Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) (20 page)

Like the lobby and the restaurant, the lounge was also dimly lit. The ceiling was high, the walls were elegantly decorated just like the rest of the hotel, and the room was full of places to sit and chat with others.

Deep red sofas and dark gray chairs were placed around the room in clusters so that groups of people (vampires) could visit. Several small, dark wood tables—a place to set your drinks—were placed within the seating clusters.

There was a bar on one side of the room, to the left, and elegantly
, yet provocatively, dressed waitresses worked the room, taking and delivering drink orders.

I wondered if the waitresses offered more than drinks… Perhaps blood…or more
…

In the center of the room was an open area where people danced, rather gracefully, I must add,
while musicians played a variety of instruments on a stage at the front of the room. It was nothing like anywhere I had ever been.

I felt uncomfortable and very out of place.

Levi struck up a conversation with a group of nearby men.

While Levi’s attention was elsewhere, Oliver asked me if I was okay. I nodded even though I knew he knew differently.

He stood, and I stared up at him. “Come,” he said, raising his voice just high enough so I could hear him over the music and the chatter.

He took my hand and I stood. He led me to the center of the room where he gently pulled me into his arms. I draped my arms around his neck while
he gazed down at me.

“I love you,” he told me softly as we swayed to the music.

I smiled and told him the same. “You seem to be doing just fine even though there are people all around us,” I said, choosing my words carefully so as not to insinuate that men were looking at me. Not that I’d noticed if they were, but I was sure Oliver did.

He grinned crookedly. “Every man in this room knows where you belong. Only a fool would gaze upon you for too long.”

I laughed in response to his words, then a fool tapped Oliver on the shoulder and asked to dance with me.

Flashing me a mischievous half-smile, Oliver placed my hand in Levi’s and stepped away.

Even though I was fully aware of Levi’s touch, of his hand on my waist, and of his other hand holding mine, my body ached as Oliver walked away. It was like I could feel the distance stretching our bond, and he was only a few feet away.

I watched him walk to the bar and order himself a drink. I grinned when I caught a glimpse of his Converse. Then I turned my attention
to Levi.

“He is a lucky man, Delaney,” Levi said, his stunning blue-green eyes gazing down at me.

“Thank you,” I replied, feeling a little heat rising in my cheeks, “but I feel like the lucky one.”

I stole a glance
at my boyfriend. He was leaning against the bar with his beer bottle tipped to his lips, his eyes on me.

“I suppose,” Levi said. He grinned down at me, the act softening his expression. “I do hope that my Nicolette will soon come around and let me make her as happy as Oliver has made you.”

I tipped my head to the side and gazed up at that beautiful man. “I cannot imagine how she has resisted you this long,” I said without thinking. I felt my cheeks burn even more, this time by my own doing.

I looked away, fully embarrassed.

“That is very kind of you to say,” Levi responded.

We swayed for a few minutes. I felt even more awkward there in his arms than I had sitting on the sofa.

“You know…” Levi said after a while. I looked up at him again, desperately hoping he would not notice the lingering pink in my cheeks. “You remind me very much of someone I once knew.”

“Oh?” I questioned.

“Yes, she was lovely and witty just as you are, and she too stole the heart of someone very dear to me.”

“Where is she now?” I asked.

“Sadly, she was taken from us, far too soon.”

“I’m sorry,” I said as I watched the sadness consume his dreamy blue-green eyes.

An apologetic smile touched his lips. “I am sorry to trouble you with this sadness. It is just, when you paid me that compliment, you reminded me so much of her, and she is missed deeply by so many. It is nice to see a glimpse of her again.”

He then turned me, spinning me slowly, and I suddenly found myself back in Oliver’s arms. My body relaxed at his touch, and my heart ached as his signature crooked smile appeared. His lips touched mine ever so gently, and only for a moment, but it was enough to get the response he was looking for.

“You said that if I was able to control my emotions, I would get to…” he trailed off, flashing me a wicked little smirk.

I grinned back, then I rose up on my toes and held him close to me. “Whenever you’re ready,” I whispered
near his ear.

Without a word, he led me off the dance floor then. We wished Levi a good night before heading for the elevator.

Oliver stood right behind me and his fingers trailed along the bare skin of my arms as we waited. I shivered, mostly with anticipation. However, once in the elevator, things changed. We were alone, but when I slipped my arms around him and made to kiss him, he took a step back.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. He had a hand on his stomach and was bent slightly. “Are you okay?” I stepped closer, putting my hands on his chest.

He held up a finger to let me know to give him a minute.

I stepped back. I felt helpless and concerned.

As the doors slid open on our floor, he straightened. We started down the hall at a slow pace.

“Oliver, what’s wrong?”

“I shouldn’t have had the second beer,” he said, his voice somewhat strained. “But I think it might be something else.” He did not elaborate until we were in our room.

Once inside, I helped him take off his jacket
while he explained that he thought maybe some of the fruit he’d eaten for dessert may not have been organic, and that maybe a pesticide was the culprit. His stomach was cramping and causing him pain.

He took a seat on the loveseat. He stretched his arm across the back, and laid his head back, closing his eyes.

I took a seat close to him, but not too close. I just stared at him, not knowing what to do.

He opened one eye and peeked at me for a second. “I’ll be fine, Laney,” he
said, but I was still concerned.

As a mixed-blood, Oliver’s system was very sensitive. It made me think that I should try to give up anything non-organic. It would be better for both of us if I did. This thought triggered a “duh” response.

My blood.

I slipped off my shoes
, pulled my feet up under me as I faced Oliver, and I scooted closer to him. He groaned quietly as the couch shifted. I whispered an apology.

I got right up beside him, pulled my hair aside to expose my neck, then very softly, I said, “Drink from me, Oliver.”

He peeked at me with one eye again. Then, without lifting his head off the back of the couch, he turned his head toward me and the other eye opened. The arm stretched across the back of the couch moved, wrapping around me and pulling me closer to him.

I was on my knees and at kind of a weird angle, but I didn’t care as long as I could take away his discomfort.

With a small groan, he lifted his head. His cool lips found their way to my neck. Then he bit me. Excited chills covered my body. I inched closer. I rested my hand on his thigh, and he moved closer to me. His other hand slipped up into my hair, holding me tighter to him. He moaned quietly as he fed from me.

I reached up and loosened his tie, pulling the knot free. Then I started working on the buttons of his shirt. I was halfway done with the buttons when he eased me back onto the loveseat, resting himself between my legs.

Still drinking from me, the hand tangled in my hair slipped free, and his cool fingers warmed as they slipped up my thigh and under my dress.

I fumbled with the button on his pants. He began pulling down my panties while I was getting frustrated with the stupid button on his pants. It was almost like buttons were my enemy in moments like this.

Then Oliver let out the most frustrated growl I’d ever heard. He sealed my neck and pushed himself up and away from me. As he sat up, he leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

I propped myself up on my elbows. “What?” I asked, concerned. I thought maybe he was misconstruing my frustration with his button for frustration with him.

“My head is killing me,” he groaned. “And I’m pissed because I want you so bad right now, but my head hurts so much, I can hardly see.”

“Is that normal?” I pulled my panties back into place and sat beside him.

“Yeah,” he grumbled.

“My blood didn’t help?” I rubbed my hand across his back in the hopes of comforting him.

“It did. My stomach no longer hurts,” he muttered.

“Is there something I can do?” I asked.

He sat back, resting his head and his arm on the back of the loveseat once again. Closing his eyes, he said, “Just sit here with me.”

I cuddled next to him
, feeling totally helpless.

After a few minutes, he pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to me. He kept his head back and his eyes closed when he said, “Will you text Nikki and tell her to meet me for lunch tomorrow?”

“Sure,” I said as I began scrolling through his contacts to find her name. “Will you be okay by then?”

“I’ll be fine. I knew the headache was coming. Your blood just sped up the inevitable.”

“Sorry,” I said, quietly.

He blindly and affectionately rubbed my arm for a moment. “Don’t be sorry, Laney. Never be sorry.”

But I was. I wished my blood could have fixed him instead of just speeding up whatever was happening. I reminded myself that if I was pure—free of the crap I regularly consumed—maybe it would have fixed what was wrong with him. Maybe.

I found Nikki’s name and sent her the message Oliver had asked me to send. She responded a few minutes later:

Same time and place?

I relayed the message to Oliver.

“Tell her yes,” he said.

I did, then I set his phone on the coffee table.

I sat there for a long while with nothing but my thoughts. This wasn't necessarily a good thing considering my thoughts caused questions, and I couldn’t very well ask Oliver these questions while he was in such pain. So I sat there, in the quiet, listening to my rambling thoughts.

I
was fairly certain Oliver was asleep when Levi lightly tapped on our door a while later. I heard him quietly call our names to see if we were…well, “available.”

Being super quiet, I went to the door and opened it as quietly as possible. Levi looked a little surprised when he saw me open the door. I think he
was surprised my clothes were still on.

I told him what had happened, and he told me that Oliver should be fine after some rest. Levi also told me not to hesitate to come and get him if need be. I thanked him and we wished each other a good night once again.

On my way back to the couch, I grabbed my phone from the kitchen counter and then took a seat beside Oliver. Scrolling through some of the apps, I found a game to keep me entertained.

Eventually I scooched down and rested my head in Oliver’s lap and my feet up on the other arm of the loveseat while I played my game. I fell asleep there that night.

It was still dark outside when I woke, and the only light was the one that had been left on in the entry of the hotel room. I was curled in a chilled ball with my head still on Oliver’s thigh. He was in the same position with his head and arm across the back of the loveseat.

A
sudden fear, or a full on panic attack, made me bounce up on my knees and check to make sure he was breathing. I was relieved when I found that he was.

“What are you doing?” he murmured.

I thought he was asleep, so when he spoke, it startled me. I yelped in surprise before gaining control of myself. “I was making sure you were breathing,” I said, my heart pounding like crazy.

He huffed a laugh. “And if I wasn’t?” he asked, still not opening his eyes or lifting his head.

“I would have hurled myself from the balcony,” I said as I yawned.

One eye peeked open at me. “A bit dramatic,” he said, the hint of a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. His eye closed.

“Probably messy too,” I said.

He laughed with a small huff again.

“You feeling any better?”

“A little.”

“Come to bed?”

“I don’t want to move,” he said. “You go ahead though. Get some sleep, Laney.”

I stood and stretched, then I leaned over and pecked him on the lips. A faint smile appeared in response, but his eyes stayed shut tight.

I headed to the bathroom
, where I brushed my teeth and was thankful my gums didn't bleed or feel as sensitive as they had. Then I reluctantly took off my pretty black dress. I returned it to its hanger and hung it on the back of the bathroom door.