"So that Spencer person could be anyone?"
She sensed him shrug. "Could be a person or a place. Could mean something else
altogether. It might not be related to this at all."
"I'm sorry, Sam." She placed her hands over his where they rested on her stomach.
He froze behind her and she realized what she'd called him. "I mean, Cassidy."
His arms tightened fractionally around her and he sighed, resting his chin on top of
her head. "No, I like it when you call me by my first name."
She asked the question she'd been dying to ask for days now. "Why don't you use it
then? Why get everyone to call you Cassidy?"
He moved his chin gently back and forth over the top of her head. She could smell
his aftershave, a spicy scent that filled her nostrils. She would forever associate it with
Sam. "My parents died when I was just a kid and I grew up in series of orphanages and
foster homes. When you're in the system, they use your last name a lot."
Blythe tipped her head to the side and looked up, wanting to see his face. He
appeared calm and unconcerned, but she could see an old shadow of sadness lurking in
his blue eyes. At least she'd had her mother. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," he interrupted before she could go on. "I had a roof over my head and
food in my belly. It was fine."
But it hadn't been. She sensed his loneliness, but also knew that he didn't want to
talk about it. And besides, now wasn't the time or the place. He leaned down and
brushed his mouth against hers. The gentle motion had her lips parting. Her hand crept
up to touch his cheek.
Sighing, he pulled back. "You can call me Sam if you want to."
She sensed that this was a big step for him, that he was allowing her to get closer to
him than he allowed most people. She was both thrilled and terrified. She wasn't going
to be around much longer and both of them would be hurt if their relationship, such as
it was, got any deeper.
He stepped away, all business once again. "I have to go." He glanced at his watch.
"It's still almost an hour until the sun sets and I can get some help with this. I'm hoping
that Zane will be able to track Sophia through their blood connection."
Blythe shivered and rubbed her arms, unconsciously scrunching her neck closer to
her body. "Can he do that?"
"Yeah, I think so. Stefan did it when Laurel Rose was abducted. I imagine that Zane
has similar skills. As long as he's taken her blood, he should be able to get some kind of
a fix on her location." Reaching out, Sam tugged her into his arms and hugged her. "But
just in case, I've got to go to Sophia's place and check things out. I won't be gone long
and you should be fine as long as you stay here in the main house."
She nodded, her mind spinning. This was the opportunity she'd been waiting for.
Going up on her toes, she tugged Sam's head down closer and kissed him. It wasn't a
tentative kiss, but a deep, openmouthed one that involved his tongue and hers. Oh, he
tasted as fine as dark chocolate and just as smooth.
She lost control of the kiss almost immediately. Sam's hands clasped her around her
waist and pulled her closer. Her breasts were squashed against his chest and she
couldn't resist rubbing herself against him. It felt so good, she had to do it again. She
whimpered when his hands shifted lower, cupping her behind and pressing her pelvis
against his. The hard ridge of his erection pressed against her mound and she moaned.
No, she didn't feel cold or frigid around this man. She felt hot and wanton and totally
unlike herself.
Fear, hard and strong, shot through her and she pulled away, gasping for breath.
Sam was in no better condition than she was. His blue eyes were hooded as he stared at
her. His lips were moist from their kiss and his hair was tousled where she'd shoved
her fingers through it. She stepped back, appalled at her actions.
"I'm sorry." She straightened her shirt and stared down at the tops of her sneakers.
She wasn't truly sorry. She was saying goodbye, but he didn't know that.
"I'm not." His husky whisper made her shiver as he caught her chin with his finger
and tilted her face upward. "When this is over, we have to talk."
Her stomach did a flip-flop and she shuddered. She didn't say yes or no, but he
away, heading toward the back door. "I'll be back as quick as I can, but if something
happens and I don't get back before the family gets up, fill them in on what's happened.
They can reach me on my cell phone."
Then he was gone. She stood there listening to the sound of his car starting. When
the sound disappeared into the distance, she touched her lips. They still tingled from
where he'd kissed her.
Shaking off the sensual lethargy that had settled over her, she decided it was time
for her to take action. Her life as she knew it was over and it was time to start a new one
before she got in over her head with Sam.
She let herself out of the house, careful to make sure both the locks and the alarms
were set. There were several alarms, one that went to a private security company, one
that went to Sam's apartment, one that signaled Stefan's house next door and a final one
that alerted Lucian and Delight. She was certainly safer here than she was anywhere
else, but she had to go.
Last night had proved to her that she couldn't give Sam the kind of relationship
that he wanted, needed and deserved. It would be better for everyone involved if she
just slipped quietly away. She ignored the taunting voice in her head that called her a
coward. Maybe she was being a coward, but right now she knew that this was what she
had to do.
Hurrying to Sam's, she let herself in and grabbed her purse. She stared at her tote
bags, but decided against taking her clothing. If she was going to run, she needed to be
unencumbered. Taking the tattered journal out from under the mattress where she'd
hidden it, she tucked it in her purse and then slung the strap over her head and
shoulder, keeping her arms free.
Sam had enough problems in his life without adding hers to the mix. She hesitated,
staring at the bed she'd slept in since he brought her here. It was his bed and her only
regret was that she hadn't truly shared it with him. Now she'd never have the
opportunity. "Not that we ever truly had a chance." She reached out and touched his
pillow one final time. Jethro Prince had ruined any chance of her ever having a normal
relationship. Blythe didn't want Sam to ever find out what had happened to her. What
she'd done.
She shuddered and broke out into a cold sweat. Turning away from the bed, she
hurried to the kitchen. She couldn't just leave him without saying something. Grabbing
the pad of paper by the phone, she jotted a quick note thanking him for everything. It
didn't say nearly enough, but it was the best she could do.
He'd forget about her within a few weeks. She, on the other hand, would remember
him forever. His scent, his taste and his touch would haunt her for the rest of her life.
Shoving the note next to the phone where he'd be sure to see it, she took one last long
look around the room and then forced herself to leave.
It was harder than she'd anticipated, locking her key inside his apartment, going
down the steps one at a time and finally resetting the alarm. She didn't go out the front
way, but ducked out a side gate that was all but covered by foliage.
She didn't look back as she made her way down the sidewalk even though her
heart felt as if it were breaking. "You're doing the right thing." The short pep talk didn't
help much.
Blythe sorted out what she had to do. The bank was first. She needed to get her
money and close out her accounts. It wasn't much, but it would get her out of New
Orleans and give her a fresh start somewhere else.
The farther away she got from Sam's home, the harder it got to put one foot in front
of the other. She worried about Sophia and prayed that Sam, Zane and the others would
find her in time. She'd have to keep a watch on the papers to find out. What would
Delight and Laurel Rose think of her, leaving at a time like this and with no word at all?
They would be hurt and probably be angry with her. Blythe rubbed at her breastbone,
trying to ease the ache, but it didn't help. Nothing would.
Then there was Stefan and Lucian. They would both be angry with her for leaving.
For some crazy reason, they felt responsible for her. She squared her shoulders and
lengthened her stride, ignoring the heavy feeling in her heart. She was no one's
responsibility. She could take care of herself.
That left Sam, who she really didn't want to think about. He would be furious with
her, but more than that, he would be hurt. That was the last thing she wanted to do, but
there was really no other choice. Wasn't there? a voice in her head whispered.
She ignored it. What was her other choice? Tell Sam about everything that had
happened to her. She shuddered as she imagined how that would go. "Oh, by the way,
I was Jethro Prince's sex slave for a year." Her stomach churned. Sam would certainly
want her then. Not.
That was her real motivation for running. She couldn't bear to see the tenderness
and sensual heat in Sam's eyes turn to cold disgust. And what else could he be but
disgusted? She was sickened herself by what had happened, what she'd been forced to
do. If it had only been herself... She broke off, refusing to think of what might have
been. She'd done what she'd had to do to protect her mother. What was done was done.
But what if it didn't matter to him? What if Sam could deal with what had happened?
She wished that voice in the back of her head would shut up. What man would want
her, knowing what she'd done? Sam might.
"Oh, get real," she muttered, trying to drown out the voice in her head. But still the
seed of doubt had been planted. Could she take the chance? What did she really have to
lose? As it was, she was looking at being alone for the rest of her life. If she left, she'd
never have the chance to see if her life could have been different.
The bank was just ahead of her now. All she had to do was get her money, go to the
bus station and within the hour, she'd be on her way to somewhere else. She had no
idea where. She'd leave that decision to fate. Whichever bus was leaving first was the
one she'd be on.
It didn't take her long to close her account and get her money. She separated it into
several different piles, tucking some in her purse, her jacket pocket and in her jeans as a
precaution.
She stepped out into the late afternoon sun and hesitated. Right would take her
back to Sam and left would take her to the bus station. She looked both ways, took a
deep breath and turned...
"Hello there, Blythe."
She whirled around and faced a hard-looking man who appeared vaguely familiar.
She turned to run back into the bank, but he slapped his hand over her mouth and
shoved her into the backseat of a dark sedan that pulled up beside them. It was all over
in a matter of seconds and she was sandwiched between him and another man.
She tried to fight, but the man holding her twisted her arm behind her, jerking it so
high she was surprised it didn't snap. "You made a laughingstock out of us the last
time," he growled in her ear as he increased the pressure. "I don't know what you did
to us, but the boss wasn't pleased when we turned up at the club without you and with
no memory of what happened." The pain was excruciating. As the car whizzed away,
he released his hand from her mouth. That was when she realized who they were--the
two men from her apartment.
The younger man gripped his fingers in her cheeks so hard she knew she'd have
bruises. "You remember us, don't you, Blythe? I'm Tom and that's Harold beside you."
Her eyes went to the older man who stared back at her with pure hate in his eyes. Tom
continued, his tone almost conversational. "You remember Harold. Somehow he ended
up with a bullet graze in his shoulder. You wouldn't know anything about that, would
you?"
She didn't even try to speak. She was smart enough to know there was nothing she
could say that would make them release her.
"We've been watching for you," Tom continued. "Figured that you'd come out
eventually. Imagine our surprise when we caught a glimpse of you in the yard at the
Dalakis' home. That ex-cop has been keeping a close eye on you. Just how close has he
been watching you, Blythe? I heard that you're a hot little cunt." He laughed as he
leaned closer. "The boss is waiting to talk to you and he doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Tom licked the side of her face. "Maybe he'll let us have what's left of you when he's
finished." He groped at her breast, squeezing it painfully as he laughed again. "Just
consider it payback."
Blythe thought she might be sick as fear beat at her brain. She closed her eyes to
shut out the sight of the man in front of her. She'd been abducted. The time of
reckoning with Adrian Prince was at hand.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Zane came awake with a roar. The bed went flying as he tossed it aside and surged
to his feet. Without hesitation, he made his way into the living room. With his
preternatural senses, he sniffed the air, filling his nostrils with the smells of the room.
Sophia's delicate scent of vanilla and feminine warmth was overshadowed by the
sharp tang of fear. The male's smell was different. There was no fear, just a tinge of
excitement and a whiff of expensive cologne. He also caught the essence of someone
else. Cassidy. Cassidy had been here and gone.
Hurrying out through the front door, he left the apartment behind him. He
wouldn't be coming back without Sophia. Right now, he had to get to Lucian's place
and find out what Cassidy knew.
While he raced across the city, blurring his passage from the minds of all he passed,
he kept calling out to Sophia with his mind. She didn't answer. No matter. He would
find her wherever she was, but it would take time and that was something they didn't
have. Even now, the killer could be draining the lifeblood from her.
He could feel his eyes changing, glowing a burning red. His fangs lengthened, his
muscles tightened. Whoever had taken her would pay with his life.
Charging up the front steps, Zane mentally undid all the locks on the door before
barging inside. Stefan met him
before he had taken two steps inside. The other man
took one look at his face and beckoned him forward.
Zane stalked toward the library, sensing that everyone else had already assembled.
Well, not everyone. Sophia was missing. And, surprisingly, so was Blythe.
Fury was pouring off Cassidy in waves as Zane entered the room. All eyes flew to
him and back to Cassidy. "What do you know?" Zane wasted no time on pleasantries.
Cassidy turned to him, blue eyes icy with anger. "The killer has Sophia. Tricked her
into letting him inside by saying he had a delivery from you. He popped her into the
box and took her away. Neighbors remember a delivery van and I got a partial license
number. The van was stolen from a local company early this morning and found
abandoned late this afternoon. No prints, no nothing."
Zane swallowed back his growing fear. Instinctively, he reached out with his mind
but found nothing.
"You will find her." Stefan stepped forward, laying his hand on Zane's shoulder.
"We will find her."
Zane looked around the room and for the first time since he was a small boy, he had
a sense of family. A sense of belonging. But none of it mattered, not without Sophia. He
could feel an underlying panic in Cassidy along with his anger. "Where's Blythe?"
"We don't know." Delight glanced at Cassidy who turned away and walked to the
window to stare out into the night. "She left while Cassidy was over at Sophia's. She left
behind all her belongings as well as a note saying that she had to leave."
"This is all my fault." Cassidy faced them all. "I knew she was still nervous.
Uncertain. Especially after last night..." He broke off and heaved a sigh, leaving them
all wondering what had happened between the two of them. "I knew there was a
possibility that she'd run. I should never have left her alone." He walked toward Zane,
his blue eyes steady. "I should have insisted that Sophia stay here. None of this would
have happened if I had."
Zane stared at the other man, sensing his bone-deep remorse. He shook his head.
"Sophia has a mind of her own. She knew the risks and took them. The blame belongs
on the killer and no one else." He paused, not quite sure if he should say anything
about Blythe, but decided that Cassidy deserved to know. "Blythe ran because she's