“You’re a dumbass,” he muttered to himself.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Dressed in sleep shorts and a tank top, Talia made her way to Drew’s room for their movie night. She was playing with fire, tempting them both. She’d started out in jeans and a t-shirt, wanting to make it clear—mostly to herself—that this wasn’t going to turn into another sleepover. Then, she’d realized she was just lying to herself.
“I’m such an idiot,” she muttered. “Nothing is going to happen. Nothing can happen.”
When she got to Drew’s room, she raised a fist to knock and then froze. Fist in midair, she just stared at the door, almost afraid to take the next step. This wasn’t like her, and she refused to act like some twittering teen with a crush.
Her fist made contact with the door three times, probably harder than it needed to.
Drew answered the door with an arrogant smirk on his face. She took sick pleasure in the fact that his smirk disappeared when he noticed what she was wearing.
I cannot have sex with Drew, she reminded herself. Even she had to admit that was a stupid thought when she’d shown up dressed for a naughty pajama party. She could have worn pajama pants. Instead, she’d picked the closest thing to sexy lingerie she owned.
“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” he asked with a humorless laugh as he stepped aside to let her in the room.
“Believe it or not, this seemed like a really good idea when I was getting ready,” she assured him, walking into his room, which was nearly as big as her apartment.
“I’d like to hear this story,” he muttered before reaching into his armoire and tossing a hoodie her way. “Please put that on so I can think about something other than your boobs.”
Talia slipped the hoodie over her head and inhaled deeply, nearly shuddering as Drew’s scent wrapped around her.
“My reasoning is stupid,” she admitted. “I figured, if I fell asleep, I could just sleep here. I tried convincing myself I could spend the night in your room and it would be completely innocent.”
“You can definitely spend the night without me trying to get you naked, but I’m getting tired of pretending there’s anything innocent about what’s going on between us,” he admitted, before quickly adding, “I’m not good at this shit. I really value your friendship, and I won’t fuck this up. At least, I hope I won’t fuck this up. Fucking things up is what I’m good at.”
“I seem to be the one messing things up tonight. If things were different in my life, I’d want to try dating or something like that. Ugh!” Talia buried her face in her hands before meeting his eyes and continuing. “I can’t believe I said that. You confuse me.”
Drew nodded, a sad look passing over his face before he smiled and moved forward to hug her. His arms wrapped around her and he sighed. “Am I the only one who feels more relaxed now that we’ve admitted to all this?”
She pulled back and shook her head. “No, you’re not alone. I’ve been trying to convince myself it’s nothing part of the time. The rest of the time, I’ve been trying to avoid having you figure out how I feel. That last part felt really ridiculous since I was certain you knew.”
“I wasn’t sure,” he admitted. “It’s harder since I can’t read you sexually. I like that about you, but it made it harder to know if I was just seeing what I wanted to.”
“What are we watching?” she asked, desperately looking for a change of subject.
“You can watch whatever you want after you answer one question,” Drew told her.
“What question?” she asked.
“When you dressed in those little shorts and the tank top, were you thinking about seducing me?” His eyes locked with hers.
“Yes,” she admitted. “I can’t, and I know this makes it seem like I’m playing games with you. I came to your room wanting to seduce you when I know I can’t do it.”
“Wanting things you can’t have is something I completely understand,” he assured her. “I’m glad you want me, but more than that, I’m glad you’re not avoiding me because of it.” One corner of his mouth kicked up in a smile. “You get to pick the movie. Just don’t torture me with a teen romance. I hate that shit.”
“The words teen and romance should never be used in the same sentence,” she said with a shudder.
As they discussed their mutual hatred of teen romances, Talia’s tension melted away. She believed him when he said he wouldn’t do anything to mess up their friendship.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“That movie was terrible,” Drew complained.
They were lying on his bed because, apparently, they both loved tempting fate. He was propped up on some pillows with his back to the headboard, while Talia was lying on her stomach, resting her chin on her hands. One might think that was an improvement since he was too far away to lean over and kiss her, but it gave him a better view of her long legs and firm ass—an ass he wanted to grip in his hands so badly, he was clenching his fists to prevent himself from giving in to temptation.
“It wasn’t that bad,” she argued, rolling onto her back to look at him. “There was a lot of action.”
“The romance part was ridiculous,” he insisted. “That guy was a dick to her the whole time. He treated her like crap, but I’m supposed to believe she was in love with him. I might have bought that if she had no self-esteem, but the chick was a total badass who didn’t need any man. Except, she needs a dickhead who insults her and has a temper tantrum every time things don’t go his way.”
Talia laughed, and the sound went straight to his dick. It also made him smile.
“I can’t believe the only part of the movie you want to critique is the romance,” she said with a shake of her head. “It was an action film.”
Drew snorted. “They should have just kept it that way then. The dickhead didn’t deserve a love story. You wanna watch another movie?”
Talia yawned. “Sorry, I’m really tired. I should probably head back to my room.”
“Stay.” That one word hung between them. He knew she wanted to stay, but he was worried their talk earlier would make her hesitant to sleep with him again.
Talia moved to the head of the bed. “I can’t sleep in this hoodie.”
“It’s fine,” Drew assured her. “We’ll both be asleep.”
When Talia slipped the hoodie over her head, Drew couldn’t stop himself from drinking in the sight of her. “Where’s your hunter’s mark?” he asked, realizing he’d never seen it.
“On my hip,” Talia replied, getting to her knees to lift her shorts just enough for him to see the bottom part of the arrow-shaped mark. After pushing her shorts back down, she laid beside him.
Drew stripped off his shirt but hesitated with his hands on the top button of his jeans.
“You can’t sleep in those,” she told him. “Besides, I’ve already seen you in your boxers.”
Drew nodded and stripped off his jeans with his back to Talia so his erection wouldn’t be as obvious. “We’re idiots,” he muttered as he climbed back into bed.
“Masochists is the word I’d planned to use,” she added with a weak laugh, rolling to her side to face him.
Drew rolled to face her. Despite the fact that they were sharing a huge bed, they were so close, he couldn’t resist the temptation to reach out and place his hand on her bare thigh. She was right about them being masochists. Each knew this wouldn’t go where they wanted it to, but they were still lying in bed together. He’d meant what he’d told Trish about letting things progress naturally, but Talia was clearly not ready for more.
Drew’s hand slid under the edge of her shorts—a bold move he half-expected to get slapped for. It was worth the risk. He wanted to run his fingers over her hunter’s mark. He’d run his fingers along Phoenix’s hunter’s mark many times all those years ago. Back then, he’d believed it was a tattoo. There’d been no ridges or rough spots, nothing that felt any different from the surrounding skin. That was the case with all hunter’s mar
ks.
It was only his years of experience at schooling his features that allowed him to hide his reaction. His fingers had no trouble finding Talia’s hunter’s mark. In fact, he was sure he could trace the entire thing without looking at it. It was raised slightly in areas. Recently, he’d learned a little about spelled tattoos done by witches. The spells put in the ink caused scarring on vampires, which was why most witches refused to tattoo vampires. It made them look bad to have a tattoo that was so uneven—one like the tattoo Talia was passing off as a hunter’s mark. When he’d looked at it, he’d seen only smooth skin, probably due to a spell.
Studying Talia’s deep blue eyes, and the line of her brow, he understood why Talia believed she had to be alone. Her secret was huge, and it could get her killed. If he admitted to knowing the truth, she might push him away. He might lose her. There was also a chance she’d decide that since he already knew her secret, there was no longer any reason to pretend. Either way, it wasn’t the time to tell her what he’d discovered.
“Why are you looking at me that way?” she asked, her gaze shifting to his hand that had slid under the edge of her shorts.
“Just wondering if you’re going to slap me for this,” he lied, flashing a cocky grin.
She snorted. “You’d like that too much.”
He laughed, taking his hand off her hip and reaching up to cup her cheek. What he was about to do was a bad idea, but he still found himself leaning in until his lips barely brushed against hers. It wasn’t really a kiss so much as a promise of a kiss. “Sweet dreams,” he breathed out, close to her mouth.
“Goodnight, Drew,” she replied, rolling away from him. “Thank you for tonight.”
“I’ll always be here for you,” he promised quietly. “No matter what, I’m here for you.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Corbin watched Nicola pace the confines of their suite. Her usually neat black hair was a tangled mess. She was coming completely unraveled, and he wanted to laugh at her loss of control. He’d spent very little time around Nicola, even when they’d both been members of the order. They were only working together out of necessity. Nicola and the other hunters in the order all thought his kind should be wiped from existence.
“I can’t believe she got away from us!” Nicola screeched, tugging at her black hair hard enough that Corbin was amazed chunks of it didn’t come out in her hands. “Creating her was a huge mistake, and letting her live was nothing short of stupidity. What were those morons thinking?”
Corbin sighed, knowing she was once again going to complain about how this was all the fault of the vampires. He’d given up on reminding her that hunters had also been involved in the plot to keep the girl alive. She was too unstable to bother reasoning with her. He’d also come to appreciate those who’d kept the girl alive. Nicola was a fool for failing to see what a miracle his daughter was—a miracle Corbin intended to protect from the bitch and the others.
“I shouldn’t be forced to work with stupid, arrogant vampires!” Nicola shouted. “You should all be dead! This is why we need to get back to the way things were meant to be. Hunters were born to kill vampires.”
Nicola was so engrossed in her own ranting, she didn’t notice Corbin behind her until it was too late. The knife slipped between her ribs, ending the miserable bitch’s complaints. If all was going according to plan, the hunters outside the room would soon be dead, as well.
Smiling, Corbin shoved Nicola forward, the knife still in her black heart. He ignored her calls for help as she lived out the last minutes of her life.
Pulling the old photograph from his shirt pocket, he brushed his thumb across the face of the little girl. “You are too precious to be destroyed.”
“Fool,” Nicola wheezed out, as she struggled to reach the knife in her back.
Corbin slammed the heel of his boot into the hilt of the knife, eliciting a scream from Nicola.
“Poor Nicola,” he crooned as she gasped and whimpered. Crouching beside her, he gripped her hair and pulled her head back, waving the other knife in front of her face. “You won’t be around to see the war we both wanted, but you can die knowing you helped start it. Your death this time will be much more effective than your faked death. I can’t wait to see what happens when the hunters find your body.” On those final words, he slit her throat.
The shock in her eyes was priceless as she bled out onto the carpet of the hotel room floor. He released a sigh of relief as the room fell nearly silent. After weeks of her incessant nagging, he deserved some peace.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Once again, Talia awoke wrapped in Drew’s arms with his erection pressed against her ass.
“This is becoming a habit,” Drew murmured close to her ear.
“A bad habit,” she breathed out. “Nice, but bad.”
“It is nice,” Drew agreed.
The banging on Drew’s door was followed by Mason’s bellow. “Talia! We have a big fucking problem!”
“Shit,” Talia grumbled. “Mason is not going to understand this.”
“He can join the club,” Drew told her.
Talia climbed out of bed and slipped on Drew’s delicious smelling hoodie before walking to the door to deal with Mason.
When she opened the door, she expected Mason to be angry. Instead, he looked worried.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Our uncle is here,” Mason began.
That came as a surprise since their uncle rarely made appearances. Many older hunters were like that. They’d lived in a time when their lives were defined by the hunt. Her uncle had often told her things were better now. He believed peace with vampires was a good thing, but he seemed lost, not sure what he was supposed do with his life. Other than training hunters, there really wasn’t much to do.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Mason replied with a sigh. “He wants to update us both at the same time.”
Mason didn’t wait for her reply before stalking off. Her uncle wouldn’t be pleased if he found out about her and Drew, so she hoped Mason didn’t say anything.
“I need to go back to my room to dress,” she said, trying not to shudder at the sensation of Drew standing right behind her. The warmth from his body caressed her skin. Every moment with Drew made it harder to resist him, proving she was a fool.
“Do you think this is about the hunters and vampires looking for Shayla?” Drew asked.
“That would be my guess,” she replied, thankful when he took two steps back as she turned to face him. “It seems unlikely he’d show up just to talk. If he didn’t have really important information, he would have called Mason. My uncle is not a people person.”
“I’m sure they put him in the main sitting room,” Drew remarked thoughtfully. “I’ll throw some clothes on and meet you outside your room. We can walk over together.”
“It might be best to see how he feels about meeting everyone first,” she suggested. “My uncle is old, and he doesn’t react well when things don’t go his way. There’s no telling what kind of mood he’s in.”
Drew turned and walked toward his closet. “This affects us, too. I’m sure Justin or Isaiah already called Roman. Your uncle may not like it, but he’s not in charge.”
“I’m only saying this because my uncle can be intimidating when he feels backed into a corner,” Talia tried explaining. It was hard describing her uncle’s special brand of crazy. “He’s not sane.”
Drew looked at her over his shoulder, flashing a cocky smirk. “I can handle crazy, babe.”
Talia laughed. “You say that now. Let’s see how you feel in an hour.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
As they waited for Roman’s arrival to start the meeting, Drew was ready to admit Talia might be right about her uncle. Gareth was crazy in a way he’d never experienced. On the surface, he looked normal. In fact, if one didn’t listen carefully to the words coming out of his mouth, they might even think he was sane. D
rew had expected a mountain of muscle much like Mason, but he was probably no taller than five-foot-seven with a slight build. His black hair was neatly trimmed, as was his beard. His sea green eyes were the same shade as Mason’s.
They’d been in the sitting room for the last hour, waiting for Roman. Gareth had agreed to wait after discovering Nixie was there. The hunter was fascinated with her. He’d been on the sofa, holding her hand and chatting with her for most of the hour.
“I am glad you’re supportive of my relationship with Isaiah,” Nixie told him.
“As I said, it wasn’t easy for Buffy and Angel, but they loved each other.” A tear formed at the corner of Gareth’s eye.
When Gareth had begun discussing Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Drew had been certain he was fucking with them. After his critique of the books, movie, and television series, Drew realized Gareth was completely off his rocker. It wasn’t just his love of all things Buffy, so much as those moments when Gareth seemed to believe they were real people.
“I don’t know how that poor girl ended up on her own,” he mused to himself. “There’s simply no reason for her training to have started so late in life, as I’m sure you already know, Phoenix. Talia and Mason both started training at five. Buffy’s trainer didn’t even find her until she was a teenager. It’s most unusual.”
“That is strange,” Nixie agreed, giving Gareth a patient smile. “Would you like something to eat while we wait?”
“No, dear,” he replied before his eyes scanned the room. He stopped when he got to Drew, and he studied him in an unnerving way. “What was your name again?”
“Drew,” he replied.
“All Draksel vampires look the same. You should grow a beard,” he suggested but didn’t give Drew time to respond before continuing. “Where is the breeder?”
“Shayla doesn’t want to meet you. She’s afraid of being forced to live among hunters again,” Nixie replied.
Wicked Crazy Vampire Love (Psy-Vamp Book 7) Page 12
