The Masquerade (30 page)

"I'm sorry." I shook my head, but he put one of
his fingers to my bottom lip. "I hate what you've had to witness. It isn't right for you."

I shrugged. "I feel fine, Ben. You saved me. That's what matters."

His eyes, still black with hunger and malevolence, hardened.
"I can't bear to see you like that again. It's not good for either of us. Your flesh exposed like that was driving me insane. I wanted to," he cut himself off with a sharp exhale. "I can't feel that way again and I can't
stand to see you in pain."

"Stop," I told him sternly and climbed into his lap. His hands grasped my waist on impulse to hold my body against his. I locked my arms around his neck and glared into his eyes until I was sure he was
really listening. "I'm human. I feel pain. That's the way it's supposed to be, no matter who or what causes it." I shrugged, "As for the craving of my flesh...I can think of other ways to satisfy your needs."

The glare in his eyes darkened. It was fueled, not by hunger, but desire. A ghost of a smile appeared in his expression. "You're staying at my house tonight," he told me, his voice heavy with restraint.

I cocked an eyebrow and pulled back so that he could see my expression. I shook my head and put my hands to my hips. "Ask me nicely."

His eyes narrowed. I was suddenly lying with my back against
my mattress, my wrists held captive by one of his hands over my head, while he leaned over me. The way his fully clothed body rubbed over my exposed skin drove me insane. He purposely rocked himself above me in small, strategic movements that sent me writhing beneath him.

"Stay with me tonight," he commanded, using the rough sexy notch in his voice to provoke my answer. He leaned down and skimmed his lips down the side of my neck while continuing his movements.
"Please," he whispered against my skin.

"God," I groaned, "Whatever you want."

His lips caressed mine in a way that contradicted the harsh words he used before. His hands released mine so that they could roam over my
skin. One hand gently massaged my breast through the fabric of my bra while the other skimmed over my waist. I moaned into his mouth, encouraging his movements with my reactions. His kiss intensified until he had claimed my lips. My hands
ran through his dark hair when I felt his lips trail soft kisses down the side of my neck.

"We said we'd clean up, not listen to the two of you swap spit! Get your asses downstairs."
We stopped when we heard
Jesse's voice echo throughout the house.

"They can hear us," I stated with wide eyes. I forgot about their sensitive hearing. Ben rolled off me, on the side opposite to my wound. He pulled me up with his hands with a smug look tugging at his
expression. I rolled my eyes and shoved against his shoulder while I maneuvered off the bed without causing my side much pain.

I pulled a clean shirt from my pile of laundry that I didn't bother folding and put my arms through with tentative movements. Ben's hands
adjusted my shirt so that it was in place, a smile in his eyes as he watched me.

"What?" I asked him, smiling back.

He shook his head and motioned to my closet. "You're
going to need extra clothes. You have school tomorrow, don't you."

My gaze flicked to the clock on my nightstand. It was past midnight. I groaned, knowing there was no way I could skip tomorrow. My mom
would get a call and I would never hear the end of it.

"Give me a sec to grab some things."

I grabbed my old messenger bag stocked it full of clothes from my closet that would last me a couple days. I noticed Ben's black combat
boots that I'd stolen the other night and decided to bring them out for his notice. When I emerged from my closet he was standing in front of my bed with his hands shoved inside his pockets. His eyes dropped to his boots in my hands.

"Those are a little too big for you, don't you think?" He smirked.

"You know what they say about guys with big shoes," I mused and added with a whisper, "Big feet."

He rolled his eyes, took them from my hands, and tossed them to the floor. He grabbed my waist and pulled me against him. "We might not make it to my house if you keep it up."

"The hell you won't," Max shouted from my kitchen.

I shoved Ben away from me and left my bedroom with my bag hanging over my shoulder. He followed behind me, down the stairs, and into the kitchen that was now spotless. The floor was shiny as if it had just been
washed with a scrub brush, not a speck of blood remained. My eyes scanned the room for the body, but it was as though there had never been a zombie corpse in my kitchen.

"Damn, I'm good." Cam said, acknowledging the
clean up job.

"You didn't do shit," Max snapped.

Jesse looked at me, "Are you okay?"

I nodded, feeling Ben's arm drape around my shoulders.
"I'm fine, thank you."

"Is PJ taking care of the body?" Ben asked them.

Max nodded, "That's his favorite part."

All of them snickered. I tried to rack my brain for anything
I knew about PJ from a musician's standpoint. He was the quiet, nonchalant one...and he never wore a shirt. Whatever inside joke they shared, he was the center of it.

PJ came through the back door, his long black hair hanging
into his face to conceal his eyes when he slithered back into the room. He looked up and with a simple word, "Done." Everyone nodded as though they hadn't just been talking about him.

"We will see you guys back at the house," Jesse
said, tossing his black hair to one side and running a hand through it.

"You came to check up on me anyway," I realized out loud.

Jesse's eyes met mine. "You were scared. I wasn't going
to leave Ben's girl alone without making sure she was okay first."

"Thanks, Jesse."

He shrugged and motioned to the rest of the guys, "Let's go." Max was the first to exit. Cam followed behind but stopped in the
doorway, blocking Jesse and PJ's way. "Move," Jesse shot at him.

Cam turned, his arms crossed, and a pout on his lower lip. "Ask me nicely."

My mouth fell open and the crimson rushed to warm my cheeks.
Jesse snickered and put his hands to his mouth to suppress a fake gasp. "
God
, whatever you want."

"Get out," Ben barked.

The two guys shot us amused smirks before they left, leaving
behind taunting snickers.

PJ paused to mutter dryly, "Bitches," before he disappeared without looking at either of us.

Ben's lips brushed against the side of my head. "I'll
kill them later."

My cheeks were still heated, wearing the embarrassment on my face. I smiled and leaned into him. "They're entertaining."

His hand found mine when he pulled me to the front door.
"You're not stuck with them on a tour bus for months at a time."

"I'm guessing they're annoying as hell."

Ben laughed. "Baby, I've been there. Hell has nothing
on those idiots."

"They're coming, Ben."

We stood in the entryway of the large house I had yet to see the inside of, other than one of the bedrooms. The room was wide and appeared
to be newly renovated with extensive white molding and marble floors. There was a large black sofa in the living room where Max sat strumming an acoustic guitar. He looked as though he was trying to preoccupy himself.

A large flat screen television took up most of the wall
while the other sides were covered with enlarged magazine covers of The Masquerade framed on the wall. There were a few guitars hanging on display as well. I noticed they contained signatures by a few musicians I recognized
immediately such as Jim Morrison and Elvis Costello. I tried not to freak out, but it was tempting.

"What?" Ben froze, his hand instinctively moved in front of my stomach like someone was prepared to attack me.

Jesse looked up from his phone and set it down on the bar counter that provided an open view to their stainless steel kitchen. "I got a text from Jensen. The Undead know we have Ella and they're pissed." I remembered Ben telling me they had insiders who ran with the Undead, but
reported back to them.

"How many?"

Jesse stared at him. "They're not sending anyone.
They're
coming," he repeated with emphasis.

"All of them?"

"Enough to have us outnumbered," he frowned. Max silenced the sound of his soft strumming with his hand. He looked up, his eyes wide. I tried to suppress the gulping sound I made when I swallowed but no one
seemed to notice.

Ben ran his hands through his hair before he gripped the back of his neck. His eyes closed and his jaw locked tight. The four guys watched him like they were waiting for him to come up with a master plan to
save everyone. I knew from the frustration and anger contorting his features that he didn't have one.

His eyes suddenly snapped open. "We're fucked."

"Speak for yourself," Cam said when he strolled
into the room. "Hawaii is lookin' good to me."

"We can't leave," Max said, like he was scolding a child. "We're marked. They'll find us. Running is only putting off the
inevitable."

Cam started at him dubiously. "If I'm going down, I'm going down in style and Hawaii sounds like one hell of a place to make that happen." He turned, slapped his hand on PJ's back, who stood silent with
his arms crossed over his chest. "And think of the babes!" A small trace of a smile appeared on PJ's lips at Cam's words.

The room grew silent. Jesse and Ben appeared to be communicating through a glaring contest. Max's hard gaze was directed to the
floor. PJ tilted his head back against the wall with his eyes closed. They were all suffering for a mistake Ben made and now he refused to follow up with the solution he had to save them. It was all because of me. I imagined his band
mates must have hated me. Cam seemed to be the only one of them who wasn't distressed, he was grinning. I imagined he was picturing himself in Hawaii surrounded by girls in bikinis.

"The Undead want me," I said slowly, capturing
their attentions when they turned to me. "If they had me they would probably leave you guys alone, right?"

Ben's eyes snapped to mine. "Don't even think about it, Ella."

I turned to him frowning. "Why? Your attempt to protect
me is going to kill your best friends. Do you honestly think I'm going to be able to live with that?"

"Technically," Cam drawled, "We're already dead so..."

"Your argument is invalid," Jesse finished, accepting a fist bump from Cam.

I rolled my eyes. "You know what I meant."

"Giving yourself up is not an option," Ben stated
firmly, grasping my arms so that I would look at him directly. His gaze bore into mine, "If anyone is coming out of this alive its
you
and I'm going to do everything I can to make that possible."

"That isn't fair," I said, raising my voice.

"We have already had our time," Jesse said. "We're all past our expiration dates. Your life has barely begun and taking it away from you so that we can continue our murderous rampage isn't
fair."

It made sense, but I didn't like it and I wasn't going to admit that. It didn't feel right knowing Ben was going to give up his existence so that I could have a fair shot at life. My life wasn't relevant, or even
possible, if Ben was no longer a part of it. Carrying myself through the day without Ben was emptiness. But not to have him somewhere in the world at all was unbearable.

"Ben's finally got himself a girl and we plan on
keeping her around," Cam added with a wink for me.

I spared him a faint smile, unable to afford anything more. "Then what are you going to do?"

"Kill some flesh eating sons of bitches," Jesse
said rubbing his hands together as if it were that simple.

"You're going to fight them," I deduced.

"No we're going to construct civil conversations," Max said slowly, a smirk mending to his expression.

"With our fists," Cam coughed obnoxiously. PJ smacked him a few times on the back as if he were actually having trouble breathing. I couldn't help watch the two of them without smiling. PJ didn't say
much, but he had as much personality as Cam, who fed off everyone's actions.

"It doesn't feel right," I mumbled.

"Hey," Ben said fiercely. He was in front of me, one of his hands took my chin and tilted it up so that I had no choice but get
lost in the intensity of his eyes. "We're not going on a suicide mission. We know what we're doing and we are more than capable of fighting them. And we have Cam with your blood in his system,"

"Aw yeah!" Cam's voice erupted from somewhere in the kitchen.

Ben rolled his eyes, but kept his focus on me. "I plan on living through this." His hand cupped the side of my face and I
instinctively leaned into his palm, "And I think you know why." His voice was softer than I'd ever heard it. He made it so incredibly difficult to stay in the moment rather than melt into skin when it touched mine. "I want you, Ella."

My head swam and the familiar warmth returned. I wanted him, forever, or however long I had. I couldn't imagine anyone else. It was Ben. It was always going to be Ben. I couldn't find words to respond, feeling them
clobbered together in my throat. Cam took my chance and came back into the room.

"Man, this is getting weird!" He shouted. Ben moved to the side so that I could catch Cam's disgruntled expression when he threw his hands up. I noticed Ben's eyes darken on his friend. "You're a
sap with all your feelings," he threw a disgusted look to Ben. "What happened to the hard edged bad ass that couldn't give two shits about anything?" His eyes zeroed on me, the culprit. He extended his arms out in
Ben's direction like he was on display. "Look at what you've done!"

I snickered, but Ben was less than amused. "He's still here," he said, his voice threatening, "And he's about to kick your
ass."

"Oh eat me lover boy." Cam looked at PJ, "C'mon babe let's go," reached his arm around and smacked PJ's ass.

PJ straightened, his eyes wide and humorless on Cam as he
stalked towards the front door. I moved to the side when he pulled the door wide open, muttering something about needing a beer. If I didn't know any better I would have taken his sudden rampage seriously.

"Homo," Jesse called after him.

Cam turned in the entryway, lifted up his shirt, the inked skin on his stomach exposed. "You know you would," he said, his eyebrows raised in mock seduction.

"We're going to bed," Ben stated. He took me
gently by the arm and led me past their living room, into a hallway where a large winding staircase was located.

"Okay sweetie," Jesse called as after we left.

I heard Ben huff and sputter something nasty under his
breath that I couldn't catch. I stopped after climbing a couple steps and turned to face Ben who still stood at the bottom. I pressed my hands against his chest with my eyebrows raised.

"Do you need to feel a little more manly?" I
teased.

He nodded. "I'll go break something."

My laughter cued the anger to wash out of his eyes. His hands found my waist as he pulled me closer and coaxed me into his arms. I
allowed him to lift me while I wrapped my legs securely around his waist.

He carried me up the stairs with my hands tangled in his hair and his lips at my throat. I couldn't peel my eyes open to pay attention
to the second story of the house until he carried me into his bedroom. His lips finally left my throat when he set me down on the bed and tossed my messenger bag to the side. The second my butt found the mattress my weight instantly sank
into the comforter and the exhaustion pressed against my shoulders. I let out a yawn while my eyes wandered over his room.

He laughed, "Tired?"

"A little," I said absentmindedly. My hand trailed
over the inviting sheer duvet cover. My eyes moved over his large room. It was familiar, but different under the light. There was a large stone fireplace on the wall opposite to the bed and more framed posters such as The Misfits from the early days and an enlarged still of a Black Flag concert.

The walls were a dark grey that brought out the dark posters magnificently. There was a guitar case in the corner of the room and a black electric bass guitar in a stand beside it. There were a few amplifiers around
the area. I noticed an older, worn down amp with the words
Fuck you PJ
written on the side with white duct tape. I smiled lightly, taking note to ask about that story later.

There was a black leather couch on the far side of the room
placed in front of a flat screen television that was smaller than the one downstairs. I noticed a leather jacket that appeared to have been tossed over the armrest. My mind triggered the memory of the one hanging in my closet.

Ben stood in front of me, but I could feel his eyes watching me curiously, gaging my reaction of his room now that I was actually paying attention to detail. "Is that the famous leather jacket?" I asked motioning to it.

"No, I left
that
one with a girl last year." His heated gaze pinned me against the bed.

"Why?" I asked him, my voice barely a whisper.

He moved closer to me, his hands flat on the bed, and on
either side of my thighs. His eyes didn't draw from mine once. "Because it's yours," he dipped his head down and occupied my lower lip with his mouth. He pressed a kiss, soft like a whisper against my lips before he
murmured, "It's always going to be yours." I knew what that meant, but I couldn't concentrate on anything but the feel of his lips over mine.

He maneuvered carefully with me, like my body was made of glass.
The gentle moment quickly faded and he kissed me in a way that was so fierce I could feel the ring at the corner of his mouth make an indention in my skin. His hands roamed over my body and his mouth claimed every noise I made in reaction to his touch. He pushed me down on the bed with a patient force in his
movements that brought me to need him in a way I didn't believe was possible. Every touch was more than enough to satisfy, but not enough to keep me from craving more.

I felt one of his hands run underneath my shirt, cupping the
curve of my hip. My own hands ran over his back. I wanted his flesh on mine. I needed that connection. I let out a breathy gasp and tugged at his shirt.

Sensing my frustration, he leaned up and slid the jacket off
his arms. It fell somewhere on the floor. His lips silenced my laugh when they crashed against mine. My fingers trailed over his chest while one of Ben's hands moved up my side, and underneath my shirt again. As his hand rested
against my skin right underneath the curve of my bra, the intensity of our kiss deepened, and just when I thought I couldn't take it any longer, his lips moved to my lower lip, sucking softly. A small, sigh left my mouth as my hands grasped the hem of his shirt and pulled upwards. To help me he pulled away, his
arms reached behind his back, and pulled his shirt over his head. Another source of my frustration landed on the floor.

I pulled his head back to mine, my hands in his tousled
hair.

He laughed into the kiss, "Patience, baby."

I grumbled something incoherent. His lips met my throat, kissing and sucking, softly. I moaned a little, my hands touching his chest gently, tracing small patterns over his toned abs.

His hands tugged at my t-shirt, which I eagerly helped him pull off my body. He pulled mine off slower than he did with his own, his eyes raking over my bare flesh that he slowly revealed to himself. His left hand
clasped my breast, lightly massaging. I moaned his name into his mouth when he moved his lips back to mine. His right hand cupped the side of my face, his calloused fingers lightly tracing the line of my jaw.

"Tell me when to stop," he whispered.

I nodded, silently admiring the blue fire in his eyes. They changed so much since the first time I met him. The dark shadows that once caged the danger behind them were gone. His eyes weren't cold when they found
mine. They were soft, revealing, and when he watched me, admiring. I smiled lightly and ran my fingers over his full, naturally red tinted lips. My leg hitched over his, pulling us closer together. He stared back at me with
scorching intensity. His eyes slowly unveiled every layer there was to my being until he found my soul.

"God, you're so beautiful."

I blushed and pulled his face to mine again. My lips graciously ran over his, until our mouths opened, and our tongues collided. I
let out another moan when his hands moved to the button on my jeans.

Everything crashed around me in that moment. I wanted him so badly, but I couldn't. Not under the given circumstances. I had school, which I
had to drag myself to in less than a few hours. If we kept going I wouldn't get any sleep. If he was going to claim my body I didn't want it to be on a freaking school night.