Chapter Six

Rose rushed out of the house, keeping in mind to grab a coat before she did. Winter was fast upon them and the bitterly cold nights were drawing near.

With a speed she hadn’t thought she possessed, she ran all the way to the local cinema. She had no choice but to use her speed to get places.

Robert Valentine Senior had been a hard father at times. She loved him—after all, she’d been expected to. Out of all of their children, she’d been the only one forced to remain at home. The others went to school and did normal activities that other vampires their age had done before full maturity.

Robert had matured around the age of thirty, as had William and her other two brothers. Her sister had matured at twenty-eight, while she’d matured on her twenty-first birthday. The youngest known matured vampire. Father had been strict with her. No friends—she’d had to stay and learn at home. Nothing was fun and when he was there, she found herself spending more time in her bedroom or in the kitchen with Cook.

Rose slowed down the moment she saw the glow of the lights from the cinema. Cook was going to cover for her tonight. The older woman had agreed to tell the others she’d gone to the library or something. That was, if her family asked after her.

William had been the only brother to take a true liking to her. The others tended to talk over her and not really involve her in conversations.

She wouldn’t think of that now. She saw Lewis standing at the doors glancing down at his watch. He clapped his hands when he spotted her.

“The young lady makes it. I’m honoured.” He bowed and again she was charmed by his easy wit.

“You talk funny. Anyone ever tell you that?”

“In truth, I’m a little nervous,” he admitted.

“What do you have to be nervous about?” she asked.

“I’ve not been on a date in a while and I’m not sure how this is going to work out.”

Rose felt better. She wasn’t the only one. “Well, you’ve picked an excellent movie. I’m looking forward to spending time with you.”

They paid for their tickets and stood in the queue for some popcorn.

“Butter or salt?” Lewis asked.

“I’d better have the salt.” She didn’t want to admit she was allergic to the animal fat in the butter. Was there animal fat in butter? Whenever she wasn’t sure of something, she decided to stick to going without it.

They got snacks and drinks and sat down in their seats.

Not many people were there but Lewis found them seats in the back. Rose laughed when he dropped the popcorn on her lap.

“I’m so sorry.” He fumbled picking up the heated kernels.

“Don’t worry and sit down. It has almost started.”

In no time at all the lights went down and the movie began to play in full swing.

She found herself laughing in parts and then holding onto his hand as the boat hit the iceberg. All through it, he comforted her with his presence. Occasionally, she’d turn to face him and see him staring at her.

The moment the lights came up, the sexual tension sizzling between them hit melting point.

Lewis took her hand and led her to his car.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“It’s still our date and I want to go somewhere. I want to show you something.” Feeling stupid for being paranoid, she took his hand and let him lead her to his car.

He drove for a few minutes until he hit the outskirts of town. Ten minutes later he pulled up to a deserted lake.

“Where are we?” she asked getting out of the car and following him.

“It’s what I like to call, Lewis’ River. I come out here whenever I want to clear my head. That was an intense movie and I think a little clearing of my head is in order.” Lewis took her hand and together they ran the short distance to the lakeside.

Lewis began removing his socks and trousers.

Rose turned to leave. He grabbed her hand.

“Please, I promise you this isn’t what it looks like. I want to go for a swim. Please say you’ll join me.”

She gazed at him then at the water, yearning to be with him.

“Just a swim. The water will be freezing.”

“So you can be my very own Rose,” he whispered.

She laughed, not having realised till then the double significance of her name. A little bit of cold never hurt anyone…except people like in Titanic. Rose pushed the movie to the back of her mind.

Rose watched as he removed all of his clothes, baring his boxer shorts. He was hard and muscular. She noted in the moonlight a few claw marks dotted his back.

He dived in and she waited until he surfaced.

“Come on in, Rose.”

She pulled her dress from her shoulders and removed her shoes. The simple white padded bra and cotton panties were left on. Rose dived into the water. In the darkness he wouldn’t be able to see her anyway.

She came out of the water crying out.

“Fucking hell, it’s cold,” she said. Lewis laughed from somewhere behind her.

“It’s refreshing.”

“I’ve never done this before,” she said. They were swimming around each other. The moonlight cast down a glow.

“It feels good to be doing something different.” Lewis splashed water at her, making her laugh.

“You’re like a child.”

“Life is too short, Rose. We can’t leave anything to chance or regret.”

“Do you have any regrets?” she asked.

“A couple of things, but they’re for another time.”

“So what you’re saying is I should relish the skinny dipping in a freezing cold lake?” Rose chuckled.

Lewis came close until she felt him touch her skin. She gasped as he pulled his boxer shorts out of the water.

“I’m skinny dipping, but you still have clothes on.”

She didn’t know what to do or say. She was in a freezing lake with a naked man.

“I don’t know what to do,” she said.

“I’d never make you do anything you didn’t want to.” Lewis reached out and slowly drew the straps of her bra down her shoulders. He leaned around and undid the fasteners keeping it together. Rose began to pant. Her small breasts spilt free. Was this how human females felt? Lewis had her undivided attention.

“You’re going to have to do your panties,” he whispered against her cheek. His hard muscled chest grazed across her pointed nipples.

“This is crazy,” she said to no one except herself.

“But really great.”

For a long time she’d been kept trapped by her parent’s demands and after so many years of being contained she suddenly felt full of life, laughter and—dare she think it?—love.

Rose shuffled out of her panties and let them fall to the lake floor. Going on instinct, she wrapped her arms around his neck and started kissing him.

In the middle of the freezing lake, Rose opened her heart to the human man bringing so much joy to her once painful existence.

 

Lewis kissed her back and tried not to think of the wolves watching them. The chance they might see her body filled him with anger. He didn’t understand his sudden possessive feelings towards her. James had been adamant that he come here so the others got a good look at one of the Valentines. They all needed to scent the blood of a Valentine to recognise it.

Her innocence touched him and he wanted to spend all night kissing and holding her. The next couple of hours were exhilarating, as they swam and kissed, doing nothing but enjoying the pleasure of one another’s company.

An alarm beat in the distance causing Rose to pull away. “Oh no. What time is it?” she asked.

“Probably a little after midnight.”

“We’ve been in this freezing lake for over two hours. You might catch your death.” She latched onto his hand and pulled him closer to the edge of the lake where their clothes lay.

“I’m fine, Rose.” He wasn’t about to mention that his body temperature was a lot higher than hers.

“Please, we must get back,” she said. The moment they hit the edge she was out and rushing to her clothes. Lewis admired her round ass and womanly figure. She may have been a vampire, but she was built just right for him.

His cock started to stir and, not wanting to embarrass himself in front of his entire pack, he began putting on his clothes.

Once they were finished, Lewis dragged her back to his car. He wanted the privacy of the heater blowing and the enclosed car to try to keep any noise out of reach from James.

“I can’t believe what we just did,” she whispered, leaning over to lay a kiss on his lips. Her face was blue and she shook.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m fine. I just need to get home.”

Lewis put the car in gear and tried to process her response. Vampires weren’t affected by the cold. The icy lake shouldn’t have turned her blue, let alone caused her to shake.

About twenty minutes later, Rose kissed him and ran to her house. He watched her disappear through the back entrance and now he had his answers.

By distracting Rose enough, he had discovered where the Valentines lived.