Soul-Mate (Immortal Love 1) (3 page)

I approached the kitchen and sat on a stool in front of the counter. He served me breakfast like it was the most natural thing in the world between two strangers who didn’t even know each other’s names. I just couldn’t say no to those delicious pancakes served with blueberry syrup and strong black coffee. The smell was tantalizing and made me realize how hungry I was.

He sat down next to me after serving, not across from me on the opposite side of the counter. He was there right next to me, invading my senses and looking utterly relaxed, while I couldn’t breathe. He made me feel nervous and, apparently, shy that I almost didn’t dare make eye contact with him, because I shivered every time our eyes met. He had beautiful eyes, blue and inquisitive.

He seemed puzzled by me. His eyes followed my every move, and it made me feel strange. It was as if I was an exotic animal of some sort and he was studying me. Maybe I was overreacting and he was just acting normal, but I couldn’t help but think that he looked at me in a peculiar way—not bad, but a way that made me feel different, analyzed.

Normally, I wasn’t affected by having men’s eyes on me. I was sure of myself, and I knew I was pretty. I knew I could steal the attention of a room simply by walking in, dressed to impress and ready to seduce my prey. But my undeniable attraction for him was making me shy and totally breathless. I was coming down with a case of utter attraction to him. I was normally good at ignoring men and didn’t really give a damn about their looks or sexual interest in me.
So why in the hell I was so fascinated by him?

His eyes made my stomach feel like crazy butterflies; my body reacted with tingling sensations on my neck and palms. Once I looked at his face, I felt the undeniable attraction.

“What’s your name?” he asked, watching me eat. I endured his gaze, unsure if I should answer or not. “You didn’t have any kind of identification on you. Do you need to call your parents to tell them where you are?”

I frowned at him, almost choking with my pancake.
How old did he think I was?

“I live by myself, and my ID is in my bike.”

“So―what’s your name?” he asked again, forcing me to answer once and for all.

“Annabel. But you can call me Anna.”

“I’m Shane.” He smiled again, making my blood race straight to my cheeks.

God
! He was so undeniably handsome and had such an amazing smile that I didn’t even notice he had his hand out in greeting. When I finally noticed, his smile had faded away and he’d rested his hand on his leg again.

“Where do you live?” He was curious. I felt trapped.

“I’ve just arrived to town.”

“You moved here?” he exclaimed in a tone that didn’t hide his excitement. I felt the butterflies in my stomach fluttering once more. His enthusiasm made me feel happy. “Where are you staying?”

“In the motel.”

“That crappy place?”

“I didn’t have time yet to look for a place to live.”

“I’ve never seen you before. Do you have family here?”

“No. I came here to work.”

“Where?” He seemed really surprised. I was beginning to think I was answering too many questions. It would be weird if I didn’t, but it was also weird that he was surprised about new arrivals to town. Maybe they weren’t used to having new people there.

“I’m the substitute teacher at the high school. I teach English literature.”

“You’re a teacher.” He really seemed amazed now or maybe shocked.

“Yes,” I confirmed with a polite smile.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said, almost laughing at my reaction. “It’s just that you look so young and really don’t dress like a teacher. At least, not at night.”

“And how should a teacher dress?” I asked, getting upset by the prejudice of his affirmation.

“
Hmmm
.” He got up and simply didn’t answer, as if he had known the conversation was taking an unwelcome turn. It seemed that he didn’t want to argue with the strange woman whom he had kindly taken home and given his bed to while he slept on the couch. He’d even made me breakfast, so I shouldn’t feel offended. He sure knew how to make pancakes and coffee! I could get used to this!

“When do you start working?” he asked as he began to clean the kitchen.

“Next Monday, but I have to speak to the principal today.”

“I’ll go with you and show you the town and the school.”

“I don’t want to impose. You must have better things to do.”

Jesus! He wanted to show me the town. What’s next?
Dinner and a movie?
I wasn’t looking for a playmate or a boyfriend or whatever men called a relationship these days!

“It’s not a problem, and you wouldn’t be imposing. I’ve nothing better to do. Besides, I know the principal, and you would be stuck on foot.”

“My bike is at the bar, isn’t it?”

“Yes. And I still need to check your identity and papers.”

“Why?” I asked, intrigued, as I got up and gave him the empty cup and the plate, which he took and washed.

“I’m the sheriff,” he said.

“You’re the
sheriff
? Aren’t you a bit young for that?”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said, grinning, which made me lose all will to tease him or even breathe.

THINGS WEREN’T HAPPENING
as I had planned. The hot sheriff seemed to want everything except leave me alone. Ever since we’d left his house, he had taken it upon himself to be my personal driver. I would have to wait with him until late afternoon, when the bar opened, before I could get my papers and, ultimately, my bike. Even when I showed him my car, which was parked outside of my motel room, Shane just found another excuse to follow me everywhere, including but not limited to: my room, where I dressed properly; inside the bathroom; over to meet a school principal from a small country town; and so on.

I guess he liked how I dressed for my meeting, which was formally, because he gave me a smile of approval when I came out wearing a black skirt and white shirt that had “professional” written all over them. For the finishing touches, I straightened my hair and put on glasses. After he walked a circle around me, he whispered in my ear that he liked that naughty librarian look as he was put his warm and electrifying hand on my back, making me shiver and almost sigh with pleasure. He smelled like a mixture of heaven and hell, he looked irresistible, and I had to admit that I hadn’t experienced a man’s hand on me in a long time. At least, not a man’s hand that made me feel horny and safe at the same time.

I had to confess that I’d expected him to take it further, like lowering his lips to my ear, making me close my eyes with desire. I’d thought maybe he would then pull me into his arms and kiss me, finally showing me what those dreamy lips tasted like. But, sadly, no.

He asked, “Have you ever met the principal?”

“No.”

“Well, James is a bit of a player, so be careful.”

I was counting on his being a player or else I wouldn’t be able to go after him and get the information about an original vampire. James was a vampire. Shane should know that, I figured; it was probably why he was warning me in the first place. He was getting weirdly protective. Things were getting complicated.

How would I go on with my plan if Shane was in the equation?
But, then again, was he really? Nothing had happened yet, and I wasn’t exactly counting on anything
to
happen. However, the problem was that my body didn’t agree with my rationality. If my body had its own way, it would be touched by Shane and his lips, his hands, his everything, and drown in his amazing scent. I was feeling a serious infatuation for the guy! It didn’t help that he was the nicest person I’d met in a while. Also, he made me smile. It had been a while since I’d smiled so willingly and freely. It had been a while since I’d found a guy interesting enough to spend time with.

“Okay,” I said, accepting his warning as his hand moved up my back, making my skin burn like fire.

“We should have dinner tonight,” he whispered alluringly as he leaned into my ear.

“Okay,” I sighed. When he touched his lips to my ear and his hands closed around my arms, he pulled until my back was pressed against his chest. My whole body was trapped by a serious desire for him. I was shamelessly surrendering myself to his touch, his alluring voice in my ear. That was so―
wait
!

What was I saying? Dinner? A date? No. No dates. No men. No complications
. I didn’t want to create ties with anyone. No one should know me well enough to be put in danger. I couldn’t give up that easily to a man. Even with that in mind, I had to wonder: why was breathing so difficult, and why was it a struggle to simply open my eyes? I was entirely aroused by his touch! I was incapable of coherent speech, but I found that I didn’t
want
to be coherent, or even rational, for that matter. Who cared about rationality when he was this close to me, smelling like heaven and promising me paradise with his sexy voice?

“Dinner at my place. I’ll cook,” he added, burying his head in the crook of my neck, inhaling as if he could become inebriated by my scent, too. His tongue flicked out, licking my neck, making it impossible for me to answer. I don’t think that it was even a question; more an affirmation on his part about what was going to happen. “And now…” he spoke into my ear gently, tormenting me once more. By then, my whole body was awake with desire. I couldn’t control myself. I didn’t want to. I wanted to melt against his body and taste his lips. “Now I’m going to kiss you,” he breathed and turned me to him, pulling my arms around his neck without any resistance on my part.

At least I wasn’t the only one burning up with desire. I could feel his tense body and his desire growing inside his pants against my stomach. That made me wet. I felt my nipples getting hard; breathing was once again a challenge, thanks to the yearning I felt for him. I focused on closing my eyes, clenching my fingers to his back and waiting patiently to feel his mouth against mine. I tilted my head back, offering my lips for the taking.

And when his lips finally touched mine, everything became quiet. Our lips touching felt like silk falling over silk, and for some moments, I thought I was dreaming because of how tender and sweet our kisses were. It was like more air was leaving my lungs than was coming in, making me feel dizzy and needy. A strong, deadly feeling of need swept me off my feet. I had to hold on tighter to him because my legs lost the strength to support me. His arms wrapped around my waist and prevented me from falling to the floor. To be this close to him, in his arms, lips moving against lips—it just felt so good! He smelled so nice! He was warm, and I could not stop myself from letting go, giving in to his mouth and desires. And then our mouths opened and our tongues tangled, making my whole body shiver and ache with passion.

If heaven existed, it surely had to be against his lips, in his kisses and his arms around me. His kisses were tender, sweet, breathtaking, and too good to be true! Time ceased to exist. Gravity was a vague idea in my mind. I couldn’t let him go. I wanted more and more. I wanted his tongue and my tongue playing together, discovering and making me feel alive and happy. I wanted our lips sealed together, his arms around me, pulling me tight against his solid warm body. I wanted to melt and merge with him. They weren’t normal kisses; they were mind-blowing experiences!

SHANE WAS OUTSIDE
the principal’s office while I talked to Mr. Gilmore, a vampire who looked like he had been at least forty years old when he was turned. He seemed impressed by my résumé and intrigued by my choice to teach English literature in such a small town in the middle of nowhere.

The lack of people aspiring to teach there had been crucial for my acceptance. The death of an old vampire teacher, someone a whopping sixty years old when he’d turned, was the reason for the vacancy. I wasn’t the one who had killed the old vamp, but I would have loved to finish him off, given the chance. He was killed as he partook of an all-you-can-eat buffet of blonde girls and young boys in Las Vegas.

I spent most of the interview distracted, because I was still aroused by Shane’s kisses back at the motel. Even while one-hundred-and-forty-two-year-old James Ward was quite hot for a blood-sucking vampire, Shane had something else, some kind of force that pulled me to him and made me feel like an aroused, sexy woman.

I wanted him so badly! I had already come to terms with that fact. Besides, Shane was a good friend of James Ward’s, so my initial intention to seduce James was out of the question as soon as he saw Shane’s hand on my shoulder, marking his territory. I really didn’t mind. I only had eyes for Shane at that point; it was like he had cast a spell on me, so I really didn’t care about James or my plan to seduce him. I would get the information I needed some other way.

When the interview ended, James and Shane walked down the corridor, having a friendly conversation. Shane’s hand didn’t leave mine, which rendered me more confused and distracted than ever before. We looked so much like a couple that I didn’t even recognize myself or my behavior. I was not the type of girl to give her hand to a boy and be all mushy and silly, but it felt nice and normal.

I was losing it.
I needed to ditch him and start thinking straight!

“You better stop doing that, or I can’t be held responsible by what I’ll do next.”

“Doing what?” I asked, confused by Shane’s words.

We were outside the school entry. James had said his goodbyes and disappeared around the corner. Meanwhile, I was trying to find an excuse to be left alone for a while. At least time enough time to call Jason and explain to him my lack of success in finding clues to the vampire’s domain.

“Biting your lip.”

“I’m not―” I broke off, catching myself biting down again as I thought over his answer. There it was: my teeth on my bottom lip, wreaking havoc on it in response to my frayed nerves.