Chapter 14
Chapter fourteen
Cora
The thunk of a door shutting pulled Cora from sleep.
Groggy, she lifted her head and looked around.
Were they there already? She didn’t know how long she had stared out the window feeling sorry for herself before she drifted off, but she doubted it was long enough that they’d already be up in Northern California.
She still couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep at all.
Most nights it took enough pills to choke a horse to get any shut eye.
And yet one second she was pissed off that she couldn’t even touch a hot guy without her body betraying her, and the next she was wiping crusties from the corner of her eyes while squinting at the neon lights of the roadside motor lodge in front of her.
A quick glance at her watch told her it was close to midnight. She’d only been out for a couple hours, yet the disorientation was similar to coming out of an Ambien nap.
She leaned back in the seat and watched as Saiden strolled into the motel’s office.
She didn’t know how anybody could look at him and not realize that he was something other than human.
The way he walked with the confidence of someone who had nothing to fear, like a lion who knew he was the top predator in the jungle, was not a vibe human guys could pull off.
And she would know because she spent over a week trying to find someone who could.
It was the only reason she’d hired that dumbass, Jake, in the first place.
He wasn’t on the same level as Saiden, but he’d come a lot closer than most of the actors who’d auditioned.
Every aspect of Saiden, from the darkness present in his eyes to the rich gravelly texture of his voice, just screamed death incarnate.
He was the kind of guy you knew would break more than just your heart, but if he crooked a single finger, you’d leap into his arms and wrap your legs around his hips all the same.
Well, other girls would anyway. Even if she didn’t know that he was a vampire, she still had a rule about men.
She’d had a few flings shortly after she was diagnosed, but it all just felt too hollow.
Because really, what was the point? Instead, she’d simply bought an assortment of impressive vibrators and called it a day on their whole gender.
She had to admit, though, the vampire walking back out of the lodge was almost tempting enough for her to make some insane decisions. If he hadn’t essentially kidnapped her, she might have tossed her rule out the window and climbed into his lap the second they weren’t doing ninety on the freeway.
Or maybe while they were doing ninety if his awareness Gift was really that good.
“What’s going on?” she asked, shaking the visual from her head and stepping out of the car as he approached.
Saiden held up a keycard in answer.
She blinked at him. “Are you serious? Why are we stopping? Aren’t you a creature of the night? Let’s just drive right through.”
Saiden gave her a look she couldn’t quite decipher, then walked around back to pull her bag from the trunk.
Slinging it over one shoulder, he said, “It seems I missed another misconception about vampires. While we do enjoy the night, we aren’t completely nocturnal.
And since I woke up rather early this morning to make the ten-hour drive down to L.A.
, I don’t really fancy doing the entire return trip without a break.
” He paused, then softly added, “If it’s okay with you. ”
That was a first. He actually cared about what she wanted? Did he hit his head at some point while she was asleep?
“Uh, yeah. That’s fine.”
Cora cracked her neck, grimaced, and decided it was more than fine. Her muscles didn’t like her on a good day, so nodding off while leaning against a car window had them essentially staging a coup. She could use a comfy place to relax for a bit.
As soon as Saiden fell asleep she would have time to sort through headshots on Casting Networks.
It was a stretch, but maybe she could find another lead actor that came somewhat close to her vision.
With her dwindling timeline, she had to operate under the assumption that Marquin would let her hold onto her script.
It was the only thing that was keeping her going.
She held out a hand for her bag, but he just beeped the car and took off toward the right side of the lodge. She glared at his back for a second then ran to catch up.
“Hey, I can carry my own—Shit!”
The muscles in her legs revolted, and pavement raced up to meet her face. She threw out her arms on instinct, but the impact never came.
A strong arm circled her waist and swung her up into a firm chest. She looked up at Saiden, and she would bet the last five bucks in her bank account that she saw genuine concern on his face.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his brow wrinkling.
“Uh, yeah,” she exhaled, struggling to form a coherent thought when she was this close to his face.
At first glance in the dim warehouse, she’d considered his eyes to be almost black, but she couldn’t have been more wrong.
Up close, she saw that they were a deep shade of rich chocolate, and the lamplight overhead caused the tiny flecks of honey gold scattered throughout to twinkle like stars in a dark sky.
They weren’t human, those eyes—the way they expanded and contracted like a cat's to adapt to the light.
Saiden dropped her bag and brushed a stray hair behind her ear with one hand while the other remained firmly wrapped around her waist. She couldn’t be certain, but it felt like his arm tightened, as if he refused to let her go.
His eyes flicked back and forth between hers, searching for something. “You do that a lot,” he murmured.
When she spoke, the voice that came out was distant and detached, as if filtering through a thick fog. “Do what a lot?”
“Fall.”
“Clumsy,” she replied, her mouth on autopilot since the rest of her was still mesmerized by his eyes.
He smiled, and it lit up his whole face, changing him into a completely different person. The hard edges of his face softened, and his entire demeanor changed from murderous to magnificent.
She swallowed roughly and noted how his eyes were drawn to the movement at her throat.
Something flared hot in his expression, and it was enough to kickstart her brain back into rational thinking.
She’d seen enough movies to recognize that look.
He was a hungry vampire, and she had no intention of putting herself on the menu.
“So, you mentioned that you only feed from blood bags, right? No humans?” She took a step back now that the spell was broken, and he looked somewhat disappointed by the movement.
“Mostly, yes. Though emergency situations have called for a natural feeding.”
“I see.” She glanced around nervously. The lodge was the only building around aside from a closed-up gas station, and there wasn’t another living soul in sight.
“And is this an ‘emergency situation?’ Because honestly, I don’t care how much control you supposedly have.
I know how this ends. ‘It’s just a little nip,’ you’ll say, and then the next thing you know my body is buried in a shallow grave out behind Ray’s Motor Lodge. ”
Moving faster than she could track, Saiden captured her face in his hands. “Cora, I am going to say this one last time, and I beg of you please listen carefully to my words: There is no safer place for you to be than in my presence. I swear that no harm will come to you so long as I breathe.”
Then he scooped up her bag and headed toward the stairs to the second story rooms, leaving her staring after him and wondering why she was beginning to believe him.