Dark Moon

by Victoria Wakefield

  There, the cat was out of the bag. Well, partially.

  “Were you ever going to tell me about this?” Michael asked quietly.

  “I didn’t know how to.” It was the truth.

  “So you were just going to avoid me forever? Hope I went away?” Michael was hurt, angry. And with good reason.

  “Of course not! I never want to be without you. I didn’t know it was possible to love someone the way I love you.” I could feel my eyes stinging with tears; I tried to fight it, but it was useless. The next thing I knew I was sobbing, deep, heart-wrenching sobs, tears pouring down my face. I buried my head in my hands. The worry and the fear of losing Michael were too much to bear.

  Michael wrapped his arms around me, and I cried into his chest. “I’m so sorry” I said over and over, in between the hysterical sobs.

  “Lana.” Michael was whispering my name, trying to calm me down. His hands were caressing my back.

  I felt the familiar warmth coursing through my body. I was safe in his arms, at least for the moment.

  “Hey,” Michael said, brushing my hair. He gently pulled my face up from his chest.

  “Your shirt is all wet,” I murmured, staring at his tear-stained scrubs.

  Michael laughed. “That’s the least of my worries. Lana, please, look at me.”

  I slowly raised my head. Michael stroked my cheek. “Please don’t keep secrets from me again. You can tell me everything, always and forever.”

  “You forgive me?” I whispered.

  “Of course. I wish you’d told me Saturday night. I would have punched Damon out.”

  I smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown. “Maryanne is crazy about him,” I said morosely. “She’s either not going to believe me, or hate me for not telling her immediately.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Michael said softly. “You’ve got me in your corner now. And I never lose,” he teased.

  Michael’s face turned serious. “I’ve missed you so much these past few days. I was going out of my mind, trying to figure out why you were avoiding me.”

  “I hope you know I could never cheat on you. I’m not like other girls,” I said.

  “I know you’re not, and that’s just one of the things I love about you. You’re almost too good to be true.”

  Michael leaned forward and kissed me, softly at first, the intensely. I felt the electric currents running up and down my body, the familiar ache and throbbing as his hand crept up my thigh.

  I was pulling Michael’s shirt off; he fumbled with my bra like a clumsy teenager. We laughed at the wonderful awkwardness of it all, giddy with excitement to feel each other again. I tugged the bottom of Michaels’ scrubs off and then his underwear. He was undressing me as well, both of us throwing the discarded clothing to the floor.

  I felt feverish, red-hot with anticipation. Michael couldn’t get inside of me fast enough. When he finally sunk into me, the pleasure was almost overwhelming. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he moved on top of me while we kissed passionately.

  All thoughts of anything except Michael left my mind as I gave myself to him. He pulled out before we had finished and started kissing all down my body. “You drive me wild, Lana,” he said, licking my hard nipples.

  I dug my fingers into his back, never wanting to let go, never wanting this moment to end. But as always, we held out for as long as possible, until we could no longer stop it. Moaning, Michael rolled off of me onto the other side of the tiny bed.

  “These walls are thin.” I giggled. “I hope we weren’t too loud.”

  “Who cares?” Michael leaned forward and kissed me, then draped his arm over my stomach.

  “I know there’s more stuff to talk about, Lana,” he said sleepily. “But tonight I just want to hold you like I’ll never let you go.”

  “Me, too,” I whispered, snuggling into his embrace.

  Oh yes, there was a ton to talk about. I couldn’t believe that just a couple of hours ago I was planning to leave him forever. Now I had renewed determination. Damon couldn’t control me. And Michael was right; the two of us could figure out how to tackle any situation.

  But the problem was, Michael only knew half of the story. He’d been understanding, loving and protective. But how we he react if I told him I was only half human? I couldn’t dwell on that right now.

  I just hoped I’d have the chance to reveal the truth about myself, before I lost my nerve. Or before he found out from Damon, and I really did lose him forever.

  Chapter 27

  I awoke the next morning to the sound of the door unlocking. “Shit!” I muttered. Michael was spooning me, the blankets barely covering our naked bodies. I hurriedly pulled them up around us just as Maryanne came through the door.

  She stopped in her tracks when she saw us, a shocked look on her face. Michael had woken up now, too, and he was the first to speak.

  “Hi, Maryanne,” he said sheepishly.

  She clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. “Well, this is the last thing I expected,” she said with a smirk.

  “We didn’t mean to fall asleep for so long,” I replied. “What time is it anyway?”

  “It’s 8:42, to be exact,” Maryanne answered, glancing at her phone. “I was going to go straight to class from Damon’s apartment, but I realized I forgot one of my books.” She giggled. “Just let me grab it and I’ll let you two get back to…whatever you were doing.”

  “We were just sleeping,” I said defensively.

  Maryanne raised her eyebrows, eyeing the clothes strewn across the floor. “Suuure,” she said, smiling.

  When Maryanne had left, I scrambled out of bed. “I’m going to be so late for class!” I said, panicked. “I wouldn’t care except I missed last Thursday.” I hurriedly pulled on clean underwear and a bra and ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

  I walked back out to the room, brushing furiously. Michael was looking at me, an amused expression on his face.

  After rifling through the closet, I grabbed a black sundress and maneuvered it over my head, careful not to get any toothpaste on it. Then I ran back to the bathroom to spit and wash my mouth out.

  “You’re cute when you’re flustered,” Michael commented when I came back. He had gotten up from the bed and was putting his scrubs back on.

  “Now you’re going to be late, too!” I said frantically.

  He laughed. “It’s fine. I was planning to stop by the hospital this morning, so I don’t have any patients until a bit later. You sure you can’t skip class, spend the morning with me?”

  I hesitated. I had skipped last week, and it wasn’t like I had any friends I could ask to give me the notes.

  “I shouldn’t ask you to do that,” Michael said quickly, sensing my internal debate.

  “But I want to. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to just miss my first class, have a little more time together…” My voice trailed off.

  Michael’s face broke out into a grin. “If you’re sure?”

  “Positive.”

  Michael walked over to hug me. “I’m so glad to have you back,” he whispered into my hair.

  “I was never gone,” I said lightly.

  Michael pulled back and looked me deep in the eyes. “Like I said last night, I know we have some serious stuff to figure out, but this morning, can we just put it all aside, pretend like we don’t have a care in the world?”

  “Suits me.”

  “And Maryanne won’t be back anytime soon?” he asked.

  “Not for hours,” I confirmed.

  “Perfect.” With a wicked grin, Michael pulled me back down onto my bed. We tried to make as little noise as possible. The walls were thin and there was a lot of traffic in the hallways around this time, students rushing to get to classes. Michael took it slow, not like the frenzy of last night. I felt every inch of him inside me.

  We stayed in bed all morning, kissing and making love and then holding each other, breathless, until we would do it all over again.
r />   I missed my second class as well, and the only reason we finally forced ourselves to rejoin the real world was because Michael had to go to the office to see his patients.

  “You can take a shower here, if you want,” I offered.

  “I’d rather feel you on my skin all day,” he said softly. “Being with you last night and this morning…Lana, it was just amazing.”

  “I know,” I said, “and I don’t want it to end.”

  “To be continued tonight? You can come to my place. I promise no one will barge in on us,” he said teasingly.

  “Yes, of course.” We walked to the door, hand in hand.

  “Are you embarrassed for people to see me leave your room?” Michael asked. “I didn’t even think about that.”

  “Not at all.” I leaned in to kiss him. “I want everyone in the whole fucking world to know that Michael Reynolds is my boyfriend.”

  Laughing, we left my dorm and walked towards the stairs to exit the building.

  Michael saw her first, because I felt his hand tense in mine. I looked around, confused, but then I saw her, too. Becky was talking to someone at the end of the hall. As she caught sight of us, the person she was talking to turned around, and we could both plainly see that someone was Abigail.

  Abigail’s face registered surprise, then anger. She swung back to face Becky, who was shaking her head helplessly. Then Abigail stormed down the hall towards us. “How cute, Michael. Having a sleepover in the girls’ dormitory. How old are you again?” Before either of us could say anything, she stomped off.

  Becky looked uncomfortable, but she couldn’t very well not come over. She walked grudgingly towards us.

  “Why are you hanging out with her?” Michael demanded.

  “Well, hello to you, too, Uncle Mike.” Becky paused. “I could ask you the same thing, you know, about her. Neither you nor Abigail are in college anymore.”

  “Becky, I’m not going to get into this with you,” Michael said. “Not right here, at least. I was visiting my girlfriend before work. Please, just do me a favor and stay away from Abigail. She’s nothing but bad news.”

  Becky shrugged. “I’m allowed to decide whom I want to be friends with. I’m twenty now. An adult. The same age as your girlfriend, in fact.”

  Michael sighed in exasperation. “I’ll talk to you later, Becky.” Without another word he turned and pulled me down the stairs and out the door of the building.

  “Sorry about that,” he muttered when we were outside.

  “Don’t be,” I said sincerely. Right now, Abigail is the least of our problems. No, Damon made Abigail seem harmless. It’s funny what a little perspective can do.

  “I’ve got to go to class,” I said apologetically. “I’m already a few minutes late.”

  “Okay, babe.” Michael leaned in to kiss me goodbye. Something like that would have bothered me before, kissing right in the middle of public, but now it just felt right. I kissed him back, then headed on my way to class, humming to myself.

  Chapter 28

  It felt like things were settling back into a normal groove. I went to Michael’s house that night. He tried to bring up Damon, but I told him we had plenty of time to figure it out (a complete lie, but I just wasn’t ready to tell Michael the dark angel part of my life).

  Everything would have been perfect, except for the impending deadline Damon had given me. I tried not to think about it as I got ready for my date with Michael on Friday night.

  You’re going to have to talk to him tomorrow, a nagging voice inside my head warned me. But tomorrow was tomorrow, and tonight I intended to enjoy myself.

  Maryanne was the in shower, getting ready for her night with Damon. I was relieved that she hadn’t suggested another double date. I still felt massively guilty, knowing that I was letting Maryanne spend time with Damon by putting off facing the truth, but I hadn’t decided how (or what) I was going to tell her.

  I had just finished applying my makeup when there was a knock on the door. Michael usually texted me when he was outside, since someone would have to let him into the building to come to my room. I sighed and headed for the door. It was undoubtedly Damon, arriving to pick up Maryanne.

  “Hi,” I said flatly, ushering him inside. “Maryanne is in the shower. Make yourself at home.” My voice was laced with sarcasm.

  Damon sat down on Maryanne’s bed. “I see you haven’t broken things off with the doctor yet,” he said in a low voice, scowling.

  “I’m going out with friends,” I replied defensively.

  “Dressed like that?” Damon raised his eyebrows.

  I tugged self-consciously at the hem of my mini-skirt.

  “I saw you kissing him yesterday, in the middle of the courtyard,” Damon hissed. “You do realize your one week is up on Sunday?”

  “I’m aware,” I snapped back. I heard my phone beep, signaling that I had gotten a text. “I have to go.”

  “Hope you’re planning to break up with the doc tonight,” Damon commented. “Running out of time.”

  Shut up. Before I left, I walked towards the bathroom door. “MA, Damon’s here,” I called. Not that she would care about coming out in her towel, but I didn’t want that slime ball surprising her.

  “Thanks!” she yelled back, followed by, “Hey, baby!”

  Damon held up his hand. “Wrapped around my little finger,” he whispered.

  Shaking, I turned to leave. When I got to the door, I stopped. “If you hurt her, I’ll fucking kill you,” I said in a low voice. Without looking back to see his face, I walked outside, forcing myself not to slam the door behind me.

  “What’s wrong?” Michael asked immediately when I got to the car.

  “He’s there,” I said, trying to control the anger in my voice.

  Michael clenched his fist. “Want me to go talk to him? End this, once and for all?”

  I shook my head. “No!” I said, a little too forcefully. “Let’s just go to dinner.”

  Wordlessly, Michael opened the passenger door of his BMW for me. I forced a smile as I got inside.

  “Lana, we’re going to have to talk about him sooner or later,” Michael said gently when he got into the car.

  “I know.” I sighed. “But I prefer later. I just haven’t wanted to ruin…this.”

  Michael reached over and squeezed my hand. “It won’t ruin anything. And Maryanne deserves to know the truth. I know you’re scared of losing her friendship,” Michael said hurriedly, before I could respond. “But putting it off isn’t going to change her reaction. You’ll just have to explain to her, like you did to me, that you were so surprised when you first saw him that you didn’t know what to do.”

  It’s so much more complicated than that! I wanted to scream. “I know,” I said instead.

  “Let’s just have a nice evening tonight,” Michael continued. “We can talk about how you want to handle this tomorrow.”

  “Deal,” I said in relief.

  True to his word, Michael didn’t bring up Damon again. I had never been to the restaurant before. He always took me to nice places, but this one was particularly swanky. I just about choked on my wine when I saw the prices.

  “What’s the occasion?” I asked Michael.

  “Just spending the evening with the love of my life,” he replied. “Have I told you how amazing you look in that skirt?”

  Instead of answering, I leaned forward to kiss him. I never got tired of Michael’s compliments or the way he looked at me.

  It was a wonderful, romantic dinner. We laughed and talked about school and work, making plans to go play tennis on Saturday. We had just ordered a dessert to share when Michael said, “I have something for you.”

  “Really?” I asked in surprise.

  Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He handed it to me nervously.

  I opened the box, revealing a beautiful pearl ring. “I hope it fits,” Michael said, smiling.

  I pulled the ring out of the box and slid it
onto my right ring finger. “It’s perfect,” I breathed, tilting my hand back and forth so that the pearl caught the light. It was set on a platinum band and matched my earrings.

  “Michael, you shouldn’t have,” I said shyly.

  “We haven’t known each other that long,” he whispered, “but I hope I can give you another type of ring sometime in the near future.”

  I flushed with pleasure. Mrs. Lana Reynolds, I mused.

  “I really want to get out of here and have my way with you,” I teased.

  “Soon,” he promised, taking my hands in his.

  Our dessert arrived and Michael asked for the check. “I can’t wait to make love to you,” he said softly.

  We hurriedly finished the dessert, paid the bill and left. When we got back to Michael’s apartment, I wrapped my arms around his waist as he was unlocking the door.

  Laughing, we walked inside and Michael turned around and pulled me to him. As always, the feel of his lips against mine sent shockwaves through my body. Our clothes were off in record time. I pushed him down onto the couch and straddled him.

  The sex was amazing. I came around Michael and he came inside me. It was the perfect end to the perfect evening. We collapsed on the couch in a heap, exhausted and giddy.

  Michael was on his back and I was on my side, my head resting on his shoulder. “I was terrified I had lost you,” Michael said, stroking my hair.

  “So was I,” I admitted.

  “And over something so stupid,” Michael murmured. “Please, Lana, don’t ever keep anything from me again.”

  “I won’t,” I promised, feeling like a huge fraud.

  I fell asleep in Michael’s arms, unaware that this was the last night that things would ever be the same.

  ###

  “Hey, beautiful,” Michael said when I padded into the kitchen the next morning. We had retreated to the bedroom at some point in the night, and, as usual, Michael had woken up before me.

  I had pulled on one of his shirts, even though I had my own clothes there. Michael handed me a cup of coffee. “I was thinking we could get some breakfast then head to the tennis court,” he suggested.