Out of the Dark (Forbidden Love)

by Danielle James

  “No problem,” Keelie replied. In one swift movement, she had Angel in her arms and was carrying him up the stairs. Ricco opened Angel’s bedroom door and Keelie laid him on the bed. Brea had a nearly irresistible urge to laugh. The sight of Keelie’s slight frame supporting Angel’s large one was comical at minimum. That was one of the advantages of having a wolf friend. Exceptional strength.

  “Hold him down,” Keelie said. Brea and Ricco both held Angel’s shoulders to the mattress. Keelie ran her hands along Angel’s broken leg, inspecting the break. “Here goes,” she said giving both Brea and Ricco warning looks before she acted.

  With a quick jerk, Keelie snapped the bones back into place. It made a sickening crack. Angel cried out and lunged up off the bed.

  “It’s ok, it’s done now,” Brea said to him, shoving his shoulder back down. Angel quieted and relaxed. Soon, his breathing returned to normal and he was asleep again.

  Brea got in bed beside Angel and pushed his hair from his face. She was willing to bet it hadn’t seen a hairbrush in a few days, nor had his body seen the shower. He didn’t smell very pleasant. But Brea found that it did not matter. As long as she could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest, everything else would work itself out. Eventually, Brea dozed off.

  Angel was dreaming again, he was sure of it. For the last two weeks, that was all he did. He dreamed of Brea. In every dream, he apologized. He begged her to stay with him. In every dream, she walked away. The pain in Angel’s chest became heavier every day, and yet he still hoped that one night he would wake up to find her beside him.

  The physical pain he felt was proof that he had not fed in too long. Every inch of his body burned, every inch screamed for him to drink. But in Angel’s mind, there was no reason to do it. He lost all that had been important in his life.

  And he had dreamed that Brea came home! He dreamed that she fed him from her wrist, trying to save his pitiful life! He could still smell her; the scent of roses in bloom surrounded him. He could feel her next to him, curling her slender fingers in his hair, brushing her hand over his chest. This must be the end, he thought, for now I know I am awake. I must be hallucinating.

  Angel forced his eyes open. She was there, lying beside him. He raised a hand to touch her face, ignoring the burn of his parched muscles and his desiccated throat. If he wasn’t really seeing her, he would die happily with her hallucination in his arms.

  “You’re awake,” Brea said.

  Angel opened his mouth to speak, but Brea shushed him. “Don’t try to talk now, you’re too weak. You need to feed again.” Brea could plainly see the pain in his eyes, and couldn’t help but to feel bad knowing she had caused at least some of it. She offered her wrist to him again, but Angel shook his head weakly.

  “Kiss,” he managed to croak. Brea could not refuse him. She leaned over his body and pressed her lips to his. She felt a stab of pain in her heart when she felt how dry and cracked his lips were. But Angel didn’t appear to mind. He ran his tongue over her lips and Brea opened to accept him. Even though he was weak, he kissed her with all the passion he could manage.

  Brea broke away from his lips, but Angel did not release her. He kissed her jaw and her throat. The pulse in her neck called to him like a siren’s song, but he ignored it.

  “Do it,” Brea whispered, lowering her head. “Go ahead. I want you to.”

  Angel wanted to believe her. He had wanted to taste her from the first moment he laid eyes on her. The memory of her taste from his dream was fresh in his mind, urging him to take what she offered. But if he was dying and she was no more than a hallucination, what could it hurt? Brea made the decision for him. She placed her hand under his head and raised it up so that his mouth was touching her neck.

  Angel’s body acted without permission from his mind. He had gone too long without feeding. His mouth opened and his fangs unerringly found their mark. Brea felt only a flash of pain when Angel’s sharp fangs slipped into her vein. The pain was quickly replaced with pleasure. It wasn’t like when he bit her wrist. This was a far more sensual feeling. Brea could almost see Angel’s strength returning. He lifted his arms to hold her close to his body, his grip getting tighter. Brea could not stop the moan that escaped her lips.

  She was unaware when Angel’s actions changed from feeding to kissing. But he was kissing her neck, swirling his tongue over her skin. He moved up her neck and back to her lips. He kissed her with fervor, trying to say all the things he wanted to tell her. When he finally allowed Brea to catch her breath, he spoke.

  “Brea,” he breathed.

  “Yes baby,” she replied.

  “I am not dreaming.”

  “No.”

  “And you are really here?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m so sorry,” he started. But Brea wouldn’t have it.

  “Not now,” she said. “Now you rest. We will talk when you are better.”

  “But.”

  “No buts. I want you to rest. I want you to get stronger so I don’t feel so bad when I kick your ass.”

  Angel chuckled. The movement reminded him of how much pain he was still in. His body hurt, especially his leg. He groaned and tried to roll over. He gasped and grabbed at his right leg. “You broke it,” Brea explained. “Keelie reset it, but I think she had to re-break it first. Try not to move it for a while.”

  “Come here,” he whispered. Brea snuggled up to his side, laying her head on his shoulder and her arm over his middle. Angel wrapped his arm around her and breathed in her scent. His head was still woozy and he was exhausted. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. Then he closed his eyes. Just before he let sleep take him, he whispered, “Je t’aime.

  TWENTY FIVE

  “I know, I’ve been a fool,” Angel said, looking at the floor. He was sitting in a chair like a disciplined schoolboy while Brea paced in front of him. Brea was satisfied that he would live, and now she was giving him a piece of her mind. A very large piece.

  “Why didn’t you ask me how I felt about it? What made you think that you could make that decision for me?” she snapped, waving her arms in the air.

  “I wasn’t thinking, Brea, I just did it. If I could do it again, I would, only differently.”

  “You mean you might have asked first?”

  “Yes. I would have explained it to you. I would have made sure you understood all that the mating entails. I would have waited until you were ready.”

  “And if I had said no?” she asked with her hands on her hips. Brea had been chewing him out for about an hour, and it didn’t look like she would stop any time soon. Angel took it, though. He felt that he deserved it just as much as Brea did.

  “I would have respected your wishes.”

  “But instead, you have chosen my life for me. When I first met you, I thought you were a presumptuous, spoiled, ass. You have proven without a doubt that my first impression was right. You take without being given. Just tell me, is it because you are famous? Or is it because you’re a Clan Leader? Is it just a vampire thing?”

  “I am afraid that it is just me. I have never taken from someone anything that was not freely given, not before you. I cannot help myself around you. My entire life revolves around you. It has since the first time I saw you. I can’t say how sorry I am enough. What else can I do to make this right for you?” Even though Brea was yelling at him, Angel kept his voice even and calm. He knew he deserved every bit of her wrath, and then some. He was actually a little surprised she hadn’t resorted to physical violence. At least once, he truly thought she was going to.

  “I don’t know that you can make it right, Angel. But I am willing to work with you. But I have some rules.”

  “Anything,” he promised.

  “I will not move in. Not yet. I will stay at my apartment, I will keep my job, and I will come and go as I please.”

  “That is reasonable,” Angel agreed.

  “I’m not done. When I am not here, you will drink the blood that I leave for you.
It isn’t exactly pleasant to drain it in the first place, and you will not insult me by letting it spoil.”

  “Ok,” he said. “Is that all?”

  “No. You will not go about acting like I belong to you. Because I don’t. If I want to go out with friends, you will not follow behind me acting like a jealous fool. And stop with the flowers and gifts. It is unnecessary and a little bit much. My apartment will forever smell of roses. Poor Brandon even smells like roses. Not that he really minds, but it isn’t a very manly smell. And, furthermore, you will keep your hands to yourself unless I say differently. You will ask before you touch me. Is that clear?” she snapped. The last thing she needed was for him to break her resolve by twisting her thinking with passion.

  “But I like touching you,” he whined.

  “I know. But if I am to be tied to you forever, I want to make sure it is you that I want, not your dick.” Angel couldn’t help but smile at her bold statement. Her requests, well, demands, were perfectly logical.

  “You make a good argument, Mon Amour,” Angel sighed.

  “And that’s another thing, stop saying things in languages I don’t understand. I can’t think straight when you are assaulting me with French sayings of affection and what not.”

  “No,” he said.

  “No?”

  “I will always tell you how I feel. If you prefer English, then so be it. But I will not stop telling you how I adore you.”

  Brea felt a tug at her heart. Hadn’t she wanted him to say those very words to her? And now that he had, she had to fight the urge to melt like butter on a hot roll. Fearing she may lose her resolve, she sighed and threw her hands in the air. “Fine! But it sounds prettier in French. And you will shave. Preferably sooner than later.” She pointed at the growth on his face. Really, it didn’t look too bad, but she much preferred his face smooth. Since he was in agreement with basically all her demands, she was going for broke with it.

  “I will do that now, if it pleases you, Mon Amour,” he laughed.

  “It does and it will,” Brea said glaring at him through narrow eyes.

  “Wow, that was harsh,” Rebel said as Angel left the room to shower and shave. He had been hiding out just beyond the door while Brea chastised his leader.

  “Was I too hard on him?” Brea asked.

  “Nothing he will not survive,” Rebel remarked. “I think he deserved most of it.”

  “I need to use the phone,” Brea admitted. “I don’t trust him to behave right now, so I better call in to work. John won’t be happy, but I won’t leave Angel right now.”

  “A wise choice,” Rebel agreed. “Here, use mine,” he said, handing Brea his cell.

  “Thanks,” Brea said. She made the call, explaining that a close relative had a very serious case of anemia. She had a week and a half’s worth of vacation time saved up, and she turned it all in at once. As she suspected, John wasn’t happy. But he would get over it. Brea hadn’t so much as took a sick day since she started working at the restaurant and she was a good employee.

  She handed the phone back to Rebel, admiring his choice of attire. He wore the usual black jeans and a white T-shirt that had tears lining the sides. It showed just enough skin to get the mind wandering. He wore a spiked collar around his neck and black bands on his wrists. He looked every bit the rock star.

  It was so easy to forget that these guys were famous. They treated Brea like one of the family from the very first time she had stepped into the house. She found that she rather liked the guys too. Especially Sebastian. They were good friends, she thought. Just as she had decided to thank Rebel for being so good to her, Antonio and Gage plowed into the room.

  “Run for your lives!” Antonio shouted as the pair slammed through the sliding glass doors out to the patio.

  “What the-..” Brea started, but she knew what was going half a second later when a fuming Jacque charged into the room. He was huffing and growling like an animal. His eyes were furiously red and he was covered in what looked like whipped topping.

  “Where did they go?” he ground out through clenched teeth.

  Brea pointed to the glass doors. Jacque charged away in that direction. “I’ll kill you!” she heard Jacque shout. “Not if you can’t catch us!” Gage shouted back. The sound of wailing laughter floated in from the yard.

  “Do I want to know what that was all about?” she asked Rebel.

  “I think Jacque got creamed,” he said with a mischievous smile.

  Brea just sighed and shook her head. These men really were like brothers. They fought like brothers and played like it too. Would it really be so bad to be a part of their family? Not if she wasn’t the one getting creamed, she thought with a smile.

  Brea stayed at the house for three consecutive days and nights. She made sure that Angel was fed and that he got the rest he needed to recuperate. But she kept her distance. She slept in her own room, and much to Angel’s dismay and dissatisfaction, she kept her hands to herself. The only time Angel was permitted to touch her was when she allowed him to feed from her wrist.

  The wrist was not his favorite place to draw blood. He much preferred the neck, or in more intimate circumstances, the vein in the thigh. But Brea wouldn’t allow it, and Angel wasn’t about to drive her further away again by protesting.

  He watched her every move, hung on to her every word. He tried not to be so clingy, but it was difficult. The mating had left him wanting her in a way he had never known before, but she had not given him permission. So, even though she was there in his house, she wasn’t really with him.

  Brea spent a good deal of time with Sebastian. Although Sebastian was Angel’s dearest friend, he could not help the stab of jealousy he felt toward him every time Angel saw the two together, laughing and joking. Angel wanted to be the one to make Brea laugh, not watch from the sidelines. On the third night, Angel was so unhappy with the situation that he closed himself in his room. He heard when the others went to bed just before dawn. Brea went to her room without so much as a goodnight for Angel.

  Tired, irritated, and hurt, Angel let himself fall asleep.

  ******

  “Brea, get up,” Jacque whispered in her ear.

  “Huh?” she mumbled. “What is it?”

  “Shh, I didn’t want to scare you. Go downstairs. Wait there, and be prepared for anything,” he whispered.

  “What are you up to?” Brea asked while getting out of bed.

  “Payback’s a bitch,” he said with a smile.

  Brea did as he asked. Brea watched from the bottom of the stairs as Jacque lit a piece of paper on fire. He pranced back and forth in the hallway, allowing the smoke to fill the air. Then, with a boyish grin, he held the flaming paper under the smoke alarm.

  A shrill, piercing wail filled the entire house. “Fire!” Jacque shouted. Realizing what he was doing, Brea waited for her vampire family to rouse. It was still dark outside, but not for long. Then she realized her proximity to the front door could become very precarious. She managed to move out of the way as four vampires and two humans raced down the stairs. They moved so fast that their shapes were little more than blurs. Someone grabbed Brea on the way out the door, but she didn’t have time to see who it was.

  Brea found herself outside on the front lawn surrounded by Angel and his family. Gage and Antonio were both naked, Rebel and Sebastian wearing only their boxers. Keelie was there with Ricco, both of them trying to hide behind a sheet hastily pulled from the bed. Angel was the one who yanked Brea outside, and he was still holding her.

  Jacque’s booming laughter floated from the house out into the yard. “It’s what you get!” he laughed. Brea found herself laughing as well. She was grateful that Jacque had taken the time to warn her.

  “Son of a…”

  “I know, we should’ve known.”

  “I guess you think that was funny?” Angel asked Brea. Brea wanted to answer, but she was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face. “You knew about this.” It w
asn’t a question. Angel knew that Brea had at least been warned. He looked at his family, spread out across the lawn, and had to force back a chuckle of his own. It was a good prank, he had to admit.

  “You should have…seen…faces..” Brea choked out between laughs. “Priceless..”

  “Ha ha ha,” Angel replied sarcastically.

  “You,” Brea said to the guys. “Get inside before the sun rises. And get some clothes on!” Then, she turned to Keelie, “And we will talk later,” she said, raising her eyebrows.

  They all went back into the house, some laughing, some irritated. Angel stopped at Brea’s bedroom door. “What is it?” Brea asked.

  Angel opened his mouth and snapped it shut again. Just ask her, he told himself. The worst thing she could say is no. But what if she did say no? Angel wasn’t sure he could stand the rejection. But how would he know if he didn’t ask? He had been on his best behavior for three damned days. It took every scrap of willpower that he had to keep his hands to himself.

  “Did you want something?” Brea asked, laying her hand on his chest. Just that small amount of attention made Angel’s heart race.

  “May I touch you?” he rasped out.

  “Well, you have been very good,” she smiled. Brea reached up and put her arms around Angel’s neck. Brea thought that he would kiss her, but instead, he pulled her to his chest and held her close. He buried his nose in her hair and breathed in her scent. His hands stayed on her back, although she could tell it was difficult for him.

  “I miss you,” he said into her hair. He raised his head just enough to kiss her cheek lightly, then the corner of her mouth. Brea turned her face to accept his kiss, but Angel backed away. “Can I ask a favor?”

  “Sure.”

  “Will you sleep with me today? Only sleep. I swear I will keep my hands to myself. I just want to feel you near me,” he told her.

  Brea could think of several reasons why that was a bad idea. But his pain was rolling off him and into Brea with such force that she fought the urge to cry. That combined with the pitiful expression he wore was her undoing.