Forever Yours (#2) (4 page)

“Brother, you brought us a snack?” My heart flutters at his
deep, southern accent. My hands begin to shake at his remark
–Dalton was right, he is ravenous. I can tell from the way he is
staring at me, that he would love to rip into my skin, his lips are
white with lust and desire and his intoxicating presence is very
alarming to me. He edges closer, smiling and reaching out for my
hand. Dalton looks down at me, nodding for me to take his bothers
hand. I reluctantly place my hand into Nicholas’s out stretched
hand, I flinch from the icy touch of his skin –he is an arctic
blast compared to Dalton.

“Nicholas, this is Rose, you won’t harm her, is that
understood?” Nicholas lifts my hand towards his mouth in one fluid
motion and I gasp from his actions. He smirks at me and he places a
soft kiss onto my skin, gently running his tongue along my index
finger as he pulls away.

“She seems tasty; can’t I have a taste, my dear?” My heart
races and I grab onto Dalton for support. Nicholas laughs at me and
then he turns away from us, chanting as he walks.

“Calm yourself little lady, it was a joke!”

Dalton rushes me into the house and I gasp as I bask in the
beauty that’s inside. The house has a large, spiralling staircase,
dark wooden floors and beautiful sparkling chandeliers. The scent
of lavender and cologne fills the air and the furniture is classic.
Long side tables dominate the hallway, each one more spectacular
than the last. Paintings of angels hang on the light walls and
classic lamps light up the dark entrance. Nicholas urges us to
follow him into the lounge, so as we follow him, I have to gush
about the house to Dalton.

“Your house is awesome,” he laughs and then he pushes me into
the lounge. The room is large, open and filled with timeless
furniture. The back wall is stacked with books, all placed neatly
into their shelves. A massive fireplace is the centrepiece of the
room; it’s lit and burning brightly. Nicholas glides over to a
drinks cabinet and he pours two glasses of scotch. He downs his in
a matter of seconds and then he flies over to Dalton and places the
drink into his hand. Dalton nods and then he tilts his head back
and downs the drink. He tosses the glass onto the leather sofa and
it smashes against the wood, not breaking, but making a loud bang
from his force. Nicholas smiles at me and then he offers me a
drink.

“Where is my manners, would the lady like a drink?” Dalton
stares at me and then he answers on my behalf.

“She’s fine, we need to talk.” Dalton urges. Nicholas
straightens his face and then he glides over to the sofa and throws
himself down. Dalton takes me over to the other sofa and he sits me
down, he stands, looking at Nicholas with rage in his eyes. I can
feel the burning tension between the brothers and I can’t say that
I feel completely at ease with it. I have mixed feelings about
Nicholas, I don’t like that he turned Dalton into a vampire, but at
the same time, I thank him for doing it. If Dalton wasn’t a
vampire, then he wouldn’t be here, he would have lived and died in
another time and I would never met him. As hard as it for me to
hate Nicholas, I cant.

“What is there to talk about?” Nicholas says in a dark voice.
Dalton edges closer to me, protecting me from his brother’s
desire.

“Do you know a girl named, Rachel?” Dalton asks as he sits
next to me. Nicholas watches him closely as he places his hand onto
my thigh. I flinch as Dalton’s fingers are now cool, and the not
the warm from earlier. I try to put the iciness out of my mind as I
glare at Nicholas for his answer. He runs his fingers through his
sandy blonde hair, thinking and smiling at himself. He is so
arrogant and selfish. I feel disgusted by him, he is so manly and
muscular and when I think of him with Rachel, my stomach turns. He
is far too experienced and mature to be with her, she is just a kid
and he is a mature man who has had plenty life experience. I can’t
allow him to hurt her; I won’t let him ruin her
innocence.

“I believe that I do, but what’s it to you?” Nicholas snarls.
Dalton presses his lips together and then he fights for my cousin’s
honour.

“The girl is Rose’s cousin; I would appreciate it if you would
leave her alone.” Nicholas laughs at Dalton’s plea and now my blood
is boiling –it’s my turn to give him a piece of my mind.

“I know that you don’t care about her, so just find another
toy to play with, okay?”

“Dalton, I don’t like the humans tone, sort her out.” Dalton
hisses and then he springs to his feet, locking his eyes on
Nicholas. I feel scared by his actions and I can hardly breathe
through my fear. I want out of this house, away from Nicholas. I
stand and I grab a fistful of Dalton’s shirt, he turns to face me
–his eyes burning a deep shade of red. I am startled by his
appearance, so I gently back away from him as he groans. Nicholas
laughs and then he leaps up from the sofa, locking his eyes on
mine. He wanders over in my direction and Dalton protectively
stands in front of me, shielding me from Nicholas. “You’re very
protective of the human; don’t tell me you have been stupid enough
as to fall for her?”

“I haven’t fallen for her, but I’m not going to let you hurt
her.” Dalton snaps. Nicholas bursts out laughing and then he moves
closer to us.

“You know that love is a vampire’s greatest weakness, yet you
have given into it anyway. Tell me Dalton, are you going to turn
her?” My heart is pounding through my sweater and I need to get out
of here. I can’t stand another minute of Nicholas and his
interrogation. He makes my skin crawl and I am terrified to be in
the same room as him. I grab Dalton’s arm as I plead with him to
leave.

“Let’s go,” I say in a shaken voice. Dalton turns to face me,
his eyes are burning and his lips are white as snow. He manoeuvres
himself to the back of me and he slides his hand onto my waist. I
let out a smile as I feel safe in his arms, but my smile fades,
when Nicholas flies over to me and rips my scarf away from my neck.
He stares at my wounds and then he starts to laugh, Dalton lunges
forward and he pushes him away. The force is strong and Nicholas is
soaring through the air, at tremendous pace. Nicholas is still
laughing and Dalton spins me around and leads me to the door. When
we reach the door, Nicholas stomps down in front of us, smiling
with his eyes burning.

“At least you had the sense to feed on her,” he snarls. Dalton
pushes past him, with me at his side. He drags me along the hallway
and out the front door. He rushes me into his car and he jumps into
the driver’s seat, revving the engine as loud as it will go.
Nicholas bursts out of the house and he is standing on the porch,
smiling at us. I shake my head at him and I grip onto the arm rest
as Dalton reverses the car out of the driveway. When we reach the
bottom of the road, Dalton spins the car around so that’s it’s
facing the right way. He edges up to the gates and he rolls his
window down and shouts at the security guard.

“Open the gates, now,” he exclaims. The man instantly does as
he is told and the black gates open wide. The tyres screech when
Dalton puts his foot down and I fall back into my seat from the
acceleration. His hands are trembling as he grips the steering
wheel, far too tight. My heart is pounding and I can’t help but
think that we have angered Nicholas. I can’t think about what he is
capable of and I don’t want to. I am terrified that he is going to
hurt Rachel and that there is nothing that I can do to stop him. My
only hope is to try and talk to Rachel; maybe I can make her see
sense. If that fails, then I will have to resort to measures that
she will hate me over. I will tell Uncle George about her date with
a guy who is twenty-five; I will encourage him to ground her,
anything that will make her stay in the house. Our family house is
the only place that she is safe from him, he can’t enter without
being invited in. I know that she will hate me for this, but I
don’t care as long as she is safe.

Dalton drives me back to town and by the time we reach Main
Street, he has seemed to calm down –a little. The streets are busy
for a Sunday afternoon and as I stare out the busy passers-by, I
can’t help but think about my night out tonight with the guys. I am
dreading going out and parading all over town, with my drunken best
friends, but I know that I have no other choice. Charlene is my
friend and I couldn’t miss her birthday. I stare at Dalton and I
have the sudden urge to ask him to join us. I am sure that Charlene
or Elliot wouldn’t mind, but there’s always Ryan who had a little
moment with Dalton the other day. I shake my head as I look at him,
because I know that there is no way that he would go anyway.
Hanging out with humans isn’t his thing –or so he keeps telling me
when he is clearly a walking contradiction. He says that humans
mean nothing and I can’t help but feel hurt at his earlier claims.
He said that he hasn’t fallen for me and what hurts the most is
that, I have fallen for him. I have strong feelings that go beyond
friendship, feelings that I have never felt for anyone else. Dalton
has come into my life and he has changed my world. I think about
him every second of every day and now that we have spent the last
two weeks together, I can’t imagine my life without him. If only he
felt the same way about me.

Dalton pulls the car into a parking space in front of our
local diner. He switches off the engine and he turns to face me.
His eyes are blue and stunning and I can’t catch my breath as I
look at him. He completes me and I love him –it’s too bad that he
doesn’t know it. I push my glasses up the bridge of my nose and I
smile when Dalton grabs my hand.

“I’m sorry about what happened back there,”

“It’s okay; I’ll deal with Rachel when I get home.” Dalton
nods at me and then he pushes open his door. He jumps out into the
street and I carefully open my door. I step out of the car and
Dalton is instantly by my side. He slides his hand onto my waist
and he leads me into the diner.

“Table for two?” The waitress says as she holds two menus in
the air. I smile at her and then she leads us to our table. We sit
and she takes our drinks order and I am stunned when Dalton orders
a coke. I am speechless as I order a lemonade. The waitress quickly
walks over to the bar and she fixes us our drinks –keeping her eyes
on Dalton the whole time. I roll my eyes at her and let out the
extra air that is building in my mouth. The sound must have been
loud; Dalton drags his eyes away from the menu and looks at me. He
cocks his head to one side, smirking as my face bursts into
flames.

“Is there something wrong?” He asks through a smile plastered
face. I try to compose myself, but I am still blushing harder than
before. He is going to see right through me, he will know that I
was eyeing the waitress as she eyed him. I don’t want Dalton to
know how I feel about him –it would hurt too much to hear that he
doesn’t feel the same way. I couldn’t survive his rejection and I
don’t know that I would want to –if he wasn’t there. My eyes are
blurry as I stare deep at my menu, the waitress strolls back over
to our table and she places our drinks onto the old, wooden
surface. She smiles at Dalton, but eyes me wickedly. I am sure she
is wondering why a gorgeous guy like him is sitting here with me, a
pale, skinny, geeky girl, with horrible fashion sense. I bet she
wishes that she was sitting opposite him, and not me. Her dark eyes
fix on Dalton’s and she jumbles her words as she speaks.

“What will I … I mean … what can I get for you, sir?” Dalton
hands her the menu –this is the part where he says that he isn’t
hungry.

“Cheeseburger,” he says in a firm tone. My eyes dart to him
–why is he ordering food that he won’t eat? My fingers begin to run
across the menu as the waitress looks at me –annoyed and impatient.
I quickly fold the menu, thrust it into her hand and then make my
order.

“Chilli fries,” she nods and then she takes one last look at
Dalton, who hasn’t noticed her feeble attempt to flirt with him. He
takes a sip of his coke as the waitress stomps away from our table.
I look after her, shaking my head and rolling my eyes at her
behaviour. Dalton’s eyebrows push together at the taste of his
drink and I have to ask him why he is forcing himself to
eat.

“Dalton…” I say but he jumps in –not giving me the chance to
speak.

“I know what you’re going to ask me, so I will give you an
answer before I hear those pesky words. I’m eating because it
wouldn’t look right, you eating and not me. I have to maintain my
image and I can’t risk people getting suspicious, do you
understand?” My face bursts into flames –again. He has just told me
off and I feel like a naughty school child. He leans in closer to
me, reaching out his cool hand for me take it. I blush again and
then I place my hand into his. His eyes close at my touch and I can
see that he is breathing through his desire. His white lips are
shaking and his hands are gently breaking mine. The pressure from
his fingers and the coolness of his skin, has me speechless,
powerless and in complete awe of him. I want him, I need him, and
he is my world.

“Why can’t you stop blushing?” He says as his eyes jolt open.
On cue, I blush again at his words. He laughs and then he pulls his
hand away from me, smirking at some private joke that only he knows
about. I pull my loose hair around my neck; suddenly I am conscious
about my wounds. Dalton watches me, glaring with his eyes a pale
shade of blue. I nervously tap my fingers on the surface of the
table and Dalton lets out a deafening laugh at my
actions.