Born to Love (The Vampire Reborn Series) (Entangled Ignite)

by Caridad Piñeiro

  …

  Maggie sensed an odd finality to the sound of the door shutting behind Diana and Ryder, almost as if it was closing on a chapter of her life.

  Maybe it was, Maggie thought.

  David hovered anxiously by the bed. He had shut himself off from her over the last year of their relationship, and tonight was no different. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking or feeling.

  But then he ended all conjecture by blurting out, “How long have you known?”

  “About what?” she asked, and rose slightly, strength returning to her body as the odd sensation she’d had from being close to Rafe receded with each passing minute. She reached behind her to remove the holster tucked against her back and laid the weapon on the nightstand beside the bed.

  “You can be that casual about it? As if I were asking about the weather?” he challenged, his blue eyes frosted with anger.

  “If you mean when did I know about Ryder, I always thought something was off about him, but I didn’t know what it was. At least, not until Diana told me.”

  “And when was that?” he pressed, his tone that of an interrogator, not a friend or lover.

  Former lover, she corrected as she sat up against the pillows on the bed.

  “Two months ago,” she answered bluntly.

  “You’ve known for months and didn’t tell me?” he parried, looking surprised and angry. Angry being the operative word when it came to his behavior for most of that night.

  But she wouldn’t let him use that anger to make her feel guilty. Especially when he had been keeping things from her, as well. She glanced down at his legs, volleying back the accusation. “And how long did you keep what was happening with you from me?”

  Embarrassed color flooded his face before he deflected her question. “Why did Diana tell you?”

  “She wasn’t doing well physically, and I pushed her to tell me because I was worried about her. She finally confessed what he is, and what’s happening with her.”

  “Which is?”

  “The night of the raid when she was shot, she was contaminated with Ryder’s vampire blood,” she explained, earning only a partial thaw in the chill of David’s tone.

  “You’re telling me that saved her?”

  Maggie nodded. “Her wounds should have been fatal,” she said, and continued with her explanation at David’s confused look. “The contamination seems to have kept her from dying then, but after that…the vampire cells started to take over. They were slowly killing her, until the baby came along.”

  “A vampire baby?” he asked with an arch of his blond brow.

  “I don’t think anyone knows what it will be…or if she’ll even survive long enough to carry it to term.”

  David shook his head with sharp staccato movements. “You’re not telling me she’s dying. I won’t believe that,” he said, and despite his earlier anger, his fear for his old partner and friend could not be missed.

  “She may be dying, David,” Maggie said, and reached out to touch his fingers with hers. “We don’t know if the contamination will kick in again. We don’t even know why the baby’s helped, or how long the reprieve will last.”

  “That’s nuts,” he said, most of his anger spent, but not all. “What about you, Maggie? What’s going to happen to you?”

  Maggie’s mind traveled back to what she had seen happen to Rafe tonight. To the pain and violence as the human had been stolen away by the beast she was certain had bitten her the night before. An animal that had possibly killed and eaten another human.

  “I don’t know, David. Everything’s changed in just one night.”

  “I know the feeling well, Maggie.” Anguish dripped from every word, and it was impossible to miss his meaning. But it was equally impossible for her to understand. Not yet. Although she suspected that in time she would.

  “Will you hold me? I don’t want to be alone tonight.” Or any other night. But she didn’t say that. It was too soon. And things were still too uncertain.

  After a moment of hesitation, David relented. He pushed off the arms of the wheelchair and used his legs to scoot onto the bed. He yanked off his shoes, then slipped off his suit jacket and shoulder harness.

  She watched as, with a powerful shove with his arms and less coordinated movements with his legs, he worked his way to the center of the bed where she waited. He lay down stiffly next to her, his body rigid. With a sigh, she tucked herself against his side. He finally relaxed, brought his arm around her, and hugged her close.

  “It’ll be okay, Maggie,” he said.

  She knew he was being sincere, however awkward. Funny words coming from him, really. It was exactly what she’d been telling him for so long.

  She just hoped she would be better at accepting comfort than he’d been.

  …

  David lay awake long after Maggie had drifted off into an uneasy sleep, her limbs occasionally twitching and shifting against him as he held her. He soothed her with a gentle stroke of his hand along her back.

  He was halfway asleep himself when her body jumped and she woke with a soft cry, shaking all over. Her eyes were wide with fear.

  Gathering her face in his hands, he said, “It’s okay, Mags. It was just a bad dream.”

  Only it wasn’t, and they both knew it.

  “I can’t stop thinking about…about what happened to him. What’ll happen to me.” Her eyes filled with tears.

  “We’ll find a way to stop it. And if not—”

  She grabbed his arms, almost desperate. “Help me forget, David. If only for this one night, help me forget.” Before he could even think to respond, she kissed him.

  God, it had been so long, and he wanted her so much. His body went rock hard just from her kiss, and it was impossible for her not to feel it. They were tucked together, front-to-front, the hard ridge of his growing erection cradled against the softness of her belly. But as much as he wanted her, he knew how wrong it would be.

  “Oh, God, Mags. I want you. I never stopped wanting you, but…we can’t. Not like this. Not when you’re so vulnerable.”

  “Fuck vulnerable,” she ground out, surprising him. She wasn’t normally one to swear.

  He shook his head, and once again framed her face with his hands, smoothing his thumbs across her cheeks to wipe away the trails of her tears. “I can’t take advantage of you like this, Mags. In the morning, we’d both regret it, because—”

  “Because you don’t want me the way I want you. As in, forever.”

  Oh, how he did want her forever. But there was still too much wrong with him, and now too much going on inside her, to jump back blindly into any kind of relationship, let alone one this intimate.

  “You’re so wrong. I do want more, Mags. But we need to get our heads on straight and come to grips with everything that’s happening with both of us, so we know for sure what we’re getting into is a forever kind of thing.”

  Her gaze danced over his face, searching for the truth of his words. Seeing his sincerity, she worried her lower lip as if to bite back a retort, then finally nodded. “I understand, David.”

  He wasn’t sure she did. She looked like she was simply putting on a brave front, but didn’t understand at all. She’d had the same look in her eyes the day he’d said he was moving out, that he needed to sort out his new, wheelchair-bound life alone, and didn’t want to hold her back from finding someone who could give her all the love and happiness she deserved.

  She’d said the love she deserved was in him, but as wounded as he’d been, both emotionally and physically, he hadn’t believe that. And he couldn’t justify keeping her from the possibility of loving someone else.

  But she hadn’t. In the many months since then, she hadn’t found anyone else—hadn’t even looked at anyone else…until Rafe.

  Another reason tonight would be a mistake.

  But he kept that to himself, and said, “Get some rest, Mags. I swear to you we’ll figure this out.
Find a way to make things right.”

  She bit her lip and nodded again. Then she closed her eyes and tucked herself in close to him, hanging onto him as if he were her anchor.

  For tonight, at least, he could be that. He could be here for her, as she had been for him in that first horrible year after the raid.

  But when morning came, they were both going to have to face the frightening reality of the future, and decide whether it could include a life together.

  …

  Diana nestled against Ryder, exhaustion dogging every cell in her body.

  “Do you think they’re okay?” she asked, worried about what might be happening with her friends in the guest room.

  “As well as can be expected for the moment, I imagine.” He rubbed his hand across her back, soothing her frayed nerves and offering solace.

  Between their bodies she could feel a tiny flutter of life, and despite the craziness and uncertainty of the night, peace and hope filled her. That life was what it was all about.

  “You look…happy,” he said, peering down at her.

  She tilted her face up to meet his inquiring gaze. “This seems so right,” she said, and ran her hand over her belly.

  Ryder smiled. Since finding out about the baby, there had been an expectant joy in his eyes that the knife-thin edge they walked together couldn’t dim.

  Despite the ever-present danger, there was a lightness in her tonight that went beyond the baby.

  “You feel free, don’t you?” he asked.

  With a startled jump, an insight flared within her. “I’m glad David finally knows. I never realized how much it was weighing on me, keeping that secret. I hope he’ll be able to forgive me for everything now.”

  Ryder’s expression turned to surprise. “Forgive you? Forgive you?” he repeated, his voice louder and more clipped. “He should be grateful he’s alive.”

  “I don’t think he believed that at first. I suppose that’s understandable.”

  “No, it isn’t, darlin’. I’d take life any day. Any day and in any way,” he said with vehemence.

  Diana nodded and settled back down against him, dancing her hand across his chest. “I know, Ryder. I know you would. You have chosen life more than once.”

  But would she do the same, if it came to it?

  She didn’t voice her doubts. She hoped she wouldn’t have to choose eternal life in order to save herself and her unborn child. She’d seen too much of the pain it had brought Ryder and all their vampire friends.

  But…she’d also seen the love.

  She allowed herself to focus on that as she drifted off in his arms, knowing she’d be safe with him.

  Knowing that together they would all keep Maggie safe, too.

  Chapter Ten

  Diana winced as Melissa pulled the needle from Maggie’s arm after drawing the blood for her evaluation.

  David rolled anxiously back and forth in his wheelchair a few feet away.

  “Do you also want me to analyze this blood?” Melissa asked, holding up one of the tubes filled with the samples from Rafe.

  Maggie nodded. “I’d appreciate that. Hematology is your specialty, not mine. I only deal with the dead.” She grimaced. “Normally, anyway.”

  But nothing was normal anymore, Diana thought.

  She shot a glance at Ryder, who had just gotten off the phone with their friends down at the Blood Bank.

  “How is Rafe?” she asked him.

  “Back to human and hungry. Apparently it takes a lot of energy to fuel the transformation. They’re feeding him breakfast and keeping him there until we arrive.”

  “I’m not sure I can go back there, Di,” Maggie said shakily, clearly not over all that had happened the night before. Not that Diana blamed her.

  “I understand,” she said sympathetically. “You and David can log in the rest of the evidence we gathered last night and begin processing it. Unofficially, that is. We can’t reveal this to the world right now.”

  Or maybe ever.

  “We’ll have to explain to Jesus,” Maggie replied, and Diana nodded.

  David pushed forward, placing himself between them and peering at both of them. “You think Jesus is ready to handle this?”

  Seeing their expressions, however, he must have realized the truth. “He knows about all of you, too?” he said disgustedly. “So I was the only one left in the dark?”

  Diana could see he was about to lash out at Maggie, so she jumped in to deflect his anger. “You were the one who wanted out, David. You refused to work with me, or even talk to me.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You were my partner and all I could worry about that night was whether you were alive. Until you waltzed into my hospital room and fucking lied to me, damn it. And now you suck me into this and expect me to be okay with it?” he shouted, anger and frustration evident in every tight line of his body. Maggie reached out to him, but he shrugged off her touch and wheeled closer to Diana.

  Ryder was at her side in an instant.

  She laid a hand on her husband’s chest, keeping him away from David. Bone weary of their conflict, she replied, “I didn’t ask for any of this, either, David. But it happened and I’m dealing with it. Can you?”

  He raised his chin, quick to pick up the gauntlet she had tossed down. “For Maggie, I’d do anything, Reyes. But that’s where my loyalty ends.”

  It was a start, Diana thought tiredly. “All right. That’s fair, Harris. I’m headed to the Blood Bank—”

  “Not alone,” Ryder jumped in.

  She glared at him. “I’m going to interview Rafe and find out what I can about the shifters.” She faced David. “I want you to get more information on the fire Rafe told us about. Anything you can locate. I’ll meet you back at the office as soon as I’m done.”

  With a curt nod, David rolled toward the door, and Maggie followed, leaving Diana behind with Ryder and Melissa.

  To her surprise, Melissa was the first one to speak. “You look a little pale.”

  “I’m a little tired,” Diana admitted, since denying it made no sense.

  “Maybe you should get some more rest before heading downtown,” Ryder said.

  She shook her head. “That can’t wait. I need to get down there.“

  “You mean ‘We need to,’ don’t you?” he pressed.

  “No, Ryder. Just me. I can’t have you just showing up at my crime scenes—”

  He cut the air with a switchblade-quick slash of his hand. “It was the hospital, and only because I had to find out where you were from Jesus, since you didn’t think to let me know what was up with you.”

  She planted her hands on her hips and huffed a harsh breath. “You always understood that there are certain things I need to do alone. Marriage doesn’t change that.”

  “I think it’s time I left,” Melissa said, and beat a hasty retreat out the door.

  That only seemed to set free the reins Ryder had held on his anger. “So you’ll let me get involved, but only when you decide? Like I’m some kind of office gofer—”

  “It’s not that, and you know it,” she immediately countered, although in her gut she worried there might be some truth to his words. She did call him in when she needed him…more often than she wanted to.

  He motioned between them with his index finger. “You and I, we’re a partnership. We do this together—”

  “This is FBI business, Ryder. Not personal. Not anything that involves you,” she reminded him.

  He clenched his fists and sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Everything that involves you and our child involves me, darlin’.”

  She met his gaze. It was clear he didn’t intend to budge, and delay might risk another life. They said marriage was about compromise, and maybe, just maybe, this was one of the times to do just that.

  Striding up to him, she jabbed a finger into his chest. “Fine. But you can go downtown and no further. I won’t have this case messed up by your involvement.”

  He laughed ha
rshly. “Like having a shifter as your main suspect isn’t already messed up?”

  She shoved against his chest to get him out of the way. “Let’s go. I don’t have time to keep arguing with you.”

  Smiling that she had given in, he followed her to the door, pausing to snatch a fedora from inside the foyer closet. He slipped it on at a jaunty angle, saying, “The early morning sun has risen past the tree line.”

  He looked devastatingly dangerous with the hat sexily calling attention to his handsome features. Her heart skipped a beat as his dark gaze settled on her, igniting desire. They hadn’t had time to make love that morning, and she felt it clear to her toes. To try and knock down the need making her damp and tightening her nipples, she frowned and straightened the fedora. “You look like a damned gangster.”

  Laughing, he skimmed his hands along the edges of the hat, and with a boyish grin replied, “And here I thought I looked rather hipster.”

  With a roll of her eyes, she whirled and headed out the door. Her case couldn’t wait.

  And as for her attraction to Ryder…

  Anticipation would only make tonight sweeter.

  …

  Diana’s stomach did a slow somersault at the sight of Rafe finishing off a steak so raw it made her wonder if anyone had even taken a flame to it.

  “He needs his protein,” Diego explained as he caught sight of her surely green face.

  Swallowing down the gorge rising in her throat, she nodded. “You seem to know a lot about shifters.”

  An elegant, if noncommittal, shrug came from Ryder’s partner and friend. “There’s not much to know. They get furry, they need to eat. They get human, they need to eat.”

  Foley whisked away the empty plate stained with the remnants of blood from the steak. “Actually, we don’t get the fur balls around here much. Vamps and shifters don’t mix very well.” He snapped his head in Rafe’s direction. “Think you can get him out of here before he stinks up the place too badly?”

  Rafe slammed his hands down on the table and surged upward. “I’m right here, you know. And I’m human—”

  “I think last night proved the contrary,” Diego countered sardonically.