Forbidden Blood (19 page)

N
AYA EXITED THE laundry room with her hand in Vaughn’s. As they neared the end of the hallway, she saw Kenzie leaning with her head against the wall, her eyes closed. Drawing closer to Kenzie, Naya noticed she smelled like Sawyer and was immediately curious. She wondered what had happened between the two of them now.

“
Kenzie?”

A
t the sound of Naya’s voice, Kenzie opened her eyes and lifted her head. Seeing Kenzie’s stormy brown eyes and mouth set in a grim line, Naya decided to wait to ask about Sawyer when they were alone. She glanced back at Vaughn, seeing his narrowed eyes and pursed lips probably matched the expression on her face. Perhaps he knew something she didn’t.

“
Are you ready? I want to go home,” Kenzie said.

Naya
turned back to Kenzie. “Yes. I actually came to find you.”

“
Good. Let’s go.” Kenzie’s tone was brusque.

Naya
assumed Kenzie was upset about Sawyer, but she also wondered if Kenzie was upset with her. Naya had kind of ditched Kenzie as soon as they’d walked through the door.

Vaughn either miss
ed or ignored Kenzie’s anger. “Naya felt a little dizzy, and her stomach is upset. Will you make sure she gets home safe for me?”

“
Yes.” Kenzie looked at her. “You okay?” she asked, concern filling her eyes.

“
Yeah, I feel better now, but I think I should still go home just in case.” She motioned toward Vaughn. “Give me a second, please.”

Kenzie nodded,
spun around, and walked a few steps away.

Naya turned
to Vaughn. She had no idea what to say.
I’m going to miss you
certainly didn’t begin to cover everything she felt.

She stretched up and kissed him tenderly on the lips
. Then, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. He buried his nose and mouth in her neck and kissed her where he’d bitten her earlier.

She whispered in his ear,
“I’ll never forget you.”

Earlier, when she
’d told him she could fall in love with him, she’d lied. She had already fallen.

When they parted and he gazed into her eyes, she thought he might feel the same.

He grabbed her hands, brought them to his mouth, and kissed each one. “Good-bye, Naya.”

“
Good-bye, Vaughn.”

He squeezed her hands in reassurance
and then slowly released them. Both turning away, they knew it was time to let go, and a long farewell would only make it harder.

Naya nudged Kenzie
’s back to let her know it was time to go. Naya fought tears all the way to the front doors. She could cry later when she was alone.

Once they were outside and away from the entrance, Naya stopped Kenzie.
“What’s wrong? Are you upset with me for leaving you earlier?” Welcoming the distraction, Naya focused on Kenzie rather than thinking about Vaughn.

Kenzie looked away, sighed, and then turned back
to Naya. “No, I’m upset about something else. I’m sorry if you thought I was mad at you.”

“
Did something happen? Do you want to talk about it?”

“
No.” Kenzie let out another sigh. She looked down and off to the side, avoiding Naya’s eyes. “Let’s just say, men suck, and leave it at that.”

With Kenzie
’s head turned, her jacket was pulled away from her neck, and Naya noticed that it looked red. She reached up and moved the collar of Kenzie’s jacket, and she saw teeth marks.

Kenzie looked at her.
“What?”

Naya nodded toward her neck.
“That’s some love bite you have there.”

“
What?” Kenzie craned her neck, but it was impossible to see without a mirror. She put her hand on the spot, feeling the impression in her skin. She groaned in anger. “That
jackass
. I’m going to kill him.”

Who? Sawyer?
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

“
No. I mean, yes, I’m sure.”

“
If you’re certain. But it looks like a—”

Kenzie shrugged
away from Naya’s arm. “I know, okay? Plus, you’re one to talk.” Kenzie nodded toward Naya’s neck.

Naya
put her hand up, and she could feel the indentation from Vaughn’s teeth. But she wasn’t mad. Instead, she smiled at how he’d branded her. She felt sad though because she knew it wouldn’t last long with her accelerated healing.

Turning her thoughts back to her friend, she
wondered why Kenzie was bitten. Sawyer always acted like he couldn’t stand her.
Did something intimate happen between them?

“
I get why Vaughn bit me.” It had happened in the heat of the moment. “But why did Sawyer bite you?”

“
How did you—” Kenzie pursed her lips. “You can smell him, can’t you?”

Naya nodded.

“Naya, I love you, and I’m sorry that I’m in a mood, but I really don’t want to talk about it right now.” Kenzie tried to reassure her with a smile. “Is that okay?”

“
Yes, but I’m here if and when you want to talk.”

Kenzie smiled at her.
“Thank you. Now, let’s go home.”

They walked toward the car when Kenzie suddenly stopped.

Naya turned around, having walked a few steps past Kenzie. “What?”

Kenzie put her hand up
to her mouth, and she appeared to be deep in thought. She caught up to Naya and looked around to see if anyone else was nearby.

“
Don’t you think it’s kind of odd that we were both bitten in the same place?” Kenzie said. “From two guys who live and work together?”

“
Hmm…” It did seem unusual and more than coincidental.

“
All of them—they’re all big and macho, and they give off this…predatory quality.”

“
That’s the perfect way to describe them.”

Kenzie leaned in close and whispered,
“What if they aren’t human? You’re a vampire. What if they are something…else? More than human. Like you. Unless they’re vampires?”

Naya waved her hand at the thought.
“No, I would know if they were vampires. For one thing, they don’t smell sweet like vampires. Vaughn doesn’t taste like one either.” She bit her lip. “Although…”

“
What?”

“
Well, it’s just that they all have sort of an outdoorsy smell. I never really thought about it before.”

That would be ironic.
Most vampires thought humans were arrogant to think they were the only species within their genus, and vampires—herself included—might be doing the exact same thing.

But
Vaughn’s and Sawyer’s smell didn’t necessarily mean they were different.

Plus,
Kenzie liked to read a lot. Maybe her imagination had taken over.

“
I realize it’s ignorant to think humans and vampires are the only species that exist. But don’t you think I would have been told at some point?”

Kenzie snorted.
“And who would have told you? Your parents? Since when do they feel like you need to know anything important?”

Naya rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Maybe all vampires weren’t naive. Maybe she was the only clueless one. “Well, it hardly matters now I suppose. Unless you plan on seeing Sawyer again?”

“
Not if you paid me.”

Naya chuckled.

Kenzie looked at her with worry. “I’m such a shit. I’ve been feeling sorry for myself, and I haven’t even asked about you. I know you really care about Vaughn. Saying good-bye couldn’t have been easy. Are you okay?”

“
Yes.”
No.
“I don’t know. I knew it was coming, but it was still harder than I’d thought it would be.” She gave Kenzie an encouraging smile.

Kenzie hugged her.
“I’m sorry, Naya.” Stepping back, she added, “I’m here for you, too.”

“
I know. Thank you. I’ll be fine.”
I hope.
She slipped her arm through Kenzie’s. “Let’s go home.”

On
her front porch, Payton sipped on warm milk as she rocked on the porch swing. She couldn’t sleep, and she’d come outside to relax and enjoy the night air. It was the beginning of September, and the weather was cooler and less humid.

Figuring it was time to
go to bed soon, she got up and headed inside. She paused halfway to the door when she saw Saxon’s car coming down the long driveway. She waved as it went past to park behind the house. She noticed Camden was the only one with him, so she sat back down and waited for them. After a minute, both of them strolled around the side of the house.

“
Hey,” Saxon said as he came up on the porch.

“
Hey, Saxon.” She looked at Camden, who followed and stopped on the stairs. “Hey, Camden.”

“
Hey, Payton.” He smiled at her.

She smiled back. Both men were gorgeous, but her eyes were drawn to Camden. He was tall and muscular, but he had more of a swimmer
’s build than one of a football player, like the rest of the guys. He had short blond hair, a goatee, and deep brown eyes. To put it simply, Camden was hot. In addition, he was the newest one to begin working for her dad. Unlike the other men she’d known since she was little, she’d met Camden slightly over a year ago, so he didn’t see her as a little sister, which was nice.

She turned back to Saxon, who
was leaning against the railing with his hands in his jean pockets. “Where did you end up tonight? And didn’t Vaughn and Sawyer go with you?”

“
We went to Pulse, so Vaughn could meet up with his woman. But when he and Sawyer disappeared on us for over forty-five minutes and didn’t answer their texts, we decided to leave without them.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“Relax. They have their own car.” Saxon pointed his chin at her. “What did you end up doing?”

“
I had a girls’ night out with Phoenix. She had a little too much to drink, and she’s sleeping it off. It was fun though. We got home about two hours ago. Since I was the DD, I thought I would relax out here before going to sleep.” She leaned forward in her seat. “I want to know more about my brother. He has a woman? How come I haven’t heard about her before? How long has this been going on?”

Saxon laughed.
“He just likes some chick. They have been hanging out for the last two months, but they only see each other at Pulse. I’ve never seen him like this with a chick before. He doesn’t even know where she lives, and he’s never seen her outside the club as far as I know.”

“
Oh…interesting. Do you think he really likes her?”

Saxon scoffed.
“Yeah,” he said in a duh tone.

“
Then, why doesn’t he see her anywhere else?”

He
raised an eyebrow. “Babe, she’s not…” He pulled one hand out of his pocket and made a think-about-it motion with his hand.

“
Ah. Never mind then.”

Headlights came into view, and Vaughn
’s car followed a second later. As they drove past, she could see Sawyer was with him, and he looked pissed.

“
Uh-oh, you guys are in trouble,” she teased.

“
Shit.” Saxon walked off the porch and headed toward the back.

Camden followed. Never one to miss a good show, Payton was right behind them.

Sawyer jumped out of the car before it came to a complete stop. He marched up to Saxon, grabbed his shirt, and got right in his face. “Don’t you ever fucking touch her again!” Sawyer yelled.

Who were they talking about?

Sawyer rarely got emotional, especially over a female.

Interesting.

I
n case they needed to break up a fight, her brother and Camden moved closer. Vaughn nodded to Camden to let him know they should let the guys work it out, but they also had to be ready if things got out of hand.