Page 40 of Bitten By Desire (Crooked Point #1)

Tuesday

“No,” I said in my firmest voice. “No, it’s not time to end him. Who even talks like that? Stand down. Both of you.”

Titan looked at me and then back at Bennett.

“I’m serious. The plan is a no-go. You’re not killing Callum.” You crazy people!

“And why exactly are we not killing him, doll?”

“Stop calling me that. I’m not your doll. And you’re not killing Callum because he’s not hurting anyone.”

Titan raised his eyebrow at me. “I beg to differ.”

Gah. “And I’m in love with him.”

Titan looked even more surprised by that.

“He’s controlling her head somehow,” Bennett said.

“That’s now what’s happening!” I yelled.

“What is wrong with you?” I turned to Titan.

Maybe I could make him see reason. “I fell in love with Callum ten years ago. But he disappeared. And I finally found him again. I know he’s a vampire.

I know you guys hate him. But he’s trying to be better.

He doesn’t even drink human blood anymore. ”

Titan’s eyes darted to my neck.

Damn it. “I asked him to do it.” Kind of. Technically I asked him to lick my hand. But I hadn’t even felt him bite my neck hard enough to draw blood. I’d been too distracted by how good he felt inside of me. I’d loved every second of it .

“You asked him to bite you?” Titan shook his head.

He clearly thought I was insane. But I wasn’t. “I asked him to taste my blood to prove that he could control himself and wouldn’t kill me. And…here I am. Standing in front of you. Very much alive.” I gestured to myself, as if he couldn’t see me.

Titan glanced at Bennett.

Don’t look at Bennett! Bennett’s crazy! “And Callum is the love of my life.”

“You know what I think?” Titan said. “I think it sounds a lot like mind control.”

“Titan!”

He smiled. A real one. That made him look significantly less intense. My eyes trailed down the scar on his cheek. And I wondered if one of his friends had done that, or if he’d done it himself by accident.

“I’m joking,” Titan said.

“Wait, what?”

He slapped Bennett on the back. “Bennett’s not used to being turned down. None of us are.”

“Are you serious?” Bennett said. “You really think…”

“Your ego is getting in the way here, man. She’s just not that into you.”

I wouldn’t really put it that way. I liked Bennett. I really did. But he wasn’t Callum. I kept my mouth shut though. Because Titan was actually getting through to him.

Bennett shook his head. “But…the plan.” He sounded so dejected.

“We’ll have to put it off for a while,” Titan said.

I shook my head. “No. You’re never killing Callum. You have to swear it to me. ”

Bennett took a deep breath and looked at me. “I was talking about a different plan.”

Um…what? I was so confused. “What plan?”

“Nothing,” Titan said. “Don’t worry about it.”

Honestly, I was a little worried about it. Because they’d come in here with a plan to murder my boyfriend. Was this some kind of work around plan? Were they just going to maim him? “You can’t hurt Callum either. Not a scratch.”

“You have our word,” Titan said.

Bennett nodded.

“You can’t have someone else do something to him either. Like…poison or something.”

Bennett finally smiled. “We’re not going to hurt him or have anyone else hurt him.”

Okay. That was good enough for me. “And in return, I’ll get Callum to let you keep the pocket watch. Deal?” I put my hand out for Bennett to shake.

Bennett didn’t move.

“Do we have to do another blood oath or something?” I asked.

Titan laughed. “That won’t be necessary. We trust you. And I hope you trust us too.” He shook my hand. “I’ll give you two a minute.” He left Bennett and I alone in the kitchen.

“Deal?” I said again, this time holding my hand out to Bennett.

“Are you sure? That you love him?” His eyes searched mine.

“I’m sure. I’ve been sure for years.” I knew how pathetic that sounded. That after just one night I’d given my heart to someone. But it was the truth.

“Promise you’ll be careful? ”

I smiled. “I promise.”

“Put that away,” he said and swatted my hand down, before pulling me into a hug. He rested his chin on the top of my head. “I thought you were the one, Emma.”

I started blinking fast. I wished I could be his person. But…I wasn’t. I really wanted him to be happy though. He wasn’t a monster. And he deserved the whole world. “You’ll find someone.” I hugged him back. “I feel like Zoey has a thing for you.”

He laughed and pulled back. “Yeah, but she has a thing for everyone else in town too. I can’t really picture her settling down.”

I shrugged. “Maybe in a few years.”

He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. His eyes trailed down the side of my neck. “Don’t let him change you, Emma. You’re perfect just the way you are.”

“Thank you.” I didn’t know if he meant change my personality somehow. Or… change me . As in, change me into a vampire. I tried not to shudder. I had no idea what that entailed. But now that he’d said it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“See you around town, Emma,” Bennett said. He gave me one last smile and walked out of the kitchen.

I knew I was making the right choice. But my heart hurt knowing that I’d hurt Bennett.

I really hoped that one day we could be just friends.

Although…it was going to take me a while to be comfortable with the whole werecat thing.

I wanted to believe that they had it under control.

But I’d seen Bennett out of control. And one of them had freaking killed someone in the hay maze .

But maybe that wouldn’t have happened if Bennett hadn’t been preoccupied with me on the Ferris wheel.

It was just as much my fault as it was anyone else’s.

And the least I could do was make sure it didn’t happen again.

Bennett and his friends needed that pocket watch.

And Callum didn’t. I just had to prove to Callum that they weren’t using it in bad ways.

The ways Callum admitted to using it. Callum and I still had a lot to talk about.

I walked out of the kitchen to see Zoey still on her knees licking the side of the banana really slowly. All the guys were staring at her.

Oh God. It looked like something X-rated was about to go down. And even though it wasn’t my house…I still felt like it shouldn’t be happening in the middle of the family room.

I cleared my throat.

Ace and Huxley tore their eyes away from Zoey at the same time.

“Uh…we should be going,” Ace said.

Otto shrugged. “I mean, I’m not busy.” He winked at Zoey.

And then she deepthroated the whole banana. All the way.

How the hell was she doing that?!

“Nope. We’re going. Now,” Titan said.

They turned to leave.

Zoey looked so sad as they walked out the door and closed it behind them.

She sat back on her heels and took a bite of the banana. “I don’t get it,” she said with her mouth full. “Does Titan hate me or something? ”

I grabbed her hand to help her to her feet.

“I think he hates everyone.” But I had finally gotten him to smile.

I pictured the way his lips had felt pressed against mine earlier.

And then I immediately shook away the thought.

That man was going to be the death of some poor girl. “Thanks for distracting them for me.”

“No problem. I actually think I might have a chance with Otto. Or the twins. Could you imagine banging a set of twins at the same time?” She fanned herself.

No. That was so weird. And exactly something Zoey would want to do. “Just be careful around them.”

“Oh, I know. Because they’re bad , dangerous boys. Ugh. I think I’m in love.”

I laughed. Even though they weren’t just bad boys. They were freaking murderous werecats. And none of it was actually funny. It was a good thing I was staying in town. Because she needed me to protect her from what she didn’t know.

“I thought you were dating Officer Davis or something?”

“He’s married , Emma.” She stared at me like I was insane.

I was so confused. “I know he is. Which is why you shouldn’t be dating him.”

“I’m not,” she said through a mouthful of banana. “I’m going to sleep with the twins. That’s my new goal.”

I really didn’t love that. But I couldn’t stop her. “Ask them their secret though, okay?”

“I like a little mystery in the bedroom.”

I sighed. She wasn’t getting it. But she wasn’t going to bang them tonight or anything. So she’d be safe at least until dawn. “I need to go see Callum.”

“Is that a good idea? Since it’s nighttime and all? ”

“I think that’s a werewolf thing.” And maybe a werecat thing? I had so many freaking questions!

“Ooooh. Yeah. I remember now. They change on a full moon, right? Half animal, half beast. That’s so hot too.”

She’d lost her mind… My train of thought stopped when I saw her pull an almost empty bottle of wine off the end table. Oh, she was just drunk. That explained everything. Zoey always had been a stress drinker. “I think you’ve had enough of that.” I grabbed it away from her.

“But it pairs perfectly with the sweetness of my nanner.”

Yup, she was plastered. “I think it’s time for you to go to bed.”

“And for you to get in bed with Callum.” She pointed at me. “You blushed! That’s what you’re doing! You’re going over there for a late night booty call.”

“More like a very serious discussion about how many people he’s murdered.”

“Way to kill the vibe, Emma.”

I sighed. “I need to know.”

“Okay…what if it’s two people?” she asked.

“I think it’s probably more than that.”

“Two hundred?!”

I cringed. That was a leap. Or...maybe not. “That seems like a ton, right? That’s bad. Really bad.”

“Bad enough for you to stop loving him?”

I bit the inside of my lip. Callum wasn’t doing that anymore. But being good recently didn’t counteract years of murder .

Zoey just stared at me. “I think we both know that the answer is no. That you’d still love him. So what’s the point of bringing it up? Just be happy.”

“I need to know.” But she was right. It wouldn’t change how I felt. I just needed to know everything. All of it. Every skeleton in his closet. Even if they were actual skeletons…

“Alright. But be careful, okay? I don’t love the idea of you running around at night with a vampire. Even if he is one of the good ones.”

It was ironic that she was worried about me. When she was trying to bang two uncontrollable werecats. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“And then you’ll have to come back here and give me all the gory details.”

I smiled. “You bet.”

She gave me a very strong hug for how drunk she was. “I can’t believe all of this is real. I kind of feel like I’m going to wake up and it’ll all be a dream.”

For ten years all I did was dream about Callum. And I knew all of this was weird…but I wouldn’t change a thing. This wasn’t a dream. This was real. And I was so freaking happy. I hugged Zoey and then stepped back. “Wish me luck.”

“Want any garlic powder just in case? Bennett left my stash.” She pointed to five huge containers of garlic powder.

“No, I’m good.” And she was going to have to get rid of those if I was staying here.

That was super uninviting to my new boyfriend.

I smiled to myself. Technically Callum and I hadn’t had the boyfriend girlfriend talk yet.

But I was pretty sure telling each other we were in love meant I could put a label on it .

I walked outside and stared up at the moon. And even though there were no shooting stars in the sky, I still made a wish. That everything Callum was about to tell me wouldn’t make me scared. That it wouldn’t make me walk away.

Because I knew it was going to be bad. Really bad.

The door opened behind me. I turned around to see Zoey cup her hands around her mouth.

“Go get your man!” she yelled.

I laughed. That was just what I needed. I turned and started walking toward Main Street and my vampire.