It’s intimate and special. To everyone else, it’s just fucking sex. It is two bodies finding mutual release and pleasure together. You’re young, and even though I hate to think of it, your views will change, and you’ll become as cold and indifferent to the world as we are. Life’s a bitch, Remington. Your family threw you into the fire, and while you burn beautifully, every fire eventually burns out.”

  “Not if you fuel the flames,” I argued, watching his mouth lowering toward mine. I turned away before he could reach my lips, brushing him off. “You don’t get to dismiss me and then kiss me like you want me. I am not that naïve to realize that I mean nothing to you. I got the message, clearly.”

  His hands released mine, turning my head before his mouth crushed against my lips. I moaned, wrapping my legs around him as he devoured me whole. By the time we broke apart, I was panting as he watched me.

  “Wear my necklace.” Rhys reached into his pocket and pulled out a delicate silver medallion engraved with the Van Helsing insignia. “It’s a mark of protection. It’s also the mark you were born to carry, Silversmith. Flipping the medallion over, Rhys pointed out two beautiful diamond-etched snakes forming an infinity symbol, signifying the joining of a Van Helsing and Silversmith. Right now, this mark is forming beneath your ribcage. In a month or so, we’ll both have it, indicating we’re a mated couple.” Dropping the necklace in my hand, he lifted from the bed, sitting beside me to study my face. “I’m leaving for a few days. Cole will be your protection during my absence. Keep Nyx close, as well. She’s not much of a fighter, but she’s another body to throw at anyone stupid enough to move against you during my absence. Ian, Hunter, Conrad, and Acyn will be with me, so I want you at Cole’s side at all times. He will be between here and the sanctuary. Don’t run from me. Not while I’m gone. My family wouldn’t be gentle with you in my absence if they had to come out and catch you, Remi. Sit up and kiss me, and mean it.”

  “I’m not kissing you,” I complained.

  His lips had some invisible magnet to mine, and the moment they touched, we ended up sucking face. It wasn’t healthy. I had a battered ego, and I wasn’t happy about the invasion of privacy he felt compelled to break. He acted like he had a right to invade my memories, push past barriers I hadn’t even known were there, taking control of my mind while I was defenseless against him. I’d felt naked and vulnerable.

  “I shouldn’t have done it,” he grunted, scrubbing his hand down his face. “I needed to know if you wanted Cole.”

  “You could have asked, and I would have answered you truthfully. I find Cole very attractive, but he’s a wild card. He needs someone wild like him to match his needs, and that isn’t me. Cole is into sharing his things, and I’m not one for being shared, Rhys. I’m a one-man type of woman. So your answer is no. I wouldn’t do that, or try to be with him because there’s no longevity there.”

  “Yet you chose to be with me knowing I would push you away. Why put yourself through that?” he demanded as if I were the asshole in this situation.

  “Because you’re a forever type of man,” I admitted, rubbing my hands over my face. “You have teased me, taunted me, and pushed me until I have thought o
f nothing but you. You wanted me as much as I wanted you, which makes this our fault. Not mine, and not yours, but ours together. It was enjoyable. You were great and treated me with respect, which is more than either of my flopped attempts had done. You knew I wouldn’t blow your world away when you came to my room. You knew I lacked the experience, and yet you came anyway. It worked, and we both got what we wanted. That’s it in a nutshell.”

  “You’re wrong, Remington Silversmith. You didn’t blow my world; you rocked it. That’s more than any woman has done for me in three hundred years. You were innocent and inexperienced, but you matched me in need and fire, and no woman has ever accomplished that before you. Sex wasn’t feeding with you. I have not fucked a woman in three hundred years for anything more than to feed.” I blinked, holding his stare, watching him stand after he’d dropped that information into my lap. “Don’t tell Cole that, he enjoys the game of bedding feeders he thinks I come to enjoy.”

  “Why?” I asked softly.

  “It gives him some sick sense of enjoyment.”

  “Not that,” I snorted.

  “Because I hadn’t found anything worth relishing, or allowing myself to enjoy until you,” he admitted, watching my face. “If I were a better man, I’d have left you alone last night. I’m not a better man, my Silver. I have built a reputation around being a monster, and it works for me. I have no weakness other than my family. I have given no one anything to use against me, and I’m not about to start now.”

  “You also won’t forgive yourself,” I frowned, watching all emotion slip from his face. “Sooner or later, you have to forgive yourself because everyone else has, Rhys. You punish yourself so much that it holds you back. Guilt is a heavy burden to carry, and you’ve carried it for so long.”

  “Do not pretend to understand what or who I am, little girl. It makes you look weak and stupid,” he growled, slipping through the door to slam it behind him, causing me to wince.

  The door to Rhys’s room opened and closed, and I turned as mine opened from the hallway, staring at Nyota, who slowly walked toward me. Her azure eyes were framed in thick, dark lashes as she studied my face closely.

  “You’re not here to hurt us. But someone created the perfect mate out of you for Rhys, to either help him or destroy him, Remington. He’s a damn good man and the proudest knight in the entire Van Helsing line.”

  “He seemed to have lost the chivalry part.”

  “Chivalry is dead, child.” I started to argue her calling me a child, but she lifted her hand for silence. “I am four hundred years old, Remington. To most of us, you’re a newborn babe in a world of ancient beings. I do not think you want to destroy Rhys. If you think you can reach him, I will help you achieve it. My family is everything to me, and I have watched them tear each other apart over women or things they desired for centuries. No woman before you has turned Cole down. They don’t see the heart behind the malice and pain, yet you saw through his facade. You know he isn’t for you, and you called him out on his bullshit. You know Rhys would hurt you, yet you willingly took that chance to see if you could reach his deadened heart, and I think you did. He was out of his mind when you crawled into that forge. Others may not have noticed, but I did. Prove me wrong. Show me who you really are, and I’ll help you in any way I can.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Rhys had been gone days when Cole told me to get into the metallic blue Lamborghini Aventador, which had probably cost him more than a house. Apparently, it was one of Rhys’s favorite cars, and Cole had been itching for an excuse to drive it. I eased into the plush, black-leather interior just as Cole stepped on the gas and the engine purred to life, and I smirked as Cole made a purring noise along with it. Silently, I checked the phone that only allowed me to call Rhys, even though I’d refused to use it once since he’d left.

  “Rhys does love exquisitely beautiful things, Sunshine.” Cole stared at my mouth, grinning when he saw the smile playing over my lips. “And they’re so fucking beautiful.”

  “Are we speaking of the car?” I asked as heat filled my cheeks.

  “Among other things he claimed entirely,” he grumbled. The smirk dropped, and a tick pulsed in his cheek.

  “He didn’t claim me, Cole. You’re just a heartache waiting to happen, and one Van Helsing is enough for any girl.”

  “Ask Nyx how she feels about that when we reach her at the sanctuary’s bar. She rather enjoyed double Van Helsings, even triple at one point.”

  “Nyx is a nymph, and I’m not. I’d want you to be mine and commit to only me, Cole. Could you honestly do that? I’m not talking for a little while. I’m asking if you could commit to me forever,” I probed softly, chewing my lip while watching his brow crease to push together in the center of his forehead.

  “Like one pussy for the rest of my life?”

  “Exactly that,” I laughed at the horrified expression marring his perfect features. “See, you’re a wild card, Cole. You need someone who will want to share you with others. You enjoy a woman who lets your brothers play with her too, and that isn’t me. Maybe it is because I’m young. But for now, that is how I am.”

  “You could be forever,” he stated, surprising me. “When I’m ready to give up my sinfully wicked ways.” I opened my mouth to reply as his phone chirped, signaling an incoming. I turned, staring out of the window at the sprawling countryside as he connected the phone to the Bluetooth.

  “Rhys,” Cole muttered, smirking at me.

  “Daily Remington report, asshole. Is she moping about missing me?” My eyes shot to Cole in surprise. The hopeful tone in which Rhys had spoken made butterflies erupt within me.

  “I didn’t notice between her bouncing on my cock last night and this morning. You were right. She does make the most delicious noises when she’s being fucked from behind. It’s almost a strangled scream and moan of deliciously wicked pleasure that comes out together at once.” My eyes widened as Cole grinned, holding a finger to his lips.

  “She wouldn’t fuck you. She’s much too innocent to slip and trip onto your dick, brother. Really, though, how is she?”

  “Why? Do you miss her?” he countered.

  “I miss the way she rolls her eyes when you say something obtuse. The heat that fills her cheeks when she thinks of my cock in a naughty position, and when she’s angry. It’s so cute when her tiny hands ball into fists at her sides while she’s trying not to strike one of us,” he admitted, causing me to suck my lip in as a smile flitted on my face.

  “You don’t miss her pussy at all?” Cole asked curiously.

  “Believe it or not, brother, women have more uses than just spreading their thighs for us,” Rhys snorted. “Like when her head is against your chest, and her fingers curl into yours without thought. I personally like it when Remington whispers my name in her sleep as she reaches for me. It’s…” Rhys paused, searching for the word. “I can hear someone else breathing and the purr of my prized car, asshole.”

  “Just me and Remington out for a leisurely drive to the sanctuary for the weekly check-in. Don’t worry, she only heard everything, and now knows you enjoy cuddling with her. You might not want to admit that shit to anyone else. It sounds like you watch her sleep, which is honestly rather disturbing.” The dial tone sounded, and I glared at Cole.

  “You want him happy, don’t you?” I asked, watching Cole’s eyes turning back to the road as we entered town.

  “Is it that obvious?” he asked, and I smiled, patting his leg.

  “You’re a good brother.”

  “I honestly don’t care about his happiness, Remi. I care that he is holding the guilt of the past for all of us. He wasn’t alone in his wanting to please Roslyn. There were several of us that fell into her trap. He was just the one who thought he could save her.”

  “But you didn’t think so?”

  “Roslyn was a selfish, sadistic bitch who enjoyed hurting Rhys. She fucked us all over the same way, except for Rhys. He was a gentleman. He adored her, and eve
n loved her, which none of us assumed she was capable of, but he thought he could change her. You can’t change someone who likes who they are, and she did. She loved the power that being a Silversmith allowed her, and she wasn’t afraid to hurt anyone who stood in her way. Roslyn couldn’t change her colors or her greed. No matter how much Rhys loved and adored her, she couldn’t love him back.”

  “That’s horrible,” I muttered, watching Cole’s mouth tighten before he spoke again.

  “He’ll never forgive himself enough to love you, Sunshine. He can barely forgive himself enough to be around us, and he merely tolerates us because we refuse to let him hide in the shadows. I know Nyota is helping you, but she wasn’t around for the worst of what happened.”

  “Why were you fighting him that day outside the sanctuary’s bar?” I asked, noting the curve of his lips.

  “It was a test for the Silversmith halfling witch. To see if she’d move to kill him; even after I explicitly forbid it,” he chuckled as I rolled my eyes. “The ammo she had wouldn’t have killed him, but it would have hurt like hell. I had to know if she was trainable, if she would listen to orders, or was merely tolerating me to get to the Van Helsing alpha. Imagine our surprise when an actual Silversmith stopped the ammo easily. I’ve never seen a Silversmith use one arrow to stop a barrage of bullets, Remi. Ever. Nor can they absorb them, and yet you did both.”

  “I discovered it by accident. The absorption part, anyway. Nyx entered the firing range inside E.V.I.E., and the student firing their AR-15 hadn’t turned on the live firing sign, and was firing entirely too fast for me to stop the iron bullets from hitting her. So I used magic to pull them toward me, and then realized the mistake I’d made too late. Miscalculations don’t happen to me with ammo, but the thought of losing my best friend made me act rashly. I felt each one hitting my flesh. I expected pain or death, but instead, I was fine. The arrows, on the other hand, are specially crafted and spelled to eliminate fired ammunition. So it wouldn’t have missed her bullets, not even if it had to turn around to stop them before they hit flesh. Once spelled and released from the bow, it calculates which bullet will hit first, and if it can’t get the bullets, it takes out the intended victim’s Achilles tendon.”