by T. A. Grey
She switched off the bathroom light, and then there was a knock at the front door.
# # #
Jackson cursed himself again and the silly package sitting in the passenger seat next to him. He stared at it hard, then turned back towards the road, his hands screwing against the steering wheel.
God he’d never felt this before, and it fucking sucked.
She wouldn’t even like it. Hell, she wasn’t even going to let him in the door, he just knew it. He banged his head against the steering wheel for the twelfth time and followed Vane’s directions to her house.
He didn’t know what kind of mystical powers were at work but he did know that he was in love with a woman who was not human, and he didn’t even know if she had a job. Not that he blamed her for that. He never asked. Was too busy staring at her, grumbling at her like some kind of caveman. Real smooth, Jacks.
There was no way she’d take him back. Even if he groveled, which he planned to do a lot of. He was a vampire now, as in, needs blood every day to survive. Sure, she won’t mind. Riiiiight.
He cursed the passing streetlights. They shone beams into the car and glinted the shiny red paper of the package back at him. A cruel reminder. Warm heat flared over his cheeks and he tried to pretend it wasn’t there.
He was one stupid son of a bitch. He’d fucked the greatest thing in his life up. Now he had to try to get it back, because living without it, he was only a shell of himself. Physically he was a wreck, mentally, a borderline monster.
He had Dmetri to thank for a lot though. The man had helped him, taught him so much shit he’d never even contemplated in his life. Like making sure he always had a supply of blood nearby so he didn’t get “hunger pangs.” Hunger pangs in a hungry vampire equals death to humans or animals alike.
Jackson slowed as Orchard Drive came into focus. He turned down it and found her house, pulling to a stop in front of it. His gut was bending and twisting with nerves, a sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and his fangs threatened to drop at the thought of seeing her again.
Would she be happy to see him? He’d thought of this moment a thousand different times since he’d fucked up with her. He was determined to make it up to her. He just hoped like hell that she didn’t hold a grudge. He lifted the box out of the passenger seat and got out of the car.
Lights were on in her house—a cabin just like Rome and Vane’s. The Kategan’s definitely had a thing for cabins. Her house was recessed back in the woods with the trees giving her house ample amount of shade and privacy from the main road he’d just come off from.
He parked some distance away because...shit. Because he was scared. Always know the exits; always have an escape route. Basic survival rule number one.
He walked silently over the gravel to her cabin, a beacon in the dark night. A shadow moved inside the house and his heart picked up speed. He was actually going to see her, after all this time.
The wind picked up and gently passed over him, ruffling the hair that he hadn’t been cut in weeks. Jacks inhaled that wind and had only a second to react before a blur of movement leaped out from the trees.
# # #
Vera flung open the door, her heart in her eyes.
A vast greatness of nothing greeted her. She stepped outside and looked left, right, up to the main road. She opened her senses and smelled nothing. Was Sarina playing a joke on her?
“Sarina?” Insects chirped and frogs bellowed in return. She put one foot back in the house and smelled it—vampire. She almost smiled. He came back!
“Jackson?” she called out, not caring how excited she sounded.
An evil laugh came from behind her. Vera spun around to find Ariss standing in her living room. She didn’t question it, just let her beast roar through her with a feral growl and launched herself at the vampire bitch.
She caught Ariss around the middle and tackled her hard to the ground. She had a second to hold her and then Ariss twisted her arm free and slammed her palm into her nose. Vera sputtered as blood and pain lanced through her.
Ariss caught her by the hair and yanked her back, wrapping her legs around her waist and flipping them over. Vera made a wide arc with her arm, hand fisted tight, and slammed it with all her strength into Ariss’ face. The vampire nearly slid completely off of her.
“Fucking bitch,” Ariss hissed. Using her hair as leverage, she lifted Vera’s head and slammed back down to the floor.
Dizziness danced through her mind like she was on a merry go-round. “What do you want?” she bit out between clenched teeth. Ariss slammed her back again, and then slammed a fist into her face.
She bit down hard on her tongue with the next hit to the face. Roaring, Vera lifted her legs and hips off the floor and wrapped her ankles around Ariss’ neck. It became a battle as Ariss was determined to yank out every strand of Vera’s hair for leverage.
Finally, a sharp pull of hair ripped out of her head. Vera didn’t feel it; she used her legs to slam Ariss down to the ground. Ariss’ head lolled around, her eyes fluttering.
Vera didn’t hesitate to sit on her chest and introduce her fist to her face a dozen times. She was panting when she was done and Ariss lips were busted, bloodied, and her eyes were going to be black in the morning.
She grabbed her by the hair and yanked her neck to the side. “I said what do you want with me?” She sharpened her pull in warning.
Ariss gasped in pain and struggled beneath her. “My Master’s going to kill me unless I kill you. This is my last chance, and I will not fail.”
“Well it looks like you did, bitch.” Ariss laughed a cruel scratch of a sound.
“Or so you think. Conner is going to kill your mate.”
Vera froze. “Who’s Conner?”
Ariss laughed and shook her head side to side. With the hand gripping her hair, she could barely move an inch.
Vera had never before felt the ugliness of rage that filled her then. She pulled back her fist and hammered it into Ariss until her breathing slowed and she slumped lazily against the floor. Only then did she stop.
Breathing heavily, Vera asked again. “Who is Conner?” Ariss’ eyes fluttered closed. Vera slapped her hard across the face, the sound a sharp crack in the room. “Answer me!” she screamed in her face.
Ariss opened her eyes and smiled, her fangs spotted red. “My guardian. He went after your mate. He’s going to kill him.”
# # #
Jackson rolled with the hit, dropping Vera’s present to the ground, and went tumbling to the ground with a roll. Ariss’ guardian hissed and Jackson could have smiled. He’d wanted to get back at this motherfucker for weeks.
The guardian was fast, but Jackson was trained to fight—to kill.
He didn’t stop rolling until the guardian was beneath him. He pulled back his head and snapped it forward, bumping their heads together with a resounding crack.
The guardian bared his fangs and struggled to get a grip on him. Jacks was faster, he grabbed an arm and held it tight as he pulled it out of socket with a hard, nasty snap. The guardian roared and launched his hips off the ground, throwing Jacks off.
“You guys never quit do you?” he said and casted a quick glance over at Vera’s cabin. Ariss had to be there. I have to get to her. Jacks blocked a flurry of kicks and punches that came his way. The guardian moved so quickly, if he’d still been a human he wouldn’t have made out any of the moves, but now his eyes tracked each one. The guardian didn’t have use of his arm, it hung dangled at his side.
But then Jacks made a mistake. He didn’t see the guardian pull a blade out. The guardian faked left then thrust in with the blade glinting in the moonlight. His knife slid hot and quick into Jackson’s stomach.
He hissed in pain and grabbed the guardian’s wrist, snapping it back until it too popped. The guardian screamed in agony and dropped to his knees. Jacks squeezed tight to his wrist then slammed a kick to his chest. His other arm popped out of socket and he went limp against the ground writhing and c
rying out in pain.
Jacks grabbed the fallen blade off the ground just as Vera’s growl sounded from the cabin. Panic set in, adrenaline floored through him. He dropped down quick and stabbed the vampire in the heart, then slit his throat for good measure. He watched the vampire’s struggles stop as his last breath left him.
Then he sprinted for the cabin.
The door was open and dread filled him. He crashed into the house, his quick sight taking in everything at once. Vera sat on top of Ariss with a hard, burning anger in her eyes.
She grabbed Ariss by the head and slammed it with a resounding crack into the ground. The vampire’s head lolled to the side like a puppet.
“Vera.”
Her eyes shot up and a second later, she was in his arms, her legs wrapped tight around him. He didn’t even feel the burning cut in his stomach.
She was shaking so hard, felt so unbelievably good in his arms; he held her tight whispering soft words in her ear.
She pulled back jerkily, her eyes shooting outside then to Ariss on the floor. “It’s not safe. We need to get out of here now. Her guardian is here.”
“Baby, I know. He’s dead.” She seemed to have trouble digesting that bit of information. She looked back at him, her eyes getting wider and wider.
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” She ran her hands over his back and he had to sigh at how good it felt. Then her hands ran over his front and he winced. “Oh my God! You are hurt. Come here.”
She dropped down and dragged him into the bathroom. She pushed him onto the toilet seat and started rummaging through the medicine cabinet. Things were dropping out and spilling left and right. Her hands were shaking so bad he could see it. Finally he grabbed her hands and just pulled her close.
A sob broke out of from her, breaking his heart, and then she curled up against him. She didn’t make a single sound but he felt the warm liquid covering his shoulder.
“It’s okay baby. They’re not going to hurt you anymore.” She pulled back from him with a lykaen growl. Then she slapped him across the cheek. Jacks had only a second to be surprised because then she did it again.
Growling, his fangs threatening to lower at being so close to her he said, “What are you doing?”
Her hands bunched into his shoulders and when she looked at him, he saw anger and pain there—a lot of it.
“You were hurt.” She slapped his shoulder. “You hurt me.” She slapped his other shoulder. “Why are you here, because I swear if it isn’t to beg me for forgiveness then I’m going to kill you myself?”
Jacks waited a second and when she didn’t slap him again, he grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her to shut her the hell up.
God, he’d almost forgotten what she tasted like. Delicious, sexy woman—his woman. Vera.
The kiss was anything but gentle. Teeth clanged against each other and lips bit and sucked on tongues. They each fought for possession, their breaths mingling roughly with each other.
Jacks broke away first and pressed his forehead to hers. “This wasn’t how I envisioned seeing you again.” She choked on a laugh. He smiled at the sound, his heart feeling lighter than it had in weeks.
“I need to call Vane and Brayden about this, okay? And then you and I have a lot to talk about.”
She glared at him and damn if it didn’t feel good. “I’m sorry, I said that wrong. I meant I have a lot of begging to do because I was a son of a bitch, and I’ve never been sorrier for anything.” She tugged her lip between her teeth looking so unsure he hated himself for putting that look there.
When she finally relaxed and gave him a tumultuous smile, he felt the vice that had been around his heart let go.
Chapter Thirteen
The Justicars arrived within the hour. They took her and Jacks’ statements and wrapped up Conner’s body. Ariss was still alive and Vera didn’t feel sorry for her as they locked her up and stuffed her in the back of a black van. She would get her day in court right next to her Master Claude whom the Justicars said they captured earlier that day.
As the last of the cars drove away, Vane hugged her tight. He’d looked so scared when he came running up and Vera hated that look. It was the same panicked look he had when they found out their parents had died. She sent him and a wide-eyed Sarina back home with hugs and smiles—this time genuine ones.
Quiet crept back over her cabin. The chirp of crickets ascended now that the danger was gone. Vera kept her head down as she walked back to the cabin, passing Jacks. Now that it was over, she couldn’t stop the feeling of unease that settled in her.
The floorboards creaked as he walked away from the cabin, she almost cried out for him to stop as panic clutched her. He went over towards the trees and picked something up—a red box. He came back, his eyes not meeting hers, his steps silent on the gravel.
“Here,” he said gruffly, thrusting the box at her.
Vera gulped hard at the knot in her throat. She took the box, holding it like the most precious thing in the world. A hot liquid pressed against her eyes.
“Why don’t you open it inside,” he suggested when she just stood there.
She nodded faintly and went inside to plop down on the couch. She fingered the paper for a moment, then carefully tore at the sides on the left then on the right. Gently, she tore the paper across the bottom then slid the paper off. It was an ugly cardboard box underneath the paper, she smirked at it. He would wrap a present in a cardboard box.
She felt the couch dip next to her as he took a seat. She used her fingernail to tear open the tape and, like she was receiving her very first present, she opened one side of the cardboard box, then the other.
White tissue paper stared back at her, crinkled under her fingers as she spread it wide. Her eyebrow puckered as she looked at what lay beneath—a white dress. Vera fingered the soft material and lifted it out of the box. It was long, sleeveless, and utterly beautiful. It had elaborate beading on the front and an elegant, big bow at the back.
“You...bought me a dress?” She looked over at him but he was staring hard at the wood floor, as if he was trying to decipher what kind of wood it was.
“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “There’s more underneath it.” Vera closed her mouth and gently laid the dress over her lap. The material of the dress, judging by the look of it—was expensive. It felt like satin at her fingertips, and she was pretty damn sure it was a wedding gown.
Even though he’d said there was more in the box, it was still a surprise to find a pair of matching opal colored high heels. She read the label and bit her lip from giggling like a, well, girl. They were her favorite brand. Strappy, pretty, and with a little point at the end.
“I know you like your shoes.” She stared at him like she’d never seen him before.
“How do you know that?”
“Vera you don’t have to tell me everything for me to figure it out. You’re always wearing nice expensive-looking shoes, and damn near a different pair for each day.” The man truly was after her heart. “Do you like it?”
“I...I love it.” And you.
“See the reason why I wanted to give that to you is because,” he slid to the ground in front of her on both knees and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small black box. He held the box up like an offering and Vera quickly shoved the cardboard box away.
“I, um, I wanted to know if you’d marry...me.” He flipped the box open with his thumb and a sparkling diamond ring with a gold band winked up at her. The warm liquid that had been swimming in her eyes was trying to get out, but no way was she going to blur this image with tears.
When she could only stare, a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. He took the ring out and gently picked up her hand. His touch warmed her, felt so perfect. He settled the thin band around her fingernail and held it there.
“I know you lykaens have a different tradition, and I may be an undead, half-dead, whatever you want to call it vampire thing, but I’m still a human at heart. And in the world whe
re I grew up in, when there’s a brilliant woman you love more than anything, you marry her. So Vera Kategan, will you marry me? Before you answer,” he said quickly when she opened her mouth, “know that I am not a perfect son of a bitch, but I promise to love you and no other until the end of my days. And I promise to never, ever lay a hand on you in anger. I am not my father. I won’t have a single drop of alcohol, ever. I vow it.”
A frown tugged at Vera’s lips as she struggled not to cry.
“Ah baby, don’t cry. You don’t have to marry me if you don’t want to, but that doesn’t mean I’ll leave you alone, because I can’t. I can’t live without you, baby. The past four weeks were harder on me than the years I spent in the military, drinking away my father’s memory, my fucking problems. I was mad for a while, that you made me feel worse than that. But I went and saw my mom. Yeah, I did. She made me realize how stupid I was.
Go figure she could do that. She wants to meet you, said she’ll make you your favorite pie.” He swallowed hard. “Just say yes, say you still love me and we can work through anything. I’m prepared to fight for you for as long as it takes because I love you so damned much.”
Vera slid to her knees in front of him, her finger catching on the ring. It slid perfectly up her finger.
She wrapped her arms around him, slanted her mouth across his, and showed him without words her answer.
Groans filled the air as bodies strained to get closer; lips tasted and learned each other. Vera pulled his tongue into her mouth and sucked on it. With a growl, he pulled back, breathing hard.
“Tell me that was one helluva yes, baby.”
Vera laughed and hugged him hard. “That’s a yes, lumara.” He laughed with her, the sound rich, music to add to her symphony.
“Thank God,” he said so seriously that she broke into a fit of laughter, raining kisses along his hard jaw and neck. “Baby, I have a question for you.”
“Mmmm,” she said curiously, as her mouth teased his ear.