“It sensed two bodies. I have to identify the second body for the database or it’ll trip the alarm.”
She nodded and moved ahead into a big room that looked like a lab. There were was a long counter littered with microscopes, cabinets along one wall filled with bottles, and a long desk with several computer monitors. There was a glass wall with a glass door beyond the desk and Sam opened it and she walked in to an area that what was set up like a bedroom.
Adrian was on the floor, unconscious, his face beaten to a bloody pulp. Behind him was a double bed and Tristan was in it. Her heart seized at the sight of him.
He was sitting up against a red suede headboard, dark blankets around his waist. He was bare chested, unshaven, looked a little pale, and his eyes were bloodshot. But he looked, essentially, like himself. Sam leaned down and hefted Adrian up over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.
“We’ll give you two some privacy,” Sam left the room with him, saying, “call when you’re ready and I’ll let you out.”
Kyla’s eyes met Tristan’s. The world stood still as he stared at her.
“Get over here,” he said hoarsely, almost in a whisper. His voice sounded pained.
She moved in what felt like slow motion and then collapsed on top of him. His arms wound around her and he pulled her close.
She closed her eyes, let out a breath, and absorbed the feel of him, the smell of him, the strength of him. Weak or not, he still felt so solid, so real.
God, he felt so good.
She could feel him inside. His teeth weren’t even connected yet but she could FEEL him and what she felt made a sob tear out of her as her arms went around him.
The room started to spin. Her blood started to heat up. Her body started to tremble, and then his nose swept up the length of her throat, his teeth elongated into the curve of her throat, and as the skin was pierced, BAM! Fireworks.
An explosion and an overwhelming sense of peace at the exact same time flooded. Like this is where she needed to be. In his arms, nourishing him. Him nourishing her. She felt like she was getting healthier and healthier by the millisecond. So was he.
He drank just a bit and released her throat. He sighed loud. She looked at his face. The colour was returning.
But then emotions started to rise in her and they were hers and they were his, too and there was so much of it that she didn’t know if she could handle it all. Her brain was a jumbled kaleidoscope of emotion. And then evidently she couldn’t handle it at all because everything faded to dark as she got dizzier and then passed out in his arms.-10-Kyla woke up. She was back in that cottage, back in that sleigh bed she’d been in for the last week without him. Again, she was without him.
She sat up straight, hearing a commotion of glass shattering and yelling. She dashed out of the room and got half way down the stairs and saw Tristan, Adrian, and Claudio all standing close and, it appeared that they were all in one another’s faces. No. Tristan was in both of their faces and both men appeared to be trying to reason with him.
Kyla felt fear straight down to the marrow at the vibe coming off Tristan. His eyes darted up to her.
“Back upstairs, Kyla,” he demanded and then he grabbed Adrian’s shirt with both hands and hollered, “Out!” and threw Adrian toward the door.
Claudio headed toward the door as Adrian rose to his feet.
“We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“We won’t. I’m done,” Tristan said. “As soon as that dagger he promised me is ready I’m taking it and I am gone. Have it to me early, Constantin. I fuckin’ mean it!”
“Sleep on this and let’s talk in the morning. Don’t be hasty,” Claudio said.
“Hasty? Are you kidding me, Claude? After what you’ve both done? I’ve been fed a trough of shit about how I’m the one to lead, to be a change agent for us. To help us move forward. But you’ve both manipulated things from the start. I’m sure you get why I’m ready to call this whole thing quits after what you’ve done. You’ve stolen from me. You’ve stolen something from me that I can’t ever get back…”
Kyla’s heart hurt so bad. So bad. She choked on a sob.
“Kyla, get the FUCK upstairs!” he shouted. There was a chair sitting beside him with a side table sitting beside it and they both moved, like they had gotten caught up in a gust of wind and landed at the bottom of the stairs, blocking her ability to get to him. Or maybe blocking Claudio and Adrian from her. She wasn’t sure. Adrian stared, wide-eyed at the furniture and then looked up at Kyla. Tristan moved in front of the furniture, his back to the staircase, to her, blocking them.