In all his life, Ronan had never been this hell-bent on murder. It was bad enough that Joseph had touched her, but that he had hurt her was intolerable. He’d tear Joseph limb from limb for this.
Joseph spun back toward him as he launched off the dumpster. He braced himself to charge forward, but then he turned and fled down the alley. The muscles in Ronan’s legs bunched in preparation to follow the Savage vampire, but Kadence’s blood permeating the air froze him in place.
“Follow him!” Ronan commanded, and Lucien and Killean took off after Joseph.
His gaze fell on where Kadence had slumped against the wall. Declan knelt at her side, examining her injuries. Two jagged tears marred her flesh from where Joseph’s fangs had torn across the right side of her neck. The vivid red of her blood stood out starkly against her pale skin. Tears streaked her cheeks from the pain she’d endured by having her blood unwillingly taken from her body. Her right arm was twisted at an unnatural angle behind her back. He’d had his shoulders dislocated enough times over the years to recognize the damage done to her.
“She’s alive,” Declan murmured and moved his fingers to prod at the wounds on her neck.
Stalking forward, Ronan pushed Declan’s hand aside. “Don’t touch her.”
Declan gave him a questioning look, but he edged away from her. Kneeling at her side, Ronan stroked her soft skin in the hopes she would wake. She remained unmoving, her heart beating sluggishly in her chest. Fighting back the rage threatening to consume him over what Joseph had done to her, Ronan leaned forward and scooped her into his arms.
Her head lolled to the side, coming to rest against his chest. Her silver-tipped eyelashes curled against her frightfully pale cheek. Blonde eyebrows drew together as a moan whispered past her lips.
With her slender nose, round cheeks, and full lips, she was exquisite. Despite what he knew her to be, he wanted to hold her close and shelter her from the horror of their violent world. Footsteps in the alley drew his attention as Lucien and Killean emerged from the shadows. Killean’s eyes latched onto Kadence; his mouth compressed into a flat line.
“Did you get him?” Ronan asked.
Lucien ran his hands through his sandy blond hair. “No, he was gone before we made it to the end of the alley.”
A sneer curved Ronan’s upper lip, but he couldn’t be mad at them. He should have gone after Joseph himself. If it hadn’t been for Kadence, he would have, and Joseph wouldn’t have evaded him, not again.
“What are you going to do with her?” Killean demanded.
Ronan glanced at Kadence as red, amber, and white lights flashed over the walls around them. The human’s emergency vehicles had arrived. He didn’t know when he’d come to his conclusion, but he knew exactly what he would be doing with her. “She’s coming with us.”
“What?”
Ronan strode past Killean without bothering to respond to his question. He carried Kadence toward the other end of the alley, away from the humans. “Killean, call Saxon and make sure he takes care of those bodies. Lucien where’s your vehicle?” he inquired.
Killean stared at him before slipping his phone out of his pocket and hitting a button. He walked away as he spoke into it.
“There.” Lucien arrived at Ronan’s side and pointed to a black SUV in the parking lot beside the club. “You can’t take her. The hunters—”
“What would you have me do, leave her on the street?” he demanded.
“Ronan—”
“The human workers are here. She cannot stay, not with these wounds on her.”
“Saxon is taking care of it,” Killean said when he hung up the phone. His gaze focused on Kadence. “We will obscure her wounds.”
“No one is touching her again,” Ronan growled.
“The hunters will come back for her,” Lucien said.
“They may not find her before the humans do, and we don’t know where the hunters are. She’s coming with us,” he said. “And I don’t want to hear one more word about it.”
Lucien nodded briskly. Killean opened his mouth to reply, before closing it again. Declan remained silent as he walked beside Lucien. Something about the way Declan watched Kadence caused an uneasy feeling to settle in the pit of Ronan’s stomach. With every step he took, he couldn’t rid himself of the feeling there would be no turning back from this decision.
***
Ronan laid Kadence on his bed, careful not to jar her injuries. She hadn’t moved since they’d left the alley, but her breathing and heartbeat remained steady. “Get me some bandages, towels, and water,” he ordered.
Declan rushed out of the room. Killean and Lucien stood by the doorway, their disapproval evident on their stony faces. “The hunters are going to be really pissed off when they realize we have one of theirs. A woman no less. They’ll tear this city apart looking for her,” Lucien said.
“Then they shouldn’t have left her in the alley,” Ronan replied.
Killean snorted. “None of us knew she was still there. We all assumed she’d retreated to safety.”
“We should leave her somewhere they can find her,” Lucien pressed.
“I’m not leaving her somewhere unprotected!” Ronan snarled.
Lucien’s raven eyes narrowed, but his head bowed in acquiescence and he stepped back. Declan returned with a set of towels slung over his shoulder, a pot of water, bandages, and medical supplies in hand that Ronan’s friend, Marta, most likely kept somewhere for her and her husband, Baldric. Declan set the supplies down on the nightstand.
“Leave us,” Ronan ordered gruffly. He didn’t look up to make sure his command had been obeyed; he knew it would be.
Lifting one of the towels, he wet it in the pot of warm water. He sat beside Kadence on the bed and carefully cleaned the jagged tears on her neck. Her bleeding had stopped, but the alluring scent of her blood teased his nostrils.
He took a deep breath to calm his thirst for her and wiped away the last of her blood. She stirred only once while he worked on the wounds already showing signs of healing. Tenderly holding her chin, he sprayed some antibiotic on the injury and taped a bandage over it. Her shoulder remained out of place, but that would have to wait until she was stronger.
Leaning back, he studied the healthy pink color creeping into her cheeks. Her breathing grew stronger with every passing minute, and the solid beat of her heart sounded within her chest.
When he ran his knuckles over her cheek, her head turned slightly toward him. He held his breath as he waited for her eyes to open, but she still didn’t wake. If she’d been human she never would have survived the amount of blood Joseph had taken from her.
Reluctantly pulling his hand away from her, he rose and walked to the end of the bed. Careful not to move her too much, he untied her boots and pulled them off. He set them beside the bed before gently removing her coat. A smile curved his lips when he spotted the small arsenal tucked within. He removed the weapons and tossed them into the hallway. If someone else didn’t take them away, he would throw them away later.
He draped her coat over a chair in the corner before turning back to her. The collar of the turtleneck she wore had been ripped during her attack, but it still hugged her willowy frame and handful-sized breasts. He deliberated taking her clothes off to make her more comfortable, but it would most likely frighten her if she woke and realized he’d stripped her.
Reluctantly, he pulled the blankets over her slumbering form and ran his fingers over the end of her braid. He didn’t understand this strange effect she had on him. Not only did he crave her body, but he also wanted to hold her throughout the night and keep her protected. However, he didn’t think she would be pleased to wake up next to a vampire after everything she’d been through tonight.
The desire and tenderness she evoked in him were two things he’d believed himself long ago deadened to. He didn’t know how to handle their resurgence. His life was neat and orderly; it had to be if he was going to keep himself from succumbing to the bloodlus
t. This woman made him feel anything but orderly. Just by being here, she’d upset his structured life. He should resent her for it; instead he found himself craving more of her.
Rising, he moved into the bathroom. A cold shower was exactly what he needed. After pulling his clothes off, he turned the shower on, slipped his glasses off, and stepped beneath the chilly spray. The water washed over him as he tried to drown the need for her pounding through his body.
He bent his head, pressing it against the tiled wall as blood pooled around his feet. The sight of it didn’t bother him; he was well used to seeing and smelling his own blood. The puncture in his shoulder was still raw and seeping blood, but healing rapidly. He’d survived worse than this, and he would survive the many more injuries he would sustain for the rest of his life.
He turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. Padding over to the rack, he pulled a towel from it and dried himself off before examining his shoulder. The bleeding had stopped, his muscle had already closed within the hole, and before his eyes, his skin was healing over the top of it. He didn’t worry about it getting infected. His vampire DNA wouldn’t allow an infection or any diseases to survive in his bloodstream.
He checked to make sure Kadence still slept before tossing his towel aside and striding back into the room. He walked over to the armoire, for the first time noticing the ivy leaves etched into its solid wood surface. The hinges creaked when he opened one of the doors to remove a pair of jeans from within.
He pulled the jeans on before walking over to the picture window facing out on the pool beyond. Bars lined the outside of the window. The moon shone down across the wintry landscape as he gazed out at the night before pushing a button beside the window. Heavy metal shutters slid silently down over the glass.
It had been almost seventy years since he’d killed a hunter and felt the effects of their life on his body. However, having spent his life hunting Savages, he’d adapted to their habits and become a creature of the night himself. Usually, he slept through the day and he preferred the sunlight blocked out when he did.
The fact he’d become more and more like the creatures he hunted over the years was not lost on him. He knew what he was becoming.
His gaze returned to Kadence. He didn’t feel quite so Savage around her, or maybe he did, he thought as his gaze lingered on her full lips, but he didn’t feel the bloodlust as intensely. With her, he knew one thing, keep her safe. He could do that; he could focus on that.
Grabbing the brown leather chair from the corner, he placed it next to the bed and settled in to watch over her.
CHAPTER 10
Kadence blinked against the darkness as confusion swam through her groggy mind. She normally didn’t go to sleep until almost dawn, when she was sure the hunters had all returned safely, but she always had a nightlight on in her room, or the sun would be peaking around the edges of her drapes when she woke in the afternoon.
Struggling to sit up, she groaned as pain tore through her neck and shoulder. She tried to raise her right hand to her neck, but it hung limply at her side. Her left hand flew up to the bandage there as memories of the night before flooded her.
She was not in her room, not in her home! She bit back a scream. If Joseph was around somewhere, he couldn’t know she was awake.
Kadence forced herself to lie back as she fought against bolting out of bed and fleeing into the night. She had to learn her surroundings first. If she launched out of this bed in a panic, she was sure to draw attention to herself and wouldn’t get anywhere.
She remained still while her eyes picked up the small bits of light filtering in from under the door across the room. The nightstand beside her gradually took shape, and then the chair next to it.
Adrenaline shot through her. Someone sat in that chair. She could hear their shallow breathing, see the broad expanse of their shoulders. The fingers of her good arm dug into the sheets. Was it Joseph?
She had no idea why he would keep her alive, but if he had, it meant worse things than what had happened in that alley were in her future. And if it wasn’t Joseph and she wasn’t at home, then her future had become a whole lot more uncertain.
She pushed the blanket aside and slid her feet to the floor. A wave of dizziness assailed her, causing her to sway. She bit into her lower lip, drawing blood in an attempt to keep herself grounded in the moment. She had to remain conscious, and she had to move while whoever sat in that chair remained asleep. Her only chance of survival was to make it to the door and out of here.
Staggering to her feet, another wave of dizziness caused her to lurch to the side and bang into the nightstand. Something rattled on it. Kadence’s breath froze in her lungs while she waited to see what would happen. The form in the chair remained unmoving, but the hair on her nape rose as she felt eyes on her.
She saw no movement, heard no sound, but suddenly a warm hand clasped her elbow. A shrill cry escaped her as she flung herself backward. Her frantic movements caused her to knock the nightstand over. Glass shattered when whatever had been perched on the nightstand toppled onto it. Dull thuds sounded as whatever else had been on the nightstand fell onto the carpet.
“Easy,” a voice soothed. “It’s okay; you’re safe here.”
Kadence took a deep breath while she strained to see the face of the man holding her. His chest brushed against her arm when he leaned toward her. A wave of heat flooded her, and before he flicked the light switch on, she knew who stood before her.
Kadence went completely still when the light in the ceiling blazed to life and illuminated Ronan’s face. Her hand flew to her mouth as his eyes met hers, and she finally got to see what his sunglasses had been covering. She’d never seen eyes like his before. They were such a magnificent combination of red and brown that she couldn’t figure out if they were the soulful color of a deer’s eyes, or the deep red shade of blood.
The blood comparison should have unnerved her; she found it only fascinated her more as the colors swirled more intricately together until they became the deep hue of burgundy while he watched her.
Heat crept through her cheeks when she realized she was staring at him. It didn’t get any better when her gaze dropped lower and she saw he wasn’t wearing a shirt. To her horror, her mouth actually watered as she drank in the chiseled muscles of his broad shoulders, chest, and abdomen.
She’d seen men’s chests before, when the hunters were training, but none of them had ever affected her in this way. There was no hair on his chest, but a deep brown trail of it ran from his belly button to the edge of the jeans slung low on his hips. She barely kept her fingers restrained from following that trail before tracing the lines etching his abdomen with her tongue. As a vampire, she knew he couldn’t be in the sun, but his skin was a bronzed hue that made her think of the sun-kissed beaches she’d never been to but had read about.
The numerous paintings and photos she’d seen of men had nothing on the specimen standing before her. Unable to fight the strange pull he had over her, Kadence swayed toward him. How could she so strongly want someone she barely knew, someone who could kill her with a flick of his wrist?
After last night, she thought her teachings about vampires had been wrong, or at least incomplete, and her instincts were telling her that no matter what he was, he would not hurt her. However, she wasn’t about to toss aside twenty-three years of upbringing because she found herself wanting to touch, explore, and kiss a man more than she wanted air right now.
Her eyes lifted to his mouth with its stiff upper lip and full bottom one. She almost licked her lips as she contemplated what he would taste like. If he tasted as good as he smelled, he would be delicious.
Kadence gave herself a mental shake before jerking her gaze back up to his eyes. She bit her lip as she struggled to keep her strange attraction to him restrained. Unfortunately, the action caused his eyes to fasten on her lip and hunger sparked within his gaze. Except, this was not a hunger for her blood. Oh no, she saw and felt the desire in him
while he watched her. It caused her breath to hitch as her toes curled into the plush carpet. His palm on her elbow burned into her skin; her nipples tightened and she tried to recall how to breathe from one second to the next.
Ronan watched as the blue of Kadence’s eyes deepened in hue and her gaze fell to his mouth again. He moved closer until her arm rested against his chest. His fingers slid over her elbow when he bent over her. His eyes never left hers as his lips hovered only inches above her.
His mouth was about to touch hers when common sense returned to her and she stepped back. What was wrong with her? Being attacked by a vampire and having pints of blood drained had completely rattled her intellect. She should be trying to stake every vampire she came across after everything Joseph had done to her loved ones, not thinking about kissing one of them!
She was alone with this man —vampire— apparently in his place. If she didn’t keep her wits, she’d end up dead or a vampire blood bag.
Ronan reluctantly released her arm and stepped away from her when she stiffened against him. The last thing he wanted was for her to fear him, yet she edged further away from him. “I’m not going to harm you; there’s no reason to be afraid.”
Her chin rose. “I’m not afraid.”
The small smile curving his lips made him even more irresistible. Ugh, she was a mess, she decided. Just then, her heel connected with something on the ground. Looking down, she spotted the lamp she’d knocked off the nightstand and the scattered medical supplies on the floor—the medical supplies that had been used on her, she realized as she recalled the bandage on her neck.
Monsters didn’t help heal their victims. Or maybe they did, what did she know? She had no experience with any of this, and she had contemplated licking the vampire, so her brain cells weren’t exactly up to snuff right now.
“Where am I?” she inquired.
“You’re in our home.”
Her eyes went to the closed door behind him before coming back to him. “Who lives here?”
Eternally Bound (The Alliance, Book 1) Page 6
