Don't Forget Me (8 page)

Reawakening At Vuk’s Side

V
uk was jolted
out of a dream, and squinted as he felt the fierce sunlight streaming through the window onto his face. In the dream, he’d seen Drake seize Stella and embrace her in his arms; a spike of adrenalin coursed through his body, waking him. He turned over quickly to check she was still there, but found only an empty hollow.

Dazed and confused by the dream, he jumped up, heard noises coming from the kitchen and went to investigate, his footsteps stealthy. In the doorway, Stella bumped into him, spilling two cups of scalding coffee over him. “That’s boiling,” yelped Vuk, his face dark. He felt the hot coffee spread over his t-shirt. He looked down at his chest and then looked back at Stella with raised eyebrows.

“Oh, shit! Vuk, I’m ever so sorry…” she gasped uneasily, her eyes widened in dismay. She placed the dripping cups on a kitchen counter near the door and came back to Vuk.

“Say, Stella, did you reckon I needed warming up?” he exclaimed, amused. He seized her by the hips and took her in his arms. He saw her cheeks redden with embarrassment, and his lips twisted into a know
ing smile. His bold eyes were ablaze with passion and pure desire.

“Oops, Vuk, was that too warm a greeting?” She asked smiling, as she slipped a hand under his t-shirt to caress his taut, flat belly and raise the wet part to his chest.

“Now I would say it is almost cold…” He yanked off his shirt. Stella helped him to slip it over his head, stroking his chest and touching his tousled hair.

“I’d better pour my own coffee from now on…” he continued ironically, rubbing his chest with his hands to wipe away the remnants of the coffee. The rays of sunlight piercing the kitchen highlighted the contours of his chest. In that light, he could have passed for a model or a rock musician, a rebel. She noted his excitement, a hard mound pressing against his light, torn jeans. As always, they hung seductively off his hips.

“I reckon it’s not just coffee you want, Vuk…” gasped Stella. She bit her lip with a cunning air and threaded her fingers through two of the loops of Vuk’s jeans, lightly touching his sensitive skin and drinking in the way his flesh trembled.

“Well, I don’t think that’s much to get surprised about, the whole world knows I’m crazy about you, babe … Good morning, by the way.” He brought his nose up to hers and kissed her, looking into her eyes and holding her face in his hands. Stella threw her arms around his neck and he bent down to kiss her with even more conviction, caressing her mouth and sliding his tongue a little way inside.

“I’ll go and get another t-shirt,” he whispered, kissing her again and sucking her lower lip feverishly.

“They’re in the bedroom, in the second drawer…” murmured Stella, but before she could finish speaking, Vuk interrupted her boldly.

“I know,” he said, caressing her ear with his warm, husky voice and throwing her a sensual look that literally made her melt as he turned to climb the stairs.

Stella returned the dirty mugs to the kitchen. Looking out the window as she walked to the sink, she felt an icy shiver run up her spine as she suddenly saw Drake, Ian and Nathan watching her intently, leaning nonchalantly against her Corvette. They were biding their time, waiting for the right moment to attack.

Suddenly, Vuk burst into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Stella gasped, startled, dropping the mug into the sink in fright, where it smashed into jagged pieces.

“Stella, what the hell?” he asked, worried, seeing a shadow of fear in her eyes.

“Nothing, Vuk, I’m fine. I just need to relax for a moment…” She looked back out the window but the figures had vanished.

“Stella, what did you see?”

“I might have seen something, out there…” she pointed, looking at the Corvette with dull eyes.

“It was Drake, wasn’t it?”

“Plus the other two werewolves from last night,” she confirmed, her words sending Vuk racing furiously out the back door on the attack. But finding no one in the vicinity, he went back into the house and, pinning Stella against the kitchen wall, his eyes blazing, he said, “Stella, don’t come back here alone after class, make sure I’m with you!” He refused to let her go until she agreed. Her gaze was still glued to the window.

“They were there, weren’t they?” he asked, tormented. She slowly nodded her head.

“Don’t worry, Stella, everything’ll work out fine.”

“I adore you when you say things like that.” She let herself melt into his arms, and felt his legs pushing her against the wall and his body pressing excitedly against hers.

Stella tried to free herself from his grip, but Vuk held her still, pulling her even closer to him. She felt the heat of his body through his shirt as his fingers probed over the waistband of her jeans. He lifted her by the buttocks and Stella felt her legs open under the weight of his body. His desire was pressing against her. She groaned and gripped his sides with her legs, throwing her arms around his neck and gripping his hair with her fingers. She moved her body up and down, rubbing against him.

“I want you, I want you desperately.” He sucked her bottom lip, his hands still under her butt. He bit her on the chin, tasting her skin, and then worked his way down her neck, stopping just above her breasts, one of his hands moving from her butt to her inner thigh. He felt her fingers fastening on his upper arm, her nipples swollen and her body tense with ecstasy.

Vuk’s eyes were shining, cunning and brazen. He was unable to tear his gaze from her mouth. His look was so intense that she felt herself losing control. A groan escaped her lips, and then he put his tongue in her mouth, pushing it all the way in and moving it around hers avidly. He moved slowly and sensually inside her. Stella felt him press his body closer to hers. Her thighs clenched against his body, her nails dug into his shoulders.

Suddenly her mobile started to ring on the kitchen table. Stella glanced at the display. It was her mother. She was filming in Alaska. The signal from there came and went, so she had to answer. She tried to rapidly get a grip on her senses. Vuk reluctantly tried to do that same. They stood still for an instant, their mouths touching. They heard only the ringtone of the mobile and their panting breaths. Vuk lifted her to the ground, holding her body tightly, and Stella leant her forehead against his with complicity. She slid slowly from his hold and answered the phone.

“Mom!”

“Darling, how are you?”

Stella hesitated for an instant.

“Well, I’m a little bit hot right now…”

She threw an ardent glance at Vuk.

“Were you out jogging?”

“Well, not quite… How are things in Alaska?” replied Stella, changing the subject.

“Just great, darling! Right now we’re a long way from Anchorage. We’re learning a lot of things about wolves’ temperaments.” Stella looked at Vuk again and remembered how he’d pressed her against the wall.

“Great! It’s a subject that sure as hell interests me…”

“Yes, I reckon I’d noticed recently.” Vuk heard the shrill voice of Stella’s mother over the phone and looked at her ironically.

“Tell me, are you enjoying your classes?”

“Oh, they’re great, I was just going off to the lesson with Vuk, he’s here with me now…” The boy swept his hair back with one hand and made a sign with the other for Stella to say hello to her mother for him.

“He says hi to you, by the way.”

“Hi to him from me… But tell me, darling, have I by any chance interrupted something?”

“Oh no, mom, not at all, really you haven’t.” But her voice betrayed her emotion.

“Mm, darling… I’m your mom and I know by now when something’s cooking, and I reckon something’s going on between you and your friend.”

“Well, maybe…” she mumbled hesitantly, and blushed as she glanced stealthily at the boy’s sturdy features.

“Stella, darling, I’ve got to go now. I’ve got to start shooting and they’re calling for me. I just phoned to let you know we’ll be out in the wilds for a few days and I won’t be able to get through except by satellite in an emergency, but I promise we’ll meet up in New York as soon as I’ve finished.”

“Fantastic, I can’t wait.” Stella twisted her lips into a smile.

“By the way, I’ve spoken to Jeff, he tells me he can get you an interview at Rooney Investments in New York for a training course.”

“Wow, what a surprise! That’d be wonderful!” She saw Vuk, with a thoughtful look, trying to catch her eye.

“Darling, I love you.”

“Me too, mom, see you soon.”

Stella hung up, threw a glance at Vuk and smiled at him sweetly. She told him about the training course in New York while they drank a cup of hot coffee, then they left the house without mentioning what had happened before the phone call.

It was too difficult, too embarrassing to talk about it at that moment, Vuk knew that. But one thing was certain: neither of them could ignore the spark that had been ignited between them, that had burned in the very core of their bodies.

Stella got into her car and drove to the university with Vuk following closely in his pickup. She called her father from the car. Jeff was fine and the conversation was brief. He was at a vintage car auction at Barrett-Jackson’s in Vegas. He was trying to knock down a black Pontiac GTO from ’69 to just 81,000 dollars. She mentioned she might get an interview for a training course at Rooney Investments and that she would be leaving for Detroit. Parking the car, she strolled over with Vuk to the COM for their class. Suddenly, Stella caught sight of Drake watching her from a distance, a look of morbid obsession on his face, only to see him vanish as he slid behind a group of students. She didn’t even have time to point him out to Vuk.

“Stella, what is it, what did you see? You’ve got that look again! You ok?” He saw her looking around with the same dull terror in her eyes as before.

“Yes, of course, what look?” She smiled, wiping the fear off her face and recovering her composure, trying to pretend nothing was wrong. The last thing she wanted to do was worry Vuk more than she had already.

“I don’t know, it was like… Stella, was it
them
again?” he asked, puzzled, furrowing his brow.

“I’m just a little on edge, Vuk, that’s all,” she explained, confused.

Vuk didn’t press it, but couldn’t quite believe her so he surreptitiously scoped the area as he walked her to the classroom door. The lecture had already started but he hung back as Stella walked across the room to sit next to Jamie, who’d got them seats at the back of the large lecture hall near the window.

“Hey, Jamie, how’s it going?” She took her notes out of her bag and put them on the desk.

“The lecture started ten minutes ago and Professor Hallison’s already on the warpath.”

“Nothing like getting off to a good start,
not
.”

“So, did you find out what was up with Vuk yesterday?”

“No, not yet Jamie, but I think it’s something to do with the guy who came after us at the library yesterday afternoon. He turned up again last night, he was waiting for us as we came out of The Pats… And Vuk seemed to know him pretty well…”

“Are you serious?” exclaimed Jamie, unnerved.

“Yeah, he was with two other guys, and Vuk went on the defensive as soon as he saw them, like he wanted to protect me from them with his body. Jamie, I’ve seen him twice since then. The first time outside the kitchen window this morning, and then outside the building five minutes ago as I was coming in.”

“Oh shit, Stella! Who the hell are these guys?”

“I wish I knew…”

“Do you know what they want from you at least?”

“I think it’s actually me they’re after …”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“I wish. Apart from that, though, we had a cool evening. Just lazing in the back of his pickup, having a beer, holding each other. Then he slept over, but that’s not exactly a first…”

The girls didn’t see Vuk enter the classroom and sit in the seat behind Stella. Fascinated to hear they were talking about him, he couldn’t resist eavesdropping.

“And you’re telling me only now?” cried Jamie excitedly, surprised.

“No Jamie, not sleep in
that
way! He just slept next to me.”

Vuk’s face softened into a smile of sensuous contentment as he sensed her embarrassment.

“And nothing happened at all?” Jamie asked.

“Depends what you mean by nothing… Anyway, we’re both good about staying just friends.”

Vuk was hurt to hear this and turned his head morosely to look out the window, thinking that he felt just like the rain that started to pour heavily out of the pewter sky.

“That’s such a waste, I can’t imagine ever just staying friends with a hot guy like Vuk…” Jamie said.

“Really?” cried Stella, the corners of her mouth curling in a faint smile.

“Anyhow, I’m not so sure he’s of the same mind, like you say he is. Sometimes it’s like he’s about to grab you and smother you with kisses on the spot!”

“Oh cut it out, Jamie!”

“Girls, pardon me if I butt in,” Vuk interjected amused, “but I thought I’d better let you know I’m sitting behind you because, you know, I’d hate to cause you any more embarrassment…”