it. He’s merely a facilitator.” When Mary remained silent, Tilda sighed. “Let me speak to the vampire again.”
Tucker’s voice was in her ear a moment later, sounding far less jovial than before. “Yes?”
“Have my daughter here by Tuesday, please.”
A few seconds passed. “It’s Sunday morning. You said to have her at the manor by ‘this time next week.’ That’s a Saturday, according to calendars.”
“Plans change.”
But hers wouldn’t.
Tilda hung up the phone without waiting for a response.
Tucker needed sleep.
It was rare for a vampire to give in to such a human condition as tiredness. Over the course of a month, he usually slept twice.
But it wasn’t for the sake of exhaustion that he craved unconsciousness. He just wanted to forget for a while that he’d lied to Mary about something so fucking important. It didn’t matter that he’d lied about the mechanics of matehood for her own good, he’d hurt her feelings. Granted, he’d never expected Mary to be so upset over the news that he’d find a mate someday. Never saw that coming at all. Just like he’d never expected her to want his touch.
Tucker dropped a hand to his lap and adjusted the erection that wouldn’t quit.
Every time he managed to soften enough to be comfortable, he’d remember Mary’s slippery flesh, how she’d ridden his fingers, her tongue drawing in and out of his mouth, the weight of her tits in his hands. And yeah, it was back to boner city on the express bus.
His time with Mary was on the same express route, too, now.
A week hadn’t been enough time, let alone four days.
A lifetime wouldn’t be enough.
His eyes burned like they were rimmed in hot coal. There was nothing he could do to stall. Not without ruining Mary’s chance for happiness. Not without disregarding her wishes. What she wanted. What she’d chosen. The fact that he wanted to whip the car into a U-turn and find a cave to hide her in didn’t matter. He was there to drive. He was not one of the choices, so he needed to be happy for the gift of her time he’d been allowed, short as it might be.
Tucker signaled and took a hard right turn, putting the Impala on the back road that would bring them to the safe house. Almost there. Would she talk to him again once wind wasn’t roaring in through the broken windows? Or was she going to stay upset? The latter possibility caused him so much distress in his midsection, he fought the need to howl.
He was doing the right thing by lying to her, wasn’t he?
Yes. Mary couldn’t know the Tucker strongly suspected she was his mate. And he definitely couldn’t tell Mary that drinking her blood was the only way to know for sure.
If she allowed him to test his theory, to slide his fangs into her delicate neck and partake, no other blood would appease or sustain him ever again. Death would come for him within weeks without her blood. What if she found out and altered her plans because of it? That, in itself, would be a longshot when she had so much to gain elsewhere. Her sight. He wouldn’t take the chance with something so monumental. If Mary was forced to make sacrifices on his behalf, he wouldn’t be able to stand it.
Although it was slowly dawning on Tucker that as soon as he left Mary with Hadrian…
He would very likely welcome death anyway.
Whether he’d drunk from her or not.
Which he wouldn’t.
Her scent mocked him from the other side of the car. With a clenched jaw, he renewed his determination to keeps his hands—and fangs—to himself.
That didn’t mean that he could stand the silent treatment for much longer.
To think she might be mad at him was agony, further proof she was his fated one. He’d watched his roommates turn from derisive assholes to exposed nerves over their mates. Right up until he met Ginny, Jonas was known in the underworld as unflappable. One walk on the boardwalk with the mortician and his world was suddenly unrecognizable. Nothing had mattered but Ginny’s safety. Tucker could finally relate to that.
Furthermore, he could now relate to Elias’s plight—his friend’s fated one was a slayer. Tucker shivered to think what it would be like to stand on one side of battle lines and have your mate standing on the other.
It wouldn’t be too long until he knew exactly what it was like.
A dead end came into view up ahead, the road split in