Finding Fire

Chapter 19

Anna forced herself to open her eyes as she slowly came back to awareness. She'd never woken up next to a man, let alone a naked one she'd just slept with.

She would've liked to quietly sneak off the bed, but Nicolas was already awake and watching her. Of course he was. "Did you get to sleep at all?" she asked.

He smiled at her. "I feel very well rested."

She frowned. "That's not an answer."

He leaned toward her until their lips met for a gentle kiss. She closed her eyes and brought her hand to the back of his neck to pull him closer. She heard a growl from his throat as he gripped her waist and pulled her body flush with his.

Before he could completely entrance her with his kisses, she glanced at the glowing clock on the nightstand. "Do we have time for one more?"

Nicolas lifted his head up and looked at the clock and back at her. "I have a rule for women who are in bed with me."

Anna raised a questioning brow. "A rule?"

He nodded and bent down to nibble on her neck. She arched into the contact. His breath brushed against her sensitive skin as he whispered, "Women in bed with me are not allowed to look at any form of timekeeping devices."

Anna laughed and pulled his face to hers for a kiss.

A few hours later, Anna's body was humming. She wasn't sure whether it was because of the wild day she'd shared with Nicolas or because she was only hours away from possibly finding out the truth behind that horrible day fifteen years ago.

Nicolas had been so unexpected last night. He'd seemed so loose and carefree. Anna wondered whether all men were like that in bed.

He'd laughed, smiled, and been downright playful. Very different from the lone vampire on a mission of vengeance that she was so used to being around.

However, the happy-go-lucky person he'd been in bed retreated right back into hiding when they were back in the car. They were back to long silences and staring out the windows.

To make it worse, they were so far out into the middle of wilderness that there were no good music stations available.

After about another ten miles, she couldn't take the silence anymore. "What's going on?" she asked.

He took his eyes off the road to glance over at her. "What do you mean?"

Anna shrugged. "I don't know much about morning after—" she broke off to look at the dark sky, "night after etiquette, but I have a feeling it involves talking at some point."

He turned back to the road. "Talking is overrated."

Anna snorted. "That's the response you chose? 'Talking is overrated,'" she mocked in a deeper voice. "Seriously, is something bothering you?"

"Of course something is bothering me," he blurted out. "We're going to be to the compound in the next hour, and I'm trying my damnedest to think of a way we will both survive and still get the answers you're looking for."

"Weren't we going to get there and decide on a plan once we evaluate the security?"

His fists tightened on the steering wheel in his frustration. "I can't think of a scenario where I can get a good look at Aleksander's guards without them sensing me near. I've been gone for sixty years. I cannot assume nothing major has changed with methods of guarding or the layout of the inside of the building."

Anna looked out at the dark passing forests surrounding them and thought about what he said. "Well then, you'll have to send me in first."

He shook his head. "That won't happen. You'd be defenseless and surrounded by vampires."