by Anna Santos
“I’m growing on you, am I not?” he questioned with a grin.
“Maybe.”
Daniel nibbled on his lower lip. “Just be smarter and pretend you’ve believed everything she told you.”
“So you don’t want me to punch her?”
Daniel chuckled and nuzzled his nose against her stomach, bringing out a giggle from her. “It’s cool that you would hit her for me, but I just want you to put on a pretty bikini and show them how gorgeous you are beneath these clothes. Then, I want you to put some sun block on and sunbathe for an hour or two, so I can smell the sun on you and lick it from your skin.”
“That’s gross,” she complained as his hands gripped her hips.
“That would be anything but gross, trust me.” He lifted his head to look at her with lustful eyes.
“Perv,” she whispered, rolling her eyes.
Daniel wiggled his eyebrows, and she laughed before covering his face with her palm. He used his strength to rise from his chair with her in his arms. Lifting her feet off the ground, Daniel sped his way to the bed where he laid her down.
His movements didn’t frighten her. She was beginning to trust him. Daniel had become more caring after they made peace.
Jade used her elbows to raise her upper body, trying to figure out his intentions. She shivered in anticipation as his lips hovered over hers, and she could perceive the heat that was coming from his body, almost touching her.
“What?” She stroked his face, curious about his indecipherable gaze.
“You’re beautiful.”
“I think the light is damaging your ability to see properly.”
“I don’t need to see to know that you are a beautiful and brave person. I can’t tell you how much I love the fact that you are real and courageous. You’ve been taking care of your little brother—all by yourself—while working and studying. That’s brave, that makes me respect you, and that makes you beautiful.”
“Why are you saying all of that?” she asked softly, caught in his eyes and captivated by his words.
“Because I want you to take me seriously.” He lowered his lips to her forehead, placing a kiss there. “I want you to understand that you are no longer alone.” He landed a kiss on her cheek and another on the tip of her nose.
Jade was following his movements with parted lips. Her breath hitched.
“I’ll prove that you can trust me, but I need you to see me for who I truly am and not for what other people think I am.”
Jade nodded, lifting up her head, so she could brush her lips against his.
He smiled. “And, baby,” he whispered with a glint of naughtiness in his stare, “there’s nothing gross or perverted about licking and kissing your skin. I’m going to give you a demonstration and then you’ll have to work for more.”
Jade furrowed her brows, unsure of what he was talking about.
Daniel grinned, and she stopped breathing when his lips crashed against hers.
It was a demanding and hungry kiss where their tongues touched and danced to a rhythm of their own urgency for contact and relief. Jade fell back on the mattress, using her hands to tangle her fingers in his hair. She pulled his head back, so she could deepen the kiss. Their lips moved back and forth, each trying to consume the other. She always felt close to him when they were kissing. It wasn’t just a physical thing. It was almost mental as if she could feel him inside her mind, tearing apart her defensive walls and all of her fears of letting someone get close to her.
The heat of their kiss seared its way from her breasts and down to her core. She gasped when he plastered his solid body against her soft one and moaned when his fingers brushed her skin, stretching the fabric of the singlet to let her cleavage show. His mouth trailed kisses down her neck and his tongue flicked between her breasts, making her shift and moan from lust while pinned under him.
Desire washed over her like a wave of fire, clouding her mind. Her breasts tingled as she hungered for his touch. His mouth didn’t give her the relief she longed for as he trailed it up her chest and neck. His tongue licked the tender spot below her left earlobe while his hands sustained the weight of his body.
Somehow, the vampire managed to get up and move away from her. She opened her eyes in a daze, adjusting to the sudden change.
She wanted more.
“The demonstration is over,” he said, smiling mischievously. “Do you still think it’s gross?” He offered her his hand.
Jade shook her head, flustered as she got up and tried to balance on her feet.
“Now be a good girl, go eat your breakfast, and have fun by the pool. I have some urgent businesses to take care of, but I promise that this night will be for the two of us,” he spoke tenderly, his eyes flickering black.
Jade gulped and sucked on her bottom lip while trying to calm herself. Every fiber of her body wanted to go back to Daniel’s arms and continue what they were doing. Staring at his perfectly shaped, slim torso wasn’t helping her ability to stay away. She found her body moving involuntarily toward Daniel, and her mouth met his, so she could taste his kiss one more time.
Moments after, she pressed her forehead against his to recover her breath and soothe her racing heart. She smiled, stroking his lips with her fingers.
“What are you thinking?” Daniel asked.
“You can be sweet when you want to.”
“Just don’t tell anyone about that. It would ruin my bad boy reputation,” he whispered.
She chuckled.
“I’ve got to work now. One of my employees will bring you coffee. Stevie will be home in an hour, and I would like it if you had some fun with your brother and friend while sunbathing for me.”
“Okay. I’ll leave you alone to work.” She stepped back after kissing him one last time. “I’m going to my bedroom to shower. How do I get out of here?” She looked around, not seeing an exit. There was only a door that led to a bathroom.
Daniel walked to his table and typed something on the keyboard which opened a secret sliding door.
Jade smirked. He liked concealed doors. “Paranoid much, are we?”
“I like my privacy, even inside my own house.”
She blew him a kiss and disappeared into the corridor.
Chapter Thirteen: Stevie
Stevie loved pancakes. It was her sibling’s guilty pleasure. Jade normally made them in the morning before going to work. Since she was probably unemployed for missing work, and she hadn’t made breakfast for Stevie for two days now, she was making up for the lost time.
While he was doing his homework on the kitchen counter, she was preparing pancakes and helping him with Calculus. He didn’t really need help, but Jade liked to keep an eye on him.
With all the new technologies, kids were learning to read and write faster than in the past. In Stevie’s case, he was gifted. Therefore, he had mastered writing and reading earlier than the rest of his classmates. He was already solving logical problems that were intended for older children and had a large vocabulary for a five-year-old. That didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy drawing and painting like any other kid his age would. But, he was a perfectionist, and his drawings of animals were remarkably accurate and creative. He also had an excellent memory.
Jade was humming as she cooked. She had missed their time together. She was also answering all of the questions her brother had about the new home and Daniel. He was astute and understood that something was going on. In turn, that made him worried about his sister. It was easier to soothe him when Jade told him they were going to spend time at the pool with Jenna and a new woman. He loved water, so he got excited.
After eating the pancakes, they changed into their swimsuits. Jade also wanted to know where he was sleeping. She was dumbfounded when she saw the spectacular room that Daniel had prepared for him. The number of toys and crafts Daniel had bought to please the kid was surprising. Jade felt perplexed and livid. It would be much harder for Stevie to want to go back home with a bedroom like that there. Sh
e didn’t know what Daniel was thinking or even if he was thinking at all. Giving false hopes to kids should be a capital sin. They weren’t rich. Stevie just had the essentials. Jade didn’t have money to give him any of those amazing toys. She didn’t want her brother to have a taste of what it was like to be rich only to lose everything when it was time for them to leave Daniel’s place and get back to their normal lives. She had to talk to Daniel about that and put up some boundaries.
But first, she talked to Stevie, making him sit down on his bed next to her.
“Baby, you know that this is temporary, don’t you?”
He stared at her with his big brown eyes. “What do you mean?”
“This bedroom where you are sleeping…it’s temporary. By the end of this week, we’ll return to our place and…you can’t take anything with you.”
“But the beautiful girl said that we were family now.”
Jade stared at him, puzzled. “Yes, I know. But I also told you that we were staying for a week.”
Stevie pouted and looked at his wiggling feet.
“What’s wrong?”
“I like Sakura. She’s nice. We became friends. She likes playing games, and she’s smart. She knows a lot of things about animals. We drew a whale and the bottom of the ocean together.”
“I like Sakura, too, but this is theirs, not ours.”
“Can I still play with her once we leave?”
Jade blinked several times, unsure of what to tell him. Shrugging, she mumbled, “I guess; if she wants to visit us sometime.”
Stevie’s lips formed into a smile, and then he became serious. “And Daniel?”
Jade’s stomach flipped at his question. She decided to give him an innocent answer. “If he desires, he can visit us, too.” Biting her lip, she asked, “Do you know what they are?”
Stevie looked away. “I know they’re vampires, but they seem nice. I like them even if you said we should fear vampires,” he said in his sweet childlike voice, making her heart clench in her chest. “Jenna likes vampires. She had a vampire boyfriend. He was nice, too. They are a lot like me. They are vulnerable to the sun… I know that you don’t like them, and I won’t play with Sakura anymore if you don’t want me to.”
“That’s okay, baby,” she said, caressing his head. “I like her, too.”
“Is Daniel your boyfriend?”
“I don’t know. He… It’s complicated. We’ll need to stay in his mansion for a week. After that, we can go back home.”
“And why did Sakura say that we are family now?”
“She likes us.” She smiled softly. “And Daniel says—” Jade stopped what she was going to say because she didn’t want grown up problems troubling him. “I guess, they feel lonely and want someone here to keep them company.”
“I like having company, too. You work too much. We don’t have a lot of time to be together. And, you’re exhausted a lot of the time. You looked pretty last night in the new dress, just like a movie star.”
Jade smiled, but her eyes were shining with unshed tears. “Honey, I wish I was rich enough to give you a room like this, but you know that we’re poor. I work a lot to pay the rent and give you food and medicine. I’m not complaining about it because I love you to pieces.” Getting up from the bed, she crouched in front of him, holding on to his hands. She wanted him to look at her and understand that he shouldn’t get attached to that new bedroom. “It’s you and me against the world,” she whispered, leaning her forehead against his. “When I finish college, I can find a better job than being an office clerk and a part-time waitress. Then, I can give you a bedroom just like this one.”
“I would rather choose the heroes I want.”
She smiled and nodded. “Whatever you want.”
“But can I take the train home when we leave? Daniel said it was mine.”
Frowning, she asked, “What train?”
“We are going to build a train station, and we are already building the railway around the city. Daniel said he was going to give me a train like the old ones. You know, the steam locomotives? He explained to me how they worked, and I helped him paint the trees and build 3D puzzles of old western buildings.”
“Where?” She blinked in surprise at the amount of time Daniel had spent with Stevie while she had been sleeping the previous day.
“In Daniel’s playroom. Hasn’t he shown it to you yet?”
Jade shook her head.
“He has several toys there. Even a big spaceship and lots of action figures of older cartoons and movies. We even played with heroes costumes.”
“Oh!” She gasped, astonished. “Was it yesterday or did you also see him this morning?”
“I was with him after I came back from the hospital. He said you were getting dressed for a party.”
“Yeah, we went to a party. Did you like Daniel?”
“He is cool. And he seems nice,” Stevie said.
“Because he played with you and gave you stuff?”
“You always say to mistrust people who give us too many gifts,” he retorted.
“Yes, I do. I’ve taught you well.”
“Daniel is nice because he talks about you all the time. He asked me things about you, and he said you were the greatest sister in the world. I can’t disagree with that.”
“Oh!” Jade chuckled at his words. That clever vampire had played another card to win Stevie’s affection, or he used the kid to get precious information about her. “What did you tell him about me?”
“I didn’t tell him that you drink milk from the carton even if you tell me not to,” he said. Jade giggled and ruffled his hair. Her little brother was adorable. “I told him that you work hard to raise me since our parents died. I said that you are funny, and you like to eat popcorn with me when we go to the movies, which we don’t do often because you have double shifts, and I also get sick when I eat too much sugar.”
“Okay.” Jade rubbed her nose against his. Stevie chuckled as he pushed her away, playfully. “Did you tell him anything else about me?”
“I also told him that you make up a lot of funny stories when we are drawing together, even if you aren’t good at drawing. But, you are incredible at taking care of sick people and that you want to be a doctor. You study really hard for that.”
Jade probed further. “Did he ask anything about what happened to our parents?”
He shook his head. “Did I do something wrong?”
Getting up, she assured him, “No, baby. Let’s get ready for the pool.”
Jade didn’t have to tell him twice. He got ready in no time, and they made their way to the pool.
When they arrived, Jenna and Emma were talking while the cameras recorded them. It seemed as if all eyes were on Emma like she was the most important person there.
Jade didn’t care and was thankful that there were no cameras around her brother and her.
Upon arrival, Stevie ran over to kiss Jenna, and they chatted for a while. Emma was actually nice with the kid as she introduced herself to him. Stevie was polite to her and gave her a kiss. He had seen movies where she was the leading actress—at least, the ones that were age appropriate for him. He was a charming boy with his chocolate eyes and a cute dimpled smile, so it didn’t surprise Jade when Emma gave him her attention.
Taking her place next to them, Jade took off her dress and showed her pink bikini. The cameras moved to film her. She felt uncomfortable, but she tried to act normal and lay down on the pool chair next to Jenna.
Meanwhile, Stevie helped her put on sun block, and she bathed him in it because she didn’t want him to have sunburns and then get sick. The sun wasn’t good for him. He got weak if he didn’t have the right protection on, or his skin erupted into blisters. He was a sensitive kid with lots of allergies. His allergy shots helped minimize the problems and let him have a normal life. They still needed to take extra precautions when it came to his health.
Soon enough, Stevie was jumping and running around. He was excited to
get in the water. Since he had eaten, he had to wait a bit longer. Besides, Jade wanted to let the sun touch her skin so Daniel could… Her stomach filled with crazy butterflies when she thought about it. Thinking about his kisses left her aroused.
The sexy vampire was destroying her defenses, and she hoped she wouldn’t get hurt because of it. She should act smarter. Still, it had been a pleasant night after the party was over and the misunderstandings had been cleared up.
Am I falling for his story about being his beloved?
Was she ready to put her trust in him and fall for his charm? She had to proceed with caution. Vampires tended to be irrational when defied or when someone denied them what they obsessed about.
For the time being, she had to understand that she was trapped in a vampire’s mansion and had to participate in some stupid reality show that was the symbol of everything that was wrong with their society. Her future was uncertain and her world had been turned upside down.
Jade sighed deeply and squealed when she felt the cold water hit her legs. Looking up, she saw Stevie with a wicked smile. He had his hand in the pool and was aiming a water splash at Jenna.
“Stevie!” Jade warned him before he would make Jenna jump from her chair.
“You’re all lazy! I want someone to play with me!” he complained.
Jade sighed in defeat. She was going to get up to play with him, but Emma beat her to it.
“What do you want to do?” Emma asked, getting up and walking to his side.
“Swim and play with the ball,” he replied.
Emma offered him a smile and patted his head.
“Do you know how to swim?” she asked in her sweet voice.
“Of course!”
“Does he?” Emma questioned Jade.
She nodded as she sat down and leaned forward to watch them interact. She didn’t like the girl, but she wasn’t going to forbid her from talking to her brother.
“So, let’s swim,” Emma proposed, stretching her arms and legs. “Let’s see who gets in first!” she dared him and dove into the pool.
Stevie got up fast and jumped, splashing water all around them. Then he surfaced and swam next to Emma who started to throw water at him.