Shiver (Night Roamers) Read online

  “You just don’t get it, do you?” growled Ethan, moving to my side before I could answer. He put his arm around me possessively. “She’s mine.”

  “Get your hands off of her,” snapped Duncan. “Nikki’s afraid of you. You’re a murdering psychopath!”

  Ethan laughed. “I don’t have time for this nonsense. You’re Celeste’s little pet now, anyway. You’re hers just as much as Nikki is mine!”

  “What are you talking about?” I snapped, now moving away from Ethan. I didn’t like the way he was treating me.

  Ethan turned to me. “It’s obvious that Celeste changed him into a vampire.”

  “Well, that doesn’t make him hers, does it?” I asked, glancing at her.

  Celeste smiled, but didn’t say anything.

  Ethan smirked. “They bonded. The only way to change someone into a vampire is by having intercourse and sharing each other’s blood.”

  I looked at Duncan, whose face was filled with anguish. “Duncan?”

  “I don’t even remember it,” he said, shaking his head. “I swear, I don’t.”

  Celeste frowned. “That’s absurd, of course you do.”

  “I don’t,” he repeated. “I was injured and I barely remember anything that’s happened the last few days.”

  “Well, you must have remembered the other times,” chuckled Ethan.

  “The other times?” I asked, more than a little confused.

  Celeste walked over to Duncan and put her hand on his arm. “Yes,” she smiled. “It takes three ‘bondings’ to become a vampire. The third time was right after I found him injured near your cabin.”

  I stared at him in horror. “You had sex with Celeste three separate times?”

  “I swear I don’t even remember any of the times, Nikki. I don’t.”

  Just then a squad car turned down the road and headed towards us. The top lights began to flash and Celeste smiled. “Oh, here comes daddy. Stick around, Ethan; I’m sure he has some interesting questions for you.”

  Ethan reached for me. “Nikki, come with me,” he said.

  I stepped away from him. “No.”

  Duncan stepped towards me and held out his hand. “Nikki doesn’t belong to you, Ethan,” he said. “Come on, Nikki, I’ll take you home.”

  I shook my head. “No, Duncan. I’m not going with you, either.”

  Then, before I changed my mind, I got into my car, started the engine, and took off.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It was after seven by the time I made it back to the cabin.

  “Where were you?” snapped my mom when I walked through the door. “I’ve been trying to call you all afternoon.”

  “Sorry, I think my phone battery died.” I stepped past her and towards the staircase. “I needed some fresh air, that’s all. I’m exhausted now, I think I’m just going to go and lie down.”

  “You shouldn’t have gone anywhere, young lady!” she hollered as I proceeded up the stairs. “You’re still grounded and supposedly sick!”

  I didn’t answer her; instead, I went into my bedroom and closed and locked the door. When I turned around, Ethan was waiting for me on the balcony.

  Crap.

  We stared at each other for a minute, until he gave me one of his disarming smiles and I eventually gave in.

  “I knew you couldn’t resist,” he teased as I let him in.

  “What do you want?” I asked, surprised to see that his face was completely healed without any hint of being in a fight.

  He lay down on my mattress and folded his hands under his head. “This is nice,” he sighed. “I haven’t slept in a real bed for days.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “I thought you guys preferred coffins?”

  He burst out laughing. “Coffins? You shouldn’t believe everything on television.”

  I sighed. “Ethan, I think you should leave.”

  He turned on his side and rested his head in his hand. “I have a better idea, why don’t you come over here and keep me company?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

  He gave me a pouty look. “You’re no fun.”

  I sat down on a chair and stared at him. “Tell me the truth; did you attack Duncan the other night?”

  He frowned. “I already told you the truth.”

  I crossed my arms under my chest. “Well, both of them said it was you.”

  In a flash he was crouched in front of my chair with his hands on the arms, blocking me in. “I’m telling you the truth,” he said, staring into my eyes. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

  “Are you trying to hypnotize me again?” I whispered, leaning back.

  His eyes filled with anger. “No, dammit, I’m being honest with you. I didn’t do anything to Duncan the other night. I wasn’t even in town.”

  “Well who did?” I asked, staring in wonder at his eyes, which were so clear and blue, they reminded me of an ocean beach. “And who’s been killing all of those girls?”

  He moved closer until our faces were only inches apart. “I don’t know,” he whispered, staring down at my lips.

  “I…”

  The next thing I knew, he’d captured my mouth with his and I forgot about everything else, even Duncan. Soon, his tongue was inside, touching and exploring; sending a wave of heat throughout my body. I slipped my arms around his neck and sighed as he lifted me out of the chair and brought me to my bed.

  “I want you,” he whispered huskily, setting me down. “I can’t wait anymore.”

  I couldn’t speak.

  He kneeled next to me on the mattress and removed his shirt, tossing it to the floor, revealing perfectly sculpted muscles and a narrow waist. I reached up and touched his chest, which was hard and smooth under my hands.

  “Nikki,” he whispered. “Tell me if you want this to stop anytime. I don’t want to force you into anything.”

  I licked my lips. “No, I don’t think I’ll want to stop.”

  His lips curled up into a smile and then seconds later, they returned to my mouth, this time with much more intensity. I moaned against his lips as his hands began to move under my shirt.

  “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he whispered, his lips moved to my neck. “You’ve put some kind of spell on me.”

  I gripped the sheets as his tongue traced a hot trail down to the junction between my breasts. When he couldn’t go further, he lifted my shirt away from my body and threw it down to the floor. Then he unclasped my bra, freeing my breasts.

  “So beautiful,” he said, cupping them in his hands. When I thought it couldn’t get any better, his warm mouth came down and captured my nipple, rolling it around with his tongue.

  “Oh,” I gasped in pleasure.

  He chuckled and began teasing both of them, until I was whimpering and pulling at his hair. He raised his mouth and I could see the tips of his sharp teeth. He took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Your scent is driving me wild. I have to…be careful.”

  My body was on fire and I didn’t care what he did anymore, as long as it meant being close to him. I wrapped my legs around his waist then slid my arms over his pants and cupped his firm buns. Soon he was pressing against me with his pelvis and I moaned with desire.

  “Nikki,” he growled, sliding his hands under my butt, pulling me even closer. “I need you. God, do I need you.”

  “I want you,” I breathed.

  His eyes burned into mine as he began unzipping my jeans. I closed my eyes and tried to relax as they slipped away from my legs. Soon, he was kissing me again while one of his hands began caressing my thighs. As it moved closer to my panties, my legs began to tremble.

  “Do you want me to keep going?” he whispered, moving his hand to the edge of the fabric.

  “Yes,” I squeaked.

  His hand slid underneath the material and when he touched the hot junction between my legs, I gasped in pleasure.

  “Ethan,” I moaned, as his fingers began to move. “Oh…”

  His mo
uth returned to my nipple, sending even more sensations to the place his fingers were also attending to.

  “Nikki,” he breathed, as his fingers moved faster, driving me crazy. “Say my name.”

  “Ethan.”

  After a few seconds, my stomach muscles clenched up and something inside of me seemed to burst, sending shock waves all the way down to my toes. Tears filled my eyes and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  He noticed the tears and kissed my cheeks.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered, not understanding all of my emotions.

  “Don’t be sorry,” he murmured, sliding my panties off. “That’s supposed to happen.”

  “Oh.”

  I watched as he removed his pants and then blushed. When he was naked, lying next to me, I began to tremble again.

  “Don’t be afraid,” he whispered, sliding his hands back to my thighs and parting them. “I’ll be gentle.”

  I smiled and he lowered his mouth to mine, kissing me deeply. I began to lose myself again, consumed by passion and something even deeper.

  “I can’t wait anymore,” he groaned, kissing my neck.

  “Then don’t,” I whispered, opening myself up.

  He positioned himself, staring into my eyes as he began to push. It took a few motions until he was able to enter and I gasped at the hot pain which quickly disappeared. Soon, we were moving together and his eyes began to glow with the fiery light I’d seen before.

  “Oh, God, Nikki,” he growled, moving faster. “You feel so good. I won’t be able to…last…”

  I closed my eyes as his mouth found my neck again, expecting his teeth to puncture the skin. But it didn’t happen. Instead, he began to groan as I moved my hips with his and then, after a few more thrusts, he tensed up and shuddered above me.

  “Are you okay?” I whispered, staring into his eyes.

  He kissed the tip of my nose and then my lips. “I’m definitely okay.” Then he fell on top of me and wrapped me in his arms.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I woke up the following morning with the Kings of Leon telling me that “my sex was on fire.” I shut off my alarm and that’s when all of the memories of the previous night came rushing back.

  Holy crap, I was no longer a virgin!

  I’d had sex with a vampire!

  A vampire who’d disappeared during the night. My fingers went to my neck and I sighed with relief. No bites.

  I closed my eyes and thought about Ethan. God, the things he’d done to me, not once, but several times during the course of the evening, just left me breathless. Good thing my mom’s bedroom was far enough down the hall that she hadn’t heard a thing.

  Our lovemaking had been earth-shattering and wonderful beyond belief, but it had also been totally suicidal. I’d given myself freely to someone who could have just as easily made a meal out of me. As I began beating myself up about being so naive, there was a knock at my bedroom door. “Honey, are you awake?”

  Shoot, I was still naked!

  “Yeah, hold on!” I jumped out of bed and grabbed a robe out of my closet, then took a deep breath and let my mom in. “Hi.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Are you feeling okay? You slept for a very long time.”

  I stared at her innocently. “I’m great. I feel so much better.”

  She looked over at my bed, which was a tangle of sheets and blankets. “Oh, looks like you had a little period mishap sometime during the night.”

  There was a small amount of blood on the sheets. My cheeks turned crimson. “Oops.”

  She went over to my mattress and pulled off the sheets. “It’s okay; I’ll throw them into the wash before work.”

  “Thanks.”

  “So,” she said, removing the linens. “Are you going to school today?”

  I nodded.

  “Good. I’d like to take you both to dinner tonight since we didn’t get a chance to yesterday.”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  “Better get ready for school,” she said, leaving my room.

  I took a shower, slipped on a charcoal V-neck sweater dress, tights, and black suede boots. I pulled my hair into a loose up-do and then went down to breakfast.

  “You must be feeling better,” said Nathan, who was sitting by the counter next to mom, eating a large bowl of cereal, “haven’t seen you in anything other than your ratty old jeans lately.”

  “Ha ha,” I said, looking into the fridge. I grabbed the bottle of orange juice and began filling a glass.

  “Oh, no,” murmured my mom, who was at the counter, watching the news.

  I turned around to look at the television and froze. A photo of my co-worker, Susan, flashed across the screen.

  “Early this morning the body of nineteen-year-old Susan Fields was found in a dumpster behind Ruth’s Diner on Main Street,” said the reporter.

  I dropped my glass and it shattered. “Oh, my God,” I choked.

  “No!” gasped Nathan in horror.

  “Officials aren’t saying whether this is related to the other teens found murdered Saturday morning, but obviously foul play is suspected. We’ll keep you updated as more information is released.”

  My mom turned off the television while Nathan and I stared at each other in shock. Both of us knew Susan fairly well; Nathan had even gone out with her a few times.

  “I’m so sorry,” sighed mom. “I know you three were friends.”

  I turned to my mom with tears in my eyes. “I think I’ll be staying home again.” Then I stepped over the broken glass and went upstairs to my room. I threw myself onto the bed and buried my face into my pillow, mourning for the first friend I’d made in Shore Lake.

  Seconds later, Nathan knocked on the door and entered, his face full of anguish. “This is really fucked up,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. “I just saw her last night, too.”

  I turned to him. “You saw her last night?” I sniffled.

  He nodded. “Yeah, after work I was craving an omelet. They have the best egg dishes, you know, especially the Texas style, with the peppers and…”

  “Yes, I know…” I prodded, impatiently. “Keep going.”

  He nodded. “Okay, anyway, I sat up at the counter and we talked for a while. Then, some guy walked into the diner and she pretty much shut me down.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “What do you mean, shut you down?”

  “She basically cut me off during our conversation to go and wait on the other dude. I could hear her gushing over him with the other waitresses, too,” he scowled. “I was like… hello, what am I, scrap-meat?”

  “What time did you leave the diner last night?”

  He shrugged. “About ten o’clock.”

  “Did you notice anything else?”

  He shook his head. “No, the place was pretty dead, except for that other guy. I do remember she talked to him quite a bit, though.”

  “I wonder if Rosie knows anything more.”

  I also wondered who that guy was that Susan had been talking to. Something niggled at the back of my mind. Then it hit me.

  “I wonder if it was Drake,” I said.

  “Who’s Drake?”

  “A guy she dated a while back. A friend of Ethan’s. I’m pretty he’s a vampire, too.”

  He snorted. “Of course.”

  I sighed. “Nathan, when are you going to start to believe? Too many people are dying around here, and if you can’t accept what’s going on, you’re putting your own life in danger.”

  He sat down at the edge of my bed and looked down at his hands. “Well, to tell you the truth, I’ve been having some strange… I guess you could say… visions or dreams.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged. “Just… I don’t know. Ever since I went to the club with Celeste the other night, I’ve been having these nightmares. But the crazy thing is they seem so real.”

  “What kind of nightmares?”

  He smiled sheepishly. “Well, I um…I had this dr
eam that I was chasing Celeste through the woods and when I caught her, I...”

  “What?”

  He frowned. “I hate to say this but, I held her down and tore into her throat, like a freaken vampire. Thanks, by the way, for putting those ideas in my subconscious, with all your vampire talk.”

  “Nathan…”

  He stood up and began to pace. “The shitty thing is…”

  “What?”

  He smiled humorlessly. “I can’t believe I’m actually telling my own sister this, but it kind of excited me.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Oh…that is pretty creepy.”

  He snorted. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

  I took a deep breath. “Nathan, have you had sex with Celeste?”

  He stared at me for a minute and then gave me a shit-eating grin. “Yeah, once.”

  I stared at him in horror. “Did she bite you?”

  He shrugged. “No, not that I know of.”

  I moved over to him and tried looking at his neck. “Let me check.”

  He pushed me away. “Oh, for the love of God, she didn’t bite me, okay? She’s not into freaky sex or anything; at least not with me.”

  “This is serious, okay? We need to check for bites.”

  “Fine. If it’ll get you off my back, check for yourself.”

  I examined his neck but didn’t seem to find anything.

  “Are you sure she didn’t bite you? Maybe somewhere else?”

  “Well, actually, now that you mention it, she scraped my back.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “With her teeth?”

  He smiled. “Yeah, but don’t ask me to get into details.”

  I raised his T-shirt and examined his back. Sure enough, right below his shoulder blades, were two little holes. “Oh, my God,” I groaned. “She bit you.”

  He stood up and went over to the dresser mirror. “Yeah, looks like she did.” He smiled. “She’s a little tigress in bed.”

  “That’s gross and T.M.I., Nathan. You have to stay away from her. I’m serious.”

  He dropped his shirt back down. “Now why would I want to do that?”

  “If she bites you three times during sex, you’ll turn into a vampire.”

  His eyes lit up. “You mean I might get lucky two more times?”