Page 14 of Princess
“A little older than that,” she led off. His eyebrows rose sharply; she knew that she didn’t look a day over twenty-five. “I was born differentthanyou.”
“In what way?” heasked.
“Nadira! Get to the point!” Toma snapped, causing her to jump. Cooper’s eyes narrowed at Toma before turning backtoher.
“I was born a vampire,” she blurted out, holding her breath, waiting for hisreaction.
Cooper looked at her for a second, searching her face. She kept her face free from emotions. “Ok, funny. But really, what is going onNadira?”
Her incisors extended, breaking through her gums. She smiled a soft smile knowing that her small fangs would show. A low gasp escaped Cooper as he backed away slowly; his eyes locked on her mouth. She knew what would come next; her heart broke a little at the thought that he would not want to have anything to do with her. She was certain beyond a reasonable doubt that he was her Fated Mate. She was destined to spend the rest of her life withCooper.
Her heart wouldn’t feel as if it was being torn in two if he was not for her. Her brothers just couldn’t let her have just a little happiness.Damn them! Her chest became heavy as a look of horror passed his face. Rejection hurt like abitch!
“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you,” she quickly tried tocomforthim.
“Those aren’t real!” He pointed at her mouth, shaking his head in disbelief. “Vampires aren’t real,” he said, looking around the room. Her brothers chuckled at Cooper’sreaction.
“Oh, we’re very much real, Detective Cooper,” Teague said, bearing his fangs. Cooper moved slowly towards the door but Adrian flashed quickly to the door, blockingtheexit.
“Stop it!” Nadira screamed at her brothers knowing that they are having a field day tormenting a human. She ran over to a panicking Cooper, quickly reaching up to grab his face, forcing him to look at her. Hating herself for what she had to do, she stared into his beautiful eyes using her vampire compulsion. “It’s okay, Cooper,” she said softly. Her vision blurred from unshed tears. She felt his body relax as her compulsion commanded him torelax.
She reached inside of his mind, finding all of his memories of her — her standing outside the nightclub speaking with the police officer, her smiling at him in the coffee shop, her looking up at him laughing at something he said during their walk. Tears streamed down her face as she erased tonight’s events from his mind. She witnessed his initial reaction to her in the diner, after he turned and spotted her at the table with herfriends.
Not having the heart to erase every memory of herself from his mind, she left his first glance and impression of her knowing that after tonight, they would probably never meet again. She knew it was a little selfish of her, but she wanted to leave at least one impression of herself with him. Once she was done, his glazed eyes just stared off into space, in a trance, waiting to be released from thecompulsion.
“I hope you guys are happy. Please take him home, unharmed,” she said quietly, holding back her sob as she quietly left theoffice.
* * *
~Cooper~
Cooper opened his eyes,wincing at the small elephant stomping around on his brain. Headaches first thing in the morning sucked.What the hell?He rolled over in the bed slowly, staring at the ceiling. He closed his eyes, praying that the elephant trudging through his brain wouldcease.
How the hell did I get in the bed and why am I still fullydressed?
He couldn’t remember climbing into the bed last night. His phone chirped, signaling a text. He rubbed his hand across his face as he grabbed the phone, looking to see who it was.Sam. Banging could be heard from the front door. He cursed, rolling out of the bed, stumbling to thebedroomdoor.
“Hold on!” he yelled out as he slowly made his way to the door. He glanced out the peak hole, seeing his partner standing outside. “Hey,” he said, openingthedoor.
“What the hell? Why haven’t you answered your phone?” Sam demanded, pushing his way into theapartment.
“I must not have heard my phone. What’s going on?” he asked, combing his fingers through his hair, shuttingthedoor.
“We need to go to the coroner’s office. Dan said he has somethingforus.”
“Let me jump in the shower,” he said while Sam plopped down on the couch. Maybe the hot water would help his head. He had absolutely no recollection of last night’s events. He tried to remember any part but a slow ache formed in his brain, causing him towince.
Twenty minutes later, Sam and Cooper were in his car, heading to the coroner’s office. Sam noticed Cooper’s quietness. “What did you get into last night?” Heasked.
“Nothing, that I can remember,” he responded, glancing at Sam. He had the weird feeling that something did happen but he couldn’t put a finger on it. The last thing he remembered clearly was getting dressed. After that, his memory had been wipedclean.
“If you were drinking that hard, you should have called me.” Samchuckled.
“No, I don’t think I went anywhere last night,” he looked out the window, watching the city fly by. He remained quiet for a few minutes as Sam maneuvered the trafficeffortlessly.
“You okay?” Concern clouded Sam’s voice, making Cooper glanceathim.
“I think so,” he tried to smile but failed. “It’s probably exhaustion. I knew I was running on fumes. It probably just caught up to me;that’sall.”
“Let’s swing by the diner and grab some coffee,” Sam said, flicking his turn signal on. A young woman’s face flashed intoCooper’smind.
Abeautifulface.
Iceblueeyes
Luscious lips that curve into a sexysmile.
Herface.
But who the hellisshe?
