Accidentally Married to…a Vampire?(Accidentally Yours #2)(10)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

His c**k began to swell once again. Contain your passion, man. Remember, you cannot join with her until she has been transformed. His mood instantly soured.

The device made another odd sound. “Here. Push this,” Helena demonstrated how to engage the device.

His mood modestly improved; she trusted him enough to help. Very encouraging. Niccolo’s attention moved to the phone. “Speak,” he commanded it.

A voice came out over the speaker. “Rodrigo! You useless idiot! You’d better have Niccolo on his way to Sao Paolo!”

Niccolo was amazed by how the small device transported the wretched woman’s voice. “I am not on my way anywhere,” he answered.

There was a long pause. “Niccolo?”

“Yes, Reyna.”

Niccolo held his index finger to Helena’s mouth. He did not want the queen finding out about his new human.

“Where the hell have you been?” Reyna barked.

Niccolo shrugged. “Long story. One I do not care to share.” Especially not now. His bride was listening and he did not want to scare her away.

“You refuse to answer?”

“I have not had a meal in three-hundred years and must feed. What do you want of me, Reyna?” He knew his attitude might anger her further, but there was only one thing she hated more than impertinence: cowardice.

“Insolent fool! Tell me where you’ve been,” Reyna demanded.

“Buon. I’m here now and have taken care of the issue which detained me. That is all you need to know.”

She growled. “Fine. Get your sweet ass down to Sao Paolo. There’s a pack of Obscuros eating tourists—reds and oranges by the handful like f**king M&M’s!”

Niccolo did not want Helena to hear this. It might shock her to know that Vampires hunted humans according to the color of their auras. Good vampires preyed only on those with gray or black auras—humans who were beyond redemption. Of course, the sweetest treats were the good apples with red, yellow, and orange auras—Forbiddens like Helena. The only exception was for the queen who had a pool of willing blood slaves with auras somewhere in the middle of the rainbow.

“Sao Paolo. As you command,” Niccolo responded casually to mask his concern. The queen’s reaction was far too…gracious.

In fact, I sense a twinge of…relief? Yes. That is what he felt radiating distantly through their blood bond. What had happened in the world? Must be bad if she’s so willing to take me back.

He then thought about what it meant to return to her service, a scenario he had not anticipated. It is merely for three more months, man. You can manage.

“Go find something to eat,” the queen barked. “Sentin and Rodrigo will be watching your every move. If you even think of running again, they will call me, and I will personally deal with you. Understand? Now, hurry the f**k up and get your ass on that plane!”

A plain what?

“And Niccolo…after your job is complete, you come straight to me; I’m not done with you yet.”

Niccolo looked at Helena. He could sense the turbulent current of fear and confusion coursing through her. He could not help but want to comfort her.

Just as soon as I am certain the situation is safe, I will be comforting you in many, many ways, mio cuore. But for the time being, he could not risk Helena’s life; she was his ticket to freedom, though he did not know how this freedom would come about.

“Sentin. Just Sentin will be escorting me. I intercepted Rodrigo in the jungle attempting to dine on a Forbidden.”

There was a long silence, then, “I guess that explains why you have his phone.” Reyna sighed. “Dammit. I had plans this weekend. He was going to cat sit. Well, I guess you’ve returned just in time. I imagine many of the less honorable men have been bending the rules since you…” She screamed loudly, “Took your f**king vacation! Get to work! And clean it up before I change my mind about taking you back!”

The words Call Ended, flashed across the tiny screen.

Niccolo let out a long, slow breath and then turned to Helena. She was still trembling.

“Please, just let me go back to my friends.”

Niccolo grabbed her hand and planted a lingering kiss on her palm. “That is exactly what I plan to do.” He held up the phone. “Give me your coordinates so I may converse with you on this device when the time comes to send for you.”

He could sense her emotions. Deception. She did not want to return to him. She was afraid. She was also intrigued.

He added, “And do not think of hiding from me, Helena. I am thirteen hundred years old now, and you are my mate. I will hunt you. I will find you.”

Chapter 4

Three weeks later

The nocturnal salty breeze carried the sound of crashing waves into Helena’s second story window. Although the ocean was a full four blocks away, the soothing crests often sounded as if right beneath her window. It was normally her favorite thing about living in the lax beach town of Santa Cruz. But since her return from Mexico, nothing made her happy.

Being alone in the enormous yellow house didn’t help either. Her mother was staying at Aunt Rita’s in San Diego—her first vacation in a long time.

Helena nibbled her thumb, glared at her cell phone, and then flopped down on her white bedspread, arms sprawled to her sides. It was eight pm. When would he call? When would he send for her? What would she do when he did?

“You’re obsessed! Stop it!” It had been weeks since her return, yet her mind had never left that dark night in the jungle. The memories haunted her every moment of the day and every second of her dreams—when she managed to sleep. Tonight was not one of those nights. Tonight she’d dwell again on his final parting word: “forever.”

That night, after Niccolo surprisingly informed Helena he would let her go, they’d hiked through the jungle for an hour, and he’d asked all sorts of bizarre questions. How did people travel? What weapons were prevalent? Who was currently at war? What form of currency was best?

Helena explained all about cars, the Euro, planes, bombs, and guns. Then the Middle East. Niccolo listened with fascination to every word. When they finally reached a road, she wondered how he would react to seeing a car. Was he really thirteen hundred years old? How could that be physically possible? He’d also mentioned having waited three hundred years for her. Asleep. The absurdity of that statement swam endless laps inside her head. Not only from a scientific standpoint, but also because she had the worst luck with men. They always seemed intimidated by her independence. To imagine a male like Niccolo waiting around just for her? It made her insides liquefy.