by Taft, J L
So what was her problem? As far as he could see from her side it was just sex. But she was obvious about not wanting him to get involved with her life. He wasn’t sure how he was going to change her mind.
He got up and dressed in his clothes from the day before. Trent was tired and not looking forward to the confrontation he was sure was waiting for him downstairs.
He entered the kitchen just in time to see her float the coffee filters to her hand as she dumped water in the coffeepot with the other.
She was lost in her thoughts and he took a moment to just look at her. Her hair hung halfway down her back. That flame-gold color he loved, catching the early light. It was wild this morning, probably from his lovemaking last night and her running her fingers through it today.
Her robe only covered her to mid-thigh and he suddenly wondered what she had on underneath it, if anything. He loved her skin. It was pale and covered in freckles. She even had them in the most unlikely places. Behind her knees, the back of her neck and her hips.
He was a goner. He knew it now. He had never noticed the little things about a woman before. All he had to do now was convince her. It wasn’t going to be easy.
But nothing in this life worth fighting for was easy.
She must have felt his gaze because she turned and caught him ogling her legs. A hint of a smile touched her mouth but it didn’t reach her eyes.
He knew she was going to tell him to hit the road but he wasn’t going to have it.
“Coffee?” she asked quietly.
He nodded and took a seat at her breakfast nook. It had been her rule not to share meals but apparently coffee didn’t count.
Once she sat across from him she said, “Trent, we can’t see each other anymore.”
She said it so easily that it pissed him off. He was so tired of hearing those words from her but here he was again after spending the night between her legs. “So I’m good enough to fuck when you feel like it but not good enough to be a part of your life?”
“It’s not like that,” she said quietly.
“Bullshit it isn’t!” he roared at her. “I took you to my grandmother to help you out and now that you have what you needed, you’re just going to push me out the door. What’s your plan? To find someone else to heat you up between the sheets?”
He knew he was hurting her, he could feel her withdrawing from him as he yelled at her, but damn it, he wasn’t going to give up easily and he was tired of this line from her.
“You’re the only one I want, Trent.”
He looked hard at her and still didn’t believe her. Tears welled in her eyes and he still refused to go easy on her.
“You want me when you need someone to pick up the pieces, that’s it. I’m convenient because I made myself available to you. I know about your secrets and we have this crazy connection. But it doesn’t mean you really want me. You just want a hot body in your bed, skin you can sink your nails into and a hard cock you can ride. The face doesn’t matter to you. All you want is the distraction.”
The tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. He felt bad for causing them but he had to get through to her somehow.
“I don’t want to fight with you,” she whispered.
“We either fight or we fuck. What’s it going to be?” he demanded as he slammed his hands down on her little table. The coffee cups wobbled and the dark liquid sloshed over the sides.
She stood and turned away, her shoulders shaking. “This is why I always use my spell. I can’t deal with this.”
It took a second for what she said to process.
“What spell? What the hell are you talking about?”
She turned to face him and her eyes were wide with shock. He suddenly knew she hadn’t intended for him to hear her.
“Nothing. Never mind,” she said as she grabbed some paper towels to clean up the spilled coffee.
He stood and grabbed her arm then softened his hold when she jerked in pain.
“What spell, Fiona? Tell me or so help me god I’m going to put you over my knee and give you the spanking of your life.”
Her eyes narrowed and her tears cleared up. Good. She was getting pissed. She jerked out of his hold and took a step back to glare up at him, her gaze shooting out fire.
If looks could kill he’d be a dead man.
“I don’t let people in on purpose, Trent. But I’m not a saint and do need the company of a man from time to time. So I pick one up and use a quick little spell that assures me when it’s over he will get up and go home. He knows the next morning he was with a woman but I am just as unmemorable as he is.”
He stared at her in shock. He knew she had a hard time letting anyone get close but this was over-the-top.
“Did you use it on me?” he growled.
“I tried, it didn’t work,” she threw at him.
“Son of a bitch.” He turned away from her and stuffed his feet into his boots. “I guess you’re right, Fiona. We don’t have to see each other anymore. Good luck.”
He slammed her front door a lot harder than necessary as he left. But he was so pissed and hurt that he didn’t give a shit.
Climbing on his bike, he headed back to his quiet apartment.
Fiona sat in her kitchen for a long time. Thoughts whirled through her head so quickly she couldn’t make sense of them.
She wished she hadn’t brought up her spell. It had hurt Trent and that was not what she intended. But she had wanted to make him shut up. His words had hit a little too close to home.
He was right. She had used him, at first. That was all it had started out as but it had changed into something else. She had admitted more than she wanted to when she had said she only wanted him.
It was the truth. A half-truth because he meant more to her than she realized. When he had slammed the door behind him she felt as though he had been kicking closed the door in her heart.
She suddenly felt wrung out and exhausted. Her steps were weary as she went up the stairs to her room. Falling into bed, she lay there for a long time, staring at the ceiling.
She didn’t cry. It was for the best. She had a job to do and she couldn’t worry about Trent. She refused to have him get hurt or worse, killed. She was much better off knowing he was alive somewhere instead of dead because of her.
She laid her head on the pillow that smelled like him and dozed off.
Fiona woke hours later, feeling groggy. Heaving her sore body out of bed, she slowly got to her feet.
The vision hit her as soon as she stood. Vision because she was awake this time. It came to her, dark at first and then gaining in power and clarity.
Two young women, holding on to each other, stumbling down the sidewalk leading to the center square in town. They were both pretty. One had short, spiky blonde hair and the other, long brown. Neither of them was over the drinking age.
They were heading out of the street-lit area of the inner city. Fiona knew what was waiting for them in the dark.
She saw this vamp for what he was, black-hearted and evil to the core. He would lure the unsuspecting girls in, kill one quickly and drag the other one off to his den for days of suffering.
She wanted to kill this time.
There was no more time for self-pity and she hurried to the bathroom. A quick shower loosened her muscles and she dressed in her hunter outfit. Grabbing her sword and sliding it into the holster on her back then strapping her silver stakes around her thigh, she headed for the door and her car.
There was no time to waste. There never was.
She knew where she was going. She grew up in this town and knew all the roads well enough to take the fastest route without thinking about it.
Her tires squealed as she spun around and stepped on the gas. She took the streets faster than was safe and kept praying she wouldn’t be pulled over. She had no time to stop.
She came to a screeching halt at the opposite side of the park the girls had entered. She was far enough away that she wasn’t worried abo
ut the noise she was making.
It had been uncomfortable to drive with her sword on her back but she was glad for it now.
Taking off at a dead run, she headed to the center of the park. It was also the darkest part but it offered the cover of several groups of trees.
She slowed when she heard voices. The vamp had his back to her and she could just make out the shapes of the two girls.
He was flirting with them, making them giggle with his wild pronouncements of their beauty. But they were too drunk and too young to realize he was moving closer to them with each sugar-coated line he spoke.
They would be no match for his strength and he would be able to take them both without any problem. Fiona had to act quickly.
Unsheathing her sword, she crept closer. The vamp’s intent was clear and she could smell the blood on him from his other kills that night.
She wasn’t going to wait. Stepping up behind the vamp, she closed the distance quietly. The girls saw her first and their eyes went round with fright.
“Leave,” she growled at them. They turned tail and ran back the way they had come as the vamp turned on her.
He growled low in his throat as he crouched, ready to pounce on her.
“You have chased away my dessert, woman,” he said as he leapt at her.
She hesitated for a brief second and then he was on her. His body was heavy and hard as he fell on top. She stumbled and lost her balance, falling backward to the ground.
His full weight held her pinned and he clenched his fingers around her throat. He squeezed tighter as he laughed evilly above her.
“I can’t wait to tell everyone I killed a hunter,” he gleefully sneered down at her. “But don’t worry. I won’t drink your blood. You’re not good enough for that. I’m going to squeeze the air from your fragile lungs and then I’m going to cut your head off with your own sword.”
Fiona didn’t doubt his words. She let go of her sword. It was too long to do her any good in this position. Grabbing a stake from her thigh strap, she jammed it as far into his side as she could.
He bellowed and released his hold on her neck. She sucked in a much-needed breath and twisted under him. The quick move knocked him sideways and before he hit the ground his body turned to ash.
She stood and picked up her sword. As she stared down at the spot where the vamp had been moments before, she started to shake. She took off for her car at a dead run, as if the hounds of hell were chasing her.
By the time Fiona got home her neck was throbbing and starting to bruise. She knew she should be happy she had been in time to save the girls but the elation she had felt before was gone.
The drive home had calmed her and she had stopped shaking but the killing was hard to deal with when it was over and she was alone.
All she felt was tired and lonely. She showered and fell into bed exhausted but couldn’t sleep. Her thoughts were consumed by Trent.
She wondered if she was feeling so strange about tonight’s hunt because he wasn’t there to share it with.
Stop it, Fiona! You did the right thing.
But, lying in bed alone, she didn’t feel right. She couldn’t deny the sharp stab of disappointment when she got home and found he wasn’t waiting for her.
She couldn’t allow him to be killed by being a part of her life. Everything had changed for her and she needed to stay focused.
Trent was busy pacing his apartment while Fiona was trying to sleep. It had been pure torture to know she was out hunting and there was nothing he could do to help her.
His talent had been late in showing up tonight. He had been distracted by his anger at her for using a spell on him. While he knew it hadn’t worked, it still hurt like hell to know she hadn’t wanted anything more from him than sex right from the beginning.
He had only caught the tail end of what had happened tonight. He knew she had saved those two stupid girls and had killed the vamp.
He knew she had made it home safely. But something was wrong. He could feel it but he couldn’t figure it out.
He sat heavily in his recliner and leaned back, closing his eyes. He pulled out a pair of her panties he had stolen from her room that morning. It was easier for him to connect with her if he held something that was hers.
He ran his fingers over the black lace of the thong and waited, slowing his breathing and relaxing into his chair.
She was in bed, sleeping, but restlessly. Suddenly her eyes opened and she got up to go into the bathroom. The light came on and she stared at her reflection in the mirror. It was only a brief flash but it was enough.
It was then he saw the dark-purple bruise on her throat.
“Son of a bitch!” he roared as he jumped from his chair and left his apartment.
He didn’t care if she didn’t want to see him, she was hurt and she needed him whether she was willing to admit it or not.
Fiona heard the pounding on her door just as she was headed back to bed with a bottle of pain reliever and a couple ice packs.
She stood undecided for a second before she moved to open it. She knew it was Trent. She could feel his anger through the wood.
Heaving a sigh, knowing he wasn’t going to go away, she opened the door. He strode past her and stopped, leaving his back to her.
Fiona closed it and waited, not knowing what to say. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold on but knew she couldn’t do that. Not after this morning.
“Trent?” she whispered.
He turned to her and his gaze was tortured, his body held tense.
“Damn it, Fiona,” he said before scooping her into his arms and striding to the couch. He sat and held her tightly in his lap.
The position hurt her neck a bit but otherwise it felt so good she didn’t want to move. She absorbed his heat and the feeling of safety in his arms. It was the one place she didn’t have to be the strong one.
She liked that he always held her like this. She fit perfectly against him.
“Why did you come, Trent?” she asked him. He wouldn’t meet her gaze and she laid a hand on his cheek so he would look at her.
“You’re hurt.”
She smirked up at him. He made it seem so simple.
“I’m okay. Did you see what happened?”
“I didn’t. I didn’t even know you were hurt until you were already home. How did that vamp get the upper hand?”
He seemed so shocked it would happen that she smiled again. He boosted her confidence in her new skills and she could use it right now.
“I hesitated,” she told him. “I don’t know why and it happened so fast.” She still didn’t understand what had happened herself so it was hard to explain.
Trent ran his hand down her cheek. “It happens. I’ve seen it before. No matter how ready you think you are for something it can still make you freeze up. That part will pass.”
He looked as though he was about to say something and then decided not to. He sighed. “I just hate that you put yourself in danger.”
“It can’t be changed,” she whispered. She ran her thumb over the scars on his face and he closed his eyes for a second. “You did the same. I know you haven’t told me what happened to you, where you got these scars, but I know that you put yourself in danger.”
“That’s different.”
“How so?”
“I was a special-ops Marine and I had a team behind me. I wasn’t alone.”
“You were their commander?” she asked, hoping he would open up and tell her what had happened to him.
“Yeah, we were on a mission to save a kid who had amazing computer-hacking skills. Some thugs who ran a drug ring in Columbia had kidnapped him. They wanted him to do their dirty work and hack into the US government systems. We got a tip from one of my sources in the area and we went in to get him. I realized too late that it was a trap.”
He was quiet for a moment and she knew he was reliving the horror of that day.
“Looking back now, I wonder if it was my ta
lent that got us out of that mess. We did get him out but the location of our extraction had been betrayed and they were waiting for us. I got my team and the kid out but they threw a grenade as we were taking off in the chopper. I wasn’t all the way in yet and the blast caught this side of my face.”
He ran his fingers over it and she felt his pain.
“I spent two months in a hospital having surgery after surgery and when it was all said and done my discharge papers were waiting for me. Oh sure, they gave me a medal but they had taken the one thing away from me that I was good at.”
“But you made a difference, Trent, and saved that kid from a life he didn’t want,” she told him.
His eyes refocused on her and she felt that flash burn in between her legs. He was everything she had ever wanted in a man and now she had found him she couldn’t keep him. Life was so unfair.
“I know, but I sacrificed my life in the end and if I could go back now I’m not sure I would have made the same choices,” he told her.
“You would have. I know that. You had a job, a duty to do and you did it without any thought to what the consequences to yourself would be. That’s how I feel about being a hunter. It makes me special, important in a way that I have never felt before,” she confided in him.
“Maybe so, but I want you to understand that it leaves you empty in the end, Fiona.”
He was probably right. The kills she had made already left her feeling hollow and unfulfilled. Was he trying to tell her it would never go away? That it would only get worse? It wasn’t a comforting thought.
It was just one more reason why they couldn’t be together permanently as much as she wished they could.
But he was here now. She knew she was weak to give in again but her heart couldn’t take sending him away tonight.
She just had to make him understand it was only sex.
Chapter Twelve
Trent noticed the change in her immediately. Her body softened against him and her gaze went slumberous.
While he had told her things he had never shared with another living soul, he wasn’t done talking to her yet.
