The Hunted (50 page)

He bobbed his head in acknowledgement. ‘I appreciate the thought, but there isn’t anything you can do. The thirst is something that I need to deal with. It’s not your problem, but as for resisting you, well …’ He trailed off.

‘Well, what? Can you smell me all of the time regardless of what I’m wearing?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh.’ I was thoughtful for a minute. ‘What if I roll around in a poo patty?’

His smile widened. ‘Even then.’

‘Oh, okay.’

He took a step towards me, the heat of his proximity instantly warming my skin. I could feel my heartbeat quicken at his approach. ‘Don’t be afraid of me, Elena.’

‘I’m not,’ I stammered.

He grinned. ‘Yes you are.’

I’m not afraid.
I thought to myself.
How can I tell you that my heart’s beating faster because you’re near? It’s not my fault you’re so damn attractive!

‘I’m most definitely
not
afraid of you,’ I whispered as he took another step towards me, stopping directly in front of me and looking down at me with wickedly mischievous eyes. My heart skipped a beat and then proceeded to thud along at an even more ardent rhythm than it had before.

He placed a hand on my sweater, directly above my heart. It seemed to beat erratically inside my chest, trying to pierce through the flesh of my chest and leap into the palm of his hand. ‘Then why is your heart beating so fast?’

I looked away. The heat of my embarrassment was clearly becoming evident on my face again.

Ah, crap. When am I going to get some control over that?

I could feel his eyes on my face and kept mine lowered to the floor, hoping that I hadn’t inadvertently stirred the beast within.

‘I see,’ he said, taking another step closer, our bodies only inches apart now, his hand still resting gently against my chest. I couldn’t look up into his eyes.

‘Um, what are you doing?’ I whispered as he pressed himself against me, my body flattening out against the wall behind me. It seemed like we’d been down this path before. I had no choice but to look at him now, unless I fancied squishing my nose up against his chest and inhaling lint.

His eyes were slightly muddied, a mixture of green, black, brown, and white—all mixed up and swirled around together like food in a blender. ‘I’m trying to get used to your scent,’ he murmured as he leant forward, brushing his nose against my cheek and softly inhaling my aroma.

‘Why?’ I said breathlessly, trying not to move an inch.

‘Because I have a feeling you and I are going to be seeing a lot of each other.’

‘Why?’ I repeated again, sounding like a four year old.

He chuckled. ‘Because I like you Elena Manory and I’m pretty sure that you like me too.’

I sniffed. ‘Someone’s got a big head.’

‘Am I wrong?’ he asked, drinking me in. I didn’t answer. What was I supposed to say to that?

He pulled his head back from my face, opened his eyes
again and looked at me. They were no longer the jumble of colours I had seen before. They were now completely and utterly black and I couldn’t help but be a little bothered while he was standing so very close to me.

He breathed in again, letting my scent wash over him a final time before shaking his head and then looking straight back at me.

I watched in amazement as his eyes very slowly began to shift back to the emerald green depths that symbolised his humanity and more docile nature. ‘Are you done now?’ I asked shakily.

‘Yes, that is enough for now,’ he said, taking a step away from me and back towards the open window. ‘It will get easier the longer I am around you.’

‘Assuming I’ll let you come back,’ I mumbled under my breath.

He grinned. ‘Do you want to get out of here?’ he said, gesturing with a hand outside the window.

I looked over towards the bedroom door, remembering what had happened the last time I had snuck out. I was already technically grounded and sneaking out again was sure to lead to death and dismemberment, and not from William.

I quickly skirted through Susan’s very specific terms of my grounding and I couldn’t think of one rule that I could twist to suit myself. She’d made it very clear not to leave through any openings in house, including my window.

Hang on a second—was I actually considering this?

Being alone with him could spell trouble in so many different languages that even Google Translate would tell me to get a clue.

So should I or shouldn’t I?

‘Don’t worry. I promise I won’t bite, no pun intended, and I’ll have you back before anyone even notices that you are missing.’ William smiled at me, his white teeth lighting up every darkened crevice in the room.

How could his smile and only his smile alone have that effect on me?

He raised an eyebrow at my reaction but then smiled again as he turned his back to me, putting his hands around my wrists and placed my arms around his neck. His skin was cool, even through the thick fabric of the turtleneck, but not uncomfortable.

‘Are you getting fresh with me?’ I asked as he slid his hands down to clasp the back of my thighs. I didn’t have the heart to slap his hands away, and it felt nice.

He laughed gently and hoisted me easily onto his back. ‘I don’t do fresh. I’m technically dead, remember?’

‘Eww … thanks for the mental picture.’

He laughed again. ‘I’m simply being practical. If you want to get there fast and undetected then you’ll have to let me carry you there.’

‘Where exactly is
there
?’ I asked as he adjusted my weight.

‘It will be a surprise.’

‘I don’t like surprises.’

‘Is that a fact?’

‘Ah-huh. Every surprise I ever got ended in tears.’

He turned his head around and smiled at me. ‘Yours or someone else’s?’

‘What do you think?’

Laughter came easily to him. ‘You’re a tough nut, Elena,’ he said jovially. ‘Are you ready?’

‘Not really, this is kind of a new experience for me. I’ve never even ridden a horse before let alone a vampire.’ I grimaced at how that entire sentence had actually sounded.

‘All you have to do is hang on tight and I’ll do the rest.’

And the innuendos keep on coming.

‘I bet you say that to all the girls.’

Laughter convulsed through his entire being. At least he saw the funny side of unlife.

‘How fast are you going to be running?’ I asked, trying to change the subject as he jumped up easily onto the window sill.

‘Faster than you can blink, so you better hold on tight.’

‘Are we still going to stay in the state of Queensland?’

‘Of course.’

‘Just checking.’

He shifted me around effortlessly on his back so that he could get a better grip of my thighs. I tightened my hands around his neck, careful not to choke him, but then realised that it was improbable that I could kill him again.

I tightened my hold on him and nestled my chin into his shoulder. He smelt so unbelievably good that I repeatedly inhaled, letting his essence wash over my senses and tingle all the way down, deep into my lungs.

‘Are you ready now?’

‘Is that a trick question?’

He turned his head slightly sideways. I saw the corners of his lips upturn into a smile as he ducked carefully under the sill, careful of my head, and then jumped off the ledge. He leapt into the garden below without warning, fear or thought.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

PUNCHES

W
hat am I doing again? Oh yeah, that’s right—I’m playing piggy back with a vampire.

As William jumped from the opening, with me clinging to his back like a giant parasite, all I could think about was when and how I had agreed to being toted about like a handbag. Didn’t he have a car like a normal guy? Or was he just showing off?

Unlike me, when William landed on the ground just below my window, there was no reverberation. His body seemed barely capable of disturbing the earth beneath his feet. He was feather-light and nimble on his feet, despite having a body that was more solid than a cement truck.

As soon as his feet connected with the ground and he’d readjusted his grip on my thighs, he took off.

I felt as if I had been body-slammed into a whirling vortex. I had to grab on tight and nestle my head into his back to keep my head from being blown off my shoulders. My eyes could barely stay open and at not one point did I have enough time to focus on any one object or landmark that we passed. Even my hair, despite being contained in a clip, had found a way to fly free and mingle with the wind that gushed past my face like a raging tornado.

I managed to crack my eyelids open a couple of millimetres. That was the best I could do without blowing them into the back of my skull. I saw only the darkness of the night and the swirling lights of cars and buildings that fled past my field of vision like streaks of electrical currents. It was beautiful, cosmic, exciting and stomach churning, all at the same time.

I closed my eyes again. Far too much sensory overload for one night. I’d only just finished eating pizza an hour ago and I didn’t want to see that again anytime soon.

‘Nearly there,’ he yelled back at me. ‘Just hold on for a little bit longer.’

Holding on would not be a problem. My fingers were knotted so tightly around his neck right now that if I fell off I was definitely taking him with me. ‘How can you see where you are going?’ I yelled back at him.

‘I’m using my eyes.’

‘Well then mine are broken.’

A second later, he stopped. In fact, he stopped so abruptly that I ended up head-butting him so hard that I almost knocked myself out. Tiny white stars danced in front of my eyes, and I felt my hands slip from around his neck and my legs go limp under his grip.

That could not have hurt anymore if I tried.

‘Elena? Are you all right?’ he asked, sounding frantic as he caught my arms to stop me from falling off his back completely.

I shook my head, waiting for the confusion and the headache to dissipate. I rested my forehead on his shoulder. ‘Can I have a little warning next time?’ I muttered, as my vision very slowly began to clear.