The Chosen

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I should have done that.” The male frowned and shook his head. “I mean, I shouldn’t have done that.”

Therese searched his features, getting lost in the uncoiling that was happening in her gut, her body going hyper-aware and strangely sluggish at the same time.

“Do you have a male?” he asked in a rough voice.

“No.” She focused on his lips. “No, I don’t.”

His lids closed and the relief across those features of his was a surprise. “Thank God.”

Therese had to smile. “You are a male of worth, then.” Except then she frowned. “Are you with anyone?”

“No, I’m not—”

The honk of a horn brought both of their heads around. A Mercedes had pulled up behind them, and the driver was getting out. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Just fine,” her male said. “Sorry.”

Ummm, okay, not that he was hers.

“Yup, we’re just fine,” she echoed. Seeking to prove what felt like a lie, Therese grabbed his arm and helped the male up to his feet. “We’re good. Thank you.”

She made a point to escort the male to the passenger side and help him in. Then she strode around, got behind the wheel, and hit the gas, taking a right out of the parking lot because it was easier than cutting through four lanes of traffic.

“I really should go,” he said as he stared out the front windshield.

“To the doctor, I know. So where are we headed? I can turn us around.”

“Listen, I’ll be all right. I always am. Can you please pull over?”

She glanced across at him, and dear God, he was tense, his hands squeezing his thighs, his jaw clenched. He’d been the instigator of the kiss, but he was clearly regretting it.

“Please, pull over,” he muttered.

“Okay, sure. But there isn’t … I don’t see anything.”

The restaurant was located at the beginning of a strip of some twenty or thirty outlet stores, but her choice of “right” had taken them in the opposite direction from all of that: Accordingly, they were entering a stretch of no-shoulders and a lot of trees, nothing but an on-ramp to some kind of highway, and what seemed to be vacant, unfinished land on either side of the street.

Frowning, she leaned into the wheel. Up ahead, there was something on the horizon, on a rise in the landscape … construction cranes, maybe? Or … she wasn’t sure what it was.

Whatever it was, a parking lot presented itself around the next bend—and talk about an abundance of riches. Pavement opened up on both sides of the road, with enough spaces to accommodate hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of cars. Was it a convention center? She couldn’t see any kind of hotel or big facility, though. Just darkness.

As she hit her directional signal, the male stiffened.

“Not here,” he said hoarsely. “Oh, God … anywhere but here.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Keep going.”

Hitting the gas again, she passed by what turned out to be—oh, right, an amusement park. Of course. The stuff she had thought were cranes were actually rides like roller coasters and high-elevation spinners, everything currently unlit because it was winter and the enterprise was closed for the season.

She continued on, going by an ice-cream place named Martha’s that was marked with a giant rooster. It, too, was shut down for the off-season, but she could imagine the lines at its dozen windows, kids running around with soft-serve cones melting down their arms, parents relaxing even as they kept one eye on the little guys.

That summer fantasy was real for some people. Had been real for her, for a while.

All that was gone now.

“Here,” he said, pointing to the rooster. “Turn in here.”

“A little farther.”

She didn’t want the ice-cream place any more than he wanted the amusement park. So maybe they did have something in common. Buzz kills unite.

The souvenir shop they came up to next had lots of windows and lots of little things lined up in the show of glass, all the snow globes, shot glasses, T-shirts, and beer cozies like soldiers waiting to be called to the front lines of family fun. Its parking lot was the baby brother to the big daddies they’d passed, but empty as it was, there was plenty of room.

After Therese stopped the BMW, she put the gearshift in neutral and pulled the parking brake—and what do you know, she agreed with the male sitting next to her. Imperatives for his healthcare aside, it was time for them to part ways. In her current mindset, she was a vacuum looking for a distraction, a hollow mess who only looked put together on the outside. She’d come to Caldwell in search of a fresh start, a new definition of herself … an escape from everything that had come before, all the lies and the deceit, the falsity.

Funny how finding out that you weren’t who you’d thought you were could make you move over five hundred miles away from your “family.”

But the good thing about being on your own?

Unless you lied to yourself, you knew exactly where you stood.

The bad thing, though? You tended to fill the void you had with other stuff—and she didn’t need a shrink to tell her it was a bad idea to get lost in whatever was going on with this male. He was sexy, very off, and too much for her to handle with her defenses all down.

“Can you dematerialize home?” he asked.

“Yes, absolutely. I’m still worried about your head, however.”

Even as she spoke, though, she was unclipping the seat belt and popping her door. He did the same, and they both got out.

The male came around as she did, and they met in front of the car, right in between the headlights—and as they looked at each other, she frowned, some strange feeling coming over her.

“I’ll take care of it,” he said. “I feel a lot better.”

As she stared up at his greater height, she blinked … and tried to remember what he was talking about. Oh, right, his head.

Well, he certainly seemed steady on his feet now, and vampires did heal quickly. There was no slurring of his speech, and those eyes, as they flashed peridot, seemed of equal size now. Besides, he didn’t have far to get back to his brother’s restaurant. She hadn’t gone more than a mile.

“Are you going to be safe?” he asked. “Going home by yourself, I mean.”

“Yup.” She kicked up her chin and forced a smile. “Perfectly safe.”

“I should take you back. Where do you—”

As she thought of that kiss, she put a hand up. “No, I’d rather go by myself. It’s better that way.”

He inclined his head. “Absolutely.”

“So …” She put out her palm. “It was weird to meet you.”

She tempered the words with an honest smile. Twenty-four hours in Caldwell, and she was making males faint, practicing her interviewing skills, and driving fancy cars. All things considered? It could be a lot worse.

“The pleasure was mine,” he said remotely.

She had a feeling he wanted to hug her by the way he left her hand hanging, but she didn’t want to go up against that body of his again. She was already in the position of having to forget that kiss. More reasons to have to give herself amnesia was not something she needed.

“Well, good-bye.” She stepped back. “Ah … have a good life.”

On that note, she up and dematerialized. And as she traveled in a scatter, she was amazed at how someone you’d never met before could make such a huge impression on you.

Crazy.

Really just nuts.

TWENTY-TWO

And yet he didn’t kill her.

Somehow, in spite of Xcor’s starvation, Layla felt him release her wrist just as she was beginning to feel the effect of his feeding, her blood pressure starting to dip, her head becoming only the slightest bit dizzy.

She could tell the withdrawal cost him dearly. His fangs were fully descended, and he was fighting himself, the muscles up both sides of his neck straining against his skin, his arms and legs churning in the melted, sloppy earth beneath his naked body.

He was also very, totally … completely erect.

When it had been a life-and-death situation, his nakedness had been easy to overlook. And on that front, they were still far from out of the woods—natch, as V would say. But in this split second of relief, she became vitally aware of exactly how male he was.