“You’re sure?”
“Absolutely.”
A moment later, his fangs sank into her neck and pleasure slammed into her like nothing she’d ever experienced before. He was like nothing, or anyone, she had ever experienced before. She didn’t want it to end, but it would. It would end and he would leave, taking her memories with him.
If she let him.
Chapter Fourteen
It was Saturday night and he and Kelly sat at her kitchen table reviewing internet news stories.
“Nothing,” Kelly said, shoving aside her computer. “We’ve been at this for hours, Aiden. Thankfully, the drug seems to be off the streets or surely we’d have another victim, considering Troy was right. When we discovered there was a mild indicator of stroke, I was sure we’d have more victims. But we haven’t, and I don’t see any stories that resembled wolf or vampire attacks.” She smiled. “Oh my.” He tried to smile at the joke, knowing she was trying to ease the strain he was feeling, but he couldn’t manage. Not even for Kelly. Aiden scrubbed his jaw and leaned back in his chair. No one had seen or heard from Troy for weeks and it was eating Aiden alive. Not even Evan or Marcus, and they were looking. He’d had no choice but to contact them.
“At least there hasn’t been another murder,” Kelly said. “Not here and nothing similar anywhere else. Not even a peep from Detective Wright beyond a few phone calls on the case.”
“I know. I know.” He shook his head, “Where the hell is he, Kelly?” He meant Troy, and he knew she knew that. They’d spent every waking minute together, and he’d held nothing back. Why would he? He was just going to have to erase her memories, erase himself from her life.
She pushed to her feet and walked to him, sliding into his lap, where he willingly invited her. “I love you, Kelly,” he said, before he could stop himself. “I fucking love you and the idea of losing you, like I have Troy, is eating me alive.”
She pressed her lips to his, then smiled against his mouth. “I fucking love you too and you aren’t going to lose me.”
“Kelly,” he said, leaning back to look at her. “You know-”
“I know that you think you can erase yourself from my mind, and us from my memories, but we’re more than that Aiden. You can’t erase us from my heart.” Her cell phone started to ring and she reached for it and then stilled, her gaze lifting to his. “It’s Detective Wright.”
“It’s Saturday night,” he said, a chill racing down his spine. This was trouble. He felt it in his bones.
“I’m on call,” she said. “I have to answer.”
He nodded and she took the call. He could hear the conversation. “Another murder,” Wright said. “We want you on scene to examine the body this time.”
“Where?” she asked, her gaze touching Aiden’s.
“Eclipse,” the detective said. “And hurry. It’s a madhouse here. Come to the backdoor.” He hung up.
Kelly was stiff, still holding the phone to her ear. Aiden took the phone from her. “It’s a trap, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yeah. It’s a trap.” He kissed her. “And I’m going to kill that bastard for even trying to set it.” He stood her up. “Let me make some quick plans.” He grabbed his phone and dialed Evan and Marcus, and was forced to leave a message for both of them. He dialed Troy and left yet another message. Damn, damn, damn. This was going down and he was all that was going to be standing between Kelly and hell.
***
Kelly parked behind the bar and her cell phone rang. She knew it was Aiden. “Get the hell out of there now,” he said.
“No,” she said. “We need to end this.”
“What?” he demanded. “No Kelly. We agreed that you’d leave if this wasn’t obviously a police operation.
There’s no police Kelly. No yellow tape and no fucking police.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t walk away if this is your chance to catch Andres.”
“Kelly-” She hung up and opened the door, shoving her phone in her purse. She stepped outside. The night was dark, humid, starless. Lightening flickered in the sky, a storm passing, or coming, she didn’t know. She didn’t care. She walked quickly towards the building, but not as quickly as her heart raced.
She wore jeans and flats that made her feel more ready to run. She was going to need to run. The thought chilled her to the bone.
The instant that she arrived at the back door, it opened, and Detective Wright appeared, music blasting behind him. The club wasn’t shut down, but then she’d known that when she drove up. He motioned her inside.
She didn’t move. “Where is everyone?”
“Basement level. They’re worried about public panic. They’re keeping this as low key as one can after the seventh murder in a short period of time.”