Taming the Heart (Creatures of the Night Book 2) (11 page)

It was suddenly very apparent to him how very long it had been since he’d had sex of any kind. He couldn’t even really bring it to mind other than to know he had done it. He had once been good at it, or so he read, and he supposed he couldn’t forget how things went. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and was shocked by himself yet again.

He was hard as stone. He was as hard as he could ever remember being and it was for her. The tiny ex-cheerleader who embroidered ‘smiles make me happy’ on her wheelchair gloves. This was bad. This could only end bad. He hoped that there was an e-mail from Bateman saying he was on the way to get her right now. One part of his brain told him that, but another part of his brain rebelled at the idea of anyone besides himself being there when she woke up in the morning and needed…

And he would be there, and this time, it was going to happen for real. He had done what he’d done this morning to give himself time to think, but tomorrow… Tomorrow made his mouth water. He wanted her and he would take her if she should offer him again. That simple.

*                            *                            *

They arrived to the cabin well after dark. Miranda was nearly ready to jump out of her skin at the thought of climbing in to that big bed with Braden. What would he do, strip off his shirt and wait for her bare chested? Did he have pajamas? Did he expect her to sleep naked? Did he expect to take her tonight just to get the deed done and then sleep on the couch again? Would that even work? Would she still wake up calling out to him and would they do it again?

She felt a rush of fear and… excitement at the thought. Braden was hands down the most gorgeous man she had ever seen in real life, but did he want her? Was he merely trying to avoid further damage to his house? Was he merely doing it because he could no more control what seemed to be pulling them together than she could? Of course that was what it was. Why would someone as attractive as he was really want to make love to a plain simple girl like herself?

Not only was she fairly plain, but she was also in a wheel chair, except when she was a hunter. Sure, she had been looking healthier lately, her hair was healthier, her hips and legs were fuller, her face was smoother, but at the end of the day she was still just a woman in a wheel chair. She still clipped coupons, she still wore lace and frill, she still loved pink and kittens, and she was still small town.

He was worldly. She could see some biker chick on his arm or at the very least a tall bleached blond supermodel. She felt small next to him, nearly insignificant. Except for this morning. This morning she had felt like the seductress.

She had felt irresistible to him and he had been drawn to her… weakened by her. It was something to be able to make a man like this lose control. It was a heady power and she didn’t really think that she would regret an encounter with him at all. In fact she might look back one day and be proud of herself for it. Still, when he came around to help her out of the cab and into her chair she felt her hands trembling and her heart racing.

She was about to start talking to him about The Copy Shop again when he halted and put a hand up for her to stop. He sniffed the air silently before he swung around and picked her back up. He took her to the truck and dumped her inside.

“Lock the door,” he commanded and she hurried to do what he said as he walked away from her towards the cabin.

Braden stepped inside the cabin and surveyed the damage. The first thing he noticed was the spray paint on the walls. It read ‘we know what you are.’ The paint was blood red, meant to look like blood, and ran in streaks down the wall to pool on the floor. He took a deep breath to calm himself. The television was smashed. His lap top was in pieces on the floor, his antique records were strewn about and two of the chairs at the table had the legs broken. Most of his dishes were broken and the refrigerator stood open.

His bagged blood had been torn open and spread around on the floor. The glass jars containing peaches and pears had been dashed on the floor and it was all generally a mess. He headed towards the bedroom and it had been tossed in a similar fashion. They had taken knives to the mattresses and left filling everywhere. The whole thing was very immature. Humans were odd creatures, destroying for the sake of destroying alone.

He sniffed the air again before he strode over to an overturned lamp. He took the small devise from the inside cover and looked at it. They were going to try and listen in on his house. He sniffed out three more devises before he took out his cell phone. Saul was on the way without a word of question. He stood back and looked at the spray painted wall again. It was time to move. These were obviously people who thought they had found some evil creature that needed destroying. He grabbed Miranda’s bag and then clicked the button to open his weaponry up.

He filled several more duffel bags before he made his way out to the truck. He loaded the duffels in the bed and waited for her to open the door for him. He got in and started it. As they drove back through the forest he opened the ashtray and pressed a little button. Miranda made a little frightened sound and ducked as the explosion filled the night with violent noise. She looked behind them at the flaming cabin.

“What happened… what about your stuff,” she asked frightened.

“The journals are crated and encased in cement beneath the floor. I may come back for them in a few years,” he replied without feeling.

“But… why?”

“Some humans were there. I come across them from time to time. They think they’ve found out about me or know something about me or our organization. They make it their personal crusade to expose us, drive us into the light, and kill us. They think we are evil. It just is part of the job. Do you have any type of identification you may have left in your bag that they might have seen?”

“No… but I’m pretty sure my sister’s military bag had her identifiers on the inside flap.”

He cursed himself silently. He hadn’t even thought of the sister’s things. All well. If anything came of it they would deal with it.

“Where will we go?”

“I have a secondary location an hour away. Saul will call me when he is sure that the area is safe.”

“Saul is good to have around in a tough spot,” she said as she sat back against the seat.

Braden felt something uncomfortable in his gut at her praises of Saul. True as her words were, he just didn’t like to hear her talking about him that way. They made it to the new location without incident and Saul along with two other men were waiting for them. Braden handed over the devices and Saul quickly pocketed them.

“We are still looking for them,” Saul said in way of greeting.

Miranda had to pause at the threshold. This place was a near exact copy of the cabin they had been in before except the drapes were mixed with burgundy instead of green. She looked up at Braden. Didn’t he say that he didn’t make a lot of money?

“I hope you find them so I don’t have to take care of this myself. If I have to get involved it won’t be pretty.”

Braden said it in such a calm and serine way that the threat was sort of creepy. Who said things like that in such a matter-of-fact way? Saul didn’t seem phased though as they followed her inside. She watched as Braden clicked the button on his chain and the floor opened up, an empty weapons rack lifting up out of the floor. The two agents standing near by moved to get the duffel bags out of the truck without having been asked.

Saul gave her an uncertain look. “Is she stable?”

“As far as I can tell she is not going to go through a complete change,” Braden said as he took a bag that one of the agents handed him. He moved towards the kitchen and began unloading groceries.  Saul continued to eye her.

“She doesn’t drink blood?”

“No.”

“She eats regular food?”

Braden gave him a drool stare. “No she eats monkey brains.”

The look on Saul’s face made her burst into full out laughter. “He’s teasing,” she said out loud as she wheeled herself forward. Braden stepped aside and handed her things to put into the fridge as the agents dumped more on the counter top and then went to loading the gun racks.

“Excuse me. Did you just make a joke? Oh my God. Senorita you are a goddess to get him to make a joke,” Saul said with a lopsided grin. He was tall and leaner than Braden, but still athletic looking.

“I know. I was shocked the first time he did it myself. He really has a good sense of humor,” she responded as she put the apples in the crisper. “Most days,” she amended.

“Lies,” Braden murmured to which Saul laughed out loud.

“If I knew all it would take to soften up old frost bite was a pretty woman I would have thrown one at him long ago.”

A warning grumble emanated from Braden and Saul just shook his head. Miranda felt her cheeks flush and turned quickly back to their chore. When she was finished she turned back to Saul.

“Would you like to have some coffee,” she asked.

“Aye Dios Mio. She has made you to buy coffee too. Truly,” Saul took her hand and fell before her as if stricken to his knees.

“That is enough. Don’t you need to be out there looking for whoever broke into my house,” Braden snapped as he pulled Miranda’s hand away from Saul’s. She felt the heat of his touch all the way up her arm before he reluctantly released her. At least she thought it was reluctance the way he hesitated, as if he wanted to hold on to her.

Saul’s eyebrows shot up as he rose to his feet again. “They will call me. I believe the lady asked me if I would like some coffee.”

Miranda felt amazed at the brazen way Saul pushed past Braden to pull out a pot to fill with water and begin boiling. She took the fresh bread they had bought and a knife and headed for the table. She pulled herself to a chair and began slicing the bread. Braden had asked her why she didn’t buy the sliced bread, but she had always enjoyed fresh baked bakery bread.

“Do you have a warming rack,” she asked. Braden shook his head.

“We can toast them to warm them,” Saul said as he pulled out a toaster and plugged it in.

“When did I get a toaster,” Braden asked in shock. He looked uncomfortable with the people in his house touching his things, but the fact that he didn’t say anything said a lot for how he felt towards Saul.

“You weren’t here and I had to stay nearby to make sure everything was settled in Madison with Miranda’s situation so I crashed here. I would have bought a coffee pot but I know how you are about coffee.”

“How is he about coffee,” she asked her eyes widening.

“Once he had some coffee and stayed awake for months. He doesn’t even like to smell it,” Saul said as he took the bread she had sliced and popped it in the toaster. The bread was only down long enough to warm before it flipped out. He plated it and reached in the fridge for some butter.

“You got the real butter. You are the queen of my heart,” he said hugging it to him in pleasure.

“May I remind you that this is my house? You cannot come and go as you please without my approval,” Braden insisted doing his best to look intimidating. It worked on her, but apparently Saul was immune. Didn’t the man know how armed Braden was?

“Really? Then why do you keep your cabinets stocked with canned goods when you don’t eat food,” Saul asked as he poured some boiling water into two cups.

“It’s expected to leave something in a cabin when it sits for so long,” he finally responded lamely. Saul scoffed.

“I knew moving closer to you would be impossible,” Braden said as he finally sat down.

“Stop it. You’ll hurt my feelings,” Saul replied without any emotion.

Miranda laughed again as she took the mug he offered her. He brought the instant coffee, fresh cream, and sugar to the table. They both mixed their coffee to taste. Saul raised his mug to her in a salute before he took a deep swallow. She sipped her coffee and nearly moaned with delight. Braden huffed and stood from the table. He went to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle with clear liquid in it. He pulled out a tumbler and poured a glass. He came back to the table and made his own salute before downing most of the liquid.

“Is that… vodka,” she asked surprised.

Saul suppressed a laugh and Braden snapped a warning glance at him. “I enjoy a drink on occasion.”

“Sure but not vodka,” Saul snuck in.

“You are about to wear out your welcome human.”

“What is it,” she asked.

He turned the glass around for a moment. “Peppermint Schnapps.”

Saul burst into laugher as well as the other agents whom up until this point had been quietly cleaning and putting away the weapons. Miranda waited for Braden to roar in disapproval, but again a corner of his mouth simply lifted. He threw back the rest of the clear liquid and the half smile vanished.

Saul passed her a piece of buttered bread and took some for himself. “She appears to be in good health,” he said to Braden.

“She has a name. I don’t think we officially met. I’m Miranda Jamison,” she introduced.

“Well met Miranda. I am Saul Munoz. I am an assistant mentor. I and the other agents assist the hunters and mentors, though they think we are slaves.”

The way he said her name made it sound romantic. He rolled his R’s the way the Spanish did and she couldn’t help but to smile at him. Braden didn’t seem to like that too much. If she didn’t know any better she would think he was jealous.