Chapter 7

 

 

 

“I don’t think I heard you right.”

“You heard me.” He stalked toward me, a beautiful predator ready to attack. Instead of kicking into fight or flight mode, my insides warmed, twisted, and prepared for round two. Deceitful hormones.

“What are you, my bodyguard?” I couldn’t have infused more sarcasm into my voice.

“Actually, yes.”

Shit.

He paced the length of the living area. At least we weren’t in the bedroom, next to the bed. Although in here there was a couch and the kitchen counter right over there. Perfectly acceptable choices for a bout of steaming hot sex. Hell, all we needed was a wall, apparently.

I rushed to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, chugging it in an attempt to cool my flushed body. It didn’t work. Not with Parnell throwing me those—those looks. He probably wasn’t even aware he was doing it. Fuck me eyes. I swear I could tell he was imagining me naked. Not that it required much imagination since he’d seen the real thing not ten minutes ago.

After yoga class and that sexy dress and probably an entire bottle of champagne, then watching all those couples writhing and flirting on the dance floor at the party, Tilde had convinced me to check out of my hotel and move into this bungalow. And then Tilde, Jorge, and I had stumbled down the boardwalk with my things, and we’d passed a couple having sex in a cabana. Right there, out in the open. I recognized them from the party. The man was seated on a lounge chair with the woman in his lap, wiggling and bouncing and making sensual, animalistic sounds. They were so caught up in the moment, they hadn’t even noticed us hurrying by.

After all that, it was no wonder I’d attacked the damn vampire, despite how angry I was at Parnell or how desperately I was trying to get over him.

“Why?” I choked out the word, my hands pressed to the counter, keeping my back to Parnell still stalking back and forth in the living room.

“Hollis. We’re certain he’s in Chicago. We believe he’s making plans to exact revenge on Cam.”

“But I’m not there. Nor have I ever had anything to do with Hollis.”

“Cam isn’t willing to take chances with anyone close to him. You and Anya are both targets by association. And you, as a human, are the most fragile, therefore, the most in need of protection.”

“Again, I’m not in Chicago.” I turned to face him. “In fact, I’d think I’m plenty secure enough here, given the lack of safe places for vampires to hide during daylight hours.” What time was it? How long did Parnell have before he had to go seek shelter? What was he planning to do when the sun came up?

“Hollis is a sneaky bastard. He never attacks directly, never does what might be expected. Coming down here to kidnap or possibly eliminate you altogether is exactly what he might do, since it seems so unlikely.”

Lovely. “So what am I supposed to do, go back to Chicago?”

“Right now, that’s the most logical option. I’m not comfortable sending you to your parents, as he’s undoubtedly researched where you and Anya are from.”

Thank God that wasn’t an option. I planned to fight Parnell regardless, but my parents’ home was absolutely off the table. There was no farm girl left in my system.

“You do realize a few days ago you were hell-bent on getting me out of Chicago, right?”

“Yes, well, I wasn’t thinking in terms of protecting you from Hollis.” He hesitated and I stood there, arms crossed, waiting for him to continue. Raking his hand through his thick, dark hair, he shifted his gaze to the side and said, “I only wanted to put distance between us. So I wouldn’t be tempted.”

Of course. “And yet, here you are.”

“Yes,” he snapped, his gaze jerking to me and spitting fire. “And look what happened.”

My muscles clenched. My nerve endings were still tingling. “My apologies,” I bit off. “I’ll do my damnedest to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Of course, you could make it easier by getting the hell out of my life. For good this time.”

He grabbed fistfuls of hair and tugged, a rare show of agitation. Part of me reveled in the fact I could stir him up like this, while the other part wondered, Why does he keep resisting his obvious feelings for me?

“We can fight all you want when we’re in Chicago,” he said.

“No, we can’t, because you’ll lock me up in Cam’s house and then disappear.”

He didn’t deny it. In fact, the guilty look in his eyes confirmed that was exactly his plan. I opened my mouth to tell him to go to hell, when there was a tap, tap, tap on the door.

“Why is someone knocking on your door at nearly three o’clock in the morning?”

“I have no earthly idea. But I’m not really in the mood to explain why there’s a vampire in my bungalow, so make yourself scarce.”

He stalked to the door and glanced out the peephole. “It’s a human. A male.”

I scurried over and elbowed him out of the way so I could take a look. “Jorge,” I whispered.

“Hey, doll. You still awake?” he called out.

“Who is Jorge?”

If I were the spiteful type, I’d lie and tell him I’d found his replacement down here in the Caribbean. “He owns this resort. Which, by the way, has a rule: No overnight guests. So go hide while I see what he wants.”

Parnell stood there, rigid, but after a quick glance at the door, he strode into the bedroom, tugging the pocket doors closed behind him. I smoothed my tangled hair as I reached for the knob.

“Morning, Jorge,” I said, opening the door a crack and grasping the lapels of my robe, squeezing them together.

His gaze lifted over my head to scan what he could see of the interior. “Doll, you know my policy. No guests are allowed to spend the night, and if you do have guests of the opposite sex, it has to be approved through me first.”

When she accompanied me to my hotel to gather my things, Tilde had explained Jorge’s rules. “Most of us who end up here are on the heels of a bad breakup. We aren’t ready for another relationship yet. But that doesn’t mean we don’t want a little physical release.” She’d elbowed me at that point. “Especially after yoga class,” she said with an exaggerated wink. “Anyway, that’s why he says no overnight guests. Waking up with someone in your bed screws with a woman’s head when we’re at such a fragile stage of a breakup. That’s also why he wants to sign off on whomever we decide to take back to our bungalows. Wants to make sure we aren’t going to get our hearts broken all over again. Basically, you can screw anyone you meet at one of his parties, so long as you let Jorge know it’s gonna happen, and then you kick the guy out before dawn.”

She’d said it so matter-of-factly, my champagne-soaked brain had accepted her explanation without question. Besides, I had no intention of sleeping with anyone, so I wasn’t worried about Jorge’s quirky rules. I only wanted to hang out with Tilde, attend yoga classes, go to the parties, and stay in one of these cool bungalows with glass floors where you could see the fish swimming in the ocean under your feet.

My fingers and the handheld showerhead would suffice until I was ready to replace Parnell. And if that day ever came, I wouldn’t seek my replacement at a resort that was meant to stroke a woman’s ego and provide temporary pleasure, with a strict rule against anything that lasted more than a few hours of the night.

“No guest,” I lied. “I woke up because I was thirsty. Drank a ton of champagne last night.”

Jorge nodded, although his gaze still darted around over my head. “You definitely need to stay hydrated.” He finally focused on me, and his blue eyes turned to ice. “Thing is, I know you’re lying. A man entered through your bedroom door approximately forty minutes ago.”

He shoved the door open and I jumped away as he strode into the room, followed by four hulking men I hadn’t realized were standing out on the boardwalk.

“What are you doing? You can’t come in here.”

“I own the place, doll. I can do whatever I please.”

I chased him as he headed toward the pocket doors. Before he reached them, he swung around to face me and I smacked into his chest. He grabbed my forearms to steady me, then held on while staring me down.

“I thought Tilde made the rules clear. No guests without my express approval. Now, who is in your bedroom? Is it Tomas?”

“What? No.”

“Good, because he knows better. But he took a liking to you, more so than any other girl I’ve introduced him to, so I was worried he might have circumvented the system.”

“What are you talking about?”

Ignoring my question, Jorge flung the doors open and motioned for his entourage, who all entered the bedroom and began searching every possible hiding place. Jorge narrowed his eyes and studied me, and I worked to keep my expression bland so he wouldn’t see my relief that they couldn’t find Parnell.

“Someone entered this room tonight,” Jorge said, his grip tightening on my arms. I twisted back and forth and tried to step out of his grasp, but he only held me more firmly.

“Ow. You’re hurting me.”

“Am I? It will hurt a lot worse if your guest doesn’t come out of hiding.”

Gone was the amiable, laid back guy I’d mentally compared to a protective brother. In his place was a hard, uncompromising man hell-bent on getting his way. I let out a yelp when he flipped me around, grabbed my arm, and gave it a tug, pulling it up behind my back, far too high for comfort.

There was a roar, and then something flew in through the glass doors leading out onto the deck. Not something; Parnell. His eyes glowed, his skin was waxy and pale, and his fangs were elongated. I’d never seen him like this before; I shrank away, as much as I could given Jorge’s hold on my arm.

With speed far too fast for my eyes to keep up, he darted around the room, leaving groaning, broken humans in his wake until a scant second later, he stood before Jorge and I, glaring at my captor with those shining eyes. Jorge’s widened as he backed away, dragging me with him, using me as a shield.

“Vampire,” he whispered.

“Part of me doesn’t want to be cliché,” Parnell said. “But fuck it. I’m your worst nightmare, asshole.” With that lightning-fast speed, he reached past me, wrapped his hand around Jorge’s neck and squeezed. Jorge released his hold on me so he could scrabble at Parnell’s fingers.

I hurried out of reach, careful to avoid the piles of bleeding men scattered on the tiles.

“Get your things, Abigail. We’re leaving.”

Right. I rushed to the bathroom and threw my toiletries into my bag. No plans to argue this time. I’d lick my wounds and get angry at myself for making such a colossal mistake by coming here later, when we were away from this place.

I locked myself in the bathroom so I could change into the orange sundress Parnell had pulled out of the closet earlier, then I dumped the rest of my clothes into my rolling luggage.

“That black duffle bag as well,” Parnell said, and my gaze darted around until it landed on the bag he described. I shoved it into my own luggage and had to sit on it to get it closed.

Parnell glanced over his shoulder as if to ensure I was really prepared to leave, and then he lifted Jorge off his feet and flung him across the room. Jorge slammed into the wall next to the pocket doors and crumpled to the floor in a heap.

Snagging the handle of my bag from my hand, Parnell strode toward the door. I chased after him and stepped through first, when he held it open and nodded for me to do so. Tilde stood outside on the boardwalk, nervously wringing her hands. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed an O, and I got the impression she knew Parnell was a vampire, even though his eyes were no longer glowing and his fangs had receded.

“You’re leaving?” she asked, with a glance at the luggage in Parnell’s hand.

“Yes. And you should too. This place isn’t what it seems, Tilde.” Despite Parnell’s disapproving glare, I gave her a quick hug. “Jorge isn’t as nice as he comes across. He—he hurt me. Parnell saved me.” I indicated the vampire impatiently standing next to us. I grabbed her arm. “Come with us. We’ll stop at your bungalow and gather your things.”

She shook her head and stepped out of my grasp. “No, that’s okay. I’m fine. I’ve been here for a while and nothing’s happened.”

“But Jorge is—”

“Trust me, this place is far better than what I came from. I’ll be all right.”

I opened my mouth to argue against her staying, but she shook her head.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

With a swift glance at Parnell, I said, “Chicago.”

Damn it.