A Tempest In The Night Part 32

His fangs were still imbedded in her neck. She couldn't stay in that position forever. He would wake up eventually and try to kill her again.

Ilida peered down at the top of his head and shoulders. Moisture covered her thighs. His blood, no doubt. She gripped his broad shoulders, pushed him away from her. She clutched his head, pushed him up and back, and braced her self for the pain that was sure to come next.

She sucked in her breath through her clenched teeth. Her skin lifted with his teeth as they popped out of her neck. Once she was free of him, he slowly slid down the length of her body, bringing her down with him. She bent her knees and caught him in her arms.

Cooled blood trickled down her neck. His breath coppery and sweet barely brushed her chin. She couldn't ignore the s.h.i.+vers skittering up and down her spine.

Was it his closeness or his breath on her neck? How could she have been in pain and then felt...she didn't know how to subscribe it. She knew a minute longer and she would've let him do what he wanted. His size sucked up all the s.p.a.ce in the tiny house. How could she have...how could she have s.h.i.+vered in antic.i.p.ation?

She could barely get her arms around his large trunk. She pushed herself up lifting him with her. His skin was on fire and red... beads of sweat broke out on his furred forehead. Fever. "Urhg, my G.o.d you're huge." I should let him hit the floor after what he tried to do. She knew she wouldn't leave him, though. It was her fault he tried to attack her like a wild animal.

She dragged him, valiantly ignoring his state of undress, to the couch. Soft dots landed on her hands. After laying him down ungracefully, she ran her flashlight beam over her hands. Her fingers were sprinkled with a dusting of fur. Her breath came quickly. She touched the skin on his upper arms, ran down the length of it, pus.h.i.+ng off sheets of short fur and blood. His muscular arms were bare now. She did the same to his shoulders, arms, chest, thighs, lower legs, and feet. Then she wiped the fur off his face, starting with his high forehead and hooded eyes.

They were light in color, Ilida remembered. Probably blue, she thought. She wiped the rest of the fur off his high, slanted cheekbones and strong square chin. She stroked the slight indentation in his chin.

"Oh...my G.o.d! Oh-My-G.o.d!" Daedalus! Had to be or why would she feel the tingling in the pit of her stomach.

Most of him was uncovered except for his lower half. Cautiously she looked down. The area she had diligently avoided gaping at no longer shamed her. She stared at his p.e.n.i.s covered in a forest of hair. It arched away from his body as if in invitation. She ran her hand gently down his groin. It bulged and swelled in her hand as the fur fell away from him.

She felt moisture on her hands. Sticky. He was impressive and she was ogling him like a s.e.x-starved woman. She was a s.e.x-starved woman, but it was no excuse.

It seemed to beckon her and her cheeks grew hot thinking about how he would feel in her hands again. She was like a naughty schoolgirl flipping through the pages of Forum. She ran her hands down his long shaft feeling his rock-solidness and ridged veins. The tip was soft and it pulsed under her fingertips. A beautiful male.

He was an amazing specimen of male beauty who was dying right in front of her eyes. This is why she'd left medicine. Seeing someone die in front of her was too much. And now Daedalus?

She ran her thumb and index finger up the pointy top of his ear, pus.h.i.+ng the fur off. "Ridges." Three horizontal lines on what should be the incurve or helix of his ear. He didn't have a helix. She searched for the ear ca.n.a.l. It was larger and definitely not human.

Chapter Twenty-four

I felt her warm jittery fingers on my skin as I came to. My... skin? I didn't feel the protective covering of my hair anymore. It must have come off. I was that weak and she knew what I looked like now. Cloth abraded my temples. She was wiping my forehead. Then I felt the weakness as I lifted my hand. It shook embarra.s.singly. Vrykolakas don't ever shake.

I touched her wrist, circled my hand around it. Her wrist is dainty. Though I knew her daintiness belied her inner strength. Why should I care about her inner strength? All I could do was stare at her, baffled by my confusing emotions. I hate confusion and hated my emotions even more. "How long was I out?" I flinched. My voice sounded gruff to my ears.

"Half an hour I think."

"You're still in danger from me. The weaker I am the more..." The more blood he'll need? I heard her inner voice struggling.

"I know," she said.

She's scared and confused. I should bite her and be done with it. Every time I thought of the quickest most common sense solution, the instinct to protect her rose up strong to obliterate it. "So why do this? You've seen the worst of my kind. Get out while the getting is good."

Ilida wrapped my arm with rolled gauze. She was gentle and sure of what she was doing. Most humans and vampires bothered with me because they had no other choice. Fear usually made you do things you didn't want to, but she wanted to help me. Stubborn woman.

"I hit you with my car. I have to take care of you."

"I've never taken you for a fool."

"I know that, too."

I know. She knew absolutely nothing of what he could do to her. Or what he would do to her. "I could have killed you. Do you know that?" I waited for her answer. Her voice always soothed me. What a joke! Anything would be soothing on my deathbed-death couch.

"Your fangs made a pretty nasty scar on my neck. Is that good enough for you?"

That wasn't good enough for me. I wanted her blood, needed the sustenance. I'm dying from loss of it and... she knows it. As all humans, when confronted with the paranormal she was in denial of it. Mere st.i.tching and wrapping was only a balm.

"I need to leave." Then I felt the intrusion of someone else's thoughts. Alec.

Where are you?

Stuck in a cabin.

Not by yourself, I sense.

Bring some clothes when you find us.

You're dying. Did she have something to do with it?

She's trying to save my life. You can't rescue me, yet. The blizzard has us all grounded, and I can't keep talking like this.

Get your rest. We'll find you.

My hearing tuned into Ilida's voice. "You can't. It's snowing hard out," she said as she looked back at the dirty window. "We're stuck with each other until it stops."

I gritted my teeth at the prospect of having to stay here with her. From what I could see through the dirty window it was snowing harder than before. Even if I had the energy to fly out of here, my wings could freeze from the frigid temperature. The longer I stayed, the hungrier I would become. I had to do something. I couldn't maintain control. I marshaled my strength, slowed my breathing.

"H-How did you become a..."

Her voice only served to lull me into a relaxed state. Her voice shouldn't relax me. It should incite me to bite her. The thought saddened me. Nothing moved me. Emotion was foreign to me. Despite my caution, he answered her, "Vampire? But you guessed that."

She made a face and it tugged at my heart. I hadn't learned to curb my stinging tongue. "You're not just a vampire are you?"

"Werebat vampire." Pain throbbed in my shoulder. Her pain. "Your shoulder, Ilida."

"You're my main concern."

"G.o.d forbid anyone care about you." As absurd as the situation was I couldn't help but smile. Ilida had a certain stubborn magic about her. "You can still laugh after what happened?"

"Better than screaming for Prozac."

"You joke when under stress."

"When I'm scared I do, unfortunately."

"Your shoulder."

"I took care of it while you were out. I didn't think I could bleed so much."

At the mention of the word, my eyes glazed over in red. Her heartbeat pounded in my ears. The beast inside me reared its ugly, hungry head.

A flash of alarm shone in Ilida's eyes.

Her alarm snapped me back to sanity. I closed my eyes then opened them to find her standing away from me, ready to fight.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you." I felt like an a.s.s as she warily watched me. She was the last person I wanted to hurt or scare.

"We need more light," she announced.

Her face displayed so many emotions at once. She was on the verge of becoming hysterical then she calmed suddenly. I needed to control my tendencies for her sake as well as mine. I knew I looked like a monster, but I didn't have to act like one.

I watched her retreat to the kitchen. Curses were flying out left and right from her pretty mouth. From the sounds of doors opening and closing on rusty hinges, she was rummaging around.

I perused the cabin. My eyesight was impeccable under normal conditions, but tonight was anything but. After having hand-to-hand combat and being hit by a car, I couldn't focus without straining. I could see in the dark still and that was something.

Intricate cobwebs hung from the ceiling joists, table, and chair, everywhere. At least all the creatures fled when I commanded it. At least something went right tonight.

I turned towards the sound of her footsteps. She had a funny walk. Her right foot shook before stepping down. Scoliosis. Why didn't I notice before? Because you were in her pants, Daedalus. One foot is shorter than the other.

She emerged from the kitchen stronger and braver. "I found matches, a few oil lamps and bowls in the kitchen," she said shakily as she sat on the floor beside the couch.

I grabbed her wrist, and without knowing it, my finger caressed the pulse beneath her skin. Then my hand slid down to hold hers. Ilida's was cold and soft as a silk. Cold hands warm heart humans say. "Don't be afraid of me, Ilida."

Silence from her end.

I didn't blame her. If I wasn't used to the paranormal and suddenly had it hoist up in my face, I'd be anxious, too. She slid her hand from mine, flipped open the matchbook and tried igniting matches. One by one, she lit the oil lamps. I felt bereft of her touch.

I shut my eyes to focus my vision. The blurred outlines of the objects around me became harder, clearer. I did the rats a favor by making them leave. What came to mind was not the Four Seasons Hotel. Not that I'd ever been there, but I was certain it was better than this dump.

Tattered curtains adorned the grimy windows. More dust, thicker than blood, lay on every object left in the house. There was an upstairs. Good. If the second floor doesn't fall down on top of our heads, it will be great. To my far left, stood a boarded-up fireplace. Things were looking up, except the hunger pangs showed no sign of leaving.

I needed blood and a distraction from my hunger. With dogged determination, I watched her as she pulled on gloves and what she was doing. Reaching out to her with my thoughts, I determined she was frightened of me. She was coming to grips with me, though. She couldn't be sure of who or what I was.

Her wealth of medium, amber, wavy hair gathered in a... ponytail? Useless gadget. I will see her with her hair down, run my hands through it. Her skin-a yellow ochre and raw sienna with swirls of lilac like an African sunset. Her fingers poked and prodded my bruised flesh. I should have bitten her by now but that would be rude after all she's done for me. She saved my life before. For that I will always be grateful even after I'm gone.

"This is going to hurt," she said quietly.

"Sorry?"

I sucked in a breath, as she pushed her hand through a deep slash in my side. I tried to ignore the pain away. Vampires feel sensations ten times stronger than humans. Sometimes heightened senses are a b.i.t.c.h. Thankfully, she pulled her fingers out and I breathed a sigh of relief. Alas, more blood flooded the wound, seeped out. She swore again.

Her shoulders slumped. Sweat broke out on her forehead and upper lip. The stress was getting to her, but I would have never known if I couldn't read her thoughts. She's steely.

I eyed her examining the depth of blood on her gloved fingers. "Not too deep." She pulled off the gloves then donned a new pair. She was unknowingly leaving evidence.

Evidence meant death in my world.

If circ.u.mstances were different, if they'd been on Santorini she would have been mated in the Breeding Circle to make more clan members. Which was worse? Rape or death? "We need to clear the air before I..."

She cut me off, angry for me thinking that way. "Don't say it. You aren't going to die."

"I...need blood, Ilida. I know what they tried to do to you, but I'm not like that."

"They killed the kids and the people I hosted a seminar for. They're evil."

"Your friends aren't dead not in the way you think." They won't be the same. They'd be better off dead.

"Oh great, more paranormal machinations."

"I'm...not so innocent myself, but I would never intentionally hurt you. I don't want to hurt you."

She nodded her head agreeing with me. That was a start.

"I tried to warn you," I said.

"I'm so out of practice. I didn't pay attention at first. After what happened at my apartment I didn't want to be hurt again."

I'd hurt her by thinking she was connected to Terra, knowing that she wasn't. I'm a p.r.i.c.k sometimes.

"How did you get away?" I asked.

"I didn't want Mike to touch me..."

"Mike?"

"I'm so f.u.c.king sorry I brought him to you."

"You didn't know. Anyway, I somehow forced him back."

"How? Vampires are...ten times stronger."

She told me what happened. My beautiful avenging angel is a warrior in disguise. "Telekinesis."

"My aunt hinted that I have other powers I haven't tapped into yet. I have to get back to Tilly. I can't believe I left them."

"The storm is worse and we'll need reinforcements." I coughed. Felt liquid in my throat. I couldn't give in to the void, not now. I had to avenge Juliana and keep Ilida safe. That would keep me alive.

Like cool feathers brus.h.i.+ng my skin, her fingers caressed my forehead. Warmth. Her touch comforted me.

"You've got to keep talking. I don't want you blacking out on me again," she said.

She was right. Talking would force me to stay alert. Her voice forced me to stay alert. Its soft yet firm notes intrigued me. This was another side of her I didn't know existed. She's so methodical in trying to determine how much physical damage I have. "I got a tip on one of the Jacquerie's hangouts. I storm-trooped the place half-c.o.c.ked. Had my a.s.s... handed to me on a silver platter."