by C. L. Quinn
She felt the compulsion behind the threat…and finally believed him. And started the engine.
He set the GPS and let her start his egress from a city that held more danger for him than anything in centuries.
“Not to sound too dramatic, but I have a mortal enemy here and I’m not up to a life or death battle tonight. Not now.” He didn’t know why he was explaining to her. Her silence was expected. There was no answer to that comment. He just hoped he could keep this loose cannon of a woman on a short leash until he could find figure out what to do about her. He couldn’t just let her go. Her heart was pounding, her pulse racing, her respiration erratic. He had convinced her for now that he was a serious threat, and she was properly terrified. Good. That should work for a while. But he could read her, more than just her breathing and heart rate. She was strong and smart, much more so than she realized. She would try to escape at some point again. He may have to take her deeper under, but only as a last resort. He hated to destroy someone’s free will. But his survival instinct, like all living things, was strong, too. He would never hesitate to do what he had to. He hadn’t survived three centuries as a wuss. Although Shanks would disagree.
They drove in silence until they were out of the city and on a relatively empty highway, the darkness cut only by the brilliant headlamps of Park’s car. She could feel his eyes on her. Hell, she could feel him… his breathing, his unsettled emotions, his concern. She should not be able to read him this well. This had happened a few other times in her life…the reading of someone’s emotions, feelings, and sometimes their actual thoughts. She’d often been able to read people’s intentions, if they were telling a lie. But only people she had an intense relationship with. Although, she guessed that probably did apply to an abductor.
He was breathing calmly now, but he was agitated. She decided to try to engage him, eventually to reason with him. She’d heard it said that sometimes you just need to get your kidnapper to make a connection with you, see you as a person. Okay, she could do that.
“Um, so…what’s your name?” Ah, bad start, bad start. “I mean, just your first name, of course. Not like we’re going to be Facebook buddies, right?” She laughed, briefly, softly, nervously. This was going so well…
“I think we should agree that this doesn’t have to turn out to be bad for either one of us, right? I take you where you want to go, you let me go home safely afterward, right?”
“Sure,” he said.
Park slammed on the brakes, grateful no one was behind them. She swerved the car off the road, simultaneously releasing her seatbelt, and when it came to a stop, she shoved the door open and started running into the road, praying someone else would be passing by on either side. Kicking the strapless Louboutins off, she broke into a sprint. She’d always been fast and she knew she had a good head start. Just as headlamps glowed from the other side of the road, she headed for them, waving her arms…and was stopped sharply by her abductor. Like a dark shadow, he was ahead of her and she literally ran right into him. A small sound escaped her in surprise. Taller than her by a good eight inches or so, her small body was completely encompassed by his much larger one.
“How did you…I was way ahead…what the hell…” She was shocked he was there, shocked he’d caught her when she hadn’t even seen him. Her only other recourse was if the car advancing toward them realized she was a woman in trouble and stopped. So she yelled. Loudly. Struggled, twisted, tried to yank free. It worked, and the vehicle, which was a large pickup truck that had seen better years, stopped with a screech. God, she hoped it was someone who could help her. She was relieved when a large, beefy guy came at them.
“Hey!” he called out, “What’s going on here? You all right, lady?”
“No, I’m not! This man kidnapped me!” The kidnapper, with her throat in his hands, glared at her, and squeezed, cutting off her speech.
“This is a waste of my time,” Bas said.
The beefy hero reached for the kidnapper. Park tried to pull free so he could deal with him, but was shocked again when the kidnapper set her to his left side, still gripping her throat with his hand, which was supernaturally strong, and he grabbed the would be hero by the throat with his right one. The hero suddenly stopped moving, looking into the kidnapper’s eyes.
“You saw nothing on the road here tonight. You will get back in your truck and continue to your destination.” The kidnapper released the big guy, who turned immediately and went back toward his truck. Park tried to call out but her throat was too compressed for words. The beefy hero was gone. And the abductor let her go.
She rubbed her neck and throat, sore from the restraint.
The abductor turned to her. “See? That’s how it’s supposed to go. It’s not how it’s going with you.”
Ah, her throat hurt. “Then why don’t you let me go…get yourself someone compliant like him?”
“Because it’s too late. I have to take you with me. Why did you jump out of the car like that?”
“Because you lied to me. When I asked you if you were going to let me go when you were through, you said ‘sure.’ You lied, you don’t intend to let me go.”
“This is ridiculous. You should not be reading me.”
“Well, you should not be fucking abducting me, but you are. The cops are right, never let them take you to another location. No honor amongst kidnappers. You’ll have to kill me, right here, right now. I’m not going anywhere with you!” She turned and started to walk away, but wasn’t at all surprised when he was once again in front of her. This time he took her face gently in his hands, his thumbs caressing the tender skin that was still sore from a few moments ago. He massaged the area with his fingers and the soreness subsided completely.
“I am not going to hurt you. I promise. Can you read that? Can you tell I am telling the truth now?”
She could. He was. Now she was confused. “So what do you plan to do with me?”
He shook his head. “I truly have no idea. But it’s going to be okay, I promise you. I don’t hurt humans, and I sure the hell don’t hurt supernatural beings who aren’t a threat. I still have no idea what you are. I’ll find out, though. But for now, we really have to go. You don’t understand that the creatures chasing me, and you because of me, are going to kill me. You won’t live through it either, so we really need to be gone. You have to listen to me.”
She stared at him again, aware that she’d done that a lot tonight, and that he was telling her the absolute truth. They were in serious danger. He wasn’t scared, exactly, but he was far from unconcerned.
She lowered her head, causing him to break his hold. When she looked back up, she nodded. They walked quickly back to the car, scooping up her shoes on the way, and got back on the road. They drove in silence until the female electronic voice of the GPS told her to turn left.
144
Chapter Two
Park was tiring. The highway had been endless, and now, after five nonstop hours of driving, her legs were cramping, and her eyes were getting heavy. It was late into the night and well past her bedtime. And she really did have to find a bathroom. Glancing aside, she noticed his eyes were closed. Well, wasn’t that just lovely. So she had to wake him up and was trying to decide how to do it rudely, when his eyes opened into two slits.
“I am not asleep. And yes, we will need to stop soon. I can’t go through past dawn.” He closed his eyes again, forcing Park to regain his attention.
“Well, I need to stop now. I have several human needs, unlike you, vampire.”
He certainly was sticking to his story. She’d fallen for the delusion herself a little while ago, due to shock and fatigue she was sure. The funny thing was, she could tell he really believed it. Traveling next to him for so many hours in silence, she’d let her mind wander. And it had wandered into his. He had been resting through much of the trip but he’d been aware of everything around him. It was only the past half hour she had noticed he’d lost focus. He really was worried about severa
l things, and one of them was the looming dawn. She shook her head. Well, however crazy he was, she still needed food, sleep, and a private restroom. Not necessarily in that order.
So the next exit, she began to ease the car over, and continued off the ramp. He didn’t protest. His eyes opened briefly, he sighed, and closed them again. Park saw a little neon restaurant sign to the right and continued toward it. Aw, classic little all night roadside café. Perfect. Bathroom facilities and food. She parked close to the front entrance, glanced at the still form beside her, slipped her seatbelt off quietly, and slid out. He remained on her passenger seat, she shrugged and went to the door. She had her hand on the handle when she felt his breath on the back of her neck.
“I understand your human needs. Okay. Please don’t make me do something I don’t want to. Be good, don’t try to get sympathy or aid from the locals, and we’ll have a good meal and get back on our way. We’re running out of time. You understand what I am saying.”
Since she could read him, really read him, she knew he meant it. She knew she wouldn’t escape and that she could possibly get someone hurt. She nodded her head. He smiled lazily.
“Okay then. Let’s go get you something dead to eat.”
Park thought about replying, but admitted she was up to just about anything tonight. Normally, she was a salad and veggies girl, but suddenly a juicy hamburger sounded amazingly good. And strangely, she felt almost giddy at the though, smiled, and pulled the door open to the heavenly smells of coffee and fried bacon.
As they approached a booth, the kidnapper pulled a pair of high dollar sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on. Sliding into the white laminated bench seat, Park immediately grabbed the menu.
“So,” she said, casually, as if it were normal conversation. “Restaurant lights too bright for a vampire?”
He grimaced and grabbed the second menu tucked behind the steel cage full of napkins.
“No. I haven’t slept much in the past two weeks. My eyes hurt just like yours would if you hadn’t slept in fifteen days. And can we quiet down on the word…” He lowered his head and peeked over the top of the sunglasses. She knew what he meant. Didn’t matter.
With her eyes on the menu, she yawned. “If that’s what you are, what’s the problem? Ashamed of your race?”
He drew a deep breath. God, she was pissing him off. “It’s not common knowledge that we exist. Not supposed to be. Not going to be. You are not supposed to be this aware. I warn you, if you take this road, there are others who would come for you. They would do that ‘worse than death’ thing you mentioned. So, be quiet, do what I need from you, and I will try to figure out how to get you home. Safely. I know you understand I’m telling you the truth, so just shut up and eat or I will drag you out of here and you’ll be lucky to get a fucking cracker for the rest of your life. Got it?”
She couldn’t take her eyes off his face. For a full sixty seconds, she just stared, almost trancelike, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop. It was like her mind was processing who and what he was, truly, for the first time. She felt dizzy, then suddenly saw him walking through a stone street, not here, not now, somewhere…sometime, different. He was smiling, and the full brightness of the day lit up his golden brown hair. He carried a roughly stitched leather satchel in his right hand and a piglet in the left. Coarse fabric and stitching defined the ancient clothing he was wearing, like he was in a period movie. Then the image faded and the dizziness brought her back to this moment in the greasy spoon just a few hours before daylight. Her vision had been blurred for just a few moments, and then she could focus again. He was still staring at her.
“I am serious. Do you understand me?” It appeared he was still on that conversation.
This was real. She knew it now, instinctively, there were things that most people did not know. Vampires existed, and this man across from this innocuous table had been alive for a very long time. And he was not human. It took her a moment, but she shook herself mentally and made herself answer him. She was unsure how to process this, but one thing she knew…he was dangerous in ways she couldn’t even imagine.
“Uh, sure, yes, I understand. I won’t give you any trouble, I promise.”
He looked at her with his head tilted.
“Really?”
He didn’t believe her. Park shook her head, trying to convince him. “No, I agree. I don’t want any trouble either. I will be under your…” what was the word he used earlier…oh yes, “under your compulsion.”
The skeptical look on his face didn’t change, but he opened his menu back up and said, “Well, okay, then. Better. Let’s order. We’re still running out of time.”
Park buried her face in the soiled menu. He seemed reasonable. And there was the weird thing where she could connect with him. Read him like she had been able to do sometimes in her life. It was unsettling to be so connected to someone so dangerous. She tried to keep the menu from shaking as reaction began to set in. She needed to eat, though. And while she was still in shock, she also was still hungry. So when the blue smocked waitress came over and gave her a wan smile, she looked up and realized her own smile probably looked as forced.
“Hi, uh, yeah, I would like your quarter pound hamburger. And just load it up with everything. And cheese? Oh, and bacon, too. And some home fries, please. And a large chocolate milkshake.”
The waitress stared at Park’s slim form for a second and nodded. “And you,sir? You gonna out-do your girlfriend?”
He smiled charmingly at the obviously overtired waitress. “I don’t think anyone could. But why don’t you just bring me the same?” He reached out and brushed her hand softly.
The waitress, whose name was Bea, according to the dingy name tag on the faded uniform pocket, surprised Park by smiling back at him suddenly. Her entire manner changed. The intense tiredness went away from her face and the smile made her almost pretty. “Right away, sir.” There was a spring in her step as she left that wasn’t there before.
Park raised her eyebrows as she looked back at him. He slid the sunglasses off and tossed them carelessly on the table near the window. Park watched him for a second while he picked up a pink packet of sugar substitute and shook it. She took a deep breath.
“So. I didn’t think vampires ate. I mean, you know, liquid diet and all.”
He stared back and gave her a slight smile. “Movies. No, we can eat. We do eat. For pleasure. We can still enjoy food. We just can’t live only on it. So, we do need the…uh…liquid diet.” He sighed. “But a bacon cheeseburger tastes great, human or not. You eat them.”
“Of course, but I’m human.”
Once again, the stare. Gave her a good view of his eyes, which were nearly black, his skin swarthy, a natural perpetual tan. His hair was very dark, almost to the absence of light. He was ruggedly handsome, the type of man women would swoon for even if he wasn’t a supernatural being.
He murmured something she couldn’t hear. “I’m sorry, what?” she asked.
“I said ‘if you say so.’”
“You commented once before like that. Whatever delusions you have about yourself, I am one hundred percent human. Humans are fallible, imperfect creatures and I’m about as fallible and imperfect as it gets.”
“If you say so.”
Dangerous or not, he was a frustrating creature. There was only one word to answer his comment with and it was a new classic. It was properly dismissive.
“Whatever.”
The waitress brought the milkshakes, giving her something else to focus on. She began drawing the smooth cold mixture through the straw mostly to distract herself. Then the texture and flavors hit her and she moaned. Deeply. It got the attention of every man in the diner.
Kidnapper looked up at her. “Orgasmic, eh?”
“What? Uh, no…well, yes. I never eat these things, they’re a body buster. And so unhealthy. But, God, I’d forgotten how good they were.”
“Every man in here wants to thank you for the mental
image that moan created.”
“What? Oh. I’m sorry, it really is that good. I didn’t mean…oh, that’s embarrassing.”
He paused before he spoke. Set his own shake back on the table and leaned toward her.
“Why?”
“Why is it embarrassing? I don’t know. I guess I’m preconditioned to apologize for everything. I guess it’s not considered socially acceptable to say or do something sexual in public.”
“It isn’t? You really feel that way?”
“Yes. No. I was just raised to think that type of behavior is trashy.”
“It doesn’t matter how you were raised, it just matters how you feel. I sense a great deal of passion in you. There’s nothing wrong with passion.”
“In its proper place, no, of course not. My mother said…”
He moved so quickly she didn’t even see him, but he had her scooped into his arms, holding her close before she was aware of it. There was that scent again, so sensual, so sexual, she couldn’t think of anything but his lips just inches away from hers.
He whispered into her ear, “We’re in a restaurant. What do you want to do?”
Her head was swimming, but she could feel the wild tickle in her stomach, and lower. She didn’t think she’d ever been this turned on.
She whispered back, her arms pulling her closer to his ear, and his lips. “Really? I want to kiss the hell out of you.”
“Nothing’s stopping you.”
Park lost her ability to think. Her body took over, it’s desire enflamed beyond control of years of conditioning…pulling closer and touched her lips to his lightly. She pushed her tongue out to wet her lips and it touched his. She couldn’t stop herself, didn’t want to. She heard herself whisper, “My mother would call me a…”
He stopped her words, moved in and took control of the kiss. Everything exploded then as Park held him as close as possible, met him thrust for thrust with her tongue, her hands moving against his torso. She kissed the hell out of him and he kissed the hell out of her right back. Only the sound of catcalls in the distance brought her back to her senses and she pulled away. She felt shaken and yet at the same time she was glowing. He looked a little shaken, too, and lowered her to the ground, but held onto her. Good thing, too, she didn’t think she could have stood on her own. He put her back in her seat again. They were silent until he smiled at her a moment later.
