“So you’ve lived like a mole for the past three years?”
“You’re missing the most important part of your question.”
“And what’s that?” Jack asked.
“I’velived. It may not be ideal, but it’s better than the alternative.”
“Very true,” Jack said, but for some reason, he hated the idea of her wasting away beneath the earth.
However, he disliked the idea of her dead more. This strange, pretty woman was a complete enigma to him, and he liked it. She seemed determined to keep him at a distance, but he was eager to learn more about her.
It had been years since he had any interest in a woman outside of the bedroom. The last woman who intrigued him was before he became a vampire—his high school sweetheart, Libby Jo McCalister.
Even after all these years, he felt a twinge to his heart when he thought of L.J. with her wheat blonde hair, soft brown eyes, and radiant smile. She’d been his first love, and he’d been hers; they were inseparable when they dated throughout their senior year.
Then, she went to New York City for school, and he stayed in Massachusetts to go to college. Before she left, they vowed the distance wouldn’t dim their love, but by Christmas break, L.J. met someone else and their relationship was over.
She ended it over the phone, which Jack had been grateful for as he didn’t want her to see his tears. He hadn’t pleaded with her to change her mind, to stay with him; it wasn’t that he didn’t consider begging her not to leave him, but the words lodged in his throat. He barely managed a goodbye at the end of having his heart crushed.
Later that week, he returned the engagement ring he bought her. He never toldanyoneelse about the ring; he couldn’t bring himself to admit how idiotic he’d been to think they would make it. He spent the rest of his freshman year nursing a broken heart while Mike and Doug tried to get him to get out and meet other women.
It wasn’t until the start of his sophomore year that he started feeling like his old self again, only he’d been determined to remain single for the rest of his life as the single life was much more fun. Now, after years alone, he realized that attitude was foolish, but it kept him going then.
From what Jack later learned through social media, L.J. married the man she left him for and had three children. When, seven years ago, at the age of forty-five, L.J. died from breast cancer, Jack retreated into the woods and cried. He didn’t weep because he was still in love with her, he moved past that years ago, but because it saddened him to learn she was gone from this world.
But he also cried because L.J. was a reminder of a different time and a differenthim. A time before he fed on others to survive; a time when he laughed easily and was far more carefree.
Sometimes, he considered the boy, thehumanhe’d been as an entirely different person. That boy and the man he became were so different that he believed the optimistic, fun-loving boy died on the day Beth changed him.
And the vampire who came to life found little joy in the things that made the boy happy. The boy once danced with a frog he was supposed to be dissecting in biology class; the man did very little dancing, and most of it revolved around securing a food supply. He didn’t realize, until now, how much he missed dancing for fun.
What would it be like to dance with Charlie? With as graceful as she was, she’d be good at it. He found himself aching to draw her into his arms so he could learn what she felt like and how she moved. For the first time in years, he wanted to hold another for something more than sex and food.
Chapter Seven
The crackof a twig drew his attention away from her; his nostrils flared as he scented the air while studying the forest. He was so lost in his ruminations that he hadn’t realized the animals were nowhere to be seen. He searched for a place to hide, but Charlie gripped his arm and tugged him toward a cluster of boulders.
When they reached the rocks, Charlie released his arm and rested her hand on one of the large stones to pull herself onto it. She climbed into the open center of the rocks. The boulder there was the size of a minivan but, more importantly, the way it leaned against the others caused it to create a small cave Mal showed her during her first months here.
She slipped into the cave and pressed her back against another stone to make room for Jack. He slipped in beside her. Charlie held her breath when Jack’s chest brushed against hers. A tingle, almost like a small electric shock, ran through her when his hand touched hers, and it took all she had not to turn her fingers over and run them across his palm.
Ignoring the thump of her heart his nearness created, Charlie strained to listen for whoever was out there. This was a great place to hide, but it was also a death trap if anyone discovered them here. They would either be recaptured or killed outright, and if they caught her, she would be made to pay for having evaded them.
Before being shoved into the trunk, they’d taken her picture. However, they hadn’t placed a tracking device on her; she would have been discovered and slaughtered by now if they had. They would know who she was if they kept her alive long enough to compare her to her picture and if they’d kept her photo.
Gradually, Charlie became aware of how small their hiding place was. It hadn’t seemed this small when she hid here before, but she was sure caskets were bigger than this place. And had it been this warm? No, it hadn’t, and she’d been here in the middle of August with Mal.
The rocks, mostly in the shade, were naturally cool, but her skin felt as warm as if she were on a beach in July. Then, she noticed a familiar, pleasant scent she couldn’t quite place. It reminded her of rainy days with Dylan when they would bake pies and cookies before curling up on the couch to drink hot cocoa and watch movies together.
It took her a minute to realize the smell was coming fromJack. Beneath the blood, sweat, and dirt adhering to him, the enticing aroma of something more emanated from him. She almost leaned closer, placed her nose against his throat, and inhaled that scent deeper into her, but she somehow managed to restrain herself from acting like a dog around him.
And then what the scent was hit her—cinnamon! The man smelled like apple pie and temptation.
Her gaze traveled over the contours of his face as he remained unmoving in front of her. Stubble lined his jaw, and she found herself wondering what it would feel like to run her fingers over it. She would follow her fingers with her tongue so she could learn his taste. She bit her lip as yearning coiled within her and her pulse beat wildly.
Jack’s head turned toward her and their eyes locked. Charlie felt like she’d been caught doing something wrong, but she couldn’t find it in herself to feel bad about it. Her eyes fell to his mouth; what would it be like to kiss him before drawing his bottom lip into her mouth and nipping it?
Unable to stop himself, Jack’s fingers caressed hers before sliding up to her wrist. When she didn’t jerk away from him, he moved them up the sleeve of her shirt and was rewarded by a small shiver as her eyes dilated.
