Blood and Loss (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) (9 page)

“
I’m sorry, Cass, the bullet went right through me. They knew to use silver tips.” He was screaming now so I could hear him.

I just nodded.
I think I was in shock. I thought Quintus was being a worrywart and now I was lying here, shot. The wound was just below my armpit. It hurt worse than it looked. It was more a graze and burn than a bullet wound, but I was still struggling not to cry. “It only grazed you. You are going to be fine.”

Still leaning over me
, he wiped away the tears that had started to fall. Relief had brought on the waterworks. Lucius tilted my head to make sure I could hear him. “Look at me; you are going to be fine, but I have to leave you here. I can’t let that guy get away so he can have a second chance.”

He was out of sight before I could even
respond. I started to panic. I didn’t want to be alone. I wanted to be with as many people as possible. I struggled to my feet to get out of the cold water. My heart still pounded with fear and my body felt weak. Getting up was impossible, until two strong hands gripped my shoulders. Relief flooded me until I realized the man behind me wasn’t Lucius. The man was slightly shorter than I was. He had me in a steel grip and I couldn’t shake him off.

Great
, the other guy was just a decoy and my big bad vampire bodyguard was off playing hero somewhere else.

“
Let go! You’re hurting me.” I flipped my body back and forth, trying to break his hold, but he was freakishly strong and the only thing that I got for my troubles was a tighter grip. He pulled me back into the water. The bastard was going to drown me. What did I ever do to him? “You don’t have to do this…please!” I didn’t like the panic in my voice. I had to remain as calm as possible so I could get out of this.

I let my body go limp. He wasn’t expecting it and my dead weight ripped me out of his grasp.
Sheer panic gave me speed I wouldn’t normally have. I still didn’t get far before he caught my hair and used it to pull me back out.

My scalp was splitting from my skull. The cold water and
thrashing was making me tired. I tripped and fell. He just pulled me up and flipped me around to face him. He was so strong I had no control over what he was doing with my body. Wild eyes met mine when I looked up to see who was trying to kill me. He was going to get the job done no matter what it took. My last shred of hope was gone.

He released me for a second to get a good grip around my neck.
His grasped tightened to block off my air. My legs and arms flailed wildly. The pain was intense. Finally, one of my kicks made contact with his knee. It didn’t even make him pause; he just plunged me below the surface. The water stung my face and my eyes burned from the salt. His blurry image seemed calmer. He eased his grip on my neck, but kept me under the water. My airway was open again and despite being under water my oxygen-deprived body took a deep gasping breath. The water seared my lungs. His job was almost done, and then he could get a beer or watch TV or whatever murderers do after a job well done. I felt a relaxing calm slide over me like a warm blanket. As a way to die, I had seen worse.

Chapter 9

“Speak to me, Goldilocks.” Lucius’ voice sounded panicked.

My body was
racked with pain. Someone was pushing on my chest. I blindly pushed him away, just in time to throw up a gallon of salt water. It battered my throat and eyes. My breath was coming in strangled gasps, but I managed a hoarse whisper. “I’m fine.”

“You are not fine.” He was angry

“Why are you mad at me?” I felt a little slow from the lack of oxygen. I couldn’t understand how I had done anything wrong.

“I am mad at myself
, Cassandra. You are shaking and I need to get you home and in a hot shower before shock sets in.”

The next few seconds were literally a blur of activity. He pulled me up into his chest, pressing me tightly against him
, then we took off. He did the crazy vampire run to my door. Before I had a chance to realize we were home, I was in my bathroom.

Lucius turned my shower on full blast.
The bathroom took no time to fill up with steam. “I am going to undress you. I will try not to look, but you need to get out of these clothes.” I was barely conscious. I could hear him, but my brain was taking a long time to compute. If it wasn’t, I might have picked up on the “try not to” instead of saying he wouldn’t look at all.

My top and bra fell in a shredded heap on the floor
. “Hey, that was my favorite bra.” Then my pants and panties were gone. Somehow, in all that, Lucius had lost everything but his boxers. I was naked in a shower with the big bad and I was too cold to care.

He held me against him because
my legs refused to support my weight. His arms snaked around my waist, letting the water run down my back. The hot spray felt like a shower of sparks hitting my naked, frigid flesh. Just when I thought I was feeling more stable, the shaking and chattering started. My bones rattled and my teeth clanked together so hard I was afraid they might shatter. I looped my arms around his neck and pressed my body to his. Hey, I was cold, not dead. I needed stability and he was providing it.

“I
-I–I-I’mmmm sooosooo cold.” Then I realized his chest wasn’t the only hard thing I was pressing against. I knew he couldn’t help it. A naked woman was shaking against his body. I was like a human vibrator. My heart raced at the thought of only a thin piece of cloth separating us.

“I think that is as good as we are going to get with the shower.”
He didn’t move to turn off the water. Heat from a different source coursed through me. I looked up into his eyes. He watched me, through heavy lids, waiting for something. I licked my lips and my nipples pebbled against his hard chest. I thought he was going to kiss me.

Then he was lifting me out of the shower and the spell
was broken. He dried my hair with a towel and then wrapped me up in another. Scooping me up in his arms, he carried me to the living room. I felt him inhale against the damp skin on my neck before he plopped me on the couch and disappeared into my bedroom. I let out a small scream. What was that and why had he stopped?

They say a near death experience can be a powerful aphrodisiac. Combine that and a shower with one of the hottest men I
knew, and my hormones were screaming for relief. This was Lucius
.
,we
W
e had not even had a pleasant conversation and I was seriously considering jumping him when he came back out of my room

He came out wearing a pair of sweatpants and carrying the quilt I kept at the bottom of my bed. He took the towel from around my body with one flick of his wrist. I was on my couch
, totally nude. I was blushing on every exposed surface. Desire swept across his face as he took in the view. He shook his head and swaddled me in the quilt before fleeing for the kitchen.

“What the hell kind of tea do you want? You have ten different kinds in here.”

“Mint
, please.” Did he have to be so cranky? I was the one who almost died.

He came back
in, placed the mug on the side table, and gathered me up in his arms again. I had my bare cheek to his chest and I tried to ignore how firm and soft it was. He was built bigger than most vampires were, but he still had the beautiful flawless skin they all had. Lucius hummed a very beautiful tune. It was soothing and I felt my muscles start to relax and the shaking slowed.

“Your voice is beautiful. The song sounds like a lullaby
. What is it?”

“Just an old song. I used to sing it to my children when they were scared. Please don’t go there, Goldilocks. I am not in the mood to talk about my past.” He sounded tired. I wasn’t going to push my luck. He had been very gentle and caring tonight. I didn’t want to ruin that.

“What happened to the man who shot me?” I asked.

“I took care of him and the man who tried to dr
own you. They were both werewolves. It explains why it took me so long to catch up with him. I should have let him go. My arrogance almost got you killed. I should have stayed to protect you. You are my priority. I am very sorry.”

“You saved my life, Lucius. Please don’t beat yourself up. Now if you had been another minute, then I would expect you to feel bad. Since you came in the nick of time, I just wanted to say thank you.” God, that was awkward. I hate saying thank you. It always sounds so fake.

“You should not thank me for how I performed t
onight. I let you get hit by a bullet and you almost drowned. I will ask Quintus to replace me with someone who can do a better job.”

I
didn’t understand why, but I was hurt that he didn’t want the job anymore. “If that is your lame way of getting out of this job, then go for it. I know there are probably a thousand other assignments you could be doing, but I would prefer you to stay on. You know; the devil you know kind of thing. You smelled my morning-breath, saw my bed-head, and saw me naked, I don’t want to have to break in the new guy to all my disgusting attributes.” If I kept it light, maybe he would break out of his funk.

He smiled
down at me and cleared his throat. “Besides your morning breath, your attributes are quite extraordinary.”

“
You weren’t supposed to look at my attributes.”

“I said I would try not to look.
I did try, but when the view is that spectacular, it is hard to resist.”

I blushed and my cheeks burned.
It felt good to the ego to have a man, especially one who was as handsome as Lucius, flirt with me. We sat there in silence for a long time, except for his melodic humming. I was swaddled so tightly in the quilt, I had no choice but to relax. I was almost asleep when he leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Declan is here, Goldilocks. I will go to your room so as not to cause a fight.”

He stood up and plopped me on the couch.
I had a moment of panic, when I almost did a face plant onto the hardwood. My arms were held against my side by the quilt. I wiggled onto my back trying to figure out how to get out of my restraint without giving Declan an eyeful. It was like those Chinese finger-cuffs; the more you struggled, the tighter it became.

My couch
faced the door, so I was on display when he walked in. “Hey, sweets.” He took in my situation with a look of amusement. It was better than anger. “Can I ask why you are wrapped tighter than a drum lying alone on our couch?” He had a big grin as he took in my strange predicament.

“
Thought I’d try regression therapy. I am starting in the newborn phase.”

He stood over me
, looking down. “Are you naked under there?” he asked as he took his index finger and pulled back the quilt a little to see if he was right. Apparently, everyone was getting a free show today.

“Do you mind
?” He was having a very good time at my expense. It was irritating me, but to be fair if the tables were turned, I would have teased him mercilessly.

“Sorry, it’s just a little odd to find you like this. Where is your creepy shadow?”

“He’s
in the bedroom.”

“So he stripped you
, wrapped you in a blanket so you couldn’t move, and then he went to catch a nap?”

I was being vague on purpose. I didn’t want to get into it with Declan, but if I came home to find him like this
, I would be dying to know the story. I couldn’t help laughing. Picturing Declan like that was a mental image for the record books.

His strong arms scooped me up
and pulled me tight to his chest. “I’ll make you a deal; you loosen this torture device and I’ll tell you what happened.” The heat from his body chased the last chill away.

It was a struggle, but eventually he had it loosened enough that I could get my arms out and breathing was a little easier. I guess being a vampire for so long
, Lucius forgot that necessary detail of human life. I told Declan the basics of what happened, leaving out the naked shower scene. He was silent for a long time. We just sat there while he rubbed my back.

When he did speak
, his voice was hoarse and choked. “I can’t believe I almost lost you. I…I am glad he was there for you.”

His beautiful brown eyes were rimmed with t
ears. I reached up and wiped them away. “I’m okay, a little cold, but none the worse for wear.”

“You are not allowed to almost die again. I mean it.”

“Trust me, I want to follow those orders.” He smiled and I felt a little better.

He took off his top and snuggled me back against his warm bare chest. It felt like heaven to have his body heat
warm me up. I had my arms around his waist and my cheek was pressed over his heart. I was content so of course I had to ruin it. “Declan, can I ask you something and it not be weird afterward?”

“Sure”

“
I don’t know if I am asking because I almost died, or the lack of oxygen killed some of my brain cells. I just need to get it out there. Then hopefully, I can stop thinking about.” I stalled, trying to get up the courage to ask something I had wanted to know for a long time.

“I know you care about me
. I don’t question that for a second. We have lived together for five years and we get along so well. I love you, Declan. You are not picky about who you sleep with.” Fuck, I was making a mess of this. “Why don’t you want to be with me? Is it you just don’t find me attractive? I can understand if that’s the reason.”

He stopped rubbing my back.
I could feel him shake his head. He was going to be mad. I should have kept my big mouth shut. He didn’t like needy women and now he wouldn’t even want to be friends. In the middle of my self-recrimination, he lifted me up so I straddled his legs and I looked him straight in the eyes. The blanket fell around my waist, baring my breasts. I definitely didn’t see anger in his face.

“You have to be kidding me. Do you even look in the mirror
, sweets? You make that moth-eaten robe of yours sexy. Some mornings when I am up first, I have to fight myself from crawling into your bed and screwing you senseless.”

He sounded sincere, but he couldn’t be because there was nothing stopping him from doing exactly that.
He was humoring me, which was the same as pity in my book. “You don’t have to lie. It won’t make me feel better. I just needed to know.” I fought back tears. I had made a big enough fool out of myself. I didn’t need to make it worse by crying over him. I looked away so he wouldn’t see.

“Look at me
.” I did.

His e
yes took in my naked upper half while he licked his lips. He was hungry and I was a tasty morsel. My heart tried to pound its way out of my chest. I wanted him to kiss me and he did. The kiss was hard and angry. His tongue assaulted mine. He pulled away and put his forehead on my shoulder. We were both out of breath. He took my hand and placed it on his hard cock. “Does this feel like I don’t find you attractive?” He thrust his erection back and forth across my hand. I kissed him this time, with all the ferocity of five years of pent up lust. I wanted him inside me. I loved him; we were best friends and I knew if he would go the final step, it would be amazing.

He broke away again
. “FUCK!” he roared. I fell to the floor when he stood up.

“What is your pro
blem, Declan?” My cheeks burned. “You have no right to be angry. I asked you a grown up question. I don’t need this shit right now.” I was embarrassed and I was the one being rejected. I was the only one who had right to be angry.

“I can’t be with you
, Cass. I can’t just fuck you and leave, and I’m not ready for anything else.”

“Then say that
, you idiot. Instead of whatever this was.”

He disappeared into his bedroom and now I had to go into my room and face Lucius. A man who
could hear heartbeats in a house. He had obviously heard every minute humiliating detail.

When I walked in our room
, he looked angry. Okay, what did I do to piss him off now? Did I smell bad? What was going on? I must have been wearing Eau de Handsome Guy repellant. “Look, I don’t know why you are mad at me, but I’ve had a bad day and I don’t need to be shit on again.”