Seduced by Innocencey(21)

"Come here little bitch. I'll show you what a real man can do."

I pushed him away, trying to control my power, and Johnny lashed out with his knife and sliced across my right bicep. I cried out in pain as my blood mingled with the water, turning it pink.

I couldn't hold back anymore. I had to protect myself. Holding in a sob of grief, I touched them both at once, and just as I was about to unleash every dark thing inside of me, they pulled away and turned to someone approaching us.

"Get the hell away from her, or I will kill you both and eat your hearts for breakfast."

That voice, I knew that voice. He growled under his breath, sounding more animal than human. I couldn't see him through the mist and the two men blocking me, but I knew Derek had come. He thought he was saving me, and maybe he was… saving me from the guilt of taking two more lives. Saving me from having to become the person I hated most.

I pushed myself up as my attackers sauntered over to Derek with a cocky disregard for the danger they were in.

The fight couldn't have lasted more than two minutes. Derek took them out with a few carefully chosen kicks and punches, until they both lay on the ground, unconscious. When he turned to face me, his eyes glowed with a supernatural light that disappeared as he ran toward me.

"Rose, are you okay? Oh my God, I was worried I wouldn't find you in time."

Water splashed on him until his white shirt clung to the muscles of his body. My own clothes had probably turned into a second skin, but the pain in my head and my arm made concerns about modesty insignificant.

He reached for me and pulled me into his arms. "You're bleeding. He cut you. I'm going to rip his head off and feed it to him through his ass."

The violence in him should have scared me, but it only made me feel safer, protected. "Don't. Let's just go. I don't feel well."

He nodded, then lifted me into his arms and began walking back to his car.

If I hadn't been so cold, so tired, and in so much pain, I might have protested. But I wasn't sure I could actually walk any distance in my condition, and his arms felt so good, so right, around me. His strength gave me peace and comfort. I rested my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes, content to forget about everything else for this one moment and think only of him.





TEN





Sweet Sorrow





DEREK





Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow,

That I shall say good night till it be morrow.

— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet





"I SHOULD TAKE you to the hospital to have that cut stitched. It looks bad." Actually, I should just take you to my house, dry you off, get you in warm clothes and heal you. I didn't care if it would expose our family's secrets, the thought of her suffering tore at something inside me, and the shirt I'd given her to stop the bleeding had already turned bright red.

"No, I'll be okay. I just need to go home." She shivered next to me, and I increased the heat and broke several speed laws to make the drive shorter.

"I'm sorry I'm getting your car all wet. I'll pay you for the cleaning."

She looked at me with those large eyes, so sad, so scared, and I wanted to go back and kill those two guys who had hurt her.

We hadn't talked about the kiss, about why she ran, and I didn't want to make her life more miserable than it was by bringing it up, but I had to know if I'd see her again. "I know this would qualify as the worst first date ever. I'm sorry. It's my fault. If I hadn't been so… enthusiastic with that kiss, none of this would have happened. And don't worry about the car. My family cares more about people than cars."

"It's not your fault. And I know I owe you an explanation for why I ran, but… I don't know what to say. I got scared, I guess. You're… " she stuttered, nervous. "You're the first person I've ever kissed like that."

I didn't know what to say to that. I figured she was inexperienced, but she was also a beautiful, funny, intelligent and caring woman. How had she gone her whole life without being kissed?

Looking in her eyes, I knew she spoke the truth. I also knew she was holding something back, but I could hardly judge someone for having secrets when my secrets trumped all. "You're far too amazing to have escaped high school without a kiss."

She averted her eyes and smiled. "I was homeschooled. My family is pretty private, and so I never interacted much with people my own age. My parents don't even know I'm on a date with you. They'd freak if they found out."

"You are over eighteen, right?" Wouldn't that be a kick in the pants, if she turned out to be a minor?

"Yes, of course. I'm nineteen. But, like I said, I had a sheltered life. When I met you I just, I don't know. I liked you. I wanted to get to know you better. I'm tired of living under their rules and their expectations for what my life is going to be."