Saiden gave her a look she couldn’t quite decipher, then walked around back to pull her bag from the trunk. Slinging it over one shoulder,he said, “It seems I missed another misconception about vampires. While we do enjoy the night, we aren’t completely nocturnal. And since I woke up rather early this morning to make the ten-hour drive down to L.A., I don’t really fancy doing the entire return trip without a break.” He paused, then softly added, “If it’s okay with you.”
That was a first. He actually cared about what she wanted? Did he hit his head at some point while she was asleep?
“Uh, yeah. That’s fine.”
Cora cracked her neck, grimaced, and decided it was more than fine. Her muscles didn’t like her on a good day, so nodding off while leaning against a car window had them essentially staging a coup. She could use a comfy place to relax for a bit.
As soon as Saiden fell asleep she would have time to sort through headshots on Casting Networks. It was a stretch, but maybe she could find another lead actor that came somewhat close to her vision. With her dwindling timeline, she had to operate under the assumption that Marquin would let her hold onto her script. It was the only thing that was keeping her going.
She held out a hand for her bag, but he just beeped the car and took off toward the right side of the lodge. She glared at his back for a second then ran to catch up.
“Hey, I can carry my own—Shit!”
The muscles in her legs revolted, and pavement raced up to meet her face. She threw out her arms on instinct, but the impact never came.
A strong arm circled her waist and swung her up into a firm chest. She looked up at Saiden, and she would bet the last five bucks in her bank account that she saw genuine concern on his face.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his brow wrinkling.
“Uh, yeah,” she exhaled, struggling to form a coherent thoughtwhen she was this close to his face. At first glance in the dim warehouse, she’d considered his eyes to be almost black, but she couldn’t have been more wrong. Up close, she saw that they were a deep shade of rich chocolate, and the lamplight overhead caused the tiny flecks of honey gold scattered throughout to twinkle like stars in a dark sky. They weren’t human, those eyes—the way they expanded and contracted like a cat's to adapt to the light.
Saiden dropped her bag and brushed a stray hair behind her ear with one hand while the other remained firmly wrapped around her waist. She couldn’t be certain, but it felt like his arm tightened, as if he refused to let her go. His eyes flicked back and forth between hers, searching for something. “You do that a lot,” he murmured.
When she spoke, the voice that came out was distant and detached, as if filtering through a thick fog. “Do what a lot?”
“Fall.”
“Clumsy,” she replied, her mouth on autopilot since the rest of her was still mesmerized by his eyes.
He smiled, and it lit up his whole face, changing him into a completely different person. The hard edges of his face softened, and his entire demeanor changed from murderous to magnificent.
She swallowed roughly and noted how his eyes were drawn to the movement at her throat. Something flared hot in his expression, and it was enough to kickstart her brain back into rational thinking. She’d seen enough movies to recognizethatlook. He was a hungry vampire, and she had no intention of putting herself on the menu.
“So, you mentioned that you only feed from blood bags, right? No humans?” She took a step back now that the spell was broken, and he looked somewhat disappointed by the movement.
“Mostly, yes. Though emergency situations have called for a natural feeding.”
“I see.” She glanced around nervously. The lodge was the only building around aside from a closed-up gas station, and there wasn’t another living soul in sight. “And is this an ‘emergency situation?’ Because honestly, I don’t care how much control you supposedly have. I know how this ends. ‘It’s just a little nip,’ you’ll say, and then the next thing you know my body is buried in a shallow grave out behind Ray’s Motor Lodge.”
Moving faster than she could track, Saiden captured her face in his hands. “Cora, I am going to say this one last time, and I beg of you please listen carefully to my words: There is no safer place for you to be than in my presence. I swear that no harm will come to you so long as I breathe.”
Then he scooped up her bag and headed toward the stairs to the second story rooms, leaving her staring after him and wondering why she was beginning to believe him.
Chapter fifteen
Saiden
“There’s only one bed,” were the first words out of Cora’s mouth when she caught up to him and entered their room.
“I’m aware,” he replied, dropping her bag in a chair next to the king-sized mattress. “They didn’t have any double beds left.”
He couldn’t even bring himself to feel guilty about the lie. The lodge had plenty of options available, many of them with two beds, but the words ‘single, please’ were out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Some part of him simply wouldn’t let her sleep in a different bed. His body screamed at him that they belonged together.
It was the curse of new mates. The constant tug to keep them nearby. He’d written the feeling off earlier as nothing more than his hunter instincts needing to keep close tabs on his quarry, but now that he knew what it really was, he was completely and utterly fucked. He might be able to keep her in his bed tonight, but when they arrived at the compound tomorrow, he doubted she would sign up for moving into his room straight away.
He still had no idea how he was going to explain things to her, but maybe his cousins could help. Tressa, Raven, and Liessa were muchbetter with words than he was.
Well, maybe he wouldn’t ask Liessa. She was still relatively young, having only been turned less than fifty years ago, and was currently convinced that she would never want a mate. His carefree cousin always said an eternity of freedom was the best gift she’d been given. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for Cora becoming a vampire and staying with him forever, but he was pretty sure Liessa was still freediving in the Bahamas anyway.
