After Sundown: Redemption (12 page)

“Going out
, palomita
?”

Christian knew from the dazed look on Alyssa’s face that Bazhena had gotten to her. She had whispered in Alyssa’s mind, like the legendary
Wendigo
, lulling, then luring Alyssa outside. If he hadn’t picked up on Bazhena’s thoughts, Alyssa would have become another of his creator’s victims. Carelessly used and discarded.

The thought of Bazhena using Alyssa infuriated him. He clenched his fists tightly by his sides and then projected his thoughts outward.

She is mine.

He heard Bazhena’s soft laughter in his head. It should have sounded light and airy. It didn’t. It sounded evil and slightly crazed. And it mocked him. Of that he had no doubt.

We will see, Cristobal. We will see.

Then Bazhena’s presence was no more. He could no longer perceive her thoughts. She had either gone a great distance away or blocked her mind from him. Only that would affect his ability to read her. Though vampires and their creators had a mental bond, each could stop the other from reading their mind. As a fledgling he hadn’t known how to. But over time he had learned to completely close off his thoughts from Bazhena. She had been furious about it, but helpless to prevent it.

Alyssa slumped against him and slid to the ground. She had fainted again. Bazhena had released her. Scooping Alyssa up in his arms, Christian carried her into her apartment and slammed her front door closed with his foot. He walked into her bedroom and carefully laid her on her bed.

Sitting down beside her, he studied Alyssa. He had felt her mind fight Bazhena’s control. She had struggled against it longer than any human he had seen before her. Vlad had warned him about Bazhena, but Christian didn’t need the warning. He knew what she was capable of. Had seen firsthand the control Bazhena could exert over not only humans, but also other vampires. He was amazed by Alyssa’s strength of will. How could someone who looked so fragile be so strong?

She reminded him of a bird. That’s why he called her
palomita
, the Spanish word for little bird. Her long, silky black hair feathered around her, beautifully framing her heart-shaped face. Her creamy white skin looked soft as rose petals. His finger itched to stroke it. And her full, lush, berry-red lips. He groaned as his body responded. That mouth was made for him. He could imagine the feel of it against him, all over him.

Christian shot to his feet. He began pacing the room. He knew Alyssa would wake up soon. She would open her eyes and look up at him. He could get lost in those eyes. Lose himself in their crystal blue depths. Forget about everything. Forget about what he was, forget about all the wrongs he had done in the past and forget his debt to humanity. His body tightened. Thickened to the point of pain. He felt his teeth elongate as the beast threatened to rise.

No! Christian swung around and strode out of the room. He had to get himself together. When Alyssa woke up, he would be in control. She needed his protection. That was the plan. His body could wait.

Focusing on his breathing, Christian slowly calmed down. He sat on Alyssa’s couch. He started to flip through one of the magazines on her coffee table when he spotted the video jackets. Curious, he picked one up. A grin spread across mouth. So, his
palomita
was interested in vampires? Interesting. Using the remote, he turned on the movie she had been watching. He had never read Ann Rice’s books on vampires. So many had tried to tell the vampire’s story. He wondered what her take on his kind would be.

* * * * *

Alyssa found Christian sitting on her couch an hour later. She woke up disoriented. Why was she lying on her bed with her clothes on? What time was it? She got up and walked out of her bedroom. She needed something cold to drink. Her mouth felt drier than a desert. Stumbling into the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of cold water from the fridge. She drank all of it, then poured another. She was so thirsty!

Carrying her glass into the other room, she noticed for the first time that her TV was on. Had she left it on and gone to sleep? The last thing she remembered was eating some stew with Jonathan. After that things were fuzzy.

Then she saw Christian. The glass slipped from her hand and crashed to the floor. She would never forget the look in his eyes as he swung his head towards her and shot to his feet. For just an instant, his gaze looked haunted with pain and suffering. She barely held back the urge to run to him and hold him close. Whatever he was watching on the television had profoundly affected him.

Then it was gone.

“Surprised to see me,
palomita
?”

Christian shuttered his eyes so that they held nothing but casual interest. Alyssa wasn’t fooled. Forgetting about the broken glass, she took a step forward, then gasped when a sharp pain shot through her foot.

“Don’t move. I’ll get you.”

As he closed the distance between them, Alyssa couldn’t help but notice how Christian looked. It almost made her previously dry mouth water. She forgot about the pain in her foot. He wore his hair loose. It spilled in dark shining waves around his shoulders. She really,
really
wanted to run her fingers through it. He wore a charcoal-gray, ribbed T-shirt that strained against the wide expanse of his shoulders and clung to his muscular chest. She had to swallow as her gaze lowered. His black jeans hugged him in all the right places. She could almost see the play of muscles in his powerful thighs as he drew close. Her thoughts scattered as he picked her up and brought her to the couch. He set her down gently and then hovered over her. His eyes were glued to her foot. Alyssa followed his gaze.

Uh oh. Blood. Vampire. It took Alyssa a second to figure it out, but the minute she did, she stood up and started to limp quickly towards the bathroom.

“I’ll go clean this up. Then we can talk about why you’re in my apartment.”

She tried to make her voice sound calm, relaxed. Instead it came out a high-pitched squeak.

“Stop.”

It was only one word. But Christian’s compelling voice pulled at her. Made her want to listen. She hesitated and then fought against it as she tried to move forward.

“Now.”

That was it. Her feet stopped. She wanted to get to the bathroom, needed to close the door and lock it. She didn’t want to see Christian’s eyes glowing red or his teeth grow.

“Don’t move.”

His voice lured her, enticed her. Made her want to do whatever he asked of her. Before she realized it, he was standing directly in front of her. She stared at his chest, refusing to look up. Christian tilted her chin up with his finger. She closed her eyes tight.
She didn’t want to see the vampire…she didn’t want to see the vampire…she didn’t want to see the vampire.

“Look at me,
palomita
.”

It was a command. She knew that now. He asked and she wanted, no needed to obey. Still, she fought it as long as she could.

Her eyes fluttered open. She met Christian’s stare and saw only his rich mocha eyes. No red. No glowing. Just Christian’s desire-filled eyes. The breath she had been holding came out in a rush. This she could deal with.

“I could never hurt you, Alyssa. Do you understand that?”

She silently nodded her head. She believed him. Knew in her heart that his words were true.

His head descended and their lips met. She forgot the rest—the pain in her foot, the glowing red eyes, the teeth. None of it mattered as they touched. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Gently worshipping her mouth, he told her without words that what he said was true. He wouldn’t hurt her.

After what seemed like only seconds, Christian broke their kiss. She moaned her protest. She wanted more. Wanted him.

He scooped her up and cradled her in his arms as he carried her to her bathroom. Alyssa kept her arms wrapped around him. Savored their closeness and the feel of him holding her. No one had carried her this much since she was a child. She wasn’t a lightweight either. Even if they wanted to, most men wouldn’t find carrying her an easy endeavor. Yet Christian held her as if she weighed nothing. Made her feel delicate and cherished.

He set her on the edge of her bathtub. The image of the two of them in the bath together blossomed in her mind, wet and soapy, their hands sliding over each other. She would wash his back and—

“Where do you keep the tweezers, Alyssa?”

Christian’s question broke her seductive reverie. She looked blankly up at him. What had he asked?

One of Christian’s eyebrows rose and a mischievous grin spread across his mouth. His eyes danced with amusement and something else, an arrogance that she didn’t want to examine too closely. One that told her he knew he could take her there and then and she would welcome it.

“Your bathtub is very big isn’t it? It could easily fit two people, don’t you think?”

Christian’s grin spread to wolfish proportions. Alyssa felt herself blush. She never blushed! But she suddenly felt like she had been caught with her fingers in the cookie jar.

“I-I never really thought about it,” she lied.

She tried to act nonchalant, as if his words hadn’t sent fingers of desire throughout her body.

Christian threw back his head and laughed. It was a joyous sound. It made her feel better, just hearing it. But she was so shocked by it that she forgot about her embarrassment. She could only stare at him in wide-eyed wonder.

His laughter slowly died down. But the smile remained as he shook his head.

“
Palomita
, you truly please me.”

Alyssa couldn’t help herself. She smiled. His words pleased her.

“Now, let’s take care of that cut. Where are your tweezers?” Christian asked again.

“In the medicine cabinet behind you. Why do you need them?”

Christian retrieved the tweezers, antiseptic spray, gauze pads and bandages from the cabinet.

“In case there’s still some glass in your foot. That’s why I didn’t want you to move. If there was glass in your skin, it might have become too deeply embedded to pull out. Do you have a clean washcloth?”

“Yes, under the sink.”

He took out the cloth and turned on the hot water. He plugged the drain, squirted some soap into the sink and filled it with the hot water. After soaking the washcloth in it for a minute, he wrung it out and brought it over to where she sat.

Christian knelt down in front of her and gently grasped her calf. His touch made her flesh burn. When he lifted her leg up and slid his fingers towards her foot, tingles of pleasure shot through her. She
had a thing about her feet. She loved to have them massaged. She could sit for hours enjoying it.

He held the heel of her foot in his hand, while gently washing the area of the cut with the other one. Alyssa had to bite her lip to hold in her groan of pleasure. She was forced to lean back slightly as he lifted her foot higher. He examined it closely.

“I don’t see any glass. I’m going to press lightly on the area. Let me know if it hurts when I do.”

Why did Christian’s voice sound deeper all of a sudden? She looked at his face, but all his attention was focused on her foot. She forgot about it a second later as he probed her cut lightly with his finger.

“It’s tender when you touch it, but I don’t feel any sharp pain.”

“Good. That’s good.”

That was all Christian said. But it was enough. She could hear the roughness in his voice. She could feel his hand tighten around her. Something had changed. He had changed.

Before she knew what he was going to do, Christian dropped the washcloth and grasped her calf with his free hand. He slowly pulled her foot closer to his face, closer to his mouth. She tried to pull away, but his hold on her was firm. It didn’t hurt her, but she wasn’t going anywhere until he released her. She steeled her body for whatever was going to come next.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a shaky voice.

“Your sweetness calls to me. I have to taste you.”

His breath tickled the bottom of her foot as he spoke. The hoarse sound of it slid over her like honey to her senses. Soothing her fear while leaving waves of pleasure in its wake. Her thoughts grew fuzzy and unfocused.

“Don’t worry,
palomita
. You
will
enjoy it. I promise you that.”

Alyssa watched in frozen fascination as Christian touched his mouth to her foot. At first she felt nothing. Then his tongue flicked lightly over her cut, once, twice and again. Its hot roughness burned her. His teeth grazed her injury. Then his mouth pressed tightly against it, while his fingers played along her calf, caressing it.