It's my turn to study her face. It takes me just a moment to figure out what she's got in mind. "You want me to scare Ben off, since I can't make things any worse for myself."
Rachel winces at being busted, and nods. "Yes. I mean, last week, you really got to him. He doesn't respect anybody around here, unless Ivy can see him acting at it. But I think he's afraid of you."
"He is," I say. But not for the reasons she assumes. And I’m as afraid of a confrontation with him as he is of getting into it seriously with me. Too much risk of damaging the Truce if we come to violence with each other.
Rachel is putting me in a rough position by playing on my concerns for Ivy, though. Even now, I will do anything – anything at all – to keep her safe, and Ben is bad, bad news. He has the stink of Negre clan about him, by far the worst of the clans, and the ones that resisted the Truce the longest, and the only ones that have violated it.
"Where is he now?" I ask.
"Somebody backed into his bike. Principal called him just as final period was starting, and he had to go out to meet the wrecker."
There's are only two places around he could take the thing. Either home, if he wants to try and repair the damage himself, or out to Bram's Imports, about forty miles down the highway toward Boulder. They're the only place within a hundred miles of here that will touch a foreign bike.
"This is a hard choice for me to make," I tell Rachel. "Ivy specifically asked me to stay out of things with her and Ben, and we've got a lot of really close friendship behind us. Plus, there’s Grandpa. I get into something with Ben, it may ruin everything between Ivy and me, forever, and I'll lose Grandpa with it."
"She's told us her grandfather isn't a big fan of Ben at all. Do you think he'd back you up if you ran Ben off?"
That one I can answer immediately and truthfully. "No, he wouldn't. He and I have talked about this before."
"Well, thanks for not jumping me for asking," Rachel says.
"I know you’re coming from the right place, and you're not asking me to do anything I haven't already thought of," I tell her. "I just made the decision already that I have to let her live her own life, and let her make her own mistakes."
"Ok," she says. I know she wants to try once more to sway me, but doesn't. She just sits beside me in the car, both of us silent, for a little while. I see her nod her head at some internal decision and look at me. She takes my hand in hers. "I’m sorry this whole thing with Ben has cost you your friendship with Ivy. You're a good man, Carl, and I don't want you to think you can't still hang around with me, alright?"
"Alright," I say. She nods again as part of some internal conversation she's having.
"See you tomorrow." She lets go of my hand and leaves the car, minorly flustered. Her scent changed over the course of that conversation. Not that she was physically aroused or anything, but a note of a different kind of attraction made itself known. Her body language – wolves can read body language very well – also changed. They say little boys always pick on the girls they like the most. It appears the same might be true the other way around.
I hate to admit it, but that little exchange pushed me. Pack is king among the blooded. Rachel is part of my pack, and she’s become a closer member just in the last few minutes. She has asked me to defend another member of the pack that is very important to me. It is a powerful call that Rachel did not know she just made, but she made it. I feel compelled to answer it.
Less than forty minutes later, I pull into Bram's Imports. I still see the zombie sitting around the lobby, watching out the window. He spots me immediately, and I see anger flash across his face.
Ben comes outside to meet me as I get out of my car.
"Why are you stalking me?" he asks.
He doesn't know how much I'm stalking him now. I decide to keep that to myself for now. As well as the fact that there's another Negre in the area now, that seems to know where his house might be.
"I just found out you think you're taking Ivy to prom."
"I asked, she accepted, most of the arrangements have been made."
"Including the private dance afterwards?" I ask.
"None of your business, Carl."
"Ivy is family. It is my business." The wolf wants to join the dance, but I pull his leash up real short. I need to keep my control here.
"She's an adult, and last I heard, has turned her back on you. Unless you're actually playing the part of the long-jilted and jealous suitor, we need never speak to each other again."
"If Ivy survives you, she and I will be kin again." It pains me a little bit, still, to admit that we will never love each other in a non-familial way. But Ivy is worth it to me. Thinking of her as a pack sister now is starting to wear the sharp edges off of that pain.
"Carl," Ben says. "I truly intend her no harm. My interest in her is indeed what it says on the label. I have simply fallen for a lovely woman and would like to have a happy future with her."
"I don't want that future for Ivy," I say, "Or the other one. You know which two I mean." The only options are for him to turn her, or for her to grow old and die while watching him remain forever youthful.
"You forgot the third option," Ben says. "The one where I run off on her as soon as I can no longer hide the fact that she is aging and I am not."
"How can you claim to love her, knowing that there is simply no happy future for her with you? Nothing good can come of this."
Ben is silent. I realize he has been very civil, very non-threatening to me this entire conversation. It's helped me keep the wolf under control. Maybe that's why he is doing it. Finally, he says, "I haven't worked out everything yet. I don't have much beyond prom mapped out for us. I just know that we are meant to be together. I’m not going to back down on this, Carl. Please understand that."
"Claim her now, figure it out later is not how you respect someone you love. Regardless of that stupid fairy tale winds of fate and true love garbage that you seem to believe in. Please, show me more respect than that. I'm holding my temper with you, and I'm not threatening you. Show me the same consideration."
"I am," Ben says. "I know you have studied us in depth. So you know that we can sense short distances into the immediate future sometimes. Enough to communicate sometimes courses of action that we should and should not take. Yes?"
I nod. He's telling the truth on that count.
"I need to claim Ivy for her own protection."
"I don't believe you," I say.
"I wish you would," Ben says. He looks straight into my eyes, keeps his face toward me the entire time. He's making it easy for me to read his body language. He seems to believe what he is saying.
I still don't have to like it. "We can protect her just fine without you. She's got family, friends, and an entire school that thinks she is the one of the best among us. We look out for our own here," I say. "So, leave. If its vampires threatening her, you brought them here. Go somewhere else and have them all follow you."
"It's not that simple," Ben says. "She's special."
"That's what I just told you. And she's ours. Now get your little ten-speed fixed up and pack it on out of Stokers Mill. Before prom night. Break her heart a little bit now instead of destroying it later."
"Carl," Ben says. He's actually pleading with me.
"No. Get out of town!"
"Whatever it is about her that drew me here will draw others."
"Then deal with them on your way out of town and out of Ivy's life."
"Actually Carl, you're the one who's most immediately a threat to her."
"What?" I ask.
"You know the signs of the Negre?"
"Of course I do," I say.
"My latest sense, and I will swear on anything you ask me to, this is not a lie." He points at me, then crosses the first two fingers of his right hand and lays them across his heart. "You can't protect her. You'll lead them to her."
He's either telling me the honest truth, or he's done an amazing job of believing one o
f his own lies. I don't know which yet, but seeing that sign, an indication that I'll be killed to find something more important, really cuts deep into my pride. It's getting harder to keep the wolf down – it is an extraordinarily proud beast.
I turn away from Ben, get into my car, and take a long drive down to Boulder. I need to spend a lot of miles thinking.
Chapter 9
Ben Wake
Showing Carl the Negre sign definitely disturbed him. I had guessed correctly that he was taught the signs, but his reaction told me a lot more than that. He didn't think I was just making an idle threat – there was a very immediate fear on his face, but not of me.
I really want to find out more from Carl, but he's walking away, keeping himself tightly under control. I know that it would be a bad idea to keep the conversation going. Carl is walking away before things get ugly between us, the best thing for me to do is to honor that and let him go.
Not long after Carl drives off, Paul arrives to pick me up. "Have you noticed anything unusual around the house over the past few days," I ask him as we're on our way home.
"No," he says. "You asked us to let you know if we ever caught anybody in the yard or loitering around on the road, but we haven't seen anything."
It's only a very small reassurance. If there's a Negre in the area now looking for me, if that's what had unsettled Carl so much, it would be way too careful for a couple of freewheeling artistic types like Paul and Carol to notice it.
I also have to consider that the other vampire may not be hunting me at all, but, as I told Carl, may be drawn to Ivy. That could be why my sense told me that they'd find Ivy through Carl, but gave me no sign of what my immediate fate might be. Finding me here would just be an added bonus.
A hundred years alive, and I'm in love with somebody – genuinely and truly in love – for the first time ever, and now I’m feeling pushed to hurry the relationship along instead of giving it time to grow on its own. This is why I do not believe in fate, regardless of Carl’s accusation. If Ivy and I were fated to be together, I wouldn't be wondering if my old clan were at this very moment stalking one or both of us. I would be savoring every moment between now and prom night, deliciously anticipating our first time together, on a night that I could make perfect for her.
Now I just want Paul to drive faster because I need to have a conversation with Ivy that he does not need to overhear.
As soon as we get home, I dash up to my room, barely remembering to thank Paul for coming to get me, and I call Ivy.
"Hey, Ben. How's the bike?"
"Nothing wrong with it that a couple of days waiting for parts and an insurance check won't fix. I should be back on it by this time next week. Plenty of time for you to ride to prom with me," I say.
"I don't think you know very much about how much prom dresses cost, or how long the skirt on mine is going to be. There's no way I'm getting it anywhere near the chain on your motorcycle. If my dress doesn't snag in it and kill me, I'm sure it'll get filthy."
"I'll buy you a new one."
"Ben," Ivy says, mostly joking, but with a bit of a stern reminder that we've had this conversation. "I will buy my own dress, and we're going halfsies on dinner and anything else that may cost money that night. You agreed."
"I did," I say. I love that she is strong willed in that regard, but also wish that she were willing to just let me make the night for her. It's our senior year, and the only year she's got a date for prom. I want to make it magical for her.
More than anything, though, I need to make sure she is under my protection before then. The Negre are horrid beasts, but even they cannot violate another vampire's claim on a mortal. Not while that vampire still lives. That is why they forbid anybody in the clan from making a claim without permission from the head of the clan. It is too powerful even for them to undo. Still, the protection has its limits. No other vampire will be able to physically harm her, feed on her, or turn her as long as I live, but there are ways to torture somebody without ever touching their body. The Negre are very good at those twisted arts.
What I say next is a gamble, a huge risk that would be foolish of me to take if I hadn't seen the way she's acted around me since our first kiss. "Can I treat you to a special evening tonight, instead? A night where I get to completely spoil you."
"What do you have in mind?" she asks. It seems like she's receptive of the idea.
"I want to get out of town tonight. I know that I've had a hard time of fitting in here, and it's just getting to me a bit, especially since you and I are now a thing. There's a place up at the top of Harker's Pass that I see when I'm out riding that looks like it has really nice rooms. It's Friday, so neither of us has school tomorrow. We can have a night together, just us, without being in a big room full of people that are judging us first."
Ivy pauses, then asks, "You, uh, want me. Tonight?"
"I’ve wanted you for quite some time now."
"I know. And I want you, too."
"But?"
"But. On the one hand, I don't want to rush things," she says.
"On the other hand?"
"You've lit a fire in me, Ben."
"You've lit one in me, too. Like nobody has ever lit me up before."
"Grandpa just got home, and I'm making dinner for us now. I really hate to mention his name to you right now, but I really need to tell him about what happened between Carl and me. Can I call you back at seven, and let you know how I'm feeling? I really want you. Like, you would not believe how much I want you right now, but I also want my first time to be at the right time. Just let me have my dinner and unpleasant conversation with Grandpa, and if it's still feeling right, we’ll do this tonight. Ok?"
It is very easy for me to agree to the delay. Her having dinner before meeting me means I don't have to fake my way through it. It gives me time to feed so my body will be warm. "That is fine," I tell her. "I'll call the inn and see if they can pencil us in for tonight. I hope everything goes well with your grandfather this evening."
"Thank you," she says.
Fortunately, the Harker's Pass Inn has room, being in the small low season between the winter tourists that come for the skiing, and the summer ones that come to hike and camp the mountains. I book the deluxe suite with the whirlpool tub.
I rush out as quickly as I can and find prey in the hills above my house. It gives me enough fresh blood in my system to have a strong pulse and some color for at least a day. I clean up, brush my teeth, and try to find an outfit that looks nice without seeming out of place for a couple of young people renting a room in a rural hotel. I settle on a pair of classic black dress trousers with a leather belt, royal blue button-down shirt, and a simple tone on tone black necktie.
At seven, precisely, Ivy calls. "I'm yours tonight," she says.
By quarter to eight, we are showing the desk clerk at the inn our IDs to prove we are both old enough to be spending the night in a room together.
We go up to the room, and I don't think Ivy notices anything about it. As soon as I close the door behind me, her overnight bag is on the floor, and her lips are on mine. I am tempted to go straight for the buttons on her blouse, but I know we have all night. I embrace her and kiss her back, gently. She wraps her arms around me and holds me close. The way her heart is pounding, I know she's worked herself up to this moment, and is trying to simply ride the moment before she can think about it. Her body is up against mine, her hips rolling in a way that is very uncharacteristic of the demure and proper Ivy I've known up to this point. I know that if I don't take her immediately, lead her to the bed and have her right now, she's going to get shy on me.
I respect and love Ivy too much to just hike her skirt and open her thighs and be done with it. As much as this brief flash of intense lust coming from her is amazingly hot, it would be just that, an act of lust and not of love. When shy Ivy whispers to me, "Now..." then it will be an act of love.
Therefore, I resist when she tries to pull me toward the bed. I pull aw
ay from her greedy kiss and put my hands on her cheeks, looking deep into her eyes. I kiss her gently on the lips, on the forehead, on the top of her head. I see the look on her face change. She blushes. She catches her breath.
Now we can start this properly. I guide her toward the small sofa in the room, and we sit side-by-side. We start to kiss again. Every so often, we break to catch our breath and look at each other. Her brilliant green eyes mesmerize me. In one of the kisses, she lowers her hand to my waist, resting it on my hip. I let one of my hands drift to her breast, feeling the pattern of rich lace through the fabric of her blouse. Her breath shudders in as I cup her breast, squeezing very lightly. She squirms next to me and pulls closer.
I start to unbutton her blouse, and she shifts to make it easier, arching her back as well. When I get enough buttons undone to show her bra, she glances down and then back up to me.
"I ordered something really, really sexy for prom night. This is the best I happen to own right now." She looks a little embarrassed, but has no need to be. It's a lovely shade of emerald that doesn't overpower her pale skin, and adds just a little more to her eyes.
"It's quite lovely," I say, and wonder if all of her underclothes are as nice. Has there always been this side of Ivy that dresses to impress a lover under her clothes, hidden in plain sight?
As I undo another button, she fumbles about trying to figure out how to loosen a necktie. I interrupt my progress on her blouse to take care of the tie for her, and unbutton my collar. She pushes my hands away as I go to undo a second button for her. She wastes no time opening my shirt all the way, before I get to the last button of her blouse.
While she strokes my bare chest and runs her hands down my back, I manage to get her blouse the rest of the way off of her, and reach back and unhook her bra. With a little lean forward and a shrug of her shoulders, it slips free. Her breasts are small and gently rounded. She's got the most adorable little pink nipples that are hard under my hands as I rub them. I lean into her and breathe deeply, smelling her soft skin. I rest my cheek against her neck and can feel the blood pounding through her veins. Even though the room is slightly cool, she's sweating a bit. We spend quite a bit of time like this, my mouth alternating between kissing her lips and her neck, her hands all over my chest and back, my hands examining every single inch of her precious breasts, until she seriously starts squirming again. She's squeezing her thighs together and wiggling them to give herself some stimulation in the most secret part of her body. As soon as I notice this, I reach an arm under her knees, and lift her onto my lap.
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