by B. N. Toler
“No. I just don’t think you should have to.”
His jaw tenses and he backs away from me. “Right. Why did you do that last night?”
“Offer you my blood?” I push out of his grip and steady myself.
“Yeah.”
To bring you back. “You were going to kill that man.” That’s part of the reason.
We stare at one another for a moment when Daniel moves in a flash. He’s a blur as he moves around the room and then jerks me back to him so I’m straddling him once again. Before I have time to react and push off of him again, he places a knife to his throat and slides the blade across his flesh, cutting it open. Blood trickles down his neck, pooling at the small dip in his collarbone causing my fangs to pop out as a hunger burns in my belly. My eyes meet his as his fangs elongate and I feel his erection against my leg again, hard as stone.
“Fucking drink. Now,” he orders me.
I want to jump off of him and run away, but the hunger is too strong. On some level I realize it’s not just my hunger for blood, it’s my hunger for his blood. Before I can stop myself I plunge my fangs into his neck and pull his warm blood into my mouth. It tastes divine. I’ve had it before when he saved me from being attacked the first night we met and when it was mixed with the other’s blood, but this is so different. I can feel the current of his energy on my tongue, his power vibrating as I swallow each drop. My arms are wrapped around him, my hands fisting his hair as I continue to draw.
His broad arms wrap around me, pressing me to him, sending me into a frenzy. The burning in my belly transforms and slowly seeps to a pulsing ache between my legs. Under the thin material of my shirt, my nipples harden, pressing against his bare chest. My panties are drenched with my arousal. I need him inside of me, right now. I pull back and our eyes meet.
Hunger and desire are laced in his gray eyes as our chests heave up and down.
I lean in to kiss him, but his hands grasp me at my ribs, stopping me. He stands forcing my body to slide down his until my feet meet the floor.
That was a big, fat rejection. God, I’m an idiot. I lick my lips and run my arm across my mouth to wipe away any blood.
Daniel won’t look at me. Instead he plops down on the bed and stares at the floor. “Grab a pair of my boxers from the top drawer.” He points.
I look down and see his T-shirt I’m wearing is halfway up my behind. I hurry to his dresser, embarrassment and rage whirling inside of me. I can feel his eyes on me, perusing me as I bend down and slide the boxers on. I quickly leave his room and shut the door.
Cassia stuffs me with ham biscuits and macaroni salad before sending me down to my room to rest. When I wake up I’m feeling anxious. The memory of the taste of Daniel’s blood makes my mouth water and the ache between my legs still pulses. Whatever I am feeling for him is very unhealthy. I pace my room, restless, until I realize I need to get out. I dart across the hall to Flynn and Eileen’s room and tap gently on the door.
“Come in,” Eileen purrs. When I open the door, she sits sprawled on her floor painting her toenails.
“I really need to get out. I mean last night was a bust, can we have a do over?”
“Really?” She beams at me with her magnificent smile.
“Yeah.”
“All the guys are out on an assignment. It would just be us.”
“Perfect.” I fling myself on her bed and pick up her copy of People magazine. “How come you didn’t go?”
“My punishment for messing with Daniel last night.” She rolls her eyes.
“Well, we’ll have a girls night out.”
“Maybe I should call—”
“No! Don’t say it!” I interrupt her knowing she’s thinking she should call Flynn or Daniel. “We’ll be together and we won’t stay out late.”
“Eh, what the hell. I’m already on Daniel’s shit list anyway.”
“Awesome.”
“Be ready in thirty. I’ll call a cab to get us.” She hops up and grabs her cell phone from her dresser, to call a cab, and bounces over to her closet.
Two hours later, I have successfully hypnotized—or ‘spelled’ as Eileen likes to call it, three unsuspecting college boys to buy our drinks. Eileen says I’m a fast learner. We spend most of the time on the dance floor and I’m actually into it. Maybe I do like dancing or maybe it’s just because I believe I can dance after Eileen spelled me a while back. Daniel, Flynn, and Bridge appear—I’m guessing Eileen informed them as to our whereabouts— after an hour or so, dressed to the hilt in black, like a bunch of swat team guys. They all perch on bar stools, but face the bar. My skin tingles as I can feel Daniel’s eyes darting to me while I’m dancing with an older guy who is a little handsy. Knowing Daniel is watching, I grind against the guy. I know. I’m shameless. When the song is over I edge up to the bar, trying to look as innocent as possible. The guys each have four shots of Tequila in front of them and they pound each one back one right after the other.
Daniel turns to me, his gray gaze intense, as if it’s trying to scorch my skin. “Having fun, kitten?”
“Yes, I am.” My gaze meets his and I’m almost lost in the heat of his eyes. He’s tense tonight. I can see it from his stare to the way his body stands rigid.
“Come with me.” He grabs my arm and pulls me to the back of the club, down a hallway where the manager’s office appears to be. Pressing me against the wall, he towers over me. The crisp scent of his cologne mixed with the Tequila he just drank on his breath fills my nose. He smells like sex—or the scent that lures one into sex.
“You’re playing with fire,” he purrs in a decadent tone that teeters on the edge of seductive.
“Excuse me?” I ask.
“I’m not what you want.” He leans closer to me, his body nearly touching mine. His lips brush the tip of my nose gently and the contact makes my toes curl. “You might get burned.”
I lick my lips, and press my body against the wall wishing it would somehow absorb me. God help me, but I want this man. I hate myself for it, but I do. Before I can over think it, I tilt my head up and graze his warm lips with mine. The taste of lime and salt from his tequila shots make my mouth water; add that to his scent, his proximity, and the feeling of his soft lips against mine sends a shock through me. My fangs erupt.
He glances at them and his breathing becomes labored. “Fuck.” He lowers his head and that same rejection hits me like a ton of bricks. I press my palms against his chest and push him back as I force my fangs to retract.
I stare up at him from under my lashes, waiting to see what he’ll do next, praying he’ll make the next move, but he just stares back at me as if he’s waiting for me to do something.
“Listen, kitten—”
“I saw a lot of future porn stars out there. I wouldn’t want to keep you from gaming.” I slide under his arm, but he pulls me back.
“What do you want from me?” he growls.
“I should ask you the same thing.”
“I want you to trust me,” he growls back and I’m stunned at the intensity in his tone. I swallow hard, not sure how to respond. Do I trust Daniel? I want him, but is that more about some sort of physical attraction than anything else? “I think we both know you don’t trust me…yet you want me.”
“I don’t want anything from you. Not a damn thing.” I slide under him again and head back out to the floor, not allowing myself to check and see if he’s following me. Plastering a smile on my face, I try to calm my nerves.
I take a shot at the bar before turning around to find Daniel at the other end talking to his usual big-boobed bimbo type. Rolling my eyes, I find Eileen on the dance floor and join her. A few songs in, I casually scan the bar and see that Daniel and Bridge have left. I don’t see the bimbo he was talking with either. Guess they left together. Jealousy courses through me, but I shake it off. I have no right or reason to be jealous.
After dancing to a few more songs, Eileen nods to the bar, letting me know she wants to go check on Fl
ynn.
“Go. I’m going to stay out here.”
“You sure?”
Before I can answer, strong hands grab my waist from behind me and begin moving with me. Eileen winks at me, letting me know the guy behind me is cute, before she scurries off to the bar. Moving in stride with my new dance partner, I try to enjoy the rhythm we’ve got going with each other. I let myself get lost in the beat of the music, feeling real relaxation when suddenly—he pushes energy into me, and I freeze. I know that energy like it was my own. I whip around and stare into none other than Thomas Watson’s eyes.
A thousand images flash through my mind; the way he looks when he laughs; how the corners of his eyes crease when he smiles; the way he looked the night he yanked me out of Wyatt’s car; and his beautiful mouth on my body when we made love in my dreams. I never imagined when I saw him again that I’d feel anything other than anger, but a residual lust from long ago prickles my skin.
The music blasts as other people around us on the dance floor move in rhythm, but we stand completely still, staring at one another.
He leans down, his mouth to my ear, and with a deep voice says, “Hello, Aldo.” I stumble back, but he catches me at my waist.
My heart is trying to thump its way out of my chest as rage pumps it’s every beat. Fuck! This is not the way it was supposed to happen. I was supposed to find him on my terms, after I had been properly trained as a hybrid—then I was going to use him for information and kill him afterwards.
He smells the same—delicious—and his mahogany eyes stare down at me with caution.
Should I run? Should I scream? My mind can’t decide what I should do and as I process my next move, a slow song comes on as if the good Lord timed it himself. Thomas pulls my waist forcing my body to his and as we collide, I tense.
“We need to talk. Let’s not make a scene,” he whispers in my ear wrapping his large arm around me, holding me in place. “Relax,” he breathes, pressing his cheek to mine as his hands gentle their hold on my back.
There was a time I prayed for this, for his touch, to feel him against me. Now it feels wrong. With a few deep breaths, I force myself to relax and move my body with his.
“Gosh, it’s been so long, Thomas. I mean when was the last time I saw you? Oh, that’s right. Right before the untimely death of my aunt. You remember Lucy, right? Or wait, it was when you walked my dreams trying to get me to reveal where my brothers and I were.” I speak to him like I would if he were a stranger. I smile and try to look like I’m getting to know my dance partner, attempting not to look off to Flynn and Eileen who are undoubtedly watching me.
“I didn’t kill her.” His tone is deep.
“Running off without a word screams innocence to me.”
“Can we just leave here? Go somewhere and talk?” Our faces are still side-by-side, so I can’t see his eyes.
Pulling back, I stare up at him. His eyes lock to mine and I feel the link. I have him. I’m not supposed to spell anyone without proper supervision, but I really don’t have a choice here. I need Thomas to stay put and not alert anyone that he found me. “Where are you staying?”
“Hotel 9, four miles down,” he answers monotone and straight forward.
“What room?”
“In room 233.”
“You will leave here, return to your hotel and wait for me. I’ll meet you there tomorrow. You will not speak with anyone before I get there. Remain in your room. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
I release my hook on him and he steps back. His eyes trail down my body, heat radiating from them, before returning to my face. “You’ve grown into a lovely woman.” He nods as he grazes my cheek with the back of his hand. I still at the intimate touch; unable to move. He takes a lock of my hair and gently rubs it between his fingers. “Why blonde? Your brown hair was so beautiful.”
“You disappear on the day my aunt was murdered, happen to bump into me almost two years later, and you want to discuss my choice in hair color?”
“Just let me explain.”
“Oh, you’ll have your chance. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I knock his hand away and leave him on the dance floor. Walking towards the bar where Flynn and Eileen are seated, I scan the room for potential threats, maybe people Thomas came with, but my heart lurches when I see Daniel at a bar top table in the back staring directly at me.
Fuckity, fuck, fuck! He just saw Thomas touching me and not like a stranger dancing with me touching me, but like a man who has seen me naked touch me. I’m so not ready for this. I tear my eyes away from him and approach Flynn and Eileen. When I reach the bar I order another drink and try to look casual as if I didn’t just run into my ex—er…friend who was most likely involved in my aunt’s death.
“Uh…who was that?” Eileen asks staring at me wide eyed.
I glance back to the dance floor, and I don’t see Thomas anywhere. “Just some guy.” I shrug and grab the drink the bartender just brought me.
“You looked like you knew him.”
“No. Never met him.” I shrug again.
“There was chemistry between you two. You didn’t look like strangers.” Eileen smiles at me.
“He was just a guy.” I roll my eyes. “Are you guys ready to go?” I glance in Daniel’s direction to see him walk out the door with the bimbo I saw him speaking with earlier. I feel like someone just kicked me in the gut. I shake off the feeling again. I’m not with him and he doesn’t want to be with me. He can do whatever, or whoever, he wants.
“Yeah, let’s go.” Flynn leads Eileen and me out the door and helps us into his truck.
Once we’re home, the two of them disappear to their room. I change into a T-shirt and pajama shorts and attempt to lie down and sleep, but Eileen and Flynn are really going at it. Their headboard bangs against the wall violently and their moans of pleasure are making it difficult for me to deal with my own sexual tension. Grabbing one of my pillows, I head upstairs to the top floor. In the darkness, I make my way to the sofa and plop down on it, losing myself in plans of what to do about Thomas. I decide I have to confide in Daniel. He’ll help me. He’d be able to spell Thomas in a way I never could and I’ll finally be able to stop lying to him. I’ll lay it all out tonight. My nerves are a wreck, riddled with potential outcomes, but I eventually drift off.
I awake some time later when someone turns on the light to the living room. The sounds of moaning and smacking, like two people kissing fill the room. A woman moans and I roll my eyes. Eileen and Flynn have apparently come up for something to eat or drink and ended up going at each other again. I swear these two have the sex drive of teenage boys. How much sex do these two have?
I hate them.
I roll my body off of the couch intending to make my presence known before they get too into it. “Okay you guys, I’m in here. Don’t get nake—” I almost choke on my tongue when I find Daniel leaned over the bimbo from the bar as she lies sprawled on the dining room table.
I’m frozen as embarrassment and jealousy hit me like a truck. Daniel immediately pulls away from the woman whose skirt is wrapped around her torso exposing her hot pink lace panties. She sits up and grabs the waist of his pants, apparently not realizing I’m standing here watching them, even though I just spoke.
Daniel pulls her hands off of him and flings them back at her. The woman looks over at me, lipstick smeared around her mouth and I see Daniel also has some smeared on his face as well. “Is she joining us?” She looks up at Daniel, and I feel like I’m going to be sick.
“No,” I answer with disgust. “I actually have some fucking standards.” I glare at Daniel and ask him with a pointed look, “Really?”
“Aldo—” Daniel tries to grab me as I whirl around the sofa, desperate to escape.
“Oh, it’s Aldo now? Not kitten?” I hiss at him. I try to tell myself to calm down and stop acting like a jealous troll because I have no right to, but I can’t. I knew he left the bar with her so obviously he was going to screw her, b
ut he brought her here. Here! Why would he do that? My inner self is stomping around, throwing every glass object she can find as she has a tantrum. I take a deep breath and swallow back the hurt and anger I feel.
Daniel looks completely lost. I can’t tell what he’s thinking, but obviously he wasn’t thinking about me when he brought her home. “I’m sor—”
“No need to apologize.” I hold my hand up to him. “No need to be sorry. I’m sorry I interrupted.” I smile awkwardly and turn to make my descent.
Halfway down the stairs, I’m struggling to hold back the angry tears gnawing at my eyes, when I run smack into Bridge.
“Easy.” He grabs my shoulders and steadies me. His gaze meets mine in the limited light and humor dances on his lips. Either he thinks it’s funny I loathe him so much or he overheard what happened upstairs.
“Get out of my way,” I growl.
“What’s wrong? Your crush bagging another hottie and you caught him?”
Okay, so he overheard what transpired upstairs.
Even in my anger I’m glad I have the forethought not to answer him with a lie because he would know the truth if I did. I opt not to answer anything at all as any response would be a lie. I’m a scorching being of anger and jealousy right now. Seeing Daniel about to get it on with another woman, especially some hoe he picked up at the bar feels like someone just drop kicked me in the stomach.
“What do you want, Bridge?” I grit out through clenched teeth.
“Awe, so you do have a crush on Daniel,” he snorts. “Can’t say I’m surprised. Women flock to him like his dick is made of candy or something.”
“Move,” I order as I try to push past him.
“Don’t worry. I can tell he wants between those legs of yours, but you should know, he bores easily. He’d be done with you after he got a few good fucks from ya.”
“Shut the fuck up, Bridge!” I haul into him using all of my weight and am surprised when he stumbles back. I hurry to my room and slam the door. Tossing myself on my bed, I press my face into my comforter and mattress and let out a scream. I am such an idiot. I’m that stupid girl all over again. Not to mention Bridge’s insult on my pride. I jump up, fueled by anger more at myself than anything. I can’t stay here. I need more training, but my feelings for Daniel are getting in the way of everything. I never intended to be here. I now have Thomas, and that’s all I need. I pull out my duffel bag from under my bed and open it. The brown wooden box Lucy left me sits inside of it. I open it and count the twenty-eight thousand dollars I have left. Closing the box, I open the duffel bag further so I can start packing clothes when I see the small box Rhett left me at the bottom. I never opened it. Taking it out, I sit on my bed and tear the paper off letting it fall to the floor. With trembling hands, I open the box to find a little note.
