Unbound, page 21
part #1 of Forbidden Bond Series
Charlie scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to the bed, “If I have any say in the matter, you’ll never need to find out. I think you should stay here with me and Steve can go stay with Olivia.” He was nuzzling her and she giggled and squirmed.
“You know I can’t do that, but I love you for wanting me to.” She was trying to leave the bed. Charlie’s face became very solemn and he gripped her hand.
“How do you really feel about me, Danielle? Is this love?” He searched her eyes for the truth. Dani hesitated and tears gathered on her lashes.
“I have love for you, Charlie, but I don’t want you to love me. At least I don’t want you to be ‘in’ love with me. I’m no good for you. I don’t want you sitting around worrying and wondering where I am and if I’m safe. I refuse to bring my trouble to your doorstep. If any harm comes to you because of me...” She choked on the words and tried to stop the tears. “You are my one love and true friend, Charlie. I don’t want to lose you, but I can’t have you waiting for me to give you something I can’t give you. I’m not normal and never will be.” Now the words shook with the pain in her chest. “I won’t make a good girlfriend while I’m running around biting people, and I would never be a good mate for you.” It was strange how the word mate came to her so easily now. “You deserve to finish school and go on to a happy life with a normal human wife that will give you normal human children, not a creature like me without a chance for a normal future.”
Charlie was dumfounded by this line of thought. He had only thought about the present and how much he wanted her right now. He hadn’t considered a long-term future with children. The fact that she had considered a future with him made him happy and frightened him at the same time. She was holding back in order to protect his future happiness, and he needed to think about what that meant. Could he handle dealing with her problems on a long-term basis? Could he handle it when she had no choice but to feed in his absence? How often could she feed from him without making him sick? He was overwhelmed by the onslaught of difficult possibilities and unknown consequences running through his mind.
* * *
Dani saw the brutal reality of her situation sinking in for Charlie, and the sting of his possible rejection washed over her heart. She put on her shoes and grabbed her phone from the floor, where it had fallen in their rush to disrobe. Charlie was still frozen when she kissed him softly.
“No matter what happens between us, I will love you. I don’t blame you for cutting me loose if that’s what you need to do. It’s only what I already expected.” She left quickly without giving him a chance to stop her or say goodbye. Dani couldn’t deal with those words.
She had ten missed calls and six voicemails, four of which were from her mom. The others were from Cayden and Mason. On the way across the courtyard, she called Mason. He answered on the first ring.
“I’m sorry. I was indisposed for a while and didn’t hear my phone. I am on campus and heading to my room,” she said before he could even say hello.
“You better call Tessa. She’s freaking out and about to come searching for you herself. Then get in touch with Griffin and see what he wants you to do. I imagine he will send someone to pick you up so you can’t escape like the last time.” Mason’s words were clipped.
“I said I’m sorry so drop the attitude, godfather dearest. I am not a prisoner, or one of Griffin’s subjects, so I have nothing to escape from. He can kiss my ass. He hasn’t missed me in the last nineteen years. He can deal with it now,” she clipped back.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about child. He is going to be devastated when he realizes who you really are. He suffered terribly when he lost you and your mother. I will likely lose his friendship when he finds out I helped hide you all these years, but that is a discussion for another day. Right now I need to get you under our protection or your mother is going to lose her mind,” he scolded her.
She was walking down the hall to her room when her senses were assaulted by something unpleasant. She reached her bedroom door, which was open, a crack. “Hold on Mason. Something’s wrong. My door is open and something smells nasty.”
“Don’t go in! Leave now. I’ll be right over. I’m already moving.” He was livid.
“I have to go in. I have a roommate, Mason. She could be sick,” Dani whispered and pushing the door open.
“You don’t know who is in there, just listen to me.” He was running.
She tiptoed into the dark room. Olivia’s bed was made and she wasn’t there, but someone was in Dani’s bed. She flipped on the bathroom light. The bathroom was empty. “Someone is in my bed.” She crept forward and pulled back the blanket. “Oh God, Mason! It’s a girl! She’s dead in my bed!” She backed up to the door and slid down the wall, hyperventilating.
“Get out of there, now! Are you sure, she’s dead? Can we get help for her?” he was shouting.
“No.” Dani sniffed, “She looks like she’s been gone for a while. I can’t leave. She’s one of us. She has fangs. I can’t let anyone else find her like this.” Her voice trembled so badly she could hardly understand herself.
“Damn it! It’s our missing girl! I’m calling Griffin! If anyone comes in, you put them down until we get there. Do you understand? If they try to hurt you, kill them!” Mason said sternly.
“I understand. I’ll do what I have to.” She hung up and sat in the corner, fighting the urge to vomit.
* * *
Cayden tried to call Dani twice and she hadn’t returned his message. She should have been back on campus by now, so he decided to go hunt her down. He found her car on the parking lot. The hood was cool so she had been there for a while. In route to her dorm, he picked up her distinctive vanilla aroma entering another dorm. He followed it up the stairs to the room she had entered and knocked on the door. Nobody answered at first. He knocked harder, getting annoyed at the intensity of her scent coming from the room. The guy she described as a regular donor open the door, reeking of her.
Cayden knew she wasn’t there anymore but he was curious about her pet so he asked, “Is Danielle here?”
“No, she left a while ago, but she’ll be back. Would you like me to give her a message for you?” said the cocky human.
“That’s ok. She’ll be leaving with me, as soon as I find her.” Cayden began to back away from the door and the strong aroma that reminded him of Chase’s room after she had been there all night.
“She left something behind. Could you return it to her for me? I’m sure she’s missing them by now.” The human disappeared into the room, came back to hand him a tiny scrap of black lace, and shut the door in Cayden’s face.
On examination of the tiny scrap of fabric, Cayden had to stop himself from breaking down the damn door and killing the filthy male. This was definitely Dani’s underwear. That’s why his room was heavy with her perfume. She had been naked with him just today. This charming fellow had no problem with kissing and telling. That must be why she hadn’t been answering her phone. Cayden was fuming mad and wasn’t sure he should see Dani just then. He was sure his being in her personal business and hunting her down at another male’s room wouldn’t be good for his chances with her. He had to remind himself that she was not raised in his society, and that put her on a much more level playing field with him. She was out making her own way just as any male would be. She wasn’t sheltered and hidden away, waiting for her parents to find her the right mate like most girls of his kind would be. If he were to be honest, he couldn’t count the number of times a feeding had turned into sex for him. She was going to give him a run for his money, and if he won her hand in the end, he was beginning to realize, it would be a hard-fought battle. This beauty had many admirers, and no one to stop her from choosing for herself. He would need to accept all of this and find a way to keep his jealousy under control. That factor alone could eliminate a lot of his competition. He hated jealous girls. So, he would need to remember that and keep himself in check.
All the inner babble kept his mind busy until he entered her dorm where he was sure he’d find her. At her door, he knocked but she didn’t answer. She was in there but wouldn’t open the door, and he could smell death. The sickeningly sweet smell of decay the humans couldn’t yet detect with their weak senses hung in the air. If she were harmed, he’d never forgive himself. He was wasting time with that filthy human while she was being attacked. The door was locked so he calmed himself enough to use his mild telekinetic skills to unlock it. It was dark, and as soon as he stuck his head in the door he found himself plastered to the wall with a tight strangle hold on his throat, only nobody was touching him. He struggled to no avail against the nothingness that pinned him there. Finally, the light came on and he saw Dani, huddled in the corner with her hands out. She was holding him back in fear. As soon as she registered who she was choking, she released him and ran into his arms.
“I’m sorry Cay, I’m sorry. It’s just so awful and I was afraid someone was coming for me.” She was crying and shaking and, yes, she smelled strongly of the human male but Cayden didn’t care. She was letting him hold her.
“Shit, Dani. You scared the hell out of me. What’s that smell?” he asked, holding her securely to his chest.
“She was here when I got back.” She pointed across the room.
Cayden reeled back a few steps at the sight of a dead vampire in Dani’s bed. “I have to call someone right now, honey. Just relax and I will take care of it.” He squeezed her and stroked her back. Then he noticed a girl asleep in the other bed. “Is she okay?” he asked.
Dani nodded, “My roommate showed up so I had to put her down until this is cleaned up.” She shut off the light telekinetically. “I don’t want to see her,” she told him. Then, the door flew open and Dani shoved Cayden into the corner to protect him. She threw her hands out in a defensive movement. They heard two thuds hit the floor and could only see forms in the light from the hallway. Cayden leaped around her and dragged the two bodies farther into the room while Dani shut the door.
“Turn the light on, Dani,” Cayden said hastily. She did from the corner with her hands still held out and Cayden sucked wind. “Oh shit! It’s Griffin and Mason!”
Dani immediately released them both from the nap she had induced, and stayed balled up in the corner while Cayden helped the two adult vamps up. “What was that?” The adults said in unison.
“Danielle is a little frightened, to say the least. At least she didn’t try to choke you before she figured out who you were,” Cayden said. The two men looked at each other, and then went to Dani in the corner. Mason tried to help her up but she snapped at them, “Don’t touch me! Do what you have to do so I can release my friend and get out of here.” She sniffled and wept with mounting stress.
Cayden went to sit by her on the floor. She didn’t seem to mind the small comfort he offered. She leaned into him for support and buried her face in his arm. The men examined the body and the note that was left with the body.
It read, “You are next. No one else needs to get hurt if you come willingly.” The body belonged to another little known girl, also named Danielle. She had been missing for a week. Griffin and Mason carried her out wrapped in a blanket. They didn’t need to worry about being seen. No human would notice a vamp that didn’t want to be seen.
As soon as they were out of the room, Dani began to pack a few things. Cayden figured this was as good a time as any to let her know he had been to the filthy human’s room. He was wagering she would be angrier with the human for handing over her panties than she would be with him for hunting her down.
“Oh by the way, I hope this doesn’t piss you off, but when I arrived on campus earlier and saw your car. I kinda followed your scent to another dorm.” Dani turned on him with a burning glare, “I only did it because you weren’t answering your phone and it’s my job to protect, I swear.” He raised his hands in surrender.
“Alright, how did that go over?” she asked with concern in her voice.
“I don’t think your friend was very happy about it. He made sure to let me know that you had just left and would return. Then, in what I can only assume, was his way of staking a claim to you, he gave me these and said you left them behind. He asked that I return them to you.” Cayden dangled the black strip of lace from his index finger. Dani turned an unnatural shade of red. In an effort to comfort her he said, “Hey look, I would have known anyway. The smell of him on you could only come from one thing. So don’t be embarrassed. I just figured I’d better return them or I wouldn’t have said anything.”
Oh yeah. She was pissed, and not at Cayden. Well played, he thought to himself. She stomped off to the bathroom to take a shower. Good, he didn’t want to have to smell that jerk all day anyway. When she emerged from the bathroom, she was wet and sexy in nothing but an oversized towel and the scent of sweet lavender billowed through the air. Damn it, that filthy human was a lucky bastard. She grabbed some clothes and woke Olivia before heading back in to get dressed. It was kinda weird. She didn’t even say anything to her. She just touched her and Olivia got up, gave her a hug and left with a smile like they had a whole conversation. On the way to his car, Griffin called to tell Cayden to take Danielle to Chase’s home where he had a room ready for her. This didn’t make Cayden or Dani happy, and she snatched the phone from him.
“I’ve had a shitty damn week and I am not going to put up with Chase tonight. There has to be another place to stay for a few days until I can get my head on straight, Griffin. If not, you may find that boy dead too,” she snapped. Cayden was astonished at her complete lack of respect for Griffin. Nobody spoke to him that way.
“You can stay with me if you like. I live with my parents but we have a spare bedroom. It’s not fancy like the Vaughn estate, but its home,” he whispered in her other ear.
“I’m going home with Cayden. We’ll check in tomorrow.” She hung up the phone without saying goodbye.
“I’m really sorry you have to leave school for a while, but after today you have to understand the need for it. I’ll do my level best to stay out of your way. Honestly, I hope we can become friends. It’ll make it easier for you to have me around.” Cayden wanted to plant the seeds of friendship before he pushed her for more.
“I just need to think, Cay. I’ve had my whole world rocked in the last twenty-four hours. I hope you can forgive my need for silence.” Dani closed the conversation with a swift slam of Cayden’s car door.
FOURTEEN~
The ride out of town toward Cayden’s house took about thirty minutes. She’d never really noticed Cayden’s scent before, but being in the car with him brought it to her attention. He smelled earthy, like the woods behind her mom’s house in the spring when everything’s blooming. The good thing about Cayden was he didn’t need to fill the silence. He could let you think without needing to know what you were thinking about. She didn’t want to talk about all the shit that was happening, and if she did, Dani couldn’t tell him anyway.
Cayden pulled off the freeway and said, “We need to check in at the Enclave before we head to my house. I’m sure Mr. Vaughn has called my father, but I still think we should make him aware that you’re in town. The warriors in the area need to be on the lookout for anything odd.” This all-business side of Cayden was new to Dani. The more time she spent with him, the more intriguing he became to her.
“What exactly is the Enclave?” she wanted to know.
“It’s where all the warriors in this region report. Some of them even live there. Think of it as a cross between a police station and a military base.”
At least she’d be close to reinforcements if the shit hit the fan. It should be interesting to see a hive of warrior-type meatheads. She supposed she shouldn’t be so narrow-minded. After all, they would be protecting her and, from what she’d seen earlier, she needed it. Dani was just so pissed off. She was in the middle of a shit storm with no umbrella and sick of it. She just wanted to scream and hit something or somebody. Somebody would be even better. Cayden drove into a gated community, passing the armed guards who didn’t even make him pause. By the time they were up the short drive leading to the gatehouse, it was open, and the guards respectfully nodded at Cayden.
This new Cayden was such a surprise, and not at all like the party hound she’d seen and heard about from others. Crossing the grounds was an experience. Indeed, there were a lot of warrior-looking men trotting around, but there were also a lot of families. There were moms and kids at the various playgrounds. People were cooking on stationary grills, while other people gathered around picnic tables. The day was warm and everyone was taking advantage of it. There were individual houses and buildings that looked like apartments with courtyards and gardens. In the center of the complex, there were large buildings that she assumed were the training facilities. Cayden parked, exited the vehicle, came around and opened her door. She looked at him in misery.
“Can’t I just stay here, Cay?” she pleaded with a pout.
“How am I supposed to protect you if I don’t stay with you?” he smiled and held out his hand.
“I’m just not in a very good mood. I don’t know if I can be polite.” She gave in and took his hand. “I feel like hitting somebody. I feel like screaming and kicking and fighting.” She finished with a growl. Cayden stopped and looked at her. He smiled the bad boy smile she was used to seeing.
“If you wanna fight this is the right place. I could find a hundred people willing to spar with you at any moment. Or maybe you wanna fight with me?” He raised one naughty eyebrow. “I wouldn’t be opposed to doing some self-defense training with you. If you plan to fight fair that is.” He turned and started walking.
“Are you serious? You would spar with me? You would teach me to fight?” she asked, thrilled he didn’t treat her like a defenseless girl.
