Darlings of Darkness: A Vampire Anthology Part 116

"Great, thanks," I said.

"Make sure he brings you straight home. Don't go jumping his bones or anything."

"Ha-ha. You are such a comedian."

He laughed and hung up.

"I'm getting a ride from a friend," I told Susan. "Thanks for the offer, though."

"No problem. Oh, my brother's here," she said, looking at her phone. "He just texted me. I'll see you tomorrow, at four o'clock again?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

After she left, I sat down at one of the booths, to finish my soda and wait for Duncan. As I watched the front door, a group of kids around my age walked through. One of the other waitresses seated them.

"Same as usual?" asked the older waitress, who I'd met earlier. Her name was Darlene and she was close to retiring.

"Just coffee," said a broad-shouldered, dark-haired guy, ordering for everyone. He handed her back the menu and our eyes met.

Embarra.s.sed, I looked away quickly and stared outside at the parking lot, watching for Duncan.

Before I could blink, someone slid into my booth and I was suddenly facing the stranger whose eyes I'd just met.

"Um, hi," I said, sitting up straighter.

"Um, hi, yourself," he said with a slow, lazy grin.

Oh wow...

"I'm Nikki," I replied, feeling myself blush at the intense way he was staring at me. I knew it had to be Amy's ex-boyfriend, and he was undoubtedly gorgeous. He had thick, dark eyebrows with icy blue eyes; his face was perfectly sculpted with high cheekbones and a strong chin. His lips... they were sensual and even fuller than mine.

"You're new in town?"

"Yes," I replied, now studying his face more closely. He was definitely a little pale, which reminded me of the fact that Amy had accused him of being vampire. As I stared at him, I reasoned that most girls my age would have swooned at such a good-looking guy, but after everything that had happened the last few nights, I felt a cold s.h.i.+ver run down my spine.

"Welcome to Sh.o.r.e Lake," he replied, looking into my eyes again.

"Thanks."

It was weird, but we sat there and stared at each other for a while without talking. Soon, I started feeling a heat somewhere inside of my belly that turned into an overwhelming ache of desire, further south.

"I, ah..." My heart was pounding in my chest and I felt a strong urge to touch him. It was almost overwhelming.

"Nikki," interrupted Duncan, standing next to our table. "Are you ready to go?"

I looked at Duncan and the spell, or whatever it was, was broken. "Yeah," I said. "I'm ready."

"Goodbye, Nikki," said Ethan, with a small grin. "I'm sure we'll meet again."

"Goodbye," I murmured, looking away. I was confused at the intense rush of desire I'd had for Ethan. He was a total stranger. How did that even happen?

"Who was that?" asked Duncan as he followed me out to his truck.

I don't know how I knew, but there was no doubt in my mind that Ethan was still staring at me through the window. I s.h.i.+vered and wrapped my arms around myself. "You might think I'm crazy, but I'm pretty sure he was a vampire."

Chapter Fourteen.

"Excuse me?" he asked, unlocking the truck.

We both slid inside and I looked at him. "Amy was convinced he was a vampire, and there's something about him that's totally... unnerving."

He shook his head and smiled as he started up the truck. "Okay, your imagination is really getting the best of you. It's bad enough that there might be a ghost haunting your cabin, but a vampire in the local diner?"

I nodded. "I feel the same way, but there was something so strange about him. He made me feel..."

He raised his eyebrows. "He made you feel what?"

I swallowed hard. "Um, weird."

I wasn't about to tell Duncan that at one moment, I wanted to jump Ethan's bones and probably would have, if we'd been alone. It didn't even make sense to me.

Duncan looked back towards the diner. "If he gives you any problems, let me know."

I smiled. "Sure."

We pulled out of the parking lot in silence as I thought about the strange encounter. Duncan glanced at me a couple of times, and I could tell there was something on his mind, as well.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

He pulled over to the side of the road.

"What is it, Duncan?"

He tapped the steering wheel a couple of times and then looked at me. There was a funny smile on his face. "When I approached you with Ethan, you almost looked like you were ready to tear his clothes off or something. I don't know; it just made me feel a little... jealous."

I'm not even sure how it happened, but the next thing I knew, I was straddling him in the front seat and our mouths were crushed against each other.

"Nikki," he groaned against my lips.

My heart was pounding madly in my chest and I rocked against him, causing him to suck in his breath. He pulled away and looked into my eyes.

"I don't think..." he whispered.

"Don't think," I said breathlessly, pulling him back towards my lips. There was an intense hunger inside of me, one that I'd never felt before. I wanted to tear off both of our clothing, just so I could feel our skin moving against each other.

His mouth was hot, and soon he was kissing my neck while his hands moved under my s.h.i.+rt. As he was about to slide his fingers under my bra, my cell phone rang, startling us both. He quickly removed his hands and I got off of his lap.

My face was burning with embarra.s.sment as I fumbled for my phone. "Yeah?" I said into it, unable to look at Duncan.

"h.e.l.lo to you, too," mumbled Nathan.

I cleared my throat. "Sorry."

"You guys almost home, yet?"

I nervously bit off a hangnail. "Almost."

"Okay, I ordered a pizza and it's already here, so hurry the h.e.l.l up."

I hung up and stole a glance at Duncan.

"I'm sorry," he said, although his eyes were still smoldering. "I don't know what came over me."

I smiled sheepishly. "I, um... it was me. I practically raped you. I've never done that before, to anyone. I'm sorry."

"At least I know you like me."

I burst out laughing. "Do you think?"

"I'm sure you could probably tell that I liked you, too," he said, grinning.

My cheeks grew hot and I changed the subject. "So, I hope you're hungry. Nathan has a pizza waiting for us."

"Oh, I'm starving, alright," he said under his breath.

I looked at him and sighed. "Duncan, I..."

He stared at me for a minute. "It's okay," he said. "I'm not in a rush for anything."

I smiled. "Thank you. I really do like you, you know. I'm just..."

He held up his hand. "Hey, it's okay."

It wasn't okay. I really liked Duncan but I'd never attacked anyone before in my life like that. It was almost like the burning desire I'd felt towards Ethan had carried over towards Duncan. I was beginning to wonder if Ethan really was a vampire and had given off some kind of weird pheromone.

We rode in silence the rest of the way to the cabin. Nathan was sitting on the porch, holding a BB gun, when we arrived.

"We come in peace," teased Duncan, raising his hands in the air.

Nathan grinned. "Sorry. I was beginning to freak myself out, so I grabbed my old BB gun. I thought I heard some noises in the woods. But then, I actually found a couple of racc.o.o.ns prowling around."

"Is the video camera still set up?" asked Duncan.

"Yeah. I think we should hang out on Nikki's balcony and watch from above. See if we can see anyone sneaking around," said Nathan. "Just in case it isn't a ghost, but some jacka.s.s trying to screw with us."

"Good idea," replied Duncan.

We went inside, grabbed the box of pizza and some plates, and then headed up to my bedroom. On the balcony, Nathan had set up three chairs and a bistro table. We sat down and started eating.

"How was work?" asked Nathan.

"Busy. I met this girl named Susan who was friends with Amy."

"Is she cute?" asked Nathan.

"G.o.d, is that all you think about?" I asked.

"Is there anything else, Dunc?"

Duncan smiled but didn't say anything.

"Anyway, Susan was telling me that Amy believed her ex-boyfriend, Ethan, was a vampire."

Nathan snorted. "Yeah, I'd say Amy was a little messed up."

"I don't know," I said, staring at my pizza.

His eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

I swallowed. "I met Ethan tonight and there was something really strange about him."

"He was dating Amy at one point, that tells you enough right there," said Nathan.

"No, he came over and sat by me at the restaurant. When he looked into my eyes, I almost felt like... I was under some kind of spell."

"How do you mean?" asked Nathan.

"I can't explain it," I said, looking sideways at Duncan. There was no way I was going to explain my desire to jump Ethan's bones, especially after what had happened between us, in the truck.

Nathan sat back and groaned. "There is no such thing as vampires, period. Quit letting Abigail's and Amy's crazy notions play with your mind. I mean, come on, Nikki, you know better than that!"

I shrank down in my seat. "I know. It's just...I can't explain it."

Nathan looked at Duncan. "What do you think about all of this?"

Duncan shrugged. "I don't know. I think something strange is going on and I'm not ruling anything out."

Nathan snorted. "Even vampires?"

"Maybe this Ethan guy believes he's a vampire and knows how to manipulate other people into believing it, too."