Love Charms (71 page)

Chapter Nineteen

The One He Chose

I shuffled uncomfortably,
shoving my hands in my pocket. It was just me and the ghost.

"Maybe you should say
something to veil our conversation," Arrissa said, crossing her arms.
"If I know my mother, she has her ear glued to the door."

I held my hand out and
murmured a spell.

She closed her eyes, inhaling
deeply. "As a were, I was no stranger to magic. The things my body could
do beneath a full moon..." She shivered. "This'll probably come as a
shock, but that's what I miss the most. Running wild and free. The hunt. The
feel of flesh between my teeth. Not my husband. And most certainly not my
mother."

So that's why she wanted them
out. I was to play shrink. "I think you missed out on a chance to really
give them a piece of your mind. I mean, you're dead. What can they do to you
now?"

She laughed, a lyrical thing
that made her face brighten like the candles beside the circle.
"Apparently, I have to play referee even in death. And I'm still chained
to the will of a man who hates me."

I looked at her in shock.
"Hates?"

"Yes, Jade,"
Arrissa said, her face going cold. "Hates."

I swallowed as she uttered my
name, feeling the bite of some of the own hate she had tucked away. Focused on
me. "I don't believe we've met. And I certainly don't name drop with a
ghost."

"We haven't met
officially," she agreed. "But I know you. Riley made certain of
it."

My throat went dry.
"Riley talked about me?"

"Not at first," she
replied. "I mean, I knew he was dating someone when he imprinted on me.
That he...loved someone else." She tucked a blonde tendril behind her ear.
"With our bond, he couldn't keep it from me."

I was shaky on were culture,
but from what I'd read, werewolves mated through bloodlines. Unions are usually
pre-designated, the strong with the strong and the weak with the weak, but it's
not sealed until a male were imprints on his mate. It happens on the were's
eighteenth birthday...the summer Riley disappeared.

"Riley made his
choice," I said evenly. "He chose you."

Arrissa snorted, a sound that
sounded foreign for someone so prim and proper. "Riley didn't have a
choice. His grandfather promised mine that our bloodlines would combine. It was
his duty to imprint on me, not his choice."

"He could’ve said
no," I said stubbornly.

"Silly witch," Arrissa
sighed. "His father would have banished him from the pack without
hesitation. A lone wolf, no matter how strong, just doesn't last in the
wild."

I gulped. "So he stayed.
And imprinted on you and you guys lived happily ever after."

"Hardly," she snapped.
"He performed his duties, he lay with me, and his family provided for me
and mine. But there was no happily ever after for me. His heart belonged to
you."

I shook my head, trying to
shake away images of him. His dopey smile. His strong, firm hands.

"Whenever I confronted
him about you, he tried to shrug it off and tuck it away. You were just some
girl that he cared about. So much so that he had a pack in New York check up on
you every now and then.  He played his role as well as he could. Until you came
back to North Carolina." She set her eyes on me, pain evident on her face.
"When his father got sick a few months ago, he gave him a choice. If he
didn't want this life, to be the Alpha and lead the pack, he could walk away.
With his father's blessing."

I pulled out a chair and sat
down. I had no idea what any of this had to do with me. So Riley held a torch
for me and made his pretty wife jealous. Why the private conversation? What did
she have to gain?

"So once he got wind of
his long lost love's relocation, " she continued, "he told me that he
was leaving. He was starting all over."

My heart fluttered in my
chest. "W-With me?"

She nodded.

 "I-I didn't know."
I stammered. "I had no idea."

"But that's not the
kicker," she murmured. "You know what changed everything for me? Him
finding out about you and that fanger. That his dream of riding off with you
into the sunset was just that – a fantasy. His face-" She turned
away, clearing her throat. "I knew then that even if he stayed, he was dead
to me. I realized that the past several years of my life were a waste. Five
years, Jade. Instead of finally letting you go and trying to build something
fresh with me, he just pushed me further away."

I winced as another wave of
disdain washed over me. "Look, Arrissa-"

"That's why I did
it," she said with a resigned look on her face. "I paid off the
doctor and the coroner and got them to say my death was due to complications
from my surgery. My whole marriage was built on a lie, what was one more?"

"Oh Arrissa," I
whispered. "You didn't."

"I drew a bath in my
clawfoot tub, in the house I'd dreamed about since I was a child." she
said quietly. "I washed down the position I craved, becoming the omega of
the pack, with a glass of wine and a bottle full of pills."

So the truth reared its ugly
head. All these years I’d been jealous of the beautiful girl in the picture
–the happy, carefree American dream from the clipping who got her happily
ever after with my guy.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that she
had spent the last five years in love with a guy who didn’t reciprocate her
feelings. I was sorry for her – for the obvious pain she must have felt,
married to someone who loathed her existence.

I didn’t know whether to
laugh or cry. A year and a half ago, this knowledge would have changed
everything. It would have changed me. But a lot of things can happen in a year
and a half. Jack happened.

"I don't know what you
want me to do with this information." I said hoarsely. "Me and Riley,
it was a long time ago. I'm with someone now. Jack."

She raised an eyebrow.
"A vampire. I have more honor and decency in my pinky toe than he does in
his whole body."

I shot a brow back at her.
"I hope we can agree that your...prejudice as far as vampires go kind of
handicaps you in this matter."

She waved a pale hand at me.
"Don't be silly. I'm sure you've thought of it dozens of times. He's evil.
You can't stay with him without turning evil yourself."

"My love life is none of
your business, Arrissa."

"But Riley's is,"
she said with a sad smile. "What I did was-"

"Selfish?" I
offered.

She rolled her bright eyes.
"Perhaps. But that doesn't mean something good can't come out of it."

"You're trying to hook
me up with your husband? The guy that treated you like shit because he wasn't
man enough to follow his heart instead of his pride?"

She smoothed the front of the
thin shift she wore. "Ri isn't a perfect man. But...he cared about me in
his own way. He loves you, necromancer."

"He's the reason you
committed suicide," I said incredulously. "How could you want
anything for him but pain, suffering, and misery?"

She looked at me then, with
no contempt or disdain behind her eyes. "The only crime Riley Carpenter
committed against me was not loving me back."

"Arrissa-"

She held up her hand, silencing
me. "I've said my piece. Now, can you send me back to the All? I was
having the best latte ever with Sylvia Plath."

Chapter Twenty

Just a Kiss

My mind was going in a
million directions as I stood outside Riley's compound. Just having him beside me
sent waves of nostalgia coursing over my body. I could remember our wheelchair
race at Pitt Memorial, followed by summarily being banned from said hospital. I
could remember riding in his Blazer with the wind blowing through my body, not
wanting the night to end.

But it was coming to a close.
It was a little past 4 AM and I'd held up my end. Riley had been cleared of any
foul play in Arrissa's death, and I was headed home where The Watchers were
probably waiting to cart me off to Trial.

"I could ask you what
she said," Riley said, turning to face me. "But I won't."

"Good," I said,
forcing myself to look toward the lot where one of the wolves marched to grab a
car to take me home. "It's none of your business."

"Now I'm
intrigued," he said with a smirk.

"Let me know how that
works out for you," I said, taking another step away. I could feel
white-hot heat rushing to my face. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction
of knowing that he still had that effect on me.

"I'm sorry again,"
he offered. "About the whole kidnapping thing."

"Well you wouldn't be Ri
if you weren't running around inconveniencing people," I said, shaking my
head. I breathed a silent sigh of relief as the Lincoln Town Car pulled up
beside us. "Trunk or back seat?"

"Very funny," he
chuckled. He turned to look at me, his ebony eyes making me want to melt into a
puddle. "It was really good to see you, Jay."

"Stop looking at me like
that," I hissed, shoving him.

"Like what?" he
asked innocently.

"Like you want to kiss
me," I said, forcing my gaze downward to the gravel. "Like you've
wanted to kiss me all these years."

He tilted my chin up, his
lips quivering. I knew it was coming – and I didn't stop him. His mouth
was warm and inviting, like coming home after a long vacation. His fingers were
in my hair, drawing me closer as we kissed deeper, loud ferocious smacks that
made me feel sixteen again. All the emotions I thought I’d buried so deep to
dull the hurt came rushing back to the surface. What we had was a living,
breathing thing and I forgot myself, letting out a moan as I ground my pelvis
against him, feeling his erection pulse through his jeans.

The loud blare of the horn
snapped us back to reality and I pulled away from him, my face hot with
embarrassment.

"Jade-"

"Gotta go," I said,
sliding inside the car and pulling the door closed behind me. "Go!" I
barked at the were behind the wheel. "Drive!" He put the car in
motion and we moved forward, circling the driveway. I said a little prayer of
thanks to the gods that the windows were tinted pitch black. If I had turned
around and seen him staring at the limo with longing, I might've done something
really dumb like roll out of a moving car.

What the hell was wrong with
me? I had a boyfriend. A helluva good one even, despite his dietary requirements.
Who was just as good a kisser, if not better. A boyfriend that had been bopped
on the head by his maker so my ex-bf, whom I hadn't seen in years, could pretty
much blackmail me into necromancing for him. It was all overwhelming…and to top
it off, the were driver was a fan of scream metal and now I couldn’t even hear
myself think.

"Hey!" I screeched
at the driver over the heavy metal blaring from the radio.

He just turned up the radio,
shooting me a glance in the mirror that said, Shut up, necro.

 "Where's my purse?” I
screeched over the racket. “I need to call my-"

“HOLY SHIT!” the were
thundered, letting out an even more impressive string of obscenities.

I screamed as our car tilted
forward like a pin on a needle, tires screeching. The were was fumbling with
his seatbelt, his true nature rippling beneath his skin. Great. I was going to
be stuck in a mangled car with a were who was clearly not my biggest fan.

But the car stopped with a
thud, and after a series of expletives and snarls, the were shut off the
engine.

The smoke from the burning
rubber dissipated and I smiled when I saw a familiar face. Jack was standing in
front of the car, smashing it back to the ground.

He marched over to the
driver’s door and pulled the guy out by his throat. I watched in awe as the
were struggled like a ragdoll even though he was twice Jack's size.

I slid out the back door, not
wanting any blood spilled on my account. "No, Jack! Just let him go!"

Jack snarled but loosened his
grip.

The were looked back and
forth between us. I could feel the waves of anger and hunger pouring off Jack.

"Look," I told the
were. "On a bad day, you could probably take him. But he's pissed. And
hungry. Maybe you should take one for the team."

The were let out a manly
growl but turned back to the car.

"No," Jack said,
stepping closer. "Walk."

The were pulled off his
shirt. His pride wouldn't let him walk away. They were about to have a
throwdown.

I reached out and yanked a
piece of hair from the were’s head. He didn't even notice as his nose was already
elongating and becoming snout-like.

I gripped a section of my
kinky hair and started to weave his hair into my own. "Calisio un
voratio," I chanted. "Calisio un voratio. Calisio un voratio."

The were froze in place like
a robot waiting for further command.

"You're gonna turn
around and keep walking until you get back to the compound." I ordered.
"Go."

He nodded absentmindedly,
then staggered in the direction we came from.

I stood in the middle of the
road, chest heaving, staring at my vampire boyfriend. "H-Hi."

His face broke into a
beautiful grin. "Hi."

I gasped as he scooped me up
and slid me into the back of the car. As his fangs glistened as he stared at my
chest, I realized that I'd misread him. It wasn’t a hunger for blood – it
was a hunger for something else.

I circled my arms around his
neck and brought him close. My lips quaked as my tongue slid out and traced the
outline of his fangs. His body shuddered with desire with each lick.

I pulled back and brushed his
face with my palm. "I was so worried. I didn't want my last memory of you
to be a stupid argument. I'm so sorry."

"I know," he said,
ripping my dress down the front. "Me too."

I sighed with pleasure as he
took my nipple in his mouth, his cool hands kneading it as he suckled me. His
fangs pierced the delicate tissue and I cried out in ecstasy.

I pulled off his dirty button
down shirt and ran my fingers over his strong, sure chest. I wanted to feel
every curve, every ripple of him. My touch drove him wild and in an instant we
were both naked, clinging to each other. As much as I wanted to feel his fangs
against my neck, ripping the skin and guzzling my blood as I clasped his body
to me, I needed to feel him inside me more. I needed him to fuck me.

I straddled him, steadying
myself on the backseat cushion as I bucked my hips against him, impaling myself
on his bulge in one solid thrust.

"Oh gods, Jade," he
murmured into my hair. "Oh yes."

I threw my head back and let
out a hungry groan as he moved inside me, hard and warm. The rest of the world
melted away as we rocked together, consumed with desire. I locked my arms
around his neck and began to move my hips in slow, methodical circles.

My fingers locked in his hair
and I tugged as I began to hop up and down on him, crashing into him over and
over. Giving him all of me. Taking all of him and holding steady to it. Holding
fast to the pleasure.

I felt it in his groans as he
twined his arms around my waist and held me still as he jackhammered in and out
with abandon. Even in his frenzy, his passion, he was still whispering as he
moved inside me.

“Only you, Jade. Only you…”

When he finished, he screamed
my name and his cries pushed me over the peak, the sky exploding with light. I
saw every star and when I reached toward it, his hand in mine, I could almost
feel their warmth.

We stayed connected, the only
sounds crickets chirping back and forth and the steady beat of my heart.

“Maybe we should get
kidnapped more often,” I said lightheartedly. But he didn’t move a muscle.

"So what happened?"
I asked, rearing back to look at his face. "Did Ana hurt you?"

He searched my eyes, his jaw
a firm line. "You smell like were."

My mouth hung open. "Beg
your pardon?"

He traced my jaw tenderly
with an index finger still wet with my desire. "Did you call out my name
while he fucked you?"

I pulled myself off him,
clutching my tattered dress to my naked body. "That's some pillow talk,
Jack. I didn't sleep with any were."

He wiped a hand over his
mouth. "I can taste him, Jade. Don't lie to me. Especially when I almost
faced the sun for defying my maker to come rescue you." The hurt in him
was so strong it gutted me, and I was empty when he gripped the sides of my
face. “I’ve never done anything but love you and you betrayed me.”

My face crumbled then. All
the emotions I tucked away – the fear, anger, remorse, and lust came
spilling from my eyes. "If it had been anyone but him," I said
between gasps. "It was just a kiss, Jack. Nothing more."

His green eyes filled with
pools of black. Vampire tears. "Just a kiss, huh?" He picked up a
balled up shirt and tossed it to me. "A kiss is everything." He slid
out of the back of the car and pulled on his slacks.

I got even more hysterical
then, my body wracked with sobs. I never wanted to hurt him...especially not
for some guy who left me high and dry. "Just let me-"

"Dawn is near," he
cut in, his back to me. "I don't have time to go home so I have to go to
ground. I left the car in working order."

Before I could explain about
Riley, Jack disappeared, fading into the purple haze of morning.