Enemy Mine (3 page)

Another wave rolled over her, making her dizzy. While she might be a little disoriented, she knew she did not want to go to the hospital. Her family would flip out and try to keep her under even more lockdown. It had taken so long to get her brothers to chill and let her live a normal life, and she wouldn’t give that up. Part of her knew that after this attack, giving up some freedoms was probably inevitable, but she wasn’t going to help her family’s decision along by taking a trip to the ER. Vampire blood would give her the strength she needed to recover. Unlike fae and demon blood, which messed people up, vamp blood was full of healing power. Uncaring about the consequences, she latched onto his wrist and sucked. Sweetness, not what she’d expected, slid down her throat as raw strength filled her body.

She wasn’t sure how much time passed but she finally pulled back, her breathing harsh and uneven. She couldn’t believe she’d just taken Kiernan’s blood. That was something she’d dwell on later. “What the hell is going on?” This time the words came out strong.

His expression was dark, deadly. “Someone just tried to kidnap you. I don’t know if they have backup, so we’re getting the hell away from there.”

“But, the cabdriver—”

“I followed you from the restaurant and saw what happened. I already made an anonymous call to the police.” As if on cue, the sound of sirens shrieked through the air.

“But—”

“We’re going back to my place until we know who was after you, because, sweetheart, those guys were shifters.”

Shifters? Denial instantly bubbled up inside her but she shoved it down because he was right. Even in her previous state she’d scented the underlying animal from her attacker. And not just any type of shifter, but wolf. It had vaguely registered when the man had grabbed her, but she hadn’t been thinking clearly. All she’d wanted to do was escape.

The would-be kidnapper wasn’t from her pack—that much she was sure of. But if wolf shifters were in town trying to hurt her it could mean they were looking to take over her father’s territory and use her as leverage. It was hard to imagine anyone being that stupid, especially when her pack owned and controlled a huge portion of the city, but it wasn’t completely out of the question. Dread settled inside her at the thought of a war in her city, her home.

Chapter 3

Kiernan glanced in his rearview mirror as he and Melina tore away from the scene. Getting her to safety was the only thing that mattered. He might be able to harness fire but his gift had limits. If a shifter or human or whoever had been blessed by a witch or the fae, he would be useless against them. Luckily those bastards he’d just smoked hadn’t been shielded.

It might be wrong, but he’d taken pleasure in lighting them up. They’d been trying to hurt Melina, a woman he already cared for too much. He was only sorry he hadn’t been able to make them suffer longer.

“Did you set those guys on fire with your . . . mind?” Melina finally spoke again, her voice much stronger than before.

He knew why. For whatever reason, she’d been physically drained after the accident even though she was a shifter. She shouldn’t have been so weak, but she had been and he’d had no choice but to give her his blood. “Yeah. It’s one of my gifts.”

“One of? Holy shit.” She turned around in her seat to look out the back window. “Why didn’t we wait for the police? My brothers are in law enforcement.”

He snorted. “Exactly.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she snapped, anger rolling off her in a violent pop of emotion.

“If they showed up and saw us together, what do you think their first assumption would be? They’d shoot me and ask questions later.” A bullet wouldn’t hurt him—though a silver one would certainly burn like a bitch—but he didn’t want to deal with the fallout of her family. Not yet, not until he and Melina had ironed a few things out.

Her very kissable lips pulled into a thin line but she didn’t deny it. Which told him he was right or very close to it. She was silent for another long moment then spoke again, her eyes narrowed. “You could have just waited until right before the cops showed up and left me. I would have been safe.”

He shook his head, not believing she could even think that. “If you think I’d ever leave you . . .”
No fucking way.
“Who would be dumb enough to come after you like that?” Kiernan wanted to get straight to the heart of what had just happened. Once he had a name, blood would spill. Her pack could do whatever they wanted, but he was taking care of her.

“I have no idea. There aren’t any other packs in the area and I truly don’t think anyone would be dumb enough to try to take over my father’s territory.”

“What about your brothers? Any cases they’re working on that might relate to this?” Kiernan had done his homework on the three Rodriguez brothers. One was in vice, the other a detective, and the third worked for a private security firm that specialized in protecting high profile supernatural and human clients.

She shrugged, the action so jerky he knew she’d be coming down from her adrenaline high soon. “I don’t know. I need to call my mother.” Her voice cracked on the last word and it was like a spear through his heart.

Even though he hated to do it because it meant she might be leaving him soon, he slid out his cell and handed it to her since hers had cracked during her struggle. “Here. Do you want me to take you home or do you want to go to my place?”

She looked at him, green eyes wide with so many emotions. Confusion, fear, and anger. “I . . .” Melina looked down at herself, seeing the blood covering her dress and coat, then looked back up at him. “Your place. I can’t let my family see my like this. They’ll go crazy. I’ll call them once I get there.”

Though he wanted to reach out and comfort her, he didn’t. Instead he slipped the phone she returned to him back in his pocket. There would be time enough to soothe her once she was safe.

Taking a sharp turn, he cringed when Melina let out a yelp and clasped on to the door.

“Sorry, trying to make sure we’re not being tailed.” It wasn’t common knowledge where he lived since relocating to Miami, so he wasn’t worried about anyone waiting at his place to ambush them—not that anyone should know he’d been out with her in the first place. “Did you tell anyone you were going out with me?”

A sharp shake of her head. “Not you specifically.”

That rankled him, but it would help narrow down who had known of her whereabouts. If he had to guess, someone had been watching her neighborhood. Even though Star Island was exclusive and most people thought it was gated, it wasn’t. Most people wouldn’t mess around with the Rodriguez pack though. They had their own form of security. But that wouldn’t stop someone from watching the entrance to the neighborhood and it wouldn’t stop someone from following Melina. They couldn’t have tailed her home from work, because he had. Some primal part of him had needed to make sure she got home safe.

He’d kept his distance and figured she had no clue, but that didn’t mean someone hadn’t been watching her, looking for the right opportunity. He didn’t think she’d been a target for very long. If someone had been watching her, he’d have known. A dull throb spread through his skull as he thought of all the possibilities of who could be after her.

After driving all over Miami down various side streets, through the warehouse district, to Coconut Grove and back, he finally pulled into a parking garage three blocks from where he lived.

“This is where you live?” Melina asked, the first thing she’d said in the past half hour.

Hell, she’d probably been questioning her decision to come with him but at least she hadn’t asked him to take her home. He would, even if it would go against every possessive instinct he had.

“Not exactly. Take off your coat.” He palmed the keys to his car.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s covered in blood. You can wear mine to cover up your dress.” While he didn’t mind seeing the skin tight dress, they didn’t need to draw any attention to themselves.

As soon as she’d stripped off the coat and put on his, he threw hers in the closest garbage can of the parking garage. Holding her hand, he was pleased when she didn’t pull away, but tightened her grip instead.

A thread of steady fear rolled off her, and he didn’t blame her. From her own accounts she’d been sheltered most of her life. While the Rodriguez pack had seen their share of violence in the past century—he knew first hand—she was too young to have taken part of any skirmishes between her pack and other supernatural beings. Hell, she was a vet. She helped animals all day. Kiernan was just surprised she was handling everything so well.

In case anyone had tracked them using traffic cameras—doubtful, but he wouldn’t put it past anyone at this point—he knew a route completely free of cameras. Not a straight shot to the condo complex he lived in—it took them twice as long to get there—but it was worth the extra precaution.

“You’re pretty paranoid, huh?” Melina asked as they headed into the underground parking garage of the building he actually lived in.

“Careful.” At the elevators, he pressed his palm to the biometric scanner and the doors opened.

“After what just happened, I’m not complaining,” she murmured.

Melina still held his hand as they entered the elevator, even though she could have dropped it long ago. The knowledge warmed something inside of him he’d forgotten existed. He wasn’t supposed to develop feelings for a shifter. For a member of the Rodriguez pack, no less. But he couldn’t deny what she made him feel.

The door opened on the top floor. His family owned the entire building and thankfully he was the only one living there at the moment. He wasn’t ashamed to be seen with Melina, but he didn’t feel like explaining to any of his coven why he was helping a shifter. Not until things between the two of them were settled.

Melina’s shoes clacked along the marble floor of the entryway the elevator opened up into. Placing his palm against the other biometric scanner—one that also read his lower vampire body temperature, not just his palm and fingerprints—he opened the heavy metal door and entered first.

He paused for a moment, inhaling scents and listening for heartbeats. A lot of supernatural beings could mask their scent and even their heartbeat, but he was almost a hundred percent sure they were alone. Still, he did a quick sweep of the five bedroom place before retrieving Melina from the front door.

He steered her down the long hallway that branched off toward bedrooms and opened up into the living room. The living space directly connected to a giant kitchen with all new, state of the art appliances—kind of pointless to have considering his kind didn’t need to eat. They did and could, especially in social settings to put others at ease, but it wasn’t a necessity.

From the amused look on Melina’s face he could tell she was thinking the same thing. When she shivered, all traces of his own amusement fled.

Stroking his knuckles down her cheek, he reveled in the feel of her soft skin. “Are you okay? What happened back there to make you so weak?” He’d had to pull out a chunk of glass from her head—the thought made his hands curl into fists—but it shouldn’t have weakened her to the point that she’d needed his blood.

Something flickered in her eyes but it was gone so fast he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Wrapping her arms around herself, she shrugged. “I was in a car accident.”

“There’s more to it though, isn’t there?”

She swallowed hard and shook her head. “No.” She’d make a terrible poker player. Those big green eyes of hers flashed with guilt, but he didn’t have the heart to grill her.

Not when she was covered in her own blood and looked ready to fall over from sheer exhaustion. “Come on. I’ll show you where the shower is.”

Gratefulness filled her expression as she followed him. It only reaffirmed he’d made the right decision not to question her further.

Once she was showered and rested, however, he wouldn’t show restraint.

* * *

Melina stood under the powerful shower jets of one of the guest bathrooms in Kiernan’s condo. From what she gathered, he lived on the entire top floor. It was only seven stories up, but she didn’t plan to go out to the balcony anytime soon. She and heights did not mix.

She’d tossed her dress onto the shiny white tile of the bathroom floor. She almost felt bad because the place was so pristine. Like a freaking hotel. No warmth or personal touches anywhere. Just abstract paintings pictures dotted various walls. And everything was so masculine.

The warm water coursing over her was like heaven. Thanks to Kiernan’s blood she felt almost like new. A little tired, but not like she should have been. For a moment she’d been tempted to tell him about her natural healing abilities but had held back. It wasn’t common knowledge and her father would be incredibly angry if she told a vampire about it.

The upside of her gift was that she could heal most animals, humans, shifters, and pretty much any supernatural being—unless they were too far gone like the sweet mastiff from earlier that day. In worst case scenarios it drained her to the point of incredible weakness, and it took a long time for her to heal. It was the reason she’d become a vet as opposed to entering another medical field. Healing animals didn’t drain her nearly as much as other beings did.

Once she was sure all the blood was washed clean, she stepped from the giant glass and stone enclosed shower and slipped on the fluffy blue robe Kiernan had left for her. Since it was almost her size and definitely too small for him, she wondered who it belonged to but pushed down the unfamiliar feeling of jealousy.

Kiernan had the ability to make her claws unsheathe without doing a damn thing. All she had to do was think about him with another woman and she was ready to claw someone’s eyes out. It went so against her personality it shocked her to her core.

“Find everything okay?” Kiernan’s deep, familiar voice made her jerk around from drying her hair at the mirror.

She placed a hand over her chest. “I didn’t even hear you.” That surprised her. With her heightened senses she should have, but she’d been too wrapped up in her own thoughts.

His dark gaze traveled from her face, practically caressed her covered breasts, then dipped all the way to her painted pink toenails.

Unable to stop her physical reaction, her nipples beaded almost painfully. Almost as if he knew, his lips curved up slightly as his eyes landed on her face once again. “I turned this back on and it’s been ringing nonstop since you got in the shower.” Sighing, he held out her cracked cell, as if it was the last thing he wanted to give her.

Frowning, she took it, looking at the cracked face. “I didn’t think it was working.”

“I didn’t either. Looks like it just got turned off in your struggle.”

She’d need to replace it but she was thankful it worked. Now she could at least call her family and tell them she was all right. After what happened she knew she should probably go home to the safety of her pack, but she didn’t want to. They’d keep her under lockdown and she loathed the thought of living like that. At least with Kiernan she’d have some freedom. “Do you think . . . I could stay with you?”

His eyes darkened to a midnight black as he nodded. He growled low in his throat in answer.

Something about that look made her entire body flare to life. She’d been on the receiving end of his focus once and it had threatened to overload her senses. To find herself there again made her body tingle in raw sexual awareness. But first . . . “Did you plan to use me because of my family?”

“No.” The answer was so immediate she had no doubt of the truthfulness. Not to mention she couldn’t smell the bitterness of a lie. His next words surprised her. “What I want from you has
nothing
to do with your pack. And when I think about you, I’m sure as hell not thinking about anyone else. I don’t like shifters—or I didn’t until I met you. It’s not exactly a secret, but I don’t want to use you. At least not in the sense you’re asking about. However, I do plan to use your body for all sorts of . . . things.”

Things.
The dark note in that single word sent an erotic thrill through her. One that made the heat between her legs grow until all she could think about was taking off her robe, stepping into his arms, and letting him push deep inside her. Considering the way he was practically undressing her with his eyes she knew he wouldn’t reject her. Before she could contemplate anything, her phone buzzed in her hand. The number on the screen surprised her. It wasn’t a member of her pack, but Irene, a human woman from a homeless shelter downtown. Melina knew her friend wouldn’t call in the evening unless it was an emergency.