Once Bitten, Twice Shy (10 page)

“There you are.”

My head shot up at that voice. That voice I would never forget, as long as I lived. The voice that promised to keep me locked up, naked, and abuse me in ways I didn’t want to imagine. The voice of the man that kidnapped me, the man Lex said he’d killed.

In horror, I watched as he emerged from the shadows beneath the trees about twenty feet away. My heart stopped beating for a moment before it began to pound, fast and hard, against my ribs. My body suddenly felt as though it were encased in ice.

His low, sinister chuckle felt as though it were crawling up my spine. “Run, rabbit, run,” he whispered.

At his words, I whimpered and spun around, taking off around the side of the house. I knew he could move fast, faster than I could, so I chose to angle through the trees with the hope that they would slow him down.

I was wrong. It didn’t slow him down, only me. Just a few steps past the tree line, my bare foot caught in a tree root and I went sprawling face-down. A cry flew from my lips. God, that hurt. I was pretty sure I had broken my ankle.

I tried to scramble to my feet, but rough hands closed on my arms. I started to shriek in terror, but one of the hands clapped over my face, muffling the sound.

“I have you, Ivie.”

My head jerked as I heard Lex’s soothing voice next to my ear. How did he get into my dream?

“You’re having a nightmare, little one. Wake up. Come back to me.” His hand over my mouth moved to stroke my hair. “You’re safe. I will keep you safe.”

My eyes popped open in the darkened bedroom that I immediately recognized. I was in Conner and Donna’s huge house, in their guest room. I wasn’t in their backyard running for my life from a psychotic vampire.

I felt Lex move and then the lamp came on, the dim glow still bright enough to make me squint. The light served to chase away the last of the sticky shadows of the dream that clung to my consciousness.

I sat up, leaning back against the pillows, and scrubbed my hands over my face. I hadn’t had the nightmare for several weeks now. In fact, the last time had been the night Lex and I had spent on the porch swing. I knew why. All the talk about my kidnapper, whose name I still didn’t know and didn’t care to know, and the memories that surfaced after.

Lex sat up next to me, the blankets tangled around his hips. “Do you want a glass of water?” he asked.

I shook my head and threw the comforter back. “Give me a minute. I’ll be right back.”

I was grateful that Lex seemed to understand that I was in desperate need of a toilet. I used the facilities and washed my hands. I splashed cool water on my face to wash away the clammy feeling that the sweat of fear left on my skin.

When I re-emerged from the bathroom, Lex was still in the bed, waiting for me. I climbed back under the blankets, yawning.

“Better?” He pulled me close as soon as I settled onto the mattress.

I nodded.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Sleep,” I muttered.

Lex chuckled softly. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

My eyes were closing, but I opened one to stare at him. “I’m tired. I’m tired of giving those stupid dreams power over me. I’m also physically tired. I just want to go back to sleep.”

With his warm body cradling mine, I didn’t think I would have much trouble.

“I understand,” he murmured.

The lamp clicked off and I turned, putting my back to Lex. As I hoped, he stretched his long body behind mine, curving around me from shoulders down to ankles. He shoved his bottom arm under my pillow so my head was resting on it, then his top arm wrapped tightly around my waist.

As soon as he settled, I drifted back to sleep. It wouldn’t register to me until much later that I never would have been able to go back to sleep without him there. His very presence made me feel safe.

*     *     *

The next morning,
I awoke alone, with my face buried in Lex’s pillow and both arms wrapped tightly around it. I knew it was the pillow Lex had used because it smelled like him. I rolled over onto my back and sighed heavily.

While there were parts of last night’s conversation that I’m glad I knew, I still couldn’t believe I let him sleep in my bed. At least he was gone this morning, I thought. I needed some time to think about everything that he had said and what I believed. I would definitely be speaking to Donna about what Lex had told me.

I started when my bathroom door popped open and watched as Lex and a good amount of steam came through the door. The sight of his broad shoulders and defined and bulky muscles of his arms was enough to cause me to pause. What really took the cake was the sight of a stray droplet of water trailing from his collarbone, down the thick slabs of his pectorals and over the ridges of his abdomen, disappearing behind the bath sheet wrapped around his waist.

Though I had just been glad of them the night before, I was now cursing the huge towels that Conner and Donna kept in their guest baths. I wouldn’t have minded seeing Lex sauntering out of that bathroom wrapped in nothing but a brief towel.

The incredible sight of his almost-naked body was enough to tempt me to throw all caution to the wind. I also seemed to lose the ability to think about what I was going to say before I opened my mouth.

“I thought you left,” I said.

The corner of Lex’s mouth quirked up. “No, not yet.”

“I’m glad,” I responded. I then had to check the urge to smack myself in the forehead. What the hell? I didn’t need to be encouraging him.

His smirk became a full smile as he walked to the closet. I watched in utter amazement as he opened the door to the closet and disappeared inside. I sat up so I could watch as he walked directly to the back of the huge walk-in and pulled open a hidden door. On the other side, I saw another closet, this one holding a few pieces of men’s clothing. I realized that Lex had the room next to mine and there was a hidden door between our closets.

His back was still to me as he grabbed a pair of briefs from the built-in dresser that ran along one wall of his closet. Then he dropped his towel and leaned over to put them on. I squeaked and had to force my eyes away. Holy shit, his ass was amazing. Even better than I imagined and I had a fantastic imagination. The rest of him wasn’t bad either. In fact, the image would be burned in my retinas for all eternity. From now until the day I died, I would see a naked Lex from the rear on the back of my closed eyelids.

I threw the blankets back from the bed and made a mad dash for the bathroom. I worried that the longer I stayed in close proximity to an almost naked Lex, the closer I would be to forgetting all about my concerns and tackling him to the ground.

I did my necessary business and washed my hands and face, brushed my teeth, and tried to run a wide-toothed comb through my hair. Feeling a little more awake, I peeked out of the bathroom. Lex was standing at the end of the bed, buttoning his shirt, wearing pants and socks. Unsure whether I was relieved or disappointed that he was now almost fully dressed, I emerged from the bathroom, running a hand through my hair.

Lex turned and looked at me with a smile. “Feel better?”

I blushed and nodded. He finished buttoning his shirt and sat on the bed to slip on his shoes. Lex came over to me, smiling slightly as he looked down at my face.

“Hi,” I said lamely.

His smile widened. “Hi.”

I lowered my eyes to his throat.

“Ivie?” he said.

I looked up, back into his beautiful brown eyes with their long, thick lashes.

“We need to finish our talk tonight.” He lifted his hand to my hair and wound a curl around his finger. “I want you to understand what’s happening. Not only among vampires but between us.”

I blinked at him. “So you’re going to tell me what’s going on?”

He nodded.

“I’m not sure about the rest, Lex. I’m still not sure how anything could work between us.”

Lex leaned down and pressed a light kiss to my lips. “I know and I understand why you’re worried. I think that you will feel better once we talk. Will you give me another chance to talk to you?” he asked.

The sweet, short kiss is what did it. When Lex was forceful and dominating, it turned me on. When he was sweet, I melted.

“I’ll try,” I sighed.

He grinned, yanking on the curl that was wound around his finger. “That’s all I can ask for.” He released my hair and stepped away to grab his suit jacket.

I watched as he shrugged into the black jacket. I wasn’t positive, but I had a sneaking suspicion that his suit was Armani. The cut was superb, as was the fabric. Beneath the jacket, he wore a black shirt, no tie. He looked like a cross between a hot billionaire in the romances I read and a mob boss, sleek, sophisticated, and dangerous.

I managed not to drool, but barely. As though he read my mind, Lex smiled again.

“I’ll be back shortly after nine.”

I wanted to ask where he was going, but bit my tongue. I still didn’t know him that well, despite the fact that he’d slept in my bed with me the last two nights. Now that I wasn’t thoroughly freaked out, I realized I did have questions. Like the whole ‘calling’ thing. I wanted to understand how that worked. How could I have called him and forced him to come to me? He was a vampire. He had the ability to control my thoughts. It didn’t make sense to me.

I touched his arm. “I’ll be waiting.”

His eyes grew hot. Suddenly, his hand was in my hair, tugging firmly, tilting my head back. “I like the sound of that,” he growled before his mouth covered mine for a short, explosive kiss.

When he released me, my lips tingled as though they’d been touched with a live wire.

“I’ll be back later,” he said.

“Have a good day,” I whispered.

He kissed me one last time and left. I stood next to the unmade bed I shared with him the night before, touching my lips, and wondering what I had just gotten myself into.

M
y anxiety about
my future talk with Lex was unfounded. Mostly because he never came back that night. Or the next. Or the next. At first I was hurt. He pursued me. He acted as though he wanted me. Now he was gone. Again.

Donna knew something was up. The third day he was gone, she was waiting for me in the kitchen after I got up late and showered. Two cups of coffee were sitting on the counter. One look at her face and I knew we were going to talk and I wasn’t going to enjoy it. I hesitated by the door and considered making a run for it.

“Don’t do it, Ivie. If I have to chase you down, you’ll be wearing this coffee rather than drinking it.”

I sighed. Donna grabbed both cups and headed toward me.

“Let’s drink this out on the veranda.”

It wasn’t a request, so I followed her down the hall and out the back door. The morning was cooler than usual, but the light breeze felt fantastic. Donna went to a cafe style table and sat. Dreading the coming conversation, I did the same.

“I know what’s going on between you and Lex,” she said.

“There isn’t anything going on between us.”

She gave me a look. The look said not to treat her like she was stupid.

I sighed again. “I thought there was, but I’ve realized over the last few days that it’s for the best if I keep my distance from Lex.”

Donna shook her head. “You don’t understand, Ivie. He’s doing something very important and he doesn’t have much choice.”

I stared at my coffee cup, noticing for the first time that Donna had added cream and sugar exactly how I liked it.

“That may be, but I can’t get involved with someone who is comfortable shoving his way into my life and then disappearing a few days later for God knows how long.” She started to interrupt me, but I held up a hand. “Let me finish. Donna, he may be curing cancer but I don’t know that because
he didn’t tell me
. He could have picked up a phone and called. Hell, I would have understood a text even if the situation was dire. But no-call, no-show will get you fired from almost every job there is and, in my book, that applies for potential boyfriends.”

Donna winced slightly. “He didn’t call or text?”

I shook my head.

“Email?” she asked hopefully.

I laughed a little. “No.”

“These archaic men. They use email and cell phones constantly for work but never think to pick it up to call or text for personal reasons.” Donna leaned forward. “Listen, Ivie, I talked to Conner about this.”

“What?” My voice was louder than I intended. “Why in the hell would you talk to Conner about this?”

“Well, he didn’t want to talk about it, but I sort of cornered him in the shower this morning.” That was more than I wanted to know, but Donna continued. “He doesn’t know you like I do and I know this is bugging you.”

I wanted to argue. I really did, but she was right and wrong. It wasn’t bugging me. Lex’s leaving without a word hurt me. More than it should have. I’d barely even kissed him or touched him and he had me tied up in knots. I had a feeling that once we got down to business, he would have the power to eviscerate me.

“Anyway, Conner said that what happened between you two was your business, blah, blah, blah.” I smirked at her words. “You have to understand, Ivie. All this stuff happening between vampires. It’s big. I mean, life changing,
world as we know it ending
big.”