Dark and Damaged: Eight Tortured Heroes of Paranormal Romance: Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (29 page)

She wore a flowery dress, snug at her narrow waist and flaring over her hips. A breeze moved through the garden and lifted the hem of her dress revealing long slender legs.

She wasn’t wearing a ponytail. Instead her dark brown hair hung almost to her waist. It was straight and gleamed in the twilight. All the species of Five Bridges preferred the night, a result of the
alter
drugs. Some could tolerate the early gray of dawn or twilight as Iris was now. Not vampires.

He pounded a fist against his chest a couple of times, trying to steel himself against his growing love for Iris. Once she knew the truth about him, she’d despise him. Which meant soon, he’d have to tell her what he’d done, that he’d been involved in a witch massacre nine years ago. But he dreaded seeing the look on her face once she found out.

She’d never be able to be with him then, which was another layer of guilt. He should have confessed the truth last night, but all he’d wanted was to make love with her at least once.

Confession would end their stolen season as quickly as it had begun. He’d hinted about it, but he’d been unable to be specific. Even the thought of saying the words aloud, that he’d raped and killed women of her kind, twisted his gut into a knot.

Besides, his
altered
state had stripped him down to his bones. He had nothing to give Iris or any woman for that matter. He lived a loner’s existence, a night-hunting creature who had to get his blood-needs met on a regular basis, and who battled the drug infestation of their Five Bridges world. This was his life. And it wasn’t fit to be shared with a woman.

He debated telling her the truth right now because the more time he spent with her, the more he longed to have a life with her.

His decision arrived. He had to tell her. She would despise him, but not more than he loathed himself. Worse, she’d have to accept his continued presence in her life right now because he wasn’t about to leave her, not when some madman wanted her dead. His goal was simple, to do everything in his power to keep her safe.

He left the open French doors, moved into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. He began preparing his speech.

But as he returned to the dining area, she’d started back to the house walking along the green patch of grass. She waved and a smile lit up her face. She was glad to see him.

His breath got stuck somewhere between his lungs and his throat. “Oh, shit.” There it was again, desire raging through his body and attacking his heart. And worse, he loved her. He couldn’t deny it any longer.

He loved the witch, Iris Meldeere.

And he didn’t think he could tell her the truth, not now. Maybe, when they figured out who was hunting them and brought the man to justice. Yeah, maybe then.

“Good evening,” she said, moving across the threshold. “Sleep well?”

He nodded, but he knew he was scowling. He could feel his face pinched up. “Fine, thanks.” He took a sip of his coffee.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing much. Just worried about tonight.” Yeah, nothing much.

She shrugged, tilting her head. “Me, too. First, though, scrambled eggs and toast?”

His resolve shrank to nothing in the face of her simple suggestion. She’d ended their lovemaking with an offer of food and had begun the next night in the same way. He wasn’t sure a man needed much more than sex, food, and a woman he loved. “Eggs and toast would be great.”

She moved into the kitchen and washed her hands. The whirlwind returned. She hauled eggs, butter and bread out of the fridge, shutting the door with her foot as she moved swiftly away. When she started cracking eggs into a bowl, she called over her shoulder. “Turn the news on, would you? I want to know what’s being said about the bombing of Sentinel.”

“Will do.”

He found the remote next to the small flat screen that she kept across from the dining table.

He pressed the power button and, no surprise, a commercial came up first.

“Just mute it.”

He pressed the mute button and settled the remote on the table. He sat down, but had nothing to say, his guilt still dragging him down. The time to speak had passed and he let it go. For now.

He sipped his coffee instead, with one eye on the TV. When the news anchor returned, he watched for pictures of the bridge, but the focus appeared to be on a sex scandal involving an elementary school teacher who operated a porn site at night.

Iris remained busy in the kitchen. She occasionally glanced at the TV, but didn’t appear to want to make conversation. Maybe her thoughts were drawn inward as well.

***

Iris buttered the toast then swirled the eggs in the hot pan now and then. She’d made triple her usual portion; Connor was a big man.

She’d awakened with something on her mind, but she didn’t know exactly how to frame it. Her thoughts from the time she’d risen from bed had been focused on one particular part of the lovemaking last night, when Connor had fed from her. It had been extremely erotic, one of the best sexual moments of her life. But that wasn’t what snagged her thoughts.

She tried to recall Connor’s exact words right after feeding. He’d said something about feeling ‘better than all right’. And he’d seemed so much more powerful. Even physically his muscles had looked pumped. She could only suppose it wasn’t normal for him since he’d seemed surprised by it.

When the eggs were done, she slid them onto a pair of stoneware plates then added the toast. She put a fork on each plate and had just started over to the table when it hit her, what was really on her mind. “Your energy, Connor. It merged with mine.”

She moved into the dining area and Connor, his mug to his lips, returned the cup to the table. “What? What are you talking about?”

She set the plates down, sliding one toward him. Glancing at the TV, she decided to shut it off completely. Apparently, the sex scandal was all they were going to focus on.

She sat down and forced herself to eat a few bites.

“You realize you’re holding me in suspense.”

She aimed her fork at his eggs. “Eat. Then I’ll tell you.”

“They smell wonderful, so I won’t argue with you.”

She glanced at him and saw the twisted smile on his lips. She felt it all over again, the raw attraction she felt for him. Suddenly, she was out of her seat, leaning toward him before she knew what she was doing. She caught his face in her hands and planted a kiss on his lips.

When she drew back, his brows rose. “What was that for?”

She shook her head as she resumed her seat. “Just wanted to.”

She focused on her meal once more, forcing herself to slow down because she kept wolfing her meal.

Connor finally reached over and grabbed her hand. “I need you to calm down. Your witch energy is riding my skin like a dirt bike going downhill.”

She lifted her brows and laughed. “That bad, huh?”

“Yes. I don’t know what it is, but I seem to be very sensitive to you.”

She settled her fork on her plate. “And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. You’re not going to like this, Connor, but I think I need to enthrall you.”

Iris doubted Connor would go for it. After all, any citizen of Five Bridges brought under a witch’s thrall was completely vulnerable. And that included powerful vampires who served as Border Patrol officers for Crescent Territory.

Connor set his own fork down then leaned back in his chair. He’d made good work of his scrambled eggs and toast. “Okay, why? And what’s this about our energies merging?”

At least he hadn’t refused her outright. “Because we have an unusual connection and we need to explore it. I think it means something, but I’m not sure what. Do you recall how you felt right after you fed from me? Can you describe it?”

He shook his head, his gaze scattering for a moment. She let him process.

Even as she waited, Iris knew instinctively she’d wandered into dangerous territory, and that wasn’t the witch in her talking, but her female intuition.

Setting aside Connor’s male gorgeousness and that he’d given her the best sex of her life the night before, she knew something was off with him and not because he was a vampire. He’d suffered in some way, maybe when he first went through the
alter
, that had shattered him deep inside.

He was a broken, damaged man and all the spells in the world couldn’t fix that. Only Connor could reach into his own soul and perform the healing he needed. But like most men, she doubted he had a clue where to start, even if he wanted to.

Despite all that, the vampire had a pull on her she’d never experienced in her life. He was tall, strong and rugged looking. Some vampires, like those addicted to any of the numerous flame drugs, eventually started looking like their movie brethren with extremely pale skin and almost skeletal bodies. They were hard to look at, especially if they flashed some fang.

But Connor was a different animal and her heart beat hard as she waited for his answer.

As for her enthrallment powers, these were mostly a matter of long-term training by her witch elder, a good-hearted woman named Eliza who lived a very secluded life at the cul-de-sac end of Iris’s street. She had a full acre to her name and Iris had gotten many cuttings, tubers, and full grown plants from the woman when she’d begun creating her own spell-support garden.

Eliza had trained her to focus inward on her heart, the source of desire, then to
want
to bring the object of her thrall under her control. For whatever reason, Iris had found the process simple and exhilarating. The latter reaction, however, had warned her to be very careful when and how she employed this ability. The spell at Big Nuts’s place was a perfect example.

Although on some level she still couldn’t believe she’d been able not only to enthrall everyone in two rooms, but to release part of the thrall selectively. Connor had been exempted and when needed, Big Nuts as well.

Connor rose from his seat. “I’ve narrowed it down to this. Your blood gave me power, real physical power. I could have fought better right then if we’d been attacked. It was an amazing sensation. And ever since, I’ve felt connected to you in a way I don’t get. I’ve also craved repeating the whole thing. If you feel a need to enthrall me, I’ll allow it.”

Iris had reached a serious crossroads in her life. If she moved forward and attempted the thrall, she had a powerful prescience she’d never be able to go back, that her life would be forever changed.

The problem was she didn’t know in what way and that scared her.

Yet something had happened during the lovemaking to her as well, beyond the pleasure and fulfillment of the act. She thought back to the moment their energies had become one. She glanced up at Connor who stood nearby, arms over his chest. He frowned at her, watching her closely as though he too understood the importance of this moment.

“You don’t have to do this, Iris. If you have any doubt, it might be better to wait, to hold back. But I’m open.”

She rose from her chair and moved close to him, placing her hand on his arm. “Do you feel that?”

“I do. A soft vibration, not as bad as before.”

She offered a half-smile. “No dirt bikes racing downhill?”

“No. This is good. Pleasant even. But tell me what you’re looking for, what you hope to achieve.”

“That’s just it. I don’t know. I’m going with my instincts. There’s something unusual between us and it might be critical. I don’t pretend to understand how you and I came to be together. But Violet actually guards your presence here, my garden seems to adore you if you haven’t yet noticed, and both Sebastien and Pips have bestowed their not-easily-won approval.

“All these elements have my witch senses lit up. Beyond that, I don’t have an answer for you. But would you be willing to explore it with me? And for that, I have to ask the hard question: Do you trust me?”

For some reason, as Connor stared back at her and appeared to consider his answer, she felt as though her entire future depended on him saying yes to her. Again, she didn’t know why. But her witchness was in full bore.

“You could have spelled me to get me to acquiesce.”

“Yes, but why would I do that?”

Connor’s stern expression relaxed. “The fact that you responded with exactly that question is the reason I’m saying yes.”

Iris blinked several times. She honestly didn’t understand and felt as though she’d missed something. “Connor, I’ve never used my powers to trick anyone. And you have no idea how easy it would be to employ my spells all the time, even to get a better position in line for coffee. But I don’t do that.”

“The more I’m around you,” he gestured to the protection spell covering her property, “The more I’m understanding your level of power. So, how do we do this, witch?”

“I’ll need to be close because you’re as strong as you are. And I’ll want to touch you.”

His lips twisted. “I’m liking this already.”

Her heart gave a sudden powerful jump and she had to take a moment to breathe. She knew then what the real problem was for her: She liked Connor in an essential way, the kind of man he was and how he treated her.

“Me, too,” she responded quietly.

She then pulled herself together, and began focusing her witch energy on the process of thrall. She settled herself within a few inches of his entire body until she felt his aura connecting with hers. She held her palm close to his face. “I’ll have to touch you, otherwise I won’t be able to do this. You’re too powerful. Is that okay? Just to be clear, right now you have control and you might not have any once I begin the process.”

He smiled. “Go for it.”

“Okay.” As she shifted her hand to place three of her fingers alongside his cheek, though well away from his vulnerable temple, she tapped into her ability to enthrall. She focused on her desire to bring Connor under her power.

A warm stream of energy began to flow from her heart, through her veins, to finally warm up her right arm and hand where she connected with his cheek.

The thrall began to release into Connor’s body, though not without difficulty. She’d been right. He was very powerful and she couldn’t have completed the process without the physical connection. This was a different kind of enthrallment from the spell she’d cast at Gary’s sex club, but almost as intense even though she was dealing with only one person.