by Melody Raven
“Shirley!” Anna exclaimed. She would hate for Nicolas to do anything to hurt her.
Nicolas looked at the older woman and said in that calming and controlled voice, “Annabelle and I are newly married. We are having a bit of a spat, but we are deeply in love. You can see that just by looking at us.”
Anna doubted that, with her waving a tire iron around, but she could tell his voice was seeping inside all of the passengers’ minds, and they saw exactly what he was telling them to.
“Stop it! Leave them alone!”
Nicolas turned his attention back to her. “Come with me and they will be fine.”
He held one hand out to her, as if that was all it would take to get her to come back to him. The scene was tempting. He looked as good as ever. He wore the same shirt and jeans as he had the previous night. His hair was ruffled and looked scruffy. He was a monster whose whole look was designed to lure his prey in. In this case, she was the prey.
She said in as calm a voice as possible, “I can’t go anywhere with you.”
Nicolas closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he replied. “I understand you’re upset. I realize I was out of line.”
Anna scoffed.
He continued, “I’m sorry, but nothing has changed. We still both have the same goals we had last night. If you can look past that transgression, I promise to be more conscious of you.”
Anna shook her head. “You don’t understand. You’re not human!”
“I wasn’t human last night either. You agreed to come with me then.”
“That was before you tied me to a bed!” she shouted. “I’m not some dog you can tie to a tree whenever I become inconvenient for you.”
Nicolas seemed at a loss for a moment. “I don’t think of you as a dog.”
“Then respect my choice and stay the hell away from me,” she said.
His head shook as he took a step toward her. “I cannot do that, Annabelle. You have to come with me.”
She once again raised the tire iron up in threat as she took a step back. “Go away.”
Nicolas became a blur to her eyes as he came toward her at full speed. Without pausing to think, Anna brought her weapon down on the air in front of her with as much force as possible.
She felt it connect to something as his body ran into hers. The blow must have affected him somewhat, because whatever he was reaching for he missed, and his hand ended up wrapped in the fabric of her shirt.
She pulled her body away with as much force as possible as he tugged her back toward him. She heard the fabric tear, but modesty wasn’t high on her list of priorities at the moment. She lifted the tire iron up and brought it down once more. She aimed for his head, but he jerked away just in time so his shoulder took the blow.
As his body absorbed the hit, she was able to free herself from his grasp, but her shirt didn’t survive the scuffle. The material ripped completely down her left side and was held up only by her right shoulder.
Anna grabbed the hanging material to her breasts and turned her back to Nicolas so he couldn’t see too much.
“What the fuck is that?” she heard Nicolas ask.
She was about to ask what he was talking about, but then she realized what happened with cold, icy shock. She’d turned her back to him. He could see all of her scars.
She quickly twisted back to face him. She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. She could only stare at him in numb shock.
His eyes were now completely black, and he breathed heavily. “What is that?”
She couldn’t stand to see him staring at her anymore, so she diverted her eyes to the ground. “That’s what happened the last time someone tied me to a bed.” She wanted to run. To get as far away from him as possible. Get off this bus that now felt much too small and breathe some fresh, cool air.
She didn’t want to touch Nicolas, but her need for space overrode that fear. As she approached him, he didn’t immediately move. She held her shirt together with her hands, so she couldn’t push him. Her frustration reached a tipping point. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
He didn’t answer but did move out of her way. Luckily, whatever he’d done to the passengers caused them to have no interest in her being mostly topless. They all sat still and looked straight ahead, as if their favorite television program was airing right in front of them.
When Anna walked outside, she gulped in large amounts of the gloriously cool evening air. Her breath was shaky, and she stopped outside the doors to try to calm herself.
She didn’t hear him approach, but Nicolas’s voice came from right behind her. “I have your bag in the car. You can get your shoes.”
She looked down at her sore bare feet. She didn’t want to accept anything from him, but they were her own shoes anyway. She crossed to the car that still blocked the road. Her duffel was in the front seat, and she tried to open the door. It was locked. She didn’t look up, but waited until she heard him release the locks before she tried to open the door again.
She reached for shoes and socks. Her shirt probably should have been first, but the pavement was much colder now that the sun was mostly down. She almost let out a sigh of relief as her feet entered the warmth of the socks.
She then dug out a clean shirt. As she started to take off the remnants of her shirt, she finally risked a glance at Nicolas. Of course he was looking at her. She held the shirt she’d grabbed in front of her. “Do you mind?”
He shrugged. “I wanted you before I saw your back. Nothing has changed now.”
“Sex? Are you talking about sex?” she asked incredulously.
He smiled. “I have a beautiful woman topless in front of me. I cannot help it if my mind strays.” He took a couple of steps to her. She backed up but immediately ran into the car.
“Why are you still trying to intimidate me?” she asked as his body hovered over hers.
“I already told you that intimidation is not my intention. I like being close to you. Do you like being close to me at all?” he asked quietly.
She thought about that. In spite of how scared she’d been just ten minutes ago, she wasn’t afraid for her life now. He wasn’t projecting any threat to her at the moment, but she’d thought that when she’d gone to bed that morning. How could she know what was an act?
His eyes were now back to their normal deep brown, and she was struck by the beauty of the way the moonlight reflected in them. She remembered the feel of his cheek against her hand. She wanted to feel that again. His body warmth reached out to her, and she fought the urge to lean into that warmth.
She closed her eyes and tried to block out the feelings. “I like being close to you,” she answered honestly. “But how can I trust you? You scare me so much.”
“I promise to protect you,” he said. “No matter what happens when we reach Aleksander, I will keep you safe as long as I’m alive.”
“Who will keep me safe from you?” She finally opened her eyes again. He still looked down at her. She saw him take a deep breath through his nose. She let out a small laugh. “Are you smelling me again?”
Her mouth curled up a bit, and both of his hands came up and cupped her face. She should pull away, but he felt so warm. His touch seemed so comforting, even though he was the reason she needed comforting.
His mouth came down on hers, and she didn’t fight. Her eyes slid closed, and she let the sensations wash over her. She opened her mouth for him, but only the lightest touch of his tongue brushed across her lips.
She responded by doing the same. He groaned, and his lower body pressed into hers. She felt his arousal press against her belly, and warmth spread through her at the thought of this powerful man being so aroused by this small kiss.
They stayed like that for a few moments until Nicolas pulled away. He softly said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Anna couldn’t think of what to say to that, so she changed the subject. “I really need to put a shirt on.”
&n
bsp; When he let out a soft chuckle, she could feel his chest move. It felt so right to be near him. The whole thing was confusing as hell.
He moved back to give her space. She quickly pulled the shirt over her head, and when it was down, she noticed he’d been looking at her yet again. She was about to mention it but realized he wouldn’t feel any remorse, so she settled on narrowing her eyes at him.
He smiled. “So what are you going to do now?”
Anna didn’t know what she was going to do. If she wanted to take the risk and find Aleksander, or if she wanted to play it safe and run back home.
She grabbed her leather jacket out of her bag and pulled it on. It didn’t really go with her sweatpants, but at least it was protection from the chilly air. She looked around. There hadn’t been a single car driving by the entire time they’d been in the middle of the road. The only vehicles around were the one they had stolen from Brad and the bus headed toward Chicago.
She looked back to Nicolas. “We can’t keep driving the car. Police might be looking for it now. The bus is going to Chicago. When we get there, I’ll decide what I want to do.”
Nicolas looked as though he wanted to disagree, but then he shook his head. “That sounds very logical.”
Anna grabbed her bag from the car and headed back to the bus. “Don’t say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Nicolas walked to the car and opened the driver’s door. “Annabelle, a woman who thinks logically is the scariest thing any man could ever face.”
As Anna walked onto the bus, she wondered whether that was a compliment.
As Anna got back onto the bus, she was greeted by the same zombies they’d abandoned. Everyone still stared straight ahead, not moving a muscle or making any noise. It wasn’t until Nicolas got back on that he could snap them out of the trance they had been in.
He spun them a tale about Anna and he being newlyweds on a road trip for their honeymoon. He said they had car trouble, and the bus had pulled over and offered them a lift to Chicago.
When she asked why he called them newlyweds, he replied, “That way it will not seem quite so strange when I stare at you all night.”
A blush crept up her cheeks. “Why would you stare at me all night?”
He leaned closer to her on the seat they shared. “I’m not going to answer a question you already know the answer to.” He placed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.
She’d hoped for a peaceful ride that would give her time to think, but Shirley and Nancy had other plans. The two had moved to the seats in front of them almost as soon as he and Annabelle sat down and talked for just about the whole trip.
Soon, Anna knew the life stories of everyone on board. The women had plenty of questions for them as well, but Nicolas did most of the talking. Luckily, Shirley and Nancy were happy with one-word answers.
It seemed important to Nicolas that he reinforce the closeness between them, because he was always touching her in some way. At any given time, his hand might be on her leg, or his arm around her shoulders.
At one point, he entwined his fingers with hers. She’d been startled at the intimacy, but she supposed that after two kisses and sharing a motel room, holding hands wasn’t that strange.
When she’d awoken that evening tied to the bed, so many bad memories had washed over her. It was a stupid thing for Nicolas to do. It was stupid, rude, disrespectful, and thoughtless, but she’d known going into this trip she couldn’t trust him.
She didn’t honestly think he meant her any harm by his actions during the day. She believed he wanted to sleep, and he did it to make himself feel secure enough to get some rest. She just wasn’t sure whether he was sorry he’d done it or whether he was sorry she was upset.
She knew the real reason her anger at Nicolas had gone away so quickly. Her biggest fear had been someone seeing her scars and treating her differently. Her teacher had pitied her. She couldn’t carry on any type of relationship feeling pitied.
Nicolas didn’t treat her any differently. He was still an ass and pushed until he got his way, but that was how he’d always been for the few days she’d known him. He hadn’t asked about her back yet, but with the two women right in front of them, there hadn’t been much time for private conversation.
While Shirley was in the middle of one of her exceptionally detailed stories about how her grandmother had died in the beauty parlor, Anna leaned her head against the cool glass. She watched the dark scenery pass her by and let the gentle rocking of the bus coax some of her worries away.
As stupid as Nicolas had been, she didn’t think he would do anything else so drastic again. She’d known going on this trip that she would be thrown into dangerous situations. Now she would be a bit more prepared for any other scary surprises that waited to jump out at her.
And, most importantly, she still wanted to delve into what had happened to Charles and Evie. She would continue on with Nicolas once they reached Chicago.
As his hand found its way to her knee again, she wondered how close the two of them would get. Considering her reaction to him whenever he got close enough to touch, she wasn’t sure she would really have a choice.
She chased that thought away. This would be her choice. She’d vowed to herself years ago that Charles would be the only man to ever take choice away from her.
Nicolas hadn’t exactly been passive in his pursuit of her, but he’d respected her wishes so far. That said a lot about him. He’d seen her scars already, so that was a major concern already taken care of.
So now the only question was, why not?
Anything they had would only be temporary. As Anna thought about it, she realized it was probably better if anything they had was short-lived. He would most likely end up hurting her whether they slept together or not.
Up until this moment, her main reason for staying away from him had been her fear of him and her fear of him seeing her scars. Those were no longer major fears anymore.
Anna closed her eyes and stopped thinking. Maybe that was her problem. She thought too much.
Anna and Nicolas didn’t stay in Chicago long. They said brief good-byes to Shirley and Nancy and then wandered off into the city.
As Anna hadn’t eaten all night, Nicolas found a small restaurant that was open. By the time she’d finished eating, he was back with a nondescript Ford sedan.
After one stop at a gas station to refuel, they were back on the highway.
The only thing Anna had to occupy her mind during the slow morning hours was looking out the passenger window at the dark scenery. On previous road trips, she had some form of entertainment, be it books or music. At this hour, it was too dark to read. During the commotion at her apartment when she’d left the city, she’d forgotten to bring her MP3 player with her and there were somehow no radio stations playing anything she could stand.
Her only form of entertainment was Nicolas, and she didn’t feel like talking to him. She didn’t understand his motives and was unsure of how to proceed. Whenever she tried to talk to him about his past or his race, he evaded her questions and she didn’t want to have a verbal sparring with him at the moment.
After a few hours of silence, she broke down and asked, “Aren’t you bored?”
He looked over at her. “I have a lot of things on my mind at the moment.”
“I can relate to that. I’ve spent all night trying to push all my worries away, but they won’t leave me alone.”
“No happy thoughts? Things to look forward to?” He glanced over as if to gauge her response.
“Hmm...happy thoughts? Let me think,” she said. “Nope. Mostly just worries.”
“What if you get the answers you’re hoping for from Aleksander? What if you find out your father is alive? Isn’t that a happy thought?”
Anna tensed up. If Charles were still among the living, it would be her nightmare come true.
Nicolas must have noticed the change in her. “That’s not good?”
Anna didn’t feel up to discuss
ing Charles with Nicolas, so she switched topics. “You remember that man Aleksander killed in front of me? His daughter and I were close. I don’t think it’s likely, but I would love to be able to see her again. Is there anyone you’ve missed while you’ve been gone?” she asked.
“There were some men I worked closely with for a long time. They were not happy when Aleksander took over. I’ll be happy to see all of them again.”
She narrowed her eyes. “No women to welcome you back?”
He laughed. “Are you asking if I’m available?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m asking if you had a whole line of women just waiting to get their chance with you when you were best buddies with the king.”
“That’s another way of asking if I’m available.”
“It might be, but now I’m getting the feeling you don’t want to answer the question.”
“I don’t.” He kept his eyes on the road and didn’t look at her. “I told you about the woman who took me in when I was on the run?”
“The bitch who turned you in? Yes, you mentioned that.”
He grinned at her. “Yep, that bitch.” He took a deep breath. “I was supposed to marry her.”
Anna gasped. “You were supposed to what? She did that to her own fiancé?”
“I can’t say I forgive her, but I will say we were getting married for political reasons and not for love.”
“Even so, could you imagine if you had married someone who was capable of betraying you like that? How uncomfortable that would have been for you?”
“We probably wouldn’t live together anyway.”
Anna frowned. “If you’re trying to defend the idea of marrying for politics, you should stop because nothing you’re saying is helping.” He got a small grin on his face but remained quiet, so she decided to see whether his chatty mood would continue. “Do all vampires marry for politics?”
“No. Most vampire marriages are because of deep, soulful companionship. Just the powerful ones will unite for politics. Not unlike humans, by the way,” he added.