"Look at me," he demanded.
Our eyes met, and I saw his reflected the pale glow from the table lamp.
"You are mine," he said.
Grinding me into the bed, I felt him release. Arching against the feeling of it made me shout his name as I contracted around his large shaft. His lips took mine again, and the flavor of me was in them as we lost ourselves in pleasure. I tried to pull away, but his hand played with my nub until more spasms took my body, squeezing around his softening member.
I closed my eyes as I tried to think again.
He withdrew, and my body ached.
I opened my eyes when I felt him caressing my cheek.
Deep satisfaction lit his face as he gazed down at me propped on one elbow.
I felt some of our fluids dribble out onto the bed.
He looked down my body, and said, "Most of it is still inside you." His voice was filled with deep satisfaction, and his eyes seemed less turbulent. He grabbed me as he laid down. Closing his eyes, he said, "You are mine now, Dianna."
Enjoying the feeling of the soreness and the sated passion I felt my eyes close.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Roth's sandpaper-like stubble brushed against my breast, waking me up. His eyes sparkled in mischief, his hair backlit from the sun shining through the curtains. I bit my lip looking at him. His dark brows and eyelashes, his hair askew, and his pinkish lips normally raised in a partial grin were firm. He sat up on one elbow, while his hands caressed my hip. The smell of him was stronger. Honey and cloves filled the air. Quilts were over us.
"Stay with me," he said once again looking into my eyes. "No matter what, we can face it."
"Roth," I said, at a loss for words.
His skilled hand moved up to cup my breast. "I'm not asking for your words, Dianna. Just you."
Something long gone stirred inside me.
He leaned down, his lips grazing mine. Pressing into his heat, I surrendered. His arms went around me, and he held me. He pressed his forehead into mine, and said, "I'll take whatever you are willing to give."
"Take me," I whispered into his lips. Moving my arms behind him, I caressed his back.
One of his hands came down between us, as his lips descended on mine. His fingers caressed the top of my mound while he crushed my body into his. My breasts responded to the heat and his chest hair.
His tongue lashed out at mine, and I fought to keep pace. One of his hands kept petting me, while the other stayed wrapped around me. I held on to him tightly as dew started to form in response to his demanding touch.
I lifted up my hips.
Banging sounded at the front door.
Roth lifted up, eyes slightly glazed from passion. He frowned. "Who the hell..." He trailed off and moved to kiss my nipple. He took it in his mouth and held me closer.
The pounded on the door sounded again. The persistent thumps kept going.
He jumped out of bed, completely naked, and went to answer the door.
I sat up. Getting out of bed, I noticed the wetness between my thighs and that I smelled like Roth. A lot like Roth. Since the shower was connected to the room, I debated going in to take a quick one. Deciding against it, I hurriedly got dressed.
As I pulled on my jeans, I heard part of what Roth said, "If you ever ... her... that fucking... will..."
I entered the room, and he broke off what he was saying.
Roth leaned against the door jam, talking in a low voice to Chance.
Deputy Casteele stood a few inches taller than Roth, but somehow Roth seemed more dangerous at the moment. Even with the startled, angry look on Chance's face.
"What is going on?" I tried to act all sophisticated as if I wasn't blushing so hard it felt like a fever.
Christ in heaven Roth put on some pants! Apparently, not telepathic, he just stood at the door, in the buff.
Chance ignored me, gaze on Roth. "Are we going to have a problem here, Mr. Craig?"
Roth snorted, "I doubt it, cowboy."
"Dianna, maybe you should come out here and talk to me." Chance kept his voice steady and calm.
I sighed. "Why don't you come in."
Roth glared at me. "He doesn't need to come in."
I shrugged. "Roth, it's obviously important. And please put on your pants."
The anger left Roth's face, "Sorry, Di. I forget how prudish you are."
I raised an eyebrow at him as he walked towards me.
"I'll take a shower first," he held me close and whispered in my ear, "He better be gone when I get out. I have no patience for him."
I started to say something when he pulled me in for a kiss. My body responded, and I moaned. His mouth demanded more than I wanted to give.
Pushing him away, I said, "Pants." Looking Chance in the eye, I asked, "What is so urgent?"
He nodded to Roth as he left, "Did you fill him in?"
I shook my head. Tell Roth about monsters and have him think I'm insane. No thank you. "Uh. No."
Chance took off his hat, "So you said nothing about," he touched his chest where the star tattoo marked his skin.
Again, I shook my head. "No. That's your secret."
He tapped his hat in his hand a couple times and then he came inside the cabin. We went to the couch and sat down. He kept his distance, setting his hat on the coffee table.
"Dianna, this is none of my business, but are you sure that Roth isn't one of the bad guys?"
I laughed. "Roth is an accountant. A mathematician."
"Well, aren't you kind of too?" His hazel eyes seemed sad. "Just because he isn't a monster don't discount the chance, okay?"
Thinking even for a second that Roth was behind anything other than getting laid or his work sounded unlikely at best. These two men really rubbed each other the wrong way. With luck, I'd be done with Jason Lewis tonight, and the two would never cross paths again.
"So, what brings you here?"
"Well, after finding out Mr. Craig rented out the Tyler, this cabin, I came to get you. We had an attack last night." Chance said, "It's bad."
Guilt set in. "Is the person alright?"
"It was Joan Lewis, Jason's sister." He swallowed hard. "She is in intensive care. If either you or Roth is type O negative, they are looking for blood donors still. St. Mary's went through its stash keeping her alive this long."
"I'll ask Roth." I didn't think anyone should have my blood inside them. "Did her brother do it?"
"I'm sure it's him." He looked at me with wet eyes, "If you'd asked me two weeks ago if anyone in town, or from here were capable of such violence I'd have said maybe in self-defense. Now poor Joan almost had her hand gnawed off at the wrist."
I’d failed. Jason Lewis, whatever type of monster he was, had another victim. "Who found her?"
"She was brought in to the hospital by a stranger, who had a handkerchief over his face."
Jason Lewis. "Damn it. So, Jason Lewis is a monster." It didn't make sense though. He'd been raised here. He wasn't a bug or fish creature. "How did he become this? Or did Solas have a lot of missing people that the law didn't try too hard to find when he was little?"
Chance winced. "I'll check the records. I researched the myths around vampires. I think he has to avoid the sunlight. So, I'm trying to narrow down where he might be staying. Assuming, of course, he can't dig through the frozen earth, or use snow or sunblock for UV protection."
"So you think he is hiding somewhere?"
"Abandoned or uninhabited homes is my first guess. Structures second guess. According to people who know Joan, the last time Jason visited was never."
"What?"
"Apparently, after he graduated high school, he set off for college in Fort Augustine and never returned to Solas."
"Why not," I asked.
"Well, according to folks, Jason leads what is called an alternative lifestyle."
"So he is a homosexual." That explained his tears over Connors. They'd probably been lovers, and maybe even in love.
Chance cleared his throat. "Yes. I figure Connors and Lewis were a couple." His voice sounded tight, and his posture was ramrod straight.
"Does that make you uncomfortable?"
"It does ever since that encounter," he touched his chest. "I don't fancy men, but I don't think that matters if the devil wants you."
"So, do you think Jason killed Connors by accident? Maybe he suddenly got powers?"
"Let's just deal with what we know."
"So Jason Lewis killed Daniel Connors. Tried to kill me. Then, he almost killed his own sister. The questions are is it intentional or is he out of control?"
"I saw Joan, and Dianna if that is Lewis in control this town is in serious trouble."
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chance left and sent me an email shortly after of places Lewis might be. To see if I could help narrow down ideas where a killer vampire might camp out. Before he left, he told me Roth seemed like the controlling type, and I'd be better off without him. I’d told him to mind his own business. I'd have to go check out the buildings in person. However, a large problem remained. What would I tell Roth?
Roth came out and started cooking breakfast. His words were clipped when he said, "The bath is yours."
I said, "Roth, Chance just needed my help."
"Is it Chance? Not Deputy Casteele?" He set down a pan hard enough it banged. "Maybe someday you’ll trust me enough to tell me what help you could possibly give to the good deputy." His accent was really pronounced.
I retreated to the shower because my head and heart were still trying to sort out Roth.
When I came out showered and in clean clothes, Roth had set up a full breakfast. He was taking a cast iron pan with eggs out of the oven. The table had sausage patties, sliced fruit, juice, and some type of granola. He transferred the egg dish to a plate and stood to stare at me.
"So are you going to tell me yet? Whatever it is he wants with you?"
Black brows were drawn together, while he crossed his arms over his chest. His buttoned top already had the sleeves rolled up, and his pants were loose and black.
I didn't want to argue. Again. I held up a hand. "It's so much, Roth." I sat down in a chair, and he sat in the one next to it rather than across the table.
"Trust me." His eyes glittered, "Or am I just a momentary diversion?"
"I don't want to fight."
My stomach rumbled, and the hunger pains felt deeper than normal.
He held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, let's eat in peace."
Eating sausage, I thought about what information would not make me sound insane. Nothing. Nothing would make this sound sane. Telling Roth the truth would make him backpedal away so fast he'd leave tread marks from his fancy car.
In silence, he ate the fruit and some of the eggs, watching me.
After we were done and had the leftovers put up and the dishes cleaned and dried, Roth lied down on the couch. He put an arm over his eyes.
In a low voice, he asked, "Will you ever let me in?"
"I don't know."
I didn't want to see that look in his eyes. That gaze that labeled me a weirdo.
Roth stood up, "Will you ever let me in?"
Narrowing my eyes, I said, "I don't know!"
"Ever?!"
He grabbed me, and his mouth felt hot against mine. My anger turned into desire as his hands encircled my waist. His searching lips demanded my response, and I pressed against his warm, hard body. He moaned. His hands tightened and then moved under my shirt.
"Dianna," he whispered against my lips. Long fingers squeezed my waist. "Let me in." His head rested against mine. Drawing a ragged breath, he said, "I need you."
My hands tightened on his shirt.
His eyes sparkled, and something inside me tightened.
It hurt to breathe. "Roth," I started. I wanted to reciprocate.
"You'd be my princess." His voice was low and steady, "You'd want for nothing. Just let me love you."
My eyelids felt heavy. "I-"
"Just come with me, and we can spend our lives together." His lips caressed my cheek. “You’d never have to work again. Just let me cherish you.”
I felt the pull of his words and his presence. But that wasn't me. I wasn't a pampered princess. Nor did I desire to become one.
"That isn't-"
Glass breaking made me crouch, grabbing Roth's arm and bringing him flat on the ground.
Shots rang out.
Real guns are louder than the ones on the television. Louder and more like popping noises. This gun made quiet noises; a barely perceptible pop-pop sound as it fired into the cabin.
"Are you hit?" I searched for signs of harm on Roth.
Roth wore a perplexed expression. "No. You."
We'd gotten lucky. Neither of us had been hit. "I'm fine. Stay flat. Crawl to the bathroom. My phone is on the counter on a charger. Grab it with your arm staying low. Call Deputy Casteele," I ordered.
Without thinking, I crawled arm over arm to the back door. The shots had come from the front left side. Once I reached a spot Roth couldn't see, I sped up. Opening the side door a little I squeezed through and crawled to the snow covered hedges for cover.
A man in a gray parka held a long gun and kept shooting into the cabin from behind a parked car. He was about twenty yards away down the driveway. His hood was up, and he had on ski goggles over a balaclava.
Moving to the trees, I kept low, hoping he wouldn't spot me. He kept firing into the cabin. It wasn't continuous.
Rushing towards him I hoped to tackle him before he hurt Roth. As my feet sped through the snow, he stopped firing. In the space of one footstep, he turned my direction and fired. The bullet ripped into my hoodie missing my flesh.
Growling low, the rage I'd suppressed burst to the surface. Screaming, my feet barely touched the snow as I landed on him in a flying tackle. As he pushed to move away, my fist landed on his head. Shouting at me, he used both hands and pushed me off. The force smashed me into a tree.
Pushing off of it, I ran towards him with my inhuman speed. It had to be Lewis. My leg shot out in a deadly arc.
He blocked my quick attack but dropped the gun as his arm made a cracking noise. His screams sounded like a bear mated a human.
Taking advantage, I leapt towards him. Grabbing at the reflective goggles.
Lewis was faster and knocked my hand away.
Part of the balaclava ripped from my grab, and daylight hit his face. Again he screamed. And like the night before, he moved like a vapor.
Running my hardest, I tried to keep up. The woods were so dense. Lewis knew them. I didn't. He outpaced me quickly, weaving in and out of the tall pines.
I tripped on a large root coming down hard on a small stump.
Breathing heavily, I rubbed my knee and leaned against a tree. Searching for Lewis to return, I waited. I’d had him!
Slamming my fist into a tree, I felt the bark dig into my hand as chunks of it broke off. I'd had Lewis, and he'd gotten away.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Roth stood outside, boots on, but his shirt and jacket were undone. Chance stood talking to him.
Seeing me, Roth ran up. "What in the nine layers of hell did you think you were doing?" The softness in his voice was at odds with the wildness in his eyes.
"Roth-"
He said, "Explain." His jaw tensed. "A fucking gun, Dianna. Explain, or I am gone."
"I don't do ultimatums!
Crap. I didn't want to fight again. I should let him know who I chased and why it was me. Roth didn't know any of it. That I could heal. The monsters. Whisper. Lewis. If I wanted a real relationship, I had to tell him.
"Roth-" I started.
He stood in front of me. Leaning down he interrupted, "Well? Are you going to bother to tell me?"
Chance came up and said, "Mr. Craig if I could get you to calm down, sir."
Roth went red. Turning to Chance, he said, "If you were half decent at your job, Dianna wouldn't have
been in danger!"
"Hey! I can handle myself!" I could feel the frown. Breathing in, I said, "I think if we just all calm down-"
"Fuck calming down!" Roth put his hands behind his head. Shaking it, he asked, "Well?!"
Chance put his hand on his holster, not moving his gaze from Roth.
I sighed and shook my head. "Some of the secrets aren't mine to tell. But-"
"So you say no." Moving his head to the side so I couldn't see his face fully he said, "Dianna when you decide to let me in, I might not be waiting."
He turned to the house and walked away.
Stopping myself from reaching out, I stayed silent. I bit my lower lip, and my heart pounded painfully in my chest. Everything felt twisted. My eyes started to water up, so I stared at my shoes and blinked them away.
Chance waited until Roth entered the cabin, and then he said, "I'm sorry." He moved his hand away from his weapon.
I shook my head, not trusting my voice.
"Was it Jason Lewis," he asked.
Breathing out deeply, I nodded. "It was Lewis. He wore gear to block out the sun and took off after I ripped his face mask."
"So, did he burn?"
"Maybe. I didn’t see smoke." I pointed where he had taken off. "He headed that way. Let me get my stuff, and then we can try to find his hidey-hole."
"Dianna, are you going to tell Roth about it?"
I shook my head. I’d tried to speak, but Roth wasn’t listening. Or open to it. He’d shut me down, and it hurt too much to talk about.
"No?" Casteele shrugged. "Are you staying here tonight?"
"That is a definite no. I want to find Lewis and leave by tonight. Morning earliest."
He nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Who knows maybe we'll get lucky and find him sleeping in a coffin all ready to be staked?"
I rubbed my burning eyes. I said, "I sincerely doubt that."
He sighed. "Me too."
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Dead Chance Page 12