N. Walters - Damek's Redemption

“Welcome to my home.”

Sonia could only stare in wonder at the large expanse of hardwood floor that spread out before her. A tasteful leather sectional sofa sat in front of a gas fireplace, an antique chest of drawers sat just beside the door and the windows on the far end had a glorious view of the city skyline. It reeked of money, and her entire apartment back in New York would fit in his living room.

Damek urged her inward and she paused. “Shouldn’t we take our shoes off?” It seemed a shame to walk on such pristine floors.

“This is my home, Sonia. You can do whatever you wish here.” The sincerity of his words hit her hard. This was where Damek lived when he wasn’t working. This truly was his home.

She toed off her shoes and padded inward, very aware of him hovering behind her. He was so close to her she could feel the brush of his chest against her back. She might not be at her best, but there was nothing wrong with her hormones, and they were all clamoring for her to get closer to Damek.

A long bar area was situated off to the right beyond the sitting area, a rather large dining table sat in solitary splendor on an antique Persian rug that probably cost more than a year’s salary for her, and off to the left were acres of granite countertops and a kitchen that boasted beautiful stainless-steel appliances.

“I need to check your arm.” Before she could protest, he guided her down a short hallway, past a bathroom and two closed doors to an open door at the end. She stumbled to a halt just inside the door. This was his bedroom.

The bed was a huge four-poster that sat high off the floor and came complete with a set of two steps, which were necessary to climb up onto it. The headboard was intricately carved and obviously very old. A huge armoire was opposite the bed and bedside tables flanked both sides of the bed. The light from what looked to be a genuine Tiffany lamp shone on the wall beside the bedside table and onto the bed beside it. The comforters were black and the sheets were crisp white.

She could smell him here, the light scent of the masculine soap he used. There was a book, the only thing of a personal nature, sitting on the nightstand and she wondered what it was. There was no clothing lying around, nothing out of place. She wanted to explore, wanted to know everything about him, to understand this complex man.

“Come.” Damek tossed her suitcase on top of an oriental-style chest that sat at the end of the giant bed, drew his coat away from her shoulders, pried her purse away from her fingers and set both alongside her luggage.

Given the opulence of what she’d seen so far, she should have been prepared for what came next, but nothing could have prepared her for his bathroom. He flicked the light on and she gasped. “This is incredible.”

Black marble tiles covered the floor and climbed up the walls all the way to the ceiling. A tub, big enough to fit four, sat in one corner of the room and a shower stall that could easily fit two was just beyond. A six-foot vanity counter held two sinks and had a gold-leafed mirror above it.

Damek put his hands on her waist, lifted her as though she weighed nothing at all and set her on the counter. The marble countertop was cool beneath her hands as she steadied herself.

“Let’s get this off you.” He eased her sweater off, making sure not to hit her injured arm. Now that she was paying attention to it, the wound started to throb. Sonia bit her lower lip to keep from moaning as Damek unwound the towel. It was stained with her blood and the realization made her feel woozy.

“How bad is it?” She shivered as the memory of the blade slicing through her skin came back full force. It was still hard to wrap her mind around the fact that someone wanted to kill her, and not because she’d done anything bad to him, but simply for what she might know.

“Not too bad. Your coat and sweater likely gave you some protection.”

But not enough. The four-inch gash was still seeping blood and that couldn’t be a good thing, not with Damek being a vampire.

As if he heard her thoughts, his head jerked up and he gave her a ferocious frown. “I can control myself. You have nothing to fear from me.”

She nodded, not knowing what else to say. The man had been angry with her and yet he’d come back and rescued her from her attacker and from possible death. She didn’t think the vampire hunters would have let her walk away from that encounter. They protected themselves at all costs.

Damek was busy pulling out antiseptic and bandages from a drawer in the vanity. He set them all on the counter and went to work cleaning her wound. He filled the sink with warm water, grabbed a sinfully thick white facecloth and wiped away the dried blood from around the knife slash.

Better for her to talk to take her mind off of what he was doing. “Why did you come back? I thought you were mad at me.” Truthfully, she hadn’t thought she’d ever see him again and had feared he’d do something drastic to keep his secrets safe. And that was before she’d known the extent of his powers.

No, scrap that. She didn’t think she had any inkling of the true scope of Damek’s power. He had layers that she didn’t think he’d every shown to anyone. He could potentially be the most dangerous creature on the face of the planet or at least in the country.

“I had a feeling.”

She waited for him to elaborate and realized a few seconds later that he wasn’t going to. That was all she was getting from him. The researcher in her wanted to know what sort of feeling it was and why he’d gotten it about her. They weren’t connected beyond the very powerful sexual vibes flowing between them.

“This will hurt,” he warned before he poured some liquid antiseptic over the wound. Sonia hissed as pain shot up her arm and through her body. It was acute at first but tapered off to a low throb that made her stomach slightly sick. She knew it had to be done, but that didn’t make it any easier.

“I’m sorry.” Damek frowned and began to pull the skin tight with butterfly bandages.

“Do you think it needs stitches?” From where she was sitting, it looked bad enough for that.

He paused and shook his head. “I don’t think it’s safe for you to go to a hospital. Knowing the vampire hunters are out there, it’s not a stretch to think they’d be watching local emergency rooms and clinics for vampires. Many young ones who don’t want to kill go there to steal blood.”

She hadn’t thought about that but it made perfect sense. There was always a ready supply of blood at a hospital and a smart vampire could easily access it with little problem.

He hesitated, then reached for another bandage. Sonia put her hand on his to stop him. “What is it?”

He raised his head, his eyes as black as the tile on the walls. Midnight seduction, mysteries and the knowledge of the ages stared back at her. “I could help you.”

“How?” Her curiosity was piqued now. He was offering her another glimpse at the extent of his powers.

“I have a healing agent in my saliva.”

Of course he did. She knew that much about vampires. They could heal their donors after drawing blood by licking the wound. It was one way in which they could help keep themselves safe from detection by humans. But it took a strong vampire not to take too much and kill the donor.

How did she feel about Damek tasting her blood? Her core began to pulse and her nipples tightened. Okay then. Her body was obviously on board with the idea, but how did she feel about it?

Surprisingly, the idea didn’t freak her out as much as it should have, especially not with blood still seeping out from around the bandages. She probably did need stitches, in spite of Damek’s assessment. But most of all, she trusted him to protect her, even from himself.