Enraptured (17 page)

“You’ve had no training with an actual
vampire.”

“No, I haven’t.” She returned the half empty
container of syrup to its holder and grabbed her fork.

“Thought so.” He leaned back in the
booth.

“Why would you help train me to kill your
kind?”

“I dislike the killers amongst us as much as
you do. I’ve had a couple of bad run-ins with them too. I’d also
like to see you live to thirty.”

“So would I,” she muttered before finally
diving into her fluffy pancakes. She didn’t think it would happen,
but she wasn’t going to admit that out loud. It would be good to
actually work with a vampire, to learn how they reacted and moved.
“I think I’ll take you up on that.”

She tried not to think about what such close
proximity to him would be like, but she found her mind entirely
focused on it as she munched on her bacon. “Can you at least tell
me where we are now?” she asked.

“You didn’t ask the man in the car?”

“No, I made up some crappy story for him.
Asking him my location didn’t exactly fit into my tale.”

“This town is Cordia, it’s a small town in
the Cascade Mountains.”

“Oh.” She glanced around before leaning
closer. “Are we still in Oregon?”

“We are.”

“Good to know.”

“I’m going to see about getting us a ride
back to the cabin,” he told her. “I saw a pickup for sale at the
garage across the street. Can I count on you not to run off?”

She scowled at him and grabbed another piece
of bacon. “Apparently, I could never run fast enough,” she
replied.

He laughed and slapped his hands on the
table as he rose. “No, you couldn’t,” he agreed.

Paige watched him walk down the aisle toward
the front door. She wasn’t the only one watching him as the
waitress and a couple of female patrons undressed him with their
eyes. They were practically salivating as they leaned back on their
stools to watch his ass go out the door. Her hand curled around her
fork; she scowled at them before spinning around in the booth.
She’d been running away from him, and now she was contemplating
using her fork as a murder weapon. It may only be one week, but
she’d almost definitely lose her mind by the end of it.

She focused on finishing off the rest of her
meal as she watched him walk across the dirt parking lot through
the window. He jogged across the street and over to a rusted Dodge
pickup truck that had seen better days in the eighties. The truck’s
bed sagged, its body had more dents in it than the golf ball
retrieval machine on a driving range, but there was something about
the vehicle she liked. Apparently Ian felt the same way as he
walked around the vehicle before peering inside. A man with graying
hair poking out from around his baseball cap approached him.

She finished off her breakfast while she
watched them talk for the next ten minutes. In the meantime, she
ordered another glass of water and a muffin from the waitress when
she returned. Paige turned back around to see Ian handing the older
man some cash before closing his wallet.
At least he paid for
it
, she thought. He could have used his ability of mind control
to bend the man to his will and walk away. He really was a better
man than many of the ones she’d encountered in her life.

Ian looked up at her and happily waved the
keys in the air. Paige couldn’t help but laugh at the devilish and
carefree smile on his face. If she’d never known what he was, she
would have understood why all of those women threw themselves at
him and practically salivated over him. His easy-going demeanor,
love of life, and stunning good looks were an irresistible
combination. Mix that with his reputation for being impossible to
nail down…

Well, he’d been easy enough for a lot of
women to
nail
, just not more than once, and he’d been an
irresistible magnet for women who believed they could change
him.

She had no delusions about changing him; she
didn’t even want to think about doing that. She liked him the way
he was.
Ugh,
she groaned inwardly. What was she thinking
about? She didn’t care if he changed his ways or not; she was
keeping her distance from now on. She nervously licked her lips as
he jumped into the cab of the pickup with the enthusiasm of a five
year old on his birthday.

Ian parked the truck in front of the diner
and hopped out. He glanced at the window where Paige sat before
walking around the vehicle one more time. The old man had been a
stickler on the price, but he’d finally gotten him to come down to
six hundred for the vehicle. It wouldn’t make it cross country, but
it would be good enough to get them around town for a bit, and back
to the cabin. The cloth seats had stuffing poking out of them, the
cloth on the ceiling hung down in the middle to brush against his
head, and the struts and shocks were shot. There was something
about the vehicle he liked though.

His gaze went back to Paige. The color had
left her face, and she now had a haunted look about her that caused
him to pause. She hastily looked away from him and lifted her glass
to her mouth. He didn’t think about what would happen when she
finally did leave. The idea only caused his blood to run cold.
Instead, he focused on the here and now; it had always been the way
he lived his life and he planned to keep it that way.

Being face down in the dirt wasn’t where she’d
planned to be; however, that was where she continuously found
herself over and over again. She glowered at the pair of battered
sneakers that stepped into her line of vision. She was becoming far
too familiar with what those sneakers looked like up close and
personal. The smear right there across the top of his toes was like
a bull’s eye. Before she knew what she was doing, she punched him
on it. She felt like a child, but for a brief moment she actually
felt a spurt of satisfaction.

His laugh only infuriated her and doused her
enjoyment. His eyes twinkled with amusement when he knelt down to
look at her. “Now you’re getting it a little,” he said.

She hated that he still looked so clean and
dignified while she felt like a dirty, sweaty, hot mess. There were
wet rats that looked better than she did right now, she was certain
of it. Putting her hands underneath her, she pushed herself up. Her
arms shook with exhaustion, but she refused to admit defeat.

“Getting what?” she grated.

“Playing dirty is the only way to play.” He
danced beyond her grasp when she released an infuriated shout and
lunged for his lower legs. “Even
I
will fight dirty when it
becomes necessary. As a human, it’s always necessary for you.”

Climbing to her feet, she forced her tired
legs to stop shaking as she turned to face him. No sooner had she
found him than he became a blur of motion again. She felt his hands
in her back, but he didn’t shove her down. To be fair he’d had yet
to make her fall over. It was her own awkward movements, and diving
attempts to catch him, that had caused her constant contact with
the dirt.

“Are you doing this to prove a point?” she
demanded.

“What point would that be?”

She jumped when his breath whispered against
her ear. She swung out in an attempt to connect with him, but he
was already gone again. “That you’re stronger than me, faster, more
powerful. That you can do whatever you want to me.”

“I think you’ve already gotten that point,”
he taunted. She turned again, but this time he remained standing
behind her. She tilted her head back to look up at him as he
towered over her. “I’m trying to make you think ahead. The best
weapon you have against a vampire is to outmaneuver them. They
already know they’re stronger and faster than you, they’re counting
on it. What they’re not counting on is you outthinking them. It’s
the only real weapon you have. Don’t let your emotions rule you.
Concentrate. Let your instincts guide you.”

Before she could blink, he vanished again.
Focusing on his words, she tried to tune out the rest of the world
as she concentrated on locating him. How did she let her instincts
guide her? The hunters had been teaching her how to fight and use
weapons; she’d been taking kickboxing and jujitsu since she was
eighteen. But during all of those things, she’d been moving and
going. The idea of stopping and listening had never occurred to her
before.

In the distance the sweet trill of a bird
echoed through the mountains. The call was picked up by another,
and then another, until their song reverberated across the land. A
breeze stirred the tendrils of hair clinging to her nape. She heard
nothing other than the birds. A crunch of dirt caused her to twirl
around, but he wasn’t there. Hands pressed against her back before
vanishing again.

“Closer,” he murmured.

Quiet
, she told herself.
Forget
your growing frustration.
Breathe.
Listen.

Another step sounded to her right, her
instinct was to turn in that direction; she pushed it aside and
took a step to her left. She felt the rush of air on her right, a
chuckle brushed against her cheek. “Better,” he whispered before
moving away again.

A step on her left made her heart leap; she
forced herself to remain calm and immobile. She didn’t know how or
what made her do it, but she threw her hands up in front of her and
felt his solid abs. It was a glancing blow, a brief brush of her
hands over his flesh, but it was the best she’d done so far. A
smile curved her lips. Her joy was short lived as she felt his
hands in her back, and then on the front of her shoulders.

Ian chuckled again. He could feel her
aggravation mounting as she turned toward him. He’d already moved
beyond her reach again. The breeze he created ruffled her hair; he
could smell the floral shampoo she’d used this morning, hear the
increased beat of her heart. She remained still, unmoving as he
slid around her again. Her eyes remained closed, her lips pursed.
He admired the curve of her breasts, the firmness of her ass in her
jeans. He’d suggested this in order to try and keep her alive; he
continued to do it now so he could enjoy every subtle nuance of her
facial expressions and her determination to try and get him in some
way.

Assuming he was going toward her back again,
she whipped around. Thrown off balance by the abrupt movement, she
took a stumbling step to the side and sprawled on the grass beside
the drive. “Shit!” She slapped her hands on the ground. Those fugly
sneakers stepped into her line of view again.

“I think that’s enough for today.” His
elegant hand stretched down toward her. The impulse to slap it away
crossed her mind, but she’d already acted like a petulant child
when she’d punched his toes. Reluctantly, she took hold of his
hand. Warmth spread through her body, her lungs contracted as air
expelled from them at the contact. He pulled her to her feet and
stood her up before him.

Her hand tightened around his, but he
released her and briskly stepped away. She’d wanted him to keep his
distance, she reminded herself. Even as she thought it, regret
twisted in her belly. It felt like the Grand Canyon was growing
between them and she hated it. Her shoulders slumped, her hand fell
limply back to her side when he walked away from her.

His posture was rigid as he climbed the
steps and entered the cabin.

Ian propped his feet up on the table and stared at
the crackling logs across the way. His eyes were focused on the
fire, but he was acutely aware of the woman sitting to his left.
Her wet hair fell in curling tendrils around her face. Her eyes
were focused on the sketchbook in her lap, but he could see the
clear bluish green color of them in the flickering firelight. He’d
made a deal with the devil when he’d promised to stay away from
her, but he’d had no choice. She’d had to come back with him. She
couldn’t be allowed to return to her life until he knew his family
was safe, until he knew
she
would be safe.

The smell of apples and soap drifting from
her tickled his nostrils enticingly. This was the longest he’d gone
without sex since he’d stopped aging. He could feel the lust
slinking through his blood, sliding into his groin, and clawing at
his chest. He’d fed on some deer in the woods earlier, but it
wasn’t the same, it wasn’t enough to ease the growing tension in
him. All he really craved was to touch this woman, to have her
beneath him, to be inside of her and to feel her skin against
his.

His fingers flexed with the urge to slide
them through her hair, over her face, down her breasts…

He shut the thought off as more blood
flooded into his cock, and he felt himself begin to harden. Rising
to his feet, he paced over to the fire and rested his arm on top of
the mantle. He could always go into town, there had been a small
bar there, or perhaps the waitress was still at the diner. She
wouldn’t say no to having him in her bed, not like the woman behind
him would.

The woman he
truly
desired.

If he didn’t have sex soon, he didn’t know
what he was going to do. He wouldn’t injure her, he hoped anyway,
but he didn’t know if he could trust himself around her, not right
now. The most damnable thing of it all was he knew if she would
only allow him to touch her, she could calm this raging insanity
inside of him. It didn’t have to be sexual, a simple touch from her
had soothed him before, when he’d been trying to teach her to fight
better earlier, but he didn’t dare touch her. She might bolt and
never agree to come back this time if he did.

“Are you ok?” her husky voice sent a shiver
down his spine.

“Fine,” he lied.

“You seem tense.”

Turning toward her, he stared into her
questioning eyes. She was so close, and yet so far beyond his
grasp. “Feeling a little caged right now.”