Fighting the Inevitable (21 page)

It wasn’t just the shock,
he looked completely stunned at the very notion of being married.
Rhianna tried not to sigh with relief. If he’d been married she
would have had to stop seeing him. She wasn’t about to become the
‘other woman’ in a relationship.

“
No, I am not
married.” Caleb’s voice was low and slightly pained.

Rhianna tried to lighten
the mood a bit. She managed a little laugh. “Well, it can’t be
anything worse than that,” she quipped lightly and was rewarded by
a deep frown from him. She felt her disquiet grow stronger as she
stared at him.

It was worse than being
married? What could be worse than that? Her mind strove to come up
with something, anything that would cause her more heartache than
finding out he belonged to someone else. He spoke suddenly and
Rhianna felt her heart stop dead in her chest.

“
I’m a
vampire, Annie.”

Four little words. That
was all it took to stop Rhianna’s heart for a fraction of a second.
The anguish in his golden brown eyes, the tense way he held himself
before her, she knew without a single doubt what he said to her was
true. It didn’t even cross her mind to laugh at him, to deny the
existence of such a mythical creature. Caleb announced he was a
vampire and she believed him instantly.

She tried to suck in a
deep breath but her lungs wouldn’t obey her request for air. Her
lungs or her brain, one of the two organs, was ignoring her but she
wasn’t really sure which one. Only a fraction of a second had
passed since Caleb had spoken, but it felt like an eternity had
gone by.

Work brain, work heart,
work lungs. The words tumbled around in her head and suddenly she
felt her heart thud loudly in her chest, and her lungs allowed her
to suck in some much needed air. She wasn’t going to die today
after all, not here on Caleb’s leather sofa in his library? Yes,
she was in his library. That’s what you called a room with large
bookcases and loads and loads of books.

Rhianna felt hysterical
laughter starting to bubble up inside her. Her boyfriend had just
told her he was a vampire and she was admiring his bookshelves? It
was now official. She was clinically insane.

“
Say
something, Annie,” Caleb pleaded, frightened by her silence and the
increasingly wild look in her lavender eyes. He didn’t know how
he’d expected her to react to his admission but this silence was
terrifying.

Rhianna turned her gaze
back to him and she wondered what there was to say. Her brain was
still slow in catching up with the rest of her body and she said
the first thing that came to mind. “You ate a burger!”

Caleb blinked slowly at
her, a look of deep concern crossing his face. “Yes, I ate a
burger.” He grimaced. “It was…challenging but I did it for you, so
you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable eating alone.”

“
You did it
for me?” She repeated his words, dropping her eyes from his and
staring down at the coffee table before the sofa. She was at a loss
at how to react to his announcement. She could see his concern and
knew she was acting strange at the moment, but then this wasn’t
exactly a normal situation.

“
I don’t know
how to react to this, Caleb,” she said in a small voice. “It’s not
the normal run of the mill confession a boyfriend suddenly dumps on
his girl. This is….this is…it’s just so off the wall.”

Caleb approached her
slowly, sitting down beside her, but giving her enough room so she
didn’t feel crowded. “You believe me.” He had mentally prepared
himself for her laughing at him at first. This quiet acceptance
quite literally threw him.

She laughed suddenly and
there was a slight note of hysteria to it. “I should be jumping up
and telling you you’re insane but instead I find myself believing
you. I don’t know why but I just do. I don’t think you would ever
lie to me, Caleb.”

The simple trust she
placed in him with that sentence tore at his heart. He would never
lie directly to her, she was right about that, but he would lie by
omission. Was it the same thing? Was keeping Rafe’s secret from her
for a little longer the same as lying to her? “Annie,” he breathed
quietly, his hand reaching tentatively for hers. She let him take
her hand and he felt a little hope at this simple act.

“
I know this
is a shock to you. It’s a lot to take in. I know you’ll probably
need some time to come to terms with it. I’m willing to wait for
you, Annie. Take as much time as you need. Just promise me you
won’t make any snap decisions. Think about what you truly want
before you decide one way or another whether you still want to be
with me.”

Rhianna closed her eyes
and let herself succumb to the feeling of his thumb caressing the
back of her hand as he spoke so passionately beside her. Her mind
was finally getting into sync with the rest of her as she heard the
fear in his voice as well as the incredible longing.

Caleb was a vampire. Her
boyfriend was a vampire and he was terrified she wasn’t going to
accept him. She could hear it in every word that came from his
lips. She could hear the slight catch in his voice towards the end
of his little speech. She breathed in deeply and slowly opened her
eyes, turning to look at him. “I don’t need time to think about it,
Caleb,” she said and his expression turned fearful and his fingers
pressed against her mouth lightly.

“
Please
Annie,” he whispered, his voice rough. “Please don’t do anything
rash without really thinking it through.”

He was
actually shaking beside her, his fingers trembling against her
lips. It was just so wrong that this beautiful, confident man could
be so easily brought to his knees. Rhianna was astounded she had
this level of power over him. She pulled his hand from her mouth
and looked deep into his panicked eyes. “I don’t care if you’re a
vampire, Caleb,” she said firmly and wasn’t surprised to find she
really meant it.

“
What you are
doesn’t define you; it’s who you are that does. I’m assuming being
a vampire isn’t a new condition and you were one when we first met.
I liked you then and I haven’t changed my mind just because you’ve
told me what you are. I don’t need to think about it, Caleb. I know
what I want and it’s you.”

She took a deep breath
and searched his face intently. Hell, if they were going down the
whole ‘tell the truth’ road she may as well do so too. “I have a
confession to make too. I’m in love with you, Caleb. I have been
from probably the first night we met but I didn’t have time to
explore my feelings for you because of Rafe.”

Caleb blinked slowly,
trying to take a deep breath and wondering why his heart was
pounding so loudly in his chest. Her lavender eyes were locked to
his, waiting for his reaction and he was quite literally speechless
for a moment. “This isn’t quite how I expected this to go,” he
finally said with a bemused smile on his lips.

“
Let me guess
you thought I’d run screaming out of the room?” Rhianna asked
dryly.

Caleb laughed lightly.
“Something like that,” he admitted ruefully. “I didn’t expect you
to so readily accept what I am and then just turn around and say it
doesn’t matter, and I most definitely didn’t expect you to say you
are in love in me.”

She frowned. “Does that
bother you, Caleb? Me being in love with you? Is it just sex you’re
looking for from me?”

“
God, no,
Annie,” he groaned, pulling her into his arms. “I’m just so stunned
you love me. You are so sweet and pure and I’m….well, I’m the
proverbial monster humans are so terrified of. I find it so utterly
unbelievable you can see something in me worth loving.” He buried
his head in the crook of her neck and clutched her tightly to him,
afraid she would change her mind and opt to run screaming from the
room after all.

“
What’s not
to love, Caleb?” Rhianna’s voice was husky, her arms snaking around
his waist. “You’re beautiful both inside and out. Everything about
you calls to me. I miss you so much when we’re apart and when I’m
with you I feel safe and protected and happy again.”

“
I don’t
deserve to have someone as wonderful as you loving me,” he
whispered into the side of her neck. “I’ve not always been the man
you see before you today, Annie. I’ve done so many terrible things
in my life. I’ve been empty and shallow and only interested in my
own needs for such a long time. Even now, I’m still struggling with
all the new emotions you make me feel. Sometimes I do the wrong
things for the right reasons and I don’t know how to stop doing
them.”

Rhianna could hear the
struggle in his voice, hear the longing to be someone better than
he had been and it made her heart melt. “Oh Caleb, don’t you think
the rest of us do that too?” she asked with a little laugh. She
raised his head up so she could look into his beautiful face. “We
all make mistakes, Caleb, even me. The only thing you can do is try
and learn from your mistakes so you don’t make the same ones
twice.”

His expression turned
fierce and his eyes glittered as he cupped her face gently. “You’re
perfect. I can’t ever imagine you doing anything to deliberately
hurt anyone.” He felt a wave of guilt wash through him about Rafe
and he dropped his eyes from hers. She would be very angry with him
when she learned about the pain he had caused her
brother.

“
What is it?”
she asked softly and he shook his head at her.

“
I can’t
say,” he admitted. “It’s not my secret to tell. I have to speak to
someone else before I can tell you.”

Her lavender eyes were
intent on his face and then she slowly nodded. “Okay, Caleb. I can
understand that. Whatever it is, don’t beat yourself up about it
too much. You may as well wait until it comes out in the wash
before you give yourself such a hard time about it.”

Her words made him feel
even worse. She was such a generous soul. She was half forgiving
him even though she didn’t know what it was she was forgiving him
for. He truly didn’t deserve this beauty before him but he was
going to take her and make her his anyway. He couldn’t let her
go.

His heart thundered as he
looked down at her, a riot of emotions coursing through him. “Is
this love I’m feeling, Annie?” His question came out sounding timid
and so at odds to what he was usually like. His uncertainty was
clear in his voice, his expression confused.

“
Tell me what
you’re feeling.”

“
My heart is
racing in my chest and my hands are shaking. I want you so badly
and yet I want to wait until you’re ready to come to me. I ache to
hear your laughter and I ache to see your beautiful smile, which
causes me to suck my breath in every time I see it. I want to kiss
you, hold you and make love to you until you are so exhausted you
fall asleep in my arms. I want to give you all of your heart’s
desires and I want to keep you safe from anything or anyone who
would hurt you.”

The words just tumbled
from his mouth until he was almost breathless from talking. He
wasn’t used to being so open and honest with anyone. It was
refreshing and scary as hell, but he felt strangely liberated
telling her every feeling deep inside him.

She smiled her beautiful
smile at him and leaned up to brush her lips against his. “Sounds
pretty much like love to me,” she sighed against his mouth and he
groaned and gathered her body into his lap so he could feast on her
mouth the way he ached to. He parted her lips and teased his tongue
inside her warm heat, licking leisurely, drinking in her soft moan
of pleasure and feeling his heart expand to almost bursting point.
“I love you, Annie,” he whispered against her lips, a radiant joy
filling his soul as he uttered the words. “I’ll love you forever,
my beautiful woman.”

She wrapped her arms
around his neck and pressed her tongue into his mouth, drowning in
his declaration, astounded this wonderful man, this vampire, could
feel such depths of emotions for her. She twisted in his arms until
she was sitting astride him and he had to tilt his head back
slightly to look up at her. She ran her fingers through his
luscious locks, letting the silky strands run through her hands
slowly.

“
You are so
gorgeous, Caleb,” she breathed softly. She traced her fingers
lightly across his brow and down his strong nose, across his
cheekbones and down to his hard jaw. Her lavender eyes shone with
appreciation as she stroked his face so gently, her touch was like
a feather brushing against his skin.

“
Make love to
me,” she whispered. “I want to feel your hands and mouth on my
body, caressing my skin so arrogantly the way you did the night we
met. I want you to take me and make me yours, Caleb.”

Caleb’s nostrils flared
and his body hardened as his hands tightened on her waist for a
fraction of a second before he stood up swiftly, forcing her to
hold onto his neck and wrap her legs around his waist. They both
groaned when her heat pressed against his hardness.

He couldn’t deny her. He
could deny himself but he could never deny his Annie. He carried
her from the library and upstairs, striding into his private rooms.
He kept his gaze on hers looking for any sign she might change her
mind but all he saw was acceptance and a hot need in her eyes. He
slowly lowered her down his aching body and he smiled wickedly at
her when she moaned as he stepped away from her. They were in his
bedroom standing beside his enormous four-poster bed.