Blood Hunger (An Adult Paranormal Romance) (Deathless Night Series #1) (20 page)

     He began to pace again as he continued, “I fed on her while…well, that’s what we do. Except I took too much. I drained her dry while I fucked her. I lost control.” Stopping directly in front of her, he willed her to look at him. “I killed her Emma. I fed on her until her heart stopped beating, rutting on her the entire time. I didn’t even notice until her body began to get cold underneath me.”

   
 
Her horrified expression burrowed into his brain, never to be forgotten. Yes. This was for the best. He could live with this gaping hole that was ripping apart his chest as she finally looked at him like the monster he was.

     He’d learned to live with Eliana’s death. But if he killed Emma, even accidentally, he would
never
be able to live with that. What he felt for her, well, there was no comparison to it. He would rather walk into the sun.

     “Be ready to go at sundown. Tonight, we’re going after our siblings.”

   
 
He felt her eyes following him as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

     “What the fuck did you do?” Aiden woke Nik, gently, with a backhand to the head.

     “Ow! What the hell?
”
Raising his arms automatically to protect himself from more attacks, Nik gradually came awake, feeling unusually lethargic.

     Grabbing him by the front of the shirt, a thoroughly pissed off Brit hauled him up to a sitting position. “What the fuck did you do to Emma?”

   
 
Shoving him out of the way, Nik rolled off the couch and ambled to the guest bath to wash up. “Fuck off, Aiden.”

   
 
Not to be put off that easily, Aiden was right on his heels. “What the fuck did you do, Nik? She looks positively wretched in there!”

   
 
Whipping around, Nik snarled, “What the fuck
were
you
doing in her room?”

   
 
“What do you care? You seem to be doing your damnedest to push her away from you.”

   
 
Aiden held his ground as Nik got right up in his face, flashing his fangs and hissing in warning. “Stay out of it, Aid. It’s none of your fucking business.” Stomping off to the bathroom, he slammed the door in his friends’ face.

     But Aiden was not to be deterred. “It is my business, you twat! I happen to like Emma!” The shower coming on was the only response. Pounding on the door, he yelled, “You think I don’t know what’s going on with you two? I’ve heard the stories too, you know! Never believed them until now…but you shouldn’t fight it, Nik! If the stories are true, you need her now, or you will perish, slowly… and painfully! That means dead, Nikulas! Like,
dead
dead…No coming back to life this time.”

   
 
The door was wrenched open to reveal a naked, dripping, enraged Vampire. “Better me, than her,” he gritted through his teeth. “Now, shut the fuck up, and let me get my shower.” The door was slammed in his face again.

     Mumbling under his breath, “We’ll just see about that, you bloody arse,” Aiden stormed off to his room to prepare for their departure.

***

     Emma dreaded leaving her refuge where she’d been holed up since Nik’s visit last night, or was it this morning? She frowned. Her newfound sleep schedule was causing her to get her days and nights all confused. She’d had a long, restless night…or day, rather…and the mirror in the bathroom confirmed that she looked exactly how she felt.

     Like hell.

     She supposed she’d asked for this. If she hadn’t kept on pushing and pushing him, he wouldn’t have felt forced to tell her about his past and she could still be naively fantasizing about that hunk of gorgeous vampire out there. But no, she had to back him into a corner until he’d had no choice but to come out swinging.

     She should be relieved. She hadn’t been acting like herself since tall, buff, and fangy came strutting into her life. It was like that filter in your brain…the one that censors what you say and how you act before you actually do i
t…
had up and disappeared completely. She felt so stupid, like one of those girls always chasing after a guy who obviously didn’t want her.

     By the time Aiden had knocked softly to come in and wake her, she had been sitting in the same spot on the couch for hours, staring at the blank T.V. screen. Sleep had eluded her. No surprise there. But at least there were no new nightmares to deal with.

     See? Silver lining.

     “Em? We’ll need to be leaving in about an hour.” Eyeballing the dark circles and puffy eyes, a look of concern came over his face. “Can I get you anything, luv?”

   
 
“No, thanks. I’m fine.” Smiling wanly, she rose unsteadily to her feet, stiff from sitting in the same spot for so long.

     Aiden eyed her up and down, and then reluctantly closed the door behind him as he left.

     After all these years, it seemed surreal that she may be seeing her sister again in only a number of hours. She should be worrying about how dangerous it was going to be to get her out. About what she was going to say to Keira once they did. If they were all going to make it out of there alive. Because had no doubt in her mind that if her sister was helping that horrible woman, she was doing it against her will.

     But all she’d thought about the entire day were Nik’s eyes burning into her very soul as he told her he had brutally killed the last girl he had loved, in an act of mindless bloodlust. 

     His story had been stuck on replay in her head all day. She knew he’d meant it as a warning to her, and she had no doubt that what he’d told her was the truth as he believed it. But something about his story was nagging at her. Something just didn’t add up about it. She’d seen Nik all “vamped out” a few times now, and not once had she ever feared that he would hurt her. He’d always, without fail, been mindful of his superior strength, gentle even.

     And the first time he’d kissed her? When he’d nicked her lip and then straight out bit it? He could have easily lost control that night, gone for her throat and sucked her dry, but he hadn’t.

     And last night, in the shower. She felt a rush of heat at the memory. The things he’d done to her. He’d been in total control the entire time. He’d walked away. Which just confirmed her theory even more. She’d felt completely overwhelmed by him, yes. But in danger? Never. Not once.

     Granted, although she’d been in a life-threatening situation before, she’d never been a soldier. She didn’t know how it felt to be in a struggle for your life and come out on top, high from the fight and the adrenalin pumping through your body.

     But Aiden would.

     Turning off the water she’d been using to wash her face and brush her teeth, she could hear the raised voices of a vehement conversation going on out in the other room. What is that all about?

     Drying her face and tossing the towel on the sink, she hopped into a pair of jeans and changed her shirt. Barefoot, she flung open her door just in time to catch a glimpse of a very pissed off, very wet, and very
naked
, vampire slamming the guest bath door in Aiden’s face.

    
Whoa.

     Speechless for the second time in as many days at how beautiful he was, she didn’t immediately remember why she was standing there like that, until she noticed Aiden stalking off to his room.

     “Aiden! Wait!”

   
 
His fierce expression immediately softened. “Em? What’s wrong, luv?”

   
 
“Would you come here for a minute? Please?” She gave him what, she hoped, was a winning smile.

     “To your room? But, Emma luv, what will everyone think?” One hand placed theatrically over his heart, he looked over his shoulder to be certain no one else had heard.

     “But, you’ve already been in my…in Nik’s room. And no one else is here.”

   
 
“Hmm. True enough. Well then, I guess there’s no harm in it.” With a shrug, he headed her way. Squeezing past her to get through the doorway, he muttered under his breath, “But please don’t tell Nikulas. He’s upset about us as it is.”

   
 
Was that what all the yelling had been about? “There is no
us,
Aiden.” Closing the door so their conversation wouldn’t be overheard, she leaned back against it as he sat down on the side of the bed.

     Leaning back on his elbows, he gave her a lusty wink. “You just keep telling yourself that, poppet.”

   
 
Emma barely caught herself before she rolled her eyes at him. She would rather avoid another scene like the one on the runway. Changing the subject would be her safest route. “Aiden, you’ve been in battles since becoming a vampire, right? Fights?”

   
 
Sitting up, he gave her a knowing grin. “You want to see my battle wounds. Vampires heal quickly, and never have scars, however, I have a great one where I was completely gutted when I was still human…”

   
 
“No, I don’t! Wait…you were gutted? Really?”

   
 
He lifted up his shirt, giving her an eyeful of mouth-watering, rock hard abs and yes, a horrific scar running diagonally from the bottom of his ribcage to where it disappeared under the waistband of his pants.

     Coming closer to get a better look, she was suitably impressed. “Holy cow. How did you live through that?”

   
 
“That would all be due to Luukas and Nik, who found me on the battlefield with my insides hanging out, and who gave me this second chance at life. Otherwise, there’s no doubt in my mind I would have died that day.” Pulling his shirt back down, he started untying his running pants. “I have others…though they’re not as good as that one, but still impressive. Want to see?”

   
 
Jumping back, Emma slapped a hand over her eyes. “No! Would you please just answer the question? And keep your pants on!”

   
 
“First time I’ve heard
that
particular statement come out of a female’s mouth,” he remarked.

     “Aiden!!”

   
 
“Alright, alright, don’t get your knickers in a twist. Obviously, yes. I have been in some really gnarly fights.” And the way his eyes lit up let her know that he had enjoyed them immensely.

     She took a quick peek through her fingers to make sure his pants were, indeed, still on, before lowering her hand from her face. “As a vampire, I would imagine all the blood and fighting really gets to you. Makes you really…um…excited?”

   
 
He cocked his head to the side, narrowing his eyes with suspicion. “What are you getting at, Em?”

   
 
“Um. I was just curious, for no particular reason, how much all of that affects you? Would you say you completely lose control from the blood lust? Would
everyone
around you be in danger? Even after the fight is over?”

   
 
“Why ever would you be concerned about that?”

   
 
Thinking quickly, she tried to come up with a feasible reason. “I was just, um, thinking about what we’re going to be doing tonight. There will probably be a lot of fighting, and the other vampires who are meeting us there who don’t know me…I was just wondering if I should be worried? For my own safety, I mean, from you guys…”

   
 
She cut off her nervous babbling, hiding her eyes behind lowered lids as he studied her intently, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t help. She was a terrible liar, and vampires were entirely too attentive to detail.

     Aiden stared at her for so long she started to squirm under his rapt attention. She could almost feel him silently probing around in her head for the truth…and maybe he was. She made a mental note to find out more about vampire abilities.

     “Come on, luv, don’t play coy with me,
”
he finally spoke. “That’s not what you’re fretting about.” Checking the clock, he continued, “We don’t have a lot of time before we need to leave. Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? What are you really wanting to know? Spit it out. I won’t judge, I promise.”

   
 
“Alright, fine.” Dropping the act, she hesitated briefly as she wondered if she would be betraying Nik’s confidence by speaking about this. However, if the two of them have been friends as long as they say, he probably already knew all about it.

     She shoved her hands in her pockets to keep herself from fidgeting, and tried to sound blasé. “Last night, Nik came in here and told me a story about something he did. It was an accident…” That was as far as she got.

     Jumping up off of the bed, Aiden smacked his forehead with his palm. “
That’s
what he did to you! He told you about Eliana! Sneaky bastard.” Clasping his hands behind his back, he paced a few steps away, then abruptly turned and came back to stand directly in front of her.

     “Emma, I’ve decided there are some things we need to discuss. Nik will want to kill me when he finds out I’ve spoken with you about it, but I would hope that you would prevent him from doing that.”

   
 
Emma shook her head in bewilderment. “I don’t see how you think that I could keep Nik from doing anything! I have no control over him.”

   
 
“Ah, but you do. Much more than you know.” Gesturing towards the couch, he suggested they sit down.

     “We need to make this short and sweet, so I’m just going to lay it on you, alright?” When she eagerly nodded her agreement, he continued, “I don’t know if Nik has mentioned this to you, but the signs are all there that you are his mate, chosen by the gods to be his one and only for as long as you both shall live.”