by E. M. Moore
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, louder this time. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Yes, there are a few who are mad that I’m here because I hear that being stationed with the Ravanas is a coveted spot.” I paused, hoping Connor would say something to break the tension, but he didn’t. I’d set him up perfectly for a joke about how awesome they were, but he didn’t take the bait. “It doesn’t change anything. I’m where I’m supposed to be and I’m not going to let anyone ruin it. He’s in for the fight of his life because I’m going to own him at finals. I’m not taking the spot away from him, I’m earning it.”
Stephan wrapped his arms around me, his fingers brushing across my middle. “God, you’re perfect.”
“Did Ri just give us a motivational speech?” Nic asked, dumbfounded.
“Damn,” Connor said.
“You won’t have to beat him,” Christian said. “I’m still debating on killing this guy. Who is it?”
Stephan stilled behind me. I took that as a cue not to say who it was. “Like I said, doesn’t matter. He’s going down.”
Everyone was silent for a few moments. Stephan sniffed my hair and then took my phone from my fingers. “Are we all satisfied Ariana’s okay? She’s had a tough night. I’m going to rub some salve on her injuries and then she can go to bed.”
“Injuries?” Nic barked.
“Chill, Nicolai,” Connor said. “Stephan’s got it under control.”
There were a few tense seconds of silence when Christian said, “Yeah, we’re all good here. You two take care of yourselves. We’ll see you tomorrow, hopefully, but at the very latest, Sunday.”
“Miss you, guys,” I said, my voice small, weak. I wished they were here with us.
“Aww, we miss you too, Princess. Good night.”
“Night,” Nic said.
“Tomorrow,” Christian promised, then the line went dead.
Stephan turned my screen off and tossed the phone onto the table beside us. Then, he put his hands right back on me. He couldn’t keep his hands from touching me, searching my skin as if he were looking for answers. “I’m going to grab the salve,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
I held my breath and watched as Stephan untangled himself from me and walked toward the staircase in the corner of the room. His movements were fluid, graceful as he bounded up the steps. All at once, realization dawned on me. I was in the Ravana house with just Stephan. My heart hammered inside my chest, fear and excitement overwhelming me all at the same time. I just hoped I’d be able to control myself.
Chapter Fifteen
Not a minute later, Stephan traced his tracks back down the steps and was at my side again. He had a similar small container in his hand with the gel-like pink-tinted substance inside. “Are you ever going to tell me what this miracle stuff is?” I asked, trying for light-hearted even though my heart was pumping away at a mile a minute.
He made a hesitant face. “If I do, you promise not to freak out?”
I eyed him warily. I hated when people asked things like that. It was obvious it was something that would make me want to freak out so why ask me not to? I swallowed and tried to stand up a little straighter. “I promise.”
He held my gaze with his. “It’s a medicinal cream I came up with. I won’t bore you with some of the ingredients, but the main ingredient is…my blood.” My eyes rounded, and he kept talking. “Vampire blood can be known to heal. You know, since we have all the supernatural powers and stuff. I mixed it in this other medicine and noticed how well it did at healing others. Even vampires.”
I nodded as I took all this in. I’d been using vampire blood to heal me this whole time. Wow. “It’s your blood, right?” I asked, suddenly worried I’d been smothering someone else’s life force all over me.
He grinned. “It’s mine. It’s also how I was able to find you so easily earlier. I kind of…smelled you.”
“Smelled me?”
I pulled away, but he laughed and followed. “It’s not weird, I promise. Other vampires can sense each other because of their blood. Because my blood is on you, I was able to sniff you out. I was able to get to you in time because of it. Not that you needed it. Truthfully, I think you can take him.”
That did kind of sound like it came in handy, but a little warning would’ve been nice. I supposed I should’ve picked up on the salve’s main ingredient seeing as how it was tinged pink. Goes to show how observant I was.
He looked me up and down, once again doing a thorough check. “I know about the neck, but is there anything else my ‘miracle cream’ can help with?”
I nodded, still feeling the pain radiating from the spot in my back where I fell into the jagged rock. “It’s my upper back and shoulder area.” His eyebrows raised. “When Ze—” Wow. I was doing a horrible job at hiding his identity. “—the other trainee pulled me to the ground, I think I fell back on a sharp rock.” I turned and pointed in the direction of the pain.
Stephan didn’t immediately move. I looked over my shoulder to find him frowning at my shirt. He looked up, his stare meeting mine. “I’m going to have to move your shirt up to take a look. Is that okay?”
My stomach clenched. I nodded, dumbly. I’d never felt any of this before. I wished I had some sort of superior social skills to help me through this, but it was evident I was doomed to flail my way through it.
Slowly, he rolled my shirt up and held it on my shoulder. He hissed, a sharp, stinging noise that made me cringe. “How bad is it?”
“It’s bad enough that I can’t believe you didn’t say anything before this. Ariana, I was pulling you back on me when we were on the couch. You would tell me if I hurt you, wouldn’t you?”
I nodded. Of course, I would. “I honestly didn’t feel anything when you did that. It actually felt good being so close to you.”
His fingers traced the spot on my back, but when I’d said those words, he stilled. A second later, his inspection returned. I heard him unscrewing the cap on the small jar and then next thing I knew, his fingertips were on my skin, rubbing the ointment in. The only problem was, his fingertips kept hitting my bra strap. He kept mumbling sorry, but after the fifth time, he said, “I’m sorry, but can you take this off?” he asked, his fingers tracing my strap all the way to the clasp.
Talk about cotton mouth. I was lucky I was coherent enough to reach up and undo the clasps myself.
He gingerly pushed the straps aside and continued to rub his blood on me. It already started to feel better when he told me to wait there again. He got off the couch and hurried upstairs a second time. I couldn’t make my heartbeat slow. I draped myself over my knees, exposing more of my back and tried to breathe in deep. Stephan, Connor, Nicolai, Christian…it didn’t matter. I had an unruly reaction to all of them. I’d known them for far shorter than anyone in my life, yet still, there was an undeniable connection. It didn’t feel odd that Stephan had made me a salve from his own blood or that he was putting it on me with my shirt pulled up and my back fully exposed to him. No, it wasn’t weird, just nerve wrecking.
I heard him on the steps again. I peeked out from around my hair to find him striding toward me. He moved the hair away from my face and kissed my cheek. “I brought some gauze so the ointment can soak in without ruining your clothes.”
“Okay.”
He went to his task, securing the gauze to my back. Then, he quickly clasped my bra back in place for me and then pulled my shirt down before dragging me into his lap. It was stupid, but since he had no problems hooking my bra, I couldn’t help but wonder how much experience he had with that. I was playing with zero experience. None. Zilch. Nada. I got nothin’.
“Here,” he said, offering me a hair tie. “I grabbed this from my mom’s room upstairs. You’ll have to put your hair up so I can rub the salve on your neck, too.”
I did as I was asked and Stephan smiled and pulled at the ends that escaped from my messy bun. “Cute.”
I grinned, happy with myself for making him say that. Th
en, he was all business again. He told me to look up and twist my body this way and that so he could put the cream on. It was so silent in the house, I had to break it. “I’ve been putting that on my neck every night.”
I was expecting praise, not for his fingers to still. I peeked at him and he forced a smile. “How long have you been putting this on?” he asked.
I shrugged. “A couple nights.”
He didn’t say anything so I glanced back again. He was biting his lip.
“What is it?” I asked.
He peered up at me. “It’s not you,” he reassured me. “I was actually just thinking I’m glad I didn’t see what they looked like when they hadn’t already been healing for a few days. I might hunt that trainee down myself and take him out.”
I was glad he didn’t see either then. But that got me thinking. “Why did you have that reaction when Christian said he was going to kill him?”
His tender touch stroked my neck until the ointment was all rubbed in. Stephan leaned back against the cushions, tossed the ointment next to my cell phone, and pulled me back onto his chest again, making sure to avoid the area of my back that was bruised. “One, because when Christian says he’s going to do something like that, he means it. He’s nothing if not steadfast in his beliefs. Nicolai might say it at first, but that’s because he’s quick to anger. I’m not saying he wouldn’t do it, but it’s more than likely that when he calms down, he might think differently. Christian is dangerous because he’s already calm when he says those things, which means he’s already thought it through and determined it’s a good idea.”
I couldn’t help it. I shivered. It wasn’t Christian’s reaction that scared me, it was the depth of all our feelings. I would do the same for them. I knew it in my core.
“He won’t hurt you.”
“I know,” I said, curling into him, my head on his shoulder. “I know none of you would. What’s the other reason?”
“Simple, actually. Murder is policed here just as much as the human world. I don’t think The Council would like it if we used ‘He attacked our girl’ as a reason for his demise. Even if we are a part of said Council. That just means we have to live up to higher expectations, as our father reminds us daily.”
I pulled away to look him in the eye. His emerald eyes were blazing with light. He looked calm, happy even. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him more relaxed. “I don’t want any of you to get into trouble for me.”
A sly smile crept across his face as he pulled my head back to his shoulder. “We’ll try to behave ourselves.”
“I’m being serious,” I mumbled into his shirt. He smelled like fresh wind off a beach. Mmm.
“I know,” he said. “So am I.” He pulled the hair back from my forehead and kissed me again. His lips lingered there. Every time I took a breath, his lips brushed my skin, sending warm and fuzzies through my body. He moved his hand from my shoulder to my wrist and back again in whisper light touches that made all my nerve endings aware of his presence. It was perfect, yet maddening all at the same time. He craned his neck to kiss my shoulder. “I don’t think you understand the depth of our feelings for you, Ariana. We didn’t just pick you off the street because you look good in jogging pants and were fit enough to survive training. It’s far more than that.” His hands splayed across my belly and pulled me closer to him. “Far more than that. We’ve pledged to keep you safe and we will.”
The truth oozed out of his pores, as if the sentiment came from his soul. “I’m going to keep you safe, too. It’s my job,” I reminded him.
“Not yet,” he said. “But soon. Until then, it’s all about you, sweetheart.” He laced his fingers with mine and squeezed. “You feel something, here, right?” He straightened his fingers and then curled them around mine again. “All of us do. All of us in our own way have feelings for you. I know it’s a lot to take in, but you can trust us.”
Not sure my voice would work, I nodded. Then, I pulled up on our entwined hands and placed a soft kiss by his knuckles.
He shivered, and I snuggled into him more. We were practically laying on the couch now. His back against the cushions while he all but spooned me. He brought our hands around my chest and squeezed while he dropped another kiss on my shoulder. “You’re safe here with me as you’re safe with all of them.”
I was one lucky girl. That was for sure. I twisted in his grip and held both his hands to my chest as I stared up at him. “Shannon says vampires can’t be with their guards.”
His face hardened. “That is a current law. Yes.”
“And do you believe in that law?”
His gaze raked over me as if he was piercing my very insides, tattooing me with his tortured look. I held onto his hands for dear life, afraid of what he might say. I was sure that even what we were doing right now would make The Council very angry. We may have even been breaking the law in our current state. I didn’t care. The only question was, did he? Did they?
He pulled out of my grip and placed his hands on the side of my face. “No one—” His gaze dropped to my lips. He moved forward, quicker than I would’ve guessed and sealed his lips to mine. It was fierce, and passionate, and short. Slowly, hesitantly, he pulled away, savoring every last touch. My heart was in my throat. I wasn’t even sure if what had happened really happened or if it was some sort of messed up manifestation my mind had conjured to torture me with. Stephan Ravana had just kissed me. Was still kissing me. The full pout of his lips was just leaving mine. He stared down at me, his tight grip pressing into my cheeks territorially. His breath was on my now tingling lips as he said, “No one tells me who to love.”
The reserve in my heart shattered.
Chapter Sixteen
I awoke the next morning in a large bedroom with the most comfy mattress I’d ever slept on. I could go spread eagle on this bed, make snow angels in the sheets, and still not even come close to touching the sides. It was like heaven. In fact, I was doing just that when a soft knock came on the door. It opened slowly and I pulled myself up to a sitting position when Stephan entered. “Good news. I just heard from Nicolai. They’ll be able to come back tonight.”
“That’s great,” I said, and meant it. I’d expected awkwardness after seeing Stephan for the first time after our kiss, but it was as easy as it ever was. “Did I sleep here last night?” I asked, spreading my arms out wide on the mattress.
He nodded.
“Did you sleep here last night with me?” I asked, almost hopeful.
He shook his head. “You fell asleep in my arms. I knew you’d be sore today and I wanted to make sure you had some place comfortable. This is my room. I slept in Connor’s.”
I looked around his space. There was really nothing around to catch a glimpse of his caring side. It was pretty sparse as far as decorations went and what was there looked as if it had been picked from a designer furniture store catalog and haphazardly thrown around. It didn’t scream Stephan at all. Not to me.
“There’s breakfast downstairs.”
“You can cook?”
He smirked. “No. It’s just cereal, actually.” His cheeks turned red as if I’d caught him in a lie.
“Do you mind if I take a shower first? I’d love to wash the forest floor out of my hair.”
He searched around my head for any blatant evidence that what I said was true. “I’m pretty sure I got all of it last night,” he teased. “But there’s a shower right there.” He pointed to one of two other doors in the room. “I share it with Connor and we’re pretty good at picking up after ourselves.” He gave me a slow look as I pulled the soft sheets off me and lowered my feet to the floor. “I’ll see if I can’t get you something to wear. Would a t-shirt and shorts be okay? I can look at my mom’s stuff, but—”
“That’s okay,” I said, cutting him off. “I’d rather not use anything of your mother’s. If you have something old you can let me borrow, that’s all I need.”
He went to work searching through the dresser and closet for
something for me to wear while I went straight for the hot shower. I barely noticed the pain this morning from my back. Stephan’s salve really was a miracle cure. After fifteen minutes of playing with the different streams of water their showerhead had, I was satisfied everything from yesterday was now spiraling down the drain. I pulled a towel around myself and searched through Connor and Stephan’s things to make myself as presentable as possible. There was toothpaste, and I had my trusty finger to work with that. A hairbrush I used to comb my hair out with, and then searched the enormous bed for the hair tie he’d given me last night in case my hair decided to dry funny.
He left me a pair of old sweats and a t-shirt. I put them on and tried as best as I could to make it seem as if I wasn’t swimming in them and then went downstairs. Stephan already sat across from an empty place setting. There were several different kinds of cereals on the table to choose from.
I chose one and dug in. I didn’t know how late it was, but there was a lot of light streaming in from the windows. It was a good thing all this happened on a Friday night. We got Saturday mornings off at The Fort and all of Sundays. I looked around the room for a clock. Stephan must have realized what I was doing because he said, “You still got time. Not a lot, but I’ll make sure to get you back in time.” He hesitated, swirling the last few cereal pieces in his bowl. “Not that I want to take you back. In fact, I really don’t want to. We can’t always be around you when you’re there. You saw what happened when I dropped you off that one night. Now everyone thinks you’re a vamp whore. And don’t get me started on yesterday or the marks on your neck.”
I pushed my cereal aside and reached out. “I don’t think everyone thinks that about me. Just the ones who are jealous.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. It was clearly for my benefit only. “It’s not just that,” he admitted. “What you asked me about last night? How being with you is against the rules?”
I nodded, suddenly wishing I hadn’t eaten anything that morning. What little I did was flopping around in my stomach.