Adrian (The Dark Shadows Book 4) (5 page)

I
t had been
a while since Angel had gotten uninterrupted sleep. Most nights in her neighborhood were filled with the sounds of gunshots, cars backfiring, a scream or two, and it would keep her up most of the time when she was not working. That was why she didn’t mind working at Temptress at night. She stretched and snuggled down deeper into the warm, solid wall of muscle that rested below her. She paused.

Solid wall of muscle?

Her eyes flew open, and she stared down at a perfectly sculpted chest, and took in the small sprinkle of light brown hair that was spattered across it. Her hand slid down along the ridges of his abdomen, stopping just at the edge of the blanket. She peeked beneath the blanket, finding him to be very naked.

Aroused too
.

Her hand snapped the blanket down on his stomach which shook, as if he was holding back his laughter. She took another peek beneath the covers, her eyes widening at the size of his arousal beneath the blanket.

Laughter finally escaped him. She took a deep breath as the memories began to surface. Adrian joining her in her shower, pressing her up against the wall, taking her blood, and her taking his. Once out of the shower, their lovemaking continued for hours, each of them claiming the other.

Oh no.

There was no way that he could be happy, mating with a turned vampire. She was confused at his laughter. She glanced at him and found him staring at her with bright eyes, lined with tears from laughing so hard.

“Good evening,” Adrian said as she shifted off him. She went to move away, but he caught her. “Where are you going?” he asked, tucking her into his side.

“Um, good evening,” Angel replied hesitantly. Looking over at the window, she saw that the sun had indeed went down. “Did we do what I think we did?” she whispered.

He stared down at her for a moment, as if trying to get a read on her emotions. Panic filled her chest, and she was sure she was one second from losing it. She had completed the mating bond, with a
prince
.

A freaking vampire prince!

And not just any prince, but one of the Olaru heirs. The fucking vampire king’s son. Why wasn’t he acting pissed that he was mated to her?

“Stop,” he demanded, turning on his side to look at her.

Her small pullout couch was way too small for him. Adrian trying to lie comfortably in her bed would be comical, if she were in a laughing mood. With his height, she was sure that his long legs were hanging off the end.

“Stop what?” she asked, confused.

“You’re thinking too much,” he murmured, pushing her hair away from her face. “What is between us was destined by fate.”

“Fate? But what if fate got us wrong?” she asked. Sitting up, she pushed her hair out of her face. She knew little of mating bonds, but she was not sure if the bond could be broken. “I am beneath you.”

“No, you were beneath me this morning,” he joked, as he grabbed her and pulled her back to his chest.

She adored the feeling of his strong arms wrapped around her. Engulfed in his strong embrace, she felt protected, safe, as if she truly mattered in the world. She sniffed him, loving the scent of him. If it were ever decided to bottle his scent, she would be first in line to buy it in bulk.

“You know what I meant,” she huffed as he squeezed her gently.

She was trying to be serious, but she could tell he was trying to get her to laugh. He couldn’t seriously think that their mating was a good thing. She was not of noble status, and she was sure that his parents would want him to mate with someone at least near his social class.

“From the moment I first saw you, I was instantly attracted to you,” he murmured in her ear. His deep voice had her clamping her legs shut, as her core began to tingle. “I wanted you.”

“You couldn’t have.” She shook her head. Memories washed over her from that night, and it would forever be ingrained in her head. “You were too busy doing Mindy and Babs—”

“And wishing it was you,” he cut her off.

“What?” she exclaimed, looking at him over her shoulder. His ice blue eyes glanced down at her mouth, before making their way back to stare into hers.

“Before I saw you, Vivian made the offer for entertainment for the night, and I accepted it, not knowing I was going to meet you. But once I laid eyes on you, it was you that I wanted. They were substitutes, and bad ones at that,” he said with a grimace, before his eyes suddenly became serious. “From this day forward, you are it for me.”

She was rendered speechless as she stared into his eyes. Could he be serious? Could he really want someone like her?

A turned vampire?

A vampire not of noble birth?

“Today, we’ll move you into the mansion,” he continued, glancing around at her small apartment. “One call, and we’ll have you moved today.”

“What? I can’t just move into your family’s mansion!” Angel exclaimed. She sat up, wrapping the blanket around her naked self, as she stood up to pace the room. “This is all I have. It may not be much, but I finally have my own place. This apartment may be tiny, but every square inch of it is mine. Plus, we barely know each other.”

“Fine,” he sat up, looking around the apartment. “I’ll move in here with you. We’ll need to get a bigger bed, since this one is way too small for me.”

“What?” she screeched, halting her pacing to stare at him in disbelief.

Adrian couldn’t be serious—him, a prince, would be willing to move into her little hole in the wall? He stood from the bed and walked toward her, unashamed of his naked body.

He has no reason to be ashamed either
, she thought, as her eyes traveled down to where his cock stood at attention. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him, as they greedily devoured him.

Her gums burned and stretched as her incisors descended again. The moments from their lovemaking marathon surfaced in her mind. She could feel the moisture gather at her center as her eyes locked on his arousal, standing thick and proud away from his body.

“You don’t get it, do you?” he murmured, pulling her flush to him. “You are mine, and I am yours. We have mated. Our souls are joined together—forever. Where you go, I go.”

H
e didn’t know
who was more nervous right now, him or Angel. He had finally convinced her to move in with him and his family as a trial run. He had refused to pack up her tiny excuse of an apartment, and only agreed to bring a suitcase worth of belongings with her.

Angel was still not convinced that
she
could be his mate. Adrian knew that her teachings of the vampiric ways were spotted with holes, and he knew the best people to help would be his mother and sister.

“Are you sure that this will be okay?” Angel asked for the third time.

“I’m sure it’s okay,” he assured her. Adrian grabbed her hand, and placed a chaste kiss on her knuckles. “You are my mate, and they will accept you.”

“Are you sure? I’m not a pure vampire,” she asked, her eyebrows drawn together.

He held back from rolling his eyes. It was starting to get on his nerves that she thought herself to be unworthy of him because she was not born a vampire. He knew he was going to have to do everything in his power to change her way of thinking.

Vampire society could go fuck themselves. He had found the mate that was destined for him, and he would fight anyone who would dare try to take her from him.

“I’m sure. My family is not like that,” he said with a small smile. “Plus, my sister’s mate is a turned vampire.”

“Really?” Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“Yes,” he nodded, glancing over at her for a second, before turning his eyes back to the road. “Nadira turned him during a life or death situation.”

That seemed to settle her down just a little, as she sat back in her seat in the SUV. He left out the part where he and his brothers had tried to keep their sister from him, not believing that she had truly found her destined mate in a human.

He wasn’t worried about his family. Now that they all had started finding their mates, he knew that they would accept Angel with open arms. It was the vampire council that he was worried about.

When Angel was in the shower, this time alone, he called his brother Nicu to tell him that he was bringing home his mate.

“What,” Nicu barked, answering his phone.

“It’s me,” Adrian said as he buttoned up his jeans.

“Why didn’t you come home?” his brother growled. “It was not your night off. Phaelyn had to patrol with Gadiel last night because you didn’t fucking—”

“I’ve found my mate,” he said, cutting off his brother. Nicu was silent. He looked down at his phone and saw that the line had not been disconnected. “Hello?”

“I’m here,” Nicu responded quietly, his anger seeming to disperse. “It’s the tiny vampire, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” Adrian confirmed, smiling into the phone.

“Have you two completed the bond?”

“Yes, we did,” Adrian smiled, thinking of the whole day spent in bed with his small mate. “I’m bringing her home.”

“Congratulations, brother,” Nicu said sincerely. “See you when you get here.”

He looked back at his beautiful mate as she stared out at the scenery, and he couldn’t wait to get to know her better. He could tell that underneath her shyness and uncertainty, lived a feisty vampire that was begging to be let out. He was just the person to help her get over her shyness, and let out that fiery attitude that he had seen flare up a few times in her eyes.

He glanced in the rearview mirror, and noticed a dark sedan following them at a distance. He didn’t want to alarm Angel, so he slowly increased his speed and began skillfully dodging cars in traffic. They were still about twenty minutes away from the Olaru family mansion.

Now that he was newly mated, he would be damned if he let anything happen to Angel. They were meant to spend an eternity together, and he’d make sure that they did.

The traffic began to disperse, and the car sped up, apparently sensing that Adrian had spotted them. He hit the phone button on the steering wheel, directing his phone to call his brother Nicu.

“Yeah,” Nicu answered. He was a man of few words, except for when he was cursing someone out.

“We’ve got a problem,” Adrian answered, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.

“What’s wrong?” Angel asked, turning around in her seat to look behind them.

“What’s going on?” Nicu ordered, his voice instantly changing to that of the leader of the Shadows.

“We got a tail,” Adrian announced. He glanced back and watched as the headlights drew closer.

“I’ve got your location on the GPS. Khalid and Viktor are a few blocks away from you. I’m texting Viktor your location now, and will send them to you.” The line went dead, but Adrian was confident his brother would take care of them.

“Why are they chasing us?” Angel shouted over the roar of the engine, as he punched his foot on the gas.

Any other day, he would confront the enemy without thinking twice. But tonight, his mate was with him, and he wouldn’t be taking any chances with her around. Another dark sedan appeared out of nowhere, as Adrian glanced at the mirror again.

“I don’t know,” he yelled back. The second car was faster, and pulled alongside Angel’s side of the truck. “Can you see them?”

She peered out the window and screamed, “Gun!” She ducked down in her seat, just as the window shattered from the spray of bullets. He swung the truck to the left, cursing as he ran up on the sidewalk, hitting signs and parking meters. He tried to spin the truck back onto the street, but the truck slammed into something unseen.

Dazed, he pushed the air bag out the way. He reached to the side of his jeans and pulled out one of the daggers he kept clipped to his belt, and used it to pop the airbag. Everything had happened so fast, that he didn’t even remember the bag deploying.

“Angel,” he yelled out, frantic. “Are you all right?” He smelled the slight tinge of blood in the air.
Her blood
.

“I’m okay,” she gasped. “I hit my head, but I think I’m okay.”

“We’ve got to move.” He turned around to see the two cars parked not too far from them. He watched as two figures got out of both vehicles. “Now!” he commanded sharply. He opened his door, and stepped out.

“My door is jammed,” she screamed, trying to use her shoulder to open it.

“Come out my side.” Glancing back, he saw that the figures were approaching fast.

She quickly climbed over the console and into his arms. They would have to run for it if they were going to get away. Normally, he wouldn’t hesitate to face an enemy in hand-to-hand combat. He was an Olaru, and an Olaru never backed down from a battle. He was a powerful vampire who could handle himself, but Angel was not a skilled warrior such as he. Her safety was of the utmost importance right now.

“Where the fuck are Khalid and Viktor,” he muttered. He pushed her in front of him as he tried to put distance in between them and their pursuers. He cursed, noticing her limp, and knew that they wouldn’t be able to use their vampire speed to get away. His mate was hurt, and she was trying to hide it from him. They would have to speak of this later.

“You have nowhere to go, Shadow,” a voice yelled out, advancing on them fast. Two more figures appeared out of an alley in front of them. He pushed Angel behind him and turned in a circle, finding them surrounded.

Rogues.

He growled as his fangs descended; the need to protect his mate was strong. She whimpered, pressing her face into his back. He could sense her pain through their newly formed bond. These fuckers would pay for hurting her.

“What do you want?” Adrian growled, continuing to turn in circles slowly, holding Angel behind him with one arm. He didn’t trust any of them with his back, and he knew he was going to have to make a stand and fight them off.

“Give us Angelina,” one rogue said. “She belongs with us.”

“Not happening,” he snapped. Hell would freeze over before he would ever hand over his mate. She didn’t belong with rogue vampires. The only vampire she belonged with was him.

“There are six of us to your one,” another said. “Do you honestly think you stand a chance?”

“She’s mine. You’re going to have to go through me to get to her,” he declared, just as a large SUV came careening down the road.

Finally.

Shots could be heard as the SUV came to a screeching halt, with Khalid hanging out the window. The rogues scattered as Khalid jumped out of the truck with his modified rifle in hand.

Adrian took advantage of the distraction and ran as fast as he could with the injured Angel trailing behind him. Just as he went to turn to pick her up, she let out a scream as one of the rogues tried to yank her from Adrian.

A red haze clouded his vision, as a rage like no other fought to get out. They would not take his mate from him. Using his vampiric speed, he attacked. Whipping Angel from the rogue, and shoved her behind him as he swung his fist, hearing the crunch as he connected with the rogue’s face. He quickly brandished his dagger and stabbed the rogue in the heart with the silver tip.

Shouting filled the air as his two Shadow brothers descended upon the rogues, making light work of them. Within minutes, the bodies of the rogues lay on the ground. He turned to find Angel sitting on the ground, leaning against a building.

“Angel,” he panted, rushing back to her side. “Baby, are you okay?”

Even in the dark, he could see how pale she had grown. He immediately scooped her up and held her close. His heart pounded in his chest at how close he had come to losing her, again. Sirens could be heard in the distance as he walked toward Khalid and Viktor’s truck.

“We have a few minutes until the human police show,” Viktor noted, his deep voice coming from behind Adrian as he gently lowered Angel into the back seat of their truck. “We’ve already called backup.”

“You know what to do when the police show up,” Adrian responded, snapping her seat belt in place. Her head lulled back onto the headrest. “Angel,” he murmured. He brushed her dark hair away from her forehead, finding an oozing gash in her hairline.

“I’m here,” she said softly, her eyes fluttering open.

“I need you to stay awake, babe,” he whispered, kissing her on her head. He felt the wetness of her precious blood on his lips. If he could kill all the rogues again, he would do it in an instant.

“I’m awake,” she murmured.

“She needs medical attention.” He turned to Viktor.

“You two go ahead. Backup should be here any minute. I can hold the human cops off a bit. Cooper just texted me that he’s on the way too. He heard the call come into the station,” Khalid said.

Adrian nodded, knowing that Cooper would take care of everything once he got here. Cooper, Nadira’s mate, was a detective for the local police department. When Nadira turned him, he instantly displayed the strength of an alpha vampire, like Adrian and his brothers.

Usually, it took newborn vampires months to gain control over their bodies and the urges to feed. But not Cooper. He was up and ready to fight, when he thought that Nadira was in harm’s way.

Since he proved that he had extreme control of himself, it was decided that he would stay on the local police force to be an informant for the Dark Shadows.

“Here, I’ll drive,” Viktor offered, jumping into the driver’s seat. Adrian ran to the other side of the truck and climbed into the back.

“Hold on, baby. We’ll be home soon,” he murmured, gathering her as close as he could.