Blood Feud

Changed

Book Five

Heather MacKinnon

Blood Feud

Copyright Ⓒ 2020 by Heather MacKinnon

Book cover: Fiverr.com/GermanCreative

Editor: Karen Sanders Editing

Proofreader: Dark Raven Edits

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, actual events, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

All Rights are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Epilogue

More from Heather MacKinnon

About the Author

Chapter 1

Ashton

“What the hell did I get myself into?” I grumbled under my breath as I paced my boss’s marble foyer. Alexander left with Charlotte over an hour ago and asked me to wait for his friend to arrive.

The friend who was supposed to dispose of a body for him.

I glanced at the bathroom door, knowing there was a dead guy behind it. With a shake of my head, I turned to pace in the other direction.

It wasn’t that I was particularly averse to dead people. I’d seen enough of that in the SEALs, but I wasn’t employed by the government anymore, and this wasn’t a deployment. This was a dead body smack dab in the middle of New York City, and I could very likely wind up charged with this murder if I wasn’t careful.

I glanced at my watch for the fifth time in the past ten minutes, noting that this Mildred person was now officially late. With a snort, I wondered if her powered scooter broke down on her way up here.

I made another lap around the foyer and came face-to-face with a large gilded mirror on one wall. My eyes were swollen and bruised, but my nose was the real problem. I reached up to touch it, hoping I could pop the bone back into place and go on with my day. But that wish quickly faded as I felt around and realized it wasn’t a clean break. And that I’d have to probably get x-rays tomorrow.

“Hausle’s getting that fucking bill,” I mumbled.

A knock on the door drew me out of my thoughts, and I hurried to open it. When I did, a red-headed woman with the greenest eyes I’d ever seen was standing there. I took a quick moment to check out the rest of her and wasn’t disappointed at all.

But what the hell is she doing here?

I leaned against the door and gave her a grin. “Can I help you?”

Please say yes.

Please say yes.

Please say yes.

“Alexander Hausle called me.”

I jerked back before looking her up and down again. “Mildred?”

She shrugged one delicate shoulder. “I prefer Millie.”

Holy.

Fucking.

Shit.

The whole time, I’d been expecting some wrinkly old woman to come and take the body off my hands, but instead, this was what I got.

A fucking bombshell with curves for days and eyes I could stare at for hours, just counting all the shades of green in them.

What the fuck?

“He called you to deal with this… problem?” I finished lamely.

“Yes. And? Who are you?”

“Ashton McGraw. Hausle hired me to guard his girlfriend.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re not glamoured, are you?”

I frowned. “That hypno bullshit? Fuck no.”

She tilted her head to the side as she continued to study me. “Why is that?”

It was my turn to shrug. “I guess he likes me.”

Or more accurately, I was more useful to him like this. That’s what Alexander said, at least.

She pursed her lips but didn’t say anything else. We stood there for a moment, our eyes locked and my dick already hardening in my pants. Finally, she cleared her throat.

“Can I come in?”

I jumped to attention and pushed the door open wider. “Of course. My apologies. Come on.”

I stood still as she passed me, willing my hands to not reach for the curves I was already fantasizing about. She smelled sweet and expensive as she walked by, and it was not helping the situation in my pants one bit.

She stopped in the middle of the foyer and turned to me. Next to her was a suitcase I honestly hadn’t even noticed. I was too busy looking at her to care about what she was carrying.

“Well,” she said. I held my breath as I waited to hear what she’d say next. When I didn’t say anything, she huffed out an irritated breath and waved to the apartment around her. “Where is it?”

I jumped again and hustled over to the bathroom door. I swear, I hadn’t moved so fast since boot camp.

“It’s in here.”

She followed behind me, close enough that I could smell her again. Millie ducked into the bathroom without hesitation. She stopped in the middle of the room and put her hands on her hips.

“He’s going to have to go in pieces,” she muttered. When she turned to me, I looked away quickly so she wouldn’t know I’d been staring that whole time. “Was he drained?”

I frowned. “Of what?”

Her lips twitched with a grin as she shook her head. “How did you get yourself into this situation?”

I leaned against the doorframe and gave her a smile of my own. “I’ve been asking myself the same question all day.”

Her eyes shined bright with humor before she turned back to the body. She crouched beside him and turned his head to the side before nodding. “Yeah, he was drained.” Without warning, she grabbed both his legs and started pulling.

I jumped into action again.

“Hey, let me help you with that.”

She laughed. Actually fucking laughed at me. “Don’t worry about it. Just get out of my way.”

I stood there stupidly for a moment before hurrying out the bathroom. I watched her drag the full-grown man out into the foyer as easily as if she were pulling a little red wagon. In seconds, he was sprawled across the marble floor in between us.

“You might want to leave for this part,” she said.

I looked up at her before checking my watch. Truthfully, I’d had every intention of leaving the moment she got there, but now, I didn’t want to go.

I could lie and say it was chivalry.

I could lie and say it was me making sure the job was done right.

But they’d both be just that. Lies.

The truth was, Millie was hot as fuck and I wasn’t going anywhere.

“It’s cool. I can stay and help.”

She laughed again. “I don’t need your help.” Millie walked over to the suitcase she’d abandoned and opened it up. Inside was a large plastic tarp, and I watched in fascination as she spread it out on the floor.

She kicked the luggage aside before walking over to the body. I lunged toward her. “You need me to move him for you?”

Millie turned to me with a grin as she looked me up and down. Slowly. So fucking slowly I was sure she’d notice the bulge in my pants I couldn’t seem to make go away. “No, thanks,” she finally said, the grin turning into a smirk. “Wouldn’t want you to wrinkle your shirt.”

I glanced down at my blue striped Oxford and slacks. It was my typical work clothes, but suddenly I felt overdressed. I turned to look at her and noticed for the first time she was wearing baggy coveralls and work boots.

How had I noticed her body, but not what was on it? It had been drilled into me to stay observant in the SEALs and as a bodyguard. I prided myself on the fact that nothing got past me. But this sure as hell did.

I heard a loud cracking sound, and my eyes darted back to Millie. Somehow, she’d already moved the body easily twice her size onto the plastic sheet. Now, she was standing above it with an arm in her hands.

A detached arm.

Tendons and muscle dangled from the end of it as she tossed the appendage onto the tarp.

“What the fuck?” I couldn’t help but say.

Millie looked up and shrugged. “Told you you’d want to leave before this part.” She reached over and grabbed his other arm before yanking it from his body.

I stood there, eyes wide as I watched a woman who couldn’t have been more than five foot four inches and a hundred and twenty pounds tear a full-grown man apart.

But that was exactly what she was doing.

How was she so strong?

“It’s a good thing he was drained already,” she commented as she tossed aside the second arm. “Things get really messy when they’ve still got blood in them.”

I’d seen a lot of fucked up things in my life, but this definitely cracked the top three.

“Can I… um… help you?”

She laughed as she pulled off his head. “No. I’m good. You can talk to me though. Tell me how this guy pissed off Hausle.”

I gaped for a moment before I got my tongue to work again. “Um, this is his girlfriend’s dad.”

Millie whistled. “Damn. Guess the meeting with pops didn’t go well.”

I chuckled, which was strange, because I was watching a woman tear a body apart limb by limb. But still, it was kinda funny.

“Actually, this fucker came here to rob him, and in the process, he almost killed his daughter.”

Millie froze with one of the man’s legs in the air. Her face turned hard. “He hit her?”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah. He really fucked her up. She was unconscious when I got up here.” And she was also being fed blood from her boyfriend, but I didn’t mention that part. I didn’t want this woman to think I was as crazy as I felt just thinking that sentence.

Millie’s eyes were like glass marbles, hard and cold as she looked back at the body. With a loud wrenching sound, she twisted his leg off his body and tossed it aside. “Wish he was still alive to feel that,” she muttered.

“Honestly? Same. I’ve heard a lot about this asshole and the shit he used to do to his daughter. I think his death was probably too quick.”

Millie nodded slowly as she stared at the body. “If it makes you feel better, it seems like most of his bones were broken already. Probably happened before he died.”

I nodded once. “It does make me feel a little better.”

She glanced up at me, an appreciative light in her eyes.

“What about you?” I asked. “Do you… tear a lot of bodies apart?” I finished stupidly.

Millie laughed again, the sound tinkling and filled with joy and so fucking sweet. “No. Definitely not.” She pulled at her baggy clothes. “I had to borrow these from someone.”

“They look good on you,” I said immediately. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I winced. I sounded like a fucking moron.

Her eyes twinkled. “Thanks.”

Millie turned back to the body and grabbed his second leg as I tried to think of something smart to say. Which would be a first for this conversation.

“So, if this isn’t typical for you, why did Hausle call you?”

She tore the last limb from his body before turning to me. “I owed him a favor.”

“What kind of favor?”

Millie tossed the leg aside before looking at me again. “Well, he disposed of a body for me once, so I guess this is only fair.”

I looked at her again. Closer this time. Making sure to take in every little detail. Funny enough, knowing she’d killed someone before made no difference in how bad I wanted her. None.

“So, do you kill people often?”

Her head whipped in my direction before she threw it back and laughed hard. I watched her delicate throat bob with her chuckles and my hands twitched with the need to touch her. To find out if her skin was as soft as it looked.

“No. I don’t kill people often. Or ever. That was a one-time thing. I was young and angry, and honestly, the asshole deserved it.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I know a few people I wouldn’t miss.”

Her eyes darted to me again. “No, I mean like he really, really deserved it.”

I frowned. “Was he a murderer?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Technically, yeah.”

“Was he going to hurt someone else?”

She nodded. “I have no doubt he would.”

I shrugged. “Then I guess you did the world a favor.”

Millie looked at me. No, watched me for a long time before speaking again. “Things always that black and white for you?”

I shrugged again. “Sometimes, yeah.”

“So, you don’t think killing is wrong.”

She said it like a statement and not a question, but I answered anyway.

“I think some people need killing, yeah.” I looked down on the bastard that abused his daughter for years, and it only reinforced my opinion. “Some people are just bad. Some people don’t have any redeemable qualities.”

She nodded slowly. “How can you tell the difference? Between the ones that are bad and the ones who just do bad things?”

I thought about that for a minute, knowing that, for whatever reason, my next words would hold some weight. “This may sound a little Christ-like, but I feel like the really bad ones aren’t ever sorry. The ones who just do bad things are usually remorseful, at least. The others couldn’t care less.”

She nodded again, her lips pursed and her eyes far away. “I think you’re probably right.” Millie looked back at the dead guy. “You think this guy was sorry?”

I shook my head immediately. “From everything I’ve heard, no. Not at all. Hell, he stabbed his daughter in the gut when she tried to run away from him, and the bastard still followed her here. Nah. This one needed to go.”

She turned to me, her eyes like emeralds. “That’s awful.”

It struck me as odd that a woman who’d never met this person or the daughter he abused would even care, but it was clear she did. A lot.

“What about you?” I asked. “Was he sorry? The guy you killed?”

Her expression turned hard again. “No. He wasn’t.” She turned back to the body and started gathering the limbs in her arms. “In fact, he told me he’d do it again. That was when I knew he had to go.”

I hurried to her side and grabbed the guy’s torso, thankful she’d left the heaviest piece for me. I hefted what was left of Kevin Wakefield into my arms and followed her over to the suitcase.

“I think you did the right thing,” I finally said.

She was crouched down, stuffing body parts in the luggage when she looked up, her bright eyes wide open. Millie stared at me for so long I forgot what we were doing as I got lost in her gorgeous gaze. Finally, she nodded and turned away. “I hope you’re right,” she said softly.

I watched her busy herself for a long time, the desire in me to keep pushing so strong. I wanted to know more. Hell, I wanted to know everything.

Who was this asshole that she killed? Who did he kill before she took him out? And why was she still harboring guilt over something that seemed like it happened a long time ago?

I kneeled next to her and stuffed the dead man’s torso in the suitcase. It was a tight fit, but we finally got all his pieces inside and the zipper closed before turning to each other.

I’m not sure what came over me or what I was thinking, but before I could talk myself out of it, I reached for her hand.

It was softer than I’d imagined.

“I know you did the right thing,” I said, putting as much assurance into my words as I could.

Millie looked up at me and smiled, and I swear, I’d never seen anything as stunning as her in that moment.

But I only got to appreciate the sight for that moment because there was a knock on the door. Our expressions turned cautious as we stared at each other.

“Expecting someone?” she whispered.

I shook my head. “No. I’m not.” I climbed to my feet and walked over to the door, taking a moment to peer through the peephole first. My brows furrowed as I stared into an empty hallway. “What the hell?” I murmured as I wrapped my hand around my gun and cracked the door open.

The heavy wood smashed into my face, throwing me backward. The pistol flew from my hand as blood poured down my face for the second time that day, and I knew my night was nowhere near over.

Chapter 2

Millie

“Son of a bitch,” Ashton yelled as his fists started flying.

I stood up quickly, old fear flitting through my system.

Three men came streaming through the doorway. Two circled Ashton, while one came right toward me.

“Hey there, beautiful. What a surprise you are,” he said with a smile, his teeth yellow and stained from too much coffee or cigarettes, or both.

I felt those old habits slithering their way through my body. My shoulders hunched and my eyes dropped from his. I tried to make myself seem small and unassuming. I completely shut down for a brief moment until I remembered.

I was a badass vampire now.

I straightened back up. The moment passed, and I don’t even think the jerk noticed.

“We’re just here to make a little money, but you’re like a bonus,” he continued as he stalked toward me.

I let my arms hang loose at my sides, knowing I didn’t even need them to incapacitate him. It would take no effort at all for me to overpower this asshole, and that made me feel strong. And capable. And unafraid.

Things I’d had to fight really hard to feel at all.

He continued to approach me cautiously, almost like he was ready to chase me if I ran. But I wasn’t running anywhere.

I was going to show this bastard what happened when you messed with the wrong woman. When you stopped being at the top of the food chain. When you weren’t as strong and invincible as you thought you were.

“There now.” He stepped into my space, the heavy scent of nicotine hanging from his clothes. “You’re not going to give me any trouble, are you?” he asked, his hot breath blowing into my face and making me feel nauseous for the first time in a hundred years.

“Oh, I plan to give you plenty of trouble,” I said.

He frowned as he wrapped a meaty hand around my bicep. “What the fuck did you just say?”

I rolled my eyes, yanked my arm out of his hold and gave him a shove. He stumbled backward, his dark eyes widening. “I said, I plan to give you plenty of trouble. Are you hard of hearing?”

He regained his balance and his face fell. Gone was the tentative excitement. Now, he was all hard lines and grim features, and I welcomed it.

I’d rather see that asshole for who he really was and not the mask he wore.

“Listen, bitch. I don’t want to hurt you if I don’t have to.”

Fucking liar.

I could see it in his eyes that just the thought of causing me pain thrilled him. It was there in the manic gleam in his gaze. He liked to hurt people, and I was his next target.

Too bad for him.

“See, that’s where we differ,” I said as I crept closer to him. “You lie when you say you don’t want to hurt me, but I’m telling the truth when I say I can’t wait to cause you pain.”

He jerked backward like I’d already slapped him. “What the fuck?”

Man, he was violent and stupid. A dangerous combination.

I stepped into range of his thick arms, and just like I expected, he grabbed for me. He probably thought he was being quick, and I’d have no time to react, but I was a vampire. I noticed the moment his hands twitched into motion and had plenty of time to get out of the way.

But I didn’t.

I let him dig his dirty fingers into my waist and drag me closer, exactly like I knew he would. He pulled me into his chest, and I used the momentum to swing my knee into his crotch. I heard something crunch as he let me go and fell to the ground.

“You fucking bitch,” he wheezed, his hands cupping his family jewels.

I shrugged. “You started it.”

A loud yell from behind had me spinning to find Ashton still holding his own with the other two men. Unfortunately, it was clear to everyone but the asshole on the ground that he was losing.

I watched in fascination as he ducked and weaved in between the two men. Blood was still pouring down his face, but it didn’t seem to slow him at all. It was almost beautiful the way he moved. Like he was so in tune with his own body that every motion was calculated and performed just the way he’d intended.

It was mesmerizing.

Which was why I hadn’t noticed the dickhead in the background get up.

A thick arm wrapped around my neck from behind seconds before his rancid breath was in my ear. “You’re gonna be sorry you did that, bitch.”

That old terror was there and gone in a flash. It seemed it didn’t matter how many decades separated me from the worst night of my life. I couldn’t make the fear go away completely, and that just pissed me off more.

I slammed my fist into his face just over my shoulder, instantly smelling blood. Ducking out of his hold, I spun around and kicked him in the gut. He went flying across the room and slammed into the marble wall.

I stalked forward, my hands in tight fists. The man struggled to catch his breath as he watched me corner him, his eyes wide.

“What the hell, bitch? How the fuck did you do that?”

I shrugged. “I’m a vampire.”

He frowned until I smiled, and he got a look at my fangs. His eyes were wide with fear, and I reveled in it. But another grunt from behind reminded me I had other things to do besides make this guy wet his pants.

So, I surged forward and dug my teeth into his neck. I wasn’t gentle, and he cried out in pain above me. But I didn’t listen. I just kept drinking his disgusting blood. It coursed down my throat, thick and vile, but I still drank it.

Because it made me stronger while making him weaker, and that was no less than he deserved.

Slowly, his hits turned feeble and his voice hoarse until he was still in my arms. I kept sucking on his wounds until there was nothing left, and then I let him fall to the ground at my feet. I took one more second to kick him in the face before sprinting across the lobby toward Ashton.

I grabbed the first man I could reach and threw him over my head. His body made a loud crash somewhere behind me, but I ignored it. Because the second guy was sitting on Ashton’s chest, pummeling his face with hits, and every one felt like a blow to my chest.

I grabbed him by the neck and ripped him off Ashton with one yank. Without him on top of the bodyguard, I could see how bad his injuries were.

Ashton’s face was so swollen I couldn’t even see his eyes. Blood ran from his mouth and nose, which looked irreparably broken. My heart clenched in my chest as he laid there motionless. I could still hear his pulse though, so I knew he wasn’t dead.

I shook the man I’d just pulled off Ashton, my hand tightening around his throat. “Look what you did to him,” I said, my voice deep and dangerous.

The man tried to claw his way out of my hold, but it was useless. He wasn’t going anywhere. “That’s the last person you’ll ever hurt,” I promised.

I yanked him toward my fangs and dug in. Sucking hard, I drained this asshole even faster than the last, knowing I needed to help Ashton. When he was empty of blood, I let him fall to the ground and spun back around.

I hurried to Ashton and knelt at his side. My hands fluttered uselessly above him, not knowing where to start.

“Millie?” he croaked through his bleeding lips.

“Yes,” I whispered, my heart hammering in my throat. “I’m right here.”

He turned toward the sound of my voice and let out a deep breath. It morphed into a vicious cough that I was powerless to stop. When he finally settled back down, he said, “You’re okay?”

The warmth started out small. Just one single point of heat in my chest, but as I sat there, it grew.

This man just met me.

This man just had his ass kicked.

This man was worried about me above anything else.

It left me speechless.

I crawled closer and picked up his hand. “Yes. I’m fine. I’m right here. I’m going to help you.”

He coughed again before shaking his head. “I’m fine,” he whispered, his lips turning white as he pressed them tightly together.

I peeled his untucked shirt away from his abdomen and watched the bruises spreading across his skin. He was bleeding internally, and if I didn’t do something quickly, he wasn’t going to make it.

And that just wasn’t acceptable.

I leaned in close, ignoring the way the smell of his blood cramped my stomach. I was more than full and shouldn’t have even cared that he was bleeding, but it smelled so good.

I grit my teeth and squeezed my eyes closed. “I can help you, but you have to trust me,” I said.

Ashton coughed again. “No ambulance. I don’t have insurance.”

I opened my eyes and laughed. “No. No ambulance.” I bit into my wrist and pressed it against his busted lips. “Here. Drink.”

He jerked his head away. “What is it?” he breathed, his voice growing weaker.

I hesitated.

It was clear he knew something about my world if he knew Alexander Hausle, but how much? He knew what glamour was, but did he really know what we were? Humans weren’t allowed to know unless they were set to be changed, but that didn’t seem to be the case here.

I tried pushing my wrist toward him again. “Just drink. It’ll make you feel better.”

He cracked an eye open just a slit to look down at my bleeding wrist. “Is that blood?”

My insides snarled as I warred with what to do. He needed this, or he wasn’t going to make it much longer. I knew that for a fact. But I also had a feeling if I didn’t tell him the truth, he wouldn’t let me help him.

I sighed. “Yes, it’s blood. It’ll heal you. Just, please, drink it.”

I was watching him fade before my eyes. The longer he laid there, with the blood seeping from whatever organ had been ruptured, the closer he crept to death.

And further from me.

I didn’t know why I felt the strange connection to this human, but I did. And I wasn’t going to let him die.

My wounds had already healed, so I bit into my wrist again and held it out to him. “Listen, you’re in bad shape and you don’t have much time left. Believe me when I say my blood will help and just drink. Please.”

He laid there and stared at me, his eyes too swollen for me to even see their color, but I felt their weight. Finally, he nodded. “Okay.”

I held my arm out to him again and this time he opened his mouth. The first drop fell on his tongue and he swallowed it quickly. When his lips sealed around the holes in my wrist, I breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

He was drinking.

He was going to be okay.

Ashton wrapped his hand around my arm, his so much bigger it engulfed me. He pulled me toward him, and my heart leapt in my chest.

I watched closely as he drank, and the blood stopped dripping from his nose and mouth. Next, the bruises slowly started to fade, and his nose straightened out. As I stared, the swelling around his eyes lessened until I could finally see them.

And they were aimed right at me.

Their color was indistinct. Some mixture of blue and gray that I was sure changed regularly. They were stunning, and they seemed to stare right into me. Straight down to the core of my being where all my dreams and nightmares swirled together.

His gaze seared right through me, and I was helpless to fight it.

Helpless, but also unwilling.

I hadn’t felt this drawn to someone in a very long time. Maybe ever. It made my stomach twist into knots and my hands shake as I got lost in his gaze.

In a move I hadn’t anticipated, Ashton wrapped his free arm around my waist and tugged me onto his lap. The next instant, he was sitting straight up, his hard body pressed against my heaving chest with no room between us.

I felt the stirring deep inside me. The heat between my legs stoked as I sat there, pressed up against the bulge in his pants.

Ashton sucked harder on my arm and I moaned. His eyes were bright with a fire I wanted to let consume me as I pushed harder against him.

My fangs ached in my gums even though I’d just drank enough to last me a week. It didn’t matter. I wanted to taste Ashton. To pull him inside me. To connect us in a way I hadn’t ever experienced with a man.

Just when I thought I had control over my urges, Ashton’s hips jerked upward, pushing his hard length against me in such a delicious way I couldn’t help myself.

I dug my head into the curve of his neck and gently slid my fangs into his skin. This was gentler and more subtle than the way I’d drank from those other men for a reason. A vampire’s bite didn’t have to be painful if we didn’t want it to be, and right now, that was the last thing on my mind.

Ashton gasped loudly around my wrist before sucking harder, spurring me on. My hips rotated on his lap while I sipped on his blood. After the disgusting men I’d just filled up on, Ashton was like a delicacy.

He pulled his mouth off my wrist and instead buried it in my neck. His warm lips kissed and licked their way to the collar of my borrowed suit. Seconds later, his hands were busy unzipping my coveralls and pulling them down my shoulders. I only had a thin camisole on underneath, and he groaned in appreciation.

Ashton filled his hands with my breasts as I ground my hips into him harder, chasing this rush as far as I had to.

“Fuck, you’re stunning,” he growled as he nibbled on the hardened nipple protruding through my shirt.

I moaned again when he pulled it into his hot mouth, the ache between my legs becoming unbearable. With quick but shaking fingers, I unbuttoned his dress shirt and pulled it off him, revealing broad shoulders and corded muscles that I immediately began exploring.

Ashton dragged the hem of my tank up and I reluctantly pulled my teeth from his neck so he could yank it over my head. When it was off, he looked at me, his light brows furrowing. He reached out and rubbed the corner of my mouth. When he pulled his thumb back, there was a drop of blood on it.

I froze on his lap, wondering what he’d do now.

I’d never drank from a human who knew what I was doing before, and I had no idea how he’d react. I was afraid whatever was about to happen between us was over when he shocked the hell out of me.

Ashton held out his thumb in front of my face. I opened my lips and licked the pad of his finger. His eyes burned hotter as I pulled it into mouth and sucked.

“Fuck.”

His deep voice vibrated right through me and I shivered in his lap. He took his thumb from my mouth and wrapped that hand around the back of my neck before pulling me to his lips.

This kiss was catastrophic.

It blasted through my walls, raced past my barriers and laid every rational thought to waste. It was decadent and luxurious, and I lost myself in someone for the first time in my entire life.

I was vulnerable.

I was exposed.

I was his.

Ashton’s strong hands pulled the rest of my clothes off and soon I was naked on his lap. My shaking fingers found his zipper and pulled it down before reaching inside for him.

I wrapped my hand around his length as Ashton hissed against my chest. I squeezed him tight and his hips jerked against me.

He grasped my chin and turned me to face him. “I want you.”

I stared into his steely gaze as my stomach rioted and my heart pounded irregularly. All I could do was nod. That was the only confirmation I could give him of how badly I wanted him too in that moment.

His eyes lit with appreciation before they shuddered just as quickly and he turned to curse. “I don’t have a condom,” he muttered.

I laughed. “You don’t need one.”

He turned back to me, brows creased. “What?”

I crept forward on his lap and rubbed my wet slit against his hard dick. He hissed again, the fire in his gaze back and hotter than before.

“You don’t need a condom with me, I promise.” When he still didn’t seem convinced, I added, “Trust me.”

I don’t know why, but I saw the moment those words meant something to him. His gaze cleared of the worry and filled with heat. He grabbed my rotating hips and held them still as he slowly slid into me.

Ashton filled me in a way I’d never felt before as I bottomed out on his lap. His fingers dug into my ass as he held me still while we both adjusted.

Without warning, he flipped us over and laid me down on the cool marble. His hands captured both of mine and raised them above my head as he started moving slowly. Just a small push here, a little flex of his hips, but it was enough to make me moan.

“You like that?” he said, his thrusts becoming harder and his voice deeper.

I nodded quickly as he twisted his hips, pressing into me again, and another moan tore up my throat. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he grunted in approval. He left one hand holding my wrists while the other explored my body. From my ass to my waist to my breasts, up to my jaw where he cupped my face and brought it to his for a kiss.

His mouth tasted like my blood and it only fanned the flames. I gasped when he wrenched his lips away from mine and flipped us back over until I was on his lap again with him beneath me.

“Fuck me, beautiful.”

The butterflies flapped like birds of prey inside my chest as I started to move. Ashton wrapped his hands around my hips, lifting me higher off him and slamming me back down harder.

“I can feel you’re close,” he said between gritted teeth.

All I could do was nod.

He dug his fingers into my skin and slammed himself into me. Once. Twice. Three times was all it took before I shattered into pieces on his lap.

I screamed as my orgasm tore loose, washing up over me as wave after wave of pleasure crashed through my body. I was panting and shaking as I slowly came down, my limbs like noodles as I collapsed on his chest.

Ashton’s hands dug into my ginger hair as he held my head against him. “You looked so fucking stunning when you came,” he murmured against my head.

I curled my face into his chest as I felt it heat with a blush. For fuck’s sake, I was over a hundred years old, and somehow, this guy still had the power to make me blush.

I had this feeling, deep inside me, that we’d just started something. I just didn’t know what.

Chapter 3

Ashton

“Holy shit,” I whispered as I tried to catch my breath.

I still had Millie on my lap, her hot little body wrapped around my cock, and I had no plans to move anytime soon. She giggled and my dick twitched inside her, already growing hard again.

“That was… intense,” she said, her voice breathy.

I dug my hand back into her soft hair, letting the strands slip through my fingers one by one. “That was incredible.”

She giggled again, and I was honestly almost ready for round two. Millie pulled away from my chest and looked up at me, her green eyes leaving me fucking breathless.

“Your face looks better. How do you feel?”

I frowned as I realized my eyes weren’t swollen anymore and I could actually see through them. With my free hand, I felt for the injuries I knew I’d sustained to my face, but they were all gone.

“What the fuck?” I whispered.

Millie’s eyes turned guarded as she looked at me. “It’s my blood,” she said softly. Almost hesitantly.

“Blood?”

My mind flashed back to earlier that day when I’d seen Alexander with his bloody wrist pressed against Charlotte’s mouth. Is that what happened here?

Millie nodded as she pulled farther away. Even though my mind was a maelstrom of questions, I still missed the feel of her pressed against me.

“I gave you my blood, and it healed you,” she said, even softer than before. Like she was scared to tell me the truth.

Honestly, I had no idea what to think.

Since when did blood heal injuries? I’d heard of transfusions when you’ve lost a lot of blood, but never someone drinking the stuff to get better.

But that was what Alexander did with Charlotte earlier, wasn’t it? I’d just seen it happen that morning but hadn’t wanted to think too hard about it. Or ask too many questions. It wasn’t really my business, and I didn’t need to get pulled any further into their weird bullshit.

But now it was my bullshit, and I needed answers.

“How did your blood heal me?”

She looked away, and I already missed her emerald eyes. Millie took a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning back to me. “I’m not what you think I am.”

I frowned as I spun those words around in my head. I didn’t miss the fact that she’d said what and not who. But what the hell did that mean?

The questions were loud in my head, but not louder than her soft sigh. Millie’s shoulders curled inward as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. She bit down hard as her hands fidgeted in the limited space between us. It was clear something was bothering her, and I hated it.

Without thinking, I reached out and cupped her face. She let loose another shaky breath as I turned her to look at me. When her eyes met mine, it was like watching the sun rise. They were so beautiful. So big. So bright. I swore they had the power to see so much more than I wanted them to.

I met her gaze head on and asked the question I couldn’t ignore anymore. “What are you, then?”

Her eyes widened for the briefest moment, but I caught it. “You’re not going to believe me.”

I continued to stare down at her for a long moment as I raced through all the theories I had lined up in my head. None of them really fit or made sense of this situation, though. None of them explained what the fuck had happened.

I slid my hand from her jaw to the back of her head, cupping it gently. “It’s okay. You can tell me.”

I made my words as gentle as possible, but she still flinched. It was clear she didn’t want to answer the question, but I needed to know.

Finally, she sighed and dropped her chin to her chest, eyes pointed down. “I’m a vampire.”

My heart leapt at the word as my mind struggled against it. “What?” I asked, so softly I didn’t think she’d hear me.

Millie lifted her head and met my eyes again. She smiled wide, but it wasn’t happy. I frowned as my gaze darted to her mouth and back again, not understanding.

But finally, I saw what she was trying to show me.

Her perfectly white teeth all looked normal until I got to the long, pointy ones.

The ones that looked just like fangs.

My eyes widened as I stared until she closed her mouth and looked away again. I was stunned quiet as my brain tried to accept what I already knew in the pit of my stomach to be true.

“I’m a vampire,” she said again. “So is Alexander. That’s why we can glamour humans. That’s why I’m so strong. That’s why my blood healed you. That’s why–”

She closed her mouth with a loud clack of her teeth and looked away. My mind was still spinning, but the questions took a backseat to Millie. She looked upset, and I hated that.

I gripped her chin and turned her to face me again. “That’s why what?”

She shook her head, her eyes barely meeting mine. “I don’t want to tell you.”

I cupped her jaw and pulled her closer. “Millie, don’t you think we’re past the secrecy at this point?”

Her big green eyes met mine, and in them I saw so much hesitation. So much fear. And all I wanted to do was erase it.

Finally, she blew out a deep breath, her shoulders slumping. “That’s why I drank from you too.”

Why the fuck did that make my dick harder?

“When did you drink from me?” I asked quietly, scared that if I spoke too loud, it would spook her into clamming up again.

She pursed her lips to the side, her cheeks flushing and making her look even prettier. “When we were… you know,” she said, waving a hand between our still-naked bodies.

My brows furrowed as I tried to think back through the past several minutes. I didn’t remember getting bitten, and you’d think something like that would be hard for a guy to forget. I reached up and touched the side of my neck where she’d buried her face earlier. It was tender, and when I pulled my hand back, my fingers were covered in blood.

“Damn,” she murmured. “I forgot to close the holes.”

I looked up at her contrite expression, not even knowing where to start. “Why did you bite me? Were you… hungry?”

She shook her head, eyes earnest. “No. Not at all. I’d already drained the other two guys before I got to you.”

I rubbed the sticky blood between my fingers, watching as her eyes followed every movement. “So, why’d you bite me then?”

Her face flushed darker as she looked away again. “It was kind of… instinctual.”

I waited for her to continue, and when she didn’t, I prodded gently. “Okay?”

She blew out another breath and met my gaze, hers wide open and pleading. “It just kind of happened. You were drinking from me and then you pulled me onto your lap, and we… you know. I just couldn’t help myself.”

Now, why the fuck did that make me harder too?

“I’m sorry,” she said as she looked away again.

I wiped my sticky fingers on the pants I still had gaping around my waist and cupped her chin again. “Hey, I’ve got no complaints.”

She met my eyes, her gaze wary. “Really?”

My lips twitched with a grin that I didn’t hold back. “Millie, that was easily the hottest sex of my life. Whatever you did, I fucking enjoyed it. A lot.”

Her pretty pink mouth stretched with a smile of her own. “Really?” she asked again.

I didn’t think before pulling her close and kissing her lips. They were cooler than mine, something I hadn’t noticed before, but they were so soft and plump, I felt like I could sit here kissing her all day.

When I reluctantly pulled away, she swayed toward me and something deep in my chest squeezed tight. I cleared my throat. “Really.”

She smiled at me, the look on her face so content I wished I could capture it. Snap a photo of the moment and keep it forever. I never wanted to forget the way she looked right then.

Her cheeks flushed again as she looked down at our still-connected bodies. She squirmed on my lap and I gripped her hip tighter.

“I should probably get dressed,” she said.

I wanted to argue, but kept quiet as she slid off my lap and stood up. I didn’t stop watching her though, as I climbed to my feet and shoved my hard dick back in my pants.

She pulled her clothes back on, moving so fast she was just a blur. In seconds, she stood in front of me, fully dressed again, and all I could do was gape.

She smiled, her cheeks pink again. “Sorry. That’s a vampire thing too. We can move really fast.”

I shook my head as I shrugged my bloody shirt back onto my shoulders. “That’s pretty amazing.”

She looked up at me. “You think so?”

“Hell yeah. I’m just imaging how fast you’d be at meal-prepping for the week and wishing I had your skills.”

“Meal-prepping?”

“Yeah, you know. Like marinating your meats and chopping the vegetables for all your meals in the coming week.”

She shook her head. “I don’t eat.”

I paused, buttoning my shirt to stare at her. “How do you not eat?”

She shrugged. “I just drink blood.”

I shook my head as I continued with my shirt. “I feel like that wouldn’t be enough. Don’t you get hungry?”

Millie giggled, and I looked up to watch her eyes sparkle. “No. I don’t get hungry. I get thirsty, and I drink blood. That’s all I need.”

My stomach twisted the smallest bit as I asked my next question. “Where do you get the blood from?”

Were there like vampire supermarkets somewhere?

“From humans. Usually women.”

I frowned as I looked over my shoulder to where we’d been naked and fucking just minutes ago. “Do you do that with all the people you drink blood from?”

She laughed and shook her head. “Definitely not.”

That shouldn’t have relieved me as much as it did.

I didn’t have any right to care who or what was feeding Millie. I didn’t have a right to ask about who or what she did in her free time.

But damn, I wished I did have that right.

I felt something tickle the side of my neck and I swiped at it, my hand coming back bloody again.

“Oh, shoot,” Millie said as she rushed over. “Let me close those for you.”

“How?”

“My blood.”

She stepped into my space and her sweet scent fucked with my head. “Do I have to drink it again?” I asked, wondering why the fuck that made my dick twitch.

Last I checked, I didn’t have any weird fetishes like blood, but there I was, hoping like fuck I’d get to put my mouth back on her in any way possible.

But she shook her head. “No, you don’t have to drink it. I just need to put some on your wounds.”

She stepped closer and my hands automatically gripped her waist. “How do you do that?” I asked, dipping my head closer and breathing her in.

She inhaled a shaky breath. “I could bite my finger and rub it on the bite marks.”

There seemed to be more to the story. “Or?” I prodded.

She pulled back and looked up at me, her jewel tone eyes unsure. “Or I could bite my tongue and lick them.”

Fuck.

I was rock hard instantly.

I pulled her to my chest, and she gasped when she felt my cock rubbing against her. “I like that second option,” I murmured into her hair.

“Okay,” she said, her voice just a whisper. Millie pulled me closer, but the height difference was too great, and it was making things awkward.

I wrapped my hands around her thighs and pulled her into my arms. She gasped again, and I swear, my dick was seconds away from bursting through my zipper.

Millie ducked her head into the crook of my neck, and I felt her wet tongue lapping at my skin. I groaned and pulled her tighter as she sucked on my throat, and I thought I’d come right there.

I spun us around and pushed her back against the wall so I had better leverage. My hands instantly found her ass and squeezed. “Millie,” I warned.

She dug her fingers into my hair and sucked again, the sensation going straight to my cock. I rubbed against her, Millie’s moans spurring me on. “Fuck,” I groaned. “I could take you again right here.”

Her fingers pulled on my hair as she rotated her hips against me.

“Is that what you want, Millie? For me to fuck you again?”

She moaned against my skin and my dick leaked in my pants. I reached for her zipper and had her coveralls down to her waist in seconds. I slid my hand inside and cupped her mound.

“Fuck. Your panties are soaked,” I grunted as I slid the wet fabric aside to touch her.

Millie shivered in my arms, her mouth never leaving my neck as I circled her clit. I pinched it between my fingers, and she gasped before pulling me closer.

I pressed on her clit for a moment before sliding two fingers deep inside her. Millie’s head fell back on her neck with a gasp, and my lips were instantly on her.

“Ashton,” she moaned.

I’d never heard her say my name before, and I liked it. A lot.

I kissed my way up her throat to her jaw before claiming her lips. This kiss was not as tentative as the earlier ones. This kiss was forceful. And wild. And so fucking hot it made my dick ache.

I pulled my fingers out of her depth and she gasped again, but I wasn’t done. I ripped my pants open and dug out my cock. Millie had already unzipped the rest of her coveralls. I lined myself up with her wet folds and sank inside just as a loud gasp rang through the room.

But it wasn’t hers, and it sure as shit wasn’t mine.

I whipped my head to the front door to find a woman standing there, her eyes wide and a shaking hand covering her mouth.

Millie squeaked and squirmed out of my arms before zipping her coveralls back up. She sprinted over to the woman faster than I could track her, and I had one single second to worry about the intruder before Millie came to a stop right in front of her.

“Hey there. You seem lost,” Millie said, her voice low and hypnotic.

“Lost,” the woman said, her eyes vacant.

“Do you live in this building?”

“Yes.”

“Then what are you doing up here?”

“I heard a loud crash.”

Fuck. I wondered how many other residents heard our scuffle.

“You didn’t hear anything, and you didn’t see anything. You never came up here. You’re going to go back to your apartment and forget all about this.”

“Forget all about this,” she repeated.

“Go now.”

The woman turned around, her eyes still wide and her movements jerky. But she did as Millie asked, both of us holding our breaths until the elevator doors closed with her behind them.

Millie turned around, her eyes darting from me to the destroyed foyer and then back to me. “I think we need another suitcase.”

Chapter 4

Millie

“Hey, where’s the third guy?”

I stood up from where I’d been dismembering another body to look at Ashton. “What?”

He gestured around the marble room. “There were three guys. I only see two bodies.”

My heart sank as I looked around, but I knew I wouldn’t find him. “I don’t know,” I whispered. Clearing my throat, I said, “I took care of this one first.” I gestured to the body at my feet that was already missing his arms. “The other two were near you. I tossed one over my shoulder–”

“I’m sorry, what?”

I smiled at him. Ashton was so easy to be around. So easy to talk to. It made me forget that he wasn’t actually a part of this world. That the idea of vampires was brand new to him. That a five-foot nothing woman shouldn’t be able to toss a full-grown man over her shoulder. But that was exactly what I did.

“Yeah. They were both on top of you and I tossed one and grabbed the other.”

He looked at me, his gray-blue eyes blinking slowly. “That’s something I’d really like to see.”

“I could toss you,” I offered.

He chuckled. “Nah. I don’t want to see it that bad.”

The humor died as quickly as it arrived. I pointed to the splintered table in the middle of the room. “I think he landed there, but I don’t know what happened after that.”

Ashton’s whole demeanor shifted. His eyes narrowed as they darted around the room, his body tight with tension. “I’m going to search the place.”

I opened my mouth to tell him not to bother, but he was already gone. I shrugged and walked over to the destroyed table and took a sniff. The smell of dirt and sweat and beer met my nose, and I recoiled. It was enough for me to follow, though.

With slow steps, I tracked the scent from the table back to the front door. My stomach was in knots as I scanned the lobby and found nothing. I followed his stench to the stairwell, already knowing we had a problem.

“Ashton,” I called, as I peered over the railing.

He arrived moments later, his eyes shrewd. “Did you find something?”

I nodded. “His scent leads here,” I said as I started hurrying down the stairs.

Ashton was close behind me, but that’s only because I wasn’t running at full speed. I probably could have carried him down the steps faster, but I didn’t think he’d take kindly to the offer, so I didn’t bother.

When I made it to the tenth floor, I stopped dead in my tracks as I waited for Ashton to catch up.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “Why are we stopping?”

I raised my nose in the air and let my feet follow the trail. “He went through here,” I said, pointing to the thick metal door on that floor.

Ashton hurried ahead of me but stopped to slowly depress the push bar. He carefully swung the door open and scanned the hall before nodding to me. “It’s clear.”

My heart warmed at the sentiment, but I had to hold back an eye roll. I guess it was sweet that he was such a gentleman, and I suppose I should have been thankful he was comfortable enough with me being a vampire to forget it all together.

But the fact of the matter was, I didn’t need his protection. I was a hundred times faster and stronger than him. If anything, I should have been working to keep him safe.

Ashton turned back to me still in the doorway and reached for my hand. “Come on.”

My fingers tingled as they wrapped around his, and I let him pull me down the hall. I caught the guy’s scent again, but I didn’t say anything, content to let him take the lead.

I was also reveling in the feel of his big, warm hand encompassing mine and had no intention of letting go anytime soon.

We were more than halfway down the hall before he turned to me. “Are you getting anything?”

“Oh yeah. He definitely came down this way.”

He stopped short, and I almost walked into him. Ashton shook his head and cursed under his breath. “You should be running point.”

I shrugged. “You seemed happy to be leading the way.”

The apples of his cheeks darkened with a blush, and it might have been the cutest thing I’d ever seen. “Sorry. I guess I’m used to taking the lead.”

Those words brought back the minutes I’d spent naked in his arms, and I shivered. I’d been more than happy to let him be in charge back then.

In fact, I was so used to stepping back and letting someone else tell me what to do, it was a habit by now.

Ashton pulled me ahead of him and gave me a little nudge. “Go ahead. I’ll follow you.”

His confidence surged through me as I led us down the hall. The man’s scent was still strong as I followed it to the elevator doors. “Looks like he got in here. I don’t know which way he went though.”

Ashton stepped forward and pressed the downward facing arrow. “Let’s start down there and see what happens.”

We loaded onto the elevator in companionable silence, but that all changed the moment the doors closed.

The hairs on my arm stood on end as I felt the overwhelming heat radiating off Ashton’s body. I remembered vividly how it felt to have his searing warmth on my bare skin and shivered again.

“Are you cold?” he asked, his voice so deep it rumbled right through me.

I shook my head. “I don’t get cold.”

He took a step closer, and I swallowed loudly. “Then why are you shaking?”

I turned to meet his eyes and got lost in them immediately. “I don’t know,” I whispered the lie.

Ashton stepped closer until he was crowding my body but not quite touching me yet. He reached out slowly to wrap his big hand around my arm, his eyes never leaving mine. He must have seen something in my gaze because his lit up with a fire I felt down to my toes.

He stepped even closer, and I gasped softly, pulling his clean scent into my lungs. “Millie,” he rasped.

I looked up into his eyes and let him see everything.

My desire.

My longing.

My trust.

Because despite the fact that I’d just met him, I already felt like I could trust him.

He blew out a rough breath and dipped his head to my ear. “When you look at me like that, you make me want to take you back upstairs and do something about it.”

My heart stuttered in my chest, my breaths choppy. I opened my mouth to tell him I was okay with that when he pulled away and shook his head.

“But we need to find out where this asshole went, so save the bedroom eyes for later.”

I giggled, and he shot me a smile that sent a bolt of longing right through me. Ashton grabbed my hand and nudged me forward as the elevator doors opened. I tried to shove thoughts of him out of my head so I could concentrate, but that was damn near impossible with his warm body so close to mine.

I lifted my nose in the air discreetly and caught the scent right away. I pulled Ashton behind me as we walked through the main lobby to the front doors. It was less noticeable here, but I was still able to follow it onto the sidewalk and past a couple buildings before I lost it completely.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to Ashton. “I can’t follow it anymore. It’s too mixed up with all these other smells out here.”

Ashton cursed again and looked away, his jaw tight. “I’m going to have to let Hausle know about this.”

“I’m sorry,” I said as I winced.

Ashton turned incredulous eyes toward me, and I looked away. Apologizing, even for things that weren’t my fault, was so ingrained in me that I did it without even thinking.

“What do you have to be sorry for?”

I shrugged, my eyes still on the dirty city street beneath our feet. “That I lost his scent?”

He cupped my face and tipped it up until I could meet his eyes. “Hey, we got a hell of a lot further with your help than I would have alone. There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

I read the sincerity in his eyes and let it fill me with strength. I nodded and he let me go, but not before shooting me another one of his devastating grins.

“Let’s go back upstairs and finish what we were doing. Hopefully that asshole scurried back into whatever gutter he crawled out of.”

I let Ashton lead me into the building in silence, his warm hand never leaving mine. When we got back up to Alexander’s apartment, he released me so he could go look for another suitcase for all the new body parts we had to dispose of.

While he did that, I got busy tearing them apart. I must have got caught up though, because I didn’t notice Ashton until I heard him gulp beside me. I turned to see his face was several shades paler than usual.

“Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

I laughed. “This is nothing. You should have seen the time I dug my hand into a man’s chest and ripped out his heart.”

Ashton was still pale, but he chuckled anyway. “Scorned lover?”

The amusement died inside of me instantly. I shouldn’t have brought him up. “Yeah, something like that,” I said as I turned around to finish what I was doing.

Ashton rolled a suitcase over and unzipped it next to where I was working. “This one should fit them both.”

I nodded but kept quiet as we loaded the pieces into the luggage. Thankfully, my hands didn’t need my mind to continue doing what they were doing because it was swimming with eighty-year-old nightmares.

We finished in silence and stood together. “Did you have a plan for these suitcases?” he asked.

I nodded. “I’ve got a boat. I’ll go drop them in the Atlantic somewhere.”

He turned to me. “A boat, huh?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. I got it a few years ago when I got the idea to take up sailing.”

“Had you ever sailed before?”

“No. And I haven’t since.”

He laughed, and I turned to watch him. “What happened?”

“I fell in. A lot.”

He laughed harder, and the sound was doing something funny to my insides. Like warming them up and making them crazy at the same time.

Ashton bent down and predictably picked up the bigger suitcase. “You have a car?”

I nodded as I grabbed the other one. “Yeah. It’s parked in the garage.”

“Let’s get these down there then.”

He led the way back to the elevator after locking up Hausle’s apartment. When the doors were closed, Ashton pulled a shiny black cell phone out of his pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and brought it to his ear.

I listened to it ringing on the other end before the call was forwarded to voicemail.

“Damn it,” Ashton said as he stuffed his phone back in his pocket. “I’ll have to try him again later.”

“Alexander?” I guessed.

Ashton nodded. “Yeah. I figured I should tell him his apartment’s trashed before he comes home and finds out on his own.”

I nodded as the elevator doors opened, and we stepped into the underground garage. We were quiet, but that only made the tension between us more noticeable, and it all stemmed from Ashton.

I didn’t know what was going on with him, but with every step he took, his shoulders got more rigid, his posture straighter. It was almost like he was gearing up for something, I just didn’t know what.

When my car finally came into view, I reached out to touch Ashton’s arm, enjoying his warmth for another stolen moment. “This is me.”

He walked toward the trunk while I dug out my keys and unlocked the doors. Ashton loaded his suitcase in the car before heading back for mine. I wanted to remind him that I could carry it on my own, but I didn’t bother. I knew he remembered, just like I knew he was enough of a gentleman to do it anyway.

Ashton turned to me and leaned against the closed trunk. “So, do you wanna get a cup of coffee or something?”

My heart skipped in my chest as I tried to hold back a smile. “I don’t drink coffee.”

“Tea?”

This time I couldn’t control it. “You know what I drink.”

He nodded slowly. “How about a movie?”

I shook my head and bit my lip. “I don’t think so.”

“Okay. If you don’t like the human stuff, you can pick a vampire date for us to go on. It doesn’t matter to me.”

I laughed as I took a step back toward the driver’s seat. “I don’t date.”

“Maybe you haven’t dated in the past, but you haven’t tried dating me yet.”

My smile was so wide it was starting to hurt my cheeks. “Sorry. No.”

He groaned, his head falling back on his neck. When he tipped it forward again, a new determination lit his eyes. “Okay, can I get your number at least?”

I stopped walking. “What do you need my number for?”

He shrugged. “In case I want to talk to you again?”

My grin was back. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

He blew out a deep breath, his shoulders slumping in defeat. But that only lasted a moment before he straightened out again and smiled at me. “What if I need help disposing of another body?”

I threw my head back and laughed, my chest lighter than it had been in a long time. “Sorry, Ashton. You’re on your own,” I said as I turned around to get in my car.

I slid onto the leather seat and tried to pull my door shut, but Ashton was suddenly in the way. “What now?” I asked, but there was nothing but humor behind the words.

He crouched down until we were eye-level, that devastatingly handsome smile back on his face. “I just wanted to remind you that you know how to reach me if you change your mind.”

I arched a brow at him. “And how is that?”

He grinned even wider. “Hausle. He’s got both my numbers.”

I rolled my eyes as I tugged on the door again. “Goodbye, Ashton.”

He stood up and stepped out of the way. “Don’t forget what I said.”

I shook my head as I fired up my engine. Just as I put the car into drive, there was a knock on my window. I bit my lip and rolled it down, knowing I was at the absolute limit of my self-control. If he asked me one more time for my number or to do something with him, I’d have no choice but to say yes. He was just too hard to resist.

But when I finally got the window rolled down, all he said was, “Even if I never get to see you again, tonight was one of the best nights of my life.”

My eyes were still wide and my jaw hanging open as Ashton tapped the roof of my car twice and turned to walk away. I watched him for a long time. Longer than I should have. But just long enough for me to remember why I wasn’t giving Ashton a chance.

And then I spent the whole drive to the marina wondering if I was being as stupid as I felt.

Chapter 5

Millie

“Millie girl! Where the heck have you been?”

I winced as I locked my apartment door and hurried down the hall, phone pressed to my ear. “Hey, Allison. Sorry for the radio silence.”

“It’s been over a week! You know that’s not allowed.”

Her voice was full of humor, but I still felt bad because she was right.

Allison was the first person I ever changed into a vampire, and we’d always been close. We’d spent long periods of time living together, but also decades living apart. Despite the distance, we’d agreed a long time ago to catch up every week, no matter what we had going on in our lives.

And I’d broken that pact for one simple reason: I was keeping a secret.

I continued to rush down the hall, already late for work. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, Allie.”

She was quiet as I stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button for the basement. Finally, she said. “I was starting to get worried.”

I winced again, my heart squeezing in my chest.

Allison was my progeny, but she was more like a sister. The fact that I’d made her worry hurt way more than not talking to her had. I just hadn’t wanted to tell her about what happened between me and Ashton that day, and I knew if anyone could get that information out of me, it was Allie.

So, I’d been sending her calls to voicemail and feeling like an ass every time.

“I know. I’m sorry,” I said softly.

“Where have you been?” she asked, her voice still full of hurt.

“Um. Well. I took the boat out for a couple days.”

She was quiet for a long time before speaking again. “Did you fall in again?”

I laughed, the vice around my chest loosening. “Not this time. I didn’t even put the sail up. But I did get lost.”

“Millie.”

“Is it my fault there are no clearly labeled signs to mark which land mass is which?”

She giggled. “Where did you end up?”

I pursed my lips as I stepped off the elevator. “Rhode Island.”

She laughed harder, the sound soothing me. “You’re a mess. Why don’t you sell that thing?”

“Hey, it came in handy recently.”

The words were out of my mouth before I could think them through, and now I knew there was no way I was getting out of this conversation without divulging about Ashton.

“How’s that?”

“It helped me return that favor to Alexander Hausle.”

She was quiet for another long moment. “That’s the one who helped you out after him, right?”

We didn’t speak about my ex-husband much, and we certainly never mentioned his name. This was about as close as it got.

“Yeah,” I said. “That’s the one.”

“So, who’d you have to get rid of for him?”

“His girlfriend’s dad.”

Allie whistled. “Yikes.”

“I know, right?”

“At least you two are even now. I know that weighed on you.”

She was right, as usual. I didn’t like owing anyone a favor, especially a man. Because despite the near century that separated me from my past and the one that almost killed me, I still had trouble trusting them.

And I certainly didn’t want to be indebted to one.

“That still doesn’t explain why you’ve been dodging my calls.”

I winced again as I pushed open the door that led to the underground parking garage. “I know it doesn’t.”

She paused for a while, probably waiting for me to elaborate, but that wasn’t happening. Finally, she sighed. “Okay, Millie girl. Time to spill. What the hell is going on?”

I blew out a deep breath as I hurried at a human’s pace through the maze of parked cars. “Maybe we should wait for a wine night to talk about this.”

“Nuh uh. I want to hear it now. I deserve that much after you ghosted me for so long.”

I slowed my step. “I really am sorry about that. I just wasn’t in the mood to talk about what happened.”

She gasped. “So something did happen?”

I sighed. “Yeah, something happened.”

She squealed so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “Is it a man? It’s got to be a man! Ooh, tell me, tell me, tell me!”

I laughed. “Calm down, Allison.”

“I will not calm down! How can I be calm when my best friend who’s been celibate for decades has a secret about a man?”

“It has not been decades.”

“Millie, women couldn’t even vote the last time you got some.”

My laughter echoed through the garage. “Shut up. It has not been that long.”

“Okay, maybe not that long, but you for sure had Aqua Net in your hair the last time you got laid and don’t try to argue otherwise.”

I opened my mouth to do just that, but thought about it for a second and snapped it shut instead.

“Exactly,” Allie said, responding to my silent answer. “I told you.”

“Okay, well, the dry spell has officially been broken.”

She gasped so loud my heart skipped a beat in my chest. “You slept with him?”

I put my hand over my chest as my pulse restarted at a normal rate. “Allie, what is wrong with you? You just scared the crap out of me!”

“I can’t believe you slept with him!” she continued like she hadn’t heard me. “I thought maybe you gave him your number or went out on a date or something. But you actually had sex with this guy?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not that serious,” I lied.

“Mildred Anne Lewis, don’t you try to lie to me.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. Allie never pulled out my full name unless she really meant business. I leaned my back against a cement column and sighed.

“Okay, okay. It’s kind of a big deal.”

“Kind of?” she exploded.

I sighed again and looked down the line of vehicles to my car and stopped short.

My interior light was on.

“Damn it,” I muttered as I pushed off the pillar.

“What’s his name? What does he do? Was he good in bed? Did he give you an orgasm? Did he have a big schlong?”

“Schlong, Allie?”

She giggled. “Yeah, you know. Rumpleforeskin, pleasure pump, womb broom–”

“Oh my God, stop talking.”

She laughed louder this time, but I stopped listening as I approached my car.

Now I could see why the interior light was on–the driver’s side door was ajar.

“What the hell?” I whispered as my heart began to race again.

Allison immediately stopped laughing. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” I said as I approached the vehicle, my eyes darting around the garage just in case. “My car door is open.”

She was quiet for a moment. “But you always lock your doors.”

She was right. I did.

“I know,” I said as I carefully pulled the door open and dipped my head inside.

The interior looked untouched, but there was one thing I noticed.

“Ugh,” I said as I straightened up. “It smells like shit in there.” Like stale beer and sweat. Like unclean man. My stomach instantly cramped.

“In your car?”

“Yeah. Whoever was in there smelled awful.”

The scent prickled at some memory in the back of my mind, but I shoved it away. It brought me too close to thoughts of him, and I wasn’t going there.

“Was anything taken?”

I slid into the car and shut the door, making sure to lock it too. “I’m not sure,” I said slowly as I poked around.

I found my leather driving gloves, my tablet, and the emergency fifty-dollar bill I kept in the center console. “Everything’s here,” I told her as I started the car and rolled down the window. “But, damn, it smells.”

“You should get it detailed,” her voice blared through my speakers as the Bluetooth picked up the call.

I sighed. “Another problem for another day. I’m late for the hospital.”

“Is it because you were daydreaming about lover boy?”

I rolled my eyes as I drove out of the garage and onto the street. “No. I was not daydreaming about Ashton.”

I winced immediately.

“Oh! Ashton! I like it. Kinda sexy, kinda boy-next-door. Well done, Millie.”

“He’s definitely not a boy,” I muttered.

Allie cackled through the phone. “Oh, this just keeps getting better. When do I get to meet him?”

“Never.”

“Millie,” she whined. “Why can’t I meet him? We can invite him out for a drink at Crimson some night.”

“First of all, that bar is disgusting. I wouldn’t clean my toilet with the swill they serve there.”

“Snob.”

I ignored that and continued. “Second of all, he’s human.”

She was quiet for so long I had to check to make sure the call hadn’t dropped. Finally, when she spoke, I wished she hadn’t. “So, I’m finally getting a brother?”

I rolled my eyes again as I slowed to a stop at a red light. “Allie, first of all, he wouldn’t be your brother because I’m not your mother, you weirdo.”

“Yeah, but you’re my maker.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t make you in my uterus!”

She laughed again, and I couldn’t help but join in. “Second of all,” I began, ignoring her sigh. “I’m not making any more vampires.”

“That’s what you said last time, but then you changed Lacy.”

I ground my teeth together as I thought about my latest progeny. I’d met her at the hospital as a visitor, never imagining she’d wind up a patient. But when I found out she’d been brought in after a domestic dispute, I’d had to see her.

“Lacy was different,” I said, my voice devoid of emotion. If I let even an ounce of feeling into this conversation, I was going to burst into tears and I didn’t want to explain blood stains on my shirt to my coworkers.

“I know she was,” Allie said softly. “I just meant never say never.”

Her words barely registered as I got lost in the memories from that night ten years ago. Looking at Lacy in that hospital bed had been like staring into a mirror.

The black eyes.

The busted lip.

The broken bones and internal injuries.

The lies that fell from her mouth as she denied her husband hit her.

But I’d known the truth. I’d seen it in the emptiness in her eyes. That she’d given up. Accepted her fate.

She knew she was going to die that night, but I just couldn’t let her.

“So, when are you seeing him again?” Allie asked, her voice full of false cheer.

I welcomed it. My thoughts were snarled and dark, and that wasn’t how I wanted to start my shift. I needed to project calm and serenity at work, so I needed to get that night out of my head.

“Um. Never?”

“Millie!”

“What?” I asked as I pulled into the employee parking lot at the hospital.

“You let some guy into your cave of wonders and you’re just never going to see him again?”

There was a long pause as those words settled in my brain before I threw my head back and laughed, thankful I’d already parked.

“Holy shit, Allie. There’s something wrong with you,” I said as the chuckles kept falling from my lips and my eyes filled with tears.

“Would you prefer meat curtains? Honey pot? Pink canoe?”

“Stop. Please stop.”

She broke down into contagious laughter and I joined in. I’d needed this. I’d gone too long without talking to her.

“Listen–”

“Oh, no you don’t! I still want to talk about Ashton!”

“Well, I’m at the hospital, so it’ll have to wait until later.”

She sighed dramatically. “Fine. But if you don’t call me as soon as your shift ends, I’m coming over and sitting on you until you tell me everything I want to know.”

I didn’t doubt her for a minute.

“Okay, Allie. I promise I’ll call you tonight when I get home.”

“And you’ll tell me everything?”

Now it was my turn to sigh. “I’ll tell you more, but I’m not going to agree to everything.”

“I’ll take it.”

I laughed again. “Okay, Allie girl, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye, Millie girl.”

We hung up, and I climbed out of my car, happy to breathe in all the fresh air. My car really did need a deep cleaning if I was going to get the stench out of it.

I hurried into the hospital and up to the fifth floor. I spent a long time scrubbing my hands and arms before suiting up in a gown, mask, and gloves. It was unnecessary since I was a vampire and didn’t carry germs, but I didn’t mind. Anything to ease these poor parents’ worries.

“Hey, Miss Millie! Didn’t think we’d see you today.”

I turned to the charge nurse and gave her my most apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”

She raised a brow over her thick glasses. “You do remember you just volunteer here, right? And that you’re here more often than most of my nurses?”

I shrugged. “I’ve got the time and I like to help.”

She gave my cheeks a pinch, and I hoped she blamed my cooler skin on the AC blasting through the vents. “You’re a good girl, Millie.”

I was also older than her mother, but she didn’t need to know that.

Instead, I gave her a smile before listening to her rattle off the patients I’d need to work with that night. I listened carefully as I cleared my mind of all the negativity I had prowling around up there. I refused to bring that energy here.

The shift passed quickly like it usually did, and before long, I was back in my smelly car heading home. While I drove, I let my thoughts drift, and predictably, they wound up on Ashton.

Even now, I regretted how I’d ended things with him.

Would it have been so bad if I’d gone out with him somewhere? Let him treat me to a movie or a round of mini golf? Wasn’t that what humans did on dates? I could have pretended for a night, right?

The least I could have done was give him my number. What would that have cost me? Then I’d have some hope that I’d see him again.

It was then I remembered what he’d told me not to forget.

You know how to reach me if you change your mind.

Had I changed my mind?

My head was still chaotic as I pulled into my parking garage and turned the engine off. I made sure that the doors were closed and locked this time before heading inside. I couldn’t wait to get in my apartment, pop open a bottle of blood wine, and spend the rest of the hours until dawn talking to Allie.

But those plans cracked and crumbled the moment I stepped out of the elevator, and the stench from my car greeted me.

I held a hand to my nose as I followed the smell across the lobby and right to my front door.

My open front door.

In that instant, as I slowly backed away toward the stairwell, I remembered where I knew the scent from.

It was the man who got away that night with Ashton.

And I was in bigger trouble than I thought.

Chapter 6

Ashton

“That beef stew looks like it’s been eaten once already.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, it kinda does.”

I watched the head chef on the screen move down the line to the next poor victim and berate them too.

“You call this rosemary chicken? It’s more like Rosemary’s Baby. It’s horrific.”

Another laugh burst out of me as I sat up and looked at my kitchen. I was pretty sure I still had some fresh rosemary in there. And I knew I had chicken.

I turned the volume up and wandered toward the fridge, my head already buzzing with ways to make this meal unique.

Cooking had become a passion of mine since I left the military. After all those years of eating their food, I was eager to make something for myself that actually tasted good. It took a lot of phone calls to my mom and quite a few YouTube tutorials before I got decent, but it was worth it.

Now I didn’t just cook to feed myself, I did it because I enjoyed it. Something I never thought I’d say.

My work cell vibrated on the counter and I turned down the volume on the TV before accepting the call.

“Ashton McGraw,” I answered.

“What the fuck happened to my apartment?”

I pulled the phone away to check the number before sighing. “Hey, Hausle. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for like a week.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been busy. And I just came home to grab some clothes to find my fucking place an even bigger wreck than I left it. What the fuck?”

I set the knife and cutting board on the counter before my hand curled into a fist. “The people Wakefield was working with showed up.”

“So I’ve heard.”

I jerked in response. “How?”

“Millie called me.”

My heart raced in my chest and my hands began to sweat. How did just hearing her name make me react like that?

I’d been with my fair share of women, but none had ever gotten to me like Millie did. None of them did this to me.

“Now, I want to hear your version,” Hausle said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I sighed again as I leaned my hip against the granite countertop. “Me and Millie were getting rid of Wakefield when there was a knock on the door. I opened it up and these three assholes came rushing in. Two cornered me while one went to Millie.”

I paused as the anger overwhelmed me. It didn’t matter that I knew she was okay now. The fact that she’d even been in an ounce of danger because of those bastards was enough to send my blood pressure rising.

Actually, any thoughts of Millie had the power to do that.

“Did she try to glamour any of them?”

“That hypno crap?”

Alexander chuckled. “Yeah, that.”

“Nah, she just sucked them dry.”

He was quiet for so long I checked the phone to make sure he was still on the line. “You don’t seem disturbed about that.”

It was a statement, but I was sure it was meant as a question. And the truth of the matter was, no, I wasn’t disturbed that she drained those bastards.

But, fuck, just thinking about Millie sucking blood made my dick ache.

I cleared my throat and stood up straight again. “I mean, it was kinda fucked up at first. But then it made sense once she told me what she was.”

I held my breath as I waited to see how he’d react to that information.

And how much longer I’d get to hold on to those memories.

“Am I to assume you know what I am now too?”

“Yeah,” I said, struggling with the next words. “She told me you’re both… vampires.”

I felt stupid even saying that word out loud, but I knew it was true. I’d seen it with my own damn eyes.

Alexander sighed. “You are much more involved than I’d anticipated.”

“Yeah, but I’m not saying shit.”

The panic started to percolate in my system as I realized he could still change his mind at any time and erase all these memories from my head. Most of them I didn’t care about, but if he took them all away, he’d be taking Millie from me too.

And that, I just couldn’t let happen.

I opened my mouth to start making my case when he began talking again.

“Your insight into our world might actually come in handy.”

I grabbed the rope he was dangling in front of me and held on for dear life. “How can I help?”

Alexander sighed again. “I’ve been doing some digging into Kevin Wakefield, and it’s not looking good.”

My hands fisted again just hearing that fucker’s name. “What now?”

“Turns out his ties go deeper than we thought. And those ties are much more powerful than we anticipated. We still haven’t gotten to the bottom of this pile of shit, but we’re almost there.”

“Okay, what do we know so far?” I asked as I dug out a notepad and pen.

“I know the guy at the top is a small-time loan shark and Wakefield owed him a fuck ton of money.”

“Which explains why he came after you.”

“Right, but me and my money don’t seem to be their priority anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it seems someone knows something they shouldn’t because they’ve targeted another vampire now.”

My heart jumped at his flippant use of that word, but I kept my mouth shut. If he was going to let me in and tell me the truth about what was going on, I wasn’t going to stop him.

“Okay, so where do I come in?”

“I need you to guard her during the day like you did Charlotte. The only difference is, she’ll be asleep the whole time.”

“What about Charlotte?”

He paused for a moment before answering. “She’s with me.”

I frowned. “She was with you before and you still had me guard her during the day.”

He sighed. “Yeah, but it’s different now.”

“How?”

He sighed again, louder this time. “Because she’s a fucking vampire now too, McGraw.”

I snapped my mouth closed as I let that information settle. “Oh.”

He chuckled, but it wasn’t happy. “Yeah. Oh.”

I tugged at the collar of my shirt. “Is that something she wanted?” I asked quietly.

“Yes. Of course. What do you think? I just go around making people vampires against their will?”

“I honestly have no idea how it works.”

He blew out a deep breath. “Well, it’s a complicated process with paperwork and meetings and shit, but she went through it all because this was what she wanted.”

I thought about that for another long moment before shrugging. “As long as she’s happy.”

I’d spent a lot of time with Charlotte Wakefield and knew a bit about the hard life she’d lived. I also got a chance to see her with Alexander a lot, and it was clear how much she cared about him.

As for Hausle? That man was a fucking goner for that girl.

So, if she said this was what she wanted, I believed her.

Even if I couldn’t really understand it.

I didn’t know a whole lot about vampires, but I could make a couple guesses. I’d never seen Alexander a moment before the sun set, leading me to believe he either couldn’t or wouldn’t go out in the sunlight.

Which was a huge fucking problem for me.

I thrived in the sun. My apartment was basically all windows to let as much of it in as possible. I couldn’t imagine having that taken away from me.

And then, of course, there was their liquid diet.

I loved food way too much to give it up.

“Besides,” Alexander continued, breaking me out of my thoughts again. “Charlotte’s with me somewhere safe and we’re not going back to my penthouse until we have this Wakefield shit sorted. While I work on that, I need you to keep Millie safe because they seem to have taken an interest in her.”

I’d been so wrapped up in the news that Charlotte was a vampire now, I hadn’t even really processed the fact that Millie was in danger.

And that he was asking me to protect her.

“What happened to Millie?” I asked, my voice low as my hands gripped the edge of the counter.

“She had her car and apartment broken into yesterday. She said she recognized the scent as one of the men who attacked you guys that night.”

Son of a bitch.

It had to be that third guy. The one who got away. The one we tried to track but lost. He must have seen something he shouldn’t have, and now he was after Millie.

But how did he find her?

“McGraw?”

I shook my head. “Yeah. I’m here.”

“I need you at her house before sunrise tomorrow.”

I nodded as I jotted down the address he provided, my hands shaking.

I was going to see Millie again.

I was going to be in her home for a whole day.

I was going to smell her again. And touch her soft skin. And–

Those thoughts brought me up short as I remembered myself. I didn’t sleep with clients. Not now, not ever. It didn’t matter that I’d already fucked her once. Now that she was my responsibility to protect, I wouldn’t let those lines blur.

But damn, I hated my professionalism in that moment.

“You got all that?” Hausle asked.

I’d been mostly tuning him out, but I was sure I got the gist of it. “Yeah, I got it.”

“Good. Let me know if anything pops up while you’re on duty.”

“Will do.”

As usual, Hausle hung up without any pleasantries and I did the same. I set my phone on the counter and took a deep breath.

I didn’t know how the hell I was going to protect Millie without touching her again, but I knew I had to. Her safety was more important than any urge I might have. I couldn’t keep her safe if I was busy trying to get my dick wet.

Which meant that shit was staying in my pants. No matter what it took.

***

Millie

“Why are we coming back here again?” Allie asked as she looped her arm around my elbow.

“No one said you had to come,” I reminded her. “And besides, I’m not letting anyone run me out of my home.”

“That’s not the tune you were singing last night,” she muttered, which earned her a jab with my elbow.

“Last night I was just spooked. I didn’t like the thought that someone had been in my home. But it’s been searched by Parliament now, so I know there’s no one hiding in there. And besides, they’re sending someone to guard me.”

“Well, I’m still not leaving you on your own all day.”

I squeezed her arm as we loaded into the elevator. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”

She tipped her nose in the air. “Not nearly enough.”

We both broke into peals of laughter that did a lot to calm my nerves. Despite how confident I was acting, I really was nervous to come home.

Last night, when I’d arrived to find my apartment broken into, the first call I’d made was to Allie. And as I drove to her apartment across town, I made my second call to Alexander Hausle.

I told him everything that happened the other day when I was at his apartment, and predictably, he’d been furious. He’d promised to take care of the situation, and I’d felt the instant relief of having this problem taken off my shoulders.

He’d tried to argue with me when I told him I was coming back home, but nothing would sway me. I’d been living in this apartment for over eighty years, and I wasn’t leaving now.

The elevator doors opened onto my floor, and I immediately caught sight of a man in a charcoal gray suit and knew it was my bodyguard.

“Think he’ll be as hot as Kevin Costner?” Allie whispered to me.

I suppressed a giggle as I elbowed her again. “Can you behave, please?”

I must not have been as quiet as I thought, because the man turned to look at us. And when he did, I stopped dead in my tracks.

It was Ashton.

He was my bodyguard.

“Millie?” Allie asked, but I couldn’t focus on her.

My eyes were trained on Ashton and the little grin that twitched at the corner of his lips. Lips I could still vividly remember the taste of.

“It’s Ashton,” I murmured low enough that only she could hear.

“What’s Ashton?” she asked, but I didn’t have time to answer.

“Millie,” he said as he stopped in front of me, close enough for the smell of his cologne to mess with my head.

“Hi, Ashton,” I said, my voice weaker than I wanted it to be.

“Ashton?!” Allie practically yelled.

I elbowed her again, harder this time, and she let out a whoosh of air. Ashton’s eyes darted between us, probably trying to understand what he was missing. But I wasn’t going to let that happen.

“What are you doing here?” I asked stupidly.

His gaze finally settled on me. “Hausle hired me to watch you during the day.”

Since I’d already figured that out, the only thing I had to say was, “Oh.”

His eyes were busy as they raced across my face and down my body. I tried to stand still under his quick perusal, but that was almost impossible when his blue-gray gaze burned across my skin.

A sharp blow to my ribs knocked me forward a step, and I turned to glare at Allie. She motioned between her and Ashton, and I felt my cheeks warm with a blush.

“Oh. Uh. Ashton, this is Allie.”

He continued to stare at me for another long moment before finally looking at her. “Nice to meet you, Allie,” he said as he held his hand out to her.

She took it with a giant, trouble-making smile on her face. “It’s so nice to meet you, Ashton.”

She was so lucky she was out of range of my elbows.

He pulled his hand away from hers and looked at me again. “We should get inside.”

I didn’t know why I’d been expecting him to say something else, but I had. Wasn’t there some kind of protocol for running into your one-night stand again?

Something like you’re looking good. Or even nice to see you again.

Instead, all I got was we should get inside.

Okay.

That’s fine.

He probably didn’t want to get personal with Allie standing right there.

No big deal.

Ashton motioned for us to precede him into my apartment and then locked it up behind us. I stood in my front entrance, watching him work and appreciating the way his muscles shifted under his dress shirt. I was so wrapped up, that when he finally looked over at me, I got caught staring.

My eyes darted away from him as I cleared my throat. I had no plans for what to say next though, so I was grateful when Allie spoke up.

“I think I’ll head to the bedroom now.”

My heart thundered in my chest as I watched her slowly back away from us. Knowing we were about to be alone again for the first time since that night made my hands shake and my stomach riot with butterflies.

But that was all dashed the moment Ashton opened his mouth.

“There’s only a few minutes until sunrise. You should probably both head in.”

I frowned in his direction, but he wasn’t looking at me. He looked unconcerned. Detached. Like he didn’t even know me.

I turned around and followed Allie back to my secured bedroom, my head in snarls. I kept trying to convince myself that he was just being professional in front of Allie, but the more I repeated those words in my head, the less I believed them.

Chapter 7

Millie

“I think you should ask him out.”

My eyes opened before Allie’s, but her mouth opened before mine.

I rolled away from her. “No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

She sighed and rolled me back over to face her. “Why the heck not?”

I pulled my pillow over my face, letting the down muffle my words. “I’ve never done something like that before.”

She yanked it out of my hands and tossed it over her shoulder. “No time like the present!”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Why are you pushing this so hard?”

She sighed and laid down next to me in bed. “Things seem different with this guy. For whatever reason, you let him in almost immediately. I’ve never seen you do that before. Why not see where it goes? He’s right there.”

I sighed and squeezed my eyes closed, my stomach already cramping painfully. “What if he says no?” I whispered.

She elbowed me in the ribs. “Didn’t he already ask you out?”

“Yeah.”

“And even though you told him no, didn’t he keep asking?”

“Yeah.”

“So, all you’re really doing is saying yes to the date he’s already asked you on.”

I paused as I let those words sink in. To be honest, they were making more sense than I wanted them to.

Sure, I’d never asked a guy out before, but Allie was right. He’d technically asked me out already. All I’d be doing is telling him I changed my mind. That wouldn’t be so hard, right?

Allie sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed. “I can tell you’re thinking about it now, so my work here is done.”

I jolted upright. “Where are you going?”

“Home.”

I shook my head as I followed her off the bed. “Why don’t you just stay until after I talk to him? That way if he says no, you’ll be here to console me.”

She snorted. “First of all, he’s not going to say no. And second of all, if you asking him out leads to hanky panky, I don’t want to cramp your style. And I definitely don’t want to stick around for it.”

My cheeks heated as I watched her put on her shoes and grab her bag. “We’re not having sex. I’m just asking him out.”

Why did only one of those two things make me anxious?

She ignored me and kept heading toward the door.

“Allie,” I whined.

She shook her head, a ghost of a smile on her face. “Nope. You need to do this on your own.”

I stuck out my bottom lip in a pout that I knew wouldn’t get me anywhere.

Allie spun back around to face me, her eyes lit up. “But before I go, I can help you pick out what to wear.”

My stomach fell as I realized I’d have to actually care about my clothes. I usually dressed for comfort, but the first time he’d seen me, I’d dressed to dispose of a body and those coveralls had done nothing for my figure.

Now I had the opportunity to actually try to get his attention, and the excitement was flirting with the worry inside me.

Allie took off for my walk-in closet and I hurried to follow her. “You don’t want to seem like you’re trying too hard, but there’s no harm in showing off what you’ve got,” she mused as she rifled through my clothes. Finally, she snagged a pair of jeans off a hanger. “Here. These make your ass look phenomenal.”

I took them from her. “Never knew you noticed.”

Allie gave me a wink. “How could I not?” She turned back around and grabbed a lacy tank next. “Wear this too. It shows enough boob to get his attention, but not enough to look like you’re trying to get his attention.”

I frowned at the shirt. “This says all that?”

Allie nodded. “Trust me.” She bent down to grab a pair of knee-high leather boots and thrust them into my arms. “Pair that with these, and you’ve got this in the bag.”

I took the shoes from her and followed as she left my closet. Allie stopped in the middle of my room and turned to face me again. “Okay, I think that’s all I can do. The rest is up to you.”

I unloaded the clothes from my arms onto the bed and turned to her. “I still don’t know if I can do this.”

Allie pursed her lips as she shook her head. “Millie, you’re a bombshell, okay? And this guy’s already gotten a taste of the goods. There’s no way he’s saying no.”

I nodded once as I let her words repeat through my head, filling me with a confidence I hadn’t possessed before. “Okay.”

She stood there watching me for a long minute before sighing and crossing the room toward me again. “Listen, I know this is scary. But it’s not as scary as the shit you’ve already been through in your life.”

My thoughts instantly went dark as I remembered exactly how scary my life had been in the past.

“But this isn’t like that. This is fun. Easy. All you have to do is ask him to go somewhere. Or hell, ask him to stay and watch a movie with you. It doesn’t really matter what you do as long as you ask him.”

“But what if he says no?” I asked the one question I couldn’t stop thinking.

Allie reached out to grasp my arms, her expression serious. “You’ve been through way worse and survived. You can handle some one-night stand turning you down for a date.”

When she put it that way, it seemed almost silly to worry so much about it. So what if he did say no? It wasn’t the end of the world. It didn’t have the power to break me.

Nothing did.

She started walking backward as she slung her purse over her shoulder. “You can call me if you need me, but you won’t need me.”

I nodded again. “Okay. I’ll let you know what happens.”

She stopped walking. “No. You’ll let me know when your date is. Failure is not an option.”

I blew out a deep breath. “Okay,” I said again. “I’m going to take a shower first.”

She nodded. “Good idea. You definitely want your vajayjay clean if you’re getting some later.”

I laughed as I pointed to the door. “Okay, now I’ve had enough of you.”

She blew me a kiss. “Love you too,” she said as she flounced to my door and slipped through.

I stood silent in my room for a moment before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “I can do this,” I said to myself with a nod.

I cleared my head and just got on with it. I had a shift at the hospital later, so I needed to shower anyway. I’d just go about my normal routine like I wasn’t planning to ask out my first guy ever.

I flipped through the music on my phone and picked a pop playlist to listen to. I needed something upbeat and happy today. The music blasted through my speakers as I stripped down and headed into the bathroom.

The shower took longer than I expected because I kept finding new things to do. Cleaning, shaving, exfoliating, masking. I did it all. And when I finally had nothing left to do in there, I turned the water off and stepped out.

I was still dawdling as I got dressed and towel-dried my long, red hair. It wasn’t until I zipped up my last boot that the dread started to fill my system.

“He’s already asked you out, Millie,” I reminded myself. “You’re just accepting that offer now.”

I tossed my towel on the floor and marched toward the bedroom door. If I didn’t leave right away, I was going to lose my nerve, and I’d never hear the end of it from Allie.

I burst into the hallway and stopped dead in my tracks.

Why did my apartment smell so funny?

I followed the scent down the hall, my heels clacking noisily on the hardwood floor. When I made it to the kitchen, I found Ashton with his back to me, his suit jacket gone and his broad shoulders on display beneath his pressed shirt.

“I’m just packing up my leftovers. I’ll be out of your hair in a few,” he called.

I pulled out a barstool and took a seat. “No rush.” I watched for a minute as he scraped some food off a plate and into a small plastic container. Now at least I knew what the smell was. “I didn’t even know I had plates.”

Ashton turned to me and smiled, the sight sending the butterflies in my stomach flapping. “I had to dig to find this. And I had to cook my dinner in the microwave because you have no pots or pans.”

I winced and shrugged. “Sorry. I don’t cook.”

His smile was easy before he turned back to what he was doing. “Of course you don’t. I should have realized and brought some stuff from home.”

I rested my chin in my hand as I watched him. “Do you cook a lot?”

He nodded. “As often as possible.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a man who cooked.”

He shrugged, his back still to me. “I like to eat, so it only made sense that I learn how to cook.”

I breathed in the multitude of scents again. “What did you make?”

He set the plate he’d been using in the dishwasher and turned to me. “It’s just garlic chicken and broccoli. Nothing special.”

“It smells… potent.”

He laughed as he snapped the plastic container closed. “That’s the garlic.” His smile fell as he glanced up at me. “Aren’t vampires supposed to be allergic to garlic?”

I smiled wide as I shook my head. “That’s a myth. The only thing we’re allergic to is silver.”

I bit my lip as I let that piece of information slip. It wasn’t something we advertised to humans. Which made sense. Why would you tell someone who wasn’t supposed to know you exist what your greatest weakness was?

But I trusted Ashton with this. I didn’t know why, but I did.

“Silver, huh?”

“Yeah, only gold jewelry for me.”

He smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

My stupid heart jumped at his words, and I was just glad he couldn’t hear it.

He tossed his plastic container of food into a shopping bag and grabbed the handles. “Well, today was uneventful, thankfully. You did have maintenance knock on the door earlier. They wanted to change the batteries in your smoke detectors, and I told them to come back later.”

I slid off the chair and followed Ashton as he left the kitchen. “I’ll give them a call.”

He grabbed his suit jacket off the couch and turned to me. “I left my number on the counter if you need me. I’ll be back before the sun rises tomorrow morning.”

He turned to leave, and I felt my opportunity slipping through my fingers. It was now or never, and I couldn’t live with never.

“Hey, Ashton, hold on a second.”

I hurried to his side, not missing the way his eyes darted up and down my body, resting longer on my exposed chest. “What’s up?” he asked, his gaze fixed on mine.

I stared up into his eyes for as long as I could before I looked down at my fidgeting hands.

Just ask him.

Just ask him.

Just ask him.

“Oh. Um. You don’t need to leave so soon.”

Silence descended around us. I swear, even my clocks stopped ticking as I waited for what he’d say next. Finally, when I couldn’t stand it anymore, I looked up into his blue-gray gaze. It was twisting with turmoil and I wondered why.

“What are you saying?” he asked, his voice low.

I dug the toe of my boot into the rug beneath my foot as I weighed my words. “I just thought you could stick around a little while and we could do something. If you want,” I hurried to add.

“I… don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said slowly.

He’s saying no.

Oh my God, he’s actually saying no.

“Oh,” was all I could say. But he hadn’t said no, had he? Maybe that was because I hadn’t actually asked him anything. I dragged in a deep breath before looking up at him again. “Do you have other plans?”

His eyes were wary as he shook his head. “No. I don’t.”

“Oh,” I said again. “Well, do you want to go out somewhere? We could go do something before I have to be at work.”

“Millie,” he said, his voice strangled. “I can’t do that.”

I frowned. “Can’t?”

He shook his head.

“Why?”

“I can’t date clients.”

“Is that a rule at the agency you work with?”

“No. This assignment isn’t through the agency. This is my own rule.”

“But I’m not your client. I didn’t hire you, Parliament did.”

He nodded slowly. “But you’re the subject of my assignment. To date you would be unethical.”

I didn’t know why, but instead of this hurting my feelings, it just riled me up. What he was saying wasn’t making sense, and that irritated me.

“But you’re off duty now,” I argued. “How would that be unethical?”

He grit his teeth and turned away. “It just would.”

I tilted my head to the side as I crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you just turning me down because I turned you down?”

His lips twitched with a smile. “No. I’m not.”

I let my arms fall to my sides. “Then what the hell? You asked me out a week ago and now suddenly you can’t date me?”

“A week ago, you weren’t my client.”

“So, what if I had said yes back then? We’d be in this same predicament. Would you have stopped dating me then?”

His eyes were bright silver as he stared at me. “No. I would have chosen dating you over taking this assignment.”

My heart thundered in my chest as I stared into his gaze, the heat in them singeing me. “Then quit.”

He shook his head, his lips twitching with another smile. “Can’t do that.”

I popped out a hip as he worked my very last nerve. “Why the hell not?”

Ashton stepped into my space, bringing his intoxicating scent with him. He stopped with just a couple inches separating us, my breasts brushing against his button-down shirt with every one of my labored breaths.

“Millie,” he said, his voice so deep it sent chills down my spine. “You’re in danger right now. There’s no way in hell I’m trusting anyone else to keep you safe.”

He reached out and grasped my chin, tilting my face so he could stare into my eyes. “When this is all over, I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

He let his hand fall and took a step back. “But until then, I can’t go there. I won’t go there. Your safety is my only focus. My number one priority. I won’t let whatever this is between us get in the way of that.” Ashton took another step back, and then another. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

I didn’t answer as I watched him turn around and walk out of my apartment. The moment the door closed, I let out a deep breath and looked around.

How had I lived here for eighty years and in only one day, it felt empty without Ashton?

His excuses and explanations swirled through my head, confusing me and frustrating me equally. Finally, I squeezed my eyes closed and took a deep breath.

It’s okay.

I’m okay.

This didn’t break me.

In fact, it only encouraged me.

I knew Ashton wanted me as much as I wanted him. Just like I knew his excuses were bullshit.

A plan formed in my head and my lips curled into a smile as it solidified. I was going to show Ashton exactly what he was missing out on and see how long it took him to cave. I had a feeling I’d be needing a new bodyguard soon.

Chapter 8

Ashton

“McGraw.”

“How are things going?” Alexander’s voice came through the speaker of my phone, just as brusque as usual.

I stuffed the cell between my shoulder and ear as I cleaned up after myself in the kitchen. I’d brought some pots and pans to leave here for a while so I could cook something that wasn’t as chewy as a dog treat.

“Uneventful,” I finally said.

Alexander blew out a deep breath. “That’s good. We still have people trying to flush out the guy behind all this, but it’s slow going.”

Which was the last thing I wanted to hear.

Walking away from Millie the night before had been one of the hardest things I’d ever done. The look in her emerald eyes almost made me give in right then and there. But her safety was more important. It had to be.

Loud music blared from down the hall and I knew she was up.

“What the fuck is that?” Hausle asked.

I frowned. “You can hear that?”

“I’m a vampire.”

I chuckled. “Oh yeah. I guess Millie is up for the night.”

“Okay, I’ll let you go. Let me know if anything comes up on your end.”

“And you keep me informed of what’s going on with your guys.”

“That’s not happening, McGraw.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“Because you’re not a vampire. Because you’re not a Parliament guard. Because you’re already far too fucking involved.”

“If I’m already involved, I might as well be kept in the loop.”

“I’ll talk to you later,” he said and hung up.

I shoved my cell back in my pocket as I stored my leftovers for lunch tomorrow. It was annoying to be kept in the dark like this. I had skills that he could be putting to use. Just because I wasn’t a vampire didn’t mean I couldn’t help.

The music got louder and I could make out the heavy metal guitar and the sultry drumbeat coming from her room. Moments later, I heard her heels clacking down the hallway.

“Hey, Millie,” I said, my back still to her.

I should turn around.

I needed to turn around.

But I had way more control over my libido with my back to her. I knew once I saw her, it would be just as hard to keep my hands to myself as it had been the night before.

And the night before, I’d almost fucking caved.

“Hey, Ashton. How was today?”

I gritted my teeth and spun around to her, regretting it instantly.

Millie was in jeans so tight they looked like they’d been painted onto her curves. On top, she was wearing a shirt so small it barely covered her breasts, leaving so much creamy skin visible my hands shook.

I stood there staring like an idiot for way too long and she finally giggled.

“Ashton?”

I blinked the haze out of my eyes and stood up straight again. “Yeah?”

Her bright gaze met mine as her lips twitched with a smile. “How did things go today?” she asked again, slower this time.

I shook my head and looked back down at my leftovers. It was a much safer view. “Oh. Uh. Things were fine. No one came by or anything. I just got off the phone with Hausle though.”

She walked closer, bringing her expensive perfume with her and clouding my head again. “What did he have to say?”

I pressed on the closed lid of my Tupperware, even though I already knew it was secured tightly. But I was having trouble concentrating on anything else but her, and I needed to keep my hands busy before they found their way to her hips.

“He just said they’re still working on taking down the main guy.”

She nodded slowly as she jumped up onto the counter and crossed her long legs. “That’s good at least.”

I peeked up at her, wondering if she was actually as excited as I was about the prospect of this assignment ending. Because I’d never wanted to lose a job more in my life.

I stuffed my container of food into a grocery bag and finally met her eyes again. “Well, I’ll get out of your hair, then.”

She smiled with a shrug. “You’re not bothering me.”

No.

But if I stayed here another minute, there was a very good chance I’d rip that tiny top off her and bury my face in her chest, and I couldn’t do that.

Wouldn’t do that.

I cleared my throat. “Right. Well, have a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll walk you to the door,” she said. Millie hopped off the counter, making her breasts bounce, and now I knew she wasn’t wearing a bra. Which instantly made my dick hard.

I cleared my throat again. “Okay,” I said, my voice hoarse.

Her perfume never left me as I walked toward the front door, her heels clicking behind me.

“You know you can leave your food here, right?”

I didn’t dare turn around. I couldn’t risk it yet. “This is dinner tonight.”

“Okay, well if you ever need to leave stuff here you’re welcome to. Obviously, I don’t use the kitchen,” she said with a giggle.

That sound made my dick ache.

I finally reached the door and blew out a breath of relief. I cautiously turned to her and found Millie closer than I’d expected. Close enough for me to see every shade of green in her eyes. Close enough for me to smell the shampoo in her copper hair.

I grit my teeth and fisted my hands. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

She nodded. “Have a good night!” she called from the doorway as I hurried down the hall.

Hopefully, she didn’t notice how fast I was moving, but I couldn’t stop. I needed to get out of her presence and away from her scent as soon as possible. I just wasn’t strong enough to be that close to her and keep my damn hands to myself.

Just as I reached the elevator, the doors opened, and a man stepped off. I gave him a nod as we passed each other and then watched him head down the hall as I waited.

He passed apartment after apartment until he finally stopped at one.

My insides twisted painfully as I watched him knock on Millie’s door. Before she could open it, the elevator closed and started descending to the ground floor.

I clenched and unclenched my fists as I tried to take deep breaths and convince myself not to go back up there.

A hundred excuses flitted through my head and I shot each of them down.

I couldn’t go back there.

I couldn’t find out why that man was going to her apartment. I had enough theories to keep me up all night, but I didn’t want any of them confirmed.

When I turned her down, I’d had no idea she’d find someone else. Especially this quickly.

She was all I could think about. All I wanted. I couldn’t imagine calling any of the women I knew to warm my bed for the night when there was only one woman I really wanted there.

It was okay, though.

She didn’t need to be anything more than an assignment. She didn’t need to plague my thoughts and haunt my dreams.

I’d do my job, keep her safe, and then I’d move on like I had every other time.

Millie didn’t have to mean anything more.

I just had to convince myself of that.

***

I started packing the moment I heard her music start up–reggaeton this time. If today was going to be anything like yesterday, I needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

I’d just finished getting my shit together when there was a knock on the door. I palmed the gun on my hip as I walked over to check the peephole. The guy I saw knocking on her door yesterday was out there, and I felt my blood pressure soar.

I unlocked the deadbolt and cracked it open. “Can I help you?”

The guy frowned. “I’m here to see Millie.”

I opened my mouth even though I wasn’t sure what I was going to say, but I never got the chance. Millie herself came hurrying over, bringing her intoxicating scent with her.

“Oh, hi Jason! Come in,” she said as she pushed past me to open the door wider.

Jason looked at me warily, and I was pretty sure I knew why.

My jaw was aching with how hard I was gritting my teeth, and my knuckles were turning white as I fisted them at my sides. My eyes jumped to Millie for the first time, and I instantly wished I hadn’t.

She was dressed in tight leather pants and an itty-bitty top that was only attached by a couple strings around her back. One tug on the end and she’d be naked from the waist up.

What the fuck was going on?

“Everything go okay today, Ashton?” Millie asked.

I shook my head and met her eyes. “Yes. Everything was fine.”

What wasn’t fine was the asshole she’d just let in her apartment for the second day in a row. Those words were on the tip of my tongue, but I held them back.

I couldn’t be sure my concerns were based on her safety and not my hurt ego. My first instinct was to tell her to make him leave. That I didn’t want them alone in here without me around, but that was ridiculous.

She was a grown woman. A vampire woman. She could more than take care of herself after the sun set. She didn’t need me once the sky turned dark, which meant I needed to go. My job was done for the day and the longer I stood in their presence, the more I wanted to knock this guy the fuck out.

Even now, his beady eyes were riveted on her ass, and I wanted to punch him. I cleared my throat and his gaze jumped to mine. At least the bastard had the decency to look embarrassed I’d caught him staring.

“Okay,” Millie said, interrupting my violent thoughts. “Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” She smiled, and even though I was ready to fucking break something, it still had the power to soften me.

I nodded once, my jaw so tight I could barely speak. “Yes. I’ll be here.”

She nodded before looping her arm around Jason’s elbow and leading him further into her apartment. I stood there watching them leave for a moment, my insides at war.

One part of me wanted to rip her away from him and toss that asshole out the door.

The other part knew I had no right to do that. But that part wasn’t as loud as the first part, and that was a problem.

I yanked my gaze away from her and stormed out the door, using the last of my self-control to quietly close it behind me instead of slamming it like I wanted to. I had no right to be angry because I’d done this to myself.

Had I expected her to wait for me? Why would she do that? She owed me nothing. I was just a guy she fucked once who got hired to watch over her. Nothing more.

So then, why did leaving them alone in that apartment twist my gut so painfully? Why did this feel like a betrayal when it wasn’t?

I took the stairs, needing to get this energy out of my system before I exploded. Each step was faster than the last as I raced to the ground floor. Once there, I burst out of the stairwell into the garage and stormed over to my car. I didn’t unclench my fists until I was a block away from her building.

I started navigating back to my place but realized I didn’t want to go home. Sitting in my empty apartment with nothing to do but watch cooking shows wouldn’t be enough to distract me from the shit in my head.

But a fucking drink might.

I found street parking and walked to my favorite bar in Manhattan. It was old and run-down, and only the locals knew about it, which just made it better. I ordered a beer as I took a seat at the bar and found a screen to watch.

“I’ll have a whiskey neat. A double.”

I glanced to my right and found a woman around my age with dark wavy hair and a scowl on her face. I finished my beer and waved to the bartender. “I’ll have what she’s having.”

The woman chuckled. “One of those days for you too?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

It hadn’t been anywhere near the worst day of my life, but maybe one of the most frustrating. I’d tied my own damn hands, and I fucking hated it.

“Did you find your boyfriend fucking your best friend today too?” she asked as she took a gulp of her drink and winced.

I shook my head. “Nah. Nothing like that.” I took a sip of my own liquor and breathed through the fire coursing down my throat. “But that’s fucked up.”

She nodded as she drained her glass and signaled for another. “Yeah. But I’ve still got the password to his Netflix account and her favorite pair of Louboutins in my closet, so fuck them both.”

“Lou, what?”

She shook her head with a smile. “Never mind.”

I stared at her for a moment, trying to really see her.

But I couldn’t.

All I could see were the comparisons.

Her eyes were brown, nothing like Millie’s jewel-tone gaze. And her ponytail was dirty blonde, unlike the ginger hair that I still wanted to run my fingers through. This woman’s nose was a little wider, her eyes set further apart than Millie’s.

But she was pretty, I guess. She just wasn’t Millie.

“What’s your name?”

I shook my head and met her eyes again. “Ashton.”

She held out a hand that I shook. “Jenni.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said before taking another sip of my drink.

We fell into an easy conversation after that. Jenni was funny and vibrant and I wondered what kind of moron would cheat on a woman like her.

“Listen, I don’t ever do shit like this, but today’s different.” I turned to look at her, noticing how pink her cheeks had gotten. “Do you want to get out of here and maybe forget why we’re drinking for a little while?”

I froze with my glass halfway to my mouth as I considered her words.

What would it hurt?

It wasn’t like I was waiting for someone else. Or that someone else was waiting for me. I was single and so was she. So why not?

I finished my drink and set it on the bar. “What did you have in mind?”

She smiled as she traced a finger along the edge of her glass. “We should probably go to your place. My ex might still be at mine.”

That sounded like a fucked-up situation I wanted no part in, but I just nodded and paid my bill. I had an opportunity to get Millie out of my head, even just for a few minutes, and I was going to take it.

Because the thoughts swirling around up there were gnarled and angry, and they had no right to be.

She wasn’t mine.

She could do whatever she wanted.

And so the fuck could I.

I threw a twenty down for her tab too and grabbed her hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

She hopped off the stool and hurried behind me as I left the bar and hailed a cab. Jenni sat on the opposite end of the backseat with her face pointed away from me as we rode back to my place.

And if I thought my head was fucked up before, it was nothing compared to now.

I felt dirty already. And wrong. Like I wasn’t supposed to be doing this. Like I’d regret it if I did.

It felt like I was betraying Millie, even though that was ridiculous. She clearly had no problem with moving on from me. Why shouldn’t I do the same?

But if I wasn’t doing anything wrong, why did I have the feeling it would hurt her if she found out, anyway?

My mind twisted and turned as the driver got us closer to my place. But the moment he stopped the car, I knew what I had to do.

I turned to Jenni with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I can do this.”

She met my eyes, hers full of resignation. “It’s okay. I don’t think I could do it either.” She looked back out the window. “I’ll just go home and face the music. I just hope they’re done by now.”

Pity for this woman slithered through my system and I opened my mouth without thinking. “You can still stay here tonight if you want. I’ll take the couch.”

She turned to me, her eyes lit. “Are you serious?”

I nodded and climbed out of the cab. “Absolutely. Come on.”

She crawled out after me as I paid the driver. I didn’t grab her hand this time as I led her into my building and up to my apartment. Thankfully, I always kept it pretty clean because I definitely hadn’t been expecting company.

“Uh,” I began as I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Do you want to watch some TV or something?”

She shook her head. “I’m actually exhausted. I think I’d just like to go to bed if that’s okay.”

I chuckled as I placed a hand on the small of her back. “I’ve got to be up at the ass crack of dawn so sleep sounds great to me too,” I said as I ushered her into my bedroom. “The sheets were just changed yesterday. I hope that’s okay.”

She smiled as she sat on the edge of my bed. “That’s fine. I really appreciate this.”

I rummaged through my drawers and found her my smallest pair of sweatpants. “Here. You can wear these if you want.” I backed slowly toward the door. “The bathroom’s through there,” I said, pointing to a door along the wall. “Do you need a glass of water or something?”

She shook her head again as she crawled to the top of my bed and curled into a ball. “This is perfect, actually. Night, Ashton. Thanks again for this.”

I stared at her for a moment, wishing things were different. That I could lose myself in her for a couple hours. That I didn’t look at her and wish she was someone else.

“Night, Jenni,” I said softly as I closed the door.

Chapter 9

Ashton

“Aw fuck,” I groaned as I rolled myself off the couch and onto the floor. Honestly, this was already more comfortable than that piece of shit had been all night.

“I’m buying a new couch,” I mumbled into my rug.

With another groan, I climbed to my feet and looked around my apartment. It was still pitch-black, but I was up and ready to start my day. I glanced at my bedroom door and cursed again. I hadn’t thought to get my clothes and things out of there last night, and now I was worried I’d wake Jenni up.

But she’d have to get up anyway, right? I couldn’t just leave this woman I’d known for a few hours in my apartment all day. But normal people weren’t used to waking up before the sun, and I felt bad.

I crept to the door and listened carefully but couldn’t hear anything. I tapped on the wood before cracking it open. “Jenni?” I whispered.

“Yeah?” she croaked.

I pushed the door open wider and stepped inside. “I’m sorry. I’ve got to get ready for work.”

She groaned softly as she rolled over and sat up. “It’s okay. You mentioned you had to be up early last night. I was prepared for this.”

I laughed as she sat there with her eyes closed, swaying like she might fall onto the bed again at any moment. “Yeah, you look prepared.”

She lifted her middle finger in the air, and I chuckled again. “Take your time waking up. I’m gonna grab a shower.”

She fell backward onto the pillows. “Sounds marvelous.”

I laughed again as I hurried into my shower and let the hot water run, hoping it could wash some of yesterday off me. I realized my mistake the moment I finished.

“Son of a bitch,” I whispered as I wrapped the towel around my waist and looked at the door.

I’d forgotten to bring clothes in with me.

With a sigh, I inched the door open to find Jenni still laying on the bed, hopefully asleep again. I crept out of the bathroom and over to my dresser, but that was as far as I got.

“Maybe I made a hasty decision last night,” Jenni said.

I turned to frown at her. “Huh?”

She looked me up and down slowly, an appreciative light in her eyes. “If I’d known all that was beneath the suit, I might have done things a little differently.”

I chuckled and turned back around, my cheeks burning with a blush. It felt pretty good to be appreciated, even if she wasn’t the one I wanted to hear that stuff from. “Don’t let the physique fool you. I’m shit in bed.”

She laughed. “That I do not believe for a fucking second.”

I shrugged, knowing full well she was right. I’d never received anything but compliments. But she didn’t need to know that.

I gathered the rest of my clothes and headed for the bathroom again.

“You don’t have to hide on my account,” she called after me.

I laughed again. “Just get ready, pervert. I’ve gotta leave for work soon.”

She groaned as I closed the door and got dressed. When I stepped back into my room, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for me. “What kind of a job do you have that starts at this ungodly hour?”

“I’m a bodyguard.”

She looked me up and down again. “Figures.”

I smiled and shook my head. “You ready to go?”

She shrugged as she stood. “Yeah. I’ll catch a cab home.”

I shook my head and led her through my apartment with another hand on her back. “We can share a cab. Do you live near the bar? I left my car there last night.”

“Yeah. I’m a few blocks away from there.”

“Perfect,” I said as I locked my door and hurried into the elevator. I really wasn’t late yet, but I didn’t know how long it would take to get her home and to get back to my car, and I didn’t want to chance it.

I hailed a cab, and she rattled off her address before slumping against the seat and closing her eyes. I watched her for a moment, wishing I could feel for her even a fraction of the attraction I felt for Millie.

Jenni was nice, and funny, and sweet. She was also pretty and easy to be around. Why couldn’t I be interested in someone like her? Someone who wasn’t my job to protect. Someone who wanted me as bad as I wanted them.

I sighed and looked away, knowing there was no explaining shit like this. It just was what it was.

The cab slowed and Jenni opened her eyes and looked around. “This is me,” she said.

She opened the door and stood up out of the vehicle before poking her head back in. “Thanks again for last night. It was exactly what I needed.”

Warmth heated my chest at her words, and I reached for my wallet. “Here,” I said, handing her a business card. “Call me if you need a place to crash again.”

“Will clothes be optional next time?” she asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

I laughed and shook my head. “Bye, Jenni. Good luck.”

She smiled wide for a moment before she got serious again. “I hope whoever you’re hung up on deserves it. You’re a good guy, Ashton.”

She closed the door, but her words still rang through the car.

Did Millie deserve my affections?

I thought about her sweet smile, and the way her eyes lit up when she laughed. I thought about the way she’d responded to my touch during those stolen moments in Hausle’s apartment. I thought about the way her face fell when she’d asked me out and I’d had to turn her down.

What did that all add up to mean?

I wasn’t sure, and I was honestly pretty sick of the back and forth. I liked knowing where I stood and having my feet on solid ground. But that hadn’t been the case since I met Millie, and I didn’t think that would change anytime soon.

I got to her building with plenty of time and took a deep breath before knocking on her door. Millie answered moments later, and the second I caught sight of her, my heart clenched in my chest.

She was wearing more than she had been earlier, which should have eased the attraction, but it didn’t. For some reason, the baggy sweats and oversized t-shirt were even sexier than the leather had been.

Or maybe it was the way her green eyes were only half-mast and the sleepiest smile pulled at her lips.

“Hey, Ashton,” she said as she waved me inside.

I held my breath as I passed her, wanting to keep my head clear for as long as possible. “Hey, Millie. How was your night?”

She shut the door behind me and turned to shrug. “Work was busy, but that’s okay.”

“What do you do again?”

“I work at the hospital.”

“Are you a doctor? Nurse?”

She shook her head, another smile on her face. “Nah, nothing like that. I mean, I have a degree in medicine, but I don’t practice.”

My eyes widened as she walked past me like she hadn’t just dropped a bomb at my feet. “You’re a doctor?”

She turned around to face me as she leaned against the arm of the couch. “I mean, technically, I guess. But like I said, I don’t practice. I got my degree a long time ago and then decided it wasn’t for me.”

“How long ago could that have been? You barely look old enough to be a med student.”

She smiled. “I’m a vampire, remember? I’m older than you think.”

That brought me up short. I hadn’t even considered the possibility. Weren’t vampires supposed to live forever or something? Could she be like thousands of years old?

But I wasn’t stupid enough to ask.

“I guess I just can’t imagine going to school for all those years and then not becoming a doctor.”

She shrugged as she looked away. “When you’ve got all the time in the world, it means something different.”

I eyed her carefully, searching for where that trace of melancholy came from. When she looked back at me, her eyes were even more slitted, and I knew she was almost done for the night.

“You should get to bed.”

She nodded slowly as she stood up straight again. “I was just waiting for you to get here.”

Why did that simple sentence fill my chest with so much warmth? I cleared my throat. “I’m here, and I’ve got you.”

I didn’t know why I said it that way, but I meant every word. I had her. I wasn’t going to let anything happen while I was around.

She smiled and trailed her soft fingers down my arm as she passed by. “Thanks, Ashton. I’ll see you tonight.”

My skin was still tingling as I watched her walk away. “Night,” I called.

The moment her bedroom door closed, I blew out a deep breath and shook my head. I really needed to get myself under control around her. I just had no idea how to accomplish that.

***

I’d just finished searing the steak I was going to eat for lunch when I heard the knock on the front door. Despite how quiet things had been, the suspicion built in my system, and I unholstered my gun as I approached.

I looked through the peephole, but all I saw was black, and I immediately ducked out of the way. When no bullets came flying through the door, I let out a quiet breath of relief. But someone was blocking my view for a reason, and that sent off all kinds of alarms in my head.

“Who’s there?” I called.

“Maintenance.”

I didn’t believe that shit for a second. “You’ll have to come back.”

“Can’t. There’s a leak coming from your apartment, and I need to get in there to fix it.”

“Not now you don’t.”

“Sir, are you the legal occupant of this apartment?”

I turned to frown at the door. Did this guy really want to go there with me?

“No. I’m not the legal occupant, but the legal occupant is busy and I’m in charge while she’s gone.”

Silence.

“So, the tenant isn’t home right now?”

I frowned harder as I wondered where the fuck this was going. I decided to keep up the lie. “No. She’s not. That’s why I said you’ll have to come back.”

I heard whispering outside and the words not home floated through the door as I waited to see what came next. Seconds later, there was a noise behind me, and I spun to face the wall of windows.

My heart leapt in my chest as I started running.

There was a fucking guy on her fire escape. He’d been crouched down, trying to get into the window that I knew I’d locked. I raced across the room as he ducked out of view.

I slowed my steps as I got closer, my gun steady in one hand while I unlocked the window with the other. It slid up noiselessly as my eyes darted around the space, looking for the son of a bitch who’d been trying to break in.

I cautiously stuck my head out the window and found the asshole already three floors down. He looked up at me, but I couldn’t make out his features from that high up. I swung my leg through the window and climbed out onto the metal landing. The guy was still standing there, almost like he was waiting for me to catch up.

I moved to the ladder and started climbing down, my eyes never leaving him. When I made it to the floor below and he still hadn’t moved, the alarms in my head blared even louder.

I’d made a fucking mistake.

I took the rungs three at a time as I raced back up to Millie’s floor and dove through her window. I rolled to my feet and hurried to close and lock the window again. Just as I did that, I heard metal scraping against metal as a key was fit inside the front door’s lock.

I gripped my gun tighter and twisted on the silencer as I ducked behind her couch to wait.

The handle turned slowly before the door was pushed open. I waited long enough to make out the bastard’s features before I started shooting. The shots weren’t loud thanks to my silencer, but they were enough to scare whoever had just broken into her apartment.

The door slammed shut, and I darted toward it. With a quick glance through the peephole, I saw the hallway was deserted again and chanced a look outside. I cracked the heavy wood open and peeked around the frame quickly. Once in one direction, once in the other direction. When I was confident I wasn’t going to get shot in the face, I stuck my whole head through the doorway.

The hall was empty, but my nerves were still on edge. I stepped back into her apartment and shut the door, locking every lock, bolting every bolt, and securing the chain before I was satisfied. Next, I picked up my phone.

It only rang twice before he answered.

“Jerry.”

“I need a lock changed this afternoon.”

“McGraw?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“You owe me a beer.”

I chuckled. “I’ll buy you one tonight if you can get these locks changed within the next couple of hours.”

“Sure, sure. You know I’ll make it work for you.”

“Can you also do something with a fire escape window?”

“Yeah, I can hook something up. Text me the address and I’ll be there in an hour.”

I closed my eyes and took my first real breath in what felt like hours. “Thanks, Jerry. I’ll see you when you get here.”

I hung up the phone and pulled up my text app to send him the address. When I was done with him, I sent another one to Alexander explaining what had happened. I kept it brief because I was sure he’d want me to retell the story anyway.

When I was done, I stood there in the middle of her apartment, the anxiety still gnawing at my insides. I wasn’t going to be satisfied she was safe until I saw her.

I walked into the kitchen and opened the drawer she’d left her spare key in. I was only supposed to use it in case of an emergency, but I was positive this counted. And if it didn’t, I’d happily pay for my mistake.

Next, I stopped at the wall panel that controlled the apartment and shut all the blinds. When they were secured, I hurried to her room and slid the key into the lock before turning the handle slowly. Her room was pitch black, and I had to use the lit screen of my phone just to see where to put my feet.

I searched the entire space first. Every closet, every nook, every cranny. Even under her bed, just to be sure. When I was confident there was no one else in her room, I allowed myself the privilege of checking on her.

Millie looked so small in her giant bed and all I wanted to do was scoop her into my arms. Her face was so peaceful in sleep, it felt like I could stand there and watch her all day, but I couldn’t.

I shouldn’t have even come in here, but I’d had to make sure she was okay. After the scare I’d just had, seeing her chest slowly rise and fall was the only thing that was going to settle my mind.

I backed out of her room and locked it up before I took a seat in the living room to wait for the locksmith. He was thankfully on time, and in less than thirty minutes, she had a brand-new door handle, an extra deadbolt, and even new locks on her windows.

It still didn’t seem like enough, though.

There was still an hour before sunset when there was another knock on the door.

My heart jolted into the back of my throat as I pulled my gun out again and cautiously approached. I chanced a look out the peephole and, in an instant, all the anxiety mutated into rage.

I unlocked her door and whipped it open. “What the fuck do you want?”

The man Millie invited into her place yesterday stood in the hall, his eyes wide. “Um. I’m here to see Millie?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “She’s unavailable.”

“Oh. She told me to come a little earlier tonight.”

I reeled back at that information before storing it for later. “Well, that’s too bad.”

He took a cautious step toward the door. “Can I come in and wait?”

“No, you can’t,” I said as I slammed the door in his face and locked all the locks again.

My hands were in tight fists as I stormed back down the hallway. I glanced at my watch as I gritted my teeth. Only another fifty-five minutes until the sun set and Millie got to explain what the fuck was going on.

Chapter 10

Millie

I smelled him before I even opened my eyes.

“Ashton,” I whispered.

I jolted upright in my bed and scanned the dark room, but it was empty. I checked the sheets next to me just to be sure, but he wasn’t there either.

So, why did my room smell like him?

I pondered that as I got out of bed and made up the sheets. His clean masculine smell was making it hard to think, so it took me a minute to remember what I’d done.

When I did, I giggled. “Oh, he’s going to be so pissed.”

I picked up my phone and scrolled through my music until I found a hip-hop playlist and turned up the volume. The hypnotic beat swirled through me as I jumped in the shower.

I took my time, knowing it would just make Ashton more uncomfortable.

I’d been inviting this Jason guy to my place every day in the hopes it would make Ashton jealous, and so far, it was working. I was sure he thought we were hooking up, but that wasn’t even remotely the case.

I hadn’t even fed from Jason. The idea of putting my lips anywhere near him curdled my stomach after having a taste of Ashton.

No. Jason was only serving one purpose, and that was changing my bodyguard’s mind about us. He came back every day because I’d glamoured him into thinking we were sleeping together. I would have felt bad about manipulating him that way, but all Jason knew was we were having mind-blowing sex, so I thought he wouldn’t care that I was using him a little.

Unfortunately, things hadn’t been progressing the way I’d have liked them to.

The first day I had Jason come over was a complete waste because he didn’t even get here until Ashton was gone. The next day was a little better, and the look on his face had been priceless.

Only problem was, it still wasn’t enough to provoke him into doing something about it.

So, I’d had to ramp up the stakes.

I’d told Jason to come an hour before I’d even be up, knowing Ashton would be left to deal with him alone. I giggled again as I thought about what an uncomfortable trip around the clock that would be.

I pulled on a tight, slinky dress and paired it with some thigh-high boots. I was starting to lay it on a little thick with these outfits, but it was necessary. My previous efforts hadn’t gotten to Ashton yet, which meant I needed to go farther. Which meant sluttier.

I took a look at myself in the mirror and shook my head. I’d just have to take all this shit off before I left for the hospital, but it was still worth it. I could just imagine the look on Ashton’s face when he saw me. His eyes had almost burned right through my skimpy clothes the day before, and what I was wearing now was even more revealing.

He was going to cave soon. I just knew it.

With a smile still on my face, I pulled the door open to find Ashton leaning against the opposite wall.

I gasped and reeled backward, almost losing my balance in the stupid high heels. He rushed forward and caught me in time, my skin tingling wherever he touched me.

“What the hell, Ashton?” I said between pants.

He released me and took a step back, his face hard. “We have some things to discuss.”

I rested my hand over my racing heart as I frowned up at him. “You couldn’t have waited in the living room? You scared the crap out of me!”

The look on his face didn’t budge an inch. I don’t even think he blinked. “This can’t wait.”

I expected him to elaborate, and when he didn’t, I propped a hand on my waist. “Well? What is it?”

His eyes burned hotter as they landed on my hips and then slowly trailed down my legs before traveling back up to my face. His blue-gray gaze was like liquid silver as he stared at me, his jaw clenched tight. “Maybe you should go tell your boyfriend to leave first.”

My heart was thumping so loud in my chest I was having trouble hearing him. “Boyfriend?” I asked.

He jerked his head toward the front of my apartment. “Yeah. He said you told him to show up an hour early today.” Ashton kicked off the wall and stepped into my space. I was instantly surrounded by his heat and smell, and all it did was mess with my already hazy brain. “Why would you do that, Millie?”

I swayed toward him before I caught myself and cleared my throat. “Huh?”

He dipped his head until his warm breath caressed the side of my neck. “Why would you tell your boyfriend to show up before you’re even awake for the night?”

I let out a shaky breath as I clenched my hands into fists to keep them from reaching for him. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. In that moment, I barely knew my own name.

He stepped closer, until his hard chest bumped against mine, the heat of his body scorching me. “You know what I think, Millie?”

I closed my eyes and breathed him in. “Hmm?”

He grasped a lock of my hair and twirled it around his thick finger. “I think you did that for my benefit.” He tucked those strands behind my ear, his hand lingering near my throat. “I think it’s all been a show for me. Hasn’t it?”

Shit.

I cleared my throat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, my voice breathy and weak. “Jason’s a friend of mine. We’ve been catching up.”

A soft growl rumbled through Ashton’s chest and right into mine, making me shiver. “I don’t want to hear about what you’ve been doing with him.”

My lips twitched with a smile that I only barely concealed. “Why not?”

He growled again as he eliminated all the space between us. Ashton’s hands cupped my hips for one brief second, the heat almost painful before he pulled away again. He dipped his head and crossed the hall to lean against the opposite wall.

“You know why not,” he grunted. Ashton turned away, his jaw tight. “Go get rid of him before I do.”

I could sense how close to the edge he was and instinctively knew not to push him any further. At least not right now. “Where is he?”

He jerked his head to the side. “Out front.”

I spun around and headed down the hall, my noisy heels almost covering the sound of Ashton’s heavy steps behind me. But when I made it to the living room, Jason wasn’t there. I spun around to Ashton with a frown. “I thought you said he was out here.”

Ashton’s jaw was still so tight as he nodded toward the door. “I said out front.”

My eyes widened as his meaning sunk in. “You left him outside?!” I hissed as I hurried toward the door.

“He’s not outside. He’s in the hall.”

I turned to give him a narrow-eyed stare. “That was rude, Ashton.”

He crossed the distance between us in an instant, his hot body close enough to burn me again. “No. What was rude was inviting that asshole here early, so I’d have to deal with him until you got up. I know why you’re doing this and it’s not going to work.”

I tilted my chin in the air and met his eyes. “What am I doing?”

He shook his head. “I’m not getting into this with you right now. We have bigger things to worry about.”

Ashton walked over to the door and checked the peephole, his hand reaching for his gun. He unlocked all the locks, one of which I didn’t recognize, before pulling the door open and sticking his head through.

When he closed the door and turned back to me, his jaw was still tight. “Go tell him to get lost.”

My mouth fell open in shock. “Why the hell would I do that?”

His eyes burned brighter with barely concealed anger. “Because we have more important things to discuss than the sorry bastard you’re using to make me jealous.”

I gasped, my mouth falling open again. “That’s not what I’m doing!” I sputtered.

He gave me an unimpressed look before nodding toward the door again. “You either go tell him to leave nicely, or I’ll go tell him to fuck off. It’s your choice.”

I narrowed my eyes at him again as we stared each other down. When it was clear neither of us was going to budge, he shrugged and turned toward the door.

“Stop!” I yelled as I hurried around him. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”

With a sigh, I pulled the door open to find Jason standing on the other side. His eyes widened with appreciation as his face broke into a smarmy smile.

Ugh.

What had I been thinking?

I cleared my throat. “Hey, Jason. I’m going to have to cancel for today.”

His face fell as he took a step closer, his hands reaching for my hips. “But you got all dressed up for me, baby.”

I leaned as far away from him as I could get as I pried his fingers off me. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

He leaned closer, digging his face into my neck. “Mmm, you smell so fucking good. Just give me thirty minutes. I promise I’ll make it worth it.”

I almost gagged.

In the next instant, his body was ripped away from mine as Jason staggered backward.

“She said not tonight,” Ashton growled, his big frame positioned between me and Jason.

“What the hell, man? I thought you were just her fucking employee. You trying to get a piece of that ass now too?”

Ashton was across the hall, fist flying toward Jason’s face before I could even get a word out. Jason fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes, Ashton standing over him. I hurried to put myself in between them, but Ashton caught me around the waist.

“Next time you talk like that about her, I’ll break your fucking jaw,” he promised as he spun us back around and stormed into my apartment.

Ashton slammed the door closed behind us and set me on my feet before he turned to relock all the locks.

“Was that necessary?” I asked, still out of breath.

When he finally turned to me, a shot of adrenaline burst through my veins. He looked so violent. So fierce. Like he was on the very edge of his decency and one small nudge was all it would take for him to snap.

And I’d never been more turned on in my life.

“Yes. It was.” I squeezed my thighs together as the tension between us was stoked to life. He took a single step toward me before stopping and shaking his head. “Can you go get changed, please?”

I frowned, my chest still rising and falling so fast. “Why?”

He turned to me again. “Because I can’t talk to you when you’re dressed like that.”

My frown deepened. “Huh?”

He growled again as he crossed the space between us and pressed my back against the wall. Ashton propped his arms on either side of my body, careful not to touch me, but close enough that his heat was burning through my clothes.

“I can’t fucking concentrate with you half-dressed. Go get changed into something normal so I can think about something else besides how badly I want to fuck you right now.”

He stared into my eyes for another long moment before he pushed off the wall and moved away from me. I watched him leave, my breaths just gasps at this point.

“I’m not changing,” I said.

He sighed loudly before storming into the living room. I hurried after him, cursing the ridiculous shoes on my feet. Ashton grabbed his suit jacket off a chair and held it out to me.

“At least put this on.”

I was about to object again, but I could smell his blazer from here and it knotted my stomach in the best way. I accepted the coat and shrugged it onto my shoulders. The sleeves were too long, so I had to shove them up my arms in order to use my hands, but it smelled amazing.

I turned to Ashton. “Happy?”

His eyes were still molten as he stared at me. “Not even a little bit.” He shook his head, and all at once, the heat in his gaze faded and anxiety replaced it. “Listen, something happened today while you were asleep.”

My heart stopped in my chest before racing ahead. “What?”

“And I think they’ve tried getting in before.”

I slowly sank onto a barstool as I tried to reconcile this information. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d really been taking the threat as seriously as I should have been. “What happened?”

“Someone knocked on your door claiming to be maintenance. He said there was a leak in here. I told him to come back later, but he kept asking questions. When I told him you weren’t home, he seemed to back off, but that’s when I found the other guy out on the fire escape.”

I gasped as my eyes darted to the emergency exit in my apartment. “Oh, no,” I whispered.

Ashton nodded slowly. “I chased that asshole down the stairs, but when I realized he wasn’t running anymore, I knew he was just the decoy. I made it back up here just as the fake-ass maintenance guy keyed into your apartment.”

I jumped to my feet. “They had a key?”

He nodded again. “I’ve already talked to Hausle, and he’s got somewhere else for you to go until we sort this out. I’ll obviously still be protecting you, but not from here.”

I shook my head, my brows furrowing. “Wait, what? I’m not leaving.”

“Millie. You can’t stay here. There’s obviously someone after you and they’ve got a fucking key to your door.”

“So, I’ll change the locks.”

“I’ve already done that.”

I shrugged. “Then we should be fine.”

His jaw was tight again. “No. We’re not fine. We don’t know how he got the key in the first place, and the other son of a bitch just climbed up the fucking fire escape. This place isn’t secure, and we need to move you.”

I just kept shaking my head. “No, Ashton. I’m not leaving. This is my home.”

He held his arms open wide, face incredulous. “Millie, it’s just an apartment! I’m sure Hausle will put you somewhere nice.”

“I don’t care where he sets me up, I’m not leaving.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“I don’t care. I’ve lived here for over a century and I’m not letting a couple of humans run me out.”

“A couple of humans who only come here during the day. Have you noticed that? They either know you’re always home when the sun’s up, or even worse, they know you’re vulnerable at that time. I can’t properly protect you here. We need to go somewhere else.”

I shook my head again, my jaw set in defiance.

He sighed and crossed the room to me, his big hands wrapping around my biceps. I tried not to get caught up in him, but with his body so close to mine, it was impossible. I took a deep breath, pulling him into my lungs as I looked up into his eyes.

“It’s not permanent,” he said softly. “It’s just for a couple days. When I talked to Hausle earlier, he said they were closing in on the boss of this operation. It’ll all be over soon.”

“Good. Then there’s no need to leave.”

He blew out a deep breath and shook his head. “Millie, I can’t protect you here. There are too many variables. Too many weak points. It’s not safe.”

I leaned against him, letting my body melt into his like it’s wanted to do since I woke up and smelled him in my room. My fingers crept up the line of buttons on his shirt as I spoke. “You won’t let anything happen to me. I trust you.”

He blew out another breath, the warm air blowing the hair away from my face. “It’s too dangerous here. Too many things out of my control. We can’t stay.”

I took another step closer to him. “Don’t make me leave my home, Ashton.”

He groaned as he shook his head. “I don’t like this, Millie.”

“I trust you,” I said again, knowing each word was the absolute truth. I knew with everything in me that Ashton would protect me. I knew I’d be safe with him, just like I knew I’d won this fight. I just didn’t know at what cost.

Chapter 11

Ashton

“Why did I smell you in my room when I woke up?”

I looked down at Millie, my heart squeezing in my chest. It felt so good to be so close to her. To feel her curves against me, to breathe her in, to touch her soft skin.

But I couldn’t do this.

She was in more danger than ever, and I couldn’t afford to let her mess with my head. I disentangled our limbs as gently as I could and took a step back. I didn’t miss the flash of hurt in her emerald eyes.

“You could smell me in there?”

Her gaze was still cautious as she nodded. “Yeah, of course. What were you doing?”

I reached up to scratch the back of my head as I looked away. If I’d known she’d find out I came in her bedroom, I’d have thought twice about doing it.

Actually, that was a lie.

In that moment, I’d needed the confirmation that she was okay, and seeing her chest slowly rising and falling with her breaths was the only way. I didn’t regret it at all.

But being called out was still awkward as fuck.

“I just went in to check on you.”

She nodded slowly. “After the break in?”

I blew out a deep breath. “Yeah. I was pretty sure no one had actually gotten in the apartment, let alone your bedroom, but I had to check anyway.”

She nodded. “Thank you. For today.”

I shrugged. “It’s my job.”

Millie shook her head. “It’s more than that, and you know it.”

I struggled to hold her gaze for a long moment before I finally looked away. This was more than a job. Millie was more than a job. But I would have done what I did for anyone. The only difference was, it wouldn’t have felt like my own damn heart was beating out of my chest if it hadn’t been Millie.

It was absolutely unacceptable that she’d been so close to danger. Just thinking about it turned my stomach. I had to find a way to keep her safe for only a couple more days. I just didn’t know how I was going to do that here. Especially after today.

“Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay somewhere else? It’ll only be for a few days and then everything will be back to normal.”

She shook her head. “I’m not leaving my home.”

My head fell back on my neck as I stared up at her ceiling. “What’s the big deal?”

She pursed her lips, her eyes shrewd as she looked at me. “Did you know I grew up here?”

My eyes widened as I looked around. “You grew up here?”

She laughed as she shook her head. “Well, not in this apartment. That came later. But I grew up in this building. My family rented a place on the third floor my whole life. And then I married the owner’s son, and we moved up here.”

My stomach fell as I listened to her story. “I didn’t know you were married,” I said quietly.

She glanced away. “It was a long time ago.” Millie shook her head and turned to me again. “After my husband’s death, the building was left to me and I started renovating this place for myself.”

“I had no idea.”

She shrugged. “Of course you didn’t. But now you know why it’s not just another apartment to me. It’s the last thing I have left of my human life. Of my parents. I can’t just leave. It’s my home.”

I blew out a deep breath, my insides twisting because I knew I was about to give in to her, and I also knew how dangerous that was. But how could I resist? With her big green eyes looking at me with so much sadness, I would have done anything in that moment to make it go away.

“Okay,” I said. “We’ll make it work here.”

Her eyes lit up so bright before she launched herself at me. Millie wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed tight as I closed my eyes and breathed her in again. I tentatively placed my hands on her back for a moment before removing them. I was scared if I held her for too long, I wouldn’t want to let go.

And that wasn’t an option.

Not yet.

When my phone started ringing in my pocket, she pulled away, and although I missed the feel of her against me instantly, it was much easier to think without her so close. “That’s probably Hausle,” I said as I fished my cell out of my pocket.

A number I didn’t recognize flashed across the screen, and I held up a finger, asking Millie to wait as I turned around to answer it.

“McGraw.”

“Is this Ashton?”

Where did I recognize that voice from? “Yes. This is.”

“Hey! It’s Jenni from last night. I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”

I glanced behind me at Millie before turning around again. Her eyes were narrowed with suspicion already, so I took a couple steps away from her.

“It’s okay. What’s up?”

“I think I left my fucking metrocard at your place and I didn’t notice until I tried to take the subway to work. I’ve looked everywhere for it and I can’t find it. The last place I remember having it was in my jeans pocket, so I’m thinking it might be somewhere in your bed.”

There was a soft gasp behind me, and I spun to find Millie with her eyes wide and her hands in fists. I frowned at her, but she just shook her head and stormed off.

“Ashton?” Jenni said.

I turned around and tried to focus on the conversation. “Yeah. I’m here. Sorry, I haven’t been home yet, but when I get there in a little bit I’ll look around and give you a call back.”

“That would be great! Thanks so much!”

“Don’t mention it,” I said as I hung up and took off after Millie.

I found her over at the fire escape window and crossed the room to stand by her side. “I had my guy add another lock over here,” I said. “And your new keys are on the kitchen counter.”

“Great,” she said before spinning around and walking away.

I frowned at her back. “Everything okay?”

“Just peachy.”

I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before following after her. This time she was in the kitchen, sitting on a countertop with her long, bare legs crossed and her new key ring spinning around her finger.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

She continued to stare at her finger as she twisted the metal ring around and around. “Who was that on the phone?”

I tilted my head as I watched her, unsure of where this was going. “Um. A friend?” I’m not sure why that came out as a question, but I was confused as fuck and had no idea what was happening.

“Do you sleep with all your friends?”

I jerked back at the venom in her words. “No. Of course not.”

“I just find it funny that you had the nerve to call me out on trying to make you jealous when you’re sleeping with other women.”

“Woah, who said I was sleeping with her?”

“I heard her! She said she left something in your bed!”

“How did you–”

“I’m a vampire, Ashton.” She spat my name.

“I don’t know what you think you heard, but it’s not that.”

She caught the keyring in her fist and turned away from me. “I know exactly what I heard. And now I think it’s time for you to go.”

Her words almost blew me back a step. “Are you serious right now? You’re not even listening to me.”

She kept her face turned as she spoke. “I don’t want to hear it. Just go.”

I stood there watching her for longer than I should have before shaking my head and turning around. If she didn’t want to listen, if she wanted to just make assumptions, then that was her prerogative.

I’d tried to explain myself, but frankly, I didn’t owe her an explanation. I hadn’t done anything wrong. Not that hooking up with Jenni would have been wrong. I was single, for fuck’s sake, and Millie’s had her fucking boy toy here every day this week.

Where did she get off being mad at me?

She overheard one private conversation and now she was the victim? After I’d had to watch that slimy bastard eye-fuck her while I stood there with my hands tied.

No.

Fuck that.

I didn’t have to put up with this shit.

My hands clenched into tight fists as I stormed through her apartment and let myself out. I took an extra moment to make sure all her locks were secured before I stomped over to the stairs. I was too pent up to stand in a little elevator box.

I raced home, my head in snarls and my foot heavy on the gas. When I got up to my apartment, I slammed the door closed and ripped the top button of my shirt open. I put my hands on my hips and just tried to breathe through the anger.

But it wasn’t helping.

I marched into my room, ready to take off my uncomfortable-ass clothes and try to forget about the last half hour, when the sight of my rumpled sheets stopped me. I always made my bed, but I hadn’t been the one to sleep in it last night.

With a sigh, I shook the sheets out, and Jenni’s metrocard fell onto the floor. I scooped it up and dialed the number she’d called me on earlier.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Jenni. It’s Ashton. I’ve got your metrocard.”

“Ugh! I knew it! Thanks so much!”

I ran a hand through my short hair and blew out a breath. “Do you want me to drop it off at your place? I was heading out in a few minutes anyway.”

“That would be amazing! You remember the address?”

“Yeah, I got it. I’ll text you when I’m on my way.”

I hung up and tossed the phone before stripping out of my professional clothes. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt before shoving her card in my pocket and leaving my apartment. Truthfully, I hadn’t wanted to go anywhere, but then I remembered I was out of beer and so a trip to the store was necessary.

Especially after this shitty ass day.

I’d texted Jenni my ETA before I left, so she was waiting at the curb when I pulled up.

“Hey,” I said as I rolled down the window.

“Hey, Ashton! Thanks so much for coming by.”

“No problem,” I said as I handed her the card.

She took it and clutched it in her fist as she looked me up and down. “You dirty up good, McGraw.”

I frowned. “Huh?”

Her smile widened. “Well, some guys clean up nice, but you already looked nice the first time I saw you. But now, seeing you in jeans and a tight t-shirt? It’s the opposite. You dirty up good as hell.”

My cheeks heated as I looked away and tried to contain my grin. This girl was absolutely shameless. “Um. Thanks?”

She laughed loud, probably enjoying my discomfort more than anything. “What are you up to tonight?”

“Nothing special. Some pizza, some baseball, a lot of beer.”

“You want some company?”

I heard the offer beneath the question and hesitated.

What was I holding out for? A woman who just wanted to play games? A woman who’d been sleeping with another man but thought she had the right to get mad that I was with someone else?

But with a sigh, I realized I still couldn’t do it.

Despite the bullshit with Millie, I still wanted her. I still craved her. I still wanted to find out what all those shadows in her pretty eyes were about and kiss her until they were gone.

And that meant I couldn’t entertain something with Jenni.

“Maybe some other time,” I said and meant it. Jenni was cool as shit. I could totally hang with her someday. I just couldn’t sleep with her.

She nodded once. “I get it.” Jenni straightened out and gave me a sad little smile, and I knew it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with her situation. “Have a good night, Ashton. Thanks again.”

I waved goodbye as I rolled my window up and headed back toward my place. I stopped to pick up a six-pack but wound up leaving with a whole case. Figured I might need it.

I spent the rest of the night trying to forget Millie all together and failing. Which led to me turning in for bed even earlier than usual. So, when my phone rang at two a.m. I was already so deeply asleep I missed the first couple of calls.

“McGraw,” I finally answered, my voice full of grit.

“We got them.”

I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the number. “Hausle?”

“Yeah, it’s me. We just took down the loan shark and all his little buddies are in our custody now.”

“What are you going to do to them?”

“Eat them, of course.”

I jerked upright in my bed. “What the fuck? You can’t just kill them!”

Alexander started laughing, and I rolled my eyes. “I’m kidding, calm the fuck down. We’re going to glamour them and then turn them in to the human authorities.”

I laid back down, my heart still racing. “Don’t fuck around like that when I’m half asleep.”

He laughed again. “I just wanted to let you know I don’t need you to guard Millie anymore. And since Charlotte doesn’t need a bodyguard either, I guess this is the end of our working relationship.”

I frowned at my dark ceiling as dread started to creep through my system. “Does that mean I’m about to wind up with a head full of fake memories?”

Alexander was quiet for a while before he finally spoke again. “No. I don’t think so. As long as you can keep your mouth shut, I think I can look the other way. Just don’t make me regret that.”

“Of course not.”

“Good. I’ll see you around.”

That was the closest thing to a sign off I’d ever gotten from Alexander Hausle. I guess he was feeling nostalgic.

I tossed my phone onto my nightstand and rolled over when a thought struck me like lightening.

I didn’t have to guard Millie anymore. Which meant I’d have no excuse to go to her apartment in the morning.

But that also meant I wouldn’t have to keep my distance anymore.

I’d promised I’d take her anywhere she wanted to go when this was all over, and now I’d be able to follow through on that.

I looked at the clock again, knowing it was only a few minutes later than the last time I checked. Which meant it was still hours from dawn and any excuse I’d have for going to her place.

I tried to sleep, but I was too excited and wound up, just tossing and turning until my alarm went off. I took the quickest shower of my life before pulling on my best suit. When I was dressed, I hurried down to my car and took off for the nearest twenty-four-hour store that sold flowers.

With a bouquet of what I’d been told were roses and lilies, I rushed to Millie’s building and impatiently rode the elevator to her apartment. When I got there, I paused for a moment, realizing I had no idea what I was even going to say to her.

A million scenarios crowded my brain as I stood there clutching her flowers. Finally, I shook my head and lifted my hand to knock. I heard the locks turning before the door was pulled open.

And Jason walked out.

He looked from me to the flowers in my hand and back, a smug grin on his face. “I think I wore her out for the night, but you can try back tomorrow.”

My stomach sank at the same time rage burst to life in my veins. I dropped the bouquet and grabbed Jason by the throat. He struggled, but I was so much stronger, there was really no contest.

“What the fuck did you just say?” I asked, my voice low and deceptive.

I heard a soft gasp behind us as Jason flailed in my arms.

“Ashton! What are you doing? Let him go!” Millie whisper-yelled.

Jason’s face was turning red as he struggled to breathe. I tossed him on his ass and stood over him. “Get the fuck out of here. Now.”

He scrambled to his feet and took off down the hall, his hand still rubbing his sore neck. I turned to find Millie with the flowers in her hand, her fingers stroking a pale pink petal.

“What’s this?”

“Nothing,” I said as I turned to walk away.

“Ashton! Wait! Where are you going?”

I stopped and turned to her again, avoiding her eyes at all costs. “I came to tell you it’s over. Hausle’s men caught the guys who were after you, and I don’t need to guard you anymore.”

“Oh,” she said quietly. I moved to turn back around when her voice broke through the silence again. “And the flowers?”

I met her eyes then for one long moment before I turned and walked away. She didn’t call after me, and she didn’t chase after me as I walked steadily to the staircase.

I wasn’t going to think about the look on Jason’s face as he’d adjusted his clothes.

I wasn’t going to think about what he’d been doing there all night with her.

And I sure as hell wasn’t going to think about the look on her face when she asked me about the flowers.

No. I was just going to go home and call my agency to see what new jobs they had available. I was officially done with this one.

Chapter 12

Ashton

“You’ve been here a while.”

I looked up from the weights I was using to find a woman standing next to me. Her dark curly hair was tucked underneath a baseball cap, her blue eyes bright beneath the bill.

I set the weights down and grabbed my towel before turning to her. “Sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was waiting for these.”

She propped a hip against a machine as she shook her head. “No. I’m not waiting. I just never see anyone stay here as long as I do.”

I’d come straight to the gym the moment I left Millie’s place that morning. I’d had nothing else to do with myself, and the new assignment from my agency didn’t start until next week. So, with all that pent-up shit swirling through my body, the only logical place to go had been the gym.

Luckily, my building had a fitness center in the basement, and it was usually empty. I’d noticed the woman when I’d come in, but I’d ignored her and got to work.

“It’s one of those days,” I said with a shrug as I grabbed my water and started chugging.

Her eyes lit appreciatively as she watched me. “I hear that. You’ve got to be almost done by now, though, right?”

I finished my bottle and crushed it in my hand. “Probably another thirty minutes at least.”

She nodded slowly. “You want a spotter?”

My eyes widened at her offer. Honestly, I was so used to working out alone, I usually didn’t do anything that required a spotter. And when I did, I didn’t ask beautiful women I didn’t know to help.

I gave her a quick perusal, not missing the way she stuck her chest out further for me. “What’s your name?”

“Nikki.”

“Nice to meet you, Nikki. I’m Ashton.”

I figured it would only be polite to get her name before I had her spot me and her crotch was right next to my head and her tits above my face. I gave her another once over, not minding one bit.

She was toned from long hours in the gym. Her slim body tight in all the right places and voluptuous in all the others. She was also pretty. Like, really pretty. So pretty I wondered why she even bothered to come talk to me when it was clear she’d never had to chase a man in her life.

“So, we doing this?” she asked.

I shrugged, even though agreeing set off a tiny little voice in the back of my head. The one that reminded me that despite what I’d said earlier, I was still very much hung up on Millie.

But I needed to get over that. Now.

She wasn’t my responsibility anymore, and frankly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to pursue someone who could so easily flip between two men.

I was a one woman kind of guy. I didn’t settle for second best and when I get what I want, I’m all in. So, being accused of sleeping with Jenni while I was actively pursuing Millie had hit a nerve. I wasn’t that guy, and I hated she thought that way of me.

With a shake of my head, I remembered I needed to let it go.

Things with Millie were over now. I wasn’t her bodyguard anymore, and after the way I left things with her earlier, I knew a reconciliation wasn’t likely.

Didn’t mean I had to like it.

And it sure as hell didn’t mean I’d just be able to forget her like that.

Because that had been my problem from the start. The moment I saw her, I wanted her. And when I finally had her, I just wanted more. I’d been drawn to her from the second our eyes met that day in Hausle’s apartment, and the more I got to know about her, the more infatuated I became.

But it was just infatuation, wasn’t it? I hardly knew anything about her. Hardly spent any time with her while she was conscious. She should have just been a hook up.

So, how did she become so much more?

“Ashton?”

I shook my head and turned to Nikki. “Oh. Um. Yeah. Why not?”

I walked over to the bench and checked the weights weren’t too heavy for her before getting into position. Nikki sauntered over, putting far more sway in her hips than necessary for just walking across a gym.

I watched her closely, waiting for something. Anything. Some sign from deep within me that it would be okay to pursue something with her. That it wouldn’t feel wrong to get her number and maybe take her out.

But it did feel wrong.

I grit my teeth as I wrapped my hands around the bar and lifted the weights into the air.

“There you go,” she purred. “You got this.”

I almost rolled my eyes. I could have benched twice this if I wanted.

I bent my arms and carefully lowered the weights before pumping them back into the air.

“Perfect,” she said as she leaned over me, her hair almost falling in my face. “Let’s do another one.”

I wanted to just tell her to go. That I was fine on my own, but I didn’t. Honestly, it felt good to catch her eye. To be appreciated. Especially after I’d had to deal with coming in second to a douche bag like Jason.

I did another rep and tuned her out as I let the adrenaline course through my body. My phone rang from across the room, but I ignored it.

“That’s it, baby. Give me another,” Nikki said, her voice deep and throaty.

This time I really did roll my eyes.

My phone rang again as I did another couple of reps. When my arms started to burn and I was finally winded, I fit the bar back into place. Nikki slid her hands down my arms as I did, and I had to stop myself from recoiling from her touch.

“That was amazing,” she said as I sat up and wiped my face with the hem of my shirt.

“Thanks.”

“Would you spot me now?”

I shrugged. I guessed it would only be fair.

As I stood up to trade positions with her, my phone rang again. “Let me go answer that real quick,” I muttered as I walked away. Honestly, I wasn’t mad about the distraction. Nikki’s attention was becoming uncomfortable.

I picked up my phone, my eyes widening as I saw the name flashing across the screen. I glanced at the time and noticed it wasn’t even noon yet.

So, what the fuck was Millie doing calling me right now?

“Millie?” I answered. “What’s going on?”

“They’re inside,” she whispered into the phone.

My heart fell to the bottom of my stomach as I gathered my shit and started running.

“Hey!” Nikki called, but I ignored her.

“Who’s they, Millie? Tell me what’s happening,” I said as I sprinted up the stairs to the ground level.

“I don’t know,” she whimpered. “I woke up to my alarm.”

“Alarm?” I asked, out of breath as I ran out of my building and down the street to where I’d parked my car.

She sniffled, and my chest tightened painfully. “If someone tries to pick the lock on my bedroom door, it triggers a UV alarm. The pain wakes me up, but it’s not enough to do serious damage. I heard them talking outside my door and then the saw started up.”

“Saw?” I asked incredulously as I jumped into my car and fired up the engine. “What saw?”

“I think they’re trying to cut the door open,” she whispered.

My heart stopped, but my foot was still heavy on the gas as I raced toward her place. “Can they get in that way?”

“No. This room is basically impenetrable.”

I blew out a tiny breath of relief, but it was short-lived. Millie was still trapped in her bedroom with who knew how many people trying to break into it. It was also the middle of the day, and if they got that door open, she was in trouble.

“Keep talking to me, Millie,” I pleaded when she’d been quiet for too long. “Tell me what they’re doing now.”

“They’re talking. They realize the saw’s not going to work and they’re discussing plan B.”

“What the fuck is plan B?”

“I don’t know yet,” she whispered.

It wasn’t until then that I noticed how sluggish she sounded. Not perky and upbeat or quick-witted like she usually was. She sounded like she was still half-asleep, and I knew that was the daylight working against her.

So not only was she in danger from the sun’s rays, she was also thinking and talking slower, which meant she was probably moving slower too.

And I was halfway across the fucking island.

I cursed Alexander Hausle as I sped through traffic. He’d said this was over. That she was safe and didn’t need a bodyguard anymore. So, what the fuck was this?

Millie gasped, and I almost ran off the road.

“What? What’s going on? Talk to me!”

“They’ve got a bomb.”

“A what?” I screamed.

“They’re going to blow the door open.”

My entire body went cold as I listened to her whispered words. I was still racing down the street as fast as I could and I was only a few blocks from Millie’s building, but it felt like a whole fucking continent.

And I knew I wasn’t going to make it in time.

“Will it work?” I asked her desperately. “Can the door be blown open?”

“I think so,” she said, her voice shaky.

I punched the steering wheel as hard as I could, hearing something crunch in my hand, but I barely noticed. “I’m close, Millie. I’m real close.”

“You’re not going to make it in time,” she whispered so softly I barely heard her.

“I know. I’m trying. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Just hold on.”

“I’m going to go downstairs.”

I think my heart stopped beating for a whole second before restarting. “What the fuck do you mean? You can’t go out there!”

“I have an escape hatch in here. It leads to the apartment below mine. I’m going down there now.”

And now it felt like I could breathe again. “That’s good. Go down there and wait for me. I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay.”

There was so much doubt in her voice, and it clawed at my insides. She didn’t believe that I’d get there in time. But that wasn’t an option.

I swerved onto the wrong side of the road to pass a car not moving fast enough as I raced down the street. “Talk to me, Millie. Where are you?”

“I’m just closing the door behind me so they can’t find the stairs.”

I let out a deep breath as I pulled to a stop in front of her building. “I’m here now. Just go down there and wait for me.”

“Ashton, I–”

A loud explosion drowned out the rest of her words. I heard it outside her building a second before I heard it through her end of the phone.

“Millie!” I screamed as my heart stopped beating again.

There was a loud, thin ringing in my ears that obliterated every other sound. It filled my head and competed with the terror swimming around in there. Finally, the ringing stopped and the first thing I heard was her voice.

“I’m here,” she said.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m downstairs now. I think they got into my room though.”

“That’s okay. They won’t find you downstairs and I’m heading into your building now. I’ll be there in just a couple minutes.”

She was quiet for a long moment, and I was just about to make her talk to me again when her voice came through the speaker. “I smell fire.”

My stomach twisted painfully as I started running again. “That’s probably just from the explosion.”

“No,” she said softly. “I can hear it now too. It’s roaring in my bedroom upstairs.”

Son of a bitch.

The bomb those idiots set off must have caused a fire upstairs in her apartment. And now she was only one floor away from it with no safe way out.

I burst into the stairwell and took the steps three at a time. “I’ll be there in a minute, Millie. Just hold on.” I passed by a fire alarm and took one extra second to pull it. The sound was almost deafening, but I barely noticed.

I just needed to get to Millie.

I ran into the hall one floor beneath her apartment and sprinted toward where she should have been. The doorknob was locked, and I started banging.

“Millie! It’s me! Open up!”

I kept pounding on the door until I heard the locks turning. I twisted the knob until it finally opened, grabbing Millie around the waist and slamming the door behind me.

I set her on her feet and pulled far enough away that I could look at her. She seemed okay physically, but judging by the way her hands shook, I knew she wasn’t okay mentally.

“Are you all right?” I asked anyway.

Her big green eyes met mine as a single drop of blood fell from one of them. “Why is this happening?” she asked, her voice so broken it broke something inside me.

I pulled her to my chest, and she melted into my embrace. Leaning down, I rested my face on top of her head and squeezed her tighter. “I don’t know, but I’m here now, okay? I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

Millie wrapped her arms around me so tight it was almost painful, but I didn’t dare make a peep.

But when the smoke was heavy enough that I could smell it too, I knew we needed to get the fuck out of here.

“We have to go,” I said as I pulled away from her.

Millie’s eyes widened. “I can’t go outside. The sun is up.”

“You can’t stay here, the fucking building is on fire.”

She looked away for a moment, her lips pursed to the side. Finally, she turned back to me and nodded. “Okay, we can take my car. It’s in the underground garage. I can ride in the trunk with a blanket over me.”

“Is that enough protection?”

She shrugged, but I didn’t miss the fear in her eyes. “It’s going to have to be.”

“Do you have a thick enough blanket down here?”

She nodded and spun out of my hold. “Grab the keys from the kitchen drawer, I’ll go get the blanket,” she called over her shoulder.

When she was back, I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door. The apartment was already full of smoke, so I didn’t waste time checking the hallway. I knew those assholes who set the fire were long gone by now.

I hurried into the stairwell, dragging an extremely slow Millie behind me. Finally, I huffed in irritation and lifted her into my arms.

“What are you doing?” she asked breathlessly.

“You were moving too slow.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m trying, but it feels like there are fifty-pound weights on each of my limbs.”

I pulled her closer and shook my head. “Don’t be sorry. It’s okay,” I promised as I flew down the steps and into the parking garage.

I didn’t bother setting her down as she gave me instructions to find her car. I breathed a sigh of relief as we finally made it, and I set her on her feet. Millie swayed to the side, and I had to grab her again before she fell.

“I’m sorry,” she said again.

“It’s fine. You’re weak from the sun,” I said as I steadied her on her feet.

“No. I’m sorry for earlier. Ashton, listen, it’s not what you–”

“Millie. Stop. We don’t have time for this. Those guys could be waiting for you to run out of the building with everyone else. We need to get somewhere safe and then we can talk about whatever you want to talk about.”

She swallowed hard and nodded.

“Now, I don’t have any safe places that are light-proof for you. Do you know where I can take you right now?”

Millie nodded. “There’s a vampire hotel. We can go there.”

She rattled off the address, and I committed it to memory. Millie hit a button on her keys that popped the trunk and stood there looking at it.

“I’m sorry,” I said behind her. “I know this isn’t ideal, but we don’t have a choice.”

She nodded again, slower this time. “It’s okay. It’s just for a few minutes. I’ll be okay.”

I watched her shoulders rise and fall with her rapid breaths as I frowned. “You don’t seem okay.”

She shook her head this time. “I don’t like dark, cramped spaces.”

And she was about to get locked into the trunk of a car. I looked around the garage for another solution but knew there wasn’t one. I could hear the firetrucks in the distance and knew we wouldn’t be able to get back into the building for hours. I wasn’t going to risk that.

We didn’t know where those men were, but I could assume they were somewhere waiting for her. That meant we needed to leave. Now.

“I’m sorry, Millie. But we need to go.”

She nodded as she crawled in the trunk and curled into a ball. I held her gaze as I laid the blanket over her body.

“Not the face, please.”

“But you could burn.”

She closed her eyes and swallowed once. “I’ll take my chances.”

I tucked the blanket under her chin and stepped back to close the trunk when her voice stopped me again. “Can I call you?”

I frowned, her words not adding up.

She wiggled her arm out from underneath the blanket and held up her cell. “That way I can concentrate on something besides this small, dark space I’m trapped in.”

My heart squeezed in my chest and I’d have given anything in that moment to trade places with her. I’d rather have been the vulnerable one. The one whose life was on the line. The one who had to be locked in a trunk like a piece of luggage.

But none of my wishes were going to change anything.

I pulled out my cell and waved it in the air. “Go ahead. I’ll talk to you the whole way there.”

She smiled softly, but there was no missing the stark fear in her eyes as I closed the trunk.

Chapter 13

Millie

“Hello?”

“I’m here, Millie.”

I breathed a small sigh of relief before stopping myself. It already felt like the air was thinner in this trunk. I tried to breathe slowly in through my nose and out through my mouth, but it was choppy and bordering on gasps instead.

“Millie? Talk to me.”

“Yeah,” I said as I squeezed my eyes closed. “I’m here.”

But oh, how I wished I was anywhere else.

“Talk to me,” he said again. “Tell me why you don’t like small spaces.”

My stomach twisted painfully, my hands so sweaty I could barely hold the phone. “I don’t want to talk about that right now.” That sentence had used up all the oxygen in my lungs, and I tentatively took another breath. “Tell me a story. What were you doing when I called you?”

He was quiet for a moment. “I was at the gym, actually.”

I smiled, despite my current situation. “It figures you’re a gym rat.” A body like Ashton’s takes work, and I wondered why I’d never thought about how he maintained it.

He chuckled. “You can blame the military for that.”

I carefully pulled in another breath as we went over a bump and I was jostled back and forth. “I didn’t know you were in the military.”

“Yeah. I did five years with the SEALs.”

We went over another bump, and when I came to a stop near the trunk door, there was a sharp pain pierced my back. I gasped and scurried away.

“Millie! What’s going on?”

I rolled back over and saw there was some sun peeking through where the taillights were. I wrapped the blanket tighter around me as I huddled into the far corner of the trunk. “It’s not lightproof back here.”

He cursed loudly, and I focused on his words. On each syllable as I imagined the way his full lips would look making those sounds. It helped to think about something else besides my current situation.

“What do I do?” he asked, his voice strained.

“There’s nothing we can do. I’m okay right now, just get us to the hotel.” He growled softly, and I heard the engine rev as we jolted forward. “Keep talking to me,” I pleaded.

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything. It doesn’t matter. Just talk, please.”

He cleared his throat. “Um, well, I joined the SEALs because of my dad. He was a navy man too. We spent a lot of time moving around the world with his different assignments. It was an interesting childhood.”

“I’ve never been out of the states,” I whispered.

“Really?”

I nodded, even though I knew he couldn’t see me. “I’ve only even been out of New York a handful of times.”

“Why? You’ve clearly got the money.”

I smiled. Money I had. I’d renovated my building years ago, and the rent I made on those apartments kept me more than comfortable. No, my issue had always been fear.

“I don’t like being far away from home,” I explained.

He was quiet for a long time and just as I opened my mouth to ask him to talk again, he spoke. “Where would you go if you could?”

“Greece,” I answered immediately. I closed my eyes and envisioned the whitewash walls and blue, blue waters. “One of the islands. Like Santorini.”

“I’ve never been.”

I laughed. “I’ve been promising myself a trip there for decades and I never do it.”

“We should go.”

My eyes whipped open. “Go? To Greece?”

“Why not?”

Oh, I could think of a hundred reasons why not right off the top of my head. But it was more fun to pretend, so I shrugged.

“Maybe someday.”

The dreams of Greece slowly faded as the walls of the trunk began to creep in again. I was trying to keep my breathing even and not use up all the air in the enclosed space, but I was panting, my heart racing so hard it felt like it would beat right out of my chest.

“Millie? What’s going on?”

“It’s so tight back here,” I gasped. “I can’t breathe.” I pulled at the neckline of my shirt, hoping it would help open my airway, but it did nothing.

“Yes, you can.” Ashton’s stern voice just barely broke through the panic. “You’ve got plenty of air and we’re almost there. Just take a slow breath, all the way in.”

“I can’t,” I whimpered, shaking my head back and forth. “I can’t breathe.” I stretched out as far as I could, but when my knees hit a wall, it only made me panic more. “It’s too tight in here. There’s not enough air.”

“Millie,” he snapped.

I closed my eyes as I strained to listen to his voice above the sound of my own heart racing.

“Listen to me,” he said. “Breathe like me. In,” he said slowly before taking a big, exaggerated breath, “And out.” He blew into the phone line and it was like he was right there next to me.

“Breathe, Millie.”

I pulled the air into my straining lungs and held it for a moment.

“Now, let it out.”

I did as he asked, releasing the air slowly, willing my heart to calm down.

“Again,” he said.

I took another breath in and let it out again.

“Can you hear me breathing?” he asked.

“I can barely hear anything over my own heartbeat,” I whispered.

“Can you hear my heart?”

“Yes.”

“Then focus on that. Can you hear how steady it is? Just listen to that and keep taking deep, even breaths. We’re almost there.”

“Okay,” I said as I exhaled. “I can do this. We’re almost there.”

“That’s right, Millie. Just keep breathing and I’ll get you somewhere safe.”

He continued to breathe loudly into the phone, and I squeezed my eyes shut, focusing on that alone.

“Are you doing okay?” he asked softly.

I nodded again. “Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just focusing on you.”

“That’s right. Just listen to me and we’ll get through this together.”

I smiled in the dark trunk, wishing I could have seen what color his eyes were in that moment.

“Millie?”

“Hmm?”

“What happened to you?”

I opened my eyes and frowned into the darkness. “With what?”

“I know I don’t have any right to ask this, but what happened to make you so afraid?”

I shuddered in the car, my breaths already more ragged.

“Never mind,” he said quickly. “Don’t worry about it. Just focus on my breathing again. In, out, in, out.”

I took a deep breath in and held it for as long as I could, eyes squeezed closed. As I let it out, I said, “My ex-husband locked me in a closet once.”

The line went silent. He wasn’t even breathing anymore.

“What?” he said. His voice was soft, but it didn’t fool me. There was a whole load of anger beneath it, and for some reason, that made it easier to keep talking.

“He was a drunk,” I continued. “And when he’d come home in a rage, I’d hide in my closet until he was done.” I pressed my lips together as I twisted the blanket in my hands. “One night he found me and told me I could stay there.” I swallowed hard. “He put a chair in front of the door and left.”

Ashton was back to breathing, but that was all I heard from his end. I matched my breaths to his, but my fingers were still busy picking at the blanket covering me.

“For how long?” he finally asked.

My stomach cramped instantly. “I don’t know,” I whispered. “It was a long time, though. At least a whole day.”

He was quiet for another long minute before he growled. “Millie.”

My lips twitched with a smile, my breaths still coming easy. I don’t know why, but hearing Ashton’s rage being aimed at my ex-husband made me feel better. Safer. Like Richard’s ghost was still haunting me, but now I had Ashton around to scare him off.

I wish he’d been there to protect me eighty years ago, but late was better than never.

“I’m so fucking sorry.” Ashton’s voice broke through my thoughts.

“It’s okay.”

“It’s fucking not okay, Millie. Not okay at all. If that son of a bitch wasn’t already dead, I’d kill him myself.”

I flattened the wrinkled blanket along my stomach. “You can take a piss on his grave,” I offered.

Ashton snorted. “You show me where it is, and I’ll do it.”

I giggled, the sound so foreign in this situation. How did Ashton do that? How did he have the power to make me feel better when nothing else would? How could he make me laugh while I was living my worst nightmare?

“I’m pulling in now,” he said into the phone and I breathed a sigh of relief.

We were there. It was almost over.

I felt the car come to a stop, and he turned the engine off. “I guess I’ll go inside and make a reservation? I don’t know how this works. Is there even someone working here during the day?”

I smiled again. “Yeah, they’ll have a claimed human working the desk to keep up appearances and to send away anyone who wanders in. Just tell them you’ve got me in the car and you shouldn’t have any issues.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

“Hurry,” I whispered as the demons and shadows swirled around me again.

“I will,” he said before ending the call.

I turned on my phone’s flashlight and laid it next to me. It wouldn’t be long until I was out of here. I just needed to keep calm until Ashton came back.

Which was easier said than done.

It started with my heartbeat. It didn’t race at first, but as I listened to Ashton’s footsteps walk away from me, it only pumped harder.

What if something happened to him?

What if he didn’t come back?

What if I was stuck in here?

What if I ran out of air before he returned?

What if someone else opened the trunk, and I started burning in the sunlight?

What if, what if, what if?

They spun around my head, making me dizzy, which also made me think I was running out of oxygen. I held my hand over my heart as I gasped and strained to take in a deep breath, but couldn’t.

I ripped the blanket off me, barely noticing when my legs began to burn. The smoke rose from my skin, and the smell of burnt flesh hit my nose. It was thick and acrid and made it even harder to breathe.

I scratched at the trunk door, not caring that if I was successful, I’d be in full daylight. I just needed to get out of the trunk and breathe.

“Millie?”

My panic had been so loud I hadn’t heard him come back.

“Ashton! Get me out of here!” I gasped.

“There’s nowhere safe to open the trunk.”

“I don’t care. I have to get out!” I called, my lungs straining even harder for the oxygen I knew I was out of.

“Millie, you’ll burn.”

“I don’t care! Open the trunk!” I screamed.

He blew out a deep breath. “Cover yourself at least.”

I pulled the blanket up to my chin, but still couldn’t cover my face. A little beep sounded seconds before the trunk popped open and blinding sunlight streamed inside.

I screamed as the rays burned me, even through the blanket. The cries tore at my throat as I scurried further into the trunk and away from the sun.

“Millie, I can’t reach you,” Ashton grunted.

“It burns!” I cried, still frantically trying to get away from the light.

“Just… come… here,” he said between gritted teeth. Finally, his hands wrapped around my leg and he pulled me to the front of the trunk.

I screamed again as the sun hit me dead on and my skin began to burn. Ashton pulled the blanket tighter around me before he started running. Tears poured down my face and smoke billowed off my body as I cried and burned and begged for it to end.

“Make it stop,” I wailed.

“I’m trying, Millie. Just stay with me.”

I burrowed my head against his chest and continued to sob as the pain overtook the panic I’d been feeling. It was so awful, I barely noticed when it stopped.

“We’re inside now,” Ashton murmured against my head. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

I slung my arms around his neck, the tears relentless. Ashton continued to carry me like I weighed nothing, all while whispering reassurances in my ear. I couldn’t make out what he was saying over my cries, but just the tone of his voice was enough to soothe me.

By the time he opened our hotel room door and carried me inside, I’d stopped bawling, but the tears were still streaming down my face. Ashton set me gently on the bed and opened the blanket still wrapped around me.

I screamed as my skin peeled away with the fabric.

“Son of a bitch,” he spat as he wrapped me back up.

All I could do was whimper. The pain was so unbearable I didn’t know how I was still conscious.

“What can I do?” Ashton asked as he kneeled in front of me. “How can I help?”

My fangs ached in my gums and I knew there was only one way I was healing from this. “Blood,” I croaked.

He nodded his head fast before scooping me up and carrying me to the head of the bed. Ashton sat down with me in his lap and tucked my head against his neck.

“Here. Drink,” he said.

The rational part of me knew this would only complicate the convoluted relationship we had, but my survival instincts were louder. I needed this blood to heal, and he was offering it freely.

I gently slid my fangs into his neck and began drinking. His sharp gasp barely broke through the haze, just like I hardly felt his hands wrap around my waist.

As I drank, the pain slowly started to fade. It started deep inside me, repairing the worst of my injuries. Once it was done, it spread through my extremities, making my fingers and toes tingle as I healed.

When I’d had more than enough of his blood, I bit my tongue and sealed his wounds before pulling back. Ashton’s eyes were so blue as they met mine.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his hand reaching up to tuck some hair behind my ear.

I closed my eyes and nodded. “Much better.”

He chuckled as he moved me off his lap and onto the bed. The soft mattress enveloped me, and I snuggled into it. “You should get some rest,” he said as his weight left the bed.

I nodded, the heaviness of the daylight already pulling me under.

But just before I lost consciousness, I remembered I had something to tell Ashton. Something he should have known a long time ago, but after what happened today, it wouldn’t have been fair to keep it from him any longer. He deserved the truth at the very least.

“Ashton?” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

I felt the bed dip as he leaned close to me. “Yeah?”

“I didn’t sleep with him. I didn’t even drink from him. I just glamoured him to think we did to make you jealous.” My eyes were too heavy to open, but that worked in my favor. I didn’t think I wanted to see the look on his face in that moment.

“Why would you do that?” he finally asked.

I sighed. “I wanted to change your mind about dating me.”

“Millie,” he said, exasperation clear in his voice. But that was the last thing I heard before the blackness pulled me under.

Chapter 14

Ashton

“Millie?”

Nothing.

According to Google, the sun set almost five minutes ago, but she still wasn’t awake. And I didn’t know how this shit worked.

I watched her smooth face, waiting for a twitch of an eyelid or the scrunch of her nose to indicate she was about to wake up, but there was nothing. She was still, and lifeless, and so beautiful I couldn’t stop looking at her.

I’d sat in the hotel room for hours, watching her sleep and making her promises she knew nothing about.

Promises like I wouldn’t leave her again until I knew for sure the danger had passed.

Like I wouldn’t ever let someone hurt her again like her ex-husband had.

Like planning to take a long-ass vacation with her as soon as the dust settled from this mess. I’d bring her to as many countries as I could, Greece first.

I didn’t know if she’d go for that last one, but I promised to at least try. She was worth it. And more importantly, she deserved it.

I was still watching her closely when her eyes popped wide open. I almost jumped at how abrupt the transition had been.

“Millie?”

She turned her head to me, her pink mouth pulling into a smile. “Hey.”

My hands reached out without my permission to brush the hair off her face. When I realized what I was doing, I pulled away and cleared my throat. “How are you feeling?”

She turned to stare up at the ceiling again as she moved her arms and legs. “I think I’m fully healed.”

That was a load I hadn’t realized was so heavy. I’d watched the angry red burns slowly fade as she slept, but there was no way for me to know if she’d been healing internally or not. Now, knowing she was okay, it felt like I could breathe again.

I laid down onto the pillow next to her and tried to prop my head up with my hand, but the sharp pain in my knuckles prevented that. I must have made a sound because Millie’s head whipped in my direction.

“What’s the matter?”

I shook out my hand. “Nothing. No big deal.”

She frowned as she reached for my fingers and pulled them toward her face. Millie twisted my hand back and forth, and I knew there was no way she missed the bloody and bruised knuckles.

“What is this?” she asked quietly.

I shrugged. “I punched something earlier. Don’t even remember what.”

She turned to me with a raised brow. “Do you punch a lot of things?”

“When I’m pissed off like I was today? Yeah.”

Her eyes darted away from mine and back to my injured hand. She ran her fingers along my knuckles, gently pressing here or there as I tried to not hiss in pain. Finally, she turned to me again. “I think it’s broken.”

“Yeah, I think so too. I’ll get it wrapped later or something.”

She looked back at my hand as she spoke. “I could heal you.”

My stomach flipped hard inside me. “You don’t have to do that,” I said, my voice deeper than it was a moment ago.

Millie’s big green eyes met mine, and they were so full of emotion they took my breath away. “Ashton, it’s the least I can do. Please, let me help you.”

I hesitated. Last time I drank from her ended in us banging on Hausle’s marble floor. I wasn’t sure we were back at that place. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted us to be back to that place.

But who the fuck was I kidding? I nodded. “Okay.”

She smiled and my stomach flipped back the other way. Millie brought her wrist to her mouth before holding it out to me. Twin rivers of blood were flowing down her pale arm as I pulled it to my mouth.

I met her eyes as I pressed my lips to the wounds and started sucking. Millie gasped, and I was instantly hard. I couldn’t look away as I drank her blood and felt it healing my hand. It tingled like it had fallen asleep, but I remembered that’s what it had been like last time she healed me, so I kept going.

If someone told me a couple weeks ago that I’d be happily drinking blood, I wouldn’t have believed them. But Millie’s blood was different. It was almost sweet.

When the pins and needles finally faded away, I pulled my mouth off her wrist and licked my lips. Millie’s wide eyes followed my tongue as I did, her gaze heating.

I cleared my throat and pulled a couple inches away so I could breathe again without her clouding my senses. But it wasn’t really working.

“Thanks,” I said.

She smiled as she laid there looking at me. “It was the least I could do.”

We were quiet as we stared at each other, that impossible connection between us only growing stronger and harder to ignore. But when her gaze shuttered, and she looked away, I knew I wasn’t going to like what came out of her mouth next.

“Are you upset with me?”

I frowned. “Why would I be upset?”

She glanced at me quickly before looking away again. “Because of the Jason thing. I lied just to make you jealous.”

I blew out a deep breath as I was confronted by that information for a second time. Honestly, I didn’t know what to think because I was feeling too many different things at once.

Relief that she hadn’t actually been sleeping with him.

Irritation that she’d led me to believe she was.

Happiness that I was still the last person to be inside her.

I didn’t know where that last possessive thought came from, but it was loud and overpowering in my head.

“I’m not upset,” I finally said.

The look in her eyes was skeptical. “Really?”

I shrugged. “Really. I am confused though. Why did you feel like you needed to do that? You already knew how badly I wanted you.”

Her eyes flashed. “Then why was it so easy to turn me down?” she said, a defiant tilt to her chin.

I clenched my fists to stop myself from reaching out for her. “Because keeping you safe was more important. Because I was happy to wait for you.”

Millie’s cheeks flushed as she rolled away from me. “I don’t know how to do this,” she said so softly I barely heard her. “I don’t know how to go after someone I want. I don’t know how to be with a man in a healthy way. I don’t know anything about dating or hook-ups or even real relationships.”

She blew out a deep breath and closed her eyes. “The one and only relationship I’ve ever been in was a nightmare.” She pressed her lips together for a moment before speaking again. “All it ever taught me about the opposite sex was how to be wary.”

Millie turned her head to look at me, her expression apologetic. “So, I have no idea what to do with this,” she said, gesturing between us.

I took a moment to let all that sink in before scooting closer. “I’m not your ex-husband.”

“I know,” she said quietly.

“I’d never hurt you.”

She nodded. “I know that too.”

“Then let’s stop with the games, okay?”

Her green eyes seemed to take up half her face as she stared at me. “Okay,” she whispered. “No more games.” She picked up the edge of the blanket I’d thrown over her and pinched it between her fingers. “So, where does that leave us?”

There was so much hesitation in her voice. So much doubt. My knuckles ached with how hard I was clenching my fists, but I couldn’t touch her. Not yet.

“Exactly where we were before, but without the games. I can’t entertain anything with you until I know you’re safe.”

She studied her hands as she picked at the fabric. “But no one knows where we are. And this place is secure. Why can’t we be together here?”

Fuck, why did that hurt so bad? “Millie,” I said, my voice ragged.

I could feel my walls crumbling. My defenses absolutely useless against her. How the fuck was I supposed to keep turning her down when all I wanted to do was be with her? How the fuck was I supposed to tell her no when it hurt me just as much as it hurt her?

She took a shaky breath in and let it out before sitting up and scooting to the edge of the bed. “It’s okay,” she said, and I instantly knew she was lying.

“Millie,” I said again as I sat up and watched her move around the room.

“I said it’s okay.”

“Where are you going?” I called as she walked toward the door.

“I need to feed. I’m going to go see if the front desk has any blood for sale. Or a human to drink from.”

My stomach turned as I imagined her with someone else. Anyone else. And I knew in that instant that if I wanted her, I needed to go after her. I couldn’t ask her to keep waiting for me. And to be honest, I didn’t want to wait any longer for her either.

“Wait,” I called. She stopped walking, but she didn’t turn around. “I can feed you.”

Her shoulders tensed as she froze in place. I’m not even sure she was breathing as she slowly turned to face me. “What?”

I stood and crossed the room to stand in front of her. “Feed from me.”

Her hands shook as she twisted them together in front of her. “You don’t want that.”

“I do.”

She shook her head. “You don’t. You know what’s going to happen if I feed from you.”

My insides were so chaotic as my wants warred with my needs.

I wanted to keep her safe, but I needed to erase that look from her face.

I wanted to do my job, but I needed to be with her.

It was like a compulsion. I gravitated toward her. Yearned for her. Even though I’d told her repeatedly I couldn’t sleep with her while I was her guard, I never stopped wanting her so bad it was almost painful.

And now I was about to go against every bit of good sense I had left.

I reached out and slid my hand around the back of her neck. Millie looked up at me, and I swear I saw straight into her soul.

I pulled her head closer to me and bent down so she could reach. “Just drink,” I said.

Millie breathed softly against my skin as her hands wrapped around the back of my neck. “You’re sure?” she whispered.

I pulled her closer until my straining dick was pressed between us and every one of her heartbeats pounded in my chest. “Yes.”

She took a tiny breath in before there was a sharp pain in my neck. Her cool lips met my skin, and I groaned as she took her first sip. Millie’s fingers dug into the back of my head as she pulled me closer and drank deeper.

With another groan, I lifted her into my arms and walked us back to the bed. I laid her beneath me, her mouth never leaving my skin for a moment. My hands drifted down her body, mapping out her curves and memorizing every part of her.

When her back arched against me, I filled my hands with her breasts and squeezed. Millie moaned against my neck as I found her hardened nipples beneath her shirt and twisted them between my fingers.

“Ashton,” she gasped as she pulled away from my neck.

Her eyes were wide and hazy as she stared at me. I turned my head again. “Keep drinking.”

She let out another shaky breath before sealing her lips back onto my neck. When she sucked hard, I ground my hips into hers, Millie’s soft moans spurring me on.

I yanked the neckline of her shirt down to free her breasts and watched as they spilled over the fabric. I licked my thumb and rubbed it around one hardened peak, smiling when she gasped against my neck.

Millie pulled her mouth away from me again as she pressed her tits harder into my hands. “Ashton,” she whispered, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands grasping at my shirt.

I pulled it over my head and tossed it aside before relieving her of her top as well. As I knelt next to her on the bed, Millie’s hot gaze found my naked chest and widened. My dick strained against my zipper as she slowly looked me up and down, the appreciation clear on her face.

“Damn,” she whispered.

I leaned closer. “What is it?”

Millie looked up at me. “You’re stunning.”

My cheeks heated, and I looked away, but she caught my face and turned it back to hers. I had one more moment to stare into her captivating eyes before she pulled my lips to hers and I lost my train of thought.

My hands had no such problem.

They were busy removing the rest of our clothes and exploring her in a way I hadn’t been able to last time. I reluctantly pulled my mouth away from hers to see what I’d uncovered.

Millie was fucking perfect.

From her pert tits to her flared hips, there wasn’t a single part of her that wasn’t gorgeous. And I was determined to put my hands and my lips on every inch of her.

I cupped her breasts again in both hands, loving the feel of their weight in my palms. She moaned, and I squeezed harder. When that wasn’t enough, I pulled a nipple into my mouth and sucked hard.

I was rewarded by a gasp and smiled against her skin as my hands traveled lower. They skated down her chest and over her stomach before I found her wet center and slowed. Millie moved her hips against my hand, but I kept my touch light.

“Ashton,” she groaned.

I covered her breasts in kisses as I slowly rubbed her slit. “Yes?”

She leaned up on her elbows, her eyes bright. “I want you.”

How the fuck was I supposed to say no to that?

I pressed two fingers inside her, my cock aching at how wet she was. Millie fell back on the bed again and moaned as I slowly fucked her with my hand.

“You look so fucking beautiful like this,” I whispered against her wet nipple. “I can’t wait to watch you come again.”

She shook her head back and forth as I pumped harder into her and sucked her nipple between my lips again. Millie’s hands dug into my short hair as I slid down her body, trailing wet kisses along her skin.

“Are you ready to come?” I breathed against her wet folds.

“Yes!” she whispered.

My fingers slid in and out of her quicker as I leaned down to suck her clit into my mouth. The moment I did, she screamed beneath me, her body arching and her hands clenched around my head.

While she was still in the throes of her monstrous orgasm, I crawled up her body and eased my cock inside her. Millie’s head whipped in my direction, her eyes wide as she whispered, “Yes,” again.

That was all the encouragement I needed.

I pulled her thighs up around my waist before planting my hands next to her head. Millie tightened her legs around me as I ground my hips against hers. I was so deep inside her, she’d never get me out of her system.

Millie’s nails dug into my back, and I knew she was close again. I leaned down and bit her nipple hard as she gasped and shuddered beneath me.

“Come on, beautiful,” I groaned. “Let me see you come on my cock. Let me watch you fall apart. Come with me this time,” I demanded as I slammed into her once more and she screamed again.

I held her tight against me as I came seconds later, my face buried in her neck. When I could move again, I laid her back down, but kept our chests pressed together. Our lungs worked in sync as our hearts pounded, and I knew I wouldn’t ever be able to let her go again.

Chapter 15

Millie

“McGraw.”

Ashton had ignored the first three calls before getting up to answer this one. I missed his warm arms around me instantly. Now that they were gone, they left a coldness I wasn’t prepared for.

What just happened between us?

Was it going to change our dynamic?

How?

Was I supposed to treat him differently now?

Were we dating?

The questions spun and spun around my head, and I had answers for none of them.

I heard Alexander’s voice through the phone and knew they were talking about what happened earlier, but I tuned them out. I didn’t want to think about that, so I rolled over and fished my phone out of my pants. It was almost dead, but had enough life left for me to see the multitude of messages and calls I’d missed.

Most of them were from Allie, and I really didn’t have time to talk to her right now. I sent a quick text saying I was okay, and I’d fill her in later, just so she wouldn’t worry. When I was done, I turned to see Ashton had pulled on pants, but was still shirtless as he sat on the edge of the bed.

My eyes ate up all the smooth golden skin of his back before I ripped my gaze away. Despite what we’d just done, I didn’t want to get caught staring.

I slid out of bed and pulled on my old, dirty clothes. They smelled like smoke and it turned my stomach. There was no doubt my whole apartment smelled like this now too.

If I even still had an apartment.

My pulse started racing at that thought, and I had to squeeze my eyes closed and focus on my breaths before I had a full-blown panic attack.

With a shake of my head, I crossed the room and picked up the hotel phone. I’d never been here, but I’d heard enough about it from all the times Allie had. I knew the concierge could get you anything you wanted, and I was about to take advantage of that.

“Hi, yes, I’m in room one-eleven. I need some clothes.”

“Of course, ma’am,” the pleasant voice on the other end of the line said. “What can I get you and what sizes would you like?”

“Um,” I stalled. I didn’t know Ashton’s sizes, and I couldn’t remember the last time I bought clothes for a man. Guess he was getting scrubs too. “Can I have a set of extra-large men’s scrubs, and a medium set of women’s scrubs. Color doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, absolutely. Do you need anything else?”

I wracked my brain before I came up with something else we needed. “Um, food? Could you get a burger and fries or something?” I knew Ashton preferred to cook, but there were of course no kitchens in a vampire hotel. Fast food would have to do for now.

He assured me the food and clothes would be here within the hour, and I hung up the phone.

“What do you need scrubs for?”

My heart leapt to my throat as I whirled around to face Ashton. “What?” I gasped, my hand over my chest.

“What do you need scrubs for?” he asked again.

His voice very clearly said he had a suspicion, but he was hoping it wasn’t right. Well, too bad for him.

“All my clothes are going to smell, and I need to be at work soon.”

He shook his head. “You’re not going to work.”

I raised my brows at him and his tone of voice. “Yes, I am.”

“Millie, you can’t be serious.”

I rolled my eyes. “What? Do you think they’re going to follow me into the hospital?”

“Maybe!” he yelled as he threw his hands in the air.

I shook my head and pushed past him. “This isn’t up for discussion. I don’t miss work for anything and I’m not missing it today.”

“Millie, we don’t know who is after you or how many of them there are. We need to stay somewhere safe and secure until Hausle and his men can take care of this.”

I turned around to look at him again. “Ashton, I’m going to work. The floor I’ll be on is secure. No one’s going to get to me there.”

He shook his head. “Not good enough. Not after yesterday. We’re not taking any chances anymore.”

I shrugged. “Fine. Then come with me.”

He jerked backward. “Come with you to the hospital? How? I don’t even know what the fuck you do there.”

His shoulders were tense, hands clenched, and I knew it was out of concern for me. I crossed the room and placed my palm on his bare chest. “I know you’re worried, but I’ll be okay there. And if you’re still worried, you can come with me. They’re always looking for more volunteers.”

He looked down at me and grunted. “You aren’t even getting paid for this job and you won’t miss one day?”

I shook my head. “No. My job is too important.”

He blew out a deep breath and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. Ashton pulled me to his chest and my heart raced out of control. “Okay,” he sighed into the top of my head. “But we’re doing this my way and we’re doing it safely. Got it?”

I nodded and closed my eyes, reveling in the warmth of his skin against mine. As a vampire, I ran cooler and hardly noticed temperatures. But Ashton was so hot it felt like he’d burn right through me in the best way.

With a sigh, I pulled out of his arms and looked up into his eyes. “I should get in the shower.”

His gaze heated as his lips curled into a smile. “I could join you.”

My eyes widened, my mouth falling open with a gasp. “I’ve… never showered with someone else before.”

His smile grew as he bent down to scoop me into his arms. “Then let me enlighten you.”

Ashton spent a long time in that shower teaching me about how fun it could be to share. After that, I didn’t know how I was supposed to shower alone anymore.

We’d just stepped out, our skin pink from the hot water and our smiles wide when there was a knock on the door.

Ashton wrapped a towel around his waist. “I’ll get it.”

I used my speed to beat him to the door and block it. “You’re not going anywhere like that.”

He rolled his eyes as he picked me up and moved me out of his way. I was a vampire and so much stronger, but I was also much smaller, which meant I didn’t pose much of an obstacle for him.

“I’m just grabbing our things and I’ll be right back.”

I ripped a bathrobe off a hook and threw it at the back of his head. “At least put that on.”

He shook out the terrycloth and slung it over his shoulders, his eyes bright with humor as he watched me. “I think I like how jealousy looks on you.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Just go before I change my mind.”

He laughed but did as I asked. I grabbed the hairdryer and turned back to the mirror, hoping to do something with all this hair.

Ashton stuck his head in the door a few minutes later and I took a stack of light blue scrubs from him. He wouldn’t release them until I gave him a kiss though, and the butterflies flapped so hard in my stomach it almost hurt.

When I was dressed, I left the bathroom to find him halfway through his meal.

“Thanks for this. I haven’t eaten all day.”

My stomach pinched painfully. “Why didn’t you call for something before now?”

He shrugged as he chewed a massive bite. “Didn’t think a vamp hotel would have food.”

I shook my head as I crossed the room to pick up my phone, but it had finally died. “What time is it?”

Ashton wiped his lips with a napkin before picking up his cell. “A little after six.”

“We have to get going.”

He nodded as he gathered his trash and stood. “I’m ready.”

I opened my mouth to answer him, but shut it as an idea popped into my head. And now that it was there, I couldn’t get rid of it.

“Hey, could we stop by my place first?”

Ashton turned to me with a frown. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Millie.”

I dug the toe of my sneaker into the plush carpet. “I just need to see it,” I said quietly.

He sighed and walked over to wrap his hands around my arms. “It’s not safe.”

I looked up at him. “But you’ll be with me.”

He laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “I’m not infallible, Millie. And I’m only one guy.”

I leaned into him. “I trust you.”

Ashton blew out a deep breath as he wrapped his arms around my back. “I can call Hausle,” he finally said. “Maybe he can send a few men to meet us over there.”

“Okay,” I said against his chest.

He sighed again and kissed the top of my head. “Then let’s go. I’ll call him on the way.”

I grabbed my dead phone and followed him out of the room. We loaded into my car with Ashton driving again and took off for my apartment.

“Have you heard from anyone in your building?” he asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “The super’s been trying to get in touch with me, but I don’t really want to deal with that right now. He knows what to do. He can handle it for now.”

He was quiet for a while before he picked up my hand and threaded his fingers through mine. “I’m here too, you know.”

I squeezed him back and closed my eyes, focusing on the feel of his warm skin and not the nightmare my life had become.

When the car slowed, I opened my eyes again and looked around. When I caught sight of my building, my stomach cramped deep inside me.

There was yellow police tape blocking the entrance but, thankfully, no officers or firefighters. There were however a couple of vampires, and I assumed they were Alexander’s men.

Ashton parked on the street and helped me out before walking over to talk to the guards. I ducked under the plastic meant to keep others out and stepped into my building. There was soot tracked through the lobby, but that seemed to be the only difference so far.

“We need to take the stairs,” Ashton said from behind me.

I nodded and headed for the stairwell. We climbed in silence, my tongue stuck in my mouth and my stomach in knots. When we made it to my floor, Ashton hurried ahead to open the door, and I stepped through, my eyes going wide.

The ceiling was scorched, the carpet soaking wet beneath my feet. It squelched loudly with every step as I slowly walked to my apartment.

The front door was wide open, the walls and ceiling black from the fire. I carefully stepped over debris as I made my way inside.

I stood in the middle of my living room, Ashton’s heart beating right behind me, and looked around.

“It’s ruined,” I said quietly.

My apartment was destroyed. Furniture charred, glass broken, puddles on the floor. The longer I looked, the more I found.

Ashton’s arm wrapped around my shoulders before he tugged me into his side. “It’s okay. You can rebuild all this.”

I shook my head. “This was my home, Ashton.”

“I know,” he said softly. “I’m so sorry.”

I sniffed the tears back as I looked around, seeing my personal possessions, things I’d bought and loved, ruined.

It was humbling.

It was upsetting.

But it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.

I nodded against Ashton’s chest. “It’s okay. It’s just things. It’s just an apartment.”

He squeezed me tighter. “It was your apartment, and it was special to you, but it’s replaceable. Everything is replaceable but you. You’re fine and that’s all that really matters.”

He was right. I was okay, and according to the super’s messages, everyone else in the building was okay too. That’s what was really important. Not things. Not four walls and a roof.

I sniffed again. “Can we go?”

Despite my brave thoughts, seeing my home like that still hurt. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do next, but I had to get out of here.

Ashton led me back downstairs and over to my car. Once we were inside, he asked, “Which hospital are we going to?”

I gave him directions before I fell silent, my eyes on the building and people streaming past the windows.

“I’m sorry, Millie,” Ashton finally said.

I turned to him, my smile weak. “I think it’s okay. I think this is a chance to try something new. To get out of this rut I’ve been in.”

He nodded. “If that’s what you want, that’s great.”

“Well, I don’t really have a choice.”

“Of course you do. You can rebuild your apartment and fill it with the exact same stuff if you want.”

I thought about that for a second, but that felt like going backward. If I wanted to move forward, if I wanted to move on from my old life and embrace the second chance I’d been given, I needed to start fresh. It might have been eighty years late, but I guess that was better than never.

I instructed Ashton to park in the employee lot and we got out and headed inside together. He grabbed my hand as we walked, and I smiled as I squeezed him back.

When we made it to the eighth floor, I taught Ashton how to properly scrub up and got him a gown, hairnet, mask, and gloves before we went inside.

“I feel ridiculous,” he whispered.

I giggled as I looked at this big, strong man in a gown that didn’t fit and gloves he could barely get his fingers in. “Don’t worry, it’s for a good purpose.”

“I don’t even know what we’re doing,” he whispered louder. “I swear, if you bring me to an operating room, I’m leaving.”

I turned to him. “But they’ve got a dozen vasectomies planned for today and we’re supposed to assist them.”

His face went pale, his eyes wide before I broke down, my cackles echoing down the hall.

“You’re an ass,” he said.

I couldn’t stop laughing, the chuckles still escaping as I tried to talk. “You should have seen your face.”

He shook his head. “You’re the worst.”

I pressed my lips together as I buzzed us into the NICU. The charge nurse met me at the doors as usual, her face lighting up when she saw Ashton.

“Hey, Millie. Who do you have here?”

“This is my friend, Ashton. He came along to help.”

She smiled as she looked him up and down. “We can always use more chests. Especially ones as broad as yours,” she said with a wink.

Ashton looked down at me, questions swimming in his eyes. “What the hell is she talking about?” he whispered.

“You’ll see.”

Chapter 16

Ashton

“I can’t believe you talked me into this.”

Millie’s eyes were bright with humor as she gently bounced the baby in her arms. “Oh, shut up. You love it.”

“I don’t.” I looked down at the four-pound little girl in my arms and shuddered. “She’s too fucking small, Millie. I’m going to break her.”

She giggled softly, and even in the midst of my terror, that sound did something to me. “You’re not going to break her. All you have to do is not let her fall out of your hands.”

My wide eyes met hers. “Is that something that can happen?” I looked down at the tiny human with the tubes coming from her nose and mouth, the panic rising in my system. “What if she wakes up? Is she going to try to get down?”

Millie laughed harder this time, and even though it was at my expense, it was still beautiful. “She’s a week old, Ashton. She’s not going anywhere.”

I sat back in the rocking chair and tried to relax, but that was almost impossible. This baby was so tiny it seemed impossible she was actually a human like me. And, damn, she was cute with her little button nose and long lashes.

But still. “I don’t think I can do this,” I said.

Millie shook her head as she lifted the baby in her arms to her chest. “You’re already doing it,” she said, her voice taking on this tone I hadn’t heard before. It was soft, and soothing, and I knew then she was made for this shit.

I watched her for a moment. Watched the way she held the little boy in her arms so gently. So tender. I watched the way she hummed softly to him when he started to fuss. And there was this sadness in her eyes. It seemed ancient, but still acute, if that was possible.

“How did you get into this?”

Her eyes snapped to mine before she looked away. “I’ve been volunteering here for years. I’ll probably have to stop soon before they realize I’m not aging,” she whispered.

“Right, but why? Of all the things you could be doing with your time, why do this?”

She shrugged, but her eyes were guarded. “They need healthy volunteers, and I can’t catch or pass human germs. It’s a perfect situation.”

I watched her carefully, wondering what I was missing. “You must really like kids.”

Her eyes flashed toward me and away again, and I knew I’d struck a nerve. “Yes,” she said softly. “I do.”

The next question was on the tip of my tongue, waiting to be spoken aloud, but I hesitated. I wasn’t sure if she would answer. Hell, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the damn answer.

Finally, I had to ask. “Do you have any?” I felt like I should know the answer to that question already, but that just hammered home the fact that I didn’t really know her. Hell, I only found out this afternoon that she’d been married. She could have had a whole minivan full of kids somewhere and I’d have no idea.

“Yes,” Millie whispered, breaking me out of my thoughts. “I did.”

I heard her use of the past tense and swallowed hard. Son of a bitch, I knew I didn’t want the answer to this question. I knew nothing good would come of it.

But this was another piece of Millie. And if I wanted her, I needed to collect all these parts. Even the broken ones. Especially those.

“I lost my daughter right before I lost my life.”

Her voice was so empty. So cold. Like it wasn’t really her speaking the words. Like she was just a vessel for the story.

“What happened?” I asked quietly.

I didn’t know if that was the right thing to do or if she’d want to talk about it, but I figured since she brought it up, I might as well try. This seemed like an important piece to her puzzle.

“I was seven months pregnant the night he went too far,” she began, her voice still hollow. “He’d left work that day to get drunk, and when he came home and I didn’t have dinner on the table, he lost it.”

She closed her eyes and squeezed the baby on her chest a little tighter. “I tried to protect her,” she whispered. “I covered her as best I could, but he just kept kicking me and kicking me…” She trailed off as a single drop of blood slipped from the corner of her eye.

I carefully stood up, mindful of all the wires and tubes coming from the baby. Grabbing my chair, I dragged it next to Millie and gently sat back down. When I was sure nothing came unplugged and my baby was still a sleep, I picked up her hand and squeezed tight.

“I don’t know what happened after that because I lost consciousness. But when I woke up, I was bleeding a lot and I knew something was wrong with the baby.”

My heart clenched in my chest as I listened to her story. It probably happened a long time ago, but it was like it was playing out right before me. Like there was still something I could do about it.

“I got a neighbor to take me to the hospital, and I knew things were bad. I begged the doctor to not let my baby die. To not let me die. I delivered my little girl, Lucy, a couple hours later.” She squeezed my fingers as another drop of blood fell from her eye. “But she was too early and too small. Her little lungs weren’t powerful enough to keep her alive, and they didn’t have the kind of life-saving medicine they have now. I got to hold her as she took her last breath.”

My arms ached with the need to pick her up and wrap them around her. To squeeze her so tight she couldn’t fall apart. To kiss her until her tears dried.

“Millie,” I said and paused, momentarily lost for words. “I’m so sorry.”

She nodded as another bloody tear streamed down her face. “That’s why I come here. I help these babies like I couldn’t help mine.”

“There was nothing you could have done.”

She nodded again, like she’d heard that a lot in the past. I wasn’t sure she was really listening, though.

“Since that doctor couldn’t keep his promise to keep Lucy alive, he kept his other promise to me.”

I frowned as I tried to connect the dots for myself.

“My injuries were too severe, and I was bleeding too much. There was nothing the doctors could do, and I was just waiting to die.”

I tried to imagine that. To know I was going to die. To know I’d just lost my baby. How did she even find it in her to go on?

Millie squeezed my fingers again before she let go. She used that hand to gently rub the baby’s back as she continued to talk.

“Of course, I hadn’t known I was asking a vampire to not let me die. And he took that literally.”

My eyes widened as the picture finally came together. “That’s how you became a vampire.”

She nodded as she looked down at the boy on her chest. “Yes,” was all she said.

I sat there trying to weave all this new information into what I already knew about Millie, but it was hard. It was hard even thinking about all she went through. It made me feel so powerless because she’d needed someone like me, and I probably hadn’t even been born yet.

But all it did was solidify this desire in me to protect her.

I’d already promised a sleeping Millie that I’d never let anything happen to her, and now I was going to say it again.

“Millie, I can’t even begin to understand everything you’ve been through and I’m so sorry for it all. But your strength is mind-blowing. And I know you don’t really need me, but I promise you nothing like that will ever happen to you again. Not with me around.”

She looked up at me, her eyes so full of some emotion I couldn’t name. I stared into her emerald gaze and let her see me too. See the truth in my words and the strength of my conviction.

I didn’t care what it took. I would keep this woman safe.

We fell quiet after that for a long time until the charge nurse came around and took the babies from our chests. I thought we’d be done then, but Millie grabbed my hand and dragged me to another corner of the floor and two more babies that needed some loving.

Honestly, it wasn’t a half-bad night.

By the third baby, I was a lot more confident in my holding abilities. So much that I started bragging to Millie.

“Oh yeah? Well, that one needs a diaper change.”

I turned wide eyes to the little lump of flesh in my arms and shook my head. “Okay, I’m not that comfortable yet.”

Millie laughed, and the sound was so welcome, I didn’t care it was at my expense again.

As we left the hospital, she seemed a little lighter. Like maybe a couple of her demons had been exorcised.

When we got to her car, I spun her around and pressed her back against the door. She gasped, her eyes wide as they met mine.

“You’re incredible,” I whispered into her ginger hair. I pressed the length of my body along hers and wrapped my hands around her hips. “The more I learn, the more I find to be amazed by.”

She giggled softly, the sound so breathy it was barely a laugh. I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers for one long moment before pulling away again.

“Come on. Let’s go.”

She nodded, her cheeks pink as she climbed in the passenger seat. We stopped to buy some clothes and other supplies before heading back to the hotel. On the way, a question popped into my head, and just like every other time, it wouldn’t shut up until I asked it.

“Are you glad that doctor made you a vampire?”

Millie rolled her head in my direction. “I didn’t used to be.”

“What do you mean?”

“When he first changed me, I was so angry. I didn’t want to be alive while my baby was dead. I wanted to be wherever she was.” Millie turned away and sniffed, and I could have punched myself in the fucking face for even bringing this up.

“But it’s better now,” she continued. “Honestly, it got a lot better after I changed Allie.”

“Who’s Allie?”

“My sister,” she answered immediately. “Well, not by blood. But in every way that counts. I found her in the hospital during one of my shifts and offered her the change. She accepted and we’ve been family ever since.”

“I’m glad you have her then,” I said. “You’re stronger than me though. I don’t think I could do it.”

“Do what?”

“Become a vampire. I mean, the blood thing isn’t so bad,” I said as I adjusted myself as discreetly as possible. She still giggled, and I knew I wasn’t successful. “But never being able to eat food again? To never be in the sunlight? I don’t think I could do it.”

Millie was quiet before she turned to look out the dark window. “You’d be surprised what you can do when you don’t have a choice.”

I felt the finality in her words and let it go. We were almost at the hotel anyway. Sunrise was still a few hours away, but neither of us wanted to push it after yesterday.

We spent the rest of the night watching movies in bed and snuggling. We wasted long minutes getting lost in each other. I kissed her as many times as I wanted and didn’t worry about the consequences. I didn’t even think outside the hotel room. Even though it was simple, it was probably one of the best nights of my life.

So, when I heard the shouts and screams from the hallway hours before sundown, I was completely unprepared.

I jumped out of bed and raced around the room, looking for my pants. I dragged them up my legs before grabbing my gun and switching off the safety. Hurrying over to Millie, I pulled her into my arms and backed toward the bathroom.

The sounds outside got louder and closer to the door, and I had a really bad feeling I knew what was going on.

I’d just gotten Millie’s sleeping body shut in the bathroom when the hotel room door burst open and two men came streaming in.

I started firing immediately as I ducked behind a dresser.

I hit one guy in the shoulder, and he went down, but the other was too smart. He ducked back into the hall.

“We’re just here for the freak,” he yelled into the room. “Let us have her and we’ll leave you alone.”

“Fuck off,” I hollered back.

When he was too quiet for too long, I hid behind the dresser again, and within moments, his shots rang out in the room. I rolled my eyes because obviously this guy had very little training. It would almost be too easy to incapacitate him.

He stopped shooting, and I crept out of my hiding spot before crouching behind the sofa. This time, when he spun back around, I was ready and firing right toward him. The man disappeared from the doorway again, and I listened closely to the sounds coming from the hall.

Because I was so focused on that, I didn’t hear Millie opening the bathroom door behind me.

“Ashton? What’s going on?”

“Millie!” I screamed as I jumped out of my hiding spot.

I ran across the room, but I wasn’t fast enough.

The asshole in the hallway came running after me, also aiming for Millie. I fired a couple rounds over my shoulder, not aiming for a hit, but just trying to distract him long enough to get her in the bathroom.

But I didn’t make it.

The bullet pierced my back and burned through my abdomen before shooting out of my stomach and lodging in the drywall.

But I kept running.

“Ashton!” Millie screamed.

But I kept running.

Another shot rang out and this one hit my shoulder before burrowing through my chest. A scream was wrenched from my throat as I struggled to stay on my feet.

“Ashton!” Millie yelled again as she raced toward me.

“No!” I screamed. “Get back! Lock yourself in the bathroom!”

I fell to my knees and the asshole who shot me ran past. I reached for his ankles, but I was too slow, the pain making me sluggish. It was blistering and devastating, and I could barely see through it.

But I didn’t miss the way Millie stood her ground as the guy barreled toward her. When he was within range, she reached out to grab his head before twisting it to the side. Bastard fell into a heap at her feet before she lunged toward me.

“Ashton! Oh my God, you were shot!”

I opened my mouth to speak, but it was full of blood and I started choking instead. Millie’s hands fluttered above my chest as red tears fell from her eyes.

“Ashton, no! Why would you do this? His bullets couldn’t hurt me!” she cried.

I shook my head. “S’my job to protect you,” I mumbled around the blood pouring out of my mouth.

I closed my eyes for a moment before Millie slapped my cheek. “No! Ashton, you stay with me. Don’t close your eyes.”

But fuck, I was tired.

And in so much pain.

The black behind my eyelids was so tempting.

“Ashton! Open your fucking eyes,” she yelled, but her voice was even farther away.

I felt her squeeze my hand, and the last thing I heard was her hoarse cry before everything went dark.

Epilogue

Millie

“No.”

I slapped Ashton’s face again, but there was no response.

“No, no, no, no, no,” I chanted as I shook him. “Ashton!” I yelled. “Talk to me!”

His head rolled to the side, and I set him back on the ground gently. Even though I didn’t need the proximity to hear, I placed my head on his chest and listened to his heart.

But it was slow.

And stuttering.

Like it might stop at any minute.

“No. No. No!” I screamed.

I didn’t think. I just acted.

I dug my head into his neck and sank my fangs in deep. Sucking with all my strength, I drained him in seconds before I pulled away. I bit into my wrist and held it against his mouth, but nothing happened.

I pressed harder.

“Come on, Ashton. Drink.”

Nothing.

I pried his mouth open and let my blood drip onto his tongue.

Still nothing.

I kept that wrist there as I bit into the other one and held it above his wounds. First the one in his chest, and then the one in his stomach. I let my blood pool in the bullet-holes and trickle down his throat as I prayed.

“Please, Ashton,” I whispered, tears making my voice thick. “Please don’t leave me. I just found you.”

I held him as I waited for my blood to work its magic. When his heart started to beat stronger, I knew it was working. I knew he’d be okay. I knew he’d survive.

I just didn’t know if he’d forgive me.

Want more from the Changed universe?

Check out the next book in the series, Blood Tie!

Blood Tie

Changed Book Six

What happens when you wake up to find out your life is over?

Ashton’s been in a lot of sticky situations, but never one he couldn’t get himself out of—until he took the job working security for a beautiful vampire, and found himself on the wrong side of an organization hell-bent on capturing her. He willingly sacrificed his life for hers, but didn’t count on her saving him in return.

Millie swore she was done making vampires. But, when Ashton gets shot protecting her, she doesn’t think twice. She’ll figure out how to explain her actions to him later. All that matters is he’s alive.

But what happens when Ashton wakes up from the change and realizes his humanity is over? Can he accept this new life and forgive Millie for making the choice for him? Or will this tear their tentative new relationship apart?

Get your copy here!

More from Heather MacKinnon

Changed Series

Blood Debt

Blood Claimed

Blood Line

Blood Lust

Blood Feud

Blood Tie

Southern Werewolves Series

Shift

Howl

Rise

Southern Werewolf Sisters Series

Chasing Callie

Belonging to Bea

Believing in Bea

Dedicated to Del

Earning Evey

Love in Providence Series

Send Sunshine

Beyond Beautiful

Standalones

Trying

About the Author

Heather MacKinnon is a romance author living in North Carolina with her husband, adorable son, and two trouble making dogs. She grew up on Long Island and spent her young adult years in various states in New England. This led to her subsequent addiction to Dunkin’ Donuts lattes and her gratuitous use of the word “wicked”. After a lifetime of enjoying other people’s words, she decided to write down some of her own. You can get up-to-date information about Heather MacKinnon’s books at www.heathermackinnonauthor.com.

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