Chapter Thirteen
Josh
Chelle’s eyes opened slowly as I slipped a finger into her folds. This was the third night in a row she’d found me at the diner. We’d chat for a while there, and then we’d end up back at my place, unable to keep our hands and tongues off each other. But every night, she’d leave. She’d never stay the entire night. I’d teased her about staying for breakfast a couple of times, but she always shook her head, saying she had to go, but never giving me a good reason. It was becoming a ritual, and I wondered if we would ever take it to the next level. A level where she’d let me pick her up and take her out someplace nice. Then cook her breakfast in the morning after we’d satiated ourselves in the physical sense. I wasn’t complaining. The sex was great. More than great. She was beyond my wildest dreams in that area.
We’d slept most of the night, and I had woken up, realizing I had a hard-on because Chelle was still sleeping beside me. She hadn’t left yet, and I wanted to make certain I made the most of it as I wasn’t sure if this was a new phase to our relationship or if she’d just overslept.
“Mmmm…” she moaned. “You’re spoiling me.”
“I aim to please.”
“Just the kind of man I like.”
“I thought you didn’t want to date,” I said as I pressed tiny kisses down her neck and over her breasts.
“I don’t,” she said a little breathlessly and trailed her finger over my shoulder then over my pecs. The sensation tickled and my cock grew even harder.
“Then what is it you want?” I said, pulling her up on top of me so that her legs straddled my thighs.
“I think you can figure that out, Josh,” she said as she cupped my balls in her other hand, surprising the shit out of me.
“You don’t want to go on a date with me, but you want to fuck me?”
“I knew you were smart.”
I laughed. “And here I thought you were a nice girl.”
“There you go again with the insults,” she said, but laughed. “I am a nice girl. I’m a very nice girl who happens to like sex.”
“That’s all you want from a relationship? Sex?”
“I’m not looking for a relationship. That’s why I don’t date. Dating makes it too much like a relationship.”
Her hands slid up along my chest as her eyes glanced over at the table beside the bed. “Oh, my fucking—”
“What’s wrong?”
“Is that the correct time?”
I glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “Yeah, it’s six-fifteen. Good morning.” I smiled and slipped my hand behind her head, tugging her head down so I could nuzzle her neck, but she slid off of me and jumped out of bed.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to leave.”
“Why do you always need to leave? Stay with me, just this once. I’ll cook you breakfast.”
She shook her head with an emphatic frown that told me under no circumstances would that happen. “I can’t.” She hurriedly pulled on her jeans and quickly fastened her bra before shrugging her t-shirt over her head. She moved very fast. She was fully dressed and heading for the door before I’d even grabbed my pants off the floor. I threw them back down and rushed after her.
“Why are you in such a hurry?”
“I need to go,” she said as she brushed past me.
“Chelle.” I grabbed onto her arm. “What’s going on? Why do you need to go?”
I was completely naked, but my hard-on had deflated the minute she’d started getting dressed. She glanced down at my limp cock, her eyes traveling up, taking in my chest for a second before focusing back on my face. “I…I can’t go in to it now. I just need to leave.”
“Don’t go,” I said. The same two words I should have said years ago. Not the same, Josh. That was a different time, a different situation, I reminded myself and shook my head back to the present. A God-awful feeling descended into my gut. “Are you married?”
She ignored my question, kissed me briefly on the lips, and left.
Chapter Fourteen
Chelle
“Where the fuck have you been?” Lane’s anxious, annoyed, and heavily accented British lilt bellowed at me as I walked down the hallway to my room. When I didn’t answer, he flashed in front of me, taking my shoulders in his hands to keep me from moving. I could have just dematerialized, but what would be the point? He’d only do the same and follow me into my room. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him. I just wanted to go get out of these clothes and chill. The last few nights full of sex and no blood had left me drained. What had I been thinking? And I had a headache to boot. I’d hated leaving Josh that way. When he’d asked if I was married, that seemed like a good excuse to hightail it out of there. I didn’t want to lie to him, so I just didn’t comment. Even though my initial reasons for seeking Josh out again and again had been to see if he could help me in some way with what had happened to my parents, I hadn’t even had the nerve to bring up the subject yet. And last night, we’d fallen asleep before I got the chance to figure out where to start on the matter. Or what questions to ask without him becoming suspicious. That was pretty much the way it was most times I was with him. I enjoyed his company so much, the last thing I wanted or needed was for him to start a real investigation into me and discover what I was. I was hoping I could get him to just supply me with some articles so I could do my own investigating, but I didn’t think he’d just hand things over to me without questions. Investigative journalist—it’s what he did.
All I really knew was that my parents were dead. Presumed murdered. What sort of questions was I supposed to ask Josh to find things out for me? Though now, I doubted I’d get another chance after the way I’d run out on him.
I stood in front of Lane. The muscle in his jaw twitched, and I knew he was angry.
“Do you realize the sun is almost up?” His accent was thick and losing some of its cultured tenor.
“I lost track of time,” I admitted. There was no point in trying to come up with a viable excuse. I’d screwed up. I knew it.
He let go of my arms and allowed me to walk past him. “I was worried,” he said, his tone turning softer. Lane wasn’t a bad guy, just overprotective of me. “You could have been stuck somewhere, incapable of defending yourself from the sun’s drain on you.”
“Well, I’m home now, You can stop worrying.”
“Where were you?”
“Lane, I’m not a teenager coming home late after curfew. Please don’t treat me like one.”
“I’m sorry. I…you haven’t had much experience being out on your own. Excuse me if I was concerned.”
“I’m sorry I worried you. I was with a guy, if you must know. Now, please, leave me alone, I want to change my clothes.”
“A guy? A man?”
“Yes, a man. That’s usually what guy implies,” I said and realized he wasn’t going to leave, so I shrugged out of my jacket and pulled the t-shirt over my head. He’d seen me naked before.
“A human?”
I sucked in my lips and unclasped my bra, tossing it on the back of the chair by my closet then unzipped my jeans, shimmying them down my thighs to step out of them. I picked them up and hung them on a hanger in the closet. “Yep,” I said, turning to him. All I had on were my black lace panties that I ached to take off since they were…yeah, I just wanted them off.
Lane didn’t seem fazed by my nakedness. I shouldn’t have been surprised.
He reached out and tilted my face up toward the lights in the ceiling. “You’re pale.”
“I’m tired.”
“You were with a human all night long, but you didn’t feed?” Lane wasn’t stupid, but it was dumb of me to think he’d just let this go.
“No. I didn’t feed. Now, please, Lane. Leave. I’d like some privacy.”
“You fucked a human, but you didn’t feed from him?”
What difference did it make to Lane whether or not I fucked a guy? Why the twenty questions? Was he jealous?
I padded over to my dresser and pulled out a long-sleeve t-shirt that came down to the middle of my thighs and tugged it over my head. Then I reached up and yanked down my soiled panties, tossing them in the laundry basket.
“This really is none of your business.” I pushed him aside as I walked past him. I wanted something to drink so I headed down the stairs to the drawing room where most of the liquor was kept. Lane followed closely behind.
“You’re right. I’m just kind of shocked.”
I shrugged. “He was nobody important,” I said, turning away from Lane as I remembered the wonderful sensation of just being held in Josh’s strong arms. It was so much better than just fucking to get off while drinking blood. “He means nothing to me,” I lied. “And I doubt I will ever see him again. Now, if you don’t mind, I want a drink and a soak in a hot, steamy tub for a while before I go to sleep.”
I poured myself a glass of whiskey over ice and drank it down, coating my throat with a cool burning sensation.
I’d soaked in the tub for about forty-five minutes because I’d gotten lost in a romance novel. But it had felt so good. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed being a human, doing human things, like sleeping in the arms of a gorgeous man during the night without using him for his blood, or taking a bubble bath while being absorbed in a good book. It was the little things in life that I missed the most. Just because I was a vampire, didn’t mean I couldn’t still do those things. In all my pouting and depression about being forced into becoming immortal, that was something I’d forgotten.
“Hey, shhhh, shhhh. You’re okay, now. I promise.” His voice is soft and kind. He reaches for me, picking me up from my hiding place. He sets me down and strokes his index finger over the head of the small animal I hold in my hands.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” he asks.
I look up at him. He’s wearing a uniform. He must be a policeman. Policemen are good. I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. I don’t know the words. I look down at the small creature in my hands.
“What’s your hamster’s name?” he asks.
I don’t try to speak again. I simply crush the furry thing against me.
“Don’t squeeze him too tightly, you might hurt him,” the man says.
“Did you see what happened?” a different man with a raspy voice asks. A much taller man than the one with the kind voice.
I don’t respond. I can’t. The tall man looks mean. Scary, but I can’t see his face. I can’t see either man’s face. They are blank. No nose, no eyes, no mouth. Just a head with hair on top of a body.
I stare at the furry animal. I won’t tell them. I can’t tell them.
They walk away from me and whisper to each other, but I can still hear them. “She’s in shock,” the taller man says, his voice a rough, gravelly whisper. I steal a glimpse at them, but their backs are facing me. “Do you think she saw anything?”
“She’s not talking. It’s hard to say.”
“Let’s take care of her now just in case,” raspy voice man says.
I don’t like him.
“No. She’s a child. Let’s wait. See if she talks first. I know a place I can take her,” the first man says. “No one will ask questions. The guy’s wife has been hounding him for a kid. This little girl just might do the trick.” He turns away from the other man and walks back to me. He stoops down and smiles at me. “Hi, sweetie. You’re going to come with me. You’ll be safe,” he promises. “I know a couple who would love for you to live with them and you’ll love them, too.”
I don’t want to go with this man. I want my mommy. Where is my mommy?
“Mommy!” I shouted as I sat up, gasping for air. I patted the soft down coverlet surrounding me, just to make sure where I was. I was in my bed, in my room at the mansion where I lived with Lane, Cian, and the others.
The door opened and Lane burst in.
“Chelle?” Lane said as he hurried over to my bed. “You okay?”
“I think so.”
“You shouted for your mommy.” He chuckled a little, and chagrin swamped me, but really, it was a silly thing to shout out when I thought about it.
“I…I think I just had a strange dream.”
“Oh.” He stood. “Your first dream as a vampire?”
“Yeah. And it was more like a nightmare, I think.” I’d been told that vampires didn’t dream much, but when they did, they were very vivid and seemed so real. Now I knew that was true.
“Well, you’re fine. There’s a big breakfast downstairs if you’re up for it.”
“Yeah. I think I might like that.” Being around others after that dream seemed like a great idea. I certainly didn’t want to go back to sleep.
I followed Lane downstairs. We entered the dining room where everyone sat. Everyone was Cian, Maggie, Gage, Elvis, and Ari.
“Chelle had her first dream since her transition,” Lane announced.
“Ah,” Cian said. “Those can be fun.”
“Not this one,” Lane supplied for me. “She had a nightmare. Woke up calling for her mommy.”
Everyone chuckled.
“A nightmare?” Cian said before spooning something that looked like strawberry yogurt into his mouth.
“Yeah. I don’t think I’ve had a nightmare since I was turned.”
“Did you have them before Lane turned you?” Cian asked.
“I…I think so. Yes. Though, I don’t know why.”
Elvis stood to leave. “As interesting as this is, I need to get to bed. I had a long night.” He turned to leave, then swiveled back around. “Oh, Chelle, watch out for those things that go bump in the night, speaking from one monster to another.” He chuckled, and Gage threw his hat at him, hitting him in the forehead.
“Bug off.” Gage smiled at me. “He’s an idiot.”
Great, now I was just a big joke to everyone.
“Were the nightmares always the same? Was this one the same as the ones before?” Lane asked.
I nodded.
What was it about?”
“They’re confusing. I’m small, just a child. I don’t speak, though. I’m not sure if I can’t or just don’t. There are two men.”
“Could be a memory. Were you there when your parents died?” Maggie asked.
“I think so. Though I don’t know for sure. My foster dad never talked about it, and I can’t remember anything.”
“Were the men in your dream cops?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. Maybe one is. I think. He was the nice one. The other…I don’t know. He was creepy and scared me.”
“What did they look like?”
I tried to bring back visions of the dream, but they were so foggy. “I don’t know. One is tall and dark. That’s all I can remember. They didn’t have any faces in the dream.”
“Maybe Vanessa can help you,” Maggie said. Vanessa, Maggie’s best friend, was a witch. Her magic had been instrumental in helping the guys find Maggie a while back when the evil Jewels had kidnapped her. V was still a good friend and very protective of Maggie.
I remembered Vanessa telling Maggie how well she’d acted the part of disgruntled roommate when Josh had come to question her about why Maggie had left her job so suddenly. The witch had been so pleased with herself. Of course, she’d been prepared with a spell in case he’d decided to pursue his investigation, though I’m not so sure Vanessa hadn’t actually whammied him. If these guys ever found out that it was Josh I’d been spending my nights with, they would really be pissed. Making friends with a human was bad enough. Sleeping with one more than once, even worse. Befriending a mortal who was a news reporter? Suicidal.
And a possible memory erase for Josh if they ever did find out.
Chapter Fifteen
Josh
“Fuck!” I shouted and pounded my fist on my mattress. I lay on my back in bed, still naked, thinking about Chelle and the way she’d left. She was married. I just knew it. I’d finally found someone I liked, a lot, someone who wasn’
t afraid to experiment, take chances, and she was fucking married. Fuck. It had been such a turn-on having sex outside under the bridge that first night with people milling about just a few yards away. I had thought for sure someone heard Chelle when she’d yelled out my name, and I half expected to see someone peek around the corner of the building. The thrill of possibly being discovered had heightened the sensations. Yep, that was a first for me. I wasn’t a stranger to daring sexual acts. In fact, I fucking loved them. I’d had sex in some pretty bizarre places; a stairwell of an office building right after an interview for channel eight news, with said interviewee—a cougar in her forties who’d just found out her husband had cheated on her with some state official and needed to get a little payback nookie of her own. I’d been happy to oblige. Once in the men’s room at a nightclub on a dare by a college roommate, and once in the paper towel aisle at an all-night grocery store just after midnight. We’d even used one of the packages of paper towels as a cushion. The worst, though, was in the bathroom of a 747. Mile High Club. Everyone’s gotta try it, right? Believe me, that had been a fucking nightmare and not particularly fun. But it was a thrill. And that’s what it was all about.
Chelle was thrilling. And she didn’t take any shit from me. I liked that. I sighed, bringing my arm up to rest on my forehead. That had to be it. That bruise on her jaw two nights ago. Was that done by a jealous husband, or had it actually been the biker dude? If she were married, would she leave him for me? Would I want her to? Damn straight, I would.
Getting dumped by a beautiful woman hurt. Though it was probably just one more form of punishment I deserved in this fucked up life of mine. “Ugh,” I groaned and took my sorry ass to the shower. If I were a weak man, I probably would have killed myself eight years ago. But, I wasn’t a weak man. I enjoyed the punishment. The misery.
The sun slinked behind some clouds, causing a sudden shift in the temperature. A chill snaked over my shoulders. I rolled up the window in the car, allowing myself a brief moment of pleasure, inhaling the sweet scents cast off from the ocean as I drove to work.
Captivated by a Vampire: Billionaire, Rock Stars, Vampires in San Francisco (Immortal Hearts of San Francisco Book 2) Page 7
