Night's Promise (16 page)

“Fuck me, Duncan.”

“We were—”

“No. I want you to fuck me. I want to feel you on top of me, like before. I want to feel your arms around me, your mouth on me.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking of me. Angel, I’ll hurt you.”

“No, you won’t. I will never believe you would ever hurt me. Please?” As an afterthought she added, “I promise to let you know if it hurts.”

She stared at him a moment, careful to stay perfectly still no matter how badly her body wanted to move. When he nodded, she lowered to kiss him, her hair forming a curtain around them.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, one hand holding the back of her head, forcing her to remain in their kiss. Lightning fast, she felt the bed beneath her, and Duncan’s weight pressing into her. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she moaned into their kiss.

“Angel, I don’t want to hurt—”

She cut him off with a kiss. “You won’t.” She placed a gentle kiss on his forehead then sucked his lower lip into her mouth and released it. “Show me the stars?”

He devoured her mouth in response as his body began to withdraw from hers. He thrust into her, and Melissa wrapped the sensations around her. She felt his mouth tugging on her neck, the same spot he’d bit her before. Her entire body began to tense as his thrusts became harder, faster, his mouth matching the frantic pace.

“Drink,” she gasped.

A sharp pain in her neck heightened her pleasure rather than detracted from it. Beneath closed lids her eyes rolled up into her head. Her fingers dug into his flesh, and a scream ripped from her throat as she was pushed over the edge into an orgasm more intense than the last. As her body trembled she could feel him push into her one, two more times before his body stilled and he growled into her neck.

His tongue closed the wound on her neck and he placed a kiss against the mark. All of his weight rested on her, but she welcomed it. Melissa never wanted to move, she never wanted to leave this room or Duncan’s embrace.

He tried to roll off her, to pull away, but she refused to release him. “Stay,” she asked.

“I’m crushing you.”

“Yeah, but I like it.”

He chuckled and moved them so they were side by side. Melissa pouted at his loss and he bit lightly on her lip.

“I’m sorry you were in so much pain.” His playful manner was gone instantly.

“I don’t remember that.” Looking into his eyes she smiled, tracing his lips with her forefinger. “What I will always remember about tonight is how the man I loved was patient and gentle, and bit the hell out of his tongue just to make sure it was special for me.”

“Oh, Angel, you deserved more. You deserved roses and candlelight and chocolate, and all that romantic shit I suck at.”

“If I had the choice to do it all over again, the night you described or what we did, there’s no contest. Duncan, I would gladly suffer any amount of pain to be able to feel what I felt with you.”

“Why do you have such faith in me? Gods know I’ve never done anything in my entire life to deserve it. I’m not a good man. I’m a killer. Mel, you deserve someone who—”

She stopped him. “My trust is not easily given, Duncan. It’s the most precious thing I have. I don’t care who you are around anyone else. I know in my heart that you will never hurt me. And quite honestly, that’s all that matters. I won’t listen to you trying to convince me that you’re a bad man. I’ll never believe that you would ever hurt me.”

“Angel…”

“I know we may not be forever, Duncan. I’m okay with that,” she lied, praying he wasn’t inside her mind at that moment. “But while we are together, I want you to know one very important thing.”

“And what’s that?” He smiled.

“If you ever badmouth yourself to me again, I will get out of this bed, go upstairs, get a knife and stab you.”

He laughed, pulling her close. “Quite the violent little thing, aren’t you?”

“I have a lot of pent up aggression. Want to help me work some off?” she flirted.

“Aren’t you sore?”

“A little. But if you’re not interested…” Melissa began to rise from the bed but Duncan pulled her back down to him.

Lounging half on top of him, she laughed as he tickled her sides. All playfulness left when she stared in his eyes, her heart filled with love. Their kiss was frantic, as though neither could get enough of the other.

Chapter Ten

“Mel?”

Melissa had just stepped out of the shower when she heard her brother calling. Quickly wrapping her body in a bathrobe, and winding a towel around her hair, she went to the door to answer him.

“Coming,” she called back. Taking a look in the mirror to assure herself that she didn’t look any different, she prepared herself to see him. Walking out of the bathroom, she slowly walked down the stairs, following her brother’s voice. “What’s up?” she asked casually. “Why aren’t you at La’s? You two didn’t fight did you?”

“I’m meeting her at the club. I haven’t seen you at CS lately.”

“I’ve only been gone a few nights.” She shrugged, walking past him to get water from the fridge.

“Four.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Not counting the night you disappeared, you’ve been gone four nights. This isn’t like you. You’re not still worried about
him
are you?”

“No, Gareth. Honestly I haven’t thought about him in days. I’ve just been a little, preoccupied…”

His eyes narrowed as she shifted, her fingers playing with the bottle cap.

“Mel, I’m gonna find out what happened. You can tell me or…” Gareth shrugged.

Oh dear gods no.
“You wouldn’t.”

“You know I will.”

“You’re a big bully.”

“I’m looking out for my little sister. Tell me what’s been going on.”

“Now, Gareth, calm down,” she said, trying to make her voice soothing as she backed slowly from him. She would never be afraid of him, but the last thing she needed was him inside her head. “I’ve been seeing this guy I met—”

Gareth roared. “Who is he? I want to know who the fuck he is right now.”

“Gareth…” She tried to placate him.

“I want to meet him, Mel. I want to meet him and let him know that if he lays a finger on you, my face is the last thing he’ll see in this life.”

She sighed, her fingers pressing against her temple. “I’m not a child,” she told him softly.

“I know you’re not a child,” her brother yelled. “How serious are things between you two?”

Melissa looked away from him, her head tilting slightly to cover the side of her neck that still held Duncan’s mark. She didn’t want Gareth to know what they had been doing, but she wouldn’t lie to him either.

A second later she felt a hand turning her head and pulling the bathrobe from her neck.

“I’ll kill him. Who is he? He’s a dead man. What’s his name Melissa?”

“You think I’ll tell you now? I won’t let you go bully him,” she screamed back.

“You’re my sister,” Gareth yelled. “I don’t want some guy treating you like you’re a—” He froze mid-sentence.

“Oh no, please, finish that thought. You don’t want some guy treating me like I’m what? A woman? A whore? What?”

“I don’t want you to get hurt. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” His head bowed slightly, he left the room.

Setting the bottle down on the counter, she left the kitchen. She found him easily, sitting in the living room on the couch, head still lowered in defeat. Melissa sat down next to him, laying her head on his shoulder, the way she had done so often when she was younger.

“When did you grow up? I look at you and I can’t believe the woman you’ve turned into. When did this happen? Why didn’t anyone tell me? When did you stop being fourteen?”

“Gareth, I’m always going to be your little sister. I’m always going to love you and you will always be my hero. But I’m not a little girl anymore.”

“Does he treat you right?” Gareth’s voice was soft.

“I wouldn’t be with him if he didn’t.” Her brother’s arm circled her shoulders.

“Will I ever get to meet him?”

“Yes.”

“Can I still kill him if he hurts you?”

She chuckled. “Maybe.”

“Maybe.” He looked at her and Melissa could feel the love and concern radiating off him. “Is he… Is he vampire?”

She looked at him skeptically. “Do you really want to know?”

“No. But tell me anyway.”

“He is. And yes, I’ve let him drink from me,” she told him before he could ask what she knew would be his next question.

“Gods, I did not need to know that. So you really trust him, huh?”

“Yes, Gareth, I do.”

“Do you love him?”

“With all my heart. I don’t think I’ve ever met a more wonderful man. He listens to me, really listens. He doesn’t pressure me to do anything I don’t want. He’s a great guy. The second greatest man I’ve had the honor of meeting.”

“Second?” he asked in a quiet voice. To others he was the ultimate alpha male. But around Melissa, he was simply her brother. They couldn’t have been more related if they’d had the same parents. And just as he’d reassured her about his love for her so recently, she was more than willing to do the same for him.

“Yes, the second. Gareth, you will always be the first man I’ve ever met who gave me any hope that all men weren’t like my stepfather. You are the greatest man I know, but there is room in my heart for both of you.”

“I know, Mel. I’m just not used to the idea of sharing you. I don’t think I like it.”

She laughed. “You don’t have to like it.”

“But I have to accept it,” he finished the familiar phrase. “Can we do something tonight? Just you and me, like we used to do in the old days, before you were all grown up?”

“I’d like that.”

“Are you too old for dinner, a movie, and miniature golf?”

“Not if you throw in a couple of laps around the Go-Kart track.”

“Deal.”

Melissa climbed off the couch and headed to change.

“Gareth?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t think just by buying me supper you can get out of buying me a large popcorn and candy.”

She heard him chuckle. “You never let me get away with it before, I wouldn’t expect you to start now.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, Mel.”

* * *

Melissa looked at her reflection in the mirror. Had she ever looked happy? Her gaze moved down to her cheek. The bruise was finally gone. She’d been careful not to do anything that would provoke her stepfather, given him no reason to slap her for the last week.

Her gaze traveled to the bags under her eyes. Pulling out the makeup her former best friend had given her for her birthday, she began to conceal the shadows on her face. Sleep had become a luxury she couldn’t afford since her stepfather had begun to come to her room at night. She wouldn’t hear him approach, she’d only look up, stretching as she was about to prepare for bed and see him there, staring at her from the doorway—always staring at her.

Instead of getting much needed sleep, she would simply open a different textbook, as though she’d only just finished with the one subject. At some point he would stop staring at her and go to his room. Only when she heard his snores would she allow herself a mere three hours of sleep, always careful to wake up early enough to take a shower before his alarm sounded. She even made sure to have breakfast on the table. When he left for work, she would finally repack her backpack and apply the camouflaging makeup before going to school.

She was beginning to look much older than her age. She wondered if she would ever again feel carefree? Should she ask for help at school? Not from the staff—never from them. They’d already proven whose side they were on. She thought about the guy in her English class, Ben. When she’d first begun to look tired, he approached her, asking if she wanted something to help her stay awake.

At the time she had declined. Her mom would never understand if she turned to drugs. Her eyes welled with familiar tears. Quickly blinking them back, Melissa shook her head. She couldn’t go down that road, couldn’t think of her mother. There wasn’t enough time to reapply her makeup.

Looking at her reflection she wondered if she should take Ben up on his offer. Surely becoming an addict was better than this. It had to be better than this constant fear of what would happen if she fell asleep and her stepfather walked into her room. It had to be better than the pain inside her all the time, better than aching to see her mother again, than feeling she couldn’t talk to anyone. Sweet oblivion would be better than feeling as though she were a shadow walking through the world. Something that no one noticed anymore, that no one cared about, and, more importantly, that no one would miss.

Her gaze lowered to the razor her stepfather used to shave. It would be so easy to give up. So easy to run a nice hot bath. By the time the school would be able to get in touch with her stepfather to report her absence, it would be too late. She’d be free of him, free of people who swore they cared about her, then turned their backs. Free of people who looked through her…