Before the Moonrise

by Dawn Gray

  Lily was silent, thinking about his words. The French Quarter Festival was to begin the next day, and with the turn out the year before, they were bound to have even more this year. The prospect of dealing with over three quarters of a million people made Lily shake inside, but she watched as Kylie nodded, accepting Jean’s offer.

  “Please, wait here,” he pleaded and stood, leaving the girls to catch their breath and Lily to get herself under control.

  “I’m sorry that I snapped, Ky, I don’t know what’s come over me. I don’t know why I’m so jumpy lately.” Lily sighed.

  “I know why,” Kylie answered. “You’re stressed out, you’re in a completely alien place, and your ex is a dipshit!”

  “What does he have to do with this?” Lily laughed, her eyes lighting up.

  “Nothing, I just know that me calling him names always makes you laugh.” She shrugged and sat back in the seat, closing her eyes. “So what do you think of Jean?”

  “He’s very handsome.” Lily smiled. “But I’m not into the intellectual type.”

  “No, you like the beautiful blue eyed men who save you in the middle of the night.” Kylie laughed, watching Lily blush.

  

  Jared woke with a start, picking his head up from the bed as he lay on his stomach. The door had creaked open and a figure stood there looking at him. He growled deep in this throat, giving his intruder fair warning, and was about to spring from that very spot when the light flipped on.

  Blinded by the lamp on the nightstand beside him, Jared moaned and closed his eyes, burying his face in the pillow once again.

  “Did you have to turn on that damned contraption?” he moaned, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hand.

  “You, my friend, may have magnificent night vision, but I was not blessed with that gift. Therefore, I must use a thing called a lamp,” Jean spoke, stepping into the room and closing the door lightly behind him. “I trust you slept well.”

  “I haven’t slept well in ages! What’s your point?” Jared growled, sitting up to reach for his shirt.

  “I have a task for you.”

  He sighed, pulling the light gray shirt over his head, and running a hand through his disheveled hair. “And that would be?”

  “I have visitors upstairs who came to me in regards to the DeLaCroix family vault, a pair of northern beauties.” Jared looked over at Jean quickly, his eyes lighting up, glowing an almost silver-blue in the dim light. “One of them had a visitor.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “She claims she saw a vampire.”

  Jean’s words were no more out of his mouth before the barefoot and half-dressed Jared was out of the room and up the stairs. He stood in the doorway, hiding in the shadows, his heart beating wildly as he watched the two girls sitting in the opposite corner of the room. His eyes trained on Lily, watching the rise and fall of her chest as she reclined with her eyes closed. He could almost hear her pulse from there, see her fire, and he could definitely smell her scent. He wanted to call on the wild, to raise his voice to the wind and proclaim what he felt, but he shrank away. He moved quietly back down to the room, where he began to pace nervously.

  “I cannot do as you ask,” Jared stated, placing both hands on his hips.

  “It is a simple task. Get them where they need to be and then leave.” Jean glared at his friend, who stood with his arms crossed at his chest, leaning back against the dresser.

  “You don’t understand! I can’t be near her.” His voice dropped an octave, becoming deeper and more aggressive. “They’ve come for her because of me. I led them to her; I brought this on her. ”

  “Jared, if she has seen what she says, and I believe she has, then this danger is much more present than I first thought. Not only is she a target, so is her friend.” He shook his head, looking over at the confused young man and sighed. “For me, I will ask this favor. Bring them back to the Quarter House, see them to their room, and give them the warning not to leave. This girl is special, but I still do not know how. I must be given time to figure it out.”

  He tilted his head back, having stopped with his pacing, and closed his eyes. There was no way out of it, he was going to have to protect her. In order to do that, he was going to have to be by her side.

  “Let me finish getting dressed and I will be up to take them home,” he replied quietly. Jean nodded, not that Jared could see him, and then turned to leave the room. “You didn’t tell them, did you?”

  “No, my friend, that will come in due time.” With that, Jean left him to the silence of the dimly lit room.

  

  Lily opened her eyes and looked up as Jean entered the room. He smiled halfheartedly at her and tucked his hands into the pockets of his dress pants before leaning against the desk. She sat up taller in the chair, rubbed her eyes, and was about to speak when she saw the second man walk into the room.

  Jean watched the sparkle come alive in her eyes as she fixed her gaze on Jared, who was completely dressed this time. The handsome man kept his head down, as he moved into the room and took a quiet stance in the farthest corner.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, standing up. She walked in his direction, but stopped as he shrank away. She turned to Jean. “What’s going on?”

  “I’ve asked Jared to escort you home, to make sure that you are safe,” Jean replied. Kylie stood and walked towards him, watching the scene between Lily and Jared unfold. Lily turned back to him. “He’s agreed to do so.”

  “You don’t have to,” Lily declared, approaching him with caution. Jared stepped out of the corner and looked down at her, no more than two feet separating them, and he sighed.

  “I do,” he replied quietly. His red-rimmed eyes closed slowly, then opened to focus on her. “It’s not safe.”

  “You’re not telling me anything that I haven’t learned on my own the last two days,” she snapped and turned her back towards him. Jared stepped towards her, touching her back lightly with the tips of his fingers, a gesture that made her utter a quiet gasp that only he heard. “I’m afraid.”

  “I can feel it,” he answered, whispering close to her ear.

  She could feel the heat on her skin and she crossed her arms over her chest, covering the hardening reaction to the warmth. She looked at Kylie and Jean who seemed engrossed in each other’s company. Jared dared to lay his hand against her skin by inching his fingers under her shirt, touching the flesh on the small of her back. Lily shivered against him and shook her head.

  “What is this? What’s going on?” she whispered, feeling those fingers move; rubbing the spot that they connected to.

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. Let me take you home,” he pleaded. “As much as it frightens me to do so, I can’t think of anything else except you being safe from harm.”

  “Why does it frighten you?” She turned suddenly and looked up at him, staring again into those blue eyes, watching as he began to shake his head. “Does it have to do with this feeling?”

  “What feeling?”

  “That there is more to you than what I can see on the outside.”

  Jared reached out, tracing her jaw line with his fingertips. Her lids slowly closed over those hazel eyes as the back of his fingers came to rest on the very spot that the vampire had ravaged the night before.

  “Come, let’s get you home,” he spoke softly, and all Lily did was nod in response. The two of them turned and moved back towards Jean and Kylie. “The Quarter House will take about ten minutes to get to. With the crowds out there, it might take longer to get through. I don’t want either of you lost in the flow, so stay close by.”

  Lily looked up at him as he spoke those words. His voice was deep with authority and something inside her twisted, desire flashing through her. She trembled as he looked down at her, as if he felt what she did at the moment. She felt her face flush, the heat rushing to her cheeks.

  “You will be well cared for.” Jean smiled down at Kylie
, as he took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Adieu for now, my darling. We shall have our dinner date soon, I hope.”

  “I would like that very much.” Kylie returned his smile. The two girls made towards the exit, but Jared stopped and looked at him.

  “I’ll return later,” Jared announced, but Jean only nodded towards the door. With a grunt, Jared moved down the hall towards Lily and Kylie.

  

  The crowd outside was monstrous. Lily trembled at the sight of so many people. There were so many places surrounding them for the creature that attacked her last night to hide. She stopped, frozen in place just outside the cathedral gates, her heart beating wildly as the heat and pain rose around her chest and shoulders. Kylie watched Lily’s skin grow pale and her eyes widen with fear. Jared, who had stopped when he found that they weren’t following, turned to see just what Kylie was staring at.

  Lily couldn’t breathe, her head swarmed with pins and needles, and the blackness was trying to take over. She forced air into her lungs, trying to keep her bearings as the dizziness persisted. She felt it then, the warmth of a strong hand slipping around her fingers. The pain and dizziness faded as she turned her attention toward Jared.

  His lips slightly parted, making them look full and pink, were just right for kissing. Lily thought of what it would feel like to have his lips against hers, to feel the moist softness of his kiss, and suddenly she could breathe. Her heart began to beat slowly, as if keeping time with a clock. She found that it matched the pulse throbbing in his neck, while his breathing kept in pace with hers.

  “Come,” his silky voice whispered, urging her to move her feet. As they walked—Kylie on one side, Lily on the other—he slipped his fingers in between hers, lacing them together.

  

  The cool darkness of the room surrounded him as he stepped through the door behind the two women, drawing in a deep breath. There were more people on the street than he thought, and it had taken him a bit longer than he would have liked to reach their destination. He was reluctant to release the small, soft hand that he had held when he stepped into the Quarter House’s foyer. It wasn’t until she looked up at him, with confidence back in her eyes, that he untangled his fingers from hers and she walked on ahead of him.

  “My head feels like it’s going to explode,” Lily mumbled as she sat down on the couch.

  “It always does after a panic attack,” Kylie replied, opening some of the large window shades. “You probably need a nap. I haven’t seen one that bad in a long time.”

  “I don’t want a nap! I want to do something, and I don’t want to be stuck in this damn room for the rest of the trip,” she said with a nasty undertone. Jared looked up at her from where he sat at the table, and she sighed. “I didn’t mean it that way, Jared, so please don’t look at me like I just slapped you. I just meant that I’ve been working through these attacks and I don’t really want this to stop my progress.”

  He nodded as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I don’t think it will take Jean very long to figure out our next move. I just …”

  “I know that you want us to be safe, and I’m thankful for that, but I want to see New Orleans. I want to see it at night, without the possibility of having my throat ripped out.” She heard Kylie choke on her water in the bathroom. “Sorry!”

  Jared stood and moved over to the couch, where he pulled her up and turned her back to him.

  “What are you doing?” she inquired as he moved her hair away from her shoulders and began to massage her neck. “Oh, that feels good.”

  “Thank you.” He leaned down to take in the scent of her hair, but he could feel the goose bumps rise on her skin as his warm breath caressed it.

  Jared could feel her pulse quicken when he moved in closer and pressed his lips lightly against the flesh of her neck. He grew stiff at the sound of her quiet moan. Wanting to move away, to not push the temptation that she presented, but he couldn’t move. All he could do was press his skin against hers again.

  He jumped at the feel of her hand on his thigh and the feel of her nails as they clutched the fabric of his jeans. He drew in a deep breath, taking in all that made her recognizable to him. He could smell her arousal, and it was at this time that he had to move or suffer the consequences. He moved his hands from where they sat, bracing her arms, to grasp her waist. Slowly he stepped back, placing his forehead against her shoulder.

  “Forgive me,” he moaned, feeling her head come back to rest against his, folding his face deeper into the side of her neck.

  “There’s nothing to forgive,” Lily replied, and slowly stepped away from him, moving back towards the couch.

  Jared sighed, standing up straight as he looked around the room. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

  “If you want to leave, Jared, no one is stopping you. The sun is still high and there is plenty of daylight left if you have things that you need to get done,” she stated, looking over at him. He nodded and rubbed his forehead. “We’ll be okay, I promise.”

  “Okay.” His voice shaking, he locked her in a stare once more, and she watched the spark in his eyes begin to flame. “Okay,” he said once more and then he walked swiftly out the door.

  Chapter Three

  Kylie looked over at Lily when she heard the door close. “Um, what just happened out here?”

  “It’s fine, he just had some things to do,” she replied, lying back on the couch. When Kylie didn’t leave, she looked at her friend, who stood in the doorway grinning. “Yes, darling, what can I do for you?”

  “It’s what you can do for yourself that I’m working on,” Kylie said, shaking her head. “He’s hot, and more than obviously attracted to you. What the hell are you thinking? Why not go after what is right in front of you?”

  Lily sighed. “As much as I would love to, Kylie, my heart couldn’t take getting involved and then leaving.”

  “You’re not down here to find a relationship. You’re here for some excitement and adventure. Jared seems to be right up your alley and the attraction between the two of you is quite electric. Why not have some fun and live a little?”

  Lily shook her head, unsure of what to do. One thing was for certain, attraction or not, the danger she felt when she was near Jared was almost too much for her.

  “I can’t, Ky, not with him,” she said. The smile faded from Kylie’s face and she nodded, turning back to her room. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but there’s something about him that frightens me.”

  “It’s called lust without commitment,” Kylie teased, glancing over at her. “You should at least give it a try. It seems he’s going to be hanging around here more than you think.” She then closed the door to her room, and after a few minutes, Lily heard the shower go on.

  

  It was shortly after eleven, and Kylie had turned in long ago to catch up on sleep that she had missed the night before. Lily sat in the dark living room, with her knees drawn up against her chest, breathing in deeply. The light camisole top she wore kept her skin cool, but inside her chest it felt like her organs were on fire. The panic attacks were a regular occurrence at home, and she had hoped to avoid them on vacation, but it seemed that she hadn’t hoped hard enough.

  The thunderstorm outside raged, lighting up the windows in the living room as lightning flashed through the sky. Her thoughts traveled to Jared, who had yet to return from his earlier departure. She shook her head, trying to clear the troublesome thoughts from her mind. They were littered with horror scenes filled with vampires, with Jared as their sacrifice.

  As lightning flashed once again, she heard a soft knock. With caution she moved down the darkened hallway, her silk pajama pants light on her skin, and she stopped just before the door. Her hand shook as she reached out for the handle. Licking her lips, she drew on her inner strength and pulled it open quickly.

  He stood there in the doorway, his hair soaked from the rain coming down over his dark brow. His eyes seemed to
glow brightly, locking onto hers as he stood leaning against the doorsill with one arm, an exhausted look on his face.

  “Jared,” Lily gasped as she reached up and cupped his face with her hands.

  He reached out to her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he backed her in. Closing the door behind him, he gently pressed her back against the wall. His breathing seemed erratic, too fast to be the calm man that she had grown to know. As he leaned down towards her, she knew just how heated his feelings were.

  His lips brushed hers gently, feeling cool and wet against her warmth, and he pulled away to look deep into her eyes. Lily stared, unsure of what to do next, knowing that she should stop, but wanting nothing more than the feeling of his lips pressed hard against hers. He waited, holding back while every muscle strained against him, telling her it was her move. She took the invitation, pulling him towards her, her two hands still against his cheeks.

  Fire raged between them as they kissed softly. He wanted nothing more than to devour her, as his arms pulled her closer in a demanding embrace. Lily could feel his muscles; taut under his wet shirt, but warm and inviting against her skin. His tongue gently touched her lips, asking for an invitation even as his mouth dominated hers. Slowly she parted, letting him in to the heat of her mouth.

  Jared moaned against her, engulfed in the sweet silkiness. His tongue danced with hers, touching and tasting her with every flick and caress. Lily let go of his face, and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding the back of his head with her hand as she took over.

  She could feel the want in him, the fullness of his erection against the slickness of her bottoms, and she could do nothing more than respond. Her nipples peaked as she pressed against his chest, growing achy with every movement. She slowly backed away from his lips. Jared caught his breath, placing his forehead against hers as he closed his eyes tightly.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  “Stop apologizing, you didn’t do anything wrong,” she replied, absently rubbing her inner thigh against his jeans as her hand ran through the short hair on the back of his neck. “I wanted this.”