Pure: A Paranormal Romance

by D. L. McKinsey

  Somewhere in the middle of my ramblings, Seb had made his way back to me. He was now directly in front of me, watching me with mixed emotions that I was too mentally exhausted to decipher. He inched closer until barely any space was between us. He leaned in until his lips were right next to my ear. Seb’s mouthwatering scent fanned over me. I could feel my fangs pressing against my tongue.

  “This…” He whispered in a husky voice that brought the need back into me in full force. “What you’re feeling now is called hype.”

  He moved his lips away from my ear. I was a little sad not to have him so close, but I couldn’t complain now. I was too busy fighting the need to jump him.

  “What’s hype?” I asked when I got a better handle on my lust. Too bad, my sex-ridden voice betrayed me.

  “Vampires are hypersensitive creatures which means they have a hard time controlling even the smallest urge or emotion. The strongest urge they have is the need for blood, rage, and lust. Older vampires can control it, but newer ones can’t. They usually hype. The moment they smell blood or feel desire or anger, instincts take over and they lose control; giving in to their most animalistic needs without a second thought of the consequences.” He explained while watching me for a reaction.

  That explained a lot. When Marcos started touching me, hype took over. That explained why I couldn’t stop myself from wanting it. Man, there was so much more to being a vampire than what they showed in movies.

  “How do I control it?” I asked.

  Seb simply shrugged his shoulders. Obviously, he was still angry. For what, I didn’t know. Clearly, it was hype that made me want Marcos, and I haven’t lost my last marble of sanity just yet. Maybe he was jealous? No, that couldn’t be right. He had Marie.

  “All you vermins want to do is feed and fuck and destroy,” Seb said with his voice filled with so much disgust and hatred, it almost hurt to hear it. But it didn’t hurt. It pissed me off. I had no idea what his twisted situation was with vampires, but I refused to let him talk to me like this. I would not let the men here use and abuse me in anyway. I told myself old Ana was gone, and now, it was time I showed it.

  Before he saw it coming, I tackled him. I didn’t know my strength, so the force I used to charge him propelled us a few feet before we crashed to the ground hard. The blow knocked the air out of his lungs. I straddled him and brought my face down to his, nose to nose. He stared back with wide, shocked eyes, along with a glint of something else.

  “I don’t know what your fucking issue is with vampires, but until I prove otherwise, you will not compare me to them or insult me like that again. Are we clear?”

  He nodded stiffly.

  That woud do for now. I leaped off of him and began making my way back to my room. There, on the ground, was the white sheet. In my anger, I didn’t even register that it fell off; meaning, I just attacked and straddled Seb naked. I was too exhausted to care at this point. Not bothering to pick it up, I slowed my strides, knowing Seb was watching my nude backside. I heared his heart rate pick up, and I stifled a laugh.

  Yeah, who was feeling some hype now, human?

  Chapter 9

  Ability

  Ana

  The feeling of the steaming hot water pelting against my skin was amazing. Every inch of me felt so alive which was strange considering I was dead. I was dead, right?

  I gathered some coconut shampoo into my hands and lathered my long hair with it. I had been Marcos’ prisoner for a week now. It totally sucked. The house was sealed in every way; barred windows and the main door required a passcode that only the guards knew. Marcos and Talon haven’t been back since the day I gave them my blood. I was not sure why they thought I was unusual.

  Seb continued to avoid me which was perfectly fine with me. I tried to control my hype by not involving myself in tempting situations. And Marie, surprisingly, had become a fast friend. She spent almost every night with me. We talked; more like I told her all about life outside this manor while she taught me about vampires in return. The poor girl was only twenty-one years old and had been here almost her whole life. I hadn’t figured out her relationship with Seb yet, but I was sticking to the assumption that they were secret lovers. I could ask, but a small part of me didn’t want to confirm it was true.

  The water turned cold, signaling it was past time to get out. Grudgingly, I did so, wrapping the white towel tightly around my body. When I stepped out of the bathroom, my senses instantly picked up the scent of another. It was a scent I recognized, but I was hoping I didn’t have to see him again so soon.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” I said in mock teasing.

  “Thought you’d never ask.” Talon replied, stepping from behind the shadows in the corner of the door. What a creep. I walked over and flipped on the light, not because I needed it to see, but I was used to it like the way I kept breathing even though I no longer needed air.

  “Why are you here?” I asked in a dull tone. I frowned as his eyes glided all over my body.

  “It’s time for a vamp lesson, newbie,” he said when his eyes finally found my face.

  “Vamp lesson?”

  “Yes. Now get dressed, or better yet, stay like that; easier for me to take it off,” Talon said with his infamous smirk.

  I faked a smile to throw him off, and it totally worked. He perked up, thinking I was flirting back, and I took the opportunity to swiftly dash around him and kick his feet. He went down fast. I burst out laughing. He was up in a second, glaring at me.

  “That’s the last time that will ever happen.” His anger-filled tone made me laugh harder.

  “All that matters is it happened one time,” I said as I gathered jeans and a t-shirt from the drawer before making my way back into the bathroom.

  Ten minutes later, Seb and I were in the middle of a huge bare room. It reminded me of a smaller version of the school gymnasium without the bleachers and only one hoop but plenty of blue mats piled in the corner. I looked around, wondering for the first time what this lesson was all about. Talon wasn’t here yet, so the only one I could ask was Seb. I stared at the blank expression on his face and wondered if I should even bother.

  “So, what’s going on here?” I decided to ask anyway.

  He didn’t reply. Instead, he walked across the room and picked up a basketball. He began shooting hoops by himself. What a jerk. I refused to be ignored, so as he made his next shot, I jumped and blocked it.

  “Whoa!” I exclaimed. “I’ve never been able to do that before. When I was still human, I could barely walk without tripping.” I laughed.

  I saw a hint of a smile in his eyes, but it was quickly masked. He jogged to get his ball back, but I used my vampire speed to beat him to it.

  “So, you just plan to ignore me, then?”

  I dribbled the ball while I slowly circled around him. I was amazed by my new coordination skills and decided to take a shot. I threw the ball up, and it swished through the net with ease.

  “Yes!” I squealed. “That probably wouldn’t be a big deal to most people, but I’ve never made a basket before. I was never good at anything, really.”

  Seb got the ball and dribbled past me. “Everyone is good at something.” He finally replied before shooting the ball and making it with as much ease as I did. I was more impressed by the fact that he actually spoke to me than I was about the shot. He had the build of a natural athlete.

  “Not me, unless you count eating. I was really good at eating.” I shrugged.

  Seb bounced the ball with one hand, but his eyes were on me. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Oh, I wished one of my new skills included reading minds. When I could no longer stand his scrutiny, I used my speed again to steal the ball away from him.

  “How about a friendly game of one on one?” I asked.

  “What’s in it for me?” He challenged.

  “What do you want?”

  He was silent for a while as he calculated something in his head. When he did reply, his res
ponse wasn’t what I expected. “I want you to stay away from Marie.”

  His words froze me. For some reason, this was not what I thought he would say because first, I had been nothing but nice to Marie, so much so that I actually considered her my friend, and second… well, I couldn’t think of a second one because my anger was boiling over.

  “You can’t be serious!?” I snapped, but Seb simply crossed his arms over his chest.

  Asshole! What did he think? I was going to hurt his girlfriend or something? Or was it because he didn’t want her to have a vampire friend? The blank look on his face told me nothing, and I was annoyed by looking at it. On the other hand, I was a vampire now. So, how could he beat me? Maybe I could flip this in my favor.

  “Fine.” I gritted. “But I want something too.”

  Seb smirked and proceeded to take off his shirt. “What do you want?”

  I heard the words, but I couldn’t will myself to respond. My whole attention went to his chest. He was ripped! His golden pecks glistened with the slight sheen of sweat. Every bulging muscle from his arms to his chest to his abs was defined and hard. He looked like he worked out nonstop but not in an exaggerated body-builder way. He was perfect. I just wanted to reach out and run my hands down his chest. Maybe my tongue, too.

  Oh my goodness! Did I just think that? I could feel my desire beginning to takeover. Hype was taking over, and I was helpless to stop it. My legs acted on their own, taking steps towards Seb as if he were pulling me. I saw his lips moving, but I couldn’t focus on the words they were saying, because all I could think of were how plump and soft they looked. Hm-mmm, I wanted to press mine against those pillowy lips.

  We were standing so close that if I wanted, I could count every pore on his face. Our eyes met. He stared at me with hesitation, but there was something he couldn’t hide: desire. He wanted me like I wanted him. I knew it. Keeping my eyes open, I watched him as I leaned in slowly. Seb didn’t move, and it was all the proof I needed to know that he wanted to kiss me too. A smile spread across my face, and my fangs descended automatically. Seb’s eyes left mine, and he glared at my fangs. His expression turned hard, and before I could process what was happening, he slapped the ball from my hand and dribbled away from me. I suppressed a growl at his blatant rejection. What the hell did I do this time? Better yet, why did I keep putting myself out there for him? My internal battle was silenced by the sound of the ball swishing through the net.

  “One to nothing,” he said, jogging to retrieve the ball. I gaped in utter confusion. Seb, however, continued to play as if we didn’t just almost kiss for the second time. He jumped, spinned in the air, and dunked the ball through the hoop.

  “Two-nothing. You going to play or just stand there?” He asked in a condescending tone.

  I scoffed. “You didn’t even ask me what I wanted if I win.”

  He laughed as he dribbled the ball to center court. “I don’t care because I’m not going to let you win.”

  He shot the ball up. It hit the backboard before going through the net.

  “Three-nothing.” He smirked. “First to five wins.”

  Anger flooded through my system, completely flushing out the previous desire. How dare he?! I didn’t have much experience with boys besides my crush on Jace, but this was way worse than being ignored for years. I felt like he was making a fool out of me, and I couldn’t allow that to happen again.

  New Ana, new Ana, new Ana. I chanted to myself.

  As I continued being trapped in my thoughts, he made another bucket.

  “Four-nothing. This is easier than I thought.” He grinned.

  Oh, it won’t be for long. He tossed the ball up for another shot, but I used my vamp speed to leap into the air and catch it. I jumped again, backflipped into the air and slammed the ball through the hoop.

  “One-four,” I countered. I threw the ball at him, but as soon as he caught it, I was on him. I stole the ball out of his hands as soon as they touched his fingertips. Not missing a beat, I tossed the ball up, and it swooshed through the net.

  “Two-four.” I smirked.

  Seb frowned. He jogged towards the ball, and for a moment, I let him think he was going to get it. After he bounced it once, I ran up to him to steal it away. This time, I bumped his shoulder, and he stumbled to catch himself. I took my advantage and made another basket.

  “Three-four. How easy it now?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Too hard for you to play fair, huh?”

  He picked up the ball and dribbled down the court. He turned, jumped, and released it into the air. It looked like the perfect shot. Too bad, it wouldn’t make it in. I leapt into the air and smacked the ball across the court. I almost laughed at the pissed expression on his face.

  “Funny thing is even now, I’m being fairer to you than you have been to me,” I said as I casually strolled past him to retrieve the ball. Seb’s expression turned hard as he watched me make another basket.

  “Tie game.” I laughed, zipping to get the ball, so he couldn’t. Then I held it out with one hand and stared at him, daring him to take it from me. At this point, Seb lost his cool and charged at me. I watched his angry body come at me as if he were in slow motion. If this were a cartoon, smoke would be coming out of ears, and his head would explode. Ha! A small part of me wanted to let him tackle me just to feel his hard body against mine, but I suppressed that urge as soon as it formed. Instead, I waited until the last millisecond before he reached me to turn to the side. Seb went flying past me. His momentum was too much for him to control so he crashed onto the ground. I laughed and threw the ball up for my game-winning shot. We both watched the ball make its way toward the hoop when, all of a sudden, Talon dashed into the room, jumped into the air, and caught the ball. He landed in a comfortable seating position on top of the hoop.

  My fangs erupted from my mouth and a snarl followed.

  “Ooh, am I interrupting something?”

  I was annoyed. He asked a question for which he very well knew the answer.

  “Yesss,” I hissed, ready to jump up there and kick him down. I wanted so badly to win this game and stick it to Seb.

  Talon only shrugged.

  “Too bad, I don’t care.” He responded and then squeezed the ball in his hands until it popped. From behind me, I heard Seb chuckle which made me turn and hiss at him as well.

  “You need to learn to control that anger of yours, doll, which brings me to why we are actually here,” Talon said as he jumped and landed perfectly on his feet.

  “Oh, you’re going to teach me anger management.” I responded sarcastically as I crossed my arms over my chest.

  “Oh no.” He smiled “I’m going to kick your ass.”

  I studied him for a moment, thinking he had to be joking, but he only smirked at my questioning gaze.

  “There are three things you need to know about vampires.” Talon began as he strolled in a circle around me. “Number 1. All you’ve heard about vampires as a human are myths with the exception of blood lust. 2. Humans don’t believe we exist. Let’s keep it that way. 3. Powerful vampires have abilities.”

  Seb walked away and leaned against the far wall of the room. His eyes shot daggers at Talon. At least I knew he hated someone more than me.

  “So, you brought me here to teach me about vampires?” I asked, looking around the empty room again.

  “No. As I said, I brought you here to kick your ass until you show me your ability or die.” He simply stated.

  Wait, what?!

  Before I had the chance to ask another question, Talon swept by me in a flash. He was so quick, I didn’t see him until it was too late. With the same move I used earlier, he kicked my feet from underneath me, effectively knocking me on my back. I jumped up quickly, but he was on me, knocking me back down again and again.

  “Come on, doll face. I thought you had more fight in you!” Talon teased before he kicked me in the stomach.

  I flew back into the wall, hitting it hard. Damn, being
a vampire didn’t mean you couldn’t feel pain. As soon as I was on my feet, I saw his fist hurtling towards my face. Instinctively, I ducked, allowing his fist to crash into the wall next to my head, denting it. Thank goodness it wasn’t my face. He threw another punch, and I blocked it with my forearm, and then threw my leg out to kick him back a few feet away. Talon was barely slowed. He was back on me quickly, using his speed to alter from punching me in the stomach and spine. I could hear his laughter the whole time as I wheezed in pain. He grabbed the back of my hair, yanking it so that I was forced to look at him.

  “You’re not special. You were a pathetic human, and now, you’re a pathetic vampire.” Talon taunted. He let go and I dropped to my knees. A second later, he kneed me in the face, picked me up, and threw me across the room.

  I crashed into the wall right next to Seb. I was in so much agony, but I didn’t dare scream. There was no sense in making myself look weaker than I already appeared. As I was lying on the ground listening to Talons laughter, I caught Seb’s eye. He was looking at me with so much raw emotion, it stunned me. I thought he hated me, but if I didn’t know any better, I would have said he looked at me like he was almost encouraging me to fight. Damn near begging me to. And he was right! Old Ana was gone.That was what I kept reminding myself, and new Ana wasn’t taking shit anymore!

  ***

  Seb

  I watched in confined anger as Talon taunted then kneed Ana in the face. I was clutching my fist so tightly, the nails began to break through the skin. Why the hell wasn’t she fighting back harder?! I shouldn’t be helping her, but if she didn’t do something soon, I would have to interfere. No matter how much I kept my distance from the beautiful monster, I still desired her. Like a moth to a flame, I was drawn to her fire, and I couldn’t shake it off. God! It was so frustrating!

  Talon threw Ana into the wall next to me. She made a small grunt upon impact. Blood gushed from her nose for a second before the wound healed. She rolled over, and slowly, her eyes met mine. I poured all the encouragement I could into my eyes. Damn it, Ana, fight! I couldn’t speak, and I knew she wasn’t a mind reader, but damn it, she had to understand. If Marcos didn’t find her useful, he would destroy her. I knew, without a doubt, I wouldn’t let that happen. Ana’s eyes dawned with understanding, and I almost sighed in relief. Her bright eyes turned into a hard blazing crystal blue. I even thought I saw a bolt flash in them.