“It’ll be on my terms and no one else’s.”
Her words rang in his ears. There was more to Cora than he was seeing on the surface, and if he was going to figure out a way to convince her to turn, then he better find a shovel and start digging.
Fast.
Chapter twenty-two
Cora
It took almost an entire hour for Cora to stop replaying her encounter with Beer Belly. All she’d wanted that morning was to stop reliving her kiss with Saiden. Now, she would gladly hop back into that memory if it would shut out the man’s disgusting grin that kept invading her thoughts. The way he leered at her, his intentions painted on his face, still made her skin crawl, and she’d never forget the pure fury that had been pulsing off Saiden when he arrived. The way his nearly black eyes shone with the promise of death. The way his muscles flexed under his tight shirt, as if his entire being was itching to tear the man apart. The way his fists clenched so tightly that she was pretty sure a bone popped at one point.
She’d never been the type to go for alpha males, but damn there was something to be said about knowing a guy was willing to murder on her behalf.
It was those emotions that had inevitably reduced her to child-like stubbornness when confronted about her stupidity. It was much easier to get pissy than admit to herself that she’d never felt more alive—or more aroused—then the moments right after he saved her.
But why? That was the one thing she couldn’t suss out. Why would he almost kill a man for her? And why had she seen so much fear hidden behind the fury in his eyes when he examined her. She’d honestly thought he would have been more worried about his car than her. She was just a package he had to deliver to Marquin. Sure, their kiss had been incredible, but not even she was naïve enough to believe her kisses could reduce a guy to violence. Where had all his rage come from?
It was that question that filled her head the rest of the way up north, only fading once she spotted an unremarkable green sign for Fall River Mills, and Saiden steered the McLaren off the main highway. Cora had been surprised when they took a right on Highway 299 out of Redding, not even realizing there were actual cities in the northeastern corner of California. She hadn’t been too far off the mark since they hadn’t passed anything that resembled more than a pitstop town for over an hour.
“Why the heck would you live all the way out here?” she asked, finally breaking their unspoken standoff over who would speak first.
“A number of reasons,” he replied, slowing their speed to something more reasonable as they passed by an unimpressive collection of small-town shops and diners before turning off onto a smaller, unpaved road. “Privacy being a key one in addition to the local airstrip that is a necessity at times. Plus it’s much easier to fend off questions from only a handful of residents as opposed to a larger city.” A somewhat whimsical expression briefly rolled across his normally stoic face when he added, “Also, it’s quite beautiful in the fall.”
Cora gazed out the window, taking in the mixture of oak and pine trees that filled the landscape as they passed over a rushing river. “It’s a shame I won’t get to see it,” she said honestly. The trees glowed in the golden light of the setting sun, and she could only imagine how much more beautiful it would be if the green boughs were mixed withyellow, orange, and red.
“Right, of course. You won’t be here in a few months,” Saiden replied, and something about his tone gave her pause. As if he didn’t agree with his own statement.
They continued along the secluded dirt road for another ten minutes before a massive gate set into a huge stone wall prevented any further progress. She craned her neck to get a look at what lay beyond, but the blockade was too high to see anything other than a handful of towering pine trees poking up in the distance. Spreading out to the right and left, the wall disappeared into the thick forest leaving her unable to even gauge the potential size of their property.
Saiden pulled the McLaren up to the black wrought iron barricade and glanced up at a camera in the corner. A few seconds passed, and the gates began to glide open without so much as a whisper.
Beyond the entrance, a paved driveway split the dense woods, and Saiden easily directed the sports car down the narrow drive and past a few random small outpost buildings.
Embracing the twinge of excitement in her belly that she was actually going to get a look at the inner workings of a vampire’s home, Cora was starting to regret the hours of silence that should have been spent asking questions.
Were they about to pull up to some crazy gothic castle? Who all lived here? He didn’t have a harem of wives or blood servants, did he?
That last thought killed her budding sense of excitement, and it was reborn as a spike of fear as the damned reality of her situation struck her. Not only had she allowed herself to be taken into the literal middle of nowhere without telling a soul where she was going, but she was also about to blindly walk into a vampire’s lair.
Surely he wouldn’t have bothered with the whole charade just to turn her into some kind of thrall, right? He didn’t need to go all theway to Los Angeles to find hot chicks to trap in his dungeon. Not that she considered herself a hot chick by L.A. standards, but she wasn’t exactly homely either.
The car hummed along the drive for a couple minutes more before a break in the tree line appeared before them. As the car crested the small hill, Cora couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed at the compound in front of her. Home was nowhere near the right word, nor would she even resort to belittling the residence by calling it a mansion. A small part of her was disappointed it wasn’t a castle, but realistically she shouldn’t have been surprised. America was woefully lacking in ancient gothic architecture.
Saiden pulled the car up the curved driveway in the courtyard of the main building and stopped in front of a set of imposing double doors. Cora was pleased to see that the entrance at least had a hint of dramatic flare to it with elaborate carvings set into thick slabs of black wood. The rest of the building, however, was all modern and sleek with lots of angled lines and not nearly enough windows. Taking up more space than a football field, it looked like a cross between a multi-million dollar mansion and a multi-million dollar prison.
Saiden stepped out of the car, and she followed suit, trying not to gape open-mouthed at the structure in front of her.
The doors pushed open, and one of the most beautiful women Cora had ever seen came running out. Tall and lithe with silky black hair cascading over the perfectly smooth, light brown skin of her shoulders, she could easily have been a model. Heck, most of the models Cora had met couldn’t hold a candle to this woman’s delicate elegance.
And all Cora wanted to do was kick the goddess in the cooch when Saiden ran up and threw his arms around her. Not a thought she should be having since this new person had done nothing wrong,but the way her body pressed up against his made Cora angry in an explicable way.
Saiden hugged the woman for a long moment, then released her to press a quick kiss to her cheek.
“I haven’t seen you in forever,” the beauty said, slapping him playfully on the shoulder with amusement twinkling in her almond-shaped eyes that spoke of a Pacific Island heritage. “You spend months on the road hunting rogues, and the only time you stop by home is when I’m gone? You could have waited for me in Seattle. I’ve missed you, Sadie.”
Sadie?
“I know, I’m sorry,” Saiden replied, appearing legitimately chastised as he shoved his hands in his back pockets. “All these new rogues are running me ragged. I was barely here for twelve hours, and I spent most of that time cleaning my weapons and sleeping. I didn’t know I’d have to leave again before you got back.”
