The Warrior Vampire(22)
“Naya, I know you’re here. Your car’s parked out front!” the male voice on the other side of the door called.
“Boyfriend?” Ronan cocked his brow in question. A wave of jealousy stole over him, congealing into an icy lump in his gut. He’d tear the throat from any male who thought to lay claim on her.
“Shhh!” Naya hissed as she pushed him into the bedroom. Ronan didn’t even bother fighting her; this was just the distraction he needed. Once through the door, she gave him a none-too-gentle shove against his shoulder—strong for such a petite little thing—and he made a show of tumbling to the bed. “Sit. Don’t move. You so much as whisper, I’m coming in here to gut you. Understand?”
Ronan pursed his lips together tight as if they were glued shut. Another round of door-rattling pounds came and Naya shut the bedroom door behind her. “Hang on, Santi!” she called in an airy voice. “I’m just getting out of the shower!”
CHAPTER
6
Santi looked her over, his mouth screwed up into a pucker. “I thought you were just getting out of the shower?”
Naya looked around for the first available hard surface to bang her head against. “I meant I was just about to get in the shower.” She leveled her gaze, daring him to doubt her. “What’s up?”
No one but Santi and Luz knew about Naya’s house. And right now she wished neither of them did. The male’s senses were keen. Hiding Ronan in her bedroom wouldn’t do shit to keep his presence a secret. She needed to get him out of there. Like yesterday.
Santi narrowed his eyes as he regarded her. His nostrils flared. He’d be able to smell the anxiety wafting from her if she didn’t calm the hell down. “Paul wants you tracking again tonight.”
Another hunt? What in the hell was going on? It seemed that rogue magic users were running rampant lately. Tonight would mark ten straight nights of hunts. In a town that boasted fewer than ten thousand residents, Naya considered herself busy if she made one or two repossessions every six months. El Sendero drew the occasional magic usurper to their area, but the recent number of incidents to hit the area was unusual.
“Not a problem,” she replied with a shrug. In fact, it was a huge problem. What was she supposed to do with Ronan while she was out working?
Santi walked deeper into the living room. Too close to her bedroom for Naya’s peace of mind. His dark gaze flicked to the closed door and back to her. “Are you okay?”
Naya drew on her power and used it to project a façade of calm. “Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Santi canted his head. “I know, Naya. There’s no use trying to play it cool.”
Shit! Shit, shit, shit. “It’s not what you think. I was trying to—”
“For the record, I don’t agree with Paul, or the council. Why the rush to pair you off? A mating with Joaquin is ill-timed. We need to neutralize these threats that keep cropping up first.”
A sigh of relief built in Naya’s chest, but she refused to let it out. Adrenaline flooded her system, a change in her scent and body chemistry that Santi was sure to pick up on. But perhaps her personal drama would be the diversion she needed to keep Santi from finding out about her new houseguest.
“I plan on dealing with it. When things settle down.” Surely Paul wouldn’t press the issue with mapinguari running amok. “I’ll talk to Joaquin and we can go to the council together. Luz isn’t ready to take over. They’ll listen to reason.”
She needed to quit babbling.
“Are you sure that’s all?” Yep. Her stupid mouth and nerves had thrown up one too many red flags. “You’re pretty nervous, Naya.”
“You know I have zero interest in being anyone’s mate.” It was the truth. The thought of being tied down made her break out into a cold sweat. “I want the opportunity to live a life outside of the tribe’s parameters. And this mandate isn’t exactly going to help it happen.”
Santi was her friend. She could trust him. And yet she couldn’t push the truth past her lips. Couldn’t tell him about Ronan. He was a mystery that she needed to keep to herself for now. If Santi thought that the council’s mandate to mate her to Joaquin was crazy, she could only imagine what he’d say when he found out she had a vampire in her bedroom who’d already claimed the honor.
It seemed that the town—hell, her entire life—was going to hell in a handbasket. And she had a feeling that the male currently cuffed in her bedroom had something to do with it.
* * *
Ronan forced every ounce of strength in his reserves through his arms. He tugged so hard on his cuffs that the links snapped with little resistance. A feral growl built in his chest. She might have wanted to keep his presence a secret, but he was ready to take the door right off the fucking hinges. He’d like to see someone try to mate her with another male. Ronan would cut a bloody swath before he’d let that happen.