Page 66 of A Vampire Bewitched
Chapter 36
Emma came back to consciousness as if in a fog. Disoriented, she lay still as she tried to place where she was—hard ground digging into her hip and shoulder, some kind of lumpy pillow under her head, the smell of smoke from a low-burning fire, and she was cold.
Except for her back. Her back was warm. She was laying on her side, fully dressed, knees pulled up in front of her, hands tucked under her cheek, facing the fire.
Why was her back warm when it was her front facing the fire?
Then she felt the warmth against her back move closer, and a large, male hand swept roughly up her leg, over her hip, and around her waist. The muscular arm it was attached to pulled her even closer to the warmth and snuggled her entire length.
Emma’s eyes popped open wide, scenes from the last few days flashing through her mind. “Nikulas?” she whispered into the semi-darkness. Had he been here with her all day? The last she remembered before she’d drifted off, he’d been talking quietly with Aiden on the other side of the fire pit, ironing out their plans for tonight.
“Shhhh. We don’t want to wake Aiden.” His husky voice was right in her ear, his breath tickling the tiny hairs on the back of her neck. It sent chills down her spine and made her shiver. Nik tugged her in closer, pulling her blanket up around them.
Aiden?Her sleep-muddled brain belatedly noticed the soft snores coming from the other side of the fire. “What time is it?” she whispered.
“We have about two hours until nightfall. Sorry I woke you up, I just—” He paused. “I just needed to touch you.” She felt cool air on her belly as his hand played with the bottom of her shirt. “Is that okay?”
Emma gave the fading embers of the fire a worried frown. He should be sleeping. They couldn’t afford for him to not be at his best tonight. All of their lives depended on it. She crooked her head around to tell him so, only to swallow what she’d been about to say when he came into view. He looked so—
Vulnerable.
“Um, yeah. It’s okay,” she whispered. She laid her head back down and moved her arm so her hand covered his on her belly. Truth was, even if he wasn’t nervous about tonight, she was. And having a strong, handsome vampire wanting to hold her didn’t sound bad at all. She could use the reassurance.
But as he hugged her to him again, she squirmed, his hand pressing into her lower belly…and her bladder. “Nik?”
“Hmm?”
“I have to get up for a minute. I have to…um…I need a moment. A human moment. Outside.” She could feel her face flaming as she tried to discreetly tell him she had to pee.
Nik’s big body stilled behind her, but he didn’t let go of her. Finally, he whispered, “It’s still light outside.”
She started to try to wiggle out from under his heavy arm. “I know,” she whispered back. “I’ll be quick.”
“No, Emma.” His arm was like a steel bar trapping her as she tried to shove it off. “No. You can’t go out there by yourself.”
She tried to roll over and slide out of his grasp, to no avail. “But I have to go to the bathroom.” Oh no, she was about to pee her pants.
“Do it here,” he ordered.
“No!” Her face flamed at the thought. “Jeez, I’m just stepping outside.” Renewing her efforts, she managed to get about halfway out in spite of his determination to hold her there, when his hand fisted her shirt in his grip and his deep voice rang through the cavern.
“I can’t fucking go with you!” They both froze at his outburst and slowly looked over at Aiden. He twitched in his sleep, giggled, mumbled something about marshmallows, and rolled over. His soft snores soon filled the cavern again.
Nik clenched his jaw and lowered his voice. “I can’t let you go out there alone.”
Emma temporarily gave up the struggle. His jaw was tense and his eyes frantically skipped over her face in the dim light. He was not just being a pain in the ass. He was worried.
“I’ll just step right outside the entrance. I won’t go far, I promise.” She tried to reassure him she’d be ok for the few minutes she’d be out of his sight. “If I see or hear anything at all besides a bird or a deer, I’ll call for you. You’ll be able to just reach out and pull me in to safety.”
Gritting his teeth, he looked away. She could tell he hated this. Despised this weakness that kept him from protecting her. A minute in the sun and she’d be toasting marshmallows over him.
With Aiden, apparently.
She tried again to reassure him. “I’ll be fine. Really. Those things are vampires, right? They can’t be out in the sun either.”
“No. But what if something else happened? I wouldn’t be able to get to you!” he whispered harshly. “Not in the sun.” He looked around the room, and she followed his gaze, but there was nowhere private inside the cavern, not even a small alcove.
“The tunnel. You could stay—”
