Authors: Dicey Grenor
“Please don’t hurt
him. I meant what I said about you keeping him out of trouble. I don’t know
what he’d do if he lost you,” he said in his serious, soft tone.
Feeling better, I
sat on the edge of the bed. I still didn’t trust myself to be all up in his
grill yet. “He mentioned he was kidnapped. I guess that means you were taken.”
He leaned forward
and put his elbows on both knees. “I was.”
“When
you were six.”
“Yes.
Remi
saved me.”
“How?”
“He killed my
kidnapper.”
Chapter 15
Whoa.
Remi
had killed someone? I was a vampire and I hadn’t even
done that.
“Don’t be afraid
of him, Willow. He’d never hurt you.” He scratched his head. “He loves you.”
“He’s said that.
He’s also said he’s fantasized about killing me.”
“I said he wouldn’t
hurt you. I didn’t say he wasn’t sick.”
True.
Silence.
It was awkward.
This whole thing had me unhinged. I was trying to absorb it all, be cool with
it…
“He never
mentioned you were black,” he said.
Here we go… “Is
that a problem?”
“Not
at all.
Just funny he never described you physically. I wouldn’t have
been able to keep myself from doing so.”
I smiled. “You’re
attracted to me?”
He blushed.
Adorable
.
“I think you’re beautiful. The color of
your skin, the sound of your voice, the way you smile…it’s all amazing.”
Remi
had described different features. “How can you tell?
You never look at me.
Remi
stares and you look at the
floor,” I mumbled.
He raised his eyes
to mine. Ah. There.
Simply divine.
Still metallic
blue, but less edgy, more guarded. From this angle, puppy-doggish—the kind you
saw in the window and no matter where you were headed, you stopped and bought
him.
“I’m just shy,” he
said.
Shy
was okay. I could deal with shy.
“Which one of you
added the permanent decoration to your wrists?
Remi
?”
I said.
“No. He’s not
suicidal. That was Emmanuel.
Twice.
And
once with a bottle of pills.
Crazy bastard stays depressed. I hate when
he shows up. Page after page of gloom and doom—”
“—Wait a
friggin
’ minute. How many are there?”
“Ten. That I know
of.” I stared at him incredulously. He dropped his eyes, shutting himself down
again. “I can leave if you want me to. I’m laying a lot on you…and I don’t even
know why. I’ve never shared this much with anyone other than my shrinks.”
I continued
staring.
Ten different personalities?
He made a move to
get up then settled down again. “I don’t want to go, Willow.”
“Now you sound
like
Remi
.”
“He says you’re
not judgmental. I could use a friend like that.”
“Not my place to
judge.” I’d grown up with enough people who felt they had a direct link to God.
Incidentally, that gave them the green light to judge and condemn everyone
else. I’d pass on that. “Tell me about your personalities.”
He did.
Turns out,
Remi
wasn’t the homicidal one,
Vlad
was—a Russian assassin, to be exact.
Remi
was Aaron’s
protector, the one he couldn’t live without. There was a girl, a homosexual,
and a six-year-old Aaron in there somewhere. Of everyone, those were the ones
who stood out to me most. His descriptions of them were light and humorous
which made the whole discussion less creepy.
He truly was
fascinating.
And that diary of
theirs would be one hell of a read.
The real clincher
was when he exhaled and thanked me for letting him get it all off his chest. It
was the first time he’d been real. The first time, outside a clinical setting,
he’d opened up about who he was. The first time he’d felt free to be himself
without the threat of freaking someone out. He’d learnt the hard way that
people didn’t understand him and didn’t want to. Aaron’s own father had
rewarded his uniqueness with a few years in a home for the mentally ill.
Didn’t visit him either.
Helped Aaron realize he was a
misfit, an outcast…insane.
Like
he’d asked to be kidnapped when he was young.
I felt privileged
he’d shared so much about himself. Considering how little he knew about me, it
was a major milestone on his part.
Made me an impostor since
I was pretending to be a human whose only issue was narcolepsy.
I’d even
spun my job at Hades as something I did out of kindness for society’s sexual
deviants, like it was a community service project. I allowed him to believe I
was the poster-girl for an after-school special when in reality, I was anything
but.
I envied his
willingness to be vulnerable.
Before I knew it,
it was close to six in the morning. We’d spent all night talking. He had moved
to the bed at some point and we lay side-by-side on our bellies, hoisted on our
elbows. But as with all good things, our time had come to an end. The sun would
be up soon.
“I should go,” he
said. “I’ve kept you up all
ni
—”
I leaned over and
kissed him.
Simple as that.
His lips were
soft, nothing new there. But he didn’t suction mine like they were something to
rip off the way
Remi
had. In fact, he barely moved at
all, like he was scared or inexperienced. When he did finally move, he was
gentle and leisurely. His pace made me want more. Leaning closer to him, I ran
my fingertips lightly across the hair on his thigh, prepared to hike up the
robe and…
He jumped up
suddenly, hitting the floor at a near run. “I have to go.” He turned his back
to me and started putting on his clothes like it must be done right now or he’d
die. Like his car was about to turn into a pumpkin, his clothes to rags. “I’m
sorry, Willow,” he mumbled.
Remi
would never have done that. He would have been all
over me like mud on a pickup truck.
Oh, will you
stop it! He’s not
Remi
.
“
It’s
okay, Aaron.” From out of nowhere I asked, “Can I see
you tomorrow?”
He paused halfway
down buttoning his shirt and risked a glance in my direction. “Sure, I’d like
that.”
I smiled and got
up from the bed. His eyes widened as I approached, but he continued dressing.
“It’s late enough
in the morning for the sun to rise so I’m going to have to hide in the bathroom
until you close the door behind yourself.” I helped him button his sleeves
since his hands were trembling so badly.
“Why?”
“Because
I’m a vampire.”
Chapter 16
His eyes were so
wide; I could have crawled inside them and took a nap. Heck yeah, he was
scared. Heck yeah, he wanted to bolt. Anticipating he would try to run, I
grabbed his arms before he did. Just in time. Staring in his eyes, I whispered
soothing words until he relaxed and his pupils opened to the max.
“
It’s
okay, Aaron. I won’t hurt you. You’re going to trust me
like I trust you.”
He nodded slowly,
his subconscious making the agreement.
I explained how I
had a great time with him, how I enjoyed talking to him and kissing him. Next,
I gave instructions for our date tomorrow, erased any memories of my
confession, and then disappeared into the bathroom. I stayed there until I
heard the front door close. Then I got in bed to sleep the day away.
I slept like a
baby.
Until there was a
knock at the door, then suddenly, I was screaming and diving onto the floor and
crawling under the bed for dear life. I’d taken the comforter with me, managing
to protect myself from the incoming light.
“Close the fucking
door, Bitch!” I yelled to the housekeeper who was trying to come in.
Good thing I had
the chain on the door.
Close call.
She shut it and
begged my pardon over-and-over again.
This was precisely
what I hated about moving to different motels. My old motel had gotten used to
me and wouldn’t dare pull this shit…but hell—it always happened at least once,
no matter how many times I told the front desk to never come in my room. Paying
extra a whole fucking week in advance usually did the trick. And they made out
well considering I didn’t ask for a refund when I changed motels mid-week.
Nothing like
nearly bursting into flames to wake your ass right up. Since I couldn’t go back
to sleep, I did some online shopping, researched some narcolepsy treatment
drugs, and checked my email.
When it was time
to get ready for work, I was excited, though it had more to do with what would
take place after work.
After I did my
thing onstage, I mingled with patrons in the Graveyard room, took pictures with
VIPs in the booth, and collected blood vials. By the time it was two a.m., I
was giddy as a kid first going to Disneyworld. Looking at my watch for the
eighteen-hundredth time, I smiled, knowing Aaron would be out back waiting for
me.
I quickly changed
into a black tank and low-rise jeans, throwing a fashionable scarf around my
neck. Even though the cold didn’t affect my body temperature, it was January
which meant my leather jacket and boots were still acceptable. I put them on
too. Then I said goodnight to my colleagues, ignoring their suspicious glares.
They’d never seen me wear anything but a dull sweat suit once I got off work.
Not tonight.
Tonight I had a date with Aaron.
As I headed down
the hall towards the back door, it opened. Punch stepped inside and froze,
nostrils flaring like he was sniffing the air. Then his head lifted slowly. I
had a feeling I knew what…
er
,
whose
scent he’d
detected. Stopping in my tracks, I considered turning and running in the other
direction, but couldn’t move. The sound of his heart pumping blood into the
arteries of his muscular body had my attention.
My full
attention.
Every tall, chocolaty warm-blooded inch of him called to me
even though he hadn’t said a word.
I licked my lips
thinking his blood was good…and I could use a dose of his power.
I’d never paid
attention to Punch before because he was Fire’s man. And I certainly hadn’t
been hot for him.
But things had
changed.
I’d had his blood.
And he’d made me come with barely a touch.
I’d made sure to
stay away from him all night and sensed he was doing the same. Yet here we were
face-to-face, neither of us able to run. When our eyes met, I couldn’t tell
which one I wanted more—the taste of his blood or its power. Either way, I was
instantly starving for it. And sex was in there somewhere.
My mind was
drawing a blank. Wasn’t I headed somewhere?
His nostrils
flared again, and I was betting he could smell my arousal. I was certainly
getting a heavy dose of his.
“Do you need a
ride?” he said in that baritone voice that made my cookie quiver.
The double
entendre in his question was ringing in my ears.
Boy, do I ever.
I shook my head,
eyeing his jugular like it was the Last Supper. When my fangs elongated and
pierced my lip, I knew I was in trouble. But I was lost in his glare, unable to
tell who was doing the captivating. It was commonly known that were-animals had
powers of their own except—other than becoming an animal—the details of those
powers were a mystery. All I knew was at this moment I seemed to have been
equally entranced.
Willing myself to
regain control, I tore my eyes from his and focused on a spot on the floor. I
prayed my eyes wouldn’t turn. There’d be no holding back then.
“My truck’s right
outside,” he said.
Startled, I looked
up. When did he get so close?
He eyed the blood
running down my bottom lip then rubbed his thumb across it. That’s when I
realized I had continued biting my lip, preventing it from healing. I stared at
his full lips as he took the thumb to his mouth and sucked it.
His dark brown
eyes immediately turned auburn and mine flashed red. I could feel it. I could
see them reflected in his eyes. Tingling all over, I moved in even closer to
his broad chest and palmed the pectoral over his heart. He dipped his head low
enough for our lips to nearly touch. Oh, yes, his body was hot and strong and
we were…
“You know, I used
to like you, Willow.”
Punch and I both
jumped and turned in the direction of the voice that was harsh enough to break
our trance.
Fire was standing
a few feet away.
Although I couldn’t
see her eyes hidden behind red fringe bangs, I knew she was staring a hole in
the middle of my forehead. But forget her damn eyes. Instinctively, I was more
concerned about the smoke blowing from her boney nose. Her arms hung stiffly at
her sides and her usually pasty white skin was beet red. Her stance reminded me
of a fighting bull locked on its target. Only, I was no matador and I sure as
hell wasn’t holding a
muleta
.
I became conscious
of my fangs, even thought about retracting them. Then figured they may be
needed to fight.
Shit.
I really didn’t
want to go there with her especially since this drama was my fault. I’d been
the one to cross the line in the sand, so to speak.
Punch walked
towards her slowly, palms out. He was saying soothing things to her when I
decided it was a good time to bust a move. Not only did I remember there was a
hottie
waiting for me out back, but I didn’t need to press
my luck with anyone who breathed out smoke. Where there was smoke, there was
fire.
Literally.