The reminder had her bolting upright. Intense physical attraction or not, she had to stay away from him.
“I’ll be right back.” Nathan opened his door and hopped out of the truck.
The glow of the headlights illuminated his lean frame when he stalked toward a keypad beside the gate. Something about the way he moved called to her like a siren called to the sailors, and she found herself imagining what it would feel like to have him inside her, moving with that same fluid grace.
“You’re acting like a dog in heat,” she scolded herself.
Tearing her gaze away from him, she refused to look at Nathan again as she surveyed her surroundings. A brick wall spread out as far as she could see in either direction before being swallowed by woods.
A sinking feeling filled her as Nathan jogged back to the truck and climbed inside. The gates groaned when they crept open.
“Are we at the hunter compound?” she inquired.
“The old one,” he replied. “We moved from here after Kadence became a vampire, but we kept the property.”
“Why did you move?”
“Some of the others felt it would be better after Kadence turned into a vamp.”
“Your sister would never betray you.”
“I know that,” Nathan replied as he shifted into gear. “Many others don’t. Don’t forget, working with vampires is as new and unusual to us as it is to you.”
“Yeah,” she muttered, and her hand instinctively went to the weapons still tucked inside her coat.
“There’s no one else here,” he assured her.
“Are you sure no one else decided to stop by while you were gone?”
“It’s unlikely, but if someone is here, they won’t harm you.”
“Some of your kind aren’t exactly thrilled to be working with us.”
“And neither are some of your kind,” he replied.
She turned away as they traveled a tree-lined road before coming into a clearing where numerous cabins were laid out in a circular pattern around a large brick house. The place reminded her of a settlement from the days of the pilgrims, but with newer homes. Although, nature was already creeping forward to reclaim its land. Already, one house had a broken window and a bird’s nest in the gutter.
“Won’t the hunters be mad you brought me here?” she asked as they passed the homes and other buildings, one of which looked like a school.
“If they knew, yes, but they won’t know. I made it so the security system here doesn’t record my code at the gate, and the cameras turn off when I enter. With no one here, the video footage isn’t monitored, and won’t be unless something happens, so no one has noticed the lapse in footage while I’m here.”
“How very ingenious and rebellious of you, head hunter.”
He gave her a wan smile before focusing on the road winding through the woods. Aged trees crowded the sides of the road, creeping ever closer. He’d been here last week, but that didn’t mean a branch or tree couldn’t have fallen to block the way since then.
Ribbons of asphalt spread before him until it became a dirt track. He decelerated to keep the truck from bouncing too much over the ruts and possibly knocking one of the bodies free from the back.
Winding deeper into the compound, he found himself repeatedly glancing at Vicky. He almost took her hand when her fingers dug into her thighs and her jasmine scent intensified, but he stopped himself. If he touched her again, he wasn’t sure he could prevent himself from drawing her close for more than just comfort this time.
“Why didn’t you blindfold me before coming here?” Vicky asked.
“You were sound asleep.”
“I could have been faking it.”
“You don’t fake that kind of snoring.”
She sniffed. “I don’t snore.”
Chuckling, he pulled the truck onto another dirt road. “You do,” he assured her before stopping at the edge of a vast pit.
Putting the truck in neutral, he pulled the emergency brake and hopped out. Vicky climbed out of the passenger side and crept toward the giant crater. It had to be at least two hundred feet across and a hundred feet deep. At the bottom, water glistened in the reflection of the headlights barely penetrating the murky depths.
“What is this?” she asked.
“An old quarry. We turned it into a swimming hole, and now—”
“A cemetery,” she murmured.
“Yes.”
She went to help him with the bodies when he pulled back the tarp. “Do you dump bodies here often?”
“When necessary.” He hefted the first body out and slung it over his shoulder. He seized her hand when she reached for one too. “I’ll take care of this.”
“I helped create this mess; I’ll help clean it up.”
“No. I’ll do it. You shouldn’t be touching them.”
“I’ve touched worse.”
“Not while I was around. I’ll take care of this.”
Vicky opened her mouth to protest, but the resolute look in his eyes silenced her words. Stepping back, she watched him carry the body over and toss it into the quarry. After two more splashed into the water, Vicky retreated to stand on the other side of the pickup. She didn’t know which of the splashes was Duke hitting the water, as she didn’t look, but after a short time, Nathan came to stand before her.
When he rested his hands on her arms, she tried to ignore the odd skip in her heartbeat.
“I think we should stay here tonight,” he said. “It’s late, and we could both use some sleep.”
Spending the night anywhere in the vicinity of this man was a BAD idea, yet she found herself saying, “Okay.”
CHAPTER 7
Drawn forth by the scent of coffee and bacon, Vicky padded barefoot down the small hall. The wood flooring was cool against the soles of her feet. The white walls were bare, but nail holes revealed where things once hung. Instead of pictures or paintings, spiders now made this hallway their home as they spun their webs in the corners.
She stepped out of the hall and into a room she assumed was the living room, but it could have been a dining room. It was impossible to tell without any furniture to distinguish it, and the walls and flooring were the same throughout the home. The clattering of a pan drew her across the room and around the corner of a wall.
Nathan came into view when she stepped in front of the half wall separating her from the kitchen. She admired his rugged profile and the stubble lining his jaw, as he flipped bacon with a fork before removing the pan from the fire.
Seeming to sense her attention, he glanced at her and smiled. Vicky smiled nervously back, unsure of what to say or do. What did one say to the man she spent the night killing vampires with, before returning to this brick house he’d informed her was once his?
A man who had given her the small air mattress in a bedroom she assumed was once his while he slept on the floor somewhere else. A man who haunted her dreams until she woke aching so much for his touch that she almost searched him out. She’d remained in bed and attempted to take the edge off her need by herself. It hadn’t worked as her body was already quickening in response to his once more.
“I’d offer you some bacon, but I feel like it would be a waste,” he said.
“I’m not a fan of bacon, but I would love coffee.”
An eyebrow rose as he turned to look more thoroughly at her. Standing behind the half wall dividing the kitchen from the dining room, he couldn’t see below her waist. She wore the shirt he’d given her last night to replace her blood and dirt stained clothing. He kept the gray shirt stashed in his room with some of his other clothes.
She’d taken a shower last night, and he assumed she put the shirt on after, but he hadn’t seen her in it, until now, and he couldn’t deny he liked seeing her in it. The sleeves were rolled up to reveal her delicate wrists and thin forearms. Despite her fragile, almost childlike appearance in the too big shirt, he knew she was more lethal than most of the Savages he’d encountered over the y
ears, she’d proven that last night.
Her breasts swayed against the fabric when she stepped closer. The outline of something drew Nathan’s attention to her nipples. Are they pierced?
His mouth watered at the possibility, and his fingers itched to find out. It was yet another thing he should find repulsive about Vicky. Female hunters weren’t allowed to wear any adornments, but on her, the idea of it turned him on more.
She’d left the top two buttons of his shirt undone, revealing a small patch of golden skin. His hand tightened on the pan handle as he pictured slipping the rest of those buttons free and kissing his way over every inch of her body.
He gritted his teeth against his growing arousal and focused on the conversation at hand. “You drink coffee?” he asked.
“I do. I like human things more than the rest of my siblings, so I tried more of them. My sister Abby and I are big fans of cookies. I will never turn down chocolate chip.”
“Good to know,” he said.
Vicky rested her hands on the small wall and leaned forward as he opened a white cabinet. Within, one coffee mug sat on a shelf. He pulled it down and filled it. “I have some sugar, but no milk,” he said to her.
“I’ll take it black,” she said and smiled when he handed her the coffee. The mug warmed her hands when she clasped it and blew on the steaming liquid within. “How often do you come here?”
“At least once a week to check on things, sometimes more.” He lifted a piece of bacon and bit into it.
“And you keep the place stocked with supplies?”
“Enough for me to crash here or clean up after a fight if necessary.”
Vicky sipped her coffee as she studied him. He answered her with casual indifference, but tension emanated from him. She walked around the wall to stand in the kitchen.
“I never thanked you for your help last night,” she said and set the mug down on the half wall.
“There’s no need,” he replied.
“Yes, there is. You risked your life. Thank you.”
Resting her hands on the wall behind her, she lifted herself up and settled onto it. She didn’t miss Nathan’s glance at her thigh when the motion caused the shirt to rise. Tugging the shirt down again, she sat on the back of it. She hadn’t bothered to put on jeans as the shirt hung to her knees and the idea of wearing her ruined jeans again repulsed her.
Now, she wished she had.
She went to slide back off the wall, but Nathan walked over to stand next to her, freezing her in place.
“Anytime, Victoria,” he murmured, his eyes darkening as his gaze fell to the open buttons. The way her name rolled off his tongue caused her nipples to pucker as she pictured the wicked things he could do to her with that tongue.
Vicky’s breath lodged in her throat when his cypress smell increased. Unwillingly, her gaze fell to the growing bulge in the front of his jeans.
Run! But before she could bolt, he retreated from her. Relief and disappointment thundered through her as she bowed her head.
“So, are you ready to tell me exactly what Duke did to you?” he asked as he returned to the pan of cooking bacon.
Vicky grimaced. Drawing her knees up, she was careful to keep herself covered to her ankles by the shirt. She hugged her legs against her chest and surreptitiously slid the top buttons of the shirt into place.
“You heard part of it; he sold me to vampires,” she said.
Nathan’s hand clenched on the handle of the pan until it bent a little within his grasp. He couldn’t look at her. He was afraid if he did, he would strip the shirt off and take her, or batter this kitchen until nothing remained of it.
“I see,” he said through his teeth. “And what’s the rest of it?”
She didn’t want to relive it all again, but he had saved her life, and she owed him something for that. “Did you ever hear about a vampire named Drake Wilston?”
“I can’t say I have.” He chanced a glance at her. “Did he have something to do with Duke?”
“He was once one of Ronan’s men, but he gave in and turned Savage. Then, one day he decided it would be fun to capture purebreds and allow other vampires to feed off them, for a price, of course.”
“Of course,” Nathan murmured, and the pan handle bent entirely over.
“While we were dating, Duke sold me to some of Drake’s cohorts, and I became an imprisoned delicatessen for a bunch of lowlife assholes.”
No wonder she’d despised the vampire, Nathan realized and briefly wished Duke was still alive so he could do what Vicky hadn’t and torture the miserable bastard until he was nothing more than a blubbering mess.
Lifting her arm, Vicky gazed at the scar on her inner right wrist. She’d received it during her time in captivity, but whereas the rest of the countless bites she’d endured had healed and faded away, this scar remained. Multiple bites on her wrist, from different vamps, had formed what resembled an ancient sun symbol on her flesh.
“What do you have there?” Nathan walked over to stand before her again. He frowned at the mark on her inner wrist.
“A scar.”
“I didn’t think it was possible for vampires to have scars, until Killean.”
Vicky started to lower her wrist, but he clasped it and lifted it toward him to inspect it. She almost tore her hand away from him. After what she’d done while chained to that wall, Vicky hated the kind touch of another, but she couldn’t resist him. She concentrated on breathing normally as little currents of pleasure rippled across her flesh from his caress.
“If the action is repeated often enough, a scar or tattoo will remain on a vampire. In some cases with vamps, if they’re scarred before they reach maturity, it doesn’t completely heal. I’m not sure how Killean received his scar, but it was probably one of those two things. I also don’t know why this remains on me when all the other bites I endured while in captivity faded. I wasn’t bitten on this wrist any more often than other places on my body, but the mark persists.”
Color crept into her cheeks, and her lashes lowered to shadow her eyes. Nathan didn’t think it was possible for Victoria to blush; this was more shame creeping over her as she dropped her legs and tugged at the ends of his shirt with her free hand.
“Victoria—”
“I wasn’t raped.”
She pulled on her arm, and he reluctantly released her.
“But they violated me in countless other ways, fed from me in places….” Her hand fell to her thigh as she tugged at his shirt again; although, it was already as low as it could go. “Well, you get the idea.”
CHAPTER 8
A murderous red hue shaded his vision. “Are any of the vampires who did this still alive?” Because he would hunt them down and cut them apart piece by piece if they were.
“No. Many died the night I was rescued, and the others were relentlessly hunted by Ronan, his men, and some of my family before they could go after more purebreds. I’m not sure if Duke was involved in the whole thing, or if he just sold me to them. It doesn’t matter now.
“I don’t know how much Drake charged the other vampires to feed on me and the other purebreds imprisoned with me, but I’m sure he made a fortune off us. I lost count after the first fifty vamps drained my blood, but it seemed as if a thousand vampires traversed the stairs to our prison.
“There aren’t many purebreds in this world, and there were six others with me; not to mention the ones who died before Drake was stopped. He kept us in chains specifically designed to restrain a purebred, and he starved us to keep us weaker. I fought so hard in the beginning….”
Her voice trailed off as her head bowed and her blonde hair fell forward to shield her pretty features. Nathan reached out to stroke her cheek, but she recoiled from him.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “I don’t deserve kindness.”
His hand fell limply back to his side. “What happened to you was not your fault.”
“No, it wasn’t. I was dating Duke for all the wrong reasons, I w
as more self-centered than I should have been, I liked to party, and my family considers me the wild child, but I still didn’t deserve what happened to me. I was a stupid, silly girl, and I paid far more than anyone should ever have to pay for that, but I haven’t paid enough for what I did while wearing those chains.”
“And what was that?” he inquired.
Vicky hadn’t meant to bring it up. As a hunter, Nathan might try to kill her if he learned the truth, and if he didn’t attempt a staking, he would be repulsed by her.
What does it matter what he thinks of you? she asked herself. Mate or not, they could never be together, so maybe it was best if he put her in his truck and bid her adieu now rather than later.
She lifted her chin as she defiantly met his gaze. “They beat us, fed off us, and starved us until we were too weak to resist anything they did to us.”
Nathan retreated to the sink before he embraced her against his chest and tried to soothe the misery she radiated; something she obviously didn’t want.
“I have never been so cold in my life, so weak and broken.” Some of Vicky’s defiance melted as memories surged forth. “I lost so much weight that my spine and hip bones dug into the floor during the rare times I slept. I was so battered and weak that bruises covered me.”
So engrossed in the past, she didn’t realize she’d spoken those words out loud until Nathan sucked in a breath.
“Anyway, one day, they threw a human in there with us,” she stated. “They’d cut her up first, to make sure she was bleeding when they locked her in. She staggered past the first vamps who lunged at her, but she somehow made it by all of them. The poor woman never saw me in the shadows.
“I didn’t mean to kill her. I just needed to ease the hunger burning my veins and blistering my skin. I don’t remember taking her down; I do remember emerging from the haze of starvation to find her drained, limp body in my lap. Before then, I’d never hated myself, but after, I knew I deserved everything they did to me.”
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