Untamed (Vampire Awakenings, Book 3) (34 page)

Disappointment filled her when he pulled away
but then his fingers were gently wiping away her tears. His kiss
was nowhere near as demanding this time as his mouth slanted over
hers. She could taste her blood on his lips but it wasn't as
unpleasant, or repulsive, as she'd thought it would be. Her heart
swelled with love as he pulled back to look down at her.

There was such affection in his green eyes
that she found herself unable to breathe as she searched a gaze
that she hadn't seen in days. "It will be
us
," he said in a hoarse voice.

She nodded her agreement as she rested her
head on his chest and held him against her. "It will be," she
vowed.

"There you are!" Isabelle cried when they
emerged from the mall. The rain had stopped and the sky had already
cleared, the air seemed cleaner though it was more humid. Emma
blinked against the sunlight and spotted Isabelle across the street
from them with Stefan at her side. "Where have you been?" she
demanded as she stalked across the street toward them.

"Getting out of the rain," Ethan replied.

Isabelle's brow furrowed as her gaze slid
back and forth between them. Ethan's glasses were back in place but
Emma could feel the more relaxed posture of his body as he stood
beside her. "We've been looking all over for you." Though the only
place Isabelle was looking right now was at her neck but Emma knew
her dampened hair covered Ethan's bite mark on her.

"You've found us," Ethan said.

"Are Jill and Mandy ok?" Emma asked
anxiously.

"Mandy's fine, we were separated from Jill.
Aiden and Ian are looking for her now."

Emma took an abrupt step forward. "Separated,
how?"

"There were a lot of people on the beach,"
Isabelle said. "Everyone started running at once. Aiden lost her
when she hopped on one of the buses."

"I'm sure she's fine," Ethan assured her. "It
was a quick storm. Come on; let's get you back to the house."

"Not until we find Jill," she insisted.

Ethan's jaw clenched, he was about to start
arguing with her when he spotted Aiden jogging toward them from the
beach. His brother was barely breathing hard when he reached them.
"We found her; she just got off the bus again. It took her a little
while to get back to here on the bus. Ian's taking her to the house
now."

"Good," Emma breathed.

"Come on, let's go," Ethan said and clasped
hold of her elbow.

Emma carefully studied the people walking so
casually past them. She was half-afraid that one of them might turn
around and stab her at any second though she doubted Tristan's plan
was for her to be dead. No, she was certain he had something far
more sinister in mind for her. She stayed close to Ethan's side and
by the time they returned to the house, she felt jittery and
uncertain. The sound of the door closing behind her and the lock
clicking into place was music to her ears.

Mandy and Jill poked their heads around the
corner of the door from the pool area before they'd even stepped
into the living room. "There you are!" Jill hurried across the room
and threw her arms around Emma.

"There
you
are!" Emma said and embraced her friend.

"I got a short tour of the area," Jill said
with a laugh. "But I stayed dry."

"You ok?" Emma asked Mandy.

"I'm fine," she said and squeezed her
arm.

"Who knew rain could be so damn
inconvenient," Jill said as she fairly bounced out to the patio
again. "But the sky is clear, there's a pool here, and I forgot to
leave the volleyball on the beach so we can always play in the
pool."

Though that sounded like fun, Emma found
herself leaning closer to Ethan as thoughts of retreating to his
bedroom filled her. She'd never thought she'd be the type to stay
in bed with a guy all day, but right now the prospect of spending
all week with him there sounded like a little bit of heaven to her.
She was about to give Jill some excuse to leave when the doorbell
rang.

Despite her best efforts not to show her
distress, not to let everyone know just how rattled Tristan and his
band of psycho groupies had made her, she jumped at the sound and
spun around. Ethan rested his hand reassuringly in the small of her
back. "I'll get it," Stefan said.

Ethan stepped in front of Emma as he braced
himself to launch at whatever might come through that door. Stefan
glanced back at Isabelle to make sure she was safe before pulling
the door open. Though there was no death threat on the other side
of that door, Ethan felt his ire rise almost as much as if there
had been when he saw who was standing there.

Brian leaned insolently against the doorframe
with his arms crossed over his chest and a pair of dark sunglasses
covering his eyes. Ethan had almost forgotten just how much he
disliked the smug asshole until seeing him again.

"You rang," Brian drawled and flashed a
smile. "Or actually I suppose
I
just did."

"Holy shit," Jill whispered behind him. "Is
that guy
real
?"

Emma was wondering the same thing as her gaze
was riveted upon the man in the doorway, exuding raw sexuality, and
an air of superiority the likes of which she'd never encountered
before. Hair, so blond it was nearly white, had been cut short to
enhance his high cheekbones and pointed chin. Lips the color of
blood were a stark contrast to the paleness of his flawless skin.
His full upper lip curled into a smile that revealed his extended
fangs.

"Brian," Stefan greeted.

"Stefan," he said with a bow of his head.
"Are you going to invite me in or am I going to hang out here
working on my tan all day?"

Stefan looked as if he was tempted to drive
his fist into Brian's face but he still managed to step aside as he
spoke. "Come in Brian."

Brian uncrossed his legs as he rose away from
the frame. "Well how nice of you Stefan, considering that the last
time we were together you were threatening to rip my head off."

"It's still a very tempting idea," Stefan
murmured.

Brian gave him a dazzling smile that caused
Jill to start fanning herself. He grabbed a duffle bag from the
ground beside him and walked into the house. "Well if it isn't the
purebreds," he said with a nod to Isabelle and Ethan. Emma glanced
questioningly up at Ethan but his gaze remained focused upon Brian
and his posture was rigid. "I'm sorry, I didn't see the young pups
back there. I didn't mean to exclude you, what's up boys?"

"Fuck you," Aiden shot back.

"Such hostility from one so young." He lifted
his glasses to reveal eyes the color of arctic ice as they focused
upon Ian. "Someone's not a puppy anymore."

"Easy Brian," Stefan warned.

Ethan frowned as he tried to figure out how
Brian would know that when none of them had realized that Ian had
reached maturity. His attention was drawn away from Brian though by
Ian's growled response, "We don't need this asshole's help."

"Apparently you must because I can guarantee
it almost killed this one to call me," Brian said and slapped
Stefan on the back. "Don't worry; I tend to grow on people."

"So do warts," Isabelle muttered.

Brian laughed as he dropped his bag on the
floor. "Good to see you too Isabelle." Emma's head was spinning as
she tried to get a grasp on Brian as his eyes locked on hers. His
expression changed from antagonistic, to one she swore might have
been actual concern, so fast that Emma would have thought he had
PMS if he wasn't so obviously male. "Is this her?"

A growl rumbled from Ethan as he stepped in
front of Emma and pushed her back a little. Emma rested her hands
in his back and poked her head out to look around him. "Don't even
think
about coming near her."

Brian held his hands up and settled his large
frame onto one of the stools by the bar. He folded his hands as he
rested an elbow on the counter and studied them. "I know better.
Now what is going on here?"

Ethan kept Emma behind him as he moved her
toward the couch. The subtle scent of garbage coming off of Brian
wasn't as potent as the last time they'd seen him, in fact he could
barely detect the odor anymore. His own scent was probably stronger
than Brian's now, it was probably more like Brian's had been the
first time they'd met. The difference in smells didn't mean that
Brian wasn't still a killer but he hadn't killed a human since
they'd last seen him, maybe he hadn't killed
any
one recently. It eased some of the tension in
him but he still wasn't thrilled about having Brian in the house
with Emma and her friends.

Stefan must have felt the same way as he kept
Isabelle by his side while he filled Brian in on what had been
going on.

***

Emma was exhausted by the time she was
finally able to retreat to Ethan's room. Ethan closed the door
behind him and turned on the light. "He's so strange," Emma
murmured as she sat on the bed to pull off her now dry but
extremely wrinkled cover up.

"He's a dick," Ethan said as he pulled the
curtains on the windows closed.

Emma chuckled and kicked off her flip-flops.
"Then why is he here?"

"Because he's an extremely powerful dick and
as much as I'd like to drive my fist into his face, he'll help
us."

"Why?"

"He has a history with Stefan and we all
saved his ass last year."

"So he owes you."

Ethan frowned as he turned to face her. "He
does, but I think it's more than that."

"What do you mean?"

He shook his head as he walked away from the
windows. "I don't know. The last time we saw him there was a
wildness to him; a savagery that I thought would one day lead him
down the same exact path as Tristan. He's still an arrogant prick
but he's not..." His forehead furrowed as his voice trailed
off.

"Not what?" she prodded.

"Not a brutal killer, at least not of
humans."

Well, that was
not
what she had expected to hear, not even a
little bit. "Was he once a killer of humans?"

"He was in the past though it was a kill or
be killed situation."

"That's good to know," she muttered.

He smiled as he walked over to sit beside
her. "He's not a threat to you or Mandy and Jill. He wasn't that
kind of a killer, he has a deadly past but so does Stefan. Brian's
less of a threat than I'd expected him to be."

Emma rested her hand on his arm when he
rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "You look tired."

"I don't like being around people." He slid
his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side.
"Except for you, I love you."

Her heart warmed as she wrapped her arms
around his waist. "I love you too." Just moments ago she'd been
ready to pass out from exhaustion but she felt her pulse quickening
as her skin reacted to his. "When will I become like you
Ethan?"

He dropped his head to brush his lips against
her hair. "Are you sure about this Emma?"

"Do I have a choice anymore?" she asked with
a laugh.

"I'd like to be able to give you one..."

"But you can't, I know that, I made the
choice earlier and I'm going to stand by it. I'd like to do it
soon, tonight maybe; I don't think it will be good for me to think
about my impending death for too long."

He stiffened against her, his hand stilled on
her arm. "It's going to be excruciating for you Emma."

"That's something else I'd prefer not to
dwell on."

He lifted her up and pulled her into his lap,
holding her against his chest, he cradled her as he rocked her.
"I'll make it as easy on you as possible," he promised. "But first
I have to feed, a lot."

Now that his secret was out, Emma was well
aware of the blood bags that resided on the shelf below the yogurt,
apples, and milk that had been bought for them when they'd moved
in. It had been more than a little disturbing to see them there in
the beginning but she'd gotten used to it now. Emma frowned as a
new thought occurred to her. "How do you get the blood bags?"

"Stefan has a nurse under his control that
works the blood drives and gives him some of the blood after. He
also has an orderly at the local hospital that supplies him with
blood. We use both sources so that the missing blood isn't picked
up on. I'll have to have fresh, human blood to get you through the
transition though."

Fear trickled through her; she tilted her
head back to look up at him. "Are you going to be able to handle
feeding from someone, other than me?"

Ethan's hands tightened on her at the
thought. "Yes, as long as I know it's for you, and that it will
help you to join me, I'll be fine with it," he assured her. He
hoped those words were true, but it didn't matter, it was what had
to be done.

She rested her hand on his chest. "It won't
hurt them will it?"

"No more than it hurt you and they won't even
remember it afterward."

"Will I be able to change people's memories
and control them after I'm changed?"

"You will, it will take some time but you'll
eventually be able to do those things. You'll also be able to cloak
your presence from others when your powers have matured enough. The
older we get, the more powerful we become and the better we can
deal with our abilities. Your hearing, vision and speed will also
be greatly enhanced. That will take some time for you to get used
to, but we'll do it together. You'll also be immortal and you'll be
safer
."

He said the word safer with such reverence
that it made her heartache as his fingers stroked her hair. She had
no words for him as she cuddled closer. The steady beat of his
heart and the heat of his skin warmed her and lulled her into a
sleep she hadn't been expecting. Her eyes drifted open when he
lifted her and carried her around the bed. She didn't know when it
had happened but he had stripped her of her bathing suit.