“Don’t worry about it, sweetie,” Lydia said with a dismissive wave. “I’m not even sure why we all have to be here for this.”
Normally, Trish would be the one going on about how it was always great to get together with friends, but she just wasn’t in the mood for it today. On top of her rare bout of self-pity, she knew Alek was intentionally brushing his thigh against hers. Giving him an annoyed glare, she shifted in her seat to put more distance between them— not that it did any good.
Trish was trying to follow the conversation at the table, but concentrating proved difficult with Alek’s constant attempts to brush up against her. For whatever reason, he was acting like a complete jerk. Each time she scooted her chair farther to the side, Alek followed. Justin was giving her weird looks— not that she could blame him. The poor man was sitting on her other side and must be wondering why she was almost on top of him.
“Excuse me,” she practically snapped, before hobbling off to the bathroom for a short reprieve from Alek. It came as no surprise when Lydia pushed in right behind her, almost shutting her ankle-length blonde hair in the bathroom door. “You know, Lyd, these bathrooms are designed for one person. It looks funny when you come in them with me.”
Lydia grinned at her. “Right, like every man out there isn’t wondering if I came in after you for some lovin’. We would make totally hot lesbians.”
Trish giggled. “You are too much! How does Roman stand living with you?”
“That man is a total freak,” Lydia said. “So, what’s up with you?”
“What do you mean?” Trish asked, staring at the mirror above the sink.
“You’re acting weird.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Why are you squirming and moving your seat all over? Seriously, if you move much more, you’ll be sitting in Justin’s lap. Is Alek harassing you? The men all know they aren’t allowed to mess with you, but I get the impression Alek doesn’t always follow the rules. Do I need to get Roman to have another talk with him?”
Trish felt her cheeks heat, hating the blush. “It’s nothing. He drove me home from Hannah’s a couple of weeks ago, and things were a little unusual. I’m not surprised that he’s confused about the boundaries with me.”
“Did you have sex with Aleksandr Draksel?” Lydia gasped.
“What? No! He didn’t get anywhere near my lady parts. Not undressed lady parts at least.” He’d been plenty close to her fully-clothed lady parts— much closer than she should have allowed. Things had definitely gotten out of hand the night Alek drove her home.
“Trish,” Lydia said with a sigh before shaking her head and starting to twist her hair around her finger, something Lydia did when she was nervous or deep in thought. “Ah hell, I don’t even know what to say. There’s this big part of me that wants to tell you to stay away from Alek. As we’ve discussed before, he’s a total man-whore.”
“I’m not an idiot, Lyd,” Trish snapped. “Stop twisting your hair or you’ll end up tangled in it again.” Lydia’s change into a vampire had resulted in her hair inexplicably growing to her ankles. No matter how short she cut her hair, it grew back within a few hours.
Lydia let out a raspy giggle. “Yeah, that would not be good. You suck at untying me from my hair.” Her expression turned serious. “I’m worried about you getting hurt.”
“I won’t get hurt, Lyd,” she assured her. “Alek only does casual sex, and I don’t sleep around.”
“I agree with all of that,” Lydia said with a wicked grin. “Then I remember that you haven’t been hot for a guy in forever. Maybe I should encourage you to let Alek bang your brains out. He looks like he knows what he’s doing.”
“Geez, Lyd. Do you have to be so crude about it?”
“Yes,” Lydia stated. “I don’t want you thinking I’m encouraging some romantic relationship with Alek.”
“Since I can see where your mind is headed with this, I’m going to stop you right here. I’m not having sex with Alek. What happened that night was a huge mistake, and it will never happen again. Your husband would have a cow if he found out about that night. No, he’d have a whole darn herd of cows if he found out.”
There was a determined knock on the bathroom door.
“Now you’re in trouble. Caitlin is here,” Lydia said while wagging a finger at Trish.
Trish groaned. “We cannot have another person in this bathroom.”
Obviously, she was wrong because Caitlin squeezed in with them.
“Don’t try to deny it,” Caitlin said by way of greeting. “My super cool empath abilities picked up on a whole lot out there. If you lie to me, I’ll be forced to read your mind.”
“I liked you better when you were repressing your talents,” Trish grumbled.
“What she’s saying is that she liked you more when you were just a bitch, not a know-it-all bitch,” Lydia explained.
Caitlin responded by looking down her nose at Lydia, which wasn’t hard. Barefoot, Caitlin was a few inches taller than Lydia. In her high-heeled strappy sandals, Caitlin was almost six-feet tall. With her slender frame, cat-like amber eyes, and straight black hair, the woman looked formidable. Many times, looks were deceiving, but not in this case.
“Now, that was just rude, and we both know Trish would never say anything that mean to me while she’s sober,” Caitlin said with a smirk.
They all laughed because it was true; Trish was the one in their group who tried to be nice to everyone, except when she’d had a couple of drinks.
“So, spill,” Caitlin demanded. “What’s going on with Alek?”
“For the last time, nothing is going on with Alek. He kissed me, but we did not have sex.” Trish decided to leave out the part about how Alek had been lying on top of her with one hand under her shirt while they kissed, and she was definitely leaving out the part about how that kiss had lasted about thirty minutes. She was also not about to tell them she’d climaxed from having Alek grind against her. Nope, she was not sharing any of that with her meddling friends.
“When was the last time you had sex?” Caitlin asked.
Trish thought for a while but couldn’t remember, which was pretty depressing. Admittedly, her only experiences hadn’t exactly been memorable.
“I’m taking your silence to mean it’s been a very long time,” Caitlin guessed. “I know the Draksel men have this big rule about not touching you, but I think Alek would break it. He’d be discreet too. I can tell he’s that kind of guy.”
“And then what?” Trish asked. “I’m not the type to have casual sex.”
“You’re right,” Lydia said before pulling her into a hug. “Sex with Alek is a bad idea. Even if it weren’t for the human thing, Alek is a total man-whore.”
“No, he’s not!” Caitlin said with a grin. “Alek is the ultimate man-whore.”
“We’ve already covered that,” Trish grumbled.
“Don’t want you to forget,” Lydia said.
“Let’s just go back to the table.” Trish was even willing to face Alek to escape this conversation about whether she should sleep with him. “When are we planning to tell Hannah and Noah they’re getting married?” She was proud of her subject change. This should keep them both distracted.
Lydia laughed. “This was Roman’s idea, so he gets to tell them. I have no idea why he thinks Noah’s going to do what he’s told. That man has been defying Roman for nearly two centuries.”
Arriving back to the table, Trish was greeted by Hannah’s worried frown, making Trish suspect that if they’d stayed in the bathroom much longer, Hannah would have ended up in there too. Actually, she was shocked Tempest hadn’t barged in. It’s not that Tempest knew her well enough to want in on the conversation, but at seven months pregnant with triplets, Tempest had to use the bathroom every twenty minutes.
“I’m glad we’re all together,” Noah said with a mischievous twinkle in his hazel eyes. “This dinner is the perfect time to let you know that Hannah
and I are getting married.”
The silence that greeted them was enough to make Noah laugh and turn to Hannah. “Told you this was a shotgun wedding planning committee.”
Hannah rolled her eyes. “Typical bossy vampires. Noah figured it out and beat you to the punch.”
The knowing smile that spread across Roman’s face made Noah frown.
Trish got the impression things were going exactly as Roman had expected them to.
Lydia let out a snort of laughter. “Watching the two of you never gets old.”
Chapter Three
After an hour of Alek flirting and Noah going on about how much he adored Hannah, Trish was done with the whole thing. She had to get out of the restaurant before she said something she’d later regret. “I hate to run out on all of you, but I need to get on the road before dark.” That wasn’t a complete lie. Even with her glasses, it was getting harder to drive at night.
“We should all go home,” Roman said in his overly proper voice as he waved for the check. “You go ahead, Trish. We don’t want you stuck out here.” Trish didn’t miss the glare Roman shot in Alek’s direction. It appeared Roman had noticed Alek’s bad behavior that evening.
Grabbing her purse, Trish headed out the door, feeling more than a little relieved when Alek didn’t follow her. That might have sent her over the edge, making her give in to the temptation to either hit him or kiss him. Funny how she wanted to do both things at the same time.
It was a mistake to think her evening couldn’t get any worse, because it did in a matter of seconds. When she reached the crosswalk, someone bumped into her from behind. The heel of her shoe picked that moment to break off, and she was flung forward into the path of a car pulling through the intersection. She heard the screeching of brakes and her own scream as the car slammed into her body. It was a surreal moment where she felt as though she were falling in slow motion, just before hearing the crash of her head against the asphalt. The pain tore through her body as the world around her faded to nothing.
That’s when things got really weird.
“Trish!” Alek shouted when he saw her fall in front of the oncoming car. He raced out the door with Tempest, Caitlin, and Justin right behind him. Caitlin was already on her phone calling for paramedics, while Justin and Tempest, both doctors, started checking Trish’s condition.
“No heartbeat,” Tempest said, squatting beside Trish awkwardly. With her protruding pregnant belly, it was amazing she could get down there.
“You count,” Justin said, immediately starting CPR.
Alek watched as they worked to save Trish’s life, feeling the unfamiliar weight of his own guilt. She’d been in a hurry to leave because of his behavior.
“I’ve got a pulse,” Tempest said, just as the paramedics arrived.
Trish’s eyes shot open, and she looked terrified.
Justin stepped aside so the paramedics could load her into the ambulance, while Ivy, a psychologist, moved forward to try to comfort Trish. It was no exaggeration to say Trish was freaking out.
“The horses,” Trish said, pointing a shaky finger at the sidewalk. “Where is the restaurant?”
“It’s the head injury,” Justin said as he approached Alek. Tempest could get away with ordering the paramedics around, but Justin couldn’t because he wasn’t technically a doctor. While he’d been through medical school several times, every few decades, he went again so he wouldn’t have to explain why he didn’t age.
Ivy had been ordered away from Trish and now stood beside Justin. She shook her head. “It’s not the head injury,” she said. “Something isn’t right.” Ivy was an empath who could also read minds to some extent.
Caitlin, who shared that talent, also looked worried. “Ivy’s right. This isn’t about a head injury. Something happened when she died.”
Alek moved closer to Trish. “What’s going on?”
“Sir, you need to stand back,” one of the paramedics said forcefully.
Alek pushed the compulsion toward the minds of both paramedics. “You want me to ride to the hospital with her.”
Lydia was already stalking toward him like she was going to argue, but Roman caught her arm. Alek was glad his brother wasn’t planning to fight him on this, because he had absolutely no intention of letting Trish out of his sight.
Both paramedics nodded and said nothing more about his proximity.
Trish was thrashing around as they strapped her to the stretcher, so Alek reached out and took her hand in his. “Be calm,” he said. He hated using any kind of mind control when she was going through so much already, but he feared she was going to hurt herself.
“Don’t you dare tell me what to do!” Trish spat out. “That building shouldn’t be there.”
Alek’s eyes widened. Ivy was right; something was very wrong. As he climbed into the back of the ambulance, he almost smiled at the way Trish clutched his hand like it was a lifeline.
“Don’t leave me,” she pleaded.
Fully immobilized, she’d stopped struggling. Leaning forward, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I’m right here, honey, and I’m not going to leave you.”
Chapter Four
Trish was staring at the window in her hospital room, wondering if she’d gone insane, because no matter how many times she told herself she was hallucinating, she knew what she was seeing was very real. According to the doctors, she had a serious concussion that could account for her hallucinations. They’d opted not to sedate her because of the concussion. That was also why they’d kept her overnight for observation. If the doctors figured out she thought her hallucinations were real, she’d likely find herself in a padded room.
Alek had slept in the chair beside her bed the previous night, so waking up alone had come as a surprise. Every time a nurse had come in to poke and prod her, Alek had been in the room. His absence this morning was somewhat of a relief, but it also made her a little sad. She wasn’t in the mood for his guilt, and he clearly felt a lot of it, but she’d found it oddly comforting to have him with her.
Hearing footsteps heading into her room, Trish braced herself for a visitor. Getting Caitlin and Lydia to go home had been a challenge. While Trish was grateful she had such loyal friends, she wasn’t in the mood for Caitlin’s bitchy attempt at comforting her or Lydia’s nervous ramblings. Hannah, she could deal with, but Hannah wasn’t likely to bring her baby to visit her delusional friend in the hospital.
She was relieved when Ivy walked into the room, even though Ivy had most likely been asked to talk to Trish because of her job as a psychologist. When someone went this far off the deep end, it was best to send in a professional.
Ivy was usually perky and upbeat, much like Trish, which was probably why they didn’t hang out. They were too much alike. Trish spared her a quick glance before looking at the window again.
“What are you seeing?” Ivy asked.
While Trish knew admitting the truth made her sound crazy, she couldn’t bring herself to lie. “There’s a man standing at the window, struggling to open it,” Trish explained. Just like the other times she watched this scene play out, the terror in the man’s eyes was impossible to miss. “He’s going to jump, but I don’t think he wants to.”
A passing nurse heard her and stepped into the room. “Who told you about that?” she demanded. “We’re not supposed to tell patients about that unfortunate suicide.” The nurse was a stout woman in her sixties with a drill sergeant demeanor.
While she wasn’t sure what had prompted the man to jump out the window, Trish had spent the last twenty minutes watching his death in a continuous loop. There was no denying that the man had jumped out the window, but Trish was pretty sure there was more to it. The man had been terrified of something in the room. No matter how many times she watched his death, when Trish looked toward the corner the man was staring at, all she saw was an empty chair. It was frustrating to see the past in one part of the room, but not the part she wanted to see most.
�
��I’m going to get the doctor, dear,” the nurse said, shifting from drill sergeant to sweet grandmotherly type. That’s when Trish realized she’d said some of that out loud.
“You might want to keep that stuff to yourself,” Ivy said with a conspiratorial smile. “Otherwise, people will think you’re crazy.”
“I am crazy,” Trish said. “When I got up to look out the window earlier, I saw the parking lot and the medical buildings across the street. For just a moment, everything was normal. That is, until I saw open fields and a farmer yelling at his wife. The craziest part of this is that those things are easier for me to see than the stuff that’s really there. Guess I still hallucinate in 20/20 vision.”
When she looked back at the window, the man was gone.
“Do you remember what happened?” Ivy asked.
“Someone bumped me, and the heel broke off of my shoe. I remember getting hit by the car, and I remember dying. Despite what some people might want to tell you, dying hurts a lot. No angel came to release my soul early so I wouldn’t suffer.”
“Do you remember what happened after that?” Ivy asked. “Before you opened your eyes.”
Trish nodded. “I saw my dad. He told me he’d made a mistake and taken something that belonged to me. The next thing I remember is waking up in the middle of the street. Suddenly, things didn’t look right. Honestly, they don’t look right most of the time now.”
“How do they look?” Ivy asked in what Trish realized was her psychologist voice.
“You think I’m crazy,” Trish said with a resigned sigh. “It could be the head injury. What am I saying? Head injury or not, I’ve gone off the deep end.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ivy said with a laugh. “You’ve met my sister, right? My whole family has strong psychic abilities. Why in the world would I assume you were crazy?”
“I’ve never had any psychic abilities,” Trish pointed out.
Whatever Ivy was about to say was interrupted when a nervous looking young doctor walked into the room. Maybe she wasn’t used to treating crazy people. “Good morning, Ms. Williams. I’m Doctor Hollis. How are you feeling this morning?”
Wanton With a Vampire Page 2
