“This is bull. I’m not buying it at all. But you got one thing straight, Dannie. He is bad news,” Tiffany said. Her mouth made a thin line of disapproval.
Chelsie frowned at Christian and asked, “How could such a blood disease be hidden from the medical community?”
“We take care of our own. Certainly, there have been vampires who have experienced situations such as a human E.R., due to an accident, but we have methods to keep humans from recalling encounters with our kind.”
Chelsie shook her head, adjusted her glasses then said, “If you really are a separate species from humans, it would have leaked out. There would be some sort of proof. Documentation.”
“There is. Sort of,” Christian replied softly. “Who hasn’t heard of a vampire? People have all sorts of speculations to the definition. I am one and I’m telling you honestly what that entails so that you can understand what your mother faces. She will always be the mother you’ve known and loved, but she has new physical challenges in her life. However, we have no more time for discussion about this.” He faced Nathan. “Pick who you want to guard the women and lets get them downstairs.”
Nathan nodded. “Dominic, I want you with the women and your five best for personal combat. Preferably vampires to guard them. Your best snipers I want outside on the roof and the rest surrounding every entrance. Make it quick.”
Mia noticed Dominic didn’t seem pleased by Nathan’s command. Maybe he was eager to be in the fray of the battle. She didn’t know or have time to consider. Everyone split up and left the room.
The rest of the night and morning were uneventful, for which Mia was grateful. Around noon, Julia managed to get Dimitri and Nathan to allow them to come upstairs to cook lunch for everyone. Together, they created a combination of over fifty sandwiches, lunch meats and BBQ beef along with some potato salad and fried green tomatoes, which Mia knew Nathan loved. The tomatoes were a small gesture on her part, but one she’d hoped might give him a wee bit of comfort in the midst of this crisis.
Her feelings for Nathan had softened into appreciation and she saw him as well as Julia and Dimitri in a whole new light. Partly, thanks to Christian and the hours of conversation they’d shared about vampire life. Mainly, because Nathan was doing everything in his power to protect her and her children.
Nathan could have easily left her vulnerable and just covered his own butt. He obviously cared far more for her than she’d given him credit. His concern for her girls had the most profound effect on her change of heart.
All of Nathan’s men, two by two took twenty minute shifts to come in eat and use the bathroom if necessary. The dinner hour was nearly upon them by the time everyone had eaten. She and Julia were at the tail end of clean up when Nathan, Christian and Dimitri entered the kitchen.
“Any news?” Julia asked her husband.
He replied as he went to her, “No sign of Isabella, but we’ve positioned some men down the road to monitor approaching vehicles.” He caressed a palm across her hair and cheek.
Nathan offered Mia a kind smile, and said, “I have good news. I’ve arranged for some helicopters to pick up you and your girls and take all of you to a safe place. Julia and Jazerra too. It should be around six thirty when they arrive. I’m anticipating that if Isabella strikes, it will be after dark. A nighttime assault is much more advantageous for a vampire.”
Mia winced, envisioning an overnight visit from Isabella. “Thank you, Nathan. I truly mean it. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and my girls.”
He appeared taken aback by her words, but he said, “Your welcome, although it’s not necessary. There is no way I’d leave you or anyone I love vulnerable. We’ll get through this.”
Love? The word shot a quick spear of shock through her chest. Did he really love her after everything that had happened between them? Christian seemed to think so, although he hadn’t made an outright admission to that fact. He hated Nathan and she could hardly blame him. Christian was a very ethical man, but Nathan often skated so far to the left of ethics, it was a wonder scandal wasn’t his ever present companion with a public life like his.
Mia turned and began loading the dishwasher. Julia silently joined her in the chore as the men began to discuss a plan about night watches, so the guards could take turns getting sleep. Mia looked up, catching Julia’s gaze.
“You are not angry with him any longer?”
She shook her head. “I suppose knowing your life and those of your children could be over by day’s end puts a whole new perspective on the world. I owe him an apology, Julia. You too. I’m a hypocrite. What I did to hide the truth from my girls is no different than what you and Nathan did with me.”
“You are both wise and compassionate, my friend.”
“No, I’ve been self absorbed.” She’d been giving a great deal of thought to this admission since Dimitri called Christian.
“For good reason,” Julia argued, her expression guilt-ridden. “Keeping the truth from you was wrong of all of us.”
It didn’t matter anymore. Her life had been changed irrevocably. As much as she wanted her old life back, Mia had finally accepted the fact that would never happen. She was a vampire.
Christian had been right. Even with transfusions, she’d experienced vicious urges to taste blood. At times she’d wanted to release her fangs and sink them into the plastic blood units on her IV pole. The need had been so fierce, her body would begin to shake. She had never tasted blood in her life other sucking on her finger after a paper cut or something. If she, a vampire who had never ingested another human’s blood suffered that sort of temptation, no wonder Nathan, a vampire who always fed au natural, hadn’t been able to control himself with her. Especially with the attraction factor.
Mia offered her a sad smile, finally replying to her comment. “Well, be that as it may, my pity party just got busted.”
Julia grinned. “I think I know what you mean. Your American slang sometimes confuses me, but I find it humorous.”
“If you want a really good infusion of American slang, go hang with Tiffany for a few hours.”
They shared a good giggle over that. Mia realized the room had grown quiet. She turned her head and noticed all three of the men staring at them, with curious expressions.
Julia closed the dishwasher, then walked over to them. She took her husband’s hand and looped an arm through Christian’s. “Will the two of you go with me to check on Dominic? He hasn’t had a break all day. We should give him one.”
Mia knew a `clear-the-room-tactic’ when she saw one. She bit back a smile and stared at Nathan. He looked as nervous as she felt. “Can we talk?”
“Of course.”
Mia took a seat at the harvest table and Nathan settled into a chair across from her. “I owe you a huge apology.”
“What for?” he asked, his brows furrowing.
She inhaled deeply and folded her hands together on the table top. “For all the hateful things I said, but mostly for judging you so harshly about keeping the truth from me.” She paused there, half snorted, half laughed. “How ironic. I did the exact same thing with my girls by pretending to be married to Christian. Not once during the planning of that lie did I stop to recognize I was doing the same thing you did with me. I was so afraid of upsetting them. Mostly, I feared what they might think of me, provided they believed me and didn’t call the men bearing the white jackets to take me away.”
Nathan laughed. “I can easily imagine your daughter, Tiffany, making that call.”
Mia chuckled. She could too. “Will you forgive me?”
He looked puzzled. “For what? You had every right to hate me for what I did. I’ve never fed on a human donor more than once in my entire life, but I let my lusts for you rob my good sense. And for that, I haven’t even forgiven myself yet.”
She reached across the table and covered one of his hand with hers, striving for a fervent expression. “Listen, there is no more room in this household for grudges, towards o
thers or self. Too much uncertainty surrounds us all. Julia and I have been praying nearly non-stop for the lives and safety of every soul here. Dimitri and my girls too.”
He smiled, but it was a forced one. “I’m glad to hear that. I’m sure it will help.”
“True, but the more people on board, the better. I can tell you one thing I know spiritually without a shadow of a doubt. When one’s heart harbors unforgivingness or bitterness, getting a prayer through that stinking thinking is impossible. Let it go, Nathan. It took me awhile, but I have. Let’s re-write this story between us and delete the past. What I’m saying is this, I forgive you for everything. Please forgive yourself.”
He didn’t reply, merely stared at her, his beautiful violet eyes ripe with astonishment and intrigue.
“Well?” she prodded.
“I’ve never met anyone like you. You astound me, Mia.”
“I’m not looking for platitudes, Nathan. I have my faults and I’m sure you’ve witnessed many in the short time we’ve known each other.”
His smile was slick. “Oh, yeah.”
“Well, you didn’t have to agree so readily,” she chided, and playfully smacked his forearm.
He stared at her with sincerity as he said, “I told you once before, Mia, the only fault I view in you is the fact you don’t realize how much I love you or how much you love me.”
She squeezed his hand and mimicked his look. “Oh yes I do. Maybe I was slow getting there, but I got it now. Completely.”
“Come here,” he demanded, rounding the table.
Without hesitation, she stood and approached him.
He glared at her left hand and let loose a soft menacing growl. “Take that damned thing off.”
Mia bit back a grin and removed the gold wedding band Christian had given her and placed it on the table.
“That’s better.” He covered the last bit of distance, melded their bodies and mouths together, kissing her with a fervency that paled to previous ones, and those had all been hot enough to melt steel. This here was Dante’s final level of hell hot.
Their lips still in kissing battle mode, hands groping each other, he walked her backward until he had her pinned against the nearest wall. The magnitude of need his actions released was equivalent to a grenade exploding inside of her. She spun him around and reversed their positions, shoving him against the wall, then grabbed his ponytail and yanked his head back. She buried her face in his neck, kissing, nipping at the skin over his pulse point that thundered like a rabbit’s caught in the jaws of a fox.
Damn, he smelled good. The tinny scent of his blood was intoxicating. Her mouth began to water. She clenched her teeth then opened her mouth and felt a strange tingling sensation in her upper jaw.
Everything sensible fled. Only one purpose blazed through her mind and body—she needed to taste him and it was an animalistic, driving force, which bypassed conscience or will.
Thoughts of right or wrong did not exist. She bit him and drank greedily with no regard, except for the insanity that held her captive, and she reveled in the act. His taste was wonderful, addictive, better than anything that had ever crossed her palate. Pure ecstasy, she thought, drunk on the entwined erotic sensations of both taste and physical desire.
Gradually, she began to realize it wasn’t merely her own desire she experienced, when his thoughts began to echo through her mind. And Mia had no trouble deciphering whose they were because she didn’t even realize two people could get into that particular sexual position.
I love you, Mia.
Her heart blossomed with the emotion and she squeezed him tighter; sweet, resurrected emotions doing the same to her heart. I love you too, Nathan.
Eventually, she hit the downhill side of the new lust. She retracted her teeth, yet for awhile held onto him and kissed and nuzzled his neck, enjoying his scent, the feel of his body pressed against hers.
When sanity returned, it rode atop a trailer load of guilt. She released him and he promptly fell to the floor with a hard thud. She gasped and stared down at him, sprawled on his back, his expression dazed. Terror sizzled through her like a bolt of lightening.
What had she done?
She fell to her knees and palmed his cheeks. “Nathan! Oh, God! I’m so sorry. Are you all right?”
He grinned, the drowsy look in his eyes, seasoned with pure delight. “Better than. Damn woman, as the kids today say, you rocked my world.”
Mia slapped a palm over her mouth, hiding a grin. She knew he’d felt every ounce of pleasure she had. She’d remembered feeling everything he’d felt when he’d done this same thing to her, and the raw lust, the pure wonder of being that close and intimate with another person.
The prudish part of her reared it’s ugly head for a conscience lashing, because she’d just committed an act she would have never believed herself capable of. One she’d always viewed as a sin. The vampire part of her now realized life-mates were for real and what they’d just experienced was a normal facet of this strange bond everyone had been trying to explain to her.
When Christian told her life-mates drank from each other, at that point the thought had disgusted her. That it didn’t anymore, made Mia realize she truly had lost her humanity. The realization sparked a bit of sadness, but she couldn’t think of that now. Concern for Nathan ranked first. “Can you get up?”
His eyes rolled back as he said, “Give me a minute and be prepared for a round two when I do.”
She giggled and stroked his hair, which she had made a major mess of. She understood now what had happened to him. Mia recalled the same thing happening to her when Nathan fed from her. Christian told her vampire venom acted like a heavy drug, which accounted for why Nathan hit the floor when she’d released him. That kind of power was a little heady and so were all the re-kindled emotions flooding her system.
God help her, she did love this man. She realized she could deal with this vampire thing and all the craziness that went with it, as long as she had Nathan by her side.
“Oh, mercy!” Julia exclaimed. “We heard a loud noise. Nathan are you hurt?”
Mia’s gaze shot up. Julia, Dimitri and Christian stood just inside the kitchen entryway. They each took in the scene with varying arrays of emotions. Christian pursed his lips and scowled. Dimitri grinned and glanced at Julia. Her brows raised then she smiled knowingly.
“Excuse us,” Dimitri said.
Moments after they exited, Nathan sat up. His movements were slow, measured. Mia glanced at the bite marks she made, worried. “I didn’t really know what I was doing. Did I hurt you?”
“Horribly. But I have some ideas about how you could ease my discomfort.” A mischievous grin inched across his face.
“I bet you do. Rotten man.”
They stood and Nathan wrapped his arms around her waist and stared at her. “I love you, Mia, and we will have a life together.”
Had this present threat not been hovering overhead like thunderheads capable of F5 tornados, Mia would be basking in the joy of their love. However, reality had returned and with it the fear she’d been feeling ever since Dimitri called Christian with the awful news.
Nathan either read her thoughts or sensed her unease, Mia thought, studying his troubled features. He frowned, then said, “It’s going to be okay, love, but you need to go back downstairs until the choppers arrive. Prepare your girls and have them pack, but quickly.”
She nodded. “You be careful, Nathan. If Isabella finds this place, I know you’ll have to face her. Don’t be a hero. I mean it. I can’t loose you.”
“You won’t. I have more to live for now than I’ve ever had in my life.”
They shared a brief, passionate kiss then parted.
Mia gathered enough sandwiches and potato salad for Dominic and the girls in case anyone got hungry later. Her and Nathan’s little episode had kept Dominic from his break. She felt her cheeks warm. Although she knew the witnesses to the scene understood, it still embarrassed her.
Whe
n Mia exited the elevator on the hospital level, she found Dannie, Dominic, Julia and Dimitri at the end of the hallway near the doctor’s suite all the women had been sharing. They spotted her seconds later and conversation ceased. Each of their expressions were tense and serious.
Concerned, she approached them. “What’s going on?”
Guilt squirmed in both Dannie and Dominic’s features. Julia and Dimitri appeared extraordinarily displeased. No one answered and another harsh wave of fear swept her for whatever disaster she was about to face next. “What’s happened now?” Mia demanded.
Julia muttered something in French, then glared at her. “It appears our children have developed an affinity for each other.”
“Very poor timing on your part, Dominic,” Dimitri said and scowled at his son. “You don’t need your head muddled with such things right now.”
Dominic shot him a challenging look. “I haven’t lost my focus. And talk about the pot calling the kettle black. How many times have I heard the story of how you and Mom met? You fell in love in a barn with Nazis surrounding you and a full blown battle in the background.”
Mia got it. For the last two days she’d noticed Dannie and Dominic with their heads together constantly talking, laughing. She’d paid it little mind, actually grateful Dominic seemed to be distracting Dannie from the troubles that faced her and the entire house. Her mind had been too centered on those same troubles to see the signs.
Her gaze honed on her daughter, who gave her a sharp look. Dannie grasped Dominic’s hand and said, “I’m not going to tolerate any judgements from you either, Mom. I like Dominic and I want to get to know him.”
Mia rolled her eyes and sent up a little prayer for wisdom. Her conscience couldn’t bring her to chastise the girl or Dominic after what she’d just done with Nathan. However, Mia was no longer human. Dannie was.
With as much calm as she could muster, she asked her daughter, “Have you any idea what will have to happen if you get to know him and really like him?”
Forever and a Night Page 22
