Taming the Heart (Creatures of the Night Book 2) (15 page)

“I don’t worry about money now. I have what I need.”

“Did you build these cabins?”

“The one we were in before. This one I purchased.”

He made the first move and this time she concentrated. He made an approving sound when she took his piece, though he then took the piece she’d moved. They played a strong willed game and time nearly seemed to stand still. He was good, but her father had been the best.

The room was quiet and she could tell when he approved of her moves. His approval was not overt or very visible but she was learning to tell. He was not given to emotion and people who didn’t know him would think him too serious, but she was learning better. She was going to have to help him work his way out of the shell he had put himself in.

“Good,” he said as she made a move.

His counter was aggressive and left him open and she took her opportunity. It paid off and he looked amazed when his queen fell.

“Again,” he commanded as he set up the board.

“You didn’t think I could win,” she stated plainly as she made the first move.

He looked as if he was considering his response seriously before he answered. “No.”

“My dad was good enough to play in tournaments as a boy. He taught me to play. My sister Katie was better than me…” She swallowed as that thought broke in on the soft atmosphere that they had built. Katie.

“She would have been good at chess because she liked strategy. She had to of if she wanted to build a strong military career,” Braden supplied. He made a move and they played in silence again for a while. When she beat him this time he looked seriously miffed.

“Again,” he said as he began to set the board up.

“I’m sorry general but no. I’ve already won two out of three. It would take two more games for you to really win and I’m tired.”

He looked at the board as if it had betrayed him. She laughed out loud. “Thank you for playing with me, it was fun,” she said as she turned towards the bedroom.

*

He watched her go. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he had really enjoyed himself. He hadn’t felt joy in his work or his hobbies in a long time, but when she had run her fingers over the pieces they were new to him again. Maybe he would set up a gallery like she said. It wasn’t like the agency paid him a lot, and he had so many pieces. She would be astounded at the number of pieces he had in storage. He pulled out an old journal he had stored beneath the couch cushion.

He was reading about his second marriage. Her name had been Esmeralda and she had been a mentor’s assistant during the French Revolution. She had been a tough woman as well. From what he read, she had been more aggressive in their relationship than he had been. She had taught him order and structure. Apparently before she had come along he had been something of a rake and he had found her strictures amusing.

In his stories of her he was always trying to draw her out of her shell and she was always trying to teach him to be a gentleman. He had loved her strongly. He wished he could remember, recall some of the feelings he’d had for her, but he couldn’t even conger an image of her face. He wished now that he had written something about her hair color or eye color, or how tall she was. Apparently her personality had been the thing that attracted him because he was always talking about one strong headed thing or the other she had done.

If she had been alive today he could see how he would have liked her. She might have been a female more conservative copy of Saul. She had been carried off by wolves while he was out on the hunt. So she was a part of the collective pack now. He sighed as he closed the journal and pressed the button to lift the armory. He lifted the heavy cement lid off his storage case and stored the journal with the others. He pulled out the empty one he always kept in there in case he decided to write.

He lowered the armory again and returned to the couch. He sat down and pulled out a pen. The first thing he did was describe the physical traits of a certain tiny woman that beat him at chess.

*                            *                            *

Albion lay in perfect stillness. He watched the cabin. He had been here for weeks now. He hadn’t moved, not to swat away bugs, not when he’d seen small animals hop past, and not when he’d seen the woman near his hidden place. He stayed as still as a statue. He was covered in earth, the end of his gun looking nothing more than a stick protruding from a mound of dirt.

There had been plenty of opportunities for him to shoot the woman, but unless she was in human form it would do little good. He had sabotaged the other cabin in order to get them to come here. He was glad to learn that the scent masking spell was working so well. Else the hunter may have sniffed him out, and may have sniffed out the small changes he’d made to the outside of the cabin. With the rifle aimed the way it was he could see into the small opening he’d made in the bedroom curtain.

He had thought to catch her when she sat up in bed. He had thought that surely she would wake up weak, but that had proven to be very false. The things he had seen going on when she woke up… and then he was unable to get a clear shot. Eventually, one of these times… she would be unguarded and he would have her. It would simply take time and patience.

*                            *                            *

Braden stood under the stream of warm water and let it flow over his body. He had soaped up his hand and tried to imagine that he was slipping in and out of Miranda’s body. It didn’t seem to be working this morning. After the way she had writhed and moaned beneath his touch… it had been all he could do to pull away from her. A soft tap came from the door.

“Go away,” he growled as he breathed hard. He released himself and braced against the shower. He was about to turn the faucet to cold when he heard the tap again.

“What do you want?” he asked angrily.

“I need...”

“Hold it,” he said assuming she meant the restroom.

He turned the water to cold and prayed for relief. It was not working. When there was a tap at the door again he turned off the water and grabbed a towel. He wrapped it around his waist and headed for the door. He slung it open and found her standing there. The first thing he noticed was that she was naked. The next thing he gave note to was the fact that she was standing. Was she angry with him?

“I will wait for you to finish,” he said as he began to move past her. She didn’t allow him to move past her. She threw her arms around his shoulders and lifted herself up.

“I already… took care of that,” he breathed shortly as he tried to keep control of himself. She had wrapped her legs around his waist and his erection was making a tent of the towel. He was so hard.

“No. There’s something else… It’s not enough this time. I want you,” she said.

He swallowed hard. “You don’t want me. You are not in control of yourself. When you come back to yourself you won’t want me.”

“But I do. I want you all the time. I think about you all day.”

He could feel her perky full breasts pressed up against his chest and sucked in a breath. “You are only saying that because you are still turned on. Let me take care of you again and you will-”

“No,” she argued as she ground her hips against him. She was still wet from what he had done to her this morning.

“I am still as big as I was when you took me in that first time,” he argued pressing his forehead against hers.

“Please,” she begged and it was the last straw.

He walked over and lowered her to the bed. He whipped the towel off and pressed her legs wide open. He put himself at her entrance and did his best to slow down. He couldn’t go too fast or he’d hurt her. It was going to be her first time and he didn’t want it to be bad for her. He felt her tiny slick channel open up as he pressed into her inch by tight little inch. She lifted her hips to give him better access, her eyes hooded and darkened with passion, and it was the end of all control.

He pushed all the way home and she cried out. He cursed viscously. He had tried his hardest but he had hurt her. He took a few deep breaths before he began to pull out of her as her legs went limp. Surely she would push him away again. To his surprise she grabbed his butt with her fingernails and pulled him back in. “I want you to,” she pleaded, her heart in her eyes.

The change had released her. She was herself… yet she still wanted him. He looked into her eyes for any sign of uncertainty, but there was none and it did funny things to his insides. He held very still, still debating on whether or not to go on. This would mean something different now that she was in control of herself and he was in control of himself as well.

Well, if not in control, at least still somewhat able to pull away from her. When she took one hand and ran it over his bare chest he made his decision. He covered her with his body and let her wrap her arms around him. She was so soft, so delicate and completely his for the moment.

He used his whole body to make love to her as he moved inside of her. He didn’t think he would ever get enough of the way she felt as she opened up to him more and more. It was a tight fit to be sure, but it felt so right. He kissed her deeply and she responded in kind. He then placed little kisses along her jaw line and nibbled the flesh of her neck.

His fangs slid free and he turned away. He was going to slide out of her and move away but her legs started working again and she held firm.

“I… I want to bite you but I don’t want to hurt you,” he said as she continued to clutch him in ways that were making his mouth water.

“You said it doesn’t hurt,” she breathed easily.

“But… I don’t even know if I can. It might hurt me.”

He pulled himself up and into her again and her head fell back against the pillow. The smell of her blood rushing in her veins was like a seduction. Her blood didn’t smell like a hunter’s. It was human and oh so sweet.

“If you want to try… I won’t stop you,” she panted as he continued to move in her.

It was the only invitation he needed. He made a quick puncture before he pulled at the sticky sweet fluid. It hit his bloodstream like a Mac Truck. His pupils dilated and he could feel them change. He only hoped that she didn’t look at him right now, it would scare her half to death.

“Yes,” she cried out and he felt her begin to tighten around him. He couldn’t breath, couldn’t think.

He was completely lost and it felt so good. He just barely held back. When he took the second pull at her neck he felt it as she went over the edge and began to milk him with her insides. He allowed himself release then and it was like nothing he had ever felt in his life. It was as if the earth stood still and nothing existed in space and time but him and her. His senses hummed with electricity as he lay in her, in the euphoria of their lovemaking.

When he finally began to come back down again, he was laying over her and she was stroking the small hairs at the base of his neck. He was breathing hard and she was completely limp. He tried to push himself up but was unsuccessful. How could he not have realized how tired he had gotten?

“Am I too heavy?” he asked.

“Not at all,” she replied. He laid his head on the pillow beside her and watched her. She really did seem content, as if he weighed nothing, though he knew he had to be crushing her.

He rolled over, taking her with him while staying inside her. She gazed down at him. Her eyes were still a dark purple. It was another strange thing about her. When hunters changed their eyes became a lighter shade than it had been in life. When they were hunting the eyes were a crystal clear violet, but she had profoundly dark purple eyes when she changed. They were becoming normal again. They were that same deep dark bottomless blue as they had been the first time he had seen her. Her eyes just filled her face and made his heart turn over in his chest.

“That wasn’t so bad now was it?” she said as she toyed with the small hairs on his chest.

He lifted her face and kissed her again. He knew it was too soon. She would need time to heal before they made love again, but he could feel himself getting hard at her stroking. He was about to pull from her but her legs held to him again as her eyes returned to purple.

“You should rest,” he said evenly.

“I am not tired,” she said eagerly as she let her mouth devour his. He meant to push her away, he really did, but when she started to ride him, he was consumed yet again by passion. He grabbed her hips, meaning to slow her down, but found himself pulling up and into her as she threw her head back in ecstasy. She was so wet and getting looser the more he worked in her, he may as well take advantage of it.

He rose up and in one motion flipped her to her stomach while he pressed into her from behind. She made a sound of satisfaction deep in her throat as he held on to the back of her neck and pushed into her again and again. This time there was nothing gentle or slow about it, start to finish, and by the end they were both tucked in and fast asleep. He pulled her close with a contented sigh. A hometown cheerleader and an international wolf hunter. Who would have ever thought it?

Chapter Ten

Miranda sat up when she felt the bed shift. She clutched the comforter to her chest as she watched him pull on his pants. She waited with breath held. Would he pretend that it hadn’t happened? Would they go on today as if what had happened this morning meant nothing? After he buttoned up he turned to her and her soul smiled with her mouth.

He smiled at her as he leaned forward. He gave her a passionate kiss before he stood again and bent to scoop up his shirt. He looked rumpled and flushed and she loved it.

“Stop looking at me like that. You need food if we are to go on.”

Despite the bit of soreness, she felt her muscles tighten in anticipation. “Alright, but don’t dally. We have a lot of ground to cover,” she teased and laughed out loud at the look of shock on his face.

“You aren’t feeling sore?” he asked.

“As a matter of fact-” she was about to tell him that she had never felt so good when she felt something drill her in the back. It hit so hard that the breath was knocked from her. She looked to Braden questioningly before she looked down at the red blossom on her chest that was spilling red liquid all over the comforter. She slumped forward.

*

Braden blinked a moment before he realized what had happened. He climbed up on the bed and crouched over her in a defensive position as a fierce roar erupted from his chest. He saw the small hole in the curtain for the first time before he ripped it down. He heard and smelled the animal as it ran away. It was a day walker. Braden took a deep breath to be sure the man would have a reckoning for what he had just done.

When he was sure there was no one else nearby, he looked to Miranda. He scooped her up gently and carried her into the bathroom. She was losing blood quickly. She needed to change or she would die.

“Miranda,” he screamed in her face. There was no response as the color began to drain from her face. She was fading fast. She would be dead in mere moments if he didn’t do something, but what?

Why had the day walker shot her? They didn’t like hunters to be sure, but they would rather consume the flesh of a hunter. There was that plus the fact that a gunshot should not be able to kill a hunter. They obviously knew something about Miranda and how she was special that he didn’t know.

He spread towels on the floor as he held her with one hand. He then laid her to the floor. This was a secure place for now. There were no windows for a sniper to get another shot off. He listened as her heart slowed. Blood saturated the towel he tried to hold to it and blood began to fill the towels beneath her as it pumped out with each beat of her heart. The sniper had hit her brachial artery. It was almost over.

She was going to die in front of him. He turned her over. There was no time to heat a knife to solder the wound. Towels would only soak up the blood. Stitches would be too little, too late. There was only one hope. He slapped her across the face… hard. Her eyelids stirred. He picked her up again and went to the shower. The wound bled all the harder. He turned on the cold water and drug her underneath it with him.

He shook her hard as her head lolled. Her lids fluttered and he bore his fangs. He roared in her face again. “Hey you stupid bitch. Open your eyes,” he growled.

Her lids slowly lifted. “Braden,” she cried softly in alarm. His face was in hunter mode now and he stilled himself.

“Wake up you stupid little slut.”

“What?” she asked as her eyes came more fully open. He registered the hurt in her eyes and it was like a bullet to his chest, but he couldn’t stop now.

“You heard what I said you little hussy. I want you to get up, get your stuff and get out of my house. I’m finished with you. You have forced yourself on me for the last time.”

“What?!”

He felt it when her legs began to come under her. Tears flooded her eyes but relief flooded his heart as she gripped his arms hard.

“You heard what I said. Why would you think someone like me would want someone like you? I’m sick of the way you cling to me and your human ways! Get your legs under you, get your stuff and get out of my house,” he said with anger.

He could see the skin begin to pucker where the wound had been. The bleeding stopped. Her eyes were purple now as she stared at him with malice. She pushed him so hard that he fell back and hit the tile. A few tiles fell to the ground but he stepped away from them easily. She was already pulling on her clothes when he entered the room. 

“Stay here,” he instructed her. She threw him an ugly look.

“I’m not stupid,” she snapped as she began to pack her things.

“Don’t go anywhere. I only said that to-”

“Up yours! I know why you said it. Go. I’ll be here when you get back,” she growled as she continued to pack her things.

He eyed her skeptically for a moment more. Surely she hadn’t taken his words to heart. He had needed her to change in order to get her to heal. That was all. He wanted to say something else but didn’t have time. He pointed towards the living room.

“Get my cell. Saul is on speed dial. The third number. He should still be near. I will find you if he decides to take you.”

With that he left her. He jumped out of the bedroom window without opening it first. Glass shattered and cut his face but the cuts healed almost instantly he was so angry. He didn’t see the heart break written on her face. He didn’t see her legs crumple beneath her. He may have stayed if he had seen that look, but he was more focused on vengeance for the moment.

*                            *                            *

Miranda rode in the helicopter in silence. They were taking her to their compound. Saul had explained that she would only be here until Braden came for her or they could find a new location for her, but she couldn’t manage to care much. She had known that this would happen from the start. She had known that he would break her heart.

She had told herself that someone like him would never be interested in her. She had done her best to prepare herself, but she hadn’t been prepared. Of course he had said those things to make her angry enough to change, but in some ways she knew that he meant them. Why else would the words come so easily?

There were things a person said to someone they loved, and there were things they did not say. Who was she fooling? He hadn’t loved her. He could never love her. And here she sat. The fool who had begun to believe that… What? Did she believe that the prince had fallen for the ugly duckling and she was going to be forever changed into a princess? Stupid.

She didn’t care if he was coming or not coming. Hunter boot camp was over for her. The first chance she got she would run somewhere far away from all this craziness. Braden had said that hunters put off the scent that drew those ugly dog things. She would just avoid changing and they wouldn’t come after her, and she could go on like before, pretending that there was nothing out there running around in the night biting and taking people’s loved ones.

She would use the cash Saul had given her to get set up in some big city somewhere and live off that until she got herself a job. There were plenty of Kinko’s and Staples that needed good copyists. The chopper landed in the middle of a desert. She could see the neon buildings off in the distance that told her this was Vegas. A few people ran forward when the blades stopped spinning. Her chair was handed off and opened. Saul reached up and set her down in her chair. She wheeled herself behind him as others followed with her few possessions.

She was hard pressed to keep up with Saul’s long strides and to take in her surroundings at the same time. The building looked plain enough. It was a large concrete building surrounded by high fences and miles and miles of desert. It was a good spot to be in. You could see anyone coming a long time before they got here. They entered the building and headed down a ramp that led to a large sub level.

They had to wait to be buzzed into the area encased in glass. She looked around at all the weapons being developed. There was a large lab area off to the left with beakers over burners. They were filled with some type of tubes that had luminescent fluids inside them. There were also a few other experiments being conducted with light bulbs and bright spot lights. She had to squint just to look that way.

She turned her attention to her right. There were different types of guns and grenades being worked on. There were vehicles and boats being decked out. There were some other mechanical things being worked on straight ahead that she knew nothing about. She couldn’t tell what they were or what they were for. Well, she could guess what all this was for. Killing wolves.

Finally they came to an elevator. She boarded with the others as Saul pressed the button for the top floor. It would not be easy to leave this place without notice. When the elevator doors slid open she was amazed for a moment. This place didn’t look that big from the outside but this was like stepping into a Ritz. The ceiling was high and painted to look like the morning sky. There was a fountain and some palm trees in the lobby and a few levels of rooms.

She stopped for a moment to looked up at a giant sculpture that was at least three stories high. Saul waited for her as the others went forward.

“I am taking you to Braden’s suites.”

“Suites?”

“Yes. We usually separate the hunters from each other when they come here, but not Braden and a few of the others. The older hunters can stay closer to one another than the younger. The younger hunters have there own quarters separate from the compound.”

“How does that work? I thought they had the urge to rip each other apart? How are they able to be together in one compound?”

“It doesn’t work that well. We only bring them together once a year and they are pretty much prepped on all the new weapons we have before they get here. Then we set them loose outside and let them… practice with each other.”

She could well imagine what it would look like. Normally the thought of such violence would make her cringe but with all the strange things she’d been through lately, she thought it might be sort of fun to break something on someone other than Braden for a change. She could even practice her routines on moving targets.

“There must be body parts everywhere.”

Saul scoffed mockingly before he turned to lead the way again. She followed him. He led her to the main room of Braden’s suites and she nearly laughed out loud. There was a large leather couch with a small kitchen off to the left. There were plaid curtains that had green in them instead of blue or burgundy. There was a marble slab coffee table.

“Let me guess. There is a big bedroom down that hall way with a big black bed set in the middle and a single bathroom in it?”

Saul smiled. “Senorita. How did you ever guess? You are psychic I think.” She giggled again. “There are two adjoining suites to this one to the right and left but they don’t look much different than this one. I could have them remake one of the other rooms if this is not-“

“No. It’s all right. I don’t mind it.”

The unspoken words hung heavy in the air. She liked to see this place the way Braden liked it. It felt like home. For now. It made the thought of leaving him that much harder, but she would be happy to be surrounded by his essence for a few more hours at least.

Saul handed her a set of keys. “What are these for?”

“Your suites and the remote to the armory.”

Her heart nearly stopped as she looked the keys over. There was a key-chain that looked like a skull and cross bones with a spike sticking out of the bottom. It was the key-chain the baby had been holding in her dream. “What is this,” she asked holding the charm up.

“Most hunters carry them on their key-chains. It is made of pure silver. It is good if you find yourself short a weapon and you need to make a kill. Try to hit the jugular of the creature if you have to use it. That way you decapitate the creature instead of just slowing it down. Braden has one. You never saw his?”

“I guess I… must have. I just wasn’t paying attention.” She shook the thought off as she pocketed the keys. She had to have seen his and that was why she had seen it in her dream.

“So…” Saul rubbed the back of his neck before he went on. “He made you pretty mad?”

She slumped back in her chair forgetting about the key-chain and the dream. “Am I that obvious?”

“Si.”

“What gave me away?”

“You didn’t say more than a handful of words the whole way here. When a woman is silent for more than an hour, I know something is wrong. I have sisters.” She couldn’t help but smile at that. “What did he do?” Saul asked as he took a seat on the leather couch.

She shook her head and made her way over to the kitchen. Her ramp was missing. “I’ll need a lower counter or a ramp if I’m going to feed myself.”

“I will have them bring your food up to you. I will have them bring you hot coffee as well when I leave. Come tell me what old hard ass has done to make you so angry.”

She sighed and made her way over to the couch.

“I just made a stupid mistake. I believed that I…”

“You love him”

She let her head sink forward. “Stupid, huh?”

“Love is rarely smart.”

She looked up at him. He had deep black eyes that were full of compassion. No wonder people trusted him when the worst things possible were happening. He made people want to trust him and lean on him in times of trouble. He would have been a great cop.