Stepping out of the hallway, the sound of the TV pulled him toward the only room with a television in it. He found Vicky lounging on the couch with her legs draped over one of its arms. Her feet swung back and forth as she watched the news.
“Anything good going on in the world?” he asked her.
“Is there ever?” she replied without looking at him.
“No.”
She pulled her feet back when he walked over to perch on the arm of the couch. His mind drifted to Mia as images of government officials flashed by on the screen. There had to be something he could do to make her smile, to bring her some happiness.
The nudge of Vicky’s toe in his side pulled him from his thoughts. “You ever been to the center of the maze out back?” she asked.
“A few times,” he replied.
“It’s pretty romantic.”
He couldn’t help but smile even as he shook his head at her. “Playing Cupid now?”
“That’s Abby’s department. I’m just saying it’s really pretty out there. You’re the one who jumped to Cupid.”
“So I did,” he turned his attention back to the TV. “I’m pretty sure that’s also become Brian and Abby’s spot.”
“True.” Vicky nudged him with her toe again. He arched an eyebrow at her when he turned to look at her. “There’s a lake out behind the maze. I discovered it last week. The hedges for the maze keep it blocked out, and I think most don’t know it’s there because they’re always focused on the maze. It’s really pretty and peaceful.”
“I’m sure it is.”
Vicky returned to staring at the TV. “Thought I’d let you know about it.”
He rested his hand on her calf, drawing her attention back to him. “Thank you.”
She grinned at him and put her foot into his side below his ribs. “Don’t mention it,” she replied, then shoved him off the arm of the couch. “See you later, Shemp.”
“Just when I think one of you kids might not be such an asshole, you prove me wrong.”
Vicky’s laughter followed him out of the room.
CHAPTER 6
“It’s beautiful,” Mia breathed as she gazed at the pristine lake water. The fresh snowfall early this morning clung to the branches of the willows dipping toward the water. The white-covered world around them reflected in the dark blue water in such a way that it was almost as if she gazed into a mirror image of their world.
“It is,” David agreed.
She looked at him as he stood beside the lake with his hands shoved into his coat pockets. The wind had tousled his hair in a boyish way. His eyes were the color of a robin’s egg in the early morning sun filtering over him. Her fingernails dug into her palms as she resisted reaching out to stroke the dark blond stubble lining his jaw.
She wanted to be able to melt against him, to give him everything she knew he deserved from a woman. To take the pleasure she knew he could give to her. His kiss had nearly set her blood on fire. What he could do to her with his hands and tongue might just make her spontaneously combust, if she didn’t have a panic attack first. That if was more like a guarantee though.
After their conversation about mates yesterday, he’d stayed away from her for the rest of the day and night. It had been the longest she’d gone without seeing him since he’d pulled her out of that warehouse. She’d spent all night tossing and turning with the fear that he’d realized she was right, that he deserved better than her for a mate.
There had been numerous nights, after she’d first been freed, when the sound of her crying out from her nightmares had woken David and drawn him into her room. Unwilling to be alone, she hadn’t complained when he’d settled into a chair beside her bed and sat with her for the rest of the night.
Most times, she never fell back asleep and would watch him as he watched her, afraid that if she took her eyes off him for one second, he’d vanish. She never would have made it through those nights, and the many that had followed, without him. Perhaps she should have wondered then if there was something more between them than a burgeoning sort of friendship, but she hadn’t been able to think past getting through one minute at a time.
She hadn’t realized how much he’d come to mean to her until she’d gone nearly a day without seeing him. She’d repeatedly cursed herself for being such an emotional wreck while she’d trudged her way into the shower that morning. Convinced he’d decided to go back home without her and find a normal woman, she’d felt as if her heart were made of lead while she dressed. To her dismay, she’d realized how much she would miss him and had already come to rely on him.
Then she’d heard a knock on her door. She’d practically tripped over her own feet to answer it when she caught his scent on the other side. Breathless when she’d flung the door open, she’d nearly thrown herself into his arms before he could ask her to go for a walk. She’d somehow managed to compose herself enough to make it to the lake with him, but that need for more of him was growing within her again.
Without thinking, she stepped closer to him, drawing his attention to her. In his eyes, she saw the same desperate want that churned within her. Lines crinkled the edges of his eyes as his jaw locked.
“Let’s take a walk around the lake,” he suggested.
Mia bit her bottom lip as she tried to control the ache in her body while she gazed at him. “Yes,” she managed to choke out.
He made a move as if to take hold of her hand before lowering his hand to his side. Feeling beat down, Mia kicked her feet through the thin layer of powdery snow. She kept her focus on her borrowed boots, which were a size too big on her, as they made their way leisurely around the lake.
Lifting her head, she gazed at the trees. No breeze stirred their white-coated limbs. The birds didn’t even chirrup, and nothing moved through the forest while they walked. A peaceful hush hung over the world around them.
“It’s like we’re the only ones who exist here,” she murmured. “As if time has stood completely still.”
David tore his gaze away from her to take in their surroundings. “It does seem that way.”
“I know it’s not your home, but do you like it here?” she asked.
“At the training facility or by this lake?”
She smiled as she tipped back her head to look at him. “The training facility.”
David hesitated as he debated how to answer her question. He didn’t want her to possibly feel bad about him still being there if he told her the truth, yet he couldn’t lie to her. “Not really,” he admitted. “The lack of laughter isn’t something I’m used to. It’s far too serious for my liking. And the wallpaper in my room is enough to drive a man insane.”
Mia stopped walking to face him. She’d stood in the doorway of his room a few times. “It is pretty awful in there. All I can think is ‘Redrum’ every time I see it.”
He chuckled as some of the tension eased from him. “If I turn into Jack Torrance from The Shining and start wielding an ax, you’ll know why.”
Mia laughed. “I can’t see you as a psycho.”
His eyes twinkled in the rays of the sun filtering over him. Those rays caressed his body in a way that emphasized his broad shoulders and gentle smile. There was something so open and honest about his smile and demeanor. Unlike others she’d encountered during her time running around the streets, and then in captivity, nothing sinister lurked beneath David’s surface. With him, what she saw was what she got, and she wanted more of it.
Before she could think about her intentions, she pulled off a mitten and stretched up to brush back a strand of blond hair falling to the corner of his eye. He didn’t move to touch her when her fingers stroked across his temple and down the angles of his cheekbone.
His skin was smooth, a strong contrast to the stubble she came into contact with next. The coarse hairs along his jaw prickled against her fingers as she ran them over his jaw and around to his chin. The predatory way he watched her made her pulse pick up. Her increasing breaths caused a steady plu
me of steam to form in the chilly air as she dared to dip her fingers toward his neck.
David watched the fascination playing over Mia’s face as she continued to explore him. He’d been touched by many women over the years, but none of them had ever stroked him with such reverence. He wanted more of it, more of her.
His fangs lengthened when his eyes latched onto the pulse beating within her neck. After what she’d been through, she might never allow another to feed from her again, but he desperately longed to taste her.
The muscles in his forearms flexed when her fingertips rested against the vein in his throat. The heightened scent of her arousal caused his cock to harden in response. He gritted his teeth against the growing pressure of his erection. If she let him touch her, he’d have her stripped and be inside of her between this heartbeat and the next.
With a restraint he’d never known he possessed, he remained unmoving while she continued her exploration of him. The only way anything between them would progress was if she trusted him, and that would require patience.
She ran her fingers over his mouth. Her eyes dilated when she saw the tips of his fangs, and she licked her lips. Her dampened lips caused something within him to unravel. He lifted his hand to rest it over hers.
The gentle touch didn’t cause the panic to immediately well within her, but Mia didn’t know if it would soon. Sometimes, just when she thought she was perfectly fine, the panic would hit her out of nowhere, and she didn’t want to take the chance of that happening right then. She was enjoying herself too much to risk ruining it by having a meltdown.
“Please just let me touch you,” she whispered.
He suppressed a groan as his hand fell back to his side. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve such exquisite torture, but he knew he’d never deny her anything she asked of him. Mia’s fingers dipped to the hollow of his throat. She ran them along the edge of his coat collar.
“Unzip it,” he said hoarsely.
Mia’s eyes flew up to his when he uttered the gruff command. “It’s cold out,” she protested.
“I’m anything but cold right now, Mia,” he replied.
She swayed instinctively toward him as liquid heat spread between her legs. Like him, she was anything but cold. Her hands trembled as she pulled off her other mitten and shoved them both into her pockets. Taking hold of the coat’s zipper she tugged it. When it was halfway down, she spread the heavy material wider and slipped her hands inside. She rested her hands on his chest, savoring the heat of his body as his skin rippled beneath her palms. The rigid muscle of his pectorals flexed when she moved her fingers over them. His heart beat so wildly she could feel every pulse of it against his ribs as if it were her own.
She inhaled the increasing scent of him as she slid lower over his chest toward his stomach. Her movements pushed the zipper farther down until her hands rested against the hard ridges of his abs beneath his navy blue sweater.
She’d never felt this attuned to anyone before, never been so aware of another’s reaction to her as his muscles and skin rippled in reaction to her touch. Images of running her tongue over the entire length of him, of tasting every inch of his hard body, flashed through her mind until her knees went weak.
“You feel… amazing,” she breathed.
“Do whatever you wish to me. I won’t touch you until you tell me to,” he promised. The way she pulled her plump lower lip between her teeth and nibbled on it had his cock hardening to the point of pain. He deserved to be named a saint after this, but he wouldn’t touch her, not until she gave him the okay to do so.
“Anything?” she asked as her eyes flew up to his.
“Anything.”
Her fingers slid lower to tug at the edge of his sweater. She pulled it up a few inches to reveal his tanned skin beneath. Between his woodsy scent, golden skin, and athletic body, David seemed to be made of the outdoors.
Before she could think, she flattened her palms against him and whimpered at the exquisite feel of his smooth skin stretched taut over his etched muscles. She traced every line of his abdomen before running her fingers down the trail of blond hair from his belly button to the waistline of his jeans. She drank in the evidence of his need for her in the heavy bulge outlined against his jeans.
The wetness between her legs grew as she imagined taking him deep within her and riding him until both of them were too exhausted to move. But that would mean being close to someone in a way she’d never been close with anyone before. She’d been with multiple men over the years, but she’d never been close with any of her partners. She didn’t even remember their names; they had simply been a diversion.
She would be close with David though. She would be opening herself up to him in ways that mattered far more to her than sex did. Was she ready for that? No, she wasn’t, or at least she didn’t think she was. However, she’d long ago started living in the now. The past was too painful to stay in, the future too uncertain.
She may not be ready for what might develop with David, but right then she wanted to feel more of him, to explore him further. Standing in the snow, at the edge of a lake, was not the way to do that.
“I think we should go back to the compound,” she said.
David’s breath exploded from him in a plume that danced in the air. Patience, he reminded himself. He’d never been an impatient man; he’d never seen the point of it. Things would happen as they did and in their time. Trying to rush them wouldn’t make it happen any faster.
But his instincts were screaming at him to take her, to brand her, to make her his. He couldn’t do any of those things, yet, but he’d been enjoying watching her explore him. He wasn’t ready to have that stop.
“Then we will go,” he somehow managed to get out.
Mia slid her hands away from his stomach, dipping them lower to his jeans where she cupped his heavy balls and throbbing erection. His lips skimmed back to reveal his lengthy fangs. She made a mewling noise the likes of which she’d never heard from herself before, as those fangs caused the yearning in her to grow deeper.
She’d been abused by those vampires who had placed her in chains. They’d hurt her in ways she’d never known possible when they’d drained her blood unwillingly from her, but she knew it wasn’t always excruciating when vampires exchanged blood. And right now she craved David’s bite almost as much as she craved his body.
“We are not done,” she murmured.
David thought his heart was going to tear out of his chest when she said those words, and her hand stroked the rigid length of him through his jeans. If she would have allowed it, he would have scooped her up in his arms and run all the way back to the mansion with her. Instead, he watched as she stepped back and turned away from him.
CHAPTER 7
Mia had been with nearly two dozen men after her parents died, and had sex countless times, but the consuming need she felt for David was something new to her. With those other men, she’d been seeking comfort. She’d been looking to ease her curiosity about sex and a man’s body. Looking to be in the now and to be close to someone again no matter how briefly.
Human or vampire, it hadn’t mattered which she took into her bed, as long as she found them attractive and she could bury her sadness in sex for a bit.
Her first time with a man had been a month after the fire. At the time, she knew his name, but she only remembered him as number one now. She’d been able to forget her heartache for a bit in him, but she’d felt lost and alone again when they were done. However, those moments of experiencing flesh against flesh and having someone hold her in their arms had been a brief reprieve from her life. Those moments of being able to forget, no matter how small they were, had been addicting.
Before the fire, she would have waited forever until her mate came along before having sex. After, she hadn’t believed in anything enough to continue to believe she would find her mate.
Though, at one time she’d truly believed that she’d felt her mate out there, somewhere. Or
at least she thought she’d felt him waiting for her, back in the days when she’d been a teenager concocting silly fantasies of perfect worlds and perfect happiness.
Mia realized now that dreams of perfection were absurd, but she may have been right about one thing—her mate really might have been out there waiting for her already.
If David truly was her mate, and she was beginning to believe he was, why couldn’t she have found him sooner? When she’d been so lost and alone after the fire? When no one had cared if she lived or died, not even her on some days?
The loneliness and misery following the deaths of her parents had been an unending gulf of despair that had threatened to ruin her, and it nearly had. She could have used someone to lean on then, to hold her and care for her, to let her know she was still loved when she’d never felt more unloved in her life.
But who would she be now, if she had lost herself in another that way, even if that other was her mate?
Her childhood had been sheltered and she’d known nothing but love. She’d never had to stand on her own. She would do anything to go back and change the night of the fire, to save her parents, but though there were times she’d hated herself over the years, hated her life and the things she’d done to survive, she was also proud of the fact that she was still here. That somehow she, a cloistered child who had never known hardship, had managed to survive things that would have broken others completely.
Sure, she had some serious issues that frustrated her to no end, and she’d made numerous mistakes, had things she would change in her life, but she was still here. She would survive this and get through it the best she could, just as she had everything else.
The first four years after the fire had been grueling, but one day when she was twenty-two, she’d sat herself down and taken a good look at her life. The newest vampire she’d been seeking comfort from had walked out her door without so much as a backward glance.
Fractured (Vampire Awakenings, Book 6) Page 5
