Tobias (A CURSED BOYS NOVEL Book 1) (5 page)

 “Paws off mutt!” Tobias practically growled the words at his brother.

 “Wait. How did you even know it was my birthday today?”

 “I have my ways.”

  “Care to elaborate?”

 “No, not really.” He gave me a cheeky smile then handed me a plate full of food.

 Bacon, eggs, hash browns, pancakes and toast were all laid out and practically piled on top of each other.

  “Um, question. Where the hell do you expect me to put all this? It’s bigger than my head.”

 “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

  This was the nicest thing anyone has done for me in a long time. Ever since my mother died my birthday hasn’t meant anything more than just another day. My sister would still get me a card but we couldn’t afford presents.

 “Thank you Tobias.” I walked around the island and wrapped my arms around his torso. He doesn’t seem like the hugging type but I wasn’t giving him a choice. I pulled him against me and squeezed him.

 I was surprised when I felt his arms slide around my back. This is the most affection I’ve ever seen him show and it lit my entire body on fire. There was an ache between my legs that begged for contact.

 It didn’t help that I could feel his erection pressing against my stomach through his jeans. There were so many things I’d love to do to this man right now except his brother was standing there watching.

 “So are you two going to fuck? Because if so, I’m taking the food.”

  I let go of Tobias and grabbed my plate.  

  “Don’t even think about it.”

 Tristan actually pouted and it had to be the cutest thing I had ever seen. I almost felt bad for him. I picked up a piece of my bacon and threw it at him. His reflexes were so amazing I almost didn’t register his reaction. Tristan had caught the piece of bacon in his mouth and was already chewing it.

 “What do you want to do today birthday girl?” Tobias looked at me and something in his eyes told me he wanted me just as badly as I wanted him.

 “Well it would be nice to go into town and-“

 “No.” Both the twins answered in unison. They needed to stop doing that; it was getting freaky.

  "Great so even on my birthday I’m still a prisoner."

 I glared at both of them before leaving the room and taking my food with me. I was going to eat my breakfast in bed where no one could bug me.

 “Willow wait.” Tristan was jogging down the hallway to catch up with me.

  “Wait for what! You guys to tell me more things I can and can’t do with my life? No thanks!”

 I stepped into my room and closed the door behind me. Well, more like I slammed the door in his face. The two of them made my blood boil sometimes. I don’t even know why the hell I’m here. Eventually someone was going to have to give me some answers or I’d dig them up myself.

CHAPTER FIVE

TOBIAS

              That didn’t go well. I had planned out the entire day and this was definitely not how I'd seen the morning going. I sent Tristan after her to do some damage control but by the echo of a slamming door I doubt it went very well.

  Willow did have a point. She has been treated like a prisoner here for something that isn’t even her fault. Truth is I don’t even know why I’m keeping her here exactly; but, for some reason I can’t explain, I’m drawn to her.

 “Tristan! Get down here.” I needed his help planning a party for Willow.

  I grabbed my phone from my back pocket and dialed Micky. I needed a favor and he was the only person I knew who could pull through. The call took all of ten minutes and by the time I hung up Tristan was already lounging against the counter top.

 “What are you hollering about? In case you didn’t notice I’m trying to calm a rather pissed off blueberry.”

 “That’s why I called. I need help setting up a party for her at Micky’s.”

  “Do I look like a party fairy to you? What do you want me to do, wave my magic wand?”

 “Ok, if you don’t help I’ll tell Amelia it’s a costume party and I’m pretty sure she has plenty of outfits already picked out for you.” I grinned at the expression on his face.

 “Bippity boppity boo.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

 I clapped my brother on the shoulder before grabbing my jacket and heading out the door. I had some errands to run today and luckily for me it was cloudy so I didn’t have to worry about the sun bothering me too much.

 First stop was to a small boutique in town. I’ve never been there before but it’s the only place that looked like it had half decent clothes in it. I wanted tonight to be perfect and that would include the right dress.

  It took about ten minutes but I found the perfect dress. I gave the sales clerk my credit card and told her I’d be by to pick it up in a few hours. She even threw in a pair of shoes to match. I thanked her before leaving then headed to Micky’s pub.

  Micky was already there which didn’t really surprise me since he was always there. The place cleaned up pretty nicely. The tables were moved out to the back and black lights were installed all over the room.  Things were coming together quite nicely.

  “So who is the mystery girl?”

 Micky came out from behind the bar sporting a smile for the first time in a long time. This was the first time he has even heard about a woman in my life, let alone getting to meet one.

 “It’s not what you think. She’s just a friend.”

  “I’ve known you a long time Tobias, and you don’t have friends. You have acquaintances and people you want to rip the heads off of, but not friends.”

  Ok, so he may have had a point. I just smiled at him and went to the back room to grab the box of party decorations I had Tristan drop off for me.

 There were blue and white streamers I hung around the room and I blew up at least three hundred balloons, enough to fill the entire floor. I knew it was cheesy and both Micky and Tristan looked at me like I had been neutered.

 “I know I said I wasn’t a party fairy, but I think it’s pretty clear that deep down you are.”

  I flipped him off which made both of them laugh then I went back to decorating. The pub looked completely transformed by time I was done. Micky said it looked like a clown threw up and that it reminded him of his sons fifth birthday.

 I ignored both of them. Willow was pissed this morning and even if this wasn’t her idea of a great birthday surprise, at least she could laugh at my desperate attempt. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. I needed to get back to the house if I wanted to convince Willow to talk to me again today.

 The trip back to the house was fairly short since I ran the entire way. Willow was still locked up in her room ignoring the world. I paused outside her door when I heard sniffling. She was crying and, for some reason I couldn’t explain, it killed me.

  The sound of Willow crying made it feel like there was a weight inside my chest where my heart should be. It also made the hunger I was beginning to feel disappear.

  “Willow, you in there?” I knocked lightly before pressing the palm of my hand against the door frame.

 “Go away Tobias.”

 “Open up. Please? I have a surprise for you.”

 “I said go away.”

Clearly this wasn’t getting me anywhere.

 “Willow, if you don’t open this door, I’ll start serenading you with bad karaoke and you’ll wish you'd opened the door, because by time I’m done your ears will be bleeding.”

  There was nothing but silence. I chewed on my lip for a minute debating on just breaking the door down myself.

  “Alright, you asked for it” I opened my mouth to start singing a horribly butchered version of ‘my heart will go on’ by Celine Dion but before the words could come out the door flew open.

 “What do you want Tobias.”

 “I’m kidnapping you.”

 “Sorry to break it to you bub, but you’ve already done that.” I couldn’t help but grin.

 “I’m well aware of that. But now I’m kidnapping you again.”

  I picked her up, threw her over my shoulder and headed downstairs with her kicking and screaming the entire way. This felt oddly familiar so for old time sake I reached up and planted a firm smack to her ass which was rewarded with a yelp.

 I ignored her string of curses that she flew at me and took her outside where my bike was waiting. I finally put her down and held the helmet out to her.

 “If you expect me to get on this death trap, you’re seriously crazy.”

  “Straight jacket and all cupcake.”

 Willow knew there was no winning with me so she gave in and put on the helmet. I tightened her strap then brushed her cheek with the back of my knuckles. I regretted making contact with her the moment my hand touched her face. Even the brief moment of her skin against mine made my cock hard as rock. I climbed onto the bike and adjusted myself.

  Willow got on behind me and placed her hands against my back.

  "Hold on tight cupcake."

 She hesitated for a minute but gave in and wrapped her arms around me. I could feel the warmth from her legs against my thighs. I would have loved nothing more than to bend her over this bike and have my way with her. The engine roared to life and I took off down the dirt road before I lost all self-control.

  “I thought you said I couldn’t go into town.” Willow asked while she fought with the strap of her helmet once we were parked.

 I turned around and helped her undo the helmet with ease, then tucked the loose blue hair that hung in her face behind her ear.

  “I changed my mind.”

  I took her hand in my own and led her into the diner. It was the first time I’ve been in here in twenty years. The whole problem with never aging is eventually people will notice.

  The diner was fairly empty which was what I was hoping for. I kept a hold on Willow’s hand and walked with her to a booth in the back which was pretty secluded from the rest of the building. The waitress came over with an apologetic smile.

 “I’m sorry sir, but this area is off limits unless it’s a busy day. I’m going to have to ask you to move to a booth in the front.”

 Willow started to get up from her spot but I took her hand to keep her in her spot.

 “We like this booth. I think we’ll stay.”

  “I’m sorry sir, but-“

 I smiled at the girl and made eye contact. I watched as her pupils fluctuated until they were fully dilated. It wasn’t often I entered someone’s mind to get what I want but today I’d make an exception.

 “We have a reservation for the back booth, and you are going to completely forget that you asked us to move.”

My words were more of a suggestion and her brain would process them as a memory instead of words.

  “Welcome to Franks Diner and thank you for making a reservation with us sir. Can I get you something to drink?”

 I couldn’t tell what Willow was thinking but she looked rather confused about what had just happened.

 “Water for me thanks.”

 “Alright, and for you miss?” The waitress tapped her pen against the pad of paper while waiting for Willow's drink order.

  “Um, a strawberry milkshake please.”

 The waitress nodded with a smile then handed us our menus before disappearing into the kitchen.

 “What the hell was that? You can’t just scare someone into giving you what you want.”

  “I didn’t scare her into doing anything. I simply made a suggestion.”

  “Suggestions don’t get reactions like that.”

  “Reactions like what? Did she seem scared to you?” I raised an eyebrow and watched her fiddle with the spoon in front of her on the table.

 “Well, no. She didn’t seem scared. But if you didn’t scare her into getting what you want then how do you explain her acting like everything you said to her was true.”

 The waitress came back with our drinks then disappeared back to the front of the diner.

 “In her mind it was true.” I could tell by the look on her face that I was just confusing her even more. “Look, I have the gift of persuasion. I can get into someone’s mind and suggest them to do something or think something or even remember something that never actually happened.”

 “So in other words you mind fucked her.” Her words made me choke on my water.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You mind fucked her.  You went in there, fucked around against her will and poof got everything you wanted.”

 I stared at her for a minute like she had grown a third eyeball. I guess that was one way to explain what I do. Willow didn’t seem too happy about it either.

 “You make it sound like I raped the poor girl.”

  “You did. You mind raped her and the worst part is she doesn’t even know it.”

  “It’s not like I told her to go jump off a bridge or something. She’s fine; I only got us a booth to sit at away from everyone else.”

 We sat in silence for a while. I watched her use her straw to play with her milkshake. She’d dip it in the whipped cream on top then use her tongue to lick it off. I don’t know why such a simple action had such an effect on me. My cock was pressed against my jeans and all I could think about was the things that tongue could be doing to it.

 “Could you do it?” Willow's words brought back my focus as I looked up at her.

  “Do what?”

  “Make someone jump off a bridge?”

  “It all depends.”

  “Depends on what?”

 I was about to answer when the waitress showed up again to take our orders. I got a half order of onion rings even though I couldn’t eat it and Willow got the grilled cheese with fries and gravy.

 I’ve never actually tried any of the food at the diner because I couldn’t sustain myself off food, only blood; and even trying to eat food made me sick to my stomach. The only thing I seem to have a tolerance for since turning into a vampire is water and I’ve never understood why.

  “I can’t force anyone to do anything. I can only suggest it to their subconscious. It takes a weak mind to give into a suggestion like that. I can’t control free will.” I answered her once the waitress was gone again.

  “What about love?”

  “Love?”

  “Yes, love. Can you make people fall in love or is that part of the whole free will thing.”

  “No such thing as love. It’s a fake emotion that’s exaggerated by people who are desperate to convince themselves that they are happy.”

  Willow looked like a child who was just told there was no such thing as the Easter Bunny. I wasn’t sure if she was going to cry or yell at me. I didn’t have time to find out though because the waitress had returned to the table with our food.

 We ate in silence. Well, it was more like she ate in silence while I picked apart the onion rings to make it look like I had eaten something.

 “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to play with your food?” she asked me in amusement.

  “My mother taught me a lot of things, but none of them had to do with food.”

 “Well stop playing with it and start eating.”

  I didn’t know how to tell her I don’t eat food. It could be a really awkward conversation if I wasn’t careful and today was her birthday. I didn’t want to ruin it.

 “I’m not hungry. I just didn’t want you to feel weird eating alone.”

  That was a lie. I was hungry. In fact I was starving and every part of my body begged me to bite into her flesh and taste her.

  “So tell me about the curse. You can’t avoid the topic here. You’re stuck with me and I want answers.”

  “No.”

 “Please?”

I sighed and looked into her perfect blue eyes.

  “Fine. But not now. I’ll tell you everything you want to know tomorrow. Promise.”