She wanted him more than ever now, wanted him so badly that there were times she wanted to beg and offer herself up as a one-night stand, or even a five-minute hookup, if that was all the time he could spare.
Maybe I should've just said yes to another transaction, she thought glumly. Although that night had been nothing like her worst fears, she had so little recollection of it that a part of her wondered if it was her mind deliberately blocking her memories out because it considered the whole thing as an act of infidelity.
When she had woken up the day after, she had been alone in the hotel room, and the sight of her naked body had her bursting into tears. All of a sudden, it had felt completely wrong, like she had betrayed the man she loved. And yes, she knew it didn't make any sense, since it wasn't like she and Mr. H had any relationship beyond boss-and-driver, but even so---
"I want to know where you went that day."
Hearing him suddenly speak had Spencer jerking in her seat. "That day?"
"When you took the afternoon off..." Her gasp cut him off, and Etienne saw her hazel eyes turn incredulous at the same time through the rearview mirror.
"So that's what this is really about?" Spencer demanded disbelievingly. "I've been working for you for over two years, and I've never taken a day off! Never until that---"
"Just answer the fucking question," he growled.
"No."
"Why the fuck not?"
"Because you don't have the right to ask, and you---"
"Shit."
The expletive, as always, came from the backseat, but this time Spencer didn't have to ask why. No need at all, since she herself was seeing the four-letter word written all around her, when the doors of the armored truck in front of them suddenly burst open and men came flying out, eyes soulless and red-rimmed.
When a couple of them landed on the limousine's hood, she reacted without thinking, throwing them off with by making the car spin and take a hard right. Her wheels screeched in protest, the sound deafening, but what really made the hairs behind her neck stand were their snarls and hisses, and as she watched their bodies fall to the ground, she was able to lock gazes with one of them---
And that was when she saw it: a glistening, viciously sharp pair of fangs.
"It can't be real," she muttered to herself. "It can't." But she hit the gas hard all the same, wanting to be as far away as possible from that gang of lunatics.
"Unfortunately, it is."
Spencer jumped in her seat at the sudden sound of Etienne's voice. She had actually forgotten she wasn't alone, that she still had her boss in the backseat, and oh my God, what were they going to do---
"No matter what you see or what happens...stay here."
"What are you---oh my God!"
Her boss had opened the door.
"Are you insane?" she screeched. "We're running 70 miles..." Per hour, she finished silently for herself, stunned speechless because her boss was already gone, having literally jumped out of the car and actually landing on his feet without a scratch.
She quickly changed gears, but just as the car was making a full 180, a fist drove through the right side of the windshield, and Spencer struggled to hold on to the wheel even as she had to turn her head away when the glass exploded into pieces.
Outside, she could hear someone - something - yowling in pain, followed by the sound of bodies hitting the ground hard, and she instinctively slammed her foot on the brake, not wanting to accidentally hit anyone.
As the wheels under her squealed and screeched in protest, she saw two men leaping mid-air and colliding into each other, their snarls tearing apart the dark, silent reign of night as they landed on their feet. They moved with nightmarish speed, their swings and strikes turning into blurs of flesh. Everything was happening so fast that before she could even remember to draw her next breath, it was all over, and Mr. H had captured his attacker from behind, his hands around the other man's neck---
SNAP!
The man's mouth fell open, revealing his fangs for one last time just as his body crumpled to the ground, lifeless and decapitated.
What in the world...what in the freaking world----
"Mr. H, behind you!" Tears burned her eyes as she yelled the words out, and she found herself praying that her words of warning had come in time even as Mr. H spun around, snarling---
And that was when she saw it: fangs...fangs everywhere...and her boss had them, too.
Oh my God.
She could only watch in horrified and stunned confusion as the man she was in love with used his fangs - his own fangs - to tear his attacker's throat open...before moving on to the next one.
Chapter Four
"How are you feeling?" The boss' tone was calm and cool, his voice the first thing to break the silence that had taken over ever since the E.R. doctor had left. It was just the two of them now inside the emergency room, and she had a feeling it would stay that way even if a natural disaster were to occur.
Hirsche Enterprises owned the hospital after all, and so if the boss wanted privacy, he would have it...never mind if it put the actual patient in an awkward and unsettling disadvantage.
Spencer lifted her chin. "How do you think I'm feeling?" Under normal circumstances, this would have Mr. H threatening to fire her if she persisted in disrespecting him.
But he didn't.
Instead, she saw his arms cross over his too broad chest, and she found herself wondering if, perhaps, like that other party, Etienne Hirsche would also have chest hair. It would be sexy if he did, she thought. She had never had a thing for chest hair, but she really liked it now and---
Oh my God, why am I thinking about that now of all times?
Etienne observed the unusual play of expressions on Spencer's face. "You're still in shock."
"I'm not," she denied automatically. Or at least not for what he was thinking. She was in shock, but more because her lust-love-whatever-feeling-it-was she had for him was still making her think of horny stuff despite the life-and-death gravity of their situation.
You gotta focus, Spencer.
Think with your brains and not with your pussy!
And the reality was---
A single memory flashed in her mind: it was that split-second moment where she had locked gazes with one of the red-eyed creatures, its fangs glistening in the darkness.
Cold sweat immediately broke over the skin, and she suddenly felt appallingly and mortifiyingly weak.
"I hate this," she muttered under her breath.
"There's no point getting bothered by it." A part of him had feared she would go into hysterics, but he should've known better. As expected, the brat saw her shock as a sign of weakness rather than a temporary medical condition that would eventually fade.
"Easy for you to say."
"I suppose it is."
Her teeth gnashed. "I don't like it when you're being this condescending---"
"I'm not." And because she had never known him to be a liar, she could only accept his words for the truth. "It is easy for me to say these things, but it doesn't make the words any less true." There was a second's pause, and then Mr. H. said gently, "You are not the first human to know about us."
Oh. She could only stare at him, at a loss of what to say or what to even think about that. So how many knew about them then? And if he called her human like that, then it made him sound like he wasn't...that.