Tall, Dark and Paranormal: 10 Thrilling Tales of Sexy Alpha Bad Boys

by Opal Carew

  No way could she allow them to use the serum! What if she revealed not only that Adonis was a vampire, but his sister as well? And what if she told them where their antique shop was located? Their home also?

  Frustrated to the max, she squirmed to twist out of Gregory’s arms, but he tightened his grip, then pinned her against the wall, allowing no wiggle room. He wasn’t able to dance close to her at the hunter’s ball, but she imagined he figured this was the next best thing. And she hated the feel of him against her, hot and hard, domineering and in charge, pressuring her to be still. The wall of men now stood in a semi-circle crowding around her, preventing her escape if she were to manage to break free from Gregory’s steely grip.

  Her breath was so rapid, her head grew fuzzy, yet she kept wriggling, trying to free herself.

  “You’ve got to relax, Rachael.” Brent drew near, his expression determined, the syringe held at the ready. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Tears streaked down her cheeks, her sight blurring. But as soon as Brent was in range, she swung her leg and tried to kick his shin with the pointed toe of her boot to keep him away.

  Zachary surged forth and seized her legs and hugged tight.

  She screamed. Adrenaline coursed through her body, her muscles trembling. She couldn’t give away her secrets. She couldn’t.

  Michael grabbed her arm and pulled up her sleeve. “Hold still, Rachael, or it’ll hurt.”

  “Relax,” Brent said, as Uncle Tobias ran an alcohol swab over her arm. “You’re too tense.”

  Everyone waited for Brent to use the needle on her, but he hesitated. Her breathing was so rapid, her legs and arms began to numb, and she felt light-headed.

  She choked out a sob. “Don’t do it! Please. I don’t give my permission!”

  Holding her arm still, Michael nodded.

  When the tension in the muscle gave out, Brent stuck the needle in.

  She cried out, silently cursing the whole lot of them as the liquid coursed through her bloodstream, working its way to her brain to loosen her tongue. She struggled for freedom, although she didn’t make any progress, not against Zachary’s and Gregory’s confinement, the other hunters all watching her reaction.

  She felt her whole body slipping away, her resistance dissolving, her thoughts fading…fading…

  And then hating them all, despite knowing they only meant to keep her safe, she sank into darkness.

  Chapter 7

  “Carry Rachael up to her room, Michael,” Uncle Tobias ordered, as she drifted in the black void.

  Jostled about in her dreamy world, Rachael floated in the air. Here, nothing mattered. The darkness felt safe, and she was at peace. At peace in the darkness. What a notion, her foggy brain thought. She’d never found tranquility in the gloom of night or shadowed spaces.

  “What do you fear, Tobias?” Brent said somewhere behind her.

  “He’s gotten to her.”

  Who in the world was Brent talking about? Who got to whom? When?

  A door opened and then after a few more steps, Michael stopped. His firm grip around her loosened, and she moved from the warm embrace of his arms to soft cushiony clouds. She sighed deeply.

  “I checked to see if she was bitten,” Michael assured his father, “when we picked her up at her apartment.”

  Reaching up, she touched her neck and licked her lips.

  Pleasing silence conducive to sleeping filled the room.

  Uncle Tobias broke into her dreamy world with another jarring question. “Did you check her everywhere for bite marks?”

  “Well, no. Just around the neck.” Michael rubbed the back of his own neck and looked harried—not his usual in-control self.

  Yeah. Not a bite one. Rachael distractedly twisted a curl of hair between her fingers.

  “We’ll have the women check her. The fact she was so concerned about us using the serum on her reveals something’s wrong. She’s never lied to me before, but I didn’t believe a lot—if anything—of what she said in the conference room.”

  “I’ve never seen anyone pass out after getting the serum,” Curt, Uncle Tobias’s other cousin, said.

  “She said she hadn’t had enough sleep,” Zachary offered. “And nothing to eat for lunch. She never eats breakfast either.”

  She crinkled her nose. Waffles and pancakes smothered in sweet syrup, spicy sausage, fluffy eggs—not for her.

  Uncle Tobias spoke again, his voice concerned. “The nightmares bother me. I’ve heard of humans being troubled by what they think are nightmares, when in reality a vampire is visiting them in the middle of the night. The human can’t discern the dreams from reality.”

  Had she dreamed about Adonis? She couldn’t remember.

  Curt asked, “Are you sure Brent didn’t give her too much of the serum? She seems really out of it.”

  “Dr. Stevens informed me that should have been the right amount for her weight,” Uncle Tobias said.

  “Gregory wants to listen in on the questioning.” Zachary sounded farther away, like he was on the other side of the room. The door closed with a clunk.

  No, keep Gregory out of this.

  “No. Just family. And, Zachary, I want you to investigate her library story after we’re done here. Michael, you’ll check out this Adonis Cameron, try and locate his family back east. I want to know everything there is about him. I imagine he’s a rogue and not part of a hunter family, and he’s looking to find an unattached huntress, or he wouldn’t be here.” Then Uncle Tobias squeezed her hand. “Rachael, who was the vampire who came to see you on the balcony of the ballroom last night? Did he give you his name?”

  Why wouldn’t the voices go away? She tried to roll on her side, but his hand gripped hers, and he wouldn’t let her turn. Sleep was all she craved, and she closed her eyes to block out the overhead lights.

  “Rachael, answer me.” Uncle Tobias used his commanding voice, although she detected a hint of softness trying to creep in.

  “Hmm.” She licked her lips and nestled her head further into the soft pillow.

  “Rachael, tell me about the man on the balcony.”

  “Gregory.” She sighed deeply.

  “No, the vampire. What did he say to you?”

  “Whisper.”

  “Whisper what?” Uncle Tobias waited, but when she didn’t say anything, he nudged her shoulder. “Rachael, what did he whisper?”

  “His name.”

  “What was his name?”

  “He... “ She swallowed hard and frowned, trying to remember what had happened. “He... come closer.”

  “He wanted you to come closer to tell you his name?”

  She said so, didn’t she?

  Curt said, “He was trying to get her to move into the shadows with him, offered his hand to her even, but thank God she didn’t accept. Although I still can’t understand what overcame her that she wouldn’t make an attempt to leave the balcony. They can’t control us like they can humans, yet she appeared to be just as much under his spell as though she were a human he planned to take for his own. I’m certain he intended to sink his teeth into Rachael.”

  She bit her lip. Adonis had wanted her to draw close and then what? Bite her? She didn’t think so. Would he have touched her like he did later at her apartment? Just beyond where all the hunters were? Would he have kissed her behind the hotel if she hadn’t broken free of his grip? She’d never met anyone so bold, so daring, so utterly fascinating. Yet a part of her knew how dangerous he could be.

  “I wouldn’t. Didn’t trust... “

  When she quit speaking, Uncle Tobias spoke again. “If you didn’t trust him, why didn’t you try to leave the balcony?” The floorboards creaked as if someone paced across them. “What was his name?” Uncle Tobias asked again.

  “Adonis.”

  Uncle Tobias growled. “Hell, this isn’t going to work. The serum’s made her too muddle-headed.”

  Muddle-headed.

  Michael spoke next. “Rachael, what about th
is Adonis. Where is he from?”

  “East.”

  “Where did you meet him?”

  “Hmm, bal... balcony.”

  “It’s not working,” Uncle Tobias said, exasperated. “She’s getting the two mixed up.”

  Which two? Her uncle was the one who was confused. She frowned again, totally annoyed.

  Brent asked, “Did Adonis kiss you?”

  And how. She smiled.

  Uncle Tobias cursed under his breath.

  “Father,” Michael cautioned, “just because he kissed her doesn’t mean they did anything more than that. They’re both hunters and know better than to take the relationship too far without her guardian’s permission.”

  Yeah, they knew better.

  “He disregards our protocol by seeing her behind my back. How long has this being going on? Just now? Or for some time? Hell, he forced his way into her apartment. Although I doubt she put up any resistance, if at all. You heard her. He’s stubborn like you. And she’s always admired you for it.” Uncle Tobias growled in disapproval.

  “I would never have gone after a huntress without her guardian’s permission.” Michael sounded just as irked. “Despite whatever other faults I have, I respect the sanctity of marriage for our kind.”

  Uncle Tobias said, “All right, you’ve made your point. But if he has been seeing her for some time, maybe that’s why she’s been so adamant about not finding a match with one of our hunters.” He didn’t say anything for a minute, and Rachael thought she could get some peace and quiet, but it wasn’t to be. “What else might he have done with her? He kissed her we know now, and she seemed to be pleased with the notion. But how far might he have insisted on taking the relationship with her? Was he the reason she didn’t want the serum? I suspect that’s the case. No matter what, if she has feelings for this out-of-stater, and he’s been seeing her behind my back for some time…” Uncle Tobias didn’t say anything further, but he sounded pretty hot about it.

  Her chest tightened. It was her choice, ultimately. Wasn’t it? The huntress chose her mate... within reason. Was it unreasonable for her to want Adonis so?

  “Do you think they really met at the library?” Brent asked.

  She whispered, “Antiques.”

  “She said he was reading an antique book when she bumped into him,” Curt reminded them.

  “She spends some of her free time at the main library. It’s possible, Father,” Zachary said, although he sounded like he was trying to mollify his dad rather than that he believed it himself.

  “How many hunters do you know visit the library?” Uncle Tobias asked, his voice hard.

  The room grew quiet.

  Now that her uncle wasn’t holding her wrist, Rachael turned on her side. How many hunters regularly, or even once in a blue moon, visited the library? None that she knew of. Huntresses, sure, mainly to take their children to enjoy the special kid’s programs. But hunters? She didn’t think any of them would be caught dead in a library.

  “Rachael, where did you meet Adonis?” Uncle Tobias asked.

  “Hmm, the balcony.” She took a deep breath. Hadn’t she already said so? Who was being muddle-headed?

  “What did the vampire want with you on the balcony?”

  “See Piaras.”

  Uncle Tobias swore under his breath. “The bastard.”

  “He doesn’t want her dead?” Michael sounded more than surprised.

  “Hell, it seems he wants her alive. I’d always thought that Brent and Curt had chased off the murderer before he could effectively kill Rachael. But maybe the rumors about him marking her instead for his own dark purposes meant he intended to claim her after all,” Uncle Tobias said. “Although I’ve never heard of a vampire marking a hunter or huntress in that way. Or human either. If they want the human, it’s a done deal, right then and there.”

  More pacing followed, the boards beneath the carpet creaking.

  “Why? Why would he want her?” Michael asked. “I’ve never heard of a vampire wanting a huntress. Not in this region, anyway. Piaras is known to collect women, but according to his blood bonds, only those who are willing to be with him. Despite all of his murderous faults, he seems to at least have some decency in that regard. But the thing is Rachael would never willingly go to the murdering vampire. So what makes him think she will?”

  “We didn’t know for sure that he was the one who murdered her parents until just before the night of the ball. He had to have framed the other ancient vampire for the crimes. What if he concocted some new story to encourage Rachael to see him?” Uncle Tobias asked.

  “Like that he knew who her parents’ murderers truly were? That he would help her kill him? Seems farfetched to me. She wouldn’t be that naïve,” Michael said.

  “But she’s wanted to hunt human vampires forever,” Zachary warned. “What if he’s offered her a contract to kill one of his own?” He shrugged. “Who knows what he might pull to get her to come to him willingly since Father won’t let her hunt them.”

  Michael frowned at his brother. “I don’t believe she’d go to him, not once she learned he’s the one who killed her parents. You said she already asked you if it was so.”

  Uncle Tobias made a disgruntled sound. “And how did she come to know this?”

  Zachary cleared his throat. “Ferris mentioned the secret meeting to his brother out in the parking lot while the ball was in progress. Rachael heard him speaking.”

  “And he told her? He wasn’t to say a word.” Uncle Tobias looked back at Rachael.

  She blinked her eyes, barely able to keep them awake, but talk of Piaras piqued her interest. And now at least, she knew what the secret had been about.

  “Ferris swore up and down he hadn’t told her anything. Ned vouched for him and said he hadn’t said a word, that Ferris was the only one who’d done any talking.”

  “Then how did she know about Piaras?” Uncle Tobias asked.

  “Adonis,” she whispered.

  Everyone stared at her. She closed her eyes when they all seemed to be at a loss for words, and if they weren’t going to talk any further, she’d sleep. Until Uncle Tobias started in on her again. “What did Adonis say, Rachael?” Although he tried to keep his voice compassionate, his words were as sharp as the honed edge of a hunter’s sword.

  A couple of tears dribbled down Rachael’s cheek. She’d kill Piaras.

  “Rachael, what did Adonis tell you?” Her uncle patted her hand, his voice softened.

  “Piaras did it.”

  “Adonis is not from here. How would he have known?” her uncle asked.

  Adonis was in so much trouble. How could she not help him?

  “Piaras left sometime around the killings. Maybe he was afraid we would have waged a war against him and his people if we learned he’d killed her parents,” Curt said. “He didn’t have the numbers of recruits back then that he does now. At least not to fight all of us. We did wage a pretty good battle on those left behind, but what if Piaras was back east and this Adonis learned of his deeds?”

  Michael gave his father a hard look. “Hell, when Piaras returned and began wreaking havoc in Dallas again, I wanted to wage a more aggressive campaign to destroy him and his people once and for all, but you wouldn’t allow it.”

  “What if she’s been bitten?” Zachary asked, and Rachael recognized his attempt to switch subjects before Michael and their father got into it about how he ran the business again.

  Uncle Tobias ran the back of his hand over her cheek. “She’s not been turned or she couldn’t stand the sunlight. Even so, if the vampire somehow got to her—”

  “Damn,” Zachary said.

  “What?”

  “When I checked to see if she’d already left the parking lot the night of the ball when you told her to return home and dress properly, I found her wandering around the backside of the hotel. I asked her what she was doing, but she ignored me. She seemed kind of shook up.”

  The mattress sank lower, and Uncle T
obias’s voice grew closer. A big hand grasped her shoulder and shook her gently. “Rachael, did the vampire bite you?”

  She shook her head.

  “Thank God,” Brent said.

  “Still, I want the women to check her over, just in case.” Uncle Tobias squeezed her shoulder. “Rachael, what happened when you were with the vampire?”

  “He... he wants... me.”

  Michael swore under his breath. “Now what?”

  “Rachael, Piaras wants you, right?”

  “Hm-hm.”

  “Not the other vampire.”

  She didn’t respond. Why did she have to keep answering questions? Her whole body wearied with each passing second.

  “The vampire who met you behind the hotel... “ Uncle Tobias paused. “The one who tried to get to you on the balcony... “

  “He... he held my wrist.”

  “Damn,” Zachary said again. “I should have known something was the... “

  “Shhhh. Rachael, when he had hold of you, what did he do?” Her uncle’s voice was soothing, coaxing.

  She raised her hand, though the effort was monumental, then dropped it to the mattress. “Zach.”

  “I called out her name. I was concerned because I’d seen her leave the ballroom, but her car was still in the parking lot, and there was no sign of her.”

  “You must have scared him off. Rachael, did he say anything to you?”

  “He... wants... me.”

  “For Piaras.”

  She turned her head back and forth. Why wouldn’t they listen to her?

  “She can’t mean the two of them want her. If Piaras desires her, no way would another vampire cross him. Not if he’s from here,” Michael said.

  “You’re right. She’s confused. Have Trish and Mary come here. I want them to check her for bites. And have Dr. Stevens see to her after he returns from delivering the baby.”