“So tell me, Dawn, did you leave some heartbroken boyfriend back in Texas?” he teased me.
I let out a little laugh and shook my head. “You might find this hard to believe, but I really didn’t date much back home. Boyfriends were few and far between. The only guys that would go out with me went to other high schools. Everyone at my school was too scared to even look at me.”
I saw his eyes shadow for a second.
“So that means no boyfriend then?” He grinned like a Cheshire cat.
“That means no boyfriend,” I repeated.
“Well, if you are ever in the market for one, I have someone that would be interested in the position.” He blushed as I smiled.
It had been so long since I had smiled and really meant it. Not that I don’t smile at all. I just don’t genuinely smile. I save those for special occasions. Apparently, every moment I spent with Wesley was a special occasion.
“Oh, you do, huh?” I narrowed my eyes and laughed.
“Yeah. Tall guy, kinda skinny. He has a thing for dark-eyed girls.”
His eyes locked with mine and both our smiles faded. The current between us was unsettlingly strong.
He leaned in and placed his lips on mine. Their coolness calmed the restless fire in my body and turned me to butter. His kisses became sweeter as his hand came up and cupped my right cheek. Our lips pressed together harder. There was a fever there that I couldn’t explain. I’d never felt this much chemistry with anyone. This was going somewhere I wasn’t sure I wanted to go. It seemed too soon to be in this situation, yet it also felt so right…
He pulled his lips from mine and fought to breathe.
“I’ve been meaning to do that for a while now.” He caressed my face with his thumb.
“Do what?” I asked dreamily.
He laughed. “Kiss you.”
“Oh.” I came out of my trance.
“You okay?” he asked as I looked at the ground.
“Yeah, that was just…” I couldn’t finish the sentence because the right word to explain didn’t exist.
“Amazing? Exceptional? The best you ever had?” He looked at me with a smirk.
“I would say awesome.” I raised an eyebrow at him as his lips brushed mine again for just a second.
“So, what do you say, Dawn?” He took my hand in his.
“About what?” I asked, confused.
“Global warming.” He smiled at me and I wanted to punch him.
“No, really,” I demanded, sitting up so I was looking down at him.
“You are going to make me do this the hard way, aren’t you?”
He followed my lead but went one step further and stood up. Then he offered me his hand, and I graciously took it as he helped me to my feet. I brushed the grass from my pants and looked back at him as he went down on one knee. I couldn’t help but break out into hysterical laughter. Pulling a keyring from his pocket he took my hand.
“What are you doing?” I asked, trying to breathe between my laughing fits.
“Shh, don’t ruin the moment.” He tried not to laugh and instead held the ring up to me. “Dawn Weathers, I have known you a whole week and I feel as if I have known you my whole life. You make me feel alive, when so often I feel dead.” He was serious now.
My smile faded and I looked at him in wonder.
What was he doing?
“I would be honored if you would allow me the honor of being your boyfriend.” He looked at me and nodded towards the ring.
Oh! I was supposed to take it from him.
I touched the metal and held it to my face. It was far too big to fit on my ring finger, but maybe it would fit on the middle one. He looked at me like I needed to answer him.
“OH! Sorry,” I said, shrugging. “Wesley Jensen, I... hmm… this seems rather plain.” I held the ring out towards him and I thought he would fall over.
“Seriously?” He groaned and his head slumped to his chest.
“Yes, I’d love you to be my boyfriend.”
“You sure?” he asked as if I would say I had changed my mind.
“Do I look like I’m about to say no?” I laughed as I slid the keyring onto my middle finger. It fit almost perfectly.
He cocked his head to the side, then he stood up and, wrapping his arms around me, put his forehead to mine.
“It’s official then.”
“Yeah. I would say it’s about as official as it can get,” I said as his lips found mine.
Chapter Eight: The Claiming
It was dark and I was standing in an open field, the grass soft under my bare feet, when the world became drenched in red.
Standing across from me was Wesley, with a red-headed woman clutched in his arms. His head was bowed at her neck and blood was pouring down to the earth from the wounds pierced in her skin. Where each splatters fell a black lily sprang up.
Once the woman was drained of blood Wesley dropped her limp body to the ground, then he looked up at me with a sinister smile. His eyes glowed red and his fangs reflected the light of the moon above. They looked wickedly sharp. Fear and anger seared through me. My fingers itched, and suddenly I was levitating. Lightning shot from my fingertips and set fire to the field between us.
The redhead rose from the ground, anger in her eyes as she ran toward the flames, only to stop abruptly. I screamed in a language I did not understand and the fire grew in intensity.
I threw my head back and a laugh as menacing as Wesley’s smile erupted from my throat. The redhead screamed back at me, but I did not hear her words.
“Dawn! Dawn!” My mother’s frantic voice tore through my dream.
My eyes shot open and my mother let out a short gasp.
“What, Mom?” I replied, in a voice just as frantic as her. “What is it?”
“Your eyes!” She let out another gasp and put her hand to her mouth. “No, no, no this isn’t right.”
I shot out of bed, sprinted to the bathroom, and looked in the mirror. Staring back at me was mass optical confusion. One eye was blue, one eye was chocolate, and my pupils were nowhere to be seen. How the Hell was I able to see?
“MOM!” I screeched from the bathroom. “What’s going on? Why are my eyes like this? This has never happened before!”
I was scared to death. I blinked several times, hoping that it would clear up the problem.
“I don’t know, honey. I’m calling the school to tell them you aren’t coming today. We should be able to figure this out within a few hours or so.” She was already punching the number into her phone when I came out of the bathroom.
“Go back to bed,” she ordered, shooing me out of the kitchen toward my room. She clearly didn’t want to see me looking like that. Perhaps she didn’t want to face the fact that my father still had power in my veins.
I couldn’t object. Seriously, how would I be able to face the jury at school looking like this? I mean, one look from me and they would probably drop dead. Either that or they’d grab pitchforks and torches and chase me into the woods. For some reason I had a distinct feeling I did not want to know what was in those woods.
I did what my mother said for me to do. I went back to my room, lay down, and closed my eyes. I felt a cool hand on my forehead not long after. I peered up through the slits of my eyelids and saw my mother shake her head before leaving the room.
I fell asleep before I could even send Wesley a message telling him I wouldn’t be at school. He would just have to forgive me. Sleep was more important right now. The dream I’d had plagued me. Why did my subconscious connect my boyfriend with vampires?
***
I slept for several hours before waking up shivering. It felt like the temperature had dropped ten degrees in my room. I was about to grab the covers and pull them up over my head to hide from the cold when I heard a smooth voice from across my room.
“She doesn’t look so bad, Ms. Weathers,” said a familiar voice.
It
couldn’t be! Humans weren’t supposed to see me this way! What was my mother thinking?
“Please, Wesley, call me Angie. She looks better now than she did this morning.” There was a momentary pause. “Thank you for dropping her schoolwork off for her today. I don’t know how long she will be out. She doesn’t get sick often, but when she does it takes a lot out of her.”
The truth was I never got sick. I’d never had the flu or a sinus infection. I was as healthy as a horse, she knew that. I had been in areas where disease and death surrounded us, but walked away with nothing. It was as if our skin instantly cleansed the world.
“It was nothing. I didn’t want her to get behind. It’s hard enough coming in several weeks after classes start. It was easier for me to pick it up and bring it here than have her miss an assignment. I can even stick around for a bit and go over things with her if she wakes up. I have nothing better to do this afternoon.” He was being overly polite. I squinted. She’d love that.
“How did you know where to bring everything?” my mother asked him sweetly.
“If you ask the right people they know where everyone lives.”
It was a valid point. It was a very small town. All he would have to do was talk to the lady at the General Store; she knew where everything was.
“Alright. Well, come with me. We can have a cup of tea and get to know each other better. She didn’t mention she had a boyfriend.”
My mother swatted me hard on the butt as they were left the room. Oh God, my mother planned on bonding with him. My heart was pounding.
When they had gone, I sat up and tried to ease my erratic heartbeat. I counted to ten and stood up. Shuffling to the mirror, I inspected my eyes. They were chocolate brown again. Crisis averted. However, instead of no pupils like earlier that morning, the black was now devouring the iris. I figured it was safe enough, so I brushed my hair and put it up. Then I smoothed out my shirt and took a deep breath. Wesley, I noticed, had put my books on my desk in a neat pile.
God, was that every class?
One last look and I was out the door, sauntering half-asleep into the kitchen.
They were sitting at the table laughing, each of them holding a cup filled with hot tea. My mother was the first to see me and apprehension crossed her face as she glanced at my eyes. I shook my head and she softened. Wesley turned towards me and gave me a huge smile.
“Hey, princess. How’d you sleep?” he teased, looking me up and down. When his eyes lingered on my chest it sent a tremor down my spine and I had to fight the urge to blush.
How could this boy be the monster from my dream? My blood must be playing jokes on me again. This wasn’t the first time it had made me think someone was a vampire.
Vampires don’t exist.
“Not well,” I grumbled as I took a seat at the table. “You see, I had these two loudmouths in my room that woke my ass up.”
“I knew we would wake you. I don’t know why I thought putting your books in your room was such a good idea.” My mother sounded apologetic, though there was a smile on her lips.
“It’s okay, Mom, I don’t mind. I needed to get up, anyway.”
I yawned and looked at Wesley again. He was still smiling. Did this boy do anything but smile?
“So, when were you going to tell me this strapping young man was your boyfriend?” my mother inquired, batting her eyelids at me.
“For that reason right there,” I retorted, rolling my eyes. “You always find a way to embarrass me.”
“Does your father ever embarrass you?” my mother asked Wesley with a wink.
“All the time.”
Wesley laughed as he reached under the table and grabbed my hand in his.
“See!” my mother exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air.
“It doesn’t make it any better,” I complained with a rueful grin.
“Well, then.” My mother stood up. “It has been a blast to talk with you, Wesley, but now I’ll let you two go over your assignments. I’m sure it will take a while.” She looked at her watch. “I have an appointment with the pastor in an hour. I won’t be gone long. Can you handle dinner on your own tonight?”
“Yeah,” I said softly.
“Good. It was great to meet you, Wesley. I hope we see more of you. Dawn doesn’t bring home many boyfriends.”
Why did she tell him that?
She grabbed her purse and her keys and walked out the door.
“Your mother is great,” Wesley said, finally breaking the silence that had fallen between us.
“Yeah. She has her moments, though,” I mumbled. “Do you mind if we just relax for a bit before jumping on the homework. I would like to be awake before having to read.”
“No, not at all.”
“I’m sorry for not texting you, by the way,” I told him as he caressed my hand.
“It’s fine. I went to the office at lunch and they told me your mother had called in.”
He was concerned about me!
“My mom is pretty big on bedrest for the weary,” I said with a shrug. “Wanna go into the living room? It’s far more comfortable in there with the couch and all.”
“Yeah. I didn’t want to be rude. I think my ass fell asleep.” He laughed as we got up and crossed to the living room.
I grabbed the remote and turned on a movie channel. We could watch whatever came on. It didn’t matter if the movie was lame.
Wesley took my hand in his and pulled it to his mouth to kiss the back of it. I smiled at him as he leaned back so I could get closer. Everything felt innocent enough. That was, until he started to kiss me. The best word to describe that five-minute kiss is: WOAH! I was taken utterly by surprise. His kiss was amazing. His lips were so warm and inviting. It felt as if he was devouring my soul.
My heart was pounding, my mind was screaming, and my body was aching for him. I pushed him back against the couch and straddled him. I looked down at him for a moment before smiling and crushing my lips to his again. So much heat. So much passion. We fitted together as if we were made of the same flesh.
His hands slid up my shirt and caressed my back as he nipped hungrily at my bottom lip. I looked into his face and saw how flushed his cheeks had become. The way he glowed I could almost believe his claim that I brought him back from the dead.
A smile slowly spread across Wesley’s face as he placed his hands on my hips and pulled me closer.
“You are so beautiful.”
His mouth met mine again. The only answer I could give him was a moan. I wanted him. I wanted him more than I had ever wanted anyone before him, not that there it was a very long list. This was still a relatively new feeling. I did not understand what I was doing or where this was going, but I wanted it to go somewhere, that was for certain.
Wesley picked me up easily and carried me through the living room and kitchen to my room, where he laid me down on my bed. Then he lay down next to me, pinning me to the mattress.
“Have you ever…?” he whispered between kisses.
“Once. Have you?”
I whimpered as his lips brushed my neck then my shoulder blades. Then I felt a familiar cold tingle in my fingertips and clutched my hands into fists in sudden alarm.
No, no, not now!
“No,” he breathed. “I always said my first time would be with the woman I intended to marry.”
I felt his lips caressing my neck. The world was spinning above me. We had been alone before; why was this particular moment so different to any of the others? Why had this not happened sooner? Wait, what was actually happening?
There was something that was pulling at me, telling me it would be fine. This inner voice kept repeating the same phrase over and over again in the back of my mind.
Claim him.
I felt a darkness flutter through my chest but I pushed it back in place.
Wesley leaned up on his elbows and looked me square in the eyes.
“I have a con
fession to make,” he said as he stroked my cheek. “I knew your face before you ever set foot in class last week. I have been dreaming about you for years.”
What did he just say?
I pulled him back towards me and wrapped my arms around his neck, hungrily biting at his lips. I didn’t know what exactly was happening to me. I was seeing rainbows, and butterflies, and fireworks popping. When I felt Wesley’s hands on the waist of my pants, my mind came fluttering back to earth.
What was going on here?
I could feel him shaking as he pulled my pants from my body and undid his belt. His eyes were smoldering. His lips were inviting. And he was scared shitless. In all honesty, so was I. This wasn’t something I normally did. I wasn’t the kind of person to choose some random guy and invite him to my room. What did I really know about this boy? Other than that he was absolutely adorable, and he made my heart flutter and my hands go all clammy.
An odd sensation overwhelmed me: a hardening in my chest that seemed to send lightning bursts to my fingers. I wasn’t willing myself to do anything, I was just doing it. I sat up and pushed Wesley’s fumbling hands aside so I could undo the belt and button of his jeans for him. His eyes stayed completely focused on mine. I became a little self-conscious, anxious about whether my eyes had suddenly changed again. But I was already well down the path I was so unsure of and it was too late to go back now. The voice inside my head became more insistent.
Claim him.
Before I knew what was happening, he was kissing those soft sweet kisses on my neck again and pushing me back down on the bed. As he did so, he positioned himself between my legs, and this overpowering, dark need took over.
I pulled Wesley’s face to mine and pecked at him. His eyes were so blue. Then I felt it—a sensual kind of pain. A groan escaped from Wesley’s lips. I instantly felt like I was being torn in half emotionally. The darkness in me squealed with glee, while another part of me felt instant guilt. This had never happened before. I sensed I was at a point where the two sides of my bloodline were fighting in my soul. Deep down, it felt like the darker side of me had just bitch-slapped the lighter side. And the sensation was definitely getting stronger.
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