In the past three days he had managed to turn her world entirely upside down, and she greatly resented him for it. She fed the flames of her anger and resentment, determined to use them as weapons against him if he ever tried to come near her again.
Jess’s startled cry caused her to jump in surprise, and her eyes to fly open. “What is it?” Isabelle demanded.
Jess spun away from the fridge, her mouth gaping, and her eyes wide as she held up a bag of blood. Isabelle had only a moment to blink in surprise before Jess started making awful, strangled cries, and flung the bag across the room. Isabelle moved quickly, snatching it out of the air as Jess’s cries echoed loudly in her ears. “Jess, calm down! Just calm down!” she urged.
“What is that doing in the fridge?” she yelled hysterically.
The smell of the blood suddenly wafted up to fill Isabelle’s nostrils. A wave of dizziness, so fierce it nearly knocked her off her feet, slammed painfully into Isabelle. She stumbled back as her veins seemed to burst into flames, and her body was consumed by a raging inferno of hunger and pain. Her stomach cramped agonizingly. She gasped as she doubled over, her arm wrapped around her stomach as the beast within burst forth. Panting with pain, her vision blurred as she spun to get as quickly out of the room as she could.
She slammed right into a massive chest and stumbled back from the impact of it. Hands seized hold of her arms, quickly righting her and dragging her against the massive wall. Soft mewls of pain issued from her as the strong hands wrapped around her head, pressing her face firmly against the solid mass of warmth and comfort.
“Jess, it’s all right, everything is fine. There is no problem. You saw nothing this morning, not me, or Isabelle. Now, make some pancakes for breakfast.”
Shudders wracked Isabelle as Stefan’s voice washed over her, his hands gently soothed her hair. The amount of power that flowed from him, and into her, eased the fire burning through her veins. It eased the trembling in her body as the demon slowly receded. The amount of powers they possessed truly could not compare to his. They had to touch people in order to change their memories, but Jess was on the other side of the kitchen, and Isabelle could already hear her opening and closing cabinets as if nothing had happened.
Holding her firmly against his side, Stefan hurried her from the room. He could feel the weakness in her body, the tremors that shook her as he led her swiftly down the basement stairs. Gritting his teeth, he fought back the anger, and worry, that were growing in him as he crossed through the weight room to the door in the wall. He thrust the door open and was immediately enveloped with Isabelle’s fresh scent. He inhaled deeply, savoring in the wonderful smell as he closed the door behind him and led her over to the bed. She slumped gratefully onto it, the pathetic bag of blood clutched in her trembling hands.
“Eat,” he commanded.
She looked up at him, her eyes flashing rapidly between violet and red. “Could you please go away?” she asked tremulously.
Scowling down at her, he planted his hands on his hips and refused to move. She looked absolutely miserable as she gazed back at him. For a moment he was almost swayed by the pleading look in her eyes, but he was determined to show her that he was the dominate one, and he wasn’t about to back down. It was the only thing he had managed to sort out through the long, aggravating night. He would have her, and the sooner she realized that, the happier they would both be.
“Now is not the time to fight,” he told her coldly.
“I’m not fighting!” she snapped. “I don’t want you to watch me!”
“I’m not going anywhere!” he hissed.
His eyes widened in surprise as tears suddenly filled hers. She blinked them angrily back as her eyes flashed a violent red. “If you don’t leave, then I won’t feed!” she spat. “I don’t do it in front of anyone!”
“Not even your family?” he retorted sardonically.
“Especially not my family!” she cried, her lower lip trembling slightly as she fought back tears.
For a moment he was about to argue with her, but the distress and agony in her eyes was enough to sway him from his stand. Arguing with her was pointless, especially when she was wildly unstable, and in desperate need of sustenance. He couldn’t say what he had to say to her when she was obviously in pain, and determined not to ease it as long he was standing there. “Fine,” he grated reluctantly.
He turned and walked back out the door. Standing impatiently on the other side, he angrily tapped his foot as he waited for a few minutes. When he was sure that enough time had passed, he walked back into the room. She was still sitting on her bed, her head in her hands so that her long hair cascaded forward to shield her face. “I knew it was too much to hope that you had left,” she muttered bitterly.
“Yes, it was. When was the last time you fed?”
She lifted her head to glare at him through dark violet eyes. “Why the hell do you care?”
She was the most infuriating woman he had ever met! Why did she constantly have to fight with him? Stefan took a deep breath as he struggled to control his temper. “I care because there is a human living in this house. I don’t need you losing control, and killing her,” he replied coldly, deliberately being just as nasty to her as she was with him.
The color drained from her face as she gaped at him. “Get out of my room!” she hissed.
“I am not leaving until you tell me.”
She leapt to her feet, fury radiating from every inch of her body. “I’ve never fed off of a human, so you can trust me not to lose control and kill your precious girlfriend!”
She was nearly screeching like a banshee by the time she was finished speaking, but he was so damn infuriating, so damn arrogant and condescending that she couldn’t take it anymore. The fact that he would even remotely think that she would hurt someone, was more than she could stand. She was tired, and overworked, and the hunger that had wracked her had taken a big toll on her body. She’d had enough.
Stefan’s jaw clenched as he stared back at her, a muscle twitched rapidly in his cheek from the force of his locked jaw. This conversation was not going at all the way that he had planned. He never should have baited her, never should have been deliberately cruel to her, but she brought it so easily out of him with her maddening attitude. She pricked his temper just as easily as she brought out his arousal, and earlier in the kitchen, a fierce surge of protection. He had needed to get her to safety, needed to make sure that she was shielded from Jess’s horror, and her own pain. A pain that had radiated from her, and shook him fiercely.
He took a deep breath to calm himself before he spoke again, determined to try and keep a hold on his temper. “That was not what I asked you.”
Isabelle folded her arms over her chest as she inhaled a shuddery breath. “And I told you that it was none of your concern,” she replied more calmly.
She never even saw him move, never even saw the blur that her father, mother, Ethan, the stooges, and herself made. She never even had time to blink before he had hold of her arms. She gasped sharply as his onyx eyes filled her vision with black fury. “And I told you that it was!”
Isabelle gaped at him, her eyes wide in amazement before she snapped her mouth closed, tilted her chin up, and stared defiantly back at him. “Let me go.”
He didn’t release her as he stood, towering above her, dark and dangerous. His hands burned into her flesh, and his chest brushed lightly against hers, warming her from the inside out. She wanted to shudder from the force of the heat that wracked through her. The new feelings that he had managed to awaken in her flared to the forefront, melting away some of her anger. But she forced herself to remain still, and not to let him know how he affected her.
“When was the last time that you fed?” he grated.
Despite the fierce set of his jaw, the anger burning in his eyes, the strength of his body, and the sheer power that radiated from him, she was amazed to discover that she wasn’t afraid of him. That she wasn’t the least bit scar
ed of him. For some reason, she was certain that he wouldn’t hurt her. Try to intimidate her yes, but he wouldn’t harm her. She knew it with every ounce of her being, and the realization shook her more than the feelings he had awakened in her ever could have. Some of her defenses melted, as for the first time she began to see him as a man, and not just her enemy. It was a scary comprehension that dissolved some of her resistance against him.
Stefan was very close to shaking some damn sense into her. She was absolutely the most aggravating, annoying woman that he had ever encountered. He didn’t understand why she wouldn’t just answer his question. Why she couldn’t be like every other woman he had ever met that had tripped all over themselves to get near him, and relent to him just a little. Instead, it seemed that she purposely went out of her way to avoid him, or exacerbate the hell out of him. He forced himself to take a deep breath, and not to rattle some sense into her thick skull.
“I told you that I wouldn’t hurt her,” she replied softly.
That was it. He had officially had it! He pulled her up so that her face was a mere breath away from his, and only the tips of her toes touched the ground. To his surprise, and admiration, she didn’t flinch. Hell, she didn’t even stop glaring at him as her eyes spit violet fury. “I didn’t ask that. I don’t care about her. I care about you, and I don’t want to see you like that again!”
He was shaking with anger by the time he was done yelling. Her eyes widened in surprise and her mouth parted slightly. For a moment, he simply stared at her as his words echoed loudly in the room. He was startled to realize exactly what he had just shouted. Shock registered quickly, and his eyes widened in surprise as the truth of his words slammed home with a sickening horror. She opened her mouth, looking like she was about to say something.
He didn’t want to hear anything that she had to say. Didn’t even remotely want to think about what he had just said. Nor did he want to think about the fact that it might even be true. All he wanted to do was show her, once and for all, that he was the one in control. He seized hold of her mouth with a fierce, punishing savagery.
She whimpered softly from the shear brutality of his kiss as she began to squirm in his arms. He didn’t ease his hold on her, didn’t lessen his bruising onslaught. He was still extremely mad at her, and himself. He wanted to punish her, to show her that he was stronger, that he was the one in control. When she whimpered again, and her hands fluttered up to push at his chest, he finally eased the force of his mouth against hers.
His hands loosened on her arms as he lowered her to the ground, refusing to relinquish her mouth. Her hands pushed against his chest, but he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. He seized her thick hair to keep her mouth firmly against his. He ran his tongue lightly along her lips, but she refused to open to him, refused to yield.
He moved slowly over her, licking and tasting, determined that she would give into him. She gasped slightly as he nibbled at her bottom lip and he used that opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. For a moment she remained stiff in his grasp, then her hands stopped shoving against his chest to curl into his shirt and her tongue hesitantly came out to meet his.
He groaned softly as a bolt of desire shot through him, hardening him instantly. She tasted so good, felt right as she melded against him. Her full breasts pressed against his chest as her tongue entwined with his in a thrusting, mating dance. He was certain that no woman had ever felt as wonderful, never been so soft, or sweet. She moaned softly, the erotic sound causing his hard shaft to jump in anticipation.
He released her waist to lightly stroke the exposed skin of her flat stomach. She trembled slightly as he moved steadily higher, tracing his fingers over her delicate ribcage before skimming across the lacy edge of her bra. Her trembling grew stronger as he molded his hand over her firm breast and gently began to massage it. Her nipple hardened beneath his touch as her shaking became fiercer. He wanted to smile with triumph, but he was too far gone with her to do so.
He released her hair and seized hold of her waist again, holding her up as he moved his hand to her other breast. He drug her pelvis against his, rubbing his hardened shaft against her. She moaned with pleasure and instinctively arched into him. Releasing her mouth he began to kiss his way across her long, delicate neck. He grew even more aroused by the scent of her blood, so pure and sweet as it pulsed wildly through her veins.
He groaned as he rubbed against her, felt her, tasted her; was consumed by her. Never in his life had he felt so lost with a woman, so totally out of control with want and need. He couldn’t get enough touching her, couldn’t get enough of the way she felt and moved. He wanted, needed, to feel every inch of her, to posses her.
Isabelle jerked in surprise as his mouth descended on her nipple, lightly biting and sucking on it. Even through the thin material of her tank top, his mouth seared into her, turning her into liquid heat. Never had she imagined that something could feel as wonderful as he made her feel, that something could be this consuming. Her fingers wrapped into his hair as he nipped at her, causing her body to buck in surprise, and a gasp of pleasure to escape. Causing her to melt everywhere at the same time that she caught on fire.
“Stefan!” she gasped.
The sound of his name on her lips in that erotic, husky tone, damn near drove him over the edge. He hungrily reclaimed her mouth as his hand slid down to the edge of her shorts.
“Isabelle!” She jerked in surprise, pulling her mouth away from Stefan’s as her carnal haze was broken by Ethan’s loud pounding on the door. “Isabelle, are you in there?”
“Ye... Yes!” she stammered out in a shaky voice.
“Is Stefan in there with you?”
Her eyes jumped to his, wide, and uncertain. His eyes were impossibly black now, the pupils not even noticeable in the cloud of desire that smoldered within them. “No! Why?”
“Because Jess is up there making a thousand pancakes and we can’t get her to stop! Do you know what’s going on?”
At the mention of Jess’s name she wrenched free of his grasp and cast him a scathing look. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to ease the remaining passion in her body. “Yeah, I’ll be right out!”
“Well hurry up! She’s like a damn robot that we can’t turn off, and she’s freaking me out!”
Isabelle would have snorted with laughter at the distress in his voice, if she hadn’t been so angry. She berated herself for letting Stefan touch her, arouse her, when he was such an ass, and she had resolved to never let it happen again. But whenever he touched her, all of her will, and anger, melted. She was beginning to hate herself for the obvious weakness that she possessed. A weakness she never would have known existed if he hadn’t walked into her life, into her sanctuary. She hated him for it, hated herself for it, and vowed fervently that it would never happen again. He would never touch her again.
She waited for Ethan’s retreating footsteps to fade away before turning back to Stefan. Her body still burned from his touch, but she was determined to stand her ground. She could do it; she could refuse him anything, as long as he didn’t touch her again. It was only when he touched her that she lost all control. She had never thought that lust could be stronger than reason, but she knew now that it was.
“You had better go stop her,” she said coldly.
He raised a dark eyebrow as he surveyed the incensed, distant woman before him. She was back to being angry at him again. Well, by the time that he was done with her, she would be too tired to even think about anger. Hell, she wouldn’t even be able to think. “And why is that?”
Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. “Because she’s your girlfriend!” she spat.
“Jealous?”
Isabelle nearly screamed with fury. He was the most aggravating, infuriating man to walk the face of the earth. He was also the most sensuous, desirable, and irresistible one too. She firmly shut those thoughts out. She didn’t even know where they had come from. She fisted her h
ands at her sides as she glowered at him. “Hardly!” she snorted.
To him, it was completely obvious that she was jealous, and the realization greatly pleased him. Smiling smugly he folded his arms over his chest as he eyed her with obvious pleasure. “Could have fooled me.”
He thought she was going to start spitting with rage as her eyes flashed a dangerous shade of red. “Get out!” she hissed. “And stay the hell away from me!”
“That, Isabelle, is not going to happen, so get used to that fact right now,” he growled in warning.
“How dare you!?” she snapped.
He took a step closer to her, but she backed up quickly, shaking her head as she held up her hands to ward him off. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me how long it has been since you last fed.”
Isabelle was shaking with frustration and anger. She couldn’t take much more of this. Her emotions were swinging wildly back and forth, and she felt as if she were being torn in ten million directions at once. “I told you I wouldn’t hurt her,” she whispered.
Stefan grit his jaw as a wave of fury swept through him. “And I told you that I don’t care about her!” he snapped. “Now answer me!”
Isabelle was rapidly batting back tears. She hadn’t cried since Ethan and Ian had cut off her hair, and she refused to cry now, especially in front of him. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of answering him, but she needed to get away from him. She needed some space and distance, and if her answer would make him leave, than she would give it to him.
“Four or five days,” she answered softly.
His breath hissed out of him as he clenched his jaw. “Which is it, four or five?” he demanded fiercely.
Isabelle wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to ease the chill that was wracking her. “Five,” she muttered miserably.
Destined (Vampire Awakenings) Page 11
