Dare I? (4 page)

She tried to smile, as difficult as it was.
When she blinked, a tear rolled down her cheek, and Chase reached
out to wipe it with his thumb.

“Misguided, perhaps, but not an idiot.” He
returned her smile hesitantly. “Unless you’re going to try again to
find a vamp?”

“No. I don’t think so.” She laughed
nervously. “The hell with what the girls may think. I’m not that
desperate.”

It was Chase’s turn to laugh. “Not sure what
it says that you’d need to be desperate to hit on me.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” She took a
small sip of her drink and started relaxing again. “And if I made a
habit of it, I’d have hit on you without hesitation.”

She realized when Chase’s eyebrows shot up
that she had put her foot in her mouth—again. Mortified, she
covered her face with her hands, peeking out only when she heard
him laugh.

“I think,” he said with a chuckle, “that I’ll
take that as a compliment. As long as you don’t amend it
anymore.”

Smiling, Anna shook her head rather than risk
opening her mouth again. For a few minutes, they sat there in
silence, music, voices and laughter drifting into the booth from
the club around them. Anna would have thought she would feel
uncomfortable, sitting here with him after what had happened—and
failed to happen. And yet, it wasn’t bad at all.

“It’s getting late,” Chase said after he had
finished his drink, but he didn’t move or otherwise say
goodbye.

“You’re right. I should go home.”

Despite her words, Anna didn’t move either.
She should have called a cab. She should have excused herself and
put all this adventure behind her, chalk it up as a stroke of
madness to be forgotten with morning. She should have, but she
couldn’t manage to leave so fast. She couldn’t help but hope that
Chase—

“I feel silly offering this after I scolded
you for taking risks, but do you need a ride?”

“It must be a night for silliness.”

They shared a smile.

“And I do need a ride, if it’s not too much
trouble.”

“I wouldn’t have offered if it was.”

He slid out of the booth and stood, holding
his hand out to Anna. She did not hesitate before following his
lead, pressing her fingers to his palm for him to help her up. She
could feel, now, that it was cool, but not cold, or at least not as
cold as a vampire’s skin probably was. She had no desire anymore to
find out for herself.

It was difficult to understand how so much
had changed in the matter of an hour. She had come to On The Edge
ready to be wild, had realized exactly how much risk she was
taking, and was now leaving with the same man who had warned her
about playing with her life. She couldn’t have explained why, but
she trusted him to be a perfect gentleman.

He led her to a parking lot just a block down
from the club. He opened the door for her, then closed it gently
when she was in; she couldn’t remember the last time when someone
had held a door for her. She looked around while he walked around
the car, and when he sat behind the wheel she was chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” he asked as he started the
car.

“I thought you were a vampire.” She touched
the wooden crucifix hanging from the rearview mirror with a light
finger before ostensibly glancing back at the backseat. Two
crossbows sat there, and a dozen stakes. “And you’re a vampire
hunter instead.”

Even in the darkened car, she could see his
slight smile.

“Special Enforcer is the actual title. But
yes, hunting does have a lot to do with it.”

She understood, now. His gaze searching the
crowd, the confidence in his step, the grace of his movements… they
hadn’t been signs of his being a vampire as she had thought.
Rather, they were clues that he was another kind of predator—a
predator to vampires, as the case may be. A predator with whom she
was probably safer than with any vampire she could have met at On
The Edge. A predator whose cheek she kissed lightly when he dropped
her off in front of her apartment building.

* * * *

Morning is coming, and they’re lying in each
other’s arms, the heavy spare blanket thrown over them. Far above,
the distant ceiling of stars grows lighter by moments, the black
not so black anymore, blue slowly seeping in. They should go in,
probably, get back to Chase’s apartment before his neighbors start
awakening and roaming through the staircase. Neither of them moves,
though. Anna would loathe putting an end to a beautiful night.
She’s not sure whether Chase is awake, still, or if he fell asleep
after their last round of lovemaking.

He answers her silent wondering by moving.
The arm beneath her neck extends, then curls back over her to
deposit a small box on her chest. Anna forgets to breathe when she
realizes what it is; what he is doing.

“The plan,” he says, and his voice is rough,
even a little trembling, “was to ask you first, and then make love
all night, but I…” His words come out with more reluctance. “I
wasn’t sure you would—”

She can’t bear to let him finish and turns
against him, laughing as she kisses him.

“Of course I would! I mean will! I mean, I
do.”

She doesn’t know what she means anymore,
doesn’t know what babbling passes her lips when he slips the ring
on her finger. It catches the first light of sunrise, shining
softly, perfect and beautiful. Just like Chase’s smile.

* * * *

As Anna had expected they would, Jessie and
Carol showed up at her apartment in the afternoon, though she had
thought they would arrive earlier. She shook her head and smiled
when she saw they had brought a bottle of wine.

“Trying to ply me with alcohol?” she asked as
she led the way to the living room.

“That was the idea, yes,” Jessie replied with
a shameless grin. “In case you decided to be tight-lipped.”

Her friends settled on the sofa and Anna
pulled tall glasses from a cabinet. She uncorked the bottle easily,
and they were soon taking sips of the light white wine and munching
on dried fruit. With some difficulty, Anna repressed a grin as time
passed in silence and her friends looked at her expectantly.

“So?” Carol was the first one to break.
“We’re dying here! Tell us what happened!”

Anna gave a small shrug. “I went to the club,
like you two suggested. Had a bit of fun. Nothing much,
really.”

By the time she said the last words, the
smile had pushed to her lips and she was beaming. Carol and Jessie
exchanged a look and turned to her, the same accusation rising from
their lips.

“Liar!”

Finally giving in, Anna laughed. “I went
there to find a vamp and prove you wrong,” she confided. “I was
going to get laid and bitten before the night was over.”

She paused to take a sip, and could feel her
friends’ eyes on her, searching her neck and wrists for telltale
marks.

“I didn’t find a vampire,” she continued. “I
thought I had, but he turned out to be a vampire hunter rather than
a vamp.”

“You found yourself a Special Enforcer?”
Jessie exclaimed, and there was a hint of awe in her voice. “Nice.
So, you didn’t get bitten, but what about the rest?”

She waggled her eyebrows suggestively, making
it clear if need be what she meant.

“Let’s just say I had a very interesting
night.”

Her friends started protesting the lack of
details, but Anna only grinned.

“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.”

“You did kiss him, then,” Carol said slyly.
“Was that at the club, or after he took you home?”

Giving up on her pretense of coyness, Anna
told them everything, starting with the first time she had seen him
on the dance floor and what she had thought then.

“He sent me flowers this morning,” she
finished her tale. “With his phone number on the card.”

“Did you call him?” Jessie asked
excitedly.

Anna nodded, grinning. “I did, to thank him.
And we’re going to have lunch tomorrow.”

“So…I guess we know who your guest will be at
the wedding,” Carol said with a wink.

Anna thought for a moment. The wedding was
still five months away, and she had just met Chase. For all she
knew, they might not go past a first lunch date. She didn’t like to
think that far into the future usually. And yet…it was tempting to
dare take a chance—another one.

The End

About the Author:

Kallysten’s most exciting accomplishment to
date was to cross a few thousand miles and an ocean to pursue (and
catch!) the love of her life. She has been writing for fifteen
years, and always enjoyed sharing her stories and listening to the
readers’ reactions. After playing with science fiction, short
stories and poetry, she is now trying her hand, heart and words at
paranormal romance novels.

To see her
other stories, including free short stories and sample chapters,
visit http://original.kallysten.net

Also available from Kallysten:

Forever Starts Now

After receiving
pictures that prove her fiancé’s infidelity, Claire breaks her
engagement to Jonas and throws him out of her house. As a Special
Enforcer, Jonas’ job is to hunt vampires who kill humans, but while
she packs his belongings, Claire discovers he might be killing
innocent vampires as well. Needing to know more about vampires
before she decides whether to turn Jonas in, she visits a club
where vampires and humans come in close contact, On The Edge.

There, she meets the attractive and
mysterious vampire Matthew. She observes him from afar for a few
nights, and when he finally comes to talk to her, it is to scare
her and ensure that she will not return to a place he considers
dangerous for her—a view he unexpectedly shares with Jonas.

Claire does return, however, and discovers
more about Matthew’s past than he wanted her to know. She also
discovers he is attracted to her, just as much as she is to him.
Their first night together is passionate, but, with the
intervention of Matthew’s Sire, it ends in blood…

Forever Starts Now shows a normal woman
thrown in extraordinary circumstances where love spans generations
and “forever” has a very literal meaning. She will have to find out
who she is before she can get her “happily ever after” with the man
of her dreams.

Aria & Will

In an indistinct
future, humans and vampires are allied against the savage demons
that relentlessly attack their cities.

In the fortified town of Newhaven, a
centuries-old vampire, Wilhelm, is slowly losing track of why he
fights. Meeting the human child Ariadne and watching her grow up to
become a fierce fighter reminds him of his purpose and gives a face
to the humans he tries to protect.

As years pass, however, and Aria becomes a
young woman, then a vampire, his protectiveness slowly turns into
love...

All Things Except
Blood

Vampire Eyrin lives in a world in which her
kind seals pacts with humans and protects them from fearsome demons
in exchange for blood. She is one of her clan’s strongest fighters,
until the night when she is gravely wounded, in both her flesh and
spirit. Disfigured, she hides from all and refuses to feed.

Returning to the lair, her human lover Ian is
shocked to discover her condition but resolute to show her she is
still as beautiful in his eyes. He offers her blood and comfort,
causing Eyrin to do the one thing forbidden to Childer – take his
life.

When Ian awakens a vampire, sired not by her
but by the clan’s Master instead, Eyrin reluctantly takes on the
task of teaching him about his new existence. But her guilt over
killing him makes this responsibility a heavy burden for Eyrin, and
the new relationship they forge is a far cry from the one they used
to share. Will Ian be able to reach out for her again, or will she
keep her door and heart locked to him?