Chapter Twenty-One

Bridgett: Wednesday, 9:30 p.m.

On a scale of one to one hundred, that kiss was a one hundred thousand.

I’d been on dates and I’d kissed a few guys at parties, guys who’d seemed nice at first and then ended up only wanting to get my jeans off. Luckily, the fact that my dad was the pack leader made it easy to convince them that no meant no. With them there’d been no heat, at least for me, and no real connection. All the other girls were locked in someone’s arms, so I figured it was just some rite of passage that I didn’t want to miss out on. I never thought about those guys afterward. It was always disappointing and I didn’t get what the big deal was.

Tonight with William, I so got it. The minute his delicious lips touched mine, I’d melted against him, going boneless. If I’d been standing up, my knees might have quaked like a Chihuahua in a lightning storm.

We’d kinda resumed our positions on the outside couch, holding hands, neither of us saying anything. Maybe he didn’t want to break the mood. Or maybe neither of us knew what to say after a really hot kiss. “Oh man, that was hot.” Or, “Thanks (fill in the blank), for the hot kiss.” Maybe I should just sit here and keep my mouth shut and wait to see what he says first. Yep, I can do that. Really. Of course there was a good chance he didn’t think our kiss was all that. The thought made me anxious, so I brushed it aside.

What I really wanted to say to him was “Let’s try that again.” Or, “I think we should practice that some more.” Or just, “More, please.” All lame I know, but as I’ve mentioned, I’ve only had a small number of kisses in the past, and absolutely none of them were with grown men. William was most definitely a man, and for the first time in my life, I felt like a woman and not a girl. Parts of me were tingling that had never actually woken up before. Jeez.

Maybe I should just go downstairs before I totally embarrassed myself.

But instead, here I was, sitting next to this really great guy, feeling better than I ever had in my whole life, while Jackie was somewhere being held prisoner, maybe even being tortured. And it was my fault. I had no right to feel so good. I pulled my hand away and slumped in the chair.

“Are you all right?” Will asked.

“Just thinking about Jackie. Feeling kinda guilty that I’m happy and she’s...” I couldn’t continue.

“Garrett and the fae will find her. Feeling guilty won’t help. We just need to do our jobs.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

He took my hand again. “I never expected this.” His voice was almost a whisper.

Okay, so what’s the right response to that? “Me either.” Shit, that was pretty lame, maybe I should have said, expected what?

I peeked at him as he stared at the stars. He had some freckles. Would he like it if I kissed them? His lips had been so soft and firm and his mouth had tasted like sweet apples.

He sighed and shifted position so he could look at me. “It’s so peaceful tonight. Would you stay here with me for a while? Sinc doesn’t need me for another hour.”

Am I missing something here? Aren’t guys supposed to want to kiss you again after the first time, then maybe run their hands down your back and grab your ass or something? I smiled at the vision, then remembered he’d asked me a question.

“Sure, William, I’ll sit here with you.” I leaned back and tried to get interested in the stars.

He must have heard something in my tone because he was watching me to see how I was reacting. Maybe he thought I was afraid of him. “William, why do you keep watching me? I’m not afraid of you, if that’s what you think.”

“I apologize. I’m sure I’m disappointing you. I have to admit I’m a bit overwhelmed at the moment. A million thoughts are running around in my head all at once.”

“I’m a good listener.”

He looked at me and smiled, lifting up his arm so I could scoot underneath it, then wrapping it around me when I did. I took a deep breath to fill my lungs with his sweet delicious scent and he laughed at me. His lips brushed my head and his hand moved lightly up and down my bare arm. My head rested against his firm chest so I reached out my hand to stretch it across his stomach and rest it on his waist. This was definitely more like what I had in mind.

“When I kissed you tonight, I…felt you, and not just with my hands or my lips. I felt your spirit, your heart. I felt tied to you in an amazing way. It could be because you’ve had my blood. I suppose I could ask Garrett about that, since he gave Jackie his blood before they ever kissed.”

“He did?”

“You don’t know that story? Well, I guess you should ask Jackie about it. Anyway, I must have already been feeling protective toward you, even before we kissed, because seeing you with Farrell made me want to rip his throat out.”

“Really? You seemed pretty calm, just maybe a little bit hurt.”

“I’ve had years and years of practice at hiding how I feel. It was dangerous to show your feelings around Eleanor. She’d use them against you.”

“Sasha and Heinrich were hard on you, too?”

“They were cruel sometimes, because they had to follow her orders, but they saved my life more times than I can count. They stood up to her when she would have killed me, so I can never get too angry with them. Lately, they’ve eased off.”

“One day you might kick their butts, William.” I poked him in the ribs good-naturedly and he laughed and took my hand and raised it up to his lips. “I can’t seem to get enough of your scent.” He kissed my wrist and I closed my eyes as another shiver ran down my spine. I wanted to look at him so I turned and put my head in his lap and stretched my legs out on the couch. I held his hand against my stomach and looked up at his handsome face.

“Tell me more about what it was like for you in Eleanor’s nest.”

He shook his head and ran his other hand through my hair. “Not tonight. I feel too good tonight.”

I closed my eyes enjoying the feel of his fingers on my scalp.. “My hair isn’t really black, it’s light brown…kinda dirty blonde.”

“You’d be lovely with blue hair…or pink hair…or no hair.” We both laughed.

“I never felt pretty before. I’m skinny, not curvy. And my nose is a little crooked, it was that way even before Kennet broke it.”

“You move gracefully, like a dancer and you’re built like one too.” I watched his eyes take me in from head to toe and back. “You’re beautiful.” I blushed and looked away, but he took my chin and made me look at him. “In high school, I was covered with zits and wore glasses and thrift shop clothes. I had friends who were all nerdy like me. When you’re turned into a vampire, you become more attractive, so you can lure in your victims. You wouldn’t have looked at me twice if we’d met back then.”

“I think I still would have liked you. Did the football team throw slushies at you, or lock you in your locker?”

“One of the jocks beat me up once. I hacked into his computer and sent out racy emails to all of his family, including his grandparents and his teachers. He was grounded for about a year. No one ever beat me up again.” He grinned mischievously. I loved it when he smiled. It filled his whole face, crinkling his eyes and making that tiny dimple appear in his right cheek. God, I wanted to kiss that dimple.

Instinctively, I knew I would have to take charge in this relationship, at least until he felt more confident. Not that I knew what I was doing either, but I took a deep breath and decided to be brave. After all, I was raised by a pack leader who taught me to go after what I wanted, although I don’t think Dad was actually talking about guys. He’d have given me shit for dating a vamp.

“What’re you thinking about?” Will asked.

“I’m thinking about what my dad woulda said if he found out I kissed you.”

“He wouldn’t have been happy, I guess.”

“Yeah, well I’m feelin’ pretty happy right now.” I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled his face closer to mine. Silver dots popped in his eyes as he leaned toward me.