Enraptured (9 page)

He smiled at her as he tapped his fingers
against the door knob his hand rested on. “Honey, I’ve got a bigger
set than you’d know what to do with. I could show you if you’d
like.”

Paige had never been so tempted to hit
someone in her life. He was the most infuriating man she’d ever met
in her entire lifetime. Her jaw ached from grinding her teeth.
“Fuck you!”

“That can be arranged too.”

If it was possible, he truly believed her
head might explode. There were stop signs that weren’t as red as
she was right now. Her chest heaved as she inhaled rapidly through
her teeth. “Asshole.”

“Ah, dirty talk already.”

With an incensed shout, she lunged to the
side, grabbed the plate Emma had left behind and threw it at him.
Ian laughed as he took a casual step to the side to avoid the plate
aimed at his head. It smashed against the door with a bang before
shattering into a dozen smaller pieces. Glass exploded around him,
bits of it got caught up in his shirt and scattered around the
room. One shard sliced across his forearm, drawing blood. He
leisurely wiped away the broken pieces, and the blood from the
already healing scratch, before returning to his position.

“Temper, temper,” he chided.

He had to admit it was kind of fun to watch
the fury playing over her features and the heaving of her chest.
His eyes were drawn to her breasts as they pushed against the baggy
shirt. “You haven’t seen anything yet,” she grated.

“I believe that.”

Before he knew what she intended, she
lurched to the side and seized hold of the rickety table beside the
bed. Ian leapt forward; his feet thudded on the bed as she swung
the table upward toward him. He grabbed hold of the leg of the
table before she could smash him with it. Her chest heaved; she
tried to jerk it away from him, but he refused to release it.

Her eyes narrowed, her nostrils flared. He
loomed over her, resisting the urge to tear the table away from
her. “Let go,” he said calmly.

A muscle in her cheek twitched; her hand
tightened on the leg. All she wanted was to jerk it away from him,
but even though his grip on it appeared loose, she knew she’d never
be able to take it from him. “No.”

She’d half expected him to tear it away from
her, or tear out her throat. Maybe she hoped he would, just so
there would be some sort of resolution to all of this. Instead, he
quirked an eyebrow at her as a smile curved his full mouth. He
shifted his weight on the bed, causing the mattress on both sides
of her to sink from his weight. How could he appear so casual and
carefree while standing hunched over on a bed in order to not hit
his head on the ceiling?

He’d moved so fast across the room she’d
never seen him leave the door, before he was looming over her. Why
hadn’t he killed her?

Ian leaned closer to her; his hand wrapped
around hers. Ever so gently, he pried her fingers from the leg of
table. He felt the brush of the rough callouses on her palm before
he succeeded in freeing her grasp from it. “That wasn’t so bad, was
it?”

She glowered at him as she folded her arms
over her chest. His gaze darted down to where the IV had been in
her arm. Mandy had bandaged it, but her sudden movement had knocked
the bandage free and caused the small wound to start bleeding
again. His mouth watered when his eyes settled on the bead of blood
glistening on her pale skin. The scent of it drifted up to fill his
nostrils.

Paige’s breath froze in her lungs when she
saw what had caught his attention. This was how she was going to
die. He wouldn’t be able to deny the scent of her blood. No vampire
could deny fresh blood.

Taking a deep breath, Ian climbed off of the
bed and placed the table back beside it. He would give anything to
taste just that trickle of her blood, but he wouldn’t be the
monster she believed him to be. Bending down, he scooped up some of
the bandages that had fallen off the table when she’d grabbed
it.

Opening one of the bandages, he pulled out
the gauze inside and placed it on the crook of her elbow. “Here,”
he said with far more composure than he felt.

Paige frowned at him as she pressed the
gauze into her arm. He could have killed her so easily. She had
nothing to defend herself and he knew it. Her blood had excited
him, she’d seen that in his eyes, and yet he placed the bandages
calmly on the stand and turned away from her. He returned to the
door and crossed his legs before him as he watched her.

Ian studied her as she watched him with a
furrowed brow. She had no idea what to make of him, and it made him
feel good to know he wasn’t the only confused one in this room. A
knock on the door drew his attention away from her. “What?”

“Everything ok in there?” Ethan
demanded.

“Fine,” he replied.

He could feel his brother hovering on the
other side for a few seconds before turning and walking away. Paige
had regained control of her temper when he focused on her again.
“How long have you been tangled up with the hunters?” he inquired.
“And why are you involved with them in the first place?”

“My life and what it involves, is none of
your business.”

“It is when you’re risking mine.”

Another knock on the door sent a spurt of
annoyance through him. “What now?”

“Open the door.” Ian stepped back and opened
the door. Stefan thrust a phone out to him. “Here.”

Ian stared at the satellite phone before
stepping aside to let Stefan into the room. “Hello?”

“You know for a family that repeatedly tells
me they want nothing to do with me, you keep calling me every time
one of you steps into a pile of shit,” Brian drawled over the air
waves.

“It’s nice to talk to you too,” Ian
muttered.

“Don’t lie. What did you get yourself caught
up in now?”

Ian informed him about the events of last
night and what had occurred today. “Have you ever encountered
something like this before?”

The lack of a response on the other end
wasn’t what he’d been expecting. One thing Brian liked to do was
talk. “No, but I know someone who most likely has.”

It had to be the same vampires Stefan had
been talking about. “Will they kill her?”

“Not unless it becomes necessary.”

The same answer everyone had, including
himself, but they needed to know more. He couldn’t keep her locked
away for the rest of her life; death would be less cruel. Besides,
he would be able to keep her safe. “Can you get a hold of
them?”

Silence again and then a sigh. “Put Stefan
on the phone again.”

Ian handed the phone back to Stefan. “What
is it?” Stefan inquired.

His brother-in-law walked to the other side
of the room as he listened to whatever Brian said to him. Stefan
glanced at him and then Paige. “I don’t think we have a choice. Get
a hold of them.”

Stefan hung the phone up. “He’s going to
contact them.”

Ian didn’t like the look on Stefan’s face or
the terseness of his tone. “Who exactly are these vampires?”

“They have better knowledge of the hunters,
and far more experience with them than any of us. They’re not to be
messed with, Ian.”

Ian glanced at Paige. Her lips were
compressed into a flat line as she stared back at them. “You could
always tell us how you became immune to our ability,” Ian told her.
“So we don’t have to involve these other vampires.”

She sat on the bed and folded her arms over
her chest before resolutely focusing on the wall behind him. He
knew there would be no more getting her to talk, and that was fine
by him; he had little left to say to her too right now.

“So what do we do now?” Pulling his cigarette from
his mouth, Mike leaned back in the rocking chair on the porch.
Propping his feet up on the banister, he stared out at the
twilight. The cigarette contradicted Mike’s casual position as Ian
knew he only smoked when troubled by something.

“You’re all going back. I doubt the hunters
or that vamp know who I am, or would be able to track me if they
did, but I’d feel better if everyone was back at home to help
protect everyone there. I’d feel a
lot
better, if everyone
left Oregon and found somewhere safer to stay until we know for
sure no one is tracking or hunting us,” Ian replied. “They’re too
vulnerable there with the young and Isabelle being pregnant.”

Stefan shifted at his words, his eyes burned
in the night. No matter what Ian decided, Stefan wouldn’t continue
to stay away from Isabelle. “We can’t leave you here with her,”
David protested.

“Yes, you can. No one knows we’re here.
There’s no one around for miles and I can handle a human. We’ll be
fine.”

Mike flicked his cigarette away into the
night before lighting another one. He exhaled a puff of smoke
before speaking, “I’ll stay with you.”

“No. Everyone has to go back home. Everyone
there will need help if they decide to leave, and they’ll need even
more help, if they decide to stay. All of you, go back.”

Stefan took a step toward him and handed out
the phone. “It’s my satellite phone. I grabbed it from home when I
knew we would be coming here. Your cell phone won’t work here, and
there’s no landline.” Ian had assumed that already. “This phone is
fully charged, the battery should last for at least a couple of
weeks if you use it sparingly.”

Ian took the phone from him. He didn’t ask
Stefan why he had a satellite phone; he imagined there were many
things Stefan was prepared for that he never would have thought of.
Hell, he was never prepared for anything, and that was the way he
liked it, until now. Taking life as it came to him didn’t seem like
as much fun anymore, not with Paige in the other room and her life
on the line.
All
of their lives on the line, he reminded
himself.

“I don’t like the idea of leaving you here,
with her,” Ethan said.

“I don’t think she’s much of a threat.”

“And if other vampires or hunters arrive
looking for her?”

“I’ll take care of them too.”

“Ian…”

“I can take care of this, Ethan. No one is
going to find us up here; I’m not sure
I
can find us up
here,” he added with a grin. Ethan remained straight faced before
finally breaking into a small smile. “It won’t take long to get
everyone situated or moved around, by then we should know more
about what is going on with her from Brian and his friends.”

“We can make a couple of trips and leave you
with the Jeep,” Emma said.

“I can move faster than a vehicle through
these mountains if it becomes necessary. Take them both, it will be
one less temptation for Paige,” Ian replied.

“You’ll need clothes and supplies before we
go,” David said.

“We will,” Ian agreed. “I think you should
take Mandy and Jill back tonight, and then head home. I’m sure
Mandy has school tomorrow.”

“I can stay for another day,” Mandy
offered.

Ian rested his hand on her arm and squeezed
it reassuringly. Jill and Mandy may have started out as Emma’s
friends, but he considered them more like family now, and he knew
he wasn’t the only one. David, Mike, Jack, and Doug spent a lot of
time with them too, as they all liked to go out together in San
Francisco.

“I know, and I thank you,” he told her. “But
you should get back. We don’t need you failing out because of
this.”

“Like that would happen!” Jill snorted. She
swung her arm around Mandy’s shoulders and pulled her close.
“There’s far too much brain power in her little noggin for
that.”

Mandy rolled her eyes, but she leaned
against Jill’s side. “Ok, but if you need me for anything more,
call.”

“I will,” Ian promised. He turned toward
Ethan, Emma and Stefan. “If you wouldn’t mind sticking around to do
some shopping for us tomorrow, before you leave?”

“Of course,” Emma replied.

Ian looked up at the stars beginning to
pierce the shadowy veil of night. He had no idea what he was going
to do with Paige while they were stuck up here. He knew what he’d
like to do to her, but he probably had a better shot of walking on
the moon than he did of getting into bed with her.

He turned back toward the cabin; he could
hear her faint breaths and sometimes a small snore coming from the
bedroom. “The couch is comfortable,” Stefan said.

Mike chuckled and flicked his cigarette
away. “I was beginning to think you and Brian shared the
bedroom.”

Stefan shot him a look as he folded his arms
over his chest. “We didn’t build the place.”

“But you did buy it,” David replied.

“Actually we inherited it from a vampire we
killed. It was secluded and peaceful, so we kept it.”

“Oh,” David said.

That about summed it up
, Ian thought
as he had nothing else to say to this revelation either. Sometimes
he forgot how shady Stefan’s past had been.

“We should go,” Mike said and climbed to his
feet. “Call us and we’ll be here as fast as we can.”

Mike slapped him on the back and climbed
down the steps to David’s car. David shook his hand before jogging
over to the driver’s side of the car. They each held their doors
open for Jill and Mandy to climb into the back. They all gave a
wave as they pulled out of the driveway and headed down the dirt
road. Ian watched until the red taillights faded from view before
turning back toward the cabin. It would be another night with
little sleep, but he intended to stay by Paige’s side.

***

The cool air blew against Paige’s skin when
she stepped out of the cabin and onto the porch. Her gaze traveled
over the mountains towering behind the small cabin in the center of
the clearing. Their peaks were still white with snow as they
touched the clouds drifting through the sky. The trees lining the
clearing were at least fifty feet tall, the tops of them blew in
the breeze cutting through them. The soft clacking of their
branches filled the air as they swayed. A couple of squirrels
bounded through some tall pines before vanishing from view.