But she permitted those horrifying thoughts to seep into her mind and now there was no escape. She reached out to grab the edge of the counter, because she felt herself spiraling downward. But before everything went completely black, a pair of strong arms prevented her fall.
****
“Udaya!” Mateo pulled her to him. He could feel the violent shakes rattling through her body. He tightened his hold on her. “I received all your messages once I was in cell range, and I rushed here as fast as I could.”
Her arms wrapped around his neck. She buried her face against his chest as loud gasping sobs shook through her body.
When he first turned her around and gazed down at her, he glimpsed a look of complete and utter horror in her hazel eyes and in her expression. A jagged pain tore through his heart.
For several more minutes, he held her as they leaned against her kitchen counter. Her uncontrollable crying made her entire body convulse and her tears soaked the front of his black western shirt. Remorse washed over him as her inconsolable state of anguish seeped into every pore of his being. Her pain was now his pain, and it was more gut-wrenching than he ever could have imagined.
In his secluded world atop of the Superstitions, they did not have to deal with this sort of sorrow. Now he was wondering if he made a grave mistake by not making Dawn his mate from the first moment she had come to the mountain. She could have been spared all this grief.
“Something terrible has happened,” Dawn managed to say through her sobs.
He kissed the top of her blonde head and tenderly rubbed her back with his hand. “I’m so very sorry about your friend, my love.”
A couple more sniffles escaped from her before her weeping began to subside. “You know a-about Chloe?”
“It’s, well, I heard about her disappearance on the radio—on my way back from Tuscan this evening,” he lied.
Dawn remained in his arms with her face still pressed against his chest, unmoving, except for the continued tremors shooting through her body. Her intense crying jag seemed to be over for now. But his anguish was only increasing by the second. He did not want to continue to lie to her, but in her fragile state of mind, there was no way she could handle the unbelievable truth of what happened to her friend.
“Let’s sit down and talk,” he said quietly. His breath brushed lightly against the loose strands at the top of her head and he noticed her blonde hair flutter slightly. Right now, Mateo felt like a complete contradiction in every way. Part of him was a real, living, breathing man, yet, at this moment he felt like a murderous monster.
If only his father hadn’t sensed Chloe’s presence first? Maybe, if he had been paying attention he could have prevented her tragic fate. He grunted inwardly with disgust. It probably wouldn’t have mattered. A fresh blood source so close to the village and gold mine meant she didn’t stand a chance regardless of who found her first.
Mateo pictured the way she looked at the pizza place just a few nights ago. Her long brown hair tumbled over one shoulder in a teasing style and her brilliant blue eyes looked at him and his brothers with an enticing glint. She was full of life and promise. A sick feeling twisted Mateo’s gut into a knot.
Now, the beautiful young woman named Chloe Webster sat in the back of the big cave with the other real ones who served as human blood sources for the mature vampires of the clan; her blue eyes void of their once shimmering sparkle, unseeing, and staring off into the blackness.
“Tell me what happened?” Mateo asked as he sat down next to Dawn on her beige tweed couch and pulled her into his embrace. Her body caved into his. Occasional shudders from her recent crying bout still shook through her.
“I think Chloe is missing because of me,” she finally said in a shaky voice. “If anything has happened to her,” she sniffed loudly before adding, “It’s my fault.”
“That’s not true,” he retorted in a forceful tone. He drew in a heavy sigh and began to stroke her hair gently. “For whatever reason Chloe went up to the Superstitions, she did it all on her own. You had nothing to do with it.”
Her head shook from side to side in a weak motion. She didn’t move away from his tight hold as she began to speak in a voice barely loud enough for him to hear. “There’s something I need to tell you. You’re probably going to think I’m crazy when I’m done.”
“I would never think that. I love you. You can tell me anything.” There was a heavy feeling pressing against his heart as he held his breath and waited for her to speak again.
“I had a really vivid dream. Like all my dreams, or nightmares, I’ve had lately.” She exhaled a sharp breath.
Mateo rested his cheek against the top of her head. “Another erotic one?” he asked in a confused voice.
“No,” she replied quickly. “It wasn’t quite as realistic as those had been, thank goodness. This one was about the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine.”
A frown drew his brows together. An unknown dread gripped him in its tight rein. “Okay? What does this have to do with Chloe?” He heard Dawn suck in another deep breath.
“Generations of her family have been hunting for the gold mine. They were all certain the clues left by that old miner, Jacob Waltz, would lead them to the location.”
“There have been many people who believed, or still do believe the gold mine exists, but it’s just a legend, nothing more,” he replied as more uneasiness crept through him.
She nodded her head slightly. “But suppose it really did exist and the clues Waltz left had been interpreted wrong all this time?” She pulled away from him and looked up at him. Tears that hadn’t fallen were still cradled in the lower lids of her tortured gaze. Moisture from the ones that had already escaped glistened on the tips of her long brown eye lashes.
“What if someone—like me—had a dream, or call it a vision or whatever, that revealed the correct way to decipher the old man’s clues?”
Mateo shook his head in bewilderment as a creeping sense of building panic inched through him. His carefully planned façade was beginning to crumble around him. If Dawn guessed—or dreamed—about what was really in that hidden gold mine, their time here in her world could be over.
“Sunday afternoon I had a dream about the clues Chloe revealed to me when we were camping and hunting for the gold mine that first weekend. This one was pretty realistic, too. Not in the way the sensual dreams were, but I dreamt I was actually standing on the mountain looking directly into a huge cave that contained rich veins of gold ore. I knew I had found the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine. Well, in my dream, I knew, anyway.”
He cleared his throat nervously. “But, Dawn, it was only a dream.”
“Yes, I know,” she agreed, and glanced off into the distance as if she was remembering every tiny aspect of her dream. “When I told Chloe about it, I think she thought the new details revealed in my dream were really significant. She tried to act all nonchalant, but I know she was dying to go check them out. I figured she would want to go back up there next weekend. I never imagined she would take off alone Sunday night.” Dawn’s eyes filled with new tears that spilled down her cheeks. “I just hope nothing happened to her because my crazy dre—”
“No, don’t even think it,” he cut in. “She is obviously an experienced gold seeker and hiker. She had to know going up to the Superstitions alone to hunt for clues you saw in a dream was foolish.”
“But I—”
“No,” he interrupted her again as he placed his fingertips against her trembling lips. “I’m not going to let you blame yourself for something you had nothing to do with.”
She shook her head and opened her mouth to speak again in spite of the way his fingers were pressed against her lips, but he didn’t give her a chance.
“Believe me. You didn’t have anything to do with this. What happened to Chloe is not your fault.” His hand moved away from her lips and his fingertips brushed lightly against the tears streaming down the side of her face.
She continued to stare into his
dark gaze. He lowered his hand away from her cheek and cupped her chin. If only his loving touch could take away her guilt and pain. His bite could make her forget, he thought fleetingly.
The unexpected thought caused a raging thirst to rise in his throat. The yearning for her sweet tasting blood filled his senses. His mouth drew into a tight line as he tried to concentrate on what she was saying. He fought the beast inside him with every fiber of his being even though he was afraid it was going to win out sooner or later.
“We don’t really know wh-what happened to her, yet,” she said quietly. “Maybe, she just slipped and fell and is hurt, but she’ll be okay once they find her.”
He forced himself to nod in agreement. He slowly opened his mouth to speak. The thirsty fiend settled further down the back of his throat for the moment. “That’s possible.” His strength was growing…he was beginning to feel like his human self was gaining control.
A puny smile rested on his lips as he added, “Maybe she found the gold mine and ran off with all her new-found wealth so she wouldn’t have to share it with anyone.” He swallowed the bitter tasting bile in his mouth. Indeed, Chloe had found the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine she had been looking for all her life. She was there now, sitting among all the riches, but she would never be leaving.
A frail smile barely curved Dawn’s lips. “Yeah, maybe she really did find it? She knows those mountains so well, and she would never go unprepared. It could be possible she’s up there somewhere mining all that gold right now, and…” Her voice trailed off and the feeble smile faded. She shrugged her hunched shoulders as if her words were too unrealistic to even say out loud.
He pulled her close against him. He couldn’t bear the look of utter despair in her tear-laden gaze again. “I’m taking you to my place tonight. My condo is close by, and I think it will be good for you to get away from here for a while.”
“But I cooked dinner,” she mumbled.
“And it smells delicious. We’ll take it to my place.” He spent last night pretending to be in Tuscan so he could think about how to handle the Chloe situation when he saw Dawn again. He had also been getting the condo he rented ready, with the hopes she would go there with him tonight. It would be tricky to be at the condo with her only at nighttime, but he was determined to create as many beautiful memories there as was ‘humanly’ possible, because once they made their eternal home at the top of the Superstitions, those would be the last reminiscences they would have of being together here in her world.
Chapter Fourteen
“Your condo is so beautiful,” Dawn said in a meek tone as she stood in the foyer and glanced around at the elegant surroundings. Her gaze rose to the tall glass windows that ran from the ground floor all the way past the balcony of the second story. “Working for the Apache Tribal Council must be a very lucrative profession.”
“Thanks,” Mateo mumbled without commenting on his fake career. He couldn’t take credit for any of the furnishings or décor because everything was here when he rented the place. But whoever picked out the overstuffed brown leather couches, huge pale beige Flokati shag rugs, and expensive southwestern-themed artwork that hung on the walls, had a very discriminating eye.
He motioned for her to follow him into the kitchen, where high-end granite counter-tops in sandstone shades formed an L-shaped work area and a large free-standing island in the center of the room. After placing the pan of lasagna on the island, he turned toward her and asked, “Are you hungry?”
“I don’t think I could keep anything down,” she said with a sigh. “But you should eat.” A weak smile curved her lips as she added, “I promise it’s good. Lasagna is my specialty.”
He thought about joking with her that he knew of something else that was her specialty and it didn’t have anything to do with lasagna, but he didn’t want her to think he had forgotten about her missing friend. “I’ll eat in a little bit. I’d rather just hold you in my arms right now.”
Some of the tension seemed to ease from Dawn’s tired expression as she nodded her head in agreement. “I’d prefer that, too.” She reached out toward him and he wasted no time in wrapping his larger hand around her smaller one.
He led her into the living room where soft lights from strategically placed wrought iron wall sconces cast a romantic golden glow throughout the area. He had purposely placed personal items around the condo to make it look as if he really did live here. On the glass and iron coffee table a half-filled glass of water sat on top of a sandstone coaster.
One of his white western shirts was draped over the back of the tan suede recliner that sat in the corner of the room, and a pair of his barely-worn hiking boots on the rug in the front foyer. As he carefully arranged these normal-type belongings around the entire condo the previous night, he pretended he really did live here like a regular person. Like a real one.
He imagined what it would be like to wake up in the morning with the sunlight shining through the massive glass windows, and with her still cuddled in his arms in the big bed in the upstairs bedroom. He pictured them drinking coffee and preparing breakfast together in the cozy kitchen, or spending an entire day sprawled out on the comfy leather couch in the living room reading, watching television, making love, like any typical couple. Of course, his dreams of living a ‘real’ life with her were as crazy as Dawn thought her dreams were.
She sunk into the deep cushions of the couch and leaned against Mateo. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her as close as possible. As always, he wanted to make love to her tonight, but he wondered if he was strong enough to make love to her without biting her now that it was becoming nearly impossible to be in her presence and not want to drink more of her blood?
He clamped his teeth together tightly in grim determination as his mouth and throat burned with the memory of her warm tempting blood. Maybe they shouldn’t be intimate tonight.
“Mateo?” she said after a few quiet moments. “There’s something I want to ask you. It’s really important and would mean everything to me.”
“Anything. I would do anything for you, my love.” His voice sounded hoarse and filled with apprehension even to his own ears.
She twisted around and looked directly into his eyes. “You and your brothers know those mountains, probably as well as Chloe does, since all of you grew up in this area. Anton and Rafael told us they hiked around and looked for the gold mine all the time that first night we met them. Will you and your brothers please help search for Chloe?”
He stared back at her, unable to speak for a minute. She trusted him unconditionally. He could see it flashing like neon lights from her expression. She was putting all her faith and love into the one person who was going to eventually destroy the human life she was now living.
He felt a deep ache in his chest. But the lies just kept falling from his mouth. “Of course. We’ll go up first thing in the morning to help search for her.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No, that’s probably not a good idea,” he retorted. “I mean, if it turns out badly, I don’t want you there.” He heard her gasp as she realized what he was insinuating. Her expression grew even grimmer as she nodded her head in agreement.
He felt as if a knife had plunged into his heart. There was a way he could spare her the pain of worrying or mourning Chloe, he reminded himself. He should just complete the mating process right now, but he was too selfish. He didn’t want to give up his own desires to live here in her world for a while longer.
“Will you do something else for me, too?”
“Yes, of course. I would do anything for you if it’s in my power to do it.” He held his breath waiting for her request.
“Please make me feel safe again. Take me to bed, hold me close, and never let me go.”
Her words were barely more than a whisper, but her unspoken meaning echoed through his ears loud and clear. Somehow, he would have to find the strength to make love to her without biting her again, because he needed her as much
as she needed him right now.
Not wanting to waste one more precious second of their time together, he pulled her up from the couch and swept her up into his arms. A spiral staircase of heavy black iron curved its way up to the upper floor. He carried her up the stairs as she pressed her body into his and rained wet kisses on his neck.
By the time they entered the large bedroom she had pulled his hair free of the ponytail that corralled the heavy mass at the back of his head. He loved how she obviously enjoyed immersing her hands in his long hair. The sensuous way she raked her slender fingers through the strands made his cock rise against the material of his jeans every time she engaged in this simple act.
He placed her on the floor at the edge of the king-sized bed. This room was also lit with a romantic glow from more of the wall scones, but here they hosted a dimmer light more suited for a bedroom. He began to pull her lilac T-shirt over her head. She wore a simple beige bra underneath and he reached behind her back and unsnapped the enclosure with his first attempt and pulled it away from her body. She remained unmoving, gazing up at him with a look of absolute rapture on her face as if she couldn’t believe he was real.
His love for her was so powerful and complete, yet edged with the nagging sense of guilt and uncertainty. There were moments—like now—when it really did seem as if she was already under his complete vampire spell, because it didn’t seem possible this beautiful mortal woman could love him as deeply as he loved her.
His cock strained harder—painfully—against the fabric of his jeans. He reached out and cupped each flawless breast in the palms of his hands. She closed her eyes; her head tilted to the side and rebellious strands of her light blonde hair fell partially over her face and past her shoulder. The long wispy ends of her pale tresses trailed loosely over her upper arm and past her elbow resembling a cascade of delicate pastel silk threads.
A soft moan escaped from her slightly parted lips as his nimble fingers gently massaged her erect nipples. He felt the breath catch in the center of his chest. Would she still thrill to his touch like this after the mating process was completed or was this magnificent display of passion only an emotion she could enjoy in her present human state?
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