Love Your Entity (13 page)

If he could compel you, you wouldn’t still want to leave. You’d blindly do his bidding,
her logical self pointed out.

Okay, that made sense. But her feelings for him didn’t make sense. Why was he able to make her feel safe when she knew she should run a million miles away?

Given her past, she was jumpier about trusting a man than others might be. Always being on the run, fearing that an abusive father would catch them, created a sense of never being able to relax.

Yet things were different with Ronan.

Yeah, because he was a vampire.

She should have left when she’d first walked in and found him naked. No house was worth risking her life. Not that she’d had a clue at that time that he was anything other than what he’d stated—a guy with a claim to the house.

“So that line you gave me about the house not having a clear title was a lie?” she said.

Ronan didn’t answer.

He didn’t have to. She knew it was a lie. “How am I supposed to believe anything you say to me?” Sierra said.

“You can’t,” Hal said. “Another reason you should leave. As if this vampire shit isn’t enough. You are one seriously messed-up broad.”

Without warning, the large foyer mirror flew off the wall and toward Sierra. Ronan stepped in front of her. The mirror broke into large pieces, one of which embedded in his arm.

“At this rate, we won’t have much furniture left,” he noted dryly, yanking the glass out.

As blood gushed down his arm, Sierra was glad that she was the only writer in her writer’s group who hadn’t passed out during the tour of the medical examiner’s office and the talk about blood splatter at crime scenes.

“Let me help,” she automatically said. She didn’t realize she’d been cut as well until a drop of her blood ran along her arm and fell onto his open wound.

“Shit!” He reared away from her as if burned by acid.

There was glass all around them. “Careful.”

“It’s too late,” Ronan said.

Chapter Eleven

Sierra blinked in confusion. “What’s too late? What happened?”

“Your blood mingled with mine,” he said.

She froze. “Does that mean I’m going to turn into a vampire?”

“No. It means there is now a vampire bond between you and me.”

“What’s a vampire bond?”

“We’re linked together.”

“Define
linked.
”

“It doesn’t happen that often. Usually when a vampire is exposed to human blood we want more.”

“More?”

“More blood. Depending on when we last fed.”

“When did you last feed?” she asked nervously.

“Earlier this evening.”

“Okay, so that’s a good thing, right?”

“Your blood blended with mine.”

“How can you be sure of that?” she said.

“I could feel it.”

“Well, I couldn’t.”

“You will.”

“When?”

“Now.” Ronan leaned forward to kiss her.

His mouth was hot and wet. So was her body. She sucked his lower lip. The taste of him was driving her wild. She was on fire for him. Every cell in her body ached with the need to have his bare skin against hers.

Her hips undulated against his. She could feel his erection pressed against her. She wanted him buried deep within her doing all kinds of wicked things to her.

Reaching down, she tried to unzip his pants.

“No.” Ronan’s voice was rough and unsteady as he put his hand over hers. “This isn’t you. It’s the vamp bond making you act this way.”

Sierra couldn’t believe this was happening to her. Ghosts, vampires, and witches weren’t enough to cope with? Now she turned into a nymphomaniac each time Ronan touched her?

Sure, there had been times in her past when she’d wished she was a little more confident where sex was concerned. Times when she wished she could make the first move and respond without any inhibitions. But those thoughts had all been geared toward having sex with a human male, not a vampire.

Looking for any possible silver lining here, she wondered if this might make her write superhot sex scenes. Ronan had already inspired her to write that last scene against the wall.

No, she couldn’t think that way. She had to find an exit strategy.

“How do you break a vamp bond?” she demanded.

“By having sex,” he said bluntly.

“That’s convenient,” she muttered.

“I’m not having sex with you. The bond keeps you tied to me. You won’t want to leave.”

Damn, Sierra silently swore. He was right. Sort of. Part of her—the tiny sliver of logic left—still wanted to leave. But that tiny inner voice was drowned out by the blare of wanton desire telling her to stay. Ordering her,
demanding
that she stay.

So she had to stay. Did that mean she had to like it? Absolutely not. “You trapped me! I’ll bet you deliberately broke that mirror so you’d be injured and I’d try to help you.”

“A vampire bond can’t be staged. It has to be a natural rare occurrence.”

“Says you.”

“I don’t make these rules up,” he said.

“How do I know that?”

“You saw your reaction when I kissed you.”

“It could have been a freak—” The rest of her sentence was cut off by his mouth covering hers. An instant later she was in his arms again, and reaching for the zipper on his jeans before he set her aside.

“Okay, so it wasn’t a freak occurrence,” she muttered.

This was so humiliating. It was bad enough wanting to have sex with him when he was just Naked Ronan, but now that they shared a bond it was downright mind-blowing. As in, her mind couldn’t comprehend it while her body welcomed it.

“We need to talk,” he said.

“You think?” She didn’t care if she sounded snarky.

“Not here. Outside.”

As he reached for her coat from a hook by the door, she realized his wound was already healing. Looking down at hers, she saw that it was no longer dripping blood but certainly hadn’t healed the way his had. She rolled down the sleeves of her shirt before putting on her coat.

They took a few steps away from the front porch before he spoke. “I’m trusting you with something very personal. You can’t tell anyone.”

“I know already. You’re a vampire.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“So now you’re saying you’re not a vampire?’

“I am a vampire.”

“But you have a pulse and your skin isn’t cold. Well, maybe it is now since we’re standing out here in the cold.”

“Outdoor temperatures don’t bother me.”

“What about sunlight?”

“No longer a problem, but that isn’t important. This is. The reason I’m here at my former home is because of my sister.”

“Yeah, you said that earlier but I don’t get the connection unless she’s a ghost?”

“No, I don’t think she is.”

“You’re not really making much sense.”

Ronan realized that. There was so much at stake here that he needed to get it right. The memories of what he was about to reveal came flooding back. Not just what had happened after he’d been turned—but before. When he’d slid in the blood in the trenches and fallen facedown in it. The metallic taste in his mouth, abhorrent to him as a human, was necessary to him now that he was a vampire. He tried to keep his explanation brief. “I was turned on the battlefield in France during World War One by a Master Vampire named Baron Voz. As a result, I was indentured for nearly a hundred years. I only recently gained my freedom.”

“How recently?”

There she was, quick with the questions. “Two weeks ago.”

“What does
indentured
mean? Not the dictionary definition of the word, but in regard to you. I’m still trying to come to terms with this entire vampire thing,” she said.

“It meant that I had to do whatever Voz wanted.” He had no intention of going into detail about what that entailed.

“How do I know that you aren’t still following this Voz’s orders? If he controls you then—”

“He doesn’t. Damon or Nick would both confirm that. They wouldn’t allow me to stay here in Vamptown otherwise.”

Instead of asking for more proof, she surprised him by asking, “How old were you? When you were turned, I mean.”

“Twenty-eight.”

Ronan tried reading her mind. He’d had some minimal success before. Now that they were bonded, he should be able to access more of her thoughts, but they were so jumbled and coming so fast that it was hard to keep track.

Five pages. I have to write five pages tomorrow. How am I supposed to do that when I’m tied to a vampire? I have an interview. Wear black. What must it be like to have been human once and been turned? I don’t want to find out. I don’t want to be a vampire. I can manage seeing blood but drinking it is something else. Ronan’s sister has his smile.

He almost commented on her last thought about his sister but doing so would let her know that he could access her thoughts and he knew her well enough to know that would not go over at all. His redhead had a temper.

Shit. He couldn’t think that way. She wasn’t
his
. Yes, they shared a bond but he couldn’t act on it. Doing so would risk everything. He couldn’t have sex with her.

Yet he wanted to. Look at her standing there so close, with her great breasts and bad attitude. Those were the first things he’d noticed about her. Her breasts and her attitude.

But now he knew so much more, like the way she nibbled her bottom lip when she was thinking hard or the way her green eyes flashed when she was angry yet went soft when she was wrapped up in the stories in her head. Then there was the delicate shape of her fingers yet the strength in her grip. When he’d held her hand and twined his fingers through hers it was as if they were meant to fit together. When she’d given him that incredible vamp bond kiss, it had taken every iota of his control to stop her and not tear her clothes off and have her right there and then.

He cut those thoughts cold. He couldn’t have sex with her. The dangers were too great and the stakes too high.

Sierra’s voice jogged him back to the matter at hand.

“I don’t understand. What does all this have to do with your sister?” Sierra said.

“I only recently discovered that she died during the Spanish flu epidemic in 1919.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It gets worse. When he released me, Voz told me he’s been holding her soul hostage. In order to free her, I have to retrieve a key for him that is hidden in my house.”

Maybe it was her experience with spirits trying to head toward the other side that made her more accepting of his story.

“What kind of key?” she said.

“I don’t know. Voz didn’t say. I don’t even know if it’s literally a key or not. But I only have until midnight on Valentine’s Day.” He realized that sounded lame, but she didn’t ask him how the hell he was supposed to find something when he had so little to go on.

Instead she asked, “So what’s the plan? Do you intend to stay in this house forever looking for this mysterious key? You might have forever, but I sure don’t. I have a book deadline.”

“I have a deadline as well. Valentine’s Day, remember? I just told you that.”

“What happens if you can’t find this mysterious key?”

“If I fail, then I remain indentured to Voz,” Ronan said.

“For another hundred years?”

“Forever.”

He saw her gulp. “How am I supposed to help you?” she said.

“By communicating with the ghosts. Ask them what they know about the key and about my sister.”

“What if it’s the key to something bad like the key to hell?”

“Then I’m in deep shit.”

“I’m serious. Would you hand over the key to hell to save your sister’s soul?”

“No.”

“Even if it means that you’d be indentured to Voz for eternity?”

“Even then.” He couldn’t justify letting more evil into the world. He’d done enough evil things. Maybe that was meant to be his punishment. But it wasn’t Adele’s punishment. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She wouldn’t want him causing more malevolence, even if it was done to save her.

Sierra looked at him uncertainly. “How can I be sure?”

“I’m willing to swear on my sister’s soul.”

“If you even have a sister,” she muttered.

He could have pointed out that Sierra had already noticed that Adele had his smile, but didn’t. He knew she was grasping at straws, trying to find a way out. He couldn’t fault her for that. “I showed you her photograph.”

“That could have been anyone.”

Then it hit him. There was more to a vampire bond. During his years of being indentured to Voz, Ronan had tried to research various elements of vampirism, looking for an out from his original indenture, and in doing so he’d learned about other elements. Like a vampire bond. “You can tell when I’m lying.” He paused before saying, “I don’t want to touch you.”

His words said one thing but his message said the opposite. His desire for her was radiating toward her with intrinsic heat. She looked at him a moment. “You’re lying.” Her voice was husky.

“How can you be sure?”

She put her hand to her chest. “I could feel it.”

“Exactly. Everything I’ve told you out here is the truth.”

“Except for you not wanting to touch me.”

He nodded. “Except for that.” His voice was low and deep.

At that moment she felt exactly the way her heroine Nicki had when she wanted mindless sex. Not just with anyone. With Ronan. Sierra had wanted it before. She wanted it even more now.

She straightened her shoulders and tried to shake off the intimacy they’d just shared. “So you are a vampire turned on the battlefield in France during the First World War and you were then indentured to a Master Vampire for almost a hundred years. You do have a sister named Adele. You need my help to talk to the ghosts to get information about the key to save your sister.”

“Right. But you can’t share this information with anyone else. Anyone at all.”

“What are you two doing out here?” Zoe asked, a look of concern on her face as she joined them in front of their house.

“We’re talking.” The look Ronan gave Sierra was a reminder that he was trusting her with his secret.

“You can’t do that inside?” Zoe said.