“Now, you are you going to listen to me!” he spat. “I am not going anywhere. So you had better get that realization through that thick skull of yours right now Isabelle, or so help me I will ram it in there! Do you understand me?” When she didn’t answer fast enough for his liking, his hands tightened upon her arms, and he shook her slightly. “Do you understand me?” he bellowed.
Her lower lip trembled slightly as she managed a weak nod. “Yes,” she whispered softly. Some of his anger melted away as he slowly unclenched his rigid jaw. Finally he was beginning to make some head way with her. “But you left before.”
His head snapped up and his eyes narrowed fiercely as fury raced through him again. He should have known better than to think that she would concede so quickly. But just once he wished that she would make things easy for him, not constantly put him on the defensive. “I left because I thought that it was the best thing for you, for me,” he grated through clenched teeth. “I got you hurt that night...”
“No you didn’t!” she cried.
“Yes, I did,” he growled. “You were trying to avoid me; that’s the reason you even went to that club. I thought it would be better if I left, but like it or not Isabelle I came back, and I am not leaving again! Do you understand that?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
The anger melted again, but he remained completely rigid on top of her, knowing better than to think she would acquiesce so easily. Not Isabelle. Never his Isabelle. “You are going to stop fighting me Isabelle, I mean it. There will be no more of this. You’re mine, and the sooner you realize it, the happier we will both be! Do you understand that?”
She looked up at him as some of her fear, and doubt, melted away. His face was still fierce, his body still rigid. His eyes had returned to their dark onyx color, but there was still a savage gleam in them. She was his, she knew that, but it wasn’t enough. “Are you mine?” she demanded haughtily.
His jaw clenched again. He was hers, he knew that, he had learned it over the past couple of days, but to tell her that, to let her know exactly how much he had come to care for her, would be opening himself up to vulnerability that he wasn’t sure he was ready for. Her eyes darkened with pain, and in that instant he knew he would have told her anything to make her happy. No matter how much he hated how weak, and exposed, it made him feel.
“Yes, I am.”
The beautiful smile that spread over her face would have made him rip the moon out of the sky if she had asked for it, and he knew that the admission had been worth it. “And I am yours,” she whispered.
The remaining dregs of his anger vanished as he lifted his hand to gently stroke her silky cheek. “Now, do you care to tell me what you were really so upset over? And don’t even try to tell me it was over what I said, because you know as well as I, that there was more to it than that.”
“No,” she mumbled.
His jaw locked again as his hand stilled on her cheek. “You said you were going to stop fighting me,” he growled.
“I’m not fighting you!” she cried. “I just... I...” she broke off, her face turned a bright shade of red as she lowered her long, inky black lashes.
Stefan stared down at her in confusion as she refused to look at him. He knew that it took a lot to embarrass her, but her entire body was becoming suffused with heat as she bit nervously into her lower lip. “Isabelle, tell me.” She quickly shook her head. He sighed wearily and stroked her warm cheek. “Tell me,” he urged softly. “Please.”
That please tugged at her, making her want to pour her heart out to him. To tell him all of her insecurities, but what if he didn’t reassure her, but only confirmed her worst fears. Sighing softly, she decided to just take the plunge and ask. He would just keep bothering her anyway, and try as she might, she couldn’t come up with a plausible lie to keep him at bay. Besides, she was fairly certain that she couldn’t lie to him, even if she could come up with one. Lifting her eyes back to his, the last of her hesitance melted away as he gazed at her with concern and tender warmth.
“Am I any good?” she whispered so softly that he had to strain to hear her.
When her words finally penetrated, he almost laughed, but managed to catch himself in time. He didn’t want to think about what she would do if he burst into laughter. Instead, he continued to lightly stroke her cheek as he stared at her, remembering clearly now that she had started to grow distant when he had told her that he would teach her how to make love. Sometimes, he really was an insensitive idiot, he realized with an inward groan.
“I have never felt anything like what I feel when I’m with you. Trust me darling, you are much better than good, you’re spectacular.”
She looked back at him, a tender vulnerability in her eyes that tore at his heart. “Really?” she whispered hopefully.
He shifted slightly, nudging her thighs gently apart so that he could press the hard evidence of his arousal against her inner thigh. Her eyes widened in surprise as passion bloomed within their depths. “This is what you do to me,” he grated hoarsely. “No one has ever affected me like this Isabelle, no one. I sure as hell have never put up with as much aggravation with anyone else as I have with you.”
She smiled softly, her eyes twinkling with amusement as the fear slowly left them. “You’re no barrel of laughs you know.”
He cocked an eyebrow as he smiled playfully back at her. “And why is that?”
“Well, you’re arrogant, inconsiderate, bossy, demanding and more than a little temperamental.”
Stefan’s eyebrows rose as he shifted slightly to press the hard tip of his head against her wet, inviting folds. Isabelle gasped as she bit into her bottom lip, her eyes clouded with passion. “You flatter me, but you do realize that you have just described yourself.”
“I am not inconsiderate!” she cried indignantly.
He smiled softly as he slid his head slowly into her. She drew her legs up, bracing them against his hard, slick sides as she opened herself further to his invasion. “But you admit to being the other things?”
Her eyes twinkled merrily as she wrapped her arms around his neck to lightly play with the hair curling along his nape. He shuddered as he fought the urge to plunge into her, but he was enjoying teasing her and watching the variety of emotions that crossed her face. “Sometimes,” she said softly. “But at least I don’t rip doors out of the wall.”
He laughed softly as he bent to nibble on her lip. “No, you just cause me to do it.”
She grinned up at him. “That was your temper that caused you to do that.”
“Trust me; no one can provoke my temper like you.”
“I know the feeling,” she gasped as he drove all the way into her.
CHAPTER 17
“Isabelle!” Isabelle groaned as she buried herself deeper into her pillows. “Isabelle!”
“Go away Willow!” she shouted.
“Isabelle get up!” She lifted her head slowly as she realized that Stefan was no longer in bed with her. Her brow furrowed as she wondered where he had gone, and when. “Isabelle!” she yelled impatiently.
“What?” she snapped.
“I can’t find Cassidy and Kyle!” Willow cried.
“Get Ethan!”
“Everybody went to get more supplies for the new house, and they’ve been missing for almost an hour!”
She groaned again as she thrust the tangled sheet off of her. An hour was a long time for the two of them to be gone. Too long. “Hold on!”
She dressed quickly, wondering if Stefan had gone with everyone for supplies, or if he was around here somewhere. Brushing out her hair she pulled it into a loose ponytail and opened the door. Willow’s pretty face was stressed with worry as her dark violet eyes nervously scanned Isabelle. “I don’t know where they went,” she said anxiously.
“We’ll find them,” Isabelle assured her. Willow nodded briskly, shaking her dark blond hair lose from her ponytail. “Come on.”
Willow followed her up the stairs,
through the living room, and outside. Isabelle paused on the porch, her gaze instantly darting to the new house. They had made a lot of progress on it in the past few days, progress that she hadn’t even noticed until now. The outside walls had been assembled, the porch was built, the large oak door was in place, and most of the windows were in. A tingle of excitement raced through her as she realized that the house would be done soon. She smiled softly, thinking about all the privacy she would have with Stefan there.
“He went with the others,” Vicky said.
Isabelle tore her gaze away from the house as Vicky and Abby stepped onto the porch, grinning at her. Willow sighed impatiently as Isabelle took a deep breath and hopped quickly down the steps. “Where was the last place you saw them?”
“I left them at the tree house,” Willow answered.
Isabelle nodded as she moved toward the path to the tree house. “You must be happy that Stefan came back,” Vicky said slyly.
Isabelle cast a glance over her shoulder to find the twins grinning knowingly at her. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling back at them. “Jess is going to freak when she finds out that he came back,” Abby said.
“She doesn’t know yet?” Isabelle asked, for a moment her good mood growing darker at the thought of Jess’s reaction.
“No, she was still asleep when he went into town, and I don’t think mom is going to tell her.”
“I’d like too,” Vicky chimed in. “Just to see her face.”
“Be nice,” Isabelle scolded softly.
“Why?” Vicky demanded her face scrunched in anger. “She’s not nice to you.”
“Do you blame her?”
“Yes!” they both cried.
Isabelle sighed softly as she shook her head at them. “If it was one of you guys, you wouldn’t be saying that.”
They both scowled at her. “Obviously the two of you are supposed to be together,” Vicky said.
“She doesn’t know that,” Isabelle reminded them gently.
“Well, she will now!” Abby snapped.
Isabelle stopped as they reached the tree house. She glanced around the small clearing, but there was no sign of Cassidy or Kyle. A feeling of impending doom was beginning to grow in the pit of her stomach. An hour was much too long for Cassidy and Kyle to be missing. She knew how quickly they could get themselves into serious trouble. “You guys head to the lake, Willow and I will go toward the canyon.”
Vicky and Abby nodded, the amusement on their faces was gone as they broke off to take the path to the lake. Willow followed behind Isabelle as she moved swiftly down the path, calling loudly for Kyle and Cassidy. Sun splashed through the thick leaves, casting a myriad of light patterns across the pine needles and rotten leaves as they moved rapidly along. The forest seemed eerily quiet, too quiet. She broke into a brisk jog when the canyon was only a hundred feet away. The bad feeling in her belly was starting to spread throughout her body, making it difficult for her to breathe.
She burst out at the end of the path, panting slightly as she skidded to a halt at the end of the canyon. It was about twenty feet long and forty feet down. It was the same one that Ethan had thrown himself off of when he was fifteen. She swallowed down her fear and forced herself to look down. The bottom of the canyon was littered with rocks and debris, the sides of it had ragged rocks jutting out of it. Isabelle scanned the bottom and the jagged rock walls quickly, but there was no sign of either Kyle or Cassidy.
“Maybe they went home,” Willow said softly.
Isabelle wished that was true, but the awful feeling in her stomach had begun to spread to her chest. Glancing quickly at the woods she ignored the bird calls, and the animals that moved within its shadowed depths. She forced herself to concentrate on her brother and sister, hoping to get some glimmer of where they could be.
Then, a sinking possibility crashed around her. She turned away from Willow, breaking into a sprint as she rushed down another path, darting tree branches and twigs, ignoring the thorns that tore at her clothing and skin. She forced herself to move faster, blurring as she rushed down the path. Please no, she pleaded silently. Please no.
She burst off the path, rushing through the clearing to the edge of the bear trap. Holding her breath, she peered into its shadowed depths. Cassidy was huddled against the wall, looking up at her with tears streaming down her dirt, and blood streaked cheeks. She held Kyle tightly in her arms, his head cradled gently in her lap. Blood had soaked through his clothing and onto Cassidy. His wheat blond hair was caked with blood and dirt, and his clothes had turned a fierce shade of red.
Isabelle’s heart jumped into her throat as tears sprang instantly into her eyes. Willow let out a startled cry as she skidded to a halt beside her. “He fell,” Cassidy whispered pitifully.
That heart breaking whisper snapped Isabelle out of her fear filled paralysis. “Get help!” she hissed to Willow.
Willow nodded quickly and took off into the woods. “Isabelle,” Cassidy whispered.
“Hold on Cass, I’m coming.”
She sat at the edge of the hole, glancing worriedly at the stakes. Now that she wasn’t hanging over the pit, she was able to get a better look at the jagged, deadly stakes. They were old, and some of them had rotted and broken off from time and weather, but even the blunted wood was lethal looking. She scooted closer to the edge, biting nervously on her bottom lip as she tried to figure out the best way to get down. Finally deciding that there was no best way, she lowered herself over and slid down the side.
A cry of pain tore from her as one of the stakes pierced through her shoe, tearing into the bottom of her foot. The sudden agony almost caused her to pitch backward onto all of them, but she managed to catch herself in time. Flinging herself forward, her fingers dug frantically into the dirt and tree roots of the wall as she steadied herself. Breathing heavily, she remained against the wall as she slowly pulled her foot free of the stake. She winced, gritting her teeth against the throbbing pain in her foot as the stake slid slowly free of her flesh, and shoe.
She took a deep breath before turning herself slowly around. Cassidy watched with wide eyes as she began to edge her way carefully around the stakes, trying to keep her weight off of her abused foot. It seemed like hours passed before she reached Kyle and Cassidy, but she knew that it was only a matter of seconds before she knelt at their side. Kyle was still, his breathing labored and barely noticeable as it rattled out of him. The sound of that rattle sent a bolt of fear through her so fierce she almost choked on it. He was so pale that even his lips had become white, and all of his veins were clearly noticeable through his nearly translucent skin.
It took everything Isabelle had to push through her fear, and nearly choking sorrow. With trembling hands she pulled his shirt gingerly up. There was a huge, gaping wound in his stomach that was slowly oozing up bubbles of blood. Cassidy began to cry harder as Isabelle shoved his shirt the rest of the way up to find another large, jagged tear in the middle of his chest.
Panic tore through Isabelle, rocking through her with a force so fierce that she could hardly breathe. He was bleeding out so fast that he hadn’t even begun to close the wounds on his own. “Oh no,” she whispered.
Cassidy was shaking from the force of her tears. “Please help him Isabelle,” she pleaded.
Isabelle ripped her tank top off and pressed it firmly against Kyle’s chest. His eyelids flickered, but he made no other movement, no sound. “Hold this,” she commanded Cassidy.
Cassidy pressed a trembling hand against the shirt that was quickly becoming saturated with blood. Isabelle fought back tears as she bit into her wrist and forced Kyle’s mouth open. She pressed her wrist to his mouth, allowing her blood to seep into him. She needed to replace the blood that he was rapidly losing, needed to attempt to keep his strength up.
She lifted her head to quickly scan the edge of the pit. It was a good ten feet up; there was no way that she could get them out on her own. Fighting back tears of hopelessness and agony, she t
urned her attention back to her brother. Her blood wasn’t even making a dent in the amount that he had lost, but she hoped that it would be enough to keep him alive until help arrived.
***
Stefan threw the board into the back of the truck and turned to accept the next one from David. “This should be the last load,” Mike said.
“Good,” Jack replied, wiping his arm across his sweaty forehead. “I can’t wait to get this damn house finished.”
“Wish I could have gone back to school sooner,” Ian mumbled.
“Just think about how nice it will be when you come back,” Ethan replied.
Ian grinned as he tossed a board into the back of the other truck. Stefan grabbed another board from David and threw it in. He was beginning to wish that he hadn’t agreed to come with them. There was a clawing sensation in his chest that was growing more intense, and more uncomfortable with every passing minute.
He couldn’t keep his mind on the conversation around him; he was becoming increasingly agitated, and irritable. All he wanted to do was go back to the house, curl up in bed with Isabelle, and forget about the rest of the world. However, he had needed to feed. It had been over three days since he last had, and when he awoke again this morning, the hunger burning through his body had been almost unbearable. Now, sated on two of the employees from the lumberyard, a new sensation had sprung forth to take the place of the fierce hunger.
He ground his teeth as he tossed another board into the truck. He just wanted to get this wood loaded as quickly as possible and get back to the house. He would see Isabelle before he returned to helping with the new house, which he wanted finished as soon as possible. It would be much nicer to stay there with Isabelle, quieter, and more peaceful. Of course, Ethan would be there too, but at least it wasn’t a house load of people.
Tossing another board onto the load he quickly wiped the sweat from his brow. He glanced over at Ethan as he bent to pick up another board. He had apologized to him about the other night, and Ethan seemed to have accepted it, but he could still sense wariness in him.
Destined (Vampire Awakenings) Page 21