Don't Forget Me

by Sia Wales

  “So, once again, it’s a pleasure to see you…” he said softly.

  “Donn…” Stella gasped, her mind racing.

  “Your message is worthy of only one answer,” he murmured. Stella opened her mouth to speak, but Donn closed it again with a kiss so intense it made her lips swell. She opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced by his glare. She sulked, and Donn’s eyes softened. He kissed her again with slow, demanding lips. Then he grabbed the hair on the nape of her neck. The more his tongue pushed its way into her, the more he pulled her hair and pressed himself against her. Stella nibbled at his lower lip. Donn pulled back, his face stern, a dangerous spark of both menace and desire illuminating his eyes.

  “Do you want to slip into the party?” Stella asked him feebly, close to his lips, keeping her legs clinging to him.

  “No, I’d prefer to slip inside you.” He looked deep into her eyes.

  “Too much body heat and blood tempt you, huh?” Stella eyes dropped to the ground, but Donn raised her chin with his thumb.

  “I’m tempted by you.” He kept staring into her eyes, then he pointed his remote control car keys at the other side of the street, locking the car he had left open in his haste to catch up with her. There were tons of cars lined up along the sidewalk, but the car that blinked as it locked put all the others into the shade. It was a red and black sporty number, the Bugatti Veyron that had chased her that night when she was on her way back from the Green Mountain National Forest. She realized in that moment that Donn had been the mysterious man at the wheel of that car, and she could not suppress another smile. Donn read all of this clearly inside of her, and smiled fondly at the memory.

  Stella tried to move away from the gate, knowing that Donn would never change and that she would never be able to fully satisfy his needs. But Donn pulled her to him and clung to her body, not wanting to let her go, never.

  “Don’t run away, Stella. Trust me, it’s not like I bite.” Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

  “Hold that thought for the next time we’re alone!” Stella exclaimed, breathless.

  “Relax, angel, there are too many people around.” He touched her cheek, moving slowly to her chin. His hand was cold but his touch made her burn. A scorching desire filled her from head to foot.

  “Incredible, one touch and I’m already his… My God, Stella, control yourself!” she said to herself.

  Donn raised his eyebrows and smiled in self-assurance.

  “Careful, angel, don’t think those thoughts or I might not be able to control myself. First of all, you left your coat at my office, you’ll have to come back to get it.” A perverse thought was reflected in his eyes.

  “You could have brought it here,” replied Stella.

  “I forgot, I’m getting old, remember?” He shrugged his shoulders and smiled cunningly, then spoke, the warning note in his voice all too clear.

  “Now, make sure Vuk keeps his paws to himself in there if you don’t want to see me again in the next few minutes.” He tilted his head and leaned on her lips. A hoarse, guttural growl escaped his lips, then he grabbed her neck, thrusting his tongue deep inside her, both of them forgetting to breathe in the passion of the moment.

  “I can keep him under control, if I want to, no problem,” she said, a spark of challenge in her eye. She grinned at him sensually, biting her lip.

  “You’re doing it again, angel.” His face hardened, but his eyes leaving her in no doubt about his desire for her.

  “Sorry,” she murmured. She did not dare to look him in the eyes.

  “Do not apologize. Look at me,” ordered Donn, and Stella obeyed hesitantly. She saw his eyes crackle with danger.

  “To hell with limits and the non-disclosure agreement for this evening. I want to be the one to bite that lip. I want to bite it hard,” he hissed. He bit the inside of her lip so hard it hurt. He lapped up the blood and stroked her tongue with his. Stella gasped in pain, and Donn bit her once again, mercilessly, then kissed her gently and released his hold on her.

  “This is the pain I feel when you avoid me and deny me what’s mine!” he scolded her harshly. Stella moved away from him, her breath heavy, her eyes dark with disenchantment and anger. She put her hand to her lips and then looked at it. She saw a trace of blood on the tip of her fingers and glared at Donn.

  “It’s pointless playing games, Donn, we both know this is all wrong! You have needs I could never fully satisfy. You said it yourself!”

  Suddenly Stella heard the unmistakable dulcet melody of Vuk’s semi-acoustic guitar and swung round towards Jamie’s house. She started to move away, but Donn held her back with his arms.

  “Stella, wait, stay here!” he yelled, exasperated. He moved to give her a kiss on the forehead.

  “No, take your hands off me!” Stella pushed him away, managing to slip off before his lips could make contact.

  “Goodbye, Mr. Brooks,” she murmured, backing away slowly, squirming to avoid his touch. Once those hands made contact, she knew, resistance would be so much harder. Donn’s eyes seemed troubled, but he tried to remain impassive. Pain was not something he was fond of revealing. Stella turned her back and walked away, drawn by Vuk’s warm voice echoing from the house as he sang Cryin’ by Aerosmith, delicately caressing the guitar strings as only he knew how. Fired by the words of the song, he sought to attract Stella to him, he could wait no more, the message was plain even to her.

  Donn heard the sound of a motorcycle flaring up. He knew it was Jason, he had seen him coming, he was sure that Jason had heard Stella saying goodbye.

  “Until we meet again, Miss Whitely,” warned Donn, his voice full of erotic promise. It sounded like a challenge. He saw her turn in hesitation, halfway to the door, her eyes brimming with tears. He took a step toward her, but Stella drew back, full of anger and distrust. She threw him a last, lingering glance, then turned and ran into Jamie’s house, thinking regretfully about what she had done, that he would never forgive her for turning her back on him a second time. She didn’t want to lose sight of Donn, but something inside her – common sense or perhaps a survival instinct – told her it was the best thing to do.

  Donn stood watching emotionlessly as she entered the house without looking back, knowing that every step was taking her closer to Vuk. His anger flared within. Stella said hi to Jamie and turned to look back at Donn, but the door closed on her, preventing her from seeing him one last time. Her friend welcomed her with a hug.

  She sighed deeply and, resigned to her fate, smiled bitterly as she sought consolation in Jamie’s arms.

  “Vuk’s here,” yelled her friend, trying to be heard above the music; she smiled encouragingly at Stella. Stella nodded feebly and shrugged her shoulders. She felt out of place in the crowded hallway and was on the point of leaving. She wanted to be alone, to bury herself in a corner somewhere, but Jamie led her into the living-room in spite of herself. She said a few more words, but they were either lost in the music or blurred by the thoughts pounding in her head.

  Stella tugged down the hem of her dress and hesitatingly entered the crowded room, leaving Jamie to talk with some fellow students. With one hand she waved away the smoke from her face as she headed toward Vuk at the end of the room, guided by the energetic sound of his guitar and his voice, made hoarse by alcohol and smoke. A knot seemed to come and go in her throat.

  As soon as she caught a glimpse of him, she was frozen to the spot. She watched as he sang, enchanted by his handsome, manly figure under the spotlight, while he played his black guitar with his hair tumbling over his face as he poured out his heart to the words of Cryin’. He looked like a real rock star, a dream man, with his jeans torn and hanging from his hips, so seductive that Stella felt like ripping them off him then and there. By the longing looks the other girls in the room were giving him, she was not the only one.

  Suddenly Vuk raised the guitar, flaunting his sculpted abdomen, his red sweat-soaked t-shirt clinging to his chest. Perspiration poured down his face, sepa
rating the locks of his tousled hair. He furrowed his brow and looked at his fingers on the guitar strings. His voice broke several times on the word “torment”. He caught sight of the heavenly vision of Stella standing in front of him.

  He looked at her sullenly and he felt himself dissolve into a pool of hot, sensual liquid. He saw her flinch and his lips twisted into a slow smile, that yellow glow appearing in his eyes. Hardly anyone noticed; the few that did just supposed he’d been drinking too much. He got down from the stand, spoke to a boy nearby, pointing to the stereo set with a nod of his head, as if they’d prearranged something. He picked up a lit, half-smoked cigarette that lay in the ashtray beside his brown leather jacket on the stool. He raised the cigarette to his mouth, staring at Stella straight in the eyes, took a last deep drag, blew the smoke from his lungs and took a sip of neat, colorless vodka. He screwed up his eyes, a grimace on his lips as he started strumming the guitar violently, taking slow paces toward her.

  Stella turned away as if to warn him not to embarrass her or come any closer, but he paid her no heed. She turned a bright red, feeling increasingly ill at ease. Her breath caught in her throat. He continued to swagger toward her, never taking his eyes off her face. Right then it was as if she was the only person in the room. Only a few paces separated them. Vuk pushed his way past the last few people between them. His fingers caressed the final notes of the song, which echoed around the room. Silence fell and Vuk placed the guitar on the table beside him. He gazed into Stella’s eyes wordlessly and stretched out a finger to touch her lips, silently inviting her to do the same. He turned back toward the boy he’d spoken to before, nodded at him, then looked again at Stella. The music started up on the stereo, and Stella heard the opening notes of their song, Angel, by Aerosmith.

  “So, little girl?” asked Vuk softly.

  “I wanted you to go on playing,” whispered Stella, clutching a hand uneasily to her breast.

  “I’m through with doing anything you want,” replied Vuk tenderly. She noted the intense green of his eyes. His breath still reeked of smoke and alcohol.

  “I still haven’t said sorry to you for yesterday evening. I was drunk. Forgive me, please,” he gasped. Stella’s eyes softened.

  “The list of things to forgive keeps growing.” She could not repress a faint smile.

  “You’re driving me crazy, you know that, don’t you?” he said, his voice strained. He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.

  “Look at you, you look like death warmed up,” Stella scolded him.

  “I feel like death… You’re killing me,” he admitted desperately.

  “Don’t hate me… please,” he pleaded, almost shaking from emotion.

  “I can’t, for now…” She shook her head, her lips quivering.

  “I can’t stand the thought of losing you,” he confessed in agony. “I began to live again when I met you, and now you want to take my life away? Come and save me tonight, Stella! You’re my angel.” His voice trembled with desire as he voiced the words to Angel playing in the background.

  “I’m not an angel,” Stella whispered, uncomfortable at him using the name that Donn called her.

  “Just the same, angel or demon, it doesn’t matter… I need you, I need you now!” Unable to resist her any longer, he took her hand, pulled her into his arms and held her tight. He could do nothing else. Stella threw her arms around his neck and Vuk sighed in relief at having her close to him once more. He stroked her ear with endless ‘thank yous’.

  “You’ll hurt me again…” Her voice was troubled as she looked over his shoulder.

  “Never, baby, I think you’ll be the one hurting me.” He caught a glimpse of Donn watching from the window, but continued staring into Stella’s eyes. He slid the CD she’d broken the evening before out of his pocket. He’d stuck it together with a bit of sticky tape; it looked like a reflection of their moods, split down the middle. He placed it lovingly in Stella’s hands, wrapping his own hands around hers as he gazed deeply into her eyes.

  “Thanks,” she whispered in a broken voice, moved. She clasped the CD to her breast, now regretting her rash, foolish gesture. Vuk came closer and kissed her on the ear.

  “I’d do anything in the world to have you back, little girl. You’re the only thing I want, the only thing I need.” Vuk drew her toward him and kissed her on the head lovingly. He took her hair in his fingers and pulled her gently toward him. Stella tried to hold back the emotions welling up inside, then she slid slowly from his embrace, her eyes turned away from his. Vuk, seeing a tear run down her cheek, didn’t try to stop her. He watched her leave the room and followed her, seeing as she made her way upstairs. He stopped at the foot of the stairs. He could still feel her arms around him neck and her hands clinging to his hair. One embrace. For the moment, that was all that mattered. Nothing else.

  Stella shut herself in Jamie’s bedroom and leaned back against the door. She burst into tears, gripping the CD to her breast. She heard Vuk’s voice come drifting up the stairs dedicating a new song “to his little girl”. Stella looked down at the dedication on the CD that had been crudely stuck back together, and she heard the opening chords of Don’t Cry by Guns ‘n’ Roses. She smiled tenderly as Vuk’s earnest voice filled the void inside her, almost causing her to burst. She noticed that the window was open a crack. Suddenly overcome with the desire for some fresh air, she pulled it open completely, breathing in the cool night air. Her eyes dropped to the windowsill, onto a beautiful blue flower stained by a drop of blood and a little card. She opened it and recognized Jason’s handwriting. The tears streamed down her cheeks relentlessly.

  A little thought to remind you of the words you whispered, under the effects of chloroform: ‘Don’t forget me’… This flower is named after the promise I made to you.

  Jason

  Stella looked incredulously at the flower in the palm of her hand, and she collapsed on the windowsill, completely spent. She closed her fingers around the flower, feeling the blood on the petal.

  She released her grip on it. Her fingers were streaked in blood. She curled up into a ball, slumping to the ground, one hand clasping Vuk’s CD, the other Jason’s flower. She brought both hands to her chest, to inches of her heart. And she withdrew into her pain, physical and bottomless.

  Table of Contents

  Preface

  Vuk Wolf

  The Pats

  Mr. Brooks

  Boston Public Library

  Warner’s secret

  The calm before the storm

  Drake Wolf

  And So It All Began

  In The Back Of The Pickup

  Reawakening At Vuk’s Side

  Warren Towers

  Aaron Dale

  J.

  Green Mountain National Forest

  Salvation in Death

  Meeting Again

  On the Stereo

  Before the Full Moon

  The Old Abandoned Factory

  Angels of the Night

  Sudden Fire

  Icy Breath on Her Neck

  High Voltage

  Upside Down

  Like a Shield

  The Broken CD

  On the Porch

  Jeff’s Semi-Acoustic Guitar

  Brooks Financial Enterprise Inc.

  Sensations in the Dark

  The Penthouse

  Blood Games

  Behind The Mask

  Jamie’s Party

  Characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Songs, soundtracks and brands that were mentioned in the book are to be considered as belonging to their respective owners, copyright holders.

  Copyright © 2013 by Sia Wales.

  All rights reserved.

  Printed in the United States of America.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrivial system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express w
ritten permission of the publisher.

  ISBN: 978-88-98825-08-0

  www.siawales.com

  Editing by Maria C. Bond & Sabina Zambon, Galactus Sas

  Web Agency: Alessandro Modena, Cev Srl

  Cover design by Damon, Damonza.com

  Book design by Benjamin Carrancho, Damonza.com