[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
happened to her.
Her aunt had left Alyssa alone during that initial period. Looking back, she wasn t sure why. Maybe her
aunt felt she needed the time to adjust, or maybe she just wasn t sure what to do. Either way, at the end
of three months her aunt had had enough. She stormed into the house and told Alyssa s father to get out
and only come back when she called him. He had refused. Alyssa sat in fascination, watching their
exchange. She would never forget the look on her aunt s face as she gently led Alyssa to her room and
quietly asked her to stay there until she came to get her. She had never seen her aunt look so angry.
She closed Alyssa s door and her aunt and father had a monster of a fight. Alyssa had tried not to care.
Tried to keep herself in that numb world she had found, but her aunt s furious face and raised voice had
caught her attention. She couldn t hear much of the argument, but she did manage to catch her aunt
yelling the words jackass and incompetent in the mix. She was shocked by the fact that her father
hadn t put up much of a fight. He was a born and bred drill sergeant. Talking softly wasn t one of his
fortes.
But that day he was pretty quiet. He yelled back a couple of times, but mainly it was a defensive
statement like, I did no such thing or That s not true . And that was that. Not too long after, Alyssa s
father came to her room and mumbled something about going out for a while and leaving her with her
aunt. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. As he pulled away, she saw the one thing that made her forgive
him for some of the wrongs he had done in the past and the ones he would do in the future. A tear
slipped from his eye and ran silently down his cheek.
Before that day, she had never seen her father cry, or show much emotion other than anger. Even after
her mother s death. Alyssa had always thought it was because he was a drill sergeant and they just didn t
do that. But in that second, as that tear fell, she discovered something. Her father was human. And for
some reason, that helped her feel a little better.
Her aunt did the rest. After her father left, she coaxed Alyssa from her room and into the kitchen, which
was the one place where Alyssa and her mother had spent the most time together. She sat Alyssa down
at the table, poured them both a glass of iced tea and sat across from her. Her aunt reached across the
table, took her hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze.
I miss your mother, Alyssa. I miss her so much my heart hurts. She was my sister and I loved her
dearly. But she had a lot of problems. Problems that had nothing to do with you or what kind of daughter
you were. Those issues had been with your mother even before you were born. She had been offered
help in the past, but chose not to take it. Only she could have helped herself. Not you, not me, only her.
After that her aunt kept quietly holding Alyssa s hand. Saying nothing. Just looking at her with the love
and concern that had always been there for her.
Alyssa s carefully fortified damn broke. It started quietly with silent tears running down her face. Next
the tidal wave rolled over her. Her shoulders shook and she sobbed uncontrollably. At some point her
aunt came around the table and put her arms lovingly around her. She didn t say anything, didn t try to
shush her, or tell her everything was okay. She just silently held her, until Alyssa couldn t cry anymore.
Until she felt like she had poured everything that had been bottled up inside of her out onto that kitchen
table.
Alyssa would never forget what her aunt had done for her. She had saved her from herself. A piece of
her soul had disappeared the day her mother killed herself, but her aunt had helped her keep the rest.
* * * * *
Christian was not happy. In fact, he was damn uncomfortable as he drove back to the office. And not
just in the physical sense, although he did have to keep adjusting his slacks during the drive. His body did
not want to calm down. It had been on full alert with Alyssa at her apartment and getting it back to
normal proved difficult.
He was disgusted with himself. Mentally, he had lost it. He had lost control of the beast. It had only been
a few minutes, but it was enough to wreak havoc in him. Unleashed in that way, the vampire he was
became elemental. Only two thoughts prevailed, hunger and the need to satisfy it.
Something happened as he was holding Alyssa. His desire for her had transformed into the beast. He
had become vampire without willing it. That had not occurred since he was a fledgling.
It should not have transpired. He was too old for it.
Luckily, Alyssa s aunt had continued knocking on the door. That was the only thing that had kept him at
bay. The worry and concern in the woman s voice had somehow penetrated his thoughts enough to let
him withdraw. It had been excruciatingly painful, to the point where he almost hadn t been able to do it.
But slowly, inch-by-inch, he had moved away from Alyssa.
After taking a few seconds to collect himself, he had gone into Alyssa s room and jumped easily out of
her apartment window. He d transformed into fog and floated to his car. His body should have calmed
down by now. But he was still wound tight. He wanted Alyssa. He wanted her now, under him, as he
plunged again and again into her sweetness, making her completely and utterly his.
He pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine.
Dammit!
Christian smacked the steering wheel with his open palm. He needed to get his mind on his job and out
of his pants! He stalked into the Sundown Security office and groaned when he saw Vlad. He didn t
need an interrogation right now.
Vlad looked up from the papers in his hands. His eyes narrowed as he gave Christian a quick once over.
Then his mouth spread into a sardonic grin.
Frustrating, isn t it? Join the club, my friend.
Christian gave him a cold, blank stare. The one he had practiced using on his clients over the years.
I don t know what you re talking about. He tried to sound casual, but because his gritted teeth
punctuated every word he uttered, it was not very convincing, even to his ears.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]