I lifted my head and rested my chin on his chest so I could look at his gorgeous face. “Is that what you are?” Before he could answer I put something else together. “Hey, isn’t that what the dog is?”
He slid an arm behind his head and smiled crookedly at me. I felt everything in me quiver at how much I loved him. “Yes and yes.”
My eyes widened, “Is the dog a vampire?”
He chuckled softly, “No, Laney. But she does have some special qualities.”
Alrighty, gonna see the dog in a whole new light.
I slid my arm across his chest and rested my head on him again. This was stressful. I didn’t want to be without him. Especially when he couldn’t protect me from the demon queen. I felt both of his arms slide around me and press me against his body. “She’ll sneak off as soon as I leave.” That wasn’t a whole lot of reassurance. “Felix will be here and he would never let anything happen to you.” That made me feel a little better.
“Where will she go?”
“Who knows? Setting her free for a day keeps her stable.”
I lifted my head and gave him a major crazy look. “Stable? She’s bat-shit crazy!”
He laughed, that sharp melodic laugh of his that was pure ecstasy on the ears. “I meant with her need.”
I raised a questioning eyebrow at him and he smirked back at me.
“She’s been in a constant state of need since she changed.”
“In need of what?” Blood I imagined, but nope…
“Her bond with Oscar makes her the way she is. Their connection makes her crave him. She hasn’t mated with him since she turned and it wears on her.”
That was too much information. And I’m pretty sure my expression got that point across to him.
He laughed at me again and pulled me up his body so that my lips were touching his and he kissed me deep and slow, awakening all those suppressed feeling of wanting to
really
be with him.
I slipped my hand up his T-shirt so I could feel his perfect skin. I wanted to get a look at his tattoo again but right then I wanted something else even more. I slid my leg over him and straddled his body. He rumbled deep inside his throat. I pressed myself against him as our lips stayed connected. In an instant he flipped me onto my back and was over me. He stared deep into my eyes for a brief moment and then started kissing down the side of my neck. I ran my hands up the back of his shirt and wrapped my legs around him. He pressed himself against me and it was obvious he wanted what I wanted. And just as badly. His mouth, not his lips, was on my neck. I could feel sharp fangs pressing against my skin. If I moved at all he’d break the surface. I wasn’t scared but I wasn’t moving either. His body pushed hard against mine and so did his teeth against my neck. My breath caught and I felt a quick pain.
Had he done it? Did he bite me?
I felt his tongue sweep across my neck, along with his cool breath, and then his lips worked their way back to mine. I felt a little disappointed.
How twisted am I? I actually want my boyfriend to bite me.
He rested his forehead against mine. “I’ve gotta go,” he breathed.
He rolled off of me and sat on the edge of the bed for a moment. Then he stood and headed for the door.
“You’re going now?” I shot up onto my knees on the bed.
“I have to,” he said with his back to me. He threw me a quick glance over his shoulder and then he left the room.
I jumped off the bed and followed him. He was halfway down the hall when I grabbed his arm. He spun on me and thumped me against the wall, pinning me there with his body. He was holding both my wrists up against the wall by my shoulders. His fangs were peeking out from between his lips. And his eyes smoldered on me.
“Take me with you,” I breathed.
“I wish I could…” His eyes lingered on my neck. He let go of my wrists and I tried to pull him closer by the front of his shirt. He kept one hand against the wall and the other hand worked its way to my neck, his thumb finding the vein there and lightly rubbing it. “This right here,” his voice was ragged, “could be disastrous and destroy us.”
I questioned him with my eyes.
He rested his forehead against mine, his lips just millimeters from mine. “I’ve sworn fealty to the coven, to our leader. If I screw up, they’ll remove me from the area. I won’t be able to see you.” I felt a fear I’d never imagined before. He kissed me softly. “You are my future, Laney. I won’t let anything take you away from me.” I believed him with everything I had.
“I need to go,” he said again, but instead of stepping away he got closer. If that was even possible. “I will see you tomorrow,” he whispered against my lips.
I felt my fear shift back to lust. To that hunger my body had for his. He slowly trailed his fingers down my cheek, my neck and all the way down my side to my back. He had one hand pressed against the small of my back, the other up higher. I felt my body melt against his as he brought me against him. He leaned closer and pressed his lips against my neck and spoke softly, “When I take you,” and with those four words I felt a familiar throbbing start down low, “and I will take you, it will be beautiful between us and not with any others around. Just us. Alone.”
My body was like butter then. If he had let go of me, I’m positive I would’ve just hit the floor in a pool of Laney. His eyes found mine and burned into me. He kissed me again. Long and slow.
“Hey!” A shrill voice broke through our private little moment. We both turned our heads toward the kitchen where the gothic princess herself was heading our way. “You two smell like you’re in heat!” Oliver turned his attention back to me and I instinctively turned mine to him. His eyes holding me again. I could see her out of the corner of my eye. She was close and had her hands on her hips staring at us. “Control yourselves or
she
can’t stay here.”
“You have no say in who can or can’t stay here,” he said levelly, without removing his stare from mine.
She made an indignant sound then continued, “You will
not
do this in
my
house!”
His head slowly turned to her, “This is not your house. It’s mine!” He’d started out quietly but ended that statement loud and harsh.
She made another offended sound, then said, “How dare you!”
He let go of me then and got in her face. She took a step back and so did I, against the wall to steady myself. “This house would be Hayden’s before it would ever be yours.” She narrowed her eyes at him and I pressed myself against the wall a little more. He lowered his voice and in a low hiss he said, “She’s the only reason you’re here.” Her eyes widened and then her head dropped and so did her arms from her hips. He’d hit a sensitive spot.
He walked past her toward the front door and I scooted past her and after him as quickly as possible before her bitch switch was flipped back on.
Lola was lying behind the front door. Oliver crouched beside her and she lifted her head to look at him. Her ears perked up and her tail began swishing back and forth across the tile. He petted her head and began to speak to her in Vampiric. After his last word to her they both looked up at me at the same time.
He stood and took my hand in his. Lola moved out of the way and we started out the door. Felix was suddenly beside me and it caused me to jump a little. He flashed me a reassuring smile as I stepped onto the front porch behind Oliver. I reluctantly walked Oliver out with Felix now in tow. The garage door was open and Isaac appeared, wheeling himself out from underneath the front end of an older car that was raised up on jacks. The car was a faded medium blue color and said Camaro in cursive on the side.
“Hey guys,” he said as stood and wiped his greasy hands on a filthy red shop rag. “What’s going on?” He smiled and looked from one face to another.
“I’ve got to leave for the night,” Oliver said and I could see the smile on Isaac’s face fading fast. Oliver grasped Isaac’s shoulder and said, “Sorry man.” Then he walked past him into the garage. Isaac stared down at his dirty rag and nodded. I furrowed my brow in confusion. Why on earth would Isaac be upset that Oliver was leaving?
The garage held another car and Oliver was climbing into it. As I reached him, he was sitting in the front seat of a mid-size SUV. “Whose car is this?” I asked as I checked this mysterious new vehicle.
He put the key in the ignition and started the engine. Then he looked into my eyes and said, “Mine.” Just a one word response. My eyes narrowed again. This time on Oliver. There was still so much I didn’t know about him. Lola was sitting right beside me. He spoke to her once more in Vampiric before he turned his attention to me. He pulled me closer by one of my arms that I had crossed in front of me. He hugged me tight from inside the car. He kissed my cheek and rested his forehead against mine, then whispered, “I love you, Laney.” I felt my eyes fill with tears and I slid my arms around his chest. “Please don’t cry,” he said, and leaned back so he could look into my eyes. I tried hard not to, but telling me not to only made it harder to hold back. “I will be back as soon as I can,” he said softly. I nodded, folding my arms over my chest again. He held my face in his hands and gently kissed my lips. When he let go I stepped back and he closed the door and smiled sadly at me through the car window as he slid on a pair of super-dark sunglasses.
Lola leaned against my leg as Oliver began pulling out of the driveway and I reached down to touch the top of her head. We stood there, the dog and I, side-by-side in the late afternoon sunshine and watched Oliver back his dark gray Dodge Nitro out of the garage and into the cul-de-sac. He waved once and then drove away. I felt my chest catch at the thought of him leaving me there.
I’ve been left here alone with a house full of vampires and crazies.
Oh, and a vampire dog that seemed to be glued to my side.
Isaac’s movement caught my attention as he trudged past Felix toward the front door. The garage door began slowly moving, making a squeaky sound as it rolled down to close. Felix reached out for my hand and led me back inside the house.
Chapter 11 - Purple Haired Demon on the Loose
I tried my best not to cry. I even bit the inside of my cheek and then reminded myself that drawing blood, even in my mouth, wasn’t a wise idea in a house full of vampires.
I plopped down on the couch under the front window and Felix sat on the other side. “He’ll be back tomorrow.” I heard that deep booming voice bounce around inside my head. I shot Felix the look of death.
He put his hands up in surrender and said, out loud, “Sorry.” If I could hear his thoughts, could he hear mine? God, I hoped not.
“He had no choice, you know,” Felix told me. He sounded like he was trying to reassure me. I didn’t want to think about any of it. I sank back into the couch and stretched my legs out in front of me. Lola scooted underneath them so they were resting across her back. I tried to ignore Felix and stared straight ahead at a bookshelf.
“Delaney,” Felix said as quietly as I imagined he could. I shot him a look out of the corner of my eye. “If he disobeys orders,” e had my attention and I focused on him, “He could end up receiving a dishonorable release.” My forehead scrunched at him trying to understand the terminology he was using. He continued, “That’s the lightest sentence we could hope for.” Okay…So what I was getting out of this was that vampires, at least the coven my vampire love was associated with, had rules and harsh consequences if you didn’t follow them…This wasn’t making me feel any better.
We sat there quietly for a few minutes while I rolled the terminology around in my head. It sounded like the army to me. Yet, I knew nothing about any armed services, so I really had no clue. Then suddenly Felix started speaking some serious randomness. “Have you ever eaten pink marshmallows?” My eyes widened and both eyebrows uncontrollably rose.
What the…?
“I like the little mini ones. The bag with the different colors and flavors, you know?” My expression hadn’t changed. If anything, my mouth may have been hanging open some. His eyes moved slightly, like he was telling me to look at something. I glanced in the direction of the entryway and sure enough, something even more odd was going on there. Julz had her back pressed against the wall like she was being really sneaky. She was inching her way across the wall to the front door. Felix snapped his fingers quietly and I looked at him. He shook his head slightly like I wasn’t supposed to notice her at all. “Marshmallows?” he said again. “Have you had the mini colored ones?”
“Uh, yeah, I think so.” It was really heard not to stare at what Miss Freak-Show was doing. I tried to watch from the corner of my eye.
“Which is your favorite?”
“Huh?”
What the hell was he talking about?
“Marshmallows? Which is your favorite of the mini ones?”
Are you freaking kidding me?
What the hell is going on here?
“Um, uh…the green ones, I guess.”