Free Blood Hunger (An Adult Paranormal Romance) (Deathless Night Series #1) by L.E. Wilson

equipment for tomorrow. He had no time for that shit.
     
    ***
     
         Nik and Emma spent the walk back to her car and the short ride to her house each in thoughtful silence, other than a brief “who is driving” debate, which Emma won. Because, dammit, it was her car.
         Nik gave in only because they were burning moonlight. He needed Emma packed and with him and Aiden by dawn, and he still had a lot of convincing to do if he wanted her to come of her own accord. And for some reason he couldn’t explain, he found that he did.
         Pulling up to her house, Emma parked and quickly jumped out. Nik followed her at a more leisurely pace, locking up her car for her when she forgot to.
         As they climbed the stairs up to her front porch, she suggested, “How about we just talk out here?” Without waiting for an answer, she set her bag down by the door, and sat down in one of the old, wooden chairs.
         “Sure, ok.” She looked nervous, probably wondering if it had been a good idea to bring him here, where they’d be alone. Not wanting to alarm her more by arguing, Nik took the matching chair, slouching down and stretching his long legs out in front of him.
         Leaning back, he gazed up at the clear sky, still amazed at how clearer the stars were to him now. He almost felt sorry for humans, that they didn’t have the capability to appreciate this.
         “Are you just going to sit there staring at the sky,” she grumbled, “or do you think maybe you could go ahead and tell me whatever the hell it is that’s so damn important, it brought you all the way out here to harass me?”
          Nik smirked to himself. Apparently, being nervous made her grumpy.
         He gave her the same look he would give a kitten who was misbehaving, but was so still so darn cute you couldn’t be angry at them. That seemed to piss her off even more.
         “Well?” she gritted out.
         “Yes, I will tell you.” He had rethought his approach, again, on the drive over. Maybe if he appealed to her sympathetic side…“I need your help, Emma,” he beseeched her.
         Standing up, he picked up his chair by the arms and angled it towards her, sitting back down again. “I know you keep trying to avoid the subject, but I really need you to tell me what happened that night.”
          He could practically see the wall slam down.
         “I’ve already told you. I really don’t remember very much.”
          She was lying again. There was more to her story than she was telling him. But why would she lie? “Are you absolutely positive there’s nothing else you remember? Nothing else you haven’t told me?”
          She sat silently a moment, and he swore he could hear her brain buzzing as she debated whether or not to trust him.
         Finally, she mumbled, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
          “I might believe more than you think, sweetheart.” The endearment rolled off of his tongue without thought.
         He waited for her to snap at him again, but she must have been too preoccupied with what was going on in her lovely head to notice the slip.
         She shook her head stubbornly, “I don’t remember anything else.”
          Nik took a deep breath, and then took a huge chance. “Emma, I’m going to tell you something, and I need you to not freak out. Ok?”
          Her forehead wrinkled up adorably. “Ok.”
          “I think that maybe you’ve seen some things, things that other people wouldn’t believe, but I will. And the reason I will, Emma, is because I am something different myself.”
          She looked him over. “What do you mean?” Her voice rang with skepticism.
         “I’ll show you, but first I need you to believe me when I say that I would never hurt you.” He looked at her intently, willing her to believe him.
         Emma was starting to look anxious. “You’re scaring me here, Nik.