Don't Bite the Bridesmaid (17 page)

“You can bite me, if you want to,” she murmured.

His head pulled back and she expected to see shock on his face. Instead, his mouth was wide, in a snarl that revealed his fangs.
God, his fangs
. Long and sharp, they looked every bit the weapon. Her stomach twisted as desire mixed with a healthy dose of fear.

His face was laced with wanting so fierce she wasn’t surprised when he didn’t ask if she was certain. Instead, he lowered his face to her neck and took a deep breath, taking in her scent. Then he pushed his cock into her with a long, swift stroke. She moaned at the sudden fullness, but her voice cut off when she felt a sharp pain at her neck.

The warring sensations overwhelmed her senses, but before she could wrap her shocked mind around it all, a strange heat spread from her neck, and euphoria hit her. The world went surreal.

Intense pleasure crashed into her, swirling and mixing, familiar yet strange. Noah pumped into her fiercely while his mouth sucked at her neck. Her head grew light, and there was nothing but him and the sensations he wrought through her. The pull on her neck. The thrust of his thickness into her. The weight of his hard body on top of her. And then the orgasm hit.

It started the normal way, rolling from her core and sending her muscles shuddering, but the euphoria from the bite intensified it, and her whole body shook from the sensation. Her mind couldn’t grasp the feelings, as wave after wave hit her, extending far past when a normal orgasm would have ended.

Everything went black for a moment. Then Noah was shouting his own pleasure above her, and rocking into her body so hard she was certain she would feel it the next day.

Finally, he stilled, and then lowered his face back to her neck. He licked her long and hard where he’d bit her, and she felt a twinge of pain. They stayed that way for a few minutes, her mind unable to form real thoughts, and Noah huddled into her neck. He held her so tightly it was as if he feared she would go running from the room if he let her go. Her hands were tangled in his hair. There had never been such a perfect moment.

“If you let me go, I promise I won’t run away,” she said, amused despite the awe-inspiring thing that had just happened.

He laughed softly against her hair before rolling over to lie beside her. “Am I that obvious?”

“Yep. But that’s part of your charm.” A sudden thought hit her. “I’m not going to wake up a vampire, right?”

He laughed, low and throaty. “No. It takes a good deal of sharing blood for that to happen.”

They didn’t talk then, they just lay next to each other until her eyelids grew heavy. She didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until she woke with a start. She stared at the drapes, still slightly open to the dark ocean beyond, they flitted with the breeze. Noah was no longer next to her. She sat up in the bed and glanced around. No edge of light indicated he was in the bathroom. Had he gone out? The murmur of a voice drew her to the balcony.

The sliding glass door stood a couple of inches open and she heard Noah on the other side. She turned away, but her name caught her attention.

“—Alice. Yes…I’m aware of that Charles, but if I parade Alice in front of The Council and tell them my intentions, they’ll let me out of the bonding. You know that.” Noah paused for a few moments, and she took a careful step closer to the door, her form hidden by the drapes, and the muted sound of her steps on the carpeting no doubt muffled by the ocean and the man on the other end of the phone call.

“I know it hasn’t been long, but that doesn’t matter, does it? The intent to bond another is enough to get out of this fucking arranged marriage,” Noah said.

Her stomach dropped and the room spun. But she didn’t walk away, she couldn’t. She had to hear the rest. Maybe she’d misheard.

“Yes, Charles. Yes. I’m sure she’ll agree.” He chuckled, a low and sexy sound that suddenly made her sick instead of turned on. “If not, I’ll convince her.”

She stepped away and doubled over, pain spiking from her stomach and chest. She lay down on the bed and forced back the tears burning her throat. She’d believed him, really believed. Trusted him.

And he was just like Brent.

Using her. Using her to get out of some vampire arranged marriage. Using her to get something for himself. Had he cared for her, even a little bit?

Misery filled her, and she wanted to scream to find a release for all of the tension, all of the pain. She couldn’t act normal, not if he came back. But she had to, didn’t she? Talking to him about this would only make her humiliation that much worse. She couldn’t let him know she’d overheard.

The bed moved under his weight, and her lungs constricted. She struggled to keep her breathing even. When his arm wrapped around her and his body melded to her back, it took every bit of willpower she had to bite her lip and not cry out in anger. Her eyes watered, but she ignored the sensation. It was all she could do to breathe.

Finally, he slept. And Alice stared into the night.

Chapter Ten

N
oah woke with light heart, in an empty bed. Alice wasn’t next to him, and he glanced around the room, looking for her. But the water running in the bathroom caught his ear, and he grinned. Maybe she’d want company?

What a perfect night. Their conversation hadn’t gone at all how he’d planned—it had gone better. Not only had Alice already known he was a vampire, but she accepted him for it, without fear. And she had tasted just as sweet as he knew she would. That she trusted him enough to let him bite her, made him feel like a goddamned giant.

Sure, suspicion had hit him when she’d first confessed to already knowing what he was. He’d immediately wondered if she worked for The Council somehow, had been planted by them to get close to him. But the idea was ridiculous, and he’d dismissed it at once. The Council would have no way of knowing Alice might be able to get close to him where others could not. And they were an honorable lot, unlikely to try to play with his feelings in that kind of manner.

Besides, they had no need for subterfuge, they could simply force their hand if they wanted.

Noah stretched, and glanced down at the messy state of the bed. The comforter stretched across the bed at a haphazard angle, and the top sheet was missing. He grinned.

The conversation with Charles hadn’t gone exactly as he hoped, but it had been about what he’d expected. He’d confessed he had feelings for Alice, and that she knew what he was. What they were. And after Charles got over his shock, Noah told him the plan.

The Council could be harsh in enforcing their will, but they weren’t unreasonable. If anything, they were logical to a fault. And if Noah approached them with an offer to bond Alice, to make her one of them, they would give them the time to build the relationship before he would have to turn her and make her his. He would be permitted to be with Alice rather than be forced into a marriage with a stranger.

Sun shone through the corners of the drapes, lighting the room and filling the shadows. Alice had opened them just enough for him to catch a glimpse of the blue sky beyond. It was going to be a beautiful day.

Despite his earlier enthusiasm for Alice, Charles hadn’t been totally behind the plan, even with Noah’s reassurance it would work. He’d had to force some confidence with Charles, but he couldn’t risk the other man thinking the plan could fail. Noah needed his support.

That Alice already knew about vampires had thrown Charles. But Noah made his feeling clear, and then he seemed to understand. In fact, he’d been positively annoying about his understanding. As if he’d known the whole time that Noah felt something far beyond neighborly for Alice.

Now, he just had to convince her.

In the dark of night, after they’d made love, he’d been certain he could get her to agree. And he’d been forced to sound even more certain than he felt on the phone to Charles. He couldn’t give his friend any reason to doubt the plan with Alice would work.

Noah sat up in the bed, but the water shut off before he could get any farther. He grimaced, but a quick glance at the clock revealed it was probably for the best. They didn’t want to miss the morning gathering two days in a row. Or, he assumed, Alice probably wouldn’t.

Not that he’d mind spending all day in bed with her, several days, in fact. But, he couldn’t ask her to abandon her family right now, not right before the wedding. If he took a quick shower, they wouldn’t be all that late to brunch.

The bathroom door opened to reveal Alice, fully dressed and styling her damp hair back in a conservative clip.

“I’m going to head down there. I have to help Cindy with some wedding stuff,” she said, and he tensed. It wasn’t her words, but the way she stood. She dropped her arms from her hair and crossed them. Her side faced him instead of her whole body. The stance was almost defensive. And her tone held no intimacy, like she spoke to a stranger.

“Are you all right?” he asked. She’d seemed fine the night before, happy even. Had she experienced some sort of delayed regret? Had fear hit her when she’d seen his marks in her neck? But with his saliva, there should be only small marks left, and they were surely not enough to shock her.

“I’m fine,” she snapped, and his head whipped back, her tone like a slap to the face.

“Alice—”

“Look, Noah. I’m sorry if I led you on, but this was never a long-term thing. I think we both knew that going in. And even though I knew about the vampire thing, knowing and experiencing are two very different things.” She kept her gaze firmly affixed to her hands, refusing to look at him, even when he stood.

He couldn’t seem to find breath, let alone form words. Instead, he gaped at her and tried to wrap his mind around her words.

“I’m heading down for breakfast. I’ll see you there.” And with those final words, she turned on her heel and left. The door clicked shut behind her, and Noah dropped back down to the bed.

What had just happened? His mind refused to understand her words, her coldness. A knife wrenched in his gut, and he took a deep breath.

It was happening again. Another woman turning from him because of what he was. Couldn’t Alice see he was more than a vampire? That he was a man who lov—no. He couldn’t think like that, not right now. But he cared for her. How could she drop him like that?

Forcing a long breath through his nose, he swallowed hard. Maybe he would have been better off if he’d never been turned. If he’d lived out his life like a normal man, working the fields of his father’s farm. He could have had a simple life with a wife and kids. But he’d gone to town on that fateful day. Fought a man to satisfy the entertainment and gambling needs of other men. Shown how tough he was—even for a human. And then the simple life had been wrenched from him.

He shook his head. Kane might have stolen his life that day, but he’d been offered a choice. He just hadn’t realized the extent that choice would really change the course of his fate.

But he had a choice now, didn’t he?

No, this wasn’t going to happen. He had to talk to her. Find out what had changed. Fucking fix it.

He dressed quickly and headed for the nook where her family had met up to eat breakfast every day. Alice sat with a plate of fruit. He stopped and stared. She joked and chatted with Cindy, who sat across from her. Could she be as cool as she acted, with everything that happened between them?

“Hello, Noah,” Edna said. He gave her a tight smile.

“Alice, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.

Alice opened her mouth as if she would argue, but then glanced around, taking in their audience. “Sure,” she said brightly, and for the first time since he’d met her, he saw her lie to him. Her cavalier attitude was forced.

The spark of hope elicited by that thought was almost painful.

They walked a short distance away from her family’s curious eyes. And when they found a semi-private spot, she stopped and crossed her arms, her stare as sharp as a knife.

“Tell me what the hell is happening,” he said without preamble.

“I told you, this was just a bit of fun, and now it’s over.”

“Bullshit. This wasn’t just a bit of fun and it’s not over.” He wanted to shake her, make her listen to him. “Come on, Alice. Be honest with me. Did the bite freak you out? We don’t ever have to do that again if you don’t want to. I—” his voice cracked with emotion and he swallowed hard, staring into her eyes. Trying to convince her with his own to talk to him.

Her eyes widened a bit at that, but her tone didn’t soften. “No.” She took a deep breath. “Fine. I’m not a good liar, anyway. You want to know the truth? I overheard your phone call. It’s pretty damn obvious what you wanted from me. And you’re not getting it.”

He reached out to touch her but she stepped back, out of his reach.

She snorted. “Funny thing is, if you’d asked me, I probably would have helped you with your situation. But no. You lied to me. You acted like you didn’t want to use me for your own gain, but that’s exactly what you were after. Just like Brent.”

He gaped at her. If she’d overheard his conversation with Charles, he could see why she’d be upset. But she didn’t understand. Yes, he’d intended to use her to get out of the vampire bonding but—
shit
. Did it matter to her that he was only willing to do that because he cared about her? That he hadn’t intended to use her? Maybe the difference wasn’t important.

Her eyes, bright with unshed tears, stared back at him, hard for all the emotion they revealed.

He finally found his voice. “You’re willing to dismiss everything that happened between us over a half-heard conversation?”

She blinked at that, and emotions warred on her face. “Do you deny you were going to use me to get out of some sort of arranged marriage?”

The lie was on the tip of his tongue. All it would take was spitting it out. Weaving a plausible tale. He could tell her the truth later, after he showed her how much he cared about her. And unlike Alice, he was a damned good liar. But the words wouldn’t come out, and her face hardened as the silence drew out longer.

He couldn’t lie to her.

“No, but—”

She laughed, a high, angry sound. “That’s what I thought.” She took a haggard breath. “Stay away from me for the rest of this trip, Noah. We’re done.”

With that, she turned to go back to the table. He reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her. But when her angry eyes turned back to him, he couldn’t find any words to explain, to make things right.

“Don’t touch me.” She pulled out of his grip and strode back toward the table.

A heavy weight slammed into his chest. He’d fucked it all up. The right words still out of his grasp, he watched her walk away.

He wandered the ship for a while, the whole place pressing against him. The garishly colored walls closed in, trapping him. How had things gone so wrong so quickly?

What should he have said? That he cared about her? She knew that, she had to. That he wanted to spend eternity convincing her how much he cared?

Did he?

Vampires weren’t guaranteed eternity, but it was damn near close enough, especially now that the faction wars had dimmed to almost nothing. Certainly, they could be killed by someone taking their heads, or by starving themselves and remaining in sunlight for a long enough period, but such things were rare. They lived in peace, policing themselves and protecting humans from the occasional rogue.

Committing to Alice wouldn’t necessarily mean eternity; vampires could dissolve their bondings, after all, even though such a thing was rare. But by saying he was willing to bond her, he had to go in fully committed. Alice deserved no less.

He made his way back to the cabin they shared without even realizing where he headed until he walked through the door. The smell hit him first—her scent. Sweet, heady, and full of newly-made memories.

The sun was bright and oppressive, but he yanked the door open and stepped out onto the balcony anyway. He inhaled a deep breath of the humid, salty air, and tried to force out her scent.

She’d let him go so easily, and his chest ached at that thought. Instead of demanding explanations, having some sort of faith that he cared for her, she’d pushed him away at the first sign he wasn’t forthcoming about everything. If she’d really cared, she wouldn’t have pushed him away.

Except—she did care. He knew she did. He could feel it every time her warm brown eyes met his. She’d just been hurt before—badly.

By another man who wanted to use her.

Never before had he wanted to tear a man’s head off so much as he wanted Brent’s.

But was that reason enough to commit to her? The idea of being with Alice forever wasn’t the fearful thing it might have once been to him. Because he couldn’t envision a future without her bright smile and bigger than life personality. Yes. He could make that commitment to her.

He ran his hand over his hair and then leaned against the railing. But for it to work, she had to be willing to take the leap with him. With how easily she’d dropped him—that didn’t seem likely.

No matter how he tried to sort through his tangled thoughts and emotions to come up with a plan, he couldn’t move beyond the hurt in her eyes, the cold expression on her face.

He had to get off the damn boat.

They were docking in Puerto Vallarta for two days before the ship would leave, head back to California. He’d fucked everything up with Alice, and she wasn’t going to listen to him. Maybe they both needed some time to think. Some space.

He stepped back into the room, then grabbed his bags and stuffed the little blood he still had in it and the rest of his things. He was okay on blood, having drunk freely from Alice the night before. A quick flight home and he wouldn’t have to worry about his food supply.

He shoved thoughts of Alice’s sweet-tasting blood from his mind. She’d made her choice. He wasn’t welcome here anymore.

But he couldn’t leave without saying something. He picked up a casino-provided notepad and stared at the small square of white paper, blank except for the cruise line’s contact information and slogan in one corner.

He stared at the paper for several minutes, his mind wrestling with his options. An angry accusation, a poem, a clever turn of phrase that would bring a smile to her face—remind her of better times? A long explanation of why he’d kept the whole truth from her?

Finally, he wrote a few short words and then folded the paper. He leaned over her pillow and inhaled her scent. His stomach wrenched at the thought of never seeing her again. Or worse, seeing her with a new bride on his arm. He set the note on her pillow.

A half-smile on his face, he took out the small glass-blown figurine he’d bought for her. It was a silly thing, something he wasn’t even entirely sure he’d bought
for
Alice, or just to remind himself of her.

The glass-blown sun sparkled in the sunlight that peeked in from the half shut curtains, pretty and bright and full of life—despite its inanimate nature. Alice should have it. He set it on the pillow next to the note.

Noah left the ship, pulling down his sunglasses to avoid the glare of the sun. He took a cab to a hotel near the cruise ship’s port and checked into a room. His cash was running low, so he used a credit card. Staying hidden didn’t matter much anymore. The Council had ruled. Alice had kicked him out.