Destined (Vampire Awakenings) (18 page)

   He was shaking with anger by the time he was done yelling. Her eyes widened in surprise and her mouth parted slightly. For a moment
,
he simply stared at her as his words echoed loudly in the room
.
H
e was s
tartl
ed to realize exactly what he had just shouted. Shock registered quickly, and his eyes widened in surprise as the truth of his words slammed home with a sickening horror. She opened her mouth, looking like she was about to say something.

   He didn’t want to hear anything that she had to say. Didn’t even remotely want to think about what he had just said. Nor did he want to think about the fact that it might even be true. All he wanted to do was show her, once and for all, that he was the one in control. He seiz
ed
hold of her mouth with a fierce, punishing savagery.

   She whimpered softly from the shear brutality of his kiss as she began to squirm in his arms. He didn’t ease his hold on her, didn’t lessen his bruising onslaught. He was still extremely mad at her, and himself. He wanted to punish her, to show her that he was stronger, that he was the one in control. When she whimpered again,
and
her hands flutter
ed
up to push at his chest, he finally eased the force of his mouth against hers.

   His hands loosened on her arms as he lowered her to the ground, refusing to relinquish her mouth. Her hands pushed against his chest, but he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. He seized her thick hair to keep her mouth firmly against his. He ran his tongue lightly along her lips, but she refused to open to him, refused to yield.

   He moved slowly over her, licking and tasting, determined that she would give into him. She gasped slightly as he nibbled at her bottom lip and he used that opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. For a moment she remained stiff in his grasp, then her hands stopped shoving against his chest to curl into his shirt and her tongue hesitantly came out to meet his.

   He groaned softly as a bolt of desire shot through him, hardening him instantly. She tasted so good, felt right as she melded against him. Her full breasts pressed against his chest as her tongue entwined with his in a thrusting
,
mating
dance
. He was certain that no woman had ever felt as wonderful, never been so soft, or sweet. She moaned softly, the erotic sound causing his hard shaft to jump in anticipation.

   He released her waist to lightly stroke the exposed skin of her flat stomach. She trembled slightly as he moved steadily higher, tracing his fingers over her delicate ribcage before skimming across the lacy edge of her bra. Her trembling grew stronger as he molded his hand over her firm breast and gently began to massage it. Her nipple hardened beneath his touch as her shaking became fierce
r
. He wanted to smile with triumph, but he was too far gone with her to do so.

   He released her hair and seized hold of her waist again, holding her up as he moved his hand to her other breast. He drug her pelvis against his, rubbing his hardened shaft against her. She moaned with pleasure and instinctively arched into him. Releasing her mouth he began to kiss his way across her long, delicate neck. He grew even more aroused by the scent of her blood, so pure and sweet as it pulsed wildly through her veins.

 
He groaned as he rubbed against her, felt her, tasted her
;
was consumed by her. Never in his life had he felt so lost with a woman, so totally out of control with want and need. He couldn’t get enough touching her, couldn’t get enough of the way she felt and moved. He wanted, needed, to feel every inch of her, to posses her.

   Isabelle jerked in surprise as his mouth descended on her nipple, lightly biting and sucking on it. Even through the thin material of her tank top
,
his mouth seared into her, turning her into liquid heat. Never had she imagined that something could feel as wonderful as he made her feel, that something could be this
consuming
. Her fingers wrapped into his hair as he nipped at her, causing her body to buck in surprise, and a gasp of pleasure to escape. Causing her to melt everywhere at the same time that she caught on fire.

   “Stefan!” she gasped.

   The sound of his name on her lips in that erotic, husky tone
,
damn near drove him over the edge. He
hungrily
reclaimed her mouth as his hand slid down to the edge of her shorts.

   “Isabelle!” She jerked in surprise, pulling her mouth away from Stefan’s as her carnal haze was broken by Ethan’s loud pounding on the door. “Isabelle, are you in there?”

   “Ye... Yes!” she stammered out in a shaky voice.

   “Is Stefan in there with you?”

   Her eyes jumped to his, wide, and uncertain. His eyes were impossibly black now, the pupils not even noticeable in the cloud of desire that smoldered within them. “No! Why?”

   “Because Jess is up there making a thousand
pancakes
and we can’t get her to stop! Do you know what’s going on?”

   At the mention of Jess’s name she wrenched free of his grasp
and
cast him a scathing look. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to ease the remaining passion in her body. “Yeah, I’ll be right out!”

   “Well hurry up! She’s like a damn robot that we can’t turn off, and she’s freaking me out!”

   Isabelle would have snorted with laughter at the distress in his voice, if she hadn’t been so angry. She berated herself for letting
Stefan
touch her, arouse her, when he was such an ass, and she had resolved to never let it happen again. But whenever he touched her, all of her will, and anger, melted. She was beginning to hate herself for the obvious weakness that she possessed
.
A
weakness she never would have known existed if he hadn’t walked into her life, into her sanctuary. She hated him for it, hated herself for it, and vowed fervently that it would never happen again. He would never touch her again.

   She waited for Ethan’s retreating footsteps to fade away before turning back to Stefan. Her body still burned from his touch, but she was determined to stand her ground. She could do
it;
she could refuse him anything, as long as he didn’t touch her again. It was only when he touched her that she lost all control. She had never thought that lust could be stronger than reason, but she knew now that it was.

   “You had better go stop her,” she said coldly.

   He raised a dark
eye
brow as he surveyed the incensed, distant woman before him. She was back to being angry at him again. Well, by the time that he was done with her, she would be too tired to even think about anger. Hell, she wouldn’t even be able to think. “And why is that?”

   Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. “Because she’s your girlfriend!” she spat.

   “Jealous?”

   Isabelle nearly screamed with fury. He was the most aggravating, infuriating man to walk the face of the earth. He was also the most sensuous, desirable, and irresistible one too. She firmly shut those thoughts out. She didn’t even know where they had come from. She fisted her hands at her sides as she glowered at him. “Hardly!” she snorted.

   To him, it was completely obvious that she was jealous, and the realization greatly pleased him. Smiling smugly he folded his arms over his chest as he eyed her with obvious pleasure. “Could have fooled me.”

   He thought she was going to start spitting with rage as her eyes flashed a dangerous shade of red. “Get out!” she hissed. “And stay the hell away from me!”

   “That
,
Isabelle
, is not going to happen,
so
get used to that fact right now,
”
he growled in warning.

   “How dare you!?” she snapped.

   He took a step closer to her, but she backed up quickly, shaking her head as she held up her hands
to ward
him off. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me how long it has been since you last fed.”

   Isabelle was shaking with frustration and anger. She couldn’t take much more of this. Her emotions were swinging wildly back and forth, and she felt as if she were being torn in ten million directions at once. “I told you I wouldn’t hurt her,” she whispered.

   Stefan grit his jaw as a wave of fury swept through him. “And I told you that I don’t care about her!” he snapped. “Now answer me!”

   Isabelle was rapidly batting back tears. She hadn’t cried since Ethan and Ian had cut off her hair, and she refused to cry now, especially in front of him. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of answering him, but she needed to get away from him
.
She
needed some space and distance
,
and i
f her answer would make him leave, than she would give it to him.

   “Four or five days,
”
she answered softly.

   His breath hissed out of him as he clenched his jaw. “Which is it, four or five?” he demanded
fiercely
.

   Isabelle wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to
ease
the chill that was wracking her. “Five,” she muttered miserably.

   His hands seized hold of her arms. She jum
ped in surprise;
her gaze fl
ew
wildly to his as he glared down at her. “You will not do that again,” he commanded.

   Isabelle’s eyes widened at the commanding, hostile tone of his voice, and her ire immediately surged to the forefront. “I told you that I wouldn’t hurt her!” she yelled, unable to stop the jealousy tearing through her.

   His eyes narrowed dangerously as he brought her to within an inch of his face. “And I told you that I don’t care about her. If you had lost control and hurt Jess, you never would have forgiven yourself, would you?”

   Isabelle swallowed the tight lump in her throat. “No,” she whispered.

   He put her back down, unable to touch her anymore without wanting to take it all, to taste it all. “Now,” he grated through his teeth. “We are going to get a few things straight between us. Jess means nothing to me, if you want her gone, th
e
n I’ll toss her out right now...”

   “No!” she
cried
guilt and self loathing flowing through her.

   Stefan’s eyes narrowed, but he forced himself not to argue with her. He was going to set the rules right now, and she was going to start obeying them. “Fine, she can stay if you want, but I think it will be a little awkward, because I plan on having you.”

   Isabelle gaped at him;
fury surg
ed
through her veins as she took a quick step back to make sure that she was out of his reach. Not like it would do her much good, he moved faster than anything she had ever seen. He could easily grab her again if he wanted to. “You arrogant bastard! How dare you!? If you even remotely think that just because you say you’re going to have me, you will, than you are dead wrong!” she spat, rage causing her entire body to tremble.

   “No Isabelle, I am very right. You can fight it all you want, but it is the simple truth. You want me, I want you, and I will have you.”

  
She sputtered in disbelief, unable to believe the full extent of his arrogance.
“Get out!” she nearly screamed. “Get out now!”

   He grabbed hold of her arms, dragging her against him as she struggled wildly within his grasp. He held her for a moment, waiting for her to settle down. Her eyes flashed red with rage as she ceased her useless struggles and stood trembling within his grasp. She looked so amazingly beautiful, and tempting, that it took all the restraint he had not to kiss her again. But he knew that if he did, he would not be satisfied with just one kiss, and he wanted Jess effectively out of his life before he took Isabelle. He knew that she wo
uld feel guilty afterward if Jess
wasn’t
gone
, and he didn
’
t want that.

   He realized with a start, that for the first time in his existence, he was actually putting someone else’s feelings ahead of his own. He didn’t know how she had managed to get to him so much, nor did he particularly care. Right now, he just wanted to get his point across.

   “You’re going to stop fighting me Isabelle, and yourself. It will be good
between us
, you’ll see.”    

   She gaped at him in astonishment as fear, and desire, seized hold of her. She should have been infuriated at his highhanded attitude, but suddenly all of her anger vanished and she couldn’t seem to regain it. She knew that it would be good between them, but she was so very afraid of just how good it would be. Of what it would mean. She didn’t want to think about it now, couldn’t think about it now. All she wanted was to be free of him for just a few moments.

   “Go out through the storm doors,” she said softly.