“That was the most boring and pointless meeting I’ve ever been to,” Lori complained as the whole staff started walking out of work. “We should go out for a drink,” she said as her lips curled up in a smile. So, drinks were what she needed after that pointless meeting? What a joke. I wondered if I was the only one who knew what her underlying reason was as she stared at Steve, waiting for his response.
“Definitely,” he said with a smile, probably knowing her motive too. The rest of the staff followed with, “Hell, yes. Def!” and “Let’s get wasted,” from the intern. They turned to me for a brief second, but surely they knew the answer from me would be a ‘no.’ I didn’t feel the need, or have the time, to socialize after work and, quite frankly, found it annoying, and I didn’t want to watch Lori’s pathetic attempt to pick up Steve, who really wanted Laura, but would screw Lori as a second option. Such messy affairs.
“How about you, Caylee?” the intern called as I turned away. Surely, she hadn’t caught on that I was a loner, yet. “You look like you’ve had a rough day. I’m sure it’ll cheer you up!” She smiled innocently. She was a good kid—young and naïve but, overall, a good person. Also was much more observant than I gave her credit for too. She was right though. I was still particularly annoyed about being lectured by idiot Shad once again, about what I ‘should’ be doing with my life. And I hadn’t made any plans with Claire to hunt tonight. And I didn’t think Braxton would call. It had been a week since our date, and after spending three days back-to-back together, I took his not calling as a sure sign that I’d scared him away by talking about how comfortable I already felt, blah, blah. What had gotten into me? I have never let my emotions show like that in the beginning of dating a guy. With Kevin, I had to play ‘hard to get,’ just to peak his interest at first. Why had I been so stupid? Surely a drink would make me forget how I’d been both ditched and lectured all in one week. Why I was letting it bother me, I didn’t know, because I shouldn’t care about either situation.
“You know what?” I said as I turned to face her. “That actually sounds like a good idea.” I watched as everyone’s eyes lit up in shock.
We walked down the street to a small Irish pub. Our whole group basically filled up the place. I glanced around and there were only five other people there, and none of them were an undead, so I relaxed a little. The surprised—but happy to finally get some business—waitress pushed two long tables together and we sat down. I chose the end farthest from Lori. The waitress started taking orders around the table. Steve, being the first she asked, said, “You know what? Put the first round on me and bring everyone top shelf long islands.” So this was what he wanted to spend his bonus on—buying enough booze to, hopefully, help his co-workers make bad decisions with him? Whatever. I would go along.
We were finally on my turn to buy a round, since everyone had already bought theirs. The round had ranged from tequila shots to mudslides, daiquiris, and other random stuff. It was quite ridiculous but, of course, stupid Steve had started this, and it would have been rude if I didn’t follow suit but, damn, these people had me feeling a little—well, hell…a lot—buzzed.
“How about Washington Apples, and then my bill, for as exciting as it has been, I do believe my co-workers have gotten me drunk,” I said with a laugh to the waitress.
“You are so funny!” shouted Lori from the back. “You should come out more often!”
“Yeah, I’ll make sure I do that,” I lied. Whoever said ‘drunk people couldn’t lie’ was an idiot, for I would not be coming out with these people again. They were all a wasted mess, falling all over each other, and telling their life stories. I should have just been rude and stopped after round one, but, for some reason, I had let Shad stress me out so much that I kept drinking with them. The waitress brought over our Washington Apples, and I raised mine as they all shouted…
“Toast! Toast! Toast!” Alright, I would give them what they wanted.
“To all of those people that we let piss us off. Fuck ‘em!” I said, surprised at my end comment. Oh well—it was the reason I had come out, so the toast was appropriate. I slammed it back, and handed the waitress my money. “I really have to leave now. It was fun,” I said.
“Oh, come on, stay…”
“I really can’t. See you guys on Monday.” I waved ‘goodbye’ as I went out the door.
“Wait up, Caylee,” the intern called as I started my walk home. “I’m leaving too, and I think we live close to each other.” Jeez, I couldn’t get away from these people. We were almost at her building, when I heard them coming from behind us.
“Are you fucking serious…” I said out loud.
“What? What is it, Caylee?” the intern asked.
“Run!” I screamed as I threw her away from me as the vampire landed on top of me. I quickly threw him off and prepared for him to charge again. I tried to focus, but I was either seeing identical twin vampires, or I was seeing double. Why had I drank so much? I waited for him to charge, picked the wrong twin, and felt my head hit the cement.
Chapter 13
Rudely Awakened
I woke up, and felt the throbbing beating on my brain. It felt like someone had put my brain into a blender and just left it on high. I hadn’t been in this position since my first kill.
“Hey, idiot man,” I said as my eyes cleared and I saw who was inches from my face.
“Are you okay?” He actually looked concerned. How sweet.
“Yes, sir-ee.” I laughed, not sure why—probably at the irony of the situation. One of the men who had made me upset, of course, had to be the one that rescued me.
“Are you drunk?” Shad asked as his eyebrows rose.
“Certainly not…” I stuttered. “Now, leave me alone. I hate you!” I tried to yell as I attempted to get up, but fell back on my ass.
“You’re a mess. What were you thinking? I already knew you were insane, but going out hunting while you’re intoxicated is suicide,” he yelled at me as I lay still on the ground.
“You know nothing about my insanity! I wasn’t out hunting…I was drinking with co-workers and, on my attempt to walk home, that stupid intern girl wanted to walk with me. We were a minute from her apartment when I heard them coming. I pushed her aside and tried to, I guess, take them—however many there were—down. I wasn’t going to just run away and let her die,” I told him as my face must have filled with horror, at the thought of whether she’d made it home or not. He seemed to catch this.
“She’s at her house, safe—don’t worry. But if I hadn’t shown up, you both would have been dead!” Shad scolded.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, idiot man. Oh so lucky me to have been rescued by the ultimate, brave, good-looking, fighter man…almost sounds like a fairy tale,” I mocked him, for my amusement. I, then again, with what I thought was more focus, lifted my legs to stand. “See, I’m fine,” I said proudly, feeling my body sway. Hopefully he wouldn’t notice. “I will now be leaving your company…” I went to shove his shoulder with my hand—to move him from standing in front of me—but apparently missed, because I felt my body falling to the ground, once again. Before my face hit the cement, I was in his arms, and he threw me over his shoulder. “Let me go!” I whined as I tried to kick myself free. “There is no way I’m letting you take me anywhere. I’m going home!” I demanded.
“Home, you are correct,” he said in a serious tone, “but I’m taking you there. You might be strong sober, but in this state, I would say a baby has a better chance of getting free.” He laughed at his own joke.
“Whatever…” I grumbled, knowing he was right, and I stopped struggling for a minute. I took a deep breath, accidently taking in whatever cologne he was wearing. “You smell amazing,” left my lips, before my mind processed the thought. He smelled like cognac, cedar, and rosewood, with a twist of butterscotch. “So, since we’re having this long walk—” I laughed. “—well, I’m not actually walking, but since you won’t let me, you have to at least listen to me now.”
“Not necessarily,” he said under his breath. I ignored it.
“Why are you always so mean to me?” I asked.
“I’m not mean; I’m truthful. You have no right to fight the undead. You’re risking your life for no reason, and I’m trying to let you see that.” He answered in the way I’d expected but didn’t want to hear.
“Blah, blah, blah…” I mocked, and said, “For your information, I’ve been doing this a while now, so I know what I’m doing! What is it to you what I do? I don’t even know why you even care,” I said, actually wondering why it was something I hadn’t figured out yet. Maybe it would help me figure out why I even cared what he thought…
“To be honest, I don’t know why…” he said, but seemed to cut it short, like it had slipped out.
“That was not the answer I’d expected,” I said, shocked. “But I don’t really care, and it’s your fault I even went out drinking tonight, because you bother me so much. Why I even listen to you, I have no idea, because I let no one affect me!” I paused in my rant, because my new plan to get away had just come to mind. “Now, please let me down so I can, uh, fix my pants, because they’re falling down,” I lied. This would be my getaway. I was sick of the small talk we were having. He stopped, and carefully set me down. The second my feet hit the ground, I bolted, making it only a few steps before he grabbed me from behind. I kicked my leg back awkwardly, but somehow managed to make his legs buckle. It didn’t loosen the hold he had on me, but we both went tumbling to the ground. Once we stopped rolling, he was on top of me in seconds, straddling me with his legs, while his hands had my shoulders pinned to the ground, and his furious, navy-blue eyes were staring at me. Damn it, I yelled to myself in my head. I really didn’t want this burden that he had ‘rescued me’ and had to carry me home. I needed to think of a better plan, but being intoxicated, only one plan came to mind.
“You’re so sexy, straddling me like that,” I said in my most flirty voice.
“Excuse me?” he asked as his eyes shifted from furious to ‘I’m looking at a crazy person.’ Maybe it wouldn’t work.
“I, uh, got a secret for you. Come closer,” I tried to say seductively as I batted my eyes.
“You better not head-butt me or, I swear, I’ll lock you in a closet so you’ll never be able to hunt again,” Shad said, which was not good. He was smarter than I thought.
“I would never. Really, it’s just a secret…” I would try once more. He was inches from my face when I quickly tilted up my head to meet his and made his lips crush onto mine. I had used this trick once on ‘a boyfriend turned vampire,’ so it would surely work here. He tried to pull away at first, but with all the drunk strength I had, I held his face onto mine and forced my tongue into his mouth. After a moment of resistance, to my surprise, his tongue responded back—aggressively but passionately—and it began to dance with mine.
This, surprisingly, was becoming more intense and satisfying as it went on. I found my hands tangling in his hair, and felt one of his hands in mine as the other held my face. What was happening, I had no idea, because the plan had been to tease him with a kiss. I, surely, had seen how he had looked at me while I was in my dress the other night, but the kiss I gave him was supposed to be for shock value, and then I was to get up and run away as he stayed confused.
But I was the one who was losing control. I couldn’t get my body to move. He tasted too amazing and, damn, who would have thought he could kiss like this? While still holding me, our mouths never leaving each other, he picked me up and carried me until we made it to my apartment—well, actually, slammed into the door and flew onto the couch.
The second we hit the couch, he was tearing at my shirt as I tore off his pants. Neither of us were moving quickly enough for our satisfaction. Once we finally had everything off, his mouth moved down my neck to lick and tease my right breast as his hand cupped my left. I could feel his bare body on mine. His skin was such a beautiful, bronze color, and the lines and curves of his arms and torso had my body pulsing in anticipation. I never would have guessed his body looked this good under all the dark clothes he always wore. Surely, I knew he was stocky, but this was near perfection.
His mouth left my breast, and his eyes caught mine goggling his body. He opened his mouth slightly, seemed to try and say something, but I put one finger onto it, and pulled his body back onto mine. He then lifted his pelvis and thrusted into me, making my body come up and mold into his. I threw my arms around his shoulders and aggressively teased his neck with my lips as his body rode mine. Each thrust sent a sensational shiver from my center, out through my body, making even my toes curl.
As time went on, I could feel and hear our breathing deepen and quicken, in anticipation for what was about to come. He quickened his pace and I felt my pelvis tilt up as we both let out a moan. I could feel his body tense and then him release, as my body twitched and leaned against his, as the last wave flew through me. He then collapsed beside me, and I could hear his breathing slow as he tried to calm his breath.
Who would have guessed he would be such a great lover? Maybe I should get drunk more often, for what other excuse would I have? I then had a debate in my head: if it had been built up sexual tension between us that finally exploded, or if it really had been just a drunken romp. I turned my head to look at him as he was staring at the ceiling, probably thinking the same thing.
“So yeah,” I let out as I heard him chuckle.
“You seem to be more sober than you were an hour ago,” he said, now looking at me.
“Yeah, that tends to happen when events like this happen.” I still felt slightly buzzed, but nothing like I was before. How awkward was this going to get? Might as well get it over with… “How did this come about?” I asked boldly.
“You’re the one who kissed me.” He seemed to be trying to rationalize the situation as well.
“So, we’re going to play the blame game again, I see…” I said lightly, making him laugh with me.
“Well, I am a man, and I will admit that you are quite attractive…even though you’re idiotic at the same time,” he said.
“So you tend to sleep with beautiful idiots all the time then?” I asked.
“No, I hate to admit, I usually don’t find the time.” And I felt him roll over to face me as his arm came around my stomach. Were we actually going to cuddle? I thought. I couldn’t find the strength or the desire to pull his arm away though. It was so warm and comforting, until I felt his hand rest on my scar, and his fingers lightly traced the pink lines the werewolf had left.
“From a fight, I’m guessing?” he asked calmly, as I tried to decide if this was a way for him to lecture me again.
“If I said it was a birthmark, would you believe me?” I asked.
“Definitely not.” He chuckled, which was good. Maybe he wasn’t heading for a lecture.
“Well, if you must know…it was from my first lone hunter werewolf encounter.” I paused, trying to read his face. It seemed normal, so I continued. “He went for my throat, I jumped, and his claws found my stomach instead. He began ripping shreds of skin off, as you can see.” I pointed. “I’m just glad it wasn’t his mouth, or you would be in trouble, for the moon looked pretty full tonight.” I waited for a laugh that didn’t come.
“How did you get away?” he asked in an unpleasant, serious tone. Here we go.
“Well, as soon as he grabbed my stomach, I grabbed a Swiss army blade from my belt and stabbed him in the eye with it. He released his hold and grabbed his eye, then I took the opportunity to grab my stake that can turn into a silver sword…” I told him the end of my story, trying to leave out the fact that there had also been vampires.
“How did you survive the injury? These scars seem like the cuts would have been deep. Fatal cuts, actually,” he said, revealing that he was getting to know too much about me. Would it matter if he knew about Claire?
“I’m just a really good healer,” I lied.
“Or you know s
omeone who is…” He pulled his fingers away from my stomach. “Are you ever going to stop?” he scolded. “Or at least join a form of hunting party, so you’re not alone? Even though, you shouldn’t be doing it at all,” he said.
“I don’t work well with others,” I hissed. “And I don’t feel like training others, for if they failed, it would be my fault,” I said honestly. Were we really going to have this argument again, especially after what had just transpired between us? But, of course we would—why not? Why should anything ever be simple?
“If you came and met my brothers…” I stopped him right there, before he uttered something really stupid.
“Why? So I could join your little ‘cult’? No thanks!” I snapped at him.
“I wasn’t saying that…” he rebutted. “A woman vitan wouldn’t be permitted, like I said before. They have too many liabilities,” he said, cutting out any good thought I had of him as I felt my blood begin to boil.
“You are ridiculous! You’ve seen me fight just as well as you—hell, I even saved your life a few nights ago—and you still believe that I cannot fight? You are a damn fool!” I got up, and quickly put on my clothes.
“I didn’t say you couldn’t fight—just that you shouldn’t…” he said, while putting his clothes on. I hoped he was getting the vibe that he was no longer welcome at my place.
“You’re simply an ignorant fool, and I can’t believe I just shared a bed—well, a freaking couch—with someone who could be so naïve. But I guess booze had taken away my better judgment,” I threw at him, hoping it would cut him deep. It definitely worked, because his eyes lit up in fury.
Caylee's Confessions (Caylee's Confessions Series) Page 9