Page 47 of A Vampire Bewitched
See? Silver lining.
“Em? We’ll need to be leaving in about an hour.” Aiden eyed the dark circles and puffy eyes no amount of cold water could fix, a look of concern on his face. “Can I get you anything, love?”
“No, thanks. I’m fine.” She tried for a smile and rose unsteadily to her feet, stiff from sitting in the same spot for so long.
Aiden eyed her up and down, and then reluctantly closed the door behind him as he left, leaving Emma to her thoughts.
After all these years, it seemed surreal she may be seeing her sister again in only a number of hours. She should be worrying about how dangerous it was going to be to get her out. About what she was going to say to Keira once they did. If they were all going to make it out of there alive. Because she had no doubt in her mind, if her sister was helping that horrible woman, she was doing it against her will.
But all she’d thought about the entire day were Nik’s eyes burning into her soul as he’d told her he’d brutally killed the last girl he’d loved in an act of mindless bloodlust.
His story had been stuck on replay in her head all day. She knew he’d meant it as a warning to her, and she had no doubt what he’d told her was the truth as he believed it. But something about his story was nagging at her. Something just didn’t add up. She’d seen Nik all “vamped out” a few times now, and not once had she ever feared he would hurt her. He’d always, without fail, been mindful of his superior strength, gentle even.
And the first time he’d kissed her? When he’d nicked her lip and then straight out bit it? He could have easily lost control that night, gone for her throat and sucked her dry, but he hadn’t.
And last night, in the shower. Emma felt a rush of heat at the memory. The things he’d done to her. He’d been in complete control the entire time. And after, he’d walked away, which only confirmed her theory even more.
She’d felt completely overwhelmed by him, yes. But in danger? Never. Not once.
Granted, although she’d been in a life-threatening situation before, she’d never been a soldier. She didn’t know how it felt to be in a struggle for your life and come out on top, high from the fight with adrenalin pumping through your body.
But Aiden would.
Emma turned off the water she’d been using to wash her face and brush her teeth and heard raised voices in the other room.
Drying her face and tossing the towel on the sink, she hopped into a pair of jeans and changed her shirt. Barefoot, she flung open her door just in time to catch a glimpse of a very pissed off, very wet, and verynaked, vampire slamming the guest bath door in Aiden’s face.
Whoa.
Speechless for the second time in as many days at how beautiful he was, she didn’t immediately remember why she was standing there, until she noticed Aiden stalk off in the direction of his room.
“Aiden! Wait!”
His fierce expression immediately softened. “Em? What’s wrong, love?”
“Would you come here for a minute? Please?” She gave him what, she hoped, was a winning smile.
“To your room? But, Emma, what will everyone think?” One hand placed theatrically over his heart, he looked over his shoulder.
“But, you’ve already been in my…in Nik’s room. And no one else is here.”
“Hmm. True enough. Well then, I guess there’s no harm in it.” With a shrug, he headed her way. Squeezing past her to get through the doorway, he muttered under his breath, “But please don’t tell Nikulas. He’s upset about us as it is.”
Was that what all the yelling had been about? “There is nous,Aiden.” Closing the door so their conversation wouldn’t be overheard, she leaned back against it as he sat down on the side of the bed.
Leaning back on his elbows, he gave her a lusty wink. “You just keep telling yourself that, poppet.”
Emma barely caught herself before she rolled her eyes at him. She would rather avoid another scene like the one on the runway. Changing the subject would be her safest route. “Aiden, you’ve been in battles since becoming a vampire, right? Fights?”
Sitting up, he gave her a knowing grin. “You want to see my battle wounds. Alas, vampires heal quickly, and never have scars. However, I have a great one where I was completely gutted when I was still human—”
“No, I don’t! Wait…you were gutted? Really?”
He lifted up his shirt, giving her an eyeful of mouth-watering, rock hard abs and yes, a horrific scar running diagonally from the bottom of his ribcage to where it disappeared under the waistband of his pants.
Coming closer to get a better look, she was suitably impressed. “Holy cow. How did you live through that?”
“That would all be due to Luukas and Nik, who found me on the battlefield with my insides hanging out, and who gave me this second chance at life. Otherwise, there’s no doubt in my mind I would have died that day.” Pulling his shirt back down, he started untying his running pants. “I have others, though they’re not as good as that one, but still impressive. Want to see?”
