The Valkyrie Page 7

  "So, you fought with this actor guy, and you say you knew what you were doing?" He asked.

  "Yeah, it was weird. I just knew what to do, and it was..." I stopped.

  "It was what?"

  "It was really strange, but I felt like there was something not human about the whole thing."

  He just laid there looking at me. He waited a couple of minutes before he spoke. "Do you think they might be witches too?"

  I stood up and went to get a shirt. "How the hell am I supposed to know that? We don’t even know if I’m one. I don’t have caldron-brewed potions in my basement! I just know something was off."

  "Hey, calm down. That’s Hollywood version of a witch anyways. It’s not real. I didn’t mean anything by it, I just ... I just thought that maybe you’d sensed something."

  I had sensed something, and I didn’t want to get into it with him. The last time we’d discussed freaky magic stuff we hadn’t talked for months. I couldn’t do that again. I’d touched his body and knew him in ways that I hadn’t before. I looked over at him lying across my bed and had to fight like hell to keep from running to him.

  "Payton?"

  "Yes."

  "I found a house." I said, softly, unsure of his response.

  "I know, Molly told me."

  "You don’t sound too happy about it."

  He gave me a sideways glance. "I’m just worried about you, that’s all."

  "Maybe you could stay with me, it’s a big house and there’s plenty of room... I know that it’s a longer drive into town for you with your practice, but..."

  He rushed to me and pulled me into his arms. "Val, are you asking me to move in with you?"

  "Yes, I mean no, not if you don’t want to. I just thought that..." I wanted to crawl into my closet and disappear. I’d never been so forward with a man before, or at least not that I could remember.

  Payton’s lips crushed mine. He didn’t give me a chance to prepare, and after a second of having his tongue in my mouth, I didn’t need any prep time. He moved me back toward the bed. I had to push on his chest to get him to stop. "Are you trying to take advantage of me before you tell me no?"

  "Valerie, I told you once before that I’d follow you into the depths of hell and I meant it. If you want me with you, I’ll come. I have to figure out what I’m going to do with my house. Maybe I could rent it out?"

  I broke into tears of joy and hugged him tighter to me. He buried his face in my neck and covered me with soft kisses. His fingers slid up and over my bra. The thin silk did little to hide my erect nipples--each one standing, waiting for his touch. When his lips finally found one, I shuddered as he drew it into his mouth. The hard nub rolled easily under the wet silk, causing my channel to dampen. Payton slid his fingers down the front of my pants.

  "You’re soaked," he said breathily.

  "Mmm, and horny. Fuck me."

  Payton’s head shot up. "Valerie, you..."

  I let a tiny smile start to form on my face. "I what? Frighten you? Shock you?"

  "No," he said, shaking his head. "You make me so damn hard that I can’t stand it." He moved down the bed fast and pulled my pants off, stripping his clothes off in the process as well. When he slid up and over me, his warm chest scraped past my nipples. I cried out and he laughed, catching one in his mouth and sucking hard. His fingers pushed into my hot, wet core, and I clawed at his shoulders when he rubbed my clit with this thumb. His finger in me, my nub being stimulated, and his warm tongue rolling my nipple around in his mouth, had me on sensory overload.

  "Oh, Valerie," he said, moving up and thrusting his hard cock into me. I screamed out from both the pain and pleasure of being impaled by him. His thrusts were anything but gentle, and I encouraged him to fuck me harder. I bit at his earlobe and dug my nails into his back.

  My lower stomach tightened, and I convulsed around his cock as my orgasm tore through me. Payton cried out and plunged deep into me, spilling his seed. Our bodies shook, and we lay still for a moment, taking in the awe of the pleasure that still enveloped us.

  "Oh, shit!" he said, pulling out quickly. I looked at him, my eyes wide. He grabbed hold of his shaft and his grew wide. "I didn’t use protection."

  "Payton," I said his name like one would scold a child. It wasn’t his fault. I’d been caught up in the moment too. Something moved over his face and he smiled slightly. "This is a good thing?"

  "See, now you really should marry me," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

  I let my gaze go hard and drew my lips in tight. "You planned this!"

  Payton looked shocked, then hurt. "Valerie, no. Don’t accuse me of trying to trap you. I got carried away, that’s all."

  "Yeah, I’ll just bet you did," I said, feeling our sexual leftovers starting to leak out of me slowly. I rolled my eyes and stood to head for the shower.

  "Damn it, Valerie, don’t do this! Don’t use this as an excuse to push me away!" Payton screamed at me as I tried to move past him. I kept going, and he grabbed my arm. I jerked away from him. It seemed like a good idea right up until the pain from my martial arts expo hit me again. I grunted, and he let go of me.

  "I’m going to go down and have a talk with this Vampyre Productions crew. I can’t believe that they didn’t have signs up stating that they were filming, and really having no security..."

  "You’ll do no such thing. I told you already that I don’t think that group is on the level. I don’t want anything happening to you, Doc."

  He gave me a wicked little grin and raised an eyebrow at me. "Really? Does this mean that you’re not mad at me anymore?"

  "Really, and yes, I’m still mad at you." I said, pecking him on the cheek.

  I climbed out of the bed and turned my attention to getting dressed. I tossed open my closet door and rummaged around until I found a nice baby blue cashmere sweater. I pushed the closet door shut slightly to see my reflection in the full-length mirror. Not too bad, if I said so myself. I spent enough time in the gym with Molly to be allowed to like the results. I had no problem hanging out and admiring my reflection all day, but the hairs on the back of my neck rose. The feeling of static energy closed in around me. Seeing the majority of my room in the mirror, I knew I was alone. Why didn’t I feel alone?

  I turned around quickly. I caught a flash of something moving past the outside of my window. I was on the second floor. Whatever I’d seen was too big to be a bird, and the last time I checked bats weren’t that size either. As I approached the open window, I realized how very stupid this was. I mean, there’s nothing like sticking your head out so a crazed killer can chop it off. I had a moment to decide what to do. I came to the decision that if a serial killer had gone to the trouble of scaling my house to hang upside down from the aluminum siding, then he in effect, had earned the right to try to kill me. At no point did I ever claim to be logical.

  I stood back from the window and looked around. The streetlight’s glow didn’t reach this side of the house. Molly and I had talked about putting in a motion activated light. I’d never seen the point. First thing tomorrow, I’d call Tom, the local repairperson and get one installed, even though I was in the process of moving. I didn’t want to worry about Molly when I was gone. I looked around the backyard. We had three large maple trees in our yard. They tended to start to look like they could harbor at least ten criminals after dusk. I saw nothing. I’m not sure what made me check the skies before I checked the ground. Part of me fully expected something to come barreling down at me. I had to step closer to the window to see if anyone was near our back porch or in our yard.

  My waist pressed against the window ledge, and I put my hands on both sides of the window and braced myself. I leaned forward, carefully ducking my head under the open window to avoid a nasty collision with it. The cool autumn night air blew against my face. I closed my eyes and drew in the sweet smell of nighttime. I had always loved the scent of dew forming on the grass, the sound of crickets chirping, and the utter stillness of the night. The s
mell of the night changed. There was something there. I drew in another large breath, turned my head to the right quickly, and opened my eyes. I had only a fraction of a second to try to make out what I’d seen. I blinked and only tree limbs stared back at me. I leaned out further. I could have sworn that I’d seen Guytano sitting in that tree. That was absurd. Why in the hell would a rich and famous actor sit in a tree?

  "You’re not going to jump are you? I swear that I’ll take care of you no matter what happens," Payton said, his voice light, jolly. I pulled back quickly and slammed my head on the window. I turned around and saw Payton standing up slowly from the bed. In the height of excitement, I’d forgotten he was there. He made a movement with his lower jaw that implied he was embarrassed to have startled me. I reached up and rubbed the back of my head. He took a step forward. "Do you want me to take a look at that?"

  I shook my head no. He didn’t need to keep doctoring me every five minutes, or did he? I smiled at him and moved toward him. I was greeted with open arms and a warm embrace, which was interrupted by the doorbell.

  "I’ll get it," he said. He turned quickly and headed down the stairs. I retraced my steps to the window. I still had the feeling that someone was watching me. I was within a foot of it when I heard a loud crashing sound. Payton yelled my name, and another loud sound boomed in from downstairs. Someone came up the stairs.

  "Payton?" I called out.

  No one answered. The footsteps slowed, and then disappeared. I made a run for my door and then stopped. I wasn’t sure running out into the hallway was the smartest thing to do under the circumstances. I wanted to check on Payton, and I was positive that whatever was coming toward me was not him. I was covered in a heightened sense of danger. My senses seemed to be fine-tuning themselves. I listened closely, but heard nothing. I backed up. My body bumped into the open window. I was lucky that I didn’t fall right out. That sounded like something I would do, avoid a crazy man, and fall out a window.

  "Valerie!" I heard someone shout from outside. I turned quickly expecting to see Payton. Guytano stood in my back lawn staring up at me. "Valerie, invite me in."

  "What?" I asked.

  "Oh, I don’t think that will be necessary. Do you?" A loud voice boomed behind me. I shot around and for a second time cracked my head on the window. I’d have one hell of a goose egg come morning. I turned. Torin was standing in the center of my room. He was wiping his hand on a white handkerchief. He tossed it aside. I glanced down at it and saw it smeared with something red. Blood, it was covered in blood. Payton. I screamed out for him. Torin laughed and took another step toward me.

  "I would not bother with him. He is of no use to you now." He put his hand out to me. He was so massive. He seemed to fill up my room.

  "Guytano, your buddy is up here!" I yelled.

  "I know," he said. I turned around. Guytano looked at me from the other side of my window. I backed away, scared and confused. Backing away put me straight into Torin’s body. His arms wrapped around me tight. I cried out. Guytano pushed his body against the open window.

  "Valerie, invite me in." Guytano said. His voice was calm, but his eyes held worry. Everything happened too fast. I looked at him. If he’d gone to the trouble to get a ladder and not use the front door, why the hell didn’t he just climb in? The window was open. Torin’s grip on me tightened. He bent his head down next to my ear.

  "You do not want him in here with us, do you?" he said. His voice was so deep and rich that it moved through me. Of course, I wanted Guytano in here. I didn’t know him, but I was betting he was the lesser of the two evils. I wanted to yell out yes, but that wasn’t what came out.

  "No," I said softly. What was wrong with me? I looked up at Guytano. His dark black eyes locked on me. Black eyes? I thought they were blue. He pushed against the air. Why didn’t he just come in? It was obvious that I needed a hand here, wasn’t it? Torin’s hand traced the side of my cheek. He slid it down my neck, over my shoulder, down my arm, and to my wrist. He grabbed my wrist gently, brought it up, and placed it behind his head. His other hand came down to my waist. He began to sway gently. There was no music playing, yet we danced to a melody that I heard only in my head. My fingers moved in his hair. Our bodies rocked back and forth slowly together. I lost my will to run away from him.

  "You smell like one of us, yet I can tell that you are not." I had no clue what he was talking about. I didn’t care if he read the phonebook to me. All I wanted to hear was his rich voice. "Do you want me?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "Then you shall have me," he said. His arms wrapped around me, and he pressed his body against mine. The feel of him against my back told me that he was ready for me. It was me who took his hand and pulled it to my stomach. I pushed his fingers under my cashmere sweater. His cold fingers brushed my skin. It felt like someone had dropped an ice cube on me. I looked up. Guytano banged against the closed window. Who closed it? Why had I not heard him banging? My mind was foggy. Torin’s icy hand slid up to my breast.

  This brought me back slowly. I looked at Guytano. His eyes widened. Torin’s lips were on my neck. He planted cold kisses along my shoulder. Fear seized hold of my body. I knew this could only end badly for me. I wanted to strike out and send him flying to the ground. I couldn’t get my body to cooperate with my mind. I found myself caressing Torin, egging him on. My body wanted to feel him closer to me. Something was very wrong here. I did the only thing that I was able to, I screamed out.

  "Guytano, come in!" The window burst open, and Guytano rushed through it.

  "No!" Torin yelled. He propelled my body forward. I slammed into Guytano. The force of my body hitting his sent us both flying backwards. I heard the glass breaking around us. Guytano’s arms wrapped protectively around me, and he drew me into his body as we went out the window. I closed my eyes tight, preparing for impact. This was all too close to the horrible dreams I’d been having. I didn’t want to wear Guy’s head all over me when we hit the ground. I prayed that if he went, I’d go too.

  We hit the ground with such a force that it knocked the wind out of me. Guytano lay motionless beneath me. I felt for a pulse, nothing. I rolled off him. My knee hit the hard, bubbled up, earth. Guytano’s body had pressed into it!

  The force of the fall should have left his body broken and bleeding. It didn’t. I leaned over his face. I was stiff, but still capable of moving. I put my mouth over his, I was afraid to move his head. If his neck wasn’t already broken, I didn’t want to be the one who did it in. I pressed my mouth over his cool lips and blew two breaths into him. I ran my fingers over his chest and felt for his rib cage. I traced it up and found what I was looking for. I put my palm down, one hand over the other and counted off five times, as I pushed in. I leaned back up to his mouth and blew a breath in. His tongue pushed into my mouth, and his hand went to my hair.

  I pushed off him, and he let out a small groan. I wasn’t sure if it was due to pain or not being able to kiss me anymore. I didn’t really care. He sat up. This motion was so very inhuman that I fell back onto my butt. He cocked his head to one side, and then the other. It cracked both times. He looked over at me and smiled.

  "Are you all right?" he asked.

  I just stared at him. This guy had just fallen from a window that was easily twenty feet up, with me on top of him, and he was worried about me. I turned to the window. It was smashed outwards. That didn’t hold my attention as much as the facts that there was no ladder near it.

  "You flew?"

  He smirked. "I think that you’ve lost a little too much blood." He reached up and touched my neck. He came away with his fingers soaked with my blood. I brought my hand up. The glass from the widow must have cut my neck open. I pulled my hand away. It dripped with blood, and I no longer felt fine. Seeing my own blood made me sick. Guytano seemed to swirl around me.

  "Close your eyes. I will take care of you," he said.

  "Payton?" It was the only thing I was able to get out before I gave into the blood
loss.

  Chapter 10

  I closed my eyes tight and tried not to be scared of the flames shooting up and around me. I looked down the long dark hallway. A hooded figure moved off in the distance. He represented all that was safe, and I knew it. I ran to follow him. Flames shot past me again, and I screamed out. The hooded figure stopped and turned to me. I caught a glimpse of brown eyes and pale skin. He continued down the hallway.

  "Wait!" I cried out and ran after him. He didn’t stop. I chased after him. The faster I ran the faster he went. His stride was long and fluid. He went through an open doorway, and I followed closely behind him. In an instant I had found him. I brushed my fingers over the soft robe and pulled on it. It came loose from his body. Darkness swept around us so quickly that I couldn’t see, and I panicked. I twirled around in circles and reached out with my hands.

  "Oh God!" I cried.

  Strong arms caught me and held me in place. I stood very still. The man’s body was close to my back, his heart beating steady. I listened to it echoing around me. The smell of vanilla filled the air. I knew that smell. I knew that this man was a friend. I tried to turn to see him, but he held me in place.

  "No," he said. His voice was strong, yet smooth. "You are hurt." He ran his cool fingers over the wound on my neck, sending shockwaves of pleasure throughout my body. "I will not allow this to be. I am more powerful than the one who bit you. I can make it right. Do you wish this to be so?"

  I knew that voice. I couldn’t place it, but I knew it and I trusted it. "Please," I said. His lips rested over my wound. The need for him to hold me, kiss me, love me was greater than any I’d ever known before. What magic did this man possess to make me want him so?

  An unseen force tugged on me, light at first, then hard. The man drew back from me slowly. "You must go back now," he said with a hint of sorrow in his voice.