“Yikes. That sounded like an order,” I said to Em.
“Sorry, Ara.” Her shoulders lifted a little. “Will you be in trouble?”
“Em, don’t worry about it. He’s my dad. What’s the worst he can do? Ground me?”
“Yes. That’s worse than he can do to me.”
I laughed, slinging my bag over my shoulder as I walked away and stepped up in front of Dad’s desk. “Sorry for talking in class, Mr. Thompson. It won’t happen again.”
“Ara.” He exhaled, leaning back in his chair. “I appreciate that you’ve had a hard time adjusting to a new school and, don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy you’ve made new friends, but there’s a time for work and a time for play. I don’t want to catch you gossiping in class again or I will move you to Mr. Adams’ class. Do I make myself clear?”
I forced back a grin. David was in Mr. Adams’ class. I’d love it if he moved me. “Sorry, Dad. It won’t happen again.” Or maybe it would—just a bit.
“Good. Now, how’s that mythology paper coming along?”
“Uh. Great. I’m doing mine on vampires.” I just decided.
Dad raised one brow. “Is that inspired by last week’s intriguing lecture on Lilith?”
“Actually, it is.” And the fact that my boyfriend just happened to know that history firsthand. “But, if my essay concludes that vampires are real, are you and Vicki gonna have me committed?”
Dad laughed once. “Aw, honey. We’d never do that. Even if you decide I’m a vampire and try to stake me through the heart.” His grin softened as he shook his head. “I love you, okay. I know we’ve been a little watchful of you lately, but it’s because we care about you.”
“We?”
“Ara, you know Vicki cares for you.”
I scoffed unintentionally loud.
“She’s just trying to give you space,” he said. “She’s afraid you’ll accuse her of trying to replace your mom.”
I softened a little. I guess that would be pretty scary for her. “Okay, Dad. I’ll try—with Vicki. It’s hard, you know. I’m just afraid to let her in, that’s all.”
His stern expression melted and he stood up. Then, even with his next class filling the room behind us, he walked all the way around his desk and wrapped his arms around me—really tightly. I patted his back, dreading the thought of everyone watching.
“Um, Dad. Sorta need to breathe here.”
The old man pulled back and held me at arm’s length. “I love ya, honey. Now get to class, you’re late.”
I waved and threaded my other arm through my backpack, making haste for the exit—with thirty pairs of eyes burning into my spine.
* * *
Warm water splashed over my wrists, spraying up in my face a little. I readjusted the faucet and rubbed my hands together under the soft flow of water, studying my face in the mirror. The last time I looked at myself in this mirror, I felt completely alone, isolated, unsure of anything. But so much had changed since my first day of school, and even my reflection somehow looked different.
I smiled, drawing my hands away from the basin and dried them on my jeans as the door opened and two cackling girls came in with the steady breeze.
“Oh, hey new girl,” said Gypsy aka The Short Girl Summer Hangs Around.
“Hi.” I shouldered my schoolbag. “Did you guys come in here to bitch about somebody else today, or am I on the hotlist?”
“Actually, you are on the hotlist.” She leaned on the counter, folding her arms. “Rumor has it you and David Knight are an item.”
“Rumor would be correct—this time.” I folded my arms and leaned beside her.
“You know there’s only one reason that boy dates girls, and it’s not love,” Summer said, propping her hand on her hip.
I shrugged. “He loves me.”
“Sure he does.” Summer’s eyes flicked to Gypsy. “He says that to every girl.”
“I’m sure he does.” I stood up from my lean. “But I bet he’s never said it to you.”
Her head bopped from side-to-side in the hollow of her shoulders. “What if he has?”
“Nah, I doubt that.” I shook my head, gazing down my nose at her as I passed. “You’re a little out of his league. He only likes us ugly girls.”
Her mouth fell open, allowing for a high-pitched huff. “You bitch.”
“Uh, Summer. I think that was a compliment,” Gypsy said, looking a little confused. “I think she just said you’re pretty.”
“Have a nice lunch,” I called over my shoulder as I stepped out of the stinky toilet block, leaving them and their gossip where it belonged.
“Ara?”
The white glare of the open corridor framed the vampire’s silhouette, making him look menacing. “David, I thought we were meeting in the auditorium for lunch.”
He unhitched himself from the railing. “We are, but I…”
“You?” I prompted.
“You were late, so I went looking for you. Then I saw Summer and Gypsy, and…”
“Aw.” I slid my hands inside his denim jacket and snuggled against his chest. “You were worried about me.”
“I’m sorry.” He kissed the crown of my head. “I know you can take care of yourself, but I just didn’t want them to make you cry again.”
“Aw, David.” I hugged him tighter, breathing deep his vibrant, heart-tingling scent—all sugary and mouth-watering. “You’re so sweet.”
“Mr. Knight!” A booming voice shocked my thoughts from inappropriate paths. “Not on school grounds.”
“Certainly, Mr. Rogers. Won’t happen again.” David held me out from his chest.
I kept my face down until Mr. Rogers left. “Didn’t you see him coming?”
“Yes, but what was I supposed to do?”
“Warn me.”
He smiled his secret smile. “Getting sprung showing affection on school campus is not a good enough reason to step away when you’ve got your arms around me like that.”
“Maybe not for you, but he might tell my dad.”
“He won’t.” David started walking—without touching me. “He was a boy once himself. He understands.”
“So does my dad. Except when it comes to me.”
“Okay, we won’t touch at school then. Will that make you happy?”
“No. Just keep watch next time. What good is a vampire boyfriend if he can’t use his abilities to keep you outta trouble?”
“Oh, I don’t know, I must be good for something.” He grinned widely, opening the door for me.
“Well, you’re a good kisser, but that’s the human in you, not the vampire.”
“That’s because the vampire me hasn’t kissed you yet.”
“Ooh, scary,” I joked, but was suddenly intrigued and a bit tingly. “Well, maybe you should let him out for a while then.”
David leaned closer as we passed a group of students. “Meet me under the stage, and I’ll show him to you.”
“Don’t tempt me.” Again, I played it like I was joking, but I actually wanted to see what the big deal was about this so-called scary side of his.
The second toll of the lunch bell rang loudly as David went to speak. He swallowed his sentence, remaining quiet then until we reached the auditorium.
“After you,” he said, opening the door.
“Thank you, kind sir.” I curtsied, making him laugh. I loved making him laugh.
“Hey, guys.” Ryan stood up and waved from the front of the room.
“Ryan. Emily.” David nodded.
“How’s rehearsal going?” I asked, stashing my schoolbag next to the group of desks.
“Eh.” Ryan shrugged. “Haven’t started. We’ve mostly been making paper airplanes and seeing who can hit the lighting rig.”
“Sounds productive.” I looked at Emily, who rolled her eyes and leaned on her hand.
“This might be a little cold,” David said, sliding a tray of food in front of me, then flashed a wildly mischievous grin. “I made it to
the cafeteria line first.”
“Well”—I sat down between him and Emily, dipping my fingertip into the lukewarm nachos—“you do run really fast.”
“So, Ara, did you get totally busted by your dad?” Alana asked.
“Uh, not really. Why do you ask?”
“I was in the next class when you were talking to him at his desk,” she said. “Em said it was ’cause you were all talking during a lecture.”
My brows rose. That had to be the most I’d ever heard that girl say. “Um. No, he just wanted to find out how my mythology paper was coming along.”
“I’m doing mine on fairies,” Alana said in a dreamy tone. “I love fairies.”
“Yeah, I’m doing mine on trolls,” Ryan added. “What about you, Dave?”
David looked up from thumbing his phone, and the words he was holding back washed across his face: he hated being called “Dave”, but he’d never say it. I smiled sympathetically at him.
“I’m uh… I’m actually in Mr. Adams’ class. We’re doing a different topic this semester,” he said.
“Yeah, me too,” another kid added from the other end of our little rectangle of friends.
While the conversation continued, I excluded myself, watching David focus intently on his phone, wondering what he was doing.
He grinned without looking up, then inched his body closer so our shoulders touched and his screen sat between us. “I’m tweeting.”
“Really?” I whispered, reading the reply he’d sent to an EricDelaR. “I didn’t know your kind used social media.”
He laughed once and slipped the phone into his pocket. “How narrow-minded of you.”
It amazed me how much more human he was around everyone from school and how, now I knew what he was, I could see right through his poorly executed disguise.
“What about you, Ara?”
I looked up like I’d been sprung talking in class.
“What’re you doing yours on?” Emily finished.
“My what?”
“Honestly, Ara.” Emily shook her head. “Do you ever pay attention?” I stared blankly at her; she smiled and said, “Your mythology paper. What are you doing yours on?”
“Oh, um… vampires.”
David coughed beside me and shot up out of his chair, wiping soda off his jeans. “Damn it!”
“You all right, man?” Ryan frowned.
“Uh—” He stood up straight, holding a now oddly shaped cup out from his body, glancing over the wide stares of all the other kids at our table. “Yeah. Swallowed the wrong way.”
Emily’s cheek tightened on one side, and the others, not thinking anything of David’s strange reaction, went back to their food and conversation.
“David?” I whispered, mostly talking through my teeth. “What’s wrong?”
“Can we talk?” he asked, his eyes widening for a second. “Alone.”
“Sure.” I stood up. “Where?”
He jerked his head in the direction of the stage. “We’ll be back,” he said to everyone else.
“Okay, don’t be too long,” Emily said, “I’m gonna kick everyone’s butts soon and get this rehearsal into swing.”
“Of course.” David nodded, though it looked more like a bow. Then he took my hand and led me away.
Is this just an elaborate escape plan to get me in private? I asked.
“No,” David said.
Hmph!
19
The heavy black door creaked as I pushed it open. David ducked under the low frame, closing us into the musty darkness, thick with the smell of latex and old books.
“Ara, you can’t do your paper on vam—”
I cut his words off with my lips, flinging my arms around his neck. He tried to protest, laughing within the kiss, but after a yielding breath, slid his long fingers up the sides of my face, finally letting me have my own way.
“Show me the vampire,” I whispered into the hollow of his mouth.
He pulled away softly. “Not here.”
“Yes.” I grinned. “Here.”
“What if I scare you?”
“Then we’re in a perfect place for me to try really hard not to scream.”
He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “Do you even understand what the vampire is?”
“A less-guarded side of you?”
“Yes. Very much so. And he may be inclined to bite you or, in the very least, be rough with you. Perhaps even do things I might regret after.”
That only made me want it more. I knew deep down inside that David would never actually hurt me. So the idea of him as a primal being, with all his emotional guards down—just David: raw, instinctual, completely exposed David—made me hot in places I’d never been hot before.
I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his waist, forcing his lips open with mine.
“Ara, please,” he groaned loudly, but it only took a second for him to give in to my will. He tucked his hands beneath my butt to hold me up, and finally took control of the kiss. “You know, you really shouldn’t wear dresses to school.”
“Take it off me then.”
“Ha!” His breath burst from his lips in a cool gust. “Don’t say things like that. I haven’t eaten enough for this kind of misbehavior, my love.”
“When did you last eat?”
“Monday morning—right before I brought you the pastry.”
“That’s two days. You should be fine.”
“Ara.” He set me down on the ground. “This isn’t a game.”
“Who says I’m playing?”
“Ara, be sensible.”
I chewed the tip of my finger for a second, attempting control, but it was just too much—his skin, his warmth, my breath coming back off his chest. I slid my fingers into the neckline of his jacket and pushed it away from his shoulders.
“You don’t know how to take no for an answer, do you?” he said, casting the jacket across the room.
“You never said no,” I teased, moving closer. “So, you gonna show me this vampire, or what?”
“Why, Ara?” He took a small step back. “What’s with the sudden change of heart?”
“It’s not sudden—not for me. I just… I like you.” I walked forward and closed my fingers together behind his neck. “And now that I’ve come to terms with this vampire thing, I wanna take things to next level.”
“Next level?” he said through a smile.
“Yeah. I guess I’m ready to know all of you now.”
“No matter what, even if it scares you again?”
“I don’t know if it would, David. I… can’t you tell?” I traced a loving gaze over his jaw and along his stubbly chin, meeting his eyes again. “I trust you.”
He took a breath and cast a long glance to the darkest corner of the closet. “That’s a pretty convincing argument, I must admit.”
I grinned at him. “So you’ll do it? You’ll bite me?”
“Even if I show you the vampire, Ara, I can’t actually bite you.”
“Why?”
“Because if my fangs break your skin, you’ll be injected with venom.”
“So?”
“So, if you’re injected with venom, you’ll… it’s just a bad idea.”
“Oh.” We stared into each other, both of us clearly thinking it all through, and in the dim light of the room, his eyes almost looked completely black, like dark desires overshadowing sensibility.
He unlatched my hands from around his neck. “We should get back out to rehearsal.”
“Wait.” I grabbed his sleeve. “What if… I mean, when humans bite playfully, we don’t actually break the skin.” I looked at his neck. “Can’t you do it like that?”
He frowned, thoughtful. “I don’t know. I’ve never done anything like this with a human before.”
“Well… here.” I leaned closer. “Let me show you how it’s done.”
Before he could stop me, I pushed his jaw to one side, rising onto my toes as my teeth glided over his fles
h, coming closed again with a mouthful of David between them. Under the moisture of my tongue, his sweet scent became his flavor, the lovely orange-chocolate replacing the gritty, salty taste I’d expected. I bit down harder then, catching the tendon in his neck, feeling his jaw stiffen, his arms tense, his ear move away from my cheek as he opened himself up to me. And I loved it.
“Ara, you have the sweetest little bite.” He cupped his hands loosely around my face, but they went tight suddenly and he pushed me away. “Ouch!”
“What’s wrong?” I wiped my mouth dry with the back of my arm. “Did I hurt you?”
“Yes, you little leech.” He cupped his hand over the bite then looked at it. “I may not have a heartbeat, but I still feel pain.”
“You’re bruising.” I squinted through the dull light to see his neck.
“I know. I can feel that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you kidding me?” He laughed, bending to scoop me up and wrap my legs around him. “That felt amazing. It hurt, but damn it was hard to control myself.”
“Control yourself?”
“Yes.” He looked down to where the apex of my thighs met his stomach. “I wanted to do… things to you.”
“What kinds of… things?”
My hopes ignited when he reached up slowly and slipped the shoestring strap of my dress down my shoulder. “Very bad things.”
“Show me, then?” I closed my eyes and tilted my chin up—exposing my throat. “I’m not scared.”
“I know,” he said. “Which is a very big turn-on.”
I giggled.
“Urgh.” He rolled his head back. “Don’t do that adorable giggle. You’ve no idea how crazy it makes me.”
I did it again, laughing louder when his upper lip and nose pressed into the sensitive hollow of skin between my collarbones, the stubble on his chin scratching my chest. “That tickles.”
He grazed his teeth playfully along my flesh. They felt sharp, like the edge of a blade. I knew the control he would’ve used to stop them cutting, but for some reason a deep part of me, a part that rose too close to the surface, really didn’t care if he cut me. I wanted to be cut by him.
“David?”
“Yes.”
“Is it normal for me to think this way?”
Dark Secrets Box Set Page 33