The Touch Series: Initiation (14 page)

              I looked at him in surprise. “Oh, really?”             

              He nodded and his eyes slightly darkened, “Oh, yes.”

              “Can I have a hint, Sir?”

              “I would rather surprise you. But one thing I will say is that... it might not always be... pleasant.”

              Shit. What did he mean by that? My breathe became really hard to control at that point. “That sounds... lovely.” I nodded and smiled. I didn't want to show him that he intimidated me.

              “Oh. It will be lovely.” His expression was hard and he was looking at my mouth. At that moment, I took a deep breath in and kissed him.

                                                                                    ***

              His mouth was perfect against mine. I felt an exhilarating tingle run throughout every inch of my body. This wasn't my first kiss but I had never had one like this. I never had a kiss that felt mind blowing. I pulled away as I had realized what I had done. I broke a rule!

              I pulled back and touched my lips, “I am so sorry.”

              I stepped back to give him space, but always to give myself an opportunity to catch back my breath that was ravished from me.

              I had never seen him so surprised before. He closed his eyes and moved his head side-to-side as if he were exercising. Then he opened his eyes as he quickly got up. He placed his hands behind my head and kissed me. He was in control and used the right amount of roughness. I couldn't stop smiling as he moved me towards the wall behind me. He slowly started to kiss me gently on my chin and neck. I had my hands placed on his neck and didn't want him to move. But he did. He planted one last kiss on my lips and then took my hands off his neck. He moved back away from me as I remained against the wall. I couldn't feel my legs or my arms as I felt paralyzed after what had just occurred. I looked at him to find him looking at me with a lopsided grin. He took his phone out, “It's late. Gwen will be checking in on everybody soon. I don't want you to get in trouble.”

              I gave a quick laugh. “Forget Gwen. Am I in trouble for touching you without permission?”

              “We'll see.”

              Was he serious? I couldn't tell since he was no longer smiling. “That's not fair...plus, you broke a rule by being inappropriate.”

              He looked up from his phone and winked at me. “What can I do for forgiveness?”

              Good, he was teasing me. “Allow Gwen to late me stay out beyond the curfew.”

              He was grinning again. He put his phone away and crossed his arms against his chest like he always did. “And if I do, what will you do? An innocent girl like you in a place unknown to her?”

              I stopped grinning. I hated the whole “innocent girl” stereotype that had been stamped on me. I lived with it in Richmond and certainly didn't want it to follow me everywhere. I moved to be right in front of him and I placed a hand on one of his crossed arms. I looked up and whispered, “One, I'm not an 'innocent girl'. And...two, I wouldn't mind checking out the view from your penthouse which I hear is very nice.”

              He looked at my hand that was resting on his arm and then he slowly moved his arms so that he could take my hand into his. I felt warm and slightly light-headed at his touch. “How about this? I take you back up to your room and you're going to get a good night's rest. And I'll make sure Gwen doesn't lay into you for being late.”

              “Why? You have other plans?” I spoke too soon and I sounded jealous. I thought he would get mad but instead he laughed.

              “No. Because it would be difficult to get you past Jacob and Artie and having to explain to them why I have a human girl in my room for the first time since they have known me.”

              He didn't allow humans in his room? I guessed he only hooked up with vampires then.

              “Oh.” Suddenly I felt stupid and embarrassed. Of course Jacob and Artie were staying in the penthouse as well.

              “Now can we go? You're definitely going to be late.”

              Before he was able to move around me and open the door I stopped him. “Why do you have her? She's mean.”

              He titled his head toward mine and he looked amused but sympathetic at the same time. “Has she really been mean?”

              “She's awful. There isn't a nice bone in her.”

              “I trust her to handle the group and I need someone to be firm so that everyone knows their place.” I rolled my eyes to his response which he noticed. He titled my head up with a finger. “If she's mean without reason then let me know. Okay?”

              I nodded.

              We were quiet the whole time after we discretely walked out of the coat closet and made our way up to my room. Gwen was there looking beyond pissed but when she saw Josef walking behind me her expression became less severe. As we walked towards the door, I turned to Josef and gave him a look for him to save me.

              I stood right in front of Gwen who was blocking me from the door. Josef came around me and spoke to Gwen, “Gwen, everything is fine. I just found this one wandering around like a lost lamb.”

              I looked up at him and rolled my eyes. “Yes, I was
definitely
lost. I don't know what I would have done if Mr. Constane hadn't found me.”

              Gwen eyed me suspiciously. “Fine. Go to bed. Next time, don't wander alone.”

              I nodded and looked at Josef, “Goodnight, Mr. Constane.”

              He tried to suppress a smile and act hard. “Goodnight, Miss. Turner.” He walked away and headed towards the elevator.

              I turned to Gwen who gave me a disapproving look. “He doesn't need you annoying him and wasting his time.”

              I smiled at her. “Goodnight, Gwen.” I didn't wait to see if she would say it back to me as I quickly opened the door, stepped in and closed it behind me.

              I passed Ivy and Janel who were once-again raiding the mini bar. Artie's bill was definitely going to be a surprise in the morning.

              I kicked my heels off and started the shower.

              Ivy's and Janel's  half-drunk laughter became muddled in-between my own thoughts.

              The bathroom began to steam up completely.

              My reflection in the mirror slowly disappeared but my dimpled smile grew.

                                                                                    ***

              It was difficult to sleep during the night since I couldn't stop thinking about Josef and that kiss. So when it was time to get up in the morning and head down to breakfast, I certainly didn't have the energy to do it.

              I sat with Janel and Ivy who couldn't stop talking about how annoyed they were that today was going to be our last day in Hawaii. It annoyed me too but I was happy to know that Josef was prepared to spend more time with me when we got home.

              My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed Lisa and Cassie standing near one of the tall glass windows in the breakfast lounge and were laughing like little school girls.

              Ivy snickered at them, “What are those bitches up to?”

              Lisa and Cassie had heard her as they both turned towards our table. Cassie was angry at the comment. Lisa, on the other hand, looked proud about something. “The guys are working out with one of the hotel trainers. And who knew that Jacob was this hot?”

              I smiled at Ivy and Janel as I got up from my seat to go see what Lisa was talking about. Janel and Ivy quickly joined me. Artie, Jacob and Josef were near the hotel's front lawn and were laughing about something with a man who appeared to be a trainer. They were shirtless, sweaty and Artie was lying on the ground resting. They had clearly finished off some sort of exercise routine or something.

              Lisa began to coo, “Just look at him. Those tattoos are really doing something to me.”

              She was right; Jacob was definitely attractive, even more so shirt-less.  He had a lot of tattoos, mostly on his back and near his ribs. But he couldn't distract me from a more wonderful view that I was enjoying. It was the first time that I had seen Josef shirtless and it was better than what I had pictured in my head before. He had the right amount of muscles and was cut in the right places. His arms were the size of my thigh and his shoulders were broad in a panty-dropping worthy way. He always looked good in the shirts he wore, especially the tight v-necks he favored, so it's no surprise that he has a good body.

              The girls began to fight with Ivy over whether or not Jacob was attractive. She refused to agree with them which further angered Lisa and Cassie. Janel just accused Ivy of being blind. I slowly began to tune out from the bickering and focused on Josef. He looked to be really enjoying himself. He was beaming as he laughed. His happiness transferred onto me – I was overwhelmingly happy. All three of them started walking back up to the hotel with the trainer.

              I looked at the girls, “Come girls. Let's be polite and greet them.”

              We all went to the main entrance hall of the hotel and pretended to casually talk as the men came in. I looked up at Josef and tried to suppress my goofy grin, “Good morning boys. Looking good. Keep up the hard work.”

              As they walked past us, Jacob winked at us and waved. Josef smiled but it didn't reach his eyes until he met mine to which his grin also widened at one corner and then he shook his head in an exasperated manner. When they stepped into an elevator and the doors closed, Lisa and Cassie exhaled loudly. Lisa whispered, “Fuck me, please.”

              Ivy rolled her eyes as she grabbed mine and Janel's arms, and walked us back to the breakfast lounge. “All of you need to get laid. And quick.”

                                                                                                  ***

              The plane ride back home was a non-event. Josef, Jacob and Artie took a business meeting in a closed off room away from the rest of us. Janel was giving Ivy a hard time over Jacob.

              “He's like everyone's type,” murmured Janel.

              “Well, he's not mine,” Ivy scolded, “plus, he's super annoying.”

              On the other side of the plane,  Gwen was pacing back and forth looking apprehensive and worried. I decided to look out the window for the remainder of the flight and think about what had happened with Josef in the last two days...

              As I started to sip on my second martini, I became completely mind-swept as I remembered something very crucial. He's a vampire. 

              A vampire!

              How could I not think about this? The whole time I saw him as simply a man. An attractive, smart and powerful man. But he was more than that! I needed to think about this more before spending “private” time with him. I've only hung out with Artie but it had always been friendly. How do I become romantically involved with someone who wasn't even completely human?

              Was it even possible that such a relationship could work and survive?

                                                                         CHAPTER nine

              We all returned home without seeing much of Josef. He hadn't even approached me when we landed nor the others for that matter. And when he opened the cab door for me he only winked and waved.

              I didn't know what to think. Not only was I suddenly going crazy over the thought of being with a vampire, but now I was second-guessing the entire relationship or whatever it was.

              Do I like him? Of course. More than I should actually.

              Do I want to spend time with him? Yes.