Hidden in the Night Read online

  Just then she heard the garage door open. She didn’t know if she should mention Aiden to her roommate. She thought maybe she should in case he decided to make an appearance, but hopefully he was passed out again. But if he did show, how would she explain him? What cover story would she use? She very well couldn't tell her roommate the truth. She could see that going really well. Hi Sara! I know we've been living together in the same house for two years, but I failed to mention that I'm a vampire! Oh, and this big, mean looking guy behind me that's oozing sex? Yeah, he's a vampire too! He was checked in to the hospital a few of nights ago, but we both had to get out of there because vampires fry in the sun! So I brought him home, kind of like you would a stray puppy. How was your day?

  Sara padded in her stocking feet and turned on the kitchen light. She was carrying her high-heeled shoes and still dressed in her red uniform, which was low on fabric and high on the T&A. She had pulled her long, blonde hair up into a ponytail, and she had circles under her brown eyes. She looked exhausted.

  “Hey,” Holly said, still standing in the middle of the living room, “how did it go today?”

  Sara smiled and dumped her purse on the counter, hitting the light for the living room as well. “Pretty good. Three hundred in tips, so I can’t complain. Why are you in the dark?”

  "Just enjoying the moon."

  "No work tonight?"

  "Nope."

  They chatted about the power bill that was due in a week, and how the landlord still needed to fix the sliding glass door leading out to the patio that was getting hitched up on its railing, and Sara told her about security having to remove a drunk guy from the blackjack table at work.

  “Seriously, Holly, he was ready to make a face plant, and it was only eleven in the morning!” Holly began to laugh with Sara, and then Sara’s eyes went wide, the laughter stopped, her face went pale, and she backed up into the refrigerator.

  Holly turned around, having an idea of what had caused Sara to find refuge against the G.E.

  Aiden stood in the doorway of the staircase, he massive body taking up most of the space. His eyes were dark and intense, and Holly was glad he had at least put the scrubs back on. His bandages were still in place, and well, he looked like something left over from a war. But even though he was hurt, he was an amazing sight of lethal, raw power, and Holly found herself speechless. This was just the situation she didn't want to be in. She had no idea how to explain the mountain of a male that stood in the doorway to the stairs leading down to her room.

  Aiden’s looked over Holly, and then he pinned Sara with his stare.

  No one said anything.

  “I heard voices,” Aiden said in a low voice, “I wanted to make sure you’re okay.” He crossed his arms slowly and leaned against the doorjamb.

  Holly glanced over at Sara. Feeling panic swelling within her, Holly did the only thing she could think at that moment of to make the situation believable. The truth wouldn't work here.

  “Hi, honey,” she said, and walked over to Aiden. She put her hand on his arm, and stood on her tiptoes to try to reach his cheek for a quick peck.

  Surprise flashed across his face, but then instead of bending his head for a quick peck on the cheek, Aiden took her in his arms and gently pressed her against his body. He lifted her chin and gave her a long, slow kiss.

  Holly’s brain and her body were not working as one cohesive team. Her head screamed that the kiss had bad idea stamped all over it, and she needed to disengage as soon as possible. On the other hand, her body had different ideas. She found her arms reaching up to snake around Aiden’s neck. She felt like the air had been sucked out of the room and her lifeline was his mouth. Her body didn’t listen to her mind that was screaming to push him away, and instead she pressed herself against Aiden. His erection jabbed into her stomach, where she felt an ache of desire bloom, an ache she hadn’t felt in decades.

  The only thing that grounded Holly was when Sara cleared her throat. Aiden lifted his head, his whiskey colored eyes dancing with lust and surprise. Holly was breathing heavy, and almost cursed out loud that the kiss had ended. Aiden put his hands on her shoulders and slowly turned her around, keeping her close to him by leisurely throwing his huge arm around the front of her shoulders. She realized that he was using her as a shield so Sara wouldn’t see his erection. He pulled her closer so that she felt the long length against her back.

  “Sorry,” Holly said, feeling herself blush deeply. She took a deep breath and said, “Sara, this is Aiden. Aiden, this is Sara, my roommate.”

  Aiden raised a hand and waved.

  “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone,” Sara said breathlessly, her eyes still wide with shock. “What happened to him?”

  “Motorcycle accident,” Aiden growled before Holly had to come up with any lies.

  “You look like you should be in the hospital,” Sara said, regaining her composure, and therefore the strength of her voice.

  “Just got out today,” Aiden said.

  Then and uncomfortable silence moved into the room, pulled up a chair and refused to budge.

  Aiden finally said, “C’mon, sweetheart. Let’s head back downstairs.”

  "See you later's" were exchanged, and Aiden turned for the stairs with Holly still trapped in his arm.

  Sara’s interruption of the kiss had put Holly's brain back in charge. She pushed his arm off of her and sped down the stairs desperate to get away from him. When she hit the bottom stair, she began pacing the room.

  Aiden moved slowly due to the injuries, and he made it down a moment later. She turned and glared at him. “That is not going to happen again,” she said with deadly quiet.

  Aiden didn’t say anything, but stood there with his arms across his chest, staring back at her. It was difficult not to notice that he was still terribly aroused and he didn't seem to care.

  Holly fought not to look at his hips, but once again her body betrayed her and she felt her eyes scan down his body. Huge, she thought, absolutely huge. She dragged her eyes back up to his face where a small grin sat on his puss.

  “Not to sound like a child, but you started it, honey,” he growled at her. She opened her mouth to argue, but he was correct. She should have come up with something else to tell Sara. Male vampires were territorial, possessive, and had strong, strong urges to mate. Him being a first generation half-breed? All of those traits were even stronger in his genetic make-up.

  “You’re right,” she said quietly. “I never should have gone there. I haven’t been around a male in about a hundred years, and I forgot…” she waved her hand around, and then ran it through her hair. “I forgot how you all are.”

  Aiden took a step toward her and opened his mouth to speak. Holly held up her hand as a policeman would at an intersection. “Don’t take another step, Aiden. It was a mistake, and it won’t be repeated. You’ll be leaving tomorrow night, and I’ll be taking off as well.”

  She turned to signal that the conversation was over. She plopped into the chair and held her head in her hands. Her body was still vibrating from the kiss, and she felt like moaning out loud as she replayed it in her head. She heard a swish as Aiden dropped the scrubs and the rustle of sheets as he got back into bed. All she could think about was his massive body naked in her bed. As he lay back, he hissed, and then all was quiet.

  “I'm sorry you’re in this position,” he said a few moments later. “But you don’t have to pick up your life and move. I may be a lot of things, but I’m not a liar. Your secret is safe with me.”

  She looked at him. “I can’t trust anyone,” she said quietly.

  He shrugged his shoulders and met her gaze. “Holly, if I had wanted to turn you for The Council’s dumb ass plan of breeding, you would already be gone. I've had more than ample time to make a few phone calls for a pick-up. I don’t know what to say to convince you that you're safe with me, but I think if you put that smart mind to work, you’ll realize I’m telling the truth.” With that, he closed his
eyes, totally drained. He hadn’t done so much talking in years, not to mention the effort the trip up and down the stairs had taken.

  Aiden felt Holly staring at him, and then heard her turn in the chair. Without opening his eyes he said, “Holly, if you’re tired, come sleep on the bed. I won’t touch you. I’m too fucking tired to even think about sex right now anyway.” Liar, liar, pants on fire, and all that. Yes, he was tired—exhausted, in fact—but sex was forefront in his mind.

  A moment later he heard her get up from the chair and come to the bed. He didn’t feel the bed move as she lay down. Too tired to sleep, he thought about the kiss. The Kiss. The kiss to rock all kisses. Christ, he hadn’t had a sexual interest in anyone since Natalie died ten years ago. Ten years, and he hadn’t been with a female even once. He had thought about sex, and it hadn’t done anything for him. Hell, he hadn’t even woken up with a hard-on since Natalie’s death. Now, here he was lying next to a tiny, scared female with a bossy mouth, and all he could think about was putting his hand under the covers and working himself to get a little relief. Either that, or reaching through the sheets to feel her soft skin, her lips, that lovely little butt . . . okay, enough.

  He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He turned his head slowly to look at her weary face. Her tired eyes were on him. She probably hadn’t been sleeping well in that chair.

  "Do you want to watch T.V.?" she asked.

  "Sure."

  She grabbed the remote and the small black screen at the foot of the bed came to life. They watched a little bit of the local evening news. The story of two bodies being found in downtown Reno caught his attention. Although he didn't have any proof, he had a feeling they could be attributed to a vampire gone bad. Like that Victor Marano guy he and Thaddeus had been looking for before Aiden had been hurt.

  When the news was over, Holly flipped to another channel, where Little House on the Prairie was just starting. Aiden would have preferred a boxing match, or something off of Spike TV, but he figured it wasn't really his place to do any complaining about the channel choice at this point.

  "Do you have a family, Aiden?" Holly asked quietly.

  They watched as Laura hugged her mom and dad.

  "Not like that," he said. "It's . . . it's just me and my son, Robert, now. You?"

  "What happened to Robert's mother?"

  He didn't want to go there. Telling the truth and saying she had been brutally murdered would only lead to more questions, questions he couldn't answer. "I don't like talking about it." But for some reason he felt the need to tell her something. "She's dead."

  She looked over at him and nodded, then turned back to the T.V. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Aiden. That must be hard for you and your son."

  "You have no idea," he said quietly.

  After a moment of silence, Holly said, "I grew up in an orphanage for vampires in New York." Obviously, one or both of her parents were vampires, and obviously, they hadn't wanted her or they simply couldn't care for her.

  Aiden hadn't known that an orphanage for vampires even existed.

  "My family was my three friends and me."

  She was silent for a moment, and Aiden wondered if she was done talking.

  "We had to learn to be tough. Not that there was anything wrong with the orphanage, but just when you have a whole bunch of kids together who know they aren't wanted . . . well, things can get a little nasty. A lot of bullying, name calling, sometimes physical altercations. Looking back on it now, it was just kids trying to make themselves feel better by cutting down others." She shook her head as if she were clearing the thought away.

  "When we were old enough to make it on our own, they kicked us out of the orphanage. I lived with one of my friends, Myla, but we kept in touch with the other two. Things were good. Myla and I lived in New York. I was working as a nurse. We were having fun going to the theatre and enjoying the nightlife. We even went to a speak-easy a few times during prohibition."

  Aiden watched her smile at the memories. He had visited a few speak-easies himself with Thaddeus and remembered the rip-roaring parties. The women were usually dressed so elegantly with long, form-fitting dresses and furs, and he imagined Holly dressed up, floating around the room with a cocktail in her hand. He could see her loving every minute of it and being one of the prettiest in the room.

  "But no, I never had a family like this either," she said, gesturing to the TV.

  He wanted to reach across the bed and hold her hand, and he didn't like the feeling of wanting to comfort her and touch her. He realized he wanted her to keep talking about herself. He wanted information—her information. As he watched the Ingalls family, he tried to get a grasp on the emotions that were warring within him.

  First, he was totally attracted to Holly. Physically attracted. He got that. But okay, he had to admit that he also liked her. He liked the way she smiled at her memories, even though growing up in an orphanage couldn't have been easy. And it was a pretty smile, one that made him want to smile with her. She was tough, yet very kind. He also admired her bravery. All of that was all fine and good, but he didn't want to care about another female ever again. Yet, here he was with these emotions running through him. He wanted her to trust him; he wanted to know more about her. He didn't want her to stop talking.

  Frankly, he didn't like it. He didn't like the fact that he cared about what she thought of him, her past, or what she had to say.

  Besides, what was he going to do with the emotions? It's not like he could act on them. Not that he ever would. Never. Not that he ever could. She didn't trust him. People didn't get together with people they didn't trust.

  The Ingalls said goodnight to each other and the Dukes of Hazzard came on.

  "I love this show," Holly murmured.

  It wasn't Aiden's favorite, but he could deal on this one. As his eyes grew heavy, he had a feeling he wouldn't be making it to the end.

  "What's your son like? How old his he?" Her quiet voice interrupted his thoughts. He smiled as he thought of his Robert.

  "Robert's ten and looks a lot like me, but thankfully, he's more like his mom in the personality department," he said drowsily. He wanted to add more, to share something of himself with Holly. He searched for the words, but there weren't any there. After a moment of silence, and before he knew the words had formed, he said, "He's . . . he's my life."

  He was surprised at his own exhaustion. When he had been injured in the past, he healed quickly. Yes, his injuries fell onto the pretty serious list, but he should have been up and around by now. He knew it was because he hadn’t had blood out of a live source, just that ridiculous IV she had jabbed him with.

  He turned to Holly and studied her face a little longer, and then shut his eyes. Being near her made him feel something inside that he hadn’t felt in a long time. All the pain and rage that churned through his heart seemed to still. Peace. He felt peace. It felt strange. It kind of felt like that one time he had broken his arm, had it set and plastered for a couple of days, and then he broke it again. He had to do the whole set and plaster thing all over again, but that time he had to wear the damn cast for a few weeks. It had driven him crazy, made him uncomfortable, just as the pain and rage had done for so many years. When he finally gotten the cast off, the arm had felt strange, but better, and that itchy annoying feeling he had had when the cast was on disappeared. Kind of like now. No pain, no rage. It felt weird, but it felt right.

  Chapter 9

  Vladislav, full-bred vampire and a member of The Council, was doing business as Victor Marano in the human world, and he loved it when a plan came together. He really did.

  His preparation up to this point had been flawless. As a member of The Council, he had agreed to go into stasis in the cave in the mountains of Ecuador after he and the other members of The Council got the hybrid human/vampire race up and running. Being a full-bred vampire, The Council knew they could not live among their hybrid children or the humans. Full-bred vampires were hideous to look at,
and they were nasty creatures. All of The Council knew that they would not be able to refrain from their innate desire to hunt and kill humans. They needed to remove themselves from the equation so that their offspring could co-exist with the humans and that the humans were kept in the dark on the fact that yes, vampires did exist.

  That plan had gone over well for a little while. Then he started to get antsy. As he lay in stasis in that God-forsaken cave, he came up with a plan. A plan of domination that was a hell of a lot better than rotting in the cave.

  First, he needed his army.

  He went out into the human world cloaked as Victor Marano. Victor was a good- looking man with his brown hair and blue eyes. He bedded a lot of women. A lot. When the offspring of those unions were old enough, somewhere around ten to seventeen, he kidnapped them from their families. Because they did have vampire DNA in their systems, Victor had figured it could somehow be activated to make the boys he sired full vampire.

  And he had been correct. His scientists had come up with a series of four shots that activated that vampire DNA hiding in the boys. He then nurtured them to be blood-crazed killers. Yes, that part of his plan was moving along quite nicely. His boys were having fun scaring the shit out of the people of Reno and the surrounding areas, not to mention killing a few here and there.

  The boys also would provide him with the hormones he needed to rejuvenate and become youthful again. As vampires usually died around one thousand years of age, and Victor had quit counting after he turned seven hundred, he knew he was close to his expiration date. He needed those hormones to have the strength and energy to carry on with his plan. His scientist extracted the hormones from the boys, and then mixed them in a serum. The last batch hadn't worked, and he had lost his temper.

  He had also located some of his older sons to keep the boys in line, and they would be apart of Plan B, which was to begin a breeding program to help build up his ranks even more. However, he didn't want his sons to mate with humans. He wanted as much vampire blood in the next generation as possible. Except, trying to find a female vampire was like trying to find somewhere warm enough to sunbathe in the Antarctica.