Reawakening (14 page)

He held her face in his strong, safe hands. “I’m so sorry, Sarah. And I do understand. Please allow me time to adjust my long-set ways.” Unwelcome tears sprang to her eyes and she nodded. He pulled her head to his shoulder and held her tightly.

“As much as it will pain me, I’d like to hear about it.” She knew what
it
he was referring to.

“Someday.”

“It’s a good thing all those who had a hand in your abduction and subsequent events are dead, or my first mission would be to wipe them from the face of this fucking earth. Xavier will soon no longer be a threat. Don’t doubt that. Then you’ll be completely out of any madman’s crosshairs, beauty. And we can live a long and happy life together.”

He pulled her back; his icy gaze bore into her eyes so she would feel every word he uttered. “After we bond, of course.”

It felt so very right to say the next two words. “Of course.”

Chapter 18

Rom

He’d fucked up. Colossally. The Titanic of all fuck ups. Last night did not end at all like he’d hoped, with Sarah writhing in passion underneath him. Instead, he’d spent it next door in the room Dev had made up for Sarah, listening to her scream and cry, feeling like a low-life piece of shit the entire time, but unwilling to come back and make it right. Unwilling to be no more than a few feet from her, even if Sheetrock and plywood separated them.

When Sarah said she was leaving, he’d lost control and reacted impulsively and irrationally. He was lucky that she’d forgiven him, because what he’d done was almost unforgivable. Her words stabbed him deep and piercing when she asked how he could have done it. He’d been asking himself the same exact question since the minute he’d walked out on her. It’s not like she was going to contract a deadly virus between the mansion and the shelter and be dead in the morning.

Oh wait … that
had
happened before.

Christ.

She deserved better than an emotionally unstable male for a mate, but fuck if he would give her up. He’d protect her. He’d rid the world of Xavier and any other threat to her, because she was it for him.

He only hoped he’d be able to control himself in the future, because Sarah was a strong, independent woman and she would not tolerate another such screw up. She spoke true when she said she would walk and that terrified the hell out of him. Because he wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t massively screw up again. In fact … it was a one-hundred percent certainty he
would
.

She was right. He couldn’t command her the way he could everyone else and that scared him shitless. No, he didn’t want a spineless puppet for a mate, but he also wasn’t sure how he felt about this little wisp of a woman challenging him at every single turn either.

She pushed every one of his buttons, completely eviscerating his calm, cool and in-control demeanor. If he said black, she said white. If he said up, she said down. If he begged her to stay the night, she asked why.

He should just tell her about Seraphina. Make her understand the anguish and suffering he’d been through in losing one Moira. Beg her to bond with him now so her fragile human life would become strong, powerful and virtually invincible. He couldn’t lose her. It would
ruin
him. Permanently. But he also couldn’t bring himself to talk about Seraphina either.

Because knowing she wasn’t the first … he had a feeling
that
may ruin Sarah.

Chapter 19

Sarah

“
This
is your compromise?”

“Yes.”

“This is a stretch limousine, Rom.”

“Yes.”

Ugh.

“You do realize we’re going to a dive restaurant on the lake, right?”

“Yes.”

UGH!

They were driving north on Highway 51, about ten minutes out from Slade’s.
That
was his compromise. Jeannie them to Wausau, and have one of his staff drive them the rest of the forty-five minutes in a completely inconspicuous black stretch limo. What the hell would her parents think?

Brilliant.

She simply sighed and turned to watch the fields fly by through the tinted glass windows. Suddenly she was being pulled across the leather seats and set across one stubborn vampire’s lap, both legs dangling over his and a strong arm snaking up to cup her nape.

He nuzzled the thin, sensitive skin right underneath her ear. “Did I tell you how delicious those jean shorts mold to your fine ass, beauty?”

Instantly, embarrassingly wet.

“Ah … no,” she replied, breathless.

Kisses were being scattered now. Hot, wet, scalding kisses. And she
might
have shamelessly angled her head to give him better access.

“Rom …” He’d leaned her back slightly, running his sharp teeth against her collarbone. They were going to arrive any minute and she would be a flush, hot mess.

He snared her mouth in a wicked kiss that rose her body temperature ten degrees. His left hand palmed her head, while his right traveled underneath her white bohemian blouse, but stopped short of touching her where she craved.

For the next five minutes, they made out like teenagers going to their senior prom. It was fun. It was sweet. It was refreshing. And it filled her heart in places she didn’t know were achingly empty.

When the car slowed and turned a corner, Rom stopped their little make-out session and the need and emotion she saw as his eyes bored into hers stripped her raw. It was too early for love, but she could feel something close to that bleeding from him into her. It filled her mind with a fuzzy, dreamlike haze and her body with a rush of sweet, addicting adrenaline.

How he could go from infuriating her to infatuating her literally one second to the next was dizzying.

“We’re here.” The words tickled her lips.

“Okay,” she responded.
Lame. Very lame.

The car stopped and their driver opened the door. Rom hadn’t let her off his lap and she scurried to move, but he kept her tight against his stiff erection. One last chaste kiss later, he held her in his arms as he exited the car, finally setting her down on the gravel parking lot.

She spun and after fixing her hair and shirt, began walking quickly to the entrance. Rom let her get about four steps before he was at her side, her hand now ensconced in his.

Yep,
everyone
was looking at the showy couple who’d just arrived in a flashy, ostentatious car.
Great
. Her parents were probably watching them walk across the parking lot right now wondering what kind of scary monster kidnapped their daughter. If they only knew how close to the truth they were, but it wasn’t the male now walking beside her. No, the monsters that had kidnapped her were far, far worse.

As they walked, he leaned down to whisper, “And those fucking little boots are a male’s wet dream.”

Gah!
First stop, bathroom.

“Behave,” she hissed.

Her stomach was in knots. She’d been so pissed last night and distracted this morning that she hadn’t even practiced what she was going to tell them and would have to wing it.
Wing. It.

So
not her strong suit. Sarah studied. Sarah prepared. Sarah did
not
wing.

Walking into the restaurant, she spotted her parents at the far end, sitting impatiently at a booth. And from their vantage point, there was no doubt they’d seen the vehicle she arrived in and the possessive, intimidating man—
vampire
—hanging from her arm.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Taking a deep breath, and digging deep for her Meryl Streep Oscar skills, she pulled Rom along with a big, fake smile plastered on her face. In truth, she was so nervous she wanted to vomit.

Rom squeezed her hand in a show of solidarity and a tiny bit of relief flooded through her. He would have her back. He would help her through this. He would deflect any heat her parents heaped on her. She looked back and smiled gratefully, mouthing
“thanks.”
His gentle, sweet smile in return would help her make it through this difficult conversation.

Her parents anxiously rose from their seats and her mother enveloped her in a hug so strong, it almost took her breath away. She was sobbing and Sarah was barely holding it together, tears hanging precariously on her eyelashes. Her dad’s hug was similar and after what seemed like several minutes, and one very public family reunion later, they all sat.

Rom had somehow moved to the side of the booth her parents had occupied and quickly ushered her to sit, where he promptly took his place beside her. She was confused until he eyed the door and she understood exactly what he’d done. He wanted an unobstructed view of the restaurant and wasn’t about to put his back to the crowd, endangering them.

“Mom, Dad, this is Romaric Dietrich. Rom, this is my dad, Henry, and my mom, Linda.”

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Hill.” He extended his hand and her parents tentatively took turns shaking it. Her dad looked nearly murderous, her mom was somewhere between awe and fear.

Ha! She knew
exactly
how they felt. Awkward silence had echoed for several beats before her dad started the grilling.

Aimed at Rom
.

She mentally slapped her palm to her forehead. Her dad had done this with every single boy she’d ever brought home. He was the quintessential father cleaning the shotgun, except in his case … he
really
did. He scared off any potential boyfriend she may have ever had and in sixth grade when her next door neighbor and best friend, David, started paying attention to her in a
‘girl, I just noticed those aren’t mosquito bites’
kind of way, her dad promptly stomped over to have a “come to Jesus” meeting with David’s parents.

And that didn’t end well. For
her
. David avoided her for the rest of the summer and she ended up having to hang out with Tiffany Finnegan, who was a little ho and lost her virginity in the back end of a clichéd Chevy Camaro to a fifteen-year-old high school pothead in the skating rink parking lot. If her dad only knew what kind of person he’d driven Sarah to, he’d only have
wished
David had still been ogling her boobs. Because despite his early fascination, he turned out to be gayer than a three-dollar bill.

“So … how did you meet my Sarah?” her dad peppered.

My Sarah? Kill her now. Please.

“Dad …” she spat.

“No, it’s okay Sarah. It’s a valid question,” Rom calmly responded, as he blatantly put his arm around her shoulder in a very public display of ownership.
Lovely
. Now her boyfriend, future mate, whateverthefuck he was, and her father were getting in a pissing match. And she knew exactly who would win.

In retrospect, she should have spent those five minutes they’d sucked face in the car explaining the lies she’d told her parents about her absence. Weaving your accomplices into your web of lies is surely the first and most important bullet in
Deceit For Dummies
.

“We met at a class I was taking at Richmond, Daddy.”

“I believe I asked your friend, Sarah.”

Seriously … kill her now.

“Stop it,” she hissed across the table. “I’m a grown woman.”

Her dad pinned her with a stare that used to have her shaking in her ballet shoes when she was younger. Now it was just almost funny.

“Yes, who left the country unexpectedly without telling a single soul where she was going. Without a phone call or a goddamn text for an entire month, Sarah. Forgive me if I’m having a hard time buying this
cockamamie
story you’re telling.”

Or not.

Rom spoke up. “You’re right, sir. That’s not exactly how it happened.”

Sarah whipped her head around so fast, her brains rattled. And if eyes could shoot sharp pointy objects, Rom would be full of them right now. Her glare was full of heat and fire and if he felt it, he didn’t give any indication. Instead, Rom never broke eye contact with her father and Sarah had to stifle a gasp when he squeezed her shoulder and pulled her even closer, bringing her flush against his side.

“In fact, that’s what we wanted to talk to you about today. I met my beauty several months ago, and …” he turned to look at her before continuing, “… we fell madly in love and were married in secret. I’m afraid I whisked her away on an extended honeymoon and we’ve only just returned.”

He. Did. NOT. Just. Do. That!

She opened her mouth to speak, but Rom squeezed her shoulder—hard. So in retaliation, her left hand clamped down on his rock hard thigh and squeezed as tightly as it could.
Fail.
He was unfazed and she only succeeded at cramping her fingers.

“Sarah knew you two would be upset about the lack of a proper family wedding, so you’ll forgive me that it was my idea to make up the small white lie about overseas study until we could return to tell you in person.”

If she thought her dad looked murderous before, if his beet-red face was any indication, he was outright homicidal now. She wouldn’t be surprised if he excused himself to get the shotgun she knew he kept in his truck.

And she didn’t miss her mom’s attempted glance at her left hand, checking for a wedding ring, no doubt, but it was still hidden safely under the table. So instead, she slid her eyes to Rom’s empty finger and then back to his face.

“We have a private appointment early this evening in Milwaukee to pick up a piece I had commissioned especially for Sarah and a matching one I had made for myself. Not that any precious metal or gem could compare to, or demonstrate, the depth of my love for your daughter.”

Wow. He was goooood. He even had her damn near fooled.

His smoldering eyes shifted to hers and there was no way her parents didn’t feel the chemistry. The air around them snapped and crackled and popped.
Yes, a lot like Rice Krispies, except this was deafening. And shot straight to her groin.