Undeniable

by Doreen Orsini

  “What was with the gun, Sebastian?”

  “I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on in here. I felt her distress before I heard her scream and, well, I couldn’t come in baring my fangs.”

  “I thought she was going to wrestle it out of your hand,” Colette said, softly laughing. “When she accused you of stalking her, I thought I’d die.”

  “The little spitfire called me a nut.” He ran his finger over Diana’s lower lip. “I think I’m in big trouble here, Colette.”

  “Can I still go see the fireworks?”

  Colette and Sebastian turned. Luna peered out from the hall leading to her room. She glanced at Diana’s body. Her chin scrunched up. “Did I kill Diana?”

  “What?” Sebastian frowned.

  Luna ran across the room. She wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist. “It wasn’t my fault. She pulled her hand away before I let go.”

  “You bit her?” Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell is going on? Will someone tell me why she screamed?”

  “No.” Colette lifted her chin. “If Diana wants you to know, she’ll tell you.”

  “Luna, you’ll tell Uncle Sebastian why Diana was crying, won’t you?”

  Luna glanced up at her mother, then looked at him and shook her head.

  He stalked them across the room, taking one long step forward for every two they took backwards.

  Colette bared her fangs when they bumped against the wall. “Back off, Sebastian. You’re scaring Luna.”

  He gritted his teeth. “I will when you explain to me why my niece bit Diana.”

  “She told me to!” Luna held up her finger and wiggled it. “She wiggled her finger in front of my mouth right after she said a mouse bit her.”

  Diana moaned. Sebastian leaned down and whispered into Luna’s ear. “You’ll tell me why Diana screamed, won’t you, Luna Moona.”

  “No.” When he continued to stare into her eyes, Luna gasped. “Stop it. Daddy said it’s really, really rude to sneak a peek into someone’s head.”

  “Sebastian, you didn’t!” Colette lifted Luna into her arms. “I can’t believe this is you.”

  “Well what do you expect, Colette? I have to protect you and Luna. I—”

  “And Diana,” Luna said, twisting around in her mother’s arms. She pointed a finger at him and wagged it in front of his face. “You have to protect her for me, Uncle Sebastian.”

  Sebastian hooked Luna’s chin. “I do?”

  “She gave me the locket her mommy gave her. It protected her from monsters, but she gave it to me. Then I got scared ‘cause now she has nothing to keep her safe. So I’m giving her you.”

  “Me?”

  “Grandpa said I could. He said you would take care of her for me. He pinky promised!”

  Sebastian cleared his throat. “Grandpa Tobias?”

  When Luna nodded, he lifted the locket.

  How many times had he seen Diana reach for something on her chest, seen her sigh when her hand came away empty? He slid his nail into the side of the heart and opened it. The tiny picture of a young woman kissing the cheek of a baby sent a lump to his throat.

  “Still don’t trust her, Sebastian? She gave that to Luna the day she found out what we were,” Colette whispered. “That very day. I bet that was her most precious possession.”

  He snapped the two sides of the heart back together, felt it slide through his fingers. Luna’s small hand wrapped around it, clutching it as he imagined Diana had a thousand times since her mother had given it to her. “Don’t worry, Luna. I won’t let anything happen to Diana.”

  “Promise, Uncle Sebastian? Cross your heart and hope to fry?”

  “Cross my heart and hope to fry. And no calling me Uncle tonight.” After Luna nodded solemnly, Sebastian returned to the couch.

  “Diana.” He leaned over and brushed his lips over hers. His heart swelled. “Come on, goddess, open your eyes.”

  He never expected her to bolt upright just as he leaned down to once again whisper in her ear.

  Chapter Nine

  Strolling beside Diana, Colette licked the ice cream dripping down the side of her cone. “You two look hysterical.”

  “Thanks a lot,” Diana and Sebastian said in unison.

  Sebastian glanced at Diana. She hadn’t said much since coming to, back at Colette’s. He hadn’t been able to get close enough to talk to her privately. For some insane reason, Colette and Luna acted like they had to protect her from him.

  “I think Sebastian’s bump looks funnier than Diana’s, don’t you, Mommy,” Luna said, popping a piece of caramelized corn in her mouth. “His is all red and lumpy.”

  Colette giggled. “Oh, Luna, I think you’re making him blush!”

  Sebastian came to such an abrupt halt that Colette, Luna, and Diana continued on a few more feet before realizing he was no longer with them. When they turned, he crossed his arms and glared at their surprised faces.

  “I believe I’m red from anger, ladies. I’ve been the brunt of your jokes about my bump for the entire ride here, during the fireworks and that ridiculous tour through Alien Attack.” He reached up and tenderly touched the lump above his brow.

  “I think it’s cute.” Diana walked up. Her fingers slid around his neck and pulled his head down.

  He closed his eyes, needing her kiss. Just before she awoke at Colette’s and slammed her forehead into his, he’d come to a frightening realization. Sometime during the last month, he had fallen in love with Diana Nostrum. Sometime during the last month, she became his life’s essence.

  Her lips pressed gently onto the bump. Not what he’d wanted, but he felt his anger at the three females dissolve.

  He opened his eyes. They stared at his forehead, then burst out laughing. He spread his hands out. “It’s just a bump, for chrissakes!”

  Tourists ambling up and down the sidewalk turned to peer at him. Some giggled, others merely shook their heads and moved on. Diana, Luna and Colette clung to each other as their laughter grew more and more out of control. Tears rolled down Colette’s face.

  Sebastian’s heart ached. For the first time since his stepbrother’s death, Colette was having fun—smiling, laughing, crying tears that had nothing to do with grief.

  He watched Diana whisper something into Colette’s ear, wondered what she could have suggested to make his sister-in-law emphatically shake her head. His mouth dropped when Colette stifled a hiccup, ran up and kissed his bump. He watched Diana’s eyes grow wide.

  “What?” Sebastian frowned, grasping just what the love of his life and his sister-in-law had done.

  He strolled over to the Frankenstein in front of the House of Wax. “Hey, Frank,” Sebastian said, grinning into the green face. He winked at the vampire beneath the costume. “Do you find anything funny about my bump?”

  Frankenstein shook his head, then doubled over and slapped his leg.

  Luna squealed. “You got lips. Pink and red lips on your bump.”

  “Traitor!” Diana yelled, wrapping her arms around the little girl before she could run away. “Now you must be tickled until you pee-pee in your panties.”

  “No, don’t.” Luna gleefully wriggled free and clutched her crotch. “I’ve been holding it in all night.”

  “Oh, Luna.” Colette grasped her hand and quickly led her across the street.

  While Colette took Luna into the public restroom, Diana and Sebastian waited on a nearby bench. Sebastian stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed them at the ankle. Diana lifted his arm, draped it over her shoulder and snuggled against his side. Her warm breath flowed over his neck as she peered up at him.

  By now her finger had healed completely, but her blood remained on the bandage, and when she brought her hand up to his cheek, the hunger he’d denied much longer then he should have reared its ugly head.

  The stench from the bathroom mingled with the odors rising from the dumpsters behind the nearby restaurants and bars. The incessant chatter of the peopl
e milling in the nightclubs, restaurants and attractions coupled with the pounding bass of the various radios, bands and DJ booths assaulted his ears. The simplest breeze pelted his skin like a thousand grains of sand. His hunger devoured him, weakened his power to control the overload of sensations surrounding him. His stomach roiled. He drew in a deep breath and held it until his lungs burned.

  Diana’s hand grabbed the front of his shirt. “Stop that. You’re scaring me.”

  Her voice calmed the beast that would have driven him to sink his teeth into her flesh. He brought his forehead down to hers. “By holding my breath?”

  “You held it too long.” She tilted her head up until the tips of their noses touched.

  Sebastian chuckled. “Scared I’ll pass out? Bump my head?”

  Diana blushed and rested her cheek on his chest. “You have lipstick on your forehead.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I know.”

  “I thought so. Thanks.”

  “For what?” He shifted so he could see her face.

  Diana’s eye welled. “For bringing a little light into their lives.”

  He chucked her under the chin. She’d set their dark world aglow. They spent their entire existence avoiding the sun’s dreaded rays, yet they basked in the warmth of the light that seemed to follow Diana wherever she went. “You did that, goddess. Not me.”

  She leaned over and kissed his neck, then took a tissue from her purse and tenderly wiped away the lipstick.

  He recalled his mother’s warning that if he fell under Diana’s spell, she’d introduce him to the sun and a pain he could never imagine. Well, he’d definitely fallen under her spell and she had become his sunshine, his light in the dark. And the mere thought of losing her when he revealed what he was, what he’d done that night in her bedroom, pained him more than if someone thrust a red-hot poker into his heart.

  He had no doubt that sometime in the near future, he would lose Diana.

  What could he possibly offer her to convince her to accept eternal darkness by his side? A life devoid of sunshine? Children doomed to spend their days abed, keeping one foot on the floor even as they slept in case some misguided fool tried to plunge a stake through their hearts? Teens who were virtual slaves of their community until they could control the erratic behavior of their adult fangs?

  His eyes burned. Diana had spoken so often about how she loved the way the stars peeked through the ebony blanket covering the night sky, how pools of moonlight floated across lake and how the fireflies arose from the grass and bushes like fairies heralding the arrival the moon.

  But she also loved the heat of the sun on her bare flesh, how bright the colors of flowers looked in the middle of the day and recounted with glee each and every time she caught sight of a hummingbird hovering over a bloom as it drank the sweet nectar.

  Because of his carelessness she soon would have to bid farewell to the sun and enter a life where one year of darkness would only age her one day. She could spend the endless nights by his side as his mate or alone.

  Either way, now that she’d tasted his blood, there was no turning back. Diana either completed the bonding ritual with him or joined the Slashers on Fentmore Island. Even if she accepted him, even if she grew to love him enough to want to be his mate, he had no doubt that once she discovered what had transpired the night he, Diego and Tomas had entered her bedroom, once she grasped why they had been there, she would want nothing more to do with him.

  “What’s wrong, Sebastian?”

  He gazed down at her concerned face. “Hmmm?”

  “You look like you just lost your best friend.” Diana pressed her body into his side.

  “You’ve captured me, you know. And I’m terrified by the thought of you setting me free.” He shrugged, embarrassed that he’d spoken aloud the fears he’d only just discovered. “Let’s walk by the lake while we wait.”

  When they reached the lake, Diana stared up into his face. Her hand trembled as she slid it up his chest. She’d wondered about his absence during the day long before tonight.

  She’d seen the way his eyes had dilated exactly like Colette and Luna’s when he’d seen her finger, the way his tongue had wrapped around it and drawn her blood into his mouth for a second before he’d removed it. And she’d seen the drawing with Sebastian’s name. They’d all assumed she’d fainted from the sight of the blood, but Diana knew the growing evidence pointing toward the possibility that Sebastian might be a vampire had been too much for her to handle.

  When she awoke to find him gazing down at her, his heart in his eyes, she made a decision she hoped she wouldn’t regret. She knew, vampire or not, she couldn’t just turn her back on him. Not because her grandmother considered him her soul mate or because her body recognized him as such.

  Sebastian had worked his way into her heart. If she was right, if he was indeed a vampire, then she had to give him the opportunity to reveal himself, had to convince him that he could trust her with his secret. What choice did she have?

  Somehow, Sebastian had become the very air she breathed.

  She longed for his touch more now than ever before. Flattening her palm on his chest, she felt his heartbeat flow into her, merge with her own and set it on fire. How could she walk away without ever knowing what it felt like to make love to the one man who could awaken her body with a mere glance? She had to take this further, had to let the bud of love lodged in her heart bloom before she made any decision.

  Colette and Luna emerged from the bathroom and joined them. Colette looked at Diana and Sebastian, then turned to Luna. “I think it’s time we went home.”

  “But I wanted more caramel corn and cotton candy.” Luna crossed her arms and stuck out a perfect pout.

  Diana yawned. “Sorry, sweetie, but I’m pooped.”

  Later, when she and Sebastian returned to the car after they had made sure that Colette and Luna were safely in their house, Diana turned to Sebastian and calmly asked, “Can vampires go out during the day if it’s cloudy?”

  Sebastian, in the midst of backing out of the driveway, nearly slammed into the white picket fence he’d helped Marek put up only last year. “Vampires?”

  Diana brought her hand to his cheek. He was so beautiful it took her breath away. “Yes, Sebastian, vampires. I know you know about Colette and Luna.”

  “Well,” he hesitated, threw the car into park, then shifted to face her. “If there are scattered clouds, no. But there are times when the clouds are dense and completely blanket the sky. On those days…I’m told…vampires can come out.”

  She smiled. “Tomorrow, you’re calling in sick and taking me on a picnic.”

  Sebastian’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”

  “It’s supposed to rain. I love picnics in the rain. Take me home, Sebastian.”

  “You’re awfully bossy all of a sudden.”

  “You want bossy? Okay. Tomorrow, we’re going to have a picnic in the rain. Then I’ll go home. At exactly, hmmm, eight, you’re going to pick me up and take me to your house.”

  “My house?” Sebastian pulled up to the curb in front of Diana’s house.

  “Yes, so you’d better clean up the place.”

  He smirked. “You got that right. Anything else, boss?”

  Diana slid over and brought her lips to his ear. “You’re going to make love to me, Sebastian.” She pressed her breasts into his arm, felt his muscles harden. “I’ve been waiting a whole month for you to make a move, now I’m taking charge. And, Sebastian?”

  He opened his mouth, then simply nodded.

  She slid her hand down over his stomach, over the waistband of his jeans, then cupped the hard ridge rising up alongside the zipper. “You’re really big and, hmmm, how can I put this? You’ll be my first, which means I’ll be real tight.”

  “You’re killing me, you know that?”

  “Well, I just figured that once you felt how very tight I am, you might feel the need to be extra gentle.”

  “I will.”<
br />
  “But you won’t.”

  His eyes dilated. “I won’t,” he asked, his voice huskier than she’d ever heard it.

  “Don’t go wild on me,” she whispered, then ran her tongue along his lower lip, “but don’t be too gentle either.”

  “I won’t hurt you.”

  “I know. Now kiss me goodnight.”

  Sebastian drew her onto his lap.

  Diana moaned. Linking her arms around his neck, she brought her lips to his. She felt his fingers dig into her hips as his mouth crushed hers. His tongue slid past her lips and took possession of her senses. Enflamed, she ground herself onto his cock and greedily sucked his tongue deeper into her mouth.

  Suddenly she was standing on the sidewalk on wobbly legs watching Sebastian close the car door. “Sebastian? How…”

  He smiled. “Rain, huh? What time do you want me to pick you up for the picnic?”

  * * * * *

  The weatherman erred and Diana found she was neither surprised nor frightened when Sebastian called to say he couldn’t see her until dusk. She spent the day wondering if she was right or if her revelation that vampires really did exist had clouded her judgment where he was concerned.

  Plenty of people were too busy to socialize during the day. She should be grateful that he took his job so seriously. And how many mothers sucked the blood from their children’s cut fingers? Plenty. And he’d said he lived near Colette and Luna. That would explain his name on Luna’s picture. Plenty of kids called neighbors and friends of the family uncle. Plenty.

  She spent her day waiting for sunset, waiting for Sebastian and convincing herself she had jumped to a ridiculous conclusion.

  The day dragged on. Just when she thought she would smash all the clocks in her house, it was time to get ready. After pouring herself a glass of wine, she slid into a lavender scented bath. Candles rested on every available surface. She ran the fat soapy loofa up her leg and grinned. Her body trembled with need. With her heart more involved than it would have been a month ago, she longed to offer him what she’d worked so hard to keep over the years.