"I'll be okay here," she told him. "I'm sorry."
Luke looked like he wanted to argue. But there was nothing he could say to change her mind and he seemed to know that. So he shook his head and gritted his teeth.
"You will regret this," he told Danielle.
Without saying anything else, without even looking at Aubrey, he left.
21
After Luke left, Aubrey turned to Addison. “Are you ready?” she asked. Danielle opened her mouth, nodding her head, but Aubrey cut her off. “Actually, Dani, you need to stay here. I don’t think Noah has your father. When we go up there, I’ll keep an eye out for him but I don’t think he’s there. I actually think it would be smarter if you stayed here. With Professor – with Alek.”
“What?” Danielle’s tone was flat. “Why?”
“Luke changed my mind,” she explained. She glanced over at Addison before looking back at Danielle. “He said something – how he was ordered to put you in protection. Why would they do that? Noah gave no indication that he has your father. But I know Addison needs to get to his compound in the next couple of hours.” Her eyes were bright, like she just cracked open an idea. “Wait for me. I’ll come back. I just need to get things sorted, make a couple of calls.” Her eyes shifted over to Alek’s. “I know I’m in no position to tell you what to do, so I’ll ask: will you stay with her?”
Alek look like he wanted to ask her questions. He wasn’t used to human students ordering him about or asking him favors. Danielle knew before this, he had an intimidating reputation. How could he not? It was no secret he was a vampire, stoic and cold, quiet and calculating. And, if Danielle was being honest, a little bit snobby. It was a good thing she loved Brit Lit or he probably wouldn’t have noticed her at all. However, he nodded once.
Aubrey nodded in return and then looked back to Danielle. “Trust me,” she said. “I’ll be back.”
Danielle looked like she wanted to argue, but there was no point in her going to Noah’s compound if her father wasn’t there. Aubrey had given her no reason not to trust her. In fact, Aubrey had been more helpful than even the NDS. As such, Danielle felt as though she could trust Aubrey to her word. So, like Alek, she nodded.
“Be careful,” Danielle told them both. She caught eyes with Addison and gave her a small smile. “Good luck with your father. I hope it all works out for you.”
“We will.” Aubrey smiled, as did Addison.
“It will,” Addison said, a stubborn glint in her pale green eyes. “If I have anything to say about it, it will.”
And then they were gone, leaving Alek and Danielle alone. There was tension in the air between them. It wasn’t exactly awkward or uncomfortable, but it was enough to notice. Danielle was sure Alek felt the same way. Her eyes trailed over to her bed – she hadn’t made it, didn’t think she had time – and her body had a deep longing to collapse beneath the covers, wanting to attempt to go back to sleep since she didn’t need to be awake so early anymore.
“We should talk,” Alek murmured.
The worst words anyone could say to someone else. But he wasn’t wrong. Danielle nodded her head and walked over to her bed, taking a seat and laying back, staring up at the ceiling. She heard the familiar scrape of the chair against the tile of her tiny dining room and knew Alek was currently seated.
She peeked over at him and saw his hands were over his eyes and his head was tilted back so he stared up at the ceiling. He looked tired, she realized, which she didn't think was possible when it came to vampires. She didn't quite understand what it meant to be a vampire. She didn't know what Alek went through on a daily basis. She didn't even know what their natural sleep cycle was. What she did know was that it wasn't all she thought it was and maybe, if she was bonded to him, she could respect that a little bit more.
"What do you want to talk about?" Danielle asked, her voice quiet and open. She wanted him to know that he could trust her the way he had been, that she wasn't going to judge him or argue with him. She was tired of the back and forth, tired of being led on. She wanted to get this sorted as fast and as best as they could.
Alek slowly picked his head up so he could look at her with his crystal blue eyes. "I want you to realize how much I care for you," he told her. "The mark on your neck does bond us together but I did leave out that because our blood was not exchanged, it is not official." He turned in his chair so he was facing her directly. "Think of it like a wedding ring without the marriage certificate."
"I didn't realize you were so serious about me," Danielle murmured. She pulled herself up into a sitting position and bent her knees so she could wrap her arms around them and hug them to her chest.
"Vampires are much more black and white than humans," he explained. "We try to ignore feelings and emotions for as long as we can but once we can no longer do that, we are forced to make a decision. Do we bond with our partner or do we let them go? There is no in between. It is why you rarely see a vampire engage in a mutually beneficial sexual relationship. It is why you rarely see us fuck the same person twice. We live forever. There is no reason for us to bond with someone, especially a human, which could make us feel things opposite of our lifestyle. But when we do..." He let his voice trail off and shrugged his shoulders. "When we do select someone to bond with, it is forever. The emotions come. There is no reason to fight them because we have allowed them to come in the first place. I have feelings for you, Danielle, but it is difficult for me to express them since I've never had feelings for anyone as a vampire before. This is still new to me."
"Why did you bond with me in my dream?" she asked, knitting her brows together. "Why not just bond with me now, when we're both face to face and awake?"
"Because I wanted to show you who I am," Alek replied. "I wanted to reveal a part of myself to you I've never told anyone about before. I wanted to tell you that I-“ He growled, his brow knotted together before looking off to the side. It was as though he was trying to say something but the words wouldn't come out. "Words are not my strong suit. I suppose that is why I love literature, especially those from Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens…" He let his voice trail off. "Their fiction was precise and deliberate. They knew exactly what they wanted to write, whether they were writing poetry or describing the eyes of a heroine from their hero's point of view. Now, there are so many rules regarding writing that it is hard to keep track of it all and I don't find I'd like to. Since I can't find the words to say, I thought I could show something that would convey the same message."
Danielle pressed her lips together. That made sense, she supposed. And she knew Alek wasn't big on words.
"I understand what you're saying," she replied after a moment. It was important she found the right words to tell him her feelings since they meant so much to him in the first place, "but if we're going to do this, I need to hear what you feel about me. Actions can be misinterpreted."
"As can words," Alek pointed out, "but yes, you're right."
Danielle's eyes widened. It wasn't too often that Alek admitted when someone else was right. Perhaps his mind was more open than she initially believed. Perhaps if she pushed slightly, she could get him to tell her more, to get him to commit to... What was this? What were they? What would they become.
"We need to figure out what this is between us," Danielle said. "I can't keep going back and forth over wanting you and wanting to forget you. You push me away and then you want me again. I promised myself I wouldn't get into something like this again, I promised myself I wouldn't waste my time with someone who didn't know what he wanted, who didn't know if he really wanted to be with me or not. And I have no idea what you want, and I'm not in any mood to guess. I'm an adult - a young one, but still an adult - and I don't want to play games. If all you want is sex, I get it but I can't do that with you. I'm sorry but I can't. I like you, Alek. I know it's juvenile but I really like you. I can't just have sex with you."
"You're a fool," he told her. There was a sharpnes
s to his tone but no malice behind it. "How many times must I tell you that I love you?"
Danielle's mouth dropped open. Warmth flooded through her chest and her stomach felt light, like she was flying across the universe without any requirement for oxygen. It was a mess of conflicted feelings that seemed to complement each other while simultaneously opposing each other.
"You've never said that to me," she told him slowly. "So, I guess, to answer your question, at least once."
Alek looked shocked he had said it in the first place.
He blinked once, twice, before gritting his teeth and looking away. He wasn't going to repeat it but it didn't look as though he was going to take it back, either.
"What does that mean to you?" Danielle asked, sitting up so she could look at him more clearly. When she captured his eyes with hers, she pressed on. "What does love mean for a vampire? Does it mean the same thing it does for humans? Or does it mean something entirely different?"
Alek looked away, his jaw still popping. He was silent, and Danielle didn't know if it was because he was trying to think of how to answer or if it was because he didn't want to answer in the first place.
"Love means the same thing that it does as it means for humans or werewolves or any other species," he finally said. "It means that you're the only person I want to be with from now until whenever. Love isn't easy to explain. For me, it means I can't stop thinking about you. I look forward to class because I know you'll be there. When I'm asleep, you're what I dream about. Time goes too slowly when you're away and too quickly when I'm with you. Love means not understanding what the fuck I'm going through or what the fuck anything means. It means when I see you, I know I'm okay and that things will be okay. It means doing everything I can to keep you safe. It means giving up being alone and being with other women but the sacrifice is easy because I'm exchanging it for you, and you are all that matters. It means you're the only one I want to be inside. I want to fuck you soft and fuck you hard and fuck you in all the ways that will make you see stars. I only want you to want to be with me. It means I want to rip anyone else's throat out for even looking at you the wrong way. It means I want what's best for you, even if that isn't me. I can't tell you what it means because it means everything and one thing. To me, love is you. It's nothing else. It means nothing else. Love is everything in relation to you."
Danielle was breathless. She couldn't believe what Alek said, and yet, the words sounded truer than anything else she had heard in a while. She pushed up into a standing position and slowly walked over to where he was seated. Her eyes never left his and he didn't look away, either. They were magnetized, hooked on each other, and they could both feel it. Everything was sensitized, even the tension in the room.
When she reached him, she continued to stare down at him as she asked, "Does that make you my boyfriend?"
Alek was silent for a beat, and then two. Finally, he stood up so he towered over her and placed his hands on her waist, pulling her close.
"It means," he said, "I'm a whole hell of a lot more than just your boyfriend."
He swooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed before gently placing her down on the covers and covering her body with his and claiming her mouth as his.
22
There was nothing between them anymore. Not with him on top of her, his mouth on hers. It was so easy for him to tease her mouth open, to claim it with his as though it had always belonged to him and was his for the taking. But it was the truth now, wasn't it? She was his, he had bit her, but he had yet to taste her. He had yet to take her blood. The Mark by itself was enough to bond them but blood had yet to be exchanged.
Perhaps that was a good thing. For now.
This thing between them was still new, still delicate, like the wings of a butterfly, and she didn't want to rush it. She knew the sentiment was laughable since she had slept with him before she even knew who he was. And now, he wanted to be with her and see where this went. Of course, there were little worries that crept up into her mind: what happened when she started to grow old? Would he feed on her or would he continue to feed on donors? How would she feel about either option? But she couldn't think about that now. She had plenty of time to worry about other things - everything - but not now. Not when she was with him.
Alek still felt like a magnet, drawn to Danielle like a moth to the flame. His teeth naturally popped out whenever he was around her and it was just the two of them. Truth be told, it was difficult to control himself when they were around other people, but it was near-impossible around her. Even during their first encounter, he had to think of arousing-reducing thoughts because he did not want to scare her off. Not when he could smell her arousal in the Uber, not when he could feel her blood dancing beneath her skin.
He had never felt as alive as he did when he was with her. She wasn't supposed to have captivated him so much. She wasn't supposed to have taken control of his thoughts and his desires after one night together. Even now, he could not answer what made her special when compared to all the other lives who had come before her. She was beautiful and intelligent, passionate and stubborn. But he had been with beauties and intellectuals. There was something solely her, something no one else could touch, and that was what he wanted to understand. Perhaps then, he wouldn't be as enamored with her. Then again, he liked the feelings he did have for her. Not that he would ever admit that out loud.
She trusted him. That scared him more than anything else, her utter lack of doubt in him. He wasn't a bad person, per se, but he could be nefarious. Selfish and arrogant, independent and isolated. In fact, he typically only cared about his own needs sexually and only made sure his partner was satisfied due to his ego rather than any real desire to satisfy them.
Except when it came to Danielle.
With Danielle, he wanted to tease her, to please her, to make her twitch against his mouth or his fingers or his cock, to make her scream his name so loud she forgot everyone else that came before. He liked that he could bring her to her knees in pure pleasure while inflicting pain in just the right spot. When he had sunk his teeth into her flesh, it was purely selfish. He needed to taste her, even just a little bit. He had acquired her consent and while he knew it was rather untoward to obtain her consent through a dream, he had warned her that this was real. He had told her one of his most precious secrets, something he hadn't told anyone before her. He made sure he didn't take any of her blood. That he would not do until they were both conscious and serious and ready. He had been tempted to taste her, just a drop, just enough to make him want her even more. But he refrained. He kept control over himself and only sunk his teeth, piercing her skin to make a mark, to let everyone know that she was his. If she had been a vampire, she would have done the same thing to him, leaving her mark on him. But because she was a human, she didn't have that ability.
Not yet.
Either way, he felt she had marked him in the only way she could. Her scent was all over him, his attention was reserved solely for her. He didn't notice anyone else the way he noticed her. Perhaps there was nothing physical that showed the world he belonged to her, but he knew it.
He gripped her wrists in his hands, pinning them above her head so she couldn't break free. He could hear her heart speed up. There was a prickle of genuine fear in the beat, something he found he liked more than he thought he would. He knew, however, looking into her eyes, that the fear was just part of her body's natural reaction to him and that she wasn't actually scared of him.
There was that trust in him, that trust he didn't think he earned from her. And yet he could see it staring straight in his face and he wasn't quite sure what to do with that trust. Except, he knew, to keep it to the best of his abilities.
The bite didn't actually heighten his sense of connecting them quite yet. It was just an aesthetic that marked her as his. Once blood was exchanged, the bond between them would be complete. He would be able to sense her if she wasn't with him and vice versa. They would be on the same w
avelength always. He would always be able to keep tabs on her - not because he didn't trust her or because he needed to know where she was all the time. But vampire hunters weren't uncommon and he wanted to make sure, more than anything, that she was safe.
He stripped her slowly, not giving her any leeway. In fact, though he released his grip on her wrists, he instructed her not to move, no matter what.
Her eyes widened slightly at his abrupt orders but he noticed a glimmer of something in her eyes. She was intrigued and, judging from the way she smelled, she was just as aroused as he was at the prospect. Truth be told, Alek wasn't the type to use his lovers as objects. Granted, he did use them for his pleasure but he never got off on giving them orders or playing games that would increase intimacy and draw out pleasure. He liked to switch up the positions because he didn't want to get bored but to go any further than that meant he was invested in his lover and their experience. And that wasn't something that had interested him at all.
Until now.
There was something special about ordering Danielle around, about withholding pleasure from her until she was begging him for release, until she was writhing underneath him because it was just too much. She appeared so innocent - even the first night he saw her, she was wearing a simple sundress instead of typical club attire. She probably didn't realize how appetizing she had made herself appear to all the vampires in attendance. He had to have her. There was something about her that drew him to her and he needed to claim her as his before anyone else had the opportunity to. And when he tasted her, he realized there was so much more to her than met the eye. She might have looked innocent but she was anything but. She was full of contradictions that he wanted to tease apart like lace from a corset. He had never felt this way before, never cared about the person attached to the body, never cared about understanding human emotion. He had been a vampire for over a thousand years; he couldn't remember feeling and didn't particularly care to. But this human beneath him, this intelligent, beautiful young woman, made him feel things beyond his control. Made him feel things before he could even comprehend he was feeling anything at all.
The Somerset Series: A Box Set: Books 2-4 Page 44