Predatory

Page 31

She thought about mentioning that no one had introduced her to the other two vampires, but she was too tired to care. “Where will Ethan and I sleep?” Cassie didn’t want to think about the nightmares waiting for her tonight, but she couldn’t stay awake much longer.
Zareb paused. “I only have one guestroom left. It’s the one Ethan used when I first turned him. You can share it with him.” His smile said he knew his choice would upset her, but he didn’t give a damn.
Cassie narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together to keep from shouting at Zareb. He’d enjoy it too much. Instead she turned to Ethan. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”
Zareb didn’t even turn. He threw back over his shoulder, “Can’t. It’s a sofa bed and I’m sleeping on it. I wouldn’t usually give up my own bed to guests, but I want to be the one closest to the door if trouble comes calling. My three friends here are still a little loopy and Ethan’s Second One would overreact. You? You’re only a human. Sorry.”
He wasn’t sorry. She watched the cat leap onto the couch. It lay down and watched her from half-closed eyes. Cassie recognized the self-satisfied feline smirk it wore. The damn cat would get to sleep on the couch while she’d be sleeping . . . She glanced at the floor. Maybe with a few blankets and a comfy pillow it wouldn’t be—
“No.” Ethan emerged from the shadows, his hoodie and glasses still in place. “We can share my bed. It’s not far from dawn, so you don’t have to worry about me staying awake looking for my chance to pounce on you.” He strode past her, headed for the hallway.
And because she was so exhausted that her brain felt scrambled, she followed him.
He opened the door at the end of the hallway and stepped aside for her to enter. She had a vague impression of a large space, a massive four-poster bed, and furniture scattered around the room that looked as though it belonged in some ancient castle. No windows.
“This was originally Zareb’s room. He wanted to re-create the special feel of that last great castle he conquered.” Ethan laughed softly. “The one with the throne and the willing widow. My maker can be a nostalgic bastard.”
Cassie stared at him stupidly. “Huh?”
“But then Zareb decided he had to move into the modern era. His present room is metal and glass along with a big-screen TV that takes up a whole wall.”
She didn’t give a damn about Zareb. “Shower.”
Cassie didn’t really need a shower. Her last adventure at Eternal Rest had been a bloodless one. Ethan’s kills were terrifyingly tidy and her knife had produced no splatter. She could skip the shower. But even though there was no physical evidence of death, she still needed to wash the feel of it from her body. Yes, it was all in her mind, but right now her mind was running the show.
While she stood in the middle of his room and tried to keep her eyes open, he disappeared, only to appear a few seconds later with a nightgown and robe. Where had he . . . ? Then she remembered. The hall closet with all the extra clothes. When she turned to go back out the door to reach the hall bathroom, he stopped her.
“The room has its own bathroom.” He pointed to a door in the far wall.
A few minutes later, Cassie stepped into Zareb’s glorious shower. It could hold a small army. She made the spray hot enough to peel the skin from her body and then scrubbed and scrubbed. When she finished, she turned off the water and sank onto the stone ledge for a short rest. Yes, she was putting off the moment when she’d have to go back into the bedroom and face Ethan. She closed her eyes. It would only be for . . .
When she opened her eyes again, she was lying in bed staring at the clock on the nightstand next to her. Almost noon. She turned her head. Their bed.
Ethan lay on his back next to her. Asleep.
How . . . ? The last thing she remembered was sitting on the ledge in the shower. Ohmigod, she’d conked out. He must have gotten her out of the shower, dried her, and pulled on her nightgown. Then he would have had to carry her to the bed. How had she slept through all of that? The wet and naked part made her feel a little warm. Memories of the The Kiss tugged at her.
He wore a sleep mask, but no hoodie. She dared to look. After all, if he slept, then the Second One probably did too.
Ethan’s face left her breathless. Even without being able to see his eyes, she felt the inexorable pull that the Second One’s victims must feel. But at least she was able—with superhuman strength—to drag her gaze from that full lower lip, the lines and planes of a face that would bring humans to their knees in the streets if he chose to mingle.
She shifted her gaze lower. He’d pushed the covers down to his waist, exposing sculpted arms and a muscular torso that made her swallow hard. Sure, she’d seen it all before in Garrity’s basement, but this was the first time she’d had time to appreciate it. Cassie bit her lip, focusing on the pain to stop herself from reaching out to touch, to smooth, to rip the damn covers off to see if he slept naked.
Taking a deep calming breath, she wondered how she’d survive another night sharing his bed. Because only total exhaustion had kept her from lying awake thinking about him next to her.
But then she remembered Felicity. She hadn’t dreamed about her friend last night. She must have been too tired to dream. But the nightmares would come. And she didn’t want to be sleeping in this bed when she woke screaming.
She climbed from the bed. No need to tiptoe around. Ethan was deep in his day sleep. And if legends were to be believed, the place could collapse around him and he wouldn’t wake. Throwing on her robe, she went in search of coffee.
Cassie was lost in thought about Felicity as she walked into Zareb’s kitchen. What would her friend’s family think when they found out that she’d just disappeared? Felicity had never talked much about her family, and Cassie had never met them.
Her frustration grew. She couldn’t contact them, couldn’t tell them the truth. And what about her own family? When she finally called them, she’d have to pretend that everything was fine. She hated lying.
All thoughts came to a sudden halt, though, when Cassie looked up and saw two massive men standing by the sink. She couldn’t control a startled yelp.
They didn’t smile. Jeez, they both had to be at least six feet five with muscular everything. They must be brothers—same size, same hard features, same orangey hair and strange amber eyes.
She froze. Who were they? If they were the enemy, then she was screwed because a houseful of sleeping vampires wouldn’t be much protection.
Her weapon. She’d left her gun in her purse. The purse was still in the bedroom. Memo to self: gun goes everywhere, even to the bathroom.
No one spoke, so she finally broke the silence. “And you are?”
The one on the right answered. “I’m Ben and this is my brother Todd. Zareb hired us to guard the place during the day. You’re the human.” He still didn’t smile.
You’re the human. That must mean that he wasn’t. “What are you?”
The other man, Todd, finally smiled. “We’re the ones strong enough to keep you safe, little girl. Maybe you’d better hope you never have to find out what we are.”
Well, that solved that. Little girl? Jerk. At least they’d cooked breakfast. “Do you mind if I steal something to eat and some coffee?”
Todd shrugged and picked up the conversation with his brother that she must have interrupted. Sports.
She tuned them out. No way did she want to spend any quality time around these two. Cassie piled bacon, scrambled eggs, and a piece of toast on a plate, then poured a cup of coffee. She carried all of her food back to the bedroom. A sleeping Ethan made a better companion than they did.
She set her food and coffee on a small table tucked into the corner of the room and sat down to eat. Then she noticed that the cat had slunk in behind her. She’d leaped onto the bed and promptly curled up at the foot of it.
Cassie smiled. “We agree on something, cat.”
She stopped smiling as she slid her gaze the length of as much of Ethan’s body as she could see. Then she looked at that breathtaking face. Not too long at one time. Just a glance here and a glance there.
Finally she accepted the truth. She couldn’t sleep next to Ethan for another night. The attraction was too strong, her sensual thoughts too potent, and her willpower almost nonexistent. If she was lucky, they’d locate Garrity tonight and she could find somewhere else to stay.
Cassie forced herself to turn her back on Ethan and stare at the wall. She thought about the horrors of yesterday, grounded herself in what was important, and tried to ignore the vampire in her bed.
No, she definitely wasn’t spending another night sleeping next to him.
Chapter Eight
The sixth night.
For five nights she’d lain alone in their bed with her eyes closed so he wouldn’t know that she was still awake when he finally returned. Forget sleep. She couldn’t relax until she was sure Ethan had gotten home safely before dawn.
For five mornings she’d lain awake gazing at his face—and when the sheet gods smiled on her, his body—before falling into an uneasy and nightmare-ridden sleep herself.