Blood Bath, A Paranormal/Urban Fantasy (The Maurin Kincaide Series Book 4) (20 page)

"I'm going to ignore that. Better yet, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that and you're going to tell me how much you wish you could take away my pain. Followed by how brave and strong and totally amazing I am."

"You are all of those things and more. Maurin, I...you know that I...you know how much you mean to me."

"I know, Aidan. I'll call you in a few hours." I ended the call, curling back up under the covers. My chest hurt and it wasn't because of the iron recently pulled from it.

The fact that he couldn't say it told me exactly how much I meant to him. Honestly, I was relieved that he hes
itated saying those three little words. Relief was immediately followed by sadness. Maybe he was in love with me and decided this wasn't the right time to say it. Or maybe in that moment he realized he wasn't in love with me at all. Either way, if he had said the words I'm not sure what my response would have been.

My feelings for Aidan were a tangled mess. One minute I wanted things to work and the next I look
ed for reasons we wouldn't. I thought I was in love with him. I had certainly allowed myself to be hurt enough by him to be convinced of it and maybe I actually was at one point. If I was in love with him I would be mad or disappointed when he choked on the words but I wasn't.

I didn't have the energy to analyze my emotional revel
ation any more today. Mason must have noticed because he didn't fill the silence with smart ass comments about Aidan. He brushed the hair out of my eyes and pulled the covers over my shoulder. He kissed my temple and whispered something in a language I didn't understand. Within minutes I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

I woke up sore all over and with a stiff neck to the sound of running water. Hoping it was a bath being drawn for me, I pulled back the covers and got out of bed. I ma
naged a few wobbly steps before going down.

The cursing I thought was just in my head must have been coming out of my mouth because Mason scoop
ed me up before I hit the floor. He carried me to the bathroom and set me down on the edge of the tub. Some of the aches and pains were gone just from the sight of the streaming water. I couldn't wait to submerge myself in the hot bath. He added Epsom salts and eucalyptus to the water and lit two rosemary and mint scented candles before turning out the overhead light.

He managed to get one button undone on his pajama top. The one I still w
ore. I grabbed his hand. "Thanks, I can manage from here."

"You're still we
ak. I think I should stay with you."

"Nice try but I'm fine."

"Your face almost became intimately acquainted with my floor. We obviously have different definitions of fine."

"I've been in bed for a couple days and on a steel table for a couple days before that. I'm not surprised my legs weren't cooperating. If I promised not to drown in your bathtub would you leave me alone?" I threw in a please for good measure.

"If you aren't out of there in thirty minutes I'm coming in."

"Yes
, sir." I hadn't meant for my voice to be so husky and had no idea he'd find those two words to be such a turn on. The panty melting stare it earned me had me wishing for a cold shower instead of a hot bath. He saw the surprise in my eyes over his reaction- and my reaction to his reaction, but I'd never tell him that. He gave me that debilitating smile and left me to my bath.

True to his word, before the water had completely cooled he knock
ed on the door. I barely had time to pull a towel into the water to cover myself when he barged in. His eyes quickly scanned the bathroom before settling on me. The heavy terry cloth towel had absorbed all the water it could hold. My body interrupted the towel's decent to the bottom of the tub and it clung to every curve. It kept me covered but didn't leave much to the imagination. The look in Mason's eyes was enough to boil the bath water.

"I uh, I thought..." He cleared his throat. "I was worried you fell asleep."

I tried not to laugh at the unflappable hunter. He'd seen more of me the other night in that room beneath Caligula's and then again when he obviously cleaned my wounds and put me in bed but this was different. There was no emergency or clinical reason for him to see so much of my flesh and he had a hard time keeping his desire in check. He wanted to do all those carnal things he'd hinted at the first time I met him and it took all of his control not to.

"Wide awake. I was about to get out." He set another towel on edge of the tub. "Turn around and face the wall."

The way he looked at me made me want to drop the soaking wet towel before he turned, giving him full view of the flesh it clung to. I barely resisted the urge, knowing that teasing the hunter would lead to things my body ached to do but my heart wasn't ready for. Once he faced the other way I let the towel drop, splashing into the water. He twitched, fighting the urge to turn around. I wrapped the dry towel around myself and stepped out of the tub onto the plush rug in front of it.

"You can turn around now."

Water dripped from my hair, glistening in the candlelight as it ran down my arms. The tiny flames flickered in his eyes and the man was gone. Replaced by the hunter.

He stalked over to me, pulling me against him. His body was rock hard, all of him. His massive arms engulfed me, pressing every inch of me to him. His mouth crashed into mine, his tongue demanding entrance. I resisted. At least I tried to but my traitorous body melted, deepening the kiss, opening my mouth to him. My hands slid up the hard planes of his chest to lock around the back of his neck.

I moaned into the kiss and he growled in response. Without breaking contact he backed me into the bedroom, moving us closer to the bed. I should stop, I was still with Aidan. This was wrong. So why did it feel so right?

A soft gasp that wasn't from me and was too feminine to be from Hunter broke through my arousal and brought me back to my other more conservative senses. I pulled back despite Mason's efforts to keep my mouth locked with his. Who was she and why did I care so much? Was she his lover or worse his wife
? I wasn't in any position to judge. I still had a vampire boyfriend and it hadn't stopped me from ignoring the fact that my moral compass pointed due south, straight to Slutsville.

I couldn't help but compare myself to the copper haired beauty. Her fair skin was flushed, her cheeks and ears flaming a red to rival her hair. She was taller than me, at least five six and her hair cascaded around her toned arms. In a word she was breathtaking. What did she think of me? Raven hair that reflected a deep violet in the sun emphasi
zing my porcelain skin, brown eyes so dark they looked black ringed with gold. We were opposites, light and dark. I was no slouch in the looks department but I highly doubted she saw me as competition.

Humiliation overrode my jealousy as I looked at her and thought of Aidan. Her face gave away none of the betrayal she must be feeling. That Aidan would feel if he knew. I pushed further away from Mason and gripped the towel, that didn't cover as much of my body as the shame I felt did.

"Begging your pardon, sir." Mason looked at me, humor in his eyes. I turned away, the woman's words not registering. "I set the tray by the fire, there's fresh clothes on the bed for you, miss." She was already backing out the door.

"Thank you
, Ryanne." He didn't wait for her to leave the room before trying to close the distance between us.

"Oh my god
," I whispered, thankful for the interruption and return to my good sense. "What is the matter with me?"

Of course he chose to only acknowledge the first half of that. "When I imagined you saying those words it was with more passion and while you were on your back, your body beneath mine glistening with sweat."

Things low in my body tightened with his words. "Stop it." My body didn't want him to stop. It wanted to do the things he described. My brain managed to force the words out of my mouth and over traitorous lips that wanted more kissing and less talking.

"I haven't even gotten started yet."

"I can't do this."

"Oh, I think you can. You seemed more than capable a minute ago." He nodded toward the bathroom and my hand instinctively went to my mouth, my lips tingling with the memory of that kiss.

"That's not what I mean and you know it. I can't do this with you." Before he could formulate an argument that would convince me otherwise I kept talking. "I won't bother lying and say I'm not attracted to you. I am. Way more than I should be because I'm still with Aidan." I put heavy emphasis on the last four words. More for my sake than his. "I don't even know you."

"And you know him? Vampires keep secrets
, Maurin. It's who they are, they can't help it. You might never truly know him. Ryanne prepared a tray, come sit by the fire." I didn't move. I didn't even look at him or the stupid, romantic fire. "I promise to be the perfect gentleman. You need to eat. Get dressed if it makes you feel better."

I scooped up the clothes on the bed and scurried into the bathroom. The jeans were a little too long and a smidge too ti
ght for my taste, probably Ryanne's. The long sleeve white tee was too small in the chest and thin enough to emphasize the cleavage spilling over the top of the too small bra. Fantastic, Mason's housekeeper was a friggin runway model. "I need to get some clothes before you take me back to Salem. I can't see the Council looking like this." I was only a size six but I looked like someone shoved me into children's clothes. A very tall child.

"I don't see anything wrong with the way you look." His eyes traced my body, stopping on my chest, when I came out of the bathroom. At my pointed stare he raised his hands in mock defeat. "Sorry, perfect gentleman from here out."

I dropped down on the cushions next to him, ignoring the pinch from French Maid Barbie's damn jeans. I shouldn't be such a bitch, it wasn't her fault she was perfect. I blame the pants. My kind hearted spirit was currently hanging out with my stomach over the top of them. He pushed the tray of fruits, cheeses and sweet breads to me before pouring a cup of coffee. I grabbed a scone and thought better of it, thanks to the damn pants, and popped a couple grapes in my mouth instead.

"You need to eat."

"Not much of an appetite. The jeans are doing their best to curb it."

"Then perhaps you should take them off." I jabbed him hard with my elbow. "I was merely thinking of your health. You'll need your strength. Your training begins tonight."

"Why tonight? Why not now? A few hours isn't going to make much difference."

"A few hours and your body will be almost completely healed. And..."
He hesitated.

"And?"

"That is when the vampire is scheduled to arrive."

Aidan. Aidan was
on his way. He knew it and was working over time to get me in his bed before Aidan showed up. I would have been back in his bed doing more than recuperating if it wasn't for the sweet, saintly Ryanne delivering food and her excruciatingly tight jeans. His chiseled body would be working above mine, caging me with his powerful arms as my legs wrapped around him.

No, no, none of that. Imagining that is not helping. I scooted my cushion closer to the fire and further from him. He pushed the tray closer, chuckling when I popped the button of the jeans so I could fit a couple more grapes in my stomach.

"Perhaps I should see to your wardrobe. You'll need clothes you can actually move in for training." He leaned in, his mouth almost on mine when I slipped a grape filled hand between us. I filled my mouth with the fruit to keep his talented tongue out of it. He took my empty hand, kissing my palm before his tongue caressed my love line. It took all of my will power, not to mention conjuring Aidan's handsome face in my mind, not to give in. "Until later."

I don't know if I could survive the later he eluded to. I seriously doubted I would survive the two of them under the same roof. It was hard enough with Aidan and Cash. Aidan wasn't threatened by the alpha but he definitely would be by the hunter. Forget gym mats and heavy bags, what I really needed training for was my suddenly very crowded love life. Actually, the gym mats and heavy bag might come in handy.

16

I had been escorted to a room off the back of the house outfi
tted for training by Saint Ryanne, as she will forever be called. At least by me. She blushed when we met outside Mason's bedroom, obviously still embarrassed by walking in on us. She didn't say anything about it so I didn't bother to thank her for saving me from potentially making a huge mistake. It was probably better for all parties if we never spoke of it.

The wooden shutters had been opened letting in the cool evening air. It felt like rain but it was Ireland, didn't it always? I dreamed of seeing this country. It was number one on my bucket list but these weren't really the circu
mstances I had imagined. I pictured kissing the Blarney Stone, stumbling from one pub to the next in Dublin, having an Irish breakfast in a bed and breakfast, standing on the edge of the cliffs watching the ocean crash against the jagged rocks below.

Instead I was holed up in a, albeit amazing, stone farm house with sheep and all, honing my fighting skills to kill two vampires and avoid getting into a jealousy induced a
rgument with a third. Not really my idea of a dream vacation.