Once Bitten (9 page)

“And
what do you believe?” she asked, leaning back in her chair.

“I have
no idea.” He shrugged. “Like I said, it’s never been done before.”

“But
you can have sex without mating.” It was a statement, not a question. He had
said as much before.

He
sighed and pushed his hand through his brown hair in frustration. “Yes, I can.
The problem is my instincts. I could easily get carried away and mate with you
before I even knew what I was doing. You’re not a werewolf. You don’t have the
strength to stop me if I tried to bite you.”

“Bite
me?”

“Biting
with our teeth transformed during sex. That’s how we mate.”

Bonded
with one man until death do they part? Sounded a lot like marriage to her, but
then again what did she know? She was human and had never been married before.
Or even in a real long-term relationship.

“I
think this is the first time I actually believe the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’
line.” She was trying to find the humor in their situation. She was still
frustrated that she could never have him and just because she couldn’t have him
didn’t mean she would stop wanting him.

It
figured that the first man she wanted in a long time would one, be a werewolf,
and two, be killed if they started dating. Saying that it sucked didn’t quite
cover it.

“It is
what it is.” He put his hands behind his head and leaned back in the chair,
surveying her.

“Bullshit
is what it is.”

The
corner of his mouth lifted. “The Netherworld likes its rules.”

“I can
see that. I just can’t believe that no one has ever broken the rules before.
For a bunch of bad ass werewolves, you guys are such pussies.”

Gabriel’s
entire body shook with laughter. She very much doubted that anyone had ever
called him a pussy before.

When he
finally regained control of himself he said, “You don’t think someone can be bad
ass when they’re following rules?”

“No, I’m
not saying that. I’m a nurse. I follow rules every day and the lives of my
patients depend on that. For example, I can’t just give someone medication
because they want it without a doctor’s order, it’s against the rules. If I
broke that rule, I could kill someone. So, no, that’s not what I’m saying at
all. What I’m saying is that I find it hard to believe that you guys let people
tell you how to live your life.”

“We do
live our lives without interference.”

“But
you don’t, not really. What if some poor werewolf fell in love with a human?
What then? Would he just have to walk away because he wasn’t allowed to love
her? Wasn’t allowed to share a life with her?”

His
arms dropped to his sides and he shrugged. “I’ve never heard of it happening,
but that doesn’t mean that it never has or never could. I imagine he would walk
away from her. The consequences are too great.”

“That’s
what I’m talking about. Our poor werewolf friend is going to be miserable for
the rest of his life because of some stuffy council and ridiculous Netherworld
rule. That’s the problem I have with it and I think that if our werewolf friend
were to walk away from someone he loves because someone else said so, then yes,
he’s a fucking pussy.”

“I don’t
think I’ve ever heard it put like that before.”

“Of
course not because you’ve been brainwashed. You’ve be taught, I’m assuming,
from an early age that humans aren’t to be trusted, because hell, if you could
trust them, you guys wouldn’t be tiptoeing around with a secret society of
sorts going on. My guess is that someone a long time ago got burned—literally,
figuratively or both—but we’re not in the dark ages anymore.”

“It was
literally.”

Ignoring
his comment, she continued, “My point is that humans have changed and maybe in
some ways, have evolved. Vampires and werewolves are the new thing now. You can’t
go into a store without seeing books and movies without a vampire or werewolf
main character. They’re not the villains anymore, they’re the stars. The love
interests. The brooding bad boy that every teenage girl wants to fix.”

“You’re
not a teenage girl.”

“And I
don’t want to fix you, just enlighten you and perhaps change some of your
thinking about some things.”

He was
quiet for a moment, thinking about what she said. “Perhaps you’re right in a
way.”

She
snorted. “Of course I’m right. I’m a woman.” Smiling at him, she got up from
the table, piled up their dirty dishes and took them to the sink.

He
followed her into the kitchen, carrying what had been left on the table. When
she started washing, he stood next to her, ready to dry them as she handed them
over. They worked together silently, making quick work of the chore.

 
“I know it’s easy for you to think that
way since you are human,” he said, taking the last plate from her to dry.

She
shut off the water and turned to face him, leaning against the sink and
watching him as he put the now dry plate into the cabinet as she dried her
hands on a clean dishtowel.

“I understand
the fear of mass panic you guys must have. I know there are people in this
world who wouldn’t be accepting of you and yours, but there are people out
there who would be. Maybe there’s a way where you guys could keep your secret
and be with whomever you chose. Maybe it’s possible to have your cake and eat
it too. Everything doesn’t have to be so black and white.”

He
faced her, his voice going soft. “It’s something to think about.”

Lila
met his eyes and couldn’t look away from him. It was as if she were being
sucked in and she could feel an ache building in her. She wanted him and she
hated that he so easily had shut down anything that they could have because of
something someone two hundred miles away dictated. It frustrated her even more
than she already was.

The
piercing shrill of her cell phone made her jump, tearing her attention away
from Gabriel. They both stared at the annoying piece of technology for a second
before Lila made a dash for it. He followed behind her as she lifted the phone
from the cradle.

“Hello?”

“Lila.
I lost my damn phone.”

“Carey?
Thank God!” Lila was hit by the overwhelming relief. She glanced up at Gabriel,
who had followed her into the living room.

“I don’t
know where I left the son of a bitch. Do you know how hard it is to function
without a cell phone in this day and age? I’m totally going to invest in a
house phone. Those suckers don’t wander away. I’m sure Grandma Ruby would love
another phone in the house. Her little Jitterbug cell phone is always ringing
and she’s always bitching when it dies on her.” Lila could hear the sounds of
monitors going off in the background and knew that she was already at work.

“Carey,
I need to talk to you.”

“Why
else do you think I’m calling? I got your message when I checked my voicemail
from the work phone. You should see it here. The ED is popping tonight and I
haven’t even been here an hour yet.”

“I need
to talk to you,” Lila tried but Carey either ignored her or didn’t hear her.

“EMS
brought in this unconscious man who is presenting with all the signs and
symptoms of dehydration, but Lila, he’s sweating. You know just as well as I do
that people with severe dehydration don’t sweat. My gut tells me that something
isn’t right. His drug screen came back negative and so far the only thing that
makes even the slightest bit of sense is dehydration. I guess I’ll just have to
keep a close eye on him. And Doctor Sallis stole my damn pen again! Can you
believe it? Fucking asshole.”

“Carey,
I need to talk to you. I need to see you.”

“That’s
what they all say. Jesus, Lila, I’m so busy it’s not even funny. I’ll have to
call you back.” Lila could hear some of the nurses calling for her in the
background, but she was determined to make Carey listen to her.

“It’s
important. It’s life or death, Carey.”

“That’s
the same thing they’re telling me right now. Got to go Lila. Talk later.” The
click of the phone being hung up and the following silence of the dead line
left Lila stunned.

“She
hung up on me,” she told Gabriel in disbelief. He was standing next to her and
she was sure he had heard the entire conversation.

“Not
technically.” He took the phone from her hand and put it back down on the
coffee table.

“Should
we go over to her house in the morning, wait for her to get home and tell her
then?”

Gabriel
shook his head. “Try calling her back in the morning before she leaves work.
She’s surrounded by other people right now. She should be safe for the time
being.”

She
took a deep breath. “I hope you’re right.”

* * * *

Gabriel
sat down on the couch after Lila hung up the phone.

What
was he going to do? She had presented an interesting argument about the rules
of the Netherworld and he wondered if perhaps she wasn’t right. Had he been
following them blindly? He had spent years staying away from her when, if she
had been a werewolf, he would have pursued her from the first moment she walked
into his bar.

Glancing
over at her as she sat down on the couch next to him, he wondered what he was
going to do. He was already screwed. If the council found out he was protecting
a human and had revealed what he was to her they would execute him anyway. They’d
probably execute her too, because she would be considered a threat to all of
them. Keeping her safe also meant putting her in more danger.

They’d keep
their heads down and hope everything blew over for the time being. Maybe when
they went to Andrea’s house later, they’d be able to find something that would
tell them more about either where she was or what the warlocks were doing with
her.

Something
in Gabriel made him doubt that all they were doing was killing witches for the
fun of it. He needed to find their motive. If he found anything, they would be
in a better spot than they were now. Rumors and whispers weren’t something a
council would listen to. He needed cold, hard proof and physical evidence.

“A
penny for your thoughts.”

Her
soft voice pulled him back to the present. She was watching him, her blue eyes
seeming to stare into his soul. He was amazed how she was able to take his
breath away, make his heart quicken. He needed to get a grip.

“We
need to be heading over to Andrea’s soon.”

Her
eyes went wide, clearly not expecting that. “Andrea’s? Why do you want to go
over there?”

“I
would like for you to look around and see if there’s anything out of place. You
would know better than Declan or myself,” He said, leaning into the corner of
the couch and stretching out his legs.

“You
think we could find something that could lead us to her?”

He didn’t
want her to get her hopes up, but he wanted to be honest with her. “I think we
need to at least look.”

She
shot to her feet. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

“Hold
your horses. It’s only just after eight. Relax for a little bit, let your
dinner digest and we’ll go a little later on. I don’t want us to be seen by
anyone going in.”

“Okay.”
She looked around the room as if unsure as to what to do while she waited and
took a deep breath.

He
could see that her muscles were tight and for a second he thought she was going
to start pacing. “Relax.”

“Trying
to.”

“I know
you’re anxious, just try to be patient for right now. Let’s watch a movie or
something. Get your mind off things.”

She
laughed. “Fine. One movie. Then can we go?”

“Then
we’ll go.”

* * * *

Lila
didn’t watch the movie. Instead she checked her e-mail, read random posts on
Facebook, and texted Beth. She was ready to jump out of her skin, but luckily
talking to Beth helped calm her down.

She had
let loose, telling her everything that had transpired between herself and
Gabriel. The kiss they had shared in the kitchen after he had humped her leg
like a dog. The kiss in the living room after Beth and Natalie had left and all
the reasons why he wouldn’t sleep with her.

Her
phone vibrated in her hand and she looked down at the screen.

Bitch, please. Fuck him
. She cocked a grin and glanced
at Gabriel out of the corner of her eye. He had his attention on the movie but
just in case he got nosy she turned the phone slightly so he wouldn’t be able
to read the screen.

She
typed on the screen of the smart phone.
You
don’t think it’s weird? Fucking a werewolf?

Almost
immediately the phone vibrated again.
Yes,
it’s very weird. But hey, you only live once.

She had
to agree with that.
Amen.

Do it. Just jump his ass.