Toma (The Dark Shadows #2)

by Ariel Marie

  Her shoulders slumped as the fight left her. She knew if she continued to refuse to come stay with them, Nadira would just hound her until she changed her mind anyway. She might as well get it over with now.

  “Fine, I’ll stay with your family.”

  He jerked his head in a nod before striding towards the door, pausing with his hand on the knob.

  “We’ll find him, Anika,” he said turning to look at her. A shiver slid down her spine as coldness settled in his eyes. “He’s a dead man for putting his hands on you.”

  She was rendered speechless as he walked out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

  * * *

  ~Toma~

  Toma wanted to kill something, preferably a versi or better yet, a necromancer. The sight that greeted his eyes when he stepped into Anika’s hospital room was like a kick to the chest. The thought that someone or something had caused her pain, was enough to make him want to leave the hospital and kill every versi he could get his hands on.

  Anika appeared so pale and petite. Even with the bruising, she was still the most beautiful woman that Toma had ever seen. The emotions that rose to the surface when he was around her left him utterly confused. He shouldn’t feel this way about his little sister’s best friend or better yet a human. How can a human be his mate?

  Nadira was lucky that her human mate, Cooper, was turned into a vampire. Cooper would have died had it not been for Nadira turning him. Toma would never want to complete the bond with Anika and would never want to risk turning her into a vampire. She was too delicate for their world of war and death. She deserved to live free among her family and friends, meet a human male, have plenty of babies and grow old with her human husband.

  A growl escaped his throat at the thought of another male putting his hands on his mate, startling a nurse walking down the hallway.

  Fuck!

  He had to stop thinking of her as his mate. He leaned against the wall outside Anika’s hospital room, waiting, as Nadira helped Anika get dressed. He refused to even go there and think of what her soft caramel curvy body looked like naked. He loved a woman with curves. He didn’t know why any male would want a woman that resembled a stick. He was a big vampire and needed a woman curvy enough to handle him. A tightening in his jeans caused him to have to quickly change his line of thinking.

  After Nadira assured the physicians that Anika was in good hands, they agreed to discharge her as long as someone would stay with her.

  Two older human men eyeballed him as they passed; his cold glare had them scurrying on down the hall. Humans! He turned his head as the door opened with Nadira peeking her head out.

  “It’s safe to come in now, she’s decent,” she said motioning Toma in the room. He followed her into the room, watching as she helped Anika gather the last of her belongings into a bag. Anika turned her big beautiful brown eyes to him and he swallowed hard.

  How the hell was he going to be able to live in the same house as her?

  3

  ~Toma~

  “Are you sure there is nothing else that you remember?” Nadira asked Anika as they sat in the back of the large SUV, while Toma drove them to the Olaru estate.

  “Well, there was one thing that I remember that I didn’t want to tell the cops,” Anika said meeting Toma’s gaze in the rearview mirror. His grip tightened on the steering wheel. “Cooper was there with the other police officers, as they questioned me, but I wanted to wait until I could speak to you or Nicu,” Anika said turning back to Nadira.

  He had to make a conscious effort to release his grip on the wheel before he tore it off. He knew that he hadn’t been the most pleasant person to be around, but still, she should feel comfortable telling him something of importance.

  “What is it?” Nadira asked.

  “Right before I passed out, the man asked, "where is she?" she said, quoting the air with her fingers.

  Curses escaped his lips before he could stop them. The necromancers were looking for Nadira. Fuck! He put his foot on the gas, speeding the truck up above the speed limit. Any longer in the vehicle and they were going to need a new steering wheel.

  “Oh no! It really is my fault,” Nadira exclaimed hugging Anika. “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe at the mansion. We have plenty of room, our property has been warded with the strongest spells and with my brothers there, no one can get to you.”

  “You won’t have to worry Anika, we won’t let anything else happen to you,” Toma growled, his eyes meeting hers in the rearview mirror again. She nodded quickly with a worried expression lingering on her face.

  “It’s not me I’m worried about, Nadira, I’m worried about you,” Anika said. “They are looking for you.”

  “We’ll take care of it,” Toma assured them both, pulling into the long driveway of the Olaru home. “No one is going to get near either of you.”

  This strong desire to protect Anika was going to drive him crazy. This was why he had always avoided her because he just couldn’t think straight around her. He started thinking of things he wanted to have with her that he shouldn’t. He was going to have to stop thinking with his dick and just help protect her like he would anyone else.

  But Anika was not just anyone else.

  He sighed feeling drained and every one of his four hundred and ten years, as he parked the truck in front of the house in the circular driveway.

  Vampires were nothing like how human’s legend and myths portrayed them to be. Vampires in movies were even more far fetched. Who seriously thought of a sparkling vampire? The only legends that held some truth were the vampiric craving of blood myths. Vampires could tolerate liquids but were unable to digest human food. They did not have the correct enzymes to break down food. Blood provided all of the proteins and nourishment that a vampire needed.

  The biggest myth that humans had wrong was sunlight and vampires. Vampires were nocturnal by nature, preferring to sleep during the day. But they could tolerate the sun; it just drained their power and energy. Once the sun set and light gave way to darkness, vampires were at their maximum strength.

  Toma, in the nighttime was a beast. Anything that went bump in the night knew to avoid him. He was one of the deadliest vamps to hunt at night but right now, he needed blood and a few hours of rest before his shift tonight to patrol.

  As a member of the Dark Shadows, he had an obligation to protect the vampire nation from rogue vampires and anything else that may threaten vampires. Lately, the necromancers have been coming out of hiding in droves bringing their dead puppets, the versi with them.

  Teague and Adrian walked out of the front door of the massive old mansion as he opened Nadira’s door. He scowled as Teague assisted Anika out of the truck. He opened the trunk, grabbing the bags from Nadira’s shopping spree. Nadira had bought new clothes and some other items for Anika before they went to the hospital. His little sister must have bought every item in the store. Adrian came around the truck grabbing half the bags out the back of it, so they would only have to make one trip into the house.

  “How’s it going, Anika?” Teague asked playfully, wrapping his arm around her as he helped guide her up the stairs with Nadira on the other side of Anika.

  Toma’s eyes locked on Teague’s arm. Toma had never wanted to do bodily harm to his own brother before but right now, he was contemplating cutting his damn arm off.

  “I’m okay, just a little weak,” she answered slightly, her voice still hoarse.

  “It’s understandable. You’ve been through a lot,” Teague said, just as she stumbled. Teague swung Anika up into his arms, jogging the rest of the stairs and into the house. Toma cursed to himself. It should be him carrying her, holding her close, providing comfort, not his fucking little brother.

  “I had the north west wing’s guest suite aired out for her,” Nadira said leading the way through the house as we all followed. “It’s at the top of the stairs and it’s in the same wing as Toma’s suite, so you won’t be totally alone in that hall.”


  Fuck!

  “Nadira, that is too much!” Anika exclaimed, looking over Teague’s shoulder, her wide eyes taking in the amount of bags that he and Adrian were carrying.

  “Nonsense,” Nadira said waving her hands. “It’s not that much, I got you all the essentials you’ll need. Clothes, shoes, products, bras and panties…” Nadira droned on, informing Anika of all the purchases she made.

  Toma almost bit straight through his tongue, holding in a groan at the thought of the types of bras and panties that Anika normally wears. He began to sweat a little, trying to calm down his libido and the thickening in his jeans.

  “You alright, Toma?” Adrian asked in a low voice, walking up the staircase alongside him.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” he bit out, not looking at his brother.

  “You look a little under the weather. If you need—”

  “I’m fine,” he cut Adrian off. He shot Adrian, a sharp glare, stopping him mid-sentence again as he was about to speak.

  “I was just going to say, I’d call for one of the slujitor sânge for you,” Adrian said as he paused outside the guest suite that Nadira assigned Anika. Slujitor sânge or blood servant.

  “I’m fine. I’ll grab a bag from the fridge and crash. I’m just exhausted,” he lied.

  There was no way that he would be fine. The woman that he had secretly lusted after in his dreams was going to be sleeping just down the hall from him. He was fucking screwed.

  * * *

  ~Anika~

  “You sure it’s going to be okay with me sleeping in this wing? I don’t want to intrude on Toma,” Anika asked Nadira, as she watched her best friend put away the massive amounts of clothing she bought her.

  “Who, Toma? You won’t even notice that he’s here,” Nadira shouted from inside the walk in closet. Nadira refused to let Anika help put the clothes away, especially since the mishap on the stairs.

  “He doesn’t seem to like me much,” she said, for once unsure of herself. Anika had always been the outgoing flirty one, while Nadira was the shy and quiet one. Opposites attract definitely rang true in their relationship.

  “Really?” Nadira asked with her face scrunched up, grabbing a few boxes of shoes off the floor. “Well, if it makes you feel better, he doesn’t like many people,” Nadira said, using her vampiric speed to move around the room.

  “You’re doing it again,” Anika groaned, lying back amongst the plush pillows. Her ribs hurt like hell and her throat still felt like it was on fire. “You’re moving so fast, you're causing me to have a headache.

  “Sorry,” Nadira said smiling. “I’m just trying to finish this so I can get back to my patient,” she joked, putting the last items in the drawer.

  “Why doesn’t he like anyone?” Anika tried to act nonchalant with her questioning. She had never told her best friend that she was infatuated with her older brother.

  “I’m not sure,” Nadira answered, kicking off her shoes and climbing in the massive bed with her. “He’s my older brother, so he’s contractually obligated to like me.” Nadira’s blue eyes twinkled.

  “Ha ha,” Anika laughed sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

  “No but seriously,” she said lying back on her side of the bed. “He would probably kill me for telling anyone, but when I was growing up, I was deathly afraid of lightening and thunder storms. I would jump out of my bed and run to his room. He wouldn’t say a word, but hold the blanket open and allow me to crawl in the bed with him."

  Anika’s heart swelled with this knowledge that Toma had a soft side. He had always projected the image of a cold hardened vampire warrior. She smiled softly at the image of a younger Nadira snuggling with her older brother as he protected her from the storm. She turned over in the bed to face Nadira, listening to her continue to tell stories of her youth, feeling her pain medication kick in as she slowly drifted into a rest filled slumber.

  4

  ~Toma~

  Toma’s eyes popped open, his body tense, sitting up immediately in the bed on high alert, unsure of what woke him up. He grabbed his blade from under his pillow, shifting to sit on the side of the bed listening for whatever woke him. He relaxed slightly sensing that he was alone in his private suite and according to the clock on the nightstand he had only been asleep for about an hour.

  Tonight he, Teague and Adrian hunted down a gang of rogue vampires, which was just the fight he needed to release some of his pent up frustration. He single handedly killed four of the seven rogues. The sound caught his ears again. This time he was sure he had heard something. Someone cried out for help, a female voice at that.

  Anika!

  Without a second thought he bolted from his room not bothering to stop as he reached Anika’s door. He flung the door open ready to kill whoever would dare break into his mate’s room. He cursed silently realizing he called her his mate again.

  He quickly assessed the room, not finding any intruders. He relaxed slightly, turning his eyes towards the bed and his heart just about jumped into his throat.

  Anika, tangled in her comforter, was laying on her stomach giving him a perfect view of her plump ass barely covered by a tiny wisp of material perpetrating to be panties.

  “No,” she moaned again. “Help me, please,” she whispered. His heart pounded in his chest as he moved closer to the bed.

  “Anika,” he called her name gently, gazing over her perfect features, highlighted by the moonlight that shone through her bedroom window. He called her name gently again not wanting to startle her.

  She moaned again, fighting her blanket and this time succeeding in throwing it off her. He just about swallowed his tongue as he stared at her dressed in nothing but a tiny white camisole top and her panties. She turned on her side and his heart just about broke when he saw her tear streaked cheeks.

  “Anika.”

  This time he shook her shoulder, causing her to just about jump out of the bed. Her eyes flashed open, clouded with confusion at first, not recognizing where she was.

  “Are you okay?” he asked gently.

  “Toma?” she turned her beautiful brown eyes to meet his, recognition setting in. His chest filled with satisfaction with the way that she said his name with her husky voice and recognized him in the dark.

  “You were moaning and yelling out. I thought someone was in here harming you,” he rambled, trying to explain why he burst into her room with a very large blade in his hand. “Are you okay?” he asked again.

  “I’m a little shaken up, “ she said, sitting up in bed, quickly covering herself up.

  He sighed with relief, even in the dark, with his heightened vampiric sight, he could see the outline of her dark areolas and her nipples straining against her thin shirt. He tried to will his dick to settle down and sent up a small prayer that the room’s darkness hid his raging erection.

  “A nightmare?” he asked. She nodded her head up and down quickly, her body seeming to almost shrink a little as she slid down further in the bed. She just looked so vulnerable and scared.

  He had to leave before he did something he would end up regretting, like crawl into bed with her and pull her into his arms.

  “Well, it was just a dream. There’s no one here.”

  He took a few steps backwards; cringing on the inside, knowing he sounded cold and cruel, but he couldn’t help it. He was hoping to make his escape but her next words stopped him dead in his tracks

  “Do you mind staying with me?” she asked with her wide eyes. He paused, looking up at the ceiling, wondering what type of game the Gods were playing on him and his control.

  “Please,” she said softly, breaking the last barrier around his heart. He nodded his head quickly unable to speak.

  He looked around for the chair that was supposed to be in her room, suddenly remembering that the chair needed to be repaired, after one of their cousins who visited recently had broken one of the legs.

  The Gods must be trying his patience. He sighed walking around the other side
of the bed, placing the dagger on the bedside table before crawling on the bed. There was no way he was getting under the covers with her barely dressed and him just in boxer briefs!

  “Thank you,” she whispered, turning slightly towards him.

  “Sure,” he said, the scent of her hovering in the air, his gums burned as his incisors threatened to descend.

  “You’re not as mean as you portray, are you?”

  His head whipped around towards her, finding her on her side staring at him. He swallowed hard, finding it hard to believe that he was actually jealous of the moonlight caressing her soft caramel skin. His fingers itched, wanting to replace the moonlight with his hands. He rolled onto his back lacing his fingers behind his head to keep from reaching out and touching her.

  “Don’t tell anyone,” he joked, staring up at the ceiling. “Or I’d have to kill you.” She gasped, sitting up on her elbow.

  “Did the great bad-ass Toma Olaru just make a joke?” she giggled softly.

  “I’m not that bad,” he scowled as she laughed again, feeling his cock beginning to stiffen at the huskiness of her laugh. His body tensed as she shifted closer to him, laying her head in the crook of his arm. “Anika—” he started, but she shushed him with a tiny finger against his lips.

  “I know you're not scared of little ol’ me, Toma,” she whispered, her teasing eyes meeting his.

  He could feel himself drowning in her beautiful brown eyes. He cursed silently to himself knowing that he needed to leave immediately before this went any further.

  “Anika, this isn’t right,” he said, gently removing her finger, unable to resist kissing it softly first. It was taking every last drop of strength he had not to roll over on her and take her.

  Hard.

  The need to bond with her was growing stronger, the more time he spent around her. She just suffered a brutal attack and with her injuries he could hurt her. Sweat formed on his forehead as she pushed her soft curvy body flush against him, trailing her fingers down his bare chest.