Wicked Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 4) (13 page)

“Oh, Kat,” I said with exasperation. “I’d just like to forget all about that.”

Stopping directly before me, she took my face between her soft hands and gently inclined my head upward to gaze into her emerald eyes.

She towered in front of me just like some kind of Amazon goddess, pale and beautiful with piercing eyes and a mane of flowing red hair.

And bunny slippers.

I felt truly spellbound, unable to deny her anything that she may request of me.

“What do you think about my slippers?” she asked.

I slapped her playfully on her rear using the flat of my hand, causing a loud smacking sound. Physically, she remained stationary but her eyes widened slightly in surprise.

I steeled myself for her reaction. She very slowly craned her neck downward and pressed her lips against mine in a slow, passionate kiss.

“You’re just full of surprises,” she said.

“A first for you?” I asked.

“Nope; my human husband, Samuel, and one other. Of course, Samuel was permitted.”

“And the other?” I asked.

“I threw him through a wall,” she said.

I swallowed hard.

She gave me a sly smile and softly kissed me. “Spank away to your heart’s content, my love,” she said. “You and only you; anytime the mood strikes you.”

Grinning, I planted a firm kiss on her lips.

I was struck by a bizarre new feeling of empowerment. Something that was so simple, playful, and benign had suddenly become a power to wield over her at my discretion.

It was a heady feeling.

Slowly and deliberately, I rubbed my hand against her soft behind and patted her lightly. As I gave her another passionate kiss, I rotated my hand to the front of her abdomen and ran the tips of my fingers southward.

Her resulting sharp intake of breath was priceless.

Then a low, satisfied moan escaped her lips, and her arms encircled my waist.

“Time for you to lose the bunny slippers,” I said.

She playfully flicked each of them into the air behind her even as she pressed her lips to mine.

In the blink of an eye, I felt the world tilt amidst a rush of air before finally landing on the bed, entangled in her arms and legs as my blood boiled.

Oh, pure ecstasy.

We made love with yearning and urgency, our hands and mouths searching each other’s bodies. Kat’s fangs had been extended on occasion, gently scraping along my skin, though never breaking it.

Then it was tender and romantic, each conveying the love that we felt for each other.

It had been simply amazing.

Later, I lay on my back in bed with Kat lying alongside me, her head against my chest and her red hair splayed across me as I massaged her neck with my fingertips. Her arm encircled my waist and one of her legs draped across both of mine, her body warm and soft against me.

This maddening, wonderful, amazing woman, who completely captivates my mind, body, and soul, is as essential to me as breathing.

My energy was spent but I felt completely fulfilled.

“You’re my world,” she whispered against my chest, her breath tickling my skin.

“I love you so much,” I said.

She craned her head up to tenderly brush her lips against mine. “My loving mate,” she said. “Sleep now, my love.”

We lay together and I relished the feel of her body against mine.

The memories of the day replayed in my mind. My thoughts drifted to our conversation at the club and the subsequent intimacy that we shared.

Finally, contentment washed through me, like a gentle, peaceful wave, and I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

I awoke abruptly, lying in bed in the darkness.

“Kat?”

No response.

I reached out to the nightstand for my cell phone and tried to focus on its suddenly-glaring screen.

Almost three-thirty in the morning.

It didn’t particularly worry me to find her gone. There were many nights when she would go outdoors while I slept, enjoying the escape from the gilded cage that was the estate. After all, she was largely limited to non-daylight excursions.

There was a time when I thought being relegated to the freedoms of perpetual wealth that Kat offered was something I’d never tire of. Yet, having my preferred career stripped from me, the freedom felt like banishment.

I love spending my days with Kat, but I need to get back into teaching somehow. I miss my classroom lectures and chats with students and other professors.

It was the job of a lifetime.

I massaged my eyelids with my fingertips, my mind too restless to roll over and go back to sleep.

That’s when I heard raised voices and arguing coming from upstairs.

Slipping from the bed to pull on my sweatpants and T-shirt, I turned on the lamp on my nightstand and made my way to the series of steps leading up to the first floor.

I stopped just outside the hallway to listen.

“
You’re
the one who put those thoughts in his head?” Kat demanded.

“He needed someone to talk to, and yeah, I gave him my opinion,” Paige shot back heatedly. “You treat him like a subordinate sometimes.”

“He’s my mate, and yes, I use authority when needed,” Kat said. “But that somehow makes me a
dominatrix
to him? Or that I
emasculate
him?”

“Hey, I told him how I saw things, but if that’s how he feels---” Paige snapped back.

“You programmed those words into his head, you selfish---” Kat interrupted.

“Don’t even go there,” Paige said. “You’re such a cold bitch sometimes!”

Someone got slapped.

Then there were thuds and crashing sounds that reverberated through the walls.

Oh, hell…

I raced into the darkened hallway and saw only a blur of movement beyond the dim light in the kitchen. It looked like a dark whirlwind that bounced to and fro like a top.

I ran down the short length of hallway at them.

“Stop it!” I yelled.

Then the whirlwind struck against me, hurling me against the wall with unbelievable force, taking the wind from my lungs.

My body bounced against the wall and then back toward the blurry figures before me.

Suddenly, my body careened down the hallway and into something hard. I blinked once, just in time to glimpse an oak and glass display cabinet crashing down upon me.

My head impacted the floor with a thud, like it was being smashed between opposing walls. I immediately saw stars dancing in circles before me.

Kat screamed so loudly that my eardrums ached. “Caleb!”

I tried to rise but I couldn’t get my breath as the weight of the cabinet impeded me.

Then the cabinet’s weight was instantly gone, and I heard a loud crash somewhere further away.

With effort, I drew in a breath and managed to push myself up from the floor, only to feel my head filled with splitting pain.

“Oh-no, oh-no, oh-no,” Kat chanted in a frail-sounding voice.

Multiple hands reached down to pull me into a sitting position on the floor as I felt something wet dripping onto my hands.

“My love, speak to me,” Kat urged.

“Oh, this is bad,” Paige said in a shrill voice.

The hall light snapped on and I saw a small pool of blood forming on the floor. Only then I realized it was coming from my nose and mouth.

“S-shit,” I mumbled.

The sharp pain in my head worsened, as if that were possible, and my vision blurred.

“My head,” I said before darkness overcame me.

As my awareness drifted away, I heard Paige’s frantic, distant-sounding voice.

“Ethan, we need you! It’s Caleb; he’s badly hurt!”

Chapter 11

Katrina

My mate, the love of my life, looked like a frail figure as he lay on the gurney before me.

The ambulance ride with Caleb was the longest of my life, despite the fact that we probably couldn’t have arrived there any faster.

The entire event had been a horrible, shocking nightmare.

Normally, I felt in control of any situation, but now, I felt completely numb inside.

As I languished in the emergency room hallway just outside the examining room where Ethan and others worked to stabilize Caleb’s condition, my emotions were dark and morbid as my mind raced with a jumble of thoughts.

Why hadn’t I seen Caleb in the hallway? Had I been so blinded by my anger with Paige? Will he be okay? Why is it taking so long to stabilize him? Is he brain dead?

The implications of that last question filled me with horror and despair that cut me to the core of my being.

I leaned my head back against the cold wall next to me.

“Ma’am, you can’t be here,” a nurse said, grasping my arm.

The look that I directed at her caused her eyes to widen in near shock.

I recognized her expression; my eyes must have flashed.

“Oh my,” she muttered, her eyes locked onto mine. She quickly crossed herself, and I half expected her to thrust a cross before my face.

“
Leave me be,
” I ordered in a voice so deathly quiet that I almost didn’t recognize it, forcing my thoughts at her like a lightning strike.

The nurse appeared near-mesmerized and turned to wander down the hallway toward the reception desk.

“Red,” Paige quietly cautioned, suddenly appearing beside me. “We’re receiving unwanted attention.”

With a fleeting look at the closed door leading to where Caleb was, I permitted Paige to lead me to a relatively unoccupied corner of the expansive nearby waiting room.

Another nurse approached me with a clipboard of paperwork, and I somehow managed to think clearly enough to complete the ridiculous insurance and information forms.

“You’re his sister, got it?” I asked Paige, ensuring that Caleb would have family listed and present.

“Of course,” she whispered, gently placing a supportive hand on my shoulder.

I listed myself as his fiancé, hoping it would grant me a modicum of access to him.

We sat beside each other for what felt like endless, painful hours; Paige never left my side.

It’s my fault that he’s here.

I still didn’t know which one of us had harmed him during our melee.

Maybe it didn’t really matter in the end. It was my fault, no matter the answer.

I had failed to protect him.

It was unforgiveable.

Numbness threatened to overwhelm me, and I hazily realized that I must’ve been slipping into a state of shock.

A small commotion of voices from the direction of the examining rooms brought me back to the present.

Paige’s attention perked up.

“Red,” she urged, grasping my arm in her small hand and half-pulling me to stand.

I had to deliberately move at human speed to avoid making a scene, revealing my preternatural speed.

It was painstakingly slow to say the least.

We no sooner made it near the doors leading into the emergency ward when Ethan appeared in his lab coat. I saw small drops of blood permeating the fabric in places.

I breathed in and immediately recognized the scent.

Caleb’s blood.

His attention focused upon me with a calm expression that I somehow found infuriating under the circumstances. “Follow me,” he said quietly.

We accompanied him to a small office where an orderly was eating a sandwich.

“Clear the room please,” Ethan ordered in a commanding tone.

The orderly practically leapt up from his chair to exit the room, and Ethan shut the door behind him. I absently noted his authoritarian presence, so businesslike and self-assured.

Caleb was in capable hands.

“We managed to stabilize Caleb’s condition somewhat, and we’ve rushed him upstairs for a CT scan,” he said. “I can’t tell for certain until I see the results, but every indication suggests that his condition is extremely critical. The X-ray image wasn’t very detailed, but there’s an indication he may be hemorrhaging blood on the brain.”

Oh, shit.

I closed my eyes, vainly trying to wake from the nightmare that was taking place.

Paige quickly darted from the room and I heard her voice in the hallway. “Alton? It’s Paige.”

* * *

The sun had already risen by the time that Caleb had been moved to a private room on the fifth floor.

That was followed by more interminable waiting.

Each minute felt like a clock ticking down to oblivion.

Time was suddenly my nemesis, gloating over me. By late afternoon, I was ready to scream as I sat at his bedside, holding his hand and staring down at his calm-looking features.

He was unconscious and hooked to a number of IVs, as well as oxygen.

I felt so damned powerless.

At least my dear friend, practically a sister, Paige, was here with me.

My dear friend, who I’d been trying to beat the shit out of only a few hours ago.

Some friend I was.

But what could I say? It was something that’s happened between us from time to time over the decades. On occasion, I was angry with her; other times she was pissed off at me.