Page 4 of Bitten By Desire

Julian’s gaze darkened as only a vampire’s could as he pressed his lips into a thin line. “You are correct. I should not have let my guard down. I should have been better prepared.”

“That wasn’t what I meant,” I said on a sigh. I took a step toward him and guided his face toward mine. “You’ve been amazing at taking care of me through everything. You can’t anticipate the future. I’m the psychic. But you do need to take care of yourself now. Please.”

Immediately, he softened. “I will feed. Stay put and I will return as quickly as possible.” He leaned in, kissed me quickly, and sped off so fast I had to close my eyes against the sudden gust of wind.

The scientist in me hypothesized that the speed would keep some of the pressure off the bad leg. Or maybe it was the woman in me who loved him enough to try and find ways not to worry.

While I waited, I sat at the base of the hill and tucked my head into my knees, praying to whatever gods might be listening that our friends had survived the attack. They’d jumped in to save us, and I couldn’t stomach the thought of losing anyone else I cared about because of selfishness.

Julian returned to me quickly, the same wind alerting me to his presence. When I raised my head, I was relieved to see his pale skin had regrown beneath the rip in his pants, and his eyes were so deep, they seemed purple. He offered me a hand up.

“We are in Peru,” he announced. “I’ve taken the liberty of securing a hotel room under a false name so that we can get ourselves cleaned up and find out what happened when we left.”

Peru? I’d always wanted to visit the ruins here, yet that seemed like an impossible, far-away thing. Wrapping my arms around Julian’s neck I tucked my head into his shoulder and let him lift me from the ground so he could speed us toward civilization and a shower.

When I came out of the shower, Zoe was seated at the small table overlooking the veranda. Julian had spared no expense making sure we’d be comfortable in a private villa at a resort. I hadn’t known that he kept separate identities and bank accounts for such situations. My six-hundred-year-old boyfriend was full of surprises.

I rushed to my sister and embraced her as we wept. By the time we settled back down at the table, Julian had placed cups of coffee there for us, already fixed the way we liked them. He excused himself to pick up some supplies, leaving us to converse.

A warm breeze teased my towel-dried hair as Zoe explained that the general had left without further harm or duress. The working theory was that since two sect liaisons were present, arresting or detaining anyone else would have put too much of a political strain on SHADE.

“Everyone’s worried about you,” Zoe said, cupping her mug for warmth.

“Me? I was scared for you. Are you sure no one’s injured?”

“Nothing that couldn’t be treated with a little magic and TLC.” Zoe forced a smile. “It’s awful that they would do this when you’re still grieving. You should be with your family and friends right now. Thank the gods for that vampire of yours.”

I never thought I’d hear her say those words. I agreed whole-heartedly.

“I don’t know that it matters where I am. The pain is the same either way,” I admitted.

“I feel it, too, Char. But I don’t blame you for Mama’s death. You shouldn’t be blaming yourself either.” She reached out, and I slipped my hand into my lap, averting my eyes.

Julian arrived with new phones and bags full of clothes and necessities. I stared numbly as he tossed them on the giant bed with the wicker headboard.

“Everyone wants to see you,” Zoe said as I continued to stare at the items Julian had procured so quickly.

“I’d like to see them too,” I heard myself answer. I needed to see for myself that they were indeed unharmed. I noted that Julian had changed clothes and wore a breezy tan button down with khaki slacks. The pale colors made him look washed out with his alabaster skin. Or maybe everything looked that way right now.

“We couldn’t risk bringing everyone through or being all in the same place after the wake,” Zoe was saying. “We have to be smart about hiding your whereabouts and letting on that any of us know where you are.”

I nodded as she said her goodbyes, gaze fixated on the red-and-white flowered dress Julian had bought me.

Over the weeks, they did visit. One by one or two by two, they came to “check on me”. The only one who couldn’t leave the island was Daphne, and it sounded like she was quite upset about not being able to see me in person. I appreciated that but understood, and frankly, one less person to lecture me on my unhealthy response to my mother’s death was good news as far as I was concerned.

The more they tried to reach me, the more I withdrew. They meant well, and I knew it. But none of them could possibly understand what it meant to ignore a warning that could have saved her. She’d gone through so much, and to have it end like that—being torn apart. I shuddered hard despite the humidity, and Julian pulled me close to his side.

Today’s visitors were Sam and Lydia. The werewolf wore sunglasses, a Tommy Bahama’s shirt, and shorts that showed off muscular calves, while the vampire had on a pleather crop top and Daisy Dukes over fishnet stockings and her signature Doc Martens.

“Enough moping, Doc.” Lydia set a bottle of tequila on the table. “We need you back to normal so we can kick some SHADE ass.”

Sam growled disapprovingly and shouldered in front of my friend. “You take all the time you need. I’ll kick all the asses I have to in the meantime. But,” he covered my fist with his massive hand, “Darlene wouldn’t have wanted you to stop living.”

Julian poured out four shots and set a lime wedge on each. A saltshaker sat in the center of the glasses near the bottle. I blinked. When had he set it down? I supposed it didn’t matter. I excused myself to lie down, and it was impossible not to notice the way Lydia’s fangs extended along with her hand to grab me. But Sam gripped her shoulder, and she melted back into her usual face, maybe slightly sadder than usual. It all happened within a second or two, yet I couldn’t help but shrink further into myself as I climbed into bed and pulled the covers over my head.

That evening, I found myself wide awake, probably due to having slept most of the day. A pop sounded to my left, and I turned to find Binx had appeared. A muscle in Julian’s jaw ticked, but he still rose and left us alone with a million stars for company. Binx took Julian’s recently evacuated chair and tugged it close to where I sat, staring out at the sky, feet propped on the railing and hands hugging my bent knees.

The scent of Bergamot and warm spice wafted over me, the same as Julian’s. And despite the incubus’s usual arousing nature, I barely felt it. I wondered if that was because he was purposely holding back or that I was too depressed to be turned on properly. I quickly shoved that thought away so I wouldn’t consider how Julian must have felt. I didn’t have the bandwidth for it.

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