by Nina Pierce
It’s what she’d hoped for when she’d arrived at the cabin, one last chance to have Reese buried deep within her and to remember all the reasons she could never have him.
Chapter Seven
Reese inhaled, filling his lungs with the heady mixture of Alex’s shampoo and their lovemaking. She lay comfortably in the crook of his shoulder, her hand over his heart. He wondered exactly when she’d taken possession of it. Despite the fact that they’d done little more than flirt and sneak a kiss or two, he suspected he’d given it to her long before their lovemaking in the wine cellar yesterday morning. A man didn’t live for two centuries without knowing what he found appealing in a woman. Of course, all the other women he’d ever allowed to come into his life had been temporary—save for one.
The last two days had proven to him he was ready to open his heart again.
Reese ran his fingers over the silken flesh of her neck, tracing the red welts where his fangs had left marks. He wondered again why she hadn’t invited him to drink from her—and why the minor cuts hadn’t healed. Though they’d spent the afternoon in each other’s arms and he’d offered himself to Alex, he hadn’t been able to coax her to drink from him either. Maybe he’d been too hopeful that she shared the same intense feelings overwhelming his heart.
He hoped he’d stay in South Kenton long enough to convince her theirs was not a one-night-stand kind of relationship.
Reese shifted and stretched. He’d like to stay this way with Alex’s silky leg snaked around his, her breasts pressed softly into his ribs, and her scent filling his nose. It would be so easy to ignore everything outside of this room, the fires … his assignment … the people who had died at the hands of a monster.
He’d watched the pixie vampire carefully for signs of deception as they’d gone over the details of each fire. Though he had no doubt Alex was hiding something from him, he was fairly certain it had nothing to do with arson. He prayed he hadn’t read her wrong. His muscles tensed at the thought.
“Reese?” His name dragged sleepily over her tongue.
“Yeah?”
“You regretting this?” Alex’s hand slid down his stomach, the wet heat of her lips caressing his nipple. She came up on her forearm, her long fingers combing through her silky strands of hair that had tickled his thighs earlier.
“Regret is the farthest thing from my mind, Alexandra.” Reese held her gaze, sucking on her full bottom lip. Sliding his hand the length of her body, he felt her relax beneath his palm. She opened for him and his tongue swept her mouth. The ballet was as familiar as if he’d been kissing her his whole life. Pulling back, he stared at her heavy-lidded eyes. He couldn’t get enough of this woman. He scooped her hair from her neck, kissing the red lines, smiling at her quickening breath as he kissed the bruises. “Sorry about that. I seem to have lost myself.”
“I liked it,” she whispered.
“It should’ve healed by now. It’s not that deep.” Reese searched the blue pools of her eyes. A man could drown in their lovely depths.
“I haven’t been feeling well. They’ll be fine. I thought it was very sexy.”
Reese pulled her into a soft, slow kiss, love washing over him. It had been a long time since his heart had felt this full. Pulling back, he let his gaze roam hotly over her body. Damn, she made him want. “How could I possibly regret the best decision I’ve made in a long time?”
“I was just wondering why?”
“Why what?”
“Why me? Why now?” She smiled, the expression lighting her eyes. “It’s not like I’m complaining about this. It’s been wonderful.” She leaned over and kissed him. “But why in hell has it taken you so long to do more than steal a kiss or two?”
He laughed. “Stupidity. Maybe a little stubbornness.”
“It’s not like I wasn’t sending out signals.” She swung to a sitting position, her knees against his ribs and her fingers teasing the hair on his chest. “I was pretty sure I made my interest clear.”
“Flares couldn’t have been more obvious.” Reese came up on his elbow, brushing the hair from her face and she kissed his palm. “Alex, I love who you are.” It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to say, but it would do for now. He didn’t want to frighten her. She hadn’t lived long enough to trust that fate had brought them together.
Alex laughed, a brittle sound that rasped across his ears. “Right. You know nothing about me, Colton.
“Then tell me something you think I don’t know,”
“You’re a very old and wise vampire and I’m …” she toyed with his fingers, measuring her words, “let’s just say I’m not happy with who I am.”
“Everyone loves you, Alex. You’re the reason half the firefighters hang out at O’Malley’s.” He smiled. “Including me.”
“I bet you can’t even name my favorite color.”
“Green.”
“Lucky guess.”
It was, but he’d take it. “Alexandra Flanagan. A young vampire of a quarter century. Co-owner …” Grief came hot and hard and he had to clear his throat before he could continue. “Co-owner of O’Malley’s Tavern and vampire winery. Cutest pub mistress in Plumas County and the best damn mixologist in the state of California. I know who you are. Hell, every vampire within one hundred miles knows you, Flanagan.” He brushed his knuckles playfully across her chin.
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Every firefighter trying to get into my pants uses those lines.” Alex inhaled. Their moment of levity obviously passed. “Reese, you know you don’t owe me anything. I’m a big girl. I came here this morning knowing exactly what I wanted. This has been wonderful, but—”
He put a finger to her lips. “But nothing, Alex. This didn’t happen today just because Glenn died and we needed to comfort each other. It happened because we both want this. I want this.” He brushed his fingers across her cheek. “I never intended for yesterday to be a one-time fling. I’ve wanted you for a long time.”
“Then I ask again. Why have you waited?”
It was time to let it go. Someone besides Josh needed to understand the guilt Reese had carried for nearly seven decades. “I thought I had to keep a foolish promise I’d made myself a very long time ago.” He inhaled against the agony of his past loss, stumbling headlong into fresh grief that weighed on his heart. “I hadn’t realized until you came along how stupid it’d been.”
Alex’s hand smoothed down his arm, linking her fingers in his. Her touch grounded him, gave him strength to endure reopening the wound. Perhaps she was the one who could help him heal.
“I loved a vampire once, decades ago,” he said. “She was beautiful. Brilliant. A veterinarian ahead of her time.” Reese swallowed the anguish pressing hotly in his throat. “She owned a farm. Treated the local livestock in the area. It was during my cowboy phase when ranch hands with a good horse and a strong back could find work anywhere—and a vampire had an unlimited supply of lost pioneers.” A cold snake of revulsion slithered over his muscles. Alex bent and tenderly kissed his cheek, her breasts brushing his arm, bringing him back to the present.
“She’d only been turned a decade earlier, but she’d learned how to live on the blood of animals. She sought out other vampires and taught us. Helped us become more human.” He closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment to remember her. “We fell in love. It was fast and raw and meant to last forever. We were married. Ran the ranch together. Vampires came from all over under the guise of hired ranch hands and we continued to show them how to live off animal blood. For nearly a decade, our life was idyllic.”
Agony ripped through Reese as the memories tumbled over themselves. “They came one night. A group of vamps who believed we were eroding the true bloodlines. Without warning, they slaughtered the vampires in the bunkhouse. They staked me to the ground and tortured her. In front of me, when I could do nothing for her, they raped her over and over, slicing away small pieces of her and—”
“Reese don’t.” Alex pressed her fingers to his lips. “I get it
. You don’t need to relive that part.” Reese saw his pain reflected in Alex’s eyes. She stretched out next to him, comforting him in her embrace. They held each other through the wash of grief.
“Is she the reason you joined RISEN?”
He nodded and lifted her hand to his lips. “I didn’t want anyone else to suffer that kind of senseless loss. It nearly killed me what they did to her.”
“And yet, here we are. It’s still happening.” She brushed away her tears and pressed a gentle kiss to his heart. “Why do we have to be so judgmental of one another? Why can’t vampires embrace different beliefs?”
“The nature of the beast.” He squeezed her tight, letting go of his past, embracing his future.
“It’s like with the blood wine. There are so many who are grateful we’ve discovered a way for them to exist without the blood of humans. Yet, others who despise—”
“Wait, what?” Reese sat up slowly, bringing her with him. “What did you say?”
“We’re all too judgmental.”
“That’s true. Especially when it comes to the blood wine.”
Confusion furrowed her brow and thinned her lips.
“Don’t you see Alex?” He kissed her full on the lips. “You’re brilliant!” He rolled from the bed, shoving his feet into his jeans. “I don’t know why we didn’t see the connection before.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s still happening.” He bent and kissed her full on the mouth.
“Reese, wait! What are you talking about?”
“I know the reason why someone is trying to frame you.”
* * *
The map Hope had first marked up was now spread out in front them. Reese had gone over each murder again, scribbling in the margins of the notes he’d taken earlier. “There it is, in black and white or Technicolor. Whatever.”
In bed with Reese, Alex had been able to ignore the pain throbbing in her head. But the concentration it took to follow Reese’s logic, blurred the edges of her vision. “All of this because of the blood wine?”
“It’s one theory. I’ll put Ronan on it tomorrow when we meet.”
“But we’ve been so careful who’s been let into the cellars.”
“Might not be someone who knows about the cellars.”
A nugget of hope blossomed in her chest. What Reese was saying made so much sense. Alex would like to think she could leave South Kenton without dragging around the suspicions everyone seemed to be laying at her feet—or the guilt that she may have been the murderer’s motivation.
The door opened and Josh slogged in with the cool autumn breeze. He froze in the doorway, an orange tabby sneaking in around him, hissing as it passed.
“What the hell is she doing here?” he asked.
It took all of Alex’s willpower not to cower from the hatred she saw in his eyes. Not that she could blame him, but, after all their months of friendship, it still hurt.
Reese jumped from the chair, putting his hand on Josh’s chest. “Slow down, cowboy. I’ve got more information that may just change your perspective.”
His brow furrowed. “About Hope?”
Reese shook his head.
“Then anything you have to tell me I can hear when we bring Alex in front of the tribunal.”
“She didn’t do it, Josh.”
“To hell she didn’t.” He pushed past Reese, sweeping everything off the table in one swift movement. Alex held her ground as he continued his verbal assault. “She was your friend, damn it. She trusted you!”
“I didn’t know she was in trouble. How could I—”
Josh let out a howl that sent the cat skittering down the hall. “You know we found the car you ditched? Her purse? Her cell phone? But no Hope. Just tell me where she is and I’ll let you live long enough to stand before the tribunal.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Josh?” The question Alex wanted to ask came from Reese’s mouth.
He turned back to Reese. “She didn’t confess that she’d driven Hope’s yellow bug into the lake?”
“When would I have done that? You saw me at the fire. And your friend Ronan babysat me until I showed up here this morning.”
“Josh, stop. Alex didn’t do it. Not the fires. Not Hope’s car. None of it.”
Josh walked up to him, his gaze hard and cold as ice. He scented the air, his lips thinning with understanding. “And you believe in her innocence because you fucked her?”
Reese cold-cocked his roommate, taking him down with a solid uppercut to the jaw. “Watch where you’re going with this, Burkett. I understand you’re in pain, but I need you to shut up and listen.”
Josh cradled his jaw in his palm, but stayed where he’d landed on the floor. “I’m just saying your girlfriend here seems to know an awful lot of the people dying.”
“Of course she does. It seems someone has been targeting her vamps drinking blood wine.” Reese’s voice held no emotion.
“What about the humans? What about Hope?”
“I’m still working on that one.”
Josh picked himself up and dusted off his jeans. “Well, the firefighters hauling the VW out of the lake happened to mention the fire marshal is now working to link all of the fires and deaths to Glenn.”
“How the hell could they think that?” Alex asked. “He died in that fire or has the fire marshal discounted that fact?”
Josh shrugged absently. “He’s figuring Glenn finally made a mistake and got caught in his own fire. John Sampson? The pentagram? The bite marks? It seems a good portion of the recent victims have had the same injury and as much as the coroner tried to hide it, some human in his office has been spouting off to the fire marshal.” He pointed to Reese’s scarf Alex had wrapped around her neck. “You might want to lose the accessories or they’ll throw you in with the whole vampire conspiracy.” His mouth curved in a malicious smile. “Oh wait, you already are. I just haven’t told them.”
“Drop it, Josh,” Reese said through clenched teeth.
“You’re thinking with the wrong head, Colton. You’re theory’s weak and you know it. But let her lead you around by your dick. I’ve got Nason out there looking for Hope and pulling the last of the evidence together.” He leaned in close to Reese. “You’ve got less than twenty-four hours. We’re taking her to the tribunal tomorrow. Right now, I’m getting ready for work.” Josh strode down the hall. The poor cat yowled and skittered around the corner.
“I’m taking Alex to her car. I’ll meet you there,” Reese hollered down the hall.
“If they find you burned in a ditch, I’ll know where to send the fire marshal.” A door slammed.
Alex absently scooped up the frightened tabby. Now she’d caused a rift between friends. Would her good deeds never end? “You don’t need to defend me to Josh. I didn’t kill anyone, but I don’t think anything you say will convince him of that.” The fat tabby leaned into her caresses, purring loudly. “I can’t even imagine how he’s managing through all of this. He needs you.”
“Circumstances can warp the facts when viewed from the wrong angle.” Reese tipped his mouth in a sad attempt at a smile. “He’ll come around.”
Alex doubted that was true.
“We rescued that cat from Professor Morgan’s mansion,” Reese said. “He’s been miserable with us. I thought it was all vamps, but it seems he’s taken a shine to you.”
Alex was thrown by his sudden change in topics. “Paul had dinner parties at the mansion for his colleagues. Zeus and I are old friends.” Heat rose in Alex’s cheeks. There was so much more to the cat’s affections. She’d been lying for so long she couldn’t remember the truth anymore. Guilt stung the back of her eyes and burned hot in her throat.
“Maybe you should take him home with you.”
“He’s definitely better off here.” She kissed the cat’s head and set the tabby on the floor, ignoring the pleading look he gave her. Alex had no idea how much longer she had. Zeus had already lost one owne
r, he didn’t need to be orphaned by another.
She straightened and forced a smile. “How about that ride to …” An unexpected wave of grief washed over her and she couldn’t say Glenn’s name. It hurt too much. She cleared her throat, pushing the words past the hot coal of sorrow filling her throat. “My car’s still at the farm.”
“Yeah, it’s getting late. I’ll drop you off.” Reese bundled her into the Buick and they headed up the road, both of them lost in their thoughts.
They’d barely acknowledged the death of the man they both loved. Alex wasn’t sure how she was going to handle seeing the destruction that had taken Glenn’s life. When she’d left last night with Ronan, the fire had still been raging. She’d snuck out of the bathroom window at the tavern intending to go to the farm, collect her car and leave South Kenton in her dust. But one turn and a slight detour and she’d found herself at Reese’s cabin. Her heart had a destination even if it hadn’t informed her head.
But she’d never regret this day.
Alex couldn’t have asked for more tender memories to take with her. It had been selfish of her involving Reese Colton. She wondered if he’d ever forgive her when he learned her secrets. And she had no doubt, despite the death of the professor—or perhaps because of it— everything about their experiments would come to light.
Josh was right in one aspect. Reese was blinded. But it wasn’t his groin blocking his vision. She suspected it was his heart. She’d felt it in every tender caress and heard it in every quiet whisper as he’d made love to her throughout the afternoon.
Reese pulled into Glenn’s driveway. Alex sat in stunned silence staring at the burnt remains of the barn. One side lay crumpled in on itself, a defeated warrior unable to stand against its hellish foe. Half-moons of soot marred the red siding above the windows on the remaining side. Rain dripped from the charred roof, making the barn look as if it were weeping over Glenn’s passing.
“We’re going to find the person who started this fire and make everything right,” Reese said.
She’d been so unfair to this man. He’d already lost so much in his life. Reese deserved more than what she was leaving behind. Alex wondered if she’d known about his wife, if she would have gone through with the last two days. Selfishly, she was glad she hadn’t known about his past, it created less guilt. “You need to go.” The words clawed their way out of her throat.