Laney (23 page)

“No. I’ve just been trying to keep her and her family safe from him.”

“Why?”

“They are bonded and he wants her for his own. But he will hurt her—probably kill her—so he can break the bond.”

“Bonded how?”

“We don’t choose to bond with someone; it just happens when we find that right someone. A male vampire bonds with one mate, so to speak, and they stay with that one mate for their entire lives. If they are separated from them, they start to have withdrawals, but the bond doesn’t break. The withdrawals will continue forever, causing their bodies and possibly their minds to deteriorate. If the one you are bonded with dies, it’s likely you will die, too. My brother is unhinged, his mind and body have started to weaken from being separated from Julz.”

“How do you know if you’ve bonded with someone?” This was very interesting.

He kissed the top of my head and whispered, “You just know.”

I snuggled in as close as possible. No matter how close I got, it just didn’t seem close enough.

I woke up to Oliver’s magnificent voice. “Laney, I need to get up.”

“Why?” I asked, pulling myself tighter against him.

“I’m…well…I’m hungry.”

“Oh…? What’s stopping you?” I joked softly.

“You. Every time I try to move, you hold on tighter. I don’t want to hurt you trying to get out of your grip.”

“Oh,” I said, reluctantly letting go and purposely running my hand across his chest as I rolled over onto my stomach. I smiled mischievously through tired eyes.

“I’ll be back quickly.” He kissed me on the cheek.

“You better,” I sleepily called after him.

Of course, I couldn’t fall back to sleep. I laid there thinking about last night and the days leading up to it.

Chapter 25 - Have You Ever?

I had already showered and changed by the time Oliver returned.

“It’s chilly out today,” he said, as he rubbed his hands together. He kissed my cheek as he sat with me at the kitchen table. I was having a bowl of Lucky Charms, more like staring down at my marshmallows; something about them didn’t taste right.

“I think these are stale,” I said, dumping them down the garbage disposal. I found an apple in the bottom drawer of the fridge and took a bite.

“That’s a better choice, anyway.” He winked at me.

I stuck my tongue out at him and he chuckled.

“That concert’s tomorrow. Would you still like to go?” he asked.

“Sure. Do I have to color my hair green?” I leaned against the kitchen cabinet.

“Only if you want to.” He came over and wrapped his arm around me, lifting me onto the counter. I wrapped my legs around him holding him there. He started kissing my collar bone. He smelled great. It was like all of my favorite scents mixed together. It made my eyes cross and caused things in me to stir.

“You smell so good. What are you wearing?” I asked, kissing his neck and inhaling deeply.

He broke free of my hold on him and stepped back.

I frowned at him. “What?”

“We should talk.” He held my hand as I hopped off the counter. I left my partially eaten apple behind as he led me to the couch.

“You’re making me nervous. What’s wrong?” I asked as we sat.

“Nothing’s wrong. I need to explain something a little more to you.”

I gave him an “I’m listening” look and he continued.

“Remember the bonding thing I told you about?”

I nodded.

“And how we don’t have a choice?”

I nodded again. My heart rate was picking up.

“Laney, that scent you smell is my bonding scent.”

My eyes widened and my mouth fell open.

“I haven’t fully bonded with you, but I’ve started.”

“What does that mean?” It came out quietly, almost a whisper.

“It means you’re never getting rid of me,” he joked, flashing me a gorgeous smile that had a hint of nervousness to it.

I stared at him.

I saw panic flash in his eyes. “Laney, I love you. I’ve found everything I’ve ever needed and wanted with you. I’m nothing without you.” He looked down like he was insecure about what he had said.

“I don’t really understand. How does this work if you’re a vampire and I’m not? And what do you mean you’ve ‘started bonding?’ Does it take a long time?”

His eyes were back on mine. “I will be bonded to you and you will age as I do because of it.”

“So, I won’t get any older once you’re bonded to me?”

He nodded. “You still have a choice to walk away from me. Until I fully bond, it won’t affect me the same as it will afterward.”

“Why would I walk away from you?”

“There are things you might have to give up—certain things I might not be able to give you.”

“Like what?” I couldn’t imagine what I would want, other than him.

“Babies, Laney. I felt your disappointment when you asked me last night.”

“Oh,” I paused, summoning the courage. “I was disappointed that I can’t give you a piece of us.” I couldn’t look at his face.

“As long as I have you, I don’t need anything more.” He tipped my face up to look into my eyes.

I smiled faintly. “I thought you said you could feel emotions, not read thoughts.” I joked. “How did you know what I was thinking?”

He looked relieved and pulled me into his lap. “Are you sure you’re willing to give that up for me?”

“Yes,” I answered confidently. “Are you sure you’re willing to give it up for me?”

“No doubt in my mind.” He gave me a dazzling smile.

“I’ve heard kids are overrated, anyway,” I joked. “Plus, it’s a maybe; it’s not like we know for sure.”

“True, but I don’t want to risk losing you.” He kissed me and I felt it through my entire body.

I rested my head against his shoulder while I steadied my breathing. “You didn’t answer my other question. Does bonding take a long time?”

He hesitated. “Bonding takes place during sex,” he said it quickly, like he was embarrassed.

This brought up another question I wanted an answer to. “Have you ever?” I whispered.

“No, we only bond once.” He wasn’t getting it.

“Not what I meant. Have you ever been with anyone?”

“Oh,” he chuckled, “I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you.”

“That’s not answering my question,” I said nervously, afraid of what the answer would be.

“No. Have you?”

I felt relieved and happy that he was mine—all mine. “No,” I answered.

He smiled a mischievous smile and flipped me onto my back on the couch. He hovered over me, my knees up on either side of him. My heart rate spiked.

He came in to kiss me and paused, staring into my eyes. “You’re sure?” he whispered seductively. “You’re sure I’m what you want forever?” He hovered over my lips and I yearned for his to touch mine.

“Positive,” I whispered back. My body ached for him.

He moved to my neck, but didn’t touch it. His lips were only inches away, acting like he was going to; teasing me. My back bowed in response. I could feel his cool breath on my skin. My heart was pounding. I started to reach up to pull him closer, but he held my arms down. His gorgeous green eyes met my eyes again. Then his mouth was on mine. His scent got stronger and he stopped. He looked back into my eyes and let go of my arms.

“I won’t bond with you unless you want me to,” he said breathlessly.

“But I do. I do want you to,” I breathed.
Was my body telling him something different?

He smirked crookedly at me. “I know.” He gave me a quick kiss and sat up, pulling me up with him.

“You’re a tease,” I said smacking his arm.

“What did I do?” He tried to play innocent.

“You know exactly what you did.” My body was humming. I didn’t think I could take much more of this.

“I’m sorry.” He smiled at me. “I wanted to know if you were serious.”

“I said I was.”

“I believe you and I’m ready...”

My stomach dropped. I felt ready—but was I?

He continued, “I’m just worried about a few things and I think waiting is a good idea.”

I felt my cheeks warm, but I asked anyway. “What worries?”

“I’m worried I might hurt you and I’m worried you’ll change your mind.”

“I won’t change my mind.” I kissed his lips, hoping to reassure him.

“Once we…” he hesitated, “um… you know…” His cheeks turned pink and I smiled at his uneasiness. “There’s no going back.”

“You said that,” I said softly. “You’ll be
mine
forever.” I ran my fingers through his hair.

“Laney, bonding is kind of old school. Bonded male vampires are very territorial and can become aggressive if anyone gets near their mate.”

“Oliver,” I looked into his beautiful eyes, “I said I know.”

“I just want you to know what you’re getting yourself into before it’s too late. Are you sure you’re ready to trade your life to be with me?”

There was a good, nervous feeling that ran through me and dropped into my stomach. “I love you, Oliver.”

The corner of his mouth rose into a smile and his eyes lit up. “Say it again.” He pulled me back into his lap.

“I love you.”

“Again,” he whispered into my ear.

“I love you,” I whispered back, as that hum flowing through me returned.

“One more time.” His lips were making their way across my cheek and my body was getting closer to the couch again.

“I love you,” I breathed.

“I love you, Laney.” He was on top of me on the couch again and his lips found mine. He kissed me. This kiss was full of passion and he pressed his body against mine, making me tingle in all those secret places again—like every kiss from him did.

Chapter 26 - Bitten

On the night of the concert, I wore jeans, a very fitted, black V-neck T-shirt with rhinestones across the bottom hem, my black glitter Converse shoes, and a black belt with silver stars on it. Oliver also wore jeans and a black tee. Thankfully, his didn’t have rhinestones or that would have been another uncomfortable talk we would need to have.

As usual, his car was spotless. Only a single black sweatshirt lay across the back seat, like it had been tossed back there. My own car, which I hadn’t seen much of lately, was never anywhere near this clean; most of the time it looked like I lived in it.

The concert was out at the fairgrounds inside one of the three large, empty buildings usually reserved for quilting, baking, and art contests during fair time. We arrived just minutes before the concert began. The parking lot, or should I say dirt lot, was a sea of cars and there were people everywhere. We were able to find a spot that wasn’t too far out.

Oliver held my hand as we headed for the building. I noticed him exchange a quick nod with people here and there. I assumed they were vampires, although by looking at them, you’d never know.

There were no seats inside, just a big cement space filled with people and a stage that sat on the opposite side from the doors. There were people pouring in from both entrances at either end of the building. Oliver led me through the crowd to a spot to the right of the front of the stage, where we found Julz and Hayden. I looked them both up and down, taking them in. They were both wearing black miniskirts and black Ugg-looking boots. Hayden was wearing a hot pink T-shirt with black hearts all over it and a chunk of fake pink hair was clipped into her beautiful, long dark locks. Julz was wearing the same T-shirt, but in purple, and her hair seemed like it had more purple in it than before and it brushed against her shoulders.

She caught me eyeing her hair and said with a small smile and gesturing to herself, “You’ve gotta play the part when you’re dating a rock star.” She and Hayden both hugged me and Julz shot Oliver a dirty look. I wondered what the look meant and that thought was accompanied by a hint of jealousy rising up in me that I had to suppress if I wanted to make it through the night in her company.

The band stepped out onto the stage and the crowd went wild. I recognized the massive, beefy Felix on the bass and Isaac with his messy, turquoise-dipped hair as lead singer and guitarist. There were three other guys that I hadn’t seen before. Isaac introduced each one of them, leaving Felix and himself last. “Felix Alexander on bass.” The crowd roared. “And I’m Isaac Scott.” More screaming erupted.

“Hey,” I yelled to Oliver. He shot me a sideways glance. “Felix and I have the same last name.”

“Yep.”

That’s it? Just yep?

“You don’t have to yell. I can hear you over this.”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

He had to raise his voice so I could hear him. “One of those cool vampire things. Plus, I’m really attuned to you, you know.” He winked and flashed me a quick half-smile.

My body hummed at the thought of him being bonded to me.

Isaac continued, “We are
Bitten
!” The crowd roared with excitement.

Again, I raised an eyebrow at Oliver. “
Bitten
? Really?”

He shrugged and gave me another quick, crooked smile while giving my hand a little squeeze.

The band was pretty good—actually they were fantastic. If I had to put them in a category, I would have to say they were alternative rock. Maybe Nickelback meets the Plain White Ts. I recognized one of the songs as Oliver’s ringtone.

Oliver stood behind me with his arms wrapped around my shoulders. Every so often, he would kiss the top of my head, sending shivers down my spine.

Hayden was living it up—shaking her hips, screaming, and jumping. She was a lot of fun to watch. Julz danced along, too. Her amethyst curls bounced on her shoulders, but she was a little more reserved than her daughter.

About five songs in, Isaac dedicated one.

“This song is dedicated to my girl.” He winked right at her. “I love you, baby,” he added. A wave of “Ahhhs” flowed through the room. Julz looked so sweet and in love.

The song was beautiful. It was slower and we swayed along to it. The words were something about not having to worry about anything, that he’d always be there no matter what, falling in love with her more every day, and that just having her meant he had everything. I glanced over at her and tears were pooled in her eyes, threatening to fall, but they didn’t. She swayed back and forth, holding onto Hayden, their arms wrapped around each other side by side. It was just Isaac singing and playing guitar, sweet and beautiful.

The crowd exploded when he finished, including Oliver and myself. I’m not sure I had ever heard so much screaming, clapping, and whist-ling. Granted, this was my first concert.

Suddenly everything changed. Julz screamed, and not a happy one, then she crumpled to the ground. Hayden hovered over her and looked at Oliver in desperation. He squatted beside Julz and grasped her hand, palms together, and laced his fingers with hers. With his other hand, he turned her face to his to look into her eyes. They were closed and tears were streaming from them. Her mouth was open, just enough to see fangs. That confirmed it; she was a vampire, too. Like I was surprised.

“Open your eyes, Julz,” Oliver said with a desperate tone. She shook her head and with anger in his voice this time he said it again. “Open them now!” She did. I had no idea what was going on. People close to us started to stare out of curiosity, but no one else seemed to notice. The band was talking to the crowd and they were cheering song titles in return.

Oliver jumped to his feet and screamed Felix’s name.

Felix turned directly to Oliver from the stage, his smile fading fast.

“He’s here!” Oliver yelled.

It happened so fast that I couldn’t really tell what was happening. Someone, or something, came flying from the crowd onto the stage toward Isaac. Felix jumped in front of Isaac, shoving him down and out of the way.

Oliver grabbed my hand and looked at me more seriously than ever before, “Do not let go of my hand, for any reason. Understand?”

I nodded, wide eyed and speechless. He held my hand so tightly I was sure my arm would come off before he’d let go.

He was standing protectively near the three of us girls. He was scanning the area, like he was looking for something. I was scared. I had no idea what was going on, but my experience with Oliver had proven that if he was freaking out, I should be, too.

Suddenly, Felix and Isaac were beside us. It startled me and I jumped, letting out a little squeal.

Felix said, “Run!” with such demand that none of us hesitated.

The crowd was frantic from whatever had happened and people were running, stumbling, falling, and screaming wildly out the doors and into the night.

We were almost to the exit when I spotted Oscar leaning casually with his arms crossed against the wall near our way out. I stopped dead, but Oliver’s grip caused me to be jerked after him. Oliver slowed; pulling me forward, he started to say something to me but then followed my gaze.

“Felix, look out!” Oliver shouted.

Felix and the others stopped and they, too, looked at what Oliver was staring at.

Oscar smiled a mocking smile, then gave us a little wave with his fingers. There was a snarl behind us. We all spun around and through the craze of the crowd we saw a vampire coming at us with his fangs bared. He looked feral and insane. His eyes bore down on us with a demonic leer and I scrambled to get closer to Oliver. His dark hair was wild and greasy and his skin had a grey tone to it. He was getting closer faster than should’ve been possible. Oliver pulled my free hand from his arm, frowned at me, and then looked at his arm. I was gripping his arm so hard that I had dug my fingernails into his skin and a small trickle of blood had appeared. My eyes widened. I looked at him and said, “Sorry.” I had no idea that was even possible.

Abruptly, Oliver and Felix turned to each other and, without saying a word, nodded. Then we were running again. Oliver was pulling me hard; Julz had Isaac’s hand in one of hers and Hayden’s hand in the other and she was pulling them along. We were following Felix to our original exit where Oscar was standing. Oscar’s expression changed as we got closer because Felix was heading straight for him and not for the door like the rest of us. Oscar ran, like the cowardly weasel Felix had said he was, and Felix was right behind him. They were out the door and into the night in seconds. Yet, there was something more terrifying behind us! We made it out the exit and we didn’t slow down. If anything, we sped up.

We raced to Oliver’s car and piled inside. Oliver pulled me onto his lap on the driver’s side while Julz shoved Isaac and Hayden in the passenger seat and then sat on them protectively. It looked rather comical. If I hadn’t been scared to death, I might have laughed.

“This would be one of those times I wish I had four doors,” Oliver said with a nervous laugh.

He started the car and we were speeding away with dirt spinning up everywhere, but not fast enough. Something hit the back of the car and several startled screams echoed from inside the car. One of them was mine.

That vampire was on the car.

“Hold on,” Oliver said. I curled into a ball on his lap, wrapping my arms around him, burying my face in his chest. I just knew that ram logo on the steering wheel would be imbedded into my skin soon.

The back window busted in with a thunderous crash. That psychotic vampire was trying to get in. He was coming in head first. His demonic eyes were flashing from one face to another.

Julz threw herself into the back and, with a couple of swift kicks, she knocked him out of the car.

Oliver watched in the rearview mirror while Julz watched out the back window to make sure he was really gone.

“He’s gone,” she said.

Oliver started yelling at her. “Of course he’s gone! You just freakin’ exposed yourself. He’s going to run back and tell Oscar.”

“What was I supposed to do?” she defended.

“This shit has got to end, Julz! Ugh!” He ended with a frustrated roar and a pound of his fist on the steering wheel. I was still wrapped around him, like a belt, but I wasn’t willing to let go. I was holding on and holding on tight. And from my position I had a pretty good view of everyone in the car.

Julz pulled Isaac into the backseat with her. “Put your seatbelt on Hayden,” she told her daughter.

Oliver sped onto the freeway. I still didn’t ease up on the death grip I had on him.

“Call Felix and find out what’s going on,” Oliver said.

No one responded.

“Hayden!”

Her head snapped toward him, her sapphire blue eyes full of tears. “He knows, Oliver. He’s going to come after us. He’ll know my mom’s a vampire.”

“Call Felix and tell him. Now Hayden! Keep it together. There’s no guarantee that psycho has any clue what’s really going on.” He reached over and rubbed her arm. “It’ll be okay.”

She forced a smile at him and dialed her phone. “He didn’t answer. I’ll send him a text.”

“Whoa!” Oliver yelled and jerked the wheel. “They’re all over the road.”

Hayden screamed as someone threw himself at the car. I held on tighter. We were on the freeway and vampires were throwing themselves at us, attempting to get onto the car. Oliver swerved all over the freeway, the tires screeching as he did. Thankfully, there were few cars on the stretch we were on. He took the nearest exit and hit the gas down a straightaway. The engine roared. Something hit the roof of the car.

“There are three of them on the car!” Julz screamed.

Oliver took a corner at high speed and two of them lost their grip and fell off. He punched the gas again. The one vampire left was beating on the roof. I watched as each pound caused a large dent in the roof. I scrunched myself down further. Oliver turned a corner on a steep hill and lost control of the car. Either on purpose or accident, I didn’t know. I felt his arms wrap tightly around me as screams filled the car. The car jerked violently, then rolled over several times, glass spraying everywhere and airbags deploying. The car came to a stop on its roof, after skidding several feet and rocking in place for a moment.

He grabbed hold of my shoulders and held me back to look at my face. “Are you okay?” His voice was anxious.

“I think so.” My body ached, but I didn’t feel like anything was wrong. We were crumpled on the inside of what was once the roof of Oliver’s car.

“Is everyone okay?” he asked the others.

Hayden was stuck in her seat upside down. She was messing with her seatbelt and trying to push the airbag out of her way.

“Isaac’s bleeding,” Julz said, alarmed.

“Stop it!” Oliver told her, as he pushed the button on Hayden’s seatbelt which caused her to crumple onto the roof beside me. Then he pulled himself free of the mangled car. I watched as he straightened. Once he was out, he took a minute—I assumed to scan the area—then he then pulled me out.

“You know I can’t stop it,” Julz whined.

“Yes, you can!” he roared at her. I jumped.

Hayden crawled out the passenger side of the car as Oliver continued scanning the area, the tips of his fangs poking out of his closed mouth. It was actually quite sexy.

Whoa, not the time!

“We need to get out of here fast,” he said urgently.

Julz crawled out the back window and pulled Isaac out after her.

“Why is he still bleeding?” Oliver turned on her.

“I can’t do it,” she whined again.

“Damn it, Julz! I am not going to lick your boyfriend for you!”

“Why the hell would you lick him?” The words flew out of my mouth.

He spun around on me. His face was tense; his eyes dark. He scared me a little and I think he felt it. He quickly grabbed me and pulled me close. “Our saliva has healing powers to it. All she has to do is lick him and it will heal.” The second part was louder and directed at Julz.

She started whimpering.

“Mom! Just do it!” Hayden’s demanded.