Enraptured, p.9
Enraptured, page 9
part #4 of Vampire Awakenings Series
“It doesn’t hurt to relax every once in a while.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “I don’t know the meaning of the word.”
“No, you don’t seem to.”
“All you do is relax. You were always having fun at the bar.”
Ian stared at her, tempted to push her further about her father, but a smile was actually playing at the corners of her mouth. He couldn’t bring himself to upset her again, something the subject of her father obviously did. “I have my moments of seriousness,” he assured her.
“I doubt that.”
“We all have our crosses to bear.”
“And what is yours?”
“That’s a boring story dear Paige.” She thrust out her empty glass again. “I’m going to assume you do get drunk, probably rather easily judging by the size of you.”
“I can handle myself,” she assured him and waved the glass at him.
“I’m not holding your hair back if you puke,” he told her when he took the glass again.
She threw her shoulders back and thrust out her chin. “I, sir, do not puke.”
He chuckled as he topped off her drink and handed it back to her. Color flushed her cheeks, her eyes were already taking on a glassy shine that the firelight illuminated. “I’m going to hold you to that in a couple of hours.”
She tapped her finger against the glass while she watched him. “Are you playing with me? Do you plan to kill me?”
“You’d be dead if I planned to kill you.”
“Maybe this is a game to you.”
“The only games I play are recreational. I’m not one for mind games or playing with people. In fact, I try very hard not to hurt people.”
She tilted her head as she stared at him. “How do you feed without hurting them?”
He ran a hand through his hair before settling on the other end of the couch. “Do you really want the answer to that?”
“I want the answer to anything you’re willing to tell me. It would definitely help to put me at ease, and make you a little more trustworthy.”
He stared at the fire before looking at her again. He didn’t know what to make of this woman who was as prickly as a cactus most of the time, yet he sensed something warmer and far more vulnerable beneath her surface. He felt the irresistible urge to touch her in order to help put her at ease. His touch would probably be the last thing she’d welcome or that would help her to relax. He’d do anything to make her like him a little more, trust him just the tiniest bit, but if he told her how he fed, the answer would irritate her, and may push her further away.
He’d never been one to beat around the bush or lie; he wasn’t about to start now. She’d asked, and he would give her what she wanted. “I feed from the women who go home with me.”
The flare of her nostrils was the only reaction she exhibited to his words. “All of them?”
“Yes.”
“And they don’t know about it?”
“No.”
“Don’t you feel bad doing that without their knowledge?”
“No. You may think it’s wrong, but I do it to survive. I never take enough to impair them; they don’t know what’s really happening, and they leave in the morning more satisfied than they’ve ever been.”
Paige didn’t know how to respond to that. It repulsed her to think of someone doing that to another human being. However, when he’d said they left the next day more satisfied than they’d ever been the next day, a jolt had gone through her. She felt a tightening in her belly, excitement fluttered through her at the image his words conjured within her. She glanced accusingly at her drink, but she knew the yearning she felt had nothing to do with the alcohol and everything to do with the man himself.
Her heart rate increased, her palms felt sweaty and despite her every intention not to, she found herself looking at his full mouth. She could well imagine how satisfied those women had been. A shiver ran through her; her hand began to sweat on the glass. The liquid was warm enough without her added body heat, but she didn’t think she’d ever cool down again.
“That seems like a violation,” she finally murmured.
His sky colored eyes didn’t flicker as they held hers. “They come to my bed willingly.”
“Do you think they would if they knew you were going to drink their blood?”
“Probably not.” She had to give him credit, he didn’t try to avoid her questions, and he really didn’t seem to be a liar. “But the women I take back with me aren’t drunk, they’re aware of everything happening to them, other than my feeding from them. They think it’s nothing more than a hickey. You don’t approve, but I’m not ashamed of what I am, or what I have to do to survive. This is how I do it.”
“But…”
“You asked me a question, I answered it. I understand your feelings on it, but I didn’t ask for your opinion or your judgement. I’ve never judged anything you’ve done, even if I don’t agree with it.”
She bit back her words. “Fair enough. How will you feed while we’re up here?” It took all she had to keep her hand from fluttering up to the scars on her neck. She’d been fed from before; she could clearly recall the pain, the violation and helplessness she’d experienced from it. She’d been certain she was going to die, but she’d survived, twice now.
“You’re safe with me.” The terrified look in her eyes caused him to utter those words. “The animals in the woods will satisfy me.” He held up a hand to ward off her next question. “No, I don’t kill them, I set them all free.”
“When I was attacked, it hurt, a lot,” she murmured. “How do those women not know what you’re doing?”
“It doesn’t hurt if you don’t fight it, it’s actually extremely enjoyable, especially during sex.”
Was she having hot flashes? She had to fight the urge to fan herself, excitement fluttered in her belly at his words. His eyes held hers over the top of his glass as he took a sip of his drink. He knew the effect he had on her, she was certain of it.
“Oh,” she muttered and focused on her drink.
He opened his mouth to continue to tease her, but her hand fluttered up to her neck, and the color faded from her face. The firelight flickering over her illuminated the horror shining in her eyes. His amusement faded as unexpected anger swirled within him. “Was it random, or did you know the vampire who attacked you?” he asked.
A bitter laugh escaped her, she swirled the liquid in her glass. “Depends on your definition of know? Do I know who he was? Yes. Do I know him? No.”
He frowned over her words and leaned against the corner of the bar. “Who was it?”
“That’s not something I wish to discuss.” Ian decided not to push her further. She’d only shut down on him again and stop talking. Paige fiddled with her hands before glancing at him from under her lashes. “He’ll find me you know. He’ll come for me here.”
Ian shook his head. “No one followed us here; I made sure of it.”
Paige couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze. “He’s found me before, he’ll find me again,” she murmured.
Ian placed his drink on the bar. “The vampire from last night was the same one who left those scars on your neck?”
He’d left more than scars on her neck. He’d scarred her soul, her body, her entire life. “He is and he’s found me since he gave me those.”
He almost didn’t recognize the lost eyes locked on his; she’d been a fighter since the second he’d laid eyes on her. Now he could almost see the ghosts of her past hovering around her, threatening to bury her beneath their haunting presences. “How many times have you run into this vampire?”
“The other night was my third encounter with him.” Again, not a lie, it had only been the third time she’d encountered her father as a vampire. “He will find me again.”
“I can assure you no one followed us, Paige.”
She nodded, but she didn’t believe him. Her father would come for her again. “Who knows, maybe he can track me through my blood or something.”
Ian shook his head. “I’ve never heard of that happening.”
“And up until four years ago I’d only heard of vampires in movies and books, but there’s a whole ton of shit out there none of us knows anything about.”
“True,” he murmured. “But while I’m here, he won’t get anywhere near you. If your hunter friend hadn’t shown up, your attacker would have been dead.”
Paige bit back her reminder that she wouldn’t always be with him. She’d lost the battle in the alley, but next time she’d be better prepared. And no matter what Ian said, she knew there would be a next time. There always was.
“You were looking for him when you were in the bar,” Ian deduced. Paige refused to look at him. “You couldn’t have been looking for me, I don’t leave a trail of bodies, and I don’t leave evidence of my feeding habits.”
“You don’t,” she agreed. “I actually believed you were just a drunken, college whore.”
The small vulnerability she’d allowed to show had vanished beneath her steely exterior again. Walking over, he sat on the couch beside her. “You don’t pull any punches, do you?” he asked.
“You’re being honest with me, I should do the same.” I also have to remember who and what you are, she thought as she took another swallow of her drink. Because sitting next to him right now, feeling all warm and out of sorts, she was finding it extremely easy to forget.
“Thank you,” he replied. “I guess.”
He gave her a halfhearted smile that did nothing to ease the heat of her body. She hopped to her feet. Her abrupt rise caused her to take an unsteady step forward. She didn’t see him move before his hand wrapped around her elbow and he steadied her.
“Are you ok?” he demanded.
“I’m fine,” she assured him. She batted at his hand, but he continued to hold onto her elbow, heating her further. “I need another drink.”
“I’ll get it for you.”
“No, I think it’s better if I move around a little right now.” Her bare feet sank into the plush white carpet as she walked to the bar. It was even more comfortable and inviting than it looked; she dug her toes into it before stepping onto the wood floor again. “What happens if you somehow end up falling in love with one of these girls, and then you have to explain what you did to her, or what you are?”
“Not possible.”
She paused in the act of searching the labels on the bottles to look up at him. “What’s not possible?”
“I won’t fall in love with one of them.”
She placed her hands on her hips as she stared at him. “How do you know that?”
He grinned at her as he leaned back on the couch and crossed his long legs before him. The firelight playing over his golden skin and chiseled body did little to ease the desire he’d stoked in her earlier. A desire she’d assumed buried by the reminder of her past.
Dear Lord, his smile was unbelievably luring, especially when it made that little dimple in his right cheek appear. The loose fitting jeans and baggy sweater she wore suddenly felt stifling and far too burdensome. She glanced at her drink, but no matter how badly she wanted him right now, she could never blame it on the alcohol in the morning if she gave into her urges. If she jumped him, it would be one hundred percent her decision, and no matter how tempted she was by him, she could not allow that to happen. She’d never forgive herself.
“That’s one more thing about us you don’t know,” he replied.
“And what exactly is that?”
“When vampires fall in love, it’s forever. When we find our mates, it’s a bond that can never be severed. We may not recognize what another is to us right away, but the connection is there from the beginning. I’ve never encountered that with any of the women I’ve slept with.”
“And you’re so certain she hasn’t already walked out of your life?”
“Positive.”
She grabbed the bottle of Scotch. She contemplated slugging shots out of it as she stared at his frustratingly, tantalizing body. “How can you be so sure?”
Her hand shook, causing the bottle to clink against the glass as she poured her drink. She hoped he wrote the shaking off to the effects of the Scotch, but she knew the truth. It was the alcohol’s fault she didn’t hate herself over what she was feeling for him right now, but he didn’t need to know that.
“I’ve seen what the connection is like, what it does to two vampires or a vampire and a human. I’ve seen the connection in the beginning stages, and then later when the bond between mates has been completed. I grew up in a household where the true, intense love between vampires was a constant part of our everyday lives. You can believe me, or not, but it’s a beautiful thing.”
She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the intensity of his sky colored eyes. “It sounds… interesting.” She didn’t know what else to say to him about it, didn’t know how to take his revelation.
“It is far more than that. Believe me, none of the women I’ve been with have aroused more in me than what was necessary, and after we were done screwing, all I felt for them was the urge to get them out of my room.”
This time she couldn’t stop her mouth from gaping at the bluntness of his words. He kept his eyes locked on hers while he leisurely took a sip of his drink. The idea of him with another woman made her want to barf, but the thought of his body moving over hers made her skin feel too tight and caused her heart to race.
“I… uh… I see,” she managed to stammer out.
“Good, because believe me, it is one more astonishing thing about my race that you’re overlooking. We’re actually quite loving and very protective when it comes to those we care for.”
“And when someone you care for is threatened?”
“You’d prefer the fury of Hell to be unleashed upon you then.”
Paige swallowed heavily. He pulled his legs in and rose to his impressive height. She hadn’t realized it until then, but his head nearly brushed against the ceiling when he moved. He placed his empty glass on the bar and leaned his elbows on it. The woodsy scent of the outdoors, and this cabin, filled her nostrils when he leaned closer to her. Even his smell was entirely alluring.
“So, are you going to tell me how you became involved with the hunters?”
Those words had been better than any cold shower ever could have been to douse her lust. “No.”
He leaned so close she could see the individual flecks of cobalt blue in his azure eyes. See the dark blond bristle lining his chin and cheeks. She had to clench her hands in order to stop her fingers from stretching out to brush against his hair roughened jawline. She could feel the warmth of his breath and smell the spicy agave of the tequila. Her eyes fell briefly to his mouth before shooting back up to him.
Ian hadn’t missed the direction of her gaze. His pulse quickened, blood flooded his cock as her eyes lingered on his mouth before meeting his again. He pushed his empty glass toward her. “You’re asking to know my secrets, but won’t reveal any of your own?”
“I have no secrets, only personal information that’s personal,” she retorted.
“You don’t find my sex life to be personal?” Now the heat was blazing back through her body and burning her cheeks. She appreciated his candor when answering her questions, but she hated it when he turned it on her in this unnerving way. “That means your sex life is fair game too then.”
“No it does not!” she retorted.
“If you wish to know any more about me, you’re going to have to give up some juicy tidbits about yourself too.”
“Who said I wanted to know any more about you?”
He grinned at her, enjoying watching her squirm and the way the blush warmed her face. “Don’t pretend you don’t,” he teased. “And believe me there is plenty more to learn.”
Oh, she believed him. She had no doubt there was far more to this massive, sex with two fangs, man. “What would you like to know?” she croaked out.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“No.”
“Have you ever had a boyfriend?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“We dated all through high school and broke up when he went to college.”
His head tilted to the side, his eyes narrowed as he studied her. “I feel like there’s more to that story.”
She poured him another glass of tequila. “Not really. It was a mutual breakup. We didn’t pretend to kid ourselves it would work, not when he was going to college in Florida, and I… well I wasn’t. We loved each other, but we’d been friends since childhood. It had seemed natural for our relationship to develop when we were in our early teens.”
“You were better friends than lovers,” Ian guessed.
“We were,” she admitted. “But L.J. was a great first boyfriend to have. He treated me well and we had a lot of fun together. There just wasn’t any…” She tried to think of the right word for it.
Ian found his teeth grinding together. He’d been enjoying needling her. He hadn’t expected the thought of her with another man to irritate him so much and turn the tables on him. “Passion?” he suggested, trying to keep his tone casual though he felt like breaking his glass again.
“Yeah that’s it,” she said with a smile.
“Is he the only man you’ve been with?”
“You’re really nosey,” she accused.
“It’s a simple question, is he?”
“He is,” she confirmed.
“See, it’s not difficult to open up and play nice after all.”
She shot him a disgruntled look. “What about you? How many women have you been with?”
For the first time Ian didn’t know how to respond to her; he finally went with the truth. “I’m not sure.”
Her eyes fell to her hand before she finished her drink off. “Doesn’t it bother you that you don’t know?”
It never had before, and truthfully it still didn’t. It bothered him she didn’t like it, but she didn’t understand what it was like to deal with the impulses and urges he had to deal with day in and day out. “No, things are different for me.”
