Chapter Five
Chapter
Five
JETT
“What are you doing?”
I nearly jump out of my skin at Arely’s question. I knew my feet had come off the ground. Whipping around, I face her and plant my hands on my hips.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that,” I snap, watching her through narrow eyes. “You know better than to sneak up on me. You could have given me a heart attack.”
Arely brushes my comment off with a wave of her hand. “You can’t have a heart attack. Besides, I did call out to you. You weren’t paying attention. That means you were thinking of something, was it about a certain dark and tall man you’re destined to be with?”
I roll my eyes and shake my head.
I was definitely thinking about a tall, dark, and handsome man, but he wasn’t just a man. He was a vampire. He wasn’t just a handsome vampire either. He was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen in my life.
I couldn’t help getting the visual of him fighting those other vampires out of my head, or the fact he’d killed them all.
Last night, I thought about it. I should’ve felt scared or feared for my life when it came to him, but he made me feel none of this.
Sure, I’d been nervous and initially scared of him, but still, I hadn’t feared him.
He killed those vampires who’d have hurt me if given the chance. I knew this and came to terms with it.
There was no doubt in my mind that Aziz was dangerous.
A shiver courses along my spine at his name in my mind.
He had a beautiful, thick voice to go with the look of him.
The way he came at me, wrapped his arm around my waist, and kept me from falling backward, it made me feel something entirely different.
I felt desire. I would have loved to have kissed him, or that’s what I thought at the time.
It’s the reason I walked away from him so abruptly.
I fought the urge to do something so idiotic.
I mean, who wants to kiss a man after witnessing what that said man just did? To make matters worse, he didn’t even look upset or sorry for what he’d done.
“Earth to Jett,” Arely sings and waves a hand in my face. “You going to stay in la la land or rejoin me and answer me about the man you seem to be daydreaming about?”
“I’m not daydreaming,” I lie. I know I was totally daydreaming she doesn’t need to know that.
“You’re the worst liar in the world, you know that.” She snorts, shaking her head. “Just admit it, you were thinking of a man. Tell me, did you kiss him? Did you finally lose your virginity?”
“Shhh,” I snap, slapping my hand over her mouth and darting a look around to make sure no one heard her. “I swear you and your big mouth are out to get me sometimes.” The last thing I need is for someone to have heard her talking about my virginity.
“What?” Arely bats her eyes, trying to look all innocent. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
I roll my eyes at her and shake my head. “Just don’t do it.”
“Are you going to answer my question then? What were you thinking so hard about?” she asks, that smile of hers going back in place on her face.
“Ugh.” I throw my head back and stare up at the darkening sky. A part of me wonders why I’m standing out here now. Is it because I’m hoping by standing out here, he’ll find me again?
“I’m waiting?” Arely says, urging me to come clean.
“Fine, yes, I ran into the most beautiful man I’ve ever met in my life.”
“I knew you would.” She laughs and claps her hands excitedly.
“But he’s not just a man, he’s a vampire.”
“Soooooooooo . . .” she draws out.
“So . . . what? There’s nothing else to it.
I walked away from him and went home.” I give her the rest of the details on what happened and how I’d run into a bunch of other vampires while out for a walk.
“Evidently, those vampires were lying in wait for me to walk by. He killed them right in front of me.”
“Whoa,” Arely murmurs, eyes wide. “What happened next?”
“We talked for a few minutes, he told me his name, asked mine. Words were exchanged, and I walked away.” Okay, so he also saved me from tripping backwards and falling on my ass. I’d been in his arms for a good moment and really liked it.
I mean, I really, really liked being in his arms. The feel of the strength in them, knowing at any moment he could use that strength against me, had been exhilarating.
“So, you just walked away from him? No looking back? No getting his phone number? No finding out more about him?” Arely seems almost disappointed as I shake my head to answer her question.
“I know his name and I’ve seen him before going into Dyrk.”
“You have?” She cocks a brow and watches me closely. “You’ve seen him before?”
“Yes,” I answer slowly.
Arely’s eyes seem to glaze over for the briefest moment, and she smiles brightly. Oh no, what is she seeing?
Wait. I don’t want to know. Nope, I don’t need to know.
Once her eyes return to normal, she blinks and focuses on me once again.
I raise a hand to stop her. “I don’t want to know. Whatever it is, don’t tell me.”
“Oh, I wasn’t going to anyway,” Arely says with that singsong tone she gets whenever she knows she’s got something interesting and juicy she wants to share but doesn’t. It used to drive me nuts when she did that, but I got used to it. Though it still annoys me . . . sometimes.
Looking up at the sky again and then down to my watch on my wrist, I sigh. “I’m going to head home.” It’s not like I’m really doing anything out here anyway. I’d just been walking around the center of downtown.
“Okay, I’ll see you later. I’m going to go to the shop.
” She and her mom had a psychic shop they set up for tourists to have their palms read.
Sometimes they’d do it in the park. It was mostly Arely’s, but her mom came to town a few days a week to help.
You’d think the shop wouldn’t be profitable, but Arely did well with it.
She did readings, but also sold crystals and oils, along with a few other things mixed in.
This time of year, she also sells custom voodoo dolls.
I give Arely a quick hug and start to walk home, wondering why I’m allowing my head to be consumed with thoughts of a vampire. It’s not like anything could happen between the two of us.
Okay, so I don’t know why it couldn’t, but I was a girl who was the daughter of a God who was also immortal. He was immortal so long as he wasn’t stabbed in the heart or stepped out into the sun.
A tingle goes down my spine as I get closer to Dyrk. A part of me wondered if he was in there. If I were to step inside, would I see him?
Ugh! Why couldn’t I simply stop thinking about him? He wasn’t important. What was important was me figuring out what I was going to do next.
I used to work at the school in the office, but it was only temporary. I also worked in a few other places, but none of them seemed to excite me. I have a degree in arts, business, history, and social science. I’m an overachiever. I took all the classes I could, starting in high school.
Thankfully, I hadn’t had to pay for any of my college classes, my dad took care of making sure that money was always something I didn’t have to worry about.
Even now, I didn’t have to work. I could’ve gone an entire mortal life without worrying about my finances, but I don’t like to sit still. I needed something to do with my life.
A purpose.
But what exactly would my purpose be?
These days I worked in the library as a volunteer.
I loved it, but it wasn’t something I wanted to do as a career.
And the fact that I’m now immortal, it’s not like I can have a job for a long period of time without someone noticing the fact that I’m not aging.
Sure, in Redwich it might be okay, but I’m not exactly of the supernatural world. I’m a God’s daughter. That’s all.
“It seems we keep running into each other.”
I whirl around at the sound of the husky throat voice coming from behind me. How had I not heard him?
I swallow nervously as I stare up at him to find him grinning at me. “What are you doing sneaking up on me?”
“I didn’t.” He jerks his chin toward the building we’re standing in front of. “I just came out of there.”
There being Dyrk. He’d been coming out of the establishment.
“Oh,” I whisper, feeling my cheeks flush. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around.”
“How about you let me buy you dinner?” Aziz suggests, stepping deeper into my space.
“You eat food?” Oh no, did I seriously just blurt that question aloud? “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that.”
Aziz chuckles and reaches up to grip my chin between two fingers. My breath stills in my chest, and I thought for a split second he might kiss me.
“Little one, don’t ever apologize to me for asking a simple question,” he tells me, his mouth nearly touching mine as he dips his head enough so we’re nose to nose.
The guy has a good foot on me in height, and I’m no slouch either in that department.
Both Arely and I are five foot nine. She’s closer to five foot ten, though.
So, Aziz, being as tall as he is, makes me feel petite standing in front of him.
“As for your question, yes, I could eat. I don’t have to in order to live, but I do enjoy the flavors.”
“Oh,” I whisper.
“Will you allow me to take you to dinner?” he asks once again.
“Ugh, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Sure, it is,” another voice says sweetly. I turn my head in time to see a beautiful woman who holds similarities to Aziz step toward us. “I’m Sibley, Aziz’s sister,” she introduces herself.
“Ugh, hi, I’m Jett.” I find myself unsure of myself in her presence. I don’t see her as a threat. She doesn’t seem that way to me. Though I have no doubt this woman could very well be just that toward me, but she wouldn’t hurt me.
“I know who you are. Just as I know you want to go to dinner with Aziz.” She leans in and whispers in my ear, “Among other things.”
My eyes widen, and it’s all I can do to keep my already flushed cheeks from going redder. “Um, ugh, I’m not sure about this.”
“Come on, little one, we’ll go to dinner and get to know each other,” Aziz says, grinning. Oh god, he must have heard what his sister whispered. Nothing is sacred when vampires or even shifters are around. Their hearing was outstanding. “I promise, that’s all we’ll do.”
“Fine.” I nod, letting out a heavy breath. “Where should we go?”
“How about Raider’s Hook?” he suggests, “They have a good surf and turf setup, can get the best of both worlds.”
I loved going to Raider’s Hook. It was one of my favorites. They had a divine pasta that had fresh basil and tomatoes topping it over a blackened steak that had this delicious creamy sauce. Talk about yummy.
Clearing my throat, I nod once again and smile. “Sure, that sounds good.” No way was I going to let him know that it was a favorite of mine.
“Shall we?” Aziz places a hand at the small of my back and ushers me down the sidewalk.
Raider’s Hook was two blocks away from Dyrk and an easy walk.
Neither of us talks on the way. Aziz keeps his hand at the small of my back.
I could feel his touch through my sweater.
For a moment, I think about the fact I was smart enough to dress in something that was cute.
A black off-the-shoulder sweater, matched with skinny jeans and charcoal gray boots.
I do a mental check of my undergarments.
Why? I don’t know, but I remember I put on lacey black cheeky panties and a matching push-up bra.
I didn’t have an abundance of cleavage up top, but I had enough. The push-up bra just helped them not look like they were perky.
But why am I thinking about all of this? I mean, it’s not like we’re going to do more than eat and talk. I wasn’t going to take him home and devour him in my bed.
No way. That’s definitely not something I could see myself doing. I’m a virgin for Pete’s sake.
But why is it I can hear Arely’s words in my head about me meeting a tall, dark, handsome man and giving him my virginity?