In My Veins (14 page)

I
was kind of mad at him for being
too
overprotective but I knew he meant
well. But it was getting frustrating. I’ve been the only child and have never
been in a serious relationship. I wasn’t used to compromise. I’ve always been
the type of girl that told myself I would be independent and not a needy girl
who would have a guy to rely on. But with James I realized it’s nice to have
someone to rely on sometimes and have him rely on me as well.

I
sat on his sofa as I waited for my sleepiness to start kicking in. He sat near
me but could sense I was angry so he stayed back.

He
sighed, “Please don’t be angry… it’s for your safety.”

Stupid
vampire sensing emotion boyfriend.
I glared at him and stood up to go to
the bathroom to wash my face, brush my teeth and all that good stuff. As I got
out of the bathroom he came to me with folded lounge pants and a t-shirt of
his, “Um…we can go to your apartment tomorrow and get your stuff…. till then
sleep in these.”

“I
actually get pants this time?” I asked as I grabbed the clothes.

“You
could not wear them if you want.” He smiled shyly as I went back into the
bathroom to change.

After
I came out he was in his usual sleeping style, lounge pants and shirtless. I
sighed, he looked so ridiculously hot. But… I was still mad him. I didn’t even
remember why I was mad anymore. But I was being stubborn.

He
smiled at me nervously and I glared back at him and smiled before looking out
of the large window. His room was amazing. One of the walls, where normally a
small window would be, he had the entire wall as a window. I looked at the
cityscape and saw his reflection sneaking up on me.

He
put his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder, “I’m sorry
baby… I know you really love your job and want the promotion. But your safety
is more important right now. You have to be okay to get the promotion, right?”

I
sighed and hugged his arms that were around my waist, “I know… It’s just
frustrating. I’m sorry I’m not mad at you… I’m thankful you’re helping me.”

He
kissed my shoulder before resting his chin on my it again. He looked out the
window with me and I saw a shadow of a smile on his lips. All creepy stuff
aside, I was happy too. I liked being here with him.

“You’re
so sexy in my clothes.” He whispered making a heated chill go down my spine.

“Can
you sense my moods?” I asked surprising him, “Like when I’m hungry or
whatever.”

“Yes.
Body sends off different scents and heart rate depending on moods.”

“You
can hear my heart?” I asked surprised.

“Yes.”
He smiled, “It’s starting to beat fast again. It beats fast a lot when you’re
around me actually…”

“So
you could sense…
all
my emotions? And feelings?” I asked feeling embarrassed
because of the feelings and thoughts I had just seconds ago upon seeing him
reading a book shirtless and muscly on the bed.

He
smirked, “Yes.”

I
felt my face heat up, “Oh…”

He
laughed and tightened his hold on me. I forced him to loosen a bit so I could
turn around and face him. I brought him lower again and got on my tip toes
before pressing my lips to his.

“Baby…
so my mom and my sister Jenny really want you to come over for dinner or lunch
again.  What do you say?” he asked nervously.

I
smiled remembering that I was on Jenny’s good side, “I’d like that actually…
maybe we can go to my family’s house for tea or something before.”

“I’d
like that too.” he smiled.

The next morning I
woke up wrapped up in James’s arms and groaned not wanting to go to work. I
felt nervous having to talk to my boss about working at home. What if my
request was so ridiculous that he says I should go home and never come back.

I
got ready nervously. I didn’t feel like getting dressed because I was sure that
it was going to be a horrible day. The butterflies in my tummy had turned into
fire breathing dragonflies as James drove me to the Dash & Wilson building.

He
smiled as he parked and went around the car to open the door for me. He held my
hand as we walked to the building refusing to let me go before he had to, “Why
are you so nervous?”

“I
hate talking to my boss like this.” I said groaned.

“Don’t
be nervous.” He kissed my forehead, “I’ll wait down here for you okay?”

I
nodded and he gave me a kiss for good luck before I went into the elevator and clicked
on the W&D floor.

Mr.
Yang’s office door was open as usual if he wasn’t on the phone. He’s like that.
He actually wants his employees to be comfortable with him. 

I
knocked on the open doorway and went in slowly, “Good morning Mr. Yang.”

“Oh
hello Karina, how are you?” He said finishing up whatever he was typing to give
me his complete attention.

“I’m
good, how are you?” I said awkwardly hoping standing in front of his desk. I
had never wanted to know how he was doing so bad in order to avoid asking him
if he would be okay with me working from home for a while with no real excuse.

“Have
a seat.” He pointed to the chair across from him, “Is something wrong?”

“Um...
actually, I had a request.” I said as I forced myself to sit without being
noticeably shaky, “I was wondering, would it be okay if I worked on my
remaining projects from home?”

“From
home? Is everything alright? Are you sick?” He asked noticeably worried.

“Oh
no, everything is fine.” I assured him, “I had been focusing better at home for
some reason on these past few projects. I feel like I’ll get more done quickly
and more efficiently.”

He
thought for a moment, “Well… you’ve never missed a work day since you started.
I guess it should be fine as long as you promise to email me your progress so I
know you’re not lagging..”

“I
will. Thank you sir… I’ll have my cell on me at all times as well. So if I’m
ever needed here, I’ll get here within minutes.”

He
laughed, “it’s okay, just work well on the projects. I know you’ll do great.”

After
thanking him again I left his office happily. I couldn’t wait to go into the
elevator and tell James the good news. I was thankful that there was no one in
it and I quickly pressed the first floor before anyone could decide to join me.
And by anyone I was mostly thinking of Jennifer.

As
it reached the fifth floor the elevator stopped and I groaned having to wait
for people to get on. I knew it wouldn’t be Jennifer but I think Collin’s law
office was on the fifth floor. She could be visiting him...

Collin
came into the elevator and I froze. Well it wasn’t any better than Jennifer. He
smirked as he stood next to me, a little too close for comfort. The doors slid
closed and no one else entered. I was alone in the tiny elevator with Collin.

I
counted down the floors. I couldn’t wait to reach the first level where James
was waiting for me. Just as the elevator was reaching the second floor he
pressed the stop button and looked at me with a grin mixed with anger.

“What
are you doing?” I asked trying to keep my voice calm.

He
took a step closer to me causing me to take a step back and bump into the mirrored
wall.

“I’ve
been waiting for a while to get you away from that guy you were with. Who was
he again?”

“My
boyfriend?” I said through my teeth.

“Yeah
him...” he stepped closer again, “What’s his name?”

“What…what
do you want from me?” I stuttered. He looked at my chest and smirked. I
realized my heart was beating fast. And I wasn’t breathing.

I
felt a chill run down my spine, he heard my heart.

He
had me trapped in the corner of the elevator in-between Collin’s arms. I ducked
out from under his arms and ran to the other side of the elevator.  I started
pressing the number so that it would go faster but I knew it would make no
difference. I was trapped in this tiny dungeon until the door opens.

He laughed and before I even had a
chance to blink he had me against the wall. His hands were pressing my
shoulders into the wall so I couldn’t move and my feet were dangling a foot
above the floor. I tried to get myself to kick him so he would let go but my
legs wouldn’t move.

The elevator felt like it was extremely
slow but I was thankful that he didn’t press stop. One more  floor.

He looked at me and smiled and I felt my
heart drop as I noticed his teeth. They were sharp, extremely sharp.

I looked back at his eyes and realized
they had turned red. Redder than James’s eyes and way scarier. He was the
monster. The monster that attacked me. Same messy dark hair, same fiery red
eyes and same vicious teeth. At the realization I wanted to look away and find
a way to get as far from him that I could in that tiny space but I couldn’t.

Something happened to me and I couldn’t
stop staring into them. I wanted to stop but I couldn’t. I was frozen in place.
My muscles felt like jelly and my arms felt like they weighted a hundred pounds
each.

He brought his head closer to me,
lowering it to my neck till I felt his lips touch my skin. I urged myself to
open my mouth and scream as I felt him move his lips. Just as his fang graze my
skin the elevator door slid open. Collin looked back at the door and the frozen
trance I was in was gone. Taking this as an opportunity I bent my knee and
jammed it up to his groin making him cringe away. Monster or not, that’s the
best place to hit an attacker.  

Before he could straighten up and bite
me. Someone pulled him off me and slammed him on the other side of the
elevator. I fell on the floor in the process. I quickly forced myself to stand
up just as the door closed again.

I was back in the elevator with Collin
and the person who saved me--- James.

His hair was disheveled and a longer
again too and even though he had his back to me I’m sure his eyes were bright
red. He lifted Collin a few feet off the floor and punched him a couple times.

Collin laughed making James angry as he
pulled him away from the wall before slamming him back to it. I realized the
elevator was going up. I pressed stop so that no one would see James like this
and pressed the first floor button again.

“What the hell do you want with her!?” James
growled.  It even scared me, but it was kind of hot.

Collin smirked and looked back at me. He
licked his lips giving me chills, “At first I just wanted to get rid of her…
But now.
Mmm
,” He moaned, “I just had a little taste. She’s delicious.”
He grinned at James and before he could do anything Collin pushed James against
the wall next to me. James groaned painfully as his back crushed into the
mirrored wall. The mirror shattered making me cringe in the other direction.

Freaking out I wanted to help him but
I’m not match to either of them.

I looked at Collin’s arms, his sleeves
were pulled up next to his elbows and his veins were popping out from the
strength he was using on James.

James always saves me I have to help
him.

I looked at James’s painful expression
and he looked at me. I stared at his red eyes, which most would find creepy,
but I found beautiful. I still saw the James I had met and learned to love, his
inner monster and all.

I smiled at James reassuringly as his
eyes met with mine and before I could think twice I bit Collin’s exposed arm as
hard as I could.

Collin let go of James from the shock. They
both looked at me surprised. I guess it would be weird, the vampire getting
bitten. I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh at the irony.

“What you can do it and I can’t?” I asked
Collin as the elevator door finally opened again. James threw me over his
shoulder and dashed us out of the building.

*
*
*

I looked at him in shock as he rocketed through
the freeway at high speed. Sometimes I wonder how he doesn’t have a ticket yet.
And the way he carried me and brought me to his car was pretty…amazing. I liked
my body even though I wished my hips were a tad bit smaller. I was curvy in all
the right place. But I had given up the dreams of a guy being able to lift me
after age sixteen. Unless I married a weight lifting pro or something, it was
something I considered at a time for that sole purpose. I was surprised he
carried me like I weighed no less than a pencil.

He still had his disheveled jet black
hair, his eyes were still intense, almost glowing, and his fangs still showed
when he’d occasionally sigh or cringe with his mouth open.

“I’m so stupid!” he yelled and hit his
steering wheel. I cringed waiting for the airbags to pop open but they didn’t,
“I should have come upstairs with you!”

He gripped onto his steering wheel and drove
even faster. I’m surprised that his driving doesn’t scare me anymore but
neither of us are immortal so I tried calming him down.

“Baby… please calm down this is just as
dangerous as being in the elevator with him…” I said calmly but I was getting
scared.

He glanced at me and looked back at the
road from his rearview mirror. He slowed down the car and I let out a deep breath.
He pulled over and parked in a busy shopping center, but left the car on.

He took a deep breath then turned to
face me as much as he could. Pulling my hair to the side with his left hand and
touching my neck with his right. Gently brushing over where Collin had grazed
with his fangs and frowned.

“He almost hurt you…” he mumbled. “He
did
hurt you… I can’t believe he---”

“But he didn’t. I’m fine James… he made
it sound bigger than it was to get you angry. He was full of crap.”

He looked at me and then back at my
neck. He brought his face closer and I felt my heart beat go faster and my
stomach twist with butterflies as his lips touched where Collin’s was a moment
ago. He gently kissed my neck and bought his face to mine, gently kissing my
lips.

This was the first time he kissed me as
a vampire. It was different, but the same. His lips were still the same perfect
fullness and softness.

He caressed my cheek with his hand and
pulled away to start driving again.

“You know… sometimes I thought you were
lying to me when you said you weren’t afraid…” he said not looking at me. I
looked at him confused but he kept his eyes on the road. I wasn’t even sure
where were going. “Every time I’m near you I hear and feel your heart racing.
Even before you knew that I was a monster, when we met at the sushi place, your
heart was racing…”

“You could hear my heart even then?”

He nodded, “I always can. It’s natural
to be afraid of me… humans are like animals too. We sense things we don’t
realize. We know we’re in danger before we can process,” He continued, “When
you first saw me your heart was racing like it was a moment ago with Collin…”

I suddenly felt guilty for something I
didn’t even know I was doing or could control. I started to speak but he didn’t
let me deny it.

“But when you started talking to me and
you looked at me in my eyes… I noticed your heart was
still
racing. But
you still gave me your number anyway. I always wondering why you were ignoring
your fear…” he smiled, “But I just noticed the difference…”

“What do you mean?”

He shook his head with a bittersweet
smile. He took my left hand and brought it to his lips kissing my knuckles,
“Nothing. Just that I love you.”

I smiled and felt the usual
indescribable thrill I had when he said he loved me before, “I love you too
James.”

“I know…” he said sadly almost just as
heartbreaking as his smile.

“James… where are we going?” I asked
trying to get him out of his zone. He looked around but didn’t answer me.
Instead he pulled into a parking in front of a white gated apartment building.

He headed out of the car and opened the
door for me, “Come with me…”

He took my hand and I looked at him
waiting for answers, “Where are we?”

“My cousin’s. I need to talk to him.”

“Cousin as in David or cousin as in Chris?”
Please let it be Chris…

 
He stopped midway and
looked at my chest before taking his hand and placing it over my heart. I
realized my heart was going fast again. He looked at me and smiled, “Don’t be
scared of David he won’t hurt you. Especially now that we know for sure it
wasn’t him. He’s all talk.”

“David?” I whispered as if he could hear
me. I tried to smile as we walked through the gate past the many doors. Attempting
to take the doors as comfort that many people would be around if David wanted
to attack me. Not that they’d be able to do anything if James couldn’t.

We finally stopped at number twelve and James
knocked the door with his free hand. I was thankful he didn’t let go of mine.
He squeezed my hand as we waited, his way of reassuring me everything was going
to be okay.