Page 19 of Vein & Vow (The Bouchers #1)

Chapter 18

Beau

E verything hurt, and I wanted more than anything to fall asleep with Reese, but the moment Chance poked his head around the door, I waved him inside.

“You look like shit,” he said, sitting on the bed near my feet.

Danny came in next with Ambrose on his heels.

“I feel like shit,” I replied, running my hand down Reese’s back as she stirred in her sleep. “What do you know?”

“Other than the fact that you eliminated anyone we could’ve interrogated?” Ambrose asked sarcastically. “Not much. All three were former human military. Their truck was found around the block, filled with food wrappers?—”

“And piss bottles,” Chance added. “Fucking animals.”

“It looked like they’d been surveilling Reese’s apartment for at least a day. Maybe two.”

“Why?”

Danny looked at Ambrose. Chance looked at Danny.

“We don’t know,” Ambrose replied. “But we know now that Zeke was taken just after he’d found his mate. Now, Reese.”

“Fuck,” I spat.

It couldn’t be a coincidence that two members of our family had been targeted.

“It’s not like she could go back to her place, anyway,” Danny said quietly. “But we need to move Reese into the house. She shouldn’t go back there.”

I sighed. “She’s got a job and a life?—”

“She’ll be up your ass for the next year at least,” Chance said, waving me off. “Hopefully, by then, we’ll have taken care of whatever shit this is.”

“Did you call command?”

“Arthur is headed out here in the morning,” Ambrose confirmed. “We need to know everything they’ve found in the last few days.”

The four of us grew quiet as we thought about what we already knew. It wasn’t much. Someone was targeting Vampires and if our suspicions were correct, they were looking for newly mated ones. In order to stop whatever was happening, we needed to find the head of the snake.

“Who did you call in today?” I asked curiously.

“Who says I called anyone in?” Ambrose asked innocently.

“Because the three of you wouldn’t be inside this room if you didn’t have someone out keeping an eye on the property.”

Danny laughed quietly.

“Just some mated locals,” Ambrose replied, his lips twitching. “Makes it easy to round them up when they all have prior training.”

“Paying them well?”

Danny scoffed. “Like any of them would expect payment after they saw those humans you left in the parking lot.”

“To be fair, one of them was at the top of the stairs,” Chance corrected.

“Vampires get itchy when humans decide to play games,” Ambrose said, stretching his arms above his head. “A problem for one of us is a problem for all of us.”

“When are you guys heading out?” I asked tiredly, letting my head drop to the pillow.

“Once you’re back on your feet,” Danny replied.

I shook my head. “Don’t wait.”

“We’re not leaving you here,” Chance argued.

“This one’s going to take weeks, Happ,” I reminded him with a grimace. “You guys need to get over there now and find him.”

“Another couple of weeks won’t matter,” Danny said stubbornly.

Looking down to the end of the bed, I met Ambrose’s eyes. If these humans were searching for Zeke’s mate, too, he may not have days to wait. He nodded.

“We’ll leave in the morning,” he conceded.

“We’ll catch up as soon as we can,” I promised. “Once I’m healed and Reese has settled.”

“She did well today,” Danny said, glancing at my mate. “Kept it together.”

I barely remembered anything once I’d made it back to the apartment. The only vivid memory was Reese’s face. “Yeah?”

“I mean, she’s kind of a princess when it comes to blood,” Chance said, pulling out a pocketknife so he could fiddle with it. “But she didn’t pass out.”

“She sat with you during surgery,” Ambrose explained. “But she kept her head down.”

“Probably best,” I mumbled. “How’d it go?”

“Alice got all of them out,” Ambrose replied soberly. “One was tucked in right next to your heart.”

I nodded, realizing how close I’d come. I could’ve survived a shot to the heart, but I wouldn’t have been able to keep my feet. If the human had been slightly less terrified of me and his shots cleaner, I might’ve woken up in a hut somewhere. Reese and Danny, too.

It didn’t matter. I still would’ve made the same choices.

My eyes grew heavy.

“We’re losing him,” Chance joked, straightening from where he’d been leaning against the wall. “Better let him get his beauty rest.”

“Let me know before you leave,” I ordered as Ambrose stood.

“Of course,” he said, smacking my foot.

Once they were gone, I looked down at Reese.

Her face was still swollen from crying, and every few minutes she twitched in her sleep like she was dreaming. Carefully rolling toward her, I grimaced as my chest and thigh pulled tight and sharp. The shot in my gut felt like it was already healing, but the others still hurt like hell.

I should’ve known that Reese would hold up well under pressure. My mate came out swinging when she was scared. She’d been doing it since we met.

“Why are you awake?” she rasped, her eyes half open. “You want me to turn the light off?”

“No, leave it on.” I wanted to be able to see her.

Nothing had prepared me for the fear that filled me when she’d screamed. Nothing had prepared me for the moment that I’d realized we’d closed ourselves into her apartment with one of the humans who’d come for her. It was terror on a level that I couldn’t have anticipated.

It was nothing like the moment when I’d realized my mate was under the rubble in a bombed London street. Up until that morning, I’d thought that was the most terrifying experience I’d ever have. It didn’t even come close to when I’d realized that Reese was in danger.

“You’re looking better already,” she murmured, smiling softly.

“I told you we heal fast.”

“I didn’t think you meant within hours.”

“I’m going to feel like shit for a couple of weeks.”

“That’s what you get for scaring the hell out of me,” she said smugly, her worried eyes looking me over.

“I was talking to my brothers?—”

“I heard you,” she said, laying her head on her arm. “You want me to move in here.”

“Thoughts?”

Her skin was so soft. Tucking my hand under her shirt, I curved it around the dip in her waist.

“I don’t want to go back there,” she said instantly. “Actually, I’d prefer if we just burned the entire building to the ground, but, you know, other people live there, too.”

“I’ll relocate them,” I joked.

“Nah, let them stay.” She shot me a small smile before dropping her eyes. “Why do you think they killed Kenny?”

“No idea,” I murmured. “My best guess is that he saw them going into your apartment and hassled them about it.”

The man was tortured, probably for information on Reese, but I wasn’t going to mention that if she didn’t ask. Her friend had died horribly in her apartment. That was enough to deal with.

“He was nice,” she whispered. “Really flaky, but nice. I wonder if his parents know yet.”

“Someone will have let them know.”

Reese nodded.

We slept fitfully that night. Reese was incredibly careful not to jostle me, keeping her hands to herself, but I was still in quite a bit of pain. Any time I shifted my position, I woke up with a start, and it took a long time to fall back asleep. By the time the sun began to rise, I was wide awake again, watching her sleep.

She’d cleaned up at some point, but there was still blood in her hair. It wasn’t a lot, but as I ran my fingers through it, I could feel the little dried bits catching on my fingers. If I was a better male, I’d feel guilty that she’d been targeted for being my mate, but I just couldn’t regret the fact that she was mine. Finally, after waiting for so long, the other half of my soul slept beside me. I’d do anything to protect that. Protect her.

Swallowing hard, I looked away from her neck.

My stomach clenched angrily, and I took a deep breath, trying to ignore it.

“Come here,” she murmured, sleepily, lifting her hand to my face. “You need blood.”

“Go back to sleep,” I ordered softly, kissing her palm. “I can wait.”

“Why?” Her thumb brushed over my bottom lip. “Take what you need.”

“Reese,” I groaned.

“You feel it?” she whispered, her drowsy eyes meeting mine. “Heat’s building again.”

“Yes.” I’d felt it for the last two hours.

Leaning forward, I brushed my lips over hers. Her hand slid tentatively around the back of my neck.

I moved slowly, ignoring as my body protested.

She smelled so good. She felt so fucking good. The fact that I could’ve lost this—that we could’ve lost it—was inconceivable. There was no longer a place in this world for me if she wasn’t in it. I belonged by her side.

“You’re hurt,” she protested weakly as I slid my hand down the front of her leggings. She was soft and wet, and I wanted to live just like this. If we never moved from that bed again, it would be too soon.

“My hands are fine,” I argued, running my lips over her jaw as I slid my middle finger inside her slowly.

My heart pounded as she arched off the bed, a small mewl falling from her mouth.

When my mouth reached her neck, she tipped her head back in offering. Relief and arousal rolled over me as I bit down, every muscle in my body clenching, mixing pain and pleasure until I wasn’t sure which was which.

Her cunt pulsed as I added another finger, her orgasm soaking my hand.

It was over too soon.

“Sweet relief,” she joked, her breath catching as I gently pulled my hand away and brushed over her swollen clit. Cupping my face in both hands, she searched my face. “Better?”

I nodded. “The heat?”

“Calm again,” she assured me with a smile. “You should try and sleep a little longer.”

“I feel like I’ve been sleeping for a week,” I argued.

“It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours, and you need the rest.”

“I’ll stay in bed,” I conceded, relaxing into the mattress again. “But I’d enjoy it a lot more if you took off my clothes.”

Reese scoffed and leaned up on her elbow. “You’re already naked.”

I flicked at the t-shirt hanging off her small frame. “You’re not.”

“I’m not getting undressed when people are coming in here whenever they want.”

“I’ll lock the door.”

“Not happening,” she said dryly, perching her head on her hand. “You look so much better today.”

“I’m betting anything would be better than how I looked yesterday.”

Reese’s eyes grew unfocused for a few moments. When she looked at me again, they were dark. “I was so scared,” she said quietly. “I’ve never been so scared.”

“I’d never let anything happen to you,” I promised, curving my hand around the side of her neck where her pulse beat furiously.

“I know that,” she replied. “I wasn’t scared for me .”

“I had to make sure that none of them could get to you.”

“There was so much blood, Beau.” She winced. “First Kenny and then you…you were bleeding everywhere . When you came out of the hallway, it didn’t seem that bad. With your coat on, I couldn’t really see any of it. But when you came back from outside…” She paused. “I couldn’t understand how you were still standing.”

“Moving around outside probably got things moving,” I explained. “I had to chase one of them.”

“God, Beau.” She grimaced.

“It’s over, love,” I reminded her.

“I still see it when I close my eyes. It’s like it plays on a loop. Over and over, I see you stumbling back through the doorway. I thought you were dying. I thought I was watching you die.”

“I’m right here.” Pulling her closer, I let my eyes drift closed as her face tucked into my neck. “Bite, baby.”

“No,” she replied quickly, jerking her face back. “No, you need every drop of blood you have left.”

“It won’t hurt me,” I countered, catching the back of her head in my hand. Pressing her forward, I tilted my head away. “You need it.”

“I don’t. It’s a want, remember? It’s not a need. I won’t get sick without it.”

Tipping my head back down, I met her gaze. Her pupils were still shot.

“It is a need,” I told her gently. “You thought I was going to die. I’m your mate . You need that connection as much as I do. Bite.”

She didn’t fight me as I pressed her face back to my neck, but she didn’t bite, either. She sniffled, her body shuddering as her tongue laved my neck. I couldn’t understand why she was fighting it so hard. We both knew that the blood exchanged was minimal. She needed the taste of me on her tongue, and I should’ve realized it earlier. That was on me.

“Bite, my love,” I whispered soothingly, smoothing my hand down the back of her head. “Do it now.”

I nearly groaned when I finally felt her pierce my neck, but I was afraid that if I made any noise at all, she’d stop.

Her body relaxed against mine as she licked the small punctures just seconds later, the same way I did to hers when I was finished. I didn’t need her to close the wounds, my body did that itself, but the small aftercare made my chest ache. She was taking care of me the same way I took care of her.

Reese’s face was wet as she lifted her head.

“Better?” I asked softly.

“I love you,” she replied with a sob. The words were almost defiant.

“That pisses you off?” I teased, wiping at her tears.

“You’re an asshole,” she cried.

I couldn’t stop the bark of laughter that made pain radiate through my torso.

“Stop laughing!”

“I hate to break it to you,” I said, kissing her. “But so are you.”

“I am not.”

“You are, but I love you anyway.”

“This is not how it’s supposed to go,” she complained, wiping angrily at her face. “You’re supposed to say it first, and you’re supposed to say a bunch of other sweet shit, too.”

“Sorry,” I replied dryly. “First timer here.”

Reese glared. I smiled.

“Your soul matches mine, Reese Matthews,” I whispered against her lips. “I was made to love you.”

Reese was quiet for a moment, her tongue coming out to slide along my bottom lip.

“That’ll do,” she grumbled, her eyes twinkling.

“As soon as I can move without these stitches ripping, I’m going to fuck you for hours.”

“Ooh, that’s even better,” she joked.

We were still smiling at each other when a knock at the door interrupted us.

“Come in,” I called, untangling from Reese so I could sit up.

“Such an idiot,” Reese mumbled under her breath as she stacked pillows behind me.

“Hey, we’re heading out soon,” Ambrose announced, leaving the door open as he strode into the room. “We got a hit on the sister’s passport. She left Belgium for France yesterday.”

“But not Charles?” Why would they have separated?

“He could be using a different passport, thinking no one would be looking for the sister,” Ambrose said with a shrug. “I have a feeling if we find her, we’ll find him.”

“Is Danny still going to meet up with Matthias?”

“Yeah, he’ll drop us at Albert-Picardie first.”

“Keep me updated,” I ordered, frustrated that they had to go without us.

“Of course,” Ambrose said with a nod. “We’ve got a rotation going outside. Four on at all times, so stay put for a while until you’re healed, would you?”

“Security,” Reese mused. “I feel like a celebrity or something.”

Ambrose scoffed, but his lips twitched. “Keep this fool out of trouble.”

“I’ll do my best,” she said dryly.

“We’re all set,” Chance called out as he appeared in the doorway. “Love you guys. See you in a couple of weeks.”

“Love you, too,” I replied as he disappeared again.

“Take care of yourself,” Ambrose said, reaching out to grip my shoulder. “We’ll see you soon.”

“Soon,” I agreed.

“Reese,” he said with a nod.

“Happy hunting,” she replied with a smile.

“Love you.” Why the hell was I so torn up that they were leaving without us? We’d gone our own way for most of our lives. It was rare for all of us to be in the same place at the same time for more than a couple of days a year.

“Love you, too, Bjorn,” Ambrose said seriously. “Don’t rush the healing. We’ll see you when we see you.”

Once he was gone, Reese tucked herself into my side, her head on my shoulder.

“It’ll be kind of weird having them gone,” she said as we watched the open door.

“We’re not here much,” I replied, kissing her forehead. “They’re still part of command. They’ve been given time to search for Zeke’s mate because it aligns with the objectives of command, but once that’s done, they’ll be separated again.”

“Unless they find their mates,” Reese replied, looking up at me. “Right?”

“Right.”

I wasn’t sure how to explain to someone who was only twenty-seven years old that it could be another century before my brothers found their mates. She had no concept of that kind of time.

“Have to make this fast,” Danny said as he strode into the room. “Or Chance is going to have a fucking conniption.”

“He can’t leave without you,” I pointed out. Danny was the only one of us with a pilot’s license. “Take a seat.”

My little brother laughed. “I’d still have to spend the day flying with him,” he pointed out. “It would catch up to me eventually.”

“You’re all set to see Matthias?” I asked as he stopped near the foot of the bed. “You know he won’t say shit unless you ask the right questions.”

“I know him as well as you do,” Danny responded dryly. “I’ve got it handled.”

“And you packed extra socks, right?” Reese teased. “You never know when you’ll need a spare.”

Danny grinned at my mate. “Take care of him.”

“I will.”

“Let me know when you get to Germany,” I ordered.

“I’ll send you a telegram,” he joked. “We’ve got plenty of security, but keep your eyes open, yeah? Love you.”

“Don’t worry about shit here,” I replied. “Love you, too.”

“Bye, Reese,” Danny said with a small wave as he backed out of the door.

She waved back.

Dropping my head back against the headboard, I stared at the ceiling. Letting my brothers go to Europe without me felt wrong. Danny would be alone after he’d left Chance and Ambrose in France. I’d feel a lot better after he’d met up with Matthias. The Vampire might be a suspicious pain in the ass, but he’d protect any one of us like his own brothers.

“I’m sorry we have to stay behind,” Reese said, kissing my shoulder. “We’ll catch up as soon as you’re able.”

“Two weeks,” I replied firmly.

“As soon as you’re healed,” she countered as her stomach gurgled.

“Come on,” I ordered, pushing the sheet off my lap. “You need food.”

“What the hell are you doing?” she griped as I turned to set my feet on the floor.

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Getting out of bed,” she hissed, scrambling around me to reach the floor before I did. “Should you be up?”

“I’m a Vampire, Reese,” I reminded her.

“You were shot five times,” she muttered distractedly as I rose. “You should not look like that .”

I let out a huff of laughter even as my cock seemed to notice where her attention was focused.

“You need to put some pants on,” she ordered. “And a robe. And a parka.”

“All my clothes are upstairs.”

“I’ll run up and get them,” she said, finally looking away when I was completely hard. “Helen said you don’t have any sweatpants. What should I get?”

“I have a pair in my suitcase.” Which reminded me. “Do you know if anyone brought my car back?”

Reese looked at me like I was nuts. “Sorry, I was a little preoccupied.”

I grinned as she stomped out of the room, waiting until she was gone to sit back down on the mattress. Damn, I was weak. I’d had injuries before—I’d been shot more times than I could remember—but I’d never had so many wounds at the same time.

Is that how they managed to capture Zeke? We no longer had his body to check, but command must know. He wouldn’t have had time to fully heal before he’d died. There should’ve been some evidence.

A few minutes later, Reese came back with my clothes and watched as I insisted on dressing myself. When we got to the kitchen, my mother, Helen, and Alice were sitting around the table with cups of coffee.

“On your feet already?” Alice commented with a raised eyebrow.

“We’re hungry, and my nurses disappeared,” I joked as I shuffled across the room.

“He insisted he could walk around.” Reese glared at me. “I could’ve made something myself.”

“There are cinnamon rolls in the oven,” my mom said, looking me over. “I just left them in there to keep them warm.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

I stopped and sat on a stool as Reese went to get us breakfast.

“Beau,” Helen called. “Do you believe they’re targeting newly bonded mates?”

I glanced at Reese. We hadn’t had that discussion yet.

“That’s what it looks like,” I confirmed. “But we don’t know enough to be sure.”

“Matthias,” Helen said worriedly. “He and Misha have only been mated for less than a year.”

“Danny’s on his way there now,” I reassured her as Reese set a cinnamon roll near my elbow. “But you know Matthias. He’s being careful.”

“Why in the world would they target new mates specifically?” my mom asked. “What’s the point?”

“Someone wants to know the secret to immortality,” Alice replied flatly, watching as she twisted her coffee cup in a slow circle. “I’d bet you every penny I have that our secret is no longer a secret.”

Helen’s face paled, and my mom jerked in her seat like she’d been slapped.

The pieces started to fall into place as I turned to look at Reese.

“First, we’ll find Charles,” she said softly, brushing the hair back from my forehead. “Then we’ll deal with whatever this is. One thing at a time.”