She arched a brow. “Do anything she doesn’t want and I’ll make you cry for your mommy.”
“I’ve never been one to deny a woman her pleasure, but I’m occupied at the moment.”
I widened my eyes at Candy and all but popped them out of their sockets in an attempt to communicate that she should not, under any circumstances, leave me alone with him. She smirked. Her expression said plainly that I could put my big girl panties on and deal with my own damn problems. Bitch.
Candy disappeared from sight as Andre drew me into the swirling crowd. Somehow he slipped us through the crush of bodies and into a secluded corner by a side exit. His green eyes reflected in the low lighting. His hand bracketed my chin and tightened when I jerked back. Irritation flashed through me, and I glared at him as he forced me to meet his gaze.
His lips flattened into a line, his face serious. Emotion I couldn’t read shone in his eyes. “I knew we were destined for each other the moment I saw you.”
I sighed, suddenly tired. “I didn’t.”
“That doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I was just ahead of you in realizing it.”
I shook my head and tried really hard to get a grip on my bitchiness. It wouldn’t help to go off on him again. “Maybe you should have waited for me to catch up.”
Now it was his turn to sigh. “Cynthiana, try to understand. I have been alive for many, many years. In that time, I have had more than my share of women—enough to know the moment I saw you that you were mine. Forever. If I hadn’t bitten you that night, I would have literally spent eternity kicking myself if, for example, you’d been hit by a car and died the next day. I couldn’t risk waiting for you to catch up. Humans are so fragile. I had to know there was some safety for you, some small guarantee that you wouldn’t be snatched away by fate.”
Right, like I was letting the safety argument fly. So not buying it—that it was all for my best interest. I poked him in the chest. Hard. “You didn’t even ask, Andre. That’s a big ass decision to make without me, the woman you’re destined to be with. If that’s how you like your relationships, I’m not interested.”
A look that was almost…hurt…crossed his face. My heart squeezed just to see it, but I stomped my tender emotions into submission. I was denying him his new favorite toy. Me. And I was no man’s toy.
My cell phone trilled in my handbag. Oh shit, what now? I fished it out. The bottom dropped out of my stomach as if I were on a rollercoaster. The number for my co-dependent hooker of an Aunt Misty flashed on the screen. An honest-to-God prostitute. No kidding. When she called, it was never good news. She wanted money, or she was in trouble, or both. If it wasn’t for my ten-year-old cousin, Desi, I wouldn’t talk to her. She was self-destructive poison. I mean, no one grew up and said, “I want to be a crack whore someday.”
Ignoring the disgruntled look on Andre’s face, I turned my back on him and put the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Cyn! Oh, thank you, God! Desiree was in a car crash and broke her leg and has a concussion, and you know I don’t have insurance and—”
A cold, hard knot settled in my belly. God, no. Not Desi. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I hadn’t even gotten my drink.
Chapter Two
My hands clenched on the steering wheel. I had to get to my cousin. That’s all I could think. Please, please let Desi be okay. I loved that little girl so much. I was going crazy right now. Worry gnawed at me like a hungry werewolf. One quick look at the speedometer told me that I was about ten miles over the speed limit. They wouldn’t pull me over for that, would they? I pushed my convertible Mini Cooper a little faster.
Flicking a glance down while I punched the speed-dial, I tried to get Misty on the phone for a progress report on Desi. It was a few hours to Las Vegas from Los Angeles, but if I hurried I could be inside the hospital before dawn. Something else to get pissed at Andre for. No reflection, no sunlight.
My stomach rumbled. Oh, yeah. Cravings for blood. Another lovely side effect. When was the last time I had fed? I meant to have something substantial before I went to Eclipse, but Andre had sort of interrupted that plan. I’d barely taken any blood from him, so my stomach felt as if it was digesting itself right now.
“Hi, this is Misty and Desiree, leave us a message—”
“Damn it.” I huffed out a breath and tossed my cell phone on the passenger seat.
My gaze swept the barren landscape along I-15. There wasn’t anything for as far as I could see except dirt and stars and a few ragged Joshua trees. When I glanced back at the road, a large white jackrabbit hopped in front of my car.
“Shit.” I jerked the wheel and swerved to miss it, but the crunch of bone sounded as it bounced against the underside of my car. “Oh, that is just nasty.”
And then my tire blew up. Rubber popped. The Mini Cooper’s back end spun out. My heart stuttered as my pretty little car made grinding noises when the metal of my tire rim hit pavement.
“Shit, piss, motherfucker. Oh God. Oh God.”
Skidding off onto the soft shoulder of the road, the car finally came to a stop. I sat there and panted while my heart rate galloped. My knuckles showed white on the wheel, and I had to force myself to relax my grip and reach down to shift into park. My hands shook on the door handle when I hauled myself out to go look at my tire. I walked around the car to the passenger side and kept an eye out for crazy-ass drivers who might be too blind or stupid to see the emergency flashers on my car and hit me. Oh, yeah. That was the flattest tire I’d ever seen. Little bits of rubber hung off it and flopped on the ground.
“Spare tire, Cyn. Put it on and get the hell to Vegas.” Popping my trunk, I—What the hell?—Where were the jack and tire iron? I had forgotten to check for them in this car when I bought it from the used car dealership last week. Now that I needed ’em, they were nowhere to be found. Fan-damn-tastic. Time to call in reinforcements.
I opened the passenger door and fished around for my cell phone. Please, please, please let me have cell phone service. I was in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, not daring to look. My breath whooshed out when I saw I had full bars. I pulled in a deep breath while I dialed my roadside assistance number. The number was programmed into my phone, just in case. You never knew when a Rambo-wannabe jackrabbit would hang on to your bumper and use his last breath to shred your tire. Fucking bunny.
I punched in all the appropriate numbers and listened to a recorded voice tell me to call 911 if it was a life threatening emergency. Well, duh. “Hello? I have a flat tire, and I need someone to come put on my spare—”
The woman dispatcher’s professionally concerned voice cut me off. “Okay, ma’am. Are you in a safe area?”
I looked around at the miles and miles of dirt. “I’m kind of in the middle of nowhere, but I guess I’m safe.”
“Good. Now where are you exactly?”
“I’m not sure. I’m eastbound on I-15 about a hundred miles west of Las Vegas. I don’t see a call box or any mile markers.”
“So, you’re east of Las Vegas—”
“No, I’m west of Vegas going east toward Vegas.” I rolled my eyes.
“What city did you just pass?”
Did I just speak English? I swear I’d told this woman I had no idea where I was. I was worried about Desi, not about where I might pop a tire. “I’m not sure. I know I’m about a hundred miles west of Vegas.”
“All right, ma’am. We’ll dispatch someone, and they should be there in about twenty to thirty minutes.”
“Thank you!” I could be with Desi soon, then. I shivered as the cold desert night air hit my bare shoulders and legs. Hurrying back to the driver’s side, I slid into my seat.
Twenty minutes later, my phone rang. Oh, good. Must be the tow truck driver.
“Hello?”
An older female voice re
sponded, “Hi, Ms. Trent. I’m sorry, but we won’t be able to dispatch anyone until we know your location. Can you tell me exactly where you are?”
I blinked. “Um. I already told the last lady I talked to.”
“Can you tell me again?”
Okay, stay calm. I’d only been on the side of the road for about half an hour. Everything was fine. “Sure. I’m not one hundred percent sure of where I am, but I’m eastbound on I-15 about a hundred miles west of Las Vegas.”
“Are there any mile makers nearby?”
“No.” And I sure as hell wouldn’t wander around in the frigid ass desert to look for one.
She was silent for a long moment. “Um. All right, ma’am. We’ll dispatch someone, and they should be there in about twenty to thirty minutes.”
“Sounds good.” I sighed and dropped the phone on my lap.
Twenty minutes later, my phone rang.
“Hello?”
A pleasant male voice answered. “Hi, Ms. Trent. I’m sorry, but we won’t be able to dispatch anyone until we know your location. Can you tell me exactly where you are?”
My head was about to explode. I spoke slowly and carefully, as if he was a small child. A stupid small child. “No. I. Don’t. Know. Where. I. Am. I told the last two people that I’m a hundred miles west of Las Vegas on I-15. That’s the best I can do.”
“I’ll have to put you on hold for a moment to see if I can’t get the tow truck company to three-way this call so you can tell them.”
What could I possibly tell them? I don’t know was pretty easy to relay. “Okay.”
Music pumped through the phone, followed by a discussion of how I wanted the company’s homeowner’s insurance in case my house blew up, burned down or shook to the ground in a mega earthquake. The first time it was funny. After thirty minutes of listening to it on a loop, I was suicidal.
Tears pressed hard against my eyelids. It was dark, and I was all alone out here. Not a single car had passed in the whole time I’d been on this call. The night closed in on me, cold and suffocating. All I could hear was the damn elevator music and my harsh breathing as I tried not to cry.
“Ms. Trent?”
“Y-yes?” I sniffled and covered it with a cough.
“I’m sorry for the wait.”
I cleared my throat. “No problem.”
“Are you sure you can’t give us more specifics on where you are?”
“No, I really can’t.” My tone was flat. Just shoot me now. My stomach rumbled. I really, really needed to feed. Soon. I took a moment to think about how I would drain this obnoxious bastard dry if he were here.
“My wife always knows where we are on round trips, so I thought you might too.”
So now my geography was linked to my gender? Because I was a chick, I automatically knew my exact location? Yeah, whatever. Your wife just rocks my world. Tell her to come find me then. I bit back the words that wanted to rip into this guy and damn near sank a fang through my tongue. It wasn’t his fault I had a flat tire. I counted to ten in my head. Backward. The screaming need to get to Desi just wouldn’t quit. She needed me, and I was stuck in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
“All right, ma’am. We’ll dispatch someone, and they should be there in about twenty to thirty minutes.”
I sighed. “You know, that’s what the last two people said as well. I kind of have my doubts at this point.”
“We’re doing our very best, ma’am.”
“Right. Okay. Twenty to thirty minutes.” I hung up.
Twenty minutes later, my phone rang. Oh, that was just it. I was so changing to a different roadside service when I got home. This was just ridiculous.
I stabbed the answer button and tucked the phone under my chin. “What?”
There was a long pause. “Cynthiana?”
A familiar voice. Relief rushed through me. I didn’t even care that it was Andre. It was someone I knew. I clutched the phone tight to my ear.
“Andre.” My voice broke on his name.
“Are you all right? Where are you?”
“I don’t know.” I just lost it and sobbed hard into the cell phone. I’d never get to Desi tonight, and the sun would come up, and I would be scorched to death. The end.
“Shh, cherie.” His tone soothed. “Tell me what happened. Perhaps I can help.”
I covered my eyes with my hand. “You c-can’t. No o-one can. I’m all alone.”
“I’ll come to you, and you won’t be alone.”
“I told you I don’t know where I am.” Fat tears slid down my cheeks, and I just knew my mascara had turned me into a vampiric raccoon.
“You don’t need to know. I’ll find you. Where did you intend to drive?”
My breath hitched. “I w-wanted to go to Las Vegas on I-15. My cousin got hurt.”
He hummed sympathetically. “Then you should get there soon. What happened?”
See? See? Someone understood how important it was to get there now. And that someone was Andre of all people, but right now I was okay with that. I told him the whole thing from the second I ran out the side door of Eclipse to the last operator who called me.
My voice rose with frustration and indignation when I told Andre about the guy’s wife comment. “I almost screamed at him. ‘Wait, let me consult the GPS reading from my uterine homing device. I forgot to turn it on until you asked for the third time. The beacon’s up now, man. You should be able to see me from space.’”
His low, rich chuckle sounded in my ear. Hot warmth tingled through my body. God, just the sound of him turned me on. I pressed my thighs together and set my hand against my belly in an attempt to quell the gathering need.
Think about something else, quickly! “And how many white jackrabbits are there? It doesn’t matter, because there’s one less now.”
“I’m certain the rabbit deserved his fate.”
I grinned for the first time in hours. “Yeah. Evil bunny. And it popped my tire.”
“Bastard.”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
He laughed again.
A thought struck me. “Why did you call me anyway?” He didn’t answer, and I thought I’d lost signal or my battery died.
“Hello?”
He spoke slowly. “You ran out and I was…concerned.”
“Really?” The thought warmed me. It shouldn’t have, but it did. The more time I spent with him, the more I liked him. He was addictive, and I’d turned into as big a crack whore as Misty.
“Oui, cherie. I’ll come to you as soon as possible.”
I opened my mouth to speak when headlights pulled up right on my bumper. “Wait. That’s okay. The tow truck driver is here. And…thanks Andre.”
“Don’t get out of your car!”
My hand froze on the door handle. “Why?”
“Make certain this is the person you called for. There are those who would take advantage of a woman alone.”
“Andre—”
“Please?”
I blinked. I don’t think I’d ever heard that word come out of his mouth. Ever. It rattled me. “O-okay.”
Feeling like a fool, I sat there and waited for the tow truck driver to come fetch me.
“Do you have anywhere to stay for the day?” Concern laced Andre’s voice.
“I’m staying with my aunt.”
“Her home is light-proofed?”
“I’ll be fine, Andre.”
“I know the owner of The Creole Resort and Casino. Tell the front desk that you’re my guest, and they’ll give you a comp room.”
“Andre—”
“I get rooms there for free any time I’m in Las Vegas. I’ll call ahead so it’s available if you’d like, and dinner is also complimentary. No pressure. I hope your cousin is well.”
“I…thank you.” He wou
ldn’t try and force me? Coerce or coax? This was the guy who turned me on the first date? Had I actually managed to get through to him? My eyebrows winged up, and I snorted. Nah. Not Andre. He probably had gas or something.
A loud knock on my window made me jump. Right. The tow truck driver. “I have to go.”
“Be careful, cherie.”
“I will.”
“Swear it?”
“Promise. Goodbye.” I flipped the phone closed and opened the door. The frigid desert air closed around me. I shuddered in the cold. I wished I had a jacket. Or a snowsuit. Goose bumps erupted down my arms and legs, and my nipples got rock hard. I crossed my arms over my chest when the driver’s eyes zoomed in on them in the dim light from my car’s interior.
He grinned from beneath his long, messy beard. “How long you been stuck here?”
My teeth clattered so hard I was about to crack a fang. “A long time. I have a flat tire and really need to have my spare put on so I can get to Vegas, but I don’t have a jack.”
“A flat? Dispatch told me you broke down. I got nothing to change a tire.”
My eye twitched. “What?”
“I don’t have anything to change a flat.”
Breathe, Cyn. Breathe. “You’re a tow truck driver, and you can’t change a tire?”
“Nope. I can tow you to Vegas though. You got the extended roadside service, right?”
“Right.” My teeth ground, and I bared my fangs in a nasty smile.
The man paled and stepped back. “Ah. Let’s get you loaded up then. Why don’t you sit in the cab of my truck?”
“Fine.” I bent and snagged my bag and phone from the car. I just know he stared at my ass while I did it.
My heels sank into the loose dirt as I limped over to the truck and grabbed the door to haul myself up. I snapped the seatbelt in place, and my phone rang yet again. It better not be my roadside people, or I would give them a piece of my mind. Misty’s number flashed on the screen.
Thank the sweet baby Jesus. She could tell me what was going on. “Hello?”
“Cyn?”
My heart lurched, and I squeezed the phone so tight I thought the plastic might crack for a second. “Desi! Are you okay? What happened?”
Big Girls Don't Die Page 2
