“I thought about staying in Cincinnati.” He stiffened. “I could, you know? I could stay and you wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing about it.”
Tension rolled off his body and his gaze became arctic, yet he said nothing. His lips pressed into a firm white line.
“You don’t own me. No matter what you think, you can’t force me to go with you.” She hiccupped and sniffled, wiping away more tears. “But I don’t know if that’s what I want either.”
His jaw twitched under the tight skin of his cheeks. He breathed through his nose and his expression bordered on furious, but she wasn’t scared.
“You took me without asking,” she whispered, lowering her gaze.
His hands fell away and the sudden distance between them seemed miles long. When he shifted her body, she choked back a sob. The ache in her chest exploded.
“We have many more miles to travel, Delilah. We should be moving.” He rose from the ground and she was stunned at how unaffected he appeared at everything she’d just said.
She looked up at him through bleary eyes and snapped, “Did you hear anything I said?”
He drew in a deep breath. “I heard you. I have ruined your life. I do not know how to remedy it. What I do know is that we need to keep moving.”
Her mouth gaped. All the tender feelings she had been harboring mutated into something akin to hate. “Fuck you, Christian Schrock! I’m sitting here crying and all you can think about is our schedule. We don’t have a fucking schedule! God, you’re such a…such a…man!”
She stood on shaky legs and brushed out her skirts. Warmth coated her thighs and mortification had her cheeks darkening. She stomped over to the bag and dug out some tissues.
As she headed into a denser section of woods he followed. “Don’t move,” she snapped. “I have to clean myself up. Just stay there. I’ll be as quick as I can so we don’t fall too far behind schedule.”
* * * *
Christian’s brain seized as Delilah walked away from him. She’d been climaxing beautifully in his arms and suddenly crumbled into a million pieces. He couldn’t get a bead on her emotions, let alone his own. What had just happened?
Nothing could compare to the remorse and guilt that grabbed hold of him. It was relentless and would not let go.
She was distraught and, while he’d thought she’d been coming around, forgiving him for his mistakes, he realized her anger was still very real.
The soft tread of her feet over the pine needles littering the ground had him turning. Her eyes remained downcast. He didn’t know what to say.
“I’m ready now,” she whispered, not meeting his gaze.
He should go to her, apologize for taking her so roughly, for taking her at all. Trapped in a tornado of self-loathing he could do nothing but offer her a tight nod he wasn’t sure she saw. He turned and began walking. Her quiet steps followed a few paces behind.
They traveled at a slower pace, neither of them saying a word. Although they leapt and moved quickly at times, the exciting energy that had been with them for the first half of the journey was gone. At this pace they wouldn’t make it to her shop until morning. He considered finding lodging for the night, but for some reason couldn’t find the words to make the offer. Best if they just kept moving.
They neared her parlor by dawn. The night had been long, silent, and filled with introspective questions.
He sensed Delilah’s inner turmoil, but was too much of a coward to delve into her thoughts, fearing what he might find. They dropped their pace to a stroll as they crossed a flat field and neared a highway. It was easier to travel in Pennsylvania with the woods. Cincinnati was barren and flat, not providing much shelter in the light of day.
They walked like two lost hitchhikers along a gravelly shoulder of road. He was starving and sensed Delilah was contending with hunger. Feeding once they reached the more congested area of Cincinnati would be a challenge.
He cleared his throat. “Delilah, perhaps we should feed before we go any further.”
She tensed. “No, thank you.”
He sighed. “We do not know how long we will be in your neighborhood. It isn’t wise to go any further without tending to our needs. Hunger can be confusing around so many others.”
“I’m not biting anything. I’ll be fine.”
He stopped walking. “I know you despise me at the moment, but I must insist. It is for our own good. You can feed from me once we arrive, but I will need to feed now in order for that to be possible.”
She faced him, her eyes meeting his for the first time in what seemed like days. They were red around the edges and swollen. He looked away.
“I sensed some deer in the nearby fields. I will only be a moment. Please…come with me.”
She sighed and turned from the road cutting across a field in the direction of some trees. He walked beside her in silence.
When they reached the trees a few miles off the main road he stilled and listened for movement. There wasn’t anything close. His lips pursed and he waited. Shutting his eyes he felt for anything he could feed from.
His brow creased and, keeping his eyes closed, he turned toward his mate. Something was off. He opened his eyes and drew in a breath as several deer came out of hiding and slowly walked to her.
She smiled and lifted her hand. The animals came right to her, enchanted, and nuzzled her fingers. He’d never seen anything like it. She wasn’t compelling them with any effort of her own. She simply…existed. They wanted to come to her.
She turned toward him and her smile faded to a scowl. “No, Christian. You can’t feed from them.”
His back knotted with tension as he delicately said, “Delilah, that is why we are here.”
“Well, it’s not why they’re here. How could you hurt them? They aren’t bothering anybody.”
There were three doe and two fawns. “I would not hurt them. They feel nothing. I make sure of it.”
She swallowed and her eyes turned pleading. “They trust me. No.”
“Delilah—”
“Fine!” The deer stepped back at the lash of her voice. “You do whatever you have to do. I’m walking.” She ran a quick hand over the head of the smallest fawn and turned. “I hope you choke on a deer tick.”
He grimaced and watched her head back toward the field. He quickly compelled the largest doe to his side and did what needed to be done. The animal gentled under his compulsion and he was finished with the task in a matter of minutes. He sent the group off unharmed and none the wiser.
When he caught up to Delilah she was stomping along the shoulder of the highway. Her strides were angry, but her eyes were again red and tearing.
She said nothing as he took up pace beside her. Her fingers batted at her eyes in frustration. He could scent the salt of her tears.
“It is done, Delilah. They are fine and know no difference.”
“Whatever,” she mumbled, picking up her pace. He sighed and marched after her.
* * * *
The sight of her apartment restored a sense of self Delilah had almost forgotten. Although she was exhausted, starving, and combatting other forms of hunger she didn’t want to deal with, her strides quickened.
It was evening by the time they made it to the city. They’d been traveling for almost two days and she hadn’t eaten more than a sandwich she’d packed for the journey. At her door was a pile of bills and weekly sales papers. She didn’t have her key.
Glancing at Christian, who had been painfully silent since her breakdown in the woods, which she was now remembering with girly embarrassment, she flushed. She’d sort of lost it back there, but acknowledging that didn’t make her situation any more clear.
“I don’t have my key.”
He looked at the door and held out his palm. The latch clicked and the door popped open.
She gaped. Jedi mind tricks! She needed to learn how to do that shit.
As she pressed open the door to her home she breathed a sigh of relief and then
blanched at the stale odor. Her open kitchen reeked. The bowl of fruit on the counter had begun to rot and tiny fruit flies dispersed as she stepped close. She grabbed a trash bag from under the sink and quickly dumped it.
She needed to eat. Opening her fridge she found nothing that appealed. “I’m gonna order a pizza.”
Christian waited in the living room watching her, but said nothing. She went to the phone where the local take out menu was tacked to the wall and dialed. Once the pie was ordered she began doing anything she could to distract herself from his presence. Her little apartment seemed to shrink with him inside it.
Delilah did the dishes she’d left in the sink and she went to her room to change. She sniffed her armpit through her dress. The kitchen wasn’t the only place with expired products. Pulling open her closet she found a towel and some sweats.
“I’m gonna grab a shower. If the pizza man comes there’s some money in the vase on the counter.”
Christian remained silent. She locked herself in the bathroom and turned on the shower. Her body became excited as hot water immediately poured from the faucet. Stripping off her clothes and dumping them on the tile floor, she climbed under the spray.
Her muscles shivered as the hot water sluiced down her back and over her hair. There was comfort in her familiar products of shampoo. Picking up her razor, she frowned. She didn’t need to shave although she hadn’t in days. Weird.
As she soaped her body she grew concerned. More of her tattoos had started to fade. She was losing herself.
She began to cry again, unable to recall another time she’d been so emotional. Delilah held herself under the spray of water as she wept. She didn’t know what the next day would bring. She needed to repay some customers and cancel out her appointments. She’d already begun thinking in terms of contacting her landlord both here and at her shop and arranging for her utilities to be shut off, but she was no longer certain if that was what she should do.
She could stay. What she said in the woods was the truth. She didn’t have to go with him. He couldn’t make her. But she knew he would go back and the thought of letting Christian go did odd things to her heart.
He said now that they “bonded” the chances of him going vampyre crazy were over. Yet there was something holding them together, something not quite human. She didn’t want to endanger him by leaving. She also didn’t want to forsake everything she’d come to depend on for a man that—at times—was as emotionally crippled as a rock.
As the water chilled she wiped at her eyes and shut off the faucet. She dried her skin and brushed out her hair.
Delilah took extra care applying lotion to her flesh, hoping it would conserve her tattoos. She’d eventually lose them all, she decided. It was probably the result of turning immortal. Her skin was regenerating. Every day they faded a bit more and she wondered how long it would take until they were all gone.
Funny, so many people talked about how regrettable tattoos were. But Delilah saw them as an extension of herself. She chose each one purposefully, some just because they made her smile, others because they symbolized something meaningful. She never regretted them. Even the stupid one like the vampyre bite on her neck, which was now insanely ironic considering her predicament, she didn’t want to see them disappear. It was just another thing she didn’t have a choice over.
When she stepped out of her bedroom Christian sat at the table. A closed box of pizza resting in front of him. She’d been in the bathroom for almost an hour.
“Did you eat?”
He shook his head. She retrieved a couple of paper plates and handed him one. Opening the box, she pulled out two slices. The cheese had solidified, but the crust was still warm. She plopped a slice on his plate and then her own and shut the lid.
Her body hummed with pleasure as she took her first bite. Christian watched her, a blank expression on his face.
“Eat,” she said over a mouth full of sauce and cheese. She was starving. If he didn’t dig in she planned on devouring the entire pie herself.
He picked up his slice and bit the tip. His brows rose as he chewed. He swallowed. “It is good.”
“Yeah, this place is better than the one I used to order from.”
“What did you say it was?”
She stilled. “Christian, it’s pizza. Haven’t you ever had pizza before?”
He shook his head and took another bite. Wow, there were a lot of things he’d never tried before. She never thought about it much. It could be fun to take him around the city and show him different things.
She stilled. He wouldn’t want to do that. He was here to help her take care of some business and then they would be returning to Lancaster. Maybe.
She ate three slices before her stomach was satisfied. As she nibbled on the crust of her last slice, she sat back and considered Christian. Did he plan on dressing like that the entire time he was there? The men’s Amish clothing wasn’t as bad as the women’s. They could at least pass themselves off as modern if they dropped the suspenders.
Delilah missed her clothes. She wished she wasn’t so tired. She would love to get dolled up and go out. Christian probably wouldn’t allow that.
“How long do you plan to stay here?” she asked.
He stilled, just before taking another bite of pizza. He’d eaten more than half the pie. “That depends on how long it takes you to finish up your business.”
She could drag that out to a few days without him growing suspicious, but in reality, it would only take a few hours. She didn’t foresee any complications. “What if I wanted to stay longer?”
He pursed his lips. “How long?”
She shrugged. “You might like it here.”
He looked around her apartment, although, that wasn’t what she meant. Her apartment was simple. She didn’t like a lot of clutter, but she liked color. Her walls were decorated with a lot of Salvador Dali reproductions and her décor tended to lean toward New Orleans inspired hues. A lot of her furniture was vintage and distressed. She liked her home and wondered what Christian thought of it.
“My home is on the farm, Delilah.” There was something in his voice, something he was holding back. He sounded…sad.
She knew they were still dealing with residue from their squabble in the woods. All of those things she said still rung true, but she didn’t feel like dealing with them at the moment. “Do you want to watch a movie after this? It’s too late to deal with the shop tonight.”
“You want to visit a theater?”
“No, I was thinking about just finding something on cable.” She laughed. “Did you ever see Dracula?”
His mouth tightened. “I know what Dracula is. It is fiction.”
“Okay, how about Witness?”
“What is Witness?”
“It’s a movie about the Amish.”
“Amish do not allow their pictures taken.”
“I know.” Wow, he was really acting stiff. “That’s why it’s a movie. They’re actors.”
“It must not be a very realistic portrayal if there are cameras.”
She rolled her eyes. “They don’t show the cameras. The cameras show the actors. Didn’t you ever watch TV?”
“No.”
“But you’re practically three hundred years old! Do you know how much good stuff you’ve missed? Cheers, Taxi, Survivor, Sopranos, Jersey Shore!”
“I am two hundred and seventy-six.”
Her head wobbled. “Same difference. You’re old. Come on. Bring your pizza in the living room. We’ll find something good and pop your TV cherry.”
Christian followed her to the couch and sat down beside her. She picked up the remote and flipped on the cable. She looked over at him and giggled. “Sit back. It’s a sofa, not an electric chair.”
He stiffly settled into the couch, not looking very comfortable. She flipped through the channels and bounced when she found what she was looking for. “Perfect!”
She sat back and curled her feet onto the cushion. He
stared at the television set intently.
“What is this?”
“This is a little pop culture trend we like to refer to as a marathon. Watch.”
“These are actors?”
She chuckled. “No, these are ass-hats. This is what’s called reality TV. People apply to be on a show and they live in a house were cameras follow them around non-stop. There’s no privacy and plenty of drama.”
“Do they not feel violated?”
She shrugged. “They sign up for it. Watch. This is a good one. Those two fight.”
He frowned. “You find this entertaining?”
“Extremely.”
They watched in silence as the perfect example of everything that was wrong in the world took place on screen. Nothing but disdain showed on Christian’s face, yet he his gaze remained glued to the screen.
When the housemates on the show got into a screaming match over who was the bigger man whore and the girls retreated to a corner of the room to make catty comments, Christian’s mouth dropped open. Thirty minutes later the show ended.
“Is there more?” he asked.
She laughed. “See, you’re already addicted.”
“I feel less intelligent since sitting here. This is what the English watch on television?”
“Well, there’s other stuff. This is just a popular show.” She picked up the remote and flicked through the channels, stopping when she saw a movie on Horror Net.
A deranged serial killer chased through a graveyard after a young girl screaming bloody murder. The killer caught up to her and broke her neck, quickly cutting off her screams.
Christian bolted to his feet and hissed. His fangs protruded past his lips and his eyes had gone feral. He looked ready to commit murder, his claws sharpening, and his body pulsing with tension. Delilah quickly shut off the television.
“It’s just a movie, Christian! Settle down.”
His head jerked toward her and she noted the effort it took him to regain his composure. “It is so violent.”
“They’re actors. That’s all. People like scary movies.”
Call Her Mine Page 22
