The color in his cheeks tells me he’s human. Despite his handsome face, I’m not interested. There is no way anything with a heartbeat can satisfy me after the heights Alex brought me to.
“Miss?” The man nudges me and I clear my throat.
“To start, thank you for the Miss. But I’m sorry, no. I’m here with my dad and I should find him. But again, thank you.”
He reaches into his suit jacket and takes out a business card. “If you change your mind, I’m working till eight tonight. I’d love to take you to a late dinner.”
To be polite, I take the card and shove it in my pocket. “Thank you.”
The man gives me one last tug but turns pale as his stare grazes past my shoulder. Like something, or someone, behind me startled him. My heart rate skyrockets. Alex? I turn around and hide my disappointment that it’s just my dad. However, his protective daggers to this strange man touching me, warms me.
“Everything okay?” my first hero asks me.
“I think I’ve had enough gambling.” I loop my arm with his. “Let’s find a bar and get drunk.”
“Sounds good to me.”
The next thing I remember, I wake up with my head on fire.
I’m also back in my bed. In Princeton. I sit up with a start. Is it morning? The sun is ready to set into the light pink horizon. What the . . .?
“Ouch.” Pain slices through my head when I move. Still, I swing my legs off the bed and watch my skirt ride up my thighs. Jeez, I haven’t fallen asleep with my clothes on since . . . the night Alex snuck in my house for the first time.
On the floor, I see my purse and let out a breath of relief. “That’s a good sign.”
In the hallway, the bath of sunlight from the solar dome above blinds me, forcing me to hold on as I stagger down the stairs. I need coffee. I need water. I need an entire bottle of aspirin. I don’t know what to reach for first.
When I get downstairs, I press my hands against the front door, thankful it’s closed and locked.
“That was quite a bit of alcohol you had in your system,” a voice spins me around.
A choking terror fills my body. “Oh my God, Loren!” My legs suddenly can’t support my body.
“I got you,” he says after he crosses my living room by cutting through the air to catch me.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’ve been here.” He sets me down on the wing chair. “For a couple of days.”
I bolt forward. “A couple of days! How?” The hazy taste of vodka in my mouth, may be the answer. Panic fills me as I search for my phone. “Annie!”
Loren pulls it from his pocket. “I answered your texts. I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t want her to worry.”
“That’s what I get for not putting a password on the damn thing.” I take it from him and review the messages.
Loren’s responses to Annie and even Stephen mimic my own style but with a touch of his own eloquence. I see the last one to Annie was this morning. The vampire is right. It’s December 27th.
“Thank you, Loren.” My head stings viciously.
“I was concerned about you. When I got here, I saw an older man carrying you into the house. Needless to say, I had to see what that was about.”
Just how drunk did I get? My poor father had to carry me into the house. I better call him soon. Nope, Loren texted him as well. He makes quite the handy assistant.
“Thank you,” he responds to the unsaid compliment.
I touch my temple, cool and soothing. When Alex read my thoughts, it felt like my head split apart. I open my mouth to speak but Loren scrutinizes me heavily. “What?”
“Alex is able to get into your mind?”
Uh-oh. “Yes?”
“I knew it.” Loren steps away and holds his chin. “It made no sense for him not to inherit anything from me. Julianna is only half vampire and she has some of my gifts. It’s why New York wants to abduct her. She lives in the human world and can expose us.” He runs a hand through his thick dark hair, making the ends stand up when he stops.
“I see your concern. Were you able to find anything about her in Maryland?”
“I wasn’t there long enough, to be honest.” Loren takes a seat on the sofa. “Our talk made me realize, my place is here to protect you. It’s what Alexander asked me.”
“I feel terrible now. I know dealing with this Julianna thing is so important to you.”
“You’re important to me too, Elizabeth.” He reaches out and touches my hand. When I release the tight squeeze to sneak another glimpse at my phone, Loren says, “I’m sorry there are no messages from Alexander.”
Faking a smile, I tug at my hair. I can only imagine what a mess I am. “It’s all right. I wasn’t expecting to hear from him.” I stand to peek in the mirror next to my front door. Yikes.
“I gave you something to soothe you. It helped you sleep. You were crying when I placed you into your bed, saying how much you miss him and love him.”
I put my head down, embarrassed.
“That’s nothing to be ashamed of, Elizabeth.”
“Seriously, stop doing that.” I tug on my wrinkled clothes but offer him a smirk. “I never told Alex I loved him.”
Loren nods. “It makes no sense for a human to love a vampire. There’s no future in it.”
“No kidding.” When he doesn’t say anything further, I rub my arms. “I need a shower.”
Loren leans back and crosses his legs. “I’ll say you do.”
His smile is so wicked and he so damn handsome, I can’t be mad at him.
“I feel the same about you, when you’re not a disheveled hungover mess.”
“Jerk.” I figured I would say it out loud.
~ ~ ~
Patients often recall to me what it feels like to go under anesthesia.
Given when I was turned, drugs like Propofol and Diprivan were not in existence. Since a vampire doesn’t need surgery, I could never fully empathize with the sensation my patients describe: a gentle dulling of the senses, a sweet smell in their nose, voices drifting away, and then nothing.
I experienced none of that.
Armand warned me he would give me the dosage level that would probably kill a human since my venom fights the drugs’ effects. He put a mask over my face with chloroform pumping in to put me to sleep.
The drugs paralyzed my body, but I wasn’t asleep. I’m still not. I felt every slice, I felt every stab and felt and heard the grinding of a metal blade against my head to remove the lesion he said makes me vampire.
He told Taylor he removed it, but I heard in his voice he wasn’t sure it made a difference. They warned that after they destroy my vampire body and try to regenerate me as a human, I might be something different all together.
I couldn’t move to let Armand or Taylor know that I heard everything they said. That I felt everything they pulled out of my body and what they sewed back in.
The pain was beyond excruciating, but without being able to react to it, there was nothing but endurance.
They didn’t sound terrified, but not optimistic either. My thoughts mean I’m still alive. I think.
I don’t feel like a vampire. After being turned one hundred years ago, the sensory overload made the first few days and weeks the hardest. Even a cockroach scraping its body across the wooden floor pounded in my head like cannons blasting across an empty battlefield. Now, everything is flat and dull.
But I don’t feel human either.
What am I?
I don’t feel cold anymore. But I don’t feel warm. There’re no words to describe it, except suspended, like I’m floating, weightless in space. Where there’s no air anyway and therefore the temperature is irrelevant.
All I had was the sound of the
ir voices.
But they’ve been silent for days.
~ ~ ~
The only thing that would have made that shower feel better was if Alex was in there with me.
The dirty clothes I peeled off my body are tossed into the trash. They reek of lingering smoke from the casino and as a mother I can detect the distinctive trace of vomit. My poor father . . . and Loren said I was crying!
What a mess!
The days between Christmas and New Year’s is always a lazy week for me. Some years, I kept my pajamas on most of the time. It brought me back to a simpler time. As soon as Loren leaves I can go back to crying over my blond gorgeous vampire. I stop myself and bite down on my lip. He’s not your vampire anymore!
He’s mating with Christiana. He belongs to her.
I swallow the tears caught in my throat, feeling their warmth, tasting the salt. It takes a few more moments for me to collect myself, then I tug on a pair of jeans, a long-sleeve tee shirt, and my suede boots.
When I return to the living room, Loren is on my sofa watching television, his face painted in confusion. Either he can’t figure out how the remote works or he doesn’t understand what he’s watching. After I get to the bottom step, he shuts it off and gazes at me. “That’s a different look for you.”
I return his smile and step closer with my hands jammed in my pockets. “Loren, you don’t have to stay here. You should probably get back to Maryland.”
“I’ll get back there.” He stands and approaches me. His long fingers catch my face and one brushes against the spot where my lip split. He scrunches his face and balls his hands into fists. “Elizabeth, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”
I don’t have to tell him what happened, he sees it in my horrified memories. “You were right about your blood. As soon as they smelled it, they freaked out.” I step away and gather my damp hair into a twist.
My body still hurts, every cell screams from the loss. I collapse in the wing chair next to the sofa. Without a word, Loren crouches in front of me and his protective stance kicks in from my weakened state. Maybe even in response to my heartbreak.
A cool finger reaches up to touch the dried track of tears that skidded down my cheek. His nostrils flare taking in the salty residue. He brushes my cheek with the back of his hand. “So warm,” he whispers, a pained expression on his face.
His body inches closer but becomes deathly still. His eyes are black, but flash something else. It’s too quick for me to see and I don’t want to know. Still his gaze penetrates into mine. The wild animal senses me and he’s ready to strike. I’m not afraid. Loren would never hurt me.
“Elizabeth.” His voice is jagged and low. Instincts take control of him. One of his hands slides down the crown of my head, past my ear and under my jaw until it rests at my chin. “You’re in pain.”
“I am.” I hold my body tight. Not to shield myself from Loren. If the vampire wants me, I’m his for the taking. “There’s something happening to me. Since Alex left, my desire for him is so intense. Not having him around is just so painful. I feel like I’m going through withdrawal.”
Loren releases a soft groan. “That’s exactly what it is. It’s how we get humans to come back to us again and again. We’re predators by nature. If our prey is addicted to us, it makes disabling them and keeping them easier.”
“How? Is it magic?”
He smiles. “Hardly. It’s science. We can’t help it. There’s something addictive in our system. There’s a chemical in our blood, our saliva, our semen.”
I take in his words. “Does Alex know this?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Of course,” I repeat, whisper quiet.
“I can make you feel better, Elizabeth. The effects will wear off, but I don’t want you to suffer right now. It’s too soon, and you’ve been through enough.” His cheek rests against mine and he waits.
Waits for my consent. I’m not sure what is happening. Do I miss Alex or the chemicals that make him a vampire? Perhaps just kissing Loren will give me the fix I need. I turn toward him and brush my lips against his first. His arms come around me and he presses me into him, tight and it’s perfect. I need to feel this. I need to feel engulfed. Possessed. My lips accept his sweet tongue as it penetrates deep into my mouth. The rumble inside his chest ignites my desire for him.
He lifts me out of the chair and my legs tighten around his waist while he kisses me. His body turns so he can sit and balance me on his lap. My legs straddle him. Cold hands brush the hair off my shoulders. Loren leans back and studies me.
“Your hair is truly the most magnificent thing I ever touched.” He drags it against his face. “It’s quite intoxicating.”
“Christiana wanted to cut it all off,” I whine.
Loren growls and pulls me toward him again. His kisses become more urgent and his arousal is in full bloom as it rubs against what I know are damp panties. He stands and when I open my eyes, we’re in my bedroom.
“Elizabeth, it’s okay. I made Alexander. He’s here with you now. His blood is my blood. He’d want you to be with me instead of someone else. He knows I will guard you and protect you.”
My back gently settles against the bed. This is so wrong and no matter how skilled or handsome Loren is, my body craves, will always crave Alex. It’s his touch and mouth I long for. Still, I have no intention of fighting Loren. I will only let him have me to dull the pain. I need the release, or I’ll do something stupid like track Alex down and beg him to defy his mating order. That will get us both killed.
Loren reads my thoughts and nods, knowing where I stand. It drives him to kiss me harder and harder. Fighting for me to have a piece of Alex again. He can only be my happy ever after.
“Loren, make the pain go away.”
“I intend to. I intend to take you and—” His cell phone blares from his pocket. His eyes grow wide, like his powers tell him who is calling. “Excuse me.” He straightens and his height is more pronounced as he rips the phone from his trouser pocket. “Louis Rainer,” he says into the device and shrugs his shoulders at me. “Hi,” he whispers and spins away, running a hand through this hair. “What? Okay. I’ll be right there.” He taps the phone to end the call and wipes his mouth.
“What is it? Is something wrong with Alex?” I swallow nervously.
“No. That was . . .” There’s fear in his eyes.
I should be concerned over someone Loren is afraid of. “Who?”
He clutches his elbows. “It was Julianna. She’s . . .”
“She’s what Loren?”
“She’s outside.”
Chapter 31
Seeing Loren so nervous worries the hell out of me.
The most formidable vampire on the planet can be made into a puddle over a girl.
He tilts his head in my direction, unappreciative of my characterization. Still, he extends his hand to me so I can stand—a gentleman to the end. He steps toward my bedroom door to leave, but the cheval mirror stops him. He checks his appearance and smooths his dark hair back into place.
I follow him down the stairs, but stay on the landing. He shoots me one last nod before he opens my front door.
“Julianna,” he says with the voice of a fifteen-year-old boy on his first date.
The woman steps into my living room, calm and cool at first. Then spins in my direction, seeming surprised by my presence. As only a half-turned vampire, her sense of smell must not be as sharp. Her stunning features still me. Long ruby-colored hair flows easily down her back and across the white fur collar of a coat, she clearly needs. The redness in her cheeks suggests she’s not impervious to the cold weather.
It would take months or years to figure out how this woman differs from full-blooded vampires. I’m not sure I want to find out, though. Her being here has nothing to
do with me.
Or does it?
“Who’s this?” Julianna asks and removes a glove.
“This is Elizabeth. Alexander’s . . .” Loren flaps his lips unable to finish.
When I pick my head up, Julianna is next to me, but she took human steps. “I can see why Alex would want her.” She touches my hair. Then her eyes flare and she yanks down hard.
“Ow!” I yell.
“Julianna!” Loren shouts and rushes toward us.
“Why does she smell like you, Loren?” Julianna lifts one hand and he rises off the ground. “You didn’t say anything in your messages about a threesome.”
He’s flung through the air and sails across my dining room table, taking everything with it. Plates and a fruit bowl smash on the floor.
I stagger back, gripping my staircase railing. This, whatever she is, she does have the same powers as Loren.
“No, she doesn’t.” He stands, answering my thoughts. He’s unhurt and looks amused. “Not entirely.”
Julianna levitates and releases a gasp. She spins like the blades of a ceiling fan. Her dangling legs knock books off my shelves and break my favorite lamp. Son of a bitch.
Loren steps toward her. “She inherited some of my powers when I attempted to turn her, but she’s still a delicate human.” He releases her and she plops softly into his arms. “Anatomically.”
She wiggles away and takes out the other lamp. “Exactly. You know New York wants my head. This idiot is having me tracked.” She thrusts her thumb at Loren.
“What else can you do?” I ask, amazed at what I just witnessed even if my house looks like I was robbed.
Instead of verbally telling me, Julianna shows me. She smiles and blows Loren a kiss, except her breath has the effect of a tornado. The wind pulls my artwork off the walls and my drapes are ripped from the curtain rods.
Drawing Bloodlines (The Princeton Allegiant Series Book 1) Page 26