The Wanderers Beginning: The Wanderers, Reborn, & Unforgiven

by Jessica Miller

  Tristan’s eyes glowed and his fangs came down on my neck. He bit down so hard I flinched and had to remind myself to not pull away. It was rough at first, but then the sensation hit me like a wave. I opened up my mind so he could see inside. So he would know how I felt, truly felt about him and know once and for all he wasn’t dreaming.

  He wrapped his arms around me. Gentle at first and then he pulled me in tighter, deepening his fangs. I opened my mouth and gasped at the wonderful sensation. I thought I was going to faint – not from the loss of blood, but from the way I was feeling.

  My body started to go limp and Tristan pulled back instantly. “Ella?” he said panicked. I smiled lazily and reached up to touch his face. My head was spinning and I was in a total state of bliss. Tristan picked me up and carried me to the bed. “Oh Ella, I’m so sorry. I never should have –”

  “Shh,” I said, pressing my finger to his lips. “You’re killing my buzz.” I closed my eyes and tried to enjoy my euphoria. When I opened my eyes Tristan was staring at me with a worried expression. I sat up slowly, still a little dazed. I placed my hands on the sides of his face and pulled his lips to mine, pulling him down on top of me.

  He pulled back and just looked at me. “Ella, I had no idea…I’m sorry you had to hurt like that. If I would have known you know I would have…”

  “I know Tristan,” I said softly.

  “Ella, I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  “It’s not your fault. Let’s not talk about it. I’m just glad you now know how I truly feel about you.”

  “I do,” he smiled.

  “I love you Tristan.”

  “I love you too la mia bella stella.”

  Chapter Seven

  I knew it was wrong, but at the moment it felt so right. I wasn’t sure if you would call it cheating because technically Tristan was my boyfriend, even though I did breakup with him, but then we got back together – sorta – and then he died, but not really. I was also pretty sure after our conversation, Roman wanted nothing to do with me, but it still felt wrong. I didn’t know where we stood and I couldn’t do this not knowing.

  I pulled back. “Tristan,” he smiled and started to kiss my neck. “Tristan, we need to stop.” He continued to kiss my neck. “Tristan, you have to stop that. It’s really distracting.”

  “You really want me to stop?”

  No, I didn’t, but I had to. I didn’t think I could tell him the real reason, but I knew I had to stop him before it went further. “Tristan, can we just talk, for a little.”

  He paused. I could still feel his breath on my neck. He pulled back slowly. I was afraid to look at him. “You want to talk?”

  “Yes. I just think we need to wait. I mean, I just found you and there’s so much I want to tell you.”

  He sighed, sitting up. “Okay, let’s talk, while I undress you.”

  “Tristan,” I rolled my eye and tried not to smile. “I just can’t right now.” He looked at me a little concerned. “Please…for me.”

  “Okay.” He tried to smile, but I could still see the disappointment on his face.

  That hurt more than I thought it would. I finally found him and all I could do was sit there and stare. I wanted to do so much more. I wanted him to hold me in his arms and tell me he would never let me go. I wanted him to tell me we would be together and this was the start of our new life, but in the back of my head I had that little voice that kept whispering Roman’s name.

  I let out a sigh and got up off the bed. I walked past the mirror and caught a glimpse of the bite marks Tristan had left on my neck. I didn’t realize had badly he had bitten down until I saw how swollen and bruised I was. I pointed to the two small puncture wounds on my neck. “Do you mind?”

  He got and joined me by the dresser. Then he placed his hand gently on my neck. “You know how stupid that was? I could have killed you.” He pulled his hand away from my healed neck, looking at me concerned. I tried to smile, but it felt forced. We stood there silently for a moment. Not sure where to go from there. “What is so pressing that it can’t wait until tomorrow?” he asked.

  “I just…I mean, why rush?”

  I knew he could tell I was hiding something, but he didn’t push. “Alright, if you want to talk, let’s talk.”

  He looked back over at the bed. “How about we sit here,” I said, gesturing to the couch.

  He looked at me funny, but didn’t argue. He took my hands and pulled me over to the couch to have a seat. I had a seat at the opposite end of the couch not able to trust myself. “Is everything okay?” I nodded afraid my voice would betray me. “Then why do I feel like you’re trying to pull away from me?”

  “I’m not…I…it’s just all so real I still can’t believe it.” That was the truth at least.

  “Come here.” He held out his arms for me. I reluctantly slid next to him and allowed him to wrap his arms around me. I was more confused than ever. I loved Tristan. I wanted to be with him, but I still loved Roman too. I felt like my heart was being ripped in half. I clenched my fists close to my chest fighting back the tears. Tristan wrapped his arms around me tighter sensing my pain. He just held me for a little while. When I felt like I could breathe again, he let me go. “Tell me what’s going on with you.”

  “Where do you want me to start?”

  “Well I already know you have the power to heal.”

  “Um, yeah, that’s not all.” He looked at me confused. “I can also move things with my mind.” I demonstrated by moving one of the pillows from the bed over to me. I hugged it tightly to my chest for comfort, putting some distance between Tristan and me.

  “That’s not uncommon to have more than one.”

  “That’s not all.” He scrunched his brow. “I can also read minds, put up a shield, and even sometimes glow.”

  “That’s um…” he looked for the right words, but I knew he was struggling, and at the same time trying not to think about anything I would be able to pick up in case I was telling the truth about being able to read minds. “When you say you glow?”

  “I literally glow. My whole body does, like a bluish silver color. It only happened a few times and each time I was using a lot of power. Ms. Kraft was working with me to try and figure out what caused it and why it was happening, but we couldn’t find anything,” I shrugged.

  “Ms. Kraft?”

  “She’s one of my teachers at Hamilton Hill.”

  “I see you actually took my advice and went to that school.”

  “Hate to burst your bubble, but I more or less didn’t have much of a choice. My dad told me I had to go to the school or basically be a prisoner for the rest of my life.” Just the mention of my dad made me mad. I looked down and picked at the corners of the pillow, thinking about the fight with my dad.

  “Hey, what’s the matter?” Tristan asked, leaning closer to me.

  “I had a really bad fight with my dad,” I said. No longing caring about being good, I threw the pillow to the floor and crawled on to his lap. I just wanted him to hold me, to feel his arms around me.

  “I’m sure whatever it was it will blow over,” he said as he stroked my hair.

  “I don’t think so. Not this time.”

  “You want to tell me about it?”

  I sighed and pulled back. “When he found out I left school and came here to look for you he got really pissed.”

  “You shouldn’t have left school,” he agreed.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s beside the point,” I argued.

  “I’m sorry.” He kissed my forehead making me melt and forget my anger. “I’m sure he’ll get over it.”

  “He told me if I didn’t come home with him that I shouldn’t bother coming home at all.”

  “Ella, you know he didn’t really mean that. I’m sure he just said it out of anger.”

  I picked at my pajama pants. “I don’t know…maybe.”

  “How about we talk about something else?”

  Tristan knew me well enough to
know when to let things go and move on. I was thankful for the change in subject. “I met your cousin, Josef.”

  “You met Josef?” he said surprised.

  “And your grandmother,” I said, grinding my teeth.

  “So how’d that go?” he asked, smiling.

  “She made me work in the garden all morning while she watched and then made me clean the kitchen.” Tristan turned his head to try and hide his laugh. “It’s not funny. She was mean and very judgmental and she doesn’t even know me.”

  “That’s why she was so tough on you and trust me, she likes you.”

  “That’s what Josef said.” I crossed my arms not happy.

  “You and Josef spend a lot of time together?” he asked curiously.

  “Jealous?” I teased.

  “Please, he can’t compete with my charming smile and winning personality.”

  I rolled my eyes. “At least he knows how to respect women.”

  “Please, I’m totally respecting you right now by not tearing off all your clothes and throwing you down on that bed.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “If you really wanted to respect me you would stop thinking those nasty thoughts about all the things you want to do to me,” I smiled.

  I think that was the first time I ever saw Tristan blush. “I can’t help it. You’re taunting me with your wily ways and that small, tight tank top you’re wearing, and your new fetish for body art.” His lips started to twitch into his cocky smile as his hand slowly pushed down the strap on my tank top.

  My heart was racing from his touch and it took everything I had to resist him. I reluctantly pushed him back and jumped off his lap. “Tristan we can’t.”

  “Why can’t we?”

  “We’re getting off track here,” I said, hoping to avoid this conversation.

  He sighed. “Alright, let’s get back to your powers. What is this shield and can I see it?”

  “No. Gabe and I are still working on it so I can control it better. Besides, it usually only seems to work when I get really mad or use a lot of power.”

  “Gabe as in the guy who nearly choked me to death?” he asked.

  “Yes. Gabe is my guardian now and he’s been spending a lot of time with me to help train me.”

  “Train for what?” His tone suggested he didn’t approve of this.

  “To defend myself.”

  “Whose idea was this?”

  “My self-defense teacher. He thought I had good potential, but lacked discipline. So they asked Gabe to work with me.”

  “How’s that going for you?”

  “Pretty good if I do say so myself,” I said with my head high. “I even took Billy down in practice a few times.” He looked at me skeptically. “I could kick your ass!”

  “I’d like to see that.”

  “Don’t tempt me.” He rubbed his chin, deep in thought. “Don’t even think about it,” I warned.

  “So…all I have to do is get you mad?” He looked at me with a devilish grin. Then he pushed me and I almost fell off the loveseat.

  “Tristan!” He pushed me again. “I’m not going to do it, stop,” I said, trying not to laugh. He slinked back into his seat, but before I could relax I saw that playful look in his eye. He pounced on me and I squealed when we hit the floor. He wrestled me to the ground and I started to laugh. If he thought this was going to make me mad he was going about it the wrong way.

  “Come on Ella, show me what you got,” he taunted, holding my arms by my sides. It wasn’t like I couldn’t get out of his hold. I just didn’t want to. He kept egging me on to do something, but I refused. “What’s the matter little girl, scared?”

  “Ha!” I laughed.

  “Afraid I’m going to hurt you?” He tightened his grip.

  “More afraid I’m going to hurt you,” I countered.

  “Oh come on Ella, what’s wrong with a little friendly competition?” He smiled. I smiled back. He thought he had me and leaned down for a kiss. I reacted quickly by flipping him over my head and onto to his back, pinning his arms above his head, and gripping his wrist tight. He smiled seductively at me. “If you wanted to be on top all you had to was ask.”

  I let go ready to smack him, but he stopped me and tackled me to the ground pinning my arms by my sides. He looked deep into my eyes. He was begging me to hear what he was thinking. How much he loved me, how much he missed me and how much he wanted to be with me. I opened myself up even more to her his beautiful mind, closing my eyes and taking it in, until I went a little too deep and ended up hearing all the perverted things he was envisioning he wanted to do with me. “God Tristan!” I growled, trying to get up.

  “What?” he shrugged innocently.

  “You are worse than Dean.”

  “Better dirty thoughts about you than another girl.”

  I smacked his chest and pushed him away from me so I could sit up, but before I could pull away he grabbed my wrist, the one that was wearing his watch. “Where did you get this?”

  “Dean.”

  “Did he steal it?”

  “No,” I glared, although I couldn’t blame him for coming to that assumption. I had thought the same thing when Dean first presented the watch to me. “He asked your parents if I could have something of yours and this is what your stepmother gave him.”

  He ran his thumb over the face of the watch. “Figures that bitch would give up my grandfather’s watch.”

  “You can have it back.” I went to take it off.

  “No, you keep it.” I looked at him confused. Clearly this was something that meant a lot to him. “I’m sorry. I’m glad she gave you this. I want you to have it,” he smiled, holding my hand.

  He was still sitting on my legs and I needed to get up. With him this close it was harder to resist and I was running out of excuses to keep pulling away. “You can let me go now,” I said softly.

  His face turned serious and he placed his hand softly on my cheek. “I don’t ever want to let you go.” My breath caught as I let the words sink in. Before I had the chance to protest he was pressing his lips to mine. I no longer had the strength to stop him. I no longer wanted to. When he was kissing me the only thing on my mind was how much I wanted him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and tangled my fingers in his hair deepening the kiss. He didn’t hesitate when I parted my lips and welcomed his tongue inside my mouth.

  I didn’t care about anything else at the moment. All I cared about was that I was with Tristan. His lips started to trail down my neck, collarbone, and across my chest. “Tristan,” I said breathlessly. “I want you.” I could feel the smile on his lips as they traveled back up my neck.

  “Are you sure?” he asked as he softly brushed his lips against mine.

  “Yes,” I said a little too excitedly. I heard him chuckle under his breath, but I didn’t care. I pushed him to floor and sat on top of him attacking his lips with mine. My hands were groping every inch of his body, needing to feel him, to touch him. I tugged at his shirt trying to pull it off, but only succeeded halfway.

  “Ella,” he said, holding me back. “I know you know I was thinking about tearing each other’s clothes off, but –”

  “You can’t tell me you don’t want to?” I interrupted, not giving him the chance to finish. I was really confused, because yes I knew what he was thinking earlier, but his mind was a mix of emotion and everything was jumbled together.

  “Oh no I do, but I prefer we move this to the bed,” he smiled. I smiled back as I pushed myself off of him and then held out my hand to help him. He threw me a wicked smile before he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I giggled and squealed when he smacked me on my behind.

  He threw me down on the bed and I laughed. “Come here you,” I purred and beckoned with my finger.

  He gave me his cocky smile before he took off his shirt and climbed on top of me. I placed my hands on his chest and felt his heart racing. He gently brushed back a piece of my hair and caressed my face. “I love you l
a mia bella stella,” he whispered.

  “I love you too, Tristan,” I said, pulling his lips to mine. Wasting no time, his hands moved down to my waist. He tugged at my shirt and swiftly pulled it off over my head.

  His eyes widened at the sight of all my body art. “You were very busy I see,” he said with a quirky smile.

  “Too much?” I asked nervously. I never cared before what anyone thought about my tattoos, but for some reason it mattered to me what Tristan thought – maybe because he was part of the reason behind them.

  “No, I just never expected you to do something like this?”

  “Why, because I’m a prude?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “Are you really going to start a fight with me now?”

  “You started it,” I said childishly.

  “Ella, you are beautiful inside and out. Everything about you is everything I could want in a girl. I love all of you, including your new body art,” he said. “I love your smile. I love the way you look at me when you’re annoyed with me…like now,” he laughed. I couldn’t help but smile. “I love your sense of humor and the kindness in your heart,” he placed his hand on my chest. “I love your big, beautiful…” he paused, hand moving slowly, cocky smile on his face. I was about to pinch him when he said, “Green eyes and the way they sparkle when I do this.” He pressed his lips tenderly to mine making me want to melt.

  “What else?”

  “I love your long beautiful hair,” he gripped one of the blue streaks and stopped.

  “It’s a side effect from my powers,” I said sourly.

  “It gives you an edge,” he winked. “Although I always knew you had a darker side to you.”

  “Tristan,” I giggled.

  “I love your lips,” he said, kissing me again, lingering a little longer this time. “And the way your skin feels.” He started to work his way down my neck, stopping at my chest. He looked up and smiled. I just laughed and rolled my eyes. “I love every inch of your beautiful body, including your tattoos.” He traced his fingers lightly across the tattoos on my stomach, sending shivers through my entire body.