Blood Kisses (Nightwalkers Book 1) (18 page)

BOOK: Blood Kisses (Nightwalkers Book 1)
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"Hello,
beautiful." Ashleigh jumped when she felt Aiden’s arms around her waist as
he held her from behind. He kissed her cheek before rubbing his face against it.
He whispered in her ear, his lips teasingly touching its surface. "I’m so
hungry, I could eat you whole." His fingers pushed away some hair from her
face, his eyes admiring her diamond earrings. "Can I have just a lick?"

"Leave
me alone, Aiden." She tried to pull his hands off her, but she couldn’t
budge them. There was an apparent wetness and distress in her shaky voice.

"What
happened?" Walking around her, Aiden studied her expression before
reaching his hand up to her face and rubbing away some of her fresh tears. "Are
you okay?"

"Leave
me alone." She pushed his hand off her cheek and walked away from him, but
he quickly caught up to her and looped his arm in hers.

"Come
on, tell me what happened." He could feel her trying to weasel away from
him, but he didn’t let her go. "Did you have a fight with Caleb?"

"No."
Giving him an angry look, Ashleigh tried to push his hands off her.

"Then
what?" He pulled her into an empty hallway, and when no one was around, he
scooped her up and took off down the hallway, his speed so fast he seemed to disappear.
When he stopped, they were in another hotel room. Aiden sat Ashleigh down on
the bed before sitting next to her. "So, what’s going on? I hate to see
such a beautiful lady cry and not be able to help."

"So,
you want to be my knight in shining armor, eh?" Ashleigh laughed through
her tears before sniffling and wiping at her wet nose with the back of her
hand.

"I’m
not a knight, sweetheart, I’m a prince." Aiden laughed too, his eyes
watching her movements closely as he handed her a tissue. She thanked him with
a slight nod of her head while she blew her nose. "So, what happened?"

"Caleb
killed Spencer." Now that she was away from the tense scene in Caleb’s
hotel room, she was able to talk again. She shed a few fresh tears, but she had
regained strength in her voice. "And I was so stupid—I just stood there
like an idiot. I should've helped him. I—"

"Oh,
that’s all it was?" Letting out a slightly annoyed sigh, Aiden leaned back
on the bed, supporting his body with his hands.

"Is
that all you can say?" Turning to him sharply, Ashleigh sent him a nasty
glare as she dabbed her nose quickly a few times with the tissue in her hand. "Spencer
was my friend!" She stood up from the bed, her voice shaky as she began to
cry again. "Caleb knew that. He didn’t have to kill him. He—"

"Don’t
worry about it." Aiden had stood up and grabbed a hold of her shoulders,
catching her off guard. He stared into her eyes, the brilliant green of his
capturing her. She could feel his face getting closer to hers, a sickness
welling up in her stomach. "I will make everything better." He
continued to speak, but Ashleigh tried not to listen to the words.

"Aiden…stop…"
She knew what he was trying to do. Panic set in, and she tried to push him away
frantically. "I—"

She
could feel her body moving on its own, her head slowly turning to look at him. He
sent her a smile to greet her frown, one of his arms wrapping around her waist
and the other resting on her cheek.

A
small chuckle escaped his lips, the sound reverberating throughout her body and
making her shudder. "I like you this way, Miss Brown." He stroked her
cheek and could feel her trembling under his hand. Her breath was quick, her
bottom lip quivering as she looked at him with a helpless terror.

Speaking
in a voice that was barely given life, Ashleigh’s face scrunched up as she
prepared to cry, her body not responding to her commands. "Let me go."

"Do
you remember when we met at the workshop?" Cocking his head to the side,
he studied her curiously, his face now so close to hers she could feel his lips
hovering over her skin. His skin was soft, but his touch felt like stinging needles.
"And you read that excerpt?"

She
wanted to cry but couldn’t, all she could do was stare into his eyes as his
hands slid down her hips and rested on the band of her jeans. "Ever since
hearing those words, I’ve had this fantasy." He licked his top teeth
slowly, his great hunger for her apparent on his face. He stared her down like
a wolf would its prey, and she didn’t know if his intentions were cruel or
sexual, the tribal nature of his expression confusing her.

"I’ve
worked the scenario over and over in my head. Planned every detail…" His
hands slowly moved to the front of her pants and unbuttoned them, his fingers
pausing on the band before grabbing hold of the zipper. "Perfectly. I’m
not sloppy like the villain in your books. I’m going to make this something for
you to remember."

He
slowly pulled down her zipper, the sound of it like nails on a chalkboard to
her ears. She felt her arms go to his shoulders, caressing them for a few
seconds before unbuttoning his shirt. The tears finally came, Ashleigh trapped
in a body being controlled, and she could do nothing to stop it.

"Tonight
you will become mine." The words that flowed from Aiden’s lips heightened
her fear, and she now knew what fantasy he was acting out. He began kissing
her, and Ashleigh’s mouth kissed him back, warm tears falling onto his face. He
dropped his pants and then quickly dropped hers, pushing her down onto the bed
and making haste with his kisses.

She
didn’t have control of her voice, but inside she was screaming. Her eyes were
shut tightly as she felt herself take off her shirt and Aiden’s hands reach up
to push up her bra and grab her breasts. She felt him pull away from her
quickly, but she didn’t know why. She tried to open her eyes but a high-pitched
buzzing resounded in her head.

Ashleigh
held her ears and closed her eyes as tightly as she could. The sound was
painful, and her hands ripped at her hair as she curled up into a ball on the
bed. She quickly passed out.

She
woke abruptly, her body feeling as if no time had passed. Her adrenaline was
pumping, her fear of being Aiden’s puppet making her want to bolt. To her surprise,
she woke up in her hotel room, her eyes turning to Caleb when she heard him
strum his guitar. It was dark outside, thousands of twinkling lights and neon
signs to be seen out the window.

He
smiled when he saw she was awake, quickly setting down his guitar and running
over to her. He hopped into bed next to her, wrapping his arm around her
shoulders and hugging her to him playfully. She looked like she was in a daze,
her hand going to her pounding head.

"You
all right, babe?" Caleb rested his head against hers as he held her, his
voice soft and comforting. It was the Caleb she knew and loved, not the killer
she had seen earlier.

"Yeah."
Still holding her head, she forced a smile, her eyes watching him look at her
forehead. "I—"

"You
had a nasty gash up there, but your vampire blood healed you." He reached
up to her face and lightly touched her cheek. Leaning closer to her, he
inspected an invisible wound on her forehead. He was lying to her, but she was
still under the influence of his magic. Her time with Aiden felt like a dream,
and she struggled to remember how she got here.

"You
hit that door pretty hard and have been out for hours. If you didn’t wake up
soon, I was going to take you to a doctor."

"I…"
She touched her forehead, but felt nothing out of the ordinary. Her head was
still fuzzy, and she was extremely confused. "Hit my head?"

"Yeah.
I guess you don’t remember." He chuckled as he lay against the headboard
and pulled her closer to him. "It was my fault, though. When you came in
the door, I was going out, and I accidentally hit you."

She
slowly wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling her head into his warm
chest. "I blacked out?"

"Yeah."
She could feel the deep sigh that escaped Caleb’s lips against her face, Ashleigh
held him tighter as she struggled to figure out what was going on. "But
you’re all right now." He kissed the top of her head, his voice sounding a
little distracted. "I’ll make everything better, babe, just relax. We have
a little while before we have to catch the plane."

"Okay."
She sighed as she glanced at Caleb’s guitar on the floor, her eyes darting all
over its surface.
It must have all been a dream
, she thought. It
couldn’t be true. As she scanned the room, she started to feel better. Nothing
was out of place here, nothing broken. No blood. There was only her precious
Caleb.

She
rested for a few minutes more while Caleb got the bags ready. Robert came in
and took them. Ashleigh was still shaky on her feet when she stood up from bed.
She almost fell to the floor, but Caleb ran over and grabbed her.

"Hey
there, babe, take it easy." He let out a nervous laugh as he helped her to
the door, his body supporting hers as they walked at a slow pace. "I don’t
want you stressing yourself. I think you should go to Kingston and wait for me.
Maybe get settled in the house."

"Kingston?"
Ashleigh turned to him sharply. Kingston was Caleb’s hometown and wasn’t the
next stop on his tour. "But I thought we were going to Auron?"

"I’m
going to Auron. You’re going to Kingston." His voice was stern, a tone he
had never taken with her before. He looked at her angry face. "Don’t be
mad at me. It’s for the best. You need some rest. Just go back to my place and
get settled in. You’ll feel better once you get home."

He
was trying his best to keep a steady tone, but inside he was raging. He didn’t
want her to remember any of what happened, or risk her running into Aiden
again.

"Home?"
Her angered expression quickly changed to a sad one. "I don’t want to—"

"You’re
going, and that’s the end of it. I've sent Nathan there to watch over you. He'll
pick you up at the airport. He'll be your Robert from now on." He forced a
nervous smile then squeezed her to him playfully. "All right?"

"Okay."
She sighed as she followed Caleb and Robert down the hallway. She briefly
glanced at the room numbers and noticed they hadn’t come out of room three-hundred
forty-five, they had excited three-hundred forty-seven.

"Thank
you." Caleb saw the suspicion in her eyes and quickly went to her side. He
wrapped his arm around her shoulders and walked as close to her as he could. His
voice quickly changed and was light and happy again. "You can rest up
because in two weeks, I’ll be home. Then, I’ll be there to help you with all
that wedding stuff. I promise."

Wedding
stuff. Ashleigh’s heart sank. She was normally very happy about all that, and
couldn’t wait to finally be married to Caleb, but something was wrong. She knew
he was deceiving her, and she was afraid to find out if Spencer was really dead.

"Mom’s
got most of it all organized, so hopefully it won’t be that bad." He
pretended he didn’t see her sad expression, Ashleigh staring off into the space
in front of her as she walked. She was dazed, Caleb’s voice only like background
noise, and she wasn’t listening to what he was saying.

He
went on about the wedding and was trying his hardest to make her smile, but it
wasn’t working. She felt numb, afraid, and was struggling to grasp what was
going on.
What did he do? What did my
precious Caleb do?

Her
thoughts made her shiver, her heart surrounded by a coldness that made her
whole body tingle and her chest burn.

Chapter Thirteen

Ashleigh
rode on the plane with the band, pretending to sleep on Caleb the entire time. As
she lay in Caleb’s arms she could feel his heavy breath. He was upset and held
her tighter than he normally would. They didn’t speak, but words weren’t needed
to understand each other’s feelings. The pair was very close, and even though
they were lost and far away in their own thoughts, they still felt connected,
and Ashleigh wanted to cling to him forever.

But
no matter how much she loved him, no matter how much he loved her, it wasn’t
enough. She couldn’t stay in this dream forever, live like a monster alongside
her love like in one of her stories. Spencer was dead, and for the first time,
she realized this was not a game. Caleb was a killer and deep inside him, that
cold, angry man she had seen kill Spencer, resided.

Their
light conversation about marriage and other things had faded, replaced by a
severe tension. Then, she said something to break the silence.

Her
voice was low as she lay in his arms. "I saw what you did." She could
feel his breath deepen and could tell what she had said had made him angry. When
he didn’t answer, she traced slow circles around the front of his shirt. "Caleb?"

"What?"
He let out a nervous laugh, not letting her look up, pulling her closer to him.
She had caught him in his lies, and he struggled to blow off the whole thing. "I
needed to use the internet, so I borrowed your laptop. I just changed the
background for fun. Is that what this is about? Cause—"

"That’s
not what I’m talking about. Is he really dead?" Her tone didn’t change. She
closed her eyes as she felt him rub her back in slow, soothing circles. He was
trying to make her feel better, but it wasn’t working.

"Who?"
His voice got softer, a serious tone lining it. Leaning his head on hers, he
rubbed his chin on her soft curls.

"Spencer."
She heard an annoyed groan escape Caleb’s tightly closed lips. "Caleb?"

"It’s
nothing. Killing is just a part of life. I do it all the time." He kissed
the top of her hair, his voice very low as he spoke. "He was going to hurt
you babe. I’d do anything to protect you."

"What
was he going to do?"

Caleb
let out another sigh, his face twisting into an annoyed frown. "What does it
matter? Do we really have talk about it?"

"Yes,
we do." She picked her head up and looked at him angrily. He sent her a
scowl back, and she could tell that inside he was still fuming from what
happened earlier. "How did Spencer deserve that? What did he do that was
so terrible?"

"It
doesn’t matter." Caleb tried to grab her and have her lay in his arms
again, but she pulled away. "Come on, Ash." Shaking his head, he let
out an annoyed exhale. "Forget about it. I did it to protect you. Why
can’t you understand that? Why can’t you trust me?"

Her
voice took on a more desperate tone, and although she was afraid of losing
Caleb and hated fighting with him, she had to know the truth. "Because you
lied, Caleb. You lied, and I want to know why. Why did you do it?"

"I
told you already." He took out his phone and pretended to be texting on
it.

"You
did not!" She yanked his phone away from him. "Tell me right now!"

Caleb’s
voice was low, his face downcast. The words seethed from his lips as if they
were steam rising from the fiery anger that raged inside him. "He deserved
it."

Ashleigh’s
was speechless for a few seconds because she wasn’t expecting that answer. There
was a great evil in Caleb’s expression, one he had shown to others, but never
to her.

"Fuck
him." Caleb ripped his phone from her hand, his eyes narrowing on her like
she was his enemy. "And I’m not explaining myself to someone who fucks
around with hunters behind my back."

Ashleigh
tried to open her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t find the words. "You were
mine, and he knew it. Mine. Not his." When she went to leave, he grabbed
her arm and made her stay. "I wanted to show you how I live. I wanted to
be your first…in everything. But he ruined that. He had no right to touch you."

She
whispered her next words. "You killed him because I slept with him?"

"No." Caleb pulled her close to him, his face now inches from
hers. "Because he disobeyed me, and no one disrespects an Elder. No one."
He wrapped his arm around her waist, yanking her body closer. "Don’t
forget that. Hunters obey their Masters. Always."

His angry expression quickly melted, and he sent her a playful smile as
if nothing was sour between them. He leaned in and kissed her flabbergasted
face. "I love you, babe. That's all that matters. Don't question me on
this. It was the right thing to do. I promise."

She
didn’t know what to say and just let him move her into the spot they had been in
before. Her arms wrapped tightly around his waist as she buried her face in his
chest. After that, he began a conversation about something else, and Ashleigh
reluctantly joined in. She pretended to be happy, but inside she was scared. He
had never snapped at her like that, and he had never threatened her before.

Would
he kill her if she made him angry? The thought made her want to cry, but she
held it in.

When
the time to say goodbye came, Caleb walked off the jet and said his goodbyes to
Ashleigh near the steps. Looking down at her hands, Ashleigh was trying to hold
back her tears. Her fingers fidgeted with the tags on her bag as Caleb spoke.

"Call
me when you get to the house. I want to make sure you’re all right." His
voice was low and filled with sadness as he watched her nod her head quickly. Leaning
forward, he placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her lips gently. He
heard her sniffle, her eyes not looking up to meet his. "I—" Letting
out a deep sigh, Caleb watched her movements closely. "I’m sorry, Ash."

"I
know you are." A sad smile erased her frown, lighting up her tender
features. Her cheeks were reddened, a few tears escaped her eyes. She gave him
a hug, her arms wrapped around him loosely as she rested her head on his
shoulder. "So am I."

She
slowly pulled away from him, her hand reaching up and stroking his face. "Goodbye,
Caleb." Pushing her lips together as tightly as she could, Ashleigh tried
to hold back her tears.

"It’s
never goodbye." He put his hand over hers on his cheek, desperation in his
words. Shaking his head, he didn’t want to let her go, the emotions inside him
raging. "It’s ‘I’ll see you later.’ ’Cause I’m going to see you again. I
love you, and I know you know you love me, too."

“I
do…” Biting her bottom lip, Ashleigh removed his hand and quickly turned her
eyes from him. “I’ll see you later, Caleb.” She took a step back before picking
up her luggage.

Watching
him standing there was like a perfect storybook ending—her lover leaving on a
plane, this being the last time she would ever see him. The sky was cloudy, his
cheeks slightly flushed from the chill in the air, his hands jumping into his
pockets.

His
expression was perfect. His frown showed his strength, his eyes filled with so
much love it could make even the most hardened heart weep. She studied him for
a few seconds, trying to memorize his face. That handsome, wonderful face.

She
forced a smile as she sniffled, her words so soft only she could hear them. "Goodbye,
Caleb." Letting out a tearful laugh, she quickly walked away and left him
standing alone. "Thanks for the inspiration."

A small smile started on her reddened cheeks. A warm, devious smile that
continued to grow with each step. "I'll see you in the sequel…" Her
expression brightened as she gazed up at the sun. Even when she closed her eyes
she could feel its gentle heat, which made her shiver with happiness. "My
sun."

 

THE END

BOOK: Blood Kisses (Nightwalkers Book 1)
8.64Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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