“DRINK UP.”
The deep, familiar voice pushed into Brent’s head and lured him back to reality.
He forced his eyes open. His head throbbed and the light hurt his eyes. Even more, his skin felt like he’d been set on fire. Pain gripped him like a vise, clamping tighter, building the pressure and urging him back toward the sweet peace of oblivion.
“Come on, bro. Stay with me long enough to get this down.” A hand slid under Brent’s aching head and the hard edge of a glass pressed against his cracked and swollen lips.
The first few drops of intoxicating heat touched his tongue and his gut twisted. His skin started to tingle. Then the hunger took control. Whereas he hadn’t been able to move a muscle just a moment ago, an instinct as old as time took over and he reached out. His hands reached for the glass and he held on, his mouth open, eager for the sweet salvation drenching his taste buds.
“Easy. You’ll make yourself sick drinking the bottled stuff so fast.”
“More,” Brent groaned when he finished the last drop of the life-renewing liquid.
His head dropped back to the pillow as he waited for Cody to slice open another bag of blood and refill his glass.
He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain that beat at his temples. He hadn’t had nearly enough sustenance to heal. Rather, he’d consumed the minimal amount to clear the cobwebs fogging his brain.
His heart sped, beating a fast, furious rhythm as he started to think. To remember.
The images started back at the motel. He felt the hardwood floor beneath his feet, the anxiety ripping up and down his spine because Abby had walked away and he couldn’t go after her—
“Holy shit.” He bolted upright, only to be knocked back down by a rush of pain that gripped every nerve and had him gnashing his teeth.
“Take it easy. It’s only been a few hours since Rayne brought you here. You need to heal.”
“Where is he?”
“He went home with Lucy once the sun set. Until then, they were stuck in that barn with you. He’s okay, but he got a little burned, thanks to the hole in the roof. Now stop talking and have another drink.” Cody held up the glass. “This stuff works, but not as well as the real thing. Unfortunately, it’s all we have at the moment.”
He handed the glass over and Brent took it. He gulped the contents and handed the glass back.
“You need to get some sleep. You’ll feel better tomorrow night.” Cody went to kill the light, but Brent stopped him.
“I can’t sleep.” His body tensed and suddenly he needed to move. He forced himself upright, pushing his mangled back up against the wall. The movement felt like he’d taken a sharp knife right between his shoulder blades and he clenched his teeth. A hiss sizzled past his lips.
His gaze skittered around the basement and for the first time, he noted the big screen TV sitting against the far wall. A red bow sat center stage, along with several boxes of surround sound equipment.
“Where did that come from?” he groaned.
“It was a wedding gift from the guys last night. Garret, Dillon and Jake took me to see the bull riding preliminaries over in Travis County to celebrate my last night as a free man.”
The party Brent had been responsible for. He’d missed it, just like he’d missed the past one hundred or so years with his little brother because he’d been too busy keeping his distance and staying on the move.
Afraid to get close. To connect.
For fear he’d lose it all over again.
That was the real reason he kept running. He’d had everything way back when and in the blink of an eye, it had been gone. The pain had nearly destroyed him.
So he’d pushed it all away and bricked himself up behind his hard-ass persona, pretending like he didn’t care. He’d been at the point that he’d actually stopped caring altogether.
Because it was easier.
But there was nothing easy about the emptiness that sat in the middle of his chest as he stared up and saw the disappointment in Cody’s eyes.
“The wedding is tonight.” Brent noticed the dark blue slacks and the crisp white shirt his brother wore and he damned himself a thousand times over.
“Three hours and counting.” He grinned, but the expression didn’t quite touch his eyes. “I hate it that you won’t be able to be there, but then, you’re not really into weddings anyway.”
No, he was into running and keeping his distance and being a bonafide shit.
That’s how he felt at the moment. Not just outside, but inside, too.
“Rest up,” Cody told him. He set the glass in his hand on the small nightstand and started to turn.
“She’s gone, isn’t she?” Brent voiced the one question he’d been wanting to ask since he’d first opened his eyes.
“Actually, she’s right here.” The soft voice crossed the distance to him and his heart lurched.
It couldn’t be.
That’s what he told himself, but there was no denying the sweet scent of strawberries that filled his head and the frantic heartbeat that echoed in his ears.
His chest hitched and every nerve in his body tensed. He turned. And sure enough, he found Abby standing in the doorway.
“I’ll leave you in charge,” Cody told Abby, handing her what was left of the bag of blood. “Miranda will kill me if I’m late.” Cody ducked out and suddenly it was just the two of them.
“So this is where you’ve been sleeping when you’re not at the motel.” Abby swept a glance around the large room. There was very little furniture except for the media stuff sitting in the corner but she had a quick vision of what it would look like with a woman’s touch. She couldn’t help but smile. “Cody did a good job.”
“Yeah,” Brent groaned and her heart paused.
He still looked ravaged, but the healing process had already started. His skin still looked red and raw, but it wasn’t as disfiguring as it had been before. His hair had started to grow back and she knew by the following day, he would be back to his old self.
Provided he fed, that is.
She reached for the hem of her T-shirt.
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” She pulled the cotton up and over her head. She wasn’t wearing a bra tonight and the first whisper of air against her nipples brought them to throbbing awareness.
A rush of insecurity welled over her, but she was determined to do this. While she knew he loved her enough to risk everything, she’d yet to be completely open with him. She wanted him to know what he was getting into. And then if he still wanted her, well, they would cross that bridge when they came to it.
“I know I did a pretty risqué striptease the other night,” she told him, “but that wasn’t really me.” She dropped the white cotton to the floor and bent to unlace her boots.
She caught her bottom lip and gathered her courage. “I’m not into fancy clothes or sexy lingerie.” A few frantic tugs of her fingers and she toed off the black monsters. “I’ve never really been comfortable with all that stuff.” She hooked her fingers in the waistband of her camo pants and pushed them down to her ankles. Her panties followed until she was completely naked. “I usually go for fatigues and combat boots. And sometimes I even pick my teeth, but that’s beside the point.”
“Which is?”
“I’m willing to take a chance on you, on us, but only if you realize what you’re getting into. I’m not the kind of woman who freaks out when she sees a spider or waits for a man to open the car door for her. I deal with my own spiders and open my own doors and while I can’t say that dressing up was all that bad, for the most part I like to be comfortable. This is me. Take it or leave it.”
Brent let his gaze rove over Abby and for the first time, he didn’t feel the pain gripping his insides. Instead, he felt frustration. He’d nearly turned himself to dust to protect her and she still didn’t get it.
Talk about stubborn.
He ground his teeth together and forced himself to his feet despite the flash of panic on her face. Stepping forward, he closed the distance between them until they stood only a few inches apart.
“You look pretty comfortable right now,” he pointed out, her nipples rosy and tight.
She glanced down as if only now realizing she’d stripped bare and her cheeks flushed. “I wasn’t sure which would help the most. Sex or blood.”
“I’m thinking both,” he murmured. And then he touched his lips to hers.