Safe Hex With a Vampire (4 page)

Several times he’d roused in an almost
dreamlike state to find the woman who looked like Claudia
encouraging him to wake up and offering him water or broth. He
couldn’t be sure if the memories were real. At one point, he
thought that he saw the woman humming to herself while she worked
at the lab area in the room. From his first encounter with her, he
was pretty sure that one was a dream. She hardly seemed like the
type of woman to hum.

Aiden moved to the sink and splashed water
on his face. He was happy to see that there was a toothbrush and
toothpaste. It had never occurred to him that he could be ecstatic
over a toothbrush, but he was. It tasted like something had crawled
into his mouth and died. Not recently, but weeks ago. After
brushing his teeth, he looked down at the clothes he was wearing.
These weren’t his clothes and that realization made him wonder who
had undressed him. He was wearing a pair of sweat pants that were
about four inches too short and far too wide. He was thankful for
the drawstring at the waist. His shirt was a baggy white
t shirt with the words “I Cry because Reyes Farrow is
Fictional,” on the front in pink letters. He wasn’t sure who Reyes
Farrow was but he was thankful that the shirt was long enough. He
still looked ridiculous but it could have been worse.

When the door at the top of the stairs
opened he spun around quickly, thankful that this time he didn’t
fall over or feel like vomiting. The petite blonde he had met at
the BART station climbed nervously down the stairs. She wore grey
leggings and a pink cotton t shirt that was about three sizes
too big for her.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said
as he eyed Ivy with near contempt. “Somehow I didn’t picture you as
a twisted witch who gets her jollies by putting men in cages.”

She looked down at the ground. It was
obvious that he’d made her uncomfortable. Since that was his goal,
it should have pleased him but it didn’t. He felt like he had just
kicked a puppy. She looked much younger than he remembered, and
that only made things more uncomfortable for him.

He let out a long sigh and raked his hands
through his hair. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t talk to you like that.”
Then he wondered why he was apologizing to her. It made no sense
that he was the one in a cage and he was apologizing for being
short with one of his captors.

She smiled warmly. “I came down to shave
you. After that, if you want a bath I can arrange it. Then I’ll
bring you some food. I’m sure you’re starving.” She opened the door
to the cell, and placed a chair in the middle for him to sit
on.

His eyes were wide with surprise. “Aren’t
you afraid that I’ll try to escape?”

She shook her head. “No, that doesn’t
concern me. Sit in the chair, and I’ll shave you. Tempest will
probably be down soon to make sure you haven’t tried anything.”

He sat down and watched her alternate
between examining the razor and his face. “Have you ever shaved a
man’s face?” Her scrutiny of the razor made him more than a little
apprehensive.

“No, but I shave my legs,” she replied
innocently.

“Maybe I should shave myself,” he suggested
and reached out a hand for the razor.

She shook her head and pulled the razor
farther from his grasp. “Tempest doesn’t want you to hurt
yourself.”

“Is she afraid that I’ve grown so despondent
that I might try to kill myself?”

“No, she’s just worried that you might be a
little shaky still. You were pretty badly injured.” She flushed
slightly as she made that last statement.

“How did you get volunteered for this job?”
he asked as he walked over to examine his stubble in the mirror
above the sink.

“Tempest asked me to do it because she’s
afraid that she would be tempted to hurt you. Especially with a
sharp object so close to your throat,” she said with a smile. “I
take it you didn’t try to charm her? Did you tell her how lovely
her blue eyes are?”

Despite the situation he laughed at the
reminder of his own foolishness. “It’s a shame my head injury
didn’t make me forget that moment. I’m guessing that Tempest is the
woman I talked to before?”

Ivy nodded.

“I don’t think she fancies me,” he said as
he leaned against the bars of the cell with his arms crossed in
front of his chest. This might have been a more impressive pose had
it not been for his ridiculous attire.

“She’s not sure what to think of you,” Ivy
explained, “and she feels really bad about hurting you,” Then she
moved toward him with the razor in her hand.

“I don’t mind waiting to shave until you can
trust me with the razor,” he assured her. “I would really like that
bath. Actually, a shower would be even better.”

“We only have a bath tub down here,” she
said with an apologetic shrug. “This was Tempest’s office until we
needed an extra containment area.”

“She needed a bathtub in her office?” Aiden
asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s a really nice bathtub,” Ivy
explained.

Aiden shrugged. He would take what he could
get at this point.

It surprised him that Ivy was so comfortable
in his presence. She was standing in the cell with him and looked
completely at ease. She had no way of knowing if he was dangerous.
They already knew he wasn’t human, so her sense of
self preservation should have made her more cautious. “Why
aren’t you afraid that I’ll try to overpower you and escape? I
probably outweigh you by over a hundred pounds. For all you know, I
could be a serial killer or something.”

She looked at him like he was simple and
ignored his question. “Let’s get you bathed and into some clean
clothes.” With that she walked to the door at the end of the room
opposite his prison and he followed her.

Aiden wasn’t much of a bath person but Ivy
was right; it really was a nice bathtub. He guessed that it could
easily fit two full grown adults, and if he wasn’t mistaken
there were water jets.

Ivy started the water in the tub for him.
“The water should be ready in a few minutes. You can adjust it
yourself.”

When she turned and saw him standing behind
her, naked as the day he was born, she gasped in surprise. Her eyes
were so wide that he thought they might pop out of her head.

He chuckled. “Aren’t you going to stay and
bathe me, Ivy?” he asked softly.

She shook her head. “Y you’re
naked.”

This time his laughter nearly rattled the
walls. “And you, dear girl, are quite adorable.” He tweaked her
nose, and then frowned as he realized what a brotherly gesture that
was.

Ivy laughed at him. Well, giggled was a
better description.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she tried to get
her fit of giggles under control.

“And what do you find so amusing?” he asked.
Thankfully, he had a pretty big ego or he might be offended by
having a woman laugh while he stood naked in front of her.

She covered her mouth to stifle her giggles.
Finally, she cleared her throat and replied. “
You
are what I
find amusing. Consciously, you’re doing everything in your power to
seduce me. I’m not sure if you’re doing it to get me to let you
out, or just out of habit. Subconsciously, you know that you aren’t
the least bit attracted to me.” Another burst of giggles came
during which she mumbled about him tweaking her nose.

The fact that she was laughing at him
annoyed Aiden. This hadn’t been his week. He was further annoyed to
realize that she was right; he wasn’t at all aroused. He had
tweaked her damn nose! He wrapped a towel around himself to hide
his lack of arousal.

She turned her back to him and tested his
bath water. “You aren’t used to having platonic relationships with
women, are you?”

He shrugged. “I’m not used to being around
women that I’m not attracted to,” he admitted. He’d had friendships
with women, but they’d usually started because he was attracted to
them. He’d been attracted to Ivy when he’d first seen her so why
the sudden change? Ivy was certainly his type. He liked petite
blondes. Hell, he liked most women, but little blondes were his
favorite. This whole situation made him think his head injury was
more serious than he’d imagined. “I need a doctor,” he grumbled,
wishing that he could get to his cousin, Justin, the family
doctor.

When she turned toward him, Ivy looked
worried. “Are you feeling dizzy again? I can call Tempest.”

“Don’t worry,” he said and started to reach
out to tweak her nose again like the idiot he was.

“Don’t even think about touching my
sister!”

He recognized the voice instantly and it had
more emotion in it than he’d heard before.

Just to spite her, he reached out and
stroked Ivy’s cheek lightly with his fingertips. “What’s the
matter, luv? Are you jealous?” Why he felt the need to antagonize
Tempest, he wasn’t sure.

Ivy gave him one look of warning before she
hurried out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

“Now who’s going to wash me?” he foolishly
continued. No matter how childish it was, he wanted to make her
mad. Maybe it was his own sense of helplessness that made him want
to strip away some of her control, or maybe he just liked the way
she looked with her fists clenched at her sides. “Oh, now I get it.
You
want to bathe me.” He dropped the towel. “Enjoy the
view, babe. I doubt it’s one you get offered very often. If you
did, you might be more sweet tempered.” It would have been a
much more effective dig if he hadn’t become painfully aroused in
the few moments that Tempest had been in the room. Now the damn
thing decided to work. Just great!

Tempest looked like she was fighting to keep
her voice neutral and her eyes on his face. “Was that supposed to
be a major turn on? Were you expecting me to swoon? Am I supposed
to be amused by your sexist humor?”

“I don’t give a damn about your amusement.”
He moved toward her. His, obviously confused, cock was leading the
way. “So are you going to wash me? Run those hands all over my
body?” His voice had gotten a little raspy just thinking about
it.

Tempest smiled, eyed the back scrubber
sitting beside the bath and then it went flying through the air
toward Aiden’s head. He barely ducked in time to avoid being hit by
it.

His arrogance made him push down his fear.
Objects did not just fly around, and common sense told him to stop
baiting her. Common sense got outvoted.

“You have a nasty temper, little girl. Your
daddy should have put you over his knee a little more often. Maybe
you’ll get lucky and find a man who goes for that sort of thing.”
He stepped into the tub and rested his head on the edge. “If you
talk dirty to me, I might even be willing to oblige you. It’s not
really my thing but I’m sure you could talk me into it.”

“You arrogant son of a bitch!” she
shouted.

Upon later reflection, he had to admit that
laughing was a stupid move, but laugh he did. His laughter didn’t
last long when he felt some force pushing his head under the water.
Luckily, he had the good sense to close his mouth as his head went
under. Despite his struggles against the invisible force he
couldn’t break free of it. For an instant he was certain that he
would drown, and then he felt himself being pulled to the surface
by the same force. He had time to cough and struggle for breath
before he was back under the water. After the third dunking he felt
himself floating and then felt the cold tile of the bathroom floor
beneath his bare back. He coughed and gloried in each breath. He
tried to rise but he couldn’t. He remained on the cold floor and
moaned miserably.

Tempest knelt beside him and began to towel
him off. “You did ask me to bathe you,” she said sweetly.

Aiden hated having her dry him, hated the
feeling of helplessness. He found himself hoping that he could get
his hands on her for just a minute. All he would need is about
thirty seconds to drain her some, and then he’d be out of there. He
took a few moments to savor the idea of some twisted revenge
fantasies, even knowing he would never follow through with them.
All he wanted was to escape and go. . . Now that was a good
question. Where did he have to go? Back to his uncle to tell him
that his one true love was most likely dead? Back to his empty
apartment in Portland?

Tempest brought over a bundle of clothing
for him. “Do you need help dressing?” She sounded hesitant.

He sat up and shook his head. “What the hell
are you, some sort of witch?”

“I could ask you the same question,” she
replied. Her voice wasn’t nearly as remote as it had been earlier
so he decided to try reasoning with her. She kept looking at him
with something like guilt in her eyes.

“Listen, Tempest, I don’t want to fight with
you.”

She smiled and for a moment he was caught up
in how beautiful she was when she smiled. Not quite as beautiful as
she was when she was completely pissed off at him, but it was much
less dangerous. “You just hate to lose. If you thought that you had
a chance of winning, you’d fight me.”

Tempest didn't expect him to move that
quickly, had never actually seen anyone move that quickly. One
moment she was handing him his clothes, the next his hand snaked
around her wrist and pulled her down on top of him. Before she
could do more than squeak, he rolled on top of her and grinned.
“I’ll bet I don’t hate losing a fight anymore than you.”

Before she could react, he rolled off of her
and started to dress himself.

Tempest wasn’t sure how to react. Her
instinct was to lash out but he hadn’t hurt her. He hadn’t even
tried to hurt her. His actions had
been . . . playful. Then she felt even more
guilty. So far she was the only one who had been violent. She stood
up and moved behind him.

“I’m sorry about the almost drowning thing.”
She reached out and touched the area on the back of his head where
the nasty gash had been. It surprised her how quickly the section
she had shaved was growing back. The wound was almost completely
healed. “Your head is healing faster than I expected it to. Are you
still having any symptoms like dizziness or nausea?”