“Not happening. We’re going back tomorrow. She’ll have to deal with it. Look, I’m not a therapist or a babysitter. Do I feel a slight sense of responsibility for the witch? Yes, but only because Kade initially put her into my charge.” Luca knew that there might be another reason for why he felt he needed to keep the girl safe, but he wasn’t going to share.
Tristan’s face tightened and his eyes narrowed. His friend did not seem to hear what he was saying. “Luca. Try to remember what happened to her and what that might’ve been like for her. I know it’s been a long time for you, but try to remember what it’s like to be human. The girl was drugged, bespelled, beaten, possibly raped, and to top off her shit sandwich, she can barely remember anything but lying naked in a prison cell. Oh, and let us not forget her being told she’s a witch, one who can’t seem to conjure up a clue, and whose entire life as she knows it is about to come to an end. Can’t you see? It's too damn much,” Tristan pleaded.
Luca rubbed his eyes, thinking through Tristan’s argument. He didn’t want to stay here. This was supposed to be a simple trip. Fly up to Philadelphia, get witch, return to New Orleans. Easy peasy. Not. But Luca could not deny the empathy he felt for the little witch who tugged at his heartstrings. Aside from dragging her kicking and screaming back to the jet, it would be easier if he could get her to agree to go home with him. If that failed, kicking and screaming was always an option.
“Okay. I’ll talk to her and stay here for one day…tops. She’ll be waking soon, and I should have all day to talk reason into the human.” He hated when Tristan was right, but knew he needed to go easy on her. “On our way back, I’ll stop at your club to feed. If I stay around her more than a day, I’m pretty sure I would be tempted to taste her. And that’s the very last thing I need or she needs. I very much doubt she’d willingly donate her blood.” He shook his head as he imagined asking her to let him bite her. She’d probably freak the hell out and try to escape yet again. No, he’d wait to feed at Tristan’s club to keep things nice and smooth. Complications were something he was trying very hard to avoid.
“Yeah, I don’t think it would go over too well if you asked her to be your donor. Awkward.” Tristan laughed. He stood and removed the blanket, unaffected by his nudity, and walked over to the back door.
Luca averted his eyes in an effort not to look at him. It was a good thing the naked wolf was leaving. The thought that Tristan had displayed his generously endowed body to Samantha flew in his head and caused his stomach to clench in anger. Did he just feel jealous? No, that couldn’t be possible. He quickly stifled his emotion, not wanting Tristan to sense his feelings.
“Remember Luca, go easy on the female. She’ll come round. See you in a day or so.” As Tristan shut the sliding glass door, he appeared to seamlessly change into his black wolf, and loped out of sight.
CHAPTER FIVE
Luca paced the room. How was he going to stay here for even a day with the witch? Would she remember him? Would she fear him? Would she fight him? As self-composed as Luca normally was, being here in the cabin, knowing she was in the other room, spurred his curiosity. What did she wear to sleep? Was she cold? Scared? I should go check on her. He could hear her soft breathing from a distance. He knew she was just fine. But he wanted to see her again, not later, but now. What would it hurt to just take a peek at her?
Walking down the hallway, he knew what he was about to do wasn’t right. He felt like some kind of a pervert, looking in on a woman that he barely knew. Yet he felt compelled to keep going. Once at her door, he laid his palm against it and took a deep breath. Looking at his watch, he confirmed that at five am, she’d still be asleep and not likely to wake. I really am going to do this. Slowly he turned the handle, and pushed open the door.
Luca struggled to control his instinct to reach over and touch the lovely woman sprawled out on the bed. Immediately he was filled with desire; his breath caught as he stood frozen, watching her sleep. Samantha lay on her back, her skin exposed from pushing the covers off her body. Dressed only in a white cotton camisole and pink boyshorts, her pert breasts peeked out of the flimsy material. Her long, wavy strawberry hair fanned across her pillow; she almost appeared to smile in her sleep. She was even more beautiful than he’d remembered.
Back at Kade’s mansion, after he’d rescued her, she’d appeared quite frail; her thin body marred by bruises and scratches. Her hair was straight and dyed neon red. He’d wondered at the time if that was the real color of her hair. She’d looked like a victim fighting to regain some semblance of normalcy, dignity. No, lying here before him this night was a healthy, resplendent woman who was enticing, alluring and very much human.
His last thought jerked him back to reality. Human. No, he would never fall for any woman, let alone a human. Feed from them, try not to screw them and never, ever fall in love with them. It was simply not an option, no matter how much the rise of cock told him that he should do otherwise. He refused to acknowledge that he had any feelings whatsoever for the mortal lying on the bed in front of him. Yet his body reacted as if he should take her right there. What the hell is wrong with me?
Luca rolled his eyes and softly sighed. What was he going to do? He wasn’t here to fuck her; he was here to bring her back to the coven. Yet he felt the need to be near her, to protect her. He needed to be close to her, tonight.
Spying a brown leather lounge chair in the corner of the room, he walked over, sat down and put his feet up on the ottoman. He decided that he wasn’t going to leave her unattended. He could just as easily guard her from the living room. Staying with her here was merely an excuse for him to fill his senses with her; he drank in the sight of her with his eyes, smelled her perfumed skin. He prayed whatever he was feeling would go away.
He hadn’t had sex in a long time; well, not for a few weeks anyway. What had happened with Kade and Sydney earlier couldn’t exactly be called sex. He’d felt out of control with them. He still couldn’t believe Kade had let him feed from Sydney, let alone kiss her, touch her. She was a beautiful woman and a seriously toughened warrior, one whom he respected immensely, but she was not his. Nor did he want her. Sydney had been a means to health, no more, no less. And he was grateful to both of them for bringing him back from the brink.
Samantha shifted on the bed, turning away from him. He inwardly groaned as he admired her perfectly shaped ass; she was killing him. Adjusting himself, he tried to relieve some of the strain of his erection. Repeat to self, ‘Samantha is human’. Luca was happy that he planned on stopping at Tristan’s club on the way back to the airport. He’d pick a donor who’d satisfy his appetite for blood and sex. If he got it out of his system, he’d be able to control himself around Samantha. He relaxed slightly, knowing he’d devised a plan to get the devilish little witch out of his system.
Naked. Pounding music. Slapped across the face. Blinding pain. A pool of blood on a cold stone floor. Samantha gasped for air, jolting herself upright in bed. Another nightmare. She threw herself backward, focusing on the cedar ceiling beams. She was safe. Away from New Orleans and away from vampires. She closed her eyes, practicing the deep breathing she’d learned from Ilsbeth. Tense shoulders, breathe deeply, release breath, shoulders relax. By the time she got to her toes, her heartbeat had slowed, and she considered going back to sleep. Her thoughts began to race once again as she remembered the nightmare. She’d been naked in a nightclub and later had been imprisoned in a cell. What did I do in New Orleans? I want my life back.