Undeniable (15 page)

He suddenly tore his mouth from hers. The rhythm of his
ragged breathing matched hers. She realized by the shocked expression on his
face that he too had been taken by surprise by their lust for each other, that
he too could not believe how quickly their kiss snapped all logic and control
from their grasps.

Stop searching for reasons to run. Stop thinking of your
phantom. A man holds you in his arms. Only a man.
Her subconscious thoughts
whispered into her mind, calming her fears, insisting she listen. Sebastian’s
eyes glowed in the moonlight as they peered with amazing intensity into hers.
She blinked, trying to recapture thoughts that only a moment ago seemed so
important.

Still clasped in his iron embrace, Diana cringed when her gaze
fell to his mouth and beheld a smear of blood on his lower lip. “Oh…I think I-I
bit you.”

Sebastian touched the blood on his lip, then glanced at the
crimson smudge on his fingertip. His pupils dilated when he gazed down at her
mouth. “There’s blood on your lips.” He slid the pad of his finger over her
lips, then held up his finger. “Your blood or mine? Or both?” Holding her gaze,
he licked some off, then slid his finger between her lips.

Without thinking, Diana ran her tongue over the pad of his
finger.

Their gazes locked. Diana felt his finger slide free.

His hands cupped her face as his eyes narrowed. “Goddess or
not, you’ve enchanted me, Diana.”

Diana closed her eyes as his hands brushed down her face.
Sebastian’s voice came to her as if from across a vast ocean.

Open your eyes, my mate, see me for what I am, accept me
and never fear me.

Her lids felt so heavy, too heavy to fully rise. Through her
lashes, she saw his mouth open as his hands tilted her head to the side. Liquid
fire saturated her thong, slid down her inner thighs as she felt her blood
surge up to the spot on her neck that throbbed and pulsed with renewed
vengeance.

A sense of calm swept over her. When he opened his mouth and
revealed two razor sharp fangs, her stomach clenched with need. She wanted
this, needed it more than her next breath.

Sebastian’s head descended swiftly. She tensed, expecting
him to bury those fangs deep into her neck, expecting the pain to break the
spell he’d cast over her. His lips skimmed over her vein until she silently
begged him to take her now. Pain, white hot pain stole her breath away, but
when she would have screamed, pleasure replaced the pain and a million stars
burst to life beneath his mouth.

Too soon, he raised his head, ripped open his shirt and, holding
up what looked more claw than nail, sliced open a gash above his heart.

The minute shred of her mind that she still retained control
over knew she should scream, fight or at least find the sight of his blood
flowing from the gash repulsive. She licked her lips and gazed up into those
magical eyes that reminded her so much of the night sky.

“Take my heart, goddess. Take my life’s essence and make it
your own.” Sebastian buried his hands in her hair and gently urged her forward.
The moment her mouth touched his skin and she tasted his blood, she felt her
feet leave the ground. His throaty moans filled her ears, his heart beat in
time with hers and sweet ambrosia filled her mouth.

A kiss. No more than a kiss.

Diana opened her eyes. The pain she’d felt a minute ago had
vanished. Sebastian held her face in his hands as he brushed his lips over hers
before pulling away and smiling down at her with shimmering eyes.

“That was some kiss,” she murmured, feeling drowsy. She
lowered her eyes and stared at his shirt. For some reason, she’d expected it to
be torn. Running her palms over the hard muscles covering his chest, she fought
the urge to rub against him like a cat. “I-I’m really tired. I’d better get
home.”

He hooked her chin and tilted her face up. “I want to see
you again.” Glancing at the sky, he smirked and added, “Tonight.”

Diana nodded as he brushed his lips across the bridge of her
nose then, still holding her gaze, took the keys from her hand. “And I think
I’d better drive you home. Just in case you feel faint again.”

Diana glanced around the parking lot. “But what about your
car? How will you get home?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll call a friend.”

She didn’t question him when he parked quite a distance from
her house. Somehow, she doubted she’d ever question anything he did. They spent
the rest of the night in the car and talked, uncovering more and more about
each other. She learned how seriously he took his job as a cop, how much he
loved and admired his stepfather and how work and family kept him busy most of the
day. She talked about how close she and Terry were, how much she loved her
grandmother and avoided any mention of her father or Luna.

Shortly before dawn, after a very passionate kiss, a
Cadillac Escalade pulled up. Sebastian introduced the young man as his cousin
Tomas. The man appeared shy and avoided meeting her gaze as he mumbled a quick
hello, then slid into the passenger seat. She expected another kiss before he
left, but Sebastian merely winked over the roof of the car.

She watched them drive away until she could no longer see
the red glow of the car’s lights. Vulnerable to the night creatures that she
now knew existed, she could not shake the feeling that one watched as she
fumbled with her house key, one filled with hatred, one more evil than even her
father could imagine.

Chapter Six

“Damn, it’s hot today.” Diana smoothed out a corner of her
towel, then shimmied to flatten out a lump of sand that kept pressing into her
stomach.

“You’re kidding. I don’t think it even hit eighty yet,”
Terry said, then glanced at her watch and moaned. “I swear, if I didn’t have to
work, there’s nothing I’d rather do than sun all day.”

Diana rubbed her cheek over her towel and grinned. “I can
think of a few things.”

Terry snorted. “Oh, I get it. You popped your cherry so now
you’re…burning!”

“Burning doesn’t begin to describe— Ah! That’s cold.”
Glaring over her shoulder, Diana watched Terry coat her back with sunblock. The
chill lingered, soothing the sweltering heat enveloping her body. “Where did
you have that? In your cooler?”

Terry nodded. “Feels great, doesn’t it? Girlfriend, you
two-timing your beach buddy? I’ve never seen you this red.”

“I’m really burning? We just got here.” Diana hissed when
Terry squeezed a line of lotion down each of her legs. “That feels so good.”

“So, tell me about last night.” Terry smoothed the lotion
over Diana’s legs as she spoke. “I still can’t believe I left you in Cabana’s.”

“One minute you’re trying to drag me out of there and the
next you’re gone.” Diana reached into the cooler and felt around for a water
bottle. After a few sips, she squirted her face. “That must have been one
killer headache.”

“Fast and furious. But by the time I got home, it was gone.”
Terry wiped her hands on Diana’s towel. “So, I hear you got yourself a real hunk
after I left.”

“I don’t have him, yet.”

“That’s not what I heard,” Terry said in a sing-song voice.
“Tina told Linda who, of course, told me that when you were walking up to the
guy, his eyes nearly burned a hole in anyone who blocked his view. According to
her, that man wanted to sca-rew you, honey.”

The woman sitting on a sand chair not two feet away raised
her head from the book she’d been reading. Her gaze darted to the little boy
eating a sandwich beside her, then back to Diana.

Diana dropped her forehead down to the towel. “Terry, would
you please talk a little lower?”

“You’re blistering! Diana Nostrum, you must be hot to trot!”
Terry laughed. “Get it? You’re so horny, you’re blistering? So where’d you two
run off to? The nearest motel?”

Rising and snatching up her towel and beach bag, Diana
stomped up the hill toward the picnic area separating the beach from the cabins
her father rented. Terry caught up, shoving her towel into her beach bag.

Diana spun around and glared at her. “Terry, if you don’t learn
to keep your voice down, I swear our friendship will die a sudden death!”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve been saying that since we were eleven
and I said, a little too loud for your sensitive ears, that I thought it was
cool that you got your first period. Big deal.”

Diana scanned the picnic tables scattered beneath the trees
until she found one that ensured some privacy. As soon as she dropped down onto
the cool bench, she retrieved their sandwiches from the cooler Terry plopped
onto the table.

“Big deal? Terry, I went into the cafeteria not five minutes
later and everyone started chanting that a woman was in the house. And what
about Tommy Millwood? Thanks to you, my entire Bio class knew I was going to
let him feel me up before he did.”

Terry held her hands up. “Okay, on that one, you’re right. I
did screw things up a little.”

“A little? He had a camera rolling and a group of Peeping
Toms in training at the window of his den.”

“Hey, look at it this way. Thanks to me, you found out he
was a perv.” Terry took the sandwich Diana handed her. As she unwrapped it, she
chuckled. “You have to admit, it was pretty funny.” When Diana scowled, she
rolled her eyes. “All right, I’ll keep my voice down. So tell me about this
guy.”

Diana leaned toward Terry. “I’m planning on jumping his
bones the first chance I get.” Diana ignored Terry’s incredulous expression and
picked the tomatoes from her ham sandwich. “Didn’t you tell them I didn’t want
tomatoes?”

Nodding her head, Terry continued to frown. “Just because
you popped your cherry?”

Diana shook her head as she chewed. Taking her time, she
unscrewed her water. “No. It’s just that I’m convinced he’s the one.”

“Because of the butterflies you felt before you met him?”
Terry shoved her shoulder into Diana’s. “You’re whacked.”

Taking another bite of her sandwich, then tossing a crumb to
a squirrel, Diana slowly chewed and pondered her decision.

She couldn’t be certain Sebastian was her soul mate, but he
sure turned her on. And the trepidation that had always helped her keep her
dates at a distance fled the moment he’d kissed her. She’d never felt so
depraved, so undeniably alive. Nerve endings burst to life, muscles never
before exercised, never called into service, clenched with unimagined strength
and a hunger she’d never experienced unfurled, overwhelmed and consumed her.

“I feel so…so powerless with him.”

Her heart tumbled with fear and excitement just from
imagining what would happen tonight. She nearly choked on her sandwich when
Terry bumped her shoulder again.

“You had no willpower? You can’t be serious.”

Tossing another crumb to the patiently waiting squirrel
before swallowing the last of her sandwich and balling up the square of foil,
Diana glanced around to make sure no one was around in case Terry blurted out
something embarrassing. Leaning close to her friend’s ear, she continued in a
hushed voice. “He’s so damned hot, Terry. And I’m so tired of waiting.”

“Okay, so he turns you on and you’ve got the go-ahead from
Nana Lina, but do you like him? I mean, you have to at least like him the first
time.”

“We talked for hours last night and I loved every minute of
it.” Gnawing on her lip, she added, “Part of me is terrified that he is the one
Nana Lina made me wait for.”

“Why?”

“She said that my father would consider him an abomination.
You know what that means.”

“No offense, Di, but your father’s nuts.” Terry snorted,
then bit into her sandwich.

“Still, I could have sworn I saw fangs—

“What?” Terry finished chewing, then took a long drink of
her water before continuing. “You’re not saying you think he’s a vampire, are
you?”

Diana turned away from the laughter in Terry’s eyes. “I know
it sounds crazy, but—”

“Think, Di. If vampires existed, why on earth would they
hang around here?” She waved her hands around. A piece of lettuce flew off her
sandwich.

Picking at a sliver of wood sticking up from the picnic
table, Diana mumbled, “Well…they sure looked pointy.”

“We’ve lived here all our lives, we know practically
everyone and we’ve never once met one or heard of any bodies turning up at the
morgue with holes in their neck. Have we?”

Thinking of Luna, Diana forced herself to shake her head.
“Let’s just imagine there are vampires, Terry. Let’s just imagine we found one.
What would you do?”

“Oh, let me think.” Terry squinted, then slapped herself on
the side of her head. “That’s right. We have our very own vampire hunter living
right under your roof. I guess we’d call him and every damn man with two strong
arms and a stake who lives within a hundred miles of us.”

“But—”

“But nothing. They
don’t
exist, Diana, so snap out of
it and answer my question. Do you like him or not?”

Diana swallowed the lump in her throat. “Yeah, I like him…I
like him, a lot.”

“Then go for it.” Terry stood and stretched. “I hate to say
it, but I have to get back to the office. Your dad is driving me crazy with his
new schedule of events.”

“Wait. I’ll go with you. I don’t have a student ‘til three
and I need to speak to my dad.” Diana tossed the ball of foil in a nearby
garbage pail, then followed Terry up the steep hill to the lodge that held the
main office, laundry room, game room and small apartment her father used on the
nights he worked too late to warrant driving home.

When they stepped into the office, Terry sped past her and
rushed to the bathroom to change back into her shorts and shirt. Diana sat at
the antique desk her mother had bought when they first opened Frank’s Lakeside
Cabins and picked up the walkie-talkie.

“Dad? You there, Dad,” she asked, then released the talk
button.