by L. E. Wilson
And the first time he’d kissed her? When he’d nicked her lip and then straight out bit it? He could have easily lost control that night, gone for her throat and sucked her dry, but he hadn’t.
And last night, in the shower. She felt a rush of heat at the memory. The things he’d done to her. He’d been in total control the entire time. He’d walked away. Which just confirmed her theory even more. She’d felt completely overwhelmed by him, yes. But in danger? Never. Not once.
Granted, although she’d been in a life-threatening situation before, she’d never been a soldier. She didn’t know how it felt to be in a struggle for your life and come out on top, high from the fight and the adrenalin pumping through your body.
But Aiden would.
Turning off the water she’d been using to wash her face and brush her teeth, she could hear the raised voices of a vehement conversation going on out in the other room. What is that all about?
Drying her face and tossing the towel on the sink, she hopped into a pair of jeans and changed her shirt. Barefoot, she flung open her door just in time to catch a glimpse of a very pissed off, very wet, and very naked, vampire slamming the guest bath door in Aiden’s face.
Whoa.
Speechless for the second time in as many days at how beautiful he was, she didn’t immediately remember why she was standing there like that, until she noticed Aiden stalking off to his room.
“Aiden! Wait!”
His fierce expression immediately softened. “Em? What’s wrong, luv?”
“Would you come here for a minute? Please?” She gave him what, she hoped, was a winning smile.
“To your room? But, Emma luv, what will everyone think?” One hand placed theatrically over his heart, he looked over his shoulder to be certain no one else had heard.
“But, you’ve already been in my…in Nik’s room. And no one else is here.”
“Hmm. True enough. Well then, I guess there’s no harm in it.” With a shrug, he headed her way. Squeezing past her to get through the doorway, he muttered under his breath, “But please don’t tell Nikulas. He’s upset about us as it is.”
Was that what all the yelling had been about? “There is no us, Aiden.” Closing the door so their conversation wouldn’t be overheard, she leaned back against it as he sat down on the side of the bed.
Leaning back on his elbows, he gave her a lusty wink. “You just keep telling yourself that, poppet.”
Emma barely caught herself before she rolled her eyes at him. She would rather avoid another scene like the one on the runway. Changing the subject would be her safest route. “Aiden, you’ve been in battles since becoming a vampire, right? Fights?”
Sitting up, he gave her a knowing grin. “You want to see my battle wounds. Vampires heal quickly, and never have scars, however, I have a great one where I was completely gutted when I was still human…”
“No, I don’t! Wait…you were gutted? Really?”
He lifted up his shirt, giving her an eyeful of mouth-watering, rock hard abs and yes, a horrific scar running diagonally from the bottom of his ribcage to where it disappeared under the waistband of his pants.
Coming closer to get a better look, she was suitably impressed. “Holy cow. How did you live through that?”
“That would all be due to Luukas and Nik, who found me on the battlefield with my insides hanging out, and who gave me this second chance at life. Otherwise, there’s no doubt in my mind I would have died that day.” Pulling his shirt back down, he started untying his running pants. “I have others…though they’re not as good as that one, but still impressive. Want to see?”
Jumping back, Emma slapped a hand over her eyes. “No! Would you please just answer the question? And keep your pants on!”
“First time I’ve heard that particular statement come out of a female’s mouth,” he remarked.
“Aiden!!”
“Alright, alright, don’t get your knickers in a twist. Obviously, yes. I have been in some really gnarly fights.” And the way his eyes lit up let her know that he had enjoyed them immensely.
She took a quick peek through her fingers to make sure his pants were, indeed, still on, before lowering her hand from her face. “As a vampire, I would imagine all the blood and fighting really gets to you. Makes you really…um…excited?”
He cocked his head to the side, narrowing his eyes with suspicion. “What are you getting at, Em?”
“Um. I was just curious, for no particular reason, how much all of that affects you? Would you say you completely lose control from the blood lust? Would everyone around you be in danger? Even after the fight is over?”
“Why ever would you be concerned about that?”
Thinking quickly, she tried to come up with a feasible reason. “I was just, um, thinking about what we’re going to be doing tonight. There will probably be a lot of fighting, and the other vampires who are meeting us there who don’t know me…I was just wondering if I should be worried? For my own safety, I mean, from you guys…”
She cut off her nervous babbling, hiding her eyes behind lowered lids as he studied her intently, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t help. She was a terrible liar, and vampires were entirely too attentive to detail.
Aiden stared at her for so long she started to squirm under his rapt attention. She could almost feel him silently probing around in her head for the truth…and maybe he was. She made a mental note to find out more about vampire abilities.
“Come on, luv, don’t play coy with me,” he finally spoke. “That’s not what you’re fretting about.” Checking the clock, he continued, “We don’t have a lot of time before we need to leave. Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? What are you really wanting to know? Spit it out. I won’t judge, I promise.”
“Alright, fine.” Dropping the act, she hesitated briefly as she wondered if she would be betraying Nik’s confidence by speaking about this. However, if the two of them have been friends as long as they say, he probably already knew all about it.
She shoved her hands in her pockets to keep herself from fidgeting, and tried to sound blasé. “Last night, Nik came in here and told me a story about something he did. It was an accident…” That was as far as she got.
Jumping up off of the bed, Aiden smacked his forehead with his palm. “That’s what he did to you! He told you about Eliana! Sneaky bastard.” Clasping his hands behind his back, he paced a few steps away, then abruptly turned and came back to stand directly in front of her.
“Emma, I’ve decided there are some things we need to discuss. Nik will want to kill me when he finds out I’ve spoken with you about it, but I would hope that you would prevent him from doing that.”
Emma shook her head in bewilderment. “I don’t see how you think that I could keep Nik from doing anything! I have no control over him.”
“Ah, but you do. Much more than you know.” Gesturing towards the couch, he suggested they sit down.
“We need to make this short and sweet, so I’m just going to lay it on you, alright?” When she eagerly nodded her agreement, he continued, “I don’t know if Nik has mentioned this to you, but the signs are all there that you are his mate, chosen by the gods to be his one and only for as long as you both shall live.”
“Actually, he did mention something about that,” she hedged.
“Did he mention that once he’s had your blood, he will slowly fade away until there is nothing left of him if he doesn’t continue to have it?”
Emma fought back an unexpected feeling of panic. “No. He, uh, didn’t mention that. We were interrupted in the midst of that discussion by the plane landing in Seattle.”
Muttering under his breath, “Stupid, stubborn Estonian,” Aiden kindly filled her in. “Neither of us have actually ever seen or heard of this happening, but according to the stories passed down through the ages, vampires will know when they’ve met their mate after they’ve had a taste of their blood. That this will happen is inevitable, as upon first seeing them, the va
mpire is drawn to said mate to the point of obsession, even before they’ve fed from them. I have to ask, has Nik fed from you yet?”
Heat flooded her face and neck, “Just one time, and just a little. He, uh…he kissed me and his fangs are so sharp…”
Aiden cut her off. “I don’t need the gory details. Mostly because I’m jealous.” He gazed longingly at her lips for a moment before he suddenly slapped his hands together, startling her. “Ok! So, this is where we’re at. Now that Nik has fed from you, he needs to continue feeding from you, or he will die Emma. Simple as that. Die the true death. It will take a while, but it will happen. I’m not certain why this is so, but it’s the one detail that is bashed into our brains from day one of becoming a vampire.”
She tried to imagine Nik “feeding” from her, his fangs latched onto her neck. But far from being repulsed at the thought, she felt a rush of desire so strong she was glad she was sitting down.
Embarrassed, because she knew Aiden would know what she was feeling, she cleared her throat and asked, “How long is ‘a while’?”
“I’m not sure exactly. This kind of thing is pretty rare. We’re just going by what the elders have told us. However,” he sighed, “I’ve already noticed a few things amiss with him. He’d never admit it, of course, but they’re there. He’s already starting to weaken, starting to reject that nasty bagged blood. Thank the gods.”
Nik was weakening? Emma’s heart clenched in her chest. “So, next question. Let’s be realistic here. What if he doesn’t want me?” She’d already made a fool of herself over this guy, she was not about to continue doing so. But there was also no way in hell she was going to let him die. Not if there was anything she could do about it.
Aiden grinned at her. “Oh, he wants you, have no worries there, luv. Why do you think he’s been such a bloody arse since you’ve come around?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “Although, I guess you wouldn’t know, since that’s the only way you’ve ever seen him,” he added, “I’m also going to assume that you’re not opposed to the idea of being with him? Even though he’s a vampire? You two are practically shagging every time I leave you alone.”
She surprised both of them by confessing honestly, “I’ve never been more attracted to anyone in my life, in spite of everything that’s happened to me. But what do we do now? He believes he’ll kill me if he’s with me.”
Speaking of which, this brought her back to her original inquiry. “Would he kill me, Aiden? Like he did Eliana?”
“I don’t think there’s much of a chance of that,” Aiden hedged. “Vampires are extremely territorial and protective over anything, or anyone, they consider theirs. I believe that protective trait will keep him from letting anyone harm you, including himself, although he may need some convincing. Eliana was unfortunate. However, though he cared a great deal for her, she wasn’t his mate.”
Lowering his voice, he confided, “Personally, between you and me, I think there was something a bit off with that female. That whole thing seemed a bit dodgy to me. I think there’s more to that story than any of us know, including Nik.”
The bedroom door suddenly flew open so hard it crashed into the opposite wall, and was left hanging askew on its hinges. Emma jumped up guiltily off the couch, coming face to face with over two hundred and forty pounds of thoroughly enraged vampire standing in the doorway wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his narrow waist.
Too alarmed to appreciate the view this time, she anxiously racking her brain to come up with an excuse for her and Aiden to be in there with the door closed. “We’re not…this isn’t what it looks like!”
Aiden, on the other hand, stayed casually where he was, exclaiming happily, “Nikulas! Just the leech we wanted to see! We need to have a quick life and death chat with you, mate. It will just take a second. Why don’t you come sit with us?”
Fists clenched at his sides and fangs bared in a snarl, Nik growled deep in his throat, “Get away from her, Aiden.”
Aiden smirked at Emma. “See what I mean? A complete arse. If it were anyone else but me, there’s no doubt I’d be learning that I can’t fly by now.”
Nik stalked into the room, his eyes never wavering from Emma. “Leave us,” he snarled in Aiden’s direction.
Aiden looked him up and down. “You know, I think you’re more like your brother than you like to admit.” As Nik’s fury reached the eye-glowing level, Aiden slowly stood up, stretched his back, and with a wink and an, “I’ll see you in a few, poppet”, he casually sauntered out the busted up doorway.
Emma watched him leave in disbelief. The loon was leaving her here alone with a growling, enraged vampire. She couldn’t believe he would just leave her like this, protective trait or not.
She scowled at Aiden’s retreating back. Or maybe she could. Pulse pounding, she tried not to sound as nervous as she felt. “We were just talking, Nikulas.”
“Talking!” he sneered. Taking several deep breaths, he lowered his voice. “You are to stay away from him, do you understand?”
Now he was just being ridiculous. They’d only been talking. “He’s your best friend!”
“He’s also a notorious womanizer, and I don’t want you anywhere near him when I’m not around,” he gritted through his teeth.
“You’re being ridiculous, he…” Before she could finish what she was saying, he was around the couch, looming over her intimidatingly.
“I said, STAY AWAY FROM HIM!” he bellowed inches from her face.
Nervousness forgotten, she shoved at his bare chest with both hands. “Back off, blood sucker! I’m dealing with enough here without having to deal with your irrational jealousy! In the last 48 hours, I’ve been told I’m a witch, told there are such things as vampires, kissed senseless, given my first orgasm, dragged from my home, and brought on a recon mission to rescue my sister from some deranged, immortal, sadistic bitch. I’m tired, I’m hungry, and I’ve had just about ENOUGH out of you!” She shoved him again. It was like hitting a stone wall, so she stomped around him. “I’m going to get something to eat, and then we’re leaving to go get my sister, because I want to GO HOME!” Abruptly coming to a halt, she turned to him again, shoving her finger in his face, “YOU are not to speak to me again until you can stop yelling.”
Leaving him standing there slack-jawed, she flounced out of the room to go make something to eat, only to find Aiden sitting at the bar, beaming at her. She figured as long as she was at it…
“And you! There’s something seriously wrong with you, do you know that?” She waved her hands at him. “Other than the whole, being a vampire thing.”
As she stomped angrily around the kitchen making herself a peanut butter sandwich, he looked down at himself. “What ever do you mean? There’s nothing wrong with me.”
A few minutes later, Nik, dried off and fully dressed, wandered out of his bedroom to come and sit next to him at the bar. With a sheepish look at Emma, he told them, “Sorry about all the yelling, and for being such an asshole lately. I’m not sure where all that’s coming from.”
Although Emma shot daggers his way, Aiden sought to make amends. “No worries, mate. And I apologize for clocking you in the head earlier.” Giving each other a masculine, one-armed hug and pat on the back, all was forgiven. “Get yourself a bag, you’ll feel better.”
Getting up from his stool, Nik cautiously sidled around Emma, giving her a wide berth.
Aiden frowned at Emma and pointed with his chin towards Nik, silently beseeching her to follow suit.
In response, she narrowed her eyes at him and savagely ripped off a bite of her sandwich with her teeth.
Raising his eyebrows at her obstinate behavior, he feared his friend had met his match. He smiled at her warmly at the thought.
She waited until Nik had warmed up his blood and made his way back to the other side of the bar before she spoke.
“So, what’s the plan for tonight guys?”
“The plan,” Nikulasgrimaced as he took a sip f
rom his bag, “is to meet up with Dante and the rest of our crew, and then go kill things.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Dante punched the elevator button to take him back down to the passageway leading to his living quarters. This elevator was the only accessible way to get there, other than a small tunnel he’d dug out himself.
No one else knew about that tunnel, not even Shea, and no one ever would. The private rooms it connected to were not areas anyone else needed to see.
The Seattle Underground, the original city, wasn’t a place most vampires would think was suitable to live in during these modern times. They preferred the freedom of being able to live above ground amongst the humans. But Dante felt right at home there in the damp darkness. It suited him.
And he had no desire to interact with his food, other than to hunt them.
Well, sometimes, he would play with his food. It satisfied something deep and dark within him, to hear them pleading for their life. He got off on it. Male or female, it didn’t matter. They’d beg him like the pathetic animals they were, the smell of fear and urine and blood dominating the room, until he tired of their screams and finally put them out of their misery.
Dragging what was left of the broken bodies through the underground, he’d emerge into the fresh air to toss them into the Sound for the sea creatures to eat. Otherwise, the stench became overwhelming, and the others would begin to notice.
The elevator door opened and Dante got in. As the doors closed, he changed his mind at the last minute, and hit the button that would take him to the underground parking garage instead of all the way down to his passageway.