Her mother continued, “Things had gotten so bad with me that your father was thinking of having me committed. I kept myself hidden and away from you as much as possible, by pawning you off on the nannies. One night things had gotten so bad, I locked myself in my bedroom.
“Although I didn't believe all of Linkin's accounts of our history, I was desperate enough to call him. You weren’t safe being alone with me, and I refused to let anything happen to you because of me. I was turning, and I couldn’t control myself.”
Dana didn't interrupt. She was also still struggling with her raging urge to kill these things.
“By the time the family got to me, I was so far gone that they started the crossover ceremony. They each had to take a part of me into their bodies—blood and flesh. I was losing my mind, so I fought them. All they were trying to do was help me. You heard my screams and assumed they were trying to kill me. They were actually trying to make the exchange, they take part of me and in return they feed me a part of them, their blood.
“A drop of blood from an immediate family member eases the turn, makes the process less hostile. I was turning and losing control, so they had a difficult time keeping me calm. You walked into my bedroom and as little as you were, you tried to help me, without concern for your own life.
“Your Uncle Lazlo held you down. Things went wrong when he bit you. The scent of your blood likely made him lose his composure. I wasn't fully turned and it was hard for me to resist the scent of it. When you saw them handling me so brutally, it was because I was becoming as strong as they were and it took three of them to hold me down.
“When your uncle bit you and died, it sent everyone into a panic. No one knew what it meant, so they broke my neck to shut me up, knowing that it wouldn’t kill me. They locked you into the closet and took me to complete the ceremony. After they coached me on how to fake my own funeral, I returned home and played dead until I was put into the ground.”
Dana watched tears fall from her mother's eyes.
“I was the one that thought it best to stay away from you. It wasn’t until after I had turned that I found out that you had the hunter's gene. You see, Dinky, I couldn’t reunite with you if I wanted to. You’d only have the urge to kill me. When we found out that you started killing those you believed killed me, I begged the family to allow me to tell you the truth about us.
“Vampires are so few now that they fear becoming extinct and have started seeking out their own kind. Very few of us have the ability to reproduce and those that can are only producing half-breeds. Despite legends and myths, we can't turn whoever we want; we reproduce like any other species. There were a few of us that had the gift to turn anyone, but they died out hundreds of years ago. The family could have helped me turn sooner had they known how to find me. But I’m glad they didn’t because I wouldn’t have had the chance to have you.”
Dana soaked it all in; and although her mother’s sobs tore at her heart, she wouldn’t relent. She didn’t know whether to believe this inconceivable story, or follow her raging instincts that insisted she kill these monsters. She fought her urges and asked a question.
“If I understand you clearly, I’m a descendant of vampires. I have vampire blood coursing through my veins and by some glorious miracle, I hate vampires. Let's see, one of three things was going to happen to me. One, I'd immediately become a vampire, where I would have killed myself the first chance I got. Two, my vampirism would remain dormant and surface at some point, where I would have killed myself the first chance I got. Or three, I would go completely rogue, let my rage for being forsaken take control, and kill the very thing that I was born from.”
Her mother threw up her hands, pleading for her understanding.
“Dinky, I know this is a lot to swallow, but it is all true.”
Her mother appeared heartbroken. Dana wasn’t ready to accept any of this as she folded her arms across her chest.
“If this is all true, we have nothing further to talk about. All I ask is that you never reveal yourself to my father. He was as broken up as I was over your death. I don’t want him hurting all over again.
“I will never stop wanting to kill you, and you will never stop thirsting for my blood. There is nothing more we need to say to each other.”
As hard as it was for Dana to turn away from the woman she used to love unconditionally, she found the strength to do so. As hard as it was for her to accept, her urge to kill her own mother was so strong that she would have done it, if she didn't think Linkin would stop her. She turned to Linkin.
“Are you going to let me out or what?”
He didn’t say anything. Her mother was immediately in front of her with tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I love you. Always have. Always will.”
Dana didn’t say anything in response. She zipped around her mother and ran forward with lightning-fast speed, knowing that her great-great-grandfather was fast enough to stop her before she followed her natural-born instincts to kill them both.
Dana didn’t know if it took seconds or milliseconds, but she was back in the main lobby of the huge lair. The vampire she’d harpooned in the head was nearly recovered, but thankfully, he continued to suffer the effects of his head wound. The one whose heart she'd taken was a puddle of blood on the floor. The realization pleased her. She’d discovered another way to kill them, and if it were up to her, she'd killed as many as she had to, if it meant finding their weaknesses.
She found Neal leaning against the wall she'd left him next to. Upon seeing her, he stood tall, but his face exposed his concern. She assured him.
“I’m fine. Let’s go, before I change my mind and end up getting us both killed.”
No one moved to stop her, as she and Neal walked towards what, she hoped, was the front door.
Chapter 27
Truce
After all the truth she'd discovered, Dana needed time to process it all. Since her office was under construction, she had a break from her day job. She also called a temporary truce with her newly discovered family. She had a strange sense her mother, or perhaps any one of her new family members, was watching her. She'd accidently killed one, murdered at least two of them and had likely permanently disfigured another.
If their family history was true, she would find a way to keep killing them.
She had to accept that her mother died when she was ten, or risk opening a whole new can of worms. She became a stalker of the internet, libraries, museums and every online database she knew of, attempting to find anything to substantiate the story she'd been told by her mother and Linkin.
Although she found the story hard to swallow, she couldn’t think of anything else that would explain her abilities. She’d done things that surprised and surpassed anything she imagined she was capable of doing.
After discovering she and her family weren’t the only supernatural creatures roaming the planet, she was more susceptible to believing things she never would have before.
Neal didn't pressure her for the details of what happened to her in the belly of that lair. She appreciated his patience more than he would ever know. She planned to tell him but, she had to figure out how much, and exactly what, she should tell him.
Dana welcomed her father and brothers back by throwing one of those fancy balls they favored.
****
There was one thing that could help alleviate Dana’s suffering and ease her mind of monsters. He stood undressing her with his eyes. Neal had been the glue that kept her mind intact. And although she knew Top would eventually call for him, she planned to make whatever time they had left count.
They stood apart for a few moments, staring at each other. When she smiled, he smiled. He never seemed willing to risk her telling him no, so he followed her lead when it came to them being physical.
Dana had no reason to tell him no, but she loved the fact that he waited on her. She strolled over to him, loving the way his masculine presence drew her in.
Sta
nding on her tiptoes, she allowed her lips to graze his ear.
“You intoxicate me. Do you know that?”
He smiled but didn’t respond. At times, it appeared he had a hard time believing how desirable she found him. Despite his lingering bouts of doubt, it didn't take them long to become so enraptured they forgot about everything else in the world.
Hours later, when the dust settled and nerves calmed, Dana divulged everything to Neal. She told him about her heritage, about her mother, and about Linkin.
Neal took the news with ease and never cast one judgmental eye on her. After Neal’s acceptance of her, spliced vampire gene and all, Dana knew that he was unquestionably the man for her.
Chapter 28
August Heat
The August heat had people, human and others, doing crazy things. The news headlines were an explosion of violent acts, both strange and crazy. For once, Dana stayed away from it. She was taking a break from chasing crazy. She realized she didn’t have to hunt or chase the madness because it had been a part of her all along and eventually, it was going to come knocking at her door.
She hadn't seen Neal in months. As she expected, an urgent assignment had torn Neal away from her. With Top, every assignment was an urgent one.
Her thoughts kept her company, as she sat swimming in financial documents. Work was the only thing that somewhat kept her mind off missing Neal. The scent of new paint permeated the space. It had taken nearly two months to complete her office restorations, and she took advantage by adding a few updates.
She had the bottom of her desk rebuilt and a secret compartment added into her office closet. The arsenal of guns and knives she kept there was enough for her to start a war. Her ten employees had finally returned to normal after their scare. The pay raise she gave them boosted their morale as well.
Jordan cracked her door.
“Dana, there is someone here to see you.”
She didn't like to accept uninvited guest. Since she wasn't expecting Neal for another week, she prayed it wasn’t Brad.
“Are they on the calendar? I didn’t think I had anyone coming in today.”
“So I gotta be on the calendar to see you now?”
Neal pushed the door open. The smile on Dana's face grew, instantly. Jordan gave her a head nod and walked away with a huge smile across her face. Dana realized this was probably the first time in weeks her assistant had seen her smile.
Dana ran to Neal, tackling him with a strong hug. He kissed her with so much love and passion she went limp in his arms.
“I missed you so much.”
She squeezed him so hard; he let out a strangled cough. When she released him, he stepped far enough back to look into her eyes.
“Wow, you did miss me.”
“Yes. I missed you more than I miss burning heads.”
They both laughed as his fingers skimmed her cheek.
“That’s a whole lot of missing me.”
He had no idea how deeply he had reached into her heart, but she was determined to show him.
His soft pecks slid across her lips and jumpstarted her already heightened emotions.
He had her pinned, unable to look anywhere except into his eyes, as he positioned her face between his palms.
“Dana, the kind of life we live has no promises that either of us will see tomorrow. I want to spend time with you, whenever it’s available.”
She nodded her head.
“Of course. Me too.”
The tightness of his face harbored both care and concern.
“Dana, I love you. I can’t go another day without you knowing how I truly feel. There is no doubt in my mind that I would do anything for you. I love you that much.”
Touched, she stood frozen, as tears threatened to fall from her stunned, unblinking eyes. She kissed him, her lips crashing into his in an emotional rush.
“I love you, too,” she murmured against his lips.
She palmed his face this time, demanding his attention. There were times when it seemed he held reluctance about her attraction and interest in him. She wanted her words to soak in, this time.
“I’m telling you something you need to believe. I’m in love with you, Neal, so much so that I can confidently say that I don’t want any other man touching me, kissing me, holding me, or making love to me. You’re the only man that I will allow to devour me. You stole my heart the day we met.”
They fell into each other’s arms. The abundance of flowing emotions had them both vying to show the other how much each truly loved the other.
The emotional embraces and kisses dissolved into steamy, passion-laden caresses. The unstoppable passion ignited both their senses and took possession of their minds. Dana’s labored breaths mingled with his.
“Let’s go, before my employees hear me lose complete control of myself. It’s bad enough you have me in here confessing my undying love for you. I can literally gag on all of this cheesy emotion we are spilling.”
He laughed at her while she shutdown her computer and threw files into her desk drawer. She spoke into her phone.
“Jordan, I’m taking the rest of the day off. Unless it’s a matter of life and death, it can wait until Monday.”
Work be damned, Dana had more important things to do, and he was about six-two and sexy as hell. She grabbed her purse.
“I have an entire weekend to show you exactly how much I missed you and how deep my love runs for you. And I don’t want to be quiet about it.”
****
Dana and Neal ended up checking in to the Luxurious Sparks Hotel only a few blocks from her office. She walked in and scanned the room with fast roving eyes. After throwing her key card and purse on the table, she grabbed Neal’s hand and dragged him towards the marble steps leading to a huge, elevated four-poster bed. The room exuded sophistication, but neither noticed. They only had eyes for each other.
Neal stopped Dana before she climbed into the bed. His fingers turned the golden knobs of her buttons, wiggling them free of the small slices of material that held them in place. Partially freeing her from her pantsuit, her sexy red-laced bra revealed itself with each turn of his fingers. He licked his lips, suggestively.
“What exactly do you want me to do to you, Dana?”
She loved that he'd asked. Whenever she made her suggestions, he did to her exactly what she asked him to do. She shoved her hand into the waistband of his jeans and tugged him towards her as she inhaled his heady flavor.
“I want you to leisurely take these clothes off of me, but in a way that excites my senses.”
She put her lips to his ear and whispered more to him. She relieved him of his shirt, but didn't stop her words.
“Tease me as you disrobe me and use your fingers to make me dripping wet. Then, I want you to lay me right there and spread my legs.”
She leaned into him, using her fingers to pull his ear to her mouth with a playful tug. She nibbled as she sent more seductive words into his ears. She took down his zipper and tugged his pants. Her words never stopped.
“By then, I would like be in the throes of my first orgasm.”
She wiggled her finger for him to come closer. When his head reached her level, she bit his earlobe and whispered the rest of her dirty little fantasy in his ear.
He jerked his head back, wide-eyed.
“Is that right? A threesome. You, me, and Sevyn.”
Neal rubbed his hands together, like he was about to enjoy a feast fit for a king. Dana threw a finger up. She added another statement.
“If you have energy after that, I want you to make slow passionate love to me, and show me how much you love me.”
He kissed her while continuing to free her from the rest of her clothes.
“Okay. I will be happy to alleviate your suffering.”
Damn.
She loved this man. She had no idea if he could pull off any of the hot shit she asked for; but because she asked, she knew that he was going to attempt to make it happen.
Lying tangled in the sheets, and in Neal's arms, Dana never imagined she’d see the day when she knew she had found the perfect man. Floating in the aftermath of their lovemaking, she released a deep sigh as she peeled her eyes open. Her body sank further into the mattress as she found herself too satiated to do anything but lie there and breathe.
The ringing of her phone made her roll her eyes. A glance at Neal showed him out cold. The last thing she wanted to do was answer her phone. She'd informed Jordan that she was to receive life or death calls only, so the tone that specified a call from her office had her on edge. Her anxiety heightened when she swiped her finger across the shiny face of her phone.
“Hello.”
“Dana, its Ryder. I need your help.”
She sensed the desperation in the tone of his voice.
“Ryder. What's the matter?”
“It's my wife, I’m afraid she's been taken by a monster. I wouldn't have called you if I didn't think it was a matter of life and death.”
Dana sat up, worried now. Her father and Ryder's father were best friends. Although the men had distance between them—one was in Seattle and the other in New York—they'd managed to keep their friendship going. She and Ryder had become fast friends when her father decided to let her go to school in New York.
Ryder had accidently stumbled upon Dana’s cache of training weapons. Although she had never revealed to him what she was up to, Ryder was no idiot. Each time he talked to her, he'd play the game of guessing what covert agency she'd secretly joined. She swore him to secrecy about what he'd seen and to her knowledge, he'd never told a soul.
She strained to project a reassuring voice.
“Ryder, I know you don't trust them, but for now, call the police. I’ll put in a call to a contact I know in your area as well. I’m on the other side of the continent, so it's going to take me some time to get to you.”
Sevyn: Adult Paranormal Romance (BWWM Romance) (Supernatural Thriller) (The Smoke & Fire Series Book 4) Page 15