Aiden's Betrayal

by CT Nicholson

  Ethan shook his head. “You were the last one in there and I was only gone that one time. I just don’t—Shit!” The chair flipped as Ethan jumped up and started typing across the keyboards. “Anya.”

  “She went into the room?” Nothing made sense to him anymore.

  “No. When I got back, she was in here.” He shrugged his shoulders and kept his gaze averted. “She said she was looking for Jodi and I believed her. I don’t understand why she would let Lucian out after he kidnapped her and turned her into a vampire.”

  “I don’t either but I’m about to find out. Is she still here or did she leave with Elle?” His blood seemed to be boiling in his body, just waiting to erupt. Everything around him looked red.

  Ethan typed a few things and changed the screens to different areas of the house. “I don’t think she left,”—he typed some more—”there! She hasn’t left her guest room.”

  Aiden couldn’t believe her. How could she let Lucian go and then just stay like they wouldn’t find out? On the way to her room, Aiden attempted to calm himself before he did something stupid. Maybe she had an explanation.

  At her door, he pounded his fist against the door until she appeared with a frown and her hair all over the place, showing he’d woke her up but he didn’t give a damn and shoved his way into her room.

  “Now look! My best friend loves you and you’re not going to come stomping in here and expect me to give you something, because you’ve got another thing coming if you think that will happen.” She poked her tiny finger into his chest and kept her chin up high.

  He couldn’t stop feeling relief that Elle did love him. Pushing his other problems to the side, Aiden stepped closer to her and let his fangs show. “I don’t want you. What I want is to know why you let Lucian out?”

  Her mouth opened and closed before she actually attempted to speak. “But... I... What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You were the only one who had the chance, other than Ethan and I know he didn’t let him out. I know how you did it but what I don’t get is why.” He lowered until they stood face to face. “So, my question is why?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” With her gaze still glued on his fangs, she stepped back until she bumped into the wall.

  “Shit, Anya! I know you and Lucian fucked but I didn't ask if it was consensual. I guess I know the answer now.” He threw his hands into the air. “I don’t have time for this! I’ve got to find Lucian and then get Elle back.

  Small hands grabbed his arm before he made his way out the door. He glanced down at Anya’s wide eyes.

  “I promise I didn’t do it.” She shook her head. “I know I can be a bitch and all but I’ve been asleep since one this morning. When did he go missing?”

  “At three. It happened while I was still asleep and most the others were gone. Also, when Ethan decided to take a break for once. He saw you in there.” Anger rolled through him, causing his whole body to shake.

  She tilted her head and narrowed her gaze at him. “I haven’t been in there since, Elle and I went to find you. You were out for three days and I’ve been visiting with Elle while she stayed by your side. Last time I checked on her was at twelve before I went to sleep and I found her sleeping beside you.”

  “Fine, we’ll look at the footage and see if you were in the control room at the same time as the door was opened for Lucian.” He marched back down the hall and didn’t give a damn if she followed.

  “Fine!”

  Inside the control room, Aiden stood behind Ethan. “I want to see if Anya left her room around three and when he escaped.”

  Ethan looked behind him at Anya and then nodded. “I’ve already been looking at them. Here’s Anya going to bed right before one and then here,” he pointed at another screen—”she’s coming out of her room at two fifty-four. After which she comes in here and at the same time, Lucian's let out.”

  Anya gasped. “I don’t understand. I know I didn’t do that. I was asleep, all I remember is going to bed and sleeping until you started banging on my door.”

  “Damn it! I’m tired of the lies.” Aiden whirled around. With every step he took toward her, she took two steps back. “Tell me why? And I want to know if you know where he went. I want to know now and no more damn lies.”

  “Aiden!” Nicolas jerked Aiden into the hall before slamming him against the wall. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  Aiden shoved back and pointed at Anya who stood back and looked like she prepared to run at any given moment. “She let Lucian go.”

  After Nicolas recovered from his shock, he moved over to Anya who shied away from his touch at first. “If she did then I'll find out, but you won’t hurt her.”

  It was Aiden’s turn to be shocked. “Did you seriously think I would hurt her? I was only trying to scare her.”

  Nicolas shook his head and grabbed Anya’s face gently into his hands. “Look at me. Do you trust me?” When Anya nodded, Nicolas spoke again. “Why did you let Lucian out?”

  “Tell no one. Tell no one.” Anya ranted over and over. With a scream she grabbed her head. “Stop! Tell no one!”

  “Compelled.”

  “Damn it, she’s been compelled.”

  “Shit.” The puzzle seemed to click for them as they all spoke at once. Movement behind Aiden had him turning to find Julian, Drake, Gregory, Collin, and Lena. Everyone living in the house stood around as Anya screamed.

  Nicolas held Anya close and whispered in her ear. Everyone could hear his words but he didn’t seem to care. Aiden wondered what exactly was going on between Anya and Nicolas.

  “You’re okay, Anya. I don’t want to know anything about Lucian. You can calm down, sweetie.” Everyone looked at Nicolas as if he'd grown three heads as he held Anya close.

  Anya blinked and looked around at everyone. “What happened?”

  “You were compelled by Lucian. I’m not sure, but maybe he did it before we captured him. A safe-guard for him in case he was caught.” Nicolas kept her wrapped in his arms until she looked down at his arms.

  She pushed him away and glanced around. “So, I did it but it’s not my fault?”

  Aiden nodded. “I’m sorry.”

  With her chin up in the air, she stomped her little feet as she headed back toward her room. She acted as if moments earlier she hadn't been scared to death of him.

  Straightening his clothes, Nicolas never looked at the others. “So, you’re going to get Elle back?”

  All attention left Nicolas and jumped straight to Aiden. Good job, Nicolas. “I’ve got to find Lucian.”

  “I’ll find him. You go get the girl while we go get your son.” This time Julian spoke up.

  “About fucking time, my man.” Drake fist bumped him and leaned in to whisper to him. “I told you she was your mate. If you don't want her though....”

  “Shut-up before he kills you, we all told him she was.” Gregory laughed and nodded at Aiden.

  “I’m leaving.” Aiden felt the sun go down and he took off down the halls, the stairs, and then outside into the garage. His mind stayed on his son and how they would manage to find him.

  He grabbed keys to his favorite car. The sleek, fast, and fucking hot Aston martin sat waiting to be driven. The black car was his favorite out of all the cars he purchased over the years.

  If he planned on going to woo the woman he loves, then he planned to do so in style. Cranking the car, the motor whirled into motion. As the garage opened, Aiden already switched gears and went to get his mate.

  Chapter Thirty

  Sitting on the bed, Elle held her bucket of ice cream with one hand as she took another bite. Since she never let herself fall for a man, she never had a broken heart. All she’d ever seen on TV was that ice cream was the best way to mend her broken heart. So far they all had it wrong.

  She felt like nothing could mend her heart except maybe time. Maybe all women felt the same way with their broken hearts. Princess started to wh
ine for a bite.

  “No, Princess. You don’t have a broken heart.” Princess jumped down off the bed and then out the door. “Great! Now my dog doesn’t even want me.”

  More unwanted tears streamed down her face. She felt like a huge baby. She needed alcohol, not ice cream.

  Being in love sucked and she just didn’t understand why anyone wanted to deal with the pain of losing someone. Elle went down stairs and into the kitchen. In her fridge held three six-packs of different flavors of Bacardi drinks. The girl at the checkout recommended them and Elle really had no clue what the difference was between all of the alcohol beverages the store had.

  She grabbed the tropical watermelon first. After twisting the top off and tossing it into the trash, she tested by taking a small sip first. The drink seemed strong but she kept drinking until the first bottle emptied and grabbed another. She plugged her iPod into the radio and started up the first song.

  The country song came on and she started to sway around the living room, singing to the music. With no one around, she didn’t care how she sounded or even how she looked. After about ten sad, heart-breaking songs, and six drinks, Elle decided to turn on some more up-beat music.

  With another tropical orange drink in her hand, she flipped through her iPod, until she found some Maroon five and started dancing to the music. Being drunk had her enjoying the fast pace music more. Once or twice she tripped over her own feet and the room spun along with her to the music.

  Princess captured Elle’s attention as she started barking uncontrollably. Stopping dead in her place, Elle's heart started to beat faster. If Princess barked then someone was there. Elle swallowed her last bit of drink and held her bottle in the air. She grabbed another empty bottle with her freehand and peeked around the corner.

  Even with her being drunk, she knew her vampire strength would help. Unless it was the leader of the rogues or probably any other vampire. She listened and heard the slightest shuffling moving closer to her. As soon as the intruder came around the corner, Elle brought the first bottle over his head and then the second before she realized whom she hit.

  “Oh, shit!” She cursed over and over as she tried to help Aiden up. With blood leaking down his forehead, her stomach growled and her fangs popped out. She hadn't had any blood since before she left Sanctuary that morning.

  “I guess I deserved that,” Aiden said quietly with a small smirk on his face.

  “I didn’t know it was you.” She started to wobble. “Well, the two of you.”

  Aiden tilted his head to the side and sniffed the air. “Two? Are you drunk?”

  Even drunk, she felt her cheeks heat under his scrutinizing gaze. She nodded and stepped out of the grasp he had on her arms.

  “Why did you sneak in? I have a doorbell you know.” Her words came out slurred but she knew he understood what she said.

  He looked at her with a little annoyance on his face. “I did. The music must've been too loud for you to hear.”

  She felt like he spoke down to her as if she’d done something wrong. She wouldn't put up with his crap. “Now you look here, I can do whatever I want and you know what? You didn’t want me so don’t look so disappointed in me. If you don’t like what you see then get the hell out.”

  Feeling proud of herself, Elle gave him a quick wave before she turned to walk away.

  Large hands grabbed hers and twisted her back into his arms. The feel of him wrapped around her again seeped through her skin and burrowed deep into her soul. Here she was trying to forget about him and he wanted to tease her again. Before she could push him away, his lips captured hers in their magnetic hold and she was lost.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back with everything she could, until her stomach twisted. Ignoring the cramp, that seemed to squeeze her inside until they about exploded, wasn’t going to happen. She jerked away and groaned aloud in pain. The room spun so fast and her stomach started to object the drinks and ice cream she’d had.

  “Oh God!” She tried to take off to the bathroom and stumbled. Aiden caught her before she smacked the corner of the coffee table.

  “Elle, what’s wrong?” The concerned look he gave her made her want to cry all over again.

  “Bathroom.” She covered her mouth and felt relief when Aiden picked her up and carried her toward the bathroom. Relaxing in his arms would've been nice if she hadn't had to fight her revolting stomach.

  In the spare bathroom, he sat down in front of the toilet with her still in his arms.

  “Go.” Elle tried to get out of his arms but his tight hold never wavered. “Please, I don’t want—” Her argument got interrupted as everything she’d had to drink and eat came back up all at once. After a few minutes, she started with dry heaves until she finally fell against him crying. She hated throwing up and it didn’t seem any better doing something so revolting with the man she loved watching her.

  He pushed her sweat-covered hair from her face and kissed her forehead. “Are you finished?”

  Dropping her head, she could only give him a quick nod as her embarrassment hit.

  When he stood she had to throw her arms around his neck. She worried the walking would jar her and make her sick but the way he seemed to glide across the floor, she didn’t even notice the movement if she kept her eyes closed.

  He headed up the steps and instead of the bed, he took her into her bathroom and sat her on the closed toilet. He turned the bathtub faucet on and closed the drain. Silver eyes turned to her and she swore she could see his hunger, before it was replaced with his concern.

  “You need blood.” He sounded angry with her.

  Why was he so angry with her? Wasn’t he the one who left her in the first place? “I ate this morning.”

  “You need more blood than that. Especially when you plan on drinking.” His words came out through his clenched teeth as if he tried not to yell. Those large hands she loved so much shoved through his dark hair in frustration.

  “I just want to go to bed.” Her eyelids grew heavy and she started to sway on the seat.

  He shook his head. “I’m giving you a bath first.”

  His demands set, Aiden started with her socks. One at a time he pulled them off before grabbing the waistband of her baggy pajama pants. “Lift.”

  She lifted her butt as best she could and he had her pants and panties gone. Fire ignited her whole body as she watched the way his eyes darkened.

  Next he gripped her shirt and pulled it over her head and tossed it onto the floor. She held her breath when his chest pressed against hers as he reached around to unhook her bra, her last piece of clothing. She swore she felt his feather-light kiss against her neck. Embarrassment filled her as she groaned.

  Aiden picked her up and placed her inside the warm tub before grabbing her loofa. He squirted some soap on it and began washing her body, starting with her neck. The soft scrape against her skin felt fantastic but his hand following the same trail of the loofa felt even better.

  Next he scrubbed her arms and back before moving to her breasts. Her nipples hardened as he cleaned her thoroughly. He splashed water over her to rinse off the soap and leaned in as he looked up into her eyes. Without words, she knew he was asked for her permission. She nodded and he took a nipple into his mouth.

  “Oh my.” She knew letting him touch her was wrong, that it could only hurt her more. Biting her lip, she relaxed her head against the tub.

  His groan vibrated against her flesh causing too many emotions to flutter through her. The compulsion to keep going until they ended up tangled in each other’s arms was overpowering but the small part of her brain that still worked correctly told her to stop him before it was too late. She listened to her brain instead of her body.

  “Stop. I can’t do this.” Elle stood up, uncaring that she was exposed to him. Standing turned out to be a mistake as she fell over the tub wall and into Aiden’s arms.

  With a quick shake of his head, Aiden grabbed a towel and dried her quic
kly.

  “I need to brush my teeth.”

  She brushed her teeth as he held her steady, his hands on her hips. When she was finished, Aiden carried her to bed.

  When he didn't join her, she felt relief. Getting over him was going to be hard enough but if she kept getting involved, she’d never be able to move on.

  “I’m sorry.” She didn’t know if she should be sorry after he left her the way he did, but she still felt sorry.

  Aiden kept his gaze glued to her face with his brows scrunched together and his nose wrinkled up. “You’re sorry? I was wrong to leave you.”

  “I meant this.” Her words slurred together.

  “Vampires can drink but the alcohol affects us quicker and wears away quicker. Since you never did drink a lot as a human, the alcohol hit harder. I saw how many bottles you had strung around this place.”

  That made sense. He blurred as her eyes burned, forcing her to close them and give in to sleep. She yawned loud and a burp escaped with it. Embarrassed, she kept her eyes closed and pretended to go to sleep.

  His callused hand pushed her hair around her ears. “Go to sleep, love. We’ll talk tomorrow. Maybe you can forgive me then so we can spend the rest of our lives getting to know each other.”

  The sound of his voice and the words he spoke touched her deep inside and she wanted nothing more than to reach up, grab him, and pull him into bed with her. Then she wondered if the drinks were playing with her head. Maybe he really hadn’t said any of those things. Maybe he wasn’t even there.

  Instead of doing what her body begged her to and getting over the fact they wanted the same thing, Elle closed her eyes and went to sleep. Sleep filled with dreams of Aiden.

  ****

  Aiden waited until Elle fell fast asleep before he stepped from the room. He still couldn’t believe she turned to drinking because of him. Even as a human he knew she didn’t care for alcohol. He felt disappointed in her for getting so drunk she didn’t even hear the doorbell.