by L. E. Wilson
“However, now that you have that off your chest, I still want you to stay with me.”
His deep voice rumbled under her ear, and she pulled away to look up at him in disbelief. How could he still want her to stay? Unless, he knew a way to get her some stuff…
“And no. I’m not enabling your habit.”
“But I have to have it.” She hated the neediness in her voice.
“No, you don’t. I can help you.” He smiled down at her and wiped the moisture from her cheeks. “Trust me. I can help you. But you have to stop running away from me.”
A trembling surge of hope dried the last of her tears. She was afraid to believe him.
But if she wanted any kind of a life, did she have any other choice?
Chapter 25
Christian reached out and re-locked the deadbolt. Backing towards the bed, he sat on the edge and pulled her onto his lap. He needed to sit because he was so weak with relief that she was still here with him, his legs were about to give out.
He didn’t understand what it was about this female that was making him react this way. All he knew was that his heart had stopped completely when he’d opened his eyes to see her at the door, about to walk out into the sun where he wouldn’t be able to get to her. He couldn’t take another day waiting out the daylight while she was out there alone and in danger.
They sat in silence for a long time while he stroked her back and played with her braids. In spite of the interest his cock was displaying with her lush little ass nestled up against it, he was surprised by how at peace he felt. There was no agonizing cramping and burning. No mindless need for sex or blood. And although he could feel the lust for her building inside of him, it was a normal kind of hunger a male would feel for his female.
His female.
He continued to stroke her back as he tried to calm her.
Mine.
He scowled. It was unexpected how possessive he was over her.
Glancing at the clock, he saw it was nearly full dark, so he picked up the phone next to the bed. Ryan went to get up off of his lap, but he growled with displeasure and held her there until she settled in again with a contented sigh.
Punching in the number he knew by heart, he held the phone up to his ear and listened while it rang.
It was time to go home. And he was taking this female with him.
Chapter 26
Luukas was jotting down notes as to what still needed to be done to find his Hunters when the phone rang on his desk. Picking up the receiver, he said hello just as Nikulas and Aiden walked into the apartment with their mates and greeted his Keira.
“Luukas,” he growled, distracted by the sight of his mate’s smile.
The line crackled, and then he heard, “Luuk?? Is that you? Thank the gods they got you back.”
Standing up so fast he had to grip the edge of his desk, he said, “Christian?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
Luukas tapped on the glass wall of his office, then put him on speakerphone while the other two guys hurried into the office and stood by anxiously.
“Christian, where are you?”
Nikulas and Aiden exchanged disbelieving looks.
“Closest I can guess, Tijuana.” There was a pause, and then he confirmed. “Yeah, I’m in Tijuana.”
“As in Mexico?” Nik asked. “The land of sun and fun?”
Christian’s chuckle came over the line. “Hey, Nik. How are you, man?”
Luukas got back to business. “Are Shea and Dante with you?”
“No. No. It’s just me. I woke up here locked in a room by myself. If they’re here, I haven’t seen them.”
“Are you injured?” Aiden asked.
“No, I’m good.”
Luukas nodded once at his brother, and Nik whipped out his cell phone. “I’m sending a plane. Nikulas is on the phone now. Hold on and I’ll get you the details.” As they waited for Nik to arrange things, a thought occurred to him. “Are you free? Will you be able to get to the airport?”
“Yeah. No problem. And there will be two of us coming back on that plane.”
They heard a swift intake of breath, and Christian saying offside, “Yes, you are. We’ll talk about it when I get off the phone.”
“Another vampire?” Luukas asked.
“No. A human female.” He paused. “She’s…she needs help. And she helped me escape.”
Nik and Aiden exchanged another round of looks. “Well, this is quite the surprise,” Aiden said offside to Nik.
“You ain’t kidding,” Nik murmured. He waved his cell in the air. “We’re all set.”
Luukas shushed them with a look. “Not a problem. Bring the woman. We just want you home safe.” Waving Nik over, he indicated for him to give Christian the flight info.
“Hey, man. It’s Nik. So we have one of our jets hitting the Tijuana national airport in a few hours. Here’s the info.”
“Go ahead,” Christian told him.
As Nik gave him the flight information, Luukas sat back down in his chair. He was anxious to find out where his Hunter had been, and if he had any information that would help them find Shea and Dante. But it could wait until he got home. In the meantime, he would put his plans on hold. They needed to check in with the local businesses he owned anyway.
In the kitchen, Keira laughed at something her sister said. Her laugh was throaty and sexy, and it immediately caught Luukas’ attention. His entire body instantly hardened, and he had to suppress the urge to stalk out of the office and haul her off to their bedroom. Everything about her turned him on. From her sparkling hazel eyes and curvy little figure to the way she had absolutely no fear of him. Of course, she had no need to fear him. She could suck his powers from him almost instantly if she so chose, as she had proven when they’d first met over seven years before. And although he still had the occasional relapse into his head from those years, they were fewer and far between now. He still tied her to the bed more often than not, though these days it was usually more for her pleasure rather than to ease his fears of her leaving him.
Every day she was with him, her love healed him a little more.
But the magic still stressed him out. Actually, it more than stressed him out. There were times, when she and the other witches were practicing, that he could feel himself being sucked back to that dark place, no matter how he tried to fight it. Luckily, Keira could usually sense when he was falling down that hole, and she would call a halt to their practicing and come to him. She was the only one that could pull him back from that abyss, strange as that sounded, as she was the one who’d put him there.
His witch.
His angel.
Nikulas hung up the phone. “Okay, he doesn’t have a cell phone, but I told him to call us from the plane once he and his female were on board. They’ll fly through the day and be here at dusk tomorrow. Aid and I will go pick them up at the airport.”
“I’ll go too,” Luukas said. He knew Nik still worried about him, and that was why he hadn’t been included. But it still irked him. He was their creator for gods’ sake.
Nikulas tried to act casual, and failed miserably. “Sure! Of course. I assumed you would be.”
Aiden clapped his hands and rubbed his palms together. “One down, two to go! I have a good feeling about this, mates.”
“And hopefully, once everyone is back,” Nik said. “We can figure out how to lift Keira’s curse from the others.”
“Sounds like Christian already took care of that problem.” Aiden grinned. “He’s completely whipped already. I can hear it in his voice. Maybe we won’t have to hold that intervention after all. Quite a change from his usual shag ‘em and shuck ‘em lifestyle he’s been living. It’s going to be right fun winding him up about it.”
“Does there happen to be a hedgehog in your hood?” Nik asked innocently.
Aiden scowled at his best friend. “Sod off, Nik. It’s not the same.”
“Uh, yeah. It kinda is.”
“Do
n’t listen to him, Prickles. He’s just jealous that he has no one that likes to hang out with him.”
“All right, you two,” Luukas cut them off before they really got going. “Let’s get back to work. We still have two Hunters that are missing and business to run and borders to check.”
“Right,” Aiden said.
“Sorry. You’re right,” Nik apologized.
With a last longing glance at Keira out of the clear glass that separated him from his mate, Luukas sighed and picked up his pen.
Chapter 27
Ryan shot up off of Christian’s lap. She sucks him off and now he thinks he can just dictate her life? How dare he make plans without consulting her first! Did he really just assume that she would do whatever he said? “Where exactly do you think you’re taking me?” Her voice was shaking.
Christian leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He looked so calm. Why was she the only one freaking out here?
“We’re going to Seattle. To my home. My friends have a private jet on the way here.”
Holy shit. “Your friends own a private jet?” She was momentarily shocked out of her anger.
He nodded.
“Who the hell are you?” she breathed. “I mean, a vampire. I know. I have the bites to prove it.” His eyes flicked down to her breasts. When they moved back up to her face, they were bright and intense.
Ryan caught her breath as her body reacted to that look she was already coming to know well. It took her a few seconds to remember what she’d been saying. Crossing her arms over her chest to still the tingling he’d created there with nothing but his hungry gaze, she said, “I think I deserve a little more information about what I’m getting myself into before you just haul me off by the hair and throw me into your cave.”
Christian threw back his head and laughed. The sound was so free, so pure and masculine, that Ryan found herself smiling in response. She couldn’t help it.
When he was able to speak, he at least had the decency to apologize for his behavior. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I should’ve talked to you about it before I called. But I can’t stay here. My home, and my colony, is in Seattle. Besides, it’s way too bright down here for me. Odds are good that if I stayed here I’d end up with one hell of a sunburn. And by sunburn, I mean you’d be finding a pile of ash.”
“What makes you think I would even want to go with you? I don’t even know you.” She was being belligerent, she knew. But she needed to make a point here. Even though she hadn’t left yet, and yeah, they’d sort of slept together, she hadn’t agreed to travel across the continent with him. No matter what he seemed to think. “I haven’t made up my mind about anything yet.”
He rubbed his strong jaw as he stared at her. She could practically see the gears in his head grinding away as he tried to think of a way to convince her to come with him. But after a few seconds, he sighed, and his arm fell back down to rest on his leg.
“I have to go home. And I want you to come with me, she’ashil.” He looked around, seeming to search for answers he couldn’t find. “I can’t explain these things I’m feeling. I just know that it feels right to have you with me. And I want you with me. Please,” he added with a sexy little smile. “Unless, of course, there’s something important keeping you here?” He cocked one heavy eyebrow in question, the sarcasm in his voice not escaping her.
She had to admit he had a point. There was absolutely nothing for her here. Just more of the same shit, different day. Days spent nodding off on the streets with the sun beating down on her, and nights taking her clothes off for a bunch of pervs to earn the money to get more dope. Or if she were really unlucky, she’d end up stumbling back into a human trafficking ring. Only this time, they might kill her for not spreading her legs for their customers, rather than just letting her dance.
Swallowing hard, she knew her life was about to take another major turn. If she stayed with him, it meant detoxing and living with the voices. But it also meant being with him, and maybe actually having a life she wasn’t ashamed of. If she walked away now, she would be free to use all she wanted. And she would probably end up dead in the street sometime in the near future from an overdose or worse. Somehow that didn’t hold the appeal that it had just a few days ago.
The red pill or the blue pill?
He’d said he could help her. And for some weird reason, she believed him. What was even stranger was that even though she’d only really known him for a few days, being in his arms felt like…home. The answer was very clear, if only she’d admit it.
“You don’t even know me.” She could feel herself caving, and made one last pathetic stand.
“I do know you, Ryan.” He placed a hand on the center of his chest. “I know you here.”
She hugged herself tight, trying to stop the words that she could feel bubbling up and out her traitorous mouth. “All right.”
A look of cautious hope spread across his handsome features. “All right?”
She nodded. “I’ll come with you. I’ll stay with you. For now,” she emphasized.
He was in front of her before she’d seen him leave the bed, but he didn’t give her time to be freaked out by how fast he could move. Wrapping her in his muscular arms, he lifted her clear off the floor and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Thank you, she’ashil. You won’t regret this. I promise you.” Setting her down, he took her face in his large hands and made her look at him. “Don’t be frightened. I know we don’t know each other very well, but I’ll help you. And no one will harm you. We’ll find a way for you to deal with the voices that doesn’t involve drowning them out with opiates. And when you’ve got that under control, I’ll even help you get to wherever you’re headed to next and make sure you have enough money to make a healthy new start. Deal?”
“Deal,” she agreed, ignoring the stab of pain at the thought of leaving him. “But, um, would you mind putting that down on paper? And signing it?”
Throwing his head back, he burst into laughter again.
Chapter 28
Josiah stalked through the front door of his temporary home. He was still seething about how fast everything had gotten out of his control. About how much he’d botched up such a simple fucking mission. All he’d had to do was kill one Hunter and his slut of a human girlfriend. It should have been a simple thing for the three of them to accomplish.
But instead, the only two loyal vamps he’d had were dead. And instead of staying and fighting he’d turned tail and hightailed it the hell out of there. He’d had no choice. If he had stayed, he would’ve ended up just like them. He’d only been reborn about ten years ago. He didn’t have the power to fight one such as that Hunter on his own. He’d done the right thing.
So why did he feel like such a little bitch?
Not bothering to close the front door behind him, he headed straight back to Leeha’s room and threw himself on the bed. Rolling over onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling tiles. He needed to think. He needed to regroup. Grabbing one of the pillows, he pulled it to his chest and hugged it tight.
Leeha’s scent rose from the soft cotton pillowcase and his gut wrenched tight. Gods, he missed her. She was a crazy bitch, but she was ruthless and sexy as all hell, and he had been hers to command. Both in bed and out.
But with her death, he’d been thrown to the winds, tossing and turning in a cyclone of emotions. Not knowing which way was up, or which way to turn. He wanted to do right by her. But how could he do that when he couldn’t even handle one of Luukas’ vamps? Never mind killing all of them along with their pain in the ass mates. Gods knew what kind of spells those fucking witches would be throwing at him while he took care of their males.
He wondered if the bitch in Mexico was still alive. She’d been surprisingly easy to catch, or maybe not so surprising with all the dope she’d been on, and made excellent vampire bait. The Hunter had been doing what he did best, and had tracked her through the city straight to Josiah’s little trap.
Josiah knew the reputation those vamps closest to Luukas had, but he was still stunned at the speed and strength it had taken for that Hunter to rip apart his two cohorts before he’d even noticed that he was there. He’d nearly pissed himself when those glowing amber eyes filled with fury had locked onto him like a tiger about to pounce. He’d never seen such possessiveness over a human. So he’d bet on the fact that the son of a bitch would try to save the girl, giving him the chance to escape. And luckily, he’d been right. But he hadn’t left without leaving a little insurance that the vampire would stay with her. If he wanted her to live, that is.
Jacking upright, he tossed the pillow aside and began to pace. He needed to shake this off. So he’d failed this time. Now he knew better what to expect with those bastards. He’d just need to plan better. Be better prepared.
Much as he didn’t want to, he needed to call in the demons. And hope they didn’t kill him on sight.
“I swear to you, my love. I will rip Luukas and his fucking pack apart for what they did to you. I will. I’ll avenge you, and you’ll be able to rest in peace.”
Josiah came to a stop in front of Leeha’s dressing table, and he stared into the mirror there. But it wasn’t his own reflection he was seeing. He was remembering how she’d sit there at the end of every night, removing her jewels and brushing her luxurious dark red hair before pinning it up on top of her head. He’d loved to watch her performing this ritual. His fangs would shoot down at the sight of the back of her delicate neck, and he would imagine what it would be like to sink his teeth through that translucent skin into the blue veins beneath. But she would never allow that. She enjoyed torturing him.
Palming the front of his jeans, he rubbed the hardening length with the heel of his hand. The zipper dug into his flesh, and his head fell backwards, his eyes rolling back in his head. He tugged the zipper down and fisted himself. Running up and down his length slowly, he used his other hand to cup his balls and squeezed until the pain mingled with the pleasure.