What is it about him? I’ve only known him a few days and I can’t get him off my mind. I know that he is dangerous, that I can’t trust him and yet…I’m drawn to him beyond all reason and logic. It doesn’t help that he is devastatingly handsome and sexy as hell…He fascinates me and intrigues me. And the looks that he sends me sometimes…I fear that I might just melt on the spot the next time I see that potent desire lingering in his eyes. It makes me ache for him…but it’s more than that. I am beginning to feel more than just lust and that scares me more than anything, more than not knowing who I am. I’m not in control of myself anymore…he is taking control of me, one touch at a time.
A twig snapping in the distance brought Ally back into the present. Her eyes scanned the darkness beyond the well-lit porch she was sitting on, but she saw nothing. Maybe he was out there watching her? No…she had a sense that she’d know if it was him. This was something or someone else. Her senses were on high alert and her stomach tightened in anticipation.
“Hello?” She called out cautiously.
Another twig snapped.
She stood up, ready to flee back inside if she had to, before she called out again. “I know you’re there. So come on out.”
A trilling laugh bounced of the trees and the walls all around her. She couldn’t distinguish where the sound was coming from. The sound set her teeth on edge. She almost wished that Vincent was here right now, despite her misgivings about him, she knew he’d be able to protect her.
She tried one last time to coax whoever it was out of the trees. “You’ve thirty seconds then I’m going inside. So if you want to say something to me then get it over with.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be any fun,” a sickly sweet voice responded. “Alright, I’m coming out.”
Ally stood immobile. She hadn’t actually thought of what to do if the person actually came out. But at least it was another woman not a man, she reasoned with herself. Eyes constantly scanning back and forth until her eyes landed on white blonde hair, huge blue eyes and a leather clad to die for figure. Her mouth hung open as she watched the woman approach.
“Not what you were expecting huh?” Natalia laughed coldly.
“Uh, not exactly,” She replied honestly and closed her mouth. “Who are you?”
“Natalia,” she replied. The wicked glee shone in her eyes. “You really don’t remember a thing do you?”
Ally groaned internally. This woman was already grating on her nerves. “No I don’t, but why do I get the feeling that actually makes you happy?”
Natalia gasped and put her hand to her chest. “Why Ally, how could you think that? Of course, I’m not happy. I’m absolutely devastated.” She finished the sentence with a small laugh and a smirk.
“We’re not friends, are we?” Ally guessed.
“No, we were enemies and now it seems we’re rivals,” she spat. “You won’t get him. He’s mine.”
Ally furrowed her brow. “Vincent?”
“Of course. Who else would I be talking about?”
“Dunno. I lost my memory remember,” Ally returned sarcastically.
Natalia let out a low growl of displeasure.
“Did you actually growl at me?” She exclaimed.
“He’s changing!” Natalia spat. “Stay away from him. He is mine!”
“And if he doesn’t want you?”
“What would you even know about him or the love that we share.” She took a step toward Ally, who matched her movement.
“I may not know ‘about the love you share’ but I know that if he really was yours then you wouldn’t feel the need to stand here threatening me away from the man that supposedly loves you.”
Natalia’s furious screech filled the air. “He does love me. You’re just a toy. He’ll come back to me. He always does!”
“Oh no Natalia, I think the truth is that you were always just the toy that he played with when nothing else was around to catch his interest,” she paused to let the insult slide in and was rewarded with a glare that medusa herself would have been proud of. “This has happened before hasn’t it?”
“Stop changing him. I’m warning you little girl. Very bad things are going to happen to you and to him if you change his nature.”
“I can’t change something that doesn’t want to be changed,” Ally quipped back.
“Screw it,” Natalia screamed. “He’ll thank me one day for killing you.”
The next second Ally saw something that she was sure would haunt her for the rest of her days. Natalia the beauty melted away and in her place was a red eyed beast filled with rage and blood lust. Ally screamed and took a step back from her. Natalia crouched ready to pounce. Ally didn’t know exactly what she was looking at, but she knew that whatever Natalia actually was, she could and would kill her in the next ten seconds. There was nothing she could do.
“Any last words?” Natalia said with a smirk.
She forced the tremble from her voice. “Good luck when the next woman comes along.”
Her red eyes burned brighter then she pounced.
Ally closed her eyes waiting for the impact and praying that it would be quick. All too soon, she felt the impact. A wall of solid stone slammed into her and knocked her to the ground. The breath left her lungs in a whoosh and her head slammed into the floor. Her vision swam. Two people fought in front of her. Red frantic eyes darted in and out of her vision before their owner turned and ran into the black night.
The other person turned and dove to her side. “Alessandra,” the fear was evident in his voice. She looked up into his eyes and saw the same emotion there. “Alessandra. Please say something. Did she hurt you?”
Ally tried to shake her head but it hurt too much to move. “No,” she mumbled. “I think you did.”
Vincent let out a breathy laugh. “I’m sorry. I heard Natalia and my heart stopped. I knew exactly who she was talking to and I...I... feared that I would be too late to stop her from hurting you.” He brushed her hair behind her ear. “I very nearly was.”
She tried to sit up, but her stomach churned and her head was still spinning. It wasn’t worth the effort. “You saved my life, Vincent. Thank you.”
She felt him stiffen beside her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said shrugging it off. “I think it’s time we got you back inside and in bed.”
“You could at least buy me dinner first,” she quipped with a smirk.
“You amaze me Alessandra,” he returned with a look of wonder in his eyes. “You were nearly killed by a truly psychotic, shall we say... ex-girlfriend and you’re making jokes.”
“Well if you don’t laugh, you cry.”
Vincent shook his head as he scooped her up and cradled her in his arms against his chest. “I’ve never met anyone like you and I doubt I ever will again.”
“Probably not,” she agreed and snuggled into the crook in his neck. She was too tired and too sore to fight the feeling. She’d almost died and he’d saved her life. “So Natalia is a vampire also?”
“Yes.”
“And she is…”
“She was a mistake,” he said firmly. “One that I have been paying for, for years.”
“Ouch,” she said.
“It’s the truth. But the complete truth is that she isn’t entirely to blame…”
Ally held her breath for fear that he wouldn’t continue. He was actually going to tell her the truth about something. She almost wished she had more near death experiences if it got this kind of reaction from him.
“I made her into what she is,” he continued on. “She wasn’t always like that or at least I wasn’t aware that it was there in her, and well our combined natures brought out the worst in her.”
“She seemed to think that you were still in love with her.”
“I was never in love with her. It was an obsession, not love. And if she is ever honest with herself she’d realise that what she felt was obsession too. It was mutually beneficial for us for a while and…well I’m really making myself sound like an amazing guy here aren’t I?”
“Vincent, I would rather you be honest with me, it doesn’t matter if it makes you sound bad or not. I don’t want lies. I want the truth. So continue on.”
Vincent opened the door to her bedroom and carried her to the bed. He laid her down gently, pulled the blankets over her and sat beside her. “Well I didn’t completely discourage her when it suited me, but she knew that we weren’t in a relationship as such.”
“You should do that more often.”
“Treat women badly?” He said with a frown.
“No, telling the absolute truth. That’s the first thing you’ve said since I woke up that I’ve believed without question.”
His eyebrows drew together. “I’m not entirely sure how to take that.”
Ally laughed softly and winced from the pain. “It was meant as a compliment.”
Vincent took hold of her hand. “I think I should get Reid back to take a look at your head.”
“No, don’t drag him out of bed at this time of night. I’ll be okay.”
“Alessandra,” he voice low and deadly. “If you think that I saved your life only to have you taken from me by a concussion or worse then you are sadly mistaken. I don’t care if he’s tucked up in bed. He’s coming to see you.”
“There’s the ruthless Vincent I know,” Ally said lightly as she watched him walk towards the door. “Where are you going?”
“To call Reid and if you want to stop me, then get out of bed.”
Ally grimaced. “Fine. You win this one.”
Vincent gave a satisfied nod and stalked out of the room.
Ally rolled her eyes and winced again. “Dammit.”
What am I going to do with that man? On top of everything else I’m already feeling, I now have to add hero to the list…well sort of hero.
She chuckled to herself and drifted off to sleep.