The Next Generation

by S. C. Stephens

  Hunter spotted my shifting emotions. “Are you okay? Is this too much for you?” He indicated his bed with his hand.

  Sighing, I pushed Julian to the furthest recesses of my brain. He would just have to trust that I’d let him know if I were in danger. I put my hand over Hunter’s, reveling in the warmth radiating from his skin. “This must be weird…dating someone so much younger than you.”

  Hunter’s hand came up, his fingers threading through my hair. “Not weird, just…different.”

  My heart was thudding as his fingers brushed my cheek. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to happen as my eyes drifted over every inch of his exposed skin. “Different…how?”

  Leaning in, he placed his lips along the vein in my neck. I tilted my head, allowing him access. Hunter’s maneuver appealed to me for more than one reason; I had to suppress a growl from the vampiric part of me, and I had to concentrate extra hard to keep my teeth firmly pulled up.

  “I have to be careful to not go too fast with you,” he whispered into my skin. Electricity shot up my spine as his nose ran up my neck. “Like right now, for instance. I want to lay you back on my bed, taste your skin, but…I don’t want to push you into anything.”

  My eyes rolled back, and I grabbed him, yanking him down on top of me as I fell back to his sheets. Careful not to hurt him with my revved-up strength, I pulled his mouth to mine. “You’re not…” was all I got out before our lips connected.

  He shifted his body so our hips lined up, and a whimper escaped my lips, dissolving into his mouth. I’d never kissed a boy like this, lying down, his body tangled with mine, the sensitive bits all lined up where they needed to be. It activated some animalistic part of me, and not the vampire part. No, it was far more primal than that creature. It was an almost overwhelming desire to be taken by a strong, confident, virile man. To be claimed. Consequences, ages, races—everything got shoved to the corner as the beast within raged to get out.

  By the speed of Hunter’s heart and breath, I could tell he was losing the battle against his own primal needs too. A small section of my head acknowledged my brother’s disgust and mortification, but the more the beast wanted out, the easier it was to push Julian back.

  As Hunter returned his mouth to my neck, his tongue finally darted out to taste my skin, while his hands ran up my hips. The way our bodies intertwined, the way his lips moved over my skin, the way his hands felt every inch of me… This was fate, I was sure. This was the boy I was supposed to love. This was my “Happily Ever After,” if such a thing existed. And right at this moment, I knew that a part of my heart was being removed from me and placed into him, and I would never get it back. I would never have my heart completely to myself after this. He would always carry a piece of it from this day forward. I just hoped he was kind with it.

  Letting out an erotic sound I didn’t know I was capable of making, I closed my eyes and moved my hips against his. A low rumble met my ear, and Hunter firmly pressed his hips against mine. I gasped and cried out at the same time. I could feel how much he wanted me, how ready he was to do more than kiss. Knowing that I made him feel that way made my brain fuzzy. I felt like I was under some kind of wonderful drug in his arms, a drug far more powerful than experiencing Julian’s high. Desire shot through every part of me, and I clutched at Hunter, silently begging him to press his body into me again.

  He didn’t.

  Shifting to my side, he sat up on an elbow. He was breathing harder as he looked down at me; I was nearly panting. “Wait, Nika…”

  My hands slid up his chest as I shook my head. “I’m okay, you don’t have to stop.” Fire was burning through me, and I just wanted him to lie on top of me again.

  I laced my fingers around his neck and pulled, but he stubbornly resisted. “No…I think we should stop.”

  Swallowing, I tried to get some semblance of control back. “Why? We’re just making out. Can’t we make out?”

  Leaning away from me, Hunter cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t know about you…but that was a little more intense than just making out for me.” Leaning in, he kissed my cheek. “I was about three seconds away from ripping your clothes off.”

  I stopped breathing as I pictured him doing just that. He chuckled as he looked down at my face. “Stop looking so hopelessly adorable, or I might have to change my mind.”

  Exhaling—shivers of want, need, and lust leaving my body—I sat up. Reason began to return as I sat cross-legged on his bed. Making out with an older man did present some problems. Especially an older man who obviously wasn’t a virgin. I might be content to kiss for hours, but he would want more. And with how lost I’d been in the baser instincts…I might want more too. And I just wasn’t ready to go there yet. I wanted to be in love my first time. And while I adored Hunter, I wasn’t sure if I was fully in love with him yet. There were still too many unknowns between us.

  While I found myself respecting him for knowing his limits, and putting the brakes on our hot moment before it tipped into something too intense to stop, I couldn’t resist teasing him a little. “Maybe I want you to change your mind?”

  Smiling, Hunter looked down at his bed, then back up at me. “You’re going to be a problem for me…I can tell.”

  Grinning, I slung my arms around his neck, and he pulled me into his lap. I could tell he still wanted me, but he didn’t try to restart the fire we’d had. He merely held me in his arms. My respect for him grew even more as I lost myself in his dark eyes. “You’re right, Hunter. I’m not ready to go there yet.” Running my fingers through his hair, I added, “Thank you for not letting me put myself in that position.”

  Nestling into his lap, I laid my head on his shoulder. He sighed beneath me, his hand running a circle over my back. “Well, before you start to think too highly of me, you should probably know…I’m still picturing your bare skin laid across my bed.”

  Still feeling his readiness, I chuckled. “Yeah, I know. I can tell.”

  Hunter adjusted his position beneath me, pushing me a little farther down his legs. “Well, that’s embarrassing.”

  I stopped his hands from trying to move me and stared him in the eye. “No, it’s sweet. No one’s ever…wanted me like that before.”

  Holding very still, Hunter cupped my face. “That you know of,” he whispered. “I’m sure you’ve made more than a few of the boys at your school…uncomfortable.”

  My eyes widened. “God, I hope not.”

  Laughing, Hunter brought his lips to mine. “We’ll wait until you’re older, Nika. Until you’re ready.”

  I nodded and laid back down on his shoulder. Sadness swept over me. When I was older, I’d be leaving—off to college, and new adventures. And even if I wasn’t scheduled to leave Salt Lake, with how often Hunter and his dad moved around, he could be going first. Although, Hunter was old enough to make his own decisions. Maybe he would stay if his dad got called away. Maybe he would stay here with me. Maybe he’d even leave here with me. Maybe.

  Wondering how long I’d get to keep him, I murmured, “Where does your dad work again?”

  Hunter’s arm around me tightened. “He’s…independent. Why?”

  Sighing, I looked up at him. “I was just wondering if he’d get called away to another job before I got…older.”

  Hunter inhaled as he closed his eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was smelling me. “Like I said…you’re going to be a problem, aren’t you?” He cracked open an eye; the desire in his gaze was palpable.

  I grinned at him and shrugged. It was sort of empowering to know that I could bring a powerful man to his knees with just a hint of innuendo. I didn’t want to abuse that power, though. That was how girls got cocky. Or cruel. But it was definitely an ego boost to feel that way.

  As things simmered down between Hunter and me, I felt Julian’s tension relax. He hadn’t been thrilled about the wash of euphoria running through me, and it wasn’t only because it had been so uncomfortable for him to feel it. No, he didn’t trust Hu
nter, and his distrust reminded me that I had things to discuss with my boyfriend—things that didn’t have anything to do with sex.

  Sliding off his lap, I took a moment to glance around his spotless room. There was nothing alarming in it—just a typical room. Well, maybe it was a little sparse on decorations, but Hunter did travel a lot. Walking over to his nightstand, I picked up a picture of Hunter when he was younger, maybe Olivia’s age. A girl had her arms laced around Hunter’s neck in the picture; her eyes were as dark and piercing as his as she beamed into the camera. She looked to be just a few years older than him in the picture, maybe the age I was now.

  Hunter’s eyes were fixated on the photo in my hands as I twisted to him. “Who’s the girl?”

  Lifting his eyes to mine, he told me, “My sister.”

  Looking back at the picture, I noted all the similarities that marked them as siblings. “Oh, you didn’t tell me you had a sister. She doesn’t travel around with you and your dad? Did she settle down somewhere?”

  “No…she’s here.”

  Hunter sniffed, and I looked back at him. I’d never seen a girl around Hunter and his dad. They were an all-boys club as far as I could tell. But by the solemn look on Hunter’s face, I started to think that maybe I shouldn’t have asked. Curiosity propelling me forward, I set the picture down and walked over to him.

  “Where is she?”

  Hunter stood and left the room without answering me. Feeling melancholy stirring in his wake, I followed him. As we walked, I started running through a list of bad things that might have happened to his sister: insanity, dementia, disfigurement. I even considered vampirism…maybe that was how he knew of our kind, if he did, in fact, know. I expected him to go to a closed bedroom door, or maybe to stairs that led to a basement level or a secret attic, but he didn’t. He went back to the living room.

  Pointing to an inconspicuous container on the mantel of the fireplace, he said, “She’s right there.”

  His eyes were downcast as he pointed, and a knot of sadness sealed my throat as I instantly understood. She wasn’t deranged or handicapped. She wasn’t hidden away from society, and she hadn’t been turned into a vampire. She was dead. Dead-dead.

  “She would have been twenty-five this year. Maybe getting married. Maybe starting a family. I could have been an uncle by now…if things had been different.”

  Stepping closer to the mantel, I could see that the container I’d originally thought was an empty vase wasn’t a vase at all. It was an urn with small handles on either side. It was smooth, speckled granite, with just a hint of pink mixed into the black and gray. If its reason for being wasn’t so tragic, I’d have thought it was beautiful. “What happened?” I whispered, turning back to him.

  “She died.” By the flatness in his voice, I knew that was all he wanted to say on the subject.

  Even though I wasn’t bonded with him, it was easy for me to feel his pain. I couldn’t imagine losing my pesky, brooding brother. Just the thought tightened my stomach, and I sent loving feelings Julian’s way—feelings he’d probably misinterpret, since I was with my boyfriend.

  A thought hit me as I walked over to Hunter. Maybe he believed in my kind because he’d run into one before. Maybe he’d had a run-in that hadn’t ended well for his family, for his sister. Becoming a vampire didn’t turn a good person evil or anything, but, just like humans, some vampires liked to kill. And with the added element of feeding, those vampires killed often…and usually in cold and cruel ways, or so I’d heard. As Dad had told Ben when they’d been discussing it, human or vampire, some people were just messed up.

  Lacing my arms around Hunter’s neck, I peeked up into his face. “Did something hurt her?”

  Hunter regarded me with a bemused expression. “She got sick…didn’t make it.” Pushing my shoulders back a little, his eyes turned guarded. “What did you mean by some…thing?”

  My mouth dropped open as I considered that maybe I should have approached my question in a different way. I probably should have asked him if someone had hurt her. Hunter was bright enough that he’d caught the word choice and he was definitely curious. That again made me wonder what he knew.

  Nerves locked up my throat. Whether I liked him or not, vampirism was such a taboo topic for me, that it was hard to open up about it. “I just meant…a thing…like…an accident or a bullet…or an animal…or something.”

  Hunter looked away, back to his sister’s urn behind me. “Oh…no…she just…got sick…” His brows drew together while he thought about his sister’s death.

  I cupped his cheek, bringing his eyes back to mine. His expression was a mixture of pain and pride. Hunter, like me, regarded family above all else, but this wound was still fresh for him, and I felt bad for bringing it up. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked about her. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

  A small smile lightened his features. “Don’t be, I like thinking about her.” His eyes got a faraway look as his smile widened. “She was the bravest person I’ve ever known. And so strong…” His eyes returned to mine. “You would have loved her.”

  Smiling, I dropped my head. “Do you think she would have liked me?”

  Hunter squeezed me tight. “Of course.” Leaning in, he whispered in my ear, “She loved whatever I loved.”

  Eyes widening, I peeked up at him. Did he…just say he loved me? Speechless, I could only stare at his amused face. Before my throat loosened up enough to talk, the front door burst open and Hunter’s gruff father stormed through it.

  “Hunter, you here? I got something for you to check out…” Stepping into the room, he instantly spotted Hunter and I holding each other next to the fireplace and stopped talking. “Oh, I see you’re…busy.”

  Hunter eyed the bundle of newspapers under his dad’s arm, then nodded his head at me. “Dad, this is my girlfriend, Nika Adams. Nika, my dad, Connor.”

  A silent conversation passed between the two men, then Connor smiled at me. “That’s right, you were coming over for dinner tonight, weren’t ya?” He scruffed up his hair with his hand, then extended it to me. “Nice to finally meet you, Nika. Hunter talks about you nonstop.”

  Hunter rolled his eyes. “Dad…”

  Connor threw his son a grin as he shook my hand. When we separated, Hunter pointed to the stuff under his dad’s arm. “I’ll look at that after dinner. Speaking of…we should figure out what the heck we’re gonna eat.”

  Connor laughed. His face, while gruff and grim, was light and breezy as he joked around with his son. The bond between them was undeniable. Connor looped his arm around Hunter, pulling him away from me. “You stay right there, Nika. Let us bachelors try and make a decent meal for you.”

  Hunter laughed as he trailed his fingers down my arm while Connor pulled him away. “We’ll just be a minute or two. Don’t get scared and run off, okay?”

  Giggling at the two bachelors, I drew an X over my heart and promised to stay put. I sat on the couch while the boys scurried off to the kitchen to try and impress me, and I tried very hard not to listen to their conversation, but, being who I was, it was hard for me not to hear things. As cupboards opened and pots banged together, I heard Connor say, “She seems nice.”

  Smiling as I examined a framed photo of a duck in flight on the far wall, I heard Hunter reply, “I told you she was.”

  A harrumph came from Connor. “What have you told her?”

  My smile evaporated as Connor’s words sunk in. What had he told me about what? Even though I didn’t need to look, I stared at the entrance to the kitchen, listening as intently as my vampiric ears could.

  Hunter sighed. His response was quiet, but my sharp hearing still caught it. “Nothing, Dad, I’m not an idiot.”

  “You’re dating a child. Your intelligence is still in question.”

  I bristled at Connor’s words. So did Hunter. “I’m dating an innocent girl who makes me happy. Don’t I get a shred of…normalcy?”

  Just as I was wondering what the h
eck that was supposed to mean, Connor let out a weary exhale. “Just be careful, Hunter. If you like her…if you really like her…then be careful. You know what happens to innocent girls around us.”

  “I know. I remember…”

  My heart started beating faster as I contemplated all the various ways that sentence could be interpreted. I didn’t know what any of that conversation had meant, but it all sounded bad. Standing, I wondered again just who I was dating. Really, aside from the fact that he had amazing eyes and a heart-stopping smile, I didn’t know anything about him. I knew he moved around a lot. I knew he didn’t have a job, but kept busy by helping his dad as an independent…something. I now knew that he had a sister who’d gotten ill and passed away. And I knew he might think vampires were real. That was about it. And that wasn’t a lot to go on.

  But Hunter had never seemed dangerous to me. Sure, an edge of danger was around him, but it had more to do with his confidence and the way he moved—like a predator. But I’d never once felt like his prey. Around me, he’d always been a gentleman, reminding me to take things slow, telling me that he wanted an open and honest relationship. The two different images were confusing, to say the least.

  My heart surging in my chest, I considered leaving. I could zip away and be safe at home in an instant, with Hunter and his dad none the wiser. As they shifted their conversation to a debate between steak and spaghetti for dinner, my eyes swept over the room, searching for a reason to stay, hunting for a reason to leave.

  You know what happens to innocent girls around us.

  With Connor’s words in my brain, my eyes locked onto Hunter’s sister’s urn. Stepping closer to it, I murmured, “Do they mean you? What are they talking about?” I felt a little moronic asking a dead girl’s ashes a question, but with my heart racing and my nerves spiking, I needed an answer somewhere.