Page 37 of Bitten By Desire (Crooked Point #1)

Tuesday

I looked over at the train and then back at Callum. “Why would you want me to leave after that?”

“Because I’m everything you said I was. I…I’m a monster.” He clenched his jaw, like it pained him to say it.

I closed the distance between us. “You hurt me because I liked it. Because I wanted it.”

He shook his head.

“Yes you did. You said you’d never hurt me. Unless I asked for you to. I was practically begging you.”

“I bit your neck, Emma. It only took one taste for me to lose control.”

“Because I kept tilting my head back. And it’s not like you turned me into a vampire or anything. Or…did you?” Shit, am I a vampire now? “How does all of it work?”

“You don’t want to know. Get on the train.”

“I can’t. I…I don’t have any pants.” I gestured to my outfit.

“Emma, it’s for the best.”

“To ride a train without pants?” I smiled, hoping he’d laugh at the ridiculousness of all of this.

But he just lowered his eyebrows even more.

“I’m not leaving, Callum.”

“Yes. You are. ”

I shook my head. “I just told you that I love you. And you said it back. I’m not getting on a train and leaving now.”

The conductor yelled something at us, but I ignored him.

“Besides. My ticket was for the last train. Not this one.”

“I could have seriously hurt you, Emma.”

“But you didn’t. That was the whole point. That was all the proof I needed.”

He just stared at me.

“If anything, I wish you’d bitten me harder.”

His eyes darkened ever so slightly again.

“I’m not scared of you, Callum. You told me what you needed to stay in control. And I gave it to you. I’ll always give it to you. So there’s nothing to be scared of.”

“You don’t understand. I like how you taste. I really fucking like it.” His eyes fell to my neck.

I smiled. “Good. I’d be a little offended if you didn’t.”

“It’s not funny.”

“It kind of is though. And all that only happened because I asked you to. I made you lick my cut. And everything that just happened was proof enough to me that you won’t hurt me.”

He shook his head.

“You’re not a monster, Callum. And I’m staying.”

“A life with me isn’t all sunshine and roses. I’ll never be able to give you everything you need.”

“I’m happy to hang out with you in the dark. And I don’t need roses. They might prick me or something.” I smiled again, but he didn’t find anything I said humorous. “Besides, you just gave me everything I need.”

He didn’t look any more convinced.

I grabbed both sides of his face. “Callum Walsh. Or whatever your real name is. You are not a monster. Or a villain. And nothing you do or say could make me think you’re a bad guy.”

“Emma…”

I sighed and let go of his face. I knew one way I could definitely tip the scales in my favor. “Okay,” I said with a shrug. “Fine. You win. If that’s what you really want. I guess I’ll just go be with Bennett then…”

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back into his chest. “We both know I can treat you better than him.”

I smiled. There was the confident asshole I fell in love with. “Good. Then it’s settled.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. And then I grabbed a tissue from my purse and blotted the side of my neck.

He watched the blasé way I reacted to being bitten.

“And since I’m staying, I have about a thousand questions for you.

Tons about what being a vampire entails of course.

I’ve done some research, but I have a feeling it wasn’t all accurate.

But I need to start with a very important question.

Is Zoey a vampire too? Or a werecat? Because she was acting very suspicious when I couldn’t tell her the truth about Bennett and his friends.

She kept pushing it, like she wanted me to be in pain. I think she’s in on all of it.”

Callum’s smile was finally back. “No, she’s not.”

“Are you sure?”

He laughed. “Positive.”

“I should probably call her back then. Because I may have freaked out and ran out of her house. ”

“Let’s just get you back there. It’s cold out here.”

I stared at him. “Can you even tell? Because your skin is always freezing.”

“I know it’s cold because you’re shivering.”

That made sense. “So you have cold skin. And your eyes get darker when you’re hungry for blood.”

“Yes.” He grabbed my hand and opened the door back into the train station.

The air was warmer in here, but his hand in mine still made me shiver.

The guy at the ticket desk gave me a strange look.

Probably because when I’d walked in I had on pants.

I tightened Callum’s shirt around me. Or maybe he was more alarmed by the fact that Callum was wearing a jacket and no shirt?

Or the fact that I was still here at all because my train out of Crooked Point was long gone. He was probably confused by all of it.

We hurried outside.

“Is the golden eyes part of it too?”

“No. That’s just the color of my eyes.”

“They’re really pretty.”

“Pretty?” He raised his eyebrow at me.

I laughed. “Alluring. Is that better?”

“That’s definitely better.”

I smiled up at him. “So…how old are you? Is your real name Sir something or other? Was it William? I can’t remember.

Are all those cloaks in your attic yours?

Do you go hunting for animals or do you like…

buy them from a pet store or something? How many people have you killed?

Do you not appear in photos? Because I’ve always been really suspicious about that. Is that a vampire thing? Because…”

“Emma?”

“Yeah? ”

“Take a deep breath. I’ll answer any questions you have. But I can only answer one question at a time.”

“Right. You don’t appear in photos, do you?”

He shook his head. “No. But you can paint a portrait of me. Or you can take a picture of a portrait of me.”

“Which is why you stole my camera. To delete the pictures of the portraits?” I knew my face fell. I’d known it. And yet…I was hoping he really had just wanted to take pictures of me.

“In part. But I got a little carried away. I liked the way you looked with your legs spread for me.”

I swallowed hard.

“A little shy.” He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “And a lot turned on.”

I shoved his hand away.

He laughed. “Maybe we can do that again sometime.”

“I’d rather have pictures of you .”

“Then you’re going to have to learn how to paint me.”

“Hmm. If you think I’d ever back down from a challenge you’re crazy. After all, I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to stalk you for ten years.”

“Doesn’t that make you the crazy one?”

“Hey, I…”

“I’m joking.” He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close. “I may have checked in on you from time to time.”

“Wait, what?”

“I wanted to know where you were. So that I could be with you when I was ready. ”

“I knew I saw you!” There were so many times I’d thought I’d seen him in a crowd. Only to bother a total stranger. Was it possible that sometimes it was actually him?

“I thought you might have seen me a few times.”

“You really did make me feel insane. You do realize that?”

“But you never forgot about me.”

I shook my head. “No. I definitely didn’t. Because apparently you refused to let me.”

The corner of his mouth ticked up.

I smiled. I wasn’t mad. I was glad that I’d been stuck in his head too. “So back to my questions…”

“Emma, what the actual fuck!” Zoey screamed as she appeared right in front of us on the sidewalk. “I’ve been searching everywhere for you! What the hell is going on? And why don’t you have any pants?”

I laughed.

“Nothing about this is funny. Where were you?”

“The train station. I was skipping town. But Callum stopped me.”

“Good,” Zoey said. “But why did you run away from me? Why were you acting so weird? I don’t understand why you can’t just tell me the truth. And here, I found you that cough drop.” She handed it to me.

“Um…thanks.” I didn’t need it. I just needed her to stop asking me about Bennett or I’d probably hurl.

“She can’t tell you Bennett’s secret,” Callum said. “She physically can’t.”

Zoey shook her head. “What do you mean she can’t ? Just tell me.”

“Bennett has to show you himself,” I said. “That’s really all I can say. ”

Zoey turned back to Callum. “Okay, Zoey can’t tell me. But surely you can. What the hell is going on?”

Wait, could he? I looked up at him.

“I really think you should just talk to Bennett,” Callum said. “It’s not my secret to share. But be careful okay?”

“That is not very reassuring.” Zoey put her hands on her hips. “I don’t know what the two of you are up to but I’m totally freaked out. You had me running all over the place in a panic. Seriously, what is going on?”

This maybe didn’t seem like a great time to tell Zoey that Callum was actually a vampire. I wasn’t even sure he wanted anyone to know. Except for me. I leaned closer to him.

Callum Walsh was a vampire. A part of me felt like any second now I’d wake up from a weird dream.

Callum cleared his throat. “Well, Emma’s staying in town.”

Zoey stared at me. “For like…another week? Or…”

“I was kind of hoping I could live here permanently,” I said. There was no way I was leaving now. “If you don’t mind having a roommate.”

Zoey squealed.

“Um…we can talk about that,” Callum said.

I smiled up at him. He hadn’t actually asked…but it kind of seemed like he wanted me to live with him instead.

“So does this mean that the two of you are actually together now? Finally?” Zoey asked.

Callum looked down at me. “Yes.”

The way he stared at me when he said it made me want to kiss every inch of his face. A thousand times yes .

“I think I have a lot to be caught up on,” Zoey said as we reached the gate of her white picket fence. “Callum, would you mind giving us a girls’ night so I can hear all the deets?”

“I guess I can manage one more night without her by my side. But just one more.”

Seriously. Swoon.

“If you could just give us one minute,” I said to Zoey.

“Exactly one. I’m counting.” Zoey opened the gate and hurried inside.

That was weird… I turned to Callum. “Just one more night?”

“It’s been torture being apart from you. I think one more night is all I can bear.”

“Me too.” I pressed my lips together as I stared into his golden eyes. “I’m really tired of all the secrets. Is it maybe okay if I tell Zoey that you’re a vampire?”

He nodded. “If that’s what you want. If you trust her, I trust her. Just swear her to secrecy. I’m not ready to move again so soon.”

“I can do that.” I liked this town too. Well, minus the werecat issue. Fuck, I still had to deal with Bennett. I had a million questions for him and his friends. But I had a million more for Callum. “I still have so many questions for you.”

Zoey’s front door opened. “It’s been a minute! I need you, Emma!” She violently bit into the cucumber she was holding in her hand.

Why was she acting so strange? I was glad I’d asked Callum about her, because the way she’d bit that would have had me very worried that she was a werecat .

“I guess your questions will have to wait until tomorrow,” Callum said. He leaned down and gently pressed his lips against mine.

“Now!” Zoey yelled.

Oh my God. Whatever she wanted must have been an emergency. Because Zoey was a big believer in not interrupting sexy moments. I pulled away from Callum. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He nodded. “Sweet dreams, baby.”

I wanted to squeal and skip and dance under the moonlight. But when I walked up to Zoey’s house, all my happiness evaporated when I saw the worry on her face.

She took another angry bite of her cucumber, grabbed my arm, and pulled me inside. “Bennett’s going to kill Callum!”