Full Moon (33 page)

“What if you were destined to be in my
world?”

“No. I want to grow old, Jesse, and you’re
not gonna want me when I’m eighty. I know I’m taking it to
extremes, though, ‘cause we probably wouldn’t even last that
long.”

“Who says?”

“Tell me what to expect…and please don’t
sugarcoat it. Be upfront.”

He let out a long breath. “You’re walking
into a major train wreck,” Jesse said.

“I love your honesty.”

“I’d be lying if I told you everything will
be roses and candy. Nothing about our relationship would be
typical.”

“You know it will be hell, yet you still
want me to walk down the fiery path?”

He towered above me with a desperate look on
his face. He peered into my eyes, as if I was his only hope. “It’s
your choice, and it won’t be easy, but I can’t stand to be apart
from you.”

“Jesse, please tell me you didn’t kill those
women I keep hearing about in the news.”

He sucked in a breath, then let it out
slowly. “I didn’t.”

“If you say you didn’t, I believe you, but
have you ever killed anyone? I have to know.”

“No. I’m not a murderer.”

“That makes me feel better.”

“I’m also not perfect, Taylor. A war rages
in me constantly between human compassion and the vampire urges I
was born with. I feel like I need to make more changes for you to
even consider being with somebody like me.”

“You don’t need to change a thing,” I said.
“You’re the most wonderful person I know. When I see how you act
with those animals at the zoo, I couldn’t imagine you hurting
anybody.”

He lifted his hand to the invisible barrier,
his lips settling into a serious line. “I’m broken.”

I touched his hand that was resting on the
invisible wall. “Who isn’t?”

He took a deep breath, then continued, “You
couldn’t begin to fix me.”

“Who says you need fixing?” I said.
“Perfection is overrated anyway. For me, you’re perfect just the
way you are. I want you for you, the guy I’m staring at this very
second.”

“But I’ve messed up, and—”

“Who doesn’t? Heck, I’ve messed up a million
times. When I do, I just get back on my feet and try again.”

“It’s hard to keep moving forward when life
has thrown so many disappointments at me. Sometimes I think I’m,
uh…”

“Misunderstood?”

His lips pressed into a grim line.
“Yes.”

Our eyes connected, and we held the gaze for
a long moment.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you.
You’re the only one who gets me.”

“You get me too,” I said. “We can’t use our
mistakes as an excuse to avoid getting back up. We can’t undo the
past, but we can always start over again.”

“Let’s forget all about our pasts.”

“And begin again…together?” I said softly.
“Do you believe in fresh starts, in new beginnings?”

“Yes.”

“Just remember, Jesse, that life is what you
make it. Even if you’re gonna live for thousands of years, you must
make every day count.”

“Do you believe in fate?” he asked.

“I do.”

“You and me are already set in motion,
Taylor. We couldn’t stop if we tried.”

I stared into his eyes, and I couldn’t deny
the truth of his words. “You’re far more than the charming vampire
from Big Bear Lake, California.”

“Do you trust me, Taylor?” he asked.

Emotion flooded his features, and tears
welled up in his eyes. I could see how much he cared about me. We
were clearly meant to be together. I couldn’t explain it, but I
felt it all the way to the core of my being. I knew life would be
better with him by my side, in spite of what he was—or maybe
because of it.

I stared deeply into his eyes. “Of course I
trust you.”

His penetrating gaze pierced my soul, and my
knees threatened to buckle.

“Then prove it,” he said.

The intensity between us began to grow. I
drew another breath, deeper than before. A thousand flames coursed
through me, threatening to consume me; I could actually feel the
heat rising.
I’m dying for his touch
. Even still, I knew if I stepped out that door, I’d have
no defenses against him. I had promised Julie, my new best friend,
that I wouldn’t risk too much, but the inexplicable connection
between us was luring me with fierce temptation.
Should I take him
up on his dare? Should I take the risk when every logical impulse
is screaming for me to run? If I step out that door, am I walking
into danger’s arms?

He had a gravitational pull I couldn’t
deny, like a tractor beam, pulling me in. I was drawn to him in
every way. I had never believed in that kind of attraction; I’d
always thought it was exaggerated for books and movies because I’d
never experienced it for myself. Now, standing there in front of
him, I felt helpless against its pull, against that
butterfly-flying-to-the-moon-and-back sensation. Jesse was
him
, the guy I’d
been looking for, the one who ignited a fire inside of me, the
person with whom I felt the strongest, most amazing connection I’d
ever felt before.

He held out his hand, and I inhaled deeply.
I didn’t know if I was going to die or not, but I trusted him with
all my heart.

I stared at his beaming smile as I stepped
through the doorway, into his strong arms. His twinkling eyes shone
as he gazed straight into my brown ones. The chemistry between us
was electric and mind-blowing, but our bond was stronger than that
and was steadily growing. I could feel his heart, his love, his
emotion, and his strong affection.

Our eyes locked, and everything around me
disappeared. I breathed in the scent of his skin. In a flash, his
strong arms lifted me off the ground, and within milliseconds, my
back was pinned against the outer wall of the house. An electric
shock shot through me as his lips crashed into mine. His body
pressed against mine, and I let out a soft moan. His breath was hot
on my skin, and heat rushed to my cheeks. I tugged at his shirt,
allowing him to deepen our kiss. My entire body ignited. Hunger
roared inside me as I burned with desire. He tasted so good that I
couldn’t stop.

Hot tingles flooded through my body like a
giant tidal wave. I loved when his mouth crushed mine, when his
strong hands cupped the back of my head as his soft tongue swirled
around mine in circles. I slid my hands up his back and wrapped
them around his strong shoulders. The mesmerizing kiss grew bolder,
turning into something so passionate, so intense, so wild and crazy
and everything Jesse represented. The Earth stopped, and everything
around me faded other than the beating of my racing heart. I felt
like I’d been scorched by a bolt of lightning. When we pulled away,
I was gasping for air and breathing heavily. It wasn’t every day
I’d met a myth, let alone kissed one.

I had never, ever been kissed like that
before, not even in my sexiest fantasies. I’d heard people talk
about fireworks, symphonies, and electricity when describing
kisses, but the sensation of our lips meeting was a million times
more amazing than anything I’d ever imagined. My heart continued
beating faster than the wings of a humming bird. I had him in my
arms, and I was never going to let go.

I tangled my fingers through his thick, soft
hair as the kiss deepened into a passionate lip-lock—long, fast,
and intense. He poured all of his mind, body, soul, and emotion
into the mind-blowing moment, then kissed me again. This time, it
was slow, tender, and passionate—so perfect, so right, and so
romantic. Sparks flew as I opened and closed my mouth to the
rhythm, wanting to devour him.

He rested his forehead against mine as we
took long, slow breaths, his intense eyes burning as he gazed into
my very core, right into my soul.

“You stole my breath,” I said, “but I
should’ve expected that. You’re supposed to give hot, deadly
kisses. It’s what your kind are known for.”

He touched his forehead against mine, and
every inch of my body tingled, desperately longed for his
touch.

“You’re trouble,” I said.

His winter-blue eyes held mine. “Yet you
stay.”

I drew another breath. “I should go.”

A grin creased his face. “But you
won’t.”

“When I see something I want, I don’t run
just because of a few hurdles.”

“Lucky for me.”

I smiled.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you that deeply from
the very second I laid eyes on you in the forest,” he said.

“Me too,” I said, caressing his sweet face.
“That was amazing. You’re a great kisser, Jesse…for a dead
guy.”

He laughed. “I’m not dead. Please don’t
mistake me for one of those walking corpses.”

“Sorry.”

He smiled. “I’ll take that as a
compliment.”

I kissed his lips again as rays of light
passed through the clouds and shone on our faces. “It’s been cloudy
all day…until now,” I said when I pulled away and looked at his
beautiful, angelic face.

“See? Even the universe is starting to take
notice,” he said, gently weaving his hands through my hair.

I grinned. “Maybe it’s a great and glorious
sign that we’re meant for each other.”

“I don’t need signs. I knew it the moment I
saw you.” He kissed my lips ever so softly, mesmerizing me as his
warm breath hovered there. “Am I everything you thought a vampire
would be?”

“Hmm. You’re missing the white, frilly shirt
and billowing, black cape,” I retorted.

He smirked. “My mom told me to stay hip with
today’s styles and not to wear the cape, no matter how good it
looks on me.”

I laughed. “And you’re also missing the
slicked-back hair, fake blood, the white-painted face with dark
circles, and, last but not least, the plastic fangs.”

“Plastic fangs would make me talk with a
lisp. Mine are all natural.”

I touched his lips. “Wow. I just kissed the
most prolific monster in the history of movies and television and
lived to tell about it.”

“Hollywood is so confused about us,” he
said. “I’m far more layered and complex than they’ll ever
know.”

“You don’t have an overwhelming desire to
bite me, do you?” I asked with a smile.

“Well…maybe, but not for blood.”

“You can control your bloodlust for me?”

“I’m not saying it’s easy. I feed before
work, even though I only need to once a week. My mom has a source
who supplies us from a blood bank he works at. Eating every day
helps keep me in check. Also, Sam taught me how to keep my urges
under control, and Kierra showed me what to do when I feel like I’m
going to explode. Mom worked with me a lot to teach me how to be
around humans and animals. If I couldn’t keep it under control, I
could never work at the zoo.”

“Well, you’re doing a good job fitting in,”
I said.

I still didn’t understand how I could crave
someone like him, someone who was nothing but trouble. Sure, he was
dangerous, wild, and untamed, but I found those qualities
intriguing as the unquenchable desire flooding through me whenever
I looked at him. My heart beat a million times a minute every time
I was around him, but I couldn’t run. Yes, Jesse was a vampire, but
I felt safer around him than I’d ever felt with anyone before.

“I didn’t get this way overnight,” he said.
“It was…well, a long process.”

I knew he was telling the truth.
Life is
crazy,
I thought,
or maybe it’s just
fate.
All I knew was
that I’d been thrown a major curveball, and I had no idea what to
expect. Jesse was a puzzle, and I planned to put every piece
together until I had the full picture of him. I knew I shouldn’t
kiss someone so dangerous, someone with such a dark secret flowing
through his veins, but our deliciously wicked kiss played over and
over in my head, and I simply couldn’t turn away.

Jesse’s thumb grazed my lips as he stared
deeply into my eyes. “There must be something wrong with my eyes,”
he softly said.

“What? Why?”

“I-I can’t seem to take them off you.”

I smiled widely. He was my addiction, my
drug, and no force on Earth could keep me away.
I kissed a vampire…and I liked
it,
I thought to the
tune of that Katy Perry song. A jolt shot down my spine as I gazed
into his eyes, still regarding me with that look that told me he
couldn’t stop thinking about our kiss either.

The problem was, Jesse was a vampire, while
I was a mere human. Not only that, but he wasn’t just a normal
vampire, the Dracula sort or one of those baseball-playing, twinkly
ones from the movies. No, my vampire was a rare species, a
supernatural wonder who could actually walk in the light. When I
really thought about that, I was floored.

Will we actually make it? I wondered.
Truthfully, I had no idea. I still couldn’t fathom jumping into the
world of the paranormal, the darkness of vampire legend. I couldn’t
imagine anything more dangerous. Then again, I didn’t care, because
I couldn’t imagine anything more intriguing either. I knew the high
stakes and the risk, but I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted
anything or anyone.

Yes, I knew he was toxic, but sometimes we
can’t control what the heart wants—and mine screamed for Jesse with
every beat.

Taylor’s story continues with
Book 2:
Crash, now
available (see pic below)

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