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

With a sigh, I headed for the bathroom, stopping at the dresser to grab some clothes first. Oliver had also unpacked while I
’d been asleep. This made me wonder what else he had been up doing.

I showered and got ready, discovering that somehow I
’d managed to bring my toothbrush but not my toothpaste. I had to borrow Oliver’s. I was leery since it was mint flavored and also some weird color because it was all natural, but I was happy to discover that it wasn’t bad. I was also happy to discover I was over my aversion to mint. I was relieved considering Christmas was just around the corner. There was no way I could make it through the holiday without candy canes, or peppermint ice cream.

Once I was ready for the day, I found Oliver still snoozing, soundly,
and on his belly with an arm tightly wrapped around his pillow.

Being brave, or stupid, you choose, I stood beside the bed and gently brushed my fingers through his hair. H
e smiled slightly, but he didn’t wake. The love I felt for him amazed me, especially with the still lingering enhancements I’d received with Oliver’s blood. They made everything so much more intense. I could tell all of my bonuses were beginning to fade, and I was a little disappointed, but the happiness I felt over being alone with Oliver far outweighed how I felt about losing the boost his blood gave me.

I headed back to the kitchen to search for something to hold me over until Oliver could take us to the store for some food. Unfortunately, all I could find was a box of chocolate Pop-Tarts Oliver
had brought for me from home. I was pretty sure, no thanks to Oliver’s brother draining me to the point of pure craziness, chocolate Pop-Tarts would forever remind me of rabbit poop, which made the one I ate rather hard to choke down.

Speaking of Oliver’s brother, I found my new cell phone—the one Oliver replaced (again) since Oscar had stolen mine—charging next to Oliver’s phone on the kitchen island. We
’d all had to change our phone numbers thanks to Oscar helping himself to my phone and all the information in it, which reminded me I needed a new photo of Oliver and me.

I turned on my phone only to find I had no messages. Oliver’s flash
ed, announcing it had a new message, and I smiled to myself. I knew he couldn’t go long without checking his phone. I was fairly certain that while I was sleeping, he’d been up checking his messages while putting the house into lockdown and unpacking our bags. I wondered if he’d heard any news of the angel, and if I should be concerned about the reason for the lockdown. I shook my head and pushed the thoughts aside. I wasn’t going to let the troubles of home ruin our time away.

I headed back to the bedroom to wait for Oliver to wake. There was a chair in the corner across the room from the bed. The chair was placed at an angle between the window and the fireplace, which was still alive with a faint flickering. I propped myself
on the arm of the chair beside the window and peeked through those open few inches—the breeze blowing on me while I waited for my Knight to awaken. I sat there for a long while.

The sun was high in the sky when Oliver finally woke. I had settled into the chair long ago. I
was flipping through one of the old books I’d discovered on the mantle of the fireplace when I saw him stir.

He stretched
and reached his arm across my side of the bed. When he came up empty handed, he sat straight up with a start. He appeared panicked when I wasn’t next to him, and he was immediately relieved when he found me slouched in the chair near the foot of the bed.

“Hey,” he said in a sleepy voice.

I sat up, set the book aside, and said, “You slept a long time.”

His hair was rather crazy, poufy even, and sticking up in all directions. I held back a laugh and only smiled at him as he rubbed his gorgeous
, green eyes.

I joined him on the bed
, crawling in beside him and easing him back down onto the mattress. He kissed my forehead as I cuddled in his arms and rested my head on his chest.

“It’s easy for me to rest here,” he told me. “The worries are different. I’m not on duty. I don’t have to work here, you know?”

I looked up at him, my eyes meeting his, and he leaned down and gently kissed me. When his lips parted from mine, he smiled ever so seductively.

I pushed myself up on one elbow and
gazed down at him while my other arm rested on his chest. I said, with a hint of a smile, “Go get ready, I wanna see the ocean. In the daylight.”

His smile turned into a crooked, sleepy grin. Then he rolled out from under me and headed off to the bathroom
wearing jammie bottoms and a plain, white tee.

“Nice shirt, by the way,” he said just before closing the bathroom door behind him.

I looked down at my “I heart Vampires” birthday shirt Isaac and Hayden had given me. I laughed for a moment, then I went back to the chair to wait.

After he was ready, we headed to the kitchen where Oliver downed a bottle of blood while I waited somewhat impatiently. He chuckled at me
while his gorgeous, green eyes watched my every movement.

“Patience, Laney. The ocean will still be there in five minutes,” he said playfully.

“Easy for you to say, you grew up with the ocean within reach every day. Hurry up!” I encouraged with my best “pretty please” smile.

He chuckled at me again. He then downed the remaining contents of the bottle before heading to the front room to disarm the security system.

Once the shutters were up and I heard the bolts unlocking the back doors, I swung them both open and hurried onto the back porch. It was even more breathtaking in the daylight. The sea had been so black and sinister-looking the previous night, but in the daylight, it was so blue, and so very beautiful. As I gaped in wonder, I could taste the salt on the air, and the breeze ruffled my hair.

“Let’s go down there,” I said, excitement obvious in my tone, as Oliver slipped his arms around me from behind.

Without a word, he brushed my hair aside and his cool lips pressed against my neck. I trembled and felt myself instantly melting against him. His lips moved their way to my ear as my fingers gripped his forearms.

Is this the moment?
Is he going to entice me back to the bedroom?
There wouldn’t be a lot of effort needed on his part, I could tell you that.

Just as I was about to turn in his arms and take him back inside myself, he whispered against my ear, “Don’t forget your sunglasses.”

He handed me my sunglasses I hadn’t even noticed him holding, and then he took a step back, releasing me from his grip. I turned to find him slipping on his own sunglasses and donning a plain black baseball cap. I’d never seen him in a hat before. He looked freakin’ hot, as always. As I stared at him, he flashed me a super sexy smile, then he headed for the path.

I stood there for a moment, watching him walk away. I felt torn. As badly as I wanted to go down to the beach, I wanted to take Oliver back to the bedroom even more.

I watched him walk past a hammock that was strung up between two large posts—a hammock I had totally missed the previous night. Granted, because it had been dark, it was probably easy to miss.

Oliver stopped at the top of the steep path that led down to the beach. He turned back to me. “Come on, Laney,” he called, flashing me a perfectly crooked smile.

I put on my sunglasses, hurried down the back steps, and then down the path to catch up to him. I was still torn between the beach and the bedroom. However, the bedroom would have to wait. The beach won. This time.

I had an easier time making it down the path this time. Being able to see really helped. As soon as we hit the beach, I ditched my shoes and rolled my pant
legs. Standing just out of reach of the waves, I cautiously let the cold water hit my feet. This definitely wasn’t the warm beaches you see on TV. No other people were in sight. We were the only bodies on this stretch of beach, and no one in their right mind would swim in that water. It was freezing!

Oliver was beside me in the next moment
—shoes and socks gone, and his pants rolled. I smiled at him and he kissed the top of my head and took my hand. We waded out a little farther, the water rushing in around our ankles and then back out into the deep blue. It was still really cold, but the warm sunshine made the water bearable.

We spent a couple of hours playing around on the beach. Wandering
a little farther, we checked out the sea life in some tide pools in a mass of rocks. We found several urchins stuck to the rocks, a small crab, and a couple of starfish. It was fascinating to see the creatures and the ocean in person. We also collected some seashells, and I noticed Oliver stashing some smaller shells into the front pocket of his jeans.

“What are you doing with those?” I questioned.

“You’ll see,” he said, the hint of a crooked grin appearing.

I felt
a smile tugging at the corner of my own mouth.

As we headed back toward the path that led up to the cottage, Oliver found a stick that had washed ashore
. With it, he wrote “Oliver + Laney” in the sand. He surrounded our names with a big heart. It tugged at my actual heart, making me love him even more.

He smiled
bashfully as I gazed at him, my heart so full of love. The cold water rushing around my ankles snapped me back to the moment. I pulled my phone from my back pocket and hurried to take a picture of our names in the sand before the waves washed them away. Then I took a picture of Oliver and me with the deep, blue sea behind us.

We sat in the sand together,
and I rested my back against his chest. We watched the waves crash and rush up the beach, the frothy ripples reaching for us. Some seagulls cried overhead, and a few pelicans swooped down, landing on the water and floating about for a while. It was so peaceful, and so relaxing.

Staring out
at the ocean and relaxing for the first time in so long, I let my mind go. While thinking about all of the different supernatural
creatures
I had read about or encountered in the last few months, strangely my mind took me to an interesting question. “Do you think Poseidon and the other gods were ever real?” I asked, raising my voice over the sounds of the crashing waves.

“I believe it
’s a possibility,” Oliver responded.

“Should I?” I asked. “Should I believe in the gods as well as everything else that used to be nothing more than myth to me?”

“That’s up to you, Laney. As with everything, it is possible they once walked among us. If so, perhaps their descendants still do.” He kissed the top of my head and held me tight, wrapping his arms around me. I felt so safe and so loved.

My question, and the thoughts that accompanied it, made me wonder… With all that I had recently learned, could it
ALL
be true? Were the gods of mythology real? Were the gods people currently worshipped real?

Oliver interrupted my thoughts when he suggested we pay a visit to the grocery store. I had to agree. My bunny-poop Pop-Tart had long worn off.

My Boyfriend’s Ex

Going to the grocery store on an empty stomach is never a wise idea. Everything looked good! It didn’t help that the drive into town had been kind of a long one.

Oliver ga
thered organic salad items while I perused the fruit. Once we were finished in the produce section, we wandered the rest of the store, gathering snacks for me, and a few other items. I was scoping out the bubble bath and making Oliver smell them with me, telling him how I was
so
going to be spending time with that tub back at the cottage, when he suddenly tensed. He whispered something that I didn’t quite catch.

“What did you say?” I quietly asked. I looked up at him
, slightly terrified. I knew that look in his eyes. “What is it?” I asked. I was afraid the angel might have found us. Would he make a public scene? Would he be friendly? Could we escape him?

Oliver’s eyes shifted past me to the end of the aisle. I followed his gaze.
Heading toward us was a woman pushing a shopping cart. She did not appear threatening. Yet, I had noticed her in the produce section, and only because she couldn’t seem to keep her eyes off of my boyfriend. I didn’t blame her. I had the same problem. Other than that, I didn’t think she looked familiar, or like I said, threatening.

I slyly eyed her a little more as she headed our way. Her eyes kept shifting to us, but she seemed to be trying not to look obvious about it. She was failing miserably.

My guess was that she was in her mid-thirties. She had curly blond hair that hit just past her shoulders, and she just looked like a regular person. Pretty normal, ordinary even. I didn’t foresee her as a threat, except for the fact her eyes were suddenly set on us, and she was getting closer.

I turned back to Oliver. He had pulled up the hood on his sweatshirt, and he was beginning to back away from me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, keeping my voice low. He was starting to freak me out.

“That’s my ex-girlfriend,” he very quietly responded.

Uhh…
I felt my face scrunch in several different ways. I imagine I looked fully confused and totally grossed out as I stared at him. Had Oliver gone trolling in his own age group before me?