Only Witness, The (11 page)

              She let out a small moan as his fingers dug in and drew her closer. She'd changed out of the robe, which was in his opinion a fucking shame, but the stretchy v-neck tee shirt and jeans she wore were nearly as enticing. “Deke.” She whispered his name when they came up for air.

              They were going to end up in her bedroom again or maybe even right there on the counter, with the windows giving anyone outside one hell of a show. Deacon was fine with that but he had a feeling that Vera would feel differently.

              He was surprised that he could even form thought with her mouth working against him and her body wrapped around his. All he could feel was her. All he could smell was her. The hold he kept on his control was weakening. Damn it, he wanted her and he was going to have her.

              “Please,” she whispered, her hips moving so that he knew just what she was pleading for.

              Deacon's hands gripped her ass harder so she could feel just how much he wanted to please her. He watched as her head fell back, her eyes half closed and full of desire. Christ, he'd never seen someone so beautiful before. Something deep inside of him shook loose, his hands tightened on her. His mind was shouting that she was his, the need to be inside of her and know that she was open totally to him was strong. So strong. Almost too strong. With no effort whatsoever he lifted her from the ground, started for the stairs as her legs closed around him.

              He could feel her heat through her jeans, the scent of her arousal mingled with that amazing scent that was hers and hers alone. How had he not noticed it early? “Give me your mouth.” He barked the order.


              Vera responded immediately, opening to him while her legs wove tighter around his body. There was no mistaking what either of them wanted, or rather needed, from the other. Deacon put his foot on the step to head to the bedroom; the need to feed the desire inside of him made it had to focus on anything else. It was a terrifying and exhilarating sensation.

              His hands gripped her ass tighter, and he felt something pop in his finger. It was a sensation almost like cracking a knuckle but a thousand times more dangerous. The change was coming, it was close to dusk and if he didn't stop right now it was quite likely that he'd lose control with Vera, or more accurately lose control when he was inside of Vera.

              It was simply called Blood Lust and the reason why many of his kind refused to pursue relationships with humans. One single scratch and a human would be doomed to turn on the next full moon. Most humans didn't survive because quite simply their bodies weren't equipped to handle it. With Blood Lust there was no simple scratch, in the pursuit of release the mind was completely free and open. An open mind could not resist the dark pull of the moon. Deacon had seen humans ripped to bits; the wolf had no consideration for anything but its own satisfaction at that point.

              “Deke?” Vera's voice pierced through his internal battle.

              “I've got to go,” he knew that there was no way to explain why. “I need to get out of here.”

              “Now?” Vera demanded, she unhooked her legs from around him to regain her footing. “Are you serious?” She took a few steps back from him, ran her hand over her hair. Deacon knew that she was wondering if she'd done something, if it was that he'd realized just who he was with and decided he'd rather not.

              “Vera,” he stepped forward and cupped her face with his hands, “it's not about you, it's...”

              “Don't. Don't make excuses.” Vera let her hands fall away from him. “Just go.”

              “Vera.” Deacon said her name more like a warning.

              “No. You want to go. Just go.” She didn't back down, in fact she motioned with her hand towards the door. “I was right, this was a mistake. And I sure as hell won't be making it again!”

              “I'm going,” Deacon held up his hands, his fingers were longer than usual. It was all he could do to hold the change to just that. Anything more would terrify her and he'd never have a chance. “It's not what you think Vera, I promise.”

              “How the hell would you know what I'm thinking?” Vera's voice shook. “Get out. Get out, now!”

              “Already said I'm going,” Deacon had to struggle even harder to remain his control, “just stay in tonight. It's not safe out there for you.” He couldn't be sure what the wedding would bring or how exactly The Grievers would want to celebrate, but he could imagine them heading to town; they would like nothing better than the taste of human flesh and blood.

              “I've got no intention of crashing Adelaide's party, don't you worry about it. There's no need to make threats, Deke, no need at all.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

              Deacon moved in to kiss her but she turned her head and held her hand against his chest. “I'll be back in the morning, we'll talk.”

              “No we won't, I've got an auction to go to.” Vera marched over to the door and opened it.

              Deacon was barely out of the door when she slammed it hard enough to make the glass rattle. He was glad to hear the beep of the alarm. Tonight The Vikings were going to be spread thin around town; key friends would be armed as well, depending on their experience and ability.

              He really couldn't afford to spare any of them, but there was no way he was going to leave her alone and unprotected. He brought his cell phone to his ear and dialed; the voice on the other end answered quickly. “It's me. Need you to sit on New to You tonight, make sure nothing happens to Vera. You got me?”

              “Got it Prez,” Houdini replied.

              “Keep your distance, don't let her see you. She goes anywhere, you follow and you keep her safe. Got me?”

Chapter NINE


              Vera stayed in the house after Deacon left for only as long as it took for her to shower, change and put onto one of her favorite outfits. It wasn't the prettiest of outfits, a long maxi dress in swirls of purple and green, with her favorite black sweater and sandals. Maybe it was a little too chilly outside for it but she didn't care; it was her favorite for a reason.

              She had the uncomfortable feeling that someone was watching her as she made her way to the car. Once inside she locked the door and headed out of town to the complex that held the movie theater, several restaurants and Target. Surely she'd find something there to entertain herself for the night.

              It was going to suck to be tired in the morning for the auction, but she'd deal with that with as much coffee as it took to keep her alert. The auctions were a pretty cutthroat place, made more so by the recent rise of a television program detailing the antics of a group of shoppers; she needed to be on her toes to make sure that she got the best deals.

              Instead of wasting her time thinking about Deacon Hawke, she needed to concentrate on business. That was the plan all along. Her mother had never understood why she'd returned to Center City after college, why she'd toiled away in any job she could get so she could save and why she'd almost immediately turned her savings and the inheritance from her father into a secondhand store in a town not necessarily large enough to support it.

              Julia King—she'd dropped Warren and gone back to her maiden name when she divorced Vera's father—was a judgmental bitch. There was no way to sugarcoat that. Her favorite thing to say about New to You was that it should have been called Someone's Old Shit. Somehow that title didn't have the same ring to it.

              Even now, from across the country, Julia got as many barbs in as she could. When the choice came down to giving up her apartment and moving into New to You or calling Julia and asking her for a hand, it hadn't been a choice. With the bills piling up and business down, Vera realized that she was standing on the ragged edge of a cliff, one false step and she'd tumble down, taking the store with her. In essence, if she failed, then the almost ten years she’d put into the shop would be for nothing and Julia would have been right.

              It was a lot of pressure; pressure wasn't her strongest event. There were some days when she opened her eyes and was ready to face the world, others when she opened her eyes and was ready to jump off of a cliff.

              And now on top of that, there was Deacon. Her crush on him had been distracting, pleasantly so, it gave her something to think about that didn't bring her stress. Or at least it hadn’t used to bring her stress. Now she was fuming over the way he'd acted, so cold and detached at first, but then angry that she wanted him to leave. Then he'd been full of passion, kissing her like he was never going to stop. Except he did stop. Not only did he stop, he left with a parting order to stay put.

              Vera let out a frustrated scream, tightened her grip on the wheel as the unseen hand wrapped tighter around her lungs and squeezed. She struggled to keep her wits about her, get the car pulled over to the side of the road without harming herself or anyone else. A pain tore through her chest.  “Shit. Shit. Shit.” Vera focused on inhaling in and out slowly so she could pull to the side of the road. “Breathe! Just breathe.”

              Now she was really pissed at Deacon. It had been six months since she'd had an anxiety attack; she'd nearly stopped carrying the tiny pills just in case. Tonight she was glad for them and glad for the bottle of water she'd tossed on the front seat. As she waited for the pills to help slow the pounding of her heart, the tightness in her chest and the thoughts that wouldn't stop rushing through her mind, she focused her eyes on the rear view mirror. The trees along the road were fully covered with leaves; it was pretty. Pretty calmed her.

              Several moments passed; she felt more relaxed and was just about to turn the key and get back on the road when she saw something move in the trees behind her. A closer look told her that it wasn't something, it was someone. The pills kept her calm, allowed her to focus on the figure. It took only a moment to realize that it was Houdini. “What in the fucking name of fuck?” Annoyed, Vera turned the car off and got out. “Houdini! I see you back there. Is there a particular reason that you're following me?”

              Houdini stepped out from the trees where he had been. “I wasn't following you. I pulled over because I had to take a piss.”

              “Bullshit,” Vera crossed her arms over her chest. She felt mellow, much more mellow than she should have been about him tailing her. “Let me guess, Deke put you up to this.”

              “What? Why would he?” Houdini protested. For a badass, tattooed biker he was a pretty shitty liar.

              “Look, just get back on your bike and go the other way,” Vera was just about at the fraying end of her rope. Was Deacon truly so worried she'd show up at the party that he kept Houdini from it to keep an eye on her?

              “He did tell me to keep an eye on you. Tonight there's... well there's something going on. Things could get dangerous.”

              Fear dug into Vera's belly despite the drug in her system. Now that she was relaxed, her mind not racing, she'd had the uncomfortable feeling since Deacon had frozen on the stairs, and her night had gone from promising to not. From possible hot sex to comfort food and whatever movie caught her eye. “Alright, follow me all you want. I'm going to grab food and dinner, you could join me if you'd like.”

              “I'll pay,” he offered immediately.

              “Guess I'm getting the lobster then,” Vera smiled at the man she considered a friend. “And I really hope you're ready to watch a chick flick, a weepy chick flick.”

              Houdini bit back a sigh. “Sounds good.”

              “You're such a shitty liar. Let's go.”

              The last thing that she wanted was a shadow, but if Deacon had ordered it, there was nothing that was going to stop Houdini from carrying out his orders like a good soldier. If she didn't like him, if it had been, say, Master who she'd seen behind her, she wouldn't have invited him along. No, she'd likely have run in the other direction if it were him; he'd always given her a bad feeling deep in her stomach.

<#<#>#>#>#

              Vera couldn't help but have a good time with Houdini. His obvious relief that she hadn't taken him to see a weep fest of a chick flick had put him in a really great mood. Still, it was obvious that he was on high alert, paying close attention to everyone around them. Vera nearly asked a dozen times what the danger was but doubted he would tell her.

              Deacon hadn't mentioned danger, was that the real reason why he'd wanted her to stay in the house tonight? It had never occurred to her that there was any reason but keeping her away from Adelaide's party.

              “I really thought you were going to make me see a chick flick. That was good. Let's call ahead for food and head back to your place. Let's see if you know what to do with the PS3 I saw at the shop.”

              “You sure that you don't want to eat here?” Vera eyed the two restaurants within walking distance of the theater and in her line of sight where they stood at the car.

              “The food will be stone cold when we get home,” Vera pointed out. “Why can't we just...” she stopped as they walked towards her car, her eyes drawn to a shadow at the edge of the lot. Immediately she was reminded of the night before, of being scared as she entered the shop. No, being scared as she entered her home. She slowed down, eyes still locked to the spot.

              “Vera, what's the holdup?” Houdini turned, followed her gaze. “Motherfucker,” he muttered as he moved in front of Vera, hand going underneath the dark hooded sweatshirt he wore. She knew that he was reaching for his gun. It should have freaked her out, but instead it brought an odd sense of comfort to her. “Hurry up and get in the car, now. We've got to move. Don't stop for anything! I'm going to be right behind you.” The words were clearly an order.