Dalton, Tymber - Love and Brimstone [Brimstone Vampires 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (25 page)

She’d always had a sensitive sense of smell, which was why she didn’t wear perfume. She’d always chocked it up to allergies. How about hearing? Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on the sounds.

Every sound echoed when she purposely listened. How had she never noticed this before? Yes, odd noises always disturbed her. Even those no one else heard. One morning, she’d spent thirty minutes pulled over on the side of the 5 on her way to Anaheim, trying to hunt down the source of an odd rattle in her trunk. It turned out to be a free-range quarter vibrating inside the spare tire compartment.

Moe gently touched her on the shoulder. As she turned, he looked away and held out his watch. “I’m sorry. Time to go.”

“Thank you.” They followed her along the path to the cabin where Robertson and Albert awaited.

“Did you have a nice walk?” Albert asked.

“Uh, yeah.” She glanced at the guards. “What can I say?”

“Around them, anything.”

“Okay. Bison.”

He smiled. “Yes?”

“Could have been a coincidence. I looked at it and told it to walk away, and it did.”

Albert smiled. “Excellent. Not all animals will do that.”

“Murry won’t.”

He shook his head. “Well, no. Murry isn’t exactly an animal. And even if he were a normal cat, he still probably wouldn’t.”

She’d leave that explanation for after they got home. She had enough to deal with. “Gotcha. Sounds.”

“Yes. Very acute hearing.”

“And scents.”

Robertson nodded. “Now you know it’s not allergies.”

“What else?”

“We’ll have to go through that,” Robertson said.

They walked to the Old Faithful Inn for lunch. “Where’s Matthias?” She noticed one of the Land Rovers was gone and kicked herself for missing him.

She was still aggravated at him on general principle.

“He had to drive up to Canyon Village,” Albert said. “He’ll be back before dinner, hopefully.”

“How long will we be in the park?”

“At least until the weekend. Beyond that, I don’t know.”

* * * *

Matthias didn’t return before dinner. Or after. Larry and Curly checked her room before she went in for the evening. They stood sentry on the stoop. She looked at Matthias’ empty bed and admitted she missed him.

Fink.

This had to be love, didn’t it? The fact that he could make her feel so crazy proved it, right? She’d never felt like this before about any of the guys she dated.

Or was it the strange vampire attraction?

That thought filled her with deep sadness and more than a little self-loathing. How would she know if what she felt was real? And how would she know if he really liked her in return?

She tried to sleep. Sometime after her 12:18 clock check she managed to drift off. A noise startled her, and she almost screamed when a large shadow moved near Matthias’ bed.

“It’s me. It’s okay.” Matthias snapped on the bedside lamp, and she relaxed. “I’m sorry. I was trying not to wake you.”

“What time is it?” She glanced at the clock. 3:47. “Where have you been?”

He looked like he wanted to say something and stopped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

He looked sorry. She realized the room felt chilly. “Could you please bump the heat up?”

He nodded and found the heater control. It came on, and she shivered a little.

“Look, Matthias, I’m sorry I’m being such a bitch.”

He didn’t say anything. For once, she didn’t take offense.

“I know you’re doing your best,” she continued. “I know you’re sorry. I just feel like I need to…” She hunted for the right words. “I feel like I want to punch the living shit out of something. This is like having PMS and too much coffee and a dozen Krispy Kremes all at the same time.”

He sat on his bed and removed his shoes, not looking at her. “I know.”

“No, you don’t know—” She stopped herself and tried to regroup. “You’ve had a few hundred years to adjust to this. I’ve had a few days.”

He nodded. She realized for the first time he’d slept in his clothes the night before and was about to do it again. “Don’t you want to change out of those?” she asked.

“Not really. I want to be ready.”

“Ready for what?”

He didn’t answer.

“Albert said we were safe here.”

“I hope we’re safe. I can’t afford to be wrong. Being wrong before almost cost you your life. Twice.”

They sat in silence for a moment. “Thank you, Matthias. Really.”

He nodded. “I’m sorry for the demonstration in Gardiner, Taz. I shouldn’t have gone as far as I did. I should have talked with you, made you aware of the full ramifications before the incident at the house.”

“No, I deserved it.” She took the leap. “Can I have another chance?”

He looked at her and smiled. Her heart leaped in her chest, and she hoped she wasn’t drooling. “As many as you want. I can wait. I’m a patient man. Go back to sleep, and I don’t mean that as an order either,” he hastily added.

She laughed. “I had an idea.”

Surprisingly, with him there, she fell asleep quickly.

The next morning he was up before her. Only two hours sleep—how could he do it?

“Good morning.”

She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Morning.”

“There’s still plenty of hot water.”

“Thanks. What’s on the agenda for today?”

“Would you like to go with me?”

“Depends.”
Yes, yes, yes!

He smiled. She wasn’t even mad that he read her thoughts that time. “One of our divisions is working with the USGS to develop new seismology-detection equipment. I’m meeting with scientists today. You might find it interesting.”

“Thanks. I’d like that.”

He hesitated, then held out his hand to her. She took it and threw back the covers. “Can I give you a hug without getting my nuts handed back to me?” he asked.

“Yes.”

She enjoyed the feel of his arms around her. She didn’t want him to let go, wanted to pull him into bed with her. The sheets would still be warm, and the room was chilly. She felt his cock harden against her. Heat flooded her body at the thought of how his strong arms would feel wrapped around her bare flesh…

She gasped when Matthias let her go and stepped back.

“Anastazia, not like this. Not until you really, truly feel it.”

She swallowed and understood what he was telling her at the cafe. Even though she expected to feel desire for Matthias, especially after what happened between them and knowing what she knew, the pull was still great.

So how much of this is real, and how much is his influence on me?

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I can handle rejection. I want you only if you really, when I’m not around, still have those feelings for me. Even you are not immune to me, and I don’t mean to sound like an asshole saying that. I’m not immune to you, either. But I’ve had a lot longer to practice my self-control, and I know how to keep it in my pants.”

Didn’t a guy like it when a woman tried to climb him like a tree? “How will spending all day with you help me figure out what I want?”

“You have to get to know me sometime. You also have to learn how to put up and maintain a mental barrier against others of our kind.”

“Why didn’t you have this effect on me before, when we first met?”

“Didn’t I?” He smiled. She blushed. She thought about the gym, the car trip, their first dinner meeting.

Yeah, she’d always had the hots for him.

“I can assure you,” he continued, “the feeling is mutual. And always has been.”

“Maybe I am really feeling it.”

“Maybe you are. I hope you are.” He looked like he wanted to reach out and touch her, but he turned away. “We’ll be waiting outside. Breakfast, and then onward.”

Chapter Twenty

After breakfast, she rode with Matthias. Everyone else followed in the second vehicle. “We’re staying down there because of the geyser basin,” he said. “Albert told me he explained some of it. Canyon Village is more convenient, but I’m willing to trade convenience for the additional safety factor.”

Matthias played tour guide along the way. When they passed West Thumb Geyser Basin, he pulled over at the first opportunity so she could see Yellowstone Lake.

“It’s huge.”

He nodded. “It’s also very unpredictable.”

They drove on in silence. When they passed Fishing Bridge, Taz tried to make amends. “I do want to learn as much as I can.”

“I know.” He didn’t look at her. “I’m not trying to keep you out of the loop. I want to tell you everything I know. But I’m worried about who’s trying to hurt you, so I’m a little preoccupied. I’m also trying to not overload you. It’s hard enough on you going through this without extra stuff to worry about.”

“What exactly
is
going on with me?”

“You’ve spent your life tightly controlled, which isn’t a bad thing. Tim taught you early on to control yourself without revealing anything about your powers. You’ve found ways to explain things that fit your view of reality. You didn’t think it was odd you effortlessly earned a black belt in less than two years?”

She shook her head.

“You are a crack target shooter. You fluently speak two foreign languages—”

“Three.”

“Three then. What’s the third?”

“I learned Italian last year.”

He smiled. “
Eccellente, mia amore.
”

Taz smiled as he continued. “Most people cannot do that. Things are easy for you in many ways, so you push yourself to do more. That’s been to compensate because you couldn’t use your powers, even though you didn’t know it. You had to deal with the built-up energy somehow. You needed the challenge, sought it out. Including people. When you broke up with your partners in the past, you realized it was because you felt they were totally open, no more secrets, and that you were the one in charge.”

“I don’t want secrets.”

“Pardon me,
cara mia
.” She smiled again. “
Secrets
wasn’t the right word. I mean they melted before you. At first they seemed strong, then it’s like they bowed before you without you even asking. They were totally open to you, without mystery, without any will of their own.”

She looked down at her lap. “Okay, fine. Yes.”

“You wanted an equal.”

“They were nice.”

“I didn’t say they weren’t. But looking back, you see what I mean.”

She nodded.

I won’t cry. I will
not
cry!