He stiffened instantly; the realization brought a surge of raging emotions forth. She lifted her head to stare questioningly at him, but he forced his face to remain blank as he met her gaze. He would figure it all out later, talk to her later about it, but not now. She had enough on her mind now. He had enough on his mind now.
He kissed her lightly on the tip of her nose and she smiled softly. That smile clenched at his heart and caused him to harden even more. He shifted slightly as he tried to ease the growing pressure in his cock and she dropped her head to his shoulder again. Her long lashes brushed lightly against his neck as her eyes closed.
Liam appeared in the doorway, his face drawn and tight as he leaned against the frame. “Is he awake?” Abby demanded.
“No, why don’t you guys go on up to bed, you look beat.”
“But...”
“Go on,” he told them, the hard set of his face leaving no room for arguments. “He probably won’t be up for awhile.”
They exchanged quick glances, but obviously decided that arguing wasn’t going to work. They slid off the island and shuffled slowly out of the room. “Good night,” they mumbled as they left.
Liam’s gaze came back to them. “You guys should head home too, you look like hell.”
“You don’t look much better,” Mike retorted.
“Yeah but I’ll look good after some sleep, you look like crap all the time.”
“You wish,” Mike muttered.
Liam smiled wanly. “Go on, get out of here. You’ve all done enough, get some rest.”
“You sure dad?” Isabelle asked softly.
“Yes.”
They exchanged quick looks before climbing to their feet. Isabelle went to get out of Stefan’s lap, but he kept his arms firmly around her as he rose swiftly to follow everyone outside. She smiled softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest. She was immediately comforted by the reassuring beat of his heart, and the warmth of his body. Her eyes drifted closed as he carried her down the stairs and out to the field.
“You really think he’ll be all right?” Ethan asked anxiously.
“Yes,” Stefan answered.
He glanced down at Isabelle, smiling softly as he realized that she was sound asleep. “Thank you,” Ethan said softly.
Stefan glanced sharply up at him. “I didn’t do anything,” he replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
“You got there a lot faster than any of us would have, and you knew that they were in trouble.”
“I knew that Isabelle was in trouble,” he corrected.
Ethan smiled softly. “Just like in the club.”
Stefan shrugged slightly, careful not to jar Isabelle out of her sleep. “Yeah.”
Ethan’s smile faded as he glanced down at Isabelle. Stefan pulled her tighter against him, tensing at the thought that Ethan might touch her, but he made no move to. “You were the last thing that she ever wanted you know,” he said softly.
Stefan’s eyes snapped with fury as they met Ethan’s. “What?” he demanded angrily.
Ethan flashed a bright grin as he met Stefan’s furious gaze. “We weren’t the anti-social ones for no reason you know.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he growled, his anger growing by the second.
“Calm down,” Ethan said gently. “I’m just saying that she stayed hidden up here, never fed from humans, and avoided them at all costs, because this was the last thing that she ever wanted to have happen to her.”
It was taking everything that Stefan had not to grab him by the throat and shake some words out of him that made sense. “What do you mean?” he nearly bellowed.
Isabelle shifted slightly; one arm fell limply into her lap. Stefan forced himself to take a deep breath, and calm down before he woke her. She needed as much sleep as she could get. “You still haven’t figured it out?” David asked incredulously.
Stefan shot him a glowering look. “Figured what out?” he demanded.
“I thought when you came back here it was because you knew.” David shook his head as he closed his eyes and chuckled softly. “Man, you are dense.”
“Look...” Stefan hissed, fury building inside of him. Isabelle whimpered softly as she buried her head tighter against his chest, instinctively trying to soothe him in her sleep. It took everything he had to remain calm.
“Isabelle never wanted to find her soul mate,” Ethan explained quickly.
Stefan turned toward him, his eyes narrowed fiercely. The full knowledge of what Ethan had just said slammed into him, knocking the breath from his lungs as he froze instantly. They turned to stare at him, various expressions of amusement on their faces. He didn’t find anything at all amusing in the situation.
He shook his head as he glanced down at the woman curled so trustingly within his arms. Even though there were dark shadows under her eyes, and a pinched look around her mouth, she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Ever touched. Yet it wasn’t her beauty that had brought him back here, and it wasn’t just his need to possess her body. It had been something else, something more. Something that he had not understood until that moment. Now, everything was beginning to make sense.
How could he have not known sooner? he wondered dully.
He suddenly understood his desperate need for her, her ability to reach him in the club, his inability to be apart from her, and why he still felt the beast clawing at his insides, wanting to break free. He hadn’t fully claimed her. He had wanted to feed off of her, to taste her, and have her do the same, but he had held back because of what had happened to her at the club. He had also never allowed anyone to feed from him, until Kyle. But with Kyle it had been necessity, with Isabelle it would be another way of marking her as his. That had been part of what had held him back, he knew that it would have meant there would be no letting go of her, ever. The idea had frightened him then, but now...
His brow furrowed as he looked at her in his shirt. It was ridiculously big on her, the sleeves hung over her elbows, the edge of it ended at mid thigh. A fierce wave of possession swept through him as he realized how delicately fragile she was, how much weaker she was than him. How much she needed his strength, and protection, especially from her own damn recklessness. If she had slipped today, if she had stumbled, than she wouldn’t be here with him right now. The demon in him boiled instantly to the front, raging violently against the possibility of losing her. If she had died, it would have destroyed him. He never would have been able to survive without her.
That knowledge frightened the hell out of him.
“Why not?” His voice was strained with the emotions that raced through him as he lifted his head to look at Ethan.
Ethan’s eyes were sad and distant as he stared down at his sister. “She never wanted her existence to hinge on someone else’s,” he answered softly.
Stefan knew exactly how she felt. No wonder she had gone out of her way to avoid him. She had recognized the signs from the beginning. She hadn’t been fighting against him, but herself, and the implications of what his arrival had signaled. He understood now why she had fled into the house the first night that he had seen her. Understood why he had been unable to tear his gaze away from her. When she had run into the house that first night, she hadn’t been scared of him because he was a vampire, but scared of the way that he had made her feel, and what the consequences of those feelings might be. He now knew why he had been able to feel her panic, and pain that night in the club, why he had been unable to leave her.
He was such an idiot. He should have known what was going on, should have recognized the signs. Hell he was the one that had told David about Liam and Sera, how could he not have known?
He sighed softly as he closed his eyes and tried to sort through everything. He hadn’t recognized it because he had never thought that it could happen to him. He had never given much thought to the soul mate thing. He had heard of it, and he knew what it meant, but he had never thought tha
t it would affect him. He had been alive for a long time, and he had never met anyone that he would have even considered changing, or settling down with. After all these years, he hadn’t thought that it was possible to find anyone. He knew now that he had been completely, and utterly, wrong.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he tried to absorb, and sort through everything. “Shit,” he whispered.
“I’m surprised you didn’t recognize it sooner,” David said, the amusement in his voice only aggravating Stefan more.
He remembered the way that they had all behaved around him the night that she had gotten hurt, and it suddenly made sense. They had known what was going on, and that was why they had left him be, why they hadn’t tried to separate him from Isabelle. He knew now why he had been so crazed about them touching her, or trying to take her from him.
He opened his eyes and looked down at her. She looked so innocent, and angelic, but he knew how much looks could be deceiving. She was a damn irritating, infuriating, hellion, and for better or worse, he was stuck with her. He smiled softly as she nuzzled closer to him, burying her face against his chest. He had to admit that no matter how much she may aggravate him, he really didn’t mind the idea of being stuck with her for eternity. It was actually a rather appealing concept.
“So am I,” he muttered. “How long have you guys known?”
“Since the night at the club,” Jack answered.
He glanced up at them. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” he demanded.
“You left before we had the chance,” Mike reminded him. “And once you came back, we just assumed that you had figured it out.”
Stefan frowned as he glanced back at Isabelle. David started to laugh as he turned and walked toward the house. “You look like someone just punched you in the gut!” he called over his shoulder.
He felt like someone had just punched him in the gut. He started walking again, marveling over what he had just learned, what he had just realized. He saw the way that Liam and Sera were together, their constant need to communicate with each other, their need to touch, and the deep love that they shared.
He frowned as he thought about that. He didn’t love Isabelle. He liked her, he admired her, he cared for her, but he didn’t love her. Did he?
He glanced back down at her; a deep, unknown emotion began to well up inside of him. It was something that he had never felt before, and he didn’t understand what it was. He wanted to keep her sheltered, protected, and safe. He wanted to see her laugh, wanted to see her happy. He needed to be with her, and around her. Today, in town, he had felt like he was crawling out of his skin without her. He knew now that it was because he needed to be near her, to touch her, to hold her at all times. Was that what love was? he wondered.
He slipped into the house behind everyone else and carried her swiftly down the basement stairs. He pushed the door open and kicked it closed behind him. Isabelle stirred slightly as he put her on the bed, but she didn’t awaken. He undressed her slowly, careful not to rouse her as he pulled off his shirt and the baggy pants.
He stood for a moment, admiring her long, sleek body, and gentle curves. In the moonlight she glistened with a silvery light that highlighted her creamy skin. He tore his gaze from her as he hardened painfully and quickly stripped out of his own clothes. He crawled into bed beside her, gritting his teeth against his carnal urges as he drew her into his arms. She murmured softly but didn’t awaken as she rested her head in his shoulder. It took all he had not to wake her to make love to her, but he knew how badly she needed sleep, how exhausted she was. He was not going to disturb her in order to satisfy his own needs.
It was a long time before he finally fell asleep.
CHAPTER 18
“What are you doing?” Isabelle demanded laughingly as Stefan guided her easily along.
“You’ll see,” he whispered huskily in her ear.
Chills shuddered down her spine as she moved closer to him, relishing in the feel of his hard, warm body against hers. She didn’t think she would ever get used to the way that he made her feel. She cried out suddenly as he bent and swept her up. Her hands instinctively clung to his broad shoulders as he chuckled softly in her ear. “I won’t drop you,” he promised.
She smiled brightly at him as he carried her swiftly along. She knew that they were going to the new house, but he had insisted on blindfolding her for it. Her heart beat wildly with anticipation as he climbed the porch steps. She was dying to see the house, as they had refused to let her near it the closer it got to being completed, but being this close to Stefan was causing another desire to awaken in her. One that she hadn’t been able to satisfy enough over the past few days. She snuggled closer to him, pressing her breasts provocatively against his chest as her hands lightly stroked the back of his neck.
“Unless you want me to take you in front of your brothers, you had better stop,” he growled.
Isabelle smiled up at him. “Stop what?” she asked innocently.
“You know what.”
She chuckled softly as the door opened and closed. “Can I see yet?” she asked eagerly.
“Not yet.”
She sighed impatiently as he climbed the stairs and moved briskly down the hallway. She frowned as she lifted her head from his shoulder. “I think we’re missing most of the house.” A door banged shut. Isabelle’s forehead furrowed, and then cleared as a delicious shiver swept through her. “Where are my brothers?”
“Packing their stuff.” Isabelle laughed happily as he set her on her feet and turned her to untie the blindfold. “Keep your eyes closed.”
She bit on her bottom lip, nearly jumping up and down with excitement as the blindfold fell away. “Okay,” he whispered in her ear. “Open them.”
She gasped in surprise, and delight, as the room was revealed to her. It had been painted in the soft cream color that she had chosen. The wood trim surrounding the room was stained a light oak that gleamed in the sunlight spilling through the windows. Beaming happily, her gaze settled upon the four poster, king size bed, with its beautiful jade green, white, and yellow quilt. She clearly remembered telling her mother that was the quilt that she wanted for her bed, but this bed was definitely not hers. She didn’t know where it had come from, but she loved it instantly.
An antique nightstand stood beside the bed, her tiffany lamp, with its multi colored, stained glass shade had been placed on it. At the foot of the bed was the old cedar chest that she’d owned since she was a little girl. Her bureau had been placed against the left wall; beneath two large windows that overlooked the woods. On the right hand side was a large bay window with an emerald green window seat that over looked the sparkling lake. She knew that she would spend many wonderful hours there, curled up on that seat, daydreaming or reading.
“Who did all of this?” she cried as she raced across the room and flung open the doors to the large walk in closet. It was so big that she could easily have put a twin bed in it.
Isabelle laughed with delight as she ran across the room and thrust the door to the bathroom open. She froze for a moment, her breath catching in her throat before she squealed in delight. The walls had been sponge painted a soft rose, and light dove gray. A large Jacuzzi tub, that she had never asked to have, had been installed. Her eyes widened in surprise as she rushed over to hop in it. She sprawled out for a moment, amazed that all of her fit within it, before hopping back out to take in the rest of the room. There was a shower stall next to the tub with a beaded glass door. The counter was the soft marble green that she had ordered, but it enclosed two sinks, instead of just one. Her smile grew even bigger as she realized that Stefan was the one that had made the changes, and seen to the room being finished.
Stefan watched in amusement as she ran back into the room and jumped onto the large bed. “You like it?”
She beamed at him as she swung her arms over her head and jumped up to hit the ceiling. “I love it! I absolutely love it! Did you do all of it!?”
&
nbsp; He smiled as he moved slowly toward her. She stopped jumping on the bed, watching breathlessly as he approached with a predatory gleam in his eyes. She smiled down at him, planting her hands on his hips as he stopped before her. “Your mom painted the bathroom. I don’t have the patience for that sponging thing.”
She laughed happily as she bounced up and down. “And the bed?”
“I couldn’t resist it.”
“Really?” she asked with a raised eyebrow and a bright gleam in her eyes.
He smiled up at her as she moved slowly toward him. Her eyes were bright with happiness and laughter, the smile on her face was breathtaking. She was absolutely beautiful, and at that moment he would have given her the world if she had asked him too, just to see her this happy forever. He had made sure that the room was done the way she wanted it, so that he could see the smile that was on her face now. Of course, he had added a few little details of his own, especially the tub.
“All I could do was imagine the things that I was going to do to you in this bed,” he said hoarsely.
Heat suffused her from head to toe as her body grew taut with anticipation. “And who said you were going to be sharing it with me?” she inquired teasingly.
Although he knew that she was teasing, her words caused something primal to surge forth. He seized hold of her waist, lifted her off the bed, and dropped her on it. She cried out in surprise as he braced his arms beside her head, and leaned over her. “I do,” he grated.
She stared breathlessly up at him, momentarily shocked by the fierceness in his gaze. He looked very dark and dangerous as his eyes burned into hers, and his jaw clenched. She hadn’t meant to make him upset, but she obviously had, and she didn’t understand why. She smiled sweetly as she gently stroked his cheek, trying to soothe the savage look from his face. He softened at her touch, but there was still a predatory gleam in his eyes that she knew well.
Destined (Vampire Awakenings) Page 23