Shiver (Night Roamers) (11 page)

I stared up at him and sighed. Part of me s
till cared deeply for him, but the intense feelings for Ethan confused the hell out of me. I didn’t know who or what I wanted. Now, I was half in love with two vampires, which even I knew was insane, not to mention very dangerous.

I
tossed a couple of pillows and a blanket at him. “There you go. Now you can rest and we’ll talk about it in the morning. I’m staying home from school, by the way. I’ll help you get through this.”

He sighed
and then got down on the carpet, not saying anything.

“Goodnigh
t, Duncan,” I said, sliding under my sheets.

He still didn’t say anything.

I moved to the edge of my bed and looked down at him. “Duncan?”

He cleared his throat
and turned so his back was to me. “Goodnight.”

Obviously, I couldn’t
really sleep with him down there, but I felt like I was doing the right thing. It was my fault he’d been turned into a vampire and I planned on helping him deal with it. As I began sorting things out in my muddled head, I heard a choked sob coming from the floor.

“Duncan,” I murmured, going to him.

He turned to me. “Don’t. I don’t want your sympathy.”

“How about my shoulder?”
I whispered, putting my arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

“Thi
ngs are so fucked up,” he choked. “All I wanted was to work on boats and be with my dad. It was all that mattered. Then I met you, and...”

Then he met me and I messed up his life
, I thought.
Now he’s cursed for life
.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered
. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into all of this.”

“No,” he
said, pulling away so we were looking into each other’s eyes. “You don’t understand. What I was trying to say is…
then
I met you and I didn’t care about anything else. I love you, Nikki. You’re all I think about. I’ve missed you so much, and now that I’m one of these… things,” he said with a grimace, “we won’t ever have a chance…”

I placed my finger on his lips. “
Shh… Duncan, don’t ever say ‘never’, okay? There might be a way to beat this and I’m going do everything in my power to help you.”

His eyes began to glow brighter and as I stared in
to them, a wave of intense desire swept through my belly.

“Duncan,” I whispered, as he grabbed my hand and brought it to his mouth.

He kissed my finger with his lips, taking a small taste with his tongue. “Oh, God,” he groaned, shuddering with pleasure. “You taste so good.” Then, he realized what he was doing and tried pushing me away. “No, get away from me.”

But m
y heart was pounding in my chest and I couldn’t help myself. I slid my fingers behind his neck and pulled his mouth to mine, hungry for his lips. “Kiss me,” I whispered against his closed mouth. “Please.”

He moved his face away from mine. “Stop. I’m sorry, I must have done something to you,” he said.

But I couldn’t stop. Whatever fire he’d ignited was growing and I couldn’t help myself. “It’s okay, Duncan,” I said, touching his lips with my finger, knowing it would be his undoing. “Just let me kiss your lips.”

Duncan released a
heavy sigh, but gave in. He wrapped his hands around my waist and turned me over until he was on top of me, our bodies pressing together. As our tongues met, I could feel his excitement below pressing up against me. Wanting to feel it closer, I wrapped my legs around his torso but he froze up.

“We have to stop,”
he gasped, his eyes smoldering with hunger. “Before I lose control.”

I slid my hand into his dark
, wavy hair. “I’ve already lost control,” I replied, dragging his mouth back to mine.

He kissed me hungrily, sucking on my ton
gue as I moved my hands over his shoulder muscles and down his back until I reached the curve of his buns. I gripped them tightly in my hands and he groaned against my mouth. “Nikki.”

“
Duncan,” I whispered back.

His cool hands began to move under my shirt, first tou
ching my belly, making my quiver because of the chill. Then they moved to my breasts and the sensation was oddly… exciting.

I gasped.

“You okay?” he whispered.

I
nodded and closed my eyes as his hand was replaced by his tongue, which was only slightly warmer.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered
huskily.

“Duncan,” I breathed, clutching his hair in my hands and pulling him closer to my breasts.

Something happened in that moment. He stiffened up and moved his face away from my skin. “I have to leave,” he said, “before I can’t stop myself from taking you.”

I released a sigh
. “You don’t have to.”

He clenched his jaw. “We’re not talking about the same thing. The hunger is magnified being this close to you.”

I touched his lips again. “Duncan…”

He moved his mouth away from my fingers.
“Stop,” he said, staring down at me, his face flushed, his eyes blazing with fire. His mouth opened slightly and it was then that I saw the fangs. “I need…”

“
If you need blood that bad,” I interrupted, “take it from me.”

It was my fault he was a vampire and I felt I owed it to
him anyway. I’d already sacrificed myself to Ethan, and I trusted Duncan much more.

“No
,” he growled. “I’m not going to do that to you.”

“I
t’s okay,” I said, offering my neck again. I pushed my dark hair away from my neck. “Just take enough to sustain you for a while.”

His breathing increased until he was almost gasping.
He lowered his lips to my skin, licking just below my ear. I closed my eyes, anticipating the pain from his teeth.

“No,” he snapped, getting up from the floor.
“What you’re asking is suicidal. I have to go.”

I reached out for him. “No, please stay.”

He stepped towards the balcony without looking at me. “I can’t. I knew this was a bad idea.”

Then he open
ed the door and I watched as he leaped over the balcony all the way to the ground and disappeared.

“Well, that certainly wasn’t very smart. He could have drained you down to nothing.”

I whipped my head around
. “Celeste!” She was sitting outside in the same spot as Duncan had been earlier, staring at me with amusement. “You have to quit sneaking up on people.”

She smiled
. “Sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt your little interlude.”

I grabbed a blanket from my room, to wrap around myself.
The chill in the air seemed magnified by her presence. I cleared my throat. “So, um where’s Nathan?”

She licked her
lips. “Oh, he’s had an exhausting night. Don’t worry, though, he’s tucked safely inside of his bed.”

My eyes narrowed
. “You didn’t do anything to him, did you?”

She gave me a wounded look. “You don’t trust me very much, do you?”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I sat down on the chair next to her and stared off towards the woods, wondering where Duncan was headed. “So,” I stated. “You’ve made Duncan into one of you…”

“I had to do it,” she murmured
, wrapping a piece of red hair around her finger and staring at it. “He’d lost too much blood.”

“Why?”

She raised her eyebrows. “What do you mean, why?”

“Why did you
bother saving him? Why didn’t you just suck him dry or whatever it is you Roamers do?”

She studied me for a few seconds and then shrugged
. “I don’t know. I guess I just like Duncan. Besides, I want him to find Ethan and kick his arrogant fucking ass.”

“
So, it really was Ethan who attacked him?”

She nodded. “Of course
, who else could it be?”

I let out a sigh. I was hoping she’d have
an answer other than that. “Well, how did you come across Duncan that night?”

She
stood up and walked over to the railing. Looking off into the distance, she said, “I was just leaving your house when I chanced upon him. It was a pretty bad scene, though, blood everywhere. Fortunately, I called a couple of my friends and we were able to clear the wreckage before daybreak.”

“Why?” I asked.

“It was my dad’s idea. He wanted to avoid any kind of investigation.”

“I don’t understand
. If there was blood everywhere, and it’s so hard to resist, why didn’t Ethan finish him off? Drain him of his blood?”

She shrugged.
“I’m really not sure myself.”

“
Well, what about me? How did I end up back at home?”

“
I don’t know. You weren’t with Duncan when I arrived.”

It was getting more confusing by the minute.
“What about my father? Was he really here last night? Did you kill him?”

She snorted.
“Is that what Ethan told you? That
I
killed your dad?”

“Ethan said there was a man outside of the cabin, watching us through the windows. He said you took care of him.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, he’s good.”

I raised my eyebrows.
“What do you mean?”

“I didn’
t kill that man, Ethan did. He ripped his throat out and tossed him into the lake, then went after you.”

It was hard for me to believe that Ethan had enough time
to do that before he’d kidnapped me; but then again, he had unimaginable speed.

“
Well, why didn’t you stop Ethan? You were outside, supposedly patrolling the area.”

She smirked. “
Why didn’t I stop him? Well, as far as I’m concerned, your father got what he deserved for being a Peeping Tom. Plus, I heard how he abused your mom. You can’t be too upset about his death.”

“He was still my father,” I said
, trying to be strong around her even though I was bordering on the edge of hysteria. As horrible as he’d treated my mom, I couldn’t help but have feelings for my own father.

“Fathers aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be,” she said. “Just think of it this way, your mom doesn’t have to live in fear of him anymore.”

We sat in silence for a while as I stared out towards the lake. It was still horrifying to think that my dad’s body was lost in there.

“
So, now what? Your dad’s just going to leave the body in the lake?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure what dad’s planning on doing. He mentioned trying to blame the recent murders on your dad.”

I shook my head bitterly. “How convenient.”

“It is
, actually.”