Undeniable (24 page)

Because of his carelessness she soon would have to bid
farewell to the sun and enter a life where one year of darkness would only age
her one day. She could spend the endless nights by his side as his mate or
alone.

Either way, now that she’d tasted his blood, there was no
turning back. Diana either completed the bonding ritual with him or joined the
Slashers on Fentmore Island. Even if she accepted him, even if she grew to love
him enough to want to be his mate, he had no doubt that once she discovered
what had transpired the night he, Diego and Tomas had entered her bedroom, once
she grasped why they had been there, she would want nothing more to do with
him.

“What’s wrong, Sebastian?”

He gazed down at her concerned face. “Hmmm?”

“You look like you just lost your best friend.” Diana
pressed her body into his side.

“You’ve captured me, you know. And I’m terrified by the
thought of you setting me free.” He shrugged, embarrassed that he’d spoken
aloud the fears he’d only just discovered. “Let’s walk by the lake while we
wait.”

When they reached the lake, Diana stared up into his face.
Her hand trembled as she slid it up his chest. She’d wondered about his absence
during the day long before tonight.

She’d seen the way his eyes had dilated exactly like Colette
and Luna’s when he’d seen her finger, the way his tongue had wrapped around it
and drawn her blood into his mouth for a second before he’d removed it. And
she’d seen the drawing with Sebastian’s name. They’d all assumed she’d fainted
from the sight of the blood, but Diana knew the growing evidence pointing
toward the possibility that Sebastian might be a vampire had been too much for
her to handle.

When she awoke to find him gazing down at her, his heart in
his eyes, she made a decision she hoped she wouldn’t regret. She knew, vampire
or not, she couldn’t just turn her back on him. Not because her grandmother
considered him her soul mate or because her body recognized him as such.

Sebastian had worked his way into her heart. If she was
right, if he was indeed a vampire, then she had to give him the opportunity to
reveal himself, had to convince him that he could trust her with his secret.
What choice did she have?

Somehow, Sebastian had become the very air she breathed.

She longed for his touch more now than ever before.
Flattening her palm on his chest, she felt his heartbeat flow into her, merge
with her own and set it on fire. How could she walk away without ever knowing
what it felt like to make love to the one man who could awaken her body with a
mere glance? She had to take this further, had to let the bud of love lodged in
her heart bloom before she made any decision.

Colette and Luna emerged from the bathroom and joined them.
Colette looked at Diana and Sebastian, then turned to Luna. “I think it’s time
we went home.”

“But I wanted more caramel corn and cotton candy.” Luna
crossed her arms and stuck out a perfect pout.

Diana yawned. “Sorry, sweetie, but I’m pooped.”

Later, when she and Sebastian returned to the car after they
had made sure that Colette and Luna were safely in their house, Diana turned to
Sebastian and calmly asked, “Can vampires go out during the day if it’s
cloudy?”

Sebastian, in the midst of backing out of the driveway,
nearly slammed into the white picket fence he’d helped Marek put up only last
year. “Vampires?”

Diana brought her hand to his cheek. He was so beautiful it
took her breath away. “Yes, Sebastian, vampires. I know you know about Colette
and Luna.”

“Well,” he hesitated, threw the car into park, then shifted
to face her. “If there are scattered clouds, no. But there are times when the
clouds are dense and completely blanket the sky. On those days…I’m told…vampires
can come out.”

She smiled. “Tomorrow, you’re calling in sick and taking me
on a picnic.”

Sebastian’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”

“It’s supposed to rain. I love picnics in the rain. Take me
home, Sebastian.”

“You’re awfully bossy all of a sudden.”

“You want bossy? Okay. Tomorrow, we’re going to have a
picnic in the rain. Then I’ll go home. At exactly, hmmm, eight, you’re going to
pick me up and take me to your house.”

“My house?” Sebastian pulled up to the curb in front of
Diana’s house.

“Yes, so you’d better clean up the place.”

He smirked. “You got that right. Anything else, boss?”

Diana slid over and brought her lips to his ear. “You’re
going to make love to me, Sebastian.” She pressed her breasts into his arm,
felt his muscles harden. “I’ve been waiting a whole month for you to make a
move, now I’m taking charge. And, Sebastian?”

He opened his mouth, then simply nodded.

She slid her hand down over his stomach, over the waistband
of his jeans, then cupped the hard ridge rising up alongside the zipper. “You’re
really big and, hmmm, how can I put this? You’ll be my first, which means I’ll
be real tight.”

“You’re killing me, you know that?”

“Well, I just figured that once you felt how very tight I
am, you might feel the need to be extra gentle.”

“I will.”

“But you won’t.”

His eyes dilated. “I won’t,” he asked, his voice huskier
than she’d ever heard it.

“Don’t go wild on me,” she whispered, then ran her tongue
along his lower lip, “but don’t be too gentle either.”

“I won’t hurt you.”

“I know. Now kiss me goodnight.”

Sebastian drew her onto his lap.

Diana moaned. Linking her arms around his neck, she brought
her lips to his. She felt his fingers dig into her hips as his mouth crushed
hers. His tongue slid past her lips and took possession of her senses. Enflamed,
she ground herself onto his cock and greedily sucked his tongue deeper into her
mouth.

Suddenly she was standing on the sidewalk on wobbly legs
watching Sebastian close the car door. “Sebastian? How…”

He smiled. “Rain, huh? What time do you want me to pick you
up for the picnic?”

* * * * *

The weatherman erred and Diana found she was neither
surprised nor frightened when Sebastian called to say he couldn’t see her until
dusk. She spent the day wondering if she was right or if her revelation that
vampires really did exist had clouded her judgment where he was concerned.

Plenty of people were too busy to socialize during the day.
She should be grateful that he took his job so seriously. And how many mothers
sucked the blood from their children’s cut fingers? Plenty. And he’d said he
lived near Colette and Luna. That would explain his name on Luna’s picture.
Plenty of kids called neighbors and friends of the family uncle. Plenty.

She spent her day waiting for sunset, waiting for Sebastian
and convincing herself she had jumped to a ridiculous conclusion.

The day dragged on. Just when she thought she would smash
all the clocks in her house, it was time to get ready. After pouring herself a
glass of wine, she slid into a lavender scented bath. Candles rested on every
available surface. She ran the fat soapy loofa up her leg and grinned. Her body
trembled with need. With her heart more involved than it would have been a
month ago, she longed to offer him what she’d worked so hard to keep over the
years.

She only hoped he’d believe he was her first after he
entered her and found nothing barring his way.

An hour past dusk, she sat clutching the phone and staring
bleakly at her reflection in the mirror above her vanity. Her makeup couldn’t
be more perfect. The sundress she’d bought that afternoon flattered her figure.
Two thin straps tied at her shoulders were the only things holding it up and
she’d imagined in the store how it would feel sliding over her bare breasts
when Sebastian untied them, imagined his eyes when he beheld her sheer pink
thong. High heeled shoes with a satin ribbon that tied around her ankle created
the picture of innocence and sensuality she’d been striving for.

But Sebastian never came.

The doorbell rang, but it was her father.

The phone rang, but it was Terry asking her to go to the
movies.

A car pulled up, but it was her neighbor’s date.

And now it was ten and she was all dressed up with nowhere
to go.

The phone rang again. “Please, God, let it be him,” she
prayed as she picked up the receiver. Keeping her voice calm, she said,
“Hello?”

“Oh, Diana. Thank God you’re home.”

Diana gripped the phone. “What’s wrong, Stan?”

“It’s Midnight. He got out again and I can’t get him to come
in.”

Diana’s chin dropped down to her chest. “Don’t worry, Stan.
I’ll be right over.”

“I’m sorry, Diana.”

“That’s okay. I have nothing else to do.” Grabbing her coat,
she cursed herself for bringing up vampires to Sebastian. He probably marked
her off as a nut and had gone out with someone else.

* * * * *

Sebastian glanced at his watch and cursed.

The sun had set later than usual, then, just as he was about
to leave, Diego had arrived and insisted on speaking with him. After divulging
that Olympia knew Diana and Sebastian were soul mates from the beginning, Diego
begged Sebastian to help him find somewhere safe from Olympia’s wrath. Unable
to ignore the terror in Diego’s eyes and saddened by way his scarred cheekbones
had marred his looks, Sebastian had wasted another hour setting him up in
Albany.

When he finally approached Diana’s house, the sight of her
father sitting on the steps of the porch forced him to park further down the
street. He crept up to their house, his eyes focused on Frank Nostrum. The man
leaned back, puffing on a cigar as he talked on the phone.

Rage consumed Sebastian. He hid behind a tree. Listened.

“Sure, Diana’s got it all under control. Hey, if anyone can
coax him in, Diana can. When she talks the talk, they’ll follow her anywhere.
Stan, relax. The dumb animals can’t resist her.”

Sebastian felt his lungs seize. He slumped against the
trunk, gazing up through the leaves at the stars, the gift he’d planned on
surprising her with if she chose him tonight.

“My mother says it’s her inner voice that speaks to them.
They trust her. Yeah, he’ll come in. Rain tomorrow? Nah, the sky’s clear.
Either way, he’ll be in the pen long before dawn.”

Sebastian pushed himself away from the tree with trembling
hands. Turning, he ran faster than he had ever run—not from the web Diana had
supposedly spun to entrap him, not from a weapon more dangerous than any his
kind had imagined—he ran from the truth, refusing to accept that the woman he’d
fallen in love with and the woman the vampire hunter described were the same.

At first he drove around aimlessly, wondering how he could ever
return to the life he led before Diana. Eventually, he found himself standing
in Colette’s backyard while Luna held a tea party with her dolls on the lawn.

“Luna. Uncle Sebastian wants to ask you something.”

Luna glanced up, a tea cup of water poised at her lips.

Sebastian cleared his throat. He swallowed the lump lodged
there since he left Diana’s house. “Has Diana ever spoken to you, well, like we
do? Just with her mind?”

“What a silly question.” Luna giggled and sipped at her tea.
“Wanna join my tea party?”

“Luna, answer Uncle Sebastian.” Colette reached out to grasp
Sebastian’s hand. “He’s serious.”

Luna rolled onto her back and burst into a new fit of
giggles.

Colette sat on a bench and covered her mouth, trying to hide
her own laughter.

“Laugh all you want, but I just heard her father say she
could lure them into the pen because she talks the talk,” he muttered, plopping
down onto the bench. He flung his head back and gazed up at the moon. “Talks
the talk. Dammit, Colette, you know what that means.”

“Yes, I do. The men at the ranch told me the horses follow
her back into the pen every time they escape because she talks the talk. The
horses trust her.” Colette smiled down at Luna. “She’s a horse whisperer.
Right, Luna?”

“Yup. Diana said she always gets called by Stan—you know,
Mommy, Old Jake—well, he calls her whenever a horse gets out. Cause she talks
the talk.” Luna glanced down at her locket. “The horses know she’ll help them.”

Sebastian recalled how on the Midnight Trail Diana had
continually whispered in her horse’s ear, how it had tilted its head as if
intently listening. Running his hands through his hair, he shook his head and
grinned. “I’m such a fool.”

Colette patted his knee. “We’re all fools when we fall in
love, Sebastian. We constantly worry that our heart will be broken. Try to
trust her. Especially tonight.”

He planted a huge kiss on each of their cheeks before
rushing out to his car. The ritual would begin much later than he’d hoped, but
it would begin. He only hoped he’d be able to stop grinning by the time he saw
Diana.

And hurry, Sebastian
, Colette called as he drove
away.
Damien and the elders are already waiting at the ritual grounds.

Hating that the elders would bear witness to their bonding,
Sebastian slammed his palm on the steering wheel and wished he were human.

He found her a half hour later. He had no idea how he would
seduce her if his late arrival had set up a wall of mistrust around her heart,
but he had to succeed.

* * * * *

“Cheer up, Di. He was probably some married guy looking for
a quickie.” Terry draped her arm over Diana’s slumped shoulders and steered her
into the mall. “Let’s go check out the hot new manager at the Multiplex.”

“No. Something must have happened. He would have at least
called. Maybe I should check at the hospital.”

Come to me.

Diana glanced over her shoulder and watched the glass doors
they had just walked through slowly close. Her heart lurched. No one had come
in behind them.