The vast majority of the female population was married off early in life, usually by age seventeen or eighteen. I’d escaped that particular fate because I was an orphan. Unfortunately, that meant I was tossed out on my ass when I turned eighteen. Because I had no family to speak for me and protect me, I was considered part of the lowest class. Even though I waited tables at restaurants, most people assumed I whored as well.
I didn’t, but I’d come close several times. Hunger could make you consider just about anything. Hunger and fear had driven me to take a chance with Kevin and he’d almost killed me. Now I was in another man’s house, starving and afraid.
CHAPTER FOUR
I took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. My heart leapt into my throat. There he was, standing only a few steps away. His hands were clasped behind his waist.
“Thank you for the clothes.” My breathing quickened and I bit my bottom lip.
“They look perfect on you.” His gaze locked with mine and a smile slowly curved his lips. “I’d like to take them all off again, but Rose is waiting for us.”
That’s good. I wasn’t ready for that just yet.
I rubbed my damp palms across my thighs and gulped. Heat burned my cheeks and I looked away. It didn’t matter. He could tell what he did to me. My heart raced and liquid pooled between my legs again. His extra senses would never miss either of those things.
“Kjaere, tell me you aren’t interested and I won’t pursue a relationship with you.”
A relationship?
Meaning, I wasn’t just a pretty meal in his eyes? Could I have a relationship, intimate or otherwise, with a vampire? Who did that? Why did he want me?
My survival instincts said he wasn’t the only unattached male in the town who might choose to pursue me. Better him than someone worse, but that wasn’t a reason to lead him on. He deserved better than to be used. He’d been a gentleman, so far … and he was kind. Plus, telling him I wasn’t interested in him sexually would be an outright lie. I was a woman, and he’d awakened something that I thought had long ago been beaten out of me.
Desire.
“I …” I opened my mouth, but choked on my words. Rubbing my sweaty palms on my pants again, I looked up into his perfectly blue eyes and relaxed. There were no cages in Erick’s house. That I could see. No chains on the walls. He didn’t even have bars over the windows.
He wasn’t Kevin.
Even with all my doubts, something deep down said it was okay to give it a shot. “I want to try,” slipped from between my lips. “Trust has cost me a lot in the past, though. I’m afraid.”
“I’m glad you are giving me a chance.” Erick stepped closer, each movement calculated and confident. He reached out and touched my cheek, then followed the line of my face down until he cupped my chin. His fingertips brushed over my ears and slipped into the wet hair at the base of my neck.
A shiver flitted across the surface of my skin. Energy charged between his hand and my cheek. Even though my first instinct was to pull away, I somehow found the courage to look up and meet his gaze instead.
“Bailey. I’ve never brought a human to Sanctuary before. I’ve never interfered on behalf of a human to save their life before. Darius and I have been at each other’s throats for longer than I can remember. But you … there’s something about you.”
He rubbed my cheek with his thumb and I leaned into the caress. I craved the affection he offered. He wasn’t a drunk customer feeling me up or catcalling me from across the room.
Erick said he meant me no harm. My ex had said the same thing. He said he would protect me from the monsters. He said he loved me.
I’d been young and foolish, maybe in love. Looking back, it was hard to remember a time when Kevin was kind. After our first couple of weeks together, things changed radically. One day I woke up in our bed with cuffs on my wrists and ankles and a collar around my neck. From that point, he never showed me affection again. In his prison, I didn’t see the outside of his apartment again until I managed to escape.
“I want this.” The words surprised me, but they were the truth. I did want this. And I wanted him … completely and totally, but I needed to make sure we took things slowly.
He pulled me close, tucking me against his chest and wrapping his other arm around my waist in an embrace. Firm, but gentle. He kissed the top of my head and then released me.
I missed his touch immediately. No one had kissed me like that since my parents. Not one of my foster parents had ever hugged me, and my high school boyfriends had only wanted to get in my pants. I was a castoff, like so many others in the masses of working class citizens.
“You have my protection, Bailey. Beyond anything that may or may not happen between us, you are safe in this town. Sanctuary can be your home, if you choose.”
No pressure. No guilt. Just a haven from all my worries and the nightmares that plagued me … at least for a while, but nothing was forever. Eventually I would have to leave Sanctuary, and Erick, too. But for now, his promise allowed me to relax … just a little.
“Calliope sent a few pairs of shoes and two bags.” He gestured toward the bed.
A pair of white ballerina flats, black tennis shoes, and some brown cowboy boots sat on the floor in a neatly arranged row. On the black comforter of his bed lay a white, crocheted hobo bag and a black leather cross-body purse. They were nicer than anything I’d ever owned.
“She said she had others to choose from, if you don’t like these.”
Tears threatened to spill from my eyes. He was a perfect stranger, and considered to be a dangerous Other. And he’d been kinder to me than any human being I’d come in contact with since my parents died.
“Why?” I choked out, wiping my cheeks. “I’m a nobody to you. Why are you helping me? I won’t be a whore.” It slipped out. My anxiety built. Maybe this was all for show. Maybe he just planned to use me like every other man I’d met in the last five years.
“Bailey,” he growled. “Am I dressing you like a whore?”
“No, but … nobody is this nice to someone without wanting something in return.”
“You’re right.”
There it was. He did want something. I knew it was all too good to be true.
“I want a chance to win your affections, but honestly, everything else is just to help you find a place to be safe. If you don’t want to stay with me, I’ll find you an apartment of your own. If you don’t want to see me, I’ll find someone else to show you around town.”
Affections? Who says that? It sounded like something out of one of those old historical novels I’d found, but then … he could be very old. My mind ran through everything he’d just said. He sounded so sincere and I wanted to believe him.
I knew in my heart he meant me no harm. I trusted him when he said he was interested in me, though after seeing me the way I’d been before I showered … it still baffled me. Maybe vampires didn’t smell unless they wanted to.
Stranger still, I wanted to be with him. I wanted to stay near him. I wouldn’t feel safe alone in an apartment with both a Djinn and Kevin hunting for me.
“I’m indebted to you already for helping me. Now the clothes and everything you’ve bought. I’ll pay you back. It’ll take me a little while, but I will.”
He smiled and rubbed his hands up and down my arms. “You cannot repay gifts.”
I took a step forward and leaned into his chest, needing to feel the strength he possessed, needing to feel secure with my choice. Relief filled me when he wrapped his arms around my back and squeezed. He tucked my head beneath his chin.
“Thank you for your trust, min kjaereste.”
I didn’t need to speak his native tongue to know he’d just called me his. Hope began to fill that empty place in my heart and I prayed to whatever gods might be listening to let me stay in Sanctuary a while. For once, I felt like I might’ve found a home—somewhere worth fighting to stay.
“I hate to let go of you, but I’m starving and
you smell like freshly baked donuts. Did you bring some of those back with you, too?”
A deep laugh shook his chest as he leaned down and gave me a firm but quick kiss on the lips. “Calliope had a box of them in her store from Rose. She’s quite the little sugar fiend. Most sirens are.” He moved toward the bed and grabbed the white flats, then threw me a questioning glance over his shoulder.
I nodded.
“I didn’t bring you any, but you can have as many as you like when we get to the café.”
He lay the flats at my feet. I slid them on and then giggled as the shoes shrunk and conformed. I’d never had shoes that fit so well or were so comfortable. They were tiny little flat shoes with barely any sole, but they felt like I was walking on air.
“Good?” He grinned down at me.
“Will they go back if I take them off?”
He took my hand and led me out of the bedroom and down the stairs. “No, the clothing conforms to the first body it touches. The spell is a mixture of appeal and comfort. Everything you wear is personalized to you. But, if your body changes, so will the clothes.”
We walked out the front door and he paused to lock the deadbolt. “So, for children, the clothes grow with them?”
“Yes. And they are self-cleaning—one of my favorite updates. She only added that bit of magick last year,” he continued, leading her along the sidewalk back the way they’d come earlier. Back to what was obviously the center of the town.
“That’s why your clothes don’t smell from being next to my dirty ones?”
“Yes.”
“She could make a fortune. Why doesn’t she sell them everywhere?”
“Think about it. Most people try clothing on before they buy it.”
“Oh, I see how that would be a problem.”
“Calliope does sell things to tourists who stop in, and she has quite a list of very wealthy clients who travel to Sanctuary just for her designs. Her business singlehandedly funds about half of the town’s expenses, so we are very protective of her trade secrets.”
“Town expenses? She doesn’t own the shop?”
“She does, but all businesses in the town take only a small percentage for personal use. The majority of all profits go to the Castle.”
“The sex club?”
“It’s a little more complicated than that.”
“Doesn’t she resent having to give away so much of her money?”
He paused and turned to face me. “Most of the residents of this town were independently wealthy long before they got here. None of us needs money. Calliope is no different. She doesn’t care about the money. She cares about Sanctuary. We all do.”
“Is this whole town a cult of some sort? Are you going to fatten me up on fresh donuts and then slaughter me on that alter-looking thing in the center of the town circle?” I tried to sound nonchalant about it, but my anxiety quickly returned, roaring to life like a hornet’s nest.
A bellowing laugh rolled up from his chest and echoed across the nearly empty street. I noticed a couple of passersby glance our direction and then continue on without pause. “You are the toughest little human female I’ve ever met. Scared to your wit’s end and just spewing honesty for honesty’s sake. Rose will adore you.”
I took a step back and tapped my foot on the pavement. His laughter gave me a little more confidence. “You didn’t answer my question.”
A wide grin split his face. “I apologize. No, we are not a cult. The town functions more like a family, or army.”
That must be why they had titles, like Protector and Sentinel. It was a hierarchy within the town. They each had their role to play. “Will I need to learn to fight?” I wondered what or who they usually fought. If it was Others like Darius, I wasn’t going to be much help.
Erick grabbed my hand again and pulled me along the sidewalk. “Absolutely not. You are a guest.”
I dragged my feet and barely managed to pull him to a stop before we reached the café doors. “Erick, if I stay here in this town, I don’t want to be a guest. I want to have a purpose, too. Surely there’s something I can do to contribute.”
“Kjaere, you are worrying too much. Please let me get you some breakfast and introduce you to Rose. She can answer more questions.”
A sigh slipped from between my lips. I really did need to eat.
I didn’t want to leave Sanctuary. I would, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to stay, be with Erick, and pretend Kevin and the Djinn weren’t hunting me down to kill me.
He knew he’d won me over. Again.
The corners of his mouth turned up into a pleasant smile. I mentally fortified myself and nodded. I could do this. They were his friends. Garrett hadn’t turned out to be so bad, and neither had the witch who’d helped send Darius packing.
The door swung open and a petite woman stepped in front of it. Her long, black hair was streaked with bold shades of pink, blue, and white highlights. She had it fixed in a high ponytail on top of her head. “Are y’all coming in any time soon, or should we bring the poor girl’s breakfast out to the sidewalk?”
“Maven, this is Bailey,” Erick said, pushing me closer to the tiny woman.
The woman held out her hand and I smiled down at her. She couldn’t have been more than five feet tall, but her energy made her seem much taller. Something else was a little different, too. Her skin glistened in the sunlight, like she’d bathed in something metallic.
I shook her hand and she grinned before yanking me inside. Erick hurried in after me. She dragged me behind her with surprising strength toward the front counter of the café.
“Rose, Erick finally showed up with his fair maiden. He’s completely smitten! I can see it in his eyes.”
“Maven,” he growled from behind us.
But the little sprite didn’t care at all. She pushed me onto an empty stool just as another woman came through the kitchen door. She had beautiful, creamy white skin and silky, black hair. Her soft brown eyes were kind and I instantly felt safe in her presence.
“Hush, Viking. You know that growly stuff doesn’t scare me,” Maven answered, giggling. “Raven! Come out here!”
I glanced back and saw him roll his eyes. For a few moments he was just a man being teased. Irritated, but entertained at the same time. He wasn’t upset with her, more like annoyed the way you would be annoyed by a sibling or a friend.
“Maven, stop shouting. You’re scaring the poor dear,” the other woman spoke calmly. She made her way around the counter and embraced me. “It is good to meet you, Bailey. We were fortunate that you met Erick when you did. Darius was an unforeseen complication. But, where are my manners? I am Rose. Welcome to Sanctuary.”
“Th-thank you.” I took a step back and bumped into Erick’s large chest. Relief flowed through my body at his touch.
“OMG! Maven, she’s so pretty!” A voice very similar to Raven’s cut through the noise of the café.
I glanced over Rose’s shoulder, shocked to see another tiny woman, identical to Maven in every way except her hair. Instead of white, pink, and blue streaks, she sported a black ponytail with shades of red, orange, and white.
What was with the crazy hair colors?
“I told you!” Maven squealed.
“Girls, please go tend to the kitchen. Corinne is in there all by herself.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The sprites echoed together and darted away, disappearing around the counter and through the kitchen door, their streaked ponytails flowing behind them like living rainbows.
Rose turned back to me and I met her gaze. “Please forgive the girls’ lack of decorum. They have an overabundance of energy, but are two of the best cooks I’ve ever met. They are sweet and they do mean well. Even though they are about two-hundred years old, they still act like hormonal teenagers.” She smiled.
Two-hundred? “It’s fine. Really,” I answered, trying to wrap my brain around even more new information. They were Others as well, but what?
“Good.” She gestured
to the empty barstool on my right. “Erick, why don’t you have a seat. I’ll be right back with some pastries and something to drink.”
“Are the two small women twins?” I asked, turning toward him.
He nodded. “Twin sisters. Pixies. They are a touch of crazy mixed with a little bit of everything else, but, Rose is right. They mean well. They can’t help themselves. Anything new or shiny gets them all worked up. And they are fabulous cooks … so I’ve been told.”
“He has eaten Corinne’s donuts, though. No one has been able to resist those. Not even a vampire,” Rose added, walking in from the kitchen with a tray. She placed a plate of several different donuts in front of me and Erick, a glass of orange juice, and one empty tumbler. “When was the last time you fed, Erick?”
He shook his head. “I’m fine, Rose.”
She snorted. “You don’t look fine. You look hungry.”
My heart skipped a beat. I picked up the juice and took a quick sip. Both of them stared at me as I swallowed.
Erick finally broke the silence. “Are you unwell, kjaere?”
“I’m fine. She … she said you looked hungry. How can she tell?” I studied his face, but couldn’t discern any noticeable change in appearance.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a frown tug at Rose’s smile. “You’ve already tasted her blood, haven’t you? What were you thinking?” She laid a knife on the counter and heaved a sigh. “I can feed him, but he’d rather have yours now.”
Mine? “Feed him … what? I …” So he did want to make a meal of me after all?
“Rose,” he growled under his breath.
“You drank from her. You started it, not me. When were you planning on telling her you’re psychologically bonding to her as we speak?”
“It happened so quickly, I was distracted and I didn’t think,” he snarled.
My Viking Vampire Page 5