Safe Hex With a Vampire (5 page)

He didn’t answer. “Why am I here?”

“Are you hungry?” She asked, knowing he was
hungry. She’d barely managed to get him to swallow a few sips of
broth in the last couple of days. It had worried her how hard it
was to rouse him.

Aiden ignored her question. “I want to know
why you’re keeping me locked up in your basement, Tempest. Am I
some sort of lab rat? Do you plan on cutting me up to make a name
for yourself in the scientific community?” It didn’t seem likely
after what he’d just seen, but what other reason could she have for
keeping him there.

When she turned to him, she looked shocked.
“We aren’t planning to hurt you, and you won’t have to stay here
long.”

“Forgive me if I find it hard to believe
that you aren’t going to hurt me after you somehow managed to knock
me unconscious and then put me in a cage. Oh, and let’s not forget
trying to drown me.” He ignored her as he slipped his shirt over
his head. It fit perfectly. The jeans had as well. “Do you keep
clothes here in case you decide to kidnap men?”

His question seemed to throw her
off balance and he liked that. It was another childish act on
his part, but he wanted her to feel some of the confusion that he
felt.

“I checked the sizes on your clothes and
went out to buy you some things.”

That made him smile and shake his head. “You
bought me clothes?”

“You couldn’t stay in the ones you were
wearing,” she said as if he were an idiot. “I thought you looked
cute in the sweatpants and t shirt, but I figured you’d want
something a little more manly.”

“So why did you attack me?” he asked.

“You shouldn’t have followed me into that
alley. It was a carefully constructed trap and you walked right
into it. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Who was the lucky bastard who managed to
avoid the trap?” he asked.

“A serial rapist. When you followed me into
the alley, you were following his normal pattern. I sensed
something very predatory in the signals you were sending off. I’m
not always good at reading people.” She admitted this with an
averted gaze. “Ivy is much better at it. She should have been close
by but she got separated from me.”

“So why are you keeping me here if this was
just a mistake? Why not send me on my merry way? Why didn’t you
just call an ambulance and leave me there?” He had to admit that he
was glad that she hadn’t called an ambulance. Ending up in a human
hospital could have been even messier. Tempest obviously had her
own secrets so she would be much less inclined to reveal any of
his.

“I understand why you’re curious but this is
going to have to wait,” she said and seemed genuinely sorry, “After
I examine you, I’ll have food brought down. I’m afraid that I have
work that can’t be put off this afternoon.”

“So you’re a witch and a doctor? I guess
that would make you a witch doctor.” He smiled when her spine
stiffened.

She gave him a sweet smile. “You should
think before you speak or I might just put your head back under the
bath water.”

“It was a simple question,” he said as
innocently as he could.

“I’m a doctor but I am not a witch.”

“You seem a little young to be a doctor,” he
said. “You can’t be more than twenty five.”

She smiled and shook her head.

“How old are you?” he asked, not sure why he
was suddenly so curious.

“How old are you?” she shot back. “You don’t
look like you’re more than twenty five, but I’m guessing
you’re quite a bit older than that.”

“Okay, so we won’t discuss age,” he said
mostly to himself.

She was already walking away from him,
obviously expecting him to follow her back to the cell. The hell
with that!

When she noticed that he hadn’t moved,
Tempest took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Please don’t
make me force you, Aiden. I don’t like hurting people, even
you.”

When he refused to look up at her she took a
few steps in his direction. “I promise you that this is just
temporary.”

He swore softly but forcefully as he walked
back into the room and collapsed onto the cot. He didn’t move and
only gave yes or no answers as she examined him.

“What would you like to eat?” she asked
after she finished the exam. When he didn’t reply, she added, “We
have a gourmet chef staying here. She would be happy to fix
anything you want.”

“Get the hell away from me,” he said softly
and closed his eyes.

He heard the cell door lock. “I’ll bring
something down before I leave.” Her voice was icy once more. “You
need to eat.”

“I will eat when you have answered my
questions and not until then,” he said, not caring that he sounded
like a pouty child.

“Will our daughter be this willful and
arrogant?” she murmured under her breath. He knew that had not been
meant for his ears.

He shot off of the cot and grabbed at her
through the bars, managing to get a firm hold on her arm. “What did
you just say?”

She glared at him angrily for touching her.
Seeing how much his touch annoyed her only made him angrier.

“Let go of my arm, Aiden,” she hissed.

“Damn you!” he hissed back and dropped her
arm as though it had burned him. “Is my touch really that revolting
to you? Are you one of those psychotic man hating
bitches?”

“You’re just mad because you aren’t in
control. You’re just like every other man, wanting to control
women.”

“I’m not like that,” he insisted but he knew
that was only partially true. He’d felt guilty when he’d tried to
kidnap his cousin’s fiancée, but he’d done it anyway. He’d ignored
her pleas, because he’d thought that finding her first meant she
was his. He’d been willing to drain her to make her weak enough to
control.

Then another thought occurred to him. He’d
had his hands on Tempest twice and hadn’t made any attempt to drain
her and escape.

With my free hand, I stroked her cheek,
staring at her in amazement. “You are so full of life. I would
never allow anyone to take that away.” Before she could argue, or
fully understand what was happening, I kissed her. I exercised a
great deal of self control that day. My mouth barely brushed
against hers. From just that brief contact I was so hard that I
felt certain I would embarrass myself. I pulled my mouth away just
slightly. “I would kill my father before I let him touch you.”

Excerpt from Roman Draksel’s blog

“Tempest, can I talk to you for a
minute?”

Tempest had been so lost in her own thoughts
that she hadn’t even heard Ivy come up behind her. She stopped with
her hand on the knob of the door and tried to smile but failed
miserably. “Is there a problem with one of the women?” She already
knew that wasn’t why Ivy wanted to talk to her but a girl could
hope, right?

Ivy shook her head. “No more than usual. I
wanted to talk to you about Aiden.”

Tempest sighed, and walked into the small
room. “I am in no mood to have you nag me about that man right
now.”

“Did you talk to him about what you want
from him?” Ivy asked.

“Not exactly,” she hedged and pretended to
organize the magazines on the table in the small sitting room. This
room served as Ivy’s waiting room for patients. Ivy was one of
three counselors at the women’s center where they both worked and
lived. She mostly met with patients away from her office so the
waiting room didn’t get much use. Tempest frequently hid in there
when she needed a moment alone. She had hoped to find a quiet place
to think about her situation with Aiden.

“But you did talk, right?” Ivy pushed as she
moved around so Tempest was facing her again.

Tempest started to fidget like a child who
had just been caught being naughty.

“What did you do?” Ivy asked and the anxiety
in her voice was obvious.

“I bathed him,” she mumbled.

“You did what?” Ivy almost screeched. Then
her lips curled into an impish grin. “I guess you two got along
better than I expected. I was actually worried that you were
feeling guilty because you had tried to hurt him or something like
that. I can’t wait to hear this story.”

“Well,” Tempest paused and pretended to be
fascinated with one of the magazines to avoid making eye contact.
“I may have tried to drown him just a little bit.”

When Tempest finally looked up, Ivy’s eyes
were as wide as saucers and her mouth hung open. Finally, Ivy
recovered from the shock enough to speak. “He’s recovering from a
head injury, a head injury that you gave him. How could you try to
drown the poor man?”

“I didn’t succeed.” Tempest said quickly.
“That man is just so annoying and in my defense, he started it.”
She groaned. “He just makes me so angry. He was
trying
to
make me angry.”

“You really need to just tell him what you
want and then send him on his way,” Ivy insisted. “I don’t really
know him, but something tells me he isn’t going to agree
anyway.”

“I know,” Tempest reluctantly admitted. “I
don’t really blame him for being so angry with me. I would feel the
same if someone had taken my blood and locked me in a cage. I went
down there, fully intending to talk to him like a rational adult.
Then I saw him touching you, and then he was naked.” She groaned
again and covered her eyes with one arm. “It just all got out of
hand.”

When she uncovered her eyes she could see
the mischievous twinkle in Ivy’s eyes.

“He’s kind of sexy isn’t he?” Ivy asked.

“You find him attractive?” Tempest
gasped.

“Duh,” Ivy said. “He may not be my type but
he’s still pretty damn hot. I think he likes you,” Ivy added and
bumped against her.

Tempest snorted. “The man can’t stand me.
Not that I really blame him. I don’t know what it is about him that
makes me act so crazy. I mean, sure he tries to bait me, but I’ve
dealt with much worse and stayed calm.”

“It’s because you think he’s hot,” Ivy
teased and sat down on the sofa in the room.

Tempest was about to deny it, but then she
smiled and sat down next to her sister. “When I was in there with
him, he rolled on top of me and I forgot to kick his ass. Honestly,
I was a little disappointed when he rolled off of me. I still don’t
know how I managed to keep eye contact with him when he was
naked.”

Ivy covered her mouth and pretended to cough
to cover up her laugher.

“Fine, I’m willing to admit that he’s
attractive but he’s also a total jerk,” Tempest added.

“Can you blame him?” Ivy asked. “The man
hasn’t done anything wrong and we have him locked up. Are you
really sure it’s necessary?”

“Ivy,” Tempest said patiently. “You know I
trust your instincts because you are
almost
always right. We
can’t risk this being one of the times that you’re wrong. We don’t
know what he is, or what he’s capable of. I can tell you that he
moves faster than anyone I’ve ever seen, and I get the impression
he’s still weak from the injury.”

“Fine,” Ivy conceded, “we’ll keep him there
for now. It still seems wrong to me. The least we could do is try
to make him more comfortable.”

Tempest stood up. “Fine, you’ve made me feel
even worse about all of this. I promise that I’ll talk to him
tomorrow morning. You know we can’t put off hunting today.”

Ivy nodded, her expression became
solemn.

The longer they let this monster prowl the
streets, the more women he would torture. His most recent victim
had been a fifteen year old girl and she hadn’t survived.
Tempest felt responsible for it and that guilt weighed heavily on
her. It had happened the afternoon that she had run into Aiden. Had
she been a strong empath, like Ivy, she might have caught the right
man. That young girl might still be alive.

Ivy sensed her distress. “You can’t blame
yourself, Tempest.”

Tempest nodded, but she did blame
herself.

Ivy squeezed her shoulder. “I’m sorry that I
let you down the other day,” she said softly.

Tempest gaze jerked toward hers. “This isn’t
your fault.”

Ivy shrugged. “If I’d been with you, then
you wouldn’t have made the mistake with Aiden.”

“You couldn’t have known that you’d get
stuck on that train,” she said in a reassuring voice as she
squeezed Ivy’s hand. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Ivy flashed a knowing smile. “You’re right.
It wasn’t my fault I got stuck on the train and it’s not your fault
that you aren’t a strong empath. It’s just the cards we were dealt.
It sucks that we didn’t catch him, but we’re doing our best.”

“Thank you,” Tempest said softly. “I need to
change. Would you mind bringing down the tray that’s being prepared
for Aiden? Something tells me he doesn’t want to see me. Find out
if there is anything we can get to make him more comfortable.”

“I’ll take care of it but something tells me
he’d rather see you,” Ivy said.

I knew in that moment that I could never
tire of seeing her smile. That was when my brilliant plan came to
me.

“
We can get married!” I thought it was a
fantastic idea. The look Claudia gave me suggested she did not
agree. “I’m getting very tired of having you look at me as if I‘m
dimwitted,” I grumbled.

Excerpt from Roman Draksel’s blog

Aiden’s fitful sleep left him feeling even
more miserable the next day. The witch hadn’t come back to see him
the day before. Ivy had brought him food and asked him if he was
okay. Stupid question after her sister had just tried to drown him.
He had ignored her question and told her to take the food with her.
She’d insisted on bringing it into his cell so he’d tossed the
entire tray against the wall at the far end of the room. Ivy had
accused him of acting like a child throwing a temper tantrum, and
she’d been right. He’d known she was right immediately and that
realization had only made him act even more childish by ignoring
her.