Charlotte & Sebastian (6 page)

Chapter Eleven

A strong breeze pulled at Charlotte's
hair as they pushed through the door to the roof. She scanned her surroundings quickly but found nothing of interest. “Seb, what are we doing up here?”

He crossed the roof and beckoned for her to follow. She did so warily, not keen on how high up they were and the breeze that pushed at her body. He stopped at the very edge of the roof and held out a hand for her. She shook her head wildly. No way was she getting that close to the edge.

“I thought you trusted me?”

Her brow furrowed for several long seconds before she took a few steps closer to him. Sebastian grabbed her hand and twined their fingers together as he brought her closer to the sheer drop.

“You can't be afraid of heights as a vampire,” he told her gently. “We use them to our advantage; being able to take out an adversary by coming from above creates less trouble than a direct approach where they might see you coming and warn others. Look down, Charlie.”

Her eyes bugged at the request and she shook her head, even going so far as trying to take a step back but his grip on her wrist was uncompromising. “No way.”

Sebastian's eyes caught and held hers. “We're five floors up. A vampire can safely jump from roughly the eighth floor of a building without hurting themselves. If they jumped from higher they may break bones but those bones would heal within a few hours and the injury wouldn’t be severe enough that they couldn’t get away if in danger.”

“
What has this got to do with us?” She asked, fairly certain she already knew the answer but needing him to confirm her thoughts.

“
We're going to jump off,” he told her.

Charlotte's eyes widened at the easy way he spoke of it. “I've been a vampire less than a day and you want me to jump off buildings already?”

A rumble of laughter met her ears and she scowled at him. “Charlie, you'll be fine. I'll hold your hand the first time.”

The first time? He wanted her to do it more than once? Was he crazy?!

She didn’t get the chance to think anything else as he released her fingers, wrapped an arm around her waist and took the few steps needed to walk them off the edge of the building. Eyes widening, she squealed as they fell quickly. Her hands tightly gripped Sebastian's arm at her waist as the ground grew closer with every second. Her eyes closed when she could make out the individual tiles on the ground and she tensed, waiting for impact.

Only her body took over, bending her knees as her feet hit the floor which helped absorb the impact so she hardly felt it. Her face must have shown her disbelief at making the five storey drop unscathed because she heard Sebastian's chuckle and turned on him, pushing him away from her hard. “I can't believe you did that!”

He was still chuckling as he pulled her into his chest, “You survived, didn't you?”

A growl built in her chest and she brought her fist back and let it fly, punching him in the gut. He groaned and swore under his breath. “Okay. No more dragging you off buildings,” he conceded.

Unable to hide her smug smirk, she turned away from him. “What else did you have in mind in regards to training?” She asked.

“
We need to head back up to the roof.” Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously and he grinned. “Come on. I promise, no more dropping off roofs today. We'll save that for tomorrow.” Turning on his heel he headed back for the glass double doors of the Agency and she followed reluctantly.

As she pushed through, she was suddenly hit with a sense of uneasiness. She could hear a deafening mixture of sounds; footsteps, conversations, rhythmic thudding and feel everyone's eyes on her. There was a tenseness in the air, like a bitter taste on her tongue. People didn’t seem to know what to do with her now she was vampire. Some seemed scared, while others seemed ready to hurt her.

Her eyes roamed the front entrance as she walked through, her eyes moving between people every second, looking for threats. Her animal side seemed eager for a fight and she curled her fists at her sides to try and keep herself under control.

“
Leech!” Someone hissed as she passed and before she knew, Sebastian had the guy by the throat.

“
Say it again, I dare you,” he said softly, his face close to the other man's, fangs showing. The guy's jaw clenched angrily but thankfully he kept it shut. Sebastian dropped him back to the floor and turned to address everyone in the room. “Charlotte may be a vampire now, but she's still the girl she once was. She hasn't done anything to earn your hatred so leave it for the vampire's out there that have.” Speech over, he grabbed Charlotte's elbow and urged her past the grumbling crowd and to the lifts. He pressed the button and the doors opened to admit them. Once inside he pushed the button for the second floor and she frowned across at him. “We need an assistant for what I have planned next.”

The lift arrived on the second floor in seconds and she followed him out, her steps slowing considerably when she saw him heading to the Director's office. He pushed the outer office door open and vanished inside.

She arrived at the doorway in time to hear a giggle from inside and her blood started to boil. Her jaw clenched tightly as she remembered the other woman giving Sebastian blood. That she'd suggested it pissed her off more and she closed and opened her fists continuously as she tried to reign in her anger.

The door opened and he came back out, followed by the still giggling Adrianna. The other woman glanced up at her and let out a gasp. Fear poured off of her like a seductive caress against Charlotte's skin and she cocked her head to the side in an inhuman gesture. Sebastian moved to block her view and she frowned, her gaze rising to his.

“Excuse us a minute, Adrianna. I need to have a word with Charlotte.” With that he grasped her elbow again and yanked her away from the blonde. He stopped a short distance away and said shortly, “Your eyes are purple.” She blinked. “I just told everyone downstairs that you aren’t an animal so get yourself under control, Charlie. You are not getting a taste of Adrianna, ever. Or anyone else. You're getting bagged blood and me. Nothing else.”

Feeling equally ashamed and guilty, she forced her darker side away. It took several minutes for her to get herself back under control and she found herself tired from the effort.

“Right, come on.” Sebastian turned away and headed for the lift once more, gesturing for Adrianna to come too. She did so warily, her eyes glued to Charlotte during the ride up to the top floor. Then came Adrianna's refusal to have Charlotte at her back as they climbed to the roof.

By the time they got upstairs, Charlotte was pissed off and slammed the door a little too hard as they exited the stairs. It didn’t end well for the door, which splinted into pieces as it hit the door-frame too hard. “Oops,” she said dryly and turned to face the other two.

Sebastian didn’t seem happy and directed her to stand in the middle of the roof. She did as she'd been asked and folded her arms across her chest. Then watched as he walked Adrianna over to the edge of a square air vent and she sat on the edge, making a big deal of crossing her long bare legs.

After several minutes he came back and stood in front of her, his lips curving slightly at the corners. “I like that you're jealous.”

“I am not—” she started to protest.

“
Yes, you are. It turns me on knowing you're that possessive of me. But Charlie? I'm not interested in anyone else. I want you; I have for a really long time and now that I have you, I'm happy. As fun as it is seeing you all pissed off Adrianna, first, she does nothing for me and second, I really can't let you kill her for flirting with me.” Capturing her face in his palms, he placed a simple but possessive kiss on her lips. “Now how about we carry on with this training?”

Charlotte was slightly dazed from his words and the kiss, but nodded and they spent the next hour going through how good her hearing was and her ability to filter sounds, so she was able to recognise the difference between heartbeats and different levels her colleagues were on.

It turned out she was pretty good and Adrianna was able to leave about halfway through the lesson when Charlotte was able to pick up heartbeats that were on lower levels quickly.

She was grinning like an idiot as the lesson ended. “So I'm good?”

Sebastian seemed to think about his answer and she shoved his shoulder playfully. “Yeah, you're good. Better than I was expecting, actually.”

She grinned, happy at his words. “So now what?”

Settling his hands on her waist, he leant close to whisper, “Now, I was thinking we could have some fun.”

Her face lit up and she bit her lip. “Sounds like a plan.”

Chapter Twelve

Charlotte climbed in the car with Sebastian and stared out the windscreen into the growing darkness as they left the garage behind and drove out onto the busy streets.

She had no idea where they were heading and every time she'd asked, he'd told her to wait and see.

It had been an hour since they'd left the roof and Sebastian had told her to dress warm but comfortably before disappearing to his own room to do the same.

She'd decided on her favourite pair of black jeans, and layered a dark red, long sleeved top with a battered leather jacket that she'd owned since she was eighteen. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she'd swapped her usual black combat boots for some low heeled black boots with gold studs at the back and then stood to admire her reflection, wanting to look good for Sebastian.

His eyes had drifted down her body in a lazy perusal as she'd opened the door of her room to him a little while ago. Tucking his index fingers into her front pockets he'd tugged her forward and kissed her at length.

Her lips were still tingling now.

They stopped at a red light and she turned to face him in her seat. Sebastian glanced across at her, “What?”

“Why won't you tell me where we're going?” She asked.

He shrugged. “I want it to be a surprise.”

Pouting, Charlotte leant forward and turned on the radio. Rap blared through the speakers and she turned it down before switching channels to something that sounded a little calmer. When that song finished, another filled the confines of the car and she sang along quietly as they entered into an industrial area.

They came to a stop a few seconds later and she looked around the empty streets before turning to face Sebastian with a questioning brow raised.

He was watching her with an undefinable emotion in his eyes. “This is a nice song.”

“
I've Had the Time of my Life
,” she told him. “From
Dirty Dancing
.”

Sebastian nodded and turned the engine off, cutting the song off mid-verse, then climbed out of the car and she quickly followed his lead, meeting him on the pavement. Taking her hand he led her down the street and then between two large warehouses. They stopped beside a metal ladder that ran up to the roof of the warehouse and he gestured for her to go first.

Where was he taking her?

Nevertheless she climbed the ladder quickly and stepped aside as Sebastian reached the top. Twining their hands together, he tugged her across the roof and then looked across at the next building, through its large windows to be exact, and the people dancing below.

Charlotte's brow furrowed and she glanced back at her fellow vampire to see the rapt enjoyment on his face as he watched the twirling couples. Turning her own attention back to them she watched as they danced what looked like the waltz; their bodies swirling in hold as they moved about the room.

A teacher stepped forward, hands clapping to get her student's attention and then said something which had them all changing holds.

A snort escaped Sebastian's lips diverting her attention from the now tangoing couples and she let out a squeak of alarm as she was spun into his arms, their hold that of a formal dance. “Now
that
isn’t dancing.
This
is dancing,” and guided her across the roof in a series of turns and steps. She let him guide her and with their advanced balance and co-ordination they didn’t falter once; not because of the uneven surface or because of her lack of dancing experience.

Sebastian raised his right hand above her head taking her hand with it and twirled her in a circle, making her laugh, before taking her back in hold and moving around the roof some more until he bent her backwards over his arm with a flourish.

Charlotte knew she was grinning like an idiot but she couldn’t help it. That was the most fun she'd had in a long time.

Her eyes locked with Sebastian's and she saw the tenderness in his blue eyes as he took in everything about her right then, his gaze roving her face. He slowly brought her upright, his arm still around her waist, faces a mere inch apart.

“I didn’t know you could dance,” she said softly.

Lips quirking, he said, “There's a lot you don’t know about me.”

“I'd like to know everything about you,” she admitted shyly.

Seb searched her face before pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “Come on then.” Dropping his arm from around her waist he grabbed her hand and tugged her towards a metal vent and they both sat down. “It's probably about time I told you a bit about myself.” He let out a harsh breath. “I was born in seventeen-ninety-nine to a poor family. The second of seven children: four brothers and two sisters. It was tough for my parents to try and feed us all and unfortunately for my youngest brother, William, he got sick and passed away when he was just four years old.” Charlotte gripped his hand tightly and squeezed, offering silent comfort. “It was after his death when my elder brother, James, and I realised we needed to help bring in money so none of our other siblings would die like Will. James was a skilled carpenter and managed to make money from that. I, on the other hand didn’t have a useful skill. I did however have this,” and he indicated his face. “Working women in our village would call me handsome all the time and one particular nobleman's wife took a fancy to me. She seduced me one night after my seventeenth birthday and then paid me the following morning, telling me she'd enjoyed it and wanted to do it again. It was then I realised how I could help my family. Sleep with women, give them pleasure for money.” Charlotte drew in a swift breath, only now understanding where this was going. “The noblewoman introduced me to other women and I became well known in the area. One night a few years later I was approached by a lady who offered me a lot—and I mean a lot—of money if I'd spend the night with her. I agreed knowing the money would do unimaginable things to help keep my family fed. The lady was wild and during the sex she bit me and drained me before making me like her. It was so unexpected, the attack, that I didn’t fight her, even as I felt my life draining away.” He paused in his tale, his eyes hardening. “Marielle kept me as her plaything for half a century, making me do unimaginable things to her enemies and people who slandered her before I managed to kill her. I despised what she'd made me into and hated the fact I had to consume human blood to survive but I also knew that denying myself would make me into even more of a monster so I did what I had to. And here I am today.”

“That sounds rough.”

He shrugged, “No rougher than what you went through with your family.”

“Did you ever see yours again?”

Sebastian took so long to answer she turned away to watch the dancers again, thinking he'd had enough of talking about his past. Something she could understand.

“I went back after killing Marielle to find my parents were dead, which was to be expected after half a century. The death of my youngest sister, however, was not. It seems she was a victim of some disease which couldn’t be treated at the time. I have no idea where my other siblings ended up.”

“
I'm sorry,” she said.

Sebastian's eyes went unfocused for a second and then he stood up, tugging her with him. “Let's stop talking about
me
and go back to the Agency and see the Director about
you
. We need him to give the okay for you to go out on missions and I need to suggest he pair us up so you can keep me company.”

Charlotte rolled her eyes, “You mean so you can keep me under control.”

In the next second his finger was pressed to her lips, his eyes more serious than she'd ever seen them. “In. So I can help you keep
in control.
I have no desire to control you, Charlie. I love you just the way you are.”

A smile had grown on her lips during his speech and she playfully nipped at the digit pressed against her mouth. His eyes darkened and in a blink, his hand was at her nape and his lips were hot against her own. She moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck.

It was a while before they left the roof.