CHARITY RISING
Charity Series Book 2
By
DeAnna Kinney
Charity Rising
Copyright © 2012 by DeAnna Kinney
Ebooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the owner.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, places, or actual events are purely coincidental.
Thank you to Dandria Young and Sandy Ray for checking behind me and taking on the role of editors for this book.
Thank you to Laura Hudson for cover design and eBook formatting.
Charity Rising is Book 2 in the Charity Series.
Other books by DeAnna Kinney include:
Charity Moon (Charity Series Book 1)
Table of Contents:
Prologue
Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Part Two
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Epilogue
A Note from the Author
Prologue
I lay in my hammock completely still; my body totally relaxed and free of all tension as the early morning fog hovered, whispering softly across my face. There were no signs of the stress from prior weeks, only peace as I watched the most beautiful man I’d ever seen step out of the forest and slowly approach me, arms extended in a loving command. I jumped to my feet and went to him without hesitation. I’d never wanted anything more. The feel of him was so familiar—so comforting. I found myself longing for it at every possible moment. As I stepped into his embrace, his arms closed around me, enveloping me in warmth and security. My dad would be happy to know that this man was my life now; a man of such character and dignity of which I’ve never known before. Nothing would please my dad more than to know that I would never want for anything. All I could ever desire or need was right here—in my arms.
I lifted my head and stared into his bluish-purple eyes, the piercing beauty of them captivating me, putting me into a trance-like state of euphoria. He put his hand into my hair, gently massaging my scalp. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel, as he ran his fingers effortlessly through the length of my dark strands. His soft lips caressed my neck with sweet kisses, working their way to my ear where he whispered, “I love you, my sweet kitten.”
With eyes still closed, I smiled at his lovely voice and the words that possessed the power to melt me. I never wanted this moment to end.
He continued to trail kisses across my cheek, my eyelids, the tip of my nose, and finally capturing my lips with his in a kiss of such sweet passion. The heat building between us was bordering on dangerous—almost deadly, and yet we eagerly welcomed it. I was sure no one had ever felt like this before—not like this. We were so swept up in the passion that at first we didn’t feel the tugging, too subtle an action to distract lovers on the edge of incoherency.
Suddenly his lips were ripped from mine as an urgent tug jolted us.
“Levi?”
His smile was reassuring me that everything was fine. But with the next jerk his smile faded. I stood on tiptoes and peered over his shoulder, gasping at what I saw. It was Levi—only in a ghost-like embodiment, and he had a grasp of my Levi’s arm, pulling on it with much effort.
“Let him go!” I screamed.
But the figure just laughed at me, pulling harder.
At once I felt hands wrapping tightly around my arms, squeezing as they pulled. I looked down but there was no evidence that anything had a hold of me at all.
“Levi!” I screamed as the invisible force began to rip at us, pulling us apart.
Levi held onto me with all his strength, pulling me against his chest. I felt the hands release me, and I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, sighing in relief. My Levi would never let us be broken apart. I should know that. But the hidden forces attacked again, this time more aggressively, pulling harder and harder, now wrapped around my waist—jerking and pulling.
“Charity!” Levi’s voice faltered as his eyes filled with pain and something else that stopped my heart—fear.
I began to panic. “Levi! Don’t let them separate us! Levi!”
We were pulled apart then, only our hands still grasped in a death grip of desperation.
“Levi! Don’t let me go!”
“I’ll never let you go, Charity! I love you! I’ll never let go!” he yelled, his hands holding mine so tight it was painful. Then, in one last, hard pull—he was gone.
“Noooo!!!” I screamed, jolting straight up in my bed, a stream of sweat trailing down my face, neck, and torso. My eyes searched my room frantically. A dream? I sighed then. Yes—it was only a dream. It meant nothing. Then, in desperation, I dropped to my knees on the hard wood floor as I prayed—Please, God, let it only be a dream—just a silly dream. It meant nothing. Please, it meant nothing.
Part One
Levi’s Descent
Chapter One
Prom night—and I was still alive to participate in it. Well, two weeks earlier things were looking quite differently, what with my kidnapping from Raven, the most feared of all vampires. Luckily it turned out all right, and I was alive, healed, and happy; a little traumatized perhaps, but here nonetheless. Who knew the bloodsucker had a secret marshmallow center. Apparently, not even him. Truth be told, Levi was the real reason I was still alive, and well, I guess I was his reason too.
Levi, my husband and werewolf extraordinaire, and I, have this thing called a heart-connection, where our hearts are so in tune that if one of us dies the other will soon follow. It’s a werewolf thing and slightly creepy to be honest. At the same time, I like being unique, and Levi says we’re the first human/werewolf pair to have ever had one. As a result of our heart connection we both had blue vine-like symbols growing on our palm, mine on my left, and his on his right. If we hold hands they overlap causing a tingling sensation.
But back to the Prom, it had arrived, and I was thrilled for two reasons; one, because Prom meant that Graduation was right on its heels. And two, Graduation precedes my long, uninterrupted life with Levi.
Ashley, my best friend since kindergarten, and I, had spent the entire day together, tanning, and getting our h
air, makeup, and nails done by Sissy, the hair stylist for the pack. Unlike last year where all us girls went together, this year we all had dates of our own. Stacy’s date was a guy named Todd. Delaney had reluctantly agreed to go with Toby, our other friend who’s been crushing on her for over a year. We couldn’t believe it when he told us that she’d finally agreed to go with him. I’m guessing she got tired of him singing the “Henry the VIII” song to her. He copied the idea from the movie Ghost, but I guess we were happy for him. But if she even thought about hurting him I’d take my fist to her. Honestly, I’d always wanted a reason to. The sweetest member of our group, Missy, had accepted a date with the second hottest guy in school, our head quarterback, Jackson. Call me crazy, but something told me she wasn’t that excited about it.
“I have to admit—these dresses were a great choice,” Ashley said, appraising herself in the mirror. “That color is amazing on you, Charity. Levi’s going to pass out cold when he sees you.”
“Yeah, well, Josh will do a little panting of his own when he gets a look at you in that dress. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look more beautiful, except you’re too thin. Have you been trying to lose weight, because if you are you need to stop?”
“No, just wanted to look great in my dress. That’s all.”
“Well, that you do.”
We both squealed in delight as the doorbell rang. Okay, well, I didn’t actually squeal, more like smiled really big, but Ashley squealed. We made our descent down the staircase as Mom snapped off a few pictures of us before heading to the door.
Once Levi and Josh stepped inside—they glanced across the room at us and froze.
“Wow, we must look better than we thought,” I whispered to her.
She giggled, and then nodded, sending one of her loose curls bouncing up and down. Both of our dresses were made of satin and clung tightly to our forms. Mine was strapless in a powder blue, accenting my eye color; hers was one-shoulder in a soft pink, accenting her rosy cheeks.
After our guys regained their composure, which to my enjoyment took a few minutes, I laughed as Levi had to wipe bubbly drool from his chin. “Sorry,” he shrugged, grinning from ear to ear. The sight of him was nothing short of magnificent with his wavy brown hair, disheveled and swept to the side, and a dazzling, flawless smile along with those amazing dimples that were always my undoing.
“You are breathtaking,” he said, stepping closer and tracing his fingers gently down my cheek as his gaze studied every inch of my face. “I love you,” he whispered. I knew he meant it, it was written in his eyes, which I was sure mirrored my own. Our eyes were locked, saying things we couldn’t say out loud and didn’t need to.
Suddenly we were snapped out of the moment as my mom was there with her camera, snapping away, tears in her crystal blue eyes.
“Geez, Mom, we’re coming back. You’re acting like we’re about to be featured in one of those tragic Driver’s Ed. movies.”
“I know, sweetie, but all of you look so wonderful. I want to remember this moment for a long time. But I guess you better get going.” She dabbed at her tears. “You don’t want to be late.” She gave us all a quick peck on the cheek before ushering us out the door and into the cool air of a lovely May evening.
I wrapped my arms around myself as we rounded the porch. I could’ve worn a sweater but opted out. You know, beauty comes before comfort and all that. At once, Ash and I stopped and gasped. There, in the driveway, was a long, black limousine. I’ve always wanted to ride in a limousine, and Levi knew it. I turned and peered up into his lovely deep blue/purple eyes and smiled approvingly.
He beamed back at me, taking great pleasure in my expression. He’d done well, and it more than pleased him.
As we approached, the driver, dressed in a black uniform, was standing at our door, opening it for us as we all piled inside. The interior smelled new, and our dates looked on in amusement as Ashley and I played with the windows and buttons for most of the ride.
We were in the middle of making a rap song with the window noises when Ashley squealed, bouncing up and down on the seat as she noted us pulling into the parking lot of a very elegant restaurant called Talley Ho’s. Stepping inside was like entering a classy restaurant for the exclusively rich. The admirable glances I usually evoke when alone were nothing compared to the ones we were receiving with Levi, in all his magnificence, by my side. The gaping mouths alone humored me, but I drew protectively closer for good measure, my arm wrapped tightly through his. I heard the whispers as we passed table after table. I knew Levi could hear their comments, but as long as they were about him and not me, he ignored them. He was such a good man in that way.
At dinner I couldn’t help but notice how little Ashley ate. Was she that concerned about the way she looked in her dress? She’d never worried about that before. I made a mental note to be more observant.
Ashley and I have always looked out for each other when no one else would. We’ve even accompanied each other to all our doctor visits, and when she had her tonsils taken out—I was there. She glanced up in time to see me staring. I didn’t look away. She smiled but looked slightly nervous. Well, we were on our way to Prom, after all. I shrugged it off and pulled out my raspberry ice lip balm and applied a generously thick coating.
Once we arrived at our school, West Windrake High, cars were already flooding the parking lot. And once inside, I marveled at how amazingly beautiful the once simple gymnasium had become.
We briefly hooked up with our other friends, which numbered somewhere around fourteen when you counted Levi’s elite and their dates. But soon we were all scattered about, some breaking away to show off their moves on the dance floor, while others got drinks and mingled. The truth is, I was glad to finally have Levi to myself.
“You look so beautiful tonight,” he said, bringing my hand up to his lips and kissing it softly, leaving it tingling.
“Oh, puppy, you look so handsome in this tux, I’m having trouble keeping my mind where it should be.”
One eyebrow arched. “Really?”
I nodded, smiling mischievously.
He peered down at me for a moment, his eyes melting into mine, before taking my hand and leading me out of the gym and into the darkened hallway.
Soon, we were stepping into an empty classroom. Only the dim light from the moon was peeking through the open blinds, casting a romantic glow. I turned to comment when he took me in his arms and kissed me with a passion that made my head spin; a deep kiss that challenged my sanity, as well as control. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on tight as our passion heated. I expected the sprinklers to go off at any moment. And just when my mind was slipping into Never Never Land, his head snapped up.
“What’s wrong?” I breathed, my eyes finally focusing on him.
“Someone’s calling me. You stay here, I’ll be right back.” He ran from the room so fast he blurred.
I shrugged and sat down in the teacher’s chair and began to slowly spin around—once—twice—then I skidded my chair to a holt—there he was standing in front of me, looking at me as though his eyes were seeing me for the first time.
“Wow that was fast. Who wanted you?”
His eyebrows shot up. “What?”
“Oh, never mind. Are you going to finish what you started, or just stand there and drool?”
A confused expression tainted his beautiful face, so I walked up to him, put my arms around his neck, and whispered in his ear, “Why so shy all of a sudden? Huh?” I stood on my tiptoes and began kissing his ear, then his neck, and finally finding my way to his lips. His response was powerful. His lips crushed mine with an intensity that startled me, and just as I was beginning to respond, his head popped up. “Someone’s calling me,” he said.
“What—again?!”
Then he was gone, so quick in fact, I stumbled and almost fell.
“Werewolves,” I huffed.
No sooner had I sat down again than he was in front of me again.
“Okay, what’s going on?” I demanded in agitation.
“False alarm. No one called me at all. Sorry. Now, where were we?”
I was puzzled at his odd behavior, but all was forgotten the moment he pulled me into his arms again and kissed me with such passion that I forgot where I was, and for that matter—who I was.
“I love you so much,” he murmured against my lips.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, inching one hand into his silky hair, and made myself memorize every moment.
Making out in the dark room, arms wrapped tightly, lips locked in sweet battle, was thrilling to say the least. We slow danced for a long while, hips swaying in perfect rhythm, until reluctantly we made our way out and back to the others. No sooner had we just entered the doors, squinting against the light, when Ashley grabbed my hand and pulled me off to the dance floor, with Levi right behind me.
“I wondered when you two were gonna come out.”
We danced a few songs before taking a seat, and then Levi left to get me a drink, my eyes trailing after him until, too soon, he vanished into the sea of colorful dresses and black tuxes. The room was so busy it was hard to find anyone past a few feet.
I gasped, almost swallowing my gum, as Levi appeared beside me. Hadn’t he just left? I peered up and met his piercing gaze. There it was again—that look. “Levi, are you okay?”
“Of course,” he answered somewhat nervously.
I glanced down at his empty hands. “Um, I think you forgot my drink.”
“Oh.” He laughed apologetically, and then he was gone again.
I grabbed Ashley’s arm and pulled her to me. “Ash, I think something’s wrong with Levi. He’s acting all stupid.”
She giggled. “Maybe he can’t seem to think about anything but you in that dress.”
“Hmm.” I shrugged. She had a point. I did look amazing.
As I opened my mouth to comment more, he was back with my drink in his hand, and all my thoughts jumbled together as I stared up at his dazzling smile. One word—dimples!!
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