Forgotten Kisses (SuperNatural Sharing Series Book 1)

by Rena Marks

They were talking among themselves, seeming to forget about me. I couldn’t keep up with the conversation, and I dozed on and off.

  When the officers left, I realized I’d never asked about Miranda.

  I slept, and through my haze, I sensed my favorite vampire at my back. In turn, he sensed when I awoke. I was facing toward the darkened window with the bathroom light at my back.

  “Julian,” I whispered.

  “My sweet,” his voice murmured.

  I turned over. I tried to smile, but my lips were cracked.

  “They said it was bad, but I had no idea.” His hand came up to my face, gently touching my cheek with one finger. I turned my face to kiss that finger.

  “Julian, you need to feed.”

  “You’re so weak.”

  “I’ll feel better when you do.”

  Nurse Houston walked into the room. “Actually, she’s right. Being a servant, she’ll heal faster with a little less blood. And humans can manufacture it quickly enough, should you take too much.”

  “You know about vampires?”

  Nurse Houston nodded. “I know. I knew the morning they brought her in with her wounds sealed on her arms and legs. Only baffled the fool doctors, though. Go ahead and do it before the doctor comes. Oh, and try not to bite her neck where everyone will see. I don’t wanna have to explain that one happening on my watch.”

  Nurse Houston left the room and Julian took blood from my groin. I silently prayed that I’d been sponge bathed while unconscious. I knew it was necessary for him to feed where he did. A bite mark on my breast would be seen while checking my heart.

  I waited until he was finished before talking. Since his mouth was occupied. “I forgot about Leo.”

  “It was a trap. When you didn’t arrive at the original airport to pick him up, he had someone wake me. I told him about your second phone call changing the flight plans, and we realized that it was a setup. Unfortunately, it was too late. You were gone. Leo, of course, blames himself.”

  “I have to call him. His mind can’t take that much pressure.”

  Julian nodded. It was odd, him being so understanding where Leo was concerned. “He knows you’re safe, my sweet. And he, at least, got to see you while you were in captivity.”

  “That was real?” I asked, surprised. “I thought I dreamed it.”

  “No, it was real.”

  “Then the binding? It works?”

  “Yes. Leo and I are bound but we’re not sure how or if affects you. There’s definitely no wolf-change in you, I’d smell it.”

  “So they really let Leo free? The captors?”

  He nodded. “We know there was a vampire involved although we didn’t find any. Just a handful of humans that I was taking care of upstairs while Johnny was rescuing you. And the trio, of course. They wouldn’t stay behind.”

  “Where’d you and Leo bite each other?” I wondered.

  Julian pushed up a sleeve, showing me an angry red scar on the inside of his right forearm. Just like the one I’d dreamed about.

  “I thought vamps healed quickly?” I asked while staring at it.

  “Surprisingly, this mark isn’t healing. Neither is Leo’s. He has fang marks in his forearm, same spot.”

  “And my bite?”

  I thought Julian’s face stiffened a bit. “Leo has a tiny little heart-shaped scar on his chest.”

  “Tiny?”

  “No bigger than your lips, my sweet. Don’t worry about it.”

  We were quiet for a moment, staring at each other. Each wondering what the other was thinking. Then he continued.

  “We’ve decided to remove you from the hospital. Whomever was in charge of the kidnapping had vampires, wolves and humans involved in some sort of conspiracy. We don’t know if any of those humans could be a danger to you here in the hospital.”

  I listened as he dialed Leo. I noticed that the number was now programmed into his cell. I would have raised an eyebrow if my face hadn’t been so sore.

  “Leo. Yes, it’s me. She’s awake. Do you want to get down here? Of course. If you don’t have to work. I’m worried about her during the day… I don’t want her to stay here without protection… The human protection is nothing, I know. Okay, see you then.”

  He disconnected the phone and sat back down, taking my hand.

  “You and Leo have gotten close,” I said.

  “We’re like brothers.” Sarcasm.

  “A vampire and a werewolf?”

  “We have you in common,” he said as he leaned down to kiss my cheek.

  While we waited for Leo, Lily stopped by. She brought me a bright, cheerful blanket. I guess she couldn’t stand seeing the hospital drab. She visited for a while until my eyelids began to droop, then made her way out.

  The next time I opened my eyes, Julian was gone and Leo was sitting in the chair next to me, his head in his hands.

  “Hi, sweetie,” I said to him, my mood suddenly uplifted.

  His head shot up. “How are you feeling?”

  “I think I’m feeling better than you,” I said, studying his dejected posture, his haggard face.

  “I feel terrible. Obviously someone knew you were picking me up, and since we discussed you picking me up at my gates when we made your password, I’m thinking it might be someone I know or an employee…one of mine is involved too.”

  “Do you have any wolves missing?”

  “Remember Val Grossler? No one can seem to find him, although technically he’s not one of my pack.”

  “I think he was in the fire that night.”

  There was silence for a moment while we contemplated that. So I spoke next.

  “Leo, don’t blame yourself. It’s just by chance that they picked that day to kidnap me. You wouldn’t be feeling guilty if they’d taken me from Bang’s parking lot, would you?”

  “I wouldn’t feel guilty, but I’d still feel the way I’m feeling right now, Anjelia. Unfortunately, neither you nor Julian would want to know what I’m feeling.”

  The despair in his voice saddened me. “Leo, I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be sad. Just be with me. Continue being my friend, relieving my insanity.”

  “We never did get to test your theory, did we?”

  “Once again, you had too much going on in your own life to think about my poor pathetic bachelor life,” he teased.

  “Don’t you make me laugh, Leo Freedman. You see all these cracks in my lips. I’ll get you back, I swear. And furthermore, if anything like this ever happens again, don’t you put yourself at risk like you have. I can’t even imagine what you were thinking, a wolf king letting himself be captured.”

  Julian walked into the room. “You’re awake.”

  “Yes, I’m up. And while I’m at it, what were you thinking? Letting Leo get captured.”

  Julian raised an eyebrow. “We had a plan, really. It just wasn’t a very good one. We thought it was a renegade vampire with human lackeys. We had no idea there was any wolf sabotage.”

  “And I’m fine, aren’t I?” Leo cut in. “Hardly any worse for wear.”

  “That’s not the point. You could have been hurt.”

  “No. They wouldn’t have dared. Werewolves have inbred loyalty. Even one turning on me would have had to defend me against humans or vampires. He would have put his own life on the line to save his wolf king.”

  I stared into Leo’s eyes, trying to see if he was telling me the truth. Those gentle, golden eyes. I felt a tremendous relief that he was okay, and I was grateful that he did care enough about me to risk himself. We stared at each other for a couple of seconds.

  There was something I was missing about this whole situation. Julian and Leo have never been friendly, something was wrong.

  I stopped thinking about it when Julian spoke.

  “Leo, I wanted to talk to you about the protection for Anjelia. You can’t get out of work and I’m just not comfortable with your wolves watching over her during the day.”

  “Julian,” I
interrupted. “That’s not fair.”

  “Fair or not, it’s how I feel.”

  “It’s okay, Anjelia. I would feel the same way in his shoes,” Leo said.

  “It’s really weird to have you two speaking to each other and actually agreeing with each other. I’m not sure if I like this.”

  “You’ll get used to it. At least we’re no longer driving you insane, as you once called it,” Leo responded and then turned to Julian. “So, what do you suggest?”

  “What pull do you have in getting her discharged from this hospital?”

  “She needs medical attention.”

  “I can take care of her. There are other ways besides human attention.”

  Leo seemed to know what Julian was talking about. Me, I was just lost.

  “I have no authority whatsoever in this hospital. I can tell you what to say to get her out of here, however, which strings to pull. Will that help?”

  “Perfect.”

  I yawned as they went on talking about manipulating the human doctors. Julian and Leo not fighting was actually boring. I might just close my eyes for a moment.

  Or two.

  I woke up, and Leo was still watching me. Julian was gone. It must be daylight outside.

  “Good morning,” he said, reaching for my wrist. He checked my pulse while watching the clock against the wall. Then he rose and got my chart from the foot of the bed.

  “We can’t let you stay here, Anjelia. It’s not safe,” he carefully retrieved a syringe from his coat, drawing a little bottle of medicine out also.

  “What is that?”

  “It’s just something that will make you appear healthier. Temporarily. It doesn’t come without a price however, when it wears off, you’ll be worse than you are now. You’ll tend to do too much and will wear out your exhausted body.”

  “Why am I appearing healthier?”

  “Because your doctor will be checking on you in about an hour. That gives this plenty of time to work. I can’t be seen here, however. So when that door opens, I’ll be scooting into the lavatory.”

  He pressed the needle against the IV in my arm and shot the medicine into the rubber tubing.

  “Do you feel comfortable with me checking your stitches? Please remember I’ve already checked you while you slept.”

  “You did? Has everyone seen me naked?”

  “Just about,” he teased. He helped me up at the waist and untied the hospital gown at the back. I felt him loosening the bandages behind me and checking things out. Then there was a cold stethoscope pressed against my skin. “Breathe deeply.”

  I took a deep breath, holding it. I released it and took another. The stethoscope was dropped as Leo retied my gown and lowered me gently back down.

  “You’re not going to check the front of me, are you?”

  “No,” he smiled gently. “But remember, when the doctor comes in to check you, keep your hand over your groin like you’re being modest. We don’t want him to notice Julian’s marks.”

  “Okay.” Crap. It dawned on me that Leo must have seen the bite to know about it.

  He sat back down after checking me thoroughly, and I was exhausted from that little bit of exertion.

  “You’ll feel better soon,” he promised.

  Something niggled at my brain. “Why haven’t you asked me any details about what happened when you left?”

  He looked me squarely in the eye. “I didn’t need to. I experienced it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Apparently we now have a connection. You have my mark. I accessed your memories while you slept. I saw and felt everything that your own brain did.”

  I stared at him for long moments. I wasn’t sure how I felt, at first. Those were private memories. He’d accessed them without permission. Yet he did it to help me. Still, I couldn’t help but feel mind-raped. Humiliated that he knew what I’d done, what I’d gone through. That I’d peed in the cage and…the relief I was horrified to know I felt when Miranda was dragged away instead of me.

  My cheeks flushed. Leo’s gaze softened, and he kissed my forehead.

  “Please, please don’t be worried,” he said. “I’ll do whatever you want to make you feel comfortable with this. I’ll let you access one of my memories. Then we can blackmail each other into silence.”

  The room was quiet for a minute before I laughed. Leo made a joke?

  “It had better be a good one,” I warned.

  “Let me think. Okay, I know of one. Are you ready?”

  I nodded. I had been joking, but now I was kind of curious to know what was in his head.

  “You have to sit up. I need to access your mark again.”

  He sat next to me on the bed and I leaned my head onto his shoulder. With one hand behind me, I felt him rub the small of my back. He massaged me gently until I relaxed. Soon after, his fingers trailed to my brand. He traced it slowly and I held my breath. It warmed, as I knew it would.

  That warming felt good, as if it were an area of my body that I’d neglected for far too long. I felt my breathing change, it grew deeper, more fulfilling.

  “You’ll have to do this a little differently than I do it, Anjelia. You need to kiss me.”

  I looked up at him slowly, in a daze. I didn’t think, I just nibbled at the bottom of his lip. He opened his mouth and mine fit perfectly onto his. I knew then. We were destined to be together.

  I thought about how handsome Leo was. His blondish-brown hair, his matching golden-brown eyes. How masculine his face was, especially with the darker stubble shadowing his jaw in that sexy way. How magnificent the strength was under that warm skin, the bulging muscles in the warmth of his body.

  The vision hit instantly. Scenes flashed in front of my eyes, like a moving video. Then, it wasn’t like watching a video but feeling like I was there. Sights, sounds, sensations all hit at once.

  I felt anger rushing up my spine as I stared at a frail female lying unconscious before me. Her back was to me and I felt protective of her. She was shapely, but thin and delicate looking. Her long hair trailed down her back in soft curls. It was a couple of shades darker than mine yet she looked familiar to me. She wore a white, loose-fitting top and short white pants. The white of the material accentuated the raw, blistered skin exposed on the small of her back. A brand, with my face in it. I mean Leo’s face, of course.

  I felt the anger tighten even more as I thought of the stupid human who’d branded her. I already loved this woman, and the thought of the callous treatment of her made pure animal fury want to elongate my jaw and extend my teeth. I felt the urge to hunt and kill. Yet, she was already branded. She’d already gone through the pain, so I also felt acceptance in keeping her. It was selfish, I knew. She knew nothing of my world, didn’t even know she’d been thrust into it.

  I extended my hands to the blistered flesh, tracing it gently, lovingly. I felt my fingertips tingle as my life force flowed through them and poured into her brand, numbing her skin. I accessed her memory of the burning pain and helplessness as she was tied and gagged and the red-hot instrument seared her skin. I saw how much she suffered before her mind shut down and allowed her to slip into unconsciousness. I smelled the burning of flesh and the animal in me flared to life. My eyes saw details differently and I knew they’d changed to animal form.

  I realized that as soon as I had the woman as my own, I’d kill the one responsible for this. I would tear his limbs off and listen with satisfaction as he begged for mercy. There was no mercy within me. I felt pure hatred deep inside my soul, red-hot and ready to explode.

  I poured my own magic into her mark, not that I had to, but to obliterate her pain. My power would heal her and I would be helpless, but would be whole again when we mated. Then I turned her over gently onto her back. The pressure of lying on her mark would make it heal now. I looked lovingly at the swell of her breast and my gaze followed upward, to her face as it slept before me.

  My consciousness separated from Leo’s as I gasped
in surprise. The face lying on the pillow was my own.

  “Oops. Sorry about that,” Leo apologized when I opened my eyes. “Wrong memory came up, and I couldn’t stop it.”

  “That was me?”

  “Yes.” He looked away from my face.

  “But, my hair was darker.”

  “Your hair was darker. At Julian’s first mark, your hair lightened. It’s not unusual. You became more attractive to their species in order for one of them to claim you.”

  A less confident woman could take that as an insult, I imagine.

  “So that first night at your mansion, when I met you, you already knew me.”

  “I knew you but I have a different personality now. I’d been away from you for so long and was nearly insane. I couldn’t be sure it was you, and I’d previously only seen you from a distance or in the dark. Of course, I was sure when I saw your brand. I couldn’t feel it as well because of the vampire tampering.”

  I thought briefly of the humiliation Leo promised me in his memory. I didn’t feel any satisfaction in it, however, as I realized his humiliation was having me realize that he loved me.

  He loved me, but he watched as I loved Julian.

  We heard noises in the hall, and Leo walked quietly to the restroom. As the door to my hospital room opened, I knew I felt much better.

  Dr. Johnson entered, grabbing my chart from the foot of the bed and looked distracted. “Hi, Anjelia. I know Dr. Killian is your doctor but he’s tied up right now. Do you mind if I check you out?”

  “Not at all.”

  “I understand you’re feeling much better?”

  “Yes, I am.” My voice was strong and sure.

  He looked up for a moment.

  “And I guess you would know. Let me just check you over really quickly.”

  He whipped out his stethoscope. He looked into my ears and my eyes. He made polite conversation but I knew his heart wasn’t really in it.

  “Well, you definitely look good. I’ll let your doctor know how well you’re doing. I’d recommend releasing you.”

  Leo waited a few minutes after the doctor left to leave the restroom.

  “I forgot to ask how you got away,” I said.

  “They couldn’t keep me. A wolf was involved, even though I didn’t know whom and I was owed loyalty. They had to let me go. The sole purpose of me being there was to pick up any clues as to your whereabouts but as you can see, that didn’t work out so well. So I sold them the idea of your pretend death and trying to prove it was definitely you by sending Julian your blood. They were going to try to escape while he was distracted. I had planned the whole thing, but at the time I thought there were only vampires involved. I knew Julian could track you once your blood strengthened him.”