Up in a Blaze (16 page)

“Yeah, I think it was a prank call or something. When I asked them if I could help them, the voice on the other end said, “You already have,” and hung up. I was being knocked to the ground a second later.”

Donte shook his head. “I knew I only had seconds to get you out of the line of fire. Someone was evidently hiding close enough, they were able to get a bead on you, and were planning to shoot you. If they had been successful, it is highly unlikely you would have survived.”

Cassie’s eyes filled with tears, damn near ripping out what was left of Donte’s heart. “Hey, sweetheart, don’t cry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He quickly pushed the button to raise the bed up. Taking her head in his hands, he brought his own head down until it was directly in front of her. “It’s over, and they didn’t succeed, thank the heavens above. While you’ve been in your healing rest, Walter and I have come up with some ways to keep both you and Betty safe, because even though that bullet had your name on it, we know who is behind this. And now we know he is here in Texas, so that puts both of you at risk.”

“Ahh, I see my patient is awake!” A man walked into the room wearing a white lab coat and Cassie assumed this was the team’s doctor.

The man walked up beside Donte. “Hi, Cassie, I’m Dr. Weathers. How are you feeling?” He noticed the tears in her eyes and was quick to inquire, “Are you in any pain?” as he gently reached down to check her pulse.

Cassie shook her head. “No, I’m not in any pain. I’m just…it’s just hard to understand why someone would want me dead so desperately.” She shook her head again, trying to dispel the cotton that seemed to have her brain wrapped up tightly, then glanced up at Dr. Weathers and gave him a small smile. “Everything’s still a little fuzzy, but no, I’m not in any pain.”

She turned her attention back to Donte. “Okay, so what happened after you tackled me to the ground?”

“I heard the shot go off, but didn’t know if I made it in time for the bullet to miss you or not. As soon as I heard footsteps and knew backup was there, I snatched you up and ran you upstairs here to Dr. Weathers.” His eyes dropped from her face to her hip. “That’s when we realized you’d been hit, but we lucked out and the bullet just grazed your side.”

“You weren’t hurt, were you?” she asked after a short hiss of pain when Dr. Weathers pressed on a rather tender spot as he continued to lightly poke around the bandaged area.

“No, the bullet grazed my arm also, but you have to remember, vampires heal a lot faster. Even if the bullet had found its mark in me, doc would have just dug it out before the skin knitted back together, and called it a day.”

“Cassie,” Dr. Weathers interrupted. “I’m afraid it’s been a long time since I have treated any humans, so please, if you are in pain, please tell me. I am used to dealing with these rangers who get shot up and injured as part of their job, but because they are vampires, other than patching them up and giving them an extra pint or two of blood, that’s about all that’s required. I have no problem giving you something for pain, you just have to tell me.”

Cassie assured the kind doctor she would let him know if she needed anything for the pain. He also inquired about her back, but since she was moving around and hadn’t experienced any pain, they were going to assume she was okay.

Once Dr. Weathers left the room, Donte picked up her hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles. “Cassie, I can’t lose you,
cariño
. We haven’t even had the chance to fully mate yet.” The emotions warring within his eyes said a lot. Today’s incident had just been too close. If he and Kade had arrived just two minutes later, hell, even one minute later, it would have been too late. He would have either watched her die, or turned her into a vampire. He didn’t want to look at that ultimatum. He kind of liked her quirky human habits, including her grumpiness in the morning, and her sexy as hell moan every morning as she took that first sip of coffee.

“You saved me, Donte. Thank you. So, since we know it is Gregory, and we know he is out to kill, what do we do to stop him?”

Donte sat down on the edge of the bed, being careful not to jar her hip. “Walter and I talked, and here is what we decided. Up to a few months ago, Meredith was living up here in a tiny apartment that Walter set up for her. She was a witness to a murder that involved one of our kind, and he was dead set to kill her. Walter hid her up here for several months and none of us even knew she was up here. Of course now that she’s mated to Lucas, and we caught up with the murderer and took care of him, the apartment is empty.

“Walter wants you and I to stay there for the time being. There are no windows in it, so you would be completely safe. He is also going to rotate rangers to act as security on off hours, just on the off chance Gregory decides to do something stupid and brings back up.”

“Okay, but what about Betty? Isn’t she in just as much danger as I am?” Cassie inquired, a frisson of fear going up her spine at the thought of Gregory going after her best friend.

“Yes and no. Walter and I believe Gregory will go after Betty at some point, but what he doesn’t know is she’s a vampire now, which makes killing her a hell of a lot harder.” Donte stopped and chuckled lightly before continuing, “I’d actually pay good money to see the look on that bastard’s face if comes face to face with Betty and realizes he has bitten off more than he can handle.

“But, in answer to your question, yes, she is still at risk. When I left to come back in here with you there was a heated debate going on between Samuel, Betty, and Walter over Samuel and Betty staying in another area the team is quickly turning into another tiny apartment.”

“Betty doesn’t want to stay here where it’s safe?” Cassie questioned, trying to figure out why her friend would not want to play it safe.

Donte gave her a smirk. “I think the heated discussion was more about Samuel staying with her.” There was laughter in his eyes, and she knew there was more to the story. She’d have to corner her friend later and get the real scoop on things.

Donte carried her down the hall to a closed door at the end. By the time Dr. Weathers released her to get up and move around, the team of females had straightened up what used to be Meredith’s tiny apartment, the one she had used when Walter was hiding her from Eddie and his goons. It had been sitting empty ever since Eddie was captured and terminated and she moved in with her mate Lucas.

Donte reached down and opened the door to what was going to be their new home for a while. He certainly didn’t enjoy ‘hiding’ out at all, but when it came to his mate’s health and wellbeing, he would do whatever was necessary.

He walked over to the couch in the corner of the room and gently placed Cassie on it. When he went to stand up straight after releasing her, she stopped him with her hand.

“Donte, how is this supposed to work? I don’t even have a change of clothes, and now that Walter has deemed it too dangerous for Betty and myself to be out and about, I can’t expect her to come to my rescue like she did when I first arrived.”

Donte sat down next to her on the couch. “Lucas and Meredith went over to my place and brought back clothes, toiletry items, movies and yes, I made sure to list your coffee pot and coffee.”

He chuckled as he remembered that first morning she had woken up to no coffee or coffee pot in the house. Nathaniel and Susan had been gracious enough to go out and buy a nice one for her and delivered it after they had arrived home that night. Cassie and Susan had gushed over the different types of coffee they had purchased as Cassie had promptly unboxed the machine and cleaned it well. Then, even though it was late in the evening, she brewed the first pot of coffee. The blissful look on her face as she took that first sip had his cock hard as steel, wishing he could be her coffee cup.

“Okay, but I know Walter isn’t going to let me sit up front any more, and I totally understand that, but, Donte, I don’t want to lose my job.”

He gently brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen to her face with his fingers. “
Cariño
, you are aware that as my mate you don’t need to work, right? I make plenty enough for us to live comfortable, and in fact have quite a healthy nest egg.” He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips for a soft kiss. “I just want you happy and safe, love.”

She softened under his words and graced him with a smile. “I understand that, Donte, and I appreciate everything you have done for me, honestly I do, but to sit here day in and day out doing nothing is not something I can do. I’ll go mad!

“Let me ask you something. If someone was after you and Walter placed the same restrictions on you, would you just go along with it?”

She knew him well enough to know there was no way Donte Chaverez would sit holed up in a tiny apartment for months on end while someone else went looking for the bad guy.

“No, I wouldn’t, and I guess it isn’t going to sway you to remind you Walter would never put those restrictions on me simply because I am a vampire and am very hard to kill.”

“No, it won’t, because even vampires aren’t infallible. I’ve spoken with Meredith and she told me how Lucas came in here a few short months ago after he’d been attacked.”

“Okay, love, point taken, and honestly, I already told Walter you weren’t going to settle for this. So, how about this, we stay here when I’m not on duty. When I am on duty, you can continue working, but you’ll have to do it from the lounge area, which is being set back up as an office as we speak.”

Cassie reached over and playfully punched him in the arm, only to rub her other hand across her sore knuckles afterwards. He just raised an eyebrow at her.

“Don’t cock that eyebrow at me, Mr. Chaverez, you knew all along everything had been taken care of, the least you could have done was told me and kept me from worrying if I was losing my job.”

Donte leaned over and kissed the end of her nose. “I know, and I apologize. You are just too damn cute when you get all riled up.” He stopped for a moment and shook his head.

“What’s the matter?” Cassie questioned.

“Did that just constitute as our first disagreement?”

“Maybe, I don’t know, why?”

“Well, don’t couples usually have make up sex after an argument?” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively at her.

She rolled her eyes at him as she chuckled. “You men. Is that all you ever think about?”

And just like that he flipped an internal switch and was back to being serious again. He wrapped his arms around her and brought her up snugly to his chest. “It might be all that others think about, but this is much more
importante
than just sex,
mi amor
.”

“I was only kidding a minute ago, Donte. But I am ready. I’m ready to be your mate, unless you’ve changed your mind?” Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure anymore. Truthfully, she still couldn’t figure out what someone who looked like him wanted with someone like her. But he had showered her with all the love and attention she ever wanted over the past two weeks. How could she not want him?

His mouth came down on hers in a searing kiss that was meant to be a possession. He made love to her mouth, tangling tongues with her, stroking the recesses of her mouth, nibbling on her lips. When he finally let her up for air, the love shining in his eyes threatened to put her in tears. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she had someone who loved her for who she was. She had someone who would cherish her and take care of her. Love her unconditionally.

“Baby, I need you to be sure, because once I start, there won’t be any stopping. Are you sure you’re ready to be my mate? Will you do the blood exchange with me?” They had discussed the blood exchange already. Donte had explained that he would drink a little of her blood, then make a small cut on himself and she would drink a tiny bit of his blood. He explained it would not make her a vampire, but it would give her some of the perks he enjoyed, including advanced healing powers.

She reached up to touch his cheek. “Yes, Donte, I’m ready. I am ready to be yours.” She wound both arms around his neck, nibbling under his chin.

He grabbed the sides of her head and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Cassie. I am so thankful Walter sent me to bring you here. I hate the circumstances surrounding our meeting, but I am sure glad that fate decided to step in and make sure the two of us found each other.” He stopped for a moment, and Cassie could tell that whatever he was getting ready to say was important.

“I solemnly promise to love,
cuidar y proteger
(cherish and protect) you, Cassie Vicors, every day of my life. I will always be there for you.” Then he stated the words she longed to hear, “I love you,
mi amor
.”

He picked her up as if she weighed nothing and marched into the bedroom. Gently sitting her on the bed, he reached down and whipped her shirt off before she could blink. She had a bra on, a pretty bright pink lace that had her hard nipples poking through already.

He leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss while he reached around her back to unhook the bra. Breaking off the kiss, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back until she was reclining comfortably on the bed. Then he plucked one of her breasts into his mouth, while slowly working her pants down her body.

His mouth felt so good on her breast, her hands came up to hold his head against her. He broke off a moment later with a grin. He placed her hands on either side of her head as he leaned down to kiss her lips. Then he sprung off the bed and had her pants completely removed before she could blink.