Flutter (33 page)

“I love you,” I whispered.

“I am a very lucky man,” Jack murmured then bent in
to kiss me.

As soon as his mouth found mine, I felt this surge
rush through me. This was Jack, and I loved him more than anything
else. I had gotten so caught up in being afraid of sex that I
forgot why exactly I wanted to do it.

Kissing him, his familiar taste, the way his lips
worked against mine… I wanted him desperately. I pulled him tightly
to me, and we stumbled back towards the bed. I fell back on it and
looked up at him.

“Are you sure you want this?” Jack asked huskily.

In response, I reached up and pulled off his shirt.
He was breathtaking, and I kissed his bare chest and smiled up at
him. His skin already smoldered hot on my lips, and that was all
the encouragement he needed.

The weight of his body pressed against mine. His
heart hammered in his chest, and I could feel it pounding in time
with mine. Instinctively, my body pushed against his, and I
tightened my fingers in his hair, pushing his lips harder to me.
Fervently, he kissed me, and I trembled with anticipation.

His mouth trailed down my neck, and I moaned
breathily. It wasn’t until I felt his lips pressed against my veins
that I realized how badly I wanted him to bite me. He was so hungry
for it, for me, so I tilted my head back, exposing more of my
throat.

The sharp pain of his teeth was over before I felt
it, and hot ecstasy spread away from my neck. I felt his heart
thudding in my own chest, above my heart, that double beat that
made it feel like he was inside me.

In some kind of twisted pleasure, I could taste him
in my mouth, the tangy, honey taste of his blood, and my own
bloodlust for him surged. Wanting him that badly while he had me,
it was agony and bliss all rolled in one. I could feel the edges of
myself waning, blackening. My body threatened to lose control,
black out and give into the thirst.

What kept me from giving in was feeling how much he
loved me. It flowed through my veins. It came from him, but it felt
like it came from inside me. I was everything to him, and he was
pure joy. I had never felt closer or more in love with him.

A tiny jolt ripped into me, and I gasped painfully.
My body suddenly felt cold and alone, as result of the separation
when he stopped biting me. Before I could even tell how empty I
felt, his mouth was on mine. I could taste my blood on his lips,
and that did strange things to me. I pressed him even tighter
against me, desperate for the burning heat of his skin.

I felt his hand, strong and sure on my hip, and his
fingers looped in my panties, sliding them down. I sat up a bit so
I could peel off the negligee, and his arms were around me, pushing
his bare skin against mine. His intensity was overwhelming, but it
only made me want him more. I lay back down on the bed, and he
looked me in the eye.

“I really do love you,” Jack said breathlessly,
brushing my hair back from my forehead.

Then I felt him, sliding inside of me, and my breath
caught in my throat. It hurt more than I expected it to, but within
seconds, any pain was a forgotten memory. I buried my fingers in
his back and pushed him against me. He kissed my mouth, my neck, my
shoulders, everything he could reach, and I moaned against him.

Never in my life had I felt as whole or complete as I
did then. I felt as if I had been made just for him, just for this.
Pleasure exploded inside of me, and I bit my lip to keep from
screaming.

Gasping for breath, he relaxed, but he propped
himself up so he wouldn’t put the full weight of his body on me. He
rested his forehead against my shoulder and tried to gain some
composure. When he gently kissed my collar bone, my skin trembled
underneath his lips.

My whole body glowed happiness, and I felt dazed and
weak. My vision was blurred and hazy, and I knew that my stomach
should ache with hunger, but I just couldn’t feel it.

“Was that okay?” Jack asked, looking at me.

“Yeah. That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever
felt.” I smiled up at him and touched his face. He suddenly looked
too marvelous to be real. “Did you enjoy it?”

“Did I?” He laughed, sounding
wonderfully exhausted. I had worn him out, and his laughter sent
tingles all through me. “Oh my god, Alice. I didn’t know it could
be that good.” He collapsed back on the bed next to me, and he
pulled me into his arms, so my head would lie on his chest. “Oh
man. I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on
that
.”

“I know,” I giggled, feeling girlie and buzzed. I
snuggled up as close to him as I could, loving the way my skin felt
pressed to his.

“Wow,” Jack laughed tiredly again.
“You may not know this, but you are the single most amazing person
I have ever met, and I am
crazy
in love with you.”

“Good.” I kissed his chest and smiled up at him.
“Cause I feel exactly the same way about you.”

The loss of blood and the exhaustion of pleasure left
me drained. My vision started to clear from the haze of lust, and
the pain in my stomach kicked in, but I was too tired to deal with
it. I just wanted to stay in Jack’s arms forever and listen to the
sound of his heartbeat. Our bodies were slowly returning to their
normal temperature, and Jack pulled the blankets up over us,
tucking them neatly around me.

I just stated drifting off to sleep when I heard my
phone ringing. It sounded like it was coming from the bathroom, so
I decided it was faint enough for me to ignore. It stopped, so I
settled back into his arms. A second later it started ringing
again, and I groaned.

“Should I get that?” Jack asked.

“No, it’ll stop,” I said, hugging him even closer to
me. If he got it, that meant he would have to be away from me, and
I wasn’t ready for that.

It did stop, only to immediately start ringing
again.

“Sorry, I gotta get that.” He untangled himself from
me and I grumbled in protest, but I let him go. He slipped on his
boxers, and I watched him as he walked to the bathroom, following
the sound of the ringing.

For one second, watching how
gorgeous he was, my heart swelled as I realized that I got to be
with him.
He
belonged to
me
, and it delighted me endlessly.

The phone stopped ringing again, and Jack sighed.
“I’m still getting it, in case it starts to ring again. Where is
it?”

“I don’t know.” I sat up, holding the blankets over
my chest.

“Of course it stops when I look for it.” He poked
around the hamper, since I had a tendency to leave my phone in my
pants pocket, but it started ringing again. He went over to the
medicine cabinet and opened it. “Alice, why is your phone in the
medicine cabinet?”

“Maybe when I got the mouth wash?” I shrugged. “Just
shut it off and come back to bed.”

“Uh oh.” He came out of the bathroom, holding my
phone out to me. “It’s Jane.”

“I should probably answer that.” I held my hand out.
I answered it just before it went to voicemail, and Jack sat on the
bed next to me. “Hello?”

“Alice? Oh thank god you answered!” Jane sobbed in
relief, but her voice was shaking. “I’ve run into some trouble,
and… Oh god. I am sorry. I don’t know-” She sounded absolutely
terrified, and she knocked any of the warm fuzzy feelings out of
me.

“What are you talking about? What’s going on?” I
asked.

“I don’t know! They just made me call you!” Jane
said, then she shrieked and her voice got farther away.

“Jane? Jane!” I shouted.

“No, it’s not Jane,” a male voice returned to the
phone, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It was strong
and deep with an accent I couldn’t place. Almost British, or maybe
German, but softer. “This is Alice, I presume?”

“Where’s Jane?” I demanded, refusing to answer his
questions until he told me what was going on. Out of the corner of
my eye, I saw Jack getting dressed. I’m not sure if he could
overhear the conversation, or if he just saw my panic.

“If you want to see her again, I suggest you come and
get her,” the voice said. There was something sinisterly playful in
his voice, and I heard Jane crying in the background. “Where are
we? You need to tell us if you want your friend to come rescue
you.”

“You son of a bitch!” I growled. “Leave her alone!
When we find you, we’ll kill you!”

“We?” He chuckled. “Even better.” Jane screamed
behind him.

“Loring Park!” Jane sobbed in the background. “We’re
at Loring Park! But Alice! Don’t come! They’re going to-” She
screamed again, cutting off the rest of her sentence.

“As you can tell, we’re in a hurry, so act
accordingly,” he said, then the phone went silent.

- 32 –

Immediately after the phone hung up, I tried calling
back, but it went straight to voicemail. Jack had already pulled on
shorts and a tee shirt, and he was struggling to put on his
Converse. My stomach lurched, and panic and hunger were mixing
together, making me feel volatile and frail.

“Alice?” Jack asked. “Where is she?”

“Loring Park,” I told him numbly. “I don’t know who
has her, but I think they’re going to kill her. And they want me to
come. She’s bait for me.” He pursed his lips and looked at me
thoughtfully for a moment.

“You stay here. I’ll go get her,” Jack decided and
made a step for the door.

“No!” I jumped up, holding the blanket around me. “If
this is about me, there’s no way you’re going without me.”

“Alice, it isn’t safe.”

“Exactly!” I ran to the closet to put on clothes
before he left. I don’t think I’d ever gotten dressed so quickly in
my life. “I’m a vampire now. I can take care of myself.” This I
said while struggling to put on a pair of jeans and nearly falling
over. “I beat up Jane’s boyfriend or whatever before. If you can
handle it, I can handle it.”

“No. I’m much more skilled than you are, and you just
lost blood.” He crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look
resolute.

“I don’t care.” I slipped on my
shoes and walked up to him. “We’re together now, forever. That
means if you’re in danger,
I’m
in danger. Jane needs help, and we’re going
together.”

“I don’t like it,” Jack relented.

“I don’t care.” I pushed past him, knowing that we
had to hurry to save her, and I had to hurry before he changed his
mind. He couldn’t stop me from going, but he could slow us down
with unnecessary arguing.

“Alice?” Milo opened my bedroom door before I could
even get to it. He had a bewildered, frantic look on his face. “Is
everything okay?” He pushed the door open wider and stepped inside.
“What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Why? What’s going on with you?” I narrowed
my eyes at him.

“Nothing! I just… I thought something was wrong,”
Milo floundered.

I realized what had happened. Just like I was tuned
into his heart, he was tuned into mine. It had been beating in a
panic for the last few minutes, so Milo was concerned. He probably
would’ve come in right away, but he misread it at first as being
part of me and Jack fooling around.

“Jane’s in trouble.” I chewed my lip, looking at him,
and Jack gave me a weird look. Milo was my little brother, and I’d
do almost anything to protect him. But he was a vampire, more
powerful than me, and from the sounds of it, Jane had more than one
attacker. We needed all the help we could get. “She’s in the park.
I don’t know who has her, but I think they want to kill her, and
they want us to hurry.”

“What are you talking about?” Milo tensed up, and I
could see his muscles flexing under his shirt. Someday, he’d
probably even be more powerful than Jack, especially since he had
so much control.

“I don’t know. And I don’t have time to explain. If
you want to come with, we have to go now.” I looked insistently at
him, and I knew my invitation surprised Jack. He’d expected me to
demand Milo stay here, and maybe I should’ve. But Jane might die. I
didn’t think I had much of a choice.

“I’m in,” Milo nodded once. “Let’s go.”

We’d barely made it out the bedroom door when we ran
into another snag. Bobby was in the process of pulling a sweater on
over his head when he came out of his room. He saw us in a hurry,
so he caught up with us.

“What’s going on?” Bobby asked.

“Nothing. Go back to the room.” Milo tried to make it
down the stairs, but Bobby wouldn’t stop following him. Jack and I
paused at the bottom, but I wouldn’t be able to wait long for
either of them.

“Where are you going? Why do you all look so
freaked?” Bobby’s hair had been mussed when he pulled on the
sweater, and he tried to smooth it out while keeping his eyes fixed
on Milo. “What happened?”

“Look, just go back upstairs,” Milo said. “You can’t
come with!”

“Why?” Bobby was only getting more and more freaked
out. “What are you doing?”

“It’s too dangerous for a human. Just go!” Milo
pointed up to the top of the stairs like Bobby was a disobedient
dog.

“Dangerous
?” Bobby blanched. “No! If you can get hurt, I’m going with
you!”

“We don’t have time for this! We’re going now!” I
waved my hands of it and walked to the garage. Jack was a step of
ahead of me, but Milo trailed behind us with Bobby at his
heels.

“Bobby!” Milo snapped at him when we reached the
garage. “You can’t come with!”

“No!” Bobby grabbed onto Milo’s arm and looked as if
he might cry. I wondered if this is what I had looked like when I
was mortal. “I’m not gonna stay here while you go off -”

“Get in the car,” Jack said, looking over the Lexus
at Bobby.

“What? No!” Milo protested. Jack refused to meet my
gaze, and I knew he was thinking something, but I couldn’t tell
what it was.