‘Can I ask you something?’ he said, trying to change the subject.
‘You may.’
He leant back on the bench and crossed his legs again. ‘How did it happen?’
‘How did what happen?’
He lowered his glasses and peered at me over the rims. His green eyes were devastating and I wondered why I had earlier thoughts of grey and silver tendrils running through them. ‘How did Vânâtor DNA get into your bloodstream?’
Be careful, Elena, you don’t know what his intentions are.
‘Oh that,’ I said, now staring down at my sneakers. ‘That’s kind of a long story.’
‘I’ve got time.’
I shook my head. ‘I don’t. I shouldn’t even be here right now.’
‘Because you aren’t allowed to associate with your own kind?’
I smiled with relief and a sudden surge of happiness belted through me. Despite the fact that I was in fact half vânâtor, he still appeared to consider me a vampire above anything else. It made me feel a little bit better about my circumstances and the future ahead of me.
‘No, that’s not it,’ I answered. ‘I mean, don’t get me wrong, Susan and George would kill Lucas and I if they knew we were talking to you right now, but that’s not the reason. I’m technically grounded.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Grounded? I gather this means that you are being punished in some regard?’
I frowned. ‘Do you even remember being a teenager?’
He motioned to his body all over. ‘I am technically still a teenager. The only part of me that has aged is my mind. My physical being is forever frozen in time. Unfortunately that also means that I’m eternally challenged with teenage
… urges. It’s quite unfair really.’ He flicked me a devilish grin. I giggled in response.
What the hell? Did I just giggle?
You totally just did. What a loser.
My face flushed red with embarrassment and I turned away before he could notice.
‘Oh, Elena,’ he said suddenly, panicked and rushing out of his seat. ‘Please try not to do that.’
‘Huh? Do what?’ I looked back over at him, my face still the colour of crimson. He was no longer sitting beside me, but several paces away.
I stood, suddenly feeling awkward.
I looked over to Lucas. He was no longer standing in animated conversation, but standing particularly still beside Marianne. All three of them were watching our exchange intensely. I saw the blue light dancing across the tips of Lucas’s fingers. All three of them could sense that something was wrong.
‘What have I done wrong, because I have no idea?’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you, it’s nothing,’ he answered dismissively, taking a small step back towards me, visibly tense.
I snorted. ‘I’m not scared, but it’s obviously something. Just tell me. I don’t like playing games.’
He took another few steps forward, his eyes hidden beneath the lenses of his sunglasses again. ‘This is not a game to me either, Elena, believe me, but this is what I am.’
He reached up and lowered his glasses, giving me a quick view of his midnight-coloured eyes.
I glanced nervously at Lucas. Thomas had a hand resting on his shoulder. Was he restraining him? Whatever the intended result, Lucas couldn’t have cared less.
William halted, stopping at the edge of the bench seat again, and replacing the sunglasses back over his demonic eyes.
Instead of attacking me, as I had expected, he ran his fingers nervously through his short thicket of stylishly mussed black hair and then gripped the edge of the bench seat for support. His knuckles flexed automatically with the strength in his fingers and he took a deep breath in, calming the creature within. His fingers left behind indentations, biting into the edges of the wood as if he’d just pressed his hand into something no harder than a lump of butter. And as I stared at the newly formed grooves, I couldn’t help but wonder what those fingers could do to my body if he ever lost complete control around me.
‘I’m sorry, Elena,’ he said quietly and calmly. ‘It was your blushing that took me by surprise.’
‘I wasn’t blushing,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘I don’t blush.’
Well, at least not until I’d met you.
He looked upwards as if asking for help, then took a deep breath and sat back down, motioning for me to join him.
I took a few wary steps back towards him before I sat down again, my curiosity ticking into overtime. Before he had a chance to do anything, I leaned forward, slowly reaching out and touching the rims of his glasses, lowering them down to the end of his nose as he had done just before. I wanted to see his eyes. I wanted to see if I was once again sitting next to the man or the beast.
He stared back at me with all the beauty and the clarity of his usual emerald eyes. There was absolutely no trace of the darkness that had prevailed before, but in its place was an almost restless desire that seemed to stop him from breathing and his lips to form a tight line of imposed self control.
I swallowed deeply when I realised that I was staring, and what had started out as innocent curiosity to watch his shift in form had suddenly become a wordless exchange that made my entire body tingle.
I started to slide the glasses back up his nose, trying in vain to end the awkward pause and my sudden shyness, but he caught my hands in his. They were cold and hard against my own, but I barely noticed it. All I could feel was the warmth of our connection as it spread like fire from his skin straight to mine, then down into a portion of myself that I barely recognised.
I sniffed discreetly at the air. He was not enticing me. I could smell his captivating scent, but was not overwhelmed by it. It was his touch. The tightening I was feeling way down below and the butterflies that played havoc in my stomach were a reaction purely of my own creation.
Swallowing again, I guided the sunglasses the rest of the way up his face until his eyes were completely covered again. I tried to pull away after that, but his hands did not let go and I suddenly felt those butterflies building.
Is this feeling normal?
He cupped my warm hands gently in his own, running his fingers along the flesh of my palm and touching the skin with tenderness and care. Heat stirred underneath his touch, scorching my flesh with need, and filling my mind with unwelcome thoughts of an intimate union.
I shook loose of whatever magic he was trying to fill me with, pulled my hands out of his grasp and tucked them back into my lap. I couldn’t afford to let my emotions rule me. It would be dangerous to let these new feelings he had unearthed off the leash right now. I didn’t know anything about him. I didn’t know what he was capable of and worse—I had no idea what he wanted with me.
‘Why did you ask me here?’ I said quietly, keeping my eyes on my hands in my lap. ‘And don’t tell me it’s because you want to know me better because that just doesn’t make any sense to me.’
‘What do you want me to say?’ he answered, his voice a little more gravelly and deep than before.
‘Tell me the truth.’
‘But Elena, I have told you the truth. I do want to know you better.’
‘Why?’
‘It’s a whisper in my heart and a message in my head
that is not to be ignored,’ he answered, as if that explained everything. He must have seen the look on my face because he continued. ‘It’s not just your genes that fascinate me or your beauty, or even the fact that you even exist.’ He muttered the last part more to himself. ‘It’s also the unnerving effect that your blood has upon me.’
‘My blood? So it
does
appeal to you?’ I shifted away from him, putting some distance between us. ‘Lucas was right. You don’t want to get to know me at all. You’re trying to find a way to will me into submission so you can take your fill.’
‘No, Elena, you’ve got me all wrong,’ he said vehemently. ‘I would never touch your blood. I haven’t drunk human blood for practically my whole undead life. I’m not about to start with you.’
I pointed to his glasses. ‘Then why the black eyes before? Is that why you wear the sunglasses, so that you can hide your thirst from everyone?’
He shook his head and tried to reach for my hand. I slid further away from him.
‘No. We wear the sunglasses because the sunlight hurts our eyes. As for my brief transformation before, that was simply because you blushed.’
I started to hesitate.
He held up his hands. ‘Deny it all you want, but it happened. Blood surged through every vein under your skin and lit up your face like a Christmas tree. I’m not saying this to scare you. I’m trying to be honest. Although I have been able to resist drinking human blood for just about my entire life, I’m not without my weaknesses. Your blood is irresistible, Elena. It’s so clean and pure, completely untainted. When you blush, the vampire side of me finds it extremely difficult to ignore.’
‘Oh,’ I said. I didn’t have a more intelligible response to that. ‘What about at the rave where we first met? Could you smell my blood then?’
He nodded. ‘I can smell everything around me, some things with more detail than others. If I choose to focus on a particular scent, it will become stronger to me than the others in the air nearby. When I met you, I could smell that you were human, smell the sweetness in your veins and smell the purity of your life force. But, until I was right up against your neck, I could not smell the werewolf in you or the vampire part of your blood.’
‘Then why did you single me out from everyone else there? You were enticing me, I know it.’
He turned to the side and smiled lightly. ‘Ah, now that is a question for another day.’
But I was stubborn, eager to know. ‘Were you planning on biting me that night?’
‘No, I just told you I don’t drink human blood.’
‘Did you know I was training with the IMI?’
‘No.’
‘Then what? Why were you trying to glamour me?’
He turned back to look at me, his lips still upturned in a smile. ‘Need I remind you that I have the body of a teenage boy?’ he said, gesturing to his long, lean body again.
I felt a renewed sense of heat fan across my face. So he was attracted to me. And that just made things infinitely more complicated.
He stopped smiling and pinched his nose. ‘Blushing—again? Are you trying to punish me?’
I pushed myself to my feet and glanced over at Lucas. All three were still watching, and no doubt listening. ‘I should go,’ I said, doing my best to cover my burning face with my hair. ‘Thanks for the chat. It was … enlightening.’
I turned my back on him and headed off to rescue my brother, although he didn’t look particularly bothered at the moment by his current company.
‘Elena, wait,’ William said, reaching out and taking my hand again. ‘When will I see you again?’
I looked down at his hand in mine, the same feeling of heat instantly stirring something in the pit of my stomach.
Damn him.
I shrugged, trying to feign nonchalance. ‘When we cross paths, I expect.’
‘That’s rather vague.’
‘Yes, I suppose it is, but given that both of us are resourceful people it will probably be soon.’ I shook free of his grip and turned away without a backwards glance. He was simply too dangerous to be around right now and it wasn’t his teeth that were the problem.
It was me.
I was attracted to him too, and those feelings that were stirring something deep inside of me were more dangerous than either of our darkest natures could ever be. I’d always prided myself on my focus and determination. Granted, I did enjoy partying with Kayla, but I still cared most about excelling at skills that would equip me for immortality. My main objective for the past four years had been to train hard and prove to the IMI that I was capable, somewhat emotionless, and ready to rise to the challenge of hunting without fear of retribution. I didn’t have time to mess around with boys. There would be plenty of time for that later on when I was no longer human. But then again, where did I fit in? What if William turned out to be the only vampire that ever accepted me for who and what I was? Was I just about to walk away from something that could be good?