Pool of Crimson

chapter 11



I parked the car in the garage and ran in the house, tossing clothing on the stairs, over the banister, and on my bedroom floor as I went. I had to get in the shower. I had an hour before Danny was supposed to show up for our date. I needed to wheedle information out of him. I wanted to get to the bottom of Danny, the curly-haired bitch, and how they all connected to the vampires. I had to give him a reason to want to talk to me.

An hour wasn’t enough time to make the transformation to gorgeous. It just wasn’t.

I grabbed a black skirt from my closet and a garter, capable of holstering up to six small stakes. I added black heels and a red chiffon V-neck empire waist blouse that allowed material to flow freely from my rib cage. I put on my silver earrings and the crucifix necklace, a confirmation gift from my father. It reminded me too much of home and disappointment so I didn’t wear it often. I put some extra stakes in my bag for safekeeping, then made my way down the stairs.

The doorbell rang before I hit the bottom step. My breath caught in my throat and anxiety twisted my stomach. I wasn’t sure I could pull off the spy/interrogation thing. I was the shoot ‘em first and ask questions later type of girl. This required more finesse than I usually had and more cunning than I was capable. There was a good chance I’d fail.

Danny was in it up to his neck. That much I knew. Rage bubbled beneath the surface of my skin like melting paint. I had to do something. This was the only way for me to stop that dark- haired bitch from hurting me, or worse, Jade. I plastered a smile on my face. I’d play their game, and I’d win, too. I took a few deep breaths, then swung the door open.

Danny smiled brightly at me, like nothing was wrong. His smile carried a hunger in his hazel eyes that sent a shiver through me. I wanted to believe that smile was real. I didn’t want to believe he could hurt me. He looked at me in a way that made me feel like I was the only person on the planet that mattered to him. My body relaxed even though my brain kept screaming that he was in league with that bitch.

That little voice hummed in my subconscious, lulling my suspicions to sleep. That voice kept whispering, It’s Danny, just Danny. Danny won’t hurt us, can’t hurt us.

Suddenly Danny became uncomplicated, and for a brief moment, everything inside me was tranquil, like I belonged somewhere.

He pulled me into his arms like he hadn’t seen me in weeks. I stumbled across the threshold as he caught me in an embrace. He hugged me tightly, pressing my body against his firm solid mass of warmth.

He breathed deeply into my hair and said softly, “I’m so glad to see you.” I relaxed into his embrace without hesitation. I believed him. The soft voice in the back of my mind hummed in acceptance. I wrapped by arms around him like they belonged there. I was safe. The world couldn’t touch me while I was in Danny’s arms.

I breathed in his scent. Underneath the detergent and old spice was something uniquely Danny. He smelled of moss on a warm day, bark from an aging maple tree, and the slight hint of male behind all of that.

He slid his hands slowly down my arms until he had my palms clasped firmly in his. He pulled me through the door to the porch, almost carrying me away with him.

I tugged on his arm to stop him from dragging me away, then laughed as I managed to slip out of his grasp. It felt good to laugh. Still, I couldn’t trust this feeling.

“I have to lock my house.” I slipped the key into the lock. The soft tapping of his hard-soled loafers on the wooden slats of my porch made the corners of my lips turn up in a quirky little smile. I turned. He crossed his arms over his chest in a demanding posture I hadn’t seen since my younger brother was eight years old. Danny was very impatient and very cute as he pouted on my porch.

Don’t fall for this. You can’t believe any of it. Get a grip.


I laughed as Danny tried to fish his golf ball out with his club, making a mess of his clothing and sending water splashing everywhere. His foot had slipped into the tiny stream as he flung his club into the water in an attempt to pull the ball back from the water current. The bottom had been slippery and he lost his footing quickly. He fell in the stream to his knee. With all the sloshing and splashing around he did to try and get the ball and himself out of the stream, Danny was wet clear up to his elbow. He’d managed to soak most of his clothing and the green turf surrounding the hole.

“You can’t make that shot,” I said, doubled over with laughter.

Danny positioned himself to hit the miniature golf ball straight over the four foot, pink turf ravine to the opposite landing. He’d gotten stuck in the ravine three times. I took the time to line the ball up and make par. He was already at bogey.

“The hell I can’t,” he said with a self-assured smile. “That hole is mocking me.”

I laughed harder and shook my head as he lined up the putt. He pulled the putter back much too far and prepared to swing.

I looked out over the sixth hole to the parking lot beyond and twenty or so cars sitting innocently in the parking lot.

“I don’t think so,” I said, with the first sign of apprehension in my voice.

“You just watch me.” He brought the putter around. That little blue ball sailed over the ravine, over the hole, over the fiberglass mountain the course was laid out on, and over the fence as it bounced off the roof of a Ford Mustang. The car alarm wailed, filling the evening with the shrill sound of a repetitive siren. Danny stared at me with wide, surprised eyes, as if that outcome had never occurred to him. We heard a resounding thud of ball against metal. He’d definitely left a dent.

“Uhh . . .” I stood frozen with my mouth open and my eyes wide.

He grabbed my hand quickly in a firm grip, then took off, pulling me behind him.

“Come on. We gotta go,” he said with a throaty laugh that rumbled deep in his chest.

My body tingled with delight at that sound. I couldn’t help it. I started to laugh with him as we raced through the course. When we got to the kid behind the kiosk at the bottom, we tossed our clubs and my little yellow ball at him. All I could do in light of the poor kid’s confused expression was shrug my shoulders and smile apologetically. We jumped into the Durango and peeled out. I sat back in my seat and breathed a sigh of contentment.


After the initial adrenaline rush from the miniature golf escapade had died away, I found myself searching for something to say that wasn’t an accusation. I wanted to confront him and ask how he could act so normal when he was connected to someone who’d tried to kill me. I couldn’t make the two sides of the coin add up in my head.

As we sat across from each other at Shinto, a sushi restaurant in Grandview, I picked at my tempura roll, while he inhaled his nigiri. An uncomfortable wall of silence descended between us like storm clouds moving in. I kept shifting in my seat and glancing around the room, looking for something, anything, to draw our attention away from the tension that sat heavy as a rock between us.

The tables were arranged in sets of two and extremely close together. So close together, I had to move the table itself to get to my seat. A private conversation was impossible. I could hear the woman next to me chewing. Candles provided the main source of light, giving the entire restaurant a romantic glow.

The ambiance was wasted on the two of us.

I looked around, waiting for something to happen. I’m always the one to step up and do what needs to be done so what’s stopping me now? Just do it.

I took a deep breath, resigned and started the conversation I’d been dreading since Danny had stepped out into the afternoon sunlight and gotten into Candace Capeloni’s white Charger.

“We have to talk,” I said, a sharp-edged tone I hadn’t intended. I put down my chopsticks and stared at him, determination stiff in my shoulders.

He turned warm hazel eyes up to me and raised a brow. He must have seen something in my face because he lowered his gaze to the linen tablecloth and said something in a clipped tone I couldn’t quite make out.

“What?”

“Nothing.” he said.

He had an uncharacteristically sour tone to his voice and his nostrils flared as he pushed back into his chair. He braced his shoulders, pushing them flush against the back of the chair as he crossed his arms over his chest, making the muscles bulge as his body stiffened.

He’d closed himself off, appearing more formidable, more in charge ... just more.

His eyes narrowed as he watched a woman enter the restaurant. He didn’t acknowledge her, but I noticed just the same.

Hello ... Candace.

Danny’s face gave nothing away, but I saw an awareness flash in his eyes that set my teeth on edge. He knew her all too well and that made my blood boil. I wanted to step in front of him, protect him. My territory, mine.

“Who is that woman?” I turned slightly to my right and watched as she moved effortlessly to our table, weaving in between the close-knit tables like a slalom skier. She never hesitated a step or looked away from Danny as she approached. She didn’t even glance my way. I never once doubted that she’d seen me, though.

I already wanted to hit her and she hadn’t even opened her mouth yet. She’d ruined Jade’s car and almost killed us both. She’d put that tension in Danny’s shoulders and the grim line across his lips. That now familiar soft voice in the back of my head kept whispering, you can’t do that to him. He belongs to us.

Who the hell is US?

Candace finally looked down at me and smiled a cocky, arrogant smile that ignited my rage. I wanted to smack that smile off her face.

“Hi, Danny,” she said, sugary sweet with a manipulative glint in her eyes and a saucy cock of her hip. There was an undertone of damsel-in-distress in her voice I didn’t like and couldn’t respect. She ran her hand along his shoulders and back, like she had a right to touch him. She didn’t.

Danny sat motionless. His shoulders tensed at her touch and his eyes focused forward, but he didn’t appear to be seeing anything. Candace moved smoothly to his side of the table, saddling up beside him like they were a couple. She pressed her elephantine ass against his side. Revulsion danced briefly across his expression before he chased the last remnants of his emotion from his face. His posture remained rigid and screamed discomfort, but he didn’t ask her to leave. In fact, he never looked up at her, or me. He sat like stone, his jaw like granite and his eyes hard and obedient.

“Candace,” he said formally, an edge of scorn to his voice. The tone sounded foreign and unnatural coming from him. “I didn’t expect to see you this evening. Who told you I was out?” he asked with a soft growl in his voice. His jaw clenched tightly and the muscles along his jaw pulsed. His eyes narrowed into menacing slits as he stared at the wall behind me.

“Who’s your friend?” Candace asked, clearly avoiding his question.

I stood, making sure my spine was straight and shoulders back. The height disparity was enormous. The fact I towered over her by almost a foot didn’t seem to faze her at all as she looked up at me.

My height usually made people nervous, at the very least take a step back. At my full height of 5’10”, I could appear quite threatening, and I used that to my advantage.

Candace seemed unimpressed. She stared up at me with a knowing smirk.

I smiled and held out my hand. “My name is Dahlia.”

“I’m Candy,” she said curtly before turning her attention back to Danny, ignoring my outstretched hand.

BITCH!

Danny sat still as a stone. He didn’t blink as she moved her hand across his back again.

“If you’ll excuse us,” she said to me, as if I were the one intruding.

I narrowed my eyes on her and balled my hands into tight fists at my side. I thought really hard about punching her in the face right there in front of everyone. I could do it. I could make it quick before anyone even noticed that I’d broken her nose. She deserved that and worse.

Danny’s eyes were as hard as steel but unfocused. He nodded once in resignation.

I ripped my bag from the back of my chair and slung it over my shoulder with a huff of indignation. “With pleasure.” A sudden flash of pain swept across his features as his brows knit together and his jaw tightened. His hazel eyes disappeared for a split second and flashed amber.

“You can walk out at any time, Danny,” I snapped at him in disgust. Like I needed to tell him that. I was pissed. My cheeks went hot with the rage coursing through my system like fire. I wanted to kill something. I wanted to rip that dark-haired bitch apart, tear her limb from f*cking limb. I needed to draw blood to relieve my rage.

I stormed across the restaurant. On the stone floor, my boots filled the restaurant with heavy, sure footfalls.

I got about halfway down the block before I felt a heavy, warm hand grab my arm from behind. I turned quickly and took an instinctual swing with my right fist.

Danny caught my hand about an inch away from his jaw. He brought my clenched fist back down to my side gently, fighting the tension in my arm as he lowered it. I shook fiercely in my rage, tears streaming down my face. I was so mad I could have spit in his face. I thought about it, too. I, however, am too much of a lady.

“I’m so sorry.” His pathetic tone didn’t make me feel any better. I wanted to hit him and her and then him again. Actually, I wanted to kill her. The pressing need in the back of my brain to spill her blood made me nervous. She was human for Christ’s sakes, and there was one thing I wasn’t ... a murderer.

“Sorry for what?” I asked curtly. “Dismissing me on our date like I meant nothing?” I almost shouted. “Or are you sorry for f*cking a bitch?” My words were cutting, but then again, I’d meant them to be. I had no doubt in my mind by the way she’d touched him that they’d been together. The thought of her touching him set rage burning through me again.

Mine! roared through my brain in a growl that was more ferocious than I’d ever thought myself capable. That one word was bloodthirsty and primal, and it scared me shitless. Danny shook his head frantically, and his hands tightened around my fingers to almost a crushing pressure. He pulled both my hands into his much larger ones as I shook with anger.

“You don’t understand. Candace has ... power over me.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I snapped. My tone was sharp and cruel. I couldn’t decide why or with whom I was actually angry. I was angry at the bitch, of course. I was also angry at Danny for letting me walk away. Mostly, I was angry with myself for letting both of them get to me. Somewhere along the way, I’d lost my perspective. That bitch had tried to kill me, and I’d forgotten that in my jealous rampage.

“I can’t say no to her.”

“She’s that good in bed, huh?” I bit out as I yanked my hands away. I hugged myself to keep him from touching me and to keep myself from drawing the knife in my boot. I was too mad to be cold and too filled with fury for good judgment.

Danny’s jaw tightened again and the muscles of his jaw jumped as he clenched his teeth. His hazel eyes flashed amber, and I pushed my shoulders back, rolling them slowly in preparation for a fight. His expression softened as he looked down at me. A tiny smile lit his face.

“Dahlia,” he asked with an expression filled with wonder and hope. “What are you?”

My eyes went wide and my mouth opened slightly as I gasped in surprise. I tried to take a step back, but his hand clasped onto my bicep and held me firm. My blood pumped through my veins in fear, like a caged beast. My heart pounded in my chest, beating a strong tympani rhythm. I tugged against his grip. I didn’t want him touching me. I needed my arm free to protect myself, to discipline him.

“Let go of me,” I almost snarled through clenched teeth.

He wavered for a moment, as if he couldn’t decide what to do. His fingers loosened around my bicep, and I started to pull away. Only a little bit more and I would be able to yank my arm away. I could be gone before something really bad happened.

“No,” he said forcefully and tightened his grip around my arm. There was caution in his voice.

“Danny, if you don’t—”

“Dahlia, what are you?” His nostrils flared and his eyes flashed amber again.

I wasn’t imagining it this time. Those hazel irises had turned a warm deep amber. He watched me like he had a tiger by the tail.

“You wear a lot of silver and you smell like magic.” He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes as the faintest shiver ran through his body. “Old magic,” he breathed in a voice that was riddled with desire.

“How can you smell that?”

He opened his eyes and met my gaze. My heart hammered inside my skull and my palms were wet with panic-induced sweat.

He couldn’t know that something about me was wrong. There was no way he could know. No one knew.

We stood on the sidewalk with the cool autumn wind whipping around us, blowing my hair and almost burning my skin with the chill, staring at each other, silent.

“You don’t know what you are, do you?” he asked, a pleased expression pulling his lips into a bright, satisfied smile, his hand still firmly clenched to my arm. He didn’t let go. I looked down at his tan skin against the black leather of my jacket and swallowed hard before lifting my gaze back up to his. His eyes glowed a beautiful, inviting amber, reminding me of a burning sunset over a tall wheat field. His eyes were beautiful.

“No,” I answered, feeling ashamed as I shook my head.

“If it makes you feel any better, I can’t tell what you are either,” he said, sniffing the air around me.

That didn’t make me feel better. “Now, answer my question. How can you smell that?” I asked, authority inching back into my voice as I finally yanked my arms away from his grasp and stood on my own. It was about damned time I remembered who the hell I was.

“Me? I’m a werewolf,” he said flatly, as if he were a card-carrying member and proud of it.

I digested that for a moment. “And Candy?”

“She’s Beta.” He hung his head, avoiding my questioning gaze.

I bit down, clenching my jaw hard to keep myself in check as the distant voice in my brain growled, low and threatening. I wanted to hurt her.

“She wants me to be her mate.” He scrunched up his face, as if he had eaten something that tasted bad. “That’s the one thing she can’t force.”

“What does that mean? What else can she force?”

He took a deep breath and gazed up at the crisp autumn sky above us.

I remember the sky when I was little. In the country, there were millions of stars, but in the city they disappear in the lights from the city. There weren’t any stars out now. The sky and Danny had something in common; they both seemed empty, lonely. I wondered if he could remember looking at the stars with his animal eyes and what they looked like. Would he ever tell me?

“I think you know what that means,” he said grimly. He turned his gaze and those amber eyes back to me, his face firm with hard edges that I’d never seen before.

I hated Candace for doing that to him. His eyes no longer contained the easy simplicity that I’d associated with Danny, now they were hard. “She can ask me to do anything until I find my mate, including pleasure her, and I can’t refuse. It would be a direct challenge otherwise.”

“I don’t understand,” I said softly, confused horror filling my voice.

“Every pack has a Gaoh, an alpha as their leader. As he commands, we must obey. It’s physically painful for us to disobey. Luckily, Dean’s a decent guy,” he said. A weight seemed to lift off of his shoulders as he confessed. “Second-in-command is the Beta, the enforcer. They’re usually the second strongest and answer only to the Gaoh. Candy isn’t more powerful than the others, she’s just more sinister.” He paused. “The pack women compete for the Alpha males’ attention since we mate for life. It’s a powerful position to be in.” He sounded self-assured and cocky, like he knew first hand. The smirk on his face didn’t dissuade me either.

“Where do you stand in the pack?” I asked curiously.

“I’m third, actually, but I’m able to shift in and out quicker than Candy. She doesn’t like that.”

That’s a dangerous place to be.

“So she gets to f*ck you or anyone else she wants and no one can say anything about it?” Rage made my hands shake and my eyes water with frustration.

I am not going to cry. Damn it! I am not going to cry.

“That’s her right,” he said with a quick unapologetic nod.

“I’m sorry! Are you defending her?” I took a step back, indignation seeped from every word.

“It’s our way. I don’t have a choice.”

I wasn’t fooled. He was shouting at me, angry. He actually growled at me. I took another step backward so I could see him fully. Shifting my shoulders back, I stood my ground with a firm, fighting stance.

He watched me bracing for a fight, then stepped back, surprise etched on his brow. “Dahlia,” he said in a much calmer voice but it had taken some effort, though. “I wish you could understand,” he breathed.

“Then make me understand,” I ordered with the same detached agitation that had saved my life on too many occasions to count. “How are you ever going to be able to find your mate,” I asked with emphasis and a sharp tongue, “if you’re sleeping with another woman? No woman in their right mind would stand for that,” I snapped, throwing my hands up in frustration.

“I think that’s her plan,” he said softly with resignation. “I think she believes that she can drive any other woman away. You’re not the first date where she’s shown up. You are the first, however, that I was able to chase after. That should say something, shouldn’t it?” he asked with ... hope.

I knew how powerful the pulls of nature could be, I felt it in my gut and along my skin every time the undead came near me. I also knew how powerful the preternatural world was; it created creatures that could defy death or change their own natural body structure. More importantly, now that I knew that she was doing this on a repetitive basis to alienate Danny, it focused my anger. I would have stuck around even if I didn’t like him just in spite of her. Lucky for me, I did like him. I wasn’t going anywhere and if it got stuck in Candy’s craw, then so be it. Sometimes, even I knew I was a bitch.

“What does that mean?” he asked, leaning away from me, fear scrunching up his face. “What does that look mean?”

“It means that I am not going anywhere.” Oh, I was still mad as hell, and I was going to hit the heavy bag in my basement until I either knocked it off or it broke my hands, but the expression on his face told me I’d made the right decision.

He picked me up quickly and pulled me into his arms. I should have mentioned the fact that Candace had tried to kill me, but I didn’t want Danny involved in my revenge. In my gut, I felt he knew nothing about it, and my gut was usually right. She would have made a point of flaunting that fact in my face if he’d known. I worked better on my own anyway.

He set me back on my feet, then kissed me hungrily in a crush of passion I hadn’t expected. Shit, I either just made the right decision or I was the biggest dope in the world. I guess I’d find out.


I opened my front door and stepped inside. Danny grabbed my hand in his warm, strong one and pulled me quickly into his arms. His large fingers slid up into my hair and he caressed my cheekbone with his thumb. The heat in his fingertips seared me to my core. The rush of arousal pushed through my body like a freight train. My heart raced. The thump, thump, thump of my heart pounded in my ears as he drew closer. My breathing grew shallow and rapid, pushing my chest and heavy breasts out. He pressed his lips softly against mine in a light caress of hot flesh that seemed too chaste and too calm for the reaction my body had to him. I was lost in the sultriness of his touch and the yearning in my soul for something more.

My head swam as he deepened the kiss. He pushed my lips apart with his tongue. I urged him closer until there wasn’t more than a breath between us. My hands trailed down his back, and my fingertips tingled with a need and a warmth that was distinctly Danny.

His muscles flexed and tightened as he reacted to my touch. His heat pressed against me from beneath his jacket. He edged me inside the door without taking his lips from mine, then kicked the door closed behind us as his tongue caressed mine gently, licking the inside of my mouth. His hands slipped over my shoulders, down my arms, stopping on my hips. His fingers dug into my flesh and held me tight against his groin. His arousal pushed hard against my lower abdomen and I crumbled at the thought that he wanted me. That little voice inside me was almost purring as his hands guided me back into the living room. His fingers slid to the softer flesh of my ass, grabbing me in his large hands. I moaned softly into his mouth as he continued to devour me whole.

The back of my calves pressed up against the base of my couch, and he lowered me down. He hovered above me, tasting me, caressing me in ways that made the warm heat of arousal flow between my thighs.

God, I have to stop this before it goes too far.

He pressed his warm lips to my body, dragging his scorching tongue down my neck as he kissed along my jawline and beneath my ear. A small moan escaped my throat. I knew that if I didn’t stop it now, I would definitely do something I couldn’t take back in the morning. It was now or never.

I placed my hands on his chest and hesitated. The hard muscles of his chest tensed underneath my palm.

God help me! His chest is solid rock!

I hesitantly pushed myself away, taking a moment to breathe and collect my thoughts before I looked up at him from under my lashes. Once I met his amber-flooded eyes, my heart sped up. I didn’t think it was possible for my pulse to beat any faster. He gazed down at me, and I could read the naked hunger on his face.

“Thank you,” he said, breathing heavily. “I couldn’t have stopped.” His lips turned up in a mischievous smile as he stood up and away from me, putting some distance between us. He straightened his clothing, fidgeting with his shirt and corduroy jacket.

Knowing that he wanted me and seeing the proof pressed firmly against his jeans made me rethink how the night should end.

STOP IT!

“I’d better go,” he said. “I won’t be able to restrain myself if I stay here with you any longer.” He moved, bungling to the door. He glanced over his shoulder at me a few times in the short distance to the front door, as if trying very hard not to come back to me.

Drained and sexually frustrated, I dropped onto the couch. I liked that Danny had reacted to me so strongly. I liked it very much. When I didn’t hear the door shut, I raised my head to find him standing in the entryway, watching me.

I stood, but he placed his hands up with his palms out, in complete surrender. I liked that, too.

“My virtue can’t handle it,” he said with a soft laugh and a sly smile.

I stalked over to him with a sultry swagger in my walk, sashaying my hips back and forth with each step. His eyes grew large with wonder and dread as he watched me.

He stumbled a step or two over his own feet as he moved backward through the front door and farther away from me. “Woman, you’ll be the death of me.” He opened the door quickly. A cool rush of autumn wind swept in from outside, sizzling and burning against my warm skin, and I almost purred at the sensation.

“Please tell me you’ll see me again?” Hunger lingered behind his eyes. I could have sworn that I saw a flash of amber again as I nodded. When he smiled brightly at me, the amber was gone and his beautiful hazel gray irises were once again on me ... mine.

He placed one gentle finger under my chin and tilted my face up, still maintaining that careful distance between us. For his safety or for mine, I wasn’t sure.

His goodbye kiss, chaste, but scorching, left me breathless.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said, backing away from me.

“Uhmm,” I groaned as he got in the SUV and drove away.

I took a deep breath of the chilled October air and shivered.

Patrick’s face, his dark eyes, and soft touch flashed through my mind as the chill bit through my clothing, reminding me of his cool power prickling along my skin. What was wrong with me? It was as if I was living in two different worlds and I wanted both.

The air filled my hot lungs with its cool breath. Somehow, I always felt warmer when Danny was around, like he carried a furnace inside of him. Now, all I was left with was the chill of early autumn and the knowledge that Candace had to be stopped. And I was just the girl to do it.