“He saved your life.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes, and I’ll be damned if I’ll let him lie here and die. Not when I can do something to help him. “
Without warning, Tony reached out and took hold of her chin. “I get it, okay? But we have to move. There is an APB out on you both. Apparently you’re armed and dangerous, and you’ve killed three men.”
“I— Wait, what?”
“It came across the police scanner.”
“Two guards were shot, Uncle Tony. I won’t lie, but it was self-defense. They opened fire on us. Did you happen to hear anything about the third person who died?” Had something happened to Henry? Her heart squeezed painfully.
“Three guards are dead. Now go grab a blanket from the hall closet and crank the truck while I fish this gigantic beast out of the tub. I’ll be right behind you.”
She gently withdrew her arm from under Hauke’s neck and eased his head down before jumping to her feet. “Where are the keys?”
“I left them in it.”
Abbie nodded and hurried from the room. She stopped in the hallway, grabbed a blanket from the closet, and rushed to the kitchen to open the door she’d seen Tony use to bring in the buckets of saltwater.
What if Hauke doesn’t survive? The thought scared her more than it should. She reasoned it had something to do with him saving her life all those years ago.
The fact that he was beyond beautiful played no part in her feelings at all. Or that he had a body to die for. She shook her head at the route her thoughts were taking and made her way to the truck.
After opening the front and back doors of the driver’s side, she climbed in and started the engine.
Tony stepped out onto the porch a few minutes later with an unconscious Hauke thrown over his shoulder. Her uncle had to be extremely strong to carry such a large being.
She scrambled over to the rear seat and rested her back against the passenger side door seconds before Tony dumped his massive cargo between her open knees. He shoved Hauke’s feet onto the floorboard and slammed the door.
Her beautiful creature’s head ended up resting in her arms, cradled against her chest.
“Where are we going?” Abbie adjusted her burden as best she could and glared at Tony. She’d love to scratch him a time or two for his rough treatment of Hauke. But if not for her uncle, she’d most definitely be screwed right now. Yeah, he wouldn’t hear any lip from her. Not tonight at any rate.
Tony climbed in and shut his door without answering. The truck jerked forward as he threw it in gear and sped out of the backyard.
Abbie’s stomach muscles tightened with the effort of keeping Hauke from sliding off her lap while Tony gassed it and took a sharp right onto Miramar Drive.
Hauke’s dead weight was hard to hold with her legs trapped underneath him. If she could get her foot on the floor for traction, it would make things a hell of a lot easier.
She brushed his wet hair back from his face. “You better not die on me.”
His skin felt cold and clammy to the touch. She eased her hand down over his nose and mouth. Still no breath. How can he possibly live without breathing? Abbie knew he still lived. She could feel him inside her head.
Reflections from the streetlights danced throughout the truck, reminding her of trips she’d taken with her mother as a child. She’d lie awake in the backseat of the car, listening to the hum of the engine until sleep claimed her. If only she could go back in time, she’d tell her mother every second of every day how much she loved her.
“Abbie…”
Hauke’s whispered thought wrapped around her heart and embedded itself deep inside—a beautiful, yet disturbing sensation.
She laid her cheek against the top of his head and held him tighter. “I’m here.”
“Paenitet…”
A lump formed in her throat. She didn’t know a lot of Latin, but she knew that word. “No. Don’t you say you’re sorry. You can’t die. I won’t let you.” She could feel him slipping away like the remnants of a fading dream.
Panic gripped her. “Tony? We have to do something. Now.”
The silence coming from her uncle made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. “Tony?”
A sharp turn from the truck nearly unseated her. “Where are we going?”
She jerked her gaze to the window, barely able to make out the shadows of passing trees as the vehicle bounced along on an uneven road. “Tell me where are you taking us, Tony.”
The truck came to a sudden stop, and her uncle jumped out without a word. He wrenched the back door open and grabbed hold of Hauke’s feet.
Abbie’s mouth dropped open in shock. “What are you doing?”
“What I should have done when you showed up at my place with this freak of nature.”
“Let him go.” Abbie wrapped her arms around Hauke’s chest and locked her fingers together in a death grip.
“Grow a brain, girl. He’s not human, and you can bet your ass the damn military has been called in on this and will soon be hunting you both. It’s only a matter of time before you’re caught. And you won’t go to jail. You know too much.”
Abbie’s stomach sank with the knowledge that she could never turn back. Life as she knew it was officially over. “Then I’ll take my chances with him. I’m already screwed.”
“I can get you out of here. I’m not without resources.” His emotionless eyes glittered in the moonlight.
“What about him?” She nodded toward the unconscious man splayed across her lap. He was so heavy her legs were going numb beneath him.
The finality in Tony’s stare said it all.
“No. You either help us, or leave us here. Killing him is not an option.” And she meant it. She would die before allowing anything to happen to Hauke.
“So damn stubborn.”
“I won’t budge on this.”
“Shit.” He tossed Hauke’s feet back onto the floor and slammed the door.
Abbie breathed a sigh of relief when Tony jumped back behind the wheel and turned the truck around.
They drove in silence, allowing her time to reach out to Hauke once again. The link that had been present between them since the lab was no longer there, and her heart twisted. “Please hold on.”
“Damn it, Tony. How much longer?”
“Five minutes.”
Abbie massaged Hauke’s face with trembling fingers. “We’re almost there. I’m going to get you some help. Can you hear me?” she mentally pleaded.
The emptiness she felt in that moment was comparable to the loss of her mother. She couldn’t stop the tears that welled up and spilled over. They tracked down her cheeks to drip onto Hauke’s nose. She watched one of the shiny droplets sparkle over his mouth before disappearing inside.
“Mate.” His voice inside her head, however weak, was a balm to her soul.
“You’re alive.” Relief was instant. She wondered if he had a woman back home. Wherever that was. No doubt he does. He probably has dozens of women fawning over him. Jealousy was like a knife to her gut, catching her off guard.
She closed her eyes in shame. The man had risked his life for her, yet here she sat, dwelling on what might or might not be. No matter what his situation, she would repay him by any means necessary.
The vehicle came to a stop in a dimly lit driveway, and Tony switched off the engine. He got out and went around to the passenger’s side before opening Abbie’s door. She practically fell into his arms.
He tugged her free of Hauke’s dead weight and handed her a key. “I got him. Go unlock the door.”
Abbie hesitated.
“I’m not going to hurt him. Do as I say.”
With a quick nod, she stumbled on numb legs toward the house.
Waves could be heard crashing in the distance, letting her know they were still on the beach. It was hard to make out the color of the two-story home in the dark. It appeared to be a light gray under the pale glow of the street light.
She prayed Tony knew what he was doing and hadn’t just led them into a trap.
Chapter Eight
Abbie arrived at a plain-looking door with only a peephole for decoration. She slid the key into the deadbolt and turned it until a click sounded before glancing back to see Tony coming up the drive with Hauke once again thrown over his shoulder.
She opened the door and stepped inside. Tony entered behind her and marched off down a hallway without a backward glance. He staggered into a room to the left with Abbie right on his heels.
“Son of a bitch. He’s heavy.” Flipping on a light, Tony dropped Hauke unceremoniously onto a big bed. “I’ll grab the supplies.” He spun away and left the room without a backward glance.
Abbie sat on the edge of the mattress and touched Hauke’s cold hand. She had no idea what his body temperature usually ran, but something told her to warm him up. Even a snake didn’t operate in cool weather. She needed to remove his wet pants before Tony came back.
With a quick glance at the door, she rose to her knees to hover over Hauke’s body. Heat rushed to her face as she lifted a hand and loosened the drawstring on his scrubs.
His stomach muscles were well defined and devoid of hair. The bullet hole next to his hip looked red and angry. Dried blood adorned the area, but the bleeding had stopped long ago.
Surprisingly enough, very little evidence of the pink scar remained from Henry’s incision. She wondered why the gunshot wound hadn’t healed yet.
The skin was flawless around his navel, and she wanted to run her palms over it to see if it felt as smooth as it looked.
Abbie shook her head at the direction her thoughts took and slid her fingers under the waistband of his pants. With a slight tug she inched them down to reveal more of his glorious skin.
Heat traveled up her neck when his manhood came into view. She froze there for a second before pulling his scrubs over his hips and down his thighs.
Abbie tried not to stare, but she was suddenly up close and personal with the most amazing sight she’d ever seen.
She’d caught a glimpse of his naked form back at the lab, but from a distance. She couldn’t bring herself to look away. Abbie had never thought of a man’s anatomy as beautiful before today. Hauke’s was perfection. His size alone made other men pale in comparison. But that wasn’t what held her captive. The smooth olive complexion of his shaft couldn’t have been painted more perfect.
The front door closed, snapping her out of her ogling. With a speed born of embarrassment, she snatched his pants down his legs and covered him with a blanket that had been folded at the foot of the bed.
Tony came into the room a moment later carrying a duffle bag. He dropped it on the floor and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “He’s bigger than me, but it was the best I could do.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I just signed your death sentence. You’ll die if you stay here with him.”
Abbie knew he spoke the truth, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave Hauke behind. No matter what the cost.
She changed the subject. “Whose house is this?”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s safe for now, and you won’t be found here as long as you stay inside. They may be watching me, so I won’t be around for a while.”
He nodded toward the duffle bag on the floor. “There are no shoes, just so you know. I threw a few bandages and some alcohol in there.”
“Mother would be proud of you.”
His emotionless mask slipped for a second. “You’re so much like her.”
“Uncle Tony? What happened to you?”
He turned to go. “There’s a disposable cell phone on the kitchen counter. My number is programmed under the name Why Not. Don’t use it unless you have to.”
Abbie lifted an eyebrow. “What kind of name is Why Not?”
“It’s Tony, spelled backwards.” He spun back toward the door.
“Wait.”
“Just stay put, girl. I’ll figure out a way to get you out of here.”
Abbie watched her uncle Tony leave with a sinking feeling in her gut. She was Hauke’s only hope at survival, and she didn’t have a clue how to help him.
Moving back to the side of the bed, she gazed down at his unconscious form. Okay, think. He has gills, so why didn’t the water help him?
Abbie mentally went over everything she knew about fish. They couldn’t breathe out of water because the pressure would collapse their gills. But Hauke had lungs also. Blood flowing in the opposite direction of oxygen fed a fish’s gills. So if there was no blood flowing, water being forced through the slits wouldn’t deposit oxygen into the membrane sacs of his gills. The result would be excruciating.
He also had a six-chambered heart. She could only guess that four chambers supported his human side and pumped oxygen and blood throughout his body while the two extra chambers parented his gills. She wondered how long he could possibly live in his comatose state.
He needs blood, but how to get it?
Abbie paced the room and quickly discarded every idea that surfaced. He wasn’t human, and she had no clue if giving him a particular blood type would be fatal to him. The O negative she’d pumped into him earlier had started to work before he’d been shot and began to bleed out.
A thought occurred to her. Her blood type was O negative. If she could give him enough to revive him, maybe he could tell her what to do to help him. He’s dead for sure if I do nothing.
Abbie dropped to her knees next to the bag Tony had left. She unzipped it and dumped the contents onto the floor. There were sweatpants, T-shirts, bandages, soap, and alcohol in the pile she’d made. Nothing she could use.
She jumped to her feet and rushed to the bathroom to rifle through the drawers. Empty. “Damn it.”
Abbie hurried to the kitchen to search the cabinets, only to come up with the same results. She now understood the meaning of without a paddle.
Dizziness swept through her body, and she realized she hadn’t eaten in a while. She wondered how long it had been for Hauke. He had a digestive tract; she’d seen it on the X-rays.
The cell phone that Tony had left on the kitchen counter caught her eye. She picked it up and scrolled to her uncle’s number. Her finger hovered over the Send key long enough that the screen went black. What am I expecting him to do? They could be watching him.
Abbie laid the phone down and trailed back to the bedroom, approaching the bed with trepidation. Hauke resembled a corpse with his pasty skin and lack of color in his face.
“I need to warm you, Hauke. And then figure out how to do what needs to be done.” She pulled the covers back enough to climb underneath, and her breath caught. He felt like a block of ice. If she couldn’t share her blood, she would share her heat.
With that thought in mind, she sat up and removed her clothing. Hopefully her body temperature would promote the rise of his own.
A gasp escaped as she lay back down and her naked flesh touched his. Goosebumps peppered her body from head to feet, and she bit her lip to keep her teeth from chattering.
* * * *
Abbie wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she suddenly felt Hauke inside her head. She sat up and peered down at him with wide eyes. “Is the heat helping?”
She was met with silence. Maybe she had wanted to hear him bad enough, she’d imagined it. “Hauke? Damn you; answer me.”
With a noise of frustration, she threw her leg over his waist and straddled his hips. Wrapping her arms around him, she leaned forward until her breasts flattened against his ribs. Her head ended up resting over the place where his still heart should be beating. “Please come back.”
The memory of him looming above her long ago on the beach passed through her mind. She coasted her fingertips along his arms until they were palm to palm. “I remember you. The boy with those remarkable eyes.” A spark of current entered her hands. “You can hear me.”
She interlocked their fingers and slid up higher on hi
s body until her mouth touched his. “Open for me. I’m going to try something.”
Abbie applied pressure to his lips until the seam parted. She hesitantly ran her tongue along his teeth in search of his incisors. She thought of the vampire movies she’d seen in the past and almost laughed at herself. There was no way such beings existed.
Then again, if someone had told her a creature like the one lying beneath her actually lived before tonight, she would have thought them crazy too.
Abbie unlaced their fingers and slowly brought her hand up to his mouth. She separated his lips with the pressure of her wrist until the sharp tips of his incisors could be felt.
Her heart pounded painfully fast while she gazed down at his beautiful face. Please let this work.
She had never been more afraid yet sure of anything in all her life. She’d do whatever it took to save him…maybe even kill.
With a quick flick of her wrist, his fangs penetrated her skin...
Chapter Nine
Hauke wanted to scream in denial. His sweet Abbie had done the unthinkable.
She had no idea that by offering him her blood, she’d sealed her fate. He would never be able to let her go now. There would be no choice but to take her with him when he returned home.
He lay there, paralyzed and powerless to stop her as she gave her life force to save his. In that moment, he knew he loved her, more than he’d ever loved or ever would again.
His thoughts scattered the instant her life’s blood reached his system. Hauke had never known anything as pure and delectable as Abbie’s blood.
He was torn between wanting to throw her from him and burying himself inside her body while his fangs sank deeper into her vein.
Energy swirled through his chest and traveled down his arms and legs.
The membrane surrounding his gums swelled painfully as the milking glands situated at the base of his incisors awakened with a vengeance.
Instinctively, he bit down, and both of his hands shot up to lock onto her wrist. His back bowed off the bed, nearly unseating Abbie as her unique flavor exploded through his veins like an erupting volcano.
Enigma:What Lies Beneath (Enigma Series Book 1) Page 5