Don't Bite the Bridesmaid (16 page)

Noah watched her sip at the second appletini, her desire to avoid getting sick apparently slightly stronger than her need to forget their night of karaoke.

“I’m surprised,” he said, finally.

“About what?” she asked, glaring at her sister. Cindy was making some sort of motions barely within his peripheral vision, but he didn’t turn around to see what she was doing.

“I would have thought you’d like singing. You’re so…I don’t know. Bright. Happy. Singing seems like it would be something you’d enjoy.”

Her gaze shifted to him. “I love to sing. Just not where people can hear me.”

He laughed. “I understand. I totally understand.”

She gave him a suspicious glance, but then straightened her spine. “You ready to go face them?”

“Maybe after a few more of these.” He waved his scotch at her.

“Well, we can go sit with them. Mom and Cindy will be all over this for a while, anyway. Brent and Kristen, too. It’ll be a good hour or so before they force us onto the stage.”

“We could just leave, you know. Go lock ourselves in the room.”

Hope lit up her face for a few seconds before she shook her head. “Leaving would be rude. I’m sorry Noah, but some things are unavoidable.” She threw her free hand over her heart dramatically. “’Tis our fate.”

He laughed at her dramatics, but his stomach flip-flopped when her words hit him. Nothing was unavoidable. Nothing. And he’d be damned if he just rolled over for that bonding. He needed a plan.

Everything about Alice demanded that he make sure that they at least get a shot. And he was in no danger of offing himself or retreating into a dark depression. His father’s insistence he be bonded was ridiculous.

“Ready to face the table?” she asked, a third appletini in hand. Her cheeks were flushed a bit from the drinks.

He reached out and stroked her cheek softly with his thumb. “Ready when you are.”

They made their way to the table, and by the sounds of it, everyone seemed to be enjoying the bar’s offerings. The noise level grew when Cindy got up to sing.

Her rendition of
Don’t Stop Believing
by Journey was actually quite good. Could Alice really be that terrible if her sister was so good? Maybe she just feared getting up in front of everyone. He glanced at her while she cheered her sister on. No. That didn’t fit either. Alice didn’t fear being the center of attention, even if she didn’t seek it.

As the night progressed, Noah fell into the cheerful mood that surrounded him, and Alice seemed to as well. Edna got up and sang a country song he didn’t recognize, but did it with such gusto that he couldn’t help enjoying it. Robert and Jake’s take on an AC/DC song was laughable, but they were so far gone by the time they walked onto the stage, they didn’t seem to care.

Brent downed the rest of his drink and then grabbed Kristen.

“We’ll go next,” Brent said. “Show you all how it’s done.” Kristen nodded, obviously excited.

When they launched into
Summer Nights
from Grease, Noah was struck by how good they were, almost theatrical in their performance.
Great
. Of course Brent would be a good singer. He shook himself mentally. Alice wasn’t going to go running back to Brent for his voice.

But she was obviously uncomfortable. She crossed her arms and seemed to sink into her chair, a fake smile plastered on her face as she watched the couple on the stage.

“Okay Alice, Noah. You guys are up,” Cindy insisted after everyone else at the table had taken their shot. Noah’s stomach swirled at the thought, and Alice’s eyes widened.

“I don’t think—” Alice began.

“I do!” Cindy insisted. “Go up together, that way you’ll both get it out of the way. You might even have fun.”

Fat chance of that. Alice shrugged at him, and he pushed up from the table. He’d fought battles before anyone in this room was even born. He’d taken out vampires who attacked him with swords, seeking his head. He’d faced down groups that should have killed him and his brothers, going by the numbers. He could do this. He could sing in front of these people.

Alice seemed to be warring a battle in her own mind as they approached the stage.

“You ready?” he asked. She nodded, and picked up the mics. Handing him one, she turned to face the audience. Cindy was down with the man who controlled the music, saying something in his ear, loudly, to be heard over the ever-increasing crowd. Noah made out the words, and almost ran off the stage.

“What is it?” Alice asked.

He shook his head. And then the music started.

When the first notes for
Leather and Lace
hit, he knew he was screwed.

But when Alice started singing, he smiled. He might be screwed, but at least they’d go down together. He and Alice limped through the song, and by the end, they were laughing and leaning against each other. And they sang the final notes with enthusiasm. Much to the chagrin of the listeners.

They left the stage still laughing, and most of their table cheered them on. All but Brent, whose expression had gone from hard to angry at some point during their duet.

“You suck!” Alice told Cindy. Her sister giggled and dodged Alice’s half-hearted punches.

Later, Cindy and Alice sang a song together. Noah had a tough time making out the lyrics, but he was pretty sure girl power was the theme.

After a couple more drinks, he and Alice got up for another duet. And to his amazement, he realized that he was actually having fun.

After her second song with Noah, she started having a hard time reading the monitor. Her last couple of appletinis pushed everything from a happy haze to a difficult-to-make-out fuzz.

Noah helped her back to their room, and she clung to his arm. He’d drunk as much as she had, and she almost asked him if his vampire metabolism was better than a human’s. But she caught herself, just barely.

He wrangled the door open while she leaned against a wall.

“Are you okay?”

“Yup. Mostly, I just like hanging on to you,” she said truthfully.

He grinned and held out his arm. “Is that so?”

“Oh yes.” She took his arm and he led her into the room. Sitting heavily on the bed, she watched Noah as he went to close the heavy drapes. His secret still on the tip of her tongue, she swallowed the words. A new subject—a non-vampire subject—that’s what she needed.

“Tell me about your wife,” she said, then clapped her hand over her mouth. Why did she keep asking about her? Maybe that wasn’t the best thing to ask about. Not if she wanted to have sex tonight anyway. And she
so
did.

Noah winced, but nodded. “You have a right to ask.”

She didn’t argue. If he thought she had a right to know about his ex-wife, that meant something, didn’t it?

“We met when we were young—too young, really.” He paused, searching his thoughts. Probably deciding what was safe to tell her and what verged too close to the truth. Because she had no doubt that his vampire nature had something to do with why he was no longer with his wife.

“So you married too young?” she pressed.

“Yes. And there were things she didn’t like about me, about my life. Things she didn’t really find out about until after we were married.” He let out a short laugh and then sat down on the bed, a couple of feet between them. “Shit, that sounded ominous. I guess—it’s hard to explain. We were just very different people.”

She bit her lip, wanting to push for more information, but knowing she shouldn’t.

But Noah didn’t give her a chance to push. “Why have you been acting different around Brent?”

She smiled to herself. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who wondered about things. “He apologized for his behavior when we danced.”

“That’s it? An apology?”

She grimaced. “What’s the subtext here, Noah? That I’m naive to forgive him after an apology?”

“Honestly? Fuck yeah.”

She chuckled. She should have been angry—or at least irritated—at his words, but somehow, she wasn’t. His worries were too ridiculous. “I’m not running back to Brent. I’ll never go back to him. And even though Kristen betrayed me, and I might never completely forgive her, I won’t ever think he’s good enough for her. But hating him for being an asshole isn’t something I care to spend the energy on.” Elation rushed through her as she realized how true that was. “I don’t care,” she repeated. “I really couldn’t give two figs what Brent thinks now.”

Noah gave her a doubtful glance, but she didn’t bother to push the issue. She knew how she felt, and Noah would either figure it out or he wouldn’t. But he was a pretty smart guy, so she had faith that he’d get it eventually. Besides, insisting on her point would probably only make her look defensive, like she was trying to convince herself.

“I was never married to Brent.” She felt compelled to point that out. And Noah knew far more about Brent than she did about his wife. “What was her name?”

“Anna.”

“You must have a thing for A-named women.”

He grinned at that. “I must.” His smile faded and his brows drew together. “But I wasn’t honest with her about something, not soon enough. Not until after we were married.”

“Sounds like a learning moment,” she said, keeping her voice light.

His eyes were dark and rolling with emotion when they met hers, like the ocean during a storm. “I need to tell you something.”

She tried to smile, but faltered, her mind reeling. If he told her, what would she say? Should she try to pretend it was a shock to her? That she had no idea vampires existed, let alone that Noah was one of them?

That was probably the route Olivia would choose for her, and the smart thing to do. He would wonder why she hadn’t told him before if she confessed the truth. And he would wonder how she knew. She’d promised Olivia that she would keep her secret.

“This is going to be hard to believe.”

She schooled her expression, thoughts still reeling.

“I’m a vampire.”

And she knew, with his worried expression and hopeful eyes, she could trust him. In a way she’d never been able to trust anyone. And she didn’t want to keep any secrets from Noah.

He took her hands in his, his eyes entreating her to believe him. “Look, I know this is sort of impossible to believe, but let me show you—”

“I know,” she said, simply.

He gaped at her. “You…what?”

She forced a small smile to her face and hoped she looked more reassuring than she felt. “I know you’re a vampire. I’ve known for a while.”

He released her hands and leaned away from her, looking at her as if he’d never seen her before. “Again, what? How?” His eyes narrowed.

“No need to look so suspicious. I knew a vampire, once. She’s not around anymore—I mean she’s around, but not around us.” Alice shook her head. “This is coming out all muddled.”

“We’ll come back to that.” He gave her a pointed look, but the suspicion had faded from his expression, so she counted that as a win. “How did you know—” He cleared his throat. “How did you figure out I was one?”

“Well, you were either a vampire, or a total psycho.”

“Excuse me?”

“The shampoo. You were either a vampire or a man kooky enough to drink shampoo.” She shuddered. “And I’d much rather date someone who drinks blood. Shampoo is
disgusting
.”

He stared at her, unblinking, until she snickered under her breath.

“What’s so funny?”

“I never thought I’d get to see such a totally shocked expression on your face. It’s very cute.”

His shock shifted to a glare, and her snicker blossomed into an outright laugh.

He ignored her humor. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It was tempting to mess with you—ask about your family. Pretend to want to look up them for my genealogy hobby. But, I figured it was your secret to tell.” And that was the truth—a decision she still believed right. Her amusement faded. “I still stand by that.”

He stared at her for a painfully long moment, his gaze searching her face. “Do you have any idea how fucking amazing you are?”

She looked down at her hands, uncomfortable. Her mind searched for an appropriate answer to that. Flippant or denial? Finally she settled on deflection. “You’re pretty amazing yourself.”

She forced her gaze up to meet his, ignoring her own discomfort. Wide eyes, lacking any guile or walls, met hers.

And then they were kissing.

As if Noah were both a vampire and a magician, their clothes disappeared so quickly that she suspected wizardry. There was at least some sleight of hand involved. Noah kissed her so carefully, it was as if he worried she might break in his hands.

That wasn’t good enough.

She kissed him back forcefully, her hands roaming over his body, drawing a low growl from his lips when she found his erection. She stroked him and he moaned into her mouth.

She liked the sound of that.

She pushed against his chest, and he rolled over onto his back for her, his eyes questioning. But the look on his face changed when she started licking her way down his chest, confusion replaced by anticipation.

When she licked his cock, he jumped, muttering an expletive under his breath. She grinned, then took him in her mouth.

She explored him with her tongue, loving the salty taste, the pure, manly scent of him. Clean and strong. Noah gasped when she started to move faster, take him deeper. His hand threaded through her hair, not directing her, but desperately gripping it, holding it out of her face. The noises he made spurred her on, and she relished in being able to make him lose control in such a way.

He gasped loudly, and then his grip on her her hair turned almost painful. He tugged her back up, his face a picture of need. He was close.

High on that knowledge, she went to take him back in her mouth, but he rolled her over onto her back and kissed her with a ferocity that made her gasp in need. His hands seemed to be everywhere at once, touching and stroking, making her feel as desperate as he had just looked.

He positioned himself at her entrance and she pulled him close, her mouth against his ear. Did Noah want a future with her? Surely he wouldn’t have told her about his vampire heritage if he didn’t. And she trusted him—actually trusted him. She needed to show him how much.