Forbidden Days (The Firsts) (3 page)

So the next exit, she began to ease the car over, and continued off the ramp.  He didn’t protest.  His eyes opened briefly, he sighed, and closed them again.  Park saw a little neon restaurant sign to the right and continued toward it.  Aw, classic little all night roadside café.  Perfect.  Bathroom facilities
and
  food.  She parked close to the front entrance, glanced at the still form beside her, slipped her seatbelt off quietly, and slid out.  He remained on her passenger seat, she shrugged and went to the door.  She had her hand on the handle when she felt his breath on the back of her neck.

“I understand your human needs.  Okay.  Please don’t make me do something I don’t want to.  Be good, don’t try to get sympathy or aid from the locals, and we’ll have a good meal and get back on our way.  We’re running out of time. You understand what I am saying.”

Since she could read him, really read him, she knew he meant it.  She knew she wouldn’t escape and that she could possibly get someone hurt.  She nodded her head.  He smiled lazily.

“Okay then.  Let’s go get you something dead to eat.”

Park thought about replying, but admitted she was up to just about anything tonight.  Normally, she was a salad and veggies girl, but suddenly a juicy hamburger sounded amazingly good.  And strangely, she felt almost giddy at the though, smiled, and pulled the door open to the heavenly smells of coffee and fried bacon.

As they approached a booth, the kidnapper pulled a pair of high dollar sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on.  Sliding into the white laminated bench seat, Park immediately grabbed the menu.

“So,” she said, casually, as if it were normal conversation.  “Restaurant lights too bright for a vampire?”

He grimaced and grabbed the second menu tucked behind the steel cage full of napkins.

“No.  I haven’t slept much in the past two weeks.  My eyes hurt just like yours would if you hadn’t slept in fifteen days.  And can we quiet down on the word…”  He lowered his head and peeked over the top of the sunglasses.  She knew what he meant.  Didn’t matter.

With her eyes on the menu, she yawned.  “If that’s what you are, what’s the problem?  Ashamed of your race?”

He drew a deep breath.  God, she was pissing him off.  “It’s not common knowledge that we exist.  Not supposed to be.  Not going to be.  You are not supposed to be
this
aware.  I warn you, if you take this road, there are others who would come for you.  They would do that ‘worse than death’ thing you mentioned.  So, be quiet, do what I need from you, and I will try to figure out how to get you home.  Safely.  I know you understand I’m telling you the truth, so just shut up and eat or I will drag you out of here and you’ll be lucky to get a fucking cracker for the rest of your life.  Got it?”

She couldn’t take her eyes off his face.  For a full sixty seconds, she just stared, almost trancelike, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop.  It was like her mind was processing who and what he was, truly, for the first time.  She felt dizzy, then suddenly saw him walking through a stone street, not here, not now, somewhere…some
time
, different.  He was smiling, and the full brightness of the day lit up his golden brown hair.  He carried a roughly stitched leather satchel in his right hand and a piglet in the left.  Coarse fabric and stitching defined the ancient clothing he was wearing, like he was in a period movie.  Then the image faded and the dizziness brought her back to this moment in the greasy spoon just a few hours before daylight.  Her vision had been blurred for just a few moments, and then she could focus again.  He was still staring at her.

“I am serious.  Do you understand me?”   It appeared he was still on that conversation.

This was real.  She knew it now, instinctively, there were things that most people did not know.  Vampires existed, and this man across from this innocuous table had been alive for a very long time.  And he was not human.  It took her a moment, but she shook herself mentally and made herself answer him.  She was unsure how to process this, but one thing she knew…he was dangerous in ways she couldn’t even imagine.

“Uh, sure, yes, I understand.  I won’t give you any trouble, I promise.”

He looked at her with his head tilted.

“Really?”

He didn’t believe her.  Park shook her head, trying to convince him.  “No, I agree.  I don’t want any trouble either.  I will be under your…” what was the word he used earlier…oh yes, “under your compulsion.”

The skeptical look on his face didn’t change, but he opened his menu back up and said, “Well, okay, then.  Better. Let’s order. We’re still running out of time.”

Park buried her face in the soiled menu.  He seemed reasonable.   And there was the weird thing where she could connect with him.  Read him like she had been able to do sometimes in her life.  It was unsettling to be so connected to someone so dangerous.  She tried to keep the menu from shaking as reaction began to set in.  She needed  to eat, though.  And while she was still in shock, she also was still hungry.  So when the blue smocked waitress came over and gave her a wan smile, she looked up and realized her own smile probably looked as forced.

“Hi, uh, yeah, I would like your quarter pound hamburger.  And just load it up with everything.  And cheese?  Oh, and bacon, too.  And some home fries, please.  And a large chocolate milkshake.”

The waitress stared at Park’s slim form for a second and nodded.  “And you,sir?  You gonna out-do your girlfriend?”

He smiled charmingly at the obviously overtired waitress.  “I don’t think anyone could.  But why don’t you just bring me the same?”  He reached out and brushed her hand softly.

The waitress, whose name was Bea, according to the dingy name tag on the faded uniform pocket, surprised Park by smiling back at him suddenly.  Her entire manner changed.  The intense tiredness went away from her face and the smile made her almost pretty.  “Right away, sir.”  There was a spring in her step as she left that wasn’t there before.

Park raised her eyebrows as she looked back at him.  He slid the sunglasses off and tossed them carelessly on the table near the window.  Park watched him for a second while he picked up a pink packet of sugar substitute and shook it.  She took a deep breath.

“So.  I didn’t think vampires ate.  I mean, you know, liquid diet and all.”

He stared back and gave her a slight smile.  “Movies.  No, we can eat.  We
do
eat.  For pleasure.  We can still enjoy food.  We just can’t
live
only on it.  So, we do need the…uh…liquid diet.”  He sighed.  “But a bacon cheeseburger tastes great, human or not. 
You
eat them.”

“Of course, but I’m human.”

Once again, the stare.  Gave her a good view of his eyes, which were nearly black, his skin swarthy, a natural perpetual tan.  His hair was very dark, almost to the absence of light.  He was ruggedly handsome, the type of man women would swoon for even if he wasn’t a supernatural being.

He murmured something she couldn’t hear.  “I’m sorry, what?” she asked.

“I said ‘if you say so.’”

“You commented once before like that.  Whatever delusions you have about yourself, I am one hundred percent human.  Humans are fallible, imperfect creatures and I’m about as fallible and imperfect as it gets.”

“If you say so.”

Dangerous or not, he was a frustrating creature.  There was only one word to answer his comment with and it was a new classic.  It was properly dismissive.

“Whatever.”

The waitress brought the milkshakes, giving her something else to focus on.  She began drawing the smooth cold mixture through the straw mostly to distract herself.  Then the texture and flavors hit her and she moaned.  Deeply.  It got the attention of every man in the diner. 

Kidnapper looked up at her. “Orgasmic, eh?”

“What?  Uh, no…well, yes.  I never eat these things, they’re a body buster.  And
so
unhealthy.  But, God, I’d forgotten how good they were.”

“Every man in here wants to thank you for the mental image that moan created.”

“What?  Oh.  I’m sorry, it really is that good.  I didn’t mean…oh, that’s embarrassing.”

He paused before he spoke.  Set his own shake back on the table and leaned toward her.

“Why?”

“Why is it embarrassing?  I don’t know.  I guess I’m preconditioned to apologize for everything.  I guess it’s not considered socially acceptable to say or do something sexual in public.”

“It isn’t?  You really feel that way?”

“Yes.  No.  I was just raised to think that type of behavior is trashy.”

“It doesn’t matter how you were raised, it just matters how
you
feel.  I sense a great deal of passion in you.  There’s nothing wrong with passion.”

“In its proper place, no, of course not.  My mother said…”

He moved so quickly she didn’t even see him, but he had her scooped into his arms, holding her close before she was aware of it.  There was that scent again, so sensual, so sexual, she couldn’t think of anything but his lips just inches away from hers.

He whispered into her ear, “We’re in a restaurant.  What do you want to do?”

Her head was swimming, but she could feel the wild tickle in her stomach, and lower.  She didn’t think she’d ever been this turned on.

She whispered back, her arms pulling her closer to his ear, and his lips.  “Really?  I want to kiss the hell out of you.”

“Nothing’s stopping you.”

Park lost her ability to think.  Her body took over, it’s desire enflamed beyond control of years of conditioning…pulling closer and touched her lips to his lightly.  She pushed her tongue out to wet her lips and it touched his.  She couldn’t stop herself, didn’t want to.  She heard herself whisper, “My mother would call me a…”

He stopped her words, moved in and took control of the kiss.  Everything exploded then as Park held him as close as possible, met him thrust for thrust with her tongue, her hands moving against his torso.  She kissed the hell out of him and he kissed the hell out of her right back.  Only the sound of catcalls in the distance brought her back to her senses and she pulled away.  She felt shaken and yet at the same time she was glowing.  He looked a little shaken, too, and lowered her to the ground, but held onto her.  Good thing, too, she didn’t think she could have stood on her own.  He put her back in her seat again.  They were silent until he smiled at her a moment later.

“Anything wrong with that?”

She drew a long breath.  “No, um…nothing at all.”  She buried her attention in the milkshake and realized that between this and the kiss she was way off her own grid.  Her “final” date night was turning out to be the craziest night of her life.

“I made my point.  There’s nothing wrong with passion.  Ever.”

Park realized her hands were shaking, so she tightened her grip on the tall cold glass.  They fell into a silence again for a moment.  Her mind was racing, as well as her heart and her libido.  She glanced up at him again, watched him move his tongue around the top of the straw and felt her face flame.  He grinned and sat back, the movement drawing attention to his strong jawline.  It was crazy, but he was turning her on just sitting there.  It startled her, since he was not only her kidnapper, but he was certifiable as well.  He fascinated her.  And she really did want nothing more than to find a cheap hotel room with him.  It shocked her to admit it, even silently to herself, but it was true. 

Suddenly, she sat the milkshake back on the table, but she kept her hands wrapped around the stem to keep them still.

“What is your name?”

He hesitated a moment before he answered her.  “Sebastian.  I go by Bas.”

“Huh,” she said, and took another long draw from the shake.  A few moments later she asked him, “When did you have light brown hair?”

He sat up quickly, the smile gone.  “What makes you think I ever did?”

Another long draw of the frozen sugary sweetness.  He seemed upset.  Had she messed up?  She tried to fix it.

“Uh, nothing.  I must be thinking of someone else.  I’m tired, hungry and a little confused.  Wow, how long before we get our meal?”

Bas slid forward and caught her eye.  She couldn’t look away.  “Tell me.”

With another brief hesitation, she leaned in a little, too.  “I saw you.  With the lighter hair.  You were on a stone street somewhere.  And you were dressed in clothes from…I don’t know, medieval times or something.   And you had a pig with you.”

He stared at her again for a few more moments and then sat back, broke his contact.  It left her feeling abandoned.  What was it with this guy that he could affect her so much?

“I don’t understand.  You saw me…I haven’t had light hair since…”  The waitress stopped and smiled at them both.  “Just a few more minutes, you guys.”

Bas smiled.  “Thank you.”  He turned to Park.  “We’ll eat, and then you and I are going to talk.”

She knew it sounded lame, she just said okay, and returned to slurp the final melting dregs of the chocolate milkshake.  This was getting more bizarre by the second.

144

Chapter Three

They loaded back into the car in silence.  After another half hour of travel, Bas bent over and keyed something into the GPS system, then glanced up at her.

“There’s a hotel.  With interior rooms.  We’re going to stop for the day there.  We should make it in about half an hour.  Just follow the map.”

Park said nothing for a few moments and then looked toward him.  Details were lost in the darkness, but the glow of lights illuminated his face just enough to make him out.

“You know, I have a job.  I’m head of genetic research at LJP laboratories.  They’re going to notice my absence.  They all know I never miss a day of work.  Someone will check on me and call the authorities.”

He had his eyes closed again, but he answered her.  His voice sounded so tired, his words came out on a sigh.

“It doesn’t matter, Park.  They won’t find you.”

His attitude pissed her off.  He might be the sexiest man she’d ever met, but his cavalier, “you will do what I tell you” attitude went against everything she believed.  She’d been a slave to her mother and her mother’s friends.  She would not do that again.  She was no one’s servant.