“It’s an amazing steakhouse,” Drew praised. “We had a late lunch there today, and I’m sure I’ll dream about that steak tonight.”
The woman flashed Drew a brilliant smile. “Did you try the cheesecake?”
“No, but my cousin did,” Drew replied. “It looked really good.”
“You simply must go back there to try it before you leave town,” the woman insisted, batting her eyes at Drew. “I could go with you later this evening,” she offered. The woman was probably in her mid-forties but still attractive, with dark brown hair, pale green eyes, and a curvy figure. She obviously found Drew attractive.
“That is a tempting offer,” Drew murmured, much to Talia’s annoyance. She was about to mention that he didn’t have time for dates when Drew continued. “Sadly, I need to get to bed early tonight. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”
The woman looked disappointed. “Let me know if you change your mind. I’m single. Divorced for seven years.”
“I’ll definitely keep that in mind. Has anyone else come by looking for her?” Drew asked.
“You don’t look much like Shayla.” The woman suddenly sounded suspicious. When they’d arrived, Drew had claimed to be her brother and insisted he was worried because Shayla had a history of mental illness.
“I’m not really her brother,” Drew admitted. “We do have a history together, and I am worried about her.”
“They were living together for about a year,” Talia began. “Then she suddenly took off.”
Narrowed eyes regarded them both. “That sounds like the sort of thing a woman who was afraid for her own safety would do.”
Meeting her gaze, Drew spoke. “I’d never hurt Shayla. You know that, right?”
Talia sensed the push in his voice. Having never been around a vampire while they were using compulsion, she was a little surprised by the sensation. She’d been taught to expect it to feel like the words were moving along the edges of her mind. What she hadn’t expected was the seductive quality of Drew’s voice. It felt like the softest of caresses moving along her skin. Talia shifted slightly in her seat, trying to resist the urge to press her thighs tightly together.
Eyes slightly glazed, the woman finally spoke. “Her father came to town looking for her about a week ago.”
“Are you sure it was her father?” Talia asked.
“I don’t see why someone would claim to be her father if he wasn’t,” the woman replied testily.
“What did he ask you?” Talia pushed.
The woman opened her mouth to respond before closing it. “I’m not sure I should tell you. I shouldn’t tell anyone what her father wanted.”
Drew’s eyes locked with the woman’s. “It’s okay to tell us everything.”
“Of course,” the woman agreed, batting her eyes at Drew. “Shayla will be so happy to see you again. What woman wouldn’t be happy to have a young man like you chasing after her?”
Drew’s smile held a predatory quality that only made the dark seduction in his voice more potent. “Tell me about Shayla’s father. They aren’t close, and I’m surprised he was looking for her.”
“At first, I didn’t believe he was her father. He didn’t look more than ten years older than her.”
“What does he look like?” Drew asked.
“You don’t know what her father looks like?” the woman asked. Her brows knit together, and Talia wondered if Drew’s compulsion wasn’t working like he’d hoped.
Drew smiled and took the woman’s hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Of course, I know what he looks like. I just want to make sure it wasn’t some lunatic pretending to be Shayla’s dad. One of her ex-boyfriends is more than a little crazy. That might be why she ran from me. He might be stalking her again.”
The push was harder this time, as was the seductive quality of Drew’s voice, and Talia clenched her fists and bit the inside of her lip to keep from moaning.
“Like I said, he looked young. His hair was blond, a really pale shade, and thinning near the front. I’d say he was a little over six feet tall with a nice build. He seemed to be in good shape. His eyes were brown, I think. I can’t really remember. My memory of him seems fuzzy all of a sudden.”
“Was there anyone with him?” Drew asked.
The woman began to answer but stopped. Her mouth hung open, but no words came out. It almost seemed she was frozen in that position.
“We won’t take up any more of your time,” Drew told her.
They said their goodbyes and headed outside before Talia spoke. “I assume you have a good reason for not pushing her to tell us who was with Corbin.”
“Corbin probably told her to forget the answer,” Drew replied. “I’m young and not great with compulsions yet. Since I’d already pushed her to ignore one thing planted in her mind by Corbin, she wasn’t going to budge on this one. My abilities are too limited, and my energy level is also too low. She mostly responded because I was using my other vampire talent with her. Isaiah might be able to come back and get more information later.”
Talia nodded. “What exactly is your ability?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, stopping to face her.
They were standing in front of the Tahoe where they were supposed to meet the others.
“All vampires have some special ability,” she replied with a shrug. “What’s yours? The one you mentioned using to get that woman to answer your questions.”
“Why do you want to know?” With Drew’s eyes hidden behind his sunglasses, it was hard to read him, but his voice sounded wary.
“You really don’t want to tell me, do you?” she asked.
Drew looked down at his shoes and sighed before taking his sunglasses off and meeting her gaze. At his age, the sensitivity to light wasn’t nearly as bad, but he still squinted slightly. “I know everyone’s dirty little kinks and perversions.”
“Huh?” she asked, sure he couldn’t be answering her question about his vampire ability. She’d never heard of anyone being capable of doing something like that.
“When I meet people, I just sense what they want in bed or in any other place you can imagine,” he explained. “Not only that, I can make people want me—men or women. It’s hard to control either of those things, so I usually prefer to just watch people fuck.”
“That makes sense,” she told him.
“It does?” he asked. “I’ve never really talked about this with anyone else, and I always figured they’d think I was crazier because of how I feel.”
“Really?” she asked, unable to hide her surprise. “Why would you keep this to yourself?”
“Who the hell am I supposed to talk to?” he demanded before flashing a sheepish a grin. “Sorry for biting your head off like that. This is just a sore subject for me. My extended family only recently became involved in my life, and I have trouble opening up to them. When the subject comes up, I give them vague answers that make it sound like I have some awesome ability without actually telling them about it. I tell them how lucky I am to have a talent involving sex.”
“But you really hate it,” she finished.
“Yeah, it sucks,” he admitted. “All this didn’t start until I was almost twenty, and I figured it was my imagination back then. At first, I only got vague ideas of what people wanted. When I realized I could make people want me, I stopped wanting to have sex.”
“Because you didn’t know if they really wanted you or you were just fucking with their mind,” she deduced.
“Exactly!” he said. The harsh lines on his face relaxed as he breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s so nice to have someone understand what I’m feeling. Not that I’m saying you fully understand it, but you at least see why I feel this way. Maybe my family would get it if I talked to them, but it’s more than a little embarrassing. It’s like I can’t have sex with a girl for fear of it being little more than rape.”
“I’m sure you’ll be able to control it more when you get older.” Talia had no clue what po
ssessed her to do it, but she slipped her arms around Drew’s waist and hugged him.
His entire body went rigid before he sighed and his arms slipped around her shoulders. “If I ask you a question, will you promise to not get offended?”
Talia laughed and pulled away from him. “No, I will not make that promise, because I’m not an idiot. In the short time I’ve known you, I’ve come to realize you can be as offensive as Mason. Scratch that—you might be more offensive at times.”
Drew chuckled and slipped his sunglasses back on. “Fine. I’ll still ask since I really want to hear the answer. Do you have any sexual urges or fantasies? Or do you just not have sexual desires?”
“Excuse you?” she asked, eyes narrowed.
“It seems I offended you,” he stated in a flat voice.
“And you seem terribly distraught about it,” she muttered.
“I’m doing a shitty job with this question,” he admitted. “It’s just that I have no idea what you like. You also haven’t been turned on even once when you’ve been around me. I thought you were a couple of times, but then I realized I had to be mistaken. This is going to sound arrogant, but when I use compulsions, every non-vampire and some younger vampires, who hear me, get turned on. That human back there was thinking about some really kinky shit involving knitting needles.”
“Knitting needles?”
He nodded. “She’s a freak. I don’t turn you on. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Talia laughed at his perplexed expression. “You do realize how arrogant you sound when you say things like that, don’t you? It makes it sound like everyone wants you.”
“That isn’t what I mean,” he muttered in obvious frustration. “No one really wants me. They just get hot because of my ability. There’s a big difference. With you, I don’t even turn you on.”
“I was turned on back there,” she admitted, clearing her throat before continuing. “The sound of your voice when you’re using compulsion is like a caress along my skin.”
“You don’t need to say that,” he assured her. “That was for my benefit, right? It’s not that I embarrassed you by implying you don’t get turned on?”
“I don’t lie to make people feel better, even myself,” she snapped. “It’s embarrassing that I get turned on by you. You made me squirm in my seat in there, and it’s not the only time I’ve been turned on by you. I’m telling you the truth because I figure, if you aren’t picking up anything sexual from me, maybe you won’t from other people. There might be other people not affected by you.”
“But you were affected by me,” he reminded her.
Talia thought for a moment. “I guess, but it’s not the first time. I find you attractive, and I like the dark, seductive voice you use when you give compulsions. I can’t believe I’m trying to comfort you about something like this.”
Drew let out a nervous laugh. “This is a very strange conversation, but I appreciate you trying to comfort me. That is what you’re trying to do, right?”
“Yes,” she replied. “I’m not sure I’m helping.”
“You’re definitely helping,” he assured her. “So, you’ve been turned on by me before?”
She nodded.
“Are you turned on now?” he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.
Thankfully, she caught sight of Mason stalking their way with Isaiah and Phoenix several feet behind him. It was perfect timing. She needed some time alone to remind herself of why she should stay away from Drew.
“Don’t tell Mason about our conversation,” she said quickly, and just like that, Drew’s lips pressed into a firm line before he nodded.
“Don’t worry,” he assured her. “I won’t tell anyone I got you hot and bothered.”
Without another word, he climbed into the back of the Tahoe and slammed the door shut. Talia wanted to talk to Drew and make him understand that he wasn’t the reason she didn’t want Mason to know. She didn’t want to start any drama, and Mason would definitely have an issue with her having any involvement with Drew. Shaking off thoughts of Drew, Talia tried to focus on what was important, finding Shayla before Corbin and Nicola did.
Chapter Twelve
Phoenix had no clue what was up with Drew, but he’d been in a mood since they’d met up with him and Talia an hour ago. Drew wasn’t perfect, and he could be a pain to deal with at times, but he was still her friend. There were times when it was better to leave Drew alone to deal with his inner demons. He didn’t always want to talk about the things that haunted him. She wasn’t sure if this was one of those times when he’d want to talk, but she figured it was worth a try.
“Are you worried about Shayla?” she asked, figuring that was a likely reason for his mood since he’d been out trying to find information on Shayla’s whereabouts.
“Yeah, I’m worried about her,” he admitted in a distracted tone. “Your bat-shit bonkers cousin has no clue she’s in danger.”
“She may be a little unstable, but she’s not helpless,” Phoenix reminded him. It’s not that she wasn’t worried about her cousin, but she had faith in Shayla. Shayla had been prepared to shoot her own brother when he’d been about to kill Phoenix. Drew had done it for her, but Phoenix was convinced Shayla would have been able to do it herself.
“She needs to at the very least know what’s coming her way,” Drew argued. “She’s got old vampires and hunters looking for her. Corbin got here right after she left, and we have no clue who was with him. If we’d been here a little earlier, we might have run into Corbin.”
“You’re right,” Phoenix agreed. “We need to warn her, and I’d feel much better if she came to stay with us. This does not mean I’m saying you should get involved with her. I’m still convinced she’s not the right woman for you.”
Drew nodded and turned away from her to stalk across the room to the old refrigerator. He bent forward to look for a drink before responding. “I agree she’s wrong for me.”
“Did you just agree with me?” she asked, certain she had to be wrong.
“Yes, I agreed with you,” he replied as he turned to her with a bottle of water in hand. “It’s probably hard to believe, but I don’t have any romantic ideas about Shayla. At first, I thought that’s what I was feeling. This whole helping people is a novel concept, and I like being the hero instead of the villain. I have no clue why I ended up with fucked up romantic notions in my head.”
“Probably because you write romance,” Phoenix suggested. Drew didn’t strike most as the romantic type, but it came out in his writing. “You’re a romantic at heart, even if you don’t let people see that side of you often.”
Drew snorted. “My books aren’t exactly sweet, romantic stories. They’re mostly about seduction and fucking—lots of fucking.”
“There’s also romance,” she argued. “You don’t have to be alone.”
“I’m not alone,” he insisted. “I have family.”
“You don’t believe that half the time,” she reminded him. “Besides, that’s not what I’m getting at. You should consider meeting women.”
“I meet plenty of women,” he assured her with a leer.
She stared at him until he finally let out a frustrated sigh and continued. “Fine, I don’t date or even fuck anyone. That’s not a bad thing.”
“It is if you’re avoiding intimacy because you’re afraid of being hurt,” she argued.
“I’m also afraid of hurting others. You know damn well how messed up I am,” he reminded her.
“Which is why you’re wrong for Shayla,” she added. “That doesn’t mean you can’t get involved with another woman, one who’s not dealing with so much.”
“Maybe you’re right,” he agreed. “This afternoon, I was thinking that with a strong, confident woman, I could make things work.”
It didn’t take long for Phoenix to put together the pieces. “No,” was all she managed to say.
“What do you mean by no?” he asked in confusion. “I didn’t do anything.”
/> “I’m talking about Talia,” she told him.
Drew chuckled. “I didn’t do Talia.”
“Don’t be an ass, Drew,” she warned. “You know what I mean. Talia is great, and under other circumstances, I might even think she’d be a good match for you, but this is a bad idea.”
“I’m not doing anything with Talia,” he said on a sigh. “Before you ask, I’m not even considering doing anything with Talia. Don’t get me wrong. After spending most of the day with her, I would love to get to know her much better, if you get my meaning.”
“I know what you mean,” Phoenix assured him.
“I’d like to spend hours of naked time exploring Talia’s body,” he added with a wink.
Phoenix laughed and smacked his belly. “Stop trying to be a pain in the ass.”
“Seriously, she’s with Mason,” Drew stated. “Aside from the fact that I like Mason, he would kill me with his bare hands if I tried anything with her. That guy is enormous.”
“Why do you think she’s with Mason?” she asked. “I’m only asking because they have more of a sibling-like vibe, in my opinion.”
Drew shrugged and turned away. “It’s just something she said. I think they’re just trying to keep it professional around us. They are sharing a room.”
“So, you aren’t planning to come on to Talia?” she pushed. “We need to find Shayla, and making the hunters angry will make it much harder.”
“I’m not going to try anything,” he assured her with a thoughtful expression. “I really like her. She was nice to me today. I talked to her about some of the shit I’m dealing with—stuff I don’t normally feel comfortable talking to people about.”
“Would you think I’m selfish if I admitted to being a little jealous about you having a new friend helping you?” she asked.
Drew cocked his head to the side to consider her words before turning to her and grinning. “I guess she is my friend. She gave me advice, and she even hugged me when she thought I was upset. For the record, I wasn’t upset, but it was nice that she was worried about me.”
Wicked Crazy Vampire Love (Psy-Vamp Book 7) Page 7