Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (167 page)

Emotion flooded his features, and
tears welled up in his eyes. I could see how much he cared about
me. We were clearly meant to be together. I couldn’t explain it,
but I felt it all the way to the core of my being. I knew life
would be better with him by my side, in spite of what he was—or
maybe because of it.

I stared deeply into his eyes. “Of
course I trust you.”

His penetrating gaze pierced my soul,
and my knees threatened to buckle.

“
Then prove it,” he
said.

The
intensity between us began to grow. I drew another breath, deeper
than before. A thousand flames coursed through me, threatening to
consume me; I could actually feel the heat rising.
I’m dying for his touch
.
Even still, I knew if I stepped out that door, I’d have no defenses
against him. I had promised Julie, my new best friend, that I
wouldn’t risk too much, but the inexplicable connection between us
was luring me with fierce temptation.
Should I take him up on his dare? Should I take the risk when
every logical impulse is screaming for me to run? If I step out
that door, am I walking into danger’s arms?

He had a
gravitational pull I couldn’t deny, like a tractor beam, pulling me
in. I was drawn to him in every way. I had never believed in that
kind of attraction; I’d always thought it was exaggerated for books
and movies because I’d never experienced it for myself. Now,
standing there in front of him, I felt helpless against its pull,
against that butterfly-flying-to-the-moon-and-back sensation. Jesse
was
him
, the guy
I’d been looking for, the one who ignited a fire inside of me, the
person with whom I felt the strongest, most amazing connection I’d
ever felt before.

He held out his hand, and I inhaled
deeply. I didn’t know if I was going to die or not, but I trusted
him with all my heart.

I stared at his beaming smile as I
stepped through the doorway, into his strong arms. His twinkling
eyes shone as he gazed straight into my brown ones. The chemistry
between us was electric and mind-blowing, but our bond was stronger
than that and was steadily growing. I could feel his heart, his
love, his emotion, and his strong affection.

Our eyes locked, and everything around
me disappeared. I breathed in the scent of his skin. In a flash,
his strong arms lifted me off the ground, and within milliseconds,
my back was pinned against the outer wall of the house. An electric
shock shot through me as his lips crashed into mine. His body
pressed against mine, and I let out a soft moan. His breath was hot
on my skin, and heat rushed to my cheeks. I tugged at his shirt,
allowing him to deepen our kiss. My entire body ignited. Hunger
roared inside me as I burned with desire. He tasted so good that I
couldn’t stop.

Hot tingles flooded through my body
like a giant tidal wave. I loved when his mouth crushed mine, when
his strong hands cupped the back of my head as his soft tongue
swirled around mine in circles. I slid my hands up his back and
wrapped them around his strong shoulders. The mesmerizing kiss grew
bolder, turning into something so passionate, so intense, so wild
and crazy and everything Jesse represented. The Earth stopped, and
everything around me faded other than the beating of my racing
heart. I felt like I’d been scorched by a bolt of lightning. When
we pulled away, I was gasping for air and breathing heavily. It
wasn’t every day I’d met a myth, let alone kissed one.

I had never, ever been kissed like
that before, not even in my sexiest fantasies. I’d heard people
talk about fireworks, symphonies, and electricity when describing
kisses, but the sensation of our lips meeting was a million times
more amazing than anything I’d ever imagined. My heart continued
beating faster than the wings of a humming bird. I had him in my
arms, and I was never going to let go.

I tangled my fingers through his
thick, soft hair as the kiss deepened into a passionate
lip-lock—long, fast, and intense. He poured all of his mind, body,
soul, and emotion into the mind-blowing moment, then kissed me
again. This time, it was slow, tender, and passionate—so perfect,
so right, and so romantic. Sparks flew as I opened and closed my
mouth to the rhythm, wanting to devour him.

He rested his forehead against mine as
we took long, slow breaths, his intense eyes burning as he gazed
into my very core, right into my soul.

“
You stole my breath,” I
said, “but I should’ve expected that. You’re supposed to give hot,
deadly kisses. It’s what your kind are known for.”

He touched his forehead against mine,
and every inch of my body tingled, desperately longed for his
touch.

“
You’re trouble,” I
said.

His winter-blue eyes held mine. “Yet
you stay.”

I drew another breath. “I should
go.”

A grin creased his face. “But you
won’t.”

“
When I see something I
want, I don’t run just because of a few hurdles.”

“
Lucky for me.”

I smiled.

“
I’ve wanted to kiss you
that deeply from the very second I laid eyes on you in the forest,”
he said.

“
Me too,” I said, caressing
his sweet face. “That was amazing. You’re a great kisser, Jesse…for
a dead guy.”

He laughed. “I’m not dead. Please
don’t mistake me for one of those walking corpses.”

“
Sorry.”

He smiled. “I’ll take that as a
compliment.”

I kissed his lips again as rays of
light passed through the clouds and shone on our faces. “It’s been
cloudy all day…until now,” I said when I pulled away and looked at
his beautiful, angelic face.

“
See? Even the universe is
starting to take notice,” he said, gently weaving his hands through
my hair.

I grinned. “Maybe it’s a great and
glorious sign that we’re meant for each other.”

“
I don’t need signs. I knew
it the moment I saw you.” He kissed my lips ever so softly,
mesmerizing me as his warm breath hovered there. “Am I everything
you thought a vampire would be?”

“
Hmm. You’re missing the
white, frilly shirt and billowing, black cape,” I
retorted.

He smirked. “My mom told me to stay
hip with today’s styles and not to wear the cape, no matter how
good it looks on me.”

I laughed. “And you’re also missing
the slicked-back hair, fake blood, the white-painted face with dark
circles, and, last but not least, the plastic fangs.”

“
Plastic fangs would make
me talk with a lisp. Mine are all natural.”

I touched his lips. “Wow. I just
kissed the most prolific monster in the history of movies and
television and lived to tell about it.”

“
Hollywood is so confused
about us,” he said. “I’m far more layered and complex than they’ll
ever know.”

“
You don’t have an
overwhelming desire to bite me, do you?” I asked with a
smile.

“
Well…maybe, but not for
blood.”

“
You can control your
bloodlust for me?”

“
I’m not saying it’s easy.
I feed before work, even though I only need to once a week. My mom
has a source who supplies us from a blood bank he works at. Eating
every day helps keep me in check. Also, Sam taught me how to keep
my urges under control, and Kierra showed me what to do when I feel
like I’m going to explode. Mom worked with me a lot to teach me how
to be around humans and animals. If I couldn’t keep it under
control, I could never work at the zoo.”

“
Well, you’re doing a good
job fitting in,” I said.

I still didn’t understand how I could
crave someone like him, someone who was nothing but trouble. Sure,
he was dangerous, wild, and untamed, but I found those qualities
intriguing as the unquenchable desire flooding through me whenever
I looked at him. My heart beat a million times a minute every time
I was around him, but I couldn’t run. Yes, Jesse was a vampire, but
I felt safer around him than I’d ever felt with anyone
before.

“
I didn’t get this way
overnight,” he said. “It was…well, a long process.”

I knew he
was telling the truth.
Life is
crazy,
I thought,
or maybe it’s just fate.
All I knew
was that I’d been thrown a major curveball, and I had no idea what
to expect. Jesse was a puzzle, and I planned to put every piece
together until I had the full picture of him. I knew I shouldn’t
kiss someone so dangerous, someone with such a dark secret flowing
through his veins, but our deliciously wicked kiss played over and
over in my head, and I simply couldn’t turn away.

Jesse’s thumb grazed my lips as he
stared deeply into my eyes. “There must be something wrong with my
eyes,” he softly said.

“
What? Why?”

“
I-I can’t seem to take
them off you.”

I smiled
widely. He was my addiction, my drug, and no force on Earth could
keep me away.
I kissed a vampire…and I
liked it,
I thought to the tune of that
Katy Perry song. A jolt shot down my spine as I gazed into his
eyes, still regarding me with that look that told me he couldn’t
stop thinking about our kiss either.

The problem was, Jesse was a vampire,
while I was a mere human. Not only that, but he wasn’t just a
normal vampire, the Dracula sort or one of those baseball-playing,
twinkly ones from the movies. No, my vampire was a rare species, a
supernatural wonder who could actually walk in the light. When I
really thought about that, I was floored.

Will we actually make it? I wondered.
Truthfully, I had no idea. I still couldn’t fathom jumping into the
world of the paranormal, the darkness of vampire legend. I couldn’t
imagine anything more dangerous. Then again, I didn’t care, because
I couldn’t imagine anything more intriguing either. I knew the high
stakes and the risk, but I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted
anything or anyone.

Yes, I knew he was toxic,
but sometimes we can’t control what the heart wants—and mine
screamed for Jesse with every beat.

The
Crush Saga Book Trailer:
http://youtu.be/4eMF8KXEUc4

Taylor’s
story continues with Book 2:
Crash,
now
available

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