Bloodlust (5 page)

“You don’t get that in Michigan,” he murmured.

A tangy, vanilla scent drifted by on the warm breeze. Jason’s heartbeat sped up.
Sienna.
He didn’t even have to turn around to know she’d come up the path behind him—he recognized her perfume.

“Welcome to California,” she said. “Nice view, huh?”

“Yeah.” He kept his eyes on the ocean. He knew
she’d
be a pretty nice view as well. But he wasn’t the kind of guy who went after someone else’s girlfriend. And not looking at her sure helped him stay that way.

“Have you seen the beach yet?” Sienna asked.

“Uh…no. I thought maybe this
was
the beach.”

“Do you see any sand?”

“No,” Jason acknowledged. “But the water’s at least fifty feet below us. I thought maybe the whole ‘beach house’ thing was a euphemism.”

Sienna snorted. “We don’t do euphemisms. Coming up with clever wordplay would take valuable time away from the grooming and shopping that is essential to SoCal life. You’ve heard how vain and materialistic we are out here, right?” she joked. “When we say ‘beach house,’ we mean it. Come on.”

She led the way over to a jumble of rocks on the edge of the cliff. In the middle of a boulder a deep step had been cut. Jason peered over Sienna’s shoulder to see a steep stairway plunging down the side of the cliff. In the moonlight he could make out a stretch of pale sand below. “Looks dangerous,” he said.

Sienna shot him an amused look. “Sometimes dangerous is worth it,” she said.

They don’t do euphemisms. But do they do
double entendres
?
Jason wondered. Was Sienna trying to tell him something? He shoved the thought out of his head and followed her.

She skipped down the steps as if she’d done it a million times. She probably had, Jason knew. Adam had told him that Sienna and Brad had been together since they were freshmen. She must’ve spent a lot of time at his place.

When they reached the beach, Sienna slipped out of her sandals and took off across the sand barefoot. Jason pulled off his Tevas and left them in a pile of other shoes at the foot of the steps. He looked around at the soft white sand and the ocean—black in the darkness, except for where silver moonlight rippled across the surface. It took his breath away.

He turned his attention to a giant bonfire that had been built about twenty feet out from the base of the cliff. He hadn’t seen it from the top. He got it now: This was where the real party was. A bunch of kids from school ranged along the beach, some swimming, a few playing Frisbee. But most of them were just sitting in groups and couples around the fire, drinking beer.

“Think fast!” Sienna tossed him a bottle from the row of huge coolers set up away from the heat of the fire. He caught it easily but didn’t open it. For one thing, it might explode from being shaken up by her throw. For another, he didn’t plan to drink tonight; he had to drive Dani and Kristy home.

“Come meet my best friend, Belle.” Sienna tugged him over to a tall girl with short blond hair. Jason’s skin tingled where Sienna’s fingers touched him. “Belle, this is the new guy,” Sienna said.

Jason nodded at her. He vaguely recalled Adam saying something about Belle in his rundown of the DeVere High hierarchy. But he’d been too distracted by Sienna to pay much attention.

“You didn’t tell me he was an ‘Absolut’ cutie,” Belle purred. She smiled at Jason and a dimple appeared in each cheek.

Now here’s a girl who seems friendly,
Jason thought.
And she herself is a cutie.
She had blond hair tousled around her heart-shaped face, and pearly skin that gleamed in the moonlight. Her green eyes were bright with intelligence and playfulness. Jason felt that this was a girl he should want to get to know better. But that electricity—that snap he got from Sienna—it just wasn’t there with Belle.

“‘Absolut’ is a word that you can only use once in a while,” Sienna answered. She flicked her eyes from the top of Jason’s head to his bare toes. “But I guess he’s worth it.”

With Sienna, the electricity was never far away. As she gave him her seal of approval, Jason immediately got a rush.
Okay, not everything happens instantaneously,
he told himself firmly.
Give Belle, like, five minutes.

He turned to Belle and looked her up and down, in what he hoped was a not-obvious way. She didn’t have Sienna’s curves, but her body was thin and athletic, and she moved with the grace of a dancer. He noticed a diamond sparkling from a ring in her belly button, and smiled. It was sexy. “Did that hurt?” he asked, with a nod at Belle’s navel.

“God, yes.” Belle ran one finger over her piercing. “I wish someone had told me that before I got it! Do you like it?”

“Yeah,” he said honestly.

“Good,” Belle murmured. Somehow she’d gotten so close, he could practically kiss her.

“Hey! Back off, loser,” a harsh voice interrupted.

Jason turned in surprise. A lean guy with shoulder-length brown hair was glaring at him, his blue eyes boring into Jason’s.

“Excuse me?” Jason said.

“You heard me. Back off.” The dude stepped closer—close enough for Jason to smell his extreme beer breath. Then, weirdly, he began to giggle. “Check it out! I totally freaked the new guy!” He slapped Jason on the back in what was supposed to be a friendly way, but the blow was just a little too hard. “Relax, man.”

“Who are you?” Jason asked.

“Dominic. Belle’s boyfriend,” the guy said, his words slurring a tiny bit. “Didn’t she tell you about me?” He dropped his arm across Belle’s shoulders and gave her a drunken kiss.

“Her boyfriend?” Jason couldn’t hide the astonishment in his voice. This guy looked way too moody to be with the beautiful, bubbly Belle.

“Yeah.” Dominic looked Jason up and down, his eyes hard even though the smile stayed on his face. “What’s so weird about that?”

“Nothing,” Jason said quickly, trying to cover his surprise. “I just didn’t know.”

“Dom, let’s go sit by the fire,” Belle suggested. “You’re wasted.”

“So what?” he demanded. “It’s a party.”

Belle pulled him by the hand. “Let’s just go sit.” She gave Jason a lingering smile as they slowly walked off.

Jason shook his head. “Let me guess. It’s a prerequisite for every girl in the Heights to have a boyfriend?” he asked Sienna.

“Well, DeVere’s a small school. And we
are
all seniors,” Sienna pointed out. “We’ve had plenty of time to hook up with one another. But you never know what might happen.”

Jason gazed at her thoughtfully. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Stay away from Belle, though. Dominic’s the jealous type. And you’re already on his bad side.”

Jason gaped at her. “I met him, like, thirty seconds ago. How am I on his bad side?”

“Because you were standing within a hundred yards of his woman,” Sienna said, rolling her eyes. “Just ignore him.”

“The new boy has clearly hit his stride early. Look at him hanging with the most flammable girl at the party.” Adam appeared in front of them, filming and narrating as usual. “Unfortunately he’s in for a disappointment. The lovely Sienna is as untouchable as she is irresistible,” Adam continued.

“You’re going to give me a copy of that tape, right?” Brad asked, coming up from behind Adam. He plucked the camcorder from Adam’s grasp in one easy movement and turned it on the film junkie. “Let’s take a look behind the camera,” he said, imitating Adam’s narrator voice. “Who is the mysterious voyeur who sneaks into our parties and films our every move?”

“I didn’t sneak in,” Adam said. “I came with Jason. Right?”

Jason blinked in surprise. He hadn’t realized that Adam was crashing. But Adam was his first California friend—he had to back him up. “Of course.”

Brad turned off the camera and handed it back to Adam. “I’m just kidding,” he said. “The police chief’s son is always welcome. It’ll keep us from getting busted for underage drinking.”

“I’m flattered,” Adam said dryly.

“What the hell are you
thinking
?” a guy shouted. “I could kill you, loser!”

They all spun toward the bonfire. A bunch of kids were rushing to get away from the commotion, and for a moment, Jason couldn’t see what was happening. Then the way cleared, leaving Dominic and another guy alone in front of the fire. The guy towered over Dominic. He looked like a football player. This was not going to be pretty.

“I’ll kill you,” Dominic shouted drunkenly. “That’s my girlfriend you’re enjoying.”

Jason shot a look at Belle, who stood off to one side. She didn’t seem particularly bothered by the scene. But Dominic was almost apoplectic. He shoved the bigger guy in the chest.

“Hey, man, she asked me if I wanted to do a body shot,” the guy snapped. “Why don’t you yell at
her
?”

Dominic didn’t answer. He just charged at the bigger guy, ramming his head into the guy’s stomach. Jason expected him to bounce right off the shelf of muscle, but instead, the other guy went down, crumpling to the sand as if he’d been stabbed in the gut.

Dominic fell on top of him and began punching him with both fists, moving faster than Jason would’ve thought possible. The mountain of flesh groaned and tried to push him off, but Dominic didn’t budge.

Jason shook his head. The guy was twice as big as Dominic, but Dominic was going to beat him unconscious. Or worse. Jason was running across the sand before he’d even made a conscious decision. He hit Dominic from the side, using his own momentum to bear him to the ground. They both fell hard, but Dominic didn’t seem to feel it. He had squirmed out from beneath Jason in a second.

He turned and straddled Jason’s chest, eyes burning with rage. Lightning-fast, his hand shot out and grabbed Jason’s neck, squeezing with unbelievable strength.

Get him off you!
a voice screamed in Jason’s head. He remembered the jujitsu classes he’d had as a kid—just because an opponent was stronger didn’t mean you couldn’t beat him. Jason knew he simply had to out-think Dominic. He concentrated on his own movements, forcing himself to ignore the crushing pain in his windpipe. Then he reached up and stabbed his thumbs into pressure points on either side of Dominic’s neck, just above his collarbone.

Dominic’s body went slack. Only for an instant, but it was enough. Jason scrambled away and got to his feet, turning back to face his opponent. Amazingly, Dominic was on his feet already. He glared at Jason, his blue eyes crazed.
He’s going to charge me,
Jason realized, and dropped into a fighting stance, ready for Dominic’s attack.

But just then, Brad grabbed Dominic in a head-lock. He gave Jason a grim smile. “I’ll take it from here.”

Jason nodded and stumbled away from the fight. But he could feel Dominic’s eyes on him. Filled with hate.

“A
re you all right?” Sienna asked as she and Belle rushed over to Jason.

“Yeah,” Jason answered. The word clawed its way out of his damaged throat. He felt as if he’d swallowed a mouthful of sand.

“Well, you shouldn’t be!” Sienna snapped. “Are you crazy, going after Dominic? You’re lucky you’re not dead.”

“He’s not
that
strong,” Jason muttered. But, in truth, Dominic was a lot stronger than he looked. Jason could usually size up his opponent pretty accurately, but Dominic’s strength had caught him completely off guard.

Jason’s eyes moved back to the fight. Brad had Dominic pinned, and Dominic had stopped struggling. Their faces were only about an inch apart as Brad talked Dominic down. The situation had clearly shifted from red alert to yellow.

“Give the boy a break,” Belle told Sienna. She turned to Jason. “I think you were seriously brave.”

Jason didn’t answer. He wasn’t really in the mood to be praised by the girl whose boyfriend had just tried to strangle him.

“He wouldn’t have had to be brave at all if you didn’t love seeing Dominic pull his jealousy act,” Sienna said, and sighed. “You knew what would happen when you asked Matt to do a body shot.”

“Oh, please,” Belle said, waving off the criticism.

Matt was the huge football player, Jason surmised. His thoughts came slowly, as if his brain had been scrambled with a fork. He’d been in fights before, but Dominic had really done some damage. He sucked in a deep breath of the chilly night air. It still surprised him how fast the temperature in Malibu dropped at night. Part of being so close to the ocean. He glanced over at the water. It was utterly dark now. Some clouds had drifted across the moon, blotting out the sparkles of silver light on the waves.

Suddenly, the ocean didn’t seem beautiful anymore. The inky water looked…ominous. Like it was hiding secrets. Jason had the urge to go check on Dani, make sure she was okay. “I’m going to head up to the house. See if I can find any fights to get into up there,” he told Sienna and Belle. Belle laughed, but Sienna didn’t look amused.

“You’ve had your share of fighting for one night,” she answered, her dark eyes stormy.

She was scared for me,
Jason realized. He didn’t know how to respond to that, especially because her boyfriend had just saved his ass. So he didn’t say anything at all, just turned and headed over to the stairs in the cliffside.

The trip back up to the house felt like it took forever. He was really feeling the effects of the fight. He wanted a beer—or three—to take the edge off the pain radiating through several key body parts, and there was a cooler full of them right inside the door. But being the designated driver for the night, he decided he’d have to stick to something nonalcoholic.

Jason managed to find a can of Mountain Dew stuck in among the Hansen’s kiwi and strawberry diet soda in the fridge.

The sound of girls shrieking, guys bellowing, and then all laughing led him to the living room. Harberts and a couple of other guys were playing Madden NFL on the Xbox. Dani’s friend Kristy was cheering them on, along with a couple of other girls who looked like freshmen. No Danielle in the mix. Jason wasn’t crazy about the fact that she’d split from her friend. He figured it would have been harder for her to get into trouble if she’d stayed with the group.