Chapter 49


    Chapter Forty-Nine


    MIA


    “Cam!? What the hell are you doing here!?”


    Cameron stands behind a table loaded with pastries and fruit and crepes. He walks toward me and he


    looks lethal.


    The Ravens give him room and Corinne and Theo have already moved to sit at the head of the table.


    “So much for a girls’ trip,” Rachel mutters as she abandons me.


    I catch several other people–creatures?--but my attention is glued to Cameron.


    Hees at me like a linebacker. One second my feet are on the ground, the next I’m up against his


    chest and held tight. He barrels out of the courtyard, through that trellised bridge and out into the front


    square.


    “Cam, stop. Put me down.”


    He keeps moving.


    “Cam!” I hit his shoulder.


    When he finally sets me down at the far end of the square near where we came in, his green eyes are


    furious. “Don’t you ever pull a fucking stunt like that again.”


    N growls.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    I shove out of his arms. “I’m not bait. Or an experiment. Or some object. You don’t own me.”


    I’m still angry over what he allowed Dr. ss to do. Although, if I’m being fair, I don’t think either of us


    were really expecting her to just jab me.


    “I’m not yours anymore, Cam.”


    He grabs my arms.


    The next second his mouth is on mine and he’s kissing me.


    It’s a dark kiss, desperate.


    He stops for the briefest instant. “Mia.”


    His scent and strength begin to wear me down. But it’s that sharp, slight scent of fear that takes the


    fight out of me. He was afraid–for me.


    The minute I kiss him back, his whole body shudders. He murmurs my name.


    Then I’m held even tighter even as his hands are tugging and skimming over my body.


    “Get a room,” someone yells.


    We both jerk apart and see on the second floor a huddle of–vampires?!--watching us. Their scent and


    movements give them away.


    The female shrugs. “We love a good show. But you’re loud. And it’s our bedtime.”


    Right. Night creatures.


    They don’t seem bothered by the sunlight though.


    I don’t see any burning flesh or peeling skin.


    The brte female and herpanions, another beautiful woman and a bearded man, all three stroll


    back into one of the many rooms lining that balcony.


    I don’t take my eyes off the vamps, even after the door closes behind them. Eric’snds were attacked


    by them. We’ve patrolled ournds and the surrounding human cities to keep them in check.


    Vampires are our enemies.


    “What is this ce?” I ask him.


    “It’s like nowhere else you’ve ever been,” he says, staring pointedly.


    Yes. Understatement.


    He sets me on the cobblestones. He guides me to a small table beneath the shade of a citrus tree. It’s


    early morning, but already the sun is bright and the temperature is rising.


    “I got here yesterday. Had an incredible meal, slept in one of the nicest hotels in the city. Took the


    LearJet.”


    So he would’ve traveled in style and arrived in maybe six hours, max.


    I spent thirty crammed in an SUV with minimal stops and only convenience store eats.


    “The dynamics between the species are…different here.”


    “Corinne said something simr. She also warned that this ce was dangerous.”


    He makes some sound. “Yes.”


    “You should’vee to me,” he says. “You should’ve told me what you wanted, what you needed.”


    “Cam, I can and will take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for a long time.” I know it doesn’t seem that


    way, given that Corinne crashed my trip, but I was prepared toe here alone. “I need you to see that


    I’m not the girl I was when you knew me.”


    I won’t ask permission. I don’t need him to try and save me.


    “I don’t need you, Cam–”


    In the next instant, he’s grabbing my hand and drawing me toward the stairs that lead up to the second


    floor.


    I dig in my heels.


    Next thing I know I’m swept off my feet.


    “Cameron!”


    He jogs up the steps. When he hits the top of the stairs he turns right. He passes several doors. Then


    he leans toward one before pounding on it. When there’s no answer. He kicks it open.


    I’m tossed on a bed unceremoniously while he ms the door shut and throws the locks.


    He’s already dragging his shirt off as he turns back to me.


    “What are you doing!?”


    His eyes sh to Conn’s and that golden glow tells me what I need to know.


    He’s done ying games.


    “I’m doing, Mia, what I should''ve done the minute my eyes opened and you were within my reach.”


    His huge arms flex. The muscles in his chest and abs ripple. He’s wearing pants but there is no missing


    the giant erection straining against the fly of his jeans.


    His hands go to his belt and he slowly unbuckles it.


    “W-whose room is this?”


    He shrugs. “Doesn’t matter.”


    I gulp.


    “Take your clothes off, Mia. If you don’t like the bed, I’ll take you on the floor or against the wall.”


    Gods, the things he says.


    My nipples tighten even as I’m debating if I can let myself get close to this man again.


    I’m on a giant four-poster bed. It has a canopy and really thick navy blue brocade fabric. There are too


    many pillows to count. The walls are white. The room is huge. It has a reading nook. A chaise lounge.


    A sitting area with couch and tv. On the other side of the bedroom area is a huge marbled bathroom.


    There’s a shower with dozens of heads, and a tub that looks deep.


    “You don’t need me,” he throws my words back at me. “You don’t want me.”


    “I didn’t say that.”


    “Let me finish.” His chest is all muscle, and I remember so many nights, lying in his arms, falling asleep


    to the sound of his heart beating. “You don’t need me, but I need you.” He starts toward me. “I’ve


    always needed you. And I’ll want you until I draw myst breath.”