Forever Starts Now Page 21

  "I want to go to a club,” she said, making her voice as determined as she knew how. “Like On The Edge—"

  "There's no other club like that one in the country,” Matthew interrupted her.

  "Then a regular club,” she insisted. “Wherever Diane went tonight. Anywhere but a blood bar."

  Matthew did not reply, and when Claire glanced at his face, he was looking straight ahead, his jaw locked with visible tension.

  "You're not ready,” he said after a few minutes, and his voice made it clear that it was useless to keep pushing now.

  Claire swallowed back her arguments, keeping them for another time when he would be ready to listen to her. She wouldn't relent, not when she knew that Matthew enjoyed the chase as much as she thought she would. She had watched him for too long from that suspended bridge not to be aware of it. Eventually, he'd have to relent, and then she'd get to hunt like a proper vampire.

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  Chapter Twenty-One

  If Claire closed her eyes, it was easy to believe she was back to Haventown, back to On The Edge and the first night she had danced in Matthew's arms. The music was the same; the loud, slow, heavy beat drummed through her body, an echo of the heartbeat that hadn't pulsed in her chest for two months. Against her, so close she could feel his muscles flexing as he swayed, Matthew was leading her through the steps as he had been leading her since she had been turned, guiding her through a new existence and all that entailed. The gentle slide of his hand up and down her spine was both soothing and exhilarating, calming her mind as it reeled with the presence of so many potential prey around them and at the same time making her crave more—more of his hands on her, more blood, his or any human's, she wasn't sure anymore, she only knew she wanted. She remained where she was, however, waiting for the moment he would grant her permission to hunt. Soon, now, she was sure. With her hands resting on his shoulders, she could feel the tension building there as the time approached.

  He hadn't wanted to take her to this club, arguing that blood bars were a safer, easier way to get the blood they needed. What he didn't seem to understand was that she didn't care. She wanted to hunt. She wanted to choose and seduce a prey until she was offered blood. She wanted to do what she had seen Matthew do so many times, with so many prey.

  It had taken her weeks of trying to convince him and finally it had been Diane who had made him yield.

  "Stop pretending your girl is anything other than a huntress,” she had lashed out, intruding on their discussion. “She is hardly the defenseless kitten you'd like her to be."

  Claire had been as surprised by the unexpected help as she had been by the form it had taken. If Matthew had wanted her to be defenseless, he wouldn't have taught her how to fight. After her reproaches to Matthew in the car that first night, Diane had seemed to lose all interest in Claire until taking her side in that heated discussion. Matthew had seemed shocked by her exasperated intervention, shocked enough that he had nodded his assent without further arguments. Even so, he had repeated countless admonitions to Claire on their way to the club, and he hadn't let go of her since they had arrived, his hand always curled at her waist or wrapped around her own. She didn't mind, far from it. It was the first open display of affection he had offered her in weeks. When he taught her, and he had done little more since she had become his Childe, he looked at her through the dispassionate eyes of a teacher, not those of a lover. If she had her say in it, she would show him before long that she had learned her lessons well and that he could be proud of her.

  "Are you sure you want to do this?"

  Eyes still closed, Claire chuckled against Matthew's chest.

  "I don't just want to do this. I need to do this. And you know I do, because you need it too."

  She thought, for a moment, that he would deny it. She wouldn't have believed it, not when she could feel his hunger in the way his body remained poised, when she could smell it in the lustful scent that tickled her nose. He had deprived not only her, when refusing to take her to hunt. He had deprived himself as well.

  "Go then.” He sighed against her forehead. “Go, hunt, and be careful."

  Claire opened her eyes and raised herself to her toes to brush her lips to Matthew's. His hands dropped from her waist, and although she missed his touch right away, she was smiling when she stepped away from him and looked around. The closest dancers were just far enough to be out of reach.

  Mirrors on the ceiling had alerted the crowd that she and Matthew were vampires as soon as they had stepped in. By law, club's owners could not refuse entrance to vampires, but nothing prevented them from using mirrors to alert their human customers to who was dancing next to them. Vampires intrigued most humans, but the majority of them were wary enough not to want anything more than a close look and the opportunity to boast to their friends that they had seen a real vamp. There were more daring ones, however, and they weren't hard to find. Eyes that looked directly at Claire instead of turning away when she glanced in their direction were a good clue about who might play with her rather than flee. Three men and a woman, in particular, caught her attention. She chose the one who was closest to her in height; it would be nice for once to be able to look at someone without craning her neck. That his hair and eyes mirrored Matthew's wasn't as much of a coincidence as she told herself it was.

  The music changed as she took her first step toward the man, the tempo accelerating just like she imagined his heartbeat would. Their eyes locked. He gulped nervously, but didn't try to flee. She smiled. She had a feeling this would be even more fun than she had ever imagined.

  * * * *

  As soon as Claire started dancing with her chosen prey, Matthew turned away. He couldn't watch her do this. He couldn't even think of her doing this.

  A dozen steps took him to the bar, the humans parting in front of him so quickly that he imagined he had to look menacing. He didn't care.

  "Scotch. No ice."

  A couple other customers at the bar gave him dark looks as he jumped the line, but the bartender served him right away, the expression on his face both wary and tense.

  "You might want to know there's a Special Enforcer here tonight,” the bartender said, his voice very low, when he placed the glass in front of Matthew. “And there are cameras both inside and outside."

  The warning was clear, but Matthew ignored it, just as he ignored the way people around him seemed to pull back as they understood what he was. He missed On The Edge and the easy prey that had come there. He missed the mixed blood and alcohol they served there. He missed feeling Claire's eyes on him.

  With some surprise he realized he had emptied his glass already. The taste of alcohol tingled on his tongue, but it did not in any way help the growing void inside him. He turned back toward the dance floor and leaned against the bar. Instantly his eyes found Claire. With her back to him, she was dancing close, very close to the man she had chosen, her arms raised and waving to the rhythm of the music like so many around her. The man's hands were resting on the curves of her hips and Matthew found himself staring at them, at those splayed fingers slowly sliding toward her ass. He cursed when other dancers got in the way, startling the woman on his right. She pulled back a little more, he noticed from the corner of his eye.

  "What a freak. They shouldn't let vamps in here."

  He heard her mutter as clearly as though she had shouted. He didn't pay it or her any mind, his entire attention focused on the glimpses he was getting of Claire and her prey. His hands were blatantly cupping her ass now. The protests he had expected and the slap he had almost hoped for didn't come. Instead, she kept dancing, now lowering her arms to loop around the man's neck. He practically jumped, and his hands retreated back to Claire's hips.

  Matthew could feel the smile pushing at his lips. There was no way she'd get anything more than a dance and some groping out of this guy. Matthew had met many humans like him, over the years. He knew what she was and he was intrigued enough to let her get close
for a little while, but when it would come down to it, when she would hint at wanting a taste of him, he would balk and backpedal and she'd be left holding nothing more than air. A hard way to end her first time in a place like this, but maybe it would dampen her desire to play the hunting game. Matthew could only hope she'd be content with blood bars after tonight.

  The crowd moved just long enough for Matthew to see the two of them completely once more just as Claire was leaning in, her mouth trailing over her prey's neck. Matthew cursed again. If she tried to bite him here, in full view of whoever was watching, he was going to kick her ass back to the apartment. Hadn't he taught her anything?

  He had the time to throw a bill on the counter and take two steps before her prey threw his head back and laughed. The man was smiling when he looked back at Claire. He murmured something in her ear. The next moment, they were walking together toward the exit. Blinking his surprise away, Matthew followed them out. They were out of sight when he reached the cool night air, but all he had to do was follow Claire's scent and the man's furious heartbeat to the nearest back alley.

  "You ... you won't kill me, right?"

  There was an edge of fear to the whispered words, but that fear wasn't enough for the human to stop Claire from urging him back until he was leaning against a wall.

  "I won't,” she replied, no trace of humor in her words. “Trust me."

  The man tilted his head to one side, an unequivocal answer if there had ever been one, and Claire closed in on him. Matthew tried to turn away but his body refused to obey him. The trickling seconds, as Claire's mouth remained at the man's throat, seemed to stretch into hours, made even more unbearable by the man's small sounds of pleasure.

  She had learned well, Matthew thought. Maybe even too well.

  When she finally stopped and pulled back, it was clear that her prey was only standing thanks to the wall at his back.

  "That was ... Wow. I never imagined ... it felt..."

  Claire chuckled at the man's incoherence.

  "I think I'll take that as a compliment."

  "Oh, it is, definitely."

  Finding his legs again, the man pushed away from the wall and raised a hand toward Claire's face. Matthew swallowed the growl rising at the back of his throat.

  "Listen,” the man continued, his voice regaining a little assurance, “I've never done this before, so I'm sorry if I'm being rude or presumptuous but I ... I mean ... Would you like to come home with me?"

  It was more than enough for Matthew.

  "Childe."

  He did not raise his voice to call her, but her face whipped toward him as though he had shouted. There was no surprise on her face, and Matthew wondered if she had known all along that he was watching her.

  "We're leaving."

  Immediately, she was coming to him, and Matthew wanted to let out a sigh of relief.

  "Hey, wait, where are you—"

  This time, Matthew did nothing to stop the growl from passing his lips. The human seemed to get the message very clearly and he stopped following Claire. Judging by her small smile when she reached Matthew, she had understood as well. Annoyed with himself, Matthew wrapped her in his arms and crushed his mouth to hers to erase that smile. She moaned softly, then parted her lips. The taste of the blood she had just taken filled Matthew's mind, accompanied with images of her dancing with her prey, taking blood from him, kissing him, fucking him...

  With a grunt, Matthew broke off the kiss and considered the woman in his arms. Gone was the little girl he had once known and protected from afar. In her place was a vampire, a predator he had helped create and whom he had trained himself. She did not need his protection anymore, and he had taught her everything she needed to know. That realization was frightening, but more than that it was a relief.

  "Matthew? Is something wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

  "No, you didn't, sweetie. You were perfect.” The light of pride in her eyes burned Matthew as midday sun. “Let's go home."

  She babbled like an excited child as they returned to the car and he drove them back to the apartment, narrating with details Matthew didn't want to hear how she had convinced her prey to let her feed from him when he had been more than reluctant at first, and how it had felt to seduce someone with nothing but her own satisfaction guiding her. Matthew tried to block out her words, but every bribe that filtered through was like venom slowly poisoning the treasured image of an innocent Claire in his mind. He had lost her, tonight, more than he had the night she had died.

  "Sire?"

  The simple word was a jolt of electricity coursing through Matthew's mind and bringing him back to the present. The car was in front of the apartment building, he noticed, though he didn't remember having parked.

  "Are we getting in?"

  Matthew had half a mind to send her in and go hunt by himself. Caught as he had been in his observation of Claire, he hadn't even thought about feeding. The idea of taking blood however was strangely unappealing, especially with the taste of Claire's prey still lingering on his tongue. He looked at her, sitting next to him in the passenger seat. The only light came from a street lamp halfway down the street, but she seemed to glow as she looked back at him, a small smile still dancing on her lips. She was as beautiful as the night he had first seen her at On The Edge, the same uncertainty and determination coloring each of her small movements. The uncertainty would fade. After tonight, she would only grow more confident and become the huntress Diane claimed she was, the huntress she should never have been. With every night, he felt he was losing the Claire he had once known, the Claire he had cared for so much. And while he cared for his Childe even more, his guilt colored everything, making it painful to even look at her.

  It was then that he made his decision.

  "Yes, sweetie. Let's go in."

  As soon as he locked the front door behind them, he knew Diane had not returned yet. It didn't matter; she'd be back by morning, when he would need her.

  His mind blank, he followed Claire to the bedroom they had shared for the past eight weeks, realizing for the first time why her dress seemed so familiar.

  "It's the dress you wore the night ... the night you came looking for me."

  Now that he thought about it, he was sure she hadn't worn it since they had arrived at the new apartment.

  She glanced back at him, beaming. “I thought you'd never notice. It seemed fitting to wear it tonight for another new beginning."

  The void in Matthew's chest expanded. “Fitting, yes,” he murmured.

  He helped her out of the dress, just as he had that first night. He took his time, trying to memorize and map out each inch of skin reveled to his eyes, offered to his fingers one last time. Claire was much more efficient when she undressed him; feeding had sated her hunger for blood and for the hunt, at least for now, but it had awakened her lust. The alluring scent had been all around her since they had walked out of that alley, but only now, only when she guided Matthew's hand to the apex of her legs to make him feel the wetness waiting for him there, did he allow himself to notice it.

  His plan to take things slow and make them last disappeared. Pulling Claire onto the bed with him, he entered her in one strong push than pulled groans from both of them. He started thrusting hard and fast, and she responded by arching into him, touching him, pulling him down for frantic kisses that were almost soft bites.

  His Childe, his beautiful Claire, his just one last time.

  The thought made him falter and he slowed down, never stopping but taking his time now. Her kisses changed to the same softer beat. Her tongue stroked his gently, as gently as her hands playing over his shoulder and down his chest. Resting his whole weight on his left forearm, he pulled back just a little and freed his right hand to touch her face with his fingertips. Her eyes closed when he followed the bridge of her nose, and her lips curled into a smile at his touch. She had always had a beautiful smile.

  "I love you."

  The whisper touched his f
ingertips, a returned caress; he pulled his hand away as though burned.

  Her eyes opened but he could not bear looking into them. In the same instant, he crushed his mouth to hers and let his hips fall back into a faster rhythm, almost punishing, though he wasn't sure who, of the two of them, needed punishing. Claire for expressing a love he couldn't believe in or himself for failing her? Her release took him by surprise; his own was wrenched out of him almost painfully.

  She said the words again, when he lay by her side, her body struggling to catch a breath it didn't need. Head turned away from her, he forced himself not to reply, not even to say yet again it wasn't love she felt, but the blood bond that stretched between them. It was hard enough to come to terms with what he had done to her, pulling her into the darkness when she had been made for the sun. If he had believed there could be love between them, the guilt would have been unbearable.

  She fell asleep curled against him, her hand resting in the center of his back. He turned his face to look at her, then, and spent the best part of the night detailing her features until he had each eyelash committed to memory. When morning came, he pressed a goodbye kiss to her cheek and left the bed. As quietly as possible, he crossed the hallway and entered Diane's room.

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  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Throughout the late night and early morning, Claire came close to wakefulness several times, something inside her warning her that she was being watched. Each time, she drifted back into sleep, feeling content, the knowledge that Matthew was right there and keeping watch over her warming her mind, body and heart. Too many times, over the past weeks, he had treated her as a pupil more than a lover. She didn't know what had brought on the change last night, but in her half-asleep state, she already hoped it would last.

  This hope lasted until the moment she woke up alone.