Scent of a White Rose (6 page)

Christian placed me by the railing. "Stay here.
I'll bring her right out to you."

I gripped the railing so hard that my knuckles
turned white.
Damn it, I knew I should have followed her up
here.
I heard some rustling and low voices, but no more
screams. I guess that was a good sign. Suddenly, Jillian appeared
from behind the curtain with a napkin pressed to her neck.

I rushed to hug her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine. I broke a glass and a couple
stray pieces flew into my neck." She pulled away the blood-soaked
napkin revealing two small, bloody dots.

"Oh, thank God. I thought that strange guy was
raping you or something."

She laughed. "He's not strange and he's no
stranger. I've known Justin for a while."

I should have felt relieved, but instead a layer
of annoyance settled over me. "How do you know him? I've never seen
him before. Does he go to our school?"

Dabbing at her neck again she said, "No. He
doesn't go to our school. I met him in the yoga class I take at
night over at the gym."

"Yoga? Since when do you take yoga? And what
would a guy like that be doing in a yoga class?" I could tell by
the look on Jill's face that I had sounded sarcastic.

"Picking up pretty girls of course," a
smart-assed voice replied. I looked up to see
Justin
as he
made his way out of the private room with Christian and Dax
following closely behind. He was definitely Jill's type: longer
blonde hair, blue eyes, great body.
Wow. Yoga does a body
good!

"Hi, I'm Justin." He extended his hand, which I
did not take.

I'm not sure why I felt so pissed towards this
guy, but I did. "I'm Rose, Jillian's best friend. So exactly how
long have you two known each other?"

"About four months." Jillian's tone was clipped.
I could tell she thought I was being rude.
Too bad.

"Huh. Four months and I've heard nothing about
you." I turned to stomp towards the stairs.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Jill grabbed my
arm. "When you were outside throwing your hissy fit, I ran into
Justin. We danced and then he invited me up here. We were having a
good time, then I broke a glass and screamed. Next thing I know
Christian and this brute," she flicked a thumb towards Dax, "come
busting in. And now here you are being all shitty. What's up?"

I didn't have an explanation for her. I should
have been relieved that she was okay, but instead I felt angry and
annoyed. Right as I started to let my temper loose for the second
time tonight, Christian eased up beside me and placed a calming
hand on my lower back. It was just what I needed.

I looked at Jill who had gravitated towards
Justin. Once I took a moment to really process the scene, I could
tell that he was worried about her. He was holding her hand in one
of his, and with the other, reached up and slipped fingers under
the curtain of her hair and started massaging tiny circles at the
back of her neck.

I exhaled a breath to calm myself. "Look, I'm
sorry. It's just when I saw you disappear with someone that I
thought
was a stranger, and then I heard you scream...it
just really scared me." Feeling embarrassed, I tried to play it
off. "I guess Dad's over protectiveness is starting to rub off on
me a little." I couldn't tell her why I was really upset...I
couldn't tell anyone.

"Why don't you and Justin join us so I can get
to know him a little better?" After almost blowing it with
Christian, and now with Jillian, I wasn't sure it was possible, but
I really wanted to try to end tonight on a high note.

Just then, I caught Justin eyeing Christian who
had just exchanged a brief look with Dax. "Thank you, but I should
really be going." Justin kissed Jillian on the cheek and darted
down the stairs. Now I really felt bad because I had just chased
off my best friend's boy toy for the evening. Can you say
cock-block?

Just as I started to ask Christian if we could
head back downstairs, Dax nudged his shoulder. "Can I speak with
you privately?"

"Sure," Christian replied. Kissing me once more,
he left Jill and I standing alone at the top of the stairs.
Awesome.

* * * * *

CHAPTER TEN

Visitors

(Christian)

After kissing Rose once more, Dax and I ducked
back into Justin's private room. This was always the one he
reserved for his visitors. Justin was a vampire from a clan that
resided just east of Masen.

Evangeline had made it a point to let all the
vampire clans in the area know that they were always welcome at The
Rising Pit, as long as they followed her rules.

Rule 1: Don't feed in public.

Rule 2: Make each feeding pleasant for your
guest.

Rule 3: Make sure your guest doesn't
remember.

Rule 4:
Never
kill.

Simple enough. There had never been a problem
with anyone following the rules. On average, there were only about
six or seven vampires that visited per night, and since there were
fifteen private rooms, that always meant there was a private place
available for them to feed.

Making their visitor's experience pleasurable
was just as easy as making them forget. Every vampire has a
"sedative" that flows from their fangs; the instant that they
pierced a vein, all they had to do was
program
their desires
into that sedative. Tonight it was obvious that Justin's sedative
had worked in order to make Jillian believe that she had been cut
by stray shards from a broken glass.

"That was close," Dax bluntly stated.

"Yeah, I know. I would have never imagined that
the one person Justin decided to feed on tonight would be Rose's
best friend. What are the odds?"

"Well actually, the odds are pretty good." That
sounded ominous. "I scanned Justin and the best friend. She was
telling the truth. She and Justin do know each other; apparently he
feeds from her all the time. Yoga is the cover story if you hadn't
guessed."

Damn. How was I supposed to keep Rose from
learning my secret if she was not only going to be moving out and
coming here more often, but also had a best friend that was the
chosen guest of one of our regular vamps. Man, this sucked.

"Justin really does like Jillian if that helps
at all." Dax was trying to make me feel better. It wasn't
working.

Just as we finished cleaning, the curtains
parted and Evangeline walked in. "Did we have a problem? I saw Rose
and her friend outside."

"No. No problem." Dax kissed her on the cheek.
"We were just cleaning up Justin's mess. What I got from my scan
was that when things had gotten a little hot and heavy between him
and Jillian, she screamed in delight. Then he heard Rose and
Christian coming, and that's when he broke the glass to use as his
cover."

"That was quick thinking on Justin's part."
Frown lines appeared on Evie's forehead, evidence that she was
concentrating on something else. Suddenly her eyes widened and her
head snapped in my direction. "How does Rose know Terrance?"

"What?" I was shocked, then I realized that she
was scanning the girls outside as we spoke.

"I'm scanning Jillian and her memory of the
evening is just as you described. She knows Justin from 'yoga'.
They were making out up here, and then she broke a glass, sending
pieces flying into her neck. What I don't understand is why I just
saw an image of Terrance float through Rose's mind." Evie stared at
me.

"I have no idea." I was starting to feel
panicked when I suddenly remembered that she had been with me when
Terrance broke out of the woods the other night. "She saw him
coming out of the woods the other night, remember?"

Evie stood silently for a few more moments.
"Right now, she's thinking of everyone she's met here: Dom, Tori,
us, and though Terrance flashed through her mind just a moment ago,
he's no longer present in her subconscious."

Relieved, I sat down on the couch. "I just wish
that we would get a sign of the new Sire already. I'm so sick of
keeping my life from her. I want to tell her the truth."

Evie made her way over to the couch and sat down
beside me. "I know it's hard Christian, but until you have approval
from the new Sire that the change will be made, you know you can't
tell Rose about us."

I knew she was right, but I just couldn't help
thinking how much easier it would be if Rose knew about us. I
couldn't wait to start making plans with her, maybe even move in
together. And the best part was, I'd finally be able to feed from
her. But that just wasn't going to happen any time soon. "Are we
done here? I need to get back to Rose."

"Yes, we're done." Evie looked sympathetic as
she took Dax's hand and headed towards the curtained exit. "I feel
so bad for him," I heard her whisper.

"Don't feel bad for me Evie. I know it will all
work out soon."

Suddenly, she whipped around and launched
herself directly at me, grabbing me by my shirt as she slammed me
down onto the couch. "What the hell?" I yelled.

The curtains flew open, and I saw Rose and
Jillian standing there, trying to take in the scene before them. I
was lying on the couch as Evangeline hovered over me, both hands
wadded in the front of my shirt.

"What the hell's going on here?" Rose
demanded.

Evangeline stared deeply into my eyes before
smoothing the front of my shirt back in place, and then she
plastered a smile on her face. "Christian just saved me," she said
as she righted herself. "My heel snapped and thankfully he broke my
fall."

I looked at Evie and got the distinct feeling
that something major had just happened between us, but I truly had
no idea what it was, and now was obviously not the time to find
out. She bent down and removed her shoe, which did in fact have a
broken heel. After apologies and polite goodnights, she and Dax
left the room.

Rose turned back to me with a skeptical look on
her face. I remembered that she had questioned Evie and my
relationship when we'd first started dating. I had told her the
truth then; that she was the only one for me and had nothing to
worry about. And I was going to tell her the truth now; I was in
love with her and only her. But right now, instead of telling her,
I just really wanted to show her. "Jillian, could you excuse us for
a few minutes?”

* * * * *

(Rose)

Jillian took Christian's hint and left us alone.
"What really happened with Evangeline?" I asked. I didn't like that
I was questioning Christian, but walking in here to find him
sprawled underneath his gorgeous boss on the couch, had really set
off the jealousy bugs in my brain.

"Rose, I promise nothing strange was going on.
Dax and I were cleaning up the broken glass and she came in to
check to make sure everything was okay. She tripped on something
and then the next thing I knew...boom; we landed on the couch."

I guess I believed him; I mean Dax
had
been standing right there. "Alright. I believe you." I sat down on
the couch and let him pull me close.
Finally, time
alone.

It felt so amazing to be wrapped in his arms. He
maneuvered me so I was lying on top of him. "Have I told you how
sexy you look tonight?" he asked.

"No you haven't."

"Then how about I show you instead?"

Christian's kiss was sweet at first, but with
the way his hands rubbed up and down my sides as I laid on top of
him, it didn't take long for our passion to heat up. "I want you so
much."

Christian's breathing was heavy and small moans
repeatedly escaped his lips. "I want you too, Rose. More than you
can possibly know. But we can't. Not here."

I was so disappointed. I was writhing like a
snake on top of him and didn't think it would take much more for
him to raise my dress and let me turn our private party into
something truly intimate.

"Rose, you have to stop. You're driving me
crazy, and I have to get back to work." Christian's voice carried a
hint of laughter and a dash of frustration. I was glad that I
wasn't the only one who felt frustrated.

We proceeded to make out for another few minutes
until Christian's self discipline had him heading back to work for
real.

"I don't want to leave." I sounded like a pouty
twelve year old.

"And I don't want you to leave." Christian
kissed me long and slow. "But you have to. Plus, now that you have
your bracelet, you can come in whenever you have the chance."

"You're right, but it will still be only once a
month until I'm able to move out."

The look on his face reminded me that he wasn't
thrilled with this idea, but right now was not the time to discuss
it. Plus, soon enough, he would see things my way. Everyone
would.

* * * * *

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Terrance

(Evie)

"Evie, what's wrong? You seem distracted," Dax
asked.

"I'm going to talk to Terrance. I'm still
feeling uneasy about seeing him in Rose's thoughts tonight. I of
course remembered that she'd had seen him coming out of the woods
recently, but I had a gut feeling that there was more to it than
that. I didn't mention anything before, because I didn't want to
alarm Christian."

"How on earth could Rose know Terrance?"

"I have no idea, but you can damn sure bet that
I'm going to find out." I turned and stomped towards my office to
make use of my private entrance into the rising pit, leaving Dax to
deal with the club's closing.

There were a number of things about tonight that
had me feeling on edge: the strange image of Terrance in Rose's
mind, the fact Rose's best friend ended up being Justin's chosen
visitor, and the most shocking?; Christian had commented on
something that I had
thought
–not said.