Page 108 of Bound by Vengeance
“You don’t have to go, Simone. Things willbe different here now. You won’t have to marry anyone you don’tchoose to marry.”
Her sad smile had tugged at his conscience.“But this is all I’ve ever known. Who am I without our ways?Besides, I’m not one for change. I must go.”
Before he could respond, she’d fallen intostep behind Ida and strolled out the hotel doors. He didn’t knowwhere they’d gone. Their new leader, Dallas, had contacted him tolet him know they were somewhere safe, but that was the last heheard from him.
One thing all the hunters and vampires couldagree on was that someone bigger than Joseph was behind the attackson the strongholds and the nest in the sewers. The nest might beJoseph alone, but turning the hunters into Savages was someoneelse, someone meaner and more powerful than Joseph.
They’d returned to the sewers in search ofclues as to who it could be, but the Savages were gone and noevidence remained. For over a week, Duncan had led more groups backinto the sewers to search out other nests, but they hadn’t foundany.
Unwilling to risk more lives, they’d warnedthose still living below they would be safer if they returned toliving on the streets, and called off the search.
They needed to capture and interrogateJoseph if they were to discover who he was working with. All theother Savages they’d caught and questioned had proven to be nothingmore than unknowing pawns. There’d been no sign of Joseph or any ofthe hunters taken from the other strongholds, and they neededanswers.
Leaning back in his chair, Nathan ran a handthrough his hair. Rain ticked off the window before him, and in thedistance, the red flash of a buoy riding the waves bobbed on thestorm-tossed sea.
A whimper drew Nathan’s attention away fromthe window and to where Vicky lay on their bed. Her head turnedtoward him as she whimpered again. Lying on her stomach with herhand next to her head, her fingers twitched on her pillow.
Placing his glass of whiskey down, he roseand walked over to her. She’d been sleeping far less this pastweek, and spreading shadows lined her eyes more each day. Hergolden skin was paler in hue though she tanned almost every day.Knowing he was dealing with turbulent times, she never mentionedher growing distress, but he sensed it building in her with everypassing minute.
When they made love now, she was reservedand careful in a way he hadn’t ever thought Vicky could be. When hewas inside her and they were drinking from each other, he sensedher increasing need to complete the bond between them, but thisweek, she’d stopped taking his blood as much.
He’d brought it up to her once, and she’dlaughed. “I’m fine. I’ll wait until you’re ready.” He’d realized awhile ago that when Vicky said she was fine in that cheerful tone,she never was, but she’d bounced out of the room before he couldquestion her further.
Nathan knew her growing distance wasn’tbecause she was unhappy here. When they’d first decided to make themove to Rhode Island, he’d asked her if she would prefer to staysomewhere with the vampires instead of hunters, but she insisted onbeing with him and getting to know his people. Over the weeks,she’d taken to his people, and they to her, with more ease than heexpected.
Lucien and some trainees remained with themto help keep guard, but Vicky sent her sister and Brian away. Whenher brother Aiden returned to Boston, she also turned down hisoffer to stay here with his mate, Maggie. She insisted she wouldget to know the hunters on her own, and she was doing it.
The first week was awkward, but graduallythe hunters started adjusting to her. Every day, she helped trainsome of the younger women in fighting techniques, and after sheintroduced them to nail polish, makeup, clothes, and startedstyling their hair. More than a few of the women were wearing asmany colors as they could put on their nails.
He hadn’t realized how drab their lives wereuntil Vicky entered his world. She ordered clothes and fabricsonline, and every day new packages arrived. The women all openedthe boxes together, oohing, ahhing, and laughing as they removedthe colorful fabrics and clothes.
Elfry, and a few of the older hunters,continued to wear the gray, black, and white clothes making uptheir wardrobes for years, but Elfry enthusiastically snatched upthe colorful fabrics Vicky ordered for her. She didn’t make clothesfor herself with them but weaved beautiful quilts instead.
Despite their age difference and theircontrasting personalities, Elfry had become Vicky’s closest friendhere. Vicky was learning how to sew as she made quilts with Elfry.Often, Nathan would find Elfry and Vicky laughing with their headsbent close together.
Victoria was the exact opposite of the kindof wife a hunter was supposed to have, yet she’d brought them allto life and was exactly what they all needed, especially him.
Standing over her, he watched as shewhimpered again. No, she wasn’t unhappy because she was here, shewas unhappy because of him. He knew what she needed, and he’d beenunable to give it to her.
“No,” she murmured. “Nathan. Please, don’tgo.”
His heart ached for her. She hadn’t been theonly one suffering these weeks. Even when he was with her, hecouldn’t deny something was missing between them. Away from her, hefound it difficult to breathe and battled an ever-presentcompulsion to return to her. They’d both struggled through thistime, and he was tired of it.
They’d come together over their shared needfor vengeance, but all that mattered now was keeping her safe forthe eternity they could have together. A rocky road lay ahead ofthem, but Nathan planned to travel it with her.
She settled down when he ran his fingeracross her furrowed brow. Taking his hand away from her, hestripped out of his clothes and climbed onto the bed beside her.Wrapping his arms around her, he drew her naked body to him. Hersweeping lashes fluttered against his cheek when she opened hereyes. Then, she tried to withdraw from his arms.
“Don’t,” he commanded.
Vicky hadn’t been able to stop herself fromtrying to pull away when she woke in Nathan’s arms. It had beenweeks since she reacted to his touch in such a way. However, thistime, it wasn’t because she felt she didn’t deserve kindness, butbecause she worried about snapping and turning him before he wasready.
“Nathan—”
“Shh.” He lifted her fingers and broughtthem to his lips to kiss them. “I’m ready for the change,Victoria.”
“But your people—”
“It’s as settled with them as it’s going toget.”
