“Is everything going to be ok?” sheasked.
“Yes, it will.”
“Your brother sounded worried.”
He forced a smile as he ran his fingersthrough his disheveled hair. “Ethan has always been that way. He’snot as bad as Issy, but they take their roles as older siblings fartoo seriously sometimes.” Walking over, he sat on the bed besideher and took hold of her hand. “It will be fine.Noone isever going to hurt you again.”
“What of you?”
He laughed and leaned over to kiss hercheek. The notion of pushing her back on the bed crossed his mind.They had an hour, it would help to calm her, and he certainlycouldn’t get enough of her, but he would require much more than anhour if they got started again now. Reluctantly, he sat back.“Nothing will happen to me. Now, you’d better get dressed before Ihave to tell my brother to come back tomorrow.”
The small chuckle she released warmed him.She leaned into him and kissed his cheek before climbing from thebed and heading into the bathroom.
***
The already cramped room became much smallerwith all of the large men crammed into it. She’d already met or atleast seen David, Ethan and Emma, but the other three men in theroom she’d never encountered before. One of them had beenintroduced to her as Ian’s younger brother, Aiden. Aiden lookedmore like Ethan with his raven colored hair and eyes the color ofoak leaves, but she could see the resemblance between the three ofthem. He was leaner than Ian and Ethan, with a whipcord build andan easy smile he bestowed upon her when they were introduced.
Brian stepped forward and shook her hand.His icy blue eyes held hers as he flashed her a smile. A strand ofplatinum colored hair curled at the corner of one of his eyes.“Another human, will your family never learn?” he drawled.
“Don’t be an ass, Brian, and let her go,”Ian warned but truthfully Brian didn’t bother him overly much. Hecould be a jackass, and his background was questionable, but Iantolerated him better than Ethan and Stefan did. Stefan and Brianhad once been good friends, but they’d had a falling out before anyof them had ever known Stefan. That didn’t mean he liked the mantouching Paige; he didn’t likeanyone else touching her.
Brian released her hand and took a stepback. Paige couldn’t help but smile at Brian and Aiden’s easy charmand striking good looks. However, she found her eyes repeatedlydrawn toward the taciturn man standing in the corner. There was noway to avoid his presence. She may be the only mortal in the room,but he stood out amongst the vampires too.
At six foot he was the shortest of the men;his presence made him feel like the largest. Her skin rippled fromthe force of the power emanating from him. Her heart fluttered ashis reddish brown eyes met and held hers over the top of his romannose. She’d never seen eyes quite that color before; they were sucha complete combination of red and brown they appeared to be eyesthe color of a doe’s one-second, and the color of blood, thenext.
Paige forced herself not to shudder, but shecouldn’t stop herself from rubbing her hands up and down her armsas those eyes surveyed her. “And this is Ronan,” Brian said as heturned away and gestured toward the man. “He’s the “leader” of ourkind.” With his fingers, Brian created air quotes around the word,leader.
Ian had never heard of a leader amongsttheir kind. If there was one though, he had no doubt it was the manstanding across from him. He knew power; he’d seen what had becomeof Ethan in Bermuda. He’d felt it in himself with those vampires atthe cabin. There had been more power within him that he could havetapped, if it had become necessary to win that fight. Even delvinginto those realms that changed the color of his skin and broughtsomething far more lethal forth, would not be enough to bring downthe man across from him.
Ronan stepped forward and extended his hand.His dark brown hair flashed in the dim lights of the motel room asit swayed around his broad shoulders. Paige glanced nervously atIan when he took hold of Ronan’s hand. She was afraid the “leader”may snap his arm in half; he looked completely capable of doing so,and she’d bet he’d done it more than a time or two in his life.
Then those eyes swung toward her. Despiteher best intentions to keep it from happening, her heart began tobeat faster, and her throat went dry. “And you are the one whoisn’t a hunter, but one of their human allies?”
Paige swallowed in an attempt to wet herparched throat, but she thrust back her shoulders and extended herhand. If this man wanted her dead, she would be dead, and there wasnothing anyone in this room could do to stop him. She knew that assurely as she knew the earth was round. Ian and his family werestrong; this man was stronger.
“I was,” she admitted and took hold of hishand. A jolt went through her as his power slid over her skin likean electrical current.
She wasn’t sure if he’d be consideredhandsome, certainly not nearly as handsome as Ian or his siblings,but he was definitely one of the most fascinating men she’d everseen. “Was?” he inquired in a rumbling tone of voice.
She couldn’t stop herself from glancing atIan. “Let’s just say I’ve realized there are shades of red in theworld.”
Ian smiled at her and wrapped his arm aroundher waist. Ronan glanced between the two of them before releasingher hand and stepping away. Paige didn’t miss Ethan’s subtle shiftthat kept his body firmly in between Ronan’s and Emma’s. Before sheknew how it happened, she also found Ian’s body in between her andRonan.
“If you ever air quote me again, I’ll ripoff your hands,” Ronan advised Brian.
Brian flashed a grin at the rest of them,amazingly unfazed by the vampire’s words. “He’s also a tadtesty.”
This time there was no mistaking Ronan’seyes were red when they lanced toward Brian. Paige had to give theman credit, Brian didn’t back away from the fiery gaze directed athim, but his head did bow slightly. “Don’t screw with me,Brian.”
Ian pushed her back a step as the hostilitywithin the room ratcheted up a notch. Turning away from Brian,Ronan leaned against the wall and turned to face them. “Now, I wasbrought here because you were unable to change this woman’smemories. Is this still something you would like done?”
“It’s not,” Ian answered.
Ronan’s eyes had returned to their normalcolor when they focused on her again. “What of you?”
She frowned in confusion. “Of course I don’twant my memories changed.”
“Of course not,” Ronan purred. “So thatmeans you will become a vampire, soon.”
