Page 20 of Dance of the Phoenix (Cloak of the Vampire #3)

Logan

I don’t know how it happened, but a couple of months after Aileen first joined my family, we became close.

It was a gradual process. At first, I’d been taking the food to my room for dinner every night. Then, I started attending dinners with my parents and her. The conversations were mostly about school, but they were pleasant nonetheless.

Then, at some point, Aileen and I started spending time watching movies in the living room after dinner. We never spoke much throughout the movies, just sat there eating microwave popcorn and getting used to each other’s company.

Before I knew it, we started eating lunch at school together. Or rather, I let Aileen join me at lunchtime with my friends. She didn’t speak to them much, or even me, but just sat there, listening to us as we talked about soccer and new superhero movies.

The turning point came a few weeks before my fourteenth birthday.

I remembered it vividly: It was a Thursday night, and Aileen and I were waiting for the popcorn to be ready.

My parents were out for the night—they had a weekly date every Thursday, which I found utterly disgusting back then—and so it was only Aileen and me at home.

“I’m so happy I got the Blu-ray from Dave,” I told Aileen while we waited. I was excited to see the movie; it was the third one in an epic fantasy saga I was completely into at the time.

Aileen smiled at me, and while I wasn’t immune to that smile, and it still made me feel things that confused me, I’d finally managed to get ahold of my newfound hormones. “The second one wasn’t as interesting as the first, so I hope this one’s better.”

I chuckled and almost jumped when the microwave announced the popcorn was ready. We grabbed the bag and settled in the living room next to one another, the movie already waiting for us to press play.

For the first twenty minutes, we simply watched the movie in silence, as we always did, munching on the popcorn. But then I felt her hand brushing against my thigh.

Freezing, I thought she didn’t do it on purpose and scolded my body for reacting to such a fleeting touch over my jeans. But then it happened again, and again, until suddenly her hand was on my thigh.

Blood rushing in one direction only, I swallowed hard and glanced at her. Her eyes were on the TV screen, but her thumb started making circular movements on my thigh.

Taking a deep, shivery breath, I tried to focus on the movie, but my efforts were in vain. My entire being was hyperfocused on the spot Aileen touched.

When the bag of popcorn was empty, Aileen put it away and, to my shock, closed the gap between us and cuddled up to my side, leaning her head on my shoulder, while her hand was still on my thigh.

My heart raced, and my face felt flushed. Everything disappeared but the feel of her body so close. I’d never had a girl this close to me before. I didn’t know what to do. I was dumbstruck by the unfamiliar, yet not unwelcome, situation.

“Logan.”

Her voice speaking my name made it hard to breathe.

Slowly, I turned my head toward her, and she pulled her head back from my shoulder to stare at me.

Her eyes were more brown than green in the dim light of the living room, and the way she looked at me, as if I were the answer to all her questions, made me feel a rush of feelings I couldn’t identify.

“Aileen?” I said, scanning her face, trying to figure out what it was she was trying to do.

Then, before I could process anything, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine.

At that point in my life, I knew nothing about sex, or intimacy, or anything to do with the subject of romance.

I’d been sheltered, with soccer being my whole life before Aileen came along.

I had always avoided watching the porn videos some of my friends sent me, since they didn’t really interest me yet.

I saw them as vulgar and boring, so I didn’t bother clicking on any of those links.

But when Aileen’s maddening scent tingled my nose, followed by the soft touch of her lips, I was suddenly in a territory I had never dared broach before. Because, for the first time in my life, I felt desire. Lust, even.

For her.

Only for her.

The kiss was chaste—a peck, really—and when she leaned back, I found myself instinctually leaning forward, trying to follow her touch.

Because it wasn’t enough.

“Aileen ...” I said, staring at her. Entranced by her very existence. “Why ...”

“I like you, Logan,” she said, so bold that she rendered me speechless. “I really, really like you.”

My throat grew dry as all I could do was look at her while a sudden epiphany landed on me.

I realized then what it was I was feeling toward her.

“I ... I l-like you ... too ...” I mumbled, flushing at how uncool I was being, and cleared my throat. “I ... I mean—”

She cut me off with another kiss, and this one was different. She pressed herself into me, her hands grabbing my shoulders, and I didn’t know what to do with my own hands. Where did I put them? What should a boy do in this situation? I was lost in lust and confusion.

She leaned back only an inch to whisper against my lips, “Open up for me, Logan.”

I opened my mouth to speak, and she took advantage of that, giving me my real first kiss.

And since I liked the girl, all I could do was let her ravish my lips with hers as much as she wanted to, the movie long forgotten.

After the first kiss, Aileen and I spent all of our time together.

We never spoke about what we were, but it was clear to both of us that we were more than friends.

After all, every night, once my parents went to sleep, Aileen would sneak into my room, and we would make out until neither of us could breathe and I would feel the aching need in my gut, in my pants , growing to a breaking point.

I started sitting next to her in classes and spent my lunchtimes with her only. We spoke about mundane things, like our favorite colors and music or debating the existence of aliens. Our conversations flowed naturally, as if we’d been friends our entire lives.

Then came the night before my fourteenth birthday.

We had dinner like every night with my parents before we headed to our rooms. I waited until I could hear Dad’s loud snoring and counted to ten before I heard a knock on my door, followed by Aileen tiptoeing into my room, closing and locking the door behind her.

A huge, almost goofy smile spread over my face as I stretched my hands from my seat on the bed. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she whispered back before straddling me and burying herself in my body. My arms closed around her, and I took in her mesmerizing smell, enjoying the feel of her body against mine. I loved feeling her so close.

She felt right in my arms.

Then she said, “Let’s have sex.”

Bewildered, I was sure I didn’t hear her right. I turned to look at her and saw her staring at me, her hand playing with my hair. “What?”

“Sex,” she said, shrugging, though a small smile appeared on her face. “Let’s try it.”

My lips felt dry as my heartbeat quickened. “But ...” I murmured, looking away from her as I felt my cheeks flushing. “Isn’t it ... like ... I don’t know ...”

She chuckled softly. “Everyone does it,” she said, her voice luring my eyes back to her. A wicked glint flashed in her eyes when she added, “I bet your parents do it all the time.”

I couldn’t help my disgust when I exclaimed, “Ew!”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. It’s not like you didn’t learn about how babies are made, Logan,” she said before poking my cheek and flashing me another wicked smile that filled my stomach with knots.

“Although you did look squeamish when Mrs. Holden said she was going to assign you that baby doll to take home and take care of.”

I opened my mouth and closed it like a fish, lost for words. She pushed. “Come on, let’s do it.”

Something a lot like panic made me snap, “But what if we make a baby?” Then, I thought about it again and blurted, “Don’t we need c-condoms?”

She grinned. “We don’t need condoms, silly,” she said, cupping my cheek and causing my already haywire heart to palpitate. “I haven’t gotten my period yet, meaning I can’t get pregnant. Besides, I think we have to do it, like, a lot to get pregnant.”

Even back then, despite my naivety and lack of knowledge, I knew there was something amiss in what she was saying. I didn’t know about her past at that point in time. I didn’t understand where she was really coming from. All I knew was that something about it did not sit right with me.

Taking in a deep breath, I said, “Maybe we can just like ... fool around.” I swallowed hard, feeling a bit sick. “You know, like touch each other—”

For the first time since I’d met her, I saw fury filling up her beautiful face. “Everyone else is doing it. Everyone’s having sex!” she snapped, leaning back and glaring at me. “We’re not babies! Besides, don’t you want to have sex with me? Isn’t that what boys want?”

Suddenly, I knew I had to tread carefully, or this conversation could sour very fast. Narrowing my eyes, I struggled to choose my words. “I ... yes, but ... but I feel like maybe we are going too fast—”

“Too fast?” she cut me off, her eyes flashing dangerously.

“We’re thirteen, Logan! I know girls who have already had sex and who are way younger than we are!

” She grabbed my shirt in anger. “Don’t you think about doing it?

Don’t you want to know how it feels? What’s it like?

If you love me, you’ll want to do it with me. ”

My breath got stuck in my throat. I’d never said those words before. I’d never told her I loved her. But she felt it nonetheless. She knew it before I even did.

I loved Aileen Henderson.

I loved her so much that all the alarms in my head became background noise I paid no attention to.

All I wanted was to see her smile. This angry Aileen was beautiful in her own way, but I wanted the Aileen I knew back. I did not want to argue with her—it was our first disagreement, and I hated it. I just wanted her to be ... happy. To love me as I loved her.

So I grabbed her hands, locked her gaze with mine, and asked, “Will it make you happy if we do it?”

She squeezed my hands back and resolutely answered, “Yes.”

I let out a sigh of defeat, cupped her cheek, and kissed her before I said, “Then let’s do it.”

The night before I turned fourteen, Aileen and I lost our virginity to one another in the quiet darkness of my room.

It was the first time in my life I’d gone against my instincts for another person.

Because the truth was, I wasn’t ready. I had barely realized my feelings for Aileen, barely managed to understand my body’s reaction and how to deal with it, and sex should’ve come much later, when I was more emotionally ready.

But I loved Aileen. I fell in love with her at the tender age of thirteen, and that love blinded me to everything else—even to my own feelings.

So I let her take the lead in our relationship. I let her have her way with me every night after that first one we spent together.

We had sex every day until, before I knew it, I couldn’t go a day without her in my bed.

And as my desperation and need for her grew, my love for her turned more twisted and obsessive with every touch and every word we exchanged.