The Vampire Awakenings Bundle: Books 1-5

by Davies, Brenda K.

  She’d been deluding herself by thinking she could take a vampire one-on-one and win. Maybe a massive group of people could take one down, but there would be many casualties. Nabel had led her to believe she wouldn’t need a group of people or a hunter’s aid. She couldn’t stand here and wallow in her realization or the sense of betrayal it caused to twist in her stomach, there was work to be done here. She walked across the lawn as Ian bent and lifted the body of the headless corpse.

  “I’ll help you.” Her voice came out quieter than she’d expected, but he looked up at her.

  “No.”

  “Ian…”

  “I don’t want you touching them. Please Paige, go over and wait for me.”

  Her gaze slid over him as his skin began to return to the golden tone she’d come to know so well. She may not have been able to do much for him against those vampires, but she wasn’t about to leave him to deal with this alone. Nor would she be thought of as weak and incapable in front of him.

  She walked over to the porch and climbed the stairs; her fingers slid into the brown and bloodied hair of the head lying on the porch, she lifted it up. As soon as she turned around Ian, standing directly behind her, brought her up short. He held his hand out to her, but she shook her head no. “I’m going to help.”

  Ian took a deep breath before gently taking hold of her hand. “I don’t think you’re weak, Paige. I know you’re strong. There’s no reason for you to have to deal with this when I can take care of it. You’ve had enough death and destruction in your life.”

  Paige reluctantly released the head to him. “How do you know I’m strong? I was useless against them.”

  He gave her a halfhearted smile as the last of the reddish black color faded from his magnificent face. The red veins streaking through the whites of his eyes vanished, his eyes returned to their sky color. “I know you better than you think Paige, and you weren’t useless, there’s more to you than you realize.”

  Ian fought the urge to bend and place a kiss against her forehead, but he refused to get any more of the blood coating him on her. Turning away, he walked over and dumped the head in with the body. He gathered the other two bodies and tossed them into the grave. He rapidly filled it in again, tossed the shovel into the shed, and turned toward her.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  She walked over to join him by the pickup. He grabbed a shirt from his bag, pulled off his ruined one and tugged the new one on. She went to grab the handle of the truck, but his hand shot out before she could grasp it, and he pulled the door open for her. He didn’t say a word as he waited for her to settle inside before closing the door behind her.

  He moved so fast around the front of the truck that she lost sight of him. She didn’t see him again until he pulled the driver’s side door open and climbed in beside her. Without thinking, she reached out and placed her hand against his on the wheel. He glanced at her and gave her a smile before starting the truck. A spray of dirt and rocks pinged against the undercarriage when he pulled out of the drive.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “You’ll have to get the room,” Ian said and glanced pointedly down at the blood that had seeped through his shirt and coated his jeans. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his wallet and handed her a wad of cash. “I’ll be right here.”

  “Ok.” It took all of her energy to walk into the small office and ring the bell on the counter. A portly, middle-aged man chomping on the end of his cigar stepped through the doorway behind the counter. She could hear the low murmur of the TV drifting from the backroom. Paige’s nose wrinkled as the smell of the cigar drifted to her; she ignored the curling tendrils of smoke while she filled out the card the man gave her.

  The motel was the land technology forgot, she realized. She didn’t see a computer, only stacks of paper scattered across the desk. Or maybe this was normally a pay by the hour kind of place, either way, she just wanted the key and a bed. She handed him back the card and paid with the cash Ian had given her.

  The man’s eyes raked over her as he handed out the keys. She glanced down at her rumpled sweater. She hadn’t realized the sleeves of it were torn, and she’d lay money that if she looked close enough she would be able to find blood splattered on the red material. “I don’t want no funny business here.”

  “There won’t be,” she assured him as she took the key from his hand.

  The bell on the door rang as she stepped outside and searched for Ian. She spotted him standing amongst the shadows by the corner of the building. The dim light illuminated the golden color of his hair and emphasized the aura of power emanating from him. His gaze scanned the night, she could sense the murderous impulse radiating from him in waves. He’d most likely frightened off every vampire within a ten mile radius, but for some reason he didn’t frighten her as she descended the stairs toward him.

  The best thing she could do was catch the next bus out of here and away from him. She had no idea where she would go or what she would do, but if she stayed she would continue to put Ian in danger. Her father had found her again. He may even be out there somewhere, watching her now. She doubted it with Ian so close, and emitting an, I’ll rip your head off, vibe but there was no way for her to know for sure.

  She glanced nervously around the gloomy parking lot. Nothing unusual stirred within the shadows. That didn’t mean he wasn’t there, watching her, waiting for his opportunity to pounce on her. Being here with him put Ian’s life at risk too. She’d never be able to live with herself if something happened to him because of her.

  She felt as alone now as she had four years ago when her entire life had been turned upside down and ripped apart. No, she was more alone now. Then, she’d had a mission, rage, and revenge driving her. Now she still had all three of those things, but she also had the knowledge she would never win. Not against a creature like her father.

  Ian may have taken on those three vampires today, but he’d been injured, and she couldn’t expect him to keep putting his life at risk for her. No matter what he believed her to be, she’d never allow his life to become the battle hers had become.

  She walked to the middle of the building, slid the key into the lock and opened the door. Her hand felt around for the light switch inside; she flicked it on just as Ian materialized at her backside. The flickering light on the bed table between the two full size beds revealed the dingy yellow walls, faded orange and brown bedspreads, and industrial brown carpet. The room looked like it had stepped out of nineteen eighty something, but it smelled of vanilla and she didn’t see a speck of dust on any of the scratched and lopsided furniture.

  Ian closed the door and placed both of their bags on the first bed. He strode past her toward the mirror and sink across the way. She didn’t know what he planned until he tugged his shirt off over his head. She gawked at the broad expanse of his back. Blood stuck to his skin as he dropped the shirt on the floor. His head turned as he tried to inspect his back. There was no way he could see the piece of wood embedded beneath his shoulder blade or the pieces of glass still digging into his flesh.

  “I’ll take it out,” she whispered.

  He glanced over his shoulder at her before giving a brisk nod of his head. His body would eventually push it out, but the wound would heal much faster if she removed it now. She patted the bed closest to him and stepped back as he approached her. Settling on the edge of the bed, his shoulders hunched up when her hands rested upon them.

  “This is going to hurt,” she murmured.

  “I can take it.”

  Her fingers wrapped around the piece of wood. From his angle, he could see her in the mirror as she inspected the injury. Her curly hair tumbled around her shoulders, her blue-green eyes were shadowed, but they gleamed with determination. Her chin jutted out, she took a deep breath before jerking it from his body.

  A low groan escaped him; he flinched briefly, but showed no other sign that a six inch long piece of wood had just been torn out of his back. Paige lif
ted it up before her; her eyes nearly crossing as she took it in. “Could you get that away from me,” he said with a grim smile.

  “Oh, ah, yeah.” Walking over, she tossed it into the trashcan beneath the sink. Paige returned to him with the trashcan in hand. “There are a few pieces of glass still in your back. I’ll pull them out too if you’d like.”

  “Yes.” In the mirror he saw her gaping at his back. He could already feel the flesh on his back closing, the blood ceasing its flow out of him as the hole closed. Lifting her head, she met his eyes in the mirror and held them.

  Something more than pain and anger sizzled over his skin as he held her turquoise gaze. His body heated at the touch of her fingers upon his shoulders; his blood flowed into his cock, causing it to jump when her tongue slid out to wet her lips. She nervously looked away from him and focused on his back, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her as she began to tenderly pick the shards of glass from his flesh.

  Paige forced herself to focus on the task at hand instead of on the eyes she could sense watching her in the mirror. Her fingers trembled as his skin rapidly knitted back together. With a rattling ting, she tossed the last piece of glass into the trash and lifted her head to meet his relentless gaze in the mirror.

  “They used me, didn’t they?” she inquired.

  His brow furrowed. “Who used you, Paige?”

  “The hunters. I remember what happened now, with Nabel in the alley. One minute he was behind me, and the next he was gone. He left me there, with my…” she broke off before the word father slipped out. She trusted him more now than she’d ever believed possible, but she wasn’t ready to dig into that horror from her past, not after everything that had just happened. “Enemy. I was bait to them, something to lure the vampires in, and nothing more.”

  “I don’t know the answer to that.”

  “But you think they used me, don’t you?” she pressed. “You said as much before.”

  He rolled his shoulders back and heaved a sigh. “Yes, I do.”

  Something inside of her broke; she’d already known the answer, already known what he’d believed, but to hear it confirmed again just made her feel more lost and confused. “I really believed they were the good guys.”

  “Not everything is as black and white as you believe.” He rose to his feet and stretched his back. “Yes, there is good and evil in this world. But people and vampires are also so many other colors that you can’t even begin to imagine. It’s what makes this ride called life so fantastic.”

  “I think we’ve taken a really strange ride so far.”

  “Sometimes those are the best.”

  “What color would you be?” she inquired.

  “Well, dear girl, I’m all red of course.”

  “Oh, of course,” she muttered. The smile he shot her caused her stomach to flutter. “Why didn’t you let those vampires take me? You didn’t have to protect me.”

  His smile vanished, his eyes glittered dangerously. “No one is ever going to take you or hurt you again.”

  “They could have killed you,” she whispered. “You were outnumbered.”

  “It would have taken a lot more than the three of them, and I would have gladly killed them all to keep you safe. My life is intertwined with yours Paige; there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

  Inexplicable tears burned her eyes; she rapidly blinked them back. “Is that because you believe I’m your mate?”

  He sat on the bed again. Taking hold of her hand, he pulled her down beside him. She perched on the edge of the bed, afraid to get too close. His touch could make her forget everything, and right now she didn’t think burying her head in the sand was the way to deal with what was happening in her life.

  “You are my mate. There’s no doubt about it in my mind. I’d die for you, and I would die without you.” Paige couldn’t breathe as his eyes burned into hers. Lifting his hand, he brushed back a strand of her hair. His fingers lingered on her cheek as he leaned closer to her. She could feel the warmth of his breath against her lips. “I know, as a human, this is difficult for you to understand, but you’re everything to me. There will never be anyone, but you, for me from now on.”

  “Ian…”

  The brush of his lips against hers caused her heart to jump. He didn’t deepen the kiss but sat back and slid his fingers into hers. “The man you first saw in that bar is gone. If you decide you’ll stay with me, then I’ll be with you, and only you, for an eternity. If you decide to leave me, there still won’t ever be anyone else for me again. You’re everything to me.”

  She didn’t know how to respond, not when he was staring at her with such reverence and need. “You barely know me,” she whispered.

  “I know enough. We haven’t gone far in our relationship; I could let you go if you chose to walk away from me.” He wasn’t sure he could let her go, but he couldn’t tell her that. She had to make this choice on her own. And if she did decide to walk away, he would let her, even if it destroyed him. Her happiness is all he wanted. “But I will always be there to make sure you’re protected.”

  “I can’t stand the thought of you being hurt by anyone, and he will keep coming for me. If I leave he’ll follow me.”

  The flash of red that ran through his eyes caused her breath to inhale sharply. “So will I,” he grated.

  “I don’t want you to be hurt because of me.”

  “I could have killed twenty of them today; I will not be hurt. Don’t ever worry about that, and don’t leave me because that’s what you fear. If you chose to leave me do so because it’s what you want, but know that I am here willingly and will not go anywhere until this vampire is dead.”

  Paige nodded, but she couldn’t shake the lingering doubt and fear that she would be the cause of his demise. She’d be broken if anything happened to him, she realized. “What exactly has to be done to complete the mate bond?” she inquired.

  “Sex.” The way he said the word caused the hair on her nape to raise and a shiver to go through her. “Blood. You’d have to become a vampire.”

  The heat seeping through her body was doused by those words. Her mouth dropped, she closed it again, before it fell once more. Ian braced himself for her rejection, for her recoil, or shouts of denial. She remained stunned into silence. Her eyes drifted down to their laced hands; he thought she would jerk away from him, but her fingers stayed entwined with his. He could hear the rapid beat of her heart, see the pulse vibrating in her neck. Her scent intensified as she continued to stare at their hands before finally looking at him again.

  “That’s such a huge commitment. It means certain death. My death.”

  “I know.”

  “I barely know you.” And yet he was the only person in the past four years who had shown her any kindness. He’d risked his life for her, before he’d believed her to be his mate. He’d protected her and cared for her; he’d listened to her and gone out of his way for her. He was the best man she’d ever met, and he wanted to spend an eternity with her. In some ways it all sounded so wonderful, yet she couldn’t shake her lingering fear and doubt. “What if you’re wrong?”

  He rested his forehead against hers. “I’m not. If we ever completed the bond you would never have another doubt about what I feel for you, and you would know how much I love you, all of the time.”

  A breath escaped her at his ‘I love you’. “The bond would make it so you could sense my thoughts, my feelings, and we’d be able to communicate with each other without saying a word out loud,” he continued as if he hadn’t just completely rocked her world. “You’d never doubt how I feel for you, ever.”

  He loved her? She leaned closer to him, unable to ignore the lure of him, the physical pull he had over her. Was it love? She didn’t know the answer to that question, she kept telling herself she hadn’t known him long enough for it to be love, but she’d definitely never felt this way about someone before. She cared about him so much that when he’d mentioned her becoming a vampire, it
hadn’t sent her screaming out of here like it would have two weeks ago.

  “Does becoming a vampire hurt?” she asked.

  His eyes flew over her face. She hadn’t said no and she hadn’t completely denied him. She still sat beside him and hadn’t screamed at him that she would never become a vampire. “I’ve been told it’s exceptionally painful,” he admitted. “But it’s over quick.”

  Her thumb caressed the back of his hand as she contemplated his words. “I’m not sure about drinking blood…”

  “You’ll only ever have to feed from me. I will keep you nourished.”

  How was it possible that he somehow made drinking blood sound tempting, or at least his blood? She looked at the vein in his neck, was she actually considering this? She shook her head, but it didn’t clear her of the troubling thoughts filling her mind. “I see. I… uh… I need some time to think.”

  “I know.” He leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss against her forehead. “But you have to know what you mean to me, and there’s nothing I won’t do for you. If you decide to walk away from me, I’ll let you go, but if you decide to be with me, it’s irrevocable. It’s an intense bond that can never be broken and I want it with you, more than anything.”

  She lifted her head to brush her lips over his. A sigh of pleasure escaped her when the heat of his mouth seared into her. An eternity with this man sounded like a little bit of heaven to her lonely soul. She may have only known him for a short time, but he’d become the most important man in her life.

  He pulled away from her reluctantly. “If you don’t mind, I should probably take a shower.” He glanced pointedly at the blood still staining his skin and clothing.

  “Oh yeah.”

  “Are you still going to be here when I get out or am I going to have to hunt you down again?”