“Roman is being an arrogant pig, requesting that he drink from me, and he’s doing it right under Jake’s nose to provoke him.”
The cocky vampire every now and then flicked his gaze toward them, as if needing to know Isabella’s whereabouts all the time. But the situation they were in was far from simple.
“I thought you were going to break off the engagement with Roman?”
Isabella led her to the farthest corner in the room, away from both men so as not to be overheard.
“He refuses. He says it will weaken his position and make him appear soft. He’s expecting me to name the date. All I am is a trophy. He doesn’t care about me. I can’t let him take my blood again, Ella—if he does, I will lose control.” She pushed her hands down over her hips.
Ella sensed her friend’s dilemma, but a realization crept through her. From the look of desperation on Isabella’s face, she understood the fear of allowing Roman to drink from her. If it gave her the euphoria she experienced with Marcus, she had good reason to fear his actions, and wondered once more as to why Roman insisted on feeding from her. She gripped both of Isabella’s hands to redirect her attention on her.
“Have you asked yourself what you truly feel for Roman?”
The pretty witch scrunched her nose, a habit that belied her discomfort, and tried to twist her hands free.
“You know the answer to that. I find him annoying and overbearing. I hate him, but when his lips touch my skin, I hear a voice. It sings to me and a deep yearning starts. Roman’s using some kind of mind control to assert power over me, I’m sure. I don’t trust him.”
Ella nodded. Those sentiments rang some bells inside her own mind. The alarm resonated deep within her and she frowned, but she shook her head. Why hadn’t she seen it before? She pressed her lips together, and envied her friend’s lush, curvy body that men drooled over. Even after giving birth to Nate, her body hadn’t changed much. Okay, her breasts had changed a little—they were larger—but she couldn’t claim the natural curves that Isabella possessed. With her fierce red hair and vivid green eyes, she stopped traffic.
“When I met Marcus it wasn’t exactly love at first sight.” Ella said.
Isabella pulled her hands and Ella let go. She rubbed her neck and swallowed. A sudden thirst made her lick her lips. “He worked undercover at your local coffee shop as a barista right?” She snorted as Ella playfully slapped her arm.
True, when she first met Marcus, he had just started work as the new manager at the Ultimate Perk in Andover, a short distance from her home, and they had struck up a casual friendship. All of which had been fabrication, and a lie.
“Hm, well, you know I was on the run for the murder of the professor, and Marcus worked at the time for the FBI. I was his target. Anyway, when he caught me and revealed his identity, I despised him. I certainly didn’t trust him. When I thought of him, words like arrogant, bed-hopping womanizer bounce around. He didn’t even have to try. Women fell over him. It made me sick.”
Ella peered out the window as she remembered how it had been between them in the beginning, and how everything changed in a flash. One minute, Marcus infuriated her and the next, he lit a wildfire of desire she couldn’t extinguish. His touch drove her crazy. She became weak with the need for him. The desire for him consumed her. At the time, she didn’t understand it was due to the fact he was her soul-mate. She tried to resist him. Tried to keep away but fate had other plans. In the end, like a magnet, he drew her in.
“Well, he is as sexy, Ella. You would have to be blind not to want a taste of that,” she said.
Ella followed her friend’s line of vision and shoved her in the ribs as she giggled. Marcus stood at the entrance next to Roman. “Wow—Izzie, are we talking about Marcus or someone else?”
Using the nickname shifted her friend’s focus.
“You don’t call me that unless you’re mad. Are you mad at me?”
“No, yes—no. What I’m trying to say is that I think you need to examine your feelings for Roman a little more. Your relationship started with him saving you, and from that it created a certain, uneven dynamic between the two of you. Not dissimilar to that of Marcus and myself.”
Isabella crossed her arms over her chest and stepped nearer to the large picture window that overlooked the turbulent ocean. “You’ve got to be kidding me. What’s between Roman and me is nothing remotely similar to what you have with Marcus…”
Ella blinked and swept her gaze over at the vampire, who headed in their direction, and she wondered whether he had heard their conversation. His narrowed black eyes and firm pressed lips seemed to indicate he had. He didn’t look amused.
“Izzie, you owe it to yourself and Jake to find out for certain because as your friend, I’m telling you there’s a spark there. Fighting it won’t help. And what if you’re wrong? What if that voice you hear when he touches you—is desire?” she whispered.
Isabella gasped and her cheeks flushed a bright pink. “You’re crazy…”
“Am I? Jake’s handsome, but what are his kisses like?”
Ella observed her friend’s sharp intake of breath as she glanced away, hiding from her. She grabbed her hands, and checked to see where the vampire stood, not wanting him to descend upon them, before she dipped her head. “Sometimes the very thing we are seeking is right in front of us all along.”
Ella leaned
