Untamed (Vampire Awakenings, Book 3) (4 page)

She wasn't beautiful, but there was a
cuteness to her round face and pert nose that he found enchanting
as she jumped up and down with reckless abandon and pumped her fist
in the air. The leggy brunette jogged over to join them after
scoring the winning point in the game. She dried herself off with a
towel that the petite woman he was watching handed her. They
exchanged a few words before the brunette returned to the
court.

The African American girl standing next to
the woman he was oddly fascinated with touched her arm, said
something, and hurried away with a subtle limp that would have gone
unnoticed by a human. Ethan didn't know what possessed him but he
dropped his t-shirt onto the blanket and stepped off of it. The
last thing in the world he ever liked to do was go near humans, but
this girl was calling him as relentlessly as a siren called forth
the ships. He just hoped he wouldn't end up being crashed against
the rocks; or even worse, that she would be the one that ended up
shipwrecked.

"I'll be back," he muttered to his sister and
Stefan.

Isabelle barely glanced at him as she
organized her supplies on the blanket. It was good to see she was
still the same neat freak, he thought before his attention was
drawn back to the game. He kept his eyes focused on the girl as he
circled around the people gathered beside the court. The sand
beneath his bare feet was warm and grainy as it shifted under his
weight. Turning sideways, he was careful not to touch anyone as he
slid past the people and stepped beside her. When she stopped
jumping he realized that the top of her head barely made it to the
middle of his chest. Though she was small at about five-foot-two or
three, there was something entirely alluring and feminine about her
hourglass figure. Her handful-sized breasts were emphasized by the
fit of her bikini top when she started jumping again.

The smell of her brought to mind honeysuckle
in the spring as it tickled his nostrils. Though a smattering of
freckles dotted her nose, there were few others on her alabaster
skin. He could hear her alluring blood as it pulsed through her
veins. The odd thing was that even though he wanted to taste her,
he felt strangely calm around her. Even the beat of the other
hearts surrounding him didn't arouse his ever-present yearning to
kill. It was the first time in his life he'd ever felt truly
peaceful and the sensation was even more pleasant than the aroma
drifting from her skin.

She clapped her delicate hands together as
she cheered for her friend. "It's a good match," he commented.

At first, she didn't seem to notice him as
her attention remained riveted upon the game. Then he felt her eyes
slide to his chest. Her eyebrows furrowed before her head tilted
back so that she could take him in. Ethan's gaze ran over her
almost fae-like features as he stared down at her. Her upper lip
was thinner than her full bottom lip, a contrast that just added to
her cuteness. He was tempted to bend his head and nibble on that
bottom lip, but he refrained from terrifying the human by doing
so.

Emma's mind spun as she tried to think of
some kind of an answer instead of standing there like an idiot. But
it was
him
. She had hoped that she
would get the chance to see him again, but she certainly hadn't
expected it to be right now, and she hadn't expected him to speak
to her first. It didn't matter though; he was still standing there,
watching her, and expecting some kind of an answer that proved she
wasn't a moron.

"Ah, yes it is." Her hesitant response wasn't
the best in the world but at least she had finally gotten a few
coherent words out.

"Is the girl with the braids your
friend?"

This brought a genuine smile to her face.
"She is."

It took him a few seconds to gather his
thoughts as he was charmed by her smile and the warmth that
radiated from her. "She's good."

"She is. Do you play?"

Ethan glanced at the court but he found he
much preferred to see her than the game. "I do."

"You should jump in then."

"Maybe later."

Not even when he'd been sixteen, and fumbling
with his first bra, had he felt this awkward and uncertain as he
extended a hand to her. "Ethan."

"Emma." Her skin was cool and felt like satin
as she took hold of his hand. A jolt of electricity seemed to
sizzle from her hand to his, up to his elbow, and through the rest
of his body. Her eyes dilated a little as her breathing hitched and
her eyes searched his face in astonishment. His hand involuntarily
constricted upon hers as he stepped even closer to her. The heat of
her body slid over his flesh as her bare arm came into contact with
his chest. It took all he had not to pull her into his arms and
kiss her, but he'd probably end up being slapped in the face if he
did; something he'd well deserve for molesting her on the
beach.

Emma's whole body was still vibrating from
being in contact with his. She felt as if she'd grabbed onto an
electric fence, something she'd done once as a kid while visiting
her cousin's horse farm. This time it was an entirely pleasant
sensation whereas that one had brought her to tears and sent her
running across the yard to her mother's arms.

Fresh jolts of nervous electricity went
through her body when his thumb brushed over her skin and he moved
a step closer to her. For one crazy second she thought he was going
to kiss her as his eyes deepened to a forest green color and he
pressed her knuckles against the firm muscles of his flat stomach.
She'd known him for all of two minutes but she would welcome that
kiss and found herself longing for it.

"Here." He hadn't even seen the young woman
that had been standing with Emma before approaching until she spoke
and thrust a pink drink in between them. Emma's hand slid away from
his as she fumbled to take the drink. The woman's deep brown eyes
were assessing and stony as she scanned him from head to toe. There
was no lust within her gaze; she came across more like a mother
bear protecting her cub than anything. Ethan held her stare as her
assessing eyes came back to his. "Hello."

"Mandy this is Ethan, Ethan this is my friend
Mandy," Emma introduced. She grabbed hold of her straw and took a
sip of her drink. The sweet scent of strawberries drifted up to him
but he didn't detect any alcohol in it.

"Hi," Mandy greeted but she continued to
watch him like a hawk. Under other circumstances, he might have
found her protective attitude amusing, now he just found it
irritating and her interruption annoyed him.

A loud cheer drew his attention back to the
game. The brunette with braids was jumping up and down as she
high-fived her teammates. She jogged over to them and grabbed her
towel from the sand. Words spilled out of her mouth at a million
miles an hour as she dried the sweat from her body and grabbed the
drink from Emma.

She closed her eyes and made a pleased sound
in the back of her throat as she sipped it. "Delicious." Her hand
stilled on the towel when she opened her eyes again and finally
noticed him standing there. A sly grin curled her lips as she
thrust out a hip. "Well hello," she greeted. "And who might you
be?"

Emma and Mandy rolled their eyes and Emma
grabbed her drink back from her friend. Ethan smiled back at the
woman as she dropped her towel on the ground. "Ethan."

"Nice to meet you Ethan, I'm Jill and these
are..."

"We've met," Mandy interrupted.

Jill frowned as she glanced between Emma and
Mandy and then back at him. "Oh."

"We should probably go; I could stand to get
out of this sun for a bit," Mandy said. The disappointment that
filled him was a little disturbing but he wasn't in the mood to
think about that. "Maybe we'll see you later."

"I'm sure of it." He didn't even look at
Mandy but kept his gaze locked on Emma as he spoke. He was as
startled by the words as Emma appeared to be, her eyes flickered
and she bit her bottom lip.

She smiled at him and Mandy took hold of her
arm. Their excited words and laughter floated back to him as he
watched them walk away with their heads bent close together. The
further away they got the more aware he became of the cluster of
people around him and the blood that flowed through their veins.
His teeth ground together as his hands fisted. After the stillness
that her presence had brought to him, the influx of awareness was
like sandpaper on his skin.

Turning away, he walked back to Isabelle and
Stefan. They were both watching him with questioning expressions,
but it was Isabelle that jumped on him first. "Who was that?" she
demanded.

Ethan shrugged as he lowered himself to the
blanket beside her. "Just some girl," he muttered,

but he found his gaze drawn back to Emma as
she climbed the dunes with her friends.

Emma brushed her hair out and let it fall
around her shoulders as she studied herself in the mirror. Turning
away, she grabbed the purple and white sundress from the bed and
slid it over her head. Jill was adamant that they go to the bar
again tonight, Emma thought she might have a bit of a crush on
Ethan. That was a thought that didn't sit well with her, but there
wasn't anything she could do about it. She didn't blame Jill; he
was
gorgeous. Just recalling the
feel of his large hand encircling hers caused her heart to pound a
little faster and her mouth to go dry.

There'd been a rod of strength in him, and
he'd radiated an aura that was both formidable and appealing. She
should probably stay far away from him, she'd already become
entangled with a man that had seemed perfectly normal, and even a
little boring when she'd first met him, but over time she'd come to
realize that she'd seriously misjudged his character. Her mistake
had caused her nothing but betrayal, aggravation, and a nightmare
she wasn't certain would ever end.

She hadn't known him for long, but she got
the impression that Ethan was anything but boring. Though common
sense was telling her to stay away, she found herself intrigued by
him and hoping that he would be there again tonight. Even if he was
there, that was no guarantee he would talk to her again, today
might have been only a fluke. He may have just been watching the
game and looking to pass the time with some idle conversation.

Her fingers twitched as she smoothed the
front of her dress and tried to get her nerves under control. She
felt as jumpy as a cricket, she wasn't sure she could stand still
long enough to carry on a conversation with him even if she did see
him again. Ugh, she was an idiot, she decided as she brushed her
hair over her shoulder and turned away from the mirror. Grabbing
her purse from the queen-sized bed, she tossed the strap onto her
shoulder. The cheerful yellow of the room calmed her nerves and
brightened her mood as she made her way to the door and stepped
into the narrow hallway.

Jill and Mandy were already in the kitchen,
even over the noise of the blender, she could hear Jill singing
Buffalo Soldier at the top of her lungs. All the windows in the
house, and the sliding patio door had been opened to allow the
ocean breeze to flow inside. It was refreshing as it tickled over
her skin and brought with it the smell of the hibiscus growing just
outside the doorway. Emma stepped into the small kitchen as Mandy
shut the blender off and began to pour the red liquid into three
different glasses. Over Mandy's shoulder, she could see the cotton
candy pink house next door through the window above the sink.

"What's in it?" she inquired as Mandy handed
her a glass of the blended concoction.

"A little bit of everything," Mandy
answered.

Emma's nose wrinkled as she sniffed at the
drink but the sip she took tasted delicious. "Are you ready to go?"
Jill inquired. Her braids clacked as she bounced on her toes and
danced around the kitchen. Thankfully, she had stopped butchering
Bob Marley but she was beginning to hum some other tune that Emma
did
not
want to hear.

Emma took a big gulp of her drink in order to
get rid of it before Jill launched into her newest rendition of an
unsuspecting reggae song. One drunken night a guy had told Jill
that she should be on The Voice in an attempt to get in her pants.
Jill hadn't left with him, but that night had been the closest she
and Mandy had ever come to choking Jill when she'd continued to
sing, loudly and badly, until three o'clock in the morning.
Thankfully, sobriety had brought sanity with it, but Jill still
loved to belt out her out of tune songs.

The cold rushing to her head caused Emma to
wince. She placed the glass down and rubbed at her temples in an
attempt to ease the headache the chill had caused. "Ready," she
muttered.

Jill looped her arm through Emma's and took
hold of Mandy's. "Let's go then!" she said excitedly.

"We're not going to see the wizard, Jill,"
Mandy said with a laugh as she extricated her arm from Jill's.

"I think someone has a crush." Emma tried to
keep her tone airy and teasing but she knew she failed
miserably.

"No, I don't," Jill protested. "I'm just
looking to have some fun. Really I don't," she insisted at Emma's
pointed look.

Jill smiled even more as she exchanged a look
with Mandy. Emma felt a trickle of foreboding slide down her spine
as she got the distinct feeling they were plotting against her. The
thought drifted away though as they walked down the hill to the
small bar on the beach. She tried not to let excitement get the
best of her, but she found herself eagerly hoping that he was
there.

Her excitement faded when they stepped into
the nearly empty building. Jill's face scrunched up, her shoulders
slumped as she headed over to a table next to the open windows. The
tangy sea breeze picked up strands of her hair as Emma settled next
to the window and placed her order.