Her mother scowled at Julia with reproof, then turned a stern look her way. “Look T.J., I know you and Christian have been intimate in the way of vampires. I also know you well enough to realize that wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t have strong feelings for him.”
Oh, this was completely screwed up. Her family knew more about her and Christian’s relationship than she did! What the hell had he been telling people?
She backed up a few steps and pressed her fingers against her temples where a rage headache built momentum. “What did Christian say about us?”
Her mother sighed heavily then crossed her arms, her expression firm, but a bit sympathetic. “The truth without details. Tiffany, you’ve been part of a vampire family for over twelve years. How does a vampire recognize his or her life mate with unquestionable certainty?”
She blinked at her mother for a few seconds as her brain gathered data. It didn’t take long to compute. Thoughts and emotions became one when life mates fed from one another. She had experienced that melding of mind and soul with Christian when he fed from her. At the time, she’d thought it just a vampire thing; Christian projecting his thoughts and emotions and picking up hers. Now looking back, Tiffany realized they’d sealed the deal. At least in Christian’s mind.
Right now she didn’t care if they were life mates or not. If he thought he could go blab to everyone about their relationship status while leaving her clueless, he was about to have his ass chewed and handed to him on a platter.
She stormed out of the room.
“Tiffany, wait!”
She ignored her mother’s attempts to stop her. Tiffany’s destination was the clinic, but a big burly human in a monkey suit stood at the front door and she skidded to a halt. One of Nathan’s goons, she surmised, having dealt with these kind of guys before. She sized him up while figuring out the quickest way to disable him if he chose to be a dick and not let her pass.
He flashed a pleasant smile then said, “Good morning, Ms. Peebles. I’m David Townsend, your bodyguard. If you wish to go somewhere, I’ll be happy to escort you.”
She slapped her forehead and muttered, “Dear God, save me. I’m gonna kill Nathan.”
She’d known this was coming, but preparation didn’t make acceptance any easier.
He chuckled. “Well, I can’t help you with that because Mr. Davenport signs my checks, but I’ll drive you wherever you need to go.”
Okay, a goon with a sense of humor. She could work with that. “Fair enough, David. I need to go to work. I’ll give you directions.”
“No need. I’ve been briefed on your regular destinations.” He turned and took a step toward what she termed the sunglasses table. A basket with dozens of sunglasses sat on top so any vampire exiting the house had access to a pair. David picked up one that was decently feminine then extended them to her. “Will these suffice?”
She blinked at him for a second, then took them. He seemed like a cool enough guy and good looking in a gym worshiper sort of way. His light brown hair was short, neatly styled and he had kind, pretty silver/blue eyes. Not vampire pretty, but nice for a human.
“They’ll work. Thanks. So I wonder how long this babysitting gig’s going to last?” She said aloud, but more to herself than him.
David hunched a shoulder. “I couldn’t say. Mr. Davenport has assigned me to watch over you indefinitely. I think I can say, it will be an interesting, if not enjoyable duty.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Oh David, don’t be counting chickens just yet.”
* * *
Tiffany allowed David to escort her inside the clinic. “Wait here. I won’t be long.” she told him when they entered the empty clinic waiting room. Or what was left of it. The front doors had been locked and Grace was absent too which probably meant they were routing patients in and out of another clinic entrance. Thanks to her.
David’s brows bunched with concern. “I’m afraid I can’t do that Miss Peebles. My orders are to never let you out of my sight when you go outside the Davenport household.”
“What I have to do is private, David. And non-negotiable. I won’t be long.”
“I can’t allow that. I take my orders, directly from Mr. Davenport. Wherever you go I go.”
“Oh yeah? Watch this.” She wrangled her cell out of her purse and called Nathan, gave him a brief explanation of what she was about to do and where he could go if he didn’t like it, then shoved the phone at David.
He took it and blinked at the hologram of Nathan above the screen. Uh, good morning Mr. Davenport.”
“Good morning, David. You have my permission to give Tiffany her privacy this one time. I know you can hear me Tiffany. Don’t take this incident for granted. David has been assigned to you for your safety. Go find Christian and do what you need to do, but go nowhere else in that building. Do you understand?”
“I get it, Nathan. I know my would-be assassin is somewhere in this building most likely and I have no desire to run into him. I won’t be long. Promise.”
“All right. I’ll see you at home later.” He disconnected.
David chose the settee missing two legs for a seat, settling on the unbroken end. Slowly he began to slide down the buttery brown leather toward the end missing legs until he was scrunched against the armrest.
Tiffany tsk and glanced about the room which looked like a tornado had whirled through. The sofa and arm chairs were in far worse shape than the settee. The walls were going to need some serious work. There were a couple of major gashes in the drywall. A result of a chair and end table she’d thrown at Asa, but missed.
She really did owe him an apology. The CNA’s too.
At some point, she’d ask Christian to take the damages out of her next paycheck. That is if she didn’t choke him out first.
She waved her security card over the scanner, then headed to the V clinic’s nurses’ station. Katie and Blake were there seated at opposite ends writing on some charts. Both of their heads shot up when she walked into the large cubicle.
“Oh my goodness! Tiffany, how are you?” Katie exclaimed gaining her feet. She flashed a welcoming smile.
“Peachy. Where the hell’s Christian?” She was in no mood to be making chit chat over her health and new species status with her co-workers. She was here to read Christian the riot act and she had her speech well honed.
Blake stood and stared at her for a second, his expression as shocked as Katie’s. “Uh… He’s with a patient. As soon as he’s free I’ll tell him you’re here.”
“Thanks. Please do that. I’ll be in my office.” Before either nurse could reply, she took off down the hall immediately feeling bad for her curt tone and attitude.
“There go two more apologies on my ever-increasing list,” she muttered as she opened the door to her office.
Once inside she began to pace. God, she was pissed and so ready to give it to Christian. How dare he go flapping his lips to her family about their relationship! If one could even call it a relationship after everything that had happened since the night they’d made love. Hopefully he’d wised up and realized she’d be the last person he should be thinking about spending the rest of his life with.
Sure, they’d experienced something tremendously hot that night at her apartment, but not that sacred emotional bond every vampire prayed would happen when they drank from a person they were attracted to. Or had they? How would she even know?
What if Christian was right and it was real? That possibility was daunting and one she couldn’t contemplate right now. She was simply too angry.
She paused from her pacing and tapped on her mouth with her index finger, thinking about the crush she’d had for him all these years. What if it wasn’t a mere crush? What if it really was love? How would she feel if she walked away from this job, her life in New Orleans and never laid eyes on him again? The answer that came to mind caused a deep internal ache between her stomach and heart which scared her back into concentrating on the mission t
hat had brought her here today. After an hour passed and still no Christian, Tiffany was about to tear her hair out. Respect for his patients and practice was all that kept her from tracking his ass down and unloading on him with both barrels. By the time, he finally arrived she was seething with anger and impatience. The fact he strode into her office with a big grin, looking all curious and innocent was like tossing diesel on a flaming round bale.
“You big mouthed dick!”
That sobered him up right quick.
“What’s wrong?”
Tiffany gapped the distance leaving mere inches between them to give her reply. The only thing she regretted was he was a good six inches taller than her and she couldn’t put her face in his. She used her finger instead. “Who the hell do you think you are, telling my entire family that I’m your life mate?”
He backed up a step and had the good sense to appear chagrined. “Damn it, Tiffany, it just came out one night with Nathan when you were still in critical condition. From there it just spread and I had too much on my plate to worry about gossip. I was exhausted, dying inside, fearing I’d lose you.”
That doused a bit of her fury, but it by no means excused his loose lips. “Okay, you had a weak moment. Fine. So, explain to me why I’m the last to know? I know when you figured it out. The night we had vampire sex. Now let’s see, how long ago has that been?” She paused there and tapped her chin for punctuation. “Almost two weeks. Yeah, I think that’s plenty of time to say, ‘Hey Tiff, I figured out you’re my life mate.’”
He slammed his arms across his chest and glared at her. “Had I told you immediately when I discovered the truth, what response would I have gotten?”
“That’s beside the point.”
“No, it isn’t. It’s exactly the point. What would you have said?”
Tiffany didn’t want to answer that question. Truthfully? It probably would have scared the crap out of her and she would have told him he was crazy. She hadn’t been ready for forever with Christian.
“Well?” he pressed.
“I don’t know. Probably that I’m not ready for that yet. Damn, Christian, we haven’t known each other that long.”
He took another step back, gaped at her and shook his head. “Are you kidding me? We’ve known each other for twelve years. What? That’s not long enough for you to figure out who I am, your feelings for me?”
“That’s not what I meant.” She pointed a finger back and forth between them. “I mean the way we know each other now as somewhere between friends and not. I honestly don’t know how I feel about that. You knew I never wanted to be vampire, but now that I am…” She broke off and shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m too mad to even think about us right now.”
An irritated scowl claimed his features. “What haven’t you been mad about recently? What the hell are you doing here anyway? You could have called me to chew my ass. If you recall, someone here tried to poison you which is why I never had a chance to tell you we have the life mate connection.”
That made some sense. He couldn’t very well tell her while she’d been unconscious, but he’d had ample opportunity recently. Then again what would she have done if he had told her? The answer wasn’t difficult to determine.
“You had no intentions of telling me, did you? Not until something happened between us the way you wanted it to happen. Am I right?”
His jaw clenched and she knew she pushed him, but didn’t care. She wanted honesty.
“Yeah, you’re right. I didn’t want you or anyone else to know until you admitted your feelings to me, but it didn’t work out that way. I know you love me, Tiffany. I also know you won’t admit that to yourself, but you did allow me into your mind for a few minutes. I felt your desire for me, the heat, the passion, everything that was you in those moments. I know you’ve had a thing for me for years, same as I have for you. I know you aren’t ready to admit even to yourself how deep those feelings go, but I knew one day you’d have to address them. That was the day I’d planned to tell you. The day you told me you loved me. In my mind to tell you when you were confused and scared about us would have been selfish. I’d go so far as to say cruel because it would have only confused you more. Obviously, I’m right. You weren’t ready for me to tell you my feelings when I did so the other night.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She couldn’t have handled it back then. She still couldn’t. But he made a good point about why he’d said nothing.
She blinked at him, suddenly realizing she’d been a class A bitch on wheels since the moment she came awake as a vampire. The knowledge made her sick to her stomach. What was wrong with her?
“I need to ask you something.” She pivoted and took hold of the arm of a chair in front of her desk, then sank into it. “Could I be having a reaction to your blood or am I losing my mind? I mean that. I feel like I’m going crazy. I don’t even think I know who I am anymore.”
He was silent so long she had to prompt him. “Christian?”
He heaved a loud sigh and propped a hand on his hip. “Neither. What you’re going through is completely normal. You died Tiffany. You’re human body anyway. That’s a loss which would bring a tidal wave of emotional trauma even the strongest of individuals couldn’t take in stride. Denial. Anger. Fear. Pain. All of those emotions are normal and necessary before you can get to acceptance. And I’ve been no friend or any kind of doctor by allowing my emotions to be moved by yours. I should have been far more patient. I’m so sorry.”
Tiffany didn’t know what to say. She had been an emotional cauldron, acting out ridiculously. She hadn’t been herself. Christian hadn’t been himself either. He was the most laid back person she’d ever met in her life, which was part of why she’d been so mad at him for not being more understanding. “I think you’re way wrong about us, Christian. Life mates feel each other’s emotions especially when they’re running forth gear high side. But you obviously didn’t. You reacted to my emotional outbursts and rightfully so. I was awful. Out of control.”
He stepped around her and took a seat in the empty chair beside her, turning it so they were face to face, knees nearly touching, then took hold of both her hands. “No, Tiffany, it’s just the opposite. I’m realizing now why you were making me so crazy. Through all this, I was feeling volatile, raging emotions that I’m not used to feeling because most of that time the emotions weren’t mine. They were yours. That’s something only a life mate can do. You are mine. If I ever had an inkling of a doubt, this realization just knocked any trace of it out of the ballpark.”
The range of emotions she’d gone through since walking through the V clinic doors had left her drained. Tiffany didn’t know what to believe. “I don’t even know how to respond to that. I believe everything you’re saying. It actually makes perfect sense, but it leaves me feeling without choice in the matter. It’s like—like I don’t get a say. You say I’m your life mate due to some connection we shared that I don’t understand and what? I just have to say, ‘Oh cool?’”
He squeezed her hands remaining far calmer than she would have if the shoe had of been on the other foot. “Of course you have a say. Everyone has the God-given right of free choice in life. Humans and vampires alike. Life mating is a gift from God, not an obligation or yoke to be put on a person. Look at it like this if you will.” He reached over to his desk and grabbed a pen. “Pretend this is a little black velvet box and that I’m just any human guy, you’re any human girl and that guy pops open the box. Inside is a beautiful ring and he asks the girl to marry him.”
Tiffany gulped. “Okay. Point?”
He smiled and extended the pen. “The girl has one of two choices. Right? She can accept it or say no thanks. Same goes for vampires. The only difference is we’re guaranteed, and I firmly believe by God, that the relationship is for life if we choose to take it on. How’s that really any different than this?” He waved the pen at her. “Or if you really wanna get deep, how is that any different than the gift of eternal life given to a
ll men by God? The only thing you have to do to get that gift is believe and take it. I used that analogy because your momma’s been pounding that theory into your head since you were knee high. Well, and because I’ve done more praying since the day you came into my life than I have in the last fifty years.
She laughed. “She has and I can only imagine how hard you prayed for me to come through this alive. Thank you for that.” She’d lost sight of that truth he’d spoke of though, and the reason had nothing to do with her new species. She’d been mad at God for years because she felt cheated of what everyone should be entitled to, yet few obtained—an un-fractured family unit.
“I’m using God as a relationship reference here so you can understand we’ve been given a gift, but no laws say we have to take it. Whatever our future holds, as far as I’m concerned it’s up to us both.”
“I don’t know what to say, Christian, except I really love your deep side. I don’t know if I’m ready for that pen there right yet, but after everything you just said I know you’re worth the challenge.” She meant it. A romantic relationship with Christian scared her to death, but a life mate thing was completely different. As a vampire, Christian naturally wanted a life mate and he would never do anything to screw up the relationship with the woman he believed was his. At least she hoped.
“Come here.” Christian pulled her into his arms and held her close, chest to chest, knees interlocked. It was the first true comfort she’d felt since the day she woke up vampire. Yet it was far better than mere comfort. His embrace was soul warmth that touched a place so deep, she started to cry. Good tears, cleansing tears came out which had needed shedding for days. When all emotions were spent, what remained in her heart felt suspiciously close to love.
Chapter 13
Dark Experiments Page 17
