Colby.
Her name came out of nowhere, soft and beautiful, wrapping her up in safe arms. Tears burned in her eyes at the caress of Rafael’s voice in her mind. She ached for him. Missed him so much. Just hearing his voice made her feel complete.
I’m okay. You still sound tired. Are you supposed to be waking yet?
Rafael sounded far away and it was an obvious effort to reach her. It made Colby feel treasured that he would try. She knew his wounds weren’t fully healed and that his hunger raged in him, but he reached for her anyway. She
hated
the melting sensation, when she was so angry with him for causing her problems. She didn’t want to need to hear his voice or
feel his touch. And she didn’t want to think of the violence he was capable of.
I cannot come to you for another hour. Show me what you have done. I feel the pain in you. It is severe enough that you woke me from my slumber.
She took a deep breath and made herself look at the horrendous gash in her thigh, lifting her hand and the towel of ice away from her skin. She heard his gasp of alarm and immediately covered the wound.
Paul is taking me to the doctor in town. No big deal. A couple of stitches.
I will come to you as soon as I am able.
She lay back because it took too much energy to do anything else, turning her head to observe the horse. He was trembling, pawing the powdery earth, still fighting the saddle, his body dark with sweat. As soon as the truck pulled up next to her and Paul jumped out, Colby indicated the animal. “Look at him, Paul, something’s wrong with him. He just isn’t acting normal.”
“He’s a killer,” Paul snapped, glaring at the horse, totally out of character for Paul with animals. “Someone ought to put him down.”
“He’s drugged, Paul. Look at him again, he doesn’t know what’s going on.”
“Who cares, Colby? Forget the damn horse, let’s get you to the doctor.”
“Not yet. Go call Dr. Wesley, tell him we’re leaving and to bring some help with him, he’ll need it. I want the horse taken care of.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m supposed to call the vet while you lie there bleeding all over the place?” Paul protested, concern in his eyes.
“Paul.” There was infinite weariness in Colby’s voice.
Reluctantly Paul obeyed, relating the details hurriedly to the astonished veterinarian. It seemed an eternity before Paul was able to half-lift Colby into the truck. Shaking and rattling, the old pickup truck sped toward town.
Colby yelped more than once while the doctor cleaned, stitched, and bandaged the gash in her thigh. She endured lectures from her doctor and a nurse wielding a syringe and felt she could recite the dangers of tetanus by the time they were
finished. The cut was deep and the wound had swollen considerably; she would be uncomfortable, but she’d had worse injuries.
With Paul’s support she limped back to the truck, ruefully looking down at her dirty, bloodstained, and torn jeans. She knew her face was streaked with dirt, her hair falling in a jumbled mess down her back. She glanced at her brother. “Have you ever noticed how wonderful I always manage to look?” she asked him with a poor attempt at a smile. She nodded toward the sleek Porsche parked down the street.
Paul followed her gaze, recognized the woman disappearing into a small, pricey boutique. He looked from the perfection of Louise to his sister, staring for a moment. Beneath the dirt and blood, there was something extraordinary, something he had never really seen before. “You’re so much prettier than her, Colby, there’s no comparison. Really, there’s not.”
Colby found herself smiling in spite of the ragged way she was feeling. “You’re some brother, you know that? I’m going to lie here and rest while you go get my prescriptions for me and I’ll contemplate how perfectly wonderful you are.”
“I’ll move us a little closer,” he said, reaching for the keys.
“You’re not moving me anywhere near that shop—the pharmacy is next door to her perfect little Porsche. You could use the exercise.”
“The ultimate sacrifice,” Paul groaned. “Cowboys aren’t supposed to walk anywhere.” He pocketed the little slips of paper and helped ease her into a more comfortable position. “You’re looking a little green around the gills under all that dirt, Colby. Are you sure you’re all right and I can leave you?”
“I’m fine, Paulo,” she reassured him. “Just leave the door open so I don’t panic and try to climb out the window.”
“I’ll be right back.” Hastily he started down the street.
She watched him go, weariness washing over her. The worst part was that endless work was still waiting for her. With Juan and Julio helping, they were finally beginning to catch up with the work. An injury like this one would interfere with the ability to do the necessary riding and training of horses as well as the day-to-day upkeep on the ranch.
What had been wrong with the bay? Could he have been drugged the way King had been? Ernie was dead. He couldn’t
have done it. She didn’t want to think that Paul might have done it. She tried to remember exactly how the horse had looked before she had climbed into the saddle. It was inexcusable. She hadn’t noticed the animal’s distress; she’d been too upset over Rafael. It always came back to that. Rafael and his hold on her.
“Hello again.” A soft voice pulled her out of her reverie.
Colby looked up to see the woman with startling green eyes who had offered to help her when Rafael had been so possessive. She flashed a quick smile. “I always seem to be in trouble, don’t I? I’m Colby Jansen.”
“Natalya Shonski.” The woman smiled, her face lighting up. She indicated Colby’s leg. “Looks painful.”
“Trust me, it is. I wanted to thank you for what you did the other night. Most people would have just walked on by.”
“You were afraid of him,” Natalya said. “I could feel it.”
Colby pushed her hair from her eyes and gave the woman a wan smile. “I’m still afraid of him.”
Natalya leaned in the door to examine Colby’s neck. “He’s one of the hunters, isn’t he? Do you have any idea how dangerous they are?”
Colby’s palm instantly pressed against the bite mark, holding Rafael to her. “How do you know about them?”
Natalya hesitated, choosing her words carefully. “I had the bad luck to run across their counterparts on more than one occasion.” Natalya watched her closely to see if Colby understood.
“I just had my first encounter a few nights ago.” Colby shuddered. “It’s nice to know I’m not losing my mind. I thought maybe I was making the whole thing up.” Relief flooded her, an eagerness to talk to this woman who knew what she was going through, who didn’t think she needed to be locked up. “How did you find out about them? Half the time I still don’t believe the whole thing.”
“What does the hunter want with you?”
Colby’s fingers pressed deeper against Rafael’s mark on her. It was always there, as fresh as the day he made it, never fading and always throbbing as if calling to her. What did he want from her? Sex? If only it was just great sex. She could handle that.
She remembered the sound of his laughter moving through her mind. Low. Sensual. A temptation. Her lashes swept down. He ruled her sexually; it was true. She couldn’t overcome her need for him. “I’m not completely sure.” She tried to be truthful. To her utter surprise Colby found herself blinking back tears. “I’m a mess, Natalya. He’s bound me to him somehow and I can’t stand being apart from him. I hate feeling this way.”
Natalya glanced around and kept her voice low. “I wish I could help you, Colby. Here’s my cell phone number. I’m leaving soon. If you want to come with me, give me a call. I can’t stay in one place too long.”
“I have a brother and a sister to protect.”
“If there’s a hunter in the area, there’s a vampire close by. You can’t protect them from a vampire.”
“How did you know Rafael was a hunter?”
Natalya lowered her voice even further. “I have a birthmark on me, low, right over my ovary on my left side. It looks like a dragon breathing fire, and when a vampire is close, or a hunter, or even one of the human puppets, it burns.”
Colby inhaled sharply and touched her left side. “Where did it come from?”
Natalya shrugged. “I was born with it. It’s saved my life on many occasions.”
Colby rubbed her thigh, just below the laceration, in hopes of easing the pain. “There’s a vampire in the area and Rafael says he’s different than others, more powerful.”
Natalya frowned. “Can they kill him?”
“I don’t know. Rafael was injured and the vampire got away. I think Rafael hurt it, though.”
Natalya sighed. “I kind of liked it here. I didn’t really want to leave yet. I haven’t learned to kill a vampire yet. They keep coming back. Watching Dracula movies all the time isn’t all that helpful.”
“Rafael and his brother, Nicolas, are originally from the Carpathian Mountains. You might find help there,” Colby suggested. “Nicolas told me they have to be incinerated. It was pretty gross. He said they rip the heart from the chest and incinerate that as well.”
Natalya straightened up slowly. “I wish I hadn’t asked.”
She looked at Colby. “Are you sure you’re all right? Can you handle this? It’s been hard for me and I don’t want you to feel as alone as I’ve been.”
“I honestly don’t know. He talks about conversion.”
Natalya scowled. “Bringing you over? Can they do that? I know the vampires usually kill. They often keep women around for a while, enjoying their fear, but they always kill them. I’ve tried a couple of times to rescue them, but they’re insane. They want to bite me and they try to drink blood and I’ve even seen them try to eat human flesh. I don’t know, Colby, it sounds dangerous.”
“It feels dangerous. I’m having trouble with the sunlight, and without the Chevez brothers—they came from Brazil with Rafael—I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the ranch work. I have to sleep during the day now.”
“Do you want to get away from him?” Natalya asked.
Colby sighed, feeling close to tears. “I don’t think I can. I don’t honestly know what I want. I’m very afraid, but I’m so obsessed with him. If I’m away from him, he’s in my mind until I think I’m going insane.” She looked at Natalya. “I don’t have a craving for any kind of food, let alone human flesh.”
“He isn’t a vampire,” Natalya assured her, “but these hunters are dangerous. He isn’t human, Colby, and no matter how much he relates to you as a human, he is still different, with an entirely different set of rules.”
“I’m afraid,” Colby admitted in a low voice, astonished at just how afraid she really was. Rafael had deliberately seduced her. He had brought her partway into a world she knew nothing about, and he’d taken her partway out of the world she was familiar with. It was terrifying and yet she couldn’t imagine her life without him. And that in itself was what was so frightening.
“You can come with me, all of you,” Natalya offered. “It isn’t much fun running alone. And we might all be safer together.”
And I would find you. There is nowhere to go that I cannot find you.
There was a bite to Rafael’s voice, a warning.
Colby felt a shiver run down her spine. “He can hear me.”
Natalya pulled away instantly, looking warily around. “I have to go. I don’t dare stay here. Good luck.” She backed away from the truck.
Colby fought down the urge to grab her hand and keep her there. “Be careful, Natalya,” she called, shoving the small piece of paper with Natalya’s cell phone number on it into her pocket. She wanted to run away too. There was fear in Natalya’s eyes and an absolute resolve to get away. Whatever the vampires wanted from her, she wasn’t going to give them. Colby just wished everything would magically return to normal. She closed her eyes again and counted to ten, knowing Paul had run into one of his friends and was talking instead of rushing the pain medication back to her. So much for his concern.
“Don’t tell me Annie Oakley fell off of her horse!” Tony Harris leaned into the truck, his handsome features mocking.
“You’re just what I needed to make my day complete, Tony,” Colby told him tiredly.
“What happened?” He moved closer to stand in the open doorway, his weight across her body as he bent to examine the thick, rather bloody bandage. He was pinning her against the seat, his arm pressed tightly and very deliberately into her waist. He whistled, glancing up at her, his dark gloating eyes revealing his enjoyment of her predicament. “Maybe I should take a look at this; it seems to be bleeding.” His hand was on her thigh, fingers pressing into swollen flesh.
“If I scream, Tony, half this town will come running.”
“No one can see with me blocking the view,” he said. “Scream away, I’ll just say your leg hurt and I was trying to help.”
“As if they’d believe your word against mine. Go to hell, Tony. And get your hands off me.” Colby swung at him, but her movements were hampered by the lack of space.
He dodged the blow and laughed at her. “You leave your rifle at home, Colby? What’s wrong, where’s all that cold haughty disdain you love to dish out?” His hand was back at the bandage, hovering there while he watched her closely, enjoying her helplessness.
“Shut up, Tony, and get out of here.”
His fingers inched closer to the wound on her leg, pressing that little bit harder.
“This isn’t funny, Tony.” Colby tried to not to look at his hand.
“Oh, yeah, I think it’s really funny. You always thought you were better than me, haven’t you, Colby? So now you’ve got your rich man and you think that proves you’re too good for someone like me, but you know what I think? I think you’re nothing but his paid whore. I’m going to show you what a real man makes you feel like.”
Before she could elude him, Tony bent down, clamping his mouth to hers, deliberately grinding her teeth against her soft inner lip. One hand remained on her leg, right beside the swollen laceration in warning.
Colby forgot everything, her weariness, the pain in her leg, the fact that she was parked on the main street of town. It was one thing to put up with Tony’s sick innuendos and bullying; it was an altogether different proposition for him to physically touch her. Their feud had started in the schoolyard when Tony, two grades ahead of her, had been unmercifully teasing a boy in her class. She had hit him right in front of everyone. When he had retaliated, Joe Vargas, Ben, and Larry Jeffries had all instantly jumped to her defense. Over the years Harris had threatened and harassed her, but he had never laid a finger on her.