Page 30 of A Vampire Bewitched
As Nik felt the rising sun pulling him down into slumber, he accepted the inevitable. He may not ever make her his in truth, but from now on, he would always be there to protect her.
Even if it was only from her own mind.
Chapter 17
Two hours later, Nik suddenly sat straight up, leapt off the bed, and flung open the bedroom door. Hastening out into the sitting area, he passed by Aiden, who was just waking up himself. “Where is she?”
Aiden twisted around, causing a loud chorus of snap, crackle, pop to run up his spine. “Who?”
“Who? Emma! Who the fuck else would I be talking about?” Long strides ate up the length of the RV as he checked all the seats and then the door to see that it was still locked.
“How should I know? She’syourwitch.Youshould be watching her.” Rubbing his hands over his face, Aiden shuffled into the bathroom to wash up.
“I’mnota witch.” Emma’s voice sounded behind him.
Nik’s head whipped around to find her leaning in the bedroom doorway with a book in her hand. “Where the fuck were you?”
“I was right next to you, if you’d bothered to look around before charging out here to bellow at poor Aiden.” She waved the book she’d been reading at him.
Now that she’d been found, he felt like a complete and utter idiot for going off all half-cocked like he had. And she was right. If he’d paused a second, he would have sensed her there. He’d had her blood. And even from that small amount, he would be able to find her anywhere within a mile radius. What the hell was the matter with him?
However, as far as he knew, she didn’t know that yet. “No. You weren’t. I think I would have noticed.” Running his eyes over her black yoga pants and green top with approval, he added distractedly, “And I was not bellowing.”
“Yes, you were!” Aiden called from the bathroom.
Scowling, Nik shot a dirty look in that direction. He gave her another once over before he abruptly turned away without another word and walked over to the fridge. He needed to feed before he trusted himself to be anywhere in the near vicinity of her without hauling her back into that bed and forcing himself on her. Ripping the fridge door open, he grabbed the first bag he found and threw it in the microwave, then stood there watching the countdown impatiently.
Emma sat down cross-legged on the empty couch across from Aiden’s with her book. “Looks like somebody woke up on the wrong side of the coffin.”
He ignored her as he reached into the microwave and got his breakfast, shaking it up to even out the heat. Snagging the tip of the bag with his teeth, he ripped it off and spit it into the trash, then upended the bag into his mouth, chugging it down like water.
Emma wrinkled her nose as she watched him.
It tasted disgusting, but he finished the bag, and even grabbed another. When he was finished, he found a water and turned to face her. “Did you eat?”
“I had an apple. You drink water?”
Ignoring her question, he frowned at her. “You need to eat more than that.” Opening the cabinet, he rifled through the contents. “Can I make you something? There’s oatmeal, soup—would you like some tea?” When he got no response, he stuck his head out to find her watching him with an unreadable expression on her face. “What?”
“Why do you care whether I eat or not?” she asked.
Whydidhe care? He was acting like a goddamn mother hen for Christ’s sake, but he just couldn’t seem to help himself. “Uh. It’s just that we’re going to be getting on the plane, and the flight’s going to be pretty long.”
“I can’t eat on the plane? Don’t they usually have a little kitchen?”
Closing the cabinet, he mumbled, “Yeah, probably.”
Emma was silent a moment, and he was afraid to look at her for fear of what he’d see. She was probably laughing at him. But then she said, “Actually, if you wouldn’t mind grabbing a pack of oatmeal…that sounds really good.”
He grinned widely at her before he caught himself. The smile fell from his face as he turned back to the contents in the cabinet. “Sure. No problem. Long as I’m right here, anyway.” Grabbing a bowl, he read the instructions on the box, and then dumped in the oatmeal and the required amount of water. Throwing it in the microwave, he checked the back of the box again, and then set the time.
Emma was watching him, curiosity plain on her face. He could only imagine what she was thinking. One minute he was kissing her like his life depended on it, and the next he was brushing it off as an overreaction to the bloodlust. Then, he gets her here and sends her right off to bed, only to come running when she wakes from a nightmare. He tells her it’s not a good idea to stay with her afterward, then ends up sleeping next to her all day. He wakes up in a horrible mood, grumbling at everyone, and ten minutes later couldn’t be happier just to fix her some oatmeal.
He was starting to think they had it all wrong about females being the crazy ones.
Aiden sauntered out of the bathroom in cargo pants and his ever-present hoodie right as the timer went off announcing her food was ready. Throwing yesterday’s clothes on his bed, he wandered up to watch Nik stirring her oatmeal. “I don’t know how anyone can eat that mush.” Wrinkling his nose, he eyeballed his friend. “You know, you’re going to make someone a fine wife someday, mate.”
Nik looked at him sideways, but refused to rise to the bait.
