Yep, life sucks, so get a helmet, Maggie.There’s a lot worse happening to someone else in the world rightnow; suck it up.
That reminder helped to embolden her alittle. Hitting and yelling might make her feel better, but itwould accomplish nothing other than tiring her out. She suspectedshe would need all her energy to survive this night and escape thisguy. She had to remain calm and learn as much as she could,knowledge was power.
CHAPTER 11
“What are Savages?” she asked.
“Killers.”
“I’m pretty sure you did your fair share ofkilling back there!”
Bricks pressed against her when she backedherself into a wall. She immediately sprang away from it andstarted edging away again. He followed her with measured stepswhile he idly pulled off the electrodes from the EKG machine stillattached to his chest and tossed them aside.
She couldn’t stop herself from drinking inthe sight of his bare chest and chiseled abdomen. Black hair ranacross his chest and encircled his nipples, but he wasn’t overlyhairy and his stomach was mostly bare of it. She nearly licked herlips when her eyes fell to the ridges carving the ten pack of hisstomach before dropping lower.
The jeans he wore hung low on his hips toreveal the solid V of muscle there and the black trail of hairleading from his belly button to his waistband. Every inch of himwas as finely honed as a knight’s sword. She’d never seen a man aslarge or solidly built, at least not in real life.
“I should have said that, unlike me, theSavages are killers of innocents,” Aiden said. “They slaughterhumans or other vampires who live in peace. They’re monsters whomust be hunted and destroyed. That’s what I do.”
And you can keep me from becoming one ofthem.Aiden kept that thought to himself. She looked panickedenough right now without him throwing more wood on the fire.
His words tore her away from her intense andridiculous perusal of his body. She should be plotting her escapeand staying as far from this creature as she could. She shouldnotbe wondering what it would feel like to have that bodypressed against hers as he thrust into her.
“Well, good for you,” Maggie replied. “Isthat why they’re after you?”
Aiden ran a hand through his hair. He didn’tsee how the Savages could have known he was a purebred or workingwith Ronan, but maybe they’d somehow discovered that. They’d comeafter him with enough numbers to make him suspect they knew who andwhat he was.
“I’m not sure why they’re after me,” headmitted.
This was allwaytoo much to dealwith right now, Maggie decided as she stared at the man before her.All she wanted was a long, hot soak in her tub, a giant glass ofwhiskey, and to forget any of this had happened.
She’d especially prefer to forget thedelicious taste of his blood on her tongue. She couldn’t stopherself from licking her lips before she jerked her gaze away fromthe frozen trickle of blood on his wrist.
What is wrong with me?
Her heart beat faster in her chest, and herknees quaked. She’d only ever backed away from one other, and she’dvowed never to do so again, yet she continued to edge away fromhim. She didn’t think he’d kill her. His bite had only been apinprick of pain compared to what that other bastard had done toher. This man could have drained her dry by now if he intended tokill her.
She was fast, tough, and fully prepared toclaw the eyes out of someone if necessary for survival, but she’dnever encountered an aura of power like the one emanating from him.If this man chose to be the windshield, she would be the splatteredbug.
No, she didn’t continue to back away fromhim because she feared he would attack her, but because of the wayhe made her feel all disconcerted yet strangely whole in a wayshe’d never known she could be. She’d never been normal, but untilthis man rode her ambulance, she hadn’t realized she’d been missingsomething.
“Roger!” she blurted as the reminder he’dbeen in her ambulance made her recall the events of earlier.Forgetting her uneasiness of this man, she rushed toward him. “Wehave to go back to Roger! We have to help him! Thosethingswere everywhere!”
Aiden caught her around her waist before shecould bolt past him. “He’s fine,” he assured her as he pulled herback. “The arrival of the police and more ambulances chased off theSavages.”
She flailed in his grasp for a minute beforegoing still. “Then I have to go to the hospital to see him.”
“Not tonight. The Savages are huntingus.”
“How do I know you’re telling thetruth?”
“You’ll have to trust me.”
“Trust you!” She snorted. “I don’t even knowyour name!”
“I wouldn’t lie about Roger’s safety; youwould only learn the truth eventually. If you’d like, you can callwhatever hospital they took him to and find out how he is. My nameis Aiden Byrne, and you are… Maggie May?” he asked, uncertain ifthat was her name or a nickname.
“Maggie May is a song. Roger calls me thatsometimes.” Lifting her hand, she rubbed it over her heart as sherecalled that thing sitting on Roger’s chest, feeding on him. “Areyou sure he’s okay?”
