The Night Watch: A Vampire Paranormal Romance (Blood Red Series Book 2)

by W. J. May

  There was hope in his eyes. Kallie could see it. Hope that he might change into a day-walker as well. She hated to have to extinguish that hope. “I—”

  “Do you know how much work I could do during the day?” Liam laughed and shook his head. “How many more crimes I could solve? How many more people I could protect?”

  It never dawned on Kallie that Liam would want to use this power for the good of others. She was taken aback by the gesture. His eyes were alive with the fire of his hope, and Kallie would have to be the wind that snuffed it out. “He said it was given to him. It can’t be given to anyone else.”

  “Given to him?” Liam shook his head. “No Red Blood or Blue Blood’s ever day walked. Ever. How could he have this ability and no one know? There could be more out there.”

  Kallie shrugged. “I don’t know if there is.”

  “Who gave him the ability? His maker?”

  She shook her head. What if Caleb’s ability was supposed to be a secret? Caleb hadn’t told her not to tell anyone, but that didn’t mean she should go out and tell the next vampire she sees about it. She cleared her throat. “It’s not something I think I should explain. It’s sort of his story to tell.”

  Liam frowned as he stared at her in surprise. “So now you’re protecting him?” He waited for her to reply and when she didn’t, he stiffened. “What a freakin’ turn this has all taken!” Liam rolled his eyes as he ran his fingers through his dark hair. He began pacing around the small area of her room, not saying a word. Finally he stopped and looked at her. “You know there’s more to happiness than sunlight.”

  “That’s easy for you to say, you’ve already given up the sun.” Again, she knew she shouldn’t be arguing with him, but here she was, defending Caleb to him again.

  “Kallie, you know my story. The alternative for me was death.”

  “My father didn’t have a choice either.”

  Liam opened his mouth to shoot some reply at her but must have decided against it. He closed it into a tight line.

  Kallie sighed and stared at her pink polished toenails. “I don’t want to fear the sun.”

  Liam’s hand came under her chin and gently lifted it so she had to look at him. “You’re saying these things tonight because you’re afraid of the unknown! I will do everything I can to protect you, and your father. I’m not going to fight Caleb if you don’t want me to. I’ll resist the urges inside of me to attack the Red Bloods. I’m stronger than you think. I can help you. Let me help you. Please.”

  She stared into his eyes, his pupils so black against the bright blue. “I don’t know what to do.” She swallowed, her mouth dry and the lump in her throat growing painful.

  Liam’s gaze dropped to her lips.

  She ran her tongue over her lower lip, the desire to kiss him stronger than the worry about her father. He either created that or they simply had some hot-ass chemistry that was off the charts.

  Liam’s gaze travelled to her eyes and grew more intense. “I’m a vampire, Kallie. I can see, smell, and practically taste the way your body reacts to me,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “You want me just as bad as I want you. Your fear is what’s stopping you, not that damn sun.”

  “This isn’t—”

  “Dammit! Do I really need to remind you how good we can be?” And then his lips were crushed against hers. They were hot from his rage, the fire burning away her fears as she struggled with her mind and her heart to resist him.

  “Liam,” she gasped as soon as she was able to free her lips for a moment. “We need to stop.”

  “That’s your opinion.” His lips were on hers again, this time he parted her lips with his tongue and slid it over hers.

  Kallie’s body came alive with his kiss. She was once more trapped under the power of his mouth. She stopped resisting, but instead accepted.

  Winding her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer and he responded by lifting her up, so she could wrap her legs around his waist. His hands entwined securely under her thighs and she could feel how hard his chest felt against her soft breasts. He began to slow down his kiss, and they fell into a steady rhythm.

  Kallie realized something as Liam kissed her—he wasn’t just kissing her. He was fighting for her, and that realization made her want him to fight for her. This was the real Liam inside that he kept hidden from others, not the tough cop saving the city. She wanted to one day strip away his walls and see what life with him could be like.

  Her fingers found their way through his gorgeous locks of hair as he explored her mouth with his tongue. She moaned softly into his mouth as she began to feel connected to Liam on a different level. Then, with vampire speed, he lowered her onto the bed and he rested himself perfectly on top of her.

  Kallie had never kissed a guy in her bed before, until last night there had never been one in her room. The thought thrilled her. Her hips pressed upward to get closer to him.

  “You see?” Liam said as he ran a tongue across her bottom lip. “This is how good it can be. Why do you want to fight it? Have the days to yourself, Kallie,” he whispered, his breath hot against her mouth. “But your nights…” He brushed his lips across hers so lightly, she arched her back in response. “Give your nights to me, and me alone.”

  Kallie didn’t know how to respond. She tried to concentrate on the critical issues destroying her family but all she could think about was how unbelievably good he felt against her. She responded to him by turning her head to allow Liam access to her neck. She wanted to feel his breath and tongue against her skin. The more he kissed her, the more she agreed that he was right in his proposal. I can still have it all, she thought, and he’d never hurt me. He’d help my dad. He’d kiss me and drive me crazy. Make me beg him for more…

  Liam moved his hands to the sides of her waist and gave a gentle but firm squeeze, then he laced his fingers with hers and locked her hands up over her head as he moved from her lips to her jawline and finally her neck.

  She moaned, unable to stop herself. He licked and kissed her neck, making her feel sensations everywhere. She squeezed his hands and moaned again, wanting to feel more, for him to tease the spot behind her ear.

  The point of his fangs grazed her neck.

  She felt the sharp prick, and tried to free her hands.

  Liam didn’t stop.

  “No!” she cried, her words a whimper as the illusion shattered and reality smacked her in the face. “Don’t! Stop, Liam, please!”

  He froze in the darkness above, his fangs still pressed against her skin, but he did not fully penetrate her flesh enough to start the flow of blood. Instead he pulled back quickly, the sound of his fangs retracting seeming loud against the sudden quiet. “Sorry,” he said, his voice aching with remorse.

  “Get out!” Kallie said through gritted teeth as she sat up and pushed herself away from him.

  With vampire speed, Liam jumped off of her bed, and fell to his knees. “Kallie, I’m sorry. It was the heat of the moment. I didn’t bite you. I wasn’t going to feed—”

  “No, but you wanted to, and you would’ve if I hadn’t stopped you.”

  “You offered your neck. I thought—”

  “You thought wrong.” She flicked her wrist. “You sent these endorphins or vampire vibes, whatever you call ‘em, my way to coerce me into letting you touch me? You had this all planned, didn’t you? What were you going to do after? Brag to Caleb you’d sucked me dry? Then arrest him and set the evidence up so he’s the guilty party?” She was overreacting. She knew it, but that didn’t stop her from being angry. She was mad at herself for opening herself, and her neck, to him. What had she been thinking? “You really are a monster. Get out.”

  Liam crossed his arms over his chest and refused to leave. He obviously wanted to talk this out.

  Over her dead body. Which didn’t seem that farfetched of a possibility. “If I had a stake I would plunge it into your very heart.” Her hands trembled as she drew the covers up at her feeble attempt to protec
t herself. “Get out!” Kallie screamed, her body shaking with anger. She could hear her parents stirring in the next room. Her cry had awoken her mother.

  Liam heard too, and jumped out the window before the door opened.

  Her father may be the vampire in the house, but it was her mother who burst in. “Kallie? Kallie! What’s going on? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she lied, still shaking and staring at the empty window. “Just a bad dream.”

  Her mother sat on the bed and brushed Kallie’s hair away from her face in a soothing motion. “It sounded like a nightmare. You haven’t had one in a while.”

  Her father stepped into the room, moving to the window and looking outside. “It sounded like there were two voices in here. What the hell’s going on, Kallie?”

  “Graham! Please,” her mother said. “She just had a bad dream. She was probably talking in her sleep.”

  Kallie knew her father had heard everything. “Dad, it was just a horrible nightmare. I must have been shouting in my sleep. That’s all, I swear.”

  Even in the darkness only lit by the hallway, she knew her father didn’t believe her. He reached for the window and shut it. “Let’s not invite the riff-raff in from now on, shall we?” His tone sounded disgusted as he walked out and stormed down to the basement.

  Kallie imagined he was probably going to feed off of one of the blood bags.

  “Was there someone in here, Kallie? Tell me the truth,” her mother pleaded.

  However, she couldn’t tell her the truth. The truth made it real. The truth brought her mother into this dark world, and Kallie couldn’t allow that.

  “Mom, it was just a bad dream,” she repeated. “It seems silly now.”

  “Do you want to sleep with me tonight?”

  Kallie rubbed her neck, touching the two sore bumps where Liam’s teeth had been. “No, that’s not necessary. I really am okay.”

  “Always the tough one.” Kallie could hear the smile in her mother’s voice. Her mother leaned over and kissed her forehead, then left the room.

  When she was sure her mother was back in bed, and her father still in the basement, only then did Kallie get up. She went to the window, and cautiously peered into the darkness. The yard was quiet and still. Only shadows lingered. Then, bravely, she turned on the light and crossed the room to sit at her vanity and look in the mirror. Her eyes were brilliant blue from the tears that were welling up. Her cheeks were flushed and her ponytail was not as neat as when she had gone to bed. But all of that could be fixed. It was her neck that drew the most attention. She had the two slightest prick marks on her skin.

  She rubbed the area, and it stung. Liam had not punctured the skin completely to the vein, there was barely a trace of blood, but he had intended to drink from her. She knew that now. All she was to him was food. Not a girl that needed protection, no—she was his next meal.

  The tears came, streaking down her cheeks as she realized how close she had come to losing her life at the hands of a man who swore to protect the citizens of her town.

  She looked at her neck again, and wondered if the prick marks would leave a scar. Not wanting to take a chance she tiptoed to the bathroom and found some ointment in the vanity. Her skin was slightly swollen and she was generous with the amount of medicine she applied. “No way in hell!” Kallie whispered out loud to herself. “I am not some trophy he can claim by marking me as his.” She thought about Caleb seeing the marks and then wondered, if he was supposed to protect her like he said, why hadn’t he come running in to save her when she’d cried out.

  “Seems you needed a wakeup call.” Her father walked behind her as she headed back to her room.

  She jumped in surprise. He sounded pretty annoyed.

  “I thought he was going to kill me.”

  “I don’t know that boy, but it’s not the first time he’s visited.”

  She shook her head, knowing he’d see it in the dark. “I thought he wanted to protect me.”

  “You can’t trust any vampire, Kallie. They all are after one thing. It’s what drives us.”

  “I trust you.”

  “You shouldn’t.” He sighed, his words heavy with meaning.

  “What do I do if Liam comes back?”

  “Rescind his invitation,” her dad said simply, as though it were the obvious answer.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You invited Liam into our home the night you wanted us to meet. That gave him the power to come and go as he pleases. But, if you rescind it he can’t enter again, unless invited back in.”

  “If you knew, why didn’t you rescind his invitation?”

  “You’re the one that invited him, you had to be the one that reversed the power. I knew you wouldn’t do it if I had asked you to.”

  Kallie felt empowered by this information. “Good to know.”

  “Glad to see you’re okay.” Her father chuckled. “I always knew sooner or later you’d sneak a guy into your room, I just didn’t think it would be a—well, you know.”

  “I think I need to give boys a rest for a while.”

  “I couldn’t agree with you more.” He kissed her forehead and left the room, closing the door behind him.

  Kallie moved quickly to the window and opened it. Bravely she put her hands on the ledge and stared out into the yard. She whispered, knowing her words would be heard, “Liam Steel, I rescind your invitation! Do you hear me? You’re no longer welcome in my home!”

  She wondered if Caleb heard her. Either way, she needed a vampire break.

  Her phone buzzed, and she looked at it, shocked by what she saw. She had over fifty text messages.

  All from Liam.

  They all said the same two words over and over again.

  I’m sorry.

  I’m sorry.

  I’m sorry…

  Chapter 6

  Early morning, before sunrise, Kallie woke and heard her parents moving about in the kitchen. Her father wouldn’t be upstairs much longer. She rolled over and turned on the light, a soreness in her neck reminded her of last night’s events. She jumped out of bed to check the tenderness in the mirror. The marks were lighter but to her dismay, not completely gone. Two small, sore dots. They might as well be two mosquito bites, but she resented them. She applied cover-up, then still not satisfied, she grabbed a scarf out of her drawer and wrapped the colorful lightweight material around her neck. It brightened up her white flowing shirt and light blue jeans. Shoving her feet into a pair of flip flops, she gave her hair a quick brush and applied some mascara.

  When she walked into the kitchen her father’s red gaze lingered on her scarf, and it hit Kallie like a punch to the gut. Her mother didn’t seem to notice, Kallie wore a scarf often enough that it wasn’t out of the ordinary.

  “You’re up early. And dressed.” Her father set a glass of fresh orange juice in front of her. “What about the party?”

  “Party?” Kallie asked confused.

  “Yeah, the party you got that invitation to last night… You said you weren’t sure if you were going to accept the invitation?”

  Kallie’s eyebrows pressed together as she tried to figure out what the heck he was talking about. “Oh!” She smiled at her father’s attempt to speak in code. “I originally said yeah, but I decided to decline.”

  Her father smiled behind his newspaper. “Good.”

  “Why is that good?” her mother asked. “Kallie barely goes out anymore. She should have some fun now and then. Kallie, give yourself a break and go to the party. Is it tonight?”

  “Trust me, Mom, this just isn’t my crowd.” She exchanged a glance with her father and her mother shook her head and went back to making her an omelet.

  “What’re your plans for the day?” her mom asked as she sipped her tea.

  “I have a class at nine.” She had no intention of going, but wasn’t about to start an argument with her folks now about it. “Then I think I’m going to see if Lisa and Jeanna want to go to the mall.
I could really use a girl day.”

  “That sounds like a great idea!” her father said a tad too enthusiastically. Kallie shoved the toast into her mouth and shook her head. Her dad sucked at being inconspicuous in the least.

  After breakfast, and her dad had headed downstairs, Kallie hung out in her room. It didn’t take long before she grew bored and decided going to class was her most exciting option of the morning.

  She deleted all the ‘I’m sorry’ texts from Liam and refused to respond to any of them. She also knew she had to speak with her professor and knew he would not be happy. She waited until after her class that morning before she walked over to talk to him.

  “Good morning, Kallie! Happy to have you back in class! How did yesterday’s preparing go?”

  Kallie knew his excitement was because he desperately wanted the article on Liam Steel. “I wanted to talk to you about the second interview.”

  Her professor perked up. “Yes, I can’t wait to see what juicy details you wrangle out of him this time. I mean the guy is a kid… he must have an insane IQ, how else could he solve those crimes?”

  Because he thinks like a criminal. “Uh, yeah… well sorry to disappoint, but Mr. Steel declined another interview.”

  Her professor’s face looked ready to cry.

  “He’s involved in a huge case right now, and can’t be disturbed.”

  “Oh. How disappointing. Well, maybe you can try again closer to the end of the semester.” The professor tapped his finger against his desk. “Yes! Be sure and keep pressuring him for the interview. Tell him you’re desperate for a good grade.” His eyebrows raised.

  She got the hint but wasn’t going to take the bait. “I don’t think it’ll work, his secretary made it quite clear he didn’t want to be disturbed.”

  “Kallie…” Her professor placed a hand on either side of her arms, and gave her a squeeze.

  After last night, the last thing she wanted was to be touched. She stepped back out of his reach, ready to lash out at him. She imagined Caleb crashing through the window and grabbing the teacher, biting his neck and then tearing him limb from limb apart. She blinked, trying to clear the crazy image from her head.