Abby had tossed her clothes into her suitcase and left the hotel she’d been staying in with Brian. She’d briefly considered grabbing another cab, but decided the best way to disguise her scent was to lose herself within a crush of people. She’d hurried to the subway and hastily descended the steps. Standing in a group of people, she’d kept her teeth clenched against her body’s growing demand to feed as she allowed them to bump and jostle against her in order to throw off her scent further.
She’d ridden in a subway car for three blocks before deciding to reemerge on the surface. She walked for five blocks before finally grabbing a cab and arriving at her newest hotel. It wasn’t as elaborate as the one she’d been staying in, but it was far from a dump, and it wouldn’t make her credit card scream. She could have gotten the room for free by using her vampire abilities and changing the mind of the desk attendant, but she’d made the decision to play by the rules of humans when she’d gone to college and joined their world.
Now, she pushed open the door to her new room and stepped inside. She stood watching the shadows playing over the walls before turning the light switch on. The lamps beside the beds flickered on to reveal a decent-sized room with red comforters and a crème-colored carpet. A small sitting room with a flat screen TV, sofa, and recliner was off to her left.
Despite the clean, inviting colors and spicy scent of potpourri, she’d never felt more alone in her life. Before arriving here, she’d had a mission, a goal to get away from Brian and find somewhere else to stay. Now that she’d attained her goal, she felt as flat as roadkill when she placed her suitcase on one of the queen beds and sank onto the other one.
Her head fell forward as her fingers dug into her thighs. Grief overtook her, and her body was wracked with waves of misery. She took her phone out of her pocket. On her way here, she’d decided it was time to call her family, but she hesitated before she could hit Isabelle’s number.
Her older sister would be the easiest one to deal with right now; she would get her brothers to calm down before they descended on this city and her. However, she wasn’t much in the mood for talking to anyone right now, and she knew if she called Isabelle, she’d turn into a crying, blubbering mess the second she heard Issy’s voice.
She could always call The Stooges. Her adopted uncles may be the best way to go with this. They’d be here in a heartbeat. Jack would probably choke her and yell at her for an hour. Mike and David would take control and form a plan. Doug would stand by with his calming presence, and right now, she could really go for one of his awesome bear hugs.
But again, she knew she would turn into a blubbering mess the minute one of them asked how she was doing, and she wasn’t ready to unleash her despair on anyone, much less her unsuspecting uncles. Her mom? Her finger hesitated over her mom’s phone number. Suddenly, all she wanted was to hear her mother’s voice. She’d be so mad Abby had kept Vicky’s disappearance from them, but she’d come here. She would hug her and she would understand.
She wouldn’t tell any of them about Brian. She’d promised him they would never know he was involved, and she would keep it that way. He was her private misfortune to deal with. She would bare the rejection and loss of him for as long as she existed, and what a lonely existence it would be.
She finally had her answer about him. Before, when she’d tried to make herself feel something for others, a small part of her had believed she’d one day find someone who would affect her as he had. Now, she knew she never would. He’d irrevocably changed her life the minute he’d stepped into it six years ago, and there would be no going back.
She could now look forward to a lonely life of never knowing the touch of a man, an eternity of always pondering where he was and what he was up to. She dropped her head into her hands; a sob escaped her, but no tears slipped free. There were no tears to be shed, not anymore.
She would find Vicky, she would leave this city behind, and she would finish her degree. She’d spend the rest of her life traveling the world, discovering things, meeting new people, and trying to help them in whatever way she could. It wouldn’t be so lonely if she was doing good in the world, and there was much good to be done on this planet.
Maybe one day any reminder of him wouldn’t hurt so badly. Time healed all wounds and all that nonsense.
She tried to convince herself of this as she tossed her phone onto the other bed. She’d call someone tomorrow, when she’d gotten some rest and fed. Thirst burned through her veins and caused her fangs to feel heavy with the urge to descend. As much as she didn’t like it, she would have to find a human to feed from. Her stomach turned at the idea, but she couldn’t wander around in a city full of people while an emotional mess and famished. That was a recipe for disaster.
Room service could bring her a Coke and someone to feed from she decided as she rolled to her side. She was grabbing for the phone on the nightstand when a forceful knock sounded against her door. Abby jumped and held her breath as she waited for the visitor to identify themselves. Had room service gotten the wrong room? But didn’t they announce who it was when they knocked?
She shoved herself to her feet and trudged toward the door. If it was room service, she may have just had her meal delivered to her. “Who is it?” she inquired.
Silence met her question. Uneasiness churned in her gut, and she hesitated as a growing certainty built within her. It couldn’t be him. There was no way he could have tracked her scent through the convoluted, human-filled pathways she’d taken.
If it wasn’t him, then why was her body becoming electrified and her heart racing faster when she hadn’t even reached the door?
Taking a deep breath, Abby rested her hands against the door and rose onto her toes to peer out the peephole. Brian’s red-filled eyes burned into hers as he stared at the door. His shoulders were hunched forward; the muscles bulged in his arms as he grabbed the doorframe.
She ducked back, biting on her lip as her mind spun. How had he possibly been able to track her here?
“Open the door, Abigail,” he commanded gruffly from the other side.
“I don’t want to see you!”
What an awful lie. She’d never been happier to see anyone in her life. However, she’d just managed to break free from him and resigned herself to a life of loneliness. Now he was here disrupting all her plans. She prayed he would go away at the same time she prayed he’d never leave.
“I don’t care,” he replied.
“No, you don’t, do you!”
The low growl emanating from the other side caused the hair on her arms to stand on end. “Open the door or I’m going to break it down, witnesses be damned!”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
The knob rattled at the same time his hand smashed against the door, causing a splintering sound to echo through the room. He was only showing her he wasn’t playing around. If he chose to be in this room, he would be, and there was no way this door was going to keep him out. When the police showed up, he’d simply convince them that everything was all right and to move along.
“Stop it!” she yelled at him.
“Then open the fucking door!”
Knowing he wouldn’t stop, she threw the locks and pulled the door open. His ruby eyes blazed down at her, and his shoulders heaved as a vein in his forehead pulsed to life. She’d never seen him look so angry and rattled, but she was pretty pissed off herself.
She stepped into the doorway in an attempt to block him from entering when he stepped forward and wrapped his hand around the door she held. “You’re not welcome here,” she told him.
Madness, insanity, he could feel it slithering through his mind, creeping closer as she tried to deny him entrance to her room. Keep it together. Don’t hurt her. He kept telling himself this, but it took all he had not to pick her up, throw her on the bed, and bury himself in her. He would show her who was in control here, teach her she was his, and there was nothing she could do about it.
“You should have bought a house if you planned to keep me out,” he grated through his teeth.
Abby refused to relinquish the door to him. “What do you want?” she demanded.
He wrenched the door from her grasp, forcing her back when he stepped further into the room and slammed the door behind him. The mirror over the bureau rattled, and the glasses hanging above the mini-bar clinked together from the force of the closing door. Abby backed further into the room as he stalked toward her, looking every inch the lethal vampire he was.
“You left me,” he accused.
Her chin tilted up, and she planted her feet as she refused to relinquish another inch to him. “So?”
“So?” he snarled. She never saw him move before his hands were gripping her arms. He lifted her off the ground as he drew her forward. His fangs glistened when his upper lip curled back to reveal them. “So!”
She tried to break free of his grasp, but found herself trapped by his overwhelming strength and power. “You were busy and I thought you’d like some privacy with that woman. Now let me go!”
She hadn’t expected him to release her, but he dropped her like a stone onto her feet again. Trying to maintain her dignity, Abby straightened her sweater as she defiantly stared at him. “Wasn’t much fun for her, I’m guessing, if you’re here already,” she said haughtily. “Ever hear of a minute man?”
Brian couldn’t stop shaking. His fingernails tore into his palms as he fought the urge to grab her again. He was afraid he’d do something he could never take back if he touched her right now. The edge he teetered on had him close to snapping; if he snapped, if the insanity won, he’d take her, and he would hurt her.
He’d hate himself forever if he did, but she’d left him. The desolate and incensed feelings that had engulfed him when he’d found her things gone from her room in their hotel still rattled him. He hadn’t felt either of those emotions so strongly since he’d lost his family.
Abby had taken her things and fled, thinking he wouldn’t be able to find her, hoping to lose him in the city. She had tried hard to lose him too. He’d caught her scent in a convoluted trail that may have thrown him off if her soul hadn’t been blazing so bright, showing him the way to her. Now he’d found her, she was safe, and she was telling him to leave.
He couldn’t take it, couldn’t handle it anymore. She was his and she was trying to kick him out of her life. He longed to cut her as deeply as she’d sliced into him.
“I’ve never left a woman unsatisfied,” he replied, his mouth curving in a malicious smile.
Distress flickered across her face before her eyes blazed with the fires of Hell. “Get. Out,” she bit out crisply.
“You’re not in charge here, Abigail.”
“And you are?”
“Goddamn right I am.”
Her nostrils flared, and for a second, he believed she was going to swing at him. Instead, she did some kind of Karate Kid move that had him dodging the first foot she kicked at him. Her second foot managed to land a glancing blow against his nuts. Grabbing himself, he doubled over as pain lanced through his body.
Abby scooted back, pride blazing over her features as she smirked at him. “Goddamn wrong, boy-o!” she retorted.
Brian lunged for her, but she spun away from him, leaping onto one of the beds to glare down at him.
Like an avenging angel, one who belongs to me, he realized.
“You have to leave,” she said.
“Or what?” he inquired as he stalked her. She danced back on the bed, the bounce causing her breasts to sway invitingly. As much as he’d like to get his hands on her, he had to admit he enjoyed watching her like this.
“Or I’ll tell my family all about this.”
“Will you now?” he murmured as her nipples hardened.
“Yes!” she cried.
Abby’s desperation mounted. What made it worse was the ravenous way he watched her as she moved. She’d kicked him in the nuts, but instead of yelling at her or trying to make her pay for it, he was staring at her as if she were the most delectable thing in the world, one he was going to devour, and she so badly wanted to be devoured by him.
“I don’t think you will,” he said. “I think you want me as badly as I want you.”
“You’re wrong!” she shouted at him before jumping for the other bed.
Brian leapt forward. Snagging hold of her wrist, he jerked her back in mid-jump. She cried out as air rushed up to meet her, but he caught her easily in his arms. He spun her around, pinning her on the bed she had jumped from and jerking her wrists above her head. Her luscious breasts pressed against his chest with every breath she took, and her lips quivered, but her eyes remained the color of rubies.
“I don’t want you!” she yelled.
“Don’t lie.”
She cried out in frustration and tried to draw her feet up to kick at him, but he was situated firmly between her thighs, and when he thrust forward to grind his erection against her aching center, a moan escaped her. Her feet fell back to the bed, and her legs trembled as he thrust again, the friction of his arousal causing heat waves to spiral up from her core.
Her head fell to the side, and she panted for breath as he moved over her again. A low groan escaped him when he pushed against her again. Her body ached with the need to feel him deep within her. Her wrists jerked in his grasp as he kept them pinned above her head.
She nearly screamed when he used his other hand to pull her sweater up and his large hand flattened against her stomach. His palm burned into her skin as his fingers caressed her flesh in small circles. She wiggled beneath him, desperate to escape, yet eager for more of his touch.
Stop this. It will only end badly.
I don’t care how it ends as long as it’s with him inside of me.
Her mind warred with her body as she undulated beneath him, impatient to feel him moving over her again. He gladly gave her what she desperately sought as the delicious friction of his body sliding over hers sent spirals of desire throughout her entire being. His head bent to her right breast. Through her sweater and bra, she could feel the alluring heat of his mouth against her flesh as his tongue ran over her and liquid heat pooled between her thighs.
She jerked at her wrists, eager to be free of his grasp so she could touch him too. Releasing her hands, he sat back on his heels. His eyes were a deeper shade of blue as he stared at her before pulling his shirt over his head. Abby’s eyes bulged as she drank in every chiseled inch of him.
Pale, smooth flesh pulled tautly over his hard pecs and the carved ridges of his abs. A trail of darker blond hair dipped enticingly toward the band of his pants, and her fingers itched to follow its path. His broad shoulders blocked out the room behind him, but then all she could see right now was him.
Before she could form words, much less touch him, he reached down and tore open the front of her sweater. She went to grab at the ruined material when air brushed over her bare skin, but he grasped her wrists and jerked them above her head once more.
His eyes were deadly, his face harsh. The warmth of his bare flesh against hers seared her skin and branded her soul. His hand settled over her breast, rubbing her taut nipple through the lacy material of her black bra until it hardened beneath his ministrations. She bucked against him, unable to stop herself from crying out at the delicious sensations he so easily aroused in her. He bent his head until his mouth was just over her breast, his eyes latched onto hers as his tongue swirled over her nipple.
“Now tell me you don’t want me,” he said as he nipped at her.
She tried to deny his words, but she was fighting a losing battle. Why not give in? She’d been accepting of a lonely life, without the touch of a man, before he’d arrived here. If he left her after this, or it simply wasn’t to be between them, at least she would have the memories of his body against hers, of tasting and savoring him as he drove in and out of her.
She was still trying to process it all when the sound of more cloth being ripped reached her. The button of her jeans hit the far wall when he yanked them open. He managed to turn himself in such a way that he was able to pull her jeans off while keeping her wrists pinned above her head.
Sitting back once more, Brian drank in the vision of her beneath him. Her sweater was torn open to reveal her black bra and heaving breasts, her nipples pert against the material and eager for more of his touch. He ran the back of his knuckles down her side toward the lacy black underwear that did little to shield her golden curls from him. That belly button ring…
Bending his head, he ran his tongue around it, pulling gently on it with his teeth before running his tongue over her skin once more. He’d believed it impossible, but the salty, sweet taste of her flesh caused his eager cock to thicken further.
He moved further down her body toward the lacy panties hanging low on her hips. His hand slid over her underwear to cup her mound; he growled when he found her already wet for him. She squirmed beneath him once more and ground herself against his palm.
The drive to take her clamored within him, but he found himself slowing his touch. He wanted her begging for him. Wanted her as desperate for him as he was for her. He pulled his hand away, smiling in satisfaction when she whimpered a protest that turned into a sigh of pleasure when he lowered himself over her to thrust against her once more. She jerked against the hand binding her wrists above her head, but he refused to relinquish his hold on her.
“Magnificent,” he murmured as he ran his free hand over her pale flesh toward her quivering breasts.
His mind spun as conflicting emotions battered against him. She was too good for him, but she was his. She deserved better than him, but if this continued, he would never be able to set her free to live the life she dreamed of. The idea of setting her free caused the madness, which had eased at the touch of her, to race to the forefront again. His grip on her wrists tightened as his mind and body screamed with the urge to possess her.
The smell of her blood on the air pierced through his insanity and passion infused haze. He lifted his head from her breasts to see a bead of blood forming where she’d bitten her bottom lip. She whimpered when his eyes latched onto it, and his own fangs slid free in eager response. Bending, his mouth hovered centimeters above hers as his tongue flickered out to take in that single bead.
He’d consumed blood from many vampires over the years, but none of them compared to the potent, powerful taste of her pure blood. Her fingers brushed against his hand as she watched him. He trailed his tongue over her lips one more time before leaning away from her.
“You deserve better than me,” he bit out, but he was unable to resist the lure of her puckered nipple as he ran his thumb over it. He found the clasp for her bra in the center of her chest and flicked it open. His breath failed him when her luscious breasts sprang free.
“You’re the only one I’ve wanted for years,” she murmured. “There is no one better, not for me. Since I first saw you, it’s only been you.”
He froze at her words, and his head lifted as he stared down at the temptress before him. “What do you mean?”
Abby hadn’t meant to reveal that to him, but she couldn’t stand the idea of him thinking she was too good for him, that he was somehow less than she was. He had to know there was no one else. “You’ve haunted me since the first day we met.”