Page 45 of A Vampire Bewitched
But, that was the question, wasn’t it? Didhewanther? He ran so hot and cold, it was impossible to tell if it was just bloodlust, or was he as consumed with her as she was with him?
As she finished scrubbing herself clean, she thought about what he had started to tell her on the plane. What the hell had that been about? What had he meant by all that ‘fated mate’ talk?
She knew he wanted her sexually, he sure as hell had proven that, but was that all it was? Is that all a relationship with him would be? Or did it mean more than that?
And why did he think he would kill her?
These questions and more spun around in her head as she got out and dried herself off. Pulling on her oversized T-shirt, she realized she hadn’t brought her robe in with her. Of course, she hadn’t expected company either.
Cracking open the door, she saw Nik sitting on the end of the bed with his back to her, staring out at the Sound. He had changed into a pair of dry sweats and a black tank top. His feet were bare. He tilted his head slightly toward her as she tiptoed over to her suitcase and found her old robe. Pulling it on, she went over and sat down next to him.
They sat together, lost in their own thoughts, until Nik finally broke the silence. “I’m sorry…” His voice was husky, and he cleared his throat before continuing. “I’m sorry, again, for walking in on you. I can be a little overbearing at times.”
“I’ve noticed.”
Needing to do something to break the tension between them, she put a hand on his muscular bicep and gave him a little shove. “What happened to the pain in the ass vampire who loved to amuse himself at my expense?”
With a sheepish glance her way, he murmured, “You seem to bring out the worst in me. I don’t know what it is. I’m usually a pretty laid back, happy-go-lucky kind of guy.”
Emma didn’t know how to respond as he rose from the bed to pace back and forth at vamp speed, nothing but a blur until he appeared at either end when he turned around. Here and there she would catch a glimpse of tensed jaw muscles and drawn brows, and even a flash of fang.
Emma remained where she was, watching, waiting patiently for him to work out…whatever he was trying to work out.
A few seconds later, he stopped, appearing abruptly in front of her. Fists clenched at his sides, he wouldn’t look at her.
“What is it?” she asked.
He met her eyes. “You were right before, what you said on the plane. From now on, any interaction between us needs to be strictly business. That’s it. We’ll find our siblings, and then you and your sister can go back to Pennsylvania and we can forget all of this—” He indicated the two of them. “—ever happened.”
Even though she had been the one to originally suggest it, she was nonetheless more than a little bit hurt to hear him agree. With all of his erratic behavior, she rarely knew what to expect from him, but it wasn’t this. “It’s a little bit late for that, isn’t it?”
Nik resumed his pacing.
“So, what are we doing here, Nik? Other than playing ‘feel up the witch’ of course…” she mumbled under her breath.
Swinging around in front of her so fast he startled her, Nik ground out, “Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t demean what happened between us,” he fumed.
“Us?” she scoffed. “There is no ‘us’, Nik. You refuse to let there be an ‘us’.”
“I’m not arguing about this anymore, Emma.” He went back to pacing.
Emma chewed her bottom lip, her thoughts spinning as she watched him appear and disappear, like some kind of out of control strobe light. She should just let it be. Respect his wishes. He was just trying to protect her, after all.
But, the thing was, she didn’t believe there was anything to protect her from. She’d never once felt like she was in danger when she was with him. Ever. No matter what they were doing. Maybe she was being naive, but she trusted her instincts. And her instincts told her not to give up on him. There had to be something she could say, something she could do, to convince this stubborn idiot it didn’t have to be that way.
She had no idea what that was, however.
“So, just like that? When this is done, we just…forget about each other?”
“That’s how it has to be, Emma.” Resolve hardened his posture.
She lowered her eyes so he wouldn’t see the pain reflected there. “I liked you better when you were teasing me all the time.”
“Emma…” he admonished.
