Nik gave in only because they were burning moonlight. He needed Emma packed and with him and Aiden by dawn, and he still had a lot of convincing to do if he wanted her to come of her own accord. And for some reason he couldn’t explain, he found he didn’t want to force her.
Emma parked along the side of the house and jumped out. Nik followed at a more leisurely pace, locking up her car for her.
They climbed the stairs to her front porch, and Emma paused at the door. “How about we just talk out here?” Without waiting for an answer she left her bag by the door and sat down in one of the old, wooden chairs. She looked nervous, probably wondering if it had been a good idea to bring him here.
“Sure, okay.” Not wanting to alarm her more by arguing, Nik took the matching chair, slouching down and stretching his long legs out in front of him.
He leaned back and gazed up at the clear sky, still amazed at how much clearer the stars were to him now. He almost felt sorry for humans. They didn’t have the capability to really appreciate a night like this.
“Are you just going to sit there staring at the sky?” she asked. “Or do you think maybe you could go ahead and tell me whatever the hell it is that’s so damn important, it brought you all the way out here to harass me?”
Nik smirked to himself. Apparently, being nervous made her grumpy. He gave her the same look he would give a kitten who was misbehaving, but was so still so darn cute you couldn’t be angry at them.
That seemed to piss her off even more. “Well?” she gritted out.
“Yes, I will tell you.” He had rethought his approach, again, on the drive over. Maybe if he appealed to her sympathetic side…“I need your help, Emma.”
He picked up his chair by the arms and angled it toward her. “I know you keep trying to avoid the subject, but I really need you to tell me what happened that night.”
He could practically see the wall slam down.
“I’ve already told you. I really don’t remember very much.”
She was lying again. There was more to her story than she was telling him. But why would she lie? “Are you absolutely positive there’s nothing else you remember? Nothing else you haven’t told me?”
She sat silently a moment, and he swore he could hear her brain buzzing as she debated whether or not to trust him. Finally, she mumbled, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“I might believe more than you think, sweetheart.” The endearment rolled off his tongue without thought, and he could’ve bitten it. Just to shut himself up. He waited for her to snap at him again, but she must have been too preoccupied with what was going on in her lovely head to notice the slip.
She shook her head stubbornly, “I don’t remember anything else.”
Nik took a deep breath. He needed to earn her trust before she would open up to him. So, he took a huge chance. “Emma, I’m going to tell you something. And I need you to not freak out. Okay?”
Her forehead wrinkled up adorably. “Okay.”
“I think maybe you’ve seen some things, things other people wouldn’t believe, but I will. And the reason I will, Emma, is because I am something different myself.”
She looked him over. “What do you mean?”
“I’ll show you, but first I need you to believe me when I say I wouldneverhurt you.” He looked at her intently, willing her to believe him.
Emma was starting to look anxious. “You’re scaring me here, Nik. Why don’t you just spit it out?”
“Yeah, all right,” he agreed, and hoped he wasn’t making the biggest mistake of his life.
Using his previously learned reaction to this particular female, he rose from his chair and squatted down in front of her. Leaning in until his senses were filled with nothing but Emma, he inhaled her sweet scent.
Instantly, he felt his gums burning as his fangs shot out. His mouth watered, and his muscles hardened as his blood roared through his veins, including his now painfully swollen erection.
Sitting back down in his own chair, he opened his mouth, drew his lips back, and showed her his fangs.
At first,Emma didn’t understanding why he was just sitting there with his mouth hanging open. Then she looked closer.
Are those…? Noooo, it can’t be. That’s impossible.
Until they lengthened even more as she stared, even as she shook her head in denial.
He slowly lifted his hands up in front of him, palms out. “I’m a vampire, Emma.”
