Dominic laid down on the bed beside Lydia. She obviously hadn’t given up because she was trying to pull her arms down enough to hurt Dominic.
“Hurry this up,” Dominic said without taking his eyes off of Lydia. “Or do you want to listen while they hurt Caitlin more? Do you think she’ll be able to scream while they pull her teeth out or will the blood make her gag too much to scream?”
Justin set his medical bag down and quickly retrieved his supplies. He swabbed Lydia’s arm and did his best to avoid looking at her face while he prepared her for the transfusion.
“Justin,” Lydia said softly.
He looked at her.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I don’t blame you.”
If anything, that made it worse.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Getting to Caitlin wasn’t easy. Luckily, Dominic didn’t know about Aiden’s tracking ability. He must be some kind of paranoid nut to stash Caitlin so far away. The trip to the property near Sonora took almost three hours. Luckily, Noah didn’t feel any great need to follow the speed limit. There were no homes around. All that sat on the property was a rundown trailer.
The car was parked out of view down the road. Aiden had headed off road to circle around the back. He looked too much like Dominic to go unrecognized. Tempest was walking toward the trailer with Noah. Nothing could be less threatening than a man walking with a pregnant woman. Noah also looked less threatening with his clean‑cut appearance and the dimples.
“I really think you should wait in the car,” Noah said quietly.
“Caitlin is my friend,” Tempest said. “If anyone hurt her, I’m going to kill them.”
“You’re pregnant,” Noah argued.
Tempest looked down at her belly and then feigned shock. “What? And here I thought I was just getting fat.”
“What was Aiden thinking letting you come along?”
“I’m going to let that pass because you don’t know me very well,” Tempest said with a tight smile. Too bad Noah was already taken. He’d be perfect for Ivy who would have been making the same argument. Of course, Noah still had no idea what she was capable of doing. Aiden didn’t like her being involved, but he wasn’t stupid enough to argue.
“Just do your part and we’ll be fine,” she assured him.
Noah slipped an arm around her when they got closer to the trailer and she put a hand on her swollen belly and leaned heavily into his side. This was one of those moments when she was really glad that she was showing early.
“Is anyone home?” Noah called out.
Two men slipped out the front door. Both kept their hands in the pockets of their jackets and looked menacingly at Noah and Tempest.
“Thank goodness we found someone,” Noah said in his best impression of a gullible idiot. “We were on our way to visit my aunt over in Columbia. The wife started having some pains so I figured I’d better get her back over to see her lady doctor. Then the car broke down. Wouldn’t you know it? I’ve got no signal on the phone out here. Any chance we could use your phone to call for a tow?”
“Sorry, but we don’t got a phone out here,” one of the men said and Tempest saw him grip something in his pocket. “You might want to start walking. We got a lady friend out here and we were looking for privacy.”
Tempest saw Aiden standing in the front door. The other men didn’t turn around, meaning they thought it was one of their friends behind them. Noah started to move forward, but Tempest had already gathered the energy from the air around her. She sent it slamming toward the men so hard that they bounced off of the side of the trailer.
“You are such a sexy badass,” Aiden said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, meaning things were bad with Caitlin.
Noah smiled and shook his head. “Remind me not to make you mad.”
“Message Roman so he knows it’s okay to go after Dominic now,” Aiden said. His face had become much too serious.
“Is she okay?” Tempest asked anxiously.
“No,” Aiden said. “She’s tough, but this is . . .” his voice trailed off. “You should go take care of her.”
She raced into the trailer.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Roman sat impatiently in the car parked about a mile away from the house where Lydia was being held. The wait was killing him. There was a voice in his head arguing with him to go get her. Still, he knew Lydia would never forgive him if Caitlin was hurt.
“Are you okay?” Nathaniel asked.
Roman looked over at his son and found Nathaniel’s presence oddly comforting. “No,” he admitted. Having this conversation with his son felt strange. Sadly, they’d never really talked about feelings. “Dominic should have been killed months ago. If I’d known the extent of his obsession with Lydia, I would have killed him when we had the chance. I’ll never forgive myself if anything happens to her.”
Nathaniel studied him. “You’re in love with her,” he finally said. “Not like you were with my mother. You didn’t kidnap her, did you?” He sounded suspicious and Roman couldn’t blame him. It did seem to be a family tradition.
“Kidnapped? No, but I didn’t ask her to move into my home. At the time, she was in a coma of sorts.”
“What exactly does that mean?” Nathaniel asked. “Either someone is in a coma or they aren’t in a coma.”
“Lydia was awake, but she wasn’t conscious. I’ve never seen anything like it before and neither has Justin. Anyway, I was probably just as obsessed as Dominic. I wasn’t obsessed until the day I saw her fighting Dominic off in the hospital. It got worse when she woke up. Lydia is strong, funny, and a little crazy.”
Nathaniel reached over and gave his shoulder a tentative pat. It was awkward, but they’d never had that type of relationship. “We’ll get her back.”
Just then Roman’s phone vibrated. Nathaniel grabbed it and read the message. “Noah says they have Caitlin.”
Roman reached behind his seat and grabbed the handheld crossbow. “We’ll run,” he said as he climbed out of the car. “I don’t want him to hear the car engine.”
Nathaniel nodded. “According to the map on my phone, we should be able to hop this fence and cut across the property to come in from the side. It’ll only be half a mile that way.”
Roman nodded and prayed they wouldn’t be too late.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
By the time everything was set up for the transfusion, Lydia had stopped crying and begging. What good would it do now? If she was going to lose all free‑will in a matter of minutes, why not express her anger now? What did she have to lose? Seriously, Dominic wasn’t going to let her go.
Dominic was lying beside her with a serene smile. “Soon, you’ll be back where you belong, on your knees in front of me. Should we have Justin watch?” The sick bastard was staring at her with such twisted love that she wanted to smack some sense into him.
“Screw you,” she spat out. “Roman didn’t need to give me blood. Do you wanna know why?”
Dominic’s smile faded and morphed into what could only be called a snarl. “Shut up! Don’t ever talk about him again.”
“Why? Don’t you want to hear about how much more of a man your uncle is? There is no way you could ever hope to measure up. Betcha even after the transfusion, I’m still disappointed with your sorry excuse for a dick. Roman is going to kill you eventually anyway.”
“I know you’re angry now.” With his free hand Dominic reached out to stroke her cheek. “It won’t be long and you’ll love me again. You’ll be mine, just like you were always meant to be.”
Lydia watched in horror as Dominic’s blood traveled through the tubing that led to her own arm. This couldn’t be happening. As the blood flowed into her body, Lydia started to feel . . . . nothing. Holy crap, she felt absolutely nothing. Now, this could work to her advantage. Forcing her face to relax, Lydia prayed that her high school drama class would help out now. Eyes closed, she sighed. Then she moaned like she was having the best sex of her
life. She pictured Roman’s mouth suckling her nipple and arched as much as the chains would allow.
“That’s right,” Dominic said with a satisfied smile. “You’re coming back to me.”
Lydia heard the vibration of Justin’s phone and looked up. Justin’s eyes shifted to the phone in his hand. The rest happened so fast it was hard to follow. The front door slammed open while Justin pulled out the tube that was transferring Dominic’s blood to her body. Then he slammed a needle into Dominic’s neck. The smile on Justin’s face was one that Lydia hoped never to see again. Dominic grabbed Justin’s arm and tried to push it away, but Justin shoved the plunger down on the syringe and said quietly. “You were dead the second you touched Caitlin. Burn in Hell, asshole.”
Roman and Nathaniel burst into the room. Roman was holding a small crossbow. He looked at Dominic who was now gasping for air. Just before he took his last breath, Dominic looked over at Lydia and smiled.
“I love you,” he said.
Roman looked somewhat disappointed. “I really wanted to kill him.”
Justin shrugged and started searching Dominic’s pockets. When he found the keys, he tossed them to Roman. Justin shoved Dominic’s body off of the bed and kicked the corpse several times. Everyone stood frozen as Justin literally lost it. He screamed at the ceiling. Finally, Justin let out a deep breath while tugging at the ends of his hair. “After I call Aiden, I’ll examine Lydia.” Without waiting for a response, he stalked out of the room.
Lydia didn’t look at Roman while he undid the cuffs because she didn’t want to start crying or something like that. Instead she focused on a spot on the far wall. The walls were a soft shade of blue, but there was a spot of white where the paint job hadn’t been perfect. When Lydia realized her arms and legs were free, she snapped back to what was happening in the room. Roman was bandaging her wrists, while Nathaniel handled her ankles.
“Don’t worry, Sweetheart; everything is going to be okay,” Roman said.
Lydia stared at him. Roman looked almost fragile. It was insane that the big bad vampire could look so frightened and vulnerable, but he did.
“Is there anything we can do to get rid of the effects of Dominic’s blood sooner?” Nathaniel asked.
Roman shook his head and wrapped his shirt around Lydia. “The effects wear off eventually. I’m not sure how long this will take with the transfusion.” While stroking Lydia’s hair gently, Roman continued with comforting words. “Don’t worry; I’ll take care of you. You’ll remember that you want me to take care of you soon.”
“No, I don’t want you to take care of me,” Lydia said.
“Hush, Sweetheart,” he said. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Roman,” she said on an exasperated sigh, “I need you to shut up and listen to me. The blood didn’t work. What I need you to do is find out what’s going on with Caitlin. Justin said Dominic has her somewhere.”
Justin walked back into the room. The phone was still in his hand which hung limply at his side. “Tempest is treating her injuries. They’ll bring her back after Aiden and Noah dispose of the bodies.”
“Is she okay?” Lydia asked anxiously.
Justin shook his head. “Aiden said the injuries should heal, but he doesn’t know about scarring. He and Noah gave her energy hoping it would speed up the process.”
“This is good, right?” Lydia knew something more was wrong.
“She won’t talk,” Justin said. “She’s just shut down.” Before anyone could reply, he shook his head and went to his medical bag. “Let’s get you checked out.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted.
“Just let him check you so he can get to his woman,” Roman insisted.
“Please, go to Caitlin now.” Lydia kept her eyes on Justin’s. “Other than the cuts from the cuffs, there is nothing wrong with me.”
“I’m going to take care of Dominic’s body,” Nathaniel said and lifted it over his shoulder.
Lydia was pretty sure she didn’t want to know what he was going to do with Dominic’s body. She scowled at Nathaniel. “I still don’t like you, but thank you for coming with Roman to save me.”
He gave her a half‑hearted smile. “You’re welcome. I’m glad my father found you.”
Before Nathaniel made it to the door, Roman called out. “Use Dominic’s car to dispose of the body. Bring my car around to the house first. Lydia is in no condition to walk to the car and I don’t want to force her to stay here any longer than necessary.”
Nathaniel nodded and left the room.
“So you aren’t affected by Dominic’s blood at all?” Justin asked skeptically. “I saw the way you were acting during the transfusion.”
“Yeah, acting,” she said. “I figured Dominic would stop the transfusion as soon as he thought I was mindless again.”
“You are so very strong,” Roman said with pride.
Justin hesitated but obviously wanted to leave. “Change out the bandages and keep them clean and dry.” He started packing up his bag. “I’m going to meet up with Aiden, Tempest, and Noah.”
Without waiting for a reply, Justin raced out of the room.
“Nathaniel will be back soon with the car,” Roman said. “Are you feeling up to the trip home? Otherwise, we can stay at Nathaniel’s home.”
“I think I should go home,” she said. “My home, at the condo.”
Roman looked like she’d slapped him, but he quickly recovered. “Of course,” he said and looked away. “There’s no danger to you so it makes sense to return to your old life.”
“Roman,” she said in exasperation, “don’t be an idiot.”
He laughed. “No one talks to me that way.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not no one, I’m the woman you love,” she reminded him.
“The woman who wants to leave me,” he pointed out.
“I don’t want to leave you,” she insisted. “I want to do this right.”
“Right?” he asked.
“Yes, right,” she said. “I hate to say this, but I’ve never really dated. We didn’t date. I woke up married to you, and we both know that’s probably not even legal. I don’t care what vampire mojo you use, it ain’t legal.”
“Vampire mojo?” he asked incredulously.
Ignoring him, she continued. “So anyway, I was thinking it would be cool if you wooed me or something like that. I also thought it might be nice to have Caitlin and Trish move into my condo for a little while. Caitlin is going to need the help and she’s not going to just accept it. Trish said their lease is up and they were thinking about moving anyway.”
Roman nodded. “I’ve never dated,” he admitted. “I kind of like the idea of taking you out and spoiling you.”
“And waiting for sex?” she teased.
“No waiting for sex,” he said firmly.
She snuggled into him. “Get me out of here.”
“Soon, Sweetheart,” he said as he tried to cover more of her skin with his shirt. “I think I hear the car outside.”
After lifting Lydia into his arms, he kissed her tenderly. “We’ll start dating tomorrow. I need to hold you for at least twenty‑four hours. You’ll have to accept that I may need to prove to myself that you’re okay over and over again tonight.”
Lydia put her hand over his beating heart and leaned her head against his bare chest. “I like the sound of that.”
Epilogue
One month later
“Didn’t you say you were taking me home?” Lydia asked as Roman drove toward the attached garage of his home. She’d known damn well the man was running out of patience. Actually, she was shocked that he’d waited an entire month.
“This is your home,” he said in that domineering way she found more endearing than annoying. “Before you start arguing, I know you have concerns.”
Instead of pulling into the garage, Roman parked in the long driveway near the house. Lydia spotted someone massacring an innocent hydrangea. “What the hell is that man doing to my
flower garden?”
“Well,” Roman said, his lips twitching, “someone had to take care of the grounds while you were away. Sadly, no one has your way with plants. Now back to the subject at hand. I know you’re worried about Caitlin.”
“So you just let someone come in here and destroy my poor plants? Why didn’t you call to let me know they needed me? Dammit, Roman! I would have been here for them.”
Roman was so used to these babbling rants that he didn’t even miss a beat. How could she not love this man? “With Caitlin’s condition, you want to be close to her,” he said.
That was true. Caitlin still hadn’t spoken one word about what had happened. Most days, she didn’t even leave the condo. “Caitlin isn’t handling things well,” Lydia admitted, “but Justin hasn’t left her side in a month. Actually, things must be better between them because she hasn’t insulted him in a month. Who am I kidding? The insults are like foreplay for those two. My point is that Justin is taking care of Caitlin better than I can anyway.”
“Justin is very worried about her,” Roman admitted. “We all are. That’s why I was thinking we could buy a home closer to your condo. There are a lot of nice places in that area. We could find something with privacy.”
Lydia thought she might cry. “You would move just to make me happy.”
“There is nothing I wouldn’t do to make you happy.” Leaning forward, he gave her a quick kiss on the mouth before rushing around to open her door.
After helping her out of the car, Roman dropped to one knee. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“I’m already your wife,” she said, feeling a little weepy.
“The first wedding doesn’t count because you didn’t get to enjoy it. This time I want to give you your dream wedding. You deserve to have the perfect wedding.”
Lydia dropped to her knees which caused her to land on her hair. When she reached forward to throw her arms around Roman she ended up losing her balance. In his effort to catch her, Roman tumbled to the side.
Vampires Prefer Blondes (Psy-Vamp Book 3) Page 20
