“Deal,” I said.
Tanis smiled wide, his sexy eyes beaming with excitement. “I can eat human food, however, not all of us can,” he explained. “That is why me complexion is darker than the others. The nutrients from the food help to maintain me body, keeping it more humanlike...more human than most, me mum says. It also keeps me body temperature warmer than theirs; I am not as warm as you, but warmer than the others...it is caused by the slowed circulation,” he explained before I could ask, and he pressed the back of his hand against my cheek.
I fought to keep from moaning; the temperature was comparable to walking in the rain in the summer, the sensation that the warm wind caressing your skin causes to roll up your spine...I liked it much more than I should have. Most noticeable wasn’t the temperature of his skin, rather, it was the softness of it; it was like refreshingly cool cashmere.
“I suppose the human diet speeds up me circulation more,” he said with a shrug, pulling me from the perverse fantasies that were starting to drift into my head. “That is why you were able to bloody me lip so easily when we were playing football.”
“I’m sorry about,” I apologized again but my words came out as a timid whisper.
He lowered his hand and I fought the whimper of disappointment building in my throat.
“No worries,” Tanis said. “Believe it or not, vampires are not hard as stone, and some of us are rather soft and squishy,” he teased and I giggled. “So, my turn,” he teasingly sang and smirked when I groaned.
Uh oh...I don’t like the expression on his face.
“Why are you here?” he asked. “Not on earth. Not in Washington. But here, and more specifically, with me. You know that I am a vampire, and you know what my main diet consists of, and yet you are here with me. Alone. Why?”
“Hmm…” I said and pretended to think about it. The answer was so simple...so simple in fact that it was embarrassing. “I’m not scared of you, if that’s what you’re asking,” I blurted out as I scrambled to find an answer that wasn’t a complete lie but wasn’t as pathetically embarrassing as the truth-truth.
Tanis looked over at me and cocked an eyebrow.
“I could totally kick your ass if it came down to it,” I smugly informed him.
That was it, he laughed.
“Thought you’d like that,” I mumbled. “Do you promise not to laugh?”
“I promise.”
Dignity was going out the window.
“As strange, and unbelievable, as this is for me to say,” I said softly, studying my hands, “I trust you. I think it has to do with the way you look at me.”
Tanis swallowed loudly. “What do you mean? How do I look at you?”
I smiled despite myself. “You don’t look at me as if I’m dinner, if that’s what you’re wondering,” I teased and he shook his head. “Honestly, you don’t look at me like everyone else does. Yahto and my family look at me as if I’m a delicate doll or something. Everyone else looks at me as if I am an outsider, an abomination who shouldn’t be allowed to live. And the men look at me perversely. You, however, don’t. Is it because I’m not like you? Because you don’t find me attractive? Because you’re gay?” I shrugged and he softly snorted. “Either way, it’s nice and a much welcomed change.”
“I am not gay,” he assured me.
“Didn’t think you were,” I informed him. “You look at my boobs too much to be gay.” I winked when he blushed. “My turn! Why did you move here?”
Tanis ran his hand through his hair and looked out the windshield more intently than needed. “Because of me sister,” he answered quietly. “Vampires have to maintain an inconspicuous lifestyle, obviously. Even with modern society’s fascination with vampires and the mythical world, and their overly active imaginations and seeming acceptance of vampires…what they perceive and have insultingly coined vampires…there is still an unspoken law of our kind that demands our existence remain in the shadows and out of the perceptions of humans.” He sighed, shaking his head; obviously that was the wrong conversation to bring up.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “You don’t have to tell me…you can use a lifeline if you want!” I assured him with a face-consuming, completely fabricated, smile.
Tanis looked over at me from the corner of his eye and chuckled once, humorlessly. “I will reserve my lifeline for another time,” he informed me with another chuckle, a genuine one. “Our coven is more inconspicuous than most because we do not actively hunt humans…feed on them to the point of death,” he explained when I gasped. “We stroll... While we were in Paris, Georgiana got a little carried away at a party and ended up draining four people; one was a politician’s daughter. Needless to say, because of that clanger we had to leave in a hurry.”
Holy shit!
That wasn’t what I was expecting to hear.
Huh, and here I was under the delusion that vampires aren’t as bad as Hollywood, the elders, and history has made them out to be.
Oops, my bad.
“Oh,” was all I could say, and even that was nearly impossible to articulate.
“Are you scared now?” he asked quietly, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.
“No.”
“Liar,” he said and sighed. “I am not like me sister. Honestly, I cannot stand her and have tried to stake her more times than I can remember. Vampires are every bit as terrifying as you were led to believe. However, some of us are different from the others. I will not hurt you, I promise you! I have not taken a human life from feeding in over two hundred years.”
That’s good to know.
“How old are you?” I asked.
Tanis wagged his finger at me in a scolding manner. “It is not your turn, cheeky bird.”
“Whatever,” I huffed, rolling my eyes and pouted, causing him to laugh.
He slowed the SUV and pulled into a parking spot that had just opened up in the front of a nice restaurant, cutting off another vehicle.
“Wait, why are you stopping?” I demanded in a panic, looking around and fought to keep from snarling when the driver of the car Tanis cut off started to get out of his vehicle.
I will rip your throat out if you lay on finger on him, I silently growled.
“We are having dinner,” Tanis reminded me—tone noted—and apparently he wasn’t at all concerned by the potential human drama he caused with his European styled James Bond parking stunt.
“But I can’t afford this!” I argued, my eyes going between him and the pissed off man fast approaching from behind us.
Did he not hear me when I said McDonalds?
Tanis rolled his eyes and got out of the SUV.
“Hey!” the other driver yelled. “You cut me off!”
Tanis looked over at him and cocked an eyebrow, his top lip snarling upward, revealing his small, white fangs, and the man, who was easily six inches taller and a hundred pounds heavier, paled considerably and immediately started backing away from him. Tanis continued to glare at him, a soft snarl of a growl rolling from the base of his throat until the car peeled out and sped away, running three red lights in the process.
“Bloody wanker,” Tanis hissed under his breath.
That was interesting and kind of hot.
He then opened the door for me, once the apparent danger had passed, and a warm smile filled his face. “I am taking you to dinner and I do not do fast food,” he smugly informed me.
I continued to sit there with my arms crossed over my chest and chin jutted out; I rather deal with the pissed off giant whose spot we took then deal with the smug vampire looking at me.
Tanis may not do fast food but I don’t let people pay for me.
“I will throw you over me shoulder and carry you in there like a pouting nipper,” he warned.
Unfortunately, I knew he was serious and would do just that.
I huffed and got out of the SUV, causing him to laugh.
“There’s no way we’re going to get a table,” I amusingly informed him, eyin
g the line inside.
Thank god! One awkward situation and argument avoided.
“Miss Jay Dee, it shall not be a problem,” he smugly informed me.
Tanis held the door open for me and waved me inside. I wasn’t dressed for a place like that. Hell, I still had axel grease under my nails! But the annoying vampire testing my patience was oblivious to it.
“I shall return momentarily,” he said and winked at me, then headed towards the hostess.
“Jackass,” I mumbled and he chuckled under his breath; obviously his vampiric hearing was better than I thought it was.
Tanis leaned over the podium and the hostess gazed longingly into his eyes and her mouth fell open slightly but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
What in the hell? Ew, flirting much?
After a minute, Tanis looked over his shoulder and motioned for me to join him. To my surprise, we were escorted to a private table in the back of the crowded restaurant which was quiet, secluded, and really romantic.
Either he’s going to kill me or seduce me...please be the kill me thing. I don’t think I could resist him if he actually made an effort to seduce me! Ooh, that is so, so bad. I can’t believe I just said that! Huh. Do I want to be seduced by a vampire? Actually, Tanis isn’t vampirey at all...then again, what is? Should he be faster than a speeding bullet, sound the like Count from Sesame Street, and be cold as ice and sparkly? Ugh! If he was any of those things I would have kneed him in the balls for taking my seat in Creative Writing before siccing the boys on him. Damn it, I’m so out of my element right now but the seducing thing could be interesting.
Stop thinking about Tanis seducing you! I mentally scolded over and over but it did very little to alleviate my nerves.
Once seated and alone, I leaned across the table, closing the distance between us. “How did you do that?” I whispered, looking around to make sure that we really were alone—I didn’t want to share him, and was secretly hoping for the seducing Jay Dee thing.
“Do what?” he asked, seemingly uninterested and looked at the menu.
There was an air of confidence, pride and superiority, smugness and old world refinement about him that annoyed me, but strangely turned me on at the same time. When he was a smug jackass like that, I wanted to hit him; but when he opened the door and ordered for me, helped me with my jacket or did something overbearingly chivalrous like that, it turned me on.
I had issues.
“Get us a table like that!” I softly snapped at him, annoyed by his smug, hotness. “Did you give her a big tip or something?” I demanded under my breath; I hated it when people threw money around frivolously.
“No, not exactly,” he said, still sounding uninterested.
I softly growled under my breath and he chuckled.
“Flirting, figured as much,” I mumbled and leaned back.
Since the vampire across the table from me was irritating the shit out of me at that moment, and I was having problems not envisioning choking him out while attacking his pouty, sexy, velvety looking lips with mine, I looked around the restaurant, trying to look at anything but Tanis. The restaurant was nice, cozy, and romantic—as nice and romantic as you could find in an out of the way town like Bellingham I suppose. I had heard of the place but had never been there before. Nineteen-dollar appetizers and thirty-dollar main courses were not something I would spend money on.
When Tanis noted that he was irritating me, and that I was still growling at him, so he smiled. “Flirting?” he asked, overly amused, trying to steal my attention.
Of course it worked, it always did.
“I assure you, Miss Jay Dee, I was not flirting. It is a vampire thing,” he teasingly informed me.
“Huh?” I asked dumbfounded and he chuckled. “Explain...please?”
“I am not supposed to reveal the secrets of my people,” he said ominously with a mischievous smirk pulling at the corners of his sexy lips.
I leaned across the table, batted my lashes, and pouted my bottom lip out. I’ve never been good at flirting but I wanted to know everything about him.
Tanis laughed, shaking his head at my antics, and pushed my pouting bottom lip back in with his finger so I snapped my teeth at it. He quickly pulled his hand back and laughed even harder. “You are a naughty little bird,” he said, then licked his lips—maybe I wasn’t as bad at flirting as I thought I was. He leaned across the table, closing the space between us, his eyes moving over my face many times. “It is called thrall, or compulsion, depending on where you are from or how old you are,” he explained. “Thrall gives the wielder the ability to put a suggestion into someone’s mind.”
I’d only heard of stuff like that in books.
I guess all of those hours of mindless reading weren’t in vain after all.
“So you thralled the hostess into giving us a table?” I surmised.
“In essence,” he said. “I suggested that my name was on the top of the reservation list thus that is what she saw.”
Damn, that’s impressive...and seriously messed up.
“So it’s evil?” I blurted out.
“No,” he said and laughed again. “I mean, I suppose it could be used for evil. Then again, everything can be used for evil if you think about it. Like you for instance, you are the embodiment of evil and yet you do not even realize it,” he informed me.
My head tilted to the side. “What do you mean?” I asked the obvious.
The mischievous smirk was back and his eyes worked over my face many times. “You have no idea just how very evil you are. You possess an innocence which my presence has never had the honor, nay, the privilege, of being blessed with before, and that is what makes you so very evil,” he amusingly informed me and his finger softly started brushing against the back of my hand.
“Oh,” was all I could say, and even that I struggled to articulate...that vampire was one to talk! He was obviously the evil one between us. “Are you flirting with me?” I asked because I honestly couldn’t tell.
The smirk became even more predominant on his face. “Me? Never,” he purred and I lost the battle and whimpered which caused him to chuckle. “Back to your initial question,” he said, reassuringly patting my hand in an almost parental manner. “Usually thrall is a means of causing mischief or a tool for protecting oneself from humans…it is easier to thrall them into thinking that they cut themselves shaving than having them try to explain fang marks on their wrists.”
I snorted, rolling my eyes. “Nice,” I scoffed and he smiled; Tanis wasn’t nearly as funny as he thought he was.
“Romeo uses thrall to get laid when needed,” he said. “Usually he does not need to, however, sometimes mothers and daughters need persuaded into…never mind,” he said and cringed, effectively wiping the smirk from of his face, making him appear as an average, embarrassed, run-of-the-mill teenage boy. “Do you know what you would care to order?” he mumbled, his cheeks flushed from embarrassment.
“Ew,” I said, making a face. “That’s a mental picture I could have lived without.”
“My apologies,” he said, and a small, sheepish smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Remember, Miss Jay Dee, you make me blurt out what is in me head. What would tickle your fancy this evening?” he asked, motioning towards the menu in front of me which I still hadn’t looked at.
I rolled my eyes, opened the menu and promptly closed it.
“No.”
“Yes,” Tanis sang.
“Why?”
“Miss Jay Dee, I asked you to dinner,” he said as if it were obvious, because let’s face it, it was really damn obvious. But what wasn’t obvious was the reason why.
“Mr. Ashton...Tanis, you have to give me something here. A reason. Please.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Because I asked you,” he said, sounding unsure, as if he was trying to figure out where my question was leading.
I shook my head. “No. That isn’t good enough. Give me...you have to...why? You just met me! If you ha
dn’t noticed, I’m kind of a freak show…ask anyone, and…I mean…I don’t know what else, but you’ve gotta give me something here...other than dinner. Please,” I practically begged, whined and pleaded all at once.
The things that silly vampire reduced me to doing.
Tanis nodded, seemingly understanding my qualm. “Because I asked you to dinner,” he said with a warm, reassuring smile. “It has been far too long since I have enjoyed a meal with someone, let alone someone that...” he paused, his eyes moving over my face many times before he smiled fuller, seemingly finding what he was looking for, “…someone that is such intriguing company.”
I snorted; he was so full of it.
He shook his head, appearing mildly amused yet slightly frustrated. “As strange as this might be for you to hear,” he whispered, “especially coming from a vampire who is over three hundred years old, I find you very interesting and I enjoy your company very much.”
That was the most romantic thing I had ever heard in my young life…and that admittance was pathetic on so many levels that it wasn’t even funny, but pathetic-ness aside, it made me feel really good but super paranoid and suspicious at the same time.
“You’re so not getting laid,” I accidentally blurted out and instantly cringed, quickly hiding my flushing face behind the menu.
Tanis laughed, shaking his head but didn’t say anything.
God, could I make myself look more pathetic and stupid if I tried?
When the waitress came over to take our order, Tanis motioned to me so I reluctantly opened the menu and looked.
Great, no pressure!
“Ladies first,” he teasingly sang so I kicked him under the table, getting a grunt in return.
Cheap, cheap, cheap. What’s the cheapest thing on here? Oh God, there’s nothing cheap on this damn thing! Eleven bucks for a plate of soggy lettuce tossed with dry shaker cheese!? You’ve got to be kidding me! I’ll just get a stupid coke…Jesus, that’s five bucks! This cannot be happening. I got ten bucks…crap. Maybe he’ll let me owe him the dollar and change for tax and tip if I get the stupid salad...I hate salad. Damn it! I’m so hungry I could eat three of their signature forty-dollar steaks. Ugh!
Forbidden Alliance: A Werewolf's Tale (Forbidden Alliance Trilogy) Page 5
