PARANORMAL ROMANCE: Shapeshifter Romance: The Vampire's Stolen Bride (BBW Fantasy Alpha Male Romance Books) (New Adult Vampire Fun Mature Young Adult Billionaire Steamy Love and Romance Novella) (66 page)

Chapter 5

Shannon had been an intense summer fling at a time in my life when I had been searching for a meaning. I had been in my early twenties and had just ended a serious relationship with someone else when I was reading in the park one day, and Shannon had walked up to me. She had long red hair and her skin was covered in freckles, and when she smiled the world seemed to get a little brighter. She sat beside me and although we had never met before she spoke to me as though I was an old friend, and this was one of the qualities that I had most admired about her. We spoke about the book I was reading and then the conversation turned to other matters. I found that I could tell her anything, and I was soon giving her all the secrets that I held close to my heart.

At first we were just friends because she had such an ethereal quality around her, and sometimes I wasn't even sure if she was real. I could well have imagined her. We spent a lot of time together and soon we weren't just friends but lovers, exploring each other’s bodies with the same excitement as we spoke about Sartre and Nietzsche, relishing every moment we had. We were compatible both in an intellectual sense and physically, and whenever she spoke it was like she had taken the words right out of my mouth.

Yet somehow I had known that whatever love affair we had would only be fleeting. She spoke of love as something that was alive, and her emotions took her to different places. She wasn't gay, and spoke without shame about her affairs with men and woman, and somehow I knew that at some point she would feel the need to explore something else. It hadn't ended like I expected though. One day she came to me in tears and told me that she had been accepted for a job in South America. I hadn't even known she had applied, and she told me that she had done it so long ago that it had been forgotten, but there had been a delay and they had only just gotten back to her. I think she wanted me to tell her to stay, and maybe I should have, but I couldn't. It was too good an opportunity to miss and I was too nice to tell her to stay, to be selfish, because I still felt that at some point we would end and she would always hate me for being the reason that she never got to go to South America. I didn't want that burden.

That night we made love for the last time and we hugged each other so tightly neither of us wanted to let go. Our kisses were damp as our weeping made our cheeks soaked with tears, and the salty taste lingered on my lips for days after. We decided not to keep in touch because we didn't want the pain. We were still young. We had our whole lives ahead of us and we wanted to keep each other as a fond memory. It ended so easily it was almost like it had never happened, and my life went on after her, never thinking that I would see her again.

So when I saw her on the dating site I had to do a double take, because as far as I knew she was still in South America. I couldn't resist the temptation and I clicked on her profile, and read about how she had only just returned from living in South America during the past few months, and that she was looking to make new friends and build up her social circle, because she was getting over a relationship and wasn't ready to get into anything else so soon. Her pictures were all of her smiling and having fun, except one that was taken as she gaze over a canyon, with the sunset in the background. It framed her body in a way that I thought was beautiful, and suddenly all the memories of her lithe body underneath mine came flooding back. I remembered how she would nibble on my ear and drag her tongue down my spine and all the other little tricks that she used to use, and my body started to tingle.

I hovered the cursor over the 'send a message' button but I dared not take the plunge. I looked at the pictures again and saw that she had moved on from me. She was always one to look forward, and we were something from the past. I didn't want to go ruining that memory either. I also figured that if she had wanted to get in touch with me then she could have messaged me when she returned, and that was that. Shortly after seeing her I didn't feel like trawling through the site any longer so I turned my laptop off and crawled to bed.

Out of idle curiosity I checked my mails the following afternoon and was surprised to see that my inbox had a few messages, some of which were actually from people that I had sent messages too, and I know it was shallow but the fact that these people had chosen to reply to me did give me an ego boost, and I enjoyed the thrill. I was about to reply to the first one when I realized that Shannon had sent me a message. My heart caught in my throat and I stared at the message for a long time, almost not believing that she had messaged me. I clicked it, nerves reverberating through my body.

'
Jenny, hey...surprised to see you on here, and a little sad that you didn't send me a message! Been a long time, would be great to catch up, shoot me a message when you're able x'

It was such a simple message, and so characteristic of her to keep things light and breezy. Before I knew it I was already tapping out a reply, and anxiously waiting the return message. To occupy my time I looked at the other messages that had been sent to me and I engaged in conversation with them, but I felt bad because I could only think of Shannon. She was the only one I wanted to talk to, the only one I wanted to hear back from, so when she finally did reply I instantly opened her message, not caring whether it made me seem to eager.

'
You're looking good in your photos...yeah I got back a few months ago. Things happened, you know what life is like. It's nice to be back but it feels different to when I was here before, or maybe it's just that I'm different? Maybe I've been away for too long. I'm just surprised to see you on here because, well, I don't want to seem like a stalker but when I got back I looked you up on Facebook and saw that you were in a relationship. I figured that your girlfriend wouldn't have been impressed if you received a message from your ex, especially since I'm sure you told her how intense things were between us ;). But I'm guessing things didn't work out? I'm here to talk about it if you need to. X'

'I totally know what you mean. I haven't left and even I think the place has changed, but yeah maybe it's just because we're getting older or something. Well, I've never had a stalker before so that's something to cross off the bucket list but I would have liked it if you said hi, I can understand why you didn't though. But yeah, we were having problems then anyway, it's a long story, maybe I'll tell you sometime. Things are still a bit raw, you know? To be honest I'm not even sure why I'm on this thing, it's just so hard to meet people nowadays. You mentioned on your profile that you'd just gone through a breakup, same deal goes for you. If you need to talk about it, I'm here. X'

I decided not to acknowledge the comment about the intense sex between us, but it did send a flush of arousal surging through my body. Shannon was always good at making me feel  good about myself. Whenever she gave me a compliment she had a way of saying it that made me feel like she had never said the words to anyone else, and she always made me feel special.

'
Yeah tell me about it, god, I feel so much older than I did when we were together! That seems so long ago now...so much has happened and I can't even begin to tell you everything. All I know is that everything feels more important now. When I was younger I didn't care if something didn't work out because, hey, there was always tomorrow, but now I'm almost thirty and everything has this weight to it, like I'm going to be locked into a choice forever. Don't worry about it, break-ups are never easy, sounds heavy. I know mine wasn't and thanks for your offer. I don't want to bore you with the details but actually it was kinda similar to what happened with me and you. I was coming back home and he wanted to stay there but this time he asked me to keep things going long distance, and I agreed, figured that we could make it work because we had been talking of spending the future together, even kids and everything (I know, me, talk about kids, who can believe it, right?) And he promised that he would come and see me because I told him that there was no point having a long distance thing if there wasn't a point when we could see each other, and the first time he was supposed to come up he canceled. Then it became harder and harder to get to each other on Skype and I didn't need the hassle of it, so the last time we called we had this big row and he tried to tell me that he was sorry and he would do better but I can't be dealing with that. I just need someone who is reliable. Anyway, so I thought I'd try this thing because, as I'm sure you've experienced, it's hard to meet new people, and I can't just go up to anyone on a bench and start speaking to them anymore! But this isn't great. Too many timewasters. Have you met up with anyone yet? I've had a few first dates but never any second ones...maybe we can grab a drink soon? It'd be great to have a proper conversation again, let me know when you're free x'

The offer was made in such a way that she expected me to agree, and of course I did. The thought of seeing her again after so much time was exciting and as we arranged the date my heart was beating more and more quickly.

Chapter 6

I felt a surprising pang of jealousy when she mentioned her ex and that she'd spoken about children. I don't know why I felt jealous when I had been in a relationship as well, but it was there all the same. We agreed to meet at a bar we used to frequent, and when I arrived she was already there, dressed up for a date even though she said she was looking for friends. Her face lit up as our eyes met for the first time in years and she still had that easy way of making the rest of the world fade into nothingness. She greeted me with open arms and a soft kiss on the cheek that she let linger. Our arms slipped around each other’s bodies and it was so easy to be transported back to that one dreamy, hedonistic summer. She'd already ordered the drinks.

“I hope you still have your usual,” she said. I did.

“So here we are, after all this time,” I said, feeling a little awkward. It was one thing to speak online but quite another to be face to face with her. Now that she was sitting before me I could compare her with the image I had of her in my mind. She still had the same refined beauty but her hair was a little darker and there were a couple of lines around her eyes that didn't used to be there. Her skin was darker too, and the warm climate of South America had obviously agreed with her.

“I know... it's really good to see you again. I'm glad you came across me, I was starting to wonder if there was actually any normal people on there.”

“I'm not sure I'd classify myself as normal,” I said with a smile.

“True, true, and you still haven't told me why you didn't message me?” she said, a challenging look in her eyes.

“I just felt weird, it had been so long and I didn't know if you'd want to hear from me...”

“Of course I do!” she said, and reached over the table, placing her hand on mine. Our eyes met and I could see something familiar swimming in hers. The gesture was natural, and all the years that lay between us evaporated as swiftly as the love between Lacey and me. My hand met hers and we squeezed our palms together, mending the bridge that had been broken between us.

“So I told you about mine, now it's your turn to tell me about the story with you and your ex,” she said sliding her hand away from mine and back to resting in front of her. I leaned back in my chair and looked at her, pressing my lips together. I hated how she could get me to talk about anything even when I didn't want to, and I knew that she wouldn't relent until I had told her everything, so there was only one thing to do – I told her all about Lacey and everything that happened.

Shannon listened without judgment or interruption, and as I spoke I tried to keep my voice even but things were still raw and the wounds had yet to heal properly. I could feel my voice cracking under the weight of emotion as everything came out, all the bitterness about the betrayal I had felt when I found the e-mails to Rebecca and then the emptiness where the love had been. After I had finished I felt drained, but I was glad she was there.

“You...need another drink,” she said, and ordered two more. It would have been easy for her to ask me more questions or give me some generic advice but that wasn't Shannon's style. She acknowledged what I said but kept the conversation moving so that I didn't have to dwell on the sadness. The drinks flowed as did the laughs and it was like the two of us were back on the bench, sitting together in the sunshine, laughing as we peeled away the layers of our psyche. The dim light of the bar cast us in a romantic ambiance and the more we drank the more we slipped into that easy familiarity of two people who had shared the same bed. We sat next to each other and our legs brushed together. Neither of us attempted to move. I looked at the way her hair fell down her face, covering one eye, and she smiled imperceptibly at me. Her glass was empty so she took mine, something she always used to do, and raised it to her lips, leaving a stain of lipstick against it. It was a way for her to mark her territory, a secret signal that we used to share. It felt like I had been transported through time and was back to that youthful time again. All my jadedness and cynicism had been stripped away, and the hurt that had ensconced my heart was rendered powerless, for nothing could withstand the force of Shannon.

“You know, I really missed you,” she said in a breathy whisper, bringing her mouth to my ear, so close that I could feel her breath. I closed my eyes and felt my chest heave as I inhaled sharply. Her fingers ran down my thigh and squeezed tightly. All of a sudden I felt my pussy twitch and I wanted her more than I wanted anything. I growled and locked eyes with her, and she wanted it too, I could see everything. We were naked with each other, completely vulnerable, hurt by our exes and the only way to tend to the wounds was to by re-discovering everything we had lost.