As she knelt to slide an arm around his shoulder, one bare breast brushed something wet and sticky. Glancing down, she saw the entire side of his body was slick and crimson. Her stomach heaved. “Jesus.”
“It’s not as bad as it looks.” He tightened his grip on her shoulders and began struggling grimly to his feet.
“If it was, you’d be dead.” The smell of blood was so strong she wanted to gag. As Ridgemont’s car started with a roar and pulled away, Cade swayed against her. She tightened her grip, wincing at his hiss of pain. “You okay?”
“Just get me to the car,” he said between his teeth.
Remembering the master vampire’s advice, Val studied Cade’s hooded face as they hobbled toward the Toyota he’d arrived in. “Do you need to bite me now?”
He looked down at her, his dark eyes startled behind his mask. The skin visible through the eyeholes was burned bright red. “Uh, not at the moment.”
“Ridgemont said --”
“I’m sure he did, but the blood by itself wouldn’t do me much good without strong emotion to give it a charge. I’m not up to making love, and unlike some people I could name, I’ve got no interest in terrifying you.” He tried for a flirting tone that fell flat thanks to the pain in his eyes. “But if you’ll give me a rain check…”
Her smile was equally strained. “You must feel bad, if you’re refusing sex.”
He laughed in a pained bark. “Don’t worry, I heal fast. Especially with making love to you as an incentive.”
When they reached the car, she opened the door for him. He eased carefully into the passenger seat, teeth clenched. As Cade settled back, he caught sight of her crouching by the open door stark naked. “Don’t you think you’d better go get the blanket? There’s probably a law against driving naked in this state.”
“Are you kidding? This is South Carolina. There’s a law against being naked.” He huffed a pained laugh as she closed the door. Thankful for the trees that screened her from the road, she turned and hurried off to retrieve her fallen quilt.
* * *
Despite the searing pain in his shoulder, Cade watched her go. Her slim nudity seemed to glow in the fiery light of the setting sun.
I almost lost her today.
The pain in that thought broke his mental grip on his wound. It instantly began to gush. Hastily Cade tightened the web of power and cut off the blood flow, but the guilt was still sharp. If Hirsch had won, she’d have been victim to the German’s sexual sadism until he killed her, or she escaped. How many decades would she have suffered?
And her future was even darker if Ridgemont killed him in the coming duel. Even if Cade tried to send her away, the ancient would track her down, if only to punish them both for trying to disrupt his plans.
Abigail had been right all along. Cade had to Turn her. At least as a vampire, Val would have some chance of fighting back. And without the mental link formed by the Change, Ridgemont would lack most of the means to torture her.
But he’d still kill her if Cade didn’t get him first. And considering how difficult it had been taking on the much weaker Hirsch, how the hell was he supposed to do that?
* * *
Val found her blanket lying under the oak and snatched it up. Wrapping and tucking it around herself to make another toga, she trotted back to the car despite the littering acorns that seemed intent on digging into her feet.
As she slid behind the wheel, she looked over at Cade to give him a reassuring smile. Siting painfully erect in his seat with both eyes closed, he didn’t seem aware of her. He still wore his protective hood. She eyed the sunset through the windshield and wondered if it was dark enough to remove the cloth. She wanted a good look at him.
He opened one eye an exhausted slit. “We’re going to have to go to a hotel. The house is swarming with police, and I’m not up to dealing with them.”
Val tucked a wandering fold of makeshift toga back into place. “Uh, Cade, how are we supposed to get a room? I’m not exactly presentable, and you look like you lost a fight to the death -- which you damn near did. To top it off, I seem to have left my wallet in my other blanket.”
Cade sighed and pulled off his mask. She flinched at the band of brightly burned skin around his eyes. The rest of his face was pink, as if the sun had punched right through the fabric. Scrubbing a shaking hand through his sweat-slick hair, he let his head drop back against the headrest. “That is a very good question.” His eyes fell on a cell phone lying on the dashboard of the car. “Luckily, I’ve got a good answer.” With a groan of pain, he reached forward to pick it up, then used his thumb to punch in numbers.
“Where did that come from?” Val asked.
“My neighbor must have left it in the car before he let me borrow it,” he told her as he listened to the phone ring.
At last, a familiar voice said, “Hello.”
“Camille? This is Cade. I was wondering if you’d mind helping me out a little…”
* * *
Forty-five minutes later, Camille Robbins pulled into the clearing to give Val a wad of money and a K-Mart bag containing a change of clothing for herself and Cade.
“We’ll pay you back as soon as we get things straightened out with the police,” Val told her.
“Don’t worry about it,” Camille told her absently, peering at Cade, who sat slumped and motionless, his hair standing up in sweaty spikes. The darkness in the car kept the blood from showing, but something about his silhouette suggested he was in pain. “Looks like you’ve got more than enough to worry about as it is. He doesn’t look too good. Shouldn’t you take him to the ER?”
“No hospitals,” he said, without opening his eyes.
Camille rolled her eyes. “Men.”
Val grinned reluctantly. “Yeah, that’s about the size of it.”
* * *
Dressed in the white shorts and T-shirt Camille had brought, Val waited for the hotel desk clerk to hand her the room key cards. Tapping her fingers impatiently on the counter, she remembered the last time she’d checked into a hotel with Cade. Then, she’d been terrified he’d make her a vampire.
Now she knew he had no choice.
Five minutes later, she helped Cade limp into their room, trying not to stagger under his weight as he leaned against her. His pained breathing sounded ragged. “You do realize what we have to do now?” she asked, partly to give him something else to think about as she struggled to help him lower his weight to the mattress without jarring his shoulder wound.
“Yeah,” he said shortly. She could tell he wasn’t happy about it, but was well-aware they had no choice. His face looked paler than the pillow his head sank into. “Later.” Seconds later, he was deep in the healing sleep.
Val badly wanted to pull off his shirt and look at the wound, but she didn’t want to jostle him. Instead, she curled up on the room’s other bed with her eyes wide open, far too wired to sleep. When Cade woke, he’d be hungry again. They’d make love -- and start the process of Turning her.
Staring at the strong, masculine lines of his face, the muscled contours of the powerful arm he’d flung outside the covers, Val had to admit that the prospect of spending forever with him wasn’t exactly a hardship. If only they had forever.
If only they had a week.
Once Cade Turned her, he’d go after Ridgemont like Ahab after his whale until either his sire was dead… or he was. Yet what if they did succeed in killing Ridgemont? She realized that prospect frightened her almost as much as the first alternative.
She’d be a vampire.
Val had seen enough of the Hunger’s power to worry about her own ability to control it. As heroic and iron-willed as Cade was, it had almost forced him to kill a child. What would it do to her?
And what would her vampirism mean for their relationship? The passion between them was hot now, but what would happen once that fire burned itself out?
Too, as her sire, he’d own her. Being the kind of man he was, he’d never misuse tha
t power. But would his affection turn to contempt once she belonged to him? She didn’t think she could endure looking into those dark eyes and seeing nothing there but indifference…Val caught her breath as she suddenly realized why that thought hurt so viciously.
I’m in love with Cade McKinnon.
Chapter Sixteen
The idea seemed so inevitable, so natural, as if she’d always loved him. And maybe she had. She’d adored her dream Texas Ranger, first with a child’s affection, then with a woman’s passion. Discovering he was both real and a vampire had shaken that love, but it hadn’t destroyed it. That’s why she’d instinctively wanted to trust him even after he’d kidnapped her.
God, suddenly she needed to talk to Beth. Studying Cade’s haggard face, Val decided he was so deeply in his healing sleep that she’d be unlikely to wake him. She reached for her cell and punched in the number for her sister’s burner.
The phone barely had time to ring before Beth answered. “Hello?”
She lowered her voice, not wanting to wake Cade. “It’s me.”
“Val!” Her sister sounded so relieved she felt instantly guilty she hadn’t called earlier. “Thank God! I was getting worried. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah,” she lied, “everything’s fine.”
“It doesn’t sound fine,” Beth said, with that unerring talent she had for reading her sister’s emotions. “You sound depressed.”
The next time you talk to me, I may not be human. “I’m just missing you.”
“Me too. Wish you were here -- I’ve been making the most of the impromptu vacation.” Beth sounded so jaunty it was obvious she was trying to cheer Val up. “Lying on the beach, getting a gorgeous tan…”
Val made a strangled sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. There’s something I won’t be doing again… “Don’t tell me where you are.”
“You are so paranoid. Anyway, the guys here are to die for…”
She looked over at Cade, sprawled in all his blood-smeared glory across the next bed. “They ain’t bad here, either.”
“Oh, yeah?” Val could almost picture Beth’s ears pricking like a cat’s.
“Oh, yeah.”
“Are we talking that Cade guy?”
“Yes,” she muttered.
“What? I didn’t catch that.”
“I think… I’ve fallen in love.”
“Get out!” Beth’s voice spiraled into a delighted shriek. “When can I meet him?”
“I don’t know.” I don’t even know if I’ll even see you again. “Things are… complicated right now. Dangerous.”
“Okay, now you’re being so damned mysterious you’re starting to get on my nerves -- not to mention scaring the hell out of me. What’s going on?”
Val ached to pour out the whole story, but if she did, Beth would be on the next plane to South Carolina. And smack-dab in Ridgemont’s bull’s-eye with the rest of them. “Like I said, it’s too complicated to go into right now.”
“Val…” Beth’s tone held a note of warning.
“Oh, here comes Cade with our margaritas,” she interrupted brightly. “And I think he’s in the mood for love. Gotta go.”
There was a long, cool pause. “I am so not buying this.”
Val sighed. “You always were way too smart for me. Look, I can’t go into it. I just can’t. But it’s extremely important for you to be careful. Don’t use your credit card. Don’t leave a trail. Ridgemont isn’t somebody to play around with.”
“Don’t worry, Val. I’ll be careful.”
“I love you.” Her voice broke, and she took a deep breath to steady it. “You know that, right? I couldn’t ask for a better --”
“I’ll remind you of that next time I filch your favorite sweater.” Beth sounded a little watery herself. “Listen, you be careful, you hear? Don’t let your stud and his huge margarita distract you too much.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got it all in hand.”
“I’ll just bet you do, big sister. I love you.”
It was all Val could do to get out another “Goodbye, I love you,” without bursting into tears. Slowly she hung up the phone and stared, biting her lip, at Cade’s sleeping profile.
* * *
Cade’s sword flashed sparks of reflection as he hacked at his white-clad opponent. The two men moved like cats, the setting sun giving their weapons a blood-red sheen.
But as they circled each other, the treacherous light hit him full in the face, and he missed his stroke. Blindly, he swung his shield to block the blurring swing of the axe, but his opponent was too fast.
Cade’s head spun from his shoulders, flinging blood in a crimson arc as his decapitated corpse collapsed.
Val shrieked in horrified agony as her heart seemed to rip wide in her chest.
Ridgemont turned and grinned at her over his bloody axe.
* * *
Her eyes flew open as Val bolted upright with a strangled scream, staring wildly into the pitch-black room.
Sweating, panting, she fumbled desperately for the bedside lamp until she managed to turn it on.
Cade lay in the opposite bed, whole, the last of the pain gone from his face. His bare chest was whole, as if his wounds had never been.
With a little whimper of relief, Val crept out of her own bed and curled up against his side, ignoring the lingering smell of copper. Resting her head against his chest, she listened to the reassuring thump of his heartbeat.
It was a long time before she slept again.
* * *
Cade awoke, and Val was there. Draped across his chest, weighing hardly more than a rag doll, her body soft and warm in sleep. The scent of her kicked the Hunger into a full, roaring blaze. He ached to roll over with her and bury his cock in her sex and his fangs in her throat. Clenching his teeth, he fought the need until his willpower was steady enough to risk putting his hands on her.
But when he wrapped his hands around her arms and started to lift her body off his, the soft, silken texture of her skin sent the Hunger into a sustained howl: Take her takehertakeherTAKEHER! His head started to lower toward her pulsing jugular.
Moving fast, Cade slipped out from under her and fled toward the bathroom, not daring to look back.
* * *
Val snapped awake as the door closed behind him. Oh, God, she thought. It’s time.
Time to give up being Human with a capital “H.” Time to start becoming something else, something that drank blood and stayed out of the sunlight -- and loved Cade McKinnon, who would own her in a way no human could really own another.
No, not “own.” “Possess.” Possess as in the Exorcist “oh my God he’s in my head” sense, and possess in the thoroughly carnal, dominant-male sense.
I can’t do this, Val thought wildly. Rolling off the bed, she snatched the car keys off the nightstand. And stopped in her tracks. “Oh, hell.”
She couldn’t leave him. He needed her. Needed her blood, needed to Change her. Needed her. If she ran out on him, Ridgemont would kill him. And Val herself too, once the ancient hunted her down, but that was really beside the point.
Shoulders slumping, she turned and looked toward the bathroom.
Abigail stood beside the bed, watching her with solemn eyes. Val jumped with shriek and backed up until her thighs hit the bed. “Don’t do that!” She flung out a hand to steady herself against the mattress as the air filled with the strong, sharp bite of peppermint.
“Thank you,” the ghost said.
“For what? Almost dropping dead with a heart attack?” Clutching at her chest, Val waited for the panic-stricken pounding to slow.
“For loving him enough to sacrifice so much. I know it’s not easy for you. The rest of us didn’t have a choice in what we’ve become. You’re doing it voluntarily.”
“More or less,” Val muttered. Eyeing the ghost, she added, “Thank you for distracting Hirsch, by the way. If you hadn’t stepped in, he’d have raped me.”
Abigail shrugged. “
Ridgemont would have stopped him. He was furious at Hirsch’s cheating.”
“Maybe. Unless it suited his purposes to allow it.”
The ghost grimaced. “Good point.”
“When you defied Ridgemont…” She hesitated. “Did he… was he really about to eat you?”
“Yes. He’s been threatening to absorb me for years, just to keep Cade in line.” Her voice dropped to a low, fierce hiss. “I’ve always hated being used as a hostage to keep my brother in line.”
“God.” They stared at one another for a long, uncomfortable moment. Finally, unable to stand the silence, Val blurted, “I’m afraid I’m going to hurt somebody.”
“You won’t. You’re not the kind to kill for lust. And Cade will help you maintain control.”
“He’ll know everything.” Know how much I love him.
“Yes.”
Val laughed, the sound a little wild. “I’m terrified, you know that?”
“You don’t have to be,” the ghost said, her mental voice calm and certain. “He loves you. He’ll protect you.”
“Oh, I know he’ll protect me. Knowing Cade, that’s a given. But love me? I don’t think so.”
“Val, the thought of you has driven him for seventeen years. Otherwise, he’d have killed himself in some stupid, suicidal attempt on Ridgemont the minute he escaped the ancient’s control, if only to protect me.”
“Guilt isn’t not the same thing as love, Abigail. And I don’t want guilt from him.”
“It’s not guilt anymore. It hasn’t been in years. Not since you became a woman and bonded with him in your shared dreams.” The little ghost studied her with that un-childlike gaze. “And I think it’s time I go Beyond so you can find that out for yourself.” She turned and walked into the wall.
Val looked toward the bathroom door. Squaring her shoulders, she started undressing, her heart banging like a kettledrum as she pulled off her shorts and T-shirt. Moving mechanically, she folded them with shaking hands, then stacked them neatly on the bureau. And stood staring blankly at them before she blew out a breath. Well, time to quit stalling and get this done.
Forever Kisses Volume 1 Page 22