ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (67 page)

Autumn awoke with a strangled cry at the base of her throat.  She had felt hands on her neck and touched the meat there quickly.  A sigh of relief whooshed out of her. 

A hand shot out of the darkness and touched her.  Her skin began instantly freezing from the touch. 

“Dalton, why are you so…”  A face moved near hers, half of it catching the moonlight.  She screamed as Daniel Blacksmith grinned at her. 

“Autumn!  Autumn, wake up!”  Dalton fought to push Autumn’s hands away from his face.  He could feel the sting of her nails as her fingertips raked across his nose.  The door of the bedroom flew open and Trina and Chris’s face came into glaring view as one of them turned on the light. 

“What’s happening?”  Trina gasped. 

Autumn sat completely up and backed as far as she could to the top of the bed.  Her hazel eyes were large saucers and her chest heaved.  They frowned as cold sweat popped up across her forehead.

“Baby?”  Dalton said and reached slowly towards her.  Her frantic eyes were beginning to calm and she crumpled to the covers in sobs. 

“He’s coming for me!”

“No, baby…no one’s going to hurt you.”  Dalton crooned pulling her towards his lap. 

“I’ll get her some water.”  Trina said. “Chris, run cold water on a washcloth.” 

“Autumn….whatever it was, it was just a dream.” 

“No.  No it wasn’t.  I saw him!”

“Who?”

“Daniel Blacksmith!  He’s coming for me!” 

Dalton ran a hand over his head.  Trina and Chris looked at each other, but didn’t know what to say.  It had taken two shots of whiskey and a good amount of persuasion to get Autumn settled back down. 

“What if she’s right?”

Brian shook his head.  “Dalton, it was just a night terror or something.” 

“She told me when we were in Luray that her mother used to read tarot cards.  She didn’t know if she could do anything else though.”

“What?”  Brian asked.  “You think she has the sight?”

“I don’t know.”  Dalton replied wearily.  He looked at the clock.  4:02 a.m.  He had a job to be to in less than four hours.  He could pray for rain, he supposed.  “Maybe she does.”

“I doubt it.”  Chris said.  “Brian’s probably right.  It was just a really bad dream.” 

Trina looked at Chris uneasily.  She had to say it even if he didn’t want to. 

“Vampires have strange powers.  Some of their powers are a mystery.” 

Dalton raised his head and looked at her sharply.  “What are you saying?”

Trina swallowed.  She didn’t want to upset her new alpha, but she wouldn’t pussy foot around him either.  “Some vampires have mind control powers.  He could have contacted her…some kind of way.” 

“He would need a blood relative, or a piece of her clothing or something, right?”

Trina shrugged helplessly.  “I don’t know.  I don’t really know a lot about them.”

Dalton pushed his chair away from the table and stood quickly.  His eyes were dark and brooding.  Brian frowned at the dark circles forming under his eyes.  He was taking on too much lately.  He was Dalton’s right hand, and he hadn’t been acting like it. 

“Can’t she and I catch a break?”  He didn’t wait for a response before slamming his way out the front door.   

Autumn listened to their quiet murmurings, her face a blank mask.  She wished she could make the cold feeling disappear.  It was fading, but it was still lingering.  It was almost a tangible living thing. 

She wished they would stop talking about it.  She wanted to go to Dalton and tell him she was sorry for over reacting, but she knew it would be a lie.  She had felt his presence.  She had felt him.  It made no sense, but there it was. 

Autumn laid back and tried to get comfortable.  The whiskey gave her a mildly detached feeling and she was able to allow her mind to drift off.  There were no more nightmares for that early morning.  Instead, she dreamed of white roses and satin, and when she awoke she could taste blood in her mouth.

Daniel Blacksmith stared out of the window.  His normally calm and in perspective demeanor was currently shattered.  He glanced over his shoulder to the sleeping ravished woman on his bed.  Fresh bruises shown in various places of her body, and he was sure she would walk crooked when she finally woke up. 

She had admitted nothing.  He had used all the normal tactics, some not very pleasant, but she had taken it all like she was…like she was other worldly herself.  He turned his attention back to the grounds crew and their pruning and raking.  It was the first week of fall maintenance.  Overnight all of the trees had completed their color changes, and had begun to shed their leaves.

He turned away, tying his robe.  He took a seat in the high backed winged chair by the window and watched Becky Coates sleep.  She was under his spell at this point, and it was only a matter of time before she broke and gave him the information he already knew.  He knew it in his undead heart and deep within his bowls, but he needed confirmation before he decided his next move.  Then there was the decision of what to do with her afterwards.  Her powers were natural, and she didn’t even know the full extent of what she was capable of.  Leanne had been the same way.  It amused him that the thought of Leanne still caused him pain.  It was no longer the knife sharp stabbing pain of loss, rather it was now dull and annoying.  Just something to make him weak, and he despised weakness. 

Daniel sighed.  Becky would have to stay for a little while; that much was certain.  Who knew?  There hadn’t been a powerful vampire with witch powers since Leanne.  Becky would never be as strong as her, but that didn’t matter.  The combination was rare, and that alone would make her rather powerful.  Maybe it was time for another like Leanne; at least until he could get his hands on Autumn Coates. 

Autumn picked at her breakfast, eventually just sliding the plate away with an apologetic look to Mika. 

“Why you not eating?” 

“I’m not hungry.” 

Chris and Trina exchanged a look, but said nothing. 

Mika laid a small brown hand on Autumn’s forehead.  “You don’t feel hot.”  She frowned.

Autumn tried to smile.  “I’m fine, Mika.  Can I just get a little more coffee?”

“Yeah.  You look like you need that.  Your eyes are bloodshot and dark underneath.  You’re probably nervous about the wedding.” 

Autumn laid her head on the table and groaned.  Her wedding was less than a week away, and she hadn’t planned anything except the dress. 

Trina smiled knowingly and shoved her lightly.  “You suck at being a bride!  Good thing Winnie, Mika, and I have everything under control.”

Autumn lifted her head.  “You do?”

“Heck yeah!”  Mika said, returning Autumn’s now full mug.  “We’ve got the menu nailed down, and Winnie is negotiating flower prices.  She’s going to make the bouquets herself.”  Mika opened her palms and tilted her head upward like an old starlet doing a scene.  “All fall colors…very beautiful.” 

“I’m sure it will be.  All of Winnie’s creations are beautiful.” 

“Are you both about ready?”  Trina asked.  “We need to get over to Winnie’s.” 

“What are you talking about?”  Chris asked.  “We’re supposed to meet the realtor at nine thirty.” 

Trina slapped her forehead.  “Oh, my gosh!  I almost forgot!”

“After that, we need to go back to Syria for a couple days to try and start tying things up there.” 

“Will you offer for your police friend to come back with you to meet Dalton?”

“That’s the plan.”  Chris said, and pushed away from the table. 

Serena breezed into the room, her blonde hair tied neatly at the base of her skull.  She wore an oversized button down shirt and what Autumn was sure was maternity jeans underneath. 

Autumn smiled at her warmly.  “Good morning.  Where are heading to today?”

“I have an interview at an antiques store in Stafford.”  She looked at Autumn with desperate eyes.  “I’m a nervous wreck!  Who’s going to hire someone seven and a half month pregnant?”

“One who’s as capable as you?”  Autumn grinned.  “You know your stuff…now go strut it.”

Serena visibly relaxed and straightened her shoulders.  “You’re right!  Once I succeed in divorcing and kicking Mike out of my house, I’ll have my own personal antiques back to show off in my new house.”

Mika bounced up to her and offered a high five.  “Go get ‘em tiger!”  She said and made pretend claws and a grrr noise.

What could Serena do but shake her head? 

“Are you going to offer Chris a job?”  Chuck asked as he ran caulking along the edge of the bathtub.  Their current job was a remodel of an old farmhouse.  Dalton was relieved it was so close to home.  He had been worried to leave Autumn after she had such a frightening night. 

“I already have.  He’ll start as soon as they square things away in Syria.”

Chuck nodded.  “We can go ahead and advertise for more work.  I think Saeed wants to work with us too.”

Dalton grinned, pausing from scraping wallpaper from the bathroom wall.  “Let’s print business cards and call ourselves ‘Company of Wolves Home Repair and Remodeling.’” 

Chuck laughed aloud.  “I like that!” 

“I’ll talk to the others tonight.” 

Chuck stood and wiped the tip of the caulking gun off with a rag.  “You’re doing a pretty good job these days.” 

“Thanks.  I’m trying.”

“We can tell.”  Chuck hesitated.  “What do you think Autumn’s dream was about?”

“I don’t know.  Like I told you this morning, she just kept saying he was coming after her.” 

“I’ve been thinking, and she might actually have something like the sight.”  Brian said as he walked past the bathroom. 

Dalton shook his head.  “Good grief.”

“I heard that!”  Brian’s inanimate voice called from somewhere else in the house.

“Maybe he’s right.”  Chuck said quietly. 

“I know I’m right!”  Brian called again. 

“Shut up, or come in here and talk to us!”  Dalton said, sticking his head out of the door.

Brian appeared in the doorway.  “She may not have the full sight, but there’s something in her.  What I see in her is definitely getting stronger.” 

Dalton glanced at Chuck.  That tidbit of information hadn’t been shared yet.

“What’s he talking about?”

“He says he sees something in Autumn…something that isn’t there yet.”

“I don’t get it.”

“He thinks she will be something supernatural.” 

“Oh.”  Chuck took the information in and seemed to be mulling it over.  Dalton was used to his quiet steady ways, and didn’t speak again right away.  Brian also leaned into the doorway with one arm braced above his head and a shoulder in the doorjamb. 

“She fits in with all of us just fine, and she doesn’t seem overly surprised that vampires walk the earth.” 

“She’s read a lot of books.”  Dalton said and resumed his scraping. 

“It’s one thing to read fiction books about something and a whole other thing to realize they weren’t all make believe.” 

Dalton stopped and blinked.  “You mean like some kind of weird subconscious thing?”

Chuck shrugged.  “Maybe she did know deep down that this world existed.  I don’t think she knew it on any conscious level, but meeting you was kind of like…”  He shook his head searching for the right words. 

“Like opening a window.”  Brian finished for him.

“Yes.  Like that.”  Chuck’s face darkened.  “Marry her as quick as you can, Dalton.” 

“Well, it’s in five days.”

“No, I mean do it sooner.” 

Dalton stopped and looked at him like he was crazy.  “We can’t do that!  It’s already planned!”

“Everyone who will be attending is already living at your house, or at ours.  Thomas and the minister are the only ones traveling in.”

Dalton wiped his hands on an already dirty rag and shook his head.  “What would it solve?” 

“It will give her peace of mind.” 

“She should already have that!” 

“Why?”  Brian countered.  “Look at the changes and the things she’s had to accept in such a short amount of time.  Marriage is supposed to be a permanent thing.  Maybe it will make her feel secure.”

“It was one nightmare!  We can wait until Saturday.” 

Chuck and Brian exchanged a look.  It was obvious to them that Dalton felt there was nothing left to say. 

“Tell me which you like better.”  Winnie said and slid the magazine to Autumn.  The page showed three cakes, all elaborately decorated. 

“You can recreate these?”  Autumn asked in amazement. 

“I can try.” 

“The fact that you are confident enough to even try makes you even more amazing than you already are.” 

“That’s why I let you hang around.  You boost my ego.”  Winnie smiled teasingly.

Autumn looked at the cakes and sighed.  One was a multi-tier white with white flowers.  She dismissed that one immediately.  The second was also multi-tiered, but each tier was a different color and all the colors were pastel.  The third was a fall design.  It looked like leaves with tumbling down the front of the cake.