“Basement?” she asked. “Who has a basement in Texas?”
“Apparently this place. A basement and a dead body.”
She inhaled and let it out. How did one run away in a basement? They didn’t, she thought. They didn’t.
She was walking into a trap alright.
She walked forward, passing him, her arm brushing his. A wave of nausea overcame her. The man oozed evil, be it real or imagined, but like the storm, it didn’t matter. It simply was what it was.
A stairwell up and a stairwell down were directly in front of her. “Going down,” he told her, stepping behind her, his hands touching her waist. “Hustle. We
don’t want to draw unwanted attention.” She started down the stairs, and the idea of that man at her back, was almost too much. She was halfway down when a tall man stopped at the bottom, his eyes glinting orange. A memory of Troy’s eyes during his attack drew her up short. She turned to run and smashed into Wright. He smiled. Someone grabbed her from behind. She fought and fought, but it wasn’t enough to save her from the warm, coppery taste of the liquid one of the two men poured down her throat.
Chapter Fifteen
Aiden blasted through the backdoor of the bar, not giving a shit about anything but getting to Kelly. He’d sworn to protect her. He would not fail her. He couldn’t fail her.
A vampire greeted Aiden just inside the entry with a snarl. Aiden returned the greeting with the cooper blade in his hand. The vamp dropped like a rock, not expecting such an open attack. Another came at him, and this time a scuffle followed, that was more like a game of peewee football. He was done with it and down the stairs, grabbing Wright by the shirt, in seconds. He tossed him aside and watched someone dragging her down the remainder of the stair.
“Aiden!” she screamed.
He didn’t stop charging forward. He was in front of her, sending her a mental command to sleep, to spare her witness to what was to follow. He swung over her, and slammed his blade into her attacker, clear to the bone. A howl of pain followed and he maneuvered Kelly behind him, kicking what turned out to be Andres, down the remainder of the stairs. He took off and started running, knowing from experience that Andres took a blade like an inconvenience he would quickly recover from.
With Kelly in his arms, he found the top of the stairs and kicked the door open, only to find Troy once again waiting for him, the SUV pulled up, the back door open. Troy, however, was not inside the vehicle.
He had Detective Wright sprawled across the hood, a blade slashing through the air. Wright dropped to the ground, his head rolling, no ash to follow, no bloodlust present. Just a whole lot of asshole.
Aiden was in the backseat in seconds, and Troy was behind the wheel, and had them moving, just as fast.
Kelly was asleep and shaking. Why was she shaking? “Where the hell have you been?” he demanded of Troy.
“Right here,” he said. “I just didn’t want to hear you bitch – bitch.” He met Aiden’s gaze in the mirror.
“They drugged her, Aiden. You need to wake her up before she strokes from the pain, right here and now.”
Aiden went cold inside. “You’re sure.”
“Wright told me right before I killed him.” His tone went grim. “Aiden.” He hesitated. “They gave her a double dose.”
Aiden woke her up and she blinked up at him, the cloudiness of her visions telling him she didn’t really see him. “Hurts,” she mouthed. “Hurts.”
He lifted her, pulling her mouth to his, unprepared for what he unleashed in front of Troy. One minute he was kissing Kelly, the next she was on his lap, straddling him and tossing her shirt over her head, then her bra.
He didn’t want to be aroused. She was drugged and she was out of her mind right now. But she leaned into him, pressing her mouth to his and his cock thickened, pulsing against his zipper.
She pressed his hands to her breasts. “Touch me,” she whispered, against his mouth. “Please touch me.” He pinched her nipples and she cried out, arching into his touch, grinding her hips against his crotch.
“More.”
Aiden wrapped his arm around her slender body, holding her steady, knowing how easily he could make her come, knowing that was what she needed if he was going to get her inside the house.
He licked one of her nipples, swirling his tongue aroundit, and sinking his teeth into the sensitive flesh.
She cried out, her head falling backwards. He suckled the nipples, the sweet honey taste of her blood flooding his mouth. He drew on the nipples then licked the wounds from his fangs before suckling the second tight little peak, licking and teasing until he sunk his fangs into her.
The truck pulled into the driveway of the house he and Troy had rented together weeks before, where he’d looked for Troy with no results.
Aiden suckled Kelly’s nipple, then released it, but before he could seal the wound, her mouth came down on his. She kissed him hungrily, lapping at the blood on his lips. It was erotic, arousing. Powerful.