“Thanks, no pressure,” I mumbled.
Once I fully submerged myself clothed, I was much too numb and embarrassed to strip out of my clothes in front of Sabirella, and too tired to care, I thought about what she had said.
It had felt like one of the longest and most mentally exhaustive day I have ever had.
Why am I in the bath? I don’t like baths, I always think better in the shower. When I can feel my legs again, I will see if I can make it to the big shower in the corner.
Ugh! Why am I mentally rambling about a goddamn shower? There are more pressing matters at the moment to deal with then where I am when I’m thinking them.
The psychotic and unbelievable events of the day were overshadowed by one point of light, a shimmer of hope, that Tanis might love me.
Do I love him? Could I love him knowing what he is? It hasn’t stopped me from being with him so far and unequivocally trusting him. Why would that suddenly change? He was a vampire when I met him, he is a vampire still, and I think…I love him.
“Huh, happy birthday to me,” I said with a smile.
In thirty minutes I would either get me arse kicked by an irate blonde with a new BMW or snog with a very happy blonde with a new BMW.
It should have proved to be interesting either way.
I was giddy as a girl. I wasn’t usually not such a daft arsehole when it came to giving gifts, but Jay Dee was worth the shot to my dignity. I liked giving her things, even if she was going to fight me on it.
I was more than confident that’d I win in the end; I always did.
My mobile rang and I was surprised to see that is was Steffen.
“Hey Steffen,” I cheerfully greeted. “Thank you again for helping Jarvis with the electronics. Those two are bloody ridiculous when it comes to gifts.”
“Tanis?”
“Do not get me wrong, I am more than confident that she is going to kick me arse from here to Canada and back, but it I am sure it will be more than worth it.”
“Tanis!”
“You will appreciate the fine German engineering,” I smugly informed him.
“Tanis!” he yelled.
“What?”
“How far away are you?” Steffen whispered.
“Thirty minutes from Lummi. I just got done taking care of the insurance and registration…what is wrong? What happened?” I demanded.
He hesitated for a moment.
Something bad happened.
“There was an accident,” he started. “Or a misunderstanding…honestly, I’m not exactly sure what in the hell happened.”
I struggled to swallow the lump in my throat. “Me Duckie?” I choked, my eyes flooding with moisture.
“d’Artagnan showed up with a very pissed off water logged blonde in his arms. He pulled Jay Dee off of the bottom of the ocean when she jumped off of the cliffs trying to get away from your sister.”
“What?” I snarled and slammed on the gas. “Tell me you are joshing.”
“No. Mom’s upstairs with her now. T, she wasn’t bitten or anything, and aside from the blue tinge to her, she seems fine. Mom said she’d call her parents to let them know that Jay Dee will be escorting us so she might be late, you know, to prevent issues.”
I was shaking I was so irate.
“Where is Georgiana?”
“On her way back with Romeo and Abby,” he said, sounding very apologetic. “I guess it was a knock down-drag out fight, and from what Romeo said, Jay Dee held her own against that crazy redhead. Few can boast that.”
“Indeed.”
“Hurry up and get home to your girl, I’m sure she needs a hug and to talk.”
“That is putting it mildly,” I hissed and hung up the phone.
It made me feel slightly better to hear that Jay Dee held her own again my blood crazed sister, but it didn’t make the situation any better.
My sister would forever be dead to me from that point forward.
It only took twelve minutes to make the thirty minute drive; I blew through every red light and stop sign, and used the shoulder to pass slower vehicles. I felt slightly crazed, however I had good reason to be.
My sister, my own flesh and blood, attacked the woman I loved. Thinking of Jay Dee injured or harmed, especially because of me, made me burn with a fury to the likes of nothing I had ever known. However, thinking her gone broke my heart. That was only possible when you loved someone.
So yes, without question, I loved Jay Dee Lightfoot.
I was out of my car before I remembered to put it in park and it rolled across the driveway and nearly hit a tree before Steffen was able to get it in park. d’Artagnan was sitting on the bottom step inside waiting for me.
“Where is that redheaded bitch?” I snarled.
d’Artagnan smiled wide. “Relax, little brother, your woman is fine. Surprisingly better than fine considering she was attacked by a damn vampire and jumped off of a cliff, drowning herself in the process. Mom and Abby are dealing with Georgiana now; she’ll be lucky to walk once they are done with her.”
Deep, calming breaths.
“What in the hell happened?” I whispered; I needed to calm down before I see the girl I love, the girl who was most likely going to tell me that it wasn’t worth it and that me and my family truly are as dangerous as all of those ridiculous books and movies made us out to be.
The irony didn’t fail to amuse me on some dark level. I had been warning Jay Dee since that Monday about how dangerous vampires were, and that she shouldn’t be complacent about my family’s apparent non-homicidal tendencies.
Romeo walked out from the kitchen with an ice pack on his swollen eye. “That crazy redhead started running her mouth,” he mumbled before carefully moving his sore jaw back and forth, popping it loudly. “Finally Abby said enough was enough and slammed on the brakes to make her walk home. Somehow, Jay’s face smashed into Abby’s headrest, giving her a bloody nose. After that it was pretty much every goddamn vampire movie you’ve ever seen all rolled into one. I told her to run, but before she could get out, Georgiana got away from Abby and knocked her and Jay across the road. Then it was an epic fight. Every time Jay got away, we were there stopping Georgiana, but you know how stubborn and hunger crazed that crazy bitch gets! Seriously, I can’t believe she didn’t sink her teeth into her. I’m so sorry, T.”
Deep breaths. Deep breaths.
“Go for a walk,” I whispered, my attention up the stairs.
“Why?” d’Artagnan laughed. “You don’t want us to hear you cry like a bitch when she breaks up with you? Who in their right mind would want to be with a vampire? Let alone, a vampire whose sister just tried to eat her? It’s rather funny if you think about it.”
Steffen punched him in the arm, smashing him into the wall. “Outside, D,” he strongly suggested, gripping onto the back of d’Artagnan’s neck. “Don’t let her say no, Tanis. If you love her, make sure she knows that you do. Every relationship has issues and obstacles to overcome.” He forced a smiled and escorted my arsehole brother outside with Romeo.
I had to talk to her and try to explain…what, I wasn’t entirely sure. How would one explain to someone, with sound reason, why their sister just tried to kill them…tried to eat them? There wasn’t one. The only thing I could do was brace myself for the slap, or possible punch and knee to the bollocks, and apologize as she ran out the door screaming that she hated me and never wanted to see me again.
That would be what a sane person would have done.
I knocked on my bedroom door but she couldn’t hear me over the stereo. Joss Stone, one of my favorites of that decade, was playing and the shower was running.
Nervous, I headed to the bathroom and knocked on the door.
Again, there was no answer.
Either she was deaf or dead…I was hoping for deaf.
“Miss Jay Dee?” I called out as I popped my head in the bathroom.
“Hey, how was your day?” Jay Dee cheerfully asked; she sounded completely norm
al.
“Er…good, until the last half hour, then it kind of went to shite,” I admitted. “Are you well?”
She opened the shower door and popped her head out. “You mean aside from the fact that your sister tried to eat me and your brother had to give me CPR, and I’m pretty confident that the rat bastard grabbed my boobs a lot more than needed, yeah I’m fine.”
No. This is not right. She must be in shock. After all, she was hunted down like some kind of animal, almost became me sister’s mid-day snack, drowned, died for a few minutes, got felt up by me brother…yes, she is in shock.
“Miss Jay Dee, we need to talk.”
She gave me a look. “I thought we agreed that formalities were only to be used when in public.”
I nodded.
She dramatically sighed. “Oh I see.”
“I was praying that you would,” I whispered.
“We can talk but only if you come here first,” she said, sounding irritated at me.
“What?” I asked and backed up against the wall, instinctively putting my hands over my bollocks in case she was going to play foot to balls with my boys.
“Are you scared of me?” she asked, then nervously chewed on her bottom lip, waiting for my answer.
I snorted.
Of all the things to think and say…maybe she is nutter after all.
“Why would I be scared of you?” I demanded. “You should be scared of me! Of me family, of what we are and who we are!” That was it, I completely I lost it. “Me sister tried to kill you! Yet you do not seem too terribly upset about it. You seem more narked that me brother saved you, which I admit I am narked about it as well...not that he saved you but that he had to save you... Do you have absolutely no cognizance of the danger I put you in, by simply being what I am?!”
Now I was yelling like a daft arsehole.
“Because of me you could have been killed,” I reminded her. “Killed because I am a bloody vampire! Does your need for self-preservation not exist at all? You need to stay away from me, Miss Jay Dee. I am not good for you. You deserve better, you deserve to be safe, and as long as you are with me, and as long as I love you, you are going to be in constant danger!”
Through the water dripping from her hair, and rolling down her face, I could see the tears.
“So that’s it then?” she whispered, sounding more disappointed in me than anyone ever had.
No.
Yes.
Sure…maybe.
I really do not want to believe me own bollocks.
“So it seems,” I whispered, and with those words, my heart felt as if it were breaking in my chest.
Jay Dee nodded. “That sucks. Can I at least have a kiss goodbye?” she asked and batted her long, black lashes at me, and a small smile pulled at the corners of her full lips.
What can a snog hurt? My heart, my soul, my reason for happiness….not a lot.
“Of course,” I reluctantly agreed and closed the distance between us, not registering that she was in the shower, naked, and that a simple snog could cause a major problem to arise.
I stood in front of her, minding to maintain eye contact, and the warmth from her body, her very presence, consumed my senses and my body felt many degrees warmer all of a sudden.
“I’m sorry that you feel that way,” she whispered and wrapped her arms around my neck before pulling her fingers up into my hair. “You see, I was under the impression that you liked me, like really liked me, and even possibly loved me…especially considering you just said that as long as you love me blah, blah, blah…I couldn’t really hear the rest over my breaking heart.”
Her large black eyes worked over my face many times.
“Tanis, I’m not very good at this type of thing. You have to remember, I’ve only kissed one person, and I’ve only loved one person. And to think of him just giving up like that, simply because his sister tried to turn me into an all-you-can-eat-Jay-Dee-buffet, and your brother tried to play grab ass, again… Tanis, none of that matters to me. You’re all that matters.”
Softly she brushed her lips against mine, and the heat and intensity pulsating under their velvety soft surface made my head swim and my body scream for me to touch her, feel her, hold her, taste her, experience her in ways I’ve never known before.
So of course, I started to push her away.
Jay Dee pulled me to her mouth and the kiss deepened, and I couldn’t deny my heart any longer. My arms wrapped around her naked form, and she pulled me into the shower with her.
“I love you,” she whispered against my lips, and it made me want her that much more. “Age, species…crazy siblings, money grubbing whore wife, none of that matters as long as we have each other. And if you are willing…if you can love me despite all of my pack and tribe drama, I can easily overlook your vampiric and family drama.”
“You are completely nutter,” I whispered against her lips. “But I have waited more than three hundred years to hear those words.”
Passionately we kissed. My hands worked over her wet body, committing each curve to memory. She pulled my shirt over my head, dropping it to the shower floor, before her lips started working down my neck and across my shoulder. Her fingers traced over the planes of chest and stomach, each caress left a hot, searing sensation under my skin. Jay Dee unfastened my belt while she kissed down my chest and stomach, teasingly biting the front of my hip.
My hands knotted in her hair. “Do not…please, stop,” I softly growled through clenched teeth.
“Sorry,” she whispered, her breath caressed my skin and caused my body to shiver with desire. “I…I…I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I didn’t mean to, I mean I thought…I’m sorry.”
She quickly stood and started for the shower door, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her into me with such force that her body smashed into mine, causing my trousers to drop around my ankles. Her firm breasts pressed against my chest more and more with each labored breath that left her swollen lips. Every inch of her body was pressed against mine, and never had I felt more loved and complete then I did at that moment.
Never did I image that we would be standing in my shower, she completely naked and me barely clothed and with an erection that there was no denying. It was nice, lovely even, and mind numbingly erotic…
I needed more.
My eyes worked over her face many times. Her expression pained me yet excited, enticed, pleased, and warmed me all at once: confusion, regret, love, sadness, anticipation, pleasure, fear of rejection…
So many emotions running through her, and running through me! It was hard to name them all, but I gladly welcome them. For the first time in centuries, possibly ever, I felt alive and loved.
“I love you,” I whispered and she smiled.
“Good, are you done trying to break up with me?” Jay Dee teased as she traced my lips with her finger.
“Yes, Duckie,” I assured her and smiled even more. It was hard not smile when you had a beautiful naked woman in your arms. “I am so sorry,” I started to apologize, but she pinched my lips together and shook her head.
She pulled herself up and wrapped her legs around my waist, and when she did, my entire body shook with a longing that was as foreign to me as the possessive thoughts which had been consuming me from the first moment I saw her. It was as strange and unbelievable as the emotions which I was experiencing for the first time in more than three hundred years…
I needed her more than I had ever needed anything before.
“I have waited a very long time for you,” I whispered against her lips.
“And I have waited my entire life for you,” she told me earnestly, and I couldn’t take it anymore and kissed her with more passion than I knew was possible.
I slipped out of my shoes and stepped the rest of the way out of my trousers before walking us from the bathroom to the bedroom and carefully laid her down in the middle of the bed.
Never had I been more nervous or felt more fear than I did at that moment.
But as I looked at her under me, I was put in awe. The way her long, thick hair spilled over her shoulders like white ribbons contrasted against her light tan skin beautifully. The ridges of her cheekbones were flushed a delicious shade of dark rose, her full lips were swollen from our passionate kissing, and her beautiful, full breasts rose and fell with each breath she took…it took all of my conscious effort to keep from sliding down long, toned body and capturing one of the perky, soft pink-tinted tips with my mouth, to keep from trailing my fingers down her lean waist to the soft juncture between her thighs, to keep from biting her so I could simply keep her for all eternity like this, just like this.
“You are so beautiful,” I whispered, my eyes working back up her body to hers.
“Only in your eyes,” she mouthed.
Silly bird.
“Are you sure you want me completely?” I whispered, noting her suddenly apprehensive expression.
“No,” she answered honestly and my face dropped. “But I’ve never been more sure of anything than I am of you in my entire life. I have waited, possibly before I was even born, for you…to love you, to make love to you, to give my body and soul to only you, and there is nothing that would ever change that, Tanis. You are the only thing in my life I have never questioned… Loving you is as effortless and natural as breathing, and just like breathing, I need it in order to survive…I need you.”
I bit my bottom lip and nodded; her words were what I had longed to hear my entire life, the sentiment behind them, and how they were spoken so earnestly, made me cry.
“Me Duckie,” I whispered and caressed her lips with mine and ignored the tears which had fallen from my eyes and stained her cheeks.
I had no idea what I had done to make that woman trust me as she did, but whatever it was, I promised myself that I would make sure that I never ruined it or her trust. All I wanted was for her to trust me, to know me, to love me, and she had done so effortlessly. I trusted her just as much, something that I never thought was possible. Nothing was worse than a trustless relationship. But I didn’t have to worry about that with Jay Dee; trust was the foundation of our relationship, and love was the driving force.
Forbidden Alliance: A Werewolf's Tale (Forbidden Alliance Trilogy) Page 22