Dying To Be Heard (Book 1): Outcry

by Michiels, Jennifer

  Rayne’s brows furrowed in question. “Aren’t we just going to a bar? I brought some fairly nice clothes. I’m sure I have something that will work.”

  Camden chuckled. “I bet you probably don’t.”

  What kind of place was he talking about? What kind of place was this that she couldn’t wear regular clothes?

  Seeing her expression, he put two and two together and gathered that she was lost. He leaned back in the chair and cockily rested his hands behind his head. He was going to enjoy seeing her reaction when she figured it out.

  Rayne inhaled deeply as she watched him make the simplest of movements. The sinew and muscle of his arms twitched and twisted beneath his skin, starting a fire in the pit of her stomach. “Why don’t you enlighten me?” she managed to squeak out.

  He thought for a moment. “Are you familiar with the phrase ‘leather and lace’?”

  She racked her brain. It definitely sounded familiar. Then it hit her. Leather and lace was the name of an erotic clothing store back home that sold everything from naughty toys to skimpy leather outfits. Her eyes widened. “Oh no. I am not going into an erotic club!”

  He held up both hands. “It’s not an erotic club. It’s a place where both vampires and humans go. The dress code is usually a little risqué, but there is no open sex going on. Just a regular club with music and drinks. The rest is just a cover to hide the fact that most of the patrons are…different. Most of us bring our own humans for entertainment, feeding, or whatever. There are private rooms in the back for…other things.”

  Rayne narrowed her eyes. “And just what are you expecting me to wear?”

  Camden stood and placed both of his hands on her upper arms. “It’ll be fine. We’ll tone it down some.”

  Rayne’s skin was on fire where his hands made contact. She wanted to jerk away, but at the same time, she was excited and liked the sensation.

  He gave a reassuring smile. “Just do this for me,” he said quietly. “If you don’t look the part, then they’ll know we’re up to something.”

  She fought with herself for a moment before she finally agreed.

  His smile widened. “Good. And afterward, I’ll let you beat me up or something for making you do this.”

  Rayne scoffed. “Yeah, like I would be that stupid. How great of an idea does that sound? Tiny girl punching a vampire. When has that scenario ever turned out well?” she asked, crossing the room and letting herself fall onto his bed. She could have moaned in ecstasy at how amazing the mattress felt. She sunk down into it.

  Camden moved to stand directly in front of her. “I can think of a few where it turned out incredibly well, actually.”

  She rolled her eyes and sat up just enough to swat at his chest. “Don’t be a pervert!”

  Her hand made contact harder than she meant, and it gave a resounding pop.

  Camden faked a pained look and rubbed the spot just above his pectoral muscle. “Hey, I said afterward.”

  She pursed her lips together as she made a move to stand. “You big baby. I thought you were supposed to be some big, bad vampire?”

  His eyes narrowed playfully. “You want big bad vampire?” he asked, a mischievous smile finding its way to his lips.

  Oh no.

  What had she done? Holding up her hand, she tried to back away from him, but hit the bed and fell onto it. Before she knew it, he had pushed her backwards and straddled her torso, effectively pinning her. He began a relentless onslaught of tickling.

  “No! Stop!” she yelled. Her laughter was loud and boisterous, but she couldn’t stop it. She didn’t want to. Her small fists pounded on his chest and she curled her legs, trying to dislodge him.

  His attack continued.

  “Stop it! I’ll do whatever you want, just stop!” she cried in between fits of laughter.

  Camden managed to catch both of her hands and pinned them above her head. He leaned forward, hovering just inches above her.

  Both stilled, but couldn’t contain their smiles that slowly began to fade as they stared. Inches apart and noses almost touching, he gently brushed a strand of auburn hair from her cheek.

  To Rayne, it felt as if they stayed in that moment for eternity. She was afraid to move, to breathe, even. Emerald green locked with electric blue, each studying the hue of the other.

  Suddenly, without warning, Camden gently pressed his mouth to hers. Rayne’s eyes fluttered shut and she pulled against his grip on her wrists. He held tight and his lips became more demanding as his free hand moved to caress the side of her face. His tongue darted out, gliding along her lower lip.

  A low moan escaped through her slightly-parted lips, and he took the opportunity to dive inside. Tongue against tongue, wrestling each other in a wet dance, Rayne managed to wriggle a hand away and ran it through his short black hair.

  This time, it was him that moaned.

  Rayne smiled and leaned up to playfully bite at his lower lip.

  “Now you’re just being mean,” he mumbled, resuming his lip action.

  She giggled and repeated the nip. Every nerve ending in her body was crackling and popping with electricity, especially those near her core.

  “Be careful,” he whispered. “I bite back.”

  She continued to meet him match for match, kiss for kiss, in a heated entanglement.

  What was happening began to really sink in. She wanted this, needed the interaction. Maybe if she could just get it out of her system, then this infatuation she had with him would go away.

  Camden let go of her wrist and supported his weight on his elbow. Rayne took the opportunity to place both hands on his chest and pushed him to the side, sending him to the mattress, where in one fluid motion, she flipped and reversed positions with him.

  Now, straddling him, she smiled down at his shocked expression. Apparently he hadn’t been expecting that, and that was probably the only reason his superior strength hadn’t stopped her.

  He smiled up at her and cupped a hand at the back of her neck, pulling her down for another kiss.

  Rayne’s tongue snaked into his mouth. They fought each other, pushing back and forth, until a sharp pain radiated form the tip of her tongue. She pulled back, her hand covering her mouth and coming away with a few drops of blood.

  Camden jerked upright, his face twisted in worry. “Are you ok? What’s wrong?” he asked, his sharp white fangs glinting from the corners of his mouth.

  She nodded, mouth still covered, and climbed off the bed. “I’m fine,” she reassured him. “I just got a little carried away.”

  Camden climbed to his feet in front of her, moving her hand to see where the blood was coming from.

  She stuck out her tongue to reveal a small nick at the very tip that was barely bleeding at all. She was going to take that as a sign. She’d told herself from the start that this was not a good idea, and now she had proof.

  His hands rested on her shoulders. “I’m sorry. They just…come out when I get excited.”

  Rayne shook her head and stepped around him, trying to play it off as if it were no big deal. “It’s fine,” she said with her head down, moving toward the door. Her body was nearly shaking from the adrenaline of what had almost happened.

  “I should head back anyway. Need to get a nap in if we’re going to be out all night traipsing the town.” She raised her hand in a pitiful attempt at a wave and opened the door just enough to squeeze through. All but running down the hall, she made it to her room and slammed the door. She leaned against it and panted for air.

  “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she said through clenched teeth. Each word corresponded to a thud as she banged her head against the door. “I’m such an idiot!”

  She couldn’t believe she’d almost let that happen. It would have, too, if it weren’t for those dental razors he had. She would have gone all the way right then, and enjoyed it, too!

  Pushing away from the door, she paced the length of the room. How awkward was it going to be facing him now? As if her r
idiculous crush on him wasn’t bad enough! She wanted to scream, to let out all the frustration, mental and physical!

  Pacing again and again, she tried to reason with herself. What would have been so wrong if she had gone through with it? Was she that insecure to think that it would be one time and he would hit the door running? Was she afraid that he would harm her?

  No, that wasn’t it. She was afraid of herself. She knew all too well the capabilities of her emotions. She knew that with one taste, she would be hooked. She would fall fast and be left open for nothing but pain.

  He was an immortal vampire with the body of a god. He’d probably been with more women than he could count. Why would he be so interested in ordinary Rayne when he had his run of the mill? It was a spur-of-the-moment opportunity for sex. That’s why.

  She quit pacing just long enough to fall back onto the bed. Why couldn’t she do that? Why couldn’t she just rock his world, or rather, have her world rocked, and get on with it? What would be so wrong with that? Because she didn’t know if she could keep her heart away from it.

  “Smooth move, Rayne.” She sighed. “Now what are you going to do?”

  Chapter 12

  Camden sat at his desk, locked up in his room away from the sun and everyone else. He’d watched Rayne from the security camera, bolting down the hall to her bedroom. Was she as confused by all of this as he was?

  He knew there was a mission, and right now that was the only thing holding them together. He had a promise to fulfill to her grandfather, and she just wanted to return to normal so she could go back home to Washington where she belonged.

  However, in his heart, he knew there was something more. There was some invisible rope tying them together. This unnatural attraction to her had to mean something. He’d never felt this way about anyone before. He wanted to protect Rayne, to keep her safe and hold and comfort her when she needed it. He’d only met her three days ago, technically, but it felt as though he’d known her forever.

  Was it his ties to Martin that made her so irresistible? Had watching her through his eyes created this bond? He ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled forcefully. “Now you’re just sounding weird,” he said to himself.

  Typing something into the computer, the screen changed to the live feed of Rayne laying on her bed. She stared up at the ceiling and looked just as distraught as he felt. He wanted nothing more than to burst into that room and hold her, tell her everything was going to be ok. They would figure it all out together somehow.

  But that wasn’t going to happen. One, he couldn’t because it was daytime, and two, he wasn’t sure she would be so welcoming.

  There was no happy ending in sight. Even if they did somehow manage to make things work, then what? He was a vampire, an ageless, immortal thing of the night. Rayne was human. The only options they had were find a way to work things out, and one day, she eventually would grow old and die. The other was to change her. He wouldn’t even consider it without her consent, and even then, he would be hesitant to do so. If he’d had the choice in his human life, he wouldn’t have chosen to become what he is now, and didn’t expect her to, either. She would have to leave everything behind she had ever known and assume a new life as a new person, or species, rather.

  The last option would be to solve this hellish mystery and return to normal as if nothing had ever happened. That was the only logical choice of the three. What a mess.

  Sighing again for the thousandth time, he stood and made his way to the door across the room from his desk. It led into a magnificent marble bathroom, decorated in earth-toned greens, browns, and even some dark reds, and passed through to the enormous closet on the other side. He had to get his mind off of her, and he might as well begin preparing for the night.

  Staring at the endless rows of clothes, Camden moved to the back corner, where he opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of jeans with frayed patches, but no actual holes. He threw them over his shoulder and moved to another area, this time grabbing a grey button-up, collared shirt. This would do for tonight, along with his black boots and leather jacket.

  Heading back into his room, he laid the clothing on the bed and stood looking around the room in thought.

  Now to make a game plan.

  Rayne’s eyes opened slowly, her vision blurred as she squinted against the fairly bright light hanging above the four-post bed. She hadn’t even realized that she’d fallen asleep!

  She inhaled deeply and pushed herself up onto her elbows, looking around the room. After the “incident” earlier, an hour of self-chastisement and a very long, very necessary phone call to her best friend, she’d laid on the bed and apparently drifted off somewhere around the five o’clock mark. She hadn’t intended to sleep, but apparently her body had other ideas.

  Brushing away the still damp hair from her face, she looked at the clock. Eight o’clock! Holy crap! I slept for three hours!

  She stood and moved to the window. The sun was no longer visible, but its last rays had painted the sky a blended hue of orange, pink, and purple that was slowly fading away to darkness.

  Turning from the window, she grabbed her phone. She probably needed to find Camden and see what she needed to do, but she was not looking forward to any awkward interaction with him at all. She felt like something needed to be said to clear the air between them. They were about to go undercover together, and it had to be believable. This was their only lead and possibly only chance to get it right. She needed answers so she could get back to regularity. Their little soiree earlier couldn’t get in the way of that. Her fingers danced across the screen of the device.

  “Sorry about earlier. I let myself get too carried away. I’ll try to control myself better.”

  Rayne hit the send button and waited nervously for his reply. Within seconds, it came.

  “It’s ok. I understand. Me too.”

  She stared at the reply, not sure if she was upset or not. She knew what had to happen, or rather what she couldn’t allow to happen, but somewhere deep down inside, she’d almost hoped that he would disagree, or at least try to convince her otherwise. At least then she would have known it wasn’t just her feeling this way. She would have even been happy with one of his cocky, smart-aleck remarks.

  But that was all she had gotten. Maybe it was better that way.

  She sighed to herself and looked at the time. It was eight-thirty. Soon, they would heading to Madam Laurie’s to get some new information, fix the problem, and she could be on a plane back to Washington! She hoped, anyway. The sooner, the better.

  She thought about Layla’s words of wisdom, if you could call anything coming from Layla’s mouth wisdom: “Don’t worry about anything else. Just do what you have to do, figure it out, and come home. And, if you happen to sleep with a hottie in the process, just go with it!”

  Rayne nodded to herself as if she were actually hearing the words. Layla was right. She was going to do what she had to and get it done. Minus the sleeping with Camden part, of course.

  A knock at the door sounded, startling her and pulling her from her thoughts. She braced herself before calling out. “Come in.”

  Camden slowly opened the door and stepped inside with a neatly folded pile of clothes. His blue eyes met hers for a brief second, his gaze laced with something that she couldn’t pick out. “These should fit. I had Connor run to the store to pick them up.”

  She nodded and moved to take them from him. “Thank you.” She wouldn’t look at him, keeping her eyes trained on the cream-colored carpet. When he didn’t leave, she risked a glance up at him.

  Camden gave her a reassuring smile that seemed to melt her heart. She knew that she was never mad at him, more like disappointed with herself for getting so carried away with someone she’d only known for a few days at most.

  He stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about earlier. It was my fault and I shouldn’t have…” he paused for a moment. “I shouldn’t have initiated things.”

>   She smiled, suddenly not feeling quite as awkward. “It’s not all your fault. I didn’t exactly stop you.”

  Camden laughed and pulled her in for a quick hug, his signature smirk in place. “I’ll try not to be so damn sexy around you.”

  She laughed and swatted him. “You’re still a jerk.”

  His smile widened and he turned for the door. “I know.” He disappeared into the hallway and she shut the door behind him.

  Staring at the stack of clothes in her hand, her eyes widened as she realized what she was holding. “Oh no.”

  Camden sat in his office downstairs, staring at the computer screen, but not really seeing what was displayed. He’d already dressed in his gray shirt, jeans, and boots, and was waiting on Rayne to finish getting ready. He was anxious to see her in the new clothes. Not that he thought she needed new clothes, but these were sexy and revealing. He couldn’t imagine what the combination would bring forth.

  The door opened slightly and Connor slid inside, taking a seat across the desk from Camden. “Here’s the photo of the target Paul sent.” His deep voice rumbled as he held out a small wallet-size picture to Camden.

  “Paul said he was going to be there tonight in case he was needed. Thought he could be a distraction. If this guy is interested in watching him, maybe he won’t pay much attention to anyone else.”

  Camden nodded and studied the picture. The guy was very thinly built, almost scrawny looking. He had blonde hair that was cut short and his cheeks seemed somewhat sunken in. He didn’t look familiar at all.

  He placed the picture in his pocket and looked to his dark-skinned counterpart. “You sure you can handle things here?”

  Connor smiled, showing bright white teeth against his ebony skin. “Come on, boss man, I’m the best guy you got. Of course I can handle it.”

  A reluctant smile appeared on Camden’s face. He was right. Connor was his best security officer. He trusted him with his life, not to mention that they’d become close friends over the last few years. He knew that things would be fine in his hands.