The Hidden (The Hidden Trilogy) (47 page)

Thanks for the reminder.

Michael sighed. “That didn’t come out right…”

A figure appeared to my right. I saw Emily walk down the row of parked cars, stopping at what I belatedly recognized as her car. She opened the passenger door and bent down into the backseat. Her shorts began riding up…up…up, revealing a shapely backside that was probably impossibly soft to the touch.

I scowled and tore my eyes away. Where the fuck did
that
come from? I shouldn’t be contemplating the softness of her skin, I should be contemplating how the hell I was going to get her to Paris.

“Gabriel? Did you hear me?”

I forgot I was even on the phone. “Uh, yeah, gotta go.” I hung up and got out of my car. As I approached her, I saw that we were alone in the parking lot. God, it would be so easy to just take her. Fuck what Michael
preferred
. I could be out of this shithole today with the girl in tow. Why drag it out?

I was just about to grab her when a car rounded the corner and parked. Damn it, so much for no witnesses. I’d have to do it the hard way. I forced a smile onto my face and–

“Son of a…
fuck
,” she muttered while rummaging through her car, still hanging halfway out of the backseat.

Huh. It appeared someone had a wee bit of a dirty mouth…

I cleared my throat, and she hit her head on the roof of her car as she scurried out from the backseat. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. This girl had about as much dexterity as a cow on ice.

She turned around, her face flushed with pink. Her hands went behind her, tugging her shorts down–a move she probably thought was inconspicuous. I tried
really
hard not to outright laugh at her, but I couldn’t help smiling.

She stood there, staring at me like a deer caught in the headlights. “Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was there.”

I shrugged. “Don’t apologize. It was a great view.”

Her face flamed red as she glanced away. “So, um…how are your classes going?”

“Fine. Yours?”

“They’re fine.” She tried to pick up everything in the pile of shit on top of her trunk, but dropped a good bit. “Crap.”

“Here, let me help.” I reached down and snatched up everything she’d dropped, then picked up the rest of her stuff. It was a good chance to appear nice and trustworthy.

“Oh…thanks.” She shut her passenger door with her hips and pulled out her keys, locking her car. “My dorm’s not too far away, if you don’t mind…”

I shook my head. “Not at all.”

The walk to her building was quiet and awkward. I’d never had to try this hard with a girl before, so I was at a loss for words, but Emily seemed just as inarticulate. This struck me as odd until the reason
why
finally dawned on me: I was supposed to have called.

Fuck.
I didn’t think I’d see her again, at least not under the pretext of being classmates… Well, shit. What was I supposed to do?
How
could I make this better? “I, uh… I was gonna call you…”

Her face twisted for the briefest second before an eerie calm settled over her. When she walked up to the front of a tall, brown-bricked building, I held the door open for her. She quickly crossed to the elevator and hit the call button.

“It’s fine,” she said.

She wouldn’t even
look
at me.

The doors slid open and I followed her into the elevator. She stuck out her slim, delicate pinkie to press the button for the third floor. 

“I really was gonna call,” I said. “I just wanted to give you a chance to get settled first, that’s all.”

As we ascended, the elevator’s beep of every passing floor filled the silence. That couldn’t be good.

We stopped on the third floor and the stainless steel doors opened. She glanced up and me and said, “It’s only been a week, so don’t worry. You didn’t break my heart or anything, I promise.”

She walked out, leaving me in stunned silence. I had fully expected her to brush it off and act unaffected, but…not like this.

I quickly caught up with her, trying to do more damage control. “I wasn’t implying that I did, I just…know how girls can get. They read into things too much, and I didn’t want you to take it personally.”

She laughed. “Trust me, my list of shit that’s gone wrong this week
doesn’t
include missing a phone call from you, so consider your conscience clear.”

How had this gotten away from me so fast? “I– That’s not what–”

Emily stopped at a door halfway down the hall and pushed it open. I followed her inside, immediately hearing someone in the shower. She dropped her stuff on the couch, so I did the same.

“That’s really not–” I shook my head, trying to think of a better way to phrase it. “I think we got off on the wrong foot here,” I said as Emily walked me back to the hallway. “Maybe I can make it up to you over coffee?”

She rested her head against the door. “Can’t right now.”

That’s not a no.

“Some other time, then?”

She smiled, but it wasn’t genuine. “You’ve got my number.”

Chapter Seventy

Thursday, August 27
th

Surprise, surprise–there was only one no-name shithole of a motel in this godforsaken town. The wallpaper in my room was either bumpy or peeling, the sheets looked like they hadn’t been changed in about ten years, and the tile grout in the once white shower was now an ugly shade of brownish-black. There were mostly truckers and hicks who stayed there, some of whom nicknamed me “pretty boy” and leered at me in a way that made me feel like I needed a shower. If I wasn’t one of the things that went bump in the night, I would’ve feared for my ass. Literally.

My options for finding another place to stay were limited. I could try to find a nicer motel several miles away or I could look into getting an apartment, neither of which were conducive to my lifestyle. I valued my privacy too much. So, I ended up buying a house on the outskirts of what the locals actually considered a town.

The house was small for my taste–two-stories with only two bedrooms and two bathrooms–but it would suffice for now. My new furniture had been delivered the day before, and later that night, I broke in my new bed with a blond from the college. 

It was so hard for me to let her leave my house alive. She would’ve made a delicious snack. But the town was too small for her disappearance to go unnoticed. We preferred big cities, like Paris or Manhattan. People disappeared in those places all the time.

No, I’d have to wait until I could go into DC to feed. It shouldn’t be too difficult, since I fed right before I left Paris. And we really only needed to feed once every three months or so, but–like many others of my kind–I was gluttonous, sometimes feeding as much as twice in one week just because I could. But those days of excess feeding were over, so long as I was in Potomac Ridge. I had to at least
try
and blend in.

And what better way to blend in than meeting someone for coffee? I’d texted Emily earlier, and fortunately for me, she accepted my offer to meet this afternoon. Unfortunately for her, I was running late. 

As I walked into the coffee shop, I searched the crowd, spotting her in the corner. I made my way over to her and sat down in the green chair across from her, running my fingers through my hair. “Sorry I’m late. I, uh, got held up at school.”

Emily set her drink down. “No problem… Aren’t you gonna get something?” she asked, hitching her thumb towards the line forming at the counter. 

“Yes.” I waved over a nearby employee who’d been wiping down an empty table.

She came over instantly, smiling the whole way. “Can I help you?”

I gave her my signature, charming smile–The Panty Dropper–and said, “Hi…
Lynette
,” as I glanced at her nametag. “How’s your day so far?”

Her heartbeat spiked as she looked down and smoothed out her apron, her face flushing a nice, healthy pink. “It’s good. No complaints here.”

Mmm
… I bet she tasted sweet. “I’m glad to hear it. My day’s going pretty well too, but you know what would make it perfect?”

She shook her head. “What’s that?”

“A large coffee, black.”

She grinned. “Let me get that for you. Be right back,” she said, heading for the counter.

Now
that’s
quality customer service.

Emily picked up her cup and took a sip. “You know she’s not actually a waitress, right? You’re supposed to go up to the counter and order.”

“Yeah, I know.” I grinned at her. “I just didn’t want to wait in line.”

She snorted and tried to cover it up with a cough. “What makes you think you deserve special treatment?”

Was she serious? When she didn’t say anything, I simply answered, “My good looks.” She should know, with a face like hers. 

Lynette returned with my coffee and the smile she left with. “Here you go. Is there anything else I can get you?”

“I think this’ll do it for now.” I slipped her a fifty for her trouble. “Keep the change, sweetheart.” 

Her eyes grew wide at the money in her hand. “I– uh, thank you.”  

I nodded in response and took a sip of my coffee. Emily watched her walk away, then glanced around us, her mood shifting. 

“You’re quite the hit,” she mumbled. “Women seem to love you.” 

I shrugged. “I do okay.”

She laughed and took a drink. “Well, at least you’re modest.”

A genuine laugh escaped me, catching me off-guard. I toyed with the cardboard sleeve on my cup and said, “If it bothers you, we can leave.”

She shrugged. “I have a feeling it’s gonna be like this anywhere we go.”

I smiled in acquiescence. “Probably. But still…I’d like you to be comfortable.”

She stood up and grabbed her purse. “There’s a bakery around the corner that’s supposed to have the best desserts known to man. You in?”

Fuck.

Bent over by the dumpster behind the bakery, I retched again, my stomach expelling the last of its contents. I reached up and placed my hand on the grimy brick wall to steady myself, my sides aching from the force of my heaving. I spit on the ground and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand as my phone went off in my pocket.

Digging it out, I brushed my hand on my slacks, grimacing from the still-dirty feel. I held the phone up to my ear as I made my way back to my car. “Yeah?”

Michael snickered. “You sound like shit.”

“Emily made me try some of her” –I covered my mouth as another wave of nausea hit me– “chocolate cake.” She’d
insisted
I try a bite because it was “to die for.” Little did she know how accurate her proclamation was, because I felt like death as I heaved up the forkful of chocolate abomination, along with my entire cup of coffee.

The only solid foods we could digest were raw meats. Liquids were easier for us to digest, so long as there was no fat.

Michael sucked in a breath through his teeth, and I pictured his grimace. “That’s rough.”

I coughed and spit. “You have no fucking clue.”

“Other than that, how’d it go?”

My car beeped as I unlocked it and slid in. “Actually, it wasn’t that bad.” I’d expected spending time with her to be like pulling teeth, but it was surprisingly tolerable.

Emily didn’t act like most girls. She didn’t flirt, didn’t play with her hair, didn’t make googly eyes, and the whole time, I was acutely aware it was not leading up to something. I didn’t have to be “on” for her.

I’d almost forgotten what it was like to just…
be
.

Chapter Seventy-One

Tuesday, September 1
st

I scanned the busy coffee house and frowned. Emily wasn’t here yet. I checked my watch, seeing I was actually a few minutes early for once. As I walked to a nearby booth, my eyes flicked over to the long line at the register, locking stares with a cute blond. She smiled at me, slow and discrete, like we shared a secret, then turned back around to face the bar.

Hmm, this could be interesting…

My eyes raked over her as I changed direction. I bet she had a fantastic body under her prim and proper business attire. I stood next to her, and from the corner of my eye, I saw her look up at me through long, dark lashes.

“Afternoon,” I said, keeping my eyes on the busy baristas behind the counter.

“Good afternoon to you, too.”

I glanced down to see her smiling with that small, secret smile as she, too, kept her eyes straight ahead.

“You’re driving me crazy with that.”

She feigned wide-eyed innocence. “With what?”

I
liked
this game. My cock stiffened in my pants, lengthening as it hardened. I folded my hands in front of me to keep a tent from popping up. “That smile. It’s like you know something no one else does.”

She shrugged. “Maybe I do… Care to find out?” She brushed past me, glancing up at me as her tits grazed my chest. My eyes were glued to her as she sauntered down the bar, her nude heels clicking on the tile as she rounded the corner to the narrow hallway leading to the bathrooms.

Challenge accepted.

I followed her path, catching the handicapped bathroom door before it swung closed. I opened it to find her leaning against the sink, that secret smile still on her face.

Closing the door, I locked it and stalked over to her. I wanted to fuck the smile right off her face.

I undid my belt buckle and unzipped my pants, pushing my boxers down to spring free my stiff cock. “Get on your knees.”

She smirked and reached out to stroke me. “We like to be in control, do we?”

My head fell back at the feel of her warm, delicate fingers wrapped around my erection, squeezing me as she pumped. “Yes, I do. But I also like to fuck beautiful mouths. Especially ones that have been teasing me.”

A wicked grin spread across her face as she dropped to her knees. Her mouth wrapped around the tip of my cock as her tongue swirled against me, her hand coming up to cup my balls.