Forbidden Alliance: A Werewolf's Tale (Forbidden Alliance Trilogy) (6 page)

At the moment
,
it wasn’t helping and only made
me cold,
weighed
my hair down and caused my clothes to cling to my skin.

If he tries
anything
,
I
can
always rip his throat out.
He appears
harmless enough.
His body i
s as soft as ours, and the blood flowing beneath hi
s skin was a
pleasant surprise—I’m thankful
for the
bloody nose and lip
he got
thanks to a cheap shot from Tosh on the sixth play.
If you can bleed
,
you can die.
I was curious whether vampires bled as we
do
.

“
Miss
Jay Dee, get in the bloody car,” he
growled
, cocking an eyebrow.

Damn that’s hot.

“Fine,” I mumbled under my breath and sulked over to the SUV to his amusement.
When I stepped around him, I caught a whiff of his scent.
It was
even more
mouth
watering
then it was when we were playing football
, but not in an I’m-gonna-eat-you sort of way.
It was pleasantly clean
and
inviting.
That wa
s the only way I could
describe it:
clean like fresh cotton and lilacs, some
thing slightly spicy, inviting
manly musk
and refinement…if refinement had a scent
.

Softly he closed the door behind me so I made a face at him through the glass and he chuckled, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Where am I going?” Tanis asked, startling me; I hadn’t
heard
him join me.
“I am sorry.
Do you honestly think that I am going to kill you?” he asked, sounding appalled yet slightly amused at the same time.

“Huh?
Oh no, I was kidding,” I said.
“Head towards the main road and take a left; it’s about a mile and a half up.”

Tanis
nodded and adjusted the heat but it wouldn’t be warm before I got to work.
“Are you cold?” he asked, noting me rubbing my hands up and down my exposed arms in an attempt at creating heat from the friction while discretely trying to hide my boobs in case I was tit-bit-nipply.
He
didn’t wait for me to answer and shrugged out of his jacket before offering it to me.
“You are soaked.
Please put
on
the jacket,” he said before I could object.

I
was
freezing and it was pointless to argue with him.
I discovered after the first five minutes
in gym
that Tanis was always right, in his mind, and he
always
had to have the last word.
And since I didn’t want to start a fight with him over something as
stupid as a damn jacket, I slid
my arms into the ridiculously soft fabric to pacify him.
Surprisingly, the jacket was warm and it smelled strongly of him—obviously he wasn’t an ice cube.

I’ll admit I liked it.
A lot.
A lot more than I should have but what could I have done?

“Thank you for not being difficult,” Tanis said.

“
It’s pointless to argue with you, since you’re always right in your mind,” I mumbled and made a face causing him to chuckle. “
Thank
s
for giving me a ride.
You didn’t have to do that.”

“I do not have to do anything…however, I wanted to.
Do you not have a car?” he asked, turning onto the main road.

“No.
I’m saving up for one, or college...I’m not sure which one yet.
I don’t really want to do the college thing but my brother is pushing me in that direction.
I know my parents would be on cloud nine if both of their kids went to college.”

Okay, that was more than he needed to know.
It was a yes or no answer.

Tanis was quiet for a moment; he looked overly contemplative.
“Your boyfriend will not
assist
with getting you a vehicle or college funds?” he asked.

“Huh?”

Tanis’ brow furrowed.
“Yahto.
He has not offered to help with either?”

“Yahto?” I choked
then
laughed hysterically.
“Oh
,
that’s funny.”

“I do not understand,” he said.

“Yahto is my best friend.
He’s like a brother to me.
Besides, he has a scary
girlfriend who doesn’t like me, or
how close
our
relationship is.
Chicks,” I huffed and shrugged, “they aren’t worth the effort or drama.”

That made
Tanis
laugh, loudly, and it startled me.
“You are a cheeky bird.”

“I have moments,” I dryly agreed, not entirely sure if he was referring to my sense of humor or my round ass, either way
,
I couldn’t argue with him.
“Turn in here,” I
said
and continued to play
with the controls on the dash; I really liked his SUV.
“If you ever need the fluids changed I’d be happy to do it for you.”
I forced a smile and started to shrug out of his jacket.

“Keep it,” Tanis automatically said, so I did without complaint which wasn’t like me at all.
“You work here?” he asked disgustedly, which I found offensive.
“You are a cashier?” he asked
,
hopeful.

“No.
I’m a mechanic.
I’m really good at taking shit apart and putting it back together.
Jarvis
says
that
I could get into M.I.T. easily
and study robotics and shit.
Personally, I just like playing in the grease.
Thanks for the ride and I’ll return your jacket tomorrow.”

He nodded.
“
Miss Jay Dee, may
I ask you something without you getting mad as a box of frogs and stomp on me?” he asked when I started to get out.

“Depends,” I said guardedly.

“Are you skint?” he asked.

I cocked an eyebrow, no
t entirely sure what that meant.

Is that like a British version of a skank?

“Poor,” he clarified.

Compared to him, yes.
Compared to other Lhaq'temish
, no.

“We’re working class,” I said.
“Do we have hundred-thousand-dollar SUVs?
No.
My
mom drives a newer Subaru and D
ad drives a truck w
ith as much rust on it as paint
, b
ut he loves it so I keep it running.
We have a nice house, nicer than most, but it isn’t ostentatious.
I have my own bathroom and that’s more than most people have.
Do I wish we had more money?
Sure, who doesn’t?
But what would I spend it on?
I’d never buy a brand new car because it’s frivolous to spend money like that.
I got a laptop last year for my birthday...sure it weighs more than most newborns and is more than two inches thick when closed
,
but it works and serve
s
its purpose.
I’m content with what I have,” I assured him.

Damn it, again that was a yes or no answer and I turned it into a damn essay portion on a college application.

“Why do you ask?” I reluctantly asked.

“I do not know,” he admitted and looked at his watch.
“Lunch will
be over soon,” he absently said.

That was my cue to get out.

“Sorry, thanks again,” I said.

“Think nothing of it,” he
replied and forced a halfhearted smile,
and drove away once the door was closed.

What a strange vampire and an even stranger boy.

The soft knock at
the
bedroom door was followed by Toran.
“Are y
ou all right?” he asked
and took a seat on one of the chaises.
“The others said that you seem a bit
disgruntle
.
Do I need to put you on a ‘keep Tanis away from guns and clock towers’ watch?”

I snorted.
“You must be joshing.
You are well aware I do not play with heaters,” I scoffed.
“Did you mistaken me for Declan?” I snorted, rolling my eyes—comparing me to that mouthy, drunken pikey was an insult and a half.

He chuckled.
“Yes, I a
m
joshing,
and it is impossible to mistaken you
for
Declan;
you use much less profanity.”

I cocked an eyebrow.
“I surely hope it is more than
m
e
refinement and ability to speak without desecrating the English language
which
keeps you from confusing us.”

He smirked with a shrug so I threw a pillow at him causing him to roar with laughter.
“The others said you seem
distracted
,” he conceded, now that he was done thoroughly annoying me
. “However,
it is in my experience that starting
with a joke alleviates tension
, thus
I went with the postal vampire cloc
k tower-comparing you to a foul
mouthed Irishmen thing.”

Toran was not nearly as funny as he thought he was.

“I am distracted,” I admitted, ignoring his juvenile attempt at humor.

That was a good way of wording it: distracted.

“Would you like to talk about it?” he pressed, going into father-mode.

I had known Toran since my first day of embracing the dark gift.
He wasn’t my sire by venom
,
but he was in a matter of speaking; siring was more than just creating, it was nurturing and rearing.
I hardly remembered my biological parents; the memories
had
fade
d
over the centuries.
It was disheartening
,
however,
I eventually accepted it.
Through Toran’s guidance I learned that with everything in life it was a give and take.
I was given immortality and my human memories were taken as a result, and that way of thinking planted the seed of acceptance
in me
.

Misinterpreting my silence, Toran sighed.
“Tanis, I know you a
re
upset
because we had to leave Paris in a
hurry
...think of this as a new beginning.
It was only a matter of time before we had to relocate.
We were in Paris for more than a decade
and that was pushing it
.
I brought you and the others to Lummi in order to clear your head…and Sam was unexpectantly at the other estate,” he
quickly
mumbled the last part under his breath, looking away from me and I made a face before shaking my head—that was all I didn’t need
;
to deal with Sam after a hasty relocation.
“Everything will work out,” he assured me when I didn’t say anything.
“Maybe after a couple of years we can go to Moscow or Amsterdam again.
It will get better, I promise.”