Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(14)

“He’s kind of a badass.” Lee relaxed slightly. “Are you all right?”

“I think so.” I was happy he stayed calm. I needed that from him. “I’m a little weak, but I’ll be okay. How’s the wound?”

He touched my neck, running his fingers along it and then leaning in to get a whiff. “It’s already gone. I can smell it though. He did a number on you. Are his fangs bigger than Donovan’s? Those puncture wounds must have been big.”

“I wouldn’t let him pull me in,” I explained.

Lee smiled slightly. “Of course you didn’t. So where were the boys while you were getting assaulted?”

This was the part I didn’t want to tell Lee. Lee Owens was only ten years older than I was, but he felt like a father figure. He was going to be so pissed. “They were asleep. I didn’t want to wake them up.”

Lee cursed under his breath. “Tell me they didn’t try the thing where Donovan nearly drains the faery to see how drunk they can get.”

“Okay. I won’t tell you.”

“Idiots,” he said. “I suppose you have a good reason you didn’t call me.”

I had to make him understand. “Lee, he was going to corner me. There was no way around it. If you’d been with me, how were you going to take care of five vampires? That fight would have destroyed the club, injured a bunch of people, and probably killed Danny when Marini got pissed enough to push his little eject button. I took care of it. I doubt you would have deterred him tonight. Even if you had, it’s just postponing the inevitable.”

There was a tightness to his eyes as he stared at me. “You think he’ll be back?”

“I know he’ll be back.” I shivered, thinking of the way he stared at me before Bris had begun his assault. “He thinks he deserves me. He thinks I’m his right or something. God, Lee, the worst part was when he told me how much he wanted me. He sounded like he was talking to his girlfriend. He practically begged me to love him.”

“Before or after he had that blood of yours?”

“Right after, of course. He told me he wanted to be my slave. He looked like he loved me.”

Lee pulled me around to face him. He knew exactly what bothered me about the whole situation. “That doesn’t mean Donovan doesn’t love you, Zoey. He feels the same way about you when he doesn’t feed. I might not like the son of a bitch sometimes, but I don’t doubt for a second that boy is devoted to you. Maybe it’s stronger because you’re a companion, but he would lay down his life to protect you. That’s not about blood.”

I felt my eyes start to water as everything really started to hit me. I wished so much I could be one of those people who just shoved their emotions down and moved on, but no matter how much bad crap happened, I still cried. I still wanted the safety of arms around me. “He told me I wouldn’t tell Danny and Dev about our little affair. He’s not going to stop. He’ll come back until he gets what he wants.”

Lee seemed to be at a loss for what to do with a crying female on his couch. I realized I was being ridiculous. This wasn’t Lee’s job. He was my bodyguard. He shouldn’t have to listen to me whine. I took a long breath to try to banish the urge to really let loose. I almost had myself under control when he reached out and pulled me into his arms. He seemed uncomfortable at first, but determined.

“You go on, darlin’,” he said in a rough western accent. “You cry it out. You deserve it.”

Well, then there was no stopping me. I cried and cried, not caring at all that I was getting his shirt wet or that my nose was probably running. I let it all out, the fear, the hurt, the awful feeling of being completely vulnerable. There was nothing I could do against the man. If Bris hadn’t managed to use every bit of strength he’d been saving up, I would have been his victim and he would have pretended we were lovers.

In some ways he’d managed his rape. He’d done something to me only Daniel had ever done before. I was sure Daniel would see it as a crime. Feeding was an intimate thing between us. It was something I would probably never do with anyone else if given the option. I hated the fact that he was running around full of my blood. I was sure it played into his demented fantasy that I was meant for him.

After the longest time, I was all cried out. I just let my head rest against Lee’s shoulder and felt comfort from him patting my back.

I finally sat up and sent him a self-deprecating smile. “Sorry. I bet you didn’t think that was part of your job description.”

His chocolate brown eyes were full of some emotion I wasn’t sure I could name. “This isn’t just a job for me, Zoey. I never told you this, but I think you know I had to raise Zack, right?”

“I know your mom died when Zack was a kid.” Lee rarely talked about his past. Hell, Lee rarely talked at all, but I knew he’d had a rough childhood.

Lee nodded. “I was seventeen and Zack was six. Mom was killed one night coming home from work. My dad, he drifted in and out. I think he loved our mother. He wanted her enough to knock her up twice. He would ride through Vegas and Mom would get excited and then he’d be gone again. I know why now. I got the urge to roam when I was thirteen. Mom wouldn’t let me and by then Zack had shown up. Anyway, when she died, I had the option of taking care of Zack or sending him to foster care. You have no idea how much I wanted to take that second option. I’m not proud of it but damn, I wanted to be free. I wanted to roam and not be tied to anything.”