Starlight Read online

  After a few tense hours, it was finished. Surgery on a stabbing victim was always intense and uncertain due to so many things being severed and injured, and Ada wanted to cry with relief that it had gone so well.

  Thank heavens Theo had been there.

  A twinge of guilt hit her as she left the surgery room to clean up, ready to go home since it was now really late in the evening. Nearly eleven o’clock.

  When she was dressed, putting her stuff back in the locker, she stuck her head out into the hall to take a look around for Theo.

  When she didn’t see him, she slung her purse over her shoulder and was surprised to see him in the hallway near the lobby, talking to people she presumed were the family of their patient.

  They were speaking in low voices, but she could make out some of it as she came closer.

  “And he did nothing to provoke it?” Theo asked.

  “Of course not!” An older woman, probably the mother of their patient, looked offended.

  “I didn’t think so,” Theo said, shaking his head. “But that kind of evil is hard to comprehend.”

  An older man who looked to be the father nodded eagerly. “But they’re out there, and they kill people. And thanks to you, we still have our son.”

  The older woman burst into sobs and threw her arms around Theo, and he looked at the ceiling as if he wasn’t sure how to respond.

  Then his eyes moved to the side and met Ada’s and instantly warmed.

  Her legs nearly turned to jelly. He definitely was acting differently toward her, and she wasn’t sure about all the reasons.

  She just knew it would be dangerous to go home with this man, yet she wanted to.

  Theo finished patting the woman on the back, asked her a few more unintelligible questions, and then gave the family a reassuring smile, waving to them as he backed away to escape.

  He could occasionally be good with people, but only for short moments of time.

  The family left, probably to go see the patient, and Theo walked eagerly toward Ada, sweeping her into his arms.

  “I’m sorry it interrupted our date,” he whispered against her ear, setting her down as Ada looked around worriedly to check if anyone had seen them.

  She sighed in relief when she saw no one in the hall.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Are you ashamed of me?”

  “No, I just… I don’t know what this is. I don’t want people to think we aren’t professional.”

  “Did you see what we did for that stab victim? We’re the best surgery team in the world.” He lifted her in a hug again, and she had to admit it felt wonderful.

  As she rested her head into his shoulder, she couldn’t help wanting to ask him to come home with her. Wanting more of what he’d given the other night.

  Watching him do surgery, watching him save a life, watching him help those people… It had only stoked the fire that had been burning since their date.

  He’d gone and showed her everything she’d always admired about him, on top of the new things she was learning.

  Like he could throw really hard and hated princess apparel.

  She smiled and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him quickly before pulling back. “I… Do you want to come home with me? Since things were cut short, I mean.”

  His lips spread in a slow grin and then he hesitated, and she watched as those luscious lips dipped back into a frown. “I can’t.”

  “Why?”

  He glanced in the direction of the hallway for some reason, where he’d been talking to the family. “I’ve asked if Tammy could give you a ride home. I… have to go take care of something. Related to the surgery.”

  “Notes?” She knew doctors had to keep a lot of documentation.

  “Sort of,” he said. “It’s confidential, so I can’t say more. Just some wrap-up, but it shouldn’t be long.” She saw a flicker of something in his eyes, almost as if the color had gotten darker, but she was sure it was a trick of the inconsistent hospital lights.

  She touched his face and sighed regretfully. “Okay. Another time, then.”

  “I could come after,” Theo said. “Shouldn’t be too long. Unless I’m busy ‘til after midnight. Then it’d be better to wait.”

  She shrugged. “Whatever you want.” But a tingle of excitement was already making its way up her back, threatening to infuse her entire body. “I’d like that.”

  Theo raised and kissed one of her hands. “Then I’ll see you soon.”

  And then he was gone, striding out toward the lobby and turning out of sight, and she wondered what it was that was so important it couldn’t wait until the next day.

  * * *

  Theo focused as he stood on top of the roof of the hospital, letting his senses take over. It was getting closer to midnight, but if he had to, he’d hunt in human form.

  It would make it easier to go over to Ada’s anyway.

  Now that he was more aware of his feelings toward her, it had made it harder to focus on surgery. Not much, but enough that he noticed.

  Yet her calm, sure presence always helped him do better work. She silenced something awful inside him, pressed down the worst of him and pulled out the best.

  And since he and his brothers were an abominable hodgepodge of mystery, he appreciated her helping him be the improved version of whatever he was.

  But right now, he needed to be darkness.

  Whatever had ravaged the human on his operating table needed to be stopped. Theo had needed to ask the family uncomfortable questions, just in case something had happened.

  Not that anything would justify what that knife had done.

  Knives were terrible objects, doing more damage than a gun in a lot of cases. Irreparable damage a lot of times, for anyone but him.

  He was glad he’d been able to repair it, but his next thought when that was done was to hunt whoever had done it.

  Theo didn’t hunt often. Despite playing it up in comments to his brothers, he hated ending life. He tried to appear as a cold, hard creature of the darkness, but the truth was it killed him inside a little each time he had to extinguish a human life.

  But more than that, he hated others who extinguished life, and this man would go on to do that over and over until he was stopped.

  Theo had groaned over the fact that it paused things with Ada. They’d had a perfect date, and he was looking forward to taking her to her place and continuing where they’d left off the other night.

  He had limited time to show her how he felt about her, what he wanted to give her, how good things could be if she stayed.

  He didn’t really know how the long-term future would look since he couldn’t ever tell her he was a monster, but he was willing to give the present a try.

  As he focused in harder on the face of the person he’d operated on, he felt something, a slight vibration making a ripple as he felt his patient’s memory of his attacker’s face. An attacker too crazy to even wear a mask.

  Then Theo focused on that face, letting his mind filter through numerous images and locations, until it zoomed in like an aerial view centering on a target.

  Making sure no one was around, Theo jumped down from the roof and jogged over to his bike. When he got on it, he revved it and took off like a bullet under the cover of darkness as cold wind tried to buffet him around.

  He took a turn, then another, and got onto the freeway. The stabber really hadn’t gone too far. He could see the man’s face more clearly as he got closer, and he took the appropriate exit and headed for a nearby park.

  When he got there, it was all quiet, and Theo couldn’t see any cars around.

  But he could sense a man was there, the one he was seeking, so he slowly turned off the bike and got off, scenting the cool night air.

  His eyes flicked to a table in the shadows of a large tree, and he could barely make out a dark figure seated there.

  Theo cracked his knuckles as he walked forward, not worrying that the human would see his face because it would be the l
ast thing the human saw.

  But then the man turned to him, eyes cruel and crazy, and stood, whipping out his knife.

  He took a step toward Theo, baggy coat swishing around him, knife swiping quickly side to side.

  Theo looked into the man’s thoughts, wondering if he was crazy. Wondering if he could be “fixed” by being locked up.

  He saw bloodlust, pure and simple. It wasn’t fixable. It wasn’t a job for the police. If caught, this man would probably feign insanity and then stab a cop or an ambulance worker. He would always want to kill.

  Theo sighed as he took another step forward.

  The man grinned and waved the knife again.

  “I’m warning ya. I’ll cut ya,” he rasped, stepping closer.

  George. Theo felt his name was.

  “No, George. It won’t do any good.”

  “How do you know my name?” The man’s knife sank at his side, and his posture drooped.

  “I met one of your victims, George,” Theo said, repeating the man’s name because it kept things personal, and killing should never be an act of distance.

  Theo had always made sure to remind himself that what he did had consequences, so he couldn’t get callous or treat it as less than it was.

  It didn’t matter that they were humans; they were still creatures with life.

  Theo took another step closer. “You can make this easier by not fighting.”

  Fear lit George’s eyes at that. “You aren’t like the others, are you? You aren’t weak.”

  Theo shook his head.

  George’s grin was eager, slobbery. “I love when they beg me. I love how they look when the knife goes in. I own them when I do that.”

  “You don’t own anything,” Theo said. “That’s the sad part. You take and take, and you gain nothing in return. I’m going to take now, and I wish that didn’t have to be the case.”

  “What case?” George looked like he was considering taking a step back but decided against it, holding his place. “You think you’re going to beat me? With your fancy bike and fancy clothes? You ain’t better than me!”

  George let out a shriek and lunged at Theo, and Theo regretted that George had decided to make this such an ugly moment.

  He caught George by the neck and lifted him, shaking him until he dropped the knife. Theo was angry now, angry at the bloodlust in this human, angry at the wasted lives, but he didn’t allow it to take over him.

  He let go of George, and he slumped to the ground. Before he could scrabble for his knife, Theo waved a hand over him, knocking him out.

  He hated ending life, but at least he could make it painless when he had to take a little darkness out of the world.

  As he knelt on the ground next to his victim, he wondered how he could face Ada after this. He decided the last thing he could think about while he fed was her face.

  He pushed her away from him, all affection and all thoughts, and gave in to the darkness inside him, lowering his teeth to feed on the unconscious human in front of him.

  When it was done, he stood wearily, snapping his fingers so the body incinerated in hot blue flames, leaving only ash behind.

  Theo watched the ashes blow away in the wind toward the small lake at the center of the park and shook his head regretfully.

  As he walked back to his bike and threw a leg over it, all he wanted was go to back to Ada. He knew he didn’t deserve it. He knew he was a monster inside. He knew he would probably transform just as he got there.

  But luckily, he could always park his bike and be invisible as he waited on her porch. He knew when she came to the door, got close enough, he would be human and could show himself again.

  So yes, he knew he shouldn’t go back to her, but he also couldn’t resist.

  She was the closest thing he had to home now, and he needed her at moments like this.

  Chapter 12

  Ada could tell she was waiting a little too eagerly as she checked the clock again, wondering when Theo would come.

  She hadn’t known what he needed to take care of, and she didn’t want to pry further, not when she wanted to just resume things where they’d left off.

  She’d enjoyed a cup of coffee and a snack as she relived the day, laughing at Theo’s antics, his awkwardness.

  Why was it so easy to imagine a life they spent together when it was so opposite of the man she spent her time with at work, day in and day out?

  She sipped at the last of her coffee and jolted just as her doorbell rang.

  Without thinking, she ran to the door and grabbed the deadbolt, and then she paused.

  “It’s me, Theo,” he said, but his voice was different, muffled.

  “Oh,” she said, undoing the deadbolt and opening the door, wondering if he was hiding to jump out at her since she hadn’t seen him through her quick peek through the peephole.

  As she opened her door, she sighed in relief that he was there, looking handsome as always but maybe a bit frazzled.

  “Come in, hon. You look terrible.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her. “Rude.”

  She laughed. “What did you have to do that was so important? Why do you look so stressed?”

  He ran a hand through his hair and joined her at the table as she went to get him a coffee of his own. He sipped it when she handed it to him, and his mind still seemed to be elsewhere even though he was with her.

  Then his gaze snapped back to normal and he faced her, a grin on his face. “I’m fine. It was just a rough surgery. Rough night, really, but I’m ready to stop thinking about it now.”

  He threw back his coffee in one impressive swallow, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and came toward her, still grinning.

  Feral Theo was back again, a tall, stalking, horny predator, and the woman who had always been in love with him loved it a lot.

  She reached her arms out for him as he came forward, and it felt so right, almost normal when his body pressed against hers.

  His strong arms wrapped around her, and his weight sank into her as if he had to be as close as he could.

  Then he pulled back, cupped her face in both hands, and kissed her slowly but surely, warming her inside and making her body want so much more.

  “Ada,” he said softly. “You’re everything. When I’m apart from you, I just want to be back here. I just want to be by your side.”

  She nodded, running her hands over his hard shoulders, savoring the strength there. The sheer size of him. “I want to be with you, too.”

  “You want to leave me,” he murmured. “You can’t.”

  “I have to,” she said, arching back as his lips moved to her shoulder, kissing and then sucking a bit hard. She winced, but then pain turned to pleasure as he licked and kissed the spot he’d marked, pulling back to survey it with obvious satisfaction.

  “Why?” He glared at her. “So you can date another man? I can date you.”

  She let him kiss his way up her neck to her earlobe, where he nibbled lazily, exploring her reaction to that.

  Her reaction was to feel her knees melt out from underneath her, which was solved when he swept her up in his arms.

  She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, and he strode out of the kitchen, looking around.

  He headed for the steps. “Is your bedroom up here?”

  She nodded mutely, too turned on to do more.

  “Good.”

  When he reached her room, he kicked the door in, shouldering it when it hit the wall and tried to come back at them.

  The hit was nothing, and he merely kept walking to the bed, tossing her onto it when he reached it. Then he was on top of her, crawling over her, claiming her, pinning her with his immense body, thighs pinning down her hips.

  He surveyed her with something like triumph as he ran a finger down the center of the cleavage exposed by her V-neck pajama top, and she shivered.

  “No one else could touch you like this.”

  She bit her lip because, dammit, he wa
s probably right. “I know.”

  His hand moved up to cup her breast, squeezing lightly as his thumb brushed over her nipple. “No one else could make you tremble like this.”

  She nodded shakily. She’d agree to anything as long as he didn’t stop doing things with those talented, beautiful hands.

  He leaned down again, letting his hands trail over her sides as his lips covered her neck and shoulders, pushing her flimsy top aside as needed. Then he grew impatient and whipped the garment off over her head.

  “You aren’t wearing a bra,” he said, cocking his head.

  She covered herself with her hands. “I didn’t know if you were still coming over. It was getting late.”

  He nodded, entwining his hands with hers and holding them against his thighs. “I know. But I couldn’t stay away. It’s complicated.”

  “Everything is complicated with you,” she muttered as he released her hands to explore her body again. She fought back a shudder as his deft fingertips touched her in ways she’d never been touched. A surgeon mapping out every part of her body.

  She hadn’t known it would be like this, that even making love would be so utterly Theo, so different than anyone else.

  “How am I different?” he asked, stopping suddenly.

  She blinked. Had he read her mind or something?

  He waved a hand. “You were looking at me like I was doing something weird, like it wasn’t what you expected.”

  “Oh, phew. Well, I mean, you just seem like you’re paying so much attention.”

  “I am. I don’t have much experience with things like this.”

  Her jaw dropped. “But you’re gorgeous. You must have had tons of chances to—”

  “Women have been aggressive, yes, and sometimes men, too, but I haven’t had time for things like this. I’ve been focused on my career, on staying professional, on—”

  “Hiding.” She finished for him, resting her hands on his hard thighs.

  He nodded. “I suppose so.”

  “Why are you hiding?” The air between them was redolent with heat, with tension, with everything they both wanted to happen that was on hold for just a moment so they could talk.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. It feels like I’ve been hiding all of my life. I don’t think I’m ready to stop hiding now.”