"Fuck this shit!" Wrinkling his nose angrily, Caleb stormed off the bus.
Ashleigh slowly scanned the faces staring back at her, all of them frowning and making her feel terrible. She had hoped her night with Spencer would never come back to haunt her, but now it was blowing up in her face. She quickly gathered her things, letting the others pass her and walked off the tour bus.
"Hey." Charlotte stopped by Ashleigh’s seat, a frown filling out her normally upbeat face.
"I messed around with Spencer once." Ashleigh shoved her laptop angrily in her bag, about to cry, "But that was way before I even met Caleb." She buckled the bag then slung it over her shoulder as she turned to Charlotte. "I’m not cheating on him. I’d never do that."
"I know you’re not." She sighed as she readjusted the duffle bag on her shoulder. "Spencer’s a hottie, though, so I don’t blame you. I’ve been with him a few times. He’s totally awesome in bed." She said the words casually as she shrugged. "But he’s never stalked me like he’s doing you."
"He’s not stalking me."
"He is too." Charlotte’s small smile faded as she looked out the window, but the boys weren’t there. "He follows you everywhere and don't repeat this, because Caleb doesn’t want you to know, but…"
Her voice lowered as she leaned in closer. "He told Caleb’s dad that you were sleeping with Aiden and using Caleb's crush on Victoria to make a fool out of him. Spencer said that you were a whore and would disgrace the Masons, so Master Mason senior should try and stop you and Caleb from getting married."
"What?" Looking flabbergasted, Ashleigh’s jaw dropped. "That is such a lie. Spencer wouldn’t—"
"He did. He's the one who called Caleb's dad that night he cornered you at the club. He's the one who said all those lies about you, trying to break you and Caleb up. Spencer's not your friend. He's a snake Ashleigh. And Caleb’s super pissed about it. I think if he sees Spencer again, he’ll probably kill him, and now that he found out Spencer’s sending you crap like that…"
"What should I do?" Ashleigh made a sour face as she glared out the window.
"Just let it blow over. Caleb’s hungry, so you can’t blame him if he’s a little growly. He’ll settle down after he eats." She motioned for Ashleigh to follow her. "So just stay away from him for a while. We could go shopping." Ashleigh laughed at Charlotte’s words, following her off the bus.
Walking down the busy hallway, Ashleigh pushed through the crowd as she walked toward the hotel room she was sharing with Caleb. She had been out shopping while he slept off last night’s party. Their little fight a few days earlier had ended quickly, and to her surprise, he didn’t mention it again, so she figured he had forgiven her.
It was almost noon, so she figured he should be up by now and ready to go grab some lunch before they had to leave.
She opened the door and paused as she shut the door as softly as she could. She could hear angry voices from the next room. Creeping closer, she butted her body up against the wall and listened. Spencer was there, he and Caleb tangled in a heated argument.
"You’re such a liar, Master Mason." Spencer was speaking in his normal voice, though it was slightly raised.
"If you tell her anything about that…" Caleb was very angry. A body being slammed into the wall made it vibrate. She jumped, her heart pounding in her chest. "I’ll fucking kill you!"
This didn’t look good, but she wasn’t about to interrupt them, not after what Caleb said next. "She’s going to be my wife, and you won’t mess this up for me! Stay the fuck away from her! And stop telling my father shit that isn’t true!"
"No, I won’t. I care about her more than you do." Spencer’s voice was stern but not raised as he spoke through gritted teeth. Caleb still had him pinned against the wall, Spencer not attempting to get away. "And I’ll die before I let you have her, Caleb."
"How dare you address me that way!" Still holding onto Spencer’s neck, Caleb slammed Spencer’s head repeatedly into the wall. "I am." His hands tightened. "Not." Spencer was disorientated, and he couldn’t fight back, blood dripping down his face from the wounds on the back of his head. "Kidding. You stupid fucker!"
Ashleigh covered her mouth with both hands, her fingers curling tightly around the sides of her cheeks as she listened to the sound of Spencer’s body being smashed into the wall.
Pulling Spencer by the front of the shirt, Caleb turned his body in a quick circle. A normal man would be dead from the direct hit his head took when it bounced across the dresser, the force of Caleb’s movement knocking it over. Like a garden fountain, blood spurted from Spencer’s mouth, leaving a trail with his every movement.
"No one disobeys me or disrespects my family." Still holding Spencer by his shirt, Caleb glared into his sleepy eyes. There was a great evil in Caleb’s normally gentle eyes, the tone of his voice like nothing Ashleigh had ever heard. "And she’s my family. I’m going to make you wish you never laid eyes on my girl, and I’m not even going to use magic to beat you. I’ll rip your beating heart out of your chest with my bare hands and make you watch the last beat of it in my hand before I crush it."
His anger was so hot it paralyzed her, the liquid evil in his voice numbing her. She began to cry, giant tears falling down her cheeks as she continued to cover her mouth and the loud sobs that were trying to escape her lips. He was not her Caleb. He was the murderous killer she had tried so hard to justify that he wasn’t.
He looked just like the Nicolas she had seen in her dreams. That anger—that possessiveness—that fiery temper. Seeing him this way brought all those bad nightmares back, and all she could see was Nicolas' blood soaked face. The image of him killing her father in the street. Her father.
Flashbacks of his death ran through her head, her head pounding with her tears. Closing her eyes for a few seconds, she tried to cover her ears and block out the memory, block out this moment.
"Fuck you." Spencer was trying to fight back now that he was able to stand on his own feet, but he couldn’t get a move in.
Planting a quick kick in his stomach, Caleb sent Spencer flying across the room, the force stripping the carpet and breaking the wall. Now paralyzed on the floor, Spencer slowly raised his head and looked at Caleb. He could see Ashleigh standing in the doorway, big tears falling from her eyes as she stared at him. She was beautiful, her frame lit up and making her glow like an angel. He smiled, his attention focused entirely on her.
His face was quickly hidden from her view as Caleb sped toward him at phenomenal speed, his fist resting inside Spencer’s chest. The room then became quiet, and all Ashleigh could hear was the squishing sound of blood, something that made her cringe. She slowly backed away, her vision blinded by her tears from the garish site ahead of her.
All she could hear was her father's voice. "Run, my child. Run!"
Before she saw what happened next, Ashleigh quickly ran from the room and into the hallway. Walking with great haste, Ashleigh wiped at her tears and tried to keep her head down.
"Hello, beautiful." Ashleigh jumped when she felt Aiden’s arms around her waist as he held her from behind. He kissed her cheek before rubbing his face against it. He whispered in her ear, his lips teasingly touching its surface. "I’m so hungry, I could eat you whole." His fingers pushed away some hair from her face, his eyes admiring her diamond earrings. "Can I have just a lick?"
"Leave me alone, Aiden." She tried to pull his hands off her, but she couldn’t budge them. There was an apparent wetness and distress in her shaky voice.
"What happened?" Walking around her, Aiden studied her expression before reaching his hand up to her face and rubbing away some of her fresh tears. "Are you okay?"
"Leave me alone." She pushed his hand off her cheek and walked away from him, but he quickly caught up to her and looped his arm in hers.
"Come on, tell me what happened." He could feel her trying to weasel away from him, but he didn’t let her go. "Did you have a fight with Caleb?"
"No." Giving him an an
gry look, Ashleigh tried to push his hands off her.
"Then what?" He pulled her into an empty hallway, and when no one was around, he scooped her up and took off down the hallway, his speed so fast he seemed to disappear. When he stopped, they were in another hotel room. Aiden sat Ashleigh down on the bed before sitting next to her. "So, what’s going on? I hate to see such a beautiful lady cry and not be able to help."
"So, you want to be my knight in shining armor, eh?" Ashleigh laughed through her tears before sniffling and wiping at her wet nose with the back of her hand.
"I’m not a knight, sweetheart, I’m a prince." Aiden laughed too, his eyes watching her movements closely as he handed her a tissue. She thanked him with a slight nod of her head while she blew her nose. "So, what happened?"
"Caleb killed Spencer." Now that she was away from the tense scene in Caleb’s hotel room, she was able to talk again. She shed a few fresh tears, but she had regained strength in her voice. "And I was so stupid—I just stood there like an idiot. I should've helped him. I—"
"Oh, that’s all it was?" Letting out a slightly annoyed sigh, Aiden leaned back on the bed, supporting his body with his hands.
"Is that all you can say?" Turning to him sharply, Ashleigh sent him a nasty glare as she dabbed her nose quickly a few times with the tissue in her hand. "Spencer was my friend!" She stood up from the bed, her voice shaky as she began to cry again. "Caleb knew that. He didn’t have to kill him. He—"
"Don’t worry about it." Aiden had stood up and grabbed a hold of her shoulders, catching her off guard. He stared into her eyes, the brilliant green of his capturing her. She could feel his face getting closer to hers, a sickness welling up in her stomach. "I will make everything better." He continued to speak, but Ashleigh tried not to listen to the words.
"Aiden…stop…" She knew what he was trying to do. Panic set in, and she tried to push him away frantically. "I—"
She could feel her body moving on its own, her head slowly turning to look at him. He sent her a smile to greet her frown, one of his arms wrapping around her waist and the other resting on her cheek.
A small chuckle escaped his lips, the sound reverberating throughout her body and making her shudder. "I like you this way, Miss Brown." He stroked her cheek and could feel her trembling under his hand. Her breath was quick, her bottom lip quivering as she looked at him with a helpless terror.
Speaking in a voice that was barely given life, Ashleigh’s face scrunched up as she prepared to cry, her body not responding to her commands. "Let me go."
"Do you remember when we met at the workshop?" Cocking his head to the side, he studied her curiously, his face now so close to hers she could feel his lips hovering over her skin. His skin was soft, but his touch felt like stinging needles. "And you read that excerpt?"
She wanted to cry but couldn’t, all she could do was stare into his eyes as his hands slid down her hips and rested on the band of her jeans. "Ever since hearing those words, I’ve had this fantasy." He licked his top teeth slowly, his great hunger for her apparent on his face. He stared her down like a wolf would its prey, and she didn’t know if his intentions were cruel or sexual, the tribal nature of his expression confusing her.
"I’ve worked the scenario over and over in my head. Planned every detail…" His hands slowly moved to the front of her pants and unbuttoned them, his fingers pausing on the band before grabbing hold of the zipper. "Perfectly. I’m not sloppy like the villain in your books. I’m going to make this something for you to remember."
He slowly pulled down her zipper, the sound of it like nails on a chalkboard to her ears. She felt her arms go to his shoulders, caressing them for a few seconds before unbuttoning his shirt. The tears finally came, Ashleigh trapped in a body being controlled, and she could do nothing to stop it.
"Tonight you will become mine." The words that flowed from Aiden’s lips heightened her fear, and she now knew what fantasy he was acting out. He began kissing her, and Ashleigh’s mouth kissed him back, warm tears falling onto his face. He dropped his pants and then quickly dropped hers, pushing her down onto the bed and making haste with his kisses.
She didn’t have control of her voice, but inside she was screaming. Her eyes were shut tightly as she felt herself take off her shirt and Aiden’s hands reach up to push up her bra and grab her breasts. She felt him pull away from her quickly, but she didn’t know why. She tried to open her eyes but a high-pitched buzzing resounded in her head.
Ashleigh held her ears and closed her eyes as tightly as she could. The sound was painful, and her hands ripped at her hair as she curled up into a ball on the bed. She quickly passed out.
She woke abruptly, her body feeling as if no time had passed. Her adrenaline was pumping, her fear of being Aiden’s puppet making her want to bolt. To her surprise, she woke up in her hotel room, her eyes turning to Caleb when she heard him strum his guitar. It was dark outside, thousands of twinkling lights and neon signs to be seen out the window.
He smiled when he saw she was awake, quickly setting down his guitar and running over to her. He hopped into bed next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and hugging her to him playfully. She looked like she was in a daze, her hand going to her pounding head.
"You all right, babe?" Caleb rested his head against hers as he held her, his voice soft and comforting. It was the Caleb she knew and loved, not the killer she had seen earlier.
"Yeah." Still holding her head, she forced a smile, her eyes watching him look at her forehead. "I—"
"You had a nasty gash up there, but your vampire blood healed you." He reached up to her face and lightly touched her cheek. Leaning closer to her, he inspected an invisible wound on her forehead. He was lying to her, but she was still under the influence of his magic. Her time with Aiden felt like a dream, and she struggled to remember how she got here.
"You hit that door pretty hard and have been out for hours. If you didn’t wake up soon, I was going to take you to a doctor."
"I…" She touched her forehead, but felt nothing out of the ordinary. Her head was still fuzzy, and she was extremely confused. "Hit my head?"
"Yeah. I guess you don’t remember." He chuckled as he lay against the headboard and pulled her closer to him. "It was my fault, though. When you came in the door, I was going out, and I accidentally hit you."
She slowly wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling her head into his warm chest. "I blacked out?"
"Yeah." She could feel the deep sigh that escaped Caleb’s lips against her face, Ashleigh held him tighter as she struggled to figure out what was going on. "But you’re all right now." He kissed the top of her head, his voice sounding a little distracted. "I’ll make everything better, babe, just relax. We have a little while before we have to catch the plane."
"Okay." She sighed as she glanced at Caleb’s guitar on the floor, her eyes darting all over its surface. It must have all been a dream, she thought. It couldn’t be true. As she scanned the room, she started to feel better. Nothing was out of place here, nothing broken. No blood. There was only her precious Caleb.
She rested for a few minutes more while Caleb got the bags ready. Robert came in and took them. Ashleigh was still shaky on her feet when she stood up from bed. She almost fell to the floor, but Caleb ran over and grabbed her.
"Hey there, babe, take it easy." He let out a nervous laugh as he helped her to the door, his body supporting hers as they walked at a slow pace. "I don’t want you stressing yourself. I think you should go to Kingston and wait for me. Maybe get settled in the house."
"Kingston?" Ashleigh turned to him sharply. Kingston was Caleb’s hometown and wasn’t the next stop on his tour. "But I thought we were going to Auron?"
"I’m going to Auron. You’re going to Kingston." His voice was stern, a tone he had never taken with her before. He looked at her angry face. "Don’t be mad at me. It’s for the best. You need some rest. Just go back to my place and get settled in. You’ll feel better once you
get home."
He was trying his best to keep a steady tone, but inside he was raging. He didn’t want her to remember any of what happened, or risk her running into Aiden again.
"Home?" Her angered expression quickly changed to a sad one. "I don’t want to—"
"You’re going, and that’s the end of it. I've sent Nathan there to watch over you. He'll pick you up at the airport. He'll be your Robert from now on." He forced a nervous smile then squeezed her to him playfully. "All right?"
"Okay." She sighed as she followed Caleb and Robert down the hallway. She briefly glanced at the room numbers and noticed they hadn’t come out of room three-hundred forty-five, they had excited three-hundred forty-seven.
"Thank you." Caleb saw the suspicion in her eyes and quickly went to her side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and walked as close to her as he could. His voice quickly changed and was light and happy again. "You can rest up because in two weeks, I’ll be home. Then, I’ll be there to help you with all that wedding stuff. I promise."
Wedding stuff. Ashleigh’s heart sank. She was normally very happy about all that, and couldn’t wait to finally be married to Caleb, but something was wrong. She knew he was deceiving her, and she was afraid to find out if Spencer was really dead.
"Mom’s got most of it all organized, so hopefully it won’t be that bad." He pretended he didn’t see her sad expression, Ashleigh staring off into the space in front of her as she walked. She was dazed, Caleb’s voice only like background noise, and she wasn’t listening to what he was saying.
He went on about the wedding and was trying his hardest to make her smile, but it wasn’t working. She felt numb, afraid, and was struggling to grasp what was going on. What did he do? What did my precious Caleb do?
Her thoughts made her shiver, her heart surrounded by a coldness that made her whole body tingle and her chest burn.
Blood Kisses (Nightwalkers Book 1) Page 17