by Melody Raven
“Well, I couldn’t ask you before. You might have changed your mind.”
“Probably best you waited.” She glanced over at the light that peeked through the heavy curtains. “I should get some clothes on.” She got up to go to her bag.
Nicolas’s arms held her still, and he nuzzled her neck again. It seemed to be his favorite spot. “Stay like this. I love looking at you.”
Her brow furrowed. “I can’t sleep naked with you, thinking you’re going to be staring at me the minute I fall asleep.”
“Come on,” he taunted. “Be naughty with me. Sleep naked.”
“I have been plenty naughty with you tonight.”
“I’ll be naked too.”
That made Anna turn to face him. She gave him a wicked grin. “Well, in that case...” She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of Nicolas’s arms around her. The heat of his body and the sound of his heart beating coerced her into sleep.
Anna forced herself to open her eyes as she slowly came back to awareness. She’d never woken up next to a man, let alone a naked one she’d just slept with.
She would’ve liked to quietly sneak off the bed, but Nicolas was already awake and watching her. Of course he was. “Did you get to sleep at all?” she asked.
He smiled at her. “I feel very well rested.”
She frowned. “That’s not an answer.”
He leaned toward her until their lips met for a gentle kiss. She closed her eyes and brought her hand to the back of his neck to pull him closer. She heard a growl from his throat as he gripped her waist and pulled her body flush with his.
Before he could completely entrance her with his kisses, she glanced at the glowing clock on the nightstand. “Do we have time for one more?”
Nicolas lifted his head up and looked at the clock and back at her. “I have a rule for women who are in bed with me.”
Anna raised a questioning brow. “A rule?”
He nodded and bent down to nibble on her neck. She arched into the contact. His breath brushed against her sensitive skin as he whispered, “Women in bed with me are not allowed to look at any form of timekeeping devices.”
Anna laughed and pulled his face to hers for a kiss.
A few hours later, Anna’s body was humming. She wasn’t sure whether it was because of the wild day she’d shared with Nicolas or because she was only hours away from possibly finding out the truth behind that horrible day fifteen years ago.
Nicolas had been so unexpected last night. He’d seemed so loose and carefree. Anna wondered whether all men were like that in bed.
He’d laughed, smiled, and been downright playful. Very different from the lone vampire on a mission of vengeance that she was so used to being around.
However, the happy-go-lucky person he’d been in bed retreated right back into hiding when they were back in the car. They were back to long silences and staring out the windows.
To make it worse, they were so far out into the middle of wilderness that there were no good music stations available.
After about another ten miles, she couldn’t take the silence anymore. “What’s going on?” she asked.
He took his eyes off the road to glance over at her. “What do you mean?”
Anna shrugged. “I don’t know much about morning after—” she broke off to look at the dark sky, “night after etiquette, but I have a feeling it involves talking at some point.”
He turned back to the road. “Talking is overrated.”
Anna snorted. “That’s the response you chose? ‘Talking is overrated,’” she mocked in a deeper voice. “Seriously, is something bothering you?”
“Of course something is bothering me,” he blurted out. “We’re going to be to the compound in the next hour, and I’m trying my damnedest to think of a way we will both survive and still get the answers you’re looking for.”
“Weren’t we going to get there and decide on a plan once we evaluate the security?”
His fists tightened on the steering wheel in his frustration. “I can’t think of a scenario where I can get a good look at Aleksander’s guards without them sensing me near. I’ve been gone for sixty years. I cannot assume nothing major has changed with methods of guarding or the layout of the inside of the building.”
Anna looked out at the dark passing forests surrounding them and thought about what he said. “Well then, you’ll have to send me in first.”
He shook his head. “That won’t happen. You’d be defenseless and surrounded by vampires.”
“I’ve spent the past few days with a vampire. I can handle a few more. Besides, I’m not exactly threatening.”
He scoffed. “What are you saying? You want to distract the guards, have me sneak in, get the guards away from you and then go have a talk with Aleksander?”
Anna tried to make her smile look convincing. “Easy, right?”
“What about that sounded easy to you?”
“I’ll say I had car trouble and lead them right out to you.” He glanced at her with an angry scowl, and she continued, “That way I won’t really be going inside with anyone. They’ll walk with me to the car, where you can be waiting.”
“That’s a really bad idea, and I know you’re too smart not to realize that.”
Anna wanted to bang on the windows in frustration. Why was he doing this when they were almost to Aleksander? “Nicolas, I’m so close! I’m literally just miles away from the man who can answer all my questions. You said you’d help me. Me fucking you shouldn’t make you back out on that!”
He clenched his jaw. “I’m trying to keep you alive. You should be grateful.”
“Excuse me if I forget to fall all over myself thanking you. You have been so thoughtful this whole trip. You were so worried about my safety you even tied me to a bed. How considerate of you.”
“I apologized for that plenty of times.”
Anna dropped her head into her hands. “Just stop talking. You’re going to take me to Aleksander, just like you said you would. Is that clear?”
Nicolas decided it might be best to follow Anna’s wishes and remained silent.
He really hadn’t put much thought into binding her that first night. He had acute senses and didn’t need much sleep. He never imagined she would wake before he did. He assumed he could get to her and untie the ropes before she had any idea that they were even there.
He hadn’t counted on her nightmares. He’d woken up before she’d emerged from the dream, but she’d been thrashing and twisting too much for him to get at the ropes before she was aware of the bindings.
He’d shared with her one of the darkest times of his existence. It never occurred to him that she’d have her own scars, both physical and mental.
He still didn’t know what the marks on her back were from. Or rather, who. His first thought had been Aleksander, but he’d crossed that out quickly. If Aleksander had done that, she probably would be more eager to kill him.
She’d never knowingly seen another vampire, so it must have been a human. A human who tied her and beat her.
The steering wheel creaked under the pressure of his hands tightening on it. She’d already been through so much, and now she wanted to go running right into a pit of vampires.
When she’d first approached him with her crazy plans to search for Aleksander, he’d thought himself so lucky. A human so willing to die and follow him to into the deepest wilderness.
He’d fully intended to send her in alone to distract Aleksander and his men. He never gave a second thought to what would happen to the mortal left alone with the guards.
She was too full of life to be drained of it. He knew that for a fact. He’d had only a small drink of her, but he could still feel her flowing in his veins. Hell, if he ever got the chance to have another taste, he would become officially addicted. And he’d be damned if he would let someone with that much power over him let herself get killed.
When they were close enough to Aleksander’s compound, he pulled th
e car over.
“Why are we stopping?” Anna asked.
“We should get some fresh air and go over some things before we do anything rash,” he said.
Anna nodded, but he could tell she was gearing up to fight him again if he refused to take her any farther. She didn’t even get out of the car until she saw that he walked over to her side. She probably thought he was going to drive off and leave her.
He leaned against the hood of the car, to show her that he wasn’t about to run back to the driver’s seat. She glanced around at the dark trees that surrounded them. He watched her carefully. The moonlight shone through the trees and her dark hair shined in the pale light. Even with her baggy t-shirt and her hair quickly and efficiently tied back, she looked beautiful in the backdrop of night.
She moved toward him, and his breath caught in his throat. He wanted to do so many things to this woman. She wouldn’t be leaving him any time soon. He would make sure of it.
She leaned up against the car next to him, and he felt the strongest urge to reach over and brush a piece of loose hair out of her face. Hell, he just wanted to touch her any way he could. “It’s going to be dangerous tonight.”
“That’s not exactly new, though, is it?”
He clenched his jaw. It wasn’t new. The only thing that was new was that he now needed her to stay alive. “You approach the building and try to lure some guards to your car,” he said as she nodded her agreement. He could hear her heart speed up with excitement. He wanted to shake her and yell that she should be terrified, not excited.
“Whatever you do, don’t go inside with anyone unless you see me. I’ll be watching you the whole time. If you feel the slightest bit threatened, you scream for me, okay?”
“Yeah,” she agreed, “that’s smart.”
He pushed himself away from the car and moved closer to her. “Nothing about this is smart.” He backed her closer into the hood. She would have moved farther from him, but he gave her no room for escape. “This will be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done in your life.” He spit out the last word, knowing how fragile hers was.
She at least had the sense to look guilty and averted her eyes from his gaze.
He reached behind him, and she jumped when she saw he pulled out a dagger. The corner of his mouth lifted. “It’s a bit late for me to be scaring you, isn’t it?”
She let out a shaky breath. “I guess you’re right.”
He pulled the light brown sheath that protected the dagger away, and the bright metal shone under the moonlight. He handed the dagger to her as carefully as possible without touching the blade.
She slowly but firmly gripped the hilt. “When did you get this?”
“I had it on me when I was in Central Park.”
He put his hand on her wrist and moved her hand so the point rested over the left side of his chest. “This is the heart. This is what you aim for. This isn’t like cutting food. There will be bone in the way unless you get a really good angle. Push as hard as you can.” He tightened his grip on her wrist to emphasize his point.
He watched her throat as she swallowed nervously. Apparently she had some sense after all. “Vampires are stronger and faster than you. This blade will be your only advantage until I can get to you. So no matter what, don’t drop it.”
“Okay.” She breathed out. “Can we move the blade a safer distance from your heart now?”
“One more demonstration.” He moved her wrist and tilted her hand until the blade was at an angle. “There is another reason it’s important that you keep this blade with you.”
He lifted his free arm and shook his hand until his shirt sleeve slid down, exposing his skin to the cool night air. He moved the flat edge of the blade onto his skin.
A crackling sound filled the air and the smell of burning flesh surrounded them. “What the hell?” shouted Anna as she jerked the knife away from his arm. “Why would you do that?”
Nicolas pulled his sleeve back down around his already healing arm. “The blade is silver. Even if you don’t get the heart, you will get a little bit of damage done. Hopefully it will buy you enough time for me to reach you.”
“You could’ve just told me.”
“You need to understand what you’re dealing with, and know the weapon you’re using.” He glanced up at the position of the moon. “We have to get going.”
He saw Anna roll her eyes at him.
“Am I bothering you?” he asked.
Anna let out a short laugh. “Yes, you are bothering me. You’re a very bothersome person.”
He smiled at her assessment of him but couldn’t think of anything to say in response. He held the leather sheath for the blade out to her. “The blade is extremely sharp. You don’t know if you’ll lose your jacket, so your best bet is to keep it in the waist of your pants. Hope those jeans aren’t too baggy.”
She gave him a skeptical look while she tucked the now covered blade into her waistband. “Are you kidding? After all the junk food I’ve been eating this week, I’ll probably have to buy all new pants when I get back to the city.”
He cocked his head and looked at her, not seeing any spot on her that looked too big. He couldn’t fight the temptation to reach out, and his fingertips lightly brushed against her jean-clad thigh.
“Nicolas,” she whispered as she set her hands on his shoulders.
He moved his head until their lips almost touched. “Change your mind. I’ll turn the car around and drive straight to the city.”
“I need to know what happened. I can’t—” She never finished that sentence. His mouth crushed over hers. She met his kiss with equal fierceness.
His hands went to her hips and lifted her so she sat on the hood of the car. Her waist was at perfect height for his cock to rub right against the cradle of her hips.
She moaned and rubbed against him as his tongue showed her exactly what he wanted to be doing with his cock.
Her hands moved to his waist and pushed his shirt up. He groaned and pulled away. He stared into her deep blue eyes, their labored breaths the only sound on the deserted road.
“We have to go,” he managed before he turned from her and walked to the driver’s side of the car. He heard her slide off the hood and open her door. He started the car but didn’t drive off right away.
“Are we going?” she asked.
“There is one thing I have to know before we go any further.”
She looked at him. “What?”
“Your back. I need to know who did that to you.”
She immediately stiffened. “Why would you need to know that?”
“Because there is a possibility you might die tonight. If that happens, I need to know who I should be hunting down and killing.”
Anna averted her gaze toward the front of the car. “Well, I guess that depends on Aleksander.”
“What do you mean?”
Her gaze met his again. “My father did that to me. And I haven’t seen my father since that day fifteen years ago when I saw Aleksander kill a man. I’m hoping Aleksander can tell me if he’s truly dead or still out there somewhere.”
Anna tried to force her heart to remain calm as she walked along the long winding path to the compound.
Nicolas had always called it that so casually, and she hadn’t thought about it much. Apparently huge ass mansion was the same thing as compound to Nicolas.
The structure was beautiful and sprawling up in the middle of the forest. There were no outside lights to show her the road. That vampire night vision must have rendered lots of lighting useless.
However, lights glowed from the windows of the mansion. It was beautifully made of light-colored brick, with huge white pillars all along the front.
It didn’t even look all that scary. She supposed vampires were scary enough as it was. They didn’t need their homes to scare people off.
Actually, considering they lived off humans, it would probably be best if their houses were inviting.
She reac
hed to her waist and fidgeted with the hilt of the dagger Nicolas had given her. It had seemed like a good idea to keep it at her waist, but it wasn’t too secure. If she had to run, she would have to hold onto it. Not that running would get her anywhere if a vampire was chasing her.
Her nerves increased the closer she got to the house. She took comfort knowing Nicolas was somewhere in the dark forest, looking after her right now. She walked up to a beautiful mahogany door and took a deep breath. This would be her last chance to turn back.
She brushed a hand through her hair. She didn’t usually wear it down, but she wanted to cover the two puncture holes in her neck. She looked behind her and told herself again that she needed to do this and was reassured with the knowledge Nicolas was right behind her somewhere.
She just needed to keep the guards outside and not go in with them if she could help it.
With that thought in mind, she lifted her hand and knocked on the door.
Before she could panic, the massive door swung open and two muscular men stared at her. For a moment, she was speechless. Two vampires stood in front of her, and chances were they weren’t friendly.
One of the guards was light with a pale complexion and gold blonde hair. The other had darker skin and curly black hair.
She shook off her fear and let her act play along with her nerves. “Oh my gosh! I’m so happy you’re home,” she gushed out, trying to sound loud and unappetizing.
“I was driving on this road, with nothing and no one for miles and miles, and my car just stops for no reason in the middle of the night and my cell phone isn’t working, and I am, like, freaking out that I’m going to die or something.” She took a second to breathe. “You know?”
The two men glanced at each other and back at her. She asked, “Do you think you two could come out to my car and take a look at it? It’s probably nothing, but I know, like, zilch about cars.” She brought up two fingers and held them close together to emphasize how little she knew about cars.
The dark one spoke first. “I’m sorry to hear that. Why don’t you come in and we can call someone for you.”
