Unbound (12 page)

“I’m not going to tell you which you should choose, but I’d be interested to see what might happen with Mr. Sunshine.  Those were some powerful feelings you were talking about, and it has to be hard to ignore feelings that strong.  Just be honest with both of them no matter what you decide.”

Tessa took one more look at Dani to see if her eyes had returned to normal.  Everything was in order, except for the obvious tracks of tears.  Tessa went to the door to let Lucas in, directing him toward the kitchen, and then went to her room to give them some privacy.

* * *

Lucas slowly sulked into the kitchen.  Dani was facing away from the door, still sitting on the floor against the cabinet.  He sat in the spot Tessa had just vacated and laid a hand on her shoulder, but Dani jerked away.

“What do you want?” 
She
hissed.

“I want to talk to you.  I want to apologize.  I want things to be
like they used to be between us,” h
e pleaded.  “It kills me to see you huddled on the floor crying because of me.”

She shook her head and let out a big huff of air.  “I haven’t changed, Lucas.”

“Yes, you have.  You have new friends, a new home and practically a whole new life that I don’t have a place in anymore,” he spat out.

“You seem to have made some new friends too.  I’m not complaining about that.  What did you think was going to happen?  Was I supposed to go to school, sit in my room and cry over your picture while you hit the clubs and partied with your new friends?  I can’t believe you’re sitting there trying to make me feel bad about having goals and wanting to go to school.”  She was crying again.  Damn it!

“Dani, will you please turn around and look at me?”  Lucas put his hand on her back.  “I want you to tell me what happened Friday night.”  She kept her back to him.  Looking at his sweet face would wash away her anger and she needed to be angry.  She wanted the truth.  Her vision went blurry with the rage that burned at the memory of that night.  She focused on getting the truth.

Lucas was silent but he was thinking.  He was trying to decide how much to tell Dani of what he could remember.  She could hear him trying to edit the story in his head. He was wondering how much she already knew.  She didn’t realize at first that he wasn’t speaking out loud until the pictures started to flash in her mind.  Then she knew she was in his head, just like that night in the back of his pickup.  She decided to relax and close her eyes.  Everything that was running through Lucas’s mind was flashing behind her eyelids.  She saw it all, his jealousy and the things the other boys said about her at the party.  She saw him watching her talk to Cayden in the hall and the girl he hit on in the basement.  It was Lindsay and she’d been disgusted by him.  His image in front of those strangers was so important to him, even at the cost of hurting her.  Dani began to growl and waves of anger rolled over her when she saw another girl through his eyes.  She was one of the girls that had laughed when he was so cruel.  He’d made out with the girl and fallen asleep holding her.  He hadn’t had sex with the girl only because he was too drunk to perform.  Dani jumped up and when his hand left her back the images stopped.  She turned on Lucas but he was staring off into space, the same way he did that night in the back of his truck.  She wasn’t sure what she’d done, but she was glad he wasn’t going to follow her.

Dani ran up the stairs and into her room.  She was forcing a few things into an old duffle bag to go back to school when her mom entered the room.  Dani was furious.  So furious she wanted to hurt someone, break something.

Apparently, her mother knew because she said, “I can feel the waves of tension in the air around you.  It’s just like the angry static your father used to emit at times.  Danielle, I need you to calm down.  Where is Lucas?”  She put a hand on Dani’s wrist but she yanked it away.  Tessa grabbed her by the shoulders and turning her around flinching slightly when she looked into her eyes.

“Please, let me go.  I need to get back to school.  I can’t deal with his crap.  I just want to leave.  He’s in the kitchen.  Don’t wake him until I’m gone.”  Dani pulled out of her mother’s grasp and headed for the stairs.  She needed to leave and leave now.  Whatever was wrong with her was getting worse, and she just wanted to run from it.

“You aren’t leaving until we talk!  What happened with Lucas?  Why are you so angry?  We can get through this together.  I can get help.”  Tessa chased her down the stairs.

“Oh, now you wanna talk!  Nineteen years of silence and no
w you wanna talk?”  By the time
she reached the foyer table to grab her purse and keys, not only were her eyes black but her canine teeth were slightly elongated.  She froze at the sight of herself in the mirror and stared for a moment before squeezing her eyes shut and taking deep breaths to calm herself.  It just felt like the right thing to do.  When she opened her eyes, they were ice blue again and her teeth were normal.  Tessa stood behind her taking ragged breaths.  Tears fell from her chin making dark spots on her pink shirt.

“I love you, Mom,” Dani told Tessa’s reflection in the mirror.  “I’ll text you when I get to school.  Tell Lucas I need some space.  It seems boys are the least of my worries right now.”  She tilted her head in the direction of the kitchen.  Dani didn’t want to see Lucas sitting there dazed.

Tessa stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Dani.  “I love you too, baby.  I think it’s time we get some help now.”

“This has something to do with my father, doesn’t it?”  She still watched her in the mirror.

“Yes, it has every
thing to do with your father,” s
he finally admitted.

Dani hung her head and shut her eyes.  “I’m not ready, Mom.  I thought I wanted all the answers but I was wrong.  I’m not ready.”  She gathered her things and left.

Tessa went to sit at the kitchen table.  Lucas was slowly beginning to come around.  She recognized the absent look in his eyes.  She’d seen it before on the faces of people that had been lulled into giving a little blood or information.  Vampires enthralled their donors before feeding so they didn’t remember the experience, and it was actually very pleasurable for the human.  Something about the saliva messed with the pleasure centers in the human brain.  Tessa knew this from personal experience.  She bent to look at Lucas, turning his head from side to side.  There were no signs of a recent bite.  That meant Dani was able to enter his mind to retrieve the information she wanted.  She picked up her cell off the counter and found the newly programmed number.  She had no choice now.  She had to get help for her daughter.

* * *

Vince had been searching for weeks.  He couldn’t find any information about the girl Chase was so damn bent over.  She was a fine little piece for sure, but Chase could get any girl he wanted.  This one shouldn’t be such a big deal.  Vince wasn’t looking forward to Chase arriving at the club tonight, as he knew he would.  He’d gone farther and searched deeper than he ever had and still came up with nothing.  The girl wasn’t even on the Vaughn family tree.  She didn’t exist.  Chase would need to accept that her name was just a coincidence.  It’s not like there couldn’t be another vampire family with that name.  He parked his SUV and walked to the front of the club.  Before he reached the door, he noticed a small figure in jeans and a university sweatshirt with the hood pulled over her head, sitting against the wall.

“Can I help you?”  He looked down at the person before going to open the door.  He could tell it was a girl.  “We aren’t hiring any waitresses right now.”  The girl got up and pushed back her hood giving him a halfhearted smile.  Vince was again struck by her beautiful eyes and unique hair.

“You said I should come to you if I needed anything.”  Danielle cocked her head to the side and tried to be cute.  She stepped a little too close for his comfort.  Vince was interested in the girl and knew he could beat Chase’s ass but he could not fight his family or the
Council
that supported them.  A roll in the hay just wasn’t worth the trouble.  That’s what he kept telling himself as she looked up at him with such vulnerability in her eyes.

“Princess, are you alright?  You look sad.”  He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand.  “Vince would be glad to help you get what you need.”  He returned the weak smile.

“I’m fine, Vince.  All I need is some privacy and a few drinks.  You think you could let me in until the club opens?  I would prefer to drink alone today.”  Tears began to form in her eyes.  “And don’t call Chase, please.  I know he’s a friend of yours but we’re friends too, right?  And I do still owe you a dance.  If you get the music going I’d be happy to pay up.”  She leaned against the wall again.

Vince let out a hearty chuckle.  “Bad day, Princess?  Come on in and Vince’ll hook you up.  I think he may have just the bartender for you.”  He put an arm around her shoulders and led her into the club.  Getting information about the girl may be easier than he’d originally thought.

* * *

Dani settled onto a sofa in the VIP section and Vince got the music on, but not too loud.  A very attractive man came to take her drink order.  “What can I get for you?”

“I’ll be honest. I’m not a drinker so you can surprise me.  Maybe something sweet would be good,” she politely suggested.

“Of course you’re not a drinker.”  He smiled at Dani playfully and went to get her drink.  As he walked away she took in his broad shoulders and the tight jeans that showed off his assets and wondered what he meant by that.  Did she look so young that she obviously wouldn’t be a drinker?  Vince gave her a wave from the other side of the club and disappeared.

The bartender returned, topless, with a tray of drinks and shots.  Holy smoke but he was hot.  He had dark hair and smoky eyes to match.  His body honed to perfection.  He handed her a drink and took a shot for himself.  They clinked their glasses together and he downed his shot.  Not to be out done she drank hers straight down as he took another shot.  He took her empty glass and handed her another.  They were good.  It didn’t taste anything like the nasty Purple Jesus or the beer she’d choked down.  She drank it down fast and he took a third shot.

Holding out his hand to her he asked, “Would you like to dance?”

She smiled and took his hand.  All she could think of just then was the image of Lucas kissing another girl.  “I’d love to dance.”

And so they did.  He led her out to the floor and they danced like there was no tomorrow.  She could actually see the beautiful hardwood floor that was obscured by so many people the last time she’d been there.  The lights were flashing as they moved together to the beat of the music.  He left her on the floor once to go fetch them another drink.  She was already pretty buzzed, but this is what she’d come for, right?  To achieve the same numbness she’d experienced the other night.  She wanted to forget for a while, and so far, she was doing a good job.  Dani threw back one more drink and her companion, whose name she hadn’t bothered to learn, drank his shot.  He was looking buzzed too.  They laughed and danced and spun around the floor until she was so dizzy she could hardly stand.  Thankfully, a slower song came on and he gathered her up in his strong arms and held her close to his chest.  She smelled him then.  He smelled spicy, like hot cinnamon candy.  His essence was so sweet and hot she wanted to taste it.  Her vision went all weird.  Memories of her own jet black eyes gave her pause.  That had to be how she looked.  What would the bartender do if he noticed?  He looked down and smiled at her with smoldering expectation.  Good thing it was dark, and she was too drunk to care.

“That’s right beautiful, you’re ready aren’t you?  You
want me right now, don’t you?” H
e scooped Dani up and carried her back to the sofa.  He positioned her so that she was straddling his lap and pulled her mouth down to his.  Dani froze at first but his body was so damn hot and she could hear his heartbeat.  It was pounding out her name over and over.  His sex was stiff and he rubbed himself against her.  She kissed him back until he turned his face and guided her to his neck.  God, the smell of him was so strong and his pulse beat wildly against her lips.

“Take it.  Take me now.  Pleas
e, I want to feel you,” he
whisper
ed huskily
.

She felt pressure in her mouth.  Her teeth ached.  The need was overwhelming.  She was so thirsty, or was it hunger?  His pulse was pounding in her ears and the spicy, sweet smell permeated her mind.  Instinctively, Dani found a spot below his ear and bit down on his neck.  He writhed under her and panted, “Yes.  Please, yes.”  The flow of hot sweet liquid running down her throat was intoxicating and delicious.  She felt strong and sensual and she hungered for more.

* * *

Mason and his mate Deborah were out dinning at a little Italian place with his old friend Griffin and his mate Sarah.  It had been so long since they had done this.  Mason missed Griffin’s companionship and hoped to make this a regular event.  Mason had witnessed Griffin’s greatest heartbreak and seeing Mason sometimes brought those painful memories back to Griffin.  So, over the last nineteen years, Griffin had withdrawn from Mason.  The waiter brought their selections, refilled their wine glasses and retreated to the kitchen.  The women were eating and planning a shopping trip to select new dresses for the gala and making plans to have a girl’s night out on the town.