The Mate Challenge (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Sassy Mates Book 4) (4 page)

She glanced down at her hiking boots and scrunched her nose in distaste. The ground was muddy due to the rain from the prior evening. She hated getting her shoes dirty, but there was no going around it. She picked up a stick and climbed up the back of the hill, looking for the lower wall she used to climb as a kid.

Back then, the owners were never home so she and Joey used to go over the fence all the time. Their house wasn’t far from the hill so it gave them something to do since they weren’t going to stay long enough to make friends. They hadn’t either. Once Emma left home for college, it was then she decided to go back to Blue Creek. She’d loved the peace and quiet of the town and chose to make it her new home.

She made it to the top of the hill without having to stop more than a few times. She’d slowed down on her hikes and was now paying the price. Most people thought that because she was a big girl, she did nothing but sit on her ass all day and teach. The truth was, she loved walking the outdoors, swimming and even did her Just Dance on her Wii when nobody was around. She didn’t need to spend hours in a gym to get a workout and a lot of people didn’t understand that. Except her friends. They all knew what it was like to be a plus sized woman since they were big girls too.

The old gate was hidden behind a bunch of bushes that faced the back part of the mansion. She knew that she was trespassing as she climbed over the gate only to fall and land on her ass with a thump.

There were no lights at that side of the mansion and she noticed a group of people had left minutes before, the noise lowering as they moved away.

Where should she go? She knew the master suite was located on the left side of the mansion in a section that was about the size of her house. With Aria being the main person in the mansion, she figured those would be her rooms.

She’d downloaded a floor plan of the mansion before she left her house and studied it a while. Glancing around in the growing darkness, she made sure she didn’t see any moving bodies before rushing to the side of the house. She was almost positive Aria would be on that side. Sweat gathered in her palms. She wiped them on the back of her pants and hurried to the sliding glass door that was slightly ajar, which belonged to the master suite.

She could only hope the woman wouldn’t freak over her showing up unannounced, but she’d seen the guard and she knew that it was going to be hard for her to get anyone to let her in, much less to speak to Aria unless she went in inconspicuously.

She stepped into the room without making any noise. Then, a flash of movement and she was dragged through the air, until her back hit a wall. Air rushed out of her lungs as she tried to catch her breath. She blinked and found herself staring into deep violet eyes. 

“Wow,” she gaped at the woman openly.  “You have beautiful eyes.”

It was then she noticed she was being held up by the front of her shirt, feet dangling midair.

“Who are you?” Her captor asked, baring her teeth and showing off an impressive set of fangs. Now things made sense. Aria Valderi was a recluse because she was a vampire. The entire mansion had to be filled with them. Shit. She had not expected that. This might be her guard, but she had to try to speak to Aria. If the guard didn’t kill her first.

She hoped this woman would allow her to see Aria without sucking her dry. Fucking hell. She really should have given more thought to seeing Mason and letting him rock her world before the possibility of being killed by vamps.

Emma had been struck wordless one other time in her life and that was when she met Mason. This woman holding her up like she weighed next to nothing made her forget her own name.

Dark mocha skin, much like Emma’s own glittered in the soft light of the ceiling lamp. She didn't appear to be undead. The usual paleness that came with vampires wasn’t present. There was life in her eyes. She was clearly young. Mid-twenties at the most. With flawless features and full red lips. And that hair! Long raven curls bounced around her breasts. She was not what Emma expected to see as a vampire. Where was the willowy figure and pasty skin?

This vampire had curves. A lot of them. Like Emma and her friends, she was plus sized.

“I,—” she cleared her throat.  “Wow you're really pretty.”

Violet eyes blinked back at Emma, confusion and interest clear in them. “I asked who you are.”

Right. “I'm Emma Ferro. I'm here to see Aria Valderi.”

The other woman put her down slowly. She released Emma’s shirt and took slow steps back. That’s when Emma got a good look at her outfit. She wore skintight black pants and a superb low cut neckline red top. “What are you doing here?”

“Cool shoes,” Emma said, staring at the spike heeled peep toes. “Are those Louboutin?”

The other woman’s brows rose. A flash of curiosity brightened her violet eyes. “Yes, how did you know?”

Emma grinned, wiping her hands on the side of her pants, and finally moving her thoughts away from having to cut the pretty woman’s head off. “My mother had a shoe fetish. It was the only thing that calmed her down whenever she was angry with my dad. He realized early on that his way to making anything up to her was with expensive shoes.”

“Sounds like a smart man. You still haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?” The woman asked again.

Emma was glad the other woman hadn’t made a move to kill her or show off her rather impressive fangs again. Not that Emma would have gone down without a fight. She didn’t carry a katana strapped to her back for nothing along with two knives she called her Rambo knives. 

“I really need to speak to Aria Valderi.”

It sucked that she hadn’t been able to find a single photo of the woman. That would have made it easier for her to know who she was looking for.

“Why?”

Emma frowned. The soft Latin accent on the woman speaking to her made her wonder if this wasn’t Aria herself. “I’m looking for a missing girl. Someone said she might be able to help me.”

“I don’t know that Aria could help you with any missing person. She doesn’t interact with the humans in the area.”

“Please. I really just want to ask a few questions. It could mean life or death for a kid.”

The woman blinked, surprise evident in her amethyst depths before biting her full red lips. “I’m Aria.”

“Aren’t you a vampire?”

She smiled. “Don’t sound so surprised. We do exist.”

Emma shook her head. “But you don’t look like a vampire is portrayed. You’re not pale or pasty and your skin glows with health. You’re not stick thin.” She cocked her head, taking in Aria from head to toe and back. “You don’t look undead or dead to me.”

Aria laughed, a soft and husky sound that made Emma grin. “That is because I am not dead.”

“Now it’s my turn to be confused. Aren’t all vampires dead or undead or whatever it’s called?”

Aria motioned her to a different room next to the bedroom. It was a private parlor decorated in deep burgundy and gold. Emma had to squint a little at the soft lighting. She shouldn’t be getting comfortable in a vampire’s lair, but if Aria was going to kill her, she’d have done it already. Or at the very least tried.

“Not really. Not all. I’m not dead,” Aria said, turning to face Emma and sitting down on a plush antique chair. She frowned, glancing around and sighed. “I don’t have anything to offer you other than blood and I highly doubt you want to drink that.”

Emma gulped. “No thanks, I’ll pass. What do you mean you’re not dead? Aren’t all vampires dead?”

Aria pushed a curl behind her ear and leaned on the chair’s arm rest. “No. Some of us, a rare few, can be born.”

Emma gasped, her shock holding her immobile. “Born? You can be born a vampire?”

What the hell? How had she not known that before? She bet none of her friends knew that. It was amazing what one learned when you took the chance to go find out information.

“Yes. There is a line, descendant from the original queen of the night. Miralla Abarca. My mother was a pure blood born, direct descendant of Miralla’s blood-line. She married a human and had me before she turned.”

Emma forgot all about the fact she was in a house filled with people that could suck her dry. Instead, she was captivated by the history Aria was giving her. “So you were born a vampire or a human?”

Aria smiled, her fangs no longer long and threatening. “I was born a human child but once I reached my twenty fifth birthday I changed. I stopped aging. I stopped eating human food. I needed blood to stay alive.”

“Does your heart beat?” Emma asked in a whisper.

She nodded. “As I said. I’m not dead. I’m just different.”

“Wait. You said your mother had you before she turned. Does that mean you can’t have children?”

Aria lifted a brow. “My, you are a curious little thing, aren’t you?”

Little? “Well you can’t stop now. I have to know. I don’t ever have conversations with vampires. Much less one that’s alive.”

“I am still of human child-bearing years, so yes. Once I pass my fortieth birthday I will be unable to have children.”

“Wow.” Emma glanced around the room. “Why didn’t you kill me when I first walked in? You could have tried.”

Aria ran her long red nails over the arm rest. “I could have killed you, but we don’t kill humans here.” She scrunched her nose. “Even those that have been sleeping with dogs.”

“What?” She screeched.

Aria flicked a long curl behind her ear. “You. Why would you sleep with a dog?”

Because she liked growly sex? She wasn’t even going to ask how she knew that. Instead, she moved the topic back to what she wanted to know. “This is the first time I heard of vampires not killing humans. If you don’t drink from humans, what blood do you use?”

Aria sighed, rubbing her temple as if she had a headache. “It’s a common misconception that vampires kill humans. Though some do, a lot of us don’t. My clan doesn’t drink human blood. We drink from animals and lab created synthetic blood. They made a vow to follow my family’s rules against human blood.”

Shit got more and more interesting. She’d never heard of vampires not drinking human blood. For years, she thought her knowledge of paranormals had been high. Always researching and learning new things, she hadn’t been surprised when she’d met Ellie and the Wolfes. Paranormals were common in Blue Creek. But vampires were another story. Every story she heard about them was gruesome. There didn’t seem to be a redeeming quality to them. Sitting there with Aria and seeing how composed and friendly she was made Emma question everything she thought as fact.

“It doesn’t make sense. Why do people think you’re all blood-thirsty killers then?”

Aria shrugged and stood, walking to the open window facing the garden. “There are many that are blood-thirsty killers. We are not them. Tell me about the girl that went missing.”

Jesus. The conversation had derailed and she’d almost forgotten all about the real reason she was there. “A teenage girl. She’s seventeen and sister to one of my students. Her friends don’t know where she is, but someone said I should speak to you about the club Embraced.”

Aria’s gaze snapped to Emma. “Embraced?”

She nodded. “I was told you would know about it and could possibly help me.”

“Embraced was created a long time ago. My mother and father united with a second clan further south. Apparently there was nowhere for our kind to go since they were unwanted at regular human and other paranormal places. It’s a vampire club.”

“Do you allow humans in there?”

“No. It is a place to exchange blood among my kind. Blood and sex. No humans are ever allowed.”

Blood and sex. Now that sounded more like the vampires she’d heard of. Maybe Maria had somehow gotten involved with one of the vampires in the club? What if not everyone was following the no human drinking rule? Anything was possible when dealing with basic needs. Vampires wanted blood. When the thirst hit, she was sure they wouldn’t think too much about rules regarding humans.

Aria jumped to her feet and turned to face a door. “You need to go. Come on,” she rushed over to Emma’s side and curled a hand around Emma’s wrist. “The others are coming and I don’t want them to find you here.”

Emma didn’t get a chance to say much. Aria dragged her through the other room and out the same door she’d come in. She didn’t stop or let her go. Instead, she continued down to the same old gate Emma had used to come into the house.

“How did you know?” Emma asked, almost out of breath from how fast they’d moved.

“I grew up in this house. I knew this was the only way you could have gotten in,” she said, opening the gate and continuing down the hill until they were well away from the house.

“You know,” Emma gasped, trying to catch her breath, “for a woman wearing sky high heels, you can run your ass off.”

Aria laughed and stopped when they got close to Emma’s car. “Thanks, but that’s one thing I can say is all thanks to being a vampire. We move faster than most other paranormals.”

Clearly. Emma had almost fallen a few times and felt Aria lift her to her feet to help her keep on going.

“I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me,” Emma said. Though she had little to go on, she knew that Embraced was going to be her next stop.

“Stay away from the club, Emma.” Aria said softly. She finally let go of Emma’s arm and stepped back. “Humans don’t go to Embraced. You won’t find anything good there. The trade of blood and sex between my kind is dirty and dangerous. Someone like you can be hurt in there. Easily.”

That’s why she had to go. It was very possible Maria found her way into Embraced and gotten into trouble. Unless Emma went to find out, nobody would know for sure.

“I will see if any of my people have heard of your missing girl,” she promised.

Emma gave Aria her number. “Thank you.”

A loud growl sounded in the distance. Aria narrowed her gaze and hissed into the trees. She jumped back. In the blink of an eye she was a good ten feet away from Emma, fangs bared. “Your pet has come to get you.”