Fractured (Vampire Awakenings, Book 6) Page 2

  She tilted her head back to look at him. “When I was twenty-two. How old are you?”

  “Fifty-two.”

  Mia turned her attention back to the tree in the yard. “Not so old for a vampire, then.”

  “No, I’m not,” he agreed. “But I intend to live for many more years.”

  She rested her fingers against the glass once more. “Many do,” she murmured, “but many don’t end up living for as long as they want. Something always throws a wrench in the works of our plans, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes,” he agreed, unable to tear his eyes away from her profile. Her heart-shaped face, the gentle slope of her nose, and the curve of her full lips all fascinated him. “Were your parents mated?”

  “They were. In that way, it was a blessing they both perished in the fire. If only one of them had survived, the other would have destroyed themselves after. I’d have ended up alone anyway.”

  “You don’t have to be alone now.”

  Didn’t she? It was all she’d been for years; she didn’t know how to be anything else. She certainly didn’t think she had room in her heart, or the courage, to open herself up to another. Not after the fire, and certainly not after her imprisonment.

  Mia wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

  A wave of disappointment crashed over him when she moved farther away. He would give anything to be able to take her into his arms and chase away the anguish haunting her eyes.

  It would take time, but she would learn to trust him enough to allow him to hold her. He’d make sure of it. She was already talking to him more now.

  Mia lifted her eyes to take in David. At least six feet tall, he had a good nine inches on her five-three height. She had to tip her head back in order to take in the chiseled angles of his cheeks and square jaw. There were many good-looking vamps residing in the house, and some who weren’t so handsome, but she found him to be the most striking one of them all.

  Most likely broken when he’d still been human, his nose crooked slightly to the side, giving him a rugged air that went perfectly with his tall, athletic build and fresh outdoor scent. He had the long, agile body of a skier.

  A body that her fingers itched to touch as desire slid through her belly. It had been a couple years since she’d desired a man, and never so acutely as this. It took all she had not to step closer and press herself against him until no space separated them.

  She had no idea where the whim came from. However, once there, it formed an image in her mind that had her fighting against doing exactly that. If she touched him so intimately, she’d probably freeze up or have a panic attack. Both of which would be completely mortifying. He’d already seen her weak and broken in the warehouse, already knew she was a freak who cringed away from any contact with another. She couldn’t humiliate herself by giving in to her urge to get closer to him only to turn into a mess.

  A strand of his pale blond hair fell to the corner of one of his electric blue eyes. Her gaze dropped to his lips, the upper one stiff while the bottom was fuller. Biteable, she decided as she imagined running her tongue over it before drawing it into her mouth and nipping at it.

  It wasn’t the first time she’d imagined kissing him, and she suspected it wouldn’t be the last. She didn’t know how much longer she would be able to resist doing it. His touch didn’t bother her as much as some of the others, but she still wasn’t about to jump into bed with him.

  Why does it have to be an all-or-nothing scenario?

  Because she knew a kiss wouldn’t be enough, not with him. A tremor racked her, and she took another step away in order to put some distance between them. She wasn’t so jaded that she didn’t recognize David had a good heart, and was a good man, but the idea of getting close to anyone made her want to run screaming for the hills.

  “Will you come with me to my home?” David tried to keep his voice level, but he couldn’t keep the hope from it.

  “What about all the children there? And your friends? Aren’t you afraid you’d be putting them in danger by having me there?” Mia inquired.

  David didn’t know her well—she’d made sure of that—but he did know she wasn’t evil. She’d been abused and endured more than she should have in her short life, but she didn’t kill humans. The other purebred vampires who had met her would have smelled it on her if she were a killer. Starvation had driven Vicky to accidentally kill a human while she was being held with Mia, but Mia hadn’t been pushed to that limit.

  “Do you plan to hurt them?” he asked.

  “Of course not!” she blurted.

  “Then why would they be in danger if you were there?”

  “In case you forgot, I was chained to a warehouse wall when you encountered me.”

  “That’s something I could never forget, Mia.”

  The clench of his jaw, the sheen of red in his blue eyes, and the lethal tone of his voice gave him an air of danger. He’d been nothing but kind to her, but right then she knew he would kill any who threatened her.

  She swallowed and tore her attention from him to once again focus on the window. “There might be vamps out there still hunting for purebreds. For me. They know what I look like. Taking me to your home could put your family in danger.”

  “There are thirteen purebred vampires at my home right now. If there are vampires still trying to capture purebreds and feed from them, it won’t be just you who brings them to that property. I’d like to see anyone try to hurt someone living there. They’d never survive to regret it.”

  “Many of the vampires there are young,” she said. “Vulnerable.”

  “Nothing is getting past any of the adults there, trust me on this. If you feel safer staying here, I understand, but you don’t seem happy here.”

  She didn’t think she’d ever be happy anywhere again, but she kept that to herself. Pessimism was as attractive as snot. Besides, what did she know of what her future held? She’d certainly never envisioned being locked up and gorged on by vampires three months ago.

  “I think you would like my home,” David added.

  “There are so many vampires there,” she whispered.

  “Despite that, it is peaceful.” He rested two fingers on her arm, drawing her eyes to him. “And all of those vampires will protect you. I will also make sure they leave you be and keep their distance from you, if you prefer.”

  “Just what everyone wants, the antisocial house guest,” she said with a small laugh.

  He smiled at her and slid his fingers around her arm until he held it loosely within his grasp. The silkiness of her skin beneath his hand caused his pulse to spike. His breath caught as a bolt of lust hit him. Gritting his teeth, he shoved it aside. Now was not the time, and if she knew how aroused she made him, she might shut him out.

  Vicky said she hadn’t endured any sexual abuse during her imprisonment in the warehouse, but that didn’t mean Mia had been as fortunate. The thought caused his fangs to prick with the nearly overwhelming drive to kill any who had mistreated her.

  Most of those involved in the kidnapping of the purebred vamps were in the process of being hunted down and slaughtered by Ronan and his men. David would love nothing more than to join them—if they agreed to let him help, considering he wasn’t purebred or part of Ronan’s men—but again that would mean leaving Mia.

  As a purebred vamp, she was stronger than him in many ways, yet he’d defend her with his life. He’d also do anything to make her feel safe, even if it meant staying here when he’d much prefer to be back with his friends and family.

  He shared no blood relation to Liam and Sera’s children, but he considered them all his nieces and nephews, and he loved them all as if they were his blood, perhaps more so. They were closer with each other than many were with their blood family. He missed the laughter and the practical jokes that abounded at home. He missed Liam, Sera, Jack, Doug, and Mike. The last time he’d spent so much time away from his closest friends, he’d been going to c
ollege in Pennsylvania while they’d been attending school in Massachusetts.

  Then Liam had encountered Sera at a party, their bond had grown, and David had left Pennsylvania behind to help Liam get through the uncertain time. Due to a chance encounter David had with Stefan and Brian years ago, David had known more about what Liam was going through at the time than Liam had. Stefan and Brian hadn’t been mated at the time, but they knew what happened when a vampire found their mate.

  David could live another thousand years and he’d still never get over how small the world was, as Stefan and Brian were now mated to two of Sera and Liam’s children.

  Pulling himself out of the past, he focused on Mia again. “Do you wish to stay here?” he asked her.

  “I have no idea,” she admitted. “I hadn’t considered it. I can’t return to my apartment, even if I wanted to.”

  Mia had no idea why she stayed when all the other purebred vamps rescued from the warehouse had already left and were in hiding. Aside from Vicky, she was the only survivor who remained. True, she had nowhere else to go, but Ronan had made sure all the rescued purebreds were taken care of and safe.

  She didn’t stay because she was afraid of being caught and put back in chains. Most of the vampires who had organized the capture of purebreds and the selling of their blood were dead. The ones who weren’t were being hunted and would eventually be caught. Some of the vamps who were still alive knew what she looked like, but they would have no idea where to look for her if Ronan sent her into hiding.

  The vamps that may still be looking for her wouldn’t be able to track her, unless they had some sort of ability like Brian’s. However, if there was another vamp like Brian out there and that vamp had been working for Drake, Ronan believed Drake would have launched an attack against all of them and tried to destroy Ronan and his men.

  She believed it had simply been a fluke that her captors had stumbled across her when they did. She hadn’t known any of the vampires who had taken her, those who had paid to feed from her, nor any of the other captives before they’d all been held together.

  Most of her fellow survivors had chosen where they wanted to go. Ronan would have sent her anywhere in the world she asked him to, as long as he believed it was safe for her there. She could have finally gone to Alaska or Finland to see the Northern Lights. She could have lived out her biggest dream, yet she had stayed behind for some reason.

  Mia’s gaze flicked to David, and she had to admit that maybe she did know why she’d remained, and why she felt so safe. She didn’t know him well, but there was a calming, protective vibe from him that led her to believe he would never let anything happen to her again.

  Ah damn it, she thought with a sigh.

  Just because she’d been celibate the past three years didn’t mean she’d sworn off men. She simply didn’t want a relationship, and she had a feeling with David it may be deeper than anything she’d experienced with a man before.

  Well, she’d actually never had a relationship in her life, not really, and she’d never wanted one. There had been men coming and going, but none that she’d ever considered her boyfriend.

  Her parents had loved each other deeply. When she’d still been young, dumb, and full of dreams, she’d yearned to find their kind of love for herself. Then the bleak reality of life had slapped her in the face, and those dreams had gone up like smoke in the wind.

  Three years ago, Mia had made a choice to take a step back from the life she’d been living in order to focus more on herself. She’d moved back to Connecticut, where she’d lived with her parents before they’d been killed. She took a job in a coffee shop and rediscovered her love of the stars and space.

  She’d sat down and evaluated her life in a way she’d been avoiding doing since the night her parents died. Then, just when she was beginning to think everything was going to be okay, that she would heal and move on, she’d been ambushed, enslaved, and used as a vampire pincushion.

  Mia didn’t particularly like anyone, wasn’t sure she ever would again, yet she’d stayed because of David.

  Okay, maybe she liked David more than a little, and she had to admit that Aiden, Vicky, and Abby were friendly. Vicky understood what Mia had been through in captivity, and even though he could be a bit of an asshole sometimes, Brian had also grown on her. He wasn’t nearly as much of an asshole as Lucien, but then Abby had probably tempered Brian’s harsher ways a little.

  Her gaze lifted to David’s full lips, and she almost licked her own as she imagined running her tongue over his in order to taste him. He’d be delicious, she was certain of it. She’d lose herself in him, to him, until her hands were on him and his were on her.

  She tried not to cringe at the thought of another’s hands on her again. Touching her, holding her down….

  Her chest clenched as her breath caught in her throat. For a minute, breathing was nearly impossible as she became buried beneath the weight of her memories. She could feel the hands of those who had forcefully drained her blood from her running over her body once more, feel them pinning her onto the cold, hard floor beneath her. Her skin crawled even as anger flared hotly through her at what she considered her defect. She should not lose control of her body every time her past surged through her mind.

  One, two, look at your shoes.

  Her eyes fell to her sneakers as she labored to breathe. She despised this crushing sense of panic that had occurred often after the fire, when she’d been left all alone in the world. Back then, the panic had been triggered randomly and hit her out of nowhere. She’d spent a lot of time running from it and trying to ignore it. Over the last three years, she’d finally faced it, learned how to handle it better, and gained control of herself.

  Now the touch of another, or even the thought of another touching her, brought the panic forth again. The idea of getting close to anyone turned her into that frightened eighteen-year-old orphan all over again, or it put her back in those chains with the slurping sounds of vampires feeding from her.

  She shuddered at the memory of those fangs in her, the weight of their heavy bodies, and their skin on hers….

  “Mia?” David rested his hand on her arm when the color drained from her face and her breath wheezed in and out of her. She turned away. “Easy,” he murmured as he took his hands from her and held them in the air. “Breathe.”

  He’d witnessed her having these panic attacks before, but the helpless feeling they created within him didn’t ease with each new one. “Breathe,” he coaxed until her wheezing eased and some of the color returned to her face. “We can stay here for as long as you want to stay.”

  We! Mia almost had another meltdown at the comment. Why would he stay with her when she was such a complete train wreck? She didn’t sleep at night, she fed only enough to keep going, and panic attacks had become a common occurrence for her once more.

  A vampire with panic attacks; who’d ever heard of anything so ridiculous? She felt like a fraud, but then she didn’t know why she expected that being a vampire would make her exempt from such things.

  There had to be other vampires with issues out there. No one lived for hundreds of years without gaining a few freaking problems along the way.

  A bitter laugh escaped her. David went to lower his hands, but she clasped one of them and brought it toward her. Without thinking, she rested his palm against her chest and held it over her racing heart.

  Awareness of the man himself caused her nipples to pucker, and a stab of longing speared her belly. He heated her in a way no other man ever had. He made her feel things she’d given up on feeling.

  He felt the attraction between them too; she knew he did. Not only had he said ‘we,’ but he also swayed toward her, and she heard his pulse quicken. Her gaze drifted down his body, her mouth going dry at the delicious sight of him swelling against his jeans. Her heart continued to race, but this time it was from need.

  If she moved his hand a little to the right, he would be cupping her breast. If he brushed
his thumb over her nipple, she’d go limp and collapse.

  He’d catch her if she did; she had no doubt of that.

  David watched the emotions playing over Mia’s expressive face as she tilted her head back to gaze at him. Beneath his palm he felt the staccato beat of her heart. Her tongue darted out to lick briefly over her alluring lips.

  Unable to resist tasting those lips for himself, he lowered his head until his mouth brushed against hers. Her eyes widened, watching him. Intent on witnessing every one of her reactions, he ran his tongue over her lips until she whimpered and her lids drooped but didn’t cover her eyes completely.

  He swept his tongue more demandingly over her mouth. Her legs trembled, her hand tightening on his. Then the breath of her sigh blew over his lips before her eyes closed and she gave herself over to him completely. David’s heart thundered in his chest when her lips parted and her tongue stroked his.

  Before kissing her, he could have vaguely recalled the taste of strawberries, but now he remembered it clearly as the sweet taste of her enveloped his senses. Lust and something more, something deeper, swamped him as his tongue entwined with hers.

  He was done for, he knew it, and right then he happily stepped over the edge to plummet into the abyss of decadence that was Mia alone. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his chest.

  CHAPTER 3

  He knew instantly it had been the wrong thing to do when her pliant body stiffened against him. Her hands flattened on his chest to push him away. She broke the kiss and turned her head away from him while her hands shoved more incessantly against his chest.

  Fighting against the need to keep her locked against his body, where she belonged, David gritted his teeth and released her. With a jerky movement, he forced himself to take a step away from her before he frightened her further. She kept her face averted, but he saw the flushed color creeping up her neck. Her shoulders heaved with her rapid inhalations.