Younger, Bree - Burn [All American Vampires 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (7 page)

She had slowly turned her head and watched him through slitted eyes as he had moved with a panther-like grace into the woods to the left of the SUV and disappeared from sight. Barely able to believe her luck, she had stealthily slipped from the vehicle, not daring to shut the door in case he heard the noise and came back to check. The surrounding darkness of the woods had offered no sanctuary. She was completely lost and had no idea which direction, if any, led to safety. So she had simply headed out in the opposite direction that he had taken, praying that by the time he came back she would be long gone.

Now here she was. Totally lost in the middle of God only knew where. She stumbled over a limb and paused for a moment, trying to get her bearings, when suddenly out of the woods behind her, a very large form appeared, hurtling toward her at an incredible rate of speed.

She screamed as he grabbed her from behind, his hands closing like iron around her and jerking her against him. She struggled like a wildcat, trying to pull free, kicking and clawing at whatever piece of his anatomy was within reach. His voice growled in her ear, but she ignored it, stomping down as hard as she could on his foot. Her elbow caught him in a rib, and she felt the grip on her loosen fractionally. She threw her head back in a sudden jerk against his face, and he released her with a sharp cry.

Libby wasted no time, scrambling away from him and turning to run. She’d taken only two halting steps before he tackled her, taking her to the ground with ridiculous ease. They went down hard, but he turned at the last moment, his arms wrapping around her, and took the brunt of the fall. They landed in a heap on the ground, with Libby atop Ty.

For a few seconds she was still, held immobile by shock and fear. Then she began to fight and cry out. He rolled over, placing her beneath him. He used the weight of his body to hold her down, his arms grasping her wrists and pushing them to the ground above her head.

Still she struggled, twisting and straining to get away, and he let her, using his body simply to restrain her. Finally, she gave up, realizing the futility of her efforts. She could not get free. He was just too strong. Limply, she lay beneath him, struggling to regain control of her breathing along with the wild panic which threatened to overwhelm her. They lay there for several minutes. Finally, without a word, he stood and scooped her up, tossing her over his shoulder and holding her there with an arm that felt like a band of steel across her hips.

He carried her like that through the woods in complete silence, no sound but the labored breathing from both of them. They passed the SUV, its doors now closed, and proceeded into the trees through which Ty had disappeared earlier. Peering between the strands of hair that fell across her face, she could see that the trees thinned quickly and then they emerged into a clearing. Things got a lot brighter, and she knew there was a lamp or light of some sort nearby. The planks of a wooden staircase appeared in the corner of her eye when he turned slightly, and Libby could feel each jolt as Ty climbed several steps. Then he was pushing open the door to what Libby assumed was some kind of hunting or fishing camp. After shutting the door behind him, he gently set her down on her feet. Immediately, she ran across the room and turned to face him, her back pressed against the opposite wall.

She could feel his eyes studying her and tried to ignore him, her gaze darting around the darkened room for any possible escape route. There wasn’t much to the small cabin, from what she could make out. Sparse furniture and only a short hallway which probably led to the bedroom and bathroom. She was standing in the small kitchen area and as her gaze catalogued the details of the room, she froze when she noticed another door. From where he stood, he couldn’t see it. Libby licked her lips and slanted her eyes back toward Ty to see if he had noticed her reaction, but he had turned away to lock the door they had entered through.

Knowing it was now or never, she moved. She managed to unlock the deadbolt and get it open about two inches before a hard body pressed into her, sending the door closed with a loud thud. She screamed in frustration and fear.

She flattened herself against the door, trying to put some room between herself and Ty, but he wouldn’t allow it, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her flush against him. His body was hard and warm against her, making her supremely conscious of her own feminine frailty. He frightened her, but she recognized, even through her own fear, the gentleness of his hands.

Confused, worn-out, she succumbed to the emotions which had been held at bay by her utter determination to get away. Her hands began trembling, then her legs, and soon her entire body was shaking like she was in the grip of some fever. Her teeth chattered as she tried to speak. “L–l–let me…g–go. P–p–ple…ase.” Tears streamed down her face.

Ignoring her plea, Ty lifted her up and carried her to the couch, sinking down onto it and pulling her into his lap. Libby lost track of time. It could have been five minutes or five hours that she sat cuddled close to Ty’s body, crying noisily.

Eventually the trembles lessened until she lay against him in a state of numb exhaustion, and she became aware of him speaking to her. At first the words made no sense, just a distant whispering comfort, but gradually their meaning pierced the emotional storm that had held her in its grip.

“Jesus, Libby. I’m not going to hurt you. Do you hear me? I’m not going to hurt you. Damn it, if I had wanted to hurt you, don’t you think I could have done it already? I mean, hell, you were unconscious. Helpless. Honest to God, you’re starting to piss me off. You fucking saved my life. I’m not going to hurt you. Are you listening to me?”

At last she opened her eyes and met his. The blunt honesty she saw had her questioning her own memory. Maybe he hadn’t—could she have imagined…?

He bent his head to her, and she shivered at the feel of his breath warm on her skin. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Libby looked at his mouth and then up to meet his eyes. “Don’t…don’t bite me. Please don’t bite me.”

Chapter Five

Ty grimaced. She definitely remembered, then. Well, hell. He’d figured as much when she’d taken off and fought like such a little wildcat when he’d caught her, but he was hoping he was wrong. No such luck. His arms tightened around her briefly before he eased her back and set her on the sofa beside him.

He was completely out of his element here. He was probably the last person on the planet who should be trying to reassure and console a frightened female. But he had to give it a shot, or they’d never make it out alive. She wouldn’t meet his eyes, so he reached out and bumped up her chin, roughly wiping away the streaks the tears had left on her cheeks. She jerked back from him, but met his gaze, eyes narrowed and her whole body stiff and unyielding, signaling her distrust. He backed up and gave her some room, trying not to overwhelm her despite the fact that he was so much larger and physically intimidating.

“I’m not going to bite you.” He tried to inject his voice with a comforting tone, but it came out like a growl instead.

Her mouth trembled at his words, but she firmed it and her chin tilted up. “Again, you mean?”

Despite their situation, he felt a pulse of admiration.

“Again. I won’t bite you again.”

She scooted away from him until she was pressed against the arm of the couch, her skepticism glaringly obvious. Fuck, what else could he say to her that would make her believe him? He needed her to trust him. Their very survival might depend on it.

They sat there contemplating each other. The silence between them stretched. And stretched.

“What are you?” The question came in a soft but resolute voice.

The question he’d been dreading. He stood and took a couple of steps away, dragging his hands through his hair as he tried to think of what he could say to her. He turned, struggling for some possible explanation.

“Don’t lie to me. Please. Don’t lie to me. Tell me the truth. What the hell are you?” Her voice trembled, and he knew the courage it had taken her to ask that question.

“What do you think I am?” He decided to put the ball in her court.

She bit her lip and her hands clenched together in her lap, but she finally whispered, “Vampire. I think you’re a vampire.”

Ty watched her as she sat there waiting for him to confirm or deny her suspicions. Her face was pale, eyes wide and wary, and she didn’t even look like she was breathing as she waited for his reply. What the fuck. “You’re right. I am a vampire.”

He waited for the explosion. The breath she’d been holding came out in a choking gasp. Then she was shaking her head, denying his words, contradicting her earlier statement in an instinctive denial. “You can’t be a vampire. Vampires don’t exist.” Standing up, she began to pace back and forth, listing all the reasons why he couldn’t be a vampire, and Ty knew under other circumstances he would be amused by her list, but her voice sounded more and more frantic with each word. “They’re a myth. A story to scare kids. Vlad the Impaler was really just a man with a really bad attitude. He wasn’t a vampire named Dracula. Vampires are just a stupid story. By Bram Stoker. Just a dumb work of fiction. I read it in high school. It wasn’t even that good. I can’t believe you’re lying about that. You’re just trying to scare me. Why are you trying to scare me?” That last word was almost a screech.

He took hold of her shoulders and gave her a couple of hard shakes. “Stop it, Libby. Just stop. You’re getting hysterical. Don’t make me slap you.” Finally she shut up, and he pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her. He didn’t say anything else. Just held her there. He wasn’t going to try to convince her of something that she already knew, deep down.

It was a hard thing to accept. He knew that. He’d seen people before, strong people who, for whatever reason, had been confronted with the reality of vamp existence. He’d watched them struggle with the idea too many times. It was so ingrained in their psyches that vampires were just some old legend that some people could never accept it, no matter what kind of proof was presented to them. They just lived in a state of perpetual denial. Some even went insane from trying to deal with the—to their mind horrifying—truth. It shook the deepest foundations of their own belief systems. But he didn’t think Libby would be one of those. No, she was too stubborn. She’d work her way around it. He just had to wait her out. He hoped it wouldn’t take too long. He needed more blood and something for this son of a bitching headache.

The silence stretched between them for several minutes. At last she spoke again, very softly. “Are you going to kill me?” And he knew she’d accepted the truth.

He released her and stepped back, running his hand along the back of his neck and then turning to drop down in the chair opposite the sofa. He was too tired for this shit. And his headache was pounding against the back of his eyes. But he had to get through it. “Now why would I want to do that, Lib?”

She shrugged, dropping back down onto the sofa and drawing her knees up against her chest in a defensive posture. “Because you won’t let me go? Because you want my blood? Because I know your secret? Because you’re a crazy bloodsucking monster and that’s what monsters do?”

Despite everything, he found himself amused. A smile tugged at his mouth. “Really, Lib? How could I kill the woman who saved me from a slow, agonizing death? That would be a piss-poor repayment, don’t you think? Do you really believe I’m some mad monster slavering for any delectable morsel that crosses his path? Is that how I seem to you?”

She took her time, her eyes boring into his, before she answered. “No. Not really, I guess.” Her voice sounded uncertain, but at least she wasn’t losing it again.

“Not all vampires are evil, Lib. We’re just like people. Some good, some bad. Most a mixture of the two.”

He watched as she thought over his statement for a moment. He could almost see the wheels turning. “But you drink blood.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m even having this conversation. Maybe this is just some weird dream I’m having?”

“Sorry. This isn’t a dream, Lib. It’s real.”

“And you do drink human blood?”

“Yes. That’s true. But not to the death, and not without their permission.”

She opened her mouth but he raised his hand to forestall her.

“And yes, I know that I took your blood without your permission. But I was not rational, remember? I was in pain and half-crazed from lack of blood. I was out of my skull. I swear it will not happen again.” He looked at her closely. “How are you feeling? Any weakness from the blood loss?”

She looked surprised at his concern. “Not too bad. Maybe a bit dizzy, I guess. Really tired, but that’s all.”

“Good.”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Like what?”

“Like am I going to turn into a vampire because you bit me?”

He let out a short laugh. “No, God, no. There’s no chance of that happening.”

She searched his face and finally nodded. He wasn’t sure if she believed him or not.

He was clearly out of his element in dealing with a woman like this one, on any level, much less in a situation so serious. The females he spent most of his time around didn’t spend a whole lot of time talking. But so much was riding on this. He wished Quinn were here. Quinn was smooth and knew how to turn on the charm to get his way. Ty was cut from a much rougher mold.