Page 15 of Bound by Vengeance
“I helped create this mess; I’ll help cleanit up.”
“No. I’ll do it. You shouldn’t be touchingthem.”
“I’ve touched worse.”
“Not while I was around. I’ll take care ofthis.”
Vicky opened her mouth to protest, but theresolute look in his eyes silenced her words. Stepping back, shewatched him carry the body over and toss it into the quarry. Aftertwo more splashed into the water, Vicky retreated to stand on theother side of the pickup. She didn’t know which of the splashes wasDuke hitting the water, as she didn’t look, but after a short time,Nathan came to stand before her.
When he rested his hands on her arms, shetried to ignore the odd skip in her heartbeat.
“I think we should stay here tonight,” hesaid. “It’s late, and we could both use some sleep.”
Spending the night anywhere in the vicinityof this man was aBADidea, yet she found herself saying,“Okay.”
CHAPTER 7
Drawn forth by the scent of coffee andbacon, Vicky padded barefoot down the small hall. The wood flooringwas cool against the soles of her feet. The white walls were bare,but nail holes revealed where things once hung. Instead of picturesor paintings, spiders now made this hallway their home as they spuntheir webs in the corners.
She stepped out of the hall and into a roomshe assumed was the living room, but it could have been a diningroom. It was impossible to tell without any furniture todistinguish it, and the walls and flooring were the same throughoutthe home. The clattering of a pan drew her across the room andaround the corner of a wall.
Nathan came into view when she stepped infront of the half wall separating her from the kitchen. She admiredhis rugged profile and the stubble lining his jaw, as he flippedbacon with a fork before removing the pan from the fire.
Seeming to sense her attention, he glancedat her and smiled. Vicky smiled nervously back, unsure of what tosay or do. What did one say to the man she spent the night killingvampires with, before returning to this brick house he’d informedher was once his?
A man who had given her the small airmattress in a bedroom she assumed was once his while he slept onthe floor somewhere else. A man who haunted her dreams until shewoke aching so much for his touch that she almost searched him out.She’d remained in bed and attempted to take the edge off her needby herself. It hadn’t worked as her body was already quickening inresponse to his once more.
“I’d offer you some bacon, but I feel likeit would be a waste,” he said.
“I’m not a fan of bacon, but I would lovecoffee.”
An eyebrow rose as he turned to look morethoroughly at her. Standing behind the half wall dividing thekitchen from the dining room, he couldn’t see below her waist. Shewore the shirt he’d given her last night to replace her blood anddirt stained clothing. He kept the gray shirt stashed in his roomwith some of his other clothes.
She’d taken a shower last night, and heassumed she put the shirt on after, but he hadn’t seen her in it,until now, and he couldn’t deny he liked seeing her in it. Thesleeves were rolled up to reveal her delicate wrists and thinforearms. Despite her fragile, almost childlike appearance in thetoo big shirt, he knew she was more lethal than most of the Savageshe’d encountered over the years, she’d proven that last night.
Her breasts swayed against the fabric whenshe stepped closer. The outline of something drew Nathan’sattention to her nipples.Are they pierced?
His mouth watered at the possibility, andhis fingers itched to find out. It was yet another thing he shouldfind repulsive about Vicky. Female hunters weren’t allowed to wearany adornments, but on her, the idea of it turned him on more.
She’d left the top two buttons of his shirtundone, revealing a small patch of golden skin. His hand tightenedon the pan handle as he pictured slipping the rest of those buttonsfree and kissing his way over every inch of her body.
He gritted his teeth against his growingarousal and focused on the conversation at hand. “You drinkcoffee?” he asked.
“I do. I like human things more than therest of my siblings, so I tried more of them. My sister Abby and Iare big fans of cookies. I will never turn down chocolatechip.”
“Good to know,” he said.
Vicky rested her hands on the small wall andleaned forward as he opened a white cabinet. Within, one coffee mugsat on a shelf. He pulled it down and filled it. “I have somesugar, but no milk,” he said to her.
“I’ll take it black,” she said and smiledwhen he handed her the coffee. The mug warmed her hands when sheclasped it and blew on the steaming liquid within. “How often doyou come here?”
“At least once a week to check on things,sometimes more.” He lifted a piece of bacon and bit into it.
“And you keep the place stocked withsupplies?”
“Enough for me to crash here or clean upafter a fight if necessary.”
Vicky sipped her coffee as she studied him.He answered her with casual indifference, but tension emanated fromhim. She walked around the wall to stand in the kitchen.
