Reality fell on me then, and I glanced at her, mystified. Vanessa didn’t smell like the vile creatures described to me my entire life, did she? No. She smelled like wild berries and vanilla, a delightful combination. She didn’t look deformed or cursed either… she looked like a normal person, just like I did.
Thoughtful emotions danced over her face while she watched me in silence, as though maybe she knew what I was thinking. Perhaps she’d once gone through the same struggles.
Blinking away from her all-knowing gaze, my attention briefly went to the autumn-painted forest before us, the one she’d calledCentral Park, and I realized that even if I’d tried, I wouldn’t have been able to notice anything other than the magnificence that surrounded me.
“I think my senses were overwhelmed by… everything,” I confessed, feeling my wolf retreat—she’d also realized Vanessa didn’t pose any danger to us. “I was too busy admiring the city.”
A compassionate smile curved her lips and she nodded. “Believe it or not, I know exactly what you mean.” She tried to reach for my hands again, but I took another step away from her.
“I haven’t forgotten who you are,” I warned, resentment filling my statement. “Or what your friends did to me, forcing me unconscious. I may be hurt, but I can still defend myself. And I will rip the shit out of you if you even try?—”
“Understood,” she assured, lifting her hands in surrender as a mixture of guilt and concern painted her features. “I’m not against you, Natasha. None of us are. We just had to save you, whatever it took. I swear we would never do anything to harm you.”
Sincerity flowed from her words, messing with my conviction as she looked into my eyes. Frowning, I straightened, trying tomake myself look tougher than I felt at that moment. “Are you using that mental thing you Vampires do to make me trust you?”
Once again, she appeared confused by my words, until suddenly her eyes widened. “You mean, compulsion? No! I wouldneveruse that on y—wait! Does that mean you believed me?” She grinned, suddenly static. “We are so going to be besties!” Vanessa squealed, stepping forward to hug me.
“Vanessa! What the hell did you do to her?” a male voice roared from behind her, but this time, I knew exactly who it was.
D, the man who deceived me.
8
Rolling her eyes, Vanessa dropped her arms before she could reach me, turning to face him. “Calm down, D. I didn’t do anything to her. I was just going to hug her.”
An incredulous look briefly crossed his hardened features. “You can’t hug her, Vane. She doesn’tknow youyet.”
“Right. Well… I didn’t hurt her.”
“I can smell her blood,” he seethed, walking toward us along the balcony that appeared to wrap around the entire floor of the building.
“Oh, that. I accidentally scared her, and her claws came out.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose as though he was trying to muster some patience, but it clearly failed him. “I gave you one job, little sis!” he raised a single finger. “You just had to stay here and take care of her until she woke up, instead you made her claws come out?!”
“Oh, my God, stop being so dramatic! Ididmake sure she was okay until she woke up, but I thought she had sensed me, so I spoke before she saw me, and the claws are a natural response of her wolf. I hardly think you can blame me for those.” Her statement mixed with a huff, and she crossed her arms defiantly.
“You made her bleed. So yeah, I can blame you all right. I can blame you all night. In fact, I can blame you until the sun comes back up and goes down again if I fucking feel like it.”
“Ugh. Shut up, D. I’m the only one here who…”
Their banter muddled in my ears as I watched them wide-eyed. Besides the fact that a Vampire hottie was, for some reason, protecting me from another Vampire who was somehow shockingly friendly, and his younger sister, their interaction was both concerning and fascinating.
Wait? Did I just call him a hottie?
My wolf contentedly stretched inside me, wholeheartedly agreeing.
The memory of our kiss, and the way he’d made every inch of me feel alive returned, warmth spread through my entire body, craving more.
My attention focused on the way the muscles of his jaw contracted and released as he quarreled with his sister over me. The way the blue flecks in his crystalline hazel eyes caught the light of the waning sun, sparkling within his gaze like tiny river crystals. Or the way his muscles shifted with his movements under the cream-colored sweater he wore, the material clinging to his broad shoulders, chest, and waist to show the toned body that hid underneath it.
It reminded me of the full arm tattoo that I’d partially seen before, and since he seemed to have healed from what the Hunters had done to him, I wondered if it was fully decipherable now.
My hands itched to pull up his sleeve and take a tiny peek.
“Hey, are you okay?” D’s deep voice filtered into my unsettling thoughts, and I blinked to find him standing right in front of me. Not getting a response, he took another step closer, bringing with him the overwhelming intensity that seemed to surround him.
His cologne of pine, wild orchids, and smoked vetiver spontaneously filtered into my nostrils with his nearness, and before I could stop it, I inhaled deeply—unconsciously enjoying the way his intoxicating smell traveled through me, engulfing my being. My heightened sense of smell was my weakness here.
