Forever Yours (#4) (6 page)

“I can’t. What if I hurt you?” Ryan laughs and he pulls me closer to him.
“You didn’t hurt that guy last night. C’mon don’t you wanna taste my blood?”
My lips part and I can feel my daggers extending, as I roll my tongue over them.
My throat is dry and I can’t resist his offer. I am going to feed on him. I clasp
his face with both of my hands and I tilt it to one side. I can feel his pulse
beating too fast as I move closer. I drag my seat along the floor, and now my
face is less than inch away from his neck. I can see his vein bulging through his
skin, and I lick my lips at the sight. I feel my eyes stinging and burning red. I
press my lips onto his neck, and I run my tongue along his skin. He flinches at
my cold touch, and then his breathing steadies. I part my lips and I sink my
teeth into his flesh. His blood is warm, sweet and I feel fuzzy as it runs down
my throat. I draw some more blood, and then I can hear him. He loves the
pleasure and he wants more. His hand grips onto the back of my head and he
pulls me closer. My teeth sink further into his skin and I suck stronger. His
mind is rushing and he adores his new found pleasure. He holds onto my head
and when I try to pull away, he stops me. I give in and feed for another few
seconds, and then I force myself to stop. I push Ryan away from me, as I pull
my teeth out of his neck. There are two little puncture wounds on his neck, and I
can feel a trickle of blood running down my lip. I extend my tongue, and I force
the blood into my mouth. I smile at the sweet taste and then I look at Ryan. He
is lying back in the chair with a massive grin on his face. I lean back against the
plastic of the chair, and I fold my arms across my chest.

“You okay?” I ask in a soothing tone. Ryan can’t contain his smile as he replies.
“I feel … awesome.” I laugh at his words and then he starts again. “It was
incredible and such a rush. Do you really have to leave?”

 

“Yeah, we need to leave.” Ryan presses his eyebrows together. He looks
frustrated, and I have a feeling that he is about to tell me exactly how he feels.

“You can’t just leave. What about your family, your job and … me? I can’t bear
the thought of not seeing you, Rose. You’re my oldest friend and I … love
you.” Crap, I feel awful. I always knew that Ryan still had feelings for me, but
love? I never expected him to go that far. My lips start to tremble, and I can feel
cold tears forming in my eyes. I quickly paw my eye-area to prevent my
sadness, and then I focus on Ryan.
Just say goodbye Rose.

“You will always be my best friend, and you’ll always be in my heart. You
were my first … everything and you mean the world to me. But I’m no longer a
human and I can’t stay in Portland. I love Dalton and he and I are leaving,
tonight. I’m gonna miss you like crazy. But I won’t forget about you. I’ll call
and write you, and I’ll always be there if you ever need me. All you have to do
is look deep into your heart, and I’ll be there.” Ryan lunges out of the seat, and
he glides over to me. I stand and he pulls me into his strong arms. I grip onto his
back and he sighs and takes in my scent.

“Goodbye Rose.”
Six

After Ryan and I said our goodbyes, I rushed back into my truck and I headed in
the direction of Charlene’s house. I reached her front door, and of course I
couldn’t enter the house. I wasn’t invited in, and Charlene surprised me when
she didn’t ask me to come in. Instead, she came outside and we sat on the porch
swing and talked. I explained that I was leaving –off to see the world and she
was sad, but excited for me. She had loads of questions, and I was pleased with
myself when I managed to answer all of them. She asked me why I wanted to
do this, and why now. I told her that now was the first time in my life where I
actually felt like I belonged to someone. Then she asked me about Dalton and if
I love him. I told her how he makes me feel, and that I could never be without
him. Charlene then asked me how long I was going away for, and I said that I
wasn’t sure, but she shouldn’t expect me home anytime soon. We talked and
laughed for ages, and then I had to force myself to leave. We hugged, cried and
held each other for what seemed like forever. I told her to say goodbye to Elliot
for me, and she broke down into tears –again. When I finally left her house, I
was in floods of tears. I watched her looking after me as I drove away, and my
heart ached, because I know that was the last time that I would ever see her
again.

“Rose,” I hear Nicholas shout from the kitchen of his large house. I slowly pull
myself off the sofa and I make my way into the wide hallway. After I spent time
with Rachel, I decided that I needed to see Dalton. So I drove to his house, but
when I got here, he wasn’t in. Nicholas told me to come in and wait for him,
and that’s exactly what I did. I flopped myself down onto their large, soft sofa
and I haven’t moved since –that was over an hour ago. I felt drained after saying
my goodbyes. As I enter the large kitchen, I see Nicholas pouring two cups of
coffee. He is smiling at me as he holds one of the cups in the air. He makes eye
contact with me, and he urges me come closer. I march over, and I take the cup
of coffee that he is offering. I take a small sip and then I sit down in front of
him, at the breakfast bar. Nicholas glugs down his coffee and he slams the cup
down onto the counter. I jump from the noise, and Nicholas laughs at my
reaction.

“Do you have to bang things like that? It’s really annoying.” I say as I take
another swig of my drink.

“I’m Sorry that I annoy you, little lady.” I roll my eyes at his thick southern
accent. “You seem a little … upset. Is everything okay?” Nicholas asks as he
rests his arms onto the kitchen counter. I push my loose hair away from my
face, and I meet his stare. He looks very handsome today dressed in a dark blue
suit. His hair is pushed back from his face, and his eyes are a deep shade of
brown. I realise that I may be staring at little too hard at him, so I close my eyes
for a brief second and I exhale. My eyes open and then I answer his question.

“I had a pretty rough day.” I say as I swirl the coffee around in the cup. I can
hear Nicholas’s breathing increase, and I get the feeling that he is nervous. I
stare at him again and my mind begins to rush. Why is he being so nice to me?
Nicholas isn’t the most approachable guy, but somehow he makes me feel at
ease. My brain freezes, and I remember that Nicholas killed his own parents.
How could he do such a thing, and what was his reason? I don’t understand why
he is compassionate towards me, when he was so hurtful towards his family.
Why does he care about me, and why did he agree to turn me?

“Do you wanna talk about it?” I’m so confused right now and I don’t know how
to respond. Is he fooling me into thinking that he is a nice guy? I stare at him
more and I try to see into his head. Imagining what he is thinking and what his
motives are for being nice to me. I will always be grateful that he turned me, but
that doesn’t mean that I am under his command. Dalton has told me about his
brothers past, and the things that he has gotten up to. Nicholas has lived a very
different life to Dalton. He doesn’t like to travel the world; instead he chooses
to stay in the USA, at all times. He moves around from place to place, feeding
and lusting on girls. Dalton has said that Nicholas would get close to a girl, feed
on her and then turn her. All of his antics were just for fun. He didn’t care about
any of the fifty or so girls that he has turned. He saw them as easy, vulnerable
and someone to pass the time with. He would make them into vampires, and
then into his slaves. I don’t know the extent of what he did to them –Dalton
thought it would be best to spare me the gory details. But as I look at him with
my new vampire eyes, I know for sure that I will not become one of his slaves.

“Not really,” I say as I place the cup down onto the counter. Nicholas presses
his full lips together, and he glides over and takes the seat next to me. He
reaches out and places his hand onto my shoulder. I flinch and pull away from
him –he isn’t impressed.

“Relax I’m not gonna bite, unless you want me to?” I frown at him.
“That’s not funny and so inappropriate.”

“Relax it was a joke. But seriously do you wanna talk? You look sad little
lady.”

“Stop with the ‘little lady’ it’s annoying. I look sad, because I am sad. I had to
say goodbye to my friends today, and it was a lot harder than I thought it was
gonna be.” Nicholas flashes me a wicked a smile, and I know that he is going to
poke holes in my words.

“Forgive me, but didn’t you want this?”

“I did … I do. It’s just hard to let go of my family and friends. I truly believe
that I was born to be a vampire. But it still hurts me to say goodbye to the life
that I always knew. I don’t expect you to understand.” Nicholas scowls at me –
he isn’t happy with my choice of words.

“And what is that supposed to mean? Are you forgetting who turned you?”
Crap, here he goes with the guilt. I turned you, you owe me. I get it; do you
have to be so smug about it? I shout at myself, but I hold my tongue. I owe him
for everything, and I can’t bring myself to get mad at him.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to sound harsh. I really appreciate what you did for me. It
couldn’t have been easy for you. I put you in an awkward position, and you
didn’t have to say yes.” Nicholas sighs and he slides his hand through his silky
hair.

“I did it for him. Dalton and I haven’t had the best relationship, and I saw that
you made him happy. I knew that he loved you, but he would never have asked
you to change for him. He doesn’t do selfish. As a human my brother was kind,
loving and a wonderful son. He cared about people and their feelings. He was
such a soft hearted guy, with warm feelings towards animals. He wouldn’t even
go fishing. My father used to take us out on the lake when we were kids, and
Dalton would scream and cry until my father took him home. He is a lot softer
on the inside than he lets on.” I take in his words and my mind is forcing me to
think about their parents. A vivid flash of Nicholas in his vampire state is
rushing through me. I can’t erase the image I have of him, as he killed his own
family. A shiver runs through my body and I squirm in the seat. Nicholas is
staring at me –wondering what I am thinking. Then my frozen heart sinks into
the pit of my stomach at his next words. “He’s told you about what I did, hasn’t
he?” I feel really uncomfortable, and I don’t know what to say. I squirm again
and Nicholas reaches out and steadies me with his strong hand. My eyes dart to
his, and he looks as if he wants to talk about this –crap. I don’t know how I will
respond to what he has to say. I don’t understand how he could be so cruel as to
kill his own family. Now that I am a vampire, my feelings for my family are
multiplied. I care deeply about them and I am dreading spending time away
from them. I just don’t know why Nicholas would hurt his family? Surly he felt
something for them. No one could be that cruel, yet he was.

“Yeah, he told me about your parents and that …” I can’t finish the sentence –
it’s too painful.

“I killed them. I know what you must be thinking. How could I do such a thing,
right?” My lips start to shake and my heart rate is very high. Nicholas has a way
of making me feel uneasy, and I feel compelled to answer his questions.

“I was shocked when he told me. May I ask why you did it?” Nicholas runs his
fingers through his hair, and then he folds his arms across his chest. He leans
back in the chair and he breaks eye contact with me. He stares out at the black
kitchen cupboards, and he exhales just before he begins to explain.

“I didn’t have a reason for killing them other than I was new, and I couldn’t
control myself around humans. You have to understand something about being
a vampire. The blood of the people you care about is the blood that you crave
the most.”

“So you did care about your parents?” Nicholas laughs and he meets my stare.

“Of course I cared about them. My father and I had different opinions, but we
still loved each other. I had a wonderful relationship with my mother. She was a
lot like Dalton. Very kind and soft-hearted, she loved to help others, and I can
never forgive myself for what I did.” I stare into his brown eyes, and I know this
is going to sound crazy, but I feel for him. At first I thought that he was just
ravenous and didn’t care about anyone. But now that he has opened up to me, I
am seeing a different side to him. He is gentler than I could have ever imagined.
He hurts over what he did to his family, and as I look at him I realise that he
loves, and would do anything for Dalton.

“I’m sorry. It can’t be easy for you talk about what you did.”
“It’s not easy, and what hurts the most is that Dalton will never forgive me.”

“Why did you turn him and not your parents?” My question is a little to firm
and Nicholas parts his lips as he slides off the seat. He flies over to the sink and
he runs the water under the dirty cup. He slams it down onto the counter, and he
rests his hands on the cool marble.

“I was too late. I already killed them. When Dalton came in and found them,
lying lifeless on the floor. He went into a state of shock, and he couldn’t speak
or even move. My family was gone, my parents were dead. I turned Dalton
because I didn’t want to lose him. My baby brother means the world to me.
Even if he hates me for an eternity, I will always love him.”

I hold back my tears as my ears adjust to the roaring engine outside of the
house. I recognise the sound –Dalton is home. I smile at Nicholas and he returns
my gesture. I leap off the seat and I run towards the front door. The door opens
and I lunge into Dalton’s arms. I inhale his scent, as he holds me and struggles
to find his footing. His body crashes against mine and he laughs at my affection.
He pulls back from me, and he takes in my appearance. He smiles and then he
kisses me gently. I melt into his lips and I grip onto him firmly. His lips move
away from mine, I frown at him. He smirks and then he leads me into the house.
He drags me upstairs and into his bedroom. We crash down onto the bed and he
wraps his arm around me, pulling me close to him. I kiss his neck and then his
soft lips. He kisses me back, but then he pulls away and asks me about my day.