Tempting Whispers: The Kategan Alphas 6 (17 page)

Vanessa forced herself to stand still,
to breathe through her nose and not run back out. Somehow, she managed to keep
herself from looking back one more time to make sure he wasn’t there. Gradually
the people blinked, their gazes wandering back to what they were doing and
Vanessa could finally breathe again.

She went to the hostess and requested a
table.

“No tables are open right now but you
can sit at the bar if you like.”

“Perfect.” Just what she needed, a
strong drink.

As time went by and more than a couple
drinks went in her belly, the more she realized this was a mistake. Coming
here, or anywhere for that matter, with Christine would have been fine. Safety
lay in numbers. Now she was all alone.

Oh, God. She finished the last of her
strawberry margarita and let the chilly iced drink roll around on her tongue
before she swallowed. It just hit her.

“God, I’m stupid,” she muttered burying
her face in her hand.

She only felt safe with him. Of course,
it made sense. How it didn’t really hit her until now showed just how stupid
she was. A buzzing noise caught her attention. Mumbling to herself, she
rummaged in the small purse on the bar until she grabbed her phone. She hadn’t
really paid much attention to the phone before which was obviously a mistake.
The phone was small and black. After she hit the power button on it to turn on
the screen, she had to slide this little key button across the screen to even
unlock the phone.

“Fancy schmancy.”

There were all kinds of icons for stuff
she either didn’t recognize or had never used. But at the top of the screen, a
green bar flashed at her. She pressed her thumb to it, then her breath caught.
A text messaging box popped up and the name of the person on the ‘from’ line
sent her heart racing with excitement.
Brayden Erickson.
The message was
something else entirely. She did a quick scan around the restaurant for him.
Had he found her? Would he come after her again?

She re-read the message again, all of
her fears vanishing with the excitement that only Brayden Erickson could bring.

What the hell do you think you’re doing?

Her lips twitched with a smile. It felt
so good making him mad, she didn’t know why. Her thumbs flew across the small
keyboard, then backspaced a lot when she made a slew of typing errors.

Getting a drink. Why?

You better get your ass home now.

Anger surged and she typed faster.
Why?
Where were you when I woke up?

Busy.

That’s it. One word. Was that supposed
to make her feel better?
Too busy to leave a note, apparently.

Indeed
, he replied in
an instant.

Yeah well, I’ll come back when I’m
ready.

If you’re not ready right now, then I’m
coming for you. You won’t like it, trust me.

“Ha,” she laughed. With a final swig, she
downed the last of her icy margarita.
Maybe you won’t like me if I come
home. I’m pissed at you.

His reply gave her pause.
Why?

She started to give in, relinquish her
anger, but then she remembered waking up in a damned strange house with no sign
of Brayden and anger won out.

Because you left me alone in a strange
place after a horrible accident. I still don’t even know what happened!

She stared at her phone for a full thirty
seconds waiting for a response. Nothing came. She clicked the phone on and off
and still nothing. Frantic, she darted another look around the restaurant, but
no tall vampire lurked waiting for her.

She hadn’t realized she’d been aching
for him to respond until her phone buzzed with the incoming message. She
quickly swiped her finger to unlock the phone and read his message, twice.

I had things to do. I tried to get it
done while you were still asleep. Took a lot longer than expected.

Was that supposed to be some kind of
vague apology? Well, unless he really said it, she wasn’t buying any of it.

Yeah, and I went out. Oh, well. I’ll be
back when I’m done here.
She glanced at her drink and new
she was done. Any more drinks and she wouldn’t be safe to drive. She’d had just
enough to feel loose and good but not dizzy and drunk.

You’re going to come back now or I’m
coming to get you. Don’t make me. You won’t like it.

“Whatever,” she muttered and closed the
phone, shoving it back in her purse.

She’d go, but not because he told her
to. She was going because she couldn’t drink any more.
Not
because he
ordered her to. She slid money across the bar, nodded to the cute bartender,
then started through the restaurant. She mentally tried to prepare herself for
what was to come. He’d be all mad and demanding; she’d be forced to either cave
in or fight back. Well, she had the urge to get into a good ole’ fight with
Brayden. It was the least he deserved for the stunt he pulled this morning.

You don’t just leave someone you
supposedly care about like that
, she thought. She
stopped in the restroom to wash her hands. But did he care about her? He’d said
he wanted her, but that wasn’t caring. She stared at her reflection in the
mirror. She didn’t like how sad her eyes looked. With a weary sigh, she forced
a smile, dried her hands on the brown paper towels, then left. She deserved it
all. A man who cared and wanted her. She’d had a mate who just ‘wanted’ her for
all kinds of things. That didn’t work for her—at all.

A young girl, wearing a black T-shirt
with the logo of the restaurant, opened the front door for her as she passed.
Vanessa said a thank you, then stopped as she scanned the parking lot for her
car. She couldn’t see it from here; two lanes of parked cars blocked her. The
lot was lit with the yellow beacons from the street lights. She hated how
cowardly it made her, but she clenched her purse hard over her shoulder and
kept to the well-lit parts. It meant she had to walk a longer way to get to
where she parked, but she made it.

She spotted the black Mercedes squeezed
between a dark blue mini-van and a yellow Mustang and sighed. Her flats slapped
across the pavement as she rushed to it, keys already in hand. Before she
reached the trunk, her phone buzzed. Her gaze shot around the parking lot once
more before she dug the phone out of her purse. Her heart started thumping. Another
text message. She unlocked her phone and clicked on the messaging box.

Good choice.

She frowned at the message. How did he
know? The feeling came quickly, or maybe she’d just become aware of it. She
turned around slowly, her gaze leveled on that familiar strong chest, then slowly
rose to meet bright gray eyes. Two thoughts instantly floated through her mind.
Busted.
Dayum!

“You’ve been here the whole time?”

He didn’t say anything, didn’t even nod.

“Guess that’s answer enough,” she
muttered.

“I don’t think I made something clear to
you,” he said in a low, controlled voice.

Her back snapped to attention, her wide
eyes to his. “What?” Instinct warned her to back up, to run to her car and jump
in and away from this dangerous man, while her body agreed completely, but for
different reasons. Her body wanted him to catch her, punish her in a way that
made her blood warm and flow thick like syrup through her body.

He took a step toward her. She took one
back. His gaze stayed on hers, unwavering. “You belong to me now. The moment
you freely touched me and let me touch you, everything changed.”

Her chest pulled tight and hard. “What
do you mean, belong?”

He took another step closer. A breeze
blew across them and rippled his shirt across his chest. A chest she knew
firsthand was hard and strong with a strength she’d never felt before.

“It means, you’re mine. It means, you
don’t leave without telling me you’re going somewhere. It means, you don’t
wear,” his eyes slid down her body in a way that made her skin crawl, “clothes
like that when I’m not around. You got that?”

She snapped her teeth together. That’s
it. She was done. She turned and headed for the driver’s side, but he caught
her. He grabbed her hand and tugged her back. His chest curled around her back,
his hips pressed against her bottom. A fluttery sigh left her. He felt so good
around her, safe and secure.

“I asked you a question.”

She almost laughed. “I know, and you got
my answer.”

An arm, corded with muscle wrapped
around her waist, pulled her back flush against him. Her breath caught as he lengthened,
hardened against her bottom. “That’s not going to work, Vanessa. All it would
have taken was a phone call. Did you ever think about that?” he said into her
ear. Chills swept from her neck to arms making her shake. She didn’t know if it
was the arousal slowly building inside her or the way his breath blew across
her ear when he spoke that close.

Did she ever think about picking up the
phone and calling him today? “No. No, I didn’t think about that. Even if I’d
thought to call you, I wouldn’t have thought you’d pick up to answer me.”

His other arm wrapped around the top of
her chest, shoulder to shoulder. For just a second his lips pressed to her
neck. She heard him inhale and his eyes fluttered closed. This was the feeling
she loved. Being with him, being in his arms, feeling his affection for her,
almost as if he did really care about her. Maybe even loved her. Bitterness
crept in at the thought. As if he would love her. No one loved her. Not now,
not ever.

His arms were turning her to face him,
his big hands, so capable and sturdy, tilting her face up. Lips passed across
hers in a gentle swipe. “Open your eyes.” She shook her head and squeezed her
eyes tighter. The pain in her heart was too much. He’d never love her. Never
care about her like she did for him. “Look at me, Vanessa.” The command in his
voice sent her eyes flying open. She hadn’t meant to do it, but he’d ordered
and she reacted.

“Good, beautiful, good.” His eyes were
warm, soft, and electric with intensity. “You call me, I’m there. You text me,
I’m there. I answer. I listen. You mean something to me.” He blinked and his
eyelids stayed low and soft. “Let me take care of you.”

A hard shiver racked through her. She
blinked fast as her emotions created mayhem inside her. Her lips trembled. She
reached up and twisted her hands into the shirt around his neck. What the hell,
she’d go with honesty. “I want that. I want whatever’s between us not just to
be...something physical. I want it all. And with how I already feel about
you...” Her heart slammed to a stop in her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut as
her hands clenched even harder. She hadn’t meant to say that. Oh, God. Oh, God.
Maybe he hadn’t really realized what she’d started to say.

A soft breath blew across her lips, then
firm lips covered hers, sweeping away all thoughts until she was engulfed in
only beauty and pleasure. He curled her into him as if he couldn’t bear to have
space between them. He tasted her, the kiss growing harder, hungrier. She
kissed him back with fervent need, trying to express just how much she needed
him in that kiss.

The honk of a car pulled them away. He
was breathing just as hard as she was; his eyes glittered with something dark
and smoldering.

“Get in the car and drive home. I’ll be
right behind you.”

“Okay.” She couldn’t move, didn’t even
want to leave the warmth of his arms.

He smiled a little, then took the keys,
unlocked the door
,
and
put her inside the car. “Drive. Remember, I’ll be right behind you.”

“Okay,” she said again and smiled back
at him. She liked his smile. It warmed everything about him, made him look more
approachable, which was some feat. She managed to start the car on her own and
when he left and disappeared behind the rows of cars, she couldn’t hide her
disappointment.

She pulled out of the parking spot and
slowly left the lot; she perked up as the black SUV rounded in behind her. The
windows were tinted too dark to see inside, but she smiled and waved at him
through her rearview mirror.

She drove all the way back to Dmetri’s
place with a goofy smile on her face and Brayden’s black SUV trailing her.

Chapter 14

Vanessa hopped out of the car and tossed
the keys to the nice valet standing nearby. She glanced down the driveway and
saw Brayden’s black SUV coming up behind her. Her stomach rolled with nerves.
She pressed a hand to it but it didn’t help. Something big was coming. She
could feel it deep inside of her. His car came to a stop behind the Mercedes
and as he pulled his lithe, strong body out, she tugged her lip between her
teeth. His eyes met hers, still dark and sexy as they’d been before they left
the restaurant. But this time something else lingered in his eyes, something
breath-catching and incredible. This had to be the something big coming.
Because her heart just stuttered and she fell more than a little bit in love.