by Dara Nelson
“But what if you feel differently after you see it? What if you don’t want me anymore?” she whispered.
His hand moved to her chin, he gently lifted it and waited until she met his eyes with hers. “What’s your last name?”
“What?”
“Tess, what is your last name?” he said.
“Hamilton, why?”
“Well, Tess Hamilton, you are the most beautiful, desirable woman that I’ve ever met in my eight hundred and sixty three years on this earth, and nothing, absolutely nothing in your memories will ever change that. I’ve seen the crap that these werewolves can do, so I already had a pretty good idea of what happened to you Tess and I still fell in love with you and I still want you. In fact, keeping my hands off of you is by far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to face.”
That got a small smile from her – and that warmed his heart. She rested her head on her knees and kept eye contact with him, “It’s bad Colton. It’s ugly, it’s disgusting and it’s bad. Are you sure you want to see it?”
He nodded, “Absolutely, Tess. Show me your pain. Let me take some of it away.”
As she stuck her wrist out to him she said, “Do me a favor? If this changes how you look at me, how you feel about me, tell me now, okay? Don’t drag it out, Colton. I’ll understand if you can’t handle it. Hell, I can’t handle it. I won’t blame you and I won’t hate you, just let me walk away now before my heart gets any deeper into this. Promise me that, please?”
“I promise, Tess. But the only thing that’s going to change after this is that I’m going to love you even more than I do right now. Now, as soon as I pierce your skin, think about what happened. Relive the entire thing in your head. Don’t hide anything. Don’t leave anything out. I’ll be as gentle as I can, but this will feel a little different because we’re not having sex. There will be a small sting.”
She nodded then inhaled sharply as his teeth broke the surface of her skin. As she felt her blood begin to flow into his mouth, she felt the tears falling from her eyes as she thought back to that night.
Colton tried not to react as the first memory flooded into his brain, but his head jerked as he saw her getting hit on the back of the head as she locked up her store at night. As she remembered falling to the ground and getting kicked in the ribs, Tess watched, fascinated, as Colton’s body jerked to the side – almost as if he had just been kicked in the ribs too. His eyes flew open as she remembered coming to as she was being dragged into an abandoned house. His eyes were black and filled with rage as she remembered the glimpses of carnage and brutality that she saw in the rooms that they passed. There was blood and body parts everywhere. He coughed and spit out a little blood across her arm as, in her memory, she saw herself gag at the horrible stench of death that surrounded her. His free hand flew to his knees as she saw herself being flung onto the hard cement floor on all fours. He cringed, growled and whimpered as her wrists and ankles were bound by ropes that were attached to metal rings that were embedded in the floor. He flinched and almost pulled away from her wrist as her pants were undone and roughly pulled down to her knees, leaving her ass exposed to the world. He whimpered and cried out as the boot came down on her head, pinning it to the floor and the hot poker with the wolf brand was pulled from the fireplace in the corner of the room and pressed into the back of her neck – causing her to scream and cry out. He growled as he heard male voices arguing around her: ‘Don’t touch her, she’s for the alpha male only,’ one voice said, followed by an angry growling voice that said, ‘He won’t be back for a while. Just look at that ass. Don’t you just want to grab hold and ride it?’ Colton cringed again as he felt Tess’ fear as a rough hand reached out and caressed her naked behind. She sank her butt down to try to protect herself from his touch. The rough hands jerked her hips up, “Keep that ass up or I’ll beat the shit out of you, bitch!”
Tess yanked, pulled and fought with the ropes as the two males continued arguing around her, ‘You idiot. He’ll smell you on her. He’ll tear you apart. Get yourself under control, Damon.’
Another growl, followed by some scuffling and finally, ‘Fine. You watch her, I’m going to go find someone who can take care of this hard on.’
Tess’ butt sank back to her legs as she heard the angry one storm out of the room. She watched the feet of the other as he walked to the chair in the corner and sat down. “Stop fighting the ropes. You aren’t going to break free and you’re only cutting into your skin,” he said.
“Please, let me go,” she whimpered.
“It’ll all be over soon. Just don’t fight it. It’ll be better for you if you don’t.”
Colton could hear the thoughts of the wolf in the corner: ‘Hopefully this one will survive. If he times’ the bite just right. That’s what killed the others. His timing is off. He’s biting too late and we can’t get him out of the room before he tears them up.’
Colton whimpered on Tess’ wrist as he thought, ‘Others? There were others? Dear God, how many others?’ It was the same thought Tess had when she saw the body parts strewn throughout the other rooms – ‘That’s going to happen to me if I can’t get out of here.’
Colton felt Tess’ body relax and a peaceful calm came over her as she stopped fighting her situation and started to figure a way out. She closed out the world around her and began softly reciting a spell incantation under her breath. He watched, proudly, as she kept that calm and focus on the spell even as the alpha male entered the room. “Good. She is ready. This one is very fertile. Do it right, this time, Marcos. Push me out the door as soon as I bite her and come.”
“Yes sir,” said the voice in the corner.
Tess’ breath hitched briefly when she heard the man behind her undo his zipper – but Colton felt her say to herself ‘Don’t lose focus now’ and she continued reciting her spell. He felt the knots loosen on the ropes at her ankles, saw them begin to unravel at her wrists, as her magic began to work. Even as the alpha-male dropped to his knees and shoved himself roughly inside of her, she didn’t lose her calm. The ropes silently fell off of her wrists as he grabbed her hips and pounded into her. She heard the cracking of his bones as he began to shift. The rope fell from one of her ankles and she knew that this was her only chance. As he leaned down and tried to bite her, and right before he climaxed, her elbow swung around and clocked him on the side of the head, just at the upper cheek bone, and the foot that was free swung up between his legs, smashing his nuts and any hope that he had for an orgasm. In the mayhem that followed, the man in the corner instinctively went to help his alpha-male, who was curled onto his side on the floor howling in agony. Tess jumped up, yanked the ankle that was still tied so hard that her tendons tore, and ran out of the house as fast as she could. Adrenaline kept her running for miles through the woods that surrounded the house, until she came to a clearing and saw Colton’s house.
Tears streamed from Colton’s eyes as his tongue moved over the bite marks to help them heal then he kissed it a few times. He looked up and saw that Tess’ face was turned away – she didn’t want to look at him after what he had seen. His hand cupped her chin and brought her gaze back to his, “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen Tess Hamilton. It makes me proud to have such an incredibly strong woman by my side,” he said as he leaned in to kiss her. She had prepared for the worst, what he gave her was his best. Her heart melted at his tenderness. She wanted this kiss to last forever, but she couldn’t hold back the sobs that needed to come out. He felt them too and pulled her into his arms, whispering into her hair, “I’m going to kill every one of those bastards, you know that, right?”
That brought a small smile to her face and she hugged him tighter. Colton lifted his head from Tess’ shoulder and looked at her, “Now, I’d love nothing more than to make love to you right now, but with all of the emotions coursing through me there’s no way I’d be able to stop myself from biting, and as much as we both might like that, you haven’t eaten anything since yesterday mornin
g. We need to get some fuel into you to replenish your blood supply, because believe me sweetheart, you’re going to need it tonight. You’re going to be walking funny after I’m done with you, if you’ll let me.”
“I’m already walking funny – bad ankle, remember?” she’s said, smiling through her tears.
“Touche,” he said as he climbed off of the bed. He held his arms out to her, “Allow me?”
As she walked over to him on her knees she smiled and said, “Are you ever going to let me, let me, whoa, head rush.”
The doctor in him took over immediately. He scooped her into his arms, “Let your head fall back, Tess,” he said as he tilted her body so that her feet were higher than her head. He turned towards the door, “Hansen,” he called out. The door opened a few seconds later, “Sir?”
“We need steak and eggs for breakfast, please,” Colton said.
“Yes, sir.” Hansen turned and walked quickly down the stairs, followed closely behind by Colton and Tess.
Tess’ head lolled to one side as she hovered precariously close to unconsciousness. “Stay with me Tess. Come on. Look at me. Focus. Don’t you fucking leave me,” he said as he shook her slightly, trying to bring her out of her stupor.
He set her on the couch in the living room, just across the hall from the kitchen, and sat next to her. Hansen emerged from the kitchen carrying a glass of orange juice and a wet wash cloth, “Steak is on the grill. Should be done in about ten minutes, Sir.”
“Thank you, Hansen. In the meantime, do you have any crackers or something?”
“Certainly, Sir,” he said as he swept out of the room.
Colton mopped her forehead with the damp cloth then slid his arm underneath her neck – lifting her head slightly. “Come on honey, drink this. It’ll help you feel better.”
Her eyes rolled in her head then slowly came around to focus on Colton’s face as she took a sip from the glass. He smiled at her as he dabbed a drop from the corner of her mouth. “This is stupid,” she mumbled, slurring her words.
“No. This is human. And we need to be more careful,” he said as he tilted the glass to her lips again. Hansen walked into the room carrying a box of wheat crackers. “Five more minutes on breakfast, Sir.”
“I don’t know if I can eat. I’m feeling nauseous,” Tess mumbled.
Colton reached into the box of crackers and pulled a few out, “Try these. I’m sure you’re just nauseous because your stomach is so empty. Once you start eating I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
Thirty minutes later, Tess picked up her empty plate and started licking the egg yolk off of it. She smiled at Colton over the top of the plate, “Guess you were right. I was starving.”
“Lucky plate,” Colton said, smiling.
“I’ve got plenty of tongue left, you want some?” she teased as she set the plate down and leaned towards Colton.
“God, more than anything,” Colton said as he put his hands on her shoulders to hold her away.
“But?” she said.
“But, I need to ask you something first.”
Tess sat back against the couch, eyeing Colton warily. Out of the corner of her eye, Tess could see Hansen hovering near the door of the kitchen – this must be important.
“The alpha male that attacked you, did you get a look at him at all? His face, his feet, his hands, anything?”
Tess’ first instinct was to get angry – how dare he bring this up again. What right did he have to force her to think about it yet again? She automatically lashed out at him, “Gee, I don’t know Colton. Do you think my first thought as a total stranger shoved himself into me from behind was ‘hey you, let me get a look at you and see what your face looks like’? Yeah, that was what my reaction was. It wasn’t to try to get the fuck out of there – it was to see what he looked like.”
Tess could see that she’d hurt Colton and she felt bad, but she was still pissed.
Colton gently placed his hand on her forearm, “That’s not what I meant Tess. Do you remember last night – I mean before we made love? Remember the wolf that was in the hall? That wasn’t a wolf, Tess. It was a werewolf. Hansen and I, we killed it. It’s downstairs in the basement in his human form. I doubt the alpha would enter into a vampire’s home – it’s probably a lesser male that the alpha sent to make sure you were still human – but I want to be sure. I thought that if you got a look at some part of him, we could rule out that the asshole downstairs isn’t the prick who attacked you.”
Tess’ anger evaporated – her heart actually swelled a bit at the venom that was spewing from Colton when he spoke about her attacker. Colton was almost as angry about Tess being attacked as she was herself. Almost. The flash of an image popped into her head. “His forearm. He had a tattoo, some sort of dragon tattoo, on his right forearm,” she said.
Colton glanced quickly at Hansen. Hansen turned and quickly headed towards the basement as Colton wrapped his arms around Tess. “Good job, hun. You did great,” Colton said into her neck as he kissed her. A moment later Hansen was back at the door, shaking his head. “It wasn’t him, Tess,” he whispered.
Colton felt her tense in his arms – but she was silent. Something was on her mind, he could tell. So he just held her and waited.
“Colton?” she whispered.
“Hmmm?”
“What did you mean ‘he was checking to see if I was still human’?” she said.
Now it was Colton’s turn to tense up. He pulled away from Tess and looked into her eyes. “Oh, that. Well, you are living in a vampire home right now, Tess. A witch, they want. A vampire witch would be a danger to every one of them. He sent a scout to see if I’d turned you.”
“Oh,” Tess responded then she fell silent again. Colton knew she’d have more questions – but she needed more time to think first.
They spent the day doing a few things around the house – Colton took out the stitches in her head and leg. He re-examined her ankle and showed her a few exercises she could do to help it heal. Hansen and Colton tossed the were-body into the furnace – reducing him to dust – while Tess soaked in the tub upstairs. When she came down the stairs, glowing from the steaming bath and wearing Colton’s robe and a big smile on her face – Colton’s heart swelled. Hansen was standing next to Colton as he watched her slowly and gingerly descend the stairs. “She’s staying, isn’t she, Sir?” Hansen whispered quiet enough for only Colton’s ears.
“I hope so, Hansen. And I hope you will too, in spite of that.”
“I’ll try, Sir,” Hansen grumbled then he raised the volume on his voice so that Tess would hear as he said, “Shouldn’t you go feed tonight Sir? It’s been a few nights since you’ve had a proper meal.”
Colton winced. Hansen was right. He needed to be at top strength until this werewolf problem was dealt with. Tess’ foot hesitated for a moment on the bottom step. Her head tilted to the side slightly. “Hansen is right. You do need more than just my blood. But why did that make me feel a twinge of jealousy? You’re just drinking blood,” she said.
Colton smiled, “That’s because when I drink your blood it’s during an, ummm, intimate experience. When I drink from others, I assure you, it’s not. And I only drink from men, usually drunk men, so it’s definitely not.”
Tess’ blushed slightly, “Oh, you’re right. I hadn’t thought of it that way. Can I come with you, to, you know, watch?”
Colton stared at her for a moment. Was she serious? Nobody had ever asked him this - not even Lisette. His first instinct had been to say no, but then he realized that he actually wanted to share it with her, he wanted to share everything with her. “When your ankle’s better you can, okay?”
Tess looked down at the bulky boot on her lower leg, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that.”
“If you forgot about it then it must be feeling better.”
“A little, plus I’ve gotten used to the pain sort of.”
Colton frowned at this, “I don’t like hearing that. Tess, if you’re in pain, yo
u need to tell me.”
“If it’s really bad I will. But a high tolerance for pain is something I’ve had my whole life. Dealing with pain just comes naturally to me.”
“Geez, Tess. How much pain have you had to deal with in your life? Was it bad?”
Tess smiled at him, “I wasn’t beaten as a child, if that’s what you’re thinking. I was just a little over-zealous when it came to spells and magic. I never took the time to learn first before I tried. Just jumped into the deep end, as it were, which made for a lot of doctor visits – stitches and such.”
Colton reached out and took her hand in his, bringing it to her lips and kissing it gently. “I love your spirit, Tess. I’ll be back in a few hours. Please stay indoors. Don’t open any windows. Hansen will have the house locked up tight and the alarm on. You’ll be safe with him.”
“Oh, I know I will. Hansen and I will hang out and get to know each other. It’ll be fun,” Tess said, smiling and discretely winking at Colton.
The surprised look on Hansen’s face was priceless. Colton squeezed her hand then kissed her temple, whispering, “Thanks,” as he did. He was out the door before she could respond. Tess stared at Hansen’s tense back as he locked the door and set the alarm. Without turning around he mumbled, “Is there anything I can get you before I head to my room?”
“I meant what I said, Hansen. I’d like to sit and get to know each other for a little while if you don’t mind. Maybe we could have some tea together. Can you drink tea?” she said.
Hansen turned around and stared at her, “Yes I can drink tea. But you don’t want to know me, Miss.”
“I don’t? Why not?”
“Because I’m bad news, Miss. I could kill you with one kiss in an instant.”
Tess moved to the couch, sat down and patted the seat next to her, “Then let’s agree – no kisses. Okay?”
