Out of the Dark (Forbidden Love) (21 page)

     “No,” Brea told him.  “You have to drink. 
Now.”

     “I can’t take it,” Angel said.

     “I am giving it to you freely, now damn it stop being a fool.  Bite me now.”  Angel looked at her with uncertainty in his eyes, but held her wrist tight as he sank his fangs into the vein of her wrist.  This time, the pain was quick and fleeting.  Brea maneuvered herself to sit behind Angel with his head resting against her chest.  She kept her arm firmly in place at his mouth while wrapping the other arm around his chest.  The gentle sucking noises he was making should have disturbed Brea, but they didn’t.  She felt a sense of power thrumming through her body.  It was a heady thing to hold someone’s life in her hands.  She held him as he drank, noticing that her arm was getting warmer, along with the rest of her body.  The sensation wasn’t unpleasant.

     Angel drank until he could hold no more,
then closed his eyes.  He remembered to swipe his tongue across the wound he made, closing it, just before he drifted off to sleep again.

     “Will he be alright?” Brea asked Ricco, who was standing there holding a glass of blood. 

     “I think so, but he will need to drink more today, and more tonight.  He will likely sleep most of the time.  And, we are going to have to reset that leg before it heals wrong.  Will you be able to stay?”

     “Yes.  I’m afraid if I don’t, he’ll do something even worse than he already has.”

     “Do not feel obligated, Brea.  We have the supply you left for him.”

     “No, I want to.  I am at least a little bit responsible for this whole mess.”

     “No, you’re not.  He wouldn’t want you to feel that way.  He would want you to stay because you love him, not because you feel you have to.”

     “I don’t know about love,” Brea said, “but I care.  I don’t want the fool to die.  And don’t get me wrong, I’m still pissed. 
For a lot of reasons, but mostly because he could have killed himself.”

    
“Whatever you say, Brea.”  Ricco turned to Keelie.  “Can you help us get him up the stairs?”

     “No problem,” Keelie replied.  In one swift movement, she had Angel in her arms and
was carrying him up the stairs.  Ricco opened Angel’s bedroom door and Keelie laid him on the bed.  Brea had a nearly irresistible urge to laugh.  The sight of Keelie’s slight frame supporting Angel’s large one was comical at minimum.  That was one of the advantages of having a wolf friend.  Exceptional strength.

     “Hold him down,” Keelie said.  Brea and Ricco both held Angel’s shoulders to the mattress.  Keelie ran her hands along Angel’s broken leg, inspecting the break.  “Here goes,” she said giving both Brea and Ricco warning looks before she acted. 

     With a quick jerk, Keelie snapped the bones back into place.  It made a sickening crack.  Angel cried out and lunged up off the bed.

     “It’s ok, it’s done now,” Brea said to him, shoving his shoulder back down.  Angel quieted and relaxed.  Soon, his breathing returned to normal and he was asleep again.

     Brea got in bed beside Angel and pushed his hair from his face.  She was willing to bet it hadn’t seen a hairbrush in a few days, nor had his body seen the shower.  He didn’t smell very pleasant.  But Brea found that it did not matter.  As long as she could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest, everything else would work itself out.  Eventually, Brea dozed off.

     Angel was dreaming again, he was sure of it.  For the last two weeks, that was all he did.  He dreamed of Brea.  In every dream, he apologized.  He begged her to stay with him.  In every dream, she walked away.  The pain in Angel’s chest became heavier every day, and yet he still hoped that one night he would wake up to find her beside him. 

     The physical pain he felt was proof that he had not fed in too long.  Every inch of his body burned, every inch
screamed for him to drink.  But in Angel’s mind, there was no reason to do it.  He lost all that had been important in his life.

     And he had dreamed that Brea came home!  He dreamed that she fed him from her wrist, trying to save his pitiful life!  He could still smell her
; the scent of roses in bloom surrounded him.  He could feel her next to him, curling her slender fingers in his hair, brushing her hand over his chest. 
This must be the end
, he thought,
for now I know I am awake.  I must be
hallucinating
. 

     Angel forced his eyes open.  She was there,
lying beside him.  He raised a hand to touch her face, ignoring the burn of his parched muscles and his desiccated throat.  If he wasn’t really seeing her, he would die happily with her hallucination in his arms.

     “You’re awake,” Brea said.

      Angel opened his mouth to speak, but Brea shushed him.  “Don’t try to talk now, you’re too weak.  You need to feed again.”  Brea could plainly see the pain in his eyes, and couldn’t help but to feel bad knowing she had caused at least some of it.  She offered her wrist to him again, but Angel shook his head weakly.

     “Kiss,” he managed to croak.  Brea could not refuse him.  She leaned over his body and pressed her lips to his.  She felt a stab of pain in her heart when she felt how dry and cracked his lips were.  But Angel didn’t appear to mind.  He ran his tongue over her lips and Brea opened to
accept him.  Even though he was weak, he kissed her with all the passion he could manage.

     Brea broke away from his lips, but Angel did not release her.  He kissed her jaw and her throat.  The pulse in her neck called to him like a siren
’s song, but he ignored it. 

     “Do it,” Brea whispered, lowering her head.  “Go ahead.  I want you to.”

     Angel wanted to believe her.  He had wanted to taste her from the first moment he laid eyes on her.  The memory of her taste from his dream was fresh in his mind, urging him to take what she offered.  But if he was dying and she was no more than a hallucination, what could it hurt?  Brea made the decision for him.  She placed her hand under his head and raised it up so that his mouth was touching her neck. 

     Angel’s body acted without permission from his mind.  He had gone too long without feeding.  His mouth opened and his fangs
unerringly found their mark.  Brea felt only a flash of pain when Angel’s sharp fangs slipped into her vein.  The pain was quickly replaced with pleasure.  It wasn’t like when he bit her wrist.  This was a far more sensual feeling.  Brea could almost see Angel’s strength returning.  He lifted his arms to hold her close to his body, his grip getting tighter.  Brea could not stop the moan that escaped her lips.

     She was unaware when Angel’s actions changed from feeding to kissing.  But he was kissing her neck, swirling his tongue over her skin.  He moved up her neck and back to her lips.  He kissed her with fervor, trying to say all the things he wanted to tell her.  When he finally allowed Brea to catch her breath, he spoke.

     “Brea,” he breathed.

     “Yes baby,” she replied.

     “I am not dreaming.”

     “No.
”

     “And you are really here?”

     “Yes.”

     “I’m so sorry,” he started.  But Brea wouldn’t have it.

     “Not now,” she said.  “Now you rest.  We will talk when you are better.”

    
“But.”

     “No buts.  I want you to rest.  I want you to get stronger so I don’t feel so bad when I kick your ass.”

     Angel chuckled.  The movement reminded him of how much pain he was still in.  His body hurt, especially his leg.  He groaned and tried to roll over.  He gasped and grabbed at his right leg.  “You broke it,” Brea explained.  “Keelie reset it, but I think she had to re-break it first.  Try not to move it for a while.”

     “Come here,” he whispered.  Brea snuggled up to his side, laying her head on his shoulder and her arm over his middle.  Angel wrapped his arm around her and breathed in her scent.  His head was still woozy and he was exhausted.  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.  Then he closed his eyes.  Just before he let sleep take him, he whispered, “
Je t’aime
. 

    
“I know, I’ve been a fool,” Angel said, looking at the floor.  He was sitting in a chair like a disciplined schoolboy while Brea paced in front of him.  Brea was satisfied that he would live, and now she was giving him a piece of her mind.  A very large piece.

     “Why didn’t you ask me how I felt about it?  What made you think that you could make that decision for me?” she snapped, waving her arms in the air.

     “I wasn’t thinking, Brea, I just did it.  If I could do it again, I would, only differently.”

     “You mean you might have asked first?”

     “Yes.  I would have explained it to you.  I would have made sure you understood all that the mating entails.  I would have waited until you were ready.”

     “And if I had said no?” she asked with her hands on her hips.  Brea had been chewing him out for about an hour, and it didn’t look like she would stop any time soon.  Angel took it, though.  He felt that he deserved it just as much as Brea did.

     “I would have respected your wishes.”

     “But instead, you have chosen my life for me.  When I first met you, I thought you were a presumptuous, spoiled, ass.  You have proven without a doubt that my first impression was right.  You take without being given.  Just tell me, is it because you are famous?  Or is it because you’re a Clan Leader?  Is it just a vampire thing?”

     “I am afraid that it is just me.  I have never taken from someone anything that was not freely given, not before you.  I cannot help myself around you.  My entire life revolves around you.  It has since the first time I saw you.  I can’t say how sorry I am enough.  What else can I do to make this right for you?”  Even though Brea was yelling at him, Angel kept his voice even and calm.  He knew he deserved every bit of her wrath, and then some.  He was actually a little surprised she hadn’t resorted to physical violence.  At least once, he truly thought she was going to.

     “I don’t know that you can make it right, Angel.  But I am willing to work with you.  But I have some rules.”

     “Anything,” he promised.

     “I will not move in.  Not yet.  I will stay at my apartment, I will keep my job, and I will come
and go as I please.”

     “That is reasonable,” Angel agreed.

     “I’m not done.  When I am not here, you will drink the blood that I leave for you.  It isn’t exactly pleasant to drain it in the first place, and you will not insult me by letting it spoil.”

     “Ok,” he said.  “Is that all?”

     “No.  You will not go about acting like I belong to you.  Because I don’t.  If I want to go out with friends, you will not follow behind me acting like a jealous fool.  And stop with the flowers and gifts.  It is unnecessary and a little bit much.  My apartment will forever smell of roses.  Poor Brandon even smells like roses.  Not that he really minds, but it isn’t a very manly smell.  And, furthermore, you will keep your hands to yourself unless I say differently.  You will ask before you touch me.  Is that clear?” she snapped.  The last thing she needed was for him to break her resolve by twisting her thinking with passion.

     “But I like touching you,” he whined.

     “I know.  But if I am to be tied to you forever, I want to make sure it is you that I want, not your dick.”  Angel couldn’t help but smile at her bold statement.  Her requests, well, demands, were perfectly logical. 

     “You make a good argument,
Mon Amour
,” Angel sighed.

     “And that’s another thing, stop saying things in languages I don’t understand. 
I can’t think straight when you are assaulting me with French sayings of affection and what not.”

     “No,” he said.

     “No?”

     “I will always tell you how I feel.  If you prefer English, then so be it.  But I will not stop telling you how I adore you.”

     Brea felt a tug at her heart.  Hadn’t she wanted him to say those very words to her?  And now that he had, she had to fight the urge to melt like butter on a hot roll.  Fearing she may lose her resolve, she sighed and threw her hands in the air.  “Fine!  But it sounds prettier in French.  And you will shave.  Preferably sooner than later.” She pointed at the growth on his face.  Really, it didn’t look too bad, but she much preferred his face smooth.  Since he was in agreement with basically all her demands, she was going for broke with it.

     “I will do that now, if it pleases you,
Mon Amour
,” he laughed.

     “It does and it will,” Brea said glaring at him through narrow eyes.

     “Wow, that was harsh,” Rebel said as Angel left the room to shower and shave.  He had been hiding out just beyond the door while Brea chastised his leader.

     “Was I too hard on him?” Brea asked.

     “Nothing he will not survive,” Rebel remarked.  “I think he deserved most of it.”

     “I need to use the phone,” Brea admitted.  “I don’t trust him to behave right now, so I better call in to work.  John won’t be happy, but I won’t leave Angel right now.”