Love Hurts (20 page)

Delaney stood beside him with her wallet in hand, waiting on the bar tender so she could order her drink. Her hair was soft and flowing, draping her shoulders beautifully. She wore jean shorts and a soft pink camisole. Her lips held a sheen from her frosty pink lip gloss. Sam was completely drawn in the moment she smiled shyly at him and tucked her hair behind her ear, revealing a diamond earring. Their eyes met for seconds but that was enough for him. He was drawn to her. She was beautiful and he was dying to know more.

He watched her every move as she waited for her drink. Her feet fidgeting below as she patiently waited. As soon as she had her drink she thanked the bartender and laughed. It might have been effortless, but to Sam it was music to his ears. Her voice was everything he ever imagined she would sound like. He had to say something to her before she went back to her table of friends.

“
You have amazing eyes,” he said, dragging his beer closer. He felt a bit silly complimenting a stranger, but he had to let her know he noticed her. He never anticipated her response. Delaney’s green eyes grew dark, and there was a sadness that swept over her. Her smile turned down and she lost the energy she had.

Sam touched her arm. “I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just, you’re beautiful, and I had to say something before you walked away and I lost my chance to.”

And in that moment her smile returned. She bit her lip. “You’re the only one who’s ever made me feel so special with such a simple compliment. Thanks for that.” She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, her floral scent flooding his senses, making his heart crash around in his chest. And she left, looking back and catching his mesmerized stare.

Frankie stood, he was out of answers. “I brought her. You do as you wish. I’m out of here.”

Sam relocked the door. And when he turned back around there she lay, awake, staring up at him. Sam hesitated.

Delaney sat up, clutching her head. She had a headache and her neck was terribly achy. She wasn’t even sure how she got to Sam’s or if maybe she had been there for some time. It only took a couple seconds before anger found her all over again. Reminding her she was upset.

“
Can we please talk?” Sam asked, watching her rise to her feet. She pushed her untidy hair from her eyes, stumbling, still a bit unsteady from hours before.

“
What is there to say?”

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn’t know. But he had to think of something before she took off and he never seen her again. “What you saw, what you think I did, it wasn’t like that at all.”

Delaney sat down, she felt a bit nauseous. She ran her hand through her hair trying to pull herself together. She looked down at her feet, she had no shoes on. She would figure that out later. “Did you sleep with that girl?”

Sam nodded.

“
Then it is the way I think it is. You lied to me. You cheated on me and you are not the person I thought you were.” She laced her hands together, hoping that was enough to keep from exploding.

She could barely bring herself to look at him. To her he was no longer the same person. He wasn’t Vance anymore. He was Sam. Just like Frankie had told her. She remembered their first kiss.

“
Have I told you how amazing you look right now?” he asked staring at her with the biggest most fulfilled smile on his face. She had caved and agreed to a date. And he took her to the best Italian restaurant in the state and after they walked the boardwalk by the water. She couldn’t stop smiling. Everything he did made her smile. The way he looked at her, the way he talked to her, the way he touched her. He was all about her and made her feel like the center of his universe. For once she felt important. She felt confident that she was the most important, even if it was only for a few hours.

They sat on the bench near the water. She felt the butterflies swirling in the pit of her stomach, her nagging conscience begging him to kiss her. She wanted to know how it felt to have his lips pressed against hers, more than anything that’s all she wanted.

“
What are you smiling about?” he asked her, his eyes lighting up as he stared into hers. He didn’t allow her to answer because he wanted the same thing she did. She touched her fingertips to his cheek, happy to be near him. But she was afraid if he made her wait any longer she would go mad.

His fingers grazed her jaw line so carefully it took her breath away. He guided her mouth to his and she felt instant fireworks. It was a moment she couldn’t explain, but the moment that her lips connected with his she knew the answers to every question she had about love. She knew she found her love.

“
What I did, I did it for you. And before you tell me how full of shit I am let me explain.” Sam sat down next to Delaney. He picked up her hand, squeezing it tightly as he began. “This thing you have been trying to understand, it’s a lot more complex then I have ever let on.”

“
I don’t have sex with woman because I am afraid I will hurt them.” Sam swallowed, watching Delaney’s reaction. Her eye stayed connected to his and for the first time he felt like it was time to be honest with her. She had been waiting for the truth for a long time.

“
I was afraid of hurting you. So I made up excuses. I knew eventually it would have to be explained but I was too afraid of losing you to be truthful.”

Delaney scanned Sam’s eyes. She didn’t understand. But in his eyes she could see the genuineness. “And you didn’t think this would hurt me?”

“
I mean
physically
,” Sam confessed, his heart picking up beats, thudding in his chest a mile a minute. “I never wanted to harm you. I care too much about you to let sex destroy what I think we have. So, I did what I needed to.” Sam knew Delaney didn’t understand. “My mother is human. But my father is… he’s an evil man. Some might say a demon. I know it sounds really ridiculous. But it’s the truth.” Sam looked away.

Delaney digested his words, closing her eyes and letting them swim around in her head.

“
You’re sitting here telling me that demons exist?” Delaney asked.

Sam nodded. “I’m telling you my father is an incubus.”

“
A demon that thrives off of women, Frankie told me this the other day at school. I thought he was joking!” Delaney’s breath hitched in her chest. She couldn’t believe how the pieces were falling into place. And worse—they were making sense.

“
Well yeah. I wasn’t aware he brought this up to you. Or why you would hear this and
not
mention it to me.” Sam was a bit perplexed.

“
I guess the realist in me thought it was too crazy to be the truth.” She touched his face. “You were running around behind my back with another girl.”

“
I talked to my mother a few days ago. She told me that I could control it, that I didn’t have to be like my father, that I wasn’t my father. But before I gave it a try with you I wanted to be sure that I could. I didn’t want to hurt you.” Sam leaned in, kissing her cheek, his hands finding her face on impulse.

Delaney sighed, unable to accept what Sam was offering. It didn’t make sense. It proved a lot. And it was a lot better than the other reason—that he was simply a cheating jerk that broke her heart. But in Delaney’s ordinary life these sorts of things didn’t happen. And she didn’t know how to believe it.

“
It’s more the fact that you lied to me then it is the bizarre aspect of this. As crazy as that sounds, I would rather believe you’re a demon then that you lied to me.” She could get past genetics, she couldn’t get past deceitfulness.

Sam dropped his hands from her face. “Then I don’t think there is anymore I need to say to try and win you back.” He stood up, moving across the room. His guard was down. He knew all he needed to know about Delaney. “Because of who I am I have done a lot of bad things in my life, things that would make you afraid of me. Things you would think classify me as a monster.”

“
Maybe I am a monster. But I tried hard to be the total opposite of that because of you. I wanted to be with you. I didn’t want this way of life for me anymore. I was worried you wouldn’t accept me, and I was right.”

Sam took a long inhale of air, holding it in until his insides felt like they were burning. He exhaled. “I knew Rose before I met you. Back when I lived in Arizona. I was the one who attacked her. I lied to you since the engagement party. And I probably was never going to tell you because I don’t see the person back then as who I am now.”

Delaney felt the air escaping her lungs. She couldn’t speak. It was as if someone had sucker punched her. Her whole body tingled. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from Sam. Suddenly her brain kicked back into gear, and she was now aware her hands were mid air trembling.

“
I can’t believe you.” She forced out. “I can’t believe you’re sitting here telling me this, that you hurt Rose. And you’re not upset!”

“
I am upset. I have been for some time now,” Sam argued.

“
You don’t look it!” Delaney leapt from the couch. “It’s been three years since the day she was attacked. And you don’t look upset at all. You left her there to die. You wanted to kill her!”

Sam stood up. Delaney threw her hand forward pleading with him to stay where he was. Her eyes were filled with rage as she stared at the man she thought she loved. The man she thought she knew all about at one time. She didn’t know what was worse. The fact he cheated, lied, or attempted to kill her best friend. Or how he led her to believe she loved him for all that he wasn’t.

“
Stay where you are,” Delaney ordered. But Sam refused to listen. He hated seeing her so shaken up. He hated being so ugly and awful in her eyes. He took hold of her shoulders, his hands clamping down firmly. She fought against his stare, but it only took a few seconds before he gained control. He calmed her quickly, stroking her hair as he held her to his chest trying to release all the fear from her body. All the fear he caused. Her body soaked in all that Sam was like a powerful substance.

“
I love you. You have to know that I wanted to be good for you. I would never hurt you, Delaney. You are and always will be the one great thing in my life, even if you hate me.” He kissed her cheek. She nodded.

“
I love you too, Sam.” She mumbled. Sam knew it was her heart talking, and when all was said and done she would go back to using her head and forget about her feelings for him.

“
I wanted to be with you so bad. I wanted to marry you. I wanted to do everything with you. Even make love to you.” He squeezed her tight, his heart aching at the thought of never holding her again.

“
I want all that too, Sam.” Delaney slurred. “Make love to me now. I don’t want to be with anyone but you.”

Sam laughed softly. “You’re only saying this because you’re under a trance. You won’t feel like this for long.”

Delaney pulled away looking into his eyes. “But I want to feel this way forever. Please, I don’t ever want to lose you.” She begged, pressing her lips delicately into his. She closed her eyes, tears escaping.

“
That’s the problem. You can’t feel like this forever.” Sam lifted her chin, placing a soft kiss on her lips, brushing her hair from her heavy eyes. “I need you to forget about me, because I don’t have it in me to hurt you. So please just forget about me.”

The thought of killing Delaney was sickening. Sam knew what he had to do. He had to get her far away from his house and hope he was able to make Delaney forget what had happened. Even if it didn’t work, the further away she was the faster he could take off.