by S. K. Yule
“You were perfect.” She placed a soft, lingering kiss against his chest. “Being with you was the most beautiful experience of my life. Thank you.”
He stared at her hard and was shocked that she didn’t seem to be saying things to simply make him feel better. Her words were genuine. He propped himself up on one elbow.
“You were amazing, Wilhemina. I don’t know how to explain it to you, but when I’m with you…it’s different. Different in a good way. Different in a way I’ve never felt before.”
Her bright smile melted his heart. She loved him, and he was fairly certain he’d loved her from the first moment he set eyes on her. Then again, not so long ago he thought himself in love with Alaina. He frowned. No. What he felt for Wilhemina was deep, unexplainable. It wasn’t one simple feeling or emotion. It was a mixture of things that had rooted into his heart, his very soul, and had irrevocably made her a part of him forever.
He’d mistaken brotherly affection and friendship for love with Alaina. With Wilhemina? There was no doubt in his mind about his love for her. He certainly did not view her as a sister. She was his other half. He now understood Ragnor’s words about how a life mate was an anchor. No matter how hard things got. No matter what terrible things he’d witnessed and done, would still witness and do, the thought of Wilhemina waiting for him would be enough to soothe and save him from whatever he faced.
But once he told her everything—who he was, what his family did, about her sister—would she still want to be with him? She had said that nothing would change her feelings for him, but he wasn’t sure how he’d react if he found out she was related to the bastard that killed his sister. Hell, while he would always love his mother, the fact that she played a very small but intricate part in Estril’s death by trying to change Fate’s course—no matter how good her intentions had been—would remain a thorn between them for the rest of his days.
He understood why Marilena had done the things she’d done, doubted his ability to ever turn his back on his mother altogether, but some of the things she’d done were unforgiveable. Especially keeping him from knowing his brother—even though he still wanted to bash the little fucker’s head in at the moment. And kidnapping Wilhemina’s sister? That would forever haunt him because it would cause Wilhemina pain.
He pushed a few stray hairs off her face, and was glad to see that the swelling and bruising had gotten even better. If he had not been able to help speed the healing with his saliva, she’d be in bad shape and undoubtedly in horrible pain.
“I don’t deserve you.” He didn’t, but he’d spend the rest of his life trying to make himself worthy of her love.
“Stop,” she said sternly.
He liked when she chastised him. He’d never had a woman comfortable enough with him to do so. It was cute even though he was fairly certain she wouldn’t find him thinking so amusing in the least.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You are incorrigible.” She giggled.
He frowned again.
“What’s wrong?”
“There are some things I need to tell you, Wilhemina. Things that are not going to be easy on you. Things that will be hard for you to believe…to accept.”
She watched him, but didn’t say anything for a few moments as if contemplating the true weight of his words. “Whatever you have to tell me will not make me feel any differently about you.” She chuckled. “Unless, of course, you’re a serial killer or something.”
He didn’t laugh because being a hunter really didn’t put him too far off from that analogy. Serial killer he was, but only of drifters to save innocent lives. While what he did was for the good of all, he wasn’t sure how she’d deal with the fact that he killed other living beings.
“Let’s get dressed. I can’t talk to you while you’re naked and on display. All I want to do is sink into your sweet wetness again.”
Her cheeks flamed red. “I wouldn’t mind,” she whispered.
He cupped her uninjured cheek. “Trust me, neither would I. And I fully intend to take you up on that offer again and again, but we need to talk first.”
He kissed her before sitting up then helping her off the bed.
“Why do I get the feeling I’m about to be marched in front of the firing squad?” she mumbled.
He couldn’t comment on that because he wasn’t sure that that wasn’t exactly what he was about to do to her. Except it wasn’t her body that would die after the execution. It was her heart.
“Your shirt is on the couch.”
“Thank you.”
He got up to dress, and prayed to whoever might listen that she could find a way to understand what he was about to tell her, that she could find a way to forgive him for his mother’s actions.
* * * *
“I can’t believe we have a night to ourselves.” Avril practically bounced up and down in the booth at Drake’s.
Aiston smiled at his wife of two years. At times, he could barely believe that she was his.
“Yes. We do.” He leaned close and nipped her earlobe. “As much as I’m happy to take you out dancing, I have to admit that I can’t wait to get you back home and in bed.”
“Who says we need to be in a bed?” She smiled wickedly at him. “Or at home?”
His cock began to give a standing salute, but he was determined to give her a good time before he gave her a good time.
“You know what it does to me when you tease me like that?” he whispered.
She slid her hand under the table, up his thigh, and traced the outline of his erection with her fingers. “I’m pretty sure I know exactly what my teasing does to you.” She leaned in and kissed him on the neck. “Exactly the same thing your teasing does to me.”
“Avril, keep it up and the only dancing we’ll be doing tonight is horizontally.” He’d never get enough of her.
He’d always been the playboy of the family, but once he’d laid eyes on Avril, he’d never touched another woman. Once he laid eyes on his beautiful wife, all other women paled in comparison.
“Remember the bathroom?” she said as a wicked smile curved her full lips.
“I’d never forget that. But there is a little problem with that memory.”
“Exactly what is wrong with that memory?” She sat up and raised a brow.
He chuckled. “Actually, two things. One, it started because of a fight. Two, although I immensely enjoyed what we did together, getting interrupted kept it from the outcome I would have liked.”
Her radiant smile spread quickly over her face. “I guess I would have to agree with you on those two points. So my next question is, what should we do about that?”
He stood, held his hand out, and when she wrapped her fingers around his, he gently pulled her up next to him. The club was dark, and the deep, thumping base of the music was creating the perfect atmosphere for getting close to that someone special.
“I think I’m going to take you in the back—not the bathroom, but a more private back room—and add a perfect ending to that memory. I was told one of the luxury rooms would be available around midnight. I think it’s about midnight now,” he whispered.
She pressed against him, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him. His blood heated, and he dipped his tongue past her lips to taste her. He groaned when her sweetness hit him like a shot of liquid fire.
“Let’s go.”
He laughed as she started for the back, never happier in his life to chase after a woman. He’d follow his wife to the ends of the earth, to hell and back. He’d go anywhere as long as she was with him or there waiting for him.
Chapter Eighteen
Aldin sat beside Wilhemina on the couch fidgeting like a nervous two-year-old. She had never seen him anything other than calm, cool, and composed.
“Whatever you have to tell me can’t be that bad,” she laughed.
But when he stared at her with those turquoise eyes, she caught a glimpse of something that made her catch her breath. A shiver of dread warned her t
hat whatever he was about to tell her would change her life forever. She had no idea how she knew this, but she was sure it was the truth.
“What I’m about to tell you will be difficult for you to grasp. You’ll think I’m crazy. You’ll think my whole family is crazy, but I assure you that we are quite sane.” As sane as vampires can be anyway.
It was not the first time she’d heard Aldin’s voice in her head, but it was the first time she was completely focused on him. The other times she had been sidetracked enough to explain it away. This time? This time you are only imagining things.
“No you are not. You can hear me, and there is a reason for that.”
She sucked in a startled breath. “D-did you just talk to me? Like in my brain?”
Aldin’s somber expression encouraged anxiety to rear its ugly head.
“Yes.”
“But how?”
“I am a vampire.”
“The vampire stuff again,” she muttered.
He sat up straighter if that was even possible.
“What do you mean again?”
She frowned. “Weellll, I kind of overheard your meeting earlier. At least the last part of it anyway. I had gone down to get some coffee, and my curiosity got the better of me.”
“How much did you hear?”
She shrugged. “Just something about all of you being vampires and true bloods. Maybe a little about life mates and a prophecy. I figured all of you were playing a game of some sort.”
“No. No game.” He sighed.
“You really don’t expect me to believe you—that your whole family—are vampires?”
“No. I didn’t expect you to believe it, but it is true nonetheless. We are not only vampires, but we are hunters. We hunt shadowdrifters, or drifters as we call them. They were all vampires at one time, but traded their souls to Satan in return for never having to feel love, joy, or happiness again.”
“Why would someone do that?” What a horrible thought. She couldn’t imagine not being able to love Aldin.
“After living hundreds of years, one gets weary of losing loved ones time and again. It gets difficult to deal with after awhile. That is why I have chosen not to get close to anyone who is not a vampire…until now.”
“Me?”
He nodded. “You are my life mate. You can potentially stay with me forever.”
“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Not only are you telling me that you are a vampire, but that I am your life mate? And by saying I can potentially stay with you forever, do you mean that you can make me a vampire?” She reached up to rub at the spot on her neck where he’d bitten her. “You really did bite me?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. But you have nothing to fear. I cannot change you without your permission. Even then, you will not turn until the third bite with a blood exchange.”
“As in I’d have to drink your blood?”
“Yes.”
“I’m seriously trying to have an open mind here. I’ve witnessed some incredible things during my journalism days, but I’m not sure even my mega curiosity and imagination can wrap around what you are saying.”
“I know. There is much I need to tell you about my kind, but before we get to any of that, there is something else.”
“What? You are half werewolf or something too?”
“No. Something not supernatural. Something that I think will bring you joy, but also much anger.”
“Then why even tell me about the vampire stuff? All I’m going to be thinking about is the vampire stuff now. I have tons of questions, you know? Even though I still don’t think I quite believe it.”
“I’m certain once I tell you, you will forget about all the other stuff for a moment. The only reason I told you about the vampire stuff was to try to make you understand the reason for…the…other…thing.”
“Now you’re even confusing me.” She laughed.
“I think I may be confusing myself as well.” He reached for her and wrapped his warm fingers around her hands.
“I would never do anything to hurt you, Wilhemina. Ever. I hope you believe that.”
A funny flittering started in her stomach. “I know you would never hurt me, Aldin. But I have to admit, you are starting to scare me just a little bit.”
“Sorry. I’m going to come right out and say it. It’s about your sister.” He took a deep breath.
Every muscle in her body tightened, and every cell turned to alert mode. “How do you know about my sister?” She frowned and then it hit her. “Of course, you read about it in the papers when it happened.”
“I did not.” He shook his head.
“A friend told you?”
He shook his head again.
“You saw it on the news on television?”
Head shake again.
“You read it on the Internet?” She snapped her fingers.
He blew out an exasperated breath. “Wilhemina, I…”
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Son of a bitch,” he cursed.
“It’s okay. We can finish this conversation after you answer the door.”
The feeling of unease gnawed at her incessantly as she watched him walk across the room. Yet, even through her unease, she was able to recognize that he looked as good going as he did coming. Suddenly, for some reason, she had an overwhelming urge to follow him. She wasn’t far behind when he swung the door open to reveal Marilena.
“Lindsey is here.”
Her next step faltered and she gasped. Lindsey? Were they talking about her sister Lindsey? But no, they couldn’t be. Lindsey had been gone for years. And although she’d never given up on finding her sister, she’d come to the resolution that she would most likely never see her again.
Aldin spun and trained his unsettling gaze on her. When she read the hint of guilt, the hint of despair that shined in them, her stomach dropped.
“No.” She had to force the word past the lump in her throat.
“I didn’t want you to find out about it this way.” His eyes never left her.
“Are you telling me that my sister—the one I have not seen for over seven years—is here?”
His lips pulled into a tight line, and he gave a quick nod of the head.
“No. I don’t believe you. H-how is this possible?” She leaned against a small table by the doorway to keep herself from falling into a heap on the floor.
Aldin reached for her, but she jerked away from him.
“Don’t touch me!” Even through the cacophony of emotions flailing her, she didn’t miss the hurt that shined in his eyes from her rejection. She couldn’t deal with his feelings at the moment, though. She was trying too hard to deal with her own.
“Wilhemina, please—”
“My sister is downstairs?”
He nodded.
“Take me to her. Right now.”
He continued to stare at her. The storm swirled and grew in his eyes.
“Now!”
Finally, he released a long, slow breath. “Follow me.”
By the time they reached the room where she’d hung out, eaten pizza, chocolate, and drank wine with Ebony and Avril, her legs were shaking, her heart was racing, and she felt as if she might pass out. When Aldin stopped in front of the closed door and turned toward her, a shiver ran the length of her spine. This had to be some kind of sick joke, or they had the wrong person. How could Aldin or any part of his family have known where Lindsey was?
Maybe they’d found her? Maybe it was all a simple misunderstanding and her imagination was making it into something it was not.
“Please let me explain first.”
“I want to see my sister. Now.”
If Lindsey was in that room—and she’d have to see her with her own eyes to believe it—explanations could come later. Right now, she had to know if her sister was in that room.
He bowed his head and stepped aside.
When she walked through the door, she nearly sank to her knees at the sight that greeted
her.
“Lindsey?” she whispered, expecting to wake up from a dream at any moment.
“Wilhemina!” Lindsey flew across the room to her and squeezed her tight.
“It’s really you?” She leaned back to look into gray eyes that were similar to her own, gray eyes she thought she’d never see again.
“It’s really me,” Lindsey answered, voice shaking.
Tears rushed to spill down her cheeks as over seven years of grief, determination, and finally, reluctant acceptance came pouring from within. She took her sister’s hands and led her to the couch. After they both sat down, she stared at her without saying a word, still afraid this was somehow not real.
“I’ve never stopped thinking about you once. I’ve searched for you everywhere. Where have you been? What happened that day?” Wilhemina asked.
Her sister looked healthy and well, yet she couldn’t help but notice that some of the spark she once had was dulled.
“I think I can answer those questions and a few more,” Marilena said after walking through the door.
Lindsey glared at Marilena. “You may have answers, but there is nothing you can say that will justify what you did.”
“Someone tell me what the hell is going on,” Wilhemina demanded.
Aldin shut the door and stood with his back against it. He stared at Wilhemina, but she refused to be intimated or turned on by that gaze at this particular moment in time.
“I am the one who kidnapped Lindsey. I take full responsibility. Aldin, Ashe, and Aiston only found out about this yesterday. Please don’t hold my actions against anyone else. Once I told Aldin, he insisted I bring your sister here immediately.” Marilena’s voice was monotone, as if she was preparing for the onslaught that would soon head her way.
“Why? Why did you rob me of seven years with my sister? Seven years! You should be in prison. I’m going to call the police right now.”
Wilhemina stood, but Lindsey tugged her back down on the couch. “It won’t do any good. Besides, none of them will allow her to go to jail,” Lindsey said.