Better Off Red (19 page)

Before I could rebut, Cleo’s bedside phone rang.

“Aloha.” Her eyes shot to me. Crap. It was Camila.

“Oh really?…Okay,” she said. “Sounds good.” She tucked the phone against her shoulder. “I promise…Okay. Later.” She hung up and turned to me. “Anything you want to tell us?”

• 138 •

Better Off red

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said casually. I walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I quickly changed but took my time brushing my teeth and putting up my hair.

I’ll admit, I was giddy. I’d become a pro at publicly denying my feelings for Camila. Now I had to think of what to say since it was okay for us to be “out” to the rest of the girls.

Danni and Amy were perched on Cleo’s bed when I came out of the bathroom. They were both pink cheeked and giggly. Clearly, a quickie had been in order the moment Amy came upstairs. I felt bad for being angry and jealous and even worse when it dawned on me that Amy had probably been thinking of Danni during Camila’s feeding. Amy had been embarrassingly honest about her feelings for Danni. It was so stupid of me to think that interactions between Amy and Camila were anything beyond their arrangement as blood donor and vampire. I had some serious apologizing and explaining to do. After Cleo was done harassing me.

“Out with it, bitch.” Cleo snickered.

“Okay. Fine. I have a date tomorrow.”

“With Camila?” Amy squealed.

“Yes. Tomorrow night.”

Amy squealed again.

“But I have no idea what to wear. My closet is full of going to class stuff and maybe looking decent for brunch stuff. Not date stuff.”“Where are you going?” Layna asked. She sprayed some glossy mist on Irene’s hair and gently spread it over the tight braids with her palms.

“I don’t know for sure. Dinner I guess and then we might spend the night at a hotel.”

“Ooh, girl,” Cleo sang.

“We are getting you some lingerie.”

“Amy—” That’s as far as I got before she cut me off.

“No. Have you seen the underwear she has?” she asked Cleo.

“Yeah. We broke into your room to get your sizes,” she said with an odd grin.

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reBekah WeatherspOOn

I did a double take in Cleo’s direction before turning my attention back to Amy. I’d talk to her about my feelings on their necessary breaking and entering later.

“She hasn’t complained about my underwear so far,” I told them.

“Probably because she took them off the first chance she got,”

Danni joked. Sort of.

My mouth popped open as if I had some sort of response, but she was right. I hadn’t spent much time fully dressed around her.

And now I was seriously regretting the revenge pj’s I’d grabbed for tonight.

Just then Barb stuck her head in the door.

“Come on, ladies. Movie time.”

“After pancakes, I’ll take you to the mall,” Cleo said to me, leaving no room for argument.

The girls headed for the door, but I hung back. I needed to talk to Amy now.

“I’ll be right there. Amy, hold on one sec.” She kissed Danni on the cheek and plopped in Cleo’s papasan chair. I closed the door behind Benny and sat on the bed.

“I’m sorry, about being all pissy back there,” I said.

“No, I’m sorry. I know how it looked. I didn’t mean to…hump her like that.” She frowned. “But either way, we both thought you would be gone longer, and she told me she’d nearly missed her feeding with Benny on Wednesday. We were just trying to get it out of the way.”

“Yeah, she had a crazy week. Things are just, well, they’re complicated.” Rodrick’s suggestion that I keep the truth about my blood a secret for a while came to mind, but now I wanted to tell Amy. She had become a true friend, and I was starting to see that keeping things from her wasn’t helping either of us.

“Promise you won’t say anything?” I threw out the unnecessary precaution.

“Of course. I won’t even tell Danni, I swear.”

“Okay. It’s kind of a long story, but somehow I have vampire blood in my system. Camila thinks my birth mom drank from one of them when she was pregnant with me.”

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Better Off red

“Wow,” she gasped. “So what does that mean?”

“I don’t know yet, but Camila can’t live off my blood. And I think it’s just another reason I’ve been acting so weird about all of this. I already feel like the odd one out, and then I went and fell for the most important vampire in the house.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Amy said. “I promise I won’t say anything. And you can talk to me, Ginger. Seriously. I know I get all girlie and annoying sometimes.”

“Only sometimes?”

“Okay, a lot of the time. But seriously. I love Danni, but you’re my friend. I might not be able to understand the vampire stuff, but you can tell me about it.”

“I will. From now on. Trust me, I will.”

Amy walked over to the door. “Okay, so what happened in the car?”“Walk with me,” I said as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. “I’ll tell you on the way.”

• 141 •

• 142 •

Better Off red

I didn’t know how good a red cami, black flannel pants, and heart-shaped, fuzzy slippers could look until I saw them on my new girlfriend. I did my best not to push the other girls out of the way to get to her, to tell her just how adorably cute and human she looked. Instead, I waited until she greeted them each with a kiss on the cheek as we stepped off the elevator. The hello she had for me was a minty, open-mouth kiss. She’d actually brushed her teeth.

Just for me.

Movie night as a sorority event had started off with a bizarre, yet erotic twist. We met the rest of the girls and the sister-queens in the carpeted room that had been the setting for last week’s feedings and sexual festivities. There were still big cushions on the floor, but this time a few comfortable couches had been set up around a large projection screen that dropped from the high ceiling. Tokyo had decided we’d watch
Mean Girls
and
Teen Witch
, but before the movie started, there was the matter of a formal punishment to be handed out, literally.

Samantha had missed curfew twice. The dumbass had gone off with Greg and couldn’t be bothered to check in.

Camila gave Sam a piece of her mind, reminding her the nine o’clock check-in time was a rule of Alpha Beta Omega and not a suggestion. When that tongue-lashing was over, Natasha had Samantha wait on all of us, bringing us drinks and candy from a

• 143 •

reBekah WeatherspOOn

small kitchen in the back. And once everyone was served and settled, Samantha was told to strip.

Her physical appeal was totally overshadowed by her bitchy mouth, but as she pulled off her clothes, it was hard to ignore just how gorgeous Samantha was. Her whole body had a natural olive tone to it. It went perfectly with her brown hair with its sun-kissed highlights. My opinion of her hadn’t changed. Still, she was beautiful.

Conversations hushed as everyone’s attention settled on Samantha, naked and on her knees between her sister-queen’s legs. Natasha had her gently by the chin with one hand and was pinching one of Samantha’s light brown nipples with the other. Sam whimpered as she tried to sit still through Natasha’s lecture. It had definitely been a sound of frustration and pleasure and not pain.

Natasha took Samantha over her lap. She gave her one hell of a spanking, twelve licks, two for each of the other girls who served Natasha, including Samantha herself. I had no idea how anyone could be turned on by that kind of pain, but it seemed like she was enjoying the punishment. It was hard to look away as each blow hit its mark, and it was hard not to react to every pathetic sound Samantha made.

I enjoyed the spectacle of it all; I couldn’t help it. Watching Samantha’s whole body blush to pink, the cheeks of her ass flashing to red every time Natasha’s hand came down, the sharp jiggle of her breasts as her nipples pointed toward the floor. Or maybe I was caught up sharing the experience with Camila. We were cuddled together on a nearby couch; Danni, Amy, and the girls around us, Camila’s arms around me. My pussy had started to ache the moment I stepped off the elevator and into her embrace, but it soaked and throbbed when I felt her lips and her fangs drawing slowly across my neck as we watched Natasha go to work.

The final smack left the whole room silent except for Samantha’s breathless sobs. Natasha pulled her upright and immediately sank her teeth into Samantha’s neck. She fed deeply, pinching Samantha’s bright red ass cheeks the whole time. Samantha came instantly. It

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Better Off red

didn’t seem fair that she would get to come so hard after breaking curfew, but as soon as Natasha was full, Samantha was forced to spend the rest of the night on her knees at Natasha’s side, watching the rest of us play.

When the lights were dimmed and the movie started, all around the room, articles of clothing started to hit the floor. I was anxious and prickly, hot and wet from watching Natasha’s passionate enforcement of the rules. I eagerly welcomed Camila’s strong fingers as they slipped gently between my legs. She’d stroked my clit through my boxers and my underwear, her rhythm bringing her fingers lower, soaking the layers of cotton even more. And then she bit me. My shuddering moan echoed across the room, and I remember thinking in the back of my mind that another of the sister-queens must have decided to feed at that exact moment.

Camila didn’t drink from me for long. I don’t know if she’d read my mind or if she’d felt the same way, but the second after I came, she turned me in her lap and kissed me, hard and slow. The movie played in the background, coupled with a chorus of cries and lustful sobs that had filled the room. We barely made it halfway through
Mean Girls
before I was begging her to take me back to her bed.

As our bodies rolled together under her satin sheets, I noticed there was a different sense of desire. There were still the fluttering in my stomach and the heat that would rush over my skin. All the physical reactions were the same, but somehow heightened and transformed by an overwhelming sense of happiness. I honestly didn’t know emotions like that existed.

I knew what it was like to love someone and to see others in love, but now I finally understood why Danni and Amy were so darn cute together, why Anna-Jade would light up if you even mentioned Micah’s name—the unconditional way my mom cared for my dad.

Now when Camila reached for me I truly felt weightless. She hadn’t said the words, but I felt loved and I felt wanted.

❖

• 145 •

reBekah WeatherspOOn

The morning came way too soon. Our shower together was way too short. Camila excused herself to let Cleo, Benny, Danni, and Amy in while I was getting dressed. I heard Amy blab that they were taking me shopping for our date after the pancake breakfast.

I cautiously took the keys when Camila offered to let us drive her Range Rover to the mall. I argued with her for a few minutes when she offered to pay for my outfit. I hadn’t spent a cent of the money I’d made bagging groceries over the summer. I was happy to have this new title to our relationship. Okay, I was happy there was an actual relationship at all, but I wasn’t looking for a sugar mama.

She claimed the girls had shopped on her dime every chance they got. I wasn’t buying it. Cleo settled the debate by snatching the wad of cash from Camila and dragging me toward the door. I got Cleo back, though, the second she asked to drive the Range Rover.

“This is some kind of bullshit, and you know it,” Cleo grumbled.

She channeled her frustration into the satellite radio, changing the station again.

I pulled the Range Rover into the entrance of the mall and bit my cheek. Cackling in Cleo’s face would have been a bad move.

“Stop cursing at me and maybe I’ll ask her if you can drive back to the house.” I glanced over and then snickered at Cleo’s poisonous glare. There was no way I was letting her drive Camila’s super expensive, custom SUV without her permission.

“I don’t like you anymore, Ginger.”

“Why?” I coughed, choking on my laugh.

“You used to be so nice.”

“No. You thought I was nice. Ask Amy. I’m a total bitch.”

“She’s right,” Amy said playfully from the backseat. “Total bitch.”

“Cleo, I’ll ask her if you can drive back. I want to get ready at the dorm anyway.”

“Make it a real date?” I caught Danni’s smile in the rearview mirror.

“Exactly.”

We hopped out of the car, and just as the alarm beeped, I heard my cell phone go off. It was a text from Camila.

• 146 •

Better Off red

How’s my baby?

The fluttering lit off in my stomach just from seeing the words on the display, thinking of who they were from. I knew I must have looked like an idiot, nibbling the inside of my lips as I texted her back, but I didn’t care. I typed away and let Amy’s voice guide me through the parking lot.

She’s good. I parked her away from the other cars.

She texted me back right away.
Smartass. I miss you.

And that was good to know. Pretty freaking sweet actually. I kept myself from singing and dancing, skipping and high-fiving strangers, but I couldn’t keep myself from the upper levels of cloud nine. I was cheesing so hard I thought my cheeks would burst.

I texted her right back, telling her I missed her too and asking her if Cleo could drop me off.

She can drive. Tell her not to crash or she’s buying me another
whip.
I stopped walking.
Okay. Can’t wait to see you.

“Damn, Ginger.” Cleo grabbed my shoulder and shoved me through the door. “You’ll see her in a few hours. Let’s go.”

I flicked her off and then hit send. “She said you can drive, jerk.”“Did I mention how much I like you and your new girlfriend?”

“Yeah, I bet.” I put my phone away, even though it beeped again, and I gave my undivided attention to Amy, our self-assigned shopping coordinator. She walked and talked, leading us to the first designer store. I loved a good skirt and a cute, high-heeled shoe, but I was more of an Old Navy girl, not couture.