“It’s just what?” He asked. “Why won’t you let me heal you?” Oh I don’t know, maybe because I’m afraid you’ll drain me dry?
“Leo, I’ll be fine.” As soon as I get away from your gigantic fangs.
“Give me your hand Karli.” He demanded. When I didn’t comply he grabbed it anyway. He leaned forward and I immediately tensed up. “Relax, Karli. Look at me. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” I looked into his eyes and felt an instant calmness wash over me. Hmm, that’s weird. “That’s a good girl.” He cooed. “Keep looking at me.”
I sat there in silence, as I watched him slowly lick the blood from my hand. “Ooh.” I said, surprising myself. This felt really good.
He gave me a knowing grin as he finished. He pulled back and said, “Look, good as new.”
I inspected my hand. “Wow. That’s it? You’re done? That was pretty uh…amazing.”
He licked his lips and gave me a big smile. “Yes, it was pretty amazing.” He agreed. “Your blood is like nothing I’ve ever tasted before. It’s sweet, very different from what I expected. What an exquisite elixir.” Oh crap! Now I really screwed up. I tried pulling my hand away but he turned it over and placed a kiss in the center of my palm before letting go.
“Why don’t you let me finish cleaning up this mess?” He offered. “We can leave as soon as I’m through.”
“Okay.”
Leo swept up the glass while I gathered my things. He lifted the gate and gestured for me to pass while he locked up. “It’s late.” He said. “I should probably walk you to your car since everyone else left.”
“Um, no that’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
“No Karli, I insist.”
He offered his arm and I accepted it out of courtesy. I started fumbling for my keys as soon as we got to my car. I don’t know what the hell just happened back at the bar, but I knew that I needed to get out of here fast.
“Thanks for uh, fixing my hand back there.” I said.
“Trust me, the pleasure was all mine.” I started turning away but he stopped me. He leaned into me and cupped my cheek with his right hand. He then dipped his head and gave me the softest, most sensual kiss on the lips. Dazed, I said nothing as he pulled back with a smile. “Good night, Karli.” He said, as I stood there speechless.
He stepped back and watched me while I got into my car and started the ignition. He gave me a little wave as I pulled out of my parking spot. I returned the gesture and hit the gas pedal. I looked for him in my rear view mirror and saw him laughing as I drove away. What the hell am I doing? Oh this is bad. Really, really bad!
Chapter 10
*****************
I woke up the next morning in a great mood. I was so thankful to have the next three days off; I really needed some time to myself to figure my life out. My phone rang, disrupting my solitude. It was Vance calling, again. I let it go to voicemail and got into the shower. After some coffee, I decided to listen to it, even though I already knew it would say something to the effect of, ‘Karli, we need to talk. Blah, blah, blah.’
I pressed play. “Karli. It’s Vance. Again. I’m going to come over there if you don’t call me back. Call me.” Yeah, too bad I won’t buzz you in if you do!
Putting Vance in the back of my mind, I decided to go lay by the pool. After squeezing into my teeniest white string bikini, I headed out to the small, fenced in area on the West end of my apartment complex. I covered my skin with tanning oil, put my ear buds in, and pressed play on my iPod, hoping Jack Johnson could sing my worries away. I was just about to flip over about an hour later when someone rudely blocked my su
n. I opened my eyes to glare at the offender only to find Vance standing over me, wearing a white t-shirt and dark blue board shorts. He sat down on the lounge chair next to me and pulled out my ear buds.
“Hey, what the hell? What are you doing here?” I asked.
“You know why I’m here.” He replied sharply. “You won’t return my calls, so I decided to come over. It’s a lot harder to ignore me in person.”
“Watch me.” I said as I flipped over.
“Fine, I can wait as long as you want.” He pulled off his t-shirt and reclined in the chair.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I said.
“Afraid not.” He replied.
“Fine, whatever. Stay there as long as you’d like.” I put my ear buds back in place and put my head down.
We laid there in silence for about an hour. I was sick of playing this game so I stood up to go inside. Vance did the same. “Where do you think you’re going?” I asked.