“Hey, I’ve been this way my whole life—I’m used to it. It’s nothing new—can’t shut my senses off.”
“So, what? You’re a life-long perv? Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“No,” he says, leaning down to look into my eyes, “Just trying to say there’s nothing wrong with you.”
I raise my head halfway to look back at him.
Unfair. Moonlight filters through the trees and lands on his face. He opens his lips to speak. His fangs shimmer, speaking to me before his words come.
“You…are…painfully…gorgeous.”
He steps closer—my body follows as if pulled. Hand slides over my neck. His eyes close, pulling mine shut with them. His lips press against mine. Like no other touch. Tingles shiver through my body.
His other hand finds my waist and pulls me to him. I feel his heartbeat pulsing into my chest.
The rush spreads through me, tingling everywhere, igniting feeling through my body that has been lying dormant for so long. Every second between last night and now was a terrible waste of time. The euphoria of my lips on his is just as strong as it was last night.
His tongue melts me completely. The emotion so hot—boiling through me.
He pulls back shaking his head, his eyes clenched shut.
Having trouble finding the breath to speak, I struggle to ask, “What? What is it?”
“I…I’m sorry I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t have…”
The retreating of his affections and the fear on his face make me feel like my lips are the nastiest he’s ever tasted. My emotions are beyond stretched tonight.
Simon’s mouth starts to move again, “I—I—”
My voice cracks as I try to speak. I raise my hand in front of my face and say, “Save it.”
Turn and walk away from him. No tears—beyond crying this time. Anger. Hurt. Bushes and underbrush scrape at my ankles, unprotected by short socks.
“Ruby, wait.”
I walk slower, but keep walking away.
“I meant what I said,” he calls after me again.
I stop walking, but I don’t turn around, “Actions speak louder than words, Simon.”
“That’s what I’m trying to show you.”
I turn to face him, my arms flinging through the air before I speak, “Then, show me, Simon, but so help me I can’t take this up and down crap anymore. Tell me how it is, and stick to it.”
Walking toward me, he says, “You’re right. You’re right. I’m sorry…I don’t know how to tell you how I feel around you—it’s like there’s this energy. Never felt anything like being around you. Your skin, your eyes, your lips. Once I saw you, there was no one else at the bar for me. No one else anywhere. When I was kissing you, I felt new again. This body’s seen decades come and go. Several generations rise and fall. Felt so old—so numb for so long. Never thought I’d feel fresh again. Free of burden. Until you. You wiped it all away—made me feel again where I’ve been long dead. Even when I was young, never felt anything like you, and I barely know you. All I wanted was to know you more. To keep that feeling going. It gets stronger every second I’m near you.”
I pull him down to me and kiss him softly on his lips. Releasing him I ask, “Then, what’s been going on with you today?”
“I almost died.”
“What’re you talking about? Just now fighting what’s-his-name, oh—Edgar?”
“No, at the school. After you left.”
“What happened?”
“Trading punches with Roderick. One of them stuck a needle in my back. Spun around before he could push the plunger down more than just a tiny bit. Grabbed the syringe from my shoulder blade and threw it as hard as I could. They didn’t just beat me down to a knee. Within a few seconds, I blacked out—it was whatever they shot into me.”
“You blacked out! Oh my God! Why didn’t they kill you then? Why’d they let you go?”
“Probably thought they got enough in me to kill me. I’d guess they ran after you. By the time they knew they lost your trail and came back for me, I was gone.”
I throw my arms around his neck and squeeze him tightly, “Oh my God, what was in it? What’d they put into you?”
“I don’t know. But if it blacked me out, it was some seriously strong sickness.”
Without letting go, I ask, “I’m so sorry to hear that happened—it’s terrible, but what does this have to do with how you’ve been acting?”
“Could’ve killed me today. If I was dead, they’d already have you.”
My arms jerk at the thought.
He softly pushes me off him to look at my face, “You can’t be with me.”
“Why not?”
“They’ll get to you. Eventually, they’ll get to you. You have to go away where they’ll never find you.”
“No,” is all I can muster.
“It happened before. Only cared for one other girl. Decades ago. Her name is—was—Eleni. I cared for her; she loved me too. She’s gone.”
“Doesn’t mean that’ll happen to me.”
“Yes, it does. Especially now. They want Ambrosia. I have no idea what she has that is so special to them, but they’ll never rest till they get it. And on top of that, I’ve embarrassed Roderick. Twice. He won’t let it go unpunished. You can’t be near me when all this happens. Can’t keep you safe forever. We need a plan to get you far away from all of this madness.”
I put my hand to his cheek, “Look, you only get one chance at life. There are no guarantees. I could live in a little bubble and maybe add a few extra years to my life, but I’d be miserable. Trust me, I’ve kept myself away from all of this for so long—staying home, never going out, being painfully shy. It was terrible.”
“But—”
“No, let me finish. It’s a dangerous business leaving your house every day. One person falling asleep at the wheel and crashing into you, and it’s all over for you—no matter how careful you are, no matter how well you plan. All you can do is only take risks for the things that make you happy. I’d rather be dead than lose that.”
“You can—you can take risks like everyone else. Having vampires trying to kill you is not like everyone else. You need a new start. Somewhere safe—a new life.”
“No, I want you, Simon.”
He smiles, but his brow still shows worry.
“If you send me away, I’m coming right back for you as soon as you turn your back on me. That’s where I’d be the most vulnerable—all alone looking for you. You don’t want that, do you?”
“No, I guess I don’t, but you’d be safe somewhere away from here if you’d just stay put.”
“Safe and dead inside—too afraid to risk for the things that would make me happy.”
His face softens, “You know this is what I want. I mean what I want for me—my own desires: I want you here. But more than all that, I want you to be safe and happy.”
“That’s why I won’t leave you now.”
Hand slides over my cheek down to my neck, blue eyes filled with passion, his lips press onto mine—his kiss overtaking me. Time seems to stand as still as the darkness of the woods. Press my body against his, trying to feel everything he’s feeling, trying to make us one.
He slowly takes his kiss away, pulling my breath away with it.
“Damn, you’re good,” slides out my mouth before my nervousness can pull it back in.
“When I let myself,” he says looking at his boots, water still dripping from the ends of his hair, running down his chest and onto his stomach.
“What took you so long?” I ask.
“Trying to save your life.”
“Multitask, my boy. Multitask.”
Chapter VIII
First Goodbyes
All that I feel makes me want to pounce on him.
Last night passed with him watching over me. Close, devoted to my needs, but oh so far away from where he could’ve been. I respect him all the more for his restraint, but it hasn’t cooled off my desire to slide my tongue over his skin.