"Do you want to leave me?" He blurted out like he could no longer contain it. Almost like the idea of that question was burning a hole in his chest and he had to, no more like... needed too, stop the pain it caused. It was the first time I had ever seen Draven seem desperate.
"NO! I don"t want to leave you!" I said forcefully. His head whipped round to look at me and once he read my truthful eyes his shoulders relaxed. It was only then that I took notice of the rest of his body. His hands had fisted around the steering wheel and the leather around his arms groaned under the strain. These all eased as he studied my face.
"Right...right." He said twice to himself before starting the car that started to vibrate around me in antic.i.p.ation.
"Then you will not leave!" He said like it was final and the conversation was now over, which it so wasn"t.
"Draven you can"t just say that, I..."
"And why not? You do not want to leave me and therefore you are not going anywhere." He said in a fairly controlled manner.
"I have other commitments, I can"t just..."
"You can and you WILL, that is final Keira!" He interrupted again and it was starting to get on my last nerve. This time he didn"t wait for a response and pulled the car out with the speed and maneuvering of a formula one driver. It did briefly make me wonder if he owned one of those as well.
"We are going to talk about this," I said trying to keep calm but with the speed he was doing I kind of felt like I was having an argument on a rollercoaster.
"No, we are not!" He said simply and I felt like I was being told off by a parent.
"Fine!" I said folding my arms like the child I felt. He took this the wrong way.
"I am glad you see things my way for once, it is for the best."
"Draven you mistake me, I said fine because if we are not going to discuss it then I will end up leaving and you will not know why, but that will be through your doing, not mine!" I snapped at him causing his reactions to filter through to the Ferrari.
He sped up before applying the brakes and turning the wheel so as the car screeched across the road and snapped around facing the other way. I screamed out which he ignored and my hands flew out to brace myself on the dash and window as we continued spinning. It was like watching life in slow motion and I wondered if this is what happened to people in car accidents.
Did they have that moment when they waited for impact or did it just happen in the seconds time gave us. I found myself waiting for something but I wasn"t sure what. All I knew was when I opened my eyes that the car was now on the other side and we were hammering it down the, thankfully, empty road.
"Draven pull over." I said surprisingly calm.
"What?"
"Pull over NOW!" I shouted giving calm the boot! I was glad that he didn"t argue. We carried on until the road widened for us to pull over but even in those few minutes I hadn"t regained any cool. He stopped the car and after undoing my seatbelt I tried to find the handle...unsuccessfully.
"Where the h.e.l.l is this b.l.o.o.d.y thing?" I waved my hands around in frustration as I lost the last shred of sanity. The door opened without being touched. I nearly fell out in my haste and my legs wobbled like jelly thanks to Draven"s stunt driving. I used the car to steady myself until I ran out of frame and then I started walking, ok so more like stomping.
"Keira! Keira stop!" Draven shouted after me but he seemed to have his hands around me in the nanoseconds before his words. .h.i.t me. I turned around and pushed him as hard as I could. Of course it didn"t cause his body to react to the pressure but he did stop trying to touch me.
"You Idiot! How dare you scare me like that! I will never get in the car with you ever again if that is how you are going to drive! Do you understand me?" I was screaming at him and if anyone were to drive past and see this, I had no doubt that it would probably find its way onto the front page of the town"s newspaper.
Draven looked guilty as h.e.l.l for scaring me and when he tried to touch me again I moved back.
"Don"t!" I threw at him. He looked hurt but d.a.m.n it, he deserved it!
"Keira, I am sorry for scaring you, but you have to know, no harm would have come to you"
"Oh right, Mr. Immortal! Look, you maybe indestructible but I am not, let"s try and remember this fact alright because the next time you want to drive like you"re in a drag race I will be happy to stand on the sidelines and watch and survive. You get me?"
"You are so angry." He stated like this was some sort of shock.
"You"re G.o.d d.a.m.n right I am angry!" He frowned at my reference to G.o.d but I just said his name in warning and his brows smoothed.
"I understand and once again, I am sorry." He said in earnest and he tilted his head to catch my eyes that he found watering. I couldn"t help it, I wasn"t exactly crying but I was on the verge. I hated confrontation but when I was this angry I found it difficult to come back down from boiling point. My fists clenched and I gathered this was something we had in common.
"Would you like to hit me?" He asked me with no humor in his voice. Was he serious? I looked up at him and he nodded towards my clenched fists.
"What? No!" I said.
"You look like you do. It"s alright, I don"t mind, besides it may make you feel better. I could show you how, without hurting yourself." He was deadly serious and I almost burst out laughing.
"Draven, I"m not going to hit you."
"You hit me once before, remember?" He now had the slightest of smirks and I knew why.
"Yes and if I remember correctly we had s.e.x soon after." Now he wore a full bad a.r.s.e smile. He also took a step closer towards me making my heart rate hitch up a notch.
"A perk on my part, but I am willing to sacrifice myself to the cause, I can a.s.sure you. I will let you beat me down if you will but only forgive me. It was an inexcusable mistake on my part and one that will not happen again." A man like Draven was not the type to make a habit of apologizing so when it happened you do not take it lightly. Besides, who could not respond to such an apology.
I looked down, which he didn"t like. He hooked a finger under my chin and applied a little pressure to make me look up at him. His head was tilted again and his eyes penetrated mine like a fire was burning behind them. Of course there was a burning, deep and full of emotions too hot to touch. They started to glow purple at the sight of me yielding. I was about to say something before he got carried away but he didn"t let me. He took my head in his hands and angled me to lock his lips with mine.
His kiss didn"t start off soft and then deepen, no, this time he kissed me with such a fever induced hunger that it took my breath away. His hands left my face and encircled round my body so as he could lift me to his height. I was thankful because giving the height difference my neck would suffer from it. It was only when he knew my need for oxygen was growing did he let me go, rather reluctantly I might add.
"Am I forgiven?" He asked over my lips with his eyes closed.
"Yes," I whispered and although I couldn"t see, I could feel his smile spread over mine.
"Then come my little one." He said in a husky voice that was still thick with l.u.s.t. He took my hand that seemed tiny encased in his and pulled me round so that I was facing the car. I decided at that moment that there was no point. I pulled back making him stop. He turned to face me and his look was full of questions he was about to ask but I just held up my hand.
"Look Draven, there"s no point me coming with you if you"re not going to listen to me. I am telling you that although I do not want to leave you, I still have to go." He was about to argue and add words to his shaking head but I beat him to it. I came right up close to him and placed my hands on his chest. He was breathing hard.
"Dominic," I whispered his name making it sound right for once. He looked down at me, eyes full of an emotion I couldn"t grasp.
"I never want to leave you but I would not be the person you love if I didn"t think of others before myself. It would hurt my family if I didn"t go and I can"t do that...not even for you." I held my breath after saying this last part and I could no longer look into his eyes, so I found my feet.
"I have hurt them enough to last more than one life time and I will not add more guilt to my soul." I was speaking so quietly that anyone else would not have heard me. I also had tears rolling down my cheeks that I didn"t want him to see.
"Catherine, look at me." The sound of my first name always made me shudder. Like he was seeing a different me standing here, one I was always trying to hide. I looked off to the side instead of braving his eyes. It was not enough for him. He decided that he would take the steps to change this. He got down on his knees so as I was at his level.
I was in shock and I showed it. A man like Draven also does NOT get down on his knees for anyone! Well evidently now he did.
"Draven don"t." I tried to get him to get back up but he shook his head. If anyone had been driving past now it would look like he was proposing to me and that would have made the front page for sure!
"I now understand why I must let you...let you go." He looked like it actually caused him physical pain to say those words. I felt hopeless, I felt that no matter what choices I made in life, I kept making the wrong ones. No matter what I did I would have to hurt someone but it felt like I would be hurting myself more than anyone. It was a strange feeling but it was almost like someone was telling me in the back of my mind that I was making the wrong decision. Maybe I was but there was nothing I could do about it.
I let myself crumble down to his level which he let out a little moan about but before he could protest further I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged onto him so tightly I could have been cla.s.sed as a limpet. I kissed his neck twice and told him the three most important words in life.
"I love you." He groaned in response and kissed me back. The next thing I knew was that he had lifted us both to a standing position, only my feet weren"t exactly touching the ground. I giggled as he swung me around and my legs dangled in the air like a small child sat on a big chair.
"You"re so little." He said teasingly as he set me down.
"And you"re a big oaf!" I said as my come back, which was received by raucous laughter. We walked back to the car and when I hesitated to get in he said in a guilty voice, "It"s alright, I won"t go too fast."
My answer was given by getting in the car and soon we were making our way to Afterlife at a speed that only just broke the law. It looked like it was causing Draven a great deal of concentration to maintain this speed and I had to suppress a satisfied smile. I could see by the natural road signs that we were near the turning for Afterlife. There was always a double twisted tree that had split in the middle and wound back together like brothers. This was my sign that we were near.
"There was something I wanted to ask you."
"You know that you can ask me anything." I smiled at his answer and thought if I wanted Draven to dress up in a furry loin cloth and swing from trees like Tarzan, he would draw the line. I found myself biting my lip to stop from laughing.
"Is this "something" funny?" He asked smiling as well.
"No, but I just had a funny thought. Ok, so I was going to ask you something about me leaving."
"Was?" He raised an eyebrow, an action that always made my heart flutter. It was so hard having a conversation with someone so unbelievably handsome it was hard enough to even concentrate on forming words in your brain let alone saying them.
"Well I say was because that was before we...more like you, freaked out."
"Keira I did not "freak out" as you put it."
"Oh you so did, but that"s beside the point," I said poking at him only instead of getting a soft fleshy bit it was just solid muscle. Come to think of it, I don"t think Draven had any soft and fleshy bits!
"The point then, my dear?" He prompted and turned round to face me. It was now that I realized we had stopped and were outside the secret wall that led to his garage/ car museum.
"I want you to come with me." There I had said it and now I could feel myself wincing ready for his answer.
"But of course." He answered as simply as that. I was shocked that I even shook my head slightly.
"Of course?" I repeated.
"Yes, Keira do you really think that I would let you go alone. I will buy the house next door if need be." He wasn"t joking.
"I don"t think that Mr. and Mrs. Sutton would be happy about selling, all their cats are buried in the garden and John worked forever on that vegetable patch."
"Keira, what are you talking about?"
"Prize turnips," I giggled making him see that I was teasing him again.
"You crazy human!" He called me, trying to hide his smile. He turned back forward and lifted his hand to the stone wall. I had seen it a few times but I still jumped at the sight and sound of it moving back and sliding over. There it left a hole the size of a dumper truck and as we drove in slowly I always felt like I was entering the Bat Cave. Draven would have made an excellent Batman although in demon form he would be cla.s.sed more as a birdman than bat and if you ask me birdman doesn"t quite have the same ring to it.
"So you"re coming with me, even if you have to play "Crazy Human" for a few weeks?" I asked getting excited about the idea. He whipped his head around so quickly on any normal person it would have snapped off.
"You want me to spend it with you and your family?" O...k, what did he think I wanted him to do?
"Umm...yes, that"s if you want to?" I was getting worried now, maybe he didn"t want to spend any more time around humans than he had to. After all, before he met me, he wasn"t exactly our biggest fan.
"Of course but I didn"t think you would want me to...invade on that part of your life." He was surprised that I wanted him to be a part of my family, how crazy was that!
"Well, I can"t say it will be the life of luxury you"re used to and my mum won"t let us sleep together, not until we"re married that is..." Oops too far, much too far with the speaking. I bit down on my lip just below the point of it bursting open. I can"t believe I had said the M word around him! I felt like smacking my forehead but I think this would have given away my view of marriage a little too much. I mean I could only just get my head around being Draven"s girlfriend but...wife.
And then it struck me at how that could never be. Never, never, all thanks to one little word....
Immortal.
Chapter 51.
Hobbies.
"Married?" He inquired obviously amused thinking about it. His face had brightened and his eyes were wider than I had ever seen them before.
"I didn"t mean that! I just was explaining the rules." I hurried out.
"You said and I quote, "Not until we"re married". So I think that const.i.tutes as evidence to something you having been thinking about." He was so smug.
"No I haven"t." I said stubbornly. He laughed at me and said, "Yeah right," as he got out of the car and came round to my side to open my door.
"Stop smiling Draven it does nothing for your bad a.r.s.e image!" I said congratulating myself on what a great comeback that was. I took the hand he held just because I knew there was no way of getting out of this car gracefully without it. He tugged a little too hard not knowing his own strength or maybe he did because he caught me in his arms as I was flung towards his chest.
"No, but it does wonders for my Angel side!" He said in the ear he was now nuzzling. His hand pressed out on the small of my back and pulled my body closer into his own, while his other hand ran up and rested on holding the back of my neck. My spine felt like it had ran off and left me. I was putty in his oh so capable hands.
"It is nice to know what you think about." He whispered in the s.e.xiest voice imaginable and once again I was trying to think about how to breathe without panting. He was kissing up my neck and I soon found myself wedged between his solid body and carbon fiber. Luckily Ferraris seemed to be smooth and rounded enough not to dig in anywhere uncomfortable and I believed the marketing department for Ferrari didn"t use this as enough of a selling point. I mean, surely if men bought one of these, they certainly knew they were going to get laid, so maybe they should roll with that. s.e.x on this car would not disappoint, but I could imagine Draven as a partner would even make a VW Beetle look s.e.xy.
"You"re thinking about my car," Draven said shocking my mind into shut down.
"You"re projecting your thoughts Keira, it"s not hard to hear when you"re shouting in your mind. Of course, I have no objection to listening to your s.e.xual fantasies and with you being my first pa.s.sion and collecting cars my second, I think combining the two would prove not only to be an incredible experience but also the limit on my control. YOU drive me insane." He finished his evaluation by pushing me hard against the car and kissing me until my toes curled. His hands came up to remove my jacket and under my top, making me gasp as he took hold of my b.r.e.a.s.t.s in each strong hand, filling his palms with my bra covered mounds. He was breathing hard and he wasn"t the only one finding there wasn"t enough oxygen to fill our lungs.
"I want you now Keira. I want to strip you naked and take you up against this machine but I WILL lose control and I cannot allow that to happen." He was fighting with himself I could tell. His eyes were closed and he had spoken through gritted teeth. He then released my b.r.e.a.s.t.s and took a new position.
He now had hold of the car either side of my head and when I shifted against him, accidently... on purpose, pressing against his need, I heard the sound of metal crunching making me flinch. I turned my head slowly and saw there was now two hand shaped dints in the car"s roof thanks to Draven"s pressure. The thought about how that could have been my head made me realize he hadn"t been exaggerating about losing control.
"Draven, you hurt the car!" I shouted jokingly. This made him open his eyes and the purple flames started to fade. He raised an eyebrow and gave me a smug smile.
"I thought you didn"t like this car."
"Not when it"s at "kill me" speeds but I do otherwise. Plus it"s very comfortable for kissing against." He laughed but when his eyes flashed a brilliant, deep purple flame I knew he was thinking about something a little more than just kissing.
He placed his hands over the dents and soon the sound off metal popping told me he had fixed it.
"See, all better and healed. Although I don"t think the car would have survived much more than me kissing you and I do like this car, It was given to me by Enzo"s son, Piero Lardi Ferrari."
"Really? Is he like the owner or something?" I asked feeling completely out of my depth.
"No, he only owns ten percent of the company." When I frowned he continued "He was his son from a mistress and was only made acceptable as his legal air after the death of his wife. See that Ferrari there?" He pointed to a sleek red car that was a masterpiece in its own right. It was higher up than the rest and after following him, weaving in and out of all the parked vehicles he owned, I could see it better as it was up on a dais. Even I knew what car this was as it was such an icon.