Burning (4 page)

“Of course I will help them.  Anita is like a sister or daughter to me as well. 
I’ll do my best to look after all of them.  Honestly, I somehow knew that Marguerite was going to foist this task off onto Chloë and was already planning to meet up with them,” I admitted.

“Wait until you see your charge.  This is really
going to piss Marguerite off,” Carlos said and chuckled. 

I smiled and then quickly schooled my face
because my fangs had emerged and I was still surrounded by prey—I mean people.  I really needed to head to the safe house where I had a delivery from a blood bank waiting for me. 

“Tell me,” I demanded, my voice getting raspy.
 

“Her name is Bridgett
O’Connell.  She is tall, fair, blond, and blue-eyed,” he described. 

“I don’t understand why that would irritate Marguerite,” I stated. 

“Ah, you didn’t let me get to the best part. She’s an Elf,” he replied. 

“
Well, that is interesting,” I agreed.

Dean

“The whole house to ourselves… What will we do?” Anita asked seductively. 

“Careful
, Anita.  I told you. Don’t push me too hard,” I warned. 

“Is this too hard?” she asked, slid
ing her small hands across my chest. 

“Ok
ay, you asked for it!” I tossed her over my shoulder and swatted her on the rear. 

She squealed, and I could feel excitement course through her.  A rumbling purr exited from my chest before I could stop it.
 

“When are we going to visit your mom?” I asked in a
lust-roughened voice. 

“Hmm…tomorrow is Sunday.  I usually meet my mom for brunch and then sometimes afternoon mass.
  Think you can handle going to church with my mom?”

I smiled
and let her slide down my front.  “You’re Catholic?” I asked surprised. 

She shrugged. 
How had I missed something so basic like her religion? 

“Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing, Dean.
  I don’t make a big deal out of it.  Going to church is important to my mom.  She used to go with her family, and then after my dad left, it gave her a feeling of stability.  I like the serene expression she gets when we are at mass, so I have kept going with her even though I’m here.”

“I’m glad I’m going to meet your mom.  I can see how important your family is to you.  It is to me too, and I want you to be able to keep your mother in your life.
  I have something to tell you.”  I paused for dramatic effect—and because Anita had the patience of a toddler. 

“Well, tell me,” she demanded.
 

“I’m Catholic too,”
I told her. 

“Really?  Oh my God, my mom is going to love you!  I mean
, she was going to like you, sure, but she is going to freaking love you now,” she rambled.  She grabbed her phone and began hopping around the living room.

“I’m going to call my mom and let her know you are going to join us tomorrow,” Anita
chirped.  “Hi, Mom… Mmhmm… About tomorrow… Yeah, I’m coming… I want to introduce you to the guy I’ve told you about… No, he wants to come to mass with us… Because he’s Catholic… Mom… Mom… I don’t know if he has an opinion on china patterns… What do you mean you want to book the church just in case?… He isn’t Latino… I’m sure he could learn to speak Spanish… Why do I need to send my measurements?” Anita ran out of the room, mumbling something about having years to give her grandchildren. 

I couldn’t help but laugh.
I liked her mom already.

Several minutes later
, Anita came back in the room.  “Sorry about that,” she apologized. 

“I take it your mom wants you to get married?”

She blushed and looked away.  “Yeah. She thinks good Catholic girls shouldn’t wait too long to get married because we might give in to lust and lose our virtue,” she said with a scowl. 

“I’ll promise your mom that your virtue is safe with me,” I teased.

“That ship sailed a while back,” she muttered. 

I growled
.  Anita was mine, and I hated knowing that I wouldn’t be her first like she’d be mine. 

Her eyes narrowed and bored into me.
  I raised my hands in surrender. 

“I know what you are thinking,”
she snapped. 

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to growl at you.
  I’m just being a possessive idiot,” I apologized. 

“No, I’m sorry.  It’s a sensitive subject for me
,” she mumbled.

I pulled her down to the couch with me and wrapped my arms around her. 
“I know you wish I didn’t know about what Alexander did to you when you were turned.  But it doesn’t change the way I feel about you,” I told her. 

Anita’s body tensed and
her eyes glowed.  “I really don’t like talking about it,” she muttered. 

“
Anita, I want you to trust me. You have to trust that I love you.” 

“
Why do you want to marry me?” Anita asked suddenly. 

“I love you.  I’ll n
ever want anyone other than you,” I answered easily. 

“You wouldn’t if you knew
everything about my past.  You’d never look at me the same as you do now.” 

“
Anita, nothing could change the way that I feel about you.” 

“
How can you be sure of that?”

Then something occurred to me
. “Anita, I’m not going to leave you.  You can tell me before or after we are bound to each other and I will still love you.  Are you pushing for us to sleep together so I won’t leave you?” 

“I…I mean, I…”
Anita’s face scrunched together while she thought about what I’d asked.  “Not purposefully.  Shit, I guess I was.”

I kissed her temple.  “Hey, let’s drop it for tonight and watch a movie.
  I’m not going to push you into anything—not into marrying me or telling me what happened—before you are ready to.  But, baby, I should tell you that I think I kinda know already.”

Her grip on my arm tightened and I felt her nails dig into my flesh.
  “How?” she whispered. 

“Anita, we’ve been together fo
r almost a year.  I remember how you talked to Chloë about sex when she first started seeing Grey.  You were so callous and indifferent to her having an emotional connection to him before they had sex.”

She took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
 

“Hey, we don’t have to talk about this,” I said, trying to ease her discomfort.
 

“I know, but I actually kinda do. 
I missed you so much while you were gone.  I need you to know that you are it for me too.  I want to be ready to marry you.  I’m just not there yet, and this is part of the reason why.  I want you to know I’m working on it.  I’m taking steps to get to where you are.  They may be small ones, but I’ll make it to you. Just wait for me.”

“Anita
, I’ll wait forever for you.  Is that what meeting your mom is about?” I asked curiously. 
              “Yeah.  I thought that the more parts of my life I bring you into, the more ready I’ll be to say ‘I do,’” she admitted. 

I tucked a
caramel-brown lock of hair behind her ear.  “What about your other concerns?” 

“After what happened with Alexander, I acted out
.  Grey was around, trying to rein me in, but it only helped so much.  I hated feeling like I had no control.  I couldn’t control being invaded by Alexander.  I wanted the power back.  It seemed if I didn’t care about sex, then it didn’t matter losing my virginity that way. 

“
So I hooked up with any guy I was mildly interested.  I’ve had sex with a lot of guys, Dean.  Guys whose names I don’t remember, assuming I ever knew them.  I can’t take that back.  There is no undoing that.  You say that nothing in my past can come between us, but how can you mean that?  You are so moral, so good.  I’m not, and I never will be again.”

I wanted to watch Alexander burn all over again.  I wanted to shove the stake deep into his heart and watch him catch fire while the sun came up. 
I wanted to bleed him slowly and draw out every agonizing second.  He’d died too quickly. 

I knew, deep down, that she was…uhm…experienced before we
’d gotten together.  I hadn’t realized how far it had gone.  I guess I had imagined her maybe having had sex with a couple of guys, and that was my worst-case scenario.  But did it change how I felt?  No.

I pulled her onto my lap.  Sitting next to her wasn’t close enough. 
I breathed in the citrusy smell of her skin.  Anita always smelled like limes to me.  I took my time studying her face.  She was going crazy waiting for me to say something.  I’m sure she was expecting me to yell and storm away from her in disgust.  I couldn’t risk saying the wrong thing, so I just sat with her. 

I ran my fingers through her silky hair.  I leaned in and kissed her.  At first
, it was a quick tease of my lips against hers.  It wasn’t enough, so I went back for more.  I pressed my lips against hers, demanding entrance with my tongue.  I poured my love into her with every stroke, caress, and my every breath. 

It was difficult, but I managed to pull away.  I was at the razor’s edge of my control.  I would never take away such a big choice from her though.  Because once we were together, when we made love, I was never going to let her go.
  Who was I kidding? I wouldn’t let her go now.

“What changed everything for you?  What made you stop torturing yourself for something that was beyond your control?” I
asked.  I was breathing heavily, and my heart was racing.  I wanted to kiss her again, but I wanted her to know that I wanted all of her.  I wanted her heart and her soul, not just her body.  However badly I wanted her body right now, I would not settle for less than everything.

“You changed everything. 
I pushed you and you wouldn’t give in.  I whined, ranted, raved, pouted, and still, you held firm.  I was amused, intrigued, impressed, and madly in love.  I can’t give you my first time, but you are the first and only man I’ve ever loved.  You are the only one who has ever had my heart,” she said, gazing deep in my eyes.

“I want you Anita any
way, every way, forever.  Only you, exactly as you are,” I vowed. 

“You are the sexiest and most romantic man alive.  How did I get you?” she said breathlessly.  Her tiny hands were stroking the side of my face and running through my hair. 

I turned one of them over and laid a kiss on her palm.  “That’s easy.  I was made for you, and you were made for me.”

“Yes,” she said with conviction. 

My eyebrows scrunched together.  “Yes to what?”

“I’m ready Dean.  I want to marry you.  I don’t need to think anymore.
  I’m ready.” 

I was probably going to kick myself for this, but I had to ask.  “What changed your mind?” 

“You.  Always you.  When I’m afraid, you protect me.  And when I’m worried, you comfort me.  You even save me from myself when I’m determined to get in my own way.  I just needed you to love me even when you saw the darkest parts of me.  I shouldn’t have doubted you or us.  I trust you, and if I get lost in my head again, you’ll lead me back out.”

Chloë

Finn and I sneaked past Dean and Anita
, who were kissing passionately on the living room couch.  If they kept that up, the house would burn down around them.  I felt the need to fan myself after witnessing that.  I hadn’t been on a date, let alone kissed a guy since Grey and I had broken up.  Finn and I had remained just friends for the entire second half of our freshman year. 

I
’d loved Grey.  Yes, loved as in past tense.  He’d left me right after promising to give us a chance.  I’d been confused, pissed, and then nothing.  I’d just let it go.  I was tired of the same argument we kept having.  Basically, he believed we weren’t meant to be. It pissed him off, but he’d accepted it.  He said that he loved me, but obviously it hadn’t been enough to fight for me.  I wanted more. I wanted the heat that I’d just seen in my living room.  I wanted to feel consuming passion.  There was only one man who made me feel like my blood was boiling in my veins, and only he could end the torture.

I wanted Finn.  I was
tired of fighting how badly I wanted Finn.  Thank God he stopped dating after our battle with Alexander, Simone, and my backstabbing sister, Angeline.  I would have become unhinged if he’d paraded another cheerleader or intelligence-challenged co-ed past me. 

He
’d said that he wanted me, that he cared about me, but I’d been afraid that he would freak out on me when it got too serious.  I’d needed him to prove to me that he wanted me with the same intensity and devotion that I wanted him. This might have been a stupid idea, but it was such a small step to take.  One date. Maybe there would be more, but tonight, we would focus on this one date.