Untamed (Vampire Awakenings, Book 3) (16 page)

"I know how you feel." Ethan lifted his head
to look at Stefan.
Yes
, for
once
there was someone that
understood how he felt. Stefan had focused his anger and need to
kill on other vampires in order to gain strength, but he'd already
changed his ways by the time he'd met Isabelle. "And it's not the
same with Emma?"

"Not at all. She even makes it easier for me
to be around other humans. It's as if they just fade into the
background when she's there."

Stefan stepped away from the doors. "You
realize that fact only adds to what Isabelle is concerned about,
don't you?"

"I do."

"It seems so strange that you're not trying
to bolt like your sister did," Stefan said with a snort.

"Emma might."

Sadness flickered over Stefan's face before
he rapidly covered it up. "Yes, humans can be difficult. When do
you plan to tell her about this?"

Ethan didn't know the answer to that
question, he was terrified of what might happen when he
did
tell Emma, but he was beginning
to realize that it was going to be inevitable. If she really was
his mate then things were only going to get worse before they got
better. For the first time he felt true panic as he realized that
there was a good possibility he could lose her. She wasn't a
vampire; she wouldn't feel the impossible to break mate connection
as a human. She wasn't bound by the laws of their kind, and he
didn't know if he ever wanted her to be.

He should back off now, walk away before the
bond intensified and he was unable to part from her with his sanity
still intact. He was already in over his head, and he was going to
take her down with him if things between them continued to grow.
"Fuck!" he hissed as he turned away from Stefan.

"Ethan..."

Ethan lifted his hand to stop Stefan's words
as he paced over to the door and back again. "I'm looking to
condemn her to a life of blood and death, to this
hunger
."

"She'll be able to control the hunger better
with you around, just as you do when she's around," Stefan said.
"Just as Isabelle and your mother do and your father and I. It's
most likely that she won't even experience what it is that you
battle every day, because of you."

"What if I pass it on to her?"

"It doesn't work that way Ethan."

"Then how does it work?" he demanded.

"I don't know. But if it worked that way your
father and The Stooges would have inherited Beth's more homicidal
tendencies, but they didn't."

"There's still a chance that she could
though."

"I don't think so, there's no darkness in
her, not that I can tell anyway. I really believe it has to be
inherent to all of us to begin with."

Ethan thought over those words before he
turned toward him. "This darkness, this
thirst
, why us?"

"I don't know," Stefan admitted. "I was
colder as a human but I blamed that on the events of my childhood.
Looking back, I think it was more than that though. I believe there
was always a darkness in me that was only amplified by my change.
But asking that question is like asking why some people are killers
and others aren't? Is it birth, circumstances, are they driven to
it? You're asking questions that there are no answers to; don't get
caught up so much in searching for the answers, it will only eat
you alive."

"Then what do I search for?" he asked.

"What it is that you want for yourself, and
for her. What this is between you. If you believe she is your mate
that will either make you stronger or it will destroy you."

Ethan stared at Stefan for a minute before
pacing away again. "I guess being almost three hundred years old
has made you able to give such sage advice."

"And tangling with your sister, she was a bit
difficult in the beginning if you do recall."

Ethan released a short bark of laughter and
turned away from Stefan. "That's putting it mildly, but then I
wasn't exactly easy on you either."

"No you weren't," Stefan agreed. "There is
another thing you must remember in all of this." Ethan shot a
questioning look over his shoulder. "You, Isabelle, and your
siblings all exhibit abilities that none of the created vampires
have, such as being able to smell out vampires that have killed
humans. You and Isabelle are both stronger than any vampire of your
ages should be. What you've been feeling may be intensified because
of the fact that you
are
stronger.
You were born into this, and there are probably things that all of
you can do that none of us know about, things that may affect each
of you in a different way. Emma may be the one to give you the
relief from the demons you've been fighting before your bloodlust
drives you to kill."

Ethan stared at Stefan as he began to see him
in a new light. He was no longer the egotistical older vampire that
was chasing after his sister. Stefan was his friend, someone that
he could turn to in a way that he couldn't turn to any of his
siblings, not even Isabelle.

A knock sounded on the door before Isabelle
opened it and poked her head in. "I could have been naked," he told
her.

She frowned at him. "It's good to know you
would get naked in front of my husband."

Ethan scowled at her and shot Stefan a look.
"You're a lucky man," he said sarcastically.

"I've never heard that before," Stefan said
and gave Isabelle a loving smile in an attempt to placate her.

"We can change things," she replied
haughtily.

The smile slid from Stefan's face.
"Never."

"I didn't think so," Isabelle said with a
grin. "What are you two talking about?"

"Big Macs versus Whoppers, I'm personally a
Whopper guy," Ethan told her.

"You're hilarious," Isabelle said as she
glanced between the two of them.

"How is mom?" he asked in an attempt to
distract her from her line of questioning.

"She's good, missing us, and I
did
notice that change of
topic."

Ethan grinned at her as he strode forward and
rubbed the top of her head. "You always were a quick one," he told
her as he slipped past her and out the door.

"Why don't we all go out to dinner together
tonight?" She grabbed hold of his arm to stop him before he could
make an escape. "I'd like to get to know Emma better."

"You mean scare her off."

She scowled at him. "I am
not
frightening."

"You've obviously never met you." Uneasiness
flickered over her features and he realized that teasing her wasn't
helping her growing apprehension about his relationship with Emma.
"Why don't we meet for a drink at the bar later?" he suggested.

She looked as if she was going to protest but
Stefan stepped forward and rested his hands on her shoulders. "That
sounds like a good idea."

Ethan would like to stay and reassure her
more, but he had to get out of here and back to Emma. Even the
constant battle he waged to keep himself in check wasn't as
consuming as his driving need to make sure that she was safe. He
squeezed Isabelle's hand, turned away from her and hurried out the
door.

Emma glanced around the crowd gathered
inside; Ethan kept hold of her hand as he led her through the
people toward where Isabelle and Stefan sat at the bar. It took
everything she had not to fidget as they both turned toward her and
leveled her with curious stares that made her feel as if her hair
had turned pink sometime in between leaving the restaurant and
arriving here.

"Hi," Isabelle greeted with a smile but there
was something assessing in her eyes.

Emma fought the urge to glance at Ethan for
reassurance, but she'd never hid behind someone before and she
wasn't about to start now. "Hi," she said and forced a smile.

"Sit down," Isabelle said and patted the seat
next to her. Emma swallowed heavily before sliding onto the stool
next to Ethan's sister. "Ethan told me you just graduated from
college, what are you going to do now?"

"I'm not sure," Emma answered and leaned over
to place her drink order with the bartender.

"What do you want to do?" Isabelle
inquired.

Emma felt like a witness on the stand as she
leaned back in her chair and met the amazingly pure violet eyes of
Ethan's sister. "Still haven't figured that one out yet."

Isabelle laughed as she picked up her drink
and took a sip. "Did you like college?"

"I had a lot of fun there." She was extremely
grateful when her drink finally arrived and she had something to do
with her hands and eyes as she lifted it and took a sip.

"Where do you plan to live now that you're
done with school?" Isabelle asked before Emma even had a chance to
swallow.

"Isabelle, enough," Ethan said as he rested
his hands on Emma's shoulders. Isabelle's eyes flickered between
the two of them, a muscle twitched in her cheek as her jaw
clenched. "It's not the Spanish Inquisition."

"Sorry," Isabelle said to Emma.

"Its ok," Emma assured her.

"It's just that Ethan doesn't bring many
girls around, in fact I've never met a girlfriend of his; we were
actually beginning to wonder if he even liked girls."

"Isabelle!" Ethan hissed as Stefan choked on
his drink and began to laugh loudly. Emma didn't know if she was
mortified or if she wanted to laugh out loud, she settled for
chuckling along with Stefan as Isabelle smiled innocently at Ethan
and he glared at her in return.

"Ignore my sister, we don't let her out in
public very often," Ethan grumbled.

Isabelle took a sip of her drink. "More often
than you," she replied cheerfully.

Emma started to relax as the banter between
the siblings eased the stress that had been mounting. Isabelle
focused on her again, but her inquisition seemed to be over as she
turned the conversation toward music and television shows. A
pleasant hour slid by and Emma was beginning to realize she
actually enjoyed Isabelle's company when she wasn't trying to pry
into her life.

Ethan leaned over her and ordered two more
drinks for them. He stiffened suddenly as his head turned toward
the front door. Emma frowned as Isabelle and Stefan also became
rigid and turned in their stools. She tried to see what had caught
their attention but she could barely see anything past Ethan's
chest.

"What's the matter?" Emma inquired.

Ethan shook his head and moved even closer to
her, overwhelming her with his heat and delicious scent. She didn't
know what was going on, but she was unable to stop herself from
wrapping her hand around his powerful forearm. He glanced down at
her and forced a smile to his face but it didn't reach his
eyes.

"Everything ok?" she asked.

"It's fine," he said and bent to drop a kiss
on her forehead. Emma found herself instinctively reacting by
pressing against him. She heard his harsh intake of breath seconds
before his mouth drifted down to brush against hers. Her toes
curled, her fingers dug into his arm as his lips seared into hers
and he nibbled on her bottom lip. Disappointment filled her when he
pulled away but his hand remained on her shoulder and his body
stayed against hers.

Emma frowned as Stefan slid to his feet
beside Isabelle. From around Ethan's chest she finally spotted the
three men that had caught his attention the last time she'd seen
them here. Two of the men glanced over at them but the third was
already focused on the dance floor.

"Are you sure you don't know them?" she
inquired.

"I'm sure." He turned toward her and finished
off his beer. "Would you like another drink?"

"No, I think I've had enough."

He took hold of her hand. "How about a walk
on the beach?"

Emma looked at the three men who were now on
the dance floor. There appeared to be nothing wrong with the men,
but no matter what he said, she knew that Ethan and his family were
reacting strangely to those guys. Whatever it was they didn't like
about them, he wasn't going to tell her, and it really didn't
matter if they were leaving the bar.

"That sounds great," she said and slid off
the barstool. She turned to Isabelle and Stefan as Isabelle stood
too. "Are you coming with us?"

Isabelle glanced at Ethan before shaking her
head. "No, I think we're going to head home."

Ethan was careful to keep Emma away from the
three unknown vampires as he led her outside. He walked with
Isabelle and Stefan over to the Jeep in the small parking lot,
grabbed his backpack from the backseat and closed the door. He
nodded to the both of them, and tapped the closed door before
turning to Emma. She was studying the backpack slung over his
shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

"Big plans?" she asked.

He smiled at her as he took hold of her hand
and pulled her close to his side. "Just a few supplies for
tomorrow."

"Awfully sure of yourself, aren't you?"

He laughed and released her hand to slide his
arm around her waist. "I'll go home tonight if you want me to."

It was the last thing in the world she wanted
as she leaned against him and kicked at the warm, grainy sand
beneath her feet. She'd never felt this secure before as her skin
tingled from where it came into contact with his. The mellow ebb
and flow of the ocean was soothing and peaceful as the salty scent
of it washed over her. Light from the moon and stars glimmered on
the water, she almost felt as if she could walk across the sea and
touch the moon as it hung heavily in the clear night sky.

"It's beautiful," she murmured.

"It is," he agreed but his eyes were focused
on her as they walked further down the beach. "I'm sorry Isabelle
was so overwhelming."

Emma brushed back a strand of hair that blew
across her face. "I enjoyed talking to her once she stopped..."