Mirage (29 page)

“Skip dinner,” he urged, his lips brushing the spot where my chin curved down toward my throat.

As if on cue, my stomach growled loudly. “Unlike you, some of us
need
to eat,” I reminded him. “Maybe later? After we’re done studying?”

“How? With curfew, I mean. There’s nowhere we can go to be alone, not if we’re following the rules. Unless …” He had a wicked gleam in his eyes now.

“Unless what?” My heart accelerated, my skin flushing hotly in anticipation.

“Unless we do a jailbreak. After we’re done studying, I’ll come to your room and take you somewhere—anywhere you want to go. We could even go off campus; distance doesn’t matter. I can have you back in minutes, if need be. Cece will have to be our lookout, that’s all.”

“Are you crazy?”

“About you, yes. It’s been
so
long since we’ve been alone, Vi. Just think about it, okay? You don’t have to decide now; you can let me know when we’re done studying.”

Which is how I found myself sitting on my bed several hours later waiting for him to come get me.

“Are you sure about this, Violet?” Cece asked, pacing back and forth in front of the door. “I just don’t know, not after what you told me about the Stalker stuff.”

“But you agreed with me that there’s no way Aidan did it,” I argued.

“I know, but still.” She was wringing her hands now. “Where is he taking you?”

“I don’t know. The chapel, maybe? I won’t be out late, though, not with finals this week.”

“I’m going to be a nervous wreck. Ugh, is this what parenting is going to feel like?”

I had to laugh at that. “Yeah, probably so. Hey, you haven’t commented on my outfit yet. Do I look okay?”

I’d changed after our study session—out of my comfy jeans and sweater and into a miniskirt, tank top, thigh-high socks, and boots. I figured, why not? It’s not like we’d be spending any time outside in the cold—traveling with Aidan from place to place was virtually instantaneous.

Besides, it had been a long time since we’d actually been alone together on anything resembling a date. I wanted to look cute.

“You changed into something easy-access, didn’t you?” Cece’s eyes narrowed as she took in my outfit.

Okay, so what if I had? Something about his kiss earlier had stoked a fire inside me, and I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since. But I didn’t want to admit it, not even to Cece.

Luckily, I was saved by Aidan’s sudden appearance in the room.

“Hey,” he said, ignoring Cece’s gasp of surprise. “You ready?”

I just nodded, smoothing down my skirt with shaking hands.

He closed the distance between us in two easy strides, holding out a hand to me.

I took it, glancing back over my shoulder at Cece, who still stood there gaping. “Thanks, Cee,” I said to her. “I’ve got my cell if you need to reach me, okay?”

“Okay,” she answered, holding up her own cell phone. “Same here.” With knitted brows, she turned toward the still-closed door, a look of pure wonderment on her face.

I could only imagine the look of surprise on her face when she turned around again and found us both gone.

27 ~ A Nip Here, a Tuck There

H
e took me to the chapel. We hadn’t been in ages—not up to the loft, at least. Clearly, he’d come up beforehand and set everything up. Worn velvet blankets covered the floor, along with a half-dozen tasseled throw pillows. Colorful bunches of hothouse flowers were scattered about, scenting the air, which was warmed by a space heater in the corner. Above us tiny white twinkle lights were wound around the wooden rafters, and votives in paper bags lined the perimeter of the space, casting flickering light across Aidan’s face as he sat facing me.

It felt as if we were all alone in our own tropical paradise, rather than up in a dusty loft on a cold December night. “How did you get this all set up so fast?” I asked, shaking my head in amazement. “I mean, the flowers and everything. You must have had to go into the city for them.”

He glanced around the space. “You like it? I did most of it while you were at dinner.”

“Before I’d even agreed to come? Wow, that was awfully confident of you,” I said with a laugh.

His smiled widened into a grin. “Oh, that kiss in the lounge was answer enough. I knew you’d say yes.”

I raised my brows. “Cocky much?”

He reached for my hand and placed it on his chest, directly over his heart. “I can always trust you to keep my ego in check.”

Beneath my palm, his heart was racing, its rhythm matching mine. “I can’t stay long,” I said, almost breathless now. “But thank you. This is beautiful; it’s just what I needed.”

“Good.” His head bent down toward mine, his lips just barely grazing my mouth. “I know I haven’t been around much this semester. I just wanted to somehow make it up to you, to show you how much I’ve missed you.”

I grabbed a fistful of his shirt, drawing him closer. “You’ve got the whole break to do that. Patsy won’t be back till Christmas Eve, you know. That means we’ll have almost a full week, all alone.”

His mouth widened into a smile. “Trevors can do some shopping, then. He’ll be happy to cook for you.”

“Sounds good. I loved that chicken thing he made last year. You know, with the asparagus and artichoke hearts?” My mouth watered at the memory.

“The capons? I’ll tell him—he has to go to a special boutique butcher for those. Do you want to stay at my house? He can make up the rose room for you.”

“I probably shouldn’t. For all I know, Patsy’s asked the doorman to spy on me. Which means you can’t stay at my place, either.”

He smiled wryly. “Just for the record, Vi, I can get you in and out of either place without the doorman noticing. Remember?”

I released his shirt, reclining back on my elbows. “Oh, yeah. Right.”
Well, duh.

“We don’t have to decide now,” he said, brushing my hair back from my forehead. “Let’s get through finals first.”

“And my tournament,” I added.

“Right. And I’ve still got a lot of work to do between now and then. Byrne suggested something new today; we’re going to work on it some this week, and then I’ll give it a try over the weekend.”

I shook my head, a feeling of unease settling into the pit of my stomach. I wanted to trust Matthew, but the fact that he was a
Megvéd
cast a whole new level of suspicion on him. Was he really as eager to help Aidan as he claimed?

I swallowed hard, forcing aside my doubts. “Not this weekend. Please? It’s the beginning of break.”

“Yes, perfect timing if it works.”

I sat up sharply. “C’mon, you’ve got to promise me, Aidan. No tries with the serum till break’s over. We’re supposed to stick together, remember? I don’t want you laid up in bed, all messed up from another bad reaction.”

His jaw was set with determination. “I won’t be. Not this time.”

“You can’t guarantee that, and I’m not willing to take the risk. Look, I don’t ask all that much of you. I pretty much let you do your own thing and show up whenever it’s convenient for you. You’ve got to give me this one. I’ve earned it.”

“You feel that strongly about it?” he asked, his eyes troubled now.

“Yes. I mean, look, you’ve already been a vampire for more than a century. What’s another two weeks?”

“Okay, then,” he conceded. “Unless—”

“Unless nothing,” I interrupted, shaking my head. “Got it?”

“Fine. Now that that’s out of the way …” He leaned into me, pushing me down, pressing me back against the pillows. “You said something about not being able to stay long?”

“Right,” I murmured. “School night and all that. Plus we’re breaking curfew.”

He combed his fingers through my hair. “Do you want me to take you back now?”

I let out my breath in a rush. “No way.”

His mouth covered mine, his hands on either side of my rib cage now.

Almost involuntarily, I raised up, arching myself against him as he deepened the kiss. It felt as if little sparks of electricity were racing across my skin, down my spine, all the way to my toes. His fingers clutched at the thin fabric of my tank top, his knuckles rough against the sensitive skin at my waist.

I kissed him greedily, hungrily, whispering his name each time his lips left mine.

“Oh God, Violet,” he said hoarsely. “I don’t know if I can stop.”

“Then don’t, not yet.” I hooked one leg around his hips, trapping him against me.

His hands were under my top now, his fingers—so, so cold—skimming my belly, drawing gooseflesh in their wake. My skirt rode up; my thigh-high socks slipped down to my knees. And I didn’t care, not even when his fingers found the bottom edge of my bra.

With a groan, I tipped my head to one side, offering him my neck. I couldn’t help it; I craved it with an inexplicable desperation. As if sensing my need, his lips left my mouth and slid down the column of my neck, his breath far warmer than his flesh. The electric current between us crackled, every cell in my body humming with it as his mouth found my throat.

And there it was, at last—a piercing pinch, just below my left ear. I cried out, even as the twinge was immediately replaced by a soothing warmth that seemed to fill my veins all at once, sending waves of pleasure across every inch of my body.

Oh no.
Dazedly, I tried to call out his name, but all that came out was a strangled sound. Somehow I managed to get my hands between our bodies, my palms flat against his chest as I pushed at him with all my might.

In a matter of seconds, he had flung himself across the room. Okay, not just across the room, but all the way up into the rafters.

Oh my freaking God.

I sat up in a panic, reaching a trembling hand to my neck. It was warm and sticky, slightly wet.
No.
Just … no.
I stared in utter disbelief at the crimson smudge staining my fingers.

Swallowing hard, I wiped it off on my skirt. And then I looked up, my eyes straining to find him above the twinkling lights in the rafters. “Aidan?”

No reply.

“Answer me, Aidan. I need you to stop the bleeding.”

“I can’t, not yet,” came his disembodied voice.

“You’re … hungry?” I ventured, wondering just how long it would take me to get down those stairs and out of the chapel if I didn’t stop to put my boots on first.

He didn’t reply, and for a moment I wondered if he’d left. But then I heard something that sounded like a ragged sob.

I sat up on my knees. “It’s okay, Aidan. You didn’t hurt me. Really, I’m fine.” I put my hand back up to my neck and brought it away again. “Look, it’s not even bleeding anymore. You barely broke the skin, just scratched it, really.” God, I hoped I was right.

Several minutes passed in silence. My heart was beating loudly, a deafening din in my ears as I waited, waited.

And then he was beside me, his face filled with anguish. “How bad is it?”

I pushed aside my hair, exposing my neck. “See? It’s nothing.”

He inhaled sharply. “Don’t lessen what I’ve done, just to protect me, Violet. Dear God, I actually bit you.” His voice was laced with a mixture of horror and disbelief.

“It’s fine,” I said. “Seriously, I don’t even feel it.”

He shook his head. “It’s not fine. It will
never
be fine.”

He was starting to panic, I realized. I needed to bring him down a notch, to reassure him that he hadn’t committed some unforgivable crime. “I really think it’s just a scratch,” I insisted, my voice slightly wobbly.

“It’s not a scratch.” He raked a hand through his hair, his eyes slightly wild now. “How did this happen? I was kissing you, that’s all, and the next thing I remember is you shoving me away!”

I
had
to ask. “You didn’t inject the serum this weekend, did you?”

“No, and I took the elixir just this morning, which should have prevented this. But … I don’t know, we’ve made some changes to it, something that follows the same protocol as the changes we’ve made to the serum.”

A frisson of fear shot through me. Could that explain it? And if it did …

No, I didn’t want to think about the implications. “Can you fix it now?” I asked instead, forcing my voice to steady. “It’s getting late, and I can’t go back to the dorm with two puncture marks on my neck.”

“There’s … it’s just one. But yeah, let me fix it.” He reached for my neck, then hesitated, his eyes suddenly blank now. “I won’t hurt you, I swear.”

“I know you won’t.” I tipped my head to one side and waited.

One lick, then two. Again, waves of pleasure seemed to wash over me. There was something in his saliva, something that did far more than anesthetize a wound, I realized. I couldn’t describe it, not exactly, but it was … pleasant. More than pleasant. Not exactly like sexual pleasure—at least, I didn’t think so. But probably pretty similar.

“There.” He swallowed hard. “It’s gone.”

“Thanks.” I reached up to feel it, my fingertips searching for some indication of where the wound had been. There was nothing—my skin was perfectly smooth now. My gaze met his. “Wow, that’s amazing.”

“I am so sorry, Violet. Sorrier than I’ve ever been about anything in all the years I’ve walked the earth.”

Wow, that was a lot of sorry. “Please tell me you’re not going to freak out about this. We’ll be more careful from now on, that’s all, okay? It’s not that big a deal.”

“How can you even say that?” He sounded angry now. “It’s an enormous deal. A monumental one. I’ve done something so terrible, so unspeakable …” He trailed off, shaking his head. “And I can’t undo it, no matter how badly I want to.”

“Will you stop blaming yourself? You’re a vampire, okay? It’s just your nature. If I’m stupid enough to put myself in situations like this, then I bear as much responsibility as you, right?”

“Wrong,” he said, his voice clipped. “Completely, unequivocally wrong. It’s my responsibility to keep people safe from me, and I failed you in the most spectacular fashion possible.” As it always did when his emotions ran high, his British accent became far more apparent than usual. His Lord Brompton voice, I liked to call it. It was never a good sign when he slipped into it. It usually meant there was no arguing with him.