Counting Midnight Read online

  “I’m leaving now, Jase,” she’d told him, continuing to ignore the growling she heard in her head. “If you find anyone who makes you feel like that kiss just did, promise you’ll marry her—or him…” Jason looked at her. Finally, he focused.

  “Jason, did you hear me? I’m leaving. Water my plants. I’ll be back. Jason?”

  Finally Jason said, “Nina?” she’d kissed his forehead, waved down a cab and left.

  *

  Since that first date, Vasile hadn’t missed an opportunity to spend time with Nina. He was almost grateful to Jack Gibson for asking her out in the first place.

  There had been times in the last two weeks since their first date that he’d had to warn other men off. Usually a mental image of open graves would do it but sometimes he had to pull out the images of flowing blood and the feeling of death’s chill.

  He felt that she was growing closer to him and knew that he was growing closer to her. Perhaps now was another opportunity to strengthen their bond.

  “Nina?” Vasile called to her. He’d been following her thoughts as she’d remembered that fateful night.

  “Vasile!” she started. “I’m so sorry. I guess I let my memories take over. That party was the night I left to visit my grandparents. I had my accident nine days after that.”

  “Are you okay, Nina?” he asked her, searching her face and her mind.

  “I’m… I’m fine, Vasile, really.” She still looked far away to him.

  Vasile reached out and took her hand. “Nina, you know you can talk to me about it, da?”

  She smiled at him. “Thank you, Vasile. It’s just that I can barely talk about it to myself yet.”

  Vasile let it go. Instead he told her quietly, “It is quite alright if you choose not to attend, Nina.”

  She didn’t answer him for a few minutes and he really wasn’t sure what her answer would be. Emotions flitted across her face and across her mind just as quickly.

  “Vasile, I think I would like to go. Remind me? When is it?”

  “I will pick you up on Friday. We shall stay overnight and perhaps return the next evening following the party. It will depend upon how we feel, hmm?”

  “Okay, Vasile.” she smiled. “That sounds lovely.”

  Vasile was concerned about her. Her thoughts seemed to be in turmoil.

  Looking deeply into her eyes, he caught her in his mesmerizing stare. “Tell me, meu dragoste, what troubles you?” It was more than a question. She had no choice but to answer.

  Her response shocked him. “I haven’t been back there or spoken to anyone from there since my accident.”

  Chapter 11

  Two days later, Vasile began shouting for Nina an hour after he’d arrived. He hadn’t seen her much the previous day and he missed her. He wasn’t sure why, but he was feeling uneasy about her. When he touched her mind, she was there, but not there, somehow.

  “Beverly!” he bellowed. “Where is Nina?”

  “Sir?” she always seemed like she needed to verify that it was him and that he’d called her.

  “When is Nina coming in?” Glancing at the thin watch at his wrist, he saw that it was nearly six in the evening. “Is she in her office? Get her in here!” he bellowed all at once.

  “Sir?” she cringed.

  “WHAT?” he shouted at the top of his lungs. Seeing her face, he asked in a more normal voice, “What is it, Beverly?”

  “Sir? I’m really sorry.”

  “What. Is. It?” he asked only a little more patiently.

  “She won’t be in for a couple of days, sir. She will still be joining you this weekend, though.” Beverly apparently still didn’t trust him not to explode but she tried to tell him the truth.

  “Beverly?” he asked as if he were speaking to a child. “Did Nina say why she wouldn’t be in for a few days?”

  “Sir? Mr. Velicescu? She said it was a personal anniversary for her. A death of sorts, she said.”

  Vasile stared at her. She hadn’t said she needed time off. Nobody had died in Nina’s family. What could she mean?

  “Sir, she said it was just a personal anniversary of a tragic event that only she would find credible. She told me that she’d learned over the years that it was best to plan for it. She’d never been able to ignore it and… Well, she just won’t be in, Sir.” Beverly had said all she could. Vasile turned and walked into his office.

  He flipped the calendar open. Holy hell, there it was. Eleven years ago, she’d been raped. He didn’t have it marked. He didn’t know if he’d gone to see her each year afterward. If he had, he was sure he’d expected and received sex from her. Damnation!

  Every year, she’d told Beverly. For eleven long years, she’d suffered and he’d smugly thought he’d been her benefactor. A death of sorts, she’d said.

  “Bev?” he said, coming out of his office. Beverly wasn’t used to such casual address from him.

  “Yes Sir?” she inquired.

  “I do not know when I will be back,” he told her. “Reschedule everything for tomorrow.”

  * * * *

  When Vasile arrived at Nina’s townhouse, he didn’t find her easily. He knew she was there. She didn’t need to invite him in because she’d already welcomed him in on several occasions.

  He felt her and smelled her but it took him a little while to find her. Finally, he tracked her down to the closet in the empty guest bedroom.

  “Nina?” he called softly. She didn’t have any music playing. She wasn’t using any shields against him. If she’d been thinking at all, he would have heard her thoughts.

  He found her huddling and shaking in a usually vacant closet. Was this how she was every year?

  “Nina?” he whispered, joining her in the closet. She pressed herself into the corner. She was clutching her tiny gray kitten. He could see the fear in her eyes. He was a vampire. He should have seen her fear before now. He just hadn’t cared enough to look.

  “Nina?” he said again, pressing his body closer to hers. She shook like a leaf in a hurricane.

  He gathered her quaking body into his arms. “Meu dragoste, it is I. It is Vasile.” He stroked her hair and kissed her. She struggled against him.

  “Kele hai shala,” Go away, don’t you understand? She whispered to him hoarsely in Romini. “Kele.” Go away.

  He didn’t go.

  “Maybe I can help you.” he’d responded to her in the same language. He stroked her back and held her close. The kitten in her arms shook as hard as she did.

  “Nina, I will be here and no strangers will come. I am here now. Please, I will go downstairs but please, please, I want to stay.” he implored her. He was sure that he had not begged for anything in the last nine hundred years.

  “You don’t know me,” she said to him. “You are a stranger to me. Leave me with my memories, I’ll be fine later.”

  “No, meu inimã, you are right, I do not know you” he clutched her tightly, “in my very long life, this has become my single biggest failing. Please let me try to know you now,” he implored her.

  Vasile kissed her forehead and eased away from her. He turned to leave the closet. Once outside the doorway to the closet, he turned back to her and held out his hand.

  “Nina? Will you come downstairs with me? I promise to protect you from strangers.” She stared at him with wide eyes but said nothing. Inspiration struck. “Your kitty might become hungry or scared. Perhaps we should take her to the kitchen?”

  He saw concern penetrate her desire for isolation. She cuddled the little gray bundle against her chest. Vasile felt a stab of arousal and hunger knife through him. He was actually envious of the cat.

  She didn’t take his hand but she went down the stairs with him. In the kitchen, she put some food and water out for her kitten. She seemed odd to him—unfocused somehow.

  After making them both a cup of tea, Vasile guided her into the living room and sat her down.

  “Nina, will you tell me about what has happened? This unhappy ann
iversary?” he asked.

  He knew what he’d seen but he’d never known what her perspective was. Now he hoped she would trust him enough to share her memories and her perspective with him. Every little gift of trust she gave him tightened the bond between them.

  Abby the kitten crawled into her lap and began to purr. As she stroked the tiny creature’s soft fur, Vasile could easily read the conflict in her mind.

  “Vasile,” she finally said, “You are my boss. Why…” she began.

  “Nina, I hope I have become more than that for you. I want to be more than simply your boss. Maybe we will be very close. I have enjoyed our time together.” Taking a chance he said, “Perhaps you, too, have grown to care for me somewhat?”

  Waiting for her answer, he realized how much he wanted to know about her. It occurred to him how very important it was to him for her to voluntarily share intimacy with him. He wanted to know what she thought. He realized that her viewpoint mattered to him.

  *

  Without making a conscious decision, Nina decided to tell him about the rape and about everything that had followed. She had reached a point in her thinking where it didn’t matter anymore. She was drawn to this man. She was very attracted to him.

  He reminded her quite a bit of her mystery lover. He had the same dark coloring but she’d never seen her lover clearly. She’d never seen him with the lights on. She’d loved a man she never really knew. She did know Vasile Velicescu.

  If she could tell this man her story, maybe it would help to purge the other man from her system. If it alienated Vasile, so be it.

  “When I was sixteen, I was raped,” she told him without preamble. “It had been such a good day, too.” She remembered aloud. Thinking about it, she found herself recalling little details.

  “Tell me, please,” he asked with his cultured European accent. “What made such a good day before this event?”

  “I had done well on an exam, for one thing. But the best thing was that I’d gotten important information. That’s why I was so far from my neighborhood so late that evening. I’d had a meeting.” She had a half smile on her face. She was still thinking of the meeting, not what happened after it.

  She looked at her one-man audience and smiled.

  “I should back up a little. I’m adopted.” She saw his start of surprise. “I guess that didn’t turn up on my background check?”

  He shook his head “no”. Taking a sip of her tea, she went on.

  “That day, I’d just met a cousin and found where my parents’ families lived. I was excited. I didn’t notice those guys following me,” her voice cracked.

  She knew her voice was beginning to shake. Vasile moved to sit near her on the couch. He didn’t get too close, giving her support and space at the same time.

  “They sort of herded me into an alley and—well, they hit me, they tore my clothes off, they forced me to that dirty ground and…” she hitched a deep breath.

  Vasile moved closer. “Nina, may I put my arms around you?” he asked quietly. She nodded.

  He pulled her against him and she rested against his hard chest. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe and protected. Stroking her kitten back to sleep, she resumed her story.

  “I was mostly naked. I was bruised and bleeding in that filthy alley. They continued to kick me and hit me. They grabbed me roughly between my legs, pinching my breasts, biting me. Finally, they forced themselves on me. I’d been a virgin and had never even had a serious boyfriend. They hit me and punched me while they—you know.”

  She couldn’t say it, she was sure he did know. Tears were running down her face now but her voice was toneless. She tried not to feel anything when she remembered that defining experience in her life.

  She rested her cheek against his chest. She felt his hand stroke her hair. It felt so good just to sit like that. She couldn’t afford the luxury. She began to pull away.

  “Nina, are you afraid of me?” He allowed his arms to fall away. “Do you fear intimacy?” She knew her face was red now.

  “I don’t fear intimacy, Vasile. There was a man who found me and saved me from those awful guys and he came around afterward. Eventually, we became lovers.” She heard him exhale.

  “He became your—what is the word—boyfriend?” he asked her.

  “I think boyfriend is too inclusive a term. After the rape he came to see me sometimes at night. He would sit with me or just hold me. Those times were so special to me. When I went to college a year later, he came.” She felt his arms go back around her as she readjusted herself on the wide couch.

  “We became lovers then. He was patient and caring and taught me that sex could feel good. We were lovers for almost eight years.”

  “That sounds like a boyfriend,” he told her.

  “No, Vasile” she smiled, “A boyfriend takes you to the movies or calls just to talk. You do things with a boyfriend besides make love. You know a boyfriend. I guess back then my friend Jason was the closest thing I ever had to a boyfriend,” she explained. She felt the growling in her head and slammed the door on it. Vasile jerked next to her.

  “I’m sorry, I just…” he gave her a weak smile. She smiled back. “So you no longer see your—lover? You had a fight?”

  “No nothing like that. We never spoke.” She was embarrassed now and told him so. “I’m embarrassed to say that we never, ever said one word to each other. Not “hi”, not “have a nice day”, not a single word. You can’t fight with someone you don’t speak to. I didn’t know his name or where he lived, nothing. Never even heard his voice,” She lowered her face and covered it with her hand. “In my heart, I was wedded to a man whose name I didn’t even know for eight years.”

  “Hmmm” was all he said about that. “So if this was acceptable to you for eight years, why did you end things?” he asked her finally.

  “I never realized that I was lonely. My friend Jason knew it before I did. I wasn’t in love with Jason or he with me, I don’t think. Still, he saw that I was completely isolated. Ultimately, I would have ended up bitter and married to Jason, ruining both of our lives. Or maybe I would have just become bitter and alone, longing for a man I loved but never really knew.”

  “Perhaps that begins to make sense,” Vasile conceded. “So how could you end things with someone you cannot call on the phone or go to visit?”

  She smiled sadly. “I don’t know if I would have ever ended things with him. I’ve never made love to another man. I thought I loved my mysterious midnight stranger.” A stray tear dripped down her cheek. Vasile caught it with his finger.

  “When Jason spoke to me about how I felt—how he felt, I went home to think. I went to my mother and father’s people. When I was injured and feared dead or brain-dead, my parents—the only parents I’ve ever known—they sold my little house. They decided that whether I lived or died, the decision should rest with my blood family. I never heard from my silent lover after that.”

  Chapter 12

  Vasile lowered his lips to her hair. He was learning so much about her. How had he ignored this beautiful, interesting person for so many years? She had been his and he’d only taken from her. Was he as bad as the monsters he’d saved her from?

  “Where did you go, Nina?” he asked her. “Did you spend nearly two years in Iowa?” he leaned back and looked at her face. With her dark hair and pale skin and those haunting blue-green eyes, “Ireland?” he asked arching a brow at her.

  She actually giggled at him. He was surprised. She definitely had a mischievous glint in her eyes.

  “Mandi’s familie is de la România,” she told him. My family is from Romania. “I am Rom. My family name is Alecsandri. Think we’re related?” she asked him impishly.

  Vasile sat back stunned. That certainly explained a lot. If she was Romani, many called them Gypsy—she’d always had the ability to block him.

  The Gypsy people, with their awareness and acceptance of nature’s many wonders, were more able to fend off unwanted intr
usions. He’d always found her hard to read. He realized that she might have learned some additional safeguards when she’d visited her family. Because of her accident, however, she’d probably been too weak to really use them.

  “No, deget mic drac, I know we are not related!” he hugged her again. She was a little devil. He grinned down at her.

  When he’d come upon her in the closet, her first panicked words had been in Romany. Why hadn’t that registered with him? Perhaps in his long life, he just answered in whatever language he was addressed. Although he wasn’t Romipen-he wasn’t a Gypsy male, he was Romanian and had lived among the Rom.

  The tiny kitten stretched and jumped from her lap. Nina was startled and fell away from Vasile. Snatching her before she could tumble from the couch, he jerked her to him.

  He had stretched to reach her and suddenly they both lay on the couch with her pinned under him. His body clenched as desire ripped through him. His rigid erection pressed into her thigh.

  “Nina…” he whispered, hoarsely.

  She lifted her hand and placed her fingers on his lips. He couldn’t move.

  “Vasile?” she closed her eyes. Opening them again, she asked him, “Vasile, would you make love with me?”

  He reached out a shaking hand and smoothed his thumb across her lower lip. Had she really just said that she wanted to make love with him? The stalking predator within him demanded that he take her then and there. He closed his eyes and fought his instincts.

  “I want that more than I have ever wanted anything,” he whispered to her. “Are you sure, Nina?” he’d never asked that before of anyone.

  “Yes” she said simply. “But Vasile, I’ve only ever been with…”

  Me, you have only ever been with me…

  He cupped her cheek with his hand and lowered his mouth to hers, stopping her words. She parted her lips, moaning almost inaudibly as his tongue slipped past her teeth into her soft, sweet mouth. Her tongue touched and mated with his. He forced himself to let her take the lead.

  That was something else that had never happened before. When Vasile Velicescu made love, he had always taken the lead. Had sex… He’d never, ever made love to a woman before, not really, not even his beautiful Nina.