Blood Hunger (An Adult Paranormal Romance) (Deathless Night Series #1) (17 page)

   
 
Nik launched himself out of his seat to pace up and down the aisle, tugging at his hair with both hands in frustration.
Dammit Em, just let it go.
Why did his fated mate have to be so tenacious?

     “That’s not it. I haven’t…I wouldn’t do that.”

   
 
“Then what, exactly, is it?” she asked sarcastically.

     He started pacing faster, not even bothering to put forth the ‘human’ facade. He just appeared from one end of the plane to the other, with a blur of color in between.

     He clenched his teeth together so hard his jaw hurt. “Shouldn’t you be afraid of me, Emma? I’m a vampire, for Christ’s sake! You’ve been attacked before! Why the
fuck
are you not afraid of me?”

   
 
“Just answer the damn question, Nik!” she snapped.

     He came to an abrupt halt directly in front of her, and just shook his head. The misery in her eyes ripped him apart. But, how could he explain something to her that he barely understood himself? How could he tell her why he was fighting it?

     Apparently, she’d gotten her answer. “Ok then. So, we’ll work together to try to find our family. Other than that, please leave me alone.” Taking off her seatbelt, she lifted her chin and rose out of her seat, heading to the restroom at the front of the plane.

     His anguished voice tore from his chest against his will, stopping her dead in her tracks. “I can’t.”

   
 
She froze outside the bathroom door. “What did you say?”

   
 
He speared her with his tortured gaze from where she’d left him in the aisle. “I can’t leave you alone. I
want
to, I do. I’m trying, but I fear I
can’t
.”

   
 
“Why not?” she asked softly.

     “Because you’re MINE,” he grated through his teeth.

     Her forehead scrunched up in confusion. “What…?”

   
 
Planting his hands low on his lean hips, his head fell forward in defeat. Fuck it. He may as well tell her. She’d find out eventually anyway, one way or the other. “You’re
mine
. I can’t leave you alone, but I can’t have you either. And it’s…it’s tearing me up inside.”

   
 
Agony flowed from him like a living, breathing thing, filling the cabin. It was so palpable, he heard Emma lose her breath when it first hit her.

     Cautiously, she walked towards him until she was close enough to touch him. “Nikulas, what are you talking about?”

   
 
Inhaling a ragged breath, he lifted his head. His tortured eyes locked onto her face. “You’re
mine,
Emma. My mate. Given to me by fate, fucking bitch that she is. I knew the moment I tasted your blood.” He gave a derisive laugh. “I always passed it off as just a fable, you know? A story passed down through the years from the elders. But it’s not. It’s real. It’s taken me over 600 years, but I’ve finally found you. And I can’t
fucking
have you.”

   
 
Emma was obviously struggling to understand. “Why can’t you have me?”

   
 
He didn’t answer at first, just ran his eyes desperately, hungrily, over her face, stopping at the pulse beating in her throat.

     “Because I’ll kill you.”

    
Christian walked through downtown Seattle. Man, he loved this city. He loved the gloomy weather. Loved the hustle and bustle of downtown and Pike Market. Loved the different neighborhoods, each so distinctive in their own way. Loved the ferries, the islands, the mountains. He even loved the homeless population. No one really noticed when they came up missing.

     Disposable humans. Always a good feature of the place Dante called home. And being that he was an important part of their group, it kept them all out of trouble, and allowed them to stay here.

     Christian didn’t understand the way the old ones behaved sometimes. The way they didn’t care. Maybe it was because they’d been
inhuman
for so long, they’d forgotten what it was like to be human.  Maybe, in a few hundred years, he’d become just like them. Not caring if his meal lived or died. Not caring if somebody’s mom or dad or brother or sister didn’t come home. Not caring if families got ripped apart and destroyed.

     But today was not that day. Today, he would carry on as usual. Fucking, feeding, and sending them home. Safe and sound.

     Hitting 6th Ave, he headed towards Belltown, threading his way through the crowd of people outside Nordstrom’s. There was a cute little dancer he’d been eyeing up at a strip club there. He glanced down at his watch. He should arrive just in time to talk her into taking the night off, and spending it with him. Or at least an hour or two of it.

     Then he’d be off to find another female. And another. And another. Until the rising sun chased him back to the sanctuary of his apartment, right next door to Shea’s.

     He never brought a female home with him, preferring to keep things as anonymous as possible, erasing their memories when necessary. And it was always necessary. If he brought them home, he’d see the faces of the women he used everywhere he looked. He could barely live with himself as it was. He needed a place that held no memories of what a complete and total asshole he was.

     Shaking it off, he cut through an alley behind the theatre. He could be disgusted with himself later. Right now he wanted…no, needed…to get to the strip club, and the bleached blonde who would be arriving there on the bus in about five minutes.

     Christian came to the end of the alley. Pulling his cell phone out of his front pocket, he looked down to check the time, but a noise behind him had him glancing over his shoulder. Suddenly, his cell phone fell from his hand and smashed apart on the pavement.

     He never came out of the alley. 

***

     Ushering Emma off of the plane, Aiden steadfastly refused to answer any of her questions, insisting that she needed to discuss this stuff with Nik. There was just one problem with that. Nik wasn’t speaking to her.

     Immediately after his revelation on the plane, the pilot had come over the speakers to let them know that they were about to land in Seattle, and the shot of reality seemed to wash over Nik like a deluge of ice water. He’d ordered her to sit down and put on her seatbelt, assisting her when she’d just stood there, staring at him dumbfounded. Then he’d taken his own seat and refused to talk to her or even look her way while they touched down.

     As soon as the plane had stopped, he’d made a run for it. He had his bag and was at the hatch and off the plane before she’d even gotten a chance to unbuckle herself.

     With no explanation for, or reaction to, his friend’s cowardly behavior, Aiden had come and helped her with her stuff again, escorting her off the plane and into the private car that was waiting to take them to their home.

     Never having been to Seattle, or any big city for that matter, Emma let Aiden distract her as he played tour guide from where they sat in the backseat. It was a beautiful city, even in the early morning hours and with the drizzling rain, and she was constantly craning her neck around to look out all of the windows, not wanting to miss anything.

     Nik sat up front with the driver, not offering any input, not even when Aiden made up obviously outlandish tales about some of the history. He didn’t seem to be listening to them.

     As they’d landed way before rush hour, it didn’t take them long at all to arrive downtown. Emma stared, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, at all of the towering high-rises. She was sure she looked liked an ignorant country girl, which, she supposed, she was. But she didn’t care.

     The glass buildings sparkled in the rain, some so high she couldn’t see the tops from the car. It wasn’t dreary like you would expect, not like back home. It was shiny and glittery.

     She wondered if she’d get to see the top of the Space Needle while she was here.

     She sighed heavily. Probably not.

     In no time at all, they were driving into an underground parking garage below one of the more modern looking high-rises. Pulling into a designated parking space, their driver shut off the car and got out to open the door for Emma.

     “This is where you live?” she asked Aiden, as he was still the only one speaking to her.

     “Mm hmm. You look surprised.”

   
 
“I was just expecting something more like The Adams Family…or something.”

   
 
He laughed. “I am so sorry to disappoint you, luv, but you’ll soon see that this building is the perfect Vampire lair. We had it constructed to our exact specifications. The area vamps live in the top half of the building. Well, except for Dante. Humans occupy the lower floors. It helps us to keep our anonymity, and the humans are not aware of the special “amenities” the building contains. No coffins, however, or bats, or gargoyles. Those are so 18th century. But,” Grabbing their stuff from the trunk, he followed Nik to the elevator. “We
do
have secret underground tunnels! Come along, Em!”

   
 
Thanking the driver, she hurried after them, catching up to the guys right as the doors opened. Following them in, she stood awkwardly between the two vampires as Aiden hit the button that would take them to the 19th floor. As the doors closed, the tension in the cramped space became increasingly uncomfortable, and Emma counted the floors as they rose, wishing the stupid elevator would hurry up.

     Nik stood behind her and slightly to her left, so stiff and still he looked like he would shatter into a million pieces if a feather landed on him. The only one who didn’t seem affected was Aiden, who had moved just behind her and now slouched in the corner, whistling merrily.

     The elevator whooshed them up smoothly to their floor, and within seconds she was walking out into a small, yet opulent foyer. Limestone floors complemented the clean lines of the walls, which rose up to high ceilings with recessed lighting. The white walls were covered in modern paintings, or were they prints?

     She walked closer. Nope, those weren’t prints. She was no expert, but by the looks of the rest of the decor, she imagined those paintings cost a pretty penny.

     They continued down the short hall until it opened up to the main living area. Emma’s mouth dropped open again. Straight ahead, the entire wall was constructed completely of glass, giving her an unobstructed view of the Puget Sound. She desperately hoped they didn’t cover the windows when the sun came up, although she didn’t see how they couldn’t if they wanted to avoid the sun’s rays. It was too bad; she bet she could see Mt. Olympus on a clear day.

     To her left, there was a galley style kitchen, open to the main room on one side with bar seating for six. The appliances were all stainless steel. The modern-looking cabinets were walnut. Across from the kitchen, in the corner, was what looked to be an office area, enclosed by more glass, so as not to interrupt the view. A sitting area took up the right side of the apartment, made up of a couch, some end tables, and a couple of comfy looking chairs all facing towards a marble fireplace. Thick area rugs were scattered about, giving the space a cozy feel. Nearer to her were a couple of doors to her right, one leading to a guest bath and the other was probably the coat closet. Hallways led off to either side of the space, and she guessed that must be where the bedrooms were.

     She strolled over to the windows and looked out at the still darkened sky while the guys put their stuff down and locked up for the day. She wondered if her sister was out there somewhere, looking at the same sky.

     A wave of melancholy washed over her. She missed Keira so much. She didn’t care what she was, or rather, what
they
were. She didn’t care if she’d lied to her. She just wanted her back.

     After a short, muffled discussion with Nik, Aiden called out, “Em! Follow me, poppet. I’ll show you to a room where you can sleep.”

   
 
Turning away from the view with regret, she said goodnight to Nik, getting nothing but a terse nod from him in response. She barely resisted the childish urge to stick her tongue out at him. Someone had to be the adult in this relationship, after all.

     Ambling along behind Aiden down the hall past the kitchen, she asked, “You guys live here together? Just the two of you?”

   
 
Aiden must have deemed this was a safe question to answer. “Of course not, luv. We have our harem of females that we keep here to feed our lusts.” With a lascivious grin, he quirked an eyebrow, “Both kinds.”

   
 
Rolling her eyes, and muttering- “I don’t know why I even try speaking to you like a normal person.” -she turned her attention to the bedroom he’d brought her to.

     Dominating the space was a king-sized bed, which, she was thrilled to see, faced the continuous wall of glass. The “headboard” of the bed was actually a half wall, which acted as a divider between the bed and a small sitting area directly behind it. A plush couch with bright pillows faced the wall mounted T.V., with a coffee table in between. Bookshelves lined the walls on either side of the screen, and another fireplace was underneath it.  The entire room was all walnut and blues, fresh and clean. She loved it.

     “I’m jesting Emma… Well, mostly. I have offered the suggestion to Nik many times, but he insists we don’t have the room.”

   
 
He watched as she wandered around, touching this and that and peeking into the bath and the walk-in closet. “Those would be Nikulas’s clothes you see in there,” he answered her questioning look. “This is his room. He insisted you sleep in here and not be banned to the couch like a common house guest.”

   
 
“But where is he going to sleep? The sun will be coming up soon.” The worry in her voice was unmistakable.

     “Don’t fret. Every window in this building was specially made. There’s a layer of gas between the thick panes. When the sun comes up, it activates the gas, which will then, in turn, block the rays enough to where they won’t hurt us, but allows us to enjoy the light. We also have these handy things.” Hitting a button by the light switch, narrow panels along the walls slid open, revealing dark curtains that slid across the entire wall, blocking out any light. “Just in case of an emergency.”

   
 
“I can’t take his room. Really, I’ll be fine out on the couch.”

   
 
“Not up to me, luv. I just follow orders.” Opening the curtains again, Aiden paused on his way out the door, “Nikulas will come around, Em. He’s just a little upside down right now.” With that cryptic remark, he tipped his imaginary hat to her and said goodnight, closing the door quietly behind him.

    
Well, what should I do now?
As comfy as that bed looked, she didn’t know that she’d get any sleep in it, knowing who slept there every night. The tip of her tongue wet her bottom lip as she wondered if he slept all natural. Or maybe he wore those loose, cotton pajama pants? And nothing else? That would be hot.

    
Stop it, Emma.
Grabbing her small suitcase, she tossed it up on the bed and dug out a clean t-shirt to sleep in. Maybe a cold shower would cool down her libido.

***

     Nik stood in the kitchen alone, sucking down a blood bag, watching the lights dance across the water. Aiden had gone to his room to pack and rest before they headed out this coming night. He listened to Emma rustling around in his room and wondered what she was doing. He liked the thought of her in there. A lot. He wanted to go talk to her, but what the hell was he was going to say?
Sorry about all that ‘I’d kill you’ shit. I was just messing around. Ha ha.

    
He seemed to be having a major issue with TMI whenever he was anywhere in the near vicinity of that female. What the fuck had he been thinking, telling her about that fated mate shit? She probably thought he was some psycho stalker now. That is, if she hadn’t already.

     Although he felt like they’d always known each other, the truth of the matter was it had only been a day. One day. Barely a full 24 hours. It was crazy even to him; he could only imagine what Emma thought about it. She didn’t even have the weird vamp shit to help.