Blackwater (23 page)

His dark hair is plastered to his face but he doesn’t stop talking. "In the beginning, we met and instantly I liked you. I lied to myself and said I was watching over you, keeping you safe for the harvest. But then I realized I was watching you all the time. I was addicted. I was in the shadows, watching your mother break you down everyday, just a little bit more. Just when I thought you were about to break, you would rise up a little bit. Somehow you persevered, you survived and grew stronger. With no parents there for you. No love. You were like a flower growing somehow in the shadows, letting even the tiniest bit of light and love make you grow."

I feel my mouth dry out regardless of the rain pelting me savagely, "Ramón?"

He nods, "Your mother asked me to kill him, he was like a side reward. I didn’t know he was your friend. I thought he was your driver. I thought it was weird you didn’t know he was a witch though. I wouldn’t have killed him if I'd known he was your friend. I didn’t know that you were unaware you were a witch." He steps forward, looking down on me. The water droplets from his hair add to the rain hitting me. "I would do anything to save you."

I shake my head, "You didn’t save me though. You saved the shell of the person I used to be. You saved this body but that flower in the shadows that you loved, she's dead. You took away all the light. Those tiny bits of light I was getting, they came from Em and Ramón and Angie. You stamped out all the light." I step back from him.

He wipes his face, "I don’t believe it's dead. I think you are in there, you just need some light." He steps to me and takes my hands in his, "Let me be the light."

I feel the black tears fill my eyes and mix with the rain beating down on us. They're almost the same temperature as the rain. I want so badly to let him be the light. I want so badly for him to be the person who saves me, but I can't cave. I need to be strong. I need to save everyone else. I shake my head, "I can't. I need to be their light and fix their lives. I'm what broke them all in the first place."

He grips my hand and shakes his head, "I'm not giving up." He turns and drags me to the end of the driveway to where my truck is parked.

I'm relieved. I don’t want him to give up. It's sick and I judge myself, a lot.

We're killers.

We don’t even deserve each other.

The house is huge, H.U.G.E.

It's ostentatious to the extreme. It's three stories above the ground and makes the Governor's mansion look piddly. It's made to look like it was built when my house was, but it's new. We creep along and the silence between us is thicker than it ever has been. His declaration hasn’t made things easier like I think he wished it had.

I can't let him in yet, he is all consuming. If I let him in now I won't ever finish the things I'm determined to fix. He will take over every spare emotion I have. If I let him in, it'll spread like a forest fire, there won't be nothing left for anyone else.

I watch him and smile. He does it for me. Whatever it is about him, I can't fight it. I sigh, "So what was it like when you were a little boy? What was your life like?" I whisper.

He looks back and frowns, "What?" I smile at his accent. He's always Scottish now, no more pretend. Course the Scottish thing could be lies too, he hasn't exactly been forthcoming with the truth. Ever.

The lights inside the house make it look warm and inviting. If she lives here I know better.

I shrug, "I have been swept up in your creature-of-the-night juju since we met. You haven’t ever just been a guy I got to know and love. Let me get a chance to know you. Maybe I won't even like you if I see you with all the lights on."

He laughs, "We can have this conversation later." He grins, "I swear only the truth from now on."

I nod back, "Oh okay. You have any snake oil for sale to go with that deal?"

He laughs and points to the swimming pool at the back of the house as we round the corner. The rain has almost ended. It's a drizzle now. We stay in the shadows, moving in the shadows only. She can see us if she looks, but the man next to her won't be able to.

Her blonde head coming out of the water makes me gag slightly. My stomach clenches. I shake my head, I'm trembling. "I can't do this. I can't see her."

He spins and grabs my hands. He pulls me in and kisses me hard. The smell of him and the softness of his lips caressing mine is intense. He pulls back, I get a waft of lilacs and him. I lick my lips nervously. He gives me a firm look, "I am your light. She can't touch you, my love."

I nod and take a breath, "Okay."

We walk in the shadow, closer to the pool and the display. My nose wrinkles looking at her. The man is laughing, holding a drink and standing on the side of the pool. She comes out of the water, graceful as ever. She smiles and tosses her long golden hair back and forth. She squeals with delight and laughs. I don’t recognize any of those sounds.

I step on a branch and her head spins instantly. I know her eyes meet mine. I can see the intensity and disbelief in them.

She swallows and looks at the young man. "Sugar, you go on and get me a drink. I'll be right in."

He nods, "Alright, Elise."

She smiles, "Don’t shower, I want to take one too."

He grins. I gag.

Her head spins back to me, "Do my eyes deceive me?"

My stomach drops and aches. She climbs out of the pool looking lithe and thin, as always. She looks the same, Ramón might have been right. She might actually look a bit younger. My hands shake until I feel Whit step closer. Momma's eyes flash at him but she doesn’t reveal a thing. I get the distinct feeling she fears him. It makes me smug somewhere deep inside.

She grabs a towel and saunters over to us, all charm and hardly any accent, "Why Lorelei, I never imagined you would ever come back home." The sweetness in her voice makes me sick.

I grin and stand a little closer to Whit, "Well shucks, guess I've been havin’ a fixin’ to get me some family lovin’. You gonna gimme some sugar, Momma?" I lay it on extra thick just to remind her of where she came from.

Her blue eyes narrow, "I suppose that’s you at the old house who's fixing it up?"

I cross my arms but I'm ready for whatever she is about to do. I'm gonna either scratch her eyes out or run for my life. "You should be ashamed of yourself, letting it get all nasty like that. Since you left Em there and all."

Her lips fight a grin. "Oh I wasn’t the one who left her there. That was you."

I feel the sneer attempting it's way across my face, "No, Momma. That was you and your evil swamp magic. Well guess what? I'm fixing it up and I'm not going anywhere. Em and me and Tessa, we're gonna live there like a real family."

"I still own that house, Lorelei." She looks at me haughtily but licks her lips. I'm getting to her.

Whit speaks for the first time, "Actually, you'll find that the deed to the house is indeed in young Miss Lorelei Huntington's name."

My face and hers look the same I'm sure. "What?" We both say.

He laughs, nodding, "Yes. I had a lawyer and realtor do a fake purchase. I mean, it's legit." He gives my momma his saucy shameless grin, "Don't worry though... what is it now, Elise? You got a whole five dollars for the house. Cheque's in the mail."

I laugh, "That’s a fair bargain, considering the state of the property."

My momma snaps her fingers and I see the sparks. I snap my finger at her and make my own. Her eyes light up.

I point, "Don’t mess with me, Momma. I can promise you, I will kill you for what you done to all of us if you so much as breathe near that house or Em or me or Tessa." I'm ranting like a nut.

She grins at my fingers, "You have my magic?" her voice lifts in hope.

I scowl at her, "It was nice seeing you, Momma. Guess I won't stay to meet my new daddy. You can tell him I said howdy." I grab Whit's arm and pull him back to the shadows.

She laughs and calls out, "I knew it. I knew you weren’t just a fat little bitch, Lorelei. I knew you weren’t completely useless." Her laugh is a cackle and my dead heart still breaks a little when she calls me fat. Whit leaves my side but I keep walking.

I walk to the truck and take gulps of air. I hear her squeal. I look back, he has her by her ear, she's zapping his arms brutally but he's not stopping.

"Say it." he growls, bending her arm up her back and holding his thumb in her jugular.

She squeals again and cries out. "I'm sorry!" she shrieks.

He lets go and she shoots him in the back with something. He stops walking and turns to face her. Her smug grin drops and she runs back around the house.

I look at his shirt smoking and frown, "You're on fire." He pulls the shirt off and walks to the truck bare chest. His back is singed brutally.

I climb in the truck and look at the huge house.

"She's remarried and living the life? Hardly seems fair." I whisper as he climbs in.

He leans over and kisses my cheek as he starts the truck and roars out of the driveway. He stops the truck just down the road and turns the truck off. "It's not. But you walked out of Momma Holt's house before she could tell you how to get your revenge." He leans forward, "Want to heal that for me?"

I look at the blackened skin and shake my head, "What can I do?"

"Let me drink your blood or put a spell on my back to take the pain and destruction." He talks through the pain.

I hold my wrist out. He looks at me sideways, "You can try the spell. Magic is all intent."

I shake my head, "I'm scared to mess with that. Can my blood help you?"

He nods, "Yup." He grabs my wrist and bites down. Instantly the blood he isn’t drinking rushes to my groin. I moan in pleasure and feel something twirling inside of me. My mouth is hanging open as I moan and mouth breath like an idiot.

"What…what…what are you doing? Ohhhhh my god." He licks my wrist and I look down between my legs, "What was that?" My ragged breath is all over the place.

He smiles and wipes my black blood from his thick lips. I lick mine and leap at him. He catches me laughing and shaking his head against my face, "In a bed. Not in this truck. I want you in everyway I can get you, but not in this truck on the side of the road."

I look down at his huge erection bulging out of his jeans and nod, "Drive fast."

He starts the truck and throws it into gear. The tires burn and skid and my brain works against us. It points out the reasons I have to hate him just as my heart defends him. He drives up to a house I've never seen before. It's not fancy, it's just a regular house in a suburb.

The truck stops with a jerk. He grabs my hand, dragging me from his door. My stomach is still lit with the fire he created sucking my blood. His hand is warm and incredible, wrapped around mine.

He punches a code on the lock of the front door and drags me inside. When the door is closed he's on me. My back is slammed into the door roughly. His fangs are out, I feel them graze my neck where his tongue is licking. I shudder and close my eyes, tilting my head back offering him my throat. He bites hard and sucks. The draw of the blood pulls a moan from my parted lips. I swallow, moaning and gripping to his head. I'm almost holding him there, forcing him to drink. My eyes won't open fully as the ecstasy ripples through my body. He licks the wound and lifts me into his arms. He moves quickly through the house until he reaches a bedroom. He kicks the door open and crosses the room to the bed in a couple steps. He lays me down and looks down on me. Anticipation and desire are battling and burning their way through me. He grabs my boots and pulls them off. I catch a glimpse of his dark eyes. They scare me. He scares me. I pull my shirt off and undo my jeans. He drags them down my body and then looks down on me. I feel a nervous type of insecurity with him staring down on me like that. My hands twitch, fighting the urge to cover myself. He sees it and shakes his head slowly. His not speaking makes it worse.

He reaches a hand down and drags it up my thigh. I grab his arm and pull him down on me. His mouth crashes on mine. Our fangs are brushing against each other's lips and tongues. I feel mine nip his lips. I suck from him like he did me. He moans into my mouth.

His fingers trace the length of my thighs, gripping at my meaty legs. I slide against his clothed body, kissing and sucking. My fingers have found the base of his shirt. I drag it up and bend my face to kiss his rippled stomach. He's fit and hard, with thick muscles and washboard abs. My hands drag up and down. I let my nails drag a bit, he winces when one of them draws a small trickle of black blood. I bent my face and lick the line. The sexy taste of him fills my mouth again. I could live off of it.

I undo his pants and slide a hand inside. He isn’t wearing underwear. I glide my hand the length of his erection, making him suck sharp inhales.

He grabs my hand and lays me back flat again, "Let me love you." he whispers and plants a kiss on my belly. I tremble with nerves as his lips kiss their way up my rib cage.

His fingers trace the waistband of my panties. I think it's about to go one way but he trails up my stomach and grabs the center of my bra. He rips, releasing my breasts. The bra falls away to either side. His mouth hovers over my nipple. I can feel his hot breath tickling my sensitive skin. I'm about to grab his face and force it down on me when his hands find my waistband again. I grip the bedding and wait. Feather light touches trail along my belly. I'm ready to scream and attack him.