CHAPTER 11
David glanced over at Mia as she satsilently beside him while the highway passed by in a blur of signsand cars outside the windows of the Camry. Aiden had blindfoldedthem and taken them out of the compound early that morning, afterthey’d all said their good-byes to each other. Vicky and Abby hadgiven him smug smiles and called him Shemp as they hugged him, buthe couldn’t deny he would miss them.
Aiden had driven them to the nearest carrental place and removed their blindfolds. “I’ll be home forChristmas or at least Christmas Eve,” Aiden told him.
“Your sisters?”
“I don’t know. I know Abby plans to go homefor Christmas Eve, but I’m not sure Vicky’s ready yet. Abby won’tleave her alone on Christmas if Vicky decides to stay behind.”
“No, she won’t,” David agreed. “We’ll seeyou soon.”
He’d closed the door on Aiden and walkedinside to rent a car. Mia hadn’t spoken since they’d left New Yorkbehind, and they were nearly to the Maine border. A look ofdetermination etched her features, but she had a white-knuckledgrip on her legs as she stared out the window.
They still had over four hours to go beforethey arrived at his home near the border of Canada, along the coastof Maine. It was a beautiful place, one he couldn’t wait to showher, but he would turn around if she asked him to. She had to benervous about meeting everyone, and he couldn’t blame her. He wouldbe overwhelmed if the situation were reversed, but he knew she’dgrow to love it there, and that she would be welcomed with openarms.
“You know,” she said when they crossed intoMaine, “you’ve asked a lot about me, and you know a lot, but younever asked me how I ended up in that warehouse.”
David’s hands clenched on the steeringwheel, a sneer curving his lips as a snarl tore from him. Recallingher chained to the wall made his blood boil. The image of her withonly her bra on and so many bites covering her that he couldn’t seeher skin through the dirt and markings was something he would neverforget.
She’d been rank with terror and body odor,yet something about her had still captivated him when he’d firstseen her. Even after they’d freed Vicky from the wall, he neverwould have left that building without Mia.
Quaking with the fury racking him, Davidswitched through the lanes of traffic before pulling to a stop onthe shoulder. His shoulders heaved as he tried to regain control ofhimself.
Mia leaned away from him, her back pressingagainst the door of the car as the waves of wrath emanating fromhim beat against her skin. He would never hurt her, she knew, butshe’d never seen him like this. Controlled, teasing,self-assured—that was the David she knew. This David wouldslaughter anyone who made one wrong move toward either of them.
“David,” she whispered.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to know how yougot there,” he bit out. “I didn’t think you were ready to talkabout it.”
“I wasn’t,” she admitted.
Was she now? She had no idea, but she’dbrought it up, and it had been for more of a reason than she waslooking to pass the time with conversation. This wasn’t exactly herideal topic. She could have spent hours, days even, discussing thestars. Instead, she’d gone with the ‘oh hey, you never asked how Icame to be chained to a wall’ topic of conversation. There had beena reason for it. She suspected it was because she needed to talkabout it, and he was so easy to talk to.
Inhaling a shuddery breath, he lifted hishead to look at her. His eyes were more vibrant than the purest ofrubies. His fangs had sliced into his bottom lip, and two tricklesof blood slid down his chin.
Despite his obvious rage, she leaned forwardand licked away the beads of blood. She sighed when the potenttaste of it hit her tongue. His body relaxed somewhat against her,and when she pulled back, his red eyes held a bluish tint tothem.
“That’s better,” she murmured as she ran herhand over his bicep.
“Would you like to talk about how you endedup there now?”
“I… I didn’t think it would upset you somuch.”
Before she could blink, he captured herhand. Instinctively, she tried to jerk away from the abruptmovement and the pressure of his hand around hers. He held on forthe briefest of seconds before releasing her. Shoulders hunchingforward, he ran a hand through his disordered hair and stared atthe steering wheel.
She’d heard vampires could become unstableif they discovered their mate and the mating bond wasn’t completed,but if they were mates, they were in the beginning stages of it.She’d never seen him like this though and she suspected there wasmore to his apparent instability than her mentioning herimprisonment.
“Anything that hurts you upsets me, and theyhurt you,” he said. “But I want to knoweverythingaboutyou.”
Mia relaxed when he placed both hands on thesteering wheel again and focused his gaze straight ahead. “Maybeanother time,” she said.
“No, tell me.”
She stared at his chiseled, resolute profilebefore glancing at his white-knuckled grip on the wheel. He woulddeny it, but she knew if they’d discussed this before they’d hadsex, he wouldn’t have reacted so explosively. His eyes had stoppedflashing red and become entirely blue again when he turned to lookat her.
“Please, Mia.”
The ‘please’ melted her reservations away,as did the need in his eyes.
