Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Nicole lunged across the truck and grabbed the wheel. She jerked it hard to the right and the truck careened across the road.
Keenan fought to push her back, but he’d been totally unprepared for her attack. “Nicole, what are you?—”
The truck plowed into a wooden fence and fought to hurtle forward.
Keenan shoved his foot down on the brake, and the vehicle bounced twice, then steam exploded from the engine as the truck finally stopped.
Of course, Nicole had already flown from the truck by then. Her door hung open, swaying in the breeze, and he caught sight of her curving, come-get-me hips as she ran away from him.
Again.
He jumped out of the truck. Yeah, that piece of crap wasn’t going anywhere, but if he didn’t hurry, Nicole could easily vanish.
“Nicole!” Keenan shouted. Great. He couldn’t see her now. With a vamp’s speed, she could be anywhere. “I’m trying to help you!” Keenan called out into the night.
The hit came from behind. A hard, fast tackle that sent him slamming into the ground. He rolled, moving in a blink, but it still wasn’t fast enough. Nicole pinned his hands to the ground and loomed over him.
“Why do I need help from a demon?” Nicole demanded, and her teeth lengthened as he watched.
She straddled his body. Her hips and sex pushed down onto him. Keenan had never been in this particular position with a woman. He rather liked it.
A lot.
His cock began to swell. “I don’t—look, I’m not here to hurt you.” He didn’t bother letting his eyes change back to blue. She’d see him as he was. Probably would be better that way. Keenan could break from her hold in an instant, vampire strength or not, but he remained on the ground beneath her and let his gaze slowly rise to her face. “If I’d wanted you dead, I could have killed you back at the motel. You couldn’t fight back in your sleep.”
“Maybe killing me isn’t the plan.” Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Death is the easy part.”
He’d always thought so. Until her.
“If this is all some trick that you and your demon buddies are working, think again.”
Now she was starting to offend him. “I have no demon friends.” Come to think of it, he wasn’t sure that he actually had any friends.
She leaned closer to him, and her thighs slid against his hips.
Like it. A lot.
“What’s so special about me, huh?” The darkness shone in her eyes. To fight or fuck. He’d heard the whisper before. A vamp’s eyes changed to black when she was either getting ready to battle or to screw.
“Tell me, Keenan, why do I get a guardian? You don’t know me. You know nothing about me.”
Her scent surrounded him. Her hair brushed his cheek. If he wanted, he could lunge up and reverse their positions in about two seconds. Maybe one.
If he wanted.
I want.
But he put a stranglehold on the beast that was growing inside of him. A beast he hadn’t even known about until her.
Lust.
“You’re not special,” he managed to grit from between his teeth.
She blinked at him. “Uh, I?—”
“You seem to be just like every other human out there.”
“Wrong answer, hotshot. I’m not exactly human.” And she let her claws scratch him. A light, painful sting.
It shouldn’t have made his cock twitch.
It did.
He sucked in a breath and tasted her. His eyes squeezed shut. But now he could feel her even more intensely. Supple thighs. Slender, soft body. Control. “You—you were just like the others.” His words came out as a growl. “Going to work. Teaching at that school. Work. Home. Over and over.”
He caught the hitch of her breath. “What school?”
His eyes opened. “St. Mary’s. Down in the Quarter. You’d stay late with the kids, then hurry home, change and meet—Who was it? Donna?—for drinks at the bar on?—”
“How do you know this?”
“You never went home with any of the men.” Not while he’d been watching. “You flirted. You drank. Wore skirts a bit shorter than the ones you used to wear at St. Mary’s.”
A shiver skated down her body. The shiver trembled over him like a silken touch.
“You weren’t any different from a hundred other women in the city. Work, job, friends.” No different. No different from the thousands of other charges he’d taken, but when he’d looked into her eyes...
He’d lost everything.
Rage hit him. A hard fire that burned with the lust. Keenan lunged up, spun them, and pushed her onto the ground.
“I’m not a human you can jerk around,” he told her, bringing his face in close to hers. “Your strength isn’t going to work on me. Your bite isn’t going to make me weak.” Right then, he was the one wanting to take a bite. And why couldn’t he? Why couldn’t he take what he wanted from her?
He’d burned for her.
“That’s bullshit!” She tried to shove him away. “A vamp can drain a demon. A vamp can kill?—”
He stared into her eyes. No, she wasn’t the same woman she’d been. In her stare, he now saw the secrets, the pain, and the fury. A fury that matched his own because he wasn’t the same, either. “Sweet, I don’t remember saying I was a demon. Just that the bastard had seen through my glamour.”
Her lips parted.
And he took.
His mouth crashed onto hers in a deep, hard kiss. This need, this consuming hunger—it was what had led the humans into temptation.
Sin.
Oh, yes, he wanted to sin with her.
She didn’t wrench her head away from him. Didn’t bite him with those too-sharp teeth.
But she didn’t kiss him back.
He wanted her to kiss him back.
“ Nicole .” His hold gentled on her wrists. Her nipples were tight. Her hips pressed up against him. Keenan knew the signs of a woman’s arousal but he didn’t know how to get her to give in to her need.
His hands freed hers. He kept his lips on hers and managed to soften the kiss. His tongue swept inside her mouth. Yes. That rich taste that was pure Nicole tormented him. He wanted more. Wanted everything.
And her hands were on him now. In his hair. Not pushing away. Pulling closer.
Her tongue met his. She gave a little moan in her throat. A hungry, hot sound that had all the blood in his body rushing right to his erection.
Lust.
Men had killed for this. Died.
He could understand. Finally.
His hands pushed between their bodies and found the snap of her jeans. Touch.
He had to know what she felt like. Had to see if she was wet. Hot. Would she taste as sweet down there?
Her zipper hissed as he pulled it low. His fingers pushed inside and found the soft cotton of her underwear. Her hips arched against him, and her tongue licked across his lips.
And a car’s engine growled in the distance. Coming closer. Closer.
No.
His head snapped up. His breath heaved out, and he couldn’t look away from her. On the ground. Lips red from his mouth. Her arms around him, her claws digging into his skin.
His gaze trekked over her body. His stare lingered on the pebbled nipples that thrust against her borrowed shirt. Slowly, slowly, his gaze dropped down to the jeans that were unsnapped and unzipped, revealing the pale skin of her abdomen, the dark black of her panties.
More.
The car’s engine idled closer. A siren blared on. A slow, droning wail.
“A cop.” Her husky voice was like a stroke right over his flesh. “If he sees the truck, he’ll think we’re hurt. He’s not going to leave without checking the scene.”
No, he wouldn’t. “This isn’t over.” His thumb brushed over her lips. Her eyes widened and then her tongue snaked out, licking him.
His heart shoved into his ribs. “Nicole, don’t run from me again. ”
The cop was getting closer. Keenan could hear the tread and roll of the tires.
Her head moved in the slightest of nods. “After we get rid of him, you tell me everything, okay? Because if you’re not a demon, then what are you?”
He would tell her this much. “Once upon a time,” he rose, stretching to his feet and pulling her up with him. “I was an angel.”
Her lips parted in surprise, but then she immediately shook her head. “What? Come on, no way. Angels aren’t real.”
Now that was just insulting. “Vampires can be real. Demons can live. Werewolves can howl.” He raised a brow. “Why can’t angels exist?”
A car door slammed. Footsteps thudded toward them. “ Oh, shit,” a rumbling male voice exclaimed. “Hello! Hello? It’s all right, I can help you!”
Keenan glanced back toward the wrecked truck. In the dark, a human wouldn’t be able to see them. The beam of headlights from the patrol car illuminated the truck’s wreckage. He turned toward the cop.
Nicole grabbed his hand. “You’re saying that you’re a guardian...angel?”
Not quite.
“There’s something you should know,” he said, but didn’t look at her. Her hand felt cool against his overheated flesh.
“Wh-what?”
“Sometimes, angels really do fall.” She deserved the warning.
Nicole sucked in a sharp breath.
“And when we do, we bring hell on earth in our wake.”
She backed up a step. “So are you the good guy?—”
His laughter cut through her words. “Not even close.” But he leaned in toward her and pulled up her zipper, then snapped her jeans. His fingers lingered too long. He couldn’t help that. “But I’m not here to hurt you. Those bastards who come after you, yeah, I’ll hurt them, but not you. ”
“Because I’m your key?”
He’d told her that in a weak moment. The truth should have stayed hidden. Too late now. He gave a grim nod.
The cop was swearing and yelling. Keenan and Nicole would have to talk more later. He headed for the truck.
“If it’s all true...”
Her voice followed him. She didn’t.
“If it’s true,” she said again, and, so, what, a vampire doubted an angel’s word? The world really was screwed. “Then, Keenan, what made you fall?”
He froze.
“Angels don’t just fall. It had to be something big, right? Something very, very bad.”
The glow from the cop’s flashlight hit him. “Sonofabitch!” The man ran toward Keenan. “Take it easy, sir! I’ll get you help!”
Keenan lifted his hand. “I’m not hurt.”
“Neither am I,” Nicole murmured as she came slowly to his side.
The flashlight jerked toward her and illuminated her pale face.
“Ma’am, you sure about that?” The cop’s voice held an edge of worry. “That truck was smashed to hell and back.”
Apt.
“Not a scratch on me,” she replied as her lips rose in a weak smile.
The cop—no, that wasn’t a cop. The older man approaching them so cautiously wore a brown sheriff’s uniform. One complete with a shining silver star. The sheriff raised his brows. “Mind telling me what happened out here?” The worry had faded from his voice, and suspicion coated the words. His right hand began to inch toward his hip and the gun holstered there.
Nicole stepped forward.
After we get rid of him, you tell me everything, okay?
Keenan grabbed her wrist. Nicole wasn’t the same woman she’d been in New Orleans. He didn’t know what she’d been doing for the last six months. Drinking from prey, killing them?
I don’t know, but I still want her just as much.
That was the problem.
“Don’t hurt him,” he ordered, his voice a whisper.
Her expression never altered.
“Let go of that woman,” the sheriff barked. “And you both put your hands up high in the air.”
Keenan let her go and raised his hands. After a moment, Nicole followed suit.
The sheriff came closer, sniffing as he neared them. “Don’t smell any alcohol.” He peered at Nicole. “Ma’am, you been drinking?”
Keenan nearly smiled.
“No, I?—”
“Holy shit.”
Now that gun of the sheriff’s was up and out—and aimed directly at Nicole.
“I know who you are.”
Keenan saw the fear flash on Nicole’s face.
The sheriff jumped back and pointed the gun right at her heart. “I got an email in my office earlier today—one that included your picture. You’re wanted for murder in Louisiana.”
Keenan heard the hitch in Nicole’s breathing. A faint sound, but one he caught.
“And you nearly killed a cop ...” The deep lines around the sheriff’s eyes tightened and his lips thinned. “He came to help you, and you nearly killed him.”
“No, I didn’t!”
Keenan didn’t know this story. “Perhaps you have the wrong woman.”
The sheriff’s eyes darted to him. “You don’t want to be with her, mister.”
He held that stare. “Yes, I do.”
The sheriff yanked out a set of handcuffs and crept carefully toward Nicole. “No, no, if you’d seen what she?—”
Nicole’s hands flew up and she punched the sheriff. Her fast fist caught him under his jaw. The blow sent him stumbling back.
When the sheriff hit the ground, his eyes were closed and he was out cold.
“I can’t go to jail,” Nicole explained softly with her eyes on the fallen man. “I didn’t want to hurt him, but I can’t get locked up.”
“A vampire would never survive in jail.” Or rather, the powers that be wouldn’t let her. He knew how the game was played. Some supernaturals—generally the low-level demons and the charmers—could handle prison. Vamps couldn’t. They’d start feeding on the other inmates and eventually, they’d have to be put down. Besides, it wasn’t like the jails could really hold them. Or the shifters, for that matter.
He bent next to the sheriff. Still breathing. His jaw wasn’t broken, though it must be made of glass. Keenan glanced back up at Nicole. “You up for a run?” The faintest scent of flowers teased his nose, and he tensed, his gaze sharpening.
But no one else was there.
Just Nicole, with her wide, worried gaze. And the sheriff, but he was all but dead to the world.
That scent...
Time to get out of there.
They couldn’t take the sheriff’s car. Too obvious. But with their power and speed, they could put a whole lot of distance between them and the man on the ground.
She gave a grim nod. “What about him? When he wakes up, he’ll put out an APB on me. More deputies will start searching.”
“Then I guess we need to make sure they don’t find you.” He rose and scanned the dark area around them. “We run until we find the nearest house. We take any car we find.”
“Steal it?” She bit her lip as her stare landed on the sheriff. The guy did look rather defenseless, knocked out like that. His arms were spread. His hat had fallen onto the ground near his head, and his thinning gray hair stuck to his forehead. “Isn’t that breaking one of the commandments and not very, um, angel like?”
Going to dwell on that, was she?
“Told you, sweet, I fell.” Now they had to move. Sleeping Beauty wasn’t going to stay out for long. “You ready to run or do you want him to toss your butt in jail?”
She swallowed. “I’m ready to run.”
Good. He laced his fingers through hers, and they raced into the night.
The angel watched them run. Keenan was so fast he could have easily left the vampire, had that been what the Fallen wanted.
But he knew Keenan didn’t want to leave her. That was the whole crux of this nightmare. Keenan didn’t want to leave the one who’d lied, fucked, and killed.
Sad. He’d had so much potential. So much promise. And for Keenan to now fall so low...
The vampire would suffer for this. She would pay for tempting. For making the strong weak.
She’d suffer.
Wings flapped as the angel prepared to soar above his charges. Death was coming. Sweeping closer in the air. This time, death wouldn’t be denied. No last-minute reprieve would be given because of temptation.
Not for the vampire, anyway. There was still a chance for Keenan. Grace could be regained. It just took one selfless act. One courageous, determined act.
And all would be forgiven.
Sins…wiped clean.
As the angel soared into the night sky, his black wings merged with the darkness.
Sheriff Tom Duggley pushed up and flexed his jaw. That little lady had one damn devil of a punch. But then, he should have expected that.
He rose and shuffled toward his car. The scent of flowers hung in the air, a light scent, totally out of place in the all but barren land.
Tom was surprised they’d left his keys—and the car. Bad move. They’d be on foot, and so much easier to track now. He grabbed the radio. “Need an APB...” He spit out a mouthful of blood. That punch had been real hard.
But she hadn’t killed him.
Odd, that.
“We got us a wanted fugitive in the area. A Nicole St. James...” Tom rattled off her description.
Killing him would have been so easy for her. Child’s play, especially with him knocked out. But she’d let him live. And that big hoss of a protective shadow she’d had with her hadn’t gone for his head, either.
“Approach with extreme caution,” he instructed as his fingers tightened around the radio. The deputies wouldn’t understand just how extreme the situation would be.
They didn’t know about vampires. He did.
Good thing he’d taken the liberty of ordering special bullets for his department. A sweet little batch made just for situations like this.
A silver bullet/holy water combination—a mix that had trickled through law enforcement personnel a few years back. A mix that worked wonders on the border. You never knew exactly what you’d see on a Texas night, not when you’d been patrolling for as long as he had.
But she’d let him live.
Damn odd for a vamp.
Damn odd. Especially since, if the stories were true, Nicole St. James had killed two men since her vampire transformation.
The motorcycle roared down the road. The engine vibrated between Nicole’s legs as she held tightly to her angel.
Angel.
Impossible.
But she’d spent her life as a semi-good Catholic girl. She’d been taught about angels since the time she learned her first few words. She’d always believed, until?—
Until she’d thought God turned away from her.
Not when she’d gotten the news from the doctor. No, she’d still believed. Still hoped. Still wanted to pray.
But...
That alley. That blood-soaked hell of an alley had convinced her. And then, the things she’d done…Her eyes squeezed shut as she pressed her forehead against Keenan’s strong back. No helmets, of course. They’d been lucky to steal the bike. The bike’s owner hadn’t been forgetful enough to leave helmets behind. Now they were just driving hard and driving fast. Her arms were around Keenan, holding tight.
Trusting him didn’t seem wise, but what choice did she have? She’d been thrown into this new world, with no damn clue how to survive. She’d barely scraped by the last few months. There’d been so many times she’d come close to death.
And she’d changed. The woman she’d been—yes, she really had died in that alley. The woman holding onto the back of a fallen angel had fallen herself.
He’d said that if she drank his blood, it wouldn’t weaken him, so the man seemed to be her perfect prey.
Perfect, but… I can’t trust him.
When a vamp took from prey, a link was formed. A link that allowed the vamp to slip into the prey’s mind. Sometimes to control. Other times to steal thoughts or memories.
When you had control over someone, trust wasn’t exactly an issue. So most vamps didn’t worry about trusting their prey. But she didn’t want control. Never had. She knew too well what it was like to be a puppet on someone else’s string.
Soon the lights of a city glittered in the distance. San Antonio . Good. The bigger the city, the easier it was for a paranormal to hide. And to feed.
Keenan snaked through the streets, guiding the bike easily, and she held him tighter. Whether she wanted it or not, her fate was being tied to his.
Keenan braked on a busy corner lined with bars, drunk humans, and cars.
Nicole eased off the motorcycle. “Thanks for the ride.”
He turned toward her with his eyes glittering. “We get weapons here.”
Weapons? They were in front of a bar, not?—
“Weapons,” his gaze swept her, “and clothes for you.” He left the motorcycle, not glancing back, and took her hand as they pushed through the crowd. No standing in line for her angel. Just a determined stride forward.
The bouncer at the door was too smart to try and stop him, or maybe the guy saw the hint of fang she flashed.
Then they were inside. Music blared. Smoke drifted in the air and the scent of?—
Blood.
Nicole froze. The scent of blood was everywhere. She hadn’t smelled so much as a drop outside, but in the bar— it’s everywhere.
“What? Haven’t you ever been to a feeding room before?” Keenan murmured. “Would have thought it was your kind of place.”
Nausea and need tightened her belly. “F-feeding room.” Right. She knew what these places were. She’d heard about them.
“Your one-stop dining shop for vamps,” he said, his gaze sweeping the crowd. She followed his stare and saw that a woman had a man pinned against the far wall, and her fangs were in his throat. Two men fed off another woman in the corner. A few feet away, a female vamp bit the wrist of the blond with her.
Blood.
“I don’t like feeding rooms,” she managed to rasp. Her teeth were burning, an instinctive response to all the blood. Like a dog salivating. Want. Need.
But the prey in feeding rooms—they were expendable. Used, tossed away. Killed.
“I’m not…” Like this. Right. Who was she kidding?
His steady gaze—once again that bright blue—seemed to say the same thing.
“Why are we here?” Nicole demanded. Weapons . That was what he’d said, but the only deadly weapons she saw in that place were fangs.
“You’ve got demons after you. And I don’t quite have the skills I used to possess.” His head cocked and his attention drifted to the bar. “If we’re going to fight the ones coming after you, we’ll need to be armed.”
Right. Because she wasn’t exactly kick-ass. He’d probably noticed that fact about her. “How did you even know this place was here?”
But he was already walking toward the bar as he tossed his answer back to her. “Oh, you’d be surprised at the things I’ve seen.”
No, she wouldn’t be. Or maybe she would be. At least a little because of the whole angel thing.
Keenan reached the bar. He flattened his hands on the surface. “Max.”
The bartender glanced up with one brow raised. Keenan knew the guy’s name?
“I want to see the goods in the back room,” Keenan said.
Nicole put her elbow on the bar and let her stare dart around the room. The humans there had come in willingly, but with one bite, the vamps had taken control of them. There’d be no running back home and telling friends about the cool new club now. From here on out, the humans—those who made it out alive—would say nothing without the vampire’s permission.
Control.
She hated it.
“Listen, buddy,” the bartender snapped, “I don’t know you and I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about—” His words choked off.
Nicole glanced back at him. Keenan had gone over the bar. His hand was around the man’s neck, and he was squeezing, hard.
“Don’t bullshit me,” Keenan ordered. “I know about the stash, and I need weapons.”
The angel wasn’t so good with finesse. Nicole cleared her throat. The bartender was a vamp. Maybe she could deal with him. She flashed a smile. A vampy one. “What my boyfriend means—sorry, he’s still new to the scene—is that I want to make a purchase from you.”
The vamp’s black eyes measured her, and he gave a jerky nod, as much of a nod as he could manage right then, anyway. “I’ll deal...” he gasped. “With ... you.”
“You’ll deal with us both, Max,” Keenan promised as he shoved the bartender back.
“How do you know me?” Max asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Word about you gets around.”
Okay, that sounded ominous.
Max straightened up quickly, cast a quick eye around the bar, and then shoved his thumb toward the door on the left. “This way.”
They couldn’t go that way fast enough. That blood smell was getting to her. Her control had never been that good and right then, that scent was sweeter than any candy she’d ever had.
She hurried behind Max and Keenan, her stare quickly sweeping back once more and?—
Oh, shit.
Nicole’s eyes met a pitch-black stare that belonged to a vampire she’d hoped to never see again. Handsome face, arctic black eyes, and a smile so cold and cruel.
A lover. A killer.
Connor.
Her breath seemed to choke in her lungs. Then Connor lifted his hand and crooked his finger at her, urging her closer. Bastard.
She spun on her heel and hurried after Keenan.
But she knew the vampire would follow her. Damn him. She knew.
Some monsters never stopped hunting.
Not until you shoved a stake into their hearts.