by Melody Raven
She slid in the front seat and set her jacket in the back. She looked over at him. “If we’re going to be riding all night, we should try to get as comfortable as possible.”
Oh, he definitely wanted to ride all night, he thought. He looked away from her abruptly. It was going to be a long night if he was going to be imagining Annabelle naked the whole time. He would have to focus on what he was going to do when they reached Aleksander. If he really wanted to have quality time with Annabelle naked, he would have to keep her alive.
He kept his eyes off her and started the car. His plan to not look at her didn’t work so well when she started to talk.
“Do you think we can find some store that’s still open? I haven’t eaten in forever. I think it’s only fair, since you ate your dinner right in front of me.”
One corner of his mouth hooked up. “Fair is fair.”
They found a gas station, and he filled up the tank while she ran inside to grab some food. He didn’t expect her to come out with three bags full of stuff. “Did you buy the whole store?”
She smirked at his shock. “I eat a lot. There is a reason I run every day and am still not a size two.” She emphasized the point by holding up a bag full of some sort of cheese-covered chip. “Besides, I know you eat, because you had a full fridge, but only one shelf was”—she looked around to make sure no one listened in—“that bottled stuff.”
He was surprised she’d even thought of him. In truth, the blood in him would hold him over for the night. He’d eat much less food than the normal human, but he did get hungry.
She got in the car before he had a chance to thank her. He put the pump away and they were back to driving. Annabelle took something that smelled excessively sugary out of one of the bags and started snacking.
“So tell me about vampires,” she said.
He looked over at her. “What did you want to know?”
“You know I want to know everything. What happens to you in the daylight?”
“It burns.”
“You’re so evasive,” she complained. “Is it a slow burn, or do you burst into flames...?”
“I have reason to be evasive. I’ve spent centuries trying to keep secrets from humans, and now one nosy one wants me to tell her all of them.”
She looked almost offended. “I don’t think nosy is the right word. I’m an overworked and underpaid grad student. We are not nosy. We are inquisitive.”
“You can be called whatever you want. I still don’t want to answer your questions.”
“It’s not exactly fair. You probably know hundreds of ways to kill a human. I don’t even know one way to kill you,” she said.
“Have you been thinking about ways to kill me?”
“Well, isn’t the whole point of this trip to kill Aleksander? I’ll have to know how to kill a vampire at some point. I also have this Mr. X after me, and I think we both agree he’s probably a vampire. At this point, it is becoming rather pressing that I learn how to kill one of you.” She paused. “But not you in particular. I don’t think you want me dead.”
“You don’t think I want you dead? Shouldn’t you be sure of it by now?” he asked.
She just shrugged. “You’re hard to judge. Sometimes you’re nice, but mostly you like to remind me how much bigger and stronger you are than me and how easy it would be to kill me if you really wanted to. I know that if you really wanted me dead, you could’ve killed me already, but I’m still wary of you. I don’t think you can blame me.”
“I don’t want you dead,” he said honestly.
She looked over at him. She seemed to be judging the sincerity of his words. After a moment, she said, “I don’t want you dead either.”
He was thankful for that. There were already enough people who wanted him dead.
“So, what about my original question?” she asked.
“You still want to know how to kill me?”
Annabelle nodded. He was still wary of answering her. He believed that she didn’t want him dead, though he’d been wrong before. But she did have a point, and eventually she would need to know how to defend herself.
“We are very strong, but more fragile than many of the myths would have you believe. Any wound that destroys the heart or head would kill me,” he said.
“Anything that destroys the heart? What about if you were shot?”
“A bullet wouldn’t damage the heart enough to be fatal. Four or five bullets in quick succession would be, though.”
She thought about that before she said, “So wooden stakes aren’t all that spectacular except for the fact that they destroyed the heart. But couldn’t one bullet do as much damage as a stake could to the heart?”
“The difference is that a bullet doesn’t remain lodged in the heart. Because it’s the core of us, it heals faster than any other part of our body. The second that the bullet leaves the heart, the organ has already begun the healing process. A stake remains lodged in the heart and no healing can occur until it’s removed.
“It only takes about ten seconds of serious heart damage to kill a vampire,” he said.
He noticed her gaze drop to his chest. She stared so intently at where his heart was located he was tempted to lift his hand to the spot.
“What about crosses? Do they burn you?” Her blue eyes behind her glasses stayed focused on his heart.
“Not necessarily. Silver does burn us to the touch. Lots of religious icons are made with silver, so that’s where that myth got started.”
She nodded. “That makes sense. You didn’t seem evil to me.”
That surprised him. “You never thought I was evil?”
“You never seemed to torment me, you know? You intimidate me, and you try to scare me, but I never really sensed that you get a lot of joy out of it.”
He didn’t like that she sensed anything about him. “You’re wrong.”
Her brows furrowed. “Wrong about what?”
“I did enjoy it,” he said.
“Why would you?”
“I didn’t say I would answer all your questions.” In truth, he did enjoy intimidating her. It was when he was using intimidation that he really saw her reaction to him.
She seemed so innocent sometimes. All he had to do was think a dirty thought, and she would seem to know it. Her heart would speed up, and she would breathe faster. She was so good at remaining cool toward him, but when he got too close, or said something that hit a bit too close to home, he saw how hot she truly was.
It was now his mission in life to see just how hot she could get. How fast he could get her heart to beat. How hard her breathing could be.
He smiled in anticipation.
Annabelle was still put out by his refusal to answer her questions. “Well, I said you weren’t evil. I never said you weren’t an ass.” She shifted her weight away from him and stared out her window at the dark landscape passing her by.
After a few minutes, she said, “We should listen to some music.”
“You aren’t going to question me more?”
She gave him a glare. “You probably won’t answer me anyway, so why bother?”
He smiled at her assessment. “Music it is then.” He switched on the radio.
Anna was proud of herself by the time dawn approached. She’d managed to stay awake the whole night. Sure, she’d slept through most of the day, but the previous night and early evening had been so eventful, she’d still been drained.
The dark scenery didn’t help. She couldn’t make out much of anything. The steady rocking motion of the car going over the road had threatened to pull her into unconsciousness for hours.
She wasn’t sure why she so desperately wanted to stay awake. Maybe it was just that she wanted to prove a point. She wasn’t some weak little girl. She could stay out late with the big boys. Or maybe it was simply because she would have even less to do during the daylight hours holed up in a hotel with Nicolas.
Plus, it would be hard for him to seduce her if she was in a
n exhausted sleep.
About half an hour before sunrise, they pulled into a small motel fifty miles outside of Toledo. It wasn’t the nicest place Anna had ever been to, but it was better than the motel they had dropped Brad off at.
Once again she stayed in the car while Nicolas took care of the room. Nicolas had told her it would be easier if the clerk never saw her, and that was fine with Anna because she was almost too tired to get out of the car. He used his mind control on the clerk so he would never remember the man and woman who paid for two nights right before dawn.
She wasn’t too tired to notice what was missing when they entered the room. “Where is the other bed?” she asked as soon as she glanced past Nicolas’s shoulders into the room.
The room was clean enough. Everything was neat and in place. There was a small table and chair next to the window. A television that had seen better days sat on the dresser up against the wall across from the bed. The only bed. As in there was only one.
“You son of a bitch. You couldn’t even get me my own bed?” Fury bubbled up inside her. “I’m exhausted, so if you have even one tiny idea about crawling into that bed with me, you’re sorely mistaken.”
She raised an arm to, well, she didn’t know what, but hopefully cause him some sort of bodily harm. Unfortunately, he was faster than her and blocked her blow, catching her wrist. “No, no,” he said while she jerked herself free. “It wasn’t on purpose.”
She took a step back, but her eyes still shot daggers at him. “I find that really hard to believe.”
“I was booking the room and was making sure he wouldn’t remember either of us. I never thought about the sleeping situation.”
“You never thought about the sleeping situation?” she shouted. She walked a couple of steps away from him and took a couple of deep, calming breaths.
When she felt as though she’d marginally calmed down, she turned back to Nicolas. “Okay, you know what? I don’t even care why we only have one bed. That’s because I’m sleeping on it, and you can get the chair.” She pointed to the uncomfortable-looking recliner next to the table.
She expected him to protest or argue, but he just shrugged and walked over to the chair and sat down.
She was immediately suspicious. Nicolas didn’t give up easily. “You aren’t going to fight for the bed?” she asked.
“I’m probably not going to sleep much. Besides, you look like you’re about to pass out standing there. It only seems fair,” he said.
She walked to the side of the bed and set her duffel bag on the floor next to the nightstand. “Why aren’t you planning on sleeping?”
“I have a hard time sleeping with other people,” he said. “I haven’t shared a room with someone for about sixty years.”
“You aren’t going to sleep because I’m in the room? Just go get a second room. I’ll be fine.”
He shook his head at that. “It’s not all that rational, this fear of mine. Even if I were in the next room over, I would still know you were aware I was helpless just a few yards away.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m calling bull. I’m helpless around you all the time. You have to do it for a couple of hours, and suddenly you’re afraid?”
“That proves that you’re far braver than I am, Annabelle,” he said.
She dismissed that thought with a shake of her head. “Aren’t you tired?”
He leaned his head back against the wall and looked up at her. “I will be fine on the drive tomorrow,” he replied without actually answering her question.
She decided to try another tactic. “What happened sixty years ago that started this? That was when Aleksander took over, right?”
One corner of his mouth lifted in a sardonic grin. “Yes. Not long after that night, I was still on the run. As I said before, no one would take me in, and I had to remain hidden. After a few weeks, I was close to starving, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to find shelter for the daylight hours.
“There were a couple of days I had to dig myself a hole to protect myself from the sun. Not a very healthy situation for my sanity. I was half crazed when I came across familiar land. I was familiar with the woman who owned the property. She was a vampire I knew very well when I was in Kirill’s court.”
His dark eyes glazed over with the memory. “I knew I shouldn’t, but I threw myself at her door right before sunrise. I was desperate for shelter and companionship. She opened the door, looking like an angel. More beautiful than anything I’d ever seen before. She took me in. She bathed me and fed me. It was the best morning I’d ever had.”
“So when did it go wrong?” asked Anna.
“After my bath, I was lying with her in her chambers. I was so exhausted, I wasn’t awake for long. When I woke up, I was being dragged out by Aleksander’s men.” His eyes turned black at the violent memories.
“She sold you out?”
“It shouldn’t have surprised me. She had a high standing in court. She wouldn’t want to jeopardize that for me. But as I said, I wasn’t in my right mind.”
“How did you get away from Aleksander’s men?”
“They were foolish. That’s the only reason I’m still alive. Their first mistake was not killing me immediately. They planned to take me to Aleksander and try to get some sort of reward. They could’ve killed me easily, but they were too greedy.
“Their second mistake was underestimating me. Though considering the shape I was in after a few hours in their care, I can’t blame them.”
Anger filled Anna. “They beat you? You were defenseless and they beat you?”
“I was known as a powerful fighter. They were enjoying the power rush.”
Anna thought back to how much Charles had enjoyed seeing her helpless, and it made her furious to think of Nicolas going through the same thing.
“They were stupid,” he continued. “They forgot who I was. They thought because they could beat me that I was no longer someone to be feared. They left me alone when they went to feed, thinking I was too weak to do anything. I was weak, but strong enough to break their bonds.”
“Where did you go when you got free?” she asked.
A fearsome smile spread across Nicolas’s face. “I didn’t go anywhere.”
“You waited for them?”
“None of them survived the night,” he said.
Anna thought about Charles. How many nights had she lain awake, wishing for him to die? It had never occurred to her young mind to do the deed herself. She wondered whether, given the knowledge that she had now, she would have been able to finish him off herself back then. “Do you regret killing them?”
His dark eyes connected with hers. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, you don’t regret much.”
She couldn’t bring herself to look away from his intense gaze. “How long have you lived?” she asked, half afraid to hear the answer.
His eyes were still on hers when he said, “Come here.”
She wanted to ask why, but she found her feet moving toward his body. She stopped when she stood over him. It was a strange view. She was so used to him towering over her.
Both of his hands came out and grasped her smaller ones. He turned her palms over, and his large thumbs ran over the fleshy part of her hands. She’d never realized how sensitive the area was, but shocks of sensation reverberated through her whole body.
“I’m seven hundred years old,” he whispered.
Her jaw dropped. One of her palms came up and rested against his cheek. She felt his warmth and some stubble against her hand. She took in the wrinkle-free skin that showed no signs of age. “But how?” she quietly asked.
Nicolas abruptly stood. His body was so near hers that his heat almost burned her. His movement had dislodged their hands, but he already had his palms resting on her waist.
He leaned in so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek. “Let me share the bed with you,” he pleaded. “I promise you will enjoy every second of it.”
An
na was so tempted. She rested her forehead against his chest to avoid looking at him. She had a feeling if she looked into his eyes, she’d be completely lost. She could feel his heart beat fast in his chest.
He was so big and beautiful, and he wanted her. It was so overwhelming. At her silence, he continued, “I can make it so that neither of us wants to sleep.”
That broke his spell. “You want to have sex with me, but can’t trust me enough to sleep in the same room as me?” She pulled herself out of his grasp and walked to her bag.
He took a step, as if he meant to follow her, but stopped after that first stride.
Anna grabbed her sweatpants out of her bag. “You can have that side of the bed.” She pointed to the side he stood closer to. “You need to get sleep. If any vampires find you, I won’t be able to fight them off on my own. We need you at full strength, so whatever phobias you have about sleeping with someone, well, get over it.”
With that said, she turned and walked into the bathroom. She locked the door behind her out of habit, because she knew he could knock down the door if he really wanted in.
She didn’t feel particularly dirty, but after that close call in the room, she felt as if a cold shower would do her good. She didn’t want to think about his hands or his eyes or how warm his chest felt against her.
She’d spent years avoiding all men. All she had to do was avoid just this one for two more nights. It sounded as though it should be so easy, but he had this effect on her she couldn’t explain.
Sure, he was handsome, but you don’t live in a big city without seeing handsome men every day. He wasn’t more charming than other men she’d met. Hell, he wouldn’t even be considered nice, let alone charming.
Even so, something about him drew her like a moth to the flame. She needed to keep her head clear and remember her motives for coming on this trip. She came to talk with Aleksander, and if she didn’t like what she heard, she would help Nicolas kill him.
Maybe that was Nicolas’s reason for trying to get her in bed. He might think that sleeping with him would make her more likely to help him kill Aleksander.
