Shadows of Eternity

Chapter Ten

R ohan had just finished his last dance of the night when he sensed Leia’s panic. A thought carried him to her location. He felt a rush of fear when he saw her car. The front end had been destroyed. The air bag had failed to deploy but the seatbelt had kept her inside the car. She lay slumped against the steering wheel, bleeding profusely from her forehead and numerous minor cuts from broken glass on her face and arms.

From where he stood, he couldn’t tell if she was injured anywhere else. Dammit! She could be bleeding internally.

When the door wouldn’t open, he ripped it from the hinges. He checked her over quickly, his preternatural senses assuring him that the worst of her injuries was the deep gash across her forehead.

After unfastening her seatbelt, he took her in his arms and willed them to his lair. Moving with preternatural speed, he pulled back the blankets, laid her gently on the mattress, and licked the blood from her forehead. His saliva sealed the wound more effectively than sutures or bandages. When that was done, he carefully picked the tiny particles of glass from her arms and cheeks, then licked those cuts as well.

He peeled her out of her blood-stained clothing, eased one of his tee-shirts over her head, and drew the covers up to her chin.

Lastly, he bit into his wrist and held it to her lips. “Drink, Leia.”

It was an order she couldn’t refuse.

He watched the color slowly return to her cheeks, listened to the steady beat of her heart, and breathed a sigh of relief. She would be all right.

Leia woke in a strange bed in a strange room. Her head ached and she was sore all over. She sat up slowly, her gaze darting around the room. Where was she? How did she get here? She searched her mind, trying to remember what she’d done last night. It came back to her in bits and pieces—learning that, impossible as it was to believe, Rohan was a vampire. She should have been horrified but all she remembered feeling was a sense of sadness and disappointment. She had gone for a drive … She lifted a hand to her forehead and flinched.

She remembered now. She had crashed into a retaining wall. Where was her car? Someone had obviously rescued her, but why hadn’t they taken her to a hospital?

She sat up slowly, only then realizing she was wearing a tee-shirt. A man’s tee-shirt. An indrawn breath told her it was Rohan’s.

Alarm skittered down her spine. She had never been afraid of him before. Even when he told her what he was, she hadn’t feared for her life. He’d done something to her, she realized, exerted some sort of supernatural power over her that had muffled her shock and filled her with a kind of calm acceptance.

She glanced around, her stomach knotting with fear. She was in his house. Alone and helpless.

She searched for her cell phone but it was nowhere in sight.

Overcome with a growing sense of panic, she scrambled out of bed and ran to open the door. She paused in the hallway. Where was he? She glanced back at the window. It was daylight. If the legends were true, he was probably sleeping in his coffin.

She hurried down the short hallway, through the living room, to the front door. But when she tried to open it, nothing happened. She tugged on the handle, twisted it back and forth, but it refused to open. Moving quickly across the floor, she pulled back the heavy drapes and tried to open the window. But, it, too, remained stubbornly closed. Just as well, she thought. It was a long drop to the sidewalk below.

Shoulders slumped in defeat, she sank down on the leather sofa and buried her face in her hands, more frightened than she had ever been in her life.

Leia’s fear roused him from the dark sleep. Since he’d given her his bed, he had taken his rest in one of the vacant apartments on a lower floor. Rising, he dressed quickly and transported himself to his lair on the top floor.

With some trepidation, he opened the door and stepped inside. He didn’t approach the sofa but waited where he stood.

Leia’s head jerked up when she heard the door open. She felt her heart skip a beat when she saw Rohan standing there.

“There’s nothing to fear,” he said, his voice quiet and soothing. “You were in an accident. Do you remember?”

She nodded slowly. “How did you find me?”

He closed the door and leaned back against it, his arms folded over his chest. “I sensed you were in trouble.”

“That’s impossible.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “It’s true, nonetheless. You were unconscious when I found you. Your head was bleeding.”

She lifted her fingertips to her forehead, and frowned. “How did you stop the bleeding? There’s no bandage.” And no scab.

She wasn’t going to like his answer, he thought. “I licked up the blood and sealed the gash with my saliva.”

She stared at him, wide-eyed with disbelief.

“I did the same to the smaller cuts on your face and arms.” He took a deep breath. “And then I gave you some of my blood.”

His blood. She shuddered. Vampire blood . “Like a … like a transfusion?”

His gaze met hers. “Not exactly.”

“I don’t understand.” She looked at him helplessly. This couldn’t be real, she thought desperately. She was dreaming again.

“I bit my wrist and bid you drink.”

Disbelief quickly turned to revulsion. “You made me drink it?”

He shrugged again. “I could have let you die.”

All the color drained from her face.

Fearing she was about to faint, he said, “Hey, I made a bad joke, okay? I got to you in plenty of time. You were never in any danger of dying.”

“You made me drink your blood.” She stared at him, face pale, eyes wide with alarm. “Am I … ?”

“No. I vowed hundreds of years ago that I would never turn anyone against their will.”

“How noble of you.” She blew out a sigh as sweet relief washed through her. “Where are my clothes?”

“I asked the night maid to wash them. They should be in the closet.”

She was dreaming again, Leia thought. None of this could be real. “My car. Is it … ?”

“It’s not totaled but it’s gonna need a lot of work. Why don’t you get dressed? I’ll take you out to breakfast, and then I’ll drive you home.”

Rising on shaky legs, Leia made her way into the bedroom. As he’d said, her clothes, freshly washed and pressed, were in the closet. Her shoes waited beside bed. She had to be dreaming, she thought again as she dressed. None of this could possibly be real.

She washed her face and hands, ran her fingers through her hair. She needed a comb, she thought, and a toothbrush. Odd, there was no mirror in the room. Or maybe not so odd. Wasn’t not having a reflection another vampire myth?

She started when he knocked on the door. “You’ll find a new toothbrush in the top drawer. Feel free to use my comb.”

He was reading her mind again. It was most disconcerting. “Th … thank you.”

She grinned in spite of herself. Who would have guessed that vampires brushed their fangs?

They took the elevator to the main floor. Rohan held the front door open for her, then led her around to the parking lot, where he unlocked the silver Challenger. So many surprises, she thought as she settled into the passenger seat. Vampires driving sports cars and brushing their fangs. Who’d have guessed? Her stomach clenched as he started the engine. She was alone with him. No one knew where she was. With school out for the summer, no one but her parents and Janae would even miss her.

“Leia, please relax,” Rohan said quietly. “Trust me, I am not going to hurt you.”

She wanted to believe him, had no reason not to, except … he wasn’t human.

He took her to a pancake house and ordered breakfast for her—a strawberry waffle, scrambled eggs, sausage, and a large glass of orange juice.

“I can’t eat all that,” she protested when the waitress went to turn in her order.

“You need it.”

“Do you ever eat?”

“No.”

“I guess I should thank you for saving my life.”

His gaze moved over her in a feather-light caress. “I was happy to do it.”

Her food came a short time later. To her surprise, she was famished and ate every bite.

The ride home was tense. And quiet. She found herself glancing at him again and again, trying to reconcile the sexy Native dancer with the vampire. How could he look so normal when he wasn’t even human?

Rohan grinned inwardly as his mind brushed Leia’s. He had been a vampire so long, he’d forgotten what it was like to be afraid, to worry about getting hurt or sick. He had few needs—a safe place to take his rest, a ready supply of prey, a woman now and then to ease his desire. He had been reasonably content with his life until he met Leia. Being with her, hearing her laughter, the pleasure he found in her company, made him realize how empty his life had been. He didn’t want to lose her. He could keep her, if he chose to. He could mesmerize her, make her believe she wanted to stay with him. He could compel her to love him, to do anything he wished. But it would be meaningless.

Too soon, they reached her apartment. He pulled to the curb and killed the engine.

“I had your car towed to a repair shop on Main Street. They said it would take a couple of weeks to repair it.”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” she said. “I can’t afford to fix it right now.”

“It’s taken care of.”

“What?”

“It’s my fault you were so upset.” He raised a hand to silence the protest he saw rising in her eyes. “I know it was my fault. And so do you.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll go out with me again.”

“Rohan … ”

“Just to a movie. Or maybe dancing. No strings attached. Just one more date, and then I won’t bother you anymore.”

“What’s the point?”

“I’d just really like to see you again. Maybe nothing will come of it. And then again … ” He shrugged. “You never know.”

She should say no, she thought, But how could she? He had saved her life. The least she could do was go out with him. But why just one more date? If he didn’t want to see her again after that, why not just end it now? Was he hoping it would lead to another date and then another? She had no clue as to his thinking, but she found herself saying, “Tomorrow night?” And then wondered if it was her decision, or his.

“Sounds good,” he said. “Where would you like to go?”

A movie would be the safest choice. But if she was only going to see him one more time, she wanted to be in his arms. She felt her cheeks grow warm as she murmured, “Dancing.”

“Pick you up at eight?”

A trickle of anticipation spiraled through her when she nodded. “Eight.”

Rohan walked her to her door, and though he yearned to kiss her, he didn’t. It pleased him to know she was disappointed, just as it had pleased him to know she wanted to be in his arms.

Perhaps all wasn’t lost, after all.