Destined (Vampire Awakenings) (10 page)

   “It’s a good thing you were there,” Ethan said.

   Stefan turned to look at him, nodding briskly. They had already thanked him more than enough for his liking. “Yeah,” he replied absently. He still didn’t know why he had gone back to the house yesterday, but he had felt a sudden, compelling urge to make sure that everything was all right. He had run into Willow along the way.

   “So, how serious is it with you and Jess?” Ian asked with a sly grin.

   Stefan snorted. “Not at all, why?”

   He shrugged as his gaze wandered out to the field. “She’s pretty hot, but I thought because you guys were dating and all that it was serious. I know I don’t stick around with one woman.”

   Stefan laughed softly as he ran a hand through his hair. “Neither do I, but when you get to be my age one
night stands
become
tiring
.
I
t becomes a little more convenient to just stay with one woman for a little while.”

   Ian grinned. “Tiring? I think not.”

  
Stefan laughed as he shook his head at him.
“Oh, trust me, they do.” He knew how Ian
felt;
he had felt that way in the beginning, for over two hundred years actually. Then, things had changed, and not for the better. Stefan forced his mind away from the past,
it
was better forgotten
anyway.
H
e
forced himself to
focus his full attention on the disbelieving faces surrounding him. 

   “Never!” they all declared
loudly
.

   They couldn’t even put a dent in the amount of women that he’d had,
so
there was no point in trying to tell them that they were wrong. That things
would change
for them
. They would learn it eventually. “Well if you want a turn at Jess...”

   Ian’s eyes widened as he smiled slyly. “Thanks, but no.
She’s sticking around here a little too long for my liking.
”

  “There’s th
e queen of clean now,” Jack muttered
.

  Stefan’s gaze darted instantly toward the house. Isabelle had come outside and was making her way toward the group gathered on the lawn. The gold highlights in her dark hair flashed in the
bright
light. Her long, bare legs were delicately curved
,
and gleaming in the sun as she swiftly covered the ground toward the quartet on the lawn.

 
To his amazement, he found himself growing even harder as he admired the gentle sway of her hips, the soft bounce of her full breasts. She stopped by her sisters, and one of the twins dropped their legs down for her to sit at the e
nd
of the chair. She bent forward, revealing the soft curve of her back, and a patch of creamy skin that caused his mouth to water.

   Isabelle closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she allowed some of the tension in her shoulders to ease. She was stiff, tired, achy, and absolutely filthy from attacking the house with a vengeance. The bathrooms were done, the kitchen cleaned, the living room dusted and vacuumed. She only had the mound of laundry left to get through, and the dusting in the dining room. She desperately needed a break though, and some fresh smelling air.

   “You look beat
Issy
,” Abby said gently.

   She nodded tiredly and shifted her weight as the plastic of the chair bit into her upper thigh. Giving up on being able to get comfortable, she slid off the chair to sit on the cool, refreshing ground
.
H
er fingers instinctively curl
ed
into the prickly grass. Inhaling deeply, she savored the fresh scent of the air, and grass, as the sun beat warmly down on her. She tilted her head back to get the full extent of its soothing rays, a soft smile play
ed
over her mouth. She inhaled again and sighed softly as more of the tension she had been living with finally began to ease.

   “Do you want help
Iss
y
?” Vicky asked.

   “No that’s all right, I’m almost done. What are you guys up too?”

   “Working on our tans,” Jess replied, her tone clearly stating that she thought Isabelle was an idiot for asking the question.

   Isabelle stiffened slightly as a flash of anger washed through her. Most of her tension came flooding back as she opened her eyes and turned to look at Jess. She was leaning back in the chair, her long legs stretched out before her as she tilted her head to look at Isabelle disdainfully. Her anger notched a level higher as she met
Jess’s
clear blue eyes. She remembered Jess as being fun, energetic, and mischievous. She didn’t know what had happened to the little girl, but she was beginning to greatly dislike the woman.

   When she had asked Jess if she would help her clean the house, Jess had sniffed contemptuously and informed Isabelle that she didn’t clean her own house, she sure as hell wasn’t going to clean someone else’s. Isabelle had managed to keep her temper then, mostly because cleaning the house was
t
he
only hope she
had to
keep her mind focused on something other than Stefan, and her fear of what he represented. However, her mission had failed, and her anger had mounted with every passing moment that she had scrubbed, cleaned, dusted, and vacuumed with him consistently filling her thoughts. Jess’s
attitude, on top of her own misery, was
pushing her very close to a snapping point.

   “We were talking about how Jess and Stefan met,” Vicky said quickly, obviously detecting Isabelle’s mounting ire.

   Isabelle leaned her back against the chair as she straightened her cramped legs gratefully before her. Closing her eyes, she leaned back to enjoy the rays of the sun, determined to ignore Jess, and her attitude. Fighting with her wasn’t going to do anyone any good. She pushed back an annoying piece of clinging, damp hair as she settled in. The house had been unbelievably stifling, even after she had opened all the windows to air it out. There was no breeze today and the air was heavy with the humidity of late August, but it was much more refreshing than the house had been.

   “Go on Jess,” Abby urged
eagerly
.

   “We met at a bar, by my school,” Jess said
, yawning as she stretched her arms before her
.

   “How long have you been together for?”
Vicky inquired.

   “Three months.”

   “So it’s serious then?”
Abby asked happily, her eyes taking on a dreamy look.

   Isabelle felt her tension growing again as she grit her teeth, trying to remain relaxed, and calm. She had been determined to try and forget about him, she did not want to hear about him now, when she had been seeking an escape from
her own mind. “I guess so,” Jess
replied absently. “I mean he
did
c
o
me up here with us.”

   “He is so hot!” Vicky gushed.

   Isabelle shifted uncomfortably as a flash of black, piercing eyes swept through her mind, bringing with them a wave of heat that far exceeded the warmth of the day. “He’s even hotter in bed,” Jess replied slyly.

   Isabelle’s eyes flew open as her mouth went dry and her heart leapt into her throat. A fierce wave of something like jealousy swept through her. Never before had she felt jealous of anything, but she was fairly certain that was the emotion that was clutching at her chest right now. It scared the hell out of her, at the same time that it made her want to rip her hair out in aggravation and disgust. What the hell was the matter with her?
S
he thought angrily. She wanted nothing to do with
him;
she had nothing to be jealous of.

   Delia laughed softly as Abby and Vicky
stared
at
Jess
in disbelief. Their eyes darted to Isabelle as their mouths gaped open. They weren’t used to hearing such blunt statements, and by the blushes creeping up their cheeks they
weren’t
comfortable with them either. “Uh yeah,” Vicky muttered shyly.

   Jess and Delia laughed. Isabelle’s eyes darted back to them, narrowing angrily at the obvious enjoyment they took in her sister
’
s discomfort. Isabelle opened her mouth to let
loose
with her anger, but Abby seized hold of her shoulder. Gritting her teeth she turned to look at Abby, who shook her head slightly, her green eyes pleading with Isabelle to keep her mouth shut. It took all she had to remain silent, but in the face of Abby’s obvious pleading, she managed to do so. They were Kathleen’s daughters, and her mother wouldn’t be at all happy if she started a war with them.

   Even though she didn’t say a word, her moment of relaxation had been completely ruined. “The laundry should be done,” she mumbled.

   “Did I make you uncomfortable Isabelle?” Jess asked with false sweetness.

   Isabelle’s temper flash boiled as her gaze locked fiercely on Jess’s.
A soft, mocking smile curled Jess’s
mouth as she stared down at
Isabelle
with malicious amusement in her eyes. She was about to let her temper fly, to hell with the consequences, when a shadow fell over her. Isabelle’s mouth instantly went dry as fear seized hold of her. Instinctively she knew who it was, knew that he was there without even having to look at him.

   “Stefan!” Jess said sweetly. “We were just talking about you.”

   “I know, I heard,
”
he replied coldly.

   Isabelle’s face flooded with color at the thought of what he had just overheard. She realized then that the sounds of the saws, and hammering, had stopped. Her face grew even redder as she wondered if everyone at the building site had heard
too
. Swallowing heavily, she forced herself to look up at him.

   His shoulders were so broad that they blocked
out
the sun behind him, throwing him into sharp relief against it
s
bright rays. His hair was damp, and tussled as it fell boyishly across his dirt streaked forehead. For a moment Isabelle couldn’t breathe from the force of his enticing dishevel, and the hungry gleam in his onyx eyes.

   “Good thing it was nothing bad then,” Jess said laughingly.

   Stefan forced his gaze away from Isabelle’s wide violet eyes, and beautifully blushing face. He folded his arms over his chest as he turned his attention to Jess. She smiled slyly at him, a seductive twinkle in her bright blue eyes. The small blue bikini she wore revealed almost every inch of her long, slender, tanned body. She was sleek with sweat, and suntan lotion, a condition that would have turned him on at any
other
point in time, but did nothing for him at the moment.

   He had been on his way over here when he had overheard the conversation. For some reason, instead of laughing at it like he normally would have, it had angered him. The discomfort he had felt radiating from Vicky and Abby, and the joy that had poured out of Jess and Delia, had not helped the anger.

 
But, if he were truly honest with himself, he didn’t want Jess talking to Isabelle about their relationship, and what went on between them. Which was absolutely ridiculous, considering the fact that they were staying in the same room, and everyone knew what went on between them. 

   His gaze returned to Isabelle as she climbed swiftly to her feet. Her hair was wet with sweat
;
it was a
tangled mass in
its
lo
o
se ponytail as it clung to her shoulders and face. Dirt streaked her delicate nose, and high cheekbones, emphasizing her tomboyish, hoydens nature. The clothes she wore were filthy as they clung damply to her, emphasizing her high, full breasts, slender waist, and gently flaring hips. Even though she was filthy, and a mess, she was still exquisitely beautiful, and the most tempting thing he had ever laid eyes on. The erection that he had managed to rid himself of suddenly reared back to full, excruciating life.

   Isabelle stared silently back at him, her heart hammering as she struggled to breathe normally. She was acutely aware of how awful she looked, especially compared to Jess, and for some
strange
reason that fact bothered her. She didn’t want him to see her looking like this. Silently, she cursed herself for behaving like an idiot. She didn’t care what he thought of her, or how she looked, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him, or his bitch of a girlfriend.

   There was a gleam in his eyes though, a gleam that left her breathless and trembling. A gleam that told her that he didn’t think she looked as awful as she felt. In fact, he looked as if she was the most desirable woman in the world, as if he wanted to devour her. A fierce shiver made its way down her spine,
it
caus
ed
her to tighten, and harden, in places that she had never felt sensitive in before. Part of her desperately wanted to be devoured by him, while the other part, the saner part, wanted to run screaming for help and never look back.