by M. Leighton
I turned on my side and drew my legs up to my chest on the off chance that it might help hold me together, might keep me from falling apart. But it didn’t. I still felt like pieces of my insides were breaking off and forcing their way out through my stomach.
And then I felt it.
Before I even smelled anything, a ripple of recognition washed through my belly. I grew instantly quiet and turned my face toward the ceiling to inhale. Like the comfort of a cool breeze on a hot day, a citrusy smell tickled my nose and I felt the mattress dip at my back.
I turned over and reached out. Though I could see nothing more than the wall and the window beyond my bed, my fingers made contact with a familiar form, with an arm I felt like I knew as well as my own. I’d dreamed of it. I’d dreamed of every inch of Bo. Every tiny detail that I could remember, I’d rehearsed over and over and over in my mind. And now he was here.
CHAPTER TWO
Before I could even speak his name, I was in his arms. Relief and happiness like nothing I’d ever felt, like nothing I could describe, flooded every fiber of my being. It washed over me, washed through me, carrying away all the doubts, all the heartache, all the pain. It was true. It was real. Bo was alive and he’d come back to me.
“Where have you been?” I muttered, the words barely intelligible as they slipped past lips that were pressed to Bo’s neck.
“Not far,” he said quietly. “Never far.”
I felt tears of joy running down my cheeks. I’m sure he could feel them, too, the wetness against his naked skin.
His naked skin? I thought.
The idea of Bo’s unclothed body so close to mine—in my bed, in the dark—
was like setting a match to dry grass, grass deprived too long of the nourishment of rain. Flames of desire tore through my body like brushfire, incinerating all thoughts, all feelings, but for my need of Bo.
Since he held no visible form, I closed my eyes and pictured him in my head.
Leaning back, I pressed my lips to his, using nothing more than my vivid memories to guide me. Unerringly, they found the smooth contours of his mouth.
Bo felt stiff, but I didn’t care. I’d dreamed of his lips, of his kiss and his touch, for what seemed like an eternity. I didn’t care about anything else, any consequences or repercussions, and I had no intention of giving up on the moment I’d waited for so long.
Determined, I kept my lips pressed to his until I felt them soften. It was nearly imperceptible at first, but it wasn’t lost on me. I saw my chance and I took it.
Pushing my fingers into his hair, I lay across Bo’s lap, pulling him down into a deeper kiss. His cool breath was brushing my cheek in short, heavy pants. It was then that I knew that he still felt it too, that he still wanted me as much as I wanted him. He was just resisting it. But I wasn’t going to let him. I needed this. I needed him, his passion. I needed him to lose himself to me the way I’d long ago lost myself to him.
Bo remained strong despite his rising desire. Though he was no longer so stiff, I could tell that he was holding back, clinging tightly to his control.
I ached to be closer to him. My body throbbed for his touch. I craved him on a cellular level that screamed from the tip of every nerve, from every square inch of my flesh. Some untouched, primal part of me begged for a completion that only Bo could give me. I didn’t know when I’d see him again; I just knew I had to get my fill of him tonight.
Determined to push him over the edge, I flicked my tongue across his lips and pressed my heavy breasts to his chest. I sensed the pause in him, like a gasp that I could feel rather than hear. He stopped breathing for a split second.
His struggle, his indecision, was a nearly palpable thing, as was his burning fervor. I knew the instant that the first teetering domino fell and Bo lost the battle.
But his loss was my victory. It meant I got what I wanted.
In the blink of an eye, Bo’s resistance gave way to a flood of emotion, bathing me in what I yearned for most: his passion. It exploded onto me and stole my breath, setting my blood on fire.
Without hesitation, without caution, Bo’s tongue stormed my mouth, slipping inside to lick and tease mine. Gripping my waist with his big hands, Bo lifted me, guiding my body until I was straddling him.
Roving my back and my hips, Bo’s hands brought to burning life everything they touched. As he gripped my ribs, his thumbs grazed the sides of my breasts, sending pulses of pleasure rocketing through my body to the place where our bodies touched most intimately.
He moved beneath me, his need violent. I wiggled atop him, dying to get closer, my need equal to his.
Then, as if he suddenly realized he was spiraling out of control, the tempo of his ardor changed, slowing to a sensually languorous onslaught.
Bo’s palms came to a rest on my hips, his fingertips sliding under the edge of my panties. As his tongue slid rhythmically in and out of my mouth, Bo’s hands dug into my flesh, pulling my soft body firmly against his harder one. My insides melted into boiling hot lava that pooled between my thighs.
I couldn’t contain the moan that flowed from my mouth into Bo’s. His answer was a deep purr that sounded in the back of his throat, vibrating along my nerves and stirring my very core. Goosebumps skittered across my skin.
Bo’s lips left mine and blazed a trail across my cheek and jaw, down to the tender spot beneath my left ear. I arched my back, begging for him to take what I knew he wanted. I could feel his thirst for me, for my blood, for my body, as if we’d never been apart, and I reveled in it.
And the flames raged on.
Against my neck, I felt the scrape of something sharp—his teeth. I knew that if I could see him, his eyes would be a pale, pale green and his skin would be nearly translucent, showing the fine network of vessels just beneath its surface. He would have four sharp canines, two on the top and two on the bottom, begging for the flesh of my throat, for the rich red fluid that pumped through my arteries.
Then suddenly, without warning, Bo pushed me away and I found myself sitting alone in the center of the bed, confused. Gone was Bo’s cool skin, his closeness, the wildfire of his passion.
I looked around my bedroom, searching for his shimmer. But again, I saw nothing.
“Bo?”
Though he didn’t answer, I knew he was still with me. Even if I hadn’t been able to hear his heavy breathing where he stood somewhere in the shadows, I would’ve known he was near. I could still feel his presence like pulses of sweet electricity humming through my veins, like some part of him was actually inside me.
“Bo, what’s wrong?”
“This is why I have to stay away,” he growled, every “s” a hiss in the quietness of the night.
“But why? I want this. I want you.”
“Because it’s not safe and I don’t want to put you in danger.”
His continued disregard of what I wanted, of what I cared about, of what I thought was best for me, got my hackles up for some reason.
“Then why did you come?” I snapped, coming angrily to my knees.
I heard Bo sigh as he moved nearer to where I knelt on the bed.
When he said nothing, I asked again. “Why? Why did you come to me then?”
There was a long pause before he answered.
“Because I can’t stay away,” he confessed softly, tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “Even if you can’t see me, even if you don’t know I’m around, I have to be close to you. But tonight, I got too close. I wanted to touch you so badly that I- I…” He trailed off, regret evident in his voice.
I grabbed his wrist and pressed my cheek into his palm. “Can’t you understand that I feel the same way? It’s killing me not to see you or talk to you or touch you.”
Air hissed through Bo’s teeth with his sharp inhalation. “But I’m a danger to you like this. I’m weak right now and the smell of your blood, of your body all warm with desire.” He groaned. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”
“You won
’t hurt me, Bo. I trust you not to. Besides,” I said shuffling closer to him. “You won’t do anything to me that I don’t want you to.”
“That’s not the point, even though it should be. You should be afraid of me, of what my bite could do to you. But even if you’re not, if we exchange blood, it could put you in the crosshairs of whoever’s doing this to me. And I won’t have that. I can’t have that.”
Both his words and his tone were final. I knew there would be no changing his mind, no matter how much I argued.
“Why can’t you feed and come to me when you’re not so…so…thirsty.”
“For one thing, I don’t have a steady supply from the blood bank anymore.”
I thought about his mother, but I said nothing. I didn’t want to broach that deep and painful subject at the moment.
“Can’t Lucius get you some?”
“He might be able to spare a little, but I’ve stayed away to protect him, too.”
“Bo, you can’t do this alone. There are people who love you, who want to help you, and you have to let us.”
Bo rubbed his thumb across my lips and, though I couldn’t see him, I thought he was probably smiling, a tiny, sad quirk of the lips.
“You’re amazing, did you know that?”
“Bo, I’m serious.”
“I know you are, and I hope it won’t be much longer until we can be together.”
That brought me a modicum of consolation, but it still sounded like a goodbye-for-now kind of deal, which set off a pang of dread in my stomach.
“Don’t go,” I said, preempting him. “Stay. Just for a little while longer.”
“I can’t, Ridley. I can’t fight this much longer.”
I wanted to tell him not to, not to even try to fight it, but I knew it was no use.
His mind was made up and I’d just have to wait until he felt it was safe to come again.
“When will I see you again?”
“Soon,” he answered vaguely.
Bo leaned forward and pressed his lips to my forehead. The tender gesture soothed my frazzled nerves like a calming tide.
He pulled back, but didn’t walk away. I imagined that he was staring down at me and I looked up to where his eyes probably were.
I knew that, in mine, he could undoubtedly see the fear, the desperation, the love, the raw need that tore at my heart.
“I love you, too” he whispered, as if reading my mind.
My chest felt like it was going to explode when I heard him turn to walk away. How could one moment in time be so bitter and yet so sweet?
Sitting back on my haunches, I listened until I heard nothing but the soft shift of my curtains as the breeze ruffled them and the nighttime symphony that played just outside my window.
I closed my eyes and inhaled. His scent was strong. It clung to my hair, to my skin, to my lips. I hugged my arms around me, feeling at the same time empty and full. It was with those conflicting feelings that I finally drifted off into the best sleep I’d had in days.
********
“The Accident.” That was the generic name that the public at large had adopted to identify the singular event comprised of Bo and Devon’s disappearance and the brutal assault on Savannah. It was during the weeks that followed “the accident” that I began to see a marked difference at school. In a good way, it was like stepping into The Twilight Zone— a whole other world. There had been many changes, but one of the biggest (and the best as far as I was concerned), however, was that people were actually sort of nice to each other. I know, crazy, right?
Trinity, the resident evil-doer, had turned into a vampire and fled school, taking with her a toxin that had plagued her peers for years. She had essentially traded in one kind of venom for another, only the venom she could spread with her fangs hadn’t become as proliferative. Yet.
Though everyone undoubtedly thought she went missing (like Bo and Devon), I think they were shamefully relieved that she was gone. With her out of the picture, it was as if a dark cloud had been lifted from the student body. Despite the disappearances of a few in our number, the mood was lighter than I’d ever known it to be.
I could really see the burgeoning love in everyone’s response to Devon. He was Trinity’s ex-boyfriend, one she’d attacked and absconded with the night of the accident. Despite his history with Trinity, everyone liked Devon. It was even more apparent now. There were always flowers at the foot of his locker and pictures of him hanging all over the door. It was a fabulous show of love and support, a loud statement saying he was dearly missed. I thought his locker looked more like a memorial. What it said to me was that, deep down, everyone suspected that Devon wasn’t coming back.
The atmosphere had gotten even better last week when Savannah had made her first appearance at school since “the accident.” She’d suffered a traumatic brain injury at the hands of Trinity and had lost her sight as a result. Savannah had no memory of it, so no one but me knew exactly what had happened, that Trinity had been involved.
Since being released from the hospital, Savannah had been schooled at home.
But last week she’d stopped by to get lesson plans from her teachers to take to her tutor. It was the first time most people had seen her since the accident, and her presence energized students and faculty alike.
Savannah’s amazing recovery and brave face were just what the doctor ordered for morale. The school had a new hero, one with flaming red hair and a quick smile.
With the fall of a villain and the rise of a hero, one could only expect that the vacuum created by the absence of Trinity would soon suck something else in to fill its void—or in this case some one else.
Trinity’s particular brand of evil had left a hole in the student body, and more and more it looked like a replacement was already on the way, and that replacement was Summer.
Summer had been what could be loosely described as my best friend until Bo came along. Our relationship had never been very typical of that sort of designation, though. I simply viewed her as the lesser of the evils among the cheerleaders. I never fully trusted her or told her anything important. I just hung out with her more than the rest, I suppose, which wasn’t really all that much.
Though I knew she’d always been a reluctant follower of Trinity, she was a follower nonetheless. For that reason, I couldn’t be totally surprised by her strange metamorphosis. Trinity had that effect on people and she’d almost hand-picked Summer to be her right-hand girl.
I always started thinking about Summer close to lunch time, the most dreaded twenty minutes of my day. I hated lunch for many reasons. Without Savannah, Devon and Bo at school—the trio that had become my official lunchtime mates—I’d been informally inducted back into “the group” by Summer. She all but insisted that I eat lunch at their table again, something that was only made more uncomfortable by the presence of my ex, Drew, the guy I’d dumped when I’d begun developing feelings for Bo.
I used to be a person who would’ve gone along just to keep from rocking the boat. But now, my reasons for going along were much different. I knew that if Trinity returned to Harker (if she’d even left), she would likely make an appearance to someone from that group, and the best way to stay on top of the situation was to stick close to those people during lunch. That’s when I could pick up on the latest gossip and learn who was doing what, when and with whom.
“What are you doing this weekend, Ridley?” Summer asked me, jarring me from my thoughts.
Her smile was pleasant enough, but it didn’t reach her eyes like it used to.
She was much…different since Trinity’s disappearance. She was colder somehow, stony and pretentious. Insincere.
“Dad’s coming home, so I’m sure he’ll have something planned,” I answered vaguely. I gladly latched onto that excuse. The last thing I needed was attention. I wanted nothing more than to stay under the radar.
Besides, it was true: Dad would be home for the weekend and I’d have to play my part in our family production
of The Family That Pretends They Didn’t Lose a Member. It was an ongoing performance that you could find at my house every weekend. It was one that had been initiated when my older sister was killed in a car accident more than three years ago.
“Too bad. I was thinking of planning a pre-Halloween horror fest, starting with a bonfire in the woods right outside Arlisle Preserve. I think that would be an awesome way to start the weekend of our Halloween Masquerade Dance.”
Several of the wannabes at the table ooh’d and aah’d at the scary genius of Summer’s plan. I had hoped that with Trinity gone, people at this school would begin think for themselves a little more, not be such blind followers of the popular kids. But, alas, it wasn’t to be so. I suppose once a follower, always a follower.
“Do you think that’s really a good idea, Summer? I mean, they still haven’t caught the Southmoore Slayer and you know Arlisle Preserve is where most of his victims have been found.”
Summer rolled her eyes. “Like one guy’s really going to attack a huge group of high school kids, Ridley.”
What she didn’t know is that the murders were being committed by a band of rogue vampires called Uccideres, not by one human serial killer as the police thought. Just one vampire could easily take out many, many unprepared teenagers, but I couldn’t very well tell her that.
“Yeah, Ridley. Paranoid much?” Aisha said from down the table, turning to giggle with Carly. They were both cheerleaders and quite possibly two of the biggest followers of them all.
“Just remember that when you have to go into the woods to pee, in the dark, by yourself, Aisha,” I taunted with a quirk of my brow.
Aisha’s head whipped around, her mouth agape and her eyes round. Her look plainly said that she hadn’t thought of that.
“That’s what I thought,” I said smugly, unscrewing the lid to my Coke and taking a swig.
I used to sit quietly by and let life play out around me. All I used to want was to keep my head down, graduate with honors and get a cheerleading scholarship to Stanford. I had to smile at how much had changed in such a short amount of time.