Page 10 of To Crave Darkly
“It was never my intention to kidnap you. You were the one who wouldn’t come quietly.”
“Oh, so it’s my fault I got kidnapped. Unbelievable.”
Jasper raked his hand through his hair in frustration. “Do you want to stay alive?” he yelled.
“I’m not an idiot. Of course I want to stay alive.”
“Good. Then you have two choices. You can either make it easy and come quietly or you can act like a hellion and make it difficult.” His voice dropped to a hiss. “But trust me when I say you won't like me if you choose difficult.” He just stared at me, those piercing blue eyes daring me to challenge him. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew I couldn’t take him on but I sure as hell was not prepared to be bullied into submission.
I marched towards him, ignoring the pain in my feet.
“Look pal, you have no right to talk to me like that. Just because you're bigger than me and stronger than me and, well, just better at everything than me, does not give you the right to bully me into fearing you.” I stood right in front of him, barely an inch away from his body.
“Lori, step away from me,” he growled at me warningly.
“No, I won't step away! Stop telling me what to do!” I yelled at him, jabbing my finger into his chest to hammer home my point, but he grabbed my wrist.
“Don't. Do. That,” he said through gritted teeth. He closed his eyes and his nostrils flared as he breathed deeply. What I saw when he opened them was blackness. Gone were the beautiful blue eyes and in their place were empty pits of pure black. They made me think of a night with no stars, and I realised this side of Jasper was what he was warning me about.
I was frozen to the spot. I couldn't move. The thing staring at me was no man. It was a monster and he looked like he was going to eat me alive.
He traced his finger across my cheek and down the side of my neck. “So beautiful,” he whispered, licking his lips. “So tempting.”
A malicious grin spread across his face. He was deliberately showing me his fangs, making me aware of how much danger I was in. They looked wickedly sharp and for a split second I wondered what it would feel like to be bitten. He grabbed my neck and pulled me to him, bringing his mouth to the soft shell of my ear.
“I can smell you.”
I shivered, and it wasn’t entirely out of fear. He traced his nose up the side of my neck, breathing deeply, breathing in my scent.
He looked into my eyes again and I swallowed. I was terrified but I couldn't stop myself from staring into those eyes. I was captivated by them. They were so non-human that I couldn’t help but stare. The anger I had felt earlier turned to a simmering heat and the adrenaline rushing through my system made me aware of the feel of his body pressed against mine. I could feel my breasts brush against his firm chest and my nipples tightened at the friction.
He was so close to me. He smelt like cloves and earth and thunder.
Giddiness pushed sanity from my thoughts.
He brushed his thumb across my bottom lip, tantalisingly slowly. The pulse between my thighs began to thud hungrily. My breath grew shallow. I pressed my tongue against the tip of his thumb. I heard his sharp intake of breath and his gaze dropped to my mouth. I licked my lips in anticipation. He leaned towards me and brushed his lips against mine. I closed my eyes ready to sink into the kiss but felt... nothing. I opened my eyes and found myself staring at an empty hallway. The touch of his lips against mine was so brief that, if it wasn't for the scorching heat that I still felt there, I might have imagined the whole thing.
He had left me there, standing in the doorway and frustrated in more ways than one. I slammed the bathroom door shut, expecting that to make me feel better but all it did was make me want to bang my fists against it and scream in vexation. I looked at the bath. It would be a shame to let it go to waste. I let out a big sigh and walked over to it, taking off my pyjamas as I went. I climbed into the tub and relaxed into the heat of the water. After the last couple of days, this bath was sheer heaven.
I closed my eyes and my mind drifted to Jasper. I wish he would just explain everything to me. I didn’t understand any of this. What made me special? I was sure I was just ordinary. Surely if I was important I would feelsomething? But I just felt like me.
My lips still tingled from that brief moment of contact. I wondered what it would be like to really kiss him. What would he taste like? I really shouldn't be thinking about it; I was already hot and bothered and thinking about Jasper like this wasnotgoing to help things. I dunked my head under the water, hoping that it would just wash everything away. I stayed under the water for as long as I could, until the blood was pounding in my veins, my heart banging against my ribs, until every instinct was begging for me to take a breath. I broke the surface of the water and gulped down precious oxygen, revelling in the feeling of being alive. In that moment, I knew I didn't want to die. Not one little bit. Whatever I had fallen into, whatever was chasing me, I was not going to give in, and I was not giving up.
Chapter 7
JASPER
Shit. What the fuck was I doing? Not only did I nearly kiss her, I nearly fed off her. It wasn’t even that long since I’d fed;I’d gone a week without feeding before and never lost control like I just did. What must she think of me? No wonder she wanted to run away from me. I ran out of the house and breathed the cold night air deep into my lungs. Over and over I gulped down the air, letting the cool sensation burn through my veins. I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration.
How could I be so stupid?
I started pacing up and down in front of the house and I had to fight the urge to run away and put as much distance between us as possible. She scared the living daylights out of me. The way she could just get under my skin and pull the beast to the surface was fucking terrifying. It seemed every part of me wanted her; even the dark, twisted parts of me wanted a taste.
Fuck. I needed to calm down. Everything about me was erratic and I felt on edge, like I needed to punch something. I groaned. Probably myself for being such an asshole.
I needed to go back and apologise. I needed to make sure she was ok or at least make sure she hadn’t run off again. Although I wouldn’t blame her if she had. I went back into the house and up the stairs, halting outside the bathroom door. I rested my head against the door and just listened.
I could hear her breathing steadily. She sounded ok, but to make sure, I reached out with my mind to see what she was thinking. Vampires had great powers when it came to the mind. We had compulsion to make people do what we wanted, but we could also join our minds with someone else to see what they were thinking. It worked better on some people than others. Sometimes you just got a sense of emotion, but the best connections gave you images and sounds. I wasn’t holding out much hope for my connection with Lori since she was able to resist compulsion but I just wanted to make sure she was alright. I knew it worked because I’d been able to calm her down a few times, but I just didn’t know how receptive she’d be to me poking around in her thoughts.
