by L. E. Wilson
“I know.” He tucked one blanket into the cushions and layered another one on top, folding back one corner for her to get in. He eyed up his handiwork, fluffed her pillow, and then shoved his hands into his front pockets and turned to face her. “If you need anything, I’ll be right in the bedroom.” He paused, started to walk away, stopped, and turned to her again. “I hope you change your mind and join me.”
“I’ll be fine.”
His eyes ran from the top of her head to her bare toes peeking out from her sandal straps. When they returned to her face, she could swear she saw a moment of desperation flash across his face before his features became impassive.
“Thank you,” she added.
He seemed like he wanted to say more, but finally, with a chaste kiss to the top of her head, he wandered off to his own room. She noticed he left the door cracked open.
Ryan sank down onto her makeshift bed and kicked off her sandals. Leaning back against the cushions, she pulled the blanket up over her legs and watched out the windows for the sun to come up.
As soon as it did, she was leaving.
Chapter 33
Shea kept her eyes down as Luukas stalked past her to the window. An eerie stillness settled over him as he stared out at the city. Where was the yelling? The “I’m so disappointed in you’s”? This brittle control he was exhibiting was more disturbing than his wrath.
Her happiness at seeing him home safe and sound after all these years was dampened by the abundance of other emotions she was feeling. Anger. Disappointment. Hopelessness. And a multitude of others that she couldn’t even name. None of which were actually aimed at Luukas or the other Hunters.
She’d seen red earlier when he’d introduced her to that female. His female. Jesse had told her that he had mated with her, but she hadn’t believed him. Hadn’t wanted to believe him. She thought he had to be mistaken. It wasn’t possible that Luukas, a male so full of strength and conviction, had given in to the wiles of a manipulative female. She was probably faking her feelings for him just so he wouldn’t kill her, and had all the males here completely convinced. Her sister was probably in on it with her. And gods only knew who that was with Aiden. Another sister? A cousin?
Males were so easily manipulated by a pretty face.
And Christian! Bringing one of his whores home. What the hell was up with that? She knew right away what that female was, in spite of her more modest clothing. However, she felt bad now for lashing out at him like that. It wasn’t him she was angry with. It wasn’t Luukas either, if she were to be honest with herself. It wasn’t any of them. She was angry because she’d been stupid enough to let hope in.
The moment she’d seen Luukas home safe and sound, she’d had to control her excitement. She’d thought, stupidly, that since this weird thing with her not being able to be touched by a male started when he’d disappeared, that his returning home would cure it. Of course, when he’d tried to crush her larynx for threatening his little bitch, she’d known immediately that that was not the case as all of her nerve endings starting shooting off, the pain unbearable.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized he was waiting for an answer to a question she hadn’t heard. “I’m sorry?”
He sat back in his chair with a sigh, one elbow on the arm of his chair as he rubbed his jaw. He looked strong and confident and healthy, and in spite of everything that was going on, she was so happy to have him back.
“Did you happen to hear a word of what I just said?” he asked.
Lowering her eyes to hide the emotions there, she fiddled with the bottom of Jesses’ shirt.
“Where were you, Shea?”
She looked up. “I told you. I was up at Leeha’s stronghold.”
“And how did you get there?”
“I was grabbed off the street as I left the apartment looking for Christian and Dante.” Dante! “Is he here too? Dante? Did he make it back?”
“Not yet. We’re looking for him. I’ll fill you in after I’m finished with you. Who grabbed you?”
“Males in a van. Vampires.” She described them for him. “They took me to a small plane, and we flew north to Vancouver. From there, they threw me in the back of a truck and we went to an abandoned barn until they got the call to bring me to her fortress.”
A shadow darkened his grey eyes, and Shea watched as he sought out the little, brunette witch. He watched her laughing with the others, and the harsh lines softened from his face. After a moment, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and then turned back to Shea.
“Where are those vampires now?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen them since I first arrived there.”
“Why did she bring you there and not the others?” He continued the debriefing.
“I don’t know why the others weren’t brought there. As for me, I was the one that she was originally going to use for the possession. But I was spared.” She should tell him that it was Jesse that had saved her and kept her safe, if against her will. “I don’t know why.”
Liar, you know why. Just tell him about Jesse.
But she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
“She used Aiden instead.” Her smile faltered as Luukas just looked at her, his expression grave. “But he’s fine.” She indicated the vampire in question on the other side of the glass wall. “Look at him. He’s fine. Isn’t he?”
“No. Aiden is not fine. Aiden did not escape the possession. He has a demon inside of him. Its name is Waano. But lucky for us, it hasn’t shown its ugly face since we rescued him and killed Leeha.”
“Leeha is dead?” she asked incredulously.
“You didn’t know?”
She shook her head. It all became clear to her now. That’s why Jesse let her go.
Because Leeha was dead, and he didn’t have to protect her anymore.
Chapter 34
Christian flipped over onto his stomach and punched the pillow into submission. Less than five seconds later, he was on his back again. Then his side. Then back to abusing his pillows. Finally, he gave up and jacked upright to a sitting position. Running his fingers through his growing hair, he thought about shaving it off again. He’d always kept it buzzed close to his skull, but it had grown out in the weeks he’d been gone.
Bending his long legs, he wrapped his arms around his knees and stared at the bedroom wall, wishing he could see through all that plaster and paint to the room on the other side.
He’d been tossing and turning for two hours, too antsy to sleep, listening to every little noise from the other room — of which there’d been absolutely none since he’d come in here. As a matter of fact, it was so quiet that he’d gotten up more than once and tiptoed over to the door to check that she was actually still there. But every time he did, he saw the back of her head over the top of the couch as she sat and stared at the rising sun. As far as he could tell, she hadn’t moved. He wanted to go out there so bad, even if only to sit quietly next to her, but he didn’t.
It wasn’t because of all the windows. These apartments were specially made for their kind. All of the windows contained a layer of gas between the thick panes. It was activated by the sun and blocked the rays that would turn them into flaming infernos while still allowing them to enjoy the light. Plus, there were blackout curtains that would slide out from panels in the walls if need be. So no, it wasn’t the light of day holding him back.
It was what Nikulas had said about Luuk and his female after Shea had tried to kill her. At first he’d thought Nik was just fucking around. He’d told him they all had females at the airport, yeah. But fated mates? Fated mates weren’t real. They were just stories passed down by the elders to young vampires so their new immortal lives didn’t seem quite so daunting a thing to take on all alone. Or so they’d always thought. So why would Nikulas say something like that? And why would he be dead serious when he did?
Unless it was true?
Christian shook his head in sympathy for the other ma
les. Tied to a female for the rest of your life? Which was a long, fucking time when you were a vampire. Dependent on her blood for your very existence?
No thanks.
He shifted around on the bed uneasily, memories of his own possessiveness for Ryan coming back to him. But nah, it wasn’t the same thing. The stuff he was feeling was easily explained. For one, she’d been the only female around for weeks, and she’d spent those weeks dick teasing him until he thought he would die from the agony of it. Second, it was perfectly normal that after all of that, it would take more than one roll in the hay to get her out of his system. And in spite of all the lusty stuff going on between them, he hadn’t actually had intercourse with her yet. Not completely. So it stands to reason that he would want to keep her around until the deed was truly done.
But something else was nagging at him, something he’d been trying really hard not to think about. That ever since he’d laid his hands on her, ever since he’d first tasted the tiniest drops of her blood, the urges he’d been fighting for the past seven years had withered away and died. He no longer felt the need to fuck woman after woman after woman. His blood no longer burned in his veins. His muscles no longer cramped. His nerve endings no longer throbbed in agony.
He only wanted one female. And she was right on the other side of that door. What the hell was up with that? Not that he wasn’t grateful to feel like a normal male again. He was. But why had it happened now? Was it because of her?
Christian gritted his teeth and shook his head. No. No, it couldn’t be because of her. It had to be something else. Being dependent on a female would not work for him right now. He had a lot of making up to do already because of his dick: To Luukas and to his fellow Hunters.
If he hadn’t run off half-cocked like he had, pun intended, he wouldn’t have walked straight into that trap. And Shea wouldn’t have been out looking for him and she wouldn’t have gotten taken either. He would’ve been there to help them rescue Luuk from that psycho bitch Leeha. He would’ve been there to help Nikulas deal with him afterwards, and maybe Aiden would never have gotten taken by her and turned into one of her host bodies for her demons.
Which really creeped him out by the way.
No, he didn’t have the time or the inclination to depend on a female for his survival. But how else to explain this need of his to keep her near him? How else to explain why he felt so fucking good ever since he’d met her? He’d been in a living hell every night since Luukas had disappeared, so why all of a sudden….
That was it!
Christian jumped clear off of the bed in his excitement. Wearing nothing but his boxer briefs, he paced around in a tight circle with his arms crossed on top of his head and a big smile on his face. Why hadn’t it come to him sooner? The reason he was back to normal again wasn’t because of the female on his couch. It was because Luukas was back! Whatever weird mumbo jumbo had brought it on while his creator was being gods’ only knew what, now that he was back, it had gone away.
He headed to the door, wanting to share his joy with Ryan even though she would have no idea what he was so damn happy about. Halfway there, he remembered she was angry with him and he came to an abrupt halt.
Shit.
He didn’t want her to be mad at him. He’d promised to help her with her addiction, and he would keep his promise. But he needed to be straight up with her, and tell her why Shea had said what she had. Maybe she would understand. After all, she’d done some pretty low things herself, and he didn’t judge her for what she’d done. And now that he knew why things had changed for him, and if she was still willing, they could stick to their original agreement. He would help her, and when she was stronger and ready to be out on her own, he would set her up wherever she wanted to go.
He didn’t stop to think why her opinion of him was so important.
Finding himself at the door to his room once again, he saw she was still sitting where she’d been the last time he’d looked. Her eyes straight ahead, staring out the wall of windows. Coughing discreetly so as not to startle her, he went out and sat down on the chair next to her and tried to figure out the best way to start this conversation.
Other than a quick once over when he’d first sat down, she’d turned away and proceeded to ignore him. But he knew she wasn’t as unaffected by him as she tried to make it appear. Her spine had stiffened to show her irritation with him as soon as she’d realized he was there, but he knew it was only a bluff, because he could also hear her pulse speed up, could hear her blood quicken in her veins. Now that could be attributed to anger also, but the sensuous scent that rose from her in response to his presence was not.
He took a deep breath. “When Luukas was taken, some really strange stuff started happening to some of us. Me, Shea, even Dante. You haven’t met him yet. He was taken too, and hasn’t made his way back yet.” She continued to stare out the window, but whether she realized it or not her head had turned towards him just slightly as she listened. He bit back a smile and continued his story.
“Dante, the scariest, toughest vampire I ever met, he kind of went off the deep end. He’d always been a loner, more old school, but he reverted back to the days when he’d first been reborn. He was living underground, and his hunting of humans escalated until the bodies were piling up.” He hurried to explain, “Dante is very old, and lived in hiding for a long time to avoid being hunted himself. Horrific things were done to him by humans. But you don’t have to fear him. He doesn’t go after good people, only ones that deserve what he doles out. He wouldn’t hurt you, or any of us.” That didn’t seem to make her less anxious, so he moved on.
“Shea and I had nearly similar symptoms, only we had completely opposite triggers. The day after Luuk disappeared, Shea discovered she felt horrific pain if she was touched by a male. Like she was being electrocuted or something. Even just a friendly touch on the arm or leg would have her wincing and jerking away.”
“And what happened to you?” Her voice was so quiet he almost didn’t realize she’d spoken.
“I had the exact opposite problem. I couldn’t be touched enough. If I wasn’t with a female on a regular basis, my entire body burned like holy fire. My muscles would start to cramp. My nerve endings short-circuited. And my thirst got completely out of control.”
She turned to look at him then, concern wrinkling her brown. “That’s why you were in such pain when I let you out?”
“Yes. Watching you dance every night was a beautiful kind of hell on earth for me.” His voice became husky as he remembered. “I couldn’t not watch you, she’ashil, no matter how much it hurt me. You’re exquisite.”
His lengthening cock was obvious underneath the thin material of his briefs, as were his elongated fangs, but he couldn’t help it. The memories of her dancing for him were all it took for him to be hard and ready. Actually, her sitting there and breathing was all it took for him. And it really didn’t make sense. He’d watched so many strippers that he thought he’d become rather immune to it all. The dancing. The nudity. The human women going through the motions physically, but not really there mentally. But Ryan had proven him so wrong. Her tired eyes flicked down to his lap and then immediately back up again, the musky scent of her rising desire proving that she had seen plenty with that quick look. But he needed to finish his story.
“I fucked a lot of human women, Ryan. Mostly dancers, because they were almost always up for it. Sometimes I went through four or five a night. But it wasn’t because I wanted to. I hated it. Hated doing that to them. Hated doing that to me. But if I didn’t do it, I became the creature you met when you first let me out of that room.” He left out the part about how he’d nearly raped Shea that one time when he’d tried to fight his body’s cravings, and he’d never liked Shea as anything more than a sister. “I became something even worse. Something dangerous. And so I did what my body drove me to do.”
“So, I am just one of those many women.” Her tone was flat, numb with acceptance.
“No,
I don’t think you are,” he answered honestly. “Since Luukas has come back, I don’t feel that way anymore. I just feel…normal. Like a normal male who wants to have sex with you because I want to, not because I’m afraid of what will happen if I don’t.”
She continued to stare out the window at the city, but her lips parted and her little tongue darted out to wet them. Christian felt a jolt through his groin as he watched it. Lowering himself off of the chair, he moved to kneel in front of her. She lowered her eyes, avoiding him. He found himself craving the sight of their turquoise color.
“Ryan, come to bed with me.” His voice was a rough whisper.
Hers wasn’t much better. “I don’t want to become attached to you.”
With a finger under her chin, he tilted her face up until she looked at him and repeated his request. “Come to bed with me. Let’s enjoy each other. My blood will help you, and yours will help me. And when you’re ready, when you feel strong enough, I’ll keep my end of our deal and see that you’re well taken care of, wherever you choose to go. And in the meantime, the other Hunters and I will take care of the vampire that threatened you.”
Her eyes studied his face, lingering on his mouth for a moment. The sight of his fangs excited her, he could tell, so he bared them a little more for her. Her heart thumped in her chest, but her scent told him it wasn’t in fear.
“Come to bed with me. Please.”
“Okay,” she finally whispered.
Taking her delicate face between his large palms, he moved in to kiss her as he’d been longing to do all night. But he took his time, savoring the anticipation: The rise and fall of her perfect breasts as she breathed him in. The way her beautiful eyes darkened with longing. And, he was male enough to acknowledge, giving her one last chance to turn him away if she so chose.
As he got closer, her eyes drifted shut and her lips parted slightly. Her small hands slid up his bare chest, lingering on his pecs, and then moving on to grip his broad shoulders. One side of his mouth lifted in a self-satisfied smile as she leaned in to meet him.