Hidden in the Night

by Fall, Carly

  “Holly,” he heard himself say as his body shook with spasms.

  He opened his eyes and flopped down on the bench, breathing hard, feeling like a letch. He had finally found someone who cranked him up sexually. A little voice in his head also said that he liked her as well. He admired and respected her bravery and intelligence. He liked the way her mind worked, the way she looked at the ceiling when she was thinking about how to answer his questions. He loved the peace that filled his heart when she was near him.

  The guilt washed over him. He was betraying Natalie. That same voice came back, stronger than ever. No, he wasn’t. It was an inner shouting match.

  He let out a long breath and got out of the shower. He wrapped a big white towel around his waist and cleared the steam off the mirror. He stared at himself for a while, really looking at himself. Honestly, he was scary looking. His brown eyes were dead pits, as if there was nothing left within him. He had piercings and that tattoo. The tattoo he had gotten shortly after Natalie’s death. His eyes traced the snake tattoo from his heart up to his ear. His hair hung to his shoulders in a straight black curtain. Yeah, he was serial killer scary looking.

  And, doing that whole honesty thing again, he was damaged goods. He hadn’t been able to get over Natalie in ten years. Ten years he had walked the earth, existing, but not living. If it weren’t for Robert, he would have turned his own lights out the day he found out Natalie was dead. It simply wasn’t fair to drag Holly into that head fuck. Yes, she made him feel peaceful, but down the road he had to wonder if that would be enough. He honestly felt he could go off the rail at any time.

  Then, forgetting all of the reasons why she wouldn’t want to be with him and going on the theory that they did get together, what if something happened to her? He simply could not live through something happening to his female again. But it almost had, hadn't it? Not that she was his female by any stretch, but she had almost been taken by that sick fuck back at her house while he was there. His body began trembling just thinking about it. And he reminded himself, she was not his female. He would not travel down that road again. Ever. Period. The story ended there.

  And with that happy thought, he resolved that he would not chase after Holly. He would get her through this part, figure out how she had been compromised, and help her get back to a life that didn’t include him.

  Yep, that was it. His resolve set, he went to get dressed. But the little voice in his head told him he was full of shit.

  Chapter 16

  A soak in the tub, a couple glasses of wine from a bottle Emily had brought her, and two hours later Holly was feeling pretty good.

  She was just about to begin her third glass of wine as she sat in the middle of the big bed watching a True Blood episode. She loved the show, although sometimes the blood and gore was a little too much for her. She recognized the irony of that. A vampire nurse getting squeamish over blood on a T.V. show about vampires. Ha Ha. Funny stuff.

  She looked around the room. The furniture, the carpet, the art on the walls, the big plasma T.V. with what seemed like a million channels, all screamed big bucks. The room . . . well the house and everything in it, may have cost a fortune, but it was comfortable. She hit the off button on the remote when she heard a soft knock on the door. “Come in,” she said.

  Aiden’s huge frame filled the doorway. He stepped in and shut the door. He was also cleaned up, and had a stout glass half full of amber liquid. Holly guessed that was the whiskey he had mentioned in the car.

  He had obviously taken off the bandages, and from where she sat, his head wound looked like it was healing well. She imagined his ribs were as well, but a grey t-shirt covered his chest.

  “Hey,” he said quietly as he made his way over to the bed and sat down.

  “Hey yourself,” she said, smiling at him.

  And there it was again. His hard façade disappeared, and a look of tenderness washed over his face.

  “I just wanted to check that you were okay,” he said.

  “I’m good,” she said. “The wine is helping quite a bit,” she indicated to the almost empty bottle on the side of the bed.

  Aiden smiled a little.

  She put her hand on his big arm. “You didn’t tell anyone about me,” she said quietly, looking him directly in the eye.

  “Nope.”

  “Why? Why didn’t you tell them what I was?”

  Aiden looked down at her small hand, and then wrapped his fingers around it. “It’s not my secret to tell, Holly.”

  She liked the warmth of his hand and the fresh, earthly scent of him. When she looked at his face, she felt that ache in her stomach return. Not the one that signaled sickness, but the ache of desire. Perhaps it was the wine. Perhaps it was the fact that she felt relaxed for the first time in she didn't know how long. Perhaps it was the fact that she had relived that kiss in her living room over and over. She had been physically attracted to him from the second she laid eyes on him, but she hadn't trusted him. She realized that she did now. He had killed for her and saved her life. Whatever it was, her belly coiled.

  His warm, brown eyes were almost glowing with heat. He wanted her, and it showed. He squeezed her hand. “Thaddeus wants to talk to us now,” he said, his voice deep and thick.

  Holly had a hard time imagining leaving the room. She felt safe with Aiden in there with her. She wanted to keep looking into those eyes and feel their warmth as they traveled over her face. She didn’t want him to let go of her hand. She wanted time to stop at that moment, just for a little bit, while she savored the idea of being totally safe and wanted for the first time in seventy-five years.

  He put his huge arms around her small body and held her to his chest for a moment. “Thank you,” he said softly.

  She pressed her cheek against his hard chest. “For what?”

  He shrugged. “For getting me out of the hospital. For taking care me.”

  She sighed. “I think I'm the one who should be saying thank you. You saved my life.”

  She heard a grumble in his chest, and a blast of heat came off his body.

  She pulled back and looked at his face. Gone was the tenderness, and in its place was the look of a cold-blooded killer.

  “I’m sorry you had to see that, but I'm not sorry I did it. I lost it when I heard what he said to you and then saw him on top of you like that.”

  She cringed inwardly, but not at Aiden's words. She cringed at the memory. She placed her hand on his arm again. “It’s all right, Aiden. I’m grateful, not upset.”

  He continued to look down at her, gauging whether she was being truthful. He nodded when he didn’t see any stress or lies in her eyes.

  Holly wanted to be back in his arms. It was that simple. She hadn’t been held in so long, and the warmth of his body felt delicious.

  A knock on the door made her jump a little.

  “Go away,” Aiden said loudly.

  “No,” the voice growled. “Now Aiden. I need to be updated now.”

  “Thaddeus,” Aiden said in a normal voice.

  “I gathered that,” Holly said, irritated by the interruption.

  “Shall we go talk to the leader of our race?”

  “Does this mean that when I sit down with him I'll be in the company of royalty?” Holly asked with a smirk.

  Aiden laughed. “We'll be there in a minute,” Aiden said loudly.

  There wasn’t an answer. Aiden kept looking at her and she saw the change again. Tenderness took over his face.

  He stood and grabbed her wine bottle. "Let’s get this over with.”

  Chapter 17

  Aiden led Holly down to the place that was now called Central Control. As he guided her through the Great Room, he berated himself for kissing her and holding her. She didn’t need the likes of him in her life, but it felt so good, so right. And he simply couldn't help himself. Those soft lips were absolutely delicious. He not only wanted Holly, he felt that he needed her. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish. Holly needed him li
ke she needed a third foot. He sighed and shook his head. He was literally battling himself when it came to Holly, and neither side was winning.

  As they walked, he could see where Emily was making improvements. The space used to be one big, huge cavern, but she was directing a contractor on where to erect walls, breaking up the room nicely.

  Once they reached Central Control, they took a seat next to each other at the large conference table. In the corner, Cy busied himself, pounding on the computer.

  Thaddeus sat at the head of the table. “Let’s hurry up and get this done,” he growled. "My Eternal Mate just turned in for the day, and I want to crawl into bed next to her.”

  Aiden said hello to Cy, and then introduced Holly. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Holly took a sip of wine. He loved the way those lips curled around the glass. He watched her throat work as the liquid slid down. Her skin was so pale, so perfectly smooth and unmarred by not even a freckle. She ran a hand through her hair, sending the strands into full attention. As she brought the glass up again, she caught Aiden staring at her. Busted.

  “What?” she said. “What are you smiling at?”

  He hadn’t even realized he was smiling. He shook his head and looked across the room at Cy. Aiden did a quick check of himself. He had that very strange peaceful feeling again, and he knew it was because of Holly. There was something about her that mellowed his usually cranked-up self, something that got rid of all that anger and pain within him.

  All of a sudden Cy stopped typing and whipped around. He inhaled deeply and his eyes narrowed as he looked at Holly. “Holy shit!” he whispered.

  Holly sat back in her chair and took a gulp of wine. He knew, Aiden thought. And Holly knew Cy knew. Her secret was going to be dragged out of the closet into the open in a matter of seconds.

  Thaddeus turned to Cy to see what he was holy shitting about. His gaze followed Cy’s and settled on Holly. “Damn, I knew it,” Thaddeus said under his breath, running his hand through his wavy blonde hair. “I knew it in the car. I thought I smelled her, but I wasn’t sure. I couldn't believe it.”

  Without even realizing he had done it, Aiden reached under the table and grabbed Holly’s hand. He felt terribly protective of her. He knew that she was uncomfortable letting her secret out. She had worked too hard and had been hiding herself for too long for it to be a comfortable experience, especially while she was in the heart of Dark Forces headquarters, the very people who answered to The Council. The very people she had been avoiding for a hundred years.

  Cy stood up and walked over to the table, taking a seat next to Thaddeus. His dark blue t-shirt read Talk Nerdy to Me.

  “A female vampire,” he said. “Do tell, Holly, where have you been?”

  She looked at Aiden and squeezed his hand back. It seemed that Holly was suffering from a little bit of a tied tongue.

  “Holly has been hiding in plain sight,” Aiden said quietly. “She is brave, and she has shown kindness to countless humans, as well as one nasty vampire that she nursed back to health.”

  Aiden looked over at Holly.

  "You're not that bad," she said, and Aiden couldn't help but smile.

  “Where she was before she saved my ass in the hospital is her story to tell, not mine, but I'll tell you what I've seen in my few days with her.”

  “Hold up,” Thaddeus said, “let’s start at the beginning. Last time I saw you, you were about to follow up on a lead at the strip club. What happened?”

  As Aiden told his tale of getting beaten by two younger vampires, it occurred to him that he was seriously missing some brain cells. He knew that right before the attack he had put the pieces of a theoretic puzzle together, but for the life of him he couldn’t remember the puzzle or the pieces, let alone how they all fit. He remembered he had fed, then he had been thinking about Natalie’s death. That was where the details didn’t become just sketchy, but they had totally jumped ship. He didn’t mention that part to anyone. He wanted to be sure that Thaddeus thought he was hitting on all cylinders so that they could go out tonight. As The Creator as his witness, he was going to hunt down and gut whoever sent that male over to get Holly.

  He told of his brief stay in the hospital, Holly’s bravery while getting them both out of there, and crashing at her house for a few days. He didn’t mention the fact that he had tossed his guts all over her bathroom, or that damn IV. Holly should feed in the way of her kind, unless she didn't want to, of course. But he guessed after her brush with death, she would want to remain hidden after she left.

  He filled them in on the male vampire that had almost taken Holly. “I should have held it together and asked him some questions,” Aiden said, “but I lost it when I saw him on top of her and heard his plans.”

  Thaddeus's eyebrows quirked slightly in question, but he didn’t voice anything out loud. Aiden thought he would get an earful when they were alone. Probably something about Holly being good for him, blah blah blah.

  When he was finished, he looked over at Holly. The wine bottle was empty, and she looked at him with droopy, glassy eyes.

  Cy asked about Holly’s life before she met Aiden, and Aiden answered for her. “I think my little nurse needs to get to bed,” he said. “We can cover that later.” Without waiting for anyone to agree with him, he stood and helped Holly out of the chair.

  Everyone said their goodbyes, and there was talk of everyone getting together for a meal at dusk before Thaddeus and Aiden went out the next night. Still holding on to Aiden’s hand, Holly swayed a little. Aiden grabbed her around the shoulders to steady her, and led her down the hall to her room.

  She didn’t say anything, just allowed Aiden to lead her over to the bed.

  Aiden got her tucked in and went for the door.

  “Aiden?” she said quietly.

  “Yeah?”

  “Will you stay with me tonight? Please? I…I just feel weird being in a new place.” She was mumbling, almost asleep. “Maybe even a little scared, but I would never admit that to you if I was anywhere near sober.”

  Aiden smiled and looked around. He supposed he could throw down some pillows on the floor, or maybe Thaddeus had one of those totally uncomfortable blow-up beds he could haul in.

  “Aiden? Please?” she said, peeling her eyes open, pulling back the covers. and moving over for him to get.

  Aiden’s throat went tight. He reminded himself that they had shared a bed before at her house. It wasn’t a big thing. Not a big thing at all. But where had all the air in the room gone? And why weren’t his lungs working properly? He felt dizzy, and decided he either needed to get over to the bed or he was going to ass plant on the floor of the bedroom. He forced one foot in front of the other, made it over to the bed, and slid in.

  She rested her head on his chest, and threw her arm over his stomach.

  Okay, this didn’t happen when they shared a bed before. There had been space between them. They hadn't touched. He had been under the covers; she had been on top of them. Frankly, he found the whole situation a little disconcerting. It had been ten years since he had slept like this with anyone except his son Robert. He felt claustrophobic. He felt his skin begin to tighten, a light moisture dampened his brow. His heart began to pound and his breathing became shallow. Shit. He needed to calm down or he was going to have a heart attack or full-fledged panic attack or something.

  He took a deep breath and tried to reason with himself. It wasn’t like he had just crawled in under the sheets with a pissed off fire-breathing dragon. It was a female vampire. A small female vampire who posed absolutely no physical danger to him. None. He could snap her neck right now if he so chose. She was a small, kind, really cute female vampire with a great ass and a brave heart.

  He had the passing thought that it would be easier being in bed with a pissed off fire-breathing dragon.

  He took another deep breath and forced himself to relax. He should touch her, just to comfort her. Well, that was what he told himself. It had nothing to do w
ith how soft her milky white skin looked. She had said that she was uncomfortable here in Thaddeus's house. He could understand that. New places could make someone feel unsettled, especially after what she had been through. He could totally understand how she would be scared and unnerved. Apparently she trusted him now, though. And that was good, wasn't it? He definitely should touch her and comfort her.

  He slowly wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Yeah, this wasn’t too bad. He had been right—her skin was really soft.

  She inhaled deeply and sighed. It was as if she appreciated his touch. That was good. No, laying here with her wasn't so bad. In fact, if he was honest, he liked it. He put his nose to her unruly hair and inhaled. He loved the way she smelled. It was faint, but she smelled like lavender.

  When a female vampire fed from natural sources, such as a human, her scent grew stronger. He had heard that if she fed from her mate, the scent was even stronger. He imagined that potent scent would wind its way up his nose and turn his brain to Jell-O.

  She let out another soft sigh. “So right, Aiden. So right,” she mumbled before she drifted off to sleep.

  Aiden mentally killed the lights and laid in the darkness staring at the ceiling. It was about noon or so, and he would be going out with Thaddeus shortly after nightfall. Despite all the sleeping he had been doing, he should get some rest anyway. He needed to be a strong as possible.

  He squinted, trying to recall the lost memory from the night he had been hurt. He could feel it there, but he couldn’t dig it out. It was like when you got a shallow paper cut in the web of your hand. You couldn't see it, but it bugged the ever living hell out of you. Whatever he couldn't remember he knew was important. It had something to do with Natalie's death. It seemed the harder he tried to recall it, the further it slipped away. Frustrated, he let it go. It would come to him eventually.