Nightshifters (9 page)

“Where do you live now?” Rana scooped a large glob of salsa
on her chip and popped it into her mouth.

The corner of Alexandru’s mouth lifted. “A vampire never
reveals his lair. It’s not safe.”

“Oh, of course. I just meant…”

“I could take you there. Discreetly of course.”

Rana’s eyes widened. “Said the spider to the fly,” she
muttered. “Maybe some other time.”

 Alexandru laughed softly. “You are safe with me, Rana.
I could never hurt you.”

Rana’s cheeks reddened, and she dropped her eyes.

Ah, the sentiment is not returned.

Alexandru picked up on her hesitation. So, Rana did intend
to destroy him. He just wished he knew why. Why him and why now?

“Has it been awful for you?” Rana lifted her eyes and looked
at him. True empathy flickered in the stormy depths of her eyes. The first
sincere emotion he detected in her since their reunion.

“As I said, I’ve adapted.” He reached across the table and
took her hands in his. “The worst part ― the unbearable part ― is
not being with you.”

Rana swallowed and pulled her hands away. “I just couldn’t
bear the thought of you being like … like…”

“Your father?”

Rana nodded miserably. “It was too much.”

“And now?”

She dropped her eyes again. “I think I could try to get past
it.”

Another lie.

Alexandru inhaled sharply. She must really want him dead to
go through all of this. The question was, why?

“It’s getting late. I should get home.” Rana reached for the
check. Alexandru covered her hand with his.

“Allow me.” He motioned for the waitress. Alexandru paid the
bill and walked Rana to her car. The sultry night air smelled of grilled meats
and barbeque wafting from the various restaurants along the street, blooming
magnolias in the boulevard and a reeking odor that turned Alexandru’s blood to
ice.

Vladmir Gustovez.

Chapter 4

Alexandru stiffened beside her. The hot Louisiana night air
instantly chilled.

“What’s wrong?” She touched his arm. Spirals of fear danced
along her nerves.

“It’s not safe here. Come with me.”

“Go with you?” Rana’s heart plummeted. No. She couldn’t. She
wasn’t prepared. She didn’t have her holy water, her wooden stake, her revolver
with silver bullets or, well … anything. Not that she was even sure she could
even use them on him anymore.

Alexandru rested his hands on her shoulders and pierced her
with a hypnotic stare. “I need you to trust me, Rana.”

Trust him? A vampire? It had to be a trick. She shook her
head. “I’ve got to get home.” She did. Damien might need her. She checked the
cell phone attached to her belt loop. No calls. The babysitter would call if
Damien worsened. Still, she wanted to check on him herself. Rana took a step
toward her car. His hands tightened on her shoulders, and he pulled her against
him. She felt his warm breath on her cheek. Could hear his heart beating wildly
in his chest. Or was it hers?

“Trust me,
cara
. I would never harm you. We have to
go. Now.”

“Where?” Rana gulped at his urgency.

Said the spider to the fly
, a little voice mocked in
her mind again. Rana’s knees quivered as her nerves skittered along her spine.
Her brain screamed for her to run. Her heart told her to stay.

“My lair. It’s the only safe place.” With a sweep of his
arms they began to rise. Higher and higher until her bookstore below became
only a speck, and the street lights looked more like a runway for airplanes.
Rana gripped his arms and held on for dear life, though there was no need.
Alexandru was in complete control. They floated with ease across the suburb
toward the belly of New Orleans. Rana squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to look
down. Alexandru slipped his arm around her and chuckled softly against her
hair. “Relax,
cara
. I’ve got you.” He lifted her chin with his thumb.
“Look. You’re missing a fabulous view of the city.”

Rana clenched her eyelids and shook her head vehemently.
“Heights and I? Not the best of friends.”

“Pity. The view is beautiful from here.” Alexandru’s murmur
rustled a curl at her temple. “Just beautiful.” His words warmed her skin like
a blanket of sunlight and her body tingled. She had the feeling he wasn’t just
referring to the landscape. Within minutes, she felt her body descend. She
didn’t open her eyes until her feet touched the soft earth underneath.

“Welcome to my lair.”

Rana opened her eyes. A large, aging plantation home loomed
before them. Lush green ivy snaked up the walls. Two large white columns held
up the balcony of the second story. Rana noticed no lights. Anywhere. And all
the windows were boarded.

Alexandru waved his arm. The front door sprang open. He took
her hand and led her across the lawn and up the wooden porch steps. The wood
creaked beneath their feet like the moans of lost souls. Alexandru stepped through
the doorway into the darkness. Rana hesitated on the porch. Entering a
vampire’s lair of her own free will was not the best idea. Especially without
her kit.

“Come.” He swept his hand in the air. Two sets of
candelabras — eight candlesticks each — resting on the mantel immediately lit
the room. Rana peered inside. Through flickering candlelight she could make out
a sofa, a coffee table and a fireplace. There were no decorations of any kind
on the walls. No bric-a-brac on the table or upon any shelf. Nothing. The room
offered no down-home appeal. No hospitality. Just a cold drafty space. “What do
you think?”

“It could use a women’s touch,” she said, crossing the
hardwood floor to the sofa. Or at least a human one.

Alexandru’s laugh echoed off the walls as he sat down beside
her. “Are you applying for the position?”

“Of course not.” Heat scorched her cheeks. Images of them
picking out fine china and linens popped into her mind. Alexandru grinned. The
flickering candlelight softened his hard features.

“Eggshell white with mauve roses.”

Damn!
He’d done it again. Gotten inside her head.
Nostalgia tumbled over her. Eggshell white with mauve roses was the pattern
they had picked out before…

“Stop doing that!” Rana gritted her teeth. She must stay
focused. Going down memory lane wouldn’t help her or Damien. Alexandru was a
vampire. An abomination. Just like her father. And it would do her well to
remember it. This — this
thing
was not her fiancé. Alexandru was dead.

“What?” His took her hand in his and brought it to his lips.
“This?” Rana’s pulse quickened. “Or this?” He rained soft deliberate kisses up
her arm. Tingles of electricity shot through her veins.

Stop!

He’s a vampire. A…
Her mind fuzzed over. She couldn’t
think. Couldn’t breathe.

“Or maybe this?” Alexandru leaned over and slanted his mouth
over hers. He parted her lips with his tongue and tenderly explored hers.
He’s
a vampire. An abomination! A…

Damn!
Rana sighed inwardly and her brain turned to
mush. She had no idea what it was she wanted him to stop doing anymore, but it
certainly wasn’t this. His kiss deepened, demanding nothing, yet promising
everything. Rana moaned with pleasure. Though he demanded nothing, she soon
realized she was willing to give him everything. Her body ignited beneath his
touch. His hands, large and gentle, caressed her arms and her back, drawing her
closer until she nearly exploded with desire. “Is this what I need to stop?” he
whispered against her lips.

She knew what he asked. Knew what he was. Knew he wouldn’t
take her without her consent. And yet, God help her, she consented. “N—no.
Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

Alexandru’s eyes darkened with passion; a soft glow haloed
around them. He growled and gently pushed her back on the couch. He lifted the
hem of her T-shirt and pulled it over her head. His eyes strayed to her two
mounds secured in the white lace bra. With a quick, deft movement, her bra
disappeared. He lowered his head and buried his face in the valley between her
creamy, taut breasts. His lips climbed each peak before settling on a nipple.
He suckled feverishly, never pricking her skin with his teeth. Quivers of
pleasure shot through her. Rana arched her back and moaned. Her fingers tangled
in his hair, pulling him closer. “
Cara
, I have missed you.”

Alexandru lifted his head, fangs shimmering in the
candlelight and tugged on her jeans. He rolled off her and as if by magic, her
clothes and his vanished. She watched unashamed as he stood
au naturale
in the candlelight, pure male with an aura of supernatural power, his desire
for her evident in his pulsating manhood. His body, hard and taut, settled over
hers. She welcomed him with warmth and moisture as he glided into her
effortlessly. She quivered as he filled her. Electricity charged the air around
them. Her eyes locked with his. Rana gasped inwardly. No longer was Alexandru
just a creature of the night. He was
her
Alexandru. The man she loved.
Rana tightened around him, basking in the throbbing sensation inside her. She
pulled him closer, her fingernails scraping his back. He groaned and began the
mating dance. With each rhythmical thrust, she matched his passion as he
unleashed his primal urges bringing them both to the edge of insanity.

Alexandru lay spent beside Rana on the couch, his arm slung
casually around her shoulders while her head rested against his chest.
Burnished-gold hair fanned out around her. He sighed inwardly, his hunger
finally quenched. For now. He eyed the woman lying in his arms and his body
hardened. Heat surged through him like an electrical current. He wouldn’t be
satiated for long. Guilt drop-kicked him in the stomach. Rana deserved better
than this. Better than him. How could he have taken her so selfishly? Knowing
he didn’t deserve her. His jaw tightened. She would hate him even more if she
ever realized that he didn’t…

Rana shifted, leaned over and reached for her pile of
clothes on the floor.

“Don’t.” He trailed his finger down her back. “Not yet.”

He wasn’t ready for her to go. He knew she would never be
back.

“Alexandru, I must get home. It’s getting late.”

“Not yet.”

“Why did you bring me here tonight?”

Alexandru’s hand stilled on her back. Did she already regret
their lovemaking? Or did she remember? His stomach clenched. “To protect you.”

“From what?” Rana arched a brow suspiciously.

Alexandru paused. Then, “From another vampire.”

“I don’t follow.”

“When we were on the sidewalk outside your bookstore I
sensed another presence.”

“Who?” Rana sat up and slid into the thin wisp of her white
lace thong. She pulled on her jeans, zipped them up and snapped them.

“It’s not important.”

Rana jerked her head around and glared at him. “It was
important enough to whisk me off to your…” She looked around the room and
wrinkled her nose. “Your lair. Now, tell me who, Alexandru.”

He blew a long breath between his lips and sat up beside
her. “Vladmir Gustovez.”

Rana’s hand flew to her throat. “No!”

“He’s been following you. Watching you. I picked up his
scent when we were at your car tonight and when—”

“When what?” Rana yanked her shirt over her head, pulled it
down and narrowed her eyes.

“When I escorted you home.”

“Escorted me home?” She knitted her brow; then as if
realizing what he meant, she tightened her chin. “It was you. In my car.
Outside my window.”

Alexandru winced at the accusation. “Yes. I had to make sure
you arrived home safely.”

Rana’s shoulders deflated. “What does Vladmir want this
time?”

Another long pause. Then, “You.”

“H-how do you know that?”

“I just know. Let’s leave it at that.” Alexandru dressed,
then sat back down on the couch.

“He must have seen me in The Voodoo Den.” She lifted her
chin. “Well, I’m not available.”