Chapter 25
Chapter twenty-five
Tressa
“Come on, slowpoke,” Tressa called behind her as she emerged from the tree line an hour later.
She shouldn’t tease him about being slow when it really wasn’t his fault.
Not even the fastest human sprinter could keep pace with her, and Ethan was still recovering.
She just couldn’t help it, though. He always looked so flabbergasted when she messed with him.
Like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to laugh and be silly for once.
Huffing and puffing, Ethan came up beside Tressa and laid a hand on the hood of her car.
Well, technically it was Saiden’s car since she “borrowed” his McLaren, but she thought Ethan might enjoy the sweet ride.
Sadly, he’d shown more interest in that fancy flower than the two-hundred-thousand-dollar vehicle most guys would fawn over.
Just another reminder that her mate wasn’t like most men.
After a few minutes of Ethan wheezing like the post-coma patient that he was, his eyes finally rolled up to meet hers. “How…”
“Yes, Ethan?” she asked, waiting for him to catch his breath a little more.
“How the…”
“Finish your sentence.”
“How the fuck do you run so fast?”
I’m a vampire.
The words were on the tip of her tongue. She’d planned to wait until the end of the day, but maybe this was the perfect time to tell him. It was becoming more difficult to endure his anti-vampire comments without feeling like they were a smack in the face.
She should just confess to him what she was so they could start the healing process.
And the trailhead was as good a place as any.
They were secluded, so he couldn’t exactly escape.
He said runs always put him in an upbeat mood, and exhaustion aside, he’d been all smiles on the trail.
Plus, she wasn’t entirely sure how long she could last when the urge to throw him up against one of those giant tree and fuck his brains out kept getting stronger the more time she spent around him.
I’m a vampire.
She just needed to open her mouth and say those three words. Those three life-altering words. Once she spoke them, everything would change, but maybe, just maybe, it would be for the best. Three words to tell him the truth, and then she could deal with the fallout, however bad it was.
Just three little words.
“I’m a vampire,” Tressa said.
Ethan laughed and pushed off the car. “Good one. That would explain a lot. But there’s only one problem with that…”
Tressa bit her lip. “Um, what’s that?”
Ethan stared at her for a second, then stepped closer, his breathing heavy but no longer uncontrolled. He brushed a lock of hair off her forehead and grinned. “You’re way too sweet to be a monster.”
He leaned in, and Tressa went still.
Was he finally going to kiss her?
Wait, should she let him? And if she did, could she bring herself to stop before things went too far? She wanted to say yes, but at the same time, a resounding no echoed in her brain.
On the other hand, she had told him the truth, so technically she was no longer deceiving him. Was it really her fault if he didn’t believe her?
His lips brushed against hers, and sparks of lightning exploded under her skin, making her entire body tingle in the best way. She wanted to sink into his embrace and never leave. If he was willing, then who was she to push him away? Everything she wanted was right there in her arms.
Only he didn’t really know the truth, and she couldn’t deny that he’d been very clear about how important consent was for him when it came to sex. So, as much as she yearned to say ‘fuck it’ and take what she wanted, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not to her mate.
Breaking the kiss, she took a step back.
Dang, she thought. Apparently he isn’t the only one with willpower. Though she wasn’t entirely sure that was a good thing considering the nearly painful throbbing between her legs.
“I’m sorry,” Ethan said, running a hand through his sweaty hair. “I shouldn’t have done that. I just… I forgot for a second. About everything.”
“No,” Tressa said, placing a hand on his arm. “I wanted you to. I still want you to. You have no idea how much I want you to. But when you kiss me, I want all of you to be with all of me. I want you to see me completely.”
Ethan fiddled with the drawstring on his running shorts, refusing to meet her eyes. “You’re right. I know I’ve been preoccupied with training to kill the vamp, and you deserve more than half my attention.”
She stifled a groan. He thought it was about him? The only thing about her mate that was so typically male was his ego. Not that she could blame him. He had no idea the monumental secret she was hiding.
“It’s not that, Ethan. I can’t fault you for wanting to get revenge for your friend. Or hell, revenge for yourself after what she did to you.”
Tressa tried not to look, but she couldn’t help it. Her eyes landed on the nasty scar at the base of his neck. It would always be there. That reminder of what one of her kind had done to him.
Ethan’s hand went to the scar and lingered on it for a moment. “Yeah, but still. It’s not fair to you. None of this is fair to you. I’ve taken over your life with my vendetta, and I don’t even know what’s going to happen after—”
“Stop,” Tressa interjected. “Let’s worry about later when it gets here.”
Not the healthiest response, but Tressa wasn’t ready to risk losing Ethan’s presence just yet. Her idea of telling him the truth when he was rocking a post run high was gone, but surely her next destination would perk his mood back up.
“Hey,” she said, her lips curling up in a smile. “How do you feel about ice cream?”
“You know, I was pleasantly surprised by your choice of running trail, but I can’t say I’m optimistic about this decision.”
Tressa laughed and put the McLaren in park in front of Ray’s Food Place, a Fall River Mills staple that carried mostly groceries but also had a deli with ice cream.
They’d made a quick stop at the compound for showers, and it was starting to feel like a reset on the day.
Her second chance to try again and get him in the right mood to hear the truth.
Or, as Cora would say, it was time for take two.
“Oh, Ethan, my sweet Ethan,” she said, shaking her head. “You’re going to eat those words.”
“And they’ll probably taste better than any ice cream from this place.”
Tressa slapped his shoulder lightly and climbed out of the car. When Ethan didn’t immediately follow, she went around to his side and pulled the door open. Holding out a hand, she asked, “Do you trust me?”
Okay, so there might have been a little more weight to the words than there should be, but if he didn’t have enough faith in her to try the tiny ice cream place tucked in the back of the grocery store, she was really screwed when it came to the whole vamp thing.
Ethan stared at her for a moment, then placed his hand in hers. “With my life.”
A bolt of lightning shot through Tressa at his words. She could only send a prayer to Lilith that he still felt that way in an hour.
“In that case,” she said, tugging him from the car. “Let’s grab some of the best bubblegum ice cream you’ve ever had. Believe me, it’s life changing.”
When she felt Ethan freeze halfway out of the car, she turned around to see him gaping at her, mouth wide open.
Tressa tossed a glance over her shoulder, searching for the cause of his shock, then looked back to him. “Did I say something bad?”
He eyed her curiously, then shook his head as he finally unfolded his large frame from the tiny car. “I guess I’ve never met someone else who loved bubblegum ice cream before. Most people think it’s gross.”
Tressa put a hand to her chest in mock surprise. “Seriously? But it’s the best flavor.”
He nodded slowly. “I agree. In fact, uh…” He nudged his glasses up on his nose with his pinkie in quite possibly the most adorably innocent gesture Tressa had ever seen.
She ran her hands over his rounded shoulders, trying to get him to meet her gaze. “What?” she asked.
He finally looked up and caught her eyes. “I was just going to say I always thought you smelled a little like bubblegum.”
If vampire hearts could skip a beat, Tressa’s would be frolicking up and down main street. If only Ethan knew that he smelled like creamy vanilla ice cream to her. Together, they were an exquisite combination.
“Thank you,” she said, smiling. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should,” he replied with a lopsided grin. “I don’t like most super-sweet things, but bubblegum flavor is kind of my weakness.”
Tressa’s heart gave up on skipping and did a full on endzone victory dance. It took everything in her not to throw her entire plan out the window and prove to him right there what she was. Nobody who looked at her like that could possibly let something like a tiny pair of fangs come between them.
Shaking her head, she reminded herself that downtown Fall River Mills was probably not the best place for that revelation.
The locals already gossiped that her cadre was probably some kind of cult.
They respected their privacy because of the money they spent in the town, but if anyone overheard the word vampire, she imagined news vans would be on their doorstep by the evening.
Resisting the urge to say anything, she dragged him back toward the small in-store ice cream parlor that was going to blow Ethan’s mind.