by Jackie Ivie
“Garrick?”
Wind lifted stray hair atop his ear with what felt and sounded like her whisper. He studiously ignored it. Another tenth of a mile….
“Don’t let them hurt me!”
He had to release the trigger for a moment. This was ridiculous. And it was stopping. He could focus better than this! Somebody should put a warning on this love emotion thing. It changed everything. Even twenty years of training.
“Hang in there, Baby.”
He whispered it, wiped at his eye, and returned to the scope. Concentrate, Garrick. Modulate. Use physiological aspects to advantage. He forced his breathing to slow, concentrated on his heartbeat, narrowed his eyes, and took the shot.
Perfect hit to the driver’s temple.
The next round pegged the second truck’s driver, sending that vehicle into the lead one and upturning it. Garrick tossed the gun and was on his feet, pulling a handgun on the run, before the third vehicle figured out what was happening and reacted. The middle truck was on its side, making it more difficult for anyone to leave, but the moment Garrick saw a head, it got a bullet.
He’d grazed the first passenger and reaped a peppering of bullets toward his old position in response. Humans. They couldn’t see movement of a man dressed in black trousers and black hooded sweatshirt on a black night. A leap took him airborne, his free hand grasping the doorframe, while a full body kick sent the man right over the driver’s body and out the other side. Another bullet finished the job.
The second vehicle was a mess, the cage was on its side, and nobody in it looked happy. Except her. His Angelique. Garrick ripped the netting off and tossed it, and then met her eyes.
“Garrick! You see? I told you he would save me!”
His name had never sounded so sweet! Garrick grinned and then barely had time to slam against the side of the truck as two very large, angry, and bloodied men erupted. He let them. The hunters hadn’t used consecrated wood for the cage. More stupidity. The vampire duo shoved through the metal bars like they were kindling. Garrick almost felt sorry for the occupants of the third truck.
And then he had her. His Angelique. Scooped into his arms, her body trembling against him while he went weak with the sensation. And when she raised her lips to him and kissed him, the entire world went off orbit. He neither knew, nor cared. There wasn’t anything but her. Nothing else mattered.
He felt whole. Perfectly, physical, and emotionally whole. For the first time. Ever. Garrick’s groan melded with her moan as he released her lips, sounding odd in the truck’s interior.
“We need to leave. The shots were probably heard.”
“I don’t think you can stop the twins. They are angered and thirsting for blood.”
“To hell with them! We need to leave. You and me. Now.”
“Where…will you take me?”
“Home.”
“Home?”
“Yeah. Home. That oddball castle creation inside a mountain that you call home. That place.”
“You will allow me to fly you there? You won’t have to turn in a ‘man-card’?”
“I’ve got your plane—.”
She put a finger to his lips. It sent the most perfect rush of bliss all the way through him. He was shaking with it, and then his eyes were watering with it. And all he could do was swallow incessantly, and blink as rapidly as possible.
“I have a better plan, Garrick. If you agree. And if you want. And if you…love me.” Her voice stumbled on the word, making his heart do the same thing.
“I--.”
“Don’t say it if you don’t mean it. S’il vous plait? I can take anything but that. I can even take what torment these demon hunters had planned for me. But don’t say it just because I ask. Please?”
“I…love you.”
There. It was out. Choked-sounding and about as melodic as a jack-hammer on ancient concrete, but it was out. There were more romantic places for such a declaration than sitting in a ruptured cage in an upturned truck while the night erupted with screams and thuds all around them, but he didn’t know what it might be. The look that came over her face was so beatific, it stunned.
“Oh…Garrick. You are certain?”
In answer, he shoved the hood of his sweatshirt down and bared his throat. And then there was no stopping it.
-o0o-
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
