Blood Haze (26 page)

Without
looking up, she said quietly, “You were right. It was stupid.”

“I
shouldn’t have said that,” he said.

“I
should have waited until you came home. I’m sorry.”

“It’s
over and you survived. That’s all that matters. Now come soak in the tub for a
while. I’ll go down to meet and greet and grab you something to eat. Okay?”

She
rose and her body ached from so being cold. Her head ached from where Cal had
hit her. When she reached the doorway filled with Lynx, he opened his arms and
she stepped into him. He wrapped his massive arms around her and hugged her
tight. His care of her put a catch in her chest. Tears of relief sprang into
her eyes. “I was so scared.”

“I
know,” he said as he rubbed his face against her hair. Pulling back, he pushed
her gently into the bathroom. He shut the door and went to sit where she’d sat.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. What a day. First the sad barfly, then,
having to kill the vamp. Now, he’d have to contend with his family. They were
not going to be happy about Arabella being in the house. Too bad! They’d have
to deal with it until he felt she was able to be on her own.

He
sighed at all the things that still needed to be done in preparation for the Blood
Haze. He desperately needed for it to come. He could already feel the venom
inside him building up. He was in need of the bleeding that would correct his
body’s balance and stop the venom from overtaking him. Without the healing
properties of a significant amount of blood and the power of the moon while it
was at its biggest and brightest, they’d all be destroyed by their own bodies.
He figured he had time to feed one more time before he would be required to
fast.

Rising
to his feet, he made his way downstairs. He found his ‘so-called’ siblings
gathered in the den, catching Karmyl up on their exploits. His ‘brother’ Nicolas
was standing behind the settee with a crystal tumbler in one hand. His other
hand rested on top of his wife’s shoulder. Nicolas was an old soul and came
from the vampiral mindset that all humans were good for was feeding. Everything
was very departmentalized in his mind. He was going to be his biggest headache
in regard to Arabella. Nicolas’s wife, Felicia was a beautiful woman with her
Latin dark, wavy hair and dark eyes. She always presented herself stylishly as
that was what Nicolas dictated.

Nicolas
moved toward him. “Lynx,” he said,” it is good to see you, brother.”

Lynx
returned his quick hug and patted Nicolas on the back. He leaned down to brush
his lips against Felicia’s icy cheeks. He couldn’t help making the comparisons
from her cool cheeks to Arabella’s scorching hot ones. “You’re looking well,
Felicia.” She smiled at his comment. “How was your trip,” he asked Nicolas.

“Uneventful
for the most part… at least for us. You’ll have to get Talon to tell you how
many women he helped get into the mile-high club before feeding. I bet it was
upwards of a dozen,” Nicolas said with an icy smile. “Stupid human females.”

At
his name, Talon rose to his feet and grasped Lynx in a firm embrace. “Pay no
attention to Grandpa Moses over there. He’s forgotten what it’s like to young
and single. Of course, he’s never known what it’s like to be this
good-looking!” Talon said with a grin.

“None
of us have… not even you, only in your mind,” Lynx said with a smile. “Where’s
Selena and Tara?”

“They
decided to come later. Don’t worry, they’ll be here in plenty of time for the Blood
Haze. Karmyl and Felicia have been busy making plans all afternoon,” Nicolas
said.

“Did
Arabella make it back?” Karmly asked, unaware of what had transpired at the
hospital.

“She’s
upstairs. She’s… had a rough day,” Lynx replied.

“Who’s
Arabella?” Talon asked.

Karmyl
glanced at Lynx and gave a small shrug of her shoulders. Bracing for the coming
battle, Lynx replied, “Arabella is the human I’m currently seeing. In fact
she’s upstairs in the tub. You’ll all meet her tomorrow. She’ll be staying here
for a couple days.”

“What
the hell are you thinking? A human? This close to the bleeding!” Nicolas
roared.

“Hmm,
in the tub… I bet she’s all naked and soapy.” Talon laughed heartily at the
dark expression his comment received from Lynx. “Is she at least attractive?”
Talon grinned. “I’m assuming if she’s with you, you either gazed her, or she’s
hideous… with warts, or some type of deformity,” he said, with a mock shudder.

Lynx
shook his head at Talon’s words before turning to address Nicolas’s. “Arabella
is here and will be treated respectfully. She is not to be harmed in any way.
She is not, and I repeat, NOT to be fed upon. Am I clear?”

“Why
do you persist in this type of behavior? I would have thought your tryst with
Celeste would have been enough for you. This cannot end well.”

Lynx
cringed at his devastating loss of Celeste being described as a mere tryst. “This
is not your concern, Nicolas.”

Nicolas
took a sip of his drink as he studied Lynx thoughtfully. “Does she know about
us?”

Lynx
slowly shook his head.

“Are
you going to tell her?” he asked.

“No,”
Lynx replied quietly.

Nicolas
pursed his lips. “Well, that’s something at least.”

“I
expect everyone to be on their best behavior. Understood?” Lynx said to the
group. One by one they nodded. “Good. I need to take dinner up to her. I’ll bid
all of you a good night. I’ll see you at breakfast.”

A
round of good-nights followed him out of the room. The final words he heard
were from the fun-loving Talon, “Oh, Selena’s going to love this!”

Lynx
groaned inwardly. Selena was going to be a problem he’d have to deal with
later. While Selena was touted as being his ‘sister’, they actually were of no
relation. She was one of the most beautiful vampires he’d ever seen… and the
most broken. She’d tried numerous time over the years to entice him into a
relationship with her, but she couldn’t let past things go and it’d made her
bitter… bitter and hollow. They’d have to a have a long talk about Arabella
once she arrived. Lynx felt the weight of trying to balance himself in between
the world he actually lived and the world he wanted to have with the beautiful
human upstairs. His lips thinned at the improbability of their worlds
co-existing.

He
found Arabella standing on the edge of the balcony, staring out into the
darkness. Even though he’d brought up her suitcase earlier, she was wearing
another of his T-shirts, a look he found very appealing. He set the tray down
and went to her. As in times past, he slipped up behind her and wrapped his
arms around her middle. She seemed to melt into him. He pressed his lips
against her still-damp hair.

“Feel
better?” he asked softly.

She
nodded.

“Are
you hungry?”

This
time she shook her head.

“You
need to eat,” he admonished.

She
turned in his arms and buried herself in his chest, “Take me to bed, Lynx. Take
me to bed and make me forget this day,” she begged him quietly.

He
stared down at her for a long moment. In one swift movement, he scooped her up
in his arms and carried her into the bedroom. Laying her on the bed, he came
down over her and kissed her gently. She buried her hands in his hair and held
his mouth firmly over hers. He slid his hands up the satin of her skin and he
felt her shiver. He broke the kiss and grabbed the hem of the shirt and lifted
it from her body. He sat back and gloried in her body. He cupped her breasts in
his hands and stroked her nipples with his thumbs. She watched him with such
longing, he nearly came undone.

He
crawled off the bed and slowly removed his clothes. She watched him avidly as
piece by piece, his magnificent body was revealed to her. He came back over her
and kissed her again, this time with more aggression. He stoked her tongue
silkily with his own. He nipped her lips and kissed her over and over.

Rising
up, he stared down at her. “You are so beautiful,” he said, “So strong and
brave.” He leaned down to kiss against her neck. “I’m very lucky to have you.”
He began to kiss across her shoulder. “Never think that I won’t always come for
you.” He kissed across her chest to lave over and over against her sensitized
breasts. “You would definitely be missed.”
 

She
clutched his hair. “Lynx!” she whimpered as she rotated her hips beneath him.

He
kissed across the flat planes of her belly, rimming her bellybutton with his
tongue. “Remember I told you from the very beginning, you belong to me. I keep
what’s mine.” He kissed across to her hip and ran his tongue over it.

Shuddering
at the feel of his hands and lips on her body, she whispered, “You give me
hope.”

He
grabbed her hips within his hands and lowered his lips to kiss the heart of her
passion. The breath left her body in a rush when his tongue pushed inside her.
He lapped against her and sucked in direct proportion to her cries. Curiously,
she found herself pulling against his hair, when all she wanted was for him to
continue doing what he was doing.

“Lynxxx!”
she moaned, drawing out his name as her body began to shift and move on its own
accord.

With
one last nip, he rose up over her. They were both breathing heavy and the air
was filled with the musky scent of sex. His arms trembled as a need greater
than he’d ever experience came over him. In one swift movement, he launched
himself into her. Her body immediately went off like a rocket. “God, oh, my
God,” she cried.

He
stayed buried as deep as he could until her body quieted. “Arabella, my
Arabella,” he whispered, as he began to slowly slide in and out of her body,
the glide made easier with her recent organism. “I want you so damned much,” he
whispered, “More than air; more than life.”

“Hold
me close,” she cried.

He
gathered her tightly to him as he continued to rock into her. Over and over,
the feel of her tightening around him was driving him insane. “God, you feel so
good,” he said against her ear.

“Kiss
me,” she said.

“Man,
you’ve gotten so bossy. I think I’m beginning to like bossy,” he said with a
grin, right before he licked his way into her mouth and kissed her slowly and
thoroughly. She began to whimper into his mouth. About ready to burst, he began
to pound into her as hard as he could. He felt her go off once again and he
couldn’t hold back any longer. Kissing her deeply, he rammed into her over and
over, harder and faster, until blessedly, he spurted long and hard into her.

The
bandages on her hands scrapped against the skin on his back. In the crook of
his neck, she whispered over and over, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

He
held her as she slept curled around him. He inhaled her scent and detected the
medicinal smell of her blood. Not that he blamed her, she needed to sleep.
Rhythmically, he stroked his hand up and down her arm. The words she’d
whispered, right as she drifted off to sleep, sent shivers down his spine –
I love you
.

That
he loved her too, there was no doubt. But there just wasn’t a future for them.
Their worlds were too far apart. Just for being a part of his world, she could
be destroyed. If she ever found out about his world… what he truly was, she’d
be destroyed. He could find no scenario where she’d make it out alive. He
should let her go. He should send her away… but he just couldn’t bring himself
to give her up. This beautiful love they shared would probably end up being the
death for the both of them.

~X~

He’d
talked her into coming downstairs for breakfast. She’d wanted to wait just a
little while longer before meeting his brothers and sister-in-law. Now, she
wished she’d followed her own instincts.

“So,
what is it that you do for living?” Nicolas asked as he precisely cut into his
omelet.

Arabella
cleared her throat. Nicolas Rogan scared her. He was nearly the complete
opposite of Lynx. He was cold and distance, and seemed to dislike her for some
reason.

“Umm,
I own a small catering company,” she said as she wiped non-existence crumbs from
her mouth with a linen napkin.

He
chewed thoughtfully.

“How’d
you meet?” Talon asked.

Now,
Talon she’d liked immediately. He was fun and flirty and obviously didn’t take
life too seriously. She liked seeing this family dynamic. Lynx seemed to fall
in the middle of these two. He was strong and confident like Nicolas obviously
was, but then could be fun-loving like Talon as well.

Before
she could answer, Karmyl said from next to her, “Arabella also sings at the
Night Owl. Lynx came to hear her sing and it was love at first sight.”

“Oh
good,” Nicolas said sarcastically, “A lounge singer.”

“Nicolas,”
Lynx said warningly.

Anger
settled in her belly. Brother or not, who did he think he was? “And what is it
you do,
Nick
?” she asked, using the
abbreviation of his name with derision.