Page 40 of Wicked Allure
“Of course. What are friends for?”
“What happened?” Tarek stormed out of the front door. It slammed behind him. He paused on the porch then made his way toward her.
Tomesha grimaced as she’d hoped to avoid him this morning. She felt a little better but was still weak. All she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and sleep. She’d hoped she’d have had a chance to recover before he came home from work.
Boris had been assigned to drive her home to ensure she made it safely. She held on to the security guard’s arm as they made their way up the path. Tarek stopped in front of her. He glared at Boris, in full protector mode.
“What happened to my sister?” Tarek barked again.
Boris’s glasses hid his eyes, but the way his muscles tensed set off alarms inside her.
“Hello, I’m right here.” She waved a hand at him. She offered an apologetic smile to Boris. Apparently, she hadn’t arrived late enough to avoid a confrontation. She sighed and figured she might as well get this over with. “Thanks for bringing me home, Boris. I’ll see you tonight?”
“Tomorrow. Don’t forget Mistress would like for you to take tonight off,” his deep voice rumbled.
There would be no arguing with him. She was sure Mistress had given him explicit instructions before he’d taken her home to remind her. He placed her hand on Tarek’s waiting one. He eyed her brother, nodding to her. The large vampire turned and headed back to his vehicle.
“You didn’t have to be so rude to him.” She shifted her small cross-body tote to rest on her hip.
Tarek helped her up the few steps to the house. According to Lamaya, she needed a full day’s rest, then she’d feel like herself again.
“Are you going to answer me?” Tarek snapped.
Her eyes cut to him and held his gaze. His expression softened. He guided her to the door and opened it.
“I will, but why are you like this? It’s too early in the morning to be causing all of this ruckus,” she muttered.
They entered the house which smelled of lemons and cleaning solutions. She smiled, knowing their grandmother must have been up late cleaning again.
“What do you mean? I look out the window and see a man almost carry you out of the car?—”
“He did not carry me.” She released Tarek’s arm and headed to her bedroom.
Her brother followed her. She sighed and opened the door to her bedroom.
“Why are you moving like you’re ninety?” Tarek leaned against the doorjamb and eyed her.
She switched on the light on her nightstand. She turned to face him, and he grew still. His focus immediately dropped to her neck. The only way she’d have been able to hide the markings and bruises was if she’d worn a turtleneck or a scarf.
“What. The. Fuck.” He pushed off and slowly walked to her.
She swallowed, unsure how she could truly explain to him what had happened. She remained where she was. He came to her and lifted her chin as he examined her neck. A string of curses flew from his mouth.
“You’re not going back there.” He released her and shook his head. “They practically mangled you.”
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” she said.
He ran a hand over his face, a stubborn glint in his eyes.
She opened her bag and went over to her bed to pour the coins she’d earned for the week. “See what I brought in? The mistress decided last night that it was time to allow the vampires to feed from me.”
“Vampires? As in more than one?” He didn’t even pay any mind to the bed.
She tucked her dark hair behind her ear.
“No, just one.” It was her turn to shake her head. She immediately regretted it. The skin of her neck was still tight. She blew out a deep breath and took her bag off. She tossed it onto the bed and walked back over to him. “I promise I’m fine. The bruising will go away. The vampire was actually nice, and she tipped me with royal coins.”
“All money isn’t good money, Tomesha. We can figure out a way.” He flicked his gaze over to the pile of coins sitting on her bed. His scowl deepened. “There are a few places I hear that are hiring.”
