A Bloody London Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 2) (23 page)

He shivered with delight and smiled back at her.
This vampire captured my dreams and made them come true
.

The drive back to the estate from downtown went by in a blur as rock music played on the car stereo. Katrina’s right hand reached out occasionally to run her fingers through Caleb’s hair, or massage at his neck, or simply brush against his cheek. When they happened upon a stoplight, she craned her neck towards him and kissed him deeply, albeit all too briefly.

He started to say something, but she interrupted, “No, my love. Say nothing.”

He grinned at her and remained silent, but his mind was racing with a mix of curiosity and rising excitement. His adrenaline flowed freely, and his body’s earlier tiredness began to abate.

The time passed so quickly that, before he realized it, they were pulling up the estate’s driveway and into the expansive garage. Katrina opened the driver’s side door and disappeared from view. Her door barely had time to shut before his was opening and she was standing aside waiting on him. He marveled at that and started to exit before realizing he was still buckled in.

She giggled as she slipped the high-heeled shoes from her feet and gathered them in one hand with her purse. He removed his seatbelt and exited the vehicle, blushing slightly. While kissing him on the lips briefly, she shut his door for him as he stepped aside. She planted a firmer kiss on his lips and herded him towards the door leading into the house.

Dropping her shoes on the floor in the hallway, she sped into the kitchen to disengage the alarm and toss her purse onto the counter. He had barely followed her into the kitchen before she wheeled on him and kissed him passionately. As she kissed him, she unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it over the back of a kitchen barstool.

He stared into her eyes, glowing brightly back at him. “Hungry?” he asked tentatively.

She nodded.

“Can I get you some blood?” he inquired with a smirk.

She nodded her head again.

He turned around to get into a cabinet for a glass, but she grabbed his wrist to stop him. She drew his arms against him and pressed her lips to his right ear. “Fresh, not reheated,” she insisted as her body pressed against his from behind.

He swallowed and inquired playfully, “Perhaps a deer?”

She growled and murmured, “Perhaps you.”

He smiled and felt her lips press against his neck to kiss him. Her teeth nipped at the supple skin, and he breathed in sharply. His body’s excitement grew, and he turned to meet her lips. Both felt a heated wave of passion as they kissed at length.

After a few moments, she herded him out of the kitchen and down the main hallway. He made a playful attempt to turn around, but she spun him back the other direction and tickled him on the ribs to usher him before her. When he arrived at the doorway leading down to the chamber, she wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled him through the doorway with her in a sudden lurch.

He felt his body sailing into air, realizing she had leapt with him down to the floor of the sublevel area by jumping over the stairs entirely. He landed beside her gently as she tightened the arm’s vice-like grip around his waist to keep him from landing hard. He barely had time to catch his breath before she propelled them both towards the nearby bed, only to have their bodies bounce on top of it twice before coming to a stop.

He recovered quickly and rolled over on her to kiss her lips deeply. She responded in kind and slipped from her dress as their lips met. He fumbled with his own belt, but she reached up to pinch the end of his nose, pressed her mouth to his, and drew the breath from him in one quick intake. He felt the world go dark, followed by the sensation of his body’s landing on the bed with a bounce, and drifted on a momentary light-headed sea of euphoria for an indeterminate period of time.

When he regained a keener sense of awareness, he realized his clothes had been removed, and he felt Katrina’s naked body lying against his. He smiled slyly, having recalled her using that trick on him once before, which he conceded was an ingenious and effective maneuver for a vampire. His eyes focused on her face amidst the darkness, only to see her staring back at him.

“Welcome back, my love,” she whispered before kissing him. “Now, about dinner,” she ventured with a smirk.

He nodded and felt her mouth move to his neck to kiss and nip at him. His excitement rose quickly, which she appreciated with a chuckle.

Her mouth latched onto the side of his neck near his jugular vein, and she pressed her hand against the side of his face to avert his gaze. He grinned at her sense of urgency and reached around to massage her lower back with one hand. He ran his other hand across her bare bottom and pinched her skin slightly.

She lurched with surprise and grabbed at his hand with her free hand as she straddled him with her body. As the surface of his neck grew numb, he felt her pressing fangs before the process was complete, and he froze in place. She snickered into his neck, holding her fangs against his skin.
The predator has control now
, she thought with satisfaction. After he remained still, she retracted her fangs and proceeded to numb his skin with her tongue.

“Simply vicious,” he teased.

She deliberately pressed her nude body against his, baring her breasts against his chest, which only increased his excitement. She chuckled into his neck again, followed by penetrating his skin with her fangs. He gasped from the sudden sensation, which was thankfully pain-free. He lay very still and felt his blood being deeply drawn from him.

He felt a momentary sensation of light headedness and the feeling of floating in a quiet sea of contentment. She slowed her drawing of blood, and his awareness slowly began to return. He relished the closeness that he shared with her as she fed upon him, feelings of communion, passion, warmth, and love.

Time seemed suspended as he lay beneath her body and vaguely felt her mouth covering his neck. The suckling and slurping sounds continued for a time and then slowed. Eventually, the noises ceased entirely, and he felt her tongue pressing against his skin to seal his bite marks. Then she laid her head against his chest and kissed his bare skin.

“You’re everything to me,” she murmured. “I’ll love you forever, Caleb.” Being with him made her so very happy, and she wanted to make him as happy as she felt.

He nodded and wrapped his arms around her body. He loved her dearly and wanted to be hers forever.
She fills a huge, empty niche in my life
. “I love you too, Kat,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. Then his thoughts turned more amorous, and his excitement rose again as her body lay against his. He lightly ran his fingers across her lower back then across her bottom and down her thigh. She shivered slightly, and he tried to roll her over to lie atop her.

“Mmm,” she hummed contentedly and allowed him to roll her onto her back.

He kissed her and cupped one of her breasts with his hand.

“I’m all yours,” she whispered playfully as her legs slowly wrapped around his lower body.

Then time stood still.

Later that night, Katrina dried Caleb off with a towel following their shower together.

He felt exhausted and drained of energy as he leaned into the wall with both arms stretched outward. As if in confirmation, he swayed slightly. “I feel like I’m going to fall over,” he mumbled.

She smirked. “You’ve had a long day. First, fighting with bar patrons, then out on the town half the night carousing, and finally drained of a little blood by a vampire. All in all, a pretty full day, I’d venture.”

“Well, when you put it that way,” he agreed as he took the towel from her and wrapped it around his waist.

She removed two towels from the linen cabinet, wrapped one around her body, and dried her hair with another as she watched him depart the bathroom.
I simply adore you
, she thought as she appreciated his lean, muscular form.

He slipped on a pair of sweatpants and nearly fell onto the bed. Moments later, Katrina exited the bathroom to slip on some panties and a long, cotton nightshirt. Then she turned off the lamp on her nightstand and crawled into bed. She nestled next to him, pulled the covers over them, and kissed him on the back of the neck. Within a few minutes, she heard his breathing fall into a regular pattern and determined that he had fallen asleep.

She lay next to him for some time afterwards, thoughtfully considering how much better they had been getting along the past day or so. She had no doubt that it was in no small part to Paige’s arrival and efforts. However, given Caleb’s altercation in the bar parking lot, she questioned the inclusion of Gil into their midst. Returning to happier thoughts, she let the topic drop and snuggled closer to Caleb as she drifted off for a brief respite of sleep.

* * * *

Chapter 5: Visitors and Violations

When Caleb woke on Sunday, he discovered quickly that he had slept until midday, which earned a round of teasing from Paige. However, Katrina was pleased he had slept that late, knowing how exhausted he had been from the previous day’s events. Sunday was spent lounging around the house, although by early evening Caleb offered to grill some steaks and potatoes for him and Gil. Then the four watched the film
Public Enemies
in the theater room.

On Monday, Caleb returned to work, pleasantly noting that at least he had no evening classes to teach; those were only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, the day seemed to last longer than normal because he had some quiz grading to do before he went home for the day. He knew that he would be too distracted by his house guests if he dared take the work home. By early evening, an unexpected visitor arrived as he continued grading at his desk. Paige appeared at his office doorway with a sly grin and wearing a pair of form-fitted blue jeans and turtleneck sweater.

“Hey, tiger,” she greeted in a perky voice. “So, this is Professor Central, huh? You about to finish up for the day?”

He smiled up at her from his chair. “Hey, Paige. Yeah, this is the place, my home away from home. Thankfully, I’m almost finished. What brings you around?”

She shrugged. “I’m just wondering if you might want to run an errand with me after work.”

He was intrigued. “Okay, I’ll bite. Where to?”

She leaned against his door frame and adopted an innocent expression. “Oh, nothing major, really. But while I’m thinking about it, would you mind loaning me your car keys?”

“What?”

But she merely held out her empty, open palm. Then she snapped her fingers impatiently. “Come on, come on. Keys, please.”

He laughed and tossed her his car keys, which she snatched out of midair and turned to leave. “Thanks! I’ll be right back, so just stay put.”

He chuckled and shook his head as his mysterious friend disappeared from view, followed closely by sound of the nearest exit doors abruptly opening and closing. Her actions had piqued his curiosity, but he returned to grading quizzes so they could leave soon.

Minutes later, she returned with a satisfied expression, but he noted she was without the car keys in hand.

“Hey, what about my keys?” he asked.

“Oh, Gil’s taking your car back to the estate,” she replied off-handedly. “I sure hope he doesn’t get my directions confused. I mean, I printed off a Google map for him, after all.”

“Gil was here?” he asked. “Didn’t he want to go with us on the errand?”

“Nah, but then, you know how Gil is,” she replied evasively as she plopped down in the guest chair beside his desk and inspected the items and décor in his office.

Actually, I don’t
, he mused, but let the topic drop for the time being.

“Go ahead, finish grading. Let me watch the young history professor in action,” she urged while perusing the titles of books on the nearby shelf.

He shook his head slightly, and then shrugged and returned to grading. Within another thirty minutes he had finished and stacked the quizzes into an orderly pile. As he filled his backpack with take-home items, Tanisha stopped by his open office doorway on her way out of the building.

“Goodnight, Caleb,” she offered as she shifted her leather satchel to her left hand while reaching into her shoulder purse for her car keys.

“Oh, Tanisha, there’s someone I want you to meet,” he beckoned, rising from his desk and gesturing to Paige.

Tanisha smiled at him and took in Paige more fully as her attention shifted. Paige’s bright blue eyes stared into Tanisha’s with amusement as a smirk played across her face at the woman’s mild surprise. However, Tanisha maintained her cool sense of grace and immediately extended her right hand to take Paige’s in a polite grasp.

“Paige, I’m proud to introduce you to my friend and colleague, Dr. Tanisha Browning,” Caleb offered. “She’s our highly regarded Professor of Women’s History. She’s also a priceless mentor to me since I started at the college.”

He turned his gaze to Tanisha with a wide grin and offered proudly, “Tanisha, I’m happy to finally introduce you to Paige Turner. She’s like an adopted sister to me and one of the dearest people in my life.”

Paige’s eyes darted to him for only a split second at the grand introduction, but quickly refocused her attention back to Tanisha.

“Well, I’m pleased to meet you, Paige,” the petite, hazel-eyed professor offered with an appraising smile. “Caleb neglected to tell me that he had an adopted sister.”

“It’s a dynamic title, of sorts,” Paige replied as the two women released hands. “That’s to say Caleb and I are like family, and he’s also very dear to me.”

One of Tanisha’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly. “Oh, I see. I thought at first you might be related to Katrina.”

Paige frowned with genuine curiosity. “Really? Why would you think that?”

“Although there’s a difference in height, I sense you both have similar qualities,” Tanisha observed with a glance at Caleb, who by that time regarded the sudden change in the nature of the conversation warily.

“Purely a coincidence,” Paige replied easily. “But then, Katrina’s a long-time, close friend of mine, so perhaps we’ve rubbed off on each other a little bit.”

“Perhaps,” Tanisha accepted politely. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, nonetheless. Any friend of Caleb’s is a friend of mine.”

Tanisha glanced at him and prompted, “I’d better run, Caleb. Desta has a recital this evening, and Richard and I promised we wouldn’t be late for it.”

“Tell Desta I’m pulling for her,” he offered as Tanisha headed for the building’s exit.

When the door shut behind her, he released a heavy sigh. For some reason, he felt as if he had just dodged a bullet.

“She’s perceptive,” Paige observed. “You’ll need to watch yourself with that one, kiddo.”

Caleb countered, “She’s a good friend, Paige, not a threat.”

But she turned to face him fully. “Not to you, to her. If she even guessed about our true nature…”

He swallowed hard, understanding her meaning all too clearly. It hadn’t been long since Katrina had nearly threatened to kill Tanisha for similar reasons. Concealing their existence was the first concern in every vampire’s mind. Even the normally playful Paige became lethally serious as the topic surfaced, which unnerved him somewhat.

“Don’t worry. I know,” he replied dutifully. “Katrina’s already warned me.”

Paige seemed satisfied and didn’t press the issue further. Instead, she recovered her previously playful smile and demanded, “Okay, enough stalling. Let’s hit the road.”

Caleb nodded and turned to collect his backpack when Paige’s cell phone buzzed. The petite vampire fluidly slipped it from her waist and flipped the cell phone cover open with a flourish. “What’s up, Red?” she asked.

He looked up at Paige, and her eyes glistened brightly as she gazed back at Caleb with a penetrating look. “Well, I’m glad Gil was able to follow directions. And yeah, our boy’s right here,” she confirmed. “Sure, everything’s just fine. If you don’t mind, I need to kidnap him from you for a short time tonight. I have an errand to run that he’s going to accompany me on before we head back to the estate.”

“Our boy?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

Paige grinned at him and continued, “Nah, tell Gil to go ahead and eat. Yes, I’ll make sure Caleb eats before we come home. His jacket? Yeah, I’m on it. It’s hanging on his door hook as we speak.” She rolled her eyes, nodded her head, and used the fingers and thumb on her left hand to make the symbol for someone being very talkative.

He barely restrained himself from laughing out loud at that.

“Yes, I’ll tell him you love him,” she replied. “Okay, you overprotective nag, we need to get going now.” She flipped the cell phone shut with a sigh and slipped the device into the holder at her waist. “She loves you, by the way,” she offered before ushering him out of the office and locking and shutting the door behind them as she slung his backpack over one shoulder.

He chuckled while slipping into his leather jacket. As the two of them walked through the parking lot to Paige’s rental car, he commented, “Hey, it’s not kidnapping if I go willingly, you know.”

A cold wind blew from the north, and she casually wrapped her right arm around his waist as they walked. “That’s true, I suppose. At least for now, that is,” she alluded.

What an odd comment
, he noted warily.
Just where are we going?

She activated the remote on her keychain to unlock the doors to her black rental sedan and followed him around to the passenger side as she heard his pulse increase in a slightly agitated manner. He opened the door and pulled the seat forward so she could toss his backpack into the back seat. Then he pushed the seat back and turned to stare at her with a curious expression.

“So, where are we headed, anyway?” he inquired after reconsidering her odd, earlier comment.

“You trust me, don’t you, kiddo?” she asked gently.

He didn’t even need to consider her question. He trusted Paige with his life and had done so on a couple of occasions in the months he had known her. The corners of his lips upturned, and he replied earnestly, “Of course, silly. You’re my surrogate vampire, my guardian. I trust you completely.”

She smiled warmly, stepped closer to him, and popped a kiss against his cheek. Then she held the passenger door open and said, “Good, you should. So, get in already, and we’ll hit the road.”

He got in and fastened his seatbelt, and within minutes, they were speeding onto the nearby highway entrance not far from campus. She played some rock music to break the silence as they traversed the cold February evening. Ten minutes later, he noticed they were traveling north on highway 75 out of Atlanta, and his curiosity increased.

When Caleb noticed their exit at the South Marietta Parkway, his heartbeat increased noticeably. The only reason he could divine for coming to Marietta was a less than desirable one, and he gritted his teeth. “Where are we going, Paige?” he demanded sternly, despite having a bad feeling that the answer had to do with Devon Archibald.

She glanced over at him and replied, “I just need to stop by to visit with someone for a few minutes, so relax. After all, it’s not often you and I get to go someplace alone together. Just think about where you want to go for dinner tonight.”

She was relieved that she had been able to assuage his curiosity for as long as she had. It was a good testimony to the degree of trust they shared. However, she hoped he would be agreeable from that point on since he obviously had an idea of why they were in Marietta.

He silently fumed for a time as they continued through the city streets.

“Nice little town, actually,” she commented agreeably as she realized they were getting closer to their destination. She had memorized the MapQuest directions before leaving the estate to pick up Caleb.

He merely grunted and mumbled, “Except for one resident, in particular.”

She failed to contain a smirk at his acidic wit, which she found amusingly out of place coming from someone who normally maintained such an upbeat and cheerful disposition.

When they pulled into Devon’s driveway, Paige noted that his car was already there. She had called him earlier to arrange their visit and was encouraged that he seemed agreeable. Though they had interacted via email a couple of times, this was her first occasion to meet the vampire in person. Fortunately, Katrina had given her very detailed information about him and his background.

“We’re here,” Paige announced calmly. “We’re simply going inside to chat for a few minutes, and then we’ll leave. Okay?”

He reached for the door handle, but withdrew his hand and turned to look at Paige. “I think I’ll stay here. You go ahead.”

She chewed her lower lip and considered the situation for a moment before shrugging and exiting the car. After shutting her door, she walked calmly around to the passenger side of the vehicle and opened the door for him to exit. But he kept his seatbelt on and crossed his arms across his chest defiantly as he sat silently staring straight ahead.

Paige reached into the car and grasped the bicep of his right arm in her small hand and squeezed until she had a firm grip on him. “The reality is you’re going in with me. So, how about a deal, tiger?” she offered plainly. “I’ll play nicely, if you will.”

His jaw clenched, and he turned to stare at her with incredulity as he recalled how she had used the same declaration with him when she had first met him last fall. He realized there was likely no arguing with her, but it galled him that she would force her will upon him. She knew full well how much he hated Devon Archibald.

“Fine,” he replied levelly, conceding there was little to be gained from causing a scene.

She released his arm and adopted a pleasant expression as she waited for him to release his seatbelt and exit the vehicle. As she shut the door and used the remote to lock the car, he stepped aside to look around the mostly dark neighborhood as the cold north wind whipped around him. He noted the area didn’t appear in decline, but it was an older-looking neighborhood.

“Are you scared?” she asked gently. It occurred to her that some of his anger could be masking a sense of fear, although she only detected moderate wariness from him.

“Just irritated,” he admitted as he stared up at the house before him. It appeared somewhat ominous at night despite the warm glow from the front porch light.
Why the hell did Paige have to bring me here
?

“We have a very reasonable agreement with Devon,” she reassured him. “And besides, I’m a burgeoning alpha. I can handle my own against a vampire, if needed.”

He frowned at the spunk that she exuded under the circumstances and recalled how scary she had been at the estate when interrogating an intruder last December. He shivered slightly at either that memory or the biting wind, or both. “He’s huge, Paige,” he recalled quietly as events from the night at the wildlife preserve replayed in his memory.