by Julia Laque
He saw Evangeline flinch and take a step back from him and realized he’d shouted his words.
She looked down, her cheeks burning red and spoke to everyone, but him. “Will you please go and give us some privacy?”
Cyrus stepped forward and Jason snarled, baring his teeth at him. “I’m not sure that’s wise, Evangeline.” Cyrus actually looked concerned for her, like Adam would really hurt her.
As if the guy was reading his mind, he said, “You’re upset…”
Big fucking understatement, cocksucker!
Cyrus continued to speak to him, but Adam could only stare, dejectedly at Evangeline. “Believe me when I say, we do things we would otherwise think better of when we’re in a state.” Adam caught Cyrus glance at the back of Evangeline, an odd expression on his face.
He looked Cyrus in the eye, his voice eerily calm. “I’m nothing like you. Now, you have five seconds to get off my property before I stake you in the fucking head.”
Evangeline let in a sharp breath.
Adam looked down at her. “Jason won’t hurt you, but he can restrain you.” His voice was like ice.
She recoiled, petrified at his words. “Cyrus, please go. I’ll be fine.”
“The best place for you is in the transition facility. You need to—”
“I need to speak to Adam, please, just go.” She turned to look at him and then faced Jason. “Adam, I know I have no right to ask you, but will you please ask Jason to wait a few minutes so Cyrus can make it home safely?”
Adam let out a harsh laugh. “Believe me, if anyone is going to attack your precious maker, it’ll be me.”
He wished they would all leave. He wished he could phase. He wished he had more of those pills. It wasn’t a good idea to be around him right now. He felt like he was a bomb, ticking down to the last second. Maybe Cyrus was right. Could he control himself around her?
Cyrus didn’t move. The vampire was visibly struggling with himself, staring hard at Evangeline with a longing expression. He must have said something to her telepathically because she shook her head.
He couldn’t take it anymore, and let out a growl deep in his throat.
The king closed his eyes in defeat and turned toward the door. Before he left, he spoke again, standing in the doorway with his back to them. “Remember, wolf, I’ll know if something happens to her.” Then he was gone.
Adam looked at Evangeline smugly. “How touching. Are you sure you don’t want to run off with your lover…make sure he makes it home okay?” he finished mockingly.
“Please don’t act this way. He’s not my lover.”
His temper increased impossibly more and he stalked forward, towering over her till she was backed into a wall. “Not your lover? So are you telling me he had a wet dream?”
“Stop! Just listen to me. You’re jumping to the wrong conclusion.”
“Your little tryst is written all over your face. DON’T LIE TO ME!” His eyes flashed and he knew they burned yellow now. The pills were wearing off. Behind them he heard the low warning growl of his beta. Adam didn’t turn, but he spoke to him. “You need to remember who you answer to, J. Phase back and leave.” He heard Jason’s heaving pants and then the cracking of tendons as he morphed into his human form.
Adam’s face was inches from Evangeline’s. Silent tears continued to fall. Her brow was creased as she looked at him pitifully and whispered, “We didn’t. I swear we didn’t. It was the whole transition and the feeding.” Flushing, she looked down, hiding her face. She muttered, “He kept his pants on the entire time.”
He lost it. Both hands came up and punched through the wall on either side of her head. She jumped, but to her credit she didn’t run away from him. He was destroying his entire house and he didn’t care. Hell, if she left him, he’d happily burn the fucker down.
Adam stood, hovering over her, shaking with rage, with his hands in the wall, his forehead pressed against hers. He felt trembling coming from behind him and realized Jason was about to phase again. Looking over his shoulder, he commanded, “Get out.”
“Adam—”
Speaking menacingly through his teeth, his eyes bright on his second, he uttered, “You know I won’t hurt her. This is personal. You need to leave.”
“You’re not like him, Adam. Listen to what she has to say.” Jason’s eyes bored into his. His second knew him too well and he cringed at the reference to his father. If he wasn’t like his abusive father, then why did he have the woman he loved pinned to a wall?
“I’ve got this, J, just go,” he said automatically. Knowing, despite what Jason thought, he could never physically hurt his mate.
There was a long quiet moment as Evangeline and Adam stared at one another, then he heard the front door close quietly behind him.
He felt Evangeline’s hands come up on either side of his face and he flinched. Her hands were freezing. For a second the feel of her icy skin on his relieved the massive hangover creeping up on him.
She snatched her hands back. “I’m sorry.”
“So, what’s the story you two came up with?” he snapped.
“There is no story. When I woke up, I fed. The rebirth made me feel…things. I had no control over myself. I nearly drained him.” Evangeline’s face twisted in pain and she pushed back against the wall, her fists clenched at her sides as though she were struggling with some invisible force.
He ignored this, and spoke obsessively. “I need to know everything.” The perverse need to know alarmed him. “Did he kiss you?”
“No,” she uttered through clenched teeth.
Good. He stared possessively at her lips. “Where did he touch you?”
“Please, Adam. Don’t do this. It’s over.”
He moved closer to her and she turned her head to the side, squeezing her eyes shut. His breath was hot on her cheek. “From my understanding you fucked with his pants on.” He looked down at her robe. “Did your robe come off?” he asked menacingly.
“No.” She writhed against the wall. “He never entered me. He didn’t touch me.”
“Just dry humped you, right?”
“Please, let this go. I told you, I couldn’t help myself. The initial blood bond does something completely out of my control, but I stopped it. I was able to hold back. You have to understand how a newborn vampire feels when they awake. It will never happen again. I don’t have to feed on him.” She moaned and finally moved, ducking under his arm and crossing the room in a flash, stopping with her back to the front door.
Frozen, he took in her new, incredible speed. “Going somewhere?”
He stalked her and she put her hands up to ward him off.
Adam’s voice was cool and threatening. “Are you afraid of me now?”
“No. Adam, please don’t get close to me. I’m getting…” Her eyes darted to his neck.
Lifting his brows, he thought, Holy shit…she’s thirsty.
“I’m not sure it’s safe to be around me.” Evangeline trembled.
“I’m not sure it’s safe to be around me, babe,” he countered. There was definitely something wrong with him because he ignored her warnings. He couldn’t let it go. “Did you like it, Evangeline?”
“Stop!”
“Did he make you feel good?” This time his hands came up on either side of her with much less force, laying his palms gently on the door.
“You’re angry right now and I understand, but please listen to me. I love you, Adam. That has not changed,” she said, gazing up at him.
Speaking through his teeth, he leaned in closer, his mouth an inch away from her face. “Do you have any idea what I went through last night? Do you have any idea how messed up I was thinking about what he was doing to you and to have one of my worst nightmares come true? Do you think I enjoy knowing you laid with my enemy for nearly an entire day? IT MAKES ME SICK!”
Adam heard her fangs elongate before he saw them, his focus totally on her glowing eyes. Stunned, he gaped at the woman before him. Evangel
ine’s olive green irises flashed silver the moment he’d screamed in her face.
He was speechless.
She whimpered, only just realizing her fangs were out. Squeezing her eyes tight, she clamped her mouth shut, turning away from him.
“No,” he said, instantly. “Open your eyes.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“Do it, please. I need to see.” His voice was remarkably calm now, smooth. Something about seeing her this way dazed him at the moment. He tilted her face gently toward him.
Her lids opened slowly, revealing crystal, silver eyes. He’d stared upon eyes like this when facing his enemy, but somehow those feelings associated with those awful experiences didn’t conjure up now.
Adam struggled hard with words to describe the way he felt just then. It was as if she were a magnet pulling him toward her. He couldn’t move away from her even if he’d wanted to. She was amazing.
If this was how vampires compelled their victims to feed from them, then it sure as hell worked. Only, she didn’t look like she was trying to compel him.
He was so unbelievably confused by his reaction to her. Vampires were the enemy and yet here he stood, gazing avidly at the most beautiful creature in the world. “Did I cause that?” he asked curiously.
Evangeline opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it, hiding her fangs.
Again, he was fascinated and reached up without thinking, brushing his hand over her mouth and pulling at her bottom lip. His thumb ran over a fang, riveted. So sharp were they he pricked the padding of his finger in a second. Evangeline hissed and sucked eagerly on his thumb.
Adam hardened instantly, his arousal kicking out, demanding to be set free. Completely spellbound by her, his chest heaved as he watched her suck on him.
She jerked back, covering her mouth with her hands. “God! I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Adam shook his head at her. “Here” He tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck.
Comprehension dawned on her striking face. “What? No—”
Nodding, he grasped the back of her head, pulling her toward his vein. “I want you to,” he said deeply. There was no reason other than he needed to be a part of her, a part of her transition. If she had the king’s blood in her, then sure as shit, she was going to have her fill of his. She tried to pull away from him, but he only gripped her harder. “Do it, babe.”
Evangeline couldn’t resist their close proximity. With a sharp intake of breath, she bit him.
Adam couldn’t help groaning. He braced a hand against the door and held the back of her head with the other. Her arms were wound around his torso, squeezing him as she drank him in. The initial puncture stung, but quickly subsided. Jesus, this was amazing.
The headache coming on completely evaporated, all tension drained from his body. He was floating in the clouds, while tiny sparks emanated from the pit of his stomach and spread outward through every limb.
Her body moved against his, making his head reel. Clamping his jaws together, Adam chased away the ugly images of her and Cyrus out of his head. “You’re mine, Evangeline.” His voice was unrecognizable, savage even. Although, he was at her mercy right now, he felt incredibly possessive. His hands moved of their own accord and untied her robe. He slid inside grabbing her waist, pulling her toward his hips.
Adam was about to explode. The feeling of vulnerability and greed did the craziest shit to him. Undoing his pants quickly, he sprung free, spread her legs wide and wound them around his hips. Sliding inside her in one powerful thrust, Evangeline came instantly, her body pulsating around his shaft.
Unsheathing her fangs, she licked the puncture wounds at his neck and leaned back to look at him with her shining eyes. “You’re mine.” He repeated in a growl, wolf eyes riveted on her, as a vicious need overcame him, and he began fucking her hard.
There was no way he could hold back. His supernatural strength ruled his body now. Her cries echoed in the foyer as he pounded her against the door. The selfish urge to claim was far stronger than any moon heat. He was blinded by lust, rage, jealousy and fearsome love for this woman. The animal within him had taken over as he thrust harder and harder, banging her against the wood.
The instant he spilled himself inside her, reality hit and he froze.
Several truths flashed into his head at once and he staggered back, stunned.
Evangeline is alive.
She’s a vampire.
He just came inside her, but they will never have any more children.
She’d been in his enemy’s arms.
She was devoted to her maker and evidently, would die for him.
She’s alive and a vampire.
And he just violated her after returning from the dead.
She’s alive and he’d abused her.
I’m a fucking bastard!
The pounding headache hit him in full force and he felt dizzy.
“Adam?”
Stepping away from her, he closed her robe and zipped up quickly. “I’m sorry. Jesus, I’m sorry.” She’d gone through hell and back and here he was, giving her shit when he should be welcoming her back from her near death experience with open arms.
He stepped further away from her, shaking his head. “I’m sorry…I…I need some time.”
Adam turned and walked through the house and out the back door. The cool air hit his face and he inhaled deep, hoping as he stalked off she would one day find it in her heart to forgive him and prayed to God she didn’t leave him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The damp, ominous chamber that had been her prison for so long now felt like a sanctuary. The black, moldy stone walls surrounding her on four sides were a sort of comfort at the moment. It was a tiny room, located underground and no bigger than her bedroom at home. She thought of her room now, a room she had seriously taken for granted and longed to lay in her queen-sized bed with her down comforter and plush pillows.
She shoved the memory of her bedroom aside. Too many times she’d allowed herself to miss and it only brought on added pain. Too late, her thoughts had begun to spiral once more and she lost herself in self-pity. Why was this happening to her? What had she done to deserve this?
The sounds of the sordid people in the house coupling and chanting echoed down to where she was being kept. She pictured their repugnant stares and her stomach lurched, dreading the moment they would drag her back up again.
She was in a living nightmare.
Her natural body heat was the only thing keeping her warm, since her clothes had been taken months ago. Still, every now and then she’d get the chills and huddle in the corner, rubbing her hands over her sore arms and legs.
Sitting with her back to the cold wall, all sense of hope, minimal, yet still there, lingered in the far reaches of her mind. Will they find her soon or had they given up? Did her brother think she was dead? The terrible thought had come to her weeks ago. It had to be the only reason why no one had come looking for her.
They all thought she was dead. She would forever be a prisoner in this god-forsaken place begging for death to actually come. Her mind had already begun to hallucinate. She could only imagine what she’d turn into after years of being locked in this depressingly cold room. She’d rather be a corpse than an insane inmate, wasting away in her enemy’s clutches.
Not for the first time her mind focused on the face, keeping her sane as she whiled the hours alone. She thought of the golden eyes boring into hers, holding such enduring strength.
Shuddering violently, weak tears falling down her cheeks, she whispered desperately into the hollow darkness. “Please find me, Jason…please.”
****
It was two o’clock in the morning. Evangeline paced the living room in her favorite jeans and a white t-shirt. She was on her third cup of hot, steaming coffee. There was no need for caffeine. She had more energy than an Olympic runner at the moment. Caffeine was useless anyhow. She drank simply for the tast
e, to keep her hands busy, and, she thought pitifully, to keep her body temperature warm. She didn’t want to freak out Adam again. Evangeline would drink twenty pots a day if it kept her body warm for Adam and the boys.
Stalking to the window, she felt anxious over seeing her family. She’d called her parents earlier, letting them know she was on the mend and they’d get the boys tomorrow. It had been way too long to be away from them.
Would her sons notice?
Evangeline shivered with unease. Will they notice she smells differently? She fought back tears as she thought of her boys falling asleep to the beat of her heart. Would they recognize her without a pulse or would they be frightened of her?
She stared at her reflection in the windowpane. Her features were the same and yet more pronounced, the skin a far lovelier color it had been before was now a shimmer of pale porcelain. Her hair was fuller and shinier too. She looked like she’d just come back from a day at the spa, but she felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders.
This vampire transition plan had its ups and downs. She was very thankful to be alive and truth be told, she really did feel wonderful. Her body could now do things that were never possible before. Always tired and weak as much as she’d fought it, but now, she was healthier than ever.
Her family aside, she was looking forward to testing her new abilities. And Cyrus had been right. She was going to have to spend a couple weeks in the transition facility soon. There was no way she was going to take a chance living as a newborn vampire with her family without some help.
Sharp, new ears picked up his footsteps coming from the meadow just south of the house. He was in his human form, but she knew he must have phased when he’d left. Adam needed some time and it was understandable. She hoped a few hours had done the trick, because he was going to have to face her now, like it or not.
Evangeline walked through the kitchen and opened the back door. She’d hardly spent time in the yard since moving in. Looking around now she thought it needed a woman’s touch. The grass was mowed, but there were no flowers in sight.