Love Me to Death (Underveil, #1)(70)

“I must go to my mistress. I must protect her,” the man croaked. Then, he twisted and blurred in Nik’s hands until he dropped free of his grip in the form of a golden cat with long hair. After a hiss and a flip of his tail, he sprinted to the porch and disappeared around the front of the house.

“Fuck this,” Nik grumbled, stomping after the cat.

“No, stop,” Elena said, suddenly dizzy. She needed to sit down. “Not now. Let’s go back to my house.”

“He’s lying. The Time Folders are not a part of this war. They don’t give a shit about anything other than themselves. We need to talk to the Seer.”

She took his hand and led him to her side of the fence, finding it difficult to balance. “Uza will call when she’s done…doing whatever it is she’s doing.” He was still offering a bit of resistance, so she tugged hard. “If memory serves, we had a plan before we left for lunch. I don’t want to spend our time with a bunch of naked men and my crazy aunt.”

“No naked men, huh?”

She was relieved when he fell into step behind her. “Just one.” When she looked over her shoulder, he was smiling.

Hardly able to make the steps to the house, she sighed when she finally closed and locked the door behind them.

Nik’s eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”

She leaned back against the door. “I’m not sure. I feel totally drained, like my battery has run out of charge or something.”

“All magic and power have a price. It’s why Slayers rarely invoke the teleportation spell. It drains our energy. You’ve teleported today, and used a huge amount of energy fighting off Zana’s guardians. It’s good to know what kind of toll it takes before you actually do battle. I had hoped that whatever you are, you’d be more immune to the energy drain than other species.”

She slumped against the door and slid the floor. “Evidently not.”

He sat next to her and rested his palm on her thigh. “Vamps recharge though feeding. Do you feel a need for blood? Would it help?”

A tiny spike of desire shot through her at the thought of when she’d drunk his blood in the wagon. Her heart rate picked up and her breath caught.

He kissed her neck. “It would be very convenient for that to be a rejuvenating source. Slayers have to rest to restore energy, and it takes time.” He took her earlobe between his teeth and gave a gentle tug. Her body tightened with desire. “If you can get energy back from my blood, that would be nice to know and exceedingly useful—not to mention fun. Let’s find out.”

“I suppose it’s worth a try,” she whispered, feeling oddly shy. She’d done so much with this man. Biting him again shouldn’t give her butterflies.

He put his big hands around her waist and pulled her across him so she sat astride his lap, facing him. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him. It was a gentle meeting, but it filled her with a surge of emotion. This big, powerful man was so tender and giving. “Nik, I…” Love you, she finished in her head. The timing was wrong. She was practically delirious with exhaustion. She would wait for a better time to say the words out loud. He tipped his head, exposing the pulsing vein on the side of his neck, and she felt her teeth elongate.

Mmmmm. It came from her throat involuntarily as she ran her lips over the side of his neck. She felt him growing hard beneath her.

“Yes, Elena. Do it.”

And she did. Sweet, rich blood filled her mouth as he groaned and thrust up beneath her. Elena almost came then and there.

“That’s it,” he said, running his hands under her shirt. “Anything you want. Just tell me.” He placed his warm palms over her breasts. “I need you, Elena,” he whispered so quietly she barely heard it above the blood pounding in her head “I need you and want you with me always. Forever. I’ve fallen in love with you.” With a jerk, she pulled away.

Breathing hard, she stared into his eyes. His pupils almost filled his iris, leaving only a tiny bit of gold visible. Had he really just said that? Before she could catch her breath, he kissed her so hard she almost fainted.

The phone at her knee rang. She wound her hands tighter in his hair.

He pulled away and turned the phone over. “It’s Zana.” His voice was ragged and deep.

“Ignore it.” She leaned in and kissed him again.

He chuckled. “I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but you must take this call. We need to meet with her to find out what’s going on.”

She glared at the offending phone as it continued to pulse with what was possibly the most irritating ring tone in history.

“Your timing sucks, Aunt Uza,” She growled into the phone. Nik ran his tongue down her neck, and she shuddered.

“It does suck,” Uza answered. “I might actually be too late. Now listen to me, Ellie, honey. You’ve gotta get out of that house lickity split. Don’t dawdle. Some baddies are gonna swoop in and open a can of whupass.”

Images flickered behind Elena’s eyelids. She rose to her knees and then stood, too horrified to even speak as flashes of images filled her head. Nik was in a jail cell of some kind, chained to the wall. “No,” she whispered “No.”

“Now keep it together, Ellie darlin’,” Uza’s voice called through the phone. “You’ve gotta zap yourself to the place where your daddy took you on the weekends. I’ll come join you as soon as the coast is clear.”