Caught in Darkness (19 page)

Allison shifted her weight, fully
inside the house now, and released a breath before offering, “I wanted to
apologize about before. I was terrified and grieving and I know those are just
excuses, but…I hope you’ll accept my apology anyway. Veronica’s my best friend,
and she clearly trusts you, which means I need to give you a chance. And, from
what I’ve seen…you didn’t deserve my lashing out before.”

Allowing a portion of a smile to
show, Seth inclined his head again and replied, “I never held it against you. I
know a thing or two about grief, and your distrust of me was understandable. So,
though it was unnecessary, consider your apology accepted.”

Allison’s smile was genuine and she
nodded shortly, saying, “Fair enough. Thank you.” Sliding a glance toward
Veronica then, she added, “I sort of need to use the restroom, actually…excuse
me.”

Seth didn’t say a word as Allison
slipped past him and down the short hall, toward Veronica’s bathroom. He waited
until the door had clicked and Veronica had returned her attention to him
before moving toward her with a private smile.

“I know you really do have to go,”
Veronica said quietly, her hands curling in his shirt as his landed on her
waist. “But I kind of wish you didn’t.”

“It wouldn’t have worked, anyway,”
he offered. “Your friend would still have shown up.” He bowed his head,
ghosting his lips over hers before whispering, “Besides, I won’t be gone long.”

Veronica leaned into the kiss,
solidifying it for a moment before pulling back to say, “Be as long as you need
to be; I’ll be fine.” She paused, her eyes dimming, and added, “And don’t be
surprised to not see me in the morning; tomorrow’s Mandy’s funeral. I won’t be
going in.”

Seth nodded. He hadn’t forgotten,
but he appreciated the sentiment behind her making sure to tell him. Shifting
slightly, he pressed his lips to her forehead and said, “You know how to reach
me if you need me.”

Veronica nodded, and she was
smiling softly again when she looked back into his eyes. There was even a shine
of mischief in them as she whispered, “Stay safe out there.”

Recognizing the translation of his
earlier words Seth grinned, kissed her again, and stepped back. “I can’t make
too many promises,” he teased. Their gazes held another second before he turned
and let himself out the door. He hated walking away from her, but he had a job
to do and she had company anyway, so he was just going to have to deal with it.

****

Allison ended up staying over that
night (and, therefore, rushing home early in the morning to get ready for the
funeral) after she heard everything that Veronica had to share. And, Veronica
decided, it was nice to have someone she trusted that she could talk to about
all of the insanity that had cropped up in her life recently. However, with
everything she had learned the day before, Veronica had a hard time concentrating
during the funeral.

This was as good as it was bad. She
felt horrendously guilty for getting lost in thought during the official
ceremony, but she was glad all the same to have at least had something to
distract her for a few minutes. Mandy’s mother’s speech was hard enough to
listen to all on its own. And when Mandy’s long-time boyfriend stepped up to
say a few words Veronica actually found herself wondering if the worst happened
and she ended up dead before everything was settled—would Seth come to her
funeral? She certainly didn’t have anyone else in her life that might miss the
taste of her kiss.

Snapping herself out of her haywire
thoughts, Veronica did her best to stay focused through the rest of the
funeral. She was glad to have Allison beside her, and both made sure to spend a
couple of minutes with Mandy’s family and other friends before they finally
made their escape.

“I hate funerals,” Veronica grumbled
as they navigated the parking lot.

“I’d say that’s fairly healthy,”
Allison replied. She took a deep breath and turned a faintly-sad and somehow
hopeful smile toward her as she added, “But you know what? I think something as
heart-wrenchingly sad as a funeral should be followed by something beautifully
happy.”

“Beautifully
happy?”
Veronica repeated, coming to a stop at her bumper and turning a
raised brow to her friend.

Allison shrugged, car keys already
in her hand, and said, “You know, something…fun and full of life. Something
that makes you smile or feel good or even just brings you peace. Whatever you
can think of that feels like the perfect antithesis of a funeral.”

For a beat Veronica continued to
stare at her, both surprised and strangely not surprised by her friend’s words.
And then she gave them a second’s thought and quickly realized that Allison was
right. Funerals were entirely too depressing. What she needed was something
good to distract
herself
with before she found herself
spending another week cooped up in her house.

“I can see you’ve seen the truth in
my wisdom,” Allison declared, dragging Veronica’s attention forward again. “That’s
good. Go find your antithesis and I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Wait,” Veronica said. She’d
honestly thought Allison had been leading up to something. “You’re not coming
with me?”

“No,” Allison called as she moved
toward her own car, parked a couple of slots over. “You have to find your own,
just like I have to find mine. Have a beautifully happy day!”

Veronica watched, once more lost in
thought, as Allison ducked into her car. Okay, I guess I really do have to find
my own. But, she realized, that didn’t actually mean she had to do it alone. It
was only a little past noon; there was an entire day left to improve upon, and
she officially knew where to start.

Chapter Eleven

The look of surprise on Seth’s face
when he opened the door was almost funny and Veronica couldn’t help but smile. “Hey,
stranger,” she greeted teasingly. There was definitely an audible layer of
mischief in her voice, but she didn’t care.

“Hey yourself,” Seth replied as he
stepped aside to grant her entrance. “I’m sort of surprised you remembered the
way.”

Rolling her eyes, Veronica chided,
“I have a pretty decent memory, actually.”

“Apparently.”
He paused for a beat before saying, “I thought your friend’s funeral was
today?”

Veronica paused now, standing only
a few feet from the large, comfortable sofa that she remembered from her one
and only other visit to his rented condo. She had changed before coming over,
of course, so it wasn’t obvious that she’d essentially come straight from a
funeral—for which she was grateful. She was far more comfortable in the white
jean shorts and pastel green tank top than the black, knee-length formal dress
she’d been wearing earlier. Releasing a breath she turned and smiled at him,
replying,
“
It was this morning. I was sort of hoping
you had the free time to keep me company?”

Seth
nodded,
his understanding obvious in his eyes.
“Of course.”

Her smile lightened and she held
her hand out to him, beckoning him closer as she said, “I even had some thoughts
about what we could do for entertainment.”

His already-dark eyes darkened with
her less-than-subtle offer and he stepped up to her, his large, strong hand covering
hers without hesitation. “Did you?” he asked, his voice deeper and thicker than
usual.

She hummed her confirmation as she
leaned up, onto her tippy toes, and pressed her lips to his. Despite the
difficulty, she managed to keep the kiss short and sweet before pulling back to
say, “There is something I wanted to ask first, though.”

“Ask away,” Seth rumbled, his lips
dancing over the shell of her ear and sending shivers down her spine.

She had to swallow to find her
voice again. “If you were to bite me…would it hurt?”

Hands locked over her hips, Seth
lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. “Why would you want
to know?”

Veronica shook her head, the
fingers of one hand absently tracing patterns over his chest, and countered,
“You first.”

She held his gaze confidently as he
studied her, clearly trying to ascertain the answer to his question before
offering up the answer to hers. It was a long minute before he finally
relented. “Only for an instant,” he replied.

Sliding her arms up, around his
shoulders, Veronica pressed her body into his deliberately and said, “Good,
because I want you to make love to me, and I don’t want you to hold back.”

His arms tightened around her waist
even as he growled, “Veronica.” There was a note of warning in his voice, but
he didn’t say anymore before their lips met in a heated kiss. Their tongues met
in a swirling dance of desire, rolling together just slowly enough to set their
blood on fire.

One of her hands slid up, into his
hair, as she arched her body a little more against his. He growled against her
lips in response even as one hand slid down until he was cupping her backside
through the fabric of her shorts. He gave a squeeze, pressing her firmly
against his straining arousal, and suddenly her feet were off of the floor, so
she did the only thing she could—she wrapped her legs around his waist. There
was a rush of air—just enough to make the ends of her ponytail dance over her
shoulder—and then
her
back was against the couch. The
momentum of the movement had their hips grinding together and their lips tore
apart, Veronica gasping for breath while Seth hissed in pleasure beside her
ear.
                      
Veronica curled
her fist in his hair, still catching her breath, as he bowed his head and let
his lips connect with her skin, just below her ear. She moaned as he began
trailing his kisses down, the hand he’d had over her backside sliding around in
order to dip beneath her shirt and massage her abdomen. His touch burned like
wildfire down to her soul, every primal instinct she had screaming for more,
and it was all she could do to keep from begging as his thumb stroked almost
leisurely over her stomach.

Then his lips landed over her
pulse-point and he gave a gentle, deliberate suck. She gasped again, arching
into him and letting her hips buck up, rolling into his searchingly. The hand
not tangled in his hair was clinging to his shoulder now, fingers curled
beneath the collar of his shirt so that her nails could scrape his heated
flesh. She felt his almost silent growl as it rumbled up his chest and past his
slightly-parted lips, massaging the skin of her throat. His tongue darted out,
sliding along the same spot sensually and dragging another moan out of her. She
was almost frightened by how desperately she wanted him to bite her in that
moment.

She wanted to feel him—to know him—as
intimately as possible and, since he was a vampire, she knew a part of that
would involve letting him drink from her. But it was more than that. She
suspected that giving him a little nibble would be incredibly erotic—just like
the rest of him—and she knew there was only one way to find out.

His lips were still playing over
her throat and the hand he’d braced behind her neck shifted, lifting to slide
into her hair, and her body throbbed with anticipation. As if sensing her state
of desire his hips surged forward, his covered erection pressing promisingly
against her clothed center and earning a long, breathless moan. Her own hips
lifted into his in response and again she felt him growl against her skin, his
tongue slipping out and wetting her pulse-point one more time.

And then he finally sank his fangs
into her neck.

Veronica gasped loudly as her mind
tried to catch up to the sensations suddenly coursing through her. There had
been a prick of pain, almost like the initial slice of a paper cut, but then
the pain was gone, replaced with fire and a primal need that defied explanation
and made a mockery of what she’d been feeling just moments before. She felt
like she would die—quite literally fall apart—if he didn’t finish what he’d
started. The slight trickle of liquid warmth that was slowly sliding down her
throat wasn’t nearly enough of a distraction to keep her from noticing the
disturbingly-sensual feeling of his lips on her skin.

Seth released her neck after a long
minute, licking his lips before bowing his head enough to catch the slim
runaway stream of crimson blood. At the feeling of his tongue sliding along her
neck, Veronica untangled her hand from his hair and grabbed onto the collar of
his shirt. She gave his shirt a tug, more than over the boundaries that were still
separating them, and prayed he took the hint. He lifted his lips, dancing them
lightly along her neck until he had reclaimed hers for a deep, sensual kiss. Her
tugging stalled as she melted into his lips, running her tongue along his
before slipping it into his mouth. There was still the faintest trace of
something sweet and coppery on his tongue, but knowing that it had come from
her somehow only aroused her more.

He broke the kiss without warning
and sat back, taking her with him until they were sitting awkwardly sideways on
the couch. With one swift tug he snapped her hair-tie, letting her now-loose
hair cascade down her shoulders, but he didn’t stop there. The hand beneath her
shirt lifted, his knuckles brushing the underside of her covered breasts, until
she moaned and lifted her arms above her head. He removed her shirt swiftly,
and before she knew it her bra had joined the shirt somewhere on the floor.

She watched as his eyes dropped
from hers, taking in the sight of her newly-exposed torso, and the first twinge
of embarrassment passed through her. She was rarely self-conscious, but in
front of someone who was inhumanly perfect she supposed it was reasonable. And
that self-doubt
vanished
when he leaned forward,
lifting her chin with one index finger and reclaiming her lips in a soft,
tender kiss. Her stomach fluttered as he eased her back onto the couch, this
time reaching back and unwinding her legs from around his waist simultaneously.
And then his hands were skimming down her chest, lingering for a moment to palm
her breasts before continuing on until they reached the hem of her shorts.