Unbound (27 page)

“He is still out there in his truck, sleeping,” she said without looking at Dani.

“I know. I’m going to leave before he wakes up.” She could hear him out there if she listened hard enough. He was having restless dreams. She made herself a bowl of cereal with extra sugar and a cup of coffee, light and sweet. Tessa came in and sat across the table. She reached out and rested her hand on Dani’s hand. Dani looked at her mother and smiled. “I know, Mom. I’m sorry too. It’s over now so let’s just move on from here. The past is gone and the present doesn’t care if we’re ready for it or not.”

“When did you get so old?” Tessa asked.

“That was last night when the world I knew and everything in it disappeared. It’s okay. I’m going to need to be grown up to deal with what’s coming. They think they want me. They think I am special. I’m going to let them believe that until this threat is gone. Won’t they be shocked when they find out exactly how special I really am?”

“Danielle, everything is going to be fine. Mason and I will take care of things when and if this all comes out.” She patted Dani’s hand.

“Are you gonna take care of it when I spend the rest of my life alone? Are you gonna take care of it when I have to explain to some poor guy that our child will be a half-breed reject? Are you gonna take care of the fact that I feel like I’m trapped under the ice right now? I can see everyone else in the world on top of the ice but I’m underneath, drowning and cold in the place where nobody belongs, because I don’t belong.”

Tessa started to cry but Dani couldn’t comfort her. She had no comfort to share. She washed her dishes like any other morning. When she reached the front door she called out, “I’ll text you when I get back to school. I love you.”

Walking by Lucas’s truck on the way to her car, she prayed he wouldn’t wake up. He had pictures spread out all over the cab of the truck and he was clutching her jacket. Well, it was his jacket, but she was the one who had worn it every day. He was sleeping with his face pressed against the window. She watched him for a moment but couldn’t see the sweet boy she had loved when she looked at him now. Now he was a memory in a box of photographs she would leave behind, along with the rest of that life.

THIRTEEN~

Charlie thought of nothing but Dani all weekend. She had left with a very large guy who insisted she go see his leader, and he hadn’t heard from her since then. He laughed at how much this sounded like a bad B alien movie.  She should be getting home today, so he got up early to get all his errands done before she showed up. All the laundry and homework were out of the way. He wanted to take her out to dinner, and maybe walk around the promenade down by the water to get an ice cream from this great little Mom and Pop shop he had found.

So many things had been running around his mind, and he couldn’t talk to anyone about any of it. He was hoping to get some answers tonight. All weekend he had been trying to reassure himself that he wasn’t crazy. He’d made love with D and she was, in fact, a vampire. The word was just so hard to even think
about, but that was the truth, r
ight? It’s not like she’s one of those crazy gothic kids that wears black and is obsessed with vampires. She had black eyes and fangs. She also had the most incredible body and her soft voice in those private moments had melted his heart. Does that make the fang thing ok? She hadn’t hurt him. Okay, there was the initial sting but then it was all hot and the wet sucking noises she made when her tongue was lapping at his neck had been so erotic. It was like being burned from the inside out with the hottest sensual flame until you exploded from the pure overload of sensations. He wanted it again and again. He was smiling at the ceiling when Steve opened the door.

“Dude, you’ve been sporting that stupid expression all weekend. You look like a retard. That must have been a mighty powerful piece of ass,” Steve teased.

“Don’t talk about D that way, Steve! You never talked about her like that before, so don’t be a dick now. You’re supposed to be her friend,” Charlie snapped.

“That was when I thought I had a chance with her. How was I to know the underdog would snatch her up?”

“Are you saying she’s not your friend anymore?” Charlie asked.

“No, I’m not saying that. I’m saying I’m jealous and a little bitter. So, pissing on your sunshine makes me feel better. As soon as she gets back, I will behave myself. You never know when she will be ready to upgrade.” Steve was mostly kidding but Charlie jumped up and grabbed him in a headlock. They were wresting and knocking things over on Steve’s already messy side of the room until Steve said uncle. They had just untangled when Charlie’s cell rang and Steve leaped for it. He opened it and snapped it shut hanging up on the caller. “I hope you weren’t waiting for D to call, Uncle,” Steve said snidely.

Then they wrestled for several minutes over the phone before Charlie was able to get his hands on it. Steve was laughing and Charlie had just hit send to call D back when there was a knock at the door. The two guys raced for the door.  Steve leaned on the door to keep it shut and Charlie struggling to get it open. Suddenly, the door flew open on its own, hurling both boys to the floor. Dani stood in the open doorway looking decidedly annoyed and more than a little sick. Her skin was so pale and the dark circles under her eyes had never been there before. Her bright-eyed glow had been replaced with a dull sallow mask. Her hands were fisted and she walked right up to Steve, lifting him to his feet with one hand.

“What the hell just happened?” Steve exclaimed.

Dani gave him a glare that was almost frightening, and said in a sweet tone that didn’t at all match her demeanor, “Nothing at all happened, Steve. You just tripped. I think maybe you have some studying to do, and you want to go to the library, right now,” she released him.

Steve looked confused for a millisecond before he looked at Charlie and said, “Hey man, I have a lot of studying to do for…ah one of my classes. I’ll see you later.” He grabbed his backpack and left.

Dani just stood there, not saying anything. She stared off into space looking lost and more than a little ill. Charlie got up and wrapped his arms around her, stroking her back and swaying a little. She remained stiff.

“I missed you so much. Would you like to lie down for a while? You loo
k like you’re tired, sweetheart,
” he asked, but she made no move at all.

When she finally looked up at him, her eyes were full of tears. “I think I should leave, Charlie. I feel like I should go before…” she trailed off and didn’t finish the sentence.

“Don’t be silly. You just got here. I don’t know what happened, but you can talk to me if you want to, or not tell me anything at all if that’s what you need.” He pulled on her and she loosened up, letting him coax her toward the bed. “Just let me hold you for a while.”

She snuggled into his side resting her head on his shoulder. They didn’t talk for a long time. He stroked her back and her hair, nuzzled the top of her head and enjoyed the weight of her in his arms.

“I need to leave. I don’t want to hurt you. You’re making me want you, Charlie, and I think I need to,” she hesitated, “I need to feed.” She was embarrassed. “Your heartbeat is making me crazy and you smell so good.” She started to get up, but he held her there tightly.

“Is that why you look so sick? What are you going to do? You can’t make yourself sick like this,” he insisted.

“I learned so much this weekend. It was awful. I still don’t know half of what I really need to know, but I did find out that I need to feed at least every couple of days. I have only done it twice, and the last time was with you. I met my father for the first time on Friday. He doesn’t know I’m his daughter because he thinks my mother and I died just after I was born. I look just like him. Oh yeah, and apparently my name is actually Soleil, but my mom changed it to make it harder for the human hating vamps to find me.” She said it like she was talking about the weather.

“So, I guess you don’t feel like going out to dinner with me then, huh?” Charlie asked. Dani laughed at his nonchalance.

“I’d like to make you my dinner right now, but you don’t seem to be concerned about that. I can’t stay much longer. I have to go find out who is going to protect me from the monster who is abducting young vamps with power. They already tried to get me once. I’m still healing from that experience. Apparently, I’m some kind of all-powerful, never before seen, demi-vamp oddity. So I’m a target. And, by the way, the human hating vamps don’t know I’m demi-human,” she added.

Now she had his attention. He jumped like she’d slapped him. “What the hell are you talking about? Who is trying to take you? They don’t know you’re human? What will they do when they find out? What about me? Am I allowed to stay with you? I swear I won’t let anyone touch you.” He was up off the bed and putting on his shoes, planning to go with her.

“And I thought you were asleep or just ignoring me.” She tried to smile at him. “You can’t go with me, babe. There is absolutely nothing you could do to defend me against a vampire. I’d likely get hurt trying to protect you. You don’t know anything anyway remember? If you don’t calm down, I’ll be forced to erase your memory. I refuse to bring danger to my only friend in the world. I thought you said I could talk to you about things.”

“You can, but damn, I just have to sit here and wait to see if they kill you?” He ran a hand through his hair and kneeled beside the bed lowering his head to rest it on her belly. Dani brushed her fingers over the worry lines in his brow.

“That is exactly what you have to do, unless you want out of this relationship. I don’t blame you if you do, Charlie. You thought you were going to bed with a normal girl, not some half-breed freak with fangs. I’m sorry I put all my shit on you, but you make me feel safe, and I don’t have anybody in the world to talk to. I have my mom and the vampire godfather I just met, but that’s not like having a real friend. I shouldn’t have showed you all that stuff, but I was giving you everything else I had. I thought you should know what you were really dealing with.”

“I’m glad you did D. It was the best night of my life and I wouldn’t change it for anything. I don’t want out, but I feel helpless. I know you said you couldn’t make me any promises, but I’ll make you any promise you want me to. You’re my girl now, and I can’t let anything happen to you.” He kissed her deeply and was surprised to feel the sharp tips of her fangs when his tongue brushed across her teeth. He went to lock the door. She tried to get up and leave, but Charlie wasn’t having it. If she needed to feed, it was going to be from him. She was his girl and he didn’t like the idea of her mouth on some other guy’s neck, her tongue doing that sexy licking, sucking thing she did when she fed.

“I think you need to do your thing before you go. Just relax, baby. Please let me take care of you the only way I can.” He pulled her over him when he fell on the bed.

“I don’t want to use you like that, Charlie. You’re not a damn snack bar.” She was breathing heavily and obviously struggling to control herself.  She kissed him and accidentally nipped his lip with her fang. The smell of his blood swamped her and the drop of blood that hit her tongue exploded in her mouth. She kissed him harder and deeper. Then she froze and tried to shake herself.

“I don’t want to use you, Charlie. I care too much for you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t hurt me, D. You didn’t last time. It’s just a little sting. Would you rather go find a stranger?” he tried to soothe her.

“No. What I want is to be normal. I want to be with you, without wanting to taste you. I want to be what you deserve.” She was trying to will the damn fangs away but it wasn’t working.

“D, we can’t change things. We have to learn to deal with it. I think if you fed on a normal schedule you wouldn’t feel this way around me. Now come here and let me love you. Let me give you what you need.” He leaned his head to the side and pulled her into him. Her breath was hot and fast on his neck. He knew she was fighting the urge so he grabbed her hair roughly and said, “Do it!” And she did.

Her fangs sank into his neck in a quick strike. It stung more this time. He figured that was because the last time they had been making love when she bit him. Naturally, he had been distracted. When the wave of sensual heat hit him, his body reacted immediately. He wanted her so badly, but had already decided to let her take what she needed and ask for nothing in return. She needed to be loved and cared for after everything she’d been through. He could be her support.

* * *

Dani sucked and licked until the pain in her stomach eased. Then she was pulling at his clothes. She wanted all of him. She wanted to experience his total acceptance again. He was the only person who knew her flaws and cared for her anyway. She wasn’t trying to fool herself into believing he was in love, but the connection between them was comforting and solid. Charlie tried to still her hands at his fly.

“You don’t need to do that. I don’t expect you to do that. Just take what you need.” Charlie was panting. His voice was thick with want for her.

“This is what I need.” She kissed him softly. “I need your affection. Will you give that to me? You know I don’t expect you to do anything you don’t want to do either.” She lapped at the blood that was trickling down his neck. “Do you want me, Charlie?” she whispered.

“More than anything, I want you, Danielle,” he rasped.

She pulled off her shirt and unsnapped the front closure on her bra before she tossed her clothing to the floor. Charlie watched her with heat in his gaze. “You’re so beautiful.” he told her, kicking off his shoes and undoing his pants. She had both of them naked in a blurred flash, and was running her tongue over his chest. He could hardly stand it. Her soft, warm body was pressed against his and he was thick from the tantalizing heat she had caused with her bite. She went back to his neck, gently suckled and positioned her entrance, easing herself down slowly onto his girth until he was lodged in her to the hilt. The combination of her sucking and slowly rocking on him was exquisite. His insides were burning with the most acute need he’d ever known. She was making soft mewling noises as she drove him crazy. She ran her tongue over the twin punctures and he knew she was done feeding.