The Awakening: A Witch-Vampire Romance: Feel the Heat.

by Anastasha Renee

  With that, Seb bows at the waist towards me and leaves the kitchen. Jaxx and I turn to our sandwiches that Gavin had been making for us while I assisted Seb with his dinner.

  “Thank you for that, Ella. No one has shown Seb much kindness in our world in a very long time.”

  “Except for you,” I say with a smile as Jaxx brushes my lips lightly with his. I glance over and notice that Gavin is already devouring his third ham and cheese sandwich.

  “How are you related to Seb? I know he’s your uncle, but he is a Vampire.”

  “He is very old, little raven. I’m talking over a thousand years old. He took me in after my parents were taken from me,” he tells me with sadness in his voice.

  “So was he turned or born into Vampirism? Was it voluntary?”

  “That is his story to tell. Now let’s eat before your new-found brother devours our food as well as his.”

  I watch as Gavin freezes mid reach for another sandwich.

  . “Sorry,” he says around the food in his mouth.

  “It’s all good,” Jaxx laughs.

  “There is plenty of food man. Eat what you want. You’re family.”

  Gavin looks startled at that, but I just smile and grab a sandwich and another soda from the counter.

  “So I think I know why we were drained when we were away from each other,” Jaxx declares.

  “It’s the mating bond.”

  I look at him quizzically as I chew my own sandwich.

  So he explains.

  “When we meet our other half we start to go through the mating bond. We are drawn to the other, as we already know. Until the union is consummated it will continue to drain us when we are separated.”

  I blush scarlet when he says the word consummated. I’m not a prude by any means. He makes me flush when he kisses or holds me, but my brother is in the room. Sheesh!

  Gavin busts up laughing at the look on my face and Jaxx gives me an apologetic shrug.

  “So let me get this straight. If I want to go shopping with Jessa anytime soon, I’m going to be a walking zombie the whole trip unless we…ummm…Make love soon?”

  “There are ways around that. I know you want to wait. I can feel it coming off of you in vibes. We just sleep in the same bed, hold each other, and hope that it’s an able substitute,” he rushes to explain.

  Jaxx pulls me into him once again.

  I know he is ready. But I am just not there yet. Ugh.

  “I need to call my uncle and explain to him that I am staying with Jessa again. He isn’t going to be happy with everything that went down today at the school.” I scrunch up my face at the thought of that conversation.

  “But Gavin is staying here with us, right?” I ask Jaxx to change the subject. I assume that wherever we stay it will be together. I want Gavin with me too, I have just found him. I am determined to keep him close.

  “You don’t have to do that. I can get a room in town,” Gavin intercedes.

  “Bullshit .You are staying with me. And that is that,” I tell Gavin in a surly tone.

  He smiles at that. I can tell that he has felt alone for far too long.

  “I can’t wait for you to meet Jessa and Devon,” I say out of the blue.

  Jaxx groans out a laugh at that and Gavin looks confused.

  So I explain who they are.

  “Jessa and Devon are my besties. We have been close since we were in middle school. Devon’s gay, but everyone totally supports his choices. Jessa is blunt and brash and looks like a mini Marilyn Monroe. She’s just going to LOVE you.” I catch the look on his face at being so readily accepted into my rad tag family. It makes me sad that he has had it far worse than even I have.

  Jaxx is pretty much rolling at the thought of Jessa getting her hooks into Gavin. He seems a little shy. She is going to have a field day with him.

  “They are Norms,” he asks.

  “Yes, I grew up in a norm household. They are the only family I have ever had up until now. Besides my adopted mom’s brother, but my wilted childhood is a story for another day. I don’t like to talk about them. They are dead to me now and that’s where they can stay.”

  Gavin just nods. I know he understands where I am coming from with the freaks he was raised with.

  I get up from the table and take everyone’s plates to the sink. I step into the front room and fetch my phone while Jaxx and Gavin are gabbing about lord knows what. I dig my phone out and notice that I have about a million missed calls and texts from Jessa and Devon. I shoot both of them a text telling them that I am fine, staying with Jaxx for the night and I would catch them on the morrow.

  I walk back into the kitchen with my phone still out and catch Jaxx and Gavin washing dishes together. I just can’t let this one go. I hold up my phone and start snapping pics. Jaxx looks over his shoulder and smiles at me at the same time Gavin scowls.

  “Don’t worry, boys. There is nothing sexier than men being all domesticated,” I chuckle as they get back to it.

  Seb walks into the kitchen about the time that the guys finish with the cleanup.

  “Well ladies and gents, I’m thinking it’s time we talk about something that Ella is NOT going to be happy about,” he says, taking my hand and kissing my wrist while looking into my widened eyes.

  “You can’t continue to live in the world with norms. That also means that you can’t continue to live with your uncle.” Seb explains patiently to me.

  I look around the room from person to person with tears in my eyes. I know what he is saying is true. My powers are sporadic at best and I need to be trained. But I just got my uncle back. I don’t want to have to leave him so soon.

  “You will be able to stay in contact with him, of course,” Sebastian tells me as if he is offering an olive branch.

  “But he will have to be glamoured into thinking you are somewhere else. Somewhere that you are safe,” he continues to tell me this in a calm voice as tears leak down my cheeks.

  “Glamoured,” I ask in confusion.

  “It’s a way to trick a norm’s mind into thinking what we want them to think. But it has to be believable,” Sebastian further explains to me.

  “What about boarding school,” I ask.

  “With everything that has happened with my adopted parents it isn’t too farfetched that I would want to get out of town for a while. But we would have to glamour Jessa and Devon as well,” I remind them.

  “Then we will get them all into once place tonight and spin our web of half-truths. This is for their protection as well as yours, Ella. The fewer people that know about our world, the safer it is for all around.” I just nod. I understand that. Besides…I wouldn’t want to put my family in danger. Not for the world would I want to hurt them for any reason at all.

  So I pick up my phone and call Devon and Jessa and ask them to meet me at my uncle’s house. I tell them that I have something dire to tell them, and that it’s important. So of course they readily agree.

  We all pile into Sebastian’s sleek black Porsche and it seems like no time has passed when we are pulling into my uncle’s front drive. I see Jessa’s car parked out front. She must have picked up Devon on the way over.

  Everyone walks quickly to the front door. Everyone but me. I am dragging my feet for all they are worth. But I know this has to be done, so I ‘give up the goat’ as they say and catch up to all the others.

  Sebastian tells Gavin and Jaxx to wait outside, that it will be easier if it is just he and I when he spins his web.

  When we all get inside the house I ask for everyone to sit together on the large leather sofa sitting in the middle of my uncle’s front room because I have something very important to tell them. The looks on everyone’s faces are varying shades of confusion and worry. In the end it doesn’t take much at all to convince them of the lies that they have to believe to remain in relative safety. Sebastian starts speaking in a very calm, mesmerizing voice that holds those I consider my family in a sort of trance. It takes mere seconds f
or him to pull his glamour over on them.

  Jessa and Devon cry when they hear that I will be going to a boarding school up North to get away from my adopted parents. Not to mention the rumors flying around this piss ant town about me. My uncle stands stoic, holding me in his tight embrace for the longest time. Uncle Dan doesn’t ask me any questions. He doesn’t demand that I stay put and suck it up. No, he just asks if he needs to add more money to the account he had set up for me. He understands the reasoning for my choice but I can tell that he doesn’t want to lose me.

  Jessa pulls me aside and asks if she is still covering for me tonight. Meaning, is she still telling my uncle that I am staying at her place? Which fits my lie also because I would want to spend as much time with her as possible if I was actually leaving. I just nod and she nods back at me, thinking that I want to spend as much time with Jaxx as I can before I ‘leave’.

  We are all there for about an hour before Jessa and Devon get to their feet and start to leave. I hug my uncle and keep up the pretense that I am leaving with Jessa to head to her house for the night. We all walk out together and then separate with crushing, lingering hugs. Jessa and Devon both make me promise to call them first thing in the morning. Jessa ends up having to drag a sobbing Devon toward her car. I wish I could tell them the truth. But then that would be marking them for death. I might not know much about my new world, but I do know that my family doesn’t belong in it.

  Chapter 9.

  When we get to Jaxx’s home I feel instantly at ease in the familiar surroundings. Everything has been happening so fast. My brother finding me, meeting a Vampire that happens to be Jaxx’s uncle. Meeting a Vampire. That Vampire laying down some kind of mind meld on my family. Crazy shit ass day! That’s what I’ve been having.

  Jaxx pulls me to him and starts rubbing his hands up and down my back. “Are you tired, baby girl?”

  “Surprisingly not. Earlier I felt run down, but I already told you. When I’m in your arms, you are my favorite new addiction. My very own double shot of caffeine times a hundred.” He scowls at me and I chuckle, pulling him closer to me.

  Jaxx leads me up to his room and again I am in awe at how well it fits him. He starts to tickle me and we spend what seems like hours play fighting on his bed. Finally I start to yawn and I know that my millionth wind has run its course.

  “Are you tired now, pretty eyes?” Jaxx laughs when my answer is nothing but a huge yawn that I cover with my hand.

  We both lay fully clothed, entwined on top of his bed. The last thing I remember is him playing idly with my hair as my head lay on his chest.

  I wake the next morning lying on my stomach with Jaxx running a finger up and down the length of my spine through my tee shirt.

  “Good morning, pretty eyes. Did you sleep well?”

  “Like the dead,” I laugh, and then groan as the light from the windows catches my eyes.

  I smile at him because it is absolute heaven waking up to those gorgeous blues.

  “That smile means trouble,” he chuckles as he rolls out of bed.

  I throw a pillow at his back, and he spins faster than my eyes can follow and catches it. He tosses the pillow aside and starts to stalk me, walking slowly toward the bed. I pull myself up, hurrying out from under the covers and stand. I quickly dart to the opposite side of the bed away from him.

  “If you want me, you’re going to have to catch me, big man.” I look at him from across the bed with a teasing smile.

  He chuckles and darts left, so I go right, but he catches me anyway. He is just so damn fast. He wraps his arms around me from behind.

  “Looks like I caught you. What will my reward be?”

  I look over my shoulder and smirk at him.

  “Why, me of course,” I laugh delightedly.

  “Are you still tired,” he asks. Concern is written all over his face.

  “No.” I wiggle back into his embrace, enjoying the feel of him.

  He groans at my antics.

  We both are startled at an abrupt banging on the door. Gavin shoves it open. His anger is written all over his face. He looks around the room and obviously gets the impression that we were doing something that we weren’t.

  Jaxx just returns Gavin’s look with a smirk on his face.

  “Something I can help you with brother,” I ask with a laugh lacing my voice.

  “Yeah, can you stop being so damn loud,” he grumbles while rubbing his forehead.

  I blush scarlet at that statement. But then I notice that he is rubbing the spot even harder as if a migraine is forming. I walk slowly over to him and reach out to touch the spot that he is rubbing so furiously. He flinches from my touch. I frown.

  He must be more damaged than he let on last night, I think to myself.

  “Hold still. I want to try something,” I tell him calmly.

  I reach for his forehead again and feel a tingling start in my palm. Warmth spreads from my chest down my arm and into my hand. When my jade light is burning brightly in my hand I touch it to the spot that is paining my brother. When the scowl on his face begins to fade I remove my hand and find his eyes free and clear of pain once more.

  Gavin rushes to the mirror above the dresser, practically shoving Jaxx out of the way on the trip there. Jaxx just laughs at Gavin’s astonished expression. He turns surprised eyes to me.

  “You are truly something special, sister. My thanks for the healing.” He turns to stalk back out of the room.

  “Gavin how did you end up with the headache,” I ask in idle curiosity. I should have kept my big mouth shut.

  “We share a wall. You both were verrrrry loud last night,” Gavin leers at me.

  Jaxx and Gavin explode into laughter.

  Gavin finally quits the room and I stomp my ass straight to the bathroom, slamming the door in Jaxx’s face.

  Ugh. Laugh at me will they? Well pay back is a real cunt. I smirk, thinking of ways to pay them back.

  After my shower I walk back into Jaxx’s bedroom wrapped in a towel to hunt down something to wear. I am currently without anything clean that is actually mine. So I start to riffle through his drawers and find some boxers and an old thread-bare tee. I quickly slip into them and go to hunt down Jaxx. I find the guys sitting around the breakfast nook sipping on coffee and talking about my healing Gavin.

  “Good morning,” I say as I enter the room.

  Jaxx is out of his seat in a heartbeat and has me wrapped up tight in his arms.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to laugh, but it was funny.” I try to pull back and pout at him, but he isn’t having it. “Okay, how about I make you a huge breakfast to apologize for being an insensitive ass?”

  “That’s a start,” I smirk and sashay over to his seat, stealing his coffee.

  “My goddess, Jaxx! Are you that pussy whipped already,” Gavin snarks at him.

  “I would be that whipped too if what they were doing was half as good as it sounded,” Seb chuckles at his own retort.

  “Not you too, Seb,” I pout again.

  “Hey, it’s not his fault you both are a bunch of wall banging freaks.” Everyone laughs at that. Even I do. They can laugh all they want. I just smile at Jaxx. They don’t have to know that we didn’t go any further than before. That is our business, a secret between us.

  Still, Gavin looks damn proud of himself.

  Seb turns to me and asks, “So did anyone even actually give you the sex chat before that one over there ravished you,” Seb asks me with a straight face.

  Jaxx chokes on the coffee he is sipping while flipping the French toast. I just shake my head at them. Boys will always get a hard-on for talking about sex.

  “Yes actually. Jessa told me that it is like shoving a cold hotdog through a key hole.”

  Gavin shoots coffee out of his nose at that.

  “What the fuck, Ella. I was drinking something here. You just can’t say something like that,” he yells toward me.

  Seb is shaking his head at me with a s
mile on his face, while Jaxx is in the throes of an all-out belly laugh.

  “She actually probably did say that exact thing to her. You just have to meet Jessa to know. Blunt little thing,” Jaxx tells them.

  I just sit back in my chair smirking at Gavin while he is still trying to mop coffee out of his shirt. He looks up at me and finally gets it.

  “You did that on purpose. Didn’t you,” he accuses.

  “Yes,” I acknowledge with a smile.

  “But Jessa really did explain sex in those words. My adopted mother was too much of a frigid prude for that talk.”

  I jump out of my seat at all the talk of Jessa. I reach for my bag on the counter and fish out my phone. I dial her number and she picks up after the sixth ring.

  “Bitch, you must be cray, cray! Do you have any fucking idea what time it is,” she shouts into the phone at me.

  “Yeah, yeah. Get over it, wench. I need some clothes. I have nothing clean here to wear. So bring me something,” I smirk because I know this will set her off.

  “What in fuck’s name do you mean you need clothing? Have you done the nasty?”

  I groan… Not her too!

  “I am still at Jaxx’s. His uncle, Jaxx, and I are about to sit down and have a huge breakfast. Want to join?” I know her weakness for any kind of breakfast food.

  “Besides, I want to see you before I have to ship out.” There is an essence of begging to my voice now.

  “I’ll get you something of mine to wear for the day. I’m not missing some greasy goodness! Besides… Like I would miss a single moment that I have left with my bestie. Jeeze, you must think I am some kind of uber bitch,” she snarks at me good naturedly. But just before she cuts out I spring it on her.

  “Oh and Jessa,” I sing song into the phone, deciding to lighten the mood.

  “What,” she huffs out at me.

  “You get to meet my twin when you get here too,” I tell her in a rush.

  She was yelling something into the phone, but I already clicked off on her ass. Sure way to piss her off, but it is funny pushing her buttons. Munchkin has a temper.

  Love it.

  I walk back into the kitchen and everyone is staring at me.