Huntress (5 page)

Curiosity burned within her and she wanted to ask about what
he did and where he lived but she couldn’t very well violate her own rules.
Especially not ten minutes after she had set them.

Gathering her clothing, Fiona retreated upstairs, took a
shower and lay in bed. She shouldn’t have offered him the couch. Just knowing
he was so close was enough to keep her from sleeping. At least now she didn’t
have to worry about using her spell on him.

Exhaustion finally overtook her and her eyes closed.

Trent lay staring at the ceiling of Fiona’s living room an
hour later. Her couch was too small and he couldn’t get his big frame
comfortable on it. What he really wanted to do was go up the stairs and fall
into bed with her. He didn’t even need sex. He just wanted to feel her close
and that scared the shit out of him.

He had agreed to her silly rules only because he realized
she was terrified about someone learning her secret. If his granny was right.
The more time he spent with Fiona, the more he realized it had to be true.

There was something extra in her eyes. It was right there in
front of him and all he had to do was look.

Their conversation from earlier ran through his mind. He had
promised they would talk about what he had been thinking about. He hoped she
would go for it.

Just the thought of tying her hands and having her at his
mercy made his cock spring to life. Groaning and punching the pillow under his
head, he shifted again, trying to ease the pain between his legs.

A sudden scream ripped throughout the house. He stumbled
from the couch and up the stairs, reaching Fiona in seconds. She let loose
another long scream and he ducked just in time as a book flew toward his head.

He halted in the doorway in shock as he got a good look at
what was happening. Other things were flying about the room—a vase and flowers,
a piece of clothing, more books.

But she wasn’t tossing them with her hands. They were
clutching the sheets beside her in a death grip.

Trent ducked and slid and made it to her side no worse for
wear. He reached for her shoulders. He shook her, thinking she was still asleep
until he looked in her eyes. They were wide open but distant and a cold chill
went down his back.

This was more than a nightmare. He shook her harder, calling
her name, knowing she wasn’t seeing him or the room around her.

“Fiona? Fiona!” Suddenly she went limp and he caught her in
his arms before she toppled off the side of the bed. Brushing the hair from her
face, he stared down at her. Trent watched as she blinked and the distance
faded from her eyes and panic replaced it.

“What are you doing in here?” she asked, pushing against his
chest. He let her go but he didn’t move far.

“That was some nightmare you were having,” he said. Even
though he was sure it had been more than that.

Her eyes widened and she drew back even farther from him.
“What happened?”

Trent was torn. Did he tell her he knew she was telekinetic
and a witch? Or did he keep with the rules they had set that night and let it
go? Before he could change his mind he gestured to the books and things that
were strewn all over the place.

Fiona looked around in shock. Her stack of books, clothing
and a number of other things were all scattered about the floor. She didn’t
remember doing it but she was sure she had given herself away.

Trent stared at her and she was surprised to see no
accusation in his eyes. He wasn’t looking at her as if she was a freak. The
only thing coloring his features was concern. Nevertheless she still wasn’t
willing to risk it.

“Fiona? Are you all right?” His voice was deep and gravelly.

“I’m okay, Trent,” she told him weakly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked as he brushed the
hair back from her face.

Did she want to talk about it? So much for their rules. But
after this incident she was sure they wouldn’t need them. He would be gone. She
shook her head, turning her face away.

“Fiona? I know about what you’ve been hiding,” Trent told
her gently.

“Know what exactly?” she whispered.

“That you’re telekinetic.”

She sighed, realizing it had only been a matter of time
before he found out and that time was up.

“Does it matter?” she asked him, watching his face closely.

He seemed confused, his forehead drawing together. “No,” he
finally answered, “why would it matter?”

She didn’t see any of the reactions she had expected on his
face and she was suddenly so tired she couldn’t think straight.

Fiona felt her eyes closing against her will. “Can we talk
in the morning, Trent?” she forced herself to ask.

“Of course.” He helped her lie back down and tucked her in.
Her eyes were closed but she sensed him start to move away.

“Trent?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you stay with me?” She scooted over on the bed to
give him room.

He didn’t move for a full minute then came to the bed and
slid in next to her. She didn’t know what was going on but it felt good to not
be alone.

Trent rolled and wrapped his arms around her. Just before
she fell asleep she heard him say, “Yeah, I’ll stay.”

Trent held Fiona for a long time. He couldn’t sleep. He
didn’t know why he had even asked her about having an affair with him.
Especially after his granny had warned him to stay away from her.

He didn’t like the idea that some choices were out of his
hands. But he was drawn to her in a way he had never felt before. She held her
secrets close, never letting anyone get under her skin. He hoped telling her he
knew she was telekinetic would ease some of her worries.

She wouldn’t have to hide it from him if he already knew. He
got the feeling she didn’t tell anyone about her gifts. She had chosen a career
that left her alone and now he knew her better he understood why.

If he was honest with himself he didn’t like that she hid
anything from him. He wanted to know her secrets. Which was exactly what she
didn’t want.

The last few months he had used his scars to keep people at
bay. He didn’t want to see the pity and the disgust in their eyes when they
looked at him. But Fiona had done neither of those things. She had stared for a
moment that first night but all he had seen was curiosity and then the needed
lust.

He thought he had ruined his chances for anything long-term
with a woman when that grenade had gone off. He wasn’t the smooth-talking
pretty boy he had been in his youth.

The scars on his face were the only visible damage but there
was more to it than that. The events of the mission had shaken his confidence
and made him doubt where his path lay. It was a new experience for him. He had
always known the military was his road to travel and now that it was gone he
wasn’t sure what to do.

But Fiona needed him right now and deep down he was still
the same man who jumped in feetfirst without worrying about the danger and the
consequences.

First thing in the morning he was going to pay his granny
another visit. He had a feeling she knew more than she was telling him. Plus he
needed to be sure it was okay for him to take Fiona to her.

Even if Fiona wasn’t going to acknowledge it, she needed
help. There was something going on here. That much was obvious to him. He
didn’t look too closely at why it was obvious, he just knew. Call it
experience, call it training. But he had enough missions in his life to trust
his instincts.

He didn’t think Granny would mind talking to her but he
didn’t want to assume it and have her be upset with him. It never paid to have
Granny pissed at him.

Trent shifted and rolled to his back. Fiona turned to him
and laid her head on his shoulder. Her hair spread out over his chest and he
ran his fingers through it. It was soft and silky and he played with it gently
until he finally drifted off to sleep.

* * * * *

Fiona slept late. It had always taken a lot out of her when
she used her power as she had last night. What scared her was that she didn’t
remember doing it. It had never happened before.

Something was taking over her dreams and she was helpless to
stop it.

She rolled over in bed and noticed that Trent was no longer
next to her. The pillow was cold but she could still smell him on the fabric.

She lay staring at the ceiling. Soon snippets of the
nightmare came back to her. It had almost been like watching a movie.

Fiona strained, trying to remember what had happened. There
had been a woman, blonde and pretty, walking down a darkened street alone. She
had been carrying a briefcase and her steps had been weary.

Fiona sucked in a deep breath as the scene played out. She
felt a presence, something dark and evil that had made the hairs on the back of
her neck stand up. Whatever was out there it was stalking the blonde woman.

The woman turned a corner into a pitch-black alley and Fiona
shook her head.
No, no, don’t go that way!

But it was too late. The creature looked like a man, a
beautiful man, but she knew the truth. He came up behind the woman silently and
gripped her around the waist. She struggled briefly until he soothed her and
she went limp against him.

Fiona watched from someplace far away as his pearly fangs
sank into her neck. The woman moaned and her back arched as he sucked the life
out of her.

When he was finished he let the woman slide down his body to
the ground. Then he seemed to look directly at Fiona with deep-red eyes. He
smiled and wiped the blood from his mouth.

Fiona screamed and jerked herself out of her memories
abruptly.

It might have only been a dream but it still terrified her.

Getting out of bed, she headed for the shower and a day of
writing. When she got downstairs she found coffee already made for her and a
note from Trent on the counter. He had gone to see his grandmother and would be
back later in the afternoon to see her.

She didn’t want to feel so happy that he would be back but
she couldn’t help it. She tried not to look closely at how nice it was to have
someone do something for her. Lord, she was starved for affection if something
as simple as making her coffee had her going all mushy inside.

She took her mug into her office and booted up her laptop.
Bringing up a browser, she almost choked on her mouthful of coffee at the
headline of the day.

Woman murdered late last night
. Fiona doubted it
could be related to her dream but she clicked on it anyway. She scanned the
article and read that Missy Jayne, twenty-eight, had been heading home from her
law office last night when she was attacked and killed in an alley not far from
her home.

Fiona scrolled down and felt lightheaded when she saw the
woman’s picture. It was the same woman from her nightmare.

Her mind raced as she tried to piece it together. She knew
vampires were real because her grandmother had hunted them. But she had never
thought about them being so close to home.

Why was she dreaming about them? And how had she known what
the woman had looked like?

Someone knocked on her door and she jumped, bumping her cup
and sloshing coffee across her desk.

“Damn it!” she exclaimed as she grabbed some paper towels
and sopped it up. The knock on the front door came again and she got up to
answer it.

She opened her door a crack and then breathed a sigh of
relief at the sight of the mail carrier.

“Sorry to bother you but I have a letter that you have to
sign for,” he told her.

“Okay, no problem.”

He handed her the electronic pad and she scrawled her name
across it. She gave it back and he held out the letter.

“Have a nice day,” he said as he turned away.

“Thanks. You too,” Fiona said distractedly as she closed the
door and locked it.

It was from Grandma’s lawyer. She hadn’t heard from him
since the details of her death had been taken care of and that had been last
year. Dropping to the couch, she ripped the envelope open.

It was short and to the point. Grandma had a storage unit
not far from where Fiona lived and she needed to catch up the payments or the
contents would be auctioned off. The key to the unit was also included in the
envelope. Grandma had paid for a year in advance for the unit and the funds had
run out last month.

Fiona hadn’t known about it. It hadn’t been in the list of
possessions she had gotten when she dealt with the estate. But there was only
one thing to do. She grabbed her phone and her credit card and called the
company that owned the unit. It didn’t take long to get everything straightened
out.

Trent hardly slept and had been up before the sun. There was
too much going through his head. Too many unanswered questions.

He refused to believe he couldn’t sleep because Fiona had
been wrapped around him like ivy. She didn’t have to do anything but breathe to
turn him on. He was enjoying waking up with her a little too much.

Although it wasn’t just one thing he liked about her. He
loved her wild, red curls that were so soft and smelled so good. Or the way her
pussy clenched around his cock. Or the feel of her silky skin against his. But
he also liked her feisty attitude and that she wasn’t one of those women who
expected a phone call the next day.

Although it would have been easier for him if she had. It
figured he finally found a girl he really liked and she treated sex the same
way he had before he met her. It was ironic to say the least.

He had thought a lot about the force of her dream last
night. Trent knew she was destined to become a hunter but now he began to
wonder if she had no idea what was in store for her.

But how could she not know? Wouldn’t she need some training?
It seemed to him she would have started preparing for something like this years
ago.

Was that why Granny had warned him away from her? Was she
doomed?

If that was the case he wasn’t going to let it happen. She
deserved more than to be thrown to the vampires.

This time Granny was going to tell him what he wanted to
know, come hell or high water. Twisting the throttle of his bike, he gunned the
engine and made it to her house in record time.

He wasn’t surprised to see her standing on the porch waiting
for him. Her face was grim and she looked tired. It cooled some of his anger.
But he wasn’t going to back off completely.