Stolen Sun (The Juliana Lucio Series) (5 page)

M
uch to my disappointment
,
we didn’t take out the Audi
.
She
was a perfect two-seater, so we took the Range Rover out to one of William’s favorite hunting grounds, a local dive bar. He said if he were
coming along for the ride to save our asses, it was going to be on his terms this time. I didn’t
care much where we went as long as I didn’t
kill anyone again
.
Ana put up a silent protest and sat in the back.

When we got to the bar, it was dark, dingy,
and
reeked of cigarette smoke with an undertone of sweet smelling blood. The place was
relatively
small with about 30 tables scattered along the walls of the one story club. It had an oval shaped bar situated a little off center and had piped-in classic rock music coming in from the overhead speakers. There was a band setting up in the corner on a small stage, and I was beginning to dread just what kind of music was going to come from the three man band setting up.

We found a table and William ordered a round of the house beer
.
I looked at William questioningly and he just shrugged, “You have to play the part if you want to fit in, especially in a bar. We order drinks
,
they’ll leave us alone.”

The band had finished setting up by now and had played a few oldies as warm-ups, while
William’s
eyes were roaming over the crowd. I was curious to see his “hunting style".
Ana picked ‘em off alone in the dark, and here
,
William was going to do it in a crowded bar.

As I was watching him
,
his eyes finally stopped on a twenty-something blond who was trying hard not to stare at William, but failing. She was with a group of about four other women, and they were discussing how hot they thought he was
.
S
he was betting money she could get him away from me should we start to dance. Of course, she didn’t
realize we could hear her from across the crowded room.

He just turned and looked at me with a mischievous smile as he held out his hand and said, “Dance with me?”

“You aren’t going to do it here are you?”

“Of course not. You are.” His smile was growing by the second as he pulled me to the dance floor.

“William, I can’t do this here, you saw what happened last time—please, let’s go somewhere else.”

The band was starting to play a cover of The Rolling Stones,
Beast of Burden
, as William pulled me into a tight embrace and began moving seductively with me in his arms. I couldn’t
help but follow his lead. He bent his mouth close to my ear as he spoke to me.

“She is going to come over here, and we will both dance with her
-- together. I don’t want you to take your eyes off of me the entire time; I will help you stay here.”

He spun me around and had my arms wrapped around myself as he moved with me from behind
.
I heard him take a deep breath to take in my scent as he continued to speak through my hair.

“Once she is fully mesmerized you will give her a small bite
;
it will appear to her friends that you are kissing her
shoulder.
Stay
connected to me I will help keep you grounded. Here she comes, love. Showtime.”

He spun me back around to a front embrace and moved slowly; holding me tight against his chest and pressing his hips into mine. Miss
Blond-haired-home-wrecker was dancing by herself and way too close to William if we hadn’t already known what she was up to.
She started trailing her fingers along his shoulder and moving around him in such a way that she lightly brushed her breasts along his back
.
I found myself watching her and getting angry even though I knew it was what she was going to do.

William drew my arm up and draped it around his neck, he bent over me, and though it looked as if he was kissing
my neck he was whispering in my ear, “Keep your emotions in check, and allow her in.”

I made eye contact with him and found myself once again trusting those deep brown eyes with
s
pecks
of gold. I just nodded to him as blond-haired-bimbo made her way around William. He loosened up on me and gave her a small gap that
she tried to sas
hay
her way into
;
we let her into the gap closing our arms around her on either side of her,
never letting go of each other
’s
hands.

She looked a little startled that I was still there
but went with it probably confident she would push me out in just seconds. She began to press her ample chest up against William, and I found myself on the verge of baring my fangs.
What was with this jealousy?
William gave me a slight shake of the head, all the while maintaining eye contact with me.

 
Pressed
this close to her, I could hear her heart beating over the drums of the band; I could smell her mixture of sweat and desire, it was all incredibly intoxicating. I wasn’t sure how long I was going to hold out--let alone do this without anyone knowing.

William slowly moved my arms so they were resting on either one of bottle-blondie, and I began my own seductive dance behind her, similar to the one William had done with me earlier. I was watching William, and instead of thinking of the woman’s heartbeat in front me
,
I tried to concentrate on the man, and the trust I had in him; even though I still barely knew him.

He gave me an almost imperceptible nod of his head, as he did
,
her head dropped back and rested on my chest. William reached over and moved her hair back from her shoulder as I lowered my mouth to the crook where her shoulder meets her neck. Once my lips were touching her skin, I slowly let my fangs sink in
;
at the first rush of cinnamon sweet blood
,
I almost shut my eyes at the ecstasy of it but remembered William and where we were, just as quickly.

William whispered, “Go slow, and keep looking at me.”

I swallowed it all and kept it from spilling down my face like the first time
;
after just a few long pulls
,
William told me to let her go. His eyes never wavered from mine. I slowly retracted my fangs
and licked her neck to remove any evidence of what I had done. The instant I finished
,
William opened our arms to pull me to him and let my blond-haired-home-wrecking-blood-donor go by the wayside.

He brought me to him in a crushing embrace and pressed his mouth firmly to mine. As he did
,
I let a low moan escape me, and he took the opportunity to run his tongue along my fangs. I could smell his desire for me, as well as
feel it, growing firmer as he pulled me tighter against him
.
A
s he continued to kiss me
,
he let his hand trail down to firmly grab my ample behind.

“Are you done here?” Ana said tensely
.
S
he was standing next to us, for how long I wasn’t
sure, and really it didn’t
matter because she could see and hear everything from across the room anyway.

“Yeah, Jules just had a spot of blood on her.” William replied as he slowly pushed back from me and gave her an innocent boyish smile. To that
,
Ana just huffed out annoyingly and strode out of the place leaving William and I to stand there in an awkward silence.

“Thank You . . . for keeping me from killing her, not the kiss . . . not that the kiss wasn’t great and all, it’s just well . . .”

William just burst out laughing at my fumbling of words
,
and followed Ana out the door, leaving me standing alone on the dance floor. As I turned to leave myself, I spared a quick glance for the blond and saw that she and all her friends were sitting there gawking at me. I guess that kiss got more than just Ana’s attention.

Once I made it outside, I found William and Ana heading toward the truck; I
,
however,
went
to stand on the curb to hail a cab. It didn’t
take long for either of them to notice my absence, and Ana was soon at my side.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

“When I said I was leaving earlier, I meant it, I have plans tonight. Now that I’ve fed, you don’t need to worry about me ‘eating the neighbors’. I’ll be fine; I’ll come home before the shutters go up. Promise.”

“I’m going with you; you haven’t been out alone yet.”

“No, you aren’t invited. I’ll see you at the house,” I said tensely.

I didn’t
know if she knew where my family lived, but if not
,
I didn’t
want to tell her. I also knew she didn’t
approve of my seeing them, afraid I’d reveal our existence to them. I wasn’t
planning on letting them see me, but I did have to see them, to know how they were doing. I also knew very well that it was going to be one of the hardest things I had ever done, walking away from them knowing they were in pain, and I didn’t
want or need an audience for it.

“Fine. Be careful.”

She turned on her heel and was gone before I knew it. Even with my vampire senses she was still faster than I could notice if she
caught me off guard.

I put my arm out to hail a taxi and two of them stopped almost immediately, barely avoiding crashing into one another. I was leaning to get the door when I heard my name just over the sound of traffic.

“Jules.”

I looked over to see William staring at me with that knowing look
.
I wondered if he was going to rat me out, to stop me from going.

“Thanks for the dance,” he said as he turned to get into his black Range Rover.

I climbed into the taxi, gave the driver the address for a block down from my house and rested my head on the back seat while I closed my eyes. I tried to imagine what I might see when I got home, what it might be like to watch my family like a peeping-tom. It was
impossible
to prepare myself I knew, but I didn’t
want to be totally unprepared for it all
.
T
he drive seemed to take just seconds, and I was feeling clammy as I paid the man and eased my way out of the back of the dirty cab. I walked the rest of the way home with my head down and sticking to the shadows. I started to breathe in the familiar smells of fresh cut grass and honey-suckle bushes lining the backyards. Hearing the sounds of the neighborhood, of the occasional dog
barking
had brought both a sense of home and longing as well as
deep profound sadness.

I took the street that lined the back of mine, and when I got to the house that shared a dividing wall with mine, I slowly crept to the edge of the wall. I looked up to see their seven-foot tall block wall, and without giving it a second thought I gave my legs the slightest bend and jumped right over it in one graceful bound. I made for the backyard wall and gave a slight pause so I could listen for the sound of anyone outside of my house.

My husband and I used to spend our nights outside, talking, drinking wine, and looking at the stars. Though it was late for that now, who knew what his schedule had been like for the past week?  Assured
that all was clear I gave another slight push, and I was up and over the wall
;
this time I landed in a low crouch to
keep
myself better hidden.

I took a minute to take in the house and its surroundings
;
it was nowhere near as lavish or considerable as the one Ana and William shared
.
I
t was just a simple middle-class house, but it was the home I raised my children in. I loved this place and its memories, the overgrown yard with a huge tree in back.  The crooked tree house that Antonio had built for the boys with
its ‘No Mom’s Allowed’ sign nailed to the front of it. I loved everything about it, but mostly what was inside right now. I could hear four distinct heartbeats inside
;
I wasn’t
sure who the fourth belonged to, but I was going to find out.

The light was
on
in the kitchen and as I moved closer to the house I could see Antonio at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, sitting across from our neighbor Talia. She was reaching across to rub his arm in a soothing manner
,
and I could feel my fangs lengthening. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to focus on the smells and sounds of the neighborhood again.

I told myself that Antonio wasn’t
doing anything wrong
;
Talia was just trying to comfort him over my
loss
that
was all. After all, I was the one who had kissed another man tonight. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at my husband’s strong, beautiful features
;
he had dark circles under his eyes, he hadn’t shaved in days, and his hair was a mess. He looked awful, he looked utterly exhausted, it was a shock to see him like this.