"Hey," a soft voice said in my ear and I melted inside.
I smiled and turned in his arms, kissing him gently, just a slight brush of a kiss. I hadn't realised he was bare chested. As I looked I saw his muscular chest, it was just like every girls' dream. My stomach turned into a tight knot when he winked at me. He was warm from the sun.
"I was about to call and ask if you wanted to join us," he said, nodding towards Nate, Daniel, Meredith, and a girl I'd never met before.
I felt someone staring and remembered my mother was right there. I tried to pull away, but he held onto me realising my mother was there too.
"Hey, Mrs Cruz," he said when I turned in his arms to face my mother.
"Hello Ethan," she smiled. "Tatiana, a moment please?"
I nodded.
Ethan let me go, but not before he said, "I'll be over there."
When he left I sat down on my beach towel and waited for a lecture from my mother, but nothing came.
"He makes you happy."
"He does," I said, grinning at her. I couldn't help it.
"Why don't you go and hang with your friends," she said nodding towards them, taking me by surprise.
"Really?" I asked with excitement.
She nodded, "I'll keep an eye on Jamie." She looked over at Jamie who was in the water splashing and laughing. He was happy.
I was about to walk towards them when my mother said, "Honey, take off that dress. You're not going to wear that to go in the water are you?" she asked.
I sighed, Here it goes.
I grabbed the hem of my dress and pulled it over my head, suddenly feeling the warm sun on my skin. When I turned around and started walking towards Ethan and the others they stared in shock at my body. I wanted to shy away, but I willed myself not too.
Ethan
H
oly shit.
Wow, Tatiana looked smoking hot. I mean, I've seen her in a towel and I've cuddled her but I didn't know she had a body like this. Just wow. I never thought I would be this lucky. I swear she still would've turned me on whether she was wearing rags or a hot blue bikini.
As she walked towards us, her hips swayed from side to side showing off her curved body. She didn't even realise what affect it had on me. It didn't just make my heart beat faster and faster as she walked towards me, it made my stomach do flips, and my hands shake. When I looked over at Nate and Daniel, I saw they were both gawking at her, my girlfriend, making me jealous.
"She's hot," Nate said still gawking.
I shoved them both aside and made my way towards her, "You look amazing," I breathed. She smiled shyly, blushing bright pink. I took her hand and lifted her chin with my finger. "You really look amazing," I said pulling her closer to me.
"Y-you do too," she stammered, making me smile, happy she wasn't the only one nervous. A strand of hair was stuck on her cheek and I hesitantly pushed it back behind her ear.
Suddenly, I felt excited and I knew exactly what I had to do to get rid of our nerves. I let go of her hand and leaned down, grabbing her legs. Throwing her over my shoulder, I heard her squeal in delight.
"What're you doing?" she laughed.
I laughed along with her and ran towards the water where I had spotted Jamie. Tatiana had a perfect view of my arse and I didn't mind. When my feet touched the cold water I went in a little deeper and then I threw her in. She landed right in front of me. The water was up to my chest and when she came up for air she started giggling. Her hair was stuck to her neck. Walking towards me, she came so close I thought she was going to kiss me, but instead I heard her laugh as she pulled me down, dunking my head under water.
Water flowed into my ears and I felt my skin go cold, but I could still hear her laughter. She let me go and I shot up to the surface. She was smiling and I couldn't help but smile back. Before she could swim away, I locked her into my embrace and pulled her to my chest. Her arms went around my neck and I looked at her wet lips, they were so inviting and I wanted to kiss them until she felt weak. Until she couldn't swim anymore. When she threw her head back and sighed I couldn't help myself and kissed her.
Her pulse thudded as my lips skimmed the skin on her neck, making me shiver. Her arms tightened around my neck. I kissed those luscious lips of hers, tightening my arms around her waist. Her legs went around my waist and she locked her ankles at my lower back trying to get closer to me. I throbbed deep inside. I begged her with my tongue for permission, but she was willing to give it. My tongue touched hers and I felt so connected to her in that moment I didn't want to stop. Not now, not ever.
She moaned against my lips and pulled away slightly from our kiss. She had this look on her face, and the way she was looking at me was different from how other girls looked at me, different from any other look she had ever given me. My heart thudded in my ears and I said the words that I had been feeling since the moment I slammed into her, dropping all of her books.
"I love you," I whispered.
Her breath hitched and she smiled so brightly, "I love you."
I looked at her in wonder. How on earth did I get so lucky? To have her in my arms, telling me that she loved me made me go warm all over. I loved her so much it made my heart ache with happiness.
As we stared intensely into each other's eyes, I held onto her, remembering the smallest details – how she felt in my arms, how she kissed me, how she stroked the hair at the nape of my neck as we kissed, how her laughter made my heart beat faster, how her smile made my day.
Guilt washed over me as I thought about my father, how I thought about betraying her. I shoved it away, not wanting to think about it anymore. I had to do this; I couldn't tell her the truth.
"Hey man! Let her go, we want to say hi," Nate slapped my back playfully and Tatiana and I pulled away from each other.
She smiled, embarrassed, and hugged Daniel and Nate. Nate took his time hugging her and I stepped towards him.
"You okay there Nate?" I asked, pushing him away from her.
He and Daniel laughed. They should be happy she was here because I would've hit them so bad they wouldn't be laughing anymore.
"You know he's just teasing you right?" Tatiana giggled and put her arm around my waist.
"I know," I smiled down at her, pulling her closer to me. I spotted Jamie staring at us, smiling. I smiled back and waved him over. He perked up and swam towards us. "Hey man, you wanna hang with us?" I asked him when he got closer.
"Sure," he said as he tried to keep his head above the water.
"Who's this little man?" Meredith asked. She had finally gotten into the water, wearing her white bikini. She was smiling, but she sounded too friendly for my liking.
"I'm not little," Jamie grumbled.
I laughed, "No, you're not. How old are you, ten?" I asked, obviously exaggerating, but he didn't need to know that.
He smiled up at me, "No silly, I'm eight."
"Well, you're pretty tall for your age," I said faking shock. "Come on you wanna race?"
He nodded eagerly and before I swam towards him Tatiana gave me a kiss on the cheek and whispered, "Thank you."
Tatiana
H
e raced with Jamie for a long time. The first time Jamie won, only because Ethan let him win. But after that it was all competitive. Jamie wasn't that bad for his age, sometimes Ethan would only beat him by a couple of seconds.
I cheered for Jamie mostly. He was my brother! Nate and Daniel laughed when Ethan complained that no one was cheering for him. I gave Jamie a high five when he won again and Ethan quickly grabbed him and picked him up.
"I'm going to throw you in!" he roared playfully, making Jamie laugh.
I'd never seen this side to him and it just made me love him even more. Jamie's body went up in the air and the water splashed on all of us when he landed. After a few seconds his head raised to the surface and he laughed.
"Cute isn't he?" Meredith smiled mischievously. I looked at her blankly. "It's not going to last forever you know. We're
not perfect, we all have secrets."
"Excuse me?" I asked confused, but she just swam back to shore like she hadn't heard me.
"You okay?" Ethan came up behind me and wound his arms around my stomach.
"Uh-huh." I turned my face to kiss him on the cheek.
"Tati!" I heard Jamie's voice. He sounded panicked.
I looked around frantically and I finally spotted him, he was swimming towards us, "What's wrong?" I asked with concern.
"Where's mummy?" he asked, searching the sandy area.
I looked around and spotted my towel and the food basket, but there was no sign of our mother. I looked at Ethan and we both walked out of the water. Jamie held my hand while Ethan grasped the other. I saw Nate and Daniel flirting with Meredith's friend. Meredith looked pissed, she was not happy her friend was stealing all of the attention.
I grabbed my stuff from the sand and shook the sand off the towels. I looked around trying to see if there was any sign of her, but still nothing. I grabbed my phone from the basket and dialled her number.
"Mum?" I asked, when someone picked up. "Where'd you go?"
"Tatiana, we have been expecting you," a deep, mysterious voice answered. His voice made me shiver. My eyes widened, realising what situation we were in. "She went for a little walk and we just happened to bump into each other."
"What do you want?" I asked in barely a whisper.
"Meet me at the old toilets by Lake Michigan. It's abandoned. Be there in five minutes or your mother dies," my body stiffened.
My brother was staring at me intently. I hoped he hadn't heard the conversation. The line cut and I stuffed my phone in my dress pocket. My heart beat faster and my hands started to shake as I thought about my mother; if she died Jamie and I would be alone. We would have no one.
"Ethan …" I whispered. "Ethan."
"Babe?" he looked at me, walking over when he saw my face. "Tell me what's wrong."
"My mum, she's …" I sniffled looking at Jamie pointedly. He was looking at the lake, but I knew he was listening to our conversation.
"Hey Nate, Daniel!" Ethan called out, waving them over. They both looked annoyed but came anyway. "Can you look after Jamie? Just for a few minutes, please?"
Nate and Daniel agreed and grabbing Jamie by the arms, they ran into the water while he laughed cheerfully.
Ethan took my hand and dragged me to the nearest abandoned tree, "What's wrong?"
"My mum, she's been kidnapped," I said, looking around frantically.
"By who? Hunters?" he asked and something dark was in his gaze.
"I'm not sure … this man sounded different," I shook my head. "I need to meet him, otherwise he'll kill her."
"I'm coming with you," he said urgently.
"No you can't-"
"Yes, I can. Please."
I finally nodded unable to stop him. He led the way to the abandoned toilets, both of us jogging there. I heard voices then and I stopped in my tracks, Ethan stopped a few seconds later, confused.
"I can hear them," I whispered.
"What're they saying?" he asked with a low voice.
"Looks like your daughter couldn't care less about you, your time's nearly up."
"You'll kill me anyway," my mother hissed.
I heard a smack and then the sound of someone spitting. I couldn't stand it anymore. I rounded the corner of the abandoned toilets and saw my mother lying down on a picnic table. She had stakes stabbed into her palms and calves. She was stuck fast, unable to move. Two suited men were holding more stakes while the other hovered over my mother with a menacing look on his face.
"Is my time up?" I called out.
They all moved at once. In a flashing blur of movement, one man ended up right behind me with a stake aimed at my heart and the other grabbed Ethan and put him in a head lock. Ethan struggled a little but stopped when he looked over at me. The stake pressed against my skin painfully. I tried to hold it back, but the man was so strong.
"A human, how interesting." The man who had been hovering over my mother was now standing tall looking Ethan over. His hair had been shaved off and he was wearing the same suit, but, confusingly, he was a vampire.
"Vampire," I hissed. "Stay away from him!" I shouted when he made a step forward.
My mother remained silent.
"Touchy," he made a sound of disapproval.
"What do you want?" I hissed, trying to get his attention on me instead of Ethan.
"You," he said simply.
"Why her?" Ethan shouted.
I winced, so much for my plan.
"Because she is a threat to us and while she lives we vampires are all in danger."
"So you'd kill your own kind because of that?" Ethan spat. "You guys are fucked."
The man stepped forward. His blurred hand struck Ethan's face. Ethan's head snapped to the side, his cheek already swollen.
Instinctively, I reached my free arm over my opposite shoulder and grabbed the vampire's shirt. While pushing the stake further away from me, I pulled him over my shoulder with such force he didn't expect it. He was taken by surprise, landing smack on his back on the concrete with a loud grunt. The concrete had split into two under him.
The stake was now in my possession and I crouched over him, plunging it into his heart before he could react. His face seemed surprised as the wood pierced his heart, blood spurted out, staining his clothes. His body went rigid, then he slowly turned to dust as the stake fell against the concrete with a clatter. The ashes flew away with the wind and I looked up to find Ethan and the other two vampires staring at me in shock.
"You bitch!" the vampire howled. All of a sudden his eyes turned black, there was nothing but darkness in them. "You killed my brother!" He threw Ethan across the grass and he landed with a loud thump. Why were his eyes black?
I crouched down as he ran towards me. His body rammed into mine and I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I fell back and landed on the grass. The ground was as hard as rock, I struggled to breathe as the vampire laid on top of me, pressing the stake towards my chest.
"Ugh," I breathed, struggling to keep the stake from piercing my skin. My heart thudded in my ears and I couldn't hear anything other than the vampire's laughter. His laugh made me want to crawl somewhere and hide.
"Get off her!" Ethan charged towards us.
I hoped he would stop, but before I knew it Ethan was grabbed by the other vampire. Ethan blocked his punch and threw his own. Surprisingly, he actually hit his target. The vampire was still lying on top of me with the stake against my chest.
We were distracted by the noise of numerous sets of footsteps coming towards us. Our heads turned and we saw men and women encircling us holding crossbows.
"Back off!" a man shouted.
The vampire's eyes widened as he took in the scene in front of us. When he looked back down at me again, his eyes were still dark and dangerous. "I'll be back for you. I'll get my revenge."
He pulled back the wooden stake and my heart stopped. With immense relief, I watched him plunge the wooden stake into the grass and then vanish. I looked around and saw a man. He looked so familiar; it was the suit he was wearing. The man was wearing sunglasses covering his eyes. He was Ethan's dad! But when he took his sunglasses off I panicked. His eyes were green, a bright green. The same coloured eyes that man had, the one that had my father killed. I felt sick. Ethan … His father was a hunter so Ethan was a hunter as well.
I stood up slowly, cautiously. "It's okay Tatiana; I'm not going to hurt you."
"You mean hurt me like you hurt my father?" I raged. Anger flowed through my body taking over me. My hands were balled into fists as they shook with rage.
Ethan was a hunter.
And I was going to kill him.
Ethan
I
had never felt so terrified and so guilty in my life. My father had ruined everything. Not only had he revealed his identity, but he just literally told Tatiana that I was a hunter. Tatiana's face was
filled with betrayal and anger and I didn't blame her.
I knew it was a cowardly thing to do, cowering behind my father, so I thought better of it and stood beside him. Tatiana's eyes flickered at the sudden movement and when she realised it was me I saw fire burning in her eyes.
"You need to come with us," my father beckoned.
But I knew she wouldn't come forward, especially if she didn't trust us. She took a hesitant step back and every hunter got their crossbows ready, aiming at Tatiana. My heart beat faster in my chest with concern. I wanted to run over to her and tell her that I loved her, that I was sorry for what I did. She froze in mid step, her eyes wide and afraid. I saw her mother struggling to get free, the first time I had seen her move since we arrived. I realised that it had caught my father's attention.
"Conner, please help Elena." Conner stepped forward wearing his hunter gear – cargo pants, a plain black tee, a strap around his waist filled with weapons, and black, lace-up boots. Conner had the blonde, shiny hair and blue eyes that girls adored. I used to envy him, but not so much anymore.
Not since I met Tatiana.
Tatiana eyed him cautiously from the corner of her eye. Conner started with Tatiana's mother's legs, he pulled each stake out, one by one, as fast as he could. Elena's body tensed, but she slowly got up, revealing the four healing wounds in her body. It was amazing to watch as the wounds closed up within seconds.
"Elena, it's been a long time," my father nodded towards her. By his stern tone, I realised he wasn't very fond of her, not like he was of Tatiana.
"Julian," Elena gave a curt nod.
"I know we haven't been on the best of terms, but I would like to speak privately with both you and Tatiana. We have matters to discuss," my father said, not at all pleased.
Tatiana gaped at her mother when Elena moved forward and accepted his offer. They both followed after my father.
"Ethan, join us." My father's voice rang out confidently and I followed after him, but I remained just behind Tatiana not wanting to set her off.
Half Blood Page 10