Chapter Two
I was ready for my date and was sitting in my room, waiting for Claire to pick me up. Since it was a first date, I'd arranged a double date with Claire and her boyfriend, Jason. Jason was my second best friend and I knew I would be comfortable with them present.
I'd just read a message from Claire telling me they were leaving her home when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and felt my heart skip a beat when I saw Dylan's name. I wondered why he was calling as he usually didn't call till the end of the month. I took a deep breath and put the phone to my ear.
“Hi.”
“Hey, how are you?”
His voice gave me goose bumps and they in turn made me irritated. I should be immune to his voice by now. “I'm fine. What's up?” I tried to sound casual.
“Nothing much, I was just thinking of you and decided to call.”
Wow! I held the phone away from me and stared at it. He was thinking about me? Better still, he admitted it? This was huge.
“Ah, ummm... okay.” Great. The guy told me he was thinking of me and I'd turned into a bumbling idiot. How perfect. I stood up and began to pace around while I gathered my thoughts. “How are you?”
“I'm fine, I guess.” I could almost see him shrug. “My mom called today.”
I walked to my bed and sat down. I knew this was huge. He hadn't spoken with his parents in like forever. “How did it go?” I asked softly.
“The usual. She wanted to know when I was coming home.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her I was never coming home.”
I remained silent. I didn't know what to say to him. There he was with a complete family - mother, father, and siblings - and he deliberately refused to keep in touch with them. I would give anything, and I mean literally anything to have my family back.
“You're not saying anything.”
“Well, they're your family. I guess you know best.” I was unconvinced but I didn't think I had the right to tell him what to do.
“You have no idea what they've put me through.” He was sounding defensive and that was the last thing I wanted. Still, I felt I needed to speak out.
“I'm sure I don't know, because you've never shared that part of yourself with me. But I do know I would give anything to have my family, issues and all. What if they're all killed tomorrow? Will you still tell yourself you're justified in keeping away from them?”
He was silent for so long that I feared I'd crossed an invisible line. Finally he spoke. “I hear you Lu, but you don't understand.”
I sighed into the phone. His life was so intensely private, and even though we were friends there was so much about him I was not privy to. I'd hoped he would have come to trust me some more by now, but obviously I was hoping in vain. “You're right and I'm sorry for butting in.”
“What are you doing now?” He asked changing the subject.
“I'm sitting on my bed waiting for Claire to come pick me up.”
“Oh, are you guys hanging out?”
“Not really. I have a date so we're making it a double date.” I had been strangely reluctant to tell him about the date, even though I had no idea why. It wasn't as though we were dating or anything like that.
“You have a date?” he asked quietly.
“Um, yeah.” I jiggled my legs nervously and stilled them instantly. I wasn't going to apologize for having a life!
“I see.”
We were both silent then. I heard a beep and knew it was an incoming call. Checking the phone, I saw Claire's number flashing.
“I have to go now, Dylan. Claire's here.”
“Okay. Have fun.”
He was gone before I could even respond. I frowned at the phone. What on earth was that about? He'd sounded upset, but that was just wishful thinking on my part. He was fine with our being friends and even if it killed me, I was determined to be fine with it too.
I put the phone back to my ear as it began to ring again.
“Where on earth are you?”
That was Claire, straight to the point and no-nonsense. I smiled into the phone as I slipped my feet into the black sandals I'd picked out for the evening. “I'm coming, I'm coming. I'll be down in a sec.”
“Fine, but don't keep us waiting.”
I cut the phone and slipped it into the tiny black purse I had waiting. I took a final glance at my reflection and satisfied with what I saw, I closed my eyes briefly. When I opened them, I was standing in the living room, for Katrina's inspection.
She blew a kiss at me as I flew out the front door. I wasn't going to think about Dylan for one night.
***
I lay on my bed and stared out the sky roof, at the stars. The night had been an unmitigated disaster, for me anyway. I know everyone else had fun and everyone else thought I'd had fun. But I had not been able to get my mind off the conversation I'd had earlier with Dylan and it's abrupt termination. I kept turning the conversation around and around in my mind and my only surprise was that no one else seemed to notice how distracted I'd been.
Keenan Jones, my date, had been okay. He was tall, with wavy blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He was really good-looking and if he seemed a bit too aware of the fact, no one could blame him. He was not as muscular as Dylan but he was fit and in good shape. In short, there wasn't a single thing wrong with him. Except that he was not Dylan.
This was what I couldn't stand about my non relationship with him. Just as I was getting my life on an even keel and trying to get over not being with him, he would call and it would be back to square one. I would obsess about every word he spoke and look for hidden nuances even in the silence. It was driving me crazy!
“I can't go on like this.” I muttered to myself. I needed to take control of my life. “I am a woman and I need a man like a fish needs a bicycle.” I stated firmly, rolling onto my tummy. Then I frowned. What did that phrase mean, anyway? I mean, we all knew a fish does not need a bicycle. Fishes didn't even think about bicycles. I got the general principle of it. If a fish didn't need a bicycle, then I didn't need a man. All well and good. But what did one do when one had to live with those creatures in one's life? The men, not the bicycles.
“Oh hell, who needs men anyway,” I grumbled.
I was fed up. Fed up with my feelings for Dylan. Fed up with him keeping his distance. I might have even considered asking him out, but how could I have done that when all we had were sparse phone conversations? What was the point anyway? He had stayed away for eight months. Eight whole months!
“This is pointless.” I struggled to sit up and stared out at the stars again. I was a nocturnal being, made to sleep during the day. That, at least hadn't changed. But because I'd had to get used to doing things the mortal way I needed to sleep at night. Some vampires opted for vampire night school for their kids, but my parents had wanted me to be as normal as possible, considering.
I'd had a busy day, but I knew there was no way I was going to get any sleep. Dylan's phone call had put paid to that. Besides, I'd rather be out there anyway. I got out of bed and slipped my feet into comfortable, fluffy bedroom slippers. They were forest green and I absolutely adored them. It was early April, so I picked up a small blanket. Armed with that, I slowly drifted up into the air until I went through the sky roof. I moved towards my favorite spot near the ledge and froze. Someone had already beat me to it.
Chapter Three
I felt her presence even before she made a move. I'd been sitting at that spot for the past thirty minutes, listening to her mumble and grumble in her room. She was so cute, she made me smile. I heard her move hesitantly until she was standing beside me. Silently, I made space for her and she sank down next to me.
“Hi.”
That was pure Luanne, I thought to myself. There was no what are you doing here? No why didn't you tell me you were coming. Just plain Hi. She would wait until I told her what was on my mind, or not. It was one of the reasons I liked talking to her. She didn't badger m
e with questions I couldn't answer, didn't judge me. She was just there, ready to listen. Except for earlier that day when she'd let her disapproval of the way I dealt with my family show. That had been unexpected.
“Hey,” I greeted without looking at her.
“It's a bit chilly today, don't you think?”
I smiled to myself. I knew she was nervous when she resorted to British speak. Not only was she talking about the weather, she'd also let her slight accent slip through.
“Yeah. Care to share your blanket with me?”
She shot me a puzzled look but I deliberately kept my face blank. After a slight hesitation on her part, she held out one edge of the blanket to me. Within a few seconds, we were both snug beneath the blanket. Our arms brushed each other lightly and I felt tiny sparks of electricity pass through. I felt her jerk and knew she must have felt it too, even though she was ignoring it, like I was.
“So how did your date go?” I asked casually, though I was feeling far from casual.
“It went fine. We went to a fancy restaurant and I really had a good time,” she replied brightly.
I clenched my teeth, making sure not to let her know how I felt about her words.
“So did he kiss you goodnight?” I asked in my best big brother tone, not like there was anything big brotherish about the way I was feeling.
She reared back and looked at me, finally. “What?” Her tone was incredulous.
“I asked if he ...”
“I heard you the first time!” she interrupted me. “I just couldn't believe you were actually asking.”
“What? I'm not allowed to know how your date went?”
“I told you it was fine,” she said shortly and went back to staring out into space.
I could tell she was upset and I hadn't even begun asking all the questions I wanted to ask. I wanted to know who the guy was that she'd gone on the date with. How long they'd been dating or if it was just a first date. If he kissed her or even laid a finger on her. I wanted to know every single thing and if I found out that he'd touched her in any way, I had no idea what I would do to him.
Watching her side profile, I felt a wealth of possessiveness rise up in me. Whether she knew it or not, Luanne was mine. As the thought crossed my mind, I knew it sounded primitive and chauvinistic, but it wasn't like that at all. I was crazy about this woman, but I'd kept my distance so she could have a chance to grow up. She hadn't even been seventeen when we met and I didn't want her to regret being with me. So I'd stayed away. But I didn't go through all that self-denial only to have her dating someone else. Hell no!
“What is it with you anyway?” she suddenly demanded, turning to look at me. “First you kiss me, then you disappear. Eight months, Dylan! You kept away for eight months! Now you show up acting like you have the right to delve into my life!”
I looked at her in surprise. I'd never heard her sound that way before. She had changed since the last time I'd seen her. For one, she'd become more assertive and I found that sexy as hell.
“I thought being your friend gave me that right,” I replied.
“No, it doesn't give you the right.”
That hurt. I didn't know why it did, but it really hurt. “I see.” I turned away from her and faced the night. When would I learn that emotions led to hurt? I felt her hand on my arm and turned to face her again.
“I don't know what we have, Dylan, but it's not quite friendship,” she said softly, looking so earnestly at me that I wanted to kiss her, but I restrained myself. “There's that kiss we shared several months ago and, try as I might, I can't forget about it.”
Good, I thought. I couldn't forget about it either and I liked the fact that I wasn't the only one going through that form of torment. Before I could say a word however, she went on.
“But that aside, friendship should be based on trust.”
“I trust you.” I said, surprising myself. I didn't do trust. I'd been burned too many times to even want to try. But if there was one person I could say I trusted, it would be Luanne.
She shook her head sadly and removed her hand from my arm. “No you don't.”
What was she talking about? I frowned. “Of course I trust you.”
“Really? Then tell me why you're not speaking to your family.”
I clenched my teeth and looked away. That was not a subject I was willing to touch with a barge pole.
“Okay, then. What happened to turn you so bitter? Who hurt you?”
She continuously surprised me with how astute she was. The fact that she'd guessed I'd been hurt in the not too recent past was a shocker on its own, but that was not enough to get me to discuss that. I turned to look at her and caught the flash of hurt in her eyes.
“Lu, you don't understand,” I said reluctantly. I didn't want to hurt her but I wish she had asked for something else, something easier.
“No Dylan, I understand very well,” she said gently and stood up.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“It's late and I need to go to bed.”
I looked away to hide my reaction but I got a mental image of Luanne in bed with me right beside her. I immediately shook it away.
“Here,” I unwrapped the blanket and held it out to her.
“Are you going off?”
“No, I'll be here a while.”
She nodded then. “Keep the blanket then, you'll need it.”
She turned and as I watched her walk away, I felt suddenly bereft. She hadn't taken a few steps when I felt the hairs on my neck stand up in alarm. I heard a soft whining sound and before I thought about it, leapt towards her and pushed her flat on the roof. The bullet winged past us and got lodged in the wall of the chimney. From where we were on the roof, thanks to extraordinary eyesight, we could see it was a silver bullet.
“Are you okay?” I whispered into her ear. She nodded in response.
I felt her trembling beneath me and, taking hold of her arm, we floated through the roof onto her bed. I was scared, too. A silver bullet wouldn't have killed her, but it could have done potential harm.
“Someone shot at me,” she said in shock.
I wrapped my arms around her and she clung to me. It had been eight long months since I'd had my arms around her. Eight long and lonely months. And even though the circumstances were grave, it still felt so right. I dropped a light kiss on top of her head and rested my cheek on her hair. Her hair smelled of strawberries and chocolates and I inhaled deeply.
As I exhaled, I felt desire course through me and knew an almost desperate need to kiss her. I felt a change in her as she suddenly tensed up. Her breathing had turned shallow and there was a different quality to the tremor which shook her body.
I drew back and cupped her face in both hands, forcing our eyes to meet. The desire I saw in hers took my breath away, even as I knew it was most likely an exact mirror of what was reflected in mine.
I gently stroked her hair, drinking in the sight of her. She was so beautiful, and it was more than just the way she looked. I knew that if I kissed her, things between us would change irrevocably. I had wanted to wait till her eighteenth birthday, and that was still five months away. But I was done with being noble. I wanted Luanne and I was going to have her, even if I had to be content with just a kiss for now.
Chapter Four
He was going to kiss me. I knew he was going to kiss me and I wanted it almost more than I'd wanted anything in a very long time. I knew that a kiss from him could mean potential heartbreak, especially if he kissed and ran like he'd done the last time. But even knowing that, I still wanted it. Besides, there was something different about him.
“I'm going to kiss you, Lu,” he said softly, his deep voice doing funny things to me so that I could only nod.
When he still didn't kiss me I opened my mouth to tell him to get on with it but he placed a finger over my lips.
“Hear me out. This is not like the last kiss we shared. If I kiss you now, you need to know that there's no go
ing back.”
I frowned in confusion. Was he saying what I thought he was saying? I was afraid to hope. “What do you mean?” I whispered.
“It means that if I kiss you, then we're together. You and me, Lu. No more dates with random guys.”
“Now wait a minute!” I drew back in annoyance. Was this simply the act of a jealous man? Even though I sort of liked the fact that he was jealous, it showed he had strong feelings for me; I did not want to be kissed out of jealously.
Keepers of the Flame (Trilogy Bundle) Page 6