The Progeny (The Progeny Series) (8 page)

“No.”

“Why are you crying, if you
aren’t
upset?”

“I feel like you don’t want me. I’m grateful that you
’re considering my feelings, but I really want you. I’m curious about the odd feelings I get when you’re
this
close to me. How can you stop yourself so easily? Am I so repulsive that you don’t want to make love to me?”

“Shauna.”
He placed her hand over the throbbing bulge in his pants. “
This
is not repulsion. I’m so turned on right now. You wouldn’t believe how turned on I am, and if I weren’t so cautious we’d be in the bed. We can’t make love until I’m sure you’re ready. Sex isn’t something to do just because you’re
curious
.” He sat on the bed, placing her in his lap. “Can I explain something to you?”

Cuddling against him, s
he nodded her head.

“I’m smarter now about my heart and the choices I make. The physical act of sex is so easy. Anyone can
make body parts match up. True lovemaking—the kind that pierces your heart and knits you to another forever—is more difficult. I can’t wait to experience it, and I’m willing to bet it’s so worth the wait. My next time is going to be with someone I’m in love with. I don’t just want a
casual roll in the hay.
I want my soul mate, my other half.”

“
That doesn’t exist, Ascher.”

She seemed jaded, unbelieving of happily endings. Shaking his head at her, he said,
“Aren’t you curious to find out for yourself?” He cupped her chin with his hand. “You're so special—like no one I’ve ever known. You’re just the type of woman I see myself falling in love with.”

Her
expression grew puzzled. More questions were coming. “What was she like?”

“Who?”

“Your first.”

He didn’t expect
that
question so soon after he’d poured his heart out. Sifting through his thoughts, he hoped to construct a convincing answer that diminished Ursula’s importance, while not making him sound capricious about the experience. The last thing he wanted was to upset her. “Oh
her.
She was a childhood friend. When you’re young, you grow curious and you experiment when curiosity gets the best of you. We just did it. We weren’t in love and after it happened the first time, we just kept doing it because we’d already done it.” He faux scolded her. “See what I mean about
curiosity
?”

“So
, you didn’t love her?”

“I
cared about her, but I never felt about her the way I feel about you. It makes me wish I’d waited to have sex with you.”

“I’ve never felt this way about a man before. I
t’s kinda scary.”

“What scares you about it?” He was in
terested in what made her tick and often found himself studying her like a case in psychology class.

“I feel so
not
in control with you, and I’m far too aggressive. Way too uninhibited.”

“
That
isn’t a bad thing. It only means you’re comfortable with me. That makes me very happy.” He made a deal with himself to stop channeling her so much, but he couldn’t resist a glance into her mind. She, of course, was confused about how she felt. He expected that, but he never expected to hear,
I’m falling in love with him. I can’t believe this is happening so fast.
He was falling for her, too.

She gave him a serious, no-nonsense stare as the confines of her mind shut down.

“What does
that
look mean?”

Her dark eyes narrowed.
“Did you two use a condom?”

He struggled to keep the laugh from blurting out. Vampires didn’t need condoms or birth control. No disease known to man could touch the
m. “We were both virgins, so we weren’t afraid of catching anything.” He told the truth.

“What about pregnancy? Weren’t you afraid of that?”

“She was on the pill.” He lied.

Ascher
wanted to say more, he wanted to tell her to run away from him just as fast as her legs could carry her. He wished he hadn’t heard her mind say that she was in love with him. Now it would be almost impossible for him to leave her. Either way the pendulum swung, someone would be unhappy. If he left her, to give her a future, he’d be heartbroken. Staying might mean that her life would be childless.

He should
have said many things but couldn’t will himself to do it. Instead, he did exactly what he wanted—kissed her until they both burned hot with desire.

As they drifted off to sleep, he thought about how alive she made him feel.
He then thought of how being in love with him was going to ruin her life. He was somewhat of a miracle. Maybe there was another one for them, but it did no good to worry about a future that may never come.

In three days, Clive was free to exact his revenge. This unexpected love h
ad breathed new life into him—while that same love might be the cause of his death.

Eight ~ Afterglow

S
hauna woke snuggled in Ascher’s arms, and the sun was never brighter. She stretched, her arms wiggling free of his hold. It all seemed like some surreal dream, rather than the reality she was living. Never considering herself lucky or blessed, looking at his perfect features frozen in slumber, she reconsidered her fate.

Sh
auna took in every aspect of his appearance, and his facial features were remarkably symmetrical. There wasn’t a wrinkle, blemish or scar on him. The only visible markings were a couple of moles along his jawline and neck, with a strange tattoo stamped on his right arm.
Who goes their whole life without getting even an acne scar?
She spent tons of money buying concealer to cover the scars she’d gotten when her hormones raged a holy war against her face.

She’d cleansed, toned, exfoliated and moisturized, all in the hopes of keeping a handle on her uncooperative complexion. The cocoa butter her mother suggested, actually worked. She
, luckily, only had two or three scars.

A quick glance rendered her
conflicted. She had an intense sexual attraction to a guy who looked more adolescent than manly, but he
was
a man, despite his youthful appearance. Their graceful curve, slight pout and lusciousness made his lips hard to resist, making him an excellent kisser. She’d never seen that color blue in anyone’s eyes, yet his whole family possessed the strange shade. She sighed. It was time to leave her fantasy and embrace reality. There was breakfast to make and a day to start.

Besides, she’d stare at him all day.

Ascher was awake, his pale eyes glowing with complete happiness. “Good morning.” He pulled her beside him.

“Good morning.”

His fingertips curved along her shoulder and down her arm, before he clasped their hands together. Kissing the pad of each finger, he burned an unmoving stare into her eyes. She snaked herself against him, nuzzling her face into his chest. Engulfing her in his arms, he cocooned her into his warm embrace. “So, what do you want to do today?”

“We
could
pick up where we left off, last night,” she suggested.

“
That
again. I thought we came to an understanding.”

“Well
, we didn’t set the ground rules.”

His stare became curious. “Ground rules?”

“Yeah, we didn’t exactly set boundaries.” Shauna meshed her lips to his. “For instance, we didn’t say if
this
was acceptable.” She was testing the limits, figuring out how far he was willing to go.

“I do believe
that
is acceptable.” His eager lips responded to hers.

“What about this?” She diverted her kisses to his neck.

He groaned. “Acceptable, but coming close to crossing a line.”

“How long are you going to
keep me chaste?”

“Until
, you’re sure.”

“I’m sure now
,” she insisted.

“You can’t be
that
sure after a couple of months. You hardly know me. When the time comes, you won’t second-guess it. You’ll
know
that it’s right, and I refuse to give in.” Ascher narrowed his eyes at her and chuckled. “No matter how much you torture and tempt me. You never answered my question.”

Distracted by his rebuff
of her latest sexual advance, she answered his question with another. “Huh?”

“What would you like to do today?”

It was Saturday—her day with Katy. Now seemed like a good time to introduce the two of them. “I’d like you to meet my little sister. She's managed to get away to see me today.”

Sh
auna held her breath as an uncomfortable silence swept her bedroom. She hadn’t thought meeting Katy was a big deal. Maybe
he
did, which was ridiculous considering the fact that she’d met all
his
brothers.

“I’d love to meet your sister.”

“You would, really?”

“You
sound surprised. Of course, I want to meet her. If she’s anything like you—she must be wonderful.” He wound her in his arms, giving her the softest sampling of a kiss. “Shauna, I want you to know something.”

Her pulse
patted out a nervous rhythm as her eyes stared into his.

“I’m falling in love with you.
I didn’t expect this to happen so suddenly, and I don’t expect you to reciprocate my sentiment.”

Her heart swelled with a mix of happiness, excitement and relief. The weight of carrying around feelings she wasn’t sure he’d ever ret
urn, finally lifted. Release came in the form of a stream of tears spilling down her face.

“
This
makes you sad?”

“No. It’s hard to explain.”

A crease formed on his forehead. “I’m listening.”

“I never thought that
someone
like you would ever say
something
like that to me.”

“I don’t understand
.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not exactly a catch.”

“Maybe the wrong people have been looking, Shauna. You’re so lovely; anyone with clear eyesight can see that, but the source of your beauty comes from the inside. I love—” He paused with a look of contemplative reflection on his face. “I never thought the word
love
would ever come from my lips.”

At his heartfelt admissions, Shauna sniffled as another wave of emotion overtook her.

“Shauna, I love that you're so independent. You’re generous and smart, loving and patient. You have the sweetest and most open spirit of anyone I’ve ever known.” He pulled her closer. “I hate when beautiful women feel the world owes them something, just because a sperm and egg made a favorable split. A woman like you comes once in a lifetime. A love like the one I feel for you—lasts for an eternity.”

With his wonderful speech, more
relief came as tears of joy streamed down along her cheeks. “I love you, too, Ascher. I know it’s irrational and it doesn’t make any sense. I just do.”

* * * *

Langley, Massachusetts

It was Ascher’s turn to look over
Rousseau’s supply list. He sat in the chair, comparing the two columns against his master list. Everything checked out, just as it had the last three times he’d checked it.

He was avoiding looking up
, as Katy’s unmerciful stare burned him. He felt her eyes dissecting him, scrutinizing his every move. An attempt at channeling her did no good. Unlike her sister, Katy was a blocker with impenetrable thoughts.

She was almost a carbon copy of Shauna
, as both had the same piercing, dark eyes and deep dimples. They could pass for twins.

“What did you say your last name was? Your accent is muddled, but I hear
something
,” Katy asked with suspicion.

Shauna giggled
then went back to reading her magazine.

“Rousseau,” he answered, attempting to wipe any trace of his accent away.

Katy twisted a strand of hair around her finger—much like her sister often did when she was deep in thought—then shot Shauna a goofy grin. “That name sounds French. Do you know any French?”

“I know enough to function.”
Ascher was too modest. Fluent in six languages, French was as familiar to him as English.

“It would be nice to have some help. I have a killer French test next week.”

With Katy’s quirky statement, the three of them laughed and the tension ebbed from the room.

“If you’d like, I can help you study
.” He smiled at Katy. “I need to go down to Tris for a little while. Would either of you like anything?”

They both shook their heads.

Ascher walked along the halls of Rousseau’s. Carrie was back for Spring Break and had taken over the bar, giving Shauna more free time. Rousseau’s continued to pay Shauna’s salary while she took a month-long leave. Working and college were tough for her. It surely didn’t help that she now had to fit a boyfriend into the mix. It was the perfect compromise. Carrie earned a paycheck and Shauna was paid, affording him more quality time with his girlfriend.

Ascher
darted into Tristan’s office. “You free to talk?”

Tristan
looked up from a pile of papers strewn across his desk and smirked. “After that talk last night, I figured you’d be coming to see me soon. You left and didn’t come back last night.” His eyebrow rose with suspicion. “Come on in.” He motioned for him to close the door. “What can I do you for, little bro?”

“I really need to talk. Since you sealed to a human, I thought that
—”

“You thought I could shed some light on your dilemma. What
’s bothering you?”

“Last night, Shauna and I almost made love.”

“Almost? Why did you stop?”

“Her mind
...she’s still reluctant. I can’t do it if she has doubt.”

“
Then you’ll be waiting forever, Ash. Humans always have doubt, because their minds never commit to a position.”

“Were you afraid the first time you made love to Kara? You know
—of biting her, losing control?”

“You have no idea. I shredded her pillows
, mattress and bedding. I had sex with humans while I fed on them, but it was so different when love entered the equation. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for you, having never been with a human.”

“
It’s more challenging than I imagined. The heat from her body alone is difficult, and the trinity makes it so much worse.”

“I’m sure. How have you been able to abstain from biting her? Kara wasn’t a virgin when we met. I have to admit, Shauna’s scent is hard to resist. I left Kara home today
, because she can't handle both of their scents together. I can smell the sister on you, too.”

“I’m not sure. I guess my feelings for her have kept it under control. Otherwise, I don’t know. When things heated up last night, my vision reddened. I almost made love to her with my eyes closed.”

Tristan chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“It reminds me of my first times with Kara. She knew what I was, but I wouldn’t allow her to see my red eyes. I made love to her with my eyes closed the first couple of times.”

“
I’m in love with her, Tris. I told her this morning.”

Tristan gave him his analytical stare, but it didn’t bother Ascher. Ever the therapist, he constantly wore his problem
-solving hat. Ascher was close to all of his brothers but found it easiest to discuss feelings with Tristan.

“
How did you know Kara was your true mate?”

Tristan stood,
walking the floor while he talked. “Father never wanted you to know about this, but I think you have the right to know.”

Ascher didn’t like the grave tone in Tristan’s voice.
“What are you talking about?”

“I was sure about Kara when I quicken
ed.”

“Quicken
ed? What’s that?”

“It’s when your mind and body defy space and time, allowing you to touch someone from great distances. It’s a very powerful feeling.”

“What does
it feel
like?”

“Like no other woman in the world exists
—like you’d lay down your life for hers. Suddenly,
your
existence is insignificant.
She’s
the only thing that matters—
her
happiness, safety
and fulfillment. The sun rises and sets on her every need, want and desire. You live to love her and you’d die to protect her. Father quickened with your mother.”

Ascher
realized that he felt some of those same feelings for Shauna. “Tris, I’m beginning to wonder about much of what I’ve been taught. What do you know of the covenants’ rules about witches?”

“It’s thought that vampires and witches don’t mix
, because witches are powerful. I honestly think the elders were afraid of what might result from such a union.”

“If a half-bloodling did seal to a witch, do you think they could make babies? If they could
, what would they be?”

“I’m not exactly sure. Why are you asking me all of this?”

“This can’t leave the room, Tris. Father would freak out.”

Tristan gave him a stern nod.

“Shauna is different. Aggie believes she’s a witch, but I still don’t believe it.”

Tristan narrowed his blue eyes, a tiny wrinkle appearing
on his forehead. “Have you noticed anything that might confirm Aggie’s suspicions?”

“No
, she seems to be just a normal twenty-one year old woman. Has anyone heard from Gabe?”