Love Your Entity(37)
The fact that he was a vampire who could rip her throat open was momentarily blocked out by the knee-jerk reaction to something her biological father had said the night she and her mother had left. “You are both mine and if I can’t have you, no one can.” That kind of maniacal control was a trigger for her, one that instilled terror and anger at the same time.
“It’s okay.” Ronan gently took her hand in his. “You’re safe now.”
“She’s a feisty one,” Alex said.
“Hello, enough about you,” Ruby said. “Back to getting rid of Hal. There are three vampires in front of us. You’re telling me that three vampires are powerless to get rid of one ghost named Hal?” Ruby demanded.
“They’re vampires not ghost busters,” Sierra said.
“You got that right. What happened to the clock?” Alex asked, noticing the fragments of wood for the first time.
“The ghost did it,” Sierra said.
“Right. Well then, we’ll leave you to it, Ronan. We’ve got another call to take.” Alex nodded Sierra’s way. “Good luck.”
“Thanks for nothing,” she said.
“Definitely feisty,” Alex said.
“And fiercely loyal,” Ronan said.
After the two vamp cops left, Sierra belatedly realized she was still holding Ronan’s hand. Or he was holding hers. “What makes you say that?”
“That you’re loyal?”
She nodded, unable to take her eyes off their entwined fingers. Why did that look so right? She was holding hands with a vampire. How weird was that? Totally weird. Or it should be.
“Because you’ve helped spirits in the past.” He slid a strand of her hair behind her ear and then caressed her cheek. “I saved your life twice tonight. Here’s your chance to help me.”
“You’re not a spirit,” she whispered.
“No, I’m not.”
“You’re something dark and scary.”
“Yeah, I am,” he said gruffly.
“I’d be stupid to trust you.”
“You aren’t stupid. But you can trust me.” He squeezed her hand.
“Prove it.”
“How?” he said.
“Let me leave.”
Ronan sighed and took a step back, releasing her from his hold. “I can’t do that.”
“Sure you can.”
“I’m not the one keeping you here,” Ronan said. “Your ghosts are doing that.”
“Hal wants me gone,” Sierra said.
“Damn right,” Hal said.
“Ruby is the only one who wants me to stay.”
“No she’s not. I want you to stay.”
His voice was intense and demanding but the look on his face was what grabbed hold of her heart. There was a yearning there that was unspoken but fierce. Those brown eyes of his displayed the briefest flash of vulnerability and that was her downfall.
Why was Ronan able to get to her? She was so conflicted about all this. Was it really his expression and his eyes or was it a vampire thing? He’d claimed he couldn’t compel her but what if that was a lie?
If he could compel you, you wouldn’t still want to leave. You’d blindly do his bidding, her logical self pointed out.
Okay, that made sense. But her feelings for him didn’t make sense. Why was he able to make her feel safe when she knew she should run a million miles away?
Given her past, she was jumpier about trusting a man than others might be. Always being on the run, fearing that an abusive father would catch them, created a sense of never being able to relax.
Yet things were different with Ronan.
Yeah, because he was a vampire.
She should have left when she’d first walked in and found him naked. No house was worth risking her life. Not that she’d had a clue at that time that he was anything other than what he’d stated—a guy with a claim to the house.
“So that line you gave me about the house not having a clear title was a lie?” she said.
Ronan didn’t answer.
He didn’t have to. She knew it was a lie. “How am I supposed to believe anything you say to me?” Sierra said.
“You can’t,” Hal said. “Another reason you should leave. As if this vampire shit isn’t enough. You are one seriously messed-up broad.”
Without warning, the large foyer mirror flew off the wall and toward Sierra. Ronan stepped in front of her. The mirror broke into large pieces, one of which embedded in his arm.
“At this rate, we won’t have much furniture left,” he noted dryly, yanking the glass out.
As blood gushed down his arm, Sierra was glad that she was the only writer in her writer’s group who hadn’t passed out during the tour of the medical examiner’s office and the talk about blood splatter at crime scenes.