Page 5 of Vampire Soldier
There’s no way he’s attracted to me, I tell myself. If I was on stage, I could believe it. But me, as I am? Especially with my dress now stuck to me, showing off all the most unflattering parts of me. Water rolls into my eyes, and I realize my hair has to be a wild mess. I probably look like a lunatic to him right now, a silly, short woman soaked through in a dress meant for summer and rose-pink hair strands clinging to my cheeks and forehead.
Malachi grabs a key from a gray box hanging beside the door, and I find that I can breathe again. “This is me,” he says, and then a car starts. He strides to a large hunter green Range Rover and opens the passenger door for me. “Hop in.”
The car is a good reminder of the differences between Malachi and me. I realize the cars parked beside his are just as expensive, the types of cars people like me dream of owning. The type where dreaming is as close to having one as we’ll get.
“Fancy,” I say, feeling the need to say something at least. I make a point not to get too close as I move around him and climb into the passenger seat. I hesitate, realizing that I’m wet and the seat is real leather. He doesn’t notice my hesitation, though, since he’s already moving around to get in. I sit, tugging the door shut carefully, and then gingerly buckle myself in. I sit straight up, hoping that I can at least spare the seat’s back any damage.
He presses a button on the console. “If it gets too hot, just press this.”
I frown in confusion, looking at the button, then warmth starts to sink into my chilled skin and, oh, it feels so good.
When he asks for directions, I give him the closest cross streets, planning to let him drop me off there.
Never one to avoid talking, it’s strange to sit in silence. Except I can’t think of anything because I’m focusing so hard on keeping my guard up. The inside of the car smells like him, but in a teasing way. Each time he moves, a burst of scent tempts me to lower my guard and give in. To admit that I’m very much attracted to this male, driving me home after saving me from a godawful night.
It hits me like a weight at that moment. I could very well have died tonight, and that would have been after those males... I swallow hard, pushing the rising fear away. There’s no point dwelling on what could have happened. It didn’t, and I won’t put myself in that position again.
New adrenaline trickles into my veins, and I’ve finally sunk into the warm heat the seat cradles me in. The seats are butter soft, richly scented, and I keep stealing glances at my rescuer.
A knight in shining armor to my damsel in distress. Where, in the stories, after the villains are destroyed, the knight professes his love for the woman and they live happily ever after.
What would it be like if I let myself have a knight for just a little bit longer?
Malachi turning onto a street I recognize pulls me out of my silly little fantasy.
“That’s me.” I point to the townhome I rent, the porch light still on thanks to Charlie. The entry looks more welcoming than the rest of the dated townhouses along the street, thanks to the wreath she insisted on putting up at the beginning of spring.
Malachi pulls the SUV to a stop beside the curb, and I really hope my daughter is asleep already. Or, if not asleep, nose buried in one of her books. I really don’t want her to ask questions about who is dropping me off.
I don’t know why, considering there wouldn’t be much to tell.
I unbuckle and give Malachi a genuine smile. The rain is still coming down in buckets, and I’d probably have caught a cold walking home in the storm. “Thanks, again, for the ride. And earlier.”
He gives me a roguish smile, one side of his lips parting enough I get a teasing glimpse of a fang. His golden eyes are unnaturally bright in the dim interior, the black of his pupils deep enough I want to sink into him. “No problem.”
His voice is both rough as gravel and smooth silk. He isn’t my knight in shining armor; I live in reality. Maybe, though, I can give myself this one small thing.
I lean over the middle console, bracing my hand on the smooth leather cover, and press a kiss to his cheek. At that moment, I memorize everything about him. His rich scent of something decadent, the abrasive stubble on his cheeks, the way his jaw begs to be nibbled on.
I pull away, unable to risk lingering any longer. Resisting the temptation to steal more than this fraction of a moment for myself.
Malachi looks at me as if I’ve slapped him upside the head, those lips of his parted. Christ, I don’t know why I did that. Embarrassment heats my cheeks, and I’m internally shouting at myself to get out of the car now. I don’t, though, trapped in place by those hypnotic eyes. Eyes that are shifting from surprised to something close to desire.
The world disappears around me, narrowing down to this handsome vampire alone. Even the logical voice in my head is quiet. The space between heartbeats stretches into years.
Then we’re kissing. I open for him instantly, moaning as his tongue slips between my lips and his hand slides into my hair to cup the back of my head as he takes complete control of the kiss. I need more, need to feel his strength, bringing my hands to his shoulder and neck.
He’s consuming me as if he’s a dark god and I’m his eager sacrifice. Kissing me, devouring me, dragging me into his darkness.
He jerks under me, breaking the trance. I retreat, the world slipping back in around me. My lips are swollen, tingling from the rough treatment. Our eyes drop down to his seatbelt, locking him in place.
Saving me from disappearing into a fantasy world where I can have someone for myself. Somewhere that I don’t have a daughter waiting, needing me to protect and provide for her.
“Bye,” I manage to say and escape the vehicle and keep my head ducked as I hurry to my front door, pulling my keys from my purse as I dodge puddles. I’ve got the key in, turning it when I hear him again.
“What’s your name?”
I give him a wave goodbye, while smiling, and slip into the house and slump against the closed door behind me. I drop my head back against the door, staring up at the ceiling, my heart racing and thoughts going even faster.
