To Hell and Back (Eternally Blooded) (2 page)

“We are not sure exactly, but they know. Maybe they follow the girls; maybe they just truly know how to do their research. Whatever the case may be we were following them, we knew it was almost time for them to abduct another girl. Actually I thought we had a few more days, but it was lucky we started tailing them early.”

Valerie was even more confused. “If you know them, if you were following them, then why didn’t you just arrest them?”

“Simple really,” Linda said after swallowing a mouthful of stew. “The guys who do the abducting are just small time. They should lead us, I mean the police, to the bigger fish so to speak.”

“So you guys think they are still looking for me?” Valerie directed her question to James who was looking more uncomfortable by the minute; he barely made eye contact with her and seemed lost in thought.

Clearing his throat James solemnly nodded his head, “Yes, they are still looking for you. When we swung by your house one of them was waiting there and fled.”

“My house? You went to my house?” Valerie didn’t understand.

“Yes. I got your address off your driver’s license. Valerie Myers, 22 East Street, Claremont NH. We knew then that we would have to put you in protective custody, so we took the liberty of making sure the house was secure and obtaining a pass for you to take the rest of the semester off from your classes at university.”

Valerie felt her eyes begin to tear up. She wanted to stop them
before they spilled onto her cheeks, but she couldn’t. All the emotion just welled up at once and refused to be kept in anymore. She stared down at her hands and decided to let herself have a good cry. She was almost kidnapped to be sacrificed, she had been asleep for days, woke up in a strange house, and now she would have to stay cut off from her life because some crazy, psycho, blood god worshiping, people-things were after her. Maybe she was going crazy, she still hadn’t said anything to James or Linda about her would-be captors not being human.

Valerie
was lost in her own sorrow when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She knew instantly it was James before she even looked up to meet his eyes full of concern and affection. The look, his sincerity with it caught her so off guard she froze for a moment stunned.

“It is okay to cry, it is expected in situations like these.” He whispered to her, wishing he had something more profound to say.

James gently stood her up from the stool. He knew he had to go slow with her, she had no idea what he really was and on top of it they met in such a traumatic situation he didn’t have the faintest idea how he would break the news to her. He knew the moment he saw her that she was his blood mate. Now he had to figure out how to ease her into the truth.

Gently embracing her in comfort he felt the sparks of electricity moving from her body to his as she leaned into his arms. He knew she felt it too; her heard a faint gasp and felt her body melt into him as he tightened the embrace.

“It isn’t as bad as it seems. You will like it here and Linda is such a wonderful person. She is excited to have another female in the house.”

Valerie sniffled a bit and tried to compose herself. She felt like a sap cradled in this man’s arms, but she didn’t want the moment to end. She hadn’t felt so comfortable or content in a long time. The feel of James’s arms around her made her feel safe, as if everything that was wrong with the world had simply righted itself. Her self-pity began to fade as a different feeling slowly started to creep into her. She had the strongest urge to kiss this man. As her skin began blush she gently pulled away as her body told her mind to shut up.

“Thank you James, and thank you Linda. I appreciate everything. I truly do. This may sound silly, but even after all the sleep I have had I feel like I need to lie down.” Valerie hastily explained, wanting to flee the room. The look on Linda’s face told her that the heat of the embrace had not escaped anyone’s attention.

With a sly grin Linda replied, “Of course Valerie. James why don’t you escort her back to the guest room? We wouldn’t want her to get light headed on the way and take a tumble.”

“I can manage…” Valerie began to protest.

“Of course you can dear. But just in case something should happen James is going with you. Right James?” Linda interrupted.

Clearing his throat and looking like a scolded child James grunted in agreement. As he took Valerie’s elbow to lead her upstairs he felt the sparks again and knew she would be his undoing. There was no way he was going to be able to take it slow with her, especially with the blood clan’s snatchers out looking for her. Virgins, especially adult virgins, were hard to come by these days. James and Linda both knew they wouldn’t stop looking for Valerie and unless he blooded her she would never be strong enough to protect herself.

chapter three

V
alerie felt self-conscious as James led her up the stairs to the guest room. He held on to her elbow like a proper gentleman the whole way and opened the door for her, seeing her safely inside. Neither one of them spoke during the trip up. Valerie was too busy feeling embarrassed about her apparent raging hormones, chalking them up to trauma and her body going on the fritz. James was busy battling his every instinct to blood her and his deep longing for a mate. From the moment he laid eyes on her he knew she was the one. His soul woke up from its dark slumber. She would be his savior; she just didn’t know it yet.

Every vampire loses their soul when they are turned. The ones that are born vampires, like James, lose their souls when they reach full maturity. Maturity comes around the age of 20-years-old for most immortals. The only exception is those vampires that are turned during the blooding ritual. They never have to know the pain of being an empty husk because they have already found their mates. They are turned out of love, not violence. This is how it would be for Valerie and James was happy knowing she would never feel the emptiness he had felt all these years. Now with a flickering of his soul inside he was impatient to complete the ritual and terrified for Valerie
at the same time. She had already been through a traumatic experience and now she would have to face another one as a mortal. That is if she accepted him as her mate.

“James is everything okay?” Valerie breathed.

James realized they were standing in the room and that he still had ahold of her arm. Lost in thought he didn’t realize he hadn’t let go. He didn’t want to let go of her, not now, not ever. She was his for eternity. His vampire blood began to burn through his veins as his mouth imagined what her lips would taste like.

“Everything is perfect.” He growled, the lust evident in his eyes as he embraced her, pulling her to him in a lovers embrace. He saw the confusion and his own lust mirrored back at him in Valerie’s eyes. He knew she couldn’t fight the feelings anymore then he could, but he also knew she didn’t understand what was happening to her. He held back the ferocity as much as he could and slowly tilted his head down to taste her perfect pale lips. They were plump and moist. He felt her body begin to tremble as he neared. She tilted her head to meet his, sighing as she gave way to her need.

Valerie felt the gentle brush of his lips. Tentative at first. When she didn’t pull away the kiss deepened, James was softly probing her lips with his tongue. With another soft sigh Valerie parted her lips as a warm tingle started to slide up through her stomach and through all her limbs. Her mind was spinning. What was she doing? She didn’t even know this man, but oh did he taste so good. She wrapped both her arms around his neck and molded her body into his. She could feel his muscles rippling beneath his shirt. Pure animal need was taking over as she threw caution to the wind and kissed him as she had never kissed a man before. One of his hands left her waist and traveled north to her hair, where it wound its way into the soft brown strands that fell just below her shoulders.

She could feel his need, his pure hunger, pulsing through his body, matching her own. She felt his excitement pushing against her abdomen, pulsing through his jeans. None of her exes had ever kissed her like this. Valerie had never felt these sensations, never felt the deep longing she now felt and couldn’t control.

“Forgive me, I shouldn’t rush this.” James moaned in between kissing her. He was feeling guilty, but wild unbridled passion was pushing the guilt away.

“Mmm…it’s okay.” Valerie mumbled into his mouth. “This really isn’t like me.” She continued as her hands found the hem of his shirt and started tugging upward. She wanted to see his chest in all its masculine glory. He released his hold to help her remove it. She took advantage of the release and pulled her shirt over her head, exposing her small but perky breast clad in the pale blue bra Linda had given her.

Valerie stared at his glorious physique as he felt himself grow harder at that sight of her soft, pale breasts.

“Umm, I haven’t done this before.” She breathed, biting her bottom lip. “Do you have protection?”

Protection. Virgin. Mortal.
The words started flashing in James’s head like neon signs. He mentally scolded himself for being such an idiot. Grabbing his shirt off the floor where he had dropped it he growled at Valerie, “You should get some sleep.”

Turning on his heel James swiftly left the room, leaving Valerie panting, worked up, and confused. She felt embarrassed and hurt. She put her shirt back on and stared at the door dumbfounded. Had she done something wrong she wondered, was she not supposed to ask about protection? Furthermore, why was she willing to give her virginity to a complete stranger when she had done so well holding on to it for 22 years? She wasn’t sure, but she knew she had never known passion until this man, this beautiful man who left her standing shirtless and alone feeling like a moron.

“Great, now what am I supposed to do?” She asked the empty room. Before she could wait for an answer the door opened and James came storming back in. Valerie wanted to say something smart to him, but the expression on his face looked like a storm was brewing within.

“We need to talk.” He barked marching past her and sitting on the edge of the bed. When she stood there staring at him, he rolled his eyes and patted the bed next to him.

“Valerie please come sit, we really do need to talk.” James said in a gentler tone. His eyes crawled over her body as she took a tentative step forward. He could feel his blood heating up and had to mentally push back the urge to get up and wrap her in his arms.

Valerie sat down on the bed, carefully keeping six inches worth of space between herself and the gorgeous man candy who was staring at her with a hunger in his eyes that made her feel naked. Sighing she tried to avert her attention to her hands, hands that were twisting around each other from nerves, confusion, and unbridled lust.

“Okay, what is it. I am all ears.”

James reached out and gently grabbed her chin, turning her face to him. “I need you to keep an open mind and promise that you will at least consider the possibility that everything I am about to tell you is the truth.”

Valerie blushed a bit at the sincerity in his eyes. She couldn’t imagine what could be so serious and important. Most guys she knew would have taken a romp in the sack first and then made any disclosures after the deed was done. Her mind instantly started running possible scenarios. Valerie gasped as a thought came to her.

“Let me guess,
you’re married.” She spat feeling angry. “You’re married, but separated, or you’re not separated but unhappy and only together for the kids.”

To her surprise James laughed. It was sweet and musical and made her want to laugh with him in spite of the mistrust and ang
er she was feeling.

“No, no it is nothing like that. We don’t ever cheat on the ones we love. We love for all eternity. Infidelity is something you will never have to fear from me.” James explained.

“We? You mean you and the others? What are you guys a cult or something? That’s it, that’s what you are trying to tell me. You have some weird religion or cult and now if I want to be with you I have to join.”

Again James chuckled, but something in his eyes told Valerie that at least part of her statement rang true.

“No we are not a cult, or a religion. Let me see, what would be a good starting point?” James massaged his temples as he thought. “Okay let me ask you something, and you give me an honest answer. The men that were chasing you, did you notice anything strange about them?”

“By strange you mean something other than being homicidal maniacs?” Valerie answered while flashes of their contorting faces flashed in her mind.

“Yes, other than that. Please be honest; please trust me enough to be honest with me.” James pleaded.

Did she trust him? She felt like she did, but that was silly. How can you trust someone you just barely met? How can you think of giving your v-card to someone you just met for that matter? Valerie had no idea why, but there was an unseen force pulling her to this man. She felt more at home with him than she had anywhere before. Taking a deep breath she made her decision.

“Okay here goes, but if you laugh at me I swear I will do something to you, something horrible.”

James smirked at the vagueness of her threat and oddly it turned him on. She had spunk to her, he decided he liked spunk.

“At one point I glanced back to see how much of a lead I had. I didn’t really know what these men looked like, I didn’t take the time to study their faces, but I do know what a human face should and should not look like. I swear that their faces changed. One second they looked like normal male faces and the next they looked almost animalistic. I can’t describe it exactly, it was such a quick glance back, but I don’t think I imagined it either.”

Valerie paused to see if James was looking at her like a lunatic. Surprisingly he wasn’t, he looked somber. Figuring she had already started he
r crazy story she decided to tell him the rest. In for a penny, in for a pound.

“At one point I swear one of them closed the gap and was right beside me, but as I was bracing myself for him to grab me I felt a rush of air and then they were all behind me again.”

“They were toying with you, enjoying the chase, that’s why you weren’t captured. I wondered how you got away, most people don’t” James answered.

“Toying with me? You mean you believe me?”

“Of course I believe you. I know what they were…are…and what they can do.” James answered tentatively looking for a reaction from Valerie. He didn’t know what he expected for a reaction, he only knew he wasn’t expecting a simple nod from her, but that is what he got.

Sighing Valerie composed herself as much as possible, she didn’t want James to see the fear she was carefully hiding inside. “What are they?”

James turned to her and took both her hands in his, hands she had been nervously fumbling with the whole time. “Valerie, they are vampires, although the proper term is immortals.”

Valerie couldn’t help herself, she started laughing. “You really expect me to believe those were vampires? What do you think I am? I know what I am not and that is a fool!” She said amidst her laughter, but James noticed the laughter was a bit too high, a bit too close to hysterical, and it didn’t reach her eyes.

“I would never lie to you. That is why you must stay here. We can protect you. Out there on your own, they will smell you; hunt you down by your sent. You would be as good as dead the minute you went home. If you stay here we can keep you safe, they won’t come here.”

Valerie stood up and began pacing the room. She could see the sun shining outside, a gentle breeze slowly sweeping the clouds across the sky. A blue jay was fighting with a squirrel over the feeder hanging from the oak tree closest to the window. She tried to focus on the blue jay; she had always enjoyed sipping her coffee in the morning watching the birds in her own backyard. It gave her a sense of peace. She knew what she wanted to ask but somehow the words wouldn’t come out of her mouth. Pieces of information began to take shape in her mind. James wasn’t in a cult, they weren’t part of a weird religion, and vampires, honest to god vampires, were afraid of him and the other task force members. She stopped pacing and stared at James. Her hands were trembling as she involuntarily brought them up to her throat.

“Yes Valerie.” James gave her a simple answer. An answer that was also a statement of admission.

“So you’re a…I mean Linda is a…you guys are…vampires?”

“Immortals, not vampires. We are not like the ones that took you. We don’t harm humans, we protect them.”

Valerie backed up until she felt her backside collide with the dresser. “
No... No no no no...” she was chanting.

James flashed to her side. He realized his mistake. Using his powers in front of her was stupid.

“Don’t touch me! Get away from me!” Valerie shrieked at him, her little fists pounding on his chest as he tried to embrace her.

“Shhh, Valerie, everything is okay. I know it is a lot to take in.” He soothed her as her fists slowed down, and the impact of them came with less and less force. “You do not need to fear me. I would never hurt you. I could never hurt you. Hurting you would be the end of me.”