Out of the Dark (Forbidden Love) (22 page)

     “A wise choice,” Rebel agreed.  “Here, use mine,” he said, handing Brea his cell.

     “Thanks,” Brea  said.  She made the call, explaining that a close relative had a very serious case of anemia.  She had a week and a half’s worth of vacation time saved up, and she turned it all in at once.  As she suspected, John wasn’t happy.  But he would get over it.  Brea hadn’t so much as took a sick day since she started working at the restaurant and she was a good employee.

     She handed the phone back to Rebel, admiring his choice of attire.  He wore the usual black jeans and a white T-shirt that had tears lining the sides.  It showed just enough skin to get the mind wandering.  He wore a spiked collar around his neck and black bands on his wrists.  He looked every bit the rock star.

     It was so easy to forget that these guys were famous.  They treated Brea like one of the family from the very first time she had stepped into the house.  She found that she rather liked the guys too.  Especially Sebastian.  They were good friends, she thought.  Just as she had decided to thank Rebel for being so good to her, Antonio and Gage plowed into the room.

     “Run for your lives!” Antonio shouted as the pair
slammed through the sliding glass doors out to the patio.

     “What the-..” Brea started, but she knew what was going half a second later when a fuming Jacque charged into the room.  He was huffing and growling like an animal.  His eyes were furiously red and he was covered in what looked like whipped topping.

     “Where did they go?” he ground out through clenched teeth.

     Brea pointed to the glass doors.  Jacque charged away in that direction.  “I’ll kill you!” she heard Jacque shout.  “Not if you can’t catch us!” Gage shouted back.  The sound of wailing
laughter floated in from the yard.

     “Do I want to know what that was all about?” she asked Rebel.

     “I think Jacque got creamed,” he said with a mischievous smile.

     Brea just sighed and shook her head.  These men really were like brothers.  They fought like brothers and played like it too.  Would it really be so bad to be a part of their family?  Not if she wasn’t the one getting creamed, she thought with a smile.

     Brea stayed at the house for three consecutive days and nights.  She made sure that Angel was fed and that he got the rest he needed to
recuperate.  But she kept her distance.  She slept in her own room, and much to Angel’s dismay and dissatisfaction, she kept her hands to herself.  The only time Angel was permitted to touch her was when she allowed him to feed from her wrist.

     The wrist was not his favorite place to draw blood.  He much preferred the neck, or in more intimate circumstances, the vein in the thigh. 
But Brea wouldn’t allow it, and Angel wasn’t about to drive her further away again by protesting.

     He watched her every move, hung on to her every word.  He tried not to be so clingy, but it was difficult.  The mating had left him wanting her in a way he had never known before, but she had not given him permission.  So, even though she was there in his house, she wasn’t really with him. 

     Brea spent a good deal of time with Sebastian.  Although Sebastian was Angel’s dearest friend, he could not help the stab of jealousy he felt toward him every time Angel saw the two together, laughing and joking.  Angel wanted to be the one to make Brea laugh, not watch from the sidelines.  On the third night, Angel was so unhappy with the situation that he closed himself in his room.  He heard when the others went to bed just before dawn.  Brea went to her room without so  much as a goodnight for Angel.

     Tired, irritated, and hurt, Angel let
himself fall asleep.

******

     “Brea, get up,” Jacque whispered in her ear.

     “Huh?” she mumbled.  “What is it?”
     “Shh,  I didn’t want to scare you.   Go downstairs.  Wait there, and be prepared for anything,” he whispered.

      “What are you up to?” Brea asked while getting out of bed.

     “Payback’s a bitch,” he said with a smile.

      Brea did as he asked.   Brea watched from the bottom of the stairs as Jacque lit a piece of paper on fire.  He pranced back and forth in the hallway, allowing the smoke to fill the air.  Then, with a boyish grin, he held the flaming paper under the smoke alarm.

     A shrill, piercing wail filled the entire house.  “Fire!” Jacque shouted.  Realizing what he was doing, Brea waited for her vampire family to rouse.  It was still dark outside, but not for long.  Then she realized her proximity to the front door could become very precarious.  She managed to move out of the way as four vampires and two humans raced down the stairs.  They moved so fast that their shapes were little more than blurs.  Someone grabbed Brea on the way out the door, but she didn’t have time to see who it was.

     Brea found herself outside on the front lawn surrounded by Angel and his family.  Gage and Antonio were both naked, Rebel and Sebastian wearing only their boxers.  Keelie was there with Ricco, both of them trying to hide behind a sheet hastily pulled from the bed.  Angel was the one who yanked Brea outside, and he was still holding her.

     Jacque’s booming laughter floated from the house out into the yard.  “It’s what you get!” he laughed.  Brea found herself laughing as well.  She was grateful that Jacque had taken the time to warn her.

     “Son of a…”

     “I know, we should’ve known.”

    
“I guess you think that was funny?” Angel asked Brea.  Brea wanted to answer, but she was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face.  “You knew about this.” It wasn’t a question.  Angel knew that Brea had at least been warned.  He looked at his family, spread out across the lawn, and had to force back a chuckle of his own.  It was a good prank, he had to admit.

     “You should have…seen…faces
..” Brea choked out between laughs.  “Priceless..”

     “Ha ha ha,” Angel replied sarcastically. 

     “You,” Brea said to the guys.  “Get inside before the sun rises.  And get some clothes on!”  Then, she turned to Keelie, “And we will talk later,” she said, raising her eyebrows.

     They all went back into the house, some laughing, some irritated.  Angel stopped at Brea’s
bedroom door.  “What is it?” Brea asked.

     Angel opened his mouth and snapped it shut again.  Just ask her, he told himself.  The worst thing she could say is no.  But what if she did say no?  Angel wasn’t sure he could stand the rejection.  But how would he know if he didn’t ask?  He had been on his best behavior for three damned days.  It took every
scrap of willpower that he had to keep his hands to himself.

     “Did you want something?” Brea asked, laying her hand on his chest.  Just that small amount of attention made Angel’s heart race.

     “May I touch you?” he rasped out.

     “Well, you have been very good,” she smiled.  Brea reached up and put her arms around Angel’s neck.  Brea thought that he would kiss her, but instead, he pulled her to his chest and held her close.  He buried his nose in her hair and breathed in her scent.  His hands stayed on her back, although she could tell it was difficult for him.

     “I miss you,” he said into her hair.  He raised his head just enough to kiss her cheek lightly, then the corner of her mouth.  Brea turned her face to accept his kiss, but Angel backed away.  “Can I ask a favor?”

     “Sure.
”

     “Will you sleep with me today?  Only sleep.  I swear I will keep my hands to myself.  I just want to feel you near me,” he told her. 

     Brea could think of several reasons why that was a bad idea.  But his pain was rolling off him and into Brea with such force that she fought the urge to cry.  That combined with the pitiful expression he wore was her undoing.

     “Ok,” she whispered.  Angel took her hand and led her to his room.  They got under the covers and Angel pulled her close to his body.  He wrapped his body around hers, his chest to her back.  He held to his promise.  Within minutes, Angel was sleeping better than he had in weeks.

TWENTY SIX

     “Good afternoon, Ricco,” Detective Corbin said.  “Got a minute?”

     “Sure,” Ricco replied, opening the door wider so that Samuel could come inside.  “I’m afraid Angel is still sleeping, he hasn’t felt very well lately.”

     “That’s ok, it was you I wanted to talk to anyway.  Well, you and Keelie if she’s here.”

     “Sure, I’ll get her.  Can I get you something to drink?”

     “Anything wet will do,” Samuel said, wiping the sweat from his brow.  “It’s  a hot one today,” he remarked.

     Ricco hurried away to fetch the detective a beverage and Keelie.  As far as Ricco knew, she was still sleeping as well.  It was barely midday, after all.  Ricco had suspected that Samuel didn’t want to talk to Angel, mostly because of the time.  He knew better.  It would have had to be an emergency for him to request Angel.  But Ricco was glad to have it confirmed, just the same.  Angel was in no shape to talk shop.  Although physically, Angel was much better, normal even, but emotionally the man was a wreck.

     Keelie woke easily and agreed to meet the men downstairs as soon as she was dressed.  Ricco smiled to himself as he left his room.  Never had he thought that he would be made so happy by a werewolf.  But there she was, living, breathing proof that things don’t always happen as planned.

     When everyone was awake and present, and Samuel was working on his second glass of soda, he explained the reason for his visit.  “Have you heard anything on the vampire grape vine?” he asked Ricco.

     “I’m afraid that I haven’t,” Ricco admitted.  “But we have been pretty occupied here with our own problems.”

     “Oh?” Samuel said, raising an inquisitive brow.

     Ricco sighed.  How much should he tell him?  Would Angel be upset?  Ricco knew it would be unwise to air Angel’s dirty laundry without permission.  But he didn’t need to worry about it because Keelie did it for him.

     “Angel did something stupid,” she said, rolling her eyes.

     “And what might that be?”

     Ricco shot her a warning glance, but Keelie ignored it.  “He mated himself to Brea.”

     “I don’t understand,” Samuel admitted.  Keelie proceeded to tell the detective about the mating, having to explain how it works, and how Brea reacted.  She told him how Angel had been affected, and how he nearly died.  After her lengthy explanation, Samuel looked incredulous.

     “Is he stupid?” Samuel finally asked.

     Keelie chuckled.  “People around here seem to ask that a lot.  Only time will tell.”

     “So I suppose it is safe to say that you all have been here with him for the last couple of weeks,” Samuel said.  “That takes care of one problem I needed to broach.”

     “You needed an alibi?” Ricco asked.

     “There have been four more murders in the last two weeks.  This time, they don’t fit the profile.  These women were killed the same way, but they are physically different.  And as if that weren’t enough, these were not necessarily fans of the band.” Samuel shook his head.  “He’s taking them somewhere else to kill them and now he’s just leaving the bodies anywhere.  I don’t understand it.”

    “Think we pissed him off when we raided his apartment?” Keelie asked.

     “It’s possible.  Oh, and I got back the test results on the blood splatter we found at that apartment.  We got a positive match on at least three of our victims.  So this is definitely our guy.  I just wish I could remember what he looked like.”

     “That’s the problem with vamps.  Even if you could remember, you couldn’t be sure that is what he actually looks like.  Some can make you remember anything they want you to,” Ricco said.

     “How the hell am I supposed to stop this guy?”
Samuel said, sounding a little defeated.

     “You get the help of more vampires,” Ricco told him.  “I will have Angel assign a few that he trusts to help you.  He has your number, right?”  Samuel nodded.  “Good.  I’ll have him call you tonight.”

     Angel woke that night with Brea still sleeping beside him.  She was curled into a loose fetal position with her back against his chest.  Angel breathed her scent in, relishing it.  She was really there.  Every day he woke and had to remind himself that she was, in fact, in his home; that he
was not hallucinating.

     Angel moved a lock of fiery red hair away from her neck and face, revealing her pale skin.  He could plainly see the pulse in her neck, and his body responded immediately.  He was hungry.  He had not taken from her when it was not necessary for fear of driving her away mostly, but also because he didn’t want to make her anemic.  Once she decided to mate herself, that would no longer be an issue, but for the moment, it was.

     He traced his finger along her temple and cheek, and Brea stirred in her sleep.  She stretched her legs a bit and wiggled up closer to him.  Her shapely backside was pressed into his groin.  Angel could feel his body responding, and he sighed to himself.  He could do nothing about it.  He took a chance and pressed his lips to her exposed neck.  Brea sighed and arched her back, pressing harder against his growing erection.  If Angel didn’t know better, he would think the little minx was doing it on purpose.