Blood Hunger (An Adult Paranormal Romance) (Deathless Night Series #1) (13 page)

     His last thought as he felt the rising sun pulling him into his own slumber, was that although he may not ever make her his in truth, he would always protect her, even if it was only from her own mind.

     Emma came slowly awake, but didn’t open her eyes right away. Instead, she lay there, enjoying the feeling of warmth and security wrapped around her, until gradually she became aware that it wasn’t just a blanket in the bed with her. 

     Bit by bit, the memories of the night before came back to her, and her eyes popped open to find the warmth she was enjoying was a large, muscular arm holding her tightly against a hard, male body.

     Nikulas.

     He lay behind her cocooning her in the blankets, breathing so slowly and softly she had to hold very still to hear him.

     He hadn’t left her. A small smile played around her lips at the thought, even as she warned herself not to read too much into it. He’d probably just taken advantage of being able to sleep in the more comfortable bed.

     With a sigh, her smile faded. She wondered what time it was? With the windows covered, it was impossible to tell, although she supposed it wasn’t yet sundown if he was still asleep.

     As tempting as it was to stay in bed, her bladder had other plans for her. Might as well get up and take a shower, and maybe grab something to eat. Catching a yawn behind her hand, she decided a good tooth brushing was in order also.

     Carefully, she started to squirm her way out from under Nik’s arm. She didn't know if he’d wake up or not, but she’d rather not take the chance.

     With a soft grunt of protest, he half-heartedly tried to pull her back to him. She stopped wiggling, waited a moment, and then tried again, this time making it off of the bed.

     Pulling on her old, blue robe, she grabbed some clean clothes and quietly let herself out of the room. Peeking out into the main compartment, she saw Aiden lying prone on one of the couches, hugging his laptop like a lover.

     Locking herself into the small bathroom, she took care of her most pressing need, then started the shower while she brushed her teeth. She bathed quickly and efficiently, not one to waste time luxuriating in the hot water. Getting out, she briskly dried herself and dressed in some comfy, black yoga pants and a green, long-sleeved knit top. She’d forgotten to grab her comb from home, and not seeing another laying around, made due by using her fingers to untangle her wavy hair. She was going to look like a wild woman when it dried, but she supposed there was no help for it.

     Exiting the small room, she laid her folded nightclothes by the door to the bedroom and tiptoed in her socks past Aiden to the fridge. She grabbed a Fuji and took a big bite of the sweet apple while she perused the rest of the contents. Blood, blood, or fruit. Hmmmm.

     Closing the fridge, she leaned back against the counter while she ate her apple. She was curious as to where they were, however, she didn’t think she could figure out how to work the locks to get out even if she wanted to.

     And remembering Nik’s warning from the night before, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea anyway.

     She finished her apple and tossed the core in the trash. Planting her hands on her hips, she looked around for something to occupy her time until the guys woke up. Didn’t Nik say something about books? Oh yeah, they’re back in the bedroom. She doubted she’d be able to concentrate on anything, but it was worth a shot.

     Sneaking past Aiden again, she scooped up her dirty clothes as she quietly opened the door and let herself back into the room, closing it again behind her.

     Nik was right where she’d left him, hugging an armful of blankets in lieu of a warm body.

     Spotting a few books in the nightstand, she squatted down to check out the titles. There seemed to be one of every genre by every current popular author. She grabbed a mystery she hadn’t read before, and sat down on the floor in the corner to peruse the first chapter.

***

     Two hours later, Nik suddenly sat straight up, leapt off the bed, and flung open the bedroom door. Hastening out into the sitting area, he passed by Aiden, who was just waking up himself. “Where is she?”

   
 
Aiden twisted around, causing a loud chorus of snap, crackle, pop to run up his spine. “Who?”

   
 
“Who? Emma! Who the fuck else would I be talking about?” Long strides eating up the length of the RV, he checked all the seats and then the door to see that it was still locked.

     “How should I know? She’s
your
witch. You should be watching her.” Rubbing his hands over his face, he shuffled into the bathroom to wash up. Winking at Emma as she appeared in the bedroom doorway, book in hand.

     “I’m
not
a witch,” she insisted to his back.

     Nik’s head whipped towards the direction of her voice. “Where the fuck were you?”

   
 
“I was right next to you, if you’d bothered to look around before charging out here bellowing at poor Aiden.” She waved the book she’d been reading at him.

     Now that she’d been found, he felt like a complete and utter idiot for going off all half-cocked like he had. And she was right. If he’d paused a second, he would have sensed her there. He’d had her blood. And just from that small amount, he would be able to find her anywhere within a mile radius. What the hell was the matter with him?

     However, as far as he knew, she didn’t know that yet, so he tried to defend his actions. “No. You weren’t. I think I would have noticed.” Running his eyes over her form-fitting clothes with approval, he added distractedly, “And I was not bellowing.”

   
 
“Yes, you were!” Aiden called from the bathroom.

     Scowling, Nik shot a dirty look at the closed bathroom door. He kept his face blank as he gave her another once over, before he abruptly turned away without another word and walked over to the fridge. He needed to feed before he trusted himself to be anywhere in the near vicinity of her, without hauling her back into that bed and forcing himself on her. Ripping the fridge door open, he grabbed the first bag he found and threw it in the microwave, then stood there watching the countdown impatiently.

     Sitting down cross-legged on the empty couch across from Aiden’s with her book, Emma watched him banging around the kitchen area. “Looks like somebody woke up on the wrong side of the coffin.”

   
 
He ignored her as he reached into the microwave and grabbed his breakfast, shaking it up to even out the heat. Snagging the tip of the bag with his teeth, he ripped it off and spit it into the trash, then upended the bag into his mouth, chugging it down like water.

     Emma wrinkled her nose as she watched him.

     Finishing that bag, he grabbed another and warmed it up, chugging that one down too, before grabbing a water and turning to face her. “Did you eat?”

   
 
“I had an apple. You drink water?”

   
 
Ignoring her question, he frowned at her. “You need to eat more than that.” Opening the cabinet, he rifled through the contents. “Can I make you something? There’s oatmeal, soup - would you like some tea?” When he got no response, he stuck his head out to find her watching him with an unreadable expression on her face. “What?”

   
 
“Why do you care whether I eat or not?” she asked.

     Why
did
he care? He was acting like a goddamn mother hen for Christ’s sake, but he just couldn’t seem to help himself.  “Uh. It’s just that we’re going to be getting on the plane, and the flight’s going to be pretty long.”

   
 
“I can’t eat on the plane? Don’t they usually have a little kitchen?”

   
 
Closing the cabinet, he mumbled, “Yeah, probably.”

   
 
Emma was silent a moment, and he was afraid to look at her for fear of what he’d see. She was probably laughing at him. But then she said, “Actually, if you wouldn’t mind grabbing a pack of that oatmeal…that sounds really good.”

   
 
He grinned widely at her before he caught himself, and casually turned back to the contents in the cabinet. “Sure. No problem. Long as I’m right here anyway.” Grabbing a bowl, he read the instructions on the box, and then dumped in the oatmeal and the required amount of water. Throwing it in the microwave, he checked the back of the box again, and then set the time.

     Emma was watching him curiously. He could only imagine what she was thinking. One minute he was kissing her like his life depended on it, and the next he was brushing it off as an overreaction to the bloodlust. Then, he gets her here and sends her right off to bed, only to come running when she wakes from a nightmare. He tells her it’s not a good idea to stay with her afterwards, then ends up sleeping next to her all day. He wakes up in a horrible mood, grumbling at everyone, and ten minutes later couldn’t be happier just to fix her some oatmeal.

     He was starting to think they had it all wrong about females being the crazy ones.

     Aiden sauntered out of the bathroom in cargo pants and his ever-present hoodie right as the beep went off announcing her food was ready. Throwing yesterday’s clothes on his bed, he wandered up to watch Nik stirring her oatmeal. “I don’t know how anyone can eat that mush.” Wrinkling his nose, he eyeballed his friend. “You know, you’re going to make someone a fine wife someday, mate.”

   
 
Nik looked at him sideways, but refused to rise to the bait.

     Aiden smirked to himself and walked over to his cell phone. “I’ll give Bill a holler and see if things are ready.”

   
 
“Who’s Bill?” Emma asked as Nik brought her oatmeal to her. She smiled at him in thanks, but he refused to look at her, just set down her bowl and walked away. He heard her sigh, then pick up her spoon and take a bite.

     “Bill is a friend of ours,” Aiden told her as he plopped down in his office chair. “A human friend. He’s going to be our pilot.”

   
 
“And you trust him? I mean, I would imagine it must be frightening to have your lives in the hands of a human.”

   
 
“Yes, yes, terrifying…Bill! Aiden. How are we doing out there? Mm hmm. Good! One hour. We’re in the hanger. See you then.” Turning his chair around to face them, he informed Nik, “We’ll be ready in one hour. He’s just fueling up. I think I’m going to go find a meal for myself. I’m feeling a bit peckish.”

   
 
Grinning nefariously at Emma, who had stopped eating with the spoon midway to her mouth; he pulled on his boots and entered the code to unlock the RV. With a casual wave, he shut the door behind him with a bang.

     Carefully setting her spoon back into the bowl, she asked, “When he says he’s going to find dinner, he means…a human dinner?”

   
 
“He’s a vampire, Em.” Nik re-locked the door and came over to sit across from her. “Don’t look at me like that. He won’t hurt anyone. Aiden’s prey of choice is usually a pretty little female who is more than happy to give him what he wants.”

   
 
She looked slightly relieved, but not completely convinced. “But don’t you all worry that someone will say something and your secret will be out?”

   
 
“Won’t happen. He erases their memory before he leaves them.” He didn’t mention that he only erased the feeding part, not the sex that inevitably came with it. Aiden liked to be remembered as the sex god he thought he was, at least until the female got too clingy.

     Feeding and sex went hand in hand for vampires; it was hard to do one and not the other, as Nik’s little performance last night proved.

     Thinking of the out of control lust that had overcome him in her kitchen, and the revelation afterwards, had Nik rubbing his palms restlessly up and down his thighs.

     “You can do that? Erase memories?” At his nod, she asked him weakly, “Are you going to erase mine when you’re done with me?’

   
 
His eyes traveled over her. She had no makeup on, but her hazel-green eyes shone brightly from under dark lashes, and her strawberry hair was curling chaotically around her face. As he watched, a faint blush bloomed on her cheeks at his close perusal of her, and she lowered her gaze, hiding her eyes from him. She was absolutely lovely.

     He didn’t mean to say it, he really didn’t. But it came out anyway. “I don’t think I’ll ever be done with you Emma.”

   
 
At his softly spoken words, her gaze flew back up and crashed with his across the small space of the vehicle. They stayed like that, the look between them saying more than words ever could, until Emma finally broke the connection by clearing her throat and looking away.

     Getting up, she took her bowl to the sink and washed it, putting it back up into the cabinet.  “Should I pack up some of this stuff to bring with us…? Nik?”